to act in the office of the Earl Marshal of England, and for reviving the decayed estate of this College, to do which they had been authorized to call before them all the members of it, and to make inquisition of all manner of arms, by them given to any person without good warrant, or usurped and taken by any without the like warrant, and to annul them; that the society might again be re-established and cleared from these quarrels and misunderstandings, that had extremely injured them, from the year 1593 to 1596 both inclusive. These orders were presented to the two noblemen, in the month of September in the last year, and were requested by their deputies to be signed; but it is not known whether they did or not. The causes of dispute," says Mr. Dallaway, " were usually the infringements made by Garter upon the exclusive provincial privileges of the other kings."

F.

Particulars of the Quarrel between Garter, Dethick, and Cook, Clarenceux, Kings at Arms, in the Reign of 2. Elizabeth. The Complaint of Clarenceux has been already mentioned. Garter complained to Lord Burleigh and Lord Howard *.

"THAT as concerning Cook, Clarenceux's birth, he was sprung of a tanner; of " his ignorance of languages, that he was not able to speak French; of his dissolute "life, being guilty of haunting taverns, marrying another man's wife, prodigality, " and running into debt; injuring the office, in that he, and Chester, had spoiled the

library in the office of arms of more than forty or fifty books at one time. That he " made a multitude of gentlemen by himself, under the name of principal king of "arms (being but Clarenceux). That his deputy ranged over all the realm, giving, "altering, and changing shields of arms, and cognizances of honor, to all sorts of men, " and of all faculties; obtruding arms to some, and exacting fees, exceeding the "Queen's fifteens; and many pedigrees were unregistered. And as his deputy went " about in sundry shires of England, so he went about in London, into all companies " and " and societies, and in every street, commanding merchants, mechanical men, and "artificers, before him at sundry taverns, and gave and allowed arms to all manner of

persons, at all prices, and for good cheer, contrary to all honor, and yet wasted all. "That he had a grant of the Queen worth £1000, but consumed it. He was also " charged for giving the Earl of Desmond's arms to one Captain Cheston."

Whatever truth there might be in these relations, a much severer blame fell upon Garter, who was suspended; and of the ability and industry of Cook, Clarenceux, the following is a demonstration : "At his death the Lord Burleigh, acting as Earl Mar"shal, knowing he had many books of heraldry (some whereof he had taken out of "the office violently) sent to the Lord Mayor and sheriffs to take an inventory of his " books, which they did, and returned a catalogue of them. Then Dethick, Garter,

propounded to the said Lord, that they might have them at a reasonable price to the " said office; being sorry, as he said, that the mayor and merchants of London should " have the perusal of the honorable secrets of the office of arms, and have the custody thereof, who might not arrest their bodies, and yet keep their records. By this cata"logue, Cook seems to have been a very diligent man in his science, consisting of a vast "collection of descents and pedigrees of English noblemen, gentlemen, and strangers, " statutes of the order of the Garter, ancient patents, evidences, certificates, visitations " of the counties of Leicester, Warwick, Lincoln, the city of London, Surrey, Kent,

Hamps, Sussex, Cornwall, Cambridge, Hertford, Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk; justs,

" proceedings to coronations and combats, divers books of tricks of arms, escripts, " writings, muniments with seals of the same, notes of the wars of K. Edw. III. and many old papers and offices from Henry III. to Henry VI."

G.

DETHICK, Garter, had also his complaints against Cook's successor, Lee, Clarenceux, for he accused him " of having invaded his office for the burial of Bishops, and "the Lord Mayor of London. He accused him also to the commissioners of the "Earl Marshal's office, for using an hearse in the funeral of a knight batchelor, viz. "Sir Richard Baker. To which he answered for himself, that knights' funerals had, "according to custom, hearses as well as barons. Nor did hearses make any differ"ence or distinction between those two degrees, and that the using thereof was left to "the discretion of the officers at arms, as mere indifferent; and that the said hearse " of that knight wanted ornaments, wherewith the hearses of barons were garnished. " Garter also accused the said Lee, that he had allowed and set out the arms and " funerals " funerals of one Bucher, a mercer of London, a man of small parentage, with " helmet, crest, coat of arms, penon, and a pall, and himself attendant in his rich "coat."

H.

The Particulars of the Complaint against Dethick, Garter, in 1595, about giving Geo. Rotheram, Esq. the Coat of the Lord Grey of Ruthyn, belonging to Henry, then Duke of Kent.

To this complaint, Garter answered in a letter, addressed to Sir John Pickering, Lord Keeper, that "the said Rotheram, a year ago, had requested him to take notice, "according to the custom of his office, of certain records, one out of the Tower, " and other evidences; and by an ancient book, and a monument or tomb-stone of

arms, in the church of Luyton, to set down his pedigree, pretended from Anthony "Grey of Ruthyn. Which pedigree he did exemplify for him, without any further approbation or confirmation of the same, to be true; but only according to the proofs "shewn him, which he, the said Rotheram, was to produce or defend by laws, "and not by his office. And so he the said Garter reckoned himself to stand " discharged."

"But the complaint made by the Earl of Kent to the court of Earl Marshal ran "against both, as well Garter as Rotheram. And the sentence also was against both, " which was given in favor of the Earl in June, anno 1597, after long hearing on both

parts at sundry times; whereby it was adjudged, "That the said Dethick, Garter, " and Rotheram, had manifestly done wrong to the complainant (for so are the words " of the sentence) in making and publishing that pedigree, in a case so long suspended " without claim, to make a shew that the said Rotheram was descended lineally of "Katherine, daughter of Anthony Lord Grey of Ruthyn, who was proved before " them, by divers means of good credit, to have died without issue. And they, the " commissioners of the office of Earl Marshal (judges in this cause) did revoke and " annul the bearing of the said arms of the Earl of Kent, quarterly by Rotheram, and

judged them to be unlawfully borne; and determined that part of the pedigree made

" by Garter to be unlawful, by which the said Rotheram was made cousin and heir

66

general of Edmund Earl of Kent, by Anthony, eldest son of the said Earl; reserving " to themselves power to tax the costs and expenses of the complainant against the "defendants."

It is not known what inconvenience this decision was to Garter.

I.

An Account of the malicious Wickedness of Brooke, York Herald, that again involved the College in much Uneasiness.

Upon a private pique against one of the College, he contrived such a malicious " piece of revenge, as is not commonly heard of. He employs a man to carry a "coat of arms to him, ready drawn, to pretend that it belonged to one Gregory Brandon " (a gentleman that had formerly lived in London, but was then gone over into Spain,) " and to desire he would set his hand to it. The man does his errand very formally; " and for fear a little time and consideration might break their measures, pretends " that the vessel which was to carry it was just ready to sail. He smelling nothing " of the design, without more ado receives a reward, and puts the seal of the office, " with his own name, to the paper. Presently Brooke carries it to Thomas Earl of "Arundel (then one of the Commissioners for the office of Lord Marshal,) assures " him that these are the arms of the kingdom of Arragon, with a canton of Brabant; " and that Brandon, to whom he had granted them, was a mean inconsiderable person. "The Earl acquainted the King with the whole matter, who resolved that he should "not only be turned out of his place, but, upon a fair hearing in the Star-Chamber, be " severely fined for his affront to the crown of Spain. However, upon the intercession of the Earl of Pembroke, he grew a little calmer, and was prevailed upon

"cess

66

to refer it wholly to the Commissioners. When they came to a hearing, the gen"tleman, who had been thus imposed upon, submitted himself wholly to the mercy of "the court; but withal desired their Lordships to consider that 'twas a pure oversight, " and that it was the importunity of the messenger which drew him to the doing of "it without due deliberation. Brooke on the other hand, declared openly in Court, " that it was from beginning to end a contrivance of his own, to gain an opportunity " of convincing their Lordships of the sordidness of the other, who for the sake of "a little money would be guilty of such a piece of knavery. They were amazed "at the confidence of the man; and when his Majesty heard the circumstances "of the case, he had them both committed to prison; one for treachery, and the "other for carelessness. The party accused presented a petition to the Commis

sioners, humbly requesting that they would use their interest with his Majesty for "his gracious pardon. This was seconded by an ample testimonial, under the hands " of his brethren, setting forth their concern for his misfortunes, and the great "integrity wherewith he had behaved himself in all other matters. Brooke, too,

" got friends to intercede for him: so after a severe reprimand from my Lord "Chamberlain, they were both dismissed."

The above is from Camden's life, prefixed by Bishop Gibson to his edition of the "Britannia." Garter, Leake, in speaking of this wicked factious herald, says, "there was a man of note, (I do not say for his virtues) his name was Brookes, " or Brookesmouth, York Herald, being preferred thither from being Rouge-cross "Pursuivant, about the year 1592. He understood neither Latin nor French, to " qualify him for his place; but having been once a painter, he had an excel" lent hand in tricking coats of arms, hardly to be equalled by any of the rest, " as appears by a book still remaining in the office of his own doing, containing the " arms of the nobility, if I rightly remember. Which curious skill of his was, I

suppose, the reason, that the Lord Burley bore a favor to him, and once gave " his hand for him to be preferred to be Norroy, against Camden, namely, anno "1593, when Edmund Knight, Norroy, was very sick, and Camden was nomi"nated to the place.

"This Brooksmouth is best known for his presumptuous attempt to confute "several of the learned Camden's genealogies of the nobility in his Britannia; " against whom that excellent man (an unequal match for him) vindicated himself " so fully and shewed so plainly the ignorance and malice of his antagonist (and " yet with so much gentleness and modesty,) that he was thenceforth esteemed a

very ignorant man in heraldry, and a notorious calumniator to all posterity. " Besides this, he was of a very scandalous and evil life. He once broke open the " office, and took away all the books belonging to it, and an iron chest, and took " thence the order and other muniments. He was once condemned at Newgate for "two felonies, and burnt in the hand. He was also guilty of whoredom and " uncleanness. He was supposed to be a procurer of perjured persons in the Star"Chamber, detected in the Court of Requests, twice degraded, and the Queen's " coat of arms, which he wore, was pulled over his ears; and for his ignorance " of languages and learning, and other misdemeanors, by the judgment of the Earl " of Leicester and all wise men, thought to be unfit to be an officer of arms, " or to be permitted to come to her Majesty's presence, being a vagabond, and " not worth £3. But after Leicester's death he began to shew himself again; and "afterwards got such friends and credit, that he dared to oppose himself against Garter, "and vexed him both in the Exchequer and Star-Chamber, by slanderous acts and " suits commenced against him, and a great many vexatious interrogatories, chiefly " taken out of informations the said Garter had, in conscience and care of the office,

given the Lord Treasurer concerning him: so that he was fain, anno 1594, to beseech the said Lord to consider of his credit and service to the Queen for " thirty