if dispersed ; but they are at present consi- 
dered as a mere ornament. The crest is fre- 
quently a part either of the supporters, or of 
the charge borne in the escutcheon. Thus 
the crest of the royal achievement of Great 
Britain is a “ lion guardant crown’d.” See 
Plate II. There are several instances of 
crests that are relative to alliances, employ- 
ments, or names ; and which on that account 
have been changed. 
The scroll and supporters. — The scroll is 
the ornament usually placed below the crest, 
containing a motto, or short sentence, al- 
luding thereto, or to the bearings, or to the 
bearer’s name, as in the two following in- 
stances. The motto of the noble earl of 
Cholmondeley Is, “ Cassis tutissima virtus;” 
i. e. “ Virtue is the safest helmet;” on ac- 
count of the helmet in the coat of arms. The 
motto of the right hon. lord Fortescue is, 
‘‘Forte scutum sal us ducum i. e. “A 
strong shield is the safety of the command- 
ers ;” alluding to the name of that antient fa- 
mily. Sometimes it has reference to neither, 
but expresses something divine or heroic ; as 
that of the earl of Scarborough, which is, 
“Minus sereus conscientia sana; i. e. “ A i 
good conscience is a wall of brass.” Others 
are aenigmatical ; as that of the royal achieve- 
ment, which is, “ Dieu et mon droit i. e. 
“God and my right;” introduced by Ed- 
ward 111. in 1340, when he assumed the arms 
and title of king of France, and began to 
prosecute his claim, which occasioned long 
and bloody wars, fatal, by turns, to both 
kingdoms. Mottos, though hereditary in 
, the families that first took them up, have been 
changed on some particular occasions, and 
ethers appropriated in their stead, instances 
of which are sometimes met with in the his- 
tory of families. 
Supporters are figures standing on a scroll, 
and placed at the side of the escutcheon ; 
they are so called because they seem to sup- 
port or hold up the shield. Supporters have 
formerly been taken from such animals or 
birds as are borne in the shields, and some- 
times they have been chosen as bearing some 
allusion to the names of those whose arms 
they are made to support The supporters 
of the arms of Great Britain, since king 
James the First’s accession to the throne, are, 
a lion rampant guardant crowned of, on the 
dexter side, and an unicorn argent, crowned, 
armed, unguled, maned and gorged with an 
antique crown, to which a chain is affixed, all 
or, on the sinister. See Plate II. 
It is to be observed, that bearing coats of 
arms supported, is, according to the heraldic 
rules of England, the prerogative, 1st, Of 
those called nobiles majores, viz. dukes, mar- 
quisses, earls, viscounts, and barons; 2d, Of 
all knights of the garter, though they should 
be under the degree of barons ; 3d, Of knights 
of the Bath, who both receive on their crea- 
tion a grant of supporters ; and, lastly, of 
such knights as the king chooses to bestow 
this honour upon. 
Of the laws of heraldry, and the method 
of marshalling coats of arms. — 1. The 
first and most general rule is, to express 
heraldic distinctions in proper terms, so as not 
to omit anything that ought to be specified, 
and at the same time to be clear and concise 
without tautology. 2. Begin with the tincture 
of the field, and then proceed to the princi- 
pal charges which possess the most iionour- 
HERAEDRY. 
able place in the shield, such as fess, cheve- 
ron, &c. always naming that charge first 
which lies next and immediately upon the 
field. 3. After naming the tincture of the 
field, the honourable ordinaries, or other 
principal figures, you must specify their attri- 
butes, and afterwards their metal or colour. 
4. When an honourable ordinary, or some 
one figure, is placed upon another, whether it 
be a fess, cheveron, cross, &e. it is always to 
be named after the ordinary or figure over 
which it is placed, with one of these expres- 
sions, surtout, or over all. 3. In the blazon- 
ing of such ordinaries as are plain, the bare 
mention of them is sufficient ; but if an or^ 
dinary should be made of any of the crooked 
lines mentioned above, its form must be spe- 
cified ; that is, whether it be engrailed, wavy, 
&c. 6. When a principal figure possesses 
the centre of the field, its position is not to be 
expressed, or -(which amounts to the same 
thing) when a bearing, is named, without spe- 
cifying the point where it is placed, then it is 
understood to possess the middle of the shield. 
7. The number of the points of mullets or 
stars must be specified when more than five; 
and also if a mullet or any other charge be 
pierced, it must be mentioned as such, to 
distinguish it from what is plain. 8. When a 
ray of the sun, or other single figure, is borne 
in any other part of the escutcheon than the 
centre, the point it issues from must be 
named. Q. The natural colour of trees, 
plants, fruits, birds, &c. is no otherwise to 
be expressed in blazoning but by the word 
proper ; but if discoloured, that is, if they 
differ from their natural colour, it must be 
particularized. 10. When three figures are 
in a field, and their position is not mentioned 
in the blazoning, they are always understood 
to be placed two above, and one below. 1 1 . 
When there are many figures of the same 
species borne in a coat of arms, their number 
must be observed as they stand, and must be 
distinctly expressed. 
By marshalling coats of arms is to be under- 
stood the art of disposing divers of them in 
one escutcheon, and of distributing their con- 
tingent ornaments in proper places. Various 
causes may occasion arms to be thus conjoin- 
ed, which are comprised under two heads, 
viz. manifest and obscure. What is meant 
by manifest causes in the marshalling of coats 
of arms, are such as betoken marriages, or 
a sovereign’s gift, granted either through the 
special favour of the prince, or for some emi» 
nent services. Concerning marriages it is to 
be observed, 
1. When the coats of arms of a married 
couple, descended of distinct families, are to 
be put together in one escutcheon, the field 
of their respective arms is conjoined pale- 
ways, and blazoned parted per bale, baron 
and femme, two coats ; first, & c. In which 
case the baron’s arms are always to be placed 
on the dexter side, and the femme’s arms on 
the sinister side. 
2. If a widower marry again, his late and 
present wife’s arms are “ to be placed on the 
sinister side, in the escutcheon with his own, 
and parted per pale. The first wife’s coat 
shall stand on the chief, and the second on 
the base ; or he may set them both in pale 
with his own, the firsts wife’s coat next to 
himself, and his second outermost. If he 
should marry a third wife, then the two first 
matches sliall stand on the chief, and the 
911 
third shall have the whole base. And if he 
take a fourth wife, she must participate one- 
half of the base with the third wife, and so 
will they seem to be so many coats quarter- 
ed.” But it must be observed that these 
forms of impaling are meant of hereditary 
coats, whereby the husband stands in expec- 
tation of having the hereditary possessions of 
his wife united to his patrimony. Note. If a 
man marry a widow, he marshals her maiden 
arms only. 
3. In tiie arms of femmes joined to the pa- 
ternal coat of' the baron, the proper differ- 
ences by which they were borne by the fa- 
thers of such-women must be inserted. 
4. If a coat of arms that has a bordure be 
impaled with another, as b.y marriage, then 
the bordure must be wholly omitted in the 
side of the arms next the centre. 
5. The person that marries an heiress, in- 
stead of impaling his arms with those of his 
wife, is to bear them in an escutcheon placed 
in the centre of his shield, which, on account 
of its showing forth his pretension to her 
estate, is called an escutcheon of pretence, and 
is blazoned Surtout, that is, over-all. But 
the children are to bear the hereditary coat 
of arms of their father and mother quarterly, 
which denotes a fixed inheritance, and so 
transmit them to posterity. The first and 
fourth quarters generally contain the father’s 
arms, and the second and third the mother’s; 
"except the heirs should derive not only their 
estate, but also their title and dignity, from 
their mother. 
6. If a maiden or dowager lady of quality 
marry a commoner, or a nobleman inferior to 
her in rank, their coats of arms may be set 
beside one another, in two separate escut- 
cheons, upon one mantle or drapery, and the 
lady’s arms ornamented according to her title. 
See Plate II. 
7. Archbishops and bishops impale their 
arms differently from the fore-mentioned 
coats, in giving the place of honour, that is, 
the dexter side, to the arms of their dignity, 
as it is expressed in Plate I. which represents 
the coat of arms of a supposed archbishop of' 
Canterbury and bishop of an English see. 
With respect to such armorial ensigns as 
the sovereign thinks fit to augment a coat of 
arms with, they may be marshalled in various 
ways, as may be seen in the arms of his grace 
the duke of Rutland, and many others. 
So far the causes for marshalling divers 
arms in one shield, &c. are manifest. As to 
such as are called obscure, that is, when 
coats of arms are marshalled in such a man- 
ner that no probable reason can be given why 
they are so conjoined, the explanation of 
them must be left to the heralds. 
Of the orders of knighthood, fyc. — The 
baronet’s mark of distinction, or the arms of 
the province of Ulster in Ireland, granted 
and made hereditary in the male line by king 
James I. who erected this dignity on the 22d 
of May, 16 1 1, in the 9th year of his reign, in 
order to propagate a plantation in the fore- 
mentionecl province. This mark is argent* 
a sinister hand couped at the wrist, and 
erected gules ; which may be borne either 
in a canton, or in an escutcheon, as will 
best suit the figures of the arms. The 
antient and respectable badge of the most 
noble order of the garter, was instituted by 
king Edward III. 1349, in the 27th year oi 
his reign. This honourable augmentation iv 
