On the Rowel Spur 39 



attached to the neck of the spur, but it could not possibly 

 have actually been so. Other brasses showing this peculiarity 

 are those of Sir Thomas Brownfleet, in Wymington Church, 

 Bedfordshire, a.d. 1430; Sir John Drayton, 1425, in Dorchester 

 Abbey, Oxfordshire ; Roger Elmbrygge, 1435, in Beddington 

 Church, Surrey; and to a knight of the Cuttes family, 1440, 

 in Arkesden Church, Essex. These, though in different parts 

 of England, are, from their dates, very possibly by the same 

 hand. At a somewhat later period a brass to the memory of 

 Sir Henry Gray, in Ketningham Church, Norfolk, who died in 

 1492, has a curved line springing from the neck of the spur, 

 and projecting over the upper part of the rowel. This is 

 shown on Plate 18, Fig. 2. 



In writing of this brass. Sir Samuel Meyrick, in his 

 Critical Examination of Arms and Armour, says — " His spurs 

 are very curious, being furnished with a thin piece of steel, 

 placed on the neck, which rises over the rowel. This probably 

 bends by pressure, and yet prevents the points of the rowel 

 from penetrating deeply, while at other times it keeps it clear 

 from getting entangled." In this case, as our illustration shows, 

 the curved line looks exactly as if it were some structure 

 springing from the upper part of the neck of the spur, and it 

 is quite excusable that Sir Samuel Meyrick should have been 

 deceived by it. But it is perfectly clear, with the additional 

 evidence afforded by other brasses, where a similar line is 

 detached, and does not appear to spring from any part of the 

 spur, that these lines were merely intended as flourishes or 

 ornaments to relieve the plain surface of the brass. Very 



