38 THE GENTLE ABT OF BLAZON 



blossomed beside the annulets of Eglinton. Another 

 such shield is that of the Earls of Morton, where 

 the paternal heart and stars of Douglas are quartered 

 with the ancient bearings of Douglas of Lochleven. 

 But, as a rule, the inheritor of established armorial 

 bearings should be as jealous of any addition thereto 

 as of any infringement upon them. 



It would contribute much to the beauty and effect- 

 iveness of certain shields of arms were the owners to 

 apply for fresh patents reducing the number of quarter- 

 ings prescribed at a time when heraldry had become 

 sorely corrupted. The Duke of Richmond and Gordon's 

 arms offer a case in point. His shield displays no fewer 

 than thirty quarters, the arms of England and France 

 being repeated eight times, those of Scotland, Ireland, 

 d'Aubigny, Gordon, Badenoch, Seton, and Fraser each 

 twice. Assuming that it is desirable to proclaim all 

 these alliances upon a single shield or banner, the 

 quarters should be rearranged so that none might 

 appear more than twice. Even so, in days when 

 heraldry was an operative part of the national military 

 scheme, such complex bearings must have led to 

 frequent confusion, so difficult would it have been to 

 establish the identity of any knight riding into the 

 lists or leading his contingent in the Sovereign's army. 



Let two points be recorded to the credit of Garter 

 and the Heralds' College. They removed the arms of 

 France from the shield of the British Sovereign (though 

 not until two hundred years after these had ceased to 

 represent any real power or property), and they have 

 wisely refused to listen to meddlesome persons who 



