[21] "Memorial Brasses," p. 5.
A BATTLEFIELD SOUVENIR PICKED UP ON THE PLAINS OF FLANDERS.
(The same helmet is shown with and without the cloth covering.)
The earliest English brasses were shaped around the figures they portrayed, and if canopies or frames were added, these were fitted in separate pieces. All foreign brasses and later English ones, however, were cut into rectangular pieces. These and other such indications are the surest guides to the true date of construction.
Among the thousands of brasses in this country, many of which are of military interest, the following are worthy of mention:—
1. At Felbrigge, to the memory of Sir Symon Ffelbrygge; date, 1416. He is dressed in plate armour, and holds the Royal Standard. His garter is prominently shown. A canopy surmounts his figure.
2. At Trumpington. This is a favourite specimen with Cambridge undergraduates.
3. At Trotton, Sussex, to the memory of Thomas Camoys and Elizabeth, his consort; date, 1419. Camoys achieved fame at Agincourt; his wife was a Mortimer. A canopy surmounts each figure.
4. At West Hanney, to the memory of Humfrie Cheynie; date, 1557. This brass is peculiar; the figure, which is small, stands on a metal rectangle bearing a scriptural text. A rectangular metal frame is placed around the figure, but at some distance.
5. At Ilminster, to the memory of Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham; date, 1609. Nicholas is given a ringed cuirass and lamboys over his mail skirt. He stands upon a tablet bearing an inscription which explains that he was the founder of Wadham College, Oxford.