DIVISIONS OF THE SHIELD

Although in many shields the field presents an unbroken surface, yet we often find it cut up into divisions of several kinds. These divisions come under the head of simple charges, and the old heralds explain their origin—viz.: "After battles were ended, the shields of soldiers were considered, and he was accounted most deserving whose shield was most or deepest cut. And to recompense the dangers wherein they were shown to have been by those cuts for the service of their King and country, the heralds did represent them upon their shields. The common cuts gave name to the common partitions, of which the others are made by various conjunctions."

The heraldic term given to these partition-lines of the field is ordinaries. There are nine of these, termed respectively, chief, fesse, bar, pale, cross, bend, saltire, chevron, and pile.

The chief, occupying about the upper third of the field, is marked off by a horizontal line (Fig. 15); the fesse, derived from the Latin fascia, a band, is a broad band crossing the centre of the field horizontally, and extends over a third of its surface (Fig. 16). The bar is very like the fesse, but differs from it, (a) in being much narrower and only occupying a fifth portion of the field, (b) in being liable to be placed in any part of the field, whereas the fesse is an immovable charge, (c) in being used mostly in pairs and not singly. Two or three bars may be charged on the same field, and when an even number either of metal or fur alternating with a colour occur together, the field is then described as barry, the number of the bars being always stated, so that if there are six bars, it is said to be "barry of six," if eight, "barry of eight" (Fig. 17). The pale, probably derived from palus, a stake, is also a broad band like the fesse, but runs perpendicularly down the shield, instead of horizontally across it (Fig. 18).

The cross, which is the ordinary St. George's Cross, is pre-eminently the heraldic cross, out of nearly four hundred varieties of the sacred sign. It is really a simple combination of the fesse and pale. Bend is again a broad band, but it runs diagonally across the field from the dexter chief to the sinister base. It is supposed to occupy a third portion of the field, but rarely does so (Fig. 19). The saltire is the familiar St. Andrew's Cross, owing its name probably to the French salcier (see Fig. 20). The chevron, resembling the letter V turned topsy-turvy, is a combination of a bend dexter and a bend sinister, and is rather more than the lower half of the saltire. The French word chevron, still in use, means rafters (Fig. 21). The pile, derived from the Latin for pillar, is a triangular wedge, and when charged singly on a field may issue from any point of the latter, except from the base (Fig. 22). If more than one pile occurs, we generally find the number is three, although the Earl of Clare bears "two piles issuing from the chief." Many old writers, notably amongst the French, attribute a symbolical meaning to each of these ordinaries. Thus, some believe the chief to represent the helmet of the warrior, the fesse his belt or band, the bar "one of the great peeces of tymber which be used to debarre the enemy from entering any city." The pale was thought by some to represent the warrior's lance, by others the palings by which cities and camps were guarded; the cross was borne by those who fought for the faith; the bend was interpreted by some to refer to the shoulder-scarf of the knight, whilst others describe it as "a scaling-ladder set aslope." Another variety of the scaling-ladder was represented by the saltire. The chevron, or rafters, were held to symbolize protection, such as a roof affords, whilst the pile suggests a strong support of some sort.

There is a tenth ordinary, which is known as the "shakefork" (Fig. 23). Practically unknown in English heraldry, it is frequently met with in Scotch arms. It is shaped like the letter Y and pointed at its extremities, but does not extend to the edge of the field. Guillim attributes its origin to "an instrument in use in the royal stables, whereby hay was thrown up to the horses" (surely this instrument must have been next-of-kin to our homely pitchfork?), and he believes the shakefork to have been granted to a certain Earl of Glencairne, who at one time was Master of the King's Horse.

The former reminds us of the origin of the arms of Austria, which date from the Siege of Acre, where our Coeur-de-Lion won such glory. It was here that Leopold, Duke of Austria, went into battle, clad in a spotlessly white linen robe, bound at the waist with his knight's belt. On returning from the field, the Duke's tunic was "total gules"—blood-red—save where the belt had protected the white of the garment. Thereupon, his liege-lord, Duke Frederic of Swabia, father of the famous Frederic Barbarossa, granted permission to Leopold to bear as his arms a silver fesse upon a blood-red field.

The saltire, recalling the French form of scaling-ladder of the Middle Ages, reminds us of how the brave Joan of Arc placed the salcier with her own hands against the fort of Tournelles. And we remember how, when her shoulder was presently pierced by an English arrow, she herself drew it out from the ghastly wound, rebuking the women who wept round her with the triumphant cry: "This is not blood, but glory!"

In addition to the ordinaries, there are fifteen sub-ordinaries. These less important divisions of the shield are known in heraldry as the canton, inescutcheon, bordure, orle, tressure, flanches, lozenge, mascle, rustre, fusil, billet, gyron, frette, and roundle. Owing to limited space, we cannot go into detail with regard to these charges, but we may mention that the canton, from the French word for a corner, is placed, with rare exceptions, in the dexter side of the field, being supposed to occupy one-third of the chief. It is often added as an "augmentation of honour" to a coat of arms. The badge of a baronet, the red hand, is generally charged on a canton, sometimes also on an inescutcheon, and it is then placed on the field, so as not to interfere with the family arms (Fig. 24). The inescutcheon is a smaller shield placed upon the field, and, when borne singly, it occupies the centre (Fig. 25). Three, or even five, escutcheons may be borne together. The bordure (Fig. 26) is a band surrounding the field, which may be either void—that is, bearing no kind of device—or it may have charges upon it, as in the arms of England, where the bordure is charged with eight lions. The orle and the tressure are only varieties of the bordure, just as the mascle, rustre, and fusil, are variations of the diamond-shaped figure known as the "lozenge" (Fig. 27). The latter is always set erect on the field. The arms of an unmarried woman and a widow are always displayed on a lozenge. The mascle—a link of chain armour—is a lozenge square set diagonally, pierced in the centre with a diamond-shaped opening, whilst the rustre is a lozenge pierced with a round hole. The fusil is a longer and narrower form of diamond.

The billet is a small elongated rectangular figure, representing a block of wood, and is seldom used. The gyron (Fig. 28), which is a triangular figure, does not occur in English heraldry as a single charge, but what is termed a coat gyronny is not unusual in armorial bearings, when the field may be divided into ten, twelve, or even sixteen pieces. All arms borne by the Campbell clan have a field gyronny. The origin of the word is doubtful; some trace it to the Greek for curve, others to a Spanish word for gore or gusset. The introduction of a gyron into heraldry dates from the reign of Alfonso VI. of Spain, who, being sore beset by the Moors, was rescued by his faithful knight, Don Roderico de CissnÈres. The latter, as a memento of the occasion, tore three triangular pieces from Alfonso's mantle, being henceforward allowed to represent the same on his shield in the shape of a gyron. The frette, formerly known as a "trellis," from its resemblance to lattice-work, is very frequent in British heraldry; it also occurs as a net in connection with fish charges. In the Grand Tournament held at Dunstable to celebrate Edward III.'s return from Scotland, one Sir John de Harrington bore "a fretty arg., charged upon a sable field."

The roundlet is simply a ring of metal or colour, and is much used in coats of arms at all periods of heraldry. The family of Wells bears a roundlet to represent a fountain, whilst the Sykes charge their shield with three roundlets, in allusion to their name, "sykes" being an old term for a well.

In Fig. 29 we see an example of a shield charged with an inescutcheon within a bordure.