Chapter C: H. P

Brighton, April 21.

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THE HOUSE OF MAILLE.

The house of Maille (vide Lord Mahon's _Life of Conde_) contributed to the Crusades one of its bravest champions. Can any of your numerous contributors give me information as to the name and achievements of the Crusader?

Claire Clemence de Maille, daughter of the Marechal Duke de Breze, and niece of Richelieu, was married in 1641 to the Duc d'Enghien, afterwards the Great Conde; and Lord Mahon, somewhere in his life of the hero, makes mention of the princess as the "last of her family."

Claire Clemence had an only brother, who held the exalted post of High Admiral of France, and in 1646 he commanded a French fleet which disembarked 8000 men in the marshes of Sienna, and himself shortly afterwards fell at the siege of Orbitello. The admiral having died unmarried, the Breze estates became the property of the princess, who transmitted them to her descendants, the last of whom was the unfortunate Duc d'Enghien, who perished at Vincennes.

Thus much is patent; but I think it probable his lordship was not aware that a branch of the family was exiled, and with the La Touches, La Bertouches, &c., settled in the sister kingdom, most likely at the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Their descendants subsequently passed over into this country, and have contributed to the lists of the legal and medical professions. Up to the present century a gentleman bearing the slightly altered name of Mallie held a commission in the British army. Even now, the family is not extinct, and the writer being lately on a visit to a lady, probably the sole representative _in name_ of this once powerful house, noticed in her possession a series of four small engravings, representing the Great Conde; his mother, a princess of Montmorency, pronounced to be the "handsomest woman in Europe;" the old Marechal de Maille Breze; and his daughter, Claire Clemence.

Our _Pall Mall_ is, I believe, derived from _Pailee Maille_, a game somewhat analogous to cricket, and imported from France in the reign of the second Charles: it was formerly played in St. James's Park, and in the exercise of the sport a small hammer or _mallet_ was used to strike the ball. I think it worth noting that the _Mallie_ crest _is_ a mailed arm and hand, the latter grasping a _mallet_.

Be it understood that the writer has no pretensions to a knowledge of heraldic terms and devices; so, without pinning any argument on the coincidence, he thought it not without interest. He is aware that the mere fact of a similarity between surnames and crests is not without its parallel in English families.

A NEW SUBSCRIBER.

Birmingham, April 22. 1851.

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Minor Queries.

_Meaning of "eign."_--What is the meaning of the word "eign" in Presteign, also the name of a street and a brook? Is it connected with the Anglo-Saxon _thegen_ or _theign?_

H. C. K.

Hereford.

_The Bonny Cravat._--Can any of your readers give a probable explanation of the meaning of the sign of an inn at Woodchurch, in Kent, which is "The Bonny Cravat," now symbolised as a huge white neckcloth, with a "waterfall" tie?

E. H. Y.

_What was the Day of the Accession of Richard III.?_--Sir Harris Nicolas, in his _Chronology of History_ (2nd edition, p. 326.) decides for June 26, 1433, giving strong reasons for such opinion. But his primary reason, founded on a fac-simile extract from the Memoranda Rolls in the office of the King's Remembrancer in the Exchequer of {352} Ireland, printed, with fac-simile, in the second _Report of the Commissioners on Irish Records_, 1812, p. 160., gives rise to a doubt; for, as Sir Harris Colas states,

"It is remarkable that the printed copy should differ from the
fac-simile in the identical point which caused the letter to be
published, for in the former the 'xxvij^{th} of June' occurs, whereas
in the fac-simile it is the 'xxvj^{th} of June.' The latter is
doubtless correct; for an engraver, who copies precisely what is before
him, is less likely to err than a transcriber or editor."

This is most probably the case; but perhaps some of your correspondents in Ireland will settle the point accurately.

J. E.

_Lucas Family._--Can any of your correspondents inform me what were the names of the sons of John Lucas, of Weston, co. Suffolk, who lived at the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth century? One of them, Thomas, was Solicitor-General, and a Privy Councillor, to Henry VII., and had estates in Suffolk.

W. L.

_Watch of Richard Whiting._--In Warner's _History of Glastonbury_ mention is made of the watch of Richard Whiting, the last abbot. It is stated in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ of 1805 to have been in the possession of the Rev. Mr. Bowen, of Bath. Since then, I think, it was sold by auction; at least I have heard so. Perhaps some of your readers know what has become of it, and can say where it now is. The name "Richard Whiting" is said to be engraved inside it.