perhaps they were deliberately preferred to the purely military shield. A _Lozenge_, No. 47, takes the place of a Shield to bear the arms of Ladies, with the exception of the Sovereign; this very inconvenient substitute for the heraldic Shield was introduced early in the fourteenth century. THE SHIELD: ITS HERALDIC TREATMENT.--When a Shield is represented as standing erect, it is not necessary to specify that fact, since such a position may be assumed for a Shield unless another be set forth in blazoning. Shields are sometimes made to appear suspended by the _guige_, or shield-belt (which was worn by Knights to sustain and secure their Shields to their persons); in some Seals and generally in architectural compositions, Shields-of-Arms appear suspended, erect, from their guiges; at Westminster some of the earliest Shields are thus suspended, with a very happy effect, from two points of suspension, the guige passing over sculptured heads, as in No. 48, the Arms of Provence, borne by ALIANORE of Provence, Queen of HENRY III.--the _shield_ is _gold_, and on it are blazoned _four red pallets_. In Seals, the suspended Shield is generally represented hanging by the sinister-chief angle, as in No. 49; and it hangs thus diagonally from below the helm. A Shield thus placed is said to be “_couché_.” This arrangement is also frequently adopted, when a Shield or an Achievement of arms is not placed upon a Seal; but in any case the position has no importance except as a matter of artistic treatment. [Illustration: No. 48.--Arms of Provence, Westminster Abbey.] [Illustration: No. 49.--Shield Couché.]