696 



HERALDRY. 



which have been distinguished by different names, and 

 made to represent certain planets, stones, and virtues, 

 as set forth in the following table : 



Colours. Tincture*. Precious Stones. Planets. Virtues. 



Yellow Or Topai Sol Faith 



White Argent Pearl Luna Innocence 



Blue Amtrt Sapphire Jupiter Loyalty 



Red liulfi Ruby Mars Magnanimity 



Black Sable Diamond Saturn Prudence 



Green t'rrt Emerald Venus Love 



Purple l"urpure Amethyst Mercury Temperance 



Tenny Tennry Hyacinth Dragon's Mend Joy 



Blood-colour Sanguine Sardonyx Dragon's Tail Fortitude 



The two first of the above tinctures are the metals* 

 and the seven others the colours, of which the two 

 last are not so frequently used in blazon as the rest. 

 When not given in their natural colours they are 

 represented now in engraving by points and hatched 

 lines, in the place of letters, which were formerly 

 employed, as follow, namely Or, Gold, distinguished 

 by small spots, as in fig. 6, formerly by the letter O. 

 Urgent, Silver, a white colour, formerly marked by 

 the letter A, now represented by leaving the space 

 blank. Azure, Blue, formerly represented by the 

 letter B, now by horizontal or thwart hatches. Gules, 

 Red, formerly distinguished by the letter R, now by 

 perpendicular hatched lines. Sable, i. e. Black, for- 

 merly marked by the letter S, now by cross hatches, 

 perpendicular and horizontal lines. Vert, i. e. Green, 

 formerly known by the letter V, now by thwart or 

 diagonal hatches from right to left. Purple, former- 

 ly distinguished by the letter P, now by thwart or 

 diagonal hatches from left to right. 



Furrs. Furrs are a sort of tincture which are 

 composed of two or more tinctures, and are supposed 

 to represent the skins of beasts that were employed 

 for the furring, doubling, and lining of robes and 

 garments of state ; whence they have been transferred 

 to the coat armours themselves. The two principal 

 furrs are ermine and vair. Ermine is represented by 

 a white field powdered, or seme, of black spots. 

 When the field is black with white spots it is deno- 

 minated ermines, to which may be added other varie- 

 ties, as erminois, a field or, with black spots ; pean, a 

 black field with white spots, or, &c. Vair is always 

 composed of argent and azure, represented by figures 

 of small escutcheons, ranged in a line, so that the 

 base argent is opposite to the base azure. When the 

 l>ells or cups of the same colour are placed base 

 against base and point against point, it is called 

 countervair ; and when the pieces of vair be of other 

 tinctures, they are denominated vairy, as vairy of 

 gules and or. To these two principal furrs may be 

 added a third, called potent. Potent, otherwise 

 called counterpotent, is a sort of furr, which derives 

 its name from the resemblance which the figures bear 

 to crutch-heads, called patents, counterplaced. See 

 elate 44. 



Lines. Lines serve to divide the shield into dif- 

 ferent parts, and are denominated either crooked 

 lines or partition lines. Crooked lines serve to differ- 

 ence bearings, and are distinguished into the Ingrailed, 

 Invecked, Wavy, Nebule, Imbattled, Raguly, In- 

 dented, Dancette, Dove-Tail; ingrailed, is a line 

 consisting of semicircles with the points turned up- 

 wards ; invecked, is a line of semicircles with the 

 points turned downwards ; wavy, a line formed after 

 the manner of waves ; nebule, so called because it 

 represents a cloud; imbattled, or crenelle, is the 

 name of a line which represents the battlements of a 

 castle ; raguly, represents the trunk of a tree with 

 its branches cut off; indented, represents the teeth 

 of a saw ; dancette differs from the former by having 

 the teeth deeper ; dove-tail, a line which resembles 

 the dove-tail joints of the joiners. 



Partition Lines.' Partition lines are such as divide 

 the shield into two or more parts, which are dis- 

 tinguished into party per pale, when the field is 



divided by a perpendicular line ; party per fesse, 

 when the field is equally divided by a horizontal line ; 

 party per bend, a field divided by a diagonal line from 

 the dexter chief to the sinister base ; party per chev- 

 ron, is a field divided by two half diagonal lines 

 rising from the dexter and sinister base flanks, and 

 meeting in the collar point of the field ; party per 

 cross, or quarterly, is when the field is divided by two 

 lines, one perpendicular and one horizontal ; party 

 per saltire, is when the two partition lines, party per 

 bend, dexter and sinister, meet in the centre of the 

 field. See plate 44, for representations of all these. 

 Figures. Figures are the next essential parts of 

 armories, which are to be divided into Ordinaries, 

 Charges, and Differences. 



Ordinaries. Ordinaries are figures so called, be- 

 cause they are in ordinary use in this science. They 

 are otherwise called proper figures, because they are 

 proper to the heraldic art. They are distinguished 

 into honourable ordinaries and sub-ordinaries, or less 

 honourable ordinaries. 



Honourable Ordinaries. Honourable ordinaries, 

 otherwise called simply ordinaries, are so named be- 

 cause they are often given by emperors, kings, and 

 princes, as additions of honour to armorial bearings. 

 They are nine in number, namely, the Chief, Pale, 

 Bend, Bend Sinister, Fesse, Bar, Chevron, Cross, 

 and Saltire. See plate 44. 



Chief. The chief is formed by a horizontal line, 

 and contains in depth the third of the upper part of 

 the field, " argent a chief gules." By one of the 

 rules of blazon, when a chief is in a coat of arms it 

 is the last thing to be mentioned, except when it is 

 surrounded with a bordure. When the chief is 

 charged with any figure, this is said in blazon to be 

 on a chief ; but when natural and artificial things are 

 placed in the upper part of the shield, in the place 

 of the chief, they are said to be in chief. The chief 

 is formed of crooked as well as straight lines, and is 

 therefore distinguished into the chief crenelle, chief 

 dancette, &c. 



Pale. The pale occupies the third middle part of 

 the field perpendicularly. The pale is charged with 

 things which are said to be on a pale ; and when 

 things are borne perpendicularly one above another 

 in the centre of the shield, they are said to be in 

 pale. The pale has two diminutives, namely, the 

 pallet, which is the half of the pale ; and the endorse, 

 which is the fourth of the pallet ; and when the field 

 is divided into four or more even parts, by perpendi- 

 cular lines of two different tinctures interchangeably 

 disposed, it is said to be paly of so many pieces. 



Bend. The bend is an ordinary drawn diagonally 

 from the dexter chief to the sinister base, in the form 

 of a belt, and occupies the third of the field. A bend 

 is said to surmount when it lies over other ordinaries 

 or other figures, keeping its just length or breadth; 

 and things are said to be on a bend when the bend is 

 charged with them ; in bend, and bendways, when 

 they are situated after the manner of a bend. The 

 bend is said to be subject to all the accidental forms 

 of lines, and has three diminutives, namely, the gar- 

 ter, which is half the bend ; the cost, or cottise, which 

 is half the garter ; and the ribbon, which is half the 

 cost. When the field contains more than one bend, 

 they are not called bends, but bendlets, or more gene- 

 rally bendy, of so many pieces; and when opposite 

 to one another in metal and colour, they are said to 

 be counter-changed. 



Bend Sinister. The Bend Sinister, which is the 

 bar of the French, is the same in form as the bend or 

 the bend dexter, but it is drawn across the field from 

 the sinister chief to the dexter base. The bend sinis- 

 ter is divided into the scarpe, or scarf e, which contains 

 the half of the bend, and the batune, which is a fourth 



