Page:Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries.djvu/160

 Devon Notes and Queries. izi says :— '• Sir Richard Reynell of Pyttney, co. Somer- set, during the absence of King Richard in the Holy Land, had the custody of the castles of Exeter delivered to him 1 191. These castles he stoutly defended against John, Earl of Moreton, the King's brother, who in the monarch's absence endeavoured to usurp the sovereign power. On the death of Richard and the accession of John, the latter, remembering the part which Sir Richard Reynell had taken against him, deprived him of his estates." Pole (/. 82) calls him *' Richard Revell the sonne of William " (meaning evidently Will. Renel of the Castel of Exceter, previously referred to on p. 40), and says he " was a man of arms and had the keeping of the castels of Excester and Lawnceston delivered unto him by King Richard," and was Sherifif *^ unto the end of the reigne of ye said King." The •♦ y " in Reynell was often omitted, and the difficulty of writing '' n " so that it shall not be printed "u" is with us to-day. Moreover, " u " and " V " used to do duty for one another so frequently that they seem to have been regarded almost as one letter. William Renell or Reynell was probably seated at Exeter Castle before 1191, and this most likely led to his son, Sir Richard Reynell of Pyttney, co. Somerset, being made Sheriff of Devon and Cornwall and warden of the Castles of Exeter and Launceston 1191. Collinson, the Somerset historian, makes frequent reference to the owner of Pitney, whom he styles Sir Richard Revel, Knt., Baron of Curry Rivell, " a person of great note and Sherifif of the Counties of Devon and Cornwall for several successive years," who was granted Curry RWell, Langport, Pitney, Swell and other places by King Richard I. Concerning the town of Lang- port, at Domesday Survey a royal burgh with its 34 residenj burgesses and annual revenue of ;^79 los. yd., a very large sum in those days, he continues: Nor did the Kings /of Sngland think fit to part with so desirable an estate until the time of Richard I, who, finding occasion for baronial aid, gave it with several other estates in the neighbourhood to Sir Richard Revel, Knt., who procured a charter ylor the town and is said to have built a castle here. King John by deed (dated Bined 27 Julii A* ytlegis 15) restored to the SherifiTs son Richard Reynell the/lands that had been his father's (<* Rlcardo Reynell terrani/de Peteneya