Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 July 1889 — The Shell of the Scallop. [ARTICLE]

The Shell of the Scallop.

The prominence of the scallop in heraldry has been mentioned. It signifies, when found in a coat-of-arms, or carven upon a mortuary monument, that the person has been a crusatder to the Hol.y Land. In the old days-it was known as St. James’ or —Sfc.Jacob’s shell, and was worn by pilgrims and crusaders, sewn to their garments or fasteiiffdupon tHeu’ stahdards. Many legends cluster about it, and allusions to it are frequent in the poetry and romance of the middle ages, while it often plays a significant part in the religious art of that day. Out of this, and its natural beauty of form, has arisen the wide adaptation of this crenulated or “scalloped” shell in decorative designs in both the painters’ and sculptors’arts:—Once a Week.