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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 June 2012
Having lately had occasion to refer to the celebrated Letter written to Pope Boniface the Eighth, by the Barons of this Country, assembled in the Parliament which met at Lincoln in the 29th Edw. I. anno 1301, the series of Plates engraved by order of the Society of Antiquaries in 1729, containing drawings of the Seals affixed to the Documents preserved in the Treasury of the Receipt of the Exchequer, and which it is presumed are official duplicates of the original Letter, necessarily became an object of my attention. Through the kindness of my friend John Caley, Esq. F. R. S. and F. S. A. access has been afforded me to both these Documents, by which I have been enabled carefully to collate the engravings with the Seals as they now exist; and as I believe no remarks on the subject have ever been offered to the Society, I am induced to address to you such observations as a minute examination of them have produced.
page 193 note a Since this letter was written, the question of the genuineness of these documents, upon which some doubts had existed, has been noticed by the Lords' Committees appointed to search the Journals of the House, the Rolls of Parliament, and other records and documents, for all matters touching the dignity of a Peer of the realm, in their Fourth General Report, pages 75 et seq.; and the arguments there advanced admit of a decided inference in favour of their authenticity. This subject had, however, previously been considered at some length in the Synopsis of the Peerage, vol. ii. pages 761 et seq. The remarks in that work, which bear an extraordinary resemblance to many of those since submitted by their Lordships, were made on an inspection of one of these documents only, namely, that distinguished as “the blue:” a circumstance which will explain the discrepancies between the observations therein, and those in the text. The collation of the seals attached to both the instruments occurred on the 9th of January 1826, several months after this communication was read to the Society; and many material additions have in consequence been made to it.
page 194 note b Verbatim et literatim copies of both of the instruments will be found in the Appendix to the Fourth General Report of the Lords Committees before cited.
page 194 note c Namely, those of the Earls of Hereford and Hertford, Henry de Percy, Henry de Grey, William de Roos, Nicholas de Meynill, Walter de Mouncy, John Fitz-Reginald, Robert Fitz-Payne, and Ralph Fitz-William.
page 194 note d Those of Walter de Beauchamp, Robert de Tatteshale, and John le Breton.
page 196 note e Mr. Moule, in his interesting Antiquities in Westminster Abbey, has conjectured that the Bohuns assumed the cognizance of the Swan from the Mandevilles, from the circumstance of its being stated in Lansdown MSS. 882, f. 59. that Mandeville Earl of Essex bore for his arms, Gules, a swan Argent, beaked, legged, ducally gorged, and chained Or; but there does not appear to be even the slightest authority for assigning such arms to that family.
page 197 note f The descent noticed in the text will be best shewn by the following table:
page 200 note g The descent of the Earldom of Warwick is more clearly shewn by the following genealogical table:
page 205 note h In the Roll of Karlaverock, the arms of this John de Hastings are thus described;
“Escu avoit fort e legier
E baniere de oeure pareile
De or fin o la manche vermeille.”
This and the other quotations from that poem in these sheets were taken from the illustrated copy in the College of Arms, and collated with that in the Cottonian MS. Caligula A. xviij.
page 205 note i For the copy of these legends I am indebted to Mr. Caley, whose valuable assistance is always at the disposal of his friends in encouraging and promoting historical research. That celebrated Antiquary observes, “I have endeavoured to make out the legend on the Seal of John de Hastings, and inclosed you have the result of my labours in that respect. I have, perhaps, traced out some words which may prove useful towards gaining a knowledge of the nature of the legend, though I am fearful I have not been completely successful.”
page 207 note k System of Heraldry, vol. ii. part iv. p. 9, ed. 1742.
page 209 note l Inq. Post Mortem. 7 Edw. I.
page 211 note m Banks' Dormant and Extinct Peerage.
page 213 note n Another instance of the assemblage of fanciful objects on signets occurs on a brass seal, of which an engraving is given in the Gentleman's Magazine for April 1812. It consists of a circle charged in the centre with a tree, on the top of which is a large bird, and near the trunk an animal resembling a fox, lying across it, with his head turned, as if gnawing the bark. On the dexter side is a quadruped, not unlike a cat, resting on its hinder feet, and playing on a lute; and on the sinister a hare, also standing on its hinder paws, This Seal was found at Alford in Lincolnshire, in the year 1800, and from the formation the letters of the inscription must, it is presumed, have been engraved at a period nearly contemporary with those attached to the Letter to Pope Boniface.
page 216 note o Cited in p. 213.
page 222 note i Mr. Dallaway, in his able Inquiries into the Origin and Progress of the Science of Heraldry in England, p. 398, gives an example of the use of antique intaglios as Counter-Seals as early as the 12th century, in the instance of Thomas Bredon, Abbot of Gloucester, in the reign of Henry the Second. Several engravings of Counter-Seals, some of which are exceedingly curious, will be found in the Vetusta Monumenta.
page 223 note k Mr. Dallaway remarks on this subject, “Crests were originally of the highest importance, conceded by Royal grant, and confined to very few persons,” in proof of which he cites the grant of a Crest of an Eagle by King Edward the Third to William de Montagu, afterwards Earl of Salisbury. —Inquiries into the Science of Heraldry, p. 388. Nisbet considers the earliest proof of the usage of them to have been in the reign of David I. 1125 to 1135, upon whose seal, as well as upon those of the Earls of Angus and Sutherland they appear; but he informs us that feathers were the general ornament of the helmet, and which is fully supported by the seals under consideration.
page 225 note q Sic in the copy in the College of Arms, but apparently vestoit in Cottonian MSS. Caligula, A. xviii. In the Antiquarian Repertory it is printed o estoit.
page 226 note r Edward the King's son, afterwards King Edward the Second, who is described as having then been seventeen years of age; as commanding the fourth squadron; and as bearing his father's arms with a blue label. Edward the Second was born 25th April 1284, and was consequently in his seventeenth year in June 1300. the period when the event described in this poem took place.
page 227 note s That of William de Paynell.
page 227 note t Robert Fitz-Payne.
page 227 note u Those of Lovel, Carew, Roche, Greystock, Neville, Teyes, Montacute, and Clifford. The charges on the seals of Botetourt andFitz-Alah were clearly not intended to represent shields.
page 228 note w A Critical Inquiry into Ancient Armour, by Meyrick, Samuel Rush LL. D. F. S. A.Google Scholar 3 vols. folio.
page 229 note * The Seals of the individuals to whose names this mark is prefixed, are noticed in this letter.
page 229 note x The name of William de Ferrers immediately precedes that of Alan le Zouche in the second copy.
page 230 note y Cameis.
page 230 note z le.
page 230 note a de.
page 230 note b Limford.
page 230 note c Dñs Ellesmere.
page 230 note d Dñs de Welle.
page 230 note e Candeburi.
page 230 note f de Scalariis.
page 230 note g Johes de Insula.
page 230 note h Dñs de Fracington.
page 230 note i Haneys.
page 230 note k Rogerus de Huntingfeld.
page 231 note l Thomas Dñs de la Roche.
page 231 note m Walterus de Muncy.
page 231 note n Leyburne
page 231 note o Graistok.