Peeps at Heraldry

OF SOME OF THE TERMS TO BE MET WITH IN HERALDRY

• Abased, applied to a charge placed lower than its usual position.
• Accollée, side by side.
• Accrued, fully grown.
• Achievement, complete heraldic emblazonment.
• Addorsed, back to back.
• Agroupment, grouping of two or more shields to form one achievement.
• Ailettes, part of mail armour for protecting neck.
• Appaumée, open hand, showing palm (Fig. 51).
• Arménie, ermine.
• Armes parlantes, allusive arms.
• Armory, heraldry.
• Aspersed, scattered over.
• Assurgeant, rising from the sea.
• Barbute, chin-piece of helm.
• Bardings, horse-trappings.
• Basilisk, cockatrice, produced from egg, laid by cock and hatched by a toad on a dunghill.
• Basinet, steel cap; part of old armour.
• Beacon, fire chest of burning combustibles set on a pole with a ladder against it.
• Bezant, disc-like coin.
• Birdbolt, arrow with a blunt head.
• Breys, horse curbs.
• Brisure, mark of cadency.
• Caltrap, or Cheval-trap, used to maim horses in battle.
• Cameleopardel, mythical beast.
• Chape, or Crampet, decorated top of sheath.
• Chatloup, fabulous horned animal.
• Chess-rook, chess piece.
• Chevronel, small chevron.
• Chimera, legendary beast.
• Cinque-foil, leaf or flower of five foils.
• Closet, bar diminished to half its width.
• Clouée, nailed, nail-heads showing.
• Conjoined in lure, wings united; tips in base.
• Contournée, facing to the sinister.
• Cornish-chough, crow with red beak and legs.
• Coronet, badge of Peer; Duke's, with eight strawberry-leaves of equal height above rim;
  Marquis's, four strawberry-leaves alternating with four pearls on points of same height as leaves;
  Earl's, same as Marquis's, but pearls raised above leaves;
  Viscount's, with twelve silver balls on coronet;
  Baron's, with six silver balls set close to rim.
• Côtise, diminutive bend.
• Coupled-close, half a chevronel.
• Cresset, a beacon.
• Crusilly, sown with cross crosslets.
• Cubit-arm, human arm couped at elbow.
• Debased, reversed.
• Debrusied, when an ordinary surmounts an animal or other ordinary.
• Decollated, said of a decapitated lion.
• Decrescent, half-moon, with horns to the left.
• Defamed, said of a lion looking backwards.
• Degraded, set on steps.
• Demembered, figure cut into bits, with original figure left unaltered.
• Depressed, surmounted.
• Dimidiated, cut in halves pale-wise, and one-half removed.
• Doubling, lining of a mantle.
• Eaglet, little eagle.
• Embowed, bent.
• Embrued, blood-stained.
• Endorse, a little pale.
• Enfiled, pierced with a sword.
• Enhanced, raised towards the chief.
• Ensigned, ornamented.
• Erne, eagle.
• Escroll, ribbon bearing motto.
• Erminites, fur, white, with black spots, and a red hair each side of spots.
• Fermail, a buckle.
• Ferr, horseshoe.
• Fetter-lock, chain and padlock.
• Fillet, diminutive of chief.
• Fitched, pointed at base.
• Flexed, bowed and bent.
• Fylfot, curious cruciform figure.
• Gadbee, horse-fly.
• Gambe, or Jambe, leg of beast of prey.
• Gorged, encircled round the throat.
• Gradient, walking.
• Grand quarters, four primary divisions of the shield.
• Greeces, steps.
• Guige, a shield-belt.
• Hames, parts of horse harness.
• Hastilude, tournament.
• Hatchment, achievement of arms in a lozenge-shaped frame placed over residence of a lately deceased person.
• Heights, applied to plumes rising in rows above one another.
• Hirondelles, swallows.
• Hoist, depth of flag from chief to base.
• Hurst, clump of trees.
• Jessant, shooting forth.
• Ladycow, ladybird.
• Lambel, label.
• Lion morné, lion sans claws or teeth.
• Luce, Lucy, a pike.
• Lymphad, old galley.
• Membered, used to denote legs of birds.
• Nag, often used for horse.
• Opinicus, fabulous beast.
• Oriflamme, square scarlet banner with three tails.
• Overt, with open wings.
• Panache, a plume arranged fan-wise.
• Pascuant, grazing.
• Pean, a fur.
• Pelt, for hide.
• Pheon, pointed spear-head.
• Potent, variety of heraldic cross; also fur; also a crutch.
• Prasin, green.
• Purfled, bordered.
• Ragully, cut off roughly.
• Rebated, snapped off.
• Retorted, intertwined.
• Reynard, fox.
• Roundle, a circular figure; when gold, a bezant; when silver, a plate; when gules, a torteau; when azure, a hurt; when sable, a gunstone; when vert, a pomme.
• Roussant, about to fly.
• Sallet, a kind of helm.
• Sarcellée, sawn through the centre.
• Shelldrake, kind of duck.
• Tennée, or Tawny, deep orange colour.
• Timbre, the true heraldic crest.
• Torse, crest-wreath, made of two skeins of silk twisted together.
• Tressure, a subordinary.
• Tricked, sketched in outline with pen and ink.
• Trussed, said of birds with closed wings.
• Tun, barrel or cask.
• Tynes, branches of a stag's antlers.
• Varvals, small rings.
• Verdy, sown with leaves.
• Vol, two wings conjoined.
• Undy, wavy.
• Unguled, hoofed.
• Zona, old word for fesse.

BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD