General Notes

Roger de Lacy, constable of Chester, assisted at the siege of Acon in 1192 under the banner of the lion-hearted Richard, and shared in the subsequent triumphs of the chivalrous monarch. At the accession of John in 1199, he was a person of great eminence, for we find him shortly after the coronation of that prince deputed with the sheriff of Northumberland and other great men to conduct William, King of Scotland, to Lincoln, where the English king had fixed to give him an interview, and the next year he was one of the barons present at Lincoln, when David, of Scotland, did homage and fealty to King John.

In the time of this Roger, Ranulph, Earl of Chester, having entered Wales at the head of some forces, was compelled by superior numbers to shut himself up in the castle of Rothelan, where, being closely besieged by the Welsh, he sent for aid to the constable of Chester. Hugh Lupus, the 1st Earl of Chester, in his charter of foundation of the abbey of St. Werberg, at Chester, had given a privilege to the frequenters of Chester fair, "That they should not be apprehended for theft or any other offence during the time of the fair, unless the crime was committed therein." This privilege made the fair, of course, the resort of thieves and vagabonds from all parts of the kingdom. Accordingly, the constable, Roger de Laci, forthwith marched to his relief at the head of a concourse of people then collected at the fair of Chester, consisting of minstrels and loose characters of all descriptions, forming altogether so numerous a body that the besiegers, at their approach, mistaking them for soldiers, immediately raised the siege. For this timely service, the Earl of Chester conferred upon de Lacy and his heirs the patronage of all the minstrels in those parts, which patronage the constable transferred to his steward, Dutton, and his heirs; and it is enjoyed to this day by the family of Dutton.

It is doubtful, however, whether the privilege was transferred to the Duttons by this constable or his successor. The privilege was, "That, at the midsummer fair held at Chester, all the minstrels of that country, resorting to Chester, do attend the heir of Dutton, from his lodging to St. John's Church (he being then accompanied by many gentlemen of the country, one of them walking before him in a surcoat of his arms depicted on taffeta, the rest of his fellows proceeding two and two, and playing on their several sorts of musical instruments."] When divine service terminates, the like attendance upon Dutton to his lodging, where a court being kept by his steward, and all the minstrels formally called, certain orders and laws are made for the government of the society of minstrels.

Roger de Lacy was s. by his son, John de Lacy, constable of Chester. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 310-311, Lacy, Earls of Lincoln]