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NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. vi. MAY a, im

without explanation, to the Princess Flora of Spain, no doubt dragged in for contem- porary reasons. In politics, too, this for- gotten author anticipates the thoughts of practically every one of his fellow dramatists. In this play the Admiral, approached by conspirators, bursts out in true Cavalier wrath at their proposals : Your Doctrine is of Devils ; I fear to name The words which you have utter'd, without shame. That I shoo'd help, for to correct the King, Were he the worst, of any living thing 1 Or were his Royal soul, more black then Hell, Far be't in me, such wickedness shoo'd dwell. . . . To us, who cannot judge of common things, Does not belong, the judgement of great Kings. They shoo'd be like stars, seated in the Sky, Far "from our reach, though seeming near our eye.

Act II., sc. iii.

In his self-confessed " dull rhyming play " of 'The History of Charles the Eighth of France, or, The Invasion of Naples by the French ' (Dorset Garden, 1671), Crowne said exactly the same :

But make him know it is a safer thing

To blaspheme Heav'n, then fco depose a King. . ..

Act I., sc. i.

Titles of Kings are Mysteries too high Above the reach of ev'ry vulgar Eye.

Act I., sc. ii.

In Cartwright's ' The Heroick-Lover ' we have, therefore, an anticipation of the regular heroic tragedy the initiation of which is generally accredited to Dryden or to Orrery. Never acted, as it appears, it was, no doubt, in those early years of renewed interest in the drama but of meagre dramatic production, read, maybe, by Dryden himself and certainly by many a lesser follower of Dryden's styl. It gives us a new hint, if but a slight one, towards an elucidation of the origin of the whole heroic species.

ALLABDYCE NICOLL, M.A.

Oxford.

NOTES ON THE DE GORGES OF

KNIGHTON GORGES, ISLE OF WIGHT, A.D. 1241-1349.

THE knightly family of the De Gorges ranks among the most distinguished of the early nobility of the Isle of Wight. The site where the old Manor House of Knighton Gorges stood is to be found about midway on the steep southern slope of Ashey Down, one of a range of lofty chalk hills running through the centre of the Isle of Wight. The tri- angular sea-mark on its summit stands some 400 feet above sea-level.

An earlier family of repute the De Morvilles were located here by, or shortly

before, the commencement of Henry II.' 3.. reign. William de Morville it is conjectured, obtained a grant of the manor from the- Crown, but no documentary evidence of such grant has been traced. His name is attached to two important island charters of 1150 and 1161. His descendant Ivo de Morville, Lord of Bradpole, co. Dorset, Wraxall, co. Somerset, and Knighton, Isle of Wight, died before 1256, the date usually assigned, leaving an only daughter Elena, heiress to his large estates. She married' Ralph, son of Ivo de Gorges of Tamworth,. co. Warwick.

Ralph (1) de Gorges. His marriage with, the heiress took place before 1241, both parties being probably under age. This surmise is based upon the following, entered on a Patent Roll, bearing date Jan 16 1241 :

" Appointment during pleasure of Bartholomew Peche and Joan de Gorges to the custody of the-

lands of Ralph de Gorges and Eleanor his wife ' '

Cal. Pat. R., 1232-47, p. 243.

(A reference to Joan de Gorges is found on the Liberate Rolls, May 7, 26 Henry III., Issues of the Exchequer : " Pay &c. to Joari' wife of Ralph de Gorges, 4 marks to purchase a rcbe and coat.")

In September of the following year is a mandate to the Archbishop of York, " to assign as soon as possible to Ralph de Gorges

ten pounds yearly for the maintenance of hln

and his wife." Cal. Pat. R., 1232-47, p. 323.

Wiff en, ' Historical Memoirs of the House of Russell,' i. 136, alludes to an earlier alliance of Ralph de Gorges with the heiress of Foliot of Warleigh, but cites no authority for the statement. This story is echoed later by the Rev. George S. Master, ' Collections for a Parochial History of Wraxall ' n 10 published 1900:

" Sir Ralph' de Gorges married for his first wif Margaret, daughter and heir of Robert Foliot of ' Warleigh, in Tamerton Foliot, co. Devon and by her, who died in 1239, had issue, &c." ' The Foliot heiress did marry a Ralph de Gorges, but he was of Est Almere, co. Dorset, who is named later as one of the executors of the will of his namesake of Knighton Gorges, whose death took place circa 1272. A pedigree of the ' Gorges of Tamerton Foliot ' is given in Pole's 'Devon' p. 335. Parti- culars of the inquisition following on the death in 1289 of "Ralph de Gorges de Almere " is given in the 'Calendar of In- quisitions,' ii. 462, published in 1906. He died, in 1289, sine prole, and his wife's name was Margaret, a daughter of Simon de Brionne, vel. Bryon.