The entry in Lyon Register is as follows :
tl The Royal Burgh of Montrose gives for Ensign es Armorial 1,
Argent, a rose gules. The shield adorned with helmet, mantling, and
wreath suteable thereto. And for a crest, a hand issuing from a
cloud and reaching down a garland of roses proper, supported by two
mermaids aryseing from the sea proper. The motto, < Mare ditat Rosa
decorat.' And for a revers, Gules, St. Peter on the cross proper,
with the keyes hanging at his girdle or. Which Arms, &c., Ext.
December 16, 1694."
An English example r may be found in the case of the arms of
THE COMPARTMENT 445
Boston, 1 which are depicted with the supporters (again two mermaids,
rising from the sea, though to what extent the sea is a fixed and un-
changeable part of the achievement in this case is less a matter of
certainty.
Probably of all the curious " supporters " to be found in British
armory, those of the city of Southampton (Plate VII.) must be admitted
to be the most unusual. As far as the actual usage of the arms by the
corporation is concerned, one seldom if ever sees more than the simple
shield employed. This bears the arms : " Per fess gules and argent,
three roses counterchanged." But in the official record of the arms in
one of the Visitation books a crest is added, namely : " Upon a mount
vert, a double tower or, and issuing from the upper battlements thereof
a demi-female affront^ proper, vested purpure, crined and crowned
with an Eastern coronet also or, holding in her dexter hand a sword
erect point upwards argent, pommel and hilt of the second, and in her
sinister hand a balance sable, the pans gold. The shield in the Visita-
tion book rests upon a mount vert, issuing from waves of the sea, and
thereupon placed on either side of the escutcheon a ship of two masts
at anchor, the sails furled all proper, the round top or, and from each
masthead flying a banner of St. George, and upon the stern of each
vessel a lion rampant or, supporting the escutcheon."
From the fact that in England the compartment is so much a
matter of course, it is scarcely ever alluded to, and the term " Com-
partment " is practically one peculiar to Scottish heraldry. It does
not appear to be a very ancient heraldic appendage, and was probably
found to be a convenient arrangement when shields were depicted erect
instead of couche, so as to supply a resting-place (or standpoint) for
the supporters. In a few instances the compartment appears on
seals with couch shields, on which, however, the supporters are
usually represented as resting on the sides of the escutcheon, and bearing
up the helmet and crest, as already mentioned. Sir George Mackenzie
conjectures that the compartment " represents the bearer's land and
territories, though sometimes (he adds) it is bestowed in recompense
of some honourable action." Thus the Earls of Douglas are said to
have obtained the privilege of placing their supporters with a pale of
wood wreathed, because the doughty lord, in the reign of King Robert
the Bruce, defeated the English in Jedburgh Forest, and "caused
wreathe and impale," during the night, that part of the wood by which
he conjectured they might make their escape. Such a fenced com-
partment appears on the seal of James Douglas, second Earl of
Angus, " Dominus de Abernethie et Jed worth Forest" (1434), on
1 Arms of Boston : Sable, three coronets composed of crosses patte" and fleurs-de-lis in pale or.
Crest : A woolpack charged with a ram couchant all proper, ducally crowned azure.
446 A COMPLETE GUIDE TO HERALDRY
that of George Douglas, fourth Earl (1459), and also on those of
several of his successors in the earldom (15111617). A still earlier
example, however, of a compartment " representing a park with trees,
&c., enclosed by a wattled fence," occurs on the seal of Walter
Stewart, Earl of Atholl (c. 1430), where the escutcheon is placed in
the entrance to the park between two trees. Nisbet refers to a se'al of
William, first Earl of Douglas (1377), exhibiting a single supporter (a
lion) " sitting on a compartment like to a rising ground, with a tree
growing out of it, and seme of hearts, mullets, and cross crosslets,"
these being the charges of Douglas and Mar in the escutcheon.
According to Sir George Mackenzie, these compartments were
usually allowed only to sovereign princes ; and he further informs us
that, besides the Douglases, he knows of no other subject in Britain,
except the Earl of Perth, whose arms stand upon a compartment. In
the case of the Perth family, the compartment consists of a green hill
or mount, seme" of caltraps l (or cheval-traps), with the relative motto,
" Gang warily," above the achievement. " Albeit of late," says Mac-
kenzie, " compartments are become more common, and some families
in Scotland have some creatures upon which their achievement stands,
as the Laird of Dundas, whose achievement has for many hundreds of
years stood upon a salamander in flames proper (a device of the kings
of France), and Robertson of Struan has a monstrous man lying under
the escutcheon chained, which was given him for his taking the
murderer of James I. . . ." Such figures, however, as Nisbet remarks,
cannot properly be called compartments, having rather the character
of devices ; while, in the case of the Struan achievement, the chained
man would be more accurately described as " an honourable supporter."
Sir George Mackenzie engraves " the coat of Denham of ould," viz. a
stag's head "caboshed," below a shield couche" charged with three
lozenges, or fusils, conjoined in bend. In like manner, Nisbet repre-
sents the crest and motto of the Scotts of Thirlstane, " by way of
compartment," below the escutcheon of Lord Napier, and a blazing
star, with the legend " Luceo boreale," under that of Captain Robert
Seton, of the family of Meldrum ; while in the case of the illumination
which accompanies the latest entry in the first volume of the Lyon
Register (1804), relative to the arms of John Hepburn Belshes of
Invermay, the trunk of an oak-tree sprouting forth anew is placed on a
compartment under the shield, with the motto, " Revirescit."
Two other instances of regular compartments are mentioned by
Nisbet, viz. those carried by the Macfarlanes of that Ilk and the
Ogilvies of Innerquharity. The former consists of a wavy representa-
1 The caltrap was an instrument thrown on the ground to injure the feet of horses, and con-
sisted of four iron spikes, of which one always pointed upwards.
THE COMPARTMENT 447
tion of Loch Sloy, the gathering-place of the clan, which word is also
inscribed on the compartment as their cri-de-guerre or slogan ; while
the latter is a " green hill or rising terrace/' on which are placed two
serpents, tl nowed/' spouting fire, and the motto, " Terrena pericula
sperno." For some of the foregoing instances I am indebted to Seton's
well-known " Law and Practice of Heraldry in Scotland."
CHAPTER XXVIII
MOTTOES
TO the uninitiated, the subject of the motto of a family has a far
greater importance than is conceded to it by those who have
spent any time in the study of armory. Perhaps it may clear
the ground if the rules presently in force are first recited. It should
be carefully observed that the status of the motto is vastly different in
England and in other countries. Except in the cases of impersonal
arms (and not always then), the motto is never mentioned or alluded
to in the terms of the patent in a grant of arms in England ; conse-
quently they are not a part of the " estate " created by the Letters
Patent, though if it be desired a motto will always be painted below
the emblazonment in the margin of the patent. Briefly speaking, the
position in England with regard to personal armorial bearings is that
mottoes are not hereditary. No one is compelled to bear one, nor is any
authority needed for the adoption of a motto, the matter is left purely
to the personal pleasure of every individual ; but if that person elects
to use a motto, the officers of arms are perfectly willing to paint any
motto he may choose upon his grant, and to add it to the record of his
arms in their books. There is no necessity expressed or implied to use
a motto at all, nor is the slightest control exercised over the selection
or change of mottoes, though, as would naturally be expected, the
officers of arms would decline to record to any private person any
motto which might have been appropriated to the sovereign or to any
of the orders of knighthood. In the same way no control is exercised
over the position in which the motto is to be carried or the manner
in which it is to be displayed.
In Scotland, however, the matter is on an entirely different footing.
The motto is included within the terms of the patent, and is conse-
quently made the subject of grant. It therefore becomes inalienable
and unchangeable without a rematriculation, and a Scottish patent
moreover always specifies the position in which the motto is to be
carried. This is usually " in an escroll over the same " (i.e. over the
crest), though occasionally it is stated to be borne on " a compartment
below the arms." The matter in Ireland is not quite the same as in
MOTTOES 449
either Scotland or England. Sometimes the motto is expressed in the
patent in fact this is now the more usual alternative but the rule is
not universal, and to a certain extent the English permissiveness is
recognised. Possibly the subject can be summed up in the remark
that if any motto has been granted or is recorded with a particular
coat of arms in Ireland, it is expected that that shall be the motto to
be made use of therewith.
As a general practice the use of mottoes in England did not become
general until the eighteenth century in fact there are very few, if
any, grants of an earlier date on which a motto appears. The
majority, well on towards the latter part of the eighteenth century,
had no motto added, and many patents are still issued without such
an addition. With rare exceptions, no mottoes are to be met with
in the Visitation books, and it does not appear that at the time of the
Visitations the motto was considered to be essentially a part of the
armorial bearings. The one or two exceptions which I have met with
where mottoes are to be found on Visitation pedigrees are in every
case the arms of a peer. There are at least two such in the Yorkshire
Visitation of 1587, and probably it may be taken for granted that the
majority of peers at that period had begun to make use of these
additions to their arms. Unfortunately we have no exact means of
deciding the point, because peers were not compelled to attend a
Visitation, and there are but few cases in which the arms or pedigree
of a peer figure in the Visitation books. In isolated cases the use of
a motto can, however, be traced back to an even earlier period.
There are several instances to be met with upon the early Garter plates.
Many writers have traced the origin of mottoes to the " slogan " or
war-cry of battle, and there is no doubt whatever that instances can
be found in which an ancient war-cry has become a family motto.
For example, one can refer to the Fitzgerald " Crom-a-boo " : other
instances can be found amongst some of the Highland families, but
the fact that many well-known war-cries of ancient days never became
perpetuated as mottoes, and also the fact that by far the greater
number of mottoes, even at a much earlier period than the present
day, cannot by any possibility have ever been used for or have origi-
nated with the purposes of battle-cries, inclines me to believe that such
a suggested origin for the motto in general is without adequate founda-
tion. There can be little if any connection between the war-cry as
such and the motto as such. The real origin would appear to be
more correctly traced back to the badge. As will be found explained
elsewhere, the badge was some simple device used for personal and
household purposes and seldom for war, except by persons who used
the badge of the leader they followed. No man wore his own badge
2 F
450 A COMPLETE GUIDE TO HERALDRY
in battle. It generally partook of the nature of what ancient writers
would term " a quaint conceit," and much ingenuity seems to have
been expended in devising badges and mottoes which should at the
same time be distinctive and should equally be or convey an index or
suggestion of the name and family of the owner. Many of these
badges are found in conjunction with words, mottoes, and phrases,
and as the distinction between the badge in general and the crest in
general slowly became less apparent, they eventually in practice became
interchangeable devices, if the same device did not happen to be used
for both purposes. Consequently the motto from the badge became
attached to the crest, and was thence transferred to its present con-
nection with the coat of arms. Just as at the present time a man
may and often does adopt a maxim upon which he will model his life,
some pithy proverb, or some trite observation, without any question or
reference to armorial bearings so, in the old days, when learning was
less diffuse and when proverbs and sayings had a wider acceptance
and vogue than at present, did many families and many men adopt
for their use some form of words. We find these words carved on
furniture, set up on a cornice, cut in stone, and embroidered upon
standards and banners, and it is to this custom that we should look for
the beginning of the use of mottoes. But because such words were after-
wards in later generations given an armorial status, it is not justifiable
to presume such status for them from their beginnings. The fact that
a man put his badges on the standard that he carried into battle, and
with his badges placed the mottoes that thereto belonged, has led many
people mistakenly to believe that these mottoes were designed for war-
cries and for use in battle. That was not the case. In fact it seems
more likely that the bulk of the standards recorded in the books of
the heralds which show a motto were never carried in battle.
With regard to the mottoes in use at the moment, some of course
can be traced to a remote period, and many of the later ones have
interesting legends connected therewith. Of mottoes of this char-
acter may be instanced the " Jour de ma vie " of West, which was
formerly the motto of the La Warr family, adopted to commemorate
the capture of the King of France at the battle of Poictiers. There
are many other mottoes of this character, amongst which may be
mentioned the " Grip fast " of the Leslies, the origin of which is well
known. But though many mottoes relate to incidents in the remote
past, true or mythical, the motto and the incident are seldom con-
temporary. Nothing would be gained by a recital of a long list of
mottoes, but I cannot forbear from quoting certain curious examples
which by their very weirdness must excite curiosity as to their origin.
A family of Martin used the singular words, " He who looks at Martin's
MOTTOES 451
ape, Martin's ape shall look at him," whilst the Curzons use, " Let
Curzon hold what Curzon helde." The Cranston motto is still more
grasping, being, " Thou shalt want ere I want ; " but probably the
motto of the Dakyns is the most mysterious of all, " Strike Dakyns,
the devil's in the hempe." The motto of Corbet, " Deus pascit corvos,"
evidently alludes to the raven or ravens (corby crows) upon the shield.
The mottoes of Trafford, " Now thus," and " Gripe griffin, hold fast ; "
the curious Pilkington motto, " Pilkington Pailedown, the master mows
the meadows ; " and the " Serva jugum " of Hay have been the founda-
tion of many legends. The " Fuimus " of the Bruce family is a
pathetic allusion to the fact that they were once kings, but the majority
of ancient mottoes partake rather of the nature of a pun upon the
name, which fact is but an additional argument towards the supposi-
tion that the motto has more relation to the badge than to any other
part of the armorial bearings. Of mottoes which have a punning
character may be mentioned " Mon Dieu est ma roche," which is the
motto of Roche, Lord Fermoy ; ll Cavendo tutus," which is the motto
of Cavendish ; " Forte scutum salus ducum," which is the motto of
Fortescue ; " Set on," which is the motto of Seton ; " Da fydd " of Davies,
and " Ver non semper viret," the well-known pun of the Vernons.
Another is the apocryphal " Quid rides " which Theodore Hook
suggested for the wealthy and retired tobacconist. This punning
character has of late obtained much favour, and wherever a name
lends itself to a pun the effort seems nowadays to be made that the
motto shall be of this nature. Perhaps the best pun which exists is
to be found in the motto of the Barnard family, who, with arms
" Argent, a bear rampant sable, muzzled or," and crest " A demi-
bear as in the arms," use for the motto, " Bear and Forbear," or
in Latin, as it is sometimes used, " Fer et perfer." Others that may
be alluded to are the " What I win I keep " of Winlaw ; the " Libertas "
of Liberty ; the " Ubi crux ibi lux " of Sir William Crookes ; the
" Bear thee well " of Bardwell ; the " Gare le pied fort " of Bedford ;
the " Gare la bete " of Garbett ; and the " Cave Deus videt " of Cave.
Other mottoes and they are a large proportion are of some saintly
and Religious tendency. However desirable and acceptable they may
be, and however accurately they may apply to the first possessor,
they sometimes are sadly inappropriate to later and more degenerate
successors.
In Germany, a distinction appears to be drawn between their
" Wahlspruche " (i.e. those which are merely dictated by personal choice)
and the " armorial mottoes " which remained constantly and heritably
attached to the armorial bearings, such as the " Gott mit uns " (" God
with us") of Prussia and the " Nihil sine Deus" of Hohenzollern.
452 A COMPLETE GUIDE TO HERALDRY
The Initial or Riddle Mottoes appear to be peculiar to Germany.
Well-known examples of these curiosities are the "W. G. W." (i.e.
" Wie Gott will " As God wills "), or " W. D. W." (i.e. " Wie du
willst " "As thou wilt"), which are both frequently to be met with.
The strange but well-known alphabet or vowel-motto " A. E. I. O. V "
of the Emperor Frederick III. has been variously translated, "Aquila
Electa Juste Omnia Vincit " ("The chosen eagle vanquishes all by
right "), " Aller Ehren 1st Oesterrich Voll " ( Austria is full of every
honour "), or perhaps with more likelihood, " Austria Est Imperare
Orbe Universe " ("All the earth is subject to Austria").
The cri-de- guerre, both as a heraldic fact and as an armorial term,
is peculiar, and exclusively so, to British and French heraldry. The
national cri-de-guerre of France, " Montjoye Saint Denis," appeared
above the pavilion in the old Royal Arms of France, and probably the
English Royal motto, " Dieu et mon Droit," is correctly traced to a
similar origin. A distinction is still made in modern heraldry between
the cri-de-guerre and the motto, inasmuch as it is considered that the
former should always of necessity surmount the crest. This is very
generally adhered to in Scotland in the cases where both a motto and
a cri-de-guerre (or, as it is frequently termed in that country, a " slogan ")
exist, the motto, contrary to the usual Scottish practice, being then
placed below the shield. It is to be hoped that a general knowledge
of this fact will not, however, result in the description of every motto
found above a crest as a cri-de-guerre, and certainly the concentrated
piety now so much in favour in England for the purposes of a motto
can be quite fitly left below the shield.
Artists do not look kindly on the motto for decorative purposes.
It has been usually depicted in heraldic emblazonment in black letters
upon a white scroll, tinted and shaded with pink, but with the present
revival of heraldic art, it has become more general to paint the motto
ribbon in conformity with the colour of the field, the letters being often
shown thereon in gold. The colour and shape of the motto ribbon,
however, are governed by no heraldic laws, and except in Scottish
examples should be left, as they are purely unimportant accessories of
the achievement, wholly at the discretion of the artist.
CHAPTER XXIX
BADGES
THE exact status of the badge in this country, to which it is
peculiar, has been very much misunderstood. This is probably
due to the fact that the evolution of the badge was gradual, and
that its importance increased unconsciously. Badges do not formerly
appear to have ever been made the subjects of grants, and the instances
which can be referred to showing their control, or attempted control, by
the Crown in past times are very rare indeed. As a matter of fact, the
Crown seems to have perhaps purposely ignored them. They are not,
as we know them, found in the earliest times of heraldry, unless we
are to presume their existence from early seals, many of which show
isolated charges taken from the arms ; for if in the cases where such
charges appear upon the seals we are to accept those seals as proofs of
the contemporary existence of those devices as heraldic badges, we
should often be led into strange conclusions.
There is no doubt that these isolated devices which are met with
were not only a part of the arms, but in many cases the origin of the
arms. Devices possessing a more or less personal and possessive
character occur in many cases before record of the arms they later de-
veloped into can be traced. This will be noticed in relation to the arms
of Swinton, to which reference is made elsewhere. If these are badges,
then badges go back to an earlier date than arms. Such devices occur
many centuries before such a thing as a shield of arms existed.
The Heraldic Badge, as we know it, came into general use about
the reign of Edward III., that is, the heraldic badge as a separate
matter having a distinct existence in addition to concurrent arms, and
having at the same time a distinctly heraldic character. JBut long
before that date, badges are found with an allied reference to' a parti-
cular person, which very possibly are rightly included in any enumera-
tion of badges. Of such a character is the badge of the broom plant,
which is found upon the tomb of Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, from
which badge the name of the Plantagenet dynasty originated (Plan-
tagenet, by the way, was never a personal surname, but was the name
of the dynasty).
453
454 A COMPLETE GUIDE TO HERALDRY
It is doubtful, however, if at that early period there existed much
if indeed any opportunity for the use of heraldic badges. At the same
time, as far back as the reign of Richard I. and some writers would
take examples of a still more remote period these badges must have
been occasionally depicted upon banners, for Richard I. appears to
have had a dragon upon one of his banners.
These banner decorations, which at a later date have been often
accepted as badges, can hardly be quite properly so described, for there
are many cases where no other proof of usage can be found, and there
is no doubt that many such are instances of no more than banners
prepared for specific purposes ; and the record of such and such a
banner cannot necessarily carry proof that the owner of the banner
claimed or used the objects depicted thereupon as personal badges.
If they are to be so included some individuals must have revelled in a
multitude of badges.
But the difficulty in deciding the point very greatly depends upon
the definition of the badge ; and if we are to take the definition
according to the manner of acceptance and usage at the period when
the use of badges was greatest, then many of the earliest cannot be
taken as coming within the limits.
In later Plantagenet days, badges were of considerable importance,
and certain characteristics are plainly marked. They were never worn
by the owner in the sense in which he carried his shield, or bore his
crest ; they were his sign-mark indicative of ownership ; they were
stamped upon his belongings in the same way in which Government
property is marked with the broad arrow, and they were worn by his
servants. They were worn not only by his retainers, but very probably
were also worn more or less temporarily by adherents of his party if
he were big enough to lead a party in the State. At all times badges
had very extensive decorative use.
There was never any fixed form for the badge ; there was never
any fixed manner of usage. I can find no fixed laws of inheritance,
no common method of assumption. In fact the use of a badge, in the