Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 9.djvu/287

 12 s. ix. SEPT. IT, 1921.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 233 named its bedrooms after the bard's plays, so that instead, say, of the usual soul-less " No. 37 " you sleep in the " As you like it." So far the attributed plays have not been adopted or visitors might hesitate to occupy the " Yorkshire Tragedy " room. W. JAGGARD, Capt. HERALDRY (12 S. ix. 192). The sug- gestion that I am compiling an heraldic work seems to have created much interest. Whether I shall ever live to complete it is a doubtful matter, for a work of the kind means hours and years of labour, far more than I can ever give. I mentioned some of the authorities or textbooks on the subject, but not all, for I feel the first thing to do is carefully to examine and collate from those works, many of which are " standard " but are not easily ac- cessible for reference. As to MR. UDAL'S comments, they are valuable, but I see nothing to prevent any person going into an engraver's shop and consulting Fairbairn's ' Crests,' possessed by most good jewellers, and having arms engraved on plate or rings which in a genera- tion or two pass as heirlooms. With the Heralds' Visitations a close examination reveals the interesting fact that the " disclaimers " were merely those who refused to pay the fees demanded, for there are plenty of instances of two brothers, one armigerous, the other a " disclaimer," according to the Herald. Now this is absurd. Those ignorant of heraldry do not grasp the fact that when a coat of arms is granted, let us say, for example, in 1800, it did not belong before that date. The truth is that when money is made, and the makers thereof want to set up as " gen- try," they find a coat of arms looks well on the spoons and forks ; and there was a fashion for gold signet rings encouraged by the jewellers of the nineteenth century. Ex-libris, too, of the nineteenth century, show some amusing anomalies. I could quote a father and son who used totally different arms merely derived from" an engraver's researches. 13 ut the Heralds in their Visitations re- cord that they registered arms on quite as slight a foundation as this. With heraldry a.s ith genealogy many queer " facts " come into one's notice. These two studies go hand in hand and the one proves the other and that in the only safe way. Thus I cannot see how any book dealing with heraldry can do more than identify arms ; the disclaiming must be left to genealo- gists. I have seen the most slender evidence credited as pedigree. The only real evidence is MSS. and documents, and after 1536 the Parish Registers ; and this is why I have so often written to try and impress the immense value of these parochial MSS., for the Diocesan Registers are in so bad a state that the wise legislation of James I. is of no avail. Nothing has been dono to promote the preservation of Parish Registers by type -written copies. Many Parish Registers are fast perishing from neglect, and often by chemicals having been used to bring up the faded ink, an expedient which in the end fades it beyond recall. But to return to heraldry -it is sur- prising the number of shields sent to me for identification, and which remain unidenti- fied till the present day. This was what first put it into my mind to collect coats of arms. The word " dictionary " implies a vocabulary and a description of heraldic terms. This sort of work has been well done by most of tho old Heralds and scarcely requires dupli- cation. It is impossible to discover that the Heralds worked on any set plan or system in granting arms ; but with Welsh Heralds descent is shown by the arms. I find cer- tain pharges peculiar to Scotland and Ire- land. The rise of heraldry seems to date from the fifteenth century, but the bulk of coats of arms increased after the Dis- solution of the Monasteries, when new men bought old acres. The appointment of the Heralds' College does not seem to imply a special knowledge of the subject, though I imagine a herald is supposed to be able to blazon a shield. It would be interesting if some one would give further details of what the work of the Heralds' College is. As regards the tax on arms, it merely com- plicates the matter by making the " new poor " unable to pay and encouraging the new rich to invest in heraldry. Will those interested in heraldry give their opinions on the subject, for I know that a list of heraldic books would be use- ful to many. The earliest printed book seems Guillim, which ran through various editions, but I cannot find any list of heraldic MSS. E. E. COPE. Finchampstead, Berks.