History of Scottish Seals from the Eleventh to the Seventeenth Century (Volume 2); With Upwards of Two Hundred Illustrations Derived from the Finest and Most Interesting Examples Extant (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1907. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... Seals Of Monastic Orders, Monasteries, Religious Houses, Colleges, And Ecclesiastical Institutions. THE seals of monastic establishments in Scotland, as in England and other countries, do not follow any strict conventional pattern. Their form may be circular, or of the shape known as pointed oval, or vesical, a very beautiful geometrical figure produced by two segments of circles meeting at an acute angle, and resulting in a shuttle-shaped form arising from the combination of the two equal segments of circles with diameter of the same length. Some see in this figure a fanciful resemblance to a fish, which is the emblem attributed by the mystics and ecclesiologists to our Lord, because the initial letters of the five Greek words which, when translated, signify " Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour," may be written together to form one other Greek word, meaning a fish, I. x . e . T . z; 64 in Latin characters, Ichthys. The designs found generally on seals of this class consist of representations of events in the life of our Lord, of the Divine personages, of saints, with or without their emblems, and emblems without their respective saints, of heraldic and armorial groups, and of a large variety of other appropriate conceptions. The Virgin Mary and the Divine Child, Jesus, with or without attendant angels, form a group which is perhaps more constant in its occurrence than any other; and it is not unreasonable to expect this, as the Blessed Virgin stood in the relation of patroness to so many ecclesiastical foundations, as well in Scotland as in other Catholic countries. Not only does this design occur in many of the "Common Seals " of such institutions, but the principal officers who either held perpetual seals of office, or personal seals ceasing to...