Page 398 - J. C. Turner - History and Science of Knots

392 History and Science of Knots

Crows Foot Knot ((1], #1895).
The Stafford Knot (74) is an Overhand Knot. One of the best known of
the heraldic knots [7][13][16], it has been the badge of the Earls of Stafford
and Dukes of Buckingham since at least 1475 [13], but now occurs also as
the badge of the Staffordshire Regiment and of the Scout County. It is used
as a charge in the arms of Staffordshire County and several towns [6] [15], in
the arms of at least two railway companies that grew up in the area, and has
recently (1960) been used in the arms of Baron Nelson of Stafford [8].
The Cavendish Knot [13] is a Figure Eight Knot (75); in the vertical
form (76) it is used, as already stated, by the house of Savoy, in what is now
southeast France, though the Prince of Savoy was for long the King of Italy.
The Harrington Knot (77) is what heralds call a fret, relatively common as
a charge or crest. Usually it is thought to represent the lattice-work reinforcing
at the back of the shield , and is often so drawn [7]. However, as the badge, it
may represent a herring net [7], a pun on the Harrington name and their home
seat at Haverington or Herrington . It has been used as a badge from the time
of Edward III, mid 14th century [21]. Sometimes it is drawn as if in rope [13].
The Friars Knot (78) is a Girth Hitch ([1], #56) on another rope. It is
another rare badge [13].
ex^

74 /77
^ J,

75 76 78 79 80 83 84
Fig. 7. More Knots as Badges
The badge of the Lords Dacre of Gilsland (79) is a complex one. The
rope portion is sometimes called a Dacre Knot [24], but in the badge it unites
an `escallop' from the Dacre arms with a `ragged staff', which may allude to
the barony of Greystock [7]. The badge is said to have been used by Thomas,
second Lord Dacre, at the Battle of Flodden Field in 1513 [21].
The badge of the Lords Hastings and Hungerford (80) is similarly complex.
The rope portion is called the Hungerford Knot; another version (81) consists
of three simple loops [7][13]. In the badge, itself sometimes called a Hastings
Knot, it unites the sickle of the Hungerfords with the garb (wheatsheaf) of the
Peverells, commemorating the marriage of the two families in the early 15th
century [7].
The Wake or Ormonde Knot [13][16] is a Carrick Bend (82). According
to tradition, it was the badge of Hereward the Wake, leader of the Saxon
resistance around Ely to the Norman invasion of William the Conqueror in