By clicking the following links, you may see several of the design concepts Master Lance toyed with before deciding on the final design [Index | Next Page] This is a variation of a complete Armorial with Arms, Crest, Helm and Mantling, but without the motto, “Gaef me blæd and blysse and si∂a gesunda” (Give me bright fruits, bliss, and good health/adventure)
The shield includes the Oak Tree representing the Anglo-Saxon "Holt" or wooded glen/knopf with a red (gules) cat in its boughs. Lady Ellen and I are fierce cat people and many of the examples of Hughes armorials use the symbol of a gold (Or) Lion Rampant on their red (gules) shields and so we've made our feline red (gules) as well to honor the Hughes name and household. I have faced the treed cat in a Sinister direction (statant repassant guardant) to symbolize a little “Loki” or “trickster” nature. As a Crest, I have chosen to keep the feline but in a passant guardant position and of a golden hue (Or). I was going to use the Wolf somewhere either as a crest or on the shield as a symbol of nature and the forest. In Irish Gaelic, “MacTiré” (my nickname since High School) means literally “Son of the Country” and so it seemed perfect for a last name that describes a location in the natural world, as well as the environmentally conscious free spirits that Ellen and I obviously are, but in the end, simplicity won out and so the cat remains our badge.The field is simply a par bend of green (Vert) and gold (Or).
