Durham, their prisoners. A conflict ensued, and Hereward, with a body of his personal adherents, cut his way through the opposing Normans and escaped to Flanders.

Edwyn, on hearing of his brother's seizure and imprisonment, continued to urge the king of Scotland to levy troops and to support the claims of prince Edgar to the English crown, and when Malcolm intimated the success of the conqueror and the instability of the English nobles, the unhappy duke of Mercia hastened to Wales, and prevailed upon his nephew to entrust him with a vessel and a body of men, with which he might attempt the liberation of his brother Morcar. The coast to which Edwyn directed his course is not mentioned by the old historians, but it is stated that he was betrayed by three brothers, who were his principal military officers, into the hands of the Normans. He had landed and had been joined by the inhabitants of the district when the Norman garrison received intelligence respecting him, and sallying out, pursued him and a band of twenty horsemen who attended him, to the shore. There the tide coming in with a heavy surf, prevented him from regaining his vessel, and hemmed him in between the sea and the projecting rocks. Escape was impossible, but he would not surrender to the Norman soldiers, who were rushing down upon him and his few adherents. After a severe conflict, he fell, covered with wounds, into the waves which had risen high over the bank on which he still strove to defend himself. He was lamented even by his enemies, and the conqueror himself was heard to declare, with tears, that the death of this brave and benevolent noble, was the greatest calamity that England had sustained.—Earl Morcar was liberated, by the dying command of the conqueror, but he was again imprisoned by William Rufus and ended his days in his dungeon.

CHAPTER X.

Historical incidents, in which the inhabitants and the great baronial and other distinguished persons of Derbyshire are connected with the general history of the kingdom.

On the death of Edwyn, earl or duke of Mercia (as he is indifferently styled by the old historians) the Mercian name was lost even as a titular distinction. Few particulars relative to Derbyshire, during the period we have been describing, are recorded, and we have, consequently, considered it only as a part of the Mercian territory, in the government of which it was incorporated. We have already observed that its chief town was one of the five considerable posts held by the Danes in the middle districts, and from which they were repeatedly driven by the Saxon sovereigns. Derby seems, at that era, to have been a mart of some importance. It was privileged to coin money; for coins of the reigns of Athelstan and Edgar have been discovered, impressed with its ancient name (Deoraby) and at the time of Edward the Confessor, there were fourteen water-mills within its boundaries. In the general calamities that attended the conquest, it suffered with more than equal severity: Edwyn, in his expedition against the Norwegians, had compelled the inhabitants to supply his army with men and accoutrements, and during the insurrections that broke out against the Norman tyranny, this town and county were frequently the scenes of devastation. The burgesses of Derby were in the space of a few years reduced from two hundred and forty to somewhat more than one hundred, and numerous houses were laid waste.

Throughout the county the freeholders were dispossessed and their places supplied by Norman soldiery. William the Conqueror gave to his followers nearly the whole of the land. In the partition of Derbyshire, Hugh de Ferrers, a distinguished officer and counsellor in the court of the Conqueror, had nearly a hundred manors in this county, and to William de Peverel, the natural son of the Conqueror, were given, together with the Peak castle, twenty manors in Derbyshire, and extensive possessions in the adjoining county of Nottingham.-Ralph Fitz Hubert is mentioned in the Doomsday Book as being in possession of nearly thirty Derbyshire manors. The other proprietors in this county were Roger de Busli, Hugh, earl of Chester, Geoffry Alselin, Ascoit Musard, Walter Deincourt, Ralph de Buron, Nigel de Stratford, Roger de Poictou, Gilbert de Gand, Robert Fitz William and others; together with the abbey of Burton and other ecclesiastic establishments. The king retained the town of Derby and about a hundred and twelve manors in his own hands.

So rapid and violent a change in the proprietorship of the land was attended with calamitous consequences to the enslaved and degraded people. The manners and even the language of the English were despised by the Normans, and although William pretended to respect the body of Saxon laws which had been compiled during the reign of Edward the Confessor, from the West Saxon, Mercian and Danish institutions, he endeavoured to abrogate such of them as had relation to the liberties of the people, and to introduce the more despotic laws of Normandy. Many of the Normans, who regarded the expedition of William in the light of a piratical adventure, hastened, by every means of rapine, to enrich themselves, and to return to their native country to enjoy their spoils. Odo, bishop of Bayeux, the maternal brother of the Conqueror, after a residence in England of fifteen years, thought himself rich enough to purchase the popedom. He caused a magnificent house to be built and prepared for his reception at Rome, but while he was collecting his plunder together and making ready to convey his accumulated treasure from the island, he was seized by the king himself, who told him that he arrested him not as bishop but

as earl of Kent. Numerous charges of extortion were proved against him, and his wealth, being confiscated, enriched the royal treasury. This was not a singular instance in which the Norman barons, after plundering their English vassals, became themselves the prey of the greedy court. During the reigns of the Conqueror and his two sons, William Rufus and Henry, we have few historical particulars immediately connected with this county. The castle of the Peak is supposed to have been the seat of government, where William Peverel held his court, with an authority, more circumscribed, but nearly similar to that previously exercised by the earls or dukes of Mercia. There are still some vestiges of this court, which continues to be held at Lenton in Nottinghamshire; but of this and of the court derived from the manor of Lancaster, we shall take notice more at large in the proper place.

In the contention that was carried on between William Rufus and his brother Robert, the latter reluctantly submitted to a treaty which not only deprived him of the crown of England but gave to his younger brother certain important towns and districts on the coast of Normandy; he was therefore easily encouraged by the king of France, in the year 1093, to infringe the treaty and seize upon some of these important places. William, upon this, levied troops and hastened to France. His natural brother, William Peverel, was entrusted by him with the command of Helme, a town and castle in the province of Eu, which he garrisoned with men drawn out of the counties of Derby and Nottingham. Robert having received aid from the king of France, took Argentau and besieged Helme, where Peverel, after a short resistance, surrendered at discretion. The next historical incident that we meet with in any way connected with the inhabitants of this county, is the celebrated battle fought at North Allerton in Yorkshire, in the third year of the reign of king Stephen.-David, king of Scotland, had invaded the northern provinces of England, with a numerous army, in which many of the most warlike chieftains of his kingdom were attended by their followers, in order to espouse the claims of the empress Maud, the niece of their sovereign, to the English throne. The Scottish monarch had also a more personal interest in this invasion, and he took occasion to foment the troubles which distracted the reign of Stephen, in order, more successfully to enforce his own claims to the earldoms of Northumberland and Huntingdon. These claims he derived from his marriage with Maud or Matilda, the daughter and heiress of the illustrious earl Waltheoff, by one of the nieces of William the Conqueror.

The time chosen by David for this invasion, was that in which Robert, earl of Gloucester, natural brother to the empress, had prevailed upon a large party of the barons, south of the Trent, to espouse the cause of his sister, and had seized upon the city of Bristol. Stephen was in the south of the kingdom, surrounded by barons whom he mistrusted, and who had actually remonstrated against the honours he bestowed upon his favourite, William de Ypres, notwithstanding his promises to discard all foreigners from his court. In this state of emergency he sent his royal letters to Thurstan, archbishop of York, empowering him to summon the northern barons of the realm to arm their followers in order to oppose the inroads of the Scots.

Those barons who obeyed the summons with alacrity on this distinguished occasion were the following. William, surnamed Le Gros, earl of Albemarle, in Normandy, but endowed with numerous manors in Yorkshire. He was young, active and bold: his troops consisted chiefly of adventurers from Picardy, trained to warfare, and esteemed both for their valour and their military skill.-Walter de Gand, a veteran soldier, who with his father had distinguished himself under the Conqueror, and had obtained lands in Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire. He was far advanced in years, and led on this occasion a body chiefly consisting of Flemings and Normans.-Robert le Brus, of Skelton and other manors of Yorkshire and Durham, had accompanied William the Conqueror from Normandy. He was at this period very aged, and having been a personal friend and intimate of the king of Scotland, from whom he held the manor of Anandale, he endeavoured, but in vain, to persuade David to accept of terms of accommodation, and to return to his own kingdom.-Roger de Mowbray, was of the Albini family: he was a minor and ward to king Stephen. On this occasion he headed his tenantry from the counties of Warwick and Leicester.—Walter D'Espec, one of the most illustrious of the maternal ancestors

of the dukes of Rutland, was equally eminent for piety and valour. "Quickwitted, prudent in counsel, serious in peace, discreet in war, a trusty friend, a loyal subject; of stature more than ordinary large, yet comely; his hair black, his beard long, forehead high, great eyes, big face but beautiful, shrill voice, in speech elegant." His chief manor was Hamlake in Yorkshire. This honourable and experienced warrior had, by the king's letters, been joined in commission with Thurstan the archbishop, to summon the northern barons to take arms against the invaders; and in pursuance of this commission, when the army was assembled, he, from a mound, which had been raised about the standard, addressed the warriors around him, in an eloquent and pious oration; and, as he concluded it, he turned to the earl of Albemarle, giving him his right hand, and saying, "I faithfully promise you, that I will conquer the Scots this day or lose my life by them."— William de Perci, ancestor of the dukes of Northumberland, was also present, at the head of his tenantry, and was accompanied by Alan, the illegitimate, but brave son of his deceased elder brother.-Bernard de Baliol, from whom descended the claimant of the crown of Scotland, during the reign of Edward the First, inherited from his father, who accompanied the Conqueror from Normandy, a barony in Northumberland, and several manors in Durham and Yorkshire. Being a warrior highly esteemed for his years and experience, he was nominated by archbishop Thurstan, as his agent, to meet a convocation of the northern barons at Thersk, in order to take into consideration what resistance should be made against the Scots. In consequence of the determination of the assembly, he was sent with Robert le Brus to king David, who had then advanced to the banks of the Tees. The failure of this embassy has already been mentioned.— Among the other distinguished leaders in this great baronial army were Richard de Courcy, William de Fossard, Robert D'Estoteville, and Gilbert de Lacy; but the circumstance that particularly connects this glorious event with the history of Derbyshire, is the part which Robert Ferrers, Ralph Alselin and William Peverel took in the transaction. The two former, as we have already seen, held vast possessions in the south of this county, while the latter was lord of the Peak, and of numerous manors in Nottinghamshire. Under such leaders the men of Derbyshire composed the chief strength of the combined forces.

The confederated barons encamped at North Allerton, about the 20th of August, 1138, and there they resolved to await the approach of the enemy. Their camp was intrenched, and in the middle of it there was an elevated mound. On this mound was a pole of extraordinary height and size, bearing on its top a silver pix, with the consecrated host: the banners of St. Peter and of St. John de Beverley were attached to the shaft. This was the holy standard, which the confederate barons, with their followers, bound themselves to maintain; and hence the battle which ensued, has been known by the name of the Battle of the Standard.

On the eve of the battle, which took place on the 22nd of August, the archbishop harangued the congregated chieftains from the base of the standard. He explained to them, that the safety of their estates depended upon their own exertions, as it was impossible for the king to come to their aid. They pledged themselves, in his presence, to God and to each other, and prepared to withstand the advancing enemy.-The Scots, encouraged by their triumphant progress from the confines of their own country, attacked the intrenchments with confidence that seemed to anticipate success. The contest was long and sanguinary, and the enemy, frequently repulsed, as frequently returned to the charge. The victory was at length decided by the valour of Robert Ferrers and the Derbyshire men under his command. The Scots were completely defeated, with the loss of not less than twelve thousand men. In consequence of this successful termination of a battle, which in his precarious condition, threatened to divest him of his crown, Stephen conferred on William Le Gros, the title of earl of Yorkshire, and on Robert Ferrers, that of earl of Derby.

Ranulph de Bricasard, the third earl of Chester, by his marriage with Lucia, the sister of the celebrated Edwyn and Morcar, the sons of Algar, duke of Mercia, seems to have strengthened his claims to the inheritance of lands, torn from those illustrious Saxons, and conferred by the

Dugdale, from the Abbot of Rievaulx.

Conqueror on his uncle Hugh Lupus, by this alliance. He certainly conciliated the attachment of the remaining English tenantry connected with a family so high in their estimation. Lucia had been twice married before: first, to Ivo Tailbois, a rude and imperious Norman adventurer, by whom she had an only daughter, who died young: secondly, to Roger de Romara, earl of Lincoln, by whom she had William de Romara, who held several high military appointments under king Henry the First. On his mother's third marriage, which was with Ranulph de Bricasard, he laid claim to her possessions, but Ranulph having placed them, as the dowry of his wife, under the wardship of the crown, and engaged to pay a very heavy sum for their recovery, his suit was rejected. Enraged at this injustice, he went over to Normandy, and joined the insurrection which had broken out in that country in favour of William, the son of duke Robert. There he continued in open hostilities for two years, when king Henry, to pacify him, not only gave him those manors in Lincolnshire, which had belonged to his mother, but also bestowed upon him the hand of a wealthy royal ward, Matilda, the daughter of Richard de Redvers.-By Ranulph de Bricasard, earl of Chester, the sister of Edwyn and Morcar, had two sons, from the eldest of whom (Ranulph de Gernons) may be traced branches of the lineage of the dukes of Devonshire and Rutland. She survived her husband, and in the 5th of Stephen she paid to the king three hundred and seventy marks for the livery of her dowry out of the lands of duke Algar, her father; and soon after she paid a fine of five hundred marks, that she might not be compelled to bestow her hand and her possessions upon a fourth husband.* She was buried at Spalding, a monastic cell attached to the abbey of Croyland, and richly endowed by her illustrious Saxon ancestry.

Ranulph de Gernon was a person of extraordinary valour, but of a turbulent disposition. During the contention between Stephen and the empress Maud, he took part with the latter; but he was feared and respected by both parties. He married the daughter of Robert, earl of Gloucester, the uterine brother of the empress. Under pretence of keeping Christmas in the castle of Lincoln with his half-brother, William de Romara, earl of Lincoln, he repaired thither, in the year 1141, with his wife and a large retinue of armed followers. He then declared openly in favour of the empress, which induced Stephen, who was at the head of a considerable army, to lay siege to the city. The king's forces consisted chiefly of foreigners, but there were also in his camp, as much in the character of auxiliaries as subjects, some English barons, among whom was William Peverel, with a large band of his retainers from the Peak of Derbyshire. Ranulph de Gernon, alarmed at the sudden investment of the place, and fearing that it would not long withstand the assailants, favoured as they were by many inhabitants of the city, privately left the castle, unattended, and hastened to his wife's father, who was recruiting his troops in Gloucestershire and had been joined by the Welsh. The earl of Gloucester, interested in the fate of his daughter, who was besieged in Lincoln castle, as well as anxious to preserve so important a station, drew his troops from their winter quarters, and marched to Lincoln, with such rapidity that he nearly surprised the king, who thought that the waters of the Trent, which, during that season of the year, were much swollen, would have impeded the march of the two earls. Ranulph de Gernon had the chief command of the army, which he divided into four parts. The earl of Gloucester led the reserve, who, as he resigned the honour of leading the van to his son-in-law, addressed the soldiers, telling them that the earl of Chester, being a person noble of birth, and excelling in valour, was worthy of the honour of striking the first stroke on that occasion: that for himself, the madness and perjury of Stephen, who had sworn fealty to the empress in the time of king Henry, was the motive that incited him to arms. He then pointed to the increasing inundations by which they were surrounded, and showed the impossibility of retreat. "We must conquer or perish;" he added, "for those who have no refuge must have recourse to their valour. But," continued he, "against what manner of men is it that you are to fight? Why, there is the earl of Mellent, a most deceitful person, who has iniquity in his heart, fraud in his lips, and sloth in his

She must have been considerably advanced in years at the period of her third widowhood, as she was married to Ivo Tailbois in 1072, and Ranulph, her third husband, died in 1129.