Armorials. Reference sources.
Subject
Subject Source: Local sources
Scope Note: Reference works on coats of arms, heraldic bearings and devices, or the subject of armory (the devising and regulating of emblematic representations according to established convention).
Found in 47 Collections and/or Records:
Abstracts and facsimiles of Scottish armorials by William Rae Macdonald, Albany Herald (1843-1923).
Series
Identifier: Adv.MSS.53.3.1-53.3.13
Dates:
16th century-1902.
Armorial coats-of-arms of the Scottish gentry, drawn first in pencil, then inked over, a very few being partially coloured.
File
Identifier: MS.6402
Scope and Contents
At the beginning 30 folios have been left blank and the last drawings, on folio 47, have not been completed. From the watermark and the hand, the manuscript may be dated to the late 16th century; it is possibly an English production as many Scottish family names have been misspelt in a non-Scottish manner.
Dates:
Late 16th century.
Armorial of James Workman.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.31.3.5
Scope and Contents
The volume contains paintings of the arms of European rulers (folio 1), Scottish queens from St Margaret to Mary, Queen of Scots (folio 19), and Scottish nobility and gentry (folio 43). The full coats of arms are given, except for the gentry, where only their shields are shown.Former owner Sir James Balfour of Denmilne has added numerous criticisms of Workman`s inaccurate heraldry. He also identified the arms of the gentry (folio 171). These corrections were made on the...
Dates:
1st half of 17th century.
Armorial traditionally associated with Sir Robert Forman, Lord Lyon from 1555 to 1567
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.31.4.2
Scope and Contents
The manuscript is described in ‘Heraldry in relation to Scottish history and art’ (Edinburgh, 1900), pages 193-195, which suggests that it is the source of Adv.MS.34.4.16(ii). It was displayed in the Heraldic Exhibition in Edinburgh in 1891 (see ‘Memorial Catalogue’, number 691), and is closely related to both Adv.MS.31.4.3 and British Museum Harleian MS.115.The contents are as follows:(i) The royal arms (folio 2 verso).(ii) An explanation why the...
Dates:
Circa 1562.
Arms of British and foreign noblemen, drawn in trick.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.32.6.10
Scope and Contents
The manuscript, which is probably English in origin, seems to have been compiled between 1571 and 1581, since it includes the arms of Lord Burleigh (created 1571) (folio 37) and Lord Monteagle (died 1581) (folio 26 verso). There are additional notes, mostly dated 1606.The contents include the arms of English, Irish, German, Spanish, French, Scottish and Italian families, and also those of a number of European kingdoms and principalities. Not all the drawings have been completed....
Dates:
1571-1581.
Arms of the English and Scottish nobility. A collection of painted arms with genealogical notes on their holders, made by an Englishman.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.15.1.10
Scope and Contents
The collection includes the creations of 1605, but not those of 1618.
The section on English heraldry (folio 1) contains the arms of the various rulers and their nobles from William I to James I. The Scottish section (folio 104) contains the arms of the queens of Scotland from St Margaret to Anne of Denmark, followed by those of the nobility.
Dates:
Circa 1612.
Arms of the Scottish nobility, 1581, bound with leaves of another Scottish armorial dating from ca. 1645 and some heraldic fragments.
Item
Identifier: Acc.13351
Scope and Contents
The volume contains:(i) 72 numbered leaves from a disbound 16th-century armorial of the Scottish nobility, measuring ca. 27 x 20 cm. Containing the arms of the Scottish kings (nos 1-18) and coats of arms of the Scottish nobility (19-74). The entry for Mary, Queen of Scots (17) is dated 1570; that for Darnley, Earl of Lennox (23) is dated 1581. Underneath the Lindsay of Crawford arms (26) a sheet is tipped in containing three wax signets with impressions of the Earl of...
Dates:
1581 - 1645
Book on heraldry of Sir William Scott.
Item
Identifier: Acc.7363
Scope and Contents
Consisting of descriptions of the various elements of heraldry and the arms of families of Scotland.
Dates:
1692.
Coats of arms of the Nine Worthies, British and foreign royal houses, Kings of Scotland and their consorts from John Baliol to James VI, and the Scottish nobility and gentry.
File
Identifier: MS.1007
Scope and Contents
At the beginning, on different paper, is a treatise, 'Scotica Nobilitas. Per Archibaldum Harbartum. Scotum. 1602' dedicated to the Bishop of Norwich.
The volume also contains lists of nobles and notes.
Dates:
?1st quarter of 17th century.
`Collection of armorial bearings, inscriptions, etc.` made by Alexander Deuchar.
Series
Identifier: Adv.MS.32.7.1A-B
Dates:
1812-1841.
Collection of arms in trick, drawn on engraved shields, made by Sir James Balfour.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.33.2.37
Scope and Contents
The collection was compiled in the first quarter of the 17th century, with additions to 1642. The arms of the gentry are arranged alphabetically by families and are followed (folio 110 verso) by the arms of Scottish peers. On one of the end flyleaves (folio ii verso) are drawings and the blazon of the arms and crest of Viscount Montgomery of the Great Ardes, with Balfour’s signature.
Dates:
1600-1642.
Collection of English arms in trick, probably compiled as a working notebook by herald painters in London, one of whom appears to have worked with Sir Henry Saint George, Garter King of Arms.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.31.4.6
Scope and Contents
The earliest section (folio 14) includes a number of mythological coats (for example, those of Cupid and the Nine Worthies) and some of members of the nobility and gentry from 1573 onwards. Many of the later additions are dated between 1630 and 1641. There are a few pedigrees and three indices to the compilation (folios i verso, 82 verso, and 86 verso). There is also a list of arms painters authorised in England (folio 88 verso), with a note `all theas in my life time kepte open shope and...
Dates:
Late 16th century-1664.
`Collection of illuminate arms` by Etherington Martyn, in 2 volumes, containing watercolour paintings of Scottish, English and a few foreign arms.
Series
Identifier: Adv.MS.31.4.1(i)-(ii)
Scope and Contents
In an introductory note (volume 1, folio iv.), Martyn states that many of the arms were unpublished, and taken from seals, drawings, paintings and manuscript blazons; also from a manuscript collection of heraldry `purchased at Mr Cummyngs sale by a Mr Rose`. This probably refers to James Cummyng, herald painter and Lyon Clerk Depute (died 1793). Martyn sometimes gives the source for a particular coat of arms, and occasionally criticises the heraldry.
Dates:
1794.
Copy, circa 1702, with additions to 1703, of `Collections of the most remarkable accounts that relate to the families of Scotland drawn from ther own charters and other authentick writts ... with ane account of ther armes’, probably made in 1672, attributed to Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.13.2.10
Scope and Contents
The original compilation was probably made in 1672 (see Adv.MSS.32.6.1, folio 154 and 34.3.14, folio 42) and is attributed to Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh. However, an 18th-century footnote added to the title page of Adv.MS.34.3.19 states that the collection was originally compiled by Sir Patrick Lyon of Carse, and that his manuscript was copied by Mackenzie and others who made their own additions to it.
Dates:
?1672.
Copy, made in the second half of the sixteenth century, of the Hamilton Armorial.
File
Identifier: MS.10337
Scope and Contents
The outline of the shields and mantling have been painted over traced copies, and rather crude crests and supporters added. Following the armorial bearings are remarks (folio 87 verso) on surnames and forfeited arms (cf. Adv.MS.31.4.3, folios 110 and 53). These are followed (folio 89) by notes on Scottish noble families and the contemporary holders of the titles. They may be English in origin and were added after 1588 since they mention the marriage of the Earl of Huntly. There is a note...
Dates:
[?1561-?1564.]
`Crests, Mottos and Supporters of Scots Duckes, Marquises, Earles, Wiscounts and Barrons of Parliament`: descriptions by Sir James Balfour of Denmilne.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.33.2.35
Scope and Contents
The last section has not been completed, and the names of some of the barons are given without their crests and mottoes.
Dates:
1631.
`English blazonings or a colection of the armorial bearings of the whole nobility and clergie in England ... To which is added the blazons of some Scots and English coat arms`, by Robert Mylne.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.13.2.4
Scope and Contents
The first section contains the arms of contemporary nobles and clergymen. It is followed by English and Irish arms taken from:‘A Display of Heraldry’ by John Guillim (folio 39);‘A Treatise of Honour and Nobility’ by John Logan (folio 76); and,‘A Help to English History’ by Peter Heylyn (folio 96). There are some foreign arms taken from ‘Jeu d`armoiries des souverains’ by Claude Oronce Finé de Brianville (folio 105), and an index to the volume...
Dates:
1713-1714.
Genealogical and other material collected by William Camden, the antiquary.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.33.2.36
Scope and Contents
The title of the first item, `The nobilitie of Scotland ... 1606`, and some of the addenda to the genealogical tables are probably in Camden`s hand.The contents include:Genealogical trees of the royal and noble houses of Scotland, with some coats of arms drawn in trick, and additions to 1620 (folios 3, 34, 47).`The generall state of ye Scottish Commonwealth with ye causes of theire often mutinies and ther discords` (folio 38).`A Booke of...
Dates:
Early 17th century.
Heraldic collection of John Scrymgeour.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.31.5.2
Scope and Contents
The material was copied by John Scrymgeour of Myres, presumably for his own use, possibly from Adam Loutfut`s heraldic manuscript (British [Museum] Library, Harleian MS.6149). Some of the items in Loutfut`s manuscript have been omitted, and the rest occur in a different order.Loutfut`s manuscript is described in ‘The Book of the Ordre of Chyvalry’, pages xxvi-xxix. (In the following description, ‘Loutfut MS.1-19` refers to the various sections of the manuscript as listed...
Dates:
1st half of 16th century.
Heraldic collection of Sir David Lindsay.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.31.3.20
Scope and Contents
Material copied in the late 16th and early 17th centuries apparently for Sir David Lindsay of the Mount, Lord Lyon King of Arms from 1591 to 1620. It is closely related to John Scrymgeour`s manuscript (Adv.MS.31.5.2) in that some of its contents are apparently taken from Adam Loutfut`s manuscript (British [Museum] Library Harleian MS.6149), and the same order of arrangement is followed as by Scrymgeour; but there is also some additional material. Loutfut`s manuscript is described in ‘The...
Dates:
Late 16th century-early 17th century.
Heraldic collections of David and Alexander Deuchar.
Collection
Identifier: Acc.7044
Dates:
circa 1820-circa 1840.
Illustrations of heraldic terms.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.31.7.20
Scope and Contents
The manuscript includes the ordinaries and sub-ordinaries with some of their variations, and a few other charges. The beginning is missing. A later hand has added examples of the colours and metals in trick (folio 46).
Dates:
17th century.
John Sawers` Armorial, containing the arms of the Scottish nobility, mostly painted on engraved outlines.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.31.4.4
Scope and Contents
The later entries are unfinished and some are merely pencil sketches. The manuscript was shown in the Heraldic Exhibition in Edinburgh in 1891 (see ‘Memorial Catalogue’, number 60).The armorial is preceded by a printed form of charge concerning the right to bear arms, 1675 (folio ii verso) and a list of Scottish peers (folio iv). It is followed by an index and, on inverted pages 1-47, by a copy of a list of Scottish families and their arms by Thomas Craufurd,...
Dates:
1st half of 17th century.
Lindsay Armorial: the armorial register of Sir David Lindsay of the Mount, Lyon King of Arms from 1542 to 1555.
Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.31.4.3
Scope and Contents
In 1630 the armorial was formally recognised by the Privy Council as an official register and a note to that effect, signed by Sir James Balfour, Lord Lyon, and Thomas Drysdale, Islay Herald, is on folio 110 verso.The manuscript was shown in the Heraldic Exhibition in Edinburgh in 1891 (see ‘Memorial Catalogue’, number 663).The contents are as follows:(i) Latin verses on and a painting of the royal arms (folio 1 verso).(ii) Arms of mythical...
Dates:
16th century-17th century.