The house of Maille (vide Lord Mahon's _Life of Conde_) contributed to the
Crusades one of its bravest champions. Can any of your numerous
contributors give me information as to the name and achievements of the
Crusader?
Claire Clemence de Maille, daughter of the Marechal Duke de Breze, and
niece of Richelieu, was married in 1641 to the Duc d'Enghien, afterwards
the Great Conde; and Lord Mahon, somewhere in his life of the hero, makes
mention of the princess as the "last of her family."
Claire Clemence had an only brother, who held the exalted post of High
Admiral of France, and in 1646 he commanded a French fleet which
disembarked 8000 men in the marshes of Sienna, and himself shortly
afterwards fell at the siege of Orbitello. The admiral having died
unmarried, the Breze estates became the property of the princess, who
transmitted them to her descendants, the last of whom was the unfortunate
Duc d'Enghien, who perished at Vincennes.
Thus much is patent; but I think it probable his lordship was not aware
that a branch of the family was exiled, and with the La Touches, La
Bertouches, &c., settled in the sister kingdom, most likely at the
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Their descendants subsequently passed
over into this country, and have contributed to the lists of the legal and
medical professions. Up to the present century a gentleman bearing the
slightly altered name of Mallie held a commission in the British army. Even
now, the family is not extinct, and the writer being lately on a visit to a
lady, probably the sole representative _in name_ of this once powerful
house, noticed in her possession a series of four small engravings,
representing the Great Conde; his mother, a princess of Montmorency,
pronounced to be the "handsomest woman in Europe;" the old Marechal de
Maille Breze; and his daughter, Claire Clemence.
Our _Pall Mall_ is, I believe, derived from _Pailee Maille_, a game
somewhat analogous to cricket, and imported from France in the reign of the
second Charles: it was formerly played in St. James's Park, and in the
exercise of the sport a small hammer or _mallet_ was used to strike the
ball. I think it worth noting that the _Mallie_ crest _is_ a mailed arm and
hand, the latter grasping a _mallet_.
Be it understood that the writer has no pretensions to a knowledge of
heraldic terms and devices; so, without pinning any argument on the
coincidence, he thought it not without interest. He is aware that the mere
fact of a similarity between surnames and crests is not without its
parallel in English families.