Habited - Used to describe a man when borne clothed.
Hand - The human hand plays its most prominent part in heraldry as the device of Ulster and the badge of baronets.
Dexter Hand - The right.
Sinister Hand - The left.
Harbored - Applied to the hart, stag, etc., when lying down. The same as couchant in beasts of prey.
Harrington knot - Another name for the fret.
Harp - The harp is the emblem of Ireland. Its origin as the badge of Erin is obscure, but probably alludes to the instrument of Brian Boroimhe.
Harpy - The heraldic Harpy is a vulture with the head and breast of a woman.
Hart - The Hart, like the stag, is an old bearing, though not of the earliest. John Trie, son and heir of Alicia de Hertley, bore "a hart's head caboched."
Hatchment - A black panel, lozenge-shaped or square, but hung corner-wise, on which the arms of a deceased person are displayed; usually hung on the walls of his or her house.
The rules governing the arrangement of the hatchment are: For a bachelor, his entire achievement on a black ground. For a single woman, her arms are placed upon a lozenge, bordered with knotted ribbons, also on a black ground. For a married man (as seen in the illustration), his arms impale those of his wife, unless she be an heiress, when they are placed on an escutcheon of pretense, the crest and other appendages added, the dexter half of the ground being black and the sinister white. For a widower, the same as for a married man, except the whole ground is black. For a widow, the husband's arms are given with her own, but upon a lozenge. In case there have been two wives or two husbands, the ground is divided into three parts per pale, the background of the survivor being white. When the deceased is a military or naval officer, colors and military or naval emblems are sometimes placed behind the arms.
- "His obscure funeral: No trophy, sword or hatchment
o'er his bones." Shakespeare.
Hatchment is the same as achievement. The word is a corruption of atchment, a shortened form of atchievement (achievement).
- "By pulling down several atchievements (commonly
called hatchments)." Wood: Fasti Oxon.
Haurient - (hau'-ri-ent) Applied to a fish when borne palewise, or upright, as if putting its head out of the water to draw or suck in air.
Hausse - (hos'-say) [French.] The same as ENHANCED.
Hawk's lure - {See LURE.]
Heart - The human heart is sometimes borne. A case in point is the arms of the Douglas family in allusion to the mission of James Lord Douglas to the Holy Land with the heart of Robert Bruce. Douglas: "Argent, a man's heart gules, ensigned by a royal crown proper, on a chief azure two mullets of the first."
Hedgehog - Also known in heraldry as the herisson and the ericus. The family of Heriz bore "Azure, three hedgehogs or. The Maxwells bear the hedgehog for the lordship of Herris.
Helm - The part of a coat of arms which bears the crest.
Helmet - The helmet is borne above the shield and beneath the crest. Like the coronet, it denotes the rank of the wearer. Those used by English heralds are: (1) For sovereigns and princes of the blood, borne full-face, with six bars, all of gold; (2) for the nobility, of steel, with five bars of gold, shown somewhat in profile; (3) for baronets and knights, of steel, full-faced and open; (4) for an esquire or gentleman, of steel, with the visor closed, and represented in profile.
There is a further distinction made by some heraldic writers, being a silver helmet, in profile, with gold ornament, and four silver bars, for the lesser nobility, or those ranking below a marquis.
The various distinctions of the helmet are supposed to have been introduced after the Restoration.
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