Old family; or, The Setons of Scotland and America

14 THE SATS. [a.d. 1083
" There is no pride like the pride of ancestry, for it is a
blending of all emotions" (Disraeli).
The late Duchess of Cleveland, inheriting the literary taste
of the Stanhopes, published in three volumes, in 1889, a mag-
nificent work on Battle Abbey Roll, in which the families and
descendants of all the great Norman barons are described.
CHAPTER IV.
Dugdale tells us, in his English Baronage, that there were
of old two considerable families named Say which derived from
the same Norman original. One remained in England, and
the other, as we shall see, settled in Scotland. The first time
the name occurs in any public document in England after the
Conquest is in 1083, when Picot de Sav, whose real fore-name
was Robert (for he was one of the two sons of Robert de Say
and his wife Adelaide, of the Charter of Saint Martin of Seez),
is mentioned as one of the principal persons in Shropshire,
where he held no less than twenty-nine lordships. He is the
ancestor of all the Says in England and Scotland, and was a
baron of England during the Conqueror's reign. He also
held the Castle of Marigny with other possessions in Nor-
mandy, and continued, like many others, to be represented in
both countries. Chin was the largest of his manors in Shrop-
shire, and gave its name to his barony. In 1083 he was sum-
moned, with other chief men of the county, to attend the
dedication of Shrewsbury Abbey. His son Henry succeeded
him, and was followed by Helias. Helias left an only daugh-
ter Isabel, Lady of Clun, who married William Fitz-Alan,
Governor of Shrewsbury and Sheriff of the County. She died
in 1 199. By descent from her the Dukes of Norfolk inherit
this very ancient barony. Other branches of the family
became numerous. Those described by Eyton in Shropshire