THE GRAMMAR OF HERALDRY.
By a study of the science of Heraldry is learned the proper method of arranging and explaining all that appertains to the bearing of coats of arms, badges, and other hereditary or conceded marks of honour, for which purpose it is necessary to acquire a knowledge of blazoning and marshaling. By the former is meant the displaying or describing of certain armorial insignia in proper heraldic terms, and by the latter the grouping of two or more coats of arms on one shield or escutcheon.
All the various figures and devices represented on a shield, whether by themselves or with other figures placed on them, are called charges, and the shield on which such figures are represented is said to be charged with them. Thus, in the royal arms of England, the shield is charged with three lions.
As the various heraldic insignia were formerly charged upon the shields of the owners, so they are universally represented at the present day. There is, however, no definite rule to be observed in regulating their form,[1] except in the case of unmarried ladies and widows, who bear their arms on a lozenge (q. v.).
It must be remembered that the shield, when in actual use, was held by the warrior in front of him; the right-hand side, therefore, was towards the left hand of a person before him. Thus, in a representation of a coat of arms, the right side of a shield, as it
- ↑ See ‘Achievements of Arms.’
