Leland,) "Corborant, Admiral to the Soudan of Percea, was fought with at Antioche, and discomfited by the Christians. The night cumming on yn the chace of this bataile, and waxing dark, the Christianes being four miles from Antioche, God, willing the saufté of their army, shewed a white star or molette of five pointes on the Christen host; which to every mannes sighte did lighte and arrest upon the standard of Albry de Vere, there shyning excessively." The knight thus distinguished by Divine favour, in the latter end of his days assumed the cowl, and died a monk. He was ancestor of the De Veres, Earls of Oxford, whose last male descendant, Aubrey de Vere, twentieth earl, died in 1702. ST. JOHN of Bolingbroke took his two stars from the Crusade; his arms are argent two estoiles, or, on a chief gules. Kynge Richarde with gud entente, Toe yat citie of Jafes wente; On morne he sent aftur Sir Robert Sakeville, Sir William Waterville, Sir Hubart and Sir Robart of Turnham, Sir Bertram Brandes and John de St. John. ROBERT OF GLOUCESTER. Fuller styles the PILKINGTONS "a right ancient family," and relates that they were gentlemen of repute in the shire of Lancaster, before the Conquest, at which period the chief of the house being sought after by the Norman soldiery, was fain to disguise himself as a thrasher in a barn from this circumstance, partly alluding to the head of the flail falling sometimes on the one, and sometimes on the other side, and occasionally on himself, he took for motto "Now thus! now thus !" and his descendants have since carried as their crest "A husbandman Ppr." SIR JOHN SCOTT, of Thirlestaine, flourished in the reign of James V., and possessed the estates of Thirlestaine, Gamescleuch, &c., lying upon the river Ettricke, and extending to St. Mary's Loch, at the head of the Yarrow. It appears that when James had assembled his nobility and their feudal followers at Fala, with the purpose of invading England, and was, as is well known, disappointed by the obstinate refusal of his peers, this Baron alone declared himself ready to follow the King wherever he should lead. In memory of his fidelity, James granted to his family a charter of arms, entitling them to bear a border of fleurs-de-luce, similar to the tressure in the royal arms, with a bundle of spears for the crest; and for motto, "Ready, aye, ready." The arms that were granted, temp. Queen Elizabeth, to the great sea captain, Sir FRANCIS DRAKE, and are still borne by his representative, Sir Trayton Drake, Bart., of Nutwell Court, county Devon, are "sable, a fess wavy between the two pole-stars argent." The crest also refers to the maritime services of the famous circumnavigator. It is "a ship under reef, drawn round a terrestrial globe, by a hand out of the clouds, with an escroll inscribed 'Auxilio divino.” ” "Such was the worth" (saith Guillim) "of this most generous and renowned knight, Sir Francis Drake, as that his merits do require that his coat armour should be expressed in that selected manner of blazoning that is fitting to noble personages, in respect of his noble courage and high attempts atchieved, whereby he merited to be reckoned the honour of our nation and of the naval profession.” The most important achievement of Drake's eventful career was his celebrated voyage round the world, accomplished within three years, and to this the blazonry of the armorial bearings alludes. On Drake's return, in 1581, Queen Elizabeth went on board his ship, the Golden Hind, and conferred upon the gallant and enterprising seaman the honour of knighthood, ordering at the same time the preservation of the vessel, that it might remain a monument of Sir Francis's and his country's glory. It is observed by Camden, that on the occasion of her Majesty's visit, there was such a concourse of people, that the wooden bridge over which they passed, broke, and upwards of one hundred persons fell into the river; by which accident, however, nobody was hurt; as if, he adds, the ship had been built under some lucky constellation. The application of the heraldic ensigns is well explained in the verses, made at the period of the royal visit, by the scholars of Winchester College, and nailed to the mainmast of the ship: Plus ultra, Herculeis, inscribas, Drace, Columnis, Drake's ship remained for many years an object of public admiration at Deptford, but her timbers falling at length in decay, it was found necessary to break her up, when a chair, made out of her planks, was presented by John Davies, Esq. to the University of Oxford, upon which the poet Cowley wrote the following lines: To this great ship, which round the world has run, Drake and his ship could not have wish'd from Fate For lo! a seat of endless rest is given To her in Oxford, and to him in Heaven. After the death of King Robert the Bruce, in 1329, Sir Simon Locard, of Lee, accompanied James Lord Douglas to the Holy Land, with the heart of the deceased monarch for interment. From this circumstance, the DOUGLASES bear in their arms a crowned heart, and Sir Simon changed his name to LOCKHEART (as it was, until lately, spelt), and for part of his arms, got a heart within a lock, with the motto, "Corda serrata pando.' In the possession of the Lockhart family, is that singular piece of antiquity called the "Lee penny," upon which is founded Sir Walter Scott's romance of "The Talisman." The account given of it is, that Simon Locard, during his stay in the Holy Land, took prisoner a Saracen chief, whose wife came to ransom him, and on the counting out of the money or jewels, this (which is a stone or composition of a dark red colour, and triangular shape, set on a silver coin) fell; she hastily snatched it up, which Simon observing, insisted upon having it, and procured it before giving up his prisoner. More of this singular relic, and its alleged properties and virtues, may be found in Sir Walter Scott's preface to the "Talisman." The armis and crests of the MACKENZIES were assumed in consequence of Kenneth, their ancestor having rescued Alexander II., King of Scotland, from a wounded stag which had attacked him. The animal, becoming furious from the pain, ran in upon the King, and threw him down, and would have killed him upon the spot, had it not been for the prompt assistance of Kenneth Fitzgerald, who happened to be in sight, and running up, despatched the deer. In gratitude for this assistance, the King gave him a grant of the castle and estate of Ellan Donnan, and thus laid the foundation of the family and clan, Mackenneth, or Mackenzie, so called from the name of their ancestor, who was an Irishman by birth. The crest is a stag's head and horns. It is a curious circumstance, that the last Lord Seaforth's life should have been endangered in the same manner as that in which the first of the family saved the King's. Lord Seaforth was attacked by a hart, in the parks of Braan Castle, but being a powerful man, and possessed of great strength of arm, he closed on the animal, and seized him by the horns, pressing his breast against the deer's forehead. A long and desperate struggle ensued, till he was relieved by a gamekeeper, who was attracted to the spot by the bellowing of the hart. His lordship was much bruised, but not materially injured. The late Mr. West painted the rescue of Alexander. The figures are portraits, in full size, of persons on the Seaforth estate, his lordship being one of the number. The HAMILTONS are said to be descended from Sir William de Hamelden, one of the younger sons of Robert de Bellomont, 3rd Earl of Leicester, which Sir William de Hameldon's son, Sir Gilbert Hamilton, having expressed himself, at the court of Edward II., in admiration of King Robert Bruce, received a blow from John de Spencer, which led the following day to a rencounter, wherein Spencer fell; subsequently, Hamilton fled into Scotland, but being closely pursued, he and his servant changed clothes with two woodcutters, and taking their saws, were in the act of cutting through an oak tree when his pursuers passed by. Perceiving his servant notice them, Sir Gilbert hastily cried out to him, |