The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1875-04-27
About Heraldry.

When knight wished to enter the
lists at tournament, it was the duty o.
one Of the attendant heralds to blow 9
horn, and then recount the brave deeds
of the knight and describe his arms.
We call all the weapons used in battle
arms, but in heraldry the word is applied
to the crest, helmet, and shield.
The shield. or escutcheon, was the
warriors principal deienie in combat. II
was of various forms-round, square
triangular, heart.shaped, or oval.
The surface of the shield is called the
field because it contained honorable
marks, gained upon the battlefield; as
the arms Of the family of Lloyd "Or,
four pallets gulcs,' That is, a golden
field with four marks of red upon it.
An ancestor of this family, after fight.
ing valiAntly, chanced to draw his hand,
which was covered with blood, across his
shield, leaving the marks of his four
fingers upon it. His king seeing it.
ordered him to bear the representation OF
the four marks upon his shield in memory
Of his valor.
The devices representing the brave acts
achieved by the bearer are called armorial
bearings, or achievements.
In representing shields of arms, metals,
colors, and furs are used. The metals
are gold, called or. and silver, argent.
Or is represented by small dots, and
argent by white. The colors are-red,
guleS ; blue, azure =; black. saJlc j, green,
rcrt , aud purple, lurpure. Gulrs is
represented by perpendicular lines; azure,
by horizontal, &c.
Of the furs, which represented the
skins of beasts, with which the shields
were covered in early times, there were
originally but two-ermine and var.
Ermine is white fur with black spots,
and vair, supposed to be from the word
paried, is made up of many skins of the
gray and white squirrel put together in
small shield.shaped pieces.
Coats.of.arms we're called coats because
they were embroidered on the surcoat
worn over the coat.of'mail and arms,
because originally borne by armed men in
war or tournament
Sovereigns wore them on golden seals,
and on the caparisons of their horses, A
woman wore her fathers coat.of.arms
embroidered upon her kirtle, or skirt, and
that of her husband upon her mantle.
They were granted by sovereigns as
marks Of honor for loyal acts.
II. wuV UvIc CUuJ'.. u.S ,oiut..u
- L.
gentleman. The arms of traitors were
reversed.
Coats. .of.arms we're sometimes assumed
by the knights themselves, and often
represented some personal popularity, or
had sore allusion to the name of the
bearer.
The Castletons bore three castles the
Salmons, three salmons the Lamberts,
three lambs.
These last were called armeS p0rlanteS,
or abusive arms.
The heart surmounted by a crown, in
the arms of the Douglases, was in memory
Of Sir James Douglas. who made a
pilgrimage to the Holy Land to deposit
the heart of his king. Robert Bruce, in
holy ground.
"The bloody heart was in the field
And in the Chief three mullets stood
The cognizance of Douglas blood"
Stars of five points are called mulleis,
and represent the rowes Of spurs.
Sir Simon Locard, who went with Sir
James Douglas, and carried one of the
keys of the silver casket which contained
the heart, changed his name to Lock.
heart, and human heart in the bow of a
paddock was added to his arms.-St.
Nicholas.