NPPF (Commentary) Heraldry

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http://www002.upp.so-net.ne.jp/saitou/parker/index.htm

Crined, (fr. chevelé): used with respect to the hair of a man's head, or the
mane of a horse when of another tincture.

Or, (fr. from Latin aurum): the chief of the tinctures, i.e. gold. It is
called Sol by those who blazon by the sun and planets, Topaz(or Carbuncle)
by those who have fancifully taken the names of precious stones. Engravers
represent it by an indefinite number of small points. The term Gold is not
unfrequently used by heralds to avoid repetition, and the French word Jaune,
i.e. yellow, is met with in old heraldic poetry.

Mermaid, (fr. siréne): composed of the upper half of a woman(with
dishevelled hair) joined to the lower half of a fish. It occurs but very
seldom as a charge upon true English arms. The Siren seems to be only
another name for the mermaid.

Argent, a mermaid gules, crined or, holding a mirror in her right hand, and
a comb in her left, both gold--ELLIS, Lancashire.
    Vert, three mermaids two and one, each holding comb and mirror
or--WOLLSTONECRAFT, Essex and London, granted 1765.
    Azure, a siren with comb and glass argent within a bordure indented
gules--French family of POISSONNIERE.

A mermaid is found on the Seal of Sir William Bruvire, or Bruere, temp.
Richard I., and probably had its origin in the tales told by travellers who
joined in the crusades.
    Mermaids occur frequently as supporters; e.g. to the arms of the Burgh
of MONTROSE, as also as crests, e.g. of Lord BYRON; and Sir John WALLOP,
temp. Henry VIII., who bore a black mermaid with golden hair.
    The German family of DIE ERSTENBERGER bear as their crest a mermaid, but
with wings instead of arms.

Deer: the term deer(fr. daim, old fr. deym) is seldom used is blazoning, but
it is convenient to employ it here as a general name under which to group
several of the family of Cervido. First and most common is the stag
itself(fr. cerf), but other names appear, frequently representing varieties
of stags, and in some cases evidently used for the sake of the name, rather
than for any difference which could be shewn in the drawing. They are Hart,
Buck, Roe, Roebuck, Doe, Fawn, Hind(fr. biche), Brocket. The Brocket is a
young stag up to two years, or(according to some authors) to three years,
old; it becomes a Buck in its sixth year. With them may be classed the
Reindeer(fr. renchier), which heralds distinguish from the stag by double
attires, one pair erect, the other pendent, as shewn in the diagram in the
margin.

Proper, (fr. au naturel): when a charge is borne of its natural colour it is
said to be proper; the word is sometimes used also as to shape, when there
is a conventional or heraldic form of the charge, and when the natural form
has to be adopted. It is not good blazon to say a rose proper in regard to
tincture, because some roses are red and others white, and the same remark
will apply to any object whose colour varies at different times, or in
different examples.

Birds. The birds, as will be seen by the Table in the Appendix, are as
varied in their names as the Beasts, though it is doubtful if the same
variety could be detected in the actual emblazonment of the arms. As in the
case of the beasts, in the ancient rolls of arms comparatively few varieties
of Birds occur, and further the arms in which birds appear are not to be
compared in number with those in which the beasts occur, amongst which the
lion and leopard are so general. The little martlet is the most frequent,
which is the Roll of Henry III., referred to under Beasts, occurs in eight
coats of arms, the eagle in two, the popinjay in two, the raven, heron, and
cock respectively in one coat. And if we go further through the same rolls
before referred to, viz. Edw. I., II., and III., though the number of arms
bearing the above is considerably increased, we add only two additional
names to the list, the falcon, and pinzon.
    But in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and more especially in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the list becomes swollen to over one
hundred varieties at least in name. For it will be observed that in very
many cases the name is adopted for the sake of the pun, and often a mere
local name is given, such as the beckit for A'BECKET, and the like.