Galliard Gaylords
The Norman king, Richard the Lionhearted, who fought in the THIRD CRUSADE, built a stone fortress in Normandy to block a French army under the command of King Phillip Augustus. The fortress was named Gaylord, which meant STRONG MAN.

The French word is Galliard, which later translated to HIGH SPIRITED. The Normans were descentants of the Viking tribe known as the Rollo Clan.

The French monarch gave the Rollos the Normandy coast so they would stop tearing up the French countryside. The Vikings were suppose to become French subjects and follow what the Pope dictated. That didn't happen. During the early Crusades the Normans kicked the Moors out of Sicily and forced the Sicilians to become Christian. Then they marched to the Holy land and kicked those Nose Picker’s azz. The second Crusade had Richard the Lionhearted take the Holy land. The French under Phillip were to re enforce the Norman but backed off while the Normans had to pull out or get overrun. Phillip did this hoping the Nose Pickers would finish Richard for good.

To cut to the chase, the Normans stopped the French at Castle Galliard. After Richard died of his combat wounds the French conquered Normandy. Out of this came a powerful noble family known as Galliard. When the family joined the French Protestant movement they had to flee France. Some family members settled in England where they used the English translation, GAYLORD. Gaylord’s and Galliards settled in the new world, later to become the southern United States. The Gaylord’s and Galliards became well to do and fought for the South during the Civil War. Their descentants still are doing alright.

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