A Complete Guide to Heraldry

The Status and the Meaning of a Coat of Arms in Great Britain 19 III. The Heralds and Officers of Arms 27 IV. Heraldic Brasses 49 V. The Component Parts of an Achievement 57 VI. The Shield 60 VII. The Field of a Shield and the Heraldic Tinctures 67 VIII. The Rules of Blazon 99 IX. The so-called Ordinaries and Sub-Ordinaries 106 X. The Human Figure in Heraldry 158 XI. The Heraldic Lion 172 XII. Beasts 191 XIII. Monsters 218 XIV. Birds 233 XV. Fish 253 XVI. Reptiles 257 XVII. Insects 260 XVIII. Trees, Leaves, Fruits, and Flowers 262 XIX. Inanimate Objects 281 XX. The Heraldic Helmet 303 XXI. The Crest 326 XXII. Crowns and Coronets 350 XXIII. Crest Coronets and Chapeaux 370 XXIV. The Mantling or Lambrequin 383 XXV. The Torse or Wreath 402 XXVI. Supporters 407 XXVII. The Compartment 441 XXVIII. Mottoes 448 XXIX. Badges 453 XXX. Heraldic Flags, Banners, and Standards 471 XXXI. Marks of Cadency 477 XXXII. Marks of Bastardy 508 XXXIII. The Marshalling of Arms 523 XXXIV. The Armorial Insignia of Knighthood 561 XXXV. The Armorial Bearings of a Lady 572 XXXVI. Official Heraldic Insignia 580 XXXVII. Augmentations of Honour 589 XXXVIII. Ecclesiastical Heraldry 600 XXXIX. Arms of Dominion and Sovereignty 607 XL. Hatchments 609 XLI. The Union Jack 611 XLII. " Seize-Quartiers " 618 Index 623 INTRODUCTION Too frequently it is the custom to regard the study of the science of Armory as that of a subject which has passed beyond the limits of practical politics. Heraldry has been termed "the shorthand of History," but nevertheless the study of that shorthand has been approached too often as if it were but the study of a dead language. The result has been that too much faith has been placed in the works of older writers, whose dicta have been accepted as both unquestionably correct at the date they wrote, and, as a consequence, equally binding at the present day. Since the "Boke of St. Albans" was written, into the heraldic portion of which the author managed to compress an unconscionable amount of rubbish, books and treatises on the subject of Armory have issued from the press in a constant succession. A few of them stand a head and shoulders above the remainder. The said remainder have already sunk into oblivion. Such a book as "Guillim" must of necessity rank in the forefront of any armorial…