Our Doggett Coat of Arms (original)

VARIATIONS OF OUR COAT OF ARMS

THE FAMILY COATS OF ARMS

 The system of Heraldry can be traced to the beginning of the thirteenth century. The first assumer or grantee of a coat of arms took that as his own distinguishing mark.  It became hereditary in his own family, and whoever afterward uses it proclaims himself a lineal descendant from the person who first assumed it.

In the middle of the reign of Queen Elizabeth [1558-1603] the only arms for the family are reported as those used by a family of the name "Dogget" or "Doggett;" also spelled "Dogate" and Doget."

It is a maxim with the heralds that the more simple a coat of arms, the more ancient it is," and it is a maxim that eminently applies to the arms of Doggett.

 

DOGATE    Erin. on a bend sa. - three leopards' heads, argent.

DOGET       [Kent] - Erm. - on a bend sa. - three talbots' heads, erased or [another ar.].Crest - on a  chapeau  a bull collared and thereto a bell pendant, proper.

DOGET       [John Doget, merchant, London] - Two greyhounds combatant, or, collared ar., bell pendant.Crest - Unicorn's head, or.

DOGGET    [Honing, Serborne, and Wronger - Co. Norfolk] - two greyhounds salient, combatant, or collared sa. Crest - a lion's head gorged with a mural coronet, sable.

DOGGETT  [Norfolk] - Gules - two greyhound a combatant, ar­gent, collared or.

DOGGETT  Sable - two greyhounds combatant, or.

DOGGETT  Same as Doget, first named.

DAGGETT  Ar. - two greyhounds in full course, gales, col­lared, or.

DAGGETT  Or - on a chief azure, three crescents of the first. Crest - an eagle displayed charged with a bezant, gules.

DAGGETT [Roxby & Pickhill - Yorkshire] - Or - on a chief azure, three crescents.

DAGGETT [Edinburgh] - Same as last.Crest - a demi-talbot, sable-collared.

 

The "Duckett" coat of arms and crests are all entirely different from that of Doggett of Norfolk or Kent.  The greyhound which figures so prominently on the arms of "Doggett" is an animal which was not allowed to be possessed by any save the princes and nobles until only within a few years, comparatively speaking. Upon the smooth surface of the monuments that adorn the broad plains of Egypt, erected 1200 B.C., we find chiseled by the side of his royal master the form of the greyhound, which from that time to this the sportsmen of the world have associated with them in the pursuit of game.  The term "greyhound" is a corruption of the word "gazehound," signifying that it pursues its game by sight and hot by scent.  In ancient Greece and Rome he was the companion of the nobles, and no household was considered complete in all its appointments without him.

In such high esteem was this dog held by the nobles that the killing or even maiming of one was felony punishable with death.

The use of the greyhound is coursing.  The great event in coursing circles in England is the "Waterloo Cup," valued at £500, which is run for at Altear, near Liverpool, annually.

Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, in Queen Elizabeth's reign, was the first to compile a set of rules governing coursing, whereby points of merit earned in the race could be properly awarded.  Coursing has made the greyhound the dog of the "British Isles." The greyhound signifies swiftness, vigilance, fidelity.

A talbot is a kind of hound with a large snout and large, thick, hanging ears.

The crescent is frequently used to distinguish the coat armor of a second brother or junior family from that of the principal branch.