RICHMOND (Yorkshire).

RICHMOND (Yorkshire). Gules, an ode argent, over all a bend ermine.

Recorded in the College of Arms. Upon the seal bearing the above coat the escutcheon is surmounted by a crowned rose. This is frequently quoted as a crest, the rose gules crowned or, and is so given in Burke's " General Armory." For the following very interesting description of the common seal I am indebted to the Town-Clerk : — "The Common Seal, which is doubtless the oldest of all, and which can be traced back as far as the earliest grants, is the effigy of a venerable old man, with a long beard and a glory round his head, placed in a canopied shrine or tabernacle of Gothic structure, his cloak closed at the neck but thrown open before by his hands, which disclose a crucifix hanging from his neck. On the dexter side of the tabernacle-work in which he is enshrined are the Arms of France and England quartered, and on the sinister those of John I., Earl of Richmond, chequers or and azure, a canton ermine ; which seems to fix the time of its being first used as a badge of incorporation to the year 1268, when John confirmed their privileges. Round it in black letter, ' Sigillum . Co'e. Burgensiu' . Richmond.'"

Original Source bookofpublicarms00foxd_djvu.txt near line 21641.