Tom set to work to think out the coat of arms. By and by he said he'd struck so many good ones he didn't hardly know which to take, but there was one which he reckoned he'd decide on. He says:
"On the scutheon we'll have a bend or in the dexter base, a saltire murrey
in the fess, with a dog, couchant, for common charge, and under his foot a chain
embattled, for slavery, with a chevron vert in a chief engrailed, and three
invected lines on a field azure, with the nombril points rampant on a dancette
indented; crest, a runaway nigger, sable with his bundle over his shoulder on
a bar sinister; and a couple of gules for supporters, which is you and me; motto,
Maggiore fretta, minore atto. Got it out of a book--means the more haste the
less speed."
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Samuel Clemens' coat of arms by Tiffany and Co.
Photo courtesy of Dave Thomson
Quotations | Newspaper Articles | Special Features | Links | Search