During the reigns of Edward III. and Henry V., owing to the French Wars and their effect upon the martial population of England, heraldry was practised most extensively and had its noblest application, but during the reign of that butterfly king, Richard II., it reached its most fantastic heights. After the reign of Edward IV., the value and importance attached to the correct practice of heraldry declined, for during the Wars of the Roses many noble families became exterminated, and Henry VII. ennobled many of the upper middle classes to take their places. To this, and the profuse creation of knights’ bannerets or baronets by James I., may be attributed the gradual decline of heraldry, and the ridiculous grants of arms made in the Georgian period contributed still further to that effect. [Illustration: PLATE 29. The various tinctures (or colours), metals, and furs are represented by lines, etc., in black-and-white drawings. (Figs. 1 to 8): Showing those most commonly in use. (1): Gold (or). (2): Silver (argent). (3): Red (gules). (4): Blue (azure). (5): Black (sable). (6): Green (vert). (7): Ermine. (8): Vair. Nos. 1 and 2 are metals, 3-6 colours, 7 and 8 furs. The heraldic names are given in brackets. (Figs. 9 to 18): Honorouble ordinaries (bands upon the shields). (9): A chief. (10): A pale. (11): A fess. (12): A bend dexter. (13): A bend sinister. (14): A chevron. (15): A cross. (16): A saltire or St. Andrew’s cross. (17): A pile. (18): A bordure. The shields were also divided or “parted” into differently coloured portions by lines following the position of these ordinaries--_e.g._ (Fig. 19): Shows a shield “parted per pale” (see 10.) (Fig. 20): “Parted per chevron” (see 14). (Fig. 20): Also shows the different portions of a shield--A, the chief; B, the base; C, the dexter (right) side; D, the sinister (left) side; E, the dexter chief; F. the sinister chief. (Fig. 21): Arms of the Douglas family. (Fig. 22): A lion rampant--typical of animals borne upon the shield. (Fig. 23): A castle--typical of inanimate objects. (Fig. 24): The banner of the Knights Templars, the renowned _Beauseant_, black above and white below, to denote that while fierce to their foes they were gracious to their friends. (Fig. 25): Badge of Henry VIII., typifying the union of England (the rose) with Spain (the pomegranate) in the persons of Henry and Katherine of Aragon. (Fig. 26): A Tabard from a brass of 1444. The arms: Argent, a chevron between three crosses patée sable. (In describing a coat of arms, the colour of the shield or field is always given first, in this case being argent or white.) (Fig. 27): Crest of the Duke of Hamilton, “an oak tree covered with golden acorns, the trunk being cut transversely by a frame saw, on the blade of which is inscribed the word ‘_Through_’.” This commemorates the fact that an ancestor of the Duke of