Colonial Genealogy 



not only from Isabel, but also from Eve de Mareschal, 

 one of her many great-great-granddaughters. 



5 



Intrigued by a whole background of heredity, romance, 

 and adventure, while on St. Paul of the Pribilofs I wrote 

 the following poem: 



To LADY ALICE COURTENEY * 



(Alice, daughter of Pierre by courtesy Lord of Courtenay, son of Louis VI, 

 "le Gros," a descendant of Charlemagne and Isabella de Courtenay, heiress 

 of the estates of Devon, by marrying Aymar (Edmund) de Taillefer, lord of 

 Angouleme, a descendant of the swordsmith 



Taillefer who sang 



Till the hills of Hastings rang, 



became mother of Isabel de Taillefer, wife of King John and thus ancestress 

 of a series of kings, and of a long line of Cavaliers and Puritans in England and 

 America, whereof the end is not yet. 



Courtenay, a town in lie de France, is the original home of the Courteney 

 forebears, said to be of Danish descent.) 



I have seen thy name today, 

 Lady Alice Courteney, 

 As a treasure brought to me 

 From the mines of history. 

 'Tis a stately Norman name 

 Of a fair and stately dame, 

 And the picture that it brings 

 Of long-vanished stately things 

 Comes to me as keen and clear 

 As a painted miniature. 



As I gaze, they pass away, 



All the vistas of today, 



All the battles I have fought, 



All the deeds my hands have wrought, 



All the golden light that fills 



Sunny Santa Clara's hills! 



Unsubstantial as a dream 

 Does my lone mist-island seem, 



1 Original English spelling of the family name. 



C68i ] 



