Accidents should have such power in them For Aristotle Physicorum 1. saith Accidentia possunt miraculose non alias mutare subjectum Accidents change not their Subject but by Miracle Addition doubtless and Subtraction are of greater force than Transmutation or Location yet is there no such power in them as that they can alter the essence of any thing Quia augmentum vel diminutio saith Chassanaeus circa accidentia contractuum non reponunt contractum in diverso esse neque per ea intelligitur ab eo in substantialibus recessus the adding or diminishing of Accidents makes not the thing lose the nature of his being This Coat with the Arms of Vlster is born by Sir Iohn Molineux of Teversal in Nottinghamshire Baronetâ— and with the Arms of Vlster with a due difference is born by Darcy Molineux of Mansfield in the said County Esq Nephew to the said Sir Iohn Leigh in Blazoning of this form of Cross maketh no mention at all of the piercing thereof perhaps because it resembleth the Ink of a Mill which is evermore pierced This is termed Quarter pierced quasi Quadrate pierced for that the piercing is square as a Trencher The Augmentation born on the Bend was granted unto the Right Noble Thomas Duke of Norfolk and to his Descendants by King Henry the Eighth for his signal Service as General of the Army which gave that remarkable overthrow at Floding to King Iames the Fourth of Scotland which said Duke was by King Henry the Seventh created Knight of the Garter and made Lord High Treasurer of England So much of the Cross with the Accidents thereof Now of that other Ordinary that is framed also of a fourfold Line that is to say a Saltire A Saltire is an Ordinary consisting of a fourfold Line whereof two are drawn from the Dexter chief towards the Sinister base corners and the other from the Sinister chief towards the Dexter base points and do meet about the midst by couples in acute Angles I know the Learned Geometer will find many more Lines here than I do mention but as I said of Lines in the Cross this our description greeth best with Heralds and our purpose Azure a Saltier Argent is the Coat-Armour of Sir William York of Burton-Pedwardin in Lincolnshire Knight Sable a Saltier Argent is born by the name of Ducket of Steeple-Morden in Cambridgeshire In old time saith Leigh this was made of the height of a man and was driven full of Pins the use whereof was to scale the Walls therewith to which end the Pins served commodiously In those days saith he the Walls of a Town were but low as appeareth by the Walls of Rome which Rhemus easily leaped over and the Walls of Winchester which were overlooked by Colebrand the Chieftain of the Danes who was slain by Guy Earl of Warwick who was Champion for King Athelstane Argent a Saltier engrailed Sable by the Name of Middleton This with the Arms of Vlster is the Coat-Armour of Sir George Middleton of Leighton near Warton in Lancashire Baronet CHAP. VIII HAving hitherto shewed at large the several forms of making of such Charges as we call honourable Ordinaries Order requireth that I should now shew their diverse manner of Bearing according to our prefixed Distribution These are born Simple Compound Those are said to be born Simple when only Ordinaries do appear in the Field These Ordinaries comprehend One sort Divers sorts Ordinaries are said to be of one sort when only one kind of them is born in the Field without mixture of any other Whose bearing is Single Manifold By single Bearing I understand some one Ordinary born alone in the Escocheon such are these precedent Examples before handled By manifold bearing of Ordinaries I mean the bearing of divers Ordinaries of the same kind whether the same be born of themselves alone or else conjunctly with some of their Subdivisions Which form of bearing is twofold viz. One upon another One besides another What is meant by the bearing of Ordinaries of one kind one upon another may be easily conceived by these four Escocheons next following Proceed we now to Examples of Ordinaries of the same kind born one besides another such are these next following and their like The Field is Argent two Bends Gules This Coat-Armour I find in an ancient Manuscript of Collection of Englishmens Arms in Metal and Colours with the Blazon in French of the time of our Henry the Sixth as it is apparent by the Character of the Letter over which Coat-Armour is there written the Bearers name viz. Monsieur Iohn Haget from whom Mr. Bartholomew Haget late Consul of Aleppo deriveth his descent This Book at this present remaineth in the custody of a worthy Friend of mine a curious Collector and careful Preserver of such ancient Monuments Gules two Bends the upper Or and the lower Argent was born by Milo Fitz-water who by King Henry the First was made Earl of Hereford and Constable of England and Lord of the Forest of Dean in right of his Wife Daughter and Heir of Bernard Newmarch Lord of Brecknock This Coat is now quartered by Sir Ralph Verney of Middle Claydon in Buckinghamshire Mr. Boswell in his Works of Armory observeth That the Bearer of such Bends as these or of the like Coat-Armour may be thought to have done some great enterprise upon the Seas worthy of perpetual commendation As for Ordinaries of other sorts born likewise one besides another of the same kind behold these next Examples Now from Ordinaries of the same kind born one upon another with their extracted Subdivisions proceed we to Ordinaries of divers kinds and their Diminutives abstracted from them eftsoons found likewise born both one upon another and one besides another Such are these next following and their like Now for Ordinaries of divers kinds born one besides another you shall have these Examples ensuing Robert Lisle who was a Baron in the times of King Edward the Second and Edward the Third bore the same Coat-Armour And divers ancient and eminent Nobles of this Kingdom do rightfully quarter these Arms being descended from the Heirs generally of the Family of Lisle Or a Fess between two Chevrons Gules was the Coat of Anselme Lord Fitz-water in the time of the Conquest of whom did descend Walter Fitz-water who had a Daughter and Heir that married to Robert Radcliff Father of Robert Radcliff Lord Fitz-water of whom descended Robert Radcliff Earl of Sussex and Viscount Fitz-water of which Family of Sir Francis Radcliff of Dilston in Northumberland Baronet now living 1675. The End of the Second Section Naturalia sunt specula eorum quae non videntur THis Third Section beginneth to treat of such Charges of Coat-Armours as are called Common Charges whereof some be Natural and meerly formal such are Angels and Spirits and others are both Formal and Material as the Sun Moon Stars as also such Natures as are Sublunary whether they be living after a sort as all
be his that weareth it you cannot erre in your judgment touching the true distinction of the dexter-side of the Escocheon that is due to the Man as to the more worthy from the sinister part that is allotted to the Woman or the Inferiour The manner of such impaling of Coat-Armours of distinct Families as Baron and Femme by persons Temporal is divers from this before mentioned for they do evermore give the preheminence of the dexter side to the man leaving the sinister to the woman as in Example If these were not Hereditary Coat-Armours yet should they have this form of marshalling and none other because the same is common as well to single marriages having no hereditary Possessions as to those that be hereditary Only in this these have a prerogative which the other have not that the Baron having received Issue by his Femme it is in his choice whether he will still bear her Coat in this sort or else in an Inescocheon upon his own because he pretendeth God giveth life to such his Issue to bear the same Coat of his Wife to him and to his heirs for which cause this Escocheon thus born is called an Escocheon of pretence Moreover the heir of these two Inheritors shall bear these two Hereditary Coats of his Father and Mother to himself and his heirs quarterly to shew that the Inheritance as well of the Possessions as of the Coat-Armours are invested in them and their Posterity whereas if the wife be no heir neither her husband nor child shall have further to do with her Coat than to set up the same in their house Paleways after the foresaid manner so to continue the memorial of the Fathers match with such a Family Examples whereof behold in hese following Escocheons These Coats are thus born by William Mountagu Esq son and heir to the Honourable William Mountagu Lord Chief Baron of his Majesties Court of Exchequer This form of bearing of divers Coats marshalled together in one Escocheon impaled as aforesaid was in use near hand within a thousand years since within the Realm of France as appeareth by Frances de Rosiers lib. Stemmatum Lotharingiae where amongst many Transcripts of Kings Charters made to Religious Houses under their Seals of Arms he mentioneth one made by Dagobert King of France to Modoaldus Archbishop of Trevers for the Cell of St. Maurice of Toledo in Spain which Charter was sealed with three Seals His words are these Hoc diploma tribus sigillis firmatum est primo aureo Dagoberti which was as he had formerly described it habens insculptum scutum liliis plenum secundo cereo Cuniberti tertio etiam cereo Clodulphi in quo est scutum partitum impressum prior pars decorata cruce ac Escarbocle seu Carbunculo altera fascia Dat. Gal. Maij Anno Dominicae Incarnationis 622. Concerning the orderly bearing of such Coat-Armours Paleways in one Escocheon note that Gerard Leigh making mention of the marshalling of divers Femmes with one Baron saith If a man do marry two wives they shall be both placed on the left side in the same Escocheon with him as parted per Pale The first wives Coat shall stand on the Chief part and the second on the Base Or he may set them both in Pale with his own the first wives Coat next to himself and his second uttermost And if he have three wives then the two first matches shall stand on the Chief part and the third shall have the whole Base And if he have a fourth wife she must participate the one half of the Base with the third wife and so will they seem to be so many Coats quartered But here you must observe that those forms of iâ—palings are meant of Hereditary Coats whereby the Husband stood in expectancy of advancing his Family through the possibility of receiving Issue that so those Hereditary Possessions of his wife might be united to his own Patrimony It was an ancient way of impaling to take half the Husbands Coat and with that to joyn as much of the Wives as appeareth in an old Roll wherein the three Lions being the Arms of England are dimidiated and impaled with half the Pales of Arragon The like hath also been practised with quartered Coats by leaving out half of them as in Example And for the Antiquity of bearing divers Coats quartered in one Escocheon the same Author Francis de Rosiers reciteth a Charter of Renate King of Angiers Sicily and Ierusalem c. concerning his receiving of the Brethren of the Monastery named Belprey into his protection Actum Nanceij Anno 1435. adding in the end thereof these words Arma Arragoniae Siciliae Hierusalem Andes Whereby if I mistake him not he giveth us to understand that his Seal of Arms did comprehend all these Coats born together quarterly in one Escocheon because he holdeth the same form of description of Seals of that kind throughout all his Collection of Charters As touching this quarterly bearing of many Coats pertaining to sundry Families together in one Escocheon William Wicley doth utterly mislike it holding the same to be better fitting a Pedigree to be locked up in a Chest as an evidence serving for approbation of the Alliances of Families or Inducements to title of Lands rather than multitudes of them should be heaped together in or upon any thing ordained for Military use For Banners Standards and other like Martial Ensigns were ordained for no other use but for a Commander to lead or be known by in the Field to which purpose these marks should be made apparent and easie to be discerned which cannot be where many Coats are thronged together and so become unfit to the Field and therefore to be abolished of Commanders Only he holdeth it expedient that a Prince or Noble-man having title to some Countrey for the obtaining whereof he is inforced to make warr should shew forth his Standard of the Arms of that Countrey quartered with his own amongst those people which in right and conscience do owe him obedience that they may be thereby induced the sooner to submit themselves to him as to their true and lawful Sovereign or Lord. So did Edward the third King of England when he set on foot his title to the Kingdom of France shewing forth the Arms of France quartered in his Royal Banner with the Arms of England But for such persons as are but Commanders under them it is very absurd since thereof ensue oftentimes many dangerous errors Et irrecuperabilis est error qui violentiâ Martis committitur Having before made mention of an Inescocheon and of the bearing of the Arms of the Femme by the Baron after Issue received by her she being an Inheritrix I will now here give you an Example as well to shew the occasion of such bearing as also the manner and situation thereof As for antiquity of bearing of Inescocheons I find them very anciently used a long time by the Emperours of Germany for they always
have descended from the Collateral Lines of the Kings of England France Scotland c. Concerning those Modern Differences before expressed in the form of Six Ranks p. 25. viz. Crescents Mollets Martlets c. notwithstanding their institution was ingenious yet hath tract of time discovered their use to be dangerous especially in Martial Affairs by reason of their darkness and unapparent forms occasioned by imposition of one Difference upon another the peril whereof hath not a little extenuated their estimation Nevertheless their invention is not therefore to be condemned inasmuch as the Events have not fallen out answerable to the intention of their first Deviser Neither can it be therefore justly said to be done without ground of Reason as a certain Author noteth Si fiâ—â— in intellectâ— operantis sit rationabilis etiamsi non sequatur quod intenditur non idcirco dicitur irrationabiliter operari Here it is to be observed that Differences do in no ways appertain unto Sisters for that they are reputed to be separated and divided from the Family whereof they are descended inasmuch as when they are once married they do lose their own Surname and do receive their denomination from the Family whereof their Husbands are descended And so much doth the word Soror notifie unto us as Sosinus saith Soror est quasi seorsim nata à familia separata To Daughters it is permitted to bear the Arms of their Father even as the Elder Brother doth after his Fathers decease without any scandal or challenge of their Elder Brother for that to Daughters never were any Differences allowed and that for three causes First Because their Coats are never or very seldom advanced in the Field forasmuch as to that Sex War is reputed odious Secondly For that the Coat-Armour is no longer born by them than during their life for the same extendeth not to their Issue Lastly Because so long as Issue continueth of any of the Brethrens Lines they are debarred from the Inheritance Yet in some â—ases they shall bear the Coat-Armour to them and their Heirs as in Example If all the Issue of the Brethren happen to become extinct then the Daughters shall Inherit the Land of their Ancestor In which case they may therewithal assume his Coat-Armour and bear the same by themselves and their Heirs for ever But betwixt 〈◊〉 Sisters be allowed no Differences of Baâ—â—es of Pedegrees the Reason whereof is for that since by them the Name of the House cannot be preserved therefore they are admitted to the Inheritance equally and are adjudged but one Heir to all intents and purposes in Laws as well Martial as Civil without any eminent Prerogative either of Honour or Possession betwixt Elder and Younger CHAP. VII SO much of the Accidents of Arms viz. Tincture and Differences comprehended in the first part of our premised distribution Now of the second Member thereof viz. Parts of Arms. The parts of Arms are The Escocheon Ornaments without the Escocheon An Escocheon is the form or representation of a Shield of what kind soever and is so called of the Latin word Scutum which hath the same signification whence also an Esquire or Page takes his name of Scutiger signifying primarily a Target-bearer And the Target is not unaptly deduced from the Latin word Tergus a Beasts hide whereof at first Shields were made whereupon Pliny saith Tergus ad scuta galeasque impeuetrabile An impenetrable hide fit to make a Shield And the Poet Statius caesis clypeos vestire juvencis With Bullocks hides they clad their Shields Whence Virgil calls Ajax his Buckler Septemplex for the sevenfold doublings of Leather As elsewhere he describes a Target duo taurea terga made of two Ox hides But the clearest Star of our Profession Mr. Clarenceaux takes it from the British word Tarjan and that from the French Thireos which Pausanias saith is the Buckler in use amongst the old Gaules If any here should ask me Why then Escocheons-should be used in Heraldry since other men are invested with Ensigns of Honour besides Martial men I answer them that as to Military men that token is proper for reward of that kind of Service so if others by their Vertues Arts or Actions advance either the honour or the welfare of their Country their service is as beâ—oveful as the otheâ— and themselves as Defenders of Preservers of their Countries Peace and Happiness as I have formerly shewed deserve likewise the reward of the Escocheon being the Hieroglyphick or Emblem of Defence and Preserving In which respect that good Prophet Elijah was called The Chariots and Horsemen of Israel And by the Civil Law Imp. in L. Advoc. C. de Advoc. an Advocate is said to be Miles a Martial man and to have the same Prerogatives in that they do civium vitam patrimonium defendere defend the Life and Livelyhood of the Subjects Touching the divers forms of Shields I will not here speak every Country almost having their divers makings amongst which the smallest were in use amongst our old Britains as being most manageable and the greatest amongst the Romans and Grecians as may appear by Alexander who being to pass a River used his Shield for his Boat and his Spear for his Ruther to guide himself over And it was ever held more dishonourable for a man to lose his Buckler than his Sword in Field because it is more praise-worthy to defend a Friend than to hurt a Foe as a Noble General once said Mallem unum Civem c. I had rather save one good Subject than kill an hundred Enemies The Accidents in this Escocheon are Points Abatements Points are certain places in an Escocheon diversly named according to their several Positions Whereof some are Middle Remote The Middle Points are those that have their location in or near to the Center of the Escocheon Such are these viz. the Honour Fess Nombril Points The Fess Point is the exact Center of the Escocheon The Honour Point is the next above the same in a direct Line The Nombril is next underneath the Fess Point answering in a like distance from the Fess Point as Gerard Leigh hath set them down Remote Points are those that have their situation naturally in places further distant from the Center of the Escocheon Of these there are Superior Inferior The Superior Remote Points are those that have their being in the upper part of the Escocheon Of these there are Middle Extremes The Superior Middle Point doth occupy the precise midst of the Chief between the two Extremes The two Superior extreme Points do possess the corners of the chief part of the Escocheon And are termed Dexter Sinister The Superior Dexter Point hath his beginning near unto the right corner of the Escocheon in the Chief thereof The Superior Sinister Point is placed near the left Angle of the Chief in opposition to the Dexter Chief whereunto as also to the Middle Chief Point it answereth in a direct Line The Inferior
that the generous sort of Lions have For these respects the degenerate brood of Lions are called in Latin Imbelles Leones that is Heartless and Cowardly Lions whereas the true Lion is termed in Latin Generosus Leo quia generosum est quod à natura sua non degeneravit That is generous which degenerateth not from his kind by which reason a man of Noble Descent and Ignoble Conditions is not truly generous because he degenerateth from the Vertues of his Ancestors Lions Bears Wolves and other beasts of ravening kind when they are born in Arms feeding you must tearm them in blazon Raping and tell whereon To all beasts of prey Nature hath assigned teeth and talons of crooked shape and therewithal of great sharpness to the end they may strongly seize upon and detain their prey and speedily rend and divide the same And therefore in blazoning of beasts of this kind you must not omit to mention their teeth and tallons which are their only Armour for by them they are distinguished from those tame and harmless beasts that have their teeth knocked out and their nails pared so near to the quick as that they can neither bite nor scratch with much harm Those teeth and tallons are for the most part in Coat-Armours made of a different colour from the bodies of the beasts and therefore in blazoning of beasts of this kind when you speak of their teeth or tallons you shall say they are thus or thus Armed So likewise if you please to speak of their tongues you shall say they are thus or thus Langued To bear a Lion or whatsoever Animal in a diverse colour from his kindly or natural colour as to bear a blue green red purple Lion Bear c. or whatsoever other colour different from that which is natural unto him is not a bearing reproachful though disagreeing to his Nature if we consider of the occasion of their primary constitution for that the custome of such bearing seemeth to have proceeded from eminent persons who habiting themselves either for their sports of Hunting or for Military Services as best fitted their phantasies would withal sute their Armours and Habiliments with colours answerable to their habits with the shapes and portraitures of forged and counterfeit Animals Or else perhaps by occasion of some civil tumults as that between the Guelphi and the Gibelini in Italy they perhaps of each faction bearing Lions Bears and Wolves or other Animals to avoid confusion and to the end the one of them should not be entrapped by the other of the contrary faction when they were intermixed one with another and that their valorous actions might be more particularly discerned from the other they distinguished themselves by different and unlike coloured Garments that so each Governour and Leader might know those that were of his own faction The like may we observe to have been of late years used among ourselves when private factions have sprung amongst us one sort was known from others of the contrary faction by a Carnation Ribond worn about or in his Hat or by a Crimson Feather or other thing the contrary faction wearing like thing but in a different colour or fashion The Lion saith Vpton passing thorow stony places doth contract his Tallons within his flesh and so walketh on his feet as if he had no Tallons at all keeping them exceeding choicely lest he should dull and blunt their sharpness and so become less able to attach and rend his prey And this property seemeth not to be peculiar to a Lion but common to all beasts of rapine as Pliny ascribeth the same property to Leopards Panthers and such other as well as to the Lion Not only Lions but also all other beasts of ravenous kind according to Bekenhawb do bring forth their young in some part defective as Lions do produce their Whelps dead Dogs bring them forth blind Bears deformed and shapeless c. For Nature would not that they should attain perfection in the womb in regard of the safety of their Dam lest in their production they should spoil and rent her womb by their teeth and tallons Other more particular Rules there are concerning the divers kinds and peculiar actions of beasts of Rapine which shall follow in their more convenient places In the mean time let us proceed to Examples that may give life and approbation to those premised Rules Praecepta enim quantumvis bona concinna mortua sunt nisi ipse auditor variis exemplis ea percipiat Good and fit Precepts are but dead unless Examples give them life Of which Opinion was Leo the Tenth when he said Plus valent exempla quà m praecepta Et melius docemur vitâ quam verbo Examples are more forcible than Precepts And our lives teach more than our words Sol a Lion passant Guardant Mars was born by Brutus Son of Silvius Posthumus who coming out of Italy with the remnant of the Trojans found out this Island of Great Britain and reigned four and twenty years Or two Lions passant guardant Gules is the Coat of the Right Honourable Sir William Ducy of Tortworth in Glocestershire Knight of the Bath and Baronet now Viscount Down in Ireland Gules two Lions passant guardant Argent by the Name of L'Estrange a Family of good antiquity of which is Sir Nicholas L'Estrange of Hunstanton in Norfolk Baronet and Roger L'Estrange of St. Giles's in the Fields in Middlesex Esquire Gules two Lions passant guardant Or was the Coat-Armour of William Duke of Normandy base Son of Robert Duke of Normandy who in Anno 1066. having slain King Harold in Battel seized the Kingdom and reigned almost One and twenty years since which time his Heirs have happily enjoyed his Crown and Dignity King Henry the Second being Duke of Aquitain and Guion in the right of his Grandmother and Duke of Normandy in right of his Mother joyned the Arms of Guion which was a Lion passant guardant unto that of Normandy and England which was Gules three Lions passant guardant Or. Now that Lions and Lioncels are born in Arms the first with interposition of some of the Ordinaries the other charged upon Ordinaries the following Examples will make it manifest and in blazoning of such Coat-Armours care must be taken to observe and remember what concerning this point of their difference I have even now delivered Ruby a Lion rampant Pearl This is the Paternal Coat-Armour of the Right Honourable Louis Duras Baron Duras of Holmby one of the Captains of his Majesties Horse Guards and Privy Purse to his Royal Highness Iames Duke of York brother to the Duke and Marshal Duras as also to the Marshal de Lorge in France and Nephew to the late Marshal de Turein in the said Kingdom one of whose Ancestors viz. Galliard Lord Duras was in the Reign of K. Edward the Fourth Knight of the Garter being one of the last of Gascoign that held for the Crown of England where he came and continued in great Employments
contrariwise the Inversion of his tail is a note of wrath and fury especially if he do beat the back therewith and doth roar withal Of this property of the Lion Catullus maketh mention in these words Age caede terga cauda tua verbera pateant Face cuncta mugienti fremitu loca retonent The gate of a Lion when he is passant is an apparent note of his jurisdiction and regal authority and sovereignty wherewith the extension of his tail doth fitly quadrate and agree inasmuch as when he hunteth after his prey he roareth vehemently whereat the Beasts being astonished do make a stand whilst he with his tail maketh a circle about them in the sand which circle they dare not transgress which done out of them he makeh choice of his prey at his pleasure Thus ending with the Wolf I will perclose this Tract of Beasts of fierce Nature comprehending all others of this kind as Ounces Lynxes Hyenaes Panthers c. under these before handled Forasmuch as the greatest part of the general Rules as also of the sundry forms of bearing attributed unto Lions and Wolves may be aptly applied to all or the greatest part of other Beasts of like Nature CHAP. XVI HAVING given Examples of ravenous and fierce kind that by main force do prosecute and obtain their prey I will now proceed to the handling of Beasts less fell and harmful of which number some are wild and savage other are domestical and sociable as Dogs of all sorts of which I will first intreat because the Dog whether it be for pleasure and game in field or for thrift and guard at home deserveth a very high estimation and of all Dogs those of chase are most in use in Armory whereof some prosecute their prey speedily others more leisurably Of the first sort is the Greyhound as in Example Note that it appeareth in an old Manuscript treating of Blazon that a Greyhound cannot properly be termed rampant for it is contrary to his kind to appear so fierce as the Author there writeth in his said Book now remaining in the custody of that worthy Knight Sir William Seger Garter principal King of Arms whose great study and travel in this Heraldical Art hath by his own Works already published been sufficiently manifest Argent three Greyhounds current pale-ways Sable collared Or by the Name of More or De la More and with the Arms of Vlster is the Coat-Armour of Sir Edward More of More-hall and Bank-hall in Lancashire Baronet lineally descended from the ancient Family of the Mores of the said places whose Ancestors have there continued for above twenty Generations as appears as well by divers ancient Deeds now in the custody of the said Sir Edward as by the Hatchments and Inscriptions engraven on the walls of the said Houses This Coat is also born by Sir Iohn More of the City of London Knight and Alderman lineally descended from the Family of the Mores aforesaid Sable three Greyhounds current in pale Argent collared Or is the Coat-Armour of the ancient Family of the Machels of Crakenthorp in Westmoreland and is now born by Lancelot Machel Esq Lieutenant of Horse to the Counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland a great Loyalist and an expert Souldier This Name was writ Mauchael or Mauchel from the Conquest to the Reign of King Henry the Eighth at which time those two valiant Warriers Guy Mauchel of Crakenthorp Esq and Hugh his Brother engaged themselves in that Expedition against the French in which the English were victorious and took the almost impregnable City of Turnay from whence they both returned and were successively Lords of Crakenthorp aforesaid This Guy though in many dangers yet died in his Bed about the 27th of Henry the Eighth but shewed an Heroick and Marshal Spirit in bequeathing his Arms and Armour to his Sons in the very first place as that which was most dear unto him And Hugh Machel for his Valour was by King Henry the Eighth deputed with Sir Thomas Wharton Warden of the west Marshes of England by a Warrant under the said King's Sign Manual Dated the 28th of Iune in the 29th year of his Reign To these must be added all fourfooted Beasts that are provident in acquiring their food as the Hedghog and such other It resteth that I should now give Example of the last sort of Beasts among them of savage kind before spoken of which are those of timorous and fearful Nature Such are these that follow and their like And hitherto we have handled such Terrestrial Animals only as are called Vivipara because they do bring forth living Creatures whereas the other Terrestrials do bring forth eggs and are therefore named Ovipara of which sort we will speak in the next place CHAP. XVII THIS other sort of four-footed Egg-bearing Animals as I may so term them notwithstanding that in many things they have no small resemblance with man as well touching the faculties of the vegetable soul as also the parts of the body yet are they far more unlike us than those that bring forth a living Creature And albeit that these Egg-breeding four-footed Animals do consist of the same bodily parts that the Vivipara or Animal-producing do and of the four humours that are answerable in quality to the four Elements and have all parts as well internal as external senses and many other things wherein they do communicate with the Vivipara yet are there many other things wherein they differ not only from these but also even amongst themselves one from another of them For neither do we find in these that quickness of wit that we observe in others neither like parts of strength of body that the other have Like as man especially in his soul approacheth near unto God in likeness so in like manner do other Animals resemble man wherein they do participate with man in likeness after some sort but in divers degrees forasmuch as some of them have more and some less likeness with us than others have There is not saith Beda amongst the Vniversal Works of Nature any one thing so little or of so base esteem wherein a man cannot find some Divine thing worthy of admiration No less saith Farnesius may we admire the force of a silly Flea than the hugeness and strength of an Elephant Not without reason doth the Husbandman prognosticate the approach of some great shower of Rain by the croaking of Frogs more frequent than usually whereupon he saith that they do cry for rain For this Observation is grounded upon a Physical Reason Omne enim simile gaudet suo simili suae naturae utili ac convenienti every like is delighted with his like and with that which is commodious and agreeable to his Nature Since then that Frogs are exceedingly delighted with water as with that which best agreeth with their Nature therefore when they do apprehend a foresense of Rain they do rejoice and do testifie their joy by singing after their manner Animals of base
Heaven its adornment with precious stones as it were with stars to represent its splendor and its being lined with furrs doth declare its honour The cause that moved the Egyptians to insert a Crown amongst their Sacred or Hieroglyphical Letters may not impertinently be expressed in this place where we are to handle their divers forms according to the several Dignities and Estates to whom they do appertain For as Gamesters make but cold sport when there is no money at stake so knowledge doth oftentimes faint if it be not seasoned with the Salt of Reason In this Hieroglyphick we may observe the four causes of the Law The efficient cause is understood by the Head of the King that is adorned with this Crown The final cause is conceived by the Flowers or by the profitable use of fruit which how great the same in likelyhood will be may be conjectured by the Flowers The material cause may be gathered by the context or interlaced form and workmanship of the Crown which carrieth a resemblance of the People or Subjects Finally by the Orbicular form of the Crown is understood Justice and amongst Mathematicians the Spherical form is reckoned the perfectest and most noble Farnes 3. 65. The Prince is to the People the Author of all goodness inasmuch as from him as from a plentiful Fountain doth flow a sweet current of plentiful streams of honour profit and pleasure In regard whereof he is reputed to be the Common Parent of all his Subjects in that he affordeth unto them whatsoever a Natural Parent oweth to his Children The platting of these Flowers in the Crown doth represent the end of the Law which end hath its determinate period in utility Farnes 4. 66. For that Tree which beareth no blossoms for the most part produceth no fruit at all Ibid. Crowns in times past have been of great value and sumptuously enriched with precious stones as we may read 1. Chro. 20. 2. And David took the Crown of their King from off his head and found it to weigh a Talent of Gold and there were precious stones in it And it was set on David's head In these latter Ages the Emperour elected before his Coronation doth write himself King of the Romans as a title of less esteem and dignity than is the Title of Emperour But in ancient times the Romans had three degrees of Supream Dignity that is to say a King a Dictator an Emperour and of these the Dignity of a King was the chiefest and next thereto the Dignity of a Dictator was holden the worthiest and after the Dictatorship the Estate of an Emperour held the third place as inferiour to both the other Hereof we have a manifest proof in that the Senate and People of Rome minding to give unto Octavian the Emperour being a man well deserving of them some advancement or increase of honour and dignity they purposed to make him Dictator which he reverently bowing his knee refused for that he reputed the same a Dignity more ambitious and of greater esteem and withal more subjected to spite and envy esteeming the Title of Emperour to be popular and of small account in comparison of the eminency of a Dictatorship We may easily perceive by thisâ— that Iulius Caesar that time he was Dictator did affect to aspire to the Dignity of a King for which cause he was slain forasmuch as the Citizens could not endure that he should exercise Royal Authority over them but well could they suffer him to use the power of a Dictator as a Jurisdiction of less esteem Leonard Aretini Epistolar Lib. 5. There can be but one King at one time in a Realm whose Power must be absolute for the better managing of the Estate and Affairs thereof for if there be more they will cross and hinder each other in his Government and so destroy the nature of a King in that neither of them can sway the whole weale publick but each of them should admit a participation in government This do both ancient and modern times manifest unto us by Examples For neither Numa nor Hostilius nor Ancus Martius nor any other of succeeding Kings of the Romans could endure any Fellow or Copartner in Government The like also may we observe in Kings of modern times for neither doth England nor France admit more than one King at once to sway the Sovereign State but one alone hath the sole Government So that it is a thing meerly repugnant to the Nature of Royal Jurisdiction that two Persons at one time should exercise Kingly Authority It is in your choice whether you will term the foresaid Crowns Or or not for it sufficeth only to mention their Form because it is proper to them to be made of Gold But when they are found to be born in other kind of Metals or Colours you should in blazoning make mention whereof they are A Scepter with many Nations is holden for an especial Ensign of Royal Jurisdiction and Authority and the extending thereof a special note of the placability and royal favour of the King as we may see Hester 15. 14. And he held up his golden Scepter and laid it upon her Neck That the Scepter betokeneth Jurisdiction and Authority it is manifest by that which is written Baruch 6. 13. One holdeth a Scepter as if he were a Iudge of the Countrey yet can he not slay such as offend him which is here spoken of the vanity of the Idols before mentioned in the same Chapter Now shall you see in Babylon Gods of Silver and of Gold and of Wood born upon mens shoulders to cause them to fear Hitherto of Honorary Ensigns that serve for a declaration of the Royal Majesty or Function of an Emperour and King and are worn by the persons themselves that do exercise Sovereign Jurisdiction over their Subjects within their Dominions To which Ensigns I hold it not impertinent to add these few Attires or Ornaments following viz. Garters and Tassels as in Example Now of those other Honorary Ensigns that areborn before an Emperour or King or Persons that do exercise Sovereign Jurisdiction as their Vicegerents holding place of Supream Dignity under them in signification of that their Dignity which for brevities sake I will here only name leaving their Examples to be hereafter observed Such are the Sword of Estate the Canopy of Estate the Cap of Maintenance the Purse wherein the Great Seal is born the Great Mace c. All which shall follow hereafter in place convenient CHAP. II. HAVING in the former Chapter discoursed of things Honorary representting Estate or Dignity Temporal let us now consider of such Ornaments as bear a representation of Estate or Dignity Ecclesiastical according to the distribution thereof of which sort are these ensuing Examples Semiviros quicunque patres radiante Galero Conspicis c. Whoever marks our carnal Cardinals Weeds Their Hat and pendant Robe of purple strain Believe me 't is no crimson juice which breeds This sanguine hue nor
that every wheel therein is moved by some other of more swift motion that it self hath whereby is verified this saying Quilibet motus mensuratur per velociorem motum seipso CHAP. X. NEXT to Armature with the appendices thereof succeedeth Navigation whereunto pertain all sorts of Ships and Boats with their several parts their Hulls Stems Sterns Masts Tops Tacklings Sails Oars Cables Anchors c. whereof divers are born in Coat-Armour as shall by these next Examples partly appear He beareth Gules three pieces of Masts couped with their tops Argent by the Name of Cromer The invention of the Mast as also of the cross piece whereunto the Sail is fastened and is therefore called Sail-yard came saith Polydore from Daedalus that excellent Engineer of Athens who is famous for making the Artificial Cow wherein Pasiphae that Monster of womankind did put her self and so enjoyed her lust and bestial desires with a Bull with whom she was in love He beareth Gules three Sails Argent by the Name of Cavell alià s Locavell Pliny ascribeth the invention of Sails to Icarus the son of Daedalus who for this Device is said by Poets to have flown with Artificial wings In a natural conflict saith Alex. ab Alex to strike Sail or take down the Flag at the command of another is a token of yielding or submission which is yet observed by men of Naval Profession There are three things saith one which excell all other for beautiful shew a goodly man at Arms bravely mounted on a warlike Steed a Woman of fair and gooâ—â—y feature bearing a great belly and a goodly ship in her ruff and under full Sail. He beareth Gules an Anchor in Pale Argent the timber or cross piece thereof Or by the Name of Goodreed Anacharsis saith Pliny made Anchors first with two Hooks The Anchor signifieth succour in extremities and therefore the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews resembleth Hope to the Anchor where it is said Vt spem propositam teneamus quam velut animae anchor aâ— habemus tutam firmam because Hope doth establish and confirm our Faith against all the tempestuous Gusts of adverse occurrents Cosmus Medices Duke of Hetruria gave two Anchors for his Impress with this word Duabus meaning it was good to have two holds to trust to But Richard the First King of England gave a Sun on two Anchors with this Motto Christo Duce a worthy and Princely choice of so heavenly a Pilot. He beareth Sable a Cheveron between 3 Anchors Argent by the Name of Holder and is the Coat-Armour of Thomas Holder of South-Wheatly in Nottinghamshire Esq. late Auditor General to his Royal Highness the Duke of York a Person of approved Loyalty to the Crown all along the late Rebellion Or on a Pile engrailed Azure three Anchors of the Field by the Name of Byde and is the Coat-Armour of Skynner Byde Esq. son and heir of Sir Thomas Byde of Ware-Park in Hertfordshire Kt. and with a due difference is the Coat of Edward Byde of Lincolus-Inn in Middlesex Esq. Azure a Fess Or in Chief three Anchors of the second by the Name of Terne and is born by Christopher Terne Dr. in Physick Fellow of the Colledge of Physicians in London Physician to St. Bartholomews Hospital and Reader of Anatomy to the Company of Barbers-Chirurgions London He beareth Azure a Ruther or Helm of a Ship Argent By the help of this Helm doth the Pilot wield the Ship at will through the most violent Seas Some men are of opinion that the first invention of the Helm of a Ship was taken from the observation of a Kite flying or rather gliding in the Air that by turning of his tail one while one way another while another way doth guide his course in the Air whereby it seemeth that Nature would manifest in the clear Air what was behoveful to be practised in the deep waters So necessary is the use of this Instrument as that without it no shipping can be directed in a certain course but would be evermore in peril of splitting upon Shoals and Rocks through the forcible current and surging waves of the Sea and the violence of the boysterous winds notwithstanding the might of the skilfullest Pilots or Mariners to their great hazard and astonishment as we may see Psalm 107. 25 26 c. For at his word the stormy wind ariseth which lifteth up the waves thereof They are carried up to heaven and down again to the deep their soul melteth away because of the trouble They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wits ends Other parts of Ships have been born both in Coat-Armour and Impresses Horatius â—onsaga gave the Prow of a Ship tied to a Plow-wheel with a Laurel over it signifying his quiet Countrey life after his Naval life And Cardinal Raphael Riarius affecting the Papacy gave an Oar on the Globe of the Earth with this word Hoc opus shewing what a Pilot he would be if he had the Command He beareth Or a Lighter-boat in Fess Gules This Coat-Armour pertaineth to the Family deWolfo of Sweuland Like to this was born in Devise by the Prince Iam Bentivolious who opened his meaning with this word Me video in Mari sine gubernatore I find my self in the Sea without a Pilot. Such is the condition of a Common-wealth without a Ruler or a man without Reason tossed with every wave of affection But in these tossings of Fortunes waves wise was the resolution of Vicount Hugo de Melan whose Device was a Ship without any tackling to stay it with this word In silentio spe fortitudo mea My strength is in silence patience and hope The Field is Mars the Hull of a Ship having only a Main Mast and a top without any tackling Sol. This is the Coat-Armour of the high and mighty Prince Duke Albertus de Alasco of Polonia who did bear the same also for his Crest with this Motto Deus dabit vela God will give Sails shewing that heavenly guidance is that whereby worldly affairs are governed and that we must not altogether rely on humane helps He beareth Argent a Ship with three Masts a Sail trussed up and hoisted to the top of the Main Yard shrouded Sable by the Name of Meeres Andreas Doreo Admiral of Spain gave for his Impress a Ship under full Sail with this heavenly Motto Omnia Fortunae committo I commit all to Fortune But another of that Name Admiral to Charles the Fifth gave the same Device with a much more Christian-like word Non dormit qui custodit He that is keeper is no sleeper He beareth Azure a Galley passing under full Sail Or. This is a Coat of Spanish bearing which Nation much useth this kind of vessel on the Mediterranean and calmer Seas the Rowers therein being so many captived slaves chained fast to their feat lest they should rebell against the Ministers of their oppression The first Ship we read of
shall demand of me How it cometh to pass that the Diminutions or Differences of Arms beforementioned are so diversly born not only in forraign Countries but also in one self Nation Or why there is not one set form observed in the use of them with all Nations I answer That it is not possible because of the infinite actions of men which are no less infinitely subject to mutability and therefore can by no means be reduced to a Set-form of bearing universally according to that saying of an uncertain Author Res sunt infinitae infiniteque mutabiles idcircò praecepto generali comprehendi non possunt The First House The Second House The Third House The Fourth House The Fifth House The Sixth House It hath been evermore one Observation with Nations in bearing of Arms that as every particular Family saith Sir Iohn Ferne did bear Arms different in substance from those of other Families so those that are descended of the self same Bloud should likewise bear the Arms of that House and Family whereof they are descended in a different manner each from other not in Substance but in Accidents for the distinguishing of their Line of Agnation And the apposition of these Differences albeit they seem to make some alteration in the Coat-Armours whereunto they are annexed yet is the same but meerly Accidental the Substance still remaining as it was before the Nature of these Appositions being such as is of all other Accidents Vt possint abesse adesse sine subjecti interitu And these Differences annexed to Coat-Armours are of some Authors termed and that not improperly Diminutiones Armorum in respect they do derogate from the Dignity of the Arms whereto they are added as expresly manifesting them to be of less esteem than those from which they are derived Multiplicitas enim individuorum in eadem specie diminutionem arguit But doubtless the conceit of Apposition of these Differences to Coat-Armours was grounded upon the necessity the common Parent of all Inventions as well that thereby all confused bearing of Arms might be avoided as also that the Prerogative of the Eldest Son should be preserved inviolable And for this cause hath the Eldest of every Noble and Generous Family his peculiar manner of sole and plain bearing which he will in no case permit any other man to use though he be of the same Family and Surname but with addition of some kind of Difference because the sole bearing of Arms pertaineth only to the first begotten In primogenito enim saith Lyra tanquam in capite stat remanet splendor geniturae As touching the Dignity of the Firstbegotten Tremellius in his Annotations upon the 49th of Genesis maketh mention of two chief Prerogatives due unto Reâ—ben had he not defiled his Fathers Bed the one of Honour whereby he had his Brethren in Subjection unto him the other of Strength by reason of his double portion of Inheritance And Chassanaeus saith Ea quae acquiruntur Primogenito acquiruntur titulo universali item acquiruntur ut constituto in dignitate For these respects the Arms of the Family ought to remain entire to the Eldest because the second third and fourth begotten Sons cannot arrogate to themselves any such Prerogative and therefore may not bear their Coat but with Difference Furthermore these Differences here spoken of are of some Authors called Doctrinae Armorum and that very aptly in regard that by the apposition of them to Coat-Armours our understanding upon sight of them is informed from what Line of Consanguinity the Bearer of such Difference doth abstract himself whether from the Line Ascending Descending or Collateral as also in what Degree he standeth as whether he be the second third or fourth begotten Child of such a Parent And such apposition in no less lawful than is the addition of Names of Baptisme unto the Surname of the Family Sicut enim nomina inventa sunt ad cognoscendos homines ita arma vel insignia ad familias personas distinguendas singulatim There is yet a further use of these Differences in that they serve to prevent and avoid Dissentions Debates Challenges Combats and Slaughters For as to all Brethren there is but one Surname allowed yet for Difference that one of them may be discerned from another there is added unto each Brother a Praenomen or Name of Baptism so is it necessary that since the Coat-Armour of the Ancestor is competible to all the Children as the Mark of the Family whereof they are descended that a Difference should be added to the Coat-Armour of every Brother to mark and limit out to all mens sight the diversity of their Birth and Line whereupon they depend that so all occasion of Challenge may be prevented when each man knoweth not only his place of precedence but also his nearness and place of title to the Inheritance Whereas I have formerly among the Examples of Bordures used demonstrations of Differences in the Blood Royal of some of the younger Sons of Kings I hold it fit before I conclude this Tract of Differences to give a little touch of the necessity why these should be more eminent than those of ordinary use with Persons of inferiour Estate First in regard that if the Coat-Armour of others should have too near a conformity and resemblance with the Soveraign Ensigns the Vulgar sort perhaps might in some cases or pretences be seduced to follow such a one as were not their King to the great disturbance of the State and no less peril to the Person of their lawful Soveraign And not only is it so in Coats pertaining to the Blood Royal but also in other inferiour Callings For in ancient time saith Wyrly when men could not sufficiently distinguish their Coat-Armours by changing their Devices into other Colours for the Number of Leaders that many times were of one House or Family then were they forced to very their Marks by the said Additions And very seldom should you see in those times Crescents Mollets of such small things born for a Difference or if any such were they were made so large that they might easily be discerned by the distance of forty foot Furthermore the Soveraign Estate and Dignity being compared with the quality of any Subject the Difference will be found so great between them and the one so far surmounting the other of them as that Reason it self willeth that so great a Difference should be put between the Royal Ensigns and the Arms of a Subject as there is between their Estates and Degrees since those Ensigns are the Marks of their worthiness and esteem For these and other respects it hath been and yet still is in use that in Addition of Differences to the Arms of Kings younger Children the skilful Heralds have given some of the Honourable Ordinaries for more apparent Distinctions as a Fess Chief Bend Pile Bordure and such like as we may manifestly see in divers ancient Coats born by such Noble Personages as