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Grange near Sheffield, were totally different. The arms on this 

 panel are — Quarterly argent and (jules, on the 2nd and 3rd quarters 

 a frette or, over all a bend sable, charged with three fleurs-de-lis, 

 argent.'" The Althorp Spencers' arms are the same, except that 

 the charge on the bend is three escallops in place of three fleurs- 

 de-lis. On this point of armorial bearings, it is significant that 

 Mr. Longstaffe, a well-known antiquary, prints in the Palatine 

 Note Book, fi'om Glover's Ordinary of Anns, the registered 

 armorial bearings of eight families of Spencers, not one of which 

 has the least correspondence with these arms of Spensers of 

 Hiirstwood and Spencers of Althorp, with one exception, those 

 of Wm. Spencer, gent., who lived near Pickering, in Yorkshire, 

 temjh EHzabeth, which have a partial resemblance. This armorial 

 item helps to explain a circumstance which has been an enigma 

 of the poet's personality, and a stumbling-block to the acceptance 

 of the idea that he belonged to the Spenser clan in this district. 

 Edmimd Spenser has inscribed upon his pages the fact that two 

 daughters of Sir John Spencer of Althorp had allowed him to 

 regard himself as their kinsman ; and objectors have asked how 

 the poet could be related both to the Spencers of Althorp and to 

 the Hin-stwood family. Spenser dedicated three of his poems 

 to Sir John Spencer's three daughters, and in these dedications 

 he speaks of " name and kindred's sake," of ." some private 

 bands of affinitie which it hath pleased yom- ladyship to acknow- 

 ledge ; "' and of "the noble familie of which I meanest boast 

 myself to be." Upon this I remark, that if the poet had been 

 clearly and nearly related to Spencers of Althoi-p, the relation- 

 ship would not have been hinted at so vaguely and indefinitely. 

 Expressions such as I have cited assert but little ; at any rate do 

 not point to more than distant and conjectural kinship. I agree 

 with Mr. Longstaffe's opinion that " any legitimate relationship 

 of the poet to the Althorp Hne can, at the best, have only been 

 very remote. His language too is guarded, and perhaps does 

 not amount to much more than the questionable certificates of 

 unproved relationship in order to prove a dubious pedigree or to 

 justify a differenced coat." "A differenced coat" — well, we 

 have still to find out whether Spenser bore as his arms a "differ- 

 enced coat " from those of Spencer of Althorp, but in this panel 

 from Ormerod you have indubitable proof that the Hiu-stwood 

 Spensers did bear such a " differenced coat," obtained, we will 

 suppose, by virtue of then- claim to have descended fr'om a remote 

 common ancestor. The fail- deduction is that Edmund Spenser 

 and the Hurstwood Spensers stood on the same footing of tradi- 

 tional distant relationship to the Spencers of Althorp. So far the 

 objection melts away. But there is anotlier allusion of the poet 

 to his ancestral location which has mystified what should have 

 been plain. In his Prothalamium Spenser speaks in one stanza 



