Cheshire Heraldry Web Journal

Earlier this month I made reference to the widow Legh of Adlington and her desire to forego the expensive luxury of an armorial funeral and it brought to mind the fact that students of Cheshire heraldry often encounter curiosities which are probably not unique to the county but which nevertheless illustrate that the science of armory was not invented in a complete and finished form  but evolved and continues to evolve to this day. Let us take but one example of the various armorial bearings of a number of Cheshire Leigh/Legh/Lee families; that of Legh of Adlington.

Illustrated below are the arms recorded in the 1580 Visitations and those later recorded in 1663.

Setting aside, for the moment, the fact that the pronominal arms (1st & 4th quarters) are not those of Legh, we must surely notice that the second quarter, which is the coat of Legh, has changed, ever so slightly, over the intervening eight decades.

The armorial bearings of this family are those of Venables (Azure, two bars Argent), differenced by the bend (or bendlet) gobony, to mark the fact that the male line is actually descended from the Venables barons of Kinderton. John de Venables assumed the name of Legh after inheriting the Adlington estates from his mother’s family.

The Visitations of 1580 have a number of entries for the arms of Leigh of Adlington: They are first mentioned in the pedigree of Leigh of High Ligh, of the West Hall, where they are recorded as belonging to Robert Leigh of Adlington - Azure, two bars Argent, over all a bendlet gobony Or and Gules. N.B. here the arms have a bendlet the tinctures of which are Or and Gules. Next mentioned in the same Visitations are the arms of Leigh of Adlington as illustrated above viz:
Arms: Quarterly -
1 & 4 Azure, a plate between three ducal crowns Or, within a bordure Argent [Corona]
2 Azure, two bars Argent, over all a bendlet gobony Or and Gules [Legh of Adlington]
3Argent, a cross flory Sable [Belgrave]

Crest: A unicorn’s head Argent, couped Gules, armed Or

Here again, the arms feature a a bendlet gobony Or and Gules and yet the next entry, one for Robert Leigh of Adlington, records the arms as being Azure, two bars Argent Over all a bend gobone Or and Gules. The bendlet has become a bend but we must bear in mind that without recourse to the originals this, or any of the others, could be  due to a transcription error.

The Visitations of 1613 record the arms of Legh of Adlington as recorded by the same family in 1580 with a bendlet as illustrated on the left above. Move forward another half century and not only has the bendlet put on weight with age but the tinctures are reversed and are now recorded as Gules and Or (as illustrated above on the right).

Does it matter?

In my view, no. These arms tell a story which, to their original owners was a proud indication of their origins. They are essentially the arms of Venables differenced.  I don’t think that for the purposes of differencing the original arms there is sufficient difference between a bend and a bendlet to make any difference whichever is used and if that is the case, it really doesn’t matter what order the tinctures come in either. 

I try to avoid politics in this web log but couldn’t resist posting this cartoon, by Peter Brookes, published in today’s Times Newspaper. My British reader will know that the full controversial expenses of Members of Parliament have now been published on line but much of the personal information has been blacked out.

It seems we now have a new great officer of state!

Does anyone have a photo of the monument (said to be) in St. Luke’s Church Goostrey described in Earwaker’s History of Sandbach as being On a white marble mural tablet in the north aisle. Above is a coat of arms, Kinsey quartering Davenport, Birtles and Eaton: with the Kinsey Crest. Sacred to the memory of Thomas Kinsey Esq. ?

I am interested in the whole but especially the coat of arms which may be incorrectly described by Earwaker. A photo would save me a long trek!

Many thanks,
Martin

 I am quite confident that those of us who share heraldry/armory as a hobby would be quite pleased to have some armorial trappings at our funerals and over the years I have seen one or two tasteful and colourful displays of armory endeavouring to brighten up an otherwise sombre occasion. It probably won’t surprise my reader to learn that, although I myself have not gone so far, I do know more than one heraldry enthusiast who has either commissioned or been given their own hatchment in what hopefully will be a long held off anticipation of the acceptance of their mortality. Mind you, I can’t see my wife sanctioning my commissioning of a hatchment and, possibly because I might question motives,  I’m somewhat relieved that no one has ever felt the need to present me with my own!

Why, you may well be asking yourself, is he talking about heraldic funerals?

Well, I am just about up to begin the re-hashing of the Leigh arms from the earliest of the Visitations and it reminded me that in her will, dated 1700, Joanna, wife of Thomas Legh of Adlington, daughter of Sir John Maynard, Serjeant-at-law, left instruction that “it is my will and mind that noe Heraldry bee provided or used at my ffuneral nor any drinking to bee made or had.” This final request came at a time when heraldic funerals remained practically compulsory but in reality were fading from history. During the time of Queen Elizabeth the College of Arms controlled all of the funerals of the nobility and it placed considerable financial burdens on the family of the deceased but a couple of centuries later the rituals had to all intents and purposes died out.

At its zenith, some funerals, especially those of the higher nobility such as dukes and lesser peers, cost extravagant sums of money and clearly came to be seen as wasteful and unnecessary. No doubt Joanna saved her heirs a bob or two by omitting heraldry and alcohol but it’s a pity the pomp and colour was lost.

 The armorial bearings of the husband of Joanna Leigh of Adlington, who predeceased her by nine years, are recorded in the 1663 Visitations as being:

Quarterly 1 & 4 Azure, a plate between three ducal coronets Or, a bordure Argent [Legh]; 2 Azure, two bars Argent, overall a bend gobony Gules and Or [Legh]; 3 Argent, a cross patonce Sable.

There once was a Herald from Ireland,

Who presented a patent by hand,

To a Worshipful Mayor

Who had no despair

That the colourful tabard was canned!

A rather dowdily clad Fergus Gillespie presenting the arms to His Worship the Mayor of Limerick. Image courtesy of Limerick City Council.

Of late, in circles heraldic, one only has to mention the words Heraldry and Ireland and more often than not it generates a rather unsavoury heated argument as to the validity/legality of the office. I confess to being nought more than a sideline witness to these debates although, of course, I commend those who are working hard to bring about a reasoned and reasonable legal solution to the problem.   

I have no desire to add my own views as to the present Irish crisis, indeed, for what it is worth, I have to date had neither the time nor the inclination to delve too deeply into it and I am, for the most part, content to refrain from commenting on matters Irish and legal … however, I couldn’t help but notice recent publicity photo’s of The Chief Herald of Ireland presenting Letters Patent for a confirmation of the armorial bearings of the City of Limerick which took place at a ceremony on the 28th May.

I note, with some sadness, from the photograph, that the splendidly colourful tabard so recently presented to the Chief Herald, remained safely locked in his office. I thought for a moment that the photo showed his Worship the Mayor presenting the arms to my former Head Master but on closer examination I was mistaken. I suppose that we get used to Heralds being colourful, or at least I do.

A somewhat grainy image of Micheál Ó Comáin wearing a tabard with arms of the Irish State, at 27th International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences, St Andrews, Scotland, 2006 - image courtesy of Sean Murphy whose website details the Irish argument from one perspective.

Below is what the City Council refers to as its Crest … groan. Perhaps the Chief Herald will educate them.

Quote “This is the Limerick City Crest. The text on the crest reads: “Urbs Antiqua Fuit Studiisque Asperrima Belli” - “An ancient city well versed in the arts of war”.” End Quote. Image courtesy of Limerick City Council.

Well versed in the arts of war they may be but a tad lacking in the art of armory.

Oh well, at least the ancient City of Limerick (unlike certain newly created Cheshire Councils) has gone to the trouble of having an official confirmation of its arms; even if there remains some controversy over the validity of the confirming body!

 PS apologies for the appalling limerick at the head of this note.

It pays to keep an eye on the “official” heraldry websites. It was noticed this morning that the Lyon Court web site made an official announcement that “The Lord Lyon King of Arms has offered Mr. Mark Dennis the office of Ormond Pursuivant of Arms with effect from 1st June 2009 and he has been pleased to accept”. One of three pursuivant appointments to the Lyon Court, Mr. Dennis will be joining colleagues Elizabeth Ann Roads MVO (Carrick) and the recently appointed The Hon. Adam Bruce (Unicorn). The vacancy occurred when the present Lord Lyon took office and by doing so demitted the office of Bute pursuivant. The number of pursuivants to the Lyon Court was reduced from six to three in the late 19th century and when Mr. Dennis takes office in June, the titles of Bute, Dingwall and Kintyre will once more remain dormant until one or the other is resurrected next time there is a vacancy.

Mark Dennis, Esq, Ormond Pursuivant of Arms, photographed immediately behind H.R.H. Princess Anne at the St. Andrew’s Congress in 2007. Photo framed with some of Mr. Dennis’ ad-hoc sketches.

Warm congratulations are offered to Mark Dennis on this splendid appointment which is well deserved.

Slowly but surely the updates to the first Visitations continue and I am now up to Holme of Coddington.

Although the web site itself is benefiting from the updated images, that is not actually why I’m doing all these alterations. I’m working frantically (when time allows) towards the completion of the first draft for an illustrated companion to the Visitations of Cheshire to be published as a book. I don’t think I would dare to publish the original illustrations!

When viewing the web site, please bear in mind that, so far, everything up to Holme of Coddington will be the new images and everything after will be the old and therefore due to be replaced.  

 I recently made some acerbic comments about the logos adopted by the two new Cheshire councils and I was particularly harsh over the one created for Cheshire West and Chester Council because it was, in my view, pseudo heraldry on the cheap. I am not a fan of pseudo heraldry, especially when there is an obvious route to obtaining the real thing, but I can see that when budgets are tight it might be seen, by some at least, as a popular way to save pennies. Not so for some Quangos who appear to have more money than sense and actually would have saved money by obtaining the real thing. Bring in Historic Scotland:

On the 1st of April Historic Scotland announced on its website that Stirling Castle now has a “striking new brand” by headlining under “Stirling Castle Launches a Brand New Image” that a “new unicorn logo symbolises historic home of Scottish royalty” .

Following a request to Historic Scotland under the Freedom of Information Act it was revealed to a member of the Heraldry Society of Scotland that the bright idea for a new logo cost them £42′384.00!

What an idiotic waste of public funds.

Quote:

” Stirling Castle Launches a Brand New Image
1 April 2009
New unicorn logo symbolises historical home of Scottish royalty.

Stirling Castle now has a striking new brand identity to raise its profile as one of Scotland’s premier visitor attractions and further develop its tourism business.

The creation of the Stirling Castle brand is part of the £12 million Stirling Castle Palace Project which will see the royal lodgings at Stirling Castle returned to the Renaissance magnificence of the mid 16th century.

The stunning stronghold’s unique identity conveys both its character and significance in Scottish history. 

The exclusive, striking logo contains references to Scotland’s coat of arms, the unicorn tapestries and the sculptures on Stirling Castle’s Great Hall roof.  The unicorn, the enigmatic mythological beast, features throughout Stirling Castle.  The new mark also takes its shape from the famous circular wood-carved Stirling heads.  Its references and complex detail are emblematic of pageantry and royal status, and features Stirling Castle sitting high up in its green and leafy setting.

Historic Scotland Marketing and Media Manager Rebecca Hamilton said: “This new logo we have created conveys a sense of depth, experience, royal authority, richness and intimacy.  Marrying the highly decorative with an intimate experience is very apt for Stirling Castle. 

“Our aim was to create a distinctive, memorable and stronger visual identity which embodies the special importance and character of Stirling Castle.  It is a truly outstanding attraction with a range of visitor experiences.  And the completion of the Stirling Castle Palace Project in 2011 will see the visitor experience enhanced further.”

The logo will be phased in at the attraction for a wide variety of uses including signage, vehicle livery, staff uniforms, publications for visitors, and interpretation of the castle’s history, as well as in Historic Scotland’s website details on the site. End Quote

And here I was - thinking we were in a credit crunch!

For the first time in ages I have had some time to “play” and today, being Easter Bank Holiday Monday, having caught up on those outstanding gardening jobs, I hid myself away for the afternoon and completed a project I have had on my desk for some time; the arms of The 15th Baron Dudley (Jim Anthony Hill Wallace) [The Rt Hon The Lord Dudley].

I was asked to provide a new image of the arms for the online Burke’s Peerage & Baronetage because the one at present used is that of the late Baroness, mother of the present holder of the title. Lord Dudley has his father’s arms and has brought in those of his mother’s family in the scheme of quarterings which has been approved by Garter. The image for Burke’s will be in grayscale but for the purposes of my weblog I have illustrated the arms in glorious colour.

Arms: Quarterly of six:
1st, Gules, semy of fleurs-de-lys Or a lion rampant Argent within a bordure company Azure and Argent (for WALLACE);
2nd, Azure, two bars nebuly Argent each charged with as many crescents Sable, a chief Or issuant therefrom a demi-lion of the third  (for DUDLEY);
3rd, Azure, two bars wavy Ermine a chief Or issuant therefrom a demi-lion Sable (for SMITH);
4th, Argent, on a pale between two leopards’ faces Sable three crescents Or (for LEA);
5th, Chequy Or and Azure a bend Ermine (for WARD);
6th, Or a lion rampant Vert double queued (for SUTTON).

Crest: On a wreath Argent and Gules issuing from her nest a pelican in her piety wings inverted proper all within a laurel wreath Vert.

Supporters: Two lions rampant double-queued Vert, armed and langued Gules, ducally gorged and lined Or. Motto: Dieu Donne (’The Lord giveth’). Creation: B. (E) 15 Feb 1439/40.

It has come to my ears, through a very reliable source, that Alastair Bruce of Crionaich, Fitzalan Extraordinary, etc, is contesting the Garter appointment. It had been thought that Norroy and Ulster would have a clear run but this does not appear to be so.

Photo courtesy of Parker Entertainments.