Ex. Argent, a double tressure, flory and counter-flory, gules.


CHARGES BORNE IN COATS OF ARMS.

At first when the Feudal System prevailed, not only in England, but
other parts of Europe, none but military chieftains bore Coats of
Arms. And as few persons held land under the Crown but by military
tenure, that is, under the obligation of attending in person with
a certain number of vassals and retainers when their services were
required by the king for the defence of the state, heraldic honours
were confined to the nobility, who were the great landholders of the
kingdom. When they granted any portion of their territory to their
knights and followers as rewards for deeds of prowess in the field or
other services, the new possessors of the land retained the arms of
their patrons with a slight difference to denote their subordinate
degree. The ingenuity of the armorist was not then taxed to find a
multitude of devices to distinguish every family. And when chivalry
became the prevailing pursuit of all that sought honour and
distinction by deeds of arms and gallant courtesy, the knights assumed
the privilege that warriors in all ages have used; viz. that of
choosing any device they pleased to ornament the crests of their
helmets in the field of battle, or in the mock combat of the
tournament: the knight was known and named from the device used as
his crest. Thus the heralds, in introducing him to the judges of the
field, or to the lady that bestowed the prizes, called him the Knight
of the Swan, the Knight of the Lion, &c., without mentioning any other
title. And knights whose fame for gallantry and prowess was firmly
established, had their crests painted over their coats of arms. In two