heraldryofyorkmi01custuoft

INTRODUCTION.
link of the chain-armour), shewing
that he was to take his share in
protecting the family.
For the sixth son the fleur-de-lis (probably the spearhead), indicating
that he must defend his family also perhaps by offensive, as his brother
by defensive, means.
For the seventh son
the wayside rose, the humblest blossom amongst
natural plants, but yet one of the chiefest ornaments of the forest glade
so the youngest and lowliest of the family may hope to adorn his race.
For the eighth son the fer de moline, or the mill-rind (i.e.
the iron
cruciform plate in the mill-stone through which the spindle passes, and by
means of which the heavy stone is whirled round and the grain crushed
into flour),
a rough, lowly, unobserved place, yet not to be despised, for the
nourishment of man depends upon it, so the welfare of every household
depends on even its meanest members, though the position assigned by
Providence seem a hard cross to bear.
When an heiress
married, her arms were borne by her husband on a
smaller shield (not a lozenge) placed upon his, and called an inescutcheon
or shield of pretence, thereby acknowledging that he had a pretence to
hereditaments. Usually their children quartered
(i.e. incorporated)
father's, but there are many
their mother's arms with their
instances in which
the arms so acquired remained in the same position
on the family shield. The custom of quartering
was only introduced in the reign of Edward I.,
and not generally adopted until the end of the
fourteenth century. The earliest known example of
a quartered shield occurs in the arms of Eleanor,
daughter of Ferdinand III., King of Castile, and
Leon, the son of Alphonso, King of Leon, by
Berengaria, daughter of Alphonso, King of Castile.
He probably carried his arms thus Leon, on an
escutcheon of pretence, Castile. His daughter
quartered the arms of Castile with Leon, giving
the preference (i.e.
the first quarter) to Castile, as
the greater dignity. We have an instance of this
in the first west window, North aisle, called the
Dene window, which was probably erected in this
reign.
The inescutcheon, however, is what is termed
in Heraldry an "augmentation," which is thus
defined by Mr. Boutell : "An honourable addition
" to an heraldic composition." Probably for that reason the lady's arms
her