New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-03-19

ORIGIN OF SOME OF THE ARMS OF
EUROPEAN SOVEREIGNS.
From The Pail Mall Gazette.


Every royal house IN Europe had its own cog
nizance once. perhaps. but Of the original form
only the feur -de-lys survives. The white horse
OF Kent is older perhaps. II preserves me mem
DRY OF the Eskngs. descendants of Hengst. but
is no longer royal. our English lion is modern
comparativcy-sO much so that the French even
now, when in bitter mood call him a leopard.
The reason is curious and profound ike all
matters connected with heraldry That science
was undcveloped, not to say unborn, when The
early Piantagenets set three walking lions on
their shields in the natural attitude, side face
Afterward they turned the heads Of the Great
ures full face" But that made all the differ
ence when heraldry began to be perfected. \
lion walking full face" becomes ipso facto a
leopard by the magic Of that wOndrous art. and
the scornful chvalry Of France taunted our
blameless soveregns with endeavOrine 10 suhs,i-
tute the king Of beasts for the "unclean pan
ther,' which was their fitting emblem.
The drag -cOgnizance Of the House Of Cerdic
became the standard Of the realm if il can be
said that the realm possessed one after the
triumph OF Wrssex Patriotic Welshmon dem
onstrate that the duil Saxon stole it from their
kings. and they have the support Of Lord Tn
nysOn. at least We all rccOllect the description
Of Arthur on his throne at CamelOt encom-
passed 10y dragons They chung" 10 his crown,
they "Writhed down" his robes, they 'cr"pt'
from the back Of his chair while AL me rest
Of them dispOrted themselves through knots
and loops and folds innumera be" But the
Welshman could not possibly have loved
dragons more than the Saxon. one might say
that the latter used no MOTH IN decorative
work Of any kind. on stone or metal or Hum-
mated page but this And he did not learn u
from any foreigner assuredly. seeing that his
nearest kinSfllk. the Mortimer, showed just The
same odd fancy. II may be trac I'd 10 the popu-
larity OF the myth Of Sigurd. who sleW the
Dragon Fafnir. "A subject Of which the Northern
artist never tired.
1t is commonly said that the dragon Of WesseX
flew for the last time at Hastings. Harold had
his own standard-h" was no son of Ccrdic.
William Of Malmcsbury describes t-a man
fighting. sumpt IOusly embroidered with gold
and gems The COnQuerOr presented II 10 The
Pope But the dragon was certainly conspicu-
Gus. for it is figured the BayeuX tapestry.
Hastings not the last field in which Eng
lishmen marched to battle under it, Richard Of
Devices mentions that the terrible standard If
the dragon was unfurlcd and borne in 'front.'
when CTur de Lion attacked Messina. Such
illusions to the flag of the army in general are
very rare in fcudal times. and it may well he
that the national dragon was hostcd whenever
the king appealed to his English subjects Henry
III. or more probably his SagaciOus son raised
IT at Lewes. "A dragon in manner Of a STAN
dard ensign Of red sarcenet embroidered
with gold. the tongue OF the dragon appearing
as though continually in motion and eyes Of
sapphire" Perhaps the tradition growing
dim by that time for the chroncler saws that
this symbol was interpreted to mean No quar-
ter"
The heur-de-ys is such "A hopeless puzzle that
grave authorities regard il as the corrupted
figure Of a frog. others recognize Phallic
emblem others bee with wings spread. this
last view commended itself strongly 10 Ma
pOlcon. There arr serious arguments and il
luStrations in favor OF each origin. the one fact
toerably certain is that Franksh kings bore a
cognlZance which has developed into the nour-
de-lys as soon as history gets clear view Of
them. Almost certainly. however that cogniz-
ance was not flower OF any sort IN the begin
ming.
The history u the double headed eagle in Eu-
rope is known well enough. The German En-
peror Conrad saw it at Constantinople when
crusadng in III. Learning thar the device
represented sovereignty over east and west he
thought il adapted to his own case and an
struck IN the next Crusade and followed the
same course. II was finally appropriated by the
House Of Austria in l3iJ; afterward Prussia
and Russia yielded 20 the fascination OF its
beauty. But when quit these modern mani
ties and seek the double headed eagle in its
native home. we are led into the very begin
nings Of things. Tracing the symbol upward. il
IS found as a common ornament among the
Mamluks Of Egypt evidently introduced by the
Mesopotamian artists whom they favored. In
the Museum at South Kensington are several
double-headed eagle. II has been suggested that
Saladin bore II. His cOgniZance was certainly
an eagle. but one may think that Christian
chronicers would have mentioned il had the
bird been double headed. But the device APP
pears at an earlier date on the coinage OF the
Prince of Sngar. in Mesopotamia; also II was
Sculpturcd the walls Of the city Of Amia in
that region. Passing an indefinite number Of
centuries. We find il upon the golden ornaments
Of MyccnH But the original is ldenthcd. so iar,
among that most mysterious Of peoples. the
Hittitos With them il was very holy and
powerful symbol evidently. though the signih-
canoe is not vet ascertaincd. on The enormous
Of granite before the palace at Eyuk.
double headed eagles are carved holding an an
imaI So in that wondrOus caye-tempIe 81 Bor-
ghas- Kcui where the gods Sculptufed in
procession two Of them ride upright on the
mystic bird 1t is carved above the gates or
cities and on their massive walls. We shall
know more doubtless in good time.
TO CTRE PATT NOVA.