1827.] 



Domestic and Foreign. 



533 



body knows, that they were worn by John 

 of Bohemia, who perished in the field of 

 Cressy, and the motto of " Ich Dien " is 

 referred to the act of his serving that day 

 in the army of the French king. The 

 feathers and the motto, for no assignable 

 reason, nor with any intelligible pro- 

 priety, were adopted by the Black Prince, 

 as his own cognizance. The story ori- 

 ginates with William of Walsingham not 

 a cotemporary writer, but posterior by a 

 full century that is, Walsingham "s his- 

 tory is the earliest in which the matter is 

 mentioned. Objections have been started 

 against the accuracy of this account, on 

 the grounds that John of Bohemia's known 

 crest was not these feathers, but the ex- 

 panded wing of an eagle and that these 

 feathers were not peculiar to the prince's 

 cognizance, but were well known to be 

 used by other members of the royal fa- 

 mily. Other sources have accordingly 

 been sought for ; and Randle Holmes, in a 

 MS. preserved in the Harleiau collections, 

 asserts, that these same feathers were the 

 ensign of the Welch, and that when the 

 King of England's eldest son was made 

 Prince of Wales, he assumed the feathers, 

 and added the "Ich Dien" to indicate 

 that though a Prince in Wales, he was still 

 a subject of the crown of England. And 

 then to account in some measure for the 

 old story of the King of Bohemia, he adds, 

 " the prince took the king's crown, and 

 added it to his own Welch feathers." The 

 story wants authority particularly whe- 

 ther the Welch ever knew any thing them- 

 selves about ostrich feathers. But refer- 

 ring to the minute directions given in the 

 prince's will, respecting the array of his 

 funeral obsequies, it is ordered, that on 

 the arrival of his corpse at Canterbury, it 

 should be preceded by deux destrez (armed 

 chargers) coverts de nos armes, et deux 

 homes armer de nos armes et in nos 

 heaumes ; c'est assavoir, Pun par la 

 guerre, de nos armes sentiers quartellez; 

 et 1'autre pur la paix, de nos bages des 

 plumes d'ostruce. " From this distinction," 

 observes Mr. Willement, " it is highly 

 probable that it may hereafter be disco- 

 vered, that the cognizance of the ostrich 

 feathers took its origin, not from the victory 

 of Cressy, or any other martial achieve- 

 ment, but from some pacific event; or, as 

 it was also used by his collateral rela- 

 tives, it might have borne a genealogical 

 reference." 



Among the shields in the undercroft of 

 the cathedral (which by the way, as an 

 antiquarian friend of ours, and a towns- 

 man, assures us, is not, as Mr. Willement 

 describes it, under the nave, but under 

 the choir and Trinity Chapel) is that of 

 John Holland, Duke of Exeter. la a note 

 Mr. W. adds 



The duke died in 1447, and was buried in the 

 church of St. Katharine, near the Tower of Lon- 

 don, where his monument existed until the recent 

 demolition of that church. The greatest care has, 

 however, been taken of the several parts, and it is 

 gratifying to learn that they will be again erected, 

 and the deficiencies supplied in the new collegiate 

 church, now in progress in the Regent's Park, 

 from the elegant designs of Mr. Poynter. 



In the cloisters is a boss with an eagle 

 with wings expanded, standing on a child, 

 and an escutcheon on the right wing, 

 charged with the arms of the Isle of 

 Man: 



The device of the eagle and child appears to have 

 originated from a legendary account of a male in- 

 fant having been discovered in an eagle's nest, and 

 adopted by Sir William Latham, of Latham, circ. 

 Edward II. The foundling, who took the same 

 name, left an only daughter and heir, Isabella, 

 whobeeame the wife of Sir John, the second son of 

 Wm. Stanley, of Stanley. He was seated at La- 

 tham, in the county of Lancaster, which he held in 

 right of his wife ; and this may account for his 

 placing her arms in the first quarter. Among 

 other high offices, he was appointed to the Lord 

 Lieutenancy of Ireland, was steward of the house- 

 hold to Henry IV. and on the forfeiture of the Earl 

 of Northumberland, obtained a grant in fee of the 

 Isle of Man. He held likewise the constableship 

 of Windsor Castle, and was elected a knight of the 

 most noble Order of the Garter. There can be lit- 

 tle doubt, from the date of the cloisters, that the 

 bearings on the above boss appertained to this 

 individual. He died at Ardee, in Ireland, 6 Jan. 

 1414, and was ancestor to the Stanleys, Earls of 

 Derby. 



On the Nobility of the British Gentry, 

 and on the Political Ranks and Dignities 

 of the British Empire, compared with those 

 of the Continent. By Sir James Lawrence, 

 Knight of Malta. The gentry of England 

 are indebted to the Chevalier Lawrence for 

 this little work, which treats a dry subject in 

 an amusing and interesting way. The Cheva- 

 lier appears to be deeply versed in genealogy ; 

 and, if this was an age for tournaments, no 

 doubt he would turn his abilities to good ac- 

 count ; happily, however, for the present 

 generation, a man is valued rather for his 

 own deeds, than the fame of his ancestors ; 

 and although due honour should be given to 

 the descendants of those who, in a former day 

 have contributed to the welfare of their coun- 

 try, and rendered illustrious the land of their 

 birth, yet, we must never forget that high 

 rank, and exalted station, involve a duty to 

 perform, rather than a privilege to enjoy. 

 With this view, we confess some little indif- 

 ference for the claims of those who have 

 retrogaded from v the eminence of their fore- 

 fathers, the best means of regaining which, 

 would be to imitate Sterne's Marquis, and 

 restore the dignity of their name by a life of 

 usefulness and activity. Here, blood is but 

 a sorry pretext for distinction ; and it is with 

 some little satisfaction we remind the Che- 



