Matheson Collection > Macleods of Dunvegan from the time of Leod to the end of the seventeenth century

2i6 THE MACLEODS OF DUN VEGAN
1582 and 1584. It shows the castle triple towered on the
shield, and lions as supporters which bear swords in their
paws. There is no crest or motto. There is, however, a
helmet above the shield. This is not an esquire's helmet, as
might be expected, but it is of the peculiar form allotted to
princes and nobles (see Boutell's Heraldry, page 129). It is
set in profile and shows five bars. From this I gather that
in the sixteenth century Highland Chiefs, though they were
not peers of Parliament, were regarded as nobles, and entitled
to bear the helmet allotted to that class.
In Stoddart's seventeenth-century armorial, the helmet is
an esquire's helmet. A crest is added, a bull's head between
two flags, and a motto ' be hald fast.'
I imagine that, if the other armorials which give the MacLeod
arms were examined, it would be found that in them also the
castle, and the castle alone, was assigned to the family of Dun-
vegan as their anns. But there is one remarkable exception.
In a book called the ' Gentlemen's Book,' which dates from
the early seventeenth century, a coat of amis is given which
shows that by the time it was compiled some knowledge of
the anns borne in ancient times had reached the heralds in
Edinburgh, and had been accepted by them as reliable
evidence.
I have not a photograph of this coat, but I can give a
description of it. A castle is in the first quarter, a lion ram-
pant in the second, the lymphad in the third. The last
quarter is coloured azure, but there is no device upon it. As
the arms in the first three quarters tally with those on Sir
Rorj^'s gourd and plate, we may assume that it was intended
to paint in a stag's head.
This is valuable confirmation of the evidence given under
the first source of infonnation.
HI. The Evidence from the List of Matriculations
IN THE Lyon Office
I have searched Sir J. Balfour Paul's book, and the only
matriculation made by MacLeod of Dun vegan was in 1753.
The blazon of arms then given is preserved at Dun vegan.