Under the Normans Matera was a countship for William Bras de Fer and his successors.
Jung (La Verite sur la masque de fer) had brought forward another candidate, with the attractive name of "Marechiel," a soldier of Lorraine who had taken part in a poisoning plot against Louis XIV., and was arrested at Peronne by Louvois in 1673, and said to be lodged in the Bastille and then sent to Pignerol.
Holland, Hungary and Switzerland were all early in the field; and Belgium has succeeded, through the instrumentality of the semi-official Societe Nationale de Chemins de Fer Vicinaux, started in 1885, in developing one of the most complete systems of rural railway transport in the world.
Banisters carved to imitate fer forge were as fine as the additional classical cornices were grand.
It wis a sair fecht fer me fer ma uncle wis the dominie an we bided wi him.