~~ ed from the treatise of 
Of the External Ornaments of the Shield. 
ages, a is quot- 
King René of jou, in which 
ie a. ge Li to tilt at any tournament, are 
required to make display of their coats of arms some 
days before the lists are 
crests, and other marks of their condition or dignity. 
In the MS. treatise of John Caxton, preserved in the 
Advocates Library of Edinburgh, it is said, that «no 
man shall wear his cognisaunce on a close basnet, except 
he has carried arms within the lists and barriers of mi- 
litary exercises.” From these and many 
others of a like nature in the old authors, it seems rea- 
sonable to conclude, that after the bearing of shields 
had begun to be common in Europe, the great nobility 
and , entitled by their descent to partake in the 
courtly tournaments of the times, were willing to adopt 
some method of distinguishing themselves from the 
herd of those who bore coat-armour, and for this pur- 
pose introduced the practice of adorning their shields 
on seals, &c. with a representation of those helmets, 
crests, and other articles of apparel, which they were 
themselves accustomed to wear upon those solemn oc- 
casions, and to which those of humbler birth could, it 
was believed, make no pretension. In process of time 
the example of these A saree nobles was imitated by 
others, who thought ves entitled to equal re- 
spect, although for different causes. Civil rulers adorn- 
their shields with coronets, consular capes, batons, 
and such like signs of dignity ; and. the churchmen were 
not slow to make the same parade of the symbols of 
their office. The Papal tiara, the cardinal’s hat, the 
triarch’s cross, the mitre, the crosier, and the keys of 
it Peter, were associated in strange union with the fa- 
mily emblems of worldly honour and advantage, such 
as a free feu, a feat of chivalry, or a wealthy marriage. 
Of the Helmet. 
36. This ornament in heraldic representations has 
many varieties of matter, form, and situation. 
In Germany, by an imperial edict, helmets of gold 
delong to sovereign princes, of silver to the high nobi- 
lity, and of steel to gentlemen. 
The French heralds have settled every thing respect- 
ing helmets ing to these rules. 
he helmets of emperers and kings are all of gold 
damasked fronting, ((arre de front,) open without feet 
or vizor, 
Dukes, marquisses, and counts, have silver helmets, 
damasked with gold, fronting with nine bars, grille et 
mise de front: 
Viscounts, barons, and knights, have silver helmets, 
with gold edges in profile, with seven bars. 
.» Esquires have helmets in profile, with five bars in 
the vizor. 
Gentlemen of three descents, a helmet in profile, 
with three bars, 
The English and Seots have their helmets somewhat 
different. 3 
A leman, or esquire, has his in-profile close. 
A knight has a full-faced steel helmet open. 
Earls, viscounts, and barons, have profile steel hel- 
- mets, with gold bars, &e: 2 
* Here take thy lover's token on thy pate. 
‘+ Had Mr Campbell been acquainted with Heraldry, he would never 
opened, with their helmets, - 
731 
Dukes and marquisses. have the’ full-faced helmet of 
steel, with five bars of gold. 
i al, have the 
The , and princes of the blood- 
full-faced helmet, with six bars, all of gold damasked. 
Of the Ornaments of the Helmet. 
87. The MANTLING, LAMBREQUIN, HELM-DECKEN, or 
voLet, is probably a-representation of the hood or co- 
vering, intended for 
and its ragged form 
integument must have sustained in battle. 
CCXCIII. Fig. 11.) These ornaments are cal 
ments, from the Italian azzimare, (caput ornare,) or in- 
gemmare, 
In the “aaeed of Picardy, achemer une 
see, is still used for to arrange the bride's head 
The Lambrequin seems, in old times, to have been or- 
namented with ‘the bearings of the wearer, for King 
René speaks of it as “ armoyé des armes de celui qui le 
portera;” even at present it is generally of the tincture of 
the field, in foreign heraldry. Behind the shield itself 
— the manteau, mantle, or cloak, in Latin ch s. 
In this-country the mantles of gentlemen and knights 
are red without and white within. Those of the es 
red, doubled up with rows of ermine, ing to their 
degrees. The king’s mantle is of gold, lined’ with 
ermine, 
Of the Wreath, &e. 
38. Menestrier, speaking of this ornament, says, “ that 
some hundred years ago the French nobility used gar- 
lands of twisted silk, with which they kept fast on 
their heads their hoods or capes, as may be'seen in the 
pictures of the old Dukes of Burgundy,” &c. These 
wreaths were commonly of the colours of the lady* of 
the bearer, The wreath is now always of the colour of 
the shield. See Plate CCXCIIL, Fig, 12. 
Of the Crest or Cimier. (See Fig. 13.) 
very early in use among the Greeks or Romans. Af- 
ter its introduction among the moderns, the use of it 
was long restricted to sovereign princes and mili 
commanders.. But in imitation of King Edward III. 
(the first English prince who wore a crest, ) the knights 
of the garter, and afterwards, by degrees, all the bear- 
ers.of coat armour crests. The crest is first 
seen ona seal.of Philip Earl of Flanders in the year 
1101.+ 
Though crests are hereditary, yet.a greater latitude 
is allowed respecting them than any of the essential 
parts of armoury. They are looked upon somewhat in 
the nature of devices, and accordingly are varied by the 
ice; of individuals, so,that the sons of the same fa- 
ly often wear different crests. 
Of the Motto, Cry of War, and’ Device. 
40. The Motto isa short sentenceplaced ina scroll above 
the crest, very often allusive to it, or to some part of 
the bearings. If it alludes to the crest, the two toge- 
ther form what is called a complete device ; as in the 
case of Stewart, Earl of Galloway; the crest a pelican 
vulnered feeding her ; the motto “ virescit vulnere 
virtus.” Tee te ot has for crest a hand 
SPENSER, Fairy Queen, I, 6. 47, 
ve written 
But he, her loved-one, bore in Frecp 
«i meaner crest upon his sitELD, 
O’Connor’s CHILD, 
—- the helmet. in rain, &c. 
lerived from the cuts which that p; .7, 
See Plate ccxctit 
hache- ig. 11. 
Fig. 12. 
$9. This ornament of the helmet seems to have been pig. 13 
