| Authority: | College of Arms |
| Tradition: | Gallo-British |
Cornish heraldry is the form of coats of arms and other heraldic bearings and insignia used in Cornwall, United Kingdom. While similar to English, Scottish and Welsh heraldry, Cornish heraldry has its own distinctive features. Cornish heraldry typically makes use of the tinctures sable (black) and or (gold), and also uses certain creatures like Cornish choughs. It also uses the Cornish language extensively for mottoes and canting arms.
One of the earliest heraldic law cases brought in England was the 1389 case of Scrope v. Grosvenor. Scrope had found Grosvenor using the same arms as him, Azure a bend or, and set out to prove his sole right to use them. In heraldic law no two unrelated families in the same country are permitted to bear the same arms. Following a long court case it was decided that Scrope had the right to the arms and Grosvenor was forced to change his arms to Azure a garb or. It became known however that a Cornish knight by the name of Carminow was also using the disputed arms.
Carminow, seeing Scrope's use of his arms, challenged the right of Scrope to bear the arms. In this case, the constable of England declared that both claimants had established their right to the arms. Carminow had proven that his family had borne the arms "from the time of King Arthur", while the Scrope family had only used the arms "from the Norman Conquest of England". (Neither of these claims to such antiquity were in fact possible as the era of heraldry did not start until the late 12th century). The two families were, however, considered of different heraldic nations, Scrope of England, Carminow of Cornwall, and as such could both bear the same arms. As stated in the records of the case, Cornwall was in effect deemed a separate nation, "a large land formerly bearing the name of a kingdom."[1]
John Vivian and Henry Drake, in their preface to the Visitation of the County of Cornwall, commented as follows: "Cornwall may be considered pre-eminent in the antiquity of its family heraldry, since it was admitted in court during the memorable Scrope and Grosvenor controversy that the same arms, Azure a bend or, had remained in the family of Carminow from King Arthur."
There are few recorded instances of heraldic officials in the Cornish tradition, however, heralds may commonly have been employed in Cornwall primarily as minstrels and story tellers. The harpist John Hilton was appointed by King Richard II as Cornwall Herald in 1398 at about the time of the Carminow case. A Cornwall Herald attended the coronation of Henry V in 1413 and there was a Cornwall Herald at the battle of Agincourt who, with the Duke of Norfolk, was too ill to take part. During the reigns of Edward IV and Henry VII the March herald was King of Arms of the west parts of England, Wales and Cornwall.[2] Only one Cornish family is known to have had its own heraldic officer: Sir Richard Nanfan, Lord Deputy of Calais in 1503, retained a pursuivant or junior herald named Serreshal, but there may have been others.
Cornish heraldry generally conformed with the rules and customs of English heraldry, and therefore with the Gallo-British tradition. However, the use of arms was far more widespread amongst the Cornish than the English and there was far less control over the use of heraldry. The antiquary Richard Carew wrote in the early 17th century, "The Cornish appear to change and diversify their arms at pleasure...The most Cornish gentlemen can better vaunt of their pedigree than their livelihood for that they derive from great antiquity, and I make question whether any shire in England of but equal quantitie can muster a like number of faire coate-armours".[3] Jewers in his Heraldic church notes from Cornwall, c. 1860-80, mentions the large number of landowners using arms never registered with the College of Arms in London. Every large farm or barton in Cornwall housed its own "Gentleman of Coat Armour".[4]
Historically primogeniture, the inheritance by the eldest son of the family estate, was not commonly practised in Cornwall. Amongst the Cornish, lands commonly were divided equally amongst all sons which resulted in smaller broken up estates, and if no sons existed lands were divided between daughters or closest relatives, male or female.[5] [6] This practice may have influenced the working and development of the Cornish tradition of heraldry.[7] When primogeniture was practised, younger brothers were often married to an heiress. The heiress's arms were then adopted by the husband in place of his own family's.[3]
The Duchy of Cornwall was created in 1337 from the former earldom of Cornwall. The first Duke was Edward, the Black Prince (1330-1376) who first used the badge of Three ostrich feathers. Fox-Davies states that the badge associated with the Duchy is that of the Black Bull, often termed "of Clarence".[8] Nevertheless, the Duchy is closely associated with the badge of the plume of feathers. The Black Prince erected a sculpted plume of feathers at the apex of the Duchy Palace roof at Lostwithiel when he paid his first visit there and to Restormel Castle in 1353.
The arms of the Duchy are blazoned sable, fifteen bezants. These arms were designed in the 15th century, based on the arms of Richard, Earl of Cornwall (1209-1272). A good explanation of the emblem of Cornwall is given by A. Fox-Davies in his “Book of Public Arms”: «In the days of the earlier Plantagenets, the pawnbrokers of Cornwall were the most enterprising and prosperous merchants in all England. When King John desired to hypothecate his crown jewels to raise money for a war in France, five of the principal "uncles" of Cornwall - Ben Levi of Truro, Ben Ezra of Penzance, Moses of Megavissey, (the other two names are illegible, see Manuscript CXLIX, British Museum) - formed an association, the Ancient and Honourable Association of Pawnbrokers, to take over his debts. The ‘trade-mark’ of the company was fifteen balls with the motto "One and All" to indicate that no business could be arranged without a quorum of all five members. When Edward I ascended the throne, this association was the most powerful in Cornwall. That Prince, following out his usual policy of exalting the merchant class, chose the trade-mark of the Ancient and Honourable Association of Pawnbrokers to be the coat-of-arms of the county of Cornwall.» Further information on the subject will be found in ‘An Ancyent and Ynterestyng Account of Ye Cornish Arms,’ of which there is a copy in the British Museum.[9]
The arms are today used as a badge by Prince William, Duke of Cornwall and they appear below the shield in his coat of arms. The supporters used with the badge are two Cornish choughs, each holding an ostrich feather, and the motto is Houmout (meaning "high-spirited") the personal motto of the Black Prince.
For further reading; Coat of arms of the Prince of Wales
| Title | Escutcheon | Greater Version | Blazon | Date of Creation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke of Cornwall | Sables, Fifteen bezants or, five, four, three, two, one | 15th century (escutcheon)[10] 1968 (greater version)[11] | |||
| Duke of Cornwall (as the Prince of Wales) | Quarterly, 1st and 4th Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or armed and langued Azure (for England), 2nd quarter Or a lion rampant within a double tressure flory-counter-flory Gules (for Scotland), 3rd quarter Azure a harp Or stringed Argent (for Ireland), with over all a label of three points Argent, and on an inescutcheon ensigned by the coronet of the heir-apparent, quarterly, Or and Gules four lions passant guardant counterchanged (for the Principality of Wales) | 1911 | |||
| Shield of Peace | Sables, three feathers argent, slipped through scrolls inscribed 'Ich Dien | 14th century |
There are several charges and tinctures (colourings) used frequently in Cornish heraldry. These are derived mainly from Cornish royal and national symbolism.
the Cornish Chough, Cornwall's national bird, is very widely used in Cornish heraldry.
eagles with two heads occur prominently in several Cornish arms, in contrast to the rest of Britain where they are rare. The popularity of this form of eagle is probably due to Richard, Earl of Cornwall, who bore such an eagle in his role as King of the Romans.[12]
the rose is an extremely common charge in Cornish heraldry, thought by Lower to originate in the Wars of the Roses. William Smith Ellis thought it might have been derived from an unknown Anglo-Norman family in Cornwall using it as an emblem and passing it on to their supporters. It is more likely, however, to derive from the Cornish placename element ros meaning a promontory or heathland, or res, a ford, Cornish gentry often using the name of their major estate as a surname. It is used by the family of Boscawen originally from Boscawen Rose.[13]
Many Cornish families from ancient times bore mottoes in the Cornish language, many of which were recorded in the 17th century. The practice of using Cornish language mottoes continues to this day. Examples include:
See main article: Cornish corporate heraldry.
| Name | Escutcheon | Blazon | Seat or Residence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basset | Barry wavy of six or and gules | • Tehidy | ||
| Bond | Argent, a chevron sables with three bezants or | • Saltash | ||
| Bodrugan | Argent, three bendlets gules a bordure engrailed sable | |||
| Boscawen | Ermine, a rose gules barbed and seeded proper | • Falmouth | ||
| Buller | Sable, on a cross argent quarter pierced of the field four eagles displayed of the first | • Trenant Park[17] |
| Name | Escutcheon | Blazon | Seat or Residence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calmady | Azure, a chevron between three pears or | • Stoke Climsland | ||
| Carew | Or, three lions passant in pale sable | • Torpoint | ||
| Carwythan | Argent, a fleur-de-lys gules a bordure engrailed | |||
| Coryton | Argent, a saltire sable | • Pentillie • Newton Ferrers House[18] | ||
| Curnow | Argent, lion rampant gules with a ducal crown or | |||
| Cutts | Argent, a bend engrailed sables, three roundels argent. | • Calstock |
| Name | Escutcheon | Blazon | Seat or Residence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edgcumbe | Gules, bend ermines cotised or three boar's heads couped argent | • Cotehele • Mount Edgcumbe, Maker | ||
| Elliot | Argent, a Fess Gules, between double-cotises wavy Azure | • Port Eliot |
| Name | Escutcheon | Blazon | Seat or Residence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fortescue | Azure, a bend engrailed argent plain cotised or | • Boconnoc | ||
| Flamank | Argent, a cross between four mullets pierced gules | • Nanstallon • Bodmin | ||
| Fox | Ermine, chevron azure, three foxes or, canton azure, fleur de lis or | • Falmouth | ||
| Friend | Gules, chevron ermine, three deer argent | • Calstock |
| Name | Escutcheon | Blazon | Seat or Residence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gilbert | Argent, a chevron gules with three roses argent. | |||
| Godolphin | Gules, an eagle with two heads, displayed between three fleurs-de-lys, two and one, argent | • Godolphin House | ||
| Goss | Argent, mullet gules, two, two, one, two, two | • Goss's boatyard, Calstock | ||
| Gough | Sable, a chevron between three mermaids argent hair glass case and comb or | • Aldercombe • Kilkhampton | ||
| Glencross | Per saltire ermine and azure, a lion rampant or, holding in the dexter forepaw a cross patonce of the last, in chief three chaplets of oak proper, fructed gold. |
| ||
| Grenville | Gules, three clarions or | |||
| Gross/Grosse | Quarterly argent and azure, on a bend sable three martlets or |
| Name | Escutcheon | Blazon | Seat or Residence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hender | Azure semée of escallops or, a lion rampant | |||
| Hunkin | Argent, a mascle sable over all a fess |
| Name | Escutcheon | Blazon | Seat or Residence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pascoe | Argent, lion rampant sable | |||
| Pawley | Argent, a lion rampant sable, on a chief dancetty of the second three mullets | |||
| Pengelly | ||||
| Pennarth | Argent, a chevron between three bears' heads erased sables muzzled or | |||
| Prideaux | Argent, a chevron sable in chief a label of three points gules | • Prideaux Place |
| Name | Escutcheon | Blazon | Seat or Residence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rashleigh | Argent beaked and legged gules; in the second quarter: a text "T"; in the third and fourth quarters: a crescent all of the third | • Menabilly • Fowey | ||
| Robartes | Azure, three estoiles and a chief wavy or |
| Name | Escutcheon | Blazon | Seat or Residence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scoble | Argent, lapel azure and three Fleur-de-lis gules | • Calstock | ||
| Southcott | Argent, chevron engrailed gules, three coots sable | • Calstock • Callington | ||
| Speccot | Or, on a bend gules three millrinds argent | • Penheale | ||
| St Aubyns | Ermine on a Cross Gules five Bezants all within a Bordure wavy of the second |
| Name | Escutcheon | Blazon | Seat or Residence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas | Per pale nebuly argent and azure[20] | • St Just in Penwith | ||
| Treen | Per chevron embattled Or and Vert, in chief two oak trees and in base a garb counterchanged. | |||
| Treffry | Sable, a Chevron between three Trees Argent [22] | • Place, Fowey | ||
| Trefusis | Argent, a chevron between three spindles sable | |||
| Trelawny | Argent, chevron sable [23] | • Harewood House, Calstock • Trelawny, Pelynt | ||
| Tremayne | Gules, three dexter arms conjoined at the shoulders and flexed in triangle or the fists clenched argent | |||
| Trethurffe | Azure, a buck's head cabossed argent attired or | • Ladock | ||
| Trevelyan | Gules, a demi-horse argent hoofed and maned or issuing out of water in base proper [24] | • St Veep |
| Name | Escutcheon | Blazon | Seat or Residence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westlake | Azure, wavy argent | • Calstock • Gunnislake • Tavistock | ||
| Wilcox | Ermine, chief chequy or and sable | • Kelly House, Calstock | ||
| Williams | Vair, three crescents or | • Harewood House, Calstock • St Michael Caerhays • Scorrier House; Burncoose | ||
| Worth | Argent, eagle sable | • Calstock |
As in other heraldic traditions, canting, punning on the surname, is frequently used in Cornish heraldry. Often this uses the Cornish language, suggesting it was considered a high status language. These may not reflect the true origin of the name. Examples include:
Supporters are figures usually placed on either side of the escutcheon which hold it up-right. In British heraldry, the use of supporters is restricted to peers, royalty, Scottish barons and chiefs of clans. However a number of Cornish families, such as the Carminows and the Trevanions, do possess supporters, despite not being of noble rank as required in Scottish or English heraldry. The Carminows use: dexter, A pelican and sinister, A Cornish chough. The Trevanions: dexter, A stag, sinister A lion.[25] The Trevelyan family had Two dolphins proper as their supporters. Treffry had A man and a woman as supporters[26] The St Legers of Cornwall used A wingless griffin.[27] The office of Lord Warden of the Stannaries gave entitlement to the use of supporters. Sir Walter Raleigh, Lord Warden of the Stannaries 1584-1603, used Two wolves as his supporters from 1584 onwards.[28]
There is another list of armorial blazons "from Late 16th/Early 17th C Cornwall" here
There is a compendium of West Country arms, including many Cornish arms, collated from numerous primary and secondary sources, here