Quote Originally Posted by davidlpope View Post
Just an observation- why not have them more simply:

Per chevron azure and or, two swans ("wings addorsed and inverted" if you really want to...)proper in chief and in base a lymphad sable.

Lyon can then difference them as necessary without the final result being overly busy...
Those would be the "undifferenced arms" - but, with the number of generations between me and the ancestor for whom I would be petitioning a grant of arms, I don't think there's any way to make it less complicated.

That, and I am fascinated by cadency (particularly the Stodart System), and wanted to try my hand at it.

To illustrate the number of differences required, here's the basic genealogical breakdown:

My father is a second son.
My grandfather was a fifth son.
My great-grandfather was a first son.
My great-great grandfather was born in Scotland and was the son of the daughter of the supposed cheifly heir and G. Swan.

So, my great-grandfather would inherit the undifferenced arms.
My grandfather's arms would be differenced by making the line of partition castellated.
My father's arms would be differenced by a bordure Or, which would become chequy or counter-compony azure and or if part of the field is Or.

That's really the most aesthetically-pleasing (and appropriate) way that I could come up with to show the differences.