Eight of these nine honourable ordinaries give their names to the various single lines used in dividing the field of the escutcheon, where more than one metal or colour is required, such escutcheon being described as parted per pale, when divided perpendicularly; per fess, when divided horizontally; per cross, when in four squares; per saltier, when in four triangles; per bend, when diagonally, from right to left; per bend sinister, when in the contrary direction; and per chevron, when in the shape of that figure. The Chief being itself formed by a single line, they do not say parted per chief: but when the partitionline is not straight or even, its peculiarity must be specified in every instance and of crooked lines there are eight recognised by English heralds, namely:

The Bend has four diminutives; the Bendlet, the Garter, the Cost, and the Ribbon.

The Bend Sinister passes from the left to the right of the shield, and has two diminutives, the Scarp and the Baton.

The Fess occupies the middle third of the shield divided horizontally.

It is therefore necessary to say a Chief engrailed,' or 'a Cross invected,' or 'Parted per fess, indented,' and so forth. In addition to the nine honourable ordinaries are to be mentioned the subordinate ordinaries, the Gyron, the Quarter, the Canton, the Fret, the Pile, the Orle, the Tressure, the Flanches, the Flasques, the Voiders, and, according to some authorities, the Lozenge, the Fusil, the Mascle, and the Rustre.

The Gyron is formed thus: and when the shield is divided per cross and per saltier into eight similar divisions, it is called Gyronry.

The Mascle is of the same form as the Lozenge; but hollowed out, or, in heraldic term, Voided, so as form a mere frame of that shape.

The Rustre is a similar figure, but pierced or voided round, instead of square, thus:

To these some heralds add the Inescutcheon, which is a small shield placed in the centre cr top point of the escutcheon; but this, except when borne as an escutcheon of pretence, may, in our opinion, be ranked amongst the common charges, as may also the lozenge, the fusil, the mascle, and the rustre.

We have next to speak of differences, so called from their being particular marks borne to distinguish persons of the same family from one another. While heraldry was arbitrary, the son frequently assumed arms perfectly different from those of his father; but in the time of Edward I. we find two marks generally considered as family differences or signs of cadency,-the Border and the Label.

The Border is, as its name denotes, a guard or edging to the shield, and by the French heralds is accounted an ordinary. The border should always be in width one-fifth of the breadth of the shield itself, and stops when it encounters a chief, a quarter, or a canton, but passes over all other ordinaries. If the interior line is not plain or even, it must be described as engrailed, invected, &c. When divided into four equal parts, it is called a border quarterly. When divided into small squares of different colours, it is called a border gobonated, or gobony, or compony. When in two rows of squares, it is called a border counter-compony. When into three rows of squares, it is called checky.

The Label, or File, as it is sometimes called, is a sort of fillet from which depend generally three or five lambeaux, or points, thus,

It is sometimes however said to have been borne as a common charge, and is to be found only with one point and with as many as nine: other authorities consider it always as a difference. The label of three points is now always used as the difference of the heir or eldest son of the first house.

For the eighth, a cross moline.

For the ninth, a double quaterfoil

These are called the differences of the first house; and by the six first, the six sons of Thomas Beauchamp, earl of Warwick (temp. Edward III.) are distinguished in a window of St. Mary's Church at Warwick.

The children of the second house are distinguished by the first son bearing a crescent charged with a label: the second, a crescent charged with a crescent; the third, a crescent charged with a martlet, aud so on.

The junior branches of the royal family are however distinguished by the label only, the Prince of Wales bearing it simply argent, and the rest differenced by various charges, a practice as ancient as the reign of Richard II.

In the general term charges we comprise all descriptions of figures borne in coat-armour, whether things animate or inanimate, real or imaginary, everything in short contained in or placed upon the shield; but those we have above-mentioned are to be distinguished from the common charges, by which expressions are understood all other.

Many of these, such as crosses and crosslets in all their variety, escalop shells, bezants (the golden coins of Byzantium, or Constantinople), Saracens' heads, &c., were assumed during the Crusades, or after the return of the Crusaders, by themselves or their families, in commemoration of those expeditions. Others, such as beasts, birds, fishes, reptiles, trees, flowers, the sun, moon, stars, &c., were borne either as types of the peculiar dispositions or qualities, or as denoting by some similarity of sound in the pronunciation the names of the bearers. Such have been called with us canting or punning arms, and by the French armes parlan'es. It has been the fashion with modern heralds to decry this species of bearing; to account it of rare occurrence in ancient heraldry, and less honourable where it did occur: but recent investigations prove it to have been one of the most frequent as well as most ancient descriptions of charges, and as worthy of respect as any other. It has indeed been suggested that the bearing frequently gave rise to the surname itself. This is however a mere conjecture; but the grants of arms which have been handed down to us prove incontestably that when sovereigns desired to express their approbation of noble or useful deeds by such distinctions, the name of the person to be honoured was frequently expressed by the charge, instead of the act he had performed, which would never have been the case had it been considered in those days as an inferior bearing. An acquaintance also with the language of the nation and time in which the arms were first granted or assumed, as also of its pronunciation, is of the greatest importance to this question, and such researches may yet shed much light upon the origin and history of heraldry. The Cornish family of Godolphin bear a white eagle; but those who are unacquainted with the ancient Cornish language would be far from guessing that a white eagle was called in that language, Godolcan, a very near approach to the name of the bearer. A third species of allusive bearings is that which designates the place or office of the individual; and many charges appear in the arms of our nobility derived from ancestors who have held situations of high honour or great trust under our early monarchs; and lastly, a fourth portion have been assumed, as Camden has exemplified, in honour of the feudal lord, or most powerful neighbouring chief, or been conceded to the bearer by such nobleman as a mark of respect or affection.

The crest is the next object in point of antiquity to the shield. It

was the ornament worn upon the helmet, and consequently the helmet itself was generally represented with it upon the seal of the knight or nobleman. The crest from Richard II.'s time was rarely worn, except upon the tilting helmet, and then upon a wreath which was generally a twisted roll of silk of two colours, being those of the family of the wearer. Beneath this wreath was frequently worn, as a sort of hood to the helmet, a piece of silk or velvet lined with ermine, which floated with jagged ends on the shoulders: these are by the French called kachemens, and by us mantlings or lambrequins. Supporters are of later origin, and are supposed to have taken their rise from the fanciful devices of the early seal-engravers, who filled up the space not occupied by the shield with all sorts of monsters or natural animals, by way of ornament. They did not become common till the close of the fourteenth century, and Henry VIII. was the first monarch who formally granted supporters to peers of the realm and knights of the garter and of the bath. No person under the rank of a knight of the bath has a right to supporters, unless by special grant of the sovereign. Mottoes had their origin probably in the war-cries of the different knights. There are several instances however of a motto being borne in addition to the cri de guerre.

The badge or device is frequently confounded with the crest; but it was altogether independent of the armorial bearings of the family, although in many instances it became hereditary. It is frequently, but very incorrectly, placed upon a wreath.

The arrangement and description of all the above insignia in proper heraldic order and terms are styled the marshalling and blazoning of

arms.

:

We shall speak first of blazoning. The verb "to blazon" is generally derived from the German blasen, to blow or sound a horn or trumpet, such being usually the practice before proclaiming the style or arms of any personage on his arrival in the camp, the lists, or the banqueting hall. The term however was soon applied to the proclamation itself, and finally used as synonymous with description generally thus we find in the old book on hunting written by Jacques de Fouilloux, and presented to Charles IX. of France, the description of the hare entitled 'Le Blason du Lièvre.' To spread the fame or the disgrace of any person was also to blazon it. Favine, in his 'Théâtre d'Honneur,' says, "Les habitans disent pour blasonner leur ville; "and in the Chronicle of Louis I., duke of Bourbon, the knights of the order of the crown are commanded not to suffer any person to defame (blazonner et medire) the ladies.

The principal rules of blazoning are as follows:-

1. In blazoning a coat the herald begins with the field, noticing the lines, if any, by which it is divided, the difference of those lines, and then the colours, next the charges, beginning with the immediate charge, that is, the one which lieth nearest the field, such as any ordinary, and nearest the centre of the field if a common charge, and lastly, the more remote or inferior charges.

Thus the accompanying coat would be blazoned : Party per pale, indented, azure, and gules; on a fess argent, a crescent of the first between two mullets sable.

a

2. All tautology is to be strictly avoided, and the repetition particularly of such words as of, or, and with, is considered a great fault. In the above blazon, "a crescent of the first' is said, in order to avoid the repetition of the word azure; so, if it were gules, we should say crescent of the second." For the same reason, when the field is undivided, and the charges, though of more than one description, of only one colour or metal, it would be blazoned in this way: "Argent, a chevron between three mullets sable," by which the chevron is understood to be sable as well as the mullets.

3. It is accounted by English heralds false heraldry to put metal upon metal, or colour upon colour; but instances of such blazoning frequently occur in foreign arms, particularly in those of German families. The objection is notwithstanding a sound one, as the charges should be rendered as distinct as possible, which can only be done by adhering to the English rule.

4. When a charge is represented of its natural colour, it is to be blazoned proper.

5. In blazoning animals, the teeth and claws, or talons, of the ravenous beasts are called their arms; and when they are to be represented of a different colour or metal from that of their bodies, they must be blazoned as "armed, Or," or "Gules," as the case may be. If the tongue is shown the beast is said to be langued of such or such a colour, as a Lion, argent, armed and langued, azure." More docile animals, the stag and deer, for instance, are said to be "attired," and not "armed." Beasts of prey are, according to their attitude, blazoned, Rampant, Rampant-guardant, Rampant-regardant, statant, passant, salient, sejant, couchant, dormant, naissant, issuant, combattant, endorsed, erased, &c. Stags are said to be trippant, at gaze, &c. Birds of prey are also blazoned as "armed" of such a colour, but such as have no talons are described as "beaked and membered." The Cock is said to be armed, crested, and jelloped, the latter term referring to the wattles, or gills.

Birds, according to their attitudes, are blazoned Volant, Displayed, Preying, &c.

Fish, when placed horizontally, are termed "naiant;" when perpendicularly, "hauriant;" when bent (as the dolphin is generally represented), "embowed;" if face to face, "respecting each other;" if back to back, "endorsed."

The sun must be blazoned according to his condition, full, or in his eclipse. The moon, defined as crescent, increscent, or decrescent: the first being, when represented with the horns upwards; the second, when the horns point to the dexter or right side of the shield; and the third, when to the left or sinister side. If downwards, it is called a crescent reversed.

The human figure is blazoned either vested or naked. Parts of the human figure, if cut off, are said to be couped; if ragged or torn off, erased. Heads are also blazoned wreathed or banded, as the case may be. Flowers are blazoned jessant, slipped, seeded, &c.

When the field of an escutcheon is covered with flowers of the same colour or metal, or any other pattern with flowers or scroll work inter. mixed, it is said to be diapered; but when it is filled with flowers, crosses, or any other device of another colour or metal, repeated, as the French say, sans nombre, it is then blazoned as semée. An animal so covered with flowers or crosses should be blazoned as powdered. When the field, charge, or supporter is covered with goutes, or drops, it is called gutty; and if of gold or yellow, gutty d'or; of argent gutty d'eau; of gules, gutty de sang; of azure, gutty de larmes; of vert, gutty de vert; and of sable, gutty de poix. When a bend, fess, or any other ordinary passes over an animal, the animal is said to be debruised. When the charge is divided by any of the partition lines, and the colours of the field are reversed upon it, it is said to be counterchanged. By marshalling of arms we understand the orderly disposition of sundry coats, belonging to distinct families, in their proper places within one shield, by impaling or quartering; and the joining of ensigns of honour and dominion with the paternal arms of the bearer, &c. When a man marries he impales his wife's paternal arms, by placing them upright on the left side of his own in the same escutcheon, such impalement being also called arms en baron et femme. If that wife should be or become an heiress, the husband may bear her arms on an escutcheon of pretence over his own; Legh says, however, that this should not be done till he has begotten an heir of that heiress. In Scotland the husband frequently quarters the arms of his wife with his own when she is an heiress. In England this is only done by the children of such a marriage. If the mother be no heiress, the children cannot quarter her coat.

Another mode of impalement was by taking only half of each coat, and joining them in one escutcheon. This was called dimidiation; but the practice has long fallen into disuse.

The complete escutcheon of a family should never, according to some authorities, consist of more than six or eight quarterings; others admit of sixteen; and the Germans marshal sometimes twenty and thirty coats in one shield.

The best mode of marshalling so many is to begin by placing the arms of the first heiress who married into the family next to the paternal coat, and next to them the several coats which that heiress brought in; then the arms of the second heiress, followed by those which she brought in, and so on in rotation. When the royal arms are brought in by any match, it is usual however to give that match the second quarter next to the paternal coat, and some say it should even take precedence of that.

The arms of a widow are composed of her husband's and her father's impaled within a lozenge.

Those of a maid are her father's only, borne in a lozenge also, without any difference, except she be of the royal family, in which case a distinction is expressly furnished by the heralds for the individual coat by the command of the sovereign.

If the widow be an heiress, she may wear her paternal coat in an escutcheon of pretence over that of her husband, the latter however being in a lozenge, and her daughter, while unmarried, may quarter her mother's arms with her father's in a lozenge; but if the mother be no heiress, then, says Legh, the daughter has no further right to the arms of her mother's family, except to set them up pale-ways in her house to show her descent.

If the husband be a knight of the garter, or of any other order, the arms of the wife must not be impaled, but placed in a separate shield.

Such are the principal rules and terms of the science of heraldry: for further detail we must refer our readers to the works of Edmonson, Nisbett, Berry, &c., cautioning them, at the same time, against the Scylla and Charybdis of the heraldic inquirer, the absurd and misdirected enthusiasm of the champions of the art, and the undeserved contempt of its depreciators. By the latter it has been stigmatised as "the science of fools with long memories." It should rather be designated as a science which, properly directed, would make fools wise. It is, we repeat, a key to history which may yet unlock stores of information; at present its most learned professors have studied the art itself more than the use which may be made of it. They have wasted their time and their learning upon idle controversies, and still more idle speculations. A mysterious signification has been given to