90 Arms of the Royal Burgh of Sanquhar. 



correctly, a gonfanon — with the burgh arms thereon, the 

 Ensign carried a spear busked with thistles. 



On our coat of arms as depicted on the pipers' banner 

 the thistle is emblazoned proper, that is, the colouring is 

 according to nature. On this banner the thistle sits upon 

 a wreath placed immediately above the shield. According to 

 the chief heraldic authority of the present day, the Lord 

 Lyon, this is hardly correct. " The wreath," he says, " on 

 which a crest is placed represents the twisted pellet of silk 

 which supported it, and which was itself laced into the 

 helmet. A crest then, strictly speaking, should never 

 appear without a helmet on which it is placed." I notice 

 that in Nisbet's System of Heraldry — and Nisbet has been 

 well termed " the ablest and most scientific writer of heraldry 

 in the English language " — all the representations of arms 

 show the crest placed on the top of a helmet. The helmet 

 differs according to the rank and status of the person bear- 

 ing the arms. The wreath should always be represented 

 by a metal and a colour, being the principal metal and prin- 

 cipal colour which appear in the coat of arms. In the case 

 of Sanquhar the wreath is appropriately represented as blue 

 and white. 



The Motto. 



No writing appears on the burgh arms as represented 

 by the common seal of the burgh except the legend 

 *' Sigillium commune Burgi de Sanquhar." In the older 

 seals the wording is in English. In the blazon as given by 

 the Marquis of Bute there is no mention made of any motto. 



In the late Mr. Wilson's book. Folklore and Genealogies 

 of Uppermost Nithsdale, there is given (page 247) a descrip- 

 tion of the "Arms of the Royal Burgh of Sanquhar." The last 

 paragraph of that description reads as follows : — " No motto 

 appears upon the seal of the burgh but upon the flag of the 

 ' five incorporated trades of Sanquhar,' in the possession of 

 the writer, and upon which are emblazoned the burgh arms 

 surrounded by a wreath of thistles there is given the proud 

 legend, Scotland's national motto, ' Nemo me impune 

 lacessit. ' " 



