Did John Lydgate Write the Original for the “Scotch Copy of a Poem on Heraldry”?

: Evidence is presented, from heraldic, linguistic and political–historical evidence, that the original author of the “Scotch Copy of a Poem on Heraldry” was not Adam Loutfut ca. 1494 but the earlier English writer John Lydgate, possibly drawing from French heraldic sources. A new transcription from the Harleian MS 6149 is given with a comparison to the text from a copy in Queen’s MS. 161, plus a modern-language “translation” and critical commentary.


Introduction
The so-called Scotch 1 Copy of a Poem on Heraldry survives in two manuscript (ms.) versions, one in the British Library's Harleian collection of heraldic tracts (Harley MS. 6149, folios 151r-155r; see Cart. Harl. MSS.,332) here referred to as H, and one in Queen's College, Oxford, part of A Chivalric Compilation, in Scots and Latin,(MS. 161,, here called Q.The Queen's ms.(Q) is most likely copied from the Harley ms.(H) as there are obvious transcriptional and other blunders.
A direct comparison was made between the images of H provided by the British Library and the version Q in Oxford (no images available here).
The scribe/compiler, of H at least, was Adam Loutfut, Kintyre Pursuivant, as we know from the colophon dated 1494 at the end of the second text (Figure 1): Explicit iste liber honorabili armigero Wilelmo Cummyn de Inverellochy alias marchamond heraldo p[er?]Ad [am] Loutfut.Anno dm mo cccc nonamo quarto [...] ?xxixSeptembrii' (f.44).The H version was written for (and is part of a book belonging to) Sir William Cummyn of Inverallochy, Marchmond Herald at the time the poem was copied or translated into Scots and later Lord Lyon (from 1512 to 1519, knighted in 1507). 2 It has appeared in transcript since, as one of the tracts reprinted in Part I of a collection of instructional material (including Sir Humphrey Gilbert's Queene Elizabethes Achademy, written some time after 1562 for the better and reformed education of Elizabethan youth), for the Early English Text Society (Furnivall 1869), andin Byles (1926).
What is less than clear is whether H is: (a) an original poem in Scots (there is no suggestion here, and no evidence, that Lotfut was composing an "authorial draft"); (b) a copy of such an original poem, now lost to us; or (c) a translation into Scots of a pre-existing work in English, French, Latin, etc., or a copy of such.
Loutfut has been generally considered by Scottish heraldists to be the original author, but without any real evidence. 3There are clues as to the country of origin and the authorship in the language of the poem and the heraldry it contains.Even if this poem was originally in Scots, it may still be the earliest treatise on Scots heraldry (as opposed to armorials, which are collections of coats of arms), predating McKenzie of Rosehaugh 4 by some 200 years.Thus, it has historical interest to heraldists and mediaevalists.But the poem is almost unknown to Scots literature specialists.We should also note that Loutfut (in his accompanying manuscript, The Deidis of Armorie) is the first known writer to use the terms "Scottis" for his native tongue, not Gavin Dunbar as is often claimed (Houwen 1994).(Furnivall (1869) and the accompanying heraldic notes by G. E. Adams, a Scottish heraldist of the time, though no expert on mediaeval heraldry (Houwen 1994, p. liii n. 36, p.) accept an English origin translated into Scots.In 1936, R. H. Bowers of Yale presented some thoughts, a comparison of the H and Q texts and a suggested glossary (Bowers 1936) and found little to convince himself that the poem was English in origin.There the matter has rested for almost 75 years.
Genealogy 2024, 8, x FOR PEER REVIEW 2 of 3 almost unknown to Scots literature specialists.We should also note that Loutfut (in hi accompanying manuscript, The Deidis of Armorie) is the first known writer to use the term "Scottis" for his native tongue, not Gavin Dunbar as is often claimed (Houwen 1994).(Furnivall (1869) and the accompanying heraldic notes by G. E. Adams, a Scottish heraldist of the time, though no expert on mediaeval heraldry (Houwen 1994, p. liii n. 36 p.) accept an English origin translated into Scots.In 1936, R. H. Bowers of Yale presented some thoughts, a comparison of the H and Q texts and a suggested glossary (Bowers 1936 and found little to convince himself that the poem was English in origin.There the matte has rested for almost 75 years.

Methodology
This paper presents a new transcription by the present author (BD) of the H version noting Q variants-as in l. 4: discrepancies [discrepance]-and alongside is a rendition in modern language, also by BD. "Difficult" words are dealt with in footnotes, as an aid to immediate reading.The nature and language of heraldry is (briefly) explained, so tha terms and arguments in the text of the poem may be understood.Following the transcrip tion are Modern English summaries/paraphrases of the stanzas, with additional explana tion.An analysis of the language and of the state of heraldry and politics at the time (ca 1500) in Scotland, England and France, is given, plus clues as to authorship from these The punctuation has been modernized.
The poem was composed some time before H was compiled in 1494, by (says Adam as a preface to the poem in Furnivall) "one of that unwise class of writers on Heraldry who, not content with assigning to that science its proper place as a handmaid to History (which, by enabling the ownership and dates of various buildings, charters, monuments &c., to be identified, the matrimonial alliances of noble families to be proved, &c.&c., i certainly is) by claiming for it a fabulous origin, and one so manifestly capable of disproof brought the whole subject into such contempt and ridicule, that the study of it in late generations was almost entirely neglected".He includes, rightly, Sylvanus Morgan, who in 1661 ascribed arms to Adam, Eve, Noah, "Duke" Joseph of Egypt and others (See Lowe 1845, p. 7 ff.).
However, the copies, at least, were made by a close associate and subordinate o Cummyn of Inverallochy, possibly working on Cummyn's behalf.He could not be con sidered a heraldic ingénue which makes some of the howlers all the more puzzling i Loutfut were indeed the author.The prolific 15th Century Benedictine poet and translator John Lydgate, is suggested as the originator in English, but possibly from a French text.

Methodology
This paper presents a new transcription by the present author (BD) of the H version, noting Q variants-as in l. 4: discrepancies [discrepance]-and alongside is a rendition in modern language, also by BD. "Difficult" words are dealt with in footnotes, as an aid to immediate reading.The nature and language of heraldry is (briefly) explained, so that terms and arguments in the text of the poem may be understood.Following the transcription are Modern English summaries/paraphrases of the stanzas, with additional explanation.An analysis of the language and of the state of heraldry and politics at the time (ca.1500) in Scotland, England and France, is given, plus clues as to authorship from these.The punctuation has been modernized.
The poem was composed some time before H was compiled in 1494, by (says Adams as a preface to the poem in Furnivall) "one of that unwise class of writers on Heraldry, who, not content with assigning to that science its proper place as a handmaid to History (which, by enabling the ownership and dates of various buildings, charters, monuments, &c., to be identified, the matrimonial alliances of noble families to be proved, &c.&c., it certainly is) by claiming for it a fabulous origin, and one so manifestly capable of disproof, brought the whole subject into such contempt and ridicule, that the study of it in later generations was almost entirely neglected".He includes, rightly, Sylvanus Morgan, who in 1661 ascribed arms to Adam, Eve, Noah, "Duke" Joseph of Egypt and others (See Lower 1845, p. 7 ff.).
However, the copies, at least, were made by a close associate and subordinate of Cummyn of Inverallochy, possibly working on Cummyn's behalf.He could not be considered a heraldic ingénue which makes some of the howlers all the more puzzling if Loutfut were indeed the author.The prolific 15th Century Benedictine poet and translator, John Lydgate, is suggested as the originator in English, but possibly from a French text.
The Figures are mostly redrawn from Elvin's Dictionary of Heraldry (Elvin 1889).

The Poem
A transcription from H (made by BD) is on the left, noting Q variants in [square brackets], with a modernized "translation" on the right.The page images of H 151r-155r are reproduced at the end of this article.With correctioun, and now quha likis heir.

22
IV Some suns, moons, stars, elements, Some beasts, birds, fish, fruit, flowers, and many more such; Some with differences, 7  Some altered, as well as some natural; Sieging without and others within the town, So many princes, knights, and people there, as this my book 11 the most sentence did sound, all immediately concluded, That nobles bear marks, to make known, their doughtiness in deeds of arms shown: The fader the hole, the eldast son deffer[e]nt quhiche a labelle; a cressent the secound; third a molet; the fourt a merl to tent; 12 fift anne aglot; the vj a flour had fond, Clepit delice.Than fader or we the suld grond Armes to mo, gif thai be with difference As plesit him: thus armes begon from thens.

VII
The father the whole, the eldest son different 13  Which are a label; a crescent the second; third a mullet; the fourth a martlet; fifth an aglot; 14 the sixth a flower had found, Called de Lys.

The Stanzas
There now follows an analysis stanza by stanza.

Stanza I
Few men work for the distinction of arms from heralds, who will be described.
The author feels the science of heraldry is disregarded in his time.

II
In the wars of Thebes, Athens and Troy, princes and others bore banners, etc., as merchants use seals.
The author clearly does not subscribe to the "classical" origin of arms, wholly invented by early modern writers, such as Hector bearing Sable, two lions combattand or Julius Caesar Or, an eagle displayed with two heads, Sable.They might be excused, though, as Virgil gives Aventinus, son of Hercules, a shield bearing "his father's Hydra" (Dryden's translation) and Helenus, whose mother was a slave, "Slight were his arms-a sword and silver shield-No mark of honour charged its empty field".III Thereafter, ingenious people, inspired by God, arranged arms with metals, colours and charges "Thereafter" sets the origin of arms, in the author's opinion, post-Troy (see Stanza VI).IV There were heavenly bodies and figures from nature, depicted in different ways, some like nature and some not.
Early arms, he contends, were figurative or representative, rather than using "ordinaries" (see below).

V and VI
The myth (here denied) is that arms were borne at Thebes, but there were no heralds then.
The author confuses ancient legend with Chaucer's The Knight's Tale, in which he says: "But by here Cote Armures/and by hir gere/The heraudes/knewe hem best in special".In the classical telling, Palamon and Arcite were cousins, both knights of Thebes and prisoners of Theseus, king of Athens.They both fall in love with Emily, sister-in-law of the king, and compete for her.Palamon is defeated, but victorious Arcite is thrown from his horse and killed, so Palamon marries Emily."Chaucer, as befits his time, puts them in a mediaeval joust, complete with a King-at-Arms.Shakespeare committed much the same error in The Two Noble Kinsmen co-written with John Fletcher.
Historically, there is good evidence that Eochaid the Venomous, King of Argyll, (747 AD-819 AD) and father of Alpin, entered into an alliance with Charlemagne (c.747-c.814) who conferred on the Scots the familiar double-tressure flory-counterflory (Strathern 1859).It is also a matter of record that Malcolm II (1005-1034) established by statute the practice of adding distinguishing seals to contracts (Reg.Maj.Book III, c. 8).Robert III (r.1371-1390) required barons and others holding land of the sovereign to have seals, under penalty of law (Acts, cap.7, No. 5).
Between these times, matters are murkier.There is no heraldry as such on the Bayeux Tapestry (which, properly, is an embroidery).The earliest seal with arms on it in Scotland is from Duncan II, (r.1094) while the equivalent in England dates from Richard I, a century later.Stewart arms on seals of the latter half of the 12th and early 13th Centuries show the fess chequy, still a feature of Stewart arms today, and familiar from policemen's hats.The earliest arms in England as we now understand them-heritable symbols borne on shields and surcoats-seem to be those granted by Henry I of England to his son-in-law Geoffrey Plantagenet of Anjou, father of Henry II, in 1127.This became systematised in the time of Richard II and Richard III (who established the College of Arms in 1483).The13th Century Herald's Roll shows a well-developed Anglo-Norman system of arms (see Cecil Humphery-Smith's (1973) Anglo-Norman Armory.
In Scotland, when William ascended the throne (r.1165-1214) he assumed the lion rampant surrounded by Charlemagne's double tressure, and the soubriquet "William the Lion".There is no real evidence of a Lion King of Arms and Heralds until the coronation of Robert II in 1371.However, nobles certainly bore arms before this time, as shown by the illustrations in the 14th Century Balliol Roll (see Bruce McAndrew's (2002) Balliol Roll).Arms, however, were back-attributed to Norman and Saxon kings by later heralds.
The references to "Thebes, which at length I did write", Troy (l.39) and Brutus (ll.51-52), as well as familiarity with Chaucer, are clues as to authorship.VII Sons' arms are differenced from their father's.
Cadency, or differencing of sons' arms by adding a distinctive charge, is a particular feature of British heraldry, invented about the time of Richard II.The first son bears a label of three points, the second a crescent, the others in sequence a mullet (five-pointed star), martlet, fleur-de lys.Gerard Leigh (1562) later added rose, cross moline and doublequartrefoil (an eight-petalled flower) to make it up to nine-see notes to Stanza X).After the father's death, the eldest son inherits his sire's undifferenced arms (in Scotland) and other sons who matriculate arms lose these temporary brisures in favour of a system of "bordures" (borders).See Figure 2.
Genealogy 2024, 8, x FOR PEER REVIEW 11 of 30 There are two metals and four colours in heraldry, plus purple which, although not a primary colour, becomes honourable when used heraldically.Note that, in modern Scots heraldic practice (and pretty much universally), the tinctures are given capital letters, largely to disambiguate the use of the conjunction "or" for the heraldic word Or (gold).The permitted tinctures also include the rare Tenné (tawny) and Murrey (maroon or sanguine), largely there to make up the total number to nine, to chime with the nine virtues, nine muses and (according to the English Boke of St. Albans) the nine orders or angels (see notes to Stanza XXVII).Technically, Tenné and Murrey are "stains", used as rebatements-a change in colour to indicate a dishonour (hence "a blot on the escutcheon").Purpure (purple), though not a primary colour, is allowed in heraldry.Among the few extant examples are the arms of the Scottish Rugby Union, and the purple lion of the Earls of Lincoln in the arms of Lincoln's Inn Fields, London.Gules is said to be from the French gueule, a reference to the colour of a throat (specifically the goules de martre, the reddish skin from the throat of a marten, used as a trimming) but may derive from the Persian gul, meaning "rose".French heraldry until the early 1400s blazoned red as Sinople, derived from the city of Sinop in modern-day Turkey (historically Sinope, on the Black Sea), whose red-ochre clay was used by medieval mural artists to make the red pigment sinopia.Perversely, Sinople replaced Vert in French heraldry and now indicates a dark green.This was probably to disambiguate vert and vair (fur), just as Charles Perrault is said to have confused Cinderella's fur slippers for glass (verre)-see http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002886.html(accessed on 9

VIII
Brutus imported the idea of battle-marks into Britain.
Furnivall and Adams dispute that any Scot would refer to the "British" origin legend of derivation and descent from Brutus of Troy, as the Scots claimed descent from Scythia, as repeated in the Declaration of Arbroath, or from the Princess Scota, daughter of a Pharaoh.But perhaps all the author here is saying, is that the Britons brought with them into the British Isles insignia of arms, not heralds or heraldry per se.

IX
Many say Julius Caesar was the first to blazon arms correctly, and I consider he had wisdom enough to do so, based on precedents and later developed.
See also 1. 204.X There are two metals and four colours in heraldry, plus purple which, although not a primary colour, becomes honourable when used heraldically.
Note that, in modern Scots heraldic practice (and pretty much universally), the tinctures are given capital letters, largely to disambiguate the use of the conjunction "or" for the heraldic word Or (gold).The permitted tinctures also include the rare Tenné (tawny) and Murrey (maroon or sanguine), largely there to make up the total number to nine, to chime with the nine virtues, nine muses and (according to the English Boke of St. Albans) the nine orders or angels (see notes to Stanza XXVII).Technically, Tenné and Murrey are "stains", used as rebatements-a change in colour to indicate a dishonour (hence "a blot on the escutcheon").Purpure (purple), though not a primary colour, is allowed in heraldry.Among the few extant examples are the arms of the Scottish Rugby Union, and the purple lion of the Earls of Lincoln in the arms of Lincoln's Inn Fields, London.Gules is said to be from the French gueule, a reference to the colour of a throat (specifically the goules de martre, the reddish skin from the throat of a marten, used as a trimming) but may derive from the Persian gul, meaning "rose".French heraldry until the early 1400s blazoned red as Sinople, derived from the city of Sinop in modern-day Turkey (historically Sinope, on the Black Sea), whose red-ochre clay was used by medieval mural artists to make the red pigment sinopia.Perversely, Sinople replaced Vert in French heraldry and now indicates a dark green.This was probably to disambiguate vert and vair (fur), just as Charles Perrault is said to have confused Cinderella's fur slippers for glass (verre)see http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002886.html(accessed on 9 December 2023) This is also a potential confusion between vair and counter-vair (fr.vairé contre vairé) in which the squirrel skins are placed top-to-top (see Figure 3) The arms of Monsire John de BEAUCHAMP de Somersetshire are given as verre in a Roll from the time of Edward III.

XI
Precious stones represent the heraldic tinctures.
In the Arms of nobility, the colours were called by the names of precious and semiprecious stones from ca. 1458.Thopasis is a gold-coloured stone.Cassidony is not a reference to French lavender (the modern usage in French), but to chalcedony which has reddish variants, such as sardonyx (banded agate).Randle Cotgrave (1611) gives the contemporary meaning in French as: "Cassidonie, a base and brittle stone, of small value, though it shine like fire".Jacinth is a red transparent gemstone, a variety of zircon, but is also a hyacinth, whose flower is reddish blue or deep purple.Later (from ca.1600) in naming heavenly bodies for colours in nobles' and sovereigns' Arms, the Renaissance heralds lacked Neptune and Pluto and had to resort to "lunar nodes", the points where the moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic.The full assignment is given in Table 1.XIII and XIV (to l. 93) Writing is in silver (paper) and sable (ink) and most kings have gold and silver in their arms, which are costlier than precious stones or pearls.
Sables would, at this time, be one of the most expensive furs and therefore the highestranked tincture, after the metals.Dame Juliana Berners (1486) lists "Golde, Asure, Sable & Siluer" as the four "Royall coloreis".
XIV (from l. 94) The four divisions of the field are bend, sic[?], chevron and bars.Blazon these first, even if the shield is quartered.This is somewhat confused.The main ("honourable") Ordinaries, which are charges on the field, are bend, fesse, chevron and pale.Compare these with the divisions of the field in Stanza XVII (from l. 114).

XV
[Even if the shield is quartered] begin with the colour or metal at the dexter side.
No arms are correct unless they have gold and silver are in them.The words "of", "in", "with", "and" should only be used once in a blazon.Not all arms contain both Or and Argent, nor is there any necessity for this.The author's injunction against using these pronouns more than once was indeed a simplifying principle of early heraldry but has been abandoned as designs have become more complex.XVI (to.l. 111) Arms may bear roundel or balls with the following colours and names.Roundels are discs given names which indicate their colours without further elaboration: besants (from a Byzantine coin) are gold (Or); plates are silver (Argent); pellets (musket-balls) are Sable (black); tortes or torteaux ("tarts") are Gules (red); hurts (indicating a bruise, but see below) are Azure (blue), pommes (apples) are Vert (green); and wounds or golpes (said to be derived from golpa, Old Spanish for "wound") are Purpure.Unknown, it seems, to the poem's author is the fountain, a disc with seven wavy lines, alternately Azure and Argent.French heraldry does not use all of these tincture names-Vert is Sinople (see Stanza X).According to Nisbet (1722), Leigh (1562) derives the word hurt from the mark "of some violent stroke" while Guillim (1610) "will have them to represent hurtle-berries".The hurtleberry (also called whortleberry, blueberry, bilberry and Huckleberry) is indeed blue, although the dye traditionally made from it is mauve-purple.But the Old French noun heurte and verb heurter, both have the sense of "blow" or "strike".It is often said that Scottish heraldry deprecates the term "roundel", but it does appear, with a distinguishing colour, in, for example, Balfour-Paul (1893), though not in Nisbet (1722).There is an exhaustive treatise on the origin and distribution of roundels in five issues of Notes and Queries by London (1950).XVII (incl. l. 112) Arms have pales, bends, fesses, chevrons (Ordinaries) and divisions named similarly.
The Ordinaries are charges, while the divisions reflect their shapes.A pale (as in paling fence) is a vertical strip down the centre of the field; a fess is horizontal; a bend is a stripe from dexter to sinister; a chevron points upwards; and what the author calls a baton is now known as a bend sinister; today a baton sinister does not extend across the whole field, and is taken to indicate illegitimacy, as in the arms of the descendants of bastard royal dukes.When the field is divided vertically is per pale, paly or palewise.When a charge lies horizontal it is fesswise.Per chevron is like a tripod, dividing the field in three.XVIII (to l. 125) No-one but nobles should wear arms.Do not call armed men "men of arms", which indicates armigers, who are all noble.
This says arms are restricted to "nobles" (meaning with a peerage title), which is not the case in Scotland.The Lyon Court will grant arms to the "virtuous and well-deserving", and arms in Scotland have always been available to "Noblemen, Barrons and Gentlemen", so there is no presumption of a noble title. 50Other jurisdictions took and take a different view.
There are many more that 15 attitudes for beasts of prey, including lions, but early heraldists found a certain symmetry in the numbers four, nine and fifteen, such as the four main ordinaries, the nine colours and, as here, the fifteen attitudes of lions and (from line 135), the fifteen forms of cross.See Figure 4, and also Stanza XXI for multiple lions.
Genealogy 2024, 8, x FOR PEER REVIEW 15 of 30 XVIII (to l. 125) No-one but nobles should wear arms.Do not call armed men "men of arms", which indicates armigers, who are all noble.
This says arms are restricted to "nobles" (meaning with a peerage title), which is not the case in Scotland.The Lyon Court will grant arms to the "virtuous and well-deserving", and arms in Scotland have always been available to "Noblemen, Barrons and Gentlemen", so there is no presumption of a noble title. 50Other jurisdictions took and take a different view.
There are many more that 15 attitudes for beasts of prey, including lions, but early heraldists found a certain symmetry in the numbers four, nine and fifteen, such as the four main ordinaries, the nine colours and, as here, the fifteen attitudes of lions and (from line 135), the fifteen forms of cross.See Figure 4, and also Stanza XXI for multiple lions.

XX (to l. 143)
There are fifteen types of cross (named) Again, there are many more than fifteen.There is much confusion in heraldic texts between recercelé (voided, as shown) and cercelé (encircled) See Figure 5.

XX (to l. 143)
There are fifteen types of cross (named) Again, there are many more than fifteen.There is much confusion in heraldic texts between recercelé (voided, as shown) and cercelé (encircled) See Figure 5. XXI If animals surround the field (in a bordure) blazon them "verray".
As mentioned, this should be "enurné" or possibly enaluron, both corruptions of "in orle".When three lions appear on the field itself, as in the arms of the Sovereign of England, they are blazoned "lioncels".The theory is that, as the lion is a noble beast, it can only appear once on the shield (or twice, if paired in some way such as addorsed or combatant) and so three of them must be something else.hence "lioncels".Strictly speaking in ancient heraldry, a lion passant guardant was a heraldic leopard-French heraldry still uses the term leopardée-so the lions in the arms of England may be blazoned as: Gules, three leopards in pale Or (Figure 4).XXIII (incl. ll. 152,153) When there are more than two of a charge, do not number them, but say, for example, florate for multiple flowers.Torteax, tortell pellets and pellets are equal.Multiple fusils, mascles and lozenges together are blazoned fusilly, masculy and lozengy The author shows some confusion here.A tortell pellet is a roundel divided horizontally, red at the top and black in the base.See Figure 6 for fusilly, etc.When the field contains many of a charge in a pattern it is blazoned semé as in the arms of William of Orange, which had: Azure, semé of billets, a lion rampant Or, armed and langued Gules, for Nassau.

XX (to l. 143)
There are fifteen types of cross (named) Again, there are many more than fifteen.There is much confusion in heraldic texts between recercelé (voided, as shown) and cercelé (encircled) See Figure 5.As mentioned, this should be "enurné" or possibly enaluron, both corruption orle".When three lions appear on the field itself, as in the arms of the Sovereign o land, they are blazoned "lioncels".The theory is that, as the lion is a noble beast only appear once on the shield (or twice, if paired in some way such as addorsed o batant) and so three of them must be something else.hence "lioncels".Strictly sp in ancient heraldry, a lion passant guardant was a heraldic leopard-French herald uses the term leopardée-so the lions in the arms of England may be blazoned as three leopards in pale Or (Figure 4).XXIII (incl. ll. 152,153) When there are more than two of a charge, do not number them, but say, for example, flo multiple flowers.Torteax, tortell pellets and pellets are equal.Multiple fusils, mascles and l together are blazoned fusilly, masculy and lozengy The author shows some confusion here.A tortell pellet is a roundel divided h tally, red at the top and black in the base.See Figure 6 for fusilly, etc.When the fie tains many of a charge in a pattern it is blazoned semé as in the arms of William of O which had: Azure, semé of billets, a lion rampant Or, armed and langued Gules, for Nas
Refer to Figure 6.XXIV Beasts are blazoned "armed", birds "membered" and a gryphon is both.There are pikes a phins.Charges may be billetty, humetty or indentured.
Not exactly.All beats of prey can be "armed", which refers to claws and tee lion rampant of Scotland is "armed and langued" (tongued) Azure.By contrast, predatory animal or bird would be "membered", but individual animals have the terms, such as a stag being "attired" when its antlers are coloured, "trippant" rath "passant" and not "guardant" but "at gaze" (Figure 4).

XXV
A leg or head may be erased.Gyronny, vairy and byally partition the field.Blazon carefu
Refer to Figure 6.XXIV Beasts are blazoned "armed", birds "membered" and a gryphon is both.There are pikes and dolphins.Charges may be billetty, humetty or indentured.
Not exactly.All beats of prey can be "armed", which refers to claws and teeth.The lion rampant of Scotland is "armed and langued" (tongued) Azure.By contrast, a non-predatory animal or bird would be "membered", but individual animals have their own terms, such as a stag being "attired" when its antlers are coloured, "trippant" rather than "passant" and not "guardant" but "at gaze" (Figure 4).

XXV
A leg or head may be erased.Gyronny, vairy and byally partition the field.Blazon carefully, and study who bears which arms.
The utter confusion of this stanza suggests the author is less familiar with the deeper aspects of heraldry.He might have taken his own advice given in the last five lines of the stanza.Gyronny can be of any number above four, but four, six, eight and nine are commonest (see Figure 6).

XXVI
Apart from metals and colours there are furs, ermine and vair, which need no other description.Only these (above) metals, colours and furs appear in arms.
In fact, there are many variants of furs.For instance, ermine is black on white, ermines is the reverse and erminois is black on gold.Counter-vair (white on blue, in the shape of a stretched-out squirrel skin) is the reverse of vair.See Figure 7.
Genealogy 2024, 8, x FOR PEER REVIEW 17 The utter confusion of this stanza suggests the author is less familiar with the d aspects of heraldry.He might have taken his own advice given in the last five lines stanza.Gyronny can be of any number above four, but four, six, eight and nine are monest (see Figure 6).

XXVI
Apart from metals and colours there are furs, ermine and vair, which need no other descr Only these (above) metals, colours and furs appear in arms.
In fact, there are many variants of furs.For instance, ermine is black on white, er is the reverse and erminois is black on gold.Counter-vair (white on blue, in the sha a stretched-out squirrel skin) is the reverse of vair.See Figure 7.

XXVII and XXVIII
These metals colours and furs arose after the precious stones, which came from heaven.Arm have representations of planets, plants and beasts.
The author here repeats the heraldic "wisdom" that the tinctures commonly us earth are reflections of precious stones, and those the representers on earth of hea bodies.Dame Juliana Berners (1486), writing her Boke of St. Albans (sometimes calle Book of Sports and Heraldry) deals with angels and Arms."At hevyn I will begin where v. orderis of aungelis, and now stand but iv., in cote armuris of knawlege encrown hye with precious stones, where Lucifer, with mylionys of aungelis, owt of hevyn fe hell and odyr places, and ben holdyn ther in bondage.And all were created in hev gentill nature."This curious text contains three tracts, dealing with the pleasingly a ative Hawking, Hunting and Heraldry (possibly a later addition) and a Treaty Fysshynge Wyth An Angle which may or may not have come from Dame Juliana's han was printed by Wynkyn De Worde in 1496 (though the manuscript is perhaps half tury earlier).The tracts were first printed by a "Scolemaster Printer" who worked Albans from 1479 (according to Blades 1901) and the Boke is perhaps the first exam colour printing in England.It also contains some previously unrecorded collective n such as: a malapertness of pedlars, a business of ferrets, a drunkship of cobblers, a kindness of ravens and a superfluity of nuns.We should note that Dame Juliana is s have been Prioress of Sopwell, but there is no real evidence for this.However, the l

XXVII and XXVIII
These metals colours and furs arose after the precious stones, which came from heaven.Arms also have representations of planets, plants and beasts.
The author here repeats the heraldic "wisdom" that the tinctures commonly used on earth are of precious stones, and those the representers on earth of heavenly bodies.Dame Juliana Berners (1486), writing her Boke of St. Albans (sometimes called The Book of Sports and Heraldry) deals with angels and Arms."At hevyn I will begin where were v. orderis of aungelis, and now stand but iv., in cote armuris of knawlege encrowned ful hye with precious stones, where Lucifer, with mylionys of aungelis, owt of hevyn fell into hell and odyr places, and ben holdyn ther in bondage.And all were created in hevyn of gentill nature."This curious text contains three tracts, dealing with the pleasingly alliterative Hawking, Hunting and Heraldry (possibly a later addition) and a Treatyse Of Fysshynge Wyth An Angle which may or may not have come from Dame Juliana's hand but was printed by Wynkyn De Worde in 1496 (though the manuscript is perhaps half a century earlier).The tracts were first printed by a "Scolemaster Printer" who worked in St. Albans from 1479 (according to Blades 1901) and the Boke is perhaps the first example of colour printing in England.It also contains some previously unrecorded collective nouns, such as: a malapertness of pedlars, a business of ferrets, a drunkship of cobblers, an unkindness of ravens and a superfluity of nuns.We should note that Dame Juliana is said to have been Prioress of Sopwell, but there is no real evidence for this.However, the lists of Prioresses are incomplete.Perhaps she merely lived there (Page 1902), among, presumably, a "superfluity".Heraldry makes a distinction between heraldic beasts and their "natural" forms.An example is the dolphin (Figure 8).

XIX-XXXVI
The decrees of Heralds are obeyed by all, Heralds are beloved by all, protectors o support of the Church,…, etc.
These stanzas are a somewhat oleaginous encomium to heralds and Granted, Loufut was a Pursuivant, writing for a Herald who became Lord L so the obsequious nature of this is cloying in the extreme.However, if Loutf original author, at whom was this aimed?Henry V instituted the office of Arms (the senior heraldic officer, under the Earl Marshall) in 1415 just bef France.The earls and dukes of Lancaster retained a Lancaster Herald from but on Henry IV's accession this became an office of the Crown and made of the northern province.This arrangement continued under Henry V and V Lancaster again had the lower rank of Herald.Similarly, there was a Richm John, Duke of Bedford from 1421, and until 1485 to George, Duke of Claren Earl of Richmond after which Henry VII in 1485 elevated the then Rich Roger Machado (a great supporter of Henry Tudor) to Clarenceaux King of death in 1510.The author may therefore have known the holders of these h

Computational Linguistics
Of the 136 individual plural forms scribed by Loutfut, 124 take the ending-is but 12 have the English-es.Some of these are the same word occurs 20 times and "armis" only 11, whereas "princis" occurs frequently once).This strongly suggests copying from an English original into more but without complete translation.
The rhyme couplets were examined in the form given in the poem, and be in Middle English, but there are too few examples of pronunciational determine whether the rhymes work best in either language.Those worthy tion include write/parfite/nyte (Stanza V), sammyn/am (Stanza XII) and g

XIX-XXXVI
The decrees of Heralds are obeyed by all, Heralds are beloved by all, protectors of all needy, the support of the Church,. .., etc.
These stanzas are a somewhat oleaginous encomium to heralds and pursuivants.Granted, Loufut was a Pursuivant, writing for a Herald who became Lord Lyon, but even so the obsequious nature of this is cloying in the extreme.However, if Loutfut was not the original author, at whom was this aimed?Henry V instituted the office of Garter King of Arms (the senior heraldic officer, under the Earl Marshall) in 1415 just before sailing for France.The earls and dukes of Lancaster retained a Lancaster Herald from at least 1347, but on Henry IV's accession this became an office of the Crown and made King of Arms of the northern province.This arrangement continued under Henry V and VI, but by 1464 Lancaster again had the lower rank of Herald.Similarly, there was a Richmond Herald to John, Duke of Bedford from 1421, and until 1485 to George, Duke of Clarence, and Henry, Earl of Richmond after which Henry VII in 1485 elevated the then Richmond Herald, Roger Machado (a great supporter of Henry Tudor) to Clarenceaux King of Arms until his death in 1510.The author may therefore have known the holders of these heraldic offices.

Computational Linguistics
Of the 136 individual plural forms scribed by Loutfut, 124 take the Scottish plural ending-is but 12 have the English-es.Some of these are the same word (e.g., "armes" occurs 20 times and "armis" only 11, whereas "princis" occurs frequently and "princes" once).This strongly suggests copying from an English original into more familiar Scots, but without complete translation.
The rhyme couplets were examined in the form given in the poem, and as they would be in Middle English, but there are too few examples of pronunciational differences to determine whether the rhymes work best in either language.Those worthy of consideration include write/parfite/nyte (Stanza V), sammyn/am (Stanza XII) and godhead/manheid/proceed (Stanza XXXV).

John Lydgate (ca. 1371-1449)
The most widely-known and prolific writer of his day, John Lydgate (ca.1371-1449) had the support and patronage of royalty and the wealthy.He is best remembered for his translations (the Troy Book, the Siege of Thebes, and the Fall of Princes), dream visions, love poetry, a Life of Our Lady and translations of French religious parables.Lancastrian in sympathy, Lydgate started the trend for English literature to reflect national cachet, distinct from French, and with an identity of its own.He may well also have invented the Valentine's Day poem, when his king was concurrently at war with France and courting Catherine Valois, daughter of Charles VI and instructed John Lydgate to write a love note and send it to her on February 14th.Lydgate was, in every way, Henry V's Poet Laureate.
Born ca.1371 in Lydgate, Suffolk, Lydgate entered the nearby Bury St. Edmund's Benedictine monastery as a boy and was ordained into holy orders in 1397.Later, studying at Gloucester College (the Benedictine house at Oxford) Lydgate met the then Prince of Wales (later Henry V), and Thomas, son of Geoffrey Chaucer, a man of wealth and influence as well as Lancastrian leanings.Lydgate associated with the Lancastrian kings Henry V and Henry VI, and in 1412 began the Troy Book (finished in 1420), translated from Guido delle Colonne's Historia destructionis Troiae, commissioned by the Prince (who would ascend the throne in 1413) in "oure tonge" (vernacular English).The Troy Book underlined the origin myths of "Brutane" (Britain) as deriving from Brutus of Troy, legendary descendant of Aeneas.Lydgate is often criticised today as an imitator of Chaucer's, and indeed the rhyme scheme of the "Scotch Copy" is "Rhyme Royal", an iambic pentameter septet a-b-a-b-b-c-c, exactly as in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, although the "Scotch Copy" seems to omit a line after l. 151, which would rhyme with "to-gid".But he introduced to the familiar iambic pentameter an idiosyncratic "broken-backed line" in which the unaccented syllable is omitted after the medial caesura (pause).Lydgate used rhyme, but also the Old English alliterative form.Both are clearly seen in Stanza XII.
Immediately the Troy Book was finished, Lydgate began the Siege of Thebes, finished in the year of Henry's death (1422).

Conclusions
Lydgate fits the bill as the author of the original to the "Scotch Copy" on the grounds of: 1.
Lancastrian sympathy, especially if written after 1421 when there was a Richmond herald and also a Lancaster King of Arms to be pleasant to, at the instructions of Henry V or VI; 2.
Chaucerian inspiration, as witness the Royal Rhyme and metre; 4.
Authorship of works on Troy, Thebes and the Brutus myth; 5.
Ability to translate from French, either from an original work, or using French sources for a new poem.
Authorship by Lydgate did occur to Dr F. J. Furnival, Founder and Director of the Early English Text Society (Furnivall 1869, p. xviii)  It seems certain that the poem started as English, and Loutfut transcribed this, or another Scots version now lost.It may be derived or be based on a French source.If Lydgate were the author, the original may predate the "Scotch Copy" by as much as a century.It would certainly date from before 1449 and political considerations suggest is be placed in the 1420s.Thus, it predates the Boke of St. Albans and Nicholas Upton (1440) (See Figure 9). 51        Guidon (from guide homme)-a small flag attached to the head of a spear or lance, carried by a leader.It was "the first colours that any commander of horse can let flie in the field". . .three feet deep at the staff, and six feet long, tapering to a point which is split "into two peaks a foot deepe".See Gervase Markham's (1974) Souldier's Accidence.

6
Pencel or pennocel-a narrow ribbon-like pennant at the tip of a lance.It is distinct from a pennon, a small triangular flag on a knight's lance, and bearing his arms; as a mark of honour or distinction the point was cut off, thus making the pennon a banner and the bearer a Knight Banneret.Chaucer's Knight's Tale describes how:". ..by his baner was borne his pynounOf gold ful riche, in which ther was i-beteThe Minatour which that he slough in Crete." 7 This refers to cadency, the differencing of arms of younger sons and their descendants.See l. 43 and notes, below. 8 Heraldry makes a distinction between heraldic beasts and their "natural" forms.An example is the dolphin (Figure 8). 9 Erased -a head or limb torn from the body (as opposed to couped, or cut).This is a clue as to authorship.
12 "Tent" is in the sense of "Tak tent" (pay attention, take heed) which is the motto of the Heraldry Society of Scotland.
13 "Differencing" distinguishes the "undifferenced" arms of a father during his life from those of his sons.

14
The word "aglot" caused Furnivall and Adams some pain.Properly, it is a metal barb on a lance, but here is more likely an annulet (a voided roundel), one of the marks of "cadency", or differencing of sons' arms.See Stanza VII 15 Or "tried", "tested". 16 Or "almost".17 The heraldic tinctures are: the metals-Or (gold) and Argent (silver, but usually depicted as white, or the colour of the underlying medium)-and the four colours: Sable (black), Gules (red), Azure (blue) and Vert (green); plus Purpure (purple, see below).Tenné (Tawny) and Murrey (Sanguine) are rare.
18 "Thopasis" is topaz, a gold-coloured stone.The silicate used as a gemstone today was possibly unknown to the ancients, but the stone then called topazos and the "topaz" of the Old Testament was chrysolite or peridot. 19 The arms of Brittany are based on Ermine, which is white (Argent) with black (Sable) ermine spots.

20
The divisions of the "field" (the main body of the shield).The word 'sic' in this context is a mystery but could be a mistranscription for "fec" (fesse).If so, pale has been omitted.

21
"Right" should be dexter, i.e., from the point of view of the armiger holding the shield.

22
What the author calls "windows" are wounds or golpes and are Purpure.

23
These following are the "ordinaries", the commonest charges found on the field, and their related partitions.

24
This word is cancelled out in Q.
25 By convention, therefore, everyone who bears arms is "noble" (in the sense of "virtuous"). 26 Presumably, corporate, where two or three lions' bodies share one head (bi-corporate, etc.).This is "enurny", where a bordure is charged with animals, in which case it "goes round".

31
The French is heroncel/heronceaux.Shakespeare's editors were clearly unaware of the term when they "corrected" it as: "I know a hawk from a handsaw", in Hamlet.Act ii.Sc. 2. See Addis (1872).

32
This may refer to "undy", wavy lines across the field.
34 This is utterly confused.Simply put, when a number of mascles (voided lozenges) are put together the blazon is "masculy".The fusil (from the word for "flint", hence the shape) is narrower than the lozenge.

35
When a predator (lion, eagle) has coloured claws and teeth, the term is "armed".

36
Heraldic dolphins, as with many heraldic beasts, are unlike their "natural" counterparts (see Figure 8).

37
The modern terms are billetty (small oblongs set in a pattern), humetty (couped, or cut off at both ends), and indented (two indentures, e.g., at the end of the arms of a cross).

38
"Glondes" are a complete mystery.The nearest Scots word is "glondure", meaning bad temper or a sulk, as: "The Quene, with whome the said Erle was then in the glondouris, promised favouris in all his lauchfull suyttis to wemen"; Works of John Knox vol.I (1546), p. 143.In this context, "glondes" may mean per pale and per bend sinister.

39
Erased is as if torn off, as opposed to "couped", cut off.

40
A partition line may be erased or couped (does not touch the sides of the shield), as with a leg or head.Byally is gyronny of six.
For vair and vairy (here, verré) see the notes to the Stranza.

41
"Mold" has the sense (in verse) of the earth we stand on, but in heraldry is the field of the escutcheon; cf."All men on mold ar markit for to de" (Sempill 1573) and "Syne in asure the mold A lyoun crovnit with gold" Holland n.d., ca.1450).Holland was a careful heraldist, and in Howlat wrote what is possibly earliest poem of any length in the Scottish alliterative revival.See Riddy (1986).
42 There are called "furs" rather than "pans", which denotes cloth.They require no tincture, as this is implicit (as roundels). 43 Here he lists the three ranks of "lords of arms": Kings of Arms, Heralds and Pursuivants.These are still in use.

44
We might here have expected the Scots word "erd(e)", more common before 1550 when the Middle English word replaced it.However, according to DSL it is found earlier, in Records of the Earldom of Orkney (1480): "With all fredomis, profeits, and richtwis pertinans, under erth and abov".
45 Scots would likely be "ilkane".However, "ichone" is used in earlier scots poetry, at least as far back as James I (r.1405 1437); see Jamieson (1808) and DSL. 46 This usage of "ring" (related to "reign") indicates sovereignty, or the territory so ruled.There are numerous examples in DOST, not least in a line from Wallace (1327): "Eftir the dayt off Alexandris ryng".

47
A reference to the unmolestable status of heralds in their ambassadorial function.See n. 2 for a description of the consequences of assaulting Cumyng himself, when Lord Lyon.

48
The normal Scots word would, at this time, be "trowth", even with the irregular extra vowel, rather than the English "troth" and "truth".

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. The English system of cadency by brisures (top) and Stodart's Scottish system of differencing by bordures and lines of division (bottom).

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. The English system of cadency by brisures (top) and Stodart's Scottish system of differencing by bordures and lines of division (bottom).

Figure 3 .
Figure 3.The partitions of the field (top: per bend, per fesse, per chevron, per pale) and hono ordinaries (right) mentioned in the poem.

Figure 3 .
Figure 3.The partitions of the field (top: per bend, per fesse, per chevron, per pale) and honourable ordinaries (right) mentioned in the poem.

Figure 9 .
Figure 9. ff 151r-155r from the Harleian ms.(H) converted to JPEGs, page-cropped for reasons of space and contrast-enhanced for legibility where necessary. 5

Table 1 .
Equivalences of heraldic tinctures, heavenly bodies and gems." with France, the Brittany links and the betrothal in 1474 of Edward IV's daughter Princess Cecily of York to the future James IV (who eventually married Margaret Tudor in 1503).Furthermore, Scotland and England were at war in the early 1480s.The entire 16th Century was taken up squabbles between Scots and English, Stewarts/Stuarts and Tudors.Henry VII's "Rough Wooing" (1543 to 1551, also known as the Eight Years' War, during which Henry tried to force a dynastic marriage between his heir apparent Edward and the infant Mary, Queen of Scots).Despite England's machinations to keep (Catholic) Mary out of circulation as a threat to (Protestant) England, it was Mary's son, James VI of Scots who succeeded Elizabeth I as James I in 1603.The Scots had prevailed.
XIISilver and sable are said to be the richest.The Duke of Brittany bears them.alliance to whom Lydgate was no stranger-Furnivall edited the Society's 1901 publication No. LXXXIII, Lydgate's DeGuilleville's Pilgrimage of the Life of Man, Part II, and many other 15th Century works.