Actually, there not much for me to say, at least not anything original. Recently, Dan's parents sent us a copy of the Bullock family coat of arms, and it's interesting to take note of it, from a genealogical point of view.

This is the real thing...our family's historical English coat of arms. As described in Burke's "General Armory," (1864 edition), the Bullock coat of arms is: Gules (red), a chevron between three bulls' heads cabossed argent (silver) armed gold, with a crest of 5 battle-axes tied with a line and bowknot.

Each component, of course, has meaning. The bulls' heads symbolize valour, bravery, and generosity; the chevron symbolizes protection or faithful service; and the battle-axes symbolize military duty.

The Latin inscription on the scroll. "Nil Conscire Sibi," means "Conscious of no wrong," or "To have a conscience free from guilt." I like that...especially since the only way to truly be free from guilt (since we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God) is by having a personal, saving relationship with Jesus, who paid the price for all our sins.

The copy my parents sent me is in black and white. I've colored it according to an analysis by Mary Potter of Martin and Allardyce, San Antonio, in 1962, referencing Burke's "General Armory," 1878 edition.

The original form of the coat of arms is apparently "of Essex," in England. It can be traced, in some form, to as early as 1600. There are other lines of Bullocks from England with similar coats of arms -- Faulkbourne, Berkshire, Hampshire, Norfolk, and Somersetshire -- but we're not sure which one we come down from.

We do know, however, that we can follow the Bullock family tree back to John Bullock, who in the 1600's came from England to the New World (the colonies) to live on land he was granted by the King of England (probably Charles II).

Just for fun, the Bullock (or Bulloch) name is also a sept, or branch, of the MacDonald clan in Scotland, though we have no knowledge of actual Scottish heritage in our family. Still, that was enough for Dan, when he was in Scotland in 1976, to buy some gifts with the MacDonald tartan for his family!

One of several MacDonald clan tartans

See why genealogy is fun?