II. The second class of Historical Arms is composed of those derived from
ACTS OF LOYALTY. The earliest coat of this kind mentioned by the author of
the volume before quoted, is that of Sir John Philpot, viz. 'Sable a bend
ermine,'--his paternal arms--impaling, 'Gules a cross between four swords
argent, hilts or'--an augmentation granted to Philpot for killing Wat
Tyler with his sword after Walworth, the mayor, had knocked him down with
his mace, in the presence of Richard II, in 1378.
Ramsay, earl of Holderness, temp. James VI, bore as an augmentation
impaling his paternal arms, 'Azure, a dexter hand holding a sword in pale,
argent, hilted or, piercing a human heart proper, and supporting on the
point an imperial crown of the last.' This was granted to Sir John Ramsay,
who was also rewarded with the title just mentioned, for having saved the
young monarch's life from assassination by Ruthven, earl of Gowrie, by
piercing the assassin to the heart. The story of this attempt upon the
'British Solomon' is too well known to the reader of Scottish history to
need copying in these pages. The whole narration, enshrouded in mystery,
is now almost universally discredited, and the affair regarded as a
pretended plot, to answer a political purpose. It is sufficient to say
that Gowrie and his father, Alexander Ruthven, fell victims to it, while
Ramsay was rewarded for his share in the transaction as above
stated.[216] Erskine, earl of Kelly, and Sir Hugh Harris, two other
individuals concerned in this plot, also received augmentations.[217]
The notorious Colonel Titus, temp. Charles II, was rewarded for his
services in the restoration of the king, with an augmentation, viz.
'quarterly with his paternal arms, Or, on a chief gules, a lion of
England.' 'Lions of England' were likewise assigned to the following
families for their loyalty to the Stuarts: Robinson of Cranford, Moore,
Lord Mayor of London, Lane of Staffordshire, &c. The crest of the
last-mentioned family is 'A demi-horse salient argent, spotted dark grey,
bridled proper, sustaining with his fore feet a regal crown or;' in
allusion to the circumstance of Charles's having been assisted in his
escape, after his defeat at Worcester, by a lady of this family, whose
servant the king personated by riding before her on horseback. In this
guise Charles arrived safely at Bristol, and at length, after many
hair-breadth escapes and a circuitous tour of the southern counties,
reached Brighthelmstone, whence he set sail for the continent.
The arms granted to the family of Penderell for concealing Charles II in
the oak at Boscobel, and otherwise assisting his escape, and those
assigned on the same occasion to Colonel Careless (or CARLOS, as it was
the king's humour afterwards to name him) were exactly _alike_ in charges,
though different in tincture.
CARLOS. 'Or, on a mount an oak-tree proper; over all a fesse gules,
charged with three regal crowns proper.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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