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Problems with Fox-Davies' Blazons

There are four differences between Fox-Davies' blazons and the College's exemplification:

  • The exemplification of 26, Grandison, has a paly of argent and azure but the blazon is argent and gules. The Dictionary of British Arms, Medieval Ordinary, vol 2, p. 11 clearly shows argent and azure for several examples of William de Grandison's arms.
  • The exemplification of 30, Holland, has the lion guardant while the blazon solely says rampant. The Dictionary of British Arms, Medieval Ordinary, vol 1, p. 151 nowhere mentions any 'guardant' for any of the many examples of Holland arms. But I have left these arms guardant, as received.
  • The exemplification of 34, Beaums, has the background pellets with the tint Or, wheras Fox-Davies says it was Sable. The Dictionary of British Arms, Medieval Ordinary, does not give the Beaums arms, not even under the name found in CP of Belmeis. Purely as I prefer the appearance of Or, I have used this in my illustration.
  • The exemplification of 44, Plantagenet, does not agree with Fox-Davies' blazon. Fox-Davies gave a blazon of a lion rampant yet the drawing has three lions passant guardant. The Dictionary of British Arms, Medieval Ordinary, vol 1, p. 306 definitely gives 3 lions in all examples of Edmund of Woodstock's arms.

Then there are refinements to the College's exemplifications:

  • For number 16, Plantagenet, in Fox-Davies' Complete Guide to Heraldry he gives a blazon for George, Duke of Clarence, which has the label as "a label of three points argent, each charged with a canton gules"; so I have modified the illustrations to include these cantons.
  • The exemplification of 18, Neville, has the plain saltire argent which was indeed the arms of the earlier Nevilles. But these arms are stated to be those of Richard Neville, earl of Warwick (The Kingmaker) and he was the heir of a cadet branch which mostly used a label gobony argent and azure to distinguish their line from the senior line, who carried the Westmorland earldom and bore only the plain saltire. I have left the Neville arms as received as there is no doubt but that we do inherit this quarter but from an earlier Neville generation.

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