The following traditionary anecdote belongs to the same date, and accounts for the name of EYRE:

"The first of this family was named Truelove, but at the battle of Hastings, Oct. 14, 1066, William was flung from his horse, and his helmet beaten into his face, which Truelove observing, pulled off, and horsed him again. The duke told him, 'Thou shalt hereafter from Truelove be called Eyre (or Air), because thou hast given me the air I breathe.' After the battle, the duke, on inquiry respecting him, found him severely wounded (his leg and thigh having been struck off), ordered him the utmost care, and, on his recovery, gave him lands in Derby in reward for his services, and the leg and thigh in armour, cut off, for his crest, an honorary badge yet worn by all the Eyres in England."*

There is more of romance than truth in this story, for it must strike the reader as very remarkable, that the personage of whom it is related-a Norman born and bred should bear a cognomen so very English as True-love. The singular crest borne by his descendants must have originated from some more recent occurrence, as armorial bearings were not used for many years after the battle of Hastings. Still there may be some foundation for the tradition. The fol

lowing has more appearance of credibility; while it is unfortunate that the name to which it refers was borne as a Christian name much earlier than the date of the

Occurrence.

"Walter, a Norman knight, and a great favourite of the king (William the First), playing at chess with that king on a summer evening, on the banks of the

Thorpe's Catalogue of the Deeds of Battel Abbey, p. 106, note.

Ouse, won all he played for. The king threw down the board, saying he had nothing more to play for. 'Sir,' said Sir Walter, 'here is land.' 'There is so,' said the king, and if thou beatest me this game also, thine be all the land on this side the bourne or river, which thou canst see as thou sittest.' He had the good fortune to win; and the king, clapping him on the shoulder, said, 'Henceforth thou shalt be called Ousebourne.' Hence it is supposed came the name of Osborne."*

As I give my authorities for these anecdotes, the burden of proof does not rest with me. And even

if the reader should deem some of them destitute of any foundation in truth, he will perhaps agree with me that they are worthy of preservation as curious legends.

Among the Anglo-Saxon families who resisted the dominion of William, that of Bulstrode is said to have been conspicuous.

The head of that family was despoiled of his estate by the victorious Norman, who presented it to one of his own followers, and furnished him with a body of men to seize it by force. The Saxon called in the aid of some of his neighbours to defend his ancestral acres, and intrenched himself with an earthwork, which still exists to attest the truth of the story. It happened that the besieged possessed no horses, so that they were fain to bestride certain bulls which they had brought together within the inclosure; and thus mounted they made a sally, and completely routed their assailants. The king hearing of this gallant exploit, desired to see the heroes who had achieved it. The Saxon and his

* Life of Corinna. Pegge's Curialia Miscellanea, p. 319.

seven sons, therefore, once more bestrode their bulls and proceeded to court, when William was so much delighted with the interview, that he permitted them to remain in undisturbed possession of the estate. Hence they acquired the name of Bull-strode ! "Cock and Bull!" will probably escape the lips of the reader at the perusal of this story, since Bulstrode is a local surname borrowed from the parish in Buckinghamshire where this marvellous victory is alleged to have taken place.

The following is said to be the origin of the surname of TYNTE: In the year 1192, at the battle of Ascalon, a young knight of the noble house of Arundel, clad all in white, with his horse's howsings of the same colour, so gallantly distinguished himself on that memorable field, that Richard Coeur de Lion remarked publicly, after the victory, "that the maiden knight had borne himself as a lion, and done deeds equal to those of six croisés [crusaders], whereupon he conferred on him for arms, a lion gules on a field argent, between six crosslets of the first," and for motto, Tynctus cruore Saraceno; Stained, or dyed, with Saracen blood." His descendants thence assumed the surname of Tynte, and settled in Somersetshire.*

66

The name of Lockhart was originally given to a follower of Sir James, Lord Douglas, who accompanied him to the Holy Land with the heart of King Robert Bruce. In consequence of this event, some branches of the family bear a padlock enclosing a heart in their

arms.

The thrice illustrious surname of PLANTAGENET,

* Burke's Commoners, vol. iv.

borne by eight successive kings of England,* originated with Foulques or Fulke, Count of Anjou, who flourished in the twelfth century. This personage, to expiate some enormous crimes of which he had been guilty, went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and wore in his cap as a mark of his humility, a planta genista or broomplant (which was sometimes used by his descendants as a crest), and on that account was surnamed Plantagenet. The ancient English family of Broome are said to be lineal descendants of this nobleman.

The surname of STRONGIMANUS, or Strong-hand, applied to William de Albini, Earl of Arundel, which did not, like the preceding, become hereditary, originated, according to Dugdale, in the following manner:

"It happened that the Queen of France being then a widow, and a very beautiful woman, became much in love with a knight of that country, who was a comely person, and in the flower of his youth; and because she thought that no man excelled him in valour, she caused a tournament to be proclaimed throughout her dominions, promising to reward those who should exercise themselves therein according to their respective demerits; and concluding, that if the person whom she so well affected, should act his part better than others in those military exercises, she might marry him without any dishonour to herself. Hereupon divers gallant men from forrain parts hasting to Paris, amongst others

* Some authorities deny this, and allege that these sovereigns never used it. True; but this does not prove that Plantagenet was not their real family name. Her Majesty Queen Victoria has no occasion whatever for a surname (the design of which is to distinguish one family from another), and therefore it might with equal force be argued that her family name is not Guelph. Non-use does not imply non-possession.

came this our William de Albini, bravely accoutred, and in the tournament excelled all others, overcoming many, and wounding one mortally with his lance, which being observed by the queen, shee became exceedingly enamoured of him, and forthwith invited him to a costly banquet, and afterwards bestowing certain jewels upon him, offered him marriage; but having plighted his troth to the Queen of England, then a widow, he refused her, whereat she grew so much discontented, that she consulted with her maids how she might take away his life, and in pursuance of that design enticed him into a garden, where there was a secret cave, and in it a lion, unto which she descended by divers steps, under colour of showing him the beast; and when she told him of his fierceness, he answered, that it was a womanish and not a manly quality to be afraid thereof. But having him there, by the advantage of a folding door, she thrust him in to the lion; being therefore in this danger, he rolled his mantle about his arm, and putting his hand into the mouth of the beast, pulled out his tongue by the root; which done, he followed the queen to her palace, and gave it to one of her maids to present unto her. Returning thereupon to England, with the fame of this glorious exploit, he was forthwith advanced to the earldome of Arundel, and for his arms the LION given him." He subsequently obtained the hand of Queen Adeliza, relict of King Henry I, and daughter of Godfrey Duke of Lorraine, which Adeliza had the castle of Arundel in dowry from the deceased monarch, and thus her new lord became its feudal earl.

It is probable that such names as Breakspeare, Shakespeare, Hurlbat, Winspear, Wagstaffe, &c., originated in some forgotten feat of courage.