|
The Davis Coat of Arms
The following data is extracted from Davis Family History.
A Coat of Arms is an emblem or a device which is displayed by titled (I persons, persons of royal blood, and their descendants. Coats of Arms were originally used for purposes of identification and recognition on the field of battle as well as in civil life.
It is claimed by some writers that Coats of Arms, in a crude form, were used by Noah’s sons after the flood. There are records of other Coats of Arms, in one crude form or another, at different periods of ancient history. Heraldry, however, as we know it today, did not become of much importance until soon after the invasion of England by William the Conqueror, A.D. 1066. Heraldry became of general interest at about the time of the Crusades.
The Davis Coat of Arms shown in the front of this volume is the Arms of the Davises of Northamptonshire, England. Coats of Arms very similar to it are recorded for several other branches of the Davis family. Numerous other Davis families use Coats of Arms resembling it.
This is the most widely used of all Davis Coats of Arms. It is described
in BURKE’S GENERAL ARMORY, BURKE’S LANDED GENTRY, BURKE’S PEERAGE AND BARONETAGE and other reliable works on heraldry, in some cases accompanied by illustrations. Crozier, in his GENERAL ARMORY, records it for Dolor Davis, who settled in Massachusetts, 1634, and for branches resident in Washington, D. C., Kentucky, etc. It has been used for generations by their descendants and by many other American branches of the Davis family.
table goes here
The boar’s head was once the chief dish at Christmas feasts in palace and castle. When England’s sovereigns kept Christmas of yore in their noble halls at Guilford, Eltham, Westminster or Windsor in high estate, arrayed with crown and scepter, clothed in ermine and surrounded by their wondering subjects—it was brought to their table with great ceremony. The introduction of the great dish was accompanied by music and singing……often by the song reprinted below.
“Caput Apri refero
Reddens laudes Domino.
The bore’s head in hand bring I
With garlans gay and rosemary,
I pray you all sing merrily
Qui estic convivio.
“The bore’s head, I understande
Is the chief servyce in this lande
Loke wherever it he fande
Servite cum canfico.”
So is explained the significance in the Davis Coat of Arms of the three silver boar’s heads.
Sir Bernard Burke, of Heralds College, London, said “Heraldry is prized by all who can show honorable ancestry or wish to found honorable families.”
Besides its family significance this Coat of Arms makes an excellent mural decoration and inspires the admiration and comment of all who see it.
It is quite appropriate that members of the Davis family who have a pride in their ancestry should display the family Coat of Arms, in proper colors.
Source: Davis Family History
Go Back
|
|
