From William Shakespeare’s Henry VI, part 1 (II: 5):
MORTIMER:
And these grey locks, the pursuivants of death,
Nestor-like aged in an age of care,
Argue the end of Edmund Mortimer.pursuivants: 1. An officer in the British Colleges of Heralds who ranks below a herald.
2. A follower or attendant.
[Middle English pursevant, attendant, from Old French poursuivant, from present participle of poursuivre, to follow, from Vulgar Latin *prÃ…Âsequere. See pursue.]
(Mortimer’s grey hair is the herald of death)