Page:The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of the British Empire Part 1.djvu/22

x (1388), in which Geoffry Chaucer, and many peers, gave evidence; and, earlier still, that between Sir Richard le Scrope and Carminow of Cornwall, held under the walls of Paris. The crest originated in the necessity for distinction in the battlefield, and was at first carried only by sovereigns and commanders in the wars, but after the institution of the Garter it came to be generally adopted, and in many cases was a repetition of a charge in the shield. Supporters, as an integral part of armorial bearings, were introduced during the reign of Edward III., and are said to have originated in the fact that the shields of the combatants at tournaments were borne by pages and esquires fantastically attired in the skins of animals, &c. Complaints of their too spirited representation in these pages can only proceed from those who approve of the heraldic representations—utterly unworthy of the name—which have during the present century been found in every work of this class. The reigns of Edward III. and Richard II. were the "palmy days" of heraldry, but the "noble science," once the study and delight of every gentleman, has, since the days of the Stuarts, gradually fallen into disrepute; and heraldic art has during the same period sadly degenerated. Perhaps the grants of Sir Isaac Heard, Garter, and some of his predecessors, contributed not a little to this result. Heroes, naval and military, received what were styled "Honourable Augmentations," which contained actual representations of things which would formerly have been only indicated by conventional symbols. A dismantled fortress or a disabled ship placed on a chief marred the effect of a simple hereditary coat of arms, and modern shields were surcharged with naturalistic representations of landscapes, sea-views, and other objects until then without precedent in heraldry. What a contrast are these elaborate and over-charged designs to the ancient custom of granting a fluer-de-lis to one who had served in the French wars, or adding crescents or crosslets to a soldier's achievement when he went to the Holy Land!

Although I have largely profited by the accumulated heraldic and genealogical collections of the College of Arms, yet I wish it to be clearly understood that this work neither has, nor professes to have, any official connection with that corporation. It is based, as before stated, on the well-known Peerages of Collins, Douglas, and Lodge, and on the Baronetages of Wotton and Betham, whose MS. collection relating to Irish families has also supplied some original information. Nevertheless common honesty as well as courtesy compels me to state that I have from the individual members of the ancient court of chivalry received a very large amount of invaluable assistance, which it is my pleasing duty gratefully to acknowledge. It will also be self-evident to many of my readers that I have availed myself to a very great extent of that genealogical marvel of our time, which is now public property, the "Registers of Westminster Abbey," edited with such consummate ability and patient skill by Col. Joseph Lemuel Chester, D.C.L., LL.D., and presented by him to the Harleian Society.

First, I am under great obligations to Sir Albert William Woods, Garter King-of-Arms, for the valuable advice and assistance he has so unreservedly and cordially afforded me during the compilation of the work, as well as to Mr. Edward Bellasis, Bluemantle Pursuivant-of-Arms, who has generously devoted several