St Catherine's Wheel

 Today is the feastday of St Catherine of Alexandria, one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. The famous wheel of her martyrdom appears on many coats of arms worldwide but seems in Scottish Heraldry to be farely rare.

In Volume One of the PRAABS (The Lyon Register) we find two very constrasted brothers, the sons of Rev Patrick Turner, Minister of Dalkeith. The elder, the bloodthirsty soldier Sir James Turner (1615-1686), of whom Daniel Defoe wrote: “ It is impossible to give the details of the cruelties and inhuman usage the poor people suffered from this butcher, for such he was rather than a soldier.” bore:

There is, as usual, no exemplification of the arms in Volume One so here is a rough sketch:

His brother, Rev Archibald Turner (1629-1681) , Minister of St Giles, matriculated the same arms with a crescent for difference. 

When in 1886 Sir William Turner, then Professor of Anatomy, later Principal of Edinburgh University, matriculated arms he used the Catherine Wheel and three drops of blood, now guttés de sang in a different arrangement, he also changed the motto but kept the heart crest:

 

In 1956, Major General William Turner, a grandson of Principal Turner through his second son with issue, matriculated again with a bordure Gules:

Another use of the Catherine wheel is in the arms granted in 1784 to James Coulthard of Scotby, Cumbria: Sable three Catherine wheels Argent.

From the Lyon Register One Hundred Years ago

 From the Lyon Register one hundred years ago, the splendid arms of Arthur Hope Drummond Dickson (November 1925). The probable artist is Graham Johnston who was Herald Painter at the time. The diapering in the chief is particularly fine:

Argent three mullets Gules a chief Azure within a bordure engrailed Ermines charged with three lions'heads erased of the Second langed of the Third.

Sir William Keir Grant

 General Sir William Keir Grant, KCB, GCH (né Keir) (1771-1852) was granted arms in 1804.

Here firstly is his grant, in volume 2 of the Public Register 1804:

for clarity I have transcribed the entry:

Keir Grant Sir William of Blackburn Knight of the Imperial and Military Order of Maria Theresa in Germany the ensigns of which he is allowed to bear by Special Permission of His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland bears Quarterly first and fourth Gules a cinquefoil Argent between three antique crowns Or for Grant as being Heir of Entail for the deceased Grant of Blackburn; second Argent on a cross engrailed Sable cantoned with four roses Gules three lozenges Or for Keir; third Argent a saltier (sic) and chief with a mullet in the dexter chief point Or, all within a border (sic) indented of the Second to show descent of his mother who was Heiress of David Bruce of Wester Kinloch Esquire. In surtout a medal or charged with a profile of Francis II Emperor of Germany with the legend "Imp. Caesar Franciscus II., P. F. Aug." which knighthood of the Imperial and Military Order of Maria Theresa in Germany and medal were conferred on the said Sir William Keir Grant for his Gallant Conduct in bravely repulsing (along with several other officers and the Fifteenth regiment of Light Dragoons) the right wing of the French army by which means the Emperor was personally saved from being made prisoner by the French 24th April 1794. On the obverse of this Medal is this inscription "Forte Brittanno in exercitu foed ad Cameracum [Cambrai] XXIV April MDCCXCIV. Crest and Arm in armour embowed grasping a sword all proper. Motto Fortitudine.      

At the time of the Napoleonic Wars, it was not uncommon to place military medals on the arms themselves, as opposed to dangling beneath them but it seems rather a work of supererogation to include in the blazon a description of the invisible obverse of the medal.  

According to wikipedia,  Only nine of these medals were struck, one being given to each of the eight British officers present, and the ninth placed in the Imperial Museum, Vienna. The officers were also made knights of the Military Order of Maria Theresa, which, as in the case of other foreign orders of chivalry previous to 1814, carried the rank of a knight-bachelor in England and other countries. It also gave the recipient the rank of baron in Austria. 

Not sure about the equivalent rank business ......

Scotland Qualifies for the World Cup

  Congratulations to the Scottish football team on a glorious victory last night against Denmark and thus qualifying to play in next year's World Cup.

Arms of the Scottish Football Association

Swearing-in of Kintyre Pursuivant Extraordinary

 This evening, the Lord Lyon held a Head Court in Court One of the Court of Session during which he administered the oath of office to Susan Flintoff VR, Kintyre Pursuivant Extraordinary.

Portrait of Rothesay Herald

 A portrait depicting Rothesay Herald, Sheriff George Way of Plean CStJ was unveiled today at Edinburgh's New Club. The painter was Mark Dennis, Advocate, Armorist, former Ross Herald Extraordinary and the designer and creator of the Elizabeth Sword.

The frame is ensigned with a small shield of Plean's coat of arms, painted by Nina Macpherson. The second quarter cotains the arms of the late Romilly Squire, granted to Plean as arms of affection.

Mull of Kintyre

 Kintyre Pursuivant Extraordinary, Susan Flintoff VR was presented by Mark Dennis with a Scottish snuff mull engraved by Dario Batzella bearing her badge of office as Kintyre - thus creating a mull of Kintyre, the last having been created some 425 million years ago.

Lyon in New York

 The 70th Annual Dinner of the American-Scottish Foundation was held in the University Club, New York. The Lord Lyon was presented with the 2025 Wallace Award for promoting Scottish/American relations. Guest of Honour was the Foundation's Patron The Duke of Hamilton and Brandon.

Lyon made an FRSE

 At the Annual Statutory meeting of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the President Prof Sir Anton Muscatelli inducted new Fellows and witnessed them signing the Roll Book. The Lord Lyon was one of the new Fellows.

Glasgow 1938

 Glasgow School of Art lecturer Miss G. Goldie Kitten at work on Shields of Towns and Masonic & Clan Societies, April 1938. 

The full caption from 1938 reads: "Miss G. Goldie Kitten of Woodside Terrace, lecturer in Heraldry at the Glasgow School of Art, at work on Shields of Towns and Masonic & Clan Societies, to be displayed in the Scottish Pavilion of the Empire Exhibition"

Bishops Conference of Scotland

  The Lord Lyon has granted arms to the Bishops Conference of Scotland, chaired by Bishop John Keenan of Paisley. Lyon presented the letters patent to Most Reverend Leo Cushley, Metropolitan Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh. The artist is Clare McCrory, Herald Painter.

Azure on a saltire Argent two bishops' croziers in saltire Gules and in chief a martlet Or all within a tressure Gules. Behind the shield is set a Celtic bishop's cross Or.

l to r: Archbishop Nolan of Glasgow, Bishop Toal of Motherwell, Bishop Dougan of Galloway, Bishop McGhee of Argyll, Bishop Keenan of Paisley, Bishop McKenzie of Dunkeld, Bishop Gilbert OSB of Aberdeen, Archbishop Cushley of St Andrews & Edinburgh

New Chief of Clan Ewing

 Tonight the Lord Lyon accompanied by Rothesay Herald attended the inauguration of Thor Ewing as Chief of the Name and Arms of Ewing at historic Riddles Court on the Royal Mile of Edinburgh.

Distinguished Fellowship for Lyon

 The Lord Lyon has been elected a Distinguished Fellow of the American College of Heraldry.