Coat of Arms

[harewoodhouse]

how would you know what family that coat of arms is for? how would I find out what two coat of arms that have come down my husbands family mean, I have looked in books but have not seen any like them?...sue




Moderator Comment: Split off from another topic and moved to Common Room

[behindthefrogs]

Sue

If you post a picture of them in the common room here^* there are a number of us who have access to various resources on this subject.  If you have it include the crest (on top of the helmet) and motto as they often gives further information.

David

^(*) Moderator Comment:  topic now moved to Common Room 

[harewoodhouse]

thank you David I will get a couple of pictures of them sent over from england  and I will post them as soon as I can...my mother-in-law only uses snail mail so may take a week or two...the motto is   in solo deo salus, one has what look like two stags holding a red shield with an arm coming out the top holding a sword and two swords either side of the stags, the other is a red shield with a sword going up the middle with two snakes facing each other either side of the sword and two crescent shapes above them, then on top of the shield it has a knights helmet thing with a boars head coming out the top of that  and feathery things down the side of the shield...sorry about the crappy descriptions..her family name is Quinn, but the family also have deknight and gisbitzky as family names so these crests could of come from anywhere ::)I made a tapestry of them thats how I can tell you what they look like...but my tapestry is only slightly less crappy then my description..ha-ha...sue

[behindthefrogs]

The only immediate response is that the motto "In solo deo salus" was used by the Harewood or Lascelles family.  In particular the Earl of Harewood and Baron Viscount Lascelles.  Their crest (on the helmet) would be a muzzled bear's head.  Black head, red muzzle with gold buckles.  I have no information about the shield.

David

[harewoodhouse]

Thank you for that David, I was just reading a book about folklore and it mentioned how some people got the crest pictures on their  shields and it mentioned the muzzled bear...spooky!  it says there is a story that the wealthy land owner killed a servant and as punishment went to the tower, he was told if he could make a muzzle in one night and put it on the bear (apparently there were two bears being kept at the tower at that time) in the morning that the bear would kill him or he would get his freedom...he managed to do it and stuck the muzzled bear on his shield...very strange how harewood house keeps coming into my life...sue

[harewoodhouse]

thank you for doing that for me David...I must say this board is very interesting and seems full of great people who dont mind helping a newbie like me ...sue

[behindthefrogs]

It is probably worth just giving you a few heraldic terms so that any future responses don't confuse you.

The coat of arms is often wrongly referred to as the crest.  The crest is what sits on top of the helm (helmet).  A picture on the shield is called a charge and is usually in relief.

The helmet is different according to the rank of the person to whom the arms were granted.  The mantling which flows from the helmet is usually just decoration but in the case of nobility represents their cloak and so again shows the rank of the person.  Supporters which hold up the shield are only only granted to peers of the realm.

David

[harewoodhouse]

Hi there David so let me see if I have this right 
on the first one (the oldest looking one) where it has the arm holding a dagger or short sword sticking out of the top of the sheild..that is the "crest"  on this one their is no helm (helmet) it just comes from the top of the shield(charge), the "charge" is very plain looking and no picture on it just red, it is being held up by two stags who are looking away from each other  (only in my tapestry they look more like reindeer ha-ha) there are no frills "mantilling"  on this one just two swords either side of the stags.
the other one looks more like I have seen.. with the charge with a sword going up the middle the snakes facing each other and the cresant shapes, with a helm  and with a crest of a boars head looking straight up at the sky and mantilling.
does that sound right? talked to my M-I-L tonight and she will post me pictures tomorrow. with the stags in it I thought it might belong to the gisbitzkys as that name sounds polish and this coat of arms with the stag on looks very european but her M-I-L brother seems to think that that is the one from the quinn side so who knows

[harewoodhouse]

  oh and  before you ask...yes I am trying to earn brownie points with the mother-in-law, after this week finding out  she had one ancestor up for murder and another in debtors prison, I would like to give her a bit of good news in that she can at last know whos coat of arms they are...sue