HERALDRY
Courtesy of Robert C Scudder
_The Visitations of Kent taken in the Years of 1574 & 1592 by Robert Cooke, Clarenceux, edited by W. Bruce Bannerman, F.S.A., Member of the Council of the Kent Archaeological Society, published by the Harleian Society, London 1924. notes at the foot of page 69:
Scudder
ARMS:- Gules on a fess or three pellets, in chief as many cinquefoils or.
CREST:- A fox statant per fess or and gules.
Scudder of Northcray
The Heraldic Ledger Stones at the churches of St. Mary at Fawkham and St. Peter and St. Paul, Ash, both in Kent, bear a depiction of these arms and crest, but the crest differs slightly in that the fox is shown as passant and resting on a laurel wreath.
Scudder
ARMS:- Gules on a fess or three pellets, in chief as many cinquefoils or.
CREST:- A fox statant per fess or and gules.
Scudder of Northcray
The Heraldic Ledger Stones at the churches of St. Mary at Fawkham and St. Peter and St. Paul, Ash, both in Kent, bear a depiction of these arms and crest, but the crest differs slightly in that the fox is shown as passant and resting on a laurel wreath.
_Investigations carried out at The College of Arms in 1992 by P. Ll.
Gwynn-Jones, M.A., Lancaster Herald revealed that the Armorial Bearings
were officially entered at the Visitation of the County of Kent, carried
out by Robert Cooke, Clarenceux King of Arms (1567-93), in 1574.
These same Armorial Bearings may be blazoned as:-
Gules (red) on a fess or (gold) three roundels** sable
in chief three cinquefoils ***argent (silver)
These same Armorial Bearings may be blazoned as:-
Gules (red) on a fess or (gold) three roundels** sable
in chief three cinquefoils ***argent (silver)
_
Fox Passant*
and for the Crest:-
A fox passant per fess or and gules.
Unfortunately no pedigree was entered in 1574, nor even a Christian name, only the designation North Cray. Neither has there been any subsequent registration for any person or family named.
Cooke was responsible for numerous grants of Arms during the last 30 years of the 16th Century, and the Arms and Crest are typical of a Cooke grant. Unfortunately, he was not always as punctilious at keeping a record of his activities as might have been wished. Extensive searches in unofficial document collections at the College of Arms failed to reveal anything further.
In 1595 William Segar, Portcullis in the time of Cooke, wrote of him, then lately deceased, that he 'confirmed & gave Armes and Creastes without nomber to base and unworthy persons for his private gaine onely without the knowledge of the Erle Marshall', leaving no record of such grants either in the office or with the Earl Marshall 'to the great wrong of the sayd Office, and her highnes displeasure for the making of so many unworthy persons gents. Insomoche as her Majesty said to this Clarencieulx Lee, that yf he proved no better than the other; yt made no matter yf he were hanged.'
Apparently he once proclaimed Elizabeth 'so ignorantly and unseemly' at Greenwich that she censured him thus "He can neither sing well nor say." William Smith, Rouge Dragon (1597-1618) attributed Cooke's erroneous pedigrees chiefly to want of learning, 'for how can he sett doune any trew matter of Antiquity: who cannot either read or understand an ancient Record or piece of evidence'. The Heralds of England.
It must be said that few Tudor Officials were averse to lining their pockets, indeed Courtiers were probably forced into accepting bribes in order to survive financially in this age of extravagant ostentation and outrageous expenditure to gain favour with a fickle Queen Elizabeth. Therefore these descriptions of Cooke may be the result of petty jealousies, easily raised against him after his death.
In the case of the Scudders of North Cray he has left a record albeit a rather incomplete one, whether they were given to 'base' persons we cannot say, but as Arms can be 'bought' by any family or organisation for payment of a fee in the present day such censure seems somewhat unfair.
However, in view of the lack of registration of any persons entitled to bear arms since 1574, it would seem that those buried beneath the heraldic ledger stones at Fawkham, John Scudder 1658-1728/9, and Ash, Thomas Scudder 1644-1726, were not entitled to do so. It was apparently very common in the 18th Century for wealthy Families to take the Arms of a family of the same name, without being able to prove male descent as required by The College of Arms. Further investigations of Parish Registers etc. have shown that it is unlikely that the Stanstead and Fawkham Scudders (Skudders) were descended from those of North Cray, though that is not to say that all Scudders are not entitled to bear the Arms, which should under normal rules be subject to the rules of Cadence (that no two persons should bear the same arms so that slight variations occur in each descent).
We have been unable to identify to whom the Arms were granted in 1574, unfortunately the North Cray Parish Registers do not show any Scudder baptisms prior to that of a Clement Skodder on 8th April 1560, and it is therefore likely that the arms were granted to his father. A Henrye Scudder was buried on 2nd December 1621, who could possibly be the grantee, but it is more likely that this was the burial of a Henrye baptised in the August of that same year.
The Scudder motto "NUNQUAM NON PARATUS", Never Unprepared, has been used by the Scudder Association, but we have been unable to find any published record of such an attribution; mottoes, however, can be adopted by persons or institutions as they wish. This motto has been recorded as having been used by the following families and organisations:-
Betton, Carleton, Lords Derwent (Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone), English and American Insurance Co. Ltd., Gibbs, Johnson, Johnston, Johnstone, Keegan, Knight, Kerrick, Lords Luke (Johnston), Shaw of Shaw Place, Skinner, Stewart-Stevens, Stoney, Lord Webb-Johnson, 2 Sq. RAF Regt.
* Fox Passant - The symbol of one that will use sagacity, wit and wisdom in his own defence.
*** Cinqufoils - a five-leafed flower signifying hope and joy
** Pellets or Roundels - representing shot or cannon balls.
Simon Skudder
April 1993.
A fox passant per fess or and gules.
Unfortunately no pedigree was entered in 1574, nor even a Christian name, only the designation North Cray. Neither has there been any subsequent registration for any person or family named.
Cooke was responsible for numerous grants of Arms during the last 30 years of the 16th Century, and the Arms and Crest are typical of a Cooke grant. Unfortunately, he was not always as punctilious at keeping a record of his activities as might have been wished. Extensive searches in unofficial document collections at the College of Arms failed to reveal anything further.
In 1595 William Segar, Portcullis in the time of Cooke, wrote of him, then lately deceased, that he 'confirmed & gave Armes and Creastes without nomber to base and unworthy persons for his private gaine onely without the knowledge of the Erle Marshall', leaving no record of such grants either in the office or with the Earl Marshall 'to the great wrong of the sayd Office, and her highnes displeasure for the making of so many unworthy persons gents. Insomoche as her Majesty said to this Clarencieulx Lee, that yf he proved no better than the other; yt made no matter yf he were hanged.'
Apparently he once proclaimed Elizabeth 'so ignorantly and unseemly' at Greenwich that she censured him thus "He can neither sing well nor say." William Smith, Rouge Dragon (1597-1618) attributed Cooke's erroneous pedigrees chiefly to want of learning, 'for how can he sett doune any trew matter of Antiquity: who cannot either read or understand an ancient Record or piece of evidence'. The Heralds of England.
It must be said that few Tudor Officials were averse to lining their pockets, indeed Courtiers were probably forced into accepting bribes in order to survive financially in this age of extravagant ostentation and outrageous expenditure to gain favour with a fickle Queen Elizabeth. Therefore these descriptions of Cooke may be the result of petty jealousies, easily raised against him after his death.
In the case of the Scudders of North Cray he has left a record albeit a rather incomplete one, whether they were given to 'base' persons we cannot say, but as Arms can be 'bought' by any family or organisation for payment of a fee in the present day such censure seems somewhat unfair.
However, in view of the lack of registration of any persons entitled to bear arms since 1574, it would seem that those buried beneath the heraldic ledger stones at Fawkham, John Scudder 1658-1728/9, and Ash, Thomas Scudder 1644-1726, were not entitled to do so. It was apparently very common in the 18th Century for wealthy Families to take the Arms of a family of the same name, without being able to prove male descent as required by The College of Arms. Further investigations of Parish Registers etc. have shown that it is unlikely that the Stanstead and Fawkham Scudders (Skudders) were descended from those of North Cray, though that is not to say that all Scudders are not entitled to bear the Arms, which should under normal rules be subject to the rules of Cadence (that no two persons should bear the same arms so that slight variations occur in each descent).
We have been unable to identify to whom the Arms were granted in 1574, unfortunately the North Cray Parish Registers do not show any Scudder baptisms prior to that of a Clement Skodder on 8th April 1560, and it is therefore likely that the arms were granted to his father. A Henrye Scudder was buried on 2nd December 1621, who could possibly be the grantee, but it is more likely that this was the burial of a Henrye baptised in the August of that same year.
The Scudder motto "NUNQUAM NON PARATUS", Never Unprepared, has been used by the Scudder Association, but we have been unable to find any published record of such an attribution; mottoes, however, can be adopted by persons or institutions as they wish. This motto has been recorded as having been used by the following families and organisations:-
Betton, Carleton, Lords Derwent (Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone), English and American Insurance Co. Ltd., Gibbs, Johnson, Johnston, Johnstone, Keegan, Knight, Kerrick, Lords Luke (Johnston), Shaw of Shaw Place, Skinner, Stewart-Stevens, Stoney, Lord Webb-Johnson, 2 Sq. RAF Regt.
* Fox Passant - The symbol of one that will use sagacity, wit and wisdom in his own defence.
*** Cinqufoils - a five-leafed flower signifying hope and joy
** Pellets or Roundels - representing shot or cannon balls.
Simon Skudder
April 1993.
Armorial Inscriptions
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