o 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.

* * * * *

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