THE Bishop was a man of honour, and redeemed his Castle by asking Pollard to accept instead a spread of best-quality farmland, the only stipulation being that the Pollards would present each new bishop with a handsome falchion in token of the right to the land (a ceremony practised until 1856).

Meanwhile the lord of another ancient family, the Northumberland Mitfords, was exhibiting Pollard’s hard-won trophy to the King as his own. On his way to the capital on business, he had seen the head lying next to the sleeping Pollard, speared it, and ridden on to claim his prize. When this news reached Pollard, he hurried after to present his sliver of tongue, but His Majesty was now weary of the matter.

The Pollards of Pollard Hall proudly included a silver falchion, token of their right, in their family’s coat of arms. The Mitfords’ arms, on the other hand, showed a boar’s head pierced by a spike, and the motto, ‘God careth for us’.