"Mr. Punch's" Book of Arms

Chapter 11: Oom Paul, first Earl of Krugersdorp.

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About This Book

A sequence of humorous mock coats of arms presents parody blazons, crests, supporters, and mottos that lampoon prominent public figures, institutions, and current events of the author's day. Each entry mimics heraldic language while twisting symbols into absurd, ironic descriptions that expose political foibles, journalistic excesses, and imperial pretensions. The work alternates detailed visual description with sharp, often bawdy wordplay, arranging entries like an illustrated armorial interspersed with brief epigrams. Through exaggerated symbolism and mock-formality, it satirizes power, public personalities, and civic ceremonial, inviting readers to view familiar characters and controversies through a comic, barbed heraldic lens.

Oom Paul, first Earl of Krugersdorp.

Arms / quarterly / i two British cage-birds still vulning themselves on a ground of excessive patriotism / ij a pair of scales-of-justice patent controllable and adjustable at will proper / iij a lion in cachinnation roaring over a boar charging to absurdity for moral and intellectual damage / iiij a dog's-eared 'hym-bok' bound in veldt with covert designs. Crest / a reform tortoise of the rand emergent couped at the neck proper disarmed and voided of assets. Supporters / dexter, a burgher rampant in piety armed to the teeth / sinister, an antique dopper also in piety habited proper in broadcloth home-made and moth-eaten to the last / both singing in unison falsette the indermiddel from 'simplicita rusticana.' Second Motto / 'Who said Rhodes?'