Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 3.djvu/378

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* B. HI. MAY 13,


" Obispo de Armacan que murio martir" was Edmond MacGauran (or McGovern), Arch- bishop of Armagh and Primate, who was killed on 3 July, 1593, in a scrimmage near Tulsk, in Roscommon, between Hugh Maguire, Lord of Fermanagh, and Sir K. Bingham. The identity would seem further established by the statement of the ' Four Masters ' (ad an. 1593), in recording his death, that " he was sent by the Pope to encourage the Catholic nobility of Ireland to defend their religion ; and also brought promises of assistance from Philip II., King of Spain." He would most likely be able to supply reliable information concerning the Biscayan immigrants, and though, perhaps, not technically a martyr, he has always, on account of his mission, been so regarded by the sept of which he was so illustrious a scion. Connellan has a note in his edition of the ' Four Masters ' which is worth reproducing here :

"Death of Primate MacGauran. The Prelate, Edmond MacGauran, was of the old family of the MacGaurans (or McGoverns), chiefs of Tullaghaw, in Cavan, and an account of him is given in Stuart's ' Armagh ' and in Brennan's ' Ecclesiastical His- tory.' He was consecrated at Rome Archbishop of Armagh, and on his arrival in Ireland, in 1593, a large reward was offered for his apprehension by the Lord Deputy, Sir William Russell, and con- sequently the bishop was obliged to keep himself concealed, and was protected chiefly at the re- sidence of his friend, Hugh Maguire, Lord of Fermanagh, who refused to give nim up to the Deputy. Maguire, having proceeded with his forces against the English in Connaught, was accompanied by the bishop ; and having encountered the English, under the Governor, Sir R. Bingham, they had a sharp conflict at a place called Sciath-na-Fearta, which appears to have been situated near Tulsk, in Roscommon. Many were slain on both sides, but the English forces were defeated; and Hugh Maguire transfixed with a spear and slew on the spot Sir W. Clifford, one of the chief commanders of the English. The Bishop MacGauran was accom- panied by Cathal Maguire and Felim MacCaffry, the standard-bearer, who, being attacked by some of the English cavalry, were prostrated in the shock, and some of Maguire's gallow glasses having rushed to their aid on hearing the bishop's voice, they, in consequence of a thick mist which pre- vailed at the time, mistook Cathal Maguire, who was valiantly defending his fallen friend, for one of the English troopers, and unfortunately slew him, and the bishop himself was slain by the thrust of a spear from one of the English horsemen. It is erroneously stated by De Burgp in the ' Hibernia Dominicana,' and by other writers, that the Pri- mate MacGauran was slain in 1598, near Armagh, but the correct account is given in Stuart's 'Armagh ' and in the ' Four Masters.'"

This reply would have been furnished earlier had the query caught my eye ; it has only just done so in glancing through the last bound volume of ' N. & Q.'

J. B. McGovERN.


" THE WHITE FAUNCH HIND " (9 th S. iii. 169). The allusion to " the white faunch deer " (not hind) will be found in ' Help and Hold : a Legend of the House of St. Glair.' It is the second poem in Whyte-Melville's collection of his ' Songs and Verses.' I cannot give any clue as to the meaning of " faunch " unless it is an offshoot of the word " faun." The deer in question was certainly no ordinary animal, and the chase something smacks of the super- natural. JOHN T. PAGE.

West Haddon, Northamptonshire.

Faunte is an old English word for a child or infant (infauni}. "Faunch" may pro- bably be the same word :

The white faunch deer of the hawthorn glen Makes light of my woodcraft and me.

G. J. W byte-Melville, ' Songs and Verses.'

EVERARD HOME COLEMAN. 71, Brecknock Road.

NORTHUMBERLAND HOUSE MS. (9 th S. iii. 229). A photographic facsimile of this docu- ment is given in ' Bacon v. Shakspeare,' by Edwin Reed CLondon, Service & Paton, 1899).

C. J. I.

ARMORIAL (9 th S. iii. 308). The coat here described is, I suppose, that of Harbron quartering Harbron ; but the crest does not seem to have belonged to either of those families. Fairbairn gives the names of the following which have borne it, viz., Avison, Byde, Halls, Kellet, Loney, and Partington ; and, with some variation, Farrant, Rawson, and Tippet. This indication may suffice, I hope, to enable MR. HARBRON to fix the source from which the crest was imported by an alliance. JULIAN MARSHALL.

Both these coats, namely, Gules, a hawk argent, and Gules, a fish naiant argent, belong to Harbron or Harborne of co. Chester, as also does the crest. See Burke's 'General Armory.' J. LONSDALE.

In Fairbairn's ' Crests ' " a hand holding an anchor proper" is set against the name Harbron ; and Papworth gives the coat of Harbron of co. Chester as Gules, a hawk argent. MR. GEORGE D. HARBRON does not classify the fish in the second and third quarters ; but assuming the blazon to be Gules, a dolphin naiant argent, the coat is stated by Papworth to be that of Vysachyre or Fyshachyre. FRANK REDE FOWKE.

24, Victoria Grove, Chelsea, S.W.

HERALDIC (9 th S. iii. 308). As an English citizen B comes within the jurisdiction of the Earl Marshal of England. The proper course for him to take is to have the armorial bear-