JULY 2007 - The Armorial Register

THE ARMORIAL REGISTER
NEWSLETTER
VOLUME 2, ISSUE 2.
JULY 2007
Means to an end.
A welcome
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
EDITORIAL
Welcome to the second Armorial Register
Newsletter of 2007.
1
FEATURED
ARMORIAL
2
BURKE’S
HERALDRY
3
A LEFT HANDED
BARONET
4
FEATURED
WEBSITE
5
ARMORIAL
AUCTION
6
CONTACT
DETAILS
6
As we continue to see additions to our website
we never loose sight of the object of the project which is to produce an armorial in printed
form within the prestigious Burke’s Peerage
and Gentry stable. To that end, we’ve been
working over the last couple of months on the
proposed page layout and illustrated left is an
example of one of the pages of the book at
much reduced size (the finished product will
be UK A4).
The website itself continues to be appreciated
by a worldwide audience and our visitor numbers in our first year exceeded sixty thousand
visitors with over three hundred thousand
page views. We are delighted to say that already visitors for the first five months of this
year have been over fourty seven thousand
with over one hundred and eighty thousand
pages viewed.
Registrations
Latest Arms Additions
Morange, Michel A.D.
Aquino, MIchael A
Stavnsbo, Steen
Dikich, Nebojsha
Forrester James W.
Perez-Ramirez, B.
As July draws to a close and we publish the newsletter we welcome
our one hundred and seventeenth registrant, Michel Andre Denis
Morange, Baron of Easter Gordon, whose arms were granted by The
Court of the Lord Lyon and recorded in Lyon Register, volume 87,
folio 93 on the 20 Jan 2007. Our congratulations to the baron of
Easter Gordon.
Featured Armorial Bearings
This edition also features the arms of Kevin Couling.
Mr. Couling approached the Serbian Society CROM-BHGS who designed his arms for him; these arms in particular receive many favourable comments in our post bag and we are especially pleased to
bring them to your attention.
Matevski, Vladimir
Preble, P. Rev. Fr.
Phan, Dr Seamus
Stavnsbo, Finn
Regards,
Godjas, Stephen
Luserna Campiglione
Norbut, Dr. Alan M.
Manfredi di Cherasco
Couling, Kevin D.
Corona Paez, S.A.
Steinhurst, Lt.Col. K.
Braganza, D. HRH
Kevin Derek Couling
Lord of the Manor of Little
Neston
VOLUME 2, ISSUE 2.
Page 2
FEATURED ARMORIAL BEARINGS
Kevin Derek Couling,
Lord of the Manor of Little Neston
Registered: The International Register of Arms, 26th
June 2007. Registration No. 0110.
Arms: Gules, a Fess wavy Ermine fretted with a Chevron
throughout Sable frimbrated Or, between three Leopard
faces Or.
Crest: Issuant from a coronet a fluer-de-lys surmounted
by a Leopards face all Or
Motto: Deo Servio (God I Serve)
Private Registration: CROM-BHGS Serbia, Armorial Charter 17th March 2007.
Born in New Zealand in 1962 of English parents, the
armiger is the 64th Lord of the Manor of Little Neston in
Cheshire and is in the process of reviving the Manorial
Court of Little Neston. He is a bachelor presently residing in New Zealand.
Directorships: Director/Owner of Rogatio International Ltd; Trustee/Director and founder of Regalis
Charitable Trust (Reg in NZ); Director of Lion International Agency Ltd; Council Member of the International Examination Board (UK); Member of the Society of Business Practitioners (UK).
Civic Appointments: A Civil Celebrant, appointed by the New Zealand Government to perform weddings,
funerals etc.
Organisations: Member of the Manorial Society of Great Britain; The Royal Society of St. George of England; Member of the Sociedade de Geographia de Lisboa (Portugal); Member of the Society of Heraldic
Arts (UK); Member of the Heraldry Society of New Zealand; Member of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce (NZ); Member of the Taxation Institute of New Zealand; Member of the Trustees Association of
New Zealand; Former Riding Instructor and Judge for the New Zealand Pony Club Association (19851999).
Honours & Awards: The armiger been awarded the Humanity Silver Medal from the Red Cross of Mongolia.
The Manor of Little Neston :
Little Neston is a small residential village south of Neston and situated on the Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire, England. Together with Neston, it is a former mining village, with shafts dug out underneath the
River Dee. The slag heaps from these mining operations were open to the public and locally known as
'The Black Hills' In the last few years however they have been fenced off to allow sheep to graze. There
is considerable historical interest in the manor as Lord Nelson's mistress, Emma Hamilton, was born in
nearby Ness and is remembered with the opening of the Lady Hamilton pub.
Born in New
Zealand in
1962 of
English
parents, the
armiger is
the Lord of
the Manor of
Little Neston
in Cheshire
VOLUME 2, ISSUE 2.
Page 3
BURKE’S HERALDRY
A search of our archives in an idle moment reveals that the Burke’s name has even been mentioned in the satirical magazine
PUNCH. This short snippet along with its accompanying illustration appeared in the edition dated October 30th 1841.
BURKE’S HERALDRY.
Our amiable friend and classical correspondent, Deaf Burke—
“mind, yes”—has lately mounted a coat-of-arms, “Dexter and
Sinister;” a Nose gules and Eye sable; three annulets of Ropes
in chief, supported by two Prize-fighters proper. Motto,—
KNOCK AND RING.
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI. VOL. 1.
OCTOBER 30, 1841.
Our edition of October 12th 1917 shows us the dangers of
jumping to conclusions when identifying a coat of arms and I
relate it here for your amusement:
THE CAVECAVE-DWELLERS.
"If you please, ma'am, that funny-looking gentleman with the
long hair has brought his jug for some more water. And could you oblige him with a little pepper?" "Certainly not," said my wife. "The
man's a nuisance. He is not even respectable—looks like a gipsy or a disreputable artist. I'll speak to him myself." And she flounced
out of the room. I felt almost sorry for the man; but really the thing was overdone when, not content with overcrowding our village,
these London people took to living in dug-outs on the common. Matilda rushed back into the room with a metal jug in her hand.
"Oscar! It's old Sheffield plate, and there's a coat-of-arms on it. Turn up the heraldry book; look in the index for 'bears.' Perhaps
they're somebody after all." Matilda is a second cousin once removed of the Drewitts—one of the best baronetcies in England—and
naturally we take an interest in Heraldry.
"Yes, here it is. A cave-bear rampant! Oscar, it's the crest of the Cave-Canems, one of the oldest families in Britain, if not the very
oldest! Poor things, I feel so sorry for them. Perhaps I might offer him some vegetables." "And to think of their having to live in a cave
again after all these centuries," said my wife when she returned. "Isn't it pathetic? Oscar, don't you think we ought to call on them?"
We agreed that it was our duty to call on the distinguished cave-dwellers. But what ought we to wear? They dressed very simply; I
had seen him in an old tweed suit and a soft felt hat. "And his wife," Matilda said, "is positively dowdy. But that proves they are somebody. Only the very best people can afford to wear shabby clothes in these times." We decided that in our case it was necessary to
recognise the polite usages of society. So my wife wore her foliage green silk, and I my ordinary Sabbath attire.
A fragrant odour of vegetables cooking led us eventually to the little mound amidst the gorse where our aristocratic visitors were
temporarily residing. There was some difficulty at first in attracting their attention, but this I overcame by tying our visiting-cards to a
piece of string and dangling it down the tunnel that served as an entrance. After coughing several times I had a bite, and the caveman showed himself. "Hallo!" I heard him say, laughing, "it's the kind Philistines who gave us the vegetables." Then aloud, "Come in.
Mind the steps."
I damaged my hat slightly against the roof, and I am afraid Matilda's dress suffered a little, but we managed to enter their dug-out.
The place was faintly lighted by a sort of window overlooking the third hole of the deserted golf course. Our host introduced his wife.
"We were not really nervous," said the lady, "but a fragment of shell came through the studio window and destroyed a number of my
husband's pictures. He is a painter of the Neo-Impressionistic School." "What a shame!" said Matilda, taking up a canvas. "May I
look? Oh! how pretty." "My worst enemy has never called my work that," said the artist. "Perhaps you would appreciate it better if you
held it the other way up." It is at a moment like this that my wife shines.
"I should like to see it in a better light," she said. "But how interesting! Everyone paints now-a-days—even Royalty. My cousin, Sir
Ethelwyn Drewitt, has done some charming water-colours of the family estates. Perhaps you know him?"
Continued on page 5 //….
VOLUME 2, ISSUE 2.
Page 4
A LEFT HANDED BARONET.. OR CHICKEN AND EGG
Sometimes we have to stand back and question the veracity of information we receive from
even the most respected of sources. Modern armorial bearings don’t usually present us
with any problems simply because the arms themselves were newly created along with,
and at the same time as, their blazon; the blazon in effect being the DNA of the image. If
we are in any doubt we can always safely refer to the blazon. But this is not always the
case.
I have recently completed a series of black and white line drawings for the Leigh family of
Cheshire for future inclusion in the Burke’s Landed Gentry series and the blazons of the
arms of Leigh of Charlestown South Carolina, Baronet, as recorded in two Burke’s publications contradict themselves.
Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage (1876) records the crest as "A Cubit Arm habited
grasping a Tilting Spear in bend all Proper" whereas Burke’s General Armory records the
crest as being : A cubit arm erect, habited, grasping a tilting spear in fesse all proper.
The Leigh baronet's crest seems to be like a windmill .If we look at the original blazon from
Burkes GA for the baronet, it states that the spear should be in fesse. If we were restricted
entirely by tradition, the direction a helmet must face is set down by the rank the armiger
holds. Fortunately, the rules have been relaxed and so when we draw armorial bearings
nowadays we are able to orientate the helmet in a way best suited to the natural direction
of the crest. However, these blazons were set down at a time when the rules were quite firm and therefore on a gentleman's helm,
which faces to the Dexter, “in fesse” would mean that the tilting spear would be horizontal with the spear pointing to the front. Upon
elevation to the baronetage, with a helm now facing to the front it would be difficult to depict the image of a tilting spear facing the
viewer horizontally; With a knight's helm the spear, if remaining in fesse, changes from pointing to the front to the rather ridiculous
looking sideways, impossible to get through a door, depiction that I think was never intended. I wonder if this is when the blazon was
altered to "in bend" ?
I think that terms such as "in fesse" and "in bend" should be avoided for three dimensional crests; it is much easier to stick to terms
such as "point downwards" and this avoids the misunderstanding of where something should point when a
person is elevated from gentleman (or esquire) to knight or baronet. I don't think these arms were ever intended to be shown the way they are now with the spear point downwards to sinister being held in the left
hand. I believe that if we were ever to see this crest being worn in real life - three dimensionally - the spear
would be held by a right hand, horizontally, with point facing to the
front.
I am rather pleased that of late the College of Arms has relaxed its
rules on whether helms should face to Dexter or be facing front but
that brings me to my second point, that of the chicken and egg. Ancient armorial bearings were simply assumed and the blazon came
later. In the Visitations of Cheshire the Heralds have recorded the
crest of Leigh of West Hall High Legh as being A cubit arm erect,
habited paly of five pieces Or and Sable, cuffed Argent, hand proper,
grasping the upper and lower portion of a broken tilting spear of the
first, point downwards. How do we know that this is correct? Suppose
the original intention was to have a have a the arm attired all proper
and the artist simply chose to illustrate the arm as paly of five? Along
comes the herald who blazons what he sees and forever more the
crest is fixed. What began as artistic license now becomes set in
stone. This begs the question , when the crest of Leigh was first
adopted how was it used?
VOLUME 2, ISSUE 2.
Page 5
BURKE’S HERALDRY CONTINUED!
Continued from page 3//
Our host shook his head.
"A very old family, like your own," said Matilda. "Our ancestors probably knew each other in the days of Stonehenge. I, of course, recognised the coat-of-arms on your plate."
"I am afraid you are in error," said the artist. "My name is Pitts. And I don't go back beyond my grandfather, who, honest man, kept a
grocer's shop in Dulwich. The jug you've been admiring I bought in the Caledonian Cattle Market for fifteen shillings."
Matilda swooned. The air was certainly very close down there.
FEATURE WEBSITE - THE SOCIETY OF HERALDIC ARTS
Our Feature Website is
bursting at the seems with the most beautiful of images presented to promote the businesses of its membership. We can do no better than to quote their home page and give a strong recommendation that you loose no time in visiting the site.
The Society of Heraldic Arts is a non-profit making international guild of heraldic artists, craftsmen and designers. This website is designed to promote the work of the
craft membership and raise public
awareness to the beauty of their
creativity. The Society provides a
wide range of services to the public
and to commercial, civic and corporate organizations, from designing a
simple bookplate to the creation of
a corporate heraldic image for a
multi-national corporation.
The Society's journal is produced
four times a year in January, April,
July and October. The aim of the
journal is to promote the work of
the heraldic artist. This is primarily
achieved by reports on commissions and other works carried out
by the Craft Members of the Society. There are occasional articles
on great heraldic artists of the past and there is also a smattering of technical
pieces on heraldic design and artistic technique. Because heraldic representation
is based on tincture, from April 2002, The Heraldic Craftsman has been produced
in full colour to enable the best reproduction of the artist's and craftsmen's work.
http://www.heraldichttp://www.heraldic-arts.com/index.htm
http://armorial-register.com
THE ARMORIAL REGISTER
NEWSLETTER
Burke’s Peerage & Gentry Ltd.
(The Armorial Register Ltd)
REGISTER YOUR ARMS WITH BURKE’S PEERAGE
INTERNATIONAL ARMORIAL REGISTER
For a limited time period only you can record your Armorial Bearings (Coat of Arms) in the Burke’s Peerage
and Gentry International Armorial Register for only
£50.
The International Armorial Register discussion
Forum
Phone: +44(0)131 208 2270
During the month of June 2006 the register’s forum
opened up to aspiring registrants and armorial enthusiasts with a dedicated area for those who have their
armorial bearings recorded in the Burke’s International
Armorial Register.
Fax: +44(0)7050 657 982
http://armorial-register.com/com-forum
Rockhall, Collin
Dumfries DG1 4JW
Email: info@armorial-register.com
Two new services have sprung into life since our last edition of the Newsletter.
On the 9th July 2007 following consultation The Armorial Registers launched a new service available to all registrants. It is now possible for any registrant to place a pictorial advertisement on their web page; the purpose of which is to promote the registrant’s own
personal website or their business interest, charity, society or club etc. There will be a one off charge of £25 for the service which we
feel is excellent value for what is in effect a permanent advertisement. The advert will not be included in the forthcoming Armorial
publication (the book) and is for web promotion only; it can be linked if required to an external website. The banner should be exactly
151 pixels wide and by 257 pixels high (although the height can be less the width can not be). An example can be seen at
http://www.armorial-register.com/arms-sco/duncan-ja-arms.html
On the 17th May 2007 The Armorial Register
launched its online Armorial Auction, a specialist
on-line auction for collectors and hobbyists alike.
This is a brand new add on to the web site and
has been added after receipt of requests from
registrants who wished to offer for sale items
such as heraldry books to
those who shared their
hobby.
Registration is free so why
not give it a try?
http://armorial-register.net
Editorial content by Martin Goldstraw of Whitecairns