w^r^i 
 
 iifii!»a(!;ifi{*!mm»ii3Pie^w 
 
 > J^ 
 
 ?mm 
 
 ^.4. 
 
 >'^ 
 
l^> 
 
 ^C' 
 
 ^ 
 
THE CONNOISSEUR'S LIBRARY 
 
 GENERAL EDITOR : CYRIL DAVENPORT 
 
 SEALS 
 
. ^y/r . ^/c'A/ey/' ' A'^// ^^ .JrL^^^z^ eyZe-^tA^. JT' , Vl<^/ty-/ l^-Z^ 
 
SEALS 
 
 BY 
 
 WALTER DE GRAY BIRCH 
 
 LL.D., F.S.A. 
 
 NEW YORK : G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
 LONDON: METHUEN AND CO. 
 
 1907 
 
First Published in igoy 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 SEALS, and impressions of seals whether con- 
 temporary or recently made, have always formed 
 an interesting subject for the collector whose 
 natural desire to know all that can be said of these 
 ancient objects and their designs stimulates the fancy and 
 elevates the human character from mere curiosity up to 
 intelligent research and study, which are the only media 
 for advance along the lines of progress and science. A 
 general knowledge of seals is indispensable, not only to 
 the antiquary, but to the connoisseur and art student. 
 The ingenuity which many of these objects display in 
 putting so much that is eloquent upon the restricted 
 space of the seal, arrests our attention ; the historical 
 and legendary episodes which they immortalise excite 
 our admiration ; the beauty of their conception and the 
 charming effect which they display, claim our approba- 
 tion ; and the testimony which they afford to the truth 
 of many facts which might be questioned without the 
 irrefragable evidence yielded by seals, demands our ac- 
 ceptance. Hence seals deserve a foremost place among 
 the pieces jtistificatives of the civilised world. It is to 
 enable the reader to gain a general, rather than a specific, 
 acquaintance with seals that this work has been under- 
 taken. To do full justice to so attractive a subject, ten 
 such volumes as this present one might well be written. 
 
 My thanks are due to the Director of the British 
 Museum for permission to reproduce many plates froni 
 the Catalogue of Seals preserved in the Department of 
 Manuscripts ; to Messrs. Mansell and Co. for permission 
 
SEALS 
 
 to copy a considerable number of seals from their ex- 
 tensive collection of British Museum photographs ; and 
 to Mr. A. P. Ready, who kindly lent some casts for use 
 among the illustrations. 
 
 W. DE Gray Birch 
 
 i8M September 1907 
 
 VI 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction, v 
 
 List of Illustrations, ix 
 
 Chapter I. The Earliest Seals, .... i 
 
 Chapter II. Development of the Art of Seals — 
 
 Study of the Seals of England, ... 20 
 
 Chapter III. Seals of Royal Offices and Officers, 60 
 
 Chapter IV. Ecclesiastical and Capitular Seals 
 
 of England and Wales, 72 
 
 Chapter V. Seals of English Monasteries, 
 
 Abbeys, Priories and Monastic Orders, . . 95 
 
 Chapter VI. Local Seals of Cities, Towns, 
 Corporations, Boroughs, Honours, Hundreds, 
 Liberties, Universities, Schools, etc., . . 136 
 
 Chapter VII. Some Official Seals relating to 
 
 Wales 168 
 
 Chapter VIII. Some Equestrian Seals and 
 
 Seals of Noble Ladies of England and Wales, 173 
 
 Chapter IX. English Heraldic Seals, . . 182 
 
 Chapter X. Colonial and Company Seals, . 186 
 
 Chapter XI. Miscellaneous Designs and De- 
 vices of English Seals, 189 
 
 vii 
 
PAGE 
 
 SEALS 
 
 Chapter XII. Royal Seals of Scotland, . . 194 
 
 Chapter XIII. Episcopal Seals of Scotland, . 209 
 
 Chapter XIV. Scottish Monasteries, Colleges, 
 
 and Ecclesiastical Foundations, . . . 226 
 
 Chapter XV. Local Seals of Scotland, . . 241 
 
 Chapter XVI. Scottish Heraldry and Devices, 251 
 
 Chapter XVII. Some Seals relating to Ireland, 272 
 
 Chapter XVIII. Bullae of the Byzantine Empire, 277 
 
 Chapter XIX. Seals of Italy — Bullae of Popes 
 
 and Doges of Venice, etc., . . . .281 
 
 Chapter XX. Seals of France, .... 287 
 
 Chapter XXI. Miscellaneous European and 
 other Seals — Denmark, Germany, The 
 Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, 
 Sweden, the East, America, etc., . . . 293 
 
 Glossary of Heraldic and Conventional 
 
 Terms, 313 
 
 Index, 323 
 
 vni 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 The Golden Seal of Kings Henry iv., v., 
 
 AND VI., Frontispiece 
 
 PLATE I 
 Ancient Gems, To face p. lo 
 
 I. Babylonian gem. 2. William, Earl of Ros. Oriental 
 gem. 3. Ancient Greek gem. 4. Ancient Greek 
 gem. Fortune holding a Victory. 5. Greek gem. 
 A bull. 6. Greek gem. Sphinx with human bones 
 around. ' li cocatrix.' Ancient gem set in a silver 
 ring found at Evesham. 7. Erotes wrestling. 
 Doubtful if antique. 8. Early Christian engraved 
 stone. Victory of the monogram of Christ over 
 Satan. 9. Archaic Greek gem. A Deity. 10. Oriental 
 engraved stone. Cock, eagle, crescent moon, and 
 sun-star. 11. Pehlvi engraved stone. A bull. 
 12. Early Christian gem. A galley; birds in fore- 
 ground. Monogram of Christ. Palm-branch. 
 
 PLATE II 
 
 Ancient Gems in Medieval Settings, To face p. 12 
 
 I. Robert de Berkeley. About 1250. 2. Thomas de 
 Coleville, Scotius. About 1220. 3. William, Prior 
 of Hereford. Thirteenth century. 4. Thomas de 
 Berkeley. A ram. 5. Counterseal of Walter, Arch- 
 bishop of York. 1265. Medallion portraits of two 
 Roman Patricians. 6. Sir John Lindsay of Wauchop- 
 dale. 1292. 7. Eustace de Vesci. A Persian gem? 
 A bull or antelope. Counterseal of No. 10. Four 
 vetch-pods round the gem. 8. John Boseuil. A 
 horse and warrior, 'sit nomen domini benedictum.' 
 9. Roger de Blakestone. 1353- 10. Eustace de 
 Vesci. A galley and dolphin. Vetches and wyverns. 
 
 ix 
 
SEALS 
 
 11. Philip de Anesty of Edmonton. A bacchante. 
 
 12. Reginald Folet. Thirteenth century. 13. Roger 
 de Cressy. Thirteenth century, 14. Margery de 
 Drayton. 1286. 15. John, Prior of Southwick. 
 16. Richard de Erman. 1360. Perhaps a mediaeval 
 gem. 17. Counterseal of Durham Cathedral. Head 
 of Serapis, transferred to stand for the * Caput Sancti 
 Oswaldi Regis.' 
 
 PLATE III 
 
 Ancient Gems in Medieval Settings, To face p. 14 
 
 I. Henry de Hereford. Two gems : \. A lion \ 2. A bust. 
 2, Mabilla de Boneville. Arabic gem, perhaps 
 captured by a crusader. 3. William de Boneville. 
 The Agnus Dei. 4. Stephen Fitz-Hamo. Three 
 gems: i. Mitkraic sacrifice of a bull; 2, 3. Divinities. 
 
 5. Robert de Ferrers. A dust (perhaps mediaeval). 
 
 6. Waltham Abbey, Three gems. 7. Robert de 
 Nottingham. A bust, 8. Counterseal of St. John's 
 Abbey, Colchester. A gryllus. Thirteenth century. 
 9. Ernald de Bosco. Warrior protecting a wounded 
 comrade. 10. Counterseal of Walter Giffard, Arch- 
 bishop of York. Forttme holding a Victory. 1265. 
 
 'AVE MARIA GRATIA PLENA.' II. Robcrt Ic Fcrun. A 
 
 bust. 12. William de Derneford. A wyvem. 1391. 
 
 13. The Abbot of Walden. A winged Victory. 
 
 14. Gilbert de Selford. A monogram? 15. Boni- 
 face, Archbishop of Canterbury. Four gems. 1244- 
 1270. 16. John de Normanville. A Victory. 1208. 
 
 PLATE IV 
 
 Great Seals of English Sovereigns, To face p. 31 
 
 I. King William II. William Ruf us. 1087-1100. 2. Do. 
 Reverse. 
 
 PLATE V 
 
 Great Seals of English Sovereigns 
 
 (conld.), To face p. 38 
 
 I. King Henry iii. First Seal. Obverse. 1243. 2. Do. 
 
 I 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Reverse. 3. King Edward i. Obverse. 1276. 
 4. Do. Reverse. 5. King Edward in. Sixth Seal. 
 Obverse. 1340- 137 2. 6. Do. Reverse. 
 
 PLATE VI 
 
 Great Seals of English Sovereigns 
 
 {fontd), To face p. 42 
 
 I. Kings Henry iv., v., and vi. Golden or second Great 
 Seal. Reverse. 
 
 PLATE VII 
 
 Great Seals of English Sovereigns 
 
 {contd), To face p. 44 
 
 I. Great Seal of King Henry vi. 2. Do. Reverse. 
 
 PLATES VIII AND IX 
 
 Great Seals of English Sovereigns 
 
 {contd.), To face pp. 52-53 
 
 I. King Edward vii. 2. Do. Reverse. 
 
 PLATE X 
 
 Royal and Heraldic Seals, . . To face p. 68 
 
 I. Edward 11., for Recognisances at Canterbury. 2. Sub- 
 sidy on cloths in Wiltshire. 3. Edward in., King of 
 England and Duke of Aquitaine. Customs (?) at St. 
 Malo. 4. Subsidy on cloths in the county of Kent. 
 Fourteenth century. 5. Cokete seal of the Duchy of 
 Cornwall. Fifteenth century. 6. Seal of the King's 
 New Customs at Shrewsbury. Fourteenth century. 
 7. Robert le Archer. Fourteenth century. 8. Sir 
 Edmund Mulso, Knt., Governor of Calais. 9. Jehan 
 de S. Quentin. Fifteenth century. 
 
 xi 
 
SEALS 
 
 PLATE XI 
 Miscellaneous Seals, . . . To face p. 74 
 
 I. William le Vineter. Thirteenth century. 2. E'Silvvald, 
 Bishop of Dunwich, 845-870. 3. London, Official of 
 the Diocese, 1331. 4. Thomas Brentingham, Bishop 
 of Exeter, ad causas, 1370. 5. ' sepe thome meritis 
 CAUSAS SYMONis REGE MiTis.' Seal of Simon Islip, 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, 1349- 1366. 6. Friars 
 Preachers of Gloucester, 1239. 7. Counterseal of 
 Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1 193-1205. 
 
 ' MARTIR QUOD STILLAT PRIMATIS AB ORE SIGILLAT.' 
 8. ' SIMONIS HIC PRONI PRECES AUDITE PATRONI.' 
 
 Counterseal of Simon de Montacute, Bishop of Ely, 
 1337-1345. 9. Spiritualities of the Dean and Chapter 
 of Lichfield. After 1649. 'justitia reipublic^ 
 
 BASIS.' 
 
 PLATE XII 
 
 Seals of English Bishops, . . To face p. 82 
 
 I. Richard FitzNeale, Bishop of London, 1 189- 1 198. 
 2. Do. Reverse or Counterseal. 3. Laurence de St. 
 Martin, Bishop of Rochester, 1 251-1274. 4. Walter 
 de Suthfield, or Calthorp, Bishop of Norwich, 1 245- 
 1257. 5. Do. Reverse or counterseal. 6. Hugh 
 Balsham, Bishop of Ely, 1257. 7. Richard de la 
 Wich, Bishop of Chichester, 1 245-1 253. 8. Do. 
 Reverse or counterseal. 9. Anthony Bek, Bishop 
 of Durham. About 1292. 10. Do. Reverse or 
 counterseal. 
 
 ^ PLATE XIII 
 
 Miscellaneous Seals, . . . To face p. 130 
 
 I. William Bercarius. Thirteenth century. 2. St. 
 
 Nicholas restoring three children to life. Fourteenth 
 
 century. 3. Matildis de Scaleres. Thirteenth century. 
 
 4. ' HOC athelstanus ago quod presens signat 
 
 xii 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 IMAGO.' Fourteenth century. Reverse of the seal of 
 Benedictine Abbey of St. Mary, Pilton, co. Devon. 
 Fifteenth century. 5. Church of St. Thomas, Bristol, 
 1566. 6. Guardians of the Poor of Lynn Regis, co. 
 Norfolk. Sixteenth century. 7. The Abbot of Roche, 
 CO. York. Thirteenth century. 
 
 PLATE XIV 
 
 Local Seals, To face p. 138 
 
 I. City of York, 1100-1108. 2. Do. Reverse. 3. Beverley 
 Corporation, co. York. Thirteenth century. 4. 
 Conway Provostship, co. Carnarvon. Fourteenth 
 century. 5. Bristol Mayoralty. Fourteenth century. 
 6. Chester Exchequer of Richard, Prince of Wales, 
 1377. 7. Berwick-upon-Tweed Mayoralty. Four- 
 teenth century. 8. Canterbury Corporation. First 
 seal. 13 1 8. 9. Do. Reverse. 10. Norwich Bailiffs. 
 1226. II. Preston Burgesses. Common seal. 1376. 
 12. Caerleon or Holt, co. Denbigh, Exchequer of the 
 Duke of Norfolk and others. 1450. 13. Exchequer 
 of Henry viii. 1520. 
 
 PLATE XV 
 
 Town of Colchester, .... To face p. 145 
 I. Town of Colchester. Fourteenth century. *col- 
 
 CESTRENSIS • SUM • BURGI • COMMUNE • SIGILLUM,' 2. Do. 
 
 Reverse. St. Helena with the 'True Cross.' 'quam 
 
 • crux • INSIGNIT • HELENAM • COLCESTRIA • GIGNIT.' 
 
 PLATE XVI 
 
 Miscellaneous Seals, . . . To face p. 147 
 
 I. John Alisaund or Alexander. Crescent and star. 
 Thirteenth century. 2. The Hundred of West 
 Flegg, Norfolk. Fifteenth century. 3. The Pre- 
 bendary of Biggleswade. A pelican in her piety. 
 Sixteenth century. 4. Johanna, daughter of John of 
 
 xiii 
 
SEALS 
 
 Stone. Thirteenth century. 5. City of Exeter. 
 Thirteenth century. 6. John Jauziundi, clerk. Thir- 
 teenth century. 7. The Annunciation of the Virgin. 
 
 •AVE MARIA GRACIA PLENA DOMINUS TECUM.' 
 
 Thirteenth century. 8. Mayor and Corporation 
 of Dorchester, co. Dorset. Seventeenth century. 
 9. Preceptory of St. Anthony near Leith. Seven- 
 teenth century. 
 
 PLATE XVII 
 
 Miscellaneous Seals of England, . Tofacep. 151 
 
 I. Godgytha, a Nun. From the Anglo-Saxon matrix 
 in the British Museum. 2. Godwine, a Thane. 
 From the Anglo-Saxon matrix in the British Museum. 
 Reverse of No. i. 3. The Barons of the City of 
 London. Thirteenth century. 4. Do. Reverse. 
 
 PLATE XVIII 
 
 Seals of South Wales, . , . To face p. 174 
 
 I. Morgan ap Caradoc. Twelfth century. 2. Do. 
 Another type. Twelfth century. 3. Gillebert Burdin. 
 Twelfth century. Welsh costume. 4. Isabella, 
 Countess of Gloucester, daughter of William, Earl of 
 Gloucester. Late twelfth century. Curious costume 
 with maunches. 5. Milisant, daughter of William 
 Mitdehorguill. Twelfth century. 6. Leisan, son of 
 the above Morgan ap Caradoc. Early thirteenth 
 century. 7. Geoffrey de Mandeville, second husband 
 of the above Countess Isabella, after her divorce 
 from John (afterwards King of England), after 12 15. 
 8. Common seal of the town of Kenfig, now buried 
 under the sands. Thirteenth century. 
 
 PLATE XIX 
 Seals of Wales, .... To face p. 175 
 
 I. William la Zouche, Lord of Glamorgan and Morgan, 
 xiv 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 1329. Equestrian, 2. Alianora la Despenser, 
 daughter of Earl Gilbert de Clare, and wife of the 
 above William la Zouche. This forms the counter- 
 seal of No. I. Personal and armorial. 
 
 PLATE XX 
 
 Seals of Wales, To face p. 176 
 
 I. Hugh le Despenser, Lord of Glamorgan and Morgan, 
 son of Hugh le Despenser and Alianora. 1338. 
 Equestrian. 2. Do. Reverse. Armorial. 
 
 PLATE XXI 
 
 Early English and Scottish Eques- 
 trian AND Heraldic Seals, . To face p. 176 
 
 I. Robert Fitz- Walter. From the thirteenth-century 
 matrix. 2, Simon de Montfort, first Earl of Leicester. 
 1206. 3. Henry de Bellomont, Earl of Buchan. 
 1336. 4. Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford. 
 1259. 5. Do. Reverse. 6. Hugh de Audley, Earl 
 of Gloucester. 1344. 7. King Edward i., as Prince 
 and Royal Heir-apparent. 1272. 8. Do. Reverse, 
 
 PLATE XXII 
 
 Early English, Scottish, and French 
 
 Personages, To face p. 178 
 
 I. Ralph Fitz- William of Dyneshall. Twelfth century. 
 2. Elias de Pidele. Twelfth century. 3, Ranulf, 
 Earl of Chester. 4. Lieca, daughter of Ralph of 
 Rouen, Twelfth century. 5. Sibilla de Plugenet, or 
 de Dinant. Twelfth century. 6, Avicia Fitzherbert. 
 7. Matildis de Sancto Segio. 8. Duncan, son of 
 Gilbert, Earl of Carrick, in Ayrshire. 11 80, 9. Milo 
 de Gloecestria. 1141. 10. Geoffrey de Derleia. 
 Twelfth century. 
 
 XV 
 
SEALS 
 
 PLATE XXIII 
 
 English Equestrian Seals and Seals 
 
 OF Noble Ladies, .... To face p. i8o 
 
 I. Simon de Montfort, second Earl of Leicester. Early 
 thirteenth century. 2, Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lin- 
 coln, Constable of Chester. About 1 300. 3. Counter- 
 seal of No. I. 4. Idonia de Herst, Lady of Promhill, 
 CO. Kent. Late twelfth century. 5. Counterseal, or 
 secretum, of No. 3. 6. Robert de Ferrers, Earl of 
 Derby, son of Lord William de Ferrers. About 1265. 
 7, Lucia de Chokefeld of Charwelton, co. Northamp- 
 ton. About 1 200- 1 208. 8. Reverse of No. 6. 
 9. Elizabeth, wife of Sir Hugh de Coleworth, of co. 
 Essex. Thirteenth century. 10. Alesya de Lascy, 
 Countess of Lincoln, daughter of the Marquis de 
 Saluces. 1310. 11. Isabella, widow of James de 
 Appelbi, Knt, wife of William le Bret of Appelby, 
 CO. Leicester. 1290. 12. Margaret, Countess of 
 Winchester, widow of Saer de Quincy, first Earl, 
 daughter of Robert, Earl of Leicester. About 1220. 
 13. Ela de Audelega or Aldithelega, daughter of 
 William de Longespee, widow of James de Aldithelega 
 of CO. Oxon. 1274. 
 
 PLATE XXIV 
 
 Early English Heraldry, . . To face p. 182 
 
 I. William de Filgeriis. 1200. (The plant is the {^rw- 
 \\k^ fougere. The bend is one of the earliest examples 
 of this mark of cadency.) 2. Almaric d'Evereux, 
 Earl of Gloucester. 12 16. 3. Henry de Alditheleye 
 or Audeley. About 1233. 4. Thomas Bollesdun. 
 Thirteenth century. 5. The same. Another seal. 
 
 6. William de Fortibus, Earl of Albemarle. 1258. 
 
 7. Do. Reverse, 
 xvi 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PLATE XXV 
 
 English Heraldic Seals of the Four- 
 teenth Century, .... To face p. 183 
 
 I. Henry de Longchamp, Knt, of co. Essex. 1341. 
 
 2. William de Makenade, of co. Kent. 1393. 
 
 3. Roger de Swynewerton, Knt. 131 5. 4. William 
 de Kyme, of co. Lincoln. 1327. 5. John de Hole- 
 broke, Knt. 1 30 1. 6. Thomas Jekes, Clerk, of co. 
 Surrey. 1362. '[dat • cruce • cr]ux • bina • cristum 
 • ROSA • WLNERA • QUiNA.' 7, John de Montc-Forti, 
 Knt., of CO. Warwick. 1349. 8. John Hattone. 
 Time of Edward in. 9. Alice de Nerford, widow of 
 John de Nevylle, of co. Essex. 1379. 10. John 
 Streche, Knt., of co. Norfolk. 1344. 11. John 
 Murdack, Lord of Cumptun-Murdack, co. Warwick, 
 Knt. 1328. 12. Nicholas de la More, of CO. Somer- 
 set. 1337. 13. Margaret Pontrell, wife of Peter de 
 Nuthille, of co. Lincoln. 1378. 14. Ralph de 
 Lumleye, Knt., son of Marmaduke de Lumleye of 
 CO. Durham, Knt. 1389. 15. Michael de la Pole, 
 afterwards Earl of Suffolk. 1384. 16. Robert de 
 Marny, Knt., of co. Essex. 1365. 17. Richard le 
 Scrope, or Lescrope, Chevalier. 1379. 18. Roger 
 Louthe, Lord of Wolverton. 1361. 19. Ralph de 
 Nevile, second Baron of Raby. 1348. 20. Henry 
 of Lancaster, Earl of Derby, afterwards King 
 Henry iv. 1387. 21. Thomas de Swynnerton of 
 CO. Stafford, Chevalier, 1350. 22. William de 
 Pappeworthe, Knt., of co. Huntingdon. 1400. 
 23. Thomas de Maundevyle, Knt., of co. Essex. 
 1380. 24. Robert de Plumtuna, of co. York. Time 
 of Edward 11. 25. Bertram de Mountburghcher, of 
 Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 1389. 
 
 XVI 1 
 
SEALS 
 
 PLATE XXVI 
 
 Modern Heraldic Seals, . . . To face p. 184 
 Specimen seals of Noble and Prominent Persons. 
 
 PLATE XXVII 
 
 Modern Heraldic Seals, . . . To face p. 185 
 Specimen seals of Royal, Noble, and Prominent Persons. 
 
 PLATE XXVIII 
 
 Modern Heraldic Seals, . . . To face p. 185 
 Specimen seals of Ecclesiastical Dignitaries. 
 
 PLATE XXIX 
 
 Early English and Scottish Devices, To face p. 190 
 
 I. Robert Corbet of Scotland. Thirteenth century. 2. 
 Alexander de Chattou. 1226. 3. Walter Corbet. 
 Thirteenth century. 4. Adam the Carpenter of 
 Brinkelowe. Thirteenth century. 5. Geoffrey of 
 Newhouse, co. Lincoln. Thirteenth century. 6. 
 William, son of Osbert de Denebi. Thirteenth cen- 
 tury. 7. Adam de Cokefeld. Thirteenth century. 
 8. Jordan, son of Henry de Denebi. Thirteenth 
 century. 9. Hamo Brand. Thirteenth century. 10. 
 Eustachia de Colevile, widow of Reginald le Chien 
 of Scotland. 1316. 1 1 . Cecilia, wife of Roger Craft. 
 Thirteenth century. 12. Matilda de Depe. Four- 
 xviii 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 teenth century. 13. Roger de Berkeley. 1162. 
 
 14. William de Basingstoke. Fourteenth century. 
 
 15. William, son of Ralph de Chesneduit. Early 
 fourteenth century. 
 
 PLATE XXX 
 
 Early English Devices, . . . To face p. 191 
 
 I. Roger Fitz-Alan. Thirteenth century. 2. William 
 Berners. Thirteenth century. 3. Henry, son of 
 Suanus de Deneby. Thirteenth century. 4. John, 
 chaplain of Golton. Thirteenth century. 5. Bertram 
 Franc. Thirteenth century. 6. Thomas, son of 
 Alexander Firt. 1230. 7. William le Falconer. 
 Thirteenth century. 8. Eustace de Neubiging. 
 Thirteenth century. 9. Almaric le Despenser. 
 1204. 10. Hugh le Despenser. 'dispensator 
 REGIS.' 1200. II. William Bruce. Thirteenth 
 century. 12. Odo le Chareter, or the Carter. 
 Thirteenth century. 'A love Seal.' 13. Henry de 
 Costentin. Thirteenth century. 14. Ralph Fitz 
 Gilbert. Thirteenth century. 15. Henry Faber, or 
 the Smith, of Hogeseth. Thirteenth century. Smith's 
 implements. 
 
 PLATE XXXI 
 Early Miscellaneous Seals, . . To face p. 192 
 
 I. William de Vallibus, or Vaux. Thirteenth century. 
 2. Richard, son of Ansis. Twelfth or thirteenth 
 century. 3. Giles de Gorham or Gorram. About 
 II 70. 4. William de Romare, Earl of Lincoln. 
 About 1 141. 5. Pernilla, daughter of Alfred Little. 
 Thirteenth century. 6. A Lady of the Pincerna, or 
 Butler family. 11 50. 7. William de Aubeney. 
 II 50. 8. Helias de Aubeney or Albeni. Twelfth 
 century. 
 
 xix 
 
SEALS 
 
 PLATE XXXII 
 
 Royal Seals of Scotland, . To face p. 200 
 
 I. Edward i., King of England, official seal for rule over 
 Scotland, used by the guardians of the realm after 
 the death of King Alexander in. 1 286-1 292. 2. Do. 
 Reverse. St. Andrew. 3. Edward i.. King of 
 England, seal for Scotland. 12 96- 1306. 4. Do. 
 Reverse. Armorial. 5. John Balliol, King of Scots. 
 1 292-1 296. 6. Do. Reverse. Equestrian. 
 
 PLATE XXXIII 
 
 Royal Seals of Scotland {contd), . To face p. 206 
 
 I. James iv. 1488-15 13. Annulet under horse's neck 
 altered to a trefoil. 2. Do. Reverse. 3. James v. 
 1 5 13-1542. Imitation of the above. 4. Do. Re- 
 verse. 5. Mary, Queen of Scots. 1542- 1567. 6. 
 Do. Reverse. 
 
 PLATE XXXIV 
 
 Seals of Scottish Cathedrals, . To face p. 216 
 
 I. Glasgow. First seal of the Chapter. About 1180. 
 
 2. Moray. Chapter seal. Thirteenth century. 
 
 3. St. Andrews. Later seal of Chapter. Thirteenth 
 century. 4. Brechin. Chapter seal. Thirteenth 
 century. 5. Aberdeen. Reverse of Chapter seal. 
 Fourteenth century. ' signant • stella • theos • pre- 
 SEPE- PARENS -ASiNUS • BOS.' 6. Caithness. Chapter 
 seal. Thirteenth century, 7. Edinburgh. Chapter 
 seal of St. Giles. 1406. 8. Dunkeld. Chapter seal. 
 Thirteenth century. ' sancte • columba-tuis • pastor • 
 BONUS • ESTO • MiNiSTRis.' 9. Lismore or Argyle. 
 Second seal of Chapter. 1574. 
 
 XX 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PLATE XXXV 
 
 Miscellaneous Seals of Ireland, . To face p. 272 
 
 I. Thomas Barrett, Bishop of Elphin. 1372-1404. 2. 
 Peter, Bishop of Clonmacnoise. 1 398-141 1. 3. David, 
 Dean of Kilmacduagh. Fourteenth century. 4. 
 Brother John Vccogihu, Abbot of Cluain-Eois or 
 Clones. Fourteenth century. 5. Common seal of 
 the town of Clonmines, co. Wexford. 1494. 6. 
 Laurence Neville, Bishop of Ferns. 1480-1503. 
 
 7. Common seal of the clergy of Kilmore Diocese, 
 anciently called 'Tir Bruin.' Fourteenth century. 
 
 8. Common seal of Tintern Abbey, co. Wexford. 
 1494. 9. John Mothell, Bishop of Limerick. 1426- 
 1468. 10. John, Bishop of Dromore. 1410. 11. 
 John Devereux, Bishop of Ferns, 1566; or John 
 O'Hinalan, Bishop of Kilfenora, 1552. 
 
 PLATE XXXVI 
 
 Ecclesiastical and Monastic Seals 
 
 OF Italy, . . . . . To face p. 284 
 
 I. St. Conrad, Cardinal Bishop of Porto and St. Rufina. 
 1220. 2. Raoul de Chevrieres, Bishop of Albano, 
 legate. 1269. 3. St. Raynald Concoreggi, Bishop 
 of Vicenza in Italy. 1299. 4. William Horborch, 
 Decrett. Doc, Auditor Causarum Sacri Palatii. 
 1378. 5. Berengar de Brolio, Plebanus of Pacina in 
 Syracuse. Fourteenth century. 6. Jacobus Curialis 
 de Sabluno, Bishop of Bisignano in Calabria. 1389. 
 
 7. Fraternity of the Hospital of St. Thomas the 
 Martyr of Canterbury in Rome. Fourteenth century. 
 
 8. Juan de Carvajal, Cardinal Deacon of St. Angelo, 
 etc. About 1460. 9. Another seal of the Hospital 
 of St. Thomas of Canterbury in Rome. Late fifteenth 
 century. 10. Petrus Cornerius, Bishop of Corone, 
 near Athens. 1367. 11. Lorenzo Rouerella, Bishop 
 of Ferrara. 1462- 1474. 12. Cathedral Chapter of 
 
 xxi 
 
SEALS 
 
 St. Peter, Diocese of Bologna, in Italy. Fifteenth 
 century. 13. Delegates of the Apostolic See. Seal 
 ad causas. Seventeenth century. 14. Franciscan 
 Province of Calabria Tertia. 1550. 
 
 PLATE XXXVII 
 
 Early Royal Seals of France, . To face J), 287 
 
 Carlovingian Dynasty: i. Charles, called ' Le Chauve.' 
 840-877. 2. Louis II., called ' Le Begue.' 877-879. 
 3. Eudes, or Odo. 898. 4. Charles, called * Le 
 Simple.' 898-929. Capetian Dynasty: 5, Robert. 
 996-1031. 6. Henri i. 1031-1060. 7. Philippe i. 
 1060-1108. 8. Louis VI., called • Le Gros.' 1108- 
 1137. 9. Louis VII., called 'Lejeune.' 1137-1180. 
 10. Do. Reverse. 
 
 PLATE XXXVIII 
 
 Royal Seals of France, . . . To face p. 288 
 
 I. Philip III. Second seal. (Died 1285.) 2. Philip vi. 
 1328-1350. 3. Philip IV., called ' Le Bel.' 1285- 
 1314. 4. Charles v., called ' Le Sage,' 1364-1380. 
 5. Louis X. 1314-1316. First seal. 6. Charles vi. 
 1380-1422. 
 
 PLATE XXXIX 
 
 Later Seals of France, . . . To face p. 289 
 
 I. The Republic. 1792- 1804. 2. Napoleon, Empereur 
 des Fran9ais. Seal used during ' The Hundred 
 Days.' 181 5. 3. Napoleon, Empereur des Fran9ais. 
 1 804-1 8 14. 4. Napoleon, Emperor, King of Italy 
 (Reverse of No. 3), Protector of the Confederation 
 of the Rhine, 'sceau imperial des titres.' 5. 
 Louis xviii. 1 8 14- 1 824. 6. Do. Reverse, as King 
 of France and Navarre, 
 xxii 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PLATE XL 
 
 Local Seals of France, . . . To face p, 290 
 
 I. Beauvais. Commune of the City. 1228. 2. Avignon. 
 Leaden bulla of the Commune. 1226. 3. Do, 
 Reverse. 4. Beaumont-sur-Oise, or Bellomons, in 
 L'Isle de France. Commune. 1228. 5. Condom, 
 in Gascony. Corporation of the town or city. 
 Thirteenth century. 6. Celle, or Cella. Corporation 
 or Guild of Conditores. Thirteenth century. 7. 
 Tournay. Fourth seal of the Commune of the city 
 and town. Fourteenth century. 8. Faucogney, in 
 Department of Haute-Saone, Franche-Comte. Seal 
 of the Public Lands. Late fourteenth century. (Duke 
 of Burgundy.) 9. Paris University. Seal of the 
 ' English Nation.' 1398. (Coronation of the Virgin ; 
 St. Katharine; St. Martin; Doctor teaching students.) 
 10. Calais. Mayoralty seal. 1460. ii. Calais. 
 Counterseal of Reymonde de Cuttures, Mayor. 15 13. 
 12. Calais. Counterseal of Richard Pontisbery, 
 Mayor. 1526. 13. Montpellier in Languedoc. 
 Leaden bulla of the 'Twelve Consuls.' Thirteenth 
 century. 14. Aubigny. Seal of the Bailliage. Four- 
 teenth century. 15. Aries, in Provence. Leaden 
 bulla of the city. ' urbs • arelatensis • est • hostibus • 
 HOSTis -ET- ENSis.' i6. Chartres. Letter seal of the 
 'Obligations of the Vicomte.' Fourteenth century. 
 
 17. Harfleur, in Normandy. Official seal of the 
 Mayor of the Royal Town, when held by the King 
 of England, whose arms are on the sail of the war- 
 ship. Distant view of the town. Fifteenth century. 
 
 18. Montivilliers, in Department of Seine Inferieure, 
 Normandy. Third seal of the ' Obligations of the 
 Vicomte.' 1377. 19. Do. Counterseal. 
 
 PLATE XLI 
 Seals of Noble Ladies of France, To face p. 292 
 
 I. Eleonore de Vermandois, Countess of Beaumont, wife 
 of Mathieu iii., Count of Beaumont-sur-Oise. 1177. 
 
 xxiii 
 
SEALS 
 
 2. Johanna of England, Queen of Sicily, daughter of 
 King Henry ii. of England, Duchess of Narbonne, 
 Countess of Thoulouse, Marquise of Provence. Died 
 in 1 199. Silver matrices of the seal found in the 
 Cistercian Abbey of Grandselve, Thoulouse. 3. Do. 
 Reverse. 4. Ela, wife of Robert, son of Ernes 
 Malet, heiress of Robert iii.. Count of Alen9on. 
 1220. 5. Ida of Flanders, Countess of Boulogne and 
 Dammartin. 1201. 6. Mathilde, Countess of Bou- 
 logne, daughter of the above Ida (No. 5), Consort of 
 Philippe Hurepel, son of King Philippe Auguste. 
 1236. 7. Mathilde, or Mahaut, daughter of Henri, 
 Duke of Brabant, wife of Robert of France, Count 
 of Artois. 1265. 8. Marguerite of Burgundy, Vis- 
 countess of Limoges, daughter of Hugues iv., Duke 
 of Burgundy. 1268. 9. Jeanne de Chatillon, wife of 
 Pierre, Count of AIen9on and Chartres, daughter and 
 heiress of Jean, Count of Blois. 1271. 10. Jeanne, 
 wife of Guillaume TArcheveque, Lady of Partenay, 
 Castres, and Montfort. 1272. 11. Marguerite of 
 Sicily, wife of Charles, Count of Valois, Countess of 
 Valois, Alen9on, and Anjou. 1294. Marguerite 
 flower in the hand. 12. Jeanne of Bretagne, 
 daughter of Duke Arthur 11. and his wife Yolande de 
 Dreux, wife of Robert of Flanders, Lord of Cassel. 
 1 294- 1 363. Armorials and charges include Cassel, 
 Dreux, Bretagne, Navarre, and England (for her 
 grandmother Beatrice, daughter of King Henry iii,). 
 
 13. Elysabeth, or Ysabeaus, Countess of Namur and 
 Flanders, wife of Count Guy de Dampierre. 1294. 
 
 14. Yolande of Flanders, wife of Henri iv.. Count 
 of Bar, Countess of Bar and of Longueville, Lady 
 of Cassel. 1373. Armorials and charges include 
 Navarre, Bourbon of Longueville, Cassel, and Bar. 
 
 PLATE XLII 
 
 Early Seals of German Sovereigns, To face p. 294 
 
 I. Charlemagne. 768-800. 2. Louis i., ' Le D6bon- 
 naire.' 814-840. 3. Louis i., as Emperor. 815- 
 xxiv 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 840. 4. Lothaire i. 840-855, Antique gem, bust 
 of Caracalla or Alexander Severus. 5. Lothaire i., 
 as King. 6. Louis 11. 843-876, Antique gem. 
 7. Louis III. ? Antique gem, 8, Charles iii,, ' Le 
 Gros,' Emperor. 881-888. Ornamental handle of 
 the matrix. 9. Arnolf, as King, 888 ; Emperor, 
 896. Died 899. 
 
 PLATE XLIII 
 
 Early Seals of Sovereigns of the 
 
 German Empire, .... To face p. 294 
 
 I. Otto I., 'The Great,' as King. 936. Died 973. 
 2. Otto I., as Emperor. 961-973, 3, Otto 11,, as 
 Emperor, 973-983, 4, Otto iii., as Emperor. 983- 
 1002, 5. Otto III,, as King, 6. Heinrich 11., as 
 King. 1002- 1024. 
 
 PLATE XLIV 
 
 Great Seals and Bull^ of Sove- 
 reigns OF THE German Empire, . To face p. 296 
 
 I. Alfonso of Castile and Leon, King of the Romans. 
 1257. 2. Rudolf, King of the Romans. 1237-1291. 
 3. Rudolf. Golden Bulla. 4. Do. Reverse. 5. 
 Heinrich vii,. King of the Romans. 1 308-1313. 
 
 6. Carolus iv.. King of the Romans. 1346- 1378. 
 
 7. Carolus iv., as Emperor. Obverse used after 
 1347. 8. Carolus iv. Golden Bulla. 9. Do. 
 
 Reverse. 
 
 PLATE XLV 
 
 Seals of Sovereigns of the German 
 
 Empire, ...... To face p. 296 
 
 I. Carolus iv., as King of Hungary, etc. 1346- 1378. 
 2. Sigismund, King of the Romans. 1410-1418. 
 C XXV 
 
SEALS 
 
 PLATE XLVI 
 
 Seals of Sovereigns of the German 
 
 Empire, To face p. 298 
 
 I. Sigismund, as Emperor, King of Hungary, etc. (1410.) 
 14 1 8- 1437. 2. Do. Reverse. The doppel-adlery or 
 double-headed eagle of Ezechiel. See page 295. 
 
 PLATE XLVI I 
 
 Local Seals of the Netherlands, 
 
 ETC., To face p. 300 
 
 I. Burgesses of Rupelmonde in Anvers, Belgium. 1237. 
 Early form of castle. 2, Scabini or Echevins of 
 Axel, in Zeeland. 1237. (Early trefoils or chess- 
 rooks.) 3, Town of Grammont or Mont-Gheraud in 
 Hainaut. 1244. 4. Town of Oudenbourg in West 
 Flanders. 1226. 5. Tournay Commune or Cor- 
 poration. 1288. 6. Scabini or Echevins of Muiden 
 or Mouda, in North Holland. 1309. 7. Do. Reverse 
 or counterseal. 8. Scabini or Echevins of Ysendyke, 
 in Zeeland. 1275. Double-headed eagle displayed. 
 9. Scabini and Burgesses of Dam, or Hondesdamma, 
 in West Flanders. 1309. 10. Do. Reverse or 
 counterseal. 
 
 PLATE XLVIII 
 
 Royal Seals of Spain, . . . To face p. 304 
 
 I. James or Diego i.. King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, 
 and Lord of Montpellier. 1226. 2. Do. Reverse. 
 3. James, King of Aragon, etc. 1258. 4. James, 
 King of Aragon, etc. 1298. Bulla. 5. Henry, 
 King of Navarre. 1271. 6. Do. Reverse, 
 xxvi 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PLATE XLIX 
 
 Spanish, Episcopal, Monastic, Eques- 
 trian, AND Heraldic Seals. 
 Norway, an Equestrian Seal, . To face p. 306 
 
 I. Sancho i., Archbishop Elect of Toledo. 1255. 2. 
 Sancho 11., Archbishop of Toledo, Primate, Chan- 
 cellor of Castile. 1269. 3. Augustine, Bishop of 
 Osma or Oxoma in Old Castile. 1269. 4. Jenego 
 Juannes, Hospitalero of St. Mary's Hospital, Pampe- 
 luna. 1277. 5- F^' Petrus de Mast'ceta, Official of 
 the Holy Inquisition. Fifteenth century. 6. Con- 
 vent of the Hospital of Roncesvalles, in Navarre. 
 1322. 7. Rodrigo Diaz de los Canberos, of Navarre. 
 1223-1226, 8. Do. Reverse. 9. Audouin Huglace, 
 Lord of Hegrenes, Norwegian Ambassador to France. 
 1295. 10. Blanche dArtois, Queen of Navarre, Con- 
 sort of Henry i.. Countess- Palatine of Champagne 
 and Brie. 1275. 11. Reymund Fulco, Vicomte of 
 Cardona, Lieutenant of the King of Aragon. 1298. 
 12. Ferand I vanes of Valverde, Spain. 1276. 13. 
 Pedro Clemente Arostegui, Archbishop, Bishop of 
 Osma in Old Castile. 1748- 1760. 14. Fernando, 
 Infante of Spain, son and heir of the King of Castile 
 and Leon. 1270. 
 
 PLATE L 
 
 Royal Seals of Spain, . . . To face p. 306 
 
 I, 2. Sancho iv,. King of Castile and Leon. 1294. 
 3. James II., King of Aragon. 1298. 
 
 PLATE LI 
 
 Royal Seals of Spain and Portugal, To face p. 306 
 
 I. James i., King of Majorca, etc. 1298. 2. Do. 
 Reverse or counterseal. 3. James 11., King of 
 Majorca, etc. 1341. Leaden bulla. 4. Do. Re- 
 
 xxvii 
 
SEALS 
 
 verse. 5. Rend, King of Jerusalem, Sicily, Aragon, 
 etc. About 1452-1480. 6. Denis, King of Portugal 
 and Algarve. (Four gems let in to the matrix.) 1318. 
 7. Do. Reverse. (Four gems let in to the matrix.) 
 
 PLATE LI I 
 
 Royal Seals of Spain, . . . To face p. 308 
 
 I. Alfonso XL, King of Castile and Leon. 1332. Leaden 
 bulla. 2. Do. Reverse. 3. Ferdinand iv., Infante 
 of Castile and Leon. 13 10. 4. Do. Reverse. 5. 
 Pedro, King of Castile and Leon. 1336. Leaden 
 bulla. 6. Do. Reverse. 
 
 XXVUl 
 
SEALS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE EARLIEST SEALS 
 
 SEALS, like many other human inventions, may be 
 traced back to a period of the highest antiquity. 
 We are unable to fix any precise period when the 
 seal first entered the circle of objects which man has 
 found useful, and even necessary, to his existence. It 
 has been said, that the discovery of printing owes itself 
 to the accidental impression of letters, cut on a stone, 
 setting off on the body of a man who leaned against it. 
 Possibly the idea embodied in the seal is the outcome 
 of a very similar event. All nations. Oriental and 
 European, American and Australasian, appear to have 
 spontaneously adopted the principle of the seal, that is, 
 the making of a special and unique mark, easily recog- 
 nisable, but impossible to imitate, wherewith to set apart 
 objects, or to identify them. The ancient Jewish races, 
 as is abundantly clear from many passages in the Old 
 Testament, were well acquainted with the seal, and 
 among other instances we may point to the remarkable 
 dialogue between Judah the patriarch and his foolish 
 daughter-in-law Tamar, recorded in Gen. xxxviii. i8, 
 where he cries ' What pledge shall I give thee ? ' to be 
 met with the response : * Thy signet and thy bracelets.' 
 The signet here, as will be shown as this work proceeds, 
 was probably not a ring worn on the finger, but a cylinder 
 of hard stone, engraved with a sacred or personal device, 
 and pierced through its long axis, so that a thong or 
 
 A I 
 
SEALS 
 
 string could be passed through, and enable it to be tied 
 to the wrist. Moses declares in his threnody (Deut. 
 xxxii. 34), ' Is not this laid up in store with me and 
 sealed up among my treasures ? ' Sealing is also referred 
 to in Exodus xxviii. 11, where we read of a divine 
 command to Moses, relating to onyx stones : ' with the 
 work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a 
 signet shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names 
 of the children of Israel.' The patriarch Job said ' my 
 transgression is sealed up in a bag' (Job xiv. 17), and 
 again Job was answered by the Lord out of the whirl- 
 wind : * It is turned as clay to the seaV (Job xxxviii. 14). 
 Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them 
 with his seal (i Kings xxi. 8). The Jews (in Nehemiah 
 ix. 38) declare, * we make a sure covenant, and write it ; 
 and our princes, Levites, and priests seal unto it.' In 
 Esther (iii. 12) mention is made of a writing, or dispatch, 
 'in the name of King Ahasuerus was it written, and 
 sealed with the king's ring.' The Song of Solomon lays 
 stress upon the sureness of the safety of a seal, where it 
 is said ' Set me as a seal upon thine heart, for love is 
 strong as death ; jealousy is cruel as the grave, the coals 
 whereof are coals of fire which hath a most vehement 
 flame.' The prophet Daniel received divine command to 
 ' shut up the words and seal the book,' and when his sted- 
 fast belief in his God was put to the test, by immuring 
 him in the den of lions (vi. 17), 'a stone was brought, 
 and laid upon the mouth of the den, and the king sealed 
 it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords.' 
 Hereby he became a prototype of the entombment of 
 Jesus Christ, of whom it is recorded : ' So they went, 
 and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and 
 setting a watch ' (Matt, xxvii. 66). Finally we read of a 
 book sealed with seven seals (in Rev. v. i), and the 
 inspired Evangelist ' heard the number of them which 
 were sealed: an hundred and forty and four thousand 
 of all the tribes of the children of Israel ' (Rev. vii. 4). 
 From these passages it is abundantly evident, that 
 2 
 
THE EARLIEST SEALS 
 
 the seal entered largely into the important and precise 
 aspects of life among the people of the Oriental world, 
 and corresponding instances could be collected without 
 difficulty from the historical records of Greece, Rome, 
 and other Western nations. In many cases the seal thus 
 mentioned refers to the cylindrical rollers of hard and 
 precious stone, already described, many of which now 
 repose in the cabinet of the collector or the showcases of 
 the museums and galleries of our cities. The design was 
 engraved on them by the use of a harder stone in the 
 form of powder taken up by a pencil-shaped tool furnished 
 at its point with a little wax, or similar substance, which 
 would hold the powder while the tool itself was revolved 
 by the hands or fingers of the engraver. An impression 
 was made by rolling the cylinder along a mass of 
 moistened clay, or waxen composition, placed in proper 
 position on the tablet or door, the lid of a chest, the flap 
 of a folded sheet of papyrus, or the mouth of a bottle, in 
 order to prevent any tampering with the contents thus 
 hidden or covered up from the eye or hand of the dis- 
 honest or the too curious. A large number of these objects, 
 gathered from the rubbish-heaps of Eastern countries, 
 the sites of mouldering towns, and palaces, fast perishing 
 in the deserted plains of Egypt, Arabia, Syria, Meso- 
 potamia, Assyria, Babylonia, and other ancient emporiums 
 of life and activity, has been acquired by the authorities 
 of the British Museum and other institutions, and they 
 may be obtained from those who deal in antiquities with 
 very little trouble. The designs on these objects are for 
 the most part mythological, cryptic, religious, ceremonial, 
 or emblematical ; and their age, which is very uncertain, 
 ranges over many centuries anterior to the Christian era. 
 It is to this almost universal custom of sealing 
 valued objects with a clay or wax impression, that the 
 preservation of the engraved gems of Greece and Rome 
 is due. The imperishable nature of the engraved sub- 
 stances also lends itself to their preservation, and the 
 remarkably beautiful and attractive character of the 
 
 3 
 
SEALS 
 
 designs which they bear, operates also very greatly 
 towards their being stored and prized by successive 
 generations of owners. 
 
 The engraved stone, stamp, or matrix, which yields 
 the seal, sometimes takes other forms. It may be 
 conical with rounded top, through which a small hole was 
 pierced for its suspension by a thong or string ; or it 
 may be flat and circular or elliptical, a form convenient 
 for setting as a plaque or ring, to be worn by the owner, 
 suspended from the neck or put upon the finger. It 
 would be more correct to call the impression thus made j 
 
 the seal, and the other the stamp, but custom of the | 
 
 present day uses the word seal to denote both the stamp 
 or matrix, and the impression made by the stamp, upon 
 the wax or other substance, which is to receive the design. 
 Seals, under the title of Khatem, were very extensively 
 used from the earliest times by the Egyptians, who, 
 according to the dignity and means of the possessor, 
 composed their matrices of gems, gold, silver, porcelain, 
 or vitrified soapstone, appending them to a chain, or setting 
 them as rings, and engraving upon them representations 
 of deities and kings, names, mottoes, emblematical 
 designs and ornamental devices. Their impressions 
 were at first made in refined Nile mud, or prepared clay, 
 and attached by slips of papyrus, or by cords, to their 
 documents. The use of seals among this ancient and 
 intelligent people was far more universal than at first 
 sight might be supposed. Even tombs, victims set apart 
 for the sacrifice, bread, and various other objects in 
 use every day were sealed. As well as Ahab and 
 Ahasuerus, already shown to have possessed seals, the 
 great kings Darius and Alexander are known to have 
 used them. 
 
 The Chinese royal or * Great ' seal, called se, dates as 
 far back as B.C. 248. These were at first square, their 
 form was afterwards round. Other seals of this Oriental 
 people, composed of various metal and hard substances, 
 were chiefly in the shape of a parallelopiped, surmounted 
 4 
 
THE EARLIEST SEALS 
 
 by figures of animals. The recent investigations and 
 excavations carried out at Kouyunjik, and elsewhere in 
 the East, prove that the Assyrians and other peoples 
 were thoroughly well acquainted with the use of seals, 
 which generally consisted of cones of precious stones, 
 such as chalcedony and onyx, and were engraved with 
 the usual representations of animals, gods, heroes, kings, 
 sentences, and other designs. The Babylonians, Phoeni- 
 cians, and Etruscans, to mention only a few out of many, 
 also used seals. The Greeks were at first content, in 
 their primitive simplicity of life, to use wooden seals, but 
 later, as their wonderful arts gradually developed, we 
 find engraved gems in use, their date probably com- 
 mencing as far back as the sixth century before the 
 Christian era, — a date generally assigned to the celebrated 
 ring engraved by Theodorus for Polycrates, the tyrant of 
 Samos. 
 
 Among the Latin races, seals, originally introduced 
 by the Etruscans, were in constant use, not only for 
 documents but for bags of money, granaries, and private 
 rooms. Again, the Arabians and Hindoos, from a very 
 early time, made use of metal seal stamps and engraved 
 gems, to impress, by means of an ink or pigment, certain 
 devices upon their books and documents, the use of wax 
 among these peoples being comparatively a modern 
 substitute. During the continuance of the Roman 
 Empire, leaden seal impressions were used for various 
 purposes, as well as the clay seals already described, and 
 it was not until after the era of Constantine that bullce or 
 circular seal impressions of gold, silver, or lead came into 
 prominent use. Those of the Byzantine Emperors com- 
 mence in the middle period of the fourth century before 
 the birth of Christ. Some of the later examples bear 
 representations of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or Panagia, 
 on the one side, and a portrait of the reigning Emperor 
 on the other. Of these a fuller account will be given later 
 on in this work. It is necessary here to give a short 
 account of the various forms and styles of engraved 
 
 5 
 
SEALS 
 
 gems, the earliest form of the matrix from which the seal 
 impression was made. 
 
 It is universally admitted that the art of fashioning 
 stones, flints and pebbles, fragments of crystals, and 
 other mineral substances, into the forms of arrowheads, 
 axeheads, and other weapons or tools, is one of the 
 earliest which found favour with man, when emerging 
 from the purely animal into the human or intelligent 
 condition. As progress developed, and what is called 
 civilisation began to take hold of the man, to whose 
 proneness to observation and innate love of innovation 
 and inspection all advance along the line of invention is 
 to be attributed, and as the supposed necessities which 
 circle around improved manner of living and better or 
 more comfortable existence began to be multiplied, it is 
 thought that the ideographic pictures, or language in its 
 earliest stages, inscribed more or less rudely on rock or 
 slabs, by means of symbols, led eventually to the practice 
 of delineating — at first by intaglio, or cutting the desired 
 symbol down below the surface of the material, and, at 
 a later period, by relief, or leaving the device standing 
 up beyond the plane of the surface and cutting away the 
 surrounding blank portions. To this principle there 
 succeeded, by an easy transition, the marking or engrav- 
 ing of small flakes or convenient pieces of hard sub- 
 stances, with emblems, either in relief or in intaglio, to 
 serve for a stamp, seal, or mark, which, when set upon 
 any object of value, gave it the peculiar value of appro- 
 priation by that particular person whose special mark 
 was thereon recognised and respected, the property 
 thus bearing the private mark of its owner, and claiming 
 immunity from acquisition by any other person. In the 
 ages when education was rare, such a kind of seal or 
 mark stood, as it were, in place of the signature, and 
 really became, both then and afterwards, a necessary 
 accompaniment of identification, long after reading and 
 writing had become pretty general accomplishments. 
 The very word seal is derived from the Latin sigillum, 
 
 6 
 
THE EARLIEST SEALS 
 
 which is a diminutive word regularly formed from signil- 
 lum the diminutive of signum (a sign or mark of segre- 
 gation), by dropping the n. The composition of the word 
 signum is to be traced to the Latin particle se, which 
 signifies separation or setting apart, as found in several 
 Latin words as, for example, semotus, moved apart, 
 removed ; seductus, led apart or astray ; sepositus, 
 separated or set apart, and so forth ; and to the word 
 gigno, to produce, beget, fashion, or make. In the light 
 of this derivation, signum is the noun related to the verb 
 signo, to make, produce, or fashion apart, and by its use 
 with, or application to, any object of value or importance, 
 indicated private or peculiar and absolute possession of 
 and property in the object thus signalised. 
 
 To the employment, in this manner, of the sign, 
 signum — the seal or little sign, sigillum — and the little 
 mark, signetum, or signet, appertains, without any doubt, 
 the practice of the art of engraving upon stones suitable 
 and attractive for their hardness, brilliancy, transparency, 
 or peculiar beauty ; for early man always looked with 
 longing eyes on the brightest and most sparkling objects 
 which came within his range of vision or the reach of his 
 restless fingers. Such stones as possessed these enticing 
 characteristics, rivalled, if they did not surpass, the most 
 beautiful examples of carving and lapidary art. Probably 
 the most ancient stones, whose surfaces are thus enhanced 
 by engravings, are to be found among the Egyptians and 
 Babylonians, nor is it easy to ascertain which of these 
 two nations should cede to the other in respect of the 
 higher antiquity ; possibly the older civilisation of Egypt 
 claims the paramount place in regard to the practice of 
 engraving stones. Among these highly civilised people, 
 one of the earliest forms, contemporaneous with the 
 remotest dynasties that ruled the delta of the Nile, is 
 that of the sacred beetle or scarab, called kheper, standing 
 upon a tablet, or slab, of oval or rectangular form. These 
 objects were pierced through their long axis, so that they 
 could be fitted with a string or wire, in order to act as 
 
 7 
 
SEALS 
 
 bezels of rings to be worn on the finger or wrist. They 
 were made of a schist, soapstone, or any other kind of 
 soft mineral, covered with glaze of a yellow, or green, 
 tint, thrown upon them by the agency of the fire ; and on 
 the conveniently flat surface of the oval or rectangular 
 tablet on which they are set, the engravers introduced the 
 representations and titles of gods, heroes, kings, royal 
 and public officers, animals, natural objects, sentences, 
 mottoes, geometrical figures, and other arbitrary devices. 
 These were generally in intaglio, and the owner impressed 
 them upon a small lump of clay, or mud from the river, 
 carefully prepared, in order to be capable of receiving a 
 good impression. As would be naturally expected, the 
 universal use of this form of seal, a necessity for every 
 one in the land, led to a great variety, not only of 
 symbols, but of choice of material and quality of work- 
 manship. Hence some of the finest, and some of the 
 meanest and coarsest, specimens have been found side by 
 side in the rubbish-strewn heaps of sand in the desert 
 outskirts of ancient towns and villages, and they belong 
 to the same age. The scarabaeoid, or rudimentary 
 beetle-form, without legs or other criteria, a mere shape, 
 flat on the one side and humped or rounded on the 
 other, found favour with some owners, and these 
 imperfect, and unfinished, forms may, in some instances, 
 be placed as far remote as the period of the fourth and 
 fifth dynasties. 
 
 Later, at the period of the twelfth dynasty, a period 
 difficult to identify with the years of our present 
 numeration of time before the Christian era, cylinders 
 of various hard mineral and other substances came into 
 fashion. These vary in dimensions between one and 
 two inches. At a subsequent period, this style appears 
 to have fallen into disuse. The scarab and its allied 
 congener, the scarabaeoid, appears again during the com- 
 paratively late Egyptian period of the eighteenth and 
 nineteenth dynasties. But they were then made in a 
 better style, the cutting sharper and more regular, the 
 8 
 
THE EARLIEST SEALS 
 
 fashion and proportion of the details more elegant, and 
 the glaze, which many of them still exhibit, was remark- 
 ably beautiful. The dimensions of these later seals 
 are smaller. Then, again, during the rule of Kings 
 Amenophis ii. and Amenophis iii., large seals of this 
 kind occasionally occur, some measuring about three 
 inches in length and bearing long inscriptions in the 
 hieroglyphic character, recording royal marriages, the 
 extent of the Empire, the construction of lakes, the 
 prowess of the king in the chase, and similar public, 
 local, and historical matters. But there are few, or no, 
 instances of seals of the class which can be attributed 
 to prominent or private persons. Their use appears 
 to have been exclusively reserved to the royal house. 
 As time progresses, these become less common, and 
 about the fifth century B.C., which coincides with the 
 date usually attributed to the twenty-sixth dynasty, 
 they disappear. 
 
 How these beautiful relics were made by a race of 
 people, who, although highly intelligent and ingenious 
 and versed in the art of transporting immense blocks 
 of stone for long distances, have left behind them no 
 implements of better capacity than might be found to-day 
 in a child's box of tools, is difficult to determine. It is 
 probable that they were cut or carved with small gouges 
 or chisels, when the nature of the material permitted of 
 the use of such tools. In other cases, perhaps, the drill 
 or sharpened wooden spit armed at the end with a small 
 portion of corundum or Tripoli powder, may have been 
 employed. Whatever may have been the method, it is 
 certain that the art of engraving hard stones is of a very 
 great antiquity. One stone of green jasper, fashioned 
 in the form of a scarabaeus, has been especially described 
 by those who have written on the Egyptian arts. It 
 belongs to the early date of the eleventh dynasty, and 
 is attributed to Sehekemsaf. It is embellished by the 
 setting of a golden frame. Basalt, diorite, jasper, 
 steatite, soapstone, and other similar materials, lend 
 
 9 
 
SEALS 
 
 themselves appropriately to the hand of the Egyptian 
 seal engravers. Mention has also been made by writers, 
 of talcose schist, carnelians, agates, and in fact few hard 
 natural substances have been overlooked by the en- 
 gravers, who lived in a region so prolific in a most exten- 
 sive variety of mineral wealth as Egypt. The native style 
 of the early periods became influenced in later times by, 
 or at least attempted to assimilate itself to, the best work 
 of contiguous nations, and hence in Persian, Phoenician, 
 Greek, and Cypriote seals, there is to be seen a certain 
 affinity with the examples of Egyptian origin. One very 
 fine bezel of a yellow jasper bears the figure of a bull on 
 the one side, and that of a horse on the other. It also 
 bears the royal name of Amenophis ii., and it is believed to 
 be the finest example of engraving on hard stone by the j 
 
 Egyptian artists which has been handed down to our 
 times. To the same date belongs a seal of green 
 obsidian, bearing the name of Queen Hatasu, a work 
 of considerable merit. It is said that genuine examples 
 of this kind of engraving are rare, and the numerous 
 forgeries which have been palmed off by wily Arabs on 
 unsuspecting collectors must be eliminated from the list 
 of these objects. 
 
 After Egyptian types we may turn to Babylonian 
 seals, which, in point of chronology, come next in order. 
 These are for the most part of the cylindrical type, which 
 has already been noticed. The people of this Empire 
 rolled their seals across their clay documents, and pro- 
 bably closed their granary doors and their wine and corn 
 vessels with an impression of a signet made in this way. 
 Such a method of preventing the invasion of property is 
 undoubtedly older than the use of the lock and key, 
 which, however, has also a very good antiquity to bear 
 witness to its use. These Babylonish cylinders are of 
 beautiful workmanship. Their length ranges between 
 half an inch to as much as four inches in some cases. 
 The diameters are proportionate, about one-third or one- 
 fourth of the length. As for materials, a large range of 
 
 ID 
 
FLATE I 
 
 ^pr 
 
 ANCIKNT GEM SEALS 
 
THE EARLIEST SEALS 
 
 natural substances came into the workshop of the en- 
 graver ; among others, limestone, magnetite, haematite 
 (always a favourite), jasper of various kinds, crystal, and 
 even shell, occur. Here again it is difficult to fix dates 
 with any amount of close precision to these relics, or to 
 attribute them to other than royal personages or officials 
 of the priesthood or government. The figures of 
 deities, who compose the crowded pantheon of Assyria 
 and Babylon, were the most affected, accompanied by 
 inscriptions in the cuneiform character, setting forth the 
 name and titles of the owner, and his devotion to such 
 and such a deity ; for these people, not unlike others of 
 the present day in Europe, attached themselves prefer- 
 entially to one or other member of the celestial hierarchy, 
 without, of course, seriously neglecting or disregarding 
 the others. The tutelary saint, or genius, obtains not 
 only among heathen and idolatrous nations, but uni- 
 versally, although perhaps with Europeans the idea is 
 disguised. Nothing is known for certain as to the 
 implements used in the manufacture of these seals. The 
 wheel, with its edge provided with a sharp cutting powder, 
 or composed of a stone harder than that which it is intended 
 to cut, the drill, or the chisel, would seem to be the most 
 likely tools suited to arrive at such a result. It is not 
 improbable that the engraver kept a stock of blank 
 cylinders, and engraved them to suit his customers. 
 Their high antiquity is very remarkable : they begin 
 to occur at a period of about two thousand two hundred 
 years before the Christian era, in the time of Uzukh, and 
 were fashionable in the time of King Nebuchadnezzar 
 and his successors. After seventeen hundred years of 
 use, this style of seal falls away, and in B.C. 500 it is 
 thought that their use had been discarded. The period 
 of King Khammurabi presents us with some of the 
 finest. 
 
 Assyria exhibits contemporary examples of the cylin- 
 der seal. Some of these have been shown to date about 
 B.C. 980. Their materials, like those of the adjacent 
 
 1 1 
 
SEALS 
 
 kingdom of Babylon, are various. Chalcedony, agate, 
 carnelians, and other opaque or translucent stones, were 
 in best demand ; but the amazon stone, smaragdus, 
 emerald, jasper, and so forth, were not despised. Here, 
 too, the quasi-religious aspect of the seal is abundantly 
 manifested by the representations of the gods and divini- 
 ties of the Assyrian polytheism which are found on the 
 seals. Inscriptions are not so frequent as would be 
 expected on these Assyrian cylinders, and their use was 
 apparently extending among persons of private position, 
 who have left their records among the clay tablets that 
 have been recovered from the rubbish mounds marking 
 the sites of desolate towns, destroyed cities, and wasted 
 cemeteries of the sunburnt regions of the Four Rivers. 
 Assyria was not a whit behind Babylon in artistic talent, 
 so far as seals may be called in attestation. There is, 
 we read, a remarkably fine cylinder bearing the name of 
 a king who flourished in B.C. 850, which indicates that 
 the engraver's art in this instance far surpassed that 
 which is exhibited contemporaneously with the Baby- 
 lonians. Another fine specimen is believed to have 
 actually served the great Sennacherib for a signet. 
 
 This Empire used a form for seals, resembling a cone 
 with rounded top, specimens of which are occasionally met 
 with in jasper and a fine blue, sapphirine-coloured chal- 
 cedony, and charged with figures of divinities. Names 
 of owners do not usually occur on these types. The base, 
 which is generally circular, is sometimes slightly convex. 
 Examination of the work seems to point to the use of a 
 wheel for cutting the design, which is often of beautifully 
 delicate work, and bears eloquent testimony to the height 
 of excellence to which the practice of the fine arts in 
 Assyria had attained at this remote period. Sometimes 
 the form is varied, by facets running up from the base 
 towards the rounded top of the conoidal seal, and then 
 the base takes an octagonal outline. They have a small 
 orifice at the top, where the thong, or string, was passed 
 through to enable the owner to attach them to the wrist 
 12 
 
PLATE II 
 
 
 «J. 
 
 C^f^ 
 
 ^,/ 
 
 ANCIENT GEMS IN MEDIEVAL SETTINGS 
 
THE EARLIEST SEALS 
 
 or girdle. These cones could not, of course, be rolled, 
 but the devices which they bore on their base, or face, were 
 impressed on the clay or wax, and those impressions 
 that are still extant in our museums, and among private 
 collections, show how universal was their employment. 
 In point of fact, they supplied the place of the lock and 
 key with the later nations of the Western civilisation. 
 Among their materials, the carnelian, sard, agate, quartz, 
 sapphirine chalcedony, and other semi-precious stones are 
 met with. Under the rule of the Persians, the use of the 
 cylinder and the conoidal seal flourished. One, attributed 
 to Darius Hydaspes, about 517 B.C., has been found in 
 Egypt. This consists of a greenish-tinted chalcedony, 
 and bears a fine engraving of the king, in his hunting 
 chariot, slaying a lion, symbolical of the conquest of his 
 enemies and opponents, accompanied with a very interest- 
 ing trilingual inscription in ancient Persian, Median, and 
 Assyrian characters, which is of transcendent value as a 
 key for the comparative study of these three languages. 
 
 It is found that the coniform seals of the Persian period 
 chiefly occur in onyx, and similar semi-precious stones ; 
 and the design of the ruler overcoming the lion, which 
 may of course be taken literally as occurring in a region 
 where the animal was abundant, must also be taken in a 
 figurative sense as exhibiting the success of the monarch 
 in subduing his antagonists and vanquishing the tribes 
 and nations who opposed the extension of his boundaries. 
 Eastern imagery and the universal love of metaphor and 
 parable, will not permit this aspect of the design to be 
 neglected. It is recorded that Asiatic art, during the 
 domination of the Seleucids, and Egyptian art, under 
 the rule of the Ptolemies, gave birth to finely engraved 
 designs on stones in which is shown a Greek style, in 
 combination with emblems derived from Asiatic and 
 Egyptian sentiment and cultus. The Greek art, and the 
 Greek language, were affected in the Court, but they 
 could not supplant all at once the use of the cuneiform 
 and hieroglyphic characters of Assyria and Egypt respec- 
 
 13 
 
SEALS 
 
 tively with the people. Greece here, as was the case with 
 Rome later, by sheer weight of the sense of beautiful 
 proportion, founded on deep study of correct form, 
 exercised an irresistible power in moulding national taste 
 and inclination to cling to the true and real, and to aban- 
 don the stiff archaism of the past which was hollow, arti- 
 ficial, ignorant, and unreal. Following on in point of 
 time, the Parthian Arsacids represented monarchs and 
 personages, animals, and other designs, with Pehlvi 
 inscriptions on their seals. Then came the Sassanians, 
 from about the third to the seventh century of the 
 Christian era, and during the era of their rule, spherical 
 forms with pierced holes are found, gradually yielding 
 to the flat oval plaque, or ring-stone, which may have 
 been introduced by contact with the Romans. Such 
 stones remain to this day in numerous instances. They 
 are garnets, almandines, lapis-lazuli of a beautiful celestial 
 blue, amethysts, niccoli, and carnelians. Their sizes 
 vary, and their surfaces are flat, convex, or concave. The 
 Indo-Scythic period, about the fifth and sixth centuries 
 of our era, used these styles and materials, convex on the 
 one side and flat on the other ; and the Roman style of 
 the flat oval stone was concurrently in use. There is a 
 record of a very interesting niccolo, with the representa- 
 tion of Bahram Kerman, Shah or Emperor of Caramania, 
 A.D. 389, trampling upon a vanquished Roman legionary, 
 an idea evidently derived from the older prototypes of the 
 Asiatic monarch subduing the lion, to which the attention 
 of the reader has already been drawn. 
 
 The decadence of this particular form of seal takes 
 the attention in examining the scarabs of Palestine and 
 Egypt, where, in late times, Hebraeo-Phoenician art is 
 distinctly inferior to the older Assyrian specimens. The 
 stones used are in many instances of softer grain, the 
 devices and designs are for the most part inscriptions or 
 ornamental patterns ; and even as far to the west as 
 Sardinia the sepulchres have yielded to explorers many 
 scarabs of a soft green chlorite stone. The fashion for 
 14 
 
PLATE /// 
 
 
 
 
 
 ;;^^: 
 
 
 ,^1 -'isi!&;-'J> 
 
 i£-'^ 
 
 
 /'■ -■*■ 
 
 £::k^^ 
 
 
 15 
 
 ANCIENT GEMS IN MEDI/EVAL SETTINGS 
 
THE EARLIEST SEALS 
 
 these objects eventually passed to Etruria, where the 
 period of its flourishing ranged from the third to the 
 sixth century B.C. They appear to have been copied 
 from Phoenician, or Egyptian, examples, but they are 
 incomplete, or defective in carving ; the subjects on the 
 seal surface pseudo-archaic, in deep intaglio, and the 
 motifs are derived from the pantheistic mythology of the 
 Greeks. Heroology supplies the most favourite designs : 
 the adventures of Hercules, Peleus, Tydeus, Perseus, 
 Paris, and others are often met with. Sometimes 
 Etruscan names have been added to the figures of the 
 several heroes. Like the other phases of native Etruscan 
 art, the fall of the Etruscans marks the period when 
 these objects give way to the signet, engraved on a flat 
 slip of precious stone as used by the Greeks and Romans. 
 With regard to the earliest Greek seals, it is not 
 improbable that they belonged to, and were inspired by, 
 the taste for the scarabaeoid. Those, however, which 
 have been found in the Isles of the Grecian archipelago, 
 and on the mainland, belong to a more perfect and, 
 therefore, later age. It has been laid down by writers on 
 these subjects, that it is difficult to point to examples of 
 archaic engraved stone seals, which would exhibit a pure 
 Greek workmanship ; but there are some which possess 
 details, as, for instance, the Etruscan bordure, which 
 presume an Etruscan and Greek intercourse. The en- 
 graved seals of Greece have generally been attributed to 
 no more remote a period than the fourth century before 
 our era. These are archaic or transitional. Their 
 designs possess the stiff, unnatural drawing which charac- 
 terises that epoch. The art, however, progresses ; greater 
 naturalness and rest, with a sense of balance and dignity, 
 mark the representations, as indeed we should so expect, 
 at the hands of a cultured people whose coinage indicates 
 a power of the highest excellence in dealing gracefully 
 with hard materials. The drawing appears to be more 
 refined, the limited area is well filled with accessories set 
 about the central imposing figure, which is to mark the 
 
 15 
 
SEALS 
 
 object and purpose of its making. These subjects consist 
 of one or two principal personages, belonging to the 
 mythological, but never to the historical, world; there are 
 no inscriptions, nor names of owners, divinities, or artists. 
 With little change, the style continues until the rise of 
 Alexander the Great. A large variety of materials was 
 brought into use ; and it is not improbable that the traffic 
 in stones suitable as mediums for the seal engraver of 
 ancient Greece, was a large one, and quite distinct 
 from the callings of the artist and the engraver. Among 
 other precious stones, there occur the sard and sardonyx, 
 the carnelian, the hyacinthus, garnets, chalcedony of the 
 sapphirine and other varieties, agates, emeralds, beryls, 
 and numerous other mineral crystals possessing the 
 beautiful qualities of transparency, translucency, and 
 flashing of lights from reflecting surfaces of cleavage. 
 It is also worthy of note, that, in some cases at least, 
 each gem had its appropriate application — for example, the 
 beryl for marine subjects has been mentioned by writers. 
 The history of Greek seals of the classical period is 
 long and intricate. The sixth century before Christ 
 appears to be the earliest of which any definite knowledge 
 is possessed. The signet of the Samian Polycrates, B.C. 
 548, had an amethyst or sardonyx stone engraved with 
 the figure of a lyre by the Samian artist Theodorus. 
 Signets are mentioned by Pausanias, and at the time of 
 the Peloponnesian wars this class of seal was not un- 
 common. But the engraved seal formed one of the 
 symbols of supreme power and royal authority, an idea 
 resident in the possession of the seal not wholly separated 
 from the Royal Seal in these modern days. Alexander 
 is said to have used that of Darius, and to have given 
 his own seal to Perdiccas. Artists, and subjects from 
 their hands, have been recorded by Greek writers, and 
 the beautiful specimens which belong to the Greek seal 
 engraver and now adorn our museums and private 
 collections are exceedingly numerous. Their value has 
 rapidly risen, and a good Greek gem, or precious stone 
 16 
 
THE EARLIEST SEALS 
 
 engraved in intaglio with an attractive subject, that could 
 have been bought forty years ago for a modest sum, 
 would now be keenly sought for at a hundred times 
 the price. 
 
 Whence the Romans obtained a knowledge of the seal 
 art, is not quite certainly established. Possibly those 
 are right who point to the Sabines ; at any rate, the use of 
 engraved stone seals rapidly became popular, both for 
 official and private uses, and more than one notable 
 personage is known to have possessed such objects. In 
 fact a rage for collecting fine examples sprang up, and 
 the collections thus formed, called dactyliothecce or boxes 
 of rings, may be dated from the close of the Roman 
 Republic. Scaurus (son of Sulla, but also called stepson 
 of Scylla) was one of the first, according to Pliny, who 
 made such a collection, and the great Julius Caesar 
 bestowed no less than six, it is said, upon the Treasury 
 of the Temple of Venus Genetrix. Pompey is recorded 
 to have conveyed to the city of Rome, in b.c. 6i, 
 among his other spoils, the dactyliotheca of Mithridates, 
 and thereby created a craze for the collection of such 
 things. To pass to mediaeval times, the virtuoso, 
 Lorenzo dei Medici, formed a valuable cabinet of antique 
 ring seals, chiefly for the sake of the precious stones 
 finely engraved and the gems of great price. It is well 
 known that the Louvre, the British Museum, and 
 numerous collections of classical antiquities in London, 
 Paris, Vienna, Berlin, and other continental cities possess 
 fine series of engraved intaglio seal stones of the ancient 
 world. Some collectors have turned their attention to 
 the acquisition of these antique seals and seal rings, but 
 more for the sake of the comparative interest of the 
 design, than for the intrinsic value of the precious metals 
 and stones of which they consist. The late Mr. Waterton 
 the elder had, in this way, a fine collection of mediaeval 
 ring seals, including several Papal rings, but it has been 
 dispersed, and many examples from it are now in the 
 South Kensington Museum. The late Mr. Drury 
 B 17 
 
SEALS 
 
 Fortnum, in like manner, possessed a grand series of 
 such objects which has been the subject of exhibitions 
 and brochures. This latter collection embraced several 
 ring seals of the early Christian period, and there are 
 good accounts of some seals of the period in Smith and 
 Cheetham's Dictionary of Christian Antiquities and 
 other kindred works. So also, the collection of the late 
 Sir Augustus W. Franks, keeper of the Mediaeval 
 Antiquities of the British Museum and a prominent 
 archaeologist, included many valuable ring seals, and Sir 
 John Evans, a veteran member of the Society of 
 Antiquaries, possesses a very extensive series of rings 
 that have served for the purpose of sealing. 
 
 At a relatively late period of the Graeco-Roman era, 
 during the dynastic rule of the Ptolemies, side by side 
 with the widely spread taste for intaglio seals, there 
 supervened the then new art of cutting in relief or 
 cama'ieu. In this respect it has been found, that the 
 sardonyx, and its varieties, afforded the best scope for 
 the artist's work, on account of its successive layers, or 
 striations, of different coloured veining, but these objects 
 of art were so very rarely used as seals, on account of the 
 fact that the impressions which they would make would 
 be difficult of decipherment, that they may be dismissed 
 from notice in this work. 
 
 The Roman or Italian seal stones of the classical 
 period carry on, as would be natural, the Greek styles, 
 and, indeed, many must be attributed to the handiwork 
 of Greek artists employed, with more or less freedom 
 from bondage, by their Roman masters. The repre- 
 sentation of portraiture, although still far from perfect, 
 made great strides towards the achievement of a result 
 which would satisfy the imperative demands of the 
 anatomist, during the Empire epoch : hence these stone 
 seals are rich with busts of Divinities, Emperors, 
 Personages of the Imperial Family, Philosophers, 
 Generals, and prominent Citizens of the Empire. A 
 vast roll of subjects might be easily drawn up, as found 
 i8 
 
THE EARLIEST SEALS 
 
 upon seal rings and gem seals, including religious 
 ceremonies and sacrificial rites, constellations, gods, and 
 lesser divinities, personifications of abstract ideas, non- 
 descript creatures of the chimaera and gryllus types, 
 masks, and comic and tragic figures, erotic and phallic 
 subjects, and so forth. As the Roman Empire tottered 
 to its fall, so the fine execution, which had marked the 
 more virile age of the conquerors of the world, yielded to 
 coarser and ruder execution of seal designs ; mere out- 
 line in some cases, where a previous age would have 
 chosen to spend time and intellect on the production of 
 a fine work. By and bye. Christian symbolism is found 
 on seals, and the deities of paganism discarded, bronze 
 and other metals supersede the hard and precious stones, 
 or the seal-makers are content to set old engraved gem 
 seals in new metal settings, and in this wise the classic 
 period of engraved seals dwindles away before the dawn 
 of mediaevalism. 
 
 19 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE ART OF SEALS- 
 STUDY OF THE SEALS OF ENGLAND 
 
 IT is somewhat surprising that the history of the art 
 which has been developed by the seal or matrix 
 has never yet been taken in hand by any one 
 sufficiently experienced in the study of these relics, to 
 be able to treat the subject comprehensively. The 
 collection of these beautiful objects, which occur in gold, 
 silver, brass, latten, and other metals, wood, stone, ivory, 
 bone, crystal, glass, and many precious gem and mineral 
 substances, has always been an attractive task, and large 
 values have been set upon, and paid for, especially fine 
 examples of seals and stamps. The impressions in wax 
 and compounds in which wax forms the principal 
 ingredient, plaster of Paris, leather, glass, gutta-percha, 
 and such like materials possessing the softness and 
 durability requisite for a good and sharp impression, 
 from the interest which they always evoke in the mind 
 of the student, make a prominent feature in most anti- 
 quarian collections, but collectors have never been able 
 to obtain a succinct account of the styles and varieties of 
 the seals which they have acquired. And this is true, 
 notwithstanding the lapse of many hundred years since 
 the designer of seal devices, and the engraver of so many 
 choice materials, had reached a culminating point in the 
 excellence of their technique. To study seals, the con- 
 noisseur was compelled to obtain his historical and art 
 knowledge, as best he might, from a few loosely written 
 and often inaccurate monographs of the seventeenth and 
 eighteenth centuries, from tracts and brochures introduced 
 20 
 
SOURCE OF STUDY OF SEALS 
 
 from time to time into the journals and records of pro- 
 ceedings of archaeological associations and societies, from 
 catalogues of museums and muniment rooms, or from 
 accidental notices and paragraphs inserted into county- 
 histories, genealogies of old or noble families, and other 
 works dealing with heraldry, biography, topography, 
 coinages, and the miscellaneous fine arts of mediaeval 
 times. The seal, whether matrix or impression, as a 
 specimen of antiquity, of art, or of scientific interest, 
 which has played no unimportant part in the cultured 
 progress of the world, still awaits its historian ; and 
 the treatment of so vast a number of varieties of seals 
 known to those who give attention to them, can only 
 now be taken in hand in a general and comprehensive 
 way. The collector must, perforce, study for himself the 
 historical allusions, the emblematology and imagery, the 
 hagiology, the biographical and topographical episodes, 
 and the other peculiarities and idiosyncrasies of the 
 several seals in which he takes an interest. 
 
 It is no new thing to declare, that the importance 
 of seals does not yield to the importance of any other 
 object of past value. Edifices, ruins, books, manuscripts, 
 sculpture, and the multifarious apparatus of the hearth 
 and of the sepulchre, do, indeed, claim a high place in 
 our minds, by reason of the teaching power which they 
 possess, and which they are capable of imparting to 
 those whose tastes and inclinations lead them to make 
 researches for their elucidation and explanation. Explora- 
 tion, comparison, and contrast, all exert influence on the 
 student ; but the seal, portable, abounding in detail, not 
 difficult of acquisition, nor hard to read if we set about 
 deciphering the story it has to tell, practically within the 
 reach of every one of us, takes us back, as we look upon 
 it, to the very time of its making, and sets us, as it were, 
 face to face with the actual owner of the relic, and in the 
 language of the classical author, we may even fancy that 
 we are living in the very times illustrated by the objects 
 we are examining. 
 
 21 
 
SEALS 
 
 The importance of a careful study of English seals 
 by those who desire to obtain a good general knowledge 
 of the antiquities of the land is unquestionably great. 
 Seals are a prominent class of remains, and they possess 
 many characteristics which should make them stand well 
 in front of other relics. They are endued with a capa- 
 bility of casting an independent and original light upon 
 many arts and sciences of old. They illustrate the 
 manners and customs of the epochs which they help to 
 beautify, and this light is afforded by few other means 
 so exhaustively and so pleasantly. The side-paths of 
 history are often made clear by seals. Heraldry, genealogy, 
 pedigrees, and other literary quests are often rendered 
 more easy by the occurrence of a seal. To the artist, the 
 seal is an indispensable object. Ornamental design, 
 architectural details, symbolism, and the shapes, devices, 
 forms, and styles, which successively came into vogue 
 and fell into disuse with our ancestors, are one and all 
 illustrated by seals far better than by any other class of 
 antiquarian relics. 
 
 The study of English seals naturally must commence i 
 
 with a consideration of the Great Seal, or Seal of I 
 
 Majesty, employed by the Sovereign for the ratification 
 of his public acts and edicts. The specimens which have 
 been preserved, with few unimportant exceptions a 
 perfect series, represent, in the same way that the 
 coinage does, an unbroken chain of beautiful relics, 
 passing along the times for nearly a thousand years, 
 and offering to view, as the several specimens rise into 
 use and give way to their successors, aspects of political 
 and artistic history, progress of the appreciation of what 
 is beautiful and pleasing, and in a word, a microcosm of 
 the adaptability of culture to events, and a fixing of 
 temporary events by stamping a self-evident allusion to 
 them by the design engraved on the matrix. The class 
 of seals to which the Great Seal of England belongs is 
 derived from the Byzantine or Greek invention, which 
 was an improvement on the earlier stamp or slab of 
 
 22 
 
GREAT SEALS OF ENGLAND 
 
 which notice has already been given. As it was found 
 necessary, or useful, that the Sovereign's seal, like his 
 coins, should have two sides, an obverse, or principal 
 side, and a reverse, or subordinate one, a kind of hinged 
 tool, resembling in principle a pair of snuffers, was 
 made, having two flat circular faces, one on each arm, 
 and each was engraved with a monogram, a name, or a 
 device. The use consisted in placing a lump of wax on 
 the face of the document, which process was styled en 
 placard, or in passing a cord, or thong, through the 
 material on which the document was written, such as 
 papyrus, leather, or parchment ; the cord was then laid 
 between two thin disks, or plates, of gold, silver, or 
 lead, somewhat thicker than foil, and these, being laid 
 together, were placed between the faces of the instrument 
 which was then pinched up, by which means the thong 
 or cord was secured, and the soft metal received the 
 impression and could not be tampered with without 
 showing signs of having been touched. 
 
 One of the earliest royal seals of our country belongs to 
 this class. It is the leaden seal, called a bulla, of Coenwulf, 
 King of the Mercians about the year 800 or 810. It is a 
 genuine relic of the time of the great Saxon Heptarchy. 
 It is said to have been brought from Italy, and passed 
 into the possession of the Trustees of the British 
 Museum in 1847. Some writers have seen, in this, a 
 probable intention by that king to imitate the con- 
 tinental, or foreign, usage, when ratifying a grant made 
 to some foreign institution or house of religion. The 
 obverse bears a small cross which stands for sigillum, 
 or crux, followed by the king's name, ' coenvvulfi 
 REGIS,' around, and thus intended to read 'The Cross 
 or Seal of King Coenwulf.' The reverse has a small 
 cross of the kind sometimes called a cross moline, flanged 
 at the extremities. It is to be remarked that this same 
 kind of ornamental cross occurs on the few examples of 
 Coenwulf s coins which are now extant. Notwithstand- 
 ing the occurrence of this seal, or bulla, with so impor- 
 
 23 
 
SEALS 
 
 tant an owner as a king, who had been influenced in his 
 choice of form by the kind used by early Popes and 
 throughout the Byzantine Empire, the style does not 
 seem to have attracted later English monarchs. It was 
 favoured by the nobility of Southern France, Spain, and 
 Sicily, but is rarely found in English use. The Golden 
 Bulla of King Henry viii., attached to the treaty which 
 that ruler made with Francis i., King of France, at the 
 Field of the Cloth of Gold, which took place from the 
 7th to the 25th June 1520, and again in 1527, is the only 
 instance when the custom was revived, and the matrices 
 of all other royal seals of England were made in two 
 stamps or sides, each with its own design, brought 
 together, and held in position by means of studs, or 
 lugs, which steadied these sides, while the soft wax, 
 which was to receive the impression, was passed or 
 poured between them. But there are two seals — they 
 cannot be rightly called Great Seals, they should rather 
 be considered as signets or ring seals — of other two 
 Pre-Norman sovereigns, viz. Offa, King of the Mercians 
 in 790, and Eadgar, King of the English in 960, which 
 are still extant among us. It is right to say that there 
 are those who look on these with some degree of sus- 
 picion. These are oval and bear impressions of portraits, 
 busts in profile, after the Carlovingian style, clearly 
 derived from classical prototypes, and resembling the 
 contemporary seals of Prankish and German monarchs. 
 If they are genuine, they were probably engraved on 
 precious stones, or gems, after the Greek, Byzantine, or 
 Roman manner, and set in gold as rings. These stand 
 apart, and, like the seal of Coenwulf, exerted no influence 
 on the succeeding art of English seals. 
 
 The true series of Great Seals of English monarchs 
 commences with those of Edward the Confessor, 1043 
 to 1066. It has not been satisfactorily ascertained how 
 many types of seals were in use during the Confessor's 
 reign. Up to a comparatively recent time, one only was 
 recorded, but researches, conducted among the seals and 
 24 
 
EDWARD THE CONFESSOR 
 
 documents of the king, have shown, that at least two 
 other types, differing only in small details from the 
 better-known type, must be recognised. Here again, 
 the forgeries that were so rife among the monastic and 
 ecclesiastical institutions in the middle ages, must be 
 taken into account before we pin our belief absolutely on 
 the genuineness of all Edward's seals. It is believed 
 that there were three chancellors, or officers correspond- 
 ing to this rank, in the king's court. They were Leofric, 
 Wulfwi, and Reinbald. Probably they were entrusted 
 with the keeping of the king's seal, and it may be that 
 each of these personages in his turn had a new seal, after 
 the fashion which obtained in later ages ; but this is only 
 a conjecture, for the royal records of those far-off days 
 are no longer extant, even if they ever existed at all. 
 
 The inspection of this seal affords much gratification 
 to the student, who is now standing at the threshold 
 of British Sigillography. He may observe the chastely 
 simple and archaic style of design, the balance of interest, 
 the rest and grace, which all ancient fine art possesses. 
 Nothing is redundant, and although, no doubt, there is 
 a want of proportion in some places, the stern simplicity 
 of the figuring is pleasing to the eye. Much is realistic, 
 and much is conventional. It is the happy blending of 
 the one with the other, that produces the picture which 
 this seal puts before us. How far all this is to be 
 attributed to native talent, and how far foreign influences 
 have lent their aid, we may never know. It is well 
 known that the Confessor, an enlightened and pious 
 sovereign, had lived abroad, and there imbibed the love 
 of foreign manners. He had opportunity of noticing the 
 diplomatic usages of the Prankish and Carlovingian 
 Courts, which imitated their Roman and Italian fore- 
 runners. He brought back with him to the simpler 
 fashion of his insular court some of this liking, and it is 
 to him that the sovereigns of the country owe the intro- 
 duction of the Royal Seal, which was adopted without 
 intermission throughout successive ages and still exists 
 
 25 
 
SEALS 
 
 to-day, without a break in the continuity of its employ- 
 ment. Anglo-Saxon sovereigns had not looked on the 
 seal as a necessary adjunct to their documents. Their 
 chancellors, or royal scribes, used the word sigillum in 
 another sense, that of the small cross which was set 
 before the names of the King, the Queen Consort, and 
 the Dignitaries, whether of Church or State, whose names 
 'subscribed,' that is, ratified, the document at the foot 
 of which they were added ; and the solitary occurrence 
 of the charters of Offa and Eadgar, granted in favour of 
 a foreign monastery, and sealed with a signet, took this 
 form in imitation of or in deference to a continental 
 taste, always presuming that they are genuine instances 
 of such work. 
 
 It will not be denied that Edward the Confessor's Great 
 Seals demonstrate foreign influence, and compare favour- 
 ably in many respects with the coeval seals of European 
 monarchs ; yet we must concede that there is a something 
 of native grace, which is also conspicuous. On the 
 obverse is delineated the king, clad in his robes of royal 
 dignity, and seated on a throne of typical Anglo-Saxon 
 architecture. He holds in the right hand the sceptre of 
 power, in the left hand the orb, or so-called mound — 
 mundtts — to represent terrestrial sway ; the two symbols 
 taken together are to signify actual rule of the king over 
 the area of his kingdom. In this respect, all the effigies 
 of succeeding monarchs, as seen on their seals, bear these 
 two concomitant emblems, which eloquently point to the 
 paramount authority of the ruler over the land of his rule. 
 Every detail in a seal bears a meaning. Some of them 
 are self-evident, as here ; others require a good knowledge 
 of many things before we can interpret them aright. Is 
 this effigy a true iconic portrait of our first king, or is it 
 a merely conventional representation of a king without 
 reference to the personal characteristics which distin- 
 guished him from other royal men ? The pointed beard, 
 the thin moustache, the sloping shoulder, and long thin 
 leg, seem to declare that we have here, in all probability, 
 26 
 
 ' 
 
EDWARD THE CONFESSOR 
 
 a true personal portrait, so far as the infantine state of 
 artistic portraiture then would allow the artist to go, of 
 the Confessor himself, and not a lifeless figure of human 
 form. The inscription around this interesting design 
 sets forth the title of the owner, who calls himself the 
 Basileus Anglorum, or Emperor of the English. In 
 later seals, the term Basileus is not used. The commoner 
 title Rex, that is, king, is always employed. But this 
 word Basileus tells us more than is apparent at first. It 
 recalls the use of the word in Anglo-Saxon diplomatics 
 many years previous to the accession of the Confessor to 
 the insular throne, and shows that the word is no new- 
 fangled one engendered in the brain of the seal engraver. 
 A Basiletts had Reges, or kings, and Regttli, or kinglets, 
 under his domination, and the word was, therefore, ap- 
 propriately used in those times, when the coherence of 
 the many constituent parts of the kingdom was very far 
 from being firmly established. Basileus also takes us 
 back to a Byzantine origin for some at least of the fancies 
 of the seal. The bullce of the Emperors of the East 
 perpetuate this title, and it has been shown that the 
 assumption of the title of Empress by her late Majesty 
 Queen Victoria, in relation to the foreign and Oriental 
 possessions subordinate to the rule of Great Britain, was 
 by no means without precedent both in Anglo-Saxon and 
 mediaeval days. At the time of the adoption there were 
 some who looked on it as a rash and useless innovation : 
 it is but the reassertion of, and return to, a very ancient 
 designation of title which had been used by the Queen's 
 predecessors many hundred years before her era. This, 
 therefore, is an instance where the legend of a seal stamps 
 that which was among some a question of vexed argu- 
 ment with the absolute assurance that it is an archaeo- 
 logical fact. 
 
 On the reverse of the Confessor's seal is seen 
 the Emperor-king seated, as before, on his throne, 
 and in much the same attitude as on the other side. 
 But here he holds other emblems of kingly use: the 
 
 27 
 
SEALS 
 
 sceptre surmounted by the dove of peace and mercy on 
 the one hand, and the sword of might and justice in the 
 other. These symbols point to the king as domestic 
 governor within his own boundary : dispensing on the 
 one hand justice and right rule, on the other not slow 
 to mercy, and loving and being loved by his subjects. 
 The whole aspect of the seal indicates simpleness of idea, 
 coupled with the power of the draughtsman to produce, 
 as no tyro would have been able to do, the balance 
 beautifully maintained in these two representations. If 
 we turn to the specimens, which we still have, of Anglo- 
 Saxon outline drawings, of which there are many very 
 fine ones in our public libraries, it becomes perfectly clear 
 that the artist of the time of the Confessor was entitled 
 to be looked on as a man of considerable ability, consum- 
 mate taste, and technically capable of much that now 
 marks the highest conception of representative talent. 
 Of the many examples of the seal, which must have been 
 extant at one time, very few still survive. Scarcely a 
 dozen examples could be numbered, if all were counted 
 up, but this is not a poor show of such frail cakes of 
 wax, ill adapted to withstand the wear and tear of cen- 1 
 
 turies, and the neglect which long was meted out to all 
 classes of records. Edward's successor, the ill-fated 
 Harold, is stated by one historian to have had a seal, or 
 perhaps it would be more correct to say that a seal was 
 attributed to him, not unlike that of the Confessor in 
 respect of size, type, and general resemblance, but no 
 examples have ever been met with, nor can we say that 
 this king had much leisure to devote to the consideration 
 of a seal. The short period of his rule, if ever he ruled 
 at all in the true sense of the word, was occupied more 
 with the sword of the soldier than with the pen of the 
 scribe, more with the accoutrements and engines of war, 
 than the seal of the diplomatist and the lawgiver. 
 
 William i., the 'Conqueror,' however, must be credited 
 with, at least, two different types of a Great Seal, although 
 they differ from each other so insignificantly that we may 
 28 
 
WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR 
 
 consider them to be in all probability copies or nearly 
 copies the one of the other. The art shown in the one, 
 shines forth also in the other. It is, of course, early 
 Norman, but not even that at its best. Here we meet 
 for the first time with the eqtiestrian type, where the ruler 
 is riding on a warhorse, that is, in his military capacity, 
 as Duke or leader of armies. The king, as king in royal 
 majesty, seated on his throne, and accompanied with the 
 pomp and panoply of sword, orb, and crown, is put on the 
 reverse, perhaps to show that while William was Duke of 
 Normandy by inheritance and due course of succession, 
 his acquisition of the Kingdom of England was, to some 
 extent, subsidiary and accidental. But be this as it may, 
 the apparent anomaly in the seals of this king, viz. that 
 of placing the ducal effigy in a more honourable position 
 than the kingly figure, must be regarded as beyond ques- 
 tion, because the hexameter distich or poem of two lines 
 of verse in the legend or inscription begins on the ducal 
 side, and ends on the side of the royal effigy. The Latin 
 legend is : — 
 
 Obverse. + hoc normannorum willelmum nosce 
 
 PATRONUM SI 
 
 Reverse. + hoc anglis regem signo fatearis 
 
 EUNDEM. 
 
 Quaint, bungling, and awkwardly constructed as this 
 distich is, — probably the result of much cogitation on the 
 part of its author — its signification is open to no doubt. 
 In English it means : — 
 
 * By this sign + know thou that William is the Patron 
 ( = Duke) of the Normans ; if | by this other + sign thou 
 dost confess that the same is King of the English.' 
 
 The little word si at the end of the first line (on the 
 obverse) governs the subjunctive verb fatearis which 
 occurs on the reverse, and has been the innocent cause of 
 much misapprehension on the part of writers on seals 
 
 29 
 
SEALS 
 
 who inadvertently, or carelessly, explained it as an 
 abbreviation for sigillo, and read it with hoc, as hoc sigillo. 
 We will not attempt to explain how their ideas of Latin 
 grammar proposed to deal with the subjunctive verb in 
 the second line, which indeed these writers usually took 
 to be the first of the two. King William's seal, crude as 
 it is, and lacking the elegance which is so apparent in 
 later seals of English kings, is of much interest in this 
 respect, that here begins a link between England and 
 France, which, with but few and very temporary inter- 
 ruptions, endured right down to the close of the eighteenth 
 century, when George in. deleted the obnoxious style of 
 ' King of France ' from his seals and coinage, as will be 
 shown further on. Here again we may ask as to the 
 amount of portraiture which William i.'s seals exhibit. 
 Some see here true representations of the personal charac- 
 teristics of this king. It may be so, but it must be 
 for ever conjectural, for no reliable portraiture of the king 
 is now extant, and the tapestry illustrations of the 
 period can have no reliance placed on them as repre- 
 senting individual and personal appearances. His suc- 
 cessor, the unlucky William Rufus, who occupies only a 
 short space in the history of the land, made some, but 
 very little, improvement on the archaisms which show 
 themselves on the seals of his father. For what beauty are 
 we to find in the distorted figures of kings and horses, 
 with the adjuncts of bridles and pectoralia or breast- 
 bands, shields of kite shape, shirts of mail, conical 
 helmets and headgear, lance-flags and pennons and the 
 miscellaneous apparatus of the Norman warrior, each 
 detail of which is more or less out of harmony with the 
 canons of correct drawing? What costume is shown is 
 scanty and confused ; there seems to be an underdress 
 with close-fitting sleeves, and an ample mantle or cloak, 
 much the same, in fact, as the dress which is illustrated 
 in the Bayeux tapestry, with which it agrees in the main. 
 It should be noted by those who study the seals of the 
 two Williams, that the son, probably out of a desire to 
 30 
 
PLATE IV 
 
 "X- 
 
 '^. 
 
 
 KING WILLIAM II, CALLED RUFUS 
 
WILLIAM IL: HENRY L 
 
 avoid confusion between the seal of his father and himself 
 in after ages, when the types which they respectively 
 used would not be always remembered, places on each 
 side of the throne on which he is set a small circular 
 plaque or roundel, charged with a sixfoil, or ornamental 
 rosette of six leaves, somewhat after the style of what 
 was afterwards known as a sixfoil rose en soleil. This is 
 probably the earliest royal badge which is known to 
 heraldry. Its form still remains, and is found recurring 
 continually in Norman sculptures, and, indeed, its 
 presence there is often a valuable aid toward the 
 discovery of the true age of an architectural or fine art 
 relic of this period. William ii.'s seal, of which only one 
 type has been noted, introduces the formula Dei Gratia 
 on the legend. This has been kept in use with rare 
 exception, on the coinage and seals of our sovereigns, 
 down to the present day, but few who read them now on 
 their money can point to William ii. as the first king 
 who accepted the words for his seal. It is curious that 
 several of the later historians of England have figured 
 seals for William ii. which never existed, or at any rate 
 are no longer extant. It is not improbable, that these 
 authors have drawn on their imagination in their en- 
 deavour to complete the imperfect designs of broken 
 seals which they had met with. 
 
 Henry i., a great monarch of many virtues, may be 
 safely credited with no less than four different Great Seals, 
 and the old writer, Sandford, whose work deserves much 
 more study than is usually given to it, illustrates a 
 doubtful fifth, to which the above remarks may well be 
 applied. Here, again, the archaism of the two preceding 
 kings still lingers. We see the chin-straps, the sword of 
 justice, the mound, or orb, with its long cross, symbolising 
 Christianity and Religion, the warhorse in his proud 
 step, the armoured shirt, the conical helmet, the lance- 
 flag, the kite-shaped shield, the ornamental pectorale on 
 the horse's breast, and other details, which are simply 
 reproductions of those which have done duty on the seals 
 
 31 
 
SEALS 
 
 of his predecessors, — all eminently reminiscent of the age 
 to which they belong. Hence these seals afford most 
 valuable evidence regarding the nature of armour, both 
 for man and horse, which was in fashion in the early 
 Norman period. Writers on the history of this armour, 
 both foreign and English literati of recognised merit, 
 have not been slow to examine, and dwell upon, the 
 minutice of all these paraphernalia. By means of these 
 representations, many a doubtful point of antiquity and 
 use has been made clear. Henry i. does not appear to 
 have assumed the title of Duke of the Normans on all 
 his seals. On one of them the title certainly occurs, and 
 it has been explained by the consideration that after the 
 celebrated Battle of Tinchebrai, in 1106, the elder brother 
 of the king, Robert, Duke of Normandy, was taken 
 prisoner, and Henry assumed the title borne up to that 
 time by the ill-starred Robert, who languished out his life 
 in misery and disgrace. 
 
 To Henry i. succeeded the military genius Stephen, 
 of whom two types of Great Seal have been preserved. 
 They are thought to be very nearly as primitive as those 
 which had marked the epochs of his predecessors, with 
 some amount of variation in minute points of detail. 
 The art certainly demonstrates very little improvement. 
 It is bizarre and immature, with very mediocre excellence 
 either of work or drawing with which to recommend 
 itself to the artist ; but, nevertheless, we may learn 
 something from it. The occurrence of the badge in 
 William ii.'s seal has been mentioned : in Stephen's 
 second seal we find another badge ; a star, or estoile as 
 heralds love to call it, of seven rays, or points, is intro- 
 duced between the head of the king and the sword of 
 justice which he holds up in his right hand. The* regnal 
 period of Stephen was divided by the short period when 
 Mathildis or Maud, Empress of Germany or Queen of 
 the Romans, held the royal reins of power in the land, 
 between 1141 and 1143. The seal of this royal lady, as 
 well as the seals of other Norman kings of England, have 
 32 
 
THE EMPRESS MATHILDIS 
 
 all formed the subjects of separate treatises in Journals of 
 Archaeological Societies, and it has been suggested that 
 the second moiety of Stephen's reign may possibly mark 
 the use of the second type of his seal, but i\iQ fasti of the 
 twelfth century are, in many years, unsatisfactory, and 
 the age of Stephen, with his numerous conflicts, still 
 requires to have its chronology unravelled and rectified, 
 
 Mathildis, the daughter of Henry i., and wife of 
 Henry v., titular King of the Romans (an expression 
 which we may here take as equivalent to ' Emperor of 
 Germany,' but not to ' German Emperor '), the undoubted 
 heir to the throne of England, if the contested principle 
 of female succession be admitted, made every possible 
 endeavour to obtain possession of her birthright, the 
 English throne, which those of her adherence, and they 
 were many, claimed for her heritage. Her wars with 
 Stephen form the subject of many a burning line penned 
 by the chroniclers of her time. They were waged with 
 chequered successes, and the fortune of the day swayed 
 now this way and now that for many a year, while the 
 fields of the midland and southern counties were reddened 
 with the blood of the opposed combatants. Their con- 
 tinual occurrence left the empress-queen but little time 
 to have thought for a seal to signalise her temporary 
 recovery of the kingdom, although she was crowned 
 Queen of England at Winchester, on the 3rd of March 
 1 141, by Bernard, the papal legate and Bishop of 
 St. Davids, assisted by a goodly array of prelates and 
 barons. This coronation entitles Mathildis to a place 
 on the list of England's sovereigns, but there are few 
 historical writers who have been sufficiently accurate to 
 assign her a place of this dignity. The want, or absence, 
 of a Great Seal for this queen accounts for her using the 
 seal which she possessed as German consort royal. Queen 
 of the Romans, to which her marriage had given her 
 right. Few charters, or public documents, have been pre- 
 served of this historical personage. They are issued from 
 expressed various English and foreign places, after the 
 
 c 33 
 
SEALS 
 
 method in use at the time, but like that method also, are 
 unfortunately wanting in expressed chronology, and it is 
 by their intrinsic references, and by the names of the 
 personages which they contain, that we can alone fix the 
 exact period of their issue. It is, however, known that 
 she employed three several styles of dignity, whereby she 
 was designated as the * Empress daughter of King 
 Henry,' the same with addition of * Lady of the English,' 
 and after the coronation at Winchester in the year above- 
 mentioned the title of ' Queen ' was substituted for ' Lady.' 
 The design shows the Empress on a throne, after the 
 early German fashion, and calls for no special remarks. 
 Very few of these seals remain, and they are indistinct 
 and badly preserved. 
 
 Henry ii., her successor, employed two genuine 
 seals, and there are forgeries of seals which have been 
 placed to his account. But close inspection condemns 
 them. Here the Norman art of the seal-maker, poor 
 as it ever was, appears to be sadly fallen. The design 
 is weak, the drawing incorrect, the execution inferior 
 to all that has gone before. Even the archaic seals 
 of the earlier part of the century were attractive in 
 comparison with these. It was a period of military 
 activity, and arts and sciences were relegated to neglect 
 and oblivion. Yet even here a careful examination of 
 the king's second seal reveals a peculiarity which, while 
 small in itself and easily overlooked, gave really the first 
 slight indication that the period of Gothic art was about 
 to supervene upon the now effete styles known as Byzan- 
 tine and Norman. Hitherto the kind of letter used in 
 the legends or inscriptions on Royal Seals had been that 
 known as the Roman capital, but here the H in the 
 king's name, at the beginning of the legend, takes the 
 Gothic or Lombardic form, while all the rest of the 
 lettering still retains the Roman capital letter. This 
 was, it is true, but a minute and apparently insignificant 
 matter, but it pointed the hand of time unmistakably to 
 the impending onrush of Gothic art, which was to oust 
 34 
 
HENRY II. : RICHARD I. 
 
 Byzantine art from its proud and almost universal pre- 
 eminence. On his seals, Henry calls himself ' King of the 
 English, Duke of the Normans and Aquitanians, and 
 Count of the Angevins,' titles which he had inherited 
 from his family connections. The conquest of Ireland, 
 in 1 171, does not seem to have suggested that that fact 
 should be set forth on the king's style upon the seal. 
 The unfilial conduct of his son, Henry Junior, who had 
 been crowned at Westminster in 1 170, at the early age of 
 fifteen years, and received the royal command to govern 
 the land during the absence of the king abroad, stands out 
 prominently in the history of this time. He was crowned 
 for the second time with his wife, Margaret of France, at 
 Winchester in 1173, and his seal, of which there is one 
 specimen at least still in existence, follows the motif of 
 the French royal seals of the period. Here, again, modern 
 historians are remarkable for their omission of this 
 young king's name in the fasti of England's rulers. 
 Fortunately, perhaps, the untimely death of Henry 
 Junior, during the lifetime of his father, Henry 11., 
 relieved the country of many misfortunes, as it is most 
 probable that his failure to show respect to his father 
 indicated a want of that mental character which those 
 whose lot it is to govern others ought to make manifest. 
 Richard i.'s two Great Seals are of much interest ; the 
 beginnings of a new art are foreshadowed, and although 
 the effigy of the royal personage shows much the same 
 kind of treatment as is seen in preceding seals, yet there 
 is an undoubted progress in the art, which is casting off 
 the old archaism of the eleventh and early twelfth 
 centuries, and gradually opening up the improvements of 
 the Gothic mode. Here we may observe the more natural 
 fall of the folds of drapery, the more elaborate work on 
 the throne, and the better success of the artist in delineat- 
 ing the features of the king. It has been thought that 
 there is a feeling akin to the old traditions of Romanesque 
 art in some of the parts of this seal. In the field, at the 
 sides of the king's head, are set the crescent moon enclosing 
 
 35 
 
SEALS 
 
 the sun-star or estoile, one of the most favourite emblems 
 of the seal-engraver, who introduced them into almost 
 every kind of seal in the thirteenth and fourteenth 
 centuries. The symbolism attaching to this beautiful 
 object is as varied as its use. In some seals the mean- 
 ing is evidently the open air and sky, after the fashion 
 of Greek painters and ceramists, who by making use of 
 the canon which allows the part to represent the whole, 
 would introduce a shell, a cuttlefish, or a seaweed, to 
 represent the seashore ; a bird, a rosette, or a branch, to 
 stand for a garden or a wood, and so forth. Here the 
 crescent moon and sun-star may point appropriately to 
 the heavens, the 'Grace of God,' set over and pre-eminently 
 protecting the wellbeing of the king. At each side of 
 the throne is a wavy sprig of foliage, drawn in a conven- 
 tional manner, which some of those who look for senti- 
 ment in a Great Seal interpret to mean the Plant a genista, 
 or Broom-plant, the chosen flower of the family, to which 
 has been attached, with more or less accuracy, the 
 surname Plantagenet, now generally abandoned as with- 
 out sufficient evidence of its ancient use. Whatever the 
 flower, or plant, may be, it certainly adds the charms of 
 grace and beauty to the seal, and helps to fill a back- 
 ground which would have been bare without it. Love of 
 flowers is not confined to members of royal families, but 
 we may point to the rose, the thistle, and the shamrock 
 of our own lands, the French fleur-de-lis ; and the mar- 
 guerite, the pink, the pomegranate, the primrose, the white 
 heather, and other similar plants, which have ever been 
 associated with the highest families of this and other 
 lands. Heraldry first makes its entry among us in the 
 Great Seals of Richard i. The first seal shows a bowed 
 or convex shield, only partly visible, charged with the 
 figure of a lion rampant turned to the sinister. In this 
 some old writers have concluded that if the shield had 
 been delineated fully charged, it would have shown two 
 lions rampant in fess, or two lions rampant combatant, 
 that is, face to face. It is only a conjecture, but would 
 36 
 
RICHARD I. : JOHN 
 
 not he who bore the proud sobriquet of ' Coetir de Lion' 
 * Lion-heart,' be more likely to be contented with a single 
 lion ? Noteworthy, too, in the seals, is the commingling 
 of the Lombardic forms of capital letters with the sterner 
 shapes of the Roman lapidary characters, A, E, and H 
 passing into Gothic shapes, while the rest adhere to the 
 older form. The art of heraldry was making rapid strides 
 in this reign, for the second seal, made to supply the loss 
 of the first in the sea, substitutes for the single lion in the 
 shield, the new armorial bearings of the realm of 
 England, which, from 1197 to this day, have ever been 
 associated with the reigning family — the ' three lions 
 passant guardant in pale,' that is, arranged after the 
 manner of an heraldic ' pale,' one above the other. 
 The only occasion of the disuse of these arms occurs 
 in the time of the Republic, or Commonwealth, when 
 the cross of St. George took the place of the lions, 
 just as the cross of St. Andrew took the place of the 
 Scottish lion, while the harp of Ireland retained its place 
 undisturbed. The royal crest, the lion, eventually 
 became the lion statant guardant crowned which now 
 constitutes the king's crest. 
 
 King John used a seal which indicates further 
 progress on the side of beauty and improvement in 
 drawing and grouping. His reign ushered in the new 
 thirteenth century, which yields to none in the attractive 
 grace of almost every art relic we have that can be 
 attributed to that epoch. The Latin capital letters of the 
 legend give way to further alteration into Lombardic 
 forms, and the whole seal declares the general ameliora- 
 tion of the arts which came into England from various 
 quarters at this time. Imported styles of representation, 
 the natural result of that closer acquaintance with Italy 
 and the East which had taken place, were more pleasing 
 to the fancy, and the native manner had to succumb to 
 the force of a superior power inherent in the best produc- 
 tions of the countries with which the English had come 
 into contact. King John is the first English sovereign 
 
 37 
 
SEALS 
 
 who called himself ' Lord of Ireland,' and it was not until 
 the reign of Henry viii. that this title was altered into 
 * King of Ireland,' which still forms a component part of 
 the royal style of our kings. Henry iii., in his long reign 
 of upwards of fifty years, almost monopolised the remain- 
 ing years of this century. The first of his two Great 
 Seals, which appears to have lasted for forty years, shows 
 further improvement in ornamental detail. Carved 
 foliage and heads of animals are introduced. There is 
 an almost classical folding of the drapery, like that on 
 the dress of the Greek warriors in the frieze of the 
 Parthenon. The arched neck and well-drawn mane of 
 the horse, which point to the corresponding details seen 
 on that ancient masterpiece, and the calm repose of all 
 the subsidiary parts, unite to render this seal far and away 
 the finest that had yet appeared. To this succeeds the 
 second seal, in use for the last thirteen years of the king's 
 reign, which shows progress, but has been thought by 
 some not to exhibit so much beauty, nor to claim so 
 much admiration, as the first. But it is not lacking in 
 points of interest. Note the ornamental architecture of 
 the throne, with elaborated back and decorated standards. 
 Note also the small lions at the side of the throne, which 
 may perhaps be looked on as the forerunners of the 
 ' supporters,' with which the royal armorials were later 
 enhanced by the heralds. A third seal, of not so large 
 dimensions, appears to have been used about 1263 and 
 1264, and a 'seal of absence' (a kind of seal the use of 
 which was imitated from France) has been discovered in 
 comparatively recent times. This was of so fine a character, 
 even commanding the admiration of the seal-engravers 
 of its own day, that it was still retained by Henry's suc- 
 cessor, who altered the king's name to his own. 
 
 For the purposes of this work we may take the seals 
 of Edward i. and 11. together, because the second king of 
 this name adopted his father's seal, and simply added to 
 the obverse, on each side of the throne, a conventional 
 castle, derived from the charge in the shield of arms of 
 38 
 
PLATE V 
 
 KOYAL SEALS OF ENGLAND 
 
 KIMGS HENRV III, EDUARD I, AND KDWAKD III 
 
EDWARD I. 
 
 the Kingdom of Castile, one of the quarterings in the 
 armorial bearings of his august mother, Queen Eleanora 
 of Castile, daughter of King Ferdinand iii. The obverse 
 of this Edwardian seal resembles, in some respects, that 
 of Henry iii.'s second seal, but the reverse is new. The 
 horse is provided with caparisons, which cover it almost 
 entirely. These caparisons are charged, after the fashion 
 of the day, with the three lions of England reversed as 
 they are determined rightly to be in their representation, 
 that is, with the heads pointing to the right hand of the 
 spectator, instead of to the left hand, as they would if 
 they were the charges of a shield. 
 
 Edward iii., whose long reign in the fourteenth 
 century compares, curiously enough, with that of Henry 
 III. in the thirteenth, occupies the culminating period of 
 the art of the royal seal-engravers, for not very long after 
 his day signs of decadence begin to creep into the work. 
 This king, during the progress of his life, used many seals, 
 and they have formed the subject of more treatises than 
 one at the hands of eminent antiquaries. It has been 
 recorded that as many as eight Great Seals were in 
 use during the reign, two of which, after the French 
 manner of diplomacy, which we have already seen in 
 operation with Henry iii.'s chancery, were 'seals of 
 absence,' attached to documents issued during the 
 government of the kingdom while the king himself was 
 absent, the others being ' seals of presence,' and in use 
 for documents which had received direct royal authority. 
 
 The first of this series is merely the Great Seal of 
 Edward i., which had already become distinguished by 
 Edward ii.'s introduction of the Castles of Castile. Time 
 pressing, the making of a new seal was a matter of many 
 months, and to obviate the difficulty this seal was further 
 enriched with the addition of another badge, a fleur-de- 
 lis, on each side of the king's figure, just above the castles. 
 As Edward ii. had made so courteous an allusion to 
 Spain, his maternal point of origin, so here the queen- 
 mother, Isabella of France, is delicately symbolised. 
 
 39 
 
SEALS 
 
 Ten months, however, seems to have been the limit of 
 use of this adaptation, and the second seal then introduced 
 was in use until 1340. It is of a new design : the fleur- 
 de-lis badge was retained, and the very beautifully 
 designed Gothic throne in this seal renders it a prominent 
 relic among the Great Seals of England. To this must 
 be joined the third seal, which rejected the canopy, and 
 had other points of novelty in its design and peculiarities 
 in its workmanship. Being a ' seal of absence,' it was 
 used alternately with the second, during the years 1338- 
 1340, according to the several periods when the king was 
 out of the realm. The badge is altered into three lions 
 of England placed on each side of the throne, with tails 
 of remarkable shape. The fourth seal had a very short 
 existence. Its use appears to have been confined to the 
 year 1340. The elegant canopy of this is one of the best 
 details. The title of ' King of France,' ' Rex Francice^ is 
 here added to the king's style, and the Royal arms of that 
 kingdom have been correctly added by the heralds to the 
 shield of arms and other armorials. The fifth seal in 
 point of order, which was the second ' seal of absence,' 
 used from time to time, as occasion demanded, between 
 1340 and 1360, is noteworthy for the excessive develop- 
 ment of the so-called Gothic architecture, purely fanciful, 
 of the throne, which is an intricate creation of panelled 
 tracery, enriched with turrets, gables, pinnacles, shafts, 
 and niches. Behind the embattled parapet which closes 
 this composition at the top, are two curious half-length 
 figures of men-at-arms, in armour, on guard, as it were, 
 over the king's safety and his shields of arms. Yet 
 another seal, the fourth of the royal presence, and the 
 sixth in order of making, is not very unlike the foregoing, 
 but there is this striking variation, that the half-length 
 men-at-arms are bending down very low over the crenel- 
 lated battlements, and the drawing of the figures is not 
 so accurate as it might be ; hence their forms are difficult 
 to make out, and some students of seals have failed to 
 notice them, or fancied that they represent something else. 
 40 
 
THE BRETIGNY SEAL 
 
 The finest seal of this fine series, and, indeed, with 
 truth it may be said, the finest seal that ever graced 
 the royal dignity, was now about to appear. Those that 
 had preceded it had led up to it by various steps of 
 improvement. It was in use from 1360 to 1369, the 
 highest period of the Gothic art in England, and from 
 the circumstance that, at the Peace of Br^tigny, the king 
 of England had consented to renounce the assumption of 
 his title to be * Ki7ig of France,^ in favour of the de facto 
 king, and thus a new seal had become necessary in which 
 these obnoxious words should stand no longer, this has 
 been called the Bretigny seal. Although the finest, 
 nevertheless it is perhaps the most commonly occurring 
 of all the seals of Edward in., on account of the frequency 
 of its use. It measures about four inches and a half, and 
 the field of the obverse is replenished to the full with a 
 large amount of miscellaneous detail. The whole scene, 
 so to speak, is arranged symmetrically, on a kind of 
 Gothic frame, composed of carved tabernacle work. The 
 several objects include a most elaborately carved and 
 canopied throne of majesty, niches of finely cut work, and 
 panels of nicely proportioned dimensions, wherein are 
 placed figures of the Virgin Mary and the Child, St. 
 George of England, men-at-arms, and the royal lion. On 
 the reverse is shown the king as military leader riding in 
 all his war panoply and armorial accoutrements at speed 
 on his richly caparisoned charger. Near the hilt of the 
 upraised sword is a small oak-leaf or trefoil, set in the 
 field, which may be perhaps the private mark of the 
 artist-designer or goldsmith to whom the making of this 
 matrix had been entrusted, but if so, it has left no clue by 
 which we can now ascertain his name or the record of his 
 handiwork. Here, too, we may note the discarding of 
 the now old-fashioned capital Lombardic letter, which 
 had supplanted the Latin capital, and had to yield in turn 
 to the old English or black letter alphabet. But the seal, 
 beautiful as it is, and abundant in every respect with 
 English feeling, strikingly attractive as an object of anti- 
 
 41 
 
SEALS 
 
 quarian admiration, became out of harmony with the 
 progress of time, and was rendered inaccurate by the 
 course of events, because the peace with France, which it 
 really commemorated, had come to an end ; the resumption 
 of hostilities, leading to the renewal of the use of the title 
 of ^ King of France^ necessitated that the king's style 
 should appear on the seal with the words ' Rex Francice ' 
 added to it. The design, however, was left untouched, 
 for it could scarcely have been improved, and the arms of 
 France in the shields which had not been interfered with 
 when the words were omitted from the title, now stood 
 for the asserted kingship over that foreign realm, whereas 
 hitherto they had only harmlessly pointed to the king's 
 royal French descent. Richard ii.'s goldsmiths saw no 
 need for improving this matrix ; they simply altered the 
 first three letters of the name from Edwardus to Ricardus, 
 as they similarly did in regard to the sixth seal of Edward 
 already mentioned (wherein the stooping figures of the 
 watchmen are delineated) which was employed for his 
 French affairs. Henry iv. again alters this seal by sub- 
 stituting the royal Christian name for that of his prede- 
 cessor, and he used it until 1408, in which year a new 
 matrix was made of gold, and this was used until the 
 king's death. It is a splendid example of goldsmith's 
 design and work, and being of the highest excellence in 
 every way, has usually been chosen to illustrate the 
 pre-eminence of English art in this era. The same idea 
 of a Gothic framework subsists in the design, which is 
 divided into numerous vertical sections with accompany- 
 ing niches and canopies, and enshrines a grand total of 
 twenty-one figures, as well as the charges on the shields 
 and banners. These comprise, among others, represen- 
 tations of the Virgin and Child ; a crowned king ; a 
 martyr holding his palm-branch of victory ; Michael the 
 Archangel militant ; St. George of England vanquishing 
 the dragon of prehistoric pagandom ; St. Edward Con- 
 fessor, king and ancestor royal ; St. Edward, king and 
 martyr ; celestials ; soldiers ; lions ; the admitted Evan- 
 42 
 
PLATE VI 
 
 REVERSE OF GOLDEN SEAL, USED 1108-1448 
 
 KINGS HENRY IV, HEN'RY V, AND HENRY VI 
 

 ' 
 
HENRY IV. 
 
 gelistic emblems, viz. an angel, a winged lion, a winged 
 ox, and an eagle ; and so forth. In this seal it is that the 
 seinS-de-lis, a regular arrangement of fleurs-de-lis after 
 the manner known as the quincimx, in the shield of the 
 royal arms of France Anciejtt, is here superseded by the 
 arms attributed to France Modern, viz. three fleurs-de-lis 
 arranged * two and one ' (heraldically signifying two above 
 and one below in the shield). This peculiarity had been 
 occasionally used as long ago as 1280, but its more 
 extended use begins to date from its inclusion in this seal. 
 The reverse of this beautiful seal has been further enriched 
 by the introduction of elegant foliated sprigs and arab- 
 esque sprays to fill up the background. This seal in many 
 respects is a rival of the Bretigny seal. Its numerous points 
 of excellence make it a worthy compeer of the latter. Each 
 of them has its own intrinsic excellence, but this is later 
 in point of date, and belongs to a period when there was 
 arising a taste for florid rather than chaste and simple 
 effect. Herein is reflected the so-called Perpendicular 
 style of architecture, which in the early years of the 
 fifteenth century was in bounds which restrained its 
 inordinate growth that is shown in examples created at 
 the end of the same century. 
 
 The numerous figures and abundant richness of sym- 
 bolism which replenish the sides of this seal, are not 
 mere haphazard fancies of the designer. Each has its 
 meaning, which speaks, silently but not the less elo- 
 quently, to those who read it aright, but to most now 
 they stand as enigmas, and need explanation. That 
 they had a political signification to convey, and a lesson 
 to teach, is quite obvious. One of the most careful 
 writers on the Great Seals of England, whose recent death 
 is much to be deplored, Mr. Allan Wyon, discovers in the 
 work the desire of impressing on the mind of the people 
 the claim of Henry iv. to occupy the English throne by 
 reason of his descent from Henry iii., and, while holding 
 his crown by success in arms and national election, at 
 the same time preferring to defend his position by relying 
 
 43 
 
SEALS 
 
 on the genealogical fact of his royal blood derived through 
 Prince Edmund, son of the earlier king. With this object 
 in view, Henry iv. may have wisely so arranged the 
 emblems of his own proper Great Seal (as opposed to the 
 seal of Edward iii., which had been borrowed for the 
 earlier years of his reign) to point to Henry iii., whose 
 cultus of St. Edward and St. Edmund was well known, 
 and to whom the king looked for support in return for 
 his veneration of them. * He had named his sons after 
 them, he had rebuilt Westminster Abbey in honour of 
 the Confessor, and thither was carried to his last resting- 
 place on the feast of St. Edmund ; and the banners of 
 these two English Saints had been borne in his son's 
 battles beside the royal banners of the realm.' 
 
 The seals of Henry v. need not detain us long, they 
 are merely a continuation of Henry iv.'s. Henry vi. also 
 employed the same, but, curiously enough, he introduced a 
 very small quatrefoil on the reverse of the silver Brdtigny 
 matrix. The affairs in France and this king's territories 
 there, which occupied so large an amount of the king's 
 time, necessitated the making of other Great Seals, and 
 they appear to have been made in France after French 
 types, with the suitable alteration of the Royal style to 
 ' Francorum et Anglie Rex.' Edward iv.'s seals, of 
 inferior imitation, and striving to modify the accurate pro- 
 portions of the Bretigny seal, clearly mark the commence- 
 ment of degeneration, which was to pave the way for the 
 total abandonment of Gothic art in favour of the Italian 
 Renaissance. The balance of design is not well kept in 
 these latter seals ; too much space is given to subordinate 
 detail, while the royal figure is reduced in size, and other 
 alterations not for the better, gradually show the change 
 in the times. The fashionable introduction of plate 
 armour, superseding the hauberk of mail, also called for 
 a new seal, so that the king's effigy on the symbol of his 
 authority should be in keeping with the times. It is 
 interesting to notice, that the second seal of Edward iv., 
 which is considered to be superior to the first, perpetuates 
 44 
 
PLATE VII 
 
 1. KING HENRV VI. 2N-D SEAI, FOR KRKNCH AIKAIRS. 11«,.1440 
 2. HEMRY VI. 3R1) SEAL (OF ABSE.VCE) KOR EKE.VCH AFFAIRS. 1123 
 

EDWARD IV. : HENRY VIII. 
 
 a curious fact of historical moment. At the battle of 
 Mortimer's Cross, which took place on 2nd February 
 1 46 1, the king beheld certain ' mock-suns ' or parhelia in 
 the sky, a favourable omen of paramount augury, as has 
 been testified by Shakespeare, who sings of the ' three 
 fair-shining suns ' which the king declared he would bear 
 on his target. These celestial omens have been intro- 
 duced into the seal, where several suns in radiance are 
 to be observed. Henry vi.'s ' Recovery of Royal Power ' 
 from October 1470 to April 1471, caused a corresponding 
 alteration of royal name in the matrix of Edward's Great 
 Seal which fell into his hands, but the recovery lasted for 
 a very short period, and Edward iv., after restoration, 
 used three seals of inferior merit, one of which may well 
 have been used for the affairs of France, as has been con- 
 jectured from the occurrence of fleurs-de-lis as stops 
 dividing the words of the legend, and because the only 
 impression known is that appended to the Treaty of 
 Amiens, 29th August 1475. 
 
 The ill-fated Edward v. of transient rule, and the 
 much maligned Richard iii., used seals that call for no 
 great amount of description. The art they exhibit ac- 
 centuates the decadent expression of the national taste. 
 Henry vii. seems to have taken one of the later seals of 
 Edward iv. for the model of his seal, and perhaps in 
 some places improved on it ; and he also had a second 
 seal, of which, like the seal of Henry vi. above mentioned, 
 there is found but one impression, and that attached 
 also to a Treaty. This shows, by its heraldic display, 
 that it was reserved for French affairs. 
 
 The sixteenth century had been ushered in before the 
 accession of Henry viii., and his seals faithfully reflect 
 the rapid movements of the popular mind in that eventful 
 epoch. First of the royal seals is the continued use of 
 Henry vii.'s seal, with insertion of two royal badges, viz. 
 a lion rampant for England, and a fleur-de-lis for France, 
 at the head and tail of the warhorse. Then comes the 
 last Gothic Great Seal of England, which, after all, is no 
 
 45 
 
SEALS 
 
 mean specimen of the beauty which this Gothic architec- 
 ture had exhibited at its best when handled by a master 
 craftsman. But it is not Gothic unalloyed, for there are 
 details in the gartered shields of arms, the shapes of the 
 crowns, the forms of the letters in the legend, and other 
 small matters, which point to the wavering taste of the 
 artist. ' Fidei Defensor,' that proud title conferred by 
 the Pope upon the king for his militant Catholicism, — 
 a pious young Prince when first beginning public life, 
 who had been destined to hold the highest office of the 
 Church had not an adverse fate prematurely snatched 
 away his elder brother from the world, and diverted 
 from the channels of religion to the arena of disturbed 
 politics and domestic instability the noble aspirations 
 of a really great mind — was added to the royal style in 
 the legend. This seal was first used in 1532, which year 
 seems to mark the period of change between the styles. 
 
 The king's third seal, with its Renaissance canopy 
 flat-headed oval arch, triangular classic pediment, and 
 numerous other details of construction, indicates the 
 total rout of the old conventional forms, and the 
 thoroughness with which the new style had triumphed 
 over the old. Notice also the portentous style adopted 
 by the king, who had turned away from the church 
 and the faith which at one time looked to him as 
 their divinely appointed * defender.' ' Supreme Head on 
 Earth of the English and Irish Church ' means much 
 more than is apparent at first. It is the keynote to 
 much of the barbarity with which the annals of the time 
 overflow, it lights up again in our imagination the fatal 
 fires of Smithfield, and throws a lurid glare over the 
 sanguinary butchery of misguided fanatics and the obsti- 
 nately orthodox, or unorthodox. It has been shown in a 
 recent essay on Seals that the Golden Bulla or Seal, 
 which was appended by Henry viii. to the indenture of 
 the ' Treaty of the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1527 ' is 
 really a golden plaque, chased by a master-hand into the 
 similitude of a seal. It bears a line of Latin verse : 
 
 46 
 
 I 
 
HENRY VIII. : JAMES I. 
 
 'ORDINE JUNGUNTUR ET PERSTANT FEDERE CUNCTA, 
 
 which was appropriate enough for the occasion which 
 called for its making, but the refined wit of Francis i., 
 the other high-contracting party to the Treaty, who also 
 caused a Golden Bulla to be attached to his part of the 
 indenture, turned the hexameter into an elegiac distich, 
 and gave it the savour of a classical epigram by inscribing 
 his bulla with the second or pentameter line : 
 
 ' PLURIMA SERVANTUR FEDERE CUNCTA FIDE.* 
 
 This century was the age of epigrams, and a keen study 
 of the classics was rising in all directions with the better 
 classes. This is abundantly manifest in the literature of 
 the period, and the above distich proclaims it. 
 
 The seals of the next sovereigns are but mediocre. 
 Edward vi., Mary, Philip and Mary, and Elizabeth, so far 
 as the queen's first seal is concerned, appear to have been 
 served by artists and seal-engravers of very moderate 
 talent. The Virgin Queen, however, had a second seal, 
 in 1586, which was in use until her death in 1603, sur- 
 passing in dimensions and style these commonplace fore- 
 runners. It measures about five and a half inches, and 
 is replete with curious details. The royal portraiture, 
 the ruffled collar, the hooped petticoat strutted stiffly out, 
 the embroidered fabric of the drapery, the divine hands 
 and rays issuing from the heavens, and other peculiarities, 
 constitute a remarkable array of emblems and oddities, 
 and form a discordant whole. For the first time, a new 
 badge, the crowned harp of Erin, takes its position among 
 the royal adjuncts, and this is more noteworthy because 
 the queen's special seal for Ireland bears the uncrowned 
 harp, an oversight on the part of the maker. 
 
 James i.'s seals mark, by their armorial bearings, the 
 changes in the royal arms of the realm rendered neces- 
 sary by the uniting of the crowns of England and Scot- 
 land upon one head. Here, too, the banner of fanciful 
 arms invented by the heralds for Cadwallader, last king 
 
 47 
 
SEALS 
 
 of the Britons, to whom they fondly imagined the genea- 
 logy of James i. should point, — the common ancestor, 
 albeit far remote, of the royal houses of both England 
 and Scotland — finds a place. And the greyhound at full 
 speed at the side of the horse probably is significant 
 of the supposed rapidity of the king's military movements 
 against his enemies. A slight alteration was required in 
 this seal, for it was found that the features of the king 
 projected in such high relief, that the flat canopy was in- 
 sufficient to protect it from being injured, and a more 
 prominent bell-shaped baldachin was cut in the matrix so 
 as to obviate this. The ' Magiice BritannicE ' formula in 
 Charles i.'s seal gave place to the more usual phrase of 
 ' AnglicE, Francic^' in his second seal of the year 1627. 
 It is only in comparatively recent times that the first seal 
 has been described in the series of royal seals. The 
 second introduces the innovation of a landscape view in 
 the background of the equestrian side, where London 
 town is delineated from the southern bank of the river, 
 with the Bridge and shipping, while the northern heights 
 loom like lofty mountains in the far distance. This view 
 of the capital is found in succeeding seals, until, in 
 George iii.'s time, it gives place to a view of Windsor 
 Castle. 
 
 The third seal of Charles i., made in 1640, goes back 
 to the ' Magnce Britannice ' style, and it has been 
 thought that it owes its origin to the fact of the style in 
 the second being incorrect. There is yet a fourth seal, of 
 1643, a copy of the preceding one, engraved by the 
 celebrated Thomas Simon, whose medals are the admira- 
 tion of collectors and the despair of modern numismatic 
 die-sinkers. The bizarre seal of the Commonwealth, 
 1648, 'The First Yeare of Freedome by God's Blessing | 
 
 Restored,' must not be omitted here, for it is a strangely " 
 
 fancied design of substituting, for the hated effigy of a 
 sovereign, a map of the realms of England, Wales, and 
 Ireland, powdered plenteously with hundreds of names 
 of places, and furnished with ships of war in the sur- 
 48 
 
THE COMMONWEALTH 
 
 rounding seas — an ingenious way of representing * the 
 Commons ' by the names of the places from which they 
 spring. The reverse shows a view of the interior of the 
 Parliament House in session, with a member in the act 
 of addressing the assembly. Simon, the engraver of this 
 also, received what was then a large sum for the work, 
 but it is a miserable piece of work, and is really a medal, 
 not a seal. A copy or replica was made of this, with 
 alterations to suit the date. Oliver returns to the horse- 
 man type with his family arms on an escutcheon on a 
 shield of the Republican arms of the realm on the reverse. 
 The lions of England and Scotland in the quarterings 
 gave offence and were removed. The crest is a lion 
 passant guardant crowned, the supporters a crowned lion 
 and a dragon which Mr. Wyon finds on ' seals of the Lord 
 Chief Justices of England for many preceding years.' 
 The short-lived Richard adopted much the same design. 
 Charles ii. and James ii. favoured classical types ; that of 
 James ii. is interesting for its romantic adventures, having 
 been fished up in a net from the River Thames, between 
 Westminster and Lambeth, where the king cast it on 
 his ignominious flight from the kingdom in 1688, and 
 delivered to the Privy Council, who handed it to 
 William iii. This king and his consort Mary 11. seem 
 to have had Philip and Mary's seal in view when their 
 seal was being projected. Curious to say, the name of 
 Scotland, and the heraldry appurtenant to that king- 
 dom, were omitted from the seal, probably for cogent 
 reasons, because it was not until after the seal had come 
 into use that the Estates of Scotland caused these 
 sovereigns to be declared King and Queen of Scotland. 
 Anne's seal is also medallic ; Piety and Justice appear 
 thereon, in conventional personifications. The second 
 seal of the queen, 1707, is even more medallic and 
 allegorical than the first. Britannia is seated on a rock 
 beneath beetling crags, posing as a classic divinity with 
 spear and oval shield of the royal arms of the two 
 kingdoms, England and Scotland, now united, impaled 
 D 49 
 
SEALS 
 
 after the approved heraldic method which ' dimidiates 
 the tressure of the northern kingdom but not the lion 
 which it encloses. 
 
 The Brunswick line now at length, in the early part 
 of the eighteenth century, comes into the scope of the 
 seal-engraver, who has become so much influenced by 
 the medallist, that the native talent for seals has been 
 hopelessly stifled. In the Georgian seals we see nothing 
 beyond pseudo-classicism : the monarch seated in majesty 
 attended by the personifications of all kingly virtues ; 
 Power and Might, Justice, Religion, and Piety, protect 
 him benignly but vacantly ; Envy, Hatred, and Malice, 
 three rolled into one — possibly a hint at the Stuart 
 Pretender — sprawls below the throne of George ii. and 
 grasps the serpent of Subtlety. The first seal of the 
 many used in George iii.'s reign introduces the face of 
 the king in profile, which was an innovation, but scarcely 
 for the better, and the weakness of the designer is 
 markedly shown by the want of good proportion of the 
 royal effigy. This king's fourth seal perpetuates the 
 union of Great Britain and Ireland by an alteration of 
 the shields of arms. The armorial bearings and name 
 of France are finally abandoned, after a period of use 
 extending for nearly five hundred years, ever since the 
 victorious campaigns of the fourteenth and fifteenth 
 centuries. This is generally acknowledged to be a 
 generous change, now that the British possessions in 
 French territory have dwindled down again to the 
 Channel Islands and nothing more, a small remnant of 
 the Duchy of Normandy swayed by the Conqueror of 
 1066, who was prouder of the possession of his duchy 
 than he was of the realm of England. The fifth seal 
 of George iii. deserves much attention. It perpetuates 
 the assumption anew of the remarkable title of ' Supreme 
 head on earth of the Church of England and Ireland.' 
 This title, which had been invented by Henry viii. and 
 then represented the dissensions between England and 
 the Vatican, was retained by Edward vi., but afterwards 
 50 
 
QUEEN VICTORIA 
 
 abandoned. Why George iii. took the title up again it 
 is difficult to say, because there was no question at issue 
 in his reign which such words could have affected. 
 Another point to be noticed is that the legend, as in 
 William the Conqueror's seal, and Oliver and Richard 
 Cromwell's seals, begins on the side where the horseman 
 is placed, and concludes on the side of the enthroned 
 figure. It is equally difficult to declare why this was 
 done. There is a palm-branch lying on a rudder of 
 antique form in the exergue. It refers to the naval 
 victories of the year when the seal was made, 1815, and 
 points back proudly to Trafalgar, after the manner above 
 mentioned where the whole is represented by a part. 
 George iv.'s seal gives a profile portrait of the king, and 
 the group on the reverse savours of the medallist rather 
 than of the seal-engraver. It has been said that the 
 allegory here delineated is reminiscent of the art of 
 Flaxman and Blake. Nevertheless it is foreign to the 
 true canons of sigillography. William iv.'s seal is a 
 hideously incorrect design, with shipping in full sail 
 close to the wall of a quay on the edge of which the king 
 is riding in great pomp. Here is set a trident enhanced 
 with a laurel crown, which points to victories over the 
 enemies of Great Britain on the high seas and to the 
 naval office of Lord High Admiral, which the king 
 had formerly filled. 
 
 The Great Seals of Queen Victoria, copies successively 
 of one after the other, are not without faults, one of which 
 is very evident, the smallness of the sovereign's head as 
 compared with that of the attendant page. Her Majesty's 
 last seal was an entirely new departure from everything 
 that had gone before. But the time has not yet come to 
 criticise it, and it may be safely left to a later age for 
 discussion. 
 
 And now, having pointed out all the salient points 
 of interest exhibited by the series of Great Seals of 
 England, we can look back and consider what has been 
 found in them. We have seen the rude beginnings of 
 
 51 
 
SEALS 
 
 art in the seals of the Anglo-Saxons ; the gradual rise 
 of the Norman elements during the period ruled over 
 by William i. to Henry ii. ; the Early English improve- 
 ments down to the fine period of Henry in. ; the archi- 
 tectural types from Edward i. to Henry viii. ; a long 
 vista of years, with its best specimen in the Brdtigny 
 matrix and its decadence in the reign of Richard iii. ; 
 the Palladian renaissance of the Tudors ; then the Jaco- 
 bean and other Stuart medleys, characterised by the 
 endeavour to attain, but in vain, to a classical ideal ; the 
 Commonwealth period of debasement ; the medallic styles 
 of Anne and the Georges ; and the modern style which 
 few can dare to admire. ' It is for posterity,' writes 
 Mr. Wyon, * to assign to this (modern) phase of imitative 
 and composite art, adopted by the sovereigns of the 
 Brunswitk dynasty, its true place in comparison with 
 the meritorious purity of some of the preceding styles.' 
 The seal of our King, Edward vii., is figured in the 
 present work, and our readers must be left to judge it for 
 themselves. One point yet remains to be mentioned in 
 connection with the use of the Great Seal of England. 
 From the large size of these Great Seals, and other royal 
 seals in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, certain 
 official documents of a purely formal nature, such as 
 royal writs to sheriffs, and subpoenas, precipes and the 
 like, which required ratification under the king's seal to 
 make them operative in law, were sealed with a small 
 lump of wax, about one or more inches in diameter, upon 
 which was impressed only the head of the sovereign or 
 some other easily recognisable portion of the design on the 
 Great Seal, and this was accepted as a legal sealing. 
 A good example of this practice may be seen at the 
 British Museum, among the charters of the late Lord 
 Frederick Campbell, No. i. 29, which is a writ by King 
 James 11. to the Sheriff of Stafford, dated 13th February, 
 4th year, 1688. 
 
 Seals of royal offices and officers naturally claim our 
 attention after the consideration of the Great Seals of the 
 52 
 
PLATE Fin 
 
 GKEAT SEAL OF H.M. THE KING 
 
 (ouvkrsk) 
 
PLATE IX 
 
 GREAT bKAl, OF H.M. THE KING 
 (keveksf.) 
 
ROYAL OFFICES 
 
 sovereigns, and the first class of these is that of the 
 Privy Seals, of which the known examples are not many, 
 and the series is not perfect. Edward i. and succeeding 
 kings used the shield of the royal arms of the realm 
 of England with appropriate legends, signifying that the 
 seal was the king's secretum. The fourteenth century 
 added Gothic work to the simple design of the shield, 
 which was ensigned with a crown and attended with 
 supporters and badges, such as lions and ostrich feathers. 
 James i. adopted in 1610 the rose en soleil dXso, but did 
 not altogether discard the armorial motif to which he 
 reverted in 1621. Charles i. followed the heraldic style, 
 and added the garter with its motto, which was retained 
 with small changes until Victoria, when the rose, thistle, 
 and shamrock grafted on one stem was added to the 
 regular design in use for these seals. 
 
 The Duchy of Lancaster, a royal possession and 
 honour, had its own armorial bearings, and the seals 
 represented this coat of arms with adjuncts of ostrich 
 feathers, helmet, and crest. Henry vii., however, in 
 1490, departed from the set style of this device, and 
 used the design of a horse's head, couped and bridled, 
 contournde, with a feather and three stars in the field. 
 The helmet and lion crest, however, were the usual 
 additions to the shield of arms. James ii.'s seal for this 
 duchy had for the supporters of the shield two grey- 
 hounds sejant addorsed, each holding an ostrich feather 
 labelled. George iv. altered this style to the design of 
 the king himself in Majesty, between two royal sup- 
 porters holding flags charged with the arms of Great 
 Britain and of the duchy, with a branch bearing the 
 triple emblems of rose, thistle, and shamrock. That of 
 Victoria is very medallic in design, and represents on 
 the obverse the Queen between two allegorical personi- 
 fications of Faith and Justice, and above the throne an 
 angel blowing two trumpets. At the sides are the royal 
 supporters, holding armorially charged flags ; on the 
 reverse a return to the older design is made, and a 
 
 53 
 
SEALS 
 
 representation is given of the arms of the duchy, with 
 helmet, chapeau of England with the royal lion crest, 
 with the Lancaster label, and at the sides, as supporters, 
 two ostrich feathers of conventional pattern. The 
 County Palatine of Lancaster had for Queen Victoria a 
 seal on which is an equestrian figure of the Queen, and 
 in the field the rose of Lancaster, in the base a talbot 
 courant on the one side, on the other an antique shield 
 of the arms, with helmet, chapeau and lion crest, and 
 feather supporters. 
 
 For the royal territories beyond the Tweed, Edward i. 
 used, about 1292, a seal bearing on one side a beautifully 
 designed shield of arms of England, suspended by the 
 enarme or guige strap to a forked tree between two 
 wyverns, within a Gothic panel of six cusps, on the other 
 within a similar frame, a bear passant beneath a tree of 
 three branches each of which consisted of as many 
 boughs, perhaps intended for the wych elm or hazel, 
 and thus forming a rebus on the name of the town of 
 Berwick. Edward iii. continued the same design, 
 slightly different in some of the detail, and the fifteenth- 
 century seal of the Henries also represented the same 
 tableau, but with a more elaborate panel. For the town 
 of Calais, and the lands adjacent that were in possession 
 of the English Crown, Edward iii., in 1331, used an 
 equestrian seal, wherein the king sits on his horse and 
 has the armorial bearings of France Ancient and Eng- 
 land quarterly. To this is given a small counter-seal, 
 after the French manner, bearing the design of a castle- 
 gate or barbican, with three towers, gateway, and port- 
 cullis. Henry viii., in 15 12, used a seal of the equestrian 
 type, and having the field thereof replenished with 
 mullets or stars of five points, and cinquefoils ; but on 
 the reverse of this seal the king placed the small counter- 
 seal of Edward iv. for a counter-seal of his own. This 
 bears a fortress-gate with round towers at the sides, and 
 portcullis, with a slipped rose at each side, and the 
 legend appears to have undergone more than one altera- 
 54 
 
SIGNETS— QUEENS CONSORT 
 
 tion, which thus renders the seal, of which only one 
 example is known, appended to a document in the British 
 Museum, a valuable political relic, reflecting the changes 
 in the history of England and France. 
 
 Of royal signet seals many remain. The principal 
 design of these was the shield of arms of England, or 
 of England and France quarterly, according to the 
 current heraldry of the time. Henry v. had the 
 armorials of England on his signet ; Richard iii., France 
 and England quarterly ; Henry viii., the royal arms 
 between the initial letters H. R., in his first signet used 
 in the year 1514, and into his second he introduced a 
 rose, two portcullisses, a fleur-de-lis and Tudor rose for 
 badges. Elizabeth's first signet bore the royal arms 
 crowned and initial letters E. R., the later signet being 
 not very different in detail. James i. had three signets. 
 In that used in 161 2 it is remarkable that his style is 
 ' King of Great Britain, France and Ireland,' whereas in 
 those used in 1613 and 1617, similar in the design of the 
 shield of arms and initials, the style is ' King of England, 
 Scotland, France and Ireland.' Charles i. puts the 
 Garter round his royal arms. Oliver Cromwell, Pro- 
 tector, used the family arms of six quarterings, of which 
 five are of Welsh origin. The three signets of Charles 11. 
 bear the royal arms crowned, and the Garter ; and the 
 style used the expression ' Great Britain.' James 11., 
 with the queen consort, Mary of Modena, used a 
 crowned monogram ; William and Mary, the Royal arms 
 on a monogram ; Anne has appropriate signets of arms 
 for the Realm, before and after the union with Scotland. 
 The Georges continued the use of the royal arms. The 
 diameters of all these signets are not very great. They 
 vary from half an inch to about one inch and a half. 
 
 The queens consort of English sovereigns have a 
 very interesting and varied series of seals. One of the 
 earliest extant is that of Mathildis, or Maud, of Scotland, 
 the daughter of Malcolm Can-More, King of Scots, and 
 first Queen of King Henry i. of England. This bears an 
 
 55 
 
SEALS 
 
 effigy of the Queen standing front face, wearing the 
 remarkable attire of the early twelfth century : a long 
 robe, a mantle fastened at the neck, long sleeves, and a 
 crown fleury. In the hands a sceptre with carved handle, 
 and a mound, or orb, the universal symbols of sover- 
 eignty. There is a good example of this seal preserved 
 among the charters in Durham Cathedral Registry, 
 appended to a deed the date of which is between 
 1 1 GO and 1118. Two impressions of the seal of King 
 Henry i.'s second queen, Aalidis, or Alice, of Brabant, 
 daughter of Godfrey, first Duke of Brabant, are pre- 
 served in the British Museum : one appended to a 
 charter of date a few years after 1135; the other, after 
 1 138. The matrix of the seal of Queen Mathildis 
 was used, but the legend was altered from Mathildis to 
 Aalidis. 
 
 Queen Alianora or Eleanor, of Provence, daughter 
 of Raymond Berengar, Count of Provence, had two 
 seals, impressions of which are in the MSS. depart- 
 ment of the British Museum. The first seal, used from 
 1255 to 1259, shows the Queen's figure crowned, wearing 
 a loose dress and cloak, and holding two sceptres. She 
 stands on a corbel, beneath which is a lion sejant guar- 
 dant. This is a pointed oval seal of fine design, about 
 3f by 2.\ inches in measurement. The reverse is equally 
 artistic, and shows an elegant tree of three branches with 
 a shield of the royal arms of England suspended from 
 it by a strap. The queen is styled ' Queen of England, 
 Lady of Ireland, Duchess of Normandy and Aquitaine, 
 Countess of Anjou.' In her second seal, used in 1262, 
 after the cession of the Duchy of Normandy to France, 
 the style of * Duchess of Normandy and Countess of 
 Anjou ' was omitted from the legend, if Sandford's 
 testimony is to be accepted. This seal is also one of 
 great beauty, and illustrates the improvement which had 
 taken place in the art of engraving seals during the reign 
 of Henry iii. Here we notice a trefoiled Gothic canopy, 
 adorned with small circular panels containing counter- 
 56 
 
QUEENS CONSORT 
 
 sunk quatrefoils and other details which mark progress. 
 The seal of Alianora, or Eleanor, of Castile, first Queen 
 of Edward i., and daughter of Ferdinand iii. of Castile, 
 shows the full-length royal effigy, crowned and bearing 
 the ornamental sceptre of her rank. Into the field the 
 heralds have introduced the Castle and the Lion, which 
 form the charges of the armorial bearings of Castile and 
 Leon, and under an arch at the base of the tableau is a 
 lion of England. Here, too, the reverse bears a shield 
 of the royal arms of England, hung up by an embroid- 
 ered strap to a finely designed tree with three branches. 
 Margaret, Princess of France, second Queen of Edward i., 
 and daughter of Philip iii. of France, used a seal whereon 
 her standing figure, crowned and holding a sceptre, is 
 draped in a robe charged with the arms of England, and 
 set on a carved corbel between two trees each bearing a 
 shield of arms, the dexter of France, the sinister of 
 Brabant. The reverse is a fine example of the ingenuity 
 of the heralds who have compounded, on a shield hanging 
 from a tree of three branches, the arms of England sur- 
 rounded by fourteen fleurs-de-lis in orle, in allusion to the 
 royal arms of France. This example, 1299-13 17, is an 
 early one for this kind of heraldic technique. The French 
 Consort had also a small signet, about an inch in diam- 
 eter, bearing, within a rosace, a shield of arms of England 
 and France impaled, and enhanced, by the introduction 
 into the field of the seal, of the two lions rampant, which 
 appertain to the queen's maternal arms of Brabant. 
 
 Isabella, Princess of France, daughter of King 
 Philip IV., and Queen of our Edward 11., added on her 
 seal of 1 307- 1 357, to the usual full-length effigy with fur 
 cloak, crown, and sceptre, in a finely canopied niche, the 
 appropriate heraldry of England on the dexter side, 
 France Ancient impaling Navarre on the sinister, and 
 in the base a lion's face of England in a circular panel. 
 The small round reverse of this pointed oval seal bears 
 on elegant foliage a remarkable shield of arms : quarterly, 
 I. England, 2. France Ancient, 3. Navarre, 4. Champagne. 
 
 57 
 
SEALS 
 
 Philippa, Queen Consort of Edward iii., and daughter 
 of William, the third count of Hainault, used in 1339 
 and 1355, a privy seal of heraldry whereon the arms of 
 England and Hainault are quartered. Anne of Bohemia, 
 daughter of the Emperor Charles iv., and Queen of 
 Richard 11. of England, in 1390 and 1392, had a finely 
 designed seal of tracery and foliage, whereon is a crowned 
 shield of arms of France and England quarterly, impaling 
 the German Empire quartering Bohemia. Queen Eliza- 
 beth Wydevile, consort of King Edward iv., had in 1467 
 a fine large seal, 3^ inches in diameter, bearing elaborate 
 heraldry, both royal and family coats, supported by the 
 lion of March and the greyhound of Neville, all within 
 a border of roses and estoiles. The seal of Queen Jane 
 Seymour has been found comparatively recently. It is 
 a fine specimen of the heraldic seal. Anne, Princess of 
 Denmark, queen consort of James i., daughter of 
 Frederic 11. of Denmark, shows, in her seal of 1618, 
 the decadence of sigillary art. The design is, as usual, 
 the queen's efiigy with sceptre and orb, attended by the 
 heraldry of her royal spouse and her family. The same 
 arms, impaled in one shield, are placed in the reverse on 
 a mount, and supported by the lion of England and the 
 wild woodman of Denmark. Queen Henrietta Maria, 
 daughter of Henri iv. of France, consort of our Charles i., 
 had, about 1625- 1669, a seal showing her effigy with 
 ermine cloak, sceptre fleurdelis^, and orb, under a cur- 
 tained canopy with appropriate shields of arms at the 
 sides. Her name is given on the legend as Hennetta. 
 This large seal, of 4§ inches diameter, has a counter-seal 
 or reverse bearing a crowned lozenge-shaped shield of 
 the royal arms of Great Britain, impaled with France 
 and Navarre impaled. The supporters are : the lion 
 rampant of England, and an angel, in armour, wearing 
 a fringed tunic semd-de-lis, in allusion to France. Her 
 signet was also armorial. 
 
 Queen Catherine of Braganza, consort of Charles 11., 
 daughter of Joao iv.. King of Portugal, had, in 1662, a 
 58 
 
QUEENS CONSORT 
 
 large seal, about 4J inches in diameter, bearing a repre- 
 sentation of the Queen, wearing her royal robes, and with 
 the sceptre and orb, standing on a dais with curtained 
 baldachin upheld by cupids. The side-shields here are 
 those of Great Britain and Portugal. This design is one 
 of the works of the celebrated Simon, the medallist, and 
 the medallic aspect of the seal is very distinctive of the 
 change which had begun to operate with seal-engravers. 
 On the reverse is a crowned shield of Great Britain and 
 Portugal impaled, and supported by a lion and a wyvern. 
 Her second seal, which bears the date of 1678, is dis- 
 tinguished for the Italian architecture of the curtained 
 canopy supported by half-length figures beneath which is 
 the queen's effigy in royal robes and crowned, holding 
 sceptre and orb, with a cherub on each side, holding a 
 shield of arms. The ornamental shield on the reverse 
 bears an impalement of the royal arms of Great Britain 
 and Portugal, with Charles ii.'s supporters. Mary of 
 Modena, daughter of Duke Alphonso, and consort of King 
 James 11., had a seal, bearing the date of 1685, on which 
 is a representation of the Queen, crowned and robed, with 
 a sceptre in each hand, standing on a dais beneath a 
 canopy, over which is an eagle rising enguardant. At 
 each side a cherub holds a carved oval shield of arms : 
 the one of Great Britain, the other of the noble house of 
 Este of Modena. Her signet, half an inch diameter, is 
 lozenge-shaped, and bears a shield of the royal arms of 
 Great Britain as then used, crowned, and set between her 
 initials M. R. 
 
 59 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 SEALS OF ROYAL OFFICES AND OFFICERS 
 
 THE office of Steward and Marshal of the Royal 
 Household was held in 1344 by Ralph de 
 Stafford, whose official seal bears a shield of 
 arms where the ingenious blending of the family coat 
 of Stafford, a chevron, with the three lions of England, 
 forms an excellent example of the herald's art in the 
 fourteenth century. In 1426, John de Tiptoft, Baron 
 Tiptoft and Powys, placed, on his official seal, a standard 
 and flag, on which were the arms of his family, a saltire 
 engrailed, all between three lions of England, and in a 
 carved border. Below the flag is a caltrop, which indi- 
 cates in some degree the duties of the office. The Coroner 
 of the Royal Household had, in the fourteenth century, 
 a seal bearing a shield of arms of a crowned wheel, and 
 by its side a staff of office and a sprig of foliage. The 
 Royal Court of the Exchequer has left us a fine but 
 not quite complete series of official seals. Here King 
 Edward i. used the equestrian type, with a shield of the 
 royal arms on the reverse. Richard 11., Henry iv., v., 
 and VI., Edward iv. and Henry vii. used the same seal 
 (upwards of three inches in diameter) with unimportant 
 changes of name and addition (by Henry vi.) of a small 
 fleur-de-lis. The obverse bears an equestrian figure, 
 somewhat resembling that on the Great Seal, with the 
 arms of France Ancient and England quarterly, the crest 
 of England, and caparisons of arms. The reverse bears 
 a double quatrefoil panel of very beautiful detail, wherein 
 is set a shield of the above-mentioned arms, between three 
 triple-towered castles, one above and one at each side of 
 the shield. These seem to point to the maternal arms 
 60 
 
SEALS OF ROYAL OFFICES AND OFFICERS 
 
 of Castile, a change first introduced by Edward ii. into 
 his Great Seal. The legend is 
 
 * SIGILLUM • DE • SCACCARIO • DOMINI • REGIS.' 
 
 Henry viii. had a copy, of inferior execution, of this very 
 fine seal, wherein the arms of France Ancient are altered 
 to France Modern, that is, three fleurs-de-lis in place of 
 the seme-de-lis ; plate armour substituted for mail ; the 
 position of the small fleur-de-lis added by Henry vi. 
 changed ; another added near the handle of the sword ; 
 and a lion passant contourn^ introduced into the base. 
 The arms on the reverse are modernised, and the royal 
 badge of a portcullis takes the place of a cross which was 
 previously at the beginning of the legend. 
 
 This seal appears to have been used from 1509 to 
 about 1543. After that year, the second seal was adopted, 
 wherein may be observed the equestrian effigy of the 
 king in armour, riding over a mount covered with 
 herbage and flowers ; the horse with plate armour and 
 spiked frontale. The upper half of the field is diapered 
 in small squares like a chessboard, chequy, alternately 
 plain, and charged with a fleur-de-lis, in reference to the 
 Exchequer. The royal badges, a portcullis between two 
 fleurs-de-lis, are set at the beginning of the legend. The 
 reverse is armorial, a crowned shield of arms supported 
 by a heraldic antelope and a stag. In base a scroll 
 bearing the appropriate title of the seal. The royal 
 style commences on the obverse, and is carried on to 
 the reverse where the latest form of the king's title as 
 supreme head on earth of the Church of England and 
 Ireland is given. Edward vi. used this seal with adapta- 
 tion of the royal name. Philip and Mary represent them- 
 selves seated at the sides of a short column, on which is 
 an orb and cross with one royal hand of each sovereign 
 thereon. The reverse of this gives a shield of the arms 
 of Spain and England impaled. Elizabeth had a finely 
 designed seal for her Exchequer Court, bearing on the 
 obverse a representation of the Queen enthroned, with 
 
 61 
 
SEALS 
 
 a shell-shaped canopy overhead ; on the reverse, an 
 ornamental crowned shield of arms royal on a mount of 
 herbage and stones, supported by an heraldic antelope 
 and a stag, each chained. The date of mdlix. is intro- 
 duced into the legend. James i. and Charles i. appear 
 to have used a seal of somewhat similar design, but the _ 
 
 details have not been fully ascertained. James ii. has I 
 
 the design of the royal effigy beneath a canopy of Italian 
 architecture with royal arms, cherub supporters and the 
 field chequy with an English rose and French fleur-de-lis 
 in the alternate squares. The reverse bears an ornamental 
 shield of arms, with a goat and a stag, each chained, for 
 supporters. The Lord Chamberlain's seal for correspond- 
 ence is purely heraldic, and calls for no special notice. 
 
 The Privy Council has seals dating from the six- 
 teenth century. That of Charles i., used in 1643, bears 
 the rose, national badge of England, supported by a 
 lion rampant guardant crowned, and a dragon, all within 
 a carved border of foliage. The royal initials C. R. 
 are placed at the sides of the crown, and the legend 
 s • PRi • CON • explains the object of the seal. A few seals 
 of the Parliament of the Commonwealth and of the 
 Council of State appointed by the authority of the 
 Parliament, show the armorial bearings which were 
 employed in that brief period to supersede the shields 
 of arms of England and Scotland. They are the work 
 of the medallist Simon, and although elegant in propor- 
 tion and design, cannot compare for charm and interest 
 for a moment with the more ancient heraldry of the 
 realms. Edward iii.'s seal of office for the Receipt of 
 the Royal Exchequer in England bears, within a carved 
 cordon of ballflowers, a representation of the king's head, 
 couped at the neck, and crowned, between two keys, 
 symbols of the office, and in the base part of the design 
 is a royal lion of England. The legend is explanatory 
 of the functions of the seal. 
 
 The Royal Court of King's Bench for the judicial 
 hearing of causes technically in the royal presence, ' pro 
 62 
 
SEALS OF ROYAL OFFICES AND OFFICERS 
 
 brevibus coram nobis,' is known to have used a fine 
 series of seals from the time of Henry vi. These begin 
 with a diameter of upwards of 2^ inches, and gradually 
 increase in size under successive monarchs. That of 
 Henry vi. has, on the one side, the effigy of the king 
 enthroned ; on the other, the royal arms on a shield, over 
 which stand the badges of a leopard's face and two fleurs- 
 de-lis. Henry viii. improved on this design by enlarging 
 the dimensions to four inches, with more elaboration of 
 the sovereign's figure and details of the carved throne, 
 and with introduction of the royal initials and royal 
 badges. The reverse of this seal bears the royal arms 
 supported by the crowned lion rampant guardant and the 
 wyvern, with roses and fleurs-de-lis powdered over the 
 field. The inscribed label bears a date, which appears 
 to be 1543, but the unique impression in the British 
 Museum is indistinct at this point. The later style used 
 by the king is found in the legend. Edward vi.'s seal 
 for this Court, designed much in the same way, is of 
 interest because among the badges which are found in it 
 is the harp of Ireland, which seems to have been discarded 
 at a later period. That of Charles i. has an elegant design 
 of the king enthroned, with accompaniment of badges, 
 and the reverse has an ornamental shield and supporters. 
 The Commonwealth seal, in accordance with the passing 
 wave of republicanism which strove, but in vain, to 
 destroy all traces of regality, depicts the interior of the 
 House of Parliament in session, but retains in base a 
 shield of arms of the Commonwealth between two palm- 
 branches of martyrdom ! The reverse of this seal gives 
 a map of Great Britain and Ireland, accompanied with 
 the new-fangled arms of the Commonwealth, but the 
 ancient arms of Ireland are retained, with remarkable 
 inconsistency. The legend declares this to be the seal of 
 the 'Upper Bench,' as the Court was so designated during 
 the kingless period. Charles 11. reverted to the royal type 
 of enthroned king with gartered arms and royal badges. 
 • ^ [*The equally ancient ' Court of Common Pleas,' for the 
 
 63 
 
SEALS 
 
 judicial hearing of causes before the Justices, 'pro brevibus 
 coram justiciariis,' had its seal designed after the same 
 leading motive as that for the King's Bench, but the 
 details are different. The enthroned king, the royal 
 heraldry, the badges, are retained, drawn differently, but 
 with equal accuracy of proportion and graceful beauty. 
 That of Henry vii. and Henry viii. has a background in 
 the obverse diapered lozengy with a five-leaved rose in each 
 space and a fleur-de-lis knot on each of the intersecting 
 lines, and the shield is supported by two greyhounds. The 
 change of royal style, adopted by the latter Henry, necessi- 
 tated the alteration of the seal, and a new seal was accord- 
 ingly made with the newly adopted style in the legend. 
 The reticulation of the background bears a rose in each 
 space and a similar charge at the crossing of the cords. 
 The shield of arms is ornamental, and the supporters are 
 changed to a crowned lion and a collared greyhound. 
 
 Edward vi.'s seal indicates the fashionable change to 
 Italian architecture which had come over the seal- 
 engraver's art. The king sits enthroned under a semi- 
 circular canopy. Classic trophies are applied to the 
 pilasters of the throne, and enhanced with statuettes ; 
 above the canopy is a marine deity with finny arms. 
 The badges are the fleur-de-lis, the rose en soleil, a five- 
 pointed star, and a royal lion of England ; the king's 
 initials, E. R. crowned, are placed in the field. The reverse 
 shows an ornamental shield of the king's arms, supported 
 by the crowned lion of England and the collared grey- 
 hound. Mary probably used an altered form of Edward's 
 seal for a short time ; her own seal shows the queen in 
 majesty, with concomitant badges or ornaments of stars, 
 roses, annulets, fleurs-de-lis, and the lion royal. On each 
 side of the throne is a vase containing on the left a 
 blossoming rose-tree, on the right a fructed pomegranate, 
 each of which has its own significance. The royal 
 initials, crowned, are in the field. The reverse bears an 
 ornamental shield of the arms of the realm, crowned, and 
 supported as in Edward's seal. Philip and Mary, after 
 64 
 
SEALS OF ROYAL OFFICES AND OFFICERS 
 
 using this seal until 1556, made use of a seal whereon 
 the two royal personages are represented as seated, and 
 laying their hands on an orb set on a pedestal. The 
 thrones are curtained and nicely carved, and the sub- 
 ordinate details or devices that have been introduced into 
 the design consist of a castle, a rose, and a fleur-de-lis. 
 In the shield of the reverse are set the royal arms of 
 Spain impaling the royal arms of England ; it is sup- 
 ported on a mount by a crowned eagle and a collared 
 greyhound. The legend runs over both the obverse and 
 reverse, and gives the lengthy royal style of the two 
 rulers as settled by the Government of the kingdom. 
 
 Queen Elizabeth depicts her effigy in majesty, seated 
 on a throne with a domed canopy and curtains thrown 
 over the arms. The shield of arms on the reverse is set 
 on a mount and supported by a dragon sejant and a 
 collared greyhound. James i. affects the new style of 
 architecture in the throne, where the most prominent 
 details are the shell-shaped back, and the canopy domed 
 and curtained, upheld by half-length cupids or amorini. 
 The reverse has the ornamental shield on a mount 
 embellished with flowers ; the dragon and hound sup- 
 port it, and the description of the use of the seal is, in 
 place of the scroll as usual, placed on an entablature here. 
 The Commonwealth adhered to the interior of the House 
 of Parliament for the one side, dated 1648, and the map 
 of the realms with concomitant shields for the other. 
 Charles 11. reverts to the royal effigy, seated on an 
 ornamental throne enriched with the royal arms sup- 
 ported by piitti, holding garlands : on each side of the 
 throne a quasi-supporter, viz. a lion sejant guardant with 
 one gamb placed on a mound, or globe. But the heraldic 
 supporters of the shield of arms on the reverse are the 
 dragon and greyhound, and the title of the seal is placed 
 in an entablature. Anne's seal has a leaning towards 
 medallic influences. The queen in majesty is seated on 
 a throne, between royal supporters, and in the carving 
 may be observed two figures perhaps emblematic of 
 
 E 65 
 
SEALS 
 
 Britannia and Justice. The royal arms overhead are 
 crowned and upheld by two cherubs, each blowing a 
 trumpet. The crowned arms of the second reverse, after 
 union with Scotland, are supported by a lion and a grey- 
 hound. This seal is dated 1707. George i.'s seal for 
 this Court represents the king in majesty, seated on a 
 canopied throne ; on the right is a figure of Britannia 
 holding shields of arms, and on the left Justice with her 
 customary emblems. The lion and the unicorn have 
 become the royal supporters for the obverse, and here 
 each one is holding up a lance-flag. But on the reverse 
 the ornamental crowned shield of arms is supported still 
 by the dragon and greyhound of an earlier heraldry. 
 
 Justices in eyre appear to have introduced into their 
 official seals the armorial bearings of their family. The 
 Court of Wards and Liveries had several interesting 
 seals, beginning with that of Henry viii., who employed 
 an ornamental shield of the royal arms crowned and 
 supported by a lion and a dragon all upheld by naked 
 children, the pupilli and orphani whom, with widows, 
 this Court was constituted to protect. Mary's seal for 
 the same uses much the same devices, differently drawn, 
 and introduces the queen's devises, a rose, a lily, and 
 a pomegranate, united together. Elizabeth's seal has the 
 rose and fleur-de-lis badges, the lion and dragon sup- 
 porters, and the children upholding the shield. Charles i. 
 introduces an effigy of his royal person set on a capa- 
 risoned horse, and in armour, plumed. He still retains 
 the children who hold up the shield. In the second seal 
 a distant prospect of the city of London has been drawn 
 in the background, and in the field is set a rose en soleil, 
 crowned, the king's royal badge. The ' Augmentation 
 Office,' or * Court of Augmentation of Crown Revenues,' 
 had several seals. The first one of Henry viii., who 
 instituted the office, shows on the obverse the king 
 enthroned in majesty, on a background diapered lozengy 
 with a fleur-de-lis or a rose introduced alternately into 
 the interstices. The shield on the right hand bears a 
 66 
 
 
SEALS OF ROYAL OFFICES AND OFFICERS 
 
 plain cross with crown and garter, that on the left hand 
 a corresponding shield of the royal arms of the realm. 
 On the reverse the king in armour, with heraldic shield, 
 is riding on a caparisoned horse, accompanied with a grey- 
 hound running at full speed. The second seal has the 
 enthroned king, with angels holding shields at the sides, 
 and the royal badges of roses and fleurs-de-lis, but the 
 background is plain, with shields thereon, as in the 
 previous seal. Edward vi.'s seal shows the same 
 heraldry as his father's first seal ; the reverse omits the 
 greyhound, but adopts the lozengy diaper embellished 
 with badges, which we have already seen on the obverse 
 of Henry's seal. The Court of General Supervisors of 
 Crown lands in the reign of Henry viii. used the royal 
 arms and lion and dragon supporters. A curious seal of 
 the four-and-twenty Ciircistae^ or Chancery Cursitors, in 
 the eighteenth century, shows a representation of one of 
 the Cursitors seated at a table on which are rolls : he is 
 inscribing the ambiguous words * sic nos non nobis.' 
 In the upper part is a view of a village, with a man 
 ploughing in the foreground. 
 
 The Admiralty Courts also have some ancient seals, 
 which demand recognition at our hands in this rapid 
 glance over the official seals of the kingdom. One of the 
 ' Great Seals of the Supreme Court ' of the time of Queen 
 Anne depicts a ship of war in full sail, with the arms of 
 George, Prince of Denmark, Lord High Admiral of 
 England, gartered and crowned, and on the mainmast 
 the Queen's flag of arms. All the seals of the Admiralty 
 and admirals employ the appropriate design of a ship 
 of war, combined with royal and family arms ; and 
 the various details of apparatus and equipment are so 
 depicted that they enable us to obtain a very accurate 
 and valuable idea of the construction of the several parts 
 of shipping in vogue at the period when the seals were first 
 made. In this respect we see the armorial bearings of 
 the kingdoms of France and England ; guns peeping out 
 from port-holes ; bulwarks, masts, sails, cordage ; the 
 
 67 
 
SEALS 
 
 white hart lodged, a royal badge of Edward iv. ; a crow's- 
 nest or lookout place on a mast ; forecastles and stern- 
 castles ; the cross of St. George, naval standard of 
 England on a seal of 141 6-1426; lantern lights suspended 
 at the stern ; wheat-ears introduced as badges of John 
 Holland, second Earl of Huntingdon, and of Henry- 
 Holland, fourth Duke of Exeter, admirals of England, 
 Ireland, and Aquitaine in the fifteenth century; cressets, 
 cinquefoils, escallops ; greyhounds holding standards, 
 and numerous other family badges and symbolical 
 devices. The dimensions of their diameters vary from 
 about an inch and a half to upwards of five inches as the 
 period progresses from the fifteenth to the eighteenth 
 century. 
 
 Of subsidies several old seals are chronicled. The 
 earliest shows the head of the reigning sovereign, and 
 the legend declares the especial subsidy for which it was 
 used. Other seals of this class show the royal arms. 
 That of the ' Collectors of the Fifteenth ' has a stag's head 
 cabossed between four pierced mullets and having a family 
 coat of arms between the antlers. Another seal used by 
 a * collector of a tenth ' granted to King Henry v., 
 delineates the king's head, crowned and charged on the 
 neck with a key between three roundels. An important 
 section of official seals is that used for ' Recognisances of 
 debts.' Each large city included in the schedule where 
 the recognisances could be taken up had its own seal. 
 The dominant design was a very pleasing bust portrait 
 of the sovereign, charged on the breast with a lion or 
 other symbol, and often between other two emblems of 
 appropriate signification. Bristol, for example, has an 
 Edward 11. 's bust, the lion of England, and the bust 
 itself is placed between two towers of Castile as on his 
 Great Seal. The counterseal, which is smaller, seems to 
 have been either the official one of a leopard's face, or a 
 private and personal impression perhaps from a ring. In 
 the case of Bristol, the leopard's face is used. Canterbury 
 has the same design, but the drawing differs. Chester 
 68 
 
PLATE X 
 
 ^^^5211!®' 
 
 ROYAL AND HERALDIC SKALS 
 
SEALS OF ROYAL OFFICES AND OFFICERS 
 
 the same, with simpler castle. Coventry has a lion on 
 the royal breast, with an oak-tree of three branches at 
 each side. Exeter delineates a more elaborate castle at 
 each side of the bust. Gloucester places at the sides of the 
 royal bust with its lion, certain horseshoes and horsenails, 
 in allusion to the arms of that city, and on its small 
 round counterseal, a shield of arms of the same city as 
 invented in the time of Henry viii., which shows that 
 the obverse, although of fourteenth-century origin, had 
 been embellished with these armorial details in the time 
 of the later king. Hereford uses triple-towered castles, 
 as adjuncts to the bust of the king ; Lincoln the same, 
 differently drawn, and with the official counterseal of the 
 leopard's face ; London, the same type of bust and 
 castles, variantly detailed, with an effigy of St. Paul 
 holding sword and book, half-length, on the small round 
 counterseal. Northampton, the same motif, with St. 
 Andrew, in allusion to the principal Priory of the town, 
 set on the small round counterseal between eight fleurs- 
 de-lis, on the reverse. Norwich has the obverse designed 
 much after the usual type ; the reverse, or counterseal, 
 shows an embattled tower with our Lord blessing on the 
 roof, and in the doorway a leopard's head or other 
 animal, indistinct. Oxford has the usual motif on the 
 obverse ; the counterseal uses the design of an ox standing 
 in a ford, in allusion, by way of rebus, ignorantly and 
 erroneously, to the name of the city, still further from 
 the right by the legend or inscription of ' bos • oxonie • ' 
 with which it is accompanied. Salisbury places the 
 figure of the Cathedral, with tall spire topped by a cross, 
 on each side of the royal bust, and on the counterseal the 
 Virgin Mary, having the Child, standing on her knee, 
 and the legend ' sigill' marie • sarvm.' Southampton 
 had a variant : the king's bust has the castle on the 
 breast, and at the sides two lions passant guardant of 
 England. Winchester places the lion on the bust and 
 two castles at the sides, York has the same, but the castle 
 on the left hand appears to be enclosed in a small panel 
 
 69 
 
SEALS 
 
 or frame, and to have been removable at will. This was 
 undoubtedly an ingenious method of preventing any 
 improper use of the seal without the connivance of at 
 least two persons. The counterseal of the York seal 
 delineates the Patron, St. Peter, with his book and keys, 
 and, on the left, a castle. It is curious that this bears 
 the inscription eboracvs. 
 
 All the foregoing may be relegated to the period of 
 Edward ii. Richard ii.'s Oxford City seal for Recognis- 
 ances is that of Edward with the name altered to Recard, 
 and the ox in a ford is again delineated in a variant 
 form. James i.'s seal for Newport in the Isle of Wight 
 has a half-length figure of the king with an elaborate 
 dress of cloak, ruff, tunic, mantle and baldric, and wearing 
 a jewelled collar enhanced with a cross. This of course 
 belongs to a period when conventionalism had come to 
 be totally disregarded. The Commonwealth seal of the 
 Statute Merchant of the city of Worcester, however, 
 relies somewhat on older motives, for the design is an 
 embattled tower, with portcullis and double doorway ; in 
 the field on each side a branch of vine, fructed and 
 leaved. Akin with these statute seals for Merchants' 
 Recognisances, are those of the Statute Staple of West- 
 minster. These date from the reign of King Richard ii. 
 The predominating motive is sometimes a set of wool- 
 sacks, sometimes a leopard's face, in a carved and traced 
 Gothic sixfoil rose, enriched with small fleurs-de-lis or 
 flowers. The legend declares the seal to be that of the 
 * Mayor of the Staple of Westminster for the Statute of 
 Merchants.' Henry v. used the same, and a counter- 
 seal bearing the royal initials R. H. in Gothic or black 
 letter type. Henry vi. the same, with a griffin's head 
 erased on the small octagonal counterseal. Edward iv.'s 
 counterseal to the same design is a bunch of grapes ; 
 Henry vii.'s, a woolsack or cushion with tufted corners ; 
 Henry viii.'s, a merchant's mask within a chain border. 
 Another series of seals belongs to the Recognisances, pro 
 debitis recuperandis, for recovery of debts, a method 
 70 
 
 i 
 
SEALS OF ROYAL OFFICES AND OFFICERS 
 
 employed in the time of Henry viii. and his successors 
 for protection of trade and prevention of fraud. The 
 motive here is a finely drawn double rose of fine leaves, 
 barbed and seeded, ensigned with a royal crown and 
 accompanied with a suitably descriptive legend. This 
 type obtains with subordinate variations, such as a triple 
 for a double flower, the petals altered in position, down to 
 the time of Charles ii. Elizabeth, James i., Charles i. 
 and II., added the royal initials of E. R. and so forth, 
 and the dimensions rise from if inch in Henry viii.'s 
 time, to if inch in Charles ii.'s. King Edward ii.'s seal 
 for the Port of London depicts a lozenge-shaped shield 
 of arms of England, between four swords, probably in 
 allusion to the sword in the city arms, sometimes con- 
 sidered symbols of St. Paul, the patron of the see and city. 
 Wool and hides were very important articles of the 
 native trade in England in the fourteenth and succeeding 
 centuries, and the taxation of them with concomitant 
 formalities of transfer of ownership and locality of 
 storage was legalised by the use of a seal. Here 
 Edward ii. used for Lincoln, one of the chief marts for 
 this manner of product, the design of a shield of the 
 arms of the realm, suspended by a strap from a hook, 
 and between two falcons, with a counterseal on which 
 the royal lions were engraved without their shield. 
 For Lyme Regis and for Shoreham, other great marts, 
 the same king used a shield of royal arms only. For 
 Norwich, the shield is set between two mounts, with an 
 oak-tree on each one, over which is the triple-towered 
 castle of Castile, favoured of Edward ii. for family 
 symbolism. For Winchester the shield has a wyvern on 
 each side of it, and the reverse, or counterseal, preserves 
 the usual type. Edward ii.'s seal for the customs of the 
 City of York resembles this type, the shield of arms of 
 England on one side, the charges without the shield in 
 the other. This is expressly designated as the seal of 
 the old and the new customs of the City. Many other 
 designs might also be mentioned. 
 
 71 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL AND CAPITULAR SEALS OF 
 ENGLAND AND WALES 
 
 WE have now completed our view of the Royal 
 seals of England and the offices which are 
 connected with the prerogative and juris- 
 diction of the sovereign, and a new class offers itself 
 to our consideration. It is that of the Provinces, Sees, 
 Chapters, and other Ecclesiastical foundations of Eng- 
 land. The first place of these naturally belongs to the 
 Province of Canterbury. The series of seals used by 
 the archbishops who occupied the ecclesiastical throne 
 of this ancient dignity is tolerably perfect, but some of 
 the seals have only come down to us in an injured 
 condition. Putting aside the somewhat doubtful seal 
 of Dunstan, which has not much to recommend its 
 making, the series begins with Anselm of Dorobernia, 
 the ancient name of Canterbury, in 1 093-1 109. The 
 type here is that of a full-length effigy of the prelate in 
 the vestments of his dignity, holding a staff and book, 
 and standing on a platform. Succeeding archbishops 
 adhered to this type in the main, but added, as time 
 went forward, various improvements of detail to the 
 tableau. Ralph, 1114-1122, is mitred; he holds the 
 pastoral staff, and lifts up his right hand in the act of 
 pronouncing a blessing, which is a conventional attitude 
 found almost constantly in all the delineations of arch- 
 bishops, bishops, and other prelates which are put on 
 seals, from the earliest period to the sixteenth century. 
 Theobald, 1139-1161, carries on the same style, and 
 employs a small counterseal from a ring, in which was 
 72 
 
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY 
 
 set a finely engraved antique intaglio gem, or precious 
 stone. The design of this is a bearded bust in profile, 
 of a deity or emperor of classic time, the hair bound with 
 a fillet. The use of gems of Greek or Roman work has 
 been described in a previous part of this book. This is 
 a good example of the use of these highly prized objects, 
 which in this case we may conjecture had a sacred 
 interest in the bust being taken for that of Christ. 
 There was a keen demand for them, and the goldsmiths 
 and jewellers of the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth 
 centuries found means to supply them to their rich and 
 powerful clients. Possibly they are relics of an inter- 
 course with Rome and the East ; possibly also there is 
 a link between some at least of them with the Crusades. 
 Theobald's ring seal appears, from one impression 
 appended to a deed in the British Museum, to have 
 been altered : the gem is the same, but the setting of 
 precious metal has the legend engraved on it in a different 
 manner from that seen in the earliest impressions, 
 
 Hubert Walter contributes a very early represen- 
 tation, 1 193-1205, of the martyrdom of his predecessor 
 St. Thomas a Becket of Canterbury, under an arcade, 
 accompanied with a rhyming hexameter which sums up 
 in a single sentence, marvellously constructed, the life 
 and death, the policy and the steadfastness of the mar- 
 tyred prelate : 
 
 * MARTIR • QUOD • STILLAT • PRIMATIS • AB • ORE • SIGILLAT.' 
 
 Stephen Langton, with similar obverse to his seal, gives 
 another aspect to the same attractive subject, and his 
 counterseal enunciates the pious wish : 
 
 ' MORS • EXPRESSA • FORIS • TIBI • VITA • SIT • INTUS • 
 
 AMORIS.' 
 
 In the base of one or two impressions of the obverse his 
 gem ring has been impressed. Its subject is a tree 
 
 73 
 
SEALS 
 
 between two cupids, one of whom is mounting to the 
 branches by a ladder. Archbishop Weathershed elaborates 
 his obverse with diapered field, and panels bearing the 
 heads of saints. His reverse bears yet another view of 
 the martyrdom of St. Thomas, with figures of two of the 
 murderers holding their shields. Here again a rhyming 
 verse is appositely placed in the legend. Edmund Rich, 
 1 233-1 240, gives an effigy upon a diapered field, and on 
 the reverse the martyrdom. St. Thomas was the most 
 popular saint in England for long after his ' deposition.' 
 Archbishop Boniface of Savoy represents a very fine 
 period of sealmakers' art. His figure stands on an 
 ornamental corbel, which embodies a view of Canterbury 
 Cathedral, and there are four impressions of ancient 
 gems bearing classic figures, one of which is a bust 
 of Jupiter Serapis. The counterseal, as previously, 
 delineates the martyrdom of the Kentish archbishop, 
 with the soul of the saint carried up to the Almighty 
 Father in a cloth, a fancy frequently to be noticed in the 
 works of mediaeval artists. Archbishop Kilwardby, 1272- 
 1278, calls himself on his seal 'Primate of all England.' 
 His reverse of the martyrdom is accompanied with the 
 pious wish of 
 
 ' AD • CHRISTUM • PRO • ME • SIT • SEMPER • PASSIO • THOME.' 
 
 John Peckham places a lily-flower drooping on a long 
 stalk on each side of his effigy, and the tableau of his 
 reverse seems inspired by that of his predecessor, but 
 has a different verse. Archbishop Winchelsea, 1294- 
 1313, places his effigy on a carved Gothic platform and 
 beneath a trefoiled canopy, with a diapered field. This 
 is the first seal of the series with this adjunct, which 
 is retained in succeeding seals. Archbishop Walter 
 Reynolds, 13 14- 1327, succeeds in a richly ornamental 
 period of art. His seal is filled with beautiful details : 
 shields of the arms of England are introduced at the 
 sides, as well as the symbols of the Four Evangelists, 
 
 74 
 
PLATE XI 
 
 
 
 &■ 
 
 < \ 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 if 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS SEALS 
 
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY 
 
 which derive their presence from the fact that they are 
 charges in the family armorial bearings of the arch- 
 bishop. He, too, retains the scene of the martyrdom of 
 his tutelary predecessor for the subject of his reverse. 
 Simon Islip uses, with his effigy, a figure of the Virgin 
 overhead, and shields of arms. A doubtful seal, either 
 of this Simon, or of Simon of Sudbury, 1375-1381, gives 
 another delineation of the tragedy enacted in the cathe- 
 dral, with the archbishop kneeling in adoration. This 
 latter Simon had a very rich seal with a Gothic canopy 
 over the prelate's head, consisting of five cusps, and 
 angels holding shields of arms, one of which bears a 
 crozier ensigned with a cross formde, and surmounted 
 by a pallhtin between two pastoral staves. This seems 
 to be a variant of the arms of the Ecclesiastical Province 
 of Canterbury. Heads of St. Paul and St. Peter are 
 also introduced in niches, and the family arms are set 
 in the base. This archbishop's seal ad causas employs 
 the usual device of the martyrdom, accompanied with 
 a figure of the Holy Trinity between demi-angels, saints, 
 heraldry, and the prelate himself in prayer. His ring 
 bears the favourite and universal motto of the middle 
 ages in England : ' jhesus • est • amor • meus.' 
 
 A curious but uncertain seal bearing a representation 
 of the Holy Trinity, within a cordon of busts of an arch- 
 bishop and seventeen bishops, may possibly belong to 
 this prelate or to one not far removed from him in order 
 of sequence. Archbishop Courtenay, 1 381-1396, discards 
 the type of effigy which had subsisted from the earliest 
 days, and depicts the Saviour giving a blessing, with 
 St. Paul and St. Peter in side niches. His official seal 
 gives the mystical figure of the risen Christ, blessing, 
 and holding an orb enhanced with long cross and 
 banner. Thomas Arundel, 1397-1414, reverts to the 
 death of the sainted archbishop, and introduces the 
 Holy Trinity with angel attendants. His privy seal of 
 arms has supporters of lions sejant guardant. Arch- 
 bishop Chicheley's seal is rich and fine. Its design is 
 
 75 
 
SEALS 
 
 the Trinity adored by the prelate and accompanied with 
 arms. John Stafford, 1443- 1452, uses the motive of the 
 Holy Trinity, with the Virgin and Child between angels, 
 and with shields of arms. His signet is an eagle of 
 St. John the Evangelist, holding a scroll with an indis- 
 tinct word inscribed thereon. Archbishop Bourchier 
 retains the Trinity. Wareham reverts to the personal 
 effigy, and is the last of the archbishops to do so. His 
 second seal, however, used in 1524, depicts the Trinity, 
 the Virgin and Child with two angels, and the prelate 
 in adoration. Cranmer seems to have adopted Arch- 
 bishop Wareham's seal at first, but in his second seal he 
 was the first to place the martyrdom of St. Thomas, 
 accompanied with a representation of the Almighty on 
 a rainbow, and heraldry, in the lower part. This tableau, 
 however, was out of favour with the altered feelings of 
 the time, and it was removed to make way for a more 
 orthodox scene of the Crucifixion of our Lord. Arch- 
 bishop Parker on his seal depicts our Lord in Judg- 
 ment ; figures rising from graves ; Satan thrusting the 
 wicked into Hell ; and the building of the New Jeru- 
 salem. The legend is the pronunciation of the final 
 doom as given in Holy Writ, but little beyond the words 
 venite and abite can be deciphered. The last seal to be 
 mentioned is that of Laud, 1633- 1645. Art by this time 
 had sadly degenerated, and here we find the arms of the 
 province or see ; the eye of the Almighty ; a hand of 
 blessing ; and contemporary heraldry. A date ten years 
 later than the execution of the archbishop has been 
 inserted into the matrix above the family arms of Laud. 
 His signet is purely armorial. 
 
 The Prerogative Courts of the archbishops are pro- 
 vided with seals descriptively inscribed. Their devices 
 chiefly point to St. Thomas, or are heraldic. Cranmer 
 substituted for the martyrdom in the first seal, the 
 scourging of our Lord in his second. The sede vacante 
 seal during Cranmer's imprisonment, and Archbishop 
 Pole's seal, still give the martyrdom. Parker gives the 
 76 
 
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY 
 
 disputing of Christ with the Doctors in the Temple, with 
 an antique gem seal in one counterseal, bearing two 
 busts of deities or emperors. This is also employed by 
 Archbishop Grindal. Some of the later seals bear 
 impressions, on the reverse, of seals of officials of the 
 Prerogative Court. The Court of Arches used the device 
 of the Virgin and Child, attended by the Dean, or other 
 official, in an attitude of veneration. The Faculty seals 
 of Archbishops Cranmer and Juxon depict the scene of 
 Moses lifting up the brazen serpent in the wilderness 
 on the one side, as the type of the Crucifixion of our 
 Lord which finds a place on the other side ; those of 
 other archbishops are chiefly armorial or copies of these 
 two Biblical events. The ' Chancery General ' of Canter- 
 bury has left an interesting seal, which bears a representa- 
 tion of the Crucifixion between two trees in a Gothic 
 niche, engraved over some original design which has 
 been cut away. In base, under an arch, is a bishop 
 praying between two shields of arms, which may perhaps 
 be for Cranmer; if so, the identical treatment in Cran- 
 mer's seal already spoken of, has been followed here. 
 
 The ' Court of Audience,' another of the Ecclesiastical 
 Courts of the Province, has, in the seal of Archbishop 
 Parker, an effigy of the prelate, with heraldry, and on 
 the reverse a small counterseal of which the design is a 
 human skull with a thigh-bone set between the jaws. 
 The ' officials of the Court,' ' officiality of Christ Church,' 
 and ' Commissary Generals,' all had appropriate seals. 
 The effigy of St. Thomas appears to have been a favourite 
 subject in these cases. One seal of the fourteenth century 
 for the ' officiality,' shows a prospect of the Cathedral 
 from the south; another, used in 1559, has the Virgin 
 Mary under a late canopy. The ' Visitations seal ' of 
 the Commissary has the Saviour in judgment. Arch- 
 bishop Laud's Vicar-General used a seal, 1633- 1645, 
 bearing an angel with uplifted wings holding in one hand 
 a sword and a book, in the other an even balance, the 
 'Angel of Doom,' accompanied with the inscriptions 
 
 77 
 
SEALS 
 
 * PERCUTE ' over the former, and * perpende ' over the 
 latter emblem. The early seals of Canterbury Chapter 
 are very beautiful and very elaborate. They show views 
 of the church, ' Ecclesia Christi,' more or less accurate, 
 more or less conventional, with figures of our Lord, 
 heads of St. Dunstan and St. ^Ifheah, or Elphegus, 
 Becket's martyrdom, and other designs proper to the 
 sacred locality. The counterseal of the martyrdom is 
 graced with the following couplet concerning the 
 tragedy : 
 
 * EST • HUIC • VITA • MORI • PRO • QUA • DUM • VIXIT • AMORI • 
 MORS • ERAT • ET • MEMORI • PER • MORTEM • VIVIT • HONORI.' 
 
 On the rim, or edge, the following lines are supposed to 
 be spoken by the seal itself: 
 
 * SIT • MICHI • CAUSA • MERA • STILUS • APTUS • LITERA • VERA • 
 CIRCUMSPECTA • SERA • TENOR • UTILIS • INTEGRA • CERA.' 
 
 The seals of the New Fo^mdation, 1540, brushed all 
 these beautiful creations of the thirteenth and fourteenth 
 centuries away, to make room for coarsely executed 
 copies, showing views of the Cathedral from various 
 points of view, with figures of the Divine Patron, angels 
 swinging thuribles, and other details. The martyrdom 
 also finds a place on the earliest seals adcausas, and on 
 the Archdeacon's seal in 1 232 there is a good tableau of 
 the same event. The Almoner's seal shows the dis- 
 tribution of doles to the poor, and armorial bearings, 
 busts of St. Thomas, and other representations of local 
 interest fill up the measure of the Ecclesiastical Seals of 
 Canterbury. 
 
 The Bishops of Bangor have left very few seals to us. 
 They appear to follow the same lines of art as the pre- 
 ceding specimens, age for age. Heraldry and hagiology 
 are the paramount founts of inspiration here, as in other 
 sees. The Bishops of Bath, Bath and Glastonbury 
 
 78 
 
BISHOPS OF BATH, CHICHESTER, ETC. 
 
 (combined by Savaric, who occupied the Episcopal throne 
 here at the close of the twelfth and beginning of the 
 thirteenth century), and Bath and Wells, present a fairly 
 good series of seals to our notice. The Virgin and 
 Child, St. Andrew, St. Paul, St. Anne teaching the 
 Virgin are, with armorial bearings, the most usual 
 subjects on these seals. The Bishop's Exchequer, in 
 his seal of 1348, shows his effigy half-length with an 
 Exchequer table of sixteen small squares on his breast. 
 The earliest Chapter seal is of very great antiquity, 
 possibly as old as the tenth century if we may judge 
 from the character of the lettering and the Romanesque 
 style of the abbey buildings delineated, where three 
 towers without windows, pent roofs with knob finials 
 and other peculiarities of construction, point to an 
 almost classical period of architecture. St. John Baptist 
 appears on the Precentor's seal in the thirteenth century. 
 Chichester Diocese possessed a very good series of seals 
 which follow the art lines that have already been described 
 for Canterbury. Some of these delineate the Saviour in 
 judgment between the candlesticks of Rev. i. 16, a design 
 which subsequently found its way into the armorial bear- 
 ings of the See : the Almighty and the Holy Spirit as 
 a Dove, the Virgin, St. Richard, St. Wilfrid, the Trinity, 
 and St. Frideswida. The early thirteenth-century seal 
 used by the Dean and Chapter is oblate oval, and has 
 a curious representation of the cathedral here called 
 ' Templum Justicie.' Their ad caiisas seal shows our 
 Lord enthroned as Prester John, A.fi., in his mouth a 
 sword. A late thirteenth-century dean uses the design 
 of our Lord, between the busts of St. Paul and St. Peter. 
 Heraldry is the principal motive in the later seals. The 
 ancient See of Dunwich contributes the seal of Bishop 
 Edhilvvald, 845-870, to our series. It bears an orna- 
 mental star of eight points alternately leaf-shaped and 
 fleury. This seal has been the subject of several learned 
 dissertations. The matrix of bronze is preserved in the 
 British Museum, and is an undoubtedly genuine fine-art 
 
 79 
 
SEALS 
 
 relic of Anglo-Saxon episcopacy. The Bishops of Ely had 
 a very fine series of seals, where the effigies of the pre- 
 lates contribute much towards the study of mediaeval 
 vestments of the church. St. Etheldreda appears on 
 some of the seals, where we may read of the principal 
 events in the life of this great saint in the legendary 
 inscription : 
 
 * ETHELDREDA • DUOS • FRUSTATUR • VIRGO • MARITOS.' 
 
 The two husbands whom she eluded and abandoned 
 for a chaster life than that of matrimony were, if legend 
 is to be relied on, Tonberht, and the Northumbrian 
 monarch Ecgfrid. St. Peter shares, in some seals, the 
 honour given to this virgin saint. Heraldry is pre- 
 dominant in the later examples. St. Peter and St. 
 Etheldreda on the early seal of the Chapter were accom- 
 panied with the descriptive couplet : 
 
 ' PETRUS • ET+ELDREDA • MOLLIS • SUB+TEGMINE • CERE • 
 ELY • S+ECRETA • CELARE • SIMUL+STATUERE,' 
 
 with four fleurs-de-lis at the crosses marked, to show 
 where the cords for appending the seal were to be laid 
 when the wax was not yet set cold. The Holy Trinity, 
 the Virgin and Child, and the patron saint, are shown 
 on other seals of members of this Chapter. The Rural 
 Deaneries here, as in other sees, had arbitrary designs, 
 and no conventional usage was adopted ; sometimes an 
 effigy of the dean ; at others, a bird with a branch, a 
 saint's head, or a hand of blessing, were adopted. Exeter 
 contributes a good collection of seals of its bishops. 
 Bartholomew, 1162-1184, had in his ring seal a finely 
 engraved antique gem, with the classic group of Thetis 
 and Achilles, which he has impressed as a counterseal on 
 an example in the British Museum. It bears the sub- 
 stance of a Biblical injunction on its legend, ' crede • 
 DUOBUS,' two witnesses being considered in Jewish and 
 80 
 
BISHOPS OF EXETER AND HEREFORD 
 
 ancient law necessary to establish a record of truth. The 
 Virgin and Child, the Trinity, St. Peter, St. Paul, and 
 St. Catharine, are not infrequently found on seals of this 
 See, and the seals of John Grandison, 1327-1369, of bright 
 red wax, embedded in a boat-shaped mass of fine un- 
 coloured wax in beautiful preservation, are among the 
 very best examples of Episcopal seals that our country 
 can boast of. The early seals of the Chapter represent 
 the cathedral church. The Precentor, in the opening 
 years of the fourteenth century, delineated on his seal the 
 Annunciation with the emblems of St. Peter and St. Paul 
 added to the tableau. The common seal of the Warden 
 and College of Vicars Choral gives the very unusual sub- 
 ject of our Lord walking on the water, raising up the 
 half-immersed figure of St. Peter, with legend ' quare 
 DUBiTASTi ' (Matt. xiv. 31). The Archdeacon of Cornwall, 
 a member of the Chapter, used in 1282, the design of 
 St. George and the Dragon on his seal, but the connection 
 of this legend with the See is not clear. 
 
 The Bishops of Hereford of the mediaeval ages exhibit 
 some good seals. St. ^thelbert appears on some of 
 them, and impressions of one or two gem rings of 
 antiquity are found as counterseals. Heraldry, as usual, 
 is not wanting. The Chapter seal, like so many others, 
 represents, in a pointed oval or vesica, parts of the ancient 
 cathedral church, perhaps the south door, a lantern tower, 
 and a western pinnacle thatched and with a circular 
 window. The delineation may be compared with some of 
 the details of the old church which have been given in the 
 histories of the city. The reverse shows St. ^thelbert, 
 or perhaps our Lord, with crown, sceptre and orb, and in 
 the field the symbolical adjuncts of the sun, the moon, 
 and a star. A later seal, apparently of the workmanship 
 of the thirteenth century, contains the design of the 
 Virgin and Child, with St. ^thelbert holding his dis- 
 severed head, still adorned with the crown, in his hand, 
 between a moon and two stars. A seventeenth-century 
 seal of the Chapter, imperfect, appears to have the design 
 F 81 
 
SEALS 
 
 of the Blessed Trinity or the Coronation of the Virgin ; 
 two seated figures only remain. The Virgin Mary and 
 the patron saint also appear upon other seals connected 
 with the officials of the Chapter. 
 
 Thomas Manning, 1536- 1539, sole bishop of the short- 
 lived See of Ipswich, has left an impression of his signet 
 ring with the simple device of his initials T. M. The 
 Bishops of Lichfield and Coventry from an early period 
 use the plain Episcopal effigy, in vestments, with pastoral 
 staff, and lifting up the right hand in the act of giving a 
 benediction. The thirteenth century witnesses here much 
 more elaboration of the bishop's dress ; architectural 
 details of canopy and corbel are introduced ; the moon 
 and stars find their places in the field ; and eventually 
 heraldry enters into the tableau. The effigy of the Virgin 
 and Child not infrequently adorns the counterseals. 
 Other subjects found in these seals are the Coronation of 
 the Virgin ; figures of St. Chad, patron saint ; St. Paul, 
 and St. Catharine. Heraldry, it is hardly necessary to 
 say, is not forgotten. The Chapter seals do not here deline- 
 ate any ecclesiastical building, but the Virgin and Child 
 and St. John Baptist appear on some of them. The 
 Coetus Vicarioruni, 1368, had a seal where, in the base, 
 seven vicars choral are shown in half-length, beneath the 
 figure of a bishop, also half-length, under an elegant 
 arch. The Rural Deaneries had special seals, that of 
 Marton, co. Warwick, bearing a pelican ; Arderne, in 
 the same county, an Agnus Dei ; that of Preston, co. 
 Lancaster, a salmon between two fleurs-de-lis. 
 
 The copious series of seals belonging to the Bishops 
 of Lincoln begins very early, with Alexander, 1123, and 
 is replete with interest ; the gradual changes from 
 the simple Episcopal effigy with pastoral staff, to the 
 elaborately carved and canopied niches containing richly 
 vested prelates accompanied with saints and heraldry, as 
 well as subordinate emblems, being all well represented. 
 The counterseals also show impressions of a curious 
 gnostic gem, of the first or second century of the Christian 
 82 
 
PLATE XII 
 
 KiVGLISH BISHOPS 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
BISHOPS OF LINCOLN AND LLANDAFF 
 
 era, used by Bishop Robert de Chesney. This bears a 
 compound figure, known to antiquaries as a chimera or 
 gryllus, consisting of a human bust, an eagle, a horse's 
 head and neck, a trident, and a serpent, united fantasti- 
 cally together so as to form a monstrous or nondescript 
 figure. The signification of this remarkable design is 
 not clearly apparent, but it had undoubtedly a deep 
 meaning for those who could read aright, and the gem 
 on which it had been engraved must have possessed some 
 great intrinsic value to cause it to attract so powerful a 
 churchman as the Bishop of Lincoln in the middle of the 
 twelfth century. This gem, like one already described, 
 was set more than once, for the impressions on the 
 reverse of the bishop's seal show that the lettering of the 
 legend is not always disposed in the same manner. 
 
 Among the designs which grace the seals of this See 
 are found effigies of the Virgin and Child, and of St. Hugh 
 of Lincoln ; the head of this saint ; God the Father ; 
 St. John Baptist ; and the Crucifixion. Bishop John de 
 Bokyngham's seal, 1363-1397, is a remarkably fine relic, 
 and compares for beauty and execution with that of 
 Grandison, Bishop of Exeter. Bishop Henry de Beau- 
 fort introduced the imaginary arms of Edward the 
 Confessor into his very beautiful seal. In 1547, a royal 
 seal for the Ecclesiastical Causes of this See was em- 
 ployed, in accordance with the Statute of i Edw. vi. 
 cap. 2. The early seals of the Chapter of Lincoln are 
 very fine. They bear the figure of the Virgin and Child, 
 and a counterseal in 12 17 shows the scene of the 
 Annunciation. Among the devices used by members of 
 the Chapter are effigies of St. John the Evangelist, 
 St. Hugh or St. John de Beverley, St. Mary Magdalene, 
 St. Peter's keys, and so forth. Llandaff diocese has not 
 left very many Episcopal seals ; those that are known 
 follow the usual current of art. There is a fine early 
 Christian gem ring of Bishop William de Saltmarsh, the 
 impression showing a cross between two busts of celestial 
 personages ; another, with an imperial bust in profile ; and 
 
 83 
 
SEALS 
 
 a twelfth-century effigy of the Archangel Gabriel. The 
 Chapter had two seals, both apparently of the twelfth 
 century. They bear views of the cathedral which are, 
 historically and architecturally speaking, of the highest 
 interest, the earlier one from the north, the later from 
 the south side of the fabric. 
 
 The Bishops of London favoured the type of full- 
 length figure of the prelate, and of these we find seals of 
 Richard de Belmeis, also called Rufus i., from a charter 
 preserved in St. Paul's Cathedral, 1108; Richard de 
 Belmeis 11., his nephew, 1152-1162, on a charter in 
 Canterbury Cathedral ; Gilbert de Foliot, William of 
 St. Mary Church, Eustace de Falconbridge, Roger 
 Niger de Bileye, Henry de Wingham, Richard Talbot, 
 and John de Chishill. Several of these Episcopal seals 
 have counterseals alluding to the patron saint of the 
 See. Stephen of Gravesend is represented on a diapered 
 background under a trefoiled Gothic canopy, 13 18- 1338. 
 In the charming seal ol Ralph de Stratford, 1340-1354, 
 the field is filled with fine tracery, and at the sides are the 
 emblems of St. Paul and St. Peter. Bishop Simon of 
 Sudbury's seal is the earliest in the series in which the 
 bishop's figure is replaced by that of a saint, the bishop 
 himself occupying a subordinate position in the design. 
 This bears St. Paul's effigy, with his appropriate em- 
 blems, in a fine niche, and in the carving overhead is a 
 figure of the Virgin ; below, is the bishop kneeling in 
 veneration, between two shields of arms, that of the See 
 on the one side, and of the Sudbury family on the other. 
 The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries introduce designs 
 more rich and varied into Episcopal seals. Architectural 
 display, saints and their proper emblems, intricate taber- 
 nacle work, and tracery supporting armorial bearings 
 become prevalent. The sixteenth century is that of in- 
 cipient decay. Bishop Tunstall's seal, 1522-1530, with 
 decadent Gothic work, ushers in the Italian art, which is 
 still more pronounced in that of Edmund Bonner, 1540- 
 1549. The seals of the bishops for 'causes' differed by 
 
 34 
 
BISHOPS OF LONDON AND NORWICH 
 
 generally having a figure of the Virgin Mary or other 
 saint in the principal position. Those of the Capitular 
 members are smaller and not of such elaborate execution. 
 The Cathedral seal of the thirteenth century represents 
 the holy edifice as it appeared in that remote epoch, after 
 allowing liberally for the conventionalism which entered 
 so largely into the imagination of the engraver. The 
 Chapter seal of the twelfth century shows St. Paul on a 
 Gothic edifice, holding an open book and giving the 
 blessing to three half-length figures on each side who are 
 adoring him. A later seal bears on the one side the west 
 front of the cathedral, on the other the patron with 
 sword and book beneath a finely ornamented canopy, and 
 the explanatory legend here is very attractive : 
 
 ' MUCRO • FUROR • SAULI • LIBER • EST • CONVERSIO • SAULI.' 
 
 St. Paul's effigy one would naturally expect to find on 
 these seals, and the appearance of St. Martin on Bishop 
 Kemp's seal, 1450- 1459, and of St. .i^thelbert on Bishop 
 Tunstall's, 1522- 1530, refer to other episodes in the 
 history of the See. There is a copious series of seals of 
 Chapter officials and dignitaries, with appropriate designs 
 and emblems. 
 
 The See of Norwich can show many beautiful seals of 
 the bishops, following the progress of art from the simple 
 Episcopal effigy to the ornamental, the architectural, and 
 eventually to the heraldic and symbolical stages. Im- 
 pressions of gems on the earlier counterseals are extant, 
 accompanied with mottoes and texts. The Virgin and 
 Child also occurs on these, and one, with our Lord in 
 glory, bears the rhyme : 
 
 ' HOC • TE • TORMENTO • REDIMI • WALTERE • MEMENTO.' 
 
 This belongs to the seal of Walter of Suthfield, who sat 
 on the cathedral throne from 1245 to 1257. St. John 
 Baptist, St. Lawrence, the Holy Trinity, and the Calvary 
 cross occur among the designs, many of which are very 
 
 8s 
 
SEALS 
 
 beautiful. The officers of the Chapter delineate other 
 saints, and the ' Corrector of the Bishop,' on his official 
 seal, sits in judgment on two delinquents standing before 
 him. The Cathedral seals are very fine. That made in 
 1258, about three and a quarter inches in diameter, shows 
 a wonderfully intricate elevation or section of the edifice 
 with abundance of conventional detail, and includes a 
 figure of Bishop Herbert Losinga, the founder. It is 
 accompanied, after the usual manner, with the wavy- 
 rayed sun-star and crescent moon of recondite significa- 
 tion. The reverse shows another prospect of the holy 
 building, and comprises the half-length figure of our 
 Lord and a scene of the Annunciation. Our Lord speaks 
 the rhyming legend : 
 
 * EST • MICHI • NUMEN • IDEM • TRIBUS • UNI • LAUS • HONOR • 
 ^ IDEM. 
 ET • BENEDICO • GREGI • FAMULATUR • QUI • MICHI • REGI.' 
 
 The rim of this seal carries a sentence declaring the date, 
 given above, of the making of the matrix. In, or before, 
 the year 1544, the scene of the Annunciation, which had 
 now at length become intolerable to the iconoclastic senti- 
 ments of the age, was removed, in order to make place 
 for a deeply cut ornamental shield of arms, but the altera- 
 tion was not carried out so thoroughly as to destroy 
 entirely the top of the heads of the Virgin and the Arch- 
 angel, and the inscription on the plinth below, which was 
 befitting the original tableau, ' Ave Maria,' is grotesquely 
 out of place beneath a shield of arms. Other saints 
 appear on seals of Chapter dignitaries, among them being 
 St. Agnes carrying a lamb in her arms, St. Michael and 
 the dragon, St. Margaret, St. Chad, and St. Thomas. 
 The 'Disputing of Our Lord with the Doctors,' the 'Fall of 
 Man,' and a personification of * Justice,' are also found on 
 late seals. 
 
 Dunwich has as the seal of one of its deans, 1193- 
 1205, an impression of a fine Greek intaglio gem of the 
 third or fourth century, the design of which is a warrior 
 86 
 
 ' 
 
BISHOPS OF OXFORD, ROCHESTER, ETC. 
 
 with a shield, perhaps Achilles. The Rural Deanery, 
 after its absorption into the See of Dunwich, shows 
 effigies of St. Andrew and St. Peter. This is dated 
 1356. Oxford, a late Episcopal foundation, has a sixteenth- 
 century seal (1546) bearing the figure of our Lord in a 
 renaissance niche on the one side, and the founder, 
 King Henry viii., in majesty on the reverse. Peter- 
 borough, another late establishment by the same royal 
 founder, affected heraldic designs, but Bishop Dove, 
 1 601- 1 630, used an emblematic landscape, with a dove- 
 cot and persons fowling, in the foreground a coiled 
 serpent. This is clearly in allusion to the bishop's sur- 
 name, and also points to the text ' Be ye wise as serpents, 
 harmless as doves' (Matt. x. 16). Rochester, sacred to 
 St. Andrew the apostle, afforded to the bishops an 
 interesting theme for the tableaux of their seals, and 
 some fine examples are extant. The reverse of the 
 thirteenth-century seal of the Chapter shows the martyr- 
 dom of the patron saint, who is being tied by his tor- 
 mentors upon a saltire cross, while he ejaculates : 
 
 ' EGO • CRUCIS • CHRISTI • SERVUS • SUM.' 
 
 St. Peter and St. Paul appear on the seal of an eighteenth- 
 century archdeacon. The Bishops of St. Asaph have 
 not left many seals. The most interesting designs in 
 this series are figures of St. Peter and St. Paul on that 
 of Bishop Robert of Lancaster, 141 1 -1433, which from 
 some strange vicissitude of existence is in use by the 
 ' Court of the Peculiar of the Archbishop of Canterbury 
 at Chichester ' ; and the scene of the Sacrifice of Isaac, 
 as the prototype of the Agnus Dei. St. David's See, in 
 like manner, is not particularly rich in seals. 
 
 Salisbury, on the other hand, contributes many very 
 beautiful seals to our collections. The obverses follow the 
 usual progress and manners of the seal art. The designs 
 comprise the Annunciation, the Virgin and Child, the Holy 
 Trinity, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Catharine, St. Osmund, 
 
 87 
 
SEALS 
 
 and St. Andrew. The Cathedral seals bear the royal 
 similitude of the Queen of Heaven with the Divine Child. 
 The See of Westminster, a late and short-lived founda- 
 tion, which might now well be re-erected or resumed, 
 1 540- 1 550, occupied by Thomas Thyrleby, has a seal 
 wherein appear effigies of St. Peter, St. Edward Confes- 
 sor, and a bishop. There is a very remarkable contem- 
 porary design for a seal of renaissance style, enclosing a 
 figure of St. Peter, in the MSS. department of the British 
 Museum, but it does not appear to have been completed. 
 The Deanery and Chapter of the Collegiate Church of 
 St. Peter are, of course, new foundations. Here the 
 seals show St. Peter's figure and that of King Henry viii., 
 and, on a later seal. Queen Elizabeth receiving books from 
 ecclesiastics. 
 
 The ancient See of Winchester is not deficient in 
 good seals, which exhibit the customary movements and 
 changes that are present in all the seals of other dioceses. 
 Here the designs include the Lucy or pike fish of Bishop 
 Godfrey de Lucy, 1 189-1204, St. Peter and St. Paul, the 
 Virgin and Child, St. Paul and St. Swithun, St. Mary 
 Magdalene, and St. Andrew. The Cathedral Chapter 
 seal, made, as its legend attests, in 1 294, is very beautiful. 
 It gives on the one side a view of part of the cathedral, 
 enclosing representations of St. Peter and St. Swithun 
 the patron saints ; on the other, a crowned king between 
 two bishops, accompanied by four monks praying under 
 an arch in the lower part of the design. There is a 
 curious view of the cathedral in 1745 on a late seal, with 
 the scene of the Ascension of our Lord, drawn and en- 
 graved in a coarse style of art, on the reverse. The See 
 of Worcester completes the suffragan dioceses of the 
 Province of Canterbury. Its seals are of a good style, 
 and those of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries are 
 particularly fine. Bishop Wakefield's seal ad causas, 
 used in 1383, shows the 'Coronation of the Virgin' in a 
 finely carved niche, accompanied with heraldry. That of 
 Bishop Peverel, used in 141 1, represents the Almighty, 
 88 
 
ARCHBISHOPS OF YORK 
 
 the Virgin and Child, and the Dove. Bishop John de 
 Gigliis, an Italian, 1497, represented on his seal the 
 Virgin and Child between saints, probably Oswald and 
 Wulstan, and our Lord on the Cross. Silvester de 
 Gigliis, his successor, likewise an Italian, in 1498, repre- 
 sented the Virgin and Child and the Trinity. Other 
 designs used by the bishops and officers of this See 
 comprise our Lord in Judgment, the Coronation of the 
 Virgin, St. Andrew, and the Ascension. The Cathedral 
 seal is of the early date of the eleventh century, and 
 bears a fine effigy of the Virgin with the Child, and a 
 small oval counterseal from an antique gem engraved 
 with a female votary pouring a libation to a deity and 
 inscribed with one of the remarkable philosophical 
 apophthegms which speak volumes in a few words and 
 should be deeply engraved on every man's heart : 
 
 ' HABUNDANS • CAUTELA • NON • NOCET.' 
 
 The fifteenth-century seal of the Dean and Chapter 
 shows the Virgin and Child, the Blessed Trinity, and 
 armorial bearings : on the reverse is a fine religious 
 design, comprising niches in which are placed St. Oswald 
 of Worcester and York, St. Wulstan, and the Coronation 
 of the Virgin, accompanied by incense- bearing angels 
 and adoring ecclesiastics. The New Foundation used a 
 Renaissance type of seal, on the one side having the scene 
 of the Nativity with heraldry, on the other King Henry 
 VIII. enthroned, attended by clergy, and above the canopy 
 of the throne is seen St. Peter with his emblematic key. 
 
 The Province of York has a fine collection of seals, 
 second to none in beauty of work, and instinctively 
 portraying the changing styles as the gradual improve- 
 ment in designs progressed through the centuries. 
 Here, in addition to the episcopal figures and concomitant 
 armorial bearings, we may notice the appearance of effigies 
 of St. Peter and St. Paul, patron saints. Walter Giffard, 
 who sat on the archiepiscopal throne from 1266 to 1279, 
 
 89 
 
SEALS 
 
 has a gem counterseal of antique workmanship en- 
 graved with the favourite classical subject of Tyche or 
 Fortune, holding in the right hand a statuette of Victory 
 or Nike, in the left a shield. Another of the archbishops 
 had a counterseal on which is the valuable impression of 
 a large ancient oval Christian gem, about two and three- 
 eighth inches by an inch and a half in dimensions. Here 
 are delineated the two conventional busts of St, Peter 
 with short curled hair and beard, and of St. Paul with 
 longer beard, en mddaillon, to the right : in the spaces of 
 the setting, between the gem and the legend, are two 
 archbishops adoring their heavenly patrons. The legend 
 is of much interest : 
 
 * SECRETUM • DOTANT • QUOS • DUO • SIGNA • NOTANT.' 
 
 Other legends of a similar nature relating to the patron 
 saints are those used by William de Melton, 1328 : 
 
 * PROTEGE • PETRE • PETO • WILLELMUM • ET- PAULE • 
 
 FA VETO ' ; 
 
 William de la Zouche, 1342 : 
 
 ' TESTIBUS • HIIS • SIGNO » CAUSAS • CUM • MARGINE • DIGNO ' ; 
 
 John Thoresby, 1352 : 
 
 ' SIS • MULTIS • ANNIS • PETRE • DUX • ET • PAULE • JOHANNIS.' 
 
 Other saints delineated on York seals are St. Germanus; 
 the Virgin and Child; St. John Evangelist, 1392; the 
 Trinity; Saints Andrew, Chad, Wilfrid and Oswald, 
 1407 ; St. Catharine and St. Margaret, 1452 ; St. Andrew, 
 1 50 1. St. Peter half-submerged in waves (haply a 
 recondite innuendo) is found on a sede vacante seal 
 of the Court, but armorial devices are more frequently 
 found on the later examples. St. Daniel, the Bishop, 
 appears, perhaps for the only time in the history of the 
 90 
 
BISHOPS OF CARLISLE AND DURHAM 
 
 seal-engraver's art, on a seal of an archdeacon in 1380; 
 Saints Lawrence and Denis on that of one of the arch- 
 deacons of the East Riding in 1322. 
 
 The Bishops of Carlisle followed the usual current of 
 the times in the designs of their seals. St. Peter's effigy, 
 and the Coronation of the Virgin, are favoured subjects. 
 The Cathedral seal here is peculiar. The obverse bears 
 the Virgin and Child, between two angels censing them, 
 on a Gothic bridge with embattled wall below ; on the 
 reverse, the counterseal of the prior, is the impression 
 of an antique gem engraved with Fortune or Minerva, 
 helmeted, with an ancient inscription on the gem, not 
 quite perfect, divs • f . . ., faintly impressed on the wax. 
 Chester Diocese, a late foundation, rejoices chiefly in 
 armorial designs, and the Cathedral seal of 1541 is of 
 the new Italian style with effigies on the obverse of the 
 Virgin praying at a lectern, addressed by our Lord with 
 nimbus, cross, and scroll inscribed : 
 
 * SALVE • SANCTA • PARENS • REGINA ' ; 
 
 on the reverse the Reformer King Henry viii. enthroned, 
 in majesty, between St. Oswald and the Virgin Mary. 
 
 To Durham belongs one of the highest places in the 
 category of Episcopal seals, for the excellence of work- 
 manship, beauty of balance and proportion in the finest 
 period of the art, and variety of interest in the designs of 
 the numerous examples that are extant. Bishop Richard 
 de Marsh, 121 7, represents on his counterseal our Lord 
 sitting in Judgment on a rainbow with the hands placed 
 on the shoulders of two saints, perhaps Cuthbert the 
 Patron, and John Baptist, with appropriate legend : 
 
 * HOC • ONUS • UT • SIT • HONGS • TIBI • LARGIOR • HOSQUE • 
 
 PATRONOS.' 
 
 In another of the same prelate's seals, a marsh is repre- 
 sented in allusion by way of rebus to the surname. 
 
 91 
 
SEALS 
 
 Bishop Nicholas, 1241, worships the Virgin and Child 
 on his counterseal, with the rhyming prayer : 
 
 ' NATO • CONCILIA • NICHOLAUM • VIRGO • MARIA.' 
 
 Bishop Walter Kirkham, 1249, delineates St. Cuthbert 
 with feet resting on the cathedral roof, and his own 
 effigy in adoration ejaculates : 
 
 ' PRESUL • CUTHBERTE • REGNEM • SUPER • ETHERA • PER • TE.' 
 
 His successor, Bishop Robert de Stichill, puts on a 
 similar reverse the legend in equally halting verse : 
 
 ' SIT • MICHI • CUTHBERTE • ROBERTO • GLORIA • PER • TE.' 
 
 An iambic third foot following a spondee second foot 
 frequently occurs in hexameters on seals. 
 
 The potent Christian pioneers Cuthbert and Oswald are 
 favourite saints here in this northern diocese, and among 
 other designs there occurs the Coronation of the Virgin 
 on the florid but very beautiful seal of the powerful 
 and politically influential Anthony Beck. The seals of 
 Bishops Kellaw, 1311-1316, and Lewis de Beaumont, 
 1 3 18- 1333, are remarkably beautiful, and the later seals, 
 where armorial designs occur in conjunction with sacred 
 subjects, contribute to our knowledge some of the finest 
 examples of the best period of the seal-engraver's art. 
 The Bishops of this See had their peculiar Palatine juris- 
 diction duly represented by special circular seals for their 
 Palatinate, in which they appear as secular princes, in 
 armour, with heraldic bearings and the panoply of a 
 military leader on the one side, with a reverse bearing an 
 effigy of the bishop accompanied by appropriate tableaux 
 of the Archangel Michael and St. George respectively in 
 combat with the pernicious powers of darkness and evil 
 represented by dragons or serpentine lizards. These 
 Palatinate seals were carried down as recently as to the 
 nineteenth century. Among the excellent designs of 
 92 
 
 « 
 
 » 
 
BISHOPS OF SODOR AND MAN 
 
 subordinate seals of the diocese of Durham, there are 
 found fine representations of the Annunciation of the 
 Virgin. The earliest seal of the Cathedral is of very 
 great age, perhaps of the tenth or eleventh century. It 
 is Anglo-Saxon in its motive, a small cross with a saltire 
 superimposed on it. Its counterseal, about an inch and 
 a half in diameter, has the impression of a very fine 
 antique intaglio engraved gem, bearing the bust of 
 Jupiter Serapis, bearded, and wearing the modius head- 
 dress, with which the chief of all the gods is often attired 
 in classical illustrations. There are later copies of this 
 seal. The New Foundation, in 1541, constituted a new 
 seal of poor art and strange design : Persons in con- 
 temporary dress are adoring the Lord seated in judgment 
 on the one side, on the other is seen the Assumption of 
 the Virgin, attended by the Personages of the Trinity. 
 
 Of the seals of the archdeacon there is one worthy of 
 notice, of the fourteenth century. It is attributed doubt- 
 fully to a John whose surname has not survived. The 
 design is a cross on a cushion between the emblems of 
 the Four Evangelists, and the legend in halting verse is : 
 
 * DILUE • DELICTA • JOHANNIS • CRUX • BENEDICTA.' 
 
 William Turner, Archdeacon of Northumberland, 1676- 
 1685, represents on his seal a church with embattled 
 and domed tower, accompanied with armorial bearings. 
 Richard, who was treasurer of Durham in 1310, gives 
 an illustration of our Lord on the Cross, adored by an 
 ecclesiastic in these words : 
 
 ' O • CRUX • SANCTA • DEI • DA • RICARDUM • REQUIEI.' 
 
 The cult of the cross is thus seen to have been constant 
 and prominent at Durham for many centuries. 
 
 Sodor and Man is the last of the Dioceses of which we 
 shall notice the seals. Mark, who occupied the See of 
 Sodor from 1275 to 1303, has a good seal, bearing his 
 
 93 
 
SEALS 
 
 effigy with embroidered vestments and pastoral staff in a 
 trefoiled niche, after the customary manner of the period. 
 Bishop Thomas Burton, who sat at Man, 1455- 1458, shows 
 in his seal the gradual enrichment which was going on in 
 this class of seal. John Campbell, Postulate Bishop of 
 Sodor, and Commendator of the Priory of Ardchattan, 
 one of the three monasteries of the remarkable Vallis 
 Caulium Order that had been founded in Scotland, used, 
 in 1 56 1, a seal which shows the further progress of the 
 art. Here the personal effigy is abandoned, to make 
 room for that of St. Columba, wearing a mitre, lifting 
 up the right hand in the act of pronouncing a blessing, 
 and in the left hand holding a bird, perhaps a dove, in 
 symbolical allusion to his name. This is set in a 
 canopied niche with its sides enhanced by the addition 
 of tabernacle work. The pastoral staff which should 
 accompany the saint has been ingeniously introduced 
 into the lower part of the seal, where a shield of the 
 family arms of the bishop is set on it, between his 
 initials I. C. This seal is of Scottish workmanship. 
 
 We have now passed under notice some of the best 
 of the Episcopal seals of England. They are all of the 
 greatest interest, and represent a very fine class of design 
 and work. Their study requires much research, because 
 of the many and varied points which they elucidate. 
 Personal history, the variation in the composition of the 
 Dioceses, the progress of the seal-engraver's art, heraldry 
 both of the See and the family of the prelate, changes 
 in architectural taste, and variety of the vestments used, 
 saints and their emblems, and, lastly, ingeniously con- 
 structed mottoes and rhyming verses (not always in 
 faultless metre), are all illustrated by this large class of 
 seals which yield to no other in beauty and attractive- 
 ness. The vesical, or pointed oval form, is more gene- 
 rally used, and the dimensions are moderate but not too 
 small, for the illustrating of so many biblical and re- 
 ligious episodes required space for their delineation, but 
 of course there are many departures from this rule. 
 
 94 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 SEALS OF ENGLISH MONASTERIES, ABBEYS, PRIORIES 
 AND MONASTIC ORDERS 
 
 A LARGE class of seals is comprehended in this 
 division. England was rich in monastic estab- 
 lishments belonging to many different orders 
 of monks, nuns, and friars, some of which had been 
 founded in a very remote period and had passed through 
 many vicissitudes during the progress of the centuries 
 which brought them all to their dissolution in the reign 
 of Henry viii. Others date their beginning from the 
 twelfth or thirteenth century, a period of the greatest 
 activity in the monastic world, when the religious house, 
 be it of what order it might, represented the home of the 
 philosopher, the litterateur, the scientific student, the 
 physician and surgeon, the artist, — in fact the votary of 
 every branch of human knowledge and research except 
 the military profession. In these remote days the 
 monastery, while fostering religion, succoured the sick 
 and the poor, educated the studious, encouraged the 
 author, sheltered the recluse, assisted research, and was 
 generally the life and centre of all that constituted the 
 peaceful progress of the popular development, and the 
 emollition of manners and customs. Apart from the pur- 
 suit of arms and the glory and glamour of the royal 
 court, there was no other choice for the youth of noble 
 birth, but to embrace the regular or the monastic church. 
 While the peasants tilled the same lands which their 
 fathers and grandfathers had tended before them, and 
 their sons and grandsons would, in due turn, take upon 
 themselves, adscripti glebce, unable, by reason of legal 
 
 95 
 
SEALS 
 
 disability, to remove from the village or town of their 
 birthplace, forced to follow in the footsteps of their ' rude 
 forefathers,' the younger sons of the nobles — (there was 
 no middle class in those days) — could scarcely remain in 
 their fathers' mansions, and were constrained to find con- 
 genial homes and pursuits elsewhere. Hence it was that 
 so many found a refuge in the religious establishments 
 which seem to have sprung up on every side, specially 
 adapted to fill the want of an asylum for such as those who 
 would have had to find with difficulty a befitting career. 
 
 The seals of these institutions are numerous. Every 
 one of them is attractive, instructive, and desirable. 
 They are for the most part unconventional as to subject, 
 but the Virgin Mary and the Child, the patron saint, 
 or the representation of the fabric of the house itself, 
 are favourite modes of design, and furnish the more 
 usual scenes that are found on their seals. Dealing 
 with these religious houses in order of alphabet, and 
 selecting, from the very numerous specimens, those that 
 strike us more forcibly for the interesting character of 
 their devices, the following may be taken as representa- 
 tive of this class. Abbotsbury Benedictine Abbey, in 
 CO. Dorset, dedicated to St. Peter, an ancient foundation, 
 had a seal of the eleventh century representing, more or 
 less accurately, one of the fronts of the church on a base 
 resembling an arcade. Aberconway, a Cistercian abbey 
 in Carnarvonshire, under the patronage of the Virgin, 
 represents the Virgin and Child with heraldic accompani- 
 ments. Abingdon, a celebrated Benedictine house in 
 Berkshire, used a similar motif, emblematic of its patron, 
 and John Sante, abbot, 1469- 1495, Papal Commissary, 
 and Ambassador from England to the Papal Court, 
 adopted the same symbol with additional figures of 
 St. Peter and St. Paul. St. John's Hospital in this 
 town represented a figure of St. John Baptist with 
 his Agnus Dei, between two trees for a wilderness : the 
 whole represented by a part, in obedience to a valuable 
 canon of art. Alcester or Alencester, a Benedictine 
 
 96 
 
MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS HOUSES 
 
 abbey of St. Mary and St. John Baptist, co. Warwick, 
 delineates St. John with his Lamb. Alnwick, a Pre- 
 monstratensian abbey dedicated to the Virgin, in 
 Northumberland, had an interesting design of the 
 Coronation of the patron saint, in use in the fifteenth 
 century. The Prioress of the Benedictine Monastery 
 of Amesbury in Wiltshire in 1202, Isabella of Lancaster, 
 daughter of Henry, Earl of Lancaster, was of royal 
 blood, and on her seal of office her effigy is accompanied 
 with the armorial bearings of her pedigree. The Priory 
 of Anglesey, in Cambridgeshire, an Austin house, 
 delineates the Virgin with the Four Evangelists. Anker- 
 wyke, a very ancient Benedictine priory in Buckingham- 
 shire, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, depicts the view 
 of the priory church as it stood in the twelfth century. 
 Here we observe ' half-timbered ' walls, round-headed 
 door, thatched and crested roof, bell-turret, and gables 
 topped with crosses: the whole forming a valuable picture 
 of an early monastery of modest dimensions, quite foreign 
 to the later pomp and glory of the Benedictines after they 
 had become the richest Order in England. Arundel 
 College of the Blessed Trinity, co. Sussex, shows in 
 the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries figures of the 
 Trinity, the earlier example being accompanied with 
 armorial bearings. The Augustine College of ' Bons- 
 hommes ' at Ashridge, co. Buckingham, delineated on 
 an altar the Agnus Dei of St. John, with a lion rampant 
 for Edmund, son of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, its 
 founder, in 1283. Athelney, Benedictine abbey of high 
 renown in co. Somerset, dedicated to St. Saviour, 
 St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. Athelwine, has left us a 
 seal of the eleventh century bearing a remarkable view 
 of the abbey church from the south with very curious 
 details, which appeal to the student of early architectural 
 forms in England. The fifteenth-century seal depicts 
 the patron saints in canopied niches, accompanied with 
 the armorial shields belonging to the abbey. Attle- 
 borough Collegiate house or Chantry of the Exaltation 
 G 97 
 
SEALS 
 
 of the Cross, in Norfolk, has a fifteenth-century design 
 of the Lord on the Cross. Axholm, a Carthusian 
 priory in Lincolnshire dedicated to the ' Visitation of 
 the Virgin,' shows the unusual scene of the ' Salutation,' 
 with heraldry pointing to the Earl of Nottingham, 
 Thomas Mowbray, afterwards Duke of Norfolk, the 
 founder, 1395. The Grey Friars of Aylesbury, co. Buck- 
 ingham, depict their patron St. Francis, adored by a friar. 
 
 Banbury Leper-house, in Oxfordshire, has a thirteenth- 
 century seal bearing a patriarchal cross in reference 
 to St. John. Bardney Benedictine Abbey in Lincoln- 
 shire, under the tutelary care of Saints Peter, Paul, and 
 Oswald, has a very ancient seal, perhaps as old as the 
 foundation in 1086. This is of concave shape, about 
 an inch and three-quarters in diameter, showing on the 
 one side an effigy of St. Oswald, crowned and enthroned, 
 the side feet of the throne terminating after the French 
 manner, with animals' claws. The form of the letters 
 in the legend is very archaic. The counterseal of this 
 belongs to Abbot Peter de Barton, and is a representation 
 of the abbey church, with niches containing the Virgin 
 and Child, St. Peter, St. Oswald, and the abbot in the 
 lower part adoring the celestial patrons. Abbot Matthew, 
 1 21 7-1 233, had an ancient oval intaglio gem set in a 
 ring, and used it as a counterseal. The device is the 
 full-length figure of a deity, and the legend when perfect 
 reads * tecta • lege • lecta • tege,' a not uncommon 
 motto of universal use in the middle ages, and worthy 
 even now to be inscribed on many a seal and stored up 
 in many a mind. The second seal is of the early four- 
 teenth century and bears effigies of the patrons, beauti- 
 fully drawn and engraved, accompanied with armorial 
 bearings of the abbey, a cross between four lions rampant. 
 
 The Benedictine Abbey of St. Mary and St. Ethelburga 
 of Barking in Essex had a thirteenth-century pointed 
 oval seal of large dimensions, about three inches by two, 
 delineated with figures of St. Erkenwald, St. Ethelburga, 
 and another, perhaps St. Hildelitha, under three arches, 
 
 98 
 
MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS HOUSES 
 
 with crescent and sun-star ; above the arcade the Virgin 
 and Child between St. Peter and St. Paul, the latter 
 holding his emblem the sword, by the blade. At the 
 sides are tall candles in candlesticks. The Abbess 
 Matildis, early in the thirteenth century, had a ring set 
 with an oval gem, as ancient as the first years of the 
 Christian epoch, bearing the engraving of St. George, 
 on a horse, attacking the dragon with a long spear. 
 This legend, like some others now unfortunately con- 
 sidered idle and childish fables, is really a survival of 
 oral tradition handed down from the far-off palaeontozoic 
 period, when the human animal, emerging into manship 
 and divinely taught, strove with the monster Saurians 
 of the now extinct past for a place upon the earth, and 
 became paramount by reason of the divine afflatus which 
 the Creator had breathed into His handiwork. St. Mar- 
 garet, in like manner, tramples on the dragon, and pierces 
 its head with a long cross, on the curious fourteenth-century 
 seal used by the Prior of Barham, dedicated to St. Cross, 
 near Linton, in Cambridgeshire. The Premonstratensian 
 Abbey of St. Mary at Barlings or Oxeney, in Lincoln- 
 shire, an institution of considerable fame and influence, 
 had a fine thirteenth-century pointed oval seal bearing 
 a representation of the patron, enthroned under a church- 
 like canopy with arch supported on four slender columns, 
 and holding the Infant Saviour. In the lower part, 
 under an arch, is the head of an ox, in erroneous allusion 
 to the name of Oxeney. The signet of Abbot Thomas 
 de Maryng, in 1328, bears our Lord on the Cross in a 
 cusped panel, with the owner's name in the field and an 
 appropriate invocation. A later counterseal, used in 1403, 
 is of the pointed oval form, nearly two and a half by one 
 and a half inches in dimensions. The design is very 
 full. The Virgin crowned, and holding a sceptre and the 
 Child, in a canopied niche, has the Almighty Father 
 above her in a smaller niche ; similar niches at the sides 
 contain figures of St. John Baptist with the Lamb of 
 God and St. John Evangelist with chalice and palm 
 
 99 
 
SEALS 
 
 branch, his emblems. The lower part of this tableau 
 holds the abbot, adoring the heavenly personages, 
 between two shields of arms. Abbot Akarius, 1203- 
 1223, used the symbol of an ox passant guardant, with 
 a long cross before it. Barnstaple, a Cluniac priory in 
 Devonshire, had the figure of St. Mary Magdalene in a 
 niche, the patron saint of the house. Barnwell, in Cam- 
 bridgeshire, an Augustinian priory dedicated to St. Giles 
 and St. Andrew, had a twelfth-century seal bearing a 
 representation of St. Giles. Battle Abbey, in Sussex, 
 a Benedictine abbey dedicated to the Holy Trinity, the 
 Virgin Mary and St. Martin, depicted on its fine twelfth- 
 century seal a view of the abbey church from the north, 
 with interesting details of architecture clearly drawn, and 
 having the abbot seated under the central span, and an 
 arcade in the base. The second seal of this abbey, used 
 about 1212, gives another view of the church, with its 
 towers, doorway, arcaded clerestory, and on each side of 
 the two topmost turrets a flag. It may be that the \ 
 
 edifice had been rebuilt, or altered, during the interval 
 between the making of the two seals, unless they are 
 to be taken as purely fanciful and conventional. In this 
 case, then, the conventionalism of the twelfth century 
 gave way to an advanced conventionalism of the suc- 
 ceeding century. St. Thomas of Canterbury, the mar- 
 tyred primate, was the patron of the Premonstratensian 
 Abbey of Beauchief in Derbyshire, and the scene of his 
 martyrdom forms the subject of the thirteenth-century 
 seal. There was a Hospital dedicated to the same saint 
 and martyr at Bee in Billingford, co. Norfolk, founded by 
 William de Bee in the reign of King Henry in. ; the 
 fourteenth-century seal depicts the Virgin and Child, 
 with architectural and armorial adjuncts, and in the base 
 a figure is given of Thomas Bee or Bek, Bishop of 
 Lincoln, 1342- 1347, one of the founder's kin, whose 
 prayer in the legend is 
 
 ' SALVA • PRECE • PIA • THOMAM • BEC • VIRGO • MARIA.' 
 100 
 
MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS HOUSES 
 
 John Franklin, a fourteenth-century master of this house, 
 here appears, but without absolute certainty, to have 
 used a compound design or gryllus, consisting of four 
 human faces in profile set on two claws of an eagle. 
 
 The Hospital of St. John Baptist at Bedford had an 
 oval seal, with the effigy of its tutelary protector holding 
 a scroll and standing on a hillock or ' mount ' replenished 
 with flowers, to represent the wilderness which blossoms 
 as a rose (Isaiah xxxv. i). Berden Priory, in Essex, a 
 little - known house, delineated its patron, St. John 
 Evangelist, on its fifteenth-century seal. The saint 
 holds his emblems, a chalice with a serpent issuing from 
 out thereof, to which he is pointing. This is in accord- 
 ance with the legend of the saint. The Cluniac Abbey 
 of Bermondsey in Surrey, dedicated to the Saviour, has 
 a remarkable design on its third seal, used in the four- 
 teenth century. It is the Transfiguration of our Lord, 
 who holds a book, and lifts up his hand to give a bless- 
 ing, between Moses and Elias. In the foreground are 
 half-length figures of St. Peter, St. James, and St. John. 
 The Transfiguration also appears on the seal of Faver- 
 sham Abbey, in Kent. The tableau is not wanting in 
 the crescent and wavy sun-star, which indicate, inter alia, 
 the open air of the firmament. The reverse shows the 
 mystical figure of our Lord, with cruciferous nimbus and 
 cross-topped orb, signalised by the legend : 
 
 * EGO • SUM • VIA • VERITAS • ET • VITA.' 
 
 Another reverse, used in the fifteenth century upon the 
 fourth seal (which is of fine work made in the fourteenth 
 century), represents the Assumption of the Blessed 
 Virgin. 
 
 Beverley, in Yorkshire, gives St. John on the 
 seal of Citations used by the Collegiate Church, and 
 St. Dominic on that belonging to the Black Friars. 
 Bilsington in Kent, an Austin Canons' priory of St. 
 Mary, had a seal in the fourteenth century bearing the 
 
 lOI 
 
SEALS 
 
 design of the Coronation of the Virgin by an angel, 
 while below, under an arcaded corbel, John Mansell, 
 Provost of Beverley, the founder, holds a model of the 
 building, and is attended by four kneeling canons. 
 Binham, a Norfolk priory of the Benedictine Order, 
 gives a twelfth - century design of the Annunciation. 
 Bisham, in Berkshire, first used a seal on which was 
 delineated the Coronation of the Virgin. In 1537, this 
 Austin Canons' priory was remodelled as a Benedictine 
 abbey dedicated to the Holy Trinity by King Henry viii., 
 whose royal arms are placed below a representation of 
 the Trinity. Bissemede, or Bushmead, priory of Austin 
 Canons, co. Bedford, adds to the design of the Virgin 
 Mary with the Divine Child attended by two bishops, 
 the prior in adoration and other subordinate details, the 
 false etymology of Presulis pratmn for ' Bishopsmead,' 
 in the legend : 
 
 * PRESULIS • IN • PRATO • FAMULOR • DE • VIRGINE • NATO.' 
 
 The Cistercian Abbey of Bittlesden, in the county of 
 Buckingham, had several seals bearing the not uncom- 
 mon device of an arm and hand, holding a pastoral 
 staff, sometimes accompanied with the star and crescent. 
 Among the abbots' seals, that of Giffard, 1228- 1236, is 
 from an antique oval intaglio gem, bearing a figure of 
 the goddess Minerva, with helmet and spear, and in- 
 scribed : ' VIVE • UT • PLACEAS • DEO.' That of William, 
 1264-1286, had a gem seal of archaic art design, bearing 
 a bust wearing a double tiara, inscribed * jhesu merci.' 
 This attribution of Christian portraiture to subjects 
 originating with classic mythology compares with the 
 frequent adaptation of pagan temples to Christian wor- 
 ship during the earliest period of Christianity in England 
 in obedience to the commands of the Church. Bodmin, 
 in Cornwall, delineates, on the priory seal, the two 
 patrons, the Virgin Mary and St. Petroc. Bolton 
 Hospital of St. Thomas the Martyr, in like way, places 
 102 
 
MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS HOUSES 
 
 on its seal the patron, with mitre and staff, blessing 
 a chalice on an altar. There is a second seal of this 
 Hospital, giving the martyrdom of the same saint. 
 Both seals are of rude workmanship. The noteworthy 
 Cistercian Abbey of Bordesley, in Worcestershire, depicts 
 the Coronation of the Virgin. The Benedictine Priory 
 of St. Mary and St. Blaise at Boxgrave, in Sussex, had 
 a thirteenth-century seal with perforated obverse through 
 which, as in windows, the figures of our Lord, two 
 monks, and St. Blaise are shown. The design of the 
 obverse is the Annunciation, within an elevation of the 
 priory church. The reverse shows the Virgin and 
 Child between two dox-trees, on each of which is a bird. 
 The legend of this side reads : 
 
 ' DICITUR • EX • LIGNO • VIRIDI • BOXGRAVIA • DIGNO.' 
 ' NOMINE • NAM • CRESCIT • VIRTUTIBUS • ATQUE • VIRESCIT.' 
 
 There are two states of this remarkable seal. 
 
 The Cistercian Abbey of St. Mary at Boxley, in 
 Kent, had a fine seal, showing the Virgin and Child, on 
 a richly carved throne, with many interesting details, 
 including the rebus of two dox-trees. The legend, in two 
 concentric rings, reads in the innermost : 
 
 ' SIT • BUXUS • (grata ?) TIBI • CORDI • VIRGO • BEATA.' 
 
 The reverse depicts St. Benedict and St. Bernard under 
 a canopy, and accompanied with two similar trees with 
 appropriate verses : 
 
 ' QUI • LAUDANT • HIC • TE ■ DEFENDE • TUGS • 
 BENEDICTE,' CtC. 
 
 Bradsole, a Premonstratensian abbey of St. Radegund, 
 in Kent, gives an effigy of the patron. Brecknock Priory 
 of St. John Evangelist, co. Brecon, delineates the Eagle 
 of St. John, standing reguardant on a demi-wheel as 
 described by Ezekiel the Prophet and seer. Bridgwater 
 
 103 
 
SEALS 
 
 Priory, or Hospital, of St. John Baptist, co, Somerset, 
 gives a bridge over the river, with the Virgin and 
 Child thereon, between St. John with the Agnus, and 
 a saint conjectured to be St. Paul. Bristol, among 
 other religious houses in that city, had an interesting 
 figure of St. Mary Magdalene with her emblem, a box 
 for ointment, on the seal of the Leper Hospital near 
 Britbow. The church of St. Stephen in the same had 
 an effigy of the patron saint on its late seal. Bromholm, 
 a Cluniac priory of St. Andrew, in Norfolk, shows a view 
 of the priory, with St. Andrew holding the patriarchal 
 ' Cross of Bromholm,' famous in the middle ages for its 
 miraculous powers. This is of the thirteenth century. 
 
 The Benedictine Abbey of St. Mary and St. Modwenna 
 at Burton-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, had a fine early 
 thirteenth-century seal, showing the Virgin, or perhaps 
 St. Modwenna, crowned, holding a book and a fleur-de- 
 lis, and seated on a throne resembling a church with four 
 turrets, thatched and pinnacled with a ball. The reverse 
 gives the effigy of St. Modwenna, a full-faced bust. 
 Burton-St.-Lazarus, Hospital and chief house of the 
 Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem in England, co. 
 Leicester, had a fourteenth - century seal, bearing the 
 figure of St. Lazarus, the bishop, with a three-pronged 
 fork, accompanied with the armorial bearings of Roger 
 de Mowbray, the founder. There are several seals of 
 this hospital, and all bear the effigy of this saint. 
 Bury St. Edmunds, the Benedictine abbey of Suffolk, 
 dedicated to the Anglo-Saxon king and martyr whose 
 name it bears, had many fine seals of the house and its 
 abbots. The earliest seal, of the twelfth century, shows 
 St. Edmund, enthroned in majesty, on a throne, the 
 terminals of which resemble the heads and feet of 
 animals. A later seal represents the abbey church, and 
 on its reverse gives the scene of the saint's martyrdom 
 in base of an ornamental saltire cross. A wolf guards 
 the severed head of the martyr, in accordance with the 
 tradition, and above is the Almighty Father, holding a 
 104 
 
MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS HOUSES 
 
 crown between two angels ; on the cross other two angels 
 receive the soul in a cloth, after the usual mediaeval 
 manner of representation. The tableau of the martyrdom 
 appears also on a later seal. The descriptive verses in 
 the legend of the early seal are worth recording : 
 
 ' TELIS • CONFODITUR • EADMUNDUS • ET • ENSE • FERITUR • 
 BESTIA • QUEM • MUNIT • DEUS • HUNC • CELESTIBUS • UNIT.' 
 
 The decollation of this notable saint appears on the 
 reverse of Abbot Simon de Luton's seal, 1257- 1279; ^^^^ 
 also a wolf guards the head, and the Virgin with the 
 Child is over the canopy. The verse is curious for its 
 quaintness : 
 
 * VIRGO • DEUM • FERT • DUX • CAPUD • AUFERT • QUOD • 
 LUPUS ■ HIC • FERT.' 
 
 Another seal, that of Walter, an uncertain abbot or 
 prior of the thirteenth century, shows the wolf holding 
 the crowned head of the martyr king, and in the back- 
 ground a tree, with legend : 
 
 * OSTENDUNT • SIGNUM • GALTERI • REX • LUPA • LIGNUM.' 
 
 The Vice- Warden of the Cambridge Grey Friars used, 
 about the year 1244, a pointed oval seal bearing a shield 
 of the fabulous arms bestowed by the heralds upon our 
 Lord. These arms vary in character, and there is an 
 excellent treatise on them in the Journal of the British 
 Archaeological Association from the pen of the late illus- 
 trious antiquary, Mr. H. Syer Cuming. In this seal we 
 see a ' cross raguly debruised by a spear and a crown of 
 thorns in bend dexter and a sponge on a staff in bend 
 sinister, between two threefold flagella in base,' truly 
 a formidable array of the instruments used in the 
 Passion. Christ Church Monastery, Canterbury, affected, 
 in like manner as we have seen was the case with the 
 cathedral, the scene of the martyrdom of St. Thomas. 
 
 105 
 
SEALS 
 
 The Benedictine Abbey of St. Augustine naturally 
 represented its patron. One of the seals, in very archaic 
 work of the eleventh century, is round and has the saint 
 wearing a flat mitre and pallmm. Another, made in 
 1 188-9, has the saint on the one side, and on the other 
 St. Paul and St. Peter. The design, which is somewhat 
 uncertain, has been thought to represent the baptism of 
 Ethelbert, King of Kent. Herod seems to be crouching 
 under an arch in the base. There was an altered state 
 of this seal. The fourteenth-century seal is full of detail, 
 the principal being Augustine baptising the King in the 
 interior of the Conventual Church, with St. Peter, St. 
 Paul, a king, monks, and angels dispersed in the field 
 architecture of the design. The reverse delineates St. 
 Augustine, Birinus, Bishop of Dorchester, Queen Bertha, 
 the Archbishops Theodore and Justus, the horned head 
 of Moses, a dragon, a wyvern, and other interesting 
 devices. It is enhanced by a cleverly composed rhymed 
 distich. A signet ring of one of the priors, in 1263, 
 bears the impression of an antique oval gem, engraved 
 with the favourite subject of Hercules strangling the 
 Nemaean Lion. The gem is set between a crescent and 
 a star, and the setting carries an ingenious rhymed 
 verse. The patron saints appear respectively on the 
 seals of houses of religion dedicated to them. The 
 Benedictine Nunnery of St. Mary at Carow, near Nor- 
 wich, had a curious twelfth-century seal of very archaic 
 design. The Virgin in profile, enthroned, holding the 
 Child and a sceptre, has a crown of three points, and her 
 hair is confined in a net. A somewhat later seal varies 
 the treatment of the subject, and is provided with a 
 counterseal, bearing our Lord on the Cross between the 
 Virgin and St. John. The second seal of the Cluniac 
 Priory of St. Mary at Castle Acre, in Norfolk, has an 
 artistic design of the Assumption of the Virgin. 
 
 Castle Rising Hospital, co. Norfolk, has a pointed 
 oval seal of the seventeenth century, bearing the effigy 
 of Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton, the founder, in 
 106 
 
MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS HOUSES 
 
 armorial habit, and kneeling on a tasselled cushion. 
 His effigy is also shown in much the same fashion on 
 the seal of Clunn Hospital, co. Salop. The Benedictine 
 Abbey of Cerne, in Dorsetshire, delineates the Church 
 with the early founders, Augustine and Ethelmer. The 
 abbot's seal shows the Virgin and Child, St. Catharine 
 and St. Margaret. The Benedictine Abbey of Chertsey, 
 CO. Surrey, dedicated to St. Peter, had a very old seal 
 showing the abbey church from the north, in the 
 eleventh century, if we may trust the engraver to have 
 truly drawn the edifice as he saw it. St. Peter, crucified 
 with his head downwards in accordance with tradition, 
 is seen on a thirteenth-century counterseal here. Chester 
 Abbey, St. Werburgh's Benedictine Monastery, and now 
 the Cathedral, shows elegantly designed architectural 
 views of the church, with St. Werburgh, St. Peter, St. 
 Paul, and other details. The Prioresses of Cheshunt, a 
 Benedictine nunnery in co. Hertford, had a charming little 
 seal, on which was the effigy of St. Mary with the Child. 
 Chich, or St. Osyth's, Austin Canons' Priory in 
 Essex, on one seal bears St. Osyth holding her dis- 
 severed head, between the sword of St. Paul and the 
 key of St. Peter. Clerkenwell Nunnery had a twelfth- 
 century seal of much beauty : the design being the Virgin 
 and Child, the mother's vestment partly embroidered. 
 Cokersand Premonstratensian Abbey of St. Mary and 
 St. Augustine, in co. Lancaster, had a very representative 
 design ; three architectural niches, one over the other, 
 forming a fine fagade, and containing God the Father 
 with book, and giving a blessing, attended by thurifer 
 angels, the Virgin and Child, and the abbot in prayer. 
 This belongs to the advanced art period of the fourteenth 
 century. Colchester Abbey of St. John Baptist, in 
 Essex, a Benedictine house, had among many other seals 
 a counterseal with an antique gem, on which was engraved 
 the fantastic and imaginary design known as a gryllus, 
 a combination consisting of the heads of an ass and a 
 cock, as well as other objects, the whole so skilfully 
 
 107 
 
SEALS 
 
 grouped together as to represent a figure of Venus with 
 two small putti or Erotes, one on each side shooting at 
 her with the bow, and accompanied with an appropriate 
 motto. The seal of this abbey, which may be called its 
 ' Great Seal,' bears on the one side St. John Baptist, 
 St. Peter, and St. Paul, with their proper emblems, and 
 armorial bearings, all in architectural enclosures, and, on 
 the reverse, St. John Evangelist, holding a chalice, out 
 of which in accordance with tradition rises a dragon ; 
 accompanied by angels ; the eagle of St. John ; suitable 
 armorial bearings, one of which is that of the abbey : 
 a cross within a bordure, over all an escarbuncle of eight 
 staves fleury ; and a rhyming distich of invocation of 
 St. John. The Austin Canons' Priory of St. Botulph 
 here had a thirteenth-century seal, showing our Lord 
 enthroned, between St. Botulph and St. Julian the 
 Bishop. Even the Anchoress Agnes of the Church of 
 la Hethe had a seal, in 1285, bearing an inverted fleur- 
 de-lis, but this is really a private and personal seal. 
 
 Combe Cistercian Abbey of St. Mary, in co. Warwick, 
 had a thirteenth-century Chapter seal, on which are the 
 Virgin and Child, St. Bernard, and armorials. St. Mary 
 Magdalene, the patron, appears on the seals of Comb- 
 well Priory, an Austin Canons' house in Kent. In the 
 second seal, which is of the thirteenth century, she is 
 seated, under the arch of the church, at our Lord's feet, 
 who sits at a banquet with two disciples, and utters the 
 words : 
 
 * MARIA • FIDES • TUA • TE • SALVAM ♦ FECIT.' 
 
 Below the tablecloth are the demons who have been cast 
 out of the saint, according to the testimony of St. Mark ; 
 in the centre is a small box of precious unguent, and 
 overhead a star and a crescent enclosing a star. The 
 reverse of this fine seal gives the dramatic scene of the 
 Noli me tangere, of great beauty, and the legend relates 
 the date of making the seal. The seal of Cottingham 
 108 
 
MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS HOUSES 
 
 Priory, in Yorkshire, had one of the most elaborate seals 
 of this monastic class. On the one side appears an ele- 
 vation of the church, with accompanying armorial bear- 
 ings, all set in a rosette of eight cusps, richly designed 
 and ornamented : on the other, in a similar rosette, an 
 architectural design, or fagade, of three storeys, contain- 
 ing representations of our Lord on the cross attended 
 with saints and thurifer angels ; the prior praying be- 
 tween St. Peter and St. Paul ; and a group of religious 
 inmates in prayer, the founder Thomas, Lord Wake, his 
 lady, and the heraldic bearings of the founder's family. 
 The legend is a long Norman-French sentence relating 
 the name of the founder, date of foundation, and the 
 dedication of the house to the True Cross, our Lady, 
 St. Peter, and St. Paul. It is curious that although the 
 Virgin is one of the patrons, her effigy is not found on 
 this seal, which was made in 1332. Croydon Hospital 
 of St. Trinity, in Surrey, delineates on the seal the 
 rare design of ' Dives and Lazarus,' and overhead, in a 
 gallery of elegant work, the equally unique subject of King 
 Ahasuerus and Queen Esther at a feast, accompanied in 
 base with the arms of Archbishop Whitgift, 1583-1604. 
 
 Crowland Benedictine Abbey of St. Guthlac the 
 Anchorite, in the Lincolnshire fens, had a twelfth- 
 century seal with the saint's effigy, within a bevelled rim, 
 which is a characteristic of archaic workmanship. The 
 counterseal bears the impression of an antique gem, 
 engraved with the classic head perhaps of Janus, and 
 that of a youth. A later seal shows St. Bartholomew 
 the Apostle, with his book, giving St. Guthlac a flagellum 
 or whip of three lashes with which he was to drive away 
 the evil spirits of the ague-infested marshes. The bird, 
 an emblem also of Guthlac, and a bust, are also intro- 
 duced into the design. Dartford Nunnery, in Kent, 
 depicts on one seal the Coronation of the Virgin ; and 
 St. Margaret and King Edward in. on a later one. 
 Dover Benedictine Priory of St. Martin gives the patron 
 saint, on a horse, sharing his mantle with a beggar, after 
 
 109 
 
SEALS 
 
 the accepted tradition. The reverse shows the saint 
 lying on a bed, and overhead is our Lord issuing from 
 the heavens, holding the saint's cloak and a book. 
 Alban Butler's account of the saint explains the unusual 
 tableau. The legend here is 
 
 * MARTINI • VESTE • SUM * TECTUS • PAUPERE • TESTE,' 
 
 which eloquently and tersely sums up the scene in a 
 single line of Leonine verse constructed after the canon 
 which governs these poetical efforts. There is a second 
 form of this seal with greater elaboration of detail. 
 
 The Priors of Durham had many interesting seals, one 
 of which, in the fourteenth century, bears the heads of 
 St. Oswald and St. Cuthbert beautifully delineated, and 
 engraved with consammate skill. Easby Abbey in York- 
 shire, a Premonstratensian house, depicts St. Agatha, the 
 patron ; Edindon Priory, co. Wilts, gives St. Peter and 
 St. Paul ; Ely Benedictine Nunnery, in co. Cambridge, 
 depicts St. Etheldreda. Evesham Benedictine Abbey ojf 
 St. Mary and St. Ecgwine, co. Worcester, had a remark- 
 able seal with a tableau illustrating the legend of the 
 swineherd Eoves, accompanied by a middle English 
 descriptive couplet, with effigies of the sainted Bishop 
 Ecgwine, of Worcester, adoring the Virgin, who also 
 appears in another part of the field, revealing herself to 
 Eoves. The reverse is complicated, and consists of two 
 portions : in the upper storey the bishop presents his 
 model foundation to the Virgin and Child ; in the lower 
 storey are the three royal benefactors and patrons of the 
 abbey, Kenred, King of Mercia, Offa, King of the East 
 Angles, and Ethelred, all presenting a document, in- 
 scribed and furnished with a seal, to the kneeling pre- 
 late who is attended with his chaplain. The legend 
 is a descriptive couplet : 
 
 ' DICTIS • ECGWINI • DANT • REGES • MUNERA • TRINI • 
 OMNIBUS • UNDE • PIE • NITET • AULA • SACRATA • MARIE.' 
 
 A late copy of this seal blunders the English verse, a 
 no 
 
MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS HOUSES 
 
 fact which seems to show that the proper reading had 
 been forgotten or the early seal lost. There is also 
 another seal of different shape, and with altered details. 
 
 Exeter Benedictine Priory of St. Nicholas had a 
 twelfth-century seal, bearing a castellated monastery, 
 accompanied with armorial bearings. The Cluniacs of 
 Farleigh, co. Wilts, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, 
 delineate on one seal the martyrdom of their patron, 
 on another the favourite subject of the Noli me tangere. 
 The early seal of Faversham Abbey, co. Kent, a Bene- 
 dictine house dedicated to St. Saviour, gives a mystical 
 figure of our Lord in judgment on a rainbow, as Alpha 
 and Omega. On a later seal here are St. Peter and 
 St. Paul, within architectural niches, and on a reverse 
 the abbey church enclosing a tableau of our Lord, 
 Moses, and Elias, as at the 'Transfiguration,' accom- 
 panied with the emblems of the Four Evangelists, thurifer 
 angels, and in base three crouching figures who have 
 been conjectured to represent Judas, Arius, and Julian 
 the Apostate. The legend reads : 
 
 ' TRANSFIGURATUR • VELUT • ET • SOL • CLARIFICATUR.' 
 
 The transfiguration is also depicted in the seal of Ber- 
 mondsey Abbey. Flixton Priory, in Suffolk, gives our 
 Lord on the Cross between St. Mary and St. John. 
 Folkestone Priory depicts the patron St. Eanswitha. 
 Fotheringay Collegiate Church, in co. Northampton, 
 depicts the Annunciation, with accompaniment of royal 
 armorial bearings. 
 
 Glastonbury, the oldest religious house in England, 
 a Benedictine abbey dedicated to the Virgin Mary (per- 
 haps destined, if the recent discovery of a supposed Holy 
 Vessel has any spiritual value, to lead a new movement 
 of religious activity in our land), delineates St. Catherine, 
 St. Margaret, and the patron, holding a branch of the 
 Holy Thorn Tree, which grew there from a slip of the 
 Crown of Thorns brought by St. Joseph of Arimathea, 
 if legend speaks true. The legend is 
 
 III 
 
SEALS 
 
 ' TESTIS • ADEST • ISTI • SCRIPTO • GENETRIX • PIA • CHRISTI • 
 
 GLASTONIE.' 
 
 On the reverse are figures of St. Dunstan, St. Patrick, 
 and St. Benignus, with their names inscribed on the 
 plinth. Below are St. Dunstan taking the Devil's nose 
 in a pair of pincers, and other scenes, to the accompani- 
 ment of the legend : 
 
 ' CONFIRMANT • HAS • RES • INSCRIPTI • PONTIFICES • TRES.' 
 
 The Hospital of St. John Baptist here has the usual 
 efiigy of the patron, with the Lamb of God on a plaque, 
 to which the saint is pointing. Gloucester had several 
 religious houses with seals. The Benedictine Abbey was 
 dedicated to St. Peter, and an early twelfth-century seal 
 shows this patron, both on the obverse and reverse. 
 Thomas Carbonel, the abbot from 1 178 to 121 2, possessed 
 a secrettini, or ring seal of personal use, set with an 
 antique oval intaglio, on which is shown a huntsman 
 catching a fawn by the hind legs, under a tree. This 
 illustrates the curious mode of hunting these creatures 
 in classic times. Heraldry, as is always the case, appears 
 here on the later seals. The Hospital or Priory of 
 St. Bartholomew, near the west gate of the city, gives 
 a realistic scene of the martyrdom of its patron, who 
 is standing between two executioners, one of whom 
 carries a large knife, the other is flaying the saint, after 
 the legendary history of the Apostles. Godstow, a Bene- 
 dictine house under the tutelary care of the Virgin and 
 St. John Baptist, co. Oxford, had a twelfth-century seal, 
 on which are delineated the two chosen protectors of the 
 abbey. At the feet of the Virgin Mary, Ediva, the first 
 abbess, is kneeling in adoration. John Baptist's head 
 in a dish appears on a later counterseal. The Alien 
 Benedictines of St. Mary Magdalene of Goldcliffe, in 
 Monmouth county, naturally, places the patron of the 
 House, with the Virgin and Child and heraldry, on its 
 seal. William, a prior of the thirteenth century, depicts 
 112 
 
MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS HOUSES 
 
 our Lord in his post-Resurrection, or mystical state, 
 appearing to Mary in the Garden, This is the subject 
 known to mediaeval artists as the Noli me tangere, to 
 which attention has been drawn several times already in 
 this work. It is not confined to English art, but is 
 found also on Continental seals of religious character. 
 Another prior of the same name affects the same subject, 
 but, somewhat in anachronism, gives our Lord a long 
 cross and banner, and the saint a box of precious 
 unguent. The Austin Canons of Grimsby, co. Lincoln, 
 depict St. Augustine, and King Henry i., the founder, 
 with appropriate armorial bearings. Haliwell Benedic- 
 tine Priory of St. John Baptist, in Middlesex, departs from 
 the conventional in placing St. John, half-length, issuing 
 from the river Jordan, and holding a book. Haltem- 
 price, a priory of Austin Canons, co. York, is credited with 
 a thirteenth-century signet, or counterseal, bearing the im- 
 pression of an antique oval gem, engraved in intaglio with 
 a gryllus or nondescript composition, consisting of three 
 human faces in profile conjoined to an elephant's head. 
 
 The Cistercian Abbey of Hayles St. Mary, co. 
 Gloucester, famous for its possession of a bottle con- 
 taining some of our Lord's blood, in 1272, obtained 
 by Edward, sixth Earl of Cornwall, son of Earl Richard, 
 the founder, during their travels in Germany, places 
 on its seal a monk on a flight of steps, holding a 
 bottle with globular body and cylindrical neck. This 
 relic was pronounced idolatrous at the Reformation, and 
 suppressed. St. Guthlac's Priory, Hereford, contributes 
 to our knowledge another effigy oif St. Guthlac of Crow- 
 land in the fens of Lincolnshire, his proper locus, but 
 the fame of the saint travelled far, and the * Hundred ' 
 of Guthlaxton, in co. Leicester, bears witness to the 
 popularity of this notable character. Heringflete Priory, 
 in Suffolk, depicts its patron, St. Olave, king and 
 martyr, enthroned, and holding an axe and a mound 
 or orb topped with a cross, the one his emblem, the 
 other the symbol of royal dignity as a Christian ruler. 
 
 H 113 
 
SEALS 
 
 Hertland Abbey, in co. Devon, shows the head of its pro- 
 tector, St. Nectanus, on an eleventh-century, and also on 
 a thirteenth-century, seal. Hoddesdon Leper Hospital 
 reproduces an effigy of St. Anthony with his tau-cross, 
 that is, a cross shaped like the capital letter T without 
 headpiece, and his pig, and the horseshoe emblem of 
 St. Clement. Another seal represents the second patron 
 habited in Episcopal vestments, and holding a hammer. 
 Horsham St. Faith, a Benedictine priory in Norfolk, shows 
 St. Faith on the one side, the Coronation of the Virgin on 
 the other, with armorial bearings of the founder : 
 
 ' ECCE • CORONATA • SEDET • HIC • PIA • VIRGO • MARIA.' 
 
 The verse, as in other instances, halts, but the sentiment 
 is orthodox. Th^ Premonstratensian Abbey of Hotte- 
 ham, in Sussex, dedicated to St. Mary and St. Lawrence, 
 gives on its seal the rare subject of the Last Supper. 
 
 Huntingdon Priory used a fourteenth-century seal, 
 with two Biblical scenes on the obverse : — the Coronation 
 of the Virgin ; and the Resurrection of the Dead at the 
 Day of Judgment with trumpeter angels, human figures 
 rising from the ground, and a bishop or mitred abbot 
 emerging from a sepulchre. The reverse shows the 
 priory church, enclosing figures of Augustine, the arch- 
 bishop, canons, heads of St. Peter and St. Paul, and 
 four busts, with the name of Pope Clement v., 1305- 13 14, 
 over the roof. Hyde Abbey, Winchester, had a remark- 
 able seal of the twelfth century ; unfortunately the impres- 
 sion that remains is imperfect, but it was of unusual 
 shape. The design is an effigy of St. Peter in an archaic 
 style of composition. The later seal has a figure of the 
 same saint, accompanied by the founder King Edward 
 the Elder, and King Alfred, one of the earliest benefactors. 
 On the reverse is St. Barnabas, the Apostle, attended by 
 the protdgd of King Alfred, St. Grimbald, the first abbot, 
 and St. Valentine. The legend attached to these rare 
 figures is 
 
 ' HYDA • PATRONORUM • JUGI • PRECE • TUTA • SIT • HORUM.' 
 114 
 
MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS HOUSES 
 
 The Austin Priory of Hyrst, in the Isle of Axholme, 
 CO. Lincoln, has on the one side the Virgin and Child, 
 on the other the impression of a fine oval Greek gem, 
 bearing a figure of Athene Nikephoros. Ingham College, 
 of the Order of Trinitarians for Redemption of Captives, 
 had a fourteenth-century figure of the Trinity. The Austin 
 Priory of St. Peter and St. Paul at Ipswich, co. Suffolk, 
 gives a beautiful idea of the elevation of the church in 
 the twelfth century, more or less imaginary and con- 
 ventional, of course, but very valuable as exhibiting 
 diacritical details of the builder's art in that age, be- 
 tween half-length figures of St. Peter and St. Paul. 
 The reverse bears the bust of an ancient emperor with 
 antique crown and breast-knot, being the impression 
 of an ancient intaglio gem with convex surface, or, as 
 it is termed, en cabochon. The motto is 
 
 * MITTENTIS • CAPITI • CREDITE • SICUT • EI.' 
 
 The later seal, found in use in 1321, bears our Lord 
 enthroned in glory as Judge, with book, and uplifted 
 hand giving a blessing, accompanied by the seven 
 candlesticks of the Apocalypse and the emblems of 
 the Four Evangelists, by whose writing the Church 
 declares we are all to stand or fall at the last in the 
 bright sevenfold light of the Virtues. Ixworth Priory 
 of Austin Canons of St. Mary, in Suffolk, has on its 
 fifteenth-century seal a scene of the Assumption of the 
 Virgin, in a vesica of clouds upheld by flying angels 
 to the three persons of the Trinity, and accompanied 
 by other figures and armorial bearings. Kenton, a 
 Benedictine priory of St. Michael, in Wiltshire, depicts 
 the Transfiguration of our Lord, which we have already 
 seen at Bermondsey and Faversham, between the two 
 patriarchs kneeling ; overhead is the Spiritual Dove, 
 and in base, the adoring band of disciples. Nun- 
 Kelynge, a Benedictine priory in co. York, dedicated 
 to St. Helen, bears the figure of that saint, on the seal. 
 
 115 
 
SEALS 
 
 Hull, or Kingston-on-Hull, a priory of Austin Friars 
 in the same county, has its patron St. Michael in combat 
 with the arch-enemy of mankind in a canopied niche. 
 The Cistercian abbeys of Kirkstall, in co. York, and 
 Kirkstead, in co. Lincoln, each under the protection of 
 the Virgin, depict their patron, enthroned, and with the 
 Child, in carved niches on fine seals. The Collegiate 
 Church of Knole, in co. Warwick, shows St. Anne 
 instructing the Virgin Mary her daughter. Kyme 
 St. Mary, co. Lincoln, an Austin priory, has a beauti- 
 ful tableau of the Annunciation of the Virgin, who is 
 accompanied at each side by a lily flower, like a fleur- 
 de-lis, growing on a long stalk in a flower-pot. Some 
 of our modern artists of the sentimental school who 
 have ventured to imitate this composition, have alto- 
 gether failed to grasp the charm which is so clearly 
 expressed in this fine seal of nearly seven hundred years' 
 antiquity. The martyrdom of St. Thomas of Canter- 
 bury, which we have already shown to be a favourite 
 subject with the designer of ecclesiastical seals, appears 
 on that of the Premonstratensian Abbey of Langdon St. 
 Mary, in Kent. Here it is explained by the legend : 
 
 * CAUSA • DOMUS • CHRISTI • MORTEM • SIC • INTULIT • ISTI.' 
 
 Simon de Middleham, abbot in 1260 of Langley 
 Abbey in Norfolk, a Premonstratensian house dedicated to 
 the Virgin, had a precious signet set with an antique 
 oval concave intaglio gem, which bore the head of Hermes 
 or Mercury, turned in profile to the right, and having the 
 hair bound by a fillet : the abbot, no doubt actuated by 
 the papal precept which enjoined a generous transference 
 of profane devices, customs, and institutions to Christian 
 ideas and principles, explains his possession of the relic 
 of pagan worship, and his pious sentiments, by adding 
 the legend : 
 
 ' CAPUD • NOSTRUM • CHRISTUS • EST.' 
 116 
 
MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS HOUSES 
 
 King's Langley Priory of the Black Friars, in co. Hert- 
 ford, had several beautiful seals. One of these depicts 
 the Coronation of the Virgin, attended by St. Margaret, 
 an archbishop, and King Edward iii., as founder. 
 Another bore a scene of the Annunciation, with armorial 
 bearings, and the third and latest shows our Lord sitting 
 in Judgment, on a throne, and lifting up His right hand 
 in blessing. Launceston Priory of St. Stephen, a house 
 of Austin Canons in Cornwall, dedicated to St. Stephen, 
 gives on its earlier seal, of the twelfth century, a valuable 
 view of the modestly built edifice which then stood there. 
 A later seal shows St. John Evangelist, standing on an 
 eagle and between six mitred heads ; the eagle, as is often 
 the case, holding in its beak a scroll on which are the 
 opening words of the fourth and greatest Gospel. In 
 the upper part of this seal is given a tableau of the Last 
 Supper, with the Beloved Disciple reclining on the 
 bosom of our Lord. Ledes Priory of St. Mary and St. 
 Nicholas, an Austin Canons' house in Kent, also gives 
 a twelfth-century view of its church, which compares 
 excellently with several other architectural designs found 
 on seals of that distant epoch. The reverse of one of its 
 later seals, made, as the legend declares, in 1293, shows 
 St. Nicholas seated, and attended by two votaries, while 
 below, under an arch of three spans, and between two 
 angels, are the three children in a tub, who, if legend be 
 true, were miraculously restored to life by the saint. 
 
 Lees Priory, in Essex, an Austin Canons' house dedi- 
 cated to St. John Evangelist, of which almost all the 
 literary remains that could throw a light on its history 
 have perished, had a very beautiful seal designed with 
 the eagle of its founder, holding, as usual, an inscribed 
 scroll in its beak. On the reverse is the impression of an 
 antique oval intaglio precious stone, bearing the figure 
 of a sea-horse, or hippocamp, with wings erect and tail 
 nowy, and the Biblical motto : 
 
 * FAC • MECUM • SIGNUM • IN • BONO.' 
 
 117 
 
SEALS 
 
 Canon Leigh, an Austin priory of St. Mary and St. 
 John Evangelist, in co. Devon, possessed perhaps one of 
 the most beautifully designed seals — speaking, of course, 
 from the archaic point of view and an appreciation of 
 ancient taste, before the grander glories of the centuries, 
 then yet to come, had dawned on the art world. Here is 
 a twelfth-century device in a pointed oval measuring 
 about two inches and a half by a little over an inch and a 
 half, the Virgin Mary stands holding a flower, on the 
 left-hand side, balanced with St. John, the co-patron, 
 holding his Gospel-book, on the other. They are beneath 
 a double arch, held up by a central shaft, and orna- 
 mented with a canopy or superstructure resembling a 
 priory church with three towers. Leicester Abbey, also 
 of the Order of Austin Canons, dedicated to the Assump- 
 tion of our Lady, and styled * de Pratis ' or ' de Pre,' had 
 a seal of equal antiquity and of equally beautiful design. 
 A later seal of the many which appertain to this institu- 
 tion, delineates the Assumption in a vesica upheld by 
 four angels, leaning forward, with one wing upraised, 
 from out of a canopied niche. This is of the fifteenth 
 century. The Leper hospital of St. Leonard here had 
 two seals, bearing effigies of the patron. In the seal of 
 the Hospital dedicated to the two saints John Baptist 
 and John Evangelist, the latter of the two has been 
 favoured with commemoration by designing the Eagle of 
 the Gospeller holding the inscribed scroll usually asso- 
 ciated with him. The Dean and Chapter of Newark 
 College, or St. Mary the Greater, founded in the city 
 of Leicester in 1330, had in use in 1528 an interesting 
 seal bearing the scene of the Annunciation of the Virgin, 
 where both the Virgin and the Archangel messenger 
 carry scrolls inscribed with words or letters to indicate 
 the Divine Message and the Reply. Heraldry, without 
 which scarcely any mediaeval artist could be happy, is 
 placed below, referring to Henry, Duke of Lancaster. 
 
 Heresy is rarely introduced into seal designs, although 
 we have already noticed figures of Judas and other 
 118 
 
MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS HOUSES 
 
 lapsed ones. On the seal of the Hospital of the Holy 
 Trinity in Newark, Leicester, an arrow with three 
 divergent points, shot from heaven, declares itself to be 
 destined against the Anti-Trinitarians : ' in anti- 
 TRiNiTARios.' St. Clement the Pope figures on the 
 seal of the Black Friars, and St. Mary Magdalene 
 kneels before the Risen Lord in the Garden (of two 
 trees placed between them) on the seal of the Grey 
 Friars. 
 
 St. Thomas was the protector and patron of Lesnes 
 Abbey of Austin Canons, in Kent, and his effigy 
 adorns the seal ; at each side of the saint is placed a 
 lucy, or pike-fish, hauriant palewise, that is, perpen- 
 dicular (as opposed to naiant, where a fish would appear 
 naturally horizontal, as if it were swimming), in memory 
 of the founder Richard de Lucy. The celebrated Cluniac 
 Priory of St. Pancras at Lewes, co. Sussex, had a very 
 elaborately designed seal, as befitted so ancient an 
 institution, but the date of the seal itself seems to be 
 of the fourteenth century. The diameter is upwards of 
 two inches. On the obverse is seen a Roman Emperor, 
 seated with legs crossed, in a canopied niche. He is 
 crowned, and holds a sword. With the right hand he 
 is taking hold of his beard, perhaps to signify the taking 
 of an oath ; courtiers and attendants are waiting on him 
 at each side. Below, under a four-centred arch, is St. 
 Pancras kneeling to receive martyrdom by the execu- 
 tioner's sword. The heraldry of the Warrenne family 
 enters into the design at the sides of the arch. The 
 motto is 
 
 ' MARTIRIALE • DECUS • TRIBUIT • MICHI • CESARIS • IRA,' 
 
 which refers to the martyrdom of St. Pancras at the 
 command of the arch-persecutor of Christians, Diocletian 
 the Emperor, in the fifth century. This legendary line 
 has been interpreted in an inaccurate manner in the 
 'Sussex Archaeological Collections' for 1849, where the 
 
 119 
 
SEALS 
 
 decapitation of Richard Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel, in 
 1397, is pointed to as the suggestion of the design. The 
 reverse shows an elaborately carved chapel on the cliffs, 
 with sea at the base. There are four niches that contain 
 effigies of the Virgin with the Child, St. Pancras as a 
 Cluniac prior and priest, St. Peter, and St. Paul. On 
 the plinth we read : 
 
 * MARTIR • PANCRATI • PER • TE • SIMUS • RELEVATI,' 
 
 and the legend is a hexameter couplet, referring to the 
 cult of this Saint : 
 
 * DULCIS • AGONISTA • TIBI • CONVERTIT • DOMUS • ISTA • 
 PANCRATI • MEMORUM • PRECIBUS • MEMOR • ESTO • TUORUM.' 
 
 The Lincoln Gilbertines of St. Catherine's Priory adopted 
 the figure of their patron with her usual emblems. In this 
 city was a leper-house dedicated to the Holy Innocents, 
 and its seal depicts a leper walking, and holding out the 
 right hand for alms. The Grey Friars represent their 
 saint accompanied by a winged seraph or other celestial 
 denizen. 
 
 London City was replete with monastic institutions. 
 Austin Friars used the design of the Ascension of 
 our Lord in the presence of four friars. St. Bar- 
 tholomew's Hospital had an early seal with a figure of 
 the patron ; the prior's seal of the twelfth century used 
 the design of the Church, conventional, of course, set on 
 a ship in the sea with inscription : * navis • ecclesie.' 
 One of its counterseals shows an eagle displayed, im- 
 pressed from an antique oval intaglio gem. The later 
 seal bears St. Bartholomew on a royal throne, with his 
 book and knife, attended with the indispensable cres- 
 cent and sun-star of ineffable symbolism. The reverse 
 had a beautiful design of the Church in an antique 
 ship on the waves : ' navis ecclesie,' and the legend 
 120 
 
MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS HOUSES 
 
 serves to keep alive the tradition respecting the patron 
 saint : 
 
 'CREDIMUS-ANTE • DEUM • PROVEHI • PER • BARTHOLOMEUM.' 
 
 The seal of the New Foundation by Queen Mary, 1553- 
 1558, bears the effigy of the saint, with a nimbus, book, 
 and knife, under a domed baldachin, or canopy of the 
 style of the Italian renaissance, supported on two 
 pilasters. In base is a floral scroll. The matrix of 
 this seal, after the wanderings and vicissitudes of three 
 hundred and fifty years, without harm or hurt, has now 
 at length passed into the possession of the church- 
 wardens of the Church of St. Bartholomew the Great, 
 Smithfield, its proper home, where it will be for ever 
 preserved among the other treasures of that ancient 
 building. Black Friars, Holborn, represented our Lord 
 on the Cross between the Virgin * ecce mater tua,' and 
 St. John Evangelist ' ecce filius tuus.' The Charter- 
 house, or ' House of the Salutation of the Mother of God, 
 of the Order of Carthusians,' had a fourteenth-century 
 seal bearing a scene of the Annunciation, where we 
 might have looked for the Salutation, or meeting of 
 Mary and Elizabeth. The Minoresses of St. Clare with- 
 out Aldgate used the design of the Coronation of the 
 Virgin. Crutched Friars, in St. Olave's, Tower Hill, on 
 a seal of 1526 shows our Lord on the Cross, surrounded 
 by the eleven faithful disciples, and the sun, moon, and 
 stars attend the tragedy of the death of their Creator. 
 
 The Benedictine Nunnery of St. Helen had a four- 
 teenth-century seal, on which was delineated the saint 
 holding the 'True Cross,' and preaching to a group of five 
 women the story of its ' Invention ' which is celebrated on 
 the 3rd of May by the Church. The Collegiate Church of 
 St. Martin le Grand had some interesting seals. One of 
 its deans, Thomas de Useflete, used in 1347 a signet of 
 an antique oval gem of the earliest Christian period, 
 engraved in intaglio. The design consists of two half- 
 
 121 
 
SEALS 
 
 length figures of a man and woman, lifting their hands 
 in adoration ; between them overhead is a crosslet. 
 Above this impression is the half-length figure of the 
 Virgin with the Child ; below it is a bust wearing a 
 diadem or fillet. The setting of precious metal, in which 
 this archaic gem reposes, is ornamented with four small 
 carved circular openings. St. Mary's Hospital without 
 Bishopsgate had fine seals ; one of the later ones 
 delineates the Assumption of the Virgin, who is stand- 
 ing on a cherub, and girt with radiance ; it is of the 
 fourteenth century. The same event in the life of our 
 Lady appears on the seal of Rouncivalle Hospital, where 
 she stands on a crescent upheld by an angel, and is 
 surrounded with radiance. At the sides are angels in 
 aerial course of flight, issuing from heaven, and overhead 
 is a figure of the Holy Trinity in the sky. St. Thomas 
 the archbishop and martyr is seen on the seals of St. 
 Thomas of Aeon's Hospital, and St. Thomas Martyr's 
 Hospital on Old London Bridge. Lastly, St. John 
 Baptist's Hospital of the Savoy used, in 1559, a design 
 of the patron saint, standing on a mount bestrewn 
 with herbage and flowers, for ' the wilderness,' holding 
 his lamb and banner flag, between the two royal badges 
 of Queen Elizabeth, the double rose en soleil and the 
 portcullis chained and ringed. Sweetness and strength 
 here unite symbolically, and the double rose, aptly chosen 
 by the Queen's grandsire Henry vii., illustrates the 
 elegant distich which was current in reference to the 
 happy termination of the Civil Wars by the union of the 
 Red and the White Roses of Lancaster and York : 
 
 ' NOSTRA • NEC • ALBESCIT • RUBICUNDA • NEC • ALBA • RUBESCIT- 
 FACTA • SED • EX • GEMINO • NOSTRA • COLORE • ROSA • EST.' 
 
 The column, or shaft, with spiral turns, which occurs 
 
 so frequently in post-Gothic architecture as seen on seals, 
 
 had a prototype in the thirteenth-century seal of the 
 
 Benedictine Priory of St. Mary at Luffield, in co. 
 
 122 
 
MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS HOUSES 
 
 Northampton, where the patron is enthroned under a 
 church-like canopy with its supporting columns spirally 
 twisted. The Carmelites of Lynn Regis delineate the 
 Virgin, and St. Margaret, occupied with her customary 
 victory over the dragon on which she is trampling, and 
 whose head she is piercing with a long cross. Maiden- 
 Bradley Austin Friars' Priory, in cos. Wilts and Somer- 
 set, affords another excellent instance of twelfth-century 
 architecture, as adopted for the monastic institutions of 
 that era. Malmesbury, a Benedictine abbey of great 
 fame in Wiltshire, dedicated to St. Mary and St. Aldhelm, 
 a seat of learning and literature in the middle ages, 
 where the books of the library were carted away at 
 the dissolution of religious houses by the glovers and 
 leathersellers of Bradford-on-Avon to be scoured down 
 for secular purposes, had a fine fifteenth-century seal, 
 wherein sacred effigies and emblems mingled with the 
 pomp of royal heraldry on the one side, and on the other 
 the mitred abbot stood between niches containing the 
 busts of his two powerful protectors. The Benedictines 
 of Malvern Priory, co. Worcester, had a twelfth-century 
 seal bearing the Virgin and Child on the obverse ; the 
 reverse is particularly worthy of notice, as it shows the 
 Archangel Michael, casting down on the apocalyptic ' sea 
 of glass ' a crown of three points which he holds before him. 
 Little-Malvern delineates her patron, St. Giles, with 
 his attendant fawn. Margam Abbey, a Cistercian house 
 in Glamorgan, depicts the Virgin and Child in an 
 elegantly carved niche, with a shield of arms on the 
 tracery at each side, charged with the three chevrons of 
 Clare, the noble benefactor of the abbey. The crescent 
 enclosing a roundle, and the sun-star, also appear on 
 each side. This is a fourteenth-century seal of much 
 beauty. The Gilbertine Priory of St. Margaret at 
 Marlborough, co. Wilts, shows the patron saint victorious 
 over the dragon, as usual. St. Michael the Archangel 
 also is in conflict with the same evil spirit on the seal 
 of the Austin Canons of Maxstoke, co. Warwick, dedicated 
 
 123 
 
SEALS 
 
 to the Trinity, the Virgin, St. Michael, and All Saints. 
 Markyate Benedictine Priory of the Trinity * de Bosco,' 
 in CO. Bedford, shows our Lord enthroned in Judgment, 
 with book and blessing, as the Alpha and Omega of 
 all things. This is a twelfth-century seal. The Chapter 
 seal, of equal antiquity, gives a curious emblematical 
 representation of the Trinity with crescent, sun, and stars. 
 Merton Austin Canons' Priory of St. Mary, co. Surrey, 
 had a very fine pointed oval seal, made in 124 1. It is 
 probably the finest, from the point of view of art, of all 
 the monastic seals of England, not only for design, but 
 for the bold workmanship and high relief of the figures 
 which stand out from the background in a manner equalled 
 by no other seal. The dimensions are about three inches 
 and a quarter by two inches. Here are shown the 
 Virgin enthroned with the Child. The carved work is 
 beautifully delicate ; the platform or corbel on which her 
 feet rest is adorned with a compound fleur-de-lis, the 
 Virgin's own flower, symbol of purity and lowliness of 
 heart. The crown consists of three fleurs. The Child is 
 crowned, and has the cruciferous nimbus in prophetic 
 allusion to His Passion. The field or background is 
 diapered lozengy, enriched with roses. Overhead is a 
 church-like canopy, of charming proportions, beyond the 
 dreams of modern Gothicists to imitate or even approach 
 towards imitation. At each side is a vesica-shaped 
 opening, containing a sacred bust. The reverse of this 
 magnificent seal bears an effigy of St. Augustine under a 
 canopy, all the details of which figure and niche are as 
 excellently treated as the work on the obverse. The 
 legend exclaims : 
 
 * MUNDI • LUCERNA • NOS • AUGUSTINE • GUBERNA.' 
 
 The rim or edge reads a hexameter couplet : 
 
 * AUGUSTINE • PATER • QUOS • INSTRUIS • IN • MERITONA • 
 HIS • CHRISTI • MATER • TUTRIX • EST • ATQUE • PATRONA.' 
 124 
 
MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS HOUSES 
 
 Middleton, or Milton, Benedictine Abbey of St. Mary, 
 in CO. Dorset, delineates with great detail the abbey 
 church sheltering the Virgin and Child, as it were in a 
 shrine, attended by the mitred abbot or a bishop, 
 thurifer angels, and other holy adjuncts and symbols. 
 The reverse introduces to our view the abbey from 
 another point of sight, under the arches of which is the 
 scene of the Annunciation, and in the triangular pedi- 
 ment overhead is seen a bust. The legend, which sets 
 forth in a rhyming elegiac distich, cunningly woven with 
 words of nearly similar sound, the cardinal tenets of 
 Christian faith, is a crowning masterpiece of the mediaeval 
 epigrammatist's skill in versification : 
 
 * PORTA • SALUTIS • AVE • PER • TE • PATET • EXITUS • A • VE • 
 VENIT • AB • EVA • VE • VE • QUIA • TOLLIS • AVE.' 
 
 It is remarkable that these verses are also inscribed on 
 the seal of Arbroath Abbey in Scotland, as will be 
 pointed out in a subsequent part of this work. Minster 
 Benedictine Abbey of St. Mary and St. Sexburga, in Kent, 
 gives a figure of the Anglo-Saxon St. Sexburga carrying 
 a sceptre and a book, which indicate her royal lineage 
 and her religious life. This seal is of the twelfth century. 
 The Austin Canons of Mottesfont Priory of Holy 
 Trinity, in co. Southampton, placed on their thirteenth- 
 century seal an unusual representation of the Trinity. 
 The Almighty Father, enthroned, is holding the Saviour 
 half-length in a cloth, His feet on a platform ; above them 
 is the Dove of the Holy Spirit descending. The sun, the 
 moon, and groups of annulets in triplets, complete the 
 tableau. The Carthusians of Mount Grace, in co. York, 
 depict the Assumption of the Virgin, to which their house 
 was dedicated, in a vesica held up by four angels, each in 
 a pent-house. Neath, a Cistercian abbey in Glamorgan, 
 had some interesting seals. Newburgh Abbey of Austin 
 Canons, co. York, had a twelfth-century counterseal of an 
 antique oval intaglio gem, engraved with the figure of a 
 
 125 
 
SEALS 
 
 deity, seated on a stool between an angel and a standing 
 figure with shield and stag. Another gem counterseal of 
 equal antiquity and similar technique shows two deities 
 seated facing one another on a chair-like throne. Before 
 each is a priestess performing a sacrifice. This is the 
 secret seal of the Chapter. Newcastle-on-Tyne, in 
 Northumberland, also had many fine seals where St. 
 Bartholomew, the Virgin Mary, St. Thomas the Arch- 
 bishop, and St. Mary Magdalene, are severally depicted 
 for the religious foundations over which they presided. 
 In the last instance, for the Hospital of St. Mary 
 Magdalene, our Lord is raising up the saint in a Gothic 
 panel, the field of which contains a few slipped leaves 
 symbolical of ' the Garden,' a part for the whole, as in 
 numerous other instances, here testifying to the excellent 
 spirit of the draughtsman who conceived the design. 
 
 The Austin Priory of St. Paul, at Newenham, co. 
 Bedford, had a thirteenth-century seal of much interest. 
 The diameter is three inches. One side shows the patron, 
 with sword and book, enthroned under a canopy, over 
 which are two angels, and at the sides is a company of 
 votaries. Nor are the crescent moon and star absent from 
 the design. The reverse represents the city of Rome : 
 ' ROMA,' by the aid of a Gothic monastic edifice, and in i 
 
 the central niche is the martyrdom of the saint, who is 
 kneeling while he is decapitated by an executioner. Above 
 the saint's head is his name, and in the side niches are 
 standing figures, the one entitled ' Lucas,' the other 
 ' Titus.' The rhyming legend here is 
 
 * MUCRO • FUROR • SAULI • FUIT • ENSIS • PASSIO • PAULI.' 
 
 It must be contrasted with the motto on the Chapter 
 seal of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, which reads : 
 
 ' MUCRO • FUROR • SAULI • LIBER • EST • CONVERSIO • PAULI.' 
 
 The similarity of these two legends indicates a literary 
 126 
 
MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS HOUSES 
 
 intercourse between the houses, or that they employed 
 the same poet. Newhouse, a Premonstratensian abbey 
 in CO. Lincoln, dedicated to the tutelary care of St. 
 Martial, the wonder-working Bishop of Limoges, one of 
 the first rank of illustrious churchmen in the time of 
 miracles and missions, naturally places his effigy on its 
 seals. The British Museum possesses a large collection 
 of charters of this abbey. Nocton Priory of Austin 
 Canons of St. Mary Magdalene, in co. Lincoln, shows 
 the patron, crowned, in a garden, with the prior kneeling 
 before her. St. James, patron of pilgrims, appears on 
 the Austin Canons' seal for their abbey at Northampton. 
 Norwich was rich in fine monastic seals ; among 
 others, the Friars-Preachers of St. John Baptist depict the 
 Baptism of our Lord by the saint, with the Dove of the 
 Holy Spirit descending on the Lord's head, between the 
 sun and the moon. This is of the thirteenth century ; a 
 later seal of the same house shows St. Dominic perform- 
 ing a miracle. The ' Brethren of Penance ' figure St. 
 Edmund, king and martyr, bound to a tree and pierced 
 by arrows. St. Giles's Hospital gives the patron seated 
 on a chair with a fawn, that has been wounded by an 
 arrow, leaping up to him. The Austin Canons' abbey at 
 Oseney, co. Oxford, on its second seal, of the thirteenth 
 century, places the Virgin and Child, and in base an ox 
 passant guardant, in allusion to the adjacent city of 
 Oxford. Ossulston Abbey, in co. Leicester, of the same 
 order as the previous house, dedicated to our Saviour, 
 St. Mary, and St. Andrew, depicts the crucifixion of 
 St. Andrew on a saltire cross by two executioners, 
 accompanied with a sun-star and a crescent, enclosing a 
 beam of light as a divine manifestation, the usual manner 
 of representing this in mediaeval art ; above is the divine 
 hand of blessing, issuing from the clouds. St. Frides- 
 wida appears on the seal of the Benedictine Priory of 
 that patron, now Christ Church, Oxford ; and King 
 Henry iii. in an armorial tabard is seen on the seal of 
 the Oxford Carmelites. The Austin Canons' Priory of 
 
 127 
 
SEALS 
 
 Pentney, sacred to the Trinity, St. Mary the Virgin, and 
 St. Mary Magdalene, gives on its thirteenth-century seal 
 a figure of our Lord after the Resurrection, addressing 
 the patron saint in the Garden with the inscribed words 
 * NOLI • ME • TANGERE,' as shc kucels in adoration before 
 the Risen Saviour. The garden is here indicated by a 
 single tree between the two figures, and the presence of 
 the sun and moon is not without significance. Pershore, 
 once an influential abbey of the Benedictines, in co. 
 Worcester, dedicated to St. Mary and St. Eadburga, had 
 a fine twelfth-century seal, on which were placed the 
 Virgin enthroned with the Child, who is blessing with 
 His right hand upraised. In her left hand she holds the 
 fleury sceptre of celestial empire, and at her sides are the 
 crescent moon and sun-star, with St. Paul and St. Peter, 
 each accompanied with the proper emblems. Below, 
 under an arch, is the figure of St. Eadburga with book 
 and chalice. The counterseal gives St. Eadburga 
 worshipping the Virgin and Child. Peterborough 
 Abbey, a Benedictine house, the buildings whereof were 
 of great beauty as is clearly marked by the present 
 cathedral, formerly the abbey church, had a very 
 interesting seal showing a conventional interior view of 
 the church, with the patron St. Peter nimbed, holding his 
 keys and a book, while from the left-hand corner in the 
 upper part a hand of divine blessing is issuing, and the 
 unseen Lord utters the rhyming verse : 
 
 ' TU • PRO • ME • NAVEM • LIQUISTI • SUSCIPE • CLAVEM. ' 
 
 The counterseal gives us figures of three saints in a boat : 
 Paul with a sword, Oswald with a long cross, and Peter 
 with a key. Each is under a canopy. The legend tells 
 the tale : 
 
 ' SIGNUM • BURGENSE • CRUCE • CLAVE • REFULGET • 
 
 ET- ENSE.' 
 
 Another, later by a hundred years, varies all these details 
 128 
 
 i 
 
MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS HOUSES 
 
 in some degree. Peter has the tiara, an animal beneath 
 his feet; close by is a king's head, an altar with a chalice 
 is introduced, and the armorial bearings of the abbey are 
 not wanting. The boat contains St. Andrew with his 
 saltire in place of Oswald in the earlier seal. These 
 three later saints are also placed on the seal of Abbot 
 Borowe, one of the latest of the English Benedictine 
 abbots. Pilton Priory, a Benedictine house of St. 
 Mary, in co. Devon, finds a place for the effigy of its 
 founder, King ^thelstan, on the reverse of its seal. 
 Trinity Collegiate Church, at Pleshey, in Essex, delineates 
 God the Father blessing a body of praying priests, 
 accompanied with saints in niches, the emblems of the 
 Evangelists, heraldic shields, and badges referring to the 
 founders, Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, and 
 his Duchess, Alianora de Bohun, whose effigies are also 
 introduced kneeling in prayer. Another seal shows the 
 founders holding the model of their house, with heraldry, 
 and a pretty invocation : 
 
 * SPES • NOSTRA • SALUS • NOSTRA • HONOR • NOSTER • O • 
 BEATA • TRINITAS.' 
 
 Plympton Priory, co. Devon, an Austin Canons' house, 
 represented St. Peter and St. Paul on their thirteenth- 
 century seals, with the Virgin and Child. Poughley 
 Priory, co. Berks, of the same order as the preceding, 
 dedicated to St. Margaret, varies the emblems of the 
 patron saint, who, while standing on the dragon, holds 
 a flagellum of three thongs and a book. The Cluniacs of 
 Prittlewell, in Essex, chose for their thirteenth-century 
 seal the subject of the Annunciation ; — on that of the 
 fifteenth century, the Assumption of the Virgin. We 
 have therefore seen throughout this series of monastic 
 seals how the patron saint very generally supplies the sub- 
 ject for delineation on the seals. Reading Mitred Bene- 
 dictine Abbey of St. Mary, St. John, and St. James, on 
 the seal of 1328 places each of these patrons in evidence ; 
 I 129 
 
SEALS 
 
 the reverse bears an effigy of King Henry i. between 
 St. Peter and St. Paul, with two laudatory hexameter 
 verses of much ingenuity but obscure meaning. Repton, 
 or Repingdon, Priory of the Holy Trinity and St. Mary, 
 CO. Derby, had a representation of God the Father on 
 the thirteenth-century seal: Alured, a prior about 1200, 
 had an antique gem ring seal, of which he has left an im- 
 pression on one of the documents connected with the 
 monastery. The Cistercian Abbey of Revesby, co. 
 Lincoln, dedicated to St. Mary and St. Lawrence, intro- 
 duced these saints into the seal, St. Lawrence being 
 accompanied by the gridiron, his usual emblem. 
 
 Richmond Grey Friars, co. York, depict the head of 
 the order, St. Francis, in a ' wilderness ' of two trees with 
 birds on them. St. Wilfrid's Abbey at Ripon, in the 
 same county, shows the Agnus Dei with banner cross on 
 an altar ; another seal connected with this institution has 
 our Lord on the cross in the branches of a tree accom- 
 panied by St. Wilfrid and other adjuncts. Roberts- 
 bridge, Cistercian house in co. Sussex, dedicated to St. 
 Mary, depicts a conventional view of the church standing 
 on water, with the letters P. R. for Pons Roberti, 
 Robert's Bridge. The legend declares : 
 
 'HEC • PRESENS -CELLA- DOMUS • EST • DE • MATRE • PUELLA.' 
 
 The reverse of this fine thirteenth-century seal contains a 
 scene of the Coronation of the Virgin. Rolleston, in co. 
 Wilts, shows a seal of the sixteenth century for the 
 churchwardens, with three canopied niches containing 
 figures of St. Andrew, St. Richard, and St. Frideswide, 
 adored by Robert Sherborne, the illustrious Bishop of 
 Chichester, 1508- 1536. St. Albans Abbey, co. Hertford, 
 had a twelfth-century seal of much beauty, bearing the 
 effigy of the protomartyr and patron. The matrix 
 appears, from later impressions, to have been retouched 
 in several places. Here the martyrdom of the first of the 
 English martyrs was the leading motive on the seals, and 
 130 
 
 w 
 
PLATE XIU 
 
 MISCKLLANEOl'S SEALS 
 
MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS HOUSES 
 
 the legend, that the eyes of the headsman fell out of their 
 sockets when he decapitated the saint, is recorded by the 
 inscription on some of the seals : 
 
 * MARTIR • OBIT • VICTOR • PRIVATUR • LUMINE • LICTOR.' 
 
 We do not know whether this episode was reproduced 
 during the St. Albans pageant of 1907 or not. Abbot 
 Thomas de la Mare, 1350- 1396, places on his seal the 
 Martyrdom of St. Thomas of Canterbury ; the head 
 of St. Alban with a sword across the neck ; and a bust 
 which has been conjectured to be that of St. Amphibalus 
 the instructor of the martyr. Sandwell Benedictine 
 Priory of St. Mary Magdalene, co. Stafford, had a late 
 twelfth-century seal bearing an effigy of our Lord with 
 an open book. Selby Abbey, a Benedictine house 
 dedicated to St. Mary and St. Germanus, the church of 
 which fell a victim to a disastrous fire recently, had an 
 eleventh-century seal with the effigy of St. Germanus 
 thereon, and the counterseal is an impression of a gem, 
 bearing the inscribed portrait of the Emperor Honorius, 
 395-423, wearing the imperial diadem. Here it is 
 employed as the head of Christ, with the legend : 
 
 ' CAPUD • NOSTRUM • CHRISTUS • EST.' 
 
 A similar motto attached to a classic bust was used 
 by the Abbot of Langley. Sele Priory, in Sussex, had 
 an eleventh-century view of the church. Sempringham 
 Priory, co. Lincoln, gives in 1261 a counterseal for one 
 of the Gilbertine Masters, which is the impression of an 
 ancient gem, engraved with the radiant bust of Sol 
 Oriens, the Rising Sun, also here used, by transference of 
 imagery, for the Sun of Righteousness. The Carthusians 
 I of Sheen, co. Surrey, sacred to Jesus of Bethlehem, 
 depict the Nativity of our Lord, with heraldry. Sher- 
 borne, CO. Dorset, had a very archaic seal with a represen- 
 
 131 
 
SEALS 
 
 tation of the Benedictine Abbey Church. St. Benedict is 
 found in effigy on the abbot's seal of 1163. Syon in 
 Isleworth, an Austin abbey, figures on the fifteenth- 
 century seal the Virgin and Child, our Lord supporting 
 St. Brigit, Queen of Sweden, and the royal arms of the 
 founder, King Henry v. Other seals of this house include 
 one with the religious arms of our Lord, apparently of 
 foreign conception. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ 
 appears on the seal of the General Confessor. St. Denis 
 is shown on the seals of Southampton Priory. South- 
 wick St. Mary, an Austin Canons' priory in co. South- 
 ampton, used a remarkably fine seal in the thirteenth 
 century. The obverse had a view of the church with 
 very elaborate architectural details, including openings in 
 the waxen layers of the seal for windows, showing heads 
 impressed on the back of the reverse which consisted of a 
 second layer of wax, as is also found in the seals of 
 Bongrave Priory and Bury St. Edmund's Abbey. The 
 reverse shows the church from another point of view, 
 with the scene of the Annunciation of the Virgin 
 impressed on the back of the obverse showing through 
 the two arches of the doorway. The legend is as 
 follows : 
 
 * SIT • PRO • SUWIKA • MEDIATRIX • VIRGO • PUDICA • 
 ET • PAX • ANGELICA • SIT • NOBIS • SEMPER • AMIGA.' 
 
 Stykeswold Cistercian Priory of St. Mary, co. Lincoln, 
 had a late seal bearing the figure of the Trinity after a 
 mediaeval interpretation. Tamworth Collegiate Church 
 gives St. Catherine with her emblems on a late seal. 
 Tavistock, in co. Devon, a Benedictine abbey of St. 
 Mary and St. Rumon, had a very early matrix with 
 carved and ornamented handle which has been impressed 
 on the wax as well as the design on the face of the 
 seal. Some other monastic seals, as for example those 
 of Wilton, Chertsey, and Hastings, may be compared for 
 this characteristic. The carving here shows a saint, half- 
 132 
 
MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS HOUSES 
 
 length, reading a book. The Prior of Thornholm, co. 
 Lincoln, in 1297, had a gem ring with antique engraving 
 of Nike, or Victory. The Abbot of Thornton, in the 
 same county, had a similar ring, on which was a helmeted 
 figure with a shield. Wallingford Priory, co. Berks, gives 
 an eleventh-century figure of our Lord in Judgment. 
 
 The seal of Waltham Abbey, an Austin Canons' 
 house dedicated to the Holy Cross, bears on the one side 
 the celebrated ' Cross of Waltham ' supported by angels, 
 on the other side two shields of arms and the impressions 
 of three fine antique intaglio gems, the first of large 
 dimensions engraved with two busts of Byzantine style, 
 facing towards each other, and attributed by the legend 
 to be Tovi and Harold, the Saxon founders ; the second 
 a deity and a dolphin, the third a tiger. The legend 
 declares : 
 
 ' HOC • CARTE • FEDUS • CUM • TOVI • FIRMAT • HAROLDUS.' 
 
 Tovi was a co-founder and benefactor. The matrix 
 and the large gem were cracked before 1537, when an 
 impression on a charter in the British Museum indicates 
 the presence of this injury. The Cluniac Priory of St. 
 Milburga, at Wenlock, co. Salop, shows an effigy of this 
 patron. The seals of Westminster Abbey begin in the 
 eleventh century, and are worthy of the history of the 
 edifice. They comprise effigies of St. Peter, St. Edward 
 the Confessor, St. Paul, St. Catherine, St. John Baptist, 
 and others, with appropriate heraldry and many sacred 
 details. Wilton Abbey, co. Wilts, bears on its tenth- 
 century seal the figure of St. Eadgitha or Edith, daughter 
 of King Edgar. The Carthusians of Witham adopted the 
 device of our Lord on the Cross between the two Maries. 
 Worcester Monastery depicts St. Wolstan, bishop and 
 founder. The seals of York City, the last of our 
 monastic series, were very numerous. Their art is second 
 to none, and the designs they exhibit are suited to the 
 several monasteries and religious houses which possessed 
 
 133 
 
SEALS 
 
 them. St. Thomas of Canterbury had a special cultus here, 
 at an hospital outside the Micklegate, and its seal shows 
 him lifting up his hand in the act of giving a blessing. 
 
 Closely connected with monastic seals are the seals of 
 Peculiar Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions. The designs vary ; 
 none are very old, and none are of particularly good style 
 or workmanship. Perhaps one of the best is that of the 
 Rector of Cliff-at-Hoe, in Kent, which bears a figure of 
 St. Helena with sceptre and ' True Cross.' It is of the date 
 of the sixteenth century. Religious Orders also belong 
 in some measure to this class of seals. The Cistercians 
 delineated, among other devices, a conventual church : 
 the Dominicans, the appearance of our Lord, after His 
 Resurrection, to St. Mary Magdalene in the Careen ; 
 and the Virgin and Child. The Franciscans, the Martyr- 
 dom of St. Thomas of Canterbury, some scenes of which 
 tragedy are enhanced by the introduction of the head of 
 the Almighty Father looking down on the act. The 
 Carmelites adopted the representation of the Coronation 
 of the Virgin ; and the Austin Friars depicted St. 
 Augustine and the Father blessing him. 
 
 Of Guilds, Chantries, Fraternities, which also appear 
 in some degree to be cognate to monasteries by reason of 
 their religious character, there are many seals, but none are 
 of a very exalted artistic merit. The figures of the Virgin 
 and Child, saints, angels, the combat of St. George and 
 the dragon, and other similar designs appear to be chiefly 
 adopted. One seal, perhaps, deserves special mention. 
 It is that of the Fraternity of the Blessed Wenefreda, 
 Virgin, in the Church of St. Cross within the Abbey of 
 St. Peter at Shrewsbury. It delineates the scene of the 
 decollation of the patron saint by Caradoc, son of Alain, 
 a prince of North Wales, with accompanying heraldry of 
 the fifteenth century. The Crucifixion scene, with the 
 Virgin and St. John Baptist, is found on the seal of the 
 Guild of St. Cross at Stratford-on-Avon, in co. Warwick. 
 St. Cuthberga's figure is placed on the chantry seal at 
 Wimborne, co. Dorset. St. Christopher's Guild in York 
 134 
 
GUILDS 
 
 had a fifteenth-century seal on which was given the figure 
 of St. Christopher, passing over a ford and bearing on 
 his shoulders, in accordance with the ancient tradition, 
 the Infant Christ. Military Orders naturally follow 
 Religious Orders. The Knights Templars bore the Agnus 
 Dei as a ' Seal of the Temple.' The Knights Hospitallers 
 had the Holy Sepulchre, and its master and members 
 adoring the Patriarchal Cross. The Hospital of St. 
 John of Jerusalem at Clerkenwell, near the City of 
 London, also placed a figure of the prior adoring the 
 Patriarchal Cross on its seals, with the invocation : 
 
 ' SALVE • CRUX • SANCTA • ARBOR • DIGNA,' 
 
 and a fine design of the head of St. John Baptist formed 
 the subject of many impressions of seals belonging to this 
 order. The Military Order of the Garter bears a fine 
 tableau of the combat of St. George and the dragon, on 
 King Henry viii.'s seal of the Order. Elizabeth and 
 James i. delineated heraldry. Charles i. and succeeding 
 monarchs reverted to the type of St. George and the 
 dragon ; and royal heraldry, with the Garter bearing the 
 world-famed motto : 
 
 ' HONI • SOIT • QUI • MAL • Y • PENSE,' 
 
 is a feature of the seals of this most noble institution. 
 
 135 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 LOCAL SEALS OF CITIES, TOWNS, CORPORATIONS, 
 BOROUGHS, HONOURS, HUNDREDS, LIBERTIES, 
 UNIVERSITIES, SCHOOLS, ETC. 
 
 K 
 
 NOTHER large class of English seals appertains to 
 localities and places. The designs here are by 
 no means conventional. They are derived from 
 
 and refer to important facts in the history of the places 
 to which they belong. Many of them are purely and 
 simply heraldic, and bear shields of arms, often accom- 
 panied by supporters and emblems of local significance. 
 Others bear emblems alone without a shield or other 
 armorial indication. Others, again, delineate the patron 
 saint, allusions to royal arms, objects forming rebuses on 
 the name of the place, many of which are derived from 
 false etymology, and are merely phonetic in their adapta- 
 tion, effigies of founders or benefactors, tableaux of scenes 
 of interest in the history of the district or town, interiors 
 of schools and public buildings, castles, bridges, towns 
 with buildings in perspective, shipping, and numerous 
 other devices. 
 
 Taking some of the more important and remarkable 
 designs found on this class of seals in order of alphabet, 
 for better convenience of the collector, the bailiff of 
 the honour of Albemarle for the lands of the earldom 
 in the counties of York and Lincoln used, in 141 2, 
 an effigy of the officer standing and holding a staff and 
 a shield of the arms of the honour. Aldeburgh, once 
 an important seaport, now comparatively neglected, in jk 
 
 Suffolk, had an oval seal bearing a three-masted ship of ~ 
 
 war with sail set, riding on the sea. Alnwick, in North- 
 136 
 
LOCAL SEALS 
 
 umberland, had a fourteenth-century seal on which was an 
 effigy of Michael the Archangel with open wings, a long 
 cross with which he is piercing the head of the vanquished 
 dragon, and a shield of the arms attributed to him by 
 the heralds, viz. an ornamental cross. The liberty of 
 Alverstoke, co. Southampton, had a * Common Seal of 
 the Men of St. Swithun's Priory of Alwarestoke,' in the 
 thirteenth century, on which is shown the figure of the 
 patron saint and bishop of Winchester, the wonder- 
 working Swithun, with mitre, pastoral staff, and book, 
 seated on a carved throne : the background filled with 
 pierced roses and cinquefoils. The borough of Appleby, 
 in Westmorland, supplies an instance of the rebus : an 
 elaborately and symmetrically designed apple-\xtt of 
 seven fruitful branches, bearing a shield of the royal 
 arms of King Henry iii. for his local Court of Exchequer. 
 This is of the thirteenth century. The reverse depicts 
 the martyrdom of St. Laurence, with an angel half-length 
 carrying up to heaven the victorious liberated soul of 
 the saint in a cloth, after the usual manner adopted 
 for symbolising the * deposition ' of a saint by the 
 artists of the middle ages. Over the head of one of the 
 two executioners is an apple. Arundel, co. Sussex, gives 
 us another example of the rebus. The burgesses here 
 had a swallow, or hirondelle, on a fleur-de-lis slipped 
 upon a special stem. Ashborne Grammar School, co. 
 Derby, gives the similitude of Queen Elizabeth enthroned 
 in majesty, attended by a kneeling group of founders, 
 and in base the interior of the school occupied by the 
 masters and pupils. Ashburton, in co. Devon, with a 
 provost or portreeve and corporation, used, in the 
 fourteenth century, the figure of a churchlike building, 
 perhaps the town hall, with an ash-\xtt on the left side, 
 and a sun-star and crescent. In the Borough seal, an 
 imitation of the older one, the tree inclines to the 
 resemblance of a corn-stalk with three wheat ears. 
 
 ' The Inhabitants of the Town of Askrigg,' co. York, 
 had a late seal charged with a Calvary cross on three steps. 
 
 137 
 
SEALS 
 
 Atherstone, in Warwickshire, gives a good example of 
 the canting rebus in its Grammar School seal of 1608 : 
 viz. a sto7ie slab with seven adders about it. Axbridge, 
 in Somersetshire, favoured the Agnus Dei. Barnard 
 Castle, CO. Durham, a cross pattde between a crescent and 
 a star. Barnstaple, co. Devon, had the design of an 
 eagle for its Borough seal in the thirteenth century ; an 
 embattled castle, triple-towered, for its early mayors ; and 
 a more elaborate castle on a mount for its 'Armorial Seal 
 for the Mayor and Corporation of the Town of Barum.' 
 Its Bridge seal shows a six-arched bridge over the River 
 Taw, above the bridge an eagle displayed between a 
 chapel and a Calvary cross. This is called ' sigillum • 
 LONGi • PONTis • viLLE,' etc. Basiugstokc, CO. South- 
 ampton, depicts the conventional combat of St. 
 Michael with the dragon. Bath, co. Somerset, has on 
 the thirteenth-century seal of the citizens of the city, 
 ' SIGILLUM • civiUM • URBis • BATHONiE,' an embattled en- 
 closure containing a small building, perhaps indicating 
 the site of the world-famous hot springs which have welled 
 up from unfathomable depths from prehistoric times 
 until the present day. Queen Elizabeth's Charter for 
 the Incorporation of Beccles Fen, in Suffolk, 1584, gives 
 rise to the seal bearing a wattled park of enclosed fen, 
 whereon are an ass, a horse, and an ox. Bedford's 
 corporation and mayor have a castle. Berwick-on-Tweed, 
 some seals of which town will be described in the chapter 
 which deals with the Local Seals of Scotland, had a 
 Mayoralty seal, bearing on a mount a bear passant beneath 
 a wych-^\m. or hazel-tree, by way of rebus, accompanied 
 with royal heraldic devices and a figure of our Lord in 
 His post-resurrection, or mystical, state, with cross-topped 
 orb and giving a blessing. Beverley, co. York, in its 
 thirteenth-century seal for the corporation, figures the 
 patron. Saint John of Beverley, Archbishop of York. 
 
 Bideford corporation, in co. Devon, gives a four-arched 
 bridge over the River Torridge, on which are two chapels, 
 and in the centre, on a cross pattde upon a tall shaft, the 
 
 138 
 
PLATE XIV 
 
 
 
 LOCAL SEALS 
 
I 
 
LOCAL SEALS 
 
 Virgin patron with the Child. The field is filled with 
 flowers and foliage. The Common seal of 1577 shows a 
 less elaborate bridge, with a ship passing through. The 
 seal for labourers' passes for Bindon liberty, in Dorset- 
 shire, had the customary design of the name of the 
 liberty across its face, and of the county around the 
 border. Birmingham Free Grammar School had on its 
 first seal, 1552, five persons seated at a table ; on its later 
 seal, of 1685, the figure of King Edward vi. in majesty 
 attended by two kneeling suppliants on each side. 
 
 Bishop's Castle, co. Salop, has the figure of a castle, 
 with interesting details and the initial letters L R. for 
 'Jacobus Rex,' who confirmed, in 1609, Queen Eliza- 
 beth's Charter to the town. Bodmin borough, co. 
 Cornwall, had a fourteenth-century Common seal for the 
 burgesses, bearing an effigy of its royal benefactor, 
 seated under a canopy resembling a triple-towered castle. 
 Its later seal is evidently inspired as to its design by the 
 device of the older example. Bossiney with Trevenna, a 
 borough in the parish of Tintagel, in Cornwall, delineates 
 the castle of the legendary King Arthur, triple-towered, 
 domed and embattled, with a stairway leading from the 
 principal portal to the sea. This appears to be of the 
 sixteenth century. Boston, co. Lincoln, had a seal for its 
 maritime affairs bearing a three-masted ship on the sea, 
 its sail set and charged with armorial bearings. Its 
 woolstaple seal bears an effigy of the patron St. Botulph, 
 with staff and book, and a woolsack before him. Brent- 
 wood Grammar School, Co. Essex, favours heraldry, and 
 has on the obverse of its seal, 1557, a shield of arms 
 bearing the heraldic device used for the Trinity. Bridg- 
 north, CO. Salop, has for its Common seal a design of a 
 triple-towered castle. Bridgwater, co. Somerset, in like 
 manner, gives an elaborately detailed castle on a bridge 
 of four round-headed arches over the River Parret. The 
 early seal appears to belong to the twelfth century ; the 
 later one, which has been influenced in its design by the 
 former, has five pointed arches in its bridge, and a star 
 
 139 
 
SEALS 
 
 and fleur-de-lis in the field ; this belongs to the mayor, 
 bailiffs, and burgesses, and is of the style of the fifteenth 
 century. Bridport, in Dorsetshire, uses the design of an 
 embattled castle on the River Bride, accompanied with 
 the fleur-de-lis badge for France, and lion passant 
 guardant of England. Bristol city has many notable 
 seals. The first Common seal, which is of the character 
 of the fourteenth century, gives on the one side a view 
 of the castle, with much detail ; on one of the towers 
 a watchman blowing a long trumpet, on the other side 
 a ship with sail set heading towards a round-headed 
 archway at the corner of an embattled building, whereon 
 is seen a watchman pointing the way to the steersman. 
 In the foreground on the beach is a conger eel, not with- 
 out significance as denoting one of the commodities of 
 the locality. The legend of this seal describes the rnise 
 en scene, and embodies a play upon the word clavis, a 
 ' key ' or a ' quay ' : 
 
 * SECRETI • CLAVIS • SUM • PORTUS • NAVITA • NAVIS • 
 PORTAM • CUSTODIT • PORTUM • VIGIL • INDICE • PRODIT.' 
 
 The second Common seal, of 1569, is heraldic. The 
 two Mayoralty seals of the fourteenth century show the 
 ' secret quay ' open, with a ship sailing out. The 
 Admiralty seal, perhaps of the seventeenth century, 
 has a ship of one mast, riding on the waves, and 
 accompanied by armorial devices. The mayor of the 
 staple used the device of a leopard's face within a 
 cordon of fleurs-de-lis. These charges appertain to 
 the King's use. Bruton, co. Somerset, for its Grammar 
 School had a rebus only partly conceived. The legend 
 reads : 
 
 ' THE • SEALLE • OF • THE • SKOLLE • OF • BREW,' 
 
 and a htn with grapes and vine-branches springing out, 
 to complete the idea. Bury St. Edmunds Free Grammar 
 School depicts our Lord with nimbus, before His dis- 
 140 
 
LOCAL SEALS 
 
 ciples, blessing a child whose head alone appears. Below 
 the tableau is an entablature bearing the words : 
 
 ' SINITE • PARVULOS • VENIRE • AD • ME ' 
 
 (Mark x. 14). The Royal Exchequer of Caerleon, or 
 Holt, CO. Denbigh, used a seal, in 1520, bearing a lion 
 and open crown ; and a second seal, in 1546, of some- 
 what more detailed execution. The mayoralty used the 
 design of a triple-towered castle on a field powdered with 
 fleurs-de-lis. The corporation of the city of Cambridge 
 had on its fourteenth-century seal a bridge over the river 
 called the Ca7n, accompanied with royal heraldry. Other 
 seals here are purely armorial. 
 
 The University with the Colleges it comprehends has 
 many seals. There are at least three seals of the Univer- 
 sity itself, used in 1261, 14 10, and the last of the three 
 made in 1580. With varying styles of art and of different 
 degrees of merit, the leading motive is a figure of the 
 Chancellor with the Scholars, with the bridge over the 
 river below, in which are fishes swimming. The latest 
 seal supersedes the bridge and river, with a shield of the 
 Arms of the University, and pedantically introduces the 
 name of the Almighty Father in the three divine Biblical 
 languages, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, accompanied with 
 heraldry. Other seals of the Chancellor figure that 
 dignitary in appropriate vestments. Of the Colleges, 
 Michael House, 1324, delineates St. Michael trampling 
 on the dragon and piercing his head with a cross, 
 symbolical of the triumph of Christianity over sin. 
 King's Hall shows the royal founder, Edward iii., 
 holding the model of his foundation. Clare Hall, now 
 Clare College, had a very much detailed first seal 
 showing the effigy of the Lady Elizabeth de Burgo, 
 sister and co-heir of Gilbert, Earl of Clare, the founder, 
 holding the book of the Statutes, and presenting the 
 foundation charter to a group of the members. Over- 
 head are the Virgin and Child, between St. John Baptist 
 
 141 
 
SEALS 
 
 with the Agnus Dei, and St. John Evangelist with eagle 
 and palm-branch. On the tabernacle-work at the sides of 
 the carved Gothic niche which enclose the above groups, 
 are shields of royal, collegiate, and family heraldry. The 
 legend invokes the Virgin in these terms : 
 
 ' AULA • CLARE • PIA • REGE • SEMPER • VIRGO • MARIA.' 
 
 The second seal, of very late work, is a badly propor- 
 tioned copy of the above described very beautiful design. 
 Pembroke, or Valence Mary, Hall, now Pembroke 
 College, 1347, shows in similar fashion the figures of 
 Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, and his Countess 
 the Lady Mary de St. Paul, each holding up the model 
 of the building they had founded, on the roof of which 
 sits the Lord in the act of blessing, and wearing the 
 crucifer nimbus. Gonville Hall, 1348, afterwards Gon- 
 ville and Caius College, 1558, bears a representation of 
 the Annunciation of the Virgin and a figure of Bateman, 
 Bishop of Norwich, 1344- 1354, who established the 
 College. Trinity Hall, 1350, depicts the Holy Trinity 
 accompanied by ten heads representing the host of 
 heaven, a very unusual subject on seals ; in base the 
 shield of Bishop Bateman's arms also borne by this Hall. 
 Corpus Christi College, 1352, used the tableau of the 
 Coronation of the Virgin with the fanciful but well- 
 known armorial bearings attributed by heralds to the 
 Holy Trinity and to Jesus Christ (the symbols or 
 implements of the Passion). In the base are two figures 
 holding up the model : these represent the Guilds which 
 founded the College. God's House, 1442, delineates, in 
 two scenes, the Nativity and the Ascension of our Lord. 
 King's College, 1441, had an elaborate seal of the 
 Assumption of the Virgin, with St. Nicholas, and King 
 Henry vi. with concomitant armorial bearings. The 
 arms on the first state of this seal gave way to others 
 in the second state. Queen's College of St. Margaret 
 and St. Bernard, 1448, places on its seal standing figures 
 142 
 
LOCAL SEALS 
 
 of the patrons : the former trampling, as usual, on the 
 dragon, whose head she pierces with a long cross, the 
 latter with book and staff; at each side a kneeling angel 
 in a pent-house : in base, the President and Fellows, 
 with armorial bearings. St. Catherine's Hall, 1473, has 
 on its seal a figure of the patroness on a bracket in a 
 canopied niche, crowned, and holding the symbols of her 
 martyrdom, a sword and a wheel. Jesus College, 1496, 
 used the seal of the Benedictine Priory of St. Radegund, 
 from which it sprang ; an archaic figure of St. Radegund 
 with staff, wallet, and book. This appears to be of 
 twelfth-century work. The seal of 1496 bears our Lord 
 between the Virgin and St. John Evangelist. Under an 
 arch in base is an angel holding a shield, charged with 
 the five wounds of our Lord, viz. a human heart be- 
 tween two couped hands and as many feet in saltire, 
 gouttdes de sang, another heraldic design bestowed by 
 the heralds on our Lord. The seal ad cattsas of 1586 
 has heraldry, and an incorrect Hebrew inscription. St. 
 John's College, 151 1, shows the patron writing his 
 Gospel on a desk, and in the field a nimbed eagle, a 
 quatrefoil slipped, a portcullis, an heraldic antelope, and 
 a marguerite flower, all symbolical and pregnant with 
 meanings. Trinity College, 1546, delineates the Baptism 
 of our Lord with a descending dove and scroll carelessly 
 inscribed ' hic est filius meus delectus,' etc. On the 
 reverse is the effigy of King Henry viii., with adjuncts of 
 majesty, in a niche of debased style of architecture. The 
 motto is ' SERViRE • DEO • REGNARE • EST,' and there is a 
 note of the date. 
 
 The town of Camelford, in Cornwall, affects the rebus 
 of a camel passing 2iford, forgetful of the true derivation 
 of its name from its river. Canterbury is rich in 
 seals: the first seal of the corporation, 13 18, bears an 
 elaborate castle, with heraldry, and on the reverse a 
 section of the cathedral showing the scene of Becket's 
 Martyrdom. This is accompanied with the rhyming 
 legend in two lines of hexameter verse : 
 
 143 
 
SEALS 
 
 ' ICTIBUS • INMENSIS • THOMAS • QUI • CORRUIT • ENSIS • 
 TUTOR • AB • OFFENSIS • URBIS • SIT • CANTURIENSIS,' 
 
 and the date of its making is also signified by other two 
 rhyming verses on the rim. At a later date the martyr- 
 dom was removed, to give place for a shield of the city 
 arms, and the legend was covered up, or cut away, to 
 give way to a coarsely carved border. The Mayor's seal 
 was a triple-towered castle with three lions of England, 
 in a trefoil. Cardiff Royal Chancery seal is of great 
 interest. It represents King Henry vii., as Lord of 
 Glamorgan and Morgan, riding on a caparisoned and 
 plumed horse on a rocky mount replenished with herbage. 
 The king is in armour, and the armorial bearings are 
 of the royal use, viz. France Modern and England, 
 quarterly. The background is filled with sprigs of 
 foliage and blossoms. The whole design compares well 
 with the obverses of the Great Seals of the kings as used 
 from Edward iv. to Henry vii. The reverse of this fine 
 seal bears the royal arms of the realm, between sprigs 
 of foliage, encircled with the Garter inscribed, and bearing 
 the royal crest on a helmet with mantling. An early 
 Common seal of the corporation, about one and a half 
 inches in diameter, shows on a pyramidal mount of stones 
 two lions rampant combatant holding up a shield of the 
 town's arms : three chevrons, for Clare, Earl of Glou- 
 cester, the quondam chief lord of the town. 
 
 Chester county had on the seal in 1377 the armorial 
 bearings of Richard, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall 
 and Earl of Chester, afterwards King Richard 11., to denote 
 his Exchequer of Chester. The County Palatine seals 
 show, like Cardiff, representations of the king in armour, 
 on a caparisoned horse with heraldry, on the one side, and 
 armorial bearings on the other. Seals of varied types, used 
 by Edward iv., Henry vii. and viii., and Edward vi. are 
 preserved in the British Museum, and the elegance of 
 their designs is very noteworthy. The ' County Palatine 
 of Chester and Flint ' also delineates on the official seals 
 144 
 
PLATE XV 
 
 TOWN OF COIXHF.STKR 
 
LOCAL SEALS 
 
 the effigies of the sovereigns riding on the warhorse, 
 with royal armorial bearings, among which is introduced 
 the shield bearing three garbs for Chester impaled with 
 France and England quarterly. It is to be noticed that 
 even in Queen Elizabeth's seal here the quartering of 
 England is differenced with the label of three points for 
 the Prince of Wales. The supporters of the Palatine are 
 two dragons sejant addorsed, each holding an ostrich 
 feather. Those of Queen Elizabeth are labelled Ich Dien. 
 The Commonwealth, jealous of personal representa- 
 tions, replaced the equestrian figures with an elaborately 
 detailed view of Chester Castle with an ornamental shield 
 of arms on each of the side round-towers, viz. the 
 Commonwealth Arms for England on the dexter, and 
 Ireland on the sinister side. Overhead are clouds, and 
 in base, water. The reverse of this seal, made in 1648, 
 shows the interior of the Parliament House during 
 session. The mayor and citizens of Chester city depict 
 a castle of six towers, accompanied by the lion of 
 England between two garbs of Chester. The first seal 
 of Chichester corporation bears an eagle, the later seal 
 an ornamental castle with heraldry. Colchester, co. 
 Essex, bears on the reverse of its first Corporation seal 
 an effigy of St. Helena the Empress, reputed to be a 
 native of this town, enthroned and holding her emblem, 
 a long cross, in memory of her sacred quest of the True 
 Cross, under a canopy, with the legend : 
 
 ' QUAM -CRUX • INSIGNIT • HELENAM • COLECESTRIA • GIGNIT.' 
 
 This is of the thirteenth century. Later town seals 
 perpetuate the figure of this saint with royal and local 
 heraldry. The town of Congleton, in Cheshire, affords 
 a rebus on its seal, a tun or barrel between two conger 
 eels, ensigned with a lion of England. The derivation 
 of the name is, however, quite different. Corbridge, in 
 Northumberland, had a twelfth-century seal, bearing an 
 ornamental cross between four human heads erased. 
 
 K 145 
 
SEALS 
 
 Corfe Castle, co. Dorset, has a castle with a corve, or 
 corbeau, by way of rebus. The Stannaries Corporation of 
 ' Stannators ' of Cornwall had an interesting tableau of 
 two miners working on a platform. Their tools are 
 remarkable in shape and illustrate the survival of the 
 past in the present. Sir Walter Ralegh, Warden of the 
 Stannaries about 1600, had an equestrian seal of office, 
 with heraldry. The Duchy of Cornwall seals used royal 
 armorials with proper differences, one of which is a 
 bordure bezantde for Cornwall. Coventry mayoralty bears 
 on its seal an elephant. Crediton, in co. Devon, a figure 
 of the Almighty Father on its Grammar School seal. 
 
 Dartmouth, in co. Devon, figures ships, as befits an 
 important maritime town. Daventry, in co. Northampton, 
 figures a Dane with an axe and a tree, a silly rebus 
 originating from the corrupt manner of pronouncing the 
 name of the town. Deal bears the armorials of the 
 Cinque ports. The Trinity-House at Deptford, in co. 
 Kent, bears its shield of arms on its seal of 1513. Derby 
 town has another rebus, a deer in a by or park. The 
 Devonshire Stannaries used the armorials of the county 
 of Cornwall, viz. fifteen bezants in pile, five, four, three, 
 two, and one. Dorchester, co. Dorset, had many seals 
 bearing the royal arms of the sovereigns, with a bust of 
 Edward 11. on the first Corporation seal. Dover bears, 
 on its seal of 1305, a warship with many valuable details 
 for the history of naval armaments and seamanship ; on 
 the reverse is an effigy of St. Martin, seated on a horse 
 and dividing his mantle with a beggar, after the accepted 
 tradition, under the portal doorway of an embattled triple- 
 towered castle. In place of a legend there is a cordon of 
 twelve lions passant guardant of England, arranged in 
 six pairs counter-passant. Other seals of this port bear 
 also the figure of the saint, with or without heraldry. 
 The seal of 1572 for the mayoralty gives the beggar a 
 wooden leg, that of 1749 gives him a crutch. The Great 
 Seal of the castle and courts of the Cinque ports, of the 
 eighteenth century, shows Dover Castle on a rock, flying 
 146 
 
PLATE XVI 
 
 
 s.. 
 
 4k 
 
 
 MISCKI,I,ANEOUS SEALS 
 
LOCAL SEALS 
 
 a; flag on which is a cross and saltire united ; the fore- 
 ground shows the town, and a ship of war, three-masted, 
 is under sail to the right. Dunwich corporation, in 
 Suffolk, had a lozenge-shaped seal, showing its quondam 
 maritime importance by a ship drawn with curious 
 twelfth-century detail and accompanied by the sun-star 
 and crescent. The bailiffs had also a lozenge-shaped 
 seal ; this bears a royal head, full face, crowned, in a 
 boat riding on the sea, between two stars. There were 
 two matrices of this seal, almost exactly similar. 
 
 The Common seal of the city of Durham represented 
 a bishop, with heraldry. The Royal College of St. Mary 
 at Eton, 1440, had a fine seal bearing a scene of the 
 Coronation of the Virgin, attended by three angels on 
 each side ; the Almighty Father overhead is crowning her, 
 and other angels hold royal arms for the founder. King 
 Henry vi., and the College armorials. The second seal 
 represents the Assumption of the Virgin, who is sur- 
 rounded by angels in radiant clouds, and below is a 
 shield of the royal arms supported by two lions sejant 
 guardant. Evesham borough bears its arms on the one 
 side, on the other a curious view of the town, and here 
 the legend refers to the freedom of the town granted by 
 Prince Henry in 1604: 
 
 ' LIBER • AB • HENRICO • FACTUS • SUM • PRINCIPE • 
 BURGUS. 1604.' 
 
 Exeter city had a thirteenth-century seal of great 
 beauty. The design is an elaborate edifice of two storeys, 
 with pent roof and flags, between two circular towers, 
 embattled, and enriched with arcades and string courses. 
 Overhead is the sun between a star and a crescent ; at 
 the sides two keys ; in base, a fleur-de-lis between two 
 wyverns. All these subsidiary figures are emblematic. 
 The free port of Faversham, in Kent, once an important 
 maritime stronghold, bears on its seal of the ' Barons ' a 
 warship flying the national flag of St. George, and 
 accompanied by details of considerable value to students 
 
 147 
 
SEALS 
 
 of mediaeval maritime and naval architecture and seaman- 
 ship. The reverse has a large shield of the royal arms 
 of England with the proud motto : 
 
 ' REGIS • UT • ARMA • REGO • LIBERA • PORTUS • EGO.' 
 
 Folkestone, in the same county, had on its * Barons' ' seal 
 a one-masted ship riding on the sea. The Mayoralty 
 seal here gives an effigy of St. Eanswitha, abbess and 
 patron, between two fishes. The ' Barons ' of Fordwich, 
 another Kentish seaport, also used the device of a 
 one-masted ship, with sail clewed up, riding on the 
 waves. The mayor here in the thirteenth century had a 
 seal, on which was a lion of England on an oval enclosure 
 set with an antique oval intaglio gem, bearing a fish 
 naiant on a wave. The design of the gem probably 
 recommended itself to the use to which it was put. 
 Francheville, or Newton, in the Isle of Wight, also used 
 the design of a ship of one mast, in combination with a 
 lion of England, a shield of arms charged with a St. 
 George's Cross, and above all, a sun-star and a crescent. 
 Gloucester city used heraldry, and for its Bailiffs' seal 
 the design of a triple-towered castle standing on the River 
 Severn. Grampound, in Cornwall, delineates a bridge, 
 walled, over a torrent ; on the wall the arms of John, 
 Earl of Cornwall, a lion rampant with a border charged 
 with eleven roundles. The name on the legend is 
 Grandpont alias Ponsmur, to which the bridge and wall 
 are as a rebus. Grimsby, co. Lincoln, depicts on the seal 
 of the corporation in the thirteenth century an effigy of 
 the legendary merchant Gryem, armed with sword and 
 shield, and with a divine hand of blessing over his head, 
 between figures of Habloc holding an axe and Goldes- 
 burch, crowned, holding a sceptre fleury, all in accordance 
 with the traditional history of the town. The hat of the 
 hero lies below, and the names of the three personages are 
 inscribed in the field. Sir Frederic Madden's Introduc- 
 tion to the Romance of Havelock (Roxburghe Club) may 
 148 
 
LOCAL SEALS 
 
 be read with advantage for the elucidation of this tableau. 
 The Mayoralty seal of the fourteenth century depicts a 
 boar hunted by a huntsman blowing a horn and accom- 
 panied by a hound. In the background an eagle awaits 
 his share of the chace. The royal seal for the bailiwick 
 of Guernsey shows royal heraldry. 
 
 Halifax, co. York, gives a scene illustrating the 
 operation of the * Gibbet Law ' of the Forest of Hard- 
 wick, a district co-extensive with Halifax parish. On 
 a tree is a woman hanging from a branch ; near by 
 is the hangman with the stolen fruit in his hand 
 which has brought the offender to the fatal tree in 
 accordance with the stern provisions of the forest law. 
 A later seal gives the head of St. John Baptist, with 
 nimbus and gouttes-de-sang, between the words ' Halig- 
 fax,' a false etymology, within a traced panel, and accom- 
 panied with the words Warren-Lewys. Hartlepool, in 
 CO. Durham, used, in the thirteenth century, the rebus of 
 a hart at gaze in 3. pool, on its haunches a deerhound has 
 sprung. St. Hilda, patron saint, appears with appro- 
 priate legend on a thirteenth-century counterseal. She 
 also figures on the Mayor's seal, with book and staff 
 between two bishops, Hastings, formerly an important 
 Cinque port, in Sussex, had a seal of the ' Barons,' in the 
 thirteenth century, of more than usual interest : the 
 design is a one-masted ship with banner-flags of England 
 and of the Cinque ports, ramming another of similar form 
 but without banners, which is cut down to the water's 
 edge, and in the water is seen the head of a drowning 
 seaman. The reverse contains a scene of St. Michael, 
 with shield of arms, a cross cantoned with twelve pellets, 
 trampling on the dragon, and thrusting the foot of a 
 long cross into its head. The legend is 
 
 • DRACO • CRUDELIS • TE • VINCET • VIS • MICAELIS.' 
 
 Havering-at-Bower Manor, co. Essex, has a triple- 
 towered castle, with a ring for a rebus, below. Helston, 
 
 149 
 
SEALS 
 
 CO. Cornwall, had an illustration of the deeds of St. 
 Michael as described just above. Henley-in-Arden, co. 
 Warwick, delineated the Holy Trinity, with St. John 
 Baptist and St. John Evangelist. Hereford city had 
 an early seal, apparently of the twelfth century. The 
 design is a shield of arms of archaic form : three lions 
 passant guardant in pale enfiling a banner flag. The 
 later seal, of six hundred years' interval from the former, 
 varies the armorial bearings by placing the lions within a 
 bordure charged with ten saltire crosses, and omits the 
 banner. The crest, supporters, and motto are introduced. 
 Hertford lends itself to a rebus, a hart in 2. ford, with a 
 castle and tree on the distant bank, upon its borough seal. 
 The Wapentake of Holderness, co. York, had an arm- 
 orial seal. Huntingdon depicts a huntsman with bow and 
 horn, chasing a stag with two hounds. The ' Barons ' of 
 Hythe adhere to the ship motif. Ilchester Free Grammar 
 School, 1550, gives an open book encircled with radiance 
 
 for 'LEARNINGE GAYNETH HONOUR,' aS it tclls US. IpSwich, 
 
 CO. Suffolk, had many seals of the shipping type, or with 
 armorial bearings. Jersey, like Guernsey, used the 
 three lions of England. Kendal, in Westmorland, 
 delineates a landscape of the town with a distant view of 
 a moated castle, and five birds in the field. Its later seal 
 shows a figure of King Charles 1., in majesty, half- 
 length. Kidderminster, co. Worcester, places on the 
 seal of its Free Grammar School, 16 19, a mysterious 
 mark or monogram, two swords, and a kid by way of 
 rebus. The corporation of Kingston-upon-Hull, co. 
 York, gives on its early seal an effigy of King Edward i. 
 standing on a lion couchant, and between two lions of 
 England. Other seals here bear heraldry, castles, or 
 shipping. Kingston-on-Thames has the armorial 
 bearings, on its seal, of three salmon naiant in pale, in 
 base the letter k. The fish are said by Burke and 
 Papworth, well-known writers on arms, to be hauriant, 
 which is not the case. Naiant in heraldry signifies 
 swimming in a natural position ; hauriant means that 
 
 150 
 
PLATE XVII 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS SEALS 
 
 I. 2. GODWINE AND GOOGVTHA, ANGLO-SAXON SEALS 
 3. 4. THE BARONS OF LONDON 
 
LOCAL SEALS 
 
 the bodies are perpendicular. Kirkby in Lonsdale 
 Grammar School, in Westmorland, 1591, has a school- 
 master seated on his chair instructing two children. 
 The second line of the couplet for the legend is interest- 
 ing, and loyally significant of Queen Elizabeth's well- 
 known attention to the welfare of public schools : 
 
 ' DY • FAVEANT • PUERIS • ELISABETA • SCHOLIS.' 
 
 The seal of the city of Lichfield, 1688, deserves con- 
 sideration. The design is a battlefield strewn with dead 
 bodies, weapons, a flag, and a crown, as a rebus on the 
 name of the town, which up to a comparatively recent 
 period was considered to be derived from the words 
 lich, or lie (Anglo-Saxon for a corpse), and field. But 
 Lichfield is really the corruption of Luit-eoyt-feld, ' the 
 field of the grey wood,' one of the oldest place-names in 
 the chronicle of Nennius, who in his Historia Britonum 
 enumerates * Cair-Liiit-Coyt ' the last in the list of 
 twenty-eight British cities. Lincolnshire, and Lincoln 
 city, depict elaborate castles on their seals, with heraldry. 
 The mayoralty and the woolstaple use the effigy of the 
 Virgin and Child. Liverpool, co. Lancaster, on its 
 Corporation seal of the fourteenth century has the scroll- 
 bearing eagle of St. John. The arms here bear birds 
 sometimes called livers or lithers, but the first part of 
 this place-name is a generic word for water or river. 
 
 The ' Barons ' of London City had a fine thirteenth- 
 century seal with St. Paul, patron saint, holding an 
 armorial banner-flag of the arms of the realm, and 
 standing on the tower of Old St. Paul's Cathedral, over a 
 gateway in the embattled wall of the city, within which are 
 tall church spires, and in front the river Thames is drawn. 
 The reverse gives St. Thomas of Canterbury enthroned, 
 and attended by clerics and merchants. In base, under 
 a large arch, a view of the city is given with St. Paul's 
 spire in a central position. The legend of this rare seal 
 is unfortunately imperfect. Later seals affect heraldry. 
 
 151 
 
SEALS 
 
 The ' Corporation for the Poor of the City,' an early body, 
 used, in 1699, a curious seal with emblematic arms on 
 the reverse. This corporation deserves to be rescued 
 from neglect and decay. The Mayoralty seal is very 
 elaborate. The leading characteristic is an architectural 
 screen, bearing effigies of St. Thomas the Martyr and 
 Archbishop, St. Paul with the Sorcerer Elymas prostrate 
 at his feet, the Virgin and Child, angels, men-at-arms, and 
 appropriate heraldry. A later design, of the seventeenth 
 century, owes its inspiration to the previous seal, but 
 substitutes the now fashionable Italian architecture for 
 the Gothic which has passed away. The seal of the 
 Royal College of Physicians of London, 1523, delineates 
 St. Luke the Evangelist writing in a book, and accom- 
 panied with armorial bearings, in a paved and panelled 
 hall decorated with floral festoons. The British Museum 
 has for its corporate seal a pseudo-classical design con- 
 sisting of an Ionic temple, tetrastyle, approached by a 
 flight of three steps, with figures of goddesses, apparently 
 Rhea or Cybele, with a sickle and two crouching lions, 
 and Minerva or Pallas Athene with a scroll, a spear, an 
 owl, and an oval shield charged with the head and snakes 
 of Medusa. The little resemblance of this design to the 
 actual fagade now standing is probably as close as that 
 of many of the architectural devices on mediaeval seals 
 is to the edifice which they claim to represent. There 
 is a faint generic likeness, but when we examine for 
 details the similarity disappears. Many of the Institu- 
 tions and Merchant Companies of the city use armorial 
 bearings on their seals ; others prefer the effigies of 
 patron saints or depict episodes in the lives of their 
 tutelary protectors. As, for example, the Company of 
 Brewers and that of Leather-sellers bear the Assump- 
 tion of the Virgin ; the Drapers' Company the Coronation 
 of the Virgin attended by the Dove of the Holy Spirit, 
 angels, and under her mantle a group of votaries ; the 
 Company of Merchant-Taylors, St. John Baptist with the 
 Lamb in a wilderness of two trees and between a lion 
 152 
 
 
LOCAL SEALS 
 
 and a unicorn, accompanied with heraldry ; the Wax- 
 Chandlers, our Lord in majesty with radiance, and the 
 Almighty Father blessing Him from the clouds ; the 
 New River Company, which brought water from Chad- 
 well and Amwell to London, only recently swallowed up 
 by the Metropolitan Water Board after a career of close 
 upon three hundred years, a view of the City of London 
 in 1612, with a divine hand issuing from the sky and 
 scattering rain on the city in illustration of the legend 
 which is engraved on the seal : 
 
 ' ET • PLUI • SUPER • UNAM • CIVITATEM ' (AmOS iv. 7). 
 
 The reverse of this seal has the design of a fleur-de-lis ; 
 and the seal of the early trading ' Company for Making 
 Hollow Sword Blades in England,' used in 1704, loyally 
 depicted two of its ' hollow blades * on an altar, before 
 which is seated a figure of Britannia. 
 
 East Looe, in Cornwall, has a one-masted ship with 
 embattled castles on its thirteenth-century seal. Ludlow, 
 CO. Salop, a marcher town, the strategical position of 
 which was of the highest mediaeval importance, had 
 many seals of the armorial type. Lydd, a port of Kent, 
 bears on the thirteenth-century seal of its ' Barons ' a 
 tall spired church with a ship of war issuing from behind 
 it, and a shield of arms, quarterly, four lions rampant, 
 suspended by a strap from a hook. Lyme Regis, in co. 
 Dorset, was also a maritime port of much importance in 
 the middle ages, and its thirteenth-century seal is full of 
 curious details. On the sea we observe a ship with one 
 mast, and banner-flags of royal heraldry. In the field 
 over the ship are our Lord on the Cross, between the 
 Virgin Mary and St. John the Beloved ; Michael the 
 Archangel, the patron saint of the town, carrying a 
 shield charged with the cross of St. George, and piercing 
 the head of the vanquished dragon with a long cross. 
 Overhead are the constantly attendant devices of the 
 sun-star of six wavy rays and the crescent enclosing an 
 
 153 
 
SEALS 
 
 estoile, all of which subordinate details have meaning of 
 high significance in regard to the history of the town and 
 port. Lymington, in co. Southampton, once a noted port, 
 bears a ship with shield of arms hanging from its mast. 
 
 King's Lynn, in Norfolk, has a beautiful seal of the 
 thirteenth century, bearing on the one side the eagle 
 of St. John Evangelist grasping a scroll which is in- 
 scribed with the initial words of his Gospel, on the other 
 St. Margaret, the patron saint of the town, holding a 
 book, and a long cross, with which she is piercing the 
 head of the dragon who lies below. His tail bears the 
 resemblance of a head. This device is set below an 
 elaborate Gothic architectural erection like a triumphal 
 arch. The legend is explanatory : 
 
 * SUB • MARGARETA • TERITUR • DRACO • STAT • CRUCE • LETA.' 
 
 The same /;?(?/^/" appears, with modifications and heraldry 
 introduced, on the Privy seal of the mayoralty. Maccles- 
 field, CO. Chester, depicts on its Free Grammar School 
 seal of 1552 a pedagogue threateningly holding aloft a 
 birch-rod in one hand, in the other he has a book. He 
 is seated on a bench, and is a living embodiment of 
 teaching after the old style by book and by birch. 
 Maidenhead, co. Berks, has the rebus of a maiden's head, 
 nimbed, perhaps for the Virgin Mary, with a meaningless 
 legend. Maidstone, in Kent, bears a view of the town 
 with churches, houses, river, and bridge. The Mayor- 
 alty seal could not resist the easy rebus suggested by the 
 town's name, and delineates a maid, without apparel, 
 standing on a stone. Maldon, in Essex, bears the device 
 of a one-masted vessel, embattled at each end, and its 
 sail furled up. Malmesbury, co. Wilts, has a triple- 
 towered castle with domed central turret. The fine work 
 here contrasts with the rudely designed castle of the seal 
 of Marazion, in Cornwall. The Free Grammar School 
 of Middleton, in Lancashire, 1572, preserves a figure of 
 Queen Elizabeth in majesty. The liberty of South 
 
 154 
 
LOCAL SEALS 
 
 Molton, in co. Devon, delineates a fleece, between the 
 crown of Charles ii. and the mitre of the Bishop of 
 Exeter. Monmouth city and the town of Newborough, 
 in Anglesea, severally use the favourite one-masted ship, 
 of which we have already noticed so many examples with 
 variant details. Newbury, co. Berks, shows a castle. 
 Newcastle-under-Lyme, co. Stafford, has a curious form 
 of castellated edifice, on the central tower of which is a 
 banner-flag between two men-at-arms, the one holding 
 a battle-axe, the other blowing a horn. It is accompanied 
 with armorial bearings. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, co. 
 Northumberland, bears an embattled castle with two 
 shields of early form. Later seals of this city adopt 
 heraldry or the triple-towered castle as their devices. 
 The ancient Brotherhood of Ostmen here had the design 
 of the master receiving one of the Brethren, or Ostes, 
 to whom he says, ' welcome • my • oste.' The Anti- 
 quarian Society here, 1813, has a pseudo-classic design 
 for its seal, on which is the figure of Minerva, or 
 Antiquity. Newport in the Isle of Wight had a one- 
 masted ship-of-war with flag and cross of St. George for 
 its design in the fifteenth century, but in the eighteenth 
 it was not without the dignity of a three-master, duly 
 embattled, and charged on the principal sail with a royal 
 lion of England. Northampton affected the castle type. 
 
 Norwich city also follows this type, with much elabo- 
 ration. The seal used in 1559 was altered, in 1573, to 
 suit the changed religious sentiment which was in that 
 later period passing like a wave over England. The 
 obverse bears a castle and a lion of England below it, 
 both of which devices now form integral parts of the 
 city arms. The reverse originally had in an elaborately 
 carved niche of two storeys a figure of the Trinity, but in 
 the latter year above mentioned this was clumsily erased, 
 leaving portions of the drapery still visible, and an 
 ornamentally carved entablature inscribed with the sacred 
 name * immanuel,' written in four lines containing two 
 letters in each, was substituted. This was placed on a 
 
 ^55 
 
SEALS 
 
 plinth dated 1573. On each side of the niche, in a pent- 
 house, an angel bears a shield of arms. Other seals 
 connected with the local government bear the castle, the 
 lion, and other armorials. The Mayoralty seal of 1403 held 
 at first a figure of the Holy Trinity with concomitant 
 heraldry, but it was altered at the Reformation (when 
 humanly conceived figures of the united triad of Divine 
 personages were eschewed as being sacrilegious) by sub- 
 stituting a scene of the Resurrection of our Lord. 
 Nottingham city had a castle on its Corporation seal, 
 accompanied with the frequently recurring sun-star and 
 crescent. Oswestry, co. Salop, takes delight in the rebus 
 type, it is unnecessary to add, by recourse to erroneous 
 derivation. Here we observe St. Oswald, king and 
 martyr, patron saint, enthroned, holding in the one hand 
 a sword, in the other a tree to complete the picture. 
 
 Oxford city gives us another example of the rebus 
 on the fourteenth-century seal of its mayor, whereon is 
 depicted an ox passing 3. ford; in the background an 
 oak-tree, on the right a shield of arms bearing a cross, 
 perhaps the original device of the city. It is distressing 
 to see the adherence to a false etymology by a city justly 
 celebrated for its knowledge and intelligence. As the 
 first syllable of the name represents a generic word for 
 a stream, a word remnant of an archaic language which 
 was spoken long before the Britons, Saxons, or Danes 
 came to these islands, if the ox had been left out of the 
 design, i\\t ford diXono, would have sufficed for the rebus. 
 The University and Colleges naturally have many seals. 
 The earlier Chancellor's seal shows that dignitary engaged 
 in instructing his pupils : a later type imports heraldry 
 into the scene. University College, 1249, depicts St. 
 Cuthbert of Durham seated on a throne composed of 
 two lions statant guardant, and holding the crowned 
 head of St, Oswald. St. Edmund, or Canterbury, Hall, 
 founded in the time of King Henry iii., gives the Martyr- 
 dom of Thomas a Becket. Balliol College, 1260, repre- 
 sents the Virgin and Child, accompanied with heraldry, 
 
 '56 
 
LOCAL SEALS 
 
 and attended by John Balliol of Barnard Castle, the 
 founder, and his lady, Devorguilla, with armorial bear- 
 ings. A later seal depicts St. Catherine. Merton College, 
 1264, has an artistic design of the Virgin and Child, with 
 a Vine, emblem of the Son, and fleur-de-lis, emblem of the 
 Mother, appropriately introduced into the tableau. One 
 of its later seals shows an effigy of our Lord at the Resur- 
 rection of the Just, holding up a cloth in which are five 
 half-length figures. The legend is suitably chosen : 
 
 ' DOMINI • EST • ASSUMTIO • NOSTRA,' 
 
 from Psalm Ixxxviii. Stapeldon Hall, afterwards re- 
 moved to Exeter College, 1314, gives the Divine Mother 
 and Child, the founder, and armorial bearings which 
 refer to the foundation. Oriel College, 1326, has a beau- 
 tiful scene of the Annunciation, in which the lily-pot is 
 found between the two principal personages, after the 
 conventional manner adopted by the mediaeval artists of 
 this period when dealing with this event. Queen's 
 College, 1340, appropriately shows on its seal an effigy 
 of Queen Philippa of Hainault, wife of King Edward iii., 
 in majesty, and accompanied by shields of arms. This 
 design gave place, after the new establishment of the 
 College by Queen Elizabeth, to a figure of that Virgin 
 Queen. 
 
 New College delineates the celebrated William of 
 Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, 1367; the Annun- 
 ciation designed in the manner just above described ; 
 St. Peter and St. Paul ; and heraldry proper to the 
 understanding of the history of the College. Lincoln 
 College, 1427, places on its seal an effigy of St. Hugh of 
 Lincoln. All Souls' College, 1437, with appropriate taste, 
 gives an interesting tableau of the Day of Judgment. 
 Here is beheld our Lord, seated in a canopied niche, and 
 wearing the cruciferous nimbus which is associated with 
 His mystical or post-resurrection state, lifting up His 
 hands to enter into Judgment. On each side He is 
 
 157 
 
SEALS 
 
 attended by a number of personages, a crowned king, 
 a pope with tiara and patriarchal cross, an archbishop, 
 a cardinal, and other ecclesiastical dignitaries are waiting 
 to hear their doom, and in base the souls of the human 
 race are rising from their graves : all set between shields 
 of arms royal and religious. Brasenose College, 1509, 
 has the Holy Trinity in niches of very late Gothic work, 
 supported on four twisted columns that were a more 
 usual feature of the Italian architecture than of the 
 Gothic which was to bow down very soon before it. 
 Here are also two sainted bishops with mitre, pall, and 
 pastoral staff, the one feeding a swan, the other holding 
 a book. It has been thought that these represent St. 
 Hugh of Lincoln and St. Chad of Lichfield. Christ 
 Church, 1547, gives the Blessed Trinity in a round- 
 headed niche of the style of the Renaissance. Curiously 
 altered in some respects, the figure of the Almighty 
 Father is enveloped in a mantle within the ample folds 
 of which are three personages on each side ; among them 
 may be distinguished a king and ecclesiastics of high 
 degree. The Virgin and Child ; a crowned and nimbed ] 
 
 Saint with staff, book, and ox couchant ; a shield of arms; ) 
 
 and griffin supporters, complete the multifarious imagery \ 
 
 of this design. 
 
 Pembrokeshire Chancery had some interesting seals 
 of the equestrian type. In one, used in 1387, William 
 de Beauchamp, Gustos of the county, rides in armour 
 with armorial bearings of his family. In another, 1424, 
 Prince Humphrey, youngest son of King Henry iv., 
 Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Pembroke, and Chamberlain 
 of England, rides in armour cap-a-pie, on a proudly 
 caparisoned charger, with heraldry, and the background 
 replenished with sprigs of the broom-plant of the so- 
 calied Plantagenet race. The reverse bears a demi-angel 
 issuing from heaven, and having round the neck a 
 beaded strap from which hangs a large shield of the 
 owner's arms. In a later seal, 1448, we find the eques- 
 trian effigy of William de la Pole, Marquess and Earl of 
 158 
 
LOCAL SEALS 
 
 Suffolk, Earl of Pembroke, and Great Chamberlain, in 
 armour cap-a-pie, on a horse caparisoned and plumed, 
 with accompanying heraldry. The reverse bears an 
 ornamental tree beautifully designed with conventional 
 foliage, and a central flower, on which is suspended the 
 shield of arms of this noble warrior supported by two 
 wild boars collared. Penzance, in Cornwall, had a seal, 
 dated 1614, on which is seen an oval dish containing the 
 head of St. John Baptist, there placed in reference to the 
 annual ceremonies and fair carried on in the town on Mid- 
 summer Day sacred to the nativity of that great saint. 
 
 Pevensey, in Sussex, once a great maritime place, has 
 a thirteenth-century seal of the one-masted ship type, 
 which recommends itself highly to the student of early 
 shipping forms and methods of navigation. Heraldry 
 and the crescent and sun-star are not wanting in the 
 scene. The reverse shows two ships of early form : that 
 on the left, which seems to be in collision, or contact, 
 with the other, contains St. Nicholas, patron saint of 
 this and many other towns and cities set upon the sea, 
 with his episcopal vestments and staff, lifting up the 
 right hand of blessing. The legend is confused, but 
 apparently intended for a rhyming pentameter : 
 
 * SANCTE • NICOLAE • DUG • NOS • SPONTE • TRAHE.' 
 
 Pev\ at the end of the legend, is redundant or explana- 
 tory. Plymouth town has a late figure of its patron, 
 Saint Andrew, with angels holding shields of arms. 
 The new seal of the corporation, 1835, mingles the 
 armed ship of the older seals with the heraldry of the 
 newer age. Pocklington Free Grammar School, co. York, 
 1526, shows, on a geometrical pavement. Archdeacon 
 Doweman, the founder, adoring figures of our Lord 
 as a Child, the Virgin and Child, and St. Nicholas 
 of Myra accompanied by the three youths who were 
 miraculously restored to life by the saint's intercession 
 after having been cruelly done to death and dismembered 
 
 159 
 
, 
 
 SEALS 
 
 in a pickle-tub. The field here is replenished with tri- 
 furcate tongues of Holy Fire, and the sacred monogram 
 I • H • S • appears five times over. The corporation of 
 Pontefract used, in the fourteenth century, the triple- 
 towered castle type ; the mayoralty of the seventeenth 
 century affected a kind of bastard heraldry, in which the 
 castle, a bridge of three piers, or perhaps an heraldic 
 label of as many points for St. Thomas, the canonised 
 Earl of Lancaster, lord thereof, and the letters V. P., for 
 Villa Pontisfracti, occupy the quarterings. 
 
 Poole, CO. Dorset, another seaport, once great, now 
 fallen from its high estate, but being gradually awakened 
 and resuscitated from the lethargy of past centuries by 
 its flourishing neighbour, Bournemouth, adopted in the 
 thirteenth century the type of the one-masted armed ship- 
 of-war, accompanied with a shield of the arms of William 
 Longespeie, lord of the manor of Canford, in which Poole 
 was a part, in the time of Richard i. This town has 
 many seals, principally heraldic. Portsmouth, in like 
 manner, has numerous seals. The corporation adopted, 
 in the same century as that which originated the seal of 
 Poole, the naval type of the one-masted fighting-ship. 
 The reverse is of much interest, and shows a building of 
 ecclesiastical appearance but perhaps intended for a town 
 hall, elaborately detailed, its pointed arches, pinnacled 
 and bracketed, containing figures of the Virgin and Child, 
 St. Thomas of Canterbury, and St. Nicholas, here, too, 
 one of the co-patrons of the town and the especially 
 venerated protector of sailors and seafarers. The legend 
 is invocatory : 
 
 ' PORTUM • VIRGO • JUVA • NICHOLAE • FOVE • REGE • THOMA.' 
 
 By an error roge is engraved instead of the clearly 
 obvious rege. Preston, in co. Lancaster, affects the 
 Agnus Dei, and heraldry. Reading, in co. Bucks, bears 
 a crowned head with long hair between other four heads 
 with long hair, turned three-quarters to the centre. East 
 1 60 
 
LOCAL SEALS 
 
 Retford, co. Nottingham, had an early seal, bearing two 
 eagles in combat. The ' Honour of Richmond,' co. York, 
 had a seal of appropriate armorial bearings ; the Common 
 seal of the burgesses of the town used the design of the 
 Holy Trinity with heraldry, but the 1603 signet has the 
 double cinquefoil rose, symbolical of the happy union 
 of the White and Red Roses of York and Lancaster, 
 and immortalised by the clever epigram written at the 
 time, and referred to in the notice of the seal of the Savoy 
 hospital. There is also a royal seal for Recognizances, 
 about 1668, with heraldry, and over the shield, impressed 
 by a small matrix, which could be used separately by 
 the town clerk, a device shaped like an inverted shield, 
 bearing a double rose en soleil, crowned. The Free 
 Grammar School, 1567, depicts St. James the Greater, 
 friend and comforter of pilgrims, with heraldry. 
 
 The citizens of Rochester have on their seal a view 
 of Rochester Castle on the river Medway on the one 
 side, and St. Andrew, patron of the city, on the other, 
 his crucifixion being artistically treated. The ' Barons ' 
 of Romney, co. Kent, had a seal of 1558, when a new 
 Charter was granted by Queen Elizabeth. This is of 
 the one-masted ship type, and, poor in work as it was, 
 a still coarser copy was made. Romney Marsh, co. 
 Kent, had a seal made in 1560, and used in 1622, 
 representing a church, and accompanied with the royal 
 arms of the Virgin Queen. A later seal, made in 1665, 
 shows a view of the ' Marsh,' with a church, and a war- 
 ship at sea, flying the flag of St. George, a cross, for 
 England. Rye, another port of once great value, co. 
 Sussex, had for its ' Barons ' the one-masted type of 
 ship on its seal. The details of the rigging are curious : 
 the sail has reef points in three rows, an embattled 
 'crow's-nest,' flags charged with St. George's cross, and 
 many other points worthy of notice. The reverse shows 
 a view or elevation of the church, elaborately drawn, 
 with the Virgin and Child, the sun, moon, and stars. 
 Saffron Walden, co. Essex, puts on its Common seal a 
 L 161 
 
SEALS 
 
 hideous rebus of three saffron plants in flower walled in 
 by an embattled enceinte or containing wall. Salisbury 
 city adopted the scene of the Annunciation, an event 
 treated in several ways according to the period of making 
 the seals. The counterseal of John Halle, mayor in 
 1465, bears impression of an antique oval intaglio gem 
 of the Gnostic period, engraved with a figure of John 
 Baptist, wearing the camel's-hair coat, and with nimbed 
 head, holding the Agnus Dei, and giving a blessing. 
 Beneath his feet there is apparently a serpent. 
 
 The ' Barons ' of Sandwich, co. Kent, followed the 
 conventionalism of other seaport towns, and represented 
 on their thirteenth-century seal a one-masted ship on a 
 sea replenished with fishes. The details, which deserve 
 study for the light they throw on the history of navi- 
 gation and seamanship, include the carrying of a small 
 boat on board at the foot of the mast. The reverse, 
 bearing a lion of England, crowned, between two ele- 
 gantly drawn trees, is enhanced by the motto : 
 
 * QUI • SERVARE • GREGEM • CELI • SOLET • INDIGO • REGEM.' 
 
 The lion, therefore, mystically here represents the Lion 
 of the Tribe of Judah, that is, Jesus Christ. The seal 
 of Sandwich Free Grammar School, 1563, depicts our 
 Lord teaching the disciples ; at His feet an infant ; in the 
 field a pedagogue and five children under an arch. The 
 motto is 
 
 ' AD • ME • VENIRE • SINITE • PARVULOS.* 
 
 Scarborough, co. York, gives a castle and a ship, there- 
 by denoting the twofold nature of the town. The later 
 seal prefers the warship with embattled round-towers, bear- 
 ing St. George's flag. Seaford, co. Sussex, has an eagle 
 rising, and on the reverse an antique ship of three masts. 
 Sheffield, co. York, perpetuates a ridiculous rebus con- 
 162 
 
LOCAL SEALS 
 
 sisting of a sheaf oi arrows in the field. The Town seal, 
 1554, gives fifteen arrows, the Grammar School, 1603-4, 
 has but twelve. Shrewsbury, co. Salop, had on the 
 Corporation seal of 1425 a view of the town with em- 
 battled enceinte, and appropriate armorial bearings. The 
 Drapers' Company of this town had a quaint represen- 
 tation of God the Father and a legend referring to the 
 Holy Trinity. Southampton adopted for the county 
 sheriffs the types of heraldry or the castle. The town 
 had the design of the one-masted ship at first ; then 
 the Virgin and Child with many added details. The 
 later seal adopted a three-masted ship carrying St. 
 George's flag, and armorial bearings. This town had 
 numerous seals. Southwark St. Olave's Free Grammar 
 School, in the sixteenth century, shows us the interior of 
 the school with the master seated before a table on which 
 are a birch-rod and open book ; before him five pupils 
 are deliberating which of the two to choose. St. Mary 
 Overie's, or St. Saviour's Free Grammar School, 1573, 
 has similar details ; the master, the scholars, and the 
 birch, differently portrayed. Stafford uses the triple- 
 towered castle with the lions of England, and a fish 
 naiant in the lower part of the design. The sheriffs 
 of Suffolk used the device of the triple-towered castle, 
 with or without family arms. Taunton, co. Somerset, 
 had for its thirteenth-century Common seal a castle of 
 unusual design, accompanied with a fleur-de-lis between 
 two birds, and other significant emblems. 
 
 Tenterden town and hundred, in Kent, delineates a 
 one-masted warship flying St. George's flag, between the 
 crescent and the star ; on the reverse is an effigy of St. 
 Mildred, the patron, crowned, and holding book and staff", 
 with heraldry. Thetford, co. Norfolk, gives an embattled 
 castle elaborately drawn ; in the towers, a knight and 
 a trumpeter. Torrington, co. Devon, represents a fleur- 
 de-lis on waves with other details. The honour of 
 Tutbury used the design of a hunting-horn of the 
 honour, surmounted by a shield on which the royal 
 
 163 
 
SEALS 
 
 arms of the realm, and the bearing of the Ferrars 
 family, are impaled. Wallingford, co. Berks, bears 
 on its Common seal the effigy of a king in armour 
 riding over a ford, in allusion to the name of the 
 town. Wantage, formerly Wanting, co. Berks, had 
 for its seal's device a rich man giving coin to a beggar. 
 Warwick corporation had a nicely designed ■ seal of the 
 thirteenth century bearing a castle with curiously built 
 tower in the centre, charged with a shield of arms 
 combining the armorials of the Beauchamp family and 
 of Guy, Earl of Warwick. On the side towers are 
 watchmen blowing horns, and there are other symboli- 
 cal details. Wells city, co. Somerset, shows the city 
 by the figure of a bridge with houses, towers, and 
 other details. Above is our Lord half-length, issuing 
 from the clouds, and between the sun as a full-face head 
 with invected nimbus, and the moon's crescent as a 
 head in profile. The reverse shows a well, by way of 
 rebus on the town's name, with water issuing from it, 
 a pike or lucy-fish naiant in the water, and a long- 
 billed bird pecking at it : over the well is a tree on a 
 mount, and a flock of birds on the tree or in the field. 
 The legend invokes St. Andrew, the patron saint : 
 
 ' ANDREA • FAMULOS • MORE • TUERE • TUGS,' 
 
 but there is no effigy of St. Andrew in the tableau. 
 The Common seal of the borough of Wenlock, in 
 Salop, gives us figures of the Holy Trinity between 
 the patron St. Milburga with staff and lion or other 
 animal at her feet, and St. Michael the Archangel with 
 shield bearing a cross, in combat with the dragon. All 
 this is accompanied with heraldry and other symbols. 
 
 Weymouth, including Melcombe Regis, co. Dorset, 
 had many seals. The early Common seal of ' Melcoma ' 
 depicts an antique ship with single mast, and armorials 
 which refer to the era of King Edward ii. Heraldry 
 is the chief subject of other seals. The Admiralty of 
 164 
 
LOCAL SEALS 
 
 Melcombe gives a three-masted ship of war flying the 
 flag of St. George. Wigan, co. Lancaster, had seals 
 on which was a church-like town hall of interesting 
 architecture. Wilton, co. Wilts, gives a shrine censed 
 by a thurifer angel, with shield of arms of the realm, 
 and a female figure, perhaps St. Eadgytha, praying. The 
 mayoralty here affects the Coronation of the Virgin. The 
 ' Barons ' of Winchelsea, co. Sussex, formerly a first-class 
 seaport, used the one-masted ship type, replete with at- 
 tractive detail of sea life. The reverse shows on waves 
 a two-storied tower wherein is an ecclesiastic receiving 
 the homage of a suppliant. This part of the design 
 appears to have been produced on each impression by 
 a separate moveable matrix ; above, another similar piece 
 of simple mechanism produced the figure of a saint with 
 a palm-branch, at a window opening. Probably the parts, 
 which when combined made a perfect impression of the 
 seal, were kept in the custody of separate persons, who 
 had to meet before they could ratify any deed by attach- 
 ing the seal. Over this is an embattled tower with 
 banner-flag, and watchman with a lantern. The royal 
 arms, the houses of the town, niches containing St. Giles 
 with his fawn, and a huntsman with a horn, form move- 
 able parts, and a spirited scene of the martyrdom of St. 
 Thomas of Canterbury, also from a moveable piece, make 
 up the ensemble of this curiously made seal. The legend 
 invokes the Saints Giles and Thomas : 
 
 ' EGIDIO • THOME • LAUDUM • PLEBS • CANTICA • PROME • 
 NE • SIT • IN • ANGARIA • GREX • SUUS • AMNE • VIA.' 
 
 A second seal, close copy of the preceding, was made 
 in the fourteenth century, and the subordinate designs, 
 which are moveable in the early seal, here seem to be 
 fixed as an integral part of the matrix. Winchester 
 city, CO. Southampton, had a triple-towered castle on its 
 seal of the mayoralty. The College of St. Mary shows 
 St. Paul and St. Peter with their emblems ; the Annun- 
 ciation of the Virgin treated in the conventional manner 
 
 165 
 
SEALS 
 
 of the period, 1387 ; the armorial bearings of the founder, 
 William of Wykeham, and other symbolical ideas. Wind- 
 sor burgesses had a design of a triple-towered castle with 
 the royal armorials of King Edward i. and Queen Eleanor 
 of Castile. The mayor of the borough of New Windsor 
 gives a castle with a stag's head cabossed over it, having 
 a shield of royal arms between the antlers. The Castle 
 seal depicts a stag's head having between the antlers a 
 triple-towered castle. The College employed on its seal a 
 shield bearing the cross of St. George. Worksworth Free 
 Grammar School, 1565, gives an effigy of Anthony Gell 
 of Hopton, the founder, with his heraldry. 
 
 Wisbech delineates St. Paul and St. Peter on the seal 
 of the ' Inhabitants of the Town,' in the sixteenth century. 
 The Castle seal of 1409 gives a curious edifice, with two side 
 turrets, a keep with three turrets, embattled, and windows 
 or loop-holes of quatrefoil shape. Wolverhampton, co. 
 Stafford, has a remarkable design of a complicated nature 
 on its comparatively modern seal. Worcester city shows 
 an irregular view of the Cathedral, of much interest for 
 its detail. Yarmouth, in the Isle of Wight, a valuable 
 seaport in olden days, has a three-masted ship of war 
 with furled sails, riding over the sea. Yarmouth, in co. 
 Norfolk, also at one time a port of much frequentation 
 for mariners and merchants, used the type of a one-masted 
 ship with mariners engaged in some of the mysterious 
 evolutions of seamanship nowalmost beyond elucidation — 
 sailors furling sail, a trumpeter or master in the * castle ' 
 on the right, a steersman, and one who is hauling on 
 a rope all enter into the scene. The reverse delineates 
 St. Nicolas, bishop, patron of the town and parish, pro- 
 tector of seamen, and wonder-worker both on sea and on 
 land, sitting on a carved bench in dignity ecclesiastical, 
 attended with flying angels swinging censers. The in- 
 vocative legend here is 
 
 ' O • PASTOR • VERE • TIBI • SUBJECTIS • MISERERE.' 
 
 The bailiffs also use the one-masted ship type, combined 
 166 
 
LOCAL SEALS 
 
 with royal heraldry. Yeovil, co. Somerset, depicts St. 
 John Baptist with his Lamb. York city shows on its 
 twelfth-century seal of the citizens a triple-towered castle 
 of antique fashion, and on the reverse St. Peter. A 
 second seal treats these two themes somewhat variantly, 
 and the Privy seal of the city, of the fifteenth century, 
 combines the key of St. Peter with the city castle. 
 
 Descriptions or criticisms of many local seals have 
 been omitted from want of space, but enough has been 
 said here to show the large and interesting variety of 
 types employed for the designs and devices of seals used 
 for districts and for secular institutions. The earlier 
 examples are without doubt the finest. After the four- 
 teenth century, which is the best period, they begin to 
 decay as works of fine art, and as time goes on the 
 decadence becomes more and more apparent. Modern 
 seals for local uses are, with remarkably few exceptions, 
 contemptible alike in design and workmanship. 
 
 167 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 SOME OFFICIAL SEALS RELATING TO WALES 
 
 THE seals of Wales follow, in a great measure, 
 those of England, so far as art and interest are 
 concerned. There are not very many which 
 belong to this class, but some collections of documents 
 have been recently put in order and described, which has 
 resulted in bringing additions to those known before that 
 time, and the Transactions of Societies connected with 
 Archaeology and History sometimes contain accounts 
 and illustrations of seals which help to fill the deficiency 
 there is among more interesting classes of the seals of 
 the Welsh. One of the earliest important seals is that 
 of Llewellyn, Prince of North Wales, attached to a charter 
 among the Cottonian Collections in the British Museum, 
 of about the date 1222. Here the prince, clad in armour, 
 with surcoat and sword, is riding on a galloping horse, 
 harnessed according to the style of the period. The 
 counterseal, the matrix perhaps once worn on the finger of 
 the owner as a ring, bears the impression of an antique 
 oval intaglio gem, engraved with the figure of a boar 
 under a tree. Prince Edward, Earl of Chester, eldest 
 son of King Edward i., and afterwards King of England, 
 also had an equestrian seal, but of more elaborate design, 
 showing the owner with the hauberk of mail, the ample 
 surcoat, the helmet with closed vizor and fan plume, 
 sword, and shield — in fact the full panoply of military 
 pride, on a galloping horse, and bearing a shield of his 
 royal arms, properly differenced, slung over the shoulder. 
 In the legend he is 
 
 ' EDWARDUS • ILLUSTRIS • REGIS • ANGLIE • FILIUS.' 
 168 
 
OFFICIAL SEALS RELATING TO WALES 
 
 On the reverse is a finely designed rosette of eight lobes, 
 containing a shield of the same arms suspended from an 
 oak-tree. The legend here styles him 
 
 'PRINCE OF WALES, EARL OF CHESTER, AND COUNT 
 
 OF PONTHIEU.' 
 
 Edward the Black Prince had a seal of majesty, wherein 
 on the one side he sits with robes and sceptre under a 
 fine carved canopy, and in the field on each side is an 
 ostrich feather labelled and accompanied with the initials 
 E. P. The reverse is of the equestrian type : the rider 
 in armour with coat of royal arms, helmet and chapeau, 
 crest of England, the lion with extended tail, sword 
 and shield of royal arms ; the horse with armorial 
 caparisons. Other seals of this prince, used about 1350 
 and 1360, consist of very beautiful heraldic devices of 
 elaborate work, into which the ostrich feather enters, and 
 the whole is set within a carved Gothic panel of elegant 
 proportion. In all, there are five different armorial seals 
 of this prince. A good .seal of fifteenth-century style 
 was adopted by Henry iv. and his successors down to 
 Henry vii., for the principality of North Wales. This, 
 which is in diameter about three and a quarter inches, 
 represents on the one side the prince-king, lord of 
 his principality, in armour, with hauberk, and plates at 
 knee and elbow, the crest of England on his helmet, a 
 broadsword and shield of arms. The charger is capari- 
 soned and protected with plate armour on the neck and 
 face ; the plume consists of the three ostrich feathers, 
 which have always been associated with the Prince of 
 Wales, and the armorial bearings are not unlike those of 
 the kingdom, but have slight modifications. The three 
 lions are passant reguardant, in pale, the tails set between 
 the hind legs and then up over the back. The reverse 
 bears a shield of the same arms, enhanced with a coronet 
 of five cinquefoils arranged alternately with four fleurs-de- 
 lis. The supporters also represent Wales, two dragons 
 
 169 
 
SEALS 
 
 sejant addorsed with the tails nowed, and holding up an 
 ostrich feather labelled. Edward, Prince of Wales, 
 afterwards King Edward v., used in 1476 a seal which, 
 from the unique specimen in the British Museum, was 
 apparently a copy of the preceding seal. Passing onward, 
 longo mtervallo, to James i., we find that king used a seal 
 bearing a shield of the royal arms, with supporters of 
 two lions sejant guardant holding up ostrich feathers. 
 Charles i., when Prince of Wales, had a ' Great Seal ' for 
 this principality, showing him in equestrian type, the 
 ostrich feathers on the horse's plume ; and the armorial 
 bearings are quarterly four lions passant guardant 
 countercharged for Llewellyn ap Griffith, the last Prince 
 of North Wales. Nor are the arms of Chester and 
 Cornwall, and his own family arms, properly differenced, 
 forgotten in this seal. The reverse is heraldic, with the 
 royal supporters of lion and wyvern, each with a label for 
 difference, and in base, on a mount, is a plume of three 
 ostrich feathers within a jewelled coronet tied with a 
 scroll bearing a motto. For the council of the marches 
 Charles 11. used an armorial seal with the feathers of the 
 principality. Prince Frederick Louis of Brunswick- 
 Luneburgh, Duke of Gloucester, etc., son of King 
 George 11., had a Council seal on which the design of 
 the feathers within a jewelled coronet is set accompanied 
 with the appropriate motto. Prince George, afterwards 
 King George iv., as Prince of Wales used armorial seals 
 with the ' ICH dien ' motto for the Prince of Wales. 
 
 The judicial administration of the twelve counties of 
 Wales was so arranged that four groups of three counties 
 each were constituted, and each group was represented by 
 a special seal. Several impressions of these seals remain, 
 and they are occasionally met with on exemplifications 
 and other records of the processes of the Royal Courts of 
 Great Session. The sovereign is delineated in armour, 
 riding on a caparisoned horse, which is wearing a plume 
 of ostrich feathers ; and accompanied with royal badges 
 and the royal style on the legend. The groups of cos. 
 170 
 
OFFICIAL SEALS RELATING TO WALES 
 
 Brecknock, Radnor, and Glamorgan are represented by 
 the seal of James i., among others ; Carmarthen, 
 Cardigan, and Pembroke, by those of Queen Elizabeth 
 and James i. ; Carnarvon, Merioneth, and Anglesea, by 
 those of Edward vi., Charles i., the Commonwealth (the 
 latter using the map on the one side and House of 
 Parliament in session on the other, as in the Great Seal 
 already mentioned in a former chapter) ; and Denbigh, 
 Montgomery, and Flint by those of Henry viii., Edward 
 VI., Elizabeth, James i., Charles i., and Charles ii. There 
 are unimportant variations in these judicial seals, but the 
 type is practically the same. It is curious to notice that 
 Queen Elizabeth is represented in plate armour, with 
 crowned helmet, crest of England, sword and shield, 
 riding on a caparisoned horse, in the seal of the Denbigh 
 group. 
 
 In addition to these, the seal of King Edward ii., 
 for delivery of wool and hides at Kermerdyn, i.e. Car- 
 marthen, is extant, the matrix being preserved among the 
 Mediaeval Antiquities of the British Museum. Here 
 the shield of arms of England, suspended by the strap 
 from a hook, is placed between two rose branches, and on 
 the reverse the three lions of England, not on a shield, 
 are very finely designed. Henry, Prince of Wales, after- 
 wards King Henry v., had for his lordship of Carmarthen 
 an equestrian seal of great beauty, the horse caparisoned 
 and armoured, wearing the fan plume ox panache and a 
 ridge of peculiar shape to protect the nose. The armorial 
 bearings are those of Henry iv., but the semd-de-lis of 
 France Ancient is replaced here by the three fleurs-de-lis 
 of France Modern, a change which is believed to have 
 taken place between 1406 and 1409. The background of 
 this seal is replenished with twigs of the broom-plant, 
 symbolical of the royal house to which some historians 
 have given the name of Plantagenet. The Chancery seal 
 of Charles 11. for the Carmarthen triad of counties is a 
 little variant in point of type. It bears the equestrian 
 figure of the king, on a mount replenished with flowers, 
 
 171 
 
 t& 
 
SEALS 
 
 and having a dwarfed oak-tree in the background : the 
 horse is not furnished with caparisons. The diameters 
 of these Welsh seals vary, from about one inch to three 
 inches, the judicial seals for the groups of counties 
 being in some of the later examples upwards of three 
 inches wide. They evoke a considerable amount of 
 interest, and the heraldry, with the various badges and 
 supporters, is always well drawn according to the canons 
 which govern the correct delineation of such devices. 
 
 James i. uses for the Brecknock group the crowned 
 portcullis badge, the greyhound and antelope supporters. 
 Elizabeth for the Carmarthen group uses the crowned port- 
 cullis, a dragon and a creature resembling what is termed 
 an heraldic antelope ; James i. for the same group a port- 
 cullis on a quatrefoil, a dragon and a goat ; Edward vi. 
 for the Carnarvon group a greyhound and a stag. 
 Charles i. for the same introduces a greyhound coursing 
 a hare on the equestrian side, and ornaments the capari- 
 sons of the horse with fleurs-de-lis, roses, cushions, and 
 pairs of annulets, while his supporters are also a grey- 
 hound and a stag. Henry viii. and his two successors, 
 Edward vi. and Elizabeth, for the Denbigh group support 
 the royal arms with a lion and a stag, but James i. for 
 the same group uses the lion and the antelope, and in 
 this respect he is followed by Charles i. and Charles ii. 
 The ostrich feathers, the motto ich dien, and some other 
 details are almost constant in their recurrence. 
 
 172 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 SOME EQUESTRIAN SEALS AND SEALS OF NOBLE 
 LADIES OF ENGLAND AND WALES 
 
 THE landed proprietors and noblemen frequently 
 affected in England and Wales the equestrian 
 type of seal. This was usually round, and varied 
 from about an inch and a half to three inches in diameter ; 
 some, however, are of less diameter than an inch and a half, 
 and others again exceed the maximum above mentioned. 
 The earliest of these is very rude and archaic in appear- 
 ance, the drawing both of the horse and of his rider 
 primitive and unnatural, and the whole aspect of the 
 design crude and unpleasing. These begin about the 
 end of the eleventh century or beginning of the twelfth, 
 and continue during the latter century well on into the 
 thirteenth, in some instances. But the details are of 
 interest : the conical helmet ; the hauberk, often show- 
 ing by hatched lines or cross-strokes, and interlacing 
 rings, the character of the armour then worn by prominent 
 military personages in an age when nearly every one of 
 rank and prominence, other than a dignitary of the 
 church, turned his attention to the necessary study and 
 practice of the arts of war ; the broadsword ; the convex 
 kite-shaped shield with or without heraldry ; and the 
 trappings of the horse are all worth study. The late Mr. 
 Hewitt, whose well-known work on the history of 
 armour is a sound and valuable textbook on the 
 subject with which it deals, was very greatly indebted 
 to a minute study of equestrian seals for many of his 
 observations. The thirteenth-century witnessed a great 
 improvement in the fashion of armour, and the seals of 
 
 173 
 
SEALS 
 
 this age reflect very faithfully the onward progress of 
 time. Armorial bearings become more frequent, the coat 
 of mail gradually takes on the shoulder-pieces and knee- 
 pieces, the ailettes and genouilleres, which are the 
 precursors of plate armour; the headgear is modified from 
 the conical basin shape to the flat-topped helmet with or 
 without plume, panache, or crest; the surcoat occasionally 
 exhibits heraldic bearings, the whole design becomes 
 more pleasing to the eye, from the better drawing and 
 better proportion of the details ; and the counterseal, 
 either of gem or shield of arms, is not infrequently brought 
 into use to enhance the interest of the seal. Sometimes 
 the rider carries a falcon on his wrist, held by the 
 jesses, as in the case of William de Adelvaldeleie, or 
 Adwaldley, in Yorkshire, in the early thirteenth century, 
 and Ralph of Halton, co. Lincoln, in the twelfth century. 
 Helias de Albeni about 1175 carries a hawk, and in 
 the foreground there are two hounds following their 
 master to the chace. Osbern, son of Pontius of Longney, 
 CO. Gloucester, is flying a hawk at a quarry, on his seal 
 about 1 100, and many others. The central spike, boss, 
 or umbo with which the shield was furnished in the 
 early periods frequently appears on the shields of the 
 twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The practice of showing 
 the interior surface of the shield, which is not uncommon 
 in the earliest seals, prevents our ascertaining the exact 
 early date of the use of armorial bearings, but this gives 
 way in the thirteenth century to the showing of the heraldry 
 on the shield. Armorial caparisons also come into fashion, 
 so far as seals are concerned, early in this century, and 
 occasionally they are of very large extent, almost cover- 
 ing up the body of the horse. The fourteenth century 
 saw the use of the coronet and the crest, and occasionally 
 the introduction of Gothic tracery to surround the shield 
 of arms in the counterseal, as in the case of Thomas of 
 Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick about 1344. The lance- 
 flag sometimes takes the place of the sword, sometimes 
 it accompanies that weapon. The antique oval or round 
 
 174 
 
PLATE XVltl 
 
 % 
 
 ^^^P^K 
 
 SEALS OK SOUTH WALKS 
 
PLATE XIX 
 
 Wll.l.IAM I.A ZOUCHE AND ALIANORA DK CI.ARK, KiJO 
 
EQUESTRIAN SEALS 
 
 intaglio gem, from the ring or private seal of the warrior, 
 occasionally occurs, as in the seal of Robert of Berkeley, 
 late in the twelfth century. Humphrey of Bohun, Earl 
 of Hereford and Essex, used in 1259 a very finely worked 
 equestrian seal with an armorial counterseal. His lesser 
 seal delineates him with a hawk on his wrist about 1274. 
 
 Ernald de Bosco, of co. Northampton, puts the im- 
 pression of an ancient gem, engraved with three classical 
 figures, one of which has a helmet and shield, on his 
 counterseal. Henry de Bosco, in the time of Henry iii., 
 represented the mail of his surcoat with a chequy or 
 hatched pattern. Conan Le Petit, Duke of Brittany and 
 Earl of Richmond, towards the end of the twelfth cen- 
 tury had an interesting seal, of the large dimensions of 
 about three and three-quarter inches. Here are seen 
 the hauberk of mail with continuous coif, the surcoat, 
 conical helmet with nose-piece, a long convex shield, and 
 a long lance with flag and streamers. The wyvern some- 
 times appears on equestrian seals, but its symbolism is 
 difficult to interpret, unless there is an allusion to the 
 prowess of St. George, who is generally riding on a 
 horse when depicted as in combat with the dragon, 
 which often partakes of the wyvern's form. Henry the 
 Chamberlain, a Lincolnshire magnate of the period of 
 Henry iii., had a gem seal with a handle, on which was 
 engraved a figure of Nike or Victory, with trophies. 
 
 The Earls of Chester had very fine seals, some with 
 gem counterseals. There is one counterseal of an antique 
 intaglio on which is engraved a combat between two 
 nude athletes ; another bears a Gnostic grylhis or nonde- 
 script figure, with hidden religious meaning; a third 
 shows a grylhis of two human faces, conjoined, for 
 Silenus and Mercury, or possibly Janus. The Clares, 
 Zouche, Despensers, and other families which held 
 the lordship of Glamorgan, also had a good series of 
 equestrian seals, with or without heraldry, according to 
 the period of their use. Sometimes an ornamental flower, 
 a rosette, a fleur-de-lis, stars, crosses, or other details were 
 
 175 
 
SEALS 
 
 added to the side on which the horseman was engraved, 
 or a background hatched, lozengy, or reticulated was 
 preferred, and to this network design a small pierced 
 quatrefoil or cinquefoil was added in fourteenth-century 
 equestrian obverses. The shields of arms which are 
 frequently given on reverses may be either unaccom- 
 panied with designs or they are slung by the strap or 
 eitarme either from a hook, or an elegantly drawn tree 
 of three branches in the foliage of which we may oc- 
 casionally discern a bird. These again, particularly in 
 the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, are set in 
 carved panels or rosaces with semicircular or segmental 
 cusps, enriched with carved spandrels and ball-flowers 
 along the edging. The ample housing or caparison of the 
 horse, covering the whole body except the nose and feet, 
 is well exhibited in the seal of Maurice, son of Robert of 
 Totham, in Essex, in the latter half of the twelfth century. 
 One of the finest equestrian seals is that of 
 Robert Fitz-Walter, a matrix preserved in the British 
 Museum, about two and three-quarter inches in dia- 
 meter. This is of the early part of the twelfth century, 
 and shows the rider clad in his hauberk and chausses 
 of mail, continuous coif, surcoat, and helmet with flat- 
 top vizor closed, and armed with sword and shield of 
 the arms of Fitz-Walter. In the field before the horse 
 is another shield, bearing the seven mascles of the De 
 Quincy family, below the horse is the wyvern reguardant, 
 with a flowing tail. Gerard de Furnival, of co. Herts, in 
 the time of Edward i., had a seal of very fine workman- 
 ship showing the equestrian style of the period at its best, 
 with armour, caparison, and heraldry, the reverse bearing 
 the impression of a gem engraved with the bust of a deity 
 or goddess. The barons and noblesse of England were 
 evidently as fond of ancient classical gems of good style 
 as we have already shown the dignitaries of the church 
 and the monastery to have been. Philip de Kyme, of 
 CO. Lincoln, at the close of the thirteenth century, used 
 a fine style of equestrian seal with heraldry, and Simon 
 176 
 
PLATE XX 
 
 ^^^^B^r.?^^, 
 
 HUGH LE DESPENSER, 1«8 
 
PLATE XXI 
 
 EARLY ENGLISH AND SCOTTLSH EQUESTRIAN AND HERALDIC SEALS 
 
I 
 
EQUESTRIAN SEALS 
 
 de Kyme, of the early part of the same epoch, like many 
 others, appended his seal to a Charter in the British 
 Museum by a closely woven cord of twilled threads 
 striped with various colours. The bobbins, ribbons, 
 damasked and diapered stuffs and other specimens of 
 the handloom which serve to fasten the seals to the 
 deeds deserve a special descriptive treatment, and their 
 examination would well repay the student of ancient 
 tapestry and weaving arts, so truly illustrated by these 
 relics which are almost always forgotten or passed over 
 without the study which they so well deserve. It is 
 curious to observe that these fragile stuffs have been 
 preserved without injury for so many centuries. The 
 reverse of Simon de Kyme's seal bears the bust of Pallas 
 Athene, helmeted, from an ancient engraved gem. 
 
 The Lacy family used finely designed seals, befitting 
 so powerful a baronial house. Robert Marmium also had 
 a counterseal impressed with an antique gem bearing an 
 effigy of Fortune, seated, holding a helmeted figure of 
 Nike or Victory, at her feet a shield. This gem appears 
 to have been cracked when the impression was made 
 seven hundred years ago, but it was highly prized for 
 all that, and the seal impression bears witness to 
 this to-day. Roger de Molbrai or Mowbray, of the 
 counties of York and Lincoln, in the twelfth century 
 had a very fine equestrian seal ; over the mail shirt is a 
 surcoat with adornments of a fleury, vairy, or crusily 
 pattern, intended for leather, a cap-shaped helmet with 
 nose-piece, goad -spur, sword and scabbard, a long 
 maunch hanging from the wrist after the ridiculous 
 fashion of the age, and surely cumbrous and likely to 
 hamper the rapid sword-play requisite in a mortal com- 
 bat between warrior horsemen such as formed the shock 
 of battle in those days. All this peculiar ornamentation 
 is plainly visible in some of the examples of this seal. 
 The Montforts, Earls of Leicester, used very beautiful 
 seals, and those of Ralph de Monthermer, Earl of 
 Gloucester, Hertford, and Athol, John de Mowbray, 
 M 177 
 
SEALS 
 
 lord of the island of Haxiholme, co. Lincoln, and of 
 the honours of Brember and Gower, were remarkable : 
 that of the last-named measured about four inches in dia- 
 meter, and had an elaborate reverse comprising armorial 
 bearings, a feathered serpent or cockatrice volant, a 
 wyvern reguardant, and half-length men-at-arms hold- 
 ing armorial lance-flags, upon a background diapered 
 lozengy with a small flower in each interstice. The Neville 
 family were rich in seals, so also were the Percys ; 
 and the royal house generally called by historians the 
 Family of Plantagenet, — a name which is never adopted 
 by the members of the house, nor attributed to them 
 by the old chroniclers and historians — naturally supply 
 many very beautiful specimens of the equestrian type 
 of seal, some, as for example John, Count of Mortaigne, 
 afterwards King John, enhancing the interest of the seal 
 with a gem counterseal ; others, as for instance Thomas, 
 Earl of Lancaster, 1 295-1 321, preferring the elaborately 
 carved Gothic cusped rosette with varied tracery of the 
 richest description in which to set their armorial bearings 
 on the reverse of equestrian seals, or to suspend a shield 
 of arms from a tree of three branches between wyverns 
 or other supporters. Thomas of Woodstock, a scion 
 of this royal family, Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Essex 
 and Buckingham, and Lord High Constable of England, 
 1 385- 1 397, has left us a magnificent design on his seal 
 of the diameter of three and a half inches. Here the 
 noble horseman is in armour, with a coat of arms, helmet, 
 lambrequin or floral ornamental pendant, and crest (con- 
 sisting of a chapeau turned up ermine sustaining a 
 lion statant guardant, collared and crowned, the tail 
 lowered), and his sword chained to his body, and his own 
 special shield of arms of France Ancient and England, 
 quarterly, with a bordure, all set in a field diapered in a 
 lozengy reticulation enriched with an ostrich feather or a 
 swan in each interstice. Roger de Quincy, Earl of Win- 
 chester and Constable of Scotland, 12 19-1264, appears 
 on the obverse of his equestrian seal, a wyvern below the 
 
 178 
 
PLATE XXn 
 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 
 EARLY PERSONAGES 
 
EQUESTRIAN SEALS 
 
 horse, on the reverse the earl is in armour with the 
 wyvern on his helmet for a crest, standing up in combat 
 against a lion springing upon his shield. 
 
 Simon de St. Liz, second Earl of Northampton, a 
 very powerful baron who flourished in the middle of the 
 twelfth century, possessed a seal worthy of consideration 
 for the long maunch attached to the right wrist of the 
 horseman, the long convex shield with lozengy ornament, 
 and the horse with very ample caparisons reaching to the 
 ground. The third earl, of the same name, about 1160, 
 bears on his equestrian effigy a long maunch reaching to 
 the ground, a fashion which to-day seems an incongruous 
 adjunct to a military uniform. Tomas, the third Baron 
 de St. Walerico, of co. Oxon, in the time of King John, 
 affords us another excellent example of the flat bobbin 
 of woven threads of various colours used in the append- 
 ing of his seal to a charter preserved in the British 
 Museum. Jordan de Saungville of Helmingham, in 
 Suffolk, about 1300, gives a specimen of the hollow 
 bobbin woven in now faded colours. These two speci- 
 mens, at widely different dates, illustrate a favourite 
 practice, and should attract those whose research leads 
 them to study ancient loomwork. Hugh, son of Hugh 
 de Scotegni, of Lincolnshire, in 1140, used a bobbin of 
 closely woven green stuff which is an admirable example 
 of this method. In a later age, the equestrian seal of 
 the powerful and illustrious Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pem- 
 broke and Duke of Bedford, who died in 1495, deserves 
 notice. The fashions for plate armour and elaborate 
 heraldry are here manifested, and the background of 
 the obverse is replenished with wavy branches of flower- 
 ing plants. The reverse shows on a mount an angel 
 with open wings holding a shield of Jasper's special 
 royal arms supported by two wolves sejant, ducally 
 gorged, tethered by a staple to the mount. His seal as 
 Duke of Bedford and Lord of Bergevenny has a varia- 
 tion in the quarter containing the bearings of France 
 Modern : the fleurs-de-lis are set one and two, instead of 
 
 179 
 
SEALS 
 
 two and one, the supporters are a dragon with two 
 tongues, and a wolf, and the field is replenished with 
 pease-cods tied together in triplets. Many other notable 
 baronial and noble personages used equestrian seals 
 which show a very high standard of art for the beauty 
 and intricacy of their design, and the excellent technique 
 of their execution, but want of space prevents our men- 
 tioning any other specimens of this style of seal. 
 
 The noble ladies of our land were not behind the 
 barons and nobility in their use of the well-designed and f 
 
 richly adorned seal suited to their rank and degree. [ 
 
 They are generally delineated as standing, draped in the | 
 
 costume of the Court that was current at the period, 
 decked with jewels, and holding a flower, a shield of 
 arms, or a hawk. Sometimes they are accompanied with 
 a lapdog or bracket, at others they are beneath a carved 
 arch or canopy of Gothic architecture. The background 
 of some of the seals of this class is arabesqued with 
 scroll-work of flowers and foliage. The dress comprises 
 the tightly fitting vestment, with long sleeves or maunches, 
 often of very ample length, reaching nearly to the ground, 
 the flowing cloak or mantle with fur lining, and occasion- 
 ally a head-dress. The dimensions of these seals, which 
 are generally pointed oval, are about two inches by one 
 and a half. One of the most remarkable seals of ladies 
 is that of Ela Basset, daughter of William Longespee, 
 Countess of Warwick, widow of the Earl Thomas de 
 Newburgh, and wife of Philip Basset. She died about 
 1297. Her seal is of pointed oval form, and it bears her 
 effigy in a close-fitting dress with a mantle, in her left 
 hand a shield of the paternal arms. She stands on a 
 carved platform, beneath a fine canopy like a church with 
 central tower and transepts. In the field is a shield of 
 arms for the Earldom of Warwick. The reverse bears the 
 armorials of Basset, set in a circular panel of rich carving 
 between two lioncels derived from the Longespee arms. 
 The early seals of Maria, daughter of Laurence of Rouen, 
 of Southwark, and of Liece, daughter of Ralph of Rouen 
 180 
 
PLATE XXI 1 1 
 
 EQUESTRIAN SEALS AND SEALS OF NOBLE LADIES 
 
NOBLE LADIES 
 
 and Maria above mentioned, the former among the Cotton 
 Charters, the latter among the Harley Charters in the 
 British Museum, show the costume of the twelfth century 
 very clearly. The maunch on the sleeve, jewelled brooch 
 at the neck, necklace, hair-ribbon, and fleur-de-lis in 
 hand, make up the costume of the noble lady of that 
 period. The seal of Hawisia, Lady of Keveoloc in 
 Wales, in the fourteenth century, also of pointed 
 oval shape, delineates the owner standing on a corbel, 
 wearing a flat head-dress with her hair in a network, a 
 wimple, girdled dress and long mantle, a jewelled neck- 
 lace, and in each hand a shield of arms. Margaret de 
 Lacy, Countess of Lincoln and Pembroke, daughter of 
 Robert de Quincy, Earl of Winchester, after 1245; Alice 
 de Lacy, Countess of Lincoln in 1310; Ela, Countess of 
 Salisbury, after 1226; Emelina Longespeie, Countess of 
 Ulster, 1250; Margaret de Quincy, Countess of Win- 
 chester, about 1220; Maria de St. Pol, Countess of 
 Pembroke, before 1347 ; and Agnes de Vescy, who died 
 in 1 2 16, all have remarkably fine personal seals with 
 efligies, heraldry, and various architectural and orna- 
 mental devices befitting such exalted personages. The 
 counterseal of the Countess Emelina above mentioned 
 bears a shield of her arms between two swords and a lion 
 over it, with the Norman-French motto : 
 
 ' FOL • EST • KI • ME • BRISERA • FOR' • CELI • A • KI • 
 LA • LETTRE • VA.' 
 
 Rarely a lady of high degree has an equestrian seaK 
 Ladies of inferior rank to those mentioned were content 
 with seals of less imposing dimensions, and with less 
 elaborate personal representation. 
 
 181 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 ENGLISH HERALDIC SEALS 
 
 THE heraldic seals of England are exceedingly 
 numerous, and every century has contributed 
 fine specimens of this class to our museums and 
 collections. This work, however, is not a history of 
 heraldry, and therefore any special notice of the armorial 
 bearings borne by the several respective owners of the 
 seals would be out of place. Here we are to take cog- 
 nisance of the distinctive characteristics of heraldic seals 
 exhibited at different periods, their ornamentation, their 
 shapes, and their peculiarities. Among the earliest must 
 be mentioned that of William de Filgeriis, about two 
 and a half inches in diameter, appended to a deed by 
 a woven cord of various colours. The shield has a very 
 early shape, sometimes called ' heater-shaped,' or ' pip- 
 shaped.' In the field on each side of the shield is a 
 wavy star of seven rays. Almaric D'Evereux, fourth 
 Earl of Gloucester, who died about 1226, had a seal 
 bearing a shield of somewhat similar form to the fore- 
 going, but wider in proportion to its length. Simon 
 Dedene, or De Dene, in the twelfth century, had a long 
 narrow shield like an inverted isosceles triangle. Mar- 
 gery de Crek, of co. Suffolk, used on her seal a large 
 shield of early form, with curiously archaic heraldry, 
 which may be blazoned as quarterly an orle of twelve 
 roundles, over all a bend (which covers up two of the 
 roundles). Richard, Earl of Cornwall, Count of Poictou, 
 and second son of King John, afterwards King of the 
 Romans, 1 209-1 272, had a very beautiful counterseal of 
 arms to his equestrian seal. Here, on a background of 
 182 
 
FLATE XXIV 
 
 
 EARr,V ENGLISH HKRAI.DKV, ETC. 
 
PLATE X.Vr 
 
 KNGLl.SH HKRAI.DIC SEALS 
 
ENGLISH HERALDIC SEALS 
 
 elegant foliage forming a symmetrical tree of three 
 branches bearing clusters of fruit, is set a shield of the 
 arms of Poictou (a lion rampant crowned) within a 
 bordure bezaiit^e for the ancient Duchy of Cornwall, 
 the whole armorial design being a charming specimen 
 of the early herald's art combined with the best work of 
 the seal-designer. William de Cantelupe, Steward of the 
 Royal Household in the early days of King Henry iii., 
 also had a fine seal with a shield of early shape, between 
 a star with a crescent above it on the left-hand side, 
 and a crescent enclosing a star on the right-hand side. 
 
 Robert de Ferrars, eighth Earl of Derby, 1254- 1278, 
 had a very fine counterseal of arms for his equestrian seal. 
 The armorials are : vaiiy, in fourteen rows or tracts, for 
 Ferrers, and the shield is suspended by a strap from an 
 elegantly designed tree of conventional symmetry, and 
 placed between two finely drawn wavy branches of foliage 
 and flowers. The Countess Alice de St. Liz, wife of 
 Simon, third Earl of Northampton, about 1160, had a 
 pointed oval seal with armorials chevronelly, not on 
 a shield ; similarly Rohesia, Countess of Lincoln, had a 
 pointed oval seal with chevronelly armorials, early in the 
 thirteenth century. These two seals are somewhat alike. 
 In later seals we observe the gradual approach in the 
 shaping of the shield to modern proportions, the intro- 
 duction of more intricate heraldry, and an improvement 
 in the drawing of the charges and in the proportional 
 dimensions of the charges. The fourteenth century is 
 principally noteworthy for the ingenuity of the heraldic 
 designer, who places the shield in elaborately carved 
 panels and compartments of interlacing tracery, the 
 curves and cusps of which are as finely measured as a 
 Gothic window in a cathedral, and fills up the spaces 
 between the curves of the framework and the shield with 
 small adjuncts of armorial origin, frequently to be 
 referred to arms of other branches of the family of the 
 owner. Not infrequently a shield-shaped seal is used, 
 and proves to be very convenient for containing the 
 
 183 
 
SEALS 
 
 shield of arms itself. Pointed oval seals, with more or 
 less acute angles at the meeting of the segments at top 
 and bottom, give an excellent scope for introducing a 
 tree of three branches, from which the shield of arms is 
 slung by the guige or strap attached to the interior side 
 for convenience in holding it before the person in battle. 
 There are seals where a cinquefoil or rose of five leaves, 
 with a central roundle, enables the designer to introduce 
 no less than six coats of arms into his work, as that, for 
 example, of Nicholas Malemayns, of co. Lincoln, 131 5. 
 The enclosing rosette of tracery sometimes has openings 
 which are filled with armorial bearings, as in the seal of 
 Emma, wife of Sir John de Oddyngseles, 1328, where 
 impaled bearings for the baron and feuie are placed 
 within a carved rosette of eight cusps, ornamented along 
 the edge with ball-flowers, and enclosed in turn in an 
 elaborate device of four points in cross, having four 
 circular countersunk panels, cusped in six points, between 
 them, each of which contains a circular shield of arms. 
 The sloping of the shield towards the left-hand side, 
 which is then termed cottchd, appears in this century, 
 and enables the designer to obtain more space for the 
 helmet, mantling, and crest, which at this period was 
 coming into general use. A free and copious replenish- 
 ment of field or background with arabesque foliage is 
 also found at this time. Another style is that of sus- 
 pending the shield from a forked tree, which runs up into 
 the part generally reserved for the legend. Sometimes 
 the shield is accompanied with small designs which fore- 
 shadow the supporter, and occasionally a helmet on each 
 side of the shield enables two crests to be exhibited. 
 The seal of Sir Matthew de Gournay, of co. Wilts, 1390, 
 is exceedingly beautiful for its simplicity and perfect 
 symmetry ; it comprises a shield of arms, couchd, and the 
 crest of a blackamoor's head, crowned, on a helmet and 
 mantling or lambrequin, between two oak-trees, each on 
 a mount with herbage. Later seals, larger and more 
 pretentious, appear in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, 
 184 
 
PLATE .\.\ri 
 
PLATE XXVII 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
PLATE .xxrni 
 
I 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
ENGLISH HERALDIC SEALS 
 
 but the rise of the armorial signet in this period con- 
 tracted the size, and led to the decadence of the armorial 
 seal so far as beauty of design is concerned. The crowd- 
 ing of numerous quarterings of family coats into a small 
 space became the fashion, to the detriment of the artistic 
 ensemble of the design. The character of armorial seals 
 underwent a great change in the eighteenth and nine- 
 teenth centuries, as will be seen from the plates attached 
 to this work to illustrate this branch of the seal art, 
 wherein some very fine examples of recent seals have 
 been selected, but whether they are as beautiful as those 
 of earlier centuries or not, must be left to the reader to 
 determine. The proportion of the shield to the area of 
 the surface for yielding the impression, the relative 
 symmetry of the heraldic charges to the size of the shield, 
 the subordination of crest and supporters to the central 
 design, are all nowadays objects of the first considera- 
 tion, and in many cases the result is very gratifying. 
 Some good examples of heraldic seals will be found in 
 the plates, which speak for themselves far more eloquently 
 than any verbal description would. The ornamental 
 designs with which the shields of arms are accompanied 
 might be copied with advantage even at the present 
 day. 
 
 185 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 COLONIAL AND COMPANY SEALS 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN, having numerous dependencies 
 . in many parts of the world, would naturally have 
 many seals relating to these provinces and dis- 
 tricts over which she holds sway. The early rise of the 
 Company, or Society, of merchants and traders, which 
 appears to have commenced about the time of Queen 
 Elizabeth, and was quickly imitated and followed in other 
 European countries, also produced numerous seals for 
 this class of institution. Among others we have the 
 heraldic seal of the * Fellowship of the Merchant Adven- 
 turers of England,' used in 1557. The shield of arms, 
 which by the charges of barry nebuly, the lion and the 
 roses, sufficiently symbolises the maritime superiority 
 of the English nation, is accompanied with the text : 
 
 ' REDDITE • CUIQUE • QUOD • SUUM • EST.' 
 
 In 1579, the Corporation seal of the 'Company of Mer- 
 chants trading to Spain and Portugal ' used a very 
 elaborate symbolical design in form of heraldry. The 
 old East India Company also had a shield of arms 
 pointing to the royal arms of Great Britain in the seven- 
 teenth century, with mottoes and inscription : ' deus • 
 INDICAT ' ; * DEO DUCENTE ' ; and 
 
 * NON • MINOR • EST • VIRTUS • QUAM • QU^RERE • PARTA • 
 
 TUERI.' 
 
 The ' Royal African Company' of 1672 had an armorial 
 seal, the shield crested with an anchor between dragon's 
 186 
 
 i' 
 
COLONIAL AND COMPANY SEALS 
 
 wings and supported by two African blackamoors. The 
 heraldic seals of Queen Victoria for Gibraltar, Malta, 
 Ceylon, Hong Kong, the Cape, Gambia, Victoria, Sierra 
 Leone, Mauritius, St. Helena, New Brunswick, Nova 
 Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, the 
 Bermudas, Barbadoes, Antigua, Montserrat, St. Chris- 
 topher, Nevis, Dominica, the Virgin Islands, Grenada, 
 St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trinidad, Tobago, Guiana, the 
 Falklands, New South Wales, New Zealand, Western 
 Australia, and Van Diemen's Land or Tasmania, are all 
 very much alike in their general character (which is not 
 of the finest style), with the names of the several Colonies 
 altered to suit the localities, and occasional mottoes. 
 
 The late Queen's seal for the Dominion of Canada is 
 in some respects suggested by the type of a great seal, as 
 the sovereign is delineated in majesty enthroned. The 
 Queen's seal for the Province of Canada is allegorical 
 and heraldic, accompanied with somewhat hackneyed 
 quotations from the Odes of Horace. Among earlier 
 seals of this class may be mentioned George ii.'s seals 
 for the Provinces of North and South Carolina and 
 Virginia, the designs of which are heraldic and the style 
 medallic, showing the sovereign receiving the homage of 
 the aborigines, with appropriate mottoes ; George iii.'s 
 seal for the Province of Quebec, where the king points 
 his sceptre to a map of Canada hung up before him ; 
 George i.'s seal for the Barbadoes and Caribbee Islands, 
 where the sovereign rides in a shell-shaped chariot drawn 
 by seahorses over the sea, with a badly adapted legend : 
 
 * ET • PENITUS • TOTO • REGN ANTES • ORBE • BRITANNOS,' 
 
 derived from Virgil's Eclogue, i. 67, where the fourth 
 word is divisos. This is a design made by the celebrated 
 Simon for Charles ii.'s Commissioners at the Admiralty 
 Office according to Vertue, who described the works of 
 that medallist and seal-engraver. George iii.'s seal for 
 Barbadoes resembles in a general way the preceding seal 
 
 187 
 
SEALS 
 
 but it differs materially in design; the shell-shaped chariot 
 is furnished with a paddle-wheel of six blades, and drawn 
 by two seahorses. The legend is the same as that men- 
 tioned. 
 
 Charles ii.'s seal for Jamaica, used in 1672, shows 
 the king in majesty, enthroned, receiving from a kneel- 
 ing native chief clad and crested with feathers, a dish of 
 pineapples in token of homage. The legend reads : 
 
 * DURO • DE • CORTICE • FRUCTUS • 
 QUAM • DULCES.' 
 
 The reverse is armorial, and consists of a shield of new- 
 fangled arms for the Island of Jamaica, viz. on a cross 
 five pineapples ; crest on a helmet an alligator on a 
 mound ; supporters an Indian man with a feather head- 
 dress and skirt, holding a bow, and an Indian woman 
 with a dish of pines. The legends on two scrolls are : 
 
 ' INDUS • UTERQUE • SERVIET • UNI,' 
 
 and 
 
 ' ECCE • ALIUM • PORREXIT • IN • ORBEM 
 NEC • STERILIS • CRUX • EST.' 
 
 This also emanates from the medallic and classic fancies 
 of the great Thomas Simon, who revolutionised the seal 
 into a medal by the introduction of allegorical figures 
 and designs resembling those found on antique numis- 
 matics, where architecture and tracery had been para- 
 mount up to his period, George iii.'s seal for this island 
 is not very unlike the preceding, and bears a similar 
 scene of native homage with the inscription * duro,' etc., 
 as before. This king's seal for the Leeward Islands 
 delineates a medallic allegory of a shell-shaped chariot 
 on the waves, with the sovereign clad in royal robes, 
 crowned and collared with the Garter, standing therein. 
 He holds a trident and guides with rein two seahorses. 
 At the side is a Triton blowing a trumpet shell. 
 
 188 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS DESIGNS AND DEVICES 
 OF ENGLISH SEALS 
 
 THE last class of English seals which claims our 
 attention is that of the miscellaneous designs 
 and devices which were used by persons of 
 sufficient position and standing to entitle them to the use 
 of a seal, but yet not bearing arms or possessing an 
 official dignity which would give them the use of a seal 
 of office. Such persons were, at the earliest times, land- 
 owners of small means, occupiers or feoffees of property 
 which they were transferring, selling, or granting away 
 from time to time and executing legal documents, the 
 ratification of which required an impression of the owner's 
 seal. In the eleventh century, which was almost an 
 initial period for the popular use of the seal, the devices 
 on seals of this class were very simple, the wax on which 
 the impressions were made was light, flaky, and friable, 
 often found appended to ancient deeds in a very frag- 
 mentary condition. The colours were green, dull pale 
 grey, pale creamy yellow, and a dull dark red. The mass 
 of wax was pressed upon a narrow label of parchment, or 
 a bunch of silken strands passed through a fold of the 
 vellum made at the foot of the document just below the 
 writing. Sometimes a bobbin or cord, either flat or 
 round, was used for this purpose. This method had 
 superseded the still more ancient method of sealing en 
 placard by placing a lump of wax upon the surface of the 
 deed, which was cut and turned back to prevent the wax 
 from becoming detached. The size of the seal varied from 
 about three-quarters of an inch to sometimes as much as 
 
 189 
 
SEALS 
 
 two inches or even a greater diameter, and the mass of wax 
 was in some cases very bulky. The designs used in this 
 century are not very numerous ; among them are animals, 
 such as the lion, wolf, stag, ox, or bear ; birds, chiefly 
 hawks, falcons, and a bird which has been variously con- 
 jectured to be a dove or a crow ; fishes ; flowers, among 
 which the lily and the rose or rosette predominate ; 
 quatrefoils, cinquefoils, the fleur-de-lis or conventional 
 lily, sometimes elaborately augmented with extra sprigs, 
 stars of different form, crescents, and suchlike objects. 
 
 In the twelfth century the use of the seal was becom- 
 ing more general, and the designs are more varied and 
 have more detail bestowed on their drawing ; the human 
 body, the bust in profile, the arm and hand, parts of dress, 
 weapons, crescents enclosing estoiles which some con- 
 sider to symbolise Christianity triumphant over pagan- 
 ism, while others see in the combination an allusion to 
 the Virgin Mary and the Saviour ; roses and rosettes 
 sometimes en soleil, that is, facing full towards the view, 
 at other times slipped, that is having a slip or stalk, and 
 leaved ; fleurs-de-lis of much beauty both of design and 
 proportion ; animals, among which were the wyvern, a 
 fanciful creature somewhat resembling a dragon or 
 lizard, often with a knotted or nowed tail, sometimes 
 with the tail floreated ; figures of saints with their em- 
 blems, divine personages, and busts. The thirteenth 
 century was very richly provided with seals of this class, 
 and the documents which deal with the property of land 
 become very numerous at this time. The seals are better 
 made and indicate a considerable improvement on what 
 had gone before. It may be that in some cases a seal 
 was made for one single occasion only, to corroborate, for 
 example, a grant of a small piece of land possessed by a 
 humble freeholder (under a chief lord of the fee), who was 
 conveying his land, once and for all, to a monastery or 
 other public corporate body in return for some valuable 
 recompense such as admission into the convent and a 
 stipulation for burial within the sacred precincts of the 
 
 190 
 
PLATE XXIX 
 
 
 ^t:'r^' 
 
 ^^%^^ 
 
 
 
 I ^. 
 
 
 
 EARLY ENGLISH AND SCOTTISH DEVICES 
 
PLATE XXX 
 
 
 
 »4 
 
 KARl.V KNIII.ISII DKVICES 
 
MISCELLANEOUS DESIGNS 
 
 institution or for a corrody or allowance for sustentation. 
 In such a case, as the presence of a seal was a legal 
 necessity, the monks or corporation took care to provide 
 the grantor with the matrix of a seal which would probably 
 be made of lead, with little pains and expense. Under any 
 circumstances, the events would be very few indeed which 
 would require the formal use of a seal by the peasant pro- 
 prietor of a few acres. 
 
 This century was rich in the variety of the designs of 
 seals. The pentacle, or five-pointed star, of Solomon, 
 valued for its magic powers and mystic virtues ; the star 
 enclosed by a crescent ; weapons ; animals ; flowers in 
 conventional patterns ; stars of elaborate radiance ; birds, 
 including the favourite ' pelican in the wilderness,' a type 
 of our Lord, the eagle preying on a fowl ; lions in several 
 attitudes, and some of them, such as those on the seal of 
 William, Earl of Gloucester, at an earlier period, and the 
 lion dormant, very finely conceived ; wyverns ; cocka- 
 trices ; boars ; banner-flags ; the fede, or two hands 
 clasped in saltire, a symbol of the pledging of faith or 
 troth ; the head of St. John Baptist in a dish with 
 legend 'caput • johannis • in • disco,' abound on docu- 
 ments of this and other times. The legends usually give 
 the name of the owner, but in some cases a motto is 
 given, such as 'jesus • est • amor • meus,' 'loue • me • and • 
 
 I • THEE,' ' WAKE • ME • NO • MAN,' and ' ICI • GIT • LE • LION • 
 FORT,' or ' ICI • DORT • LE • LIUN • FORT,' 'PRIVE SU,' ' CREDE 
 FERENTI,' ' FRANCE • LEGE • TEGE,' ' FRACTA • LEGE • LECTA • 
 
 TEGE.' The flower of love or quatrefoil, with ' sigillum- 
 AMORis,' or 'jE su SEL DE AMUR LEL,' and many others 
 might be gathered from any large collection of ancient 
 documents. The fourteenth century has left us many 
 similar designs, and the great increase in the number of 
 legal documents of various kinds gave rise to the use of 
 numerous devices, monograms, fanciful subjects, and 
 figures of natural objects. The art of the seal-engraver 
 became now more precise, the method of cutting seals was 
 greatly improved, and almost every one of any standing 
 
 191 
 
SEALS 
 
 was the proud possessor of a personal seal. Some 
 of these contain a great deal within a small space, and 
 the letters of mottoes and legends could be reproduced in 
 a very minute size. The circular or ogival form which 
 belonged to earlier times ceased to be the only shapes, 
 and seals and signets of various shapes, such as hex- 
 agons, lozenges, rectangles, shield-shapes, and squares 
 became fashionable. Sometimes a sly vein of humour 
 entered into the design, as for example when the design 
 is an ape holding a mirror and riding on an ass, in 
 derision of the ancient design of the noble lady with 
 hawk on her wrist riding a palfrey. The legend then 
 would be 
 
 * HERE • IS • NO • LASS • BUT • APE • OWL • GLASS.' 
 
 A hare or rabbit is generally accompanied with the 
 huntsman's cry of ' sohou • robin.' The lion dormant on 
 a rose has the legend 
 
 ' ICI • DORT • LE • LIUN • SUR • LE • ROSE.' 
 
 A crowing cock says ' cock . crow • me • dal' Gothic 
 tracery is freely used in some of these private seals, where 
 the device is set in the middle of very elaborate rosettes 
 and cusped panels elegantly ornamented with openings 
 like church windows. Animals of the forest and the farm, 
 and those which exist only in the vivid imagination of 
 bewildered heralds, frequently occur, also weapons, natural 
 objects, and utensils ; and in fact there is scarcely a single 
 class of objects which is not represented on seals of the 
 middle ages. In the fifteenth century the universal use of 
 seals seems to have reached its culminating point of artistic 
 and antiquarian interest. Crowned initial letters, either 
 single or in pairs, were much liked, badges, merchant's- 
 marks, rebuses on the surnames of the owners, saints 
 or emblems of saints, scenes from the life of Christ, 
 busts of divine persons, and a vast variety of miscellan- 
 192 
 
PLATE XXXI 
 
 b:ari,v miscki.i.ankous skals 
 
MISCELLANEOUS DESIGNS 
 
 eous objects, offered a wide field to the tastes of the 
 owners. In the sixteenth century the imitation of 
 classical styles began to prevail, and some of the portrait 
 busts engraved on small seals or signets are executed in 
 the best manner, but the general tendency of the art was 
 downwards, and the use of the seal was gradually becom- 
 ing merely formal among the masses. Armorial seals, of 
 course, still held their sway of importance, and it may be 
 said, in part, that they do still retain some value and signi- 
 ficance with the better classes, but the popular use of the 
 seal, whether for documentary or epistolary purposes, has 
 now practically ceased to exist. The reduction of the 
 personal seal, used to corroborate a deed, to a small 
 circular piece of red paper, such as is found on every 
 legal deed, has delivered a death-blow to the erstwhile 
 carrying and using of a private and peculiar seal. But 
 as relics, the personal seals of our ancestors are treasured 
 with love and veneration, and there is scarcely a family 
 which does not possess several of these links with the 
 past, cherished among its most valued jewels and heir- 
 looms. 
 
 N 193 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 ROYAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 THE Great Seals of the Scottish Kings exhibit for 
 the most part a very fine degree of native art, 
 and the attainments of the seal-designers and 
 engravers were of an eminently beautiful kind. Rugged 
 and archaic at the beginning of the series in the eleventh 
 century, the seals soon began to develop all the details of 
 design and technique which they afterwards possessed 
 in no slight degree. The thirteenth and fourteenth 
 centuries were the best periods, and naturally the 
 specimens made during these eras reflected a considerable 
 amount of foreign influence, due, without doubt, to more 
 advanced proficiency on the part of the workmen, and to 
 a more intimate intercourse with England and France 
 than the country had hitherto enjoyed ; due also to the 
 improved taste which was current among the more 
 enlightened Scots, who nevertheless clung to native 
 styles, and if the two centuries spoken of saw foreign 
 influences, the work of later centuries demonstrates that 
 Scottish art was by no means a defunct factor with the 
 designer and producer of the king's seals. We shall see, 
 as this chapter progresses, the gradual change from 
 archaism to elegance, from simplicity to complexity, 
 from disproportion to balance and harmony of ensemble, 
 and from attractive charm eventually to tastelessness and 
 want of appreciation of rules which had rendered these 
 creations so interesting. All manner of arts are repre- 
 sented in turn on these seals ; the Historian, the Armourer, 
 the Marshal, the Herald, the Architect, the Portrait 
 Limner, the Ecclesiologist, the Expounder of sacred and 
 194 
 
ROYAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 legendary symbolism, and the Militarist, have all set their 
 marks on the details of Scottish royal seals, and we 
 shall point out some of the leading characteristics of their 
 achievements. 
 
 King Duncan ii. leads off the long roll of Great Seals 
 with a very primitive and archaic design of moderate 
 diameter, a little over two inches. An impression of 
 this rare relic is preserved among the large collection 
 of Scottish Charters in the possession of the Durham 
 Cathedral authorities. Here the king is riding on his 
 war-charger, and dressed in armour which includes the 
 shirt of mail, or hauberk, and the conical helmet with 
 a projecting piece to protect the nose, and called the 
 nasale. He holds a flag fixed on a lance by way of a 
 standard with the right hand, and with the left the strap 
 or enarme of an early kite-shaped shield, on which, 
 owing to its position, no heraldic design could or would 
 be seen. The horse has not much ornamental harness 
 beyond tht poy trail or pectoral band. Donald Bane, his 
 uncle and betrayer, does not appear to have left any 
 impression of his seal, but he sat on the throne for a 
 very brief period, being deposed by his nephew Eadgar 
 and deprived of eyesight, a not uncommon barbarity 
 practised in the early middle ages with a view to render- 
 ing the victim helpless and harmless. Eadgar, the 
 successor, had a seal, an impression of which is still 
 preserved at Durham. The diameter is slightly larger 
 than that of Duncan's seal, and the design is changed 
 from the equestrian type to the type of majesty. The king, 
 attired in simple vestments of royalty, is seated on a throne, 
 the legs of which resemble the talons of an eagle. His 
 crown is not clearly defined, but the cross on the top is 
 visible. He holds a sword, indicative of intent to defend 
 his kingdom, and a sceptre to mark his rule over the 
 people. The legend, 
 
 ' IMAGO • EADGARI • SCOTTORUM • BASILEI,' 
 
 reminds us of the legend on the seal of Edward Confessor, 
 
 195 
 
SEALS 
 
 King of England, who in similar manner used the title 
 of Basileus, or Emperor, in preference to Rex, or King. 
 
 Maud, sister of this king, became the consort of 
 King Henry i. of England, in 1200, and her seal, which 
 is still extant, is of the pointed oval form usually 
 adopted by ladies in these ages, showing a standing 
 effigy of the Queen, wearing a costume of remarkable 
 appearance, being furnished with long maunches or 
 sleeves, and other details of court attire worthy the 
 attention of the student of mediaeval dress. This lady 
 holds a sceptre surmounted by a dove in the one hand, 
 and in the other a mound or orb, which symbolises her 
 exalted rank. King Alexander i., who sat on the throne 
 from 1 107 to 1 124, introduced a new type of Great Seal, 
 which has endured in the main features of its design to 
 the present time : on this, the side of majesty and the 
 side of baronial and military leadership are ever present, 
 and although the fashions of armour and dress, of harness 
 and caparison, of shield and sword, of thrones and robes 
 and other adjuncts, vary from age to age, yet the two 
 ideas of the royal headship and the leadership in war 
 obtain without interruption for nearly eight hundred 
 years. On King Alexander's seal, which is no exception 
 to this principle, the sovereign, clad in a hauberk of mail 
 fortified with metal rings, a tunic, and leggings, conical 
 helmet and coif, holds in the right hand a gonfanon with 
 three streamers, possibly, as some think, charged with a 
 representation of the patron saint of Scotland, Andrew, 
 standing in front of his saltire cross. If this is so (and 
 the impression of the seal leaves much room for doubt), 
 the late Mr. Wyon deserves much credit for having 
 discerned it from so indistinct a seal. The king holds 
 in his left hand a kite-shaped shield, but here again the 
 inner side is turned to view, and if there were any 
 armorial bearings in use by this king, the side of the 
 shield where they would be delineated is turned away. 
 The horse's furniture comprises the pectorale or breast- 
 band, certain headstraps, and a kind of nasale or 
 196 
 
 I 
 
 
ROYAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 projecting piece for protection of the forehead and nose. 
 The reverse illustrates the king as a ruler, enthroned in 
 his majesty, with crown, tunic, mantle with border of studs 
 or bosses, a broadsword, and a mound or orb, furnished 
 with a long cross, as usually attributed to the effigies of 
 Christian rulers, the cross over the orb signifying a 
 promise of maintenance of the Christian religion in the 
 realm over which the king has been called to preside. 
 The field on each side appears to be ornamented with the 
 introduction oi a plaque, on which, as far as the indistinct 
 character of the impression allows us to judge, there appears 
 to be a rosette, or flower. Alexander's style declares him 
 to be Deo Recfore rex Scottorurn, and this formula was 
 adopted by some of his immediate successors. David i., 
 who follows along the royal roll of the rulers of the realm, 
 was the youngest son of Malcolm in. and his consort 
 St. Margaret, daughter of Eadweard the ^theling, of 
 England's royal race. It is recorded that he spent his 
 younger days in the court of King Henry i. of England, 
 his brother-in-law, and the royal spouse Maud already 
 mentioned. The seal of this Scottish king is known 
 only by an engraving by Anderson in his valuable 
 collection of Scottish diplomata or state documents, and 
 there is a very imperfect impression preserved among the 
 charters in the British Museum. From what can be 
 deciphered, the design is evidently similar to that used by 
 King Alexander; indeed it may be that the seal of that king 
 was merely altered as to its legend in order to suit the need 
 of the new king. To David i. succeeded Malcolm iv., a 
 youth of such simple and effeminate mien as to earn the 
 nickname of the ' Maiden.' Fragments only remain to 
 us of the seal, preserved among the Panmure Charters, 
 which this king used, and the legend cannot be deciphered 
 with certainty. 
 
 King William the Lion, who followed Malcolm, 
 inaugurated a new epoch, both in the political and 
 the art history of his kingdom. His invasion of 
 England ; his capture, followed by the Convention of 
 
 197 
 
SEALS 
 
 Falaise, whereby he surrendered independence to the 
 English sovereign ; his restoration by Richard i. in 
 1 189 ; and his long reign of forty-nine years, terminated 
 by death at Stirling in 12 14, render him a memorable 
 figure among the ' multitudinous puppets of a dream ' of 
 northern kings. This period exhibits a very clear im- 
 provement in the conception of harmony by the seal- 
 engraver, who was borne along the stream of rapid 
 advance in scientific and imaginative knowledge. 
 
 The seal now transcends what had gone before: archaic 
 and old-fashioned stiffness ; want of proportion ; absence 
 of life and feeling, give way to the delicacy which is over- 
 spreading human perception, and the result is very 
 beautiful. If we look at the designs on the seals of 
 previous monarchs and then on those of William the 
 Lion, we cannot fail to observe how great a gulf there is 
 between them. It is not claimed that those latter are 
 faultless ; later efforts of the designer improved vastly on 
 these in turn, but the life has stirred, and the spirit is 
 moving that was to become stronger and firmer as the 
 ages passed. On the one side we see the king, as military 
 leader, in armour cap-a-pie, and carrying a long lance- 
 flag with three pennons, the convex shield furnished 
 with the central spike which seems to be a relic of pre- 
 historic times ; on the other side he sits in majesty, a 
 tall and graceful figure, draped in the simple yet royal 
 attire of the period, and wearing a cap-like crown. The 
 sword of might and power, the mound or orb of divine 
 right and divine guidance, are in his hands. The throne 
 is elegant in its form, sloping to the top, and there is a 
 dais or platform at the base. To him followed his only 
 son Alexander 11., notable as being the first Scottish 
 king who used armorial bearings on his seal. The 
 equestrian figure on the one side wears the long sur- 
 coat, a flat-topped helmet with vizor in place of the 
 conical cap, or helmet with projecting nose-piece, and a 
 convex shield bearing a lion rampant ; but it is uncertain 
 whether this charge is accompanied with the tressure or 
 198 
 
 
ROYAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 double tressure which later forms so enduring a com- 
 ponent of the royal arms of the realm. The harness 
 and trappings of the horse also exhibit an improvement 
 on the corresponding details of previous seals, and the 
 saddle-cloth bears the same heraldry as the king's shield, 
 but of course turned to the sinister, or right hand, in 
 conformity to the rule which governs the heraldic deline- 
 ation of horse caparisons. The other side of this seal 
 shows the king in royal state of majesty, with sword and 
 orb, crowned and enthroned on a seat of carved work. 
 At the extremities of the throne on each side is a tree of 
 handsome design, probably symbolical of the knighting 
 of the king by his royal neighbour, King John of 
 England, a member of the so-called Plantagenet family, 
 in I2I2. Many impressions of this fine seal are 
 preserved in the British Museum, Durham Chapter 
 Muniments, and Scottish Charter-chests. 
 
 Alexander in., son of the preceding king, succeeded to 
 his father's throne in 1249, ^^^ occupied it until his death 
 in 1286. Two seals are found to have been employed in 
 the Chancery of this sovereign. They exhibit much the 
 same ideas as the seals which they superseded, but the 
 diameter is slightly greater, and the details better conceived 
 and executed. The shield appears to be charged with the 
 lion rampant within a ' double tressure flory counterflory,' 
 which has been borne from that day to this without a 
 break except during the period of the Republic or Common- 
 wealth, when the lion and tressure gave place, for a short 
 time, to the saltire cross of St. Andrew. The throne here 
 is of attractive design, and has indication of the beginnings 
 of Gothic taste, in the small quatrefoiled panels enclosing 
 each a leopard's face. The second seal of Alexander in. 
 greatly differs from the first. Much more life and spirit 
 are exhibited in it ; art appears to have sprung into a 
 charmed existence, full of the proofs of progress ; the old 
 archaic style and the stiffness and inanimate pose of the 
 figures yields to a living impulse ; we feel, on comparing 
 the first and the second seal, how great a chasm separated 
 
 199 
 
SEALS 
 
 the designer of the one from the designer of the other. 
 The armour has undergone the changes of fashion, and 
 the helmet with flat top is enhanced with the grated 
 vizors and the panache plume. The armorial bearings 
 are the same, but of better proportion, and the back- 
 ground, or field, is replenished with small slipped, or 
 stalked, trefoils, the earliest endeavour of the designer to 
 fill up blank spaces in his art works. Whether this 
 trefoil was merely a capricious ornament, or had a hidden 
 symbolical meaning, it is hard to say. It may possibly 
 point to this Alexander as the third of the name, or it 
 may have been the national plant before the adoption of 
 the thistle flower. But whatever its meaning, it certainly 
 occurs from time to time on Scottish seals too often to 
 deny it a significance of importance. This beautiful seal 
 may be contrasted with the contemporary seals of the 
 English sovereigns, and perhaps it owes its making to 
 an English artist. On the throne side here, the most 
 conspicuous points are the portraiture of the king ; the 
 elaborated adornment of the throne ; and the two small 
 creatures, perhaps lizards, or wyverns, beneath the feet 
 of the sovereign, each of which has its tail terminated 
 with a trefoil of the field, which here, as on the other side, 
 is filled with the slipped trefoil of mysterious meaning. 
 
 Margaret, the ' Maid of Norway,' rightful heir to the 
 throne on the death of her maternal grandfather, reigned, 
 almost only in theory, for a very few years. She died, 
 unmarried, in Orkney, on her way from Norway to 
 Scotland, for her marriage to Prince Edward, son of 
 King Edward i. of England, and she has left no impres- 
 sion of any seal, if, indeed, she ever had one. The 
 untimely death of this royal lady led to many events of 
 the highest importance in the history both of Scotland 
 and England. Had she lived to become the consort of 
 King Edward ii., it is possible that the kingdoms of 
 Norway and England would have become united under 
 one sovereignty, and the destinies of Great Britain as an 
 Insular Empire been materially altered. As it was, 
 200 
 
PLATE XXXI 1 
 
 gj^^:^^:>v. 
 
 
 "'-y 
 
 
 \j^ » ■ '■■-.'f^i .;_^^_--'''7 ;L,'.- 
 
 ROYAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
ROYAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 Scotland was to fall into her First Interregnum, dis- 
 tracted by disputes concerning the rightful inheritance of 
 her crown. Thirteen claimants arose, with more or less 
 hope of winning their cause before the arbitration of King 
 Edward i. and the Scottish assessors at Norham in 1291, 
 which terminated by the award in favour of John Balliol 
 in 1292. During this period of suspense, a fine seal was 
 made for the ' Government of the Realm,' which in beauty 
 of design, drawing, balance, proportion, and ensemble, 
 surpasses all that had gone before. The one side depicts 
 the patron saint and protector of the country, the 
 Apostle Andrew, with nimbus and vestments, crucified 
 on the cross saltire, or X-shaped cross, with which 
 the most ancient tradition associates his martyrdom. 
 The sem^ of slipped trefoils on the field, or ground, 
 of both sides of this seal, an ornamental detail to which 
 attention has already been drawn, cannot have been 
 introduced into this seal for mere unmeaning effect. It 
 has a deep significance, and points without mistake to 
 the recognition of the plant on the national emblem, in 
 this respect comparing with the sprig of broom, the palm- 
 branch, the quatrefoil, and other symbols derived from 
 the floral world and invested with silent yet eloquent 
 significance for those who can comprehend their real 
 meaning. The rhyming hexameter of invocation is 
 thoroughly in accord with the canon of the seal-engraver : 
 
 ' + ANDREA • SCOTIS • DUX • ESTO • COMPATRIOTIS.' 
 
 Charming as it is, perhaps some critics will give the 
 preference for beauty to the other side of this epoch- 
 making seal, where the design is purely heraldic. The 
 proportions of the slightly curved royal shield which fills 
 up the design are perfect, the lion is conventional, yet full 
 of feeling and life, the tail of the creature, it will be 
 noticed, is incurved or bent inwards towards the neck. 
 This peculiarity belongs to the lion of Scotland, and is 
 usually, and should be always, adhered to by those who 
 
 201 
 
SEALS 
 
 take on themselves to delineate (or trick, as heralds 
 would say) the royal arms of this northern kingdom. 
 It has been conjectured that this seind of leaves, arranged 
 in harmonious symmetry about the saint and the shield, 
 indicates the popular will of the nation. These peculi- 
 arities mark out the ' Regimen ' seal as one of the most 
 remarkable among the Royal Scottish series. 
 
 The selection of John Balliol to be king put an end 
 to the Interregnum which had subsisted for upwards of 
 two years. The new king adopted a seal, of which some 
 impressions have been preserved. They show that pro- 
 gress of a very high character was taking place among the 
 fine arts of this artistic period, the close of the thirteenth 
 century. The armourer and the herald were well repre- 
 sented by the equestrian figure on the one side with 
 crowned helmet, grated vizor, broadsword, hauberk of 
 mail, surcoat and shield of royal arms, armorial caparisons, 
 and other details. On the other side, that of majesty, 
 the effigy is lifelike, but we cannot determine if it be 
 really iconic or merely conventional ; perhaps the features 
 do, in some measure, reproduce the peculiarities of the 
 king's portrait with his long curling hair and open 
 countenance. The royal robes and crown, the long sceptre 
 terminating in a beautiful arabesque foliation, the left hand 
 of the king laid on his breast, the carving of the throne, 
 all combine to produce a very beautiful seal, and the 
 shields of arms introduced at each side of the throne are 
 an innovation on what had gone before. That on the 
 dexter side bears an orle for the Balliol family ; the 
 charge on that of the sinister is not very clear. It 
 looks like a lion rampant, and may be intended for the 
 royal arms, but the tressure is apparently wanting. 
 Perhaps it is intended for his queen's paternal arms, 
 John de Warrenne, Earl of Surrey, being the father of 
 Isabel, who was married to this king. A few years 
 further on in the stream of time, and the Battle of 
 Dunbar, in 1296, led to the abdication of John Balliol. 
 King Edward i. of England thereupon took the govern- 
 202 
 
ROYAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 ment of the kingdom into his own hands, and issued — 
 (after a short use of a quasi-royal seal by John Souly, the 
 warden of the realm, made after French styles) — a very 
 beautiful seal, not very unlike English models, one side 
 of which gives the effigy of the king in majesty, the other 
 has a shield of the Royal Arms of England, ' remarkably 
 beautiful for the absolute perfection of its proportions.' 
 The accession of Robert Bruce ensued in 1306. He 
 used two seals. The first shows the king enthroned in 
 majesty, and the king in his baronial or military capacity; 
 the second, used in 1326, is slightly larger and shows the 
 king enthroned in majesty with many elegant details and 
 subordinate enrichments, and on the other side the king 
 as military leader riding on a horse armorially capari- 
 soned. There is authority for the date of the making of 
 this seal in 1318. The national emblem, the thistle, 
 appears among its ornamentation, for the first time, 
 whereas the slipped trefoil, which appears to have been 
 the national flower of earlier use, appeared on the first 
 seal. 
 
 David II., an infant, succeeded to the throne on the 
 death of King Robert in 1329. His seal, like some of 
 the immediately preceding examples, indicates a French 
 taste. The king's feet rest on two wyverns or lizard-like 
 monsters, back to back, their tails nowed or knotted 
 together. In the field at the side of the king's head is 
 the royal initial letter D. Progress is very evident in 
 the art of this seal. A forgery by the well-known John 
 Harding has been attributed to this king. It is of inferior 
 execution, and tells its own infamy only too clearly. The 
 reverse bears a shield of the royal arms of the realm 
 within a cusped panel of ten points. Robert 11., the 
 Stewart, or Steward, and first of the Stuart dynasty 
 which ruled for nearly three hundred years, succeeded on 
 the death of David in 1 37 1 . But notice must be here taken 
 of the seal of Edward Balliol, crowned king by the English 
 in 1332. He appears to have been indebted for his seal to 
 the English school of seal-engravers rather than to the 
 
 203 
 
SEALS 
 
 French. Its sides indicate respectively the king in majesty, 
 and the king in his capacity as military leader. The 
 fan-plume which appears on this seal is to be noticed for 
 its early appearance. This king deserted his rule over the 
 kingdom in 1332, after a very short and doubtful enjoy- 
 ment of its dignity. Robert 11. 's seal is very fine and very 
 elaborate. In general effect it resembles the later seal, 
 the sixth, of Edward iii. of England; the falcons or eagles, 
 which support the shields of arms in side niches, have 
 been mistaken for grotesque animals or figures, and a 
 man-at-arms leans over the embattled cresting of the 
 niches on each side. The king's plate-armour marks 
 the progress of time on the reverse. The royal crest 
 and arms should be noticed, and the whole ensemble 
 compares well with contemporary English royal seals. 
 Robert iii. succeeded his father in 1390, and died in 1406. 
 His seal, which is not very unlike that of Robert 11., 
 possessed certain additional details. The background 
 is replenished with wavy sprigs of the vine, with its 
 foliage and tendrils, and on the reverse, over the king's 
 crested helmet, is set a small pierced mullet, or five- 
 pointed star. It has been thought by some writers on 
 Scottish seals, that the Italian style which is shown in 
 the art of this seal is due to the fact that two Florentine 
 engravers worked in the national mint about 1364 to 
 1377, or later. A smaller seal of this king is extant, 
 where plate-armour appears to be even more fashionable 
 than before. The designs of the sides are enclosed in 
 cusped panels of somewhat irregular style. 
 
 The fifteenth-century royal seals of Scotland are of 
 much interest. They begin with James i., and this 
 monarch's seal has some resemblances to those which 
 have gone before. The disturbed events of the time of 
 his reign gave an opportunity for the using of a seal by 
 Robert Stewart, first Duke of Albany, and Murdoch 
 Stewart, second Duke, regents, but their rule and their race 
 came to an abrupt ending under tragic and barbarous cir- 
 cumstances, not unusual in most European kingdoms at 
 204 
 
ROYAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 the time, fully described by Sir William Fraser in his work 
 on the Dukes of Albany. Murdoch's seal closely follows the 
 royal contemporaneous type, but how far it corroborates 
 the charge of usurpation of royal power would be difficult 
 to determine now. Certainly at first sight it appears to 
 be a close imitation of a royal seal. James ii,, 1437- 
 1460, used his father's seal, but added two small annulets 
 between the king's feet and the lions beneath the throne, 
 and a similar number above the pinnacles at the sides of 
 the canopy. On the reverse four annulets were placed : 
 two at the horse's neck, two on the caparison of the 
 hinderpart of the horse, and a small crown. These 
 additions are also helpful in determining doubtful points 
 in the coinage. James in., 1460- 1488, uses the same 
 Great Seal, and adds a small mullet over a pinnacle of 
 the throne, and, on the reverse, a fleur-de-lis beneath the 
 fetlock of the horse's right foreleg. James iv., 1488-15 13, 
 made other additions to the devices on the seal. He also 
 used a ' quarter seal,' consisting apparently of the upper 
 part of a seal not very unlike the Great Seal, but of 
 inferior workmanship. James v., his son, 1513-1542, 
 used the same Great Seal at first, probably making 
 additions to the small marks of difference which char- 
 acterise the career of the seal first put in use by James i. 
 His second seal, measuring four inches in diameter, is 
 a poor copy of the first ; it is interesting, however, because 
 the slipped trefoil of older days is freshly introduced into 
 the background of the design. Mary, his only surviving 
 issue, succeeded, being only seven days old when her 
 father died. She employed many seals. The Gothic 
 style gave way to that called the Italian, and the royal 
 arms are introduced into the reverse, with two unicorns 
 for supporters. Thistle flowers appear among the 
 emblems, and a Biblical sentence takes the place of the 
 royal style. The queen's second seal is French in design, 
 the reverse being of small dimensions. Her third seal, 
 1559, styles her husband Francis 11. of France and herself 
 as ' of Scotland, England and Ireland, King and Queen ' : 
 
 205 
 
SEALS 
 
 a title which gave offence to Queen Elizabeth, and may- 
 have operated disastrously on Queen Mary's fortunes. 
 
 The Great Seals of Scotland increase in diameter as 
 time progresses, the introduction of emblematical and 
 allegorical figures also tends to alter the character of 
 the design, which becomes more and more medallic from 
 this period henceforward. The queen's seal as Consort of 
 France shows the two youthful sovereigns sitting on one 
 seat, holding sceptres, and clad in royal robes. King 
 and queen of the French and Scots they were certainly, 
 but they added England and Ireland to their titles, by a 
 fiction of the imagination. As Dowager of France, Mary 
 used another seal, of which two impressions are extant. 
 Its diameter is nearly four inches and a half, the design is 
 a copy of the preceding seal, sprigs of the mysterious 
 trefoil are introduced also here and there, and the counter- 
 seal has the arms of France Modern and Scotland dimi- 
 diated, supported by two unicorns holding lance-flags 
 charged with St. Andrew's cross enfiled with a crown. 
 The motto, 
 
 ' SALVUM • FAC • POPULUM • TUUM • DOMINE,' 
 
 is the same as that on the queen's first counterseal. 
 James vi., last exclusive ruler of the Scottish realm, 
 1567, for his northern kingdom has an equestrian seal 
 rich with armorial bearings, badges of the thistle, plume 
 of ostrich feathers, and arabesque foliage. On the reverse 
 are the royal armorials and motto, ' in • defens,' sup- 
 ported by two unicorns with lance flags as before, charged 
 with St. Andrew's saltire and the royal arms. The 
 king continues to use the Biblical sentence of his queen- 
 mother. In 1603, the accession of James vi. to the 
 throne of England gave need for a new seal for Scot- 
 land, full of armorial emblems and symbolising by the 
 supporters, viz. the unicorn of Scotland and lion of 
 England, the union of the two countries under one 
 ruler. The style adopts the phrase of 'Great Britain,' 
 but later seals revert to an older phraseology. The 
 206 
 
PLATE XXXI! I 
 
 ROYAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
, 
 
ROYAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 reverse is equestrian, with a landscape intended perhaps 
 for the city and environs of Edinburgh. Here the fleur-de- 
 lis and portcullis, royal badges of the so-called Plantagenets 
 and Tudors, may be found, and the Biblical motto (Ps. 
 Ixxii. i) : — 
 
 ' DEUS • JUDICIUM • TUUM • REGI • DA,' 
 
 expresses the royal sentiments very aptly. Charles i., 
 1625, adapts the seal of his father for Scotland by altering 
 the name on the obverse, but the reverse here is a copy, 
 and the view of Edinburgh includes the heights of 
 Arthur's Seat in outline. Plate-armour is exhibited at 
 its best, and the legend, ' justitia • et • Veritas,' caps, as 
 it were, the pious invocation of his father's counterseal. 
 In the legend, Magnce Britannice Rex gives way to 
 Scotice AnglicB et Hibemice Rex. 
 
 The Privy Seals, secreta or secret seals, and signets 
 are by far the greatest number armorial. Alexander iii., 
 about 1260, uses an effigy of his royal person, and a 
 shield of arms. His priceless motto, 
 
 * ESTO • PRUDENS • UT • SERPENS • ET • SIMPLEX • 
 SICUT • COLUMBA,' 
 
 from Matt. x. 16, is perhaps the forerunner of the later 
 use of Biblical texts, which we have already pointed out 
 were affected by Scottish rulers. James 11. shows trefoils 
 on his seals ; Mary gives the lion a triple tail, and 
 adds the annulet, mascle, saltire, and thistle. Her motto 
 (used also by her royal father who first took it), * in • 
 DEFENS,' deserves a passing mention, because the older 
 form of the Scottish royal motto appears to be ' sub • 
 MEA • DEFENSiONE.' This formula, now disused, is found 
 with the royal arms, two unicorns for supporters, and 
 crest on a crown, a demi-lion affronts crowned, holding 
 a sword and a split banner-flag on a lance or staff in 
 the rare work entitled Historia Majoris Britannice tarn 
 Anglice quam ScoticE per Joannem Major em Scotum 
 Theologttm, 1520' (Venumdatur Jodoco Badio Ascensio, 
 
 207 
 
SEALS 
 
 1520 ; Coloph. Id. Apr. mdxxl), wherein are set forth many 
 remarkable events and theories concerning the history of 
 Britain down to the reign of James v. 
 
 The seals of Queens Consorts of Scotland are of the 
 personal type, joined with fine architectural work, and 
 armorial. Those of Margaret of England, daughter of 
 Henry vii., and Consort Queen of James iv. of Scotland, 
 are very beautiful, and perhaps from rings. Her motto 
 was ' IN • GOD • IS • MY • TRAiST.' Other signets attri- 
 buted to queens of Scotland are well worthy of attention, 
 but want of space prevents our notice of them here. 
 
 There are not many official seals of Royal Courts 
 and offices extant. They appear to be mostly of heraldic 
 character. The admirals very appropriately made an 
 anchor one of the components in their devices. The 
 present writer has said in his recent work on Scottish 
 seals, in his review of the royal series, the * archaic period 
 of the seals exhibits the simplicity and severity of the 
 manners and customs prevalent' in early times. 'The 
 nascent and gradually awakening spirit of beauty which 
 inspired so many wonderful examples of architecture 
 throughout the kingdom, reached the seal-designers and 
 engravers in their endeavours to produce work worthy 
 of the artistic times in which they lived. The culmi- 
 nating era of the so-called Gothic styles found a ready 
 response in the seal to the challenge which the ecclesi- 
 astical or monastic edifice offered to it ; then came the 
 rejection of the Gothic, and preference for Italian and 
 Renaissance designs, which in turn were adopted by i 
 
 the national art workers ; and finally the post-Palladian, 
 which practically crushed all native creative talent in 
 order to make room for incongruous, piecemeal imita- 
 tions, culled at haphazard from the ruin of multifarious .\ 
 styles, invaded the domain of the seal-designers, and 
 strangled, we fear for ever, the native Caledonian feeling 
 and taste which might, under more favourable conditions, 
 have found a congenial medium on the seals of the 
 country.' 
 208 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 EPISCOPAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 THE seals of Scotland employed during the 
 middle ages by the Ecclesiastical and Mon- 
 astic foundations of that realm are in many 
 cases of great beauty and elegant in their design, while, 
 on the other hand, some few among them exhibit the 
 rugged provincialism which characterises some of the 
 private seals of Scottish families and local institutions. 
 These begin early in the twelfth century with the less 
 elaborate designs, and attain to their best period in the 
 thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, slowly failing in true 
 art character as they pass on to the fifteenth and succeed- 
 ing centuries, after which period the glory of the seals 
 departs as a means of artistic delineation ; and after the 
 sixteenth century the seal ceases to be responsive to the 
 best creative imagination of the designer. The See of 
 St. Andrews is peculiarly happy in the series of seals 
 which were used by the successive occupants of the 
 episcopal and archiepiscopal throne. This series is 
 almost complete, and like the great seals of England, 
 illustrates in itself the rise, progress, and decay of the 
 seal art. The earliest seals depict the bishop, standing 
 full length and front face, lifting up the right hand in 
 the attitude conventionally connected with the bestowing 
 of the benediction on the flock, and holding in the left 
 hand a curved crozier, or pastoral staff", indicative of the 
 bishop's office of pastor in charge over the spiritual 
 welfare of his diocese. This motive, which begins at 
 the earliest period, is carried on with few diff'erences, 
 and rare departures, down to the end of the period 
 o 209 
 
SEALS 
 
 already spoken of; indeed the seal-engravers of the 
 present day strive to keep this principle in view, al- 
 though the technique they employ is hopelessly inferior 
 to the beautiful specimens of the middle ages which 
 they either cannot, or will not, adopt for their models. 
 
 As time passes on, the bishop occasionally impressed 
 his ring seal, an antique engraved intaglio gem, on the 
 reverse of the seal, as in the case of Bishop Earnald 
 of this See. A succeeding bishop, Richard, in 1173, 
 used a seal, where, while preserving the attitude of those 
 who had gone before, the vestments in which his effigy 
 is clad are richly embroidered, a fact which shows that 
 at the end of the twelfth century some improvement in 
 the decorative arts was beginning to arise. The particular 
 manner of curving the staff is to be noticed. When it 
 turns towards the dignitary who carries it, it is believed 
 to symbolise the right of exercising episcopal authority 
 within the limits of the area over which the prelate 
 exercised his sway ; when the curve is outwards or away 
 from the prelate who holds it, some see in this a more 
 extended authority and a more comprehensive rule, reach- 
 ing beyond the mere boundaries of the See, and indicat- 
 ing the possession of functions appertaining rather to 
 a primate than to a bishop by him whose staff is thus 
 directed. This same bishop impressed his gem ring on 
 the back of his seal, after the prevailing fashion of his 
 time, for in the middle ages the importance of a ring 
 seal, the design of which should be of wide knowledge 
 and requisition, was very great indeed, and our museums 
 bear witness to the universal use of these objects not 
 alone by church dignitaries but by the nobility and other 
 prominent personages. The engraved stone was set in 
 a rim of gold or silver, on which an appropriate legend 
 or inscription was placed. Here the gem is of the second 
 century after Christ, and is engraved with a classical 
 chariot for two horses. As Richard, Bishop of St. 
 Andrews, had formerly been abbot of the important 
 abbey of Calchou or Kelso, it is not unlikely that he 
 210 
 
EPISCOPAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 obtained it from some one who had visited the abbey 
 as a refuge from the dangerous world without, or it 
 may have been brought to him by one of the merchants 
 who made a practice of attending the monasteries of 
 Scotland with their wares and merchandise. On the 
 death of Bishop Richard a cardinal was sent from Rome 
 to appease certain disputes that had arisen. In this way 
 Alexius or Alexis, Cardinal of the Papal Church of St. 
 Susanna, brought with him to his duties as peacemaker 
 a seal bearing the curious design of a right hand holding 
 a branch of palm or olive, perhaps purposely suggestive 
 of the peace which he was charged to restore to the 
 troubled realm. At the close of the twelfth century 
 there occurs the seal of Bishop Roger, son of Earl 
 Robert of Leicester, and Lord Chancellor in 1178. His 
 seal was made while he was bishop elect, that is between 
 the times of his appointment and his consecration, when 
 he could not rightly be represented with the crozier, nor 
 as pronouncing an episcopal benediction. Convention- 
 alism required that as bishop elect he should appear on 
 the seal, seated, holding a lily in the right hand, to indi- 
 cate purity of character, or devotion to the Virgin Mother, 
 and in the left hand a sacred book symbolical of the 
 duties of such an office as that he was to fill. French 
 influence, which ever exercised strong sway over Scottish 
 arts and manners, is well shown on this early seal by the 
 animals' heads at the terminals of the fald-stool on which 
 the bishop is seated. About 1103, after his consecration, 
 the same dignitary is delineated on his new seal as 
 Scottoruni Episcopus, without reference to any province 
 or See, in the usual style of bishop fully invested with 
 episcopal rights, clad in suitable vestments, standing on 
 a footboard or platform, and holding his pastoral staff 
 in the one hand while the other is raised to pronounce 
 the blessing he now was entitled to bestow. 
 
 Succeeding bishops, William Malvoisine, David, and 
 Abel, of the thirteenth century, follow the type, but add 
 details of stars, crescents, the alpha and omega symbols, 
 
 211 
 
SEALS 
 
 and suchlike things, to the simple episcopal figure. The 
 worship of the Virgin Mary is indicated by the invocation 
 of * AVE MARIA GRACiA PLENA.' To thcse follow the Style 
 adopted by Bishop Gameline, whose seal has its back- 
 ground replenished with trefoils and quatrefoils, a detail 
 much admired among the Scottish engravers. St. 
 Andrew, patron of the realm and of the See, is de- 
 lineated accompanied by his executioners who are fasten- 
 ing him to a saltire cross with cords, while overhead is 
 a Gothic canopy from which issues an angel holding the 
 crown for the martyr. This design, with variation of 
 detail, was copied by Bishop William Wiseheart, 1273- 
 1279, when he succeeded to the episcopal chair. Before 
 that, his seal as an ecclesiastic bears the curious design 
 of a fox running, in front of a tree, with two birds 
 perched on its boughs. Bishop William Fraser intro- 
 duces armorial bearings into the seal of the bishop, and 
 uses the diapered reticulated background to point to the 
 net of St. Peter, with a cinquefoil in each mesh in al- 
 lusion to the family arms of the Erasers. St. Andrew 
 is found again on the counterseal of this bishop, and the 
 sun and crescent moon, emblems to which many hidden 
 meanings and potent virtues have been attributed more 
 or less fancifully in accordance with the wit and imagina- 
 tion of expounders, are not wanting from the graceful 
 design, which marks the increasing interest in episcopal 
 seals that was arising in this century. 
 
 Last in this century comes the seal of Bishop Lamber- 
 ton, whose fancy introduced a new style that was to super- 
 sede for a time the conventionalism of past epochs. In 
 his seal of 1305 the effigy of the bishop takes a subordinate 
 place at the base of the design, under an arch where is 
 set the half-length figure of the patron saint, crucified 
 on a saltire between a star of five points, a crescent, and 
 the grouped emblems of St. Kentigern of Glasgow, a 
 ring and a bird. The divine hand of the Almighty 
 Father is placing a crown on the head of the Saint, 
 and the canopy over the design bears an Agnus Dei 
 212 
 
EPISCOPAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 or Lamb of God, by way of a play on the bishop's sur- 
 name. This bishop changes his style from ' Bishop of 
 the Scots ' to ' Bishop of St. Andrews,' which was subse- 
 quently adopted by the occupants of the See. 
 
 The fourteenth-century method of Scottish bishops' 
 seals is well illustrated by Bishop James Benet, who clings 
 to the established design of St. Andrew's crucifixion. His 
 successor,.Bishop Landels, 1342- 1385, keeps to the sainted 
 effigy, and adds the royal arms of the realm of Scotland, and 
 a shield of the family arms of Landels, an orle. He also 
 must be accredited with the employment of the earliest 
 arms for the See, which are the royal arms of Scotland 
 differenced with a staff and sceptre over all, a very 
 cleverly constructed bearing, significant of the principal 
 diocese of that kingdom. Bishop Trayl, in 1385, adheres 
 to the scene of the martyrdom, but enhances it with a 
 carved Gothic niche, having a canopy, and open work at 
 the sides, not, however, omitting the shields of the 
 royal arms of the kingdom, and his own family arms. 
 The counterseal shows the Virgin Mother and the Infant 
 Christ enclosed in a Gothic niche, accompanied with the 
 family arms and supporters of Trayl. The highest point 
 of beauty in this series of episcopal Scottish seals is, how- 
 ever, attained by Bishop Henry Wardlaw, in the early 
 years of the fifteenth century, a seal possessing some of 
 the charms of the art of the preceding century. Here 
 may be seen a fine architectural niche with open taber- 
 nacle work at the sides, St. Andrew crucified on his 
 saltire cross, supported by angels holding royal arms, 
 St. Peter and St. Paul with their customary emblems 
 in other side niches, and, at the lower part of the design, 
 the figure of the prelate, beneath a semicircular-headed 
 arch, placed between two shields of arms identified with 
 the Wardlaw families. But the fifteenth century is one 
 of degeneracy, and this decadence becomes apparent in 
 Bishop Kennedy's seal of 1450, which is, nevertheless, 
 finely elaborated. Here we find the Virgin and the 
 Divine Son, the sainted patron of the kingdom, with 
 
 213 
 
SEALS 
 
 other saints, and in the lowest part of the tableau the 
 bishop whose seal it is looking at his protectors in adora- 
 tion, beside two shields, one standing for the Kennedy 
 family, viz. three crosses crosslet fitchdes ; the other with 
 similar charges placed within the royal tressure flory- 
 counterflory, manifestly inspired by the charge on the 
 royal arms. The occurrence of the charge appears to 
 strengthen the idea above mentioned that the early arms 
 of this See were connected with or derived from those that 
 appertain to the Scottish realm. Bishop Kennedy used 
 also a round seal, or so-called sigilhun rohmduni, as 
 well as the episcopal seal of vesical or pointed oval form, 
 exclusively set apart for bishops' seals, and the design of 
 St. Andrew crucified is retained, with two kneeling angels 
 supporting the arms of the Kennedy family, honourably 
 augmented with addition of the royal tressure. 
 
 The last of the bishops, Graham, still retains 
 the martyred saint's effigy, the royal arms and the 
 tressured arms of his family, but substitutes a representa- 
 tion of the Holy Trinity in place of the more familiar 
 figures of the Virgin and Child. Archbishops now 
 take the place of bishops, and the seal of Arch- 
 bishop Schivez comes on the scene. Its architectural 
 details are very elaborate, set in three Gothic niches. 
 Here are represented St. Andrew, not crucified, but 
 mystical and spiritualised, holding his saltire emblem 
 and the book of the Church ; St. Michael the celestial 
 protagonist, with his long cross and the balance typical 
 of the final trial of the world when the trump of the 
 archangel shall sound ; a sainted bishop ; the Blessed 
 Trinity in an overhead niche with royal arms ; and an 
 arcade of three round-headed arches in the base part of 
 the scheme containing the archbishop between two saints, 
 one of whom with a fawn may possibly be St. Giles. 
 The See, now become a recognised Province, passes into 
 the sixteenth century, and demonstrates by its seals the 
 decadence inherent to the arts of the time. Archbishop 
 James Stuart, son of King James iii., reproduces figures 
 214 
 
EPISCOPAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 of St. Andrew, the Holy Trinity, Michael, and his own 
 effigy adoring these, between St. Giles and possibly St. 
 Benedict, but the proportions are not well maintained, 
 and some of the architectural details are too massive. 
 
 The succeeding archbishop, Alexander Stuart, natural 
 son of King James iv., imitates his predecessor's design, 
 and one of his seals as Commendator of Dunfermline is 
 interesting, because it introduces the slipped thistle 
 which by this time had become the well-recognised 
 national badge. Andrew Forman, in 1517, represents 
 St. Andrew between St. Paul and St. Peter, beatified, 
 and in company with their customary emblems. In his 
 sigilluin rottmdtmi stands Mary Magdalene with her 
 box of precious ointment, an idea poorly imitated by 
 Archbishop James Beton in 1527, and accompanied with 
 family arms. David Beton, cardinal archbishop and 
 legate, used in 1542 a large seal with saints and shields of 
 arms, set on a long cross and ensigned with a cardinal's 
 hat. After attaining to the dignity of a cardinal the 
 same prelate placed effigies of St. Peter and St. Paul 
 with their respective emblems in his new seal. Arch- 
 bishop John Hamilton, legate in 1548, adopts the figures 
 of St. Andrew and St. John Baptist, in place of the pre- 
 vious saints, with his family arms and his motto of 
 * MisERicoRDiA ET PAX.' This sccms to be the last Gothic 
 seal of the archbishops of this Province, and later seals 
 of the prelates have little of interest to recommend them. 
 Archbishop James Sharp, 1 661- 1679, places his own 
 figure on his seal, holding in his hands the saltire cross of 
 his patron saint and a crozier. Reference is given in 
 the legend of this seal to the restoration of the Cathedral 
 by help of King Charles 11. in 1661. 
 
 The Cathedral Chapter has not left many impressions 
 of seals. One of the earliest bears a goddess, engraved in 
 intaglio or an antique oval gem ; another gives an official 
 in 1245, holding a book; later seals of this class give a 
 bishop's head and a shield of arms of the See ; a thistle 
 crowned between the initial letters M. R. for Mary, Queen 
 
 215 
 
SEALS 
 
 of Scots. In a seal of the vicar general is set a repre- 
 sentation of St. Andrew on a background filled with 
 slipped trefoils, an early ornament of royal origin, and 
 remarkable here for its survival to a late time. The 
 seals used by the Chapter, as a corporation but not 
 individually, contain views of the cathedral at different 
 periods. The central tower is seen in all with various 
 symbols, such as the Divine hand of blessing, the saltire, 
 the cross, the crescent, the star or estoile, and the curious 
 Celtic triqtietra, or interlaced cord of three pointed loops 
 in triangle, perhaps an emblem of the Blessed Trinity, 
 interesting for the use of knot-work, so favourite an 
 ornament in Scotland upon sepulchral monuments. 
 The latest seal of this Chapter bears a flower-pot, the 
 foliage which springs from it fills up the background 
 of the seal. Its imagery suggests that it points to 
 the Lord as the Vine and the Church as the branches 
 thereof. 
 
 The See of Aberdeen was occupied by bishops whose 
 seals are like the foregoing, of considerable importance. 
 Among them may be mentioned the design of the 
 Assumption of the Virgin within an orle of seven stars, 
 used by Bishop Henry le Chen, 1281-1328, with appro- 
 priate legend in rhyming hexameter verse ; the Annun- 
 ciation of the Virgin between St. Andrew and St. Joseph, 
 a curiously designed anachronism of religious events. 
 St. Kentigern with his ring and fish, patron of Glasgow, 
 and the Virgin and Child, are favourite subjects, but 
 eventually the use of representations of Divine person- 
 ages was abandoned, and heraldic design was sub- 
 stituted for what had become displeasing to the national 
 taste. One of the counterseals of the Chapter of 
 Aberdeen represents somewhat quaintly the Nativity of 
 our Lord with the star of Bethlehem shining overhead, 
 and a curious rhyming verse declares that 
 
 ' SIGNANT • STELLA • THEOS • PRESEPE • PARENS • 
 ASINUS • BOS.' 
 216 
 
PLATE XX XI I' 
 
 
 
 SF.AI.S Of SCOTTISH CATHEDKAt,: 
 
EPISCOPAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 In like manner there are several good seals which 
 appertain to the Bishops of Brechin, most of which point 
 to the Blessed Trinity, a subject which had several con- 
 ventional forms of representation in mediaeval times. 
 The early seals of the bishops naturally reproduce the 
 effigy of the prelate with his appropriate dress and staff 
 of office ; some of these effigies are in profile, not full 
 face, and from the great resemblance to seals of Bishops 
 of St. Andrews, Glasgow, Dunblane, and Moray of the 
 late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, it would 
 almost appear that many of these, probably with others 
 no longer extant, are the work of the same designer, or 
 derived from a school of followers who took a celebrated 
 common master for their guide in these matters. The 
 crescent moon, and the group of two small pellets, are 
 found on Bishop Alwin's seal, 1248- 1256. Bishop 
 William, late in the thirteenth century, prefers the 
 motive of the Lord in glory, a mystical and post- 
 resurrection figure, with the orb of the universe, giving 
 a blessing to the bishop who is in an attitude of venera- 
 tion at the base of the seal. Apart from the Trinity 
 which is found in Bishop Patrick of Leuchars' seal, 1354- 
 1376, and that of John de Carnotto, 1429- 1456, Bishop 
 Shoreswood, Lord High Chancellor, selected for his seal 
 the favourite Pieta, or figure of the Virgo Dolorosa, 
 holding the dead Christ taken down from the Cross, His 
 foot set on the sphcera mimdi, symbolising the redemp- 
 tion of the world by His death. The true signification 
 of this group has been misunderstood by Laing, who 
 catalogued many Scottish seals. Bishop Lamb reproduces 
 the Agnus Dei to serve as a rebus on his name. 
 
 The Chapter of Brechin in an early sixteenth-century 
 seal used a design of the Trinity, finely conceived, but 
 having the remarkable detail, not uncommon in the period, 
 of placing a cruciferous nimbus on the head of the Father 
 which would be more suitably placed on the Son. 
 Caithness bishops have not left many seals for our 
 notice, but those that are extant deserve a short review. 
 
 217 
 
SEALS 
 
 The counterseal of Bishop William, 1261, gives an 
 ecclesiastic lifting up the hands, and placed in a boat or 
 galley, perhaps in reference to the incident of Cardinal 
 Hugh of St. Angelo described in a British Museum 
 manuscript of Hutton's additions to Keith's well-known 
 Catalogue of Scottish Bishops. Later seals represent 
 St. Columba, the Virgin and Child, armorial bearings, 
 and so forth. The Chapter seal is pointed oval. It 
 gives very finely designed figures of the Virgin and 
 the Infant Saviour with nimbus, accompanied by St. 
 Columba as a bishop, and St. David as a king, and two 
 attendant angels issuing from the arch of the niche under 
 which the Mother is placed. Over all is an arcade of 
 three niches, bearing the heads of three sainted prelates 
 of the diocese ; and below, beneath a triple arch, is a 
 choir or procession of nine persons each draped in the 
 vestments of the church and holding a book. A seal 
 attributed to the counterseal of this fine specimen of art 
 carries the Annunciation of the Virgin by the archangel 
 Gabriel, who holds the scroll inscribed with the world- 
 renowned invocation, while in a small niche overhead is 
 seen the Dove of the Holy Spirit descending on the 
 Virgin. A later silver matrix with an imitation of this 
 device is known to be in existence, but the object of its 
 use is not clear. 
 
 Dunblane has an early series of bishops' seals, the 
 designs of which are not far from those of other early 
 bishops. In the thirteenth century St. Laurence with 
 his gridiron, and St. Blaan, patron saints, occur on the 
 seals, and the Chapter adopted much the same idea. 
 Dunkeld represents among good examples of the con- 
 ventional kind, figures of St. Columba, St. John Baptist, 
 St. Catharine, the Virgin and Child, and the Holy 
 Trinity, on the seals of her bishops. The later seals 
 also introduce heraldry among the religious figures. The 
 seal of Dunkeld Chapter shows a Gothic niche containing 
 a shrine, probably a tolerably faithful delineation of the 
 reliquary in which was kept some highly venerated relic 
 218 
 
EPISCOPAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 among the church treasures. On each side an angel 
 thurifer is kneeling on a shield of the royal arms of the 
 realm. In base of this fine seal, under an arcade, are 
 three Chapter dignitaries adoring the relics preserved in 
 the coffer above them. The reverse of this seal shows us 
 St. Columba, with his staff and mitre, blessing, seated on 
 a throne, composed, after the French manner, of the 
 heads and legs of animals. The incense-bearing angel 
 and the royal armorials are not wanting here, and in 
 the lower part an arcade of four columns gives room for 
 five monks : one holding the Book of the Rule of St. 
 Columba; one, a pastoral staff; two, books of service; 
 and one, a key. The legend, in rhyming hexameter, 
 explains the scene : 
 
 ' SANCTE • COLUIMBA • TUIS • PASTOR • BONUS • ESTO • 
 
 MINISTRIS.' 
 
 Edinburgh's See brings before us, in a seal of 1496, 
 an effigy of St. Giles, pierced by an arrow, and having a 
 hind or fawn leaping up at his feet. Bricius, Bishop of 
 Moray, in the early years of the thirteenth century used 
 a gem ring counterseal, charged with the goddess of 
 Fortune, holding in her right hand a small eidolon of 
 Nike or Victory, a much prized and universally adopted 
 emblem in classical times. A later bishop, John de 
 Pilmour, 1326- 1362, also employed his ring of an antique 
 intaglio gem for a counterseal. It is well known that 
 the employment of these gems in rings and seals, which 
 is constantly found in the fourteenth and other centuries, 
 must point to the appreciation of antique precious stones 
 engraved with suitable subjects by those whose education 
 and taste led them to admire the fine arts of anterior 
 periods. Such gems as these are found in use as seals 
 of prelates of exalted position, on military and lay per- 
 sonages of the highest rank and the most prominent 
 public dignity. Some lean to the supposition that the 
 intercourse between the East and the West, fostered by the 
 
 219 
 
SEALS 
 
 Crusades and the Continental trade of these islands with 
 the rest of Europe, helped to bring these beautiful gems 
 to the notice of the rich and the powerful. Others have 
 it that there was a demand for them and the supply was 
 not lacking to satisfy it ; that the goldsmith and the 
 jeweller kept them in stock, and traded in them as they 
 still do. Others again look on them as the spoil torn 
 from the fingers of vanquished Orientals. How beautiful 
 these ancient relics are is testified by the fine collections 
 made of them which adorn our museums, where numer- 
 ous specimens set in gold and silver with suitable 
 inscriptions, may be compared and admired. Some of 
 the bishops of this See used representations of the Holy 
 Trinity on their seals, which also comprise at different 
 periods the figures of the bishops themselves ; the Virgin 
 and Child ; St. John the Evangelist ; Michael ; the 
 Magdalene ; and armorial bearings. Here, too, in one 
 seal, that of Bishop James Stuart, 1459, the armorials 
 are a happy combination of those of the See of Moray 
 and of the Stuart family. Henry, an archdeacon of 
 Moray, had a seal, in 1438, on which is engraved the 
 familiar delineation of Nicolas, Bishop of Myra, restoring 
 to life three youths who had been cruelly put to death 
 in a boiling caldron. The legend of St. Nicolas was 
 universally known, his miracles were eagerly read and 
 accepted, and the events of his life are met with as the 
 subjects of numberless works of art. It is not, therefore, 
 difficult to understand the occurrence of this motif ^q far 
 north as the Diocese of Moray. 
 
 The See of Orkney venerated with especial reverence 
 the memory of the patron, St. Magnus, whose effigy is 
 found both on the seals of the bishops and on the 
 Chapter seal. At Ross the patrons, St. Peter and St. 
 Boniface, were distinctively honoured by representation 
 on the bishops' seals. Glasgow, next to St. Andrews, 
 is perhaps the best represented of all the Scottish Sees. 
 The series is very fully preserved. Among the early 
 seals we have the effigies of the bishops with their con- 
 220 
 
EPISCOPAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 comitants, the mitre and the staff; the gem-ring counter- 
 seal occurs here also. Florence, as bishop elect, is 
 delineated as seated on a throne or chair before a reading- 
 desk and holding a rod. The legend of St. Kentigern 
 is here the favourite design, as befits the patron of the 
 See. At the end of the thirteenth century a new departure 
 takes place ; the fish and perching bird connected with 
 this saint's history and tradition appear on the seals, 
 and sometimes St. Kentigern is accompanied with St, 
 Laurence, whose worship in Scotland was widespread. 
 
 The legend of Kentigern is a curious one, and com- 
 prehends several wonderful events ; the one principally 
 selected for illustration on seals is that where the saint 
 restores a lost ring to Queen Languoreth, which she had 
 received from her royal consort, but failed to preserve 
 under remarkable conditions. The events depicted on 
 some of the Glasgow seals have been variously explained, 
 and it is necessary to study the history of the saint 
 very carefully before attempting to elucidate the exact 
 meaning of the designs. Heraldry, the episodes in 
 Kentigern's life, the Virgin and Child, the Trinity, St. 
 Michael, St. Catharine, and designs similar or not far 
 removed from designs found on the seals of bishops of 
 other Sees, form the principal devices in this instance, 
 and the fish, ring, bell, and other emblems of the patron 
 saint continually occur on these seals. The art exhibited 
 by the seals of the seventeenth century is poor compared 
 with the finely proportioned details of the early epochs 
 in this series of Glasgow seals. The Chapter of Glasgow 
 possessed good seals. One of the earliest designs is the 
 familiar one of the Agnus Dei, or Lamb of God, emblem 
 of John Baptist, but it is difficult to say why this appears 
 on a Glasgow seal. A second seal of the thirteenth 
 century, used until the beginning of the fifteenth, illus- 
 trates the Holy Eucharist, a rare subject on seals, by 
 delineating a chalice upon an altar, with the divine hand 
 of blessing reaching down to the cup, and two priests 
 engaged in the celebration, St. Kentigern is pronouncing 
 
 221 
 
I 
 
 SEALS 
 
 a benediction, and the members of the Chapter are adoring 
 their patron, on their knees, with uplifted hands. The 
 legend puts into the mouths of the suppliants the 
 pious prayer : 
 
 ' KENTEGERNE • TUOS • BENEDIC • PATER • ALME • 
 MINISTROS.' 
 
 Other seals show the apparatus of the Kentigernian 
 legend, the tree, the bell, the bird, the ring, and the fish 
 which are associated with the saint in the traditions of 
 ancient Scotland. John, a chancellor of Glasgow in the 
 fourteenth century, used a seal which represents himself 
 kneeling before his protecting saint, who is giving his 
 blessing. Over him are two human eyes which symbolise 
 the divine oversight which he prays for. Some Chapter 
 dignitaries favour heraldic seals, and one of them, John 
 of Carrick, whose date is about 1371, possessed a very 
 interesting seal where St. John Baptist is placed between 
 St. Kentigern and St. Catharine, the Virgin and Child 
 overhead, the figure of the owner placed between two 
 lions sejant guardant addorsed, and in allusion to the 
 legend of Kentigern a fish and ring, and a bird and branch. 
 The bishops of the See of Argyll and Lismore have not 
 left many seals. Those that remain follow the usual 
 series of types, where the effigy of the prelates accom- ^ 
 panied by special saints chiefly predominates. 1 
 
 In some cases the patron occupies the principal and 
 central position, and the bishop takes the subordinate 
 attitude of a suppliant under an arch. One seal, that of 
 Bishop Alan, 1 250-1 262, whose epoch coincides with the 
 best period of seal art in Scotland, bears on its reverse 
 the somewhat aggressive legend : 
 
 ' REGNET • PAX • ENSIS • MIHI • SERVIAT • ERGADIENSIS,' 
 
 from which we may infer that Bishop Alan belonged to 
 the church militant. Heraldry is also affected by these 
 222 
 
EPISCOPAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 bishops in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and one 
 shield of a bishop's arms bears the unicorn sejant, which 
 the owner may have had suggested to his notice by the 
 supporter of the royal arms of the realm. Bishop 
 Arthur Ross, 1675, chose for his motto ' sit • christo • 
 SUAVIS • ODOR,' — a quaint and probably unique sentiment. 
 The seals of this Chapter are rude and archaic in 
 feeling. 
 
 Candida Casa, or Whithorn, in Galloway, in the 
 south-west part of the kingdom, for a long period one of 
 the suffragan dioceses of York Province, brings to our 
 consideration many beautiful seals of her bishops. This 
 See was subordinated as a suffragan to Glasgow Arch- 
 bishopric by a Papal Bull emanating from Innocent viii. 
 in 1492, and thus passed from the government of the 
 Primate of York to that of the Scottish Province. Among 
 these seals is a finely executed one belonging to Bishop 
 Gilbert, 1 235-1 253, designed in the usual style of the 
 episcopal effigy with a cross on the breast. The counter- 
 seal is one of the most remarkable in the whole series of 
 Scottish Ecclesiastical seals. It is the impression of a 
 pointed oval gem ring ; the gem, set in precious metal, 
 was an antique oval intaglio, which may be attributed to 
 about the second century of the Christian era. The 
 subject of the engraving is the now familiar and favourite 
 one of the Holy Lamb of God, the Agnus Dei, reguar- 
 dant, nimbed and bearing a classic cross. The legend 
 enables us to know that the gem itself was a jasper, 
 which, in accordance with the dogmas of the scientific 
 philosophy of this early period, was endued with the 
 power of stanching the flow of blood, and this wondrous 
 virtue is thus declared in the hexameter legend on the 
 metal which enclosed the gem : 
 
 ' + JASPIDIS • EST • VIRTUS • FUSUM • SEDARE • CRUOREM.' 
 
 Bishop Henry, who sat on the episcopal throne for 
 nearly the whole of the second moiety of the thirteenth 
 
 223 
 
SEALS 
 
 century, 1 255-1 292, added further beauties to the type 
 of the seal. His vestments are embroidered, and his 
 effigy is placed between the crescent moon and radiant 
 sun-star, some aspects of whose symbolism have already 
 been explained to our readers. On the reverse stands 
 the sainted Ninian, founder of the See, blessing the 
 suppliant prelate, whose adoration takes the form of a 
 rhyming hexameter verse — a not uncommon method of 
 composing legends of seals in Scotland — here perhaps 
 remarkable for its grammatical inaccuracy : 
 
 * SANCTE • PRECOR • DA • NE • TIBI • DISSPLICEAR • NINIANE.' 
 
 St. Ninian forms the theme of later seals here. The 
 Prior and Chapter placed a view of their Premonstra- 
 tensian Church dedicated to St. Ninian and St. Martin 
 on an early seal which they used in the thirteenth 
 century. Few seals only remain to illustrate the bishops 
 of the Isles. In them the prelate is seated in a small 
 galley or lymphad, and his family armorials are set near 
 at hand. 
 
 All these episcopal seals and capitular seals of 
 Scotland are of interest, for while in the main they 
 follow conventional English types, yet from time to time 
 they reflect a French influence and a native touch of 
 talent is sometimes manifested, as in the last-mentioned 
 boat type. As for the French inspiration, it is well 
 known that France and Scotland were closely in com- 
 panionship during many ages, and hence it is natural 
 to find that Scottish art and Scottish taste savoured 
 of the more powerful arts and tastes of France. When 
 the native workman arose, a more rugged provincial 
 character was taken up by the seals which thereby more 
 accurately represented the true national spirit of progress. 
 In the capitular seals far less attention to conventionalism 
 was paid than in the episcopal examples : a patron saint, 
 a public event, a local point of more than passing stir, 
 the tradition of a district, or an artist's caprice, served to 
 224 
 
EPISCOPAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 supply the design ; and the ingeniously constructed lines 
 of Latin verse testify to the earnestness and capability of 
 their authors, who must have expended much time and 
 thought on the elaboration of these peculiar sentences. 
 The lesser officers of the church have left but a scanty 
 number of examples of seals, but they compare very 
 satisfactorily with English seals of a corresponding class. 
 Had their size been greater and their material more 
 enduring we should have been enabled to study the many 
 points of interest which they evidently exhibited. 
 
 225 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 SCOTTISH MONASTERIES, COLLEGES, AND 
 ECCLESIASTICAL FOUNDATIONS 
 
 THE Monasteries of Scotland, as those of other 
 countries, do not appear to have been trammelled 
 by any very strict conventional rules to govern 
 the designs of their seals. Some of these are of the 
 pointed oval form known as the vesica ; others are 
 circular, and a few are oval. The representations on 
 them are very varied in character : derived from episodes 
 in the life of Christ, or of divine persons ; effigies 
 of saints, generally accompanied by their customary 
 emblems ; heraldic bearings, armorial designs or allu- 
 sions, and numerous other designs and devices which 
 suggested themselves as appropriate for delineation on 
 a monastic seal. One of the devices occurring most 
 often is a half-length figure of the Virgin Mary, holding 
 the Infant Saviour, occasionally attended by angels. 
 This is to be explained by the fact that the Virgin was 
 the preferred patroness of numerous religious institutions 
 throughout Christendom. Hence the frequent occurrence 
 of her effigy, with the Infant Saviour on her arm or knee, 
 sometimes accompanied by subordinate details, on seals 
 of abbeys and priories, colleges and cells, as also on 
 the seals of those who governed, or assisted in the 
 government of, such establishments. Regret has been 
 expressed by writers on the monastic antiquities of the 
 country that so many seals of this class are no longer 
 in existence, having perished at the time when the wide- 
 spread calamities of disestablishment, demolition, and 
 effacement overtook these centres of all that was bene- 
 226 
 
MONASTERIES, COLLEGES, ETC. 
 
 ficial and enlightened in the seventeenth and proximate 
 centuries. It may be that we owe the preservation until 
 now of many of these art relics to the pious care which 
 led the wellwishers of these societies to secrete and hide 
 away the matrices of the seals, and the title-deeds which 
 bore impressions of them, from the destructive search of 
 the iconoclast and church-wrecker. Some have, in this 
 way, been recovered by a chance find among the rubbish- 
 mounds which mark the site of many a fair house of 
 monks, nuns, and canons. The greater number, however, 
 have perished, and the beautiful specimens which must 
 have been extant on all sides when monachism flourished, 
 have, like the houses which they adorned, perished beyond 
 hope of recovery. Of the remnant, not a tithe of what 
 might have been saved, a short notice will be now given 
 and some of the most important of the designs will be 
 described. 
 
 The Carmelite Priory of Aberdeen, Provincial House 
 of the order of Mount Carmel in Scotland, in 141 1 used 
 a representation of our Lord's Resurrection, and later 
 in the fifteenth century the same Carmelites reproduced, 
 on their Common seal, the pentacle of Solomon, a five- 
 pointed star in outline, an emblem of wonder-working 
 potency if used aright, capable of exerting the most 
 powerful influences over wrong and wrongdoers, and here 
 fortified beyond its usual measure of strength by the 
 addition of the letters composing the name of the Virgin 
 Mary between the points. A third seal in use in the 
 same century represents the Crucified Christ, accompanied 
 with the Virgin and Child, and St. Basil, ancient rule- 
 giver of the order. Yet another seal, in use during the 
 closing years of the same epoch, shows St. Andrew, on 
 his saltire cross of martyrdom, between the crescent 
 moon and sun-star, emblems of paradise, and two trees 
 drawn in formal conventionalism which may perhaps 
 stand for that peculiarly Scottish national badge, the 
 thistle. In 1544 the Virgin and Child appear on the 
 seal of the Prior Provincial of the Scottish Carmelites; 
 
 227 
 
SEALS 
 
 and a very similar representation is found on the seal of 
 the Nunnery of Aberdour, in Fifeshire. Abernethy Col- 
 legiate house of St. Bridget bears the armorials of the 
 Abernethy family on the one side, on the other a figure 
 of St. Bridget, nimbed, and armed with her pastoral 
 staff, and with her emblem a cow standing beside her. 
 The legend, 
 
 * IN • DOMO • DEI • AMBULAVIMUS • CUM • CONCENSU,' 
 
 refers to the members of the order, not to the saint and 
 her symbol. Shaw, one of the provosts, used a private 
 heraldic seal. 
 
 Arbroath, sometimes called Aberbrothock, in Forfar- 
 shire, rejoiced in its dedication to the greatly renowned 
 martyr St. Thomas of Canterbury, and its seals, which 
 are very beautiful, testify to its veneration of its patron. 
 • His tragic death is delineated with minute and vivid 
 detail on the obverse of the seal ; on the reverse is a 
 reliquary, no doubt a figure of the shrine wherein were 
 preserved some of the gruesome relics of the illustrious 
 English martyr. Therein is seen a figure of the Divine 
 Mother holding her Child and a branch of elegant foliage 
 of the style especially affected in the thirteenth century. 
 The Star of Bethlehem sheds its benign rays over the 
 Child's head ; the sun of righteousness was a favourite 
 object with the artist who desired to indicate the beauty, 
 light, and far-reaching influence of Christianity. The 
 legend is most remarkable. It is a kind of jingling 
 patter of Latin words arranged in an elegiac distich 
 relating to the open door of the reliquary, one of the 
 many epithets of the Virgin, and Eve who first brought 
 woe on the world. The effusion must have cost the 
 author many weary hours of word-twisting before he 
 finally succeeded in writing : 
 
 ' PORTA • SALUTIS • AVE : PER • TE • PATET • EXITUS • A • VE • 
 VENIT • AB • EVA • VE I VE • QUIA • TOLLIS • AVE.' 
 
 This seal has a strange resemblance to the seal of 
 228 
 
 I 
 
MONASTERIES, COLLEGES, ETC. 
 
 Middleton Abbey in Dorsetshire, which possesses the 
 same legend, and was probably made by the same hand. 
 There is a seal in the British Museum which belonged 
 to an abbot of this abbey in 1286, where the Blessed 
 Virgin and Child with attendant angels, and St. Thomas 
 the martyr of Canterbury, in the upper part, are the 
 subject of adoration by the abbot below. Another seal, 
 that of Hamilton the last commendator, in 1608, made at 
 a time when representations of celestial personages were 
 discouraged, is purely heraldic. The monks of Arbroath 
 also affected the cult of St. Thomas, if we may so presume 
 from a fine matrix still extant. Ardchattan, in Lome, 
 Argyllshire, a daughter house of the now desolate 
 Convent of Vallis Caulium, not far from Dijon in the 
 forests of Eastern France, the head of a curious regulated 
 order somewhat similar to the Cistercian Rule, was one 
 of the three owning obedience to that foreign head. The 
 other two were Beaulieu and Pluscardine. One impres- 
 sion only of the seal of Ardchattan has been met with ; 
 it represents the common patron of the order, St. John 
 Baptist, holding his Lamb of God set on a roundle or 
 plaque. Its matrix may be attributed to the thirteenth 
 century, but the impression is attached to a sixteenth 
 century deed. The Prior of the Dominican Friars of Ayr 
 put the patroness St. Catharine with her wheel and sword, 
 in allusion to her martyrdom, on a seal of the fifteenth 
 century. 
 
 Balmerino, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St. 
 Edward, and sometimes called 'St. Edward's,' was an 
 important house of the Cistercians, whose Rule and 
 Order found a large number of adherents and votaries in 
 Scotland. Like others of this particular Rule, it was 
 under the protection of the Virgin, and her effigy, crowned 
 as Queen of Heaven, with the Infant Saviour, and the 
 royal arms of the kingdom, are delineated on the seal. 
 The abbot placed on his seal his own figure holding his 
 staff and Book of the Rule, standing on an ornamental 
 pedestal, with the emblems of the fleur-de-lis or lily of 
 
 229 
 
SEALS 
 
 the Virgin, and three stars for the Trinity, at the sides of 
 the design, Banff rejoiced in a Carmelite House, the seal 
 of which repeats the story of the Annunciation of the 
 Virgin. Beaulieu, a sister of Ardchattan, shows a 
 member of the Vallis Caulium fraternity adoring the 
 Divine Mother and Child. Berwick town sheltered 
 Trinitarian Friars of the order of St. Mathurine, whose 
 seal depicted the mystical figure of our Lord sitting on a 
 rainbow with His hands upraised in judgment on the 
 world at the last day. This is accompanied with the 
 instruments of the Passion whereby He redeemed the 
 human race, and the master of the order, adoring his 
 judge, is not wanting from this attractive picture. 
 Blantyre, situated in Clydesdale, co. Lanark, used a 
 late seal of heraldry, with a Biblical text for its legend, 
 incongruous as a design originating in a house of 
 Austin Canons. Brechin Hospital, co. Forfar, a Maison 
 Dieu, employed the design of the Assumption of the 
 Virgin, who is delineated in radiance with the Child and 
 standing on a crescent. 
 
 There was an important house of Canons Regular 
 of St. Mary at Cambuskenneth, near Stirling, which 
 possessed a seal of more than ordinary merit. It bears 
 the Virgin and Child under a carved canopy of Gothic 
 work, with a body of six canons in the base part, adoring 
 the heavenly figures, beneath an arch which represents 
 — (a part standing for the whole, as we have seen in 
 other instances) — the conventual church of their abbey. 
 Candida Casa, sacred to St. Ninian and St. Martin, had 
 a pointed oval seal of early date, on which was borne a 
 view of the monastic church, but it is difficult to decide 
 whether this view was a purely conventional one, or 
 based on the true appearance of the building at the time 
 the seal was made. Coldingham, in Berwickshire, was 
 also a notable nunnery. It belonged to the Cistercian 
 Order, and looked for patronage to the tutelary care of 
 St. Cuthbert. One of its seals, late in the twelfth century, 
 shows the prior seated reading at a lectern. In later 
 230 
 
MONASTERIES, COLLEGES, ETC. 
 
 seals St. Cuthbert appears in company with the Virgin 
 Mary and Infant Saviour. Sacred and heraldic designs 
 are conjointly delineated in a seal of the early sixteenth 
 century. The Cistercians possessed an important nun- 
 nery at Coldstream, in co. Berwick, where a salmon 
 hooked between two quatrefoils and a crescent enclosing 
 a star point by way of a rebus to the Virgin Patroness 
 and to the stream on the banks of which the site of the 
 nunnery reposed. The Cluniac order held Crossraguel, 
 or Crux Regalis Abbey, in Carrick, the southern district 
 of Ayrshire, and its seal depicts the Virgin Mary and the 
 Child beneath an elegant canopy, and accompanied, as in 
 other Scottish monastic seals, by a group of monks 
 worshipping their patrons under an arch of composite 
 character, signifying an arcade or processional ambulatory. 
 Culros, another Cistercian house, in Perthshire, favours 
 the usual style of the Order, and uses the crescent and 
 star. Cupar in Angus, another institution of the same 
 Religious Order, repeats the same motif, but the Child 
 holds the lily of purity in the right hand ; and below, the 
 abbot is adoring the figures, between armorial shields. 
 This abbey had several seals, one of which finds a 
 parallel in that of Culros, the design of which is the abbot 
 holding the crozier of authority, but in this latter case 
 two fleurs-de-lis take the place of the crescent and star. 
 
 Deer, also a Cistercian house, yields to none in interest 
 for its seals, for from this ancient monastery came the 
 celebrated Book of Deer, a priceless record of the most 
 remote history of Christian Caledonia. Dryburgh, a Pre- 
 monstratensian abbey, had several seals which follow the 
 usual current of monastic designs, the abbatial hand with 
 crozier, the Virgin Patroness, the abbot with Book of 
 the Rule, and heraldry follow one another as time passes 
 and fashions change. In 1404 one abbot's seal depicts 
 the Holy Trinity, where the Virgin and Child, St. John 
 Baptist with his Lamb and martyr's palm-branch, are 
 adored by the owner whose kneeling effigy is humbly 
 placed in the lowest part of the seal under an arch. The 
 
 231 
 
SEALS 
 
 Franciscan Minorites of Dumfries prefer St. Francis, m 
 
 and this saint also takes a place of honour on the seal of 
 the Franciscan Grey Friars of Dundee. Dunbar depicts 
 a female saint with scourge and book, and concomitant 
 heraldry. The Dundraynan Cistercians in Galloway follow 
 the taste of the Order in using the design of the hand hold- 
 ing the pastoral staff between the sun-star and crescent 
 moon. An abbot of this illustrious house places his own 
 figure on a bracket, with staff and book between two five- 
 leaved roses. 
 
 Dunfermline Benedictine Abbey, of high renown and 
 historic pre-eminence in Fifeshire, under the patronage 
 of the Blessed Trinity and St. Margaret of Scotland, 
 possessed an early seal, dating perhaps as far back as 
 the twelfth century, whereon is designed a view of some 
 portion of the monastic buildings, enclosing a chalice on 
 a stand, blessed by a divine hand from which rays pass 
 into the vessel. It was a seal symbolical of the Trinity, 
 and hence four points of metaphor are foreshadowed : 
 the blessedness of the Order ; the Almighty Father's 
 hand ; the cup of the Son's Passover ; the descent of the 
 Holy Spirit. These last three taken together represent 
 the Trinity. The Chapter of the abbey possessed a 
 curious seal which seems to have been inspired by the 
 foregoing design. Here again in the interior of a church 
 is an altar bearing the chalice, with two celebrant eccle- 
 siastics or monks in attendance. Behind them is St. 
 Margaret reading at a lectern, and attended by a reading 
 monk. The reverse has also a very remarkable design of 
 the four angels of the Gospels, lifting up within a panel 
 the Divine Judge, whose judgment is thus indicated as 
 resting on the Evangelistic revelation, seated on the bow 
 in the clouds, holding the open Book of Life ; the 
 cruciferous nimbus on his head, the raised hand of a 
 judge delivering final sentence, accompanied by the Sun 
 of Righteousness, the crescent moon, the four-leaved 
 flower of Heavenly Love, the five-leaved blossom of the 
 redeeming wounds, and the triple foliage of the little 
 232 
 
 \' 
 
 i 
 
MONASTERIES, COLLEGES, ETC. 
 
 branches, either emblematic of the Triune God or in allu- 
 sion to the early national badge, afterwards exchanged 
 for the thistle, which King Edward i. of England had 
 introduced into his late thirteenth-century seal, are all 
 consonant with the theme. The legend is as remark- 
 able as the tableau itself. It is an elegiac distich in 
 rhyming Latin, descriptive of the Day of Judgment and 
 the pronouncement of the final doom : 
 
 ' MORTIS • VEL • VITE • BREVIS • EST • VOX • ITE • VENITE • 
 DICETUR • REPROBIS • ITE • VENITE • PROBIS.' 
 
 In 1292 we meet with the seal of Abbot Ralph, who 
 delineates the Almighty wearing the cross-marked nimbus 
 as in a former example already spoken of, holding the 
 crucified Christ, between a star and crescent, with a pellet 
 between the horns. The owner of this seal places his 
 own effigy in an attitude of adoration under an arch in 
 the lower part of the design, which standing as a part 
 for the whole, represents the Church ; Ecclesia Christi 
 is inscribed thereon. There are several seals of Edin- 
 burgh monasteries and convents. In that of St. Catharine 
 of Siena, the eponymic saint holds a crucifix and heart, 
 while Satan overthrown lies prostrate before her. 
 
 Holyrood had a very early seal, 1141, whereon stands 
 an elevation of the church with aisle, transepts, and central 
 tower capped by a dome, a view no doubt conventional 
 to a great degree, but yet possibly preserving some details 
 that were familiar to its frequenters. A later seal gives 
 representations of the crucifixion of Christ between 
 St. Mary and St. John. This may be of the thirteenth 
 century ; another later still gives our Lord on the Cross 
 between the star and crescent, symbolising the open 
 heavens, a conventional grouping dating from the earliest 
 Christian era. Here side-niches show the Virgin Mary 
 and St. Mary Magdalene, and in base another figure 
 of the Virgin and the Child on a shield of the royal 
 arms of the realm accompanied by a stag with the Holy 
 
 233 
 
SEALS 
 
 Rood, which gives its name to the abbey, placed between 
 its antlers, and enhanced with thistles which point to the 
 Scottish nation. Holy Trinity College reproduces a 
 design of the Trinity from which its title is derived. 
 The Dominicans and the convent called the Castrmn 
 Pitellarimi delineate the appropriate scene of the Corona- 
 tion of the Virgin. Elcho, a Cistercian house in county 
 Perth, Feme, a Premonstratensian institution, Glen Luce, 
 or Vallis Lucis, Haddington, other Cistercian founda- 
 tions, and many other religious establishments, adopted 
 the familiar picture of the Virgin and Child. Holywood, 
 or the Abbey de Sacro Bosco, a Premonstratensian 
 establishment in Dumfriesshire, gives the rebus of an 
 oak — the ' Holy Wood ' — with a bird on a branch thereof, 
 and two stars. The seals of the abbots represent the 
 tree and the bird and other adjuncts. Icolmkill, other- \ 
 
 wise called Hy or lona, a Cluniac house under the 
 patronage of the great Scottish pioneer, Saint Columba, \ 
 
 in Argyllshire, represents the patron with two monks of ^ 
 
 the Order adoring him. Inchaffrey Abbey used a matrix 
 of great beauty which is still extant. This is the Insula 
 Missariun of St. Mary and St. John, an Augustinian 
 foundation in Stratherne. One side reproduces the 
 Eagle of the Evangelist holding a scroll on which may 
 be read the opening verse of the Gospel of St. John. 
 This is enriched by the accompaniment of vine leaves, 
 five-leaved and four-leaved flowers, all emblematic of 
 Christian mysteries. The other side shows the conven- 
 tional interior of a somewhat imaginary church. Under 
 the large opening in the centre stands St. John with 
 nimbed head, palm of victory over death, and book of his 
 Gospel. So greatly valued was this that an attempt was 
 made in after years to imitate it, but without much success. 
 Inchcolm, the Island Abbey of St. Columba in Fife- 
 shire, also Augustinian, represents on its seal a church 
 of fanciful details, and a galley or lymphad on the 
 waves. Another house of the same order was that of 
 Insula Sancti Colmoci, in county Perth, where we find 
 234 
 
MONASTERIES, COLLEGES, ETC. 
 
 effigies of the Virgin Queen and her Divine Son, with 
 St. Colmoc, in episcopal vestments, adoring them. This 
 was of fine workmanship of the fourteenth century, and, 
 like the seal mentioned above, deemed worthy to copy 
 at a later date. The copy, however, which is preserved 
 in the British Museum does not approach to the excel- 
 lence of the older prototype. The Preaching Friars of 
 Inverness had, in 1436, a representation of St. Bar- 
 tholomew carrying the implement of his passion, a flay- 
 ing-knife. Jedburgh Chapter reproduces on the one side 
 of its seal the favoured scene of the Coronation of the 
 Virgin, and on the other side the Angelic Salutation, an 
 equally admired subject for artistic talent, here accom- 
 panied by four angels, or saints, and two beautiful trees. 
 An abbot John, in 1532, figures a rare design of the 
 * Flight into Egypt ' on his seal. Kelso, also called 
 Calchou, possessed several most excellent seals. Its 
 patrons are St. Mary and St. John, and in this respect it 
 resembles Inchaffrey and other houses. The earliest 
 seal may be referred to the twelfth century, and gives 
 the Virgin and Child charmingly designed in the best 
 Scottish style. Another, used in 1330, shows the same 
 heavenly personages in a carved niche, and on its reverse 
 a saint between two monks holding candles on tripods, 
 and in this the thistle emblem has been introduced. The 
 third seal is equally interesting. It shows the Saint and 
 the Child holding an orb or mound, like a ball, in the 
 right hand, with two rose-trees in blossom, to signify the 
 floral emblems of her who was the Rose of Sharon. 
 Here, too, like the seal already spoken of, the other side 
 brings before us St. John and his eagle holding a scroll 
 and palm. The legend, also, is the text of the opening 
 words of the fourth Gospel. Later, this seal, like some 
 others of superior merit, was the subject of an inferior 
 copy, and the Cardinal de Guise, commendator of this 
 abbey, introduced letters into the matrix which refer to 
 the office he held. Another even later matrix was 
 fashioned, and a cast from it is preserved in the British 
 
 235 
 
SEALS 
 
 Museum. The Abbot of Kelso, in the closing years of 
 the thirteenth century, used the design of the Virgin 
 Mary holding the Child to her breast and adored by 
 thurible-bearing angels under a canopy. In the base is 
 the abbot celebrating the Eucharist and accompanied by 
 the hand of inspiration or blessing which often occurs 
 in scenes of this nature. The abbot prays in the words 
 of the legend of the seal : 
 
 ' VIRGO • TUUM • NATUM • LACTANS • FAC • ME • SIBI • GRATUM.' 
 
 Patrick, a later abbot, copied this design but varied the 
 details. James Stuart, natural son of King James v., 
 and commendator of this abbey, placed John the 
 Baptist's effigy, curiously enough, instead of John the 
 Evangelist's, on his sixteenth-century seal of somewhat 
 poor design. 
 
 Kilwinning, a Tyronensian house in Ayrshire, de- 
 lineates a figure of the patron saint Winnin, perhaps 
 the only representation extant, with his Book of 
 Rule and pastoral staff, and again employs the ancient I 
 
 slipped trefoil which gave way to the thistle-flower as a 1 
 
 national emblem. The seal of the Cistercians of Kinloss, 
 dedicated to the Virgin, shows the ' Adoration by the 
 Magi,' attended with a thurifer angel. The Canons of 
 St. Anthony at Leith Preceptory show on their seals an 
 effigy of their patron St. Anthony of Vienna with his 
 T-shaped cross and his emblem, a pig. Lincluden Nun- 
 nery, later transformed into a collegiate church, preferred 
 the figure of the Virgin. The Carmelites of Linlithgow 
 used a similar design, and the leper-house of St. Michael 
 in this town reproduced the favourite mediaeval subject 
 of the overthrow of Satan by the archangel militant, 
 who on this occasion defends himself with a shield of 
 royal arms of the realm. An appropriate rhyming 
 prayer in the legend encircles the tableau which is of 
 very late work : 
 
 ' COLLOCET IN • CCELIS • NOS • OMNES • VIS • MICHAELIS.' 
 236 
 
 .1; 
 
MONASTERIES, COLLEGES, ETC 
 
 It is curious that the town seal selected a similar design 
 for its reverse. Lindores Tyronensian Abbey in Fifeshire, 
 dedicated to the Virgin and St. Andrew, at first gives 
 an effigy of the Virgin and Child, holding a small cherub 
 and a spray of foliage, while later the same house intro- 
 duced into a seal four monks chanting a salutation hymn 
 to the divine group, and on the reverse of the same a 
 spirited tableati of the martyrdom of St. Andrew. He 
 is being tied to his saltire cross while seven spectators 
 listen to his teaching, who, if tradition and the legend 
 of the seal speak truly, lingered on the cross for the space 
 of two days during which he taught the people the 
 elements of the Christian faith. Stars and crescent 
 moons play their part, and speak silently to those to 
 whom it has been given to understand, in this picture, 
 and in the lower part a suppliant monk is gazing in 
 adoration and wonder on his suffering protector. An 
 abbot's seal, about 1270, derives much of its design from 
 the details of this. Melrose Abbey, so justly celebrated 
 for its sublimely beautiful ruins even now long after its 
 demolition, delineates the Virgin and Child, St. Peter, 
 St. Paul, and a figure by some considered to represent 
 St. Waltheus, an early abbot. Monymusk gives a view 
 of a cruciform church. Paisley Abbey depicts on its 
 Chapter seal its patron St. James, with the staff and scrip 
 emblematical of the pilgrim saint, the sun-star, and the 
 crescent, the saltire of St. Andrew, the fleur-de-lis of the 
 Virgin, stars, crosses, and foliage. On the reverse we 
 see the second patron, St. Mirinus, with his pastoral 
 staff, lifting his hand to give a blessing, with concomitant 
 details as on the obverse, and shields of arms of Stuart 
 and Lennox. Here again occurs a very appropriate 
 Leonine pentameter line of invocation : 
 
 ' CHRISTUM • PRO • FAMULIS • POSCE • MIRINE • TUIS.' 
 
 This saint's effigy appears on a late fifteenth-century 
 seal, celebrating mass at an altar on which is displayed a 
 
 237 
 
SEALS 
 
 crucifix and chalice. The Perth Carthusians, whose 
 house was called ' Vallis Virtutis,' used the device of the 
 Coronation of the Virgin, with the interesting detail of 
 an iconic portraiture of King James i., the founder of the 
 establishment, kneeling in veneration of the tableau. 
 
 Pittenweem Austin Priory of St. Mary, formerly set 
 in the Island of May in Fifeshire, depicts its patron saint. 
 Pluscardine, a Morayshire house, which with Ardchattan 
 and Beaulieu testify to the missionary efforts of the 
 French Order of Vallis Caulium, has left us a seal bear- 
 ing the very unusual subject of the Descent of our Lord 
 into Hell. In this, Christ with nimbus and long cross, 
 indicative of His risen state, is shown liberating Adam 
 and Eve, representative of all mankind, from the veritable 
 * Jaws of Hell.' In the background the two stars of five 
 points each may either represent the night of spiritual 
 darkness, or constitute a courteous allusion to the heraldry 
 of the Murrays. St. Andrew and St. Margaret, with the 
 Virgin and Child, appear with the Seton coat-of-arms on 
 the seal of Alexander Seton, a late prior. The Carmelites 
 of South Queensferry depict on their seal the Virgin 
 crowned on a crescent, perhaps the Assumption. Restalrig 
 Collegiate Church of the Trinity and St. Mary had a 
 shield charged with a triple branch of lilies, a cleverly 
 designed idea, the lily being the flower attributed to the 
 Virgin, and the threefold branch pointing to the threefold 
 Godhead. St. Andrews Austin Canons Regular used 
 the effigy of the patron on his saltire, with candles at the 
 sides, the Dominicans here using the device of the Saint, 
 and in other seals the Coronation of the Virgin, the 
 Virgin and Child, and a shield charged with St, Dominic's 
 wild boar, for the priory arms. The Austin Canons of 
 Scone, under the protection of St. Michael and the Holy 
 Trinity, had an ancient seal showing a conventional 
 abbey church with the Almighty Father and the Son set 
 on the roof, a sentiment not without parallel among 
 English monastic seals. A later seal, of large diameter, 
 in use in 1560, but of probably earlier date for its making, 
 238 
 
MONASTERIES, COLLEGES, ETC. 
 
 shows the tableau of the Coronation of the King of Scots 
 which (with many exceptions, nevertheless) is connected 
 with the stone called the ' Coronation Stone of Scone,' 
 by some identified with that stone which served Jacob 
 for his pillow, according to the Scriptures, now in West- 
 minster Abbey, whither it was sent by King Edward i., 
 in 1296, where it performs its part during the coronation 
 ceremonies of the emperor monarchs of Great Britain. 
 In this we may see the King of Scots, with crown and 
 sceptre and other regalia, his entourage of State officers, 
 the shields of arms of Scotland, Athole, and Stratherne, 
 and the background of quatrefoils so frequently intro- 
 duced as an ornament into seals of importance. The 
 reverse is unique in its wealth of religious allegory : the 
 Trinity enthroned, between the Evangelistic symbols, 
 Michael vanquishing Satan, and the winged figures each 
 on a wheel, in allusion to the mysterious vision of 
 Ezekiel, all these make up a seal of the greatest peculi- 
 arity and interest. Michael in combat with the Prince of 
 Darkness seems to have been a favourite in Scottish art. 
 The same motif is found at Dumfries and at Linlithgow 
 as well as other places. Soulseat, or * Sedes Animarum,' 
 near Stranraer, and Sweetheart, or ' Suavi-Cordium,' 
 near Dumfries, two Cistercian houses in the old province 
 of Galloway (but according to some the former was of the 
 Premonstratensian Order), figure the Virgin Mary and 
 the Child, a favourite and perpetually recurring emblem 
 of ecclesiastical and monastic peace and love. 
 
 As for the Religious Orders in Scotland, although 
 the monasteries were numerous, and the classes of monks 
 and nuns many — perhaps with a predominance in favour 
 of the Cistercian, whose simplicity and plainness in matter 
 of architecture compared better with the rugged beauty 
 of most places, than the richness of Benedictine detail, 
 yet the seals of Orders are far from numerous, and those 
 that still remain are not of any very transcendent merit. 
 The Dominicans, Black Friars, or Preachers delineated 
 St. Andrew, and for their Priors Provincial, St. Dominic 
 
 239 
 
r\ 
 
 SEALS 
 
 was a favourite emblem. One seal, an example of the 
 sixteenth century, shows St. Dominic holding a crucifix 
 and accompanied by a dog courant carrying a burning 
 brand, perhaps in allusion to the ardour of this Preaching 
 Order, which strove above all things to keep alive the 
 flame of divine love which had ever been the chief aim of 
 the Christian teacher. St. Francis is represented by the 
 Grey Friars or Franciscans, who also, in some cases at 
 least, did not disdain to have recourse to St. Andrew as 
 showing the locality to which they belonged. The 
 Trinitarians, who devoted themselves to the humane 
 work of redeeming and succouring captives — a work of 
 the highest importance in the mediaeval days of slavery 
 and thraldom — adopted the figuring of the Blessed 
 Trinity, a subject difficult to portray and very often 
 treated in an unconventional manner ; while the Car- 
 melites, if we may judge from the design on the seal of 
 the Provincial General at the close of the fifteenth 
 century, reproduced an effigy of the national Saint, 
 crucified on his saltire cross, accompanied with two 
 thistle flowers for Scotland, and a sun and moon, or 
 crescent and star, to supply an enhancement to the 
 religious sentiment which the principal figure was to 
 arouse. Later, however, the representation of the Virgin 
 and Child appears to have been preferred, as in numerous 
 instances of the seals of individual houses. 
 
 240 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 LOCAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 SCOTLAND is fortunate in having so many inter- 
 esting seals of her cities, towns, and burghs. 
 They have been described exhaustively by the late 
 Marquess of Bute, K.T., in his two works treating of the 
 Arms of the Parliamentary and Police Burghs, and by 
 Mr. Porteous more recently. Those that are preserved 
 in the British Museum Department of Manuscripts are 
 included in the catalogue of the Museum seals. Most 
 of the matrices of these seals are in the custody of the 
 town clerks and corporations of the respective towns, 
 and many of them are still used for the ratification of 
 formal documents. They range over a long period of 
 centuries, and their designs are remarkable and varied. 
 Heraldry, as is natural, accounts for a large number, and 
 effigies of patron saints, episodes of local history, rebus 
 illustrations of the supposed origin of the name of the 
 place, very often wrongly derived or representing a 
 similarity of sound only ; peculiarities of the district, 
 animals, fishes, flowers, or simple arbitrary devices, 
 abound. One of the most favourite types is the formal 
 and conventional castle or fortress, with masoned walls, 
 embattled towers, and details of construction now in one 
 way, now in another, which make this class well worthy 
 of close examination by the student of the military arts 
 of the middle ages. Another class frequently found is 
 that of the ship type, where similarly the various details 
 of the gear and rigging, and the glimpses of methods of 
 seamanship and navigation afford an insight into the 
 history of shipping which always arouses an interest in 
 
 Q 241 
 
SEALS 
 
 our minds. Want of space here forbids notice of more 
 than a few of the most salient specimens of Scottish local 
 seals. That of Aberdeen in the twelfth century repre- 
 sented on the one side St. Nicolas of Myra, whose 
 name and fame are especially venerated by maritime folk, 
 on the one side ; on the other, a triple-towered castle. 
 The later seal, 1430, puts the saint under a canopy on a 
 walled castle, and reproduces the scene where he miracu- 
 lously restores three youths to life in accordance with 
 tradition. The reverse bears the armorials of a triple- 
 towered castle within a royal tressure of Scotland, accom- 
 panied with supporters and the legend * bon accord.' 
 The University of Old Aberdeen used the design of an 
 ornamental double-handled vase, charged with three 
 salmon interlaced, while from above a divine hand and 
 open book are appropriately introduced. The burgh of , 
 
 Anstruther Easter, co. Fife, has the design of an anchor ; \ 
 
 that of Anstruther Wester, three fishes interlaced. The 
 burgh of Arbroath, co. Forfar, had a thirteenth-century 
 seal with a representation of the martyrdom of St. 
 Thomas between the sun and the moon, the two wit- 
 nesses required by the Mosaic dispensation as necessary 
 to establish a valid testimony : the fame of the saint of 
 Canterbury must have penetrated far north to account for 
 this. 
 
 Ayr burgh used the triple-towered castle type with 
 head of St. John Baptist in a dish, and the Lamb of God 
 in a frame of two squares interlaced. Banff, 1408, has a 
 boar passant, and its later seals show the Virgin and 
 Child in a canopied niche, with fish at the end of the 
 legend. The burgh of Brechin, co. Forfar, in the 
 fifteenth century depicted the Trinity and armorial bear- 
 ings of local interest. Whithorn, in co. Wigtown, for its 
 Royal Burgh seal gives a fifteenth-century effigy of St. 
 Ninian with his fetters, in a traceried quatrefoil panel. 
 Crail, CO. Fife, a royal burgh, had an early seal bearing 
 a ship on one side, the Virgin and Child carried by angels 
 on the other, the background replenished with groups of 
 242 
 
 I 
 
LOCAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 pellets in triplets. It also has a late design of a galley, 
 with seven mariners, the crescent moon and eight stars. 
 Cullen burgh, co. Banff, has a very archaic seal of native 
 workmanship, representing the Virgin enthroned with 
 the Child, and a nondescript animal below. This place is 
 dignified on the legend with the title of urbs. Culross 
 burgh, CO. Perth, shows the Church of St. Servanus, the 
 saint himself in the doorway, and his legendary birds 
 on the roof and overhead. Cupar royal burgh, co. Fife, 
 shows a fourteenth-century design of the Trinity, with sun, 
 moon, and shield of arms. It also had a fifteenth-cen- 
 tury design of the Trinity enthroned ; below are the two 
 grovelling and abject heretic figures of Judas and Arius. 
 This is in an engrailed frame or panel. The reverse 
 bears, in a cusped border, the arms of the realm. 
 
 Dingwall, co. Ross, placed on the Common seal of the 
 royal burgh, 1467, an ornamental estoile or mullet of five 
 points, in which some see an attempt to represent a star- 
 fish, one of the common objects of the seashore in that 
 district. This is quite likely, for it is to be remembered 
 that in like manner the earliest Greek pottery, made by a 
 littoral population hundreds of years before the Christian 
 era, is adorned with patterns of seaweeds and cuttlefish, 
 for it is well known that objects seen on shores always 
 possess a fascination over the mind. The royal burgh 
 of Dumbarton had a fourteenth-century seal bearing an 
 elephant with castle on its back. The royal burgh of 
 Dumfries depicts its patron, St. Michael, overthrowing 
 Satan, with the ever-present crescent and sun-star in the 
 field of view. Dunblane burgh, co. Perth, had a thir- 
 teenth-century seal, now in the British Museum, bearing 
 niched effigies of St. Laurence and St. Blaan. Dundee, 
 CO. Forfar, had a fine seal of fourteenth-century style, on 
 which was engraved, in an engrailed frame, the Virgin 
 Mary and the Child with two attendant angels censing 
 them. The reverse shows St. Clement, the patron, 
 blessing two suppliants, and an anchor, in reference to 
 the port. The secretum bears a vase with flowers, on a 
 
 243 
 
SEALS 
 
 shield, supported by two wyverns. The rebus * dei 
 DONUM ' is inscribed on a scroll above. In this town 
 the Incorporated Hammermen, or Malliatores of St. 
 Eloi, used a seal bearing an effigy of their patron with 
 hammer, staff, and episcopal vestments standing on a 
 shield of arms between two vases of flowers. The seal 
 of the ' Cokete ' of the regality of Dunfermline, co. Fife, 
 of the early fourteenth century style, delineates St. 
 Margaret, Queen of Scots, with crown, sceptre, and book, 
 standing on a pedestal between two shields of arms which 
 relate to her position as a kinswoman of Edward the 
 Confessor and as Consort of Scotland. The reverse 
 bears the royal arms of the realm, and is inscribed with 
 the name of ' Robert by the Grace of God, King of Scots.' 
 The City seal shows the sainted queen, with crown and 
 sceptre, between two candlesticks, and on the reverse a 
 tower with a pyramidal pinnacle, between two lions 
 rampant, accompanied with the legend : ' esto • rupes • 
 INACCESSA.' Earlsferry, a burgh of regality, co. Fife, 
 places on its Common seal a lymphad sailing on the waves. 
 Edinburgh's first Common seal of the royal burgh 
 employed the castle type, with a reverse showing the 
 niched effigy of St. Giles between thistle sprigs. The 
 later seal depicts the castle as standing on a rocky base, 
 and St. Giles in a canopied niche with his fawn and 
 book. Another seal ad causas represents Edinburgh 
 Castle with a flag charged with St. Andrew's cross flying 
 from the central tower of the conventional fortress. The 
 town of Leith used a seal on which was a view of the 
 port with a castle and a ship. The legend is 
 
 ' SIGILLUM BURGI [dE ED]iNBURGH VILLE SUE 
 DE LEITH 15 . .' 
 
 The burgh of Canongate, or Holyrood vicecanonry, had 
 a fifteenth-century seal engraved with a stag, carrying a 
 cross between its horns and a saltire over its back, between 
 a chapel and a group of trees, all set on a mount replenished 
 244 
 
LOCAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 with herbage. Its barony of Portsburgh gives a view of 
 the Castle, triple-towered, with the barony-street of houses, 
 church, fields, trees, birds, and the sun in radiance in 
 a cloudy sky. Its Royal College of Physicians in 1682 
 caused an armorial seal to be made, bearing the arms 
 of the College, crest, supporters, and motto : ' non • sinit 
 • ESSE- FEROS,' from Ovid {Pont. ii. 9, 48). The ' Tttn- 
 diatores^ or hammermen of Edinburgh, bore on their 
 seal a niche of five pinnacles, enshrining the patron 
 draped in flowing dress and holding a hammer and key. 
 The Revolution Club of the city, 1747, designed for its 
 seal a hand holding a human heart, from which issue 
 two hands holding swords ; from the centre rises a thistle 
 with crown upheld by angels, between a crescent and a 
 fleur-de-lis, the whole encircled with laurel branches. 
 The mottoes are as significant as the devices : ' mente • 
 
 MANUQUE,' and ' tandem • BONA • CAUSA • TRIUMPHAT.' 
 
 Elgin Burgh seal figures St. Giles with book and 
 staff, fourteenth century. Falkland, a royal burgh 
 in CO. Fife, has on its common seal a stag lodged 
 reguardant beneath a fructed oak-tree on a mount. Its 
 legend is 
 
 ' DISCITE JUSTITIAM MONITI NON TEMNERE CHRISTUM.' 
 
 Forfar affects heraldry. Forres, co. Elgin, places on its 
 fifteenth-century Burgh seal an effigy of St. Laurence 
 with book and gridiron, the sun and the moon, and other 
 emblems. Glasgow gives us, on the Common seal of 
 the city, St. Kentigern. Haddington royal burgh 
 represents David, King of Scots, enthroned, with sceptre 
 and royal arms, and on the reverse the ancient fancy 
 of a goat leaping up to a fruit-bearing tree. The charge 
 of the arms of the royal burgh of Inverness, on the seal 
 of 1439, is not on a shield. It is a representation of 
 our Lord on the Cross. On the reverse, the Virgin 
 crowned and enthroned, with the Child and sceptre, 
 attended by the radiant sun and crescent moon. The 
 
 245 
 
SEALS 
 
 throne here is adorned with terminal heads of animals. 
 Inverkeithing burgh, co. Fife, had on its first Common 
 seal of the fourteenth century a crowned king, perhaps 
 William the Lion, holding the conventional emblem of 
 a founder, a model of a church ; on the reverse a galley 
 or lymphad. Irvine, co. Ayr, a royal burgh, used the 
 figure of the Virgin holding the Child. Its counterseal 
 is a lion sejant guardant holding a sword and sceptre, 
 perhaps the royal crest. A later seal places the lion 
 between two trees and other devices. The burgh of 
 Jedburgh, co. Roxburgh, also depicted the Virgin and 
 Child. Its first Common seal, fourteenth century, shows 
 the Coronation of the Virgin, with the Almighty Father, 
 the moon, stars, and triplets of pellets, all within an 
 elaborate quatrefoil panel. Kilrenny, a royal burgh of 
 CO. Fife, devoted to the fishery industry, has a curious 
 Common seal on which is seen a rowing-boat on waves 
 with a fisherman letting down a hooked line. The sun 
 here, also, is in a cloudy sky. The legend is in barbarous 
 Latin : ' semper • tibi • pendiat • ramus • kilrenny ' : 
 perhaps there is a hidden meaning in the words. King- 
 horn, a royal burgh in the same county, shows St. Leonard 
 on its first seal, on its second a castle front, with closed 
 portal and turrets. Kinloss, co. Elgin, for the Regality 
 seal designs the Virgin and Child, with composite emblem 
 of bell, saltire, and pastoral staff. Kintore, co. Aberdeen, 
 bears a fructed tree for its royal burgh Common seal. 
 
 Kirkcudbright assumed in the fifteenth century a 
 shield of curious arms : St. Cuthbert holding the dis- 
 severed head of St. Oswald in a galley. A later seal bears 
 a ship with flags charged with St. Andrew's cross, that 
 at the stern surcharged with a lion rampant. Lanark 
 burgh and city had several seals. The principal motif 
 in them is the double-headed eagle displayed, and there 
 are other emblems with it. Lauder, a royal burgh, 
 CO. Berwick, depicts the Virgin and Child : Leith places 
 these divine personages on a ship, and adds a canopy 
 overhead ; and for its Kirk Sessions' seal, 1598, gives 
 246 
 
LOCAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 a representation of the church with churchyard filled with 
 slabs, the royal arms crowned, over the doorway; a second 
 seal, 1608, giving the church, five tombs, and above the 
 roof three stars. Linlithgow's Royal Burgh seals have 
 for their principal device a greyhound, perhaps by way 
 of rebus on the final part of the name. In one seal an 
 angel on a mount supports a shield bearing a hound 
 chained to a tree on waves. A fourteenth-century seal 
 has for its counterseal the combat of Michael and the 
 Dragon, with a legend which resembles that of the Leper- 
 house in the town : — 
 
 'COLLOCET IN CELIS NOS OMNES VIS MICHAELIS.' 
 
 Melrose, burgh of barony, had a fourteenth-century 
 * cokete ' seal of royal armorial design. Montrose, 
 on its thirteenth-century Common seal, bears a rose or 
 cinquefoil, on a later seal an eight-leaved rose, and 
 finally a double rose en soleil. Nairn, a sainted bishop : 
 Newhaven, the Virgin and Child, with royal arms : 
 North Berwick, co. Haddington, a galley of fishermen 
 with lion rampant, crowned head, pennon of St. Andrew, 
 and radiant sun illumining the motto : ' victoria • 
 GLORIA • MERGES.' Paisley figures its patron bishop, St. 
 Mirinus, and adds heraldic bearings. Peebles gives a coat 
 of arms and inscription: 'contranando- incrementum.' 
 
 The royal burgh of Perth bore on a seal once attached 
 to a deed dated 1296, in the Record Office, London, on 
 the obverse an arcade containing under the central arch 
 St. John Baptist's effigy, standing with the Agnus Dei in 
 his hand between two kneeling monks on each side. In 
 base two wyverns with tails nowed. The reverse gives the 
 scene of the Decollation of the Saint in the presence of 
 the daughter of Herodias, under an architectural edifice. 
 Also on the two later seals is the eagle rising charged 
 on the breast with a shield of the arms of the town, 
 a Holy Lamb with cross-staff and banner-flag of St. 
 Andrew, all within a tressure of Scotland. Pittenweem, 
 
 247 
 
SEALS 
 
 CO. Fife, used the galley type, the vessel bearing a figure 
 of St. Augustine, paddled by mariners, and having on 
 the flag a lion rampant. The later seal added the motto 
 ' DEO • DUCE.' Prestwick, co. Ayr, a burgh of barony, 
 placed on its fifteenth-century seal a niched effigy of St. 
 Ninian with a triple-towered castle and a leafy bough. 
 South Queensferry, in co. Linlithgow, a royal burgh, 
 used the effigy of St. Margaret, crowned Queen of Scots, 
 with sceptre, and in base a small ship. The work is poor 
 and coarse. A later seal shows the royal lady standing 
 in a boat, and on the reverse an erroneous heraldic 
 design, viz. on a cross fleury between four martlets, 
 a martlet. This is intended to, and does to some extent 
 only, stand for the arms of King Edward the Confessor, 
 great-uncle of the saint. Renfrew, royal burgh, had a 
 fifteenth-century Common seal, with the ship or galley 
 type, the vessel carrying two shields of arms, and accom- 
 panied by the sun-star and crescent. The Common seal 
 of the burgh of Rosmarkie, counties Ross and Cromarty, 
 is of archaic appearance, and bears an effigy of St. 
 Peter. 
 
 Rothesay, in the Isle of Bute, had an interesting 
 seal, upwards of two inches in diameter. On the one 
 side is an embattled castle between sun and moon, 
 in base a galley or lymphad ; on the other side, upon 
 a staff, a shield of arms of Stuart, viz. a fess chequy. 
 The legend properly reads 
 
 * VILLA • DE • ROTHISSA • LIBERIUS • DATUR • PER-ROBERTUM- 
 STUART • REGEM • SCOTORU[m],' 
 
 in reference to the more free confirmation of the original 
 liberties and privileges of a royal burgh on this town by 
 King Robert in. in 1401. There is a later seal on which 
 the same devices are combined and empaled in one 
 shield. Rutherglen, co. Lanark, had a seal of the four- 
 teenth century, bearing on the obverse an effigy of the 
 Virgin and Child between two thurifer angels, on the 
 248 
 
 I 
 
 ', I 
 
LOCAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 reverse a galley navigated by two seamen. The legends 
 are respectively : 
 
 ' SIGNANT • ISTA • TRIA • RATA • NAVIS • NAUTA • MARIA • 
 FIRMUM • TRANQUILLUM • DE • RUGLEN • JUNGE • SIGILLUM.' 
 
 St. Monans, a burgh of barony, co. Fife, adopted the 
 boat type, the vessel handled by four men casting a net : 
 to which is added the crest and motto of the Leslies : 
 ' GRIP • FAST,' and in base ' mare • vivimus.' St. Andrews, 
 royal burgh of Fifeshire, had several seals. One, of the 
 fifteenth century, shows a bishop enthroned, standing on 
 a wyvern between two others, one of which is coronetted, 
 all within a tressure of Scotland. On the reverse is St. 
 Andrew, crucified, and a wild boar beneath a tree, all 
 within a similar tressure. The motto, ' CURSUS • apri • 
 REGALis,' refers to the venatorial origin of the city. The 
 boar appears again on a later seal. The University de- 
 lineates St. Andrew on the saltire, a teacher with pupils, 
 and armorials. St. Saviour's College depicts the Saviour 
 as Judge of the Universe, with heraldry ; St. Leonard's 
 College represents the eponymic patron of the Institution ; 
 the Theological College has an allegorical design of 
 Religion vanquishing a skeleton, leaning on a tau cross, 
 and receiving the Book of Inspiration. The choristers of 
 Holy Trinity Church had a sixteenth-century seal on 
 which is a shield bearing a death's-head and thigh-bone, 
 with a badly spelled motto : ' moryeris.' Selkirk, a 
 royal burgh, had on its fifteenth-century Common seal 
 the effigy of the Virgin Mary with the Child, and 
 armorials. The background is replenished with trees in 
 reference to the supposed meaning of the name of the 
 town, Sel-kirk, ' forest • church.' 
 
 Stirling, a royal burgh, had an interesting thirteenth- 
 century Common seal, measuring upwards of three inches 
 in diameter. On the one side is a bridge over a river, 
 thereon is our Lord on the cross, attended by the sun and 
 moon, and set between two opposing groups each of three 
 
 249 
 
SEALS 
 
 combatants, the one with spears, the other with bows. It 
 is believed to refer to the victory of the Scots under 
 Wallace over the English, and the legend appears to 
 bear this out, although several interpretations have been 
 made : 
 
 * HIC • ARMIS • BRUTI • SCOTI • STANT • HIC • CRUCE • TUTI.' 
 
 The reverse bears a triple-towered castle and a lawn with 
 trees in the foreground, to explain the nemus of the 
 legend : 
 
 ' CONTINET • HOC • IN • SE • NEMUS • ET • CASTRUM • 
 
 STRIVELINSE.' 
 
 A later seal shows an animal, either wolf or lamb, in a 
 thicket or nemus. The ' cokete ' seal of the regality of 
 Stratherne, an ancient district of Perthshire, used by 
 David Stuart, Earl of Stratherne, in 1374, employs a 
 shield of compounded arms, the fess chequy of Stuart, 
 between the two chevrons of Stratherne, within a double 
 tressure flory-counterflory of Scotland, within an elaborate 
 trefoil panel. The royal burgh of Tain, counties Ross 
 and Cromarty, gives on its seal an effigy of its patron St. 
 Duthac, Duffus, or Duthus, and that of the burgh of 
 barony of Thurso, co. Caithness, one of St. Peter with 
 two keys. There are many other local seals of Scotland, 
 but the above mentioned are some of the best and very 
 typical. By their light most of the others not here 
 described can be deciphered and understood. 
 
 250 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 SCOTTISH HERALDRY AND DEVICES 
 
 SCOTTISH Heraldic seals, that is seals bearing 
 armorial charges, generally upon shields or 
 helmets, but occasionally without the shield or 
 other indication of an heraldic nature, obey much the 
 same rules as do the heraldic seals of England. But 
 there is an indefinable character about Scottish seals of 
 arms which can only be learned by constantly examining 
 the specimens. The shields are not so deeply cut in 
 the matrix, nor so delicately drawn as in the English 
 examples, and there is a peculiar provincialism in the 
 proportions of the charges which varies from the English 
 ideas. This in some instances amounts almost to a 
 ruggedness befitting the wild nature of some parts of the 
 country. Like the English, on the other hand, they 
 follow the same chronology, being rare before the 
 middle of the twelfth century, gradually becoming more 
 numerous, more elaborate, and better in design and 
 execution until the early years of the sixteenth century, 
 when the art wanes, and decadence and deterioration 
 in most cases sets in. There are many works on the 
 subject of Scottish armorial seals, Astle and Laing have 
 recorded numerous examples, and writers on Scottish 
 Pedigrees, Genealogies, and Family Histories have 
 generally devoted attention to this subject in their several 
 works, while the works issued by such literary clubs as 
 the Bannatyne Club, the Grampian Club, the Spalding 
 Club, the Scottish History Society, and the Ayrshire and 
 Galloway Archaeological Association, will be found to 
 contain much information and good illustrations of such 
 
 251 
 
SEALS 
 
 seals. The Catalogue of Seals preserved in the Depart- 
 ment of MSS. in the British Museum records a large 
 number of these relics, many of which were acquired 
 from the collections formed by the late Henry Laing, 
 to whom the principal owners of charters and family 
 archives in Scotland threw open their muniment-rooms. 
 The recent work by Mr. W. R. Macdonald, Carrick 
 Pursuivant, catalogues about three thousand heraldic 
 seals of Scotland, including such ecclesiastical and 
 monastic seals as have shields of arms among their 
 subordinate details. Among the principal repertories 
 of armorial seals of Scotland may be mentioned the 
 charters collected by David Laing and bequeathed to 
 Edinburgh University, those in the General Register 
 House in that city ; the Swinton Collection deposited in 
 the same House ; the Coldingham Charters — an exceed- 
 ingly valuable series — belonging to the Dean and Chapter 
 of Durham ; the charters and detached seals and the 
 Hutton Casts, preserved by the Society of Antiquaries of 
 Scotland ; the late Sir William Eraser's collection of 
 charters and seals ; and those in possession of several 
 towns in the kingdom. The wax used in Scotland is 
 generally of an uncoloured or self-coloured tint, often 
 faced with a layer of bright red where the impression 
 from the matrix is to be stamped on the mass. In this 
 respect it resembles that of some that belong to England, 
 and some that come from European countries. The 
 legends of the earlier seals are for the most part rudely 
 cut and wanting in elegance of symmetry, but the later 
 seals, after the taste for English and Erench models had 
 sprung up, approach very near to their models in the 
 excellence of their ensemble. 
 
 Passing in review these armorial and heraldic remains 
 in a general alphabetical order, and noting peculiarities 
 as we proceed, it will be seen that while the earlier seals 
 in point of date confine their design to a shield, either 
 upright or coiichd, that is slightly oblique or slopingly 
 placed, as the age goes forward a crest on a helmet is 
 252 
 
 \ 
 
SCOTTISH HERALDRY AND DEVICES 
 
 added, a lambrequin is given to the helmet, supporters 
 make their appearance, a motto is inscribed on a liston 
 or escrol, the backgrounds are adorned or replenished 
 with trees or two, three, or more sprigs of foliage and 
 flowers, occasionally a badge is introduced, and, like con- 
 temporary English seals, they become more intricate and 
 elaborate both as to the heraldry and to the ornamentation. 
 The seal of William Abercrombie, in 1296, is a 
 good example of armorial bearings not on a shield, a 
 boar's head couped between a crescent in chief and in 
 base an estoile. Sir George Abernethy, in 1368, places 
 his shield within a pointed trefoil panel. Malcolm, Earl 
 of Angus, 1 2 14-1242, bears a heart-shaped shield, on 
 which the charge is a lion passant guardant. Alexander 
 of Argyll, Lord of Lorn, in 1292, allows his armorial 
 charge to run beyond the limit of the shield. It is a 
 lymphad, with the head of a dragon at each end, but the 
 mast extends beyond the shield and forms the cross 
 which we look for at the beginning of the legend. Alan 
 of Argyll, valet of the royal household of England, 
 also adopted the dragon or wyvern at the side of his 
 shield, by way of an early supporter, in 1319. Helias de 
 Ayton, in the thirteenth century, used the device of an 
 eagle displayed, not on a shield ; but, as Waldevus de 
 Ayton puts the same device on a shield, we may assume 
 that the seal of Helias is heraldic. The shield of Eustace 
 de Balliol, a knight, about 1190, is charged with an 
 escarbuncle, possibly the forerunner of the orle which 
 is the more generally known charge of the family, but 
 it may be that this escarbuncle, which certainly has little 
 in common with the appearance of an orle accompanied 
 by a central umbo, as borne by his son, is quite an 
 arbitrary design derived from the metal strips employed 
 to strengthen the leathern target for defensive purposes 
 in battle. Alexander de Balliol, in an equestrian seal of 
 1293, decorates his horse with a plume of feathers. 
 Alexander Barclay, of co. Forfar, used in 1444 a crest 
 of a stag's head, but this appears also to be an individual 
 
 253 
 
SEALS 
 
 bearing not followed on other seals of the family. Alex- 
 ander Barron, a bailie, adds to his shield and crest the 
 motto ' IN • TYM • BE • VER.' David Beaton, in 1286, sus- 
 pends his shield from a tree between two wyverns sans 
 wings, the prototype of the armorial supporter. Robert 
 Beaton does the like in 1296. James Bell, Baron of 
 Broughton, in 1604, gives a good example of a late heraldic 
 seal with supporters, consisting of two allegorical figures of 
 Peace with a palm-leaf, and Justice with sword and balance. 
 Elizabeth Bisset or Bysete, in 1280, as Lady of 
 Kelrevock and late wife of Andrew de Bosco, places 
 on her seal two lions combatant between four shields 
 each bearing a bend. An angel holds up the shield of 
 arms of John Boncle, in 1449, an idea perhaps borrowed 
 from the design often found on Belgian and Low 
 Countries' seals. In 1464 the same idea is found on the 
 heraldic seal of Sir Edward Boncle, first provost of 
 Trinity College Church, Edinburgh. Sir William Borth- 
 wick of Borthwick, knight, puts, in 1398, on his armorial 
 shield, couchdy a helmet crested with a griffin's head, and 
 adds two lions sejant for supporters. Long before this 
 date, crests had come into use. But they 'were a 
 novelty,' we are told by Sir H. Maxwell in his preface 
 to the Scalacronica just published (1907), 'in the attire 
 of a knight in the fourteenth century. Barbour says that 
 they were first seen in the campaign of Weardale, 1327, 
 and mentions them as one of twa novelryis, the other 
 being cannon.' William, fourth Lord Borthwick, in 
 1522 modified the supporters into two lions sejant 
 guardant couds. Robert Boyd of Kilmarnock, afterwards 
 Lord Boyd, to his arms and crest adds, in 1452, as 
 supporters, two squirrels, which were also borne by 
 Robert, the fourth lord, in 1575. Robert Broughton, 
 on a seal not dated but probably of the thirteenth century, 
 used a double-headed eagle displayed, not on a shield, 
 and perhaps not truly armorial. An angel supports the 
 armorial seal of William Bronclerk, or Clerk, one of the 
 bailies of Edinburgh in 1515. On her seal, in 1280, 
 
 254 
 
SCOTTISH HERALDRY AND DEVICES 
 
 the elegant effigy of Lady Margaret Bruce of Kendal, 
 daughter of Peter de Bruce of Skelton, and wife of 
 Robert de Ros of Wark, holds up the shields of arms of 
 her husband and her father. The counterseal of Robert 
 Bruce, the Competitor, in 1291, bears a shield in a cusped 
 panel with the field ornamented with flowers and foliage. 
 
 Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, in 1285, places his 
 shield between two wyverns. Marjory, his Countess, in 
 the same year, hangs her shield to a tree. In this she is 
 followed by her son, Robert, afterwards King of Scots, 
 1306-1329. The shield of Thomas Bullyn, Canon of 
 Glasgow, in 1460, is upheld by an angel. That of John, 
 Earl of Caithness, in 1296, has a hare above it, and two 
 wyverns at the sides, perhaps intended for a crest and 
 supporters. Hugh Calder is credited, in 1528, with 
 armorials not on a shield : a stag's head cabossed, that 
 is seen from the front, the attires within a circle which 
 perhaps stands for a buckle, one of the family charges. 
 The Campbells used the crest of a boar's head and two 
 lions for supporters, the latter not always in the same 
 heraldic pose. Archibald Campbell, the ill-fated Lord 
 of Lorn, and Marquess of Argyll, executed in 1661, bore 
 the motto 'ne • obliviscaris,' equivalent to the humbler 
 vernacular ' Dinna forget.' Dugald Campbell, or M'Coull, 
 in 1528, suspends the family shield of arms on the mast 
 of a lymphad. Sir Colin Campbell, knight, of Glen- 
 urquhay, changes, in 1556, the usual supporters to two 
 stags, and Hugh Campbell, first Lord of Loudoun, has for 
 a crest, in 161 o, a double-headed eagle, and for supporters 
 two stags * on a compartment of grass.' His motto was 
 ' I • BYD • MY • TYM.' Alan, Lord Cathcart, in 1450, used 
 for a crest the design of a maiden's bust, and for sup- 
 porters two wood-women or savages. 
 
 The crest borne by some of the family of Chalmers on 
 their armorial seals is a plume of three or two feathers, 
 and on a fifteenth-century seal two lions sejant guardant 
 appear as supporters. Mariota, daughter of Reginald de 
 Chen of Inverugie, and wife of John Keith, surrounded 
 
 255 
 
SEALS 
 
 her heraldic seal in 1390 with seven annulets, and placed 
 the whole within a trefoil. Alexander Cockburn, in 1375, 
 adopted the method of placing his shield, couchS, crested, 
 in a carved panel enriched along the inner edge with 
 ball-flowers, which had become a favourite detail with 
 architectural sculptors at this time. William Cockburn, 
 in the fourteenth century, adorns his two supporters, 
 lions sejant, with a mantling round the neck, charged 
 with three buckles, and introduces two triple-flowered 
 rose-branches into the background. A double quatrefoil 
 encloses the armorial bearings of John Cullace, or de 
 Culas, in 1340, on a seal preserved among the Newbattle 
 Charters. 
 
 The supporters of the family arms of Colquhoun, in 
 two instances, 1475 and 1535, are two dogs, in the 
 former case greyhounds, in the latter, talbots. James, 
 first Lord Colville of Culross, 1604- 1620, supports his 
 shield of arms with a savage or woodman, and an 
 antelope cou4. William Crab of Aberdeen, 1499, places 
 on a tilting helmet over his shield a human head in 
 profile between two wings erect ; his supporters are two 
 swans or herons with open wings. Thomas de Krane- 
 broun, or Cranburn, in a seal of the fourteenth century 
 style, descends to a rebus, and takes the crest of a crane's 
 neck, on a helmet with mantling. Reginald Crawford, 
 1296, places over his arms a fox passant, and at each side 
 a hound courant. William Crichton, 1440, supports his 
 crested shield with a maiden on the dexter side only. 
 Robert, second Lord Crichton of Sanquhar, 1502, crests 
 his shield with a parrot's head on a helmet with mantling. 
 The third Lord, William, used helmet and mantling but 
 no crest. Henry Crichton, in 1525, over his shield 
 couch4, places a helmet with mantling, and for crest a 
 mermaid furnished, as usually is the case, with mirror 
 and comb. Alexander Commin or Cumming, second 
 Earl of Buchan, about 1240- 1289, took a fan-plume of 
 seven feathers on his helmet for a crest, and puts the 
 same device on the head of his caparisoned warhorse. 
 256 
 
SCOTTISH HERALDRY AND DEVICES 
 
 John Cumming, or Comyn, discards the shield in his 
 remarkable armorial seal of an eagle displayed with three 
 garbs (the charge of this family), one on its breast and one 
 on each wing. This is an interesting example of the 
 heraldic art about the year 1300. William Comin's 
 shield is held up by the beak of a bird, all set in a pointed 
 Gothic trefoil, in 1290. Somewhat similar in conception 
 is the design used by Alexander Cumyn, Lord of Buchan, 
 in 1297, who places his armorials on a shield on the 
 breast of an eagle displayed, with three small pellets at 
 each side of its head. Edmund Comin surrounds his 
 shield of arms, in a seal of about the year 1300, with three 
 wyverns, which are favourite heraldic creatures of fanciful 
 origin and obscure symbolism. They are seen on seals 
 of all countries and of various dates. Alexander 
 Cunningham, fifth Earl of Glencairn, 1547, takes the 
 crest of a unicorn's head, in 1556, on a coroneted helmet, 
 and for supporters has recourse, as did also David 
 Cunningham, Bishop of Aberdeen, 1577-1603, to the 
 rebus of two conies, or rabbits, an erroneous derivation 
 for the family surname. Nigel Cunningham, Lord of 
 Yester, in 1374, places his shield in a pointed trefoil with 
 ball-flowered edgings. David Cunningham, 1500, takes, 
 by way of supporters, two pelicans in piety, as the 
 heralds describe the action of the bird vulning or 
 wounding its breast to feed its young with its own blood, 
 according to the traditional habit of the pelican, which is 
 hereby taken to be an emblem of our Lord. The motto 
 here is ' miserere • mei • domine.' The supporters of 
 the heraldic seal of James Dalrymple, first Viscount 
 Stair, 1 690- 1 695, are two storks, each with a serpent in 
 its beak, and the motto is ironical : ' quiescam.' 
 
 The Douglas family were rich in finely designed seals, 
 some of considerable size. That of William, Lord, and 
 afterwards Earl of Douglas about 1357 and of Mar about 
 1374, suspends his shield, in 1356, by the strap to a tree 
 and sets it in a carved Gothic panel. Earl William also 
 in another seal, 1369, supported his shield with a lion 
 R 257 
 
I 
 
 SEALS 
 
 rampant behind it, having a helmet on its head with crest 
 
 of a plume of feathers. A third seal gives two lions 
 
 sejant for supporters, helmeted and crested with a plume. 
 
 Behind these are two trees. The background is diaprd. 
 
 Other members of the family use somewhat similar 
 
 designs. Sir Archibald Douglas, Lord of Galloway, 
 
 crests his shield with a tower embattled, wherefrom 
 
 issues a peacock's head holding in the beak a scroll 
 
 bearing the motto *what-tyde.' The same noble 
 
 personage used, on another seal, 1393, two woodmen or 
 
 savages as supporters. These supporters figure on other 
 
 seals of the earls. Archibald, fifth Earl, took two angels 
 
 to support his shield of arms. James Douglas, third 
 
 Earl of Angus, 1437- 1446, had a seal which closely 
 
 resembles that of Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl, 1403- 
 
 1437. The crest is a plume of feathers ; the supporters a 
 
 stag kneeling, and a maiden wreathed, and reclining with 
 
 a flower in her hand. There is a tree behind each 
 
 supporter, and the whole design is set in a ' park,' fenced 
 
 with wattle and having trees at intervals, and a rabbit, or 
 
 cony, at each side. George, the fourth Earl, follows 
 
 this design. Archibald, eighth Earl, puts on his 
 
 coroneted helmet a salamander for a crest. His motto, 
 
 also adopted by his successors, is ' iamais • arriere.' All 
 
 these Douglas seals, and many which want of space 
 
 prevents us from mentioning, are of great interest for 
 
 the beauty of their design and the true Scottish art feeling 
 
 which they exhibit. The family of Drummond was also 
 
 noted for its fine seals. Various crests were used, among ;■ 
 
 others an eagle's head and wings and a talbot's head. . 
 
 For supporters the two woodmen or savages, sometimes J 
 
 holding clubs, appear to be favoured, and there is one seal i 
 
 showing the eagle displayed bearing the shield of arms on t 
 
 its breast, and thus becoming a kind of supporter. \ 
 
 The Dunbars had several interesting seals ; many of i 
 
 the equestrian type have shields of arms as component 
 
 parts of the armour. The crest used by Patrick Dunbar, 
 
 second Earl of March, 1334, is a tower embattled, where- 
 
 258 
 
SCOTTISH HERALDRY AND DEVICES 
 
 out is issuing the half-length figure of a maiden, un- 
 draped, with flowing hair, holding a coronet in each hand : 
 at each side of the tower is the head and forepart of a 
 lion resting one of its gambs, or paws, on the helmet 
 which carries the crest. The same earl, in 1357, used 
 the crest of a horse's head bridled, the supporters being 
 two men in doublets with pointed cap and tall feather. 
 In another seal we observe the panache or fan-plume 
 both on the helmet and the horse's head. Alexander, 
 third son of Patrick Dunbar, seventh earl, who flourished 
 in 1 33 1, took for his arms a lion rampant within a royal 
 tressure, and suspends the shield by the strap from a 
 branch, with two roses at the sides. His son also 
 adopted the royal tressure, 1352, and placed the shield 
 within a rose of tracery having eight cusps. 
 
 George, tenth Earl of Dunbar, has two lions sejant 
 to support his shield, cotichd, and the background is nicely 
 diapered on seals of 1369, 1371, and other years to 1428, 
 the eleventh earl of the same name then using the later 
 seal of this type. Another branch of the Dunbar family, 
 Earls of Moray, used the crest of a stag's head, but the 
 lion supporters were retained. Here the armorial bear- 
 ings were the three cushions of Randolph within a 
 royal tressure. Sir William Edmondston of Duntreath, 
 Justice-General of Scotland, 1470, takes the crest of a 
 horse's head on a coroneted helmet, and supports his 
 shield of arms with two lions rampant. The woodmen 
 or wildmen, favourite Scottish emblems, appear again 
 as supporters for members of the family of Elphinstone 
 in the fifteenth century and afterwards. But James 
 Elphinstone, Lord Coupar, supports his armorial bear- 
 ings in the seal of 1620 with two winged stags. The 
 Erskines had several crests, a boar's head, a griffin's 
 head, neck, and wings, a swan's head or neck and wings, 
 a dexter hand holding a scimitar, and in 1663 a demi- 
 lion rampant. The supporters are in some cases two 
 griffins. A favourite motto for the members of this family 
 is ' jE • PANS • PLUS ' or * jE • PANSE • PLUS.' The Flem- 
 
 259 
 
SEALS 
 
 ings had several good heraldic seals. That of Malcolm 
 Fleming, who became Earl of Wigtown in 1341, gives 
 the shield of arms in a pointed quatrefoil with hunting 
 subjects, hawk and heron, dog and stag, in the four 
 spaces. 
 
 The noble family of Eraser can show a goodly- 
 array of armorial seals. The crest in some is a stag's 
 head, in one a maiden's head and neck, draped and 
 hooded. Sir Peter Eraser, 1705, has two stags for 
 supporters. The Gordons, another noble family of Scot- 
 land, have left many interesting seals to delight the 
 antiquary and herald. Here the crests are a boar's head 
 with long neck between wings, and a stag's head with 
 a wreath of roses about the neck ; the supporters, two 
 greyhounds, and two savages with clubs occur among 
 the seals. The Graham family are also able to show 
 many fine seals with armorial bearings, and crests of 
 a vulture's head, a peacock's head, a falcon trussing a 
 heron, a hound's head, a stag's head cabossed, an eagle's 
 head and wings, a phoenix in flames, and other devices. 
 John Graham, in 1309, places three wyverns about his 
 shield of arms. The Grays appear to have used the crest 
 of a swan's neck. Gilbert Greenlaw, Bishop of Aberdeen, 
 1390, supports his shield of arms by an angel holding 
 it up in front. Alexander Guthrie, 1503, has the crest 
 of a lady's head with tall conical headgear. Hamilton is 
 another noble family of Scotland which possessed very 
 numerous heraldic seals with various crests. The crest 
 not being, like the arms on the shield, so exclusive in its 
 use by a family, it could be altered at will ; and although 
 we find in some cases the same crest used by consecutive 
 representatives of the same family, on the other hand we 
 find the same person used several crests, and the crests 
 varying in successive generations, which is, of course, 
 quite a correct proceeding from the point of view of 
 heraldic practice. Robert Haliman, on his armorial 
 seal among the Durham Charters, in 1304, places a rose 
 between two radiant estoiles and an increscent above the 
 260 
 
 I 
 
SCOTTISH HERALDRY AND DEVICES 
 
 shield, and two estoiles at the sides. The family of 
 Hamilton possessed many seals of much variety and 
 interest. The crests used by the several members are 
 not uniform : on some the boar's head, or a tree with the 
 horns of an antelope sawing through it ; on others the 
 oak-tree traversed by a frame-saw, the more usual crest ; 
 two dexter-hands issuing from clouds, clasped and grasp- 
 ing a laurel branch ; a goat's head and a lion's head. 
 Many of these seals are ornamented with fine tracery 
 symmetrically disposed, and the supporters — two ante- 
 lopes — often occur, but occasionally other supporters are 
 met with, for these, like crests, may be changed at will. 
 
 Sir Edmund Hastings, Lord of Inchmahome, places, 
 in 1 30 1, a wyvern sans wings above his shield of arms. 
 The Hays are rich in old seals, and use various crests to 
 accompany the usual armorial bearings of the family. 
 One crest is worthy of notice. It is that of Sir William 
 Hay of Naughton, knight, who had a mermaid holding a 
 mirror, and in the background a river flowing between 
 trees. The Hepburn seals are numerous, and the family 
 motto, * KEiP TRYST,' occurs on some of them. Those 
 of the family of Home and Hume supply many fine 
 examples covering several centuries. The same may be 
 said of many other noble Scottish families. William 
 Keith, Great Marischal of Scotland, 1350- 1407, orna- 
 ments the field of his armorial shield with a diaper 
 lozengy, and encloses it in a panel or rosette of elaborate 
 tracery. Robert Keith, in 1442, also Great Marischal, 
 used by way of supporters a tree of foliage and flowers 
 growing on a mount on each side of the shield, cotichd. 
 The Keith crests are varied, and the mottoes include 
 
 * DEUS • MEUS • ME • ADSIT,' and a doubtful ' VERITAS • 
 
 viNCiT.' Kerr is another noble Scots family, rich in 
 seals with armorial bearings and crests. Robert, second 
 Earl of Lothian, 161 7, had for supporters an angel and 
 a unicorn. Other members of this family have two 
 savages or woodmen with clubs. Sir Adam de Kilcon- 
 quhar, knight, third Earl of Carrick in right of his wife 
 
 261 
 
SEALS 
 
 Marjory, daughter of Nigel, second Earl, appears to 
 have marked his accession to the honour of knighthood 
 by putting on his seal the figure of the lady with flowing 
 dress, holding a pennon ensigned with a cross, and pre- 
 senting a shield of arms to an armed knight on horse- 
 back who is receiving it. John de Laundel, or Landale, 
 son of William Laundel of Teviotdale, had a cleverly 
 designed seal, with a stag's head cabossed, between an 
 estoile and a cinquefoil ; the shield of arms is set between 
 the antlers or attires. The date of the deed among the 
 Melrose Charters, which bears this interesting design, is 
 1224. Another member of the same family, Freskin de 
 Landeles, copies this device with a slight alteration, in 
 1296. The Landers yield many good seals of arms. 
 
 The Lenoxes or Lennoxes, in old times Levenax, used 
 the adjunct of Gothic tracery and the device of a tree to 
 which the shield was suspended. The family of Leslie 
 also show good seals with variable crests and supporters. 
 One crest is an angel's head with opened wings ; another 
 a dexter-hand and arm erect, holding a sword. Margaret 
 Leslie (daughter of Sir Walter Leslie and Euphemia, 
 Countess of Ross, and grand-daughter of William, sixth 
 Earl of Ross), wife of Donald Macdonald, Lord of the 
 Isles, used in 1440 the device of a lady beneath a Gothic 
 canopy, supporting with each hand a shield which is 
 set on the back of a dragon standing on a plinth, or 
 pedestal, beneath a side canopy. The arms are those of 
 the Isles and of Ross. The noble family of Lindsay 
 contributes nearly seventy armorial examples to the 
 known series of Scottish heraldic seals, and many of 
 them are of very good execution. Sir David, son of Sir 
 Alexander Lindsay of Crawford, in 1346, employed a fine 
 design of tracery forming a star of eight points, and set 
 thereon an eagle displayed with a shield of arms on its 
 breast. The early crest appears to be the swan's neck and 
 the supporters two lions ; in one case at least the lions 
 have the head and face of a woman. The feathers of the 
 heron or the ostrich accompany the crest or supporters 
 262 
 
 i 
 
SCOTTISH HERALDRY AND DEVICES 
 
 in some seals. David, eleventh Earl of Crawford, 1574- 
 1607, varied the crest by using a swan passant holding 
 a ring in its beak. John, twentieth Earl, 17 13-1749, has 
 for supporters a lion sejant and a griffin segreant, while 
 the supporters are two griffins, in 1390, for Sir William 
 Lindsay of the Byres, who died in 1424, and for John 
 his son, in 1456, in common with other later members 
 of the family. Sir David Lindsay of Edzell, knight, 
 son of David, ninth Earl of Crawford, in 1589, had a 
 helmet and mantling over his shield of arms, but no 
 crest. The motto, ' dum • spiro • spero,' of this knight, 
 is a variant from the usual one of ' endure • fort,' 
 more frequently found. The Livingstons had many 
 armorial seals. George, third Earl of Linlithgow and 
 Lord of Livingston, in West Lothian, in 1682, puts on 
 his shield of quartered arms an escutcheon in surtout, 
 charged with two trees growing out of a base for the 
 title of Linlithgow. The crest is a demi-savage holding 
 a serpent, and the supporters two savages each holding 
 a serpent. The supporters for Sir James Livingston, 
 Earl of Calendar, in 1641, are two lions rampant 
 guardant on a seal of 1649. William Livingston varies 
 the crest by composing it of two serpents fessways 
 nowed, in 1459, ^^^ James Livingston of Brownie, in 
 15 1 7, varies it again by using two demi-serpents erect. 
 Another member of the family, conjectured to be Patrick, 
 of Benholme, used the surtout of an oak-tree growing 
 out of the base, within a bordure charged with eight gilly- 
 flowers for the title of Earl of Linlithgow, 1680. Walter 
 Logan, like some other arms-bearing personages already 
 mentioned, in 1296, sets his shield of arms between the 
 attires of a stag's head cabossed. Roger Lumsden uses 
 the device, 1326, of a hawk preying on a fish, but as this 
 is not on a shield it may not be heraldic. Patrick Lyon, 
 Lord Glamis, had the crest of a maiden with flowing 
 hair, between two sleeved arms embowed and raised 
 above her head. John, seventh Lord, 1543, used the 
 crest of a lion salient contourne, that is, turned to the 
 
 263 
 
SEALS 
 
 right-hand instead of the usual heraldic left-hand. 
 Angus Macdonald of the Isles, who died about 1292, 
 had on his seal a lymphad or small boat with four 
 mariners therein. This is not on a shield, but Alexander, 
 his eldest son, who died about 1303, and other successors 
 used the same design with variations and additional 
 details as armorial bearings. We have here, therefore, 
 a pre-heraldic type. The armorial bearings of the 
 Maitlands, Mackenzies, Mars, Macintoshes, and many 
 other noble families are corroborated by the seals of the 
 respective families, and serve as valuable proofs of the 
 antiquity of their bearings. The Maxwells have very 
 good heraldic designs on their seals, Robert, first Earl 
 of Nithsdale, 1637, delineated a double-headed eagle dis- | 
 
 played charged on its breast with a shield or escutcheon 
 of arms, and adds the family motto, ' i • bide • ye • fair.' 
 Herbert Maxwell, about 1296, puts wyverns at the top 
 and sides of his shield, and sets all within a quatre- 
 foil panel. There are several differentiations of the 
 arms of this family, but the saltire is the principal and 
 oldest charge. Sir John Menteith, younger son of 
 Walter Stewart, fifth Earl of Menteith, believed by some 
 to be probably the betrayer of the patriot Wallace, puts 
 his shield on the breast of a double-headed eagle, a some- 
 what favourite practice in Scottish heraldry at the close 
 of the thirteenth century, and later, as in the seal of 
 Master John Methuen, Provost of Lincluden and King's 
 Secretary, 1438. John de Menteith used, in 1496, the 
 crest of a swan's neck between wings. Sir Robert 
 Menzies of that Ilk, knight, in 151 1, possessed a seal on 
 which was a man in armour, kneeling on one knee, hold- 
 ing a spear and a shield of arms ; on his head a helmet 
 crested with the bust of a maiden, front face, veiled, 
 holding up a chaplet. The background of this interesting 
 seal is diapered with foliage. There is another seal of 
 Sir Robert Menzies of that Ilk, in 1539, designed after 
 a somewhat similar type. The Montgomery family had 
 fine seals; one of Hugh, third Earl of Eglinton, 1546, 
 264 
 
SCOTTISH HERALDRY AND DEVICES 
 
 had for crest a half-length female figure, holding an 
 anchor and what seems to be the head of a savage ; the 
 supporters are wyverns with dart-shaped tongues. Hugh, 
 the fifth Earl, has a very similar design on his armorial 
 seal. The crests of this family vary from time to time, 
 like those of many other families. The Murray family, 
 in like manner, contribute many notable examples to the 
 heraldic series of Scottish seals, with varying crests. 
 Sir John Murray, in 1296, places his shield in a pointed 
 quatrefoil panel. Alan Murray, 1320, suspends his 
 shield by a guige between two wyverns. Johanna 
 Murray, Countess of Douglas and Lady of Galloway, 
 married to Sir Thomas Murray, and secondly to Sir 
 Archibald Douglas, bears, in 1401, on her seal, two 
 shields supported by an angel. Patrick Noble, in 1296, 
 depicts a lady with the right hand on the breast and 
 holding the Agnus Dei in the left, and standing on two 
 shields. 
 
 The Ogilvie family used numerous seals of arms, 
 the crest generally consisting of a lady's head, some- 
 times attired with a horned head-dress. Walter Ogilvie, 
 of Dunlugus, in a Floors charter of 1542, has the 
 half-length figure of a lady, holding before her a 
 shield of her family arms. The Oliphants and the 
 Otterburns adopt rebuses of an elephant and an otter 
 respectively in their heraldry of the ' canting ' style, which 
 seeks to suggest the surname by the nature of the prin- 
 cipal charge. Roger de Quincy, Earl of Winchester, 
 1220, was Constable of Scotland and Lord of Galloway 
 by marriage with Helen, eldest daughter and a co-heir 
 of Alan, Lord of Galloway. His seal has already been 
 mentioned. There is an impression of it among the 
 Holyrood Charters. Mary de Ramsay, or de Rames, 
 second wife of Sir David de Brechin, places on her 
 armorial seal, in 1320, three shields of arms with their 
 bases to the centre, within a cusped trefoil panel. The 
 arms belong to the families of Ramsay, Gumming, and 
 Brechin. William de Ramsay also adorns his armorial 
 
 265 
 
SEALS 
 
 I 
 
 seal with tracery in 1357. Thomas Randolph, created 
 Earl of Moray, about 1314, set his shield of arms in a 
 finely carved double-pointed quatrefoil panel, in which is 
 placed a lion rampant in each of the four lobes. Another 
 Thomas of this family, who died about 1294, ornaments 
 his heraldic seal with a trefoil panel adorned with annulets 
 in the spandrels. The Lady Isabella of Dunbar, daughter 
 of Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, wife of Sir Patrick 
 de Dunbar, and mother of George, tenth Earl of Dun- 
 bar, is believed to have presented the earliest known 
 example of impaling coats of arms by so marshalling, in 
 1352, the Dunbar and Randolph bearings, the royal 
 tressure which belongs to each coat being here in each 
 case complete and not dimidiated as would have been i^ 
 
 the practice in later times. An angel supports the shield | 
 
 of arms of James Reid of Broxmouth, in 1478. ;' 
 
 The Ross family is represented by several seals of fine - 
 
 workmanship ; the three water-budgets are the most usual | 
 
 charges borne by the members, but they are subject to 
 differences and additions. One branch of the family 
 bears three lions rampant, with various differences. The 
 Countess Eufemia de Ross, daughter of William, sixth 
 Earl, married firstly, before 1365, to Sir Walter de 
 Lesley, and secondly, about 1382, to Alexander Stewart, 
 Earl of Buchan, called the * Wolf of Badenoch,' fourth 
 son of King Robert 11., and dead about 1394, had a 
 beautifully designed seal wherein an eagle bears on its 
 breast and wings the three shields of Ross, Leslie, and 
 Gumming, for the earldom of Buchan. The Ruthven 
 and Sandilands seals are interesting, and those of the 
 Scott family, which are very numerous, include an orna- 
 mental example of tracery in Sir William Scott's seal of 
 141 2. Scrymgeour, Sempill, Seton, and Sinclair are 
 other Scottish families whose seals are attractive for their 
 thorough Scottish art and feeling. The Royal family of 
 Stewart, or Stuart, taken with its various legitimate or 
 natural branches and cadet lines, contributes upwards of 
 a hundred and fifty heraldic seals to the series, and com- 
 266 
 
SCOTTISH HERALDRY AND DEVICES 
 
 prises many beautiful examples of the best interest both 
 for their historical and artistic value. The employment 
 of tracery in the form of rosette or panels ; the angel 
 supporter ;• the eagle displayed charged on the breast 
 with a shield ; and the various enhancements set around 
 the shields, all add to the charm of these fine seals, many 
 of which bear in addition to shields both crests and 
 heraldic supporters. A separate work might be advan- 
 tageously written about the seals of the Stewarts alone. 
 
 One remarkable seal must be mentioned. It is that of 
 an unidentified Richard Stewart, or Senescallus, of the 
 fourteenth century. The design is a one-masted ship on 
 waves, and flying a pennon with St. George's cross on it, 
 which with other peculiarities appears to refer to England 
 rather than to Scotland. The details of the rigging, and 
 the raised galley with standards or poles, are very 
 curious. At one end is the St. George's cross on the 
 standard, at the other standard is a quarterly coat 
 bearing, one and four, a lion rampant within a bordure, 
 and two and three chequy, which two coats of arms 
 appear certainly to appertain to Scottish heraldry. The 
 crests of the Stewarts are very diverse, and the supporters 
 appear in some cases to be very arbitrary. The families 
 of Stirling, Strachan, Sutherland, and others, have also 
 contributed to this class many beautiful seals. Eleanor 
 de Umfraville, Countess of Angus, second wife of Earl 
 Robert, and afterwards of Roger Mauduit, introduced 
 into her armorial seal, before 1357, when her death is 
 believed to have taken place, four shields of arms set in 
 cross with their points towards the centre. Gilbert de 
 Umfraville, titular Earl of Angus, in 1379, employed a 
 fine seal of arms within a carved cinquefoil panel orna- 
 mented with carving in the spaces between the lobes, and 
 with small quatrefoils or ball-flowers along the inner 
 edge. David Wynchester, a bailie of St. Andrews, in 
 1524, used the design of a griffin segreant, supporting 
 in its beak the strap of a shield of his paternal arms. 
 John de Vesci, in 1292, places his shield of arms between 
 
 267 
 
SEALS 
 
 three trefoiled sprigs and sets all within a rosette or 
 panel of six cusped points of tracery, with trefoils to fill 
 up vacant spaces. That of William de Vescy, of Lillies- 
 clif, CO. Roxburgh, is probably unique. This is a large 
 seal of two inches diameter. The shield of arms, a cross 
 patonce, for Vescy, is placed between the impressions of 
 three small antique oval gems engraved in intaglio, which 
 must have made a very beautiful matrix for the owner. 
 The gems bear, according to some, the subjects of a 
 dolphin, a Roman galley, and Romulus and Remus with 
 the fabulous she-wolf. Elizabeth Wishart, Lady of 
 Balmonthe, in 1613, sets her shield of arms within an 
 orle of seven cinquefoils or roses, three above and two 
 at each side. The swan's neck, which seems to be a 
 favourite with Scottish arms-bearing families, appears 
 again on the heraldic seal of Thomas Wemyss, of co. 
 Fife, in 1455. 
 
 Among miscellaneous designs and devices, not 
 heraldic, found upon the personal seals of Scottish 
 personages, quite a series of figures of saints occurs, 
 including St. Catharine with her wheel and sword ; the 
 Virgin Mary and the Child in a niche of two tiers, with 
 the Temptation of Adam and Eve in the lower division. 
 This belonged to Richard Boulden, an ecclesiastic, in 
 1292. Our Lord on the Cross between St. Mary and 
 St. John ; John Baptist with the Agnus ; St. Andrew on 
 his cross between two executioners, and attended by the 
 kneeling figure of the owner of the seal, an ecclesiastic, 
 in the early part of the fourteenth century ; the Archangel 
 Michael in combat with the Dragon, in 1295; and St. 
 Helena, crowned, kneeling, and holding the newly found 
 True Cross, on an altar or plinth before which is the 
 owner, William de Sprouston, Vicar of Molle, also in the 
 early fourteenth century, occur. Sometimes the owner 
 places his own effigy on his seal ; the early ones are read- 
 ing at lecterns, or in armour. The original matrix which 
 appertained to Thor Longus of Edenham, co. Roxburgh, 
 is preserved among the antiquities belonging to the 
 268 
 
 I 
 
SCOTTISH HERALDRY AND DEVICES 
 
 Chapter of Durham. This is a pointed oval seal, about 
 two inches by one and an eighth, and is of the date of 
 1098 or thereabouts. The owner's effigy is engraved on 
 the seal, draped, and seated, turned slightly to the right, 
 holding a sword obliquely across his breast. Ancient 
 gems were much prized by the Scots in the middle ages. 
 The designs they bear include a group of four figures in 
 a row, draped ; a horseman attacking a serpent ; a lion 
 with his prey, a goat, in his jaws ; a ram with legend, 
 * JHESUS • NAZARENUS,' perhaps taken as symbolical of 
 the Agnus Dei, which constitutes it an early Christian 
 relic ; a laurel-crowned deity ; a female head couped at 
 the neck — this is a large and beautiful gem declared by 
 Laing to be similar in character to the celebrated Medusa 
 in the collection of Lord Carlisle — it belonged to ' Thomas 
 de Collevilla, Scotus,' about 1220; a nimbed figure with 
 a long cross ; a warrior falling on his knees while another 
 is warding off with a shield an animal of uncertain form — 
 this belonged to Sir John de Lindsay, Lord of Wauchop- 
 dale, CO. Dumfries, in 1292 ; an eagle displayed ; Victory, 
 Peace, or Bonus Eventus with a cornucopia, 1371 ; two 
 gems bearing a female head, and a draped figure, set in 
 one matrix, about 1200; two cornucopiae set saltire-wise ; 
 a figure of Athena bearing a Nike or Victory ; and lastly 
 we must mention the gem seal of Eustace de Vesci, about 
 1 160, of very beautiful design. This consists of an 
 ornamental device of ears of corn and pods of the vetch, 
 by way of a rebus on the owner's name, between two 
 peacocks or wyverns. In the upper part a deep impres- 
 sion of an antique gem bearing a galley sailing, a water- 
 horse or sea-dragon and a dolphin. The reverse of this 
 bears another gem impression, an antelope, or goat, 
 between four vetch pods, by way of rebus, and shows the 
 mark of the handle of the seal. 
 
 The miscellaneous devices which do not fall into the 
 above classes, include many interesting objects such as a 
 tonsured bust ; a pelican in her piety ; crested wyvern, 
 1230; an eagle displayed, 1338; a double-headed eagle 
 
 269 
 
 I 
 
SEALS 
 
 displayed, late twelfth century ; a lymphad on the sea, 
 thirteenth century ; a leaf ; a rosette ; a fleur-de-lis ; a 
 griffin segreant designed in a bold and spirited manner 
 for ' Duncan, son of Gilbert,' afterwards first Earl of 
 Carrick, about 1180; two conies for Gilbert de Chunys- 
 burg, 1 292 ; the Eagle of St. John ; a crow or corbeau 
 on an elaborate tree for Robert Corbet, about 1 1 70 ; a 
 tree with two corbeaux or crows for Patrick Corbet 
 about the same date ; a lion rampant for Reginald de 
 Crauford, 1292; a fantastic gryllus, 1292; merchants' 
 marks of various dates ; two birds on a fleur-de-lis ; a 
 lion dormant within a double tressure flory, 1292; a 
 horse-shoe and farrier s hammer for Alice Ferour in 
 the early fourteenth century ; or horse-shoe and nail- 
 head for Margaret Ferour, same date ; a hawk and 
 wild boar in combat, 1292 ; and others. James Graham, 
 fifth Marquess of Montrose, in 1650, used the device 
 of two rocks with (on a shield, but not heraldic) a lion 
 about to spring from one to the other, with the pertinent 
 motto ' NIL • MEDIUM,' which reminds us antithetically of 
 the American poet's verse : 
 
 ' Nothing before, nothing behind, 
 The footsteps of faith 
 Tread on the seeming void, and find 
 The rock beneath.' 
 
 The lion and wyvern in combat, 1292, used by 
 William de Ireby, are accompanied with the motto : 
 
 ' IE • SUY • SEL • DE • AMUR • LEL,' 
 
 a favourite expression with English seal -owners. 
 Edward de Lestalrig, in 1180, had a seal bearing an 
 ape riding on his knee upon a lion with other curious 
 details. Duncan Macduff, Earl of Fife, had a hand and 
 arm bearing a sword, probably the precursor of a crest. 
 John de Murray had, in 1250, a bull passing a ford; 
 John de Mundegumri, about 11 76, an ornamental fleur- 
 270 
 
SCOTTISH DEVICES 
 
 de-lis. Robert de Muscamp of co. Berwick, about 1220, 
 had a rebus of five flies (imtsccB), arranged in cross on the 
 field [campus) \ Margaret de Vesci, about 1220, a wyvern 
 between three pods of the vetch. Isabella, wife of 
 William Wallace, about 1160, has an eagle with legend : 
 ' FRANGE • ME • DOCEBO • TE,' and William Wallace also 
 uses the device of an eagle, about the same date. 
 
 271 
 
 I 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 SOME SEALS RELATING TO IRELAND 
 
 IRISH seals do not appear to be very largely- 
 represented in cabinets and collections. The few 
 that are extant are, however, well worthy of notice 
 on account of the native talent that most of them display. 
 There are, however, some interesting matrices of old seals 
 still extant. King Henry ii. has been said by some to 
 have had an Irish seal, but it is very doubtful if this can 
 be shown to be accurate. It is usually placed (if at all, 
 as by some it is believed to be a forgery) among the Great 
 Seals of England. The king's conquest of Ireland in 
 1 171 added that country to the already vast dominions 
 which he ruled, comprising as well the kingdom of 
 England, the Duchies of Normandy, and Aquitaine or 
 Guyenne, and the countships of Anjou, Touraine, and 
 Maine. The defence of his French possessions constantly 
 engaged his attention. The brass matrix of the equestrian 
 seal of Brien, king of a district called Keneleogain, about 
 1276, with a loop on the edge, was found long ago in a 
 grave in the Minster Yard, Beverley, co. York, and is 
 now preserved in the British Museum. The diameter is 
 about an inch and a half. Donat Macmuracha Da, King 
 of Leinster in the fifteenth century, had a handsome and 
 well-conceived seal ; the design, which is heraldic, is set 
 within a quatrefoil panel adorned with ball-flowers, and 
 having trefoiled spandrels each charged with a cinquefoil. 
 The shield of arms, in chief a lion passant, in base two 
 crescents, is supported by two lions rampant, and up- 
 held above and below by a demi-angel. A long interval 
 of time brings us to Queen Elizabeth, whose seal for 
 272 
 
PLATE XXXV 
 
 MISCEIXANF.OUS SEALS OF IRELANI) 
 
M 
 
RELATING TO IRELAND 
 
 Ireland has only recently been added to the known seals of 
 that sovereign. The diameter is four inches. The Queen 
 is seated in majesty on a canopied throne, and between a 
 lion rampant holding a banner-flag charged with a harp 
 for Ireland on the dexter side, and a dragon holding a 
 similar flag charged with three crowns in pale for the 
 kingdom of Ireland, thus corroborating the views of 
 Chalmers {Caledonia, vol. i. p. 463). There is an 
 ancient MS. in the British Museum (Harley, 4039) 
 which attributes the charge of three crowns to the king- 
 dom of Munster. The reverse shows an ornamental 
 shield of the royal arms of England supported by a 
 lion and a dragon, accompanied by the rose badge of 
 England, and the harp badge of Ireland. James i.'s 
 seal, which bears his efligy enthroned in majesty, is 
 principally interesting because it bears at the dexter side 
 of the throne a lion rampant guardant crowned, holding 
 a flag charged with a cross pattee fitchee, perhaps for the 
 shamrock, emblem of Ireland, and arms of Cadwallader. 
 The background represents tapestry diapered lozengy 
 with a harp of Ireland in each space. On the reverse or 
 equestrian side, in the field on the left is the Irish harp, 
 ensigned with a crown. The spikes on the housing of 
 the horse, one on the back, another on the forehead, 
 are curious additions to the defensive harness. Oliver 
 Cromwell's seal for Ireland resembles that for the Com- 
 monwealth, but the arms are a harp for Ireland, and over 
 all the family escutcheon of Cromwell, and the reverse 
 similarly alters the Commonwealth reverse, and substi- 
 tutes for London a view of the city of Dublin on the 
 River Liff"ey with hills in the distance. Richard Crom- 
 well's seal is the same. Charles ii.'s seal is very fine. 
 The harp badge of Ireland on the obverse, and the same, 
 crowned, on the reverse, where the city of Dublin on the 
 river with shipping also appears, are its most prominent 
 features. James 11. appears to have used the same 
 designs. 
 
 George i.'s seal exceeds those that have gone before 
 s 273 
 
SEALS 
 
 in diameter, being five and three-quarter inches. It f St. 
 resembles the Great Seal for Great Britain with intro- * Ne 
 duction of the crowned harp on each side and alteration 
 of the landscape to the city of Dublin on the river. 
 George iii.'s seal was prepared for use in Ireland by the 
 similar introduction of the crowned harp. There is a 
 signet of Henry Cromwell, Deputy and Commissioner of 
 the Government in Ireland, 1655 ; and the Royal Court 
 of Exchequer of Dublin, in the reign of Henry vi., 1442, 
 had a seal the design of which was a three-quarter length 
 effigy of the king with sceptre and orb in a ship on 
 waves, with high embattled fore and aft castles. The 
 Commonwealth seal for the same is armorial with the 
 new-fangled republican armorials, and background re- 
 plenished with eleven harps and ten saltires alternately 
 arranged in orle, and other eight saltires nearer to the 
 shield. The use of the saltire, which appertains more 
 to Scotland than to Ireland, seems difficult to explain. 
 James Butler, Duke of Ormonde, K.G., 1681-1688, had 
 an official seal of his family arms with legend entituling 
 him Lieutenant-General of Ireland. James 11. 's Court of 
 Wards and Liveries resembles the type of that for Great 
 Britain ; between the naked orphan boys who hold up 
 the royal shield is a branch bearing a quatrefoil, or 
 shamrock, between two roses of England grafted on one 
 stem. George iii.'s seal of the Court of Common Pleas 
 resembles that for Great Britain, with a crowned harp on 
 each side of the shield on the obverse. 
 
 The ecclesiastical seals of Ireland include that of the 
 Chapter of Emly, sixteenth or seventeenth century, with 
 a view of the church ; John Mothell, Bishop of Limerick's 
 pointed oval seal, 1426-1468, with an effigy of St. Munchin, 
 founder of the See ; William King, Dean of St. Patrick, 
 represents the patron saint on his seal in 1690 ; as also 
 does Dean Edward Smyth, in 1698. Richard Lang, 
 Bishop of Kildare, 1464- 1474, has a pointed oval seal 
 attributed to him, bearing the design of the Assumption 
 of the Virgin, between figures conjectured to represent 
 274 
 
RELATING TO IRELAND 
 
 St. Conloeth, first bishop, and St. Bridget. Laurence 
 Neville, Bishop of Ferns, 1480- 1503, depicts St. Edan or 
 Mogue, first bishop. The seal of the Dean and Chapter 
 of Armagh commemorates the Restoration, 1661, with a 
 bird's-eye view of the cathedral. Other seals do not call 
 for any special notice. Many of the above indicate 
 curious phases of native Irish art and treatment. 
 
 The monastic seals include that of the Priory of Kells, 
 CO. Kilkenny, in 1267, with a scene of Michael the Arch- 
 angel in combat with the Dragon; and that of the 
 Cistercian Abbey of Tyntarne, co. Wexford, bearing a 
 figure of the Virgin Mary holding the Child. Local seals 
 are usually but little conventional, and those of Ireland 
 form no exception to this rule. Clonmines, in co, Wex- 
 ford, used the castle type, with a wattled park in base, 
 1494. The seal of the Provostry of Drogheda, in counties 
 Louth and Meath, ex parte Urielis, that is, on the Louth 
 or north side of the River Boyne, had the royal arms of 
 England between two wyverns. The Common seal of the 
 city of Dublin as used at the end of the thirteenth century 
 is very excellent. Its diameter is about three and a quarter 
 inches. On the one side is a ship of war on the sea, 
 with castles fore and aft, mariners on board, one of whom 
 is in armour, another holds a wine-cup or chalice. The 
 reverse bears the design of a castellated edifice, with two 
 warders blowing horns, armed soldiers, and a quatrefoil 
 and trefoil in the background. The borough of New Ross, 
 CO. Wexford, had a seal for the office of the Superior- 
 ship, in 1 7 19, on which is a stag chased by a hound on 
 a bridge resting on pillars and semicircular-headed 
 arches. Youghal, co. Cork, in 1792, used a curious seal 
 bearing a fleece between figures of St. Blaise, bishop 
 and martyr, about to card the fleece with a wool-comb, 
 and Jason, famous for the golden fleece, with military 
 hat, short-skirted dress, and sword. This, which is 
 inscribed 
 
 ' BLASE • YOUGHAL • JASON, 1 792,' 
 
SEALS 
 
 may be the town seal, or that of a guild connected with 
 the woollen trade which flourished at one time in this 
 town. Equestrian seals are represented by that of 
 Donald Og, son of O'Rogh Macarthy, whose effigy is 
 on a diapered field in a cusped panel of eight points, 
 of the fourteenth century. The Lady Aufrica of Con- 
 naught, heiress of the land of Man, and daughter of 
 Fergus and sister of Orry, king of that island, wife of 
 Simon de Montacute, first Baron Montacute, 1306, 
 shows on her seal her figure in a closely fitting vest- 
 ment with long head-dress, between two branches on 
 each of which is a bird. The heraldic seals of Ireland's 
 nobility and high families are of the usual types. That of 
 Jane, Viscountess Gallway,in 1754, was an octagonal signet 
 of small dimensions, with arms supported by two unicorns 
 gorged with antique crowns, and accompanied with the 
 motto, ' PATiAR • POTIOR.' The Virgin and Child appears 
 on some personal seals of the thirteenth and later 
 centuries. Other miscellaneous devices abound on Irish 
 documents, among which may be mentioned the impres- 
 sion of the wards and barrel of a small key, 1569 ; busts, 
 1 68 1, 1686, 1709; initial letters of various dates; a rose- 
 tree and radiant sun with the ambiguous legend ' tibi 
 soli'; flowers, 1566, 1592; an Agnus Dei reguardant, 
 fourteenth century ; a roundle with two interlaced 
 triangles ; a device of astrological virtue and capability, 
 1582; three satyrs with a horn and a tambourine, the 
 third dancing, 131 6; an eagle, 161 8; the divine hand 
 of blessing over a chalice on an altar, fourteenth century; 
 a human heart within an orle of roses all set in a sixfoil 
 panel, 1406 ; and the sacred monogram of I.H.S. in black- 
 letter characters, 1567. 
 
 276 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 BULLAE OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE 
 
 NO history of seals would be complete without 
 some account of the leaden bullae of the Byzan- 
 tine Empire. The employment of lead in the 
 making of seals seems to have been extensively dis- 
 tributed in the mediaeval world. Papal seals, seals of 
 the noblesse of Southern France, and Royal seals of 
 the kingdoms of Spain and Aragon, are frequently met 
 with in this metal, and the Sicilian and other Italian 
 bullae are really a branch of the bullae of the Byzantines. 
 The softness of this metal, and its affinity for oxygen 
 when undergoing alternate variations of temperature, has 
 unfortunately led to the rapid decay of bullae in museums 
 and private collections. The best way of preserving 
 them is to coat them with finest boiled linseed oil, which 
 forms a kind of filmy varnish, and protects them from 
 the destructive action of the air. The acid vapour given 
 off from cabinets constructed of new wood, especially oak, 
 has been found to be very injurious. It is always advis- 
 able to have plaster of Paris casts made from these bullae, 
 and if possible copper electrotypes, which will be found 
 to be exceedingly durable. They are generally about one 
 inch in diameter, and very few cords are found by which 
 they were attached to any objects. Of Imperial Bullae, 
 the British Museum, which possesses a large number of 
 bullae of all classes taken together, has specimens of those 
 of the Emperor Phocas, 602-610, with the Emperor's bust, 
 and the Virgin Mary standing holding on her breast a 
 plaque bearing a portrait of Christ. It is fully described 
 by M. Schlumberger in his exhaustive work entitled 
 
 277 
 
SEALS 
 
 Sigillographie de r Empire Byzantm, Paris, 1884. 
 Heraclius i. and Heraclius's son, Constantine, 613-641, 
 have busts and a figure of our Lord between two crosses ; 
 Constantine and Eirene, 797-801 ; Leo and Alexander, 
 886-911; Theodora, Empress about 1035; Michael vii., 
 Ducas Parapinaces, Emperor of Constantinople, about 
 1071-1078: Alexius Comnenus, 1081-1118; Theodora 
 Ducaena, wife of Michael viii., Palaeologus about 1260- 
 1282; and John, Palaeologus vi., sometimes called the 
 vth, 1341-1386; have all left leaden bullae, bearing 
 portraits and the effigies of our Lord or the Virgin on 
 the reverse, with Greek legends. Baldwin 11., Latin 
 Emperor at Constantinople, 1269, is represented in the 
 British Museum collection by a fine golden bulla made 
 of thin laminae of the precious metal neatly joined at the 
 edges and appended to a document by red silken strings. 
 One side gives this ruler's effigy in majesty with Latin 
 legend, the other shows him in armour on a caparisoned 
 horse, with Greek inscription. Local bullae generally de- 
 lineate figures of saints or monograms, many of which 
 are complicated and difficult or impossible to decipher. 
 
 Titular personages are the chief owners of these 
 leaden bullae. The inscriptions are in Greek capital 
 letters, many across the face of the seal or bulla in 
 several parallel lines ; often in iambic verse. The 
 pictorial side includes monograms, figures of saints, 
 animals, crosses of various styles, birds, fabulous 
 creatures, and miscellaneous devices and objects. The 
 saints mostly found depicted are the Virgin and Child, 
 sometimes called the Panagia, or the * All-Holy One,' 
 with special types of representation for particular places. 
 Sometimes the child is pictured on a plaque or medallion 
 on the Virgin's breast, at other times she is lifting up the 
 hands in prayer, and then the type is called ' La Vierge 
 orante,' the Child in the plaque bearing a cruciferous 
 nimbus, type of the 'Panagia Blachernitissa ' ; St. Nikolas 
 the Bishop, St. John, St. George, St. Niketas, St. Peter, 
 St. Paul, St. Stephen, St. Michael, St. Theodore, 
 278 
 
 
BULL^ OF BYZANTINE EMPIRE 
 
 St. Pantaleon, and St. Demetrius — all these often appear 
 on the bullae. One of the most frequent of the mono- 
 grams stands for Kurie boethei, or Theotoke boethei, 
 ' O Lord,' or ' O Mother of God, help,' with the name of 
 the owner and his titles in the dative case, the words for 
 ' thy slave,' to so doulo, being set before the personal name. 
 
 Among the numerous offices and designations given 
 to those personages, some referring to military and 
 naval positions, others to court and ecclesiastical or 
 monastic functions, others to subordinate governors and 
 rulers, there occur the following : — Anthypatus Patricius 
 and Strategus of the Peloponnesus, Cappadocia, Chaldsea, 
 Sicily and the Thracians, Archbishop of Caesaria, Arch- 
 presbyter and Abbot, Secretary, Tabularius, Basilicus 
 Candidatus (a class of royal bodyguard dressed in white), 
 Chartularius, Protostrator, Turmarch of Sicily, Basilicus 
 Clericus, Basilicus Mandator, QEciacus (in charge of the 
 Emperor), Protospatharius (a class of noble military hier- 
 archy), Duke of Calabria, Quaestor, Spatharius, Drungarius 
 of the ^gean Sea, Archon of Aguntum in Sicily, Besta 
 Classis (a kind of admiral), Hetasriarcha, Strator, Ves- 
 tarch. Judge, Catepan of Melitene, Vestiarius, Bouleutes, 
 Ostiarius, Candidatus, Cubicularius, Comes or Count, 
 Commerciarius or Publican, Cubicularius, Sacellarius, 
 Curopalata, Deacon, Dioecetes or Procurator, Duke, 
 Eparchs and Ex-Eparchs, Bishops, Priests, Hypatus 
 or Consul, Magister, Minister, Monk, Notary, CEcetes, 
 Patriarch, Patrician, Praefect, Prohedrus, Propraetor, 
 Protonotary, Protoprohedrus, Protospatharius, Chryso- 
 tricliniarius, Mystographus, Strategus, Stratelates, 
 Protostrator, Sebastus, Silentiarius, Spatharo-Candi- 
 datus, Spatharo-Cubicularius, Topoteretes, Tribune, 
 Turmarch, and so forth. All these officers, and many 
 others, exercising public or court functions, are described 
 and explained by Ducange, Schlumberger, and other 
 writers. 
 
 Private owners use a multiplicity of devices, chiefly 
 saints and monograms, the Archangel and Archistrategus 
 
 279 
 
SEALS 
 
 Michael with nimbus, sceptre, and orb, and jewelled 
 dress, one of the grand military protectors of the Byzan- 
 tines ; the Virgin and Child, or Panagia with many 
 types, sometimes with a rosary, at other times in 
 prayer, or as Theoskepastos, Protdgde de Dieu ; simple 
 names or monograms, St. Nikolas, Constantine the Great, 
 St. Theodore ; figures and busts of divine and holy per- 
 sonages, St. George, St. Demetrius, and St. Theodore ; 
 notable Byzantine saints, with spear and shield ; St. John 
 Chrysostom with a book; animals, birds, and monograms: 
 all these and several other subjects are found on these 
 ancient and interesting personal relics of an Empire that 
 has performed its task and passed away into oblivion. 
 
 ', 
 
 280 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 SEALS OF ITALY— BULL^ OF POPES AND DOGES 
 OF VENICE, ETC. 
 
 THE seals of Italy are numerous and varied. 
 Their art appearance is unique, but sometimes 
 approaches the French and early German styles. 
 Carolus iii.. Emperor of the German Empire, was King 
 of Italy in 88 1, and had a seal en placard oi the German 
 type. Berengarius, King of Italy, 882-922, used a fine 
 large seal, about two inches by one and three-quarter 
 inches, of the bust type, en placard. His dress is 
 fastened by a fibula on the shoulder, and he wears a 
 jewelled fillet, with pendants. His arms consist of a 
 spear and circular convex shield with a crosslike device 
 on it. Of Italian States and noble families many 
 heraldic seals of the finest class were in use during the 
 middle ages. The earliest times of Naples, Jerusalem, 
 and Sicily are generally represented in seal collections by 
 a few leaden bullae, such as that of Gregory i., Duke 
 of Naples, in the seventh century, containing his name 
 and another, perhaps that of S. Jacintus, a patron saint. 
 Boemund, Prince of Antioch, twelfth century (?), belongs 
 to this series. His leaden bulla gives an equestrian 
 figure on one side ; on the other, effigies of St. Peter and 
 St. Paul, with a branch of lily or fleur-de-lis between the 
 saints. Edmund, King of Sicily and Apulia {ob. 1295), 
 Earl of Lancaster, son of King Henry iii. of England, 
 had a seal of majesty as king, with the royal arms of 
 England on the reverse. Frederick iii.. King of Sicily, 
 1306, used a gem signet, on which was engraved the 
 classical figure of Omphale with her distaff. The letters 
 
 281 
 
SEALS 
 
 F. T., for Fridericus Tertius, are on the setting, and the 
 inscription is the text, ' inicium • sapiencie • timor • 
 DOMINI.' Robert, King of Jerusalem and Sicily, Count 
 of Provence, 1309- 1343, used leaden bullae with the 
 heraldryof Anjou-Sicily and Provence. Later sovereigns 
 used equestrian or heraldic seals for the most part. 
 
 Rome is rich in the fine and nearly perfect series of 
 Papal bullae, which are well known to students of seals. 
 They are of lead, appended by hemp-strings, and some- 
 times, later, by crimson silken cords. They begin at 
 John v., 685, and down to John viii. the type is confined 
 to inscriptions. The last-mentioned pope places his name 
 on the one side and the heads of St. Paul and St. Peter 
 on the other. This type, with slight modifications, and 
 gradual but small increase of size, has been preserved to 
 the present day. Some of the popes appear to have 
 adopted the reverse of their predecessors ; others had 
 new matrices. Besides the heads or busts of the two 
 saints and the orb or mound with a long cross and the 
 letters s • pa — s • pe • between them, small devices 
 were occasionally introduced into one side or other of the 
 bulla. Sometimes one pope had more than one type of 
 bulla, but one was the more usual number. At other 
 times a little alteration suited one pope's bulla to his 
 successor's use. The plain Roman capital letter was 
 superseded by the Lombardic capital letter about the 
 time of Nicolaus iii., 1277-1280. Urban vi., 1378, intro- 
 duced into the bulla eagles' heads erased, from the armorials 
 of his family, Prignano, as stops between the words of 
 his name. The art shown on the bulla of Gregory xii., 
 1 406- 1 409, indicates important changes from the archaic 
 and crude Byzantine feeling of the bullae of previous 
 popes, which, however, is reverted to occasionally at a 
 later time. Here we may observe nascent Italian art in 
 the portraiture of the saints, and the shapes of the letters 
 in the legends. The Indulgences seal of Eugenius iv., 
 1 43 1, has a figure of St. Peter with two keys, in a carved 
 panel with reticulated background. Pope Calistus iii. 
 282 
 
PAPAL BULL/E 
 
 used at Avignon, 1455- 1458, to which city he removed 
 his court, a bulla bearing the ancient papal tiara on one 
 side, on the other the apostolic keys with legend, 
 'CLAVES • REGNi -CELORUM.' Paul II., besides his usual 
 type of bulla, varied the whole type, 1464, and shows the 
 pope enthroned, with cardinals and other figures on one 
 side, and St. Paul and St. Peter, facing, enthroned, on 
 the other. Julius 11., 1503, introduced a new type, plac- 
 ing acorns as stops between the words, in allusion to the 
 arms of the family of Delia Rovere, from which he sprang, 
 and delineating the apostolic portraits as three-quarter's 
 face. Similarly Leo x., 1513, and Clement vii., 1523, 
 introduce the roundle of the Medici family to which they 
 belonged. This latter pope had a golden bulla which, it 
 is said, he appended to a document whereby he conferred 
 the title of Defender of the Faith on Henry viii., a title 
 borne by successive British sovereigns to this day, 
 although they not only do not defend, but rather reject, 
 the Catholic faith, to which the title originally referred. 
 This bulla is of the finest design and work. The reverse 
 bears beautifully designed portraits of the Apostles Peter 
 and Paul, inscribed ' s • pa • s • p • e • gloriosi • principes • 
 TERRAE.' As Henry viii. received this title in 1521 from 
 Leo X., the golden bulla here mentioned must signalise 
 some other event. Paul iii., 1534, introduces the fleur- 
 de-lis of his family, the Farnese, into his bulla. Julius 
 III., 1550, places the monte or composite mount of three 
 hillocks, in allusion to the arms of his family of Monte, 
 on his bulla. Clement viii., 1592, in the same manner, 
 introduced the estoiles of Aldobrandini. His Annulus 
 Piscatoris, or Fisherman's Ring, 1596, shows St. Peter 
 in a boat drawing in a net full of fishes, a type followed 
 apparently by later popes. Alexander viii., 1689, intro- 
 duced the eagle of the family of Ottobuoni to which he 
 belonged. 
 
 The members of the College of Cardinals had many 
 beautiful seals bearing Biblical scenes, religious em- 
 blems, or personal effigies. Among the designs occur 
 
 283 
 
V 
 
 SEALS 
 
 the Stoning of St. Stephen ; St. Peter adored by the 
 Cardinal ; the various events in the Virgin's life ; Michael 
 and the Dragon ; St. Nicolas of Myra ; St. George and 
 the Dragon ; St. Laurence's martyrdom ; the Pentecostal 
 Descent of the Holy Spirit ; St. Cecilia ; St. Eustace ; 
 St. Benedict ; the Martyrdom of St. Cyriac ; St. Hippo- 
 lytus ; St. Rufina ; St. Marcellinus ; the Agnus Dei ; 
 St. Peter, St. Paul ; St. Anthony of Padua ; and many 
 others. The seal of Cardinal Juan de Carvajal, about 
 1460, is one of the finest of this series. It is of red wax, 
 embedded in white wax with raised rim in form of a 
 boat. The heraldry and hagiography of this are very 
 elaborate. Ecclesiastic officers of the Papal Court, 
 also, have many beautiful scenes and figures on their 
 seals, derived from the lives and acts of the saints and 
 martyrs, to which are added, in many instances, heraldic 
 and architectural devices. The papal scribe. Master 
 Bernardus of Parma, 1265, used on his seal a curious 
 unconventional portrait of our Lord conceived after the 
 style of a Roman Emperor. It is a bust in profile to the 
 right, the shoulders draped with classic folds gathered up 
 over the left shoulder with a brooch or fibula, and the ■ 
 hair tied with a laurel wreath and fillet with the ends of 
 the ribbons hanging behind. The motto is ' michi • 
 CREDiTE,' which gives the clue to the personage intended 
 by the portrait. Another beautiful Italian seal of the 
 papal class is that of Master Adam de Phileby, papal 
 subdeacon, where the Virgin Mary is given, half-length, 
 with nimbus, holding the Child, who also has the nimbus, 
 on her left arm. Before them is St. John Baptist, and over- 
 head is the Star of the East, an estoile of eight points. 
 
 The Counts of Savoy, of the thirteenth and later 
 centuries, used the equestrian and heraldic types of seal. 
 
 Venetian seals are chiefly confined to the leaden bullae 
 of the Doges. The series begins in the thirteenth 
 century. The types refer to the traditional delivery 
 by St. Mark the Evangelist of a lance-flag or standard 
 to the Doge. The saint holds the open book of his 
 284 
 
1 
 
 PLATE XX XX- 1 
 
 ECCI.KSIASTICAI, AND MONASTIC SEALS OF ITALV 
 
BULL^ AND SEALS 
 
 Gospel. Antonio Veniero, 1382, varied the type by- 
 giving the lion emblem of St. Mark, winged and 
 nimbed, on the one side, on the other the armorial bear- 
 ings of his family on a shield shaped for the forehead 
 of a warhorse, known as testa di cavallo. But his 
 successors reverted to the scene of the saint and the 
 Doge. The Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem in 
 Venice, 131 5, used the design of the lion of St. Mark 
 between shields of arms, and on the counterseal was the 
 impression of an ancient gem bearing the goddess Ceres 
 enthroned, holding wheat-ears and a cornucopia. 
 
 The ecclesiastic seals of Italy yield to none in their 
 charming designs and elegance of drawing. The propor- 
 tions of the subordinate parts are well maintained, and 
 the ensemble leaves a sense of high appreciation on our 
 minds. The designs are personal effigies with attendant 
 emblems and symbols, events in the life of the Virgin 
 and Child, or the saints, heraldic charges and armorial 
 bearings, ornamental devices, and architectural edifices 
 and features such as facades, niches, canopies, throne 
 and tabernacle work, corbels, pedestals, and brackets. 
 Bishops and other dignitaries, both of Italian Sees and 
 Sees i7t partibus Infidelhim, are well represented by the 
 series of their seals, casts of which are preserved in the 
 British Museum and other collections. Monastic seals 
 resemble, to a large extent, the seals of ecclesiastics of high 
 degree, in their frequent employment of personal figures, 
 effigies of saints and divine personages, architectural 
 conceptions, and armorial types, to which must be added 
 the head of the House often delineated under an arch or 
 base, adoring the patron and protector of his institution. 
 These seals are of great charm in the fourteenth century ; 
 at later times they fall off and exhibit a carelessness 
 and coarseness in some cases which gives occasion for 
 regret. The Hospital Fraternity of St. Thomas the 
 Martyr, or Hospitale Anglorum in Urbe Romana, an 
 English house founded in the Eternal City in honour 
 of one of England's greatest saints, had a fourteenth- 
 
 285 
 
SEALS 
 
 century seal bearing the representation of the Holy 
 Trinity, adored by St. Thomas. A later seal of the same 
 house bears the same scene, with the royal arms of 
 Edward iv. in base. The religious orders in Italy were 
 numerous, and so also were their seals, mostly of uncon- 
 ventional styles, with a marked preference for figures of 
 patron saints or their emblems. The local seals are of 
 the heraldic or castle patterns ; sometimes a local tutelary 
 saint is depicted. Of the heraldic type, that of Assisi is 
 a good example, with legend * seraphica civitas ' ; of the 
 saint type that of Asti bears a fine equestrian figure of 
 St. Secundus, the patron, with legend 
 
 ' ASTE • NITET • MUNDO • SANCTO • CUSTODE • SECUNDO.' 
 
 The ' four good men ' of the city of Florence are 
 shown in a fourteenth-century seal, seated on a bench. 
 The city of Syracuse in Sicily shows on its seal of very 
 low relief, in 1584, a castle adorned with heraldry and 
 symmetrical arabesque ornaments of much beauty : ' sira- 
 cusA • CIVITAS • FiDELissiMA ' Certainly deserved a good 
 design on its seal. The heraldic and miscellaneous 
 private seals appear in most instances to follow well- 
 known types. A few have impressions from antique 
 gems engraved with fanciful subjects. 
 
 286 
 
PLATE XXXVII 
 
 1 
 
 
 .it 
 
 ^|^:^> 
 
 EARLY ROYAL SEALS OF FRANCE 
 
M 
 
 M 
 
n 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 SEALS OF FRANCE 
 
 NEXT to the seals of Great Britain, which have 
 now been examined and described in respect to 
 the more interesting and representative examples, 
 those of France claim a foremost place. They are of a 
 very fine character, and in many instances deserve the 
 highest place in our estimation. The collection in the 
 National Archives of France has been catalogued by M. 
 Douet D'Arcq. The royal seals commence with that 
 of Dagobert, 628-638, which has a diameter of three 
 inches, and bears a half-length figure of the king holding 
 a sceptre. The seal is appended to a doubtful charter 
 granted to the Abbey of St. Maximin of Treves, but has 
 been rejected by antiquaries as false. If so, it owes its 
 origin to early mediaeval times, being by no means a 
 modern work. The true seal is of different character, 
 more harmonious with nearly contemporary seals of other 
 monarchs. The type of royal bust or profile portrait 
 on oval seals of very moderate dimensions is continued 
 to the time of Charlemagne, whose bust in profile appears 
 to have been engraved in intaglio on an oval stone. The 
 second seal of this king bears the impression of an antique 
 intaglio, engraved with the bust of Jupiter Serapis 
 in profile wearing the niodius. Later kings are believed 
 also to have used gems engraved in intaglio, and the 
 seal of Lothaire i., 840-855, may really be a portrait bust 
 of Caracalla or Alexander Severus, crowned with a laurel 
 wreath. Eudes, or Odo, had a fine oval seal measuring 
 about two and a half by two inches, attached en placard Xo 
 a charter in the British Museum. The design appears to 
 
 287 
 
SEALS 
 
 be the portrait of a Roman emperor from an ancient 
 gem. Robert, 996-1031, altered the type to that of the 
 king half-length, and holding sceptre and orb. Henri i., 
 1031-1060, is the first to employ the simple effigy of the 
 sovereign enthroned holding a fleur-de-lis and a sceptre. 
 Later seals elaborate the details of this type. Louis vii., 
 1137-1180, sits on a throne the ends of which are carved 
 as lions, with open mouths and extended tails ; on the 
 reverse the king, as Duke of the Aquitanians and military 
 leader, is riding on a horse. This is the first royal seal 
 appended to a document, those that have preceded it 
 having been attached en placard. Philippe 11., Augustus, 
 1 180-1223, uses a small oval counterseal with a fleur-de- 
 lis fleuronnd. Louis viii., 1223- 1226, introduces the 
 shield of arms semd-de-lis for France Ancient. Louis ix., 
 1 226-1 270, reverts to the ^tMx-di^-\\^ fletironnd. In 1269 
 he had a seal of absence bearing a crown in a carved panel. 
 As time passes onward, succeeding monarchs elaborate 
 the royal type on the obverse, and the ornamental heraldic 
 counterseal. Philippe iv., 1285-1314, had in addition to 
 the normal type of seal, a golden seal or bulla, with which 
 he sealed a letter to Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, contain- 
 ing the text of the treaty with that prince. The armorial 
 escarbuncle of the kingdom of Navarre is seen on the 
 heraldic counterseal of Louis x., 1314-1316, King of 
 France and Navarre. John 11., 1350- 1364, is the first to 
 use the arms of France Modern, that is, three fleurs-de- 
 lis, in place of the previous sem^-de-lis of France Ancient, 
 to which, however, Charles v., 1364-1380, reverts. His 
 seal of absence shows his effigy half-length. Charles vi. 
 places on his counterseal an angel with open wings 
 holding a shield of the royal arms and sceptres. He, 
 too, gives his effigy, half-length, on his seal of absence. 
 Tapestries and canopies appear on the seals about this 
 time, and the details gradually become more numerous 
 and more elaborate. Louis xii., 1 498-1515, had special 
 equestrian seals for his rule over Sicily, Jerusalem, and 
 Milan, 1500-15 12, and for his dignity as Dauphin of 
 288 
 
PLATE XXXV HI 
 
 
 sj^.j^r 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ^^^m 
 
 ROYAL SEALS OF FRANCE 
 
PLATE XXXIX 
 
 LATER SEALS OE FRANCE (REPUIJLIC AND EMPIRE) 
 
SEALS OF FRANCE 
 
 Vienne, as well as his normal seal as King of France. 
 Francis ii. and his consort, Mary, Queen of Scots, in 
 1559, put their seated effigies on a seal of much detail. 
 They styled themselves, without reason, and to the anger 
 of Queen Elizabeth, 
 
 ' FRANCISCUS ET MARIA D • G • R • R • FRANCOR • SCOT • 
 ANGL • ET HYBER,' 
 
 whereas the English Queen called herself Queen of 
 France by reason of the possession of the Channel 
 Islands, the remaining parts of the ancient Duchy of 
 Normandy. Later kings of France used seals of poor 
 character, continuing the post-Gothic type with sub- 
 variations somewhat of the character of English royal 
 seals of the period. The seals of the Republic, 1792- 
 1804, are medallic, and bear the personification of Liberty 
 in classical garb, with Phrygian cap and bundle of fasces. 
 Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, King 
 of Italy, and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, 
 used the Imperial Eagle carrying a thunderbolt, with 
 other attributes of imperial authority. His seal for the 
 'Hundred Days,' February to June 1815, drapes his 
 effigy in antique dress, enthroned in profile, and holding 
 the sceptres of Victory and Justice. The seal of Louis 
 XVIII., made probably about 181 4, shows the king seated, 
 and on the reverse a shield of arms of France and 
 Navarre impaled. Louis Philippe, 1830, gives a profile 
 portrait on his seal, and on the reverse a shield of arms 
 of Orleans. His second counterseal replaces this shield 
 with a diptych or double tablet, inscribed with reference 
 to the Constitution Charter of 1830. The royal offices 
 and royal officers of France used for the most part 
 heraldic seals and armorial bearings. The signet of the 
 Republic gives the figure of the Republic personified as a 
 Goddess holding a Phrygian cap on a pike, and a bundle 
 of fasces and lictor's axe bound together. The queens- 
 consort also used armorial seals. Mary, daughter of 
 T 289 
 
SEALS 
 
 our Henry vii., and third consort of Louis xii., blends 
 the armorial bearings of England and France. Marie 
 Leczinska, Princess of Poland, daughter of Stanislas, 
 and consort of Louis xv., in 1762, used an armorial seal 
 with two shields of arms, of France, and Poland and 
 Lithuania quarterly, over all the family arms of Leczinski. 
 The heraldic or the equestrian type was mostly in favour 
 with royal offices. The ecclesiastical seals of France 
 are very beautifully designed. They represent the pre- 
 lates and dignitaries of the church, and in many cases 
 figures of the eponymic or local saints or scenes from 
 their lives, generally accompanied by armorial bearings 
 or emblematical devices. The architectural details in 
 which these subjects are contained are often intricate and 
 elaborate ; the legends, when not merely descriptive, are 
 appropriate to the designs. Some of the Chapter seals 
 represent buildings, castles, cathedrals, and other sacred 
 edifices. Leaden bullae occasionally occur in this class, 
 as at Carpentras, Embrun, Maguelone or Montpellier, 
 Vaison, and Viviers. The seals of monasteries, abbeys, 
 priories, and various other religious persons and estab- 
 lishments are very numerous. They, too, chiefly represent 
 views of the several houses, effigies of the patron saints, 
 or episodes from their lives, armorial bearings, and sacred 
 emblems, all generally accompanied with architectural 
 details, such as niches, canopies, and arcades, finely pro- 
 portioned and elegantly balanced in the arrangement of 
 their parts. The heads of the monasteries are often 
 placed in an attitude of adoration in the base of the seal, 
 where the patron occupies the central position. The 
 third seal of the Priory of Charite-sur- Loire gives, in 1234, 
 an impression of an antique round Greek intaglio gem 
 of the Byzantine or Early Christian period engraved with 
 a representation of the Virgin enthroned, holding the 
 Child ' Emmanuel,' receiving an uncertain object from 
 a flying bird overhead, perhaps the Dove of the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 Many seals of this class have on their counter- 
 290 
 
PLATE XL 
 
 LOCAL SEALS OK FRANCK 
 
SEALS OF FRANCE 
 
 seals the impressions of antique gems finely engraved 
 with classical subjects. A few leaden bullae occur, as, 
 for example, at Orange in Vaucluse, for St. John's 
 Hospital, 1 282-1335. The bugle-horn of Orange is 
 figured on the reverse of this bulla. The city of Paris 
 very naturally contributes many seals in this section. 
 Among those of the Cistercian Abbey of Savigny, in the 
 diocese of Avranches, occurs that of Brother Tideman de 
 Wynchecombe, monk and abbot, 1391, afterwards Bishop 
 of Llandaff in Glamorgan, strangely omitted from their 
 notice of this Abbey by the authors of Gallia Christia^ta 
 (xi. 549), who have written so much on the subject of 
 French ecclesiology. Winchester Cathedral possesses 
 among its archives some very fine fourteenth-century 
 seals of the Benedictine Abbey of Tiron, in the diocese 
 of Chartres. Among seals of religious orders may be 
 mentioned that of the Minister General of the Francis- 
 cans, in 1 35 1, with a scene of the Descent of the Holy 
 Spirit at Pentecost. 
 
 Local seals, including those for special districts, 
 corporate bodies, courts, and tribunals, follow no special 
 type, but give illustrations of matters of importance to 
 the districts : heraldry, personal figures, views of towns 
 and cities, castles and bridges, saints, and miscellaneous 
 devices abound, all conceived with artistic care and en- 
 graved with excellent effect. A few bullae must be in- 
 cluded here, as, for example, those of Venaissin ; that of 
 the twelve consuls of Montpellier, in Languedoc, applies 
 to the Virgin and Child on the counterseal the verses : 
 
 ' VIRGO • MATER • 
 NATUM • ORA • 
 UT • NOS • TUEATUR • 
 OMNI • HORA.' 
 
 The Paris fourteenth-century seals for the several 
 ' Nations ' of the University are remarkably elaborate. 
 Equestrian seals, seals of the royal feudatory princes, 
 
 291 
 
SEALS 
 
 leaden bullae of the nobility, seals of ladies, heraldic 
 seals, and those which bear simple designs, follow much 
 the same course as those of England, but they have 
 characteristics of their own often much finer than the 
 English seal-designs, which can only be learned by 
 studiously examining a large number of specimens. 
 
 I 
 
 292 
 
PLATE XL! 
 
 
 NOHLE LAUIKS OF I-KANX'K 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS EUROPEAN AND OTHER SEALS — 
 DENMARK, GERMANY, THE NETHERLANDS, NOR- 
 WAY, POLAND, RUSSIA, SPAIN, SWEDEN, THE EAST, 
 AMERICA, ETC. 
 
 CONTINUING the notices of foreign seals, it is 
 found that few Danish seals find their way to 
 English cabinets. A matrix preserved in the 
 British Museum, about the period of the fifteenth century, 
 bears a dexter-hand holding an elaborate fleur-de-lis, on 
 which are two birds. The legend shows that this is the 
 seal of the Prior of Denmark, probably the Prior Pro- 
 vincial of the Carmelites or Dominicans. 
 
 The ancient Empire of Germany is represented by a 
 fine series of seals of sovereigns, from the time of Charle- 
 magne or Carl i. der Grosse, 768-814, to the present day. 
 The design of this sovereign's seal, and that of several of 
 his immediate successors, is engraved on an oval field, and 
 the matrix may have been a precious stone. The names 
 of the rulers are introduced by the formula : ' christe 
 PROTEGE,' or 'CHRISTE ADjuvA.' At first the style of 
 sealing termed en placard (that is fastened on the face 
 of the document) is used, and the simple bust alone is 
 delineated ; then details of dress, or armour, and laurel 
 fillets are introduced. Conrad l, 912-919, gives a half- 
 length portrait with crowns, flag, and shield. This type 
 subsisted, with variations and additions, to the time of 
 Otto, 983, who on one seal appears standing. Heinrich 11. 
 is seated on a throne, and holds a sceptre and an orb. 
 This was a favourite type and had a long use, minor 
 details being gradually added and made from time to 
 
 293 
 
SEALS 
 
 t 
 
 time more elaborate, as also was the case in France. 
 Architectural work on the throne appears at the close 
 of the eleventh century. At the end of the twelfth the ||{ 
 sun-star and crescent moon are introduced. The method 
 of appending the seal superseded the older form of 
 placard. Friedrich ii., 1196, had golden bullae, as well 
 as seals of majesty. The larger bulla bears the view of 
 the city of Rome with legend 
 
 ' ROMA • CAPUT • MUNDI • REGIT • ORBIS • FRENA • ROTUNDI.' 
 
 The type lasted for a lengthy period, gradually improving 
 in dimensions and the use of subordinate accessories. 
 Heinrich vii., 1308, introduced three lions into the design 
 of the obverse of his seal, and for a counterseal had the 
 figure of an eagle rising reguardant, probably the oldest 
 example of the Royal German heraldic eagle. Ludwig iv., 
 Emperor, 13 14, is enthroned between two eagles rising 
 reguardant, his feet on two lions. His eagle counterseal 
 bears the motto, 
 
 'juste • JUDICATE • FILII • HOMINUM,' 
 
 from the Psalms. Carl iv., 1347, is the first King and 
 Emperor who used armorial bearings ; the eagle displayed 
 for ancient Germany and the lion rampant for Bohemia 
 appear on his seal as king. The design of his imperial 
 seal marks a new period in German art, the treatment 
 of the details being in contrast to all previous work. 
 Wenzeslaus, 1378, is the first to use the double-headed 
 eagle displayed, which is still the chief charge in the 
 royal heraldry of Germany, and appears in the armorials 
 of numerous states and provinces. The design has been 
 conjectured to be derived from overlaying two eagles 
 rising which were used separately as supporters in the 
 seal of Carl iv. Details now increase rapidly, the dimen- 
 sions are augmented, elaborate carving becomes the rule, 
 shields of arms of the several petty states and provinces 
 294 
 
PLATE XLU 
 
 EARLY SEALS OF (JERMAN SOVEREIGNS 
 
PLATE XLIII 
 
 ! '.f 
 
 "'^ -rf, "\. 
 
 W M 
 
 II 
 
 EARLY SEALS Of GER>L\N SOVEREIGNS 
 
SEALS OF GERMANY 
 
 are crowded into the field, collars of Orders are added, 
 and the style of the sovereign in the legends assumes 
 lengthy proportions by specifically naming every district 
 ruled over. Sigismund, 14 lo, places a nimbus on each 
 head of the eagle, and signalises it with the curious and 
 ancient verses : 
 
 'AQUILA • EZECHIELIS • 
 SPONSE • MISSA • EST • DE • CELIS • 
 VOLAT • IPSA • SINE • META • 
 QUO • NEC • ALES • NEC • PROPHETA • 
 EVOLAVIT • ALCIUS.' 
 
 This appears to refer to Ezekiel xvii. 3. Friedrich in., 
 1440, introduced into his seal the mysterious letters 
 A • E • I • o • u •, by some interpreted to signify 
 
 * AUSTRIE • EST • IMPERARE • ORBI • UNIVERSO ' ; 
 
 by others the equally pretentious sentiment, 
 
 ' ALLES • ERDREICH • 1ST • OESTREICH • UNTERTHAN.' 
 
 The king's signet ring has been stamped on one impres- 
 sion of his Great Seal in the British Museum collection ; 
 the device is a composition of four human faces in profile. 
 Maximilian i., 1493, places a monogram on his golden 
 bulla. Carl v., 1519, introduced the symbolical 'Pillars 
 of Hercules' into some of his seals. Francis i., in the 
 eighteenth century, added allegorical personifications 
 of Faith and Justice to his golden bulla ; in this he 
 was followed by Maria Theresia, after 1765. The intricacy 
 and elaboration of the seals at this time are of the most 
 remarkable character. The dimensions are in some cases 
 upwards of five inches, and the shapes are like saucers, 
 a red facing-wax being added to the body, which is 
 generally in self-coloured wax. One of Ferdinand's seals, 
 for example, delineates upwards of seventy armorial 
 bearings, besides Collars of Orders and other imperial 
 accessories. 
 
 295 
 
SEALS 
 
 Of Austrian dukes and other notables there are 
 many fine equestrian and armorial seals known, rang- 
 ing in date from the fourteenth century downwards. 
 Bavaria contributes several equestrian seals of counts 
 palatine and dukes from the same period. The king- 
 doms of Bohemia and Hungary being for long vested in 
 the Emperor of Germany, most of the seals of these 
 kingdoms must be sought for in the Imperial series. 
 Brandenburg, Brunswick, Saxony, Wiirtemberg, and 
 other states yield seals chiefly of the equestrian and 
 armorial types. Prussia appears to have followed the 
 same types in the middle ages. The queens-consort 
 of Germany depicted their own figures on their seals, 
 accompanied with heraldry, or conventional details such 
 as trees, the sun and moon, and so forth. Royal signets 
 were generally heraldic. There is a class of Judicial 
 seals, the * Hofgerichts Siegel' and ' Landfriedens Siegel,' 
 the earlier design of which is the figure of the emperor 
 holding a sword horizontally before him. The earliest 
 is of the fourteenth century. Later seals of this class 
 are heraldic. 
 
 German ecclesiastical seals follow the same styles 
 as those of England, but the technique is different. 
 Many of them are very fine both in conception and 
 execution. The same may be said of the monastic seals, 
 where saints and their emblems, architectural designs, 
 heraldry, and symbolism all have their frequent part to 
 play. The Virgin Mary, her effigy, and her traditional 
 acts, enter largely into the category of subjects. Military 
 orders contribute some elaborate armorial designs. Local 
 seals, with which are to be included merchant companies, 
 are very varied. They follow much the same types as 
 those of England, Scotland, and other countries. The 
 designs include castles and other edifices, effigies, views, 
 heraldry, celestial and terrestrial objects, utensils, animals, 
 fishes, birds, and many other devices. The towns of 
 Boppard and Coblenz on the Rhine, the city of Cologne, 
 and Constanz in Baden, had very fine seals. Equestrian 
 296 
 
PLATE XT. IV 
 
 (iREAJ- SEALS AND y,\:\.\..¥. ()!■ SOVKKKIGNS OK GERMANY 
 
PLATE .\'L.y 
 
 SOVEREIGNS OV GER.MANV 
 
f 
 
SEALS OF GERMANY, NETHERLANDS, ETC. 
 
 seals of noble personages, personal seals of ladies, 
 armorial seals, and private seals bearing arbitrary designs, 
 are in many instances of the finest character, and compare 
 favourably with the corresponding classes of English and 
 French seals. The heraldry is of fine proportions, both 
 as regards the forms of the shields and the outlines of 
 the charges. This proportion, different as it is, in many 
 cases, to that of other realms, is pleasing and attractive. 
 It demands careful study to master the delicate peculi- 
 arities of these artistic German seals. 
 
 Seals of the Netherlands, Belgium and Holland 
 appear to follow pretty much the same lines as those of 
 other countries in their respective classes. They are 
 very numerous, and the space at disposal here will only 
 allow of some of the more remarkable being mentioned 
 to guide the student and collector. The Great Seal of the 
 States General of the United Provinces, in 1585, bore the 
 national device, a lion rampant crowned, holding a sword 
 and a sheaf of arrows labelled ' concordia,' in reference 
 to the union of the several Provinces. The diameter of 
 this fine seal is about five and a half inches. Its counter- 
 seal, three and a half inches wide, bears a dexter hand 
 issuing from the clouds, and holding the sheaf of arrows 
 as on the obverse. The lion rampant enters into the 
 devices of most of the seals of this country. Maximilian 
 of Burgundy, Admiral of Flanders, in 1543, had a fine 
 seal bearing an antique ship of war on the sea, accom- 
 panied by numerous emblems among which are a flag 
 with the figure of a merman, the catlloux and briquet of 
 the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, armorial 
 bearings of the ancient and modern Dukes of Burgundy, 
 and crests and supporters. Franco de Mallenguien, 
 Provost of Bruges, Chancellor of Flanders, in his official 
 seal, used in 1237, appears seated on a bench with ter- 
 minals of animals' heads, reading a book which rests 
 open on a lectern supported on two columns. Among 
 ecclesiastical seals the type of the standing effigy of the 
 bishop follows the usual character, becoming more orna- 
 
 297 
 
SEALS 
 
 mental and attended with more detail as time progresses. 
 Theobald de Bar, Bishop of Liege, is shown, 1304, seated 
 on a throne with animals' heads at the ends, and holding 
 his staff in the left hand, his right being uplifted to pro- 
 nounce a blessing. The background is replenished with 
 the charges of the heraldry of the Bar family, and a shield 
 of these arms is set below the platform on which the feet 
 of the effigy repose. The chapter of St. Lambert of 
 Liege, 1399, used a seal on which is delineated the patron 
 saint in episcopal robes, seated on a throne fashioned 
 after the type mentioned above, and having behind him 
 an embroidered mantle or pavilion, upheld by two 
 angels. The counterseal or secretum shows a celebrant 
 before the altar on which is a chalice, beneath a trefoiled 
 arch, above which are two figures striking the priest. 
 This episode is related in the life of the saint by Godes- 
 calc of Lidge. St. Lambert appears also on the seal of 
 the Archpriest of Liege, accompanying the Virgin and 
 Child — a late seal, perhaps of the sixteenth century. 
 
 The monastic institutions of the Netherlands in the 
 middle ages were many as indeed they are now. Their 
 seals, which vary considerably and are not conceived 
 according to any conventional types, are very beautiful for 
 the interpretations of national history and art which they 
 render. Among the designs may be mentioned various 
 figures of our Lord, Patron Saints, St. Peter, St. 
 Dominic, the Virgin Mary with the Child, St. Martin, 
 and scenes of religious origin. Boxtel, in North 
 Brabant, gives a late seal bearing St. Peter's effigy with 
 rayed nimbus, and holding keys and a book. Clair- 
 champ Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady, near Dokkum, 
 Friesland, depicts the Virgin with a sceptre topped with 
 a threefold branch of fleurs-de-lis ; the Child standing on a 
 branch has his arm round the neck of the Virgin, and 
 holds a globe in the left hand. The Premonstratensian 
 Abbey of Floreffe, in Namur, delineates the Virgin and 
 Child adored by St. John beneath a tree. The Bene- 
 dictines of Ghent figure their patron, St. Peter, seated on 
 298 
 
 i 
 
FLATE XL I- 1 
 
 SOVERKKJNS OF GKRMANY 
 
M( 
 
 al 
 Pis 
 des 
 bac 
 
 his 
 
 Thf 
 143 
 
 CO! 
 
 y 
 
 Zon 
 Ypr 
 incl 
 
 The 
 and 
 shai 
 Chi: 
 cort 
 
 each 
 
 Pric 
 
 St. 
 
 whii 
 
 att 
 
 intn 
 
 Sepi 
 
 anac 
 
 whi( 
 
 sim{ 
 
 refei 
 
 priej 
 
 Chill 
 
MONASTIC SEALS OF THE NETHERLANDS 
 
 a bench-like throne, with his keys and book. Jean 
 Piscator, abbot of this house, 1287, used an elegantly 
 designed seal bearing his effigy on a carved corbel, with 
 background diapered lozengy within a carved panel of fine 
 work. The counterseal bears the figure of St. Peter with 
 his customary emblems, the legend being 
 
 * DEUM • TIME • ET • MANDATA • EJUS • OBSERVA.' 
 
 The Resurrection of our Lord is shown on the seal, 
 1434, of the Preaching Friars of the Hague. The 
 Convent St. Mary Magdalene at Maestricht, in Limburg, 
 had a thirteenth-century seal on which is shown the Noli 
 me tangere scene of our Lord appearing after Resurrec- 
 tion to the patron saint in the garden, Sinnebecca, or 
 Zonebeca, an Austin Canons' Abbey in the Diocese of 
 Ypres, had a fine large seal, measuring not quite three 
 inches long by two inches wide, of the vesical form, the 
 matrix of which was found at Bangor, in North Wales. 
 The design is a figure of the Virgin Mary, with crown 
 and nimbus, seated on a carved bench with cushion and 
 shafts, holding a fleur-de-lis, and on her left knee the 
 Child, who has a book and is giving benediction. The 
 corbel on which this design rests is ornamented with a 
 grotesque face, and the sacred letters alpha and omega, 
 each combined with a crosslet, are at the sides. The 
 Prior and Convent of Regulars of Utrecht, dedicated to 
 St. Mary and the Apostles, had a seal in use in 1421, on 
 which is depicted the Virgin and Child with the Apostles 
 at the Holy Sepulchre, attended by an angel. The 
 introduction of the Divine Child into a scene of the 
 Sepulchre may at first sight appear incongruous and 
 anachronous, but from the point of view of mediaeval art, 
 which in this instance considers the figure of the Child 
 simply as the concomitant emblem of the Mother, without 
 reference to the Risen Christ, is accurate enough. The 
 priests of the Fraternity of the Virgin in St. Michael's 
 Church at Zwoll, in Overyssel, had a fine fifteenth-century 
 
 299 
 
SEALS 
 
 t 
 
 seal showing the Virgin Mary with the Child under a 
 canopy, attended by two angels playing, the one a violin, 
 the other a pipe. The Carthusians of a Convent of the 
 True Cross in Belgium, at a place not identified, showed 
 on their fourteenth-century seal a scene of the Crucifixion 
 of our Lord, between St. Mary and St. John, and at the 
 foot of the cross, which is bedewed with drops of blood, a 
 coffin contains the body of Adam, in accordance with i 
 traditional belief that the cross was set up over the exact ' 
 spot of Adam's grave. St. Paul seems to allude to this 
 in I Cor. xv. 22. 
 
 Local seals, inclusive of those of corporations, courts, 
 districts, and bailliages, cover a large field of mis- 
 cellaneous designs. Amsterdam has on its town seal 
 a ship of antique build with armorial bearings, 1374. 
 Audenarde, in East Flanders, 1275, an escarcella or 
 leathern wine-bottle with loop handle. Axel, in Zeeland, 
 1237, three trefoiled objects, perhaps chess-rooks; the 
 second seal of the scabini, or dchevins, 1244, a castle of 
 quaint construction. The Grand-Serjeant of Braine-le- 
 Comte, in Hainaut, delineates in the sixteenth century the 
 martyrdom of St. Sebastian, an unusual subject with 
 the seal-engraver. The scabini of Courtray, in West 
 Flanders, had an early seal, 11 99, with a representation 
 of the patron, St. Martin; the later seal, 1237, still 
 retains the same type. A fourteenth-century seal of 
 the provosts and scabini gives an elaborate castle, or 
 tower, with shield of arms. Hondesdamma, in West 
 Flanders, gives, 1237, a curiously built ship, approaching 
 a daffi or pier on which stands the town hall or custom- 
 house ; the second seal, used in 1309, has a ship of much 
 detail worthy of study by the lover of ancient maritime 
 construction and seamanship. The rudder is particularly 
 noteworthy. Dordrecht, in South Holland, uses the 
 castle type in 1374. Furnes or Veurne, in West Flanders, 
 had a seal, 1237, bearing a seeded fleur-de-lis of very 
 strange ornamental form ; the later seal varies the form 
 of the flower, which there becomes still more remarkable. 
 300 
 
rr.ATJi xLvn 
 
 bOCAL SEALS OV THK NKTHERLANDS, ETC. 
 
\ 
 
 L( 
 
 One 
 Fries 
 abou 
 
 a fig' 
 Onl 
 armc 
 ligur 
 wing 
 The 
 
 cu 
 
 1 
 Johi] 
 atten 
 seals 
 inste 
 moni 
 in 12 
 of rf 
 scabi 
 retail 
 Grav 
 Patr( 
 and 
 Hokf 
 pilgr 
 in\^ 
 
 1237: 
 
 betwi 
 fiiet, 
 enthr 
 her 1 
 wave 
 an ii 
 'Scu: 
 Sip 
 
LOCAL SEALS OF THE- NETHERLANDS 
 
 One of the seals of the Communes of the Province of 
 Friesland, 1338, is very interesting. The diameter is 
 about three and three-quarter inches. The design is 
 a figure of the Virgin Mary with the Child and sceptre. 
 On her right is a Frisian warrior clad in long coat of 
 armour, with sword and buckler ; on the left a similar 
 figure with lance and target. Below, under an arch, two 
 wingless angels are rising in adoration between crosses. 
 The legend, which in one place disregards metre, is 
 
 * HIS • SIGNIS • VOTA • SUA • REDDIT • FRISIA • TOTA • 
 CUI • CUM • PROLE • PIA • SIT • CLEMENS • VIRGO • MARIA.' 
 
 The citizens of Ghent in 1275 depicted the patron St. 
 John Baptist, with the Lamb of God, in a carved niche, 
 attended by angels swinging censers of incense ; later 
 seals for ' legationes ' continue the type, but place books 
 instead of thuribles in the hands of the angels. Gram- 
 mont or Mont-Gheraud, in Hainaut, had on its seal, used 
 in 1244, a curious design of a rocky mount between trees 
 of remarkable shape, and at top a long cross. The 
 scabini here, in 1275, used a churchlike design, but 
 retained the type of the rocky mound on the counterseal. 
 Gravelines, in Flanders, shows, 1340, the renowned 
 Patron St. Willibrord in a boat, attended with a mariner 
 and an acolyte. The corporation of St. James * de le 
 Hoke' shows on its Common seals, 1275 and 1309, the 
 pilgrim patron with his book, staff, and wallet. Hulst, 
 in West Flanders, places on the seal of its scabini, in 
 1237, an effigy of St. Willibrord, the patron bishop, 
 between two tall candles in floral sconces. Lammins- 
 fliet, or Sluys, in Zeeland, depicts, 1309, the Virgin 
 enthroned with the Child, in her hand a cross held to 
 her breast, between two long candles in candelabra ; 
 waves are at her feet. Leyden, in South Holland, had 
 an interesting seal of the fourteenth century for the 
 * Scultet,' eight Jurats, and Corporation. This represents 
 St. Peter enthroned, between thurifer angels, and adored 
 
 301 
 
SEALS 
 
 by the city magnates. The University seal, of the six- 
 teenth century, represents Minerva with book and 
 Medusa shield, and adds armorial bearings and winged 
 cherubs. The town of Lombartzyde, near Ostende, used 
 in 1286 a seal showing St. Martin dividing his cloak 
 with a beggar, according to the legend of the saint. 
 
 The University of Louvain, in Brabant, had for its 
 Faculty of Law a fifteenth-century seal bearing a saint 
 with two codes of law, and shields of arms. Luxem- 
 burg town bore the enceinte of a fortress with heraldry 
 of the Dukes of Burgundy and Counts of Flanders, a 
 sixteenth-century seal. Mardick, in Flanders, shows a 
 thirteenth-century boat containing the effigy of a bishop, 
 perhaps St. Willibrord. Monnickendam, otherwise 
 called Monikereede, on the Zuyder Zee, has a rebus of 
 a mo^ik reading, as well as shipping and waves, on two 
 seals, the one used in 1275, the other in 1309. Mons, 
 in Hainaut, had a finely designed edifice of the castle 
 type in the thirteenth-century seal, and a fortress of 
 more complicated details accompanied with heraldry on 
 its later seals. Nieuport, in West Flanders, gives, in 
 1237, a ship navigated by a mariner: Oostburg, in Zee- 
 land, in 1275, an elaborate castle: Ostende shows its 
 patron, St. Peter, holding keys and a model of the town 
 hall. Audenborc or Oudenbourg, in West Flanders, used 
 the castle type in 1226. Oultre, called also Pont-Brabant 
 and Ultra-Scaldam, gives an unusual form of castle on a 
 bridge in 1244. The scabini of Roulers, or Rousselaere, 
 in West Flanders, depict, in 1309, St. Michael in com- 
 bat with the dragon, between two patriarchal crosses : 
 Rupelmonde, in Anvers, has an archaic design of a 
 rectangular tower over which is a sword. The later 
 seal of 1275 continues the type. The scabini of Thour- 
 out in West Flanders used the castle type in 1237. 
 Tournay, a commune of varied fortunes, in 1288, has 
 a tall tower on a hilly mount, with round side-towers. 
 Utrecht for its State seal of the * Scout and Scepene,' 
 shows, in 1397, a bishop's effigy enthroned, accompanied 
 302 
 
 I 
 
LOCAL SEALS OF THE NETHERLANDS 
 
 with castellated buildings, and on the counterseal the 
 scene of St. Martin riding a horse and befriending the 
 naked beggar by sharing his mantle. The later seal, 
 used in 1588, three inches in diameter, is a finely 
 designed type of the castle with heraldry. 
 
 The equestrian seals of this country are in many 
 instances very fine, both as to design and execution. 
 There is a flowing grace about some of them which is 
 very attractive. They generally embody heraldic charges 
 or shields of arms, and follow the usual types as regards 
 the details of armour and caparisons. Jean i. and ir., 
 Dukes of Lothier and Brabant, are represented, in the 
 thirteenth century, as holding a falcon by the jesses, 
 Henri Ogier, Count of Riviere d'Aerschot, seventeenth 
 century, is well represented in plate-armour with arms on 
 a seal measuring four inches in diameter. The seals of 
 noble ladies show the varied costumes of the respective 
 periods when they flourished, and introduce heraldry, 
 sometimes the falcon on the wrist, the fleur-de-lis in the 
 hand, and other details. One of the counterseals, used 
 by Marghareta, daughter of Guy, Count of Flanders, and 
 wife of Renaud i., Count of Gueldres, in 1286, bears the 
 impression of an ancient gem of the Gnostic period 
 engraved with a figure of the mysterious Abraxas or Jao, 
 a potent monster provided with the head of a cock and 
 the legs of serpent form, and armed with shield and 
 spear. The heraldic seals are generally executed in very 
 low relief; sometimes a griffin, a harpy, a swan, an 
 eagle, a wildman, an unicorn, a draped figure, a merman, 
 an angel, a saint, a double-headed dragon, or a tree is 
 used to carry or support the shield, which is often coucM\ 
 the panels are not particularly well conceived. The seals 
 bearing miscellaneous devices are not very remarkable for 
 their excellence. 
 
 The seals of Norway are not numerous. Among the 
 best are the Great Seal of King Eric the Great, 1297; 
 the Chapter seal of St. Halward's Cathedral at Oslo re- 
 presenting the facade of the church at the close of the 
 
 303 
 
SEALS 
 
 thirteenth century ; the Chapel Royal of Oslo gives a 
 figure of the Virgin Mary, to whom a kneeling votary is 
 offering a model church, fourteenth century ; and the 
 equestrian seal of Audouin Huglace, Norwegian am- 
 bassador to France, 1295. Poland is not rich in seals. 
 That of King Sigismund iii., about 1589, is heraldic and 
 well designed. The red wax on which it is impressed is 
 set in a thick saucer-shaped mass of yellow wax, and 
 appended to a document by silken strands. The seals of 
 the Czars of Russia generally represent a double-headed 
 eagle displayed, charged with armorial bearings, and 
 having collars of various orders hung on it. The legend 
 is in Slavonic capital letters arranged in concentric 
 circles. The Admiral Vasily Anitchkof, of the time of 
 Peter i., about 1700, had the design of a war-vessel of 
 remarkable details. There is a fine Great Seal of Stephen 
 Dabisha Tuartko 11., King of Servia and Bosnia, 1391- 
 1396, which seems to have been inspired by German 
 prototypes. 
 
 Spain, comprehending Castile and Leon, is rich in 
 leaden bullae and seals. The earlier sovereigns employed 
 the leaden bulla attached to documents by silk strands 
 of two or more divers colours, yellow and green, red and 
 white, crimson and gold, in preference to the seal of wax, 
 following in this respect the Byzantine and Papal customs, 
 and influenced no doubt by the similar method in vogue 
 with the French noblesse. Alfonso ix.. King of Toledo 
 and Castile, in 1 186, had a bulla with equestrian obverse, 
 and on the reverse the triple-towered castle of Castile, 
 which has endured, as an heraldic charge, to the present 
 day. Alfonso x. put the castle on the one side, and the 
 lion rampant of Leon on the other. Sancho iv.. King 
 of Castile, Leon, Murcia, Algarbe, and other provinces, in 
 1293, used the throne type on the obverse, on the reverse 
 the equestrian type with shield of arms quarterly Castile 
 and Leon. This is a wax seal about four and a half inches 
 in diameter. Fernando iv. carries on this form in 1298, 
 placing the arms in a rueda or circular panel. This 
 
 304 
 
 I 
 
PLATE XLVUl 
 
 ROYAI. SEALS OK SPAIN 
 

 
 king' 
 sides. 
 
 allyai 
 
 detail! 
 
 Jolin 
 
 land, 
 
 waxs 
 
 theai 
 
 Leon, 
 
 prope 
 
 King 
 
 realn 
 
 ingt 
 
 the] 
 
 wax 
 
 great 
 
 man] 
 
 Ocea 
 
 Phili 
 
 type 
 
 of a 
 
 Phil 
 
 each 
 
 1 
 
 whi( 
 
 folio 
 
 frou 
 
 are 
 
 devi 
 
 exar 
 
 late 
 
 Virj 
 
 the 
 
 Doi 
 
 Th( 
 
 is I 
 
 in I 
 
 ing 
 
SEALS OF SPAIN 
 
 king also had a leaden bulla with equestrian and heraldic 
 sides. Succeeding sovereigns adhere to this type, gradu- 
 ally augmenting the dimensions, and adding subordinate 
 details of ornament, cusped panels, and border carvings. 
 John of Gaunt, fourth son of King Edward in. of Eng- 
 land, and King of Castile and Leon, in 1380, used a red 
 wax seal embedded in a mass of dark green wax, bearing 
 the armorial rueda, per pale, dexter, quarterly Castile and 
 Leon, sinister, France Ancient and England with the 
 proper label for his cadency. Fernando 11. and Ysabel, 
 King and Queen of Castile, Leon, Portugal, and other 
 realms, used leaden bullae in 1476, and later in 1484, bear- 
 ing their effigies on the respective sides. Philip, son of 
 the Emperor Maximilian i., and Juana, in 15 10, use the 
 wax seal with heraldic bearings. Their titles reach a 
 great length, and their dominions, actual or titular, cover 
 many regions, including the 'Tierra Firme del Mar 
 Oceano'; the Canary Islands, India, and Jerusalem! 
 Philip II., in 1574, with quite as many titles, uses the 
 type of majesty, and the armorials on the respective sides 
 of a large seal, nearly four and a half inches in diameter. 
 Philip III. has the bulla, 1618; Philip iv. the wax seal, 
 each with effigy and arms. 
 
 The Privy seals and secreta of Spanish sovereigns, of 
 which not many are extant in seal cabinets, appear to 
 follow armorial types. The ecclesiastical seals, judging 
 from those which have come under the notice of collectors, 
 are of good design and excellent workmanship. The 
 devices are of an appropriate character, the earlier 
 examples favour the representation of effigies. The pre- 
 late stands in a carved niche, and the coronation of the 
 Virgin, figures of patron saints, the Virgin and Child, 
 the Pilgrim Saint of Spain, St. James of Compostella, St. 
 Dominic, St. Isidore of Seville, and others often appear. 
 The relief in which this native Spanish work is executed 
 is generally very flat. Sancho i.. Archbishop of Toledo 
 in 1255, used a well-designed seal bearing his figure hold- 
 ing a book to his breast ; overhead is the divine hand of 
 u 305 
 
i 
 
 SEALS 
 
 blessing, and at the sides a castle and a lion, for Castile 
 and Leon respectively. Sancho ii., archbishop, primate, 
 and chancellor, is shown in a seal, used in 1269, seated 
 full-face on a chair-like throne with terminals of the heads 
 and feet of lions, somewhat after the French style. His 
 counterseal shows the archbishop adoring the Virgin 
 and Child, and receiving the investiture of the pallmm 
 from the crowned figure of the Divine Mother. The Star 
 of Bethlehem here takes the form of an estoile of eight 
 rays between the two figures, and the legend consists of 
 the words of the salutation : 
 
 ' AVE • MARIA • GRATIA • PLENA • DOMINUS • TECUM.' 
 
 The whole scene is a fine example of Spanish art, and 
 the anachronisms which occur are unimportant. Gon- 
 zalvo de Aguilar, Archbishop of Toledo, 1351-1353, on 
 his original seal of red wax embedded in a mass of self- 
 coloured wax, approaching the dimensions of three inches 
 by two inches, is seated, holding a long cross, and lifting 
 up the right hand in blessing, upon a folding throne with 
 ends terminating in the heads and feet of lions within 
 a canopied niche of three arches. Above in a smaller 
 niche are seen the Virgin and Child, and on the carved 
 corbel which supports the whole edifice or facade is a ^ 
 shield of arms. I 
 
 Of monastic seals of Spain few have come to our 
 notice. One of the most interesting, which combines 
 the official with the personal motive, is that of Dona 
 Blanca, daughter of Alfonso iii., King of Portugal, and 
 grand-daughter of Alfonso x.. King of Castile, Abbess 
 of Santa Maria de las Huelgas in Burgos, about 13 13. 
 This is ogival, measuring about three by two inches, in 
 self-coloured opaque wax. The work is fine ; the design 
 consists of a figure of the abbess on the one side, and on 
 the reverse a plain cross with a bordure or role, of vesica- 
 shaped compartments, holding alternately the triple- 
 towered castle of Castile and the lion rampant of Leon. 
 306 
 
 .V.I 
 
 '1 
 
WBBBSBB 
 
 PLATE XL/A' 
 
 SEALS OK SPAIN AND NORWAY 
 
PLATE L 
 
 •ir^-- ■* 
 
 
 
 KOYAL SEALS OF SPAIN 
 
PLATE U 
 
 ROYAL SEALS OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL 
 
I 
 
SEALS OF SPAIN 
 
 This is a very representative specimen of the herald's 
 skill in blending family with corporate arms. Among 
 local seals attention may be drawn to that of Cordova in 
 1493, another good instance of compounding armorials. 
 The shield of arms which it carries bears a lion ram- 
 pant crowned within a bordure compony charged with 
 the castles of Castile and lions of Leon, of each nine 
 disposed in alternate juxtaposition. The thirteenth- 
 century Common seal of the town of Fuentearabia, in the 
 Vascongadas, bears a gang of four mariners in a boat 
 harpooning a whale ; on the reverse, a castle of Castile 
 elaborately detailed, and the sententious inscription, 
 ' FRANCE • LEGE • TEGE,' 3. favouritc motto with seal-en- 
 gravers of all countries. The town council of San 
 Sebastian adopted the type of ship in their seal used in 
 1335. Here the various operations for navigation are 
 of much noteworthiness. The device on the reverse is 
 an elaborately conceived castle of rectangular form with 
 four round towers and a keep. The legend is aptly 
 chosen : 
 
 ' INTRAVIT • DOMINUS • JESUS • IN • CASTELLUM.' 
 
 The University of Salamanca in Leon had the scene of 
 a doctor instructing scholars, and armorial bearings of 
 Castile and Leon. The legend is curious : 
 
 'OMNIUM • SCIENTIARUM • PRINCEPS • SALAMANTICA • DOCES.' 
 
 The ' Most Noble city of Seville,' in Andalusia, had a 
 fourteenth-century seal showing the King of Spain in 
 robes of majesty, enthroned beneath a canopy, and 
 attended by two prelates of the church. Equestrian seals 
 and those bearing heraldic charges are not particularly 
 numerous, and the art does not attain to a very high 
 standard. Of the subordinate kingdoms and realms now 
 included in Spain, that of Aragon contributes a few 
 leaden bullae of archaic type, such as that of King James, 
 
 307 
 
SEALS 
 
 1242, on the one side showing the king in majesty, on 
 the other the equestrian figure of the king as Count of 
 Barcelona and Urgel. Pedro iv. followed these types, 
 1 336- 1 387. The Great Seal of the latter sovereign, in red 
 wax, four and three-quarter inches diameter, appended 
 to a deed in the British Museum by a finely woven 
 ribbon of crimson and yellow silk strands, the national 
 colours of the country, shows the sovereign in majesty in 
 the midst of architectural features containing draped 
 attendants, and is inscribed with the Psalmist's verse : 
 
 ' DILIGITE • JUSTITIAM • QUI • JUDICATIS • TERRAM • ET • 
 OCULI • VESTRI • VIDEANT • EQUITATEM.' 
 
 On the reverse the king in armour, crested with the 
 dragon's head and wings, rides a caparisoned warhorse 
 charged with arms of Aragon, the background being 
 beautifully filled up with wavy sprigs of arabesque 
 foliage. 
 
 The kingdom of the Majorcas, in similar manner, 
 yields for our delight to-day a fine leaden bulla of 
 James i., 1263-1311, as king, on the obverse, in majesty; 
 as Count of Roussillon and Ceritania, equestrian with 
 heraldry, on the reverse. The kingdom of Navarre, 
 intimately connected with that of France, gives us a 
 fine seal of Charles iii., used as a 'seal of absence' in 
 1404, the reverse of which bears the design of an angel 
 standing on two lions couchant addorsed, with his wings 
 ouvert, and holding before him a shield of arms quarterly 
 Navarre and Evreux. Other royal seals of Navarre must 
 be sought for among the seals of the kings of France. f 
 Blanche of Artois, Queen of Navarre, consort of King 
 Henry i., and Countess Palatine of Champagne and Brie, 
 in 1275, uses a seal on which are four shields of arms 
 arranged in cross, their bases towards the centre. The arms 
 are : three lions passant in pale for her husband Edmond, 
 son of King Henry iii. of England, Artois, Navarre, and 
 Champagne. Seals of the other classes appear to follow 
 308 
 
"^mm 
 
 PLATE LI I 
 
 KOVAL SKAI.S OK SPAIN 
 
SWEDEN — SWITZERLAND 
 
 usual types. One specimen is very characteristic. It is 
 that of Don Fernan Pedrez, son of Don Pedro Ponz of 
 Navarre, in 1277. The design is a conventional tree of 
 three branches with a goat leaping up at the branches 
 (an idea of classic origin, adopted also by Haddington in 
 Scotland). It is within a square compartment formed 
 by overlaying two ovals ; in the lobes thus formed at the 
 sides of the square are four lions. 
 
 Swedish seals of armorial types are influenced by 
 German styles. Switzerland contributes ecclesiastical 
 and local seals of considerable interest. The Synod of 
 Basle, 1431-1443, used a leaden bulla representing the 
 assembled dignitaries illumined by the Dove of the Holy 
 Spirit, while the Almighty Father looks down from the 
 heavens. The communes and citizens of some of the 
 cantons and other districts had curious designs on their 
 sixteenth-century seals, as for example : Appenzell, a bear; 
 Basle, a remarkable churchlike edifice, and for its consuls, 
 a shield of arms ; Berne, a bear and an eagle displayed ; 
 the town of Biel, or Bienne, an armed man in a boat or 
 on a boat-like pedestal ; Boudri in Neuchatel, for its 
 town contrasts, 1593, an eagle displayed with a shield 
 of arms on the breast ; Fribourg, a castle and eagle dis- 
 played thereover ; Glarus, the effigy of the patron saint 
 Fridlino ; the Orison jurisdiction of the ' Ligne des Dix,' 
 a wildman with a banner ; that of the ' Ligne de la 
 Maison Dieu,' the Virgin Mary standing over a shield 
 of arms ; the ' Ligne des Orisons,' St. Michael and the 
 Dragon, and a shield of arms ; Lucerne, the martyrdom 
 of St. Leger under a canopy, accompanied with angels 
 and a shield of arms ; St. Gall, a bear holding a ball ; 
 Schaffhausen, a walled town with a mountain goat issuing 
 from a tower ; Schwitz, St. Martin dividing his mantle 
 with a beggar ; Soleure, an armed man and armorials ; 
 Unterwalden, a key ; Uri, 1489, armorials ; Sion or 
 Sitten in Valais, a saint over a shield of arms, between 
 two eagles displayed ; Zug, armorial ; and Zurich, the 
 three saints Felix, Regula, and Exuperantius, each hold- 
 
 309 
 
SEALS 
 
 ing a dissevered head, in a shrine of three pointed 
 arches. 
 
 Of Asiatic seals and bulla, very few call for special 
 mention. That of Pierre Pleine-Chassagne, Bishop of 
 Rodez and Patriarch of Jerusalem, is three inches in 
 diameter, and bears the scene of the three Maries received 
 by an angel at the Holy Sepulchre, accompanied with 
 scenes of the Crucifixion of our Lord between St. Mary 
 and St. John : the Baptism of our Lord kneeling before 
 John Baptist ; with other saints and heraldry. The 
 guardian of the Convent of Mount Sion in Palestine, 
 in 1668, represented on its seal two rare subjects, the 
 descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and Jesus 
 washing the feet of the Apostles. A few Jewish seals 
 are known. Their art is poor, and the legends in Hebrew 
 characters of archaic form are not easy to decipher. The 
 Jewish congregation of Seville in the fifteenth century 
 gives a triple-towered castle ; the same device was used 
 by a certain Tadros Hallevi, son of Samuel Hallevi, son 
 of Al-levi of Toledo, perhaps at an earlier date. The 
 Great Seal of Humbert, dauphin of the Viennois, Patriarch 
 of Alexandria, 1354, is remarkable for its size, four and a 
 half inches diameter, and the multiplicity of its images, 
 where, in an elaborate Gothic facade of many niches, 
 are set the Virgin and Child with angels, the arms of 
 Dauphigny, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Catharine, St. Remi, 
 and six-winged seraphs, besides numerous emblems. 
 
 American seals are not numerous. The Confederate 
 States, in 1862, had a seal made by Mr. J. S. Wyon, 
 but it is of no merit as a work of art. The design is 
 more or less a copy of the statue of George Washington 
 at Richmond in the States. The Corporation for 
 Promoting the Gospel in New England had, in 1661, 
 a seal bearing the figure of a Native with bow and 
 arrow, on the shore, pointing to a Bible, and inscribed : 
 * COME • OVER • AND HELPE • US.' The Govemor and 
 Society of Massachusetts in New England represent, 
 on their seal of 1678, the figure of a Native with bow 
 310 
 
AMERICA 
 
 and arrow, and use the same inscription as above. The 
 ' Republic ' State of Massachusetts places on a shield, 
 in 1812, a native figure with bow and arrow; the indis- 
 tinct motto below may perhaps be the same as already- 
 described. Pennsylvania, in 1699 and later, used a 
 curious seal of William Penn, ' True and Absolute Pro- 
 prietary and Governour in Chief of the Province,' bearing 
 a shield of arms and emblematical devices, referring to 
 the natural products of the country, accompanied with 
 the words ' Mercy,' ' Justice,' ' Truth,' ' Peace, ' Love,' 
 and so forth. 
 
 311 
 
,■■* 
 
GLOSSARY OF HERALDIC AND 
 CONVENTIONAL TERMS 
 
 %• Heraldic subjects are, in most instances, not delineated naturally but artificially, 
 and have a particular form and character of their own, which can only be ascertained from 
 illustrations contained in books that deal with armorial bearings and charges. 
 
 Acorns, 283. 
 
 Addorsed (placed back to back), 53, 
 
 222, 308. 
 Affronte (facing to the front, or full-face), 
 
 207. 
 Ailette (a kind of plate armour for pro- 
 tecting the shoulder), 174. 
 Alligator, 188. 
 Anchor, 186, 242, 243. 
 Angel, as supporter, 58, 214, 254, 255, 
 
 258, 260, 261, 265, 266, 303. 
 
 wingless, 301. 
 
 Angel's head, 262. 
 
 Annulet (a ring, of specified dimensions 
 
 in proportion to the shield), 64, 125, 
 
 172, 205, 207, 256, 266. 
 Antelope, 172, 256, 261. 
 Arms, sleeved, 263. 
 Attires (or antlers) of a stag, 255, 262, 
 Augmented honourably (by addition of a 
 
 special charge to the usual armorial 
 
 bearings), 214. 
 
 Badge (or heraldic bearing, accompany- 
 ing, but not on, a shield), 31, 32, 39, 
 40, 45. 47. 53. 61, 63, 66, 67, 68, 122, 
 170, 172, 206, 207, 215, 273. 
 
 Baldachin or Baldaquin (a canopy or 
 tester over a royal effigy), 58, 121. 
 
 Ballflower (a small conventional bud or 
 poppy-like flower, used as an enrich- 
 ment in architectural details, and 
 generally having four petals or leaves, 
 curved inwards), 62, 184, 256, 257, 
 267, 272. 
 
 Banner, 309. 
 
 Banner-flag (a banner on a staff), 150, 
 
 153. 155. 191, 247. 273- 
 Banner-flag, split, 207. 
 Barbed and seeded (of roses, provided 
 
 with thorns and having a centre dotted), 
 
 Baron and femme (descriptive of the 
 charges of a shield divided by a per- 
 pendicular line down the middle, and 
 bearing the arms of the husband on 
 the dexter or left hand, and of the 
 wife on the sinister or right hand side 
 of the spectator), 184. 
 
 Barry nebuly (marked with horizontal 
 wavy lines), 186. 
 
 Base (the foot or lower part of the field 
 of a shield), 105, 263. 
 
 Bear, 309. 
 
 and ball, 309. 
 
 Bend (a band lying obliquely from dexter 
 to sinister, that is from left to right, 
 upon a shield, of a specified width in 
 proportion to the size of the shield), 
 105, 182, 254. 
 
 sinister (same as above, but from 
 
 right to left), 105. 
 
 Bezant (a circle of gold, representing a 
 piece of money), 146. 
 
 Bezantee (powdered or filled up with 
 bezants), 146. 
 
 Birds called livers or lithers, 151. 
 
 Blackamoor (or negro), 187. 
 
 Blackamoor's head, 184. 
 
 Boar, 191, 242. 
 
SEALS 
 
 Boar's head, 253, 255, 259, 260, 261. 
 
 Border, or bordure (of a specified width, 
 on the edge of the shield), 146, 148, 
 150, 178, 263, 267, 306, 307. 
 
 Briquet (the steel striker of a flint-and- 
 steel for making fire), 297. 
 
 Buckle, 255, 256. 
 
 Buckler (or shield of ancient form), 301. 
 
 Bugle-horn, 291. 
 
 Cabochon, en (convex), 115. 
 
 Cabossed (seen from the front), 68, 166, 
 255, 260, 262. 
 
 Cadency (heraldic signs to indicate 
 position or order of several scions or 
 cadets), 305. 
 
 Caillou (the flint of a flint-and-steel for 
 making fire), 297. 
 
 Caltrop (a pointed object used in warfare 
 to obstruct cavalry, a point standing 
 up in whatever position the object is 
 placed), 60. 
 
 Cantoned (with bearings or charges in 
 each quarter or canton), 149. 
 
 Caparisons (coverings of a war-horse), 
 60, 66, 67, 158, 159, 169, 170, 171, 
 172, 176, 196, 202, 256, 303, 308. 
 
 Castellated (figured to represent a castle), 
 III. 
 
 Castle (of conventional form, somewhat 
 like a rook in a set of chessmen), 65, 
 68, 69, 70, 155, 162, 163, 164, 166, 
 167, 241, 242, 244, 246, 247, 249, 
 275, 286, 290, 300, 302, 304, 306, 
 
 307. 309. 310- 
 Castle of Castile, 38, 39, 56, 68, 71, 305, 
 
 306, 307. 
 Chained, 178. 
 Chapeau (or cap of heraldic form), 53, 54, 
 
 169, 178. 
 Chaplet (or garland of foliage and flowers), 
 
 264. 
 Charged (by having a heraldic device 
 
 placed on it), 148, 263, 264, 266, 308. 
 Chausse (a shoe of particular form in 
 
 armour), 176. 
 Chequy (marked with small squares like 
 
 a chessboard), 61, 62, 175, 250, 267. 
 Chess-rooks (of heraldic form like a rook 
 
 in a set of chessmen), 300. 
 Chevron (a heraldic ordinary like a gable ; 
 
 this is of specified width in proportion 
 
 to the area of the shield. According 
 
 to Berry, it is ' composed of a twofold 
 line pyramidical, the foundations being 
 on the dexter and sinister sides of the 
 escocheon and the acute point of the 
 spire near the top of the field, resem- 
 bling a pair of rafters to support the 
 roof of a house '), 60, 123, 144. 
 
 Chevronelly (marked with lines like 
 chevrons), 183. 
 
 Cinquefoil (a rose-like flower of five con- 
 ventional leaves), 54, 68, 137, 169, 176, 
 184, 190, 247, 262, 267, 268, 272. 
 
 double, 1 6 1. 
 
 Cockatrice (a fanciful conventional crea- 
 ture, resembling in some respects a 
 cock and dragon combined), 178, 191. 
 
 Coif (a headpiece in the period of mail 
 armour), 175, 176, 196. 
 
 Collared (heraldic collars are often placed 
 on animals used for supporters), 159, 
 178. 
 
 'Compartment of Grass,' 255. 
 
 Compony (chequy of one tract or hori- 
 zontal row), 307. 
 
 Contourne, or Contournie (turned to the 
 sinister or right-hand instead of the 
 usual manner of turning to the dexter 
 or left-hand), 53, 263. 
 
 Cony, or rabbit (the heraldic animal is 
 not drawn naturally), 257, 258. 
 
 Cordon (a circular row or band of 
 charges), 75, 140. 
 
 Cornucopia, 285. 
 
 Coronet (a kind of crown), 170. 
 
 Coroneted helmet, 257, 258. 
 
 Couchant (lying down or seated, with the 
 head up), 158, 308. 
 
 Couch'e (sloping to the dexter), 184, 252, 
 254, 256, 259, 261, 303. 
 
 Cou'e (cowarded, of animals, with the tail 
 between the hind legs), 254, 256. 
 
 Counterchanged (when the divided field 
 and the charges are alternately tinctured 
 this term is used), 170. 
 
 Counter-passant (when two or more crea- 
 tures are tricked in the attitude of 
 walking in opposite directions), 146. 
 
 Couped (cut ofi" by a horizontal line), 53, 
 62, 253. 
 
 Courant (running), 54, 240, 256. 
 
 Crane's neck, 256. 
 
 Crescent (like a new moon, with the two 
 horns or points turned upwards), 35, 
 
GLOSSARY 
 
 36, 86, 99, loi, 106, 108, 120, 122, 
 123, 124, 126, 127, 128, 137, 147, 
 153. 156. i59» 163, 164, 183, 190, 
 
 211, 212, 216, 217, 224, 227, 230, 
 231, 232, 233, 237, 240, 243, 245, 
 248, 253, 272, 294. 
 
 Cresset (a kind of beacon or fire-stand), 
 68. 
 
 Crest (the heraldic charge placed on a 
 helmet or wreath), 184, 185, 245. 
 
 Cross (in heraldry the width is propor- 
 tionate to the area of the shield), 108, 
 147, 149, 156, 161, 188, 262, 268, 273. 
 
 in (arranged in the form of a cross), 
 
 184, 267, 309. 
 
 of St. Andrew (a cross saltire or 
 
 X -shaped), 37. 
 
 of St. George (used on flags), 37, 148. 
 
 Cross fleury (a cross with the extremities 
 like ^fleur-de-lis), 248. 
 
 formie (similar to the cross pattee, 
 
 with ' extremities spreading like dove- 
 tails '), 75- 
 
 pattie, 138, 273. See Cross formie. 
 
 paionce {' t\\Q ends terminate some- 
 thing like the bottom part of the fleur- 
 de-lis.' — Berry), 268. 
 
 Crosslet (a cross with short bar extra 
 across each limb), 122, 214, 299. 
 
 Crouching (of an animal, in the act of 
 preparing to spring), 152. 
 
 Crown, 273. 
 
 antique (with sharp points along 
 
 the top), 276. 
 
 oi three fleurs, 124. 
 
 Cruciferous, or crucifer (bearing the 
 
 mark of a cross), 124, 142, 157, 217, 
 
 232, 278. 
 Cruzily (powdered or set with small 
 
 crosses in order of a quincunx), 177. 
 Cushion (the heraldic cushion is of what 
 
 is commonly called a diamond shape), 
 
 259- 
 Cusp (the point where two curved lines 
 meet in tracery or carving), 75, 265, 
 276, 305. 
 
 Dais (a raised platform), 58, 59. 
 
 Debruised (having some charge, generally 
 a bend or fess, placed over it. ' An or- 
 dinary lying upon an animal.'— Burkk), 
 105. 
 
 Demi-angel, 272. 
 
 Demi-lion, 207, 259. 
 Demi-savage, 263. 
 Demi-serpent, erect, 263. 
 Devise (a heraldic badge or design), 66. 
 Dexter (turned to the left-hand side of the 
 spectator), 57, 145, 202, 256, 273, 305. 
 hand (the right hand), 259, 261, 
 
 297. 
 
 hand and arm erect, 262. 
 
 Diapered, or diapr'e (ornamented with 
 geometrical or curved lines, leaves, 
 sprigs, or flowers), 74, 178, 212, 258, 
 259, 264, 273, 276, 299. 
 
 lozengy, 64, 66, 67, 261. 
 
 Difference, or differentiation (a method 
 of distinguishing one member of an 
 arms-bearing family from another by 
 giving special marks or charges), 168, 
 170, 213, 264, 266. 
 
 Dimidiate (to divide the bearings by a ver- 
 tical line down the centre of the field), 
 49, 266. 
 
 Displayed (in heraldry, of an eagle, spread 
 out with wings open, legs apart, head 
 to dexter), 120, 138, 264, 267, 269, 
 
 294. 304, 309- 
 
 Dog, 256. 
 
 Dragon (a fabulous heraldic creature, with 
 wings like those of a bat), 49, 62, 65, 
 66, 92, 99, 106, 123, 129, 135, 141, 
 143, 149, 154, 164, 169, 172, 175, 190, 
 262, 273, 275, 284, 309. 
 
 double-headed, 303. 
 
 with two tongues, 180. 
 
 Dragon's head and wings, 308. 
 wings, 186-7. 
 
 Ducally gorged (with the coronet of a 
 duke on the neck), 179. 
 
 Eagle, 145, 266, 267, 269, 276, 303, 309. 
 
 crowned, 65. 
 
 displayed, 253, 257, 258, 262. (^See 
 
 Displayed.) 
 
 double-headed (this heraldic 
 
 charge is as old as the thirteenth cen- 
 tury. See Plate xlviii. fig. 8, 1275. 
 It was first used as a German Imperial 
 bearing by Wenceslaus, 1378. See p. 
 294), 254, 255, 264, 269, 294, 304. 
 — rising (in the act of springing up to 
 take flight), 162, 247, 294. 
 
 Royal German heraldic, 294. 
 
 Eagle's head and wings, 258. 
 
 315 
 
SEALS 
 
 Eight-leaved rose, 247. 
 
 Elephant, 265. 
 
 Embattled (with crenellated cresting or 
 parapet wall), 70, 91, 138, 139, 140, 
 146, 147, 151, 155, 162, 163, 165, 166, 
 258. 
 
 Embowed (bent at the elbow), 263. 
 
 Enarme (the strap on the inner side of 
 a shield, whereby to hold it on the 
 arm), 54, 176, i95- 
 
 Enfile (passing within and through, as a 
 sword, passing through the head of a 
 beast, is said to be enfiled with the 
 head), 150, 206. 
 
 Engrailed (edged with small curved lines 
 or loops, the points towards the interior 
 of the area of the shield), 243. 
 
 Enhanced (honoured by the addition of 
 some armorial distinction over the 
 shield), 169. 
 
 Ensigned (bearing an additional mark of 
 heraldic importance), 215. 
 
 Erased (as if torn out or from the body, 
 and having jagged marks of the divi- 
 sion), 145. 
 
 Erect, wings (pointing upwards), 256. 
 
 Ermine (represents white fur with small 
 black spots of conventional form), 178. 
 
 Escallop (or pecten-shell), 68. 
 
 Escarbuncle (a peculiar heraldic charge 
 of shape like a cross and saltire from 
 the same centre, or star of eight 
 points, with fleury tips, etc. ; originally 
 it signified a precious stone), 108, 253, 
 288. 
 
 Escarcella, or leathern bottle, 300. 
 
 Escrol or escroll (a waving slip, band, or 
 ribbon, generally having a motto, etc.), 
 
 65. 253- 
 Escutcheon in surtout (a small shield 
 
 placed on the shield over all the 
 
 charges), 263, 264. 
 Estoile (or star of six points), 35, 216, 
 
 253, 260, 262, 283, 284, 306, 
 
 Falcon (a heraldic bird somewhat similar 
 to an eagle, but with closed wings), 71, 
 174, 260, 303. 
 
 Fan-plume (a plume of feathers spread 
 out like a fan), 168, 171, 204, 256, 
 
 259- 
 Feathered serpent, 178. 
 Fess (a heraldic band, lying horizontally 
 
 316 
 
 on the shield, and of definite breadth 
 in proportion to the field or area of the 
 shield), 250. 
 
 Fess, in (arranged in a horizontal row), 36. 
 
 Fillet (a hair-band or ribbon), 284, 293. 
 
 Fitch'ee (sharpened at the foot), 214, 273. 
 
 Five wounds of our Lord (a heraldic 
 design, like small vesical figures), 143. 
 
 Fleece, 155, 275. 
 
 Fleur-de-lis (a heraldic and conventional 
 flower, supposed to resemble in some 
 degree the flower of the common water- 
 iris), 39, 45, 55, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 
 66, 67, 69, 82, 104, 139, 140, 147, 153, 
 163, 169, 171, 172, 175, 179, 180, 205, 
 207, 229, 231, 24s, 270, 281, 283, 288, 
 293, 298, 299, 303. 
 
 compound, 124. 
 
 inverted (upside down), 108. 
 
 seeded (with two small stalks bearing 
 
 seed-vessels issuing from between the 
 petals), 300. 
 
 Fleurdelisi (in the form of ^fleur-de-lis at 
 the summit or end), 58. 
 
 Fleuronn'e (enhanced with additional 
 buds), 288. 
 
 Fleury (with parts resembling 2l fleur-de- 
 lis), 128, 148, 177. 
 
 Floreated (resembling a flower oi fleur-de- 
 lis), 190. 
 
 Flory counterflory (enhanced with fleurs- 
 de-lis, pointing alternately inwards and 
 outwards), 199, 214, 250. 
 
 Formee, cross, 75. See Cross. 
 
 Fructed (bearing its proper fruit), 64, 70, 
 
 245- 
 
 Galley (an oared ship or boat of ancient 
 form), 234, 245, 246, 247, 248. 
 
 Gamb (the paw of a wild beast), 65, 259. 
 
 Garb (a sheaf of corn), 145, 257. 
 
 Garter (a band for the knee with a 
 buckle, the symbol of a Knight of the 
 Order of the Garter), 46, 55, 67, 144. 
 
 Gartered, 63, 67. 
 
 Gaze, at (looking front -face to the 
 spectator), 149. 
 
 Genouillere (a piece of plate-armour for 
 the knee), 1 74. 
 
 Gillyflowers (a conventional flower like a 
 pink), 263. 
 
 Goat, 62, 172. 
 
 Goat's head, 261. 
 
GLOSSARY 
 
 Gonfanon (a banner or flag of peculiar 
 form), 196. 
 
 Gorged (having a coronet or other charge 
 on the neck), 276. 
 
 GouUees-di-sang {ma.rked with drops repre- 
 senting blood), 143. 
 
 GauUes-de-sang {drops to represent blood), 
 149. 
 
 Greyhound, 58, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 172, 
 246, 256, 260. 
 
 Griffin (a heraldic fabulous creature, con- 
 sisting of the forepart of an eagle, the 
 hindpart of a lion), 65, 66, 67, 259, 
 263, 267, 270, 303. 
 
 supporters, 158. 
 
 Griffin's head, 70, 254, 257. 
 
 Guardant (with the head turned to the 
 front or spectator), 246, 254, 255. 
 
 Guige (the strap of a shield), 54, 184. 
 
 Hands holding swords, 245. 
 
 Harp, 37, 47, 63, 273, 274. 
 
 Harpy (a fabulous heraldic creature, con- 
 sisting of the upper half of a woman, 
 and the rest of an eagle or other bird), 
 
 303- 
 Hatched (marked with close lines crossing 
 
 diagonally), 175, 176. 
 Hauberk (shirt of mail armour), 168, 169, 
 
 i73> 175. 176, 195. 196, 202. 
 
 Hauriant or haurient (palewise of a fish, 
 perpendicular), 119, 150, 151. 
 
 Heart, human (heraldic and conventional, 
 like that on a playing-card), 245. 
 
 Heart-shaped shield, 253. 
 
 Heater-shaped shield (resembling a heat- 
 ing-iron), 182. 
 
 Heraldic antelope (a heraldic creature, 
 unlike the natural antelope ; its body 
 resembled ' that of a stag, the tail of a 
 unicorn, a tusk issuing from the tip of 
 the nose, a row of tufts down the back 
 part of the neck and the like on the 
 tail, chest, and thighs.' — Berry), 61, 
 143, 172. 
 
 Heron (conventional heraldic bird), 256. 
 
 feather, 262. 
 
 Horse's head, 259. 
 
 Horseshoes and horsenails, 69. 
 
 Hound's head, 260. 
 
 Housing (or clothing for a war-horse), 273. 
 
 Human head, 256. 
 
 Hunting-horn, 163. 
 
 Impale (to divide into half by a vertical 
 line ; when two coats are impaled the 
 shield IS divided down the middle and 
 one coat given on each side), 49, 57, 
 58, 59, 61, 164, 184, 266, 289. 
 
 Increscent (a crescent with the points or 
 horns to the dexter), 260. 
 
 Intaglio (cut or engraved below the 
 surface), 287. 
 
 Interlaced (interwoven), 242, 276. 
 
 Issuing (coming out from), 309. 
 
 Jesses (the cords by which a bird is held 
 in the hand), 303. 
 
 Kite-shaped shield (long, with pointed 
 base), 196. 
 
 Label (a horizontal band with three or 
 more pendants, placed in the chief 
 part of a shield, sometimes but not 
 always touching the sides), 63, 160, 
 
 170. 305- 
 of Lancaster, 53. 
 
 of three points, 145. 
 
 Labelled (tied with a band), 53, 169, 170. 
 
 Lady's head (conventionally drawn), 260, 
 265. 
 
 Lamb, 250. 
 
 Lambrequin (an ornamental cloth or 
 foliage added to a helmet, between it 
 and the crest, and is depicted floating 
 behind the person who carries it), 178, 
 184, 253. 
 
 Lance-flag (a flag or banner at the end 
 of a lance), 66, 174, 175, 178, 195, 
 198, 206, 284. 
 
 Leaved, 70. 
 
 Leopard's face (heraldic and conven- 
 tional, full-face of a lion), 63, 68, 69, 
 140, 199. 
 
 head (conventional form), 69. 
 
 Lily (conventional form), 66, 238, 281. 
 
 Lion (a heraldic and conventional 
 creature, not much like the natural 
 animal), 59, 66, 67, 97, 153, 178, 183, 
 186, 222, 244, 246, 247, 253, 254, 255, 
 257, 258, 259, 263, 266, 270, 272, 273, 
 288, 294, 297, 307, 308. 
 
 couchant, 150. 
 
 crowned, 64. 
 
 crest of England, 53. 
 
 of Leon (like the lion on the Royal 
 
SEALS 
 
 Spanish shield of arms), 57, 305, 306, 
 
 307- 
 Lion of March (like the lion supporter of 
 
 the family), 58. 
 of St. Mark (a winged lion of con- 
 ventional form), 285. 
 of Scotland (properly like that on 
 
 the royal arms of Scotland), 49, 199. 
 
 with extended tail, 169. 
 
 with triple tail, 207. 
 
 with head of woman, 262. 
 
 Lioncel (a young lion, heraldic), 180. 
 Lions of England (like the lion in the 
 
 Royal arms), 49, 57, 62, 68, 69, 144, 
 
 145, 148, 150, 155, 162, 163, 171, 206. 
 
 ■ three, of England, 39, 60. 
 
 Lion's head, 261. 
 
 head and forepart, 259. 
 
 Liston (or scroll), 253. 
 
 Lizard (a conventional creature, not much 
 
 like the natural lizard), 92, 190, 200. 
 Lobe (the petal or leaf of a flower when 
 
 used as a panel or frame), 169, 266, 
 
 267, 309. 
 Lodged (seated on the ground), 68, 245. 
 Lozenge (a heraldic charge like the 
 
 diamond on a playing-card), 58, 59, 71, 
 
 147, 192. 
 Lozengy (consisting of lozenge shapes or 
 
 forms), 176, 178, 179, 261, 273, 299. 
 Lymphad (a ship or boat of ancient shape, 
 
 used in Scottish heraldry), 234, 246, 
 
 248, 253, 25s, 264, 269. 
 
 Maiden (heraldic and conventional in 
 
 appearance), 256, 263, 264. 
 half-length, holding coronets, 258, 
 
 259- 
 
 wreathed, 258. 
 
 Maiden's head, 154, 255, 260. 
 Man-at-arms (soldier in military dress 
 
 with weapons), 155, 204. 
 Mantling (or cloak of fanciful form, at the 
 
 back or sides of a shield), 144, 184, 
 
 256. 
 
 Marguerite (a large daisy-flower of con- 
 ventional form), 143. 
 
 Marshalling (arranging the coats of arms 
 of families in their proper order on a 
 shield to denote marriages and alH- 
 ances), 266. 
 
 Martlet (a bird of conventional shape 
 without legs), 248. 
 
 Mascle (a lozenge-shaped link with open 
 or voided centre), 176, 207. 
 
 Matrix (the stamp which makes the im- 
 pression of a seal), 293. 
 
 Maunch (a long sleeve, sometimes reach- 
 ing to the ground), 177, 179, 180, 181. 
 
 Medallion, en (in profile, like the portrait 
 on a medal or coin), 90. 
 
 Merchants' mark (an arbitrary sign or 
 figure used as a traders' symbol), 70. 
 
 Mermaid, 256. 
 
 with mirror, 261, 
 
 Merman, 297, 303. 
 
 Moline cross (a cross like the iron which 
 holds a mill-stone to its axle), 23. 
 
 Monte (see Mount), 283. 
 
 Mound or orb (a sphere surmounted with 
 across), 196, 197, 198, 235. 
 
 Mount (a hill, hillock, or raised ground), 
 58, 61, 62, 65, 71, loi, 122, 138, 144, 
 164, 171, 179, 184,244, 247, 283,302. 
 
 Mullet (a star of five points), 54, 68, 204, 
 205, 
 
 Naiant (swimming), 119, 150, 163, 164. 
 Nimbed (having a nimbus), 143, 150, 162, 
 
 223, 228, 234, 269, 285. 
 Nimbus (a circlet around and over the 
 
 head of a saint or holy personage), 232, 
 
 233, 284, 295, 297. 
 Nowed (knotted or tied symmetrically), 
 
 170, 190, 203, 247. 
 
 Orb (see Mound), 199, 293. 
 
 Orle (this heraldic charge consists of a 
 shield-shaped band of breadth pro- 
 portionate to the area of the shield on 
 which it is placed ; its distance from 
 the edge is equal to its width. It may 
 be described as a border within the 
 shield at some little distance from the 
 edge), 182, 202, 213, 253, 268, 276, 
 306. 
 
 in (arranged in the figure of an orle), 
 
 57. 274- 
 Orphan boys, as supporters, 274. 
 Ostrich feathers, 53, 169, 170, 172, 178, 
 
 206, 262. 
 Otter, 265. 
 
 Ouvert, wings (opened wide), 308. 
 Over all (heraldic term signifying that 
 
 the charges are delineated below that 
 
 which is stated to be over all), 213. 
 
GLOSSARY 
 
 Pale (a vertical band of breadth pro- 
 portionate to the area of the shield), 
 
 37- 
 
 in (arranged vertically one charge 
 
 over the other), 150, 169, 273, 308. 
 
 Pall (a heraldic charge somewhat re- 
 sembling the letter Y, of width pro- 
 portionate to the field), 158. 
 
 Panache (a plume), 171, 174, 200, 259. 
 
 Park (an enclosure containing an animal, 
 etc.), 258. 
 
 Parrot's head, 256. 
 
 Fassant (in the heraldic attitude re- 
 sembling walking), 37, 54,61, 146, 150, 
 169, 170, 253, 256, 262, 272, 308. 
 
 Pattie, cross (with broadened ends), 138, 
 
 273- 
 Patonce. See Cross. 
 
 Patriarchal cross (a cross with two hori- 
 zontal crossbars, the lower one being 
 
 longer than the upper one), 98, 158, 
 
 302. 
 Peacock's head, 258, 260. 
 Pease-cods, 180. 
 Pelican in piety (in a nest striking her 
 
 breast to feed her young with her 
 
 blood), 257, 269. 
 Pellet (a small black circular spot or round 
 
 mark), 149, 217, 233, 242, 246, 257. 
 Pennon (a kind of small flag), 262, 267. 
 Pentacle (a five-pointed star in out- 
 line made with one continuous line), 
 
 227. 
 Phoenix (a fabulous bird), 260. 
 Pile, in (arranged in a wedge-like form, 
 
 the point being to the foot or base of 
 
 the shield), 146. 
 Pip-shaped shield (of conventional form 
 
 like an apple-pip, the point to the 
 
 base), 182. 
 Placard, en (affixed to the face or front 
 
 of a document), 281, 287, 288, 293, 
 
 294. 
 Plaque (a circular dish or disk), 277, 
 
 278. 
 Plinth (a pedestal), 262. 
 Plume (a bunch of feathers), 66, 159, 
 
 169, 170, 174, 206, 253, 255, 258. 
 Pomegranate (a conventional heraldic 
 
 fruit), 64, 66. 
 Portcullis (a grated door with square 
 
 openings, etc.), 54, 55, 61, 70, 122, 143, 
 
 172, 207. 
 
 Putti, or amorini (small chubby figures 
 of naked children), 65. 
 
 QuARTERiNGS (the divisions or com- 
 partments of a shield, each bearing 
 the charges belonging to one family), 
 55, 57, 185. 
 
 Quarterly (divided into four quarters), 
 170, 178, 267, 290, 304, 308. 
 
 Quatrefoil (a four-leaved flower, without 
 a stalk, of heraldic and conventional 
 form), 44, 56, 143, 172, 175, 190, 199, 
 201, 212, 231, 239, 242, 246, 260, 264, 
 265, 267, 272, 274, 275. 
 
 Paguly, cross (with obliquely jagged 
 edges, like a saw), 105. 
 
 Rampant (reared up on the hind legs, in 
 an attitude of attack), 36, 45, 57, 58, 
 153, 183, 198, 202, 244, 246, 247, 
 257, 259, 266, 270, 273, 294, 297, 
 
 307- 
 combatant (facing to each other as 
 
 if fighting), 36, 144. 
 guardant (front-face), 62, 63, 263, 
 
 273- 
 Reguardant (looking back or behind), 
 
 103, 176, 178, 223, 245, 294. 
 Replenished (filled), 162, 179, 180, 204, 
 
 242, 249. 
 Replenishment (filling up), 184. 
 Rosace (an ornamental rose or rosette), 
 
 57, 176- 
 Rose (a heraldic conventional flower of 
 symmetrical form), 55, 62, 63, 65, 67, 
 186, 273, 276. 
 
 en so/eiV (like a sun with rays), 31, 
 
 53, 64, 66, 161. 
 double, 
 
 122, 247. 
 
 five-leaved, 64. 
 
 of England (royal badge), 274. 
 
 of Lancaster (a badge), 54. 
 
 pierced, 137. 
 
 thistle, and shamrock on one stem, 
 
 53- 
 Tudor (shape differs slightly from 
 
 the usual form), 55. 
 Rosette, a heraldic rose-shaped ornament, 
 
 169. 
 Roundle (a circular disk or spot, larger 
 
 than a pellet), 68, 123, 148, 182, 184, 
 
 229, 276, 283. 
 
SEALS 
 
 Royal tressure (as seen on the shield of 
 the Royal Arms of Scotland), 266. 
 See Tressure. 
 
 St. George, flag of, 163, 165. 
 St. George's Cross, 267. 
 Salamander (a fabulous creature, some- 
 what like a lizard), 258. 
 Salient (leaping up), 263. 
 Saltire cross (a cross of shape like the 
 
 letter X), 93, 104, 147, 150, 196, 199, 
 
 201, 207, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 227, 
 
 237, 240, 244, 246, 249, 264, 274. 
 Savage (a naked man, generally with a 
 
 wreath around his body), 255, 256, 258, 
 
 260, 261, 263. 
 Savage's head, 264. 
 
 Scroll (a ribbon or band, generally in- 
 scribed), 61, 91, 154, 170, 218, 234, 
 
 235. 258. 
 Segreant (used in connection with a 
 
 griffin, reared up and expanding the 
 
 wings), 263, 267, 270. 
 Sejant (seated on the hind legs), 179, 223, 
 
 247. 254, 255, 256, 258, 259, 263. 
 
 addorsed (back to back), 53, 170. 
 
 guardant, 56, 65, 75, 147, 170, 222. 
 
 Seme of leaves (a number arranged in 
 
 the fashion of a quincunx, like the _^ve 
 
 on a playing-card), 202. 
 Seme-de-lis (a number of fleurs-de-lis, 
 
 arranged symmetrically), 43, 58, 61, 
 
 171, 288. 
 Shamrock (a three-leaved flower on a slip 
 
 or stalk), 273, 274. 
 Sheaf of arrows, 297. 
 Sinister (turned to the right-hand of the 
 
 spectator), 36, 57, 145, 199, 202, 305. 
 Sixfoil rose (of six petals), 70. 
 Slipped (having a stalk or stem), 54, 126, 
 
 143, 190, 200, 201, 203, 205, 215, 216, 
 
 236. 
 Soleil, en (like a radiant sun). See Rose. 
 Spandrel (space outside a Gothic panel), 
 
 266, 272. 
 Springing lion (leaping up), 179. 
 Squirrel, 254. 
 Stag, 61, 62, 172, 233, 234, 255, 260. 
 
 kneeling, 258. 
 
 Stag's head, 253, 259, 260, 262. 
 
 Stags, winged, 259. 
 
 Star of five points (heraldically called a 
 
 mullet), 212, 238. 
 
 320 
 
 Star of eight points, 79. 
 
 Statant guardant (standing with face 
 towards the front), 37, 156, 178. 
 
 Stork, with serpent in its beak, 257. 
 
 Supporter (a heraldic figure at the side 
 of the shield of arms, apparently hold- 
 ing it up), 38, 53, 62, 63, 64, 67, 169, 
 170, 172, 178, 179, 184, 185, 188, 205, 
 206, 207, 242, 245, 254, 255, 256, 257, 
 258, 259, 260, 261, 262. 
 
 Surcoat (a loose and flowing coat, gene- 
 rally over mail armour), 168, 174, 175, 
 176, 177, 198, 202. 
 
 Surtout (placed over all other charges on 
 a shield), 263. 
 
 Swan, 178, 256, 262, 303. 
 
 Swan's neck (this heraldic bearing gene- 
 rally includes the wings and always the 
 head), 259, 260, 262, 264, 268. 
 
 Symbols of the four Evangelists, as ar- 
 morial bearings, 74. 
 
 Talbot (a kind of dog), 54, 256. 
 
 Talbot's head, 258. 
 
 Target (a shield), 301. 
 
 Tau Cross (in shape resembles the letter 
 
 T), 114, 236, 249. 
 Testa di cavallo (a peculiar shape for a 
 
 shield of arms used in some parts of 
 
 Italy), 285. 
 Thistle (badge and emblem of Scotland), 
 
 200, 203, 205, 206, 207, 215, 227, 233, 
 
 234, 235, 236, 240, 245. 
 Thurible (an incense-burner), 236. 
 Thurifer (carrier of a thurible), 165, 219, 
 
 236, 248, 301. 
 Tiara (a triple crown, worn by popes), 
 
 129. 
 Tilting-helmet, 256. 
 Tree with horns of an antelope through 
 
 it, 261. 
 Trefoil (a leaf, or flower of three similar 
 
 parts, hke a clover leaf), 200, 201, 203, 
 
 205, 206, 207, 212, 216, 236, 250, 253, 
 
 256, 266, 267, 272, 275. 
 Tressure (the diminutive of the heraldic 
 
 orle, one-half of the breadth of that 
 
 ordinary), 198, 202, 214. 
 
 double, 198, 199, 270. 
 
 royal, of Scotland, 242, 248, 250, 259. 
 
 Tressured (bearing a tressure), 214. 
 Triangle, in (arranged in the shape of a 
 
 triangle), 216. 
 
GLOSSARY 
 
 Trident, 51. 
 
 Triple-towered castle (heraldic and con- 
 ventional, but met with in various 
 forms), 60, 69, 71, 138, 139, 141, 144, 
 146, 149, 155, 160, 163, 166, 167, 242, 
 244, 247, 249, 256, 304, 306, 310. 
 
 Triquetra (a heraldic object with three 
 points or ends), 216. 
 
 Trussing (devouring), 260. 
 
 Turned-up (to show the inside of a cap 
 or chapeau), 178. 
 
 Unicorn (a fabulous heraldic creature 
 with long spiral horn), 66, 153, 205, 
 206, 207, 223, 261, 276, 303. 
 
 Unicorn's head, 257. 
 
 Vaire or vairy (delineated as covered 
 with vair, one of the furs used in 
 heraldry, which formed the lining of 
 royal robes. It is delineated ' with the 
 bottom points of the little shields or 
 escutcheons, of which it is invariably 
 composed, faUing on the centre of the 
 flat tops of those immediately beneath.' 
 — Berry), 177, 183. 
 
 Vizor (that part of the helmet through 
 which the wearer is enabled to see), 
 168, 176. 
 
 Volant (flying), 178. 
 Vulning (wounding), 257. 
 Vulture's head, 260. 
 
 Water-budget (a heraldic object of 
 peculiar form, representing a leathern 
 bottle or double-pouched flask), 266. 
 
 Wattled park (enclosed with hurdles or 
 basket-work), 275. 
 
 Wavy-rayed sun-star, 86. 
 
 Wheat-ear (a badge), 68. 
 
 White hart (a badge), 68. 
 
 Wild boar (heraldic and conventional), 
 159. 249. 238. 
 
 Wild man (or savage, q.v.), 58, 303, 309. 
 
 Wolf, 179, 180, 250. 
 
 Woodman (wild man, or savage), 256, 
 258, 259, 261. 
 
 Woodwoman (female savage, or wild 
 woman), 255. 
 
 Wool-comb (heraldic and conventional), 
 
 275- 
 
 Wyvern (a fanciful creature, somewhat 
 resembling in the upper part a dragon, 
 flying serpent, or lizard with two legs, 
 and in the lower part a snake), 54, 59, 
 63, 106, 147, 170, 175, 176, 178, 179, 
 190, 191, 200, 203, 247, 249, 255, 
 257, 260, 264, 265, 269, 270, 271. 
 
 sans wings (wingless), 254. 
 
 321 
 
ACHI 
 
 A.E.1 
 Asatl 
 
 Allef 
 lai 
 
 Amp 
 
 Aral 
 
 Arbi 
 
 se 
 
 Ard 
 Ariu 
 Arm 
 
 Arm 
 Am 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Achilles, 87 
 
 A.E.I.O.U., meaning of, . . . 295 
 ^thelstan, King, effigy of, . .129 
 
 Agatha, St 11 1 
 
 Ahab, King, seal of, ... 2 
 Ahasuerus, King, seal of, . . 2 
 Alexander, seals used by, . . 4 
 Allegory in later Great Seals of Eng- 
 land, 49. 54 
 
 Alpha and Omega, . . . .111 
 America, seals of, . . . .310 
 Amphibalus, St., . . . .131 
 Andrew, St., crucifixion of, . 87,127 
 
 figure of, . 196,227,237 
 
 invocation of, . .164 
 
 — — motto concerning, . .201 
 
 verse concerning, . .165 
 
 Arabia, seals of, . . . • 3i 5 
 Arbroath, remarkable verses on the 
 
 seal of the abbey, . . 125,228 
 Architecture on seals, . 86, 96, etc. 
 Arius the heretic, . . . .111 
 Armorial seals of England, . .182 
 
 of Scotland, . . .251 
 
 of Ireland, . . . 276 
 
 Armour, details of, on royal seals, . 30 
 
 history of, by Hewitt, . .173 
 
 Arms of England used by Mary, 
 
 Queen of Scots, . . . 205, 206 
 Arthur, King, castle of, . . .139 
 Assyrian seals, . . . 3, n 
 
 Austrian dukes, seals of, . . . 296 
 
 Babylonian seals, . . 3, 5, 10, 11 
 Bangor, seal found at, . . .299 
 Bartholomew, St., martyrdom and 
 
 emblems of, . . . 112, 120 
 Basileus, meaning of title, . .27 
 Bayeux, tapestry of, ... 30 
 
 Bedford, verses on the priory seal of, 126 
 Belgium, seals of, . . . -297 
 Berwick-on-Tweed, seals of, . .138 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Birch rod in mediaeval schools, 154, 163 
 Blaan, St., . . . .218, 243 
 Blood of our Lord, the, in a bottle, 113 
 
 Botolph, St., 108 
 
 Boxgrave, verses on the priory seal 
 
 of, 103 
 
 Brdtigny seal, the so-called, -41 
 
 Bristol, verses on the town seal of, . 140 
 British Museum, seal of the, . -152 
 Brunswick, seals of, ... 296 
 
 Bury St. Edmunds, verses on the 
 
 abbey seal of, . . . .105 
 Byzantine bullae, . . . 5.277 
 
 Cambridge University seal, . .141 
 Canterbury, verses on the chapter 
 seal of, ..... 78 
 
 verses on the city seal of, 
 Cardiff, seals of, . 
 Cardinals, college of, 
 Castle type on seals, . -163 
 Christ's sepulchre sealed. 
 Cities and towns, . 
 Classical subjects converted into 
 
 Christian designs. 
 Clay, seals of, ... 
 
 Colchester, verse on the seal of the 
 
 town 
 
 Colonial seals, . . .186 
 Columba, St., .... 
 verse concerning, . 
 
 144 
 144 
 
 283 
 
 241 
 
 2 
 
 136 
 
 102 
 5 
 
 145 
 , 187 
 
 94 
 219 
 
 Companies, seals of, . . .186 
 
 Conloeth, St., 274 
 
 Courts, royal, 62 
 
 Crescent and star, signification of, 
 
 1 01, etc. 
 Cross, worship of the, . . -93 
 
 Dactyliothec^, or boxes of ring 
 seals, 17 
 
 Daniel the Prophet sealed up in the 
 den of lions 2 
 
SEALS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Danish seals, 293 
 
 Darius, seals used by, . . -4 
 Darius Hydaspes, conoidal seal of, . 13 
 Day of Judgment, . . . -157 
 Designs, miscellaneous, . 189, 269-71 
 Disputing of our Lord with the 
 
 Doctors, . . . . 76, 86 
 Dives and Lazarus, . . . .109 
 Dublin, views of the city on seals, 273, 274 
 
 seal of the city, . . -275 
 
 Dunwich, an early bishop of, . . 79 
 
 294 
 
 72 
 
 no 
 
 151 
 
 Eadgitha, St., .... 
 
 Eagle displayed, double-headed, sug- 
 gested origin of the. 
 
 Ecclesiastical seals, .... 
 
 Ecgwine, St., 
 
 Egyptian seals, . . . 3, 7, 14 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen, her care for public 
 schools, ..... 
 
 in plate armour on Welsh 
 
 seals, ...... 
 
 Mary, Queen of Scots, incurs 
 
 displeasure of, by using her titles, 
 
 Ely, verses on the chapter seal, 
 
 England, royal and official seals, 
 
 seals of foreign possessions of, 
 
 English seal art 
 
 Engraving seals, methods of, . 
 
 Eoves the swineherd, verses con- 
 cerning, ..... 
 
 Equestrian seals 
 
 Esther and Ahasuerus, . 
 
 Etheldreda, St., . 
 
 Etruscans, use of seals by the, 
 
 Eucharist, celebration of the, 
 
 221, 232, 
 
 Evans, Sir John, his collection of 
 rings 
 
 Evesham, verses on the abbey seal 
 
 of, 
 
 verses on the town seal of, 
 
 Exeter, fine seals of the bishops, 
 
 city seal, .... 
 
 Ezekiel, verses concerning the eagle 
 of, 
 
 171 
 
 205 
 80 
 22 
 
 54 
 20 
 6-9 
 
 no 
 
 173 
 
 109 
 
 80 
 
 5 
 
 236 
 18 
 
 no 
 
 147 
 81 
 
 147 
 29s 
 
 Fall of Man, the, . . . .86 
 Faversham, verse on the town seal, . 148 
 Fortnum, Mr. D., his collection of 
 rings, 17-18 
 
 PAGE 
 
 France, variation in the arms of, . 179 
 
 seals of, 287 
 
 arms of the kingdom, . . 288 
 
 bull£e of noblesse of, . 291 
 
 Franks, Sir A. W., his collection of 
 
 ring seals, . . . . .18 
 Fraternities, seals of, . . -134 
 Friesland, verses concerning the seal 
 
 of the communes of, . . . 301 
 
 Garter, Order of the, . . . 135 
 Gell, Anthony, . . . .166 
 Gems, classical, use of, . . 176, 177 
 Gem seals, 73, 83, 89, ns, 131, 133, 
 148, 268, 269, 285, 287 
 
 of Scottish bishops, 
 
 210, 219, 223 
 George, St., legend of, explained, 92, 99 
 George iii., reverts to Henry viii.'s 
 
 royal style, . 
 German seals, . . . 293, 
 
 Germanus, St., 
 Gibbet Law at Halifax, 
 Giles, St., .... 100, 
 verse concerning. 
 
 Glamorgan, seals of. 
 Gnostic gem, . 
 
 gryllus, . 
 
 Golden seal of Henry iv., etc. 
 
 Greek seals, . 
 
 Grimsby, legend of the seal 
 
 town, .... 
 Gryllus, .... 
 Guilds, seals of, 
 Guthlac, St., . 
 
 Hammermen of Dundee, 
 of Edinburgh, 
 
 Hastings, curious design on the 
 
 seal of, 
 Havelock, legend of. 
 Heaven, method of indicating, on 
 
 seals, .... 
 Helena, St., with true cross, . 134, 
 Hell, Jaws of, 
 
 Henry vin., seal and bulla of, 
 changed style of, 
 
 of the 
 
 107, 
 
 50 
 etc. 
 
 149 
 
 123 
 
 165 
 
 175 
 162 
 
 175 
 42 
 
 IS 
 
 148 
 "3 
 134 
 109 
 
 • 244 
 
 • 24s 
 town 
 
 • 149 
 148, 149 
 
 Junior, King of England, 
 
 Heraldry, Royal, beginnings of, 
 
 of England, . 
 
 Heraldic seals of England, 
 Heroes, classical, figured on seals, 
 
 233 
 
 MS 
 
 238 
 
 4S 
 
 46 
 
 $5 
 
 36 
 
 37 
 
 182 
 
 15 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Hindoo seals, .... 5 
 
 Holland, seals of, . . . . 297 
 
 Immanuel, 155 
 
 Intaglio, method of engraving seals 
 in, ...... 6 
 
 Ipswich, Bishop of, . . .82 
 
 Ireland, seals of, . . . .272 
 
 variant arms of the kingdom, . 273 
 
 Italy, seals and bullae of, . . .281 
 
 James ii., vicissitudes of his Great 
 
 Seal, 49 
 
 Jason and the Golden Fleece, . -275 
 Jasp, power of, to stop bleeding, . 223 
 Jerusalem, seals and bullae of, . 281 
 Jewish seals, . . . . -310 
 John Baptist, St., decollation of, . 247 
 Judah the patriarch, signet seal of, . i 
 Judas, represented, . . . .111 
 Judgment Day, verses concerning, . 233 
 Julian, St., . . . . .108 
 the Apostate in 
 
 Kentigern, St., legend of, . 221-22 
 King's Bench seals, . . .62 
 
 Labourers' Passes, seals for, . 
 Ladies, noble, seals of, . 
 
 Lambert, St 
 
 Lapdog, or brachet, 
 
 Latin races, seals of, 
 
 Laurence or Lawrence, St., 
 
 Letter, forms of the Lombardic and 
 
 Roman, contrasted, 
 Lewes, verses on the priory of, 119, 
 Lichfield, derivation of the name of 
 
 the city, ..... 
 Life, aspects of mediaeval. 
 Lion of Judah, .... 
 Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, 
 
 Prince of North Wales, . 
 
 London, patron saint of, verses on 
 
 the 
 
 verses on the seal of St. Paul's 
 
 Cathedral, . 
 — Companies, seals of. 
 
 139 
 
 180 
 298 
 180 
 5 
 137 
 
 34 
 120 
 
 151 
 95 
 162 
 288 
 168 
 
 85 
 
 126 
 152 
 
 Map of England and Wales on seals 
 of the Commonwealth, . 48, 65 
 
 Margaret, St., 154 
 
 Martin, St., legend of, . . . 146 
 
 Majorcas, kingdom of the, . 308 
 
 Mary, St., annunciation of, . 117,157 
 
 assumption of, 
 
 115, 125, 142, 152 
 
 coronation of, 
 
 89, 114, 121, 142, 147 
 various types of represen- 
 tation on Byzantine bullae, . 278-80 
 Mary, Queen of Scots, . . .289 
 Queen Elizabeth offended 
 
 by, 
 
 205 
 
 33 
 
 Mathildis, Queen of England, 
 Medallic character of late English 
 
 Great Seals, . . . .48 
 
 Medici, Lorenzo dei, his cabinet of 
 
 seals, . . . . . -I? 
 Merton, verses on the priory seal of, 124 
 Mesopotamia, seals of, . . .3 
 Michael, St., the Archangel, 
 
 92, 141, 149, 153, 275, etc. 
 Michael, St., verse relating to, . 236 
 
 Middleton, verses on theabbey seal of, 125 
 
 Mildred, St., 163 
 
 Mirinus, St., ..... 237 
 Mithridates, dactyliotheca of, . • 1 7 
 Modwenna, St., .... 104 
 Monasteries, seals of, . . -95 
 Mottoes and legends, . . 191, 192 
 Mound or orb, signification of the, . 3 1 
 
 Naples, seals and bullae of, 
 
 Nativity, the, 
 
 curious verse relating to a scene 
 
 281 
 142 
 
 of the, 216 
 
 Napoleon Buonaparte, seals of, . 289 
 
 Netherlands, seals of the, . -297 
 
 Nicholas, or Nicolas, St., legend of, 
 
 159. 
 Nicolas, St., verse concerning, . 
 Nicolas, St., ..... 
 Nile mud, seals of, . 
 Ninian, St., verse concerning, . 
 Ninian, St., . . 224, 244, 
 Noli me tangere, the scene so called, 
 
 III, 113 
 Norway, seals of, . 
 Norwich, verses on the chapter seal 
 of, 
 
 160 
 166 
 220 
 
 4. 8 
 224 
 247 
 
 303 
 86 
 
 Officers of Byzantine Empire, . 279 
 Oliver Cromwell's armorials, . .49 
 Oxford University seals, . . .156 
 
SEALS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Pagan temples adapted to Christian 
 
 worship I02 
 
 Palatine seals of Durham See, . .92 
 Panache, or fan-plume, . .259 
 
 Pancras, St., . • ii9i 120 
 
 Papal Bullas, 282 
 
 Part put for the whole, the, . .126 
 Pelican in piety, . . 257, 268, 269 
 Penn, William, seals of, . . • 311 
 Persian seals, . . . . -13 
 Peterborough, verse on the chapter 
 
 seal of, 128 
 
 Philippa, Queen, . . . • ^57 
 Phoenicians, use of seals by the, . 5 
 Plantagenet family, . . . .171 
 Planta genista, the, . . . .36 
 Poland, seals of, ... . 304 
 
 Queens consort, seals of, . -55 
 
 Radegund, St., .... 143 
 Recognisances, seals for, . . .68 
 Relief, engraving of seals in, . .6 
 
 Roman seals 15 
 
 Rose of Sharon, the, . 235 
 
 Roses, white and red, verses descrip- 
 tive of their union, . . 122, 161 
 Rothesay, legend on the seal of the 
 
 town of, .... . 248 
 Royal offices of England, . . .60 
 Rueda, Spanish, .... 304 
 Rumon, St., . .132 
 
 Russia, seals of, ... . 304 
 Rutherglen, verses on the seal of, . 248 
 
 St. Alban, verse on the miracle at 
 his martyrdom, .... 
 
 Salamanca, seal of the university of, 
 
 San Sebastian, seal of the town 
 council, 
 
 Savoy, seals of. 
 
 Saxony, seals of, 
 
 Scarab seals, . 
 
 Schools, seals of, . . . 162, 
 
 Scotland, royal seals of, 
 
 Episcopal seals of, 
 
 Scottish royal mottoes, . 206, 207, 
 
 monasteries, . 
 
 towns, seals of, 
 
 documents and seals, 
 
 Sealing, various methods of, 
 
 326 
 
 131 
 309 
 
 309 
 284 
 296 
 
 7 
 163 
 
 194 
 209 
 208 
 226 
 241 
 
 189 
 
 Seals, oldest notices of, . 
 Seal, derivation of the word, 
 Seals, Biblical notices of, 
 
 engraved, 
 
 Oriental, . 
 
 Chinese, . 
 
 with openings, 
 
 use of, . 
 
 decadence of the use of, 
 
 Seashore, objects of the, . 
 Secretum, the, . 
 Sennacherib, signet of, 
 Servia, seal of, . 
 Seville, seal of the city of. 
 Shields, shapes of, . 
 Ship of the church, the, 
 Ship type of seals, 
 
 page 
 
 I 
 
 7 
 
 1.2 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 165 
 
 190 
 
 193 
 
 • 243 
 
 • 52 
 . 12 
 
 • 304 
 
 • 307 
 . . 183 
 
 . 1 20 
 
 161, 164, 241 
 
 Sigillum rotundum of Scottish bishops, 214 
 Signets of queens, . . . -58 
 
 Simon, Thomas, work of, . 187, 188 
 
 Soul in a cloth, .... 137 
 Southwick, verses on the priory seal 
 
 of, 132 
 
 Spain, bullae and seals of, . . 304 
 Stirling, verse on the seal of the town 
 
 of, 249 
 
 Stuart, numerous seals of the family, 266 
 
 Switzerland, seals of, . . . 309 
 
 Syria, seals of, .... 3 
 
 Templars, seals of, . . . -135 
 Theodorus, Samian seal-engraver, 5, 16 
 Thomas, St., of Canterbury, martyr- 
 dom of, . 73, 74, etc., 156, 165 
 verse concerning him, . 165 
 
 Tideman de Wynchecombe, seal of, 291 
 Towns, seals of, . . . .161 
 Transfiguration of our Lord, scene of 
 
 the, loi, III 
 
 Trinity, representations of the 
 
 Blessed, . . -97. 156, 158 
 
 figures of, erased, . . 155, 156 
 
 7'r;$'«(?/ra, the Celtic, . . .216 
 
 Vallis Caulium, Order of, 229, 230, 238 
 Venetian bullae, .... 284 
 
 Wales, seals relating to, . . .168 
 
 dragon supporters of, .169 
 
 County Great Sessions' seals, 
 
 170, 171, 172 
 
INDEX 
 
 PACK 
 
 Waltham Abbey, gem seal of, . 133 
 
 Cross 133 
 
 Waterton collection, the, . • 1 7 
 
 Wenefreda, St., . -134 
 
 Wilderness represented by two trees, 152 
 William the Conqueror, verses on his 
 
 cpQ I , , 20 
 
 Willibrord, Willebrord, or Willibrod, 
 Saint, effigy of, . -301, 302 
 
 Winchelsea, verses on the town seal 
 of, 165 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Winnin, St 236 
 
 Witnesses, two, required by ancient 
 law, ...... 80 
 
 Worcester Cathedral, view of, . .166 
 Wiirtemberg, seals of, . . .296 
 
 York, verses on the chapter seal of, 90 
 
 Zurich, the three patron saints of, . 309 
 
 327 
 
:i 
 
 Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty 
 at the Edinburgh University Press 
 
GETTY RESEARCH INSTITUTE 
 
. imsjsm 
 
 
 m 
 
 
 ' ' '" '■'i'i'i-i'r'iiiliiMl'aiy.iifli-'sji 
 
 , . ! !■' i'^'inijI.vuuiflj.'iVl/lfjn 
 
 ■("■l;*:tri!i;ltlil?j|li 
 
 : 1 .•■:'';=!ii;i!;ji,i;ij|rt!p-