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A ring, as an heraldic figure, is found in coats of arms throughout every kingdom in Europe. In Heraldry, it is called an annulet. We find the ring "gemmed" borne in the arms of the Montgomeries, who hold the Earldom of Eglinton; and one of whom figures in the ballad of Chevy Chase:
"Against Sir Hugh Montgomerie So right his shaft he set, The gray-goose-wing that was therein In his heart blood was wet."
A father and son of this family were opposed to each other in the battle of Marston Moor. The father, from his bearing, had the popular appellation of Gray Steel. We find the amulet borne in the coats of arms of several of the peers and gentlemen of England.
Louis IX. of France, St. Louis, took for his device a marguerite or daisy and fleur-de-lis, in allusion to the name of Queen Marguerite his wife and the arms of France, which were also his own. He had a ring made with a relief around it in enamel, which represented a garland of marguerites and fleurs-de-lis. One was engraven on a sapphire with these words, "This ring contains all we love." Thus, it has been said, did this excellent prince show his people that he loved nothing but Religion, France and his wife. It is a question, however, whether the emblem on the escutcheon of the kings of France is really a fleur-de-lis. Some think it was originally a toad, which formed the crest of the helmet worn by Pharamond; and others, the golden bees which were discovered in the tomb of Childeric at Tournay in 1653. The story is that Clovis, after baptism, received a fleur-de-lis from an angel. Since then France has been called "the empire of lilies." The coat of arms of Clovis and his successors was a field of azure, seeded with golden fleurs-de-lis. |
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Jewelry Guide Vol 1
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