Ormond Pursuivant of Arms

It pays to keep an eye on the "official" heraldry websites. It was noticed this morning that the Lyon Court web site made an official announcement that "The Lord Lyon King of Arms has offered Mr. Mark Dennis the office of Ormond Pursuivant of Arms with effect from 1st June 2009 and he has been pleased to accept". One of three pursuivant appointments to the Lyon Court, Mr. Dennis will be joining colleagues Elizabeth Ann Roads MVO (Carrick) and the recently appointed The Hon. Adam Bruce (Unicorn). The vacancy occurred when the present Lord Lyon took office and by doing so demitted the office of Bute pursuivant. The number of pursuivants to the Lyon Court was reduced from six to three in the late 19th century and when Mr. Dennis takes office in June, the titles of Bute, Dingwall and Kintyre will once more remain dormant until one or the other is resurrected next time there is a vacancy.



Mark Dennis, Esq, Ormond Pursuivant of Arms, photographed immediately behind H.R.H. Princess Anne at the St. Andrew's Congress in 2007. Photo framed with some of Mr. Dennis' ad-hoc sketches.

Warm congratulations are offered to Mark Dennis on this splendid appointment which is well deserved.

Holme of Coddington - the updates continue.

Slowly but surely the updates to the first Visitations continue and I am now up to Holme of Coddington.

Although the web site itself is benefiting from the updated images, that is not actually why I'm doing all these alterations. I'm working frantically (when time allows) towards the completion of the first draft for an illustrated companion to the Visitations of Cheshire to be published as a book. I don't think I would dare to publish the original illustrations!



When viewing the web site, please bear in mind that, so far, everything up to Holme of Coddington will be the new images and everything after will be the old and therefore due to be replaced.

And here I was thinking we were in a credit crunch!

I recently made some acerbic comments about the logos adopted by the two new Cheshire councils and I was particularly harsh over the one created for Cheshire West and Chester Council because it was, in my view, pseudo heraldry on the cheap. I am not a fan of pseudo heraldry, especially when there is an obvious route to obtaining the real thing, but I can see that when budgets are tight it might be seen, by some at least, as a popular way to save pennies. Not so for some Quangos who appear to have more money than sense and actually would have saved money by obtaining the real thing. Bring in Historic Scotland:

On the 1st of April Historic Scotland announced on its website that Stirling Castle now has a "striking new brand" by headlining under "Stirling Castle Launches a Brand New Image" that a "new unicorn logo symbolises historic home of Scottish royalty" .



Following a request to Historic Scotland under the Freedom of Information Act it was revealed to a member of the Heraldry Society of Scotland that the bright idea for a new logo cost them £42'384.00!

What an idiotic waste of public funds.

Quote:

" Stirling Castle Launches a Brand New Image
1 April 2009
New unicorn logo symbolises historical home of Scottish royalty.

Stirling Castle now has a striking new brand identity to raise its profile as one of Scotland’s premier visitor attractions and further develop its tourism business.

The creation of the Stirling Castle brand is part of the £12 million Stirling Castle Palace Project which will see the royal lodgings at Stirling Castle returned to the Renaissance magnificence of the mid 16th century.

The stunning stronghold’s unique identity conveys both its character and significance in Scottish history. 

The exclusive, striking logo contains references to Scotland’s coat of arms, the unicorn tapestries and the sculptures on Stirling Castle’s Great Hall roof.  The unicorn, the enigmatic mythological beast, features throughout Stirling Castle.  The new mark also takes its shape from the famous circular wood-carved Stirling heads.  Its references and complex detail are emblematic of pageantry and royal status, and features Stirling Castle sitting high up in its green and leafy setting.

Historic Scotland Marketing and Media Manager Rebecca Hamilton said: “This new logo we have created conveys a sense of depth, experience, royal authority, richness and intimacy.  Marrying the highly decorative with an intimate experience is very apt for Stirling Castle. 

“Our aim was to create a distinctive, memorable and stronger visual identity which embodies the special importance and character of Stirling Castle.  It is a truly outstanding attraction with a range of visitor experiences.  And the completion of the Stirling Castle Palace Project in 2011 will see the visitor experience enhanced further.”

The logo will be phased in at the attraction for a wide variety of uses including signage, vehicle livery, staff uniforms, publications for visitors, and interpretation of the castle’s history, as well as in Historic Scotland’s website details on the site. End Quote

And here I was - thinking we were in a credit crunch!

The 15th Baron Dudley

For the first time in ages I have had some time to "play" and today, being Easter Bank Holiday Monday, having caught up on those outstanding gardening jobs, I hid myself away for the afternoon and completed a project I have had on my desk for some time; the arms of The 15th Baron Dudley (Jim Anthony Hill Wallace) [The Rt Hon The Lord Dudley].

I was asked to provide a new image of the arms for the online Burke's Peerage & Baronetage because the one at present used is that of the late Baroness, mother of the present holder of the title. Lord Dudley has his father's arms and has brought in those of his mother's family in the scheme of quarterings which has been approved by Garter. The image for Burke's will be in grayscale but for the purposes of my weblog I have illustrated the arms in glorious colour.



Arms: Quarterly of six:
1st, Gules, semy of fleurs-de-lys Or a lion rampant Argent within a bordure company Azure and Argent (for WALLACE);
2nd, Azure, two bars nebuly Argent each charged with as many crescents Sable, a chief Or issuant therefrom a demi-lion of the third  (for DUDLEY);
3rd, Azure, two bars wavy Ermine a chief Or issuant therefrom a demi-lion Sable (for SMITH);
4th, Argent, on a pale between two leopards' faces Sable three crescents Or (for LEA);
5th, Chequy Or and Azure a bend Ermine (for WARD);
6th, Or a lion rampant Vert double queued (for SUTTON).

Crest: On a wreath Argent and Gules issuing from her nest a pelican in her piety wings inverted proper all within a laurel wreath Vert.

Supporters: Two lions rampant double-queued Vert, armed and langued Gules, ducally gorged and lined Or. Motto: Dieu Donne ('The Lord giveth'). Creation: B. (E) 15 Feb 1439/40.

Hark the Herald.

It has come to my ears, through a very reliable source, that Alastair Bruce of Crionaich, Fitzalan Extraordinary, etc, is contesting the Garter appointment. It had been thought that Norroy and Ulster would have a clear run but this does not appear to be so.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia 

I've bin an' Done it.

In the process of re-jigging the images of the Visitations I found that I had inadvertently missed two of the blazons for Done of Utkinton. I've now added these images to the site and it has sparked a long dormant interest in the insignia of office of the Foresters of Delamere, the "Delamere Horn". This important piece of regalia possibly originates from the 12th century but it has later additions. The Chief Foresters of Delamere covered an area encompassing most of central Cheshire. The horn was handed down through the Done family and its descendants as hereditary Chief Foresters and it is now part of a collection in the Grosvenor Museum in the city of Chester.

Above is the image which, although now updated, was already on the web site. Below is the one I inadvertently missed!

It is quite plain to see that to all intents and purposes they tell the same story.

Also missed was a black and white image of a shield with crest and supporters and I have made a colour illustration:

http://cheshire-heraldry.org.uk/visitations/CV9.html

Pseudo heraldry for a new beginning.

Some time ago I reported my sadness at the likely consignment of the arms of Cheshire County Council to the dustbin of history following the demise of that authority which is due to take place at the end of this financial year. It was both a rant and a plea; it comes as no surprise that neither the rant nor the plea had any effect.

On the first of April the two new unitary authorities come into their own; both have been busy in their preparation and, as you would expect, their efforts to impress the world with some form of corporate identity has not escaped my attention.

It seems that both soon to be authorities chose what they considered to be the most economic route to a corporate identity and, probably motivated by a need to ensure that there were no accusations of throwing away yet more taxpayers money, avoided all association with those dreaded, and expensive, “design agencies”. 

Cheshire East, the new authority that replaces the County Council and the Boroughs of Crewe & Nantwich, Congleton and Macclesfield decided to remain “in house” and used its own design team to whittle suggestions down to three options before going out to public consultation. Finally unveiled on the 16th September 2008 their new logo has little to interest the reader of this web log but its owners feel that it is a “fantastic design” with a “professional, clean and smart” look. At least it is honest in that it is simply a logo and makes no pretence to heraldry (which is more than can be said of its new sister authority!).


I have no doubt that somewhere in the documents which sold the concept of unitary authorities to the powers that be there will be mention of fiscal savings. It is interesting to note that a budget of £250’000 has now been set aside by Cheshire East Council to roll out the new logo across over 200 buildings , 160 play areas and 400 vehicles.

Whilst the new Cheshire East logo has no pretensions to grandeur and thus can be treated as being an honest attempt at branding, the same can not be said of the device adopted by the council set to replace the boroughs of Ellesmere Port and Neston, Vale Royal and Chester District. The new Cheshire West and Chester Council also chose to eschewed any contracts with those dreaded “design agencies” but took an altogether different route and turned the design process into a competition with a prize of £500 to the winner.   After a short list of four was presented to the public for their final consultation, some of which, resembled building society fascias, the newly adopted device for Cheshire West and Cheshire Council was announced on the same day as the one for the other new Cheshire authority.

The logo, designed by City Council employee Chris Hughes, is said to represent the new authority as being “dynamic, forward thinking, inspiring and professional, fresh and innovative”. That it may be - but for me, it simply pretends to be something it isn’t; just like the previous logo of the soon to be extinct Cheshire County Council did.



I dislike the pretence that is heraldic. Its designer stated that in creating the logo he tried to illustrate the importance of the established icons of the councils that will form Cheshire West and Chester as well as convey a new unity and that all the elements of the logo have a relevance to Cheshire West and Chester.

“The lion is a common symbol in Cheshire, stemming from the mid 1500s and the wheat sheaf motif is carried on the crests of the councils that will form Cheshire West and Chester.”

I will ignore the common misconception that a shield is a crest (groan) and simply point out that the designer has taken elements from historical Cheshire heraldry, thus subconsciously recognising that heraldry has and does play an important part in the identity of Cheshire, and yet has not had the courage to suggest that these elements should be given life in the form of Letters Patent from Her Majesty's Officers of Arms. The new authority can not be congratulated on adopting something which, as a design, purports to be representing the heraldic tradition of a proud county and yet which is not a coat of arms and does not have the authenticity of a grant of arms. What can not be avoided is that it pretends to be a coat of arms but it is not. That is a shame.