History, Wonder Tales, Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends The Flemish | Page 77
Walter de Lindsay II married the sister of Walter L’Engleis (Walter the English), a
granddaughter of Seier de Seton and thus a cousin to the Queen. Molesworth manor
in Huntingdonshire probably came to Walter II as part of his wife’s dowry. Molesworth
remained in the possession of the Lindsays of Ercildon (Earlston) thereafter.
Walter de Lindsay II brought to Scotland as his coat of arms: gules, an eagle
displayed or. The symbol, an eagle displayed, was the symbol of the Holy Roman
Emperor. The colours, the gules and or of Boulogne, reversed conveyed a
compliment to Scotland’s Queen Maud, Walter’s cousin. Queen Maud was the greatniece of Count Eustace II of Boulogne and a granddaughter of Count Lambert of Lens.
The unchanged Alost arms were not available to him as Walter de Ghent was a third
son and Gilbert de Ghent a second son. The Eagle reflected Water’s Charlemagnic
descent – something else he shared with the Scottish Queen. The Eagle was a badge
of honour for the lords of the Imperial Marches. The eventual spread of the symbol far
beyond the homelands of Alost meant the Eagle lost its personal significance. There
was also the difficulty of a divided loyalty, where a continental army following a similar
symbol might not be an ally of Scotland. The Eagle symbol was eventually
abandoned.
About 1159 AD Walter de Lindsay II granted the church of Earlstown in Lauderdale to
the Abbey of Kelso – for the soul of Walter the English, his brother-in-law. Walter the
English was the English-born son of Walter the Fleming, of Wahull, (Bedfordshire)
and Seton (East Lothian). He too was a grandson of Count Lambert of Lens; he was
also nephew and protector of the Countess Judith, and cousin and guardian of her
daughter, Scotland’s Queen Maud.
Around 1159 AD, William de Lindsay of Ercildun (Earlston) made a gift of a church to
Chicksands Priory, Bedfordshire, for the health of his father and for the souls of his
mother and his kinsman, Walter the English.
William de Lindsay had three known children: Sir Walter Lindsay of Lamberton, Sir
David Lindsay of Crawford, Sir William Lindsay of Luffness
Sir David Lindsay of Crawford married Aleonora de Limesi, great-granddaughter and
heiress of Ralph de Limesi about 1200 AD.
In 1202 AD, Sir Walter de Lindsay III of Lamberton made a gift of two churches
(Fordington and Ulseby) to the English Abbey of Croyland in Lincolnshire (where
Queen Maud’s father was buried). Hugh, Earl of Chester, had held Fordington at
Domesday. Through his descendants it became part of the earldom of Lincoln.
Ulseby was one of the Domesday manors of Gilbert de Ghent.
Sir Walter Lindsay III of Lamberton had two known children:
William Lindsay of Lamberton, who married Ada, sister of King John Baliol, in
1266 AD.
Christiana Lindsay, who married Ingleram de Coucy (a distant cousin), son of
Count Arnold III of Guines, in 1280 AD. Henry IV, King of France, is an heir of this
line.
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