"but how have you made your way back, ahead of the army?" hotspur asked, after oswald had given him full information as to the military operations.
"roger and i were left for dead, in that fight i have told you of, near llanidloes; and we fell into the hands of the welsh, and were taken before glendower, who treated us well, and put me to ransom, with the engagement that i was not again to bear arms, in wales."
"that was a strange leniency, on his part," hotspur exclaimed; "for i hear he puts to the sword all who fall into his hands, without any regard for the rules of civilized war."
"he is a strange man, sir henry, and subject, i fancy, to changeable moods. when i was brought before him he was in a happy one, over the success he had gained; and it may be that he took a liking for me. at any rate, he fixed my ransom at a very small sum."
"which i will, of course, pay," hotspur said, "since you were my squire, and were at ludlow on my service."
"i thank you much, sir henry, but 'tis so small a sum that i myself discharged it, without difficulty."
"'tis strange, most strange, that you should have gone into the lion's den, and have come out unscathed. strange, indeed, that glendower, who, as we know, is greatly in want of money, should have fixed your ransom at a low sum. how much was it, sir oswald?"
"i will tell you the story, sir henry, though i would tell no one else; for my freedom is due to something that happened, nigh two years ago, when i was first with sir edmund mortimer. i failed in what was my strict duty, although i disobeyed no orders that i had received, and my conscience altogether acquits me of wrong."
"you may be sure, sir oswald, that the matter will go no further; and knowing you as i do, i feel sure that, whatever the matter was, it was not to your discredit."
"so i trust, myself, my lord; but it might have cost me my head, had the king come to know it. i will first tell you that my ransom was fixed at a crown, and that of roger at a penny."
hotspur, who had been looking a little grave, laughed.
"surely never before was so much bone and sinew appraised at so small a sum."
"it was so put, simply that i might, with truth, avow that i was put to ransom. however, i paid the crown and the penny, and have so discharged my obligations.
"this was how the matter came about;" and he related the whole circumstances to sir henry; and the manner in which the little chain, given to him by glendower's daughter, had been the means of saving his life.
"i blame you in no way, sir oswald," hotspur said cordially, when he had heard the story; "though i say not that the king would have viewed the matter in the same light. still, you held to the letter of your orders. you were placed there to give warning of the approach of any hostile body, and naught was said to you as to letting any man, still less any women, depart from the place. but indeed, how could i blame you? since heaven itself has assoiled you. for assuredly it was not chance that placed on your arm the little trinket that, alone, could have saved your life from the welsh.
"now to yourself, sir oswald. you will, i hope, continue my knight, as you have been my squire."
"assuredly, sir henry, i have never thought of anything else."
"very well, then; i will, as soon as may be, appoint to you a double knight's feu. i say a double feu, because i should like to have you as one of the castle knights, and so have much larger service from you, than that which a knight can be called upon to render, for an ordinary feu. i will bid father ernulf look through the rolls, and see what feus are vacant. one of these i will make an hereditary feu, to pass down from you to your heirs, irrevocably; the other will be a service feu, to support the expenses caused by your extra services, and revocable under the usual conditions."
a week later there was a formal ceremonial at the castle, and in the presence of the earl, hotspur, and the knights and gentlemen of their service, oswald took the oath of allegiance to sir henry percy; and afterwards, as required by law, to the king; and received from hotspur deeds appointing him to two knight's feus, including the villages of stoubes and rochester, in reddesdale. there were, at the time, six knight's feus vacant; and as percy had left it to him to choose which he liked, he had selected these, as they lay but a twelve miles' ride, over the hills, from his father's place in coquetdale.
the oath of allegiance to the king, as well as to the feudal lord, was enacted by henry the second; with the intention of curbing, to some extent, the power of the great vassals; but although taken by all knights, on being presented with a feu, it was deemed of no effect in the case of the immediate lord being at war with the king; and whenever troubles arose, the lord's vassals always sided with him, it being universally understood that the oath to him, from whom they had received their land, was paramount over that to the king.
there having been several formalities to be observed, and matters to be discussed, oswald was unable to ride home until after this ceremony had taken place; but upon the following morning he and roger started early, and arrived, that evening, at yardhope. his welcome was a warm one, and the satisfaction of his father, and the delight of his mother, at seeing him in knightly armour was great, indeed; and it increased when he told them that he had received knighthood at the hands of the king himself, and that hotspur had granted him the feus of stoubes and rochester.
"then we shall have you within a ride of us," his mother exclaimed. "that will be pleasant, indeed."
"the feus have always gone together," john forster said, "and stoubes castle, although small, is a strong one. how many tenants will you have?"
"twenty-three. that, at least, was the number of names set down in the parchments."
"that is not bad, as a beginning. of course, you will keep some ten or twelve retainers in the castle; and with such men as will come in from the villages, at the approach of danger, you will be able to muster fifty or sixty in all for the defence."
"i shall live chiefly at alnwick, father. rochester is given to me as an hereditary feu, but i shall hold stoubes for extra service at the castle; and i have little doubt that percy will, if i do him good service, make it also hereditary. he as much as said so."
"it will make a good portion, lad. yardhope is a knight's feu, though i have never taken up the knighthood; and the percys know that i should fight just as stoutly, as john forster, as if i wore knightly armour; but though the lands are wide they are poor, while yours are fertile, lying down by the river. moreover, coquetdale is more liable to scotch incursions than reddesdale, as the road into scotland runs along it. if needs be we can lend a hand to each other; though, both together, we could not hold either your place or mine against a strong invasion.
"now, tell us how it was that you won your spurs; and how it was that the king, himself, knighted you."
"after i have eaten and drank i will do so, father; for indeed, roger and i are well-nigh famishing."
after the meal, he related the whole story of his adventures.
"well, lad, you were in luck," his father said, when he had finished. "the help you gave those maidens might have brought your head to the block; but it turned out well, and was the saving of your life, so i will say nought against the deed; especially as you owed no allegiance either to mortimer or to talbot, and were, save for the orders that hotspur had given you, your own master."
two days later, having sent over, on the morning after his arrival, a message to the tenants to present themselves at stoubes to take their oaths to him, oswald, accompanied by his father, rode into reddesdale. he found the castle a much stronger place than yardhope, which was but a fortified house; while this was a moated building, with strong walls and flanking towers, and a keep that could be held successfully, even if the walls were captured by a sudden assault.
at twelve o'clock the tenants assembled. oswald read to them the two parchments, and they then took the oaths to him. they were well satisfied to have a young knight as their lord; for the feus had been held by a minor, who had died two years before; and had not been at the castle since he was taken away, as a child, to be brought up at the town of alnwick, where he had remained under the eye of the percys. it had long been understood, however, that the feu would not be granted to him; for he was weakly from his birth, and wholly unfitted for the charge of a castle, so near the scottish border.
according to feudal usage, each tenant expected that he would be called upon to pay a heavy sum, under the name of a relief, as was customary in the case of a new lord taking possession; and they were greatly relieved when oswald told them that, as he already possessed armour and horses, he would quit them for a fourth part of the usual amount; although he should, of course, require their services to enable him to repair such dilapidations as the castle had suffered, during the long term that it had stood empty.
for the next three months, he stayed in stoubes. roger had been sent off at once, with two men-at-arms, to bring the horses and armour that had been left at welshpool; bearing a letter to the governor from oswald, thanking him much for having taken care of them, and saying briefly that he had been left on the field for dead, after the fight near llanidloes; but had recovered, and been well treated by glendower, who had put him to ransom. he took money with him, to pay the expenses for the keep of the horses; and returned, with them and the armour, after an absence of three weeks.
passing through worcester on his way back, he had, at oswald's order, purchased for himself clothes suitable for his position as an esquire. as for armour, it had been arranged that he should have it made for him at alnwick, as it would be difficult to obtain a suit sufficiently large for him.
at the end of the three months the necessary repairs to the castle were finished. the gates had been greatly strengthened with thick bands of iron, the moat cleared out, and at various points the defences had been strengthened. the small amount of furniture then deemed necessary still remained there and, where needful, had been repaired and put in good order. eight men-at-arms had been taken by oswald into his service, and a trusty man appointed as seneschal.
then, after paying another visit to yardhope, oswald rode, with roger and two well-mounted men-at-arms, to alnwick.
it was now april, and bad news had just arrived. glendower had commenced the campaign with great vigour, as the appearance of a comet had been interpreted, by the bards, as an omen most favourable to him, and his force had greatly increased during the winter. he had destroyed the houses and strong places of all welshmen who had not taken up arms at his orders, and had closely blockaded carnarvon. he marched to bangor, levelled the cathedral, and that of saint asaph, by fire, burnt the episcopal palaces and canons' houses. so formidable did he become that the king issued writs, to the lieutenants of no fewer than thirty-four counties, to assemble their forces at lichfield, to crush glendower.
the latter had now taken the offensive, and advanced towards hereford, and carried fire and sword through mortimer's lands. sir edmund gathered his own and his nephew's tenants and retainers, from herefordshire and radnorshire, and advanced against glendower. the armies met on the 22nd of june, 1402, at a short distance from knighton. the battle was obstinately fought, but was decided by the desertion of the welsh tenants, and by the welsh bowmen in mortimer's service turning their bows against his men-at-arms; and, finally, the english were defeated, with the loss of eleven hundred men, sir edmund himself being made a prisoner.
after the battle the welsh behaved with the greatest savagery; killing all the wounded, stripping the fallen, and horribly mutilating their bodies. the news created great excitement at alnwick and, had not the situation in the north been critical, percy would have gathered his forces and marched, with all speed, to avenge the defeat and capture of his brother-in-law.
the earl of dunbar, with many of the tenants of his former estates, and numbers of the english borderers, had entered scotland and carried out considerable raids. in revenge for this, douglas despatched thomas halliburton and patrick hepburn, each with a considerable force, to invade northumberland. halliburton ravaged the country as far as bamborough, collected great spoils, and returned with them. hepburn, who had a still larger force, penetrated farther into england, carried his ravages to within a few miles of alnwick; and then retired north, with an enormous amount of booty.
when, however, he had crossed the border into the country known as the merse, north of berwick, the earl of dunbar fell upon him at west nesbit, and completely defeated him. hepburn himself, with a large number of his men, fell in the battle; and many important prisoners were captured. this battle was fought on the same day that glendower defeated mortimer.
the victory caused great exultation on the border; but alwyn said to his nephew:
"although this is good, as far as it goes, oswald, you may be sure that douglas will not brook this disaster with patience, but will gather the scottish forces; and we may expect him, ere long, at the head of twenty thousand men, and we shall have a fight as stiff as that of otterburn. we shall have northumberland ablaze, and you will see that the earl and hotspur will soon be preparing to meet the storm.
"these last forays took them by surprise; and, as lords of the marches, they have suffered serious humiliation, for this victory was not theirs, but the work of dunbar; and had he not intercepted the scots, on their own side of the border, they would have returned, scatheless, with the spoils of our northern districts. this disgrace will spur them on to make great efforts, and these will be needed, or we shall see northumberland, cumberland, and durham in flames."
alwyn was not mistaken. messengers were sent off to all those holding knights' feus, throughout the county, bidding them to prepare to answer to the percy's call; and to hold themselves, and their tenants, in readiness to march to any point fixed upon for a general rendezvous. they were to warn all the countryside that, directly news arrived that the scots were in motion, they were to drive their cattle and horses to the nearest fortified town, or to take them to hiding places among the hills. everything of value was to be taken away, or hidden, so that the enemy should find but empty houses.
oswald rode to yardhope, with the message to his father.
"i know, father," he said, "that it needed not to warn you; but as it was but a short distance out of my way to come round here, i thought that i would pay you a day's visit."
"no, lad; directly i heard of the victory of dunbar, i said to myself, this will bring the scots upon us in force. douglas will never put up with the defeat, and will make every effort to turn the tables. i shall send all there is worth taking away, to a shepherd's hut among the fells; and shall, as soon as i hear that douglas's preparations are well-nigh complete, journey with your mother to alnwick, and leave her there. i shall return, and with my men will drive the cattle and horses to places where there is little chance of the scots finding them; and will then, after leaving three or four men to look after them, come back to alnwick.
"what do you propose to do?"
"i shall do much the same, father. stoubes is strong enough to hold out against any ordinary raid, but not against an army led by douglas. i shall remove the furnishing and tapestry, and shall send the most valuable into alnwick, and have the rest of them hidden in the woods. these are the orders that have been sent, all along the border. any whose places are so strong that they may well defend themselves, for some time, are to gather all their neighbours there. the rest are to repair to alnwick, to join percy's force.
"you see, there is no knowing where the storm may break. the scots may cross the cheviots anywhere between berwick and carlisle; and, until their movements are known, the earl and hotspur must keep their forces at alnwick, in readiness to march wheresoever required.
"hotspur has sent messengers down to the midlands, to engage as many archers as he can get. of course, we have many here; but the borderers are spearmen rather than archers, and it were well to strengthen our force. still, however large a force he may raise, we cannot hope to check their first incursion. the whole country is open to them and, if they enter near carlisle, they may be in the heart of cumberland, or durham, before we are fairly in motion. we may count, however, on meeting them as they retire, if not before."
oswald then rode to his own place, bade all the tenants prepare to ride with him to alnwick, at an hour's notice; and either to send their women and children on there, as soon as it was known that the scotch army was gathering strongly on the border; or else to gather stores of provisions, up in the hills, and to send the women and children there, the moment word came that the scots were on the move.
the news of mortimer's defeat and capture had been received, by the time oswald returned to alnwick.
"'tis bad news, indeed," percy said to him, "and i know that, as you have been staying so long at ludlow, you will be deeply grieved at the misfortune that has befallen mortimer. however, i doubt not that he will soon be ransomed. i know that the king appointed a commission of knights, to treat at once with glendower for lord grey's ransom, and has given orders for the raising of the great sum demanded. it is to be gathered from a tax on church properties, and in other ways; and doubtless he will do the same for mortimer, whose lands have been so harried, by the welsh, that it will be impossible to raise any large sum from the tenants."
"i fear, sir henry," oswald said, "that the king will be lukewarm on the subject. during his three invasions, he has never once summoned sir edmund to join him; nor has he passed through ludlow, as he might well have done, seeing that it is a central position, and the nearest way for an army marching towards plinlimmon. i remarked, too, that when i mentioned mortimer's name in my discourse with him, the king's brow clouded, as if ill pleased at the name."
"then he acts wrongly," hotspur said angrily. "mortimer has given no cause for offence. he has never, in any way, upheld the cause of the young earl of march; and knows, well enough, that it would be madness to set up his claim to the throne, when henry has given no cause for complaint, and that the boy's existence seems to be well-nigh forgotten by the country.
"however, as soon as this business is over i will, myself, to london; and will beg the king to exercise the same benevolence, in the case of mortimer, as he has shown on behalf of lord grey. why, he might as well suspect us, to whom he largely owes his kingdom, as mortimer, seeing that my wife is aunt to the young earl."
early in august it became known that preparations were being made, upon a great scale, by douglas for the invasion of england; and that, as military governor of scotland, he had summoned all the great nobles to join, with their forces; and it was even said that numbers of french knights were, on account of the long friendship between france and scotland, crossing the seas, to fight under douglas against their old enemies.
"methinks," hotspur said to his knights, "there can be little doubt that there is an agreement between scotland and glendower; and this would account for the fury the welshmen have been showing, and the manner in which they have destroyed the cathedrals, churches, and castles alike; and so forced henry to march against them, with the forces of the greater part of england, just when douglas is preparing to assail us here.
"the forces of westmoreland, cumberland, durham, and northumberland, if together, might hope to make a stout resistance, even against so large a force as douglas is collecting; but we cannot so gather. the earl of westmoreland, who commands the forces of his own county and cumberland, must needs hold them together; lest the scots pour down, besiege carlisle, and carry fire and sword through those counties.
"from here up to berwick the country has been so plundered, and devastated, that it is almost a desert; and i can draw no strength from there. as to durham, they urge, and with some truth that, as the scots have, before now, laid portions of their county waste, they cannot send their forces so far north as this place; as it would leave them unprotected, should the enemy march through tynedale into their county.
"the king has entered wales with the fighting men of thirty-four counties, so from him no aid can be expected; and it seems to me that we shall be quite unable to make head against the invasion; though assuredly, when we have gathered our forces, and are joined by those dunbar will bring us, we will meet them as they return, spoil laden, to the border."
well-mounted messengers had been placed on every road by which the scots could cross the border; and on the 18th of august, one came with the news that, twelve hours before, they had crossed into cumberland at kirksop foot; that they were reported to be ten thousand strong; and that a dozen villages were already in flames. another portion of their army had crossed near tynehead, and were pouring into tynedale.
john forster and his wife had arrived, some days before. oswald had found comfortable lodgings for his mother in the town, which was already crowded with women and children from the border. his father had left again, at once; but returned, with twenty spears, twelve hours after the messenger had brought the news.
"i had two or three of my men out," he said to oswald, as he rode in and dismounted in the castle yard; "but as soon as i heard that the scots had entered tynedale, i knew that it was time to be off, for they are sure to send over strong parties to ravage coquetdale. the road was well-nigh blocked, in some places, with fugitives. in spite of the warnings that have been issued, most of the people seem to have thought that the scots could never come in their direction, and the news has caused a panic.
"however, near the border the scots will find but little plunder. we have had so many invasions that no man is foolish enough to spend money on aught that he cannot easily carry away, and the raiders will, there, find but empty houses. they may sweep in some of the cattle from the hills, to supply them with food on their march; but more than this they will not take, as they go south, as it would be but an encumbrance."
in a few days a strong force was collected at alnwick; but, though chafing at the news of the terrible devastations, that were being made by the scots in cumberland and durham, the earl and hotspur could, at present, do nothing. the invasion was, indeed, one of the most disastrous that had ever taken place; and after having almost devastated the two counties, douglas, with the united force, and an enormous train of waggons laden with plunder, great quantities of cattle, and other spoil, turned north again, at the end of the second week of september.
in the meanwhile, percy's force had been steadily growing. he had early resolved that upon the return of the scots the battle must be fought, and contented himself with sending small bodies, of well-mounted knights and horsemen, to hover in the neighbourhood of the scotch army; and to keep him informed of their intentions, and the route they seemed disposed to take.
douglas had carried his devastations up to the walls of newcastle, but had not attempted to attack that strongly-defended town. he had, indeed, gathered as much spoil as could possibly be taken along; and he moved north in a quiet and leisurely way, being greatly hampered by the enormous train of loaded waggons.
as soon as the earl of northumberland and his son saw that he intended to march up through northumberland, instead of returning by the line that he had come through tynedale, they set their force in motion and marched out; leaving a sufficient strength to hold alnwick, should douglas attack it. being joined, two days later, by the earl of dunbar, they posted themselves in a position whence they could march to intercept the scots, upon any road they might follow on their way north.
on the 12th, they learned for certain that the scots were following the road that would take them through wooler. moving instantly, the earl with his forces came up to them, posted on a hill, a mile to the northwest of homildon. he at once seized a hill facing it, and disposed his knights, men-at-arms, and spearmen along the crest.
hotspur would straightway have charged down, and attacked the scots in their position; but dunbar put his hand on his bridle, and urged him, strongly, to await the assault; and to provoke the scots into taking the offensive by galling them with his archers, in which he was far superior to them; while, on the other hand, they were much stronger in spears and horsemen.
hotspur, seeing the goodness of the advice, assented to it; and ordered the archers to descend, at once, into the valley between the two hills; and to launch their arrows against the scots. on descending, it was found that the scottish bowmen were already in the valley. these they speedily drove up the hill, and then sent their arrows thick and fast among the scottish men-at-arms.
douglas had, like the earl of dunbar, perceived at what disadvantage the party who took the offensive would have to fight; and had determined to stand on the defensive, especially as, if he moved forward, the english could detach bodies of horsemen to work round the hill, and fall upon his immense train of waggons.
for a time, he refused to accede to the earnest entreaties of his knights to advance. but as man after man fell under the english arrows, their impatience increased; until one of his best knights, sir john swinton, rode a few paces out of the ranks, and in a loud voice said:
"my brave comrades, what fascinates you today, that you stand like deer and fawns in a park to be shot; instead of showing your ancient valour, and meeting your foes hand to hand? let those who will descend with me and, in the name of god, we will break that host and conquer; or if not, we will at least die with honour, like soldiers."
a mighty shout followed his words, and the whole scottish host dashed down the hill. the english archers fell back a little, still shooting as they did so; but halted a short way up the hill, and shot so hotly and strongly that they pierced helmet and armour with their arrows.
nothing could withstand these missiles, shot by the finest and strongest bowmen in the world. the scots rolled over in heaps. douglas, although clad in the most perfect steel armour, was wounded in five places, one arrow destroying the sight of one of his eyes. he fell from his horse, and utter confusion reigned in the scottish ranks.
swinging their bows behind them, the archers drew their axes and rushed into the crowd, effecting a terrible slaughter. douglas was made prisoner, as was the earl of fife, a son of the regent albany, the earls of moray and angus and orkney. two barons, eighty knights, among whom were several frenchmen, and several other persons of rank were also captured; while swinton, gordon, and many other knights and gentlemen were slain, together with seven hundred of the commonalty. with the exception only of flodden, no battle on the border was so fatal to the scottish nobility, whose defeat was effected by the archers only.
the confusion was so terrible that the earl of northumberland refused to allow his knights and men-at-arms to charge, seeing that they must trample down both friend and foe; therefore they stood as passive spectators of the desperate fight, not a lance being couched nor a blow struck by any of them. when all was over they took up the pursuit of the fugitives; many of these were overtaken and killed, and the pursuit was continued to the tweed, where, not knowing the fords, many of the fugitives were drowned while endeavouring to swim the river.
"roger, what say you to that?" oswald asked, as he and his squire drew rein, after pursuing the enemy for some distance.
roger's face expressed the strongest disgust.
"well, sir oswald, i don't call it a battle, at all. who ever heard of a battle where neither knight nor man-at-arms drew sword? 'tis out of all reason to fight in that manner."
"nevertheless, roger, as we have won a great victory, what matter is it whether we or the archers bore the chief hand in it? the last battle we fought in was a different matter. we had plenty of fighting, but no victory."
"it was more to my taste, nevertheless," roger grumbled, "even though the welsh well nigh made an end of me; and, for myself, i could not help hoping that the archers would be beaten, and leave it to us to take our part in the fighting. they had done more than their share when they had broken the scottish ranks, and slain i know not how many; and it would have been fair of them, after that, to draw back, and leave it to us to finish the business."
"'tis well as it is, roger, and for one i am well satisfied. we have given the scots a lesson that will keep them quiet for a long time. we have recovered all the spoil they were carrying off, and we could have won nothing more, had we been in the thick of the melee, and come out of it, perhaps, sorely wounded again."
roger, however, was by no means satisfied; and, to the end of his life, always fell into a bad temper when the battle of homildon was spoken of.
all the prisoners of consequence were taken to alnwick, where the army fell back; much to the disgust of some of the more eager spirits, who would fain have crossed the frontier, and made reprisals for the woes the scots had inflicted. northumberland, however, was well satisfied with what had been won, and did not wish to provoke the scots to extremities; feeling that with so many of their leaders in his hands, he might be able to arrange terms that would ensure peace, for a considerable time, on the border.
the prisoners were all treated with great kindness and consideration. they were lodged in the castle, and were treated as guests rather than as prisoners.
oswald and his father were both pleased to hear, two days after the battle, that when the scottish dead were examined, the bodies of william baird and ten of his kinsmen were found, lying together. they had resisted desperately to the last, refusing to surrender themselves; well knowing that their misdeeds and many depredations, in england, would bring them to the gallows, if taken alive.
"well, father, we shall be able to live in peace for a time, now. no doubt the bairds have brought with them every spear they could muster, for none would willingly have stayed at home, when there was a promise of gathering so much booty; therefore their strength must be altogether broken, and it will be long, indeed, before the bairds ride in a raid into northumberland."
his father nodded.
"'tis a good thing, oswald, assuredly; though i would rather that we had had the attacking of them in their own hold. still, at any rate, there is an end of the feud for years to come; and i shall be able to lie down to sleep, without wondering whether they will be knocking at the gate, before morning."
