Thanks, I never thought it could be that old. But I do see the resemblance now that I google imaged searched scottish clan symbols. Lots of deer but none getting arrows through the head. It was just one of those things I figured wasn't worth much but it did strike me as unusual.
Just doing a bit of tidying up on some older threads, mainly for the benefit of anyone searching the site for information.
Thatās a piece of family āsilverā (albeit plated, if you say so). Itās not clan-related though. By convention, the motto is always shown above the crest on Scottish silver. Itās the crest for the Bate family, and itās modernised equivalent of Bates. Itās illustrated at the link below (not pictured here for copyright reasons) together with the heraldic description from Fairbairn's Book of Crests (1905):
āA Stag's Head Arg., Attired Or, Vulned Through The Neck With An Arrow Of The Second, Feathered And Headed Of The First.ā
The motto āEt manu et cordeā (with both hand and heart) was adopted more recently.
The surname has its roots in Yorkshire but has two principal centres: one in the counties of Leicestershire, Rutland, and Warwickshire, and the other in Kent. From there it has expanded to adjoining counties but is essentially a midland and eastern county name with pockets elsewhere.