A Complete Guide to HeraldryFox-Davies, Arthur Charles
History
A Complete Guide to Heraldry
Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles
Heraldry -- Great Britain
When charges are placed around the shield in the position they would occupy
if placed upon a bordure, these charges are said to be "in orle," as in the
arms of Hutchinson: "Quarterly, azure and gules, a lion rampant erminois,
within four cross crosslets argent, and as many bezants alternately in
orle;" though it is equally permissible to term charges in such a position
"an orle of [_e.g._ cross crosslets argent and bezants alternately]," or so
many charges "in orle" (see Fig. 60).
If an ordinary be engrailed, or invected, this fact is at once stated, the
term occurring before the colour of the ordinary. Thus: "Argent, on a
chevron nebuly between three crescents gules, as many roses of the field."
When a charge upon an ordinary is the same colour as the field, the name of
the colour is not repeated, but those charges are said to be "of the
field."
It is the constant endeavour, under the recognised system, to avoid the use
of the name of the same colour a second time in the blazon. Thus:
"Quarterly, gules and or, a cross counterchanged between in the first
quarter a sword erect proper, pommel and hilt of the second; in the second
quarter a rose of the first, barbed and seeded of the third; in the third
quarter a fleur-de-lis azure; and {102} in the fourth quarter a mullet
_gold_"--the use of the term "gold" being alone permissible in such a case.
Any animal which needs to be described, also needs its position to be
specified. It may be rampant, segreant, passant, statant, or trippant, as
the case may be. It may also sometimes be necessary to specify its position
upon the shield, but the terms peculiarly appropriated to specific animals
will be given in the chapters in which these animals are dealt with.
[Illustration: FIG. 60.--Arms of Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke:
"Baruly argent and azure, an orle of martlets gules." (From his seal.)]
With the exception of the chief, the quarter, the canton, the flaunch, and
the bordure, an ordinary or sub-ordinary is always of greater importance,
and therefore should be mentioned before any other charge, but in the cases
alluded to the remainder of the shield is first blazoned, before attention
is paid to these figures. Thus we should get: "Argent, a chevron between
three mullets gules, on a chief of the last three crescents of the second;"
or "Sable, a lion rampant between three fleurs-de-lis or, on a canton
argent a mascle of the field;" or "Gules, two chevronels between three
mullets pierced or, within a bordure engrailed argent charged with eight
roses of the field." The arms in Fig. 61 are an interesting example of this
point. They are those of John de Bretagne, Earl of Richmond (d. 1334), and
would properly be blazoned: "Chequy or and azure, a bordure gules, charged
with lions passant guardant or ('a bordure of England'), over all a canton
(sometimes a quarter) ermine."
[Illustration: FIG. 61.--The arms of John de Bretagne, Earl of Richmond.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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