Ostrich & horseshoe crest
Annie Natalelli-Waloszek
Some time back, I remember seeing a posting about the ostrich and horseshoe
crest that appears on some Digby, Cook & other, coats of arms, but as I was
leaving on a trip, I filed it hastily and cant find it anymore...!
During a recent research trip to Scotland and England, I met someone bearing
these arms and desirous to know the meaning and origin of the crest, & hope
that the person who told the story will repeat it to me, on or offlist...
Annie
James Dempster
Natalelli-Waloszek) wrote:
The origin of the crest in the sense of why a person called Digby or a
person called Cook first adopted it would require research into the
first armigers to bear it. As for meaning, the concept of heraldic
charges having a specific and immutable meaning is a fallacy. They may
have a meaning for the armiger concerned, but that can vary with time
and place. The only safe meanings to assign are those of "canting"
arms in which the arms are a pun on the surname.
Some (Scottish) examples
Cranstoun: Three cranes
Riddell: Three ears of rye
Hunter: Three hunting horns
Pirie: Three pears
The ostrich conventionally carries a horseshoe in its mouth due to the
fact that they often swallow pebbles to aid their digestion and it is
an old tale (still given life by cartoonists) that they will swallow
just about anything. This probably comes from Isidore of Seville's
writings.
There are a number of such conventions in heraldry, such as cranes
standing on one leg and carrying a stone with the other foot, pelicans
"vulning" themselves and martlets (swallows or swifts) having no feet.
These conventions have sometimes mutated into the most strange
objects, my favourate being the canet - a duck without bill or feet!
James
James Dempster (jdem...@easynet.co.uk)
You know you've had a good night
when you wake up
and someone's outlining you in chalk.
Renia
I don't remember this particular discussion, but perhaps a search for
"ostrich" on Deja-Google might bring it up.
In the meantime, I have consulted The Concise Encyclopedia of Heraldry,
by Guy Cadogan Rothery, and found the following:
Q
The ostrich came to us early from the East, being brought back by the
Crusaders. It was regrded as a symbol of endurance and martial ardour,
partly no doubt owing to its swiftness of foot and combativeness at
certain seasons, but more particularly because of its hardiness and
power of long abstinence, combined with healthy digestive powers. This
latter peculiarity gave rise to the legend that it could live on iron,
hence the practice of heralds of showing it bearing a Passion nail
(emblem of the Church Militant), a horseshoe (itself an old symbol of
religion, but more particularly assumed as a reminder of knightly
prowess on horseback), or a key (a symbol at once of religious and
temporal power).
UNQ
So it would appear that an ostrich and horseshoe together was quite a
common symbolic combination, so was probably used by more than one man,
and thus, by more than one family.
Renia