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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Fictitious & Symbolic Creatures in Art - With Special Reference to Their Use in British Heraldry - -Author: John Vinycomb - -Release Date: September 22, 2012 [EBook #40825] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SYMBOLIC CREATURES IN ART *** - - - - -Produced by Chris Curnow and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive.) - - - - - - - - - -FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC CREATURES IN ART - - - - - FICTITIOUS & SYMBOLIC CREATURES IN ART - - WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THEIR - USE IN BRITISH HERALDRY - - - BY JOHN VINYCOMB - MEMBER OF THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY, FELLOW - OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND, - A VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE EX-LIBRIS SOCIETY - - - [Illustration: ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON] - - - _ILLUSTRATED_ - - - CHAPMAN AND HALL, LIMITED - 11 HENRIETTA STREET, LONDON, W. C. - MCMVI - - - - - Printed by BALLANTYNE & CO. LIMITED - Tavistock Street, London - - - - -PREFACE - - -Under the title of this book it is proposed to describe and illustrate -only those fictitious and symbolic creatures which appear in British -Heraldry. The list will include all those beings of whose existence we -have not the direct evidence of our senses, and those exaggerations and -combinations of natural forms which have been adopted in the system of -symbolic heraldry handed down to us from the Middle Ages. Many of the -ideas of the writers of that period were undoubtedly derived from still -earlier sources, namely, classic story, sacred and legendary art, and the -marvellous tales of early travellers; others were the coinage of their own -fancies and their fears. - -As these unreal beings are constantly met with in symbolic art, of which -heraldry is the chief exponent, it may be assumed that they have been -adopted in each case with some obvious or latent meaning, as in the case -of real animals; they may, therefore, equally lay claim to our -consideration as emblems or types, more especially as less attention has -been devoted to them and the delineation of their forms by competent -artists. The writer has been led into considering and investigating the -subject with some degree of attention, from finding the frequent need of -some reliable authority, both descriptive and artistic, such as would -enable any one to depict with accuracy and true heraldic spirit the forms -and features of these chimerical beings. Books of reference on heraldry -unfortunately give but a meagre description of their shapes, with scarcely -a hint as to their history or meaning, while the illustrations are usually -stiff and awkward, representing a soulless state of art. - -It cannot be said that artists at any period have succeeded, even in a -remote degree, in embodying the highly wrought conceptions of the poets -concerning these terrible creatures of the imagination. Milton seems to -have carried poetic personification to its utmost limits. Who, for -instance, could depict a being like this: - - "Black it stood as night, - Fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell!" - -Out of the ambiguous and often conflicting accounts of different authors -and the vagaries of artists it became no easy task to arrive at a clear -conception of many of the forms of these ideal monsters. The poet's pen -may turn them to shapes, shadowy at the best; but the artist who follows -the poet in endeavouring to realise and give tangible shape to these ideas -finds it beyond his art to give material form and expression to his -personifications with anything like photographic fidelity. Such shadowy -beings prefer the dim light of allegory to the clear sunlight of reason, -and shrink from closer inspection. Like all spectres they are ever most -effective in the dark. In the childhood of the world, from the dawn of -history, and all through the dim and credulous ages past, many such -illusions have performed an important part in influencing the thought and -lives of mankind. Over many lands these inherited ideas still exercise a -paramount influence, but in the enlightenment of the coming time it is -probable their power, like that of an evil dream, will fade entirely away -with the dawn of a brighter day, and the memories of their name and -influence alone remain. At present we are chiefly concerned with them as -symbols, and with their mode of representation, breathing for a brief -moment the breath of life into their old dead skins. These mythical -creatures may be gazed upon, shorn of all their terrors, in the -illustrations I have been enabled to make, and if it is found that from -each creature I have not "plucked out the heart of its mystery" it is -probably because there is no mystery whatever about it, only what to us -now appears as an ingenious fiction engendered by a credulous, imaginative -and superstitious past. And so we find the old horrors and pleasing -fictions, after figuring for ages as terrible or bright realities in the -minds of entire peoples, reduced at length to the dead level of a figure -of speech and a symbol merely. - - J. VINYCOMB. - - HOLYWOOD, - COUNTY DOWN, - _April 1906_. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - INTRODUCTION 1 - - NOTES ON ANIMATED BEINGS IN HERALDIC ART 13 - THE SYMBOLISM OF ATTITUDE OR POSITION 18 - THE HERALDIC SPIRIT--EFFECTIVE DECORATIVE QUALITY ESSENTIAL - IN HERALDRY 22 - - CELESTIAL BEINGS 25 - - ANGELS 27 - MISTAKEN MODERN CONCEPTION OF ANGELS 32 - MEDIÆVAL ART TREATMENT OF ANGELS 34 - - CHERUBIM AND SERAPHIM IN HERALDRY 44 - - THE CHERUBIM AND SERAPHIM OF SCRIPTURE 47 - - EMBLEMS OF THE FOUR EVANGELISTS 53 - - CHIMERICAL CREATURES OF THE DRAGON AND SERPENT KIND 57 - - THE DRAGON 59 - - THE DRAGON IN CHRISTIAN ART 69 - THE DRAGON IN THE ROYAL HERALDRY OF BRITAIN 83 - THE CROCODILE AS THE PROTOTYPE OF THE DRAGON 91 - THE HERALDIC DRAGON 92 - - THE HYDRA 96 - - THE WYVERN 98 - THE CHIMERA 102 - THE LION-DRAGON 103 - THE GORGON 103 - - THE COCKATRICE 104 - - BASILISK, OR AMPHYSIAN COCKATRICE 106 - THE MYTHICAL SERPENT 108 - - THE SCORPION 122 - - OTHER CHIMERICAL CREATURES AND HERALDIC BEASTS 125 - - THE UNICORN 127 - MEDIÆVAL CONCEPTION OF THE UNICORN 130 - THE HORN OF THE UNICORN 133 - - THE PEGASUS 137 - - SAGITTARY, CENTAUR, SAGITTARIUS, CENTAURUS, HIPPOCENTAUR 141 - - GRIFFIN OR GRYPHON 147 - THE MALE GRIFFIN 160 - OTHER VARIETIES OF THE GRIFFIN 161 - - THE OPINICUS, OR EPIMACUS 162 - - THE SPHYNX 163 - - THE PHOENIX BIRD OF THE SUN 171 - - THE HARPY 179 - - THE HERALDIC PELICAN 182 - - THE MARTLET 186 - - THE ALERION 188 - THE LIVER (CORMORANT) 189 - - THE HERALDIC TIGRE OR TYGER 190 - THE ROYAL TIGER 193 - - LEOPARD, OR PANTHER, FELIS PARDUS, LYBBARDE 194 - THE PANTHER "INCENSED" 199 - - THE LYNX 203 - - CAT-A-MOUNTAIN--TIGER CAT OR WILD CAT 205 - - THE SALAMANDER 209 - - HERALDIC ANTELOPE 213 - - THE HERALDIC IBEX 215 - - BAGWYN 216 - - THE CAMELOPARD, CAMEL-LEOPARD 216 - - MUSIMON, TITYRUS 217 - - THE ENFIELD 217 - - MANTIGER, MONTEGRE OR MANTICORA SATYRAL 218 - LAMIA OR EMIPUSA 220 - BAPHOMET 221 - APRES 221 - STELLIONES 221 - - FICTITIOUS CREATURES OF THE SEA 223 - INTRODUCTORY NOTES 225 - - POSEIDON, OR NEPTUNE 237 - - MERMAN OR TRITON 239 - - THE MERMAID OR SIREN 243 - - THE SIRENS OF CLASSIC MYTHOLOGY 249 - - THE DOLPHIN OF LEGEND AND OF HERALDRY 254 - - THE DAUPHIN OF FRANCE 265 - - THE HERALDIC DOLPHIN 267 - - THE SEA-HORSE 270 - - SEA-LION 274 - - SEA-DOG 275 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE - - CELESTIAL BEINGS: - Angel holding Shield 27 - Egyptian Winged Deity 28 - Hawk-headed and winged figure, emblem of Osiris 29 - Angel with Cloud Symbol 38 - Angel Supporter 40 - Kneeling Angel Supporter 41 - Arms of the Abbey of St. Albans 42 - Gloria in Excelsis Deo 43 - Cherubs' Heads 44 - A Seraph's Head 44 - Arms--Azure a chevron argent between three cherubs' heads of the - last 45 - Cherubim and Seraphim of Scripture 47 - Angel crest of Tuite, Bart., co. Tipperary 48 - Tetramorph 52 - Symbols of the Four Evangelists 54 - The Lion of St. Mark, Venice 56 - - CHIMERICAL CREATURES OF THE DRAGON AND SERPENT KIND: - The Dragon 59 - Japanese Dragon 65 - Japanese Imperial Device 67 - The Dragon of the Apocalypse 71 - St. Michael and the Old Dragon 72 - St. Margaret. From ancient carving 73 - St. George and the Dragon 74 - Dragon Standard. From the Bayeux Tapestry 86 - A Dragon passant 90 - Crest, a Dragon's Head erased collared and chained 93 - Arms of the City of London 94 - Sinister supporter of the arms of Viscount Gough 95 - Hercules and the Lernean Hydra. From Greek vase 96 - The Hydra 97 - A Wyvern holding a fleur-de-lis 98 - A Wyvern, wings endorsed, tail nowed 99 - Wyvern from the Garter plate of Sir John Gray, 1436 A.D. 99 - Wyvern, or Lindworm (German version) 100 - Wyvern, wings displayed (early example) 101 - Wyvern, wings depressed 101 - Chimera, from a Greek coin 102 - Cockatrice 105 - Basilisk or Aphasian Cockatrice, tail nowed 107 - Greek Shield, from painted vase in the British Museum 114 - Brazen Serpent 114 - Arms of Whitby Abbey 118 - A Serpent, nowed, proper. Crest of Cavendish 121 - Amphiptère, or flying Serpent 122 - Scorpion 123 - - OTHER CHIMERICAL CREATURES AND HERALDIC BEASTS: - Unicorn salient 127 - Crest, a Unicorn's Head, couped 128 - The Legend of the Unicorn 131 - Pegasus or Pegasos 137 - Coins of Corinth and Syracuse 138 - Pegasus salient 139 - The Sagittary--Centaur 142 - Ipotane, from Mandeville's travels 144 - Compound figures, gold necklace 145 - Centaur, Greek Sculpture 146 - A Griffin statant, wings endorsed 148 - A Griffin passant, wings raised. (Early English) 149 - A Griffin segreant, wings displayed. (German) 149 - Sleeping Griffin 150 - Griffin segreant (German version) 152 - Gold Flying Griffin 154 - Colossal Griffins, Burmah 155 - Carved panel, a Griffin segreant 160 - Male Griffin 161 - Opinicus statant 162 - Egyptian Sphynx 163 - Theban, or Greek Sphynx 164 - A Sphynx passant guardant, wings endorsed 170 - The Phoenix 171 - A Harpy, wings disclosed 179 - The Harpy, Greek sculpture 180 - A Harpy displayed and crowned (German version) 181 - Shield of Nüremberg 181 - A Pelican in her piety, wings displayed 182 - Heraldic Pelican in her piety 183 - Crest, a Pelican vulning herself proper, wings endorsed 184 - The natural Pelican 186 - The Martlet 186 - Alerion displayed 188 - Heraldic Eagle 188 - An Heraldic Tigre passant 190 - Supporter, an Heraldic Tigre, collared and lined 191 - Tigre and Mirror 193 - A Leopard passant 195 - A Leopard's Face, jessant-de-lis 196 - Panther "Incensed" 200 - The Lynx 203 - Cat-a-Mountain saliant, collared and lined 205 - Crest, a Cat-a-Mountain, sejant, collared and lined 206 - The crowned Salamander of Francis I. 209 - Salamander crest of James, Earl of Douglas 212 - Heraldic Antelope 214 - The Heraldic Ibex 215 - Musimon, Tityrus 217 - Mantygre, Satyral 218 - Manticora. From ancient Bestiaria 219 - Lamia. From old Bestiary 220 - - FICTITIOUS CREATURES OF THE SEA: - Poseidon. Dexter Supporter of Baron Hawke 237 - Merman or Triton 240 - Triton, with two tails (German) 240 - Mermaid and Triton supporters 241 - Mermaid 242, 243 - Crest of Ellis 244 - Die Ritter, of Nuremberg 245 - Ulysses and the Sirens 249, 250 - The Dolphin 254, 255 - Dolphin of classic art 259 - Coin of Ægina 262 - Sign of the Dolphin 263 - Banner of the Dolphin 265 - Example--Dolphin embowed 267 - Dolphin hauriant, urinant, naiant, torqued 268 - Sea-horse naiant 270 - Sea-horse erect 271 - Arms of the city of Belfast 273 - Sea-lion erect 275 - Sea-dog rampant 276 - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - "_Angels and ministers of grace defend us._"--"Hamlet." - - -The human mind has a passionate longing for knowledge even of things past -comprehension. Where it cannot know, it will imagine; what the mind -conceives it will attempt to define. Are facts wanting, poetry steps in, -and myth and song supply the void; cave and forest, mountain and valley, -lake and river, are theatres peopled by fancy, and - - "as imagination bodies forth - The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen - Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing - A local habitation and a name." - -Traditions of unreal beings inhabit the air, and will not vanish be they -ever so sternly commanded; from the misty records of antiquity and the -relics of past greatness as seen sculptured in stupendous ruins on the -banks of the Nile and the plains of Assyria, strange shapes look with -their mute stony eyes upon a world that knows them but imperfectly, and -vainly attempts to unriddle the unfathomable mystery of their being. -Western nations, with their growing civilisations, conjured up monsters of -benign or baneful influence, or engrafted and expanded the older ideas in -a manner suited to their genius and national characteristics. - -The creatures of the imagination, "Gorgons and Hydras and Chimeras dire," -shapes lovely and shapes terrible begot of unreason in the credulous minds -of the imaginative, the timid and the superstitious,--or dreamy poetic -fancies of fairies and elves of whom poets sing so sweetly: - - "Shapes from the invisible world unearthly singing - From out the middle air, from flowery nests - And from the pillowy silkiness that rests - Full in the speculation of the stars,--" - KEATS. - - - "or fairy elves, - Whose midnight revels, by the forest side - Or fountain, some belated peasant sees, - Or dreams he sees,--" - MILTON, _Paradise Lost_, Book i. - -the nameless dreads and horrors of the unknown powers of darkness, the -pestiferous inhabitants of wastes and desert places where loneliness -reigns supreme, and imaginary terrors assault the traveller on every hand, -assuming forms more various and more to be dreaded than aught of mortal -birth,--such vague and indefinable ideas, "legends fed by time and -chance," like rumours in the air, in the course of time assume tangible -shape, receiving definite expression by the poet and artist until they -become fixed in the popular mind as stern realities influencing the -thoughts and habits of millions of people through successive generations. -We see them in the rude fetish of the South Sea Islander, the myriad gods -and monsters of heathen mythology, as well as in the superstitions of -mediæval Europe, of which last the devil with horned brow, cloven hoofs -and forked tail is the most "unreal mockery" of them all. The days of -Diabolism and the old witch creed are, however, passed away; but under the -dominance of these ideas during centuries, in Protestant and Catholic -lands alike, hundreds of thousands of innocent victims of all ages and -both sexes were accused of the most absurd and impossible crimes, and -subjected to almost inconceivable torture and death. - -The dying Christian about to pass through the valley of the shadow of -death, in the words of the poet, expresses his faith in the nearness of -the spirit world: - - "I see a form ye cannot see - I hear a voice ye cannot hear." - -To the spiritually minded other forms, with more of the beautiful and less -of the hideous and frightful, revealed themselves; the solitary recluse, -his body and mind reduced to an unnatural condition by fasting and -penance, in mental hallucination beheld his celestial visitants with awe -and adoration, and saw in visions angels and archangels, cherubim and -seraphim towering in a blaze of glory to illimitable height and extremest -space. The rapt seraph and the whole angelic host of heaven to his -ecstatic gaze was a revelation and a reality as tangible as were the -powers of darkness seen and felt by more sordid natures, incapable of the -higher conceptions, and whose minds were accessible chiefly through their -terrors. - -To classic fable we are indebted for very many of the fictitious animals -which heralds have introduced into coats armorial. In all ages man has -sought to explain by myths certain phenomena of nature which he has been -unable to account for in a more rational manner. _Earthquakes_ were the -awakening of the earth tortoise which carried the earth on its back; _the -tides_ were the pulses of the ocean; _lightning_ was the breath of demons, -the thunderbolt of Jupiter, the hammer of Thor; _volcanoes_ were the -forges of the infernal deities. In the old Norse legends we read of -_waterspouts_ being looked upon as sea serpents, and wonderful stories are -related of their power and influence. The Chinese imagine _eclipses_ to be -caused by great dragons which seek to devour the sun. Innumerable beliefs -cluster round the _sun_, _moon_, and _stars_. We may trace from our own -language the extent of power which these peculiar beliefs have had over -the human mind. We still speak of mad people as lunatics, gloomy people as -saturnine, sprightly people we term mercurial; we say, "Ill-starr'd -event," &c. &c. The ships of the early navigators, with masts and sails -and other requisites for directing their motion or influencing their -speed, would be objects of astonishment to the inhabitants of the -countries they visited, causing them to be received with the utmost -respect and veneration. The ship was taken for a living animal, and hence -originated, some say, the fables of winged dragons, griffons, flying -citadels, and men transformed into birds and fishes. The winged Pegasus -was nothing but a ship with sails and hence was said to be the offspring -of Neptune. - -"In reality," says Southey, in his preface to the "Morte d'Arthur," vol. -ii. 1817, "mythological and romantic tales are current among all savages -of whom we have any full account; for man has his intellectual as well as -his bodily appetite, and these things are the food of his imagination and -faith. They are found wherever there is language and discourse of reason; -in other words, wherever there is man. And in similar states of society -the fictions of different people will bear a corresponding resemblance, -notwithstanding the differences of time and scene." And Sir Walter Scott, -in his "Essay on Romance and Chivalry," following up the same idea, adds, -"that the usual appearances and productions of nature offer to the fancy, -in every part of the world, the same means of diversifying fictitious -narrative by the introduction of prodigies. If in any romance we encounter -the description of an elephant, we may reasonably conclude that a -phenomenon unknown in Europe must have been borrowed from the East; but -whoever has seen a serpent and a bird may easily aggravate the terrors of -the former by conferring on a fictitious monster the wings of the latter; -and whoever has seen or heard of a wolf, or lion and an eagle, may, by a -similar exercise of invention, imagine a griffon or a hippogriff." - -Beyond the common experiences of every-day life the popular mind -everywhere cares very little about simple commonplace practical truths. -Human nature seems to crave mystery, to be fond of riddles and the -marvellous, and doubtless it was ever so and provided for in all the old -faiths of the world. - -"The multitude of dragons, diverse as they are, reflecting the fears and -fancies of the most different races, it is more than probable is a relic -of the early serpent-worship which, according to Mr. Fergusson, is of such -remote antiquity that the religion of the Jews was modern in comparison, -the curse laid on the serpent being, in fact, levelled at the ancient -superstition which it was intended to supersede. Notwithstanding the -various forms under which we find the old dragon he ever retains something -of the serpent about him, if no more than the scales. In the mediæval -devil, too, the tail reveals his descent." (Louis F. Day.) - -The fictitious beings used as symbols in heraldry may be divided into two -classes: (1) Celestial beings mentioned in Holy Writ, and those creatures -of the imagination which, from the earliest ages, have held possession of -men's minds, profound symbols unlike anything in the heavens or in the -earth beneath or in the waters under the earth. They may be abstract ideas -embodied in tangible shape, such as the terrible creature, the type of -some divine quality, that stands calm, immovable, and imperishable within -the walls of our National Museum; such forms as the dragon, of the purely -imaginative class, and those creatures compounded of parts of different -real animals, yet unlike any one of them, each possessing special symbolic -attributes, according to the traditional ideas held concerning them. (2) -Animals purely heraldic, such as the heraldic tiger, panther incensed, -heraldic antelope, &c., owe their origin and significance to other ideas, -and must be accounted for on other grounds, namely, the mistaken ideas -resulting from imperfect knowledge of these objects in natural history by -early writers and herald painters, to whom they were no doubt real animals -with natural qualities, and, as such, according to their knowledge, they -depicted them; and although more light has been thrown upon the study of -natural history since their time, and many of their conceptions have been -proved to be erroneous, the well-known heraldic shapes of many of these -_lusus naturæ_ are still retained in modern armory. These animals were -such as they could have little chance of seeing, and they probably -accepted their descriptions from "travellers' tales," always full of the -marvellous--and the misleading histories of still earlier writers. Pliny -and many of the writers of his day describe certain animals in a way that -appears the absurdest fable; even the lion described by him is in some -points most unnatural. Xenophon, for instance, describing a boar hunt, -gravely tells us: "So hot are the boar's tusks when he is just dead that -if a person lays hairs upon them the hairs will shrivel up; and when the -boar is alive they--that is, the tusks--are actually red hot when he is -irritated, for otherwise he would not singe the tips of the dogs' hair -when he misses a blow at their bodies." The salamander in flames, of -frequent occurrence in heraldry, is of this class. Like the toad, "ugly -and venomous," the salamander was regarded by the ancients with the utmost -horror and aversion. It was accredited with wondrous qualities, and the -very sight of it "abominable and fearful to behold." Elian, Nicander, -Dioscorides and Pliny all agree in that it possessed the power of -immediately extinguishing any fire into which it was put, and that it -would even rush at or charge the flame, which it well knew how to -extinguish. It was believed that its bite was certainly mortal, that -anything touched by its saliva became poisonous, nay, that if it crept -over a tree all the fruit became deleterious. Even Bacon believed in it. -Quoth he: "The salamander liveth in the fire and hath the power to -extinguish it." There is, too, a lingering popular belief that if a fire -has been burning for seven years there will be a salamander produced from -it. Such is the monstrous character given to one of the most harmless of -little creatures: the only basis of truth for all this superstructure of -fable is the fact that it exudes an acrid watery humour from its skin when -alarmed or in pain. - -Spenser, in the "Fairy Queen," Book 1, cant. v. 18, according to the -mistaken notions of his time, compares the dangerous dissimulation and -treacherous tears of Duessa (or Falsehood) to the crocodile: - - "As when a weary traveller that strays - By muddy shore of broad seven-mouthed Nile, - Unweeting of the perilous wand'ring ways, - Doth meet a cruel, crafty crocodile, - Which in false guise hiding his harmful guile, - Doth weep full sore, and shedding tender tears; - The foolish man, that pities all the while - His mournful plight, is swallowed unawares - Forgetful of his own that minds another's cares." - -And Shakespeare, _2 Henry VI_. iii. 1: - - "as the mournful crocodile - With sorrow snares relenting passengers." - -Quarles, too, in his "Emblems": - - "O what a crocodilian world is this, - Compos'd of treach'ries and insnaring wiles!" - -Bossewell, an heraldic writer of the sixteenth century, after the model of -his forerunner, Gerard Leigh, edified his readers with comments on natural -history in such a delightful manner (according to his friend Roscarrocke) -as to provoke the envy of Pliny in Elysium, though now these descriptions -in many instances only serve to call up a smile from their very absurdity. -With "veracious" histories of this description, is it to be wondered at -that such beings as those referred to were made use of in heraldry and -accepted as types or emblems of some particular quality in man? As an -instance of how an error in the form of an animal may be perpetuated -unperceived, it may be mentioned that even in the best books on heraldry, -natural history, and in other illustrated publications, the elephant is -rarely to be seen correctly delineated. A peculiarity in his formation is -that the hind legs bend in the same manner as the fore legs, so that, -unlike other quadrupeds, it can kneel and rest on its four knees, whereas -it is usually depicted with the hind legs to bend in the same way as those -of the horse or the cow. When artists and herald-painters continue to -commit this blunder unobserved, some palliation may be afforded to the old -heralds for their offences against zoology in the errors and delusions -arising from lack of information. They could have little opportunity of -acquiring a correct knowledge of the rarer kinds of animals; they had not -the advantage of seeing menageries of wild beasts, or of consulting books -on natural history with excellent illustrations, as the modern herald may -do. Only when their scanty information fell short did they venture to draw -on their imaginations for their beasts, after the manner of an ancient -worthy, who "where the lion's skin fell short, eked it out with the -fox's." - -Some writers, however, maintain that these monstrosities are not so much -the result of ignorance of the real forms of the beasts as that they were -intended to typify certain extraordinary qualities, and therefore -exaggeration of the natural shapes and functions was needful to express -such qualities. This may be true in some instances. Under this idea the -noble form of the lion may have been distorted to resemble the wild cat in -the fury of its contortions. _The Panther incensed_, breathing fire and -smoke out of its mouth, nose and ears, seems as if taken from some -misleading history--like that of the boar, by Xenophon, already referred -to--or the result of the erroneous description of some terrified -traveller. This is a natural and probable mode of accounting for its -unnatural appearance. It may, however, fairly be said that the natural -ferocity of the brute, and also its destructive qualities, are most fitly -typified by the devouring flame issuing from the head of this bloodthirsty -and treacherous beast of prey. - -_The Heraldic Pelican_, again, is evidently a mistake of the early -artists, similar to the heraldic tiger, heraldic antelope, &c., and the -persistent following of the traditional "pattern" by the heralds when once -established. Early Christian painters always represented this emblem of -devoted self-sacrifice, _A Pelican in her piety_--that is, feeding her -young with her own blood--as having the head and beak of an eagle or bird -of prey such as they must have believed it to possess, and with which it -would be possible that it could lacerate its own breast; and not with the -clumsy and ungainly "bill" peculiar to this species of bird, which we know -is more suited to gobble up small reptiles than to "_vulning_" itself. - -Some symbols, again, are neither real nor do they pretend to be fabulous, -such as the _two-headed eagle_, but are pure heraldic inventions that have -each their special signification. _The tricorporate lion_ lays no claim to -be other than the symbol of a powerful triune body under one guiding head; -the _three legs conjoined_--the arms of the Isle of Man--is an old Greek -sign for expedition. Many other instances will, no doubt, occur to the -reader of similar emblems of this class. - - - - -Notes on Animated Beings in Heraldic Art - - -[Illustration] - - -Notes on Animated Beings in Heraldic Art - - "_One chief source of illustration is to be found in the most - brilliant, and in its power on character, hitherto the most effective - of the Arts--HERALDRY._" - - RUSKIN, - "Relation of Wise Art and Wise Science." - -Heraldry is _par excellence_ the science of symbols. A pictorial device is -subject to no exact or regular law, provided it carries its meaning with -it. Heraldry, on the contrary, insists on the observance of certain -definite and easily understood rules constituting it a science, by the -observance of which any one acquainted with heraldic language may, from a -concise written description (or _blazon_ as it is termed), reconstruct at -any time the symbol or series of symbols intended, and with perfect -accuracy; for a heraldic emblem once adopted remains unchangeable, no -matter with what amount of naturalness or conventionality it may be done, -or with what quaintness or even grotesqueness it may be treated; the -symbol remains intact. "_A lion rampant_," "_a dragon_," or any other -heraldic figure is, therefore, a fixed and immutable idea, and not to be -confounded with any other, no matter what the style of artistic or -decorative treatment it may receive. - -Notwithstanding the evident intention everywhere in heraldry to be -symbolic, in attitude as well as in tinctures, we find the greatest errors -and absurdities constantly perpetrated. To many it seems as if it was not -considered essential to acquire a knowledge of the rudiments of the -science. Heraldry is a living language, and when the attempt is made to -express it without proper knowledge the result can only be unmitigated -nonsense. By inattention to those principles which regulate the -_attitude_, the _tinctures_, and the disposition of every part of an -armorial achievement, discredit is brought upon the subject, which should -fall upon the head of the ignorant designer alone. No matter what heraldic -position of an animal may be blazoned (though it admits of only one -interpretation), we find the most unwarrantable latitude frequently taken -by otherwise skilful artists in depicting it. The designer becomes a law -unto himself, and it is posed and treated in a way to suit the fancy of -the moment. A lion is only a lion to him, and it is nothing more. To the -true herald it is very much more. As a mild instance, see the unkind -treatment meted out to the supporters of the Royal Arms. The lion and -unicorn are both "rampant," and the head of the lion is turned towards -the spectator (termed _guardant_). Not content to be represented in the -regulation positions, they will be found depicted in most strange and -fantastic attitudes not recognised in heraldry--not supporting or guarding -the shield, which is their special function. At the head of the _Times_ -newspaper they are represented playing at hide and seek round the shield; -elsewhere we see them capering and prancing, or we find them sitting, like -begging dogs, as if ashamed of themselves and their vocation. - -I may here quote from a most admirable work: "That the decorative beauty -of heraldry, far from being that of form and colour alone, was also an -imaginative one depending much on the symbolic meaning of its designs, -there can be no doubt.... Early Christian Art was full of symbols, whose -use and meaning were discussed in treatises from the second century -onwards. By the eleventh it had become systemised and ranged under various -heads,--Bestiaria for beasts, Volucaria for birds, and Lapidaria for -stones. It permeated the whole life of the people in its religious uses, -and entered romantically into the half-religious, half-mystical -observances of chivalry, the very armour of the valiant knight being full -of meanings which it was his duty to know."[1] - - -The Symbolism of Attitude or Position - -It must be evident to every one who has given any thought to the subject -that a definite idea is meant to be conveyed to the mind by the attitude -in which an animal is depicted; and such figures are not mere arbitrary -signs, like the letters of the alphabet, which of themselves convey no -meaning whatever. "_A lion rampant_" is, as the term suggests, a lion in -the act of fighting, rearing on his hind legs to meet his antagonist. He -is therefore depicted with wildly tossed mane, staring eyes, and _guly_ -mouth; his muscular limbs and distended claws braced up for the combat -betoken the energy and power of the noble brute. How different is the idea -conveyed by the lion _statant_ in the firm majesty of his pose, calmly -looking before him; or _couchant_, fit emblem of restful vigilance and -conscious power, prepared on the instant alike to attack or defend. - -Should any reasons be needed to enforce the necessity of adhering strictly -to the heraldic law in which attitude plays such an important part, it may -be needful only to refer to one or two examples, and cite as an instance -in point the noblest of all created beings, and ask whether, of the many -acts in which imperious man himself may be heraldically portrayed, the -action or position in which he is to be depicted should not indicate -distinctly the idea that is to be associated with the representation? -whether vauntingly, like the old kings,-- - - "with high exacting look - Sceptred and globed" - ---attributes of his power,--or as a bishop or saint in the act of -benediction,--kneeling in prayer as on mediæval seals,--the three savage -men _ambulant_ on the shield of Viscount Halifax,--or the dead men strewn -over the field on the seal of the city of Lichfield--in each the primary -idea is _man_, but how different the signification! It will therefore be -understood that the particular action or posture, or any of the various -forms in which real or imaginary creatures may be blazoned in heraldry, -gives the keynote to its interpretation, which, in this respect, is -nothing if not symbolic. - -It will be seen that to interpret the meaning implied in any particular -charge, the _tinctures_, as well as the _attitude_, must be considered. -These, taken in combination with the _qualities_ or _attributes_ we -associate with the creature represented, indicate in a threefold manner -the complete idea or phase of meaning intended to be conveyed by the -composition, and may be thus formulated: - - (1) THE CREATURE.--The primary idea in the symbol is in the particular - being represented, whether real or fictitious, as _a man_, _a lion_, - _an eagle_, _a dragon_, &c., of the form and accepted character for - some particular quality or attribute of mind or body, as - _fierceness_, _valour_, _fleetness_, &c. - - (2) ATTITUDE.--The various attitudes or positions in which it may be - depicted in heraldry, each denoting some special meaning, as - _rampant_, _sejant_, _dormant_, &c. - - (3) TINCTURE.--Whether blazoned _proper_ (that is, according to - nature) or of some of the heraldic tinctures, as _or_ (gold), _gules_ - (red), _azure_, _vert_, &c., each tincture, according to the old - heralds, bearing a particular and special signification. - -Tinctures in armorial devices were, however, not always introduced on -these scientific principles or adopted from any symbolic meaning, but as -arbitrary variations of colour for distinction merely, and as being in -themselves equally honourable; colour alone in many instances serving to -distinguish the arms of many families that would otherwise be the same. -Hence the necessity for accuracy in blazoning. - -Guillam lays down some general rules regarding the symbolic meaning by -which all sorts of creatures borne in arms or ensigns are to be -interpreted, and by which alone a consistent system can be regulated. -"They must," he says, "be interpreted in the best sense, that is, -according to their most generous and noble qualities, and so to the -greatest honour of their bearers.... The _fox_ is full of wit, and withal -given wholly to filching for his prey. If, then, this be the charge of an -escutcheon, we must conceive the quality represented to be his wit and -cunning, but not his pilfering and stealing;" and so of other beasts. Even -in wild and ruthless animals and fictitious creatures, symbolic heraldry -delights in setting forth their most commendable qualities, as fierceness -and courage in overcoming enemies, though they may also possess most -detestable qualities. - -In like manner all sorts of peaceable or gentle-natured creatures must be -set forth in their most noble and kindly action, each in its disposition -and that which is most agreeable to nature, rather than of an opposite -character. Heraldic art thus stamps a peculiar note of dignity for some -particular respect in the emblematic figures it accepts, as for some -special use, quality or action in the thing depicted; and this dignity or -nobility may have a twofold relation, one betwixt creatures of divers -kinds, as _a lion_ or _a stag_, _a wolf_ and _a lamb_; the other between -beings of one and the same kind, according to their various attitudes or -positions in which they may be represented, as a stag _courant_ or _at -speed_, and a stag _lodged_ or _at bay_; a lion _rampant_ and a lion -_coward_--one will keep the field, the other seek safety in flight, just -as one attitude conveys a different signification from another. - - -The Heraldic Spirit--Effective decorative Quality essential in Heraldry - -It will be observable that in the hands of a capable designer imbued with -the true heraldic spirit, all objects, animate and inanimate, conform -after their kind to decorative necessities, and assume shapes more or less -conventional, and, as far as is consistent with effective display of the -charge, are made to accommodate themselves to the space they must occupy. -Fierce and savage beasts are made to look full of energy and angry power, -while gentle-natured creatures are made to retain their harmless traits. -In a monster of the dragon tribe, strong leathern wings add to his -terrors; his jaws are wide, his claws are strong and sharp; he is clothed -in impenetrable armour of plates and scales, his breath is fire and flame, -lightning darts from his eyes, he lashes his tail in fury; and all the -while the artist is most careful so to spread the creature out on shield -or banner that all his powers shall be displayed at once. - -Whatever liberty the artist may take in his interpretation of the form of -bird, beast, or monster, there is, however, a limit to his licence beyond -which he may not go. He may not alter the recognised symbolic attitude, -nor change the tincture; he is scarcely at liberty to add a feature. He -may curl the mane of his lion, fancifully develop its tongue and tail, -and display its claws in a manner for which there is little or no -authority in nature; but if he add wings, or endow it with a plurality of -heads or tails, it instantly becomes another creature and a totally -different symbol.[2] A wise reticence in treatment is more to be commended -than such fanciful extravagance. - -The early artists and heralds, in their strivings to exaggerate in a -conventional manner the characteristics of animals for their most -effective display, appear to have reached the limits of which their art -was capable, and important lessons may be gained from their works. With -the extended knowledge of natural history, and the advanced state of art -at the present day, decorative and symbolic heraldry should take a leading -place in the twentieth century, as in the words of Ruskin, it has been -"hitherto the most brilliant" and "most effective of the Arts." - - - - - - -Celestial Beings - - -[Illustration: Angels] - - "_They boast ethereal vigour and are form'd - From seeds of heavenly birth._"--VIRGIL. - - - "_Down hither prone in flight - He speeds, and through the vast ethereal sky - Sails between world and world with steady wings: - Now on the polar wind, then with quick fan - Winnows the buxom air._"--MILTON. - -Angels and Archangels the mind loves to contemplate as the ministers of -God's omnipotence and beneficence, and delights in believing these -celestial beings to be endowed with a higher and purer intelligence, and -as being nearer to the divine nature. In all ages civilised man has -thought of them and represented them in art as of form like to his own, -and with attributes of volition and power suggested by wings. Scripture -itself justifies the similitude; the Almighty is sublimely represented as -"walking upon the wings of the wind." Wings have always been the symbol or -attribute of _volition_, of _mind_, or of the _spirit_ or _air_. No apter -emblem could be found for a rapid and resistless element than birds or the -wings of birds; and however incongruous such appendages may be, and -anatomically impossible, it is figuratively as the messengers of God's -will to man that we have come to view these celestial habitants. - -[Illustration: Egyptian Winged Deity.] - -The idea of adding wings to the human form has existed from remote -antiquity, and for the earliest suggestion of celestial beings of the -winged human type we must look to the art works of Egypt and Assyria. In -Egyptian art, Neith, the goddess of the heavens, was sometimes represented -with wings, and in the marbles of Nineveh we find human figures displaying -four wings.[3] In classic art wings are given to certain divinities and -genii. The Jews probably borrowed the idea from the Egyptians, and the -early Christians adopted--in this as in many other instances--existing -ideas in their symbolical art to express the attribute of swiftness and -power, and the sanction of the practice doubtless fixed it for acceptance -through all future epochs of Christian Art. - -[Illustration: Hawk-headed and winged figure, emblem of Osiris, which, -having of all birds the most piercing eye and the most rapid flight, -serves to express the divine intelligence and activity. (Palace of Nimrod -in the Louvre.)] - -In holy writ and Jewish tradition angels are usually spoken of as men, and -their wings appear to be implied rather than expressed, as when Abraham in -the plains of Mamré addresses his celestial visitors as "my lord," when -Jacob wrestles with the angel, and more particularly when the Angel at the -Sepulchre is described by St. Matthew, "His countenance was like the -lightning and his raiment white as snow," and by St. Mark as "A young man -clothed in a long white garment." - -The Seraphim and Cherubim as winged beings are more perfectly described in -the Scriptures. - -_The Wings Variously Coloured._--Not content with a simple departure in -form from all natural wings, the early and Middle Age artists resorted to -many expedients to invest their angels' wings with unearthly -characteristics. Colour was a fertile field for their ingenuity, and they -lavished all their brilliant hues in accentuating or separating the -several orders of feathers comprising the wings; now rivalling the -rainbow, now applying the startling contrasts of the most gorgeous -tropical butterfly; at other times sprinkling or tipping the richly -painted feathers with burnished gold, or making them appear alive with -brilliant eyes. - -_Vesture._--In Early Christian Art the white vesture spoken of by St. -Matthew and St. John, almost invariably adopted, consisted of garments -resembling the classic tunica and pallium, sometimes bound with the -"golden girdle" of Revelation. During the mediæval period they were clad -in every brilliant colour. Angels do not often appear in the works of art -executed during the first six centuries of the Church; and previous to the -fifth century they were invariably represented without the nimbus--that -attribute of divinity with which they were almost always invested -throughout the whole range of Middle Age art. - -_Nimbus._--The nimbi given to all the orders of the angelic hierarchy are -circular in form, with their fields either plain or covered with numerous -radiating lines or rays, sometimes with broad borders of ornament, but -never with the _tri-radiate_ form, which was specially reserved for the -persons of the trinity. - -Lord Bacon ("Advancement of Learning," Book i.) says we find, as far as -credit is to be given to the ecclesiastical hierarchy of the supposed -Dionysius, the Senator of Athens, that the first place or degree is given -to the angels of love, which are termed _Seraphim_; the second to the -angels of light, which are termed _Cherubim_; and the third, and so -following places, to thrones, principalities, and the rest, which are all -angels of power and ministry, so that the angels of knowledge and -illumination are placed before the angels of office and domination. - -_Fallen Angels._--We learn from Tradition that many angels, originally -holy like the rest, fell from their pristine purity, becoming so -transformed in character that all their powers are now used for the -purpose of doing evil instead of doing good. These are to be identified -with the devils so frequently mentioned in holy writ. By the artists of -the Middle Ages they are depicted in as hideous a manner as could be -conceived, more generally of the Satyr form with horns and hoofs and tail, -which last connects them with the Dragon of the Apocalypse, the -impersonation of the Supreme Spirit of evil (_see_ Dragon). In Milton's -conception Satan--the fallen Angel--assumes noble and magnificent -proportions. - - -Mistaken Modern Conception of Angels - -Many poets and artists of modern times appear to have lost sight of the -traditions of sacred art, and in their endeavours to spiritualise the -character of angelic beings have in this respect been led to portray them -as altogether feminine in form and appearance. This error should be -carefully avoided, because in a spiritual as well as in a human sense the -vigorous active principle they represent, besides having the warrant of -Scripture, is more fitly represented by man than by woman. - -Mahomet, who borrowed his ideas mostly from the Christians, in this -instance, possibly to guard his followers from some latent form of -idolatry, said of angels with some show of reason, that "they were too -pure in nature to admit of sex," but to meet the ideas of his followers he -invented another race of celestial beings for the delight and solace of -the faithful in the paradise to which he lured them. - -_Ministering Spirits or Guardian Angels._--These form a frequent theme of -poets and artists. The idea was apparently evolved from the mention of -"ministering spirits" before the throne of God in holy writ, and from the -ecclesiastical legends and traditions of the Christian mythology of early -date, derived from still earlier sources. Thus Milton speaks of-- - - "one of the Seven - Who in God's presence, nearest to the throne - Stand ready at command, and are his eyes - That run thro' all the heavens, and down to earth - Bear his swift errands." - _Paradise Lost_, iii. - -According to ancient Jewish belief, each person had his or her guardian -angel, and a spirit could assume the aspect of some visible being: - - "But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. - Then said they, 'It is _his angel_.'" - _Acts_ xii. 15. - - - "Brutus as you know was Cæsar's _Angel_: - Judge, O ye God, how dearly Cæsar loved him." - SHAKESPEARE, _Julius Cæsar_, Act iii. sc. 2. - -Spenser finely expresses the idea of the good and evil influences -continually warring unseen about us, and his gratitude for the effective -protection of the guardian spirits: - - "How oft do they their silver bowers leave, - To come to succour us that succour want! - How oft do they with golden pinions cleave - The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant, - Against fowle fiends to ayde us militant! - They for us fight, they watch, and dewly ward, - And their bright squadrons round about us plant; - And all for love, and nothing for reward: - O why should heavenly God to men have such regard?" - -Milton beautifully assumes the pure nature of saintly chastity attended by -ministering spirits: - - "A thousand liveried angels lackey her, - Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt, - And in clear dream and solemn vision, - Tell her of things that no gross ear can hear; - Till oft converse with heavenly habitants - Begins to cast a beam on the outward shape." - "Comus." - -And Scott, in figurative language, apostrophising woman in her higher and -more spiritual sphere, says in "Marmion": - - "When pain and anguish wring the brow, - A ministering angel thou!" - -Shakespeare expresses a prevailing idea that the pure in heart will become -ministering angels in heaven; Laertes, at the grave of Ophelia, fiercely -thunders forth: - - "I tell thee, churlish priest, - A ministering angel shall my sister be - When thou liest howling." - - -Mediæval Art Treatment of Angels - -According to ecclesiastical legend and tradition there are nine degrees of -angelic beings. St. Dionysius relates that there are three hierarchies of -angels and three orders in each; and by wise allegories each had his -special mission, and they were each depicted with certain insignia by -which they were recognised in art representations, which vary somewhat in -examples of different periods. - -The nine choirs of angels are classed as follow, with the name of the -chief of each, according to ancient legend: - - _Cherubim_ Jophiel - _Seraphim_ Uriel - _Thrones_ Zaphkiel - _Dominions_ Zadchiel - _Virtues_ Haniel - _Powers_ Raphael - _Principalities_ Camiel - _Archangels_ Michael - _Angels_ Gabriel - -According to A. Welby Pugin's "Glossary of Architectural Ornament and -Costume," and other authorities, we learn the mediæval conception of these -beings. - -The following emblems are borne by angels: FLAMING SWORDS, denoting "the -wrath of God"; TRUMPETS, "the voice of God"; SCEPTRES, "the power of God"; -THURIBLES, or censers, the incense being the prayers of saints; -INSTRUMENTS OF MUSIC, to denote their felicity. - -The APPARELS, or borders of their robes, are jewelled with SAPPHIRE for -"celestial contemplation"; RUBY, "divine love"; CRYSTAL, "purity"; -EMERALD, "unfading youth." - -ARCHANGELS are the principal or chief angels, and are extraordinary -ambassadors. Among these the name of GABRIEL--the angel of the -annunciation, the head of the entire celestial hierarchy--denotes "the -power of God"; MICHAEL, "who is like God"; RAPHAEL, "the healing of God"; -URIEL, "the fire of God." - -ANGEL is the name, not of an order of beings, but of an office, and means -messenger: wherefore angels are represented YOUNG to show their continued -strength, and WINGED to show their unweariedness; WITHOUT SANDALS, for -they do not belong to the earth; and GIRT, to show their readiness to go -forth and execute the will of God. Their garments are either WHITE, to -denote their purity, or GOLDEN, to show their sanctity and glory, or they -are of any of the symbolical colours used in Christian Art. - -A writer in the _Ecclesiastical Art Review_, May 1878, I. Lewis André, -architect, says that "we seldom find angels clad in any other -ecclesiastical vestments than the ALB (or tunic of various colours), and -the amice. The AMICE is sometimes like a mere loose collar; at other times -it has richly embroidered APPARELS (or borders), and is exactly like the -priestly vestment as worn in the Middle Ages. Instead of the amice we -sometimes find a scarf or cloth tied in a knot around the neck, the ends -falling down in front. - -"In Anne of Brittany's prayer-book is a beautiful figure of St. Michael. -He has a rayed nimbus, a cross on a circlet round his head, a richly -embroidered _dalmatic_ (a long robe with sleeves partly open at the -sides), and holds a sword in his left hand. The emblems of St. Michael are -a crown, a sword, a shield charged with a cross of St. George, or a spear -with the banner of the cross, or else with scales in his hand. Sometimes, -as at South Leigh, Oxon., he is in complete armour. - -"The archangels are often figured with a trumpet in the right hand, scarfs -round neck and loins; six wings, sometimes four at the shoulders and two -at the hips, the legs bare from the thighs. The four archangels are -frequently represented in complete armour and with swords. - -"The angels in the Benedictional of St. Ethelwold nearly resemble much -later representations; they have wings and the nimbus or aureole, long -hair and girded loins, whilst the feet are bare, as is generally the case -at all periods of Gothic Art; but the characteristic drapery is loose and -flowing as in the Saxon figures of saints; the wings are short and broad, -the nimbus is generally rayed like the spokes of a wheel (a form seen in -the work of Giotto, with whom it seems to have been a favourite). The alb -or vesture has loose sleeves, and at times a mantle or cope envelops the -figure; both sleeves and mantles have embroideries or apparels." - -"The modern taste," says the same writer, "for giving angels pure white -vesture does not appear to be derived from the Middle Ages, and certainly -not from the best period when angels were clad in every brilliant colour, -as a beautiful example at St. Michael's, York, shows. Here an angel -swinging a golden censer has a green tunic covered with a white cloak or -mantle. The nimbus is bright blue, and the wings have the upper parts -yellow, and are tipped with green. At Goodnestowe church, St. Michael has -a deep crimson tunic, a white mantle edged with a rich gold border, green -wings, and a light crimson nimbus," and mention is here made of the white -vesture of the angel at the Sepulchre, and that nowhere else does the -Gospel mention any angel clad in white but in the narratives of Our Lord's -resurrection. - -[Illustration: Angel with Cloud Symbol.] - -"Often the angels' wings are feathered red and blue alternately, as on the -pulpit at Cheddar, Somerset. Sometimes the wings have feathers like those -of a peacock, on the Chapter House, Westminster; round the Wall Arcade, -angels have their wings inscribed with a text on every feather. This -corresponds with the French 'hours' of Anne of Brittany, where an angel -(St. Gabriel) wears a mantle with a text running along the border." - -It was not uncommon to represent angels in carving and stained glass in -the latter part of the fifteenth century as feathered all over like birds. - -_Cloud Symbol of the_ "Sky" _or_ "Air."--Artists of the Mediæval and -Renaissance periods, following classical authority, employed the cloud -symbol of the sky or air in their allegories and sacred pictures of -divine persons, saints, and martyrs, to denote their divine or celestial -condition, as distinguished from beings "of the earth--earthy." The -adoption of _the little cloud_ underneath the feet, when the figure is not -represented flying, naturally suggested itself as the most fitting emblem -for a support, and avoided the apparent incongruity of beings in material -human shape _standing_ upon _nothing_. The suggestion of the aerial -support here entirely obviates any thought of the outrage on the laws of -gravity. - -Another distinguishing attribute is the Nimbus--an emblem of divine power -and glory--placed behind or over the head. The crown is an insignia of -civil power borne by the laity; the nimbus is ecclesiastical and -religious. The pagans were familiar with the use of the nimbus, which -appears upon the coins of some of the Roman Emperors. It was widely -adopted by the Early Christian artists, and up till the fifteenth century -was represented as a circular disc or plate behind the head, of gold or of -various colours, and, according to the shape and ornamentation of the -nimbus, the elevation or the divine degree of the person was denoted. It -was displayed behind the heads of the Persons of the Trinity and of -angels. It is also worn as a mark of honour and distinction by saints and -martyrs. At a later period, when the traditions of early art were to some -extent laid aside, _i.e._, from the fifteenth century until towards the -end of the seventeenth century, as M. Dideron informs us, a simple -unadorned ring, termed a "circle of glory," "takes the place of the nimbus -and is represented as hovering over the head. It became thus idealised and -transparent, showing an outer circle only; the field or disc is altogether -omitted or suppressed, being drawn in perspective and formed by a simple -thread of light as in the _Disputer_ of Raphael. Sometimes it is only an -uncertain wavering line resembling a circle of light. On the other hand, -the circular line often disappears as if it were unworthy to enclose the -divine light emanating from the head. It is a shadow of flame, circular in -form but not permitting itself to be circumscribed." - -[Illustration: Angel Supporter.] - -Although the forms of angels are of such frequent occurrence in Mediæval -Art they seem to abound more especially in the fifteenth century. Angels -are seen in every possible combination, with ecclesiastical and domestic -architecture, and form the subject of many allusions in heraldry. They are -frequently used as supporters. - -Charles Boutell, M.A., "English Heraldry," p. 247, says, regarding angels -used as supporters to the armorial shield: "The introduction of angelic -figures which might have the appearance of acting as 'guardian angels' in -their care of shields of arms, was in accordance with the feelings of the -early days of English heraldry; and, while it took a part in leading the -way to the systematic use of regular supporters, it served to show the -high esteem and honour in which armorial insignia were held by our -ancestors in those ages." And reference is made to examples sculptured in -the noble timber roof of Westminster Hall and elsewhere. As an example we -give the shield of arms of the Abbey of St. Albans. - -[Illustration: Kneeling Angel Supporter.] - -Figures of angels holding shields of arms, each figure having a shield in -front of its breast, are frequently sculptured in Gothic churches. They -appear on seals, as on that of Henry of Lancaster about 1350, which has -the figure of an angel on each side of it. The shield of Richard II. at -Westminster Hall, bearing the arms of France ancient and England -quarterly, is supported by angels, which, if not rather ornamental than -heraldic, were possibly intended to denote his claim to the crown of -France, being the supporters of the Royal arms of that kingdom. Upon his -Great Seal other supporters are used. There are also instances of the -shield of Henry VI. being supported by angels, but they are by some -authorities considered as purely religious symbols rather than heraldic. - -[Illustration: Arms of the Abbey of St. Albans.] - -The supporters of the King of France were two angels standing on clouds, -all proper, vested with taberts of the arms, the dexter _France_, the -sinister _Navarre_, each holding a banner of the same arms affixed to a -tilting-spear, and the _cri de guerre_ or motto, "Mont-joye et St. Denis." -The shield bears the impaled arms of France and Navarre with several -orders of knighthood, helmet, mantling and other accessories, all with a -pavilion mantle. - -Although Francis II., Charles IX., Henry III. and IV. and Louis XIII. had -special supporters of their arms, yet they did not exclude the two angels -of Charles VI., which were considered as the ordinary supporters of the -kingdom of France. Louis XIV., Louis XV. and Louis XVI. never used any -others. - -Verstegan quaintly says that Egbert was "chiefly moved" to call his -kingdom England "in respect of Pope Gregory changing the name of Engelisce -into Angellyke," and this "may have moved our kings upon their best gold -coins to set the image of an angel."[4] - -[Illustration: Gloria Excelsis Deo] - - "... Shake the bags - Of hoarding abbots; their imprisoned _angels_ - Set them at liberty." - SHAKESPEARE, _King John_, iii. 3. - -The gold coin was named from the fact that on one side of it was a -representation of the archangel in conflict with the dragon (Rev. xii. 7). -The reverse had a ship. It was introduced into England by Edward IV. in -1456. Between his reign and that of Charles I. it varied in value from -6_s._ 8_d._ to 10_s._ - - -Cherubim and Seraphim in Heraldry - - "_On cherubim and seraphim - Full royally he rode._" - STEENHOLD. - - - "_What, always dreaming over heavenly things, - Like_ angel heads _in stone wish pigeon wings_." - COWPER, "Conversation." - -In heraldry A CHERUB (plural Cherubim) is always represented as the head -of an infant between a pair of wings, usually termed a "cherub's head." - -[Illustration: Cherubs' Heads.] - -[Illustration: A Seraph's Head.] - -A SERAPH (plural Seraphim), in like manner, is always depicted as the head -of a child, but with three pairs of wings; the two uppermost and the two -lowermost are contrarily crossed, or in saltire; the two middlemost are -displayed. - -_Clavering_, of Callaby Castle, Northumberland, bears for crest a cherub's -head with wings erect. Motto: COELOS VOLENS. - -On funereal achievements, setting forth the rank and circumstance of the -deceased, it is usual to place over the lozenge-shaped shield containing -arms of a woman, whether spinster, wife, or widow, a cherub's head, and -knots or bows of ribbon in place of crests, helmets, or its mantlings, -which, according to heraldic law, cannot be borne by any woman, sovereign -princesses only excepted. - -[Illustration: Arms--Azure a chevron argent between three cherubs' heads -of the last.] - -In representing the cherubim by infants' winged heads, the early painters -meant them to be emblematic of a pure spirit glowing with love and -intelligence, the head the seat of the soul, and the wings attribute of -swiftness and spirit alone retained. - -The body or limbs of the cherub and seraph are never shown in heraldry, -for what reason it is difficult to say, unless it be from the ambiguity of -the descriptions in the sacred writings and consequent difficulty of -representing them. The heralds adopted the figure of speech termed -synecdoche, which adopts a part to represent the whole. - -Sir Joshua Reynolds has embodied the modern conception in his exquisite -painting of cherubs' heads, _Portrait Studies of Frances Isabella Ker, -daughter of Lord William Gordon_, now in the National Collection. It -represents five infants' heads with wings, in different positions, -floating among clouds. This idea of the cherub seems to have found ready -acceptance with poets and painters. Shakespeare sings: - - "Look how the floor of heaven - Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold: - There's not the smallest orb which thou beholdest - But in his motion like an angel sings, - Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubim-- - Such harmony is in immortal souls: - But while this muddy vesture of decay - Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it." - -Many of the painters of the period of the Renaissance represented the -cherub similarly to those in Reynolds' picture. They were also in the -habit of introducing into their pictures of sacred subjects nude youthful -winged figures, "celestial loves," sporting in clouds around the principal -figure or figures, or assisting in some act that is being done. Thus -Spenser invests "The Queen of Beauty and of Love the Mother" with a troop -of these little loves, "Cupid, their elder brother." - - "And all about her neck and shoulders flew - A flock of little loves, and sports and joys - With nimble wings of gold and purple hue; - Whose shapes seemed not like to terrestrial boys, - But like to angels playing heavenly toys." - _Faerie Queen_, Book x. cant. x. p. 153. - -These must not, however, be confounded with the cherub and seraph of -Scripture. It was a thoroughly pagan idea, borrowed from classic -mythology, and unworthy of Christian Art. It soon degenerated into -"earthly loves" and "cupids," or amorini as they were termed and as we now -understand them. - - -[Illustration] - -Cherubim and Seraphim of Scripture - -In Ecclesiastical Art literal renderings of the descriptions contained in -the Old Testament and the Apocalypse are not of unfrequent use. A more -lengthened reference to these great Hebrew symbolic beings will not be -considered out of place, as there is great doubt and uncertainty as to -their forms. - -These mystic symbolic beings were familiar to all the patriarchs--from -Adam, who gazed upon them in Paradise, and against whom on his expulsion -they stood with flaming sword, turning every way to bar his return--to -Moses, who trembled before it on Mount Sinai; while to the Priests and -Levites, the custodians of the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle, the -cherubim remained the sacred guardians in the Holy of Holies of the -palladium of the national faith and liberties during the brightest and, as -it has been termed, the most heroic period of Jewish history. - -[Illustration: Angel crest of Tuite, Bart. co. Tip.] - -Josephus, the more effectually to excite respect for the great Hebrew -symbol in the minds of his readers, purposely throws over it the veil of -obscurity. He says: "The cherubim are winged creatures, but the form of -them does not resemble that of any living creature seen by man." In the -works of Philo Judæus there is an express dissertation upon the cherubim. -The learned Brochart and many others have attempted to elucidate the -subject to little purpose. The ambiguity which always accompanies a -written description of objects with which we are imperfectly acquainted -applies with greater force to this mysterious being combining so many -apparently conflicting attributes. - -To the prophetic vision of Ezekiel, the description of which, in the -opinion of competent critics, excels in grandeur of idea and energy of -expression the most celebrated writers of ancient and modern times, the -reader is referred, as it supplies at first hand almost all that can be -known concerning the fearful form of the cherubim. - -The four living creatures that support the throne of God exhibited to -Ezekiel a fourfold aspect; they had each the face of _a man_, the face of -_a lion_, and the face of _an ox_; they also had the face of _an eagle_. -They had each four wings; they had the hands of a man under their wings. -"Two wings of every one were joined one to the other, and two covered -their bodies." They were accompanied by wheels which "went upon their four -sides, and they turned not when they went"; "and their whole body, and -their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and their wheels were full -of eyes"; "and the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of -a flash of lightning." Such is a concise description of their appearance -as set forth in Ezekiel (chap. i.). - -"This wonderful and mysterious hieroglyph must be considered as a striking -and expressive emblem of the guardian vigilance of providence, all-seeing -and omniscient; while the number of wings exhibit to us direct symbols of -that powerful, that all-pervading spirit which, while it darts through -nature at a glance, is everywhere present to protect and defend us" -(Dideron). - -So attached were the Jews to this celestial symbol that when Solomon -erected that stupendous temple which continued the glory and boast of the -Hebrew nation for so many ages, we are told (1 Kings, vi. 29, viii. 6, 7), -he carved all the walls of the house round about with the sculptured -figures of the cherubim, and on each side of the ark was a cherub of gold -plated upon olive wood fifteen feet high, with their faces to the light, -their expanded wings embracing the whole space of the sacred enclosure, -serving as a visible sign or symbol of God's immediate presence, whence -the saying of David, "God sitteth between the cherubim" (Ps. xcix. 1). In -this place God perpetually resided in the form of a bright cloud or -shining luminous body, termed "shechinah," whence the divine oracles were -audibly delivered. - -Milton gives the following description of the Seraph Raphael: - - "At once on the eastern cliff of Paradise - He lights, and to his proper shape returns - A seraph wing'd; six wings he wore to shade - His lineaments divine; the pair that clad - Each shoulder broad came mantling o'er his breast - With regal ornament: the middle pair - Girt like a starry zone his waist, and round - Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold - And colours dipped in heaven; the third, his feet - Shadows from either heel with feather'd mail - Sky tinctured grain. Like Maia's son he stood - And shook his plumes, that heavenly fragrance fill'd - The circuit wide." - _Paradise Lost_, Book v. - -The _cherub_ is traditionally regarded as a celestial spirit which in the -hierarchy is placed next in order to the seraphim. All the several -descriptions which the Scripture gives us of cherubim differ from one -another, as they are described in the shapes of men, eagles, oxen, lions, -and in a composition of all these figures put together. The hieroglyphical -representations in the embroidery upon the curtains of the tabernacle were -called by Moses (Ex. xxvi. 1) "cherubim of cunning work" (Calmet). - -The _seraphim_ are regarded as an order of angels distinguished for -fervent zeal and religious ardour. The word means "burning," _i.e._, with -Divine Love. - -The seraphim are described by Isaiah (vi. 1-3): "I saw also the Lord -sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the -temple. Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he -covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he -did fly. And one cried to another and said, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord -of Hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory." And in Revelation (iv. -6): "Round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes before and -behind, and the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a -calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was -like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about -him, and they were full of eyes within." It will be noticed that these -descriptions differ from that of Ezekiel, not only in the number of wings, -but also in the individuality of each beast being separate and -independent, not compounded of the four. - -[Illustration: Tetramorph.] - -Several forms of these mystical creatures, says Audsley, have been devised -by the early mediæval artists; those which display the entire forms of -_the man_, _the lion_, _the ox_, and _the eagle_, all winged and invested -with the nimbus, appear to have been most frequently made use of. They are -to be met with formed of the _heads of the mystical creatures_ on bodies -or half-bodies of _winged human figures_; at other times we find them -comprised in the heads and wings only of the four symbolic creatures. -Sometimes they are found united and forming one mysterious being called -the _Tetramorph_ with four heads and numerous wings covered with eyes, the -feet resting on wheels, which are also winged. The example is taken from a -Byzantine mosaic in the convent of Vatopedi, on Mount Athos. - -Pugin's "Glossary of Ecclesiastical Ornament and Costume" says the -cherubim are frequently represented of a bright red colour to set forth -the intensity of divine love, and usually standing upon wheels, in -reference to the vision of the prophet Ezekiel. - -Cherubim and seraphim seem always vested in the alb or tunic, and a scarf -tied in a knot round the neck. - - -Emblems of the Four Evangelists - -The winged living figures, symbols of the evangelists, which are most -frequently met with, and which have ever been most in favour with Early -Christian artists, appear to have been used at a very early date. They are -taken from the vision of Ezekiel and the Revelation of St. John. "The -writings of St. Jerome," says Audsley, "in the beginning of the fifth -century gave to artists authority for the appropriation of the four -creatures to the evangelists," and for reasons which are there given at -length. - -ST. MATTHEW: _Winged Man_, Incarnation.--To St. Matthew was given the -creature in human likeness, because he commences his gospel with the human -generation of Christ, and because in his writings the human nature of Our -Lord is more dwelt upon than the divine. - -ST. MARK: _Winged Lion_, The Resurrection.--_The Lion_ was the symbol of -St. Mark, who opens his gospel with the mission of John the Baptist, "the -voice of one crying in the wilderness." He also sets forth the royal -dignity of Christ and dwells upon His power manifested in the resurrection -from the dead. The lion was accepted in early times as a symbol of the -resurrection because the young lion was believed always to be born dead, -but was awakened to vitality by the breath, the tongue, and roaring of its -sire. - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration] - -ST. LUKE: _Winged Ox_, Passion.--The form of the ox, the beast of -sacrifice, fitly sets forth the sacred office, and also the atonement for -sin by blood, on which, in his gospel, he particularly dwells. - -ST. JOHN: _The Eagle_, Ascension.--The eagle was allotted to St. John -because, as the eagle soars towards heaven, he soared in spirit upwards to -the heaven of heavens to bring back to earth revelation of sublime and -awful mysteries. - -Independently of their reference to the four evangelists these figures -sometimes refer to _the Incarnation_, _the Passion_, _the Resurrection_, -and _the Ascension_. - -Sedulius, a priest and poet of the fifth century, says much the same in -the following verse: - - Hoc Matthæus agens, Hominem generaliter implet: - Marcus ut alta fremit vox per deserta Leonis: - Jura sacerdotis Lucas tenet ore Juvenci: - More volens Aquilæ verbo petit astra Johannes. - -THE LION OF ST. MARK.--In the ninth century the rapidly rising State of -Venice was dignified by the reception of the relics of St. Mark, -transported thither from Alexandria. "Few patron saints," says Theodore A. -Buckley, "enjoy a greater popularity, whether socially or locally -exemplified. His lion was emblazoned on the standard of the Republic, and -stamped on the current coins, while his name was identified with the -pride, the power, and glory of all Venice."[5] - -Emblems of the evangelists do not often appear in heraldry. - -Walter Reynolds, Archbishop of Canterbury, according to a manuscript at -Lambeth (executed for Archbishop Laud), bore _azure on a cross or, between -the symbols of the evangelists of the last, four lions rampant gules_. - -The Freemasons appear to use a similar coat of arms upon their seal, viz., -_a cross between the emblems of the four evangelists, and for supporters -two cherubims, all proper_. - -[Illustration: The Lion of St. Mark, Venice.] - - - - -Chimerical Creatures of the Dragon and Serpent kind - - -[Illustration] - -The Dragon - - "_The scaly monster of a dragon, coiled - Full in the central field--unspeakable, - With eyes oblique retorted, that askant - Shot gleaming fire._" - HESIOD.--"The Shield of Hercules." - -The dragon is the most interesting and most frequently seen of all -chimerical figures, and it is a remarkable fact that such a creature -appears at an early period of the world's history to have been known in -the East and in countries widely separated. Long anterior to the dawn of -civilisation in the West of Europe, even in far-off China and Japan in the -extreme East of Asia we find the dragon delineated in very much the same -form in which it appears in our national heraldry. - -The ancients conceived it as the embodiment of malignant and destructive -power, and with attributes of the most terrible kind. Classic story makes -us acquainted with many dreadful monsters of the dragon kind, to which -reference will afterwards be more particularly made. - -It is often argued that the monsters of tradition are but the -personification of solar influences, storms, the desert wind, the great -deeps, rivers inundating their banks, or other violent phenomena of -nature, and so, no doubt, they are, and have been; but the strange fact -remains that the same draconic form with slight modifications constantly -appears as the type of the thing most dreaded, and instead of melting into -an abstraction and dying out of view, it has remained from age to age, in -form, distinctly a ferocious flying reptile, until in the opinion of many -the tradition has been justified by prosaic science. It is surprising to -find that the popular conception of the dragon--founded on tradition, -passed on through hundreds of generations--not only retains its identity, -but bears a startling resemblance to the original antediluvian saurians, -whose fossil remains now come to light through geological research, almost -proving the marvellous power of tradition and the veracity of those who -passed it on. - -Mr. Moncure Conway ("Demonology, or Devil Lore") says: "The opinion has -steadily gained that the conventional dragon is the traditional form of -some huge saurian. It has been suggested that some of those extinct -saurians may have been contemporaneous with the earliest men, and that -traditions of conflicts with them, transmitted orally and pictorially, -have resulted in preserving their forms in fable proximately." - -"Among the geological specimens in the British Museum," says Hugh Miller, -"the visitor sees shapes that more than rival in strangeness the great -dragons and griffins of mediæval legends; enormous jaws, bristling with -pointed teeth, gape horrid, in stone, under staring eye-sockets a foot in -diameter; and necks that half equal in length the entire body of a -boa-constrictor. And here we see a winged dragon that, armed with sharp -teeth and strong claws, has careered through the air on leathern wings -like those of a bat." We are also told in the sacred Scriptures by Moses -of "fiery serpents," and by Isaiah of "a fiery flying serpent." Other -monsters--dragons, cockatrices, and some of whose form we have no -conception--are also mentioned. Euripides describes a dragon or snake -breathing forth fire and slaughter, and rowing its way with its wings. It -is evident that such a creature may at one time have existed. Looking at -the widespread belief in dragons, there seems little doubt that the -semi-myth of to-day is the traditional successor of a really once-existent -animal, whose huge size, snake-like appearance, and possibly dangerous -powers of offence made him so terrible that the earlier races of mankind -adopted him unanimously as the most fearful embodiment of animal ferocity -to be found. - -One of the latest acquisitions in the Natural History Museum, South -Kensington, is the skeleton of that enormous creature the long-limbed -dinosaur (_Diplodicus Carnegii_), recently discovered in America, -eighty-nine feet in length from the head to the tip of the tail, the huge -bulky framework of the monster measuring eleven feet in height at the -shoulder. The enormous length of its neck and tail, with relatively small -head, would indicate it to be an amphibious inhabitant of the waters, -feeding on the vegetation growing in its depths. - -Mr. Moncure Conway, in his remarkable work, "Demonology, or Devil Lore," -describes all intermediate stages between demon and devil under the head -of dragon. This he believes to be the only fabulous form which accurately -describes all the transitions. Throughout all the representations of the -dragon one feature is common, and that is the idealised serpent. The -dragon possesses all the properties of the demon along with that of -harmfulness, but differs from the devil in not having the desire of doing -evil. The dragon in mythology is the combination of every bad feature in -nature, all of which is combined into one horrible whole. "The modern -conventional dragon," says Mr. Conway, "is a terrible monster. His body is -partially green, with memories of the sea and of slime, and partly brown -or dark, with lingering shadows of storm-clouds. The lightning flames -still in his red eyes, and flashes from his fire-breathing mouth. The -thunderbolt of Jove, the spear of Woden, are in the barbed point of his -tail. His huge wings--bat-like and spiked--sum up all the mysteries of -extinct harpies and vampires. Spine of crocodile is on his neck, tail of -the serpent and all the jagged ridges of rocks and sharp thorns of jungles -bristle round him, while the ice of glaciers and brassy glitter of -sunstrokes are in his scales. He is ideal of all that is hard, -destructive, perilous, loathsome, horrible in nature; every detail of him -has been seen through and vanquished by man, here or there; but in -selection and combination they rise again as principles, and conspire to -form one great generalisation of the forms of pain, the sum of every -creature's worst." - -"THE EXTERNAL FORMS OF DRAGONS are greatly dependent on the nature of the -country in which they originate. In the far north, where exist the legends -of the swan and pigeon, maidens and vampires, exists the swan-shaped -dragon. As demons of excessive heat principally existed in the south, so -in the north the great enemy of man was excessive cold. In the northern -countries is found also the serpent element, but as serpents are there -frequently harmless, this feature does not enter much into their -composition. The CUTTLEFISH is supposed to have helped in the formation of -the HYDRA, which in its turn assisted in forming the dragon of the -Apocalypse. Assyrian ideas also seem to have assisted in the pictorial -impersonations of the hydra. This many-headed monster is a representation -of a torrent, which being cut off in one direction breaks out in another. -The conflicts of Hercules with the hydra are repeated in those of the -Assyrian Bel with Trinant (the deep), and also in the contentions of St. -Michael with the dragon. The old dragon myths left in Europe were -frequently utilised by the Christians. Other saints besides St. Michael -were invested with the feats of Hercules; St. Margaret, St. Andrew, and -many others are pictured as trampling dragons under their feet. The -Egyptian dragon is based on the crocodile, and this form being received -into Christian symbolism did greatly away with other pagan monsters. The -hideousness of the crocodile and the alligator could easily be exaggerated -so as to suit the most horrible contortions of the human imagination. -Amongst the most terrible dragons is Typhon, the impersonation of all the -terrors of nature. Son of Tartarus, father of the harpies and of the -winds, he lives in the African deserts; from thence fled in fear, to -escape his terrible breath, all the gods and goddesses. He is coiled in -the whirlwind, and his many heads are symbolical of the tempest, the -scrive, the hurricane, and the tornado." - -Under the head of THE COLONIAL DRAGON Mr. Conway has embodied all the -horrors and difficulties with which the early colonists would be beset. -Amongst these he places the GORGON and the CHIMERA. The most widely spread -of all is the last named, and from it is supposed that all Christian and -British dragons are descended. The Christian myth of ST. GEORGE AND THE -DRAGON is but a variation of BELLEROPHON AND THE CHIMERA, in which the -last has given place to the dragon and the pagan hero to St. George. - -[Illustration: Japanese Dragon.] - -"In ancient families there are usually traditions of some far-distant -ancestor having slain a desperate monster. It is always the colonial -dragon that has been borrowed by poets and romancers. THE DRAGON killed by -Guy of Warwick is but another variation of the chimera. There is again the -SOCKBURN WORM, slain by Sir John Conyers for the devouring of the people -of the neighbourhood; the well-known tradition of the LAMBTON WORM is in -reality a modification of the ARYAN DRAGON OF THE STORMCLOUD; smaller than -a man's hand he swells out to prodigious dimensions." - -A favourite subject for Chinese and Japanese painting and sculpture is a -dragon very much of the same type, and a monstrous representation of a -dragon in the form of a huge Saurian still forms the central object at -Japanese festivals. - -Among the Chinese the dragon is the representation of sovereignty, and is -the imperial emblem borne upon banners, and otherwise displayed as the -national ensign. To the people of that vast country it represents -everything powerful and imposing; and it plays an important part in many -religious ceremonies and observances. Dr. S. Wells Williams, the eminent -sinalogue, describes the fabulous monster of Chinese imagination in the -following passage: "There are three dragons--the _lung_ in the sky, the -_li_ in the sea, and the _kiau_ in the marshes. The first is the only -_authentic_ species according to the Chinese; it has the head of a camel, -the horns of a deer, eyes of a rabbit, ears of a cow, neck of a snake, -belly of a frog, scales of a carp, claws of a hawk, and palm of a tiger. -On each side of the mouth are whiskers, and its beard contains a bright -pearl; the breath is sometimes changed into water and sometimes into fire, -and its voice is like the jingling of copper pans. The dragon of the sea -occasionally ascends to heaven in waterspouts, and is the ruler of all -oceanic phenomena." The fishermen and sailors before venturing away from -land or returning to port, burn joss-sticks and beat gongs to ward off the -evil influences of the dragon, and it is worshipped in a variety of ways. -According to a fable current in China, the Celestial Emperor Hoang-ti was -carried up to heaven, along with seventy other persons, by a great -dragon; those who were only able to catch at his moustaches were shaken -off and thrown on the ground. It is still the custom when an emperor dies -to say that the dragon has ascended to heaven. An eclipse the simple -Celestials believe to be caused by a great dragon that seeks to devour the -sun or moon. A great noise is made by firing guns, beating drums, and the -rattling and jangling of pairs of discordant instruments to frighten the -monster away. A frequent subject of their artists is the dreadful dragon -sprawling through masses of curling clouds in the act of grasping at or -swallowing the great luminary, a subject which no doubt bears a deeper -meaning than we see, and one intimately connected with their mythology. - -[Illustration: JAPANESE IMPERIAL DEVICE. The Dragon, the Ho-Ho, or -Phoenix, and the Chrysanthemum.] - -In some of their splendid festivals the worship of the dragon is -celebrated with great excitement and furore. On the Canton river a boat of -immense length formed like a dragon in many wondrous folds, rowed by fifty -or more natives, with wild music and dancing, and accompanied by a crowd -of junks; the unfurling of sails and the streaming of flags from the -masts, the beating of drums, the noise and smoke from the firing of guns, -all exhibit the fondness of a people for the pleasures of a national -holiday. - -_Dragon's Teeth._--Cadmus slew the dragon that guarded the well of Ares, -and sowed some of the teeth, from which sprang up the armed men who all -killed each other except five, who were the ancestors of the Thebans. -Those teeth which Cadmus did not sow, came to the possession of Ætes, King -of Colchis; and one of the tasks he enjoined on Jason was to sow these -teeth and slay the armed warriors that rose therefrom. The frequent -allusion to the classic term _dragon's teeth_ refers to subjects of civil -strife; whatever rouses citizens to rise in arms. - -The mythical dragon has left the lasting impress of his name in various -ways in our language and literature, as in the art of nearly every -country. - -[Symbol] _Dragon's Head_ and [Symbol] _Dragon's Tail_.--In astronomy -_Nodes_ are the opposite points in which the orbit of a planet, or of a -moon, crosses the ecliptic. The ascending node marked by the character -([Symbol]), termed the _Dragon's head_, is where the planet or moon -ascends from the south to the north side of the ecliptic, and the -descending node indicated by the character ([Symbol]) the _Dragon's tail_ -is where it passes from the north to the south side. - -_Draco_, a constellation in the northern hemisphere, representing the -monster that watched the golden apples in the garden of the Hesperides, -slain by Hercules, and set as a constellation in the heavens. - -_Draco volens_, a meteor sometimes visible in marshy countries--_Ignus -fatuus_, or will-o'-the-wisp. - -_Draco volens_, or flying dragon, a curious class of saurian reptiles -peculiar to the East Indies, having membranous attachments to their limbs, -which give them the appearance of flying as they leap from tree to tree. - -_Dragon's blood_, a vegetable balsam of a dark red colour brought from -India, Africa, and South America. So called from its resemblance to dried -and hardened masses of blood. - - -The Dragon in Christian Art - -(The symbol of the Supreme Spirit of Evil, or the Evil One) - -It was believed that in the gloomy land of the Cimmerians and the confines -of Hades strange monsters were to be met; and not only there, but in any -part of the universe which was conceived to be beyond the pale of human -habitation these weird creatures might be encountered. The same idea is -recognised in the Semitic belief, that uncanny beings lurked in the outer -deserts, where men did not penetrate at all, or did so only at great -danger. The "place of dragons" is associated with "the shadow of death" -(Ps. xliv. 19). Dragons are also associated with the waters of the deep -(Ps. lxxiv. 13) and are called upon to praise Jehovah (Ps. cxlviii. 7); -and Isaiah (xxxiv.), describing in vivid and picturesque language the -destruction and utter desolation which shall come on Zion's enemies, -prophesies that her palaces and fortresses "shall be a habitation for -dragons." - -The term dragon is applied by the translators of the Scriptures to some -monsters of which we have no knowledge. The word is used by ecclesiastics -of the Middle Ages as the symbol of sin in general and paganism in -particular, though ofttimes heresy is denoted. The metaphor is derived -from Rev. xii. 9, where Satan is termed the Great Dragon; in Psalm xci. -13, it is said "the saints shall trample the dragon under their feet." - -In the book of Job we recognise in Leviathan a creature more like the -extinct saurians of the old world than any crocodile recorded in historic -times; and this leviathan is treated as still existing in the days of -David. In Psalm lxxiv. 13, 14, Jehovah is spoken of as having broken the -heads of the dragons in the waters; in Isaiah li. 9, as having wounded -the dragon; and pæans are sung on the punishment of "Leviathan, that -crooked serpent," and the slaying of "the dragon that is in the sea" (Is. -xxvii. 1). Finally, in the Apocalyptic vision, "there appeared another -wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and -ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads, and his tail drew the third -part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to earth" (Rev. xii. 3, 4); -"I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless -pit and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold on the dragon, that -old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him" (Rev. xx. 1, 2). - -[Illustration: The Dragon of the Apocalypse. By Albert Dürer.] - -As a Christian emblem the dragon may be taken to symbolise the supreme -spirit of evil, a veritable devil whom it was the special mission of -militant saints to slay, as it had been the glory of the heroes of the -pagan mythology to conquer. "In pictures of sacred and legendary -subjects," says a late writer, "the dragon usually formed an important -feature. The evil thing was invariably depicted writhing under the foot of -the saint, or transfixed with his triumphant spear. In like manner _the -virtues_ trampled tranquilly each on her complementary vice, embodied in -the form of some impossible creature; and if the rigid virtues were -sometimes insipid, it must be allowed that the demons were usually -grotesquely characteristic, and often delightful in colour." - -[Illustration: St. Michael and the Old Dragon. Arms of the Royal Burgh of -Dumfries.] - -The prostrate attitude usually signifies the triumph of Christianity over -Paganism, as in pictures of St. George and St. Sylvester; or over heresy -and schism, as when it was adopted as the emblem of the Knights of the -Order of the Dragon, in Hungary, which was instituted for the purpose of -contending against the adherents of John Huss and Jerome of Prague. - -The dragon in Christian Art is often very variously represented, sometimes -as a serpent, at other times as a dragon or wyvern, or again in the -symbolic figure partly human, under which form we find the "old serpent" -(the Devil) often represented, as in the conflict of St. Michael the -Archangel. The numerous legends of saints who have fought and overcome -dragons prove the symbolic light in which the impersonation of evil was -generally viewed. - -[Illustration: From ancient carving.] - -St. Margaret is the patron saint of the borough of LYNN REGIS, and on the -old corporation seal she is represented standing on a dragon and wounding -it with a cross. The Latin inscription on the seal is "Sub Margaret -teritur draco stat cruce læta." The modern shield of the town is now -blazoned: _azure three conger's_ (or dragon's) _heads erased and erect, -the jaws of each pierced with a cross crosslet fitchée or_. In paintings -St. Margaret is represented as a young woman of great beauty bearing the -martyr's palm and olive crown, or with the dragon chained and helpless at -her feet as an attribute. Sometimes she is depicted coming from the -dragon's mouth, for the legend says the monster swallowed her, but on her -making the sign of the cross he was compelled to free her again. A legend -states that Olybus, Governor of Antioch, captivated by the beauty of -Margaret, wished to marry her; as she rejected him with scorn he threw her -into a dungeon, where the devil appeared to her in the form of a horrible -dragon and endeavoured to frighten her from her path. Margaret held up the -cross and the dragon fled. Other legends say he burst asunder. - -[Illustration: St. George and the Dragon. - - "In many a church his form is seen, - With sword, and shield, and helmet sheen: - Ye know him by his steed of pride, - And by the dragon at his side." - CHR. SCHMID.] - -ST. GEORGE, the patron saint of England, in his legendary combat with the -monster, is a subject which occurs frequently in English sculpture and -painting, and enters largely into the language and literature of the -nation. St. George appears to have been selected as the patron saint of -England not long after the Norman conquest. We find the anniversary of -his martyrdom (April 23) was ordered to be observed as a festival by the -National Synod of Oxford in 1222 A.D. - -The "Golden Legend," printed by Pynson in 1507 (fol. cxix.), thus refers -to "Saynt George": "This blyssed and holy martyr Saynt George is patrone -of this realme of Englond: and ye crye of men of warre; and in ye worsyp -of whome is founded ye noble order of a garter: and also ye noble college -in ye castell of Wyndsore, by Kynges of Englond. In whyche college is ye -herte of Saynt George: whyche Sygysmond ye Emperour of Alamayn brought: -and gaf it for a grete and precyous relyque to kynge Harry the fifte. And -also the said Sygysmond was broder of the sayd garter. And also there is a -piece of his head; which college is nobly endowed to thonour and worshippe -almighty God and his blyssed Martyr Saynt George. Then late us praye vnto -hym that he be specyel protectour and defendour of this royaume." - -The emblems commonly given to St. George, martyr, and patron saint of -England are: a dragon, a shield bearing a red cross on a white field, and -a spear. He is usually represented on horseback in the act of spearing the -monster which is vomiting fire; or as standing with the slain dragon at -his feet. - -That St. George is a veritable character is beyond all reasonable doubt, -and there seems no reason to deny that he was born in Armorica, and was -beheaded in Diocletian's persecution by order of Datianus, April 23, 303. -St. Jerome (331-420) mentions him in one of his martyrologies; in the -next century there were many churches erected to his honour. St. Gregory -(540-604) has in his sacramentary a "Preface for St. George's Day"; and -the Venerable Bede (672-735) in his martyrology, says: "At last St. George -truly finished his martyrdom by decapitation, although the gests of his -passion are numbered among the apocryphal writings." - -According to the old ballad given in Bishop Percy's "Reliques of Ancient -Poetry," St. George was the son of Lord Albert of Coventry. His mother -died in giving him birth, and the new-born babe was stolen away by the -weird lady of the woods, who brought him up to deeds of arms. His body had -three marks: a dragon on the breast, a garter round one of the legs, and a -blood-red cross on the arm. When he grew to manhood he first fought -against the Saracens, and then went to Sylene, a city of Libya, where was -a stagnant lake infested by a huge dragon, whose poisonous breath "had -many a city slain," and whose hide "no spear nor sword could pierce." -Every day a virgin was sacrificed to it, and at length it came to the lot -of Sabra, the king's daughter, to become its victim. Decked out in bridal -array she went out to meet the dragon; she was tied to the stake, and left -to be devoured, when St. George appeared in full panoply and mounted on -his charger. He vowed to take her cause in hand, and when the dragon came -on the scene it was encountered by the hero, who wounded it, and binding -it to the lady's girdle it was led like a "meek beast" into the city. St. -George there attacked it, thrusting his lance into its mouth, killed it on -the spot, and a church dedicated to Our Lady and St. George was built to -commemorate the event. After many adventures he carried off Sabra to -England, where they were wedded, and at Coventry lived happily till their -death. - -In his history of the Order of the Garter Mr. Antis warmly censures those -who would doubt the traditionary history of that saint, and says "he who -would credit St. Ambrose will not detract from the honour of our George, -the soldier and martyr of Christ, concerning the dragon and the -deliverance of the beautiful royal virgin, which is related in so many -pictures," adding that "he shall not contradict those who make an allegory -of it, so that they do not deny the certainty of this history.... Suppose -every one George, who being clothed with the virtue of baptism and armour -of faith, keeps his earthly body in subjection by the due exercise of -religion and piety, and by the armour of the Spirit overcomes, and by the -true spiritual art crushes and confounds the serpent's poison, the snares -of the old Dragon, and his diabolical arts and stratagems." - -The dragon slain by St. George is simply a common allegory to express the -triumph of the Christian hero over evil, which St. John the Evangelist -beheld under the figure of a dragon. Similarly St. Michael, St. Margaret, -St. Sylvester and St. Martha are all depicted as slaying dragons; the -Saviour and the Virgin as treading them under foot; and St. John the -Evangelist as charming a winged dragon from a poisoned chalice given him -to drink. Even John Bunyan avails himself of the same figure, when he -makes Christian encounter Apollyon and prevail against him. - -A learned Frenchman, M. Clermont Ganneau, in a treatise lately published, -traces the legend of St. George and the dragon to a very remote antiquity. -In the Louvre at Paris he found an Egyptian bas-relief, which he -identified as the combat of Horus against Set, or Typhon, in the -well-known Egyptian legend. It represents a man on horseback in Roman -armour slaying a crocodile with a spear; but for the fact that the rider -has a hawk's head, the group might easily be mistaken for the traditional -combat of St. George and the dragon. Extending his investigations, M. -Ganneau has brought to light some most startling proofs of the connection -between the eastern and western mythologies. We have therefore, he -considers, evidence as clear and convincing as evidence from deduction can -be, that the Egyptian "Horus and Typhon"; the Greek "Perseus and -Andromeda"; the "Bel and Dragon" of the Apocrypha; the Archangel Michael -of Christian legend who also slays the old dragon, are all one and the -same story with that of our own St. George. We pass over the intermediate -steps by which he reconciles the divergent names and qualities of the -personages identified, and also the ingenious arguments as to the real -meaning of the symbolism in the worship of DAGON THE FISH-GOD. - -In all the old romances dealing with feats of chivalry and knight-errantry -the dragon plays an essential if not a leading part; and a romance without -some dragon or monster was as rare as one without a valiant knight or a -beautiful lady. But of all the malignant creatures dreaded of gods and -men, the most hateful and wicked is that prime dragon personified by -Spenser under the type of the "blatant beast," and which confronts his -hero, the Red Cross Knight, at every turn: "a dreadful fiend, of gods and -men ydrad," who has a thousand tongues, speaks things most shameful, most -unrighteous, most untrue, and with his sting steeps them in poison. - -As an example of the inception and development of a dragon legend from -slender materials, the following is related in Figuer's "World before the -Deluge": - -In the city of Klagenfurth, in Carinthia, is a fountain on which is -sculptured a monstrous dragon with six feet, and a head armed with a stout -horn. According to popular tradition this dragon lived in a cave, whence -it issued from time to time to ravage the country. A bold and venturous -knight at last kills the monster, paying with his life the forfeit of his -rashness. The head of the pretended dragon is preserved in the Hotel de -Ville, and this head has furnished the sculptor for a model of the dragon -on the fountain. A learned professor of Vienna on a visit to the city -recognised it at a glance as the cranium of the fossil rhinoceros. Its -discovery in some cave had probably originated the fable of the knight and -the dragon--and all similar legends are capable of some such explanation -when we trace them back to their sources and reason the circumstances on -which they are founded. The famous bird, the roc, which played so -important a part in the myths of the people of Asia, is also believed to -have originated in the discovery of some gigantic bones. - -Chief among DRAGON-SLAYERS of Christian legend we find the following: - -_St. Philip the Apostle_ is said to have destroyed a huge dragon at -Hierapolis, in Phrygia. - -_St. Michael_, _St. George_, _St. Margaret_, _Pope Sylvester_, _St. -Samson_, Archbishop of Dol; _Donatus_ (fourth century), _St. Clement_ of -Metz, all killed dragons--if we may trust old legends. - -_St. Keyne_ of Cornwall slew a dragon. - -_St. Florent_ killed a terrible dragon who haunted the Loire. - -_St. Cado_, _St. Maudet_ and _St. Paull_ did similar feats in Brittany. - -The town of WORMS (famous as the place at which the Diet of Worms was held -before which the reformer Luther was summoned) owes its name to the -"Lind-wurm" or dragon there conquered by the hero Siegfried as related in -the "Nibelungen Lied." (_See_ p. 100.) - -Drachenfels, on the Rhine (Dragon Rocks), is so called from the same -monster; and at Arles and Rouen legends are preserved of victories gained -by saints over the _Tarasque_ and _Gargouille_, both local names for the -dragon. St. Martha conquered the fabulous Tarasque of the city of -Languedoc, which bears the name of "Tarascon." Gargouille (waterspout) was -the great dragon that lived in the Seine, ravaged Rouen, and was slain by -St. Romanus, Bishop of Rouen, in the seventh century. The latter name has -come down to us in the term "gargoyle," applied to the monstrous heads -which often decorate the waterspouts of old churches. - -A strange relic of the ancient faith is perpetuated in the remains of -early Celtic art in the curiously wrought interlaced monsters which form -the chief ornament of ancient Irish crosses, and particularly in the -borders and initials of illuminated manuscripts, whose spirals and -interminable interlacements of the most complex character, often allied -with equally strange colouring, form a style perfectly unique in itself, -and unlike any other; the elaborate knots terminating in draconic heads, -and with wings and animal extremities in wonderfully ingenious patterns -that seem almost beyond the limits of human ingenuity. In the kindred art -of Scandinavia we find similar decoration founded on serpentine forms. - -Another survival of the dragon myth exists in the name given to some of -our fighting men on the introduction of firearms. A kind of blunderbus -gave to the troops who used it the name of "dragoniers," whence is -derived the well-known term dragoons. They used to be armed with -_dragons_--_i.e._, short muskets--which spouted fire, like the fabulous -beast so named. The head of a dragon was wrought on the muzzles of these -muskets. We have all heard of the Dragonades, a series of persecutions by -Louis XIV., which drove many thousands of Protestants out of France--and -out of the world. Their object was to root out "heresy." A bishop, with -certain ecclesiastics, was sent to see if the heretics would recant; if -not they were left to the tender mercies of the Dragonniers, who followed -these "ministers of peace and good will to men." The same game of -conversion was practised by the Reformed Church upon the Presbyterians of -Scotland, with its accompaniment of "dragons let loose"--in which -Claverhouse took a leading part. - -"In mediæval alchemy the dragon seems to have been the emblem of Mercury; -hence the dragon became one of the 'properties' of the chemist and -apothecary, was painted upon his drug pots, hung up as his sign, and some -dusty stuffed crocodile hanging from the ceiling in the laboratory had to -do service for the monster, and inspire the vulgar with a profound awe of -the mighty man who had conquered the vicious reptile."[6] - -When apothecaries' signs were not derived from heraldry, they were used to -typify certain chemical actions. In an old German work on alchemy one of -the plates represents a dragon eating his own tail; underneath are the -words which, translated, signify: "This is a great wonder and very -strange; the dragon contains the greatest medicament," and much more of -similar import. - - -The Dragon in the Royal Heraldry of Britain - - "_Advance our standards, set upon our foes, - Our ancient word of courage fair Saint George - Inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons._" - "Richard III.," Act v. sc. 3. - - - "_Come not between the dragon and his wrath._" - "King Lear," Act i. sc. 2. - -The dragon does not seem to have been a native emblem with the Romans, and -when they adopted it it was only as a sort of subordinate emblem--the -eagle still holding the first place. It seems to have been in consequence -of their intercourse with other nations either of Pelasgic or Teutonic -race. Amongst all the new races which overran Europe at the termination of -the classical period the dragon seems to have occupied nearly the same -place that it held in the earlier stages of Greek life. Among the Teutonic -tribes which settled in England the dragon was from the first a principal -emblem, and the custom of carrying the dragon in procession with great -jollity on May eve to Burford is referred to by old historians. The custom -is said by Brand also to have prevailed in Germany, and was probably -common in other parts of England. - -Nor was the dragon peculiar to the Teutonic races. Amongst the Celts it -was the symbol of sovereignty, and as such was borne on the sovereign's -crest. Mr. Tennyson's "Idylls" have made us familiar with "the dragon of -the great Pendragonship" blazing on Arthur's helmet as he rode forth to -his last battle, and "making all the night a stream of fire." The fiery -dragon or drake and the flying dragon of the air were national phenomena -of which we have frequent accounts in old books. - -The Irish _drag_ means "fire," and the Welsh _dreigiaw_ (silent flashes of -lightning) "fiery meteors"; hence Shakespeare says: - - "Swift, swift, ye dragons of the night!--that dawning - May bare the raven's eye." - _Cymbeline_, ii. 2. - -A principal source of the Dragon legends in these countries is the Celtic -use of the word "_dragon_" for "a chief." Hence Pen-dragon (_sumus rex_), -a sort of dictator in times of danger. Those knights who slew a chief in -battle slew a dragon, and the military title soon got confounded with the -fabulous monster. The name or title _Pendragon_ (dragon's head) was among -British kings and princes what Bretwalda was among the Saxons; and his -authority or supremacy over the confederation was greater or less -according to his valour, ability, and good fortune. Arthur succeeded his -father Uther, and was raised to the pendragonship in the first quarter of -the sixth century. - -The dragon was a symbol among the heathen. One of the sons of Odin was -thus invoked: "Child of the Dragon, Son of Conquest, arise! grasp thy -silver spear; thy snowy steed prepare and haste thee to the strife of the -shield! Uprise thou Dragon of Onslaught!" And again: - - "Wave high the dragon's flaming sign, - Roll wide the shout of glee; - Ho! conquest ope thy crimson gates - This day I give to thee." - -"The Dragon of the Shield struck his sounding war-board with his ponderous -spada. The fierce-browed children of Hilda gathered round at the signal." - -Maglocue, a British king who was a great warrior and of a remarkable -stature, whose exploits had rendered him terrible to his foes, as a -surname was called "The Dragon of the Isle," perhaps from his seat in -Anglesey. - -Cuthred, King of Wessex, bore a dragon on his banner. A dragon was also -the device of the British King Uther Pendragon, or Dragon's-head, father -of that King Arthur of chivalric memory, who so bravely withstood the -incursions of the Saxons. _Two dragons addorsed_--that is, back to -back--are ascribed to Arthur, as well as several other devices. - -[Illustration: Dragon Standard. From the Bayeux Tapestry.] - -Dragon's Hill, Berkshire, is where the legend says St. George killed the -dragon. A bare place is shown on the hill where nothing will grow, and -there the blood ran out. In Saxon annals we are told that Cedric, founder -of the West Saxon kingdom, slew there Naud, the pendragon, with 5000 men. -This Naud is called Natan-leod, a corruption of Naud-an-ludh; Naud, the -people's refuge.[7] - -"It has sometimes been thought," says Miss Millington, "that the royal -Saxon banner bore a dragon; certain it is, that on the Bayeux tapestry a -dragon raised upon a pole is constantly represented near a figure, whilst -the words 'Hic Harold' prove to be intended for Harold; yet Matthew of -Westminster, in describing a battle fought in the time of Edward I., says -that the place of the king was 'between the dragon and the standard,' -which seems to imply that the standard or banner had some other device. -The dragon was perhaps a kind of standard borne to indicate the presence -of the king. Henry III. carried one at the Battle of Lewes, fought against -Simon de Montfort in 1264: - - "'Symoun com to the feld, - And put up his banere; - The king schewed forth his scheld, - His dragon full austere.' - -It was not, however, at that time restricted to the King, for Simon -himself in the same battle - - "'Displaied his banere, lift up his dragoun.' - -The English at the Battle of Crecy carried a 'burning dragon, made of red -silk adorned and beaten with very broad and fair lilies of gold, and -broidered about with gold and vermilion.' This banner," adds Miss -Millington, "perhaps resembled that used by the Parthians and Dacians, -which is described by Ammianus Marcellinus as 'a dragon, formed of purple -stuff, resplendent with gold and precious stones fixed on a long pike, and -so contrived that when held in a certain manner, with its mouth to the -wind, the entire body became inflated, and stretched its sinuous length -upon the air.'" - -"The dragon," says Mr. Planché, "was the customary standard of the kings -of England from the time of the Conquest. It was borne in the battle -between Canute and Edmund Ironside; it is figured in the Bayeux tapestry, -and there are directions for making one in the reign of Henry III., but it -never formed a portion of their armorial bearings, _i.e._, as a charge -upon the shield of arms." - -Henry VII., first of the Tudor line, assumed as one of his badges the red -dragon of Cadwallader--"Red dragon dreadful." Henry claimed an -uninterrupted descent from the aboriginal princes of Britain, Arthur and -Uther, Caradoc, Halstan, Pendragon, &c. His grandfather, Owen Tudor, bore -a dragon as his device in proof of his descent from Cadwallader, the last -British prince and first King of Wales (678 A.D.), the dragon being the -ensign of that monarch. At the Battle of Bosworth Field Henry bore the -dragon standard. After the battle of Bosworth Field Henry went in state to -St. Paul's, where he offered three standards. On one was the image of St. -George, on the other a "red fierce dragon beaten upon green and white -sarsenet" (the livery colours of the House of Tudor); on the third was -painted a dun cow upon yellow tartan,--the dun cow, in token of his -descent from Guy Earl of Warwick, who had slain - - "A monstrous wyld and cruelle beaste - Called ye dun cow of Dunsmore Heath." - -The dun cow is still one of the badges of the Guards. This monarch founded -the office of _Rouge dragon pursuivant_ on the day before his coronation -(October 29, 1485). Henry VII., Henry VIII., Edward V., Mary and Elizabeth -all carried the dragon as a supporter to the royal arms, but varied in -position, and at times superseded by a greyhound. (A greyhound argent, -collared or, the collar charged with a rose gules, was a Lancastrian -badge.) Henry VIII. used for supporters the _red dragon and white -greyhound_ of his family; _a red dragon_ and _a lion gardant gold_, -sometimes crowned; at other times _a silver greyhound_ and _a golden -lion_, _an antelope_, _a white bull_, _a cock_, &c. On the union of -Scotland and England under King James, the Scottish _unicorn_ was -substituted for the sinister supporter, while the _lion gardant_, first -adopted by Henry VIII., appears to have permanently superseded the red -dragon of Wales, the white greyhound, &c., as the other supporter of the -royal arms, the dragon being relegated to be the special badge of the -principality of Wales, which position it still retains. The present royal -badges, as settled at the union, 1801, are: - - _A white rose within a red_ ENGLAND. - - _A thistle_ SCOTLAND. - - _A harp or, stringed argent, - and a trefoil or shamrock vert_ IRELAND. - - _Upon a mount vert, a dragon - passant, wings expanded - and endorsed, gules_ WALES. - -Richard III. as a badge had a black dragon. "_The bages that he beryth by -the Earldom of Wolst{r} (Ulster) ys a blacke dragon_," derived through his -mother from the De Burghs, Earls of Ulster. - -Mallet, in his "Northern Antiquities," states "that the thick misshapen -walls winding round a rude fortress at the summit of a rock were called by -a name signifying dragon, and as women of distinction were, during the -ages of chivalry, commonly placed in such castles for security, thence -arose the romances of princesses of great beauty being guarded by dragons, -and afterwards delivered by young heroes who could not achieve their -rescue until they had overcome their terrible guardians." The common -heraldic signification of a dragon is one who has successfully overcome -such a fortress, or it denotes the protection afforded to the helpless by -him to whom it was granted, and the terror inspired in his foes by his -doughty or warlike bearing. It was a title of supreme power among the -early British. - -[Illustration: A Dragon passant.] - -The dragon has always been an honourable bearing in British armoury, in -some instances to commemorate a triumph over a mighty foe, or merely for -the purpose of inspiring the enemy with terror. This seems to have been -especially the case with the dragon standard--the "red dragon dreadful" of -Wales (_y Ddraig Coch_) described as: - - "A dragon grete and grimme - Full of fyre and eke venymme." - - -The Crocodile as the Prototype of the Dragon - -In the existing representatives of the antediluvian saurians, the -crocodile and alligator, we see the prototypes of the dragons and hydras -of poetic fancy. The crocodile is a well-known huge amphibious reptile, in -general contour resembling a great lizard covered with large horny scales -that cannot be easily pierced, except underneath, and reaching twenty-five -to thirty feet in length. The crocodile was held sacred by the ancient -Egyptians, the Nile was and is its best-known habitat; it is also found in -the rivers of the Indian seas. Though an awkward creature upon land, it -darts with rapidity through the water after fish, which is its appropriate -food, but it is dangerous also to dogs and other creatures, as well as to -human beings entering the water or lingering incautiously on the bank. - -It is the _Lacerta crocodilus_ of Linnæus, from Greek [Greek: krokodeilos] -(_krokodeilos_) a word of uncertain origin. The Alligator, the American -crocodile, takes its name from the Spanish _El Legarto_, the lizard. The -Latin form is _Lacertus_ or _Lacerta_. - -Miss Millington, in her "Heraldry in History, Poetry and Romance," says -that both dragon and crocodile seem anciently to have been confounded -under one name, and that Philip de Thaun, in his "Bestiarus," says that -"crocodille signifie diable en ceste vie." Guillim, an old heraldic -writer, says: "The dragons are naturally so hot that they cannot be -cooled by drinking of waters, but still gape for the air to refresh them, -as appeareth in Jeremiah xiv. 6." - -Young, author of "Night Thoughts," in a footnote appended to the -magnificent description of the leviathan (crocodile), in his paraphrase of -part of the book of Job says: "The crocodile, say the naturalists, lying -under water, and being there forced to hold its breath, when it emerges, -the breath long repressed is hot, and bursts out so violently that it -resembles fire and smoke. The horse suppresses not his breath by any means -so long, neither is he so fierce and animated," yet the most correct of -poets ventures to use the same metaphor regarding him: - - "Collectumque premens volvit sub naribus ignem." - - -The Heraldic Dragon - -The mythical dragon is represented in heraldic art with the huge body of -the reptile saurian type covered with impenetrable mail of plates and -scales, a row of formidable spines extending from his head to his tail, -which ends in a great and deadly sting; his enormous jaws, gaping and -bristling with hideous fangs, belch forth sparks and flame; his round -luminous eyes seem to shoot gleaming fire; from his nose issues a dreadful -spike. He is furnished with sharp-pointed ears and a forked tongue, four -sturdy legs terminating in eagle's feet strongly webbed, clawing and -clutching at his prey. Great leathern bat-like wings armed with sharp -hook's points, complete his equipment. The wings are always "endorsed," -that is, elevated and back to back. - -[Illustration: Crest, a Dragon's Head erased collared and chained.] - -The dragon of our modern books of heraldry is a miserable impostor, a -degenerate representative of those "dragons of the prime, that tore each -other in their slime." It is curious to note in this the gradual -degradation from the magnificent saurian type of the best period of -heraldic art to a form not far removed from that given to an ordinary -four-legged creature covered with plates and scales. His legs are longer -and weaker, his mighty caudal appendage, shrunk to insignificant and -useless proportion, and most unlike his ancient prototype the crocodile. -This error of our modern heraldic artists displays remarkable lack of -proper knowledge of this mythical creature and his attributes. Such a -splendid creation of the fancy should not be represented in such a weak -and meaningless form by the hands of twentieth-century artists. The -ancient form is infinitely to be preferred as a work of symbolic art. - -[Illustration: Domine dirige nos] - -ARMS OF THE CITY OF LONDON.--Two dragons are the supporters of the arms of -the City of London, the crest a dragon's sinister wing. They are thus -blazoned: _Argent a cross gules, in the first quarter, a sword in pale -point upwards of the last. Supporters, on either side a dragon with wings -elevated and addorsed, argent, and charged on the wing with a cross -gules._ - -The crest is a _dragon's sinister wing charged with a similar cross_. - -THE COUNTY OF CHESTER has for its supporters two dragons, each holding an -ostrich feather. - -Basingstoke, Linlithgow and Dumfries on the town seals have St. Michael -overthrowing the dragon (_see_ p. 72). - -The dragon appears in various forms in the arms of many towns, and also in -those of some peers. - -[Illustration: Sinister supporter of the arms of Viscount Gough.] - -One of the most extraordinary and elaborate coats of arms of modern times -is that of Viscount Gough. The sinister supporter of the shield is a -dragon (intended to represent the device upon a Chinese flag). _A dragon -or, gorged with a mural crown sable, inscribed with the word "China," and -chained gold._ - -Examples vary considerably in the form of the dragon, some early examples -represent it to have four legs, others with only two, when it is properly -a wyvern. The pendent "George" in the Order of the Garter represents it -with a body similar to a crocodile, winged and covered with plates and -scales. - -A similar device to that of the George noble of Henry VIII. was the St. -George slaying the dragon by Pistrucci, a foreigner employed at the mint. -This handsome reverse, says Mr. Noel Humphrey, "Coin Collector's Manual," -is nearly a copy from a figure in a battle-piece on an antique gem in the -Orleans collection, but several Greek coins might equally well have -furnished the model. Old George III. sovereigns and five-shilling pieces -have this most finely conceived and executed device on the reverse of the -coins. It also appears upon some sovereigns of Queen Victoria. Prominence -is naturally given to the figure of St. George, the dragon in consequence -being diminished in its relative size. - - -The Hydra - - "_Seven great heads out of his body grew, - An iron breast, and back of scaly brass; - And all imbrued in blood his eyes did shine as glass, - His tail was stretched out in wondrous length._" - SPENSER, "Faerie Queen," Book i. c. vii. - -The hydra is represented in heraldry as a dragon with seven heads; it is -not of frequent occurrence as a bearing in armory. - -[Illustration: Hercules and the Lernean Hydra. From Greek vase.] - -The terrible dragon, with one hundred heads, that guarded the golden -apples of the Hesperides, slain by Hercules, was celebrated in classic -mythology; so was the Lernean hydra, a monster of the marshes that ravaged -the country of Lerna in Argolis, destroying both men and beasts. The -number of its heads varies with the poets, though ancient gems usually -represent it with seven or nine. Hercules was sent to kill it as one of -his twelve labours. After driving the monster from its lair with arrows he -attacked it with his sword, and in place of each head he struck off two -sprang up. Setting fire to a neighbouring wood with the firebrands he -seared the throat of the Hydra until he at length succeeded in slaying it. -The fable is usually referred to in illustration of a difficulty which -goes on increasing as it is combated. (_See_ page 63.) - - "Whereon this Hydra son of war is born - Whose dangerous eyes may well be charmed asleep." - _Henry IV._ part ii. sc. 2. - -[Illustration: The Hydra.] - -The Lernean hydra, the watchful dragon of the garden of the Hesperides, -the many-headed Naga or snake of the Hindu religion, are, say learned -writers, only some of the many forms under which the relics of the ancient -serpent-worship exhibited itself. - -_A hydra, wings endorsed vert, scaled or_, is the crest of _Barret_ of -Avely, Essex. It is also borne by the names _Crespine_ and _Downes_. - - -[Illustration: A Wyvern holding a fleur-de-lis.] - -The Wyvern - -(SAXON, _Wivere_, a serpent) said to represent a flying serpent, an -imaginary creature resembling the dragon, but having only two legs, which -are like an eagle's, and a serpent-like tail, barbed, sometimes -represented nowed after the manner of serpents. It is figured on one of -the standards in the Bayeux tapestry (_see_ Dragon, p. 86). It is -erroneously termed a dragon by some writers, though perhaps they may both -be classed together. Old heralds say of these imaginary monsters that they -are emblems of pestilence, and are represented as strong and fierce -animals covered with invulnerable mail, and fitly typify viciousness and -envy. In armory they are properly applied to tyranny or the overthrow of a -vicious enemy. - -[Illustration: A Wyrvern, wings endorsed, tail nowed.] - -[Illustration: Wyvern from the Garter plate of Sir John Gray, 1436 A.D.] - -Occasionally a wyvern is borne with the tail nowed and without wings. - -_Lindworm._--It is not usual to say a wyvern "without wings" or "without -legs," but _sans wings_ or _sans legs_, as the case may be. A dragon or -wyvern sans wings is termed a lindworm. (_See_ page 80.) - -[Illustration: Wyvern, or Lindworm. (German version.)] - -_Argent, a wyvern, wings endorsed gules_, are the arms of _Drake_, of -Ashe, Devon (Bart.), 1600. - -The town of Leicester has for crest a _wyvern, wings expanded, sans legs, -strewed with wounds, gules_. - -_Argent on a bend sable, between two lions rampant of the last, a wyvern -volant in bend of the field, langued gules, Ruddings._ - -_Two wyverns, wings endorsed and emitting flames_, are the supporters of -Viscount _Arbuthnot_. - -The arms of the King of Portugal are supported by _two wyverns erect on -their tails or_, each holding a banner, the crest is a _demi-wyvern_ out -of a ducal coronet. - -_Guivre._--The wyvern or serpent in the arms of the Visconti, Lords of -Milan, _argent a guivre d'azure couronnée d'or, issante de gules_ (GUIVRE -is represented as a serpent or wingless dragon sans feet, with a child's -body issuing from its mouth), is said to commemorate the victory of a lord -of that house over a fiery dragon or guivre which inhabited a cavern under -the church of St. Denis in that place. "It is hardly possible," says Miss -Millington, "not to think that the story of the dragon as well as its -adoption in the coat-of-arms bears allusion rather to the dragon of -paganism, expelled from the city, as it might seem, by the church built -upon the site of the cave, in which too, by the rite of Holy Baptism, -_children_ especially were delivered from the power of Satan. Indeed, the -innumerable legends of saints who have fought and overcome dragons -sufficiently prove the symbolic light in which that creature was anciently -viewed." (_See_ also Serpent Biscia, p. 117.) - -[Illustration: Wyvern, wings displayed. (Early example.)] - -[Illustration: Wyvern, wings depressed.] - - -The Chimera - -An imaginary fire-breathing monster of great swiftness and strength, -invented by the ancient Greek poets. Though mentioned by heraldic -authorities, it is not met with in British coat armour; it is described as -having the head, mane and legs of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail -of a dragon. From this creature the term "chimerical" is applied to all -such figures as have no other existence but in the imagination. It is -represented upon the coins of Sycion during the Achæan League. - -[Illustration: Chimera, from a Greek coin.] - -The origin of the story of the chimera is ascribed to a mountain in Lycia -which had a volcano on its top and nourished lions; the middle part -afforded pasture for goats, and the bottom was infested with serpents; -according to Hesiod it had three heads, that of a lion, a goat, and a -dragon. Bellerophon destroyed the monster by raising himself in the air on -his winged steed Pegasus, and shooting it with his arrows. - - "Amid the troops, and like the leading god, - High o'er the rest in arms the graceful Turnus rode; - A triple pile of plumes his crest adorned, - On which with belching flames chimera burned: - The more the kindled combat rises higher, - The more with fury burns the blazing fire." - VIRGIL, _Æneid_, Book vii. - -Phillip II. of Spain, after his marriage with Queen Mary of England, -assumed as a device, Bellerophon fighting with the chimera, and the motto, -"Hinc vigilo," the monster being intended by him for a type of England's -heresies which he waited his time to destroy. - -The family of _Fada_ of Verona have for arms: Gules a winged chimera -argent, the head and breasts carnation (or proper), and the wings and feet -of an eagle. The illustration, however, has the head and breasts of a -woman, and eagle's wings and feet, and makes it a different creature -entirely, and should more properly be blazoned _harpy_. - - -The Lion-Dragon - -is compounded of the forepart of a lion conjoined to the hinder part of a -dragon. - -_Or, a lion-dragon gules armed, langued and crowned of the first_, is the -_Bretigni_ family. - -_Party per chevron gules and or, three lion-dragons ducally crowned and -countercharged._--_Easton._ - - -The Gorgon - -Reference has already been made to the gorgon in a quotation from Milton. -The name now denotes anything unusually hideous. In classic story there -were three gorgons, with serpents on their heads instead of hair. Medusa -was the chief of the three, and the only one that was mortal. So hideous -was her face that whoever set eyes on it was instantly turned to stone. -She was slain by Perseus, and her head placed upon _the shield of Minerva_ -(termed the Ægis of Minerva). Homer, in the "Odyssey," Book xi. thus -alludes to the dread creature: - - "Lest Gorgon rising from the infernal lakes - With horrors armed, and curls of hissing snakes, - Should fix me stiffened at the monstrous sight, - A stony image in eternal night." - -And Shakespeare, in _Macbeth_, Act ii. sc. 3, uses the name to picture, in -a word, the horrible discovery of the murdered Duncan: - - "Approach the chamber, and destroy your sight - With a new gorgon." - - -The Cockatrice - -This chimerical creature was said to be produced from a cock's egg hatched -by a serpent; hence its name. It differs from the wyvern of heraldry only -in having a head like that of a dunghill cock. "This monster is of that -nature," says an old writer, "that its look or breath is said to be deadly -poison"; and this, in addition to the ordinary weapons of offence, would -constitute it rather a difficult creature to be interfered with. - -[Illustration: Cockatrice.] - -The cockatrice is frequently referred to in the Scriptures as the type of -something evil. "The weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's -den" (Isaiah xi. 8), meaning that the most noxious animal shall not hurt -the most feeble of God's creatures. - -And Jeremiah viii. 17: "For behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, -among you which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the -Lord." - -The cockatrice is a frequent emblem in heraldry, borne as a charge upon -the shield and also as a supporter. To the mailed draconic form of the -wyvern it had the hideous crested head with livid dangling wattles similar -to the dunghill cock, its round glittering eyes dealing death; its barbed -tongue and serpentine tail, with deadly sting, would no doubt render it a -fearful object to behold, and terrific to its enemies. It is always borne -in profile, the wings endorsed, or back to back, unless directed -otherwise. The tail is frequently _nowed_, _i.e._, knotted. - -_Sable, a cockatrice or, combed and wattled gules._--_Bothe._ - -_Sable, a cockatrice, displayed argent, crested, membered and jelloped -gules._--_Baggine._ - -_Jelloped_, _jowlopped_, terms used to describe the comb or crest, and -gills or wattles, when of a different tincture from the body. _Beaked_ and -_membered_, in similar manner, have reference to the beak and legs. - - -Basilisk, or Amphysian Cockatrice - -The amphysian cockatrice or basilisk in heraldry exactly resembles the -cockatrice, but having an additional head (like that of a dragon) at the -end of its tail instead of a barb or sting. - - "With complicated monsters' head and tail - Scorpion and Asp and Amphisboena dire." - MILTON. - -_Amphisboena_, or _Amphista_, is a creature sometimes referred to by old -writers as having the dragon's body and wings, the head of a serpent, and -the tail ending in a like head. Bossewelle, in "Armorie of Honour," folio -63, enlarging upon this idea, describes "a prodigious serpente called -Amphybene, for that he hath a double head, as though one mouth were too -little to custe his venyme." - -_Earl Howe_ has for supporters _two cockatrices (amphysian), wings -elevated, the tails nowed, and ending in a serpent's head or, combed, -wattled and legged gules_. - -_Argent, a basilisk, wings endorsed, tail nowed, sable._--_Langley_, -Rathorpe Hall, Yorks. - -[Illustration: Basilisk or Amphysian Cockatrice, tail nowed.] - -_Basilisk_, the king of serpents (Greek, _Basileus_, a king), so called -from having on his head a mitre-shaped crest. Old writers give wonderful -accounts of the death-dealing power of this strange creature. Pliny says, -"all other serpents do flee from and are afraid of it," and tells of the -deadly effect of his breath and glittering eye. The Duke of Alva, the -scourge of the Netherlands (1566-1575), where he left the eternal memory -of his cruelties, had for a device a basilisk drawing out serpents, with -the motto: "Tu nomine tantum" ("Thou dost so much by thy name alone"), a -fitting emblem for so great a monster! - -In allusion to its power of "looking any one dead on whom it fixed its -eyes," Dryden makes Clytus say to Alexander, "Nay, frown not so; you -cannot look me dead," - - "like a boar - Plunging his tusk in mastiff's gore, - Or basilisk, when roused, whose breath, - Teeth, sting and eyeballs all are death." - KING, _Art of Love_. - -King Henry, when he hears of the death of his uncle Humphry, the good -Duke of Gloucester, says to Suffolk: - - "come basilisk - And kill the innocent gazer with thy sight." - _2 King Henry VI._ Act iii. 2. - -Beaumont and Fletcher also speak of "the basilisk's death-dealing eye" in -"The Woman Hater." - -Its appearance was so dreadful, it was said, that if a mirror was placed -so that it could see itself, it would instantly burst asunder with horror -and fear. - -In Christian Art it is the emblem of _deadly sin_ and _the spirit of -evil_. St. Basil the Great uses it as the type of a depraved woman. - - -The Mythical Serpent - -"The most remarkable remembrance," says Dean, "of the power of the -paradisaical serpent is displayed in the position which he retains in -Tartarus. A cuno-draconictic cerberus guards the gates; serpents are -coiled upon the chariot wheels of Proserpine; serpents pave the abyss of -torment; and even serpents constitute the caduceus of Mercury, the -talisman which he holds in his hand when he conveys the soul to Tartarus. -The image of the serpent is stamped upon every mythological fable -connected with the realms of Pluto. Is it not probable that in the -universal symbol of heathen idolatry we recognise the universal object of -primitive worship, the serpent of paradise?" - -"Speaking of the names of the snake tribe in the great languages," Ruskin -says, "in Greek, OPHIS meant the seeing creature, especially one that sees -all round it; and DRAKON, one that looks well into a thing or person. In -Latin, ANGUIS, was the strangler; SERPENS, the winding creature; COLUBER, -the coiling animal. In our own Saxon the SNAKE meant the crawling -creature; and ADDER denoted the groveller." - -The true serpents comprise the genera without a sternum or breastbone, in -which there is no vestige of shoulder, but where the ribs surround a great -part of the circumference of the trunk. To the venomous kind belong the -rattlesnake, cobra de capello, spectacled or hooded snake, viper, &c. So -the non-venomous, the boa constrictor, anaconda, python, black snake, -common snake. - -The minute viper, _V. Brashyura_, is celebrated for the intensity of its -poison, and is truly one of the most terrible of its genus. The asp of -Egypt, or Cleopatra's asp (_Coluber naja_, Lin.), was held in great -veneration by the Egyptians; and it is this snake which the jugglers, by -pressing on the nape of the neck with the finger, throw into a kind of -catalepsy, which renders it stiff, or, as they term it, turns it into a -rod. - -All snakes, says the celebrated naturalist Waterton, take a motion from -left to right or _vice versa_--but never up and down--the whole extent of -the body being in contact with the ground, saving the head, which is -somewhat elevated. This is equally observable both on land and in water. -Thus, when we see a snake represented in an up-and-down attitude, we know -at once that the artist is to blame. - -Another misconception exploded by Waterton is the common and accepted -notion that a snake can fascinate to their destruction and render -powerless by a dead set of its eye the creatures it makes its prey. Snakes -have no such power. The eyes, which are very beautiful, do not move, and -they have no eyelids; they have been placed by nature under a scale -similar in composition to the scales of the body, and when the snake casts -it slough, this scale comes away with it, and is replaced by a new one on -a new skin. - -_Noli me tangere_--do not touch me with intent to harm me--is, continues -Waterton, a most suitable motto for a snake, which towards man never acts -on the offensive (except perhaps only the larger species which may be in -waiting for a meal, when any creature, from a bull to a mouse, may be -acceptable). But when roused into action by the fear of sudden danger, -'tis then that, in self-defence a snake will punish the intruder by a -prick (not a laceration) from the poison-fang, fatal or not, according to -its size and virulence. - -A writer in the _Daily Telegraph_ of July 23, 1883, giving an account of -the new reptile house in the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, dwells -upon the surpassing beauty of a python that had just cast its skin, "a -very miracle of reptilian loveliness. Watch it breathing; it is as gentle -as a child, and the beautiful lamia head rests like a crowning jewel upon -the softly heaving coils. Let danger threaten, however, and lightning is -hardly quicker than the dart of those vengeful convolutions. The gleaming -length rustles proudly into menace, and instead of the voluptuous lazy -thing of a moment ago, the python, with all its terrors complete, erects -itself defiantly, thrilling, so it seems, with eager passion in every -scale, and measuring in the air, with threatening head, the circle within -which is death. Once let those recurved fangs strike home, and there is no -poison in them, all hope is gone to the victim. Coil after coil is rapidly -thrown round the struggling object, and then with slow but relentless -pressure life is throttled out of every limb. No wonder that the world has -always held the serpent in awe, and that nations should have worshipped, -and still worship, this emblem of destruction and death. It is fate -itself, swift as disaster, deliberate as retribution, incomprehensible as -destiny." It would be tedious to recapitulate the multitude of myths -through which the "dire worm" has come to our times, dignified and made -awful by the honours and fears of the past. A volume could hardly exhaust -the snake-lore scattered up and down in the pages of history and fable. - -"The python in the Zoological Gardens, however," adds the same writer, -"though it may stand as the modern reality of the old-world fable of a -gigantic snake that challenged the strength of the gods to overcome it, -presents to us only one side of snake nature. It possesses a surprising -beauty and prodigious strength; but it is not venomous. Probably the more -subtle and fearful apprehensions of men originated really from the smaller -and deadlier kinds, and were then by superstition, poetry and heraldry -extended to the larger. The little basilisk, crowned king of the vipers; -the horned 'cerastes dire,' a few inches in length; the tiny aspic, fatal -as lightning and as swift; and the fabled cockatrice, that a man might -hold in his hand, first made the serpent legend terrible; their venom was -afterwards transferred, and not unnaturally, to the larger species. It was -the small minute worms, that carried in their fangs such rapid and -ruthless death, which first struck fear into the minds of the ancients, -and invested the snake with the mysterious and horrid attributes whereunto -antiquity from China to Egypt hastened to pay honours." - -Cadmus and his wife Harmonia were by Zeus converted into serpents and -removed to Elysium. Æsculapius, son of Apollo, god of medicine, assumed -the form of a serpent when he appeared at Rome during a pestilence; -therefore he is always represented with his staff entwined with a serpent, -symbol of healing. Similarly represented was Hippocrates, a famous -physician of Cos; who delivered Athens from a dreadful pestilence, in the -beginning of the Peloponnesian War, and was publicly rewarded with a -golden crown, and the privileges of a citizen. Therefore it is that the -goddess of health bears in her hand a serpent. - -The caduceus of Mercury was a rod adorned with wings, having a male and -female serpent twisted about it, each kissing the other. With this in his -hands, it was said, the herald of the Gods could give sleep to whomsoever -he chose; wherefore Milton, in "Paradise Lost," styles it "his opiate -rod." - - "With his caduceus Hermes led - From the dark regions of the imprisoned dead; - Or drove in silent shoals the lingering train - To night's dull shore and Pluto's dreary reign." - DARWIN, _Loves of the Plants_, ii. 291. - -Jupiter Ammon appeared to Olympias in the form of a serpent, and became -the father of Alexander the Great: - - "When glides a silver serpent, treacherous guest! - And fair Olympia folds him to her breast." - DARWIN, _Economy of Vegetation_, i. 2. - -Jupiter Capitolinus in a similar form became the father of Scipio -Africanus. - -In the temple of Athena at Athens, a serpent was kept in a cage and called -"The Guardian Spirit of the Temple." This serpent was supposed to be -animated by the soul of Ericthonius. It was thus employed by the Greeks -and Romans to symbolise a guardian spirit, and not unfrequently the figure -of a serpent was depicted on their altars. - -Upon the shields of Greek warriors, on ancient vases, &c., the serpent is -often to be seen blazoned. - -[Illustration: Greek Shield, from painted vase in the British Museum.] - -The serpent monster Python, produced from the mud left on the earth after -the deluge of Deucalion, lived in the caves of Mount Parnassus, but was -slain by Apollo, who founded the Pythian games in commemoration of his -victory. This and many similar solar myths are merely classic panegyrics -on the conquering power exercised by the genial warmth of spring over the -dark gloom of winter. - -The serpent in Christian Art figures in Paradise as the tempter of Eve -under that form, and is generally placed under the feet of the Virgin, in -allusion to the promise made to Eve after the Fall: "The seed of the woman -shall bruise the serpent's head." The heart of the serpent being close to -the head, renders a severe "bruise" there fatal. The serpent bruised the -"heel" of man--_i.e._, being a cause of stumbling, it hurt the foot which -tripped against it (Gen. iii. 15). - -[Illustration] - -The brazen serpent erected by Moses in the wilderness, which gave newness -of life to those plague-stricken Israelites who were bitten by the fiery -dragons and raised their eyes to this symbol (Numb. xxi. 8), as an emblem -of healing, is represented in Christian art as coiled up on a tau cross, a -symbol of which our Saviour did not disdain in some degree to admit the -propriety when he compared himself to the healing serpent in the -wilderness. - -The serpent is placed under the feet of St. Cecilia, St. Euphemia, and -many other saints, either because they trampled on Satan, or because they -miraculously cleared some country of such reptiles. St. Patrick, the -patron saint of Ireland, is always represented habited as a bishop, his -foot upon a viper, the head transfixed with the lower extremity of his -pastoral staff, from his having banished snakes and all venomous reptiles -from the soil of Ireland. As the symbol of the evil principle, a -diminutive specimen of the dragon, guivre, or winged snake was more -frequently used, wriggling under foot. - -The serpent is emblematical of THE FALL; Satan is called the great serpent -(Rev. xii. 9); of WISDOM: "Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless -as doves" (Matt. x. 16); of SUBTLETY: "Now the serpent was more subtil -than any beast of the field" (Gen. iii. 1); of ETERNITY: a serpent in a -circle with its tail in its mouth is the well understood symbol of -unending time. - -"The serpent figures largely in Byzantine Art as the instrument of the -Fall, and one type of the Redemption. The cross planted on the serpent is -found sculptured on Mount Athos; and the cross surrounded by the so-called -runic knot is only a Scandinavian version of the original Byzantine -image--the crushed snake curling round the stem of the avenging cross. The -cross, with two scrolls at the foot of it typifying the snake, is another -of its modifications, and a very common Byzantine ornament. The ordinary -northern crosses, so conspicuous for their interlaced ornaments and -grotesque monsters, appear to be purely modifications of this idea."[8] - -Boniface, the Anglo-Saxon missionary, in his letter to the Archbishop of -Canterbury, inveighs against the luxuries of dress, and declares against -those garments that are adorned with very broad studs and images of worms, -announcing the coming of Antichrist. - -In the wonderfully intricate interlacing of snake-like and draconic forms -of celtic art which appear in the marvellously illuminated manuscripts -executed in Ireland of the sixth and seventh centuries, the great -sculptured crosses, as well as in gold and metal work, are seen -unmistakable traces of the traditional ideas relating to the early -serpent-worship. - -"The serpent," says Mr. Planché, "the most terrible of all reptiles, is of -rare occurrence in English heraldry. Under its Italian name of _Bisse_ it -occurs in the Roll of Edward III.'s time, 'Monsire William Malbis -_d'argent, a une chevron de gules, a trois testes de bys rases gules_' -(_Anglicé_, argent, a chevron between three serpents' heads erased -gules)." - -The well-known historic device, the _Biscia_ or serpent devouring a child, -of the dukedom of Milan is of much interest. There are many stories as to -the origin of this singular bearing. Some writers assign it to Otho -Visconti, who led a body of Milanese in the train of Peter the Hermit, and -at the crusades fought and killed in single combat the Saracen giant -Volux, upon whose helmet was this device, which Otho afterwards assumed as -his own. Such is the version adopted by Tasso, who enumerates Otho among -the Christian warriors: - - "Otho fierce, whose valour won the shield - That bears a child and serpent on the field." - _Gerusalemme Liberata_, cant. i. st. 55. - (Hoole's translation.) - -From another legend we learn that when Count Boniface, Lord of Milan, went -to the crusades, his child, born during his absence, was devoured in its -cradle by a huge serpent which ravaged the country. On his return, Count -Boniface went in search of the monster, and found it with a child in its -mouth. He attacked and slew the creature, but at the cost of his own life. -Hence it is said his posterity bore the serpent and child as their ensign. -A third legend is referred to under Wyvern (which see). - -Menestrier says that the first Lords of Milan were called after their -castle in Angleria, in Latin _anguis_, and that these are only the _armes -parlantes_ of their name.[9] Be this as it may, "_Lo Squamoso Biscion_" -(the scaly snake) was adopted by all the Visconti lords, and by their -successors of the House of Sforza. - - "Sforza e Viscontei colubri." - _Orlando Furioso_, cant. xiii. 63. - -And again in the same poem (cant. iii. 26. Hoole's translation): - - "Hugo appears with him, his valiant son - Who plants his conquering snakes in Milan's town." - -Dante also refers in "Purgatorio" to this celebrated device. - -[Illustration: Arms of Whitby Abbey.] - -The "_three coiled snakes_," which appear in the arms of Whitby Abbey, -Yorkshire, really represent _fossil ammonites_, which are very plentiful -in the rocky promontories of that part of the English coast, and on that -account were no doubt adopted in the arms of the Abbey, and afterwards of -the town of Whitby. - -The arms are: _Azure three snakes coiled or encircled two and one, or_. - -Popular legend, however, ascribes their origin to the transformation of a -multitude of snakes into stone by _St. Hilda_, an ancient Saxon princess. -The legend is referred to by Sir Walter Scott in "Marmion": - - "_How of a thousand snakes each one - Was changed into a coil of stone - While Holy Hilda prayed._" - -It is, however, more than likely that the arms suggested the legend of the -miracle. - -The ancient myth of the _deaf adder_ seems to have been a favourite -illustration of the futility of unwelcome counsel. - - "What, art thou, like the adder, waxen deaf? - Be poisonous too." - _2 King Henry VI._ Act ii. sc. 2. - - - "Pleasure and revenge have ears more deaf than adders - To the voice of any true decision." - _Troilus and Cressida_, Act ii. sc. 2. - - - "He flies me now--nor more attends my pain - Than the deaf adder heeds the charmer's strain." - _Orlando Furioso_, cant. xxxii. 19. - (Hoole's translation.) - -A serpent or adder stopping his ears, by some writers termed "_an adder -obturant his ear_" from the Latin _obturo_, to shut or stop, is a very -ancient idea. It is said that the asp or adder, to prevent his hearing -unwelcome truths, puts one ear to the ground and stops the other with his -tail, a device suggested by Psalm lviii. 4,5: "They are like the deaf -adder that stoppeth her ear; which will not hearken to the voice of -charmers, charming never so wisely." - -Alessandro d'Alessandri (+ 1523), a lawyer of Naples, of extensive -learning, and a member of the Neapolitan Academy, took for device a -serpent stopping its ears, and the motto, "Ut prudentia vivam" ("That I -may live wisely"), implying that as the serpent by this means refuses to -hear the voice of the charmer, so the wise man imitates the prudence of -the reptile and refuses to listen to the words of malice and slander. - -It is said that the _cerastes_ hides in sand that it may bite the horse's -foot and get the rider thrown. In allusion to this belief, Jacob says, -"Dan shall be ... an adder in the path, that his rider shall fall -backward" (Gen. xlix. 17). - -_Asp._--According to Sir Gardiner Wilkinson, the ancient Egyptian kings -wore the asp, the emblem of royalty, as an ornament on the forehead. It -appears on the front of the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. - -Many terms have been invented by the heralds to express the positions -serpents may assume in arms. Berry's "Encyclopædia of Heraldry" -illustrates over thirty positions, the terms of blazon of which it is -impossible to comprehend, and hardly worth the inquiry. Few of these terms -are, however, met with in English heraldry. - -Two serpents erect in pale, their tails "nowed" (twisted or knotted) -together, are figured in the arms of Caius College, Cambridge. In the -words of the old grant, they are blazoned "_gold, semied with flowers -gentil, a sengreen_ (or houseleek) _in chief, over the heads of two whole -serpents in pale, their tails knit together (all in proper colour), -resting upon a square marble stone vert, between a book sable, garnish't -gul, buckled, or_." - -Fruiterers' Company of London.--_On a mount in base vert, the tree of -Paradise environed with the serpent between Adam and Eve, all proper._ -Motto: _Arbor vitæ Christus, fructus perfidem gustamus._ - -_Nowed_ signifies tied or knotted, and is said of a serpent, wyvern, or -other creature whose body or tail is twisted like a knot. - -_Annodated_, another term for nowed; bent in the form of the letter S, the -serpents round the caduceus of Mercury may be said to be annodated. - -_Torqued_, _torgant_, or _targant_ (from the Latin _torqueo_, to wreathe), -the bending and rebending, either in serpents, adders or fish, like the -letter S. - -[Illustration: A Serpent, nowed, proper. Crest of Cavendish.] - -_Voluted_, _involved_ or _encircled, gliding_, and several terms used in -blazon explain themselves, as _erect_, _erect wavy_, &c. - -In blazoning, the terms _snake_, _serpent_, _adder_, appear to be used -indiscriminately. - -_A serpent nowed, proper_, is the crest of Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire. - -_Gules, three snakes nowed in triangle argent_ (Ednowain Ap Bradwen, -Merionethshire). - -_Or, three serpents erect wavy sable_ (Codlen, or Cudlen). - -_Remora_ is an old term in heraldry for a serpent entwining. - -[Illustration: Amphiptère, or flying serpent.] - -Serpents are also borne entwined round pillars and rods, &c., and around -the necks of children, as in the arms of Vaughan or Vahan Wales: _Azure, -three boys' heads affronté, couped at the shoulders proper, crined or, -each enveloped or enwrapped about the neck with a snake vert_. Entwisted -and entwined are sometimes used in the same sense. - -_The amphiptère_ is a winged serpent. _Azure, an amphiptère or, rising -between two mountains argent_, are the arms of Camoens, the Portuguese -poet. - -As a symbol in heraldry the serpent does not usually have reference to the -mythical creature, as in Early Christian Art, its natural qualities being -more generally considered. - - -The Scorpion - -The reptile of this name, carrying a virulent and deadly sting in its -tail, is generally borne erect. When it is borne with the head downwards, -it is described as reversed. One branch of the family of Cole bears: -_argent, a fesse between three scorpions erect sable_; and another branch -of the same family, _argent a chevron gules between three scorpions -reversed, sable_. - -[Illustration: Scorpion.] - -_Scorpion._--Luigi di Gonzaga, styled Rodomonte for his great intrepidity -and strength, was a favourite general of Emperor Charles V. in his army -with Bourbon at the sack of Rome. When Charles made his public entry into -Mantua, Rodomonte wore a blue surcoat made in squares. Upon one was -embroidered a scorpion; upon the other his motto, "_Qui vivens lædit morte -meditur_" ("Who living wounds, in death is healed"). It being the property -of the scorpion when killed and laid over the wound to cure the poison, so -Rodomonte, if any one presumed to offend him, would clear himself of the -injury by the death of his enemy. - -"If a man be stung with a scorpion, and drink the powder of them in wine, -it is thought to be present remedie."[10] - - - - - - -Other Chimerical Creatures and Heraldic Beasts - - -[Illustration: Unicorn salient.[11]] - -The Unicorn - - "_Yon lion placed two unicorns between - That rampant with a silver sword is seen - Is for the king of Scotland's banner known._" - ARIOSTO (Hoole's translation). - - "_The lion and the unicorn fighting for the crown._" - Old Nursery Rhyme. - -The unicorn is represented by heraldic usage as having the head and body -of a horse, with the tail of a lion, and the limbs and hoofs of a stag; a -twisted horn grows out from the centre of its forehead. It is rarely met -with as a coat-of-arms. As a crest or supporter it is of more frequent -occurrence. A unicorn's head is a favourite bearing, either _erased_, or -_couped_, at the shoulder, and always represented in profile. - -[Illustration: Crest: A Unicorn's head, couped.] - -The unicorn was a famous device all over Europe, and symbolised the virtue -of the mind and the strength of the body. It is well known as a supporter -of the Royal Arms of England, a position it has occupied since the -accession of James VI. of Scotland to the English throne as James I. _Two -silver unicorns_ were the supporters to the arms of that kingdom. On the -legislative union with England, the _red dragon of Wales_, introduced by -Henry VII., gave place to the unicorn as the sinister supporter. - -James III. of Scotland had it figured on coins which were thence called -"unicorns." James V. first used it with the national arms as supporters. -Although the silver unicorn came into England with James I., Queen Jane -Seymour had already adopted it. - -"_Unicorn_" was the pursuivant of Lord Lyon King-at-Arms, the Royal -Scottish Herald. - -As a supporter to the Royal arms it is thus blazoned: _A unicorn argent, -armed, unguled, crined and gorged or, with a royal coronet_ (_i.e._, -composed of crosses patée and fleurs-de-lis), _having a chain affixed -thereto, and reflexed over his back of the last_. The term "_armed_" has -reference to his horn, "_unguled_" to his hoofs, and "_crined_" to his -flowing mane. "_Gorged_" implies that the coronet encircles his "gorge" or -throat. The term "_or_" (that is, the metal gold or the tincture of it) -being only mentioned after the several parts implies that they are all -alike to be gold. "_Of the last_" means of the last colour mentioned. - -In "The History of Caricature and Grotesque in Literature and Art," by -Thomas Wright, M.A., F.S.A. (p. 8), appears a curious illustration from an -Egyptian papyrus of the Roman period, in the British Museum. It represents -a lion and a unicorn playing a game resembling draughts, perhaps the -earliest instance of the two animals depicted in conjunction. As the -author says: "The lion has evidently gained the victory and is fingering -the money; his bold air of swaggering superiority as well as the look of -surprise and disappointment of his vanquished opponent are by no means -ill-pictured." - -The animosity which existed between the lion and unicorn is referred to by -Spenser, and is allegorical of the animosity which once existed between -England and Scotland: - - "Like as a lyon whose imperiall powre - A proud rebellious unicorne defyes." - _Faerie Queen_, ii. 5. - - -Mediæval Conception of the Unicorn - -The mediæval conception of the unicorn as the water-conner of the beasts -was doubtless suggested by that belief of earlier ages which made the -unicorn not merely symbolical of virtue and purity, but the more immediate -emblem of Christ as the horn of our salvation (Psalms xcii. 10 and lxxxix. -17, 24), expressly receiving its general fulfilment in him (St. Luke i. -69). The horn, as an antidote to all poison, was also believed to be -emblematical of the conquering or destruction of sin by the Messiah, and -as such it appears in the catacombs at Rome. The unicorn is the companion -of St. Justiana, as an emblem betokening in the beautiful legend her pure -mind, resisting all the Geraldine-like dreams sent by magic art to haunt -her, till she converted her tormentor himself. - -He is remarkable, say the old writers, for his great strength, but more -for his great and haughty mind, as he would rather die than be brought -into subjection (Job xxxix. 10-12). - -It was believed the only way to capture him was to leave a beautiful young -virgin in the place where he resorted. When the animal perceived her, he -would come and lie quietly down beside her, resting his head upon her lap, -and fall asleep, when he would be surprised by the hunters who lay in wait -to destroy him. - -[Illustration: The Legend of the Unicorn.] - -The unicorn is one of the most famous of all the chimerical monsters of -antiquity. The Scriptures make repeated mention of such a creature, but of -its shape we can form little conception. In Early Christian Art the -unicorn symbolised the highest and purest virtue; not only was it one of -the noblest bearings in the heraldry of the Middle Ages, but was viewed as -the immediate emblem of our Blessed Lord. Philippe de Thaun says in his -"Bestiarius": - - "Monocéros est beste - Une corne a en la tête - Cette beste en verité nous signifie Dieu." - -Whence comes the unicorn? It is older than the days of Job. Among the -hieroglyphics of Ancient Egypt this wonderful creature is depicted. -Sometimes the body is that of an ass, sometimes that of a bull, sometimes -that of a horse with the long twisted frontal horn for which he is noted. -Is the myth derived from some mysterious single-horned antelope, as has -been said, or is the one-horned rhinoceros the prototype of the legendary -unicorn? As an emblem it figures on the obelisks of Nimroud and the -catacombs of Rome. We read of this strange creature in Herodotus, and in -Aristotle, who calls it the "wild ass"; Pliny calls it the "Indian ass," -describing it as like a horse with a horn fixed in the front of his head. -Cæsar counts it among the fauna of the Hyrcinian Forest. The earliest -author who describes it is Ctesias (B.C. 400), who derives it from India. -According to an Eastern legend the unicorn is found in Abyssinia. Lobo -also describes it in his history of that country: there the animals are -undisturbed by man, and live after their own laws. "Of the many ancient -and famous men," says a modern writer, "who have written about the -unicorn, no two seem to agree except when they copy from one another." - -"Some writers" (says Guillim, p. 175) "have made doubt whether there be -any such beast as this or no. But the great esteem of his horn (in many -places to be seen) may take away that needless scruple." - - -The Horn of the Unicorn - - "_The unicorn whose horn is worth a city._" - DECKER, "Gull's Hornbook." - -_The horn_ of the unicorn was supposed to be the most powerful antidote -against, as it was a sure test of, poisons. He was therefore invested by -the other beasts of the forest with the office of "water-conner," none -daring to taste of fountain or pool until he had stirred the water with -his horn, to discover whether any dragon or serpent had deposited his -venom therein, and render it innocuous. So complete was the faith in the -efficacy of the wonder-working horn as a test of poisons, that fabulous -store was set upon the possession of even a portion. In old inventories -the "Essai" of Unicorn's horn is frequently mentioned. - - 1391. Un manche d'or d'un essai de licourne pour attoucher aux viandes - de monsigneur le Dauphin.--"Comptes Royaux." - - 1408. Une pièce de licorne à pour faire essai, à ung bou. - d'argent.--Inv. des ducs de Bourgogne. - - 1536. Une touche de licorne, garni d'or, pour faire essai.--Inv. de - Charles Quint. - -An Italian author who visited England in the reign of Henry VII., speaking -of the wealth of the religious houses in this country, says: "And I have -been informed that, amongst other things, many of these monasteries -possess unicorns' horns of an extraordinary size." Hence such a horn was -worthy to be placed among the royal jewels. At the head of an inventory -taken in the first year of Queen Elizabeth and preserved in the Harleian -Library (No. 5953) we read "Imprimis, a piece of unicorn's horn," which, -as probably the most important object, is named first. This was no doubt -the piece seen by the German traveller Hentzner, at Windsor: "We were -shown here, among other things, the horn of a unicorn of about eight spans -and a half in length, valued at about £10,000." Peacham places "that horne -of Windsor, of an unicorn very likely," amongst the sights worth seeing. - -"One little cup of unicorn's horn" was also in possession of Queen -Elizabeth, and was subsequently given by James I. to his Queen. - -Alviano, a celebrated general of the Venetian Republic, when he took -Viterbo, and dispersed the Gatesca faction, whom he called the poison of -the city, caused to be embroidered upon his standard a unicorn at a -fountain surrounded by snakes and toads and other reptiles, and stirring -up the water with his horn before he drinks, with the motto or legend -"Venene pello" (I expel poison). Although the unicorn has not been seen -and described by any modern writer, its horn has been occasionally found, -sometimes preserved in museums, but alas! the cherished horn, whenever it -is examined, turns out to be a narwhal's tooth. To this, Wood's "Natural -History" makes special reference: "In former days, an entire tusk of a -narwhal was considered to possess an inestimable value, for it was looked -upon as the weapon of the veritable unicorn reft from his forehead in -despite of his supernatural strength and intellect. Setting aside the -rarity of the thing, it derived a practical value from its presumed -capability of disarming all poisons of their terrors, and of changing the -deadliest draught into a wholesome beverage." - -This antidotal potency was thought to be of vital service to the unicorn, -whose residence was in the desert among all kinds of loathsome beasts and -poisonous reptiles, whose touch was death and whose look was -contamination. The springs and pools at which such monsters quenched their -thirst were saturated with poison by their contact, and would pour a fiery -death through the veins of any animal that partook of them. But the -unicorn, by dropping the tip of his horn into the pool, neutralised the -venom and rendered the deadly waters harmless. This admirable quality of -the unicorn's horn was a great recommendation in days when the poisoned -chalice crept too frequently upon the festive board, and a king could -receive no worthier present than a goblet formed from such valuable -material. - -Even a few shavings of the unicorn's horn were purchased at high prices, -and the ready sale for such antidotes led to considerable adulteration--a -fact which is piteously recorded by an old writer, who tells us that "some -wicked persons do make a mingle-mangle thereof, as I saw among the -Venetians, being, as I here say, compounded with lime and sope, or -peradventure with earth or some stone (which things are apt to make -bubbles arise), and afterwards sell it for the unicorn's horn." The same -writer, however, supplies an easy test, whereby the genuine substance may -be distinguished from the imposition. "For experience of the unicorn's -horn to know whether it be right or not; put silk upon a burning coal, and -upon the silk the aforesaid horn, and if so be that it be true, the silk -will not be a whit consumed." - -EXAMPLES.--_Argent, a unicorn rampant_ (_sometimes sejant sable armed and -unguled or_), is borne by _Harling_, Suffolk. - -Another of the name bears the unicorn _courant in chief_ with additional -charges upon the shield. - -_Azure, a unicorn couchant, argent between twelve cross crosslets, -or._--_Doon._ - -_Argent a chevron engrailed gules between three unicorns' heads, erased -azure._--_Horne._ - -Religious emblems were in great favour with the early printers; some of -them for this reason adopted the unicorn as their sign. Thus John Harrison -lived at the Unicorn and Bible in Paternoster Row, 1603. - -Again, _the reputed power of the horn_ caused the animal to be taken as a -supporter for the Apothecaries' arms, and as a constant signboard by -chemists. - -The great value set upon unicorn's horn caused the Goldsmiths of London to -adopt this animal as their sign. - - -[Illustration: Pegasus or Pegasos.] - -The Pegasus - - "_The cheval volant--the pegasus-- - He bounds from the earth; he treads the air._" - -A poetic creation of the ancients, a winged horse captured by Bellerophon, -the great hero of Corinthian legend. In this he was assisted by the -goddess Minerva, who also taught him how to tame and use it. At Corinth -there was a temple erected to [Greek: Athênachalinitis] (Minerva the -Bridler), in allusion to that part of the myth which describes Minerva as -instructing Bellerophon in the mode of placing the bridle on the winged -steed. The legend states that the hero caught this wonderful animal as it -descended at the Acro-Corinthus to drink of the spring of Pirene. Mounted -on his winged steed Pegasus, Bellerophon engaged the dire Chimera, and -succeeded in destroying the monster by rising in the air and shooting it -with arrows. - -[Illustration: Coins of Corinth and Syracuse.] - -Pegasus is the steed of the Muses, and classic story ascribes to it the -origin of the Castalian fountain "Hippocrene," situated on Mount Helicon, -part of Parnassus, a mountain range in Greece. When the Muses contended -with the daughters of Pieros, "Helicon rose heavenward with delight"; but -Pegasus gave it a kick, stopped its rise, and there gushed out of the -mountain "the soul-inspiring waters of Hippocrene." - -The Standard of Corinth was a winged horse, in consequence of the -tradition connecting the fountain called Pirene, near the city, with -Pegasus, the fiery winged steed of Apollo and the Muses. The same device -was the leading type upon the ancient coins of the city of Corinth. The -Corinthians founded the colony of Syracuse, in Sicily, which city likewise -adopted the winged horse and the head of Athena upon its coinage. - -[Illustration: Pegasus salient.] - -Pindar, who grandly relates the feat of the hero Bellerophon, says that he -incurred the enmity of the gods by attempting to fly to heaven on his -winged horse. Zeus sent a gadfly to sting the horse, who thereupon cast -its rider and flew of his own accord to the stables of Zeus, whose -thunder-chariot he has ever since drawn. - -The pegasus is of frequent occurrence in heraldry. In its classic -allusions it denotes fame, eloquence, poetic study, contemplation. - -Some modern heraldic writers, however, discarding its classic references, -regard it merely in the matter-of-fact light as an emblem of swiftness. -But it is impossible to disassociate the old and well-known ideas -respecting the horse of Apollo and the Muses. In fancy the poet mounts his -winged steed to bear his soaring spirit in its wayward flight through the -realms of fancy. - -As a type of the perfect horseman, Shakespeare pictures Prince Henry as -able to-- - - "Turn and wind a fiery pegasus - And witch the world with noble horsemanship." - _1 King Henry IV._, Act 4, sc. 1. - -Elsewhere he takes up the later interpretation of the myth, which connects -it with Perseus: - - "The strong-ribbed bark through liquid mountains cut - Like Perseus' horse." - _Troilus and Cressida_, Act i. sc. 3. - -Cardinal Bembo, poet and historian, secretary to Pope Leo X., used as his -impress a pegasus and a hand issuing from a cloud holding a wreath of -laurel and palm, with the motto, "Si te fata vocant" ("If the fates call -thee"). - -_Azure, a pegasus salient, the wings expanded argent_, is borne as the -arms of the Society of the Inner Temple, London. - -A very early seal of the Knights Templars exhibits two knights riding upon -one horse. - -A recent writer remarks upon this strange device that "it is exceedingly -probable that some rude and partially defaced representation of this -device was mistaken by the lawyers of the reign of Queen Elizabeth for a -pegasus. The fact that the Middle Temple adopted the device which appears -upon the other seal of the ancient Knights strongly confirms this view." - -One of the supporters of the arms of Oliver Cromwell is a horse having the -wings and tail of a dragon. - - -Sagittary, Centaur, Sagittarius, Centaurus, Hippocentaur - - "_... the dreadful sagittary - Appals our numbers._" - "Troilus and Cressida," Act v. sc. 5. - - - "_Feasts that Thessalian centaurs never knew._" - THOMSON, "Autumn." - -Under these names is blazoned a fabled monster of classic origin, half -man, half horse, holding an arrow upon a bended bow. It is one of the -twelve signs of the Zodiac, commonly called Sagittarius, otherwise -Arcitenens, and marked by the hieroglyph [Symbol]. In its signification -in arms it may properly be applied to those who are eminent in the field. - -The arms traditionally assigned to King Stephen are thus described by -Nicholas Upton: "_Scutum rubeum, in quo habuit trium leonum peditantium -corpora, usque ad collum cum corporibus humanis superius, ad modum signi -Sagittarii, de auro_." In this, as in some other early examples, it is -represented as half man, half lion. - -[Illustration: The Sagittary--Centaur.] - -The arms of Stephen are sometimes represented with but one sagittary, and -is said to have been assumed by him in consequence of his having commenced -his reign under the sign of Sagittarius. Others say because he gained a -battle by the aid of his archers on entering the kingdom. Others, again, -say that the City of Blois used the ensign of a sagittary as an emblem of -the chase; and Stephen, son of the Compte de Blois, assumed that ensign in -his contest with the Empress Maude or Matilda. There is no contemporary -authority, however, it must be confessed, for any of these derivations. A -sagittary is seen upon the seal of William de Mandeville (_temp._ Henry -III.), but not as an heraldic bearing. - -The crest of Lambart, Earl of Cavan, is: _On a mount vert, a centaur -proper, drawing his bow gules, arrow or_. It also appears as the crest of -Askelom, Bendlowes, Cromie, Cruell, Lambert, Petty, Petty-Fitzmaurice. - -The term _Centaur_ is most probably derived from the words [Greek: kenteô] -(to hunt, or to pursue) and [Greek: tauros] (a bull), the Thracians and -Thessalians having been celebrated from the earliest times for their skill -and daring in hunting wild bulls, which they pursued mounted on the noble -horses of those districts, which were a celebrated breed even in the later -times of the Roman Empire. A centaur carrying a female appears on a coin -of Lete, which, according to Pliny and Ptolemy, was situated on the -confines of Macedonia, and the fables of the centaurs, &c., in that and -neighbouring districts abounding in a noble breed of horses, arose no -doubt from the feats performed by those who first subjugated the horse to -the will of man, and who mounted on one of these beautiful animals and -guiding it at will, to approach or retreat with surprising rapidity, gave -rise in the minds of the vulgar to the idea that the man and the horse -were one being. - -[Illustration: Ipotane, from Mandeville's travels.] - -Sir John de Mandeville in his travels (printed by Wynken de Worde, 1499), -tells us that in Bacharie "ben many Ipotanes that dwellen sometime in the -water and sometime on the land; and thei ben half men and half hors and -thei eten men when thei may take him." - -We have in modern history a singular and interesting example of a similar -superstition. When the natives of South America--where the horse was -unknown--first saw their invaders, the Spaniards, mounted on these animals -and in complete armour, they imagined that the cavalier and steed formed -but one being of supernatural powers and endowments. - -Such groups as those exhibited on the rude money of Lete and other places -were doubtless the first steps toward the treatment of similar subjects by -Phidias, the celebrated Greek sculptor, whose works illustrating the -battle of the Lapithæ and the Centaurs adorned the metopes of the -Parthenon at Athens, to which they also bear a striking affinity in the -simplicity of their conception. - -A curious example of the compounded human and animal forms similar to the -sagittary is represented upon a necklace found in the Isle of Rhodes, and -now in the Musée Cluny, Paris. It is formed of a series of thin gold -plates whereon is represented in relief the complete human figure -conjoined to the hinder part of a stag (or horse). This is alternated with -another compound figure, human and bird, holding up two animals by the -tails, both subjects, each in their own way, suggestive of the fleet and -dexterous hunter. - -[Illustration: Compound figures, gold necklace, Musée Cluny, Paris.] - -In Homer's account the centaurs are obviously no monsters, but an old -Thessalian mountain tribe, of great strength and savage ferocity. They are -merely said to have inhabited the mountain districts of Thessaly, and to -have been driven thence by the Lapithæ into the higher mountains of -Pindus. Their contest with the Lapithæ is generally conceived as a symbol -of the struggle of Greek civilisation with the still existing barbarism of -the Early Pelasgian period. This may be the reason why Greek art in its -prime directed itself so especially to this subject. - -[Illustration: Centaur, Greek sculpture.] - -The origin of this contest is referred to the marriage feast of Pirithous -and Hippodamia, to which the principal centaurs were invited. The centaur -Eurytion, heated with wine, attempted to carry off the bride. This gave -rise to a struggle for supremacy which, after dreadful losses on both -sides, ended in the complete defeat of the centaurs, who were driven out -of the country. The custom of depicting the centaurs as half man, half -horse arose in later times, and became a favourite subject of the Greek -poets and artists. - -Amongst the centaurs, Chiron, who was famous alike for his wisdom and his -knowledge of medicine, deserves mention as the preceptor of many of the -heroes of antiquity. Homer, who knew nothing of the equine shape of the -centaurs, represents him as the most upright of the centaurs, makes him -the friend of Achilles, whom he instructed in music, medicine and hunting. -He was also the friend of Heracles, who, by an unlucky accident, wounded -him with a poisoned arrow. The wound being incurable, he voluntarily chose -to die in the place of Prometheus. Jupiter placed him among the stars, -where he is called Sagittarius. - -_Bucentaur_, from Greek [Greek: Bous] (bous) an ox, and [Greek: kentauros] -(kentauros) a centaur, was, in classic mythology, a monster of double -shape, half man, half ox. The state barge of the Doge of Venice was so -termed. - -The _Minotaur_ slain by Theseus had the body of a man and the head of a -bull. - - -Griffin or Gryphon - -The griffin, gryfin, or gryphon, as it is variously termed by old writers, -is best known as one of the chimerical monsters of heraldry--the mediæval -representative of the ancient symbolic creature of Assyria and the East. -It may be classed with the dragon, wyvern, phoenix, sphynx, "gorgons and -hydras and chimeras dire," and other imaginary beings, that world of -unreality grown up in the mind of man from the earliest times, the -influence of whose terrors have exercised no little power in the progress -of humanity. - -[Illustration: A Griffin statant, wings endorsed.] - -This favourite bearing was very early adopted in English armory. So early -indeed as 1167 A.D. we find it on a seal of Richard de Redvers, Earl of -Exeter, attached to a charter at Newport, Isle of Wight. It also appears -on a seal of Simon de Montacute (_temp._ Henry III. and Edward I.). It is -one of the principal bearings in heraldry, either charged upon the shield, -as the arms, or as the crest placed upon the helm, also as supporters to -the shield of arms of many noble and eminent families in this country and -the continent. - -The _griffin_, "sacred to the sun," combines the bodily attributes of the -"cloud-cleaving eagle" and the "king of beasts," that is, it has the head, -neck, wings, and talons of an eagle, conjoined to the hinder parts of a -lion. It is usually represented with projecting ears, indicating an acute -sense of hearing, in addition to its other supposed extraordinary -qualities. - -[Illustration: A Griffin passant, wings raised. (Early English.)] - -[Illustration: A Griffin segreant, wings displayed. (German.)] - -The griffin is rarely borne in other than two positions, viz., _passant_ -and _segreant_. The latter term is peculiar to the griffin, and seems to -refer to the expanded wings. When called _segreant_ only, it means the -same as rampant applied to a lion. As a crest, it is not unfrequently -borne _sejant_, _i.e._, sitting. Parts of the creature, as a -_demi-griffin_, a _griffin's head_, &c., are also of common use. - -The arms of _Trafford_, Lancashire, are: _Argent a griffin segreant -gules_. Motto: _Gripe griffin hold fast_. The supporters of the arms of -Viscount Halifax are two griffins. - -[Illustration: Sleeping Griffin, by John Tenniel, from "Alice in -Wonderland." (By permission of Macmillan & Co., Limited, proprietors of -the copyright.)] - -Old heralds gravely relate of this creature that when he attains his full -growth he will never be taken, hence he is a fit emblem of a valiant hero, -who, rather than yield himself to his enemy, exposes himself to the worst -of dangers. As a general symbol in heraldry the griffin expresses strength -and vigilance. - -Sir Thomas Browne says it is emblematical of watchfulness, courage, -perseverance and rapidity of execution. - -The description of the griffin by the old traveller, Sir John Mandeville, -is a wonderful record of credulity and belief in the marvellous; he states -it to be a native of "Bacharie, where ben many griffones, more plentee -than in any other countree. Sum men seyn that they have the body upwards -of an egle and benethe as a lyonn, and truly they seyne soethe that thei -ben of that schapp. But one griffoun hath the body more great and stronger -than one hundred egles, such as we have amonges us. For one griffoun there -will be flynge to his nest a great hors, or two oxen yoked togidre, as -thei gon to the plowghe. For he hath his talouns so longe and so grete and -large upon his feet as though thei were hornes of grete oxen, or of bugles -(bulls), or of kygn, so that men maken cuppes of hem to drynke of, and of -hire (their) ribbes and of the pennes of hire wenges men maken bowes fulle -stronge to schote with arrews and quarell." Gerard Leigh, an old heraldic -writer, discoursing of the griffin, gives his reason for belief, he says, -"I thinke they are of a great hugeness, for I have _a clawe_ of one of -their pawes, whiche should shewe them to be as bigge as two lyons." - -[Illustration: Griffin segreant, German version.] - -In the cathedral of Brunswick there is still preserved the horn of some -kind of antelope, brought from the Holy Land as "a griffin's claw," by -Henry the Lion. Three talons of the griffin were preserved at Bayeux, and -fastened on high festival days to the altar, and there seems to be some -curious legend concerning a cup formed of a gryphon's claw dedicated to -St. Cuthbert A gryphon's egg was also considered a valuable curiosity, -being used as a goblet in old times when natural history was greatly -misunderstood and grossly exaggerated. As an example of the absurd -misstatements of the earlier writers and naturalists who so delighted our -wonder-loving forefathers, a writer in the "Museum of Animated Nature" -refers to a large species of vulture, the Condor (_Sarcoramphus Gryphus_), -which was painted as rivalling the Rukh of Oriental fable. He adds that -"such descriptions have given place to the moderate details of -sober-minded observers, and we no longer look upon this creature as the -winged guardian of mountain mines within whose depths were entombed 'gems -and barbaric gold,' we no longer imagine it the giant of the winged race, -dimming the light of the sun by its widespread pinions, and by the mighty -rushing sound as it sweeps down from some lofty pinnacle or the upper -regions of the sky deafening and stupefying the terror-stricken -beholders." - -As the stern avenger of human crimes, the dreaded Nemesis appears in Roman -Art, as a young woman with wings, in a chariot drawn by griffins, with a -whip or sword in her hand.[12] - -Smith's "Classical Dictionary" gives the following: "Gryps or gryphus, a -fabulous monster dwelling in the Rhiphæan mountains between the -Hyperboreans and the one-eyed Arimaspians, and guarding the treasures of -the north. The Arimaspians mounted on horseback attempted to steal the -gold, and hence arose the hostility between the horse and the griffin. The -body of the griffin was that of a lion, while the head, fore-feet and -wings were those of an eagle. It is probable that the origin of the belief -in griffins must be looked for in the East, where it seems they have been -very ancient. They are also mentioned among the fabulous beasts which -guarded the gold of India." - -The Arimaspians were a one-eyed people of Scythia who adorned their hair -with gold. They were constantly at war with the Gryphons who guarded the -gold mines. - - "As when a gryphon, through the wilderness ... - Pursues the Arimaspian, who by stealth - Had from his wakeful custody purloined - The guarded gold." - _Paradise Lost_, ii. - -[Illustration: Gold Flying Griffin, found by Dr. Schliemann at Mycenæ.] - -That the form of the griffin must have been a well understood symbol is -evident from the frequency with which it is met in ancient art. Dr. -Schliemann, in his explorations of the ancient city of Mycenæ, among other -treasures found a gold-winged griffin, about two inches in length, in one -of the sepulchres of the kings (Figure No. 272 in his book), which in -every particular as to shape is identical with the heraldic griffin of -to-day; the same may be said of a coin of Abdera, a city in Thrace, which -bears the device of a griffin. Abdera was a place of importance when -Xerxes invaded Greece B.C. 554. - -Herodotus relates that the Teians, dreading the encroachments of the -Persians in Ionia, abandoned their city and founded Abdera in Thrace. The -coinage of the latter place bears the same type (the griffin) as the -parent city, but with a slight difference in treatment. This consists in -the form of the wings of the griffin, which are pointed on the coins of -Abdera, while in those of Teos they are rounded. The griffin was sacred to -Apollo, to whom an especial worship was devoted in most of the Ionian -cities, but more particularly in Teos.[13] - -[Illustration: Colossal Griffins, Burmah.] - -In the _Illustrated London News_ of October 21, 1876, is an engraving of -two gigantic wingless griffons, and also a description by the traveller -who visited that strange place. "At Thyetmo, 250 miles up the river -Irrawaddy from Rangoon in British Burmah, are two colossal 'chin thay' or -figures of sacred griffins, standing at the entrance to one of the great -pagodas dedicated to the worship of Gautama Buddha; the outer terraces and -steps of these temples are frequently adorned with such mythical monsters. -Near the ancient ruined city of Paghan, which flourished a thousand years -ago, the bank of the river for a length of eight miles is lined with the -remains of this quaint architecture and sculpture, covering a space of two -miles in breadth from the water's edge. It is not known by what nation of -old times they were constructed, for Burmese history is apocryphal or at -least very obscure." - -The symbolic use of images of living creatures was in the instance of the -cherubim permitted under the Mosaic dispensation, and on this will be -found to turn the distinction between the symbolic use and its forbidden -and dangerous use as a supposed means of assisting devotion. Mr. Henry -Hayman in "Smith's Dictionary," _s.v._, "cherub," as quoted by Tyrwhit, -says: "On the whole it seems likely that the word 'cherub' meant not only -the composite creature-form of which the man, lion, ox, and eagle were the -elements, but further, some peculiar and mystical form which Ezekiel, -being a priest, would know and recognise as 'the face of a cherub,' -[Greek: kat' exochên], but which was kept secret from all others.... Such -were probably those on the ark, which when moved was always covered, -though those on the hangings and panels might be of the popular device. -The griffin of northern fable, watching the gold in the wilderness, has -been compared with the cherub both as regards his composite form and his -functions as guardian of a treasure. He goes on to point out the possible -affinity between the Greek root [Greek: gryp] ([Greek: gryps], gryps, -griffin), and the Hebrew and Arabic derivation of the word 'cherub,' which -gives it the original meaning of 'carved image,' and says that though the -exact form is uncertain, it must have borne a general resemblance to the -composite religious figures found upon the monuments of Egypt, Assyria, -Babylonia and Persia." - -Mr. Ruskin,[14] describing the emblematical griffins on the front of the -Duomo of Verona, points out that the Lombard carver was enabled to form so -intense a conception, mainly by the fact that his griffin is a great and -profoundly felt symbolism. Two wheels are under its eagle's wings, which -connect it with the living creatures of the vision of Ezekiel, "where they -went the wheels went by them, and whithersoever the spirit was to go, they -went, and the wheels were lifted up over against them, for the spirit of -the living creatures was in the wheels." The winged shape thus became at -once one of the acknowledged symbols of the divine nature. Elsewhere, we -think in the "Stones of Venice," the connection is pointed out between the -Assyrian and Gothic personations. - -Gian-Paolo Baglione (+ 1520), who usurped the sovereignty of Perugia, -bore a _silver griffin_ on a red field with the motto, "_Unguibus et -rostro atque alis armatus in hostem_" ("Armed against the enemy with -talons and beak and wings"), which means of defence proved of no avail -when he was seized by Pope Leo X., who, pretending to consult Baglione on -affairs of importance, sent him a safe conduct to Rome, but when he -arrived, he caused him to be tortured and beheaded, and afterwards took -possession of his states. This gave occasion to his enemies to say, "This -ugly bird has not used his wings as at other times, to flee from the snare -which has been laid for him."[15] - -In Dante's description of the triumph of the Church, in the "Purgatorio," -we have the mediæval conception of this wondrous creature, the gryphon. -"The mystic shape that joins two natures in one form"--as he is called by -the noble Italian poet--draws the car to which he is harnessed, and - - "He above - Stretched either wing uplifted 'tween the midst - - * * * * * - - And out of sight they rode. The members, far - As he was bird, were golden; white the rest, - With vermeil interveined." - -And when the eyes of Beatrice - - "stood - Still, fix'd toward the gryphon, motionless. - As the sun strikes a mirror, even thus - Within those orbs the twyfold being shone; - For ever varying, in one figure now - Reflected, now in other. Reader! muse - How wondrous in my sight it seem'd, to mark - A thing, albeit steadfast in itself, - Yet in its imaged semblance mutable." - Cary's Dante, _Purgatory_, c. xxix. - -"Some commentators of Dante," says M. Dideron,[16] "have supposed the -griffin to be the emblem of Christ, who, in fact, is one single person -with two natures; of Christ in whom God and man are combined. But in -this," says M. Dideron, "they are mistaken. There is, in the first place, -a manifest impropriety in describing the car as drawn by God as a beast of -burden." "Commentators," it is added, "have been misled by the two-fold -nature of the gryphon, but that difficulty is removed by recollecting that -the Pope resembles the eagle in his spiritual character, and in his -temporal authority the lion. The Pope is one person, but of two natures -and two distinct forms. Thus considered the allegory of Dante becomes -clear and intelligible." - -The gryphon is very frequently seen sculptured in Gothic churches, more -especially in those of the Lombard and early Norman style, and is -evidently intended to refer to the union of the divine and human natures. - -A curious example of this compound form of bird and beast occurs on an -Italian bronze medal of the fifteenth century, about 3-1/2 in. in diameter -(No. 57.51 in the fine collection in South Kensington Museum). On one side -it bears a portrait of Niccolo Picininus of Perugia, a celebrated -mercenary soldier--and on the reverse a griffin, the eagle's head, wings, -and feet united to the Roman she-wolf, with Romulus and Remus suckling. -Dante's emblem of the Popedom is here apparently adapted to the peculiarly -Roman national symbol--the nursing mother of nations and the Catholic -religion. - -[Illustration: Carved panel, a Griffin segreant.] - - -The Male Griffin - -The griffin is sometimes borne sans wings and termed a _male griffin_, as -in the supporters to the arms of the Marquis of Ormond, but spikes or -rays proceed from various parts of its body; sometimes it has two long -straight horns. - - -Other Varieties of the Griffin - -Two other varieties of the griffin family, the "_Hippogriff_" and the -"_Simoorgh_" appear in the highly wrought imaginings of the poets, and may -here be very briefly alluded to. They do not, however, appear in British -Heraldry. - -[Illustration: Male Griffin.] - -HIPPOGRYPH, or HIPPOGRIF, the winged horse whose father was a griffin and -mother a filly (Greek, _hippos_, a horse, and _gryps_, a griffin)--a -symbol of love.[17] - -SIMOORGH, a sort of griffin or hippogryph, which took some of its breast -feathers for Tahmura's helmet. This creature forms a very striking figure -in the epic poems of Saadi and Ferdusi, the Persian poets. - -Milton also makes allusion to this mythical creature: - - "So saying he caught him up, and without wing - Of hippogrif, bore through the air sublime - Over the wilderness and o'er the plain." - _Paradise Regained_, iv. - - -[Illustration: Opinicus statant.] - -The Opinicus, or Epimacus - -This creature appears to be a variety of the griffin family. Authorities -blazon it as having its body and four legs like those of a lion; the head -and neck and wings like an eagle, and the short tail of a camel, sometimes -borne sans wings. - -Such a monster with wings endorsed or, was the crest of the _Barber -Surgeons of London_. - -_Two opinici vert, purfled or, beaked sable, wings gules_, support the -insignia of the _Plasterers' Company_. - - -[Illustration: Egyptian Sphynx.] - -The Sphynx - - "_That monster whom the Theban knight - - * * * * * - - Made kill herself for very heart's despite - That he had read her riddle, which no wight - Could ever loose, but suffered deadly doole._" - SPENSER'S "Faerie Queen," Bk. v. cxi. - -According to some heraldic writers, the sphynx should possess the head and -bust of a woman, the paws of a lion, the body of a dog, and the tail of a -dragon. In Lord Chancellor Bacon's book on "The Wisdom of the Ancients," -there is an exposition of the meaning of the sphynx, which, says Dr. -Woodward, is as curious as the creature itself. - -It frequently figures in heraldry as a convenient hieroglyph to -commemorate some service in Egypt. It is the crest of British families of -_Asgill_, Baronets _Lambert_, _Goatley_, &c., and appears in the arms of -_Sir John Moore_, the hero of Corunna. - -[Illustration: Theban, or Greek Sphynx.] - -The strange combination of human and animal features in the figure known -as the sphynx is of frequent occurrence in both Greek and Egyptian -mythology and art. The Egyptian sphynx is supposed to represent the -combination of physical power, or the kings, as incarnations of such -attributes. They are also associated with the special forms and attributes -of the great Egyptian deities Osiris and Ammon, Neph or Jupiter, and Phreh -or Helios. That is, we have the _man-sphynx_, the _ram-sphynx_, and the -_hawk-sphynx_, or the lion's body with the head of the man, the ram, or -the hawk, according to the deity worshipped. The sphynx itself was -probably a religious symbol of the Egyptians, which was transferred to -Greece, and subsequently underwent a change of meaning. Among the -Egyptians the sphynx seems to have been a symbol of Royal dignity -betokening a combination of wisdom and strength. By the Greeks, however, -it appears to have been regarded as the symbol of the burning -pestilence-breeding heat of the summer sun. The form of the Theban sphynx -was that of a lion, generally in a recumbent position, with the breast and -upper part of a beautiful woman, and was in imitation of the original male -sphynxes of Egypt. Greek Art was only acquainted with the sphynx in its -female form, and also departed from the Egyptian type by adding wings to -the lion's body. - -"There is a great difference," says Sir Gardiner Wilkinson in his account -of the sphynx,[18] "between the Greek and Egyptian sphynxes. The latter is -human-headed, ram-headed, or hawk-headed, and is always male; while the -Greek is female, with the head of a woman, and always has wings, which the -Egyptian never has." - -In the Greek story the monster was sent by Hera (Juno) to devastate the -land of Thebes. Seated on a rock close to the town, she put to every one -that passed by the riddle, "What walks on four legs in the morning, on two -legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening?" Whoever was unable to -solve the riddle was cast by the sphynx from the rock into a deep abyss. -Oedipus succeeded in answering it, and thus delivered the country from the -monster, who cast herself into the abyss. - -The sphynx occurs upon a coin of Chios (B.C. 478-412). It is represented -seated before an amphore, above which is a bunch of grapes. Chios was -famed for its wine, and the sphynx was a symbol of Dionysius.[19] - -The Emperor Augustus, on his seal, used the device of the sphynx--"maid's -face, bird's wings, and lion's paws"--"implying," says Mrs. Bury Palliser -("Historical Devices," &c.), "that the secret intentions of a prince -should not be divulged. When Augustus was in Asia, he authorised Agrippa -and Mecænas, who administered affairs during his absence, to open and read -the letters he addressed to the Senate before any one else; and for this -purpose he gave them a seal upon which was engraved a sphynx, the emblem -of secrecy. The device gave occasion to ridicule, and to the saying that -it was not surprising if the sphynx proposed riddles; upon which Augustus -discontinued it, and adopted one with Alexander the Great, to show that -his ideas of dominion were not inferior to Alexander's. Subsequently -Augustus used his own effigy, which practice was continued by his -successors." - -Maurice ("Oriental Trinities," p. 315) says the sphynx was the Egyptian -symbol of profound theological mystery, and was therefore placed on either -side of the _dromoi_, or paths leading to the temples of the gods. "They -are black," he says, "in allusion to the obscure nature of the deity and -his attributes. The white head-dress may allude to the linen tiaras -wrapped round the heads of the priests." The origin of the myth was not -definitely known even to the ancients. Some early writers say it was -symbolical of the overflowing of the Nile, which happened when the sun was -in the signs of Leo and Virgo; and that it had its name from this -circumstance. "For," they say, "the word sphynx in the Chaldæan language -signifies overflowing." The fact of the Egyptian sphynx being always male -does not, however, accord with this derivation. - -A statue of the Theban sphynx found in Colchester, and now in the museum -of that town, gives the Greek conception of that creature. It is carved in -oolite, twenty-five inches high, evidently a relic of the Roman occupation -of Britain. It represents the monster seated over the mangled remains of -one of its victims. Llewellin Jewett, in the _Art Journal_ 1871, p. 113, -describes it as "combining the five-fold attributes of a virgin, a lion, a -bird, a dog, and a serpent. The head, breast and arms are those of a -beautiful virgin; the body and teats of a female dog; hinder parts, hind -legs and fore paws are those of a lioness; the tail doubled in short folds -is serpent, and the wings those of a bird." - -The same writer says: "The sphynx appears on the reverses of some coins of -Cunobeline (Cymbeline, of Shakespeare), struck in the city of Camalodunum -(Colchester)." - -The gigantic statue of the sphynx half buried in the sand near the Great -Pyramids, at Gizeh, is hewn and sculptured out of a spur of solid rock, to -which masonry was added in places to complete the form. The actual age of -the great sphynx is not known, but it is supposed to have been commenced -under Cheops and finished by order of King Chefren, under whose reign also -was probably built the second great pyramid. The able author of "Eothen" -thus describes the appearance of the sphynx of Egypt, and the sentiments -to which its contemplation gave rise in his mind: "And near the Pyramids, -more numerous and more awful than all else in the land of Egypt, there -rests the lonely sphynx. Comely the creature is, but the comeliness is not -of this world. The once worshipped beast is a deformity and a monster to -this generation, and yet you can see that these lips, so thick and heavy, -were fashioned according to some ancient mould of beauty--some mould of -beauty now forgotten--forgotten because that Greece drew forth Cytheræa -from the flashing bosom of the Ægean, and in her image created new forms -of beauty, and made it a law among men that the short and proudly wreathed -lips should stand for the sign and main condition of loveliness through -all generations to come! Yet there still lives on the race of those who -were beautiful in the fashion of the elder world; and Christian girls of -Coptic blood will look on you with sad, curious gaze, and kiss your -charitable hand with the big pouting lips of the very sphynx. Laugh and -mock if you will at the worship of stone idols; but mark ye this, ye -breakers of images, that in one regard the stone idol bears awful -semblance of deity--unchangefulness in the midst of change--the same -seeming will and intent for ever inexorable! Upon ancient dynasties of -Ethiopian and Egyptian kings--upon Greek and Roman, upon Arab and Ottoman -conquerors--upon Napoleon dreaming of an Eastern empire--upon battle and -pestilence--upon the ceaseless misery of the Egyptian race--upon keen-eyed -travellers--Herodotus yesterday and Warburton to-day--upon all, and more, -this unworldly sphynx has watched, and watched like a Providence, with the -same earnest eyes and the same sad, tranquil mien. And we shall die, and -Islam shall wither away; and the Englishman, straining far over to hold -his loved India, will plant a firm foot on the banks of the Nile, and sit -on the seats of the faithful; and still that sleepless rock will lie -watching and earnest the work of the new busy race with those same sad -eyes and the same tranquil mien everlasting. You dare not mock at the -sphynx." The conclusion of this rhapsody at the present time sounds almost -like a half-fulfilled prophecy. - -The sphynx is the special device of several British regiments which landed -in Egypt, in the Bay of Aboukir, in the face of the French Army; and -borne as a memento of the battle of Alexandria, when General Sir Ralph -Abercrombie fell in the moment of victory. It also appears upon the war -medals of the English occupation of Egypt, resulting in the battle of -Tel-el-Kebir, 1882, and subsequent victories. In heraldry the sphynx is -usually couchant; it is, however, borne in other positions, sometimes -winged, and when so borne the wings are always endorsed, _i.e._, back to -back. - -_A sphynx passant, wings endorsed argent crined or_, is the crest of -Asgill (Bart. 1701). - -[Illustration: A Sphynx passant guardant, wings endorsed.] - - -[Illustration: The Phoenix.] - -The Phoenix Bird of the Sun - - "_Rara avis in terris._" - -An imaginary bird, described by ancient writers as in form like an eagle, -but more beautiful in its plumage. Among the ancient classical writers it -was an emblem of those existing in paradise, enjoying eternal youth and -never-ending pleasure. Tacitus describes the phoenix as a singular bird, -consecrated to the sun, and distinguished by its rich appearance and -variegated colours. Herodotus naïvely says: "I never saw one, indeed, but -in a picture, but if he is like his picture his plumage is partly golden -and partly red." Philippe de Thaun says: "The phoenix lives five hundred -years and a little more, when it will become young again and leave its old -age." It was said to be sometimes seen in Egypt, and only one was believed -to exist at a time. When it is advanced in age and its time of change is -at hand, it hides itself away somewhere in Arabia, and makes itself a nest -of the rarest spices, which, by the heat of the sun or other secret -agency, and the fanning of the sacred bird's own wings, soon rises into -flames and consumes it. Out of its ashes rises another with new life and -vigour to pursue the same never-ending life and re-birth. - -_Fum_ or _Fung_ (the phoenix) is one of the four symbolical animals -supposed to preside over the destinies of the Chinese Empire; the sacred -_Ho-ho_ or phoenix also figures with the dragon largely in Japanese -mythology, and bears a striking analogy to the bird of classic fame. It is -fabled to have a miraculous existence, and is sent on earth for the -performance of extraordinary works in the manifestation of the Divinity -and in the development of humanity and nature. It appears at different -stages of the world's progress and in successive ages; after the -accomplishment of which it reascends to heaven to come down again at the -commencement of a new era. - -From the pagans the Early Christians adopted the symbol, and with them -its significance had reference to the resurrection and immortality. Like -the pelican "in her piety," it was peculiarly an emblem of our Saviour in -His resurrection. As the phoenix when old and wearied seeks the rays of -the sun to consume its body, again to be revived in life and vigour, so -the Christian, worn and exhausted by worldly labour and suffering, turns -to the Son of Righteousness for regeneration and newness of life. -Tertullian makes the phoenix an image of the resurrection. - -In corroboration of this it must be borne in mind that Jesus Christ, who -died A.D. 34, is termed _the phoenix_ by monastic writers. - -The Phoenix period or cycle is said to consist of 300 years. "The bird of -wonder" is said to have appeared in Egypt five times: - - 1. In the reign of Sesostris, B.C. 866. - - 2. In the reign of Amasis, B.C. 566. - - 3. In the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, B.C. 266. - - 4. In the reign of Tiberius, 34 A.D. - - 5. In the reign of Constantine, 334 A.D. - -Tacitus in the "_Annales_," vi. 28, mentions the first three of these -appearances. - -The _Phoenix-tree_ is the palm. In Greek [Greek: phoinix] (_phoinix_) -means both phoenix and palm-tree. It is thus alluded to in Shakespeare: - - "Now will I believe ... that in Arabia - There is one tree, the phoenix throne--one phoenix - At this hour reigneth there." - _The Tempest_, Act iii. sc. 3. - -Pliny[20] gives minute particulars concerning the natural history of this -_rara avis in terris_. But the ancient fable is most fully given by Ovid -and translated by Dryden. Ariosto, also, and many early writers refer to -the wonderful creature with fullest faith in its reality. It is no wonder -then, that it became a favourite emblem in an age when it was the fashion -among persons of distinction to have an impress or device with its -accompanying legend or motto. Many persons of historical importance -employed the phoenix to express in metaphor the idea they wished to convey -regarding themselves. Thus we find the phoenix in flames painted for the -device of Jeanne d'Arc, in the Gallery of the Palais Royal, with the -motto: "Invito funere vivat" ("Her death itself will make her live"). - -Vittoria Colonna (+ 1547) the beautiful and accomplished wife of the -Marquis of Pescara, used the device of a phoenix on her medal. - -Mary Queen of Scots used the impress of her mother, Mary of Lorraine, a -phoenix in flames, and the motto: "En ma fin est mon commencement." A -phoenix in flames upon a castle was the badge of Queen Jane Seymour, the -crest of the Seymours being a phoenix in flames issuing from a ducal -coronet. Her son, Edward VI., added the motto, "Nascatur ut alter" ("That -another may be born"), alluding to the nature of her death. She lies -buried in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, with a Latin epitaph by Bishop -Godwin, which has been thus translated by his son Morgan: - - "Here a phoenix lieth, whose death - To another phoenix gave birth. - It is to be lamented much - The world at once ne'er knew two such." - -Queen Elizabeth placed a phoenix upon her medals and tokens with her -favourite motto: "Semper eadem" ("Always the same"), and sometimes with -the motto "Sola phoenix omnis mundi" ("The sole phoenix of the whole -world"); and on the other side, "Et Angliæ gloria" ("And the glory of -England"), with her portrait full-faced. By the poets of the time, -Elizabeth was often compared to the phoenix. Sylvester, in his "Corona -Dedicatoria," says: - - "As when the Arabian (only) bird doth burne - Her aged bodie in sweet flames to death, - Out of her cinders a new bird hath birth, - On whom the beauties of the first return; - From spicy ashes of the sacred urne - Of our dead phoenix (deare Elizabeth) - A new true phoenix lively flourisheth." - -And Shakespeare, in the prophecy which he puts into the mouth of Cranmer -at the baptism of the Princess Elizabeth, her great and glorious reign is -foreshadowed, and finally: - - "... as when - The bird of wonder dies, the maiden phoenix, - Her ashes new create another heir, - As great in admiration as herself." - -Shakespeare elsewhere uses the simile to denote a phoenix among women--a -phoenix, a paragon, unique, because alone of its kind: - - "If she be furnished with a mind so rare, - She is alone the Arabian bird." - _Cymbeline_, Act i. sc. 7. - -Many other heraldic mottoes have been associated with this celebrated -device. The following are from "Historic Devices, Badges," &c., by Mrs. -Bury Palliser: - - Eleanor, Queen of Francis I. of Austria: "Non est similis illi" - ("There is none like her"). She afterwards changed her motto, either - showing how much she was neglected, or to express her determination to - remain single: "Unica semper avis" ("Always a solitary bird"). - - Bona of Savoy: "Sola facta solum deum sequor." - - Cardinal Trent: "Ut vivat" ("That it may live"). - - Linacre: "Vivat post funera virtus" ("Virtue survives death"). - - "De mi muerte ma vida" ("From my death my life"). - - "De mort à vie" ("From death to life"). - - "Et morte vitam protulit" ("And by death has prolonged his life"). - - "Ex morte, immortalitas" ("Out of death, immortality"). - - "Murio y nacio" ("I die and am born"). - - "Ne pereat" ("That it should not perish"). - - "O mors, ero mors tua" ("O death, I shall be thy death"). - - "Se necat ut vivat" ("Slays himself that he may live"). - - "Trouva sol nei tormenti il suo gioire" ("It finds alone its joy in - its suffering"). - - "Vivre pour mourir, mourir pour vivre" ("Live to die, die to live"). - - "Uror, morior, orior" ("I am burnt, I die, I arise"). - -The phoenix in heraldry is never represented in other than in one -position, _rising from flames_, that is, with expanded wings and enveloped -in flames of fire in which it is being consumed. It is usually represented -exactly as an eagle in shape, but may be of any of the heraldic tinctures. - -The phoenix is of frequent use in heraldry, and borne by many families in -the United Kingdom. A phoenix issuing from a ducal coronet is the crest of -the Duke of Somerset. - -Linacre, founder of the College of Physicians, and honorary physician to -four sovereigns has on his tomb in Westminster Abbey the device of the -phoenix, with the motto, "Vivat post funera virtus" ("Virtue survives -death"). - -From the association of this fabulous bird with alchemy, Paracelsus wrote -concerning it, and several alchemists employed it to symbolise their -vocation. It was adopted by the Apothecaries' Company as crest, and is a -frequent sign over chemists' shops. - -_A phoenix in flames proper, gorged with a mural coronet_, is the allusive -crest of the Fenwicks; the motto over the crest is the _cri de guerre_, "A -Fenwick! a Fenwick!" They were a family noted in border warfare. "The -house of Percy," says Mrs. Bury Palliser, "ever ranked the Fenwicks among -the most valiant of its retainers, and in border warfare the banner of -the gorged phoenix in the burning flame always appeared with that of the -silver crescent of the Percys." - -The bird of paradise is interesting as having for a time been accepted as -the veritable phoenix, a fact which has escaped Gibbon. That luxurious -Emperor, Heliogabalus, having eaten, as he thought, of every known -delicacy, bethought him one day of the fabled phoenix. What mattered it -that only one bird existed at a time; _that one_, the imperial gourmand -must have, and was inconsolable that he had not thought of it before. The -zeal of proconsuls was equal to the great occasion, and from all parts of -the earth came strange and wondrous birds, each affirmed with confidence -to be "the sacred solitary bird, that knows no second, knows no third." -The cankerworm of doubt remains! At last, one day there was brought to -Rome from the far islands of the Eastern seas a bird, the like of which -for the glory of its plumage had never been seen out of paradise, the -veritable phoenix, "Bird of the Sun!" The sight of the magnificent -creature carried conviction with it. Heliogabalus ate in faith, and went -to his fathers contented. - - -[Illustration: A Harpy, wings disclosed.] - -The Harpy - - "_Of monsters all, most monstrous this; no greater wrath - God sends 'mongst men; it comes from depth of pitchy hell: - And virgin's face, but womb like gulf unsatiate hath, - Her hands are griping claws, her colour pale and fell._" - VIRGIL. - - - "_Thou art like the harpy, - Which to betray, doth wear an angel's face, - Seize with an eagle's talons._" - "Pericles Prince of Tyre," Act iv. sc. 4. - -A poetical monstrosity of classical origin, described as "winged creatures -having the head and breasts of a woman, and the body and limbs of a -vulture; very fierce and loathsome, living in an atmosphere of filth and -stench, and contaminating anything which they come near. Pale and -emaciated, they were continually tormented with insatiable hunger." They -are best known from the story of the Argonauts, where they appear as the -tormentors of the blind king Phineus, whose table they robbed of its -viands, which they either devoured or spoiled. They were regarded by the -ancients as ministers of sudden death. - -[Illustration: The Harpy, Greek sculpture.] - -In Miss Millington's admirable book, "Heraldry in History, Poetry and -Romance," it is stated that unlike the generality of such mythical beings, -the harpies appear originally, as in Homer's "Odyssey," as persons instead -of personations; while later authors for the most part reduced them to -whirlwinds and whirlpools. Homer mentions but one harpy. Hesiod gives two, -later writers three. The names indicate that these monsters were -impersonations of whirlwinds and storms. The names were: _Ocypeta_ -(rapid), _Celeno_ (blackness), _Aello_ (storm). - - "I will ... do any embassage ... rather than - Hold three words' conference with this harpy." - _Much Ado About Nothing_, Act ii. sc. 1. - - - "Bravely the figure of this harpy hast thou - Performed, my Ariel; a grace it had devouring." - _Tempest_, Act iii. sc. 3. - -[Illustration: A Harpy displayed and crowned. German version.] - -_Azure, a harpy with her wings disclosed, her hair flotant, or, armed of -the same._ This coat existed in Huntingdon Church in Guillam's time. - -The arms of the City of Nuremberg are: _azure, a harpy displayed armed, -crined and crowned, or_. It occurs as the city device as early as 1243. In -German heraldry it is termed _jungfraundler_. - -[Illustration: Shield of Nüremberg.] - -A creature very similar to the harpy (a combination of several badges), -was one of the favourite devices of Richard III., viz., a falcon with the -head of a maiden holding the white rose of York. - - -The Heraldic Pelican - - "_Then sayd the pellycane - When my byrats be slayne - With my bloude I them reuyue (revive) - Scrypture doth record, - The same dyd our Lord, - And rose from deth to lyue._" - SKELTON, "Armory of Birds." - -[Illustration: A Pelican in her piety, wings displayed.] - -The character ascribed to the pelican is nearly as fabulous as that of the -phoenix. From a clumsy, gluttonous, piscivorous water-bird, it was by -the growth of legends transformed into a mystic emblem of Christ, whom -Dante terms "Nostro Pelicano." St. Hieronymus gives the story of the -pelican restoring its young ones destroyed by serpents as an illustration -of the destruction of man by the old Serpent, and his salvation by the -blood of Christ. - -The Pelican in Christian Art is an emblem of Jesus Christ, by "whose blood -we are healed." It is also a symbol of charity. - -The "Bestiarum" says that Physiologus tells us that the pelican is very -fond of its brood, but when the young ones begin to grow they rebel -against the male bird and provoke his anger, so that he kills them; the -mother returns to the nest in three days, sits on the dead birds, pours -her blood over them, and they feed on the blood. - -[Illustration: Heraldic Pelican in her piety.] - -Heralds usually represent this bird with wings endorsed and neck embowed, -wounding her breast with her beak. Very many early painters mistakenly -represented it similar to an eagle, and not as a natural pelican, which -has an enormous bag attached to the lower mandible, and extending almost -from the point of the bill to the throat. When in her nest feeding her -young with her blood, she is said to be IN HER PIETY. - -The Romans called filial love piety, hence Virgil's hero is called the -"pious Æneas," because he rescued his father from the flames of Troy. - -[Illustration: Crest, a Pelican vulning herself proper, wings endorsed.] - -The myth that pelicans feed their young with their blood arose from the -following habit, on which the whole superstructure of fable has been -erected: They have a large bag attached to their under-bill. When the -parent bird is about to feed its brood, it macerates small fish in this -bag or pouch; then, pressing the bag against its breast, transfers the -macerated food to the mouths of the young ones. - -The pelican in her piety is not an uncommon symbol upon monumental -brasses. That of William Prestwick, Dean of Hastings, in Warbleton Church, -Sussex, has it with the explanatory motto: "Sic Xtus dilexit nos." - -EXAMPLES.--_Gules, a pelican in her piety, or._--_Chauntrell._ - -_Azure, three pelicans argent, vulning themselves proper._--_Pelham_, -_Somerset_, &c. - -A pelican's head erased, or otherwise detached from the body, must always -be drawn in the same position and vulning itself. It should always be -separated as low as the upper part of the breast. - -It is said naturalists of old, observing that the pelican had a crimson -stain on the tip of its beak, reported that it was accustomed to feed its -young with the blood flowing from its breast, which it tore for the -purpose. In this belief the Early Christians adopted the pelican to figure -Christ, and set forth the redemption through His blood, which was -willingly shed for us His children. - -ALPHONSO THE WISE, King of Castile (+ 1252). A pelican in its piety. -Motto: "Pro lege et grege." - -WILLIAM OF NASSAU, founder of the Republic of the United Provinces, one of -the noblest characters of modern history. He bore on some of his -standards the pelican, and on others the motto: "Pro lege, grege et rege." - -POPE CLEMENT IX. One of his devices was the pelican in its piety. Motto: -"Aliis non sibi clemens" ("Tender-hearted to others, not himself"). - -[Illustration: The natural Pelican.] - -Other mottoes for the pelican: - - "Ut vitam habeant" ("That they may have life"). - - "Immemor ipse sui" ("Unmindful herself of herself"). - - "Mortuos vivificat" ("Makes the dead live"). - - "Nec sibi parcit" ("Nor spares herself"). - - -The Martlet - - "_The guest of summer, - The temple-haunting martlet._" - "Macbeth." - -[Illustration] - -The Martlet (_Merlette_ or _Merlot_, French; _Merula_, Latin). The -house-marten or swallow is a favourite device in heraldry all over Europe, -and has assumed a somewhat unreal character from the circumstance that it -catches its food on the wing and never appears to alight on the ground as -other birds do. It builds its nest frequently under the eaves of houses, -from whence it can take flight readily, rarely alighting, as it gains its -food while on the wing; the length of its wings and the shortness of its -legs preventing it from rising should it rest on the ground. - - "No jutty friese, - Buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this bird - Hath made his pendant bed, and procreant cradle." - _Macbeth_, Act i. sc. 6. - -It is depicted in armory with wings close, and in profile, with thighs, -but with no visible legs or feet. - -The martlet is the appropriate "difference" or mark of cadency for the -fourth son. Sylvanus Morgan says: "It modernly used to signify, as that -bird seldom lights on land, so younger brothers have little land to rest -on but the wings of their own endeavours, who, like the swallows, become -the travellers in their seasons." - -The swallow (_hirondelle_) is the punning cognisance for Arundell. The -seal of the town of Arundel is a swallow, Baron Arundell of Wardour bears -six swallows for his arms. The great Arundells have as motto, "De -Hirundine" ("Concerning the swallow"), and "Nulli præda" ("A prey to -none"). A Latin poem of the twelfth century is thus rendered: - - "Swift as the swallow, whence his arms' device - And his own arms are took, enraged he flies - Thro' gazing troops, the wonder of the field, - And strikes his lance in William's glittering shield." - -"We find it in Glovers' roll," says Planché, "borne by Roger de Merley, -clearly as 'armes parlantes,' although in a border." Roger de Merley: -"_barée d'argent et de goulz à la bordure d'azur, et merlots d'or en le -bordure_"; showing it was some difference of a family coat. - - -The Alerion - -is a heraldic bird, represented as an eaglet displayed, but without beak -or claws. Some writers confound it with the martlet, stating that the -alerion is the same bird with its wings displayed or extended. They are -first found in the arms of Lorraine, which are blazoned _or, on a bend -gules, three Alerions argent_, and are said to be assumed in commemoration -of an extraordinary shot made by Godfrey de Boulogne, "who at one draught -of his bow, shooting against David's Tower in Jerusalem, broched three -feetless birds called Alerions, which the House of Lorraine, decending -from his race, continued to this day." It is impossible, says Planché, who -broached this wonderful story, but it is perfectly evident that the -narrator was the party who drew the longbow, and not the noble Godfrey. - -[Illustration: Alerion displayed.] - -[Illustration: Heraldic Eagle.] - -The letters of the word ALERION appear to be merely an anagram formed by -the same letters LORAINE, and may account for the birds on the shield -(probably eaglets) being called alerions. - -The eagle displayed and the two-headed eagle are but extreme -conventionalised representations of the natural bird. - - -The Liver (Cormorant) - -Liver, a fabulous bird, supposed to have given its name to Liverpool and -commemorated in the arms of that city. It is traditionally described as a -bird that frequented _the pool_, near which the town was afterwards -founded. The arms granted in 1797 are thus blazoned: _Argent a cormorant, -in the beak a branch of seaweed all proper_, and for crest, _on a wreath -of the colours, a cormorant, the wings elevated, in the beak a branch of -Laver proper_. It is more than probable that the bird on the arms -suggested the name "Liver" being applied to it. The fiction naturally -arose from the desire to find a derivation for the name of the town. It -is, however, always depicted as a cormorant. On the shield the bird is -always depicted with the wings _close_, and on the crest the wings are -_elevated_. - - -[Illustration: An Heraldic Tigre passant.] - -The Heraldic Tigre or Tyger - - "_A savage tygress on her helmet lies; - The famous badge Clorinda us'd to wear._" - FAIRFAX'S "Tasso." - -The tigre or tyger of the old heralds still holds its place in English -armory, retaining the ancient name to distinguish it from the natural -tiger, to which it bears but little resemblance except the name. The early -artists probably had no better authority for the strange creature they -depicted than the wild tales of Eastern travel and their own lively -imaginations. The habit of drawing in a conventional manner may also have -assisted in producing such a monster. This type of wild and ruthless -ferocity, approaching the draconic in its power and destructiveness, was -to their minds fitly suggested by exaggerations of those attributes of -savageness and bloodthirstiness with which it was supposed to be endowed. -Shakespeare makes King Henry V., when urging on his "noblest English" and -"good yeomen" to the assault at Harfleur, declare that - - "When the blast of war blows in our ears - Then imitate the action of the tiger; - Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, - Disguise fair Nature with hard-favoured rage." - -[Illustration: Supporter, an Heraldic Tigre, collared and lined.] - -"The tyger," says Bossewell, "is a beast wonderful in strength, and most -swift in flight as it were an arrow. For the Persians call an arrow -tygris. He is distinguished with diverse speckes; and of him the floode -Tygris tooke the name. It is said Bacchus used these beastes in his -chariot, for their marveilous swiftness in conveying of the same." - -_The heraldic tigre_, the invention of the early heralds, is depicted as -having the body similar to a wolf, but more strong and massive; powerful -jaws armed with prominent canine tusks, and with a short curved horn or -spike at the end of his nose. A row of knotted tufts of hair adorn the -back of his neck as a mane; tufts also on his breast and thighs, and with -strong claws; the tail of a lion completes his equipment. He is a most -effective creature in a heraldic emblazonment, especially when "_armed_" -and "_tufted_" of tinctures differing from his body. - -The sinister supporter of the Marquess of Dufferin and Ava is _an heraldic -tigre ermine, gorged with a tressure flory counter flory or_. - -_Gules a chevron argent, between three tigres_, &c., _of the -second_.--_Butler_, Calais. - -_Vert, a tigre passant or, maned and tufted argent._--_Love_, Norfolk -(granted 1663). - -_Or, a tigre passant gules._--_Lutwych_, Lutwich, Salop. - -Baron Harlech has for dexter supporter, and also for crest, _an heraldic -tigre argent, maned and tufted sable_. - -_The tigre and mirror_ is an uncommon but very remarkable bearing. Amongst -other remarkable ideas which our ancestors entertained respecting foreign -animals, "some report that those who rob the tigre of her young use a -policy to detaine their damme from following them by casting sundry -looking-glasses in the way, whereat she useth to long to gaze, whether it -be to beholde her owne beauty or because when she seeth her shape in the -glasse she thinketh she seeth one of her young ones; and so they escape -the swiftness of her pursuit."[21] - -[Illustration: Tigre and Mirror.] - -"_Argent, a tigre passant regardant looking into a mirror lying fessways, -the handle to the dexter all proper_," is said to have been the coat of -Hadrian de Bardis (probably an Italian), Prebendary of Oxfordshire. These -arms still remain, or were lately remaining, in a window of Thame Church. -Only two other examples occur, viz.: - -"_Argent a tigre and mirror_ (as before) _gules_."--_Sibell_, Kent. - - -The Royal Tiger - -Next to the lion in power is the tiger, an animal not possessed of the -noble qualities of the lion, being fierce without provocation, and cruel -without cause. The chief difference of the tiger from every other animal -of the mottled kind is in the shape of the spots on the skin, which run in -streaks or bands in the direction of the ribs. The leopard, panther and -the ounce are all, in a certain degree, marked like this animal, except -that the lines are broken by round spots, which cover the whole surface -of the skin. The use of the _royal tiger_ in modern coats of arms is -frequent, and has reference to services in the East. - -Outram, Bart., has for supporters: _two royal Bengal tigers guardant -proper, gorged with a wreath of laurel vert, crowned with an Eastern -crown_. - -_Note._--In a heraldic description (or blazon as it is termed) it is -necessary for the sake of greater clearness, and to prevent confusion, to -name the older mythical creature the "HERALDIC TIGRE," that it may not be -confounded with its natural representative usually called the "ROYAL -TIGER." - - -Leopard, or Panther, Felis Pardus, Lybbarde - - "_Upon his shoulders a scheld of stele - With the lybbardes painted wele._" - "The Metrical Romance of Richard - Coeur de Lyon." - - - "_Make the libbard stern - Leave roaring, when in rage he for revenge did yearn._" - SPENSER, "Faerie Queen," Book i. canto vi. - -A curious character, partly real and partly fictitious has been ascribed -to the lybbard or leopard of heraldry. It was said to be the offspring of -a lioness and a panther, the Northmen or Normans, according to some -authorities, having adopted that beast of prey, noted for rashness, as -typical of themselves, so characterised by boldness and impetuosity. The -standard of Rollo, first Duke of Normandy, they say, bore a leopard. A -second lion or leopard was added to the Norman shield when the county of -Maine became annexed to the Duchy of Normandy; and the two lions or -leopards--for they are indiscriminately so termed--were thus borne, it is -said, upon the standard of William the Conqueror, and by his descendants. -A third lion was added by Henry II. on his marriage with Eleanor of -Aquitain, a lion being also the arms of that province. - -[Illustration: A Leopard passant.] - -It has been keenly contested whether the three animals in the royal shield -of England were lions or leopards. The subject has been ably treated by -Mr. J. R. Planché in the "Pursuivant of Arms," and also by Charles -Boutell, M.A., in several of his works. The case seems to stand thus: - -In ancient coats the name is believed to be given to the lion in certain -attitudes. The French heralds call a lion passant a _leopard_. Thus -Bertrand du Guesclin, the famous Breton, declared that men "devoyent bien -honorer la noble fleur-de-lis, qu'ils ne faissaient le félon liépard," and -Napoleon, strongly to excite the valour of his soldiers, exclaimed, "Let -us drive these leopards (the English) into the sea!" - -"_Lion Léoparde_" is the term used in French heraldry for the lion when -borne _passant guardant_ as in the royal shield of England. When _rampant_ -they call it "léoparde lionné," as if in this attitude the leopard assumed -the position and bold character of the lion. The attitude _passant -guardant_ thus denoted the peculiar stealthy tread and cat-like -watchfulness of the leopard and panther. - -The Emperor Frederick II. (1235) sent King Henry of England three leopards -as a present in token of his armorial bearings. - -It is a great argument in favour of the substitution of the lion for the -leopard, Mr. Boutell thinks, that the latter should have almost -disappeared from English heraldry, the face and head only retaining their -place in modern coats. - -[Illustration: A Leopard's Face, jessant-de-lis.] - -"_A leopard's head_" should show part of the neck, _couped_ or _erased_, -as the case may be; _guardant, affronté_ or front face, is always to be -understood of the leopard, and never in profile. - -"_A leopard's face_" shows no part of the neck, and in conjunction with -the term "_jessant-de-lis_" is used with respect to a leopard's face -having a _fleur-de-lis_ passing through it. - -The insignia of the See of Hereford is: _gules three leopards' heads -reversed jessant-de-lis, or_. - -In heraldry the leopard represents those brave and generous warriors who -have performed some bold enterprise with force, courage, promptitude, and -activity. Thus Shakespeare alludes to the character of the bold soldier - - "Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard, - Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, - Seeking the bubble reputation - Even in the cannon's mouth." - -In Christian Art the leopard is employed to represent that beast spoken of -in the Apocalypse, with seven heads and ten horns. Six of the heads are -nimbed, but the seventh, being "wounded to death," has lost its power, and -consequently has no nimbus. - -_Three leopards passant guardant or, pelletée_, appear on the arms of the -Marquis of Downshire. It is also the sinister supporter. - -The supporters of the town of Aberdeen are leopards. - -_Sable three leopards rampant argent spotted sable_ are given as the arms -of _Lynch_. It is, however, probable that the _lynx_ was the animal -originally blazoned as "arms parlantes" for the name. - -_Ermine on a cross patonce sable, a leopard's head, issuing out of a ducal -coronet or_, crest, a _demi-leopard erect, proper_.--_Dickens._ - -_A leopard's face, breaking with his mouth a sword_, is the crest of -_Disne_. - -The supporters of the Earl of Northesk are _two leopards reguardant_. - -The leopard or panther, says Dr. P. M. Duncan, F.R.S.,[22] was the only -one of the greater feline animals, except the lion and tiger, which seems -to have been known to the ancients. It is always represented as drawing -the chariot of Bacchus, and the forlorn Ariadne is sculptured as riding on -one of the spotted steeds of her divine lover. The panther was also -constantly used in the barbarous sports of the amphitheatre, and, in -common with the lion and tiger, has been both executioner and grave to -many a bold-hearted martyr. - -The leopard's skin was a favourite mantle in the olden times in Greece. In -the "Iliad," Homer, speaking of Menelaus, says: - - "With a pard's spotted hide his shoulders broad - He mantled o'er," - -and the leopard, or panther, is given in the "Odyssey" as one of the forms -assumed by Proteus, "the Ancient of the Deep." - -A curious ancient superstition about the leopard is embodied in its name. -It was thought not to be actually the same animal as the panther or pard, -but to be a mongrel or hybrid between the male pard and the lioness, hence -it was called the lion-panther, or _leopardus_. This error, as Archbishop -Trench tells us, "has lasted into modern times"; thus Fuller: "Leopards -and mules are properly no creatures." - -Some writers, says Boutell, describe the leopard as the issue of the pard -and lioness, and they assign the unproductiveness of such hybrids as a -reason for its frequent adoption in the arms of abbots and abbesses. -"Mulus et abbates sunt in honore pares." - -The leopard and panther are now acknowledged to be but slight varieties of -the same species. In Wood's "Natural History" some slight difference is -mentioned as to the number of spots. "The panther is fawn-coloured above, -white underneath, with six or seven ranges of patches resembling -rosettes--that is to say, each composed of an assemblage of five or six -simple black spots. It very much resembles the leopard, which inhabits the -same region (but has ten rows of spots which are of smaller size), It is -the wildest of the feline tribe, always retaining its fierce aspect and -perpetual growl." - - -The Panther "Incensed" - - "_The panther, knowing that his spotted hide - Doth please all beasts, but that his looks them fray, - Within a bush his dreadful head doth hide - To let them gaze, while he on them doth prey._" - SPENSER, Sonnet. - -This beast, like the leopard, has been the object of much mistaken or -fictitious history. Pliny, who is responsible for many of the errors in -natural history since his time, says of the panther: "It is said that all -four-footed beasts are wonderfully delighted and enticed by the smell of -panthers; but their hideous looke and crabbed countenance which they -bewray so soon as they show their heads skareth them as much again: -therefore their manner is to hide their heads, and when they have trained -other beasts within their reach by their sweet savour, they fall upon them -and worry them."[23] And again, Sir William Segar, Garter King-of-Arms, -following the same credulous historian, says: "The panther is admired of -all other beasts for the beauty of his skyn, being spotted with variable -colours, and beloved of them for the sweetness of his breath that -streameth forth of his nostrils and ears like smoke which our paynters -mistaking, corruptly do make fire."[24] - -[Illustration: Panther incensed.] - -It is, however, more probable that the creature was represented emitting -flame and smoke to denote and give characteristic expression to the native -savagery of the brute when irritated. If one can imagine the terror -inspired by remorseless and unpitying fury, sudden and impetuous, we see -its object fairly typified in the panther "incensed." The idea of fire and -smoke darting from its mouth, eyes and ears was doubtless suggested by -that habit peculiar to the feline race, observable even in the domestic -cat, to "spit fire" and "swear" when rudely attacked, and as an emblem in -this sense it is extremely well indicative of sudden fury. - -Guillam says: "Some authors are of opinion that there are no panthers bred -in Europe; but in Africa, Lybia and Mauritania they are plentiful. The -panther is a beast of a beautiful aspect, by reason of the manifold -variety of his divers coloured spots wherewith his body is overspread. As -a lion doth in most things resemble the nature of a man, so, after a sort, -doth the panther of a woman; for it is a beautiful beast, and fierce, yet -very loving to their young ones, and will defend them with the hazard of -their own lives; and if they miss them, they bewail their loss with loud -and miserable howling." - -The Lancastrian badge "the panther," says Planché, "which is attributed by -Sir William Segar to Henry VI. and blazoned passant guardant argent -spotted of all colours with vapour issuant from her mouth and ears; but -there is no authority quoted for it, and there is no example extant, the -only collateral evidence being the supporters of the Somerset Dukes of -Beaufort, who are supposed to have used it as a token of their Lancastrian -descent." The dexter supporter of the Duke of Beaufort thus is blazoned: -_Dexter, a panther argent, semée of torteaux, hurts and pomies -alternately, flames issuant from the mouth and ears proper, gorged with a -plain collar, chained, or_. - -The heraldic panther, or as it is more frequently termed, a panther -incensed, is always borne _guardant_, _i.e._, full-faced; and "incensed," -that is to say, it is depicted with flames and smoke issuing from its -mouth and ears. Its coat is spotted of various tinctures as the blazon may -state. - -Odet de Foix, Sieur de Lautrec, Marshal of France (+ 1528) being -considered a person of fierce appearance, took for device a panther, with -the motto "Allicit ulterius" ("He entices further"), alluding to the -attractive power of that animal notwithstanding its fierce exterior, "an -evidence," remarks a modern writer, "that he had as much vanity as -ambition." - -The town of Lucca for arms bears a panther: "_La pantera, che Lucca -abbraccia e onora_." - -Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, surnamed the Great (+ 1518), a celebrated Italian -soldier, bore a panther on his standard, with the motto, "Mens sibi -conscia facti" ("The mind conscious to itself of the deed"), the panther -signifying foresight (providence) from the number of eyes in his coat. -Others said he wished to imply that he knew how to manage for himself in -the various changes of his capricious fortune.[25] - - -[Illustration: The Lynx.] - -The Lynx - -_Felis Lynx_, or mountain cat, is found in the northern parts of Europe, -Asia and America, and climbs the highest trees. He preys on squirrels, -deer, hares, &c. He is fond of blood and kills great numbers of animals to -satisfy his unconquerable thirst. He is smaller than the panther, about -three feet and a half in length, his tail is much shorter and black at the -extremity. His ears are erect with a pencil of black hair at the tips. The -fur is long and thick, the upper part of the body is a pale grey, the -under parts white. - -The sight of the lynx is said to be so piercing that the ancients -attributed to it the faculty of seeing through stone walls: it may, -however, be asserted with truth that it distinguishes its prey at a -greater distance than any other carnivorous quadruped. On this account it -is frequently employed in heraldry, symbolising watchfulness, keenness of -vision, and also the ability to profit by it. - -Lynx-eyed, "oculis lynceis," originally referred to Lynceus, the argonaut, -who was famed for the keenness of his vision; then it was transferred to -the lynx and gave rise to the fable that it could see through a wall -(notes to "Philobiblon," by E. C. Thomas). - -The Accademia de Lincei, founded in Rome in 1603, with the object of -encouraging a taste for natural history, adopted the name and device of -the lynx because the members should have the eyes of a lynx to penetrate -the secrets of nature. Galileo, Fabio Colonna, and Gianbattista Porta were -among the members of the academy, the latter philosopher and -mathematician, who was the inventor of the camera obscura, bore the device -of the academy, the lynx, and the motto "Aspicit et inspicit" ("Looks at -and looks into"). - -Charles IV. of Luxemburg, Emperor of Germany, adopted the lynx for his -impress, with the motto, "Nullius pavit occursum" ("He fears not meeting -with any one"). - -THE LIZARD LYNX is an animal of the lynx or wild cat kind of a dark brown -colour, spotted black; the ears and tail are short. They are frequent in -the woods of Sweden, Denmark and Norway, where they are usually termed -lizards. - - -[Illustration: Cat-a-Mountain saliant, collared and lined.] - -Cat-a-Mountain--Tiger Cat or Wild Cat - -The Clan Chattan, who gave their name to the county of Caithness, bore as -their cognisance the wild mountain cat, and called their chieftain, the -Earl of Sutherland, "Mohr an chat" (The Great Wild Cat). The Mackintoshes -still bear as their crests and supporters these ferocious cats, with the -appropriate warning as a motto, "Touch not the cat but a glove." - -The whole is a pun upon the word "Catti," the Teutonic settlers of -Caithness, _i.e._, Catti-ness, and means "Touch not the Clan Cattan (or -mountain cat) without a glove." Here "but" is used in the original -meaning, beout, _i.e._, without. For another example of "but" meaning -without, see Amos iii. 7. The same words are also used as the motto of -several Scottish families. - -None will forget how the cat-a-mountain showed her claws to the Clan Kay, -in the Wynds of Perth in Sir Walter Scott's "Fair Maid of Perth." - -[Illustration: Crest, a Cat-a-Mountain, sejant, collared and lined.] - -_The Heraldic Musion._--Bossewell, in his work on heraldry published 1572, -describes a musion as "a beaste that is enimie to myse and rattes." He -adds also that he is "slye and wittie, and seeth so sharply, that he -overcommeth darkness of the nighte by the shyninge lighte of his eyne. In -the shape of body, he is like unto a leoparde, and hath a greate mouthe. -He doth delighte that he enjoyeth his libertie, and in his youthe he is -swifte, plyante, and merrie. He maketh a rufull noyse, and a gastefull -when he proffereth to fighte with another. He is a cruel beaste when he is -wilde and falleth on his owne feet from moste high places, and uneth -(scarce) is hurte therewith. When he hathe a fayre skinne, he is, as it -were, prowde thereof, and then he goeth fast aboute to be seene." - -Childebert, King of France, in token of his having taken captive -Gondomar of Bourgogne, assumed the device of a tiger-cat or ounce behind a -grating or troillis, gules cloué argent. This recalls the famous scene -between Sanglier Rouge and Toison d'Or in "Quentin Durward," when Charles -the Bold's jester professes to help the unhappy envoy of De la Marck by -describing it as a cat looking out of a dairy window. - -The cat, though domesticated, is considered as possessed of ingratitude; -in its friendship so uncertain and so vicious in its nature, "that," say -old writers, "it is only calculated for destroying the obnoxious race of -rats and other small game." - -From the mediæval superstition that Satan's favourite form was a black -cat, it was superstitiously called "a familiar." Hence witches were said -to have a cat as their familiar. - -THE CAT: _A symbol of liberty._--The Roman goddess of Liberty was -represented as holding a cup in one hand, a broken sceptre in the other, -and a cat lying at her feet. No animal is so great an enemy to all -constraint as a cat. - -The cat was held in veneration by the Egyptians as sacred to the goddess -Bubastis. This deity is represented with a human body and a cat's head. -Diodorus tells us that whoever killed a cat, even by accident, was by the -Egyptians punished with death. According to Egyptian tradition, Diana -assumed the form of a cat, and thus excited the fury of the giants. The -_London Review_ says: "The Egyptians worshipped the cat as a symbol of -the moon, not only because it is more active after sunset, but from the -dilation and contraction of its orb, symbolical of the waxing and waning -of the night goddess." - -In heraldry it should always be represented full-faced like the leopard. - -_Erminois three cats-a-mountain passant gardant, in pale azure, each -charged on the body with an ermine spot or._ Crest: _a demi cat-a-mountain -gardant, azure, gorged with a collar gemel, and charged with ermine spots, -two and one_.--_Tibbets._ - -The supporters of the Earl of Clanricarde are wild cats, and also those of -the Earl of Belmore. It is the crest of De Burgh. - - "ÆNEAS.--His mantle was the lion's, - With all its tawny bars, - His falchion, like Orion's, - Was gemmed with golden stars. - Upon his lofty helmet - A brazen terror rode; - No sword could overwhelm it - When in the fight it glowed. - For like a wild cat brindled, - It spat with eyes on fire, - And in the battle kindled - Immortal rage and ire, - Now in the sunshine sleeping, - How gently it reposed; - But still in wisdom keeping - A single eye unclosed." - _Queen Dido_, by T. S. - -[Illustration: The Crowned Salamander of Francis I.] - -The Salamander - -The salamander has been immemorially credited with certain fabulous -powers. Less than a century ago the creature was seriously described as a -"spotted lizard, which will endure the flames of fire." Divested of its -supernatural powers it is simply a harmless little amphibian of the "newt" -family, from six to eight inches in length, with black skin and yellow -spots. The skin was long thought to be poisonous, though it is in reality -perfectly harmless; but the moist surface is so extremely cold to the -touch that, from this peculiar quality in the creature, the idea must have -arisen, not only that it could withstand any heat to which it was exposed, -but it would actually subdue and put out fire. - -This was a widespread belief long before the time of Pliny, whose -account of the creature is thus paraphrased by Swift: - - "Further, we are by Pliny told - This serpent is extremely cold; - So cold that, put it in the fire, - 'Twill make the very flames expire." - -Marco Polo, the early Venetian traveller, who tells of many strange and -wonderful things seen and heard of in his journeyings, was not a believer -in the fabulous stories of the salamander, for he dismisses the subject -with the curt remark, "Everybody knows that it could be no animal's nature -to live in fire." An early heraldic writer of a somewhat later period, -with greater credulity, stoutly maintains its reality, and in describing -the creature states that he actually possessed some of the hair or down of -the salamander. "This," he goes on to say, "I have several times put in -the fire and made it red-hot, and after taken out; which, being cold, yet -remaineth perfect wool, or fine downy hair." - -Marco Polo further on assures his readers that the true salamander is -nothing but an incombustible substance found in the earth, "all the rest -being fabulous nonsense." He tells of a mountain in Tartary, "there or -thereabouts," in which a "vein" of salamander was found; and so we arrive -at the fact that this salamander's wool was nothing but the "asbestos" of -the ancients. It is easy to see why asbestos became known as "salamanders' -wool." The name resulted from the juxtaposition of ideas, and shows how -deeply impressed was the belief in the salamander's mysterious powers. A -late writer tells us that some of the lizard tribe are known to enjoy -warmth, and alligators are said to revel in hot water. It needed only that -an insignificant member of the genus should have been found among the dead -embers of a fire to prove at once the invulnerability of the reptile and -its ability to extinguish the flames. - -The salamander of mediæval superstition was a creature in the shape of a -man, which lived in fire (Greek, salambeander, chimney-man), meaning a man -that lives in a chimney. It was described by the ancients as bred by fire -and existing in flames, an element which must inevitably prove destructive -of life. Pliny describes it as "a sort of lizard which seeks the hottest -fire to breed in, but quenches it with the extreme frigidity of its body." -He tells us he tried the experiment once, but the creature was soon -reduced to powder.[26] - -Gregory of Nazianzen says that the salamander not only lived in and -delighted in flames, but extinguished fire. St. Epiphanius compares the -virtues of the hyacinth and the salamander. The hyacinth, he states, is -unaffected by fire, and will even extinguish it as the salamander does. -"The salamander and the hyacinth were symbols of enduring faith, which -triumphs over the ardour of the passions. Submitted to fire the hyacinth -is discoloured and becomes white. We may here perceive," says M. Portal, -"a symbol of enduring and triumphant faith." - -[Illustration: Salamander crest of James, Earl of Douglas. From -garter-plate.] - -This imaginary creature is generally represented as a small wingless -dragon or lizard, surrounded by and breathing forth flames. Sometimes it -is represented somewhat like a dog breathing flames. A golden salamander -is so represented on the garter-plate of James, Earl of Douglas, K.G., the -first Scottish noble elected into the Order of the Garter, and who died -1483 A.D. Tinctured _vert_; and _in flames proper_ it is the crest of -Douglas, Earl of Angus. - -François I. of France adopted as his badge the salamander in the midst of -flames, with the legend, "Nutrisco et extinguo" ("I nourish and -extinguish"). The Italian motto from which this legend was borrowed was, -"Nudrisco il buono e spengo il reo" ("I nourish the good and extinguish -the bad;" "Fire purifies good metal, but consumes rubbish"). In his castle -of Chambord, the galleries of the Palace of Fontainebleau, and the Hôtel -St. Bourg Thoroulde at Rouen, this favourite device of the crowned -salamander, with the motto, may be everywhere seen. - -_Azure, a salamander or, in flames proper_, is the charge on the shield of -the Italian family of Cennio. - -The "_lizards_" which form the crest of the Ironmongers' Company, were -probably intended for salamanders on the old seal of the company in 1483, -but are now blazoned as lizards. - -The heraldic signification of the salamander was that of a brave and -generous courage that the fire of affliction cannot destroy or consume. - -In the animal symbolism of the ancients the salamander may be said to -represent the element of FIRE; the eagle, AIR; the lion, EARTH; the -dolphin, WATER. - - -Heraldic Antelope - -This fictitious animal, when depicted in heraldry, has a body like that of -a stag, the tail of a unicorn, a head like the heraldic tiger, with two -serrated horns, and a tusk growing from the tip of his nose, a row of -tufts down the back of his neck, and the like on his tail, chest and -thighs. Thus represented it is termed an heraldic antelope to distinguish -it from the real or natural antelope, which is also borne in modern coats -of arms. - -[Illustration: Heraldic Antelope.] - -The old heralds, with their scant knowledge of the rarer kinds of -foreign animals, represented the antelope as a fierce beast of prey, and -totally unlike in appearance and in disposition to the beautiful -small-limbed gentle creature with which we are acquainted. That such was -the prevailing opinion in the time of Spenser is evident. In the "Faerie -Queen" he makes the stout Sir Satyrane-- - - "In life and manners wild, - Amongst wild beasts and woods from laws of man exiled." - ---more than a match for the most ferocious brutes, all of whom he subdues: - - "Wild beasts in iron yokes he would compel; - The spotted panther, and the tuskèd boar; - The pardale swift, and the tiger cruel, - The _antelope_ and wolf, both fierce and fell; - And them constrain in equal team to draw." - -Some authorities give the heraldic antelope with two straight horns, but -as the ancient badge of the House of Lancaster it was represented with two -serrated horns curving backward. - -In blazon, the term "_heraldic antelope_" should always be used unless the -natural antelope is intended. - - -The Heraldic Ibex - -is an imaginary beast resembling the heraldic antelope in appearance, with -the exception of the horns projecting from his forehead, which are -serrated like a saw. Perhaps it would not be erroneous to consider it -identical with the heraldic antelope. - -[Illustration: The Heraldic Ibex.] - -The real or natural ibex is a native of the Alps, the Pyrenees and the -Grecian mountains, where they abound in defiance of the hunters. It -resembles a goat, but the horns are much larger, bent backwards, and full -of knots, one of which is added every year. - - -Bagwyn - -A fabulous beast like the heraldic antelope, but having the tail of a -horse, and long horns of a goat curved backwards. The dexter supporter of -the arms of Carey, Lord Hundson, in Westminster Abbey, is a Bagwyn. - - -The Camelopard, Camel-leopard - -The Giraffe figures a few times in blazon under these names. It is -described by old heralds as half camel and half leopard. A curious -word-combination was made by the Romans when wishing to find a name for -the giraffe. "It is," says Archbishop Trench, "a creature combining, -though with infinitely more grace, yet some of the height and even the -proportions of _a camel_, with the spotted skin of the _pard_." They -called it "camelopardus," the camel-panther. - -There are two heraldic creatures based upon the above which are referred -to in heraldic works, viz., the ALLOCAMELUS or ass-camel, having the body -of the camel conjoined to the head of an ass; and the CAMELOPARDEL, which -is like the camelopard, but with two long horns curved backwards. - -Musimon, Tityrus - -A fictitious animal mentioned by Guillim and others. It nearly resembles -_a goat, with the head and horns of a ram_, but has besides the horns of -that beast, _a pair of goat's horns_. It is also mentioned in Guillim's -"Display," where it is said to be a bigenerous beast, of unkindly -procreation, engendered between a goat and a ram, like the Tityrus, the -offspring of a sheep and goat, as noted by Upton. - -[Illustration: Musimon, Tityrus.] - - -The Enfield - -An imaginary hybrid animal with _the head of a fox, chest of a greyhound, -talons of an eagle, and body of a lion; the hind legs and tail of a wolf_. -It occurs as the crest of some Irish families of the name of Kelly. - - -[Illustration: Mantygre--Satyral.] - -Mantiger, Montegre or Manticora Satyral - -A chimerical creature of mediæval invention, having the body of an -heraldic tiger with mane, and the head of an old man with long spiral -horns. Some heraldic authorities make the horns more like those of an ox, -and the feet like a dragon's. - -_The Satyral_ is apparently identical with the man-tiger. - -The belief that certain persons have the power of assuming the shape of -the tiger is common in India, and the Khonds say that a man-killing tiger -is either an incarnation of the Earth's goddess or a transfigured man. It -is thus with the Lavas of Birma, supposed to be the broken-down remains -of a cultured race and dreaded as man-tigers.[27] - -Two satyrals supported the arms of the Lords Stawell. - -The supporters of the arms of the Earl of Huntingdon are mantigers, but -are represented without horns. - -[Illustration: Manticora. From ancient Bestiaria.] - -From a mediæval "Bestiaria" we have a description and illustration of a -gruesome creature of this name (manticora), evolved no doubt from some -traveller's marvellous tale. We are told that it is "bred among the -Indians," has a triple row of teeth, in bigness and roughness like a -lion's, face and ears like a man's, a tail like a scorpion's "with a sting -and sharp-pointed quills," and that "his voice is like a small trumpet," -and that he is "very wild," and that after having his tail bruised, he can -be tamed without danger. - -There are several other fictitious creatures, which, if we may believe -certain old writers, excited the minds of our credulous wonder-loving -forefathers. Of these little need be said, as they rarely, if ever, appear -in modern works on heraldry, and may therefore be classed as extinct -monsters. - - -Lamia or Emipusa - -[Illustration: Lamia. From old Bestiary.] - -A curious creature of the imagination is the lamia, of which we are told -many fictitious stories. It is said to be "the swiftest of all four-footed -creatures, that it is very treacherous and cruel to men. It is stated to -be bred in Lybia, and sometimes devours its own young." It is represented -in an ancient "Bestiaria" as having the head and breasts of a woman, and -the body of a four-footed animal with flowing tail, the hind feet having -divided hoofs. It is "thought to be the creature mentioned in Isaiah -xxxiv., called in Hebrew _Lilith_, as also the same which is mentioned in -Lamentations iv." - -In Dr. Brewer's "Dictionary of Phrase and Fable," LAMIA is "a female -phantom whose name was used by the Greeks and Romans as a bugbear to -children, from the classic fable of a Lybian Queen beloved by Jupiter, but -robbed of her children by Juno; and in consequence she vowed vengeance -against all children, whom she delighted to entice and murder." They are -again described as spectres of Africa, who attracted strangers and then -devoured them. In the story of "Machatës and Philemon," a young man is -represented as marrying an Empusa, who sucks his blood at night. Goethe -borrowed his ballad of the "Bride of Corinth" from this tale. - -Beyond casual mention this mythical creature does not appear in heraldry. - - -Baphomet - -A fictitious creature having two heads, male and female, the rest of the -body female; said to be used as an idol or symbol by the Templars in their -mysterious rites. The word is a corruption of Mahomet. Though mentioned in -old works it does not now appear in British heraldry. - - -Apres - -A fictitious animal resembling a bull, with a short tail like that of a -bear. It is the sinister supporter of the arms of the Company of Muscovy -Merchants. - - -Stelliones - -The supporters of the Ironmongers' Company of London are two lizards. -Bossewell describes beasts of similar shape--"Stelliones" as he terms -them, evidently in allusion to steel. He says, "Stellio is a beaste like a -lysard, having on his back spotts like starres."[28] - -Stellione-serpent, a serpent with the head of a weasel, borne by the name -of Baume. - - - - - - -Fictitious Creatures of the Sea - - -INTRODUCTORY NOTES - - "_The sea, that is - A world of waters heapèd up on high, - Rolling like mountains in wild wilderness, - Horrible, hideous, roaring with hoarse cry!_" - SPENSER. - - - "_I can call spirits from the vasty deep._" - SHAKESPEARE. - -Mariners in all ages, prone to superstitious fears, have peopled the great -deep with beings of the most dreadful kind, all the more wonderful and -indescribable because of the mysterious and unknown regions in the sea -depths which they were supposed to inhabit. Classic mythology in its -wealth of imagery allotted a whole hierarchy of greater and lesser -divinities to the government of the watery element, whose capricious -ruling of the waves man altogether failed to comprehend. Their fancied -terrors, begot in calms and storms, in darkness and in fogs, midst dangers -of the most appalling kind, assumed those monstrous and fantastic shapes -which their own fears created. The active forces of nature in unusual -forms impressed them as the result of supernatural agency, or the -"meddling of the gods," whose favours and protection the mariner, by -prayers and supplications, endeavoured to propitiate; and whilst -tremblingly he skirts the horizon's edge in timid ventures, new dangers -impel him to promises of greater gifts to assuage the wrathful mood of his -angry god or some other equally powerful or more spiteful. - -The national god of the Philistines was represented with the face and -hands of a man and the tail of a fish. It was but natural that a seafaring -people should adopt a god of that form. - - "Dagon his name; sea-monster, upward man - And downward fish: yet had his temple high - Reared in Azotus, dreaded through the coast - Of Palestine, in Gath and Ascalon, - And Accaron and Gaza's frontier bounds." - _Paradise Lost_, Book i. 462. - -In the leviathan and behemoth of Scripture are darkly indicated monsters -of the great deep. Scandinavian mythology, like that of all bold maritime -peoples in old times, is rife with legends of certain great monsters of -the sea. The kraken or sea-serpent of popular legend is a myth not yet -laid to rest; there is still a lingering belief in the existence of the -mermaid. - - "With a comb and a glass in her hand, her hand, her hand, - With a comb and a glass in her hand." - Popular sea-song. - -Chief amongst the Grecian sea-divinities stands _Poseidon_, or _Neptune_ -as he was called by the Romans, the potent "ruler of the seas." He usually -dwelt, not in Olympus, but at the bottom of the sea, in a magnificent -golden palace in the neighbourhood of Ægæ. He is always represented with a -trident, sometimes with a rudder--special symbols of his power over the -sea. Accompanied by his wife, fair Amphitrite, he was frequently pictured -in royal state in his chariot, drawn through the billows by wild -sea-horses, attended by "Triton blowing loud his wreathed horn," Proteus, -"the godlike shepherd of the sea," and other followers--dolphins leaping -the waves and showing their high arched backs in wild gambolings. - -_Nereus_ and his fifty daughters, the _Nereides_, who dwelt in caves and -grottos of the ocean--beneficent sea-nymphs,--win the hearts of the -sailors, now by their merry sports and dances, now by their timely -assistance in the hour of danger. Whilst Nereus and his lovely daughters -represent the sea under its calm and pleasant aspect, Thaumas, Phorcys, -Ceto present it as the world of wonders, under its more terrible -conditions. The storm winds and all the terrors and dangers of the deep -were typified under various strange and peculiar forms. Not the least -dreaded were the _Sirens_, fatal sisters, who "spread o'er the silver -waves their golden hair," basked near sunlit rocks, and lured all men to -their ruin by their enchanting voices, save only the crafty Ulysses. - -These and many others of lesser note, Proteus, Glaucus and the rest, make -up the discordant influences that govern the watery element. - -Many wonderful stories are told by classic writers concerning these old -myths, and innumerable relics of antique art which embody the conceptions -of the times are extant in our museums, by which we may judge to what a -large extent such ideas influenced the common life and formed the beliefs -of ancient peoples. - -It is also worthy of observation to note in what manner the ancients -sought to identify the various sea-deities and other mythical creatures -with the element they lived in. Each was known by his form or the -attributes by which he was accompanied. Modern heraldry repeats many of -these old-world myths as new-coined fables, so that for their proper -understanding and signification it will be necessary briefly to refer to -ancient ideas respecting them. Lakes, rivers and fountains had each their -impersonation peculiar to them, which will be found referred to in classic -story. - -Mediæval legend is equally rife with accounts of wonderful creatures of -the sea. The change of one form of superstition for another alters but -little the constitution of the mind to harbour fears, and the imagination -will deceive even the wisest and best so long as Nature's laws are -misunderstood. - -Particular whirlpools, rocks and other dangerous places to navigation, are -personated under the forms of monsters of various and awful shapes -feared by the mariner, who dreads - - "The loud yell of watery wolves to hear." - -Scylla and Charybdis are two rocks which lie between Italy and Sicily. -Ships which tried to avoid one were often wrecked on the other. The -ancients feigned an interesting legend to account for their existence. It -was Circe who changed Scylla into a frightful sea monster, and Jupiter who -changed Charybdis into a whirlpool, the noise of which was likened to the -loud barking of dogs; and the monster was therefore represented with -savage dogs amidst her scaly folds, and loudly baying. - - "Far on the right her dogs foul Scylla hides; - Charybdis roaring on the left presides, - And in her greedy whirlpool sucks the tides, - Then spouts them from below; with fury driven - The waves mount up, and wash the face of heaven. - But Scylla from her den with open jaws - The sinking vessel in her eddy draws - Then dashes on the rocks. A human face - And virgin bosom hides her tail's disgrace; - Her parts obscene below the waves descend, - With dogs enclosed, and in a dolphin end." - _Æneid_, Book iii. - -Homer gives a vivid description of Ulysses passing the rocks and -whirlpools: - - "Now through the rocks, appall'd with deep dismay, - We bend our course, and stem the desperate way; - Dire Scylla there a scene of horror forms; - And here Charybdis fills the deep with storms. - When the tide rushes from her rumbling caves, - The rough rock roars, tumultuous boil the waves; - They toss, they foam, a wild confusion raise, - Like water bubbling o'er the fiery blaze; - Eternal mists obscure the aërial plain, - And high across the rocks she spouts the main: - When in her gulfs the rushing sea subsides, - She drains the ocean with the refluent tides: - The rock rebellows with a thundering sound; - Deep, wondrous deep, below appears the ground." - _Odyssey_, Book xii. - -The giants and ogres of romance were never so fearfully armed or clothed -by the wildest fiction with so terrible an aspect as the cephalopods, the -race to which the cuttlefish or octopus belongs. Eminently carnivorous, -voracious and fierce; beneath staring eyes are spread eight strong fleshy -arms furnished with tenacious suckers, which adhere with unrelenting -pertinacity, and the arms are swiftly twined round the struggling prey, -which vainly strives to disengage itself from so fearful and so fatal -embrace. Cephalopods of enormous size are sometimes found with arms as -thick as a man's thigh. Homer refers to its tenacity of grip in a simile. - -The cuttlefish appears upon ancient Greek coins of Coressus, in allusion -to the worship of Neptune, a deity much venerated as the protector of this -island. - -Amongst the veritable inhabitants of the ocean there are few more -extraordinary mammals than the sea-unicorn, _Monodon monoceros_, the -beaked whale of the Arctic seas, twenty to thirty feet from stern to -snout. His length is increased about eight feet by his magnificent -spirally twisted tusk of the purest ivory, which in reality is simply the -canine tooth growing straight out of the upper jaw. One of the royal -treasures of Denmark is the narwhal throne of the Castle of Rosenberg. It -is the horn of this "strange fish" which has kept up the belief in the -existence of the mythical unicorn. - -_Xiphias gladius_, swordfish, is the largest of the thorny fishes, and -belongs to the scombers or mackerel group. The sawfish, _Pristis -antiquorum_, ranks by himself between the rays and sharks. He has the long -body of a shark and the underside gill openings of a ray. His saw, like -the sword of the Xiphias, is a long flattened bony snout, but is -double-edged and serrated. It is well known as a weapon among the -Polynesian islanders, and, like the sword of the Xiphias, is frequently -found buried in the hulls of ocean-going ships. - -There are two denizens of the deep which bear the name of sea-horse--one -the tiny Hippocampus, the other the mighty walrus. The hippocampus of our -public aquariums, a bony pipefish some six or eight inches in length, -swimming upright, his favourite position in the water, with the general -resemblance of his head to that of a horse, is very striking; anchored to -the seaweed stems by their tails they dart on their prey with great -quickness. - -Hippocampus ([Greek: hippos], _hippos_, a horse; [Greek: kampê], _campe_, -a bending), the steed of Neptune, had only the two forelegs of a horse, -the hinder quarter being that of a dolphin. The word means "coiling -horse." - -The Sea-horse of the North, or walrus--the _Rossmareus_ or _Morse_ of the -Scandinavians, the _Trichecus rosmarus_ of science, is fifteen or twenty -feet long, or even longer, and armed with huge canine teeth, sometimes -measuring thirty inches in length--tusks which furnish no small amount of -our commercial ivory. Many are the thrilling stories of the chase of these -great sea-horses, for the walrus fights for his life as determinedly as -any animal hunted by man. The walrus has had the honour assigned to it -also of being the original of the mermaid, and Scoresby says the front -part of the head of a young one without tusks might easily be taken at a -little distance for a human face, especially as it has a habit of raising -its head straight out of the water to look at passing ships. - -The manatee, or sea-cow, found on the tropical coasts and streams of -Africa and America, is called by the Portuguese and Spaniards the -"woman-fish," from its supposed close resemblance. Its English name comes -from the flipper resembling a human hand--_manus_--with which it holds its -young to its breast. One of this species, which died at the Royal Aquarium -in 1878, was as unlike the typical mermaid as one could possibly imagine, -giving one a very startling idea of the difference between romance and -reality; but if it was observed in its native haunts, and seen at some -little distance, and then only by glimpses, it might possibly, as some -have asserted, present a very striking resemblance to the human form. - -Sir James Emerson Tennent, speaking of the _Dugong_, an herbivorous -cetacean, says its head has a rude approach to the human outline, and the -mother while suckling her young holds it to her breast with one flipper, -as a woman holds an infant in her arm; if disturbed she suddenly dives -under water and throws up her fish-like tail. It is this creature, he -says, which has probably given rise to the tales about mermaids. - -Seals differ from all other animals in having the toes of the feet -included almost to the end in a common integument, converting them into -broad fins armed with strong non-retractile claws. Of the many varieties -of the seal family, from Kamchatka comes the noisy "SEA-LION" (_Otaria -jubata_), so called from his curious mane. In the same neighbourhood we -get the "SEA-LEOPARD" (_Leptonyx weddellii_), and the "SEA-BEAR" (the -_Etocephalus ursinus_), whose larger and better-developed limbs enable him -to stand and walk on shore. But the most important of the seals, in a -commercial sense, are the "HARP SEAL" (_Phoca Grænlandica_) and the COMMON -SEAL, or "SEA-DOG" (_Phoca vitulina_), which yield the skins so valuable -to the furrier. There are several other species, of which the most known -are the CRESTED SEAL, or _Neistsersoak_ (_Stemmatopus cristatus_), and the -BEARDED SEAL (_Phoca barbata_). - -Apart from the seal having possibly given rise to legends of the mermaid, -it has a distinguished position in superstition and mythology on its own -account. In Shetland it is the "haff-fish," or selkie, a fallen spirit. -Evil is sure to follow the unfortunate destroyer of one of these -creatures. In the Faroe Islands there is a superstition that the seals -cast off their skins every ninth night and appear as mortals, dancing -until daybreak on the sands. Sometimes they are induced to marry, but if -ever they recover their skins they betake themselves again to the water. - -Stephen of Byzantium relates that the ships of certain Greek colonists -were on their expeditions followed by an immense number of seals, and it -was probably on this account that the city they founded in Asia received -the name of Phocea, from [Greek: phôkê] (_Phoké_), the Greek name of a -seal, and they also adopted that animal as the type or badge of the city -upon their coinage. The gold pieces of the Phoceans were well known among -the Greek States, and are frequently referred to by ancient writers. "Thus -from a single coin," says Noel Humphreys,[29] "we obtain the corroboration -of the legend of the swarm of seals, of the remote epoch of the emigration -in question, the coin being evidently of the earliest period, most -probably of the middle of the seventh century before the Christian era." - -Luigi (+ 1598), brother to the Duke of Mantua, had for device a seal -asleep upon a rock in a troubled sea, with the motto: "Sic quiesco" ("So -rest I"). The seal, say the ancient writers, is never struck by lightning. -The Emperor Augustus always wore a belt of seal-skin. "There is no living -creature sleepeth more soundly," says Pliny,[30] "therefore when storms -arise and the sea is rough the seal goes upon the rocks where it sleeps in -safety unconscious of the storm." - -The poet Spenser embodies many of the conceptions of his time in the -description of the crowning adventures of the Knight Guyon. He here refers -to "great sea monsters of all ugly shapes and horrible aspects" "such as -Dame Nature's self might fear to see." - - "Spring-headed hydras, and sea-shouldering whales; - Great whirlpools, which all fishes make to flee; - Bright scolopendras arm'd with silver scales; - Mighty monoceroses with unmeasured tails; - - The dreadful fish that hath deserved the name - Of death, and like him looks in dreadful hue; - The grisly wasserman, that makes his game - The flying ships with swiftness to pursue; - - The horrible sea-satyr that doth shew - His fearful face in time of greatest storm; - Huge Ziffius, whom mariners eschew - No less than rocks, as travellers inform; - And greedy rose-marines with visages deform; - All these, and thousand thousand many more - And more deformed monsters, thousandfold." - _Faerie Queen_, Book ii. cant. xii. - -The early heralds took little account of these dreadful creatures--more -easily imagined by fearful mariners or by poets than depicted by artists -from their vague descriptions. The most imaginative of the tribe rarely -ventured beyond such representations of marine monsters as appealed -strongly and clearly to the universal sense of mankind--compounds of -marine and land animals--either from a belief in the existence of such -creatures, or because they used them as emblems or types of qualities, -combining for this purpose the attributes of certain inhabitants of the -sea with those of the land or of the air to form the appropriate symbol. - -In modern heraldry such bearings are usually adopted with special allusion -to actions performed at sea, or they have reference in some way to the -name or designation of the bearer, and hence termed allusive or canting -heraldry. Some maritime towns bear nautical devices of the fictitious kind -referred to. For instance, the City of Liverpool has for supporters -Neptune with his trident, and a Triton with his horn. Cambridge and -Newcastle-on-Tyne have sea-horses for supporters to their city's arms. -Belfast has the sea-horse for sinister supporter and also for crest. - -Many of the nobility also bear, either as arms or supporters, these -mythical sea creatures, pointing in many instances to memorable events in -their family history; indeed, as islanders and Britons, marine -emblems--real and mythical--enter largely into our national heraldry. - - -Poseidon or Neptune - -[Illustration: Dexter supporter of Baron Hawke.] - -Poseidon or Neptune, the younger brother of Zeus (Jupiter), sometimes -appears in heraldry, usually as a supporter. In the ancient mythology he -was originally a mere symbol of the watery element, he afterwards became a -distinct personality; the mighty ruler of the sea who with his powerful -arms upholds and circumscribes the earth, violent and impetuous like the -element he represents. When he strikes the sea with his trident, the -symbol of his sovereignty, the waves rise with violence, as a word or look -from him suffices to allay the fiercest tempest. Poseidon (Neptune) was -naturally regarded as the chief patron and tutelary deity of the seafaring -Greeks. To him they addressed their prayers before entering on a voyage, -and to him they brought their offerings in gratitude for their safe -return from the perils of the deep. - -In a famous episode of the "Faerie Queen" (Book iv. c. xi.) Spenser -glowingly pictures the procession of all the water deities and their -attendants: - - "First came great Neptune with his three-forked mace, - That rules the seas and makes them rise and fall; - His dewy locks did drop with brine apace - Under his diadem imperial: - - "And by his side his Queen with coronal, - Fair Amphitrite, most divinely fair, - Whose ivory shoulders weren covered all, - As with a robe, with her own silver hair, - And decked with pearls which the Indian seas for her prepare." - -Amphitrite, his wife, one of the Nereids in ancient art, is represented as -a slim and beautiful young woman, her hair falling loosely about her -shoulders, and distinguished from all the other deities by the royal -insignia. On ancient coins and gems she appears enthroned on the back of a -mighty triton, or riding on a sea-horse, or dolphin. - -EXAMPLES.--Baron Hawke bears for supporters to his shield an aggroupment -of classic personations of a remarkable symbolic character, granted for -the achievements of the renowned Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the -Fleet, Vice-Admiral of Great Britain, &c. &c., created Baron Hawke of -Tarton, Yorks, 1776. _The dexter supporter is a figure of Neptune, his -mantle vert, edged argent, crowned with an eastern crown, or, his dexter -arm erect and holding a trident pointing downwards in the act of striking, -sable, headed silver, and resting his left foot on a dolphin proper._ - -Sir Isaac Heard, Somersetshire; Lancaster Herald, afterwards Garter. His -arms, granted 1762, are thus blazoned in Burke's "General Armory": _Argent -a Neptune crowned with an eastern crown of gold, his trident sable headed -or, issuing from a stormy ocean, the sinister hand grasping the head of a -ship's mast appearing above the waves, as part of a wreck, all proper; on -a chief azure, the Arctic pole-star of the first between two water-bougets -of the second_. - - -Merman or Triton - - "_Triton, who boasts his high Neptunian race - Sprung from the God by Salace's embrace._" - CAMOËNS, "Lusiad." - - - "_Triton his trumpet shrill before them blew - For goodly triumph and great jolliment - That made the rocks to roar as they were rent._" - SPENSER, "Faerie Queen." - (Procession of the Sea Deities.) - -[Illustration: Merman or Triton.] - -[Illustration: Triton, with two tails. German.] - -Triton was the only son of Neptune and Amphitrite. The poet Apollonius -Rhodius describes him as having the upper parts of the body of a man, -while the lower parts were those of a dolphin. Later poets and artists -revelled in the conception of a whole race of similar tritons, who were -regarded as a wanton, mischievous tribe, like the satyrs on land. Glaucus, -another of the inferior deities, is represented as a triton, rough and -shaggy in appearance, his body covered with mussels and seaweed; his hair -and beard show that luxuriance which characterises sea-gods. Proteus, as -shepherd of the seas, is usually distinguished with a crook. Triton, as -herald of Neptune, is represented always holding, or blowing, his wreathed -horn or conch shell. His mythical duties as attendant on the supreme -sea-divinity would, as an emblem in heraldry, imply a similar duty or -office in the bearer to a great naval hero. - -[Illustration: Mermaid and Triton supporters.] - -EXAMPLES.--The City of Liverpool has for sinister supporter a _Triton -blowing a conch shell and holding a flag in his right hand_. - -Lord Lyttelton bears for supporters _two Mermen proper, in their exterior -hands a trident or_. - -Ottway, Bart.--Supporters on either side, _a Triton blowing his shell -proper, navally crowned or, across the shoulder a wreath of red coral, and -holding in the exterior hand a trident, point downward_. - -_Note._--In classic story, Triton and the Siren are distinct poetic -creations, their vocation and attributes being altogether at variance--no -relationship whatever existing between them. According to modern popular -notions, however, the siren or mermaid, and triton, or merman as they -sometimes term him, appear to be viewed as male and female of the same -creature (in heraldic parlance baron and femme). They thus appear in -companionship as supporters to the arms of Viscount Hood, and similarly in -other achievements. - -[Illustration] - - -The Mermaid or Siren - - "_Mermaid shapes that still the waves with ecstasies of song._" - T. SWAN, - "The World within the Ocean." - - - "_And fair Ligea's golden comb, - Wherewith she sits on diamond rocks, - Sleeking her soft alluring hair._" - MILTON, "Comus." - -[Illustration] - -This fabulous creature of the sea, well known in ancient and modern times -as the frequent theme of poets and the subject of numberless legends, has -from a very early date been a favourite device. She is usually represented -in heraldry as having the upper part the head and body of a beautiful -young woman, holding a comb and glass in her hands, the lower part ending -in a fish. - -Ellis (Glasfryn, Merioneth).--_Argent, a mermaid gules, crined or, holding -a mirror in her right hand and a comb in her left, gold. Crest, a mermaid -as in the arms._ _Motto_, "Worth ein ffrwythau yn hadna byddir." Another -family of the same name, settled in Lancashire, bears the colours -reversed, viz., _gules, a mermaid argent_. - -[Illustration: Crest of Ellis.] - -SIR JOSIAH MASON.--CREST, _a mermaid, per fess wavy argent and azure, the -upper part guttée de larmes, in the dexter hand a comb, and in the -sinister a mirror, frame and hair sable_. - -Balfour of Burleigh.--_On a rock, a mermaid proper, holding in her dexter -hand an otter's head erased sable, and in the sinister a swan's head, -erased proper._ The supporters of Baron Balfour are an otter and a swan, -which will account for the heads appearing in the hands of the mermaid, -instead of the traditionary comb and mirror. In some other instances the -like occurs, as in the mermaid crest of Cussack, _the mermaid sable crined -or, holds in dexter hand a sword, and in the sinister a sceptre_. - -Sir George Francis Bonham, Bart.--_Crest, a mermaid holding in dexter hand -a wreath of coral, and in the sinister a mirror._ - -Wallop, Earl of Portsmouth, bears for crest _a mermaid proper_, with her -usual accompaniments, the comb and mirror. Another family of the same name -and bearing the same arms has for crest _a mermaid with two tails extended -proper, hair gold, holding her tails in her hands extended wide_. - -In foreign heraldry the mermaid is generally termed _Mélusine_, and -represented with two fishy extremities. - -[Illustration: Die Ritter, of Nuremberg] - -Die Ritter of Nuremberg bears _per fess sable and or, a mermaid holding -her two tails, vested gules, crowned or_. - -The Austrian family of Estenberger bears for crest _a mermaid without -arms, and having wings_. - -A mermaid was the device of Sir William de Brivere, who died in 1226. It -is the badge of the Berkeleys; in the monumental brass of Lord Berkeley, -at Wolton-under-Edge, 1392 A.D., he bears a collar of mermaids over his -camail. The Black Prince, in his will, mentions certain devices that he -appears to have used as badges; among the rest we find "Mermaids of the -Sea." It was the dexter supporter in the coat-of-arms of Sir Walter Scott, -and the crest of Lord Byron. The supporters of Viscount Boyne are -mermaids. Skiffington, Viscount Marsereene, the Earl of Caledon, the Earl -of Howth, Viscount Hood, and many other titled families bear it as crest -or supporters. It is also borne by many untitled families. - -The arms of the princely house of Lusignan, kings of Cyprus and Jerusalem, -"Une sirène dans une cuvé," were founded on a curious mediæval legend of -a mermaid or siren, termed Mélusine, a fairy, condemned by some spell to -become on one day of the week only, half woman, half serpent. The Knight -Roimoudin de Forez, meeting her in the forest by chance, became enamoured -and married her, and she became the mother of several children, but she -carefully avoided seeing her husband on the day of her change; one day, -however, his curiosity led him to watch her, which led to the spell being -broken, and the soul with which by her union with a Christian she hoped to -have been endowed, was lost to her for ever. - -This interesting myth is fully examined in Baring Gould's "Curious Myths -of the Middle Ages." - -The mermaid is represented as the upper half of a beautiful maiden joined -to the lower half of a fish, and usually holding a comb in the right hand -and a mirror in the left; these articles of the toilet have reference to -the old fable that always when observed by man mermaids are found to be -resting upon the waves, combing out their long yellow hair, while admiring -themselves in the glass: they are also accredited with wondrous vocal -powers, to hear which was death to the listener. It was long believed such -creatures really did exist, and had from time to time been seen and spoken -with; many, we are told, have fatally listened to "the mermaid's charmèd -speech," and have blindly followed the beguiling, deluding creature to her -haunts beneath the wave, as did Sidratta, who, falling in the Ganges, -became enamoured of one of these beautiful beings, the Upsaras, the -swan-maidens of the Vedas. - -All countries seem to have invented some fairy-like story of the waters. -The Finnish Nakki play their silver harps o' nights; the water imp or -Nixey of Germany sings and dances on land with mortals, and the "Davy" -(Deva), whose "locker" is at the bottom of the deep blue sea, are all -poetical conceptions of the same description. The same may be said of the -Merminne of the Netherlands, the White Lady of Scotland and the Silver -Swan of the German legend, that drew the ship in which the Knight -Lohengrin departed never to return. - -In the "Bestiary" of Philip de Thaun he tells us that "Siren lives in the -sea, it sings at the approach of a storm and weeps in fine weather; such -is its nature: and it has the make of a woman down to the waist, and the -feet of a falcon, and the tail of a fish. When it will divert itself, then -it sings loud and clear; if then the steersman who navigates the sea hears -it, he forgets his ship and immediately falls asleep." - -The legendary mermaid still retains her place in popular legends of our -sea coasts, especially in the remoter parts of our islands. The stories of -the Mirrow, or Irish fairy, hold a prominent place among Crofton Croker's -"Fairy Legends of the South of Ireland." Round the shores of Lough Neagh -old people still tell how, in the days of their youth, mermaids were -supposed to reside in the water, and with what fear and trepidation they -would, on their homeward way in the twilight, approach some lonely and -sequestered spot on the shore, expecting every moment to be captured and -carried off by the witching mere-maidens. On the Continent the same idea -prevails. Among the numerous legends of the Rhine many have reference to -the same fabled creature. - -As we know, mariners in all ages have delighted in tales of the -marvellous, and in less enlightened times than the present, they were not -unlikely to have found many willing listeners and sound believers. Early -voyagers tell wonderful stories of these "fish-women," or "women-fish," as -they termed them. The ancient chronicles indeed teem with tales of the -capture of "mermaids," "mermen," and similar strange creatures; stories -which now only excite a smile from their utter absurdity. So late as 1857 -there appeared an article in the _Shipping Gazette_, under intelligence of -June 4, signed by some Scotch sailors, and describing an object seen off -the North British coast "in the shape of a woman, with full breast, dark -complexion, comely face" and the rest. It is probable that some variety of -the seal family may be the prototype of this interesting myth. - -The myth of the mermaid is, however, of far older date; Homer and later -Greek and Roman poets have said and sung a great deal about it. - - -The Sirens of Classic Mythology - -The Sirens (Greek, entanglers) enticed seamen by the sweetness of their -song to such a degree that the listeners forgot everything and died of -hunger. Their names were, Parthenope, Ligea, and Leucosia. - -[Illustration: Ulysses and the Sirens. Flaxman's "Odyssey."] - -Parthenope, the ancient name of Neapolis (Naples) was derived from one of -the sirens, whose tomb was shown in Strabo's time. Poetic legend states -that she threw herself into the sea out of love for Ulysses, and was cast -up on the Bay of Naples. - -The celebrated Parthenon at Athens, the beautiful temple of Pallas Athenæ, -so richly adorned with sculptures, likewise derives its name from this -source. - -Dante interviews the siren in "Purgatorio," xix. 7-33. - -Flaxman, in his designs illustrating the "Odyssey," represents the sirens -as beautiful young women seated on the strand and singing. - -[Illustration: Ulysses and the Sirens. From a painting on a Greek vase.] - -In the illustration from an ancient Greek vase gives a Grecian rendering -of the story, and represents the Sirens as birds with heads of maidens. - -The Sirens are best known from the story that Odysseus succeeded in -passing them with his companions without being seduced by their song. He -had the prudence to stop the ears of his companions with wax and to have -himself bound to the mast. Only two are mentioned in Homer, but three or -four are mentioned in later times and introduced into various legends. -Demeter (_Ceres_) is said to have changed their bodies into those of -birds, because they refused to go to the help of their companion, -Persephone, when she was carried off by Pluto. "They are represented in -Greek art like the harpies, as young women with the wings and feet of -birds. Sometimes they appear altogether like birds, only with human faces; -at other times with the bodies of women, in which case they generally hold -instruments of music in their hands. As their songs are death to those -subdued by them they are often depicted on tombs as spirits of death." - -By the fables of the Sirens is represented the ensnaring nature of vain -and deceitful pleasures, which sing and soothe to sleep, and never fail to -destroy those who succumb to their beguiling influence. - -Spenser, in the "Faerie Queen," describes a place "where many mermaids -haunt, making false melodies," by which the knight Guyon makes a somewhat -"perilous passage." There were five sisters that had been fair ladies, -till too confident in their skill in music they had ventured to contend -with the Muses, when they were transformed in their lower extremities to -fish: - - "But the upper half their hue retained still, - And their sweet skill in wonted melody; - Which ever after they abused to ill - To allure weak travellers, whom gotten they did kill." - Book ii. cant. cxii. - -Shakespeare charmingly pictures Oberon in the moonlight, fascinated by the -graceful form and the melodious strains of the mermaid half reclining on -the back of the dolphin: - - "OBERON: ... Thou rememberest - Since once I sat upon a promontory, - And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back - Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath - That the rude sea grew civil at her song - And certain stars shot madly from their spheres - To hear the sea-maid's music." - -Commentators of Shakespeare find in this passage (and subsequent parts) -certain references to Mary Queen of Scots, which they consider beyond -dispute. She was frequently referred to in the poetry of the time under -this title. She was married to the Dauphin (or Dolphin) of France. The -rude sea means the Scotch rebels, and the shooting stars referred to were -the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland, who, with others of lesser -note, forgot their allegiance to Elizabeth out of love to Mary. - -"Few eyes," says Sir Thomas Browne, "have escaped the picture of a mermaid -with a woman's head above and a fish's extremity below." In those old days -when reading and writing were rare accomplishments, pictured signboards -served to give "a local habitation and a name" to hostelries and other -places of business and resort. Among the most celebrated of the old London -taverns bearing this sign,[31] that in Bread Street stands foremost. - -We find this "Mermayde" mentioned as early as 1464. In 1603 Sir Walter -Raleigh established a literary club in this house, and here Shakespeare, -Ben Jonson, and the choice intellectual spirits of the time used to meet, -and there took place those wit combats which Beaumont has commemorated and -Fuller described. It is frequently alluded to by Beaumont and Fletcher in -their comedies, but best known is that quotation from a letter of Beaumont -to Ben Jonson: - - "What things have we seen - Done at the Mermaid? heard words that have been - So nimble and so full of subtle flame, - As if that any one from whence they came - Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest, - And had resolved to live a fool the rest - Of his dull life; then when there had been thrown - Wit able enough to justify the town - For three days past; wit that might warrant be - For the whole city to talk foolishly, - Till that were cancell'd; and when that was gone, - We left an air behind us, which alone - Was able to make the next two companies - (Right witty, though but downright fools) more wise." - - -[Illustration] - -The Dolphin of Legend and of Heraldry - - "_... his delights - Were dolphin-like; they showed his back above - The element they lived in._" - "Anthony and Cleopatra," Act v. sc. 2. - -As the Lion is the king of beasts, the Eagle the king of birds, so in -similar heraldic sense the Dolphin is king of fishes. His position in -legend is probably due to his being one of the biggest and boldest -creatures of the sea that passed the Pillars of Hercules into the -Mediterranean Sea. Pliny (Book ix. ch. 8) calls it "The swiftest of all -other living creatures whatsoever, and not of sea fish only, is the -dolphin; quicker than any fowle, swifter than the arrow shot from a bow." - -The dolphin, of which there are several varieties, enjoys a pretty wide -geographical distribution, being found in the Arctic seas, the Atlantic -Ocean, and indeed of all seas. It was well known to the ancients and -furnished the theme of many a fabulous story. - -[Illustration: The Dolphin.] - -The common dolphin (_Delphinus Delphis_) the true _hieros ichthus_, is -only rarely met with on the British coast. Its length is usually seven or -eight feet, though some specimens have been found to measure ten feet. Its -back is almost straight, or only slightly elevated; its colour is dusky -black above and whitish beneath. Its pectorals or flappers, which are -placed low in the sides, are well developed, and a dorsal fin, which is -somewhat short, is much elevated. Its tail is broad and notched in the -centre and expanded horizontally--not vertically as in most other -fishes--by the help of which it makes its peculiar leaps over the surface -of the water and at the same time takes its breath. - -Unlike its near relatives the porpoises, who haunt the coast, dolphins -live far out at sea, and are generally mistaken for porpoises. The -long-snouted dolphin feeds on pelagic fishes. The short-nosed porpoise -likes salmon and mackerel, robs the fishermen's nets, and even burrows in -the sand in search of odds and ends. The dolphin is the sea-goose. The -porpoise is the sea-pig; he is the _porc-poisson_, the _porc-pois_, or -sea-hog. - -The convex snout of the dolphin is separated from the forehead by a deep -furrow; the muzzle is greatly extended, compressed, and much attenuated -especially towards the apex, where it terminates in a rather sharp-pointed -beak. The French name _bec d'oie_, from the great projection of its nose -or beak, has led to its adoption in the arms of English families of the -name of Beck. The dolphin is an elegant and swift swimmer, and capable of -overtaking the swiftest of the finny tribe. Because the creature is noted -for its swiftness it has been adopted in the arms of Fleet. - -The dolphin is able to hold his own against nearly all others of his size -and weight, and even some of the larger cetaceans only come off second -best in an encounter with the dolphin. He is voracious, gluttonous, and -ever on the look out for something to turn up, hunting his prey with great -persistency and devouring it with avidity. He has been not inaptly styled -"the plunderer of the deep." - -The destructive character of the dolphin amongst the various tribes of -fish is not lessened when we examine its formidable jaws studded with an -immense number of interlocking teeth. Notwithstanding its rapacious habits -and the variety of its diet it was in England formerly regarded as a royal -fish, and its flesh held in high estimation. Old chroniclers have frequent -entries of dolphins being caught in the Thames, thus: "3 Henry V.--Seven -dolphins came up the Thames, whereof four were taken." "14th Richard -II.--On Christmas Day one was taken at London Bridge, being ten feet long, -and a monstrous grown fish." (Delalune's "Present State of London," 1681.) -The early fathers of the Church deemed "all fish that swam in the sea"; -the dolphin was therefore eaten in Lent. He is, however, a mammal, not a -fish, and though an air-breathing creature he lives and dies in the ocean. -But one is brought forth at a birth, and between the old and young of -their kind, as in the case of all marine animals, a strong affection -exists. - -Travellers' tales are notoriously hard of belief, and must be taken _cum -grano salis_. We learn from Sir Thomas Herbert, an early voyager, that -when he was on the coast of Sanquehar, a large kingdom on the east side of -the Cape of Good Hope, he "saw there great numbers of dolphins," of which -he says: "They much affect the company of men, and are nourished like men; -they are always constant to their mates, tenderly affected to their -parents, feeding and defending them against hungry fishes when they are -old," and much more information equally astonishing. - -A story is related of a man who once went to a mufti and asked him whether -the flesh of the sea-pig (the dolphin) was lawful food. Without any -hesitation the mufti declared that pig's flesh was unlawful at all times -and under all circumstances. Some time after another person submitted the -question to the same authority, whether the _fish_ of the sea, called the -sea-pig, was lawful food. The mufti replied: "Fish is lawful food by -whatever name it may be called." - -CLASSIC FABLE AND MEDIÆVAL LEGEND have shed a halo of romantic interest -around the dolphin which cleaves to it even to the present hour; the rare -event of a dolphin being caught in British waters revives with a thrill -all the old-world stories and historic associations of this famous fish as -if it were a veritable relic of the golden age. The dolphin of fact we -have found to be quite a different creature from what he is pictured by -the ancients. The mariner may be engulfed by "the yawning, dashing, -furious sea," but no generous dolphin now watches with tender eye, -solicitous for his safety, nor offers his ready back to speed him to the -shore. - -The dolphin of our modern poets and sailors--the swift swimmer that leaps -after the flying-fish and frolics in front of the vessel's prow until he -is caught by the glittering tin--is the _Coryphæna hippurus_, the species -famed for its changing tints when taken from the water. During a calm, -these fishes, when swimming about a ship, appear of a brilliant blue or -purple, shining with a metallic lustre in every change of reflected light. -On being captured and brought on deck, the variety of these tints is very -beautiful. The bright purple and golden yellow hues change to brilliant -silver, varying back again into the original colours, purple and gold. -This alteration of tints continues for some time, diminishing in -intensity, and at last settles down into a dull leaden hue. The -iridescent lines which play along its elegant curves as he lies on deck -has awakened the enthusiasm of many a writer. Byron tells us in a -beautiful simile: - - "Parting day - Dies like the dolphin, whom each pang imbues - With a new lustre, as it gasps away, - The last still loveliest, till 'tis gone--and all is grey." - -[Illustration: Dolphin of classic art.] - -It is needless to say that the legendary dolphin is not to be confounded -with the gay and graceful _coryphæna_ to whom alone belong those rainbow -flashes of colour in dying. The common dolphin (_Delphinus delphis_) is -dark on the back and satiny white beneath but not even in the agonies of -death does he change colour, though like all dead things the body becomes -slightly phosphorescent during decomposition. There are two curious fresh -water dolphins, the Sooloo of the Ganges and the Inia of the Amazon, which -form the connecting-link between the herbaceous and carnivorous cetacea. - -The dolphin ([Greek: delphin]) may be considered an accessory symbol of -Apollo, who, as we read in the Homeric hymns, once took the form of a -dolphin when he guided the Cretan ship to Crissa, whence, after commanding -the crew to burn the ship and erect an altar to him as Apollo Delphinios, -he led them to Delphi, and appointed them to be the first priests of his -temple. - -The dolphin is the most classic of fishes, the favourite of Apollo, and -sacred to that bright divinity, deriving his name from the oracular -Delphi, that mysterious spot, "the earth's umbilicus," the very centre of -the world, Delphi or Delphos, a town in Phocis, famous for its oracle in -the Temple of Apollo, upon the walls of which were sculptured the _Helios -ichthus_, Apollo's fish. - -In the legend of Tarento, Phalantus, heading the Patheniæ, was driven from -Sparta and shipwrecked off the coast of Italy, and escaped on a friendly -dolphin's back to Tarentum. We learn from Aristotle that the youthful -figure seated on the dolphin, which is the most common type on the coins -of this city, was intended for Taras, a son of Poseidon, from whom the -city is said to have derived its name. - -The dolphins, "the arrows of the sea," were the great carriers of ancient -times. Not only did they bear the Nereides safely on their backs, but -Arion, the sweet singer, when forced to leap into the sea to escape the -mariners who would have murdered him, had previously so charmed the -dolphins by his playing that they gathered round the ship and one of them -bore Arion safely to Tænarus, whilst the musician - - "with harmonious strains - Requites his bearer for his friendly pains." - -The classic myth of Arion and the dolphin, like many other pagan -fictions, was invested by the early Christians with an entirely different -signification, and in the sculptures and frescoes of the catacombs and -other symbolic representations of the Christian converts, the frequent -introduction of the dolphin "points not to the deliverer of Arion, but to -Him who through the waters of baptism opens to mankind the paths of -deliverance, causing them to so pass the waves of this troublesome world -that finally they may come to the land of everlasting life." - -The poet Licophron says Ulysses bore a dolphin on his shield, on the -pommel of his sword, as well as on his ring, in commemoration of the -extraordinary escape of his son Telemachus, who when young fell into the -sea and was taken up by a dolphin and safely brought on shore. Pliny and -others relate a story of one of these fishes which frequented the Lake -Lucrin: "A boy who went every day to school from Baia to Puzzoli used to -feed this dolphin with bread, and it became at last so familiar with the -boy that it carried him often on its back over the bay." - -The dolphins were early symbols on the coins of Ægina, and though -abandoned for a time were afterwards resumed; and they appear upon later -and well-known coins of that State accompanied by the wolf and other -national devices. Argos had anciently two dolphins; Syracuse, a winged -sea-dog, a dolphin, &c.; Teneos (Cyclades) two dolphins and a trident. The -dolphin and trident figures also upon coins of the ancient city of -Byzantium, signifying probably the sovereignty of the seas. It is even -figured by the ancients as a constellation in the heraldry of the heavens. -In botany it lives in larkspurs called delphiniums, from their curious -petals and the slender segments of their leaves. - -[Illustration: Coin of Ægina.] - -The dolphin and anchor is a famous historic symbol. Titus, Emperor of -Rome, took the device of a dolphin twisted round an anchor, to imply, like -the emblem of Augustus, the medium between haste and slowness, the anchor -being the symbol of delay, as it is also of firmness and security, while -the dolphin is the swiftest of fish. This device appears also upon the -coins of Vespasian, the father of Titus. The anchor was also used as a -signet ring by Seleneus, King of Syria. The dolphin and anchor was also -used, with the motto "Festina lente" ("Hasten slowly"), by the Emperor -Adolphus of Nassau, and by Admiral Chabot. The family of Onslow bear the -same for crest and motto. - -Aldus Manutius, the celebrated Venetian printer, adopted this well-known -device from a silver medal presented to him by Cardinal Bembo, with the -motto in Greek "hasten slowly." Camerarius describes this sign in his book -of symbols "to represent that maturity in business which is the medium -between too great haste and slowness." "When violent winds disturb the sea -the anchor is cast by seamen, the dolphin winds herself round it out of a -particular love for mankind, and directs it as with a human intellect so -that it may more safely take hold of the ground; for dolphins have this -peculiar property that they can, as it were, foretell storms. The anchor -then signifies a stay and security whilst the dolphin is a hieroglyphic -for philanthropy and safety." - -[Illustration] - -This sign was afterwards adopted by William Pickering, a worthy -"Discipulus Aldi" as he styles himself. Sir Egerton Bridges has some -verses upon it, amongst which occur the following: - - "Would thou still be safely landed, - On the Aldine anchor ride; - Never yet was vessel stranded, - With the dolphin by its side. - - * * * * * - - "Nor time nor envy shall ever canker, - The sign which is my lasting pride; - Joy then to the Aldus anchor - And the dolphin at its side. - - "To the dolphin as we're drinking, - Life and health and joy we send; - A poet once he saved from sinking, - And still he lives the poet's friend." - -The dolphin was the insignia of the Eastern Empire--the Empire of -Constantinople. The Courteneys, a noble Devonshire family, still bear the -dolphin as crest and badge, and the melancholy motto, "Ubi lapsus? Quid -feci?" ("Whither have I fallen? What have I done?"), "a touching -allusion," says Miss Millington ("Heraldry in History and Romance"), "to -the misfortunes of their race, three of whom filled the imperial throne of -Constantinople during the time that city was in possession of the Latins -after the siege of 1204. Expelled at length by the Greeks, Baldwin, the -last of the three, wandered from Court to Court throughout Europe vainly -seeking aid to replace him upon the throne." - -A branch of the imperial Courteneys settled in England during the reign of -Henry II., and their descendants were among the principal Barons of the -realm. Three Earls of Courteney perished on the scaffold during the Wars -of the Roses; the family was restored to favour by Henry VII. Another -Courteney, the Marquis of Exeter, became first the favourite, and -subsequently the victim of the brutal tyrant Henry VIII. His son Edward, -after being long a prisoner in the tower, ended his days in exile, and the -family estates passed into other hands. - -Sir William Courteney, of Powderham Castle, Devon (_temp._ Edw. IV.), -bore emblazoned on his standard three dolphins in reference to the purple -of three Emperors. - -The Arms of Peter Courteney, Bishop of Exeter, 1478, is still to be seen -in the episcopal palace environed with the dolphins of Constantinople. - - -The Dauphin of France - -[Illustration: Banner of the Dauphin.] - -In France the bearing of the dolphin was exclusively restricted to the -Dauphin or heir to the throne of the kingdom. Brydson mentions that one of -the first of the troubadours was called the Dauphin, or Knight of the -Dolphin, from bearing that figure on his shield, adding that "the name in -his successors became a title of sovereign dignity." - -The title "Dauphin," borne by the eldest son and heir-apparent of the -kings of France under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties, originated in the -Dauphins of Viennois, sovereigns of the province of Dauphiné. Guy VIII., -Count of Vienne, was the first so styled. The title descended in the -family till 1349, when Humbert II., _de la Tour de Pisa_, sold his -seigneurie, called the Dauphiné, to Philippe VI. (de Valois), on condition -that the heir of France assumed the title of "Le Dauphin." The first -French prince so called was Jean, who succeeded Philippe; and the last was -the Duc d'Angoulême, son of Charles X., who renounced the title in 1830. -In 1601, when Louis XIII. was born, there had not been a Dauphin since -Francis II. (the husband of Mary, Queen of Scots)--eighty-four years. The -province of Dauphiné sent a deputation to Fontainebleau, headed by the -Archbishop of Vienne, to recognise the infant as their sovereign, and make -him a present of an entire service of richly chased plate with various -figures of dolphins, estimated at 12,000 crowns. - -GRAND DAUPHIN.--Louis, duc de Bourgogne, eldest son of Louis XIV., for -whom was published the edition of the Latin classics entitled "Ad usum -Delphini" (1661-1711). - -SECOND, OR LITTLE DAUPHIN.--Louis, son of the Grand Dauphin (1682-1712). - -Shakespeare, by an anachronism of a hundred years, introduced into King -John - - "Lewis, the Dauphin and the heir of France." - -Mary Queen of Scots bore the title on her marriage in 1558 to the Dauphin, -afterwards Francis II., and styled by her adherents: - - "Mary, Queen, and Dolphiness of Fraunce, - The nobillest lady in earth." - - -The Heraldic Dolphin - -[Illustration: Example--Dolphin embowed.] - -The heraldic dolphin, as usually represented by modern heralds, is an -ornamental monstrosity bearing but slight resemblance to the natural form -of this celebrated historic marine symbol; a nearer resemblance to the -natural shape is decidedly preferable. Some of the early heraldic -representations, though a little crude, are very characteristic and -thoroughly heraldic in treatment, though at the same time very unlike the -real dolphin. - -In its series of leaps out of the water the dolphin appears with high -arched back, just as we see it represented in antique works; its natural -shape, however, is straight, the back being but slightly curved. The broad -tail paddle being placed in a horizontal position necessitates an up and -down stroke, which makes their swimming to appear a series of leaps and -divings. Like its near relative the porpoise, it is an air-breathing -animal; its apparent gambollings on the water may, therefore, be more -truly attributed to its breathing and blowing whilst in pursuit of its -prey. - -The Dolphin is generally, if not always, depicted in heraldry _embowed_, -that is, having its back greatly incurvated. In blazon the word _Dolphin_, -alone, implies that its natural position, _naiant_ (swimming) and embowed, -is understood, but for the sake of accuracy it is better always to give -the description in full, as a doubt may arise as to the omission of a word -indicating its position. - -_Torqued_, _torquend_, _torgant_, or _targant_, from the Latin _torquere_, -to twist, are old terms for embowed, or bowed embowed, bent in the form of -the letter S, turning contrary ways at each bending; applicable also to -serpents. - -_Hauriant_, from the Latin _ab hauriendo_, is a term applied to fishes -generally when placed in an upright position or _in pale_, as if putting -the head above water to get air. - -[Illustration: Hauriant] - -[Illustration: Urinant] - -[Illustration: Naiant] - -[Illustration: Torqued] - -Shell-fish are blazoned _erect_ or _upright_, the term hauriant being only -applicable to fishes with scales and fins. - -_Urinant_ (from the Latin _urino_, to duck or dive under water) signifies -borne with the head downwards and the tail erect, the reverse position of -hauriant. - -Two dolphins are occasionally borne together, sometimes endorsed, or back -to back; sometimes respecting each other. - -As signifying the conquest of the sea, it appears in the shields of many -seaport cities. It figures on the well-known bearings of the towns of -Brighton, Dunkirk, Poole, &c. - -The Dolphin appears in English heraldry as early as the middle of the -thirteenth century. In a roll of arms of that date, a dolphin is given as -the coat of Gile de Fiseburn. - -"The Godolphins of Helston," says Miss Millington, "who had estates in -that part of the kingdom (Cornwall) at the time of the Conquest, bore -_argent three dolphins embowed, sable_." Similar arms are borne by many -English families. - -The Godolphins, Franklins, Franklands, Frenches, Fishers and Kennedys, in -many of their branches, bear the dolphin fish as their crest. - -A man playing the harp on a dolphin is the heraldic cognisance of the -Walterton family. - - -[Illustration: Sea-horse naiant.] - - -The Sea--Horse - - "_His sea-horses did seem to snort amain - And from their nostrils blow the fiery stream - That made the sparkling waves to smoke again - And flame with gold; but the white foam cream - Did shine with silver, and shoot forth his beam._" - SPENSER'S _Faerie Queen_. - (Procession of the Sea Divinities.) - -The steeds of Neptune are favourite subjects in ancient poetry and art in -the triumphs and processions of the marine deities, drawing the chariot of -the sea-god in its progress through the waves. The imaginative Greeks -pictured to themselves the horses of Poseidon in the rolling and bounding -waves as they pursue each other in haste towards the shore, "curling their -monstrous heads." This may seem to account for the constant and close -connection between the god and the horse. The origin of the horse is -ascribed to the contest between Poseidon and Athenæ as to who should make -to mankind the most useful present; Neptune created the horse, Minerva the -olive-tree. - -[Illustration: Sea-horse erect.] - -The city of Lampsacus, in Mysia, founded by the Phoceans, adopted the -winged sea-horse as their monetary type, in allusion to the fleetness of -their vessels. Others of the maritime States of Greece also adopted the -sea-horse upon their coins. - -A coin of the celebrated Pyrrhus, King of Epirus (slain B.C. 272), the -knight-errant of ancient heroes, represents the head of Achilles, the -reputed ancestor of Pyrrhus, on one side, and the Nereid, Thetis, the -mother of Achilles, on the sea-horse on the reverse. Thetis carries the -arms forged by Vulcan for Achilles, in allusion to the succour brought by -Pyrrhus to the Italian Greeks against the barbarians, as the rising Romans -were termed by them. - -In Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," we find a reference to -a veritable sea-horse, if we may believe our authority. John Sobieski, -the victorious King of Poland, in his letters to his wife, when he raised -the memorable siege of Vienna and delivered Europe for ever from the -incursions of the Turks, describes to her how, in the tent of Mustapha, he -found the great standard of the Turks, "_made of the hair of the sea-horse -(?) wrought with a needle and embroidered with Arabic figures_." It was -afterwards hung up by the order of the Emperor in the Cathedral of St. -Stephens, "where," adds the historian, "_I have seen it_." - -The coast of Naples is celebrated for the production of a small fish in -great repute with mothers who nurse their offspring; among its other -virtues it is said to cure the bite of a mad dog. It is about four to six -inches in length, and has a head resembling that of a horse, terminating -in a dragon's tail. This is the tiny hippocampus of our public aquariums. -The Neapolitans call them "cavalli-marini," which was once ingeniously -translated by a learned English traveller as "horse marines." - -This fabulous marine creature in heraldry is compounded of the fore -quarters of a horse with webbed paws, and the hinder part of a fish or -dolphin. A scalloped fin is continued down the neck and back in place of a -mane. It is frequently, though erroneously, to be seen depicted with the -flowing mane of a horse; wings are also sometimes added to it, both of -which, it is needless to say, are wrong, unless specially mentioned in the -blazon. - -The Westenras (Baron Rossmore), descended from the family of Van -Wassenhaer of Wassenburg, were of great antiquity in Holland, and they -bore the augmentation of the sea-horse in reference to the valour and -intrepidity of an ancestor, who, during the Duke of Alva's campaign, was -actively employed against the enemies of his country and undertook at -great risk to swim across an arm of the sea with important despatches to -his besieged countrymen. - -[Illustration: Arms of the city of Belfast. The sinister supporter and -crest are Sea-horses.] - -The Sea-horse is of very frequent use in armory, and usually has reference -to meritorious actions performed at sea. It is also borne by many seaport -towns in allusion to the trade and commerce of the port, as in the arms -of the city of Belfast. - -Cromwell, Protector, bore as supporters a lion of England and a sea-horse, -probably to denote his protectorship of the sea, as of the land. - -Bossewell ("Works of Armorie," 1589), in his peculiar mixture of English -and Latin, gives a quaint description of the animal: "This water-horse of -the sea is called a hippotame, for that he is like an horse in back, -mayne, and neying: rostro resupinato a primis dentibus: cauda tortuosa, -ungulis binis. He abideth in the waters on the day, and eateth corn by -night et hunc Nilus gignit." The latter may be classed with those -fantastic ornamental forms frequently employed in fountains and -waterworks, such as the _Ichthyocentaur_, _i.e._, a combination of man and -horse, or the centaur with a fish's extremity. - - -Sea-lion - -or _Lion poisson_, a mythical sea-creature, frequently used in heraldry as -an emblem of bold actions achieved on the ocean in the country's service. -It is depicted as the fore part of a lion with webbed feet, the hinder -part ending in a fish's tail. - -Two such animals support the arms of Viscount Falmouth. - -The Earl of Howth has for supporters _a sea-lion argent_, and a mermaid, -proper. The crest also is a sea-lion. - -[Illustration: Sea-lion erect.] - -The crest of Duckworth is _a tower, the battlements partly demolished, -from the top flames issuant proper; on the sinister side a sea-lion erect -azure, pressing against the tower_. - -Silvestre.--_Argent, a sea-lion couchant azure, crowned armed and langued -gules._ - -When the sea-lion or other compounded creature of this kind is erect, it -should be clearly blazoned as "a sea-lion erect on his tail," to -distinguish it from naiant, the swimming position natural to it. - - -Sea-dog - -is depicted like a talbot in shape, but with the tail like that of a -beaver, the feet webbed and the whole body scaled like a fish, a scalloped -fin continued along the back from the head to the tail. - -Baron Stourton has two such beasts, sable, scaled or, for his supporters. - -The crest of Sir H. Delves Broughton.--_A sea-dog's head gules, eared and -finned argent._ - -[Illustration: Sea-dog rampant.] - -The SEA-BULL, SEA-WOLF, SEA-BEAR, SEA-CAT, SEA-DRAGON, etc., when they -occur in heraldry, are all depicted as having the anterior portions of -their bodies in the forms which their several names denote; but, like the -sea-lion and sea-horse, they have fishes tails and webbed paws. - - * * * * * - -In conclusion, having, as far as possible, given the _raison d'être_ of -each, and traced the life-history and characteristics of the many strange -and fantastic creatures in our symbolic menagerie, it only remains to -express the hope that the information contained in this volume may be -found both interesting and useful, as without some such knowledge there -can be little or no intelligent understanding of the proper treatment of -the forms of these mythical and symbolic beings. The suggestive -illustrations, while giving the recognised forms of each, leaves to the -artist free scope to adopt his own style of art treatment, whether purely -heraldic or merely decorative. - - - Printed by BALLANTYNE & CO. LIMITED - Tavistock Street, London - - - - - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] "Decorative Heraldry," by G. W. Eve. - -[2] The above notes on heraldic treatment are largely adapted from the -admirable works on Decorative Art, by Louis F. Day. - -[3] See Audsley's "Glossary of Architecture," "Angel," p. 101. - -[4] "Restit. of Decayed Intell. in Antiq." p. 147. - -[5] "Great Cities of the Middle Ages." - -[6] "History of Signboards." - -[7] Brewer's "Dictionary of Phrase and Fable." - -[8] "Analysis of Ornament," by Ralph N. Wornum. - -[9] That is, _Visconti_ is only a variation of _Biscia_ equivalent to -_Anguis_, Italianised to _Angleria_. - -[10] Pliny, Book xi. ch. 25, from an old translation. - -[11] But for an oversight in the drawing, the unicorn should have been -represented with the divided hoofs of a stag. - -[12] "Mythology of Greece and Rome, with special reference to its Use in -Art," from the German of O. Seemann. - -[13] W. N. Humphry's "Coin Collector's Manual." - -[14] "Modern Painters," vol. iii. ch. 8. - -[15] "Historical Devices, Badges, and War Cries," p. 10. - -[16] "Iconography of Christian Art." - -[17] "Orlando Furioso," iv. 18, 19. - -[18] "Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians." - -[19] W. Noel Humphry's "Coin Collector's Manual." - -[20] Book x. ch. 2. - -[21] Guillam's "Display of Heraldry." The same is also related in the -Latin "Bestiarium," Harl. MSS. 4751; and by Albertus Magnus, Camerarius, -&c. - -[22] "Cassell's Natural History." - -[23] Bk. viii. ch. 17. - -[24] Harl. MSS. 6085. - -[25] Hist. Dev. 260. - -[26] "Natural History," x. 67, xxix. 4. - -[27] Tylor's "Primitive Culture." - -[28] Armorie of Honour, 62. - -[29] "Coin Collector's Manual," Bohn. - -[30] Book ix. ch. 13. - -[31] The sign was also used by printers: John Rastall, brother-in-law to -Sir Thomas More, "emprynted in the Cheapesyde at the Sygne of the -Mermayde; next to Powlsgate in 1572." Henry Binnemann, the Queen's -printer, dedicated a work to Sir Thomas Gresham, in 1576, at the sign of -the Mermaid, Knightrider Street. A representation of the creature was -generally prefixed to his books.--"History of Sign-boards," p. 227. - - - - -Transcriber's Notes: - -Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_. - -Superscripted characters are indicated by {superscript}. - -The original text contains letters with diacritical marks that are not -represented in this text version. - -The original text includes Greek characters. For this text version these -letters have been replaced with transliterations. - -The original text includes symbols that are represented as [Symbol] in -this text version. - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Fictitious & Symbolic Creatures in Art, by -John Vinycomb - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SYMBOLIC CREATURES IN ART *** - -***** This file should be named 40825-8.txt or 40825-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/8/2/40825/ - -Produced by Chris Curnow and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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A representation of the creature was generally prefixed to his books.—“History of Sign-boards,” p. 227.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Fictitious & Symbolic Creatures in Art, by -John Vinycomb - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SYMBOLIC CREATURES IN ART *** - -***** This file should be named 40825-h.htm or 40825-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/8/2/40825/ - -Produced by Chris Curnow and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Fictitious & Symbolic Creatures in Art - With Special Reference to Their Use in British Heraldry - -Author: John Vinycomb - -Release Date: September 22, 2012 [EBook #40825] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SYMBOLIC CREATURES IN ART *** - - - - -Produced by Chris Curnow and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive.) - - - - - - - - - -FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC CREATURES IN ART - - - - - FICTITIOUS & SYMBOLIC CREATURES IN ART - - WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THEIR - USE IN BRITISH HERALDRY - - - BY JOHN VINYCOMB - MEMBER OF THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY, FELLOW - OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND, - A VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE EX-LIBRIS SOCIETY - - - [Illustration: ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON] - - - _ILLUSTRATED_ - - - CHAPMAN AND HALL, LIMITED - 11 HENRIETTA STREET, LONDON, W. C. - MCMVI - - - - - Printed by BALLANTYNE & CO. LIMITED - Tavistock Street, London - - - - -PREFACE - - -Under the title of this book it is proposed to describe and illustrate -only those fictitious and symbolic creatures which appear in British -Heraldry. The list will include all those beings of whose existence we -have not the direct evidence of our senses, and those exaggerations and -combinations of natural forms which have been adopted in the system of -symbolic heraldry handed down to us from the Middle Ages. Many of the -ideas of the writers of that period were undoubtedly derived from still -earlier sources, namely, classic story, sacred and legendary art, and the -marvellous tales of early travellers; others were the coinage of their own -fancies and their fears. - -As these unreal beings are constantly met with in symbolic art, of which -heraldry is the chief exponent, it may be assumed that they have been -adopted in each case with some obvious or latent meaning, as in the case -of real animals; they may, therefore, equally lay claim to our -consideration as emblems or types, more especially as less attention has -been devoted to them and the delineation of their forms by competent -artists. The writer has been led into considering and investigating the -subject with some degree of attention, from finding the frequent need of -some reliable authority, both descriptive and artistic, such as would -enable any one to depict with accuracy and true heraldic spirit the forms -and features of these chimerical beings. Books of reference on heraldry -unfortunately give but a meagre description of their shapes, with scarcely -a hint as to their history or meaning, while the illustrations are usually -stiff and awkward, representing a soulless state of art. - -It cannot be said that artists at any period have succeeded, even in a -remote degree, in embodying the highly wrought conceptions of the poets -concerning these terrible creatures of the imagination. Milton seems to -have carried poetic personification to its utmost limits. Who, for -instance, could depict a being like this: - - "Black it stood as night, - Fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell!" - -Out of the ambiguous and often conflicting accounts of different authors -and the vagaries of artists it became no easy task to arrive at a clear -conception of many of the forms of these ideal monsters. The poet's pen -may turn them to shapes, shadowy at the best; but the artist who follows -the poet in endeavouring to realise and give tangible shape to these ideas -finds it beyond his art to give material form and expression to his -personifications with anything like photographic fidelity. Such shadowy -beings prefer the dim light of allegory to the clear sunlight of reason, -and shrink from closer inspection. Like all spectres they are ever most -effective in the dark. In the childhood of the world, from the dawn of -history, and all through the dim and credulous ages past, many such -illusions have performed an important part in influencing the thought and -lives of mankind. Over many lands these inherited ideas still exercise a -paramount influence, but in the enlightenment of the coming time it is -probable their power, like that of an evil dream, will fade entirely away -with the dawn of a brighter day, and the memories of their name and -influence alone remain. At present we are chiefly concerned with them as -symbols, and with their mode of representation, breathing for a brief -moment the breath of life into their old dead skins. These mythical -creatures may be gazed upon, shorn of all their terrors, in the -illustrations I have been enabled to make, and if it is found that from -each creature I have not "plucked out the heart of its mystery" it is -probably because there is no mystery whatever about it, only what to us -now appears as an ingenious fiction engendered by a credulous, imaginative -and superstitious past. And so we find the old horrors and pleasing -fictions, after figuring for ages as terrible or bright realities in the -minds of entire peoples, reduced at length to the dead level of a figure -of speech and a symbol merely. - - J. VINYCOMB. - - HOLYWOOD, - COUNTY DOWN, - _April 1906_. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - INTRODUCTION 1 - - NOTES ON ANIMATED BEINGS IN HERALDIC ART 13 - THE SYMBOLISM OF ATTITUDE OR POSITION 18 - THE HERALDIC SPIRIT--EFFECTIVE DECORATIVE QUALITY ESSENTIAL - IN HERALDRY 22 - - CELESTIAL BEINGS 25 - - ANGELS 27 - MISTAKEN MODERN CONCEPTION OF ANGELS 32 - MEDIAEVAL ART TREATMENT OF ANGELS 34 - - CHERUBIM AND SERAPHIM IN HERALDRY 44 - - THE CHERUBIM AND SERAPHIM OF SCRIPTURE 47 - - EMBLEMS OF THE FOUR EVANGELISTS 53 - - CHIMERICAL CREATURES OF THE DRAGON AND SERPENT KIND 57 - - THE DRAGON 59 - - THE DRAGON IN CHRISTIAN ART 69 - THE DRAGON IN THE ROYAL HERALDRY OF BRITAIN 83 - THE CROCODILE AS THE PROTOTYPE OF THE DRAGON 91 - THE HERALDIC DRAGON 92 - - THE HYDRA 96 - - THE WYVERN 98 - THE CHIMERA 102 - THE LION-DRAGON 103 - THE GORGON 103 - - THE COCKATRICE 104 - - BASILISK, OR AMPHYSIAN COCKATRICE 106 - THE MYTHICAL SERPENT 108 - - THE SCORPION 122 - - OTHER CHIMERICAL CREATURES AND HERALDIC BEASTS 125 - - THE UNICORN 127 - MEDIAEVAL CONCEPTION OF THE UNICORN 130 - THE HORN OF THE UNICORN 133 - - THE PEGASUS 137 - - SAGITTARY, CENTAUR, SAGITTARIUS, CENTAURUS, HIPPOCENTAUR 141 - - GRIFFIN OR GRYPHON 147 - THE MALE GRIFFIN 160 - OTHER VARIETIES OF THE GRIFFIN 161 - - THE OPINICUS, OR EPIMACUS 162 - - THE SPHYNX 163 - - THE PHOENIX BIRD OF THE SUN 171 - - THE HARPY 179 - - THE HERALDIC PELICAN 182 - - THE MARTLET 186 - - THE ALERION 188 - THE LIVER (CORMORANT) 189 - - THE HERALDIC TIGRE OR TYGER 190 - THE ROYAL TIGER 193 - - LEOPARD, OR PANTHER, FELIS PARDUS, LYBBARDE 194 - THE PANTHER "INCENSED" 199 - - THE LYNX 203 - - CAT-A-MOUNTAIN--TIGER CAT OR WILD CAT 205 - - THE SALAMANDER 209 - - HERALDIC ANTELOPE 213 - - THE HERALDIC IBEX 215 - - BAGWYN 216 - - THE CAMELOPARD, CAMEL-LEOPARD 216 - - MUSIMON, TITYRUS 217 - - THE ENFIELD 217 - - MANTIGER, MONTEGRE OR MANTICORA SATYRAL 218 - LAMIA OR EMIPUSA 220 - BAPHOMET 221 - APRES 221 - STELLIONES 221 - - FICTITIOUS CREATURES OF THE SEA 223 - INTRODUCTORY NOTES 225 - - POSEIDON, OR NEPTUNE 237 - - MERMAN OR TRITON 239 - - THE MERMAID OR SIREN 243 - - THE SIRENS OF CLASSIC MYTHOLOGY 249 - - THE DOLPHIN OF LEGEND AND OF HERALDRY 254 - - THE DAUPHIN OF FRANCE 265 - - THE HERALDIC DOLPHIN 267 - - THE SEA-HORSE 270 - - SEA-LION 274 - - SEA-DOG 275 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE - - CELESTIAL BEINGS: - Angel holding Shield 27 - Egyptian Winged Deity 28 - Hawk-headed and winged figure, emblem of Osiris 29 - Angel with Cloud Symbol 38 - Angel Supporter 40 - Kneeling Angel Supporter 41 - Arms of the Abbey of St. Albans 42 - Gloria in Excelsis Deo 43 - Cherubs' Heads 44 - A Seraph's Head 44 - Arms--Azure a chevron argent between three cherubs' heads of the - last 45 - Cherubim and Seraphim of Scripture 47 - Angel crest of Tuite, Bart., co. Tipperary 48 - Tetramorph 52 - Symbols of the Four Evangelists 54 - The Lion of St. Mark, Venice 56 - - CHIMERICAL CREATURES OF THE DRAGON AND SERPENT KIND: - The Dragon 59 - Japanese Dragon 65 - Japanese Imperial Device 67 - The Dragon of the Apocalypse 71 - St. Michael and the Old Dragon 72 - St. Margaret. From ancient carving 73 - St. George and the Dragon 74 - Dragon Standard. From the Bayeux Tapestry 86 - A Dragon passant 90 - Crest, a Dragon's Head erased collared and chained 93 - Arms of the City of London 94 - Sinister supporter of the arms of Viscount Gough 95 - Hercules and the Lernean Hydra. From Greek vase 96 - The Hydra 97 - A Wyvern holding a fleur-de-lis 98 - A Wyvern, wings endorsed, tail nowed 99 - Wyvern from the Garter plate of Sir John Gray, 1436 A.D. 99 - Wyvern, or Lindworm (German version) 100 - Wyvern, wings displayed (early example) 101 - Wyvern, wings depressed 101 - Chimera, from a Greek coin 102 - Cockatrice 105 - Basilisk or Aphasian Cockatrice, tail nowed 107 - Greek Shield, from painted vase in the British Museum 114 - Brazen Serpent 114 - Arms of Whitby Abbey 118 - A Serpent, nowed, proper. Crest of Cavendish 121 - Amphiptere, or flying Serpent 122 - Scorpion 123 - - OTHER CHIMERICAL CREATURES AND HERALDIC BEASTS: - Unicorn salient 127 - Crest, a Unicorn's Head, couped 128 - The Legend of the Unicorn 131 - Pegasus or Pegasos 137 - Coins of Corinth and Syracuse 138 - Pegasus salient 139 - The Sagittary--Centaur 142 - Ipotane, from Mandeville's travels 144 - Compound figures, gold necklace 145 - Centaur, Greek Sculpture 146 - A Griffin statant, wings endorsed 148 - A Griffin passant, wings raised. (Early English) 149 - A Griffin segreant, wings displayed. (German) 149 - Sleeping Griffin 150 - Griffin segreant (German version) 152 - Gold Flying Griffin 154 - Colossal Griffins, Burmah 155 - Carved panel, a Griffin segreant 160 - Male Griffin 161 - Opinicus statant 162 - Egyptian Sphynx 163 - Theban, or Greek Sphynx 164 - A Sphynx passant guardant, wings endorsed 170 - The Phoenix 171 - A Harpy, wings disclosed 179 - The Harpy, Greek sculpture 180 - A Harpy displayed and crowned (German version) 181 - Shield of Nueremberg 181 - A Pelican in her piety, wings displayed 182 - Heraldic Pelican in her piety 183 - Crest, a Pelican vulning herself proper, wings endorsed 184 - The natural Pelican 186 - The Martlet 186 - Alerion displayed 188 - Heraldic Eagle 188 - An Heraldic Tigre passant 190 - Supporter, an Heraldic Tigre, collared and lined 191 - Tigre and Mirror 193 - A Leopard passant 195 - A Leopard's Face, jessant-de-lis 196 - Panther "Incensed" 200 - The Lynx 203 - Cat-a-Mountain saliant, collared and lined 205 - Crest, a Cat-a-Mountain, sejant, collared and lined 206 - The crowned Salamander of Francis I. 209 - Salamander crest of James, Earl of Douglas 212 - Heraldic Antelope 214 - The Heraldic Ibex 215 - Musimon, Tityrus 217 - Mantygre, Satyral 218 - Manticora. From ancient Bestiaria 219 - Lamia. From old Bestiary 220 - - FICTITIOUS CREATURES OF THE SEA: - Poseidon. Dexter Supporter of Baron Hawke 237 - Merman or Triton 240 - Triton, with two tails (German) 240 - Mermaid and Triton supporters 241 - Mermaid 242, 243 - Crest of Ellis 244 - Die Ritter, of Nuremberg 245 - Ulysses and the Sirens 249, 250 - The Dolphin 254, 255 - Dolphin of classic art 259 - Coin of AEgina 262 - Sign of the Dolphin 263 - Banner of the Dolphin 265 - Example--Dolphin embowed 267 - Dolphin hauriant, urinant, naiant, torqued 268 - Sea-horse naiant 270 - Sea-horse erect 271 - Arms of the city of Belfast 273 - Sea-lion erect 275 - Sea-dog rampant 276 - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - "_Angels and ministers of grace defend us._"--"Hamlet." - - -The human mind has a passionate longing for knowledge even of things past -comprehension. Where it cannot know, it will imagine; what the mind -conceives it will attempt to define. Are facts wanting, poetry steps in, -and myth and song supply the void; cave and forest, mountain and valley, -lake and river, are theatres peopled by fancy, and - - "as imagination bodies forth - The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen - Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing - A local habitation and a name." - -Traditions of unreal beings inhabit the air, and will not vanish be they -ever so sternly commanded; from the misty records of antiquity and the -relics of past greatness as seen sculptured in stupendous ruins on the -banks of the Nile and the plains of Assyria, strange shapes look with -their mute stony eyes upon a world that knows them but imperfectly, and -vainly attempts to unriddle the unfathomable mystery of their being. -Western nations, with their growing civilisations, conjured up monsters of -benign or baneful influence, or engrafted and expanded the older ideas in -a manner suited to their genius and national characteristics. - -The creatures of the imagination, "Gorgons and Hydras and Chimeras dire," -shapes lovely and shapes terrible begot of unreason in the credulous minds -of the imaginative, the timid and the superstitious,--or dreamy poetic -fancies of fairies and elves of whom poets sing so sweetly: - - "Shapes from the invisible world unearthly singing - From out the middle air, from flowery nests - And from the pillowy silkiness that rests - Full in the speculation of the stars,--" - KEATS. - - - "or fairy elves, - Whose midnight revels, by the forest side - Or fountain, some belated peasant sees, - Or dreams he sees,--" - MILTON, _Paradise Lost_, Book i. - -the nameless dreads and horrors of the unknown powers of darkness, the -pestiferous inhabitants of wastes and desert places where loneliness -reigns supreme, and imaginary terrors assault the traveller on every hand, -assuming forms more various and more to be dreaded than aught of mortal -birth,--such vague and indefinable ideas, "legends fed by time and -chance," like rumours in the air, in the course of time assume tangible -shape, receiving definite expression by the poet and artist until they -become fixed in the popular mind as stern realities influencing the -thoughts and habits of millions of people through successive generations. -We see them in the rude fetish of the South Sea Islander, the myriad gods -and monsters of heathen mythology, as well as in the superstitions of -mediaeval Europe, of which last the devil with horned brow, cloven hoofs -and forked tail is the most "unreal mockery" of them all. The days of -Diabolism and the old witch creed are, however, passed away; but under the -dominance of these ideas during centuries, in Protestant and Catholic -lands alike, hundreds of thousands of innocent victims of all ages and -both sexes were accused of the most absurd and impossible crimes, and -subjected to almost inconceivable torture and death. - -The dying Christian about to pass through the valley of the shadow of -death, in the words of the poet, expresses his faith in the nearness of -the spirit world: - - "I see a form ye cannot see - I hear a voice ye cannot hear." - -To the spiritually minded other forms, with more of the beautiful and less -of the hideous and frightful, revealed themselves; the solitary recluse, -his body and mind reduced to an unnatural condition by fasting and -penance, in mental hallucination beheld his celestial visitants with awe -and adoration, and saw in visions angels and archangels, cherubim and -seraphim towering in a blaze of glory to illimitable height and extremest -space. The rapt seraph and the whole angelic host of heaven to his -ecstatic gaze was a revelation and a reality as tangible as were the -powers of darkness seen and felt by more sordid natures, incapable of the -higher conceptions, and whose minds were accessible chiefly through their -terrors. - -To classic fable we are indebted for very many of the fictitious animals -which heralds have introduced into coats armorial. In all ages man has -sought to explain by myths certain phenomena of nature which he has been -unable to account for in a more rational manner. _Earthquakes_ were the -awakening of the earth tortoise which carried the earth on its back; _the -tides_ were the pulses of the ocean; _lightning_ was the breath of demons, -the thunderbolt of Jupiter, the hammer of Thor; _volcanoes_ were the -forges of the infernal deities. In the old Norse legends we read of -_waterspouts_ being looked upon as sea serpents, and wonderful stories are -related of their power and influence. The Chinese imagine _eclipses_ to be -caused by great dragons which seek to devour the sun. Innumerable beliefs -cluster round the _sun_, _moon_, and _stars_. We may trace from our own -language the extent of power which these peculiar beliefs have had over -the human mind. We still speak of mad people as lunatics, gloomy people as -saturnine, sprightly people we term mercurial; we say, "Ill-starr'd -event," &c. &c. The ships of the early navigators, with masts and sails -and other requisites for directing their motion or influencing their -speed, would be objects of astonishment to the inhabitants of the -countries they visited, causing them to be received with the utmost -respect and veneration. The ship was taken for a living animal, and hence -originated, some say, the fables of winged dragons, griffons, flying -citadels, and men transformed into birds and fishes. The winged Pegasus -was nothing but a ship with sails and hence was said to be the offspring -of Neptune. - -"In reality," says Southey, in his preface to the "Morte d'Arthur," vol. -ii. 1817, "mythological and romantic tales are current among all savages -of whom we have any full account; for man has his intellectual as well as -his bodily appetite, and these things are the food of his imagination and -faith. They are found wherever there is language and discourse of reason; -in other words, wherever there is man. And in similar states of society -the fictions of different people will bear a corresponding resemblance, -notwithstanding the differences of time and scene." And Sir Walter Scott, -in his "Essay on Romance and Chivalry," following up the same idea, adds, -"that the usual appearances and productions of nature offer to the fancy, -in every part of the world, the same means of diversifying fictitious -narrative by the introduction of prodigies. If in any romance we encounter -the description of an elephant, we may reasonably conclude that a -phenomenon unknown in Europe must have been borrowed from the East; but -whoever has seen a serpent and a bird may easily aggravate the terrors of -the former by conferring on a fictitious monster the wings of the latter; -and whoever has seen or heard of a wolf, or lion and an eagle, may, by a -similar exercise of invention, imagine a griffon or a hippogriff." - -Beyond the common experiences of every-day life the popular mind -everywhere cares very little about simple commonplace practical truths. -Human nature seems to crave mystery, to be fond of riddles and the -marvellous, and doubtless it was ever so and provided for in all the old -faiths of the world. - -"The multitude of dragons, diverse as they are, reflecting the fears and -fancies of the most different races, it is more than probable is a relic -of the early serpent-worship which, according to Mr. Fergusson, is of such -remote antiquity that the religion of the Jews was modern in comparison, -the curse laid on the serpent being, in fact, levelled at the ancient -superstition which it was intended to supersede. Notwithstanding the -various forms under which we find the old dragon he ever retains something -of the serpent about him, if no more than the scales. In the mediaeval -devil, too, the tail reveals his descent." (Louis F. Day.) - -The fictitious beings used as symbols in heraldry may be divided into two -classes: (1) Celestial beings mentioned in Holy Writ, and those creatures -of the imagination which, from the earliest ages, have held possession of -men's minds, profound symbols unlike anything in the heavens or in the -earth beneath or in the waters under the earth. They may be abstract ideas -embodied in tangible shape, such as the terrible creature, the type of -some divine quality, that stands calm, immovable, and imperishable within -the walls of our National Museum; such forms as the dragon, of the purely -imaginative class, and those creatures compounded of parts of different -real animals, yet unlike any one of them, each possessing special symbolic -attributes, according to the traditional ideas held concerning them. (2) -Animals purely heraldic, such as the heraldic tiger, panther incensed, -heraldic antelope, &c., owe their origin and significance to other ideas, -and must be accounted for on other grounds, namely, the mistaken ideas -resulting from imperfect knowledge of these objects in natural history by -early writers and herald painters, to whom they were no doubt real animals -with natural qualities, and, as such, according to their knowledge, they -depicted them; and although more light has been thrown upon the study of -natural history since their time, and many of their conceptions have been -proved to be erroneous, the well-known heraldic shapes of many of these -_lusus naturae_ are still retained in modern armory. These animals were -such as they could have little chance of seeing, and they probably -accepted their descriptions from "travellers' tales," always full of the -marvellous--and the misleading histories of still earlier writers. Pliny -and many of the writers of his day describe certain animals in a way that -appears the absurdest fable; even the lion described by him is in some -points most unnatural. Xenophon, for instance, describing a boar hunt, -gravely tells us: "So hot are the boar's tusks when he is just dead that -if a person lays hairs upon them the hairs will shrivel up; and when the -boar is alive they--that is, the tusks--are actually red hot when he is -irritated, for otherwise he would not singe the tips of the dogs' hair -when he misses a blow at their bodies." The salamander in flames, of -frequent occurrence in heraldry, is of this class. Like the toad, "ugly -and venomous," the salamander was regarded by the ancients with the utmost -horror and aversion. It was accredited with wondrous qualities, and the -very sight of it "abominable and fearful to behold." Elian, Nicander, -Dioscorides and Pliny all agree in that it possessed the power of -immediately extinguishing any fire into which it was put, and that it -would even rush at or charge the flame, which it well knew how to -extinguish. It was believed that its bite was certainly mortal, that -anything touched by its saliva became poisonous, nay, that if it crept -over a tree all the fruit became deleterious. Even Bacon believed in it. -Quoth he: "The salamander liveth in the fire and hath the power to -extinguish it." There is, too, a lingering popular belief that if a fire -has been burning for seven years there will be a salamander produced from -it. Such is the monstrous character given to one of the most harmless of -little creatures: the only basis of truth for all this superstructure of -fable is the fact that it exudes an acrid watery humour from its skin when -alarmed or in pain. - -Spenser, in the "Fairy Queen," Book 1, cant. v. 18, according to the -mistaken notions of his time, compares the dangerous dissimulation and -treacherous tears of Duessa (or Falsehood) to the crocodile: - - "As when a weary traveller that strays - By muddy shore of broad seven-mouthed Nile, - Unweeting of the perilous wand'ring ways, - Doth meet a cruel, crafty crocodile, - Which in false guise hiding his harmful guile, - Doth weep full sore, and shedding tender tears; - The foolish man, that pities all the while - His mournful plight, is swallowed unawares - Forgetful of his own that minds another's cares." - -And Shakespeare, _2 Henry VI_. iii. 1: - - "as the mournful crocodile - With sorrow snares relenting passengers." - -Quarles, too, in his "Emblems": - - "O what a crocodilian world is this, - Compos'd of treach'ries and insnaring wiles!" - -Bossewell, an heraldic writer of the sixteenth century, after the model of -his forerunner, Gerard Leigh, edified his readers with comments on natural -history in such a delightful manner (according to his friend Roscarrocke) -as to provoke the envy of Pliny in Elysium, though now these descriptions -in many instances only serve to call up a smile from their very absurdity. -With "veracious" histories of this description, is it to be wondered at -that such beings as those referred to were made use of in heraldry and -accepted as types or emblems of some particular quality in man? As an -instance of how an error in the form of an animal may be perpetuated -unperceived, it may be mentioned that even in the best books on heraldry, -natural history, and in other illustrated publications, the elephant is -rarely to be seen correctly delineated. A peculiarity in his formation is -that the hind legs bend in the same manner as the fore legs, so that, -unlike other quadrupeds, it can kneel and rest on its four knees, whereas -it is usually depicted with the hind legs to bend in the same way as those -of the horse or the cow. When artists and herald-painters continue to -commit this blunder unobserved, some palliation may be afforded to the old -heralds for their offences against zoology in the errors and delusions -arising from lack of information. They could have little opportunity of -acquiring a correct knowledge of the rarer kinds of animals; they had not -the advantage of seeing menageries of wild beasts, or of consulting books -on natural history with excellent illustrations, as the modern herald may -do. Only when their scanty information fell short did they venture to draw -on their imaginations for their beasts, after the manner of an ancient -worthy, who "where the lion's skin fell short, eked it out with the -fox's." - -Some writers, however, maintain that these monstrosities are not so much -the result of ignorance of the real forms of the beasts as that they were -intended to typify certain extraordinary qualities, and therefore -exaggeration of the natural shapes and functions was needful to express -such qualities. This may be true in some instances. Under this idea the -noble form of the lion may have been distorted to resemble the wild cat in -the fury of its contortions. _The Panther incensed_, breathing fire and -smoke out of its mouth, nose and ears, seems as if taken from some -misleading history--like that of the boar, by Xenophon, already referred -to--or the result of the erroneous description of some terrified -traveller. This is a natural and probable mode of accounting for its -unnatural appearance. It may, however, fairly be said that the natural -ferocity of the brute, and also its destructive qualities, are most fitly -typified by the devouring flame issuing from the head of this bloodthirsty -and treacherous beast of prey. - -_The Heraldic Pelican_, again, is evidently a mistake of the early -artists, similar to the heraldic tiger, heraldic antelope, &c., and the -persistent following of the traditional "pattern" by the heralds when once -established. Early Christian painters always represented this emblem of -devoted self-sacrifice, _A Pelican in her piety_--that is, feeding her -young with her own blood--as having the head and beak of an eagle or bird -of prey such as they must have believed it to possess, and with which it -would be possible that it could lacerate its own breast; and not with the -clumsy and ungainly "bill" peculiar to this species of bird, which we know -is more suited to gobble up small reptiles than to "_vulning_" itself. - -Some symbols, again, are neither real nor do they pretend to be fabulous, -such as the _two-headed eagle_, but are pure heraldic inventions that have -each their special signification. _The tricorporate lion_ lays no claim to -be other than the symbol of a powerful triune body under one guiding head; -the _three legs conjoined_--the arms of the Isle of Man--is an old Greek -sign for expedition. Many other instances will, no doubt, occur to the -reader of similar emblems of this class. - - - - -Notes on Animated Beings in Heraldic Art - - -[Illustration] - - -Notes on Animated Beings in Heraldic Art - - "_One chief source of illustration is to be found in the most - brilliant, and in its power on character, hitherto the most effective - of the Arts--HERALDRY._" - - RUSKIN, - "Relation of Wise Art and Wise Science." - -Heraldry is _par excellence_ the science of symbols. A pictorial device is -subject to no exact or regular law, provided it carries its meaning with -it. Heraldry, on the contrary, insists on the observance of certain -definite and easily understood rules constituting it a science, by the -observance of which any one acquainted with heraldic language may, from a -concise written description (or _blazon_ as it is termed), reconstruct at -any time the symbol or series of symbols intended, and with perfect -accuracy; for a heraldic emblem once adopted remains unchangeable, no -matter with what amount of naturalness or conventionality it may be done, -or with what quaintness or even grotesqueness it may be treated; the -symbol remains intact. "_A lion rampant_," "_a dragon_," or any other -heraldic figure is, therefore, a fixed and immutable idea, and not to be -confounded with any other, no matter what the style of artistic or -decorative treatment it may receive. - -Notwithstanding the evident intention everywhere in heraldry to be -symbolic, in attitude as well as in tinctures, we find the greatest errors -and absurdities constantly perpetrated. To many it seems as if it was not -considered essential to acquire a knowledge of the rudiments of the -science. Heraldry is a living language, and when the attempt is made to -express it without proper knowledge the result can only be unmitigated -nonsense. By inattention to those principles which regulate the -_attitude_, the _tinctures_, and the disposition of every part of an -armorial achievement, discredit is brought upon the subject, which should -fall upon the head of the ignorant designer alone. No matter what heraldic -position of an animal may be blazoned (though it admits of only one -interpretation), we find the most unwarrantable latitude frequently taken -by otherwise skilful artists in depicting it. The designer becomes a law -unto himself, and it is posed and treated in a way to suit the fancy of -the moment. A lion is only a lion to him, and it is nothing more. To the -true herald it is very much more. As a mild instance, see the unkind -treatment meted out to the supporters of the Royal Arms. The lion and -unicorn are both "rampant," and the head of the lion is turned towards -the spectator (termed _guardant_). Not content to be represented in the -regulation positions, they will be found depicted in most strange and -fantastic attitudes not recognised in heraldry--not supporting or guarding -the shield, which is their special function. At the head of the _Times_ -newspaper they are represented playing at hide and seek round the shield; -elsewhere we see them capering and prancing, or we find them sitting, like -begging dogs, as if ashamed of themselves and their vocation. - -I may here quote from a most admirable work: "That the decorative beauty -of heraldry, far from being that of form and colour alone, was also an -imaginative one depending much on the symbolic meaning of its designs, -there can be no doubt.... Early Christian Art was full of symbols, whose -use and meaning were discussed in treatises from the second century -onwards. By the eleventh it had become systemised and ranged under various -heads,--Bestiaria for beasts, Volucaria for birds, and Lapidaria for -stones. It permeated the whole life of the people in its religious uses, -and entered romantically into the half-religious, half-mystical -observances of chivalry, the very armour of the valiant knight being full -of meanings which it was his duty to know."[1] - - -The Symbolism of Attitude or Position - -It must be evident to every one who has given any thought to the subject -that a definite idea is meant to be conveyed to the mind by the attitude -in which an animal is depicted; and such figures are not mere arbitrary -signs, like the letters of the alphabet, which of themselves convey no -meaning whatever. "_A lion rampant_" is, as the term suggests, a lion in -the act of fighting, rearing on his hind legs to meet his antagonist. He -is therefore depicted with wildly tossed mane, staring eyes, and _guly_ -mouth; his muscular limbs and distended claws braced up for the combat -betoken the energy and power of the noble brute. How different is the idea -conveyed by the lion _statant_ in the firm majesty of his pose, calmly -looking before him; or _couchant_, fit emblem of restful vigilance and -conscious power, prepared on the instant alike to attack or defend. - -Should any reasons be needed to enforce the necessity of adhering strictly -to the heraldic law in which attitude plays such an important part, it may -be needful only to refer to one or two examples, and cite as an instance -in point the noblest of all created beings, and ask whether, of the many -acts in which imperious man himself may be heraldically portrayed, the -action or position in which he is to be depicted should not indicate -distinctly the idea that is to be associated with the representation? -whether vauntingly, like the old kings,-- - - "with high exacting look - Sceptred and globed" - ---attributes of his power,--or as a bishop or saint in the act of -benediction,--kneeling in prayer as on mediaeval seals,--the three savage -men _ambulant_ on the shield of Viscount Halifax,--or the dead men strewn -over the field on the seal of the city of Lichfield--in each the primary -idea is _man_, but how different the signification! It will therefore be -understood that the particular action or posture, or any of the various -forms in which real or imaginary creatures may be blazoned in heraldry, -gives the keynote to its interpretation, which, in this respect, is -nothing if not symbolic. - -It will be seen that to interpret the meaning implied in any particular -charge, the _tinctures_, as well as the _attitude_, must be considered. -These, taken in combination with the _qualities_ or _attributes_ we -associate with the creature represented, indicate in a threefold manner -the complete idea or phase of meaning intended to be conveyed by the -composition, and may be thus formulated: - - (1) THE CREATURE.--The primary idea in the symbol is in the particular - being represented, whether real or fictitious, as _a man_, _a lion_, - _an eagle_, _a dragon_, &c., of the form and accepted character for - some particular quality or attribute of mind or body, as - _fierceness_, _valour_, _fleetness_, &c. - - (2) ATTITUDE.--The various attitudes or positions in which it may be - depicted in heraldry, each denoting some special meaning, as - _rampant_, _sejant_, _dormant_, &c. - - (3) TINCTURE.--Whether blazoned _proper_ (that is, according to - nature) or of some of the heraldic tinctures, as _or_ (gold), _gules_ - (red), _azure_, _vert_, &c., each tincture, according to the old - heralds, bearing a particular and special signification. - -Tinctures in armorial devices were, however, not always introduced on -these scientific principles or adopted from any symbolic meaning, but as -arbitrary variations of colour for distinction merely, and as being in -themselves equally honourable; colour alone in many instances serving to -distinguish the arms of many families that would otherwise be the same. -Hence the necessity for accuracy in blazoning. - -Guillam lays down some general rules regarding the symbolic meaning by -which all sorts of creatures borne in arms or ensigns are to be -interpreted, and by which alone a consistent system can be regulated. -"They must," he says, "be interpreted in the best sense, that is, -according to their most generous and noble qualities, and so to the -greatest honour of their bearers.... The _fox_ is full of wit, and withal -given wholly to filching for his prey. If, then, this be the charge of an -escutcheon, we must conceive the quality represented to be his wit and -cunning, but not his pilfering and stealing;" and so of other beasts. Even -in wild and ruthless animals and fictitious creatures, symbolic heraldry -delights in setting forth their most commendable qualities, as fierceness -and courage in overcoming enemies, though they may also possess most -detestable qualities. - -In like manner all sorts of peaceable or gentle-natured creatures must be -set forth in their most noble and kindly action, each in its disposition -and that which is most agreeable to nature, rather than of an opposite -character. Heraldic art thus stamps a peculiar note of dignity for some -particular respect in the emblematic figures it accepts, as for some -special use, quality or action in the thing depicted; and this dignity or -nobility may have a twofold relation, one betwixt creatures of divers -kinds, as _a lion_ or _a stag_, _a wolf_ and _a lamb_; the other between -beings of one and the same kind, according to their various attitudes or -positions in which they may be represented, as a stag _courant_ or _at -speed_, and a stag _lodged_ or _at bay_; a lion _rampant_ and a lion -_coward_--one will keep the field, the other seek safety in flight, just -as one attitude conveys a different signification from another. - - -The Heraldic Spirit--Effective decorative Quality essential in Heraldry - -It will be observable that in the hands of a capable designer imbued with -the true heraldic spirit, all objects, animate and inanimate, conform -after their kind to decorative necessities, and assume shapes more or less -conventional, and, as far as is consistent with effective display of the -charge, are made to accommodate themselves to the space they must occupy. -Fierce and savage beasts are made to look full of energy and angry power, -while gentle-natured creatures are made to retain their harmless traits. -In a monster of the dragon tribe, strong leathern wings add to his -terrors; his jaws are wide, his claws are strong and sharp; he is clothed -in impenetrable armour of plates and scales, his breath is fire and flame, -lightning darts from his eyes, he lashes his tail in fury; and all the -while the artist is most careful so to spread the creature out on shield -or banner that all his powers shall be displayed at once. - -Whatever liberty the artist may take in his interpretation of the form of -bird, beast, or monster, there is, however, a limit to his licence beyond -which he may not go. He may not alter the recognised symbolic attitude, -nor change the tincture; he is scarcely at liberty to add a feature. He -may curl the mane of his lion, fancifully develop its tongue and tail, -and display its claws in a manner for which there is little or no -authority in nature; but if he add wings, or endow it with a plurality of -heads or tails, it instantly becomes another creature and a totally -different symbol.[2] A wise reticence in treatment is more to be commended -than such fanciful extravagance. - -The early artists and heralds, in their strivings to exaggerate in a -conventional manner the characteristics of animals for their most -effective display, appear to have reached the limits of which their art -was capable, and important lessons may be gained from their works. With -the extended knowledge of natural history, and the advanced state of art -at the present day, decorative and symbolic heraldry should take a leading -place in the twentieth century, as in the words of Ruskin, it has been -"hitherto the most brilliant" and "most effective of the Arts." - - - - - - -Celestial Beings - - -[Illustration: Angels] - - "_They boast ethereal vigour and are form'd - From seeds of heavenly birth._"--VIRGIL. - - - "_Down hither prone in flight - He speeds, and through the vast ethereal sky - Sails between world and world with steady wings: - Now on the polar wind, then with quick fan - Winnows the buxom air._"--MILTON. - -Angels and Archangels the mind loves to contemplate as the ministers of -God's omnipotence and beneficence, and delights in believing these -celestial beings to be endowed with a higher and purer intelligence, and -as being nearer to the divine nature. In all ages civilised man has -thought of them and represented them in art as of form like to his own, -and with attributes of volition and power suggested by wings. Scripture -itself justifies the similitude; the Almighty is sublimely represented as -"walking upon the wings of the wind." Wings have always been the symbol or -attribute of _volition_, of _mind_, or of the _spirit_ or _air_. No apter -emblem could be found for a rapid and resistless element than birds or the -wings of birds; and however incongruous such appendages may be, and -anatomically impossible, it is figuratively as the messengers of God's -will to man that we have come to view these celestial habitants. - -[Illustration: Egyptian Winged Deity.] - -The idea of adding wings to the human form has existed from remote -antiquity, and for the earliest suggestion of celestial beings of the -winged human type we must look to the art works of Egypt and Assyria. In -Egyptian art, Neith, the goddess of the heavens, was sometimes represented -with wings, and in the marbles of Nineveh we find human figures displaying -four wings.[3] In classic art wings are given to certain divinities and -genii. The Jews probably borrowed the idea from the Egyptians, and the -early Christians adopted--in this as in many other instances--existing -ideas in their symbolical art to express the attribute of swiftness and -power, and the sanction of the practice doubtless fixed it for acceptance -through all future epochs of Christian Art. - -[Illustration: Hawk-headed and winged figure, emblem of Osiris, which, -having of all birds the most piercing eye and the most rapid flight, -serves to express the divine intelligence and activity. (Palace of Nimrod -in the Louvre.)] - -In holy writ and Jewish tradition angels are usually spoken of as men, and -their wings appear to be implied rather than expressed, as when Abraham in -the plains of Mamre addresses his celestial visitors as "my lord," when -Jacob wrestles with the angel, and more particularly when the Angel at the -Sepulchre is described by St. Matthew, "His countenance was like the -lightning and his raiment white as snow," and by St. Mark as "A young man -clothed in a long white garment." - -The Seraphim and Cherubim as winged beings are more perfectly described in -the Scriptures. - -_The Wings Variously Coloured._--Not content with a simple departure in -form from all natural wings, the early and Middle Age artists resorted to -many expedients to invest their angels' wings with unearthly -characteristics. Colour was a fertile field for their ingenuity, and they -lavished all their brilliant hues in accentuating or separating the -several orders of feathers comprising the wings; now rivalling the -rainbow, now applying the startling contrasts of the most gorgeous -tropical butterfly; at other times sprinkling or tipping the richly -painted feathers with burnished gold, or making them appear alive with -brilliant eyes. - -_Vesture._--In Early Christian Art the white vesture spoken of by St. -Matthew and St. John, almost invariably adopted, consisted of garments -resembling the classic tunica and pallium, sometimes bound with the -"golden girdle" of Revelation. During the mediaeval period they were clad -in every brilliant colour. Angels do not often appear in the works of art -executed during the first six centuries of the Church; and previous to the -fifth century they were invariably represented without the nimbus--that -attribute of divinity with which they were almost always invested -throughout the whole range of Middle Age art. - -_Nimbus._--The nimbi given to all the orders of the angelic hierarchy are -circular in form, with their fields either plain or covered with numerous -radiating lines or rays, sometimes with broad borders of ornament, but -never with the _tri-radiate_ form, which was specially reserved for the -persons of the trinity. - -Lord Bacon ("Advancement of Learning," Book i.) says we find, as far as -credit is to be given to the ecclesiastical hierarchy of the supposed -Dionysius, the Senator of Athens, that the first place or degree is given -to the angels of love, which are termed _Seraphim_; the second to the -angels of light, which are termed _Cherubim_; and the third, and so -following places, to thrones, principalities, and the rest, which are all -angels of power and ministry, so that the angels of knowledge and -illumination are placed before the angels of office and domination. - -_Fallen Angels._--We learn from Tradition that many angels, originally -holy like the rest, fell from their pristine purity, becoming so -transformed in character that all their powers are now used for the -purpose of doing evil instead of doing good. These are to be identified -with the devils so frequently mentioned in holy writ. By the artists of -the Middle Ages they are depicted in as hideous a manner as could be -conceived, more generally of the Satyr form with horns and hoofs and tail, -which last connects them with the Dragon of the Apocalypse, the -impersonation of the Supreme Spirit of evil (_see_ Dragon). In Milton's -conception Satan--the fallen Angel--assumes noble and magnificent -proportions. - - -Mistaken Modern Conception of Angels - -Many poets and artists of modern times appear to have lost sight of the -traditions of sacred art, and in their endeavours to spiritualise the -character of angelic beings have in this respect been led to portray them -as altogether feminine in form and appearance. This error should be -carefully avoided, because in a spiritual as well as in a human sense the -vigorous active principle they represent, besides having the warrant of -Scripture, is more fitly represented by man than by woman. - -Mahomet, who borrowed his ideas mostly from the Christians, in this -instance, possibly to guard his followers from some latent form of -idolatry, said of angels with some show of reason, that "they were too -pure in nature to admit of sex," but to meet the ideas of his followers he -invented another race of celestial beings for the delight and solace of -the faithful in the paradise to which he lured them. - -_Ministering Spirits or Guardian Angels._--These form a frequent theme of -poets and artists. The idea was apparently evolved from the mention of -"ministering spirits" before the throne of God in holy writ, and from the -ecclesiastical legends and traditions of the Christian mythology of early -date, derived from still earlier sources. Thus Milton speaks of-- - - "one of the Seven - Who in God's presence, nearest to the throne - Stand ready at command, and are his eyes - That run thro' all the heavens, and down to earth - Bear his swift errands." - _Paradise Lost_, iii. - -According to ancient Jewish belief, each person had his or her guardian -angel, and a spirit could assume the aspect of some visible being: - - "But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. - Then said they, 'It is _his angel_.'" - _Acts_ xii. 15. - - - "Brutus as you know was Caesar's _Angel_: - Judge, O ye God, how dearly Caesar loved him." - SHAKESPEARE, _Julius Caesar_, Act iii. sc. 2. - -Spenser finely expresses the idea of the good and evil influences -continually warring unseen about us, and his gratitude for the effective -protection of the guardian spirits: - - "How oft do they their silver bowers leave, - To come to succour us that succour want! - How oft do they with golden pinions cleave - The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant, - Against fowle fiends to ayde us militant! - They for us fight, they watch, and dewly ward, - And their bright squadrons round about us plant; - And all for love, and nothing for reward: - O why should heavenly God to men have such regard?" - -Milton beautifully assumes the pure nature of saintly chastity attended by -ministering spirits: - - "A thousand liveried angels lackey her, - Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt, - And in clear dream and solemn vision, - Tell her of things that no gross ear can hear; - Till oft converse with heavenly habitants - Begins to cast a beam on the outward shape." - "Comus." - -And Scott, in figurative language, apostrophising woman in her higher and -more spiritual sphere, says in "Marmion": - - "When pain and anguish wring the brow, - A ministering angel thou!" - -Shakespeare expresses a prevailing idea that the pure in heart will become -ministering angels in heaven; Laertes, at the grave of Ophelia, fiercely -thunders forth: - - "I tell thee, churlish priest, - A ministering angel shall my sister be - When thou liest howling." - - -Mediaeval Art Treatment of Angels - -According to ecclesiastical legend and tradition there are nine degrees of -angelic beings. St. Dionysius relates that there are three hierarchies of -angels and three orders in each; and by wise allegories each had his -special mission, and they were each depicted with certain insignia by -which they were recognised in art representations, which vary somewhat in -examples of different periods. - -The nine choirs of angels are classed as follow, with the name of the -chief of each, according to ancient legend: - - _Cherubim_ Jophiel - _Seraphim_ Uriel - _Thrones_ Zaphkiel - _Dominions_ Zadchiel - _Virtues_ Haniel - _Powers_ Raphael - _Principalities_ Camiel - _Archangels_ Michael - _Angels_ Gabriel - -According to A. Welby Pugin's "Glossary of Architectural Ornament and -Costume," and other authorities, we learn the mediaeval conception of these -beings. - -The following emblems are borne by angels: FLAMING SWORDS, denoting "the -wrath of God"; TRUMPETS, "the voice of God"; SCEPTRES, "the power of God"; -THURIBLES, or censers, the incense being the prayers of saints; -INSTRUMENTS OF MUSIC, to denote their felicity. - -The APPARELS, or borders of their robes, are jewelled with SAPPHIRE for -"celestial contemplation"; RUBY, "divine love"; CRYSTAL, "purity"; -EMERALD, "unfading youth." - -ARCHANGELS are the principal or chief angels, and are extraordinary -ambassadors. Among these the name of GABRIEL--the angel of the -annunciation, the head of the entire celestial hierarchy--denotes "the -power of God"; MICHAEL, "who is like God"; RAPHAEL, "the healing of God"; -URIEL, "the fire of God." - -ANGEL is the name, not of an order of beings, but of an office, and means -messenger: wherefore angels are represented YOUNG to show their continued -strength, and WINGED to show their unweariedness; WITHOUT SANDALS, for -they do not belong to the earth; and GIRT, to show their readiness to go -forth and execute the will of God. Their garments are either WHITE, to -denote their purity, or GOLDEN, to show their sanctity and glory, or they -are of any of the symbolical colours used in Christian Art. - -A writer in the _Ecclesiastical Art Review_, May 1878, I. Lewis Andre, -architect, says that "we seldom find angels clad in any other -ecclesiastical vestments than the ALB (or tunic of various colours), and -the amice. The AMICE is sometimes like a mere loose collar; at other times -it has richly embroidered APPARELS (or borders), and is exactly like the -priestly vestment as worn in the Middle Ages. Instead of the amice we -sometimes find a scarf or cloth tied in a knot around the neck, the ends -falling down in front. - -"In Anne of Brittany's prayer-book is a beautiful figure of St. Michael. -He has a rayed nimbus, a cross on a circlet round his head, a richly -embroidered _dalmatic_ (a long robe with sleeves partly open at the -sides), and holds a sword in his left hand. The emblems of St. Michael are -a crown, a sword, a shield charged with a cross of St. George, or a spear -with the banner of the cross, or else with scales in his hand. Sometimes, -as at South Leigh, Oxon., he is in complete armour. - -"The archangels are often figured with a trumpet in the right hand, scarfs -round neck and loins; six wings, sometimes four at the shoulders and two -at the hips, the legs bare from the thighs. The four archangels are -frequently represented in complete armour and with swords. - -"The angels in the Benedictional of St. Ethelwold nearly resemble much -later representations; they have wings and the nimbus or aureole, long -hair and girded loins, whilst the feet are bare, as is generally the case -at all periods of Gothic Art; but the characteristic drapery is loose and -flowing as in the Saxon figures of saints; the wings are short and broad, -the nimbus is generally rayed like the spokes of a wheel (a form seen in -the work of Giotto, with whom it seems to have been a favourite). The alb -or vesture has loose sleeves, and at times a mantle or cope envelops the -figure; both sleeves and mantles have embroideries or apparels." - -"The modern taste," says the same writer, "for giving angels pure white -vesture does not appear to be derived from the Middle Ages, and certainly -not from the best period when angels were clad in every brilliant colour, -as a beautiful example at St. Michael's, York, shows. Here an angel -swinging a golden censer has a green tunic covered with a white cloak or -mantle. The nimbus is bright blue, and the wings have the upper parts -yellow, and are tipped with green. At Goodnestowe church, St. Michael has -a deep crimson tunic, a white mantle edged with a rich gold border, green -wings, and a light crimson nimbus," and mention is here made of the white -vesture of the angel at the Sepulchre, and that nowhere else does the -Gospel mention any angel clad in white but in the narratives of Our Lord's -resurrection. - -[Illustration: Angel with Cloud Symbol.] - -"Often the angels' wings are feathered red and blue alternately, as on the -pulpit at Cheddar, Somerset. Sometimes the wings have feathers like those -of a peacock, on the Chapter House, Westminster; round the Wall Arcade, -angels have their wings inscribed with a text on every feather. This -corresponds with the French 'hours' of Anne of Brittany, where an angel -(St. Gabriel) wears a mantle with a text running along the border." - -It was not uncommon to represent angels in carving and stained glass in -the latter part of the fifteenth century as feathered all over like birds. - -_Cloud Symbol of the_ "Sky" _or_ "Air."--Artists of the Mediaeval and -Renaissance periods, following classical authority, employed the cloud -symbol of the sky or air in their allegories and sacred pictures of -divine persons, saints, and martyrs, to denote their divine or celestial -condition, as distinguished from beings "of the earth--earthy." The -adoption of _the little cloud_ underneath the feet, when the figure is not -represented flying, naturally suggested itself as the most fitting emblem -for a support, and avoided the apparent incongruity of beings in material -human shape _standing_ upon _nothing_. The suggestion of the aerial -support here entirely obviates any thought of the outrage on the laws of -gravity. - -Another distinguishing attribute is the Nimbus--an emblem of divine power -and glory--placed behind or over the head. The crown is an insignia of -civil power borne by the laity; the nimbus is ecclesiastical and -religious. The pagans were familiar with the use of the nimbus, which -appears upon the coins of some of the Roman Emperors. It was widely -adopted by the Early Christian artists, and up till the fifteenth century -was represented as a circular disc or plate behind the head, of gold or of -various colours, and, according to the shape and ornamentation of the -nimbus, the elevation or the divine degree of the person was denoted. It -was displayed behind the heads of the Persons of the Trinity and of -angels. It is also worn as a mark of honour and distinction by saints and -martyrs. At a later period, when the traditions of early art were to some -extent laid aside, _i.e._, from the fifteenth century until towards the -end of the seventeenth century, as M. Dideron informs us, a simple -unadorned ring, termed a "circle of glory," "takes the place of the nimbus -and is represented as hovering over the head. It became thus idealised and -transparent, showing an outer circle only; the field or disc is altogether -omitted or suppressed, being drawn in perspective and formed by a simple -thread of light as in the _Disputer_ of Raphael. Sometimes it is only an -uncertain wavering line resembling a circle of light. On the other hand, -the circular line often disappears as if it were unworthy to enclose the -divine light emanating from the head. It is a shadow of flame, circular in -form but not permitting itself to be circumscribed." - -[Illustration: Angel Supporter.] - -Although the forms of angels are of such frequent occurrence in Mediaeval -Art they seem to abound more especially in the fifteenth century. Angels -are seen in every possible combination, with ecclesiastical and domestic -architecture, and form the subject of many allusions in heraldry. They are -frequently used as supporters. - -Charles Boutell, M.A., "English Heraldry," p. 247, says, regarding angels -used as supporters to the armorial shield: "The introduction of angelic -figures which might have the appearance of acting as 'guardian angels' in -their care of shields of arms, was in accordance with the feelings of the -early days of English heraldry; and, while it took a part in leading the -way to the systematic use of regular supporters, it served to show the -high esteem and honour in which armorial insignia were held by our -ancestors in those ages." And reference is made to examples sculptured in -the noble timber roof of Westminster Hall and elsewhere. As an example we -give the shield of arms of the Abbey of St. Albans. - -[Illustration: Kneeling Angel Supporter.] - -Figures of angels holding shields of arms, each figure having a shield in -front of its breast, are frequently sculptured in Gothic churches. They -appear on seals, as on that of Henry of Lancaster about 1350, which has -the figure of an angel on each side of it. The shield of Richard II. at -Westminster Hall, bearing the arms of France ancient and England -quarterly, is supported by angels, which, if not rather ornamental than -heraldic, were possibly intended to denote his claim to the crown of -France, being the supporters of the Royal arms of that kingdom. Upon his -Great Seal other supporters are used. There are also instances of the -shield of Henry VI. being supported by angels, but they are by some -authorities considered as purely religious symbols rather than heraldic. - -[Illustration: Arms of the Abbey of St. Albans.] - -The supporters of the King of France were two angels standing on clouds, -all proper, vested with taberts of the arms, the dexter _France_, the -sinister _Navarre_, each holding a banner of the same arms affixed to a -tilting-spear, and the _cri de guerre_ or motto, "Mont-joye et St. Denis." -The shield bears the impaled arms of France and Navarre with several -orders of knighthood, helmet, mantling and other accessories, all with a -pavilion mantle. - -Although Francis II., Charles IX., Henry III. and IV. and Louis XIII. had -special supporters of their arms, yet they did not exclude the two angels -of Charles VI., which were considered as the ordinary supporters of the -kingdom of France. Louis XIV., Louis XV. and Louis XVI. never used any -others. - -Verstegan quaintly says that Egbert was "chiefly moved" to call his -kingdom England "in respect of Pope Gregory changing the name of Engelisce -into Angellyke," and this "may have moved our kings upon their best gold -coins to set the image of an angel."[4] - -[Illustration: Gloria Excelsis Deo] - - "... Shake the bags - Of hoarding abbots; their imprisoned _angels_ - Set them at liberty." - SHAKESPEARE, _King John_, iii. 3. - -The gold coin was named from the fact that on one side of it was a -representation of the archangel in conflict with the dragon (Rev. xii. 7). -The reverse had a ship. It was introduced into England by Edward IV. in -1456. Between his reign and that of Charles I. it varied in value from -6_s._ 8_d._ to 10_s._ - - -Cherubim and Seraphim in Heraldry - - "_On cherubim and seraphim - Full royally he rode._" - STEENHOLD. - - - "_What, always dreaming over heavenly things, - Like_ angel heads _in stone wish pigeon wings_." - COWPER, "Conversation." - -In heraldry A CHERUB (plural Cherubim) is always represented as the head -of an infant between a pair of wings, usually termed a "cherub's head." - -[Illustration: Cherubs' Heads.] - -[Illustration: A Seraph's Head.] - -A SERAPH (plural Seraphim), in like manner, is always depicted as the head -of a child, but with three pairs of wings; the two uppermost and the two -lowermost are contrarily crossed, or in saltire; the two middlemost are -displayed. - -_Clavering_, of Callaby Castle, Northumberland, bears for crest a cherub's -head with wings erect. Motto: COELOS VOLENS. - -On funereal achievements, setting forth the rank and circumstance of the -deceased, it is usual to place over the lozenge-shaped shield containing -arms of a woman, whether spinster, wife, or widow, a cherub's head, and -knots or bows of ribbon in place of crests, helmets, or its mantlings, -which, according to heraldic law, cannot be borne by any woman, sovereign -princesses only excepted. - -[Illustration: Arms--Azure a chevron argent between three cherubs' heads -of the last.] - -In representing the cherubim by infants' winged heads, the early painters -meant them to be emblematic of a pure spirit glowing with love and -intelligence, the head the seat of the soul, and the wings attribute of -swiftness and spirit alone retained. - -The body or limbs of the cherub and seraph are never shown in heraldry, -for what reason it is difficult to say, unless it be from the ambiguity of -the descriptions in the sacred writings and consequent difficulty of -representing them. The heralds adopted the figure of speech termed -synecdoche, which adopts a part to represent the whole. - -Sir Joshua Reynolds has embodied the modern conception in his exquisite -painting of cherubs' heads, _Portrait Studies of Frances Isabella Ker, -daughter of Lord William Gordon_, now in the National Collection. It -represents five infants' heads with wings, in different positions, -floating among clouds. This idea of the cherub seems to have found ready -acceptance with poets and painters. Shakespeare sings: - - "Look how the floor of heaven - Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold: - There's not the smallest orb which thou beholdest - But in his motion like an angel sings, - Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubim-- - Such harmony is in immortal souls: - But while this muddy vesture of decay - Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it." - -Many of the painters of the period of the Renaissance represented the -cherub similarly to those in Reynolds' picture. They were also in the -habit of introducing into their pictures of sacred subjects nude youthful -winged figures, "celestial loves," sporting in clouds around the principal -figure or figures, or assisting in some act that is being done. Thus -Spenser invests "The Queen of Beauty and of Love the Mother" with a troop -of these little loves, "Cupid, their elder brother." - - "And all about her neck and shoulders flew - A flock of little loves, and sports and joys - With nimble wings of gold and purple hue; - Whose shapes seemed not like to terrestrial boys, - But like to angels playing heavenly toys." - _Faerie Queen_, Book x. cant. x. p. 153. - -These must not, however, be confounded with the cherub and seraph of -Scripture. It was a thoroughly pagan idea, borrowed from classic -mythology, and unworthy of Christian Art. It soon degenerated into -"earthly loves" and "cupids," or amorini as they were termed and as we now -understand them. - - -[Illustration] - -Cherubim and Seraphim of Scripture - -In Ecclesiastical Art literal renderings of the descriptions contained in -the Old Testament and the Apocalypse are not of unfrequent use. A more -lengthened reference to these great Hebrew symbolic beings will not be -considered out of place, as there is great doubt and uncertainty as to -their forms. - -These mystic symbolic beings were familiar to all the patriarchs--from -Adam, who gazed upon them in Paradise, and against whom on his expulsion -they stood with flaming sword, turning every way to bar his return--to -Moses, who trembled before it on Mount Sinai; while to the Priests and -Levites, the custodians of the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle, the -cherubim remained the sacred guardians in the Holy of Holies of the -palladium of the national faith and liberties during the brightest and, as -it has been termed, the most heroic period of Jewish history. - -[Illustration: Angel crest of Tuite, Bart. co. Tip.] - -Josephus, the more effectually to excite respect for the great Hebrew -symbol in the minds of his readers, purposely throws over it the veil of -obscurity. He says: "The cherubim are winged creatures, but the form of -them does not resemble that of any living creature seen by man." In the -works of Philo Judaeus there is an express dissertation upon the cherubim. -The learned Brochart and many others have attempted to elucidate the -subject to little purpose. The ambiguity which always accompanies a -written description of objects with which we are imperfectly acquainted -applies with greater force to this mysterious being combining so many -apparently conflicting attributes. - -To the prophetic vision of Ezekiel, the description of which, in the -opinion of competent critics, excels in grandeur of idea and energy of -expression the most celebrated writers of ancient and modern times, the -reader is referred, as it supplies at first hand almost all that can be -known concerning the fearful form of the cherubim. - -The four living creatures that support the throne of God exhibited to -Ezekiel a fourfold aspect; they had each the face of _a man_, the face of -_a lion_, and the face of _an ox_; they also had the face of _an eagle_. -They had each four wings; they had the hands of a man under their wings. -"Two wings of every one were joined one to the other, and two covered -their bodies." They were accompanied by wheels which "went upon their four -sides, and they turned not when they went"; "and their whole body, and -their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and their wheels were full -of eyes"; "and the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of -a flash of lightning." Such is a concise description of their appearance -as set forth in Ezekiel (chap. i.). - -"This wonderful and mysterious hieroglyph must be considered as a striking -and expressive emblem of the guardian vigilance of providence, all-seeing -and omniscient; while the number of wings exhibit to us direct symbols of -that powerful, that all-pervading spirit which, while it darts through -nature at a glance, is everywhere present to protect and defend us" -(Dideron). - -So attached were the Jews to this celestial symbol that when Solomon -erected that stupendous temple which continued the glory and boast of the -Hebrew nation for so many ages, we are told (1 Kings, vi. 29, viii. 6, 7), -he carved all the walls of the house round about with the sculptured -figures of the cherubim, and on each side of the ark was a cherub of gold -plated upon olive wood fifteen feet high, with their faces to the light, -their expanded wings embracing the whole space of the sacred enclosure, -serving as a visible sign or symbol of God's immediate presence, whence -the saying of David, "God sitteth between the cherubim" (Ps. xcix. 1). In -this place God perpetually resided in the form of a bright cloud or -shining luminous body, termed "shechinah," whence the divine oracles were -audibly delivered. - -Milton gives the following description of the Seraph Raphael: - - "At once on the eastern cliff of Paradise - He lights, and to his proper shape returns - A seraph wing'd; six wings he wore to shade - His lineaments divine; the pair that clad - Each shoulder broad came mantling o'er his breast - With regal ornament: the middle pair - Girt like a starry zone his waist, and round - Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold - And colours dipped in heaven; the third, his feet - Shadows from either heel with feather'd mail - Sky tinctured grain. Like Maia's son he stood - And shook his plumes, that heavenly fragrance fill'd - The circuit wide." - _Paradise Lost_, Book v. - -The _cherub_ is traditionally regarded as a celestial spirit which in the -hierarchy is placed next in order to the seraphim. All the several -descriptions which the Scripture gives us of cherubim differ from one -another, as they are described in the shapes of men, eagles, oxen, lions, -and in a composition of all these figures put together. The hieroglyphical -representations in the embroidery upon the curtains of the tabernacle were -called by Moses (Ex. xxvi. 1) "cherubim of cunning work" (Calmet). - -The _seraphim_ are regarded as an order of angels distinguished for -fervent zeal and religious ardour. The word means "burning," _i.e._, with -Divine Love. - -The seraphim are described by Isaiah (vi. 1-3): "I saw also the Lord -sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the -temple. Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he -covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he -did fly. And one cried to another and said, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord -of Hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory." And in Revelation (iv. -6): "Round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes before and -behind, and the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a -calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was -like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about -him, and they were full of eyes within." It will be noticed that these -descriptions differ from that of Ezekiel, not only in the number of wings, -but also in the individuality of each beast being separate and -independent, not compounded of the four. - -[Illustration: Tetramorph.] - -Several forms of these mystical creatures, says Audsley, have been devised -by the early mediaeval artists; those which display the entire forms of -_the man_, _the lion_, _the ox_, and _the eagle_, all winged and invested -with the nimbus, appear to have been most frequently made use of. They are -to be met with formed of the _heads of the mystical creatures_ on bodies -or half-bodies of _winged human figures_; at other times we find them -comprised in the heads and wings only of the four symbolic creatures. -Sometimes they are found united and forming one mysterious being called -the _Tetramorph_ with four heads and numerous wings covered with eyes, the -feet resting on wheels, which are also winged. The example is taken from a -Byzantine mosaic in the convent of Vatopedi, on Mount Athos. - -Pugin's "Glossary of Ecclesiastical Ornament and Costume" says the -cherubim are frequently represented of a bright red colour to set forth -the intensity of divine love, and usually standing upon wheels, in -reference to the vision of the prophet Ezekiel. - -Cherubim and seraphim seem always vested in the alb or tunic, and a scarf -tied in a knot round the neck. - - -Emblems of the Four Evangelists - -The winged living figures, symbols of the evangelists, which are most -frequently met with, and which have ever been most in favour with Early -Christian artists, appear to have been used at a very early date. They are -taken from the vision of Ezekiel and the Revelation of St. John. "The -writings of St. Jerome," says Audsley, "in the beginning of the fifth -century gave to artists authority for the appropriation of the four -creatures to the evangelists," and for reasons which are there given at -length. - -ST. MATTHEW: _Winged Man_, Incarnation.--To St. Matthew was given the -creature in human likeness, because he commences his gospel with the human -generation of Christ, and because in his writings the human nature of Our -Lord is more dwelt upon than the divine. - -ST. MARK: _Winged Lion_, The Resurrection.--_The Lion_ was the symbol of -St. Mark, who opens his gospel with the mission of John the Baptist, "the -voice of one crying in the wilderness." He also sets forth the royal -dignity of Christ and dwells upon His power manifested in the resurrection -from the dead. The lion was accepted in early times as a symbol of the -resurrection because the young lion was believed always to be born dead, -but was awakened to vitality by the breath, the tongue, and roaring of its -sire. - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration] - -ST. LUKE: _Winged Ox_, Passion.--The form of the ox, the beast of -sacrifice, fitly sets forth the sacred office, and also the atonement for -sin by blood, on which, in his gospel, he particularly dwells. - -ST. JOHN: _The Eagle_, Ascension.--The eagle was allotted to St. John -because, as the eagle soars towards heaven, he soared in spirit upwards to -the heaven of heavens to bring back to earth revelation of sublime and -awful mysteries. - -Independently of their reference to the four evangelists these figures -sometimes refer to _the Incarnation_, _the Passion_, _the Resurrection_, -and _the Ascension_. - -Sedulius, a priest and poet of the fifth century, says much the same in -the following verse: - - Hoc Matthaeus agens, Hominem generaliter implet: - Marcus ut alta fremit vox per deserta Leonis: - Jura sacerdotis Lucas tenet ore Juvenci: - More volens Aquilae verbo petit astra Johannes. - -THE LION OF ST. MARK.--In the ninth century the rapidly rising State of -Venice was dignified by the reception of the relics of St. Mark, -transported thither from Alexandria. "Few patron saints," says Theodore A. -Buckley, "enjoy a greater popularity, whether socially or locally -exemplified. His lion was emblazoned on the standard of the Republic, and -stamped on the current coins, while his name was identified with the -pride, the power, and glory of all Venice."[5] - -Emblems of the evangelists do not often appear in heraldry. - -Walter Reynolds, Archbishop of Canterbury, according to a manuscript at -Lambeth (executed for Archbishop Laud), bore _azure on a cross or, between -the symbols of the evangelists of the last, four lions rampant gules_. - -The Freemasons appear to use a similar coat of arms upon their seal, viz., -_a cross between the emblems of the four evangelists, and for supporters -two cherubims, all proper_. - -[Illustration: The Lion of St. Mark, Venice.] - - - - -Chimerical Creatures of the Dragon and Serpent kind - - -[Illustration] - -The Dragon - - "_The scaly monster of a dragon, coiled - Full in the central field--unspeakable, - With eyes oblique retorted, that askant - Shot gleaming fire._" - HESIOD.--"The Shield of Hercules." - -The dragon is the most interesting and most frequently seen of all -chimerical figures, and it is a remarkable fact that such a creature -appears at an early period of the world's history to have been known in -the East and in countries widely separated. Long anterior to the dawn of -civilisation in the West of Europe, even in far-off China and Japan in the -extreme East of Asia we find the dragon delineated in very much the same -form in which it appears in our national heraldry. - -The ancients conceived it as the embodiment of malignant and destructive -power, and with attributes of the most terrible kind. Classic story makes -us acquainted with many dreadful monsters of the dragon kind, to which -reference will afterwards be more particularly made. - -It is often argued that the monsters of tradition are but the -personification of solar influences, storms, the desert wind, the great -deeps, rivers inundating their banks, or other violent phenomena of -nature, and so, no doubt, they are, and have been; but the strange fact -remains that the same draconic form with slight modifications constantly -appears as the type of the thing most dreaded, and instead of melting into -an abstraction and dying out of view, it has remained from age to age, in -form, distinctly a ferocious flying reptile, until in the opinion of many -the tradition has been justified by prosaic science. It is surprising to -find that the popular conception of the dragon--founded on tradition, -passed on through hundreds of generations--not only retains its identity, -but bears a startling resemblance to the original antediluvian saurians, -whose fossil remains now come to light through geological research, almost -proving the marvellous power of tradition and the veracity of those who -passed it on. - -Mr. Moncure Conway ("Demonology, or Devil Lore") says: "The opinion has -steadily gained that the conventional dragon is the traditional form of -some huge saurian. It has been suggested that some of those extinct -saurians may have been contemporaneous with the earliest men, and that -traditions of conflicts with them, transmitted orally and pictorially, -have resulted in preserving their forms in fable proximately." - -"Among the geological specimens in the British Museum," says Hugh Miller, -"the visitor sees shapes that more than rival in strangeness the great -dragons and griffins of mediaeval legends; enormous jaws, bristling with -pointed teeth, gape horrid, in stone, under staring eye-sockets a foot in -diameter; and necks that half equal in length the entire body of a -boa-constrictor. And here we see a winged dragon that, armed with sharp -teeth and strong claws, has careered through the air on leathern wings -like those of a bat." We are also told in the sacred Scriptures by Moses -of "fiery serpents," and by Isaiah of "a fiery flying serpent." Other -monsters--dragons, cockatrices, and some of whose form we have no -conception--are also mentioned. Euripides describes a dragon or snake -breathing forth fire and slaughter, and rowing its way with its wings. It -is evident that such a creature may at one time have existed. Looking at -the widespread belief in dragons, there seems little doubt that the -semi-myth of to-day is the traditional successor of a really once-existent -animal, whose huge size, snake-like appearance, and possibly dangerous -powers of offence made him so terrible that the earlier races of mankind -adopted him unanimously as the most fearful embodiment of animal ferocity -to be found. - -One of the latest acquisitions in the Natural History Museum, South -Kensington, is the skeleton of that enormous creature the long-limbed -dinosaur (_Diplodicus Carnegii_), recently discovered in America, -eighty-nine feet in length from the head to the tip of the tail, the huge -bulky framework of the monster measuring eleven feet in height at the -shoulder. The enormous length of its neck and tail, with relatively small -head, would indicate it to be an amphibious inhabitant of the waters, -feeding on the vegetation growing in its depths. - -Mr. Moncure Conway, in his remarkable work, "Demonology, or Devil Lore," -describes all intermediate stages between demon and devil under the head -of dragon. This he believes to be the only fabulous form which accurately -describes all the transitions. Throughout all the representations of the -dragon one feature is common, and that is the idealised serpent. The -dragon possesses all the properties of the demon along with that of -harmfulness, but differs from the devil in not having the desire of doing -evil. The dragon in mythology is the combination of every bad feature in -nature, all of which is combined into one horrible whole. "The modern -conventional dragon," says Mr. Conway, "is a terrible monster. His body is -partially green, with memories of the sea and of slime, and partly brown -or dark, with lingering shadows of storm-clouds. The lightning flames -still in his red eyes, and flashes from his fire-breathing mouth. The -thunderbolt of Jove, the spear of Woden, are in the barbed point of his -tail. His huge wings--bat-like and spiked--sum up all the mysteries of -extinct harpies and vampires. Spine of crocodile is on his neck, tail of -the serpent and all the jagged ridges of rocks and sharp thorns of jungles -bristle round him, while the ice of glaciers and brassy glitter of -sunstrokes are in his scales. He is ideal of all that is hard, -destructive, perilous, loathsome, horrible in nature; every detail of him -has been seen through and vanquished by man, here or there; but in -selection and combination they rise again as principles, and conspire to -form one great generalisation of the forms of pain, the sum of every -creature's worst." - -"THE EXTERNAL FORMS OF DRAGONS are greatly dependent on the nature of the -country in which they originate. In the far north, where exist the legends -of the swan and pigeon, maidens and vampires, exists the swan-shaped -dragon. As demons of excessive heat principally existed in the south, so -in the north the great enemy of man was excessive cold. In the northern -countries is found also the serpent element, but as serpents are there -frequently harmless, this feature does not enter much into their -composition. The CUTTLEFISH is supposed to have helped in the formation of -the HYDRA, which in its turn assisted in forming the dragon of the -Apocalypse. Assyrian ideas also seem to have assisted in the pictorial -impersonations of the hydra. This many-headed monster is a representation -of a torrent, which being cut off in one direction breaks out in another. -The conflicts of Hercules with the hydra are repeated in those of the -Assyrian Bel with Trinant (the deep), and also in the contentions of St. -Michael with the dragon. The old dragon myths left in Europe were -frequently utilised by the Christians. Other saints besides St. Michael -were invested with the feats of Hercules; St. Margaret, St. Andrew, and -many others are pictured as trampling dragons under their feet. The -Egyptian dragon is based on the crocodile, and this form being received -into Christian symbolism did greatly away with other pagan monsters. The -hideousness of the crocodile and the alligator could easily be exaggerated -so as to suit the most horrible contortions of the human imagination. -Amongst the most terrible dragons is Typhon, the impersonation of all the -terrors of nature. Son of Tartarus, father of the harpies and of the -winds, he lives in the African deserts; from thence fled in fear, to -escape his terrible breath, all the gods and goddesses. He is coiled in -the whirlwind, and his many heads are symbolical of the tempest, the -scrive, the hurricane, and the tornado." - -Under the head of THE COLONIAL DRAGON Mr. Conway has embodied all the -horrors and difficulties with which the early colonists would be beset. -Amongst these he places the GORGON and the CHIMERA. The most widely spread -of all is the last named, and from it is supposed that all Christian and -British dragons are descended. The Christian myth of ST. GEORGE AND THE -DRAGON is but a variation of BELLEROPHON AND THE CHIMERA, in which the -last has given place to the dragon and the pagan hero to St. George. - -[Illustration: Japanese Dragon.] - -"In ancient families there are usually traditions of some far-distant -ancestor having slain a desperate monster. It is always the colonial -dragon that has been borrowed by poets and romancers. THE DRAGON killed by -Guy of Warwick is but another variation of the chimera. There is again the -SOCKBURN WORM, slain by Sir John Conyers for the devouring of the people -of the neighbourhood; the well-known tradition of the LAMBTON WORM is in -reality a modification of the ARYAN DRAGON OF THE STORMCLOUD; smaller than -a man's hand he swells out to prodigious dimensions." - -A favourite subject for Chinese and Japanese painting and sculpture is a -dragon very much of the same type, and a monstrous representation of a -dragon in the form of a huge Saurian still forms the central object at -Japanese festivals. - -Among the Chinese the dragon is the representation of sovereignty, and is -the imperial emblem borne upon banners, and otherwise displayed as the -national ensign. To the people of that vast country it represents -everything powerful and imposing; and it plays an important part in many -religious ceremonies and observances. Dr. S. Wells Williams, the eminent -sinalogue, describes the fabulous monster of Chinese imagination in the -following passage: "There are three dragons--the _lung_ in the sky, the -_li_ in the sea, and the _kiau_ in the marshes. The first is the only -_authentic_ species according to the Chinese; it has the head of a camel, -the horns of a deer, eyes of a rabbit, ears of a cow, neck of a snake, -belly of a frog, scales of a carp, claws of a hawk, and palm of a tiger. -On each side of the mouth are whiskers, and its beard contains a bright -pearl; the breath is sometimes changed into water and sometimes into fire, -and its voice is like the jingling of copper pans. The dragon of the sea -occasionally ascends to heaven in waterspouts, and is the ruler of all -oceanic phenomena." The fishermen and sailors before venturing away from -land or returning to port, burn joss-sticks and beat gongs to ward off the -evil influences of the dragon, and it is worshipped in a variety of ways. -According to a fable current in China, the Celestial Emperor Hoang-ti was -carried up to heaven, along with seventy other persons, by a great -dragon; those who were only able to catch at his moustaches were shaken -off and thrown on the ground. It is still the custom when an emperor dies -to say that the dragon has ascended to heaven. An eclipse the simple -Celestials believe to be caused by a great dragon that seeks to devour the -sun or moon. A great noise is made by firing guns, beating drums, and the -rattling and jangling of pairs of discordant instruments to frighten the -monster away. A frequent subject of their artists is the dreadful dragon -sprawling through masses of curling clouds in the act of grasping at or -swallowing the great luminary, a subject which no doubt bears a deeper -meaning than we see, and one intimately connected with their mythology. - -[Illustration: JAPANESE IMPERIAL DEVICE. The Dragon, the Ho-Ho, or -Phoenix, and the Chrysanthemum.] - -In some of their splendid festivals the worship of the dragon is -celebrated with great excitement and furore. On the Canton river a boat of -immense length formed like a dragon in many wondrous folds, rowed by fifty -or more natives, with wild music and dancing, and accompanied by a crowd -of junks; the unfurling of sails and the streaming of flags from the -masts, the beating of drums, the noise and smoke from the firing of guns, -all exhibit the fondness of a people for the pleasures of a national -holiday. - -_Dragon's Teeth._--Cadmus slew the dragon that guarded the well of Ares, -and sowed some of the teeth, from which sprang up the armed men who all -killed each other except five, who were the ancestors of the Thebans. -Those teeth which Cadmus did not sow, came to the possession of AEtes, King -of Colchis; and one of the tasks he enjoined on Jason was to sow these -teeth and slay the armed warriors that rose therefrom. The frequent -allusion to the classic term _dragon's teeth_ refers to subjects of civil -strife; whatever rouses citizens to rise in arms. - -The mythical dragon has left the lasting impress of his name in various -ways in our language and literature, as in the art of nearly every -country. - -[Symbol] _Dragon's Head_ and [Symbol] _Dragon's Tail_.--In astronomy -_Nodes_ are the opposite points in which the orbit of a planet, or of a -moon, crosses the ecliptic. The ascending node marked by the character -([Symbol]), termed the _Dragon's head_, is where the planet or moon -ascends from the south to the north side of the ecliptic, and the -descending node indicated by the character ([Symbol]) the _Dragon's tail_ -is where it passes from the north to the south side. - -_Draco_, a constellation in the northern hemisphere, representing the -monster that watched the golden apples in the garden of the Hesperides, -slain by Hercules, and set as a constellation in the heavens. - -_Draco volens_, a meteor sometimes visible in marshy countries--_Ignus -fatuus_, or will-o'-the-wisp. - -_Draco volens_, or flying dragon, a curious class of saurian reptiles -peculiar to the East Indies, having membranous attachments to their limbs, -which give them the appearance of flying as they leap from tree to tree. - -_Dragon's blood_, a vegetable balsam of a dark red colour brought from -India, Africa, and South America. So called from its resemblance to dried -and hardened masses of blood. - - -The Dragon in Christian Art - -(The symbol of the Supreme Spirit of Evil, or the Evil One) - -It was believed that in the gloomy land of the Cimmerians and the confines -of Hades strange monsters were to be met; and not only there, but in any -part of the universe which was conceived to be beyond the pale of human -habitation these weird creatures might be encountered. The same idea is -recognised in the Semitic belief, that uncanny beings lurked in the outer -deserts, where men did not penetrate at all, or did so only at great -danger. The "place of dragons" is associated with "the shadow of death" -(Ps. xliv. 19). Dragons are also associated with the waters of the deep -(Ps. lxxiv. 13) and are called upon to praise Jehovah (Ps. cxlviii. 7); -and Isaiah (xxxiv.), describing in vivid and picturesque language the -destruction and utter desolation which shall come on Zion's enemies, -prophesies that her palaces and fortresses "shall be a habitation for -dragons." - -The term dragon is applied by the translators of the Scriptures to some -monsters of which we have no knowledge. The word is used by ecclesiastics -of the Middle Ages as the symbol of sin in general and paganism in -particular, though ofttimes heresy is denoted. The metaphor is derived -from Rev. xii. 9, where Satan is termed the Great Dragon; in Psalm xci. -13, it is said "the saints shall trample the dragon under their feet." - -In the book of Job we recognise in Leviathan a creature more like the -extinct saurians of the old world than any crocodile recorded in historic -times; and this leviathan is treated as still existing in the days of -David. In Psalm lxxiv. 13, 14, Jehovah is spoken of as having broken the -heads of the dragons in the waters; in Isaiah li. 9, as having wounded -the dragon; and paeans are sung on the punishment of "Leviathan, that -crooked serpent," and the slaying of "the dragon that is in the sea" (Is. -xxvii. 1). Finally, in the Apocalyptic vision, "there appeared another -wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and -ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads, and his tail drew the third -part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to earth" (Rev. xii. 3, 4); -"I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless -pit and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold on the dragon, that -old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him" (Rev. xx. 1, 2). - -[Illustration: The Dragon of the Apocalypse. By Albert Duerer.] - -As a Christian emblem the dragon may be taken to symbolise the supreme -spirit of evil, a veritable devil whom it was the special mission of -militant saints to slay, as it had been the glory of the heroes of the -pagan mythology to conquer. "In pictures of sacred and legendary -subjects," says a late writer, "the dragon usually formed an important -feature. The evil thing was invariably depicted writhing under the foot of -the saint, or transfixed with his triumphant spear. In like manner _the -virtues_ trampled tranquilly each on her complementary vice, embodied in -the form of some impossible creature; and if the rigid virtues were -sometimes insipid, it must be allowed that the demons were usually -grotesquely characteristic, and often delightful in colour." - -[Illustration: St. Michael and the Old Dragon. Arms of the Royal Burgh of -Dumfries.] - -The prostrate attitude usually signifies the triumph of Christianity over -Paganism, as in pictures of St. George and St. Sylvester; or over heresy -and schism, as when it was adopted as the emblem of the Knights of the -Order of the Dragon, in Hungary, which was instituted for the purpose of -contending against the adherents of John Huss and Jerome of Prague. - -The dragon in Christian Art is often very variously represented, sometimes -as a serpent, at other times as a dragon or wyvern, or again in the -symbolic figure partly human, under which form we find the "old serpent" -(the Devil) often represented, as in the conflict of St. Michael the -Archangel. The numerous legends of saints who have fought and overcome -dragons prove the symbolic light in which the impersonation of evil was -generally viewed. - -[Illustration: From ancient carving.] - -St. Margaret is the patron saint of the borough of LYNN REGIS, and on the -old corporation seal she is represented standing on a dragon and wounding -it with a cross. The Latin inscription on the seal is "Sub Margaret -teritur draco stat cruce laeta." The modern shield of the town is now -blazoned: _azure three conger's_ (or dragon's) _heads erased and erect, -the jaws of each pierced with a cross crosslet fitchee or_. In paintings -St. Margaret is represented as a young woman of great beauty bearing the -martyr's palm and olive crown, or with the dragon chained and helpless at -her feet as an attribute. Sometimes she is depicted coming from the -dragon's mouth, for the legend says the monster swallowed her, but on her -making the sign of the cross he was compelled to free her again. A legend -states that Olybus, Governor of Antioch, captivated by the beauty of -Margaret, wished to marry her; as she rejected him with scorn he threw her -into a dungeon, where the devil appeared to her in the form of a horrible -dragon and endeavoured to frighten her from her path. Margaret held up the -cross and the dragon fled. Other legends say he burst asunder. - -[Illustration: St. George and the Dragon. - - "In many a church his form is seen, - With sword, and shield, and helmet sheen: - Ye know him by his steed of pride, - And by the dragon at his side." - CHR. SCHMID.] - -ST. GEORGE, the patron saint of England, in his legendary combat with the -monster, is a subject which occurs frequently in English sculpture and -painting, and enters largely into the language and literature of the -nation. St. George appears to have been selected as the patron saint of -England not long after the Norman conquest. We find the anniversary of -his martyrdom (April 23) was ordered to be observed as a festival by the -National Synod of Oxford in 1222 A.D. - -The "Golden Legend," printed by Pynson in 1507 (fol. cxix.), thus refers -to "Saynt George": "This blyssed and holy martyr Saynt George is patrone -of this realme of Englond: and ye crye of men of warre; and in ye worsyp -of whome is founded ye noble order of a garter: and also ye noble college -in ye castell of Wyndsore, by Kynges of Englond. In whyche college is ye -herte of Saynt George: whyche Sygysmond ye Emperour of Alamayn brought: -and gaf it for a grete and precyous relyque to kynge Harry the fifte. And -also the said Sygysmond was broder of the sayd garter. And also there is a -piece of his head; which college is nobly endowed to thonour and worshippe -almighty God and his blyssed Martyr Saynt George. Then late us praye vnto -hym that he be specyel protectour and defendour of this royaume." - -The emblems commonly given to St. George, martyr, and patron saint of -England are: a dragon, a shield bearing a red cross on a white field, and -a spear. He is usually represented on horseback in the act of spearing the -monster which is vomiting fire; or as standing with the slain dragon at -his feet. - -That St. George is a veritable character is beyond all reasonable doubt, -and there seems no reason to deny that he was born in Armorica, and was -beheaded in Diocletian's persecution by order of Datianus, April 23, 303. -St. Jerome (331-420) mentions him in one of his martyrologies; in the -next century there were many churches erected to his honour. St. Gregory -(540-604) has in his sacramentary a "Preface for St. George's Day"; and -the Venerable Bede (672-735) in his martyrology, says: "At last St. George -truly finished his martyrdom by decapitation, although the gests of his -passion are numbered among the apocryphal writings." - -According to the old ballad given in Bishop Percy's "Reliques of Ancient -Poetry," St. George was the son of Lord Albert of Coventry. His mother -died in giving him birth, and the new-born babe was stolen away by the -weird lady of the woods, who brought him up to deeds of arms. His body had -three marks: a dragon on the breast, a garter round one of the legs, and a -blood-red cross on the arm. When he grew to manhood he first fought -against the Saracens, and then went to Sylene, a city of Libya, where was -a stagnant lake infested by a huge dragon, whose poisonous breath "had -many a city slain," and whose hide "no spear nor sword could pierce." -Every day a virgin was sacrificed to it, and at length it came to the lot -of Sabra, the king's daughter, to become its victim. Decked out in bridal -array she went out to meet the dragon; she was tied to the stake, and left -to be devoured, when St. George appeared in full panoply and mounted on -his charger. He vowed to take her cause in hand, and when the dragon came -on the scene it was encountered by the hero, who wounded it, and binding -it to the lady's girdle it was led like a "meek beast" into the city. St. -George there attacked it, thrusting his lance into its mouth, killed it on -the spot, and a church dedicated to Our Lady and St. George was built to -commemorate the event. After many adventures he carried off Sabra to -England, where they were wedded, and at Coventry lived happily till their -death. - -In his history of the Order of the Garter Mr. Antis warmly censures those -who would doubt the traditionary history of that saint, and says "he who -would credit St. Ambrose will not detract from the honour of our George, -the soldier and martyr of Christ, concerning the dragon and the -deliverance of the beautiful royal virgin, which is related in so many -pictures," adding that "he shall not contradict those who make an allegory -of it, so that they do not deny the certainty of this history.... Suppose -every one George, who being clothed with the virtue of baptism and armour -of faith, keeps his earthly body in subjection by the due exercise of -religion and piety, and by the armour of the Spirit overcomes, and by the -true spiritual art crushes and confounds the serpent's poison, the snares -of the old Dragon, and his diabolical arts and stratagems." - -The dragon slain by St. George is simply a common allegory to express the -triumph of the Christian hero over evil, which St. John the Evangelist -beheld under the figure of a dragon. Similarly St. Michael, St. Margaret, -St. Sylvester and St. Martha are all depicted as slaying dragons; the -Saviour and the Virgin as treading them under foot; and St. John the -Evangelist as charming a winged dragon from a poisoned chalice given him -to drink. Even John Bunyan avails himself of the same figure, when he -makes Christian encounter Apollyon and prevail against him. - -A learned Frenchman, M. Clermont Ganneau, in a treatise lately published, -traces the legend of St. George and the dragon to a very remote antiquity. -In the Louvre at Paris he found an Egyptian bas-relief, which he -identified as the combat of Horus against Set, or Typhon, in the -well-known Egyptian legend. It represents a man on horseback in Roman -armour slaying a crocodile with a spear; but for the fact that the rider -has a hawk's head, the group might easily be mistaken for the traditional -combat of St. George and the dragon. Extending his investigations, M. -Ganneau has brought to light some most startling proofs of the connection -between the eastern and western mythologies. We have therefore, he -considers, evidence as clear and convincing as evidence from deduction can -be, that the Egyptian "Horus and Typhon"; the Greek "Perseus and -Andromeda"; the "Bel and Dragon" of the Apocrypha; the Archangel Michael -of Christian legend who also slays the old dragon, are all one and the -same story with that of our own St. George. We pass over the intermediate -steps by which he reconciles the divergent names and qualities of the -personages identified, and also the ingenious arguments as to the real -meaning of the symbolism in the worship of DAGON THE FISH-GOD. - -In all the old romances dealing with feats of chivalry and knight-errantry -the dragon plays an essential if not a leading part; and a romance without -some dragon or monster was as rare as one without a valiant knight or a -beautiful lady. But of all the malignant creatures dreaded of gods and -men, the most hateful and wicked is that prime dragon personified by -Spenser under the type of the "blatant beast," and which confronts his -hero, the Red Cross Knight, at every turn: "a dreadful fiend, of gods and -men ydrad," who has a thousand tongues, speaks things most shameful, most -unrighteous, most untrue, and with his sting steeps them in poison. - -As an example of the inception and development of a dragon legend from -slender materials, the following is related in Figuer's "World before the -Deluge": - -In the city of Klagenfurth, in Carinthia, is a fountain on which is -sculptured a monstrous dragon with six feet, and a head armed with a stout -horn. According to popular tradition this dragon lived in a cave, whence -it issued from time to time to ravage the country. A bold and venturous -knight at last kills the monster, paying with his life the forfeit of his -rashness. The head of the pretended dragon is preserved in the Hotel de -Ville, and this head has furnished the sculptor for a model of the dragon -on the fountain. A learned professor of Vienna on a visit to the city -recognised it at a glance as the cranium of the fossil rhinoceros. Its -discovery in some cave had probably originated the fable of the knight and -the dragon--and all similar legends are capable of some such explanation -when we trace them back to their sources and reason the circumstances on -which they are founded. The famous bird, the roc, which played so -important a part in the myths of the people of Asia, is also believed to -have originated in the discovery of some gigantic bones. - -Chief among DRAGON-SLAYERS of Christian legend we find the following: - -_St. Philip the Apostle_ is said to have destroyed a huge dragon at -Hierapolis, in Phrygia. - -_St. Michael_, _St. George_, _St. Margaret_, _Pope Sylvester_, _St. -Samson_, Archbishop of Dol; _Donatus_ (fourth century), _St. Clement_ of -Metz, all killed dragons--if we may trust old legends. - -_St. Keyne_ of Cornwall slew a dragon. - -_St. Florent_ killed a terrible dragon who haunted the Loire. - -_St. Cado_, _St. Maudet_ and _St. Paull_ did similar feats in Brittany. - -The town of WORMS (famous as the place at which the Diet of Worms was held -before which the reformer Luther was summoned) owes its name to the -"Lind-wurm" or dragon there conquered by the hero Siegfried as related in -the "Nibelungen Lied." (_See_ p. 100.) - -Drachenfels, on the Rhine (Dragon Rocks), is so called from the same -monster; and at Arles and Rouen legends are preserved of victories gained -by saints over the _Tarasque_ and _Gargouille_, both local names for the -dragon. St. Martha conquered the fabulous Tarasque of the city of -Languedoc, which bears the name of "Tarascon." Gargouille (waterspout) was -the great dragon that lived in the Seine, ravaged Rouen, and was slain by -St. Romanus, Bishop of Rouen, in the seventh century. The latter name has -come down to us in the term "gargoyle," applied to the monstrous heads -which often decorate the waterspouts of old churches. - -A strange relic of the ancient faith is perpetuated in the remains of -early Celtic art in the curiously wrought interlaced monsters which form -the chief ornament of ancient Irish crosses, and particularly in the -borders and initials of illuminated manuscripts, whose spirals and -interminable interlacements of the most complex character, often allied -with equally strange colouring, form a style perfectly unique in itself, -and unlike any other; the elaborate knots terminating in draconic heads, -and with wings and animal extremities in wonderfully ingenious patterns -that seem almost beyond the limits of human ingenuity. In the kindred art -of Scandinavia we find similar decoration founded on serpentine forms. - -Another survival of the dragon myth exists in the name given to some of -our fighting men on the introduction of firearms. A kind of blunderbus -gave to the troops who used it the name of "dragoniers," whence is -derived the well-known term dragoons. They used to be armed with -_dragons_--_i.e._, short muskets--which spouted fire, like the fabulous -beast so named. The head of a dragon was wrought on the muzzles of these -muskets. We have all heard of the Dragonades, a series of persecutions by -Louis XIV., which drove many thousands of Protestants out of France--and -out of the world. Their object was to root out "heresy." A bishop, with -certain ecclesiastics, was sent to see if the heretics would recant; if -not they were left to the tender mercies of the Dragonniers, who followed -these "ministers of peace and good will to men." The same game of -conversion was practised by the Reformed Church upon the Presbyterians of -Scotland, with its accompaniment of "dragons let loose"--in which -Claverhouse took a leading part. - -"In mediaeval alchemy the dragon seems to have been the emblem of Mercury; -hence the dragon became one of the 'properties' of the chemist and -apothecary, was painted upon his drug pots, hung up as his sign, and some -dusty stuffed crocodile hanging from the ceiling in the laboratory had to -do service for the monster, and inspire the vulgar with a profound awe of -the mighty man who had conquered the vicious reptile."[6] - -When apothecaries' signs were not derived from heraldry, they were used to -typify certain chemical actions. In an old German work on alchemy one of -the plates represents a dragon eating his own tail; underneath are the -words which, translated, signify: "This is a great wonder and very -strange; the dragon contains the greatest medicament," and much more of -similar import. - - -The Dragon in the Royal Heraldry of Britain - - "_Advance our standards, set upon our foes, - Our ancient word of courage fair Saint George - Inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons._" - "Richard III.," Act v. sc. 3. - - - "_Come not between the dragon and his wrath._" - "King Lear," Act i. sc. 2. - -The dragon does not seem to have been a native emblem with the Romans, and -when they adopted it it was only as a sort of subordinate emblem--the -eagle still holding the first place. It seems to have been in consequence -of their intercourse with other nations either of Pelasgic or Teutonic -race. Amongst all the new races which overran Europe at the termination of -the classical period the dragon seems to have occupied nearly the same -place that it held in the earlier stages of Greek life. Among the Teutonic -tribes which settled in England the dragon was from the first a principal -emblem, and the custom of carrying the dragon in procession with great -jollity on May eve to Burford is referred to by old historians. The custom -is said by Brand also to have prevailed in Germany, and was probably -common in other parts of England. - -Nor was the dragon peculiar to the Teutonic races. Amongst the Celts it -was the symbol of sovereignty, and as such was borne on the sovereign's -crest. Mr. Tennyson's "Idylls" have made us familiar with "the dragon of -the great Pendragonship" blazing on Arthur's helmet as he rode forth to -his last battle, and "making all the night a stream of fire." The fiery -dragon or drake and the flying dragon of the air were national phenomena -of which we have frequent accounts in old books. - -The Irish _drag_ means "fire," and the Welsh _dreigiaw_ (silent flashes of -lightning) "fiery meteors"; hence Shakespeare says: - - "Swift, swift, ye dragons of the night!--that dawning - May bare the raven's eye." - _Cymbeline_, ii. 2. - -A principal source of the Dragon legends in these countries is the Celtic -use of the word "_dragon_" for "a chief." Hence Pen-dragon (_sumus rex_), -a sort of dictator in times of danger. Those knights who slew a chief in -battle slew a dragon, and the military title soon got confounded with the -fabulous monster. The name or title _Pendragon_ (dragon's head) was among -British kings and princes what Bretwalda was among the Saxons; and his -authority or supremacy over the confederation was greater or less -according to his valour, ability, and good fortune. Arthur succeeded his -father Uther, and was raised to the pendragonship in the first quarter of -the sixth century. - -The dragon was a symbol among the heathen. One of the sons of Odin was -thus invoked: "Child of the Dragon, Son of Conquest, arise! grasp thy -silver spear; thy snowy steed prepare and haste thee to the strife of the -shield! Uprise thou Dragon of Onslaught!" And again: - - "Wave high the dragon's flaming sign, - Roll wide the shout of glee; - Ho! conquest ope thy crimson gates - This day I give to thee." - -"The Dragon of the Shield struck his sounding war-board with his ponderous -spada. The fierce-browed children of Hilda gathered round at the signal." - -Maglocue, a British king who was a great warrior and of a remarkable -stature, whose exploits had rendered him terrible to his foes, as a -surname was called "The Dragon of the Isle," perhaps from his seat in -Anglesey. - -Cuthred, King of Wessex, bore a dragon on his banner. A dragon was also -the device of the British King Uther Pendragon, or Dragon's-head, father -of that King Arthur of chivalric memory, who so bravely withstood the -incursions of the Saxons. _Two dragons addorsed_--that is, back to -back--are ascribed to Arthur, as well as several other devices. - -[Illustration: Dragon Standard. From the Bayeux Tapestry.] - -Dragon's Hill, Berkshire, is where the legend says St. George killed the -dragon. A bare place is shown on the hill where nothing will grow, and -there the blood ran out. In Saxon annals we are told that Cedric, founder -of the West Saxon kingdom, slew there Naud, the pendragon, with 5000 men. -This Naud is called Natan-leod, a corruption of Naud-an-ludh; Naud, the -people's refuge.[7] - -"It has sometimes been thought," says Miss Millington, "that the royal -Saxon banner bore a dragon; certain it is, that on the Bayeux tapestry a -dragon raised upon a pole is constantly represented near a figure, whilst -the words 'Hic Harold' prove to be intended for Harold; yet Matthew of -Westminster, in describing a battle fought in the time of Edward I., says -that the place of the king was 'between the dragon and the standard,' -which seems to imply that the standard or banner had some other device. -The dragon was perhaps a kind of standard borne to indicate the presence -of the king. Henry III. carried one at the Battle of Lewes, fought against -Simon de Montfort in 1264: - - "'Symoun com to the feld, - And put up his banere; - The king schewed forth his scheld, - His dragon full austere.' - -It was not, however, at that time restricted to the King, for Simon -himself in the same battle - - "'Displaied his banere, lift up his dragoun.' - -The English at the Battle of Crecy carried a 'burning dragon, made of red -silk adorned and beaten with very broad and fair lilies of gold, and -broidered about with gold and vermilion.' This banner," adds Miss -Millington, "perhaps resembled that used by the Parthians and Dacians, -which is described by Ammianus Marcellinus as 'a dragon, formed of purple -stuff, resplendent with gold and precious stones fixed on a long pike, and -so contrived that when held in a certain manner, with its mouth to the -wind, the entire body became inflated, and stretched its sinuous length -upon the air.'" - -"The dragon," says Mr. Planche, "was the customary standard of the kings -of England from the time of the Conquest. It was borne in the battle -between Canute and Edmund Ironside; it is figured in the Bayeux tapestry, -and there are directions for making one in the reign of Henry III., but it -never formed a portion of their armorial bearings, _i.e._, as a charge -upon the shield of arms." - -Henry VII., first of the Tudor line, assumed as one of his badges the red -dragon of Cadwallader--"Red dragon dreadful." Henry claimed an -uninterrupted descent from the aboriginal princes of Britain, Arthur and -Uther, Caradoc, Halstan, Pendragon, &c. His grandfather, Owen Tudor, bore -a dragon as his device in proof of his descent from Cadwallader, the last -British prince and first King of Wales (678 A.D.), the dragon being the -ensign of that monarch. At the Battle of Bosworth Field Henry bore the -dragon standard. After the battle of Bosworth Field Henry went in state to -St. Paul's, where he offered three standards. On one was the image of St. -George, on the other a "red fierce dragon beaten upon green and white -sarsenet" (the livery colours of the House of Tudor); on the third was -painted a dun cow upon yellow tartan,--the dun cow, in token of his -descent from Guy Earl of Warwick, who had slain - - "A monstrous wyld and cruelle beaste - Called ye dun cow of Dunsmore Heath." - -The dun cow is still one of the badges of the Guards. This monarch founded -the office of _Rouge dragon pursuivant_ on the day before his coronation -(October 29, 1485). Henry VII., Henry VIII., Edward V., Mary and Elizabeth -all carried the dragon as a supporter to the royal arms, but varied in -position, and at times superseded by a greyhound. (A greyhound argent, -collared or, the collar charged with a rose gules, was a Lancastrian -badge.) Henry VIII. used for supporters the _red dragon and white -greyhound_ of his family; _a red dragon_ and _a lion gardant gold_, -sometimes crowned; at other times _a silver greyhound_ and _a golden -lion_, _an antelope_, _a white bull_, _a cock_, &c. On the union of -Scotland and England under King James, the Scottish _unicorn_ was -substituted for the sinister supporter, while the _lion gardant_, first -adopted by Henry VIII., appears to have permanently superseded the red -dragon of Wales, the white greyhound, &c., as the other supporter of the -royal arms, the dragon being relegated to be the special badge of the -principality of Wales, which position it still retains. The present royal -badges, as settled at the union, 1801, are: - - _A white rose within a red_ ENGLAND. - - _A thistle_ SCOTLAND. - - _A harp or, stringed argent, - and a trefoil or shamrock vert_ IRELAND. - - _Upon a mount vert, a dragon - passant, wings expanded - and endorsed, gules_ WALES. - -Richard III. as a badge had a black dragon. "_The bages that he beryth by -the Earldom of Wolst{r} (Ulster) ys a blacke dragon_," derived through his -mother from the De Burghs, Earls of Ulster. - -Mallet, in his "Northern Antiquities," states "that the thick misshapen -walls winding round a rude fortress at the summit of a rock were called by -a name signifying dragon, and as women of distinction were, during the -ages of chivalry, commonly placed in such castles for security, thence -arose the romances of princesses of great beauty being guarded by dragons, -and afterwards delivered by young heroes who could not achieve their -rescue until they had overcome their terrible guardians." The common -heraldic signification of a dragon is one who has successfully overcome -such a fortress, or it denotes the protection afforded to the helpless by -him to whom it was granted, and the terror inspired in his foes by his -doughty or warlike bearing. It was a title of supreme power among the -early British. - -[Illustration: A Dragon passant.] - -The dragon has always been an honourable bearing in British armoury, in -some instances to commemorate a triumph over a mighty foe, or merely for -the purpose of inspiring the enemy with terror. This seems to have been -especially the case with the dragon standard--the "red dragon dreadful" of -Wales (_y Ddraig Coch_) described as: - - "A dragon grete and grimme - Full of fyre and eke venymme." - - -The Crocodile as the Prototype of the Dragon - -In the existing representatives of the antediluvian saurians, the -crocodile and alligator, we see the prototypes of the dragons and hydras -of poetic fancy. The crocodile is a well-known huge amphibious reptile, in -general contour resembling a great lizard covered with large horny scales -that cannot be easily pierced, except underneath, and reaching twenty-five -to thirty feet in length. The crocodile was held sacred by the ancient -Egyptians, the Nile was and is its best-known habitat; it is also found in -the rivers of the Indian seas. Though an awkward creature upon land, it -darts with rapidity through the water after fish, which is its appropriate -food, but it is dangerous also to dogs and other creatures, as well as to -human beings entering the water or lingering incautiously on the bank. - -It is the _Lacerta crocodilus_ of Linnaeus, from Greek [Greek: krokodeilos] -(_krokodeilos_) a word of uncertain origin. The Alligator, the American -crocodile, takes its name from the Spanish _El Legarto_, the lizard. The -Latin form is _Lacertus_ or _Lacerta_. - -Miss Millington, in her "Heraldry in History, Poetry and Romance," says -that both dragon and crocodile seem anciently to have been confounded -under one name, and that Philip de Thaun, in his "Bestiarus," says that -"crocodille signifie diable en ceste vie." Guillim, an old heraldic -writer, says: "The dragons are naturally so hot that they cannot be -cooled by drinking of waters, but still gape for the air to refresh them, -as appeareth in Jeremiah xiv. 6." - -Young, author of "Night Thoughts," in a footnote appended to the -magnificent description of the leviathan (crocodile), in his paraphrase of -part of the book of Job says: "The crocodile, say the naturalists, lying -under water, and being there forced to hold its breath, when it emerges, -the breath long repressed is hot, and bursts out so violently that it -resembles fire and smoke. The horse suppresses not his breath by any means -so long, neither is he so fierce and animated," yet the most correct of -poets ventures to use the same metaphor regarding him: - - "Collectumque premens volvit sub naribus ignem." - - -The Heraldic Dragon - -The mythical dragon is represented in heraldic art with the huge body of -the reptile saurian type covered with impenetrable mail of plates and -scales, a row of formidable spines extending from his head to his tail, -which ends in a great and deadly sting; his enormous jaws, gaping and -bristling with hideous fangs, belch forth sparks and flame; his round -luminous eyes seem to shoot gleaming fire; from his nose issues a dreadful -spike. He is furnished with sharp-pointed ears and a forked tongue, four -sturdy legs terminating in eagle's feet strongly webbed, clawing and -clutching at his prey. Great leathern bat-like wings armed with sharp -hook's points, complete his equipment. The wings are always "endorsed," -that is, elevated and back to back. - -[Illustration: Crest, a Dragon's Head erased collared and chained.] - -The dragon of our modern books of heraldry is a miserable impostor, a -degenerate representative of those "dragons of the prime, that tore each -other in their slime." It is curious to note in this the gradual -degradation from the magnificent saurian type of the best period of -heraldic art to a form not far removed from that given to an ordinary -four-legged creature covered with plates and scales. His legs are longer -and weaker, his mighty caudal appendage, shrunk to insignificant and -useless proportion, and most unlike his ancient prototype the crocodile. -This error of our modern heraldic artists displays remarkable lack of -proper knowledge of this mythical creature and his attributes. Such a -splendid creation of the fancy should not be represented in such a weak -and meaningless form by the hands of twentieth-century artists. The -ancient form is infinitely to be preferred as a work of symbolic art. - -[Illustration: Domine dirige nos] - -ARMS OF THE CITY OF LONDON.--Two dragons are the supporters of the arms of -the City of London, the crest a dragon's sinister wing. They are thus -blazoned: _Argent a cross gules, in the first quarter, a sword in pale -point upwards of the last. Supporters, on either side a dragon with wings -elevated and addorsed, argent, and charged on the wing with a cross -gules._ - -The crest is a _dragon's sinister wing charged with a similar cross_. - -THE COUNTY OF CHESTER has for its supporters two dragons, each holding an -ostrich feather. - -Basingstoke, Linlithgow and Dumfries on the town seals have St. Michael -overthrowing the dragon (_see_ p. 72). - -The dragon appears in various forms in the arms of many towns, and also in -those of some peers. - -[Illustration: Sinister supporter of the arms of Viscount Gough.] - -One of the most extraordinary and elaborate coats of arms of modern times -is that of Viscount Gough. The sinister supporter of the shield is a -dragon (intended to represent the device upon a Chinese flag). _A dragon -or, gorged with a mural crown sable, inscribed with the word "China," and -chained gold._ - -Examples vary considerably in the form of the dragon, some early examples -represent it to have four legs, others with only two, when it is properly -a wyvern. The pendent "George" in the Order of the Garter represents it -with a body similar to a crocodile, winged and covered with plates and -scales. - -A similar device to that of the George noble of Henry VIII. was the St. -George slaying the dragon by Pistrucci, a foreigner employed at the mint. -This handsome reverse, says Mr. Noel Humphrey, "Coin Collector's Manual," -is nearly a copy from a figure in a battle-piece on an antique gem in the -Orleans collection, but several Greek coins might equally well have -furnished the model. Old George III. sovereigns and five-shilling pieces -have this most finely conceived and executed device on the reverse of the -coins. It also appears upon some sovereigns of Queen Victoria. Prominence -is naturally given to the figure of St. George, the dragon in consequence -being diminished in its relative size. - - -The Hydra - - "_Seven great heads out of his body grew, - An iron breast, and back of scaly brass; - And all imbrued in blood his eyes did shine as glass, - His tail was stretched out in wondrous length._" - SPENSER, "Faerie Queen," Book i. c. vii. - -The hydra is represented in heraldry as a dragon with seven heads; it is -not of frequent occurrence as a bearing in armory. - -[Illustration: Hercules and the Lernean Hydra. From Greek vase.] - -The terrible dragon, with one hundred heads, that guarded the golden -apples of the Hesperides, slain by Hercules, was celebrated in classic -mythology; so was the Lernean hydra, a monster of the marshes that ravaged -the country of Lerna in Argolis, destroying both men and beasts. The -number of its heads varies with the poets, though ancient gems usually -represent it with seven or nine. Hercules was sent to kill it as one of -his twelve labours. After driving the monster from its lair with arrows he -attacked it with his sword, and in place of each head he struck off two -sprang up. Setting fire to a neighbouring wood with the firebrands he -seared the throat of the Hydra until he at length succeeded in slaying it. -The fable is usually referred to in illustration of a difficulty which -goes on increasing as it is combated. (_See_ page 63.) - - "Whereon this Hydra son of war is born - Whose dangerous eyes may well be charmed asleep." - _Henry IV._ part ii. sc. 2. - -[Illustration: The Hydra.] - -The Lernean hydra, the watchful dragon of the garden of the Hesperides, -the many-headed Naga or snake of the Hindu religion, are, say learned -writers, only some of the many forms under which the relics of the ancient -serpent-worship exhibited itself. - -_A hydra, wings endorsed vert, scaled or_, is the crest of _Barret_ of -Avely, Essex. It is also borne by the names _Crespine_ and _Downes_. - - -[Illustration: A Wyvern holding a fleur-de-lis.] - -The Wyvern - -(SAXON, _Wivere_, a serpent) said to represent a flying serpent, an -imaginary creature resembling the dragon, but having only two legs, which -are like an eagle's, and a serpent-like tail, barbed, sometimes -represented nowed after the manner of serpents. It is figured on one of -the standards in the Bayeux tapestry (_see_ Dragon, p. 86). It is -erroneously termed a dragon by some writers, though perhaps they may both -be classed together. Old heralds say of these imaginary monsters that they -are emblems of pestilence, and are represented as strong and fierce -animals covered with invulnerable mail, and fitly typify viciousness and -envy. In armory they are properly applied to tyranny or the overthrow of a -vicious enemy. - -[Illustration: A Wyrvern, wings endorsed, tail nowed.] - -[Illustration: Wyvern from the Garter plate of Sir John Gray, 1436 A.D.] - -Occasionally a wyvern is borne with the tail nowed and without wings. - -_Lindworm._--It is not usual to say a wyvern "without wings" or "without -legs," but _sans wings_ or _sans legs_, as the case may be. A dragon or -wyvern sans wings is termed a lindworm. (_See_ page 80.) - -[Illustration: Wyvern, or Lindworm. (German version.)] - -_Argent, a wyvern, wings endorsed gules_, are the arms of _Drake_, of -Ashe, Devon (Bart.), 1600. - -The town of Leicester has for crest a _wyvern, wings expanded, sans legs, -strewed with wounds, gules_. - -_Argent on a bend sable, between two lions rampant of the last, a wyvern -volant in bend of the field, langued gules, Ruddings._ - -_Two wyverns, wings endorsed and emitting flames_, are the supporters of -Viscount _Arbuthnot_. - -The arms of the King of Portugal are supported by _two wyverns erect on -their tails or_, each holding a banner, the crest is a _demi-wyvern_ out -of a ducal coronet. - -_Guivre._--The wyvern or serpent in the arms of the Visconti, Lords of -Milan, _argent a guivre d'azure couronnee d'or, issante de gules_ (GUIVRE -is represented as a serpent or wingless dragon sans feet, with a child's -body issuing from its mouth), is said to commemorate the victory of a lord -of that house over a fiery dragon or guivre which inhabited a cavern under -the church of St. Denis in that place. "It is hardly possible," says Miss -Millington, "not to think that the story of the dragon as well as its -adoption in the coat-of-arms bears allusion rather to the dragon of -paganism, expelled from the city, as it might seem, by the church built -upon the site of the cave, in which too, by the rite of Holy Baptism, -_children_ especially were delivered from the power of Satan. Indeed, the -innumerable legends of saints who have fought and overcome dragons -sufficiently prove the symbolic light in which that creature was anciently -viewed." (_See_ also Serpent Biscia, p. 117.) - -[Illustration: Wyvern, wings displayed. (Early example.)] - -[Illustration: Wyvern, wings depressed.] - - -The Chimera - -An imaginary fire-breathing monster of great swiftness and strength, -invented by the ancient Greek poets. Though mentioned by heraldic -authorities, it is not met with in British coat armour; it is described as -having the head, mane and legs of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail -of a dragon. From this creature the term "chimerical" is applied to all -such figures as have no other existence but in the imagination. It is -represented upon the coins of Sycion during the Achaean League. - -[Illustration: Chimera, from a Greek coin.] - -The origin of the story of the chimera is ascribed to a mountain in Lycia -which had a volcano on its top and nourished lions; the middle part -afforded pasture for goats, and the bottom was infested with serpents; -according to Hesiod it had three heads, that of a lion, a goat, and a -dragon. Bellerophon destroyed the monster by raising himself in the air on -his winged steed Pegasus, and shooting it with his arrows. - - "Amid the troops, and like the leading god, - High o'er the rest in arms the graceful Turnus rode; - A triple pile of plumes his crest adorned, - On which with belching flames chimera burned: - The more the kindled combat rises higher, - The more with fury burns the blazing fire." - VIRGIL, _AEneid_, Book vii. - -Phillip II. of Spain, after his marriage with Queen Mary of England, -assumed as a device, Bellerophon fighting with the chimera, and the motto, -"Hinc vigilo," the monster being intended by him for a type of England's -heresies which he waited his time to destroy. - -The family of _Fada_ of Verona have for arms: Gules a winged chimera -argent, the head and breasts carnation (or proper), and the wings and feet -of an eagle. The illustration, however, has the head and breasts of a -woman, and eagle's wings and feet, and makes it a different creature -entirely, and should more properly be blazoned _harpy_. - - -The Lion-Dragon - -is compounded of the forepart of a lion conjoined to the hinder part of a -dragon. - -_Or, a lion-dragon gules armed, langued and crowned of the first_, is the -_Bretigni_ family. - -_Party per chevron gules and or, three lion-dragons ducally crowned and -countercharged._--_Easton._ - - -The Gorgon - -Reference has already been made to the gorgon in a quotation from Milton. -The name now denotes anything unusually hideous. In classic story there -were three gorgons, with serpents on their heads instead of hair. Medusa -was the chief of the three, and the only one that was mortal. So hideous -was her face that whoever set eyes on it was instantly turned to stone. -She was slain by Perseus, and her head placed upon _the shield of Minerva_ -(termed the AEgis of Minerva). Homer, in the "Odyssey," Book xi. thus -alludes to the dread creature: - - "Lest Gorgon rising from the infernal lakes - With horrors armed, and curls of hissing snakes, - Should fix me stiffened at the monstrous sight, - A stony image in eternal night." - -And Shakespeare, in _Macbeth_, Act ii. sc. 3, uses the name to picture, in -a word, the horrible discovery of the murdered Duncan: - - "Approach the chamber, and destroy your sight - With a new gorgon." - - -The Cockatrice - -This chimerical creature was said to be produced from a cock's egg hatched -by a serpent; hence its name. It differs from the wyvern of heraldry only -in having a head like that of a dunghill cock. "This monster is of that -nature," says an old writer, "that its look or breath is said to be deadly -poison"; and this, in addition to the ordinary weapons of offence, would -constitute it rather a difficult creature to be interfered with. - -[Illustration: Cockatrice.] - -The cockatrice is frequently referred to in the Scriptures as the type of -something evil. "The weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's -den" (Isaiah xi. 8), meaning that the most noxious animal shall not hurt -the most feeble of God's creatures. - -And Jeremiah viii. 17: "For behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, -among you which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the -Lord." - -The cockatrice is a frequent emblem in heraldry, borne as a charge upon -the shield and also as a supporter. To the mailed draconic form of the -wyvern it had the hideous crested head with livid dangling wattles similar -to the dunghill cock, its round glittering eyes dealing death; its barbed -tongue and serpentine tail, with deadly sting, would no doubt render it a -fearful object to behold, and terrific to its enemies. It is always borne -in profile, the wings endorsed, or back to back, unless directed -otherwise. The tail is frequently _nowed_, _i.e._, knotted. - -_Sable, a cockatrice or, combed and wattled gules._--_Bothe._ - -_Sable, a cockatrice, displayed argent, crested, membered and jelloped -gules._--_Baggine._ - -_Jelloped_, _jowlopped_, terms used to describe the comb or crest, and -gills or wattles, when of a different tincture from the body. _Beaked_ and -_membered_, in similar manner, have reference to the beak and legs. - - -Basilisk, or Amphysian Cockatrice - -The amphysian cockatrice or basilisk in heraldry exactly resembles the -cockatrice, but having an additional head (like that of a dragon) at the -end of its tail instead of a barb or sting. - - "With complicated monsters' head and tail - Scorpion and Asp and Amphisboena dire." - MILTON. - -_Amphisboena_, or _Amphista_, is a creature sometimes referred to by old -writers as having the dragon's body and wings, the head of a serpent, and -the tail ending in a like head. Bossewelle, in "Armorie of Honour," folio -63, enlarging upon this idea, describes "a prodigious serpente called -Amphybene, for that he hath a double head, as though one mouth were too -little to custe his venyme." - -_Earl Howe_ has for supporters _two cockatrices (amphysian), wings -elevated, the tails nowed, and ending in a serpent's head or, combed, -wattled and legged gules_. - -_Argent, a basilisk, wings endorsed, tail nowed, sable._--_Langley_, -Rathorpe Hall, Yorks. - -[Illustration: Basilisk or Amphysian Cockatrice, tail nowed.] - -_Basilisk_, the king of serpents (Greek, _Basileus_, a king), so called -from having on his head a mitre-shaped crest. Old writers give wonderful -accounts of the death-dealing power of this strange creature. Pliny says, -"all other serpents do flee from and are afraid of it," and tells of the -deadly effect of his breath and glittering eye. The Duke of Alva, the -scourge of the Netherlands (1566-1575), where he left the eternal memory -of his cruelties, had for a device a basilisk drawing out serpents, with -the motto: "Tu nomine tantum" ("Thou dost so much by thy name alone"), a -fitting emblem for so great a monster! - -In allusion to its power of "looking any one dead on whom it fixed its -eyes," Dryden makes Clytus say to Alexander, "Nay, frown not so; you -cannot look me dead," - - "like a boar - Plunging his tusk in mastiff's gore, - Or basilisk, when roused, whose breath, - Teeth, sting and eyeballs all are death." - KING, _Art of Love_. - -King Henry, when he hears of the death of his uncle Humphry, the good -Duke of Gloucester, says to Suffolk: - - "come basilisk - And kill the innocent gazer with thy sight." - _2 King Henry VI._ Act iii. 2. - -Beaumont and Fletcher also speak of "the basilisk's death-dealing eye" in -"The Woman Hater." - -Its appearance was so dreadful, it was said, that if a mirror was placed -so that it could see itself, it would instantly burst asunder with horror -and fear. - -In Christian Art it is the emblem of _deadly sin_ and _the spirit of -evil_. St. Basil the Great uses it as the type of a depraved woman. - - -The Mythical Serpent - -"The most remarkable remembrance," says Dean, "of the power of the -paradisaical serpent is displayed in the position which he retains in -Tartarus. A cuno-draconictic cerberus guards the gates; serpents are -coiled upon the chariot wheels of Proserpine; serpents pave the abyss of -torment; and even serpents constitute the caduceus of Mercury, the -talisman which he holds in his hand when he conveys the soul to Tartarus. -The image of the serpent is stamped upon every mythological fable -connected with the realms of Pluto. Is it not probable that in the -universal symbol of heathen idolatry we recognise the universal object of -primitive worship, the serpent of paradise?" - -"Speaking of the names of the snake tribe in the great languages," Ruskin -says, "in Greek, OPHIS meant the seeing creature, especially one that sees -all round it; and DRAKON, one that looks well into a thing or person. In -Latin, ANGUIS, was the strangler; SERPENS, the winding creature; COLUBER, -the coiling animal. In our own Saxon the SNAKE meant the crawling -creature; and ADDER denoted the groveller." - -The true serpents comprise the genera without a sternum or breastbone, in -which there is no vestige of shoulder, but where the ribs surround a great -part of the circumference of the trunk. To the venomous kind belong the -rattlesnake, cobra de capello, spectacled or hooded snake, viper, &c. So -the non-venomous, the boa constrictor, anaconda, python, black snake, -common snake. - -The minute viper, _V. Brashyura_, is celebrated for the intensity of its -poison, and is truly one of the most terrible of its genus. The asp of -Egypt, or Cleopatra's asp (_Coluber naja_, Lin.), was held in great -veneration by the Egyptians; and it is this snake which the jugglers, by -pressing on the nape of the neck with the finger, throw into a kind of -catalepsy, which renders it stiff, or, as they term it, turns it into a -rod. - -All snakes, says the celebrated naturalist Waterton, take a motion from -left to right or _vice versa_--but never up and down--the whole extent of -the body being in contact with the ground, saving the head, which is -somewhat elevated. This is equally observable both on land and in water. -Thus, when we see a snake represented in an up-and-down attitude, we know -at once that the artist is to blame. - -Another misconception exploded by Waterton is the common and accepted -notion that a snake can fascinate to their destruction and render -powerless by a dead set of its eye the creatures it makes its prey. Snakes -have no such power. The eyes, which are very beautiful, do not move, and -they have no eyelids; they have been placed by nature under a scale -similar in composition to the scales of the body, and when the snake casts -it slough, this scale comes away with it, and is replaced by a new one on -a new skin. - -_Noli me tangere_--do not touch me with intent to harm me--is, continues -Waterton, a most suitable motto for a snake, which towards man never acts -on the offensive (except perhaps only the larger species which may be in -waiting for a meal, when any creature, from a bull to a mouse, may be -acceptable). But when roused into action by the fear of sudden danger, -'tis then that, in self-defence a snake will punish the intruder by a -prick (not a laceration) from the poison-fang, fatal or not, according to -its size and virulence. - -A writer in the _Daily Telegraph_ of July 23, 1883, giving an account of -the new reptile house in the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, dwells -upon the surpassing beauty of a python that had just cast its skin, "a -very miracle of reptilian loveliness. Watch it breathing; it is as gentle -as a child, and the beautiful lamia head rests like a crowning jewel upon -the softly heaving coils. Let danger threaten, however, and lightning is -hardly quicker than the dart of those vengeful convolutions. The gleaming -length rustles proudly into menace, and instead of the voluptuous lazy -thing of a moment ago, the python, with all its terrors complete, erects -itself defiantly, thrilling, so it seems, with eager passion in every -scale, and measuring in the air, with threatening head, the circle within -which is death. Once let those recurved fangs strike home, and there is no -poison in them, all hope is gone to the victim. Coil after coil is rapidly -thrown round the struggling object, and then with slow but relentless -pressure life is throttled out of every limb. No wonder that the world has -always held the serpent in awe, and that nations should have worshipped, -and still worship, this emblem of destruction and death. It is fate -itself, swift as disaster, deliberate as retribution, incomprehensible as -destiny." It would be tedious to recapitulate the multitude of myths -through which the "dire worm" has come to our times, dignified and made -awful by the honours and fears of the past. A volume could hardly exhaust -the snake-lore scattered up and down in the pages of history and fable. - -"The python in the Zoological Gardens, however," adds the same writer, -"though it may stand as the modern reality of the old-world fable of a -gigantic snake that challenged the strength of the gods to overcome it, -presents to us only one side of snake nature. It possesses a surprising -beauty and prodigious strength; but it is not venomous. Probably the more -subtle and fearful apprehensions of men originated really from the smaller -and deadlier kinds, and were then by superstition, poetry and heraldry -extended to the larger. The little basilisk, crowned king of the vipers; -the horned 'cerastes dire,' a few inches in length; the tiny aspic, fatal -as lightning and as swift; and the fabled cockatrice, that a man might -hold in his hand, first made the serpent legend terrible; their venom was -afterwards transferred, and not unnaturally, to the larger species. It was -the small minute worms, that carried in their fangs such rapid and -ruthless death, which first struck fear into the minds of the ancients, -and invested the snake with the mysterious and horrid attributes whereunto -antiquity from China to Egypt hastened to pay honours." - -Cadmus and his wife Harmonia were by Zeus converted into serpents and -removed to Elysium. AEsculapius, son of Apollo, god of medicine, assumed -the form of a serpent when he appeared at Rome during a pestilence; -therefore he is always represented with his staff entwined with a serpent, -symbol of healing. Similarly represented was Hippocrates, a famous -physician of Cos; who delivered Athens from a dreadful pestilence, in the -beginning of the Peloponnesian War, and was publicly rewarded with a -golden crown, and the privileges of a citizen. Therefore it is that the -goddess of health bears in her hand a serpent. - -The caduceus of Mercury was a rod adorned with wings, having a male and -female serpent twisted about it, each kissing the other. With this in his -hands, it was said, the herald of the Gods could give sleep to whomsoever -he chose; wherefore Milton, in "Paradise Lost," styles it "his opiate -rod." - - "With his caduceus Hermes led - From the dark regions of the imprisoned dead; - Or drove in silent shoals the lingering train - To night's dull shore and Pluto's dreary reign." - DARWIN, _Loves of the Plants_, ii. 291. - -Jupiter Ammon appeared to Olympias in the form of a serpent, and became -the father of Alexander the Great: - - "When glides a silver serpent, treacherous guest! - And fair Olympia folds him to her breast." - DARWIN, _Economy of Vegetation_, i. 2. - -Jupiter Capitolinus in a similar form became the father of Scipio -Africanus. - -In the temple of Athena at Athens, a serpent was kept in a cage and called -"The Guardian Spirit of the Temple." This serpent was supposed to be -animated by the soul of Ericthonius. It was thus employed by the Greeks -and Romans to symbolise a guardian spirit, and not unfrequently the figure -of a serpent was depicted on their altars. - -Upon the shields of Greek warriors, on ancient vases, &c., the serpent is -often to be seen blazoned. - -[Illustration: Greek Shield, from painted vase in the British Museum.] - -The serpent monster Python, produced from the mud left on the earth after -the deluge of Deucalion, lived in the caves of Mount Parnassus, but was -slain by Apollo, who founded the Pythian games in commemoration of his -victory. This and many similar solar myths are merely classic panegyrics -on the conquering power exercised by the genial warmth of spring over the -dark gloom of winter. - -The serpent in Christian Art figures in Paradise as the tempter of Eve -under that form, and is generally placed under the feet of the Virgin, in -allusion to the promise made to Eve after the Fall: "The seed of the woman -shall bruise the serpent's head." The heart of the serpent being close to -the head, renders a severe "bruise" there fatal. The serpent bruised the -"heel" of man--_i.e._, being a cause of stumbling, it hurt the foot which -tripped against it (Gen. iii. 15). - -[Illustration] - -The brazen serpent erected by Moses in the wilderness, which gave newness -of life to those plague-stricken Israelites who were bitten by the fiery -dragons and raised their eyes to this symbol (Numb. xxi. 8), as an emblem -of healing, is represented in Christian art as coiled up on a tau cross, a -symbol of which our Saviour did not disdain in some degree to admit the -propriety when he compared himself to the healing serpent in the -wilderness. - -The serpent is placed under the feet of St. Cecilia, St. Euphemia, and -many other saints, either because they trampled on Satan, or because they -miraculously cleared some country of such reptiles. St. Patrick, the -patron saint of Ireland, is always represented habited as a bishop, his -foot upon a viper, the head transfixed with the lower extremity of his -pastoral staff, from his having banished snakes and all venomous reptiles -from the soil of Ireland. As the symbol of the evil principle, a -diminutive specimen of the dragon, guivre, or winged snake was more -frequently used, wriggling under foot. - -The serpent is emblematical of THE FALL; Satan is called the great serpent -(Rev. xii. 9); of WISDOM: "Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless -as doves" (Matt. x. 16); of SUBTLETY: "Now the serpent was more subtil -than any beast of the field" (Gen. iii. 1); of ETERNITY: a serpent in a -circle with its tail in its mouth is the well understood symbol of -unending time. - -"The serpent figures largely in Byzantine Art as the instrument of the -Fall, and one type of the Redemption. The cross planted on the serpent is -found sculptured on Mount Athos; and the cross surrounded by the so-called -runic knot is only a Scandinavian version of the original Byzantine -image--the crushed snake curling round the stem of the avenging cross. The -cross, with two scrolls at the foot of it typifying the snake, is another -of its modifications, and a very common Byzantine ornament. The ordinary -northern crosses, so conspicuous for their interlaced ornaments and -grotesque monsters, appear to be purely modifications of this idea."[8] - -Boniface, the Anglo-Saxon missionary, in his letter to the Archbishop of -Canterbury, inveighs against the luxuries of dress, and declares against -those garments that are adorned with very broad studs and images of worms, -announcing the coming of Antichrist. - -In the wonderfully intricate interlacing of snake-like and draconic forms -of celtic art which appear in the marvellously illuminated manuscripts -executed in Ireland of the sixth and seventh centuries, the great -sculptured crosses, as well as in gold and metal work, are seen -unmistakable traces of the traditional ideas relating to the early -serpent-worship. - -"The serpent," says Mr. Planche, "the most terrible of all reptiles, is of -rare occurrence in English heraldry. Under its Italian name of _Bisse_ it -occurs in the Roll of Edward III.'s time, 'Monsire William Malbis -_d'argent, a une chevron de gules, a trois testes de bys rases gules_' -(_Anglice_, argent, a chevron between three serpents' heads erased -gules)." - -The well-known historic device, the _Biscia_ or serpent devouring a child, -of the dukedom of Milan is of much interest. There are many stories as to -the origin of this singular bearing. Some writers assign it to Otho -Visconti, who led a body of Milanese in the train of Peter the Hermit, and -at the crusades fought and killed in single combat the Saracen giant -Volux, upon whose helmet was this device, which Otho afterwards assumed as -his own. Such is the version adopted by Tasso, who enumerates Otho among -the Christian warriors: - - "Otho fierce, whose valour won the shield - That bears a child and serpent on the field." - _Gerusalemme Liberata_, cant. i. st. 55. - (Hoole's translation.) - -From another legend we learn that when Count Boniface, Lord of Milan, went -to the crusades, his child, born during his absence, was devoured in its -cradle by a huge serpent which ravaged the country. On his return, Count -Boniface went in search of the monster, and found it with a child in its -mouth. He attacked and slew the creature, but at the cost of his own life. -Hence it is said his posterity bore the serpent and child as their ensign. -A third legend is referred to under Wyvern (which see). - -Menestrier says that the first Lords of Milan were called after their -castle in Angleria, in Latin _anguis_, and that these are only the _armes -parlantes_ of their name.[9] Be this as it may, "_Lo Squamoso Biscion_" -(the scaly snake) was adopted by all the Visconti lords, and by their -successors of the House of Sforza. - - "Sforza e Viscontei colubri." - _Orlando Furioso_, cant. xiii. 63. - -And again in the same poem (cant. iii. 26. Hoole's translation): - - "Hugo appears with him, his valiant son - Who plants his conquering snakes in Milan's town." - -Dante also refers in "Purgatorio" to this celebrated device. - -[Illustration: Arms of Whitby Abbey.] - -The "_three coiled snakes_," which appear in the arms of Whitby Abbey, -Yorkshire, really represent _fossil ammonites_, which are very plentiful -in the rocky promontories of that part of the English coast, and on that -account were no doubt adopted in the arms of the Abbey, and afterwards of -the town of Whitby. - -The arms are: _Azure three snakes coiled or encircled two and one, or_. - -Popular legend, however, ascribes their origin to the transformation of a -multitude of snakes into stone by _St. Hilda_, an ancient Saxon princess. -The legend is referred to by Sir Walter Scott in "Marmion": - - "_How of a thousand snakes each one - Was changed into a coil of stone - While Holy Hilda prayed._" - -It is, however, more than likely that the arms suggested the legend of the -miracle. - -The ancient myth of the _deaf adder_ seems to have been a favourite -illustration of the futility of unwelcome counsel. - - "What, art thou, like the adder, waxen deaf? - Be poisonous too." - _2 King Henry VI._ Act ii. sc. 2. - - - "Pleasure and revenge have ears more deaf than adders - To the voice of any true decision." - _Troilus and Cressida_, Act ii. sc. 2. - - - "He flies me now--nor more attends my pain - Than the deaf adder heeds the charmer's strain." - _Orlando Furioso_, cant. xxxii. 19. - (Hoole's translation.) - -A serpent or adder stopping his ears, by some writers termed "_an adder -obturant his ear_" from the Latin _obturo_, to shut or stop, is a very -ancient idea. It is said that the asp or adder, to prevent his hearing -unwelcome truths, puts one ear to the ground and stops the other with his -tail, a device suggested by Psalm lviii. 4,5: "They are like the deaf -adder that stoppeth her ear; which will not hearken to the voice of -charmers, charming never so wisely." - -Alessandro d'Alessandri (+ 1523), a lawyer of Naples, of extensive -learning, and a member of the Neapolitan Academy, took for device a -serpent stopping its ears, and the motto, "Ut prudentia vivam" ("That I -may live wisely"), implying that as the serpent by this means refuses to -hear the voice of the charmer, so the wise man imitates the prudence of -the reptile and refuses to listen to the words of malice and slander. - -It is said that the _cerastes_ hides in sand that it may bite the horse's -foot and get the rider thrown. In allusion to this belief, Jacob says, -"Dan shall be ... an adder in the path, that his rider shall fall -backward" (Gen. xlix. 17). - -_Asp._--According to Sir Gardiner Wilkinson, the ancient Egyptian kings -wore the asp, the emblem of royalty, as an ornament on the forehead. It -appears on the front of the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. - -Many terms have been invented by the heralds to express the positions -serpents may assume in arms. Berry's "Encyclopaedia of Heraldry" -illustrates over thirty positions, the terms of blazon of which it is -impossible to comprehend, and hardly worth the inquiry. Few of these terms -are, however, met with in English heraldry. - -Two serpents erect in pale, their tails "nowed" (twisted or knotted) -together, are figured in the arms of Caius College, Cambridge. In the -words of the old grant, they are blazoned "_gold, semied with flowers -gentil, a sengreen_ (or houseleek) _in chief, over the heads of two whole -serpents in pale, their tails knit together (all in proper colour), -resting upon a square marble stone vert, between a book sable, garnish't -gul, buckled, or_." - -Fruiterers' Company of London.--_On a mount in base vert, the tree of -Paradise environed with the serpent between Adam and Eve, all proper._ -Motto: _Arbor vitae Christus, fructus perfidem gustamus._ - -_Nowed_ signifies tied or knotted, and is said of a serpent, wyvern, or -other creature whose body or tail is twisted like a knot. - -_Annodated_, another term for nowed; bent in the form of the letter S, the -serpents round the caduceus of Mercury may be said to be annodated. - -_Torqued_, _torgant_, or _targant_ (from the Latin _torqueo_, to wreathe), -the bending and rebending, either in serpents, adders or fish, like the -letter S. - -[Illustration: A Serpent, nowed, proper. Crest of Cavendish.] - -_Voluted_, _involved_ or _encircled, gliding_, and several terms used in -blazon explain themselves, as _erect_, _erect wavy_, &c. - -In blazoning, the terms _snake_, _serpent_, _adder_, appear to be used -indiscriminately. - -_A serpent nowed, proper_, is the crest of Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire. - -_Gules, three snakes nowed in triangle argent_ (Ednowain Ap Bradwen, -Merionethshire). - -_Or, three serpents erect wavy sable_ (Codlen, or Cudlen). - -_Remora_ is an old term in heraldry for a serpent entwining. - -[Illustration: Amphiptere, or flying serpent.] - -Serpents are also borne entwined round pillars and rods, &c., and around -the necks of children, as in the arms of Vaughan or Vahan Wales: _Azure, -three boys' heads affronte, couped at the shoulders proper, crined or, -each enveloped or enwrapped about the neck with a snake vert_. Entwisted -and entwined are sometimes used in the same sense. - -_The amphiptere_ is a winged serpent. _Azure, an amphiptere or, rising -between two mountains argent_, are the arms of Camoens, the Portuguese -poet. - -As a symbol in heraldry the serpent does not usually have reference to the -mythical creature, as in Early Christian Art, its natural qualities being -more generally considered. - - -The Scorpion - -The reptile of this name, carrying a virulent and deadly sting in its -tail, is generally borne erect. When it is borne with the head downwards, -it is described as reversed. One branch of the family of Cole bears: -_argent, a fesse between three scorpions erect sable_; and another branch -of the same family, _argent a chevron gules between three scorpions -reversed, sable_. - -[Illustration: Scorpion.] - -_Scorpion._--Luigi di Gonzaga, styled Rodomonte for his great intrepidity -and strength, was a favourite general of Emperor Charles V. in his army -with Bourbon at the sack of Rome. When Charles made his public entry into -Mantua, Rodomonte wore a blue surcoat made in squares. Upon one was -embroidered a scorpion; upon the other his motto, "_Qui vivens laedit morte -meditur_" ("Who living wounds, in death is healed"). It being the property -of the scorpion when killed and laid over the wound to cure the poison, so -Rodomonte, if any one presumed to offend him, would clear himself of the -injury by the death of his enemy. - -"If a man be stung with a scorpion, and drink the powder of them in wine, -it is thought to be present remedie."[10] - - - - - - -Other Chimerical Creatures and Heraldic Beasts - - -[Illustration: Unicorn salient.[11]] - -The Unicorn - - "_Yon lion placed two unicorns between - That rampant with a silver sword is seen - Is for the king of Scotland's banner known._" - ARIOSTO (Hoole's translation). - - "_The lion and the unicorn fighting for the crown._" - Old Nursery Rhyme. - -The unicorn is represented by heraldic usage as having the head and body -of a horse, with the tail of a lion, and the limbs and hoofs of a stag; a -twisted horn grows out from the centre of its forehead. It is rarely met -with as a coat-of-arms. As a crest or supporter it is of more frequent -occurrence. A unicorn's head is a favourite bearing, either _erased_, or -_couped_, at the shoulder, and always represented in profile. - -[Illustration: Crest: A Unicorn's head, couped.] - -The unicorn was a famous device all over Europe, and symbolised the virtue -of the mind and the strength of the body. It is well known as a supporter -of the Royal Arms of England, a position it has occupied since the -accession of James VI. of Scotland to the English throne as James I. _Two -silver unicorns_ were the supporters to the arms of that kingdom. On the -legislative union with England, the _red dragon of Wales_, introduced by -Henry VII., gave place to the unicorn as the sinister supporter. - -James III. of Scotland had it figured on coins which were thence called -"unicorns." James V. first used it with the national arms as supporters. -Although the silver unicorn came into England with James I., Queen Jane -Seymour had already adopted it. - -"_Unicorn_" was the pursuivant of Lord Lyon King-at-Arms, the Royal -Scottish Herald. - -As a supporter to the Royal arms it is thus blazoned: _A unicorn argent, -armed, unguled, crined and gorged or, with a royal coronet_ (_i.e._, -composed of crosses patee and fleurs-de-lis), _having a chain affixed -thereto, and reflexed over his back of the last_. The term "_armed_" has -reference to his horn, "_unguled_" to his hoofs, and "_crined_" to his -flowing mane. "_Gorged_" implies that the coronet encircles his "gorge" or -throat. The term "_or_" (that is, the metal gold or the tincture of it) -being only mentioned after the several parts implies that they are all -alike to be gold. "_Of the last_" means of the last colour mentioned. - -In "The History of Caricature and Grotesque in Literature and Art," by -Thomas Wright, M.A., F.S.A. (p. 8), appears a curious illustration from an -Egyptian papyrus of the Roman period, in the British Museum. It represents -a lion and a unicorn playing a game resembling draughts, perhaps the -earliest instance of the two animals depicted in conjunction. As the -author says: "The lion has evidently gained the victory and is fingering -the money; his bold air of swaggering superiority as well as the look of -surprise and disappointment of his vanquished opponent are by no means -ill-pictured." - -The animosity which existed between the lion and unicorn is referred to by -Spenser, and is allegorical of the animosity which once existed between -England and Scotland: - - "Like as a lyon whose imperiall powre - A proud rebellious unicorne defyes." - _Faerie Queen_, ii. 5. - - -Mediaeval Conception of the Unicorn - -The mediaeval conception of the unicorn as the water-conner of the beasts -was doubtless suggested by that belief of earlier ages which made the -unicorn not merely symbolical of virtue and purity, but the more immediate -emblem of Christ as the horn of our salvation (Psalms xcii. 10 and lxxxix. -17, 24), expressly receiving its general fulfilment in him (St. Luke i. -69). The horn, as an antidote to all poison, was also believed to be -emblematical of the conquering or destruction of sin by the Messiah, and -as such it appears in the catacombs at Rome. The unicorn is the companion -of St. Justiana, as an emblem betokening in the beautiful legend her pure -mind, resisting all the Geraldine-like dreams sent by magic art to haunt -her, till she converted her tormentor himself. - -He is remarkable, say the old writers, for his great strength, but more -for his great and haughty mind, as he would rather die than be brought -into subjection (Job xxxix. 10-12). - -It was believed the only way to capture him was to leave a beautiful young -virgin in the place where he resorted. When the animal perceived her, he -would come and lie quietly down beside her, resting his head upon her lap, -and fall asleep, when he would be surprised by the hunters who lay in wait -to destroy him. - -[Illustration: The Legend of the Unicorn.] - -The unicorn is one of the most famous of all the chimerical monsters of -antiquity. The Scriptures make repeated mention of such a creature, but of -its shape we can form little conception. In Early Christian Art the -unicorn symbolised the highest and purest virtue; not only was it one of -the noblest bearings in the heraldry of the Middle Ages, but was viewed as -the immediate emblem of our Blessed Lord. Philippe de Thaun says in his -"Bestiarius": - - "Monoceros est beste - Une corne a en la tete - Cette beste en verite nous signifie Dieu." - -Whence comes the unicorn? It is older than the days of Job. Among the -hieroglyphics of Ancient Egypt this wonderful creature is depicted. -Sometimes the body is that of an ass, sometimes that of a bull, sometimes -that of a horse with the long twisted frontal horn for which he is noted. -Is the myth derived from some mysterious single-horned antelope, as has -been said, or is the one-horned rhinoceros the prototype of the legendary -unicorn? As an emblem it figures on the obelisks of Nimroud and the -catacombs of Rome. We read of this strange creature in Herodotus, and in -Aristotle, who calls it the "wild ass"; Pliny calls it the "Indian ass," -describing it as like a horse with a horn fixed in the front of his head. -Caesar counts it among the fauna of the Hyrcinian Forest. The earliest -author who describes it is Ctesias (B.C. 400), who derives it from India. -According to an Eastern legend the unicorn is found in Abyssinia. Lobo -also describes it in his history of that country: there the animals are -undisturbed by man, and live after their own laws. "Of the many ancient -and famous men," says a modern writer, "who have written about the -unicorn, no two seem to agree except when they copy from one another." - -"Some writers" (says Guillim, p. 175) "have made doubt whether there be -any such beast as this or no. But the great esteem of his horn (in many -places to be seen) may take away that needless scruple." - - -The Horn of the Unicorn - - "_The unicorn whose horn is worth a city._" - DECKER, "Gull's Hornbook." - -_The horn_ of the unicorn was supposed to be the most powerful antidote -against, as it was a sure test of, poisons. He was therefore invested by -the other beasts of the forest with the office of "water-conner," none -daring to taste of fountain or pool until he had stirred the water with -his horn, to discover whether any dragon or serpent had deposited his -venom therein, and render it innocuous. So complete was the faith in the -efficacy of the wonder-working horn as a test of poisons, that fabulous -store was set upon the possession of even a portion. In old inventories -the "Essai" of Unicorn's horn is frequently mentioned. - - 1391. Un manche d'or d'un essai de licourne pour attoucher aux viandes - de monsigneur le Dauphin.--"Comptes Royaux." - - 1408. Une piece de licorne a pour faire essai, a ung bou. - d'argent.--Inv. des ducs de Bourgogne. - - 1536. Une touche de licorne, garni d'or, pour faire essai.--Inv. de - Charles Quint. - -An Italian author who visited England in the reign of Henry VII., speaking -of the wealth of the religious houses in this country, says: "And I have -been informed that, amongst other things, many of these monasteries -possess unicorns' horns of an extraordinary size." Hence such a horn was -worthy to be placed among the royal jewels. At the head of an inventory -taken in the first year of Queen Elizabeth and preserved in the Harleian -Library (No. 5953) we read "Imprimis, a piece of unicorn's horn," which, -as probably the most important object, is named first. This was no doubt -the piece seen by the German traveller Hentzner, at Windsor: "We were -shown here, among other things, the horn of a unicorn of about eight spans -and a half in length, valued at about L10,000." Peacham places "that horne -of Windsor, of an unicorn very likely," amongst the sights worth seeing. - -"One little cup of unicorn's horn" was also in possession of Queen -Elizabeth, and was subsequently given by James I. to his Queen. - -Alviano, a celebrated general of the Venetian Republic, when he took -Viterbo, and dispersed the Gatesca faction, whom he called the poison of -the city, caused to be embroidered upon his standard a unicorn at a -fountain surrounded by snakes and toads and other reptiles, and stirring -up the water with his horn before he drinks, with the motto or legend -"Venene pello" (I expel poison). Although the unicorn has not been seen -and described by any modern writer, its horn has been occasionally found, -sometimes preserved in museums, but alas! the cherished horn, whenever it -is examined, turns out to be a narwhal's tooth. To this, Wood's "Natural -History" makes special reference: "In former days, an entire tusk of a -narwhal was considered to possess an inestimable value, for it was looked -upon as the weapon of the veritable unicorn reft from his forehead in -despite of his supernatural strength and intellect. Setting aside the -rarity of the thing, it derived a practical value from its presumed -capability of disarming all poisons of their terrors, and of changing the -deadliest draught into a wholesome beverage." - -This antidotal potency was thought to be of vital service to the unicorn, -whose residence was in the desert among all kinds of loathsome beasts and -poisonous reptiles, whose touch was death and whose look was -contamination. The springs and pools at which such monsters quenched their -thirst were saturated with poison by their contact, and would pour a fiery -death through the veins of any animal that partook of them. But the -unicorn, by dropping the tip of his horn into the pool, neutralised the -venom and rendered the deadly waters harmless. This admirable quality of -the unicorn's horn was a great recommendation in days when the poisoned -chalice crept too frequently upon the festive board, and a king could -receive no worthier present than a goblet formed from such valuable -material. - -Even a few shavings of the unicorn's horn were purchased at high prices, -and the ready sale for such antidotes led to considerable adulteration--a -fact which is piteously recorded by an old writer, who tells us that "some -wicked persons do make a mingle-mangle thereof, as I saw among the -Venetians, being, as I here say, compounded with lime and sope, or -peradventure with earth or some stone (which things are apt to make -bubbles arise), and afterwards sell it for the unicorn's horn." The same -writer, however, supplies an easy test, whereby the genuine substance may -be distinguished from the imposition. "For experience of the unicorn's -horn to know whether it be right or not; put silk upon a burning coal, and -upon the silk the aforesaid horn, and if so be that it be true, the silk -will not be a whit consumed." - -EXAMPLES.--_Argent, a unicorn rampant_ (_sometimes sejant sable armed and -unguled or_), is borne by _Harling_, Suffolk. - -Another of the name bears the unicorn _courant in chief_ with additional -charges upon the shield. - -_Azure, a unicorn couchant, argent between twelve cross crosslets, -or._--_Doon._ - -_Argent a chevron engrailed gules between three unicorns' heads, erased -azure._--_Horne._ - -Religious emblems were in great favour with the early printers; some of -them for this reason adopted the unicorn as their sign. Thus John Harrison -lived at the Unicorn and Bible in Paternoster Row, 1603. - -Again, _the reputed power of the horn_ caused the animal to be taken as a -supporter for the Apothecaries' arms, and as a constant signboard by -chemists. - -The great value set upon unicorn's horn caused the Goldsmiths of London to -adopt this animal as their sign. - - -[Illustration: Pegasus or Pegasos.] - -The Pegasus - - "_The cheval volant--the pegasus-- - He bounds from the earth; he treads the air._" - -A poetic creation of the ancients, a winged horse captured by Bellerophon, -the great hero of Corinthian legend. In this he was assisted by the -goddess Minerva, who also taught him how to tame and use it. At Corinth -there was a temple erected to [Greek: Athenachalinitis] (Minerva the -Bridler), in allusion to that part of the myth which describes Minerva as -instructing Bellerophon in the mode of placing the bridle on the winged -steed. The legend states that the hero caught this wonderful animal as it -descended at the Acro-Corinthus to drink of the spring of Pirene. Mounted -on his winged steed Pegasus, Bellerophon engaged the dire Chimera, and -succeeded in destroying the monster by rising in the air and shooting it -with arrows. - -[Illustration: Coins of Corinth and Syracuse.] - -Pegasus is the steed of the Muses, and classic story ascribes to it the -origin of the Castalian fountain "Hippocrene," situated on Mount Helicon, -part of Parnassus, a mountain range in Greece. When the Muses contended -with the daughters of Pieros, "Helicon rose heavenward with delight"; but -Pegasus gave it a kick, stopped its rise, and there gushed out of the -mountain "the soul-inspiring waters of Hippocrene." - -The Standard of Corinth was a winged horse, in consequence of the -tradition connecting the fountain called Pirene, near the city, with -Pegasus, the fiery winged steed of Apollo and the Muses. The same device -was the leading type upon the ancient coins of the city of Corinth. The -Corinthians founded the colony of Syracuse, in Sicily, which city likewise -adopted the winged horse and the head of Athena upon its coinage. - -[Illustration: Pegasus salient.] - -Pindar, who grandly relates the feat of the hero Bellerophon, says that he -incurred the enmity of the gods by attempting to fly to heaven on his -winged horse. Zeus sent a gadfly to sting the horse, who thereupon cast -its rider and flew of his own accord to the stables of Zeus, whose -thunder-chariot he has ever since drawn. - -The pegasus is of frequent occurrence in heraldry. In its classic -allusions it denotes fame, eloquence, poetic study, contemplation. - -Some modern heraldic writers, however, discarding its classic references, -regard it merely in the matter-of-fact light as an emblem of swiftness. -But it is impossible to disassociate the old and well-known ideas -respecting the horse of Apollo and the Muses. In fancy the poet mounts his -winged steed to bear his soaring spirit in its wayward flight through the -realms of fancy. - -As a type of the perfect horseman, Shakespeare pictures Prince Henry as -able to-- - - "Turn and wind a fiery pegasus - And witch the world with noble horsemanship." - _1 King Henry IV._, Act 4, sc. 1. - -Elsewhere he takes up the later interpretation of the myth, which connects -it with Perseus: - - "The strong-ribbed bark through liquid mountains cut - Like Perseus' horse." - _Troilus and Cressida_, Act i. sc. 3. - -Cardinal Bembo, poet and historian, secretary to Pope Leo X., used as his -impress a pegasus and a hand issuing from a cloud holding a wreath of -laurel and palm, with the motto, "Si te fata vocant" ("If the fates call -thee"). - -_Azure, a pegasus salient, the wings expanded argent_, is borne as the -arms of the Society of the Inner Temple, London. - -A very early seal of the Knights Templars exhibits two knights riding upon -one horse. - -A recent writer remarks upon this strange device that "it is exceedingly -probable that some rude and partially defaced representation of this -device was mistaken by the lawyers of the reign of Queen Elizabeth for a -pegasus. The fact that the Middle Temple adopted the device which appears -upon the other seal of the ancient Knights strongly confirms this view." - -One of the supporters of the arms of Oliver Cromwell is a horse having the -wings and tail of a dragon. - - -Sagittary, Centaur, Sagittarius, Centaurus, Hippocentaur - - "_... the dreadful sagittary - Appals our numbers._" - "Troilus and Cressida," Act v. sc. 5. - - - "_Feasts that Thessalian centaurs never knew._" - THOMSON, "Autumn." - -Under these names is blazoned a fabled monster of classic origin, half -man, half horse, holding an arrow upon a bended bow. It is one of the -twelve signs of the Zodiac, commonly called Sagittarius, otherwise -Arcitenens, and marked by the hieroglyph [Symbol]. In its signification -in arms it may properly be applied to those who are eminent in the field. - -The arms traditionally assigned to King Stephen are thus described by -Nicholas Upton: "_Scutum rubeum, in quo habuit trium leonum peditantium -corpora, usque ad collum cum corporibus humanis superius, ad modum signi -Sagittarii, de auro_." In this, as in some other early examples, it is -represented as half man, half lion. - -[Illustration: The Sagittary--Centaur.] - -The arms of Stephen are sometimes represented with but one sagittary, and -is said to have been assumed by him in consequence of his having commenced -his reign under the sign of Sagittarius. Others say because he gained a -battle by the aid of his archers on entering the kingdom. Others, again, -say that the City of Blois used the ensign of a sagittary as an emblem of -the chase; and Stephen, son of the Compte de Blois, assumed that ensign in -his contest with the Empress Maude or Matilda. There is no contemporary -authority, however, it must be confessed, for any of these derivations. A -sagittary is seen upon the seal of William de Mandeville (_temp._ Henry -III.), but not as an heraldic bearing. - -The crest of Lambart, Earl of Cavan, is: _On a mount vert, a centaur -proper, drawing his bow gules, arrow or_. It also appears as the crest of -Askelom, Bendlowes, Cromie, Cruell, Lambert, Petty, Petty-Fitzmaurice. - -The term _Centaur_ is most probably derived from the words [Greek: kenteo] -(to hunt, or to pursue) and [Greek: tauros] (a bull), the Thracians and -Thessalians having been celebrated from the earliest times for their skill -and daring in hunting wild bulls, which they pursued mounted on the noble -horses of those districts, which were a celebrated breed even in the later -times of the Roman Empire. A centaur carrying a female appears on a coin -of Lete, which, according to Pliny and Ptolemy, was situated on the -confines of Macedonia, and the fables of the centaurs, &c., in that and -neighbouring districts abounding in a noble breed of horses, arose no -doubt from the feats performed by those who first subjugated the horse to -the will of man, and who mounted on one of these beautiful animals and -guiding it at will, to approach or retreat with surprising rapidity, gave -rise in the minds of the vulgar to the idea that the man and the horse -were one being. - -[Illustration: Ipotane, from Mandeville's travels.] - -Sir John de Mandeville in his travels (printed by Wynken de Worde, 1499), -tells us that in Bacharie "ben many Ipotanes that dwellen sometime in the -water and sometime on the land; and thei ben half men and half hors and -thei eten men when thei may take him." - -We have in modern history a singular and interesting example of a similar -superstition. When the natives of South America--where the horse was -unknown--first saw their invaders, the Spaniards, mounted on these animals -and in complete armour, they imagined that the cavalier and steed formed -but one being of supernatural powers and endowments. - -Such groups as those exhibited on the rude money of Lete and other places -were doubtless the first steps toward the treatment of similar subjects by -Phidias, the celebrated Greek sculptor, whose works illustrating the -battle of the Lapithae and the Centaurs adorned the metopes of the -Parthenon at Athens, to which they also bear a striking affinity in the -simplicity of their conception. - -A curious example of the compounded human and animal forms similar to the -sagittary is represented upon a necklace found in the Isle of Rhodes, and -now in the Musee Cluny, Paris. It is formed of a series of thin gold -plates whereon is represented in relief the complete human figure -conjoined to the hinder part of a stag (or horse). This is alternated with -another compound figure, human and bird, holding up two animals by the -tails, both subjects, each in their own way, suggestive of the fleet and -dexterous hunter. - -[Illustration: Compound figures, gold necklace, Musee Cluny, Paris.] - -In Homer's account the centaurs are obviously no monsters, but an old -Thessalian mountain tribe, of great strength and savage ferocity. They are -merely said to have inhabited the mountain districts of Thessaly, and to -have been driven thence by the Lapithae into the higher mountains of -Pindus. Their contest with the Lapithae is generally conceived as a symbol -of the struggle of Greek civilisation with the still existing barbarism of -the Early Pelasgian period. This may be the reason why Greek art in its -prime directed itself so especially to this subject. - -[Illustration: Centaur, Greek sculpture.] - -The origin of this contest is referred to the marriage feast of Pirithous -and Hippodamia, to which the principal centaurs were invited. The centaur -Eurytion, heated with wine, attempted to carry off the bride. This gave -rise to a struggle for supremacy which, after dreadful losses on both -sides, ended in the complete defeat of the centaurs, who were driven out -of the country. The custom of depicting the centaurs as half man, half -horse arose in later times, and became a favourite subject of the Greek -poets and artists. - -Amongst the centaurs, Chiron, who was famous alike for his wisdom and his -knowledge of medicine, deserves mention as the preceptor of many of the -heroes of antiquity. Homer, who knew nothing of the equine shape of the -centaurs, represents him as the most upright of the centaurs, makes him -the friend of Achilles, whom he instructed in music, medicine and hunting. -He was also the friend of Heracles, who, by an unlucky accident, wounded -him with a poisoned arrow. The wound being incurable, he voluntarily chose -to die in the place of Prometheus. Jupiter placed him among the stars, -where he is called Sagittarius. - -_Bucentaur_, from Greek [Greek: Bous] (bous) an ox, and [Greek: kentauros] -(kentauros) a centaur, was, in classic mythology, a monster of double -shape, half man, half ox. The state barge of the Doge of Venice was so -termed. - -The _Minotaur_ slain by Theseus had the body of a man and the head of a -bull. - - -Griffin or Gryphon - -The griffin, gryfin, or gryphon, as it is variously termed by old writers, -is best known as one of the chimerical monsters of heraldry--the mediaeval -representative of the ancient symbolic creature of Assyria and the East. -It may be classed with the dragon, wyvern, phoenix, sphynx, "gorgons and -hydras and chimeras dire," and other imaginary beings, that world of -unreality grown up in the mind of man from the earliest times, the -influence of whose terrors have exercised no little power in the progress -of humanity. - -[Illustration: A Griffin statant, wings endorsed.] - -This favourite bearing was very early adopted in English armory. So early -indeed as 1167 A.D. we find it on a seal of Richard de Redvers, Earl of -Exeter, attached to a charter at Newport, Isle of Wight. It also appears -on a seal of Simon de Montacute (_temp._ Henry III. and Edward I.). It is -one of the principal bearings in heraldry, either charged upon the shield, -as the arms, or as the crest placed upon the helm, also as supporters to -the shield of arms of many noble and eminent families in this country and -the continent. - -The _griffin_, "sacred to the sun," combines the bodily attributes of the -"cloud-cleaving eagle" and the "king of beasts," that is, it has the head, -neck, wings, and talons of an eagle, conjoined to the hinder parts of a -lion. It is usually represented with projecting ears, indicating an acute -sense of hearing, in addition to its other supposed extraordinary -qualities. - -[Illustration: A Griffin passant, wings raised. (Early English.)] - -[Illustration: A Griffin segreant, wings displayed. (German.)] - -The griffin is rarely borne in other than two positions, viz., _passant_ -and _segreant_. The latter term is peculiar to the griffin, and seems to -refer to the expanded wings. When called _segreant_ only, it means the -same as rampant applied to a lion. As a crest, it is not unfrequently -borne _sejant_, _i.e._, sitting. Parts of the creature, as a -_demi-griffin_, a _griffin's head_, &c., are also of common use. - -The arms of _Trafford_, Lancashire, are: _Argent a griffin segreant -gules_. Motto: _Gripe griffin hold fast_. The supporters of the arms of -Viscount Halifax are two griffins. - -[Illustration: Sleeping Griffin, by John Tenniel, from "Alice in -Wonderland." (By permission of Macmillan & Co., Limited, proprietors of -the copyright.)] - -Old heralds gravely relate of this creature that when he attains his full -growth he will never be taken, hence he is a fit emblem of a valiant hero, -who, rather than yield himself to his enemy, exposes himself to the worst -of dangers. As a general symbol in heraldry the griffin expresses strength -and vigilance. - -Sir Thomas Browne says it is emblematical of watchfulness, courage, -perseverance and rapidity of execution. - -The description of the griffin by the old traveller, Sir John Mandeville, -is a wonderful record of credulity and belief in the marvellous; he states -it to be a native of "Bacharie, where ben many griffones, more plentee -than in any other countree. Sum men seyn that they have the body upwards -of an egle and benethe as a lyonn, and truly they seyne soethe that thei -ben of that schapp. But one griffoun hath the body more great and stronger -than one hundred egles, such as we have amonges us. For one griffoun there -will be flynge to his nest a great hors, or two oxen yoked togidre, as -thei gon to the plowghe. For he hath his talouns so longe and so grete and -large upon his feet as though thei were hornes of grete oxen, or of bugles -(bulls), or of kygn, so that men maken cuppes of hem to drynke of, and of -hire (their) ribbes and of the pennes of hire wenges men maken bowes fulle -stronge to schote with arrews and quarell." Gerard Leigh, an old heraldic -writer, discoursing of the griffin, gives his reason for belief, he says, -"I thinke they are of a great hugeness, for I have _a clawe_ of one of -their pawes, whiche should shewe them to be as bigge as two lyons." - -[Illustration: Griffin segreant, German version.] - -In the cathedral of Brunswick there is still preserved the horn of some -kind of antelope, brought from the Holy Land as "a griffin's claw," by -Henry the Lion. Three talons of the griffin were preserved at Bayeux, and -fastened on high festival days to the altar, and there seems to be some -curious legend concerning a cup formed of a gryphon's claw dedicated to -St. Cuthbert A gryphon's egg was also considered a valuable curiosity, -being used as a goblet in old times when natural history was greatly -misunderstood and grossly exaggerated. As an example of the absurd -misstatements of the earlier writers and naturalists who so delighted our -wonder-loving forefathers, a writer in the "Museum of Animated Nature" -refers to a large species of vulture, the Condor (_Sarcoramphus Gryphus_), -which was painted as rivalling the Rukh of Oriental fable. He adds that -"such descriptions have given place to the moderate details of -sober-minded observers, and we no longer look upon this creature as the -winged guardian of mountain mines within whose depths were entombed 'gems -and barbaric gold,' we no longer imagine it the giant of the winged race, -dimming the light of the sun by its widespread pinions, and by the mighty -rushing sound as it sweeps down from some lofty pinnacle or the upper -regions of the sky deafening and stupefying the terror-stricken -beholders." - -As the stern avenger of human crimes, the dreaded Nemesis appears in Roman -Art, as a young woman with wings, in a chariot drawn by griffins, with a -whip or sword in her hand.[12] - -Smith's "Classical Dictionary" gives the following: "Gryps or gryphus, a -fabulous monster dwelling in the Rhiphaean mountains between the -Hyperboreans and the one-eyed Arimaspians, and guarding the treasures of -the north. The Arimaspians mounted on horseback attempted to steal the -gold, and hence arose the hostility between the horse and the griffin. The -body of the griffin was that of a lion, while the head, fore-feet and -wings were those of an eagle. It is probable that the origin of the belief -in griffins must be looked for in the East, where it seems they have been -very ancient. They are also mentioned among the fabulous beasts which -guarded the gold of India." - -The Arimaspians were a one-eyed people of Scythia who adorned their hair -with gold. They were constantly at war with the Gryphons who guarded the -gold mines. - - "As when a gryphon, through the wilderness ... - Pursues the Arimaspian, who by stealth - Had from his wakeful custody purloined - The guarded gold." - _Paradise Lost_, ii. - -[Illustration: Gold Flying Griffin, found by Dr. Schliemann at Mycenae.] - -That the form of the griffin must have been a well understood symbol is -evident from the frequency with which it is met in ancient art. Dr. -Schliemann, in his explorations of the ancient city of Mycenae, among other -treasures found a gold-winged griffin, about two inches in length, in one -of the sepulchres of the kings (Figure No. 272 in his book), which in -every particular as to shape is identical with the heraldic griffin of -to-day; the same may be said of a coin of Abdera, a city in Thrace, which -bears the device of a griffin. Abdera was a place of importance when -Xerxes invaded Greece B.C. 554. - -Herodotus relates that the Teians, dreading the encroachments of the -Persians in Ionia, abandoned their city and founded Abdera in Thrace. The -coinage of the latter place bears the same type (the griffin) as the -parent city, but with a slight difference in treatment. This consists in -the form of the wings of the griffin, which are pointed on the coins of -Abdera, while in those of Teos they are rounded. The griffin was sacred to -Apollo, to whom an especial worship was devoted in most of the Ionian -cities, but more particularly in Teos.[13] - -[Illustration: Colossal Griffins, Burmah.] - -In the _Illustrated London News_ of October 21, 1876, is an engraving of -two gigantic wingless griffons, and also a description by the traveller -who visited that strange place. "At Thyetmo, 250 miles up the river -Irrawaddy from Rangoon in British Burmah, are two colossal 'chin thay' or -figures of sacred griffins, standing at the entrance to one of the great -pagodas dedicated to the worship of Gautama Buddha; the outer terraces and -steps of these temples are frequently adorned with such mythical monsters. -Near the ancient ruined city of Paghan, which flourished a thousand years -ago, the bank of the river for a length of eight miles is lined with the -remains of this quaint architecture and sculpture, covering a space of two -miles in breadth from the water's edge. It is not known by what nation of -old times they were constructed, for Burmese history is apocryphal or at -least very obscure." - -The symbolic use of images of living creatures was in the instance of the -cherubim permitted under the Mosaic dispensation, and on this will be -found to turn the distinction between the symbolic use and its forbidden -and dangerous use as a supposed means of assisting devotion. Mr. Henry -Hayman in "Smith's Dictionary," _s.v._, "cherub," as quoted by Tyrwhit, -says: "On the whole it seems likely that the word 'cherub' meant not only -the composite creature-form of which the man, lion, ox, and eagle were the -elements, but further, some peculiar and mystical form which Ezekiel, -being a priest, would know and recognise as 'the face of a cherub,' -[Greek: kat' exochen], but which was kept secret from all others.... Such -were probably those on the ark, which when moved was always covered, -though those on the hangings and panels might be of the popular device. -The griffin of northern fable, watching the gold in the wilderness, has -been compared with the cherub both as regards his composite form and his -functions as guardian of a treasure. He goes on to point out the possible -affinity between the Greek root [Greek: gryp] ([Greek: gryps], gryps, -griffin), and the Hebrew and Arabic derivation of the word 'cherub,' which -gives it the original meaning of 'carved image,' and says that though the -exact form is uncertain, it must have borne a general resemblance to the -composite religious figures found upon the monuments of Egypt, Assyria, -Babylonia and Persia." - -Mr. Ruskin,[14] describing the emblematical griffins on the front of the -Duomo of Verona, points out that the Lombard carver was enabled to form so -intense a conception, mainly by the fact that his griffin is a great and -profoundly felt symbolism. Two wheels are under its eagle's wings, which -connect it with the living creatures of the vision of Ezekiel, "where they -went the wheels went by them, and whithersoever the spirit was to go, they -went, and the wheels were lifted up over against them, for the spirit of -the living creatures was in the wheels." The winged shape thus became at -once one of the acknowledged symbols of the divine nature. Elsewhere, we -think in the "Stones of Venice," the connection is pointed out between the -Assyrian and Gothic personations. - -Gian-Paolo Baglione (+ 1520), who usurped the sovereignty of Perugia, -bore a _silver griffin_ on a red field with the motto, "_Unguibus et -rostro atque alis armatus in hostem_" ("Armed against the enemy with -talons and beak and wings"), which means of defence proved of no avail -when he was seized by Pope Leo X., who, pretending to consult Baglione on -affairs of importance, sent him a safe conduct to Rome, but when he -arrived, he caused him to be tortured and beheaded, and afterwards took -possession of his states. This gave occasion to his enemies to say, "This -ugly bird has not used his wings as at other times, to flee from the snare -which has been laid for him."[15] - -In Dante's description of the triumph of the Church, in the "Purgatorio," -we have the mediaeval conception of this wondrous creature, the gryphon. -"The mystic shape that joins two natures in one form"--as he is called by -the noble Italian poet--draws the car to which he is harnessed, and - - "He above - Stretched either wing uplifted 'tween the midst - - * * * * * - - And out of sight they rode. The members, far - As he was bird, were golden; white the rest, - With vermeil interveined." - -And when the eyes of Beatrice - - "stood - Still, fix'd toward the gryphon, motionless. - As the sun strikes a mirror, even thus - Within those orbs the twyfold being shone; - For ever varying, in one figure now - Reflected, now in other. Reader! muse - How wondrous in my sight it seem'd, to mark - A thing, albeit steadfast in itself, - Yet in its imaged semblance mutable." - Cary's Dante, _Purgatory_, c. xxix. - -"Some commentators of Dante," says M. Dideron,[16] "have supposed the -griffin to be the emblem of Christ, who, in fact, is one single person -with two natures; of Christ in whom God and man are combined. But in -this," says M. Dideron, "they are mistaken. There is, in the first place, -a manifest impropriety in describing the car as drawn by God as a beast of -burden." "Commentators," it is added, "have been misled by the two-fold -nature of the gryphon, but that difficulty is removed by recollecting that -the Pope resembles the eagle in his spiritual character, and in his -temporal authority the lion. The Pope is one person, but of two natures -and two distinct forms. Thus considered the allegory of Dante becomes -clear and intelligible." - -The gryphon is very frequently seen sculptured in Gothic churches, more -especially in those of the Lombard and early Norman style, and is -evidently intended to refer to the union of the divine and human natures. - -A curious example of this compound form of bird and beast occurs on an -Italian bronze medal of the fifteenth century, about 3-1/2 in. in diameter -(No. 57.51 in the fine collection in South Kensington Museum). On one side -it bears a portrait of Niccolo Picininus of Perugia, a celebrated -mercenary soldier--and on the reverse a griffin, the eagle's head, wings, -and feet united to the Roman she-wolf, with Romulus and Remus suckling. -Dante's emblem of the Popedom is here apparently adapted to the peculiarly -Roman national symbol--the nursing mother of nations and the Catholic -religion. - -[Illustration: Carved panel, a Griffin segreant.] - - -The Male Griffin - -The griffin is sometimes borne sans wings and termed a _male griffin_, as -in the supporters to the arms of the Marquis of Ormond, but spikes or -rays proceed from various parts of its body; sometimes it has two long -straight horns. - - -Other Varieties of the Griffin - -Two other varieties of the griffin family, the "_Hippogriff_" and the -"_Simoorgh_" appear in the highly wrought imaginings of the poets, and may -here be very briefly alluded to. They do not, however, appear in British -Heraldry. - -[Illustration: Male Griffin.] - -HIPPOGRYPH, or HIPPOGRIF, the winged horse whose father was a griffin and -mother a filly (Greek, _hippos_, a horse, and _gryps_, a griffin)--a -symbol of love.[17] - -SIMOORGH, a sort of griffin or hippogryph, which took some of its breast -feathers for Tahmura's helmet. This creature forms a very striking figure -in the epic poems of Saadi and Ferdusi, the Persian poets. - -Milton also makes allusion to this mythical creature: - - "So saying he caught him up, and without wing - Of hippogrif, bore through the air sublime - Over the wilderness and o'er the plain." - _Paradise Regained_, iv. - - -[Illustration: Opinicus statant.] - -The Opinicus, or Epimacus - -This creature appears to be a variety of the griffin family. Authorities -blazon it as having its body and four legs like those of a lion; the head -and neck and wings like an eagle, and the short tail of a camel, sometimes -borne sans wings. - -Such a monster with wings endorsed or, was the crest of the _Barber -Surgeons of London_. - -_Two opinici vert, purfled or, beaked sable, wings gules_, support the -insignia of the _Plasterers' Company_. - - -[Illustration: Egyptian Sphynx.] - -The Sphynx - - "_That monster whom the Theban knight - - * * * * * - - Made kill herself for very heart's despite - That he had read her riddle, which no wight - Could ever loose, but suffered deadly doole._" - SPENSER'S "Faerie Queen," Bk. v. cxi. - -According to some heraldic writers, the sphynx should possess the head and -bust of a woman, the paws of a lion, the body of a dog, and the tail of a -dragon. In Lord Chancellor Bacon's book on "The Wisdom of the Ancients," -there is an exposition of the meaning of the sphynx, which, says Dr. -Woodward, is as curious as the creature itself. - -It frequently figures in heraldry as a convenient hieroglyph to -commemorate some service in Egypt. It is the crest of British families of -_Asgill_, Baronets _Lambert_, _Goatley_, &c., and appears in the arms of -_Sir John Moore_, the hero of Corunna. - -[Illustration: Theban, or Greek Sphynx.] - -The strange combination of human and animal features in the figure known -as the sphynx is of frequent occurrence in both Greek and Egyptian -mythology and art. The Egyptian sphynx is supposed to represent the -combination of physical power, or the kings, as incarnations of such -attributes. They are also associated with the special forms and attributes -of the great Egyptian deities Osiris and Ammon, Neph or Jupiter, and Phreh -or Helios. That is, we have the _man-sphynx_, the _ram-sphynx_, and the -_hawk-sphynx_, or the lion's body with the head of the man, the ram, or -the hawk, according to the deity worshipped. The sphynx itself was -probably a religious symbol of the Egyptians, which was transferred to -Greece, and subsequently underwent a change of meaning. Among the -Egyptians the sphynx seems to have been a symbol of Royal dignity -betokening a combination of wisdom and strength. By the Greeks, however, -it appears to have been regarded as the symbol of the burning -pestilence-breeding heat of the summer sun. The form of the Theban sphynx -was that of a lion, generally in a recumbent position, with the breast and -upper part of a beautiful woman, and was in imitation of the original male -sphynxes of Egypt. Greek Art was only acquainted with the sphynx in its -female form, and also departed from the Egyptian type by adding wings to -the lion's body. - -"There is a great difference," says Sir Gardiner Wilkinson in his account -of the sphynx,[18] "between the Greek and Egyptian sphynxes. The latter is -human-headed, ram-headed, or hawk-headed, and is always male; while the -Greek is female, with the head of a woman, and always has wings, which the -Egyptian never has." - -In the Greek story the monster was sent by Hera (Juno) to devastate the -land of Thebes. Seated on a rock close to the town, she put to every one -that passed by the riddle, "What walks on four legs in the morning, on two -legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening?" Whoever was unable to -solve the riddle was cast by the sphynx from the rock into a deep abyss. -Oedipus succeeded in answering it, and thus delivered the country from the -monster, who cast herself into the abyss. - -The sphynx occurs upon a coin of Chios (B.C. 478-412). It is represented -seated before an amphore, above which is a bunch of grapes. Chios was -famed for its wine, and the sphynx was a symbol of Dionysius.[19] - -The Emperor Augustus, on his seal, used the device of the sphynx--"maid's -face, bird's wings, and lion's paws"--"implying," says Mrs. Bury Palliser -("Historical Devices," &c.), "that the secret intentions of a prince -should not be divulged. When Augustus was in Asia, he authorised Agrippa -and Mecaenas, who administered affairs during his absence, to open and read -the letters he addressed to the Senate before any one else; and for this -purpose he gave them a seal upon which was engraved a sphynx, the emblem -of secrecy. The device gave occasion to ridicule, and to the saying that -it was not surprising if the sphynx proposed riddles; upon which Augustus -discontinued it, and adopted one with Alexander the Great, to show that -his ideas of dominion were not inferior to Alexander's. Subsequently -Augustus used his own effigy, which practice was continued by his -successors." - -Maurice ("Oriental Trinities," p. 315) says the sphynx was the Egyptian -symbol of profound theological mystery, and was therefore placed on either -side of the _dromoi_, or paths leading to the temples of the gods. "They -are black," he says, "in allusion to the obscure nature of the deity and -his attributes. The white head-dress may allude to the linen tiaras -wrapped round the heads of the priests." The origin of the myth was not -definitely known even to the ancients. Some early writers say it was -symbolical of the overflowing of the Nile, which happened when the sun was -in the signs of Leo and Virgo; and that it had its name from this -circumstance. "For," they say, "the word sphynx in the Chaldaean language -signifies overflowing." The fact of the Egyptian sphynx being always male -does not, however, accord with this derivation. - -A statue of the Theban sphynx found in Colchester, and now in the museum -of that town, gives the Greek conception of that creature. It is carved in -oolite, twenty-five inches high, evidently a relic of the Roman occupation -of Britain. It represents the monster seated over the mangled remains of -one of its victims. Llewellin Jewett, in the _Art Journal_ 1871, p. 113, -describes it as "combining the five-fold attributes of a virgin, a lion, a -bird, a dog, and a serpent. The head, breast and arms are those of a -beautiful virgin; the body and teats of a female dog; hinder parts, hind -legs and fore paws are those of a lioness; the tail doubled in short folds -is serpent, and the wings those of a bird." - -The same writer says: "The sphynx appears on the reverses of some coins of -Cunobeline (Cymbeline, of Shakespeare), struck in the city of Camalodunum -(Colchester)." - -The gigantic statue of the sphynx half buried in the sand near the Great -Pyramids, at Gizeh, is hewn and sculptured out of a spur of solid rock, to -which masonry was added in places to complete the form. The actual age of -the great sphynx is not known, but it is supposed to have been commenced -under Cheops and finished by order of King Chefren, under whose reign also -was probably built the second great pyramid. The able author of "Eothen" -thus describes the appearance of the sphynx of Egypt, and the sentiments -to which its contemplation gave rise in his mind: "And near the Pyramids, -more numerous and more awful than all else in the land of Egypt, there -rests the lonely sphynx. Comely the creature is, but the comeliness is not -of this world. The once worshipped beast is a deformity and a monster to -this generation, and yet you can see that these lips, so thick and heavy, -were fashioned according to some ancient mould of beauty--some mould of -beauty now forgotten--forgotten because that Greece drew forth Cytheraea -from the flashing bosom of the AEgean, and in her image created new forms -of beauty, and made it a law among men that the short and proudly wreathed -lips should stand for the sign and main condition of loveliness through -all generations to come! Yet there still lives on the race of those who -were beautiful in the fashion of the elder world; and Christian girls of -Coptic blood will look on you with sad, curious gaze, and kiss your -charitable hand with the big pouting lips of the very sphynx. Laugh and -mock if you will at the worship of stone idols; but mark ye this, ye -breakers of images, that in one regard the stone idol bears awful -semblance of deity--unchangefulness in the midst of change--the same -seeming will and intent for ever inexorable! Upon ancient dynasties of -Ethiopian and Egyptian kings--upon Greek and Roman, upon Arab and Ottoman -conquerors--upon Napoleon dreaming of an Eastern empire--upon battle and -pestilence--upon the ceaseless misery of the Egyptian race--upon keen-eyed -travellers--Herodotus yesterday and Warburton to-day--upon all, and more, -this unworldly sphynx has watched, and watched like a Providence, with the -same earnest eyes and the same sad, tranquil mien. And we shall die, and -Islam shall wither away; and the Englishman, straining far over to hold -his loved India, will plant a firm foot on the banks of the Nile, and sit -on the seats of the faithful; and still that sleepless rock will lie -watching and earnest the work of the new busy race with those same sad -eyes and the same tranquil mien everlasting. You dare not mock at the -sphynx." The conclusion of this rhapsody at the present time sounds almost -like a half-fulfilled prophecy. - -The sphynx is the special device of several British regiments which landed -in Egypt, in the Bay of Aboukir, in the face of the French Army; and -borne as a memento of the battle of Alexandria, when General Sir Ralph -Abercrombie fell in the moment of victory. It also appears upon the war -medals of the English occupation of Egypt, resulting in the battle of -Tel-el-Kebir, 1882, and subsequent victories. In heraldry the sphynx is -usually couchant; it is, however, borne in other positions, sometimes -winged, and when so borne the wings are always endorsed, _i.e._, back to -back. - -_A sphynx passant, wings endorsed argent crined or_, is the crest of -Asgill (Bart. 1701). - -[Illustration: A Sphynx passant guardant, wings endorsed.] - - -[Illustration: The Phoenix.] - -The Phoenix Bird of the Sun - - "_Rara avis in terris._" - -An imaginary bird, described by ancient writers as in form like an eagle, -but more beautiful in its plumage. Among the ancient classical writers it -was an emblem of those existing in paradise, enjoying eternal youth and -never-ending pleasure. Tacitus describes the phoenix as a singular bird, -consecrated to the sun, and distinguished by its rich appearance and -variegated colours. Herodotus naively says: "I never saw one, indeed, but -in a picture, but if he is like his picture his plumage is partly golden -and partly red." Philippe de Thaun says: "The phoenix lives five hundred -years and a little more, when it will become young again and leave its old -age." It was said to be sometimes seen in Egypt, and only one was believed -to exist at a time. When it is advanced in age and its time of change is -at hand, it hides itself away somewhere in Arabia, and makes itself a nest -of the rarest spices, which, by the heat of the sun or other secret -agency, and the fanning of the sacred bird's own wings, soon rises into -flames and consumes it. Out of its ashes rises another with new life and -vigour to pursue the same never-ending life and re-birth. - -_Fum_ or _Fung_ (the phoenix) is one of the four symbolical animals -supposed to preside over the destinies of the Chinese Empire; the sacred -_Ho-ho_ or phoenix also figures with the dragon largely in Japanese -mythology, and bears a striking analogy to the bird of classic fame. It is -fabled to have a miraculous existence, and is sent on earth for the -performance of extraordinary works in the manifestation of the Divinity -and in the development of humanity and nature. It appears at different -stages of the world's progress and in successive ages; after the -accomplishment of which it reascends to heaven to come down again at the -commencement of a new era. - -From the pagans the Early Christians adopted the symbol, and with them -its significance had reference to the resurrection and immortality. Like -the pelican "in her piety," it was peculiarly an emblem of our Saviour in -His resurrection. As the phoenix when old and wearied seeks the rays of -the sun to consume its body, again to be revived in life and vigour, so -the Christian, worn and exhausted by worldly labour and suffering, turns -to the Son of Righteousness for regeneration and newness of life. -Tertullian makes the phoenix an image of the resurrection. - -In corroboration of this it must be borne in mind that Jesus Christ, who -died A.D. 34, is termed _the phoenix_ by monastic writers. - -The Phoenix period or cycle is said to consist of 300 years. "The bird of -wonder" is said to have appeared in Egypt five times: - - 1. In the reign of Sesostris, B.C. 866. - - 2. In the reign of Amasis, B.C. 566. - - 3. In the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, B.C. 266. - - 4. In the reign of Tiberius, 34 A.D. - - 5. In the reign of Constantine, 334 A.D. - -Tacitus in the "_Annales_," vi. 28, mentions the first three of these -appearances. - -The _Phoenix-tree_ is the palm. In Greek [Greek: phoinix] (_phoinix_) -means both phoenix and palm-tree. It is thus alluded to in Shakespeare: - - "Now will I believe ... that in Arabia - There is one tree, the phoenix throne--one phoenix - At this hour reigneth there." - _The Tempest_, Act iii. sc. 3. - -Pliny[20] gives minute particulars concerning the natural history of this -_rara avis in terris_. But the ancient fable is most fully given by Ovid -and translated by Dryden. Ariosto, also, and many early writers refer to -the wonderful creature with fullest faith in its reality. It is no wonder -then, that it became a favourite emblem in an age when it was the fashion -among persons of distinction to have an impress or device with its -accompanying legend or motto. Many persons of historical importance -employed the phoenix to express in metaphor the idea they wished to convey -regarding themselves. Thus we find the phoenix in flames painted for the -device of Jeanne d'Arc, in the Gallery of the Palais Royal, with the -motto: "Invito funere vivat" ("Her death itself will make her live"). - -Vittoria Colonna (+ 1547) the beautiful and accomplished wife of the -Marquis of Pescara, used the device of a phoenix on her medal. - -Mary Queen of Scots used the impress of her mother, Mary of Lorraine, a -phoenix in flames, and the motto: "En ma fin est mon commencement." A -phoenix in flames upon a castle was the badge of Queen Jane Seymour, the -crest of the Seymours being a phoenix in flames issuing from a ducal -coronet. Her son, Edward VI., added the motto, "Nascatur ut alter" ("That -another may be born"), alluding to the nature of her death. She lies -buried in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, with a Latin epitaph by Bishop -Godwin, which has been thus translated by his son Morgan: - - "Here a phoenix lieth, whose death - To another phoenix gave birth. - It is to be lamented much - The world at once ne'er knew two such." - -Queen Elizabeth placed a phoenix upon her medals and tokens with her -favourite motto: "Semper eadem" ("Always the same"), and sometimes with -the motto "Sola phoenix omnis mundi" ("The sole phoenix of the whole -world"); and on the other side, "Et Angliae gloria" ("And the glory of -England"), with her portrait full-faced. By the poets of the time, -Elizabeth was often compared to the phoenix. Sylvester, in his "Corona -Dedicatoria," says: - - "As when the Arabian (only) bird doth burne - Her aged bodie in sweet flames to death, - Out of her cinders a new bird hath birth, - On whom the beauties of the first return; - From spicy ashes of the sacred urne - Of our dead phoenix (deare Elizabeth) - A new true phoenix lively flourisheth." - -And Shakespeare, in the prophecy which he puts into the mouth of Cranmer -at the baptism of the Princess Elizabeth, her great and glorious reign is -foreshadowed, and finally: - - "... as when - The bird of wonder dies, the maiden phoenix, - Her ashes new create another heir, - As great in admiration as herself." - -Shakespeare elsewhere uses the simile to denote a phoenix among women--a -phoenix, a paragon, unique, because alone of its kind: - - "If she be furnished with a mind so rare, - She is alone the Arabian bird." - _Cymbeline_, Act i. sc. 7. - -Many other heraldic mottoes have been associated with this celebrated -device. The following are from "Historic Devices, Badges," &c., by Mrs. -Bury Palliser: - - Eleanor, Queen of Francis I. of Austria: "Non est similis illi" - ("There is none like her"). She afterwards changed her motto, either - showing how much she was neglected, or to express her determination to - remain single: "Unica semper avis" ("Always a solitary bird"). - - Bona of Savoy: "Sola facta solum deum sequor." - - Cardinal Trent: "Ut vivat" ("That it may live"). - - Linacre: "Vivat post funera virtus" ("Virtue survives death"). - - "De mi muerte ma vida" ("From my death my life"). - - "De mort a vie" ("From death to life"). - - "Et morte vitam protulit" ("And by death has prolonged his life"). - - "Ex morte, immortalitas" ("Out of death, immortality"). - - "Murio y nacio" ("I die and am born"). - - "Ne pereat" ("That it should not perish"). - - "O mors, ero mors tua" ("O death, I shall be thy death"). - - "Se necat ut vivat" ("Slays himself that he may live"). - - "Trouva sol nei tormenti il suo gioire" ("It finds alone its joy in - its suffering"). - - "Vivre pour mourir, mourir pour vivre" ("Live to die, die to live"). - - "Uror, morior, orior" ("I am burnt, I die, I arise"). - -The phoenix in heraldry is never represented in other than in one -position, _rising from flames_, that is, with expanded wings and enveloped -in flames of fire in which it is being consumed. It is usually represented -exactly as an eagle in shape, but may be of any of the heraldic tinctures. - -The phoenix is of frequent use in heraldry, and borne by many families in -the United Kingdom. A phoenix issuing from a ducal coronet is the crest of -the Duke of Somerset. - -Linacre, founder of the College of Physicians, and honorary physician to -four sovereigns has on his tomb in Westminster Abbey the device of the -phoenix, with the motto, "Vivat post funera virtus" ("Virtue survives -death"). - -From the association of this fabulous bird with alchemy, Paracelsus wrote -concerning it, and several alchemists employed it to symbolise their -vocation. It was adopted by the Apothecaries' Company as crest, and is a -frequent sign over chemists' shops. - -_A phoenix in flames proper, gorged with a mural coronet_, is the allusive -crest of the Fenwicks; the motto over the crest is the _cri de guerre_, "A -Fenwick! a Fenwick!" They were a family noted in border warfare. "The -house of Percy," says Mrs. Bury Palliser, "ever ranked the Fenwicks among -the most valiant of its retainers, and in border warfare the banner of -the gorged phoenix in the burning flame always appeared with that of the -silver crescent of the Percys." - -The bird of paradise is interesting as having for a time been accepted as -the veritable phoenix, a fact which has escaped Gibbon. That luxurious -Emperor, Heliogabalus, having eaten, as he thought, of every known -delicacy, bethought him one day of the fabled phoenix. What mattered it -that only one bird existed at a time; _that one_, the imperial gourmand -must have, and was inconsolable that he had not thought of it before. The -zeal of proconsuls was equal to the great occasion, and from all parts of -the earth came strange and wondrous birds, each affirmed with confidence -to be "the sacred solitary bird, that knows no second, knows no third." -The cankerworm of doubt remains! At last, one day there was brought to -Rome from the far islands of the Eastern seas a bird, the like of which -for the glory of its plumage had never been seen out of paradise, the -veritable phoenix, "Bird of the Sun!" The sight of the magnificent -creature carried conviction with it. Heliogabalus ate in faith, and went -to his fathers contented. - - -[Illustration: A Harpy, wings disclosed.] - -The Harpy - - "_Of monsters all, most monstrous this; no greater wrath - God sends 'mongst men; it comes from depth of pitchy hell: - And virgin's face, but womb like gulf unsatiate hath, - Her hands are griping claws, her colour pale and fell._" - VIRGIL. - - - "_Thou art like the harpy, - Which to betray, doth wear an angel's face, - Seize with an eagle's talons._" - "Pericles Prince of Tyre," Act iv. sc. 4. - -A poetical monstrosity of classical origin, described as "winged creatures -having the head and breasts of a woman, and the body and limbs of a -vulture; very fierce and loathsome, living in an atmosphere of filth and -stench, and contaminating anything which they come near. Pale and -emaciated, they were continually tormented with insatiable hunger." They -are best known from the story of the Argonauts, where they appear as the -tormentors of the blind king Phineus, whose table they robbed of its -viands, which they either devoured or spoiled. They were regarded by the -ancients as ministers of sudden death. - -[Illustration: The Harpy, Greek sculpture.] - -In Miss Millington's admirable book, "Heraldry in History, Poetry and -Romance," it is stated that unlike the generality of such mythical beings, -the harpies appear originally, as in Homer's "Odyssey," as persons instead -of personations; while later authors for the most part reduced them to -whirlwinds and whirlpools. Homer mentions but one harpy. Hesiod gives two, -later writers three. The names indicate that these monsters were -impersonations of whirlwinds and storms. The names were: _Ocypeta_ -(rapid), _Celeno_ (blackness), _Aello_ (storm). - - "I will ... do any embassage ... rather than - Hold three words' conference with this harpy." - _Much Ado About Nothing_, Act ii. sc. 1. - - - "Bravely the figure of this harpy hast thou - Performed, my Ariel; a grace it had devouring." - _Tempest_, Act iii. sc. 3. - -[Illustration: A Harpy displayed and crowned. German version.] - -_Azure, a harpy with her wings disclosed, her hair flotant, or, armed of -the same._ This coat existed in Huntingdon Church in Guillam's time. - -The arms of the City of Nuremberg are: _azure, a harpy displayed armed, -crined and crowned, or_. It occurs as the city device as early as 1243. In -German heraldry it is termed _jungfraundler_. - -[Illustration: Shield of Nueremberg.] - -A creature very similar to the harpy (a combination of several badges), -was one of the favourite devices of Richard III., viz., a falcon with the -head of a maiden holding the white rose of York. - - -The Heraldic Pelican - - "_Then sayd the pellycane - When my byrats be slayne - With my bloude I them reuyue (revive) - Scrypture doth record, - The same dyd our Lord, - And rose from deth to lyue._" - SKELTON, "Armory of Birds." - -[Illustration: A Pelican in her piety, wings displayed.] - -The character ascribed to the pelican is nearly as fabulous as that of the -phoenix. From a clumsy, gluttonous, piscivorous water-bird, it was by -the growth of legends transformed into a mystic emblem of Christ, whom -Dante terms "Nostro Pelicano." St. Hieronymus gives the story of the -pelican restoring its young ones destroyed by serpents as an illustration -of the destruction of man by the old Serpent, and his salvation by the -blood of Christ. - -The Pelican in Christian Art is an emblem of Jesus Christ, by "whose blood -we are healed." It is also a symbol of charity. - -The "Bestiarum" says that Physiologus tells us that the pelican is very -fond of its brood, but when the young ones begin to grow they rebel -against the male bird and provoke his anger, so that he kills them; the -mother returns to the nest in three days, sits on the dead birds, pours -her blood over them, and they feed on the blood. - -[Illustration: Heraldic Pelican in her piety.] - -Heralds usually represent this bird with wings endorsed and neck embowed, -wounding her breast with her beak. Very many early painters mistakenly -represented it similar to an eagle, and not as a natural pelican, which -has an enormous bag attached to the lower mandible, and extending almost -from the point of the bill to the throat. When in her nest feeding her -young with her blood, she is said to be IN HER PIETY. - -The Romans called filial love piety, hence Virgil's hero is called the -"pious AEneas," because he rescued his father from the flames of Troy. - -[Illustration: Crest, a Pelican vulning herself proper, wings endorsed.] - -The myth that pelicans feed their young with their blood arose from the -following habit, on which the whole superstructure of fable has been -erected: They have a large bag attached to their under-bill. When the -parent bird is about to feed its brood, it macerates small fish in this -bag or pouch; then, pressing the bag against its breast, transfers the -macerated food to the mouths of the young ones. - -The pelican in her piety is not an uncommon symbol upon monumental -brasses. That of William Prestwick, Dean of Hastings, in Warbleton Church, -Sussex, has it with the explanatory motto: "Sic Xtus dilexit nos." - -EXAMPLES.--_Gules, a pelican in her piety, or._--_Chauntrell._ - -_Azure, three pelicans argent, vulning themselves proper._--_Pelham_, -_Somerset_, &c. - -A pelican's head erased, or otherwise detached from the body, must always -be drawn in the same position and vulning itself. It should always be -separated as low as the upper part of the breast. - -It is said naturalists of old, observing that the pelican had a crimson -stain on the tip of its beak, reported that it was accustomed to feed its -young with the blood flowing from its breast, which it tore for the -purpose. In this belief the Early Christians adopted the pelican to figure -Christ, and set forth the redemption through His blood, which was -willingly shed for us His children. - -ALPHONSO THE WISE, King of Castile (+ 1252). A pelican in its piety. -Motto: "Pro lege et grege." - -WILLIAM OF NASSAU, founder of the Republic of the United Provinces, one of -the noblest characters of modern history. He bore on some of his -standards the pelican, and on others the motto: "Pro lege, grege et rege." - -POPE CLEMENT IX. One of his devices was the pelican in its piety. Motto: -"Aliis non sibi clemens" ("Tender-hearted to others, not himself"). - -[Illustration: The natural Pelican.] - -Other mottoes for the pelican: - - "Ut vitam habeant" ("That they may have life"). - - "Immemor ipse sui" ("Unmindful herself of herself"). - - "Mortuos vivificat" ("Makes the dead live"). - - "Nec sibi parcit" ("Nor spares herself"). - - -The Martlet - - "_The guest of summer, - The temple-haunting martlet._" - "Macbeth." - -[Illustration] - -The Martlet (_Merlette_ or _Merlot_, French; _Merula_, Latin). The -house-marten or swallow is a favourite device in heraldry all over Europe, -and has assumed a somewhat unreal character from the circumstance that it -catches its food on the wing and never appears to alight on the ground as -other birds do. It builds its nest frequently under the eaves of houses, -from whence it can take flight readily, rarely alighting, as it gains its -food while on the wing; the length of its wings and the shortness of its -legs preventing it from rising should it rest on the ground. - - "No jutty friese, - Buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this bird - Hath made his pendant bed, and procreant cradle." - _Macbeth_, Act i. sc. 6. - -It is depicted in armory with wings close, and in profile, with thighs, -but with no visible legs or feet. - -The martlet is the appropriate "difference" or mark of cadency for the -fourth son. Sylvanus Morgan says: "It modernly used to signify, as that -bird seldom lights on land, so younger brothers have little land to rest -on but the wings of their own endeavours, who, like the swallows, become -the travellers in their seasons." - -The swallow (_hirondelle_) is the punning cognisance for Arundell. The -seal of the town of Arundel is a swallow, Baron Arundell of Wardour bears -six swallows for his arms. The great Arundells have as motto, "De -Hirundine" ("Concerning the swallow"), and "Nulli praeda" ("A prey to -none"). A Latin poem of the twelfth century is thus rendered: - - "Swift as the swallow, whence his arms' device - And his own arms are took, enraged he flies - Thro' gazing troops, the wonder of the field, - And strikes his lance in William's glittering shield." - -"We find it in Glovers' roll," says Planche, "borne by Roger de Merley, -clearly as 'armes parlantes,' although in a border." Roger de Merley: -"_baree d'argent et de goulz a la bordure d'azur, et merlots d'or en le -bordure_"; showing it was some difference of a family coat. - - -The Alerion - -is a heraldic bird, represented as an eaglet displayed, but without beak -or claws. Some writers confound it with the martlet, stating that the -alerion is the same bird with its wings displayed or extended. They are -first found in the arms of Lorraine, which are blazoned _or, on a bend -gules, three Alerions argent_, and are said to be assumed in commemoration -of an extraordinary shot made by Godfrey de Boulogne, "who at one draught -of his bow, shooting against David's Tower in Jerusalem, broched three -feetless birds called Alerions, which the House of Lorraine, decending -from his race, continued to this day." It is impossible, says Planche, who -broached this wonderful story, but it is perfectly evident that the -narrator was the party who drew the longbow, and not the noble Godfrey. - -[Illustration: Alerion displayed.] - -[Illustration: Heraldic Eagle.] - -The letters of the word ALERION appear to be merely an anagram formed by -the same letters LORAINE, and may account for the birds on the shield -(probably eaglets) being called alerions. - -The eagle displayed and the two-headed eagle are but extreme -conventionalised representations of the natural bird. - - -The Liver (Cormorant) - -Liver, a fabulous bird, supposed to have given its name to Liverpool and -commemorated in the arms of that city. It is traditionally described as a -bird that frequented _the pool_, near which the town was afterwards -founded. The arms granted in 1797 are thus blazoned: _Argent a cormorant, -in the beak a branch of seaweed all proper_, and for crest, _on a wreath -of the colours, a cormorant, the wings elevated, in the beak a branch of -Laver proper_. It is more than probable that the bird on the arms -suggested the name "Liver" being applied to it. The fiction naturally -arose from the desire to find a derivation for the name of the town. It -is, however, always depicted as a cormorant. On the shield the bird is -always depicted with the wings _close_, and on the crest the wings are -_elevated_. - - -[Illustration: An Heraldic Tigre passant.] - -The Heraldic Tigre or Tyger - - "_A savage tygress on her helmet lies; - The famous badge Clorinda us'd to wear._" - FAIRFAX'S "Tasso." - -The tigre or tyger of the old heralds still holds its place in English -armory, retaining the ancient name to distinguish it from the natural -tiger, to which it bears but little resemblance except the name. The early -artists probably had no better authority for the strange creature they -depicted than the wild tales of Eastern travel and their own lively -imaginations. The habit of drawing in a conventional manner may also have -assisted in producing such a monster. This type of wild and ruthless -ferocity, approaching the draconic in its power and destructiveness, was -to their minds fitly suggested by exaggerations of those attributes of -savageness and bloodthirstiness with which it was supposed to be endowed. -Shakespeare makes King Henry V., when urging on his "noblest English" and -"good yeomen" to the assault at Harfleur, declare that - - "When the blast of war blows in our ears - Then imitate the action of the tiger; - Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, - Disguise fair Nature with hard-favoured rage." - -[Illustration: Supporter, an Heraldic Tigre, collared and lined.] - -"The tyger," says Bossewell, "is a beast wonderful in strength, and most -swift in flight as it were an arrow. For the Persians call an arrow -tygris. He is distinguished with diverse speckes; and of him the floode -Tygris tooke the name. It is said Bacchus used these beastes in his -chariot, for their marveilous swiftness in conveying of the same." - -_The heraldic tigre_, the invention of the early heralds, is depicted as -having the body similar to a wolf, but more strong and massive; powerful -jaws armed with prominent canine tusks, and with a short curved horn or -spike at the end of his nose. A row of knotted tufts of hair adorn the -back of his neck as a mane; tufts also on his breast and thighs, and with -strong claws; the tail of a lion completes his equipment. He is a most -effective creature in a heraldic emblazonment, especially when "_armed_" -and "_tufted_" of tinctures differing from his body. - -The sinister supporter of the Marquess of Dufferin and Ava is _an heraldic -tigre ermine, gorged with a tressure flory counter flory or_. - -_Gules a chevron argent, between three tigres_, &c., _of the -second_.--_Butler_, Calais. - -_Vert, a tigre passant or, maned and tufted argent._--_Love_, Norfolk -(granted 1663). - -_Or, a tigre passant gules._--_Lutwych_, Lutwich, Salop. - -Baron Harlech has for dexter supporter, and also for crest, _an heraldic -tigre argent, maned and tufted sable_. - -_The tigre and mirror_ is an uncommon but very remarkable bearing. Amongst -other remarkable ideas which our ancestors entertained respecting foreign -animals, "some report that those who rob the tigre of her young use a -policy to detaine their damme from following them by casting sundry -looking-glasses in the way, whereat she useth to long to gaze, whether it -be to beholde her owne beauty or because when she seeth her shape in the -glasse she thinketh she seeth one of her young ones; and so they escape -the swiftness of her pursuit."[21] - -[Illustration: Tigre and Mirror.] - -"_Argent, a tigre passant regardant looking into a mirror lying fessways, -the handle to the dexter all proper_," is said to have been the coat of -Hadrian de Bardis (probably an Italian), Prebendary of Oxfordshire. These -arms still remain, or were lately remaining, in a window of Thame Church. -Only two other examples occur, viz.: - -"_Argent a tigre and mirror_ (as before) _gules_."--_Sibell_, Kent. - - -The Royal Tiger - -Next to the lion in power is the tiger, an animal not possessed of the -noble qualities of the lion, being fierce without provocation, and cruel -without cause. The chief difference of the tiger from every other animal -of the mottled kind is in the shape of the spots on the skin, which run in -streaks or bands in the direction of the ribs. The leopard, panther and -the ounce are all, in a certain degree, marked like this animal, except -that the lines are broken by round spots, which cover the whole surface -of the skin. The use of the _royal tiger_ in modern coats of arms is -frequent, and has reference to services in the East. - -Outram, Bart., has for supporters: _two royal Bengal tigers guardant -proper, gorged with a wreath of laurel vert, crowned with an Eastern -crown_. - -_Note._--In a heraldic description (or blazon as it is termed) it is -necessary for the sake of greater clearness, and to prevent confusion, to -name the older mythical creature the "HERALDIC TIGRE," that it may not be -confounded with its natural representative usually called the "ROYAL -TIGER." - - -Leopard, or Panther, Felis Pardus, Lybbarde - - "_Upon his shoulders a scheld of stele - With the lybbardes painted wele._" - "The Metrical Romance of Richard - Coeur de Lyon." - - - "_Make the libbard stern - Leave roaring, when in rage he for revenge did yearn._" - SPENSER, "Faerie Queen," Book i. canto vi. - -A curious character, partly real and partly fictitious has been ascribed -to the lybbard or leopard of heraldry. It was said to be the offspring of -a lioness and a panther, the Northmen or Normans, according to some -authorities, having adopted that beast of prey, noted for rashness, as -typical of themselves, so characterised by boldness and impetuosity. The -standard of Rollo, first Duke of Normandy, they say, bore a leopard. A -second lion or leopard was added to the Norman shield when the county of -Maine became annexed to the Duchy of Normandy; and the two lions or -leopards--for they are indiscriminately so termed--were thus borne, it is -said, upon the standard of William the Conqueror, and by his descendants. -A third lion was added by Henry II. on his marriage with Eleanor of -Aquitain, a lion being also the arms of that province. - -[Illustration: A Leopard passant.] - -It has been keenly contested whether the three animals in the royal shield -of England were lions or leopards. The subject has been ably treated by -Mr. J. R. Planche in the "Pursuivant of Arms," and also by Charles -Boutell, M.A., in several of his works. The case seems to stand thus: - -In ancient coats the name is believed to be given to the lion in certain -attitudes. The French heralds call a lion passant a _leopard_. Thus -Bertrand du Guesclin, the famous Breton, declared that men "devoyent bien -honorer la noble fleur-de-lis, qu'ils ne faissaient le felon liepard," and -Napoleon, strongly to excite the valour of his soldiers, exclaimed, "Let -us drive these leopards (the English) into the sea!" - -"_Lion Leoparde_" is the term used in French heraldry for the lion when -borne _passant guardant_ as in the royal shield of England. When _rampant_ -they call it "leoparde lionne," as if in this attitude the leopard assumed -the position and bold character of the lion. The attitude _passant -guardant_ thus denoted the peculiar stealthy tread and cat-like -watchfulness of the leopard and panther. - -The Emperor Frederick II. (1235) sent King Henry of England three leopards -as a present in token of his armorial bearings. - -It is a great argument in favour of the substitution of the lion for the -leopard, Mr. Boutell thinks, that the latter should have almost -disappeared from English heraldry, the face and head only retaining their -place in modern coats. - -[Illustration: A Leopard's Face, jessant-de-lis.] - -"_A leopard's head_" should show part of the neck, _couped_ or _erased_, -as the case may be; _guardant, affronte_ or front face, is always to be -understood of the leopard, and never in profile. - -"_A leopard's face_" shows no part of the neck, and in conjunction with -the term "_jessant-de-lis_" is used with respect to a leopard's face -having a _fleur-de-lis_ passing through it. - -The insignia of the See of Hereford is: _gules three leopards' heads -reversed jessant-de-lis, or_. - -In heraldry the leopard represents those brave and generous warriors who -have performed some bold enterprise with force, courage, promptitude, and -activity. Thus Shakespeare alludes to the character of the bold soldier - - "Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard, - Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, - Seeking the bubble reputation - Even in the cannon's mouth." - -In Christian Art the leopard is employed to represent that beast spoken of -in the Apocalypse, with seven heads and ten horns. Six of the heads are -nimbed, but the seventh, being "wounded to death," has lost its power, and -consequently has no nimbus. - -_Three leopards passant guardant or, pelletee_, appear on the arms of the -Marquis of Downshire. It is also the sinister supporter. - -The supporters of the town of Aberdeen are leopards. - -_Sable three leopards rampant argent spotted sable_ are given as the arms -of _Lynch_. It is, however, probable that the _lynx_ was the animal -originally blazoned as "arms parlantes" for the name. - -_Ermine on a cross patonce sable, a leopard's head, issuing out of a ducal -coronet or_, crest, a _demi-leopard erect, proper_.--_Dickens._ - -_A leopard's face, breaking with his mouth a sword_, is the crest of -_Disne_. - -The supporters of the Earl of Northesk are _two leopards reguardant_. - -The leopard or panther, says Dr. P. M. Duncan, F.R.S.,[22] was the only -one of the greater feline animals, except the lion and tiger, which seems -to have been known to the ancients. It is always represented as drawing -the chariot of Bacchus, and the forlorn Ariadne is sculptured as riding on -one of the spotted steeds of her divine lover. The panther was also -constantly used in the barbarous sports of the amphitheatre, and, in -common with the lion and tiger, has been both executioner and grave to -many a bold-hearted martyr. - -The leopard's skin was a favourite mantle in the olden times in Greece. In -the "Iliad," Homer, speaking of Menelaus, says: - - "With a pard's spotted hide his shoulders broad - He mantled o'er," - -and the leopard, or panther, is given in the "Odyssey" as one of the forms -assumed by Proteus, "the Ancient of the Deep." - -A curious ancient superstition about the leopard is embodied in its name. -It was thought not to be actually the same animal as the panther or pard, -but to be a mongrel or hybrid between the male pard and the lioness, hence -it was called the lion-panther, or _leopardus_. This error, as Archbishop -Trench tells us, "has lasted into modern times"; thus Fuller: "Leopards -and mules are properly no creatures." - -Some writers, says Boutell, describe the leopard as the issue of the pard -and lioness, and they assign the unproductiveness of such hybrids as a -reason for its frequent adoption in the arms of abbots and abbesses. -"Mulus et abbates sunt in honore pares." - -The leopard and panther are now acknowledged to be but slight varieties of -the same species. In Wood's "Natural History" some slight difference is -mentioned as to the number of spots. "The panther is fawn-coloured above, -white underneath, with six or seven ranges of patches resembling -rosettes--that is to say, each composed of an assemblage of five or six -simple black spots. It very much resembles the leopard, which inhabits the -same region (but has ten rows of spots which are of smaller size), It is -the wildest of the feline tribe, always retaining its fierce aspect and -perpetual growl." - - -The Panther "Incensed" - - "_The panther, knowing that his spotted hide - Doth please all beasts, but that his looks them fray, - Within a bush his dreadful head doth hide - To let them gaze, while he on them doth prey._" - SPENSER, Sonnet. - -This beast, like the leopard, has been the object of much mistaken or -fictitious history. Pliny, who is responsible for many of the errors in -natural history since his time, says of the panther: "It is said that all -four-footed beasts are wonderfully delighted and enticed by the smell of -panthers; but their hideous looke and crabbed countenance which they -bewray so soon as they show their heads skareth them as much again: -therefore their manner is to hide their heads, and when they have trained -other beasts within their reach by their sweet savour, they fall upon them -and worry them."[23] And again, Sir William Segar, Garter King-of-Arms, -following the same credulous historian, says: "The panther is admired of -all other beasts for the beauty of his skyn, being spotted with variable -colours, and beloved of them for the sweetness of his breath that -streameth forth of his nostrils and ears like smoke which our paynters -mistaking, corruptly do make fire."[24] - -[Illustration: Panther incensed.] - -It is, however, more probable that the creature was represented emitting -flame and smoke to denote and give characteristic expression to the native -savagery of the brute when irritated. If one can imagine the terror -inspired by remorseless and unpitying fury, sudden and impetuous, we see -its object fairly typified in the panther "incensed." The idea of fire and -smoke darting from its mouth, eyes and ears was doubtless suggested by -that habit peculiar to the feline race, observable even in the domestic -cat, to "spit fire" and "swear" when rudely attacked, and as an emblem in -this sense it is extremely well indicative of sudden fury. - -Guillam says: "Some authors are of opinion that there are no panthers bred -in Europe; but in Africa, Lybia and Mauritania they are plentiful. The -panther is a beast of a beautiful aspect, by reason of the manifold -variety of his divers coloured spots wherewith his body is overspread. As -a lion doth in most things resemble the nature of a man, so, after a sort, -doth the panther of a woman; for it is a beautiful beast, and fierce, yet -very loving to their young ones, and will defend them with the hazard of -their own lives; and if they miss them, they bewail their loss with loud -and miserable howling." - -The Lancastrian badge "the panther," says Planche, "which is attributed by -Sir William Segar to Henry VI. and blazoned passant guardant argent -spotted of all colours with vapour issuant from her mouth and ears; but -there is no authority quoted for it, and there is no example extant, the -only collateral evidence being the supporters of the Somerset Dukes of -Beaufort, who are supposed to have used it as a token of their Lancastrian -descent." The dexter supporter of the Duke of Beaufort thus is blazoned: -_Dexter, a panther argent, semee of torteaux, hurts and pomies -alternately, flames issuant from the mouth and ears proper, gorged with a -plain collar, chained, or_. - -The heraldic panther, or as it is more frequently termed, a panther -incensed, is always borne _guardant_, _i.e._, full-faced; and "incensed," -that is to say, it is depicted with flames and smoke issuing from its -mouth and ears. Its coat is spotted of various tinctures as the blazon may -state. - -Odet de Foix, Sieur de Lautrec, Marshal of France (+ 1528) being -considered a person of fierce appearance, took for device a panther, with -the motto "Allicit ulterius" ("He entices further"), alluding to the -attractive power of that animal notwithstanding its fierce exterior, "an -evidence," remarks a modern writer, "that he had as much vanity as -ambition." - -The town of Lucca for arms bears a panther: "_La pantera, che Lucca -abbraccia e onora_." - -Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, surnamed the Great (+ 1518), a celebrated Italian -soldier, bore a panther on his standard, with the motto, "Mens sibi -conscia facti" ("The mind conscious to itself of the deed"), the panther -signifying foresight (providence) from the number of eyes in his coat. -Others said he wished to imply that he knew how to manage for himself in -the various changes of his capricious fortune.[25] - - -[Illustration: The Lynx.] - -The Lynx - -_Felis Lynx_, or mountain cat, is found in the northern parts of Europe, -Asia and America, and climbs the highest trees. He preys on squirrels, -deer, hares, &c. He is fond of blood and kills great numbers of animals to -satisfy his unconquerable thirst. He is smaller than the panther, about -three feet and a half in length, his tail is much shorter and black at the -extremity. His ears are erect with a pencil of black hair at the tips. The -fur is long and thick, the upper part of the body is a pale grey, the -under parts white. - -The sight of the lynx is said to be so piercing that the ancients -attributed to it the faculty of seeing through stone walls: it may, -however, be asserted with truth that it distinguishes its prey at a -greater distance than any other carnivorous quadruped. On this account it -is frequently employed in heraldry, symbolising watchfulness, keenness of -vision, and also the ability to profit by it. - -Lynx-eyed, "oculis lynceis," originally referred to Lynceus, the argonaut, -who was famed for the keenness of his vision; then it was transferred to -the lynx and gave rise to the fable that it could see through a wall -(notes to "Philobiblon," by E. C. Thomas). - -The Accademia de Lincei, founded in Rome in 1603, with the object of -encouraging a taste for natural history, adopted the name and device of -the lynx because the members should have the eyes of a lynx to penetrate -the secrets of nature. Galileo, Fabio Colonna, and Gianbattista Porta were -among the members of the academy, the latter philosopher and -mathematician, who was the inventor of the camera obscura, bore the device -of the academy, the lynx, and the motto "Aspicit et inspicit" ("Looks at -and looks into"). - -Charles IV. of Luxemburg, Emperor of Germany, adopted the lynx for his -impress, with the motto, "Nullius pavit occursum" ("He fears not meeting -with any one"). - -THE LIZARD LYNX is an animal of the lynx or wild cat kind of a dark brown -colour, spotted black; the ears and tail are short. They are frequent in -the woods of Sweden, Denmark and Norway, where they are usually termed -lizards. - - -[Illustration: Cat-a-Mountain saliant, collared and lined.] - -Cat-a-Mountain--Tiger Cat or Wild Cat - -The Clan Chattan, who gave their name to the county of Caithness, bore as -their cognisance the wild mountain cat, and called their chieftain, the -Earl of Sutherland, "Mohr an chat" (The Great Wild Cat). The Mackintoshes -still bear as their crests and supporters these ferocious cats, with the -appropriate warning as a motto, "Touch not the cat but a glove." - -The whole is a pun upon the word "Catti," the Teutonic settlers of -Caithness, _i.e._, Catti-ness, and means "Touch not the Clan Cattan (or -mountain cat) without a glove." Here "but" is used in the original -meaning, beout, _i.e._, without. For another example of "but" meaning -without, see Amos iii. 7. The same words are also used as the motto of -several Scottish families. - -None will forget how the cat-a-mountain showed her claws to the Clan Kay, -in the Wynds of Perth in Sir Walter Scott's "Fair Maid of Perth." - -[Illustration: Crest, a Cat-a-Mountain, sejant, collared and lined.] - -_The Heraldic Musion._--Bossewell, in his work on heraldry published 1572, -describes a musion as "a beaste that is enimie to myse and rattes." He -adds also that he is "slye and wittie, and seeth so sharply, that he -overcommeth darkness of the nighte by the shyninge lighte of his eyne. In -the shape of body, he is like unto a leoparde, and hath a greate mouthe. -He doth delighte that he enjoyeth his libertie, and in his youthe he is -swifte, plyante, and merrie. He maketh a rufull noyse, and a gastefull -when he proffereth to fighte with another. He is a cruel beaste when he is -wilde and falleth on his owne feet from moste high places, and uneth -(scarce) is hurte therewith. When he hathe a fayre skinne, he is, as it -were, prowde thereof, and then he goeth fast aboute to be seene." - -Childebert, King of France, in token of his having taken captive -Gondomar of Bourgogne, assumed the device of a tiger-cat or ounce behind a -grating or troillis, gules cloue argent. This recalls the famous scene -between Sanglier Rouge and Toison d'Or in "Quentin Durward," when Charles -the Bold's jester professes to help the unhappy envoy of De la Marck by -describing it as a cat looking out of a dairy window. - -The cat, though domesticated, is considered as possessed of ingratitude; -in its friendship so uncertain and so vicious in its nature, "that," say -old writers, "it is only calculated for destroying the obnoxious race of -rats and other small game." - -From the mediaeval superstition that Satan's favourite form was a black -cat, it was superstitiously called "a familiar." Hence witches were said -to have a cat as their familiar. - -THE CAT: _A symbol of liberty._--The Roman goddess of Liberty was -represented as holding a cup in one hand, a broken sceptre in the other, -and a cat lying at her feet. No animal is so great an enemy to all -constraint as a cat. - -The cat was held in veneration by the Egyptians as sacred to the goddess -Bubastis. This deity is represented with a human body and a cat's head. -Diodorus tells us that whoever killed a cat, even by accident, was by the -Egyptians punished with death. According to Egyptian tradition, Diana -assumed the form of a cat, and thus excited the fury of the giants. The -_London Review_ says: "The Egyptians worshipped the cat as a symbol of -the moon, not only because it is more active after sunset, but from the -dilation and contraction of its orb, symbolical of the waxing and waning -of the night goddess." - -In heraldry it should always be represented full-faced like the leopard. - -_Erminois three cats-a-mountain passant gardant, in pale azure, each -charged on the body with an ermine spot or._ Crest: _a demi cat-a-mountain -gardant, azure, gorged with a collar gemel, and charged with ermine spots, -two and one_.--_Tibbets._ - -The supporters of the Earl of Clanricarde are wild cats, and also those of -the Earl of Belmore. It is the crest of De Burgh. - - "AENEAS.--His mantle was the lion's, - With all its tawny bars, - His falchion, like Orion's, - Was gemmed with golden stars. - Upon his lofty helmet - A brazen terror rode; - No sword could overwhelm it - When in the fight it glowed. - For like a wild cat brindled, - It spat with eyes on fire, - And in the battle kindled - Immortal rage and ire, - Now in the sunshine sleeping, - How gently it reposed; - But still in wisdom keeping - A single eye unclosed." - _Queen Dido_, by T. S. - -[Illustration: The Crowned Salamander of Francis I.] - -The Salamander - -The salamander has been immemorially credited with certain fabulous -powers. Less than a century ago the creature was seriously described as a -"spotted lizard, which will endure the flames of fire." Divested of its -supernatural powers it is simply a harmless little amphibian of the "newt" -family, from six to eight inches in length, with black skin and yellow -spots. The skin was long thought to be poisonous, though it is in reality -perfectly harmless; but the moist surface is so extremely cold to the -touch that, from this peculiar quality in the creature, the idea must have -arisen, not only that it could withstand any heat to which it was exposed, -but it would actually subdue and put out fire. - -This was a widespread belief long before the time of Pliny, whose -account of the creature is thus paraphrased by Swift: - - "Further, we are by Pliny told - This serpent is extremely cold; - So cold that, put it in the fire, - 'Twill make the very flames expire." - -Marco Polo, the early Venetian traveller, who tells of many strange and -wonderful things seen and heard of in his journeyings, was not a believer -in the fabulous stories of the salamander, for he dismisses the subject -with the curt remark, "Everybody knows that it could be no animal's nature -to live in fire." An early heraldic writer of a somewhat later period, -with greater credulity, stoutly maintains its reality, and in describing -the creature states that he actually possessed some of the hair or down of -the salamander. "This," he goes on to say, "I have several times put in -the fire and made it red-hot, and after taken out; which, being cold, yet -remaineth perfect wool, or fine downy hair." - -Marco Polo further on assures his readers that the true salamander is -nothing but an incombustible substance found in the earth, "all the rest -being fabulous nonsense." He tells of a mountain in Tartary, "there or -thereabouts," in which a "vein" of salamander was found; and so we arrive -at the fact that this salamander's wool was nothing but the "asbestos" of -the ancients. It is easy to see why asbestos became known as "salamanders' -wool." The name resulted from the juxtaposition of ideas, and shows how -deeply impressed was the belief in the salamander's mysterious powers. A -late writer tells us that some of the lizard tribe are known to enjoy -warmth, and alligators are said to revel in hot water. It needed only that -an insignificant member of the genus should have been found among the dead -embers of a fire to prove at once the invulnerability of the reptile and -its ability to extinguish the flames. - -The salamander of mediaeval superstition was a creature in the shape of a -man, which lived in fire (Greek, salambeander, chimney-man), meaning a man -that lives in a chimney. It was described by the ancients as bred by fire -and existing in flames, an element which must inevitably prove destructive -of life. Pliny describes it as "a sort of lizard which seeks the hottest -fire to breed in, but quenches it with the extreme frigidity of its body." -He tells us he tried the experiment once, but the creature was soon -reduced to powder.[26] - -Gregory of Nazianzen says that the salamander not only lived in and -delighted in flames, but extinguished fire. St. Epiphanius compares the -virtues of the hyacinth and the salamander. The hyacinth, he states, is -unaffected by fire, and will even extinguish it as the salamander does. -"The salamander and the hyacinth were symbols of enduring faith, which -triumphs over the ardour of the passions. Submitted to fire the hyacinth -is discoloured and becomes white. We may here perceive," says M. Portal, -"a symbol of enduring and triumphant faith." - -[Illustration: Salamander crest of James, Earl of Douglas. From -garter-plate.] - -This imaginary creature is generally represented as a small wingless -dragon or lizard, surrounded by and breathing forth flames. Sometimes it -is represented somewhat like a dog breathing flames. A golden salamander -is so represented on the garter-plate of James, Earl of Douglas, K.G., the -first Scottish noble elected into the Order of the Garter, and who died -1483 A.D. Tinctured _vert_; and _in flames proper_ it is the crest of -Douglas, Earl of Angus. - -Francois I. of France adopted as his badge the salamander in the midst of -flames, with the legend, "Nutrisco et extinguo" ("I nourish and -extinguish"). The Italian motto from which this legend was borrowed was, -"Nudrisco il buono e spengo il reo" ("I nourish the good and extinguish -the bad;" "Fire purifies good metal, but consumes rubbish"). In his castle -of Chambord, the galleries of the Palace of Fontainebleau, and the Hotel -St. Bourg Thoroulde at Rouen, this favourite device of the crowned -salamander, with the motto, may be everywhere seen. - -_Azure, a salamander or, in flames proper_, is the charge on the shield of -the Italian family of Cennio. - -The "_lizards_" which form the crest of the Ironmongers' Company, were -probably intended for salamanders on the old seal of the company in 1483, -but are now blazoned as lizards. - -The heraldic signification of the salamander was that of a brave and -generous courage that the fire of affliction cannot destroy or consume. - -In the animal symbolism of the ancients the salamander may be said to -represent the element of FIRE; the eagle, AIR; the lion, EARTH; the -dolphin, WATER. - - -Heraldic Antelope - -This fictitious animal, when depicted in heraldry, has a body like that of -a stag, the tail of a unicorn, a head like the heraldic tiger, with two -serrated horns, and a tusk growing from the tip of his nose, a row of -tufts down the back of his neck, and the like on his tail, chest and -thighs. Thus represented it is termed an heraldic antelope to distinguish -it from the real or natural antelope, which is also borne in modern coats -of arms. - -[Illustration: Heraldic Antelope.] - -The old heralds, with their scant knowledge of the rarer kinds of -foreign animals, represented the antelope as a fierce beast of prey, and -totally unlike in appearance and in disposition to the beautiful -small-limbed gentle creature with which we are acquainted. That such was -the prevailing opinion in the time of Spenser is evident. In the "Faerie -Queen" he makes the stout Sir Satyrane-- - - "In life and manners wild, - Amongst wild beasts and woods from laws of man exiled." - ---more than a match for the most ferocious brutes, all of whom he subdues: - - "Wild beasts in iron yokes he would compel; - The spotted panther, and the tusked boar; - The pardale swift, and the tiger cruel, - The _antelope_ and wolf, both fierce and fell; - And them constrain in equal team to draw." - -Some authorities give the heraldic antelope with two straight horns, but -as the ancient badge of the House of Lancaster it was represented with two -serrated horns curving backward. - -In blazon, the term "_heraldic antelope_" should always be used unless the -natural antelope is intended. - - -The Heraldic Ibex - -is an imaginary beast resembling the heraldic antelope in appearance, with -the exception of the horns projecting from his forehead, which are -serrated like a saw. Perhaps it would not be erroneous to consider it -identical with the heraldic antelope. - -[Illustration: The Heraldic Ibex.] - -The real or natural ibex is a native of the Alps, the Pyrenees and the -Grecian mountains, where they abound in defiance of the hunters. It -resembles a goat, but the horns are much larger, bent backwards, and full -of knots, one of which is added every year. - - -Bagwyn - -A fabulous beast like the heraldic antelope, but having the tail of a -horse, and long horns of a goat curved backwards. The dexter supporter of -the arms of Carey, Lord Hundson, in Westminster Abbey, is a Bagwyn. - - -The Camelopard, Camel-leopard - -The Giraffe figures a few times in blazon under these names. It is -described by old heralds as half camel and half leopard. A curious -word-combination was made by the Romans when wishing to find a name for -the giraffe. "It is," says Archbishop Trench, "a creature combining, -though with infinitely more grace, yet some of the height and even the -proportions of _a camel_, with the spotted skin of the _pard_." They -called it "camelopardus," the camel-panther. - -There are two heraldic creatures based upon the above which are referred -to in heraldic works, viz., the ALLOCAMELUS or ass-camel, having the body -of the camel conjoined to the head of an ass; and the CAMELOPARDEL, which -is like the camelopard, but with two long horns curved backwards. - -Musimon, Tityrus - -A fictitious animal mentioned by Guillim and others. It nearly resembles -_a goat, with the head and horns of a ram_, but has besides the horns of -that beast, _a pair of goat's horns_. It is also mentioned in Guillim's -"Display," where it is said to be a bigenerous beast, of unkindly -procreation, engendered between a goat and a ram, like the Tityrus, the -offspring of a sheep and goat, as noted by Upton. - -[Illustration: Musimon, Tityrus.] - - -The Enfield - -An imaginary hybrid animal with _the head of a fox, chest of a greyhound, -talons of an eagle, and body of a lion; the hind legs and tail of a wolf_. -It occurs as the crest of some Irish families of the name of Kelly. - - -[Illustration: Mantygre--Satyral.] - -Mantiger, Montegre or Manticora Satyral - -A chimerical creature of mediaeval invention, having the body of an -heraldic tiger with mane, and the head of an old man with long spiral -horns. Some heraldic authorities make the horns more like those of an ox, -and the feet like a dragon's. - -_The Satyral_ is apparently identical with the man-tiger. - -The belief that certain persons have the power of assuming the shape of -the tiger is common in India, and the Khonds say that a man-killing tiger -is either an incarnation of the Earth's goddess or a transfigured man. It -is thus with the Lavas of Birma, supposed to be the broken-down remains -of a cultured race and dreaded as man-tigers.[27] - -Two satyrals supported the arms of the Lords Stawell. - -The supporters of the arms of the Earl of Huntingdon are mantigers, but -are represented without horns. - -[Illustration: Manticora. From ancient Bestiaria.] - -From a mediaeval "Bestiaria" we have a description and illustration of a -gruesome creature of this name (manticora), evolved no doubt from some -traveller's marvellous tale. We are told that it is "bred among the -Indians," has a triple row of teeth, in bigness and roughness like a -lion's, face and ears like a man's, a tail like a scorpion's "with a sting -and sharp-pointed quills," and that "his voice is like a small trumpet," -and that he is "very wild," and that after having his tail bruised, he can -be tamed without danger. - -There are several other fictitious creatures, which, if we may believe -certain old writers, excited the minds of our credulous wonder-loving -forefathers. Of these little need be said, as they rarely, if ever, appear -in modern works on heraldry, and may therefore be classed as extinct -monsters. - - -Lamia or Emipusa - -[Illustration: Lamia. From old Bestiary.] - -A curious creature of the imagination is the lamia, of which we are told -many fictitious stories. It is said to be "the swiftest of all four-footed -creatures, that it is very treacherous and cruel to men. It is stated to -be bred in Lybia, and sometimes devours its own young." It is represented -in an ancient "Bestiaria" as having the head and breasts of a woman, and -the body of a four-footed animal with flowing tail, the hind feet having -divided hoofs. It is "thought to be the creature mentioned in Isaiah -xxxiv., called in Hebrew _Lilith_, as also the same which is mentioned in -Lamentations iv." - -In Dr. Brewer's "Dictionary of Phrase and Fable," LAMIA is "a female -phantom whose name was used by the Greeks and Romans as a bugbear to -children, from the classic fable of a Lybian Queen beloved by Jupiter, but -robbed of her children by Juno; and in consequence she vowed vengeance -against all children, whom she delighted to entice and murder." They are -again described as spectres of Africa, who attracted strangers and then -devoured them. In the story of "Machates and Philemon," a young man is -represented as marrying an Empusa, who sucks his blood at night. Goethe -borrowed his ballad of the "Bride of Corinth" from this tale. - -Beyond casual mention this mythical creature does not appear in heraldry. - - -Baphomet - -A fictitious creature having two heads, male and female, the rest of the -body female; said to be used as an idol or symbol by the Templars in their -mysterious rites. The word is a corruption of Mahomet. Though mentioned in -old works it does not now appear in British heraldry. - - -Apres - -A fictitious animal resembling a bull, with a short tail like that of a -bear. It is the sinister supporter of the arms of the Company of Muscovy -Merchants. - - -Stelliones - -The supporters of the Ironmongers' Company of London are two lizards. -Bossewell describes beasts of similar shape--"Stelliones" as he terms -them, evidently in allusion to steel. He says, "Stellio is a beaste like a -lysard, having on his back spotts like starres."[28] - -Stellione-serpent, a serpent with the head of a weasel, borne by the name -of Baume. - - - - - - -Fictitious Creatures of the Sea - - -INTRODUCTORY NOTES - - "_The sea, that is - A world of waters heaped up on high, - Rolling like mountains in wild wilderness, - Horrible, hideous, roaring with hoarse cry!_" - SPENSER. - - - "_I can call spirits from the vasty deep._" - SHAKESPEARE. - -Mariners in all ages, prone to superstitious fears, have peopled the great -deep with beings of the most dreadful kind, all the more wonderful and -indescribable because of the mysterious and unknown regions in the sea -depths which they were supposed to inhabit. Classic mythology in its -wealth of imagery allotted a whole hierarchy of greater and lesser -divinities to the government of the watery element, whose capricious -ruling of the waves man altogether failed to comprehend. Their fancied -terrors, begot in calms and storms, in darkness and in fogs, midst dangers -of the most appalling kind, assumed those monstrous and fantastic shapes -which their own fears created. The active forces of nature in unusual -forms impressed them as the result of supernatural agency, or the -"meddling of the gods," whose favours and protection the mariner, by -prayers and supplications, endeavoured to propitiate; and whilst -tremblingly he skirts the horizon's edge in timid ventures, new dangers -impel him to promises of greater gifts to assuage the wrathful mood of his -angry god or some other equally powerful or more spiteful. - -The national god of the Philistines was represented with the face and -hands of a man and the tail of a fish. It was but natural that a seafaring -people should adopt a god of that form. - - "Dagon his name; sea-monster, upward man - And downward fish: yet had his temple high - Reared in Azotus, dreaded through the coast - Of Palestine, in Gath and Ascalon, - And Accaron and Gaza's frontier bounds." - _Paradise Lost_, Book i. 462. - -In the leviathan and behemoth of Scripture are darkly indicated monsters -of the great deep. Scandinavian mythology, like that of all bold maritime -peoples in old times, is rife with legends of certain great monsters of -the sea. The kraken or sea-serpent of popular legend is a myth not yet -laid to rest; there is still a lingering belief in the existence of the -mermaid. - - "With a comb and a glass in her hand, her hand, her hand, - With a comb and a glass in her hand." - Popular sea-song. - -Chief amongst the Grecian sea-divinities stands _Poseidon_, or _Neptune_ -as he was called by the Romans, the potent "ruler of the seas." He usually -dwelt, not in Olympus, but at the bottom of the sea, in a magnificent -golden palace in the neighbourhood of AEgae. He is always represented with a -trident, sometimes with a rudder--special symbols of his power over the -sea. Accompanied by his wife, fair Amphitrite, he was frequently pictured -in royal state in his chariot, drawn through the billows by wild -sea-horses, attended by "Triton blowing loud his wreathed horn," Proteus, -"the godlike shepherd of the sea," and other followers--dolphins leaping -the waves and showing their high arched backs in wild gambolings. - -_Nereus_ and his fifty daughters, the _Nereides_, who dwelt in caves and -grottos of the ocean--beneficent sea-nymphs,--win the hearts of the -sailors, now by their merry sports and dances, now by their timely -assistance in the hour of danger. Whilst Nereus and his lovely daughters -represent the sea under its calm and pleasant aspect, Thaumas, Phorcys, -Ceto present it as the world of wonders, under its more terrible -conditions. The storm winds and all the terrors and dangers of the deep -were typified under various strange and peculiar forms. Not the least -dreaded were the _Sirens_, fatal sisters, who "spread o'er the silver -waves their golden hair," basked near sunlit rocks, and lured all men to -their ruin by their enchanting voices, save only the crafty Ulysses. - -These and many others of lesser note, Proteus, Glaucus and the rest, make -up the discordant influences that govern the watery element. - -Many wonderful stories are told by classic writers concerning these old -myths, and innumerable relics of antique art which embody the conceptions -of the times are extant in our museums, by which we may judge to what a -large extent such ideas influenced the common life and formed the beliefs -of ancient peoples. - -It is also worthy of observation to note in what manner the ancients -sought to identify the various sea-deities and other mythical creatures -with the element they lived in. Each was known by his form or the -attributes by which he was accompanied. Modern heraldry repeats many of -these old-world myths as new-coined fables, so that for their proper -understanding and signification it will be necessary briefly to refer to -ancient ideas respecting them. Lakes, rivers and fountains had each their -impersonation peculiar to them, which will be found referred to in classic -story. - -Mediaeval legend is equally rife with accounts of wonderful creatures of -the sea. The change of one form of superstition for another alters but -little the constitution of the mind to harbour fears, and the imagination -will deceive even the wisest and best so long as Nature's laws are -misunderstood. - -Particular whirlpools, rocks and other dangerous places to navigation, are -personated under the forms of monsters of various and awful shapes -feared by the mariner, who dreads - - "The loud yell of watery wolves to hear." - -Scylla and Charybdis are two rocks which lie between Italy and Sicily. -Ships which tried to avoid one were often wrecked on the other. The -ancients feigned an interesting legend to account for their existence. It -was Circe who changed Scylla into a frightful sea monster, and Jupiter who -changed Charybdis into a whirlpool, the noise of which was likened to the -loud barking of dogs; and the monster was therefore represented with -savage dogs amidst her scaly folds, and loudly baying. - - "Far on the right her dogs foul Scylla hides; - Charybdis roaring on the left presides, - And in her greedy whirlpool sucks the tides, - Then spouts them from below; with fury driven - The waves mount up, and wash the face of heaven. - But Scylla from her den with open jaws - The sinking vessel in her eddy draws - Then dashes on the rocks. A human face - And virgin bosom hides her tail's disgrace; - Her parts obscene below the waves descend, - With dogs enclosed, and in a dolphin end." - _AEneid_, Book iii. - -Homer gives a vivid description of Ulysses passing the rocks and -whirlpools: - - "Now through the rocks, appall'd with deep dismay, - We bend our course, and stem the desperate way; - Dire Scylla there a scene of horror forms; - And here Charybdis fills the deep with storms. - When the tide rushes from her rumbling caves, - The rough rock roars, tumultuous boil the waves; - They toss, they foam, a wild confusion raise, - Like water bubbling o'er the fiery blaze; - Eternal mists obscure the aerial plain, - And high across the rocks she spouts the main: - When in her gulfs the rushing sea subsides, - She drains the ocean with the refluent tides: - The rock rebellows with a thundering sound; - Deep, wondrous deep, below appears the ground." - _Odyssey_, Book xii. - -The giants and ogres of romance were never so fearfully armed or clothed -by the wildest fiction with so terrible an aspect as the cephalopods, the -race to which the cuttlefish or octopus belongs. Eminently carnivorous, -voracious and fierce; beneath staring eyes are spread eight strong fleshy -arms furnished with tenacious suckers, which adhere with unrelenting -pertinacity, and the arms are swiftly twined round the struggling prey, -which vainly strives to disengage itself from so fearful and so fatal -embrace. Cephalopods of enormous size are sometimes found with arms as -thick as a man's thigh. Homer refers to its tenacity of grip in a simile. - -The cuttlefish appears upon ancient Greek coins of Coressus, in allusion -to the worship of Neptune, a deity much venerated as the protector of this -island. - -Amongst the veritable inhabitants of the ocean there are few more -extraordinary mammals than the sea-unicorn, _Monodon monoceros_, the -beaked whale of the Arctic seas, twenty to thirty feet from stern to -snout. His length is increased about eight feet by his magnificent -spirally twisted tusk of the purest ivory, which in reality is simply the -canine tooth growing straight out of the upper jaw. One of the royal -treasures of Denmark is the narwhal throne of the Castle of Rosenberg. It -is the horn of this "strange fish" which has kept up the belief in the -existence of the mythical unicorn. - -_Xiphias gladius_, swordfish, is the largest of the thorny fishes, and -belongs to the scombers or mackerel group. The sawfish, _Pristis -antiquorum_, ranks by himself between the rays and sharks. He has the long -body of a shark and the underside gill openings of a ray. His saw, like -the sword of the Xiphias, is a long flattened bony snout, but is -double-edged and serrated. It is well known as a weapon among the -Polynesian islanders, and, like the sword of the Xiphias, is frequently -found buried in the hulls of ocean-going ships. - -There are two denizens of the deep which bear the name of sea-horse--one -the tiny Hippocampus, the other the mighty walrus. The hippocampus of our -public aquariums, a bony pipefish some six or eight inches in length, -swimming upright, his favourite position in the water, with the general -resemblance of his head to that of a horse, is very striking; anchored to -the seaweed stems by their tails they dart on their prey with great -quickness. - -Hippocampus ([Greek: hippos], _hippos_, a horse; [Greek: kampe], _campe_, -a bending), the steed of Neptune, had only the two forelegs of a horse, -the hinder quarter being that of a dolphin. The word means "coiling -horse." - -The Sea-horse of the North, or walrus--the _Rossmareus_ or _Morse_ of the -Scandinavians, the _Trichecus rosmarus_ of science, is fifteen or twenty -feet long, or even longer, and armed with huge canine teeth, sometimes -measuring thirty inches in length--tusks which furnish no small amount of -our commercial ivory. Many are the thrilling stories of the chase of these -great sea-horses, for the walrus fights for his life as determinedly as -any animal hunted by man. The walrus has had the honour assigned to it -also of being the original of the mermaid, and Scoresby says the front -part of the head of a young one without tusks might easily be taken at a -little distance for a human face, especially as it has a habit of raising -its head straight out of the water to look at passing ships. - -The manatee, or sea-cow, found on the tropical coasts and streams of -Africa and America, is called by the Portuguese and Spaniards the -"woman-fish," from its supposed close resemblance. Its English name comes -from the flipper resembling a human hand--_manus_--with which it holds its -young to its breast. One of this species, which died at the Royal Aquarium -in 1878, was as unlike the typical mermaid as one could possibly imagine, -giving one a very startling idea of the difference between romance and -reality; but if it was observed in its native haunts, and seen at some -little distance, and then only by glimpses, it might possibly, as some -have asserted, present a very striking resemblance to the human form. - -Sir James Emerson Tennent, speaking of the _Dugong_, an herbivorous -cetacean, says its head has a rude approach to the human outline, and the -mother while suckling her young holds it to her breast with one flipper, -as a woman holds an infant in her arm; if disturbed she suddenly dives -under water and throws up her fish-like tail. It is this creature, he -says, which has probably given rise to the tales about mermaids. - -Seals differ from all other animals in having the toes of the feet -included almost to the end in a common integument, converting them into -broad fins armed with strong non-retractile claws. Of the many varieties -of the seal family, from Kamchatka comes the noisy "SEA-LION" (_Otaria -jubata_), so called from his curious mane. In the same neighbourhood we -get the "SEA-LEOPARD" (_Leptonyx weddellii_), and the "SEA-BEAR" (the -_Etocephalus ursinus_), whose larger and better-developed limbs enable him -to stand and walk on shore. But the most important of the seals, in a -commercial sense, are the "HARP SEAL" (_Phoca Graenlandica_) and the COMMON -SEAL, or "SEA-DOG" (_Phoca vitulina_), which yield the skins so valuable -to the furrier. There are several other species, of which the most known -are the CRESTED SEAL, or _Neistsersoak_ (_Stemmatopus cristatus_), and the -BEARDED SEAL (_Phoca barbata_). - -Apart from the seal having possibly given rise to legends of the mermaid, -it has a distinguished position in superstition and mythology on its own -account. In Shetland it is the "haff-fish," or selkie, a fallen spirit. -Evil is sure to follow the unfortunate destroyer of one of these -creatures. In the Faroe Islands there is a superstition that the seals -cast off their skins every ninth night and appear as mortals, dancing -until daybreak on the sands. Sometimes they are induced to marry, but if -ever they recover their skins they betake themselves again to the water. - -Stephen of Byzantium relates that the ships of certain Greek colonists -were on their expeditions followed by an immense number of seals, and it -was probably on this account that the city they founded in Asia received -the name of Phocea, from [Greek: phoke] (_Phoke_), the Greek name of a -seal, and they also adopted that animal as the type or badge of the city -upon their coinage. The gold pieces of the Phoceans were well known among -the Greek States, and are frequently referred to by ancient writers. "Thus -from a single coin," says Noel Humphreys,[29] "we obtain the corroboration -of the legend of the swarm of seals, of the remote epoch of the emigration -in question, the coin being evidently of the earliest period, most -probably of the middle of the seventh century before the Christian era." - -Luigi (+ 1598), brother to the Duke of Mantua, had for device a seal -asleep upon a rock in a troubled sea, with the motto: "Sic quiesco" ("So -rest I"). The seal, say the ancient writers, is never struck by lightning. -The Emperor Augustus always wore a belt of seal-skin. "There is no living -creature sleepeth more soundly," says Pliny,[30] "therefore when storms -arise and the sea is rough the seal goes upon the rocks where it sleeps in -safety unconscious of the storm." - -The poet Spenser embodies many of the conceptions of his time in the -description of the crowning adventures of the Knight Guyon. He here refers -to "great sea monsters of all ugly shapes and horrible aspects" "such as -Dame Nature's self might fear to see." - - "Spring-headed hydras, and sea-shouldering whales; - Great whirlpools, which all fishes make to flee; - Bright scolopendras arm'd with silver scales; - Mighty monoceroses with unmeasured tails; - - The dreadful fish that hath deserved the name - Of death, and like him looks in dreadful hue; - The grisly wasserman, that makes his game - The flying ships with swiftness to pursue; - - The horrible sea-satyr that doth shew - His fearful face in time of greatest storm; - Huge Ziffius, whom mariners eschew - No less than rocks, as travellers inform; - And greedy rose-marines with visages deform; - All these, and thousand thousand many more - And more deformed monsters, thousandfold." - _Faerie Queen_, Book ii. cant. xii. - -The early heralds took little account of these dreadful creatures--more -easily imagined by fearful mariners or by poets than depicted by artists -from their vague descriptions. The most imaginative of the tribe rarely -ventured beyond such representations of marine monsters as appealed -strongly and clearly to the universal sense of mankind--compounds of -marine and land animals--either from a belief in the existence of such -creatures, or because they used them as emblems or types of qualities, -combining for this purpose the attributes of certain inhabitants of the -sea with those of the land or of the air to form the appropriate symbol. - -In modern heraldry such bearings are usually adopted with special allusion -to actions performed at sea, or they have reference in some way to the -name or designation of the bearer, and hence termed allusive or canting -heraldry. Some maritime towns bear nautical devices of the fictitious kind -referred to. For instance, the City of Liverpool has for supporters -Neptune with his trident, and a Triton with his horn. Cambridge and -Newcastle-on-Tyne have sea-horses for supporters to their city's arms. -Belfast has the sea-horse for sinister supporter and also for crest. - -Many of the nobility also bear, either as arms or supporters, these -mythical sea creatures, pointing in many instances to memorable events in -their family history; indeed, as islanders and Britons, marine -emblems--real and mythical--enter largely into our national heraldry. - - -Poseidon or Neptune - -[Illustration: Dexter supporter of Baron Hawke.] - -Poseidon or Neptune, the younger brother of Zeus (Jupiter), sometimes -appears in heraldry, usually as a supporter. In the ancient mythology he -was originally a mere symbol of the watery element, he afterwards became a -distinct personality; the mighty ruler of the sea who with his powerful -arms upholds and circumscribes the earth, violent and impetuous like the -element he represents. When he strikes the sea with his trident, the -symbol of his sovereignty, the waves rise with violence, as a word or look -from him suffices to allay the fiercest tempest. Poseidon (Neptune) was -naturally regarded as the chief patron and tutelary deity of the seafaring -Greeks. To him they addressed their prayers before entering on a voyage, -and to him they brought their offerings in gratitude for their safe -return from the perils of the deep. - -In a famous episode of the "Faerie Queen" (Book iv. c. xi.) Spenser -glowingly pictures the procession of all the water deities and their -attendants: - - "First came great Neptune with his three-forked mace, - That rules the seas and makes them rise and fall; - His dewy locks did drop with brine apace - Under his diadem imperial: - - "And by his side his Queen with coronal, - Fair Amphitrite, most divinely fair, - Whose ivory shoulders weren covered all, - As with a robe, with her own silver hair, - And decked with pearls which the Indian seas for her prepare." - -Amphitrite, his wife, one of the Nereids in ancient art, is represented as -a slim and beautiful young woman, her hair falling loosely about her -shoulders, and distinguished from all the other deities by the royal -insignia. On ancient coins and gems she appears enthroned on the back of a -mighty triton, or riding on a sea-horse, or dolphin. - -EXAMPLES.--Baron Hawke bears for supporters to his shield an aggroupment -of classic personations of a remarkable symbolic character, granted for -the achievements of the renowned Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the -Fleet, Vice-Admiral of Great Britain, &c. &c., created Baron Hawke of -Tarton, Yorks, 1776. _The dexter supporter is a figure of Neptune, his -mantle vert, edged argent, crowned with an eastern crown, or, his dexter -arm erect and holding a trident pointing downwards in the act of striking, -sable, headed silver, and resting his left foot on a dolphin proper._ - -Sir Isaac Heard, Somersetshire; Lancaster Herald, afterwards Garter. His -arms, granted 1762, are thus blazoned in Burke's "General Armory": _Argent -a Neptune crowned with an eastern crown of gold, his trident sable headed -or, issuing from a stormy ocean, the sinister hand grasping the head of a -ship's mast appearing above the waves, as part of a wreck, all proper; on -a chief azure, the Arctic pole-star of the first between two water-bougets -of the second_. - - -Merman or Triton - - "_Triton, who boasts his high Neptunian race - Sprung from the God by Salace's embrace._" - CAMOENS, "Lusiad." - - - "_Triton his trumpet shrill before them blew - For goodly triumph and great jolliment - That made the rocks to roar as they were rent._" - SPENSER, "Faerie Queen." - (Procession of the Sea Deities.) - -[Illustration: Merman or Triton.] - -[Illustration: Triton, with two tails. German.] - -Triton was the only son of Neptune and Amphitrite. The poet Apollonius -Rhodius describes him as having the upper parts of the body of a man, -while the lower parts were those of a dolphin. Later poets and artists -revelled in the conception of a whole race of similar tritons, who were -regarded as a wanton, mischievous tribe, like the satyrs on land. Glaucus, -another of the inferior deities, is represented as a triton, rough and -shaggy in appearance, his body covered with mussels and seaweed; his hair -and beard show that luxuriance which characterises sea-gods. Proteus, as -shepherd of the seas, is usually distinguished with a crook. Triton, as -herald of Neptune, is represented always holding, or blowing, his wreathed -horn or conch shell. His mythical duties as attendant on the supreme -sea-divinity would, as an emblem in heraldry, imply a similar duty or -office in the bearer to a great naval hero. - -[Illustration: Mermaid and Triton supporters.] - -EXAMPLES.--The City of Liverpool has for sinister supporter a _Triton -blowing a conch shell and holding a flag in his right hand_. - -Lord Lyttelton bears for supporters _two Mermen proper, in their exterior -hands a trident or_. - -Ottway, Bart.--Supporters on either side, _a Triton blowing his shell -proper, navally crowned or, across the shoulder a wreath of red coral, and -holding in the exterior hand a trident, point downward_. - -_Note._--In classic story, Triton and the Siren are distinct poetic -creations, their vocation and attributes being altogether at variance--no -relationship whatever existing between them. According to modern popular -notions, however, the siren or mermaid, and triton, or merman as they -sometimes term him, appear to be viewed as male and female of the same -creature (in heraldic parlance baron and femme). They thus appear in -companionship as supporters to the arms of Viscount Hood, and similarly in -other achievements. - -[Illustration] - - -The Mermaid or Siren - - "_Mermaid shapes that still the waves with ecstasies of song._" - T. SWAN, - "The World within the Ocean." - - - "_And fair Ligea's golden comb, - Wherewith she sits on diamond rocks, - Sleeking her soft alluring hair._" - MILTON, "Comus." - -[Illustration] - -This fabulous creature of the sea, well known in ancient and modern times -as the frequent theme of poets and the subject of numberless legends, has -from a very early date been a favourite device. She is usually represented -in heraldry as having the upper part the head and body of a beautiful -young woman, holding a comb and glass in her hands, the lower part ending -in a fish. - -Ellis (Glasfryn, Merioneth).--_Argent, a mermaid gules, crined or, holding -a mirror in her right hand and a comb in her left, gold. Crest, a mermaid -as in the arms._ _Motto_, "Worth ein ffrwythau yn hadna byddir." Another -family of the same name, settled in Lancashire, bears the colours -reversed, viz., _gules, a mermaid argent_. - -[Illustration: Crest of Ellis.] - -SIR JOSIAH MASON.--CREST, _a mermaid, per fess wavy argent and azure, the -upper part guttee de larmes, in the dexter hand a comb, and in the -sinister a mirror, frame and hair sable_. - -Balfour of Burleigh.--_On a rock, a mermaid proper, holding in her dexter -hand an otter's head erased sable, and in the sinister a swan's head, -erased proper._ The supporters of Baron Balfour are an otter and a swan, -which will account for the heads appearing in the hands of the mermaid, -instead of the traditionary comb and mirror. In some other instances the -like occurs, as in the mermaid crest of Cussack, _the mermaid sable crined -or, holds in dexter hand a sword, and in the sinister a sceptre_. - -Sir George Francis Bonham, Bart.--_Crest, a mermaid holding in dexter hand -a wreath of coral, and in the sinister a mirror._ - -Wallop, Earl of Portsmouth, bears for crest _a mermaid proper_, with her -usual accompaniments, the comb and mirror. Another family of the same name -and bearing the same arms has for crest _a mermaid with two tails extended -proper, hair gold, holding her tails in her hands extended wide_. - -In foreign heraldry the mermaid is generally termed _Melusine_, and -represented with two fishy extremities. - -[Illustration: Die Ritter, of Nuremberg] - -Die Ritter of Nuremberg bears _per fess sable and or, a mermaid holding -her two tails, vested gules, crowned or_. - -The Austrian family of Estenberger bears for crest _a mermaid without -arms, and having wings_. - -A mermaid was the device of Sir William de Brivere, who died in 1226. It -is the badge of the Berkeleys; in the monumental brass of Lord Berkeley, -at Wolton-under-Edge, 1392 A.D., he bears a collar of mermaids over his -camail. The Black Prince, in his will, mentions certain devices that he -appears to have used as badges; among the rest we find "Mermaids of the -Sea." It was the dexter supporter in the coat-of-arms of Sir Walter Scott, -and the crest of Lord Byron. The supporters of Viscount Boyne are -mermaids. Skiffington, Viscount Marsereene, the Earl of Caledon, the Earl -of Howth, Viscount Hood, and many other titled families bear it as crest -or supporters. It is also borne by many untitled families. - -The arms of the princely house of Lusignan, kings of Cyprus and Jerusalem, -"Une sirene dans une cuve," were founded on a curious mediaeval legend of -a mermaid or siren, termed Melusine, a fairy, condemned by some spell to -become on one day of the week only, half woman, half serpent. The Knight -Roimoudin de Forez, meeting her in the forest by chance, became enamoured -and married her, and she became the mother of several children, but she -carefully avoided seeing her husband on the day of her change; one day, -however, his curiosity led him to watch her, which led to the spell being -broken, and the soul with which by her union with a Christian she hoped to -have been endowed, was lost to her for ever. - -This interesting myth is fully examined in Baring Gould's "Curious Myths -of the Middle Ages." - -The mermaid is represented as the upper half of a beautiful maiden joined -to the lower half of a fish, and usually holding a comb in the right hand -and a mirror in the left; these articles of the toilet have reference to -the old fable that always when observed by man mermaids are found to be -resting upon the waves, combing out their long yellow hair, while admiring -themselves in the glass: they are also accredited with wondrous vocal -powers, to hear which was death to the listener. It was long believed such -creatures really did exist, and had from time to time been seen and spoken -with; many, we are told, have fatally listened to "the mermaid's charmed -speech," and have blindly followed the beguiling, deluding creature to her -haunts beneath the wave, as did Sidratta, who, falling in the Ganges, -became enamoured of one of these beautiful beings, the Upsaras, the -swan-maidens of the Vedas. - -All countries seem to have invented some fairy-like story of the waters. -The Finnish Nakki play their silver harps o' nights; the water imp or -Nixey of Germany sings and dances on land with mortals, and the "Davy" -(Deva), whose "locker" is at the bottom of the deep blue sea, are all -poetical conceptions of the same description. The same may be said of the -Merminne of the Netherlands, the White Lady of Scotland and the Silver -Swan of the German legend, that drew the ship in which the Knight -Lohengrin departed never to return. - -In the "Bestiary" of Philip de Thaun he tells us that "Siren lives in the -sea, it sings at the approach of a storm and weeps in fine weather; such -is its nature: and it has the make of a woman down to the waist, and the -feet of a falcon, and the tail of a fish. When it will divert itself, then -it sings loud and clear; if then the steersman who navigates the sea hears -it, he forgets his ship and immediately falls asleep." - -The legendary mermaid still retains her place in popular legends of our -sea coasts, especially in the remoter parts of our islands. The stories of -the Mirrow, or Irish fairy, hold a prominent place among Crofton Croker's -"Fairy Legends of the South of Ireland." Round the shores of Lough Neagh -old people still tell how, in the days of their youth, mermaids were -supposed to reside in the water, and with what fear and trepidation they -would, on their homeward way in the twilight, approach some lonely and -sequestered spot on the shore, expecting every moment to be captured and -carried off by the witching mere-maidens. On the Continent the same idea -prevails. Among the numerous legends of the Rhine many have reference to -the same fabled creature. - -As we know, mariners in all ages have delighted in tales of the -marvellous, and in less enlightened times than the present, they were not -unlikely to have found many willing listeners and sound believers. Early -voyagers tell wonderful stories of these "fish-women," or "women-fish," as -they termed them. The ancient chronicles indeed teem with tales of the -capture of "mermaids," "mermen," and similar strange creatures; stories -which now only excite a smile from their utter absurdity. So late as 1857 -there appeared an article in the _Shipping Gazette_, under intelligence of -June 4, signed by some Scotch sailors, and describing an object seen off -the North British coast "in the shape of a woman, with full breast, dark -complexion, comely face" and the rest. It is probable that some variety of -the seal family may be the prototype of this interesting myth. - -The myth of the mermaid is, however, of far older date; Homer and later -Greek and Roman poets have said and sung a great deal about it. - - -The Sirens of Classic Mythology - -The Sirens (Greek, entanglers) enticed seamen by the sweetness of their -song to such a degree that the listeners forgot everything and died of -hunger. Their names were, Parthenope, Ligea, and Leucosia. - -[Illustration: Ulysses and the Sirens. Flaxman's "Odyssey."] - -Parthenope, the ancient name of Neapolis (Naples) was derived from one of -the sirens, whose tomb was shown in Strabo's time. Poetic legend states -that she threw herself into the sea out of love for Ulysses, and was cast -up on the Bay of Naples. - -The celebrated Parthenon at Athens, the beautiful temple of Pallas Athenae, -so richly adorned with sculptures, likewise derives its name from this -source. - -Dante interviews the siren in "Purgatorio," xix. 7-33. - -Flaxman, in his designs illustrating the "Odyssey," represents the sirens -as beautiful young women seated on the strand and singing. - -[Illustration: Ulysses and the Sirens. From a painting on a Greek vase.] - -In the illustration from an ancient Greek vase gives a Grecian rendering -of the story, and represents the Sirens as birds with heads of maidens. - -The Sirens are best known from the story that Odysseus succeeded in -passing them with his companions without being seduced by their song. He -had the prudence to stop the ears of his companions with wax and to have -himself bound to the mast. Only two are mentioned in Homer, but three or -four are mentioned in later times and introduced into various legends. -Demeter (_Ceres_) is said to have changed their bodies into those of -birds, because they refused to go to the help of their companion, -Persephone, when she was carried off by Pluto. "They are represented in -Greek art like the harpies, as young women with the wings and feet of -birds. Sometimes they appear altogether like birds, only with human faces; -at other times with the bodies of women, in which case they generally hold -instruments of music in their hands. As their songs are death to those -subdued by them they are often depicted on tombs as spirits of death." - -By the fables of the Sirens is represented the ensnaring nature of vain -and deceitful pleasures, which sing and soothe to sleep, and never fail to -destroy those who succumb to their beguiling influence. - -Spenser, in the "Faerie Queen," describes a place "where many mermaids -haunt, making false melodies," by which the knight Guyon makes a somewhat -"perilous passage." There were five sisters that had been fair ladies, -till too confident in their skill in music they had ventured to contend -with the Muses, when they were transformed in their lower extremities to -fish: - - "But the upper half their hue retained still, - And their sweet skill in wonted melody; - Which ever after they abused to ill - To allure weak travellers, whom gotten they did kill." - Book ii. cant. cxii. - -Shakespeare charmingly pictures Oberon in the moonlight, fascinated by the -graceful form and the melodious strains of the mermaid half reclining on -the back of the dolphin: - - "OBERON: ... Thou rememberest - Since once I sat upon a promontory, - And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back - Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath - That the rude sea grew civil at her song - And certain stars shot madly from their spheres - To hear the sea-maid's music." - -Commentators of Shakespeare find in this passage (and subsequent parts) -certain references to Mary Queen of Scots, which they consider beyond -dispute. She was frequently referred to in the poetry of the time under -this title. She was married to the Dauphin (or Dolphin) of France. The -rude sea means the Scotch rebels, and the shooting stars referred to were -the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland, who, with others of lesser -note, forgot their allegiance to Elizabeth out of love to Mary. - -"Few eyes," says Sir Thomas Browne, "have escaped the picture of a mermaid -with a woman's head above and a fish's extremity below." In those old days -when reading and writing were rare accomplishments, pictured signboards -served to give "a local habitation and a name" to hostelries and other -places of business and resort. Among the most celebrated of the old London -taverns bearing this sign,[31] that in Bread Street stands foremost. - -We find this "Mermayde" mentioned as early as 1464. In 1603 Sir Walter -Raleigh established a literary club in this house, and here Shakespeare, -Ben Jonson, and the choice intellectual spirits of the time used to meet, -and there took place those wit combats which Beaumont has commemorated and -Fuller described. It is frequently alluded to by Beaumont and Fletcher in -their comedies, but best known is that quotation from a letter of Beaumont -to Ben Jonson: - - "What things have we seen - Done at the Mermaid? heard words that have been - So nimble and so full of subtle flame, - As if that any one from whence they came - Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest, - And had resolved to live a fool the rest - Of his dull life; then when there had been thrown - Wit able enough to justify the town - For three days past; wit that might warrant be - For the whole city to talk foolishly, - Till that were cancell'd; and when that was gone, - We left an air behind us, which alone - Was able to make the next two companies - (Right witty, though but downright fools) more wise." - - -[Illustration] - -The Dolphin of Legend and of Heraldry - - "_... his delights - Were dolphin-like; they showed his back above - The element they lived in._" - "Anthony and Cleopatra," Act v. sc. 2. - -As the Lion is the king of beasts, the Eagle the king of birds, so in -similar heraldic sense the Dolphin is king of fishes. His position in -legend is probably due to his being one of the biggest and boldest -creatures of the sea that passed the Pillars of Hercules into the -Mediterranean Sea. Pliny (Book ix. ch. 8) calls it "The swiftest of all -other living creatures whatsoever, and not of sea fish only, is the -dolphin; quicker than any fowle, swifter than the arrow shot from a bow." - -The dolphin, of which there are several varieties, enjoys a pretty wide -geographical distribution, being found in the Arctic seas, the Atlantic -Ocean, and indeed of all seas. It was well known to the ancients and -furnished the theme of many a fabulous story. - -[Illustration: The Dolphin.] - -The common dolphin (_Delphinus Delphis_) the true _hieros ichthus_, is -only rarely met with on the British coast. Its length is usually seven or -eight feet, though some specimens have been found to measure ten feet. Its -back is almost straight, or only slightly elevated; its colour is dusky -black above and whitish beneath. Its pectorals or flappers, which are -placed low in the sides, are well developed, and a dorsal fin, which is -somewhat short, is much elevated. Its tail is broad and notched in the -centre and expanded horizontally--not vertically as in most other -fishes--by the help of which it makes its peculiar leaps over the surface -of the water and at the same time takes its breath. - -Unlike its near relatives the porpoises, who haunt the coast, dolphins -live far out at sea, and are generally mistaken for porpoises. The -long-snouted dolphin feeds on pelagic fishes. The short-nosed porpoise -likes salmon and mackerel, robs the fishermen's nets, and even burrows in -the sand in search of odds and ends. The dolphin is the sea-goose. The -porpoise is the sea-pig; he is the _porc-poisson_, the _porc-pois_, or -sea-hog. - -The convex snout of the dolphin is separated from the forehead by a deep -furrow; the muzzle is greatly extended, compressed, and much attenuated -especially towards the apex, where it terminates in a rather sharp-pointed -beak. The French name _bec d'oie_, from the great projection of its nose -or beak, has led to its adoption in the arms of English families of the -name of Beck. The dolphin is an elegant and swift swimmer, and capable of -overtaking the swiftest of the finny tribe. Because the creature is noted -for its swiftness it has been adopted in the arms of Fleet. - -The dolphin is able to hold his own against nearly all others of his size -and weight, and even some of the larger cetaceans only come off second -best in an encounter with the dolphin. He is voracious, gluttonous, and -ever on the look out for something to turn up, hunting his prey with great -persistency and devouring it with avidity. He has been not inaptly styled -"the plunderer of the deep." - -The destructive character of the dolphin amongst the various tribes of -fish is not lessened when we examine its formidable jaws studded with an -immense number of interlocking teeth. Notwithstanding its rapacious habits -and the variety of its diet it was in England formerly regarded as a royal -fish, and its flesh held in high estimation. Old chroniclers have frequent -entries of dolphins being caught in the Thames, thus: "3 Henry V.--Seven -dolphins came up the Thames, whereof four were taken." "14th Richard -II.--On Christmas Day one was taken at London Bridge, being ten feet long, -and a monstrous grown fish." (Delalune's "Present State of London," 1681.) -The early fathers of the Church deemed "all fish that swam in the sea"; -the dolphin was therefore eaten in Lent. He is, however, a mammal, not a -fish, and though an air-breathing creature he lives and dies in the ocean. -But one is brought forth at a birth, and between the old and young of -their kind, as in the case of all marine animals, a strong affection -exists. - -Travellers' tales are notoriously hard of belief, and must be taken _cum -grano salis_. We learn from Sir Thomas Herbert, an early voyager, that -when he was on the coast of Sanquehar, a large kingdom on the east side of -the Cape of Good Hope, he "saw there great numbers of dolphins," of which -he says: "They much affect the company of men, and are nourished like men; -they are always constant to their mates, tenderly affected to their -parents, feeding and defending them against hungry fishes when they are -old," and much more information equally astonishing. - -A story is related of a man who once went to a mufti and asked him whether -the flesh of the sea-pig (the dolphin) was lawful food. Without any -hesitation the mufti declared that pig's flesh was unlawful at all times -and under all circumstances. Some time after another person submitted the -question to the same authority, whether the _fish_ of the sea, called the -sea-pig, was lawful food. The mufti replied: "Fish is lawful food by -whatever name it may be called." - -CLASSIC FABLE AND MEDIAEVAL LEGEND have shed a halo of romantic interest -around the dolphin which cleaves to it even to the present hour; the rare -event of a dolphin being caught in British waters revives with a thrill -all the old-world stories and historic associations of this famous fish as -if it were a veritable relic of the golden age. The dolphin of fact we -have found to be quite a different creature from what he is pictured by -the ancients. The mariner may be engulfed by "the yawning, dashing, -furious sea," but no generous dolphin now watches with tender eye, -solicitous for his safety, nor offers his ready back to speed him to the -shore. - -The dolphin of our modern poets and sailors--the swift swimmer that leaps -after the flying-fish and frolics in front of the vessel's prow until he -is caught by the glittering tin--is the _Coryphaena hippurus_, the species -famed for its changing tints when taken from the water. During a calm, -these fishes, when swimming about a ship, appear of a brilliant blue or -purple, shining with a metallic lustre in every change of reflected light. -On being captured and brought on deck, the variety of these tints is very -beautiful. The bright purple and golden yellow hues change to brilliant -silver, varying back again into the original colours, purple and gold. -This alteration of tints continues for some time, diminishing in -intensity, and at last settles down into a dull leaden hue. The -iridescent lines which play along its elegant curves as he lies on deck -has awakened the enthusiasm of many a writer. Byron tells us in a -beautiful simile: - - "Parting day - Dies like the dolphin, whom each pang imbues - With a new lustre, as it gasps away, - The last still loveliest, till 'tis gone--and all is grey." - -[Illustration: Dolphin of classic art.] - -It is needless to say that the legendary dolphin is not to be confounded -with the gay and graceful _coryphaena_ to whom alone belong those rainbow -flashes of colour in dying. The common dolphin (_Delphinus delphis_) is -dark on the back and satiny white beneath but not even in the agonies of -death does he change colour, though like all dead things the body becomes -slightly phosphorescent during decomposition. There are two curious fresh -water dolphins, the Sooloo of the Ganges and the Inia of the Amazon, which -form the connecting-link between the herbaceous and carnivorous cetacea. - -The dolphin ([Greek: delphin]) may be considered an accessory symbol of -Apollo, who, as we read in the Homeric hymns, once took the form of a -dolphin when he guided the Cretan ship to Crissa, whence, after commanding -the crew to burn the ship and erect an altar to him as Apollo Delphinios, -he led them to Delphi, and appointed them to be the first priests of his -temple. - -The dolphin is the most classic of fishes, the favourite of Apollo, and -sacred to that bright divinity, deriving his name from the oracular -Delphi, that mysterious spot, "the earth's umbilicus," the very centre of -the world, Delphi or Delphos, a town in Phocis, famous for its oracle in -the Temple of Apollo, upon the walls of which were sculptured the _Helios -ichthus_, Apollo's fish. - -In the legend of Tarento, Phalantus, heading the Patheniae, was driven from -Sparta and shipwrecked off the coast of Italy, and escaped on a friendly -dolphin's back to Tarentum. We learn from Aristotle that the youthful -figure seated on the dolphin, which is the most common type on the coins -of this city, was intended for Taras, a son of Poseidon, from whom the -city is said to have derived its name. - -The dolphins, "the arrows of the sea," were the great carriers of ancient -times. Not only did they bear the Nereides safely on their backs, but -Arion, the sweet singer, when forced to leap into the sea to escape the -mariners who would have murdered him, had previously so charmed the -dolphins by his playing that they gathered round the ship and one of them -bore Arion safely to Taenarus, whilst the musician - - "with harmonious strains - Requites his bearer for his friendly pains." - -The classic myth of Arion and the dolphin, like many other pagan -fictions, was invested by the early Christians with an entirely different -signification, and in the sculptures and frescoes of the catacombs and -other symbolic representations of the Christian converts, the frequent -introduction of the dolphin "points not to the deliverer of Arion, but to -Him who through the waters of baptism opens to mankind the paths of -deliverance, causing them to so pass the waves of this troublesome world -that finally they may come to the land of everlasting life." - -The poet Licophron says Ulysses bore a dolphin on his shield, on the -pommel of his sword, as well as on his ring, in commemoration of the -extraordinary escape of his son Telemachus, who when young fell into the -sea and was taken up by a dolphin and safely brought on shore. Pliny and -others relate a story of one of these fishes which frequented the Lake -Lucrin: "A boy who went every day to school from Baia to Puzzoli used to -feed this dolphin with bread, and it became at last so familiar with the -boy that it carried him often on its back over the bay." - -The dolphins were early symbols on the coins of AEgina, and though -abandoned for a time were afterwards resumed; and they appear upon later -and well-known coins of that State accompanied by the wolf and other -national devices. Argos had anciently two dolphins; Syracuse, a winged -sea-dog, a dolphin, &c.; Teneos (Cyclades) two dolphins and a trident. The -dolphin and trident figures also upon coins of the ancient city of -Byzantium, signifying probably the sovereignty of the seas. It is even -figured by the ancients as a constellation in the heraldry of the heavens. -In botany it lives in larkspurs called delphiniums, from their curious -petals and the slender segments of their leaves. - -[Illustration: Coin of AEgina.] - -The dolphin and anchor is a famous historic symbol. Titus, Emperor of -Rome, took the device of a dolphin twisted round an anchor, to imply, like -the emblem of Augustus, the medium between haste and slowness, the anchor -being the symbol of delay, as it is also of firmness and security, while -the dolphin is the swiftest of fish. This device appears also upon the -coins of Vespasian, the father of Titus. The anchor was also used as a -signet ring by Seleneus, King of Syria. The dolphin and anchor was also -used, with the motto "Festina lente" ("Hasten slowly"), by the Emperor -Adolphus of Nassau, and by Admiral Chabot. The family of Onslow bear the -same for crest and motto. - -Aldus Manutius, the celebrated Venetian printer, adopted this well-known -device from a silver medal presented to him by Cardinal Bembo, with the -motto in Greek "hasten slowly." Camerarius describes this sign in his book -of symbols "to represent that maturity in business which is the medium -between too great haste and slowness." "When violent winds disturb the sea -the anchor is cast by seamen, the dolphin winds herself round it out of a -particular love for mankind, and directs it as with a human intellect so -that it may more safely take hold of the ground; for dolphins have this -peculiar property that they can, as it were, foretell storms. The anchor -then signifies a stay and security whilst the dolphin is a hieroglyphic -for philanthropy and safety." - -[Illustration] - -This sign was afterwards adopted by William Pickering, a worthy -"Discipulus Aldi" as he styles himself. Sir Egerton Bridges has some -verses upon it, amongst which occur the following: - - "Would thou still be safely landed, - On the Aldine anchor ride; - Never yet was vessel stranded, - With the dolphin by its side. - - * * * * * - - "Nor time nor envy shall ever canker, - The sign which is my lasting pride; - Joy then to the Aldus anchor - And the dolphin at its side. - - "To the dolphin as we're drinking, - Life and health and joy we send; - A poet once he saved from sinking, - And still he lives the poet's friend." - -The dolphin was the insignia of the Eastern Empire--the Empire of -Constantinople. The Courteneys, a noble Devonshire family, still bear the -dolphin as crest and badge, and the melancholy motto, "Ubi lapsus? Quid -feci?" ("Whither have I fallen? What have I done?"), "a touching -allusion," says Miss Millington ("Heraldry in History and Romance"), "to -the misfortunes of their race, three of whom filled the imperial throne of -Constantinople during the time that city was in possession of the Latins -after the siege of 1204. Expelled at length by the Greeks, Baldwin, the -last of the three, wandered from Court to Court throughout Europe vainly -seeking aid to replace him upon the throne." - -A branch of the imperial Courteneys settled in England during the reign of -Henry II., and their descendants were among the principal Barons of the -realm. Three Earls of Courteney perished on the scaffold during the Wars -of the Roses; the family was restored to favour by Henry VII. Another -Courteney, the Marquis of Exeter, became first the favourite, and -subsequently the victim of the brutal tyrant Henry VIII. His son Edward, -after being long a prisoner in the tower, ended his days in exile, and the -family estates passed into other hands. - -Sir William Courteney, of Powderham Castle, Devon (_temp._ Edw. IV.), -bore emblazoned on his standard three dolphins in reference to the purple -of three Emperors. - -The Arms of Peter Courteney, Bishop of Exeter, 1478, is still to be seen -in the episcopal palace environed with the dolphins of Constantinople. - - -The Dauphin of France - -[Illustration: Banner of the Dauphin.] - -In France the bearing of the dolphin was exclusively restricted to the -Dauphin or heir to the throne of the kingdom. Brydson mentions that one of -the first of the troubadours was called the Dauphin, or Knight of the -Dolphin, from bearing that figure on his shield, adding that "the name in -his successors became a title of sovereign dignity." - -The title "Dauphin," borne by the eldest son and heir-apparent of the -kings of France under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties, originated in the -Dauphins of Viennois, sovereigns of the province of Dauphine. Guy VIII., -Count of Vienne, was the first so styled. The title descended in the -family till 1349, when Humbert II., _de la Tour de Pisa_, sold his -seigneurie, called the Dauphine, to Philippe VI. (de Valois), on condition -that the heir of France assumed the title of "Le Dauphin." The first -French prince so called was Jean, who succeeded Philippe; and the last was -the Duc d'Angouleme, son of Charles X., who renounced the title in 1830. -In 1601, when Louis XIII. was born, there had not been a Dauphin since -Francis II. (the husband of Mary, Queen of Scots)--eighty-four years. The -province of Dauphine sent a deputation to Fontainebleau, headed by the -Archbishop of Vienne, to recognise the infant as their sovereign, and make -him a present of an entire service of richly chased plate with various -figures of dolphins, estimated at 12,000 crowns. - -GRAND DAUPHIN.--Louis, duc de Bourgogne, eldest son of Louis XIV., for -whom was published the edition of the Latin classics entitled "Ad usum -Delphini" (1661-1711). - -SECOND, OR LITTLE DAUPHIN.--Louis, son of the Grand Dauphin (1682-1712). - -Shakespeare, by an anachronism of a hundred years, introduced into King -John - - "Lewis, the Dauphin and the heir of France." - -Mary Queen of Scots bore the title on her marriage in 1558 to the Dauphin, -afterwards Francis II., and styled by her adherents: - - "Mary, Queen, and Dolphiness of Fraunce, - The nobillest lady in earth." - - -The Heraldic Dolphin - -[Illustration: Example--Dolphin embowed.] - -The heraldic dolphin, as usually represented by modern heralds, is an -ornamental monstrosity bearing but slight resemblance to the natural form -of this celebrated historic marine symbol; a nearer resemblance to the -natural shape is decidedly preferable. Some of the early heraldic -representations, though a little crude, are very characteristic and -thoroughly heraldic in treatment, though at the same time very unlike the -real dolphin. - -In its series of leaps out of the water the dolphin appears with high -arched back, just as we see it represented in antique works; its natural -shape, however, is straight, the back being but slightly curved. The broad -tail paddle being placed in a horizontal position necessitates an up and -down stroke, which makes their swimming to appear a series of leaps and -divings. Like its near relative the porpoise, it is an air-breathing -animal; its apparent gambollings on the water may, therefore, be more -truly attributed to its breathing and blowing whilst in pursuit of its -prey. - -The Dolphin is generally, if not always, depicted in heraldry _embowed_, -that is, having its back greatly incurvated. In blazon the word _Dolphin_, -alone, implies that its natural position, _naiant_ (swimming) and embowed, -is understood, but for the sake of accuracy it is better always to give -the description in full, as a doubt may arise as to the omission of a word -indicating its position. - -_Torqued_, _torquend_, _torgant_, or _targant_, from the Latin _torquere_, -to twist, are old terms for embowed, or bowed embowed, bent in the form of -the letter S, turning contrary ways at each bending; applicable also to -serpents. - -_Hauriant_, from the Latin _ab hauriendo_, is a term applied to fishes -generally when placed in an upright position or _in pale_, as if putting -the head above water to get air. - -[Illustration: Hauriant] - -[Illustration: Urinant] - -[Illustration: Naiant] - -[Illustration: Torqued] - -Shell-fish are blazoned _erect_ or _upright_, the term hauriant being only -applicable to fishes with scales and fins. - -_Urinant_ (from the Latin _urino_, to duck or dive under water) signifies -borne with the head downwards and the tail erect, the reverse position of -hauriant. - -Two dolphins are occasionally borne together, sometimes endorsed, or back -to back; sometimes respecting each other. - -As signifying the conquest of the sea, it appears in the shields of many -seaport cities. It figures on the well-known bearings of the towns of -Brighton, Dunkirk, Poole, &c. - -The Dolphin appears in English heraldry as early as the middle of the -thirteenth century. In a roll of arms of that date, a dolphin is given as -the coat of Gile de Fiseburn. - -"The Godolphins of Helston," says Miss Millington, "who had estates in -that part of the kingdom (Cornwall) at the time of the Conquest, bore -_argent three dolphins embowed, sable_." Similar arms are borne by many -English families. - -The Godolphins, Franklins, Franklands, Frenches, Fishers and Kennedys, in -many of their branches, bear the dolphin fish as their crest. - -A man playing the harp on a dolphin is the heraldic cognisance of the -Walterton family. - - -[Illustration: Sea-horse naiant.] - - -The Sea--Horse - - "_His sea-horses did seem to snort amain - And from their nostrils blow the fiery stream - That made the sparkling waves to smoke again - And flame with gold; but the white foam cream - Did shine with silver, and shoot forth his beam._" - SPENSER'S _Faerie Queen_. - (Procession of the Sea Divinities.) - -The steeds of Neptune are favourite subjects in ancient poetry and art in -the triumphs and processions of the marine deities, drawing the chariot of -the sea-god in its progress through the waves. The imaginative Greeks -pictured to themselves the horses of Poseidon in the rolling and bounding -waves as they pursue each other in haste towards the shore, "curling their -monstrous heads." This may seem to account for the constant and close -connection between the god and the horse. The origin of the horse is -ascribed to the contest between Poseidon and Athenae as to who should make -to mankind the most useful present; Neptune created the horse, Minerva the -olive-tree. - -[Illustration: Sea-horse erect.] - -The city of Lampsacus, in Mysia, founded by the Phoceans, adopted the -winged sea-horse as their monetary type, in allusion to the fleetness of -their vessels. Others of the maritime States of Greece also adopted the -sea-horse upon their coins. - -A coin of the celebrated Pyrrhus, King of Epirus (slain B.C. 272), the -knight-errant of ancient heroes, represents the head of Achilles, the -reputed ancestor of Pyrrhus, on one side, and the Nereid, Thetis, the -mother of Achilles, on the sea-horse on the reverse. Thetis carries the -arms forged by Vulcan for Achilles, in allusion to the succour brought by -Pyrrhus to the Italian Greeks against the barbarians, as the rising Romans -were termed by them. - -In Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," we find a reference to -a veritable sea-horse, if we may believe our authority. John Sobieski, -the victorious King of Poland, in his letters to his wife, when he raised -the memorable siege of Vienna and delivered Europe for ever from the -incursions of the Turks, describes to her how, in the tent of Mustapha, he -found the great standard of the Turks, "_made of the hair of the sea-horse -(?) wrought with a needle and embroidered with Arabic figures_." It was -afterwards hung up by the order of the Emperor in the Cathedral of St. -Stephens, "where," adds the historian, "_I have seen it_." - -The coast of Naples is celebrated for the production of a small fish in -great repute with mothers who nurse their offspring; among its other -virtues it is said to cure the bite of a mad dog. It is about four to six -inches in length, and has a head resembling that of a horse, terminating -in a dragon's tail. This is the tiny hippocampus of our public aquariums. -The Neapolitans call them "cavalli-marini," which was once ingeniously -translated by a learned English traveller as "horse marines." - -This fabulous marine creature in heraldry is compounded of the fore -quarters of a horse with webbed paws, and the hinder part of a fish or -dolphin. A scalloped fin is continued down the neck and back in place of a -mane. It is frequently, though erroneously, to be seen depicted with the -flowing mane of a horse; wings are also sometimes added to it, both of -which, it is needless to say, are wrong, unless specially mentioned in the -blazon. - -The Westenras (Baron Rossmore), descended from the family of Van -Wassenhaer of Wassenburg, were of great antiquity in Holland, and they -bore the augmentation of the sea-horse in reference to the valour and -intrepidity of an ancestor, who, during the Duke of Alva's campaign, was -actively employed against the enemies of his country and undertook at -great risk to swim across an arm of the sea with important despatches to -his besieged countrymen. - -[Illustration: Arms of the city of Belfast. The sinister supporter and -crest are Sea-horses.] - -The Sea-horse is of very frequent use in armory, and usually has reference -to meritorious actions performed at sea. It is also borne by many seaport -towns in allusion to the trade and commerce of the port, as in the arms -of the city of Belfast. - -Cromwell, Protector, bore as supporters a lion of England and a sea-horse, -probably to denote his protectorship of the sea, as of the land. - -Bossewell ("Works of Armorie," 1589), in his peculiar mixture of English -and Latin, gives a quaint description of the animal: "This water-horse of -the sea is called a hippotame, for that he is like an horse in back, -mayne, and neying: rostro resupinato a primis dentibus: cauda tortuosa, -ungulis binis. He abideth in the waters on the day, and eateth corn by -night et hunc Nilus gignit." The latter may be classed with those -fantastic ornamental forms frequently employed in fountains and -waterworks, such as the _Ichthyocentaur_, _i.e._, a combination of man and -horse, or the centaur with a fish's extremity. - - -Sea-lion - -or _Lion poisson_, a mythical sea-creature, frequently used in heraldry as -an emblem of bold actions achieved on the ocean in the country's service. -It is depicted as the fore part of a lion with webbed feet, the hinder -part ending in a fish's tail. - -Two such animals support the arms of Viscount Falmouth. - -The Earl of Howth has for supporters _a sea-lion argent_, and a mermaid, -proper. The crest also is a sea-lion. - -[Illustration: Sea-lion erect.] - -The crest of Duckworth is _a tower, the battlements partly demolished, -from the top flames issuant proper; on the sinister side a sea-lion erect -azure, pressing against the tower_. - -Silvestre.--_Argent, a sea-lion couchant azure, crowned armed and langued -gules._ - -When the sea-lion or other compounded creature of this kind is erect, it -should be clearly blazoned as "a sea-lion erect on his tail," to -distinguish it from naiant, the swimming position natural to it. - - -Sea-dog - -is depicted like a talbot in shape, but with the tail like that of a -beaver, the feet webbed and the whole body scaled like a fish, a scalloped -fin continued along the back from the head to the tail. - -Baron Stourton has two such beasts, sable, scaled or, for his supporters. - -The crest of Sir H. Delves Broughton.--_A sea-dog's head gules, eared and -finned argent._ - -[Illustration: Sea-dog rampant.] - -The SEA-BULL, SEA-WOLF, SEA-BEAR, SEA-CAT, SEA-DRAGON, etc., when they -occur in heraldry, are all depicted as having the anterior portions of -their bodies in the forms which their several names denote; but, like the -sea-lion and sea-horse, they have fishes tails and webbed paws. - - * * * * * - -In conclusion, having, as far as possible, given the _raison d'etre_ of -each, and traced the life-history and characteristics of the many strange -and fantastic creatures in our symbolic menagerie, it only remains to -express the hope that the information contained in this volume may be -found both interesting and useful, as without some such knowledge there -can be little or no intelligent understanding of the proper treatment of -the forms of these mythical and symbolic beings. The suggestive -illustrations, while giving the recognised forms of each, leaves to the -artist free scope to adopt his own style of art treatment, whether purely -heraldic or merely decorative. - - - Printed by BALLANTYNE & CO. LIMITED - Tavistock Street, London - - - - - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] "Decorative Heraldry," by G. W. Eve. - -[2] The above notes on heraldic treatment are largely adapted from the -admirable works on Decorative Art, by Louis F. Day. - -[3] See Audsley's "Glossary of Architecture," "Angel," p. 101. - -[4] "Restit. of Decayed Intell. in Antiq." p. 147. - -[5] "Great Cities of the Middle Ages." - -[6] "History of Signboards." - -[7] Brewer's "Dictionary of Phrase and Fable." - -[8] "Analysis of Ornament," by Ralph N. Wornum. - -[9] That is, _Visconti_ is only a variation of _Biscia_ equivalent to -_Anguis_, Italianised to _Angleria_. - -[10] Pliny, Book xi. ch. 25, from an old translation. - -[11] But for an oversight in the drawing, the unicorn should have been -represented with the divided hoofs of a stag. - -[12] "Mythology of Greece and Rome, with special reference to its Use in -Art," from the German of O. Seemann. - -[13] W. N. Humphry's "Coin Collector's Manual." - -[14] "Modern Painters," vol. iii. ch. 8. - -[15] "Historical Devices, Badges, and War Cries," p. 10. - -[16] "Iconography of Christian Art." - -[17] "Orlando Furioso," iv. 18, 19. - -[18] "Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians." - -[19] W. Noel Humphry's "Coin Collector's Manual." - -[20] Book x. ch. 2. - -[21] Guillam's "Display of Heraldry." The same is also related in the -Latin "Bestiarium," Harl. MSS. 4751; and by Albertus Magnus, Camerarius, -&c. - -[22] "Cassell's Natural History." - -[23] Bk. viii. ch. 17. - -[24] Harl. MSS. 6085. - -[25] Hist. Dev. 260. - -[26] "Natural History," x. 67, xxix. 4. - -[27] Tylor's "Primitive Culture." - -[28] Armorie of Honour, 62. - -[29] "Coin Collector's Manual," Bohn. - -[30] Book ix. ch. 13. - -[31] The sign was also used by printers: John Rastall, brother-in-law to -Sir Thomas More, "emprynted in the Cheapesyde at the Sygne of the -Mermayde; next to Powlsgate in 1572." Henry Binnemann, the Queen's -printer, dedicated a work to Sir Thomas Gresham, in 1576, at the sign of -the Mermaid, Knightrider Street. A representation of the creature was -generally prefixed to his books.--"History of Sign-boards," p. 227. - - - - -Transcriber's Notes: - -Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_. - -Superscripted characters are indicated by {superscript}. - -The original text contains letters with diacritical marks that are not -represented in this text version. - -The original text includes Greek characters. For this text version these -letters have been replaced with transliterations. - -The original text includes symbols that are represented as [Symbol] in -this text version. - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Fictitious & Symbolic Creatures in Art, by -John Vinycomb - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SYMBOLIC CREATURES IN ART *** - -***** This file should be named 40825.txt or 40825.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/8/2/40825/ - -Produced by Chris Curnow and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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