Shackle (Period)
Shacklebolt (Period)
A shackle is a lockable restraint for the wrist (where it may also be called a “manacle”) or for the ankle (where it may also be called a “cuff”). A single shackle (manetta in Italian) is a period charge, found in the canting arms of de Manetis, mid-15th C. [Triv 218]. In English armory, there is also the “shacklebolt”, a pair of shackles joined by a short solid bar; it was the badge of Percy, Earl of Northumberland, d.1527 [Walden 258; HB 129], and found in the arms of Fenrother, Sheriff of London, 1513 [DBA2 496].
In Society armory, the shackle is frequently shown with a short length of chain dependent, to promote ready identification. When blazoned “a pair of shackles (or manacles)”, the chain is understood to connect the two cuffs. For related charges, see collar, fetterlock, padlock.
Thomas Shackle bears: Azure, a broken shackle, dependent therefrom a broken chain of four links Or.
Maucolum de Duueglas bears: Sable, three manacles and on a chief argent, a sword sable.
Hans the Gentle bears: Or, a feather, on a chief gules a pair of manacles Or.
Ariana Elia Del Rosario bears: Vert, three shacklebolts argent.