Roger de Fitz-Eustace, the terror and scourge of the Welsh, and by them
called "Hell," from the great violence and ferocity of his temper, was
then about forty years old. He was clothed in a light suit of armour,
the hauberk, with the rings set edgewise, reaching down to the knees.
His helmet was cylindrical, the _avantaille_, or face-guard, thrown up.
He wore a coloured surcoat; a fashion that seems to have originated with
the Crusaders, not only for the purpose of distinguishing the different
leaders, but as a veil to protect the armour, so apt to heat excessively
when exposed to the direct rays of the sun. It was of a violet colour,
without any distinctive mark or badge. His highly-decorated shield was
borne behind him, the three garbs and the lions being chiefly
conspicuous in the marshalling: the former, the original bearing of Hugh
Lupus, was often used by the constables of Chester, in compliment to
their chief lord. Its shape was angular, and suspended from the neck by
a strap called guige or gige, a Norman custom of great antiquity. A huge
broadsword was carried by his armour-bearer, the person of the chief
being without any further means of impediment or defence than a French
stabbing sword, fastened on one side of his pommel, and a stout
battle-axe on the other.
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