The establishment of the Lyon office in Scotland consists of three Heralds, Albany, Marchmont, and Rothesay; three ordinary pursuivants, Unicorn, Carrick, and Dingwall or Kintyre; and two pursuivants extraordinary, Linlithgow and Falkland. These officers are members of the Royal Household in Scotland and wear a special uniform. The arms worn on their tabards ( Herald’s sleeveless coats ) show the lion of Scotland in the first and fourth quarters. There is also an Ormond Pursuivant who takes his name from the Castle of Ormond which was forfeited by the Douglasses on June 9th 1445. Around 1475 King James III of Scotland made his second son, James, Marquess of Ormond. The first mention of an Ormond Pursuivant occurs in 1488, as...
In Scotland the bearing of arms began around the same time period as in other feudal lands and for a long time followed a procedure similar to that elsewhere. The King instituted his own Heralds, usually giving the duty of Herald to the Royal Bard or Sennachie ( Gaelic for storyteller). The title Lyon is derived from the lion of Scotland who is seen in the Scottish royal arms ( see below). In a troubled land like Scotland where conspiracy was always simmering, and the Stuart Kings met with violent ends or led wretched lives, it is not surprising that no Visitations are recorded. Yet in Scotland the practice of Heraldry was to be put upon a firmer foundation than...
The Lord Lyon King of Arms holds his office of “King of His Most Excellent Majesty’s Armies” as an immediate fief of the Crown, and as one of the Officers of State. These were formerly classed in two categories: “ Officers of the Crown” and “ Officers of the Kingdom”. The Lord Lyon has the specialty of being both an Officer of the Crown and of the Kingdom, and it has been said of the Lord Lyon “ No Herald in Europe exercised such powers of jurisdiction, was vested with such high dignity, or possessed so high a rank. In his armorial jurisdiction, Lyon stands in the place of the King.” The Lord Lyon is one of the five high...
Heraldry in Scotland is practiced very differently to elsewhere in the British Isles. Whereas there has been for hundreds of years a state of heraldic lawlessness in England, the Scotsman knows perfectly well that he must abide by the strictly enforced laws of Heraldry. Since time immemorial Heraldry in Scotland has been overseen by the Lord Lyon of Arms. Nobody knows exactly when this office dates from but it has it’s origin in the Scottish sennachie’s, royal bards or storytellers of Scottish King’s which predated the practice of Heraldry. The Lord Lyon, the equivalent of the Garter King of Arms in England, derives his office and functions from the High Sennachie whose duty it was to recite at the Coronation...
