Search Results for: hurst

Tree

A tree is a large plant, with a main wooden trunk branching into foliage at the top. Its “proper” coloration is with green leaves and brown trunk. A tree “fructed” is bearing fruit, whose color may be specified; the fructing may also be considered artistic license, and added to a tree whether blazoned so or not.

Oak tree (Period)

Pine tree couped (Period)

In heraldic art, the tree’s leaves and fruit may be drawn much larger than in naturalistic art. Early examples, such as the canting arms (German Eich, “oak”) of von Eyck, c.1360 [Gelre 32v] show a very simplified and stylized form of tree. Later depictions, such as the oak tree in the allusive arms (Italian bosco, “wood”) of dal Bosco, mid-15^th C. [Triv 78], are closer to natural art but still exaggerate the size of the leaves and fruit [see also de Bara 75-77]. (Swedish heraldic art in particular is noted for this.) Finally, by the end of period, trees were drawn very naturalistically, as with the oak tree in the arms of Eychhauser, 1605 [Siebmacher 63], to the point that the type of tree becomes difficult to tell. The exaggerated style is therefore encouraged in the Society; a tree whose type cannot be determined is likely to be blazoned simply as a “tree”.

Orange tree fructed and eradicated (Period)

Palm tree couped (Period)

Many types of tree are found in heraldry. The oldest and most common type is the oak tree, found in the canting arms of Okestead, 1275 [ANA2 551]. (Indeed, if no specific type of tree is blazoned, the oak may always be used.) Many other types of tree are also found in period: the pear tree in the canting arms of Piriton, c.1285 [ANA2 551], the walnut tree in the canting arms (Latin nux) of de Noxigiis, mid-15^th C. [Triv 247], the olive tree in the canting arms of Oliveira, c.1540 [Nobreza xxxv], the beech tree in the canting arms (German Buche) of Bucher, 1605 [Siebmacher 64], the rowan tree in the canting arms (Italian sorbo) of Sorballi, c.1550 [BSB Cod.Icon 273:239]. (It should be obvious by now that cant was the primary reason in period for choosing a type of tree.) Society armory has instances of the pine, the linden, the ash, the yew, and the palm, among many others.

Willow tree (Period)

Poplar tree (Period)

For conflict purposes, the Society defines two broad categories for trees: coniferous trees, which are typically drawn with triangular foliage, and so-called “generic” trees, which are typically drawn with rounded or shapeless foliage. Pine trees and fir trees are examples of coniferous trees; oak trees and orange trees are examples of generic trees. Difference is granted between categories of tree; no difference is granted for type of tree within the same category.

Of special note are the willow and poplar trees. The willow tree is found in period armory in the canting arms (Latin salix) of von Salis, 1605 [Siebmacher 204]. The form used in period armory is the white willow; if the “weeping willow tree” is intended, it must be specified in blazon. No difference is granted between these variants.

The poplar tree had been ruled a step from period practice, based on the lack of period examples – particularly as it’s usually depicted, as the elongated “Lombardy poplar” [Fox-Davies, The Art of Heraldry, p.65]. However, the poplar tree in this form has since been documented, in the arms of Cardinal Dominic de Capranica, c.1550 [BSB Cod.Icon 267:179]. The Lombardy poplar, as it’s modernly known, is the default heraldic poplar tree for Society use.

Tree blasted and eradicated (Period)

Tree stump eradicated (Period)

Both the top and the base of a tree are subject to variation. At the base, the Society default is with a small upper portion of the roots showing, as might be seen in nature. The roots may also be “eradicated”, with the entire root system showing, as if forcibly uprooted from the ground; or “couped”, with the trunk cut cleanly, and no roots shown at all. The illustrations show an oak tree (with default roots), a pine tree couped, and an orange tree eradicated (and fructed as well).

At the top, the default is with leaves or foliage; but it also may be “blasted” or leafless, showing only the bare branches. This variant is found in de Bara, 1581 [77], who terms it un arbre sec (“a dry tree”). The illustration shows a tree blasted and eradicated.

A “stump” or “stock” is the bottom part of the tree, left after the tree has been felled; it was the canting badge of Zouche, c.1510 [HB 162]. The stump’s top edge is usually couped, but is sometimes found “snagged”, with the rough top surface tilted to the viewer. In Society blazonry, a “trunk” is a somewhat longer form of stump, while a “log” is simply a cleanly lopped form of a ragged staff. The illustration shows a stump eradicated.

Hurst of trees couped (Period)

A group of trees with their foliage conjoined may be called a “hurst”. When thus conjoined, the number of trees, even when blazoned, counts for no difference. Hursts are often issuant from a mount in mundane heraldry, but this fact is always specifically blazoned in Society heraldry. The illustration shows a hurst of trees couped.

For related charges, see: bush, créquier, slip, staff (ragged). See also fruit, leaf.

The King of Drachenwald bears: Or, in fess three pine trees eradicated gules, overall a dragon passant coward, all within a laurel wreath, in chief an ancient crown sable.

The Baron of Gyldenholt bears: Azure, on a hurst Or a laurel wreath vert, a bordure Or.

The Order of the Willow, of the Middle, bears: Purpure, a weeping willow tree eradicated Or.

Ioseph of Locksley, the Rhymer, bears: Vert, a tree eradicated argent.

Melodia of Okhurste bears: Per bend Or and argent, a tree blasted and eradicated azure.

Christian of Orange bears: Argent, an orange tree fructed proper issuant from a mount vert.

Catalina Estevez de Teixeira bears: Quarterly Or and gules, a yew tree eradicated proper.

Mustafa al-Jabal Tariqi bears: Argent, a palm tree couped gules within a bordure sable.

Allendale of the Evergreens bears: Argent, a pine tree proper.

Tala al-Zahra bears: Argent, an olive tree fructed and eradicated and a bordure gules.

Toly Woodsman bears: Per chevron argent and azure, three tree stumps counterchanged.

Nest

Dove reguardant atop a nest (Period)

A nest is a roost for birds, consisting of a shallow bowl woven of wooden twigs; its “proper” tincture is therefore brown. It’s never found in period heraldry except when a bird is sitting in it, as in the crest of Nobrega, c.1540 [Nobreza xxº]. The illustration shows a dove reguardant sitting in a nest. See also birdcage.

The Order of the Cygnets Nest, of Meridies, bears: A swan sitting in a nest proper within and issuant from an annulet argent.

Danamas of Starlinghurst bears: Azure, atop a demi-wall issuant from dexter base, a starling contourny argent perched in a nest Or.

Fish

Fish naiant (Period)

The term “fish”, as used in heraldry, refers to any marine creature not a monster. The category includes the generic “fish”, which is drawn more or less like a trout, and which will conflict with all other types of fish. More frequent in period heraldry are specific types of fish, such as the herring, the hake, the roach, and the salmon. The distinctions between these specific types were often blurred: the exact type of fish was frequently chosen for a cant, as in the arms of Herring, Hake, de la Roche, and the Grafs von Salmen, respectively.

Also included in this category are the cetaceans, e.g., the porpoise or natural dolphin, the orca or killer whale, the narwhal, and the natural whale; though now known to be mammals, they are considered fish for heraldic purposes.

Finally, there are the crustaceans, e.g., the crab, the lobster, and the prawn. These too are classed as fish in heraldry. Unlike most other fish, however, crustaceans are tergiant by default.

As may be seen, given the wide variety of types of fish found in period armory, any fish known to period Europeans may be used in Society armory – though, if the fish is not itself European, its use is considered a step from period practice. (An exception would be made for non-European fish actually used in period European armory, but no examples have been adduced.) The examples of fish peculiar to Society armory include the North American “catfish”, the “swordfish”, and the “zydrach” – the latter being a period term for the hammerhead shark.

Salmon haurient (Period); chabot tergiant (Period)

Three fish fretted in triangle (Period)

Fish are in general naiant by default. Other fish postures include “haurient” (head to chief) and “uriant” or “urinant” (head to base); the word “embowed” might be added to any of these, although it is usually unnecessary. Fish “fretted in triangle” are arranged as illustrated; the usage is described in Guillim, 1610 [170]. Non-crustacean fish tergiant are considered a step from period practice; an exception is made for flat fish such as the chabot, in the arms of Cabos or Cabot, c.1400 [Wapenboek Beyeren, fol.25v], where tergiant is their default posture.

In other respects, the fish of Society armory follow the same conventions as those of mundane armory. The illustration shows a salmon haurient and a chabot (tergiant). For specific entries, see: barbel, calamarie, crab, dolphin, eel, lucy, sea-horse (natural), whale.

The Baron of Jararvellir bears: Azure, on a fess between two catfish counternaiant Or, a laurel wreath vert.

The Shire of Frozen Mountain bears as a badge: Three fish fretted in triangle gules.

Margery Colvere bears: Azure, in pale two trout argent.

Ian O Kennavain bears: Vert, a sturgeon in annulo Or.

Sean of Elmhurst bears: Per bend azure and sable, a shark naiant to sinister argent.

Marina Jensdatter bears: Gules, a salmon embowed within a bordure Or.

Jarvis of Hakesleah bears: Purpure, three hakes haurient Or.

Brian of Stonemarche bears: Argent, a chevron inverted sable between a chabot gules and two chabots azure.

Fence

Weir (Period)

Park pales (Period)

A fence is an enclosure around a field or piece of land, less massive or permanent than a wall, and usually made of wood or similar material. In period armory, the typical form was a wattle fence, drawn as wicker branches woven around posts; this form is found in the arms of Stapfer, 1605 [Siebmacher 199]. The wattle fence is also blazoned a “weir” or “yair”, which in period was submerged in streams and used to trap fish; it’s found in the canting arms of Zare, 1542 [Lindsay].

Another form of fence would be built from “park pales”: closely set pointed stakes, modernly called a picket fence. We find a period example of a park-pale fence in the arms of Zinhofen (sp.?), from the Hofkleiderbuch of Duke Wilhelm IV, early 16th C. [BSB Cgm.1952, image 268; see also Parker 442]. See also edifice.

George Warde bears: Vert, a weir Or.

Edelgard Erzsébet von Württemberg bears as a badge: Between the peaks of a mountain of two peaks argent issuant from park pales gules a hurst of trees proper.

Cross: Ermine spots

Cross of four ermine spots (Period)

The “cross of four ermine spots” is found as a charge c.1460, in the arms of Hurston or Hurleston [RH; also Legh 36v]. It is sometimes blazoned a “cross erminée” in mundane heraldry; the former blazon should be used, however, to avoid confusion with a “cross ermine” (i.e., an ordinary tinctured of a fur).

Maurya Etain Sableswan bears: Argent, a cross of four ermine spots within a bordure sable.

Mariana Francisco bears: Per bend sinister azure and gules, in canton a cross of four ermine spots argent, a bordure Or.

Cock

Dunghill cock (Period)

The cock, or cockerel, is the male chicken, noted for its fighting spirit; it is found as early as c.1285, in the canting arms of Cockerel [ANA2 201]. The cock is often blazoned more fully as a “dunghill cock”, to distinguish it from male birds of other species: e.g., the peacock; the turkeycock; the “heathcock” or male partridge; and the moorcock. (The term “rooster” is a modern American usage, and no longer used in blazon.)

All these types of cock are statant close by default. There are some terms which appear to be unique to the Society: A dunghill cock without wattles or crest may be blazoned a “gamecock”, as the wattleless breed was favored in cockfights. A dunghill cock rising may also be blazoned a “cock hardy”.

Chicken hens are also found in heraldry (as in the canting arms of the Counts of Henneberg, c.1340 [Zurich 82]), as are capons (in the canting arms of Capenhurst, 1610 [Guillim1 164]). These seem to be much less common than males, however.

Merwenna Maycock bears: Per fess embattled Or and gules, two cocks counterchanged.

Konrad Partman bears: Per pale vert and Or, a dunghill cock rising, wings displayed gules.

Sabine de Provence bears: Quarterly azure and ermine, a hen close Or.

Anne of Bradford bears: Azure chapé, a chicken martletted close to sinister Or.

Mistholme