heraldryofyorkmi01custuoft

THE HERALDRY OF YORK MINSTER.
knoweth what may "come to pass." Or perhaps he may have inherited the
falcon from his father, who adopted the golden falcon (as you may see in
the east window of the Chapter-house), because Louis of Bavaria, Emperor
of Germany, created him Vicar of the empire.
Richard II. adopted a white hart, " lodged," i.e. kneeling, with a crown
about his neck, and a chain of gold, as you may see on the cap of the
pillar at the entrance of the South Choir aisle.
This he is
supposed to have adopted from his mother Joan, " the Fair
" Maid of Kent," daughter of Thomas Wake, created Earl of Kent, " per
" cincturam gladii," by Edward III. The Earl's cognisance was a white
hind; and I shall have much to say about him and his family when in
another chapter we come to speak of the arms of Wake in the Minster. I
must also defer the further consideration of the royal badges until I can
deal at
length with the Royal Heraldry of the Minster.
Badges also sometimes expressed the name, and were called " rebus."
An ash tree growing out of a tun, Ashton ;
an arrow or bird-bolt through a
E
C
H
B
tun or barrel, for Bolton ;
a deer and a ring, for
Bering. On the organ-screen a hind's head may be
noticed immediately under one of the niches. This
is the rebus of Hyndley, master-mason, 1479, the
time of its
erection.
But the shield was the principal exponent of
arms, and was divided into nine points
:
A. Dexter chief
B. Sinister chief
C. Dexter base
D. Sinister base
E. Middle chief
F. Middle base
G. Honour point
H. Tesse point
I. Nombril point
The surface of the shield was called " the field."
covered or adorned the shield
The colours which
are called " tinctures," and are divided into
two metals, five colours, and eight furs, each of them having originally
a moral significance.
The metals are silver and gold, or argent and or, the former representing
innocency and humility, the latter worth and generosity. Of the seven
colours azure (blue), charity ;
gules (red), courage sable ; (black), grief and
prudence vert ; (green), youth ;
and so on. Pur pure, orange or tinne or tawny,
and sanguin or blood colour, completing them.
The introduction of furs into Heraldry probably arose from the ancient
custom of covering shields with the skins of beasts, which formed a valuable
additional protection against arrows and other missiles. But fur seems
also to have been from very early times an emblem of honour or dignity.
There were eight furs, but they are really varieties of two. The one the
ermine, i.e. the skin of the "mustela erminea," a sort of weasel, which,