386 [Proc. B.N.F.C, 



through the air above the noise and din of battle, was the 

 inspiriting sound shouted from many lusty throats, urging each 

 other on to victory. 



A recent writer says that " heraldry is the last remnant of 

 ancient symbolism, and a legitimate branch of the Christian 

 art ; the griffins and unicorns, fesses and chevrons, the very 

 tinctures are all symbolical ; each has its mystic meaning singly 

 or in combination, and thus every old coat-of-arms preaches a 

 lesson of chivalric honour and Christian principle to all who 

 inherit it." Arms were assumed or granted to commemorate 

 some notable or heroic deed performed in the service of the 

 Sovereign or the State, in the battle-field or in the defence of a 

 fortress ; in later times in reward of some signal service, warlike 

 or statesmanlike. All orders of the nobility, the greater and 

 lesser gentry, eagerly sought these coveted distinctions, which 

 were afterwards enrolled by officers appointed by the State. 

 The right to wear coat armour was guarded by most stringent 

 rules; and only the well-born, or those who could prove their 

 descent for at least four generations of reputable ancestors, could 

 hope to be considered " gentlemen of coat armour." The rise 

 of the great middle class in these countries has to a great extent 

 revolutionised the antique notion of pure blood, and to be " the 

 ancestor" very many would consider greater glory than to be 

 the descendant ot the longest line of titled mediocrities. 

 Ignorance should not exist in this enlightened age with reference 

 to a subject so intimately connected with the history of our 

 country. Are not the lion of England, the red cross banner of 

 St. George, the white and red roses, the shamrock of Ireland, 

 and Scotia's barbed thistle of interest to all ? Do not the plays 

 of Shakspere, the words of Scott and other eminent writers 

 abound in heraldic allusions, while to the student of history an 

 acquaintance with the subject of heraldry is a necessity, for, as 

 Victor Hugo remarks, " The whole history of the second half of 

 the middle ages is written in blazon." 



But the great purpose for which heraldry was called into 

 being — the display of personal insignia by the leaders of armies 



