Kaye Coat of Arms - Seigneurs de Bohon




Kaye Coat of Arms

In September 1999, we made a trip to Belgium and met the family of Pierre Kaye in Méan, Namur, Brabant. Although we do not know if we are directly related, the Kayes we met gave us some information which they believe describes the origin of the Kayes in Belgium. The information includes a coat of arms and a family tree which spans from the 1500's until the early 1700's. The individuals in the tree are assumed to be descendents of Hankinet Kaye born in 1380. The photocopies which they were kind enough to give us were taken from a book, Armorial du Pays de Luxembourg written by Dr. Jean-Claude Loutsch in 1974.

Early 1998, George Picavet sent me a e-mail with information taken from theEntymological Dictionary of Surnames in Belgium and North France. In this book the Kayes are also date back to 1380 to Hakinet Kaye from Durbuy. (Durbuy is only a few miles from Méan or Bohon).




Heraldry

Kaye (de Bohon) "D'argent semé ... anille de sable ... Deux oreilles ..."


Argent, (fr.): the tincture Silver. By those who emblazon according to the Planetary system it is represented by the Moon, just as the tincture of gold is represented by the Sun. Hence it is sometimes fancifully called Luna in the arms of princes, as also Pearl in those of peers. As silver soon becomes tarnished, it is generally represented in painting by white. In engraving it is known by the natural colour of the paper; and in tricking by the letter a. In the doubling of mantles it may be called white, because(as the old heralds say) it is not in that case to be taken for a metal, but the skin of a little beast called a Litvite. Sometimes, too, in old rolls of arms the term blanc is used. Argent, simple--BOGUET, Normandy. Blank ung rey de soleil de goules--RAUF DE LA HAY, Roll, temp. 1240.

Anille. See Fer de Moline.

Fer-de-moline, or fer de moulin(fr.), also inkmoline, mill-ink, millrind, millrine, (fr. anille), is according to Gibbon, "that piece of iron that beareth and upholdeth the moving millstone." Perhaps no charge has a greater diversity of forms found in ancient drawings; so much so that it may be reckoned amongst the conventional charges of heraldry. It is, indeed, generally drawn like one or other of the first two, but sometimes it appears like the third. The ordinary position of the fer-de-mouline is erect, but it may be borne fesswise, or bendwise. Sire William SAUNSUM, de or a un fer de molin de sable--Roll, temp. ED. II. Sir Robert de WYLEBI, de goules a un fer de molin de argent--Ibid. Sire Rauf le MARESCHAL, de or a un fer de molin de goules--Ibid. Paly of six argent and azure, a milrind of the second--PRICHET, Bp. of Gloucester, 1672-81. Gules, a fer-de-moline argent--FERRE. Or, a fer-de-moline azure--MOLYNERS. Ermine, a fer-de-moline azure pierced of the field--MOLINS, London. Argent, on a milrind sable five estoiles of the field--VICOREY, co. Derby. Azure, fifteen fers-de-molines or; on a chief of the second a lion rampant purpure--Insignia of LINCOLN'S INN[according to GUILLIM]. Gules, a mill ink pierced argent--FERE, co. Stafford. Gules, two bars argent; over all an inkmoline argent--PAUNERTON, co. Stafford. Gules, a millrind bendways argent between two martlets in pale or--BURNINGHAM, Hants.

Sable, (fr. sable): the heraldic term for black, the term being probably derived from certain animals with black feet called Sabellinœ(mustela zibellina of Linnæus). It is called Saturn by those who fancifully blazon by the planets, and Diamond by those who use the names of jewels. Engravers represent it by numerous perpendicular and horizontal lines crossing each other. Arms simply sable are found to have been borne by the following families:--GOURNEY(a Norfolk family); DOMBALE; GLEGG; and LORRAINE.

Semé, (fr.), sometimes written semy: means that the field is sown or strewed over with several of the charges named, drawn small and without any reference to the number. Various synonyms are used by heraldic writers. In a roll temp. HEN. III., poudré is most frequently used, meaning precisely the same; in another roll plein de in found. More modern writers used such terms as aspersed, replenished with, and two old French terms averlye and gerattie are also given in glossaries. Some writers use sans nombre, and a very fanciful distinction has been made between this and semé, namely, that when all the charges are drawn entire sans nombre should be used, but if the outline of the field or any ordinary cuts any of the charges that then semé should be used. In the case of semé of crosslets, billets, bezants, the special term crusily, billetty, and bezanty, already noted in their proper places, are preferable. Platy, hurty, and tortoily, are not so. The term is somewhat awkwardly applied to Chequy in the blazon of the arms of the Bishop of ELY as given in Wharton's 'Anglia Sacra.' DE LUXEMBOURG. Sr JOHN de Bretaigne, porte eschekere d'or et d'azur, ou le cantell d'ermyne ou le bordure de gulez poudre ou lepars d'or--Roll, temp. HEN. III. Per fesse gules and sable, a lion rampant argent semy of crosses croslet of the first--LODGE, co. York. Gules, semy of nails argent, three stems of a flower vert--ASHBY. Azure, semy-de-lis and a lion rampant argent--HOLLAND. Gules, semy-de-lis or, a lion rampant and a canton ermine--MARKS, Suffolk. Or, semy of hearts and in chief a lion rampant gardant azure--GOTHES. Or, on a chevron gules, within a bordure azure semée of mitres[better, charged with eight or more mitres] of the first--Edmund STAFFORD, Bp. of Exeter, 1395-1419. Chequy argent, semée of torteaux, and azure semée of fleur-de-lys or--Louis de LUXEMBOURG, Bp. of Ely, 1438-43, [and Archbishop of Rouen, 1443-56]. Le REY DE FRAUNCE, de asur poudre a flurette de or--Roll, temp. HEN. III. Rauf le FITZ NICOLE, de goules, ung quintefueil de or; le champ pleyn des escallopes d'argent--Ibid. Or, the field replenished with estoiles azure, a lion rampant gules--GALLYHALT.

Tincture, (fr. email, pl. emaux): the metals, colours, and furs used in armoury are called tincture. As a general rule, a charge of metal should never be placed upon a metal field, nor a coloured charge upon a coloured field, but to this there are some exceptions. First, what the French call armes pour enquerir, or armes à enquerre, as the insignia of the kingdom of JERUSALEM(See cross, §31), where gold appears on silver; and in other cases where colour appears on colour, e.g. Gules, a cross vert--DENHAM, Suffolk. Secondly, the rule dose not extend to chiefs, cantons, and bordures, which, however, are in such cases by some heralds represented as cousu, i.e. giving the idea of the charge being sewed to, and not laid upon, the field. Marks of cadency also, such as labels, bendlets, and batons are exempt from the rule. The third exception is of a party-coloured field(as quarterly, gyronny, barry, checquy, vair, &c.), which may receive a charge either of metal or colour indifferently, and vice versa. Barry of ten argent and azure, a lion rampant gules--STRATFORD, Gloucester. Barry of ten or and gules, a lion rampant argent--STRATFORD, Coventry. Per pale azure and gules, an oak-tree proper supported on the sinister side by a lion rampant argent--THOMAS, co. Hereford. The fourth is, when charges are borne of their natural colour, not being one of the recognised tinctures of heraldry. (See Colours.) Such charges are nevertheless generally placed upon a field of a contrasted tincture. The fifth and last exception, and the most frequent case to which this rule does not extend, is when animals are armed, attired, unguled, crowned, or chained of a tincture different from that of their bodies. The nine tinctures are as follows, though numbers 8 and 9 are not so clearly recognised as the seven others. See also Colours and Proper. 1. Or . . . . Gold . . . . Sun . . . . Topaz. 2. Argent . . . Silver . . . . Moon . . . Pearl. 3. Gules . . . Red . . . . Mars . . . Ruby. 4. Azure . . . Blue . . . . Jupiter . . Sapphire. 5. Sable . . . Black . . . . Saturn . . . Diamond. 6. Vert . . . Green . . . . Venus . . . Emerald. 7. Purpure . . Purple . . . . Mercury . . Amethyst. 8. Tenné . . . Tenny . . . . Dragon's Head . . . Hyacinth. 9. Sanguine . . Blood colour . Dragon's Tail . . . Sardonix. The furs are in a sense tinctures, and to a certain extenfollow the rule of the others; that is to say, Ermine is considered as argent, and Ermines as sable, so far as the tinctures of the superimposed charges are concerned. Ermine. |Ermines. |Pean. |Vair. Erminois. |Erminites. |Meirri. |Verry. A brief notice of each of the above will be found beneath their respective headings. The mode of representation of the tincture by lines was an invention which must be attributed to Silvester Petra-Sancta, an Italian Jesuit, whose book, entitled Tessarœ Gentilitiœ, printed at Rome in 1638(or rather his earlier book, De Symbolis heroicis, libri ix., 1634), seems to have been the first work in which the system was used. The claim of Marie Vulson de la Colombiere will not hold, as his work did not appear till 1639. Some whimsical heralds have called the tinctures borne by kings by the names of Planets and other heavenly bodies, as given above; and this method so far made way that in some few heraldic MSS. the tincture are expressed in the tricking by the astronomical marks denoting the planets. Other heraldic writers again have given to the tinctures of the arms of peers the names of precious stones, also shewn above, but this practice is now looked upon as absurd, and calculated to bring the science into ridicule. Sir John FERNE, in his Blazon of Gentry issued in 1586, enumerates fourteen different methods of blazon as follows:--1. By colours; 2. By planets; 3. By precious stones; 4. By virtues; 5. By celestial signs; 6. By the months of the year; 7. By the days of the week; 8. By the ages of man; 9. By flowers; 10. By the elements; 11. By the seasons of the year; 12. By the complexions of man; 13. By numbers; 14. By metals. Such fanciful arrangements, however, tend to degrade the study of heraldry into a mere amusement. Happily they were never much used.

Fleur-de-lis, (fr.). Although there has been much controversy concerning the origin of this bearing, no doubt it represents the lily, but in a conventional form, such as was produced by the workers in metal. It is essentially the Royal Badge of France, having been adopted by King Louis VII. in the twelfth century, in allusion to the name lois, or lys. It appears amongst the Royal Badges in England in the time of the STUARTS. From some of the following examples it will be seen how variously the name is written in ancient rolls of arms. It will also be observed that the fleur-de-lys is subject to certain variations, e.g. stalked, slipped, leaved, seeded, and even fitchy. LEATHES. Robert AGULON, de goules ov ung fleur-de-lis d'argent--Roll, temp. HEN. III. Robert AGEUYN, de goules a une florette dor--Ibid., Harl. MS. 6585. William de CANTELOWE, de goules a trois fleurs delices d'or--Ibid. Sire Johan DEYVILE, de or a iij flures de goules e une fesse de goules a iij flures de or--Roll, temp. ED. II. Sire Henri de COBHAM, de goules a un chevron de or a iij frures(sic) de azure--Ibid. Sire Gerard de OUSFLET, de argent a une fesse de azure a iij flures de or--Ibid. Monsire de UFFLET, port d'argent a une fess d'asur trois lis d'or en la fes--Roll, temp. ED. III. Monsire Robert DEYVILL, port d'or a une fes de gules a vi lis--Ibid. Per pale, sable and argent; a fleur-de-lis between two flaunches, each chargen with a fleur-de-lys all counterchanged--John ROBYNS, co. Worc. Azure, on a bend between three fleur-de-lys or, as many pierced mullets gules--LEATHES, Herringfleet, Suffolk. Azure, two lions rampant supporting a tower with three fleurs-de-lys out of the battlements--KELLY Castle, Kelly, Ireland. Barry of six argent and gules, fifteen fleurs-de-lys, three, three, three, three, two and one all counterchanged--BRANKER. Gules, three fleurs-de-lis stalked and slipped argent--WADSWORTH, co. York. Gules, a bar between two fleurs-de-lis stalked and leaved in chief and an annulet in base--KELLOCK, Scotland. Per fesse gules and azure, three fleurs-de-lis seeded or; a crescent for difference--PAUNCEFOOT, Somerset. Monsire CONSTANTINE DE MORTYMER or, flourté de fleure de lis sable as peds agus--Roll, temp. ED. III. Besides the ordinary occurrence, as above, of perfect fleur-de-lis, the upper portion is frequently employed for the termination of other devices, or combined with them. The cross fleury, of flory(see Cross, §20) is the most frequent. A singular example of a mascle so treated in the arms of MAN will be found further on, and the more singular combination of a fleur-de-lis with another charge has already been given under Cross, §6. The terms fleury(fr. fleuré), flory, fleurty, floretty, flourite, or flurte, and similar variations, also signify adorned with, or ending in, fleurs-de-lis. The term fleur de lisé is also sometimes used in the sense of fleurs-de-lis being conjoined with the charge. At the same time it is said to be used also in the sense of a field or charge being semé or fleurs-de-lis, and so also the terms fleury, flory, and floretty. The modern French fleuri(to be distinguished from fleuré) is applied to plants, and signifies having flowers of another tincture, i.e. flowered. See under Hawthorn. In French heraldry the fleur-de-lis is drawn sometimes with a 'fleuron,' that is, it has buds added to the flowers; it is then described as epanoui, or florencée. When it is couped, so that only the upper portion is visible, it is said to be nourrie. Fleur-de-lis are blazoned naturelles, or au naturel, when they are represented as natural lilies. WOODMERTON. William PEYVER, d'argent a ung chevron de goules florettz d'or en le chevron--Roll, temp. HEN. III. Le REY DE FRAUNCE, de asur poudre a flurette de or--Ibid., Harl. MS. 6589. Le ROY DE CECYLE[Sicily] dasur poudre a florettes de or, a un lambeu de goules--Ibid. Sire Mostas de LATIMER, ove la bende d'aszure flourite d'or--Roll, temp. EDW. II. Sire Robert de HOYLANDE, de azure flurette de argent a un lupard rampaund de argent--Ibid. Argent, two bars azure, over all an escarbuncle of eight rays gules pometty and floretty or--BLOUNT. Per fesse dancetté argent and sable, each point ending in a fleur-de-lis--WOODMERTON. D'azur, a une fleur-de-lys d'or au pied nourri; deux lis au naturel sortant d'entre les cotes--BOSCHIER, Bretagne. GOLDINGTON. Fleury counter fleury, or flory counter flory, signifies adorned with fleurs-de-lis alternately placed, as in the tressure of Scotland, and the annexed example. In the case of a tressure, or any other ordinary borne double or cottised, no part of the fleurs-de-lis is seen in the space between the pieces. Or, a bend fleury counter fleury azure--GOLDINGTON. Argent, a bend fleury counterfleury gules--BROMFLETT. Or, three bars wavy gules quartering or, a lion's head erased within a double tressure flory counter-flory gules as a coat of augmentation--DRUMMOND.

France: fleurs-de-lis have long been the distinctive bearings of the kingdom of France, and it is to the almost constant wars between that country and our own that its frequent use in English armory is to be attributed. From the time of King Charles V., 1364-80, the royal insignia of France had but three fleurs-de-lis or. Before his time the escutcheon was semé de lis, which bearing was probably assumed by King Louis(Loys) VII., 1137-80, in allusion to his name. The Label of France is a frequent expression occuring in old genealogical works; it may signify a label azure semé of fleur-de-lis gold, or charged with three fleurs-de-lis, or again, with three fleurs-de-lis upon each of the five points. D'azure, semé le lis d'or--Ancient arms of FRANCE. D'azure a trois fleurs-de-lis d'or--Later arms of FRANCE. De France, au lambel de trois pendants d'argent--Ducs d'ORLEANS. England, a label of five points azure, each charged with three fleurs-de-lis or--Edmund PLANTAGENET, [surmounted Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster, &c., second son of HEN. III.]


A GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN HERALDRY by JAMES PARKER
FIRST PUBLISHED in 1894
code by saitou.
[last modified by original author 5/25/2000] "INTRODUCTORY" is speeching(by Festival).
[last modified by Jim Trigg 7/8/2004] Complete update for new web home.

For other links see:


Links and bibliography for heraldry
James Parker, A Glossary of terms used in Heraldry (Oxford and London, 1894; reprinted 1970) (online version by 'saitou') An illustrated hypertext version of a very substantial work (a revision of Henry Gough's work of the same title, 1847). As well as explanations of heraldic terms, it is said to contain over 4000 blazons of coats of arms as examples, to which there is a surname index. There are also detailed articles on heraldic practice, including a useful one on Marshalling (the combination of arms to indicate marriages and ancestry)

Heraldica Great Site!
Heraldica Site Map
Of particular interest ...
French Heraldry and Related Topics


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Last Updated: February 2005

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