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.