History of four-footed beasts and serpents

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Crest An eagle displayed holding a serpent Motto LITEM • NATVRA DIREMIT This crest appears on English books. The heraldry of crests. London, 1829 shows it for Backhouse (Plate 66 no 21). Fairbairn's Crests (Edinburgh, 1860) has an entry for Backhouse of Durham, Cumberland and Kent, but gives the motto as Confido in Deo. Burke's General Armory 1884 gives the eagle as wings close. Fairbairn (1860) in its illustration gives the eagle, wings elevated not displayed (Plate 75 Crest 11), but Backhouse is not mentioned in the descriptions to the plate. The motto is from Ovid Metamorphoses