Heraldry of some Yorkshire Families
The arms shown below are constructed from
the blazons and descriptions provided by various authors1
The Arms of families include, Armitage, Barnby,
Beaumont, Bosvile,
Collingwood, Crossland, De Busli,
De Laci, De Luvetot, Dronsfield,
Eland, Everingham,
FitzAlan, FitzSwein, FitzWilliam,
Foliot, Frobisher,
Furnival, Gledhill, Le Scrope,
Lisours, Lockwood, Midgley,
Montague, Muschamp, Nevil[le],
Pilkington, Roddam, Rushworth/ Rishworth,
Savile, Scargill,
Spencer, Stanhope,
Stansfield, Swillington,
Tankersley, Thornhill, Wadsley,
Waleys, Washington,
Waterton, Warrene,
Wentworth, Wortley.
Note: Armorial bearings do NOT belong to all persons of a given
surname and may rightfully be borne ONLY by the descendants of the individual
to whom they were first granted or allowed [the Armiger], according to the
Laws of Arms of England.
Note that in some cases the original Norman-French
names may have been anglicised by adopting the place of residence
as the surname [ e.g. Wyan Marmions took the name de Stansfield].
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Adam FitzSwein
of Cawthorne
Arms [blazon]: Or a lion rampant Sable1
Adam was the son of Swein FitzAilric, Lord
of Cawthorne, who in turn was the son of Ailric FitzRichard
[d. after 1066]. These arms appear to have been applied by Swein's
descendants, for the art of heraldry did not begin to formalise until
the reign of Henry I Beauclerc.
De Busli* [Buslei/Busley] of Tickhill
i] An early coat was Argent two bars Sable,
this was in use during trhe time that the De Buslis were at
Tickhill.13
At the time of the Domesday survey, Roger
De Busli held the manor of Hallam from Judith De Lens. Judith
was the wife of the executed earl Waltheof and the neice of
William I of England. De Busli held 46 manors in Yorkshire 86 in
Nottinghamshire [170 acc. to Thoroton] and many in Derbyshire, Leicestershire
and Devonshire. .De Busli only appears significantly in D.B. for
his family name expired with his brother Ernaldus's gt-gt-grand-daughter,
Idonea, who took the estates to her husband, Robert De Veteri-Ponte
[Vipont] upon marriage. Other lands passed through Roger De Busli's
sister, Beatrix who married William Hastings Count of Eu, Lord
Hastings, which line eventually expired upon marriage to Raoul De
Lusignan.
* This is the style
used in D.B. [Bvsli]
ii] The coat of arrms: Gules, one bezant12
is apparently a later one which has only been known to appear on
a Clifford monument in Skipton church.13
De Luvetot
of Sheffield Manor and Hallamshire11
Arms: Argent, a lion rampant parti per fess
gules and sable [Sheffield Parish Church, from Dodsworth's
ms.] Note:
Variants in tinctures are:
1. Or a lion rampant parti per fess Gules
and Sable [Luvetot House of Worksop]
2. Argent a lion rampant parti per fess gules
and sable.
3. Parti per fess Or an Gules a lion rampant
parti per fess Sable and Argent. [Ecclesfield Church]
4. Or a lion rampant parti per fess Sable
and Gules [Given in time of Edward III]
Foliot
Of Norton SouthYorkshire. Granted during
Henry III's regn. [Roll of arms temp. Henry III]
Blazon : Gules a bend Arg. "de goulz ung bend d'argent"
Ancient arms of Foliot
These arms are similar to De Laci of Pontefract who were the Foliots
overlords. This usage of the overlord's arms with tincture or charge
variation is not unusual [see Furnival, Wadsley and Wortley below].
Blazon: Argent a lion rampant purpure.
Furnival
Arms: Argent, a bend between six martlets
gules.
"Martlets borne in arms signify that the
bearer aquired nobility by his bravery and prowess or by his
intelligence, and that he had little wealth or means of subsistence
at first but lived on his aquisitions... for the martlet is painted
without feet like something that is without foundation. And those
who bear these birds dwell in courts of lords or Kings, and they
live on the bounty of their lords. Yet they are noble. It is not
by wealth and riches alone that nobility is aquired, but by deeds
of prowess and other good habits".- The Lyyfr Dysgread Arfau
1300's 15
Crest: A horses helmet argent with a plume
of three feathers Or. [Jos. Hunter's Hallamshire]11
.
Wadsley of Wadsley and Worral, near
Sheffield. From the time of Henry II to Henry VII when they
were absorbed into the Everinghams of Stainborough. We can
see how the arms are similar to the Furnivals under whose banner
they fought, the charges on the bend are reminiscent of the Tankersley
family of Tankersley. The Wadsleys' held the area of Loxley Chase
and Loxley Common between Wadsley and Worral before this time.12
Arms : Argent on a bend Gules three escallops
of the first between six martlets of the second [12, p.36].
Wortley of Wortley [West of Tankersley].
We can see from this that the Wortleys appear to have not
only had
a a feudal relationship with the Furnivals
but also the De Busli family of Tickhill.
Arms: Argent on a bend Gules three bezants
between six martlets of the second.12
Everingham of Stainborough
Arms: Gules a lion rampant Vair+
Stainborough Castle came within the Honour
of Pontefract held by the De Laci family. Later a branch of
the Everinghams of Laxton, Notts. appear to have occupied a hall
to the east which now lies beneath 'Wentworth Castle'. Stainborough
was probably first occupied by the Everingham family in the early
1200's or earlier. Sir Adam of Everingham and Stainborough sided first
with Henry III but later took up arms with other barons under Simon
De Montfort against Henry in the ill-fated Battle of Evesham. Adam
was also a Keeper of Sherwood. In the 1300's the Everingham line married
into the Watertons. The Everinghams also held land at Lepton
near Huddersfield and would therefore be likely to have known William De
Bellomonte and his son Richard who also held land there, Roger 'Helle' De
Laci and Roger Montbegon, Lord of Hornsby, overlord and mesne lord respectively18
+ Vair was possibly a symbolic
representation of the fur of the Russian squirrel, it
varied in the appearance.of its coat.
Waterton : originally from Waterton,
Lincolnshire. In 1408 a branch in John Waterton held the
manor
of Methley. Thomas Waterton of Walton Hall near Wakefield
held Cawthorne Manor in I Elizabeth I1. Crescents
may represent what were originally metal bosses which were hammered
to the shield to provide further protection against weapons.11
Arms: Gules, three bars ermine, over all three crescents sable1
Note: ermine
tails could be reduced in number and enlarged.
An unproven claimant to the Lordship of Everingham of Laxton [Nottinghamshire], David Alexander Richard Waterton-Anderson, states
that the Waterton's on the distaff had a shield of six equal horizontal
divisions, starting at the top with ermine then gules repeated.
Three crescents sable are placed over this field in a manner which
one would expect to find with three crescents displayed on a single
colour shield [Barry of six ermine gules three crescents sable].
In the 9th year of Henry VI [1441] Robert Waterton, miles.of Methley Hall was a sheriff
for Yorkshire He acted as the guardian for Richard Duke of
York, the disputed father of Edward IV. Richard was raised at
Pontefract Castle and Methley Hall.16[p65] See external
links:
Wars of the Roses
Nevil,
Nevill, Nevile, Neville.
Geoffrey De Nevil of Raby [Durham], Brierley [South Yorkshire].
A senior branch10[p66] descending from Galfrid [Geoffrey]
De Nevile Sheriff of Yorkshire and Northumberland d. 1242. He
was governor of Scarbrough Castle, Sheriff of Yorkshire and Northumberland
& Chief Justice of the King's Forest beyond Kent d.1285. He
married Lady Margaret De Longvilliers of Hutton Longvilliers [Hutton
Magna], Durham in 1268.
Blazon : Gules a saltire Argent 10[p66]
Nevile of Hornby [Lancs]
A cadet branch10[p66], Robert De Nevil
sheriff of Yorkshire and Northumberland d~1276 a younger
brother of Geoffrey.
Blazon : Argent a saltire Gules10[p66]
Nevil[le] of Chevet Hall
Sir Thomas Nevil Kt.
Blazon: Gules a saltire argent charged with
a martlet sable [impaling Furnival]
Arms found on a monument to Lady Joan Nevil
[nee Furnival] at Barlborough Church. She married Sir Thomas
De Nevile [d.1406] Lord of Sheffield and Hallamshire.
John Nevil was sheriff of Yorkshire 1518, 1523 1527. He resided
at Chevet Hall near Crigglestone. John was implicated in the
Rising of the North in 1541against Henry VIII because
he did not notify his superiors of the impending rebellion. His daughter
Mary Nevile married Sir Gervase Clifton, Sheriff of Nottingham who held
the Wakefield Manor.
As a comparison we have Nevile of Hallingbury
Essex, the cadet line descending from Geoffrey De Nevile of
Walcot which gave rise to the De Nevile line of Foresters of England.
Blazon : Azure a lion rampant Or crined and langued
Gules.
Lisours [Lizours] of Sprotborough
Arms : Per fess Azure and Or
Robert De Lisours, son of Fulk De Lisours,
was the Lord of Sprotbrough near Doncaster in the first half
of the
1100's. He married Albreda [Aubrey] De Laci
of Pontefract in 1113, this ultimately led to her grandson,
John De Lisours who assumed the name De Laci from his grandmother, which in turn led
to the line of De Laci. Albreda married secondly Sir William
FitzWilliam Lord of Elmley near Wakefield who gained Sprotborough
through Albreda, this led to the line of FitzWilliams of Sprotbrough
and Emley and eventually into the Wentworth line.
Wentworth
of Woolley.
Arms: Sable, a chevron between three leopards'
faces or1.
From the 1612 Visitation by The College of
Arms the Wentworth Arms were recognised on 5th August 1665
at Barnsley.
Beaumont of Whitley Beaumont:
Arms: Gules, a lion rampant arg., langued and armed
azure,
within an orle of nine crescents of the second1.
Crest: A bull's head erased, quarterly argent
and gules.
Motto: Fide sed cui vide: "Trust, but mind
[see] whom you trust”.
It was not uncommon for tenants to adopt some aspect of their overlords
armorial bearings, thus if we compare the De Laci pupure lion rampant
we see the same lion but in argent on the Beaumont arms, the lion
rampant originated with the major land owner, Adam FitzSwein. The
orle of crescents suggests a success in battle against the Saracens.17
The crescent indicates that the holder has
been honoured by the regent. Thus this coat of arms may have
served nine sovereigns during its time. The Beaumonts or Bellomontes
of West Yorkshire became tenants of the De Laci honour of Pontefract
about 1190. Edward
Beaumont a present day descendant of Beaumont of Bretton Hall
[Lord Allendale] says that this line is not descended from the Beaumonts
or Bellomontes of Crosland and Whitley except by the marriage in 1723,
of Frances Beaumont of Whitley to George Beaumont of Darton who was
a descendant of a family from Thornhill. Edward also disputes the commonly
held link between William De Bellomonte of Whitley and the line
of the earls of Leicester. As tenants of De Laci they are more likely
to be related to De Beaumont of Devonshire, who like the De Lacis
of Lassy, Calvados, and their overlords the earls of Chester, originated
from Normandy.
Spencer of
Horsforth
Arms: Azure, a fesse ermine wavy between
six sea-mews* heads erased
ar.
Crest: A rock ppr thereon a sea-mew also
ppr1.
Motto : "Dieu defend le droit"
("God defends the right.")
The Spencers were from Horsforth near Leeds
and married into the Stanhopes of Cannon -Hall, Cawthorne.
The Spencer Arms were recognised 4th August 1665 at Doncaster.
Stanhope:of Stanhope [Northumberland]
and Cawthorne.
Arms: Quarterly: ermine and gules1.
Crest: A tower azure with demi-lion rampant
issuing or,
ducally crowned gules, holding between his
paws a grenade firing, ppr.
Motto: "A Deo et Rege" ("From
God and the King.")
Originally the Stanhopes came from Northumberland
where many places bear the suffix "-hope" and in fact
where lies the village of Stanhope. Their lineage then descended
from the Stanhopes of Rampton, Notts. and Elvaston, Derbs.diverging
in the reign of Elizabeth I in John Stanhope of Horsforth, West Yorkshire.
The Spencers married into the Stanhopes of Horsforth to
become the Spencer-Stanhopes of Cannon Hall, Cawthorne, South Yorkshire.
From the Horsforth line desceded the wife of Armstrong-Jones,
Serena Stanhope.
Note: ermine
tails could be reduced in number and enlarged.
Collingwood
Arms: Arg. a chevron sable between 3 stags'
heads erased of the second1.
Crest: A stag at gaze, in a holly bush, proper.
Motto: "Nil conscire sibi" [To have
a conscience free from guilt] Note: this is the same motto
as for Savile.
Roddam: of Alnwick [Northumberland]
and Cawthorne.
Arms: Gules on a bend arg. three cinque
foils sable1
Crest: A stump of an oak tree couped, sprouting
out leaves; ppr.
Motto: "Nec deficit alter." [Nor did
the other fail]
Rodham a variant of Roddam is the family
name of Hilary Clinton wife of the former U.S. president and
originates from Roddam Hall, near Alnwick, Northumberland. [William
Roddam 1296]
The Roddams' married into the Stanhope line of which Serina Stanhope
is a member. Serina [b. 1970] married David Viscount
Linley [b. 1961] son of the late Princess Margaret and Anthony
Armstrong-Jones. Note : Bend could be widened
and charges enlarged..
See Spencer-Stanhopes
of Cawthorne.
Warrene
Of Reigate [Surrey], Sandal [Wakefield Manor] and Conisbrough.
Arms: Chequy or and arg.
Warren of Lincolnshire
Arms: Gules a lion rampant argent a chief
chequy or and azure
William Heydon of Heydon, Norfolk married
Jane, daughter of John Warren of Lincolnshire whose arms "checky
or and azure, on a canton gules, a lion rampant argent" were
quartered by the Heydons. These arms show that John Warren was a
descendant of the last earl Warren and Surrey,who held land in Norfolk,
by his mistress Maud de Neirford4.
Dronsfield
of West Bretton.
Arms: Sable and Arg. paly with a bend Gules
three mullet Or.
See Dronsfield of West
Bretton
Armitage [Armytage] of Hartshead-cum-Clifton
and Kirklees from the 1500's.
Arms: Gules, a lion head erased argent, and
langued az. between three crosslets of the second.
Source for blazon Heraldry - Designs of Wonder.
See Armitage
of Kirklees
Stansfeld
[Stansfield]:
Sable three goats trippant argent.
Motto: "Noscete ipsum" [know thyself]
Found in: Stansfield Hall, Todmorden, Sowerby
Church, Heptonstall church, Elland chapel and Stansfield chapel
at Guiseley, the surname taken from the place-name by a son of William
Marmion[s], who accompanied William The Conqueror to England.
Savile:
Arms: Argent three owls of the first
on a bend sable
Motto: Nil conscire sibi [To
have a conscience free from guilt] Note: this is the same motto
as for Collingwood. The notion that owls were wise was pursued
by the Greeks, however, the medieval heraldic significance was not
so. Here it signified that the bearer had not been involved with battle,
particularly "The Crusades". In Spain owls are considered to bring
bad luck if kept indoors. The Saviles were originally of Savile Hall,
Dodworth, now Savile Hall Farm.
See Saviles of Thornhill
Sir George Savill, was granted the Tankersley arms as a quartering, at the Visitation
of York.
Scargill
of Castle Barnard, Altoft and Darrington.
Arms: Ermine a saltire engrailed gules
Originated near Castle Barnard, then Scargill
of Altofts Hall, near Normanton, and Darrington near Pontefract.
See Scargill
Family History Pages
Eland of Eland Park and Cromwell
Bottom.
Arms : Gules two bars between nine martlets
argent three, three and three.
Crest: On a chapeau, azure, turned up Or.
a martlet gules7.
Martlets are often associated with involvement
in the crusades10.
Tankersley of Tankersley
Arms : Argent, on a bend Gules, three escallops,
or
These arms are similar to the De Wadsley
arms and hence those of the De Furnivals.
See Tankersley
History
Note: The bend could
be widenened and the charges enlarged.
Muschamp of Willoughby, Lincolnshire
and Northumberland, also found in the West Riding.
Arms: Or three bars Gules.
The three bars gules are spread over the
whole shield.13
Muschamp of Wooler Northumberland
Arms: Argent a chevron Vert 3 bees# Sable
Midgley of
Midgley
Arms: Sable two bars gemell Or on a chief
of the second three caltraps of the first. The earlier shield
did not possess the caltraps.
Crest:7 i] An heraldic tyger,
sejant, between paws a caltrap.
ii] On a mount, an heraldic tyger, sejant, resting dexter
on a caltrap.
iii] [Midgeley] Two keys in saltier, azure, wards down.
See Arms of Midgley
The similarity to the Thornhill arms
shown below indicates that De Midgley [De Miggeley] was a sub tenant
of De Thornhill.
Thornhill of Thornhill and Fixby
Arms: Gules two bars gemell and a chief Or.
Note the similarity to the Midgley arms,
the difference being in one tincture and the caltraps. The
village of Midgley, near Wakefield and Thornhill were adjacent
manors and the similarity of arms suggests a feudal connection
13 as predicted elsewhere not confirmed by genealogy.
See Thornhill
of Thornhill
Montague/Montacute
i] Arms: Quarterly first and fourth Argent
three fusils conjoined in fess Gules within a bordure sable.13
ii] Another blazon for Monthermer of Yorkshire is : Quarterly second
and third Or an eagle displayed Vert armed beaked and membered
gules.13
See Spencer-Stanhopes
& Montague
Gledhill
The coat of arms of the Gledhill family was
first granted in 1612
Arms: Azure, three fusils in fesse argent.
Crest: A cock proper.
Motto: "Fortiter et Recte" [Bravely
and Rightly]
Crossland of Crosland Hill
Arms: Quarterly argent and gules, a
cross botonny countercharged.
Source: Crosland
Web Page
Lockwood
of Lockwood
Arms: Argent between three cinquefoils a
chevron Sable
Source of blazon:Lockwood
Web Page
Barnby/Barneby
of Barnby Hall, Cawthorne [found in Barnsley
Church]
Arms : Or, a lion rampant Sable charged with
four escallops, Argent1.
Note: The Lion
should have its escallops charged on the body, this will be
corrected in due course.
De Laci
[de Lacey]
of Pontefract
Arms: Or a lion rampant purpure.
See De Laci
history
Frobisher
Originally from Wales [hence the griffins's
head], then Altofts Hall.
Ermine on a fess, engrailed azure between
three griffins heads erased sable a greyhound courant argent.
FitzAlan
i.] Gules, a lion rampant or.
ii] Barry of eight or and gules.
Le Scrope
Arms : Azure, a bend or.
See other
Arms and portrait
The case Scrope v's Grosvenor [which lasted
from1385 to1390] was a celebrated one in heraldry. The Arms
were granted in favour of Scrope of Wensleydale by Richard II.
John of Gaunt and Geoffrey Chaucer were among the witnesses.This
court still exists as the Earl Marshal's Court11.
Bosvile/ Bosville/Boswell1
of New Hall, Ardsley also known as New Hall,
Darfield and also of Gunthwaite.
Arms: Argent, five fusils in fesse gules,
in chief three bears' heads, sable.
Crest: An ox issuing from a bolt of trees,
proper.
Motto: "Intento in Deum animo"
The following epigram was written on the
family's name and crest in the time of Elizabeth I - “Dii
tibi dent Bosvile, boves villasque Radulphi, nec villa careat
bosve vel illa bove."
Swillington
Of Swillington.
Arms: Argent a chevron azure [Granted temporarily
during the reign of Edward III]
Blazon source: Swillington
pages
Pilkington
of Wigan, Lancs and Chevet
Hall,Yorks.
Arms : Argent a cross patonce voided gules.13
[The cross fleury is only in outline]. This
symbol is still used by Pilkington Glass.
Washington
of Adwick-Le-Street. A branch of the De Wessington or Washington
family of Co. Durham whose arms were Argent two bars and in chief three
mullets gules. Sir John De Washington [d. 1331] founded Hallhead Hall
at Adwick-Le-Street, Barnsdale.
Arms: Argent two bars and in chief three mullets gules a crescent
for difference.The Sulgrave Manor branch [Northants.] of the Washingtons
produced emigrants to Virginia in 1657 who were the ancestors of George
Washington, president of the U.S.A. It is believed that the family coat
of arms assisted in the design of the 'stars and stripes'.
Le Waleys, Wallis, Walsh, Wales, Wallace.
Of Burghwallis, Barnsdale. Probably originated in Ayrshire.
Found as arms to Sir Richard I Le Waleys [b. <1126] of 'Burg Waleis'
and his son Sir Stephen I Le Waleys.
Richard married Albreda FitzWilliam of Emley whose grandmother
was Adela Plantagenet, daughter of Hamelyn Plantagenet.
Arms: Quarterly argent and gules a bend or.
see Waleys
of Burgh Wallis
Rushworth [Rishworth]
Rushworth [Rishworth]of Rushworth and Coley in the parish
of Halifax and also Riddlesden. Henry Rushworth's daughter of Coley Hall,
Margery, married John Savile whose sister was Margaret a prioress of
Kirklees [1350 -c.1360]
See Barnsdale and the
Geste
Arms : Argent a bend sable an eagle displayed vert and a cross crosslet
of the second
Also argent a cross crosslet sable, also argent a cross
bottony fiche sable19.
FitzWilliam
Of Emley and later Sprotborough. Chef stewards to the Lords
of Conisbrough from the time of Sir William FitzWilliam [d>1218] who
married Ela De Warrene
[daughter of Hamelyn Plantagenet of Conisbrough]. Sir Thomas FitzWilliam
is identified as being a grandfather of Robert III Butler of Skelbrooke,
a criminal of the late 1290's from Skelbrooke, near Barnsdale. See Robert Butler
Arms: Lozengy, argent and gules
Links:
Early Landed Gentry
of West and South Yorkshire
Enhancing the
Caltrap
How to make
your own crest and shield
Blazons yet to be
sourced or constructed :
FitzWilliam
of Sprotbrough & Emley.
Exley [Ecksley]
of Exley
Quarmby
of Quarmby.
Siddal
of Northowram
Any offers of Yorkshire blazons which can
be constructed, gratefully accepted email Tim Midgley
Home | Previous
References:
1. History
of Cawthorne
2. History of
the Beaumonts of Whiteley
3. Heraldry
- Designs of Wonder.
4. The Genealogy of the Saviles' of Derbyshire.
5. Crosland
Web Page
6. Lockwood
Web Page
7. Fairburn, James. Fairburn's Crests
of the Families of Great Britain &
Ireland.,
New Orchard Editions, 1986.
8. The Yorkshire Archaeological
Society
Sixteenth and seventeenth-century
heraldic manuscripts by William Dugdale,
Norroy King of Arms and
others, which once belonged to the Horsley family
York herald-painters,
and many pedigrees and other items of interest to
genealogists and local
historians.
9. Dugdale William, Visitation of Yorkshire
1665-66 [Held by the Yorkshire
Archaeological Society,
23, Clarendon Road, Leeds, LS2 9NZ, Tel: 0113
2456362 Fax: 0113 244
1979, Email: yas@wyashq.demon.co.uk]
10. Woodcock Martin, Robinson John, The
Oxford Guide to Heraldry, O.U.P., 1988.
11. Bedingfield Henry, Heraldry, Bison
Group, 1993.
12. Hunter, Joseph. Hallamshire, London,
1819.
13. E-mail communication with David Alexander
Richard Waterton-Anderson unproven claimant to the Lordship of Everingham
of Laxton, Notts. January
2004
14. Dennys, Rodney. Heraldic Imagination.
Barry & Jenkins, 1975.
15. Foster, Joseph. Pedigrees of the County
Families of Yorkshire Vol I : West Riding, London. 1874
16. Weir, Alison. The Wars of the Roses.
Jonathan Cape. London. 1995.
17. Whitaker, T. D. An History of the Original
parish of Whalley and Honour of Clitheroe. George
Routledge and Sons. London
1872.
18. E-mail from Edward Beaumont
Edward has much unpublished work relating to the Bellomontes of West
Yorkshire.
19. Watson, M.A. Rev. The History and Antiquities of Halifax
[1775] citing Book of Arms of Yorkshire by William Fairfax
Notes:
* = A sea-mew
is a seagull, a mew is a hawk or falcon
# = bees may be drones or flies, these
represent efficient industry.
Or. = gold colour.
Gu.= Gules = red.
Az. = azure/ blue.
Sa. = sable colour i.e. black.
Arg. = argent = silver colour.
Ermine [from the stoat] = A white flecked
field with black ermine tails some claim to royalty,
nobility or the judiciary.
Vert = green.
© Copyright Tim Midgley June 2002, internal
links revised June 2009..
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