‘was not fully established until the reign of King 
Pa Ties for tein the instances of the last Earls of 
Chester, the two De Quinceys Earls of Winchester, 
‘and the two Laiceys Earls of Lincoln, the arms of the fa- 
ther still varied from those of the son.” Sir Henry Spel- 
man is of opinion, that arms are: of a yet more m 
th in England, and says, “ theres little reason to 
be confident in matters i and arms much be- 
yond: four hundred years,’”’*adding, ‘ that he has: his 
doubts as to their being entitled even to that antiquity. 
— ‘Wescio an ea pirorsis antiquitate.” The period of their 
introduction into Scotland, must of course have been 
. ‘Nearly the sameé-with that of their first practice in. Eng- 
3x , a | . ni ae, 
land; ") ; 
of 17, The custom being once fairly introduced, it is by 
‘no means difficult to see from what causes the great ya- 
riety of the figures of heraldry must have arisen. Great 
events, or illustrious actions ; the peculiarities. of local 
situation; the partialities for particular employments, 
offices, dignities, and therspirit of devetion; the nature 
of fiefs, and the vestiges of ancient devices, factions, pi 
a tournaments, must all have suggested to 
indivi the bearings which they adopted. Nothing, 
however, appears to have given occasion to more armo- 
rial ensigns, than the names. of persons or of families. 
Th every nation of Europe the effects of this practice 
are still abundantly apparent; yet we have no doubt the 
evidence would have been infinitely more. striking. but 
for the many changes, which have’ taken :place in the 
names of families since the fixing of their arms... Many 
authors, it is true, treat with ridicule arms of this sort ; 
but it is sufficient’ to observe, that Spelman, -Menes- 
trier, and Gebelin are ofa different opinion. The last in- 
deed expressly says, that he has no doubt the armes’par- 
Jantes are the most ancient of all.’ The original.bear- 
ers of these arms, it is probable, thought their names so 
illustrious; that they .could. adopt-mo better means of 
making themselves known than devices, which would 
suggest these names to the beholder... Accustomed as 
they were to shout their names in combat, and hear 
them proclaimed at the tournament, it was a very natu- 
ral thing to paint them on their surtouts, their shields, 
and the ca ms of their horses.. There are very few 
families, whose names retain any meaning, which have 
not framed to themselves arms:in some respect alluding 
to that signification. The instances of arms of this kind 
in our books of heraldry are:innumerable/ . The Bol- 
lens, in allusion to the first syllable of their name, carry 
argent a chevron gules:between $ bulls heads sable, os 
Adrian IV. (whose proper name was Nicolas:Break- 
speare,) bore gules a lance broken-argent» The illus- 
: _ trious, family of the Lamberts bear 3 lambs argent; 
"and the practice is eqially evident in: the bearings of 
“~~ the Lovets, the Bores, the Swineys; the Swintons, the 
Swallows, ithe Giifins; the, Metcalf, and the Starkeys ; 
of Bowes, Cockayne, Dove; Askew,:Arondel, Ravens- 
croft, Bulkley} Heron, Beeston, Bird, Horsey, Cheval, 
“Colt, Capraville; Quatremains, Borlase; Troutbee, and 
Godolphin. In France, the names of Ailly, »Mailly, 
fort; De la Tour, Dé Pontevez, De Porcelet, and. De 
Retel, are among the most distinguished of the king» 
dom.. | Nor are; their: bearings: a whit, more significant 
than those of the great Italian families of Colonna, Ur- 
sini, Frangipani, Anguillara, Sanctacruce, Spinola, Ci- 
cala, Barbarigo, Negroni, &c. or of the Spanish houses, 
of Luna, Solis, Zapata, Acuna, Quixada, Torres, and 
‘Cardona. - ‘ i 
There are several ways in which’arms may bear a 
HERALDRY. 
Crequy, Rubempré; Castelnau, Chabot, Gougeux, Haute- - 
717 
relation to names, 1st, By the simple cypher or initial 
letter of the name ; as is faiesie thrcmen od —— 
towns on ‘the continent, and of the families of Monte- 
negro in Spain, who bear an M ‘crowned, and Awens- 
berg in Germany, who bear an A, &¢. 2d, By the re- 
presentation of ms IE either natural or artificial, which 
express the sound of the name: as’ the ancient sove- 
reigns of Dauphiny and Auvergne bore a dolphin on 
their shield; the city of Lyons a lion; that of Berne a 
bear, &c. 3d, By things which have some likeness to the 
name ; as the Chevriers, who bear a cheveron; the 
Gouviers, who carry a wolf’s head, &c. 4th, By things 
which have some relation to the signification of the 
name; as Archer, who carries three arrows’; Falconer, 
falcons ; Diane, a crescent ; RippELL, ears of rye. The 
family of Law in Scotland have a cock in their arms, in 
allusion to the common method of expressing the cry 
of that bird among the Scotch, « Cocky-lgery-Law?” 
5th, There are arms which express the name by way of 
rebus ; as Richarmes,: three casques crested with crés- 
rome or; Gantelmi at Naples, a glove and:a helmet, 
(+ See i 
Many of these allusions are very far-fetched and ab- 
surd ; perhaps none more exquisitely so than that of 
‘ the Paravasini in the country of the Grisons, who bear 
a goose, because, says Menestrier, that bird has “some 
resemblance to a swan par avis Cycno.” It is worthy 
of remark, that long before the science of heraldry ex- 
isted, the ancients, in their marks and devices, affected 
this sort of resemblance of figutes to names. ‘Thus the 
reverse of a medal of L. Aquilius Florus bears a flower ; 
the Rhodians had a rose on their coins; and the Del- 
phians.a dolphin. On the medalsof| Voconius Vitulus 
we see a calf; on those of L. Thorius Balbus a bull; 
and a man’s foot on those of L. Turius Crassipes: 
18. To commemorate any events of a marvellous and From-re- 
unexpected nature, is another very common object of ar- ™arkable 
morial bearings. There is no’ point, however, connected *'*™*> 
with heraldie pursuits, in the investigation of which 
we must advance with greater caution than-here. The 
absurd vanity-of particular families bas’ been the foun- 
dation-of so many idle: inventions, that it is difficult to 
avoid classing with these matters of a very different 
nature. As an instance of the species of arms to which 
I now allude, it is sufficient to mention the three birds 
of Lorraine, which are said: to take their rise from the 
circumstance of Godfrey de Bouillon’s’ stringing three 
birds on one arrow.. Important discoveries and illus- 
trious actions have been in. all times celebrated in the 
same manner. Thus»after: Columbus had returned to 
Spain from the discovery of the new world, he was al- 
lowed by. Ferdinand and Isabella to bear under a 
chappé of the arms of Castille and. Leon, in a sea of 
Argent and. Azure five isles’ or with the motto; A 
Castilla y a Leone Mundo nuevo dio Colon ;” which 
bearings still remain with his descendants of the houses 
of Veragua and Xamayca. 
The Maid of Orleans, whem she took arms against 
the English, carried, on her banner a sword surmounts 
ed by a crown... This, with the addition»of a fleur-de- 
lys, the king of France afterwards, assigned»as arms to 
her brothers, who were ennobled, by letters: patent in 
the year 1429, and took.the name of du Lys. The 
house of Colonna, in Italy, have around their shield 
the 14 standards taken from the Turks in the famous 
battle of Lepanto._ by Marco Antonio Colonna, Gene- 
ral of the forces of the Pope. The Douglasses of Scot- 
land: bear a bloody heart crowned with a royal crown, 
in memory of the good Sir James Douglas, who died 
