Cornish heraldry

Cornish heraldry
Arms of the Duke of Cornwall: Sable, fifteen bezants. Bezants, adopted at an early period as a symbol of Cornwall, appear frequently in Cornish heraldry.
 
Heraldic traditionGallo-British
Governing bodyCollege of Arms

Cornish heraldry is the form of coats of arms and other heraldic bearings and insignia used in Cornwall, United Kingdom. While similar to English, Scottish and Welsh heraldry, Cornish heraldry has its own distinctive features. Cornish heraldry typically makes use of the tinctures sable (black) and or (gold), and also uses certain creatures like Cornish choughs. It also uses the Cornish language extensively for mottoes and canting arms.

Officials and law

Carminow v. Scrope

The arms blazoned Azure, a bend or, which were the subject of the cases

One of the earliest heraldic law cases brought in England was the 1389 case of Scrope v. Grosvenor. Scrope had found Grosvenor using the same arms as him, Azure a bend or, and set out to prove his sole right to use them. In heraldic law no two unrelated families in the same country are permitted to bear the same arms. Following a long court case it was decided that Scrope had the right to the arms and Grosvenor was forced to change his arms to Azure a garb or. It became known however that a Cornish knight by the name of Carminow was also using the disputed arms.

Carminow, seeing Scrope's use of his arms, challenged the right of Scrope to bear the arms. In this case, the constable of England declared that both claimants had established their right to the arms. Carminow had proven that his family had borne the arms "from the time of King Arthur", while the Scrope family had only used the arms "from the Norman Conquest of England". (Neither of these claims to such antiquity were in fact possible as the era of heraldry did not start until the late 12th century). The two families were, however, considered of different heraldic nations, Scrope of England, Carminow of Cornwall, and as such could both bear the same arms. As stated in the records of the case, Cornwall was in effect deemed a separate nation, "a large land formerly bearing the name of a kingdom."[1]

John Vivian and Henry Drake, in their preface to the Visitation of the County of Cornwall, commented as follows: "Cornwall may be considered pre-eminent in the antiquity of its family heraldry, since it was admitted in court during the memorable Scrope and Grosvenor controversy that the same arms, Azure a bend or, had remained in the family of Carminow from King Arthur."

Officials

There are few recorded instances of heraldic officials in the Cornish tradition, however, heralds may commonly have been employed in Cornwall primarily as minstrels and story tellers. The harpist John Hilton was appointed by King Richard II as Cornwall Herald in 1398 at about the time of the Carminow case. A Cornwall Herald attended the coronation of Henry V in 1413 and there was a Cornwall Herald at the battle of Agincourt who, with the Duke of Norfolk, was too ill to take part. During the reigns of Edward IV and Henry VII the March herald was King of Arms of the west parts of England, Wales and Cornwall.[2] Only one Cornish family is known to have had its own heraldic officer: Sir Richard Nanfan, Lord Deputy of Calais in 1503, retained a pursuivant or junior herald named Serreshal, but there may have been others.

Heraldic law

Cornish heraldry generally conformed with the rules and customs of English heraldry, and therefore with the Gallo-British tradition. However, the use of arms was far more widespread amongst the Cornish than the English and there was far less control over the use of heraldry. The antiquary Richard Carew wrote in the early 17th century, "The Cornish appear to change and diversify their arms at pleasure...The most Cornish gentlemen can better vaunt of their pedigree than their livelihood for that they derive from great antiquity, and I make question whether any shire in England of but equal quantitie can muster a like number of faire coate-armours".[3] Jewers in his Heraldic church notes from Cornwall, c. 1860-80, mentions the large number of landowners using arms never registered with the College of Arms in London. Every large farm or barton in Cornwall housed its own "Gentleman of Coat Armour".[4]

Historically primogeniture, the inheritance by the eldest son of the family estate, was not commonly practised in Cornwall. Amongst the Cornish, lands commonly were divided equally amongst all sons which resulted in smaller broken up estates, and if no sons existed lands were divided between daughters or closest relatives, male or female.[5][6] This practice may have influenced the working and development of the Cornish tradition of heraldry.[7] When primogeniture was practised, younger brothers were often married to an heiress. The heiress's arms were then adopted by the husband in place of his own family's.[3]

Duchy of Cornwall

Banner of the Duke of Cornwall

The Duchy of Cornwall was created in 1337 from the former earldom of Cornwall. The first Duke was Edward, the Black Prince (1330-1376) who first used the badge of Three ostrich feathers. Fox-Davies states that the badge associated with the Duchy is that of the Black Bull, often termed "of Clarence".[8] Nevertheless, the Duchy is closely associated with the badge of the plume of feathers. The Black Prince erected a sculpted plume of feathers at the apex of the Duchy Palace roof at Lostwithiel when he paid his first visit there and to Restormel Castle in 1353.

The arms of the Duchy are blazoned sable, fifteen bezants. These arms were designed in the 15th century, based on the arms of Richard, Earl of Cornwall (1209-1272). A good explanation of the emblem of Cornwall is given by A. Fox-Davies in his “Book of Public Arms”: «In the days of the earlier Plantagenets, the pawnbrokers of Cornwall were the most enterprising and prosperous merchants in all England. When King John desired to hypothecate his crown jewels to raise money for a war in France, five of the principal "uncles" of Cornwall - Ben Levi of Truro, Ben Ezra of Penzance, Moses of Megavissey, (the other two names are illegible, see Manuscript CXLIX, British Museum) - formed an association, the Ancient and Honourable Association of Pawnbrokers, to take over his debts. The ‘trade-mark’ of the company was fifteen balls with the motto "One and All" to indicate that no business could be arranged without a quorum of all five members. When Edward I ascended the throne, this association was the most powerful in Cornwall. That Prince, following out his usual policy of exalting the merchant class, chose the trade-mark of the Ancient and Honourable Association of Pawnbrokers to be the coat-of-arms of the county of Cornwall.» Further information on the subject will be found in ‘An Ancyent and Ynterestyng Account of Ye Cornish Arms,’ of which there is a copy in the British Museum.[9]

The arms are today used as a badge by Prince William, Duke of Cornwall and they appear below the shield in his coat of arms. The supporters used with the badge are two Cornish choughs, each holding an ostrich feather, and the motto is Houmout (meaning "high-spirited") the personal motto of the Black Prince.

Duke of Cornwall

For further reading; Coat of arms of the Prince of Wales

Title Escutcheon Greater
Version		 Blazon Date of
Creation
Duke of Cornwall
Sables, Fifteen bezants or, five, four, three, two, one 1337
Duke of Cornwall
(as the Prince of Wales)
Quarterly, 1st and 4th Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or armed and langued Azure (for England), 2nd quarter Or a lion rampant within a double tressure flory-counter-flory Gules (for Scotland), 3rd quarter Azure a harp Or stringed Argent (for Ireland), with over all a label of three points Argent, and on an inescutcheon ensigned by the coronet of the heir-apparent, quarterly, Or and Gules four lions passant guardant counterchanged (for the Principality of Wales) 1911
Shield of Peace
Sables, three feathers argent, slipped through scrolls inscribed 'Ich Dien' 1337

Cornish Symbolism

A Cornish chough flying in Penwith

There are several charges and tinctures (colourings) used frequently in Cornish heraldry. These are derived mainly from Cornish royal and national symbolism.

Common charges

Arms of the Godolphin family of Godolphin, featuring a double-headed eagle
Arms of the Killigrew family, featuring both bezants and a double-headed eagle

Mottoes

Many Cornish families from ancient times bore mottoes in the Cornish language, many of which were recorded in the 17th century. The practice of using Cornish language mottoes continues to this day. Examples include:

Familial examples

Corporate examples

The coat of arms of Cornwall Council

List of Cornish Arms

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2019)

A

Name Escutcheon Blazon Seat or Residence
Arundell Sable, six martlets argent • Trerice

B

Name Escutcheon Blazon Seat or Residence
Basset Barry wavy of six or and gules • Tehidy
Bond Argent, a chevron sables with three bezants or • Saltash
Bodrugan Argent, three bendlets gules a bordure engrailed sable
Boscawen Ermine, a rose gules barbed and seeded proper • Falmouth
Buller Sable, on a cross argent quarter pierced of the field four eagles displayed of the first • Trenant Park[15]

C

Name Escutcheon Blazon Seat or Residence
Calmady Azure, a chevron between three pears or • Stoke Climsland
Carew Or, three lions passant in pale sable • Torpoint
Carwythan Argent, a fleur-de-lys gules a bordure engrailed
Coryton Argent, a saltire sable • Pentillie[16]
Curnow Argent, lion rampant gules with a ducal crown or
Cutts Argent, a bend engrailed sables, three roundels argent. • Calstock

E

Name Escutcheon Blazon Seat or Residence
Edgcumbe Gules, bend ermines cotised or three boar's heads couped argent • Cotehele
• Mount Edgcumbe, Maker
Elliot Argent, a Fess Gules, between double-cotises wavy Azure • Port Eliot

F

Name Escutcheon Blazon Seat or Residence
Fortescue Azure, a bend engrailed argent plain cotised or • Boconnoc
Flamank Argent, a cross between four mullets pierced gules • Nanstallon
• Bodmin
Fox Ermine, chevron azure, three foxes or, canton azure, fleur de lis or • Falmouth
Friend Gules, chevron ermine, three deer argent • Calstock

G

Name Escutcheon Blazon Seat or Residence
Gilbert Argent, a chevron gules with three roses argent.
Godolphin Gules, an eagle with two heads, displayed between three fleurs-de-lys, two and one, argent • Godolphin House
Goss Argent, mullet gules, two, two, one, two, two • Goss's boatyard, Calstock
Gough Sable, a chevron between three mermaids argent hair glass case and comb or • Aldercombe
• Kilkhampton
Glencross Per saltire ermine and azure, a lion rampant or, holding in the dexter forepaw a cross patonce of the last, in chief three chaplets of oak proper, fructed gold.
  • Luxstowe House
Grenville Gules, three clarions or
Gross/Grosse Quarterly argent and azure, on a bend sable three martlets or

H

Name Escutcheon Blazon Seat or Residence
Hender Azure semée of escallops or, a lion rampant
Hunkin Argent, a mascle sable over all a fess

K

Name Escutcheon Blazon Seat or Residence
Killigrew Argent, bordure sables, 15 bezants or, eagle sables

M

Name Escutcheon Blazon Seat or Residence
Molesworth-St Aubyn Ermine, on a cross sable five bezants [17] • Pencarrow

P

Name Escutcheon Blazon Seat or Residence
Pascoe Argent, lion rampant sable
Pawley Argent, a lion rampant sable, on a chief dancetty of the second three mullets
Pengelly
Pennarth Argent, a chevron between three bears' heads erased sables muzzled or
Prideaux Argent, a chevron sable in chief a label of three points gules [18] • Prideaux Place

R

Name Escutcheon Blazon Seat or Residence
Rashleigh [Text missing]Argent beaked and legged gules; in the second quarter: a text "T"; in the third and fourth quarters: a crescent all of the third • Menabilly
• Fowey
Robartes Azure, three estoiles and a chief wavy or • Lanhydrock

S

Name Escutcheon Blazon Seat or Residence
Scoble Argent, lapel azure and three Fleur-de-lis gules • Calstock
Southcott Argent, chevron engrailed gules, three coots sable • Calstock
• Callington
Speccot Or, on a bend gules three millrinds argent • Penheale
St Aubyns Ermine on a Cross Gules five Bezants all within a Bordure wavy of the second • St Michael's Mount

T

Name Escutcheon Blazon Seat or Residence
Thomas Per pale nebuly argent and azure[19] • St Just in Penwith
Treen Per chevron embattled Or and Vert, in chief two oak trees and in base a garb counterchanged.[12]
Treffry Arms of Treffry Sable, a Chevron between three Trees Argent [21] • Place, Fowey
Trefusis Argent, a chevron between three spindles sable
Trelawny Argent, chevron sable [22] • Harewood House, Calstock
• Trelawny, Pelynt
Tremayne Gules, three dexter arms conjoined at the shoulders and flexed in triangle or the fists clenched argent
Trethurffe Azure, a buck's head cabossed argent attired or • Ladock
Trevelyan Gules, a demi-horse argent hoofed and maned or issuing out of water in base proper [23] • St Veep

V

Name Escutcheon Blazon Seat or Residence
Vautort Argent, three bends gules a bordure sable bezantee • Trematon

W

Name Escutcheon Blazon Seat or Residence
Westlake Azure, wavy argent • Calstock
• Gunnislake
• Tavistock
Wilcox Ermine, chief chequy or and sable • Kelly House, Calstock
Williams Vair, three crescents or • Harewood House, Calstock
• St Michael Caerhays
• Scorrier House; Burncoose
Worth Argent, eagle sable • Calstock

Canting arms

As in other heraldic traditions, canting, punning on the surname, is frequently used in Cornish heraldry. Often this uses the Cornish language, suggesting it was considered a high status language. These may not reflect the true origin of the name. Examples include:

Supporters and crests

Supporters are figures usually placed on either side of the escutcheon which hold it up-right. In British heraldry, the use of supporters is restricted to peers, royalty, Scottish barons and chiefs of clans. However a number of Cornish families, such as the Carminows and the Trevanions, do possess supporters, despite not being of noble rank as required in Scottish or English heraldry. The Carminows use: dexter, A pelican and sinister, A Cornish chough. The Trevanions: dexter, A stag, sinister A lion.[24] The Trevelyan family had Two dolphins proper as their supporters. Treffry had A man and a woman as supporters[25] The St Legers of Cornwall used A wingless griffin.[26] The office of Lord Warden of the Stannaries gave entitlement to the use of supporters. Sir Walter Raleigh, Lord Warden of the Stannaries 1584-1603, used Two wolves as his supporters from 1584 onwards.[27]

Mythology

Attributed arms

Attributed arms of the Saint Piran family

See also

There is another list of armorial blazons "from Late 16th/Early 17th C Cornwall" here

There is a compendium of West Country arms, including many Cornish arms, collated from numerous primary and secondary sources, here

Further reading

References

  1. ^ Cornish Heraldry and Symbolism, D. Endean Ivall, 1988. ISBN 1-850220-433 (Source: Misc. Rolls of Chanc. Nos 311 and 312.)
  2. ^ Walter H. Godfrey with Sir Anthony Wagner, Survey of London Monograph 16: College of Arms, Queen Victoria Street, English Heritage, 1963 - http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=118267
  3. ^ a b Richard Carew, Survey of Cornwall, 1602
  4. ^ Michael Trinick, Trerice, guide book.
  5. ^ Julian Cornwall, Wealth and society in Early Sixteenth Century England, 1988
  6. ^ June Z. Fullmer, Young Humphry Davy: the making of an experimental chemist, 2000
  7. ^ Mr. W. C. Wade, "Extinct Cornish Families", Transactions of the Plymouth Institution & Devon and Cornwall Natural History Society, 1890-1891.
  8. ^ Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry
  9. ^ Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles: The Book of Public Arms. A Complete Encyclopaedia of all Royal, Territorial, Municipal, Corporate Official and Impersonal Arms. London & Edunburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack, 1915; pp. 210-212
  10. ^ a b Lower, Mark Antony (1845). The Curiosities of Heraldry. London: John Russell Smith.
  11. ^ William Smith Ellis, A Plea for the Antiquity of Heraldry: with an attempt to expound its theory and elucidate its history, 1853 - Cornish heraldry
  12. ^ a b c General, Office of the Secretary to the Governor. "Gwenneth Lucille Treen". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  13. ^ a b W. H. Pascoe, A Cornish Armory, 1979
  14. ^ a b D. Endean Ivall, Cornish Heraldry and Symbolism, 1988
  15. ^ Burke's Landed Gentry, 1937, p.279, Buller of Downes
  16. ^ Pentillie Castle described in Devonshire & Cornwall illustrated, from original drawings by T. Allom (1832) p.16-17, on Google Books.
  17. ^ Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p. 709
  18. ^ Vivian (1895), p. 616
  19. ^ "The Visitations of Cornwall". ukga.org. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  20. ^ "The Arms of Gwenneth Lucille Treen - The Armorial Register". www.armorial-register.com. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  21. ^ Herald's Visitations of Cornwall 1620
  22. ^ Kidd, Charles, Debrett's peerage & Baronetage 2015 Edition, London, 2015, p.B796
  23. ^ Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.798
  24. ^ D. Endean Ivall, Cornish Heraldry and Symbolism, 1988 (Sabine Baring-Gould)
  25. ^ John Burke, Encyclopædia of Heraldry: or General armory of England, Scotland, and Ireland, comprising a registry of all armorial bearings from the earliest to the present time, including the late grants by the College of arms, 1844
  26. ^ Thomas Woodcock; John Martin Robinson, The Oxford Guide to Heraldry, 1988
  27. ^ William Berry, Encyclopaedia Heraldica or complete dictionary of heraldry, Vol. 1, 1828
  28. ^ Richard Polwhele, The history of Cornwall, civil, military, religious, architectural, agricultural, commercial, biographical, and miscellaneous, 1816
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