Suits were also sometimes “restored” by the armourer to correspond with a later fashion, and cases of this kind naturally give rise to some difficulty; and, as in the case of some Egyptian tombs, we have instances of misappropriation in English monuments. A case in point is the memorial of “Vicecomes et Escheator Comitatus Lincolniæ,” who died in the reign of Henry VIII. The armour is late fourteenth century, but to whom the monument was originally raised is unknown. Of course, the armour for the back is not shown on brasses and effigies. The Beauchamp effigy at Warwick affords, however, a notable exception, though this is of less importance owing to the fact of there being real armour of that period existing. Another valuable source of information arises from the custom prevailing during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, of leaving arms and armour as mortuaries to churches, and several helms and shields have come down to us in this way. Later in these pages will be found a chapter headed “Details of Defensive Plate Armour.” This section deals as fully as a reasonable regard for space will allow with each important piece of armour, as regards its form, history, and chronology. It will serve also, to some extent, as a glossary of terms. It will be seen that there is usually a period of transition between the different well-marked styles of armour, just as is the case in architecture. PART II. CHAIN-MAIL AND MIXED ARMOUR. Remarkably little is known of Britain during the centuries immediately following the Roman occupation, and the question as to when real chain-mail was first used in Europe is both difficult and obscure. There is a representation of loricas on the column of Trajan that looks remarkably like chain-mail, and it is almost certain that the Romans used iron chain-mail in Britain. The bronze scales of a lorica, or Roman cuirass, found at Æsica, do not help us;[2] but interlinked bronze rings of Roman origin have also been found, and if in bronze, why not in iron? This question is adequately answered by the masses of corroded iron rings of Roman times found at Chester-le-Street, and referred to in the report of a meeting held by the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Society of Antiquaries as far back as 1856.[3] These rings could hardly be massed together as they are without having been interlinked. The extract from the report of this early meeting of the Society runs thus:--“The Rev. Walker Featherstonhaugh had presented two pieces of chain armour, corroded into lumps, from Chester-le-Street.” Similar masses of rings of Roman date have been found at South Shields, and may be seen in “The Blair Collection” at the Black Gate Museum. These are of a date certainly not later than the fourth century. We may then reasonably conclude that these masses of corroded iron rings were once loricas of iron chain-mail. But the Romans were not the first to use chain-mail, for they got it probably, like so much besides, from Asia.