Despite my title, I don’t have a coat of arms. Apparently, there is an Elsden coat of arms, quite simple, black and white, as far as I remember the shield bit is white divided into thirds with black lines and there are three martlets. According to Wikipedia:
A martlet in English heraldry is a mythical bird without feet which never roosts and is continuously on the wing. It is a compelling allegory for continuous effort, expressed in heraldic charge depicting a stylised bird similar to a swift or a house martin, without feet.
An allegory for continuous effort… well, I’m not sure, i think I’m quite lazy and let things drift, but perhaps mentally I’m always busy.
For some reason I was thinking about a coat of arms and what I would have on it if ever I was granted one. Well, family is the most important thing to me, so maybe a single martlet to represent my Elsden family and all of the rest of my family. Maybe a small star of David somewhere to represent my great-grandfather and his ancestors My mother’s paternal line were Matthews, and St Matthew is represented as a winged man, so should a winged man be present? This coat of arms is getting crowded already!
Significant places – Cambridge, so a river, Manchester, a bee, Uphill maybe a roofless church, or maybe a dolphin to represent our local, Tasmania – an iconic animal with three to choose from, a wombat, a Tasmanian devil and a thylacine.
Significant aspects to my life – at the heart is writing, so a pen of course, even though I use a keyboard! This may seem ridiculous but I would have a spray of hops because beer is very important, in my family history, my own history, and my life. My grandfather and his father were both publicans and my dad grew up in a pub. Beer is my preferred drink and I like going to pubs. Beer was what brought me and my husband together, thirty years ago he took me to a rather nice pub with exceptional beer and within a couple of days of that first date we realised our lives were destined to be together.
This coat of arms is going to be rather busy, so maybe I need to refine my choices. I can see this is going to take some time! However, as I’m never likely to be given a coat of arms I have all the time I want to think about it!
Lois Elsden 