Note 1066 — Chapter XV · THE NORMAN INVASION AND THE CAMPAIGN OF HASTINGS.[1055]
Reading edition
Lyttelton, i. 464. “Matildis, postea Regina, ejusdem Ducis uxor, ad honorem Ducis fecit effici navem quæ vocabatur Mora, in quâ ipse Dux vectus est. In prorâ ejusdem navis fecit fieri eadem Matildis infantulum de auro, dextro indice monstrantem Angliam, et sinistrâ manu imprimentem cornu eburneum ori.” Wace’s account (11594) is somewhat different;
“Sor li chief de la nef devant,
Ke marinier apelent brant,
Out de coivre fet un enfant,
Saete et arc tendu portant,
Verz Engleterre out son viaire,
Et là faseit semblant de traire,
Ki kel part ke la nef coreit,
Semblant de traire avant faseit.”
In the Tapestry, pl. 9, the child with his horn is plain enough, and he looks towards England; but he is at the stern of the ship, and not at the prow, and in his left hand he bears a pennon.