herald sb. (in old edd. also “herauld, -ault, har(r)old”)
1.
officer having the duty of (i) making proclamations
2H6 IV. ii. 190, (ii)
bearing messages between princes and hostile forces
John. II. i. 325, H5 III. v. 36, Troil. I. iii. 218,
(iii) conveying challenges H8 I. i.
34, Lr. V. i. 48, (iv)
arranging public processions, funerals, &c.
1H6 I. i. 45, Cor. V. v. [vi.] 145
“the most noble corse
that ever Did
follow to his urn,” (v) regulating the
use of armorial bearings
Shr. II. i. 223
“A , Kate? O! put me
in thy books,”
Lucr. 206
“Some loathsome dash the
herald will contrive.”
2.
messenger, envoy
LLL. V. ii. 97
“Their herald is a
pretty knavish page,”
R3 I. i. 72,
Ham. III. iv. 58
“the herald
Mercury.”
3.
fore-runner,
precursor
Ado II. i. 319
“Silence is the
perfectest of joy,”
Rom
III. v. 6
“the lark, the of the
morn,”
Cæs. I. iii. 56,
Ven. 531
“The owl, night's
herald,”
Sonn. i. 10.
4.
attrib. use of 1 (ii)
Gent
III. i. 144
“My thoughts in thy
pure bosom rest them; While I, their
king”
. . .