A System of Heraldry - Clan Strachan Society

26 4
OF MAN AND HIS PARTS IN ARMS.
The left hand is taken to be the Symbol of justice, because the right (say he
raids and writers of devices) est prompta ad omnia nequitia. With the Romans,
the left hand is an ensign of empire, and has been continued since by the Kings
of France ;
who, when enthronised, hold in their right hand a sceptre of gold, and,
in their left, a rod of ivory, topped with a left hand palms', called the rod of justice,
to show the integrity, that sovereigns and judges should observe, in administering
justice ; it is one of the regalia of the kings of France, and sometimes represent
ed on the seals of Henry V. and VI. of England, when they thought themselves
masters and kings of France. For which see Sandford's Genealogical History.
The arms of the province of ULSTER, in Ireland, argent, a sinister hand couped
gules, palme. This is now become the badge of the Knights Baronets in England,
of which before. Besides, the left hand is carried as an armorial figure by many
good families in Britain.
WILLIAM MAYNARD, Lord MAYNARD, argent, a cheveron azure, between three sinister
hands erected coupe at the wrist gules. This family was ancient in England;
the heads of which served under Prince Edward, called the Black Prince, in the
wars against France. Of this family was descended Sir William Maynard, who
was dignified with the title of Baronet, the 9th year of the reign of King I. James
1611, and, in the i8th year of that king's reign, with the title of Lord Maynard,
of Wicklow, in Ireland; and, by King James I. in the third year of his reign, he
was advanced to the degree of a Peer of England, by the title of Lord Maynard
of Estaines. His son William married, for his second wife, Lady Margaret Murray,
daughter to James Earl of Dysart, in Scotland, and sister to the Dutchess of Lauderdale,
by whom she had issue a son, called Henry. His eldest son, by his first
marriage, is Bannaster, the present Lord Maynard.
Two right hands, grasping each other, is called by the French foi, and is taken
for the emblem of friendship, fidelity, and alliance ; and is frequently met with on
medals and ensigns. The Swiss Cantons, when they united, had, on a medal on
that occasion, two dexter hands joined, with the words, unio inseparabilis.
Monsieur Baron, in his TArt Heraldique, gives the arms of PIPERAT in France,
d''ermines a la d1
foi argent emanches d'azur, i. e. ermine, two hands joined fesse-ways,
with sleeves azure. Plate X. fig. 32.
As for legs of men carried in arms I shall here add but a few" instances, since
these parts have no proper terms given them in this science, but these that relate
to their situation and position, as to other natural figures.
The arms of the ISLE of MAN, Plate X. fig. 33. are often to be met with in the
armorial seals of our nobility, and in these in England also, who have been dignified
with the title of Lords of the Isle of Man ; they are gules, three legs armed,
proper, conjoined in the centre at the upper part of the thighs, flexed in triangle,
garnished and spurred or.
Imhoff, in his Blazons, gives the achievement of Henry Stewart, Lord Darnly,
and Man, where these arms are marshalled with others ; he looks upon the three
legs not as armed, but booted, and blazons them thus, " Crura tria femoribus
'
'
connexa, &- ocreis calcaribus armata, quorum duo plantam pedis sursum, tertia
deorsum, protendunt." This island belonged anciently to Scotland, and, as
feudal arms, were quartered by the nobility that were ancient proprietors thereof;
and since dignified with the title of that island.
The M'LEODS quarter them as arms of pretension with their own. Upon the
account that their progenitors were proprietors and possessors of that island. And,
MACKENZIE Earl of CROMARTY, by being come of an heiress of M'Leod, quarters
these arms in his achievement.
These arms of MAN have likewise been carried by no"ble families with us, who
were dignified with the title of Lords of Man. King James II. of Scotland, created
Alexander his second son, Duke of Albany, Earl of March, Lord of Annandale, and of
the Isle of Man; upon which account he carried the arms of these dignities, quarterly,
first, the arms of Scotland ; second, gules, a lion rampant argent, within a
bordure of the last, charged with eight roses of the first, for the earldom of March;
third, gules, three legs of a man armed, proper, conjoined in the centre, at the
upper parts of the thighs, flexed in triangle, garnished and spurred or, for the
Isle ot Man ; and fourth, or, a saltier and chief gules, for the Lordship of Annan-