Dog

Dog

Dog, (fr. chien): occurs very frequently in armorial bearings, and under a variety of names; the drawing in most cases being made generally to suit the dog described. The oldest name is the levrier, spelt leverer, and amongst the arms of the last two or three centuries the greyhound is the most frequently chosen, the bloodhound and the ratch-hound but rarely.

The talbot is a hunting-dog, distinguished chiefly by the form of his ears; the modern mastiff occurs is one or two coats of arms, and we find also the spaniel and the terrier. The Alant, or Aland, [Span. alano., med. lat. Canes alani], a mastiff with short ears, appears to be used only as the supporter of the arms of Lord DACRE.

    "About his char ther wenten white alauns."--Chaucer, Knight's Tale. 2450.   

In the following examples it will be seen that besides the ordinary position of the dog, which is passant, it may be represented, sejant, rampant, salient, skipping, questing(i.e. pointing), courant, and in full cry. The ears may be of a different tincture, and it is frequently gorged or collared.

Sire William MAULEVERER, de argent a iij leverers de goules--Roll, temp. ED. II.

Sir Perez BURDEUX, porte d'or ou ung lev'er de gules, ou le collere de sable ou le bordure de sable besante dor--Harl. MS. 6589.

Per pale gules and azure, three hounds in full cry--TURNER[Lord Mayor of London, 1769].

Argent, a greyhound passant sable collared gules--HOLFORD.

Argent, a greyhound salient party per long sable and of the first--DE LA FORDE, Iver, Bucks.

Argent, a greyhound courant sable, in a bordure engrailed gules--Ralph BRIDEOKE, Bp. of Chichester, 1675-78.

Vert, three greyhounds argent, gutté de larmes; on a chief or a fox passant gules--WELDISH, Kent[granted 1542].

Argent, a greyhound skipping in bend sable--ATTWOOD.

Gules, two greyhounds salient affrontant or--DOGGET, Norfolk.

Argent, on a chief dancetty sable three bezants; in base a greyhound courant of the second collared or--Offspring BLACKALL, Bp. of Exeter, 1708-16.

Gules, two greyhounds salient counter-salient in saltire(the dexter surmounted by the sinister) argent, collared of the field between three fleurs-de-lys two and one; in chief a stag's head couped attired with ten tynes or--UDNEY, Scotland.

Sable, a bloodhound passant within a bordure engrailed argent--SUDBURY.

Azure, three bloodhounds argent--RAGON.

Argent, a ratch-hound courant between three hunting-horns sable--FORRESTER, Dundee.

Argent, a talbot passant gules--WOLVESLEY, Suffolk.

Argent, a talbot passant sable eared and collared or; to the collar a ring of the second; on a chief indented azure three crosses crosslet of the third--KENE, Norfolk.

Sable, three talbot's heads erased argent langued gules--Joseph HALL, Bp. of Exeter, 1627; afterwards of Norwich, 1641-56.

Or, a fesse wavy, between three talbots questing sable--ALLEN, Kent.

Azure, a talbot passant argent collared gules lined or; at the end of the line a knot--BURGOYNE.

Azure, a talbot seiant within a bordure engrailed azure--Simon SUDBURY, Bp. of London, 1362; afterwards Abp. of Cant., 1375-81. [From glass at Trinity Hall, Cambridge.]

Argent, on a fesse between two mullets in chief gules, and a dove in base azure, a mastiff's head couped of the field--FUDDIE, Scotland.

Argent, a spaniel-dog passant proper; on a chief embattled azure, a key palewise, the wards upward between two crosses crosslet or--MAIRE.

Azure, a chevron argent between in chief two garbs or, and in base a spaniel passant proper; in the centre chief point a cross crosslet fitchy of the second--BURDEN.

Gules, a fesse ermine between three water-spaniels argent, each holding in the mouth a birdbolt or--RIGGS, Lincoln.

Sable, a chevron ermine between three terriers argent--BUTHER.

Sable, a chevron between three spotted dogs of the second--HARTHAM, co. Leicester.