Walter de Aincourt

The second name on the roll was that of a noble Norman, Walter de Aincourt , who came from Aincourt, a lordship between Mantes and Magny, where the remains of the ancient family castle still exist. Walter was cousin of Remigius, Bishop of Lincoln, the munificent builder of Lincoln Cathedral, and obtained, as his share of the spoil, no less than sixty-seven lordships in several counties, chiefly in Lincolnshire, Blankney being the head of his feudal barony. The inscription on his son's tomb at Lincoln, whence it appears that he was connected by blood with the Royal family. Ralph d'eyncourt, Walter's second son, and brother of this William, founded Thurgarton Priory, Notts, and was a great feudal baron of his time. From him derived, in the sixth degree, Edmund, Baron d'Eyncourt, who had immense possessions, and in the reigns of Edward I and Edward II. acted a conspicuous part in most of the stirring events of the period. His two sons, John and William, who were with the feudal army at Carlisle, 29 Edward I, figure in the Roll of Carlaverock, where John, it is said, 'mult bien fist son devoir'. He died in his father's lifetime, and subsequently his brother William, a commander of renown, was killed before the castle of Stirling, on the eve of the battle of Bannockburn, an event referred to by Sir Walter Scott in the "Lord of the Isles :

" Back to the host the Douglas rode, And soon glad tidings are abroad, That D'Eyncourt by stout Randolph slain, His followers fled with loosen'd rein."

At the decease of Baron Edmund the title devolved on his grandson, William, 9th Lord of D'Eyncourt, an eminent warrior who participated in the glorious achievements of the reign of Edward III. He was one of the commanders at the famous battle of Neville's Cross in 1346, and was at the head of the guard attendant on Queen Philippa previous to that conflict. To him also was consigned the custody of John, King of France, taken prisoner at Poietiers, and he finally conducted that monarch out of Lincolnshire (where he had been in Lord D'Eyncourt's charge) to the Metropolis, at the period of his release in 1364, when King Edward himself attended him to the coast, and the Black Prince to Calais. But we will not attempt in these annotations to follow the fortunes of this gallant and pre-eminently distinguished race; suffice it to add, that the eventual heiress, Alice Baroness d'Eyncourt, and also Baroness Grey of Rotherfield, born in 1404, married for her first husband, William, Baron Lovell and Holland, and had by him two sons, John, Lord Lovell and Holland, and William Lord Morley, "jure uxoris, Alianorae, filiae Roberti, Dom. de Morley." The former, John, Lord Lovell and Holland, died before his mother, 4 Edward IV., leaving with two daughters an only son, Francis, Lord Lovell and Holland, who became also by maternal inheritance, Baron D'Eyncourt, and Grey of Rotherfield, and by creation Viscount Lovel. True to the House of York, he fought for Richard III. at Bosworth, and subsequently took part, in 1487, in the Battle of Stoke, where he escaped by swimming the Trent on horseback, and is said to have lain hid for many years in a cave or vault. Lord Bacon mentions this report, and in 1708, a skeleton, supposed to be that of Lord Lovel and D'Eyncourt, was discovered in a concealed room in his castle of Minster Lovel, sitting at a table, with a book, paper, pen, &c. before him, and in another part of the room lay a cap, all much mouldered and decayed. Hence it may be concluded that this once powerful but unhappy lord retired secretly to his own castle, and having entrusted himself to some friend or dependent, died either by treachery or neglect, or in consequence of some accident befalling that person. By attainder, Henry VII., fell the ancient barony of D'Eyncourt with his other honours and vast estates, and amongst them, the manors of Bayons and Tevilby, co. Lincoln, which became by subsequent grant and re-purchase, the property of the Tennyson family, and the former is now the stately residence of the Right Hon. Charles Tennyson D'Eyncourt, who descends from the heir of this distinguished nobleman, namely, William, second son of Alice, Baroness D'Eyncourt and Grey. --(This name appears on the Battle Abbey roll)