The ancient Kings of Ireland were descended from King Milesius of Spain, the grandson of Breoghan (Brian), King of Galicia, Andalusia, Murcia, Castile and Portugal. Milesius, a great general/king, was instrumental in defending Egypt from the King of Ethiopia. Milesius turned his attention northward to Ireland to fulfill an ancient Druidic prophecy. He sent an army to explore this fertile island. On finding that his son had been murdered by the three resident Irish Kings (the Danans), Milesius gathered another army to take his revenge on the Irish. He died before he embarked on the trip. His remaining eight sons conquered Ireland.

Heremon, eldest son of Milesius, reigned in Ireland for fourteen years, along with his brothers Heber, Ir, and Ithe. They named the land Scota or Scotia, their mother’s name, the land of the Scots. This name would later be taken by the Irish King Colla in 357 when he was exiled to Scotland, leaving the name ‘Ir-land’, land of Ir, youngest of the four sons of Milesius, to the Emerald Isle. The four Irish kingdoms eventually broke into five separate nations under the High King, or Ard Righ. These royal lines would later produce such great kings as the 4th century King Niall of the Nine Hostages who died in France while cutting off the retreat of the Romans from Britain, and King Brian Boru who died in the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, finally expelling the Vikings from Dublin and Ireland.

Whilst any colour can be used for the ‘charges’ (the designs on the shield), there are rules governing the colours used in the remainder of the coat of arms, and each colour has a meaning./p

The Wreath or Torse: is the most popular way to join the Helmet and the Crest. It is shown as a bar of alternating metal and coloured cloth.

The Mantling or Lambrequin: is the flourish surrounding the coat of arms. In wartime the suit of armour could get very hot inside so a cloth was worn suspended from the helmet down the back of the armour. The Mantling shaded the wearer from the effects of the sun, and it also helped to prevent rust. In battle the Mantling was useful as it could prevent a clean swipe at the wearer and a sword could get snagged by the cloth thereby impeding the assailant. The Mantling often became ragged as a result, and heraldic artists often exaggerate the raddedness implying that the holder of the coat of arms had been in the thick of things.

The colour of the Mantling was originally always crimson and white, but after about 1700 the red and white was replaced by the main colours on the shield.

Each coat of arms has a helmet placed above the shield. There are several rules in heraldry governing the colour and postion of the shield and these depend on the status of the bearer:

– Royalty: the helmet will be gold and facing forwards. The visor should be open and guarded by grilles or bars.

– Peers: the helmet must be silver and will be viewed in profile. The visor should be open and guarded by griiles of gold.

– A knight or baronet’s helmet should be of steel and viewed facing forward. The visor should be open but with no grilles.

– The helmet of a gentleman or squire should be steel and seen in profile. The visor will be closed.

The shape and style of the helmet is not important and is left to the whims of the heraldic artist.

Why did noblemen and knights go into battle looking like someone in Carnaby Street in the 60s?! It certainly wasn’t a fashion statement. Imagine 10, 20, or 30 men wearing suits of armour and a mob of men fighting; how could you tell who is who?

In those days an army was more like a collection of mini-armies; each knight would bring with him his own small band of men, a sort of private army. It was important that the fighting men, most of whom were illiterate, could pick out their leader with ease and rally around to help him. So the knights started to decorate their shields and suits of armour. They wore a cloth garment over the top half of their armour, this was decorated and was known as a ‘surcoat’, a name that was later corrupted into ‘coat of arms’.

At first only the ‘upper classes’ displayed their arms with shields and banners prominent in castles and large houses, but others wanted to get in on the act. In those days it was necessary to get the king’s permission to sell land and the monarch granted the arms to the gentry; however, commoners started displaying arms too even though ‘heralds’ and other appointed officials tried to stop the practice. Eventually the people won and the display of arms became common place.

As explained in an earlier post, the design on the shield is correctly termed the ‘Coat of Arms’, while the full image is called an ‘Achievement’. The earliest Arms were the simplest designs, with some being just a single colour. The background of the shield is called the ‘field’. ‘Charges’, usually animals of figures were added to increase the uniqueness of the design – remember that the purpose of a coat of arms was to enable the followers of a nobleman or knight in battle to recognise their man, suits of armour looked much the same.

As Arms were handed down the generations many were added to. If two prominent families joined together in marriage, their Arms were often merged. This is very apparent in the shield that are dived into quarters, the design in each quarter will represent another family who joined in marriage.

OK, I know in a previous post I said that what most people call a coat of arms is in fact an ‘achievement’, but as so few people know of the term I will continue with the term ‘coat of arms’ so new readers wll know what I am talking about!

The Crest or Family Crest is the design on top of the helmet. Sometimes you will see 5 feathers there, which means that particular coat of arms does not have a crest. Indeed, in early days these were virtually non-existent; then crests were added by high ranking families, usually in the form of an animal or an animal’s head. Later crests became popular and there addition became common.

The Motto: Rather like crests, early coats of arms did not have a motto and they don’t really have a place in heraldry. Mottos first appeared in about 1660 and, like crests, they became popular after that date.

Well, most people call it that. Some refer to the image as a Family Crest. But the correct name is an ‘Achievement’. The design shown on the shield is the Coat of Arms, and the design on top of the helmet is the Family Crest – sometimes there is no crest and 5 feathers are shown instead.

Today I will discuss the shield which is the part of greatest importance. The shield should have a background colour as a minimum, and this is known as the ‘field’. Some sort of figure, animal or design known as the ‘charge’ is added to the shield. You will often see the shield divided into halves or quarters; with a different design in each segment. This usually means that as the arms have been handed down the generations the overall design has been added to when the family married; in effect two coats of arms have merged into one – the techical term being ‘cadency’.

Generally speaking, the older the coat of arms, the simpler the design.

In coming days I will talk about the other parts of an ‘Achievement’.