Eels

Eels

Eels. These are not very common on English Arms, and generally adopted, as will be observed by the examples, on account of the name. Neither the anguille or the congre have been observed on French arms. Eels may be represented naiant and hauriant, terms usually applied to fish; also nowed, a term which is applied to snakes, and embowed, which is applied to dolphins. The small eels are termed grigs.

Argent, three eels in pale, naiant barwise sable--Antony ELLIS, Bp. of S.David's, 1752-61.

Argent, three eels naiant in pale sable--ELLIS, Cornwall.

Argent, three eels embowed in pale sable--EALES.

Five arrows or entwined by an eel--Crest of family of ELWES, Suffolk.

A hand gauntletted grasping an eel--Crest of family of ELLEIS, Southside, Scotland, and of ELLICE, Clothall, Hertfordshire.

Argent, two eels hauriant confronty vert between two etoiles gules--ARNEEL, Scotland.

Azure, a saltier between four eels naiant or--FLEURY, Ireland.

Argent, three eels naiant in pale azure--DUCAT, Scotland.

Gules, a chevron between three grigs with tails in their mouths argent--GRIGG.

Gules, an eel nowed argent--MATHILLY.

The Conger eel, a large eel found upon the British coasts, is as frequently adopted as the eels of the rivers. The head is perhaps more frequently found in heraldry than the whole fish, and also demi-congers.

Argent, upon a pale sable, a conger's head couped and erected or--GASCOIGNE, Bedford.

Azure, three congers hauriant[also blazoned erased] or--CONGHURST.

Ermine, on a bend engrailed sable three conger-eel's heads erased argent, collared with a bar gemel gules--CLARKE, Ipswich.

Sable, three conger's heads erased and erect argent--HOTOFF, Notts.

Argent, a chevron between three conger's heads erased--CANBROOK.

A tun floating on waves between two congers respecting each other, and upon the tun a lion statant--Town Seal of CONGLETON.

Gules, on a fesse argent between three congers[or sea-dragons' heads] erased or as many trefoils slipped sable--CONGLETON, Northamptonshire.

Azure, three conger-eel's heads erased and erect or; in the mouth of each a cross crosslet fitchée of the last--Town of KING'S LYNN, Norfolk.

Argent, a chevron between three demi-congers naiant gules--SHAMBROKE.

At the same time, it should be noted that there seems to be often a confusion between lucies' heads and eels' heads, from the similarity of drawing.