|
Following
the 2001 Matriculation
of the armiger’s Irish
Arms at Lyon Court by
Lord Lyon Blair they
were re-granted as Scots
Arms along with
recognition of the
Territorial Designation
“of Toberchurn.” The
arms are differenced
from the Boswell Arms
recorded in volume one
of the Register which
are those used in
Scotland since at least
the 15th century.
The armiger’s paternal
ancestor, John Boswell,
a younger son of the
Boswells of Balmuto in
Fife, left the country
about 1650 (some say
post-haste) following
the English Civil War.
First travelling to the
Netherlands, where his
cousin was King Charles’
(I then II) ambassador,
he met and married his
wife, Marie, and they
took ship for the
Colonies. The family
settled in Charles
County, Maryland. True
or apocryphal, family
tradition has it that in
1660, upon the
Restoration of Charles
II, John announced to
Marie that they were
returning to Fife, to
which she is said to
have replied, “Sir, if
you think I am putting
myself and our children
on a ship for weeks at a
time so that you may
return to being a
younger son, you may
think again, Sir!”
Wisely, he thought
again.
The armiger’s maternal
grand parents came to
the United States from
County Tipperary in 1900
and settled in New
Haven, Connecticut. Her
maiden name was Hyland,
which in Gaelic means
'wolf', so the design of
the shield reflects the
matronymic by the
substitution of the
wolf's head for the
middle cinquefoil which
otherwise would appear.
A further difference is
the cottising Gules of
the fess, which is
reflective of the
armiger’s American
heritage. The "double
belting" of the cottise
is indicative both of
his military office as a
colonel in the Air
Force, and of his public
office as Mayor of Glen
Osborne, Pennsylvania.
The crest and motto used
by most armigerous
Boswells have been
retained, a peregrine
falcon being appropriate
as the mascot of the
United States Air Force
Academy, which the
armiger attended, and
evocative of flight
generally.
This rendition of Arms
is by Romilly Squire.
|
