1 data for heraldic descriptions are chiefly derived, the antiquary will recognize an invaluable authority, viz. the MS. of the indefatigable Robert Glover, Somerset Herald in the time of Queen Elizabeth; this work, a monument of patient labour, as well as accurate knowledge, containing 8982 coats of arms drawn by his own hand, is attested to be authentic by the late Francis Townsend, Esq. Windsor Herald. 1 Entitled "Insignia Gentilitia sive Armorum Formulas 8982 manu propriâ Roberti Glover Somerset Heraldi script. 1584." 2 In page 18 is written in Mr. Townsend's own hand, “This volume is undoubtedly the genuine collection of that most learned and skilful Herald Robert Glover Somerset, and the sketches of arms and descriptions of the owners are drawn and written by himself. This he attests at page 498, and it may therefore seem not to require any farther authentication. But as there have been many MSS. lately passed upon the world as his, which in truth are only imperfect copies or poor imitations of his works, I gladly avail myself of an opportunity of vouching, from official experience of more than forty years, the authenticity of the present volume. Francis Townsend, Windsor Herald, Bury St. Edmunds, 27 Oct. 1812, at the House of Sir Thos. Gery Cullum.” Finding that his materials increased in interest as in bulk, and that much appeared likely to be unfamiliar to the public, the Compiler felt the hope, that the study which had afforded him pleasure might be welcome to others; the result is therefore produced in its present form rather than in a chart, for although the latter presents at one view the connecting links of the great chain of pedigrees, yet it must be almost entirely restricted to names and dates, whereas in a volume more information can be conveyed, and in a more convenient, and probably more economical form. It is hoped that the method pursued of giving Tables, arranged in columns, to convey as much information as could be crowded into a comparatively narrow compass, will be considered to compensate as nearly as possible for the form in which pedigrees are given in charts. The method, it is believed, is now adopted for the first time. THE INTRODUCTION. HE Compiler of the following pages can aspire to receive no higher award of praise than that which would be accorded to the careful workman, whose task would be to select pearls from several caskets in order to place them in one setting. gence to find out the best clues, and patience to unravel the often complicated mazes of genealogy, have been the only talents called into operation. Dili It is hoped that this little work may prove not unacceptable to the readers of English History and lovers of their countrymen's fame, when, in the list of the illustrious ancestors of her present Majesty, they behold the names not only of Emperors and Princes, but those also of the scarcely less noble and distinguished of some of our celebrated English families, whose "derivation was from ancestors Who stood equivalent with mighty kings." Pericles, act v. sc. i. thus whilst we find the imperial CHARLEMAGNE, the great EGBERT, and the greater ALFRED, and a long line of English and Scottish monarchs, stretching far into the obscurity of antiquity, with the princely Counts of FLANDERS, and the mighty Dukes of NORMANDY; we shall perceive also the generous DE CLARE, the high-born DE BURGH, the noble MORTIMER, the " well-skilled" BRUCE, the " hardy" DOUGLAS, and the valiant STUART, names which belong, not merely to an individual whose prowess or conduct gained for him a place among the great ones of the land, but to HOUSES which had produced for ages "famous men, mighty men of valour, men of renown," who ranked as princes among the people, and who, in many cases, were as powerful as their sovereigns, who were often glad to purchase by alliances the support or submission of such dangerous subjects. A Briton may feel some pride in recollecting that in the veins of his Queen there runs the blood of those who have helped to raise England to her pitch of greatness; and it is peculiarly interesting to observe, that circumstances have brought about a union of several currents into one stream, in a manner more remarkable than was ever seen in the pedigree of other royal houses. In the ninth century we find six contemporaneous Princes, viz. CHARLEMAGNE, EGBERT, WITIKIND, KENNETH M'ALPINE, GUELPH, and BONIFACE, of whom it was utterly impossible for human eye to foresee, that at the remote distance of centuries, their blood would centre in one person. The relative position of some of these princes to each other was extraordinary. Charlemagne was the friend of Egbert, but the enemy of Witikind; after few descents, the blood of the two former mingled in the person of Arnolf I. Count of Flanders; that of the great Saxon leader was added when his direct descendant, Henry the Lion of Saxony, wedded Matilda Plantagenet, sprung from the son of the Conqueror's Flemish Queen, and the niece of the last male descendant of the ancient Saxon princes. Another contemporary of the great Charles was Guelph, Duke of Bavaria, the first of that name so much to be distinguished in after history, whose daughter Judith married Louis, son of the imperial Charles, by which alliance Guelph was ancestor, through the Flemish Counts, of Matilda, the Conqueror's Queen, as he was through his lineal descendant the Lion of Saxony, of the House of 2 Perhaps a little indulgence must be claimed for introducing Kenneth in this list, who did not commence his reign until 836, twenty-two years after Charlemagne's death; yet, although not ranking at the time as a reigning prince, Kenneth, from the active part he took in the lifetime of his grandfather Achaius, and his father Alpine, deserves a prominent notice, and his name is more familiar than that of his predecessors. |