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Armorial Gravestones: Uses and Abuse

Appendix - Some Basics of Heraldry

The armorials carved on gravestones purport to derive from known arms and crest and imply that the de- cedent has some connection to them. To follow comments and deductions from the devices appearing on stones to be discussed in Parts 2 and 3 we need a common knowledge of the rules of Heraldry. The fol- lowing is a very elementary review of the key parts of the subject. My own knowledge is very limited and I apologize for any errors in the following account. You may wish to print out these pages to have the information at hand when reading Parts 2 and 3 that will appear in later issues.

Elements of Coats of Arms”

Heraldry began with the armored knight. He used identifying symbols on his shield . These same designs were also painted or embroidered on both the front and the back of his surcoat , a loose garment worn over the armor to protect it from rain (armor rusted easily) and hot sun. The surcoat was the actual “coat of arms”.

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The correct expression for the entire design is an achievement . An achievement consists of the shield, helmet , crest , wreath (or torse) , mantling , and motto . To these main parts can be added, under specific circumstances, a coronet , supporters and a compartment.

Further additions are made to distinguish between different family lines and children, grandchildren, etc. of the owner of a specific achievement. It is a universal rule that a particular “coat of arms” is his alone during his lifetime and arms of any other in the immediate family must be differenced by changes in color or by alteration or addition of charges. Arms are heritable and may be passed to the heir. Differencing will be covered in more detail later.

The shiel d (also called an escutcheon) is the principal element of the achievement. Its surface is called the field and on it are arranged the various colored charges . Shields themselves are always metal; argent (silver or white) and or (gold or yellow)

The shield itself has several sections that locate the charges in written descriptions. The principal ones are as shown below: Note that the dexter (i.e. right) and sinister (i.e. left) refer to the right and left of the wearer, not the viewer

Dexter Chief Middle Chief Sinister Chief

Honor Point Fess Point Nombril Point

Dexter Base Middle Base Sinister Base

The helmet denotes the rank of the owner and there are 4 types that convey his status. They can be of var- ious designs but should keep to the orientations and metals stated. When drawn in profile they should always face " dexter " A common fault in illustration is making the helmet too small. It should be drawn almost as large as the shield.

1. Sovereign: gold, full-faced, with bars 2. Peers: silver, in profile, gold decoration 3. Baronets, knights: steel, open visor, full-faced 4. Esquires and gentleman: steel, in profile

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The mantling (or lambrequin) represents the cloth cape which hung down the back of the helmet to keep the hot rays of the sun off the metal and provide some protection from rain.1 In battle this became torn and hung in rags and artists when drawing the cape turned these rags into simple, slashed designs The mantling is colored in the principal metal and color of the shield with the metal on the underside..

The wreath (or torse) was silk, a skein of cloth formed into a circle with a gold or silver cord twisted round it. This was worn on the helmet to cover the joint between crest and mantling. It is always drawn with six twists and colored alternately, metal first, then color.

The crest was worn on top of the helmet and was originally designed to ward off a blow aimed at the head. It was made in wood or leather.

A crest can be used on its own, and many people who have a coat -of-arms with a crest use it on their personal belongings, such as silver, cutlery, notepaper, carriage doors etc. In the 18 th century and later, it was necessary to have permission to use crests in this way and there was an annual tax for the privilege.

No one should use a crest unless entitled to one. It should be noted also that neither women nor clergymen have crests because they did not participate in armed fighting.

The motto can any short phrase and often has a personal meaning. It is usually written on a scroll; can be in any language or color. In Scotland the scroll is ove r the crest making it part of the crest and rendering the Scottish origin instantly recognizable. In all other countries it is under the shield.

Additional elements not regularly present are:

The supporters fill up the spaces either side of the shield. Not every "achievement" has them. they are a great honor, being granted only in special cases; Supporters can be human beings, animals, birds or imag- inary creatures, painted in heraldic or "proper" colors.

The Compartment. In Scotland "supporters" stand on a mound, rocks or seashore, with some special fea- ture mentioned, such as plants of their clan-badge. On the scroll at the foot of the mound was the war cry of the clan. In Britain older "achievements" show the supporters standing on the edge of the motto scroll or some other ornamentation; but now most are drawn with a mound for the supporters to stand on.

A coronet may be employed in addition to the helmet of a Peer to differentiate the various ranks within the nobility. When used in an illustration of the full arms it sits on the top of the shield below the helmet.

1 Armor rusted easily and was very difficult to remove. Rust could render plate armor essentially unmovable but even rusted mail was a serious problem

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Sometimes when the cap of the coronet is omitted the helm may be shown sitting within the circle of the coronet. When used on the crest it usually rests on the wreath.

These elements that make up an achievement, and their heraldic description is the matriculation of arms .

Elements of the Shield

Divisions There are several ways a shield may be divided and – like all else in heraldry - each has a spe- cific name. The following are the most basic ones but there are many less common ones.

Division Figure 5 is more better described as Quarterly with Inscutcheon.

Ordinaries are the most common forms of charges and those that follow are seen most frequently. Here too there are numerous other more complex ordinaries.

Lines (i.e. edges) of the ordinaries can be changed further. Some of the types of lines are: Engrailed, In- vected, Wavy, Embattled, Nebuly, Raguly, Indented, Dancette, Angled, Chequay, Bevilled, Escatelle, Nowy, Dovetailed, Rayonee, Embattled Grady, Potent, Arched. Each such change helps differentiate be- tween shields that may look very similar but represent different persons. Examples of some of the lines applied to the edge of the chief (ordinary 1 above) follow:

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Remember these as you look at gravestones. If the edges of the various divisions are not perfectly straight, do not assume that the stone is weathered or the stonecarver had tippled a bit too much.

Tinctures (colors) are the final basic elements of the shield and they are the most powerful agents for dif- ferentiated between similar arms. Since colors are absent on gravestones – except in very rare instances when they may have been painted - comments will be short. Illustrations of the tinctures with their heral- dic names and the associated hatchment used to convey the color in drawings and engravings. . In heral- dic terms they are divided into standard "colors", "metals", and "furs". The Petra Sancta method was cre- ated in 1638 to render colors in black and white images of coats of arms: tinctures are indicated by a hatching convention as shown below, where the dexter half of the shield is colored the sinister half is hatched to denote the same color.

Gules Azure Vert Purpure Sable (red) (blue) (green) (purple) (black)

Two "metals" are also used: Or and Argent.

Or Argent (gold) (silver)

Furs are omitted here as their hatchings or complex and I have never seen any stipling on stones that might have been an attempt to convey it. Further, of the many Scottish origin arms I have seen for those below the nobility furs do not appear to figure in the tincturing.

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Before considering the charges it may help fix the elements of the shield in mind to see them together

Basic Ordinaries

Complex Ordinaries

Borders

Charges

There are an almost infinite number of charges including abstract symbols, animals, humans and their various parts, flowers and other plants, astronomical symbols etc. with numerous variations in color and shape. Each will have a distinctive name. They are placed almost anywhere within the shield again with the view to differentiating between individuals. The following sample illustrates their variety:

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Marks of Cadency as used in England to different the parental armiger from his sons are small charges placed on the father’s shield:

Scotland has a much more elaborate system from which lines of descent may be instantly recognized. Since the gravestones of Agnews and collaterals of interest will be of Scottish origin, readers are urged to give this topic extra attention. It will prove important in discussions in Parts 2 & 3.

Scottish Cadency per Stodart system 2

For cadets other than immediate heirs, Scottish cadency uses a complex and versatile system, applying different kinds of changes in each generation. First, a bordure is added in a different tincture for each brother. In subsequent generations the bordure may be divided in two tinctures; the edge of the bordure, or of an ordinary in the base coat, may be changed from straight to indented, engrailed or invected; small charges may be added. These variations allow the family tree to be expressed clearly and unambiguously. Illustrated below is a system advocated by Mr. Stodart and known as the Stodart system.

2 With thanks to http:/www/heraldryinternational.com

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Because of the Scottish clan system, only one bearer of any given surname may bear plain arms. Other armigerous persons of the same family have arms derived from the same plain coat, though (if kinship cannot be established they must be differenced in a way other than the cadency system mentioned above).

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Bibliography of Heraldry

1. Bolton, Charles K. Bolton's American Armory. 1927, repr. 1964, Baltimore; Heraldic Book Co. Contains more than 2,000 names, based on tombstones, bookplates, silverware etc, and is therefore a good source on what arms were actually used by each family.

2. Burke, Sir (John) Bernard (1814-92) General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales . London: Harrison and Sons, 1878. New editions (with supplements): 1883, 1884. Reprint (of the 1884 ed) for Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1961, also 1967, 1969, 1976. London: Clowes and Sons, 1962. London:

3. Fairbairn, J. Fairbairn's Book of Crests of the Families of Britain and Ireland . Edin- burgh: Thomas C. Jack, 1905. Reprinted in 1 vol - Rutland (Vermont): James Tuttle and Co, 1968.

4. Nisbet, Alexander. (1657-1725). A system of heraldry, speculative and practical: with the true art of blazon, according to the most approved heralds in Europe [...] Edin- burgh: J. Mackeven, 1722-42. (2 vols., with plates). New edition, Edinburgh: Alex. Lawrie, 1804; W. Blackwood, 1816. Reprint: 1984.

5. Papworth, John Woody: Ordinary of British Armorials: An Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms Belonging to Families in Great Britain & Ireland . London: T. Richards, 1874. Reprint

6. Paul, Sir James Balfour (Lord Lyon King of Arms): An Ordinary of Arms Contained in the Public Register of all Arms and Bearings in Scotland , Edinburgh: 1st edition 1893, 2nd edition, 1903. Reprint: Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1969.

7. Playfair, William, Esq. British Baronetage, origin and progress of the Rank, Honours, and Per- sonal Merit of the Baronets of the United Kingdom, Volume III. Scotland. London, 1811.

8. Rietstap, Johannes Baptista (1828-1891) a) Armorial général ; précédé d'un Dictionnaire des termes du blason. I. A-K / par J. B. Rietstap... -G. B. Van Goor Zonen (Gouda)-1884-1887 Reprint b) Armorial général ; précédé d'un Dictionnaire des termes du blason. II. L-Z / par J. B. Rietstap... -G. B. Van Goor Zonen (Gouda)-1884-1887 Reprint c) Armorial général, contenant la description des armoiries des familles nobles et patriciennes de l'Europe ; précédé d'un Dictionnaire des termes du blason / par J. B. Rietstap -G. B. Van Goor (Gouda)-1861 Reprint, 3 vol Illustrations.

9. Stodart, R., Scottish Arms, 1370-1678 , (Wm. Paterson, Edinburgh, 1881)