A System of Heraldry - Clan Strachan Society

OF THE FURRS IN HERALDRY, &c. 17
CHAP. V.
OF THE FURRS IN HERALDRY, ERMINE AND VAJR.
FURRS used in arms are two, ermine and vnir, which are composed of two or
more of the foresaid tinctures : Heralds generally bring their hrst use in
armories, from the robes and mantles of princes and chief commanders, which
were lined or doubled with such furrs.
Feme, in his Lacie's Nobility, p. 72. says, That Priamus, King of Troy, in it
mantle doubled with ermine, fought against the Grecians ; and that the old Dukcof
Brittany in France, as deriving their descent from him, carried ermine ; which
that dukedom continues to carry till this day. Columbier, Sir George Mackenzie,
and others, tell us, That le Seignior de Caucis, fighting in Hungary, and percei-
\ ing his army to fly, did pull out the lining or doubling of his cloak, which was of
the furr vair, and displayed it as an ensign to. rally his men ; which, for its good
effect, became the fixed armorial bearing of that seigniory.
That furrs were anciently in use in arms, we have an ancient instance of Pope
Innocent III. who, in giving absolution to Henry of Falkenburg, as being acces-
sory to the slaughter of Conrad, the first Bishop of Wurtzburg, enjoined him, for
penance, to fight against the Saracens, but never to appear in ermine and vair, or
any
other armorial colours made use of in tournaments.
Sir George Mackenzie gives another rise to furrs in his Science of Heraldry,
where he says, " As shields were anciently painted, or covered with skins, as the
" targets or shields of our Highlanders yet are, the painting gave occasion to the
" colours formerly treated of, and the covering to the furrs or skins now used,
" which I take," says he, " to be a better rise for their being in arms than to say
" that they were used in mantles or garments." But, with all due deference to
that great man, I think that Sylvester Petra Sancta, and others, with a great deal
of reason and probability, bring both the tinctures and furrs in armories, from the
of which
habits and garments of military men and civil magistrates, to the shield ;
more particularly in the Chapter of Partitions.
of furrs in armories.
But to proceed to the description
There are then two principal furrs, ermine and vair ; with their different kinds.
Ermine is the skin of a little beast, about the bigness of a squirrel, whose furr is altogether
white except the tip of his tail, which is black, with which the white
furr is besprinkled for beauty's sake ; and for its rarity and beauty is looked upon
as a royal and noble furr. The Kings of Scotland and England have their royal
robes doubled with this furr : And a distinguishing sign of the degrees of nobility
in Britain, is, the number of rows or bars of ermine allowed to them by sovereigns,
to wear on their robes, as signs of their degrees of nobility. A duke, in his mantle
of state, has four bars of ermine allowed him ; a marquis, three and a half; the
earls, three ; the viscounts and lords, say our present writers, have only their man-
tles find robes faced up with a white furr, taken for a Litivite's skin. This furr is so
much esteemed by our European Kings, that, as Menestrier tells us, at the coronation
of Henry II. of France, for want of true ermines to line his robes, they were
forced to make use of cloth of silver, spotted with pieces of black velvet, to repre-
sent ermine.
Several heralds have been at pains to trace the etymology of ermine. Some,
probably enough, derive it from Armenia, where this little creature is to be found.
For the furr ermine the Latins say, muris Armenia veil'us ; and sometimes exuvia;
Pontici muris, from the country of Pont us, where it is also to be found. And it iobserved
by some, that those got there are not so white, neither the tip of their
tail so black, as those in Armenia, from which country it has more co;nmonly itname.
Others, as Edward Bolton in his Elements of Armories, Chap. XXX. di-,-
approvcs the derivation, of ermine from Armenia ; because these creatures are called
there gtinutales ; and he brings the name from bermes or herme, which were
long square stones, formed like a statue, set up anciently by the Romans in their
public ways, and dedicated to Mercury ; and these bermes or berme were used al-
E