HATCHMENT  , properly, in

heraldry, an escutcheon or armorial shield granted for some act of distinction or " achievement," of which word it is a corruption through such forms as atcheament, achement, hathement, &c . " Achievement " is an adaptation of the Fr. achevement, from achever, a chef venir, Lat. ad ca put venire, to come to a head, or conclusion, hence accomplish, achieve . The term "hatchment " is now usually applied to funeral escutcheons or armorial shields enclosed in a black lozenge-shaped frame suspended against the wall of a deceased person's house . It is usually placed over the entrance at the level of the second floor, and remains for from six to twelve months, when it is removed to the parish church . This custom is falling into disuse, though still not uncommon . It is usual to hang the hatchment of a deceased head of a house at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge over the entrance to his lodge or residence . If for a bachelor the hatchment bears upon a shield his arms, crest, and other appendages, the whole on a black ground . If for a single woman, her arms are represented upon a lozenge, bordered with knotted ribbons, also on a black ground . If the hatchment be for a married man ( as in the illustration), his arms upon a shield impale those of his surviving wife; or if she be an heiress they are placed upon a scutcheon of pretence, and crest and other appendages are added . The dexter half of the ground is black, the sinister white . For a wife whose hus- band is alive the same arrange- ment is used, but the sinister ground only is black . For a widower the same is used as for a married man, but the whole ground is black; for a widow the husband's arms are given with her own, but upon a lozenge, with ribbons, without crest or appendages, and the whole ground is black .

When there have been two wives or two husbands the ground is divided into three parts per

pale, and the division behind the arms of the survivor is white . Colours and military or naval emblems are sometimes placed behind the arms of military or naval officers . It is thus easy to discern from the hatchment the sex, condition and quality, and possibly the name of the deceased . In Scottish hatchments it is not unusual to place the arms of the father and mother of the deceased in the two lateral angles of the lozenge, and sometimes the 4, 8 or 16 genealogical escutcheons are ranged along the margin .