Heraldry has forever intrigued me. The colour. The majesty. My nostalgic passion is so intense I cannot but fear it is dangerous or illicit. I suspect no matter who you are, there is a heraldic symbol for the family name. Early in my life – though pointedly most likely following the advent of technology enabling internet searches – I discovered a heraldic symbol of my own. It was not something to have painfully pursued in a real book or encyclopedia. I employed the discovery when commissioning a signet ring through Birks, Ottawa. To my entire astonishment I subsequently learned that the engraving of the crest was done by Chapman Bros. Ltd., Jewellers, 261 Yonge St (downtown Yonge east), Toronto. The building (now a listed heritage building) was constructed in 1910. The architect was Benjamin Chapman; the builder W. F. Lewis. The jewellery business began in 1874. To my knowledge I have no affiliation with that branch of the family. Nonetheless I succeed to extract familial worth from the name alone.
Heraldry has penetrated my life in other ways too. Though it is certainly not uncommon to learn of Scottish or Irish heritage in Lanark County (where I live), it wasn’t until my acquaintance with the late Bruce Robert Henderson Monteith that, through a somewhat convoluted process, I joined the Fraser Highlanders, Montréal.
Bruce passed away at the Great War Memorial Hospital in Perth on July 6, 2023. He was cherished by his partner and best friend of 20 years – Isabel Anne McRae. He is predeceased by his parents Katherine and Alex and brother Andrew. He was loved by Anne’s children – Ronnie, Coralee (Blake) and Johnny Leroux and grandchildren Octavia, Ben, Beckett, Silver Rose, and Johnny. He will be missed by all the hearts he touched through his music, golf, community contributions and public service. Our sincerest thanks to Dr. Matthew Tiffany, Perth Community Care, the staff at the Perth Hospital A Celebration of Life will be held at the Legion Branch 192 – Carleton Place, Ontario at 2:00 p. m. on September 30, 2023. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a memorial donation to: Champions for Kids Foundation – UCDSB or the Legion Branch 192, Carleton Place, Ontario.
The initiation of the more active participation in highland affairs was however through the local office of the Lanark Highlanders of which I recall Bruce was the originator and naturally the company commander. Our membership was entirely from Lanark County (including the current Member of Parliament Scott Reid).
Scott Jeffrey Reid MP is a Canadian politician. He has served in the House of Commons of Canada since 2000, and currently represents the Ontario riding of Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston as a member of the Conservative Party.
Reid was born in Hull, Quebec. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science and a Master of Arts in Russian history from Carleton University in Ottawa, and has written on federalism and the Canadian constitution. He was raised in his father’s Unitarian church, and remains a member of that faith. His mother is Jewish. Reid lives in Perth with his wife, Robyn Mulcahy. He separated from his earlier spouse, Lynda Cuff–Reid, early in 2013. Reid also serves on the board of directors of Giant Tiger Stores Ltd., a family-owned business founded by his father, Gordon Reid, in the By Ward Market, Ottawa.
The association with the Fraser Highlanders introduced us to the sanctum sanctorum of the Ottawa Hunt Club where we dined with Grete Hale (of Morrison Lamothe Bakeries fame) and others of similar ilk. Though we ventured to Montréal on occasion, most often we (that is, the Lanark Highlanders) preferred the familiarity of rural sojourns along the Mississippi River where, for example, we rallied in the Village of Pakenham atop the ancient Centennial Restaurant (itself a notable product of the Stewart family).
Ottawa is paying respects to Grete Hale, the Ottawa business leader and philanthropist, who passed away at the age of 93 late last month. Hale, one of the famous Ottawa Morrison sisters, helped transform Ottawa into the world capital it has become, with a profound impact on everything she became involved with. Hale was the chairman emeritus of Morrison Lamothe Inc., one of Ottawa’s oldest businesses that started out as a baking and catering company in 1933. She was named to the Order of Canada in 2006. She was also the first woman to become honorary colonel of the Governor General’s foot guards. Grete comes from a pioneer family whose great great grandfather arrived in this area in 1818 to work for his uncle Philemon Wright, the founder of what is now called Gatineau.
By coincidence many years before I had had the pleasure of the company of Arthur Pigott (Hale’s brother-in-law) at the Château Laurier health club.
heraldry,
the science and the art that deal with the use, display, and regulation of hereditary symbols employed to distinguish individuals, armies, institutions, and corporations. Those symbols, which originated as identification devices on flags and shields, are called armorial bearings. The evidence strongly suggests that heraldry as we now recognize it began in the early 12th century, largely because of the development at that time of helmets that covered and concealed the face of the wearer.
Knights in battle – and more importantly in the mock warfare of the tournament – started identifying themselves by painting devices on their shields. These devices were shortly extended to the surcoats worn over armour (hence the “coat” in “coat of arms”), to the bardings of warhorses and even to the clothing of wives.
A little later, it became customary for Knights to attach devices to the tops of the “great helms”, worn mainly in tournaments, and these additional identifying symbols became known as “crests” as depicted in the image on the left.
The shield and crest combined (together with a number of other elements discussed below), made up what came to be known as the “heraldic achievement” – or just simply the “coat of arms”.