ep-06 Issue - The Heraldry Society

6
A UNIQUE GIFT
by Baz Manning
In 2006 I was asked by a Greek client to paint the
arms of his lifelong friend as a Christmas present for
him. The friend was the younger son of the second
Viscount Hailsham, the well known Conservative
politician Quintin Hogg. The arms had been granted in
1846 (College of Arms Grants 48, 165) and the
supporters added in 1928 when Quintin's father was
made Baron on becoming, as the post was then
known, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. They are
Arms: Argent three boars' heads erased between two
The arms of the first Lord Hailsham reproduced with
the kind permission of the Honourable Society of
Lincoln’s Inn
flaunches azure each charged with a crescent argent.
Crest: Out of an eastern crown argent an oak tree
fructed proper pendent therefrom an escutcheon azure
charged with a dexter arm embowed in armour the
hand grasping an arrow in bend sinister point
downwards also proper. Supporters: On either side a
ram argent armed and unguled or gorged with a
baron's coronet the dexter supporting the Lord High
Chancellor's mace the sinister the Lord High
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Chancellor's purse proper. The purse is used in the
House of Lords and was embroidered by the Royal
School of Needlework with the full Royal Arms in
appliqué with a border of cherubs. As born by the ram
it becomes one of the smallest coats of arms on a coat
of arms in the world of heraldry. I have heard of the
full Royal Arms being granted centuries ago on a
canton which must surely be the smallest example
ever. (Do any readers know the story behind that one?)
The last Lord Chancellor, Baron Irvine of Lairg, has
recently been granted arms in Scotland which include
the same purse being carried by a trainbearer of the
House of Lords. As this is Lord Irvine's crest it has to
be smaller than the Hailshams' version, an even more
demanding challenge to the chosen artists.
The erasing of a boar's head is a small point but an
important one. Whereas some authors such as Elvin in
the 1880s made no distinction, Fox-Davies just a few
years later stated clearly that an English boar's head
is erased horizontally (at the throat, you could say)
while a Scottish animal was erased vertically (at the
neck). This also applied to couped and is still valid
today. In recent years our English heralds have decided
to refer to the Scottish method as erased behind the
ears, an effective distinction at last. The Hoggs' heads
have always been erased in the Scottish fashion
despite being granted in England, with no mention of