to the change of the patronymic, to which reference has already been made. The following extracts from the Irish Peerage of 1768 pick up the lost trace:

Molesworth, Viscount Molesworth.-This noble family was resident in the Counties of Northampton and Bedford, where they flourished in the reigns of Edward I and II, when Sir Walter de Molesworth and John de Molesworth were living. Sir Walter attended King Edward I in his expedition to the Holy Land (to which his court armour alludes), and in the 26th of that reign was Sheriff of the Counties of Bedford and Bucks, in which office he continued for ten years, and was knighted by Edward of Caernarvon, the King's eldest son, immediately after the King had conferred that honour upon himself, with near 300 gentlemen, at the altar in Westminster Abbey, in 1306, at a Whitsuntide festival. With his Lady, he attended by summons, at the Coronation of Edward II, in whose first Parliament he was Knight for Bedfordshire.1

This is identical with the coat of arms of the Lindsays of the time of Edward II, as described in the 'Roll of Arms,' in which the arms of Sir Gilbert Lindsay and of his brother Sir Walter Lindsay de Molesworth have been described; the only difference in these two being that the croslets in the shield of Sir Gilbert were of gold, while those of Sir Walter were of silver.

HONTINDONSCHIRE

Sire Gilberd de Lyndeseye, de goules, crusules de or, a un escuchon de veer percee.

Sire Wauter de Molesworthe, meisme les armes, les crusules de argent.

In the 'Peerage of Ireland' the Molesworth arms are described as :

Vair, on a bordure, ruby, eight croslets, topaz. Crest, on a wreath, an arm embowed at the elbow, proper, holding a croslet, topaz.

1 The Peerage of Ireland, ii. 67.

Sir Walter was the ancestor of the two brothers, Antony the ancestor of Viscount Molesworth, and John of Pencarrow ancestor of the present baronet.

Antony the eldest son, married Cicely, daughter and heiress of Thomas Sherland of Fotheringay, in com. Northamp. Esq., by which he became possessed of that estate, and principally resided there; but his temper being generous and hospitable, and sumptuously entertaining several days Queen Elizabeth at his seat, at different times, he involved himself in debt, which to discharge, he equitably sold the greatest part of his estate, and particularly Helpston, to an ancestor of Earl Fitz-William.1

Robert, first Viscount Molesworth, was born in 1656, and educated at the University of Dublin.

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He distinguished himself early in the glorious revolution, and was attainted by King James' Parliament, May 7, 1689, and his estate sequestered. When King William and Queen Mary were established on the throne, that Prince, having a particular esteem for him, called him to his Privy Council, and in 1692, appointed him his Envoy Extraordinary to the Court of Denmark, where he continued several years, and wrote an excellent Account of Denmark.' He was a member of the House of Commons in both kingdoms, for Swords in Ireland, St. Michael, Bodmin and East Retford in England, and famous for his writings in defence of liberty and the Constitution, which he supported with masculine eloquence in the House. In Queen Anne's reign, he was of her Privy Council till the latter end of her reign, when he was removed, upon a complaint against him from the Lower House of Convocation, being charged with saying in the presence chamber, 'They that have turned the world upside down are come hither also'; and for affronting the clergy in Convocation, when they presented their address in favour of the Lord Chancellor Phipps. He was constituted a Privy Councillor in Ireland, October 9, 1714. In 1716 he was created Baron Philipstown, and Viscount Molesworth of Swords; and on July 1, 1719, took his seat in the House of Peers. He was Fellow of the Royal Society, and continued to serve his country with indefatigable industry, and uncorrupted integrity till the two last years of his life,

1 The Peerage of Ireland, ii. 68.

when worn out with application to public affairs, he passed the remainder of his days in learned retirement.

In the 'Proceedings of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland,' July 1891, the following account is given of Brackenstown, the former seat of Lord Molesworth of Swords:

Brackenstown House, 250 years ago the residence of Chief Baron Bysse, in the time of Cromwell and Charles II. Cromwell is said to have visited the Chief Baron here. Bysse's daughter married a Molesworth; Robert Mouldsworth, Esq., of Breckingstown,' is one of the earliest names we find in King James II's Act of Attainder. Hence it passed into the hands of the Molesworths, created Viscounts of Swords. Lord Molesworth used to live here in the time of Swift, who addressed the 'Drapier Letters' to him, whence it passed to the Manders family, who lived here till recently. The first Lord Molesworth was a very able man and a good scholar. He was a great Whig. . . . Brackenstown was in the sixteenth century the property of the Burnells; thence it passed to the Nugents, who sold it in James I's time to Bysse, whose son became the Recorder of Dublin, and afterwards Chief Baron. The Recorder's only daughter, Judith, married a Molesworth. It used to be called, three hundred years ago, Bractenston, or Brecnanston, or Breckneckston. Dean Swift called it Brackdenstown.1

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In the Works of Dean Swift by Sir Walter Scott (vol. vi. 1820, Drapier Letters,' Letter V), published in 1824, is a letter to Lord Viscount Molesworth, of whom the following notice is given :

Robert Molesworth, created by George I Viscount Molesworth of Swords in 1716. He was a distinguished Whig, and had incurred the resentment of Lord Oxford's administration in 1713 for an alleged affront to the clergy of Ireland in Convocation. Lord Molesworth was the author of several works, but that by which he is chiefly known is an account of Denmark in which he represents the Government as arbitrary and tyrannical. This accusation gave great offence to Prince George of Denmark; and to gratify his resentment, Dr. William King, the poet, wrote some

1 See Inquisitions of Leinster,' James I, No. 24.