heraldryofyorkmi01custuoft

282 THE HERALDRY OF YORK MINSTER.
him, and determined, whatever he may have done in the past, to grasp
them and profit by them. No dreamy speculations as to the future, no
useless laments over the past
;
but clear, calm apprehension, resolute
determination, and vigorous action.
Perhaps to many a member of this noble race these words shone
forth like a load-star from the fluttering banners above their heads, or
from the stone wall before their eyes keeping ever before them the
stern reality of life, the momentous issues of the present moment, and the
folly of being discouraged by the past cheering them in their seasons of
bewilderment, sustaining them in their hours of defeat, and stimulating
them to be other and better men in the future than ever they had been
before.
It is a motto not only for the House of Clifford but for every House.
Wipe out any craven recollections from your memories ;
put down the foot
firmly which is faltering ; stretch out the hands which are hanging down ;
utilize the opportunities and abilities which yet remain to you, as you
have never done before ;
and (leaving
it to Providence to decide whether
you shall be in the fore-front of the men of your time, or only be one
"in the ranks" of your generation) adopt, as the motto of your future
life, this, which is as worthy of men clad in broad cloth or in fustian now,
as it was of mail-clad warriors and stout Yorkshiremen in buff jerkins
and steel morions, and put forth your powers and do your best.
THE WARRENNES.
Before proceeding to deal further with the Fess, I would keep your
attention to the chequy field as being the arms of the House of Warrenne,*
to which I have already alluded (page 68).
I now proceed to trace the history of the descendants of the elder son,
William de Warrenne, Gualterius de Santo Martino, Earl of Warrenne,
leaving the descendants of the younger son Ralph, or Reginald Earl of
Mortimer, to be dealt with further on.
Gualterius de Sancto Martino, Earl of Warrenne, was, as I stated,
created by William Rufus, Earl of Surrey, and married the daughter of
Earl of Vermandois. He probably built the castle at Conisborough.
Hugh
Immediately before the Conquest it had belonged to Harold the Earl.f
Under what circumstances it became the property of his father I cannot
say, but it is mentioned in Domesday Book amongst the first Earl's
estates in Yorkshire. Earl Warrenne evidently took it as it stood,
and seated himself in the English " Aula," having about him the
* See coloured illustration. t Clark's Meditn>al Military Architecture.