he had married the daughter and heiress of Ford, Lord Grey
of Wark, Earl of Tankerville. One of the family of this Lord Grey, Sir
John Grey, Knight, Captain of Maunt, in Normandy, had originally been
rewarded with the title by King Henry V. for his eminent services in the
French wars. But his grandson, Richard, Earl of Tankerville, was
attainted in the thirty-eighth year of the succeeding reign; and the
title remained dormant till re-granted by King William III. to Ford,
Lord Grey, just mentioned, who was lineally descended from the brother
of the first earl.

[Illustration: Plate 86. ENTRANCE TO THE CASTLE AT TANCARVILLE.]

Different opinions have prevailed with respect to the origin of the name
of Tancarville. Ordericus Vitalis calls it Tanchardi Villa: M. de
Valois, in his _Notitia Galliae_, is disposed to claim for it the more
imposing appellation of Tancredi Villa. The point will in all
probability never be settled: it is more to be regretted, that no
account is to be found of the building of the castle, whose lofty towers
still frown in the pride of old baronial grandeur, from the summit of a
steep cliff upon the right bank of the Seine, which here, so near its
mouth, rather assumes the character of an estuary than a river. The wide
extent of the ruins sufficiently bespeaks the importance of its former
possessors: at present, nothing can be more forlorn and desolate. Mr.
Dibdin, who visited the remains in 1819, has traced the following
animated sketch of their present appearance with his lively pencil; and
Mr. Lewis, who accompanied him, has enriched his splendid Tour with a
lovely view of the buildings and surrounding scenery:--

"We ascended to the castle: the day grew soft, and bright, and
exhilarating.... but, alas; for the changes and chances of this
transitory world. Where was the warder? He had ceased to blow his horn
for many a long year. Where was the harp of the minstrel? It had
perished two centuries ago, with the hand that had struck its chords.
Where was the attendant guard?--or pursuivants?--or men at arms? They
have been swept from human existence, like the leaves of the old limes
and beech trees, by which the lower part of the building was surrounded.
The moat was dry; the rampart was a ruin:--the rank grass grew within
the area.... nor can I tell you how many vast relics of halls,
banqueting rooms, and bed rooms, with all the magnificent appurtenances
of old castellated architecture, struck t