of a large window to the south, commanding the luxuriant groves of
meadows of Eaton, and the village and spire of Oldford above them. All
the windows of this room are adorned with heads and figures of the
ancestors of the family; also the portraits of the present Earl and
Countess, in a beautiful brown _chiaro-scuro_. The ceiling is tracery of
the nicest materials and workmanship emblazoned with the arms of the
Grosvenor family, and those of Egerton, Earl of Wilton, the father of
the present Countess Grosvenor.

Eaton became the property of the Grosvenor family through the marriage
of Ralph Grosvenor, in the reign of Henry VI with Joan, daughter of John
Eaton, then owner of this estate. The Grosvenor family, as we have
already intimated, came into England with William the Conqueror; they
derived their name from the office of chief huntsmen, which they held in
the Norman court; and, when "chivalry was the fashion of the times,"
says Pennant, "few families shone in so distinguished a manner: none
shewed equal spirit in vindicating their rights to their looms." He then
mentions the celebrated legal contest with Sir Richard le Scroope, for
the family arms--_Azure, a bend or_. This cause was tried before the
High Constable and the Earl Marshal of England, in the reign of Richard
II. It lasted three years; kings, princes of the blood, and most of the
nobility, and among the gentry, Chaucer, the poet, gave evidence on the
trial. "The sentence," says Pennant, "was conciliating; that both
parties should bear the same arms; but the _Grosvenours avec une bordure
d'argent_. Sir Robert resents it, and appeals to the king. The judgment
is confirmed; but the choice is left to the defendant, either to use the
_bordure_, or bear the arms of their relations, the ancient Earls of
Chester, _azure, a gerb d'or_. He rejected the mortifying distinction,
and chose a _gerb_: which is the family coat to this day."