"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]