Camden tells us that the earliest instances of mottos painted on shields, which he had met with in this island, were those or William de Ferrariis, Earl of Derby, who carried round his escutcheon, weir with a &ordure of horse shoes,“ LEGE, LEGE ;" and Sir Thomas Cavill, who bore for arms a horse, under which was written 66 CEP. DITE CUM CERNITIS EQUUM EJUS :" these are both of the age of Henry III. The more abundant use of mottos was, without question, owing to King Edward III. who having founded the order of the garter, and given it the motto Honi soft qui mat y pense ;" each of the original knights of that order took to himself a motto of his own choice, and put it under his arms. From that period the fashion grew more and more in vogue, as may be seen from the accounts which we have of the standards and pennons of the noble men and gentlemen, both of England and Scotland, parti cularly during their French wars.
N. B. Women wear neither crests nor mottos.
The cry of war was the battle shout of the house ; and was also worn in a scroll, as the" Mouotjoye St Denys" still is over the pavilion of the French king. Many families have, in consequence of the change of manners, retained these cries of war as mottos. Of old they consisted very often of the name of the noble, as " A HoalE ! A HonE !" "A DoUGLAs ! A DOUGLAS !" &c.
Of Devices.
41. The Device Proper is a badge or emblem indepen dent of any part of the family bearing ; the legitimate de scendant of the emblems of the ancients. The device is always assumed by the bearer personally, and either may or may not be the same, or that of his ancestor, as he pleases. The roses, red and white, were the devices of York and Lancaster. The portcullis was a device belong ing to the Beau forts (descended from John of Gaunt, fourth son of Edward III.) and carried as such by the Jameses of Scotland. The said John of Gaunt, when he pretended a right to the crown in the reign of Richard II. adopted for his device " an eagle standing on a padlock assaying to force open the same." This was a strictly personal device. From these devices of the kings, some of the English pursuivants derived their names, as Portcullis, Falcon, &c.
Of Support CI'S.
42. These likewise are exterior ornaments, being placed on the sides of the achievement as matters of embellish ment, and formally to timbre or suppot t it. Menest•ier as sures us that they had their or igin from tilts, tournam ems, and justings. On these occasions," says he, " it was usual for the knights to have those shields of their arms, (which we have alicady seen they were obliged publicly to display some days before the opening of the lists), guarded by their pages, armour-bearers, or other attendants, clothed in fancy dresses, sometimes making them appear as savages, Moors, Saracens, lions, &c. The business of these supporters of
the shield was to take notice who, by touching the shield, accepted the challenge of their master." This custom was revived with perhaps greater magnificence than was ever before known, at a tournament in Paris before Louis XIV. in which the esquires who attended the nobles entering the lists, were dressed in the most superb manlier that art could invent, representing Moors, Persians, Armenians, Turks, Etc. &c. From these attendants thus disguised many he raldic writers bring the use of supporters, which, say they, every uric who 1)eitig noble or gentle by father or mother's side) was admitted to tourney, had ever after a right to carry.
This doctrine is, however, strongly combated by many able writers, and particularly by the celebrated John Aastis, in his curious manuscript treatise, entitled .48/zi/ogia, (now in the Astle collection,) who has these observations.
" In these later ages, the nubility have been distinguish ed from persons of inferior rank, by having supporters and coronets cut on their seals ; hut, as far as I am able to ob serve, there was not anciently any particular mark in the seals of the nobility that differenced them from the knights. As to supporters, they were, I take it, the invention of the graver, who, in cutting on seals shields of arms which were in a triangular form, and placed on a circle, finding a va cant space at each side, and also at the top, thought it an ornament to fill up these spaces with vine•branches, garbs, trees, flowers, plants, cal s of corn, feathers, fret-work, lions, wiverns, or some other animal, according to his fancy.
If supporters had been esteemed formerly, as at this time, the marks and ensigns of nobility, there could be no doubt but there would have been then, as now, particular supporters appropriated to each nobleman, exclusive of all others ; whereas, in the seals of noblemen affixed to a pa per addressed to the Pope, A. D. 1300, the shields of arms of twenty-seven of them are in the same manner supported (if that term may be used) on each side by a wivern, and seven of the others by lions. John de Hastings bath the same wivern on each sidle of his shield of arms, and also on the space over it, in the same manner as is the lion in the seals of Hache, Beauchamp, and De Malolacu. The seals of Despenccr, Basset, and Badlesmere, pendent to the same instrument, have each two wiverns or dragons for supporters ; and that of Gilbert de Clare three lions placed in the manner above mentioned. The promiscuous use of wiverns to fill up the blanks in seals, is obvious to all who are concerned in these matters.