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Title: Yorkshire Battles
Author: Edward Lamplough
Release Date: February 9, 2014 [EBook #44852]
Language: English
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YORKSHIRE BATTLES.
YORKSHIRE BATTLES.
BY
EDWARD LAMPLOUGH.
AUTHOR OF
"THE SIEGE OF HULL," "MEDIÆVAL YORKSHIRE,"
"HULL AND YORKSHIRE FRESCOES," ETC.
HULL:
WILLIAM ANDREWS & CO.
LONDON:
SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO.,
LIMITED,
1891.
HULL:
WILLIAM ANDREWS AND CO.
PRINTERS,
DOCK STREET.
TO THE
REV. E. G. CHARLESWORTH,
VICAR OF ACKLAM,
A CONTRIBUTOR TO AND LOVER OF
YORKSHIRE LITERATURE,
This Volume
IS
MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.
E. L.
Contents.
PAGE
I.--WINWIDFIELD, ETC. 1
II.--BATTLE OF STAMFORD BRIDGE 15
III.--AFTER STAMFORD BRIDGE 36
IV.--BATTLE OF THE STANDARD 53
V.--AFTER THE BATTLE OF THE STANDARD 75
VI.--BATTLE OF MYTON MEADOWS 83
VII.--BATTLE OF BOROUGHBRIDGE 101
VIII.--BATTLE OF BYLAND ABBEY 116
IX.--IN THE DAYS OF EDWARD III. AND RICHARD II. 131
X.--BATTLE OF BRAMHAM MOOR 139
XI.--BATTLE OF SANDAL 150
XII.--BATTLE OF TOWTON 165
XIII.--YORKSHIRE UNDER THE TUDORS 173
XIV.--BATTLE OF TADCASTER 177
XV.--BATTLE OF LEEDS 183
XVI.--BATTLE OF WAKEFIELD 187
XVII.--BATTLE OF ADWALTON MOOR 192
XVIII.--BATTLE OF HULL 196
XIX.--BATTLE OF SELBY 199
XX.--BATTLE OF MARSTON MOOR 203
XXI.--BATTLE OF BRUNANBURGH 216
XXII.--FIGHT OFF FLAMBOROUGH HEAD 221
INDEX 227
Preface.
In the history of our national evolution Yorkshire occupies a most
important position, and the sanguinary record of Yorkshire Battles
possesses something more than material for the poet and the artist.
Valour, loyalty, patriotism, honour and self-sacrifice are virtues not
uncommon to the warrior, and the blood of true and brave men has
liberally bedewed our fields.
It was on Yorkshire soil that the tides of foreign invasion were
rolled back in blood at Stamford Bridge and Northallerton; the
misfortunes attendant upon the reign of weak and incapable princes are
illustrated by the fields of Boroughbridge, Byland Abbey, and
Myton-upon-Swale, and, in the first days of our greatest national
struggle, the true men of Yorkshire freely shed their blood at
Tadcaster, Bradford, Leeds, Wakefield, Adwalton Moor and Hull,
keeping open the pathway by which Fairfax passed from Selby to
Marston Moor.
Let pedants prate of wars of kites and crows; we take national life as
a unity, and dare to face its evolution through all the throes of
birth, owning ourselves debtors to the old times before us, without
being either so unwise or ungenerous as to contemn the bonds of
association, and affect a false and impossible isolation.
To the educated and intelligent our Yorkshire Battles present
interesting and important studies of those subtle and natural
processes by which nations achieve liberty, prosperity, and greatness.
E. L.
HULL LITERARY CLUB,
_January 6th, 1891_.
YORKSHIRE BATTLES.
I.--WINWIDFIELD, ETC.
From the earliest ages of our recorded national history the soil of
Yorkshire has been the "dark and bloody ground" of mighty chieftains
and their armed thousands. Where the sickle gleams to-day amid the
golden fields of autumn, our ancestors beheld the flashing steel of
mighty hosts, and triumphed by the might of their red right hand, or
endured the bitter humiliation of defeat.
Vain was the barrier of Hadrian's Wall to restrain the fiery
Caledonians from their prey in the old times before us, when the Roman
Eagle was borne above the iron cohorts of the Empire through the
remote and rugged Northland. When Severus visited the island, to
maintain his rule and quell the raging storms of invasion, he found
the city of York surrounded by barbarians, and encountered and drove
them afar in bloody defeat When the Roman gallies bore off the last of
the legionaries, and the Britons were left to their own resources, the
tide of devastation spread wide and far, and the suffering people were
driven to the verge of despair. According to William of Malmsbury, the
Romans had drained the land of its best blood, and left it cursed with
a sottish and debauched population. Hordes of Picts and Scots
inundated the land, fired its villages, overthrew its cities, and slew
the inhabitants with the edge of the sword. Oft has the pathetic
earnestness of Gildas been quoted:
"The barbarians drive us to the sea, the sea throws us back on
the barbarians; thus two modes of death await us, we are either
slain or drowned."
Again the clang of arms and the loud tones of war rang through the
north, when the White-horse Standard of the Saxons was spread upon the
breeze, and the tall, muscular warriors, with their long, fair hair
and flowing beards, swept towards the borders, filling the Briton with
astonishment and admiration. Then blood flowed like water, and the
fiery Picts were turned to sullen flight; but, ere long, Yorkshire
plain and hill groaned under a fresh burden of blood as Briton and
Saxon strove together for the mastery. The tide of war ebbed and
flowed around the ancient city of York, and sanguinary and numerous
were the engagements that ensued before the Britons relinquished the
sovereignty of the island.
The history of Edwin, King of Deira and Bernicia, is worthy of a
passing notice; he was left an orphan at the tender age of three
years, when King Ethelfrith seized his inheritance of Deira, and
pursued his steps with implacable persistency until Redwald King of
East Anglia took him under his protection. Ethelfrith at once marched
upon Redwald, and two sanguinary battles followed, the usurper
perishing in the last conflict. Redwald then placed Edwin upon the
throne of Deira and Bernicia.
Edwin was a pagan, but on espousing the sister of Ethelbald, King of
Kent, he came under the influence of Bishop Paulinus, and his
conversion followed. On Easter Day, 626, Edwin gave audience to his
subjects in his "regal city" on the Derwent, a few miles from York.
Doubtless it was a favourable time for the presenting of petitions,
for during the night the Queen had given birth to a daughter.
Towards the conclusion of the morning's business, a messenger was
ushered into the royal presence, and, when about to address the King,
drew forth a long double-edged knife, with which he attempted to stab
the monarch, throwing all the weight of his body into the blow. Lila,
the King's minister, perceiving his master's danger, interposed his
body, which was transpierced by the weapon, which inflicted a slight
wound upon the King. Upon the instant the assassin was slain by a
score of weapons, but not before he had also killed Forthhere, one of
Edwin's household. It transpired that the murderer was a servant of
Cuichelm, king of the West Saxons, and was named Eumer. The knife had
been poisoned, and though robbed of its virulence in passing through
the body of Lila, the King had to endure somewhat at the hands of his
physician, and was no doubt under some apprehension of death. In
conversation with Paulinus he vowed to accept the Christian religion
if he recovered from his wound, and succeeded in punishing the
murderous treachery of Cuichelm, and on Whit-Sunday the infant
princess received Christian baptism.
The avenging army of Northumbria burst into the fair Westland with
sword and spear, and Edwin carried his banner through many a
sanguinary engagement, when the strong growing corn was trampled under
foot and cursed with red battle-rain, as the massy columns of
Northumbria drove over the field, banners flapping overhead, javelins
and stones beating in a terrible shower along the front, whilst a
forest of portended pikes rent and overwhelmed all who dared to brave
the dreadful onset.
On the King's return he hesitated long before professing the Christian
religion, and called his chiefs to take council with him. To his
surprise the way was prepared for him. Coifi, chief of the pagan
priests, doubted the power of his gods. He gave them careful service,
omitted nothing, and deserved well of them, yet he was not first in
the King's favour, nor prosperous in his undertakings.
One of Edwin's chieftains took a more just and elevated view of the
subject:
"The present life of man, O King, seems to me, in comparison of
that time which is unknown to us, like the swift flight of a
sparrow through the room wherein you sit at supper in winter,
with your commanders and ministers, and a good fire in the
midst, whilst storms of rain and snow prevail abroad--the
sparrow, I say, flying in at one door and immediately out at
another, whilst he is within, is safe from the wintry storm;
but after a short space of fair weather, he immediately
vanishes out of your sight, into the dark winter from which he
had emerged. So this life of man appears for a short space, but
of what went before, or what is to follow, we are utterly
ignorant. If, therefore, this new doctrine contains something
more certain, it seems justly to deserve to be followed."
The result was that Coifi undertook to desecrate his gods, assuming
sword and spear, and mounting a stallion, forbidden to priests. Great
was the astonishment and awe of the people as the royal party rode
towards the temple. As Coifi approached he brandished his spear, and
hurled it into the building. As it clashed upon the floor an awful cry
burst from the priests, but no dire catastrophe followed, and fire
being applied to the temple, building and gods were alike consumed.
The impotence of the pagan gods established, the conversion of the
people rapidly followed, and the wise and good King reigned over a
flourishing state for several years.
Unhappily, the virtues of the King and the affection of his subjects
were no protection from misfortune, and the chequered life went down
in ruin and defeat. Penda, the pagan King of Mercia, a wretch inured
to crime, entered into a confederacy with Cadwalla, King of North
Wales, and, after vowing to compass the destruction of all the
Christians in the island, marched against King Edwin.
The royal Northumbrian was neither slow to mass his troops nor meet
his arch-enemy; but the triumph that had so often attended his arms
was not vouchsafed in this inauspicious hour; and when the terrible
waves of battle rolled against each other at the village of Hatfield,
near Doncaster, in the October days of 633, his throne and crown went
down in the fierce storm, though brave men flung themselves before his
banners, and struggled with the savage foe as long as life lingered in
the hacked and bleeding frame.
Falling with honour in the van of battle, Edwin breathed out his life
amidst the roar of the contending hosts, and so the day darkened ere
the night closed on Christian Northumbria. By the King's side fell his
son, the gallant young Osfrid, and the slaughter of the defeated army
being very great, a season of extreme depression ensued. Great as the
confusion was, the dead King received the last melancholy offices, his
head being buried in the porch of the church at York, and the Abbey at
Whitby receiving his body.
In the year 655, when the winters of eighty years had bleached the
head of the warlike and ferocious Penda, he again participated in a
tremendous conflict which took place on the Field of Victory, or
Winwidfield, on the northern bank of the Aire, near Leeds. The
occasion of the war was as follows: Adelwald, King of Deira, was
threatened by Oswy, King of Bernicia, and perceiving that he could
only hope to retain his crown by compassing the ruin of that powerful
monarch, he formed a league with the Kings of Mercia and East Anglia,
and declared war against Oswy, who, dismayed by so powerful a
coalition, strove, by every possible means, to avert the bursting of
the storm. All his efforts proving futile, he humbled himself in
fervent supplications for victory on the solemn eve of the impending
battle, and recorded a religious vow that, in the event of his being
delivered from his enemies, his infant daughter, Elfleda, should be
devoted to the service of the Holy Church. While Oswy was buried in
supplication the shrewd brain of Adelwald was busily revolving the
position. Should Oswy be defeated, he would be at the mercy of his
allies of Mercia and East Anglia, and his own destruction and the
division of his kingdom might be anticipated. To obviate such a
disastrous result Adelwald resolved to reserve his own forces, and
leave his allies to deal with Oswy, when he might reasonably hope to
secure his kingdom against the decimated army, or armies of the
victor. On the morning of the 15th of November, the four Kings
marshalled their forces, spearmen, and other variously armed infantry
and cavalry; and Penda, animated and impetuous, his fiery spirit
undimmed by the four score years that had passed over his head, rushed
to the attack, and the clash of arms and tumult of war resounded over
the field as the troops of Oswy nobly sustained the fierce assault. At
this juncture, the crafty Adelwald, assured that the deadly game would
be continued to the bitter end, began to retire his troops, and the
Mercians, losing heart under the suspicion of his treachery, relaxed
their efforts, and commenced a hasty and confused retreat. Penda and
his numerous chieftains appealed to them, and strove to restore their
broken ranks, but in vain. Oswy pressed them hard; smote them with
fierce charges of cavalry, and with the rush of his serried spearmen
bore down all resistance. The Kings of Anglia and East Mercia were put
to the sword, and their armies decimated and scattered. Oswy, secured
in the possession of life and throne, exulted in the signal victory
which had blessed his arms. Amid the lifeless thousands that
encumbered the sanguinary field, twenty-eight vassal chieftains of the
highest rank had fallen with their Kings.
Oswy satiated his regal ambition by taking possession of the realms of
his conquered adversaries, but he respected the crown of the crafty
Adelwald, who retained the glittering bauble until his death, a few
years later.
Before the Saxon monarchy had time to develope, the Danes visited the
unhappy island with fire and sword. Coasting along the shores,
interrupting the commerce, blocking up the mouths of the rivers, or
penetrating far inland, their only mission to plunder and destroy,
they proved a terrible curse to the nation, and brought the islanders
to the verge of ruin and despair.
With the name of Penda, is associated that of a very opposite Prince,
Alfred, King of the Northumbrians, as he is styled in the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle. Alfred espoused Kyneburga, Penda's daughter, by whom he had
issue one son, Osred, who succeeded to the throne.
This talented Prince ascended the throne after many vicissitudes, and
was slain at Ebberston on the 19th January, 705, and was buried in the
church of Little Driffield. It appears that the country was being
ravaged by a large body of Danes and Norwegians, and that Alfred
pursued and engaged them, holding them to a desperate trial of arms
for the whole of the short winter's afternoon. The gloomy night was
closing in on the dreadful scene, and the Northmen were breaking
before the charges of the royal troops, when an arrow smote the King,
and he fell in the front of battle. On the instant a Danish warrior
charged the prostrate monarch, and, before a hand could be raised in
his defence, wounded him in the thigh. In haste and confusion the
wounded man was carried away from the scene of strife, and concealed
in a cave until the invaders had retired, when he was borne to the
castle of Deira-field, and every attention given to recover him from
his wounds, but after a week of suffering he expired, to the regret of
his subjects.
In the year 867, a great conflict for the sovereignty of Northumbria
was maintained between Osbert and Ella, the former having been
expelled from his throne and the latter elected thereto in his stead.
At this unhappy juncture, the Danish chieftains, Hinguar and Hubba,
brought a powerful fleet into the Humber, and therewith passed their
land forces over the river into Northumbria, directing the march of
their principal forces upon York, and marking their track in blood and
ashes. The common danger arrested the course of the internecine feud,
and Osbert and Ella proposed to combine their forces for the defence
of the capital. Before this junction could, however, be effected the
Northmen fell upon York, and Osbert, without waiting for his ally,
threw himself into the city, and attacked the advancing Danes. For a
time the battle raged hotly. The banners were brought to the front,
and the leaders fought gallantly beneath them, animating their
followers by their example and exhortations. So fierce was the defence
of the Northumbrians that the Danes were driven back, but only to
again struggle forward through dust and blood to the devoted city.
Osbert and his chieftains strove nobly to hold up against the heavy
masses that bore down upon them with such determined energy. Again
and again they cast themselves upon the steel-bound ranks of their
enemies, only to be borne down in the press, before the descending
swords, and lie beneath the feet that pressed forward and entered the
city in triumph. Scarcely had Hubba and Hinguar established
themselves, before Ella approached, and addressed himself to the
storming of the walls. So fierce and stubborn was the onslaught, that
his troops broke through the defences and penetrated the Danish lines.
The Northman was never more to be feared than when at bay, with the
sword above his head. The Danes sallied out, slew or drove out all the
Northumbrians who had entered the city, and, engaging them in the open
field, put Ella and the flower of his army to the sword. The day was
fittingly concluded by a fiendish massacre of the citizens of York.
In Saxon and Danish times Northumbria was continually invaded, and in
the days of King Athelstan the famous battle of Brunanburgh was fought
north of the Humber, and, if we may attach any importance to the
speculations of some of our Yorkshire antiquaries, our favoured county
was the scene of that desperate conflict. As a matter of fact, the
exact locality of the battle has not yet been established on
sufficient evidence, and no doubt our historians will continue to
regard it as unascertained.
II.--BATTLE OF STAMFORD BRIDGE.
A.D. 1066.
Two circumstances secured the triumph of William, Duke of Normandy,
when he invaded Saxon England in the year 1066. The first was the
temporary withdrawal of the Saxon fleet, for the purpose of securing
supplies; the second was the enmity of Tosti Godwinsson, who incited
Harold Hardrada to attempt the subjugation of the island. Had the
Saxon fleet kept the sea, had Harold encountered the invader with the
unbroken strength of his army of defence, the Norman might have
effected a landing, but it would have been with decimated forces, and
probably in the face of an army that would have offered a desperate
resistance to their disembarkation, and would have called them to an
even more bloody conflict than that of Senlac.
The chain of events which led to the Battle of Stamford Bridge may be
traced back to that memorable scene when the aged and heroic
Northumbrian, Jarl Siward, lay dying in his house at York. Disdaining
to meet death in other than his customary guise of warrior and chief,
he caused his servitors to invest his gigantic frame in the iron
panoply of war, to arm him with the heavy sword and tempered
battle-axe which he had so long and ably employed in the national
service, and so breathed his last, leaving the wild hordes of
Northumbria to be disposed of by King Edward, for his son, the
afterwards far-famed Waltheof, was too young to rule over so extensive
and warlike a province. No doubt Harold employed his great influence
with King Edward to secure the aggrandisement of his own family, for
his brother Tosti was invested with command of the province.
Tosti was the most froward of the sons of Godwin, and showed none of
the high qualities and sincere patriotism which distinguished Godwin
and his son Harold.
Cruel and passionate, Tosti was ill-fitted to govern a proud and
inflammable people like the Northumbrians. The following passage from
Roger of Wendover illustrates the violent disposition of the Earl:
"Tosti quitted the King's court in a rage, and coming to the
city of Hereford, where his brother Harold had prepared a
great feast for the King, he cut off the limbs of all the
servants, and put an arm, or some other member, in each of the
vessels of wine, mead, ale, or pickle; after which he sent a
message to the King, that on coming to his lodgings, he would
find the food seasoned to his mind, and that he should take
care to carry away the delicacies with him."
Tosti's rule in Northumbria came to a sudden termination, A.D. 1065.
The "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" thus records the event:
"All the thanes in Yorkshire and Northumberland gathered
themselves together, and outlawed their Earl, Tosty, and slew
his household men, all that they might come at, as well English
as Danish: and they took all his weapons at York, and gold and
silver, and all his treasures which they might anywhere there
hear of, and sent after Morkar, the son of Elgar the Earl, and
chose him to be their Earl: and he went south with all the
shire, and with Nottinghamshire, and Derbyshire, and
Lincolnshire, until he came to Northampton: and his brother
Edwin came to meet him with the men who were in his earldom,
and also many Britons came with him. There came Harold, the
Earl, to meet them; and they laid an errand upon him to King
Edward, and also sent messengers with him, and begged that they
might have Morkar for their Earl. And the King granted it, and
sent Harold again to them at Northampton, on the eve of St.
Simon's and St. Jude's Mass; and he made known the same to
them, and delivered a pledge thereof to them: and he there
renewed Canute's law. But the northern men did much harm about
Northampton whilst he went on their errand, inasmuch as they
slew men and burned houses and corn; and took all the cattle
which they came at, that was many thousand: and many hundred
men they took and led north with them; so that shire, and the
other shires which there are nigh, were for many years the
worse. And Tosty the earl, and his wife, and all those who
would what he would, went south over sea with him to Baldwin,
the earl, and he received them all; and they were all the
winter there."
The indignation of Tosti was extreme, and was not unnaturally directed
towards his brother, Harold, who had used his influence with the
Confessor to obtain the pardon of the turbulent Northumbrians, and the
confirmation of Morkar in the possession of the earldom. That Harold
was actuated by personal motives cannot be questioned, for he
procured the government of Mercia for Earl Edwin, and espoused the
sister of these potent nobles. It was obvious that a crisis must come
in his history, and in that of his country, and as a man and a patriot
he could not afford to be hampered by the crimes of his brother, and
by the disaffection and revolt of a province so remote and difficult
of access as Northumbria. Although Harold was at the head of an army
when he treated with the Northumbrians at Northampton, it is apparent
from the passage already quoted that they were assembled in such
numbers and array, that any attempt to reinstate Tosti in the earldom
would have resulted in a battle, and probably would have necessitated
an armed invasion of Northumbria.
On the 5th of January, 1066, King Edward fulfilled the number of his
days, and on the morrow was buried in Westminster Abbey. From the day
of his death England entered upon a long course of stormy and
disastrous years; and it must be confessed that to his own folly in
promising the succession to his kinsman, William, Duke of Normandy,
the national troubles are to be largely attributed. It is said that
Edward's last hours were vexed by the vision of a warrior shooting a
bloody arrow, portending evil days for the Kingdom; and also that he
gave a reluctant consent to the succession of Harold, warning him that
the result would be very grevious.
The citizens of London, the nobility, and clergy, were largely
favourable to the claims of Harold; the lineal heir to the crown being
the Confessor's nephew, Edgar Atheling--a youth of far too tender
years to wear the crown to which the Duke of Normandy and Harold
Godwinson aspired. No man wished to behold the Norman duke seated upon
the throne of the great Alfred; and when Harold caused himself to be
proclaimed king on the evening of the day of the Confessor's death,
his action was ratified by the Witenagemot, and the crown was placed
upon his head by Stigand, Archbishop of Canterbury.
In the North alone was any disaffection manifested towards King
Harold, and he met it by paying the Northumbrians a visit, in which he
was accompanied by Wulstan, Bishop of Worcester. He was favourably
received, and won the esteem and support of the Northumbrians.
In the true sense of the word, Harold was an elected king, chosen of
the nation; not a tyrant and usurper.
Earl Tosti spared no pains to raise up enemies against his brother
during the period of his enforced banishment, and succeeded in
inducing the famous Norwegian monarch, Harold Hardrada, to make a
descent upon the island. Too impatient to await the appearance of his
ally, Earl Tosti was the first to raise sword in the land, coming from
beyond sea with a fleet of daring adventurers, Flemings, and others.
Landing in the Isle of Wight, he enforced contributions of food and
money, and proceeded to ravage the coast as far as Sandwich. Harold
had, however, provided so largely for the protection of his Kingdom by
the formation of a large fleet, and of formidable land forces, that
Tosti was compelled to beat a speedy retreat, and directed his course
to the North, taking "some of the boatmen with him, some willingly and
some unwillingly." Entering the Humber, he devastated the Lindsey
shore with fire and sword; but being beset by the troops of Morkar and
Edwin, he was deserted by the greater part of his fleet, and was
obliged to precipitately retire into Scotland with the twelve gallies
that remained to him. King Malcolm III. hospitably entertained the
fugitive prince at his court, but all the solicitations of Tosti
failed to induce him to invade the territories of King Harold. Tosti
succeeded in attaching a number of adventurers to his cause, or rather
a number of pirates followed his fortunes in the hope of obtaining
plunder, and with the certainty of being allowed to slaughter the
inhabitants of the coasts, and to ravage the land.
Where the North Sea foams around the Orkneys, Tosti was to meet the
Norwegian monarch; and the Orkneyinga Saga thus narrates his arrival
and departure:--
"At this time, when the brothers, Paul and Erlendr, had taken
up the rule in Orkney, there arrived at the east side of the
island from Norway Harold Sigurdson with a large army. He came
first to Shetland. Went from thence to Orkney. There he left
Queen Ellisif, and their daughters, Maria and Ingigerdi. From
Orkney he had much help. Both the jarls joined the expedition
of the king. The king thence went south to England, and landed
where it is called Klifland, and came to Skardaborg."
Tosti and his gallies joined the Norwegians, and in the expressive
phraseology of the time:--"Tosti submitted to him and became his man."
Northumbria was the seat of war, the Saxon fleet and Harold's army of
defence being located in the South, for the arrival of the armament of
the Duke of Normandy was daily expected, and Tosti and his ally had
therefore every prospect of obtaining a strong hold of the North, the
population of which was largely of Danish origin.
From the first the proceedings of the invaders were not calculated to
win over the Northumbrians to their cause. As the great fleet of 500
sail bore for the Humber, numerous troops were landed to ravage the
coast; and a fierce swoop was made upon Scarborough, which was burnt
to the ground. Sailing up the Humber, the invaders continued their
evil work, and the sky was lurid with flame and dark with smoke, and
slaughtered peasants were strewn on the soil which they had ploughed
and sown in the earlier days of the year, when they looked forward to
the harvest of the scythe and sickle, nor dreamt that Autumn would
bring upon them the sharp chastisement of the sword.
York was the prize for which the invaders offered, and, sailing up the
Ouse, they moored their fleet at the village of Riccall, ten miles
from the city, upon which they at once directed their march. Jarls
Edwin and Morkar made strenuous efforts to arrest the invaders, but
the northern forces were insufficient to meet so numerous and powerful
an army as that of Hardrada. Nevertheless, the brothers assembled such
troops as they could collect, and took up a position at Fulford to
cover the city. Hardrada occupied a defensive position, with the river
on his right flank, and a morass on his left. Edwin and Morkar showed
no lack of spirit in the combat which ensued, and promptly charged the
Norwegian lines, which they penetrated, making a very great slaughter;
but being too weak in numbers to reap the full advantage of their
valour, they were unable to rout the ranks which they had thrown into
disorder; and the Norwegians clung to their ground, and maintained a
hand-to-hand conflict until the arrival of large reinforcements from
the fleet enabled them to push back the Northumbrian ranks, and to
charge them in turn. This was decisive of the battle: the
Northumbrians had exhausted their strength in the first conflict, and
could not stem the tide of fresh warriors that bore down upon them,
with their ringing war-song, and with flashing spears and axes. The
disordered ranks of the Northumbrians were speedily broken, and the
army dissolved in a wild rout of savage fugitives, oft turning
stubbornly at bay, and exacting a heavy price for their lives. Many of
the Northumbrians were forced into the river, or took to the water in
their endeavours to escape the vengeance of the unsparing Norwegians,
so that more men of the Saxon army perished in the Ouse than fell by
the sword on the field of Fulford. "And this fight was on the vigil of
St. Matthew the apostle, and it was Wednesday."
Morkar and Edwin retired into York with the remnant of fugitives that
rallied around them; but their numbers were insufficient for the
defence of the city, and they retreated thence, when Harold and Tosti
entered in triumph at the head of a division of their army, and
received the submission of the citizens, who furnished them with
provisions, and placed hostages in their hands; "and they agreed upon
a full peace, so that they should all go with him south, and this land
subdue."
The Norwegians had retired from the city, and taken up a position at
Stamford Bridge, part of the army remaining at Riccall for the
protection of the fleet, while the commanders appear to have been
engaged in projects for organising an army to march south; but the
enemy was approaching by forced marches; and on the 26th of September,
1066, the decisive battle of Stamford Bridge was fought
No sooner was Harold apprised of the invasion of Northumbria, than he
placed himself at the head of his army, advanced his ensigns; and
pressed forward with such celerity that, on the 23rd of September, his
army occupied Tadcaster. On the following day he entered York; the
Norwegians, who had been left in occupation, retiring before him. The
battle commenced at sunrise on the 25th; and the forces of Harold and
Tosti appear to have been taken by surprise, for a large number of
Norwegians were with the fleet at Riccall. Under any circumstances,
however, Hardrada was certain to provide for the safety of his fleet;
and the fact that he afterwards drew large reinforcements from it does
not of itself imply that he was taken by surprise, unless, indeed he
had under-estimated the forces of Harold, and had prepared for battle
accordingly.
The armies were sufficiently powerful for so important an occasion,
each consisting of some 60,000 men; those of Hardrada being
adventurers and soldiers by profession; whilst the warlike element
was sufficiently developed in Harold's army, many of the troops being
veterans, and all accustomed to wield arms, for there had not been
time to collect hasty levies, such as some of those that fought at
Hastings three weeks later.
Before the battle commenced, Harold Godwinson dispatched a troop of
twenty horse to negotiate with the enemy, no doubt in the hope of
winning over his brother Tosti, against whom his mind revolted from
engaging in war. Tosti manifested a marked disposition to accede to
his brother's wishes on being informed that he should be reinstated in
his territories and honours; but, on his demanding what price would be
paid to secure his ally, Harold Sigurdson, he was met by the
significant reply:--"Six feet of earth; or, as he is a giant, he shall
have seven."
Then Tosti swore a great oath that no man should ever say that Tosti,
son of Godwin, broke faith with Harold, son of Sigurd; whereon the
trumpets sounded, and the Saxon advance began.
The Norwegians occupied a purely defensive position on rising ground
in the rear of the Derwent; the narrow wooden bridge, which spanned
the river, being held by a strong detachment posted on the Saxon side
of the water. There is a strange legendary story told of a gigantic
Norwegian holding the bridge, single-handed, against the Saxon army
for three hours; meeting every rush of the assailants with tremendous
blows of a huge battle-axe, and only falling by a treacherous blow
from the spear of a Saxon soldier, who, in a boat, passed underneath
the bridge, and directing a stroke of his spear between the planks,
smote the warrior underneath his mail, and so slew him. Considering
that Harold's army contained both archers and slingers, it is
difficult to believe that three hours should be lost, and forty Saxons
slain by this terrible warrior, before he fell to the cowardly stroke
of a concealed enemy.
It is certain, however, that the bridge was stormed by the Saxons, and
that Harold Hardrada maintained a defensive position while they
crossed, although he might have attacked them at great disadvantage
while forming in the open ground. Being deficient in cavalry, he had
formed his troops somewhat in the old Scottish fashion of the
Schiltron: massing them in one huge circular column, with the front
rank kneeling, and all presenting their pikes, so that the bristling
column might scarcely be broken by the most desperate and repeated
charges, and the soldiers, who loved fighting with the wild Norse
love, which has not yet died out of the earth, might safely count upon
a feast of blows that day.
Hardrada occupied the centre of his army, with his jarls and captains
around him, and his famous war-standard, the "Land-Ravager," floating
above his head. He was mounted upon a powerful black war-horse, his
hauberk and helmet were of burnished steel, and a long blue cloak
rendered him conspicuous amidst his warlike thousands, over whom he
towered in the physical superiority of his gigantic stature; as the
battle commenced he lifted his powerful voice, and sang his war-song,
kindling the enthusiasm of his warriors, and preparing them for the
storm that was about to burst upon them.
Before the main-battle commenced, the force that guarded the bridge
had to be driven back, and if there be any truth in the story of its
sturdy defence, Hardrada's reinforcements should have reached him
before the Saxons passed the bridge.
The initiative was forced upon Harold Godwinson, and no slackness was
shown by the Saxons in closing in upon their formidable adversaries.
The charges were repeated again and again, and the famous Saxon twibil
did good service that day; nor were the spearmen wanting in their
efforts, while the Saxon cavalry charged again and again. The day wore
on; the cries of battle and the clash of weapons sounded far; the
Norwegian host was belted by a wide hem of the dead. The Saxon light
troops did good service on this memorable day, and brought down many
of the sea-rovers by the discharge of their missiles. Although both
armies suffered severely, the battle endured steadily; the invaders
maintained their formation with stubborn valour, and the Saxons
continued their attacks with equal determination. In the heat of the
battle an arrow smote King Hardrada in the throat, and he died in the
midst of his army, at the foot of his standard, to the sound of
ringing steel and fierce war-cries.
Although the noble form of Hardrada was missed from the press, and his
war-cry no longer presaged victory to the Norwegian host, his valiant
troops maintained the field with unabated ardour; and Prince Olave
bringing up reinforcements from the fleet, the strife waxed fiercer,
and the most sanguine might question with whom the victory would rest.
Harold was an expert warrior, and failing to penetrate the Norwegian
ranks by dint of hard fighting, he feigned a retreat, and induced them
to abandon their close formation, in the excitement of attack and
pursuit, when he turned upon their disordered lines, and the field
instantly became the scene of a fierce hand-to-hand encounter, with
its dreadful attendant carnage. Tosti, and many of the Norwegians,
fell in the last stubborn effort to maintain the field, for although
the generous Saxon offered them quarter, it was disdainfully refused
by the maddened Northmen.
The following quaint and pithy account of the battle is taken from the
"Anglo-Saxon Chronicle," and is well worthy of quotation:--
"Then, during this, came Harold, King of the Angles, with all
his forces, on the Sunday, to Tadcaster, and there drew up his
force, and went thence on Monday throughout York; and Harold,
King of Norway, and Tosty, the Earl, and their forces, were
gone from their ships beyond York to Stamford-bridge, because
it had been promised them for a certainty, that there, from all
the shire, hostages should be brought to meet them. Then came
Harold, King of the English, against them, unawares, beyond
the bridge, and they there joined battle, and very strenuously,
for a long time of the day, continued fighting: and there was
Harold King of Norway and Tosty the Earl slain, and numberless
of the people with them, as well of the Northmen as of the
English: and the Northmen fled from the English. Then was there
one of the Norwegians who withstood the English people, so that
they might not pass over the bridge, nor obtain the victory.
Then an Englishman aimed at him with a javelin, but it availed
nothing; and then came another under the Bridge, and pierced
him terribly inwards under the coat of mail. Then came Harold,
King of the English, over the bridge, and his forces onward
with him, and there made great slaughter, as well of Norwegians
as of Flemings. And the King's son Edmund, Harold let go home
to Norway, with all the ships."
Dreadful were the events of that September day, and most dismally
tragic the retreat from Stamford Bridge to Riccall; the pursuers
wielding sword and spear with merciless energy on the rear of the
fugitive army, while ever and anon the Northman turned upon his foe
and died fighting.
The fleet was reached by the war-worn Norwegians, but afforded them no
refuge, for the Saxons pressed on to the attack, and captured ship
after ship, and in some instances appear to have fired the vessels,
failing to carry them by the sword, for the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle"
says:--
"And the English from behind hotly smote them, until they came,
some to their ships, some were drowned, and some also burned;
and thus in divers ways they perished, so that there were few
left. The King then gave his protection to Olave, son of the
King of the Norwegians, and to their bishop and to the Earl of
Orkney, and to all those who were left in the ships: and they
then went up to our King, and swore oaths that they ever would
observe peace and friendship toward this land, and the King let
them go home with twenty-four ships."
On the low plain of Riccall the dead lay thickly, and to this day the
villagers point out to the curious visitor the huge earthen mounds
that cover the bones of the Norwegians.
The Harold Hardrada Saga gives us a last glimpse of the remnant of the
forlorn fleet, as it sailed from the ancient port of
Ravenser:--
"Olafr, son of Harold Sigurdson, led the fleet from England,
setting sail at Hrafnseyri, and in the autumn came to Orkney.
Of whom Stein Herdisson makes mention:
'The King the swift ships with the flood
Set out, with the autumn approaching,
And sailed from the port, called
Hrafnseyri (the raven tongue of land).
The boats passed over the broad track
Of the long ships; the sea raging,
The roaring tide was furious around the ships' sides.'"
The memory of the Norwegian giant who held the bridge was perpetuated
by the people of Stamford, for Drake tells us that they
"have a custom, at an annual feast, to make pies in the form of
a swill, or swine tub, which tradition says was made use of by
the man who struck the Norwegian on the bridge, instead of a
boat."
Harold is accused of having disgusted his army by refusing them a
share of the spoil; but this is difficult to reconcile with the known
generous character of the man; and no prince could have been more
nobly seconded by his troops than was Harold on the field of Senlac.
Brief indeed was the victor's respite from the dangers of the field;
for, as he was presiding at a great feast of his chieftains and
officers at York, a messenger entered the hall in haste, and
delivered his ominous message that William of Normandy had disembarked
his army at Pevensey, unopposed, on the 29th of September.
The march south was at once commenced; and on the 14th of October a
murderous battle was fought at Senlac, raging with unwavering fury
from sunrise to sunset. King Harold, his brothers Leofwin and Gurth,
fell in the front of battle, with the flower of the army; and from
that day the Norman rule commenced in England.
III.--AFTER STAMFORD BRIDGE.
William, Duke of Normandy, landed at Pevensey on the eve of St.
Michael, 1066, and cast up fortifications for the protection of his
army. Not venturing to penetrate into the country, he awaited the
approach of the Saxon army. He had not long to wait. The route from
York to Hastings was covered by forced marches, and, with a decimated
and wearied army, Harold Godwinson took up his position before the
Norman host. His rear was protected by rising ground; his front and
flanks by trenches and huge wooden piles. He had especially to fear
the Norman cavalry and archers, and took every precaution to defend
his troops against them.
On the eve of the battle the Saxons regaled themselves with strong
ale, and chanted legendary songs by their bivouac fires; but the
Normans occupied themselves in religious services, as befitted hired
cut-throats and the "scum of Europe."
Harold's banner, embroidered in gold with the figure of a warrior, in
battle attitude, was fixed near the "hoar apple tree." The men of
Wessex brought with them their great banner, emblazoned with a golden
dragon.
On the 14th October, Harold's birthday, the battle was fought. The
Norman army advanced in three lines: the light infantry and archers
under Roger de Montgomerie; the men-at-arms under Martel; and the
knights, esquires, and picked men-at-arms under the command of the
Duke.
As the Normans advanced they raised the song of Roland, and the
minstrel Taillefer claimed first blood, as a sturdy Saxon fell to his
sword.
The Norman archers shot their arrows fast and well, point-blank
against the Saxons, but the palisades proved a most efficient
protection, and from their bows, and slings, and military machines,
the Saxons replied, but they were not famous in missile warfare. Then
the Norman lines closed on front and flanks, with thrust of lance, and
fierce axe-play against the stout wooden piles, and all the while the
heavy Saxon twibils rose and fell, crashing through Norman helm and
shield, as horse and rider bit the dust, and from the Saxon rear the
heavy javelins came whirling through the air. The dead and wounded lay
thick on both sides of the palisades, and blood trickled and curdled
in the dust. With unflinching courage the conflict was maintained,
amid a tumult of discordant sounds: the clash and clatter of steel
against steel, the groans of the wounded, and the sudden death-yells
of those whose spirits fled as the axes came crashing through helm and
brain-pan, or lance was driven sheer through corset and breast: above
the heat and roar of the _melee_ pealed the Saxon war-cry: "Christ's
Rood! the Holy Rood!" answered by the sonorous Norman death-cry: "Our
lady of help! God be our help!"
The day sped to the heat and languor of the mid October noon, and the
Normans toiled before the Saxon front, and belted it with flashing
steel.
With painful anxiety Duke William saw his repeated charges spent
against the Saxon army, saw his ranks shaken and thinned, without one
foot of ground being won. He now bade his archers shoot high in the
air, so that their arrows might descend upon the heads of the Saxons.
By this the slaughter was dreadfully increased within the Saxon lines,
but the warriors were unshaken in their resolution to maintain their
ground.
Along the front the Saxons nobly avenged their slaughtered brethren,
and William poured his whole army against them in a murderous charge.
Quicker rose and fell the Saxon axes, and, recoiling from the shock,
the surging mass of mail-clad warriors rolled down the ravine, between
two hills, and many men were trampled to death by the struggling
horses. Surely a charge of heavy cavalry would, at this crisis, have
secured the throne and crown of Harold. Thrice the stalwart form of
Norman William sank amid the surges, as three horses were slain
beneath him. A cry arose that the Duke was slain, and panic and defeat
appeared inevitable, when William rode, bare-headed, among his
warriors, and reformed their ranks.
During the dreadful carnage, Harold maintained the van, fighting with
heroic courage, although suffering severely from an arrow-wound which
had destroyed one of his eyes. William's strenuous efforts were nobly
seconded by his officers, and especially by his half-brother, Odo, the
warlike bishop of Bayeux. Foiled in every attempt to penetrate the
Saxon lines, and hopeless of beating them out of their defences,
William drew the Saxons by a feigned retreat of his cavalry, and on
passing the broken ground, turned upon them, and cut them to pieces.
Twice was the ruse repeated, and although the Saxons maintained their
position with undaunted front, their ranks were terribly thinned and
shaken.
The charges were repeated, again and again, and the Normans rolled
back in blood. The day waned, but the desperate attacks were foiled.
At length a number of palisades were displaced, and the Norman horse
bit into the Saxon masses, hewing a bloody pathway, and paying heavily
for every foot they won. Twenty knights vowed to take Harold's banner,
and William of Normandy, rendered desperate by his peril, was
anxiously seeking the Saxon hero. The conflict inside the palisades
was tremendous. Harold's brothers, Gurth and Leofwin, perished in the
van: the King was slain; there was a bloody rally round the royal
banner; ten of the Norman knights were hewn down, but the banner was
captured, and the Norman flag elevated in its place. Still the Saxons
would not fly; the "Golden Dragon" was taken, and they were reduced to
a mere mob of struggling warriors. The grey of evening merged into
the dusk of night before the retreat commenced. In retreat they were
almost as dangerous as in battle, and repeatedly turned and drew
Norman blood. The Normans were driven back, William advanced to their
succour, and while their leader, Eustace of Boulogne, was whispering
in the Duke's ear, he was struck on the back by a heavy Saxon axe, and
fell, insensible, from his horse, the blood gushing from his mouth and
nostrils.
The Normans, relaxing the pursuit, rode their horses over the slain
Saxons, in savage elation, before returning solemn thanks to God for
the victory.
Gurtha, the mother of Harold, came to beg the hero's body, to give it
burial; but William is reported to have refused, ordering the corse to
be buried on the strand, remarking, with unknightly anger--"He guarded
the coast while he was alive, let him thus continue to guard it after
death." The dead King was, however, interred in Waltham Abbey, which
he had founded and endowed; or, if Tovi, Canute's standard-bearer, was
the original founder of the abbey, yet Harold was largely its
benefactor.
On the field of Senlac King William built the famous Battle Abbey,
that priests might perpetually pray for the souls of the slain, but,
as Palgrave remarks:--
"All this pomp and solemnity has passed away like a dream. The
'perpetual prayer' has ceased for ever--the roll of Battle is
rent--the shields of the Norman lieges are trodden in the
dust--the Abbey is levelled to the ground--and a dark and reedy
pool fills the spot where the foundations of the quire have
been uncovered, merely for the gaze of the idle visitor, or the
instruction of the moping antiquary."
Yorkshire endured terrible evils at the hands of the Conqueror, as he
penetrated its wilds with his famous bowmen and men-at-arms.
The year 1068 witnessed a Northumbrian revolt, which was easily
quelled; but a more determined effort to cast off the Norman yoke was
made in the following year. The events are thus recorded in the
"Anglo-Saxon Chronicle," and were graphically realized by the acutely
sympathetic mind of the Rev. Charles Kingsley in his stirring story of
"Hereward, the last of the English." The accuracy of the latter part
of the title of his novel is, however, generally disputed:
"A.D. 1068--This year King William gave the earldom of
Northumberland to earl Robert, and the men of that country
came against him, and slew him and 900 others with him. And
then Edgar etheling marched with all the Northumbrians to York,
and the townsmen treated with him; on which King William came
from the south with all his troops, and sacked the town, and
slew many hundred persons. He also profaned St. Peter's
minster, and all other places, and the etheling went back to
Scotland.
"After this came Harold's sons from Ireland, about Midsummer,
with sixty-four ships, and entered the mouth of the Taff, where
they incautiously landed. Earl Beorn came upon them unawares
with a large army, and slew all their bravest men; the others
escaped to their ships, and Harold's sons went back again to
Ireland.
"A.D. 1069--This year died Aldred, Archbishop of York, and he
lies buried in his cathedral church. He died on the festival of
Protus and Hyacinthus, having held the see with much honour ten
years, all but fifteen weeks.
"Soon after this, three of the sons of Sweyne came from Denmark
with 240 ships, together with earl Osbern and earl Thorkill,
into the Humber, where they were met by child Edgar and earl
Waltheof, and Merle-Sweyne, and earl Cospatric with the men of
Northumberland and all the landsmen riding and marching
joyfully with an immense army; and so they went to York,
demolished the castle, and found there large treasures. They
also slew many hundred Frenchmen, and carried off many
prisoners to their ships; but, before the shipmen came thither,
the Frenchmen had burned the city, and plundered and burnt St.
Peter's minister. When the King heard of this, he went
northward with all the troops he could collect, and laid waste
all the shire; whilst the fleet lay all the winter in the
Humber, where the King could not get at them. The King was at
York on Midwinter's day, remaining on land all the winter, and
at Easter he came to Winchester."
It was on the 19th of September that the Danes and Northumbrians
entered York, and, amid the flame and smoke of burning houses, stormed
the Norman stronghold, and put the garrison to the sword. Egbert, the
seventh Archbishop of York, had founded a valuable library in the
city, but it was utterly consumed in the flames.
The triumph of King William was not so easily achieved as might be
supposed from the account given in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle;" and
had he not succeeded in buying off the Danish fleet, it is quite
possible that all the fruit of his great victory at Senlac might have
been swallowed up at York. Although the Northumbrians were not strong
enough to brave the Normans in open field, they defended York against
all the attacks of the King's troops for a period of six months, and
the garrison only surrendered when they were in danger of perishing
from starvation.
During the siege Waltheof Siwardsson especially distinguished himself,
and on one occasion defended, single-handed, a breach in the
city-wall, dashing out the brains of the Normans as they came within
the sweep of his axe.
In the first burst of rage on receiving news of the slaughter of the
Norman garrison, William vowed to lay the whole of Northumbria in
ashes, and he carried out with ruthless severity this rash and cruel
resolution. The troops who fought beneath his banner were mercenary
cut-throats, the fit agents of his vengeance, and they addressed
themselves to the work of destruction with a keen appreciation. The
peasantry fell by the edge of the sword, neither age nor sex being
respected: the shrieking children were mingled in the common ruin.
Cottages were fired, orchards hewn down, the instruments of husbandry
destroyed, and every energy was bent to the destruction of human life,
and to ensure by starvation the death of those whom the sword failed
to reach. For nine years after the storm had passed over the devoted
province, the ground remained untilled, and the villages unrestored.
The wretched fugitives who hid their heads in forests and caves were
driven to feed upon the flesh of unclean cats and dogs, and finally
they endeavoured to prolong their miserable lives by the last resort
to cannibalism. It is computed that one hundred thousand persons
perished in a district of sixty miles in length. The sea-ports were
subjected to the same severities, that, in case of further Danish
invasions, the ships might be unable to obtain supplies.
York itself was not spared by the ruthless Norman. The prisoners, who
had been delivered into William's hands by the extreme pangs of
famine, were put to the sword, and the city was given to the flames.
During his expedition to Northumbria, William narrowly escaped
receiving the reward of his demerits, an example of poetic justice
that would have been particularly striking to the historian, and
useful to the moralist.
While on the march from Hexham to York, he became involved in a wild
and unknown country; his horses perished, his soldiers were reduced to
the extremes of suffering and privation; and William missed his way,
in the obscurity of a night-march, and was reduced to a state of great
anxiety, not to say fear, being uncertain of the ground over which he
wandered, and equally uncertain of the direction in which his troops
were marching.
The North continued to suffer from war and invasion. Malcolm wasted
Northumberland, A.D. 1079, and his wild Scots invaded the country as
far as the Tyne, and re-entered Scotland with much spoil, and many
prisoners.
The bishopric of Durham had been bestowed upon Walcher of Lorraine,
and as he equally governed by crozier and sword, taxing the people
heavily, and allowing his Norman mercenaries to plunder, insult, and
slay his flock at their pleasure, he was bitterly hated; and, when his
servant Gilbert murdered Liulf, a noble Englishman, who had married
Jarl Siward's widow, the mother of the heroic Waltheof, their rage
knew no bounds. Walcher consented to confer with the Northumbrians at
Gateshead, and was attended by a large escort. Every Englishman
carried a weapon with him, concealed beneath his garment, and the
bishop, becoming alarmed for his life, took refuge in the church,
which was speedily fired, when the murderer and his accomplice were
driven out, and received a summary requital for their crime. Compelled
to sally out by flame and smoke, the bishop appeared among the raging
multitude, his face wrapped in the skirt of his robe. There was
silence, then a voice gave the death-words: "Good rede, short rede!
slay ye the bishop!" and the protector of murderers was slain. His
escort of a hundred men, Normans and Flemings, died beneath
Northumbrian steel in that awful hour, only two of his servants,
menials of English birth, being saved.
Vengeance was delegated to Odo of Bayeux, and there was no Hereward,
no Waltheof to welcome him with blood-wet steel. He entered Durham
unopposed, a Norman army at his back, and slew or maimed all the men
that he could find.
Seven years later, and William lay dying in the monastery of St.
Gervas, passing to his last account at sunrise on the 9th of
September, as the bells of St. Mary tolled the hour of prime. His last
words were: "I recommend my soul to my Lady Mary, the holy mother of
God."
Rufus succeeded, and in his reign the King's army besieged Durham
Castle, and received its surrender. This arose from the revolt of Odo
of Bayeux, who was captured at Rochester Castle, and sent out of the
country, to the sound of Saxon curses and the triumphant strains of
Saxon trumpets, for the proud prelate who had cursed England with his
presence since the day of Senlac was conquered by Saxon steel at last.
The North was again ravaged by the Scots, A.D. 1091, when Rufus
marched to protect it, and "Edgar Atheling mediated a peace between
the kings." The following year saw the King again in the North, with a
large following, when,
"he repaired the city (Carlisle), and built the castle. And he
drove out Dolfin, who had before governed that country, and
having placed a garrison in that castle he returned into the
South, and sent a great number of rustic Englishmen thither,
with their wives and cattle, that they might settle there and
cultivate the land."
A.D. 1093.--
"King Malcolm returned home to Scotland, and as soon as he came
thither, he assembled his troops and invaded England, ravaging
the country with more fury than behoved him: and Robert, Earl
of Northumberland, with his men, lay in wait for him, and slew
him unawares. He was killed by Moræl of Bamborough, the earl's
steward, and King Malcolm's own godfather: his son Edward, who,
had he lived, would have been King after his father, was killed
with him. When the good Queen Margaret heard that her most
beloved lord, and her son, were thus cut off, she was grieved
in spirit unto death, and she went with her priest into the
church, and having gone through all befitting rites, she prayed
of God that she might give up the ghost."
The Northern province had little rest from marching armies, sieges,
and battles. In the Easter of 1095, Robert, Earl of Northumberland,
treated with contempt the King's summons to attend the court at
Winchester; whereon the King took an early opportunity of attacking
him, seized his principal servants and officers, took Tynemouth
Castle, and after vainly besieging Bamborough, built a castle,
_Malveisin_, or "evil neighbour," over against it, and leaving
therein a strong garrison departed. After the King's departure, the
earl sallied out one night, riding towards Tynemouth, when a part of
the garrison of _Malveisin_ pursued after him, carried him off,
wounded, and slew or captured his attendants. On this Rufus ordered
his captains to carry Northumberland to Bamborough Castle, and summon
it to surrender, threatening to put out the earl's eyes if the castle
continued to hold out. The scheme was successful, the countess--a
young and beautiful woman, recently married to Northumberland--at once
surrendered, when the unhappy earl was condemned to a life-long
imprisonment.
The mysterious death of William Rufus, who was found in the New
Forest, slain by an arrow, on the 2nd of August, A.D. 1100, was
followed by the accession of Henry I., when the Northern provinces of
the island enjoyed a period of unwonted repose, which was terminated
by the usurpation of Stephen of Blois, when the Scottish invasions
re-commenced, and the battle of the Standard was fought.
During these years York was steadily rising from its ashes, after the
Conqueror's fiery chastisement, when, on the 4th June, 1137, a fire
accidently broke out, and the city was again consumed.
Of the patriots who combatted so valiantly against the Conqueror
during the invasion of Northumbria, Earl Edwin was slain in 1071,
being betrayed to the Normans by three of his servants; Morkar, after
joining Hereward in the famous Camp of Refuge, fell into the hands of
the King, and was cast into prison, pursuant to a sentence of
imprisonment for life, but, when the Conqueror lay on his death-bed,
he ordered his release, and William Rufus immediately re-committed him
to prison; Earl Cospatrick was banished for the slaughter of the
Normans at Durham and York, and received honours and lands from the
King of Scotland. Hereward was murdered by the Normans, but exacted an
heroic price for his life.
IV.--BATTLE OF THE STANDARD.
A.D. 1138.
The crown which the Conqueror won at Hastings was fated to pass from
the direct male line of succession in the third generation.
Robert, the eldest of King William's sons, was passed over by his
father, who transmitted the crown to Rufus. When that violent, but not
wholly ungenerous, prince was slain in the New Forest Prince Henry,
the Conqueror's youngest son, usurped the crown, and ultimately
overcame his brother Robert, seized his Duchy of Normandy, and
condemned him to a life-long imprisonment.
Each of the brothers had a son bearing the name of his grandsire, and
it appeared certain that the feud of the fathers would be perpetuated
by the children.
William, son of Robert, had many stout friends, and enjoyed, in a
special degree, the protection of the King of France; hence wars and
revolts arose in the King's usurped Duchy of Normandy, and it seemed
probable that when King Henry died the duchy would be re-conquered by
Robert's son. All the energies of King Henry were therefore turned to
securing the duchy for his son. In the year 1120 he carried the prince
to Normandy, and, by his valour and address in the field, seconded by
his crafty policy, he succeeded in restoring peace and order in the
duchy, and also in detaching his nephew's chief supporters from his
cause.
When about to sail from Barfleur, he was accosted by an ancient
mariner, who claimed that his father had piloted the Conqueror to
England in 1066, and besought the honour of now carrying King Henry
across the Channel. The King had already made his arrangements, but he
entrusted Prince William and his suite to the care of Fitz-Stephen. It
was a serene, moonlight night when the _Blanche Nef_ sailed, but the
prince had provided too generously for the good cheer of the mariners,
and a drunken and careless crew carried him to his fate. The _Blanche
Nef_ struck on the rocks of the Ras de Catte, and rapidly filled.
Prince William was hastily thrust into the ship's boat, but he
insisted upon attempting the rescue of his half-sister, and vainly,
but generously, sacrificed his life in the endeavour.
The position of Duke Robert's son was apparently more hopeful now that
he was the only lineal male heir to the throne. King Henry was not,
however, the less earnest in his endeavours to transmit all his
dignities to his own children. Thus reads the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,"
for 1127:--
"This year at Christmas, King Henry held his court at Windsor,
and David, King of Scotland, was there, and all the headmen of
England, both clergy and laity. And the King caused the
archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and all the thanes who
were present, to swear to place England and Normandy, after his
death, in the hands of his daughter the princess, who had been
the wife of the Emperor of Saxony. And then he sent her to
Normandy, accompanied by her brother Robert, Earl of
Gloucester, and by Brian, the son of the Earl Alan Fergan; and
he caused her to be wedded to the son of the Earl of Anjou,
named Geoffrey Martel."
In the following year the brief, but brilliant, career of Prince
William came to an end. After a most honourable campaign, whilst
"he was besieging Eu against King Henry, and expected on the
morrow to receive its surrender, for the enemy was almost
worn-out, the young man died of a slight wound in the hand,
leaving behind him an endless name."
Robert of Normandy fulfilled the number of his days in the year 1134.
No doubt the statement of Matthew Paris was quite correct:--
"When the King heard of his death, he did not grieve much, but
commanded the body to be reverently interred in the conventual
church of Gloucester."
King Henry had reigned many years, and committed many crimes to secure
his crown, but, such is the irony of fate, he was not permitted to
enjoy his triumph long, for, on the 1st of December, he died through
over-indulgence in supping on lampreys, and, to use the expressive
ambiguity of Carlyle, "went to his own place, wherever that might be."
Prominent among the nobles of England was Stephen, Count of Blois, the
son of the Conqueror's daughter Adela, and the first peer of the
realm--a position which he put to the proof when the oath of
allegiance was taken to the ex-Empress Matilda, Robert, Duke of
Gloucester, having vainly claimed precedence, although he could only
claim as the natural son of the King.
Stephen was a brave, generous, and popular noble, and both the peers
and commons of England would have preferred his rule to that of the
King's daughter; when, therefore, he made claim to the throne no
opposition was raised.
"For when the nobles of the kingdom were assembled at London,
he promised that the laws should be reformed to the
satisfaction of every one of them, and William, Archbishop of
Canterbury, who was the first of all the nobles to take the
oath of fidelity to the Empress as Queen of England, now
consecrated Stephen to be King. In fine, all the bishops,
earls, and barons who had sworn fealty to the King's daughter
and her heirs gave their adhesion to King Stephen, saying that
it would be a shame for so many nobles to submit themselves to
a woman."
Having obtained the crown, Stephen assisted in burying the corpse of
his uncle, being one of those who sustained the coffin on their
shoulders. How suggestive such a scene must have appeared to many who
were present. The dead King had broken the closest ties of
relationship and blood in obtaining the crown; the retribution that
took the shape of his son's untimely death was to some extent
compensated by the death of his nephew; but no sooner is the old King
dead than his nephew usurps the crown, maugre his vows of allegiance
to Matilda, and piously assists in conveying him to the grave.
For the moment no man seemed disposed to maintain the claims of the
ex-Empress: the first to move on her behalf being her uncle David,
King of Scotland, a humane and religious prince, who occupied the same
relationship to Stephen's wife that he did to the ex-Empress.
In his first invasion David succeeded in occupying Carlisle and
Newcastle, but being confronted by Stephen at the head of a powerful
army, a treaty was entered into at Durham, whereby King David engaged
to abandon hostilities on certain territorial concessions being made
to him. Thrice in one year Northumbria was inundated by the wild
Scots, and Stephen, harassed by his treacherous barons, could only
avenge his unhappy subjects by laying waste the frontiers of Scotland.
The wildest storm of war swept over Northumbria in the year 1138, the
unfortunate inhabitants of that province being mercilessly
slaughtered in requital for the sins of their princes and
nobles--sins in which they had neither art nor part. David was deeply
afflicted by the enormous cruelties which his troops perpetrated, but
he was utterly unable to control their passions, and endeavoured to
quieten his conscience by condemning the acts of his armies, and by
his royal munificence to the church--James the First expressed his
appreciation of the liberality of his predecessor by remarking that,
"He kythed a sair saint to the crown."
The tumultuary army which followed him "consisted of Normans,
Germans, and English, of Cumbrian Britons, of Northumbrians, of men
of Teviotdale and Lothian, of Picts commonly called men of Galloway,
and of Scots."
Barely threescore years and ten had elapsed since William the Norman
had carried fire and sword through Northumbria. The charred and
blackened ruins of grange and village were not yet entirely hidden by
the dense growth of bramble and thorn; and the human bones, that had
been gnawed by the wolves in their midnight banquets in the evil days
that succeeded the Confessor's death, had not yet mouldered into their
kindred earth.
It was in the wild and stormy season of the opening spring of 1138
that King David commenced his operations.
Shaken to its centre, Northumbria lay at the mercy of the invader:
again the sword reaped its bloody harvest, again the torch performed
its evil office, and the midnight skies were illumined by the glare of
burning homesteads and villages. The highways and byeways were strewn
with the dead: with the gashed clay of strong men, of women, and of
little children. Age and womanhood lay together in dishonoured death;
the white hairs and the flowing tresses trodden in the same bloody
mire, and, most cruel spectacle! the little babes, pierced and
shattered by spears, lay where they had been cast in fiendish sport by
the pitiless barbarians. The blood of the priests reeked upon the
altars of the most High God, and the sacred fanes were heaped with the
sweltering corruption of slain worshippers. Miserable fugitives turned
their faces towards the Humber, striving to escape the hot-footed
Scot, who pressed so keen and fast upon their track.
The remnant of the maddened people, desperate in their despair, only
required a leader to organise and direct their strength.
Thurstan, the aged Archbishop of York, although bowed down to the
verge of the grave by the weight of many years and infirmities, came
forward to organise the strength of his afflicted people. Stephen
being unable to disengage himself from the toils of his revolted
barons, the civil war having already broken out in the south,
despatched Bernard de Baliol to the north, at the head of a body of
men-at-arms. The real strength of the movement was, however, the
combination of those eminent northern barons, William, Earl of
Albemarle, Robert de Ferrars, William Percy, Roger de Mowbray, Ilbert
de Lacy, and the veteran Walter l'Espec, who, responding with prompt
energy to the supplications of Archbishop Thurstan, gathered their
vassals together, and prepared to take the field, as soon as all
arrangements were completed, and the widely scattered strength of the
North was concentrated.
To draw the people to one standard, and to animate them with an
unconquerable fortitude, was the peculiar work of the Archbishop; but,
being too infirm to take a public part in the exciting scenes which
were being enacted, he deputed Ralph Nowel, the titular Bishop of
Orkney, to carry out his plans. This prelate caught the spirit of his
superior, and a signal success rewarded his efforts. Processions of
the clergy were organised, and the exhibition of crosses, relics, and
religious banners, tended to increase the devoted courage of the
superstitious peasantry. The whole of the male population was called
to arms, and a certain victory was promised, with a quick transition
into paradise for those who perished on the field. Thirsk was the
rendezvous, and, as the news was carried through the province,
men-at-arms and knights came trooping in, attended by the desperate
peasantry, whose rude arms, and lack of defensive armour, but ill
befitted them for what promised to be so dubious and sanguinary an
enterprise.
Three days were occupied in fasting and devotion: the troops then took
a common vow of adherence to each other, victory being most
emphatically promised them. Nerved by every art of the church, by
their own desperate position, and by their thirst for vengeance, they
encamped around the grand standard which Thurstan had raised at
Elfer-tun, to command their piety and patriotism. It consisted of a
lofty spar, or mast, mounted on a huge four-wheeled car, and
terminating in a large crucifix, with a silver box attached,
containing the sacramental elements of the Romish Church. Around the
mast waved the holy banners of the sainted Peter of York, Wilfrid of
Ripon, and John of Beverley. Hugo de Sotevagina, Archdeacon of York,
inscribed this remarkable rhyme on the foot of the mast:--
"Dicitur a stando standardum quod stitit illic
Militæ probitas vincere sive mori.
Standard, from stand, this fight we aptly call:
Our men here stood to conquer or to fall."
From the turn of the lines we should infer that the inscription was
affixed subsequent to the battle.
Norman baron and Saxon peasant had not long to wait the trial of
strength. The summer was now far advanced, for David had been detained
before the strong fortress of Norham; but that stronghold once in his
hands, he marched onward, unopposed, until he approached the
neighbourhood of York. His standard was simply a wreath of blooming
heather, attached to a long lance. Eustace Fitz-John commanded the
guard of completely accoutred knights and men-at-arms which attended
Prince Henry, the commander of the first division, comprising
Lowlanders, defended by cuirasses, and armed with long pikes; the
archers of Teviotdale and Liddesdale; the troopers of Cumberland and
Westmoreland, riding small but useful horses; and the fierce
Galwegians, destitute of defensive armour, and bearing long and
slender pikes. The Highlanders and Islemen followed the first
division, and carried target, claymore, and the ancient Danish
war-axe. King David followed with a gallant body of Anglo-Norman and
English knights, and a mixed corps of warriors, gathered from various
parts of the land, brought up the rear.
With King David marched his warlike nephew, William MacDonoquhy,
flushed with the memory of his victory at Clitheroe, where, on the 4th
of June, he had defeated a strong force of the English, and gained
much spoil.
The position of the Anglo-Norman barons was extremely peculiar; not
only did King David claim Northumberland, where they held lands,
but they acknowledged him for their liege lord, holding from him
estates which were situate on the Scottish side of the border. Under
these circumstances they prudently despatched Robert Bruce, Earl of
Annandale, and Bernard de Baliol, to the Scottish camp, to offer terms
to the King. If his Scottish Majesty would withdraw his army, and
conclude a permanent peace, they engaged "to procure from Stephen a
full grant of the earldom of Northumberland in favour of Prince Henry."
The King was, however, firm in his resolution to maintain the cause of
the ex-Empress; and William MacDonoquhy declared that Bruce was a
false traitor. The two noblemen had no alternative but to renounce
their allegiance to the Scottish crown, and to beat a hasty retreat to
the English army.
The disposition of the Scottish army was then discussed, and David
proposed to place his Saxon archers and Norman knights in the van,
to commence the attack. Deep was the indignation of Malise, Earl of
Strathearn, and bitter his protest against the King's confidence in
Norman mail. Said he, "I wear no armour; but there is not one among
them who will advance beyond me this day."
The Norman, Allan de Piercy, angrily protested that the "rude earl"
boasted of that which he had not the courage to perform; whereon David
checked the growing quarrel, and pacified Malise by ordering the
Galwegians to take the van.
It was the 22nd day of August, the wide moor, gay with blooming
heather, was involved in a land-mist, and, as a further cover to their
approach, the wild Scots fired some villages. The English were,
however, already formed around the standard, expectant of the
inevitable conflict, and no doubt experienced neither alarm nor
disappointment when Bruce and Baliol came in on the spur, and declared
that the enemy was on the march.
Old Walter l'Espec spake a few soldierly words of hopeful exhortation
to his warriors, then placed his ungloved hand in that of the Earl of
Albemarle, with the dauntless exclamation, "I pledge thee my troth to
conquer or to die." Kindled to enthusiasm by the spirit of the valiant
old man, the soldiers gripped each other's hands, and the vow became
general. Archbishop Thurstan's representative was not slow to seize so
favourable a moment for increasing the enthusiastic ardour of the
troops, and he uttered a brief, but thrilling, harangue, in which,
according to the old chroniclers, he at once flattered and provoked
the emulous courage of the Anglo-Norman chivalry, by referring to the
achievements of their ancestors; kindled their resentment by pointing
them to the desecrated altars of their churches; assured them of a
swift and retributive vengeance; opened paradise to all who should
fall sword in hand that day, and encouraged them by reminding them of
their superiority over their enemies in respect of their arms and
armour. The form of absolution was then read, and answered by the
solemn "Amen" of the host. All was ready for the ordeal.
The knights and men-at-arms in both armies were similarly armed.
"From the Conquest to the close of the twelfth century but
little change had taken place in the armour and weapons of the
English; but five distinct varieties of body-armour were worn
by them about the time of the Standard--a scaly suit of steel,
with a _chapelle de fer_, or iron cap; a hauberk of iron rings;
a suit of mascled or quilted armour; another of rings set
edgewise; and a fifth of tegulated mail, composed of small
square plates of steel lapping over each other like tiles, with
a long flowing tunic of cloth below. Gonfarons fluttered from
the spear-heads; and knights wore nasal helmets and kite-shaped
shields of iron, but their spears were simply pointed goads."
According to some accounts, the English men-at-arms were drawn up in a
dense column, surrounding their holy standard; and the archers,
consisting of peasants and yeomen from the woods and wolds of
Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Nottingham, were posted in the van. It is
certain that the Norman barons and the men-at-arms dismounted, and
sent their horses to the rear, and the probability is that the mailed
troops occupied the front of battle, and protected the archers, who
were destitute of defensive armour. All the accounts of the battle
favour this inference, although it is distinctly stated that the
archers were broken, but afterwards rallied--a statement that seems
incredible, for the English army being outflanked, the broken archers
would have been cut to pieces, it being impossible for the dense
column that surrounded the standard to open its ranks to receive the
fugitives, while the charging Scots were pressing hot and hard upon
their rear, and the action of the spearmen was retarded by the
presence of the archers upon their front, as these unfortunates were
being massacred by the enemy.
The Galwegians made the first charge, with Ulgrick and Dovenald
leading. Their dreadful cries of _Albanigh, Albanigh!_ ("We are the
men of Albyn!") rolled like thunder over the field, as they rushed
furiously upon the Norman men-at-arms, threatening to bear down all
that withstood them with the forest of their long, thin pikes. The
centre of the English army was pierced, but the formation was too
dense to be shattered by a charge of pikemen, however furiously made,
and the long pikes were broken upon shield and hauberk, or shivered by
blow of sword and axe. The Galwegians bit deep, but fell in scores
along the front, and as they recoiled from the meeting, the archers
let fly a shower of shafts upon them. It was impossible to rally and
re-form in the face of that storm of deadly shafts, beating as hard
and fast as winter hail upon their naked bodies, and while numbers
fell, weltering in their gore, the disordered masses began to retire,
probably to the right and left, while the English taunted them with
derisive cries of "_Eyrych, Eyrych!_" ("You are but Irish!") which,
Scott remarks, "must have been true of that part of the Galwegians
called the wild Scots of Galloway, who are undoubtedly Scotch-Irish."
As the men of Galloway staggered back from the storm of arrows,
leaving Ulgrick and Dovenald dead upon the field, Prince Henry charged
down upon the English with his knights and men-at-arms upon the spur.
With spear, and sword, and axe, he won a bloody pathway sheer through
the English centre, and put to flight the servants who were posted in
the rear of the army in charge of their masters' horses. The
oft-quoted expression of Alred, that "they broke through the English
ranks as if they had been spiders' webs," must be regarded as largely
figurative, for two reasons. In the first place, the Galwegians were
re-forming with the utmost alacrity, and the other lines were bearing
down fast and stern, yet the English ranks closed in before they could
take advantage of the confusion caused by the cavalry, and presented
an impenetrable front to the advancing Scots. In the second place, the
prince achieved nothing by his charge, beyond chasing a few grooms
from the field. On his return, he found the battle over, and passing
undiscovered through the pursuing forces, succeeded, after many
perils, in reaching Carlisle on the 28th of August.
There is a curious, but not over-reliable story, that in the perilous
moment when the English were re-forming their ranks, and the remains
of Prince Henry's men-at-arms were dashing after the fugitives in the
rear, an English soldier, with singular presence of mind, averted the
impending storm by hewing off a Scotchman's head, and bearing it, at
point of spear, to the front, loudly exclaiming, "Behold the head of
the King of the Scots." Before this ominous spectacle the Galwegians
fell back in a sudden panic, arresting the advance of the second line,
and causing the third line to beat a hasty retreat without lifting
weapon on the field. Bare-headed, King David rode amid the breaking
ranks in a gallant effort to rally his soldiers; but all his efforts
proving fruitless, he assumed the command of his cavalry, and
protected, as far as possible, the retreat of his disorganised army.
There can, however, maugre this oft-told story, be no question that a
tremendous battle raged for upwards of two hours. The devoted savages
of Galloway rallied, and, supported by the second and third lines of
their army, closed in upon the English, "after giving three shouts in
the manner of their nation." Thus the holy standard, and its heroic
defenders, was belted with a wide and deep hem of raging enemies, who
sought, with sword and axe, to hew a passage through the phalanx of
spears that held them back. They combated fiercely together in a mist
of dust and heat; blood flowed like water, and the trampled earth was
dreadful with the bodies of the slain; but no despoiling hand reached
the standard; a hedge of glittering steel defended it, the Normans
fenced it with flashing swords, the serried spears sustained the
fierce attack, though indented here and there by the pressure of horse
and men. The continuous shower of shafts from the archers sorely
distressed and harassed the Scots, and abandoning all hope of breaking
or hewing down the valiant enemy, around which they had drawn their
triple line of warriors, they broke and fled. First the decimated
remnant of the savage heroes of Galloway recoiled, and spread
confusion through the second line, and then the outward hem of mixed
troops, who had never struck blow, wavered and broke; and the battle
of the Standard was lost and won.
David valiantly protected the retreat of his disordered army, leaving
some 12,000 upon the field. He halted at Carlisle, in grave distress
as to the fate of his son, who rejoined him three days later, as
before mentioned. Quarrels took place in his army, and weapons were
freely resorted to, and some blood shed.
The 200 mailed knights of King David lost nearly the whole of their
horses, and only nineteen carried their harness from the field. The
Norman barons were not particularly fortunate in making prisoners, but
fifty knights fell to their spear and sword. Of these, William Cumin,
the Scotch Chancellor, was detained in prison for a short time by the
Bishop of Durham, and, on being liberated, "gave thanks to God,"
desiring heartily that he never at any time should again meet with the
like experience. His companions in affliction were ransomed about the
time of the feast of All-Saints following.
The Scottish army having rallied at Carlisle, continued the war,
besieged and reduced, by famine, Wark Castle; and carried away as
prisoners a number of English women, who were ultimately restored to
their friends through the good offices of Alberic, Bishop of Ostia,
who, being seconded by King Stephen's wife, succeeded in bringing
about a peace, which was concluded on the 9th day of April, 1139.
Before the English army disbanded, Eustace Fitz-John, who had
garrisoned Malton with Scotch troops, received their attention. In the
conflict which ensued the town was stormed and given to the flames.
On this eventful day the English archers won their first laurels with
the long bow and arrows, two cubits in length; and this sanguinary
conflict derives an additional interest from the fact. As brave and
experienced warriors, the captains would probably perceive and
acknowledge the service performed by the Northumbrian infantry, but
not one of them considered the possibility of a day dawning that would
see the laurels of war bestowed upon the English archers, while the
Anglo-Norman chivalry had to be contented with less honourable
trophies of bravery and skill.
V.--AFTER THE BATTLE OF THE STANDARD.
The reign of Stephen was cursed by the worst evils of civil war. The
King was captured at Lincoln, A.D. 1140, being deserted by many of his
troops; but was afterwards exchanged for Robert, Earl of Gloucester,
who had been taken prisoner by Stephen's partisans. Ultimately
Matilda's son, Prince Henry, entered England, when it was arranged
that he should succeed to the throne on the King's death.
Under Henry's rule happier days dawned upon the Kingdom. A.D. 1160, a
great Council was held at York, said to be the first of such
assemblages to which the title of Parliament was applied. The King of
Scots attended, with his nobles and clergy, and rendered feudal homage
for his province of Lothian. Scott asserts that
"homage was done by the Scottish kings for Lothian, simply
because it had been a part, or moiety, of Northumberland, ceded
by Eadulf-Cudel, a Saxon Earl of Northumberland, to Malcolm
II., on condition of amity and support in war, for which, as
feudal institutions gained ground, feudal homage was the
natural substitute and emblem."
Malcolm, being greatly attached to the King of England, yielded to him
all his possessions in Cumberland and Northumberland, possessions
which Henry would probably have conquered had they not been ceded.
Malcolm was succeeded by his brother William, the declared enemy of
England. Invading Northumberland, he was surprised near Alnwick Castle
by Bernard de Baliol. Sixty cavaliers escorted him, and he made a
desperate charge upon the English, exclaiming, "Now we shall see who
are good knights." He was unhorsed, and carried off to Newcastle on
the spur. As the price of his liberty he performed feudal homage at
York for the whole of Scotland, placing hostages and certain
strongholds in King Henry's hands.
Henry died, broken-hearted and conquered by the repeated revolts of
his sons. On his accession Richard I. annuled the acts of his father,
as regarded the independence of Scotland, but homage for Lothian was
of course continued.
Early in 1190, a dreadful fire broke out in York, and rapidly spread,
being fanned by a strong wind. During the confusion a number of
thieves entered the house of a Jewish widow, slew her and her
children, and plundered the house. Benedict, the husband of the
murdered woman, had fallen in the massacre of Jews during King
Richard's coronation. Jocenus had attended Benedict to London, and had
effected his escape with much difficulty. Being very wealthy he feared
the fury of the mob, and took refuge in the castle, carrying with him
his treasures. His example was largely followed by the Jews. The
governor of the castle sallied out, leaving it in the hands of the
refugees. On his return he was largely accompanied, and the Jews, in
their fear, refused to admit him. He at once raised the country, and
besieged the castle. Their offer of ransom being rejected, in their
despair the Jews resolved to kill themselves, after destroying their
property and setting fire to the fortress. Jocenus cut the throats of
his wife and five children, and this dreadful example was largely
followed. The less courageous of the Jews then appealed to the
besiegers, told the story of the tragedy, and, as proof, threw at
their feet several mangled corpses. Protection was promised to the
survivors, when the gates were thrown open. The besiegers entered, and
completed the extermination of the Jews. The cathedral was then
visited, and the bonds and securities of the Jews, deposited there for
safe keeping, were destroyed.
William Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, was deputed to punish the offenders.
He appointed Osbert de Longchamp governor of the county; and the
sheriff and governor of the castle were deprived of their offices, and
cast into prison. Fines were inflicted on many citizens, and a hundred
hostages taken.
On Richard's release from his German captivity, he sold many offices
to raise his ransom. For 3,000 marks Geoffrey Plantagenet, Archbishop
of York, purchased the office of Sheriff. This rendered him all but an
absolute prince of the province.
Early in his reign King John visited York, and held a convention,
which was attended by the King of Scotland, and many of his nobles.
The citizens abstained from any expression of welcome, and the
disgusted King consoled himself by exacting a fine of £100. In the
last year of the tyrant's life, York was besieged by the northern
barons, who were bought off with 1,000 marks.
Henry III. held a convocation at York in 1220, when his sister Joanna
was engaged to King Alexander of Scotland. In the following year his
majesty attended the espousals, celebrated in the cathedral church. On
this occasion Alexander's sister, Margaret, bestowed her hand upon
Hubert de Burgh, the justiciary.
Henry celebrated his Christmas festivities in York, A.D. 1230 and
1252. On the last occasion he bestowed the hand of his daughter
Margaret upon Alexander, King of Scotland. Matthew Paris gives a
particular and most interesting account of the ceremonies:--
"The Earl-Marshal earnestly demanded that the palfrey of the
King of Scotland, which he claimed as his right, should be
given to him, with its caparisons--not for its value, or out of
any avarice, but according to an ancient custom in such
cases--that it might not die away in his time through any
neglect of his."
Alexander
"would not submit to such an exaction, because, if he chose,
he might obtain these equipments from any Catholic prince, or
from some of his own nobles."
The Archbishop of York nobly performed his part.
"In making presents of gold, silver, and silken dresses, he
sowed on a barren shore four thousand marks which he never
afterwards reaped. But it was necessary for him to do these
things for a time, that his good fame might be preserved in its
integrity, and that the mouths of evil-speakers might be
closed."
Necessarily Edward I. was many times in Yorkshire during his Scottish
wars. In 1291 he treated the citizens to the spectacle of one of his
state-butcheries, when Rees-ap-Meredith, a descendant of the ancient
royalty of South Wales, was dragged on a hurdle to the gallows, and
hanged and quartered. In the year 1298, he obtained sole possession of
the port and lands of Wyke, afterwards known as Kingston-upon-Hull.
Under his royal patronage, the port speedily rose to a position of
great maritime importance. In the same year he twice summoned
Parliament to assemble at York, commanding the attendance of the
Scotch nobility, and declared the pains and penalties of high treason
against all absentees.
Six years later Edward concluded that the conquest of Scotland was
achieved, and disbanded his army. In 1307, he died upon the red
war-path, commenced in subtlety and falsehood. He drew his last breath
at Burgh-on-Sands, in Cumberland, on the 7th of July.
In Yorkshire the Barons ran Piers Gaveston to earth in the days of
Edward II. In 1311 they curtailed the royal power, and sentenced
Gaveston to perpetual banishment, attaching the death-penalty should
he re-enter the Kingdom. Edward commanded Gaveston to return, and
restored his honours and possessions. The Barons flew to arms, and
marched to York. The King fled to Newcastle, proceeded to Scarborough
Castle, where he left Gaveston in command, and vainly endeavoured to
raise an army.
Attacked by the Barons, Gaveston surrendered. Pembroke and Lord Henry
Percy engaged that he should be imprisoned in Wallingford Castle, and
that he should suffer no violence. Nevertheless he was carried to
Dedington Castle, near Banbury, when Pembroke departed, and Warwick
appeared upon the scene. Threatened with attack, the garrison declined
to defend their prisoner, and surrendered him into the hands of
Warwick. Gaveston was mounted upon a mule, surrounded by his enemies,
and carried to Warwick Castle with extravagant parade, being welcomed
with a loud flourish of trumpets. He read his fate in the fierce
elation of the Barons, but made a vain appeal for mercy. It was
rejected, and he was condemned to death.
VI.--BATTLE OF MYTON MEADOWS.
A.D. 1319.
After the battle of Bannockburn the whole of Scotland regained its
ancient freedom, saving only the border town and fortress of Berwick,
the security of which was zealously guarded by the unfortunate son of
the terrible "Hammer of Scotland."
The severe and even harsh discipline to which the burghers were
subjected by the commandant of the fortress caused much
dissatisfaction, and one of the inhabitants, a burgess named Spalding,
proposed, in the bitterness of his heart, to betray the place into the
hands of the Scottish monarch. King Robert eagerly entered into
negotiations which were placed before him by the Earl of March, and
deputed the conducting of the somewhat hazardous enterprise to his
favourite captains, Douglas and Randolph. The project was duly carried
to a successful termination, a body of troops scaling the walls under
cover of a dark night, being materially assisted by Spalding, who went
the rounds that night. Some confusion occurred, the governor of the
castle made a desperate sally into the town, and bloody fighting
followed before Douglas, Randolph, and Sir William Keith of Galston
succeeded in forcing the stubborn Southrons back to the shelter of
their works. Soon after the King appeared upon the scene, and, further
resistance obviously being futile, the castle was surrendered. For
Spalding it may be said that his action was probably more patriotic
than treacherous, as he was married to a Scottish woman, and was,
doubtless, himself of the same nationality.
This loss was severely felt by the English, and was bitterly resented
by King Edward. It was followed by a dreadful invasion of the northern
provinces of England, when Northallerton, Boroughbridge, and
Skipton-in-Craven were committed to the flames, and Ripon only secured
immunity from a similar visitation by the payment of a ransom of one
thousand marks. The unhappy people were utterly without protection,
and the Scots leisurely returned to their own country, driving their
miserable captives before them "like flocks of sheep."
Involved with his barons in those wretched complications which
embittered his reign, Edward the II. was so mortified by the loss of
Berwick, that he hastily came to an arrangement with the malcontents,
and raising his banner prepared to invade Scotland, and attempt the
recovery of the town and fortress which had so suddenly passed out of
his possession.
The royal army assembled at Newcastle in the month of July, and, being
very strong, Edward was hopeful of bringing the expedition to a
successful termination. No measure was omitted for the securing of the
object in view, and a powerful fleet from the Cinque ports followed
the army with supplies of stores and warlike material. The walls of
the fortress being so low that the warriors at the base could exchange
stroke of lance with the defenders of the ramparts, Edward prepared to
carry the place by assault, no doubt remembering the feat of his great
sire in 1296, when he rode his good steed Bayard over ditch and wall,
and commenced the work of pitiless slaughter with his own strong right
hand.
Bruce, equally determined to retain the place, had appointed his
gallant son-in-law, Walter, the high-steward of Scotland, to the
command of the town and castle. The garrison was reinforced by 500
volunteers, all gentlemen, friends and relations of the steward.
Provisions to serve for a year having been laid up, the gallant Scots
awaited the course of events.
However sanguine Edward of Cærnarvon may have been, he certainly
exhibited all reasonable prudence before Berwick, and, before
commencing active operations, caused his camp to be strongly
fortified. When the hour of attack arrived, the valiant Scots who
manned the walls of Berwick found they had a double danger to meet, as
the English mariners were bringing up one of their largest ships,
which was crowded with soldiers, who clung to the masts, rigging, and
spars, ready to leap upon the ramparts, as soon as the sailors brought
up alongside the walls, and got the vessel in position with their
grappling irons. As the vessel drew near, gleaming with steel, and
presenting a most formidable appearance, she suddenly took the ground,
and in a moment all was confusion, the mariners straining every nerve
to get her off into deep water again. All these attempts proving in
vain, and as the vessel lay stranded at ebb-tide, she was set on fire
by the Scots, and consumed, to the great elation of the garrison, and
equally to the disgust of the English.
While this exciting incident was being enacted, Edward was furiously
assaulting the town from the land, sending his fierce stormers, who
were abundantly supplied with scaling ladders, to the attack by
thousands, and covering their advance by the incessant discharge of
his archers, whose long and deadly shafts swept the ramparts like a
hail-storm. But the Scots met the storm with indomitable bravery,
fringing their walls with glittering pikes, hurling down showers of
missiles upon the enemy, casting down their ladders, and sending their
heavy axes through the iron skull-caps of the stormers before they
could make good their foot-hold upon the ramparts. After long hours of
stubborn and sanguinary toil, Edward withdrew his troops to the
shelter of their entrenchments, and both parties rested after their
severe and exhausting toil: but at the base of the walls, and upon the
bloody ramparts many brave men slept their long death-sleep.
Untamed by their repulse, the English soldiers prepared to renew their
efforts, and set to work upon the construction of a huge military
machine called a "Sow": this was framed of solid timber, and moved
upon heavy rollers, the roof sloping and affording an efficient
protection to the soldiers who toiled with pick and spade beneath its
cover, intent upon undermining the walls of the beleaguered hold. The
"Sow" was especially dangerous to the Scots in the present case, for
the whole length of the walls being exposed to repeated assaults, they
were so completely outnumbered that they were unable to spare any
considerable number of men to guard against its action, and should
once a breach be effected in the walls it would be impossible to
arrest the pressure of Edward's stormers, who kept the hardy Scots
fully employed even while their ramparts were intact.
When the English engineers levelled the ground, and wheeled the heavy
machine against the walls, and the miners were waiting, pick in hand,
to fall to work, the contending warriors awaited the result with equal
anxiety and interest. Berwick was indebted for its safety to the
labours of a Flemish engineer named John Crab, who had prepared a huge
catapult for the purpose of hurling heavy missiles against the
terrible "Sow," and, as it approached the wall, he discharged a huge
mass of rock against it. The flight of the missile was regarded with
the utmost interest by both parties, but it failed to strike the
machine, and a second discharge was equally inoperative, and the "Sow"
now drew near the walls, amid the exulting shouts of the besiegers;
but Crab had now obtained a better idea of the power of his catapult,
and, calculating the distance to a nicety, sent a large piece of rock
upon the mid-roof of the doomed "Sow." The massive stone went
thundering and crashing through the solid timber, and, as cries of
rage and dismay burst from the English troops, the miners came rushing
wildly from the ruined machine, and sought to gain the trenches, while
the Scots sent their arrows and missiles after them, exclaiming, in
grim mockery and exultation, "Behold, the English sow has farrowed!"
The Scots were inspired by their success, the English aggravated by
repeated disappointments and repulses, and the conflict necessarily
waxed fiercer, Crab working his military engines with great vigour,
hurling showers of missiles upon the assailants, and giving the
unlucky "Sow" its _coup de grace_ in the form of a quantity of blazing
and highly inflammable material, which quickly set it on fire. Amid
the tumult of the assault it continued to burn, sending up showers of
sparks and dense volumes of smoke, until it was reduced to ashes.
The English fleet was brought up to second the efforts of the
stormers, but John Crab had so many cranes and springals in position,
and hurled his huge copper-winged darts, heavy iron chains, and
grappling hooks, and bundles of ignited tow, saturated with pitch,
with such unfailing precision that the commanders were fairly daunted,
and, fearing to involve the fleet in utter destruction, drew off, and
the Scots, thus opportunely relieved, directed their undivided
attention to the repeated assaults of the enemy.
During those hours of murderous strife the grand steward was passing
from point to point with a reserve of 100 men, and wherever he found
the garrison hardly pressed he succoured them with a few men, and
animated them by his example and exhortations; and where the slaughter
had been especially heavy he made good the loss from his fast
diminishing reserves. The conflict was at its height, and the steward
had done all that he could to strengthen the sorely-pressed garrison,
only one soldier remaining in attendance upon him, when the startling
news was brought that Edward's warriors had destroyed the barriers at
St. Mary's gate, which they were endeavouring to burn down.
Hastily collecting a band of warriors, he pressed forward to the
threatened point, passing numbers of young lads and fearless women
busily engaged in collecting the missiles thrown over the walls by the
enemy, and on approaching the scene of peril, he commanded the gate to
be thrown open, and charging through the flame and smoke at the head
of his brave followers he fell upon the assailants, sword in hand, and
after a fierce conflict drove them off, restored the defences, and
made fast the door again. The conflict ended in the utter repulse of
the English forces, nevertheless the garrison was sorely thinned and
exhausted, so that unless it was augmented by reinforcements, or some
diversion was made in its favour, but little prospect of maintaining
the fortress remained.
It was the policy of Robert Bruce never to risk a battle with his
powerful enemies, and although sorely tried by the dangerous state to
which Berwick was reduced, he maintained his resolution, but attempted
a diversion by despatching Douglas and Randolph with 15,000 men to
make a raid upon the northern shires of England, and, if possible, to
fall upon York, and carry off Queen Isabella, who there awaited the
issue of the campaign, imagining that she was secured from all peril
by her distance from the theatre of war and by the strong walls of the
city.
The Scots were not slow in carrying out the instructions of King
Robert, but crossed the Solway, and made a rapid march upon York, only
to find that their project had been discovered, and the Queen's escape
secured. It appears that a Scottish spy had fallen into the hands of
the English, and confessed,
"how our enemy, James Douglas, with a chosen band of men, would
come to these parts in order to carry off the Queen, and those
whom he should find resisting should be killed at the same
time."
The danger of Queen Isabella, whose character was then
unimpeached, aroused all the loyal energies of the Archbishop and
Mayor of York, and hastily collecting a body of armed men, they made a
rapid march to secure her majesty's safety, and caused her to be
conveyed by water to Nottingham.
The attempt to draw Edward from the siege of Berwick by threatening
the safety of his queen having failed, the Scottish captains
proceeded to carry out the second part of their programme with the
utmost energy, and giving loose to their wild passion for burning and
plundering, they wrought terrible mischief upon the northern towns and
villages, as though determined to extort from King Edward the heaviest
price for the fortress of Berwick, should he decide to maintain the
siege, in spite of every obstacle, until it fell into his hands.
Deeply touched by the distress of the peasantry, the Archbishop of
York, William de Melton, and the Mayor, Nicholas Fleming, attempted to
organise an army, and check the depredations of the Scots, who had
carried their wild riders to the gates of York, and set the suburbs on
fire.
Perhaps history can furnish no more rash undertaking than this:
Randolph and Douglas were cool and experienced captains, and ferocious
soldiers; the troops they commanded were veterans, accustomed to
victory, and experienced in the hardships and toils of the field; men
who could only be approached by tried and steady soldiers, and who
were not likely to yield the palm to the flower of the English army.
To meet these, the Archbishop had to rely upon burghers and peasants,
men little accustomed to the use of arms, and entirely deficient in
military training, and for whom no competent leaders could be found.
No lack of energy was shown by the Archbishop and Mayor, and the hasty
and untried levies responded to their exhortations with equal zeal.
There was no time to prepare the volunteers for the ordeal, no
opportunities for testing their courage in skirmishes, for training
them to advance upon such dangerous enemies as the Scots, or to retire
before them in good order if they found them too strongly posted to be
attacked with any prospect of success.
As though to compensate all physical defects by an extraordinary
weight of spiritual influence, the numbers of the army were augmented
by many priests, who are supposed to have been brought together at
York for the celebration of the feast of St. Matthew.
Ten thousand men were all that the Archbishop could bring into the
field, and with these he marched after the Scots, who prepared to
receive his attack at "Myton Meadow, near the Swale water," supposed
to be a large field, at that time unenclosed, and situate some three
miles east of Boroughbridge, just above the confluence of the rivers
Ure and Swale, and in the immediate locality of the obscure village of
Myton.
Half the army of Douglas and Randolph would probably have sufficed to
worst the English in fair and open field, but the Scots commanders had
been long accustomed to foil the English by ambuscades and surprises,
the fatal English archers, and their usual superiority in numbers,
necessitating the utmost caution on the part of the Scots when
engaging with their formidable Southern foes; and on this unfortunate
day the Scots prepared an ambush, which was certain to foil the onset
of the English, and to cast them into that confusion which ends in
panic where undisciplined troops are concerned.
On the English approaching the bridge across the Swale, the Scots, or
more probably an advanced division of them, feigned a retreat, drawing
the Englishmen within the toils of an ambush, that was prepared for
their destruction. To ensure their more complete defeat, they were
permitted to cross the bridge, and while pushing on, no doubt in some
uncertainty, they were suddenly involved in dense clouds of smoke,
which, drifting before the wind, veiled the movements of the enemy.
The Scots had fired three haystacks, and were coming furiously down
upon their enemies under cover of the smoke, having concentrated their
forces "after the manner of a shield." Before the onset was delivered,
the Scottish army separated into two divisions, and uttering their
dreadful battle-cry, one division threw itself between the English and
the bridge, cutting off every prospect of retreat, while the other
charged full upon the Archbishop's troops.
Confused by the drifting smoke, the dreadful war-cries of Douglas and
Randolph, the English troops were so completely taken by surprise that
they were half-beaten before a blow was struck. With no regular troops
to maintain the van and rear, and give them steadiness by example, and
without leaders to form them in the best way to meet the charging
enemy into whose hand they were so rashly delivered, the confused mass
of Englishmen were held at utter disadvantage. With steady charge the
Scottish spearmen bore down upon them, the billmen and swordmen rushed
upon their ranks like a tempest, and the men-at-arms taking them in
the rear, a bloody massacre ensued. Utterly unable to maintain their
ranks, hurled upon each other by the furious charges of the enemy,
smitten, broken, trampled under foot, the English, after a vain
attempt at defence, broke, and sought to secure their safety by a
headlong flight. Beset on every side, followed close by the victors,
cut off from the bridge, the wretched troops lost all heart, and,
seized with panic, thought not of attempting to make a stand against
their enemies, but turned all their energies to secure their escape. A
scene of dreadful carnage followed: the Scots were pitiless in their
triumph, and cut down the fugitives with remorseless activity. The
English vainly attempted to cross the Swale, and dreadful and tragic
scenes took place on the bank and in the waters of the river. The
fugitives who hesitated to cast themselves into the water fell by the
sword of the pursuer, and of those who attempted to pass the river
about a thousand were drowned. The approach of night alone saved the
army from utter destruction, and the total loss was computed at nearly
4,000 men, of whom 300 were priests, arrayed in full canonicals, but
who were put to the sword with merciless severity by the Scots, who
lost few men themselves, and treating the slaughter of the churchmen
as a pleasant joke referred to the battle as the Chapter of Mitton. It
was fought on the 13th, September, 1319.
Sir Nicholas Fleming, who was serving as Mayor of York for the seventh
year, was slain on the field. The pursuit was close, but the
Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Ely, although hardly pushed,
succeeded in effecting their escape. The Archbishop's cross was among
the missing, however, the cross-bearer having secreted it in the hope
of preserving it from the Scots; but a peasant finding it by chance
was tempted to conceal it in his hut for some days, when the pricking
of his conscience becoming too severe he penitently restored it to the
rightful owner.
The loss of the Scots was insignificant, but the churchyard of Myton
received a huge and ghastly burthen of slain Yorkshiremen. The corpse
of Sir Nicholas Fleming was tenderly cared for, and buried in the
church of St. Wilfred, York, the citizens deeply lamenting the loss of
their patriotic mayor, for the repose of whose soul special provisions
were made by the Archbishop.
From the bloody field of Myton the hardy Scots pursued their way
triumphantly to Castleford, where they crossed the river Aire, and
proceeding through Airedale, Wharfedale, and Craven, bore off many
captives and much plunder, entering Scotland in safety.
VII.--BATTLE OF BOROUGHBRIDGE.
A.D. 1321.
On the 1st of July, 1312, a dark and tragic deed was enacted on the
gentle eminence of Blacklow, where the Avon winds through a calm and
peaceful scene. The sun shone brightly on the flashing waters of the
river, on the summer foliage of wood and grove, and on the polished
steel mail of armed men, for the English barons, Arundel, Lancaster,
and Hereford, were actors in the tragedy, and their banners waved from
the ranks of numerous men-at-arms, pikemen, and archers, for at
length, by mingled violence and guile, they had won into their own
hands the life of the King's favourite, and him they now called upon
to conclude the drama of life with what spirit and courage he could
command for so trying an occasion. Then stood forward the handsome and
talented young knight, the favourite of his unhappy monarch, hurried
by rough hands to the fatal block, and the grim headsman performed
his unholy office, striking off the head of Piers Gaveston, sometime
Earl of Cornwall, and--with all his faults--an accomplished knight,
deserving of a better fate.
Chief of the self-constituted judges who thus presumed to rid
themselves of a personal enemy, was Thomas Earl of Lancaster, the
grandson of Henry the Third, and the most potent noble in the whole
realm of England. To this exalted person, a prince of many virtues,
Gaveston had humbled himself, and pleaded, but vainly pleaded, for
mercy. Lancaster could not forgive the gibes of his fallen enemy. The
"stage-player" and "old hog" now held the life of the offender in his
hands; his proud heart indignantly remembered the shame and
mortification of that day when, in the lists of the tournament, his
haughty crest was abased to the very dust, as the lance of the upstart
Gaveston hurled him from his saddle. So Lancaster avenged himself for
defeat and unmerited insult, and the rude barons declared that he had
done well.
But Edward of Cærnarvon remembered the deed of shame, and waited, as
weak and gentle-minded men will sometimes wait, until circumstances
should enable him to demand of Lancaster a full reckoning for the
blood that had been shed. In the first bitterness of his wrath he
attempted to meet the barons in the field, but they were too powerful
for so unwarlike a monarch as Edward to contend with, and being averse
to endanger the peace of the Kingdom by attacking the King in his own
person, they submitted to his clemency, and were restored to favour.
Persuaded to pardon the crime Edward would not legalize it by
declaring Piers Gaveston a traitor, although importuned to take this
step by the most powerful of the barons.
Time passed, and all men forgot the Gascon knight Piers Gaveston, or
only remembered him to blame his follies and exult in the sharp and
sudden punishment that overtook him.
After the triumphs achieved by Edward the I. in his attempts to
subjugate Scotland, and destroy its national life by ruthlessly
slaying her patriots with the soldier's sword or the headsman's axe,
it was with extreme bitterness that the English endured the
humiliation of defeated armies and invaded provinces. They had taken
to the sword, and when that sword fell from the hands of Edward at
Burgh-on-Sands it was seized by Randolph and Douglas, and mercilessly
it was used, until in the invaded, blood-stained Northern provinces
of England the fear and hatred of the Scots became a passion, and he
was indeed a bold or foolish man who presumed to enter into
negotiations with the national enemy.
Naturally King Edward's hold upon the loyalty of his subjects was
weakened by the Northern troubles, for the stubborn English mind
regarded the red-handed crimes of the father as the virtuous
enterprise of a great monarch, and contrasted with his success the
feeble efforts of his son: it was the glory of Berwick and Falkirk
contrasted with the disasters of Bannockburn and Berwick: it was the
ravaged, outraged Scotland of the first Edward contrasted with the
wasted and blood-stained Northumbria of the second Edward.
So troubles thickened around the life-path of Edward of Cærnarvon. His
authority was subverted, and so low had he descended in the estimation
of his feudatories, that Queen Isabella was denied admission into the
King's Castle of Leeds, in Kent, then held by the Lord of Badlesmere,
under his majesty's authority, and for his majesty's use. The Queen's
attendants naturally insisted upon being admitted, and endeavoured to
force their way into the castle, when the garrison proceeded to
extremities, and several of her majesty's suite were slain. This
high-handed proceeding of Badlesmere caused a revulsion of feeling in
favour of the King, and availing himself of the transient emotion, he
gathered together a powerful army. For once his actions were
energetic, and his blows fell heavily. He took Badlesmere prisoner,
and loaded him with chains, at the same time inflicting a heavy and
well-merited punishment upon his lawless vassals. He made an
unexpected visit to the Lords of the Marches, and captured and hanged
twelve knights. Like all weak-minded men he knew no moderation in the
hour of success, and presumed more upon a transient advantage than a
great monarch would have done if successful in the utter destruction
of a hostile party.
This sudden change in the royal fortunes alarmed the barons, and many
made submission; but Edward cast them into prison, and seized their
castles. Great Lancaster was now sorely discomposed, and learned, too
late, to fear the monarch whose authority he had so openly slighted.
It had been long suspected that this potent noble had entered into a
confederacy with the Scots, to avert the doom which would probably
overtake him if deserted by the English barons, or defeated by the
royal forces. The time had now arrived when it was necessary to call
in the national enemy to his rescue; and in this crisis of his
fortunes he openly avowed his unpatriotic measures, took up arms, and
urgently appealed to the King of Scotland for assistance. Before those
redoubtable warriors, Moray and Douglas, assembled their men-at-arms
and pikemen, the promptitude of Edward had prevailed.
Finding that he could not maintain himself against King Edward until
succoured by the Scottish reinforcements, Lancaster marched northward,
and was joined by the Earl of Hereford. This accession of strength did
not, however, enable him to assume the offensive, although it
encouraged him to make a stand at Burton-upon-Trent, where he took up
a position that commanded the bridge, in the vain hope of holding the
royal forces at bay, and of receiving reinforcements from the
disaffected barons.
The noble blood that had already been shed in requital of treason
against the crown had operated forcibly upon the reasoning faculties
of Edward's violent and restless barons, and they prudently kept their
steeds in stall, and swords in scabbard, leaving Lancaster and
Hereford, with their band of adherents, to make the best of their
quarrel with the King, alone, and unaided, unless they could succeed
in reaching the Scottish border and forming a junction with the Scots
under Randolph and Douglas. It would have fared ill with the nation if
Lancaster's design had succeeded, for although Robert Bruce was too
wise a monarch to attempt to annex any of the English territory, being
satisfied to strictly maintain the integrity of the Kingdom of
Scotland, yet Lancaster might have involved the nation in the
distractions of a wide-extending civil war, for placed in so desperate
a position he would necessarily have urged the Scots to press any
advantage that their arms might have achieved, and although the
resistance of the English would have been the rising of the nation
against a foreign invader, yet Lancaster might have succeeded in
winning over some of the barons, especially as Edward knew not the art
of attaching them to his interests, but was possessed of an unhappy
facility in disgusting them by his too-obvious lack of the qualities
necessary to a great prince in the middle ages.
Lancaster failed in his proposed operations, and was obliged to beat
a hasty retreat to secure himself from the advancing royalists. On the
16th March he approached Boroughbridge, to find it defended by the
Warden of the Western Marches, Sir Andrew Harcla, and the Sheriff of
Yorkshire, Sir Simon Ward. The crisis had come: but the conflict was
not to win a sceptre, or a protectorship, but to escape from the axe
and block wherewith traitors were requited for their misdeeds in the
days of the Plantagenets.
In happier and more fortunate times Earl Lancaster had bestowed the
accolade of knighthood upon Andrew Harcla, and he now endeavoured to
induce the loyal knight to make common cause with him against King
Edward. Harcla was too prudent a man to take so rash and ruinous a
step, and Lancaster drew up his soldiers to attempt to force the old
wooden bridge, which spanned the river Ure.
The hasty levies which Harcla and Ward had called to arms consisted
largely of northern archers, famous for their skill with the bow, and
they were strongly posted at the head of the bridge. To ford the river
was impossible, it being sixty yards wide at that part; to follow the
course of the river and seek to cross at some other point, with Ward
and Harcla marching _en rapport_ on the opposite side of the river,
and with the royal troops nigh at hand, closing in upon their rear,
was to risk an almost inevitable and irremediable disaster.
Lancaster's one path to freedom was by the storming of the bridge, and
they accordingly prepared for their last passage-at-arms.
The archers were ordered forward to clear the bridge, and a deadly
trial of skill commenced; the long, keenly-barbed shafts sweeping like
a hail of death from end to end of the bridge: in a moment the dead
lay thick at either end, and the brave and determined archers of
either army mutually faced with admirable courage the fierce sleet of
death that smote them down in bloody heaps. It could not last: the
superiority of the northern archers was beyond dispute, and Lancaster
ordered back the remains of his archers to a less exposed position, to
make room for bills and pikes, and the lances of the dismounted
men-at-arms, for the bridge was too old and full of holes to admit of
a charge of horse. A violent conflict ensued, blood was spilled
freely, and the bridge was heaped with the slain, for the old
Northumbrian war-fury rose to the fierce music of clashing steel and
resonant war-cries, and the defensive position of the royal troops, so
deeply massed at the head of the bridge, gave them every advantage
over their assailants, who could only bring a few lances to the front
in the hopeless struggle to beat a bloody pathway for their escape.
The insurgents fought desperately, as men entrapped, fighting for bare
life, or exacting the heaviest price from the slayer. Hereford set a
noble example to the unfortunate soldiers, charging on foot, sword in
hand, the foremost man in the sanguinary toil; but an untoward stroke
mocked his valour, and discouraged the devoted vassals who fought
beneath his flag. Under the rickety old bridge, with its gaping
timbers, lurked a felon Welshman, armed with a long spear, waiting for
some noble victim, whom he could thus slay without risking his own
person. The wished-for opportunity at length occurred, as Hereford
headed the desperate charge of the Lancastrians, and sustained the
fight in the vicinity of his concealed enemy. Suddenly, to the dismay
and horror of his friends, he reeled and fell heavily upon the bridge;
the pallor of death overspread his features, and the blood gushed from
his wounds. The Welshman had gashed his bowels by a murderous stroke
of his lance.
Lancaster now attempted to ford the river with a portion of his
troops, but this proved impossible in face of the deadly superiority
of the opposing archers. Sir Roger Clifford was wounded in the head;
Sir William Sulley and Sir Roger Bernefield were slain outright; the
Earl's army was utterly demoralised, his loss was severe, and
abandoning the last hope of forcing the river, he utterly lost heart,
and retired into the town, taking refuge in a chapel.
De Harcla now ordered the royal troops to advance, and they rushed
furiously over the bridge, bearing down the last feeble defence of the
disheartened Lancastrians, and pursuing the scattered fugitives with a
cruel ardour. Many archers and pikemen fell by sword and bill in that
dark hour, vassals whose only crime was obedience to the lords whose
badge they wore. Many knights and barons surrendered their swords, and
were rudely haled away in bonds, to await the punishment that follows
unsuccessful treason. That day the shadow of death gloomed over many a
brave young soldier, whose valour might have been worthily employed in
defending the northern borders against the incursions of the Scots.
Earl Lancaster was speedily surprised in the chapel where he had
hidden his unhappy head. Exulting in having achieved so notable a
capture, the rough soldiers laid rude hands upon him, whereon he sadly
gazed upon the crucifix, and fervently and pathetically ejaculated,
"Good Lord, I render myself unto Thee, and put me unto Thy mercy!" And
great was his need of the Divine, for of human mercy he was to receive
none. His knightly armour was torn off, never to be resumed, and,
after many insults, he was conveyed to York, to be hailed with
derisive cries of "King Arthur!" by the rude populace, as they cast
the street mud at him. In his famous Castle of Pontefract was a new
dungeon, built by his directions, and to which entrance was obtained
by means of a trap-door in the turret of the tower. To Pontefract the
Earl was carried, and lowered into this gloomy dungeon, so close a
type of the grave to which he was hourly drawing near.
King Edward was not long in reaching Pontefract with his army; when
Lancaster was brought to trial before his majesty and the loyal
barons who marched with him. Among them were the Spencers, around
whom he had hoped to draw the toils, and whom he regarded with
indignation and disgust, as the rapacious, upstart favourites of a
weak and foolish prince. The Spencers looked upon him as their most
dangerous enemy, and Edward was only fierce when defending his
favourites: who should speak of mercy in such an hour as that?
Certainly none of Edward's barons, however deeply they might deplore
the fate of the noble Earl, for their plea for mercy might be regarded
as a proof of disloyalty, and Edward was showing a leven of that
savage spirit which existed so strongly in his father, and was shown
by the butchering of so many noble Scotchmen on the scaffold.
The condemnation and sentence were speedily arrived at. Lancaster was
to be hanged, drawn, and quartered, but being of the royal blood he
was spared the torture which meaner traitors were subjected to, and
the punishment was commuted to decollation.
On the 22nd of March the headsman waited for Lancaster, who was led to
the scaffold, mounted on a miserable hack, insulted and reviled by the
spectators, many of whom pelted him with mud. Calm and dignified, he
implored the grace of heaven to enable him patiently to endure the
sorrow of that bitter hour. The block was placed upon a hill near his
castle, and he knelt with his face to the east, expecting the stroke
of the executioner; but his pitiless enemies ordered him to turn to
the north, from whence he had expected the Scottish succours, and in
this position he received his death-blow.
The rebellion of Lancaster involved many noblemen in his ruin.
Ninety-five knights and barons were cast into prison, and stood their
trial for high treason. Other bloody executions followed with
merciless barbarity. The lords Warren-de-Lisle, William de Fouchet,
Thomas Mandute, Fitz-William, Henry de Bradburne, and William Cheney,
suffered at Pontefract; and Clifford, Mowbray, and Deynville were
decapitated at York. Thus bloodily did King Edward avenge the death of
Gaveston--for there can be little doubt that the blow aimed at the
Spencers, and the recollection of Gaveston's doom, were the motives
that moved him to such a cruel exercise of his power over his revolted
and defeated subjects. Perhaps a more humane and generous policy might
have averted the evil days, when he was left as helpless in the hands
of his enemies as was Lancaster on the day of his defeat and capture.
In reguerdon of his great service to the crown, Sir Andrew Harcla was
exalted to the rank of Earl of Carlisle.
Among the revolted barons who fought with Lancaster and Hereford at
Boroughbridge, was John de Mowbray, lord of the vale of Mowbray, of
Kirby Malzeard, and Thirsk and Upsall Castles. Tradition still retains
his name, and gives a strangely wild and legendary account of his
death; probable enough, but not to be received as authentic history.
In the breaking up of the Lancastrian troops, in the last stormy
passage of the day, John de Mowbray, disengaging himself from the
press, put spurs to his horse, and rode off, in the direction of
Upsall Castle, near Thirsk, where he hoped to secure his safety. The
royalists, however, were soon on his track, pressed him hard, and
reached him as he was making his way through a lane, within sight of
Upsall Castle. In a moment he was seized and unhelmed, and his throat
stretched across the trunk of a fallen tree as one of the King's men
struck off his head. His armour was then stripped off and suspended
from the branches of an oak tree, his body being cast into a way-side
ditch. The tradition is preserved in the name of the lane which is
still called Chop Head Loaning. The Rev. Thomas Parkinson, F.R.H.S.,
gives this tradition at length in his interesting volume, "Yorkshire
Legends and Traditions," and quotes Mrs. Susan K. Phillips' poetical
version of the legend--a poem which would have delighted Sir Walter
Scott.
The blood-stained old wooden bridge across the Ure has long ceased to
bear the traffic of the locality, and a handsome stone erection now
replaces it. Harcla and Ward's old fighting ground, that bristled with
sword and spear and deadly bill on the 16th of March, 1321, is now
more prosaic soil, burdened with houses, timber, and coal-yards; and
is partly cleft by a short canal, the property of the River Ure
Navigation. When the river was embanked in 1792, the excavators at the
Old Banks, below the bridge, discovered some presumed relics of the
battle, consisting of many fragments of arms and armour.
VIII.--BATTLE OF BYLAND ABBEY.
A.D. 1322.
After the tragedy of Earl Lancaster's revolt had been concluded by the
wholesale executions of the barons and knights implicated in that
misguided movement, the Scots, commanded by Randolph, Earl of Moray,
invaded the Western marches, and ravaged the country in their
customary barbarous style, slaying all who attempted resistance, and
driving before them all the flocks and herds that their swift and
well-organised cavalry could collect. What they could not carry away
they burnt, returning to Scotland without having received a check in
the field. Where they had passed, the summer sun gleamed brightly on
ruined cots and devastated fields, and the English peasantry, inured
to toil and suffering, gazed despairingly upon the ruin of the fruit
of the soil, fostered by their hard labour, and by the sun and rain of
the departed months.
While the Scots were acting Edward of Cærnarvon was preparing to take
the field. Referring to the English monarch's victory at
Boroughbridge, Sir Walter Scott makes the following
reflections:--
"This gleam of success on his arms, which had been sorely
tarnished, seems to have filled Edward, who was of a sanguine
and buoyant temperament, with dreams of conquest over all his
enemies. As a king never stands more securely than on the ruins
of a discovered and suppressed conspiracy, he wrote to the pope
to give himself no further solicitude to procure a truce or
peace with the Scots, since he had determined to bring them to
reason by force."
Edward spared no pains to ensure the success of the expedition into
Scotland, and Parliament authorised military levies in the country to
the extent of one man from every English hamlet and village, and a
proportionate number from the towns and cities. Subsidies of money
were largely granted, and enabled Edward to obtain supplies of arms
and provisions from over seas, besides reinforcing his army with
soldiers from Aquitaine.
The Scottish monarch timed his movements, and organised his plans to
check the English advance, with his customary foresight and energy;
and although the cruel slaughter of so many of his nearest relatives
and dearest friends might well have steeled his heart against the
English, we are bound to admit that his repeated devastations of the
Northumbrian provinces were of incalculable service in protecting
Scotland from hostile attacks, although they might and did excite the
English to cross the border in expeditions organised for the purpose
of revenge.
Bruce never wanted for an army to invade England--an army that repaid
its toils by the plunder of the enemy, and this is clearly illustrated
by the campaign that ended with the battle of Byland Abbey; while
Edward was spending months in raising an army, taxing the people, and
making forced levies, drawing supplies of men and munitions from his
continental provinces, Bruce had but to raise his standard, when a
numerous army followed him, to win the reguerdon of their toil with
sword and spear from the fertile English provinces.
King Robert dared not risk the liberties of Scotland by meeting the
powerful hosts of England, with their deadly archers, in the open
field, and his plan of defence was therefore to devastate the English
borders with fire and sword, to the farthest practicable limit, and
to drive all the flocks and herds on the Scottish border far inland,
wasting the country as far as the Firth of Forth.
As soon as Moray had performed his raid on the West marches, he was
instructed to join his forces with those of Douglas, and cross the
borders in a more easterly direction, while King Robert penetrated
into Lancashire through the Western marches. The expedition commenced
on the 1st of July, and was concluded on the 24th, when the Scotch
army re-entered Scotland in triumph, with numerous waggons heavily
laden with the plunder of the English. The vale of Furness had been
the scene of their triumphant march, and they left it utterly
desolated; barns, stacks and ricks, and fields of ripening grain had
been given to the flames, or trampled under foot.
The unhappy peasantry, abandoning their rude cots, sought such refuge
as the woods and wilds afforded, or haply took shelter in the nearest
walled town. Men-at-arms and burghers took spear and bow in hand, made
fast their gates, and kept careful watch lest the enemy should burst
upon them with fire and sword some dreadful night. The wasted country
gleamed with the light of burning villages, and many a rude
border-fortress was taken by assault before King Edward headed his
warriors and marched northward with his mail-clad barons and stout
yeomen.
The wary Scots waited not for the approach of the splendid army that
marched behind the banners of the unfortunate Edward of Cærnarvon;
although the English warriors were animated by an intense desire to
avenge their wrongs, and not a monarch in Christendom but might have
quailed at the prospect of joining battle with them, yet all their
high courage and warlike accomplishments failed to serve them in their
contest with the Bruce.
Pressing onward, rank after rank, squadron after squadron, with the
glitter of thousands of lances, pikes, and bills, and with hundreds of
banners floating on the breeze, the warriors of King Edward found
neither foes to fight nor plunder to repay their toil, but "a land of
desolation, which famine seemed to guard." The transport of stores for
so large an army was attended with extreme toil and difficulty, for
the wasted soil would not even afford forage for the English horses.
The English captains, hoping that by some chance the enemy might be
brought to an engagement, resolutely maintained their advance, and
the patient soldiers held on their way, in spite of increasing
difficulties and dangers. It was the month of August, and the fatigue
of the heavily armed troops must have been excessive. At length the
toil-worn army reached the capital, but without any amelioration of
their condition, or the prospect of an engagement. The sole spoil
between England and Edinburgh was one lame bull. Well might Earl
Warenne declare, "By my faith, I never saw dearer beef." A fleet with
supplies was expected in the firth, but it was detained by adverse
winds, and after vainly waiting for three days, during which the
troops began to experience the pangs of hunger, Edward reluctantly
commanded the retreat to commence. They knew that Bruce had massed his
army at Culross, and was keeping them under observation, but it was
impossible to get within sight of the Scottish army, or to force an
engagement. In their retreat the suffering and enraged soldiery burst
into the convents of Dryburgh and Melrose, from which all but a few
aged and infirm monks had retired: these unfortunates they put to the
sword, defiled the sanctuaries, and carried off the consecrated
vessels.
Bruce was now following hard and fast on the track of the retreating
army, alert to seize every advantage, and anxious to secure the safety
of his kingdom by inflicting a crushing blow upon his enemy. The
English soldiery were harassed by being kept continually on the alert,
and by the scarcity of provisions, but their greatest disaster awaited
them on their native soil. Travel-wasted and famine-stricken they
entered England, and were liberally supplied with food from the
principal magazines in the north. Partaking with the impatient avidity
of starving men, they sickened in great numbers, and in a few days
16,000 were carried off by inflammation of the bowels; and of the sick
who recovered, few were ever again fit for service in the field.
To avert further disasters, and renew the strength and spirit of the
survivors, the King formed a camp at Byland Abbey, some fourteen miles
from York; and there the sorely-tried and weary soldiers found a
temporary rest, and again enjoyed sufficient supplies of wholesome
food.
The position was extremely strong, and under ordinary circumstances
might perhaps have been considered unassailable when held by English
archers and men-at-arms. It was a country of rocks and woods, where
deep ravines cleft the rocks, and formed huge cliffs, easy of defence.
The soldiers were judiciously posted on the elevated ground
surrounding the abbey, a steep ridge very difficult to scale, the pass
to which was narrow and easily defended by veteran soldiers. The exact
ground that was held cannot now be ascertained; it was certainly an
elevated ridge, and very probably that now known as the Old Stead
Bank, at one end of which is a piece of land called "Scot's corner."
If this is the scene of the conflict, it took place about a mile and a
half to the north-west of the abbey. Doubtless the royal troops were
still demoralised by the mortifying results of the campaign,
disheartened by their losses, and weakened and dejected by their
sufferings.
King Robert's troops were largely mounted on small and active ponies,
which enabled them to follow fast upon the tracks of the English.
Crossing the Tweed, he attempted to carry Norham Castle, but failed,
and directed his march towards Byland Abbey, for he had intelligence
that the English army had there formed their camp. By a forced march
he appeared in front of the English, to their great surprise. No
doubt Bruce inferred that the English had lost all heart, for Cressy,
Poictiers, and Agincourt were then unfought, and the world knew little
of what the indomitable British spirit could endure, when great and
esteemed captains animated the warriors to the conflict. Edward II.
was neither great nor fortunate in arms, and was dining in the abbey,
attended by his principal officers, when the Scots appeared and
commenced the attack.
It was the 14th day of October, and the Scots commenced the conflict
by a desperate attempt to carry the pass that was the key to the
English position. Earls Pembroke and Richmond were there, however,
directing the defence, and, although taken by surprise, the English
soldiers made good their position with great courage. The pikemen held
the crest of the rock in solid formation, ready to charge should the
Scots force the pass, and bear them down again: the archers swept the
front of the position with showers of arrows, and huge masses of rock
were hurled upon the advancing enemy. The terrible Scottish infantry
swept on with their long spears and heavy bills and claymores, and a
hot encounter ensued. The Scots were so roughly handled, and the
position was so strong, that Bruce despaired of winning it by
storming the pass. To Douglas was appointed the arduous duty of
continuing the conflict, Randolph, with four squires, fighting under
his command, as volunteers. The English advanced post that defended
the ascent of the cliff was commanded by Sir Thomas Ughtred and Sir
Ralph Cobham--two gallant English knights who acquitted themselves
nobly. There was great bloodshed, and hard fighting for some time.
Bruce, who fully realised the position, headed a chosen band of
Highlanders, active and daring men, and resolved to attempt to take
the English in the rear, for closely engaged with the furious attacks
of Douglas, and probably believing the natural defence sufficient for
their protection, the English had neglected to post their troops in
such a position as would secure them in case of a rear attack being
made. Bruce seems to have realised the necessity of his attack being
too sudden and secret to admit of defensive measures being taken, and,
making a circuit, his Highlanders quickly and noiselessly scaled the
high rocks in flank and rear of the English army. What followed may be
easily imagined. The charge of the Highlanders was resistless, and
being unexpected, a dreadful scene of slaughter and panic ensued.
Vainly the English sought to close in, and meet the foe that burst
upon rear and flank: this diversion naturally distracted the attention
of the troops who supported the attacks of Douglas and Randolph, and
those hardy warriors forcing the pass won the heights, where a
terrible conflict was going on, the English troops breaking away, and
taking to flight whenever the opportunity offered. Good men were
there, although the panic-stricken fled, and many fell on that
corpse-encumbered and blood-stained ridge, fighting at close quarters,
and dying in their tracks. The bravest were cut down, and those that
could escape the toils took to hurried flight. The battle was soon
over; not so the pursuit. Great was the slaughter that ensued, but the
actual loss of life is not chronicled.
So unexpected and complete was the victory of the Scots, that Edward
was utterly incapable of making an attempt to rally his troops, or
effect any orderly retreat. Mounting a swift horse, he directed his
flight to York with all conceivable speed, leaving behind him his
plate, money, and treasure, and even the privy seal. Walter Stewart
followed hard after him with 500 horse, and had it not been for the
swiftness of the royal steed, in all probability England would have
undergone the humiliation of having her monarch borne a prisoner from
her own soil by the invaders. As it was, the Scottish warrior could
ill brook the loss of the intended prize, and he lingered before the
walls of York with his slender force of men-at-arms until the shades
of evening began to close over the scene; but so dejected and
dispirited were the royal troops that they tamely submitted to the
affront, although in sufficient numbers to have swept away the stout
riders of Stewart. The Despensers succeeded in effecting their escape
from the scene of confusion and bloodshed, and the day after the
battle accompanied the King to Bridlington. With them went the Earl of
Kent, John de Cromwell, and John de Ross.
Many Englishmen had taken refuge in the Abbey of Rivaulx when the
struggle became too obviously hopeless; and among the knights and
nobles who there surrendered their swords to the Scots were the Earl
of Richmond, and Sir Henry de Sully. The prisoners were treated with
the greatest courtesy, being simply regarded as chivalrous warriors
doing their devoir in the field; but the Earl of Richmond had
expressed himself in most disrespectful terms against the Bruce, and
to show his opinion of such ungentle behaviour King Robert ordered the
earl to be closely confined.
On the 22nd of October the Scottish army returned to their own
country, laden with spoil, including £400 exacted for the ransom of
Beverley: they left behind them a ravaged and ruined country.
Andrew de Harcla for some reason or other had failed to join King
Edward with his levies, but, halting near Boroughbridge, had wasted
the country. This was a suspicious circumstance, and was openly
commented upon, with the implication that he had entered into a league
with the Scots, and would not act against them. It was in the last
days of the year that these grave charges were brought before the
royal notice, when the earl's arrest was immediately ordered.
Surrounded by his retainers, and occupying the strong fortress of
Carlisle, the earl might have successfully resisted the King's arms
until an opportunity of effecting his escape into Scotland offered;
and Lord Lucy, who put the royal orders into execution, resorted to
strategy rather than force.
Attended by Sir Hugh de Moriceby, Sir Richard de Denton, Sir Hugh de
Lowther, four squires, and a small party of soldiers, Lord Lucy
entered Carlisle Castle, with as little ostentation as possible, his
soldiers dispersing, to re-assemble in small parties near the gates.
Lord Lucy and his knights then sought the presence of de Harcla, and
demanded his instant surrender, with the option of defending himself
against their attack. The Earl declined to defend himself against the
four warriors, but as he was being carried off a cry of treason was
raised, and the keeper of the inner ward, making a movement to close
the gate, was immediately slain by Sir Richard de Denton. At the same
moment Lord Lucy's soldiers seized the gates, and the Earl's doom was
virtually sealed. He was tried before the chief justiciary, Jeffrey de
Scroop, and was sentenced to degradation and death; being found guilty
of having entered into a treasonable undertaking with King Robert, to
whom he guaranteed the crown of Scotland in return for services to be
rendered in England--no doubt embracing the destruction of the royal
favourites, the Despensers.
It is difficult to believe that Harcla would enter into so dubious an
undertaking, so soon after the failure of the powerful Earl of
Lancaster. If he had acted as the agent of the Barons, we may believe
that some particulars of the confederation would have been elicited
during his trial. The statement that he summoned the principal
inhabitants of Cumberland to meet him at Carlisle, informed them that
he had entered into a treaty with the King of Scotland, and succeeded
in obtaining their support, is scarcely to be credited. The Earl is
generally regarded as the scapegoat who bore the sins of Byland Battle
to the block. Degraded from his nobility, despoiled of the insignia of
his knightly merit, the unfortunate man was conducted to the scaffold
at Carlisle on the 2nd of March, 1322, and there executed.
Edward was induced by this final disaster to give more serious
attention to negotiations for peace. Henry de Sully, the French
knight, used his influence to bring the two monarchs to an
understanding, and a preliminary truce was agreed to at Thorpe, and
finally a truce for thirteen years was ratified by Robert Bruce, King
of Scotland, and Edward the II. of England, at Berwick, on the 7th of
June, 1323; a merciful peace after such long and bloody strife, and
for which the name of Henry de Sully deserves to be held in honourable
remembrance.
IX.--IN THE DAYS OF EDWARD III. AND RICHARD II.
King Edward directed his first essay in arms against the Scots, in
requital of their sanguinary invasions of the North.
The flower of his army was supposed to consist of 2,000 men-at-arms
under Lord John of Hainault, and the distinction thus bestowed upon
foreign troops aroused the honest wrath of the English. King Edward
was accompanied by his mother, Queen Isabella, and while the court was
engaged in festivities in the monastery of the Friars Minors, at York,
on Trinity Sunday, a dreadful tumult arose in the suburbs--the
Hainaulters and the Lincolnshire archers, being quartered near each
other, engaged in a dreadful conflict. A great part of the army was
drawn into the quarrel; houses were fired, and lighted the scene of
murder with a weird and fitful light.
All authority was defied, and exhaustion alone arrested the conflict,
which was renewed later on, when the Hainaulters combined, and beat up
the quarters of the bowmen of Lincoln and Northampton, slaughtering
three hundred of them before the tumult was quelled.
After this the English foot entered into a confederation to cut off
the Hainaulters, and the young King had great difficulty in restoring
peace and order in his army.
The campaign was extremely unfortunate. Douglas surprised the camp one
night, cut down the royal tent, raised his war-cry in the midst of the
startled army, and, after nearly capturing the King, effected his
escape. The Hainaulters received £14,000 for their assistance.
The Hainaulters were again at York in the following January, on the
occasion of the marriage festivities of King Edward and Queen
Philippa.
The foreigners distinguished themselves by firing the suburbs of the
city, and by insulting the wives, daughters, and female servants of
the citizens, who challenged them to mortal combat. The foreigners
lost 527 men, slain by the sword or the waters of the Ouse, and
slaughtered 242 Englishmen.
Several Parliaments were held at York in Edward's reign, and when
David Bruce invaded Northumbria in 1346, Queen Philippa raised her
standard in the city. The Scots kept York under observation for some
time, and attacked the suburbs.
The impending battle was fought near Durham on the 17th of October.
After a vain attempt to cut off the English archers, the Scots closed
in a hand-to-hand conflict, and fought under a deadly hail of arrows.
The English steadily won ground, and the Scots began to break before
repeated repulses and attacks. The King fought like a lion; his banner
disappeared; the Earl of March and the Great Steward retired their
divisions, believing the King was slain. He still fought on; eighty
loyal gentlemen supporting him. He was surrounded, wounded in the leg,
two spears were entangled in his harness, his sword was dashed out of
his hand, and he was called upon to surrender. Maddened by
mortification and pain, he struck out with his gauntleted fist. John
Copeland lost two teeth by the King's hand, but was gratified by
receiving his surrender.
After Edward's days of warfare and pride came to an end, Richard II.
reigned in his stead. Some little ferment occurred in Beverley and
Scarborough, but Wat Tyler's death prevented the movement from
spreading.
In 1385 Richard quartered his army at Beverley, during an expedition
to Scotland. A Bohemian knight, Sir Meles, was insulted by two of Sir
John Holland's squires, and protected by two archers, retainers of
Lord Ralph Stafford. A heated dispute was settled by the death of one
of the squires, who was shot by an arrow. The guilty archer appealed
to Lord Ralph Stafford for protection, and Lord Ralph at once sought
Sir John Holland, who was also out in quest of Sir Meles, vowing to
avenge the death of his favourite squire. Knight and lord met in a
narrow lane, and, it being dark, did not recognise each other until
the challenge passed, when Holland drew his sword, exclaimed,
"Stafford, I was inquiring for you; thy servants have murdered my
squire, whom I loved so much;" then he smote the young lord, and laid
him dead at his feet.
Holland took sanctuary at Beverley, and King Richard confiscated his
possessions, and declared that he should be executed if he ventured
out of bounds.
Holland was the King's half-brother by their mother Joan, the widow of
the Black Prince, and she besought pardon for the guilty knight, and
so bitterly bewailed his peril, that, after three days of continuous
weeping, she expired. Holland was then pardoned. He was afterwards
raised to the rank of Earl of Huntingdon, and being seized by the
vassals of the late Duke of Gloucester, whom he had held in deadly
hatred, he was delivered to the headsman's axe.
For six months, A.D. 1392, the Courts of King's Bench and Chancery
were held at York, Richard being at feud with the citizens of London.
He bestowed the title of Lord Mayor upon the mayors of York; presented
the city with the first mayor's mace; and created the first Duke of
York in the person of Edward Plantagenet, the fifth son of Edward III.
and Queen Philippa.
In Richard's reign the battle of Otterburn was fought. Earl Douglas
won Sir Henry Percy's lance before the barriers of Newcastle, and
vowed that it should float from the loftiest tower of Dalkeith Castle.
Percy swore that it should not be carried out of Northumberland, and
Douglas promised to plant it before his tent, that Percy might have
an opportunity of regaining it
On the following night Percy, with 6,000 horse and 8,000 foot,
furiously attacked the Scots, who were encamped at Otterburn. Douglas,
by a skilful movement, took the English in flank, and a hot encounter
ensued, which was interrupted as a dark cloud swept before the moon.
It passed, and the battle was resumed, as the scene was flooded with
light. Douglas smote his way through the press, wielding his axe in
both hands. Three spears smote him, and man and horse went down. He
was found dying, defended by his chaplain, William Lundie, who
bestrode him, curtail-axe in hand. Douglas thanked God that few of his
ancestors had died in bed or chamber. He reminded his friends of the
old prophecy that a dead Douglas should win a field; and commanded
them to raise his fallen banner and his war-cry, but to tell none that
he lay dying there. His orders were followed, and the English were
defeated.
The De la Poles, merchants of Hull, rose to power during the reigns of
Edward III. and Richard II. Edward received princely assistance from
the brothers during his French wars, and in 1327 bestowed the office
of Chief Butler upon Richard. William he created a Knight-Banneret.
Sir Michael was appointed Admiral of the King's fleet in the North,
and was raised to the peerage as Earl of Suffolk. In 1389 he died at
Paris, a broken-hearted exile. His son and successor followed Henry V.
to France, and died, of a malignant disease, before the walls of
Harfleur. Michael, his eldest son, took up his honours, but perished
on the field of Agincourt, a few weeks later. William, the fourth
earl, famous as a statesman and warrior, was foully slain in the roads
of Dover, his head being struck off against the side of the long-boat
of the ship _Nicholas_. His son, created Duke of Suffolk in 1462,
married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Duke of York. Their eldest son,
John, Earl of Lincoln, was declared heir to the crown by Richard III.
He fell at the battle of Stoke, June 16th, 1487. The fifth Earl of
Suffolk was brought to the block in 1513; and the exile, Richard,
fought beneath the banner of King Francis, and was slain amid the rout
at Pavia in 1525, when King Francis was taken prisoner, after a
desperate defence.
In "The Story of the De la Poles," J. Travis-Cook, F.H.R.S., furnishes
the student with a very interesting account of this talented but
unfortunate family.
Edward Baliol's expedition against Scotland, fruitful of so much
suffering and useless bloodshed, sailed from Ravenser in 1332. The
crown that he won was as suddenly lost as acquired.
X.--BATTLE OF BRAMHAM MOOR.
A.D. 1408.
In 1387 the Barons of England deprived King Richard of the reins of
government, and impeached his friends, the Archbishop of York, the
Duke of Ireland, the Earl of Suffolk, Sir Robert Tresilian, and Sir
Nicholas Brember. Brember and Tresilian were publicly executed, the
others secured their safety by flight.
Years passed, and Richard recovered his authority, when he punished
the lords appellant, sparing only his cousin Hereford and the Duke of
Norfolk. Some conversation appears to have passed between these
nobles, and Hereford accused Norfolk of having expressed his suspicion
that Richard would yet revenge himself upon them for their past
offence, and especially for the affair of "Radcot Bridge," when the
Duke of Ireland's forces were dispersed.
Norfolk denied the charge, and the King permitted the quarrel to be
decided by wager of battle. The 29th of April, 1398, was appointed for
the trial; the place, Coventry. The noblemen had put spurs to their
horses, when Richard, under the advice of his council, stopped the
combat, and banished the offenders--as guilty of treason. Norfolk's
sentence was for life; Hereford's for ten years.
The Londoners were incensed at losing their favourite, Hereford, and
when his father, the aged John of Gaunt, died on the Christmas
following his son's banishment, and Richard seized his estates, the
general indignation was extreme; for the King had granted legal
instruments to both the exiles, securing to them any inheritance which
might fall to them.
In face of the gathering storm Richard sailed for Ireland. On the 4th
July, 1399, three small ships entered the Humber, and Hereford,
attended by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Fitz-Alan, son of the
late Earl of Arundel, a few servitors, and fifteen men-at-arms, landed
at Ravenser Spurn.
Shut out of Hull, he was met at Doncaster by the Earls of
Northumberland and Westmoreland, who espoused his cause, affecting to
believe his assertion that he had returned to claim the estates of
his father.
King Richard threw himself into Conway Castle, and Northumberland
induced him to leave his refuge, to make terms with Hereford. Drawn
into an ambush, Richard was delivered into his cousin's hands.
Northumberland had sworn on the sacramental elements to keep faith
with the King, and Richard thus reproached him, on the moment of his
seizure, "May the God on whom you laid your hand reward you and your
accomplices at the last day."
On the 1st of October, the day following his coronation, Henry IV.
signed a licence for Matthew Danthorpe, a hermit, who had welcomed him
at Ravenser Spurn, granting him permission to erect a hermitage and
chapel on that desolate place.
Richard was imprisoned, and expired in a dungeon of Pontefract Castle,
but whether by stroke of Sir Piers Exton's axe, or broken down by
famine, matters not _now_.
Northumberland was honoured by the dignity of Constable of England,
and at the coronation bore a naked sword on the King's right hand. He
was further guerdoned by a grant of the Isle of Man.
On the 7th of May, 1402, the Percies defeated Earl Douglas at the
battle of Homildon, inflicting a heavy loss upon the Scots, and
capturing Douglas; Murdoch, son of the Duke of Albany, and other
captains to the total sum of eighty.
King Henry forbade the ransoming of the prisoners, an interference
which aroused the bitter wrath of the Percies. As though in mockery of
their pride, he bestowed upon them the Scottish estates of the
Douglas, and ordered them to abstain from ransoming Sir Edward
Mortimer, Hotspur's brother-in-law, who had fallen into the hands of
Owen Glendower, the Welsh patriot.
These impositions of the royal commands resulted in the revolt of the
Percies. The Scotch prisoners were released, and assisted the Percies
in the field. The captive Mortimer married Glendower's daughter, and
drew that chieftain into the conspiracy. The lineal heir to the throne
was Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March. Him Northumberland proposed to
raise to the throne, virtually partitioning the kingdom between the
Percies, Mortimers, and Glendower.
The revolt came to the issue of battle at Shrewsbury, on the 21st
July, 1403, when Percy and Douglas penetrated the centre of the royal
army, and Hotspur, casting up the ventaille of his helmet, was shot in
the brain by an arrow, and fell in the press. The victorious advance
was turned into a rout. Of Prince Henry, it is written: "The prince
that daie holpe his father like a lustie young gentleman."
Northumberland was marching to join his sons, but retired into
Warkworth Castle on receiving the news of their defeat. The King,
either from fear or policy, condoned his part in the revolt.
When the Archbishop of York, Richard Scrope, took up arms in 1405, the
Earl was implicated in his revolt. Sir John Falconberg had raised the
banner of revolt in Cleveland, but Prince John and the Earl of
Westmoreland had defeated the rebels. The Archbishop's army was so
strong, for it had been augmented by Lord Bardolph and Thomas, Lord
Mowbray, that the royal captains resorted to treaty, and induced the
Archbishop to disband his army. No sooner was this done than the
leaders of the revolt were arrested.
The Archbishop of York, Lord Mowbray, Sir John Lamplugh, Sir Robert
Plumpton, and several other unfortunates, were put upon their trial,
and condemned to death. On the 8th June the Archbishop of York was
executed at his palace of Bishopthorpe, and his head, with that of
Mowbray, was piked and exposed on York walls.
The city of York was heavily fined, and the King proceeded to Durham,
where he executed Lords Hastings and Fauconbridge, and Sir John
Griffith.
Northumberland, "with three hundred horse, got him to Berwike," but on
the King's advance passed into Scotland, accompanied by Lord Bardolph.
After brief exile, the end came.
"The earle of Northumberland, and the lord Bardolfe, after they
had been in Wales, in France, and Flanders to purchase aid
against King Henrie, were returned backe into Scotland, and had
remained there now for the space of a whole yeare: and as their
evill fortune would, while the King held a councill of the
nobilitie at London, the saide earle of Northumberland and lord
Bardolfe, in a dismall houre, with a great power of Scots
returned into England, recovering diverse of the earle's
castels and seigneories, for the people in great numbers
resorted unto them. Hereupon encouraged with hope of good
successe, they entered into Yorkshire, and there began to
distroie the countrie."
The Sheriff of Yorkshire, Sir Thomas Rokeby, is stated to have lured
the old warrior to his doom. Sir Nicholas Tempest reinforced him at
Knaresborough, and the little army crossed the Wharfe at Wetherby.
They had achieved a succession of trifling successes, but now Sir
Thomas Rokeby interposed his forces, cut off their retreat, and
compelled them to give battle, on the 28th February, 1408, on Bramham
Moor, near Hazlewood.
They were brave men who thus stood opposed. Northumberland's troops
were incited by their dangerous position, by the hope of recovering
their lost possessions, and by their hatred of the King. On the other
hand, the royalists were anxious to gain the honours and rewards which
princes bestow.
The Sheriff was not slack to close, but advanced his standard of St.
George, and sounded the charge, as Northumberland bore down upon him
with his lances, doing battle once more beneath his banner, that
displayed the proud emblazonments of the house of Percy.
The onset was fierce and bloody. Lances shivered to splinters; men
went down in their blood, wounded and dying; riderless horses burst
from the press, and wildly galloped over the moor. Lances were cast
aside, as knights and men-at-arms fell-to with sword, and mace, and
axe, testing mail, smashing shield and casque, and finding and
bestowing wounds and death despite of guarding weapons and tempered
plate-mail.
The archers were fiercely at work, pouring their long shafts upon the
rear ranks; the footmen face to face with the wild play of deadly bill
and thrust of pike. Morions were cleft, corsets pierced, and men fell
thick and fast. The battle was hotly maintained, but for a short time,
the insurgents being sorely over-matched. Northumberland fell--never
to rise again until rough hands stripped off his mail, and held him
for the butcher's work of headsman's axe and knife. There ended Lord
Bardolph's many troubles, as he fell, a sorely wounded and dying man,
into the Sheriff's hands.
The leaders fallen, no further object for contention remained to the
rebels, and the defeat was complete and irretrievable. The tragedy of
the battlefield had to be concluded by the rush of the pursuers, eager
to maim and slay; and by the useless rally of defeated men, turning
fiercely at bay, to claim blood for blood and life for life; and,
alas! by the seizure of flying men, doomed to rope and axe in
reguerdon of their last act of vassalage to the devoted house of
Northumberland.
The Earl's head,
"full of silver horie hairs, being put upon a stake, was openly
carried through London, and set upon the bridge of the same
citie: in like manner was the lord Bardolfe's. The bishop of
Bangor was taken and pardoned by the King, for that when he was
apprehended, he had no armour on his backe. The King, to purge
the North parts of all rebellion, and to take order for the
punishment of those that were accused to have succoured and
assisted the Earl of Northumberland, went to Yorke, where, when
many were condemned, and diverse put to great fines, and the
countrie brought to quietnesse, he caused the abbot of Hailes
to be hanged, who had been in armour against him with the
foresaid earle."
So, after his treacheries, his aspiring ambitions, the once puissant
Earl of Northumberland was brought as low as Richard of Bordeaux when
he lay upon his bier at St. Paul's, his set and rigid face, bared from
eyebrows to chin, for the inspection of the Londoners, and, in its
surrounding swathing of grave-clothes, in its dreadful emaciation,
eloquent of the unrecorded tragedy of secret murder.
A grant of the manor of Spofforth, a former possession of the slain
Earl, rewarded the loyalty of Sir Thomas Rokeby.
In the reign of Henry V., an attempt was again made to restore the
lineal heir to the throne, an augury of the War of the Roses commenced
in his son's reign. The Earl of Marche, the object of the conspiracy,
himself betrayed it to the King. Henry, whose assassination had been
planned, took immediate revenge upon the principal offenders, Richard,
Earl of Cambridge, Lord Scroop of Masham, and Sir Thomas Grey. They
were executed at Southampton, on the 13th of August, 1415, at the
moment when the royal fleet was sailing from the harbour to add the
terrors of invasion to unhappy France, then suffering from internecine
strife.
There is an old tradition that on the day of Agincourt the shrine of
St. John of Beverley exuded blood, and when King Henry was in
Yorkshire he naturally paid his devotions at the shrine. He was
accompanied by his Queen; and it was at this time that he received the
sad news of the death of his brother Clarence at Beaujé. The Duke was
dashing over the narrow bridge when the charging Scots burst upon him;
Sir John Carmichael shivered his lance upon the Duke's corset, Sir
John Swinton smote him in the face, and, as he dropped from the
saddle, the Earl of Buchan, with one blow of a mace, or "steel
hammer," dashed out his brains.
XI.--THE BATTLE OF SANDAL.
A.D. 1460.
Although Henry VI. was beloved by his subjects, he was subjected to
the vicissitudes of the Wars of the Roses. His Queen, Margaret of
Anjou, was unpopular with the people, her favourite minister, William
De la Pole, was hated of the nobles, and nobles and commons were alike
exasperated by the loss of the French possessions.
Richard, Duke of York, a brave soldier, and popular with the people,
was the lineal heir to the throne, and he was determined to assert his
claim.
The first battle was fought at St. Albans, on the 23rd May, 1455. The
royalists maintained the town, being commanded by Lord Clifford, the
Dukes of Buckingham and Somerset, and the Earls of Northumberland and
Stafford. York fiercely attacked, being supported by Norfolk,
Salisbury and Warwick. The Northern archers poured their shafts into
the town, and inflicted great slaughter, and the Earl of Warwick,
"seizing his opportunity, moved to the garden side of the town, and
attacking it at the weakest side, forced the barriers." A desperate
conflict ensued, Somerset, Northumberland, and Clifford were slain,
and King Henry, Stafford, Buckingham, and Dudley were wounded by
arrows. Abbot Wethemstede states that he saw, "here one lying with his
brains dashed out, here another without his arm; some with arrows
sticking in their throats, others pierced in their chests."
The King was defeated and captured, and the Yorkists divided the
government. The Duke was created Constable of the Kingdom, Salisbury
Lord Chancellor, and Warwick governor of Calais.
Each party watched the other, and the pious King attempted to
reconcile the leaders in 1458, when they went in solemn procession to
St. Paul's, the Duke of York leading the Queen, and the opposing
barons being paired accordingly.
A few weeks later, and Warwick fled into Yorkshire, the two factions
being put into opposition by a brawl between the servants of Warwick
and Queen Margaret.
In September, 1459, the Yorkists were again in arms, and Salisbury,
feigning to fly before Lord Audley and the royalists, turned upon
them as they were crossing a brook on Bloreheath, and bore them down
with lance and bill. The conflict was somewhat desultory, and lasted
five hours, the victory remaining with the Yorkists. Lord Audley was
slain, and with him 2,400 men, including the good knights Thomas
Dutton, John Dunne, Hugh Venables, Richard Molineaux, and John Leigh.
Henry and York met at Ludlow, when Sir Andrew Trollope carried his
command over to the King, and the Yorkists, panic-stricken by this
defection, dispersed.
The Duchess of York, and two of her sons, fell into Henry's hands, and
was sent to her sister, Anne, Duchess of Buckingham. At Coventry,
November 20th, Parliament attainted and confiscated the estates of
"the duke of York, the earl of March, the duke of Rutland, the
earl of Warwick, the earl of Salisbury, the lord Powis, the
lord Clinton, the countess of Salisbury, sir Thomas Neville,
sir John Neville, sir Thomas Harrington, sir Thomas Parr, sir
John Conyers, sir John Wenlock, sir William Oldhall, Edward
Bourchier, sq., and his brother, Thomas Vaughan, Thomas Colt,
Thomas Clay, John Dinham, Thomas Moring, John Otter, Master
Richard Fisher, Hastings, and others."
On the submission of Lord Powis he received the King's grace, but lost
his goods.
Warwick, March, and Salisbury fled to Calais, and Somerset, the
newly-appointed governor, proceeded to attempt the reduction of the
fortress; but, by a clever counter-stroke, Warwick captured the fleet,
Lord Rivers and his son being surprised before they could leave their
bed. Rivers
"was brought to Calais, and before the lords, with eight-score
torches, and there my lord Salisbury rated him, calling him
'knave's son, that he should be so rude to call him and these
other lords traitors; for they should be found the King's true
liege-men, when he would be found a traitor.' And my lord
Warwick rated him, and said, 'that his father was but a squire,
and brought up with King Henry V., and since made himself by
marriage, and also made a lord; and that it was not his part to
hold such a language to lords, being of the king's blood.' And
my lord March rated him likewise. And Sir Anthony was rated for
his language of all the three lords in likewise."
A notable scene, and picturesque: making easy the mental
transition to a later period, when these fierce lords called for
block and headsmen, and their prisoners made short shrift. Indeed the
period was very near. Osbert Mountford, despatched to reinforce
Somerset, was captured at Sandwich, carried to Calais, and beheaded on
the 25th June, 1460.
On the 5th June Salisbury and Warwick landed at Sandwich, and reached
London with 25,000 men arrayed under their banners. Margaret strove to
shut them out of the city, but in vain; and Lord Scales discharged the
Tower guns against them.
On the 19th of July the two armies engaged at Northampton. Margaret,
with a strong escort, watched the conflict with the keenest anxiety.
The heavy rains rendered the King's artillery inoperative, yet, after
five hours of sanguinary fighting, the battle was decided by the
treachery of Lord Grey, of Ruthin, who carried his command over to the
Yorkists.
King Henry was captured, and carried, in honourable captivity, to
London. Margaret fled to Scotland, accompanied by Somerset and the
young Prince of Wales.
Richard of York entered London, appeared before the peers, and
advanced to the throne, placing his hand upon the canopy. This mute
claim was received in silence, that was broken by the Archbishop of
Canterbury, as he enquired whether the Duke would not wait upon the
King. York haughtily replied, "I know of none in this realm than ought
not rather to wait upon me," and turning his back upon the peers,
retired.
It was admitted by the lords that Richard was the lineal heir to the
throne, but Parliament had elected Henry IV. to the crown, Henry V.
had succeeded, and his son, the present King, had been accepted by the
lords and commons, and, but for the ambition of York, his title would
have remained unquestioned. The peers passed over the claims of the
young Prince of Wales, and decided that the King should retain the
crown, but that, on his death, York and his heirs should inherit it.
Margaret was immediately summoned to London, and prepared for the
journey by raising her standard. Before she appeared upon the scene
the battle of Sandal was fought.
The Yorkists now freely dipped their hands in blood. Lords Hungerford
and Scales were allowed to pass out of the Tower free men, but the
soldiers and officers had "to abide by the law." Lord Scales was
murdered within the week by mariners serving Warwick and March. He was
seen
"lying naked in the cemetery of the church of St. Mary Overy,
in Southwark. He had lain naked, being stripped of his clothes,
for several hours on the ground, but afterwards on the same day
he was honourably interred by the earls of March, Warwick, and
others."
In the same month, July, Sir Thomas Blount, of Kent, with five others
of the household of the Duke of Exeter, were accused before "the
Earl of Warwick and the other justiciaries of the King, of illegally
holding the Tower," and "were drawn to Tyburn and beheaded, and shortly
afterwards John Archer, who was in the councils of the duke of Exeter,
shared the same fate."
Duke Richard was declared heir-apparent on the 9th of November, with
the present title of Lord Protector, and an allowance of £10,000 to
maintain the dignity. The Yorkshire royalists were in arms, and "had
destroyed the retainers and tenants of the Duke of York and Earl of
Salisbury."
Salisbury and York immediately marched for the North.
Their vanguard struck Somerset's army at Worksop, and was cut off. On
the 21st December York occupied his Castle of Sandal. His army
consisted of 6,000 men, too few to cope with the enemy lying at
Pontefract under Somerset and Northumberland. The Duke might have
maintained the defensive until the Earl of March came up from the
Welsh borders, but on the 30th of December he sallied out to rescue a
foraging party from the Lancastrians. With so numerous an army to
feed, and in a position so remote from succour, Richard might
reasonably risk something to protect his foragers.
Vainly Sir David Hall argued against so perilous an adventure. The
drawbridge was lowered, and York's banner was given to the wintry
wind. It bore for device a Falcon _volant_, _argent_, with a
fetter-lock, _or_. The bird was depicted in the effort of opening the
lock, typical of the crown.
Behind the falcon-banner marched 4,000 veterans. With the Duke there
rode to his last battle, Salisbury and the good knights, Thomas
Neville, David Hall, John Parr, John and Hugh Mortimer, Walter
Limbrike, John Gedding, Eustace Wentworth, Guy Harrington, and other
notable men-at-arms.
Raising the war-cry of York, and sounding trumpets, they charged
through the drifting snow-flakes, and awoke the fury of the battle.
The Duke was outnumbered and surrounded, but fought stubbornly, being
nobly seconded by his heroic army. Lord Clifford hotly attacked him,
exerting every effort to cut off his retreat. Duke Richard valiantly
attempted to cut his way through and retire into Sandal, but Clifford
as sternly drew around him the iron bonds of war, prevented all
retreat, and held him to the trial. The battle was extremely
sanguinary, and the Lancastrians fought as though they were the
red-handed arbiters of the whole dispute, and, like avenging angels,
must wash out the treason of York in streams of blood. As Mountford
fought at Evesham so fought the Lord Protector that day--exacting the
heaviest price for his doomed life. Weapons whirled before his face,
rang on his mail, and probed the jointed armour with point and edge
until the good steel harness was dinted and stained with gore. Many
warriors perished around him, and he, too, fell, sorely stricken, and
died in his blood, amid the trampling of iron-clad feet, and the clash
of crossing swords, as friends and foes fought hand-to-hand above his
body. The crisis came. The falcon-banner fell, and the pursuing swords
maimed and slew the fugitives, burdening the old year with the
sorrows of the widow and the orphan. In the triumphant van, in the
moment of victory, Richard Hanson, Mayor of Hull, laid down his life
for Queen Margaret and her fair son. Salisbury won his way through the
press, to fall by headsman's axe. Rutland broke away from the
slaughter, reached Wakefield Bridge, to perish by the steel of
Clifford, happy in his early death that saved him from the infamy of
bloody years that tarnished the fame of his brothers, March, Clarence,
and Gloucester.
Some chroniclers represent the Queen as commanding her army in person,
and as luring the Duke to meet her in open field. Dissuaded from the
encounter by his friends, he declared that: "All men would cry wonder,
and report dishonour, that a woman had made a dastard of me, whom no
man could even to this day report as a coward! And surely my mind is
rather to die with honour than to live with shame! Advance my banners
in the name of God and of St. George." This is not the York of
history.
Rutland is represented as a boy, aged twelve years, a spectator, not a
combatant, and accompanied by his tutor, Aspall. Clifford overtook
him, and demanded his name. "The young gentleman dismayed, had not a
word to speak, but kneeled on his knees, craving mercy and desiring
grace, both with holding up his hands and making a dolorous
countenance--for his speech was gone for fear." "Save him," cried
Aspall, "he is a prince's son, and peradventure may do you good
hereafter." Said Clifford, "By God's blood thy father slew mine, and
so will I thee and all thy kin," and so smote him to the heart with
his dagger, and bade the chaplain, "Go, bear him to his mother, and
tell her what thou hast seen and heard." Doubtless Clifford was as
red-handed a sinner as any of the barons, but probably no worse. He is
said to have cut off the Duke's head, crowned it with paper, and
carried it upon a pole to the Queen, exclaiming, "Madam, your war is
done: here I bring your King's ransom."
Such are some popular errors, perpetuated by historians who have
followed the romantic versions of Grafton and Hall. Margaret did not
lure York to his fate, for she was in Scotland when the battle was
fought, and he did not sally out to fight a battle, but to rescue his
foragers. The execution of Yorkist prisoners was simply a retaliation
for the treason and blood-guiltiness of the Yorkists, and was carried
out without the Queen's knowledge. Clifford may have vowed to avenge
his father's death upon the house of York, and Rutland may have fallen
to his sword: but the duke was in his eighteenth year, and no doubt an
approved man-at-arms. As recorded, he had been attainted of treason a
few months prior to his death. We may safely conclude that there were
no schoolboys on Wakefield-Green on the 30th of December, 1460, and
the only tutors there were tutors in arms.
William of Wyrcester's account of the battle may be considered the
most probable, and best authenticated:--
"The followers of the Duke of York, having gone out to forage
for provisions on the 29th of December, a dreadful battle was
fought at Wakefield between the Duke of Somerset, the Earl of
Northumberland and Lord Neville, and the adverse party, when
the Duke of York, Thomas Neville, son of the Earl of Salisbury,
Thomas Harrington, Thomas Parr, Edward Bourchier, James
Pykering, and Henry Rathforde, with many other knights and
squires, and soldiers to the amount of two thousand, were slain
in the field. After the battle, Lord Clifford slew the young
Earl of Rutland, the son of the Duke of York, as he was fleeing
across the bridge at Wakefield; and in the same night the Earl
of Salisbury was captured by a follower of Sir And. Trollope,
and on the morrow beheaded by the Bastard of Exeter at
Pontefract, where at the same time the dead bodies of York,
Rutland, and others of note who fell in the battle, were
decapitated, and their heads affixed in various parts of York,
whilst a paper crown was placed in derision on the head of the
Duke of York."
Thus perished Duke Richard in his fiftieth year.
Edward, Earl of March, Richard's eldest son, was at Gloucester when
the news reached him of the disaster before Sandal Castle. He promptly
advanced his army to intercept the Lancastrians, and dispute their
advance upon the capital.
Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke, harassed his rear with a tumultuary
army of Welsh and Irish troops. Marching to engage an army, and
alarmed by a powerful enemy in the rear, was too critical a position
for Edward not to appreciate its danger. On the 2nd of February, 1461,
he turned furiously upon the enemy, at Mortimer's Cross,
Herefordshire, and defeated Pembroke with a loss of 3,800 men.
At Hereford Edward halted, and handed over to the headsman Owen Tudor,
Sir John Throckmorton, and eight of the Lancastrian captains--the
captives of his sword and lance at Mortimer's Cross.
London threw open its gates to the victor on the 4th of March, and he
was proclaimed King, under the title of Edward IV.
XII.--THE BATTLE OF TOWTON.
A.D. 1461.
Margaret of Anjou had the honour of defeating the famous Warwick. Thus
Wyrcester:--
"After the battle of Wakefield Queen Margaret came out of
Scotland to York, where it was decided by the Council of the
Lords to proceed to London and to liberate King Henry out of
the hands of his enemies by force of arms. Shortly after the
Feast of the Purification, the Queen, the Prince of Wales, the
Dukes of Exeter and Somerset, the Earls of Northumberland,
Devonshire, and Shrewsbury, the Lords Roos, Grey of Codnor,
Fitzhugh, Graystock, Welles and Willoughby, and many others,
amounting in all to 24,000 men, advanced upon St. Albans, and
at Dunstable destroyed Sir Edward Poyning, and 200 foot."
Margaret's tumultuary army consisted of English, Irish, Welsh, and
Scotch troops, and their excesses tended to the ruin of the
Lancastrian cause.
On the 17th of February the second battle of St. Albans was fought. At
first the Lancastrians fell back before Warwick's archers, but,
renewing the attack, they fought their way to St. Peter's Street,
driving the enemy before them. On reaching the heath at the north end
of the town, the Yorkists made a stand, and, after a furious struggle,
were put to the rout. Warwick lost Sir John Grey of Groby, and 2,300
men. King Henry was rescued from the hands of Warwick, but Margaret
ungenerously executed his warders, Lord Bonville, and the veteran Sir
Thomas Kyriel, although the King had pledged his word for their
safety.
Margaret reached Barnet, but London feared her and her rude army. When
she sent for "victuals and Lenten stuff," the mayor and sheriffs
obeyed her orders, but the commons stopped the carts at Cripplegate.
March and Warwick were drawing near, London would not admit her army,
and Margaret "fled northward, as fast as she might, towards York."
Henry was deposed by the Yorkists, and the Earl of March declared King
in his stead. Edward IV. carried on the war with vigour. Norfolk
visited his estates to raise troops; Warwick marched out with the
vanguard, the infantry followed, and lastly, on the 12th of March,
Edward issued out of Bishopgate with the rear-guard.
On the 28th of March Lord Fitzwalter secured Ferrybridge, but at
daybreak the Lancastrians fell on: Fitzwalter was slain as he issued
from his tent, in his night gear, to quell, as he thought, a quarrel
of his rude soldiery. Clifford pressed the fugitives furiously, and
they carried a panic into the camp of Edward, that was only arrested
when Warwick slew his horse, swearing upon the cross-hilt of his
sword, that, "Who would might flee; but he would tarry with all who
were prepared to stand and fight the battle out."
The troops recovered courage, and Edward proclaimed freedom to depart
for all who desired to quit before the battle; threatening severe
punishments to any who, remaining, manifested fear in the presence of
the enemy. Such cowards were to be slain by their companions. No man
accepted the permission to retire.
Lord Fauconbridge then fell upon Clifford, defeated him, and recovered
the post. During the retreat Clifford paused, to remove his gorget,
and was struck on the throat, and slain, by a headless arrow.
Edward crossed the river, and confronted the enemy on Towton field.
The Lancastrians were formed on an elevated ridge between Towton and
Saxton, and presenting a front some two miles in extent. The Yorkists
occupied a neighbouring ridge. A broad battle-space lay between the
two armies.
The villagers were at mass in Saxton Church when "the celebration with
palms and spears began," for it was Palm Sunday. The heavy clouds hung
low in the sombre sky, and as the wind arose the snow began to fall
heavily, and was driven full into the faces of the Lancastrians.
It was nine o'clock when, from the heavy masses of Edward's army,
looming portentiously through the thickened air, the flight arrows
descended upon the Lancastrians, and mingled with the wind-driven
snow. In an instant the snow was red with blood, and dead and wounded
men encumbered the ground.
Falconberg having advanced his archers, and struck the first blow,
retired them, drawing the Lancastrian fire. The Queen's archers shot
fierce and fast, but uselessly exhausted their quivers, when the
Yorkists took a terrible revenge, pouring a deadly sleet of arrows
upon their enemies. It is said that they drew the Lancastrian arrows
from the soil, leaving a few to impede the Queen's advance.
Somerset determined to close, and ordered a general advance. Knights
dashed from point to point along the lines; Northumberland and
Trollope closed their decimated ranks, and moved to the attack.
Edward's army had suffered little, and was kept well in hand. It
advanced steadily to meet the tide of war that surged madly forward
through the mirk air and falling snow.
King Edward commanded the centre: the lion of England crested his
helmet, he carried a long lance, with a peculiar vamplate, and the
crimson velvet housings of his steed were powdered with suns and white
roses. When the armies joined battle, he dismounted, and fought on
foot. Warwick commanded the right wing, Lord Falconberg the left, and
Sir John Denman and Sir John Venloe were in charge of the rear-guard
"As if battle were the gate of Paradise, and the future an
incomprehensible dream, they raised against each other a
tumultuous shout of execration and defiance."
The front ranks struck, with
shivering of knightly lances on the wings, and with deadly play of
mauls, of bills and pikes in the van. The slaughter was dreadful: the
moans of the dying were drowned in the clashing of steel, fierce
war-cries, and the rush of stormy winds. Savagely assailed, and beaten
by the pitiless, incessant snow, the Lancastrians valiantly maintained
their ground, although their original superiority in numbers was more
than balanced by their first losses and their exposed position. The
front ranks fought desperately, for Edward of York had issued orders
that no quarter should be extended to the vanquished. The archers of
York poured their last arrows into the rear of the Queen's army.
Norfolk should have commanded the van, but, seized with a sudden
sickness, he had remained at Pontefract with the rear-guard. His
orders were to bring forward his command, with any reinforcements that
might reach him. Edward anxiously awaited his arrival. The battle
raged for hours; the imprisoned peasantry in Saxton Church fearfully
awaited the end; and Edward was scarcely less anxious, for the
murderous butchery of the hand-to-hand fight favoured neither army.
Norfolk was steadily marching through the wintery weather with his
hardy soldiers, and messenger after messenger reached him requesting
him to hurry up the reserves.
The form of battle was lost, as the two hosts were locked in the
sanguinary struggle. The dark and stormy day was glooming to a wild
and early night, when a louder tumult of battle rose on the
Lancastrian left flank at North Acres. Norfolk was on the field, and
had struck his enemy. The Lancastrians could not bear up under the
augmented storm, and the retreat commenced. In the confusion the
retiring wings struck each other, and the difficulties of the position
were increased. Edward urged his infuriated soldiery to unsparing
vengeance, and the Lancastrians turned again and again upon their
pursuers. Ere they reached the river Cock--a tributary of the
Wharfe--the Lancastrian army had merged into a dense and tumultuary
crowd of fugitives, upon whose flank and rear the Yorkists hung with
the blood-thirsty fury of barbarians. On reaching the stream the
massacre became frightful, and the waters were tinged with gore and
darkened with the slain, and are stated to have communicated their
dreadful burthen and sanguinary stains to the Wharfe. For three days
the Lancastrians were hunted out and butchered by the victors.
On the gloomy night of that fatal 29th of March, 1461, a stormy rout
of knights and men-at-arms urged their jaded war-horses through the
narrow streets of York, calling loudly upon the King and Queen to
mount in hot haste and ride for their lives. That night the King and
Queen, with the young prince, rode through Bootham, through the gloom
of Galtres forest, fugitives, _en route_ for Scotland.
The total loss was computed at 40,000 souls, the Lancastrians being
heavily in excess. The death-roll contains the names of the Earls of
Northumberland, Westmoreland, and Shrewsbury; of Lords Dacres and
Wells, and Sir Andrew Trollope.
At York Edward executed the Earls of Devonshire and Ormond, Sir
Baldwin Fulford, Sir William Talboys, and Sir William Hill. The Earl
of Wiltshire suffered at Newcastle on the 1st of May. The heads of
York and Salisbury were replaced by those of Devonshire and Hill.
According to tradition, "The Lord Dacres was slain in Nor-acres."
Having removed his gorget he was shot in the throat by the cross-bow
bolt of a lad lurking behind a burtree, or elder-bush.
The blood and snow froze on the field of Towton, and when the thaw
came the furrows overflowed with mingling blood and water. The slain
were buried in vast pits; and there is a strange legendary belief that
the roses which so persistently flourish upon the field, and the
petals of which are pure white, slightly flushed with red, sprang from
the commingling blood of the partisans of the red and white roses.
Edward was duly crowned, but his throne was threatened by the plots of
the Lancastrians, although he kept the headsman's axe steadily at
work. In 1462 the Scots caused some trouble in the North; and, towards
the close of the year, Margaret appeared in arms, but precipitately
retired without being able to make head against the King.
In 1464 Margaret again appeared in the North, when the gallant Sir
Ralph Percy was slain on Hedgeley Moor, fighting for the red rose. The
battle of Hexham followed a rout of the Lancastrians, whose leaders,
Somerset, Ross, and Hungerford, were executed.
Sir Ralph Grey having betrayed Bamborough Castle to the Queen, and
then defended it against Edward, was executed at Doncaster.
Margaret escaped, but Henry ultimately fell into Edward's hands, and
was committed to the Tower.
XIII.--YORKSHIRE UNDER THE TUDORS.
Edward IV. disgusted the Earl of Warwick by espousing Elizabeth, widow
of Sir John Grey, of Groby, and the Yorkshire rising, known as the
Thrave of St. Leonard, followed. The defeat and death of the royal
captains, the Earls of Devon and Pembroke, was succeeded by Edward's
confinement in Middleham Castle, and his escape to the Continent, when
Warwick restored King Henry to the throne. On the 14th March, 1471,
Edward landed at Ravenser Spurn and defeated Warwick at the battle of
Barnet, when the king-maker and his brother Montacute were slain. On
the day of Barnet, Queen Margaret, her son and his bride, landed at
Weymouth, and the battle of Tewkesbury was fought on the 4th May, when
Prince Edward was slain, and Queen Margaret captured. Edward was now
firmly fixed upon the throne, and in 1478 he requited the numerous
treacheries of his brother Clarence by procuring his condemnation on a
charge of high treason. Clarence perished in the Tower, either being
drowned in a butt of wine, or permitted to drink himself to death. On
the 9th of April, 1483, Edward IV. departed this life, leaving two
sons, Edward and Richard. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, promptly
appeared upon the scene, seized Lord Rivers, the Queen's brother, and
Lord Grey, her son, and sent them to Pontefract, where they were
executed. Procuring possession of the persons of his nephews, he
caused them to be murdered, and usurped the throne. Nemesis followed
him; he lost his only son, and was defeated and slain at Bosworth
Field by Henry Tudor, who espoused Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV.,
and was crowned under the title of Henry VII. Richard had proclaimed
John De-la-Pole, Earl of Lincoln, heir presumptive to the throne, but
this unfortunate nobleman was slain at the Battle of Stoke, ostensibly
fighting in the cause of the Pretender, Lambert Simnel. The wars of
the Roses were now ended, and Henry concluded the series of diabolical
tragedies by obtaining the condemnation and execution of the Earl of
Warwick, Clarence's son, and the lineal heir to the throne. He was
judicially murdered on the 24th November, 1499.
Henry's love of gold led to a revolt in Yorkshire, A.D. 1489, when the
people, furious against the imposition of a tax, murdered the Earl of
Northumberland, and took up arms; to be defeated and severely
punished.
Henry VIII. succeeded to the throne, and by the suppression of the
monasteries roused the indignation of the Yorkshire people, who made
an armed remonstrance, known as the Pilgrimage of Grace. But for the
moderation of the people, Henry's throne might have been overturned,
and His Majesty requited their loyalty by wholesale executions, and by
hanging Sir Robert Constable over the Beverley gate at Hull, and
executing Robert Aske at York. Another of the leaders, Lord Darcy, was
executed on Tower Hill.
The reign of Edward VI. witnessed a tumultuary outbreak at Seamer,
consequent upon changes that had been made in the forms of religious
worship. It was promptly put down by troops from York, and the
ringleaders were executed.
During the reign of Queen Mary there was some little excitement in
Yorkshire, consequent upon Sir Thomas Wyat's insurrection, when
Thomas, son of Lord Stafford, seized Scarborough Castle, and paid with
his life for the daring exploit.
The nation was sorely disturbed by the complications resulting from
the lust and religion of Henry VIII., when Elizabeth ascended the
throne, and Her Majesty's interference with the affairs of Scotland,
and her imprisonment of Mary Stuart, added to the difficulties of the
position.
The Northern Rising, headed by Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland,
and Charles Neville, Earl of Westmoreland, occurred in November, 1569,
and was promptly suppressed, and followed by the customary severities.
Fortunately royal lines die out, and with Elizabeth the Tudors ceased;
but only to entail upon the nation the wars and revolutions resulting
from the follies of the Stuarts.
XIV.--THE BATTLE OF TADCASTER.
A.D. 1642.
When Charles I. visited Hull in 1639, he was most loyally received by
the people; but his second visit, on the 23rd of April, 1642, ended in
a bitter disappointment, and brought on the resort to arms. His power
had waned, the Star Chamber was a tyranny of the past; Stafford was
surrendered to the block, and Laud was in prison.
Before Charles reached the town, he was requested to defer his visit,
and on appearing before the Beverley gate, he found it closed, the
drawbridge raised, shotted cannon frowning upon him, pikemen and
musketeers holding the ramparts.
Sir John Hotham dare not for his life admit the King. Vain the orders,
the threats, the persuasions of Charles; he was compelled to retire,
after commanding the garrison to hurl the traitor over the walls. Sir
John was deeply distressed; he had heard himself proclaimed a traitor
by the royal heralds, who sounded trumpets before the walls.
On the 3rd of June, the nobility and gentry of Yorkshire met the King
on Heworth Moor, and from that day the nation was virtually in arms.
On the 2nd of July, the Royalists occupied Hull Bridge, and the
"Providence" entered the Humber with military stores for the King.
Hotham attempted to capture the stores, but his troops were driven
back, and the munitions of war were carted to York, being escorted by
a large force of the King's friends.
Shortly after Hull was besieged, and the banks of the river being cut,
the country around was submerged. Batteries were erected and the town
cannonaded, but with little effect. As the month waned, sorties were
organised, and the royal lines penetrated. One day the foot were
scattered and the royal cavalry had to retire to Beverley.
Reinforcements from London encouraged Sir John Meldrum, who assisted
in the defence, in repeating the sorties. On one occasion the Earl of
Newport was hoisted out of his saddle by a cannon ball, and hurled
into a ditch. He was with difficulty rescued, being reduced to a state
of insensibility. The siege was raised.
At Nottingham, on the 25th of August, Charles raised his standard. It
was blood-red, bore the royal arms, quartered, with a hand pointing to
the endangered crown, and the motto, "Give to Cæsar his due." It was
almost instantly levelled with the ground as a sudden blast of wind
swept with a weird moaning across the face of the hill.
Cumberland maintained the King's cause in the loyal North, and to
counteract his influence, Parliament appointed Lord Fairfax to the
command of the Northern forces, his son, Sir Thomas, acting as General
of Horse.
Various skirmishes ensued, Fairfax operating from his head-quarters at
Tadcaster. On one occasion the loyal city of York was insulted by one
of Fairfax's officers, who fired a pistol in Micklegate Bar.
At Wetherby, the younger Fairfax was surprised by Sir Thomas Glemham,
but the explosion of a powder magazine induced the Royalists to draw
off. Sir Thomas was in great peril, being repeatedly fired upon at
close quarters. Major Carr, of the King's army, was slain, and the
Parliamentarian Captain Atkinson was mortally wounded, his thigh being
fractured by the repeated blows of pistols.
The Earl of Newcastle assuming the command of the Cavaliers, attacked
Fairfax at Tadcaster. A bridge over the Wharfe led to the main street
of Tadcaster, and Fairfax cast up a breastwork to command this bridge,
while he posted musketeers in a number of houses that flanked the
position. The attack commenced on the morning of Tuesday, the 7th of
December, eight hundred Parliamentarians withstanding the numerous
army of Newcastle. When Fairfax beheld Newcastle's cavaliers marching
down the York Road, and over the fields on each side, he resolved to
evacuate the town, perceiving the impossibility of holding it against
so numerous an enemy. It was, however, too late to retire in the face
of the enemy, and the troops had barely time to occupy the position at
the bridge before Newcastle made a determined attack upon them.
Planting two demi-culverins to command the bridge, and hurrying up his
infantry, Newcastle opened the ball at eleven o'clock. For five hours
the cavaliers attacked, and the Parliamentarians as gallantly defended
the position.
Again and again the King's men came steadily on, with pikes in the
front, and the musketeers firing and reloading with the most
determined courage; but ere they could reach the breastwork the brave
men of Nunappleton and Denton, and the stout-hearted burghers of
Bradford and Bingley, smote them with a storm of shot, shattered and
thinned their ranks--sending them back to re-form and renew the attack
with the same obstinate but unavailing courage. After a while the
fight slackened, the Royalists lining the hedges and maintaining a
brisk exchange of shot with their adversaries.
It was important that Newcastle should effect a lodgment within the
lines of defence by carrying the houses on the river banks, and
several desperate attempts to effect this were made. Some fierce
conflicts resulted, and many men were slain. At length Newcastle
carried one of the houses that commanded the main body of the
Parliamentarians. In this strait, Major-General Gifford was ordered
forward to retake the lost positions. Some heavy fighting at close
quarters ensued, and pike and sword were red with blood, and the soil
cumbered with the slain and wounded, before the stubborn Royalists
were driven out, and the buildings re-occupied.
As the shades of evening closed over the mournful scene of slaughter
and confusion, Newcastle sent forward another party against one of
the houses. It was his last effort, and was gallantly made; but the
hail of bullets smote so fiercely in the face of the division, that it
was driven back in confusion, with some loss of men, including Captain
Lister, a young and promising officer, whose death was deeply
lamented.
Newcastle drew off, intending to renew the attack on the following
morning. Upwards of a hundred dead and wounded men were left upon the
field.
Lord Fairfax retained the honours of the field, but was compelled to
retire his forces, and accordingly occupied the town of Selby. His
position was extremely precarious, and he was deeply distressed by the
necessity of leaving the towns of the West exposed to the attacks of
their powerful enemies.
XV.--THE BATTLE OF LEEDS.
A.D. 1643.
On the 14th December, Sir Thomas Fairfax and the gallant Captain
Hotham sallied out of Selby, and stormed Sherborne, to come back on
the spur, closely pursued by the enraged Goring.
Sir William Savile, of Thornhill, compelled Leeds and Wakefield to
surrender; and on Sunday, December 18th, attacked Bradford with 200
foot, six troops of dragoons, and five of horse. A spirited engagement
ensued, and the Royalists were beaten off. Shortly after, Sir Thomas
made a night-march through the Royalist lines, and entered Bradford
with 300 foot and three troops of horse.
Reinforced by numerous recruits Sir Thomas resolved to attack Sir
William Savile, who was strongly entrenched in Leeds. The approaches
from the Bridge and Hunslet Lane were defended by breastworks, and two
demi-culverins commanded the long, broad Briggate, or principal
street.
On Monday, January 23rd, 1643, Fairfax summoned the town with 2,000
clubmen, 1,000 musketeers, six troops of horse, and three of dragoons
at his back. Sir William Savile rejoined by a gallant defiance, having
1,500 foot and 500 horse posted in the town. Sir Thomas had formed his
troops in two divisions to storm both sides of the town, and they
advanced to attack as a snow-storm burst over the moor.
The watchword was "Emanuel," and with sounding trumpets Sergeant-Major
Forbes and Captain Hodgson fell on at the head of five companies of
foot and one of dismounted dragoons. They were saluted with a volley
of musketry, all but inoperative. The musketeers had aimed too high.
The roar of battle rose at the end of Ludgate, when Sir William
Fairfax and Sir Thomas Norcliffe assaulted the entrenchments, and was
answered from the south side of the river, where the stormers were
fighting their way to the south end of the bridge. Here they
established themselves, and flanked the defenders of the works at the
north-end of the bridge, who were holding Forbes and his stormers in
check. Sir William Savile ordered up one of the demi-culverins, and
planted it upon the bridge, to arrest the Parliamentarian advance.
Maitland, who led the attack, despatched a party of dragoons to the
waterside, and compelled the defenders of the lower breastwork to
retire, when Forbes occupied the deserted position. Schofield, a
minister of Halifax, celebrated this success by singing a verse of the
lxvii. psalm; and as it was concluded the cheers of the dragoons
announced the evacuation of the upper breastwork. Still singing the
psalm, Forbes charged up the Briggate, and captured the
demi-culverins. Here they were met by Sir William Fairfax, who had
gallantly forced his way into the town.
Fairfax had stormed three positions, and captured Leeds, after three
hours of close fighting. His conduct was highly eulogised.
Sir William Savile and the Rev. Mr. Robinson swam their horses across
the Aire, and escaped. Unhappily Captain Beaumont was drowned in the
attempt.
Fairfax lost about twenty men, and took 460 prisoners, the two
demi-culverins, a number of muskets, and fourteen barrels of
gunpowder. The prisoners were allowed to depart on engaging not to
arm against Parliament.
Sir Thomas Fairfax being in delicate health returned to the
head-quarters at Selby. Newcastle withdrew from Wakefield, and
concentrated his army at York, leaving the country between Selby and
the West open to the Fairfaxes, who occupied Howley Hall, between
Wakefield and Bradford.
XVI.--THE BATTLE OF WAKEFIELD.
A.D. 1643.
While the Fairfaxes held Selby, Queen Henrietta landed at Bridlington,
where she was briskly cannonaded by Vice-Admiral Batten, whose
ungallant conduct was generally reprobated. Fairfax offered her
Majesty an escort of Yorkshire Parliamentarians.
The plots of the Hothams closed Hull to the Fairfaxes, and they
resolved to march to Leeds, a distance of twenty miles, although
exposed to a flank attack. Sir Thomas drew off the enemy by marching a
division in the direction of Tadcaster, thus enabling Lord Fairfax to
carry the main body to Leeds.
The Royalists believed that Sir Thomas had designs upon York, and
Goring followed hot upon his track, and on Whin Moor, near the village
of Seacroft, charged his rear and right flank, and dispersed the
Parliamentarians, of whom a few were wounded or slain, and many were
captured.
After a sharp pursuit and some shrewd blows, Sir Thomas Fairfax and
Sir Henry Foulis reached Leeds with a few troopers.
Chiefly for the purpose of obtaining prisoners for the exchange of his
captured soldiers, Sir Thomas resolved to make an attempt upon
Wakefield, then held by Goring with seven troops of horse and six
regiments of foot. Outworks, trenches, breastworks, and several cannon
defended the town.
The Royalist officers were given to drinking and playing at bowls, and
although aware of Fairfax's advance, he found some officers in liquor
when the attack began. Doubtless this refers to the few; the majority
would be on the alert like gallant and loyal gentlemen.
At midnight on Saturday, the 20th of May, Sir Thomas marched from
Howley with 1,500 horse and foot, drawn from the garrisons of Leeds,
Bradford, Halifax, and Howley. At four o'clock, he approached
Wakefield, to find the enemy on the alert. Driving a body of horse out
of Stanley, he assailed Wrengate and Northgate. Major-General Gifford,
Sir Henry Foulis, Sir William Fairfax, and other brave officers,
supported Sir Thomas. The stormers were saluted by a hot fire from
muskets and cannon, but suffered little thereby. Undaunted by their
hot reception, the stormers faced the hail of shot and fell on with
pike and musket, capturing the works and turning the guns upon the
enemy. Driving the cavaliers before him, Fairfax cleared the streets,
capturing, with many others, General Goring, Sir Thomas Bland,
Lieut.-Colonel Sir Geo. Wentworth, Lieut.-Colonel Saint George,
Lieut.-Colonel Macmoyler, Sergt.-Major Carr, Captains Carr, Knight,
Wildbore, Rueston, Pemberton, Croft, Ledgard, Lashley, Kayley, and
Nuttall; Captn.-Lieut. Benson, Sergt.-Major Carnabie. Left wounded in
Wakefield, upon their engagement to be true prisoners, Lieutenants
Munckton, Thomas, Wheatley, Kent, Nicholson; Ensigns Squire, Vavasor,
Masken, Lampton, Ducket, Stockhold, Baldwinson, Davis, Carr, Gibson,
Smathweight, Ballinson, Watson, Smelt, Hallyburton, and Cornet Wivell.
Too weak to retain his conquest, Fairfax marched off in triumph with
his prisoners, captured cannon, colours, arms, ammunition, etc.
London greatly rejoiced on receiving news of the victory. Parliament
ordered public thanksgivings to be observed in the city; and in the
churches and chapels narratives of the action were read.
The following is the official account of the battle, as made to Lord
Fairfax:
"On Saturday night, the 20th of May, the Lord General Fairfax
gave orders for a party of 1,000 foot, three companies of
dragoons, and eight troops of horse, to march from the garrison
of Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, and Howley; Sir Thomas Fairfax
commanded in chief. The foot were commanded by
Sergt.-Major-General Gifford and Sir William Fairfax. The horse
were divided into two bodies, four troops commanded by Sir
Thomas Fairfax, and the other four troops by Sir Henry Foulis;
Howley was the rendezvous, where they all met on Saturday last,
about twelve o'clock of night; about two next morning they
marched away, and coming to Stanley, where two of the enemy's
troops lay, with some dragoons, that quarter was beaten up, and
about one-and-twenty prisoners taken. About four o'clock in the
morning we came before Wakefield, where, after some of their
horse were beaten into the town, the foot, with unspeakable
courage, beat the enemies from the hedges, which they had lined
with musketeers, into the town, and assaulted it in two places,
Westgate and Northgate, and after an hour and a half fight, we
recovered one of their pieces, and turned it upon them, and
entered the town at both places at one and the same time. When
the baracadoes were opened, Sir Thomas Fairfax, with the horse,
fell into the town, and cleared the street, when Colonel Goring
was taken by Lieut. Alured, brother to Captain Alured, a member
of the house; yet in the Market Place there stood three troops
of horse and Colonel Lampton's regiment, to whom Major-General
Gifford sent a trumpet with offer of quarter, if they would lay
down their arms. They answered they scorned the motion. Then he
fired a piece of their own ordnance upon them, and the horse
fell in among them, beat them out of the town, and took all
their officers, expressed in the enclosed list, twenty-seven
colours of foot, three cornets of horse, and about 1,500 common
soldiers. The enemy had in the town 3,000 foot and seven troops
of horse, besides Colonel Lampton's regiment, which came into
the town after he had entered the town. The enemy left behind
them three pieces of ordnance, with ammunition, which we
brought away.--Signed, Thomas Fairfax, Henry Foulis, John
Gifford, William Fairfax, John Holmes, Robert Foulis, Titus
Leighton, Francis Talbott."
XVII.--THE BATTLE OF ADWALTON MOOR.
With an army of 12,000 men at his back the Marquis of Newcastle was
bound to clear Yorkshire of the Parliamentarians. Having stormed
Howley Hall, he marched upon Bradford, halting on Adwalton Moor on the
29th of June, 1643; making a careful disposition of his army, and
placing his artillery in position, as though apprehensive of an attack
from his active and daring opponents.
The audacity of the Fairfaxes was justified by their desperate
position. Hull was closed to them by the defection of the Hothams; the
open towns of the West were exhausted, and they were surrounded by
enemies in the heart of a hostile country.
While Newcastle was encamping on Adwalton Moor, Fairfax was preparing
to march upon him at four o'clock on the following morning. The
excitement in Bradford was intense. The success of Fairfax could
alone deliver them from the hands of the Royalists, who were deeply
exasperated against the stubborn burghers.
The march of the Parliamentarians was delayed until eight o'clock, in
consequence of the tardiness or treachery of Major-General Gifford, if
we may believe the grumblings of Sir Thomas Fairfax, who was doubtless
impatient to be at the enemy.
The main body of the Cavaliers was posted before the hamlet of
Adwalton, and a "Forlorn Hope," as the advanced guard was called, held
the Westgate Hill, half a mile distant from the army.
Here Fairfax dealt his first blow, and swept the Cavaliers before his
advancing army. So first blood was claimed, and scattered on the turf
lay the mangled forms of many brave men, their cold, still faces
looking doubly pallid and sad in the bright morning sunshine.
Jutting out from the main road by Westgate Hill, Hodgson's Lane led up
to Newcastle's position, and entered Warren's Lane, opening on the
moor from Gomersal.
Lord Fairfax, with 3,000 men against 12,000, had to fight a defensive
battle, and lining the hedges at the head of Warren's Lane with
musketeers, he ordered Gifford to move down Hodgson's Lane upon
Newcastle's position.
The ground was scarcely occupied before twelve troops of cavalry swept
across the moor, trumpets sounding, armour clashing, and the long,
thin rapiers flashing back the morning's sun. Ere they reached the
Roundheads, the muskets flashed from the hedge-rows, and as the white
smoke drifted on the breeze, and the loud report rang out, the gallant
Cavaliers retired with thinned and disordered ranks, leaving Colonel
Howard and many other gallant men dead upon the field. Again they
charged, again broke before the deadly fire of the musketeers, leaving
another colonel upon the field. Then Fairfax charged, and bore them,
sorely buffeted and cut-up, before his strong riders, until they found
protection beneath the muzzle of their cannon.
Gifford was handling his infantry with such address that Newcastle's
spirits drooped, and he thought of commanding a retreat. But he had
bold, strong gentlemen beneath his banners, and Colonel Skerton,
heading a stand of pikes, broke Gifford's ranks, and made deadly work
as the royal horse followed his charge. The Parliamentarians were not
allowed time to rally, but were driven into Bradford.
Sir Thomas had no order to retire, and was not aware of the defeat of
his father's command. For some time he maintained his ground, and
succeeded in carrying his troops into Halifax.
The next morning he was in Bradford. A day of heavy fighting followed,
but the place could not be maintained. Sir Thomas attempted to pass
through the royal lines, but his party was dispersed, and his wife
captured by the enemy. He gained Leeds, where the news arrived that
the Hothams had been arrested, and Hull was open to the
Parliamentarians. The Fairfaxes resolved to make the attempt to reach
the fortress, and succeeded after many perils, Sir Thomas being shot
through the wrist during a skirmish, and fainting from excessive pain
and loss of blood.
XVIII.--THE BATTLE AT HULL.
A.D. 1643.
Newcastle marched upon Hull, drove Sir Thomas Fairfax out of Beverley,
and besieged the town with 12,000 foot and 4,000 horse, on the 2nd of
September, 1643. Attempts were made to command the Humber by the
erection of forts at Hessle and Paull, and red-hot shot were thrown
into the town. A sally was beaten back, but the besiegers were
hindered by the cutting of the banks of the Hull and Humber, when the
country around was laid under water. Oliver Cromwell and Lord
Willoughby of Parham visited the town to consult with the Fairfaxes as
to the best measures for the defence, but appeared satisfied that it
could be maintained. The sorties of the garrison were spirited, and
attended with some success. On the 9th October the Royalists attempted
to carry the town by escalade, and almost succeeded. The Charter House
battery was stormed, but re-captured, and many lives were lost. The
gallant Captain Strickland was slain while leading the stormers. On
the morning of the 11th of October a pitched battle was fought before
the town. Fairfax organised a force of 1,500 men, drawn from the
garrison, burghers, and the crews of the warships in the Humber.
Meldrum and Lord Fairfax issued out of the Hessle and Beverley gates,
and took the Royalists by surprise, driving them out of their works;
but being assailed by fresh troops from the main body of the
besiegers, they were very roughly handled, and driven under the town
walls, when the cannon opened upon the Cavaliers, and enabled Meldrum
and Fairfax to re-form their troops.
Supported by the fire of the town guns, the Parliamentarians renewed
their attack; and, in the face of a heavy fire, stormed the enemy's
works, the dispute being very severe, and the fighting stubbornly
maintained at close quarters. Newcastle's warriors made a gallant
attempt to re-conquer their lost forts, but the cannon were turned
upon them, and the Parliamentarians repulsed every attack. After three
hours of hard fighting the Cavaliers retired, having received over
one hundred discharges of the town guns.
An anxious night was passed, for the Parliamentarians expected
Newcastle to renew his attempts to regain his forts and cannon, but
the Marquis had suffered heavily, and, taking council with his
officers, resolved to abandon the siege, and retire under cover of the
night. His main army retired upon York, securing the retreat by
breaking down bridges and obstructing the roads.
The men of Hull rejoiced in the capture of two famous cannon, Gog and
Magog, a demi-culverin, four small drakes mounted on one carriage, two
large brass drakes, and a saker.
The burghers spent the following day in public thanksgiving, and thus
observed the anniversary of their deliverance until the restoration of
the Stuarts.
XIX.--THE BATTLE OF SELBY.
A.D. 1644.
In 1644 King and Parliament were so closely matched that any accession
of strength to either party would tend to the speedy conclusion of the
conflict. When, on the 4th of March, the Earl of Leven occupied
Sunderland with 30,000 Scots, reinforcements for Parliament, the
greatest concern was felt by all good Cavaliers, and the Marquis of
Newcastle promptly brought up his Yorkshire Royalists, and held Leven
at bay.
In this strait Sir Thomas Fairfax was ordered to the North to
reinforce the Scots with cavalry, and enable them to engage the King's
men. Lord Fairfax joined his son near Hull, and, augmenting his
forces, it was resolved to attack Selby, which was defended by
barricades, and garrisoned by a strong force of foot and horse under
the command of Colonel Bellasis, the son of Lord Falconberg.
On the 11th of April, 1644, the Parliamentarians advanced to the
storm. The army was formed into three divisions, commanded by Lord
Fairfax, Sir John Meldrum, and Colonel Bright. Sir Thomas Fairfax
supported with his cavalry.
The steady advance was met by the red flash of the guns, and the smoke
rose and drifted over the front. But the drums beat on, the pikemen
held bravely to the front, and the musketeers began to handle their
guns, as the front ranks poured into the trenches, leaving on the
green sward behind them the silent forms of slain men, whose white,
drawn faces looked very sad in the midst of the fresh young grass, and
under the shifting April clouds. In the trenches and by the barricades
some hot work went on, with clash of pikes and hail of bullets, until
the Cavaliers were fairly beaten from their defences, and their
reluctant officers, failing to rally their disordered ranks, retired
them from the front. The lines were won, but Colonel Bellasis held the
open ground with his horse, ready to sweep back the hostile foot
should they attempt any further advance, and a desultory fire of
musketry was maintained, until Sir Thomas Fairfax succeeded, after a
fierce struggle, in breaking down a barricade and making way for his
horse. Then the files of heavy cavalry came crashing over the
disputed ground, beating under hoof the heaps of debris and rubbish,
and overthrowing all who strove with pike and musket to bar their
path. Sir Thomas occupied the ground between the houses and the river,
when, with trumpets sounding the charge, a numerous body of royal
horse bore down upon them. The charge was gallantly received, and a
severe conflict ensued, when, beaten back by dint of steel and lead,
the Royalists broke away in confusion, and availing themselves of the
bridge of boats, crossed the river and took to flight.
Scarcely had the panting warriors time to re-form their disordered
ranks before the fiery Bellasis burst upon them in a furious charge,
eager to avenge his defeated horse. Cold steel met in thrust and
parry; the pistols flashed, and brave men fell thickly as,
hand-to-hand, in dust and smoke, the sharp hot _melee_ held; then
riderless steeds broke away from the shock; Sir Thomas was hurled from
his steed amid plunging hoofs and slashing steel, but was rescued by
his gallant troopers, and re-mounted. The Cavaliers fought as King's
men should that day, but were over-weighted by Fairfax's heavy horse,
and driven off in headlong flight for York, leaving Colonel Bellasis
a prisoner in the hands of the victorious Roundheads.
In the meantime the Parliamentarian foot had made good their hold of
the town, and accepted the surrender of the royal foot.
The results of this engagement were remarkable. The Fairfaxes had only
defeated some two or three thousand men, and wrested a small town from
the King's hands, yet the strong city of York trembled for its safety,
and Newcastle was urgently requested to return and defend the county.
He complied. The Scots were at liberty. Fairfax immediately joined
them with his little army; and, on the 19th of April, York was
blockaded by the combined forces. Manchester augmented the besieging
army; York was closely invested, its fall was imminent; and King
Charles urgently demanded of Prince Rupert the raising of the siege.
Gallantly was the demand met, but was followed by the famous battle of
Marston Moor, from the effects of which the royal cause never
recovered.
XX.--BATTLE OF MARSTON MOOR.
A.D. 1644.
King Charles was fully conscious of the perilous position in which he
would be placed if York fell, and Yorkshire passed into the hands of
the enemy; he therefore instructed Prince Rupert to march to the
relief of York, using the following impressive language:--
"I command and conjure you, by the duty and affection which I
know you bear me, that, all new enterprise laid aside, you
immediately march, according to your first intention, with all
your force to the relief of York; but if that be either lost,
or have freed themselves from the besiegers, or that, for want
of powder, you cannot undertake that work, that you immediately
march with your whole strength to Worcester, to assist me and
my army, without which, or your having relieved York by beating
the Scots, all the successes you may afterwards have, most
infallibly will be useless unto me."
Gathering up forces as he advanced, Rupert marched to the succour of
the city, and occupied Knaresborough and Boroughbridge on the evening
of the 30th of June. On the following morning the Parliamentarians
drew up on Hessay Moor, to arrest Rupert's advance. Outgeneraling his
adversaries, the Prince marched to Poppleton Ferry, halted his army,
and entered York with 200 Cavaliers. That night a council of war was
held, and Rupert resolved to give battle to the enemy. The Marquis of
Newcastle endeavoured to dissuade the Prince from this step, and
begged him to await the arrival of a reinforcement of 5,000 men,
expected in the course of a few days. Rupert is accused of behaving
with discourtesy towards Newcastle, and for this there can be no
defence. There was, however, good reason for fighting, and at once.
Certainly the Prince could not be expected to put a great value on
Newcastle's advice. Rupert had achieved many successes, and had
relieved York by a masterly movement; on the other hand, Newcastle had
not achieved any remarkable success, and had allowed himself to be
besieged in York without fighting a battle. If he could hold Leslie in
check, surely he might have attempted to raise the blockade of York
before Manchester arrived with reinforcements. Had Rupert waited for
reinforcements, would the Parliamentarians have accepted battle, or
retired to some stronger position? Rupert was in a favourable
position, with a tried army, almost as strong as that of the enemy,
and if he did not at once give battle as favourable an opportunity
might not again occur. Having relieved York, was he to retire and
leave the enemy in Yorkshire to again besiege the city, or capture the
various royal strongholds? Two nearly equal armies were opposed on
Yorkshire soil, would one army leave the other in possession? would
the Parliamentarians compel the Cavaliers to fight? or would the two
armies move away in different directions, seeking other fields and
other foes? Rupert and the Parliamentarian leaders knew that they were
there to fight. The King's affairs absolutely demanded a victory, and
the blame that attaches to Rupert is that he forgot the general in
acting the part of a captain of horse, and so lost a battle that it
was within his capabilities to have won, as the conduct of his army
abundantly proved.
The morning of the 2nd of July beheld Rupert's army in motion; but
the enemy were marching upon Tadcaster, not expecting an engagement. A
threatening movement of Rupert's cavalry was promptly checked, and
both armies began to form for battle under the Earls of Leven and
Manchester and Lord Fairfax on the one hand; and Rupert, Goring,
Lucas, and Sir John Urrie on the other. Some time elapsed before the
various divisions reached the field, and stood opposed in order of
battle.
The Parliamentarians occupied a gentle eminence covered by a crop of
rye, beaten down by horse and foot. The regiments of Scotch and
English were intermixed, that the grace or blame of victory or defeat
might be equally shared. The centre consisted of serried masses of
pikemen and musketeers, commanded by Leven and the elder Fairfax; Sir
Thomas Fairfax led the right wing, consisting of his Yorkshire
cavalry, supported by three regiments of Scottish horse, and
outflanked by the village of Marston. The left wing, extending to
Tockwith village, was commanded by Manchester and Cromwell. Their
field word was "God with us!" Before them was the open moor, held by
the King's men, but the furze and broken ground was calculated to
retard their charges. Between the two armies extended a ditch and
hedge, soon to be immortalised as the scene of some heavy fighting and
dreadful slaughter.
Some uncertainty exists as to the disposition of the Royalists, the
various accounts of the battle being very contradictory, but it may be
assumed that the centre was commanded by Goring, Sir Charles Lucas,
and General Porter; Newcastle heading his own regiment of white-coated
pikemen. Rupert carried his huge red-cross banner, emblazoned with the
arms of the Palatinate, on the left wing; and Sir John Urrie commanded
the right. Grant seems disposed to support the statement of Rushworth,
that Rupert led the right wing, and Sir Charles Lucas the left.
Rupert's position was excellent for the fighting of a defensive
battle. To cross the ditch that lay between the armies was a serious
undertaking for either army, but especially for the Parliamentarians,
as Rupert had lined the hedge with musketeers, and had planted a
battery on an eminence behind his centre, thus demanding a heavy
sacrifice of life from the Parliamentarians before they could exchange
blows with his centre, and, in the event of his assuming the
offensive, the advance would be partially covered by the battery.
The combined armies consisted of about 46,000 men, and were of almost
equal strength, the Parliamentarians having, probably, some little
advantage in numbers. For several hours no hostile movement took
place, with the exception of a few discharges of cannon, by one of the
first shots of which the loyal Sir Gilbert Houghton lost his son.
Apparently both parties were awed by the importance of the impending
conflict, and reluctant to make the first movement, with all the
difficulties attending the passage of the ditch and hedge.
The pleasant summer afternoon waned into evening, peaceful and calm.
Seven o'clock approached: surely the bloody bout would be delayed
until the morrow. Occasionally the cannon roared, and a few men fell;
one of these unfortunates was young Walton, Cromwell's nephew, who was
severely wounded; and it is supposed that this brought about the
Parliamentarian attack.
"It was now between six and seven, and Rupert, calling for
provisions, dismounted, and began to eat his supper. A large
number of his followers did the like. Newcastle strolled
towards his coach to solace himself with a pipe. Before he had
time to take a whiff, the battle had begun."--_Gardiner._
Manchester moved forward his infantry in heavy masses, with pikes and
muskets ready for the deadly work, and attempted the passage of the
ditch, while Cromwell's magnificent cuirassiers swept forward to clear
the same formidable obstacle, and engage the enemy's right. Rupert
hurried forward a large body of musketeers to meet Manchester's
attack, and at the same time swept their ranks by the deadly
discharges of his field battery. Rupert's musketeers being covered by
the hedge, inflicted heavy loss upon the Parliamentarians, and
Manchester vainly exerted himself to re-form their shattered ranks.
Two cannons were hurried up, and the officers exposed themselves with
the utmost devotion to encourage their troops, but they were powerless
to advance in the face of that deadly shower of bullets, and the
position was becoming critical in the extreme, when relief came, and
that not a moment too soon. Cromwell, making a wide sweep, gained the
open moor, found room for a charge, and bore down upon the enemy's
right with a tremendous and fatal force. A short but desperate
conflict ensued as Cromwell carried his Ironsides through the sorely
buffeted and shattered squadrons of the royal horse. Pressing on, he
stormed the battery and put the gunners to the sword. A moment's
breathing space was allowed the horses, and then the musketeers, who
held Manchester's advance in check with their forks planted in the
ditch-bank, maintaining a steady and destructive fire, became the
object of attack. These brave soldiers did not attempt to meet the
charge, but retreated in close order, with presented pikes, and
although they suffered severely from the fury of the enemy, they
endeavoured to check the successive charges by the repeated fire of
their muskets.
There was no braver man in the field than Sir Thomas Fairfax, but he
suffered a sad defeat on that memorable July evening. The ground
occupied by his troops was broken and intersected by a number of
lanes; not difficult to defend, but preventing united action when the
moment for the advance arrived. Nevertheless he struggled forward,
wasting his strength by a succession of weak charges, but unable to
find room for a general attack. The fiery Rupert was opposed to him,
and swept his ranks by a cruel and incessant fire of musketry, until
little hope for the Parliament remained in this part of the field. For
a time the impending ruin was averted by Cromwell, who charged the
Prince's infantry, and afforded Fairfax an opportunity of re-forming
his torn and wearied forces; but in the midst of the struggling
advance of the over-mastered Parliamentarians Rupert delivered his
grand charge, and storming over and through every obstacle, filled
this part of the field with a wild rout of unhappy fugitives, amongst
whom the keen rapiers of his gay Cavaliers wrought terrible havoc. The
brother of Sir Thomas Fairfax was mortally wounded, but the good
knight clung desperately to the ground with 500 of his own horse and a
regiment of lancers, to be wounded and fairly borne off the field by
the impetuous Rupert. Here the Prince took a deadly and fatal revenge
on the Scotch cavalry, put them to headlong flight, and bore on in
stormy pursuit, while the royal infantry was exposed to the attacks of
Manchester's foot and Cromwell's victorious Ironsides. Had Rupert
succoured his centre at this stage of the battle he must have
compelled the Parliamentarians to yield to him the victory.
Nobly the royal foot met the deadly storm of battle; exerting such
heroic courage that they fairly pushed back the Parliamentarian
advance, and the King's prospects were yet promising, maugre the
terrible handling received from Cromwell. That gallant soldier held
his cavalry well in hand, albeit their ranks were somewhat thinned by
shot and steel; and they now wrested the victory from the rashly
impetuous Rupert. The Marquis of Newcastle's incomparable regiment of
Northumbrians perished here. They were known as "lambs," or
"white-coats," from the colour of their doublets, and resisted
Cromwell to the last. Again and again he charged them, but they
returned blow for blow, and, disdaining all offers of quarter,
perished almost to a man, the few that were saved owing their lives
rather to the magnanimity of their enemies than to any exertions of
their own to escape the slaughter. They fell in their proper
battle-order, and presented a ghastly spectacle as they lay upon the
field in rank and file, their white coats cruelly slashed with many a
crimson stain. The remainder of the royal foot were now taken in the
rear by the Ironsides, and sustained a bloody and ruinous defeat.
Before their ruin was consummated the Prince returned, and a fierce
conflict ensued. Rupert had counted the victory as already won, and
rage and mortification added to the fury of the last sanguinary and
stubborn conflict. Cromwell was wounded in the neck, and his charge
was all but abortive, when Leslie came up and retrieved the mishap by
a terrible onslaught that sent Rupert's over-mastered warriors in wild
confusion from the field. The infantry now surrendered, and Cromwell
captured all the cannon, baggage, &c, of the royal army, which was
pursued almost to the gates of York.
At a late hour throngs of wounded men and fugitives from the field
appeared before Micklegate-Bar, but the soldiers of the garrison were
alone admitted into the city, and the confusion that ensued was of the
most deplorable and painful character.
Cromwell remained on the field, anxious and alert, fearful that the
impetuous Rupert might rally some remains of his army, and, by a
sudden onslaught under cover of night, wrest from his shattered army
the victory so hardly won by dint of heavy fighting.
The general loss was estimated at 7,000 men, Prince Rupert losing over
3,000 slain, and 3,000 prisoners, including many officers. The
Parliamentarians captured forty-seven colours, twenty-five pieces of
artillery, a number of carbines and pistols, 130 barrels of gunpowder,
and 10,000 arms. Among their prisoners were Generals Sir Charles
Lucas, Tilliard, and Porter, and Lord Goring's son. Amongst the
gallant gentlemen who laid down their lives for King Charles on
Marston Moor were Lord Kerry, Sir Francis Dacres, Sir William Lampton,
Sir Charles Slingsby, Sir William Wentworth, Sir Marmaduke Luddon, Sir
Richard Gledhill, Colonel John Fenwick, Sir Richard Graham, and
Captain John Baird. Sir Richard Gledhill, as a matter of fact, died in
his own house an hour after he succeeded in gaining its shelter. He
had received twenty-six wounds. Sir Charles Lucas was informed that he
could select some of the slain for private interment, and in thus
distinguishing one unfortunate Cavalier caused a bracelet of silky
hair to be removed from his wrist, "as he knew an honourable lady who
would thankfully receive it." The Scots suffered severely, and the
English lost Captains Micklethwaite and Pugh, and Sir Thomas Fairfax
had to deplore the loss of his brother Charles, and of Major Fairfax.
No two accounts of the battle agree, and Cromwell, whose conduct
conduced so largely to the winning of the battle, has been even
accused of cowardice by one writer. Rapin says,
"I shall not undertake to describe this battle, because in all
the accounts I have seen I meet with so little order or
clearness that I cannot expect to give a satisfactory idea of
it to such of my readers as understand these matters."
The Parliamentarians assumed a white badge to distinguish them from
their opponents.
Prince Rupert would probably have won the battle had he acted as a
commander-in-chief instead of leading a wing; but it was then
customary for each of the three commanders to fight his own battle,
with too little regard to the general issue, when there was no
commander directing the operations of the divisions.
The King's affairs never recovered from the results of this battle,
and the royal cause undoubtedly received its death-blow on Marston
Moor, when the last of the Yorkshire battles was fought.
XXI.--BATTLE OF BRUNANBURGH.
A.D. 937.
King Athelstan reigned in troublous days, with the restless Danish
population in the North, the Welsh in the West, the Scots ready to
support his enemies, and his own nobles discontented and disloyal.
Athelstan had conferred upon Sithric, King of Northumberland, the hand
of his sister; but the prince violated his obligations, and was only
secured from punishment by the sudden stroke of death.
Sithric's sons, Anlaf and Godfrid, took refuge in Ireland and
Scotland; and a confederation of the princes of Scotland, Wales,
Ireland, and Cumberland, seconded by a Danish fleet, threatened the
crown of Athelstan.
After four years of preparation and recruiting the storm burst. In 937
Anlaf entered the Humber at the head of a huge armada of 615 sail, and
occupied Bernicia.
Athelstan, with a powerful army, marched to the North and encamped at
Brunanburgh. It is said that Anlaf entered the King's camp disguised
as a minstrel, and was liberally rewarded by Athelstan, but, in his
pride, buried the gold, and was perceived by one of the royal
soldiers, who then recognised him, but permitted him to retire from
the camp before he apprised Athelstan of the identity of the minstrel.
His excuse that had permitted Anlaf to escape because he had at one
period sworn fealty to him, was accepted as a sufficient reason; but
Athelstan removed his camp, and shortly after the Bishop of Sherborne
came up with his troops and occupied the ground that Athelstan had
vacated.
That night Anlaf made a sudden attack upon the Saxons, and slew the
Bishop of Sherborne and many of his followers, before he was driven
off.
The day of battle dawned. Each army was formed into two corps.
Athelstan commanded the West Saxons; Turketul, his heroic chancellor,
led the warriors of Mercia and London. Anlaf and his wild Northmen
opposed the King; Constantine, King of Scotland, confronted Turketul
with his Scots and Cumbrians.
At sunrise the war-smiths fell to, with sleet of arrows and deadly
play of bills and spears, as the banners were pushed forward. Bravely
the golden-haired Athelstan acquitted himself in the van, amid the
communion of swords and the clashing of bills, the conflict of banners
and the meeting of spears, when the keen javelins strewed the soil
with the slain, and the unerring arrows carried death above the
guarding shield. Athelstan's sword dropped in the press, but as Otho,
Archbishop of Canterbury, entreated the heavenly aid, a sword of
celestial potency filled the empty sheath, and with it Athelstan
fought until night closed upon the scene.
As the day was drawing towards eventide, with the wild war-wrestle at
its maddest, and the song of the fiery Northman rolling like thunder
over the field, now heaped with slain and wounded men, for the front
ranks had been mown down, and renewed again and again, Turketul headed
a veteran corps of spearmen, and made an irresistible charge upon the
Scots. Vainly Constantine strove to hold his ground; his fierce Scots
were over-weighted, broken, and borne down. Anlaf's Northmen were
dismayed, and gave ground. Turketul charged them; a brief, fierce
struggle ensued; then he penetrated their ranks; flight commenced;
the field was covered with fugitives; the Northmen anxiously striving
to regain their nailed barks, and crowd all sail for Ireland.
Then pressed the West Saxons hard on "the footsteps of the loathed
nations." "They hewed the fugitives behind, amain, with swords
mill-sharp," while on the battle-stead lay five "youthful kings, and
seven eke of Anlaf's earls."
"Constantine, hoary warrior, he had no cause to exult in the
communion of swords. Here was his kindred band of friends
o'erthrown on the falkstead, in battle slain; and his son he
left on the slaughter-place, mangled with wounds, young in the
fight."
The slaughter was dreadful, but the throne of Athelstan was secured,
and his northern subjects humbled. He left behind him a terrible
carnage field,
"the sallowy kite the corse to devour, and the swarthy raven
with horned nib, and the dusky 'pada' erne white-tailed, the
corse to enjoy, greedy war-hawk, and the grey beast, wolf of
the wood. Carnage greater has not been in this island ever yet
of people slain, before this, by edges of swords, as books us
say, old writers, since from the east hither, Angles and
Saxons came to land, o'er the broad seas Britain sought,
mighty war-smiths, the Welsh o'ercame, earls most bold, this
earth obtained."
In later years Anlaf obtained considerable successes over King Edmund,
and the northern provinces were ceded to him; but scarcely had he
obtained this high position ere death touched his brow, and kingly
pride and vain ambition were overcome.
Despite the labours of Yorkshire and Lancashire antiquaries, the
locality of Brunanburgh must be regarded as unascertained, and no
evidence has been produced that can justify its inclusion in the list
of Yorkshire battles.
XXII.--FIGHT OFF FLAMBOROUGH HEAD.
A.D. 1779.
In the years 1778 and 1779 British commerce suffered severely from the
attacks of Paul Jones.
In September of the latter year he cruised along the East coast with
the "Bonne Homme Richard," 40 guns, 375 men; the "Alliance," 40 guns,
300 men; the "Pallas," 32 guns, 275 men; and the "Vengeance," 12 guns,
70 men. On the 20th of September, Bridlington was alarmed by an
express stating that Paul Jones was off Scarborough; that evening he
was seen by the fishermen of Flamborough, and a fleet of merchantmen
crowded into Bridlington bay, and the harbour was soon thronged with
vessels, a number being chained alongside the piers. The townsfolks
mustered, rudely armed, and supported the two companies of
Northumberland Militia, who marched to the quay with drums beating.
The Baltic fleet, with a freight valued at £600,000 pounds, was
approaching the coast, convoyed by the "Serapis," 40 guns, captain,
Pearson; and the "Countess of Scarborough," 20 guns, captain, Piercy.
On Thursday, September 23rd, the fleet approached Scarborough, and was
warned by the bailiff that the enemy was in the neighbourhood. Captain
Pearson then signalled the fleet to bear down upon his lee, but the
ships continued their course. About noon a scene of confusion ensued
as the leading ships perceived the enemy bearing down upon them. The
two captains hoisted all sail, prepared for action, and took the post
of danger.
Twilight was closing over waves and cliff when, at about twenty
minutes past seven, the "Serapis" challenged the "Bonne Homme
Richard," and saluted him with a cannon shot. The American flag was
run up, and the shot returned. Captain Pearson delivered a broadside,
which was returned, and for some time the battle was carried on by
repeated discharges of cannon. The moon arose with unusual brilliancy,
and the natives of Flamborough thronged to the cliffs to witness the
exciting scene. Paul Jones attempted to board, but with bayonet, pike,
and cutlass the British tars maintained their decks, and the "Bonne
Homme Richard" sheered off. An attempt to lay the "Serapis" square
with her adversary was foiled, and the "Bonne Homme Richard" was laid
across the bows of the "Serapis." With cannon and small arms a
murderous conflict was maintained, then the jib-boom of the "Serapis"
gave way, and the ships fell broadside to broadside, with yard-arms
locked; swaying and reeling as they ripped up each other's sides with
repeated broadsides, although the muzzles of the cannons touched, and
many of the port-lids were torn away.
The night closed in, and the conflict continued. The decks of the
"Serapis" were swept by shot, covered with the slain and wounded. For
two hours her crew maintained the fight with heroic courage.
Combustibles were thrown upon her decks, ten times she took fire; a
hand-grenade exploded a cartridge, and the explosion ran along the
line of guns where the cartridges lay, abaft the mainmast. Many men
were killed or wounded, and the guns remained unfought to the end.
During this murderous work the "Alliance" sailed round and round the
combatants, and raked the "Serapis" with successive broadsides.
On a cry for quarter being raised, Captain Pearson boarded the "Bonne
Homme Richard," but at once retired on perceiving a numerous party of
the enemy lying in ambush. The battle re-commenced, when the
"Alliance" again raked the "Serapis," inflicting dreadful slaughter,
and bringing down the mainmast.
The "Serapis" was little better than a wreck, and the old flag was
reluctantly hauled down. Paul Jones received the conquered enemy most
courteously. Without the aid of the "Alliance" the "Bonne Homme
Richard" would have been captured. She was on fire in two places, the
guns on her lower deck were dismounted, and she had seven feet of
water in her hold. Out of her crew of 375 men, 306 were killed and
wounded. The total loss of the two English ships did not reach half
that number. On the following day the "Bonne Homme Richard" was
abandoned, and, before all her wounded could be removed, went to the
bottom.
The "Countess of Scarborough" fought the "Pallas" and "Vengeance" for
upwards of two hours, and only struck when a third vessel bore down
upon her.
The King of France presented Paul Jones with a gold-hilted sword, and
requested the American Government to sanction the bestowal of the
military Order of Merit upon the gallant adventurer.
Captain Pearson was knighted, and was rewarded by the merchants for
saving the Baltic fleet. He was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of
Greenwich, and received the Freedom of the corporations of Hull,
Scarborough, Appleby, and Dover.
[Illustration: THE END]
Index.
Adela, daughter of William I., 56
Adelwald, King of Deira, 8-10
Aire, River, 8, 99, 185
Airedale, 99
Albany, Duke of, 142
Albemarle, William, 3rd Earl of, 61, 66
Alberic, Bishop of Ostia, 73
Aldred, Archbishop of York, 43
Alexander II., King of Scotland, 79, 80
Alexander III., King of Scotland, 79
Alfred, King of the North-Humbrians, 10, 11
Alfred, King of England, 20
Alnwick Castle, 76
Alred, 70
Alured, Lieut., 191
Alured, Captn., 191
Anlaf, 216-220
Annandale, Robert Bruce, Lord of, 64-66
Appleby, 225
Archer, John, 156
Arundel, Edmund Fitz-Alan, 2nd Earl of, 100
Aske, Robert, 175
Aspall, 159-160
Athelstan, King of Mercia, 13, 216-220
Atkinson, Captn., 179
Audley, John Touchet, 6th Lord, 152
Avon, River, 100
Badlesmere, Bartholomew, 1st Lord de, 103-4
Baird, Captn., John, 214
Baldwin V., Earl of Flanders, 18
Baldwinson, Ensign, 189
Baliol, Bernard de, 61, 64-66, 76
Baliol, Edward, King of Scotland, 138
Ballinson, Ensign, 189
Bamborough Castle, 50-51, 172
Banbury, 81
Bangor, Bishop of, 147
Bardolph, Thomas, 5th Lord, 143-7
Barfleur, 54
Battles: Adwalton Moor, 193-5
Agincourt, 124, 137, 148
Bannockburn, 83, 103
Barnet, 173
Beaujé, 149
Bloreheath, 152
Boroughbridge, 107-110
Bosworth, 174
Bramham Moor, 145-6
Brunanburgh, 13-14, 217-220
Byland Abbey, 122-128
Cressy, 124
Durham, or Neville's Cross, 133
Ebberston, 11
Evesham, 158
Falkirk, 103
off Flamborough, 222-5
Fulford, 24
Hastings, or Senlac, 27, 37-41, 53
Hedgeley Moor, 172
Hexham, 172
Homildon, 142
Hull, 196-8
Leeds, 183-6
Marston Moor, 202
Mortimer's Cross, 162-3
Myton Meadows, 95-8
Northampton, 154
Otterburn, 135
Pavia, 137
Radcot Bridge, 139
Sandal, or Wakefield-Green, 157-162
Selby, 199-201
Shrewsbury, 142
St. Albans (first), 150-1
St. Albans (second), 164-5
Stamford Bridge, 15, 25-34
Standard, the, 51
Stoke, 137, 174
Tadcaster, 180-182
Tewkesbury, 173
Towton, 166-172
Wakefield, 188-191
Winwidfield, 8-10
Beaumont, Captn., 185
Bellasis, Col., 199-202
Benedict, a rich Jew of York, 77
Benson, Captn.-Lieut., 189
Beorne, Earl, 43
Bernefield, Sir Roger, 110
Berwick, 83-93, 103, 130, 144
Beverley, 128, 134, 148, 178, 196
Bingley, 181
Bishopthorpe, 144
Blacklow, 100
Blanche Nef, 54
Bland, Sir Thomas, 189
Blount, Sir Thomas, 156
Bonville, William, 1st Lord, 165
Bootham, 171
Boroughbridge, 84, 95, 107-111, 114-115, 117, 128, 204
Bourchier, Edward, 161
Bosworth, Battle of, 174
Bradburne, Henry de, 113
Bradford, 181, 183, 188, 190, 192, 194
Bramham Moor, 145
Brember, Sir Nicholas, 139
Brian, son of Earl Alan Fergan, 55
Bridlington, 127, 187, 221
Bright, Col., 200
Bruce, Robert, Earl of Annandale, 64-66
Bruce, Robert, Earl of Carrick and King of Scotland, 83-5, 91-2, 106,
117-125, 128-130
Bruce, David, King of Scotland, 133
Buchan, Earl of, 149
Buckingham, Duchess of, 152
Buckingham, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of, 150-151
Burgh, Hubert de, 79
Burgh-on-Sands, 81, 102
Burton-upon-Trent, 105
Byland Abbey, 118, 122-7, 130
Cadwalla, King of the West Britons, 7
Calais, 153-4
Cambridge, Richard Plantagenet, 4th Earl of, 148
Canterbury, Wm. Corbois, Archbishop of, 57
Canterbury, Thos. Fitz-Alan (alias Arundel), Archbishop of, 140
Canterbury, Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of, 155
Canute, King of England, 18, 41
Carlisle, 49, 58, 70-73, 128-130
Carmichael, Sir John, 149
Carnabie, Sergt.-Major, 189
Carr, Major, 179
Carr, Sergt.-Major, 189
Carr, Captn., 189
Carr, Ensign, 189
Castleford, 99
Chapter of Mitton, 98
Charles I., King of England, 177-179, 203
Cheney, William, 113
Chop Head Loaning, 115
Cinque Ports, 85
Clarence, Thomas Plantagenet, 2nd Duke of, 148-9
Clarence, George Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of, 159, 174
Clay, Thomas, 152
Cleveland, 143
Clifford, Sir Roger, 110
Clifford, Thomas de Clifford, 8th Lord, 150-1
Clifford, John de Clifford, 9th Lord, 158-162, 166
Clinton, John de Clinton, 5th Lord, 152
Clitheroe, 64
Cobham, Sir Ralph, 125
Cock, River, 170
Coifi, a pagan priest 5-6
Colt, Thomas, 152
Constable of England (Duke of Northumberland), 141
Constable, Sir Robert, 175
Constantine, King of Scotland, 217-219
Conway Castle, 141
Conyers, Sir John, 152
Copeland, John, Esquire, 133
Cornwall, Piers de Gaveston, Earl of, 81-2, 100-2
Cospatrick, 4th Earl of Northumberland, 44, 52
Coventry, 140, 152
Crab, John, a Flemish engineer, 88-90
Croft, Captn., 189
Cromwell, John de, 127,
Cromwell, Oliver, 196, 206, 208-13, 215
Cuichelm, King of the West Saxons, 4
Culross, 121
Cumberland, 179
Cumin, William, Chancellor of Scotland, 73
Dacres, Ralph, 1st Lord, 171
Dacres, Sir Francis, 214
Dalkeith Castle, 135
Danthorpe, Matthew, hermit, 141
Darcy, Thomas, 1st Lord, 175
David I., King of Scotland, 55, 58-60, 63, 64-5, 71-2
David II., King of Scotland, 133
Dedington Castle, 81
Deira-field, Castle of, 11
Denman, Sir John, 168
Denton, Sir Richard de, 129
Denton, 181
Derwent, River, 3, 127
Despenser, Sir Hugh, 112, 113, 127, 129
Despenser, Hugh, Earl of Winchester, 112, 113, 127, 129
Devonshire, Thomas Courtenay, 14th Earl of, 171
Devonshire, Humphrey Stafford, 15th Earl of, 173
Deynville, 113
Doncaster, 7, 140, 172
Dovenald, 68-9
Douglas, Sir James, 83-4, 91-3, 95-6, 102, 105-6, 119, 125-6, 132
Douglas, James, Earl of, 135-6
Douglas, Archibald (Tine-man) Earl of, 142
Dryburgh, 121
Dunstable, 164
Durham, Geoffrey Ruffus, Bishop of, 73
Durham, 47-9, 52, 58, 144
Edgar Atheling, 20, 43, 49
Edward, the Confessor, King of England, 16-20, 59
Edward I., King of England, 80, 81, 83, 85, 102, 112
Edward II., King of England, 81, 83-88, 90, 92-93, 100-7, 111-2,
117-8, 120-1, 124, 126-7, 128, 130
Edward III., King of England, 131-3, 135
Edward IV., King of England, 163, 165-174
Edward V., King of England, 174
Edward VI., King of England, 175
Edwin, King of Northumbria, 3-8
Edwin Earl of Northumbria, 17, 19, 21, 23-5, 52
Egbert, Archbishop of York, 44
Ella, Usurper of Northumbria, 12-3
Ely, John Hotham, Bishop of, 98
Espec, Walter l', 61, 66
Exeter, Henry Holland, 4th Duke of, 156, 164
Fairfax, Ferdinand, 2nd Lord, 179-187, 193-7, 199-200, 202-6
Fairfax, Sir Thomas, 179-202, 206, 210-11
Fairfax, Sir William, 184-5, 188, 190-1
Fauconberg, William Neville, 7th Lord, 167-8
Fitz-John, Eustace, 63-73
Fleming, Nicholas, Mayor of York, 92-5, 98
Foulis, Sir Henry, 188, 190-1
Gaunt, John of, 2nd Duke of Lancaster, 140-1
Gaveston, Piers de, 81-2, 100-2, 113
Gifford, Major-General John, 181, 188, 190-1, 193-4
Glemham, Sir Thomas, 179
Gloucester, Robert, 1st Earl of, 55-6, 75
Gloucester, Thomas Plantagenet, 1st Duke of, 135
Gloucester, Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of, 159, 174
Goring, Lord George, 183, 187, 188-9, 191, 206-7
Hanson, Richard, Mayor of Hull, 159
Harcla, Sir Andrew, 1st Earl of Carlisle, 107-8, 110, 114-5, 128-30
Harold Hardrada, King of Norway, 15, 21-32
Harold, King of England, 15-18, 20-3, 26-9, 31-7, 39-41, 43
Henrietta, Queen of Charles I., 187
Henry I., King of England, 53-8
Henry II., King of England, 75-6
Henry III., King of England, 79-80, 101
Henry IV., King of England, 141-4, 155, 164-5
Henry V., King of England, 137, 148, 153, 155
Henry VI., King of England, 150-5, 160, 165, 171-3
Henry VII., King of England, 174-5
Henry VIII., King of England, 175-6
Henry, Prince, of Scotland, 63, 65, 69-70, 72
Hereford, Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of, 100, 105-6, 109-10, 114
Hereford, Henry Plantagenet, 1st Duke of, 139-41
Hereward le Wake, 42, 48, 52
Hessay Moor, 204
Hinguar, a Danish chief 12-3
Holland, Sir John, 13th Earl of Huntingdon and 1st Duke of Exeter,
134-5
Hotham, Sir John, 177-8, 187, 192, 195
Hotham, Captn. John, 183, 187, 190, 192
Houghton, Sir Gilbert, 208
Hubba, a Danish chief, 12, 13
Hull, Kingston-upon-, 80, 140, 175, 177-8, 187, 192, 195, 199, 225
Hungerford, Robert, 3rd Lord, 155, 172
Ireland, Robert Vere, Ninth Earl of Oxford, and First Duke of, 139
Isabella, Queen of Edward II., 92, 103-4, 131
John, King of England, 78, 79
John, Prince, First Duke of Bedford, 143
Jones, Paul, 221-5
Keith, Sir William, of Galston, 84
Kent, Edmund Plantagenet, Fourth Earl of, 127
Kyriel, Sir Thomas, 165
Lacy, Ilbert de, 61
Lancaster, Thomas Plantagenet, Second Earl of, 100-1, 104-114, 116,
129
Lancaster, John of Gaunt, Second Duke of, 140-1
Lancaster, Henry Plantagenet, Third Duke of, 141
Leeds, 6, 183-5, 187-9, 195
Leeds Castle, Kent, 103-4
Leven, Earl of, 199, 206
Lincoln, John de la Pole, Ninth Earl of, 137, 174
London, 20, 57, 147, 154, 163-165, 178, 189
Longchamp, William, Bishop of Ely, 178
Lucas, Sir Charles, 206-7, 214
MacDonoquhy, William, 64, 65
Malcolm III., King of Scotland, 21, 47, 50
Malcolm IV., King of Scotland, 76
Malcolm II., King of Scotland, 76
Malise, Earl of Strathearn, 65
Manchester, Earl of, 202, 205-6, 209-11
March, Edmund Mortimer, Fifth Earl of, 148
March, Edward, Titulary Earl of, 152-3, 156-7, 159, 162-3, 165
Margaret of Anjou, 150-1, 154-5, 159-60, 164, 167, 171-3
Matilda, daughter of Henry I., 55-58, 75
Matilda, Queen of Stephen, 73
Meldrum, Sir John, 178, 197, 200
Melton, William de, Archbishop of York, 92-4, 96, 98
Montacute, John Neville, First Marquis of, 173
Morkar, First Earl of Northumberland, 17-18, 21, 23, 24-5, 52
Mortimer, Edmund, Fifth Earl of March, 142
Mowbray, Roger de Mowbray, Second Lord de, 61
Mowbray, John de Mowbray, Second Lord de, 113, 114
Mowbray, Thomas de, Sixth Lord, 143-4
Newcastle, 58, 76, 81, 85, 135, 171
Newcastle, Marquis of, 180-2, 186, 192-4, 196-9, 202, 204, 207, 209,
212
Newport, Earl, 178
Norfolk, Thomas, Baron Mowbray, First Duke of, 139-40
Norfolk, John Mowbray, Third Duke of, 150
Norfolk, John Mowbray, Fourth Duke of, 165, 169-70
Northampton, 17, 18, 19, 154
Northumberland, Henry Percy, Twelfth Earl of, 140-47
Northumberland, Henry Percy, Thirteenth Earl of, 150-151
Northumberland, Henry Percy, Fourteenth Earl of, 157, 161, 164, 168,
171
Northumberland, Henry Percy, Sixteenth Earl of, 175
Northumberland, Thomas Percy, Nineteenth Earl of, 176
Nottingham, 92, 179
Nowel, Ralph, Titular Bishop of Orkney, 61, 66
Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, 39, 48-9
Ormond, Earl of, 171
Osbert, King of Northumbria, 12-13
Osred I., King of Northumbria, 11
Oswy, King of Northumbria, 8-10
Otho, Archbishop of Canterbury, 218
Parkinson, the Rev. Thomas, F.R.H.S., 151
Pearson, Captain, 222-5
Pembroke, Aylmer de Valence, Tenth Earl of, 124
Pembroke, Jasper Tudor, Sixteenth Earl of, 162
Pembroke, William Herbert, Seventeenth Earl of, 173
Penda, King of Mercia, 7-11
Percy, Sir Henry, K. G., "Hotspur," 135-6, 142-3
Philippa, Queen, 132-3, 135
Phillips, Mrs S. K., 115
Pole, de la, Sir William, 137
Pole, de la, Sir Richard, 137
Pole, de la, Michael, First Earl of Suffolk, 137
Pole, de la, Michael, Second Earl of Suffolk, 137
Pole, de la, Michael, Third Earl of Suffolk, 137
Pole, de la, William, Fourth Earl and First Duke of Suffolk, 137
Pole, de la, John, Second Duke of Suffolk, 137
Pole, de la, John, Ninth Earl of Lincoln, 137
Pole, de la, Edmund, Fifth Earl of Suffolk, 137
Pole, de la, Richard, Titulary Duke of Suffolk, 137
Pontefract, 111, 113, 141, 157, 162, 174
Porter, General, 207, 214
Powis, Lord, 152-3
Randolph, Thomas, Earl of Moray, 83-4, 91-3, 95-6, 102, 105-6, 116,
119, 125-6
Richard I., King of England, 76-8
Richard II., King of England, 133-136, 139-41, 147
Richard III., King of England, 137
Richmond, John de Dreux, Ninth Earl of, 124, 127-8
Rivers, Richard Widvile, First Lord, 153
Rivers, Anthony Widvile, Second Lord, 174
Robert, Earl (Robert Comyn, Third Earl of Northumberland), 43
Robert, Earl (Robert de Mowbray, Eighth Earl of Northumberland) 50-1
Robert, Duke of Normandy, 53-4, 56
Rokeby, Sir Thomas, 145-6, 148
Roos, Thomas de Roos, Tenth Lord, 164
Rupert, Prince, 202, 215
Rutland, Edmund Plantagenet, Titulary Duke of, 152, 159-162
Salisbury, Richard Neville, Eighth Earl of, 150-3, 156-7, 159,
161-162, 171
Savile, Sir William, of Thornhill, 183-5
Scales, Thomas de Scales, Seventh Lord, 154-6
Scarborough, 23, 81, 134, 221-2,225
Scroop, Jeffrey de, Chief Justiciary, 129
Scroop, Henry le Scroop, of Masham, Third Lord, 148
Shrewsbury, John Talbot, Fifth Earl of, 164, 171
Siward, Earl of Northumbria, 15-16, 47
Somerset, Edmund de Beaufort, Second Duke of, 150-1
Somerset, Henry de Beaufort, Fifth Earl of, 153-4, 156-7, 161, 164,
168, 172
Stafford, Humphrey de Stafford, Fifth Earl, 150-1
Stafford, Henry, First Lord, 176
Stephen, King of England, 51, 56, 57-8, 61, 75
Stigand, Archbishop of Canterbury, 20
Sulley, Sir Henry de, 127, 130
Tadcaster, 26, 31, 179, 187, 206
Thurstan, Archbishop of York, 61, 62
Tilliard, General, 214
Tosti Godwinsson, Earl of Northumbria, 15-7, 19-23, 25-27, 31-2
Travis-Cook, John, F.R.H.S., 137
Trollope, Sir Andrew, 152, 162, 168, 171
Tudor, Henry, Sixteenth Earl of Richmond, 174
Turketul, 217-8
Urrie, Sir John, 206, 207
Wakefield, 159, 161-2, 164, 183,186
Walcher of Lorraine, Bishop of Durham, Sixth Earl of Northumberland,
47, 48
Wales, Edward, Prince of, 154-5, 164, 171, 173
Waltheof Siwardsson, Fifth Earl of Northumberland, 16, 43, 45, 47-8
Ward, Sir Simon, Sheriff of Yorkshire, 107-8, 115
Warwick, Guy de Beauchamp, Eleventh Earl of, 81
Warwick, Richard Neville, Sixteenth Earl of, 150-4, 156, 164-6, 168,
173
Warwick, Edward Plantagenet, Eighteenth Earl of, 174-5
Welles, Leo de Welles, Sixth Lord, 164, 171
Westmoreland, Ralph Neville, First Earl of, 140, 143
Westmoreland, Charles Neville, Sixth Earl of, 176
Widvile, Sir Anthony, 153
William, Duke of Normandy, 19-20, 23, 35-41
William I., King of England, 44-49, 51-54, 59
William II. (Rufus), King of England, 49-53
William, son of Robert Duke of Normandy, 53-56
William, son of Henry I., 54-55
Willoughby, Richard Welles, Seventh Lord, 164
Willoughby, of Parham, Lord, 196
Wiltshire, James Butler, Second Earl of, 171
Wulstan, Bishop of Worcester, 20
York, 1, 16-17, 25-26, 43-47, 75-81, 92-94, 126-7, 131-3, 135, 144,
171, 202-5, 213
York, Walter de Grey, Archbishop of, 139
York, Richard Scroop, Archbishop of, 143-4
York, Edward Plantagenet, First Duke of, 135
York, Richard Plantagenet, Fifth Duke of, 174
York, Richard Plantagenet, Eighth Duke of, 137, 150-2, 154-62, 171
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Waller, Edwin Waugh, Joe Wilson.
_In Vol. II. Biographies and Examples of the best Poetry of the
following are included_:--Rev. Richard Abbay, M.A.; Richard Abbot,
John Thomas Barker, John Thomas Baron, Bernard Batigan, William
Billington, Anthony Buckle, B.A.; Thomas Burns, The Earl of Carlisle,
George Cotterell, C. W. Craven, Canon Dixon, M.A.; Jno. Emmet, F.L.S.;
Rev. James Gabb, M.A.; Rev. A. Vine Hall, Jno. Harbottle, G. R.
Hedley, Jno. Holland, Fred Holmes, Allison Hughes, George Hull, J. W.
Inchbold, Rev. J. W. Kaye, Richard Le Gallienne, Thomas W. Little,
Alfred Lishman, Wm. Longstaff, Rev. J. Bernard M'Govern, H. Ernest
Nichol, Fred Pratt, Ben Preston, Joseph Readman, William Renton, J.
Ryley Robinson, LL.D.; J. P. Robson, John Sewart, Abraham Stansfield,
Alfred T. Story, Mrs. Tonkin, J. R. Tutin, Jno. Walker, R.
Spence-Watson, LL.D.; Mrs. Laura A. Whitworth, Geo. Oswald Wight.
Press Opinions.
"It is a really excellent repository of the best local poetry
of the Northern Counties, the specimens being selected with
sound judgment, and the pithy biographies being in the case of
each poet supplied by some writer well situated to obtain
original and reliable information."--_Lancashire Evening Post._
"Mr. ANDREWS has not only achieved success, but deserved
it."--_Eastern Morning News._
"All lovers of English literature will eagerly welcome this
work."--_York Gazette._
"It is really a handsome and interesting book. It is a
permanent addition to the literature of the North
Country."--_Newcastle Weekly Chronicle._
"The biographical sketches are interesting in the
extreme."--_Sheffield Daily Telegraph._
"The memoirs are exceedingly well done, and the sample pieces
have been chosen with sound critical judgment."--_Christian
Leader._
LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO., LIMITED.
HULL: WILLIAM ANDREWS & CO., HULL PRESS.
AN IMPORTANT BOOK FOR REFERENCE.
F'cap 4to. Bevelled boards, gilt tops, Price 4s.
FAMOUS FROSTS AND FROST FAIRS IN GREAT BRITAIN.
Chronicled from the Earliest to the Present Time.
By WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S.,
AUTHOR OF "CURIOSITIES OF THE CHURCH," "OLD-TIME PUNISHMENTS," ETC.
Only 400 copies printed, each copy numbered, and only 50 remain on
sale. Three curious full-page illustrations.
This work furnishes a carefully prepared account of all the great
Frosts occurring in this country from A.D. 134 to 1887. The numerous
Frost Fairs on the Thames are fully described, and illustrated with
quaint woodcuts, and several old ballads relating to the subject are
reproduced. It is tastefully printed and elegantly bound.
_The following are a few of the many favourable reviews of "Famous
Frosts and Frost Fairs."_
"The work is thoroughly well written, it is careful in its
facts, and may be pronounced exhaustive on the subject.
Illustrations are given of several frost fairs on the Thames,
and as a trustworthy record this volume should be in every good
library. The usefulness of the work is much enhanced by a good
index."--_Public Opinion._
"The book is beautifully got up."--_Barnsley Independent._
"A very interesting volume."--_Northern Daily Telegraph._
"A great deal of curious and valuable information is contained
in these pages.... A comely volume."--_Literary World._
"The work from first to last is a most attractive one, and the
arts alike of printer and binder have been brought into one to
give it a pleasing form."--_Wakefield Free Press._
"An interesting and valuable work."--_West Middlesex Times._
"Not likely to fail in interest."--_Manchester Guardian._
"This chronology has been a task demanding extensive research
and considerable labour and patience, and Mr. Andrews is to be
heartily congratulated on the result."--_Derby Daily Gazette._
"A volume of much interest and great importance."--_Rotherham
Advertiser._
HULL: WILLIAM ANDREWS & CO., THE HULL PRESS.
_Elegantly bound in cloth gilt, crown 8vo., price 4s._
* * * * *
YORKSHIRE IN OLDEN TIMES.
Edited by WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S.
* * * * *
This work consists of a series of carefully written papers, reprinted
from the _Wakefield Free Press_ and other Journals.
=CONTENTS:=
=An Outline History of Yorkshire.= By THOMAS FROST. =The Cow-Devil: A
Legend of Craven.= By WILLIAM BROCKIE. =The First Anglo-Saxon Poet.=
By JOHN H. LEGGOTT, F.R.H.S. =The Battle of Brunanburgh.= By FREDERICK
ROSS, F.R.H.S. =Old Customs at York.= By GEORGE BENSON. =Elizabethan
Gleanings.= By AARON WATSON. =The Fight for the Hornsea Fishery.= By
T. TINDALL WILDRIDGE. =Folk Assemblies.= By JOHN NICHOLSON. =Quaint
Gleanings from the Parish Register-Chest of Kirkby Wharfe.= By the
Rev. RICHARD WILTON, M.A. =The Wakefield Mysteries.= By WILLIAM HENRY
HUDSON. =A Biographical Romance.= By WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S. =Some
Scraps and Shreds of Yorkshire Superstitions.= By W. SYDNEY, F.R.S.L.
=The Salvation of Holderness.= By FREDERICK ROSS, F.R.H.S. =Yorkshire
Fairs and Festivals.= By THOMAS FROST. =James Nayler, the Mad Quaker
who claimed to be the Messiah.= By WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S. =Duke
Ricard's Doom: A Legend of Sandal Castle.= By EDWARD LAMPLOUGH.
=Obsolete Industries of the East Riding.= By JOHN NICHOLSON. =Bolton
Abbey: Its History and Legends.= By ALFRED CHAMBERLAIN, B.A. =To
Bolton Abbey.= By the Rev. E. G. CHARLESWORTH.
=A CAREFULLY COMPILED INDEX.=
Opinions of the Press.
_The following are extracted from a number of favourable
reviews of_ "YORKSHIRE IN THE OLDEN TIMES."
The _Bury Free Press_ says: "The volume is one of wide and
varied interest, which will secure for it readers in all parts
of the country."
The _Shields Daily Gazette_ states: "The work consists of a
series of articles contributed by various authors, and it thus
has the merit of bringing together much special knowledge from
a great number of sources. It is an entertaining volume, full
of interest for the general reader, as well as for the learned
and curious."
The _Hornsea Gazette_ concludes its notice by saying: "The work
is one which cannot fail to instruct and entertain the reader."
It is pronounced by the _Hull Examiner_ "a most readable and
well-bound volume."
Says the _Malton Gazette_: "Unlike many books akin to it, this
work contains nothing not of permanent and exclusive worth, and
Mr. Andrews' latest book is one which the future historian of
the shire of many acres will be glad to avail himself of."
The _Christian Leader_ finishes a long and favourable review as
follows: "The volume is one of diversified interest, likely to
find readers in other parts of the country as well as in the
great province to which it has particular reference."
_The Edition is limited to 400 copies, and only a few remain on sale.
An early application for copies necessary._
* * * * *
LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON. KENT, & CO.
HULL: WILLIAM ANDREWS & CO., THE HULL PRESS.
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