Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 10.djvu/525

 10 s. x. NOV. 28, 1908.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

433

John de Dreux, Count of Brittany and Earl of Richmond, on whose death in 1342 the Earldom of Richmond was conferred by Edward III. on his infant son, Prince John. Boutell further states that this label is generally blazoned with three spots on each point, though he gives instances where a different arrangement can be shown.

We learn that John of Ghent was created Duke of Lancaster in 1362, and in the fol- lowing year Earl of Derby, Lincoln, and Leicester ; also, that on his marriage with Constance of Castile he assumed the title of King of Castile and Leon. He impaled the arms of his first wife, Blanche of Lan- caster (which elsewhere we find to be the three lions of England, with a label of five points each point charged with three fleurs-de-lis for difference). He afterwards impaled Castile and Leon, placing his royal coat on the dexter side of his shield. From the section on ' The Arms of Royal Con- sorts,' at p. 306, we learn, too, what those arms were : 1 and 4, Gules, a castle triple- towered or ; 2 and 3, Argent, a lion rampant gules.

In another place Boutell dwells upon the uncertainty which has so long existed as to whether the lion of Leon should be gules, as he gives it, or purpure, as given on the monument of Edward III. at Westminster. And he refers to an able paper on this subject by the late DR. JOHN WOODWARD .(one of the highest heraldic authorities, I suppose, of modern times) which is to be found at 3 S. i. 471.

I find that DR. WOODWARD himself refers to this paper in his very valuable work 'Heraldry, English and Foreign' (1896), vol. i. p. 68, where he says :

" Of the regular tinctures, purpure is much less used in British armory than any other. In France heralds disputed as to whether it was a separate tincture or not. The lion of Leon is often blazoned purpure, but was not intended to be of a tincture distinct from

And the learned author calls attention to the above paper in ' N. & Q.' Apropos of this one is inclined to ask, How much are modern writers on heraldry indebted to such papers in ' N. & Q.' ?

John of Ghent is also stated to have borne Sable, three ostrich feathers ermine, the quills and scrolls or, as shown on his seals, and monuments at Canterbury, West- minster, and Lincoln.

Speaking of these seals, Boutell refers to the Great Seal of John of Ghent, as King of Castile, as an example of the greatest

interest, abounding in heraldic accessories and devices ; and on p. 164 he says :

" Upon one of his seals John Plantagenet of Ghent impales Castile and Leon with France and England differenced with a label ermine ; and in this instance, in honour of his royal consort Con- stance of Castile and Leon, he places his own arms- on the sinister side of the shield ; in his other im- paled shields the arms of this prince occupy the customary dexter half of the escutcheon ; he also- used seals bearing his own arms without any im- palement."

I can find no trace in Boutell of any crest or motto attributed to John of Ghent ; but that author states that his well-known seal, in addition to his achievement of arms, is- charged with his badges, two falcons holding fetter-locks in their beaks ; and elsewhere he speaks of the padlock (or fetter-lock) as being one of his badges.

It is unfortunate, perhaps, that amongst the many excellent illustrations in thia valuable work Boutell does not give one of this seal, so that we might have seen whether this " achievement " contained more than the mere arms and badges. But GHENT may be able to supply this omission from other sources to which I have no access.

J. S. UDAL, F.S.A.

Antigua, W.I.

FROST PRINTS (10 S. x. 350). The print- to which MR. ABRAHAMS refers, ' A Prospect of Frost Fair,' drawn 11 Feb., 1739/40, with the lines beginning " The bleak north- east from rough Tartarian Shores," does- exist. The example in my collection ia printed in sanguine, and is probably one of the piratical prints. It measures 12^ in, by 7f in. There are two copies in my collection, but the second bears verses begin- ning " Behold the liquid Thames," &c. They are mentioned in ' Rariora,' i. 54.

J. ELIOT HODGKIN.

In ' Frost Fairs on the Thames,' by Ed, Walford, No. XII. of the " Sette of Odd Volumes," are several references to ballads- published during the Frost of 1739-40, but none to that MR. ABRAHAMS wants.

A. H. ARKLE.

SIR MATTHEW DE RENZI (10 S. x. 369). Surgeon-General Sir Annerley Charles Cas- triot De Renzy, K.C.B. (son of the late Thomas De Renzy, M.D., J.P., of Cronyhorn, co. Wicklow), 20, Park Hill, Baling, could perhaps answer L. J.'s inquiries.

F. DE H. L.

According to Burke's ' Landed Gentry/ 4th ed., 1862, vol. i. p. 363, the then repre- sentative of De Rinzy of Clobemon Hall,