Page:A Complete Guide to Heraldry.djvu/216

 Woodward gives the following very curious instances of the lion in heraldry:—

"Only a single example of the use of the lioness as a heraldic charge is known to me. The family of, in Lorraine, bears: d'Azure, à une lionne arrêtée d'or.

"The following fourteenth-century examples of the use of the lion as a heraldic charge are taken from the oft-quoted Wappenrolle von Zurich, and should be of interest to the student of early armory:—

"51: : Azure, a lion rampant-guardant argent, its feet or.

"305. : Per pale argent and sable, in the first a demi-lion statant-guardant issuant from the dividing line.

"408. : Azure, a lion rampant or, queué argent.

"489. : Or, a lion rampant gules, headed azure.

"A curious use of the lion as a charge occurs in several ancient coats of the Low Countries, e.g. in that of, whose arms are: Bandé d'or et d'azur, à l'ombre du lion brochant sur le tout, à la bordure engrêlée d'or. Here the ombre du lion is properly represented by a darker shade of the tincture (either of or or of azure), but often the artist contents himself with simply drawing the outline of the animal in a neutral tint.

"Among other curiosities of the use of the lion are the following foreign coats:—

", in France, bears: De gueules, semé de lions d'argent.

", of Naples: Gules, a lion rampant vair, the head and feet or.

", of Holland: Azure, a decapitated lion rampant argent, three jets of blood spurting from the neck proper.

", of Naples: Sable, a lion rampant or, its tail turned over its head and held by its teeth.

"The Counts, of Franconia: Or, a lion rampant gules, hooded and masked azure (see above)."

To these instances the arms of Westbury may well be added, these being: Quarterly, or and azure, a cross patonce, on a bordure twenty lions rampant all counter-changed. No doubt the origin of such a curious bordure is to be found in the "bordure of England," which, either as a mark of cadency or as an indication of affinity or augmentation, can be found in some number of instances. Probably one will suffice as an example. This is forthcoming in Fig. 61, which shows the arms of John de Bretagne, Earl of Richmond. Of a similar nature is the bordure of Spain (indicative of his maternal descent) borne by Richard of Conisburgh, Earl of Cambridge, who bore: Quarterly France and England, a label of three points argent, each charged with