A System of Heraldry - Clan Strachan Society

ya
OF THE CHIEF OR CHEF.
bar), coloris anri, aqnatali collubrio cceruleo impresso, & cum una scuti semisse i.
niscat ti, baltf':s tcrnis tirgcnteis totidcmque puniceis.
With the French, there is a chief, which they call chef cmtsu, that is, when a
i hief is of" metal upon metal, and of colour upon colour ; which cannot be said to
be laid upon a field as other chiefs are ; being contrary to the general received
rule, that metal must be upon colour, and colour upon metal ; and is called a
chief cousii, that is, sewed and not laid on the field, but added to the upper part of
the shield. Cousu, says Menestrier,
'
Se dit du chef qu and il est de metal sur metal,
ou de couleur sur couleur ; Sylvester Petra Sancta calls it, Scutariurn caput ascituw,
fidventitium, ac sutile. There are several examples of this chief in French books
of blazons, as that of the family of BONNE de LESDIGUIERES in France, gules, a
lion rampant or, on a chief cottsu, azure, three roses argent, as fig. 3^ I have met
with no such practice of carrying a chief cousu, in the arms of any family in
Britain.
There are several other accidental forms of a chief used abroad, and to be found
in English books ; as a chief convert, chaperonnc, mantels. Couvert they say when
the chief is shadowed with hangings of tapestry ; and cbaperonne, which the
English call sbapournet, derived from the French word chaperon, which signifies a
hood, which they place upon a chief: Muntele is said, when a chief is covered with
a mantle of a different tincture, like tierce en mantelet beforementioned. There are
several other varieties given us by French and English heralds, particularly Mi-
Holme, in his Academy of Armories, which I pass over as mere fancies ; seeing
they are carried by no families in Britain, nor by any considerable family in other
nations, and proceed to speak of the blazon in chief.
In chief, is said, when natural or artificial figures are placed in the upper part of
the shield, where the ordinary, the chief, is placed, and that without any purfle, or
line, separating them from the under part
of the shield.
Fig. ^4. Azure, in chief three stars (called spur-rowels in the Lyon Register)
argent, the armorial bearing of DALMAHOY of that Ilk, an ancient and honourable
family in Mid-Lothian, now honoured with the dignity of baronet. Amongst the
the gentlemen of inquest, at serving William Lord Somerville heir to his father
Thomas, the first lord of that name, in the year 1435, there is mentioned Sir
Alexander Dalmahoy of that Ilk. The lairds of Dalmahoy having
been for a considerable
time Under-Masterhouseholds to our kings ; and for supporters, they have
two serpents nowed, cottising the shield ; and for crest, a hand brandishing a
sword : motto, Absque metu.
Fig. 35. WAUCHOPE of Niddry, azure, a garb or, and in chief two mullets of the
last ; more of which family near the end of this chapter. So much then shall
serve for the various forms > and attributes of the chief; I shall add here several
blazons of noble families, whose bearings are relative to the chief in the same order
as I have treated of it from the beginning of this chapter.
The surname of DEWAR, or, a chief azure; the surname of SQUARE, or, a chief
gules; the surname of AIRTH, argent, a chief sable, as in Sir George Mackenzie's
Heraldry.
DURWARD, of old Lord DURWARD, as in Sir James Balfour's Blazons, argent, a
hief gule s. Alanus Durward, Ostiarius Regis, after the forfeiture of David Hastings,
Earl of Athol, was by King Alexander II. created Earl of ATHOL. He lived but
two years after he was made Earl, and died without issue. He carried for arms,
argent, on a chief gule.':, a lion passant gardant of the first.
BELCHES of that Ilk, paly of six, or and gules, a chief vair; crest, a greyhound's
head couped argent, coloured azure: motto, Fulget virtus intaminata. L. R.
BELCHES of Tofts, in the Merse, or, three pallets gules, a chief vair ; ci-est, the
trunk of an oak tree eradicate, with leaves sprouting out, proper ; the motto,
Revirescit. L. R.
The surname of CAUSTON, argent, two stars and a crescent in base sable, a chief
chftiue, argent and vert. Font's Manuscript.
The surname of BRUCE carries or, a saltier and chief gules ; but more of them in
the chapter of the saltier.
BURNET of Barns sometimes designed of Burnetland, in the shire of Tweeddale.
carries argent, three holly leaves vert, and a chief azure.