banners were then borne by every banneret; and under which the men at arms furnished by him were drawn up. From the description of William de Leybourne, we learn that both the banners and pennons were charged with the arms of their owners: "Guillemes de Leybourne ausi Also William de Leybourne, a valiant man without but and without if, had there a banner and a large pennon of blue, with six white lions rampant. But it is here necessary to inquire who possessed the right of bearing a banner in the field, a point upon which that valuable poem throws much light. When the English army was composed of the tenants in capite of the crown, with their followers, it appears that such tenants were entitled to lead them under a banner of their arms; but the precise number of men so furnished, which conferred this privilege, has not been ascertained. Judging, however, from the "Siege of Carlaverock," it would seem that early in the fourteenth century there was a banner to every twenty-five or thirty men at arms; for we are told, "Lors se arengierunt baneour Then were the banners arranged, when one might observe many a warrior there exercising his horse; and there appeared three thousand brave men at arms. whilst the number of banners mentioned in the poem do not exceed one hundred and five. It was intended to have submitted some observations in this place with the view of illustrating the precise meaning of the word "Banneret," about which nothing conclusive has yet been said; but the space which they would occupy render it necessary that they should form a distinct article in a future number. When the tenant in capite was unable to attend in person from sickness or from being otherwise engaged in the king's service, he nevertheless sent the quota of men at arms and archers, for which, by the tenure of his lands, he was engaged; and his banner was committed to the charge of a deputy of equal rank to his own. Thus at Carlaverock, the Bishop of Durham being prevented from attending by some public duty which detained him in England, he sent one hundred and sixty of his men at arms with his banner, which, it is worthy of remark, was simply that of his paternal arms, "Vermeille o un fer de molin Dermine, i envoia se enseigne." He sent there his ensign, which was gules with a fer de molin of ermine. without any reference to those of his See; and which tends also to prove that in the field he was considered merely as a temporal baron. It was entrusted to John de Hastings, who was to conduct it in the prelate's name, because he was his most intimate friend: "Celuy ki tot honnour enseigne La devoit conduire en son nom Li plus prives li plus ames He who all honour displays, John de Hastings, was to conduct it in his name; for it was entrusted to him as being the most intimate and the best-beloved of any one he had there. A similar instance occurs in the case of Lord Deincourt: "Et kant li bons a Eymons Dain court Ne pout mie venir a court And, as the good Edmond Deincourt could not attend himself, he sent his two brave sons in his Ses deus bons filz en son lieu mist stead; and with them his banner O sa baniere o eus tramist of a blue colour billetté of gold, with a dancette over all. De inde coulour de or biletee The most curious fact on the subject which is established by the poem is, with respect to the banner of an earl; for it is evident that it was considered to belong to the dignity rather than to the individual. Ralph de Monthermer, though Earl of Gloucester in right of his wife, Joan, daughter of King Edward the First, and widow of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, by which title he was repeatedly summoned to parliament, led his followers on that occasion under the banner of Clare, the earls of Gloucester, whilst he was himself vested in a surcoat of his own paternal arms, which he also bore on his shield. After noticing his marriage, the Poet says, "De or fin o trois chiovrons ver maus I ot baniere seulement He had only a banner of fine gold with three red chevrons. He made no bad appearance when attired in his own arms, which were yellow with a green eagle. His name was Ralph de Monthermer. This fact is the more worthy of attention, because it corroborates the opinion that he possessed the dignities of Earl of Gloucester and Hertford solely in right of his wife; for on her death in 1307 he ceased to enjoy them, and they were assumed by Gilbert 1 That Monthermer continued to use his paternal coat only, is further proved by his seal attached to the Baron's letter to the Pope in February, 1301. His shield, helmet, and the caparisons of his horse are charged with an eagle, though it is inscribed-S: RADULFI: DE: MONTE: HERMERII: COM GLOVCERNIE ET: HERTFORD. de Clare, her son by her first husband; Monthermer being sum-moned to the very next parliament as a baron only. Banners were carried wherever those to whom they belonged and their followers were engaged. At Carlaverock, that of John Fitz Marmaduke, whose intrepidity is highly eulogized, is said to have ot meinte tache received many stains, and Et meint percuis mal a reconstre." many a rent difficult to mend. And it may be perhaps inferred from the following lines in Lydgate's description of the battle of Agincourt, that such was also the practice in the fifteenth century. The Duke of York is made to say, "Be myn baner sleyn will y be, Or y will turne my backe, or me yelde.” However valuable may be the information respecting the banners of bannerets which the "Siege of Carlaverock" affords, it yields in importance to that which it presents of what may almost be termed National Ensigns. The sovereign of course had a banner of his arms, the charges on which have been noticed by two writers of the period as exhibiting a metaphorical allusion to Edward's merits: "En sa baniere trois luparte De or fin estoint mis en rouge Ke ausi est vers ses enemis In his banner were three leopards courant of fine gold set on, red, fierce, haughty, and cruel; thus placed to signify that, like them, the king is dreadful, fierce, and proud to his enemies; for his bite is slight to none who inflame his anger. Vocatus Edwardus "Rex Anglor' nobilis Ferox est et stabilis Fortis et non debilis Senciet id flebilis But three other banners were carried in the English army, and which were undoubtedly connected with sentiments of religion, though one of them subsequently became the national banner of this country. They were the banners of St. George, the tutelar saint of England; St. Edmund, king of the West Saxons; St. Edward the Confessor; and, at a subsequent period, the banner of the Trinity. Rismus factus de perdicione Vasconiæ, et de ejusdem conquestu per regem Edwardum filium regis Henrici. Printed among the Illustrations of the "Chronicle of London," p. 194. VOL. 1.—PART I. H The banner of St. George Argent, a cross Gules', is still borne as part of the English flag, though, from the disgraceful manner in which it has been amalgamated with the crosses of St. Andrew and St. Patrick, it has not only lost all its purity, but presents a melancholy example of the ignorance of heraldry, and total want of patriotism and taste, which must have characterised those to whom we unfortunately owe its arrangement 2. St. Edmund's banner is generally considered to have been Azure three crowns Or, 2 and 13; but it is certain, from the annexed singular description, by Lydgate, that two banners were appropriated to that saint; and of which there are drawings in the contemporary copy of that writer's works from which it has been extracted 4. One of them was that which is just mentioned; but the other must be described in his own words. Blyssyd Edmund kyng martir and vyrgyne Hadde in thre vertues by grace a sovereyn prys Eva also be cause she was nat wys Eet off an appyl of flesshly fals plesance Bar in his baner for a remembrance A lamb off gold high upon a tre Above alle vertues pleseth most J'hu 'See Plate No. 14. In the Golden Legend, written in the reign of Edward the First by Jacobus de Voraigne, it is said, on the authority of some history of Antioch, "St. George had whyte armes with a reed crosse," and is cited by Mr. Douce in his communication to the Society of Antiquaries of a drawing of an illumination in a missal, representing two figures, the one of St. George, and the other of a knight. St. George is vested in a surcoat of his arms, and holds a banner and shield charged with them. The other knight supports a banner with the arms of England, with a label of five points, each point charged with a fleur-de-lis; and which also appear on his sword and shield. Archeologia, vol. xii. p. 210. The illumination in question is at least as early as the reign of Edward the Second. 2 See some remarks on the subject in the first number of the Naval and Military Magazine. 3 See Plate No. 15. * Harl, MSS. 2278, f. 2-4. Off Adamys synne was wasshe a way the rust The feeld of Gowlys was tokne off his suffrance The feeld powdryd with many hevenly sterre This vertuous baner shal kepen and conserve It shall be born in werrys be his syde T'encresse his vertues Edmund shal been his guyde By processe t'enhance his royal lyne This martir shal by grace for hym provyde To be registred among the worthy nyne" This extraordinary combination has been copied on the Plate1, from the illumination in the manuscript. Lydgate's description of the banner, which is usually attributed to St. Edmund, is as follows: This other Standard, feeld stable off colour ynde For martirdam the thrydde in his suffryng See No. 16. |