Page:Sussex Archaeological Collections, volume 6.djvu/97

, as knight of the garter; with the blazonry of the noblest of his countrymen. But the churches of Slaugham and Poynings, erected by the pious munificence of this opulent family, to this day perpetuate their armorial ensigns; in the former, the coats of Poynings and Warren, in stained glass, in the chancel window, the colours still bright, though mellowed by the touch of time, look down on the tarnished, but more modem achievements of the Coverts, the Mortons, and the Sergisons; and any wanderer among the green mounds of the ruins of the castle of Poynings, who strays into the adjoining churchyard, will behold on the north porch of the church, on a single sculptured shield, without ornament or indication of colour, the simple charges, barry of six and a bend.

If these Collections had not been restricted to topics of a local rather than a general nature, arguments might be brought forward to refute the prevailing opinions as to the antiquity of heraldry: it might be shown that charters, with arms on seals attached, prove its existence in the eleventh century in Spain and France; that armorial bearings are spoken of by historians of the time of Charlemagne, and subsequently; and that even Tacitus speaks of the parti-coloured shields of the Germans. The coats of some of the most ancient and noble European families answer precisely to that description (as checquy, lozengy, &c.), and are probably the ancient ensigns of the Teutonic chieftains. The Anglo-Saxon kings and nobles, as their descendants, bore arms on their banners and shields, some of which have probably come down to us, although the majority of them became extinct, along with the families who bore them, or with their subjection. The omission of allusion to arms in what remains of Anglo-Saxon literature is riot more remarkable than a similar silence in the general literature and newspapers of the present day. The Bayeux tapestry exhibits obvious though rude representations of these devices, and although, for some political reasons, William the Conqueror discountenanced their display, yet they were borne notwithstanding by his barons and knights, as is proved by many families a hundred and fifty years afterwards, descended of a common ancestor living at the conquest, using the same bearings. Unless this deduction be allowed, the absurdity VI.