FLOWERS AND FRUITS OF THE EARTH.—Of these the palm was an emblem of victory ; the laurel, of triumph; the oak, of strength; the olive, of peace ; the cypress, of woe ; the vine, of fecundity and joy; the lily, of purity ; the daisy, of humility; while the holy

"Trefoil, St John’s wort, and dill

Hinder witches of their will."

Fleur-de-lys.—At the head of heraldic flowers, if flower indeed it be, is the fleur-de-lys (fig. 60), the Flos gladioli of Upton, said to have been brought down by an angel for the arms of France, and which was certainly used by Louis VII. and borne singly and in numbers by Philip Augustus. It may be allied to the lily—

"The lily, lady of the flowery field,

Or fleur-de-luce, her lovely paramour;"

or its original designation may have been "Fleur de Louis." It was not at first popular either in Normandy or in England, oc-curring but twice in the roll of Henry III., and only twenty times in that of Edward II., nor was it until its assumption by Edward III. that it came into general use in England. The Cantilupes bore three fleurs-de-lys before they added the pards’ heads (fig. 98).





Digby of Coleshill: azure, a fleur-de-lys argent.

Portman of Orchard-Portman: or, a fleur-de-lys azure.

Beaumont, to show his claim to descend from the blood-royal of France, bears azure, semée of fleurs-de-lys, a lion rampant or.

Hawkins: argent, on a saltire sable a fleur-de-lys or.

New College, Oxford: sable, three lilies slipped argent.

The Rose (Flos florum) is a very popular charge in English heraldry, though in the roll of Henry III. it occurs but once, and in that of Edward II. only twelve times. Usually the flower is borne alone and full-faced, with five petals, and barbs and seeds between them. If a Stalk is shown, it is usually "slipped," that is, cut off obliquely.

Boscawen of Boseawen-Rose: ermine, a rose gules, barbed and seeded proper (fig, 114).

Bilson, bishop of Winchester: azure, a rose and pomegranate impaled dimidiated, gules and or, barbed, seeded, stalked, and slipped counterchanged.

The rose is also used in the chaplet, a favourite head ornament, of which a good example may be seen upon the conical helmet of Humphrey de Bohun (1267), in Gloucester cathedral. After the gallant defence of Calais in 1348, in which Edward and the Black Prince served under Sir Walter Manny, the king was so pleased with the valour shown by his prisoner Eustace de Ribeaumont that he took a chaplet from his own head and gave it to Sir Eustace with his liberty, bidding him "wear it for a year for the love of me."

Greystoke. barry of six. argent and azure, three chaplets gules.

The Trefoil, Quatrefoil, Cinquefoil, and Sixfoil are all common charges, usually but not always borne, like the rose, without a stalk.

Harvey of Ickworth: gules, on a bend argent three trefoils slipped vert.

Vincent of Stoke D’Abernon: azure, three quatrefoil argent (fig. 115).





Robert de Bellomont, earl of Leicester (1191-1220), sealed with a cinquefoil, bear-ing on each foil an ermine spot; and Robert de Quincy, the son of one of Earl Robert’s sisters, bore "de goules ung quintefoil de hermyn."

Umfravile of Penmark: gules, a sixfoil or.

The Thistle, which gives name to the Scottish order, is also an heraldic bearing in that country.

Leaves, feuilles, are borne by Leveson and Foulis ; hazel leaves by Hazlerigge of Noseley ; strawberry leaves, or fraises, by Fraser of Lovat ; walnut leaves by Waller ; oak leaves by Oakes; by Elmes of Lifford, elm leaves ; rye and barley or orge by Rye and Grandorge. Bigland bears three ears of big.

Wood and Borough bear trees rooted up or eradicated.

Borough of Chetwynd: gules, the stem and trunk of a tree eradicated and couped, sprouting in two branches argent.

When Queen Elizabeth visited Worcester the citizens transplanted a pear tree laden with fruit into the market-place, for which atten-tion she added pears to the city arms. Warden abbey, Beds, was famous for a pear that bore its name and constituted its arms—-azure, three Warden pears or. The kingdom of Granada bore argent, a pomegranate slipped proper. Serjeaux bore argent, a saltire sable between twelve cherries slipped gules.

The Garb, gerbe, or wheatsheaf, was a common bearing, especially in Cheshire. Sometimes the garb is banded of a different colour.

Grosvenor : azure, a garb or.-

Vernon of Shipbrook : or, on a fess three garbs of the field.


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