12.
These early charges were commonly
animals and included trees, plants and man-
made objects such as swords, axes, castles,
even articles of clothing. Many of the
early armorial bearings were canting arms,
that is the charges used were allusive to
the name of the family involved. Thus we
find De Hertley with a hart on the shield
of arms (coat of arms) or roach (the fish)
on the arms of the Roche family. Some of the
allusions seem difficult to understand. For
instance the Raven on the arms of the Corbett
family, but this is because the old name of
this bird is corbie, probably taken from the
French "le corbeau". Likewise lucy, the old
name for the Pike, was the charge on the arms
granted to the De Lucy family in the reign of
Henry III and though the name of Lucy is no
longer used we still find it in the scientific
name of the Pike, Esox lucius. The Otter, in
French "la loutre" was used allusively in the
arms of the Lutterel family, though this was
superceded by a shield of arms with martlets
(Swallows) as charges. The martlet was also
used as a mark of
cadency denoting a
fourth son. There
are many other
instances of this,
the Hedgehog (in
French "l'herisson")
was used on the arms
of the Harris and
Harrison family, a
Stag Beetle on the
arms of the FitzUrse
family are just a few
of the others.