f arms and gallant courtesy, the knights assumed
the privilege that warriors in all ages have used; viz. that of
choosing any device they pleased to ornament the crests of their
helmets in the field of battle, or in the mock combat of the
tournament: the knight was known and named from the device used as
his crest. Thus the heralds, in introducing him to the judges of the
field, or to the lady that bestowed the prizes, called him the Knight
of the Swan, the Knight of the Lion, &c., without mentioning any other
title. And knights whose fame for gallantry and prowess was firmly
established, had their crests painted over their coats of arms. In two
or three generations the bearer of the arms established his right to
a new crest, and the heralds, to preserve the memory of the ancient
honour of the family, introduced the old crest into the coat of arms,
either as a charge upon the principal ordinary, or on an unoccupied
part of the field. This will in some measure account for the variety
of animals and parts of animals found in shields of arms. When the
sovereigns of Europe, to decrease the power of the great barons,
bestowed estates and titles not only for deeds of arms, but wisdom in
council, superior learning, and other qualities which the original
bearers of arms thought beneath their notice, the heralds were obliged
to invent new symbols in emblazoning the arms of the modern nobility;
and when arms were granted to civic and commercial corporations, and
to private individuals who had no claim to military honours, we can
easily conceive that the ingenuity of the armorists was severely
tested, and excuse the apparent confusion that prevailed in granting
arms after the War of the Roses. Sir William Dugdale, in his treatise
entitled "Ancient Usage in bearing Arms", states that, "Many errors
have been and are still committed in granting coats of arms to such
persons as have not advanced themselves by the sword, being such as
rise by their judgment or skill in arts, affairs, and trades"; with
good reason affirming that the latter should however only be allowed
"notes or marks of honour fit for their calling, and to show forth the
manner of their rising, and not be set off with those representations
which in their nature are only proper for martial men."

It would be utterly impossible to give either a graphic or written
description of all the charges in a book of this size or even in one
ten times as large. The sun, moon, star