Another obvious nickname, of which in modem French the meaning would be no less clear. There are constant allusions in the Norman names (some of them we have already seen) to peculiarities or deficiencies of costume. In addition to Al Chapel, Tort Chapel, &c., we find Saumauntel, Curtmantel (Henry II. was so named for introducing a new fashion in cloaks), Curthose, Curtepy or gaberdine, Blancapel or Blanch-Cape, Couvre-chef, Tornemantel (was this the old form of “turn-coat?”), Courtemanche, Wastehose, Grisegonelle (grey coat), Brustechapun (ugly hood), &c. But I apprehend that “mis” - in the sense of “dressed” - is altogether of later date.

In the Rotuli Hundredorum of the reign of Edward I. the name is spelt Malemeis. John, the son of Thomas Malemeis, of Kent, was then in ward to Robert de Aguylon. Henry Malemeis occurs there at the same date. But this is only a contraction for Malemains, as the coats assigned by Robson to Malemeis, Malmys, or Malennys clearly prove. The first, Argent a bend engrailed Purpure, is one of those borne by the Malemains; and the second Argent a bend engrailed Vert, merely a repetition with different tinctures. A “Ricardo Malamusca” witnesses a deed of Baldwin de Rosei’s in Norfolk, which, from the design of the seal, may be assigned to the latter part of the twelfth, or the beginning of the thirteenth century.