Sketcher.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 441, 29 September 1904, Page 2

Sketcher.

CBQWNS ANCIENT AND MODERN, JBKir may interest the studious in the art cfp of heraldry to trace the gradual zSt development of Crowns, from the crude and curious fillet of metals; and garlands made with branches or leaves of plants and trees, to ba met with among the records of ancient history and the middle ages, to the gorgeous and costly ' state crown,' resplendent in gold and precious jewels, worn by the kings and queens of modern times. The first mention of such ornaments comes to us from Scripture, and their use seems to have been very common amosg the Hebrews. According to Holy Writ, the high-priest was accustomed, on occasions of great solemnity, to wear a 'crown' composed of a fillet or baud of gold or silver placed upon the forehead, and tied with & ribbon of a hyacinth or azure-bine colour; and even private priests and common Israelites must have been in the habit of wearing, on certain days, some sort of ornamental head-work, since God commanded Ezekiei 'not to take off his crown, nor assume the marks of one in morning,' The construction of these early crowns we read about appears to have been exceedingly simple—practically nothing more or less than bandlets dzawn round the head and tied behind, as we still see it represented on medals and old coins round the heads of Jupiter, the Ptolemies, and kings of Syria. Afterwards, they consisted of two baadlets; and then, by degrees, branches of various kinds of trees were introduced; asd woods and groves were ransacked for

different sorts of wood sad plants for decorating the statuos aad images of their gods, and for service of kings and emperors, and the sacrifices of the priests. Among the Greekß, the crowns given to those who carried off the prizas at the Isthmian Games were made of pinewood; at the Olympian festivities, of laurel; aad at the Nemsean celebrations, of smallage. The Soman Emperors had four kinds of crowns/emblematic of their royal dignity and sovereign power—namely* a crown of laurels j a radical or radiating crown; a crown adorned with pearls and precious Btones 5 aad a kind of bonnet or cap something similar to the mortier. In Constantino's time, the fillet of pearls came into general use, which the later Bysantime emperors turned into a coronet. It was originally only a band of gold, and then transformed into a garland, and subsequently into stuff adorned with pearls. Manuel Faleaalogus, crowned in 1868, wore a close-fitting crown studded with pearls. The Romans had also various kinds of orowas which they distributed as rewards for martial exploits and extraordinary services on behalf of the Republic: (1) the Oval Crown, made of myrtle, and bestowed upon generals who were entitled to the honours of the 'lesser triumph/ called Ovation. (2) The Naval or Eostral Crown, composed of a circle of gold with ornaments representisg 'beaks' of ships, and given to the captain who first grappled, or the soldier who first boarded, an enemy's shir. (3) The crown known in Latin as ' Vallaiia Castrensis,' a circle of gold raised with jewels or palisades, the reward of the general who first forced the enemy's intreachments. (4) The Moral Crown, a circle of gold indented and embattled, j given to the warrior who first mounted j the wall of a beseiged place, and success-1

I fully lodged a standard or flag thereon, (6) The Civic Crown (made of the branch of a green oak), a garland of oak leaves, bestowed upon a Boman soldier who had saved the life of a citizen. (6) The Triumphal Crown, consisting at first of wreaths of laurel, but afterwards, made of gold—the reward of such generals as had the »ood fortune to be successful in battle. (7) The crown called 'Obsidionftlis* or 'Graminea,' made of the 'common grass' found growing on the scene of action, and bestowed only for the deliverance of an army when reduced to the Inst extremity. This was esteemed the highest military reward among the Soman soldiery. Athletic crowns and crowns of laurel, destined as rewards at public games, and many other kinds of crowns for use in various Boman sports, are frequently found mentioned in tne annals of Boman history. Examples of some of these crowns are constantly met with in modern achievements; for instance, the mural crown in the case of Lord Montford, which was conferred on Sir John Bromley, one of his lordship's ancestors, as an augmentation to his arms, for his great personal bravery at the battle of La Croby. Part of the crest of Lord Archer is also a moral crowß, aad there are no fewer than ten English baroaeis whose arms are ornamented with the same crown. Then, again, we have an instance of the 'Castienee' or 'Vallery' crown in the coat of Sir Reginald Graham. The radiated crown appears also to have been placed over the arms cf the kings of England till the time o! Edward 111, It is still used as a crest on tbe arms of some privaca families; for example, those borne by the name of Whitfield are ornamented, with a radiated mows*