BRITISH HERALDRY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 68, 22 March 1935, Page 11

BRITISH HERALDRY

ORIGIN OF EMBLEMS TOTEMISM ITS FORERUNNER BY MAJOR HAROLD HAB,DGRAV±I. (Specially written for the “Chronicle.” To the man iu the street heraldy conveys little or nothing, but to the individual who is conversant with the subject the delineation of the coat of arms conveys an abbreviated history of the people or peoples who have the right to display a coat of arms. The origin of heraldry is lost in antiquity, but one thing is certain, and fhat is, that it had its origin in what is now called totemism. According to Nesbit the use of symbolic animals together with birds and flowers, a mark of honour, was quite common to primitive man. Amongst the ancient’ races these symbols were used instead of names, the ruling classes being known by their symbol. It is well known that the Phrygians had a sow as a national emblem. The Thracians depicted Mars, t>he God of War; the Romans, an eagle; the Goths, under Theodic, a bear; the Flemmings, a bull; the Saxons, a horse; and the ancient French or Gauls, a lion and afterwards the Fleur-de-lis.

The art of heraldry is ascribed first to t'he great Charlemauge, who is said to have instituted it about the year 800A.D. and secondly to Fredrick Barbarossa about 1152. In England it flourished and grew up with the feudal laws. Edward the 111, appointed two heraldic King-at-Arms in 1340, while Richard the 111 incorporated the Heralds Collage in 1483. We read and speak of the British Lion; of foreign nations drawing the lion’s teeth, or twisting his tail. Where does this symbolic lion come from? Why was it adopted as being symbolical of Britain’s might, and when? Scotland has also a red lion, while Ireland is symbolised by a harp, these combined form the British Coat-of-Arms or Royal Standard. In. heraldry the lion is used as a symbol of sovereignty and power, and in the coat-of-arms the attributes of wearer depends upon the attitude of the animal. Describing the Royal Standard of Great Britain, the shield is divided in the centre and across the middle, making four quarters. The left side is termed the sinister and the right side is known as the dexter. The word sinister is also to denote bad luck, and we find the harp on the sinister side of the standard. Rf*l Lion of Scotland. On the top right quarter is the Red Lion of Scotland (rampant) beneath it in the second quarter are the three lions of England. In the third quarter, or bottom sinister side, is the harp without a crown, while above in the last, or fourth quarter are the three lions of England, this time representative of Wales. The attitude of the Scottish lion (rampant) signifies magnanimity, while the three lions represent England are passant gardant, the symbolic attrioutes being resolution, with prudence. Of the three English lions, two of these were worn on the coat-of-arms possessed by William the Conqueror and his descendants. The top lion was that of Rollo, Duke of Normandy and the second represented the country of Alain which had been to Normandy. The third lion was added by Henry II t to represent the Duchy of Aquitaine, which came to him through his wife Eleanor. The Scottish lion, in the top dexter quarter is. derived from the ancient Earls of Northumberland from whom some of the Scottish kings were descended. Sir Walter Scott in the “Tales of Grandfather,’’ states: “William, King of Scotland, having chosen for his armorial bearing a red lion, and this rampant lion still constitutes the •arms of Scotland.’’ In the Chronicles of Holinshed, reference is made to the origin of the Scottish lion. The vessure is referred to the reign of King Acha’icus, who made league Charlernange; who did augment his arms with a double trace of fleur-de-lis, signifying thereby that the lion henceforth should be defended by the ayde of Frenchman.

The position o fthe Scottish lion on the top dexter side denotes the passing of the English Crown into the possesion of a Scottish king. This occurred at the union of Scotland and England on March 24, 1603. In the third quarter of the shield on the bottom sinister side is the Irish harp. It was Henry VIII who was first to assume the positive as the Irish emblem, while James I placed m the third quarter of the British coat-of-arms. Tradition relates that the ancient Irish King named David took for his arms the Harp of Israel’s famous psalmist. There is gomO dissenion with regard to adoption of the harp. Some antiquarians claim that its adoption was a blunder arising out of a triangle invented in the reign of John, to distinguish between English and Irish coins. The reason why the triangle was adopted is probably an illusion to St. Patrick’s explanation of the Trinity, or more likely still to signify that John was King of England, Ireland and France. Conquest of Wales. The three lions in the upper quarter on the sinister side is representative of Wales and denotes the conquest of that country in 1282. Wales was incorporated with England by an Act of Parliament in 1536. The names Wales and Welsh are corruptions of Teutonic epithets meaning foreigners. After the Romans had vacated Britain in the early years of the fifth century Vortigern was elected King of the South of Britain. He invited the Saxons over to help him to defend his country against the Picks and the Scots. The Saxons sent for further reinforcements consisting of Saxons, Danes and Angles and soon made themselves masters of the country. Many of the Britons made their way to the mountains of Wales and distant Cornwall, where they were able to defend themselves against the invaders. Wales remained unconquered until Henry subdued South Wales in 1157. The final conquest ensued after the death of the Welsh Princess Llewellyn. In 1248 the Queen of England gave birth to a son at Carnarvon, who Edward 111 styled Prince of Wales, the title is still conferred upon the Crown Prince of the British Empire. The supporters of the Royal coat-of-arms is a lion on the sinister side and a fabulous animal called the unicorn on the dexter side. These two animals represent to the old-time animosity that existed between Scotland and England. These were also adopted 1603 on the accession of James VI of Scotland to the English throne. Prior to this date the supporters of the Eng-

lish coat-of-arms was changed with the monarch. Edward 111 was the originator of these supporters. He had a lion and an eagle; Henry IV, an antelope and a swan- Henry V, a lion and an antelope; Edward IV, a lion and a bull; Richard 111 (Lion Heart), a lion and a boar; Henry VII, a lion and a dragon; while Elizabeth, Mary and Henry VIII supported a lion and a greyhound. What Ulster Fishermen saw. One of the most unique coat-of-arms in the world is that of the Isle of Man, which consists of three legs depicted in the attitude of running. These three legs are said to be the legs of a great magician who was once a God of the isla'nd, and from whom the island takes its name. This Go<l was called Manannan. Legend says, many centuries before the Christian era, the island was the abode of gods and fairies, and that all business was conducted in a supernatural manner. The island was hidden under a blue mist which concealed it from the gaze of passing ships. A few fishermen from Ulster were, during a storm, blown upon its shores; as they prepared to light a fire they were almost deafened by a noise issuing from the cloud which concealed the island from their view. When the first spark fell upon the tinder-box the cloud began to roll up the mountain, followed quickly by a revolving object which closely resembled three legs of a man joined together at the thighs and spread out to resemble the spokes of a wheel. The Origin of the Thistly With regard to the origin of the British floral emblems, the thistle is ' the most ancient of the four. The story of its adoption as the emblem of Scotland is based on a legend that the Danish invaders considered it cowardly to attack an enemy at night. On one occasion a raiding party discovered that the Scots were encamped a short distance away, deviated from this rule, they decided to spring a surprise attack, and creeping forward towards the sleeping camp with victory within their reach, one of the raiders got mixed up in a bed of thistles. He could not refrain from crying out owing to the pain inflicted by the thistles. This alarmed the sleeping camp and the clansmen, who flew to arms and falling upon their enemies defeated them with great slaughter. In gratitude to the plant which had guarded them, the thistle was adopted as the national emblem of Scotland. The Rose of England. The rose, the floral emblem of England, tradition states, was lost to mankind after expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden. Its miraculous reappearance occurred in Bethlehem, where a young Jewish maiden named Zillah was falsely accused and sentenced to be burned at the stake, but God averted the flames, the stake budded, and the girl was seen standing under a rose tree full of white and red roses, which were seen tor tne nrst timo since paradise was lost. The red rose was adopted by John O’Gaunt as the device of the House of Lancaster, while his brother Edmund, Duke of York, assumed the white rose. These two princes were the sons of Edward HI. Years elapsed, then the descendants of these two princes gave a deeper significance to those roses. Worn as a badge in the civil war known as the 'War of the Roses. These two houses eventually became united by the marTiage of Henry VII the representative •of the House of Lancaster to Elizabeth, daughter of Edward VI of York. 'Hence the rose was adopted as the ‘floral emblem of England. Legend of the Shamrock. The shamrock is said to have been used by St. Patrick to illustrate th« 'doctrine of the Trinity to the ancient Irish. Legend has it that this was a 'theological puzzle to them. They could 'not understand how three things could 'at the same time be one. St. Patrick 'stooped down and picking up a piece 'of clover from the ground pointed out to them tjhree leaves on one stem. They then believed and became converted. It is a pity that this story is 'not to be found in any of the written 'lives of the saint. Another injustice to Ireland lies in the fact that no person can tell the true shamrock. The ‘best authorities are divided between the black nonsuch or medicage or the 'clover known as Dutch clover. Both 'these clovers are worn on Saint Patrick’s Day, and are held to be the true 'shamrock, the Irish Gaelic name being Iscam rag. The Leek of Wales. The last, but not least, is the only Vegetable emblem ever known, that oi the leek, the emblem of Wales. How the leek cam to be the emblem of 'Wales is a war-time story. On St. David’s IDay, 640 A.D., the Welsh, tinder Gad waller, were marching 'against the English army, and wishing ’to adopt a badge which would distinguish them from the English, took the 'nearest thing which came to hand. 'Each man plucked a leek from the field through which they were passing and stuck it in his headgear. The Welsh victorious, the leek was then adopted 'in grateful memory of what they consnereq a national deliverance, it is 'still worn by patriotic Welshmen on Waint David’s Day. It is said that the Welsh contingent of the English ’army wore the leek in their hats during the battle of Poitiers. The Eagte. The eagle in heraldry, signifies forti-! tude. It was the standard of the i ancient kings of Babylon. It was born | by the legions of Rome and was the emblem ,of France during the Napoleonic Empire. The double-headed eagle signifies a double empire, thus we had the doublcheaded eagle of the Russian Empire of the late Czars, who added Poland to their possessions. The double-headed eagle of the late Austrian Empire signifies the claim that they were the successors of the Caesars of Rome, and ’also Charlemange. She added the second head in 802 to denote the union of Germany and Rome. The last eagle 'to obtain a double-head has also lost 'both heads (for only a time perhaps) this is Germany. The double-headed 'German eagle was adopted as the standard on the foundation of the German ■Empire, which was established on January 1, 1871. The originator of the double-headed eagle was the great Roman Emperor, 'Constantine, who founded the Eastern 'Empire. It was to symbolise the fact, that while the Empire had more than one king, or head, it had only one body.

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