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THE OLD ROYAL GOAT OF .ARrv1S

AT PLAGENT IA

Archbishop H. F . Ho rley

FOR REFERENCE

NOT TO BE TAKEN FROM THIS ROOM

fld. F 1036 55H61.

092546

SECTION II., 1909. [28] Tt-lANS. R. s. c.

RoYAL ARMs AT PLAcENTIA.-FrG. 1.

II.-The Old Royal at Placentia.

By MosT REVEREND ARCHBISHOP .1\f. F. HowLEY.

(Read May 26, 1908.) Among the historical relics of old Placentia, the ancient F.rench Capital of Newfoundland, is preserved a painting of the Royal ~rms of of the reign of George III. It was formerly kept in the old Anglican Church there, but is at present in the custody of .John Brad­ shaw, Esq. The engraving shown aboYe (fig. 1) is from a photograph by the Right Revd. Monsignor Heardon, the accomplished pa,rish priest of Placentia. There is also preserved at the Court House of Placentia an old bailiff's staff_. bearing the date of 1772, viz.: the 12th of George III. (Fig. 2.)

BAILIFF's STAFF, PLACENTIA.-Fra. 2. This staff also bears a coat of Arms, now almost obliterated, show­ ing the same , with a slight difference, which shall be noticed 24 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA by-and-by. This coat of Arms is inscribed in an oval_, surrounded, as usual, by the Garter. (Fig. 3.) The,re is also on the staff a scroll bearing the word " Placentia,-'' which shows that it was especially made for this place, and, finally, the date 1772. (Fig. 4.) Ill G.&.

ARMS OF BAILIFF's STAFF, ScROLL oN BAILIFF's STAFF, PLACENTIA.-FIG. 3. PLACENTIA.-FIG. 4. Many people think that the Art of is only an antiquated fancy, not far removed from puerile folly, and that in these prosaic centuries a study of those absurd med:ireval figures would be a sheer waste of time. Such, however, is not really the case. Although it must be admitted that in the XV. and XVI. centuries this art, like many others, became ve.ry much degenerated, yet it cannot be denied that Heraldry has played an important part, and exercised a powerful in­ fluence in moulding the history of the world. It has also been of in­ calculable benefit in creating and fostering a taste for the fine arts; the fantastic forms of armorial bearings and devices lending themselves admirably to artistic decoration. No one can pretend to any degree of perfection in Art, Sculpture, Architecture, Archffiology or Literature, without, at least, an elementary knowledge of the curious conceits and technical tern'linology of this quaint branch of science. Indeed it is almost impossible to read with a true understanding and appreciation, not only the higher class of romance and literature, such, for instance, as the works of Scott, but even History itself can be but half understood without the aid of Heraldry. In fact Heraldry may be called "History in pictures.'" The explanation which I am about to give of these old Arms at Placentia will show that not only the whole , but also a very considerable portion of that of Europe is written upon that small piece of painting. [HOWLEY) THE OLD ROYAL COAT OF ARMS AT PLACENTIA 25

Again Heraldry has its utilitarian side~ It serves to distinguish family alliances and descents., often of great legal importance in settling questions of he;redity., property, etc. It is useful in the formation and organization of guilds and cor­ porations: in the invention of trade-marks of business firms: in the designs of National Banners., and Royal Standards., which become the recognized symbols of racial loyalty and national fealty, which call forth in their defence the highest sentiments and noblest feats of patriotism and heroic bravery. Although it has become the custom in mode.rn times and in new countries, like our neighbours in the United States of America, to despise as unworthy of serious thought, the childish heraldry of medireval Europe, yet it would seem that a symbolism of some sort is a necessity of human intercommunication, and those very people who reject with scorn the ingenious and well-devised designs of ancient heraldry., have found it necessary to adopt for themselves a spurious and mongrel imitation of the truly poetic and romantic imagery of the middle ages. This craving, which seems inherent in the hum.an heart, shows itself cropping out in such tinsel and tawdry hybrids as u The Knights of I1abour/' u The Knights of Pythias," ~'The Foresters," etc. It may probably surprise some of the sons of the great modern Republic to le~rn that their very -their "Old Glory,"-of which they are so justly proud, is not, as they may have thought a spick span new American invention or conception, but a survival and adapta­ tion of old . 'l1 he stars and stripes were originally the arms or heraldic bearings of the family of Washington ! The first quarte;r of the coat of the Royal Arms of Great Britain of ~he present day (fig. 5) is not, as can be noticed by a comparison with figures 1, 3, or 18, the same as that on the Placentia coat.

RoYAL ARMS AT PRESENT DAY.-FIG. 5.

The shield on the present Royal Arms is divided, as it is expressed, ''quarterly." The first and fourth quarter contain the Arms of England only; the second quarter those of ; and the third those of 26 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA lreland. On the painting at Placentia the :first quarter is subdivided "per pale_," that is to say_, by a line drawn perpendicularly through tht­ middle of it_, and on the dexter side (the left hand as -we look at it) are inscribed the Arms of England; on the sinister (the right as we look at it) those of Scotland. See figures 1_, 3 or 18.) The reason for this change will be explained immediately. The Arms of England are blazoned, or described in heraldic language, as follows:- , three lions passant guardant Or: in pale. For the benefit of the uninitiated_, this may be explained thus :-On a red ground there are three lions in gold or yellow colour passing or walking towards the left hand, and looking full face at the beholder. These lions are placed one above the other in the centre line of the shield. Among the symbols or emblems used in heraldry the was a very popular and much used one_, being the representative of strength and courage. There is a roll of Arn1s drawn up in the reign of Henry III., between 1243 and 1246_, containing the of 218 coats of A.rms_, and no less than forty of them exhibit the lion in one form or another. The lions on the English Arms were those of Normandy, and are supposed to have been brought over by William the Conqueror; but they were originally only two and they were not lions but leopards_, or, as the French called them, l-ionceattx. The first reliable mention we find of them in connection with English History is in a description given by the Monk of Marmoutiers of the enrollment of Geoffry, Count of Anjou,. the father of Henry II., Plantagenet, into the of Chival,ry. His shield is described as having " leunculos aureos imaginarios "-" imagin­ ary little lions (or ) of gold.-'' These animals, like the griffins, are partly fabulous. They are called leones leopardes. 'They are a cross between the lion and pard. The pard is a name given indiscriminately to the tiger_, panther, , jaguar, cat-a-mountain, and such like. It is alluded to by Shakespeare in the well-known passage :from. "As you like it."-Act II., Scene 7, describing the ages o£ man. The :fourth age is:- " A Soldier ,, "Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard." The third lion was added by Richard Omur de Lion, after his return from captivity, 1194. . King John before coming to the throne signed or sealed with two lions, but after he became king he used three, and so the has remained evey since. (HOWLEY] THE OLD ROYAL COAT OF ARMS AT PLACENTIA The Arms of France, three Fleurs de lys, were assumed by King Edward III. in 1340, and incorporated into the . They were cc .marshalled " in the following manner, viz. : On the :first and last quarters were placed the Arms of Prance ; the Arms of England occupying the second and third quarters. (Fig. 6)

ARMS OF ENGLAND , TEMP., EDWARD III., 1340.-FIG. 6.

The Royal Arms, thus quartered with France, were retained all through the .reigns of the Plantagenets, the Lancastrians,. the Yorkists, the T 'udors, the Stuarts, and the line of Brunswick, up to the year 1801, when the Arms of France were finally discarded. Many changes, how­ ·ever, were made from time to time in the marshalling :-Thus, when James VI. of ~cotland became King of England as James I. (1603) he introduced the Arms of Scotland and Ireland into the Royal , placing the Arms of England and France (quarterly, as hitherto) on the· :first and fourth quarters, giving the second quarter to the Arms of Scot­ land, and the third to Ireland. (~.,ig. 7.)

ROYAL ARMS, TEMP., .JAS. I., 1603.-lfiG. 7.

The Arm.s of Scotland. The heraldic of these Arms is as follows:-" Or, a lion. rampant, gules, surrounded by a double tressure flory counter flory of the­ second." In plain English,-On a yellow or golden ground, a red lion standing on his hind legs with his fore paws stretched out as if clawing­ o.r clutching, surrounded by a double red border flowered on both sides_ 28 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA The origin of this Arms is not known. It is thus beautifully epitomized by Scott in Marmion- "The ruddy lion ramps in gold On Scotland's royal battle shield."

This marshalling was followed by Charles I. But when Cromwell established the Commonwealth (1653)_, being imbued with a more republican spirit_, he discarded the Lions both of England and Scotland and the Lilies of France_, and in their stead placed the Cross of St. George for England_, and that of St. Andrew for Scotland_, retaining the harp of Ireland_, and placing his own Arms_, a lion rampant (very in­ -consistently_, it would seem) over all in an escutcheon of "Pretence~" (Fig. 8.)

RoYAL ARMS, TEMP. , CoMMON"'WEALTH, 1653.-FIG. 8.

With the restoration of Charles II. the Arms were again brought back to their former style as in the reign of Charles I. On the abdication of James II. (1688) the of England was offered to William III., Stadtholder of the United Netherlands and Count of Nassau. He was the son of the eldest daughter of Charles I. Besides these titles William held another_, that of Prince of Orange. This title was derived from a beautiful Province of that name in the South of France in _the Department of Vaucluse. It came into possession of the IT ouse of Nassau through Rene_, nephew of Prince Philibert of Orange in 1530. The sister of Philibert had married the Count of Nassau. Rene dying childless, his cousin \Villiam I., Stadtholder of the Nether­ lands, becan~e Prince of Orange, since which time the family has assumed -the title of Orange-Nassau. In England this short is known as the Orange-Stuarts. By a strange irony of fate this title of Orange, his only Catholic title (as it may be called) is the one by which he has become notorious_, and left his indelible ma.rk on the pages of English \History. That title, accruing from the smiling Province of Southern France: a country which brings to our minds memories of peace and harmony only; of the chivalrous days of the troubadours and minstrels (HOWLEY] THE OLD ROYAL COAT OF ARMS AT PLACENTIA 29 of Provence! Sad that it should have become the shibboleth of strife and bloodshed, of hafired and racial antipathy, of internecine war, of fratricidal feuds, of political and fanatic animosity and sectarian intolerance, which for so many centuries have afflicted the once peaceful shores of Ireland! Worse still, these old-world animosities have been transplanted across the wide Atlantic into the free and pure atmosphere of the New 'Vorld, and efforts are made to fo.rce their noxious tendrils to strike root in the virgin soil of America. But that soil has proved rather uncongenial to such miasmic growth; its deadly roots have not been able to thrive. Let us hope that the day is not far distant which will see the entire extinction of this remnant of ancient feuds, so in­ compatible with the advancement and prosperity, and asp~rations, of our noble young Nation. William III., Prince of Orange, on ascending the throne of England introduced another change in the Royal Escutcheon. He marshalled the Arms of Nassau,-Azure, seme of billets, a lion rampant, Or. This coat was placed en surtout, or on an inescutcheon of Pretence in the centre of the Royal Arms. (Fig. 9.)

RoYAL ARMs, TEMP., WILL. III., 1688.-FIG. 9.

In the reign of Anne anothe.r change was made. During her reign occurren, in 1707, the Union of the Parliaments of England and Scot­ land, under the name of The Parliament of Great Britain. At this time also the celebrated Duke of Marlborough was carrying on the war in the Netherlands, and making a sort of triumphal progress. The victories or Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, etc., followed hard upon each other. In honour of these victories Queen Anne made a change in the Royal Escutcheon. She withdrew the Arms of Scotland from the second quarter, placing them "in pale" with the British Arms, on the first quarter, and gave the whole of the second quarter up to the Arme o,!! France, as we see them on the shield at Placentia. (Figs. 1, 3 or 18.) She left Ireland in its orio-inal place on the third quarter, repeated on the fourth quarter the combined Arms of England and Scotland, and 30 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA ·dJscarded the Arms of Nassau. The shield then appeared as in figure 10. .., 'l'he Royal Arms we.re thus retained until the accession of George I . (1714). That monarch removed the charge (England and Scotland) from the fourth quarter, placing there, instead, the Arms of his foreign ·dominions, Hanover and Brunswick, etc. This reduced the Royal Arma

RoYAL ARMS, TEMP., QuF.EN ANNE, 1707.-FIG. 10.

to exactly the form in which they appear on the Placentia coat (See .figures 1_, 3_, or 18), and so they remained through the reigns of the Georges_, until the year 1801, when another change was made, as we !!hall see later on. During the reigns of the Stuarts the custom prevailed of marshalling the Arms (at least for Scotland) in the following manner, viz.: quart­ ·crly, 1st and 4th, Scotland; 2nd, France and England, quarterly; 3;rd, Ireland. (See fig. 11.) 'l'his custom was also continued (for Scottish

RoYAL ARMS FOR ScoTLAND, TEMP., STUARTs.-Fia. 11.

·coins) by William III. He, however, added the Arms of Nassau en surtout as he had done on the English coins. Even the unfortunate :first Pretender assumed these arms and had a coin struck in 1716, giving himself the title of James TIL of England and VIII. of Scotland. Although this pretension of the Stuarts was vain and merely theoretic, still England permitted the use of these Arms long after the Union of the Parliaments of England and Scotland. When in Edinburgh, in 1902, I copied a very interesting coat of .L\Tms from a fountain in front of Holy Rood Palace. The mar~halling A Ill I 1 I

[ HOWLEY] THE OLD ROYAL COAT OF ARMS AT PLACENTIA 31 was novel and striking. 'l'he shield was divided "per pale/' the whole of the dexter sid2 being charg~d with the Lion of Scotland, while on the sinister side were the usual quarterings of the Arms of England and France. (Fig. 12.)

ARMS oN FouNTAIN, HoLY Rooo PALACE.-FIG· 12.

The fountain was erected by the late Prince Consort during his sojourn in Edinburgh, and is a reproduction of a more ancient one at Linlithgow Palace, erected by King James V. The French Arms. . Although the Fleur de Lys was from time immemorial used in c""'rnamentation of and scepte.r8, it seems to have been first formally adopted as the Arms of Royalty in France by Louis VII, called Lejeune, in 1147. He adopted this cognizance when about to proceed to the Crusade. His shield was " Sem·e " or " sown '' with these lilies, that is to say, there were several of them scattered over the field as seeds are sown broadcast. They were of gold on an azure o.r blue ground. In an ordinance concerning the coronation of his son Philip Augustus, it is declared that the mantle, the chaussures, and the oriflamme are to be -sown with fleurs de lis, as described by the poet Rigord: "Vexillum floribus liliorum distinctum." The number of Lilies was reduced to three by Cha.rles V. (1376) in honour of the Most Holy r_rrinity-" Pour symboliser la Sainte Trinite," and continued so till the destruction of the monarchy. This modification of the number of the lilies was not accepted in England until the reign of Henry IV., 1399. The three are placed in the form of a triangle, the base being upwards, the apex below, thus ~. · They are said to be placed '' two and one." This is always understood in IIeraldry to be the disposition of the "charges" on an escutcheon when they are simply mentioned as three without any qualification. If placed otherwise it is always mentioned, as "per fess," "per pale," "per bend," €tc. If the three charges are placed with the apex upwards, thus . · .. it If l'1 ' I I. 32 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA is bad heraldry, and they are said to be "mal ordonnes." :I find that while on the old coat of .Arms in the church at Placentia the lilies are placed properly ' (See fig. 1), yet on the bailiff's staff they are wrongly placed or '' mal ordonnes." (See fig. 3.) This is owing to the :form of the shield, oval, which would not allow of their being placed prope,rly. This form of marshalling is, however, sometimes permitted, where the shape of the escutcheon demands it, as in the present instance. It is then blazoned as " In Chevron." Originally they were actually placed on a chevron. The claim of England to the Crown of France originated with Edward III., who claimed it in right of his mother Isabella, siste.r of the French King, who could not succeed to the throne owing to the Salic law. .After the Battle of Sluys in which he completely annihilated the French fleet (1340) he placed the :B,rench .Arms on the English escutcheon, and assumed the title of King of France, which was retained by the English Sovereign ever after, with a slight respite during the

ARMS OF l\t!ARY QuEEN OF SCOTS, 1558.-FIG. 13.

Commonwealth, until 1801, when, on the Parliamentary Union of G:reat Britain and Ireland, it was finally abandoned, and the lilies were stricken out from the British escutcheon. This empty claim to a title, which was purely fictitious_, and had no real or actual dominion attached to it, at least ever since the loss of Calais, 1556, the last French town held by England, seems almost puerile in these modern prosaic days, but in the ages of chivalry a good deal of store was laid by it, and it played no small part in the moulding of British history. Mary, Queen of Scots, had married Francis, the Dauphin of France,. in 1558. She assumed the .Arms of the Dauphin (quarterly, 1st and 41-h, the .Arms of France; 2nd and 3rd, Or,-a dolphin embowed, azure). These .Arms she plac~d on the shield in conjunction with the .Arms of Scotland; sometimes by them thus, 1st and 4th, the Dauphin; 2nd and 3.rd, Scotland. (Fig. 13.) Sometimes they were marshalled (HOWLEY] THE OLD ROYAL COAT OF ARMS AT PLACENTIA 33 in a different manner, viz.: per pale_, sinister_, Scotland; dexter_, per fess: -In chief_, the Dauphin: in base_, Scotland repeated. (Fig. 14.)

ARMs oF ~lARY QUEEN oF ScoTs, 1558.-FIG. 14

After the death of Henry_, Mary's husband became King of France, 1559. She then dropped the Arms of the Dauphin and assumed those of France_, impaling them with ·Scotland. (Fig. 15.)

ARMS OF MARY QuEEN OF ScoTs, 1559.-FIG. 15.

Before this_, however_, when Elizabeth was negotiating a peace with France_, the French King_, being annoyed because she retained the Style and Title of Queen of France_, induced his daughter-in-law_, Mary Stuart, to assume the Arms of England. This she did_, and had he.rself pro­ claimed in Paris as "Queen of England_, Scotland_, and Ireland.-'-' This assumption not only irritated Eaizabeth extremely and wounded her pride_, but it seriously alarmed her; for it cast a doubt upon her legitim­ acy and her right to the Crown. Consequently it embittered the feelings between those two cousin queens_, so as to lead to the captivity and final execution of ~lary Stua,rt. In tact all through her reign Elizabeth was haunted by this bugbear of Mary Stuart assuming the Title_, Style and Arms of England. Although Mary declared that she never intended to put this claim into actual effect_, still it was always a subject of jealousy, the abandonment of which entered into every negotiation for peace with France_, and tinged the whole of Elizabeth towards Scotland and her beautiful but unfortunate Queen. Sec. It., 1909. 3. 24 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CA.l\;ADA We next come to consider

'l'HE ARMS OF IRELAND_, which occupy the third quarter of the shield. The heraldic blazon of this coat is "Azure, a harp or: stringed argent." That is to say, on a blue ground, a golden harp with silver strings. The first thing that attracts our attention concerning this achievement is the colour of the field or ground, which is blue. At the present day it is well known that the green has been adopted by the people of I;reland as the

NATIONAL CoLouR; but antiquaries and experts in heraldic art tell us that this selection is of comparatively modern date. By some it i s said to have its origin from the blending of the colours of the two opposing factions-the orange and blue-by the United Irishmen at the close of the 18th century ( 1791), under the celebrated Theobald Wolfe Tone. But on the other hand good authorities say that the green was used as the colou,r of

THE1:ARMS OF lRELAND.-FIG. 16. the National Standard of Ireland as far back at least as the 16th century. Sir Bernard J. Burke., formerly "Ulster ," says that ~' Previous to the Anglo-l\J orman invasion there was no colour or stan­ dard for Ireland at large.'' Brian Boru's banner at Clontarf was red. The favorite colours in thos~ days we,re crimson, sa:ffon, and blue. Green was not in favour. . . . . Since the introduction of English Rule the national colour, established by, and derived from, the Royal Arms has been invariably blue. But this colour has not taken in modern Ireland, and Sir Bernard himself when called upon to compose the Arms for the Royal University of I ,reland (1881), blazons the Arms of Leinster as vert '(i.e. green), an Irish harp, Or. The adoption of green by Sir B. Burke instead of blue, as heretofore, was either in deference to modern national sentiment, or perhaps for sake of distinction, as he gave azure for Munster, and the :field of the Connaught Arms is also argent and azure. As all the four Provinces are quartered on the shield (see fig. 16), there would have been three azures~ which would not have a good effect. May we not hope that when Ireland gains u Home Rule," which (HOWLEY) THE OLD ROYAL COAT OF ARlVIS AT PLACENTIA 35 now seems to be not far distant, the concession to her national aspirations may be made of changing her quarter of the Royal Standard from blue to green I With regard to the cc GOLDEN HARP , of Erin., a few words may be of interest. At what time the harp was selected as the E1nblem of Ireland is unknown. It is probably in re­ membrance of the Harp of Brian Boru., and distinguishes Ireland as a n1usic-loving country. Moore's beautiful lines on the Origin of the Harp are of the highest order of poetry, but of course all pure romance. It is certain that the Harp ~vas ·acknowledged as the Emblem of Ireland in the XVI. Century. We have already stated that King James I.., who ascended the throne in 1603, placed the harp on the Royal Escutcheon as the achievement of Ireland. In an Edition of Keating's History of Ireland, published in 1725, there is given a representation of Brian Boru. We have already mentioned that the colour of his banner was red, and strange to say, on his escutcheon in this engraving the Arm_s are given exactly as those of England., namely, three lions rampant, guardant cc in pale." This is +he Arms of the O'Brien family at present. The harp, however, is represented on this picture as embroidered on a cloth which rests on a table beside hin1.. Henry ·viii. in 1526 issued coins for Ireland: a groat bearing the harp. This is, I believe, the oldest representation we have of the harp as Ireland's Emblem. It was continued in subsequent ,reigns. King James II. issued copper coins for Ireland (farthings) in 1613, bearing the harp. It was thought that they might not be received by the people of England, as being only in base metal. Hence the harp was placed on them as they were thought good enough for Ireland!

BREECHES MoNEY, TEMP., CROMWELL, 1652.-FrG. 17. Cromwell also, in 1649, issued special coins for Ireland. They had two shields, one bearing the harp, the other the cross of . These shields were united at the top, symbolizing the union of the two kingdoms. The shields _thus joined bore a fancied resemblance to a _pair of breeches. Hence this coinage was called " Breeches Money." (Fig. 17.) 36 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA \V e now come to consider the charges on the

FouRTH QuARTER of the arms at Placentia. It will be seen at a glance that they are quite d1fferent from those which occupy the fourth place on the Royal Arms of the present day_, which are simply a repetition of the first quarter, viz.: the three lions of England. As the Arms at Placentia_, both on the painting and on the bailiff's staff, are very much blurred and faded by time and almost obliterated by use_, I give here (:fig. 18.) a photograph

CoiN-REIGN oF G Eo. II., 1729.-FIG. 18 .

of a coin of the reign of George II. (1729) _, u somewhat earlier period_, but bearing the same achievement of, Arn1s. I have had it enlarged so that the figures may appear more distinctly_, and the reader may be able to follow without difficulty what I am about to say. The heraldic blazon of this qnarter 1s as follows :-Tierced per pairle inversed_, (!or per ·chevron) 1st_,. 'in chief_, gules_, two lior..s passant gardant, Or, for Brunswick: 2nd (in chief) Or, seme of hearts [HOWLEY] THE OLD ROYAL COAT OF ARMS AT PLACENTIA 37 gules, a lion rampant, azure; for Lunenberg, 3rd, (in point) gules, a horse courant, argent, for vVestphaha, or Saxony. The White Horse is properly the Arn1.s of '-'Testphalia, but is popu­ larly known as the "White Horse of Hanover," inasmuch as it was the most prominent charge upon the Arms of Hanover, incorporated into the Royal Arms of England by the House of Brunswick, on the accession of George I., 1714. 1..,he white horse, ho"\vever, is of very ancient origin as the Arms of Saxony. It is said that the "white horse" can still be eeen carved in the chalk cliffs of Dover by the early Saxons who came over in the Fifth Century under Hengist. It was also a cherished syn1bol in the day" of Alfred the Great. There is a very graphic description of the "Vale of the White Horse.. in the Royal County of Berks," in " rrom Brown's School-Days.'' The author tells how "King Alfred, with his brother Etheldred, having con­ quered the Danes in a glorious battle at Ashdown, or Aston, (2Escendum or Ecsesdunum in the Chronicles) 'when Baeseg, one of the two kings of the heathen, and five of his earls fell down and died, and many thou­ sands of the heathen side-by-side in the same place, after which crowning mercy the pious king_, that there might never be wanting a sign and memorial to the country-side, carved out on the Northern side of the chalk hill, under the camp, where it is almost precipitous, the

( GREAT SAXON \\~RITE HORSE,' which he who will may see fron1 the railway, and which gives its name to the vale over which it has looked theo::e thou and years and n1.ore." 1 These Arms were borne on the English escutcheon until the 1st of January, 1801, when, on the Parliamentary Union of Great Britain and Ireland, the Arms of France were discarded. The title of King of France, hitherto retained by the English Sovereigns, was also abandoned at this time, and it was ordered that the title of the King should henceforth be "Georgius Tertius, Dei Gratia, Brittaniarum Rex Fidei Defensor." The King's Gern1an titles (which shall be alluded to immediately) were also no longer used. The Arms of Scotland were taken from their rather cramped place on the first quarter and restored to the second quarter, replacing the discarded Arms of li.,rance. The English lions received full possession of the 1st quarter, the place of honour, and, Inore than that, they were repeated in full in the 4th quarter, as on the Royal

1 The same author, 'l'homa!': Hughes, in his story of "The Scouring of the \\"bite Horse," goes more minutely into the hi of this monument of Saxon times. 38 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA Standard of today. The only difference being that the Arms of Hanover, removed from the 4th quarter, were placed in an inescutcheon of pretence over all (en surtout) in the centre of the shield (fig. 19) . This inescutcheon was at first ensigned or surmounted by the Electoral Bonnet, until the yea,r 1815, when, after the treaty of Vienna, Hanover was made a kingdom. The Electoral Bonnet was then supplanted by a Crown. They were thus borne until they were finally abandoned on the accession of , 1837.

RoYAL ARMS, 1801.-FIG. 19.

In the centre of the 4th quarter, containing the arms of Hanover, there is what is called a " Shield of Pretence," which bears,

"THE CROWN OF CHARLEMAGNE.'" George Lewis Guelf, Elector of Hanover, son of Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover, etc., etc., and Sophia, daughter of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, sister of Charles I. of England, succeeded or rather acceded., to the Crown on the death of Queen An~e, August 1st, 1714,

CRowN oF CHARLEMAGNE.-FIG. 20. under the title of George I. He brought with him a confusing number of German and foreign titles, among others he was Lay Bishop of Osnabruck; Duke of Calenberg and Zell, both forming the Duchy of Hanover ; Duke of Brunswick, and Elector of Lunenberg, etc., etc., and (HOWLEY] THE OLD ROYAL COAT OF ARMS AT PLACENTIA 39

ARcH-TREASURER OF THE HoLY RoJ\IAN EMPIRE. It was in view o£ this last fictitious title that he marshalled on his ~L\..rms the (also fictitious) " Crown of Charlemagne." This title was doubly or quadruply fictitious. In the first place the Empire itself wa~ fictitious; his claim to the Treasurership was fictitious; the treasu,rership itself was fictitious_, and the emblem_, the so-called Crown of Charlemagne_, IS fictitious. A few words here concerning the

l-lOLY ROMAN EMPIRE . may not be considered out of place. The old Roman Empire, founded by .Julius ancl Augustus Cresar_, was divided at the close of the 4th century (~ . D. 395) between rArcadius and Honorius_, sons of 'Theo­ dosius the Great, into the Eastern and Western Empires. The capital of the Eastern was Constantinople_, of the Western_, Rome. In the year 476 the Western Empire was overthrown by Odoacer. In the following (6th) century .Justinian became Emperor of the whole Empire, and though retaining Rome_, he still kept his Court at Constantinople. This state of things lasted until the year 800_, when Cha,rlemagne, King of the Franks_, was crowned at Rome by Pope Leo III. as Emperor of the N e1-v Roman Empire, called the Holy Roman Empire. The imperial title had fallen very low under succeeding Emperors till the time of Otto the Great (962) who revived some of its glory. From his time down the German Emperors kept the title_, until the year 1806, when Francis II._, Archduke of Austria, King of Bohemia and Hungary_, etc., resigned the imperial title and assumed the title of Emperor of Austria: with him the " Holy Roman Empire " ended.1 George's claim to the office of Archtreasurer_, etc._, was based upon an intricate chain of consanguinial descent_, from the House of Guelf, son of Isembert_, Count of Aldtdorf_, and Irmintrude_, sister of Charlemagne. The Crown which he marshalled on his arms, and which is erroneously called "the Crown of Charlemagne;" is in reality a Southern Italian piece of workmanship of the 11th century. Until the year 1796 it V\~as preserved in the Church of the Holy Ghost at Nuremberg; at the present time it is in the Treasure Chamber at Vienna. The letters S. R. I. A. T. on the Coin (Fig. 18) apply to this rather nebulous claim of the Elec­ tors of Hanover. The full reading is Sancti Romani Imperii Archi-

1 It is on this account that the prayer formerly said in the Liturgy of the Catholic Church on Good Friday, "Pro Christianissimo Imperatore Nost-r·o," has been suppressed; not, as has been stated by some, because the Church of Rome refuses to pay due honor to temporal Sovereigns. 40 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA Thesaurarius. In English it reads-Archtreasurer of the Holy Roman Empire. The other cabalistic letters refer to the various other German and foreign offices which were held by the Elector of Hanover, and which were insiuuated into the "style and title" of the first English monarch of the House of Brunswick. Though not immediately relevant to our present subject, a few words in explanation of them may not be without interest. This Coin, as will be seen by the date ( 1729), belongs to the reign of George II. We can see of course only one side in this engraving. It is called the reverse side. The obverse side (which we do not here see) bears a bust of the King, with the inscription Georgius II., Dei Gratia (George II. by the Grace of God). On the reverse side we have the following letters :-M. B. F. ET. H. REX. F. D. B. ET. L. D. S. R. I. A. T. ET·. E., 1729. The reading in full is as follows: Magnre Britannire, FTancire, Et Hibernire, Rex: Fidei Defensor, Brunsvicensis E t Lunen­ bergensis Dux, Sancti Romani Imperii Archi-Thesaurarius et Elector." In English-" King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Duke of Brunswick and Lunenberg, Arch-Treasurer of the Holy Roman Empire, and Elector." The other numerous titles mentioned above are not shown. Probably he did not think them worth recording, or, perhaps, there was no room for them. The first part of th1s Inscription relating to the claim of the King of England to the Crown of France and Ireland has already been fully explained; also that relating to the Holy Roman Empire. The title of " ],idei Defensor," Defender of the Faith, adopted by the Sovereigns of Great Britain, was originally conferred on Henry \TIII. by Pope Leo X. in the year 1521. It was granted to Henry for his celebrated work, a treatise on " The Seven Sacraments,'" written by the King (or, at least, accredited to him) in reply to Luther's "Baby­ lonish Captivity of the Church." A copy of this work bound in cloth of gold, and bearing the King's autograph, was presented to the Pope, who read it with delight and eagerness, and published a Bull conferring the above mentioned title on the Royal Author. In this work Henry defended the doctrine of Transubstantiation, the Mass, Seven Sacra­ ments, etc., doctrines which were afterwards repudiated, and which up to the present day the Sovereign of England is obliged, on his accession to the throne, to declare that he believes to be idolatrous and blasphemous, whilo, by a strange inconsistency, he retains the title conferred by the Pope. Whether it was owing to a sense of this incongruity or not, I cannot say, but in the year 1849 (12th Victoria) a Florin was struck on which these letters (F. D. ) as well as the others (D. G.) did not appear. The inscription being simply Victor·ia Regina. The omission [HOWLEY) THE OLD ROYAL COAT OF ARl\18 AT PLACENTIA 41 of these letters offended the sense of the nation. The coins were design­ ated cc Godless'' or "Graceless" money. 'rhe issue was immediately withdrawn and a new issue struck restoring the letters F. D.1 The throne of Hanover, which had been an appanage of the Eng­ lish Sovereign since the time of George I., became vacant on the acces­ sion of Queen Victoria, as, according to the Salic law, women were ex­ cluded from the succession. The Crown of this little kingdom was there­ :f'ore conferred upon her uncle, the Duke of Cumberland. There is no date upon this coat of Arms at Placentia, but it bears the initials G. III. R. The old Staff, however, at the Court House, bears the date of 1772, and it is probable that they are both of the same date. This date is prior to the erection either of the old Court House or the old Anglican Church. According to Judge Prowse ( Chron0lo­ gical Table, p. 653) the former vvas built in 1774, two years later than the date of the Staff. Hence it could not have been presented to the Court House. But Prowse tells lis (p. 314) that Court was held in Placentia as far back at least as 1749 "in a dingy room in Thoma~ Kennedy's house." On July 20th, 1786, . H. R. H. William, Duke of Clarence, (afterwards William IV.) presided at the Court House in Placentia in his capacity of Surrogate or Magistrate. Prowse also tells us (p. 366) that the building of the Chu,rch was ordered by the Prince in 1787. " He contributed handsomely to its erection," continues Judge Prowse, ''and furnished the massive Communion Service long in the custody of Dr. Bradshaw's family at Placentia."

1 This incident ~·eminds us forcibly of 'vhat has recently occurred in America 1n the suppression of the words " In God we trust'' from the coins of the realm, and the consequent indi~nation of the people demanding their restoration.

1