DUFFIELD CASTLE. 125 



ampton, restored to the representative of the Ferrers' family the 

 title of Earl of Derby, girding the Earl with a sword with his own 

 hands, which was the first precedent of such an investiture.* Nor 

 was this any mere barren honour, for it was accompanied by a 

 charter conveying the lucrative grant of every third penny arising 

 out of all the pleas made before the Sheriff of the county of Derby. 

 By another charter, of Julv nth, he received from the Crown the 

 manors of Wirksworth and Ashbourn, together with the whole of 

 that Wapentake, upon an annual payment to the Exchequer of 

 ^"70. He also received many other royal favours and grants, the 

 most singular of which was one granted by John in the 15th year 

 of his reign. By this charter the king gave to the Earl and his 

 heirs a house in the parish of St. Margaret, within the city of Lon- 

 don, which had been forfeited by one Isaac, a Jew of Norwich, to 

 be held by the service of waiting upon the king at dinner, on all 

 festivals yearly, with head uncovered, save for a garland of the 

 breadth of the little finger. t The Earl was very constantly with 

 the king, and accompanied him on many of his itineraries ; his 

 name appears as a witness to upwards of one hundred and twenty 

 of the important royal charters of this reign. 



He was one of the four chief men of the realm who were bound 

 in 1213 for the king's keeping the articles of agreement made with 

 the Pope for all matters for which he stood excommunicated, and 

 on the performance of which the sentence of excommunication 

 was to be void. In the same year, he was one of the witnesses to 

 that memorable instrument signed by King John in St. Paul's 

 Cathedral, on October 3rd, and sealed with a golden seal, whereby 

 he resigned to the Papal See the kingdoms of England and Ireland 

 for pardon of his sins, agreeing to hold the same in fee of the Pope 

 at the yearly tenure of 1000 marks. Moreover, Earl Ferrers, by 

 his bond dated June 17th, 1214, became one of the king's securi- 

 ties for the due payment of this yearly tribute. 



In 1 2 14 the king granted to him the royal castle of Harestan 



* Selden's Titles of Honour, p. 653. 



t Rotuli Chartarum, 15 John, mem. 6-4 ; Kotuli Lit. Claus., 15 John, 1st 

 part, memb. 5. 



