Armorial bindings; Bookplates, English; Heraldry -- Great Britain
When a man quarters the coat-of-arms of an ancestral heiress, he has
also the right to use the crest belonging to it. The right of bearing
a crest, although not allowed to ladies, seems to be latent in them,
as it can be inherited through them, if heiresses, by their male
descendants. But in ordinary English usage it is usual only to use
one crest, except in the case of an assumption by Royal Licence of an
additional surname, coat-of-arms, and crest. In German heraldry such
quartered coats are usually accompanied by all their respective crests,
which are placed along the top of the coat in an arched line, each on
its proper helmet, and all facing inwards.
Distinctive personal marks on English shields are few; the commonest is
the Ulster hand which is used as an augmentation by Baronets. The rank
of Baronet, which is hereditary, was instituted by James I. in 1611. By
the original Statutes of the Order, Baronets in order to qualify for
the rank had to maintain "thirty soldiers three years at eightpence a
day in the Province of Ulster in Ireland." A Baronet had to prove that
he was a gentleman by birth and to possess property to the value of
£1000 per annum.
The arms of Ulster are a red left hand appaumé on a silver ground,
and the origin of this curious coat is said to be that on an Irish
expedition for the acquisition of new territory in ancient days, the
ancestor of the O'Neiles, finding that an adversary was reaching the
coveted shore more quickly than he was, cut off his left hand, and
threw it ashore, thereby establishing a "first landing" claim to the
new territory. The claim was allowed, and so the successful chieftain
became the first king of Ulster and the ancestor of the succeeding
kings.
The Ulster hand, either with or without its silver shield, usually
shows either on the honour point in the centre of a shield, in the
dexter chief, or in the centre chief, but there is no definite rule as
to its position.
In 1625 a similar hereditary rank was instituted for Nova Scotia in
North America, but since 1801 all Baronets have been "of the United
Kingdom." The Baronets of Ulster and of the United Kingdom both use the
Ulster hand as their symbol, borne upon their shield, but the Baronets
of Nova Scotia indicate their rank in another way. The badge of a
Baronet of Nova Scotia hangs from the base of his shield, suspended
by a tawny ribbon; the badge is oval, and shows "argent, a saltire
azure, thereon an inescutcheon of the arms of Scotland ensigned with an
Imperial Crown, the whole encircled by a fillet on which are the words
'FAX MENTIS HONESTAE GLORIA.'"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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