Lockhart Coat of Arms

This is an example of a "canting arms", a coat of arms where the name of the object illustrated has the same sound as the name of the owner.  In this case it shows a 'lock' and a 'heart'. It is thought that this became the Lockhart coat of arms in 1330 and that prior to that their coat of arms was three boar's heads.  A heart was added to the coat of arms of the Douglas family around the same time. Robert the  Bruce had always wanted to lead a crusade against the Moors in Spain but had died before he could do so, so at his request his heart was carried into battle there by his friend Sir James Douglas.  Douglas was killed there after throwing the casket containing the heart into the thick of his enemies andleading his men in a charge  after it.  One of the knights who rescued the casket and transported it back to Scotland to be safely buried in Melrose Abbey was an Ayrshire Knight; Sir Simon Lockhart.  The heart was recently dug up and after scientists did DNA tests it was revealed that it was genuinely the heart of the great King.