A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



The last will of Sir Henry Vere contains 

 this entry : ' Also I will that my tombe 

 be made in our Lady's Chappell, with a 

 vault in the wall of alybaster, and tomb of 

 the same with a Picter insolid on them.' 

 There is nothing in the appearance of the 

 countenan.rc of the effigy to warrant a belief 

 that it was sculptured as a portrait statue. 



Dame Elizabeth Cheyne. Irthling- 

 borough. 



This mutilated alabaster effigy represents 

 a lady of the early years of the sixteenth 

 century in a pedimental head-dress with long 

 lappets, a partlet, gown and mantle. It 

 apparently commemorates Elizabeth first wife 

 of Sir Thomas Cheyne, and only daugh- 

 ter of Henry Hodylston, by whose death in 

 1 5 1 1 she became possessed of the manor of 

 Irthlingborough. 



Sir John Spencer, died 1522, and Isabel 

 his wife. Great Brington. 



The Spencer tombs and effigies take a very 

 high place among the sepulchral memorials of 

 their period. Their condition is all that can 

 be desired ; they have never been mutilated, 

 restored, or repainted, and the rich soft tone 

 which the monuments and figures have ac- 

 quired by age is very striking. Of the ten 

 effigies eight are carved in clunch, the two 

 latest being in white marble from the hand of 

 Nicholas Stone. Tempting as it might be to 

 consider the Brington monuments as a whole, 

 and to treat at large of the manifold heraldry 

 and the rich late Gothic and Renaissance details 

 of the tombs, the exigences of a strict system- 

 atic arrangement of the effigies in the county, 

 and of space, make it necessary to take the 

 Spencer effigies indifferently with the others, 

 as they fall by the deaths of the men into the 

 chronological order which has been adopted, 

 and to deal with them only in a like limited 

 manner. 



The effigies of Sir John Spencer and Dame 

 Isabel his wife repose upon a high altar-tomb 

 divided on either side into three compartments 

 containing shields within enriched quatrefoils. 

 Over the figures rises a four-centred arched 

 canopy with a quatrefoiled entablature, sur- 

 mounted by an elaborate cresting, and flanked 

 by panelled and embattled turrets. It is a 

 memorial of great refinement, and of special 

 interest as the latest Gothic monument with 

 effigies in the county. The sculpture through- 

 out is admirable, and none can doubt that 

 faithful portraits are here presented. 



Sir John Spencer is represented wearing a 

 simple gorget, his body being habited in a 

 tabard. At the side openings of this gar- 

 ment the cuirass and taces appear, and below 



it the tuiles and the mail skirt. The bras- 

 sarts and avant-bras are hinged after the 

 old manner, the coudi^res decorated with 

 rosettes, the cuissarts and jambes plain, and 

 the large-winged genouilleres and their single 

 articulations ridged and engrailed. The feet 

 are covered with engrailed sollerets ending 

 with wide fluted sabbatons or toepieces, imi- 

 tating the puffings of the civil fashion of 

 the time. The heels resting on broad plate 

 gauntlets, then just going out, show the 

 construction of the soles and the straps fast- 

 ening the sollerets. A scarlet mantle, lined 

 green, falls to the feet, and is fastened across 

 the breast by a continuously hinged band 

 bearing the initials of the wearer. From the 

 right side an estoc is suspended by a loop, 

 and a sword on the left, both with Renais- 

 sance details, as is to be expected. The head 

 rests upon a tilting helm with barred sights, 

 surmounted by the wreath, and crest. 



Dame Isabel Spencer, wears the pedimen- 

 tal head-dress with double lappets, paned 

 and diapered. Her hair is braided in front, 

 and flows behind her shoulders to the waist ; 

 she has a necklace from which a heart is 

 suspended, and as this was the age of great 

 gold chains, she wears three round her neck. 

 The partlet is embroidered and edged with 

 pearls, and the wrists similarly decorated. 

 She is habited in a white kirtle edged with 

 gold over a long scarlet gown covering her 

 feet. From the girdle is suspended a rosary 

 and a richly ornamented pomander chain ; a 

 heraldic mantle is looped across the breast by a 

 tasselled cord, and falls in broad folds to the 

 feet ; it is embroidered with arms. At the 

 feet are the mutilated remains of two squirrels. 



At the east end of the canopy below the 

 arch is this inscription in Roman capitals : — 



here LIETH the BODDIES of sir JOHN 



spencer KNIGHT & DAME ISABELL HIS 



WIFE ONE OF THE DAUGHTERS & COHEIRES 



OF WALTER GRAUNT OF SNITTERFIELD 



IN THE COUNTIE OF WAR : ESQUIER HER 



MOTHER WAS THE DAUGHTER AND HEIRE 



OF HUMPHRIE RUDINGE OF THE WICH 



IN THE COUN : OF WORCESTER ESQ : WHICH 



JOHN AND ISABELL HAD ISSU SIR WILL'M 



SPENCER KNIGHT i. ANTHONY SPENSER 



2. WHO DIED WITHOUT ISSU. JANE WIFE 



TO RICH : KNIGHTLEY ESQUIER SON'E & 



HEIRE OF SIR RICHARDE KNIGHTLEY OF 



FAWSLEY IN THE COUNTIE OF NORTH : 



KNIGHT. ISABELL MARIED TO SIR NIC'S : 



STRELLY OF STRELLY IN THE CON'TIE 



OF NOTT. KNIGHT. DOROTHYE MARIED 



TO SIR RICH : CATESBIE OF LEGERS 

 ASHBIE IN THE COUN : OF NORTH : KNI : 



WHICH JOHN SPENC : DEPARTED 

 THIS LIFE THE 14 OF APR. A° D'NI 1522 



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