PERCELAY OR PERCY

William de Percy, Lord of Percy, near Villedieu, accompanied Duke William from Normandy, and, being high in favour with his victorious master, obtained, according to Madox, in his "Baronia Anglica," a barony of thirty knights' fees. This Lord William de Percy, who was distinguished amongst his contemporaries by the addition of Alsgernons (William with the Whiskers), whence his posterity have constantly borne the name of Algernon, restored or rather refounded the famous abbey of St. Hilda, in Yorkshire, of which his brother, Serlo de Percy, became first prior. Accompanying, however, Duke Robert in the first crusade, 1096, be died at Mountjoy, near Jerusalem, the celebrated eminence whence the pilgrims of the cross first viewed the holy city, leaving four sons and two daughters by his wife, Emma de Port, a lady of Saxon descent, whose lands were amongst those bestowed upon him by the CONQUEROR, and according to an ancient writer, "he wedded hyr that was very heire to them, in discharging of his conscience." His lordship was s. in his feudal rights and possessions by his eldest son, ALLEN DE PERCY, second baron, surnamed the GREAT ALLAN; who married Emma, daughter of Gilbert de Gaunt, and was s. by his eldest son, WILLIAM DE PERCY, third baron; at whose decease the eldest branch of the first race of Percys, from Normandy, became extinct in the male line, and their great inheritance devolved upon his lordship's two daughters, the LADIES MAUD and AGNES DE PERCY, successively :

MAUD DE PERCY, the elder, was first wife of William de Newburgh, Earl of Warwick, by whom (who d. in the holy Land, A.D. 1184) she had no issue. Her Ladyship died in 1204-5, and then the whole possessions of the Percys descended to the family of her sister,

AGNES DE PERCY, who married Josceline, of Lovain, brother of Queen ADELICIA, second wife of HENRY I., and son of Godfrey Barbatus, Duke of Lower Lorrain, and Count of Brabant, who was descended from the Emperor CHARLEMAGNE. Her Ladyship would only consent, however, to this great alliance upon condition that Josceline should adopt either the surname or arms of Percy; the former of which he accordingly assumed, and retained his own paternal coat, in order to perpetuate his claim to the principality of his father, should the elder line of the reigning duke, at any period, become extinct. The matter is thus stated in the great old pedigree at Sion House : "The ancient arms of Hainault this Lord Jocelyn retained, and gave his children the surname of Perci." Of this illustrious alliance there were several children; of whom, Henry, the eldest son, was ancestor of the Percies of Northumberland, a race not more famous in arms than diatinguised for its brilliant alliances - a race, whose renown, coeval with its nobility, has flourished in every age and co-existed with every generation since.

The banner of the present Duke of Northumberland exhibits an assemblage of nearly nine hundred armorial ensigns; among which, are those of King Henry VII., of several younger branches of the Blood Royal, of the Sovereign Houses of France, Castile, Leon, and Scotland, and of the Ducal Houses of Normandy and Brittany, forming a galaxy of heraldic honours altogether unparalleled.

--(This name appears on the Battle Abbey Roll).