Page:The house of Cecil.djvu/21

 THE FOUNDING OF THE FAMILY 7

The history of David Cecil, the younger son of Richard, is of greater interest, as he was the founder of his family's fortunes. Through his grandmother he was related to Sir David Philipp, who accompanied Henry VII. out of Wales and fought at Bosworth Field, afterwards settling at Thornhaugh in Northamptonshire. 1 Burghley states that David Cecil followed Sir David Philipp in the campaign, and " Davy Scisseld " proved his will in 1506 as one of his executors. Further proof of the identity of Burghley's grandfather with the Welsh David is afforded by the fact that the former was one of the yeomen of the guard, who were chiefly composed of Henry's Welsh followers. 2

As for the differences in the spelling of the name, a letter written by Burghley's son, the first Earl of Exeter, to his uncle, Hugh Allington (November I3th, 1605), is of interest. Some libel having been published reflecting on the origin of the family, he asks his uncle to search in his study at Burghley for documents, and adds : " Likewise my Lord my father's altering the writing of his name maketh many that are not well affected to our house to doubt whether we are rightly descended of the house of Wales, because they write their name Sitselt and our name is written Cecyll ; my grandfather wrote it Syssell ; and so in autography [sic] all the three names

1 Blore, History of Rutland.

2 A fact discovered by Mr. Oswald Barren, to whom I am indebted for many of the details of David's life. See Northamptonshire Families.

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