The =saltire=, popularly called St. Andrew's cross, is formed like two bends crossing each other in the centre of the escocheon. A great variety of opinions has existed as to its origin. Some authors take it for an antient piece of harness attached to the saddle of a horse to enable the rider, _sauter dessous_, to jump down.[94] Others derive it from an instrument used _in saltu_, in the forest, for the purpose of taking wild beasts; but neither of these hypotheses seems very probable. Leigh says, "This in the old tyme, was of y{e} height of a man, and was borne of such as used to scale the walls [_saltare in muros_] of towns. For it was driven full of pinnes necessary to that purpose. And walles of townes were _then_ but lowe as appeared by the walls of Rome, whiche were suche that Remus easelye leaped over them. Witnesseth also the same the citie of Winchester whose walls were overlooked of Colbrande, chieftaine of the Danes, who were slayne by Guye, Erle of Warwike." The =cheveron=, which resembles a pair of rafters, is likewise of very uncertain origin. It has generally been considered as a kind of architectural emblem. Leigh, speaking of a coat containing three cheveronels, or little cheverons, says, "The ancestour of this cote hath builded iij greate houses in one province," and this remark applies with some truth to the Lewkenors of Sussex, who bore similar arms, though whether assumed from such a circumstance I cannot ascertain. The =pile= is a wedge-like figure based upon the edge of the shield, and having its apex inwards. The following etymons have been suggested: 1, _pilum_, Lat. the head of an arrow; the Spaniards and Italians call this ordinary _cuspis_. 2, _pile_, French, a strong pointed timber driven into boggy ground to make a firm foundation. 3, _pied_, French, the foot; in French armory it is called _pieu_. I cannot admit any of these derivations, though perhaps my own etymon may not be deemed less irrelevant, viz. _pellis_, the skin of a beast, whence our English terms pell, pelt, peltry, &c. The skin of a wild beast, deprived of the head and fore legs, and fastened round the neck by the hinder ones, would form a rude garment, such as the hunter would consider an honourable trophy of his skill, and such as the soldier of an unpolished age would by no means despise; and it would resemble, with tolerable exactness, the pile of heraldry. The QUARTER is, as the word implies, a fourth part of the field, differing in tincture from the remainder; and the CANTON, a smaller quadrangular figure in the dexter, or sinister, chief of the escocheon, so called from the French _cantoné_, cornered. The following figures rank as sub-ordinaries, viz. _Flasques_, _Flanches_, the _Fret_, _Border_, _Orle_, _Tressure_, _Gyron_, &c.