Mrs. Leslie Holt's - The Heraldry Society

Correspondence
Economy is not Economics
John W Mitchell (Dec 2010) takes
me to task for claiming “I think I am
correct in saying that pure economics
has never been seen on a coat of arms
before” my own. He asks if the use of
‘Economia’ by the Institute of Chartered
Accountants (ICAEW) counts and
the editor responds “it certainly
does”. Let me thank Mr Mitchell for
his question and please allow me
to disagree totally with our editor.
First I asked myself why on earth
would a group of accountants want
to use economics as the dominant
theme of its coat of arms. The two
disciplines are not related at all and
this struck me as a bizarre notion.
Second I visited the ICAEW web
site which is very helpful. It claims
the lady featured was chosen by the
Heralds in 1880 and would appear
to be Economia as in the image in
Iconologia by Cesare Ripa (1603).
It goes on to report that in 1948
ICAEW Librarian Cosmo Gordon
wrote of the lady: “The rod signifies
command, the rudder guidance; with
the divders she measures her powers
and so she estimates what she has to
spend.” Elsewhere she is described
as “female figure proper representing
Economy.” One reason the web site is
so helpful is that so many accountants
are confused by her I suspect.
Third I visited a web-hosted English
translation of Iconologia and on page
26 found Economia (so helpfuly
translated as Oeconomy) described
and then interpreted with modern
spelling as follows: “The stick denotes
the rule a master has over his house;
the rudder the care a father ought
to have over his children. The olive
garland, the pains he is to take in
maintaining peace in his family; the
rudder, prudence, and moderation.”
I struggle to see any relevance to either
accounting or pure economics in that
and wonder why the Heralds 130 years
ago chose her for the accountants.
There is a hint in all of this of
economy in the sense of good
handling or management, the sort
of things young ladies were taught
in the past in order that they could
prudently rule the domestic sphere
HERALDRY GAZETTE
- household accounts maybe but
certainly not a jot of economic theory.
In the same article I was also quoted
as saying that I wanted to avoid coins
and the like on my arms because to me
they represent banking and finance,
not economics. Funnily enough when
you put Economia into a search engine
you can find a set of images and every
single one of them is tied to money.
Economics is not about accounting,
household accounts, money, banking
or finance. Rather it about how we
allocate scarce resources and I stand
by my claim that my coat of arms
with its bendlets alluding to supply
and demand curves is the first to do
that. Please let me know if there are
others I missed.
John Blundell
Clayesmore School
In researching the life and times
of John Brooke- Little I wrote to
Clayesmore School and was grateful
to receive the following from Louise
Smith who also sent me the splendid
photograph of the full achievement.:
“Marcus Viner wrote in the School
magazine in the year of its Granting,
“Speech Day ‘79 dealt with elsewhere
in this edition, ended on a somewhat
chivalrous note with presentation to
the school of letters patent, granting
Clayesmore the right to a coat of arms.
Mr Brooke-Little said that he
thought this Speech Day, marking
as it does a new phase in the history
of Clayesmore, was an appropriate
one for the presentation. The
Letters Patent, he said, made
Clayesmore, which has been
using a coat of arms for some
time without permission, legal.
The Chairman then donned
his jewel of office and
became Richmond Herald.
He presented a scroll to Lord
Digby, Vice-Lieutenant of
Dorset, took off his badge
of office, and on behalf of
the school accepted the
scroll back from Lord Digby.
A rather brave Christopher
Taylor undertook the
unenviable task of reading
aloud the ornate, and
practically illegible, script on
the scroll. He succeeded, and
the arms were shown to the
packed Dining Hall. These
are, I am told, ‘Sable issuant
from flames of fire in the base proper,
a double-headed eagle displayed
or langued gules, the dexter wing
charged with the astronomical sign
of Mars and the sinister with that of
Venus also gules’. I have no ideas as
to what it means, but the Letters Patent
are on display in the Main House.”
The school’s history,
“Clayesmore” by David Spinney
- describes an earlier version -
“In only one instance, as far as the
writer has been able to discover, did
Lex satisfy his taste for the grandiose
and impressive, on the cheap. No
public school worthy of the name
could be complete without some
sort of heraldic emblem. But rather
than make a costly application to
the College of Arms, Lex quietly
appropriated, without any authority,
the crest of a lion rampant supporting
(for reasons still unclear), the flag
of Sweden, with a suitably edifying
motto in doubtful French. An unhappy
disregard of the elementary fact that
no crest can exist without a coat of
arms, this rampant imposter was to do
duty for the school on blazers, football
jerseys, school caps, stationery and
much else until, some 80 years later,
an official application to the College
of Arms made an honest lion of him.”
The motto, “God first, then my
brothers” seems not to take account
of the fact that it is a co-ed school
despite the fact that both male and
female are depicted on the shield. - BJ
To contact the Membership Secretary, Ingrid Phillips, write to: PO Box 772, GUILDFORD, GU3 3ZX
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10
HERALDRY GAZETTE
The competition for 2010 was won by Edward J
Mallinson of Glasgow Scotland with a splendid
photograph of the Mitre and Arms of Thomas Arthur Lloyd,
3rd Bishop of Newcastle. Taken in St Nicholas Cathedral.
Second was Tom McIntyre with his photograph of
Pigeons embellishing the principal charge. “Birds of a
Feather” The location for which was Nuremberg Germany.
Highly Commended was the picture by Jane Tunesi of
the Gate of St William’s College York, which she framed
while at the Congress in York.
Well done and thank you to all who took the time and
trouble to participate. Last year’s Competition was very
well subscribed to, with entries from members who had not
so far submitted an entry. We were also pleased to receive
an entry from a guest. Please encourage your guests to
submit, especially young people.
First place
2010 Photographic Competition
The spring is now upon us and time to work the
rusty shutter on the camera, or shake up the pixels No
one has yet tried a composition. If you do not want to
stray from home create your own bit of heraldic magic.
It is often asked, “What are the Judges looking for?”.
They are looking for photographs that have “A strong
Heraldic Content, interestingly composed, preferably
showing the context in which it is located”.They are not
particularly looking for the type of photograph that you
would take if you were trying to make a photographic
record for posterity or a clinical text illustration.record -
look for the unusual. Beauty, as we are told, is in the eye
A Report from Clive Alexander
Last date for Advertising copy for June is the 1st May 2011
of the beholder! What you see and photograph is after all,
subjective and should not be over subscribed and dictated.
If you have not yet thrown your hat in to the ring, so to
speak, give it a shot in 2011. The winning composition may
not be very far away from where you are standing so be
imaginative, try a composition set out as a display? You
may have a suitable photograph in your own archive. You
may also wish to encourage family and friends to take part?
Good hunting or composing. “The game’s a foot”
and it is all to play for. As John Brooke-Little, our
founder, said of Heraldry “essentially it is fun”.
Clive Alexander, Competition Coordinator.
[The judges were Mr. David White, Mr. Clive Cheeseman and Mr.
P. O’Donoghue and the judging took place on the 7th December
2010. - Ed.]
Runner-up
Highly Commended

Mrs. Leslie Holt’s
heraldry books’ sale
Long term member, Harold J. Storey has been
given the entire contents of Mrs. Leslie Holt’s
heraldry library for disposal. All books are in reasonably
good condition and most have Leslieʼs name on a
small sticker inside the cover. A very few were bought
second- hand and may have another name written in.
The proceeds, less any carriage charges, will
go to Leslie Holtʼs daughter (& her daughter)
who has not asked for any payment and, apparently, has no
objection if he passes them all to a Charity Shop. However
they are being first offered to the heraldry fraternity.
He suggests a minimum of £3 - 5 for the larger books
(appx. 11 inches high) and £1 for the others, plus the cost
of carriage and since Leslie worked generously for the
Soc. while she could it would be nice to repay this now. Mr.
Storey may be contacted at; 2 Orchard Close, CHEADLE,
Cheshire SK8 7ET, e-mail: hjstorey@hotmail.co.uk for a
full list and details. If writing a s.a.e. would be appreciated.
Websites linked
HERALDRY GAZETTE
Sue Montgomery, Press Secretary of the Suffolk
Heraldry Society writes to say that their website is now
up and running.
The address is:
www.suffolkheraldry.org.uk and our two websites, as well
as several others, are now linked..
E-mail the Editor at gazette@theheraldrysociety.com
50th Anniversary Lunch
Cheshire Heraldry Society members are pleased
to invite any members of the Heraldry Society to
join them at their Lunch to celebrate their 50th Anniversary.
It will be held on Saturday 16th April 2011
at Shelia’s Restaurant located between Macclesfield
and Leek.
It will start at 12:00hrs with a sherry reception and
opportunity to view a small exhibition on the Society’s
history, events and other items of heraldic interest.
Lunch will be served at 12:30.
Please contact the Programme Secretary, John
Titterton, for more details and to book a place. They
would be particularly pleased to hear from any former
members or their families. The anticipated cost is
approximately £20.00. John’s contact details are
01335 342904 and john@titterton.org.uk.
Royal Mail Christmas Stamps
Going on to the Royal Mail website just before Christmas
I found that you can create your own picture as
an attachment to a stamp. Under the Registered Trademark,
“Smilers/Create your own stamps” you can select
any photograph to go alongside a regular, Christmas postage
stamp. Not quite the same as in France but a step in
the right direction.
Perhaps we shall now see more heraldry on envelopes
as a result?
11

12
Following his article in the March 2010
Gazette, L. Edward Rothwell, F.H.S.
writes further on the subject.
In the centre of the cross in the arms of the City of Derry
is the depiction of a harp. This instrument has a long
lineage in Irish history, examples being found on crosses
of the 9th and 10thC, e.g. the Shrine of St.Medoc, circa
1100. As early as the 13thC the harp was regarded
as an Irish symbol. It was referred to in the “Armorial
Wijnbergen” [compiled circa 1270] in the Hague where the
blazon reads,”Le Roi de Irelande D’azure à la harpe d’or”
There is a later reference in the “Introdutio ad Latinum
Blasoniam” by John Gibbon, London, 1682 which reads,
“Hibernia citheram auream cum chordulis argenteis in
caeruleo scuto depictam.” (Ireland a gold harp with silver
strings on a blue shield.) Note the word, “citherum”.
Gerard Cambriensis reports that the Irish played two types
of stringed instrument, the citheram and the tympanum,
the latter being a form of lyre played with a bow. The use
of the word, “citherum” is important because the quotation
refers to the orthodox Irish Harp.
The Tudors did not use the harp as a coat of arms but as
a Badge. Irishmen who did not wish to acknowledge Royal
authority used the harp without the ensigning crown or
substituted the Irish crown. Henry VIII was the first English
monarch to use the harp as a Royal symbol for Ireland.
Prior to Henry a commission of Edward IV considered
three crowns as the appropriate symbol. Henry’s Irish
groat had on the reverse an Irish harp ensigned by an
arched crown. At the funeral of Elizabeth I a banner bore
a harp and two appeared on the Great Seal for Ireland.
Following Thomas Emmet’s proposal to raise a legion
of Irish in 1805, of which Napoleon approved, at the
coronation the Emperor presented the legion with a Colour
bearing his name and an uncrowned harp on one side. An
HERALDRY GAZETTE
The Harp in the Arms of Derry.
illustration of the Irish Parliament of the 18C in Dublin’s
National Library shows the Speaker’s chair with the Irish
arms above – an uncrowned harp. It was here that Henry
Grattan led the Patriot Party in 1782: he won a Declaration
of Independence from Britain. The fore-pillar of the
harp was carved in the form of a Nike thus symbolically
indicating Grattan’s success. The arms are carved out of
bog oak and were offered for sale in 1916 and bought by
Mr. A. W. Turner of Brighton. There was an unsuccessful
attempt by Neville Wilkinson, the heraldic officer, to buy
the arms, “before selling them to a rebellious Irishman”.
Following the death of Mr. Turner the carving was donated
to the Taoiseach, Mr. De Valera.
In 1922 William Cosgrave, the President, adopted the
Brian Boru Harp as the Irish device. This 14C harp is in
the museum of Trinity College, Dublin. It stands 32 inches
high with a fore-pillar of oak and a sound-box of sallow and
has 30 strings. That the harp should appear in the Irish
National flag was suggested at the Imperial Conference
in London in 1926. In 1931 the use of the harp was
questioned because it formed part of the Royal Arms. The
introduction of a new Constitution by de Valera in 1937,
the departure of Ulster King of Arms from the Republic and
the establishment of the Office of Chief Herald of Ireland
made it possible for the Cabinet to register the harp at the
Genealogical Office on 2 nd November 1945 and in 1984
a depiction was deposited by the Government with the
International Bureau in Berne under the terms of the Paris
Convention [originally signed on 20 th March 1883]
The City of Derry approached Sir George Bellew,
(Garter) and Sir Gerald Wollaston (Norroy and Ulster) to
confirm the arms long used which they did on 28 th April
1952. However, though they set out, “the proper tinctures
used” they did not mention the harp shown in a doquet of
1613 on which they based much of their reasoning. Thus
their blazon was defective. This omission has now been
rectified by the issue of a Kings’ of Arms Certificate of 30 th
April 2003 so the City’s arms are now in the condition they
were 300 years ago and thus creating a touchstone for the
correct design and colours.
[The harp today is used as the symbol of the Irish State. It is
found in the seals of the President, Taoiseach, Tànaiste and
Government Ministers and is used on the back of Irish coins
including new euro coins minted in Ireland.
The Presidential Standard is a blue flag with the heraldic
harp. The model for the artistic representation of this harp
is the 14th century harp now preserved in the Museum of
Trinity College Dublin, popularly known
as the Brian Boru harp, named after the
High King of Ireland from 1002 to 1014.
Mr Rothwell will write further regarding
the use of the skeleton as a charge. - Ed.]
Items for inclusion in the Gazette: post to the Editor, The Heraldry Gazette,
c/o The Membership Secretary (address p.2) or e-mail gazette@theheraldrysociety.com