he Tees was Dalton, afterwards called Dalton-Percy.
Then came Alnwick, originally owned by the De Vescis, and purchased from
them about 1309; Warkworth; Prudhoe-on-Tyne, one of the most picturesque
of Northumbrian fortresses; Cockermouth; and Keeldar, in the Cheviots.
And what of the Percys who ruled, and still rule, at Alnwick in their
day of might? Very ancient is the name, numbering among its early
patriarchs such grand old heroes as Manfred the Dane, and

"Brave Galfred, who to Normandy
With vent'rous Rollo came;
And from his Norman Castles won,
Assumed the Percy name."

The pedigree traces the descent of Angus de Perci up to Manfred, and
that of Josceline de Louvain up from Gerberga, daughter and heiress of
Charles, Duke of Lorraine, to Charlemagne, and in the male line to the
ancient Dukes of Hainault. This same Josceline, who was brother-in-law
to King Henry I., married in 1168, Agnes, the great Percy heiress, and
assumed the name of his wife:

"Lord Percy's heir I was, whose noble name
By me survives unto his lasting fame;
Brabant's Duke's son I wed, who, for my sake,
Retained his arms, and Percy's name did take."

Their youngest son, Richard de Percy, then head of the family, was one
of the chief barons who extorted Magna Charta from King John, and the
ninth Lord, Henry, gave much aid to Edward I. in the subjugation of
Scotland. It was he who purchased Alnwick. His son--another
Henry--defeated David II. at Neville's Cross (1346); his grandson fought
at Crecy; his great-grandson, the fourth Lord Percy of Alnwick, was
marshal of England at the coronation of Richard II., and was created the
same day Earl of Northumberland. By far the greater part of the romance
of the Percys has centred round Harry Hotspur (eldest son of the
preceding), whom the dead Douglas defeated at Otterburn, and who fell
himself at Shrewsbury (1403) fighting against Henry IV. The soubriquet
of Hotspur was given him because "in the silence of the night, when
others were quietly sleeping, he laboured unwearied, as though his spur
were hot."

PLATE 9

VIEW OF ALNWICK
CASTLE

FROM A WATER COLOUR SKETCH

PAINTED BY

JAMES ORROCK, R.I.

(_See pp. 38, 49, and 53 to 58_)

[Illustration]

The first Earl was slain at Bramham Moor (1408). The second Earl fell
fighting for Henry VI. at St. Albans in 1455. The third at Towton
(1461), and it was his brother the fourth Earl who comforted