Shropshire's Punning Heraldry - Heiring

 Heiring.

William Heiring, of Oswestry.

Arms: Azure, semee of cross crosslets fitchee and six herrings naiant in pale Or.

(Visitations 1584)

Heiring, or Heringe, Wm, Bailiff of Shrewsbury, 1580.

Arms: Argent, semee of cross crosslets six herrings hauriant Or.

Heiring.

Arms: Azure, semee of cross crosslets six herrings naiant in pale Or. 

The arms of William Heiring, of Oswestry.

The surname Heiring has multiple distinct origins across Europe, primarily functioning as an occupational or topographic name. It is largely tied t0 the Fish Trade: A metonymic occupational name for a fisherman or a seller of herring (from Middle Dutch haring or Old English hǣring).

Never keen on arms that are either semee or a fur with a charge or charges of the same tincture placed upon the field, I have made the crosses a flat yellow Or and the herrings a metalic gold Or in an attempt to make them more visible. It is still not ideal.

Shropshire's Punning Heraldry - Hedley

 Hedley

Argent, on a bend Sable three leopards' heads Or.

The arms of Hedley, Co. Salop.

This one is a linguistic pun rather than following the etymology; The name is formed by combining two Old English elements:\(h\overline{a}th\): Meaning "heath" or "heather".\(l\overline{e}ah\): Meaning "woodland clearing," "glade," or "meadow".

Because the words "Leopard" and "Hedley" are entirely unrelated in meaning, the connection is almost certainly a linguistic pun. These arms are known locally as Hedley's Heads. The phrase "Hedley's heads" relies entirely on alliteration and, in local dialect, sounds, at a push, vaguely similar to "leopards' heads" when spoken aloud, leading to a localized verbal joke rather than an etymological truth. In my humble opinion, this is stretching the heraldic imagination a little too far but local "tradition" has it thus so who am I to question it. 

Shropshire's Punning Heraldry -Hawkins

 

Hakins, alias Hawkins, alias Edge. (Don't ask me why so many aliases, I have absolutely no idea.)

Arms: Argent, a hawk Proper beaked and legged Or standing on the trunk of a tree Vert couped and raguled (Visitations).

The arms of Hakins, alias Hawkins, alias Edge. 

Less commonly, the name Hawkins traces back to Hawk, used either as a nickname for someone with hawklike features or as an occupational name for a falconer who bred and trained hawks for hunting. In some families, particularly in Kent in South-East England, it originated as a habitational name for someone from Hawkinge (derived from the Old English heafoc, meaning "hawk").

Shropshire's Punning Heraldry - English

Not really a pun as such but one that clearly speaks of England given that the National Flag is Argent, a cross Gules.

English, Sir Thomas

Argent, a cross fleury, Gules 

(Visitations)

The arms of Sir Thomas English, Shropshire Visitations.

It is conjectured that this surname arose from parts of Great Britain near the borders of England with Scotland and Wales, it may have been applied to people who spoke English, or to distinguish people of English ancestry from Celts, while from the interior of England it may have referred to people who were English rather than Norman French in ancestry. Given that we are dealing with a shropshire family, it could be either the fact that Salop is on the border with Wales, to distinguish people of English ancestry from Celts, or to simply refer to an English, rather than a Norman French family.

 

Two Harries Hatchments

Last evening, Mrs Martin and I watched an episode of Agatha Christie's "Marple" titled "By The Pricking of My Thumbs" with Charles Dance playing the Vicar, Septimus Bligh. At one point, the Vicar is seen to ring the church bells so as to call everyone to church so that he may make a confession; in this scene, he is standing in front of a hatchment and I recognised the arms as those of Harries, having only a few days ago blazoned the Harries arms for my Shropshire's Punning Arms series.  It took some tracking down as my first port of call, a search of the film locations drew a blank, because although the church is said to be St. Mary The Virgin Church, Turville, my hatchments reference books, and a Google search of the Church, came up with no such hatchment recorded at that location. In fairness, I would have been surprised if the hatchment had been in that location because The Harries family are local to Shropshire. 

An internet search returned an auction sale of two painted canvas hatchments for Harries of Cruckton and Tong, Shropshire, 1848 and 1875, sold at a Christies Auction in December 2014 for £2,250. It would seem therefore that the bell ringing scene was entirely staged with the Harries hatchment being used as a stage prop and not filmed at an actual location. 

Thomas Harries, (1774-1848).

A hatchment with the arms of Thomas Harries Esq (1774-1848), J.P, D.L, of Cruckton Hall, Shropshire.

A painted canvas hatchment with the arms of Thomas Harries Esq (1774-1848), J.P, D.L, of Cruckton Hall, Shropshire.

Barry of eight Ermine and Azure, three annulets Or (Harries); in pretence: quarterly of six,

1 and 6, Vert three eagles close Argent (Smitheman);

2, Chequy Argent and Sable;

3, Argent a chevron Gules between three chapeaux Gules turned up Ermine (Brooke?);

4, Gules a talbot passant Argent (Comberford);

5, Azure, semée of fleurs-de-lis and a lion rampant Or (Beaumont).

These arms were borne in pretence by Thomas Harries (1774-1848) after his marriage to Barbara Mary Anne Smitheman in 1798.

Francis Harries, (1804-1875).

A painted canvas hatchment with the arms of Francis Harries Esq (1804-1875) of Cruckton Hall and Broseley Hall, Shropshire.

1. Barry of eight Ermine and Azure, three annulets Or (Harries).

2. Ermine, a fess Sable with a triple-towered castle Argent (Hill, Bt of Hawkstone, Shropshire).

3. Azure, a fesse between three falcons close Argent beaked and legged Or (Philips, Yarpole Co. Hereford).

4. Argent, on a fess Sable three escallopes Or. (Wallcott)

In pretence Gules, on achief Argent three grenades Proper. (Boycott, Hinton and Rudge, Co. Salop).

Here is my version of the arms of Harries:

Curiosity sattisfied. 

Shropshire's Punning Heraldry - Hatchett

 Hatchett

Hatchett, of Ellesmere & of Lee

Arms: 1st, Azure, three hatchets 2 and 1 Argent. 2nd, Gules, a chevron engrailed between three horses' heads erased Argent. 3rd, Per bend sinister Ermine and Ermines, a lion rampant Or. 4th, Vert, a stag trippant Argent attired Or. (Carriage 1820).

The arms of Hatchett, of Ellesmere & of Lee

The surname Hatchett has two primary origins, predominantly as an English occupational name for a maker or user of small axes/hatchets. It is derived from the Old French word "hachete" and likely indicated a woodcutter or soldier.

Shropshire's Punning Heraldry - Hart

 Hart

William Chesney Hart, of Hope Bowdler.

Arms: Per chevron Gules and Azure, three harts trippant two and one Argent.

Crest: A lion's head Erminoise ducally crowned Gules (from a book plate).

The arms of William Chesney Hart, of Hope Bowdler.

The surname Hart has multiple origins, primarily arising as an English nickname for a swift or noble person, derived from the Old English heorot (stag/deer).