Page:The Grammar of Heraldry, Cussans, 1866.djvu/40

26 are frequently blazoned as being of any of these varied tinctures.

A field or charge may be diapered, according to the taste of the herald. Diapering does not enter into the blazoning or description of a shield, as it is simply a fanciful embellishment. It consists of a small pattern or device, covering the entire field or charge, and is commonly represented by a slightly darker tint of the same tincture as that on which it is laid.

When a charge is repeated on a field an indefinite number of times, such a field is said, to be semée of the charge. A shield semée of Crosses-crosslet, is styled Crusillée; if of Billets, Billettée; of Bezants, Bezantée; of Hurts, Hurtée, &c.

Powdered has a signification similar to Semée, except that the charges axe smaller, and more thickly scattered.

COMMON CHARGES.

We now come to the third class of heraldic devices, denominated Common Charges. These are far more numerous than the ordinaries, for there is not an object of any kind soever, either real or imaginary, but may be blazoned as a charge. Of animated beings, the Lion is that which is most commonly to be met with in heraldry. This animal is represented of every tincture, and in a variety of positions, the principal of which are the following:—

Statant—Standing in profile, and looking before him. Fig. 104. Charges are always represented as moving towards the dexter side of the shield, unless otherwise specified in the blazon.