Page:The Boynton family and the family seat of Burton Agnes.djvu/85



The Coat-of-Arms of this family is Gold, a fess between three crescents. The earliest example of this coat is to be found on the seal of Ingeram de Bouintune, attached to a deed at Durham, where the shield is differenced by a label of three points. The deed is undated, but as it concerns a gift of Ingeram and Joan his wife, it may be referred to about the middle of the 13th century. This coat (without the label) is to be found in the Roll of Arms of the time of Richard II, where it is assigned to Thomas de Boynton. It is impossible to say what the origin of this bearing is, but I am inclined to think that the crescents were derived from the badge of the Percy family. The coat occurs on a small round seal at Burton Agnes attached to a deed of William Boynton, Esq., by which he grants to Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland and others, his manors in the County of York, 6 Henry VI (1427). The seal of Thomas de Boynton (about 1400), attached to a Durham deed displays the three crescents placed back to back, each enclosing the letter B. The same Thomas de Boynton also seals with a trefoil, which was a device used by his son Henry.

There is another shield of arms borne by this family, namely. Gold on a cross sable, five bulls' heads silver. This device was the subject of a dispute between Sir Robert de Boynton and Sir William de Aton in 1375. Both claimed the right to this bearing, and Lord Percy was called in to decide which knight had the right to the coat. An