The hound or dog (also ''levrier, leverer''; French ''lévrier; dogue, chien'') is used as a

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * ''Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

in classical

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known bran ...

. In

English heraldry English heraldry is the form of coats of arms and other heraldic bearings and insignia used in England. It lies within the so-called Gallo-British tradition. Coats of arms in England are regulated and granted to individuals by the English kings o ...

, the commonly used variant are the '' talbot'', also blazoned as ''sleuth-hound'', e.g. in the arms of Wolseley of

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands C ...

, the ''

greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgenc ...

'' and ''

bloodhound The bloodhound is a large scent hound, originally bred for hunting deer, wild boar and, since the Middle Ages, for tracking people. Believed to be descended from hounds once kept at the Abbey of Saint-Hubert, Belgium, in French it is called, ...

''. Rarely seen variants are the ratch-hound, the mastiff (''alant'' or ''aland''), the foxhound, the spaniel and the terrier. The "sea-dog" is a curious charge resembling the talbot but with scales, webbed feet and a broad tail, used in the arms of Stourton barony, presumably originally depicting a

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers a ...

(as used in the

Coat of arms of Oxford The coat of arms of Oxford is the official heraldic arms of Oxford, used by Oxford City Council. While the bull is common in heraldry, in the arms of Oxford an ox, which is less common, is used. The arms is canting, showing an ox fording over wa ...

). Similar charges include the ''wolf'' and the ''fox''.

German heraldry German heraldry is the tradition and style of heraldic achievements in Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, including national and civic arms, noble and burgher arms, ecclesiastical heraldry, heraldic displays and heraldic descriptions. German her ...

distinguishes three variants of dogs: '' Windhund'' (greyhound), '' Bracke'' and ''

Rüde Rüde ( da, Ryde) is a village and a former municipality in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second m ...

'' (also '' Dogge'').J. Siebmacher's grosses und allgemeines Wappenbuch, Einleitungsband, Abteilung B: Grundsätze der Wappenkunst verbunden mit einem Handbuch der heraldischen Terminologie ( M. Gritzner). Nürnberg: Bauer & Raspe, 1889. Attitudes of the hound may be sejant, rampant, salient (its hind feet on the ground), passant (trippant), skipping, courant (sometimes blazoned "in full chase" or "in full course") or questing (i.e. pointing). The ears, tongue and claws may be in different tinctures. It is often shown gorged or collared. An early example of a blazon involving a dog (''levrier'') is that of Sir Perez Burdeux in Walford's Roll (Harley MS. 6589, c. 1275): ''porte d'or ou ung lev'er de gules, ou le collere de sable ou le bordure de sable besante dor'' (i.e.: or a hound gules collared sable, a border sable besanty or).

References

*Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, A complete guide to heraldry (1909), *Joan Corder, John Blatchly, ''A Dictionary of Suffolk Crests: Heraldic Crests of Suffolk Families'' (1998)
46ff

in James Parker, ''A Glossary of Terms used in Heraldry'' (1894), {{Heraldic creatures Heraldic beasts Mythological dogs Mythological canines

See also

References