Jun-09 Issue (Page 1) - The Heraldry Society

8
The Crest with, perhaps
inevitably, sorrel in the mouth
of a goat of India taken from
the Armorial Bearings of the
Haberdashers’ Company.
Taking something from a
company in this way is
certainly permissible but I
have to confess I was
somewhat hesitant in this case
as I do not know what a “goat
of India” is. There are plenty
of goats in India but I do not
see them being different from
goats of Europe, unless we are
talking about serows or gorals
or tahrs which are members of
the goat antelope family from
the Himalayas. The
Haberdashers’ goat seems to
have little resemblance to
these creatures. However, as
the Haberdashers had Goats
of India as Supporters, and
they were long since blazoned
as such, it was difficult to
refuse one as a Crest to Sir
Martin.
Schools, puns and business
are all combined in the Arms
of Sir David Varney. This is to
show that I do sometimes use
the fess and even purpure,
which I was informed is the
colour for Business in the
Community.
Sir David was Chairman of
the Inland Revenue, hence
the purse. The raven was
taken from his school Badge,
his wife’s family were chain
makers, he spent twenty-eight
years in the petroleum
industry, hence the benzene
rings in the form of chains. He
was a man also from Catford,
hence the wavy fess and the
cat’s faces.
I shall end with two slides,
firstly, just to show that
women have an important
part to play in heraldry. There
has been the occasional grant
to a Dame such as Dame
Margaret Seward.
It is the case that grants to
women have greatly increased
in the last fifteen or twenty
years. You may have noticed a
number of grants for Lady
Peers in the articles in The
Heraldry Gazette and The
Coat of Arms. Strangely and
somewhat inexplicably,
Dames have lagged behind
but this grant shows the small
inescutcheon to represent a
married woman. This grant
was designed by Patric
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Dickinson, Richmond Herald.
The grantee is concerned with
dentistry, hence the indented
division and the seagulls flying
seaward are a pun on the
surname.
Lastly there is Sir John
Ritblat who also had a grant
for his wife. A number of
grantees have decorated
borders and I am showing you
this elaborate grant for
husband and wife with two
Standards and a rather
charming decorated border
done by my heraldic artist
Gillian Barlow and based on a
mediaeval book of hours. This
is not a goat of India but a
chamois for skiing and
another gillyflower for Jill, his
wife’s name.