A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE material. The headpiece, with a similar orle to that of De Wittelbury, has 3lfjc naja in- scribed on the front, and the defences for the body and arms are practically the same, with the addition of a camail with a free-ringed edge appearing below the gorget, and, sur- prising though it is, unmistakably shown to be worn under a mentonni^re of plate, the gorget covering both these protections. The simpler form of the coudicres and the fastening buckles of the brassarts and avant bras are notice- able. The jupon is charged with the arms of Ralph Greene's father. The gauntletted left hand holds the right gauntlet, gallantly removed to clasp the right hand of the faith- ful Katherine. These protections for the hand exhibit the advance of gadlings on the fingers as well as on the knuckles. The close-fitting jupon, ddchiquet^ after the earlier fashion, is bound round the hips by the baudric, the free-ringed edge of the hauberk appearing below. This belt now sustains the misericorde only, which disappeared with the disuse of the baudric and reappeared during the Wars of the Roses, the sword being slung from a narrow transverse strap, a recurrence in modified form to the broad sword-belts of the early part of the fourteenth century. How it was kept in position at the back there is no evidence to show. The cuissarts, genouillires and jambes are richly bordered and seamed, and the sollerets, which rest on a muzzled bear — ' un ours k ses pies ' — are reinforced by instep plates and armed with spurs with crimped straps, after the peculiar and short- lived fashion of the time. The head rests on the tilting helm — as the agreement has it,
- un helm de soubs son chief,' with the crest.
The effigy of Katherine Greene shows her in accordance with the terms of the agree- ment as ' gisant en sa surcote overte, avec deux anges tenant un pilow de soubz sa teste, et deux petitz chiens a ses pies,' and wearing, besides the mantle or surcote, a tight sleeved gown and a cote hardi. The head-dress, sup- ported by two angels with a pillow, is very remarkable, the hair being widely displayed on either side over pads under a net, a long veil falls behind, and this is surmounted by a heavy coronal, more than twice the size of, and with the same details as the orle on the husband's helmet. Sir John Cressy. Died 1444. Dodford. A period has now intervened during which brasses to a large extent took the place of effigies as monumental memorials. Such brazen records are well supplied in the county, but to a much smaller scale than the effigies. A space of rather more than twenty years being thus bridged over, the capital alabaster effigy of Sir John Cressy presents itself for consideration. This distinguished soldier is represented in a suit of armour that is noteworthy, both in itself as well as in showing how great an alteration had gradually and continuously taken place in military dress since the death of Henry IV. in 1 413. The old-fashioned jupon, the lineal descendant of the ancient surcote, is now clean gone, the baudric has vanished, and gone are the bascinet and camail. With the exception of the new gorget of mail and a mail skirt, the man is now ' lock'd up in steel,' and the change has been complete and remarkable. The effigy of De Cressy represents him in a gorget, or more properly a standard of mail, and wearing a collar of SS to which a trefoil pendant is attached. The shoulders are protected by a series of articulations, the lowest being deep, forming the main shoulder plates, and cut out on the right side to facili- tate the working of the sword arm. In other and cotemporary and later examples, these defences took the form of reinforcing plates, fixed to the under armour, having great variety of shape, and attaining, like the elbow guards of the time, extraordinary dimensions. De Cressy's elbow guards are of comparatively moderate form, the brassarts are buckled in- side, and the avant bras tubular. The gaunt- lets are fine examples with gadlings on the knuckles. The body is covered by a cuirass ' a emboitement,' formed of two parts, of which the lower overlaps the upper, giving flexibility. To the cuirass are attached five tassets, each hinged on the left and buckled on the right side ; channelled tuiles are fast- ened by straps to the lowest tasset, and under them the mail skirt, which had now taken the place of the ancient hauberk, appears. The legs are cased in cuissarts, the knees protected by genouillires with plain and engrailed articu- lations, and the jambes are richly seamed and hinged as usual. Reinforcing plates are fast- ened below the knees by a nut fixed by half a turn, and the feet, covered with articulated sollerets, and armed with rowel spurs with enriched leathers, rest upon a sleek animal. The sword, its hilt decorated with tl)C — ' Goddes hygh name thereon was grave ' — is suspended by a broad transverse richly studded belt, and the head reposes on the tilting helm with the crest — a demi Saracen, armed. The effigy lies upon a high altar-tomb of alabaster. The sides are divided into com- partments containing angels holding shields of arms, and between them are small figures under trefoil arches. Round the verge of 410
