Unusual Tincture? Or is it just (im)proper?

[Chris Green]

In 1651 one John Lane and his daughter assisted King Charles II to escape after the Battle of Worcester. In 1677 he was posthumously granted an augmentation of honour: a canton of the Royal Arms of England. In the following year John Lane's son, Thomas, was granted a crest of augmentation: "Out of a Wreath Or and Azure, a Demy-Horse Strawberrie Colour, bridled Sable, bitted and garnished Or, supporting an Imperiall [sic] Crown Gold".

No doubt a strawberry roan is intended:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry_roan

But these days we wouldn't blazon it like that would we? "... a demi strawberry roan [horse] proper ...." perhaps?

I assume that the half horse was intended to be rampant, though "neigh-ant" is I suppose a possibility.

[Jeremy Kudlick]

"Neigh-ant"? Ugh. •facepalm•

The augmentations were granted in the 17th Century, so conventions in blazon may not have been what they are today. I do, however, wonder how Mr. Lane could have received a posthumous honor before the deed for which he was honored.

[Martin Goldstraw]

The Battle of Worcester was 1651, not 1678.

[Chris Green]

Sorry. My mistake. Of course the Battle of Worcester was in 1651. That's what comes of cutting and pasting in haste.

I have amended my post.

[JMcMillan]

I think this is more a reflection on the pedantry that's infected blazonry since the 17th century than on the herald who wrote the blazon.

Having described a horse as strawberry [-roan], chestnut, grey, bay, or whatever, what is clarified by adding the word "proper"? I'm just surprised that no one's added "strawberry" to the silly lists of rare tinctures that people with too much time on their hands seem unable to resist compiling. (For comparison, Burke blazons the sinister supporter of the Lords Fairfax of Cameron simply as "a bay horse." Quite right, too.)

The principle is the same with the omission of "rampant." Would anyone who can decipher the blazonry jargon in the first place think that a demi-horse would be other than rampant, unless some further qualification is added to the blazon so specifying? (The Tilghmans of Snodland, Kent, and the Hermitage, Queen Anne's County, Maryland, have a demi-lion statant Sable for crest. I have to admit it took me a while to figure that one out!)

[GJKS]

(The Tilghmans of Snodland, Kent, and the Hermitage, Queen Anne's County, Maryland, have a demi-lion statant Sable for crest. I have to admit it took me a while to figure that one out!)

???

Thought ... what would be the difference between a demi-Lion couchant and a demi-Lion statant?

[JMcMillan]

It's like a lion sejant but with the hindquarters issuing from the torse. I have a photo of James Tilghman's (1716-93) bookplate that I'll upload and link when I get a chance.

[Jeremy Kudlick]

Unfortunately, though not surprisingly, the Tilghman "family crest" can be found on at least two bucket sites, but neither emblazonment matches the other.

I did, however, make a neat find while Googling the Tilghman family. In 1962, Stephen Frederick Tiliman publish a history of the Tilghman (Tiliman) family titled Spes Alit Agricolum, which is the motto associated with the Sussex Tilghman arms as recorded in the Visitations. A few details are located at the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum website.

[Chris Green]

... associated with the Sussex Tilghman arms as recorded in the Visitations.

I am afraid I don't have access to the details of the Visitations of Sussex. But my copy of "Arms of Sussex Families" by Huxford does not contain any reference toa family by name Tilghman or Tillman. In the book you refer to Jeremy they are noted as from Faversham in Kent, which is about 45 miles from the Sussex border. Did the Visitations stray across into Kent, or did they have the Tilghmans living somewhere in Sussex?

[JMcMillan]

At the 1619 visitation of Kent, James Tilghman's great-uncle Francis Tilghman of Snodland was confirmed in the arms Per fesse sable and argent a lion rampant reguardant, double-queued, crowned or, counterchanged, with A demi-lion issuant and statant Sable, crowned or for crest (Harleian Society Pub 42, pp. 37-38, http://www.uk-genealogy.org.uk/england/ ... index.html). James's great-grandfather Oswald, Francis Tilghman's younger brother, appears on the pedigree.

Here's the crest from James Tilghman's bookplate.