DUFFIELD CASTLE. 121 



rose from its summit, was placed a silver pyx, containing a portion 

 of the Blessed Sacrament, and below waved the consecrated 

 banners of SS. Peter, Wilfrid, and John of Beverley, the 

 three patron saints of Yorkshire, which had been brought for this 

 purpose from within the walls of their great Minster. The aged 

 Archbishop, too ill to leave his city, deputed the duty of addressing 

 the English to his chief suffragan, the Bishop of Durham, who 

 harangued them from beneath the standard, in glowing language, 

 to repel the barbarous invaders, promising an eternal inheritance 

 to all who fell. At the end of his address, the whole of the army 

 fell upon their knees whilst the Bishop delivered the words of ab- 

 solution. Then, with a shout of "Amen," they rose to receive 

 the shock of the enemy. To the religious promises made by the 

 Bishop, Robert de Ferrers added, so far as his Derbyshire contin- 

 gent were concerned, one of temporal value, for he pledged himself 

 to make a grant of land on the most frequented side of his forest 

 of Needwood, to that man who should most distinguish himself 

 by valour and daring. The troops from Derbyshire played a 

 considerable part in bringing about a complete victory over the 

 invaders, and one Ralph secured the promised grant at Needwood 

 from his commander.* 



Robert de Ferrers, for his great services in this memorable and 

 critical battle, was created by the king Earl of Derby, but he did 

 not live long to enjoy his additional honours, for he died in the 

 year 1139. By his wife, Hawyse de Vitry, he had three sons; 

 William, the eldest, was killed at his lodgings in Lombard Street, 

 London, during the lifetime of his father; Wakelyn, the third son, 

 accompanied Richard I. to the Holy Land, but afterwards married 

 and settled at Locksley ; and Robert, the second son, was his 

 father's heir, and was usually known as Robert, Earl Ferrers the 

 younger. 



This Robert, Earl Ferrers the younger also assumed the title of 

 Earl of Nottingham, in right of his wife Margaret, who was the 



* Hist : Ric : Prioris Hagustald, p. 162 ; Rieval de Bello Standardico ; 

 Matt: Paris; MSS. from Duchy of Lancaster, quoted in Mosley's Hist: of 

 Tutbury, etc., etc. 



