A System of Heraldry - Clan Strachan Society

OF THE SALTIER OR SAUTOIR. 1 3 1
F.br the saltier, the Latins use the words, crux transfersalis, or decussis ; because
it represents the letter X. This honourable ordinary with the English, possesses
the fifth part of the field, the same being not charged ; but if it be charged, then
it should take up the third part of the field.
The Spaniards call this figure sometimes aspas, from the name of an instrument
after the form of an X ; as Menestrier observes. Having given a description of
its name and form, I shall now speak to its nature and signification, which arc
various,, according to different authors.
It is taken for a specific form of a cross, with us,, the English, and other nations ;
and carried upon account of devotion to saints, who suffered upon such a cross, as
that of St Andrew, on our ensigns.
Menestrier will have it, in some armorial bearings,, to represent ail old piece of
furniture, used by horsemen, which hung at their saddles in place of stirrups ;
and that the word sautoir, comes from sauter to leap, he instances an old Manuscript
of Laws of Tournaments, whereby knights were forbid to come with
breeches of mail, and with sautoirs a selle, i. e. with saltiers at their saddles, which
he says were made of iron, or cords like a decussis, covered with cloth or taffety ;
as he found in the accounts of Estenne de la Faunton, cashier to the King of
France, in the year 1352, in one of the Articles of Horse-furniture.
Upton and Spelman, two famous heralds, say, that the saltier represents trees
or long pieces of timber laid cross-ways, one over the other, for shutting the en-
tries of parks and forests, called by the French saults ; and by the Latins saltus ;
from which sautoir and saltier, and the Latin word commonly used for them,
taltuarium.
Gerard Leigh and his followers are of opinion, that it was an instrument used
of old by soldiers, in
place of ladders, to scale the walls of towns. Sylvanus Morgan,
favouring, this opinion, says, though it may be taken as an instrument of
manhood in scaling of walls, it may be likewise called scala cceli, for many have
ascended to Heaven by this cross,.
This figure, as well as others, may have various significations, and has been assumed
upon different accounts in armories ; but the saltier here is generally taken
for a cross, and that which contributes most to its frequent bearing in arms, was
devotion to the Christian religion, and to patron saints, who suffered on crosses,
after the form of the saltiers, as that of the Apostle St Andrew. Heralds tell us,
some carry it plain , to show their willingness to suffer for the faith others ; raguled,
to show the difficulty thereof, as these crosses of St James and St Laurence ; some
bear them in their arms jStcbe, to show the sharpness of the cross, and others flory,
to testify their victory over it.
Fig. 27. Plate VI. Azure, a saltier (or St Andrew's cross} argent ; so called, because
he suffered upon one after this form. It has been anciently used by the
Scots for their ensign, upon as well grounded a tradition for its appearing in the
air, as other nations have for their crosses coming down from Heaven. Our historians
are not wanting to tell us, that Achaius, King of the Scots, and Hungus, King of
the Picts, having joined forces to oppose Athelstan, King of the Saxons, superior
to them in force, they addressed themselves to God, and their patron St Andrew ;
and, as a token that they were heard, the white saltier cross, upon which St Andrew
suffered martyrdom, apppeared in the blue firmament : Which
so animated the
Scots and Picts, that they defeat the Saxons, and killed King Athelstan in East-
Lothian ; which place to this day is known by the name of Athelstanford, corruptly
pronouced Elshinford. After the victory, the two confederate kings, out
of a sense of singular mercy, went in procession to the church of St Andrew's,
(where his arm was said to be kept as a. relic) to thank God and his apostle for
the victory ; purposing, that they and their successors should, in all time coming,
use on their ensigns the cross of St Andrew. How well the Picts performed I
know not, being overcome and expelled afterwards by the Scots ; but it has been
the constant practice of our kings to carry a white saltier cross on a blue banner.
The Spaniards carry the crass of St James on their ensigns, since the famous
battle in the plains of Toulouse; where Alphonsus, King of Castile, with his con-
federates, Peter King of Arragon, and Sanchez of Navarre, gave a notable defeat to
the Moors. In the beginning of the- fight there appeared a great many miracles