Deer

The deer is frequently encountered in heraldry but is usually blazoned specifically as buck, stag, hart, etc.

Zoologically, deer have different names according to their age and species. The antlers, which only the males have, develop into the familiar tree in stages from the incipient horns of the fawn or calf through the growth of further branches or tine until full maturity is reached either as the buck or hart. The most common representation of the animal in heraldry is possibly the buck whose attires are clearly defined although the hart, with his more complicated tree, may also be found

In the antlers of the Red Deer group, which form the type of the whole series, the following names have been given to their component parts and branches.

The main shaft is termed the beam; the first and lowest tine, the brow-tine; the second the bez -tine, the third the trez-tine or royal; and the branched summit the crown or sur-royal. The growth of the horns of the deer are an indication of the age of the animal.

Although the heraldic depiction of the deer does not necessarily follow its zoological equivalent, the various names, ages and attires are described below as a matter of curiosity.

The Red Deer is one of the largest species, the female being the hind and the young calves rather than fawns.

Year	Name	Attires
1	Calf	Vestigial antlers only, in the form of a rounded knob from which it takes the name knobber.
2	Brocket	Development of the first antlers, each known as a beam or dag, which is a single straight, unbranched horn.
3	Spayade	The brow-tine, a small branch off the beam, is formed pointing forward.
4	Staggard	The bezantler develops.
5	Stag	The third antler or royal antler appears
6	Hart	The commencement of the sur-royal or crown is formed. The whole antler becoming heavier and more massive.
7	Great Hart	If a male Red Deer were to live more than six years, which is rare, his antlers may have ten or more tines, each year longer and larger than before. These are called crooked or forked, palmed or crowned, according to the number of branches composing the sur-royal .

Smaller than the Red deer, the male Fallow deer is called a buck, the female a doe and the young fawns.

With a shorter lifespan than that of the male Red deer, there were fewer stages of antler development.

Year	Name	Attires
1	Fawn	The young male of the Fallow Deer shows no signs of horns till the second year
2	Pricket	The horns make their appearance as simple snags.
3	Sorel	Two branches, by some called bezantler s, are produced, and the top of the beam becomes flattened.
4	Sore	The horns are more developed, and the flattened part deeply indented. This is termed Speller by some.
5	Buck of the 1st head	Advancers - The upper branches of the antlers of a buck.
6	Buck*	Additional snags are added to the flattened part of the beam and the palm becomes very broad. By some termed Spellers or Advancers

The Roe deer is smaller than the Red deer, with a life span of 10 years, and is found in Europe, Asia Minor and the Caspian coastal region with a separate species in Siberia. Roe deer is the only type of deer that can re-grow its antlers during winter.

As with Red and Fallow Deer, the young of Roe Deer are given different names for each year:
Kid in its first year.
Girl in its second year.
Heinuse in its third year.
Roebuck of the first head in its fourth year.

The fawn of the Roebuck has no horns the first year; in the second they assume the form of snags; the third year the first antler is added which stands forward; in the fourth year the second antler appears, which stands directly backwards ; and in the sixth the horns have attained their full development.

The Saturday Magazine, No 397, Published by John William Parker, West Strand, London, 8 Sept 1838