472 NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF HORSE-SHOEING. 
responding to the Italian horseshoes were the Belgic and Wallon, 
as we find in the Guerre des Awans et des Warons , a MS. in our 
possession recording the party wars among the people of Liege. 
“ Large fer a cheval ot, a talons moult crochusand in another 
author of the same period there occurs a notice of the great horses 
then in use, which, though not referring to the present purpose, is 
not without interest. 
En celuy temps de werre et encore par l’espace de dix ans 
apres le pays faits, les chevaliers et escuyers d’honneur soy Kaba- 
loient sor d’astriers or sor corsiers de tel bonteit, quil soi pouissent 
sur assugerir: est estoient fort hautes selles de Tarnoy sans satoir, 
los covers de couverture ouvries d’ceuvre de brosdure de leurs bla¬ 
zons armoreiz et estoient armees de plattes de bons harnas de 
menus fer, et heut sor les plattes bons riches wardecorps d’armes 
armoriez de leurs blazons et avot cascon un heaume sur son bacinet 
a on timbre ben jolit, et plusieurs seignors chevaliers et autres 
y-avoit que aldessos de los couvertures de menu mailles de fer por 
la dolanche de leurs chevas*.” 
Of the broad Flemish shaped horseshoe a specimen was dis¬ 
covered in Devonshire, broken or decayed by rust to one half; the 
other was wrapped in an indurated clay pebble, which, on being 
split, shewed the part remaining quite perfect, the clay having 
been hardened by the oxide of iron, although, from external ap¬ 
pearances, it had long rolled, in the form of a flat pebble, in some 
river, or on the coast of the sea. In other cases the tendency of 
iron to moulder into rust prevents ancient horseshoes being found 
more frequently. 
William the Conqueror is said to have introduced horse-shoeing 
in this island ; nevertheless, Welbeck, in Nottinghamshire, was 
then the property of a Saxon chief named Gamelbere, who retained 
his fief on the condition of shoeing the king’s palfrey whenever he 
should lie at the Manor of Mansfield, and that he should give 
another palfrey worth four marks whenever he lamed the king’s 
animal. If the account of this tenure be true, horse-shoeing must 
be older in England than the Norman conquest; and when we look 
to the Bayeux tapestry, admitted to be little posterior to that event, 
* “In those times of war, and even ten years after the peace was made, 
knights and squires of honour rode great horses or coursers of the greatest 
value they could procure, and they had very high tourneying saddles without 
foresaltiers. They were covered with caparisons wrought in embroidery 
with their armorial blasons. They were armed with breast-plates with good 
armour of thin iron pieces, and upon the plate they had rich wardcoats bear¬ 
ing their blasons. Each had a helmet upon his bacinet with a handsome 
crest ; and several lords, knights, and others had beneath the drapery 
of their caparisons, ringed mailed for their horses.”—Iiamericourt, I)e Beilis 
Leodunsibus, c. 41. 
