ROYAL HERALDRY

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 54, 5 March 1927, Page 18

ROYAL HERALDRY

ABJIOBIAL BEARINGS OF DUKE AND DUCHESS OF YORK .X COMBINED COAT OF ARMS Heraldry, which reduces symbolism to an exact science, is a very fascinating subject, both on account of its picturesque designs, colours, and archaic language, and of the interest to be derived from tracing tlie relation between eac' emblematic variation in a coat of arms and the facts of history or geneology which it represents. The occasion of the marriage of the King's second son with a daughter of ■ an ancient house of the Scoti tish nobility provided the heraldic experts with an unequalled opportunity for exercising their skill. The significance of the armorial . bearings of the Duke and Duchess of York, both before and after their marriage, is explained in the following article by Mr* 0. A. h; Franklin, a well-known authority on the subject of heraldry, published in the . "Illustrated London News," it the time of their marriage. He points out that-many details which might escape the ordinary observer—as, for instance,'the "puns" in the 1 Bowes-Lyon arms, the fact that the Sovereign's children do not inherit arms automatically, but have them specially, gTantedj. and. the restriction of maiden ladies to the use of their father's arms on a "lozenge," without military" accessories, be"cause "anciently ladies' did not - _ take-part in battle or -in-touma- . ments." Armorial arms are the outward and visible, sign of nobility; that is, here- ■_.■'.' ditary. gentility. The. sole criterion of is the lawful bearing of arms, '.'*'' .'and every .man who is lawfully entitled ■l-ii.io. bear arms is a "nobleman," being "'j, nobilis,:or known. The possession of a ?; „:iitle: .aloae • does .not make.:a man i. '{a. vnoblemap..: The nobility of Great >■';,.Britain, 1 as. in alEothers in Christendom y-r. that possess a Sovereign, is divided up -"into nobilis maiores (peers) and nobilis '". -• -;minores : (baronets, knights, esquires, 1,'"~ anfl "gentlemen, of- coat-armour).

■■ ;£;<■-. -The children of the Sovereign are the -■■„-■-only--membors of an English, Irish, or ■/;■■' Welsh- armigerous family that do not .'vv -inherit arms automatically. That is be•V,;-> l-eause the.Royal Arms are arms-of do-tfJ-'-wM&im,' The Sovereign-bears the Royal ■k*. ;--^rasj;which are standard, the present '.;,' --ones'having remained constant since the accession - of- her late -Majesty Queen Victoria (when the ineseutcheon of Hanover was removed, owing to the .v-;." .Salic Law);, no" child or grandchild of W^.jtlie reigning .monarch.may uear arms o-^,'/until a Royal""Warrant has been issued >i'^ ;.I|6. each, one, defining what those arms •I- , I.'-shall/ be. ■'." The' arms . granted 'always •:":,-;"."tak ; .e;the "form of a "differenced" vor- "?£.■",,'" .sion.'of! the.Royal Arms," which .arc then ;::.;.'■.. recorded in.H.SI. College of Arms, Lon- "• .".^...dbn," in accordance with the wording, of ;;:.:;/the. "Warrant. ' . "";." THE DUKE OF YORK. -;5..- The armorial bearings granted to ' ; :.Ci.\^S.S.H,::.the Duke of York (which arc \'i-' !:nfire.;; shown) consist of "the- Eoyal ■•;;>:■■ Arms, "differenced -by -a label of three "'"-';' ■;• points argent, the centre point charged , ; i'.. -/.with- an anchor azure. For a crest he j/ c c;Beareth,,.oil. a. coronet .composed of .''.^"'^fleurl-de-lis.'and - crosses patco, ■ a lion f..''.".'^sfataht guardant or, crowned with a "vj'".;li)se 'coronet,"and differenced with ■ a ;;; i'laber as', in the arms. For supporters, '-;',.." .■'•'■fcfie 'Royal supporters, differenced with [":";'. ".like."coronet and label." S- :; .'plain "language, this practically ..j'.'..: amounts to.the arms as borne by H.M. ;,"" ;'the King; but'the shield, crest, and sup--vj-i porters" are marked with a silver bar .with.three tags, the centre tag.bearing 'J, ...a little blue "anchor (doubtless'in allur "."": Vsi.dn. to his naval training); and instead

.of the King's crown, lie bears the coro.not" s .of'a'"younger son of the Sovereign •: As ho is. a E.G., ;the shield-.is encircled .-jby a- representation of the Garter the -- hplder, wears—a. belt of dark blue velvet, edged with gold, ornamented with j-.a..hoavy goMJjuckle, and hearing in gold letters of plain Roman character tho-motto of that most - noble order: Honi soit gui nial y pense."

■ THE DUCHESS OF YORK. : ; The Duchess of York, before she was ; married, was known as the Lady Eliza- ; beth Bowes-Lynn, and derived her arms '.- (which are also hero shown) from her ' . : father, the Earl of Strathmore and ;:;•■• Kinghorne. A maiden lady bears her ry lather's arms ,upon a diamond-shaped '■- figure, called a lozenge; that is, she ;'• may bear what is upon her father's :-;.;,--shield oil a lozenge. No-lady may in- ;•■;' herit,,use, or transmit a crest, nor may ;.:. she use a helmet, mantling, wreath, or ;,. motto, because anciently ladies did not ;;.-■ take, part in battle* or in tournaments, ,:■ and so;- to this day, they are only per- ■ ' mitted.to use the arms. . . >' . : The Earlof Strathmoro's armorial ;.;;... bearings, are recorded in H.M. Lyon ;;;;...gourt,; Edinburgh (Herald's College for ;■- Scotland), as his is a Scottish noble U -.- :±anuly, and consist of arms, coronet, 1,-, helm, crest, wreath, mantling, support- ;;;;■:■, ers, and motto. The arms (i.e., the •■; shield • portion) of Bowes-Lyon afford ;;;;: . us excellent examples of canting arms, „:,: or . armes parlantes—a pun upon the ii ■ ■■. pame both of Bowes and of Lyon—the .:■■:••_..blazon being: "Quarterly, in the first ;,;■-., and fourth quarters, argent a lion ranip_,_ pant azure, armed and languedj within I- . , a double tressure ' flory-cdunter-flory :i „ azure (for Lyon); in the second and ;.-_- third quarters, ermine, three bows, ,-; strings palewise, proper (for Bowes)." v;..,: The reason for this quartered coat is be;t, cause some two hundred years ago, a !>;•■ forbear, John, the ninth Earl, married' ■£■■ the' sole heiress of George Bowes, ■:-, > Esquire, and inherited the estates, ;:;. Hyhoreupon he assumed, by Act of Par- .;, -.liament, the additional namo of Bowes, ;;;.;.:. and matriculated in Lyon Register, the :;r. : coat quartering Bowes. ;. The armorial bearings of a maiden ■■:',. lady whose father is lawfully entitled to i;--:/boar arms consist, then, simply if a - lozenge, and thero is no means of indicating whether her father is,.a duke, •a. baronet, or a simple gentleman. COMBINED ARMS.

Normally, when two people marry, |>oth of whom possess arms, the arms

of the two families are conjoined upon one shield.

If' the lady is not an heiress or coheiress (that is, has a brother or brothers), the shield is divided down the centre. On the dexter side (i.e., the left-band side of the shield as you look at it on paper, because you have to think of a shield as carried in battle) the husband's arms are depicted, and on the sinister side, the arms of the wife's father. This is called impalement, and is merely a temporary condition, lasting only for the lifetime of the couple, the children inheriting, of course, simply the father's arms.

The shield is surmounted by a helm of his degree, bearing his crest;, and flowing from behind the helm, down and around, the shield, is the mantling of the livery colours (usually the principal colour and principal metal of the shield).

It may bo of interest to note, in passing, that, under modern heraldic rules, thero aro four grades in helms, namely:—

A golden helm with -golden grilles, placed affronte (full-faced), for the sovereign and princes of the royal blood; a silver helm with goWen grilles, placed in. profile, looking towards the dexter side, for peers; a steel helm, with.visor raised, full-faeea, for baronets and knights; and a steel helm, visor closed, placed in profile, for esquires and gentlemen. The best authorities and artists alike have been clamouring for the abolition of these position rules for some time, because of the anomalies they produce in heraldic paintings; there is nothing to commend them, and it is hoped that before long they : will be officially abrogated. In the case of the Duke of York and Lady Elizabeth, the two coats of arms cannot be conjoined by simple impalement upon one shield, for two reasons;firstly, because the. Duke is a E.G., which order is.persocal to himself and cannot "be shared" "with his' wife; and secondly, because he is of the blood royaL "whereas she is of merely noble blood,, though . anciently, in the best period, ceither o£_ these points would have proved"a bar.'" Two" shields had to be used, as in the case of Princess Mary and Lord Lascelles.

The married armorial achievement of the Duke and Duchess is as follows:—' Two shields side by side, slightly inclined towards each other. On the dexter side the Duke's arms, encircled by the Garter; on the sinister side the amis of-Bowes-Lyon, encircled by a

..wreath...of oak leaves (to make tho design balance from an artistic point of view); in, the'centre, immediately above the, two shields will "be placed the coronet of his rank, surmounted by a holm of bis degree, bearing his royal crest; tho mantling of his colours will flow from behind tho helm, and his supporters, standing upon a compartment (groundwork), one on each side, the lion on tho right, and the unicorn on the left, supporting the shields. ■ SCOTTISH LAW OF ARMS. The striking differences between English -and Scottish Laws of Arms are not too often appreciated. Under tho Scottish system,, a coat of arms can only bo lawfully borno by one man at a time —tho head of tho family, the heir male —tho heir-apparent being permitted to bear his father's arms differenced by a label of."three points, during his father's lifetime; but all the unmarried daughters, aro permitted to bear their father's arms on a lozenge, thus faring better-than their younger brothers. All younger sous are required to niatricu-. late-in the Court of the Lord Lyon King .of Arms, who then grants to them their father's coat with appropriate heraldic .'.'differences," as cadets, a bordurc, or some small mark, being added to tho shield, to make it different fromthat borne by the.head of tho family. .A. matriculated coat thcu descends to the heir male, of tho matriculee, younger sons again, being required to re-matriculate. In this way, Scottish -heraldry has remained the purest in-Christendom; but, peculiar and advantageous as it is in some ways, it is doubtful whether it is the system best suited -to tho present day. Tlicro is,. indeed; a touch of true romance in seeing the ensigns of nobility of a great Scottish' House conjoined with thoso of a cadet of tho Royiil House, the second j in /immediate succession to our Throne.