Aynho bore “Sable a saltire silver having the ends flowered between
four leopards gold.”
“Mayster Elwett of Yorke chyre” in a 15th-century roll bears “Silver a saltire of chains sable with a crescent in the chief.”
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| Nevile. | Upton. | Aynho. | Elwett. |
Restwolde bore “Party saltirewise of gules and ermine.”
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| Fenwick. |
The chief is the upper part of the shield and, marked out by a line of division, it is taken as one of the Ordinaries. Shields with a plain chief and no more are rare in England, but Tichborne of Tichborne has borne since the 13th century “Vair a chief gold.” According to the heraldry books the chief should be marked off as a third part of the shield, but its depth varies, being broader when charged with devices and narrower when, itself uncharged, it surmounts a charged field. Fenwick bore “Silver a chief gules with six martlets countercoloured,” and in this case the chief would be the half of the shield. Clinging to the belief that the chief must not fill more than a third of the shield, the heraldry books abandon the word in such cases, blazoning them as “party per fesse.”
Hastang bore “Azure a chief gules and a lion with a forked tail over all.”
Walter Kingston seals in the 13th century with a shield of “Two rings or annelets in the chief.”
Hilton of Westmoreland bore “Sable three rings gold and two saltires silver in the chief.”
With the chief may be named the Foot, the nether part of the shield marked off as an Ordinary. So rare is this charge that we can cite but one example of it, that of the shield of John of Skipton, who in the 14th century bore “Silver with the foot indented purple and a lion purple.” The foot, however, is a recognized bearing in France, whose heralds gave it the name of champagne.
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| Restwolde. | Hastang. | Hilton. | Provence. |
The Pale is a broad stripe running the length of the shield. Of a single pale and of three pales there are several old examples. Four red pales in a golden shield were borne by Eleanor of Provence, queen of Henry III.; but the number did not commend itself to English armorists. When the field is divided evenly into six pales it is said to be paly; if into four or eight pales, it is blazoned as paly of that number of pieces. But paly of more or less than six pieces is rarely found.
The Yorkshire house of Gascoigne bore “Silver a pale sable with a golden conger’s head thereon, cut off at the shoulder.”
Ferlington bore “Gules three pales vair and a chief gold.”
Strelley bore “Paly silver and azure.”
Rothinge bore “Paly silver and gules of eight pieces.”
When the shield or charge is divided palewise down the middle into two tinctures it is said to be “party.” “Party silver and gules” are the arms of the Waldegraves. Bermingham bore “Party silver and sable indented.” Caldecote bore “Party silver and azure with a chief gules.” Such partings of the field often cut through charges whose colours change about on either side of the parting line. Thus Chaucer the poet bore “Party silver and gules with a bend countercoloured.”
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| Gascoigne. | Ferlington. | Strelley. | Rothinge. |
The Fesse is a band athwart the shield, filling, according to the rules of the heraldic writers, a third part of it. By ancient use, however, as in the case of the chief and pale, its width varies with the taste of the painter, narrowing when set in a field full of charges and broadening when charges are displayed on itself. When two or three fesses are borne they are commonly called Bars. “Ermine four bars gules” is given as the shield of Sir John Sully, a 14th-century Garter knight, on his stall-plate at Windsor: but the plate belongs to a later generation, and should probably have three bars only. Little bars borne in couples are styled Gemels (twins). The field divided into an even number of bars of alternate colours is said to be barry, barry of six pieces being the normal number. If four or eight divisions be found the number of pieces must be named; but with ten or more divisions the number is unreckoned and “burely” is the word.
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| Bermingham. | Caldecote. | Colevile. | Fauconberg. |
Colevile of Bitham bore “Gold a fesse gules.”
West bore “Silver a dance (or fesse dancy) sable.”
Fauconberg bore “Gold a fesse azure with three pales gules in the chief.”
Cayvile bore “Silver a fesse gules, flowered on both sides.”
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| Cayvile. | Devereux. | Chamberlayne. | Harcourt. |
Devereux bore “Gules a fesse silver with three roundels silver in the chief.”
Chamberlayne of Northamptonshire bore “Gules a fesse and three scallops gold.”
Harcourt bore “Gules two bars gold.”
Manners bore “Gold two bars azure and a chief gules.”
Wake bore “Gold two bars gules with three roundels gules in the chief.”
Bussy bore “Silver three bars sable.”
Badlesmere of Kent bore “Silver a fesse between two gemels gules.”
Melsanby bore “Sable two gemels and a chief silver.”
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| Manners. | Wake. | Melsanby. | Grey. |
Grey bore “Barry of silver and azure.”
Fitzalan of Bedale bore “Barry of eight pieces gold and gules.”
Stutevile bore “Burely of silver and gules.”
