32 THE GENTLE ART OF BLAZON 



display of two crests or more. When a man assumes 

 the name and arms of another family, as a condition of 

 inheriting property or acquiring it by marriage, he is 

 under no obligation to take the crest also. Crests, like 

 supporters, are merely exterior ornaments of the 

 escutcheon, and to require a gentleman to carry two 

 crests is as unreasonable as to force him to wear two 

 hats. One may almost imagine a knight forfeiting 

 his reputation for courage through being late for the 

 lists, owing to inability to make up his mind which 

 crest he would wear that day, hesitating, let us say, 

 between a crocodile and a popinjay. 



Supporters are another form of exterior ornament 

 which came into general use at a later date than crests, 

 and have acquired in popular estimation a measure of 

 respect which is due to the escutcheon alone. It is no 

 use grumbling now; but the fact is that the intro- 

 duction of supporters marked a decadent stage in 

 heraldry, which, in its purest form, made the escutcheon 

 tell all that the science professes to convey. The shield 

 was an integral part of operative armour ; even the 

 crest could be, and was, displayed on active service; 

 but for supporters there never was any use, except to 

 enhance the splendour of a knight's shield as it hung 

 upon the barrier at the beginning of a tournament. 

 By modern usage, supporters have been decreed 

 necessary adjuncts to the dignity of a peer, and the 

 right of certain commoners to display them has been 

 recognised ; but, as Sir George Mackenzie observed in 

 his System of Heraldry (1680), 'they owe these to 

 prescription, and not to the original institution of 



