"A wild man of the woods, with a garland round his head and waist and
a club on his shoulder, standing between two forest trees," is
charged on the shield of the Mayo family, and Basil Wood bears
three demi-savages, each with a club. Human heads and limbs are more
frequently used.
Sir Richard Griffith bore three Englishmen's heads "in profile, couped
at the head and bearded"; the Tanners of Cornwall bear three Moors'
heads couped. Three infants' heads are charged on the Fauntleroy
shield "couped arg: crined or," crined being the heraldic word for
blazoning hair. The Vaughans have a very odd coat of arms--viz.,
three children's heads "couped, each enwrapped about the neck with a
serpent." (Ghastly as that arrangement sounds, the children look out
at you with remarkably gleeful countenances!)
One Black bears three men's heads with black hair, and the De la Haye
family has the rare charge of three eyes.
The human heart is much used in heraldry. Henry de Wingham bears a
winged heart, and the shield of the Heart family is charged with three
hearts.
The Cornhills bear a left hand and arm, whilst an arm grasping the
stump of an uprooted tree is appropriately borne by Armstrong. Very
literal _arms_ are borne by the Tremaynes--viz., three right arms with
clenched fists, forming a triangle.
A dexter hand is a fairly common charge. Two arms seizing the head, or
pole, of a hart are borne by the Catchpoles, and three hands occur
in the armorial bearings of the Maynards of Medstone and those of
Wicklow, as also in the coat of arms of the Maynes of Bucks. The
Quartermaynes bear four right hands (Fig. 51).
Amongst other families, the Haddens and Shrigleys bear a human leg.
In conclusion, we must mention what Guillim calls "amphibious and
exorbitant creatures," which figure as charges in heraldry. Under the
amphibious charges we have the beaver, seal, otter, and others. With
the beaver we are fairly familiar, as nowadays it occurs so frequently
in the armorial bearings of persons connected in any way with Canada.
It is well represented in the arms of Lord Strathcona.
[Illustration: FIG. 51.]
The otter is borne by the Setons of Mounie, and also occurs as a
supporter in the arms of Lord Balfour of Burleigh.
As to what Guillim calls "exorbitant creatures," or, so to speak,
monsters, we may mention the wyvern, a species of dragon; the griffin,
supposed to have the body and claws of a lion, with the hooked beak,
piercing eyes, and wings of an eagle; the dragon; the unicorn, whose
appearance is too well known to need description; the cockatrice; the
mermaid; the sea-dog, or marine wolf; and, lastly, the harpy. Three
wyverns are borne by the Drake family, and two fiendish-looking
wyverns act as supporters to the shield of Lord Clifford of Chudleigh.
The red dragon is, of course, the badge of Wales; and three dragons'
heads are borne by the Stanleys. The heraldic dragon is always
represented as a winged monster with four legs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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