Fish charges almost always come under the head of "canting heraldry,"[1] so that they mostly repeat the name of their bearer, or, at any rate, carry a very direct allusion to it. This is the case with the families of Dolphin, Godolphin, Salmon, Sole (Fig. 48), Herring, Herringham, Bream, Roach, Sprat, Ellis (who bear three eels) and Troutbeck (who have three trouts). These latter are blazoned "fretted in a triangle, _tête-à-queue_"--literally, "netted head to tail," whilst we are reminded that the old name for pike was luce, when we see pikes borne by the Lucy family. Crabbe of Robslaw bears one crab; the Prawnes, as you would expect, bear prawns; and the Tregarthens of Cornwall have "lobster claws saltire-wise, gules," that last word implying that the luckless owner of those claws had been clearly boiled (Fig. 49)! [Footnote 1: "Canting heraldry" is derived from the French _armes chantantes_ or _armes parlantes_, meaning, literally, arms that speak.] [Illustration: FIG. 48.] [Illustration: FIG. 49.] [Illustration: FIG. 50.] The escallop shell, being pre-eminently the pilgrim badge, was given a very honourable place in heraldry, and occurs in the arms of many of our highest nobility, notably in those of the Dukes of Bedford, Marlborough and Montrose. One branch of the Shelley family bears three escallop shells (Fig. 50), and a lion between escallop shells is a common charge. One William Moffat bears a lion between eight escallop shells.[2] [Footnote 2: Escallop shells are represented in such infinitely varied devices and in so many coats of arms that some lovers of heraldry make this charge a special study.] A fish with a ring in its mouth occurs fairly often in heraldry, and owes its origin probably to the many old legends associating fish with coins, rings, gems, etc. The arms of the Bishopric of Glasgow, where a salmon and a ring are depicted, are said to allude to the fable of the distracted bride, who, having dropped her wedding ring into the River Clyde, besought St. Kentigern, Bishop of Glasgow, to help her to recover it. In answer to the Prelate's prayers, a salmon was taken in due time, with the lady's ring between his jaws. And now at last we have reached those charges connected with that "most noble creature, man," who, as we are told, "is borne in heraldic achievements both limbwise and entire. And as a man should be represented in his greatest dignity, a king should be depicted on his throne, a bishop in his robes, a soldier in military habit, and so on." In the royal arms of Seville, we find "a crowned and sceptered king on his seat royal," wearing his ermine cape, but as a matter of fact, the whole human figure occurs very rarely as a charge in a coat of arms.