of the besiegers, he was obliged to consent to a truce, which was to last until the Midsummer of the year following. In consequence of this unfortunate termination of the campaign that had commenced so brilliantly, the emperor and the duke of Brabant fell off from their alliance with the king of England, who returned to England greatly irritated at his want of success. He had no sooner resumed the reins than he complained to parliament of the conduct of the archbishop of Canterbury, his prime minister, whom he charged with obstructing the levy of the money voted to him for the expenses of the war; and, at the same time, he caused to be imprisoned most of the first officers of state, amongst whom was Thomas lord Wake, of Chesterfield, all of whom he accused of having acted dishonestly in the levy of the late subsidies.

Whilst thus irritated against the ministers of his government, and discouraged by the defection of his allies, and by the reflection that in two campaigns he had made no advance towards the obtainment of his object, Edward suddenly found his hopes revived, by the offer of John de Montfort, one of the claimants of the duchy of Bretagne, to acknowledge his title to the crown of France, to do him homage and to aid his design. Troops were instantly raised and sent into Bretagne in order to assail the territories of Philip from that quarter, but still nothing effective was performed, and the rival monarchs shortly after consented to submit to the mediation of the pope and agreed to a truce for three years.

The affairs of Scotland demanded the attention of Edward. The obedience of that people to Baliol was partial and temporary. Robert Stuart, who acted for David Bruce, had rallied the patriotic spirit of the Scots and had driven Baliol, who was everywhere regarded as the lieutenant of the king of England, to those southern provinces of the realm which were garrisoned and defended by English troops. These circumstances instigated Edward to attempt the subjugation of Scotland once more, and for that purpose he prepared to invade it both by sea and land. The Scots, intimidated at his purpose, sent ambassadors offering to acknowledge him as sovereign of Scotland, should David not return from France with succours before the ensuing month of May. David, on receiving intelligence of this truce, speedily re-visited Scotland with a large body of forces, furnished him by Philip. On his arrival he was joined by numbers of his subjects, and crossing the borders, he laid waste the northern counties of England, besieged and took the city of Durham and put all the inhabitants to the sword. Alarmed by intelligence that Edward was advancing in person, at the head of a large army, he commenced his retreat to Scotland; but a part of his troops being attacked and deprived of their plunder by the garrison of Werke castle, he determined to lay siege to that fortress.

The castle of Werke, in Northumberland, had been held by the earl of Salisbury, then recently dead, in consequence of bruises received at a tournament at Windsor. He had stood high in favour with the king, and had obtained the wardship of the princess, Joan, daughter of Edmund, earl of Kent, whom, with the consent of Edward, he caused to be betrothed to his eldest son, in the infancy of the contracted pair. Joan had been so remarkable from her childhood for her beauty, that she was known by the name of the Fair Maid of Kent, and the possessions to which she was either immediate or presumptive heiress were great; including in this county alone, besides the town of Chesterfield, the manors of Longstone, Sheldon, Wardlow, Holme and Ashford. It is probable that the earl of Salisbury, having been very recently appointed to a command on the borders, had been accompanied by his lovely ward and intended daughter-in-law to his castle of Werke. Froissard intimates that she had command of the castle, or that she held it in her own right, at the time of its being besieged by the king of Scotland; but she could not then have been more than fifteen or sixteen years of age, and it is not unlikely that the widow of the deceased earl also resided at Werke, and that the countess dowager and the intended countess have been spoken of somewhat confusedly in his narrative. The young earl, who is stated to have been fifteen years old at his father's death, had been placed under the tutelage of John de Somerton and Thomas Waryn.

It cannot for certain be shown that the youthful warrior, Thomas de Holand, who, by his influence over the heart of the Fair Maid of Kent, contrived to cancel her betrothment to the young earl, was resident at Werke castle at the period of the siege. Thomas de Holand was the son of

the Robert de Holand of whom we have already made mention; and in early life he was received into the family of Montacute, earl of Salisbury, and was appointed by him steward of his household. In the expeditions of the king to Flanders, during the two preceding years, he was in the train of his patron, and it is likely enough that when the earl received an appointment upon the borders of Scotland, Thomas de Holand would accompany him and have a command in the garrison of Werke castle at the time of his death. An historical novelist would undoubtedly place him at that spot during so interesting an occasion and find opportunities to unite the triumphs of both love and war. All that we can discover in the narratives of the old historians, is, that the castle was defended with such bravery, that although it was stormed several times and one of the towers demolished, the king of Scotland and his army were obliged to retire from before it. That the approach of Edward was the principal cause of the Scots retiring may be suggested without depreciating the valour of the garrison or the intrepidity of the countess and her gallant defenders. The king arrived immediately upon the departure of the Scottish army, and was not sparing of his compliments to his young cousin upon her having sustained so desperate a siege, and some serious as well as romantic historians have told us that he fell in love with her upon that occasion. He remained at Werke only until the next day; and then went in pursuit of the Scottish monarch. This expedition terminated in a truce between England and Scotland.

Edward employed this interval in domestic regulations; and as he found that in favouring the liberties of his subjects and leaving them the free enjoyment of the legislative power as regarded the general interests of society, they were ever more inclined to promote the great objects of his ambition, he voluntarily confirmed the Great Charter, and promoted the enactment of statutes favourable to the due administration of justice. But while engaged in the works of peace, his mind was bent upon the renewal of war, and his thoughts were continually busied about the means of forming alliances and of leading a powerful army into the heart of France. His allies in his former campaigns had deceived him; and he looked no longer to the sovereigns of Germany or Flanders, whom he had found greedy to receive his money but negligent in supplying the troops agreed upon. He, therefore, changed his plan, and entered into private negociations with the warlike subjects of these potentates, who, according to the feudal system, could levy soldiers from their own territorial possessions, and by the practice of the period were accustomed to engage, as soldiers of fortune, in the armies of the great European monarchs. In order to draw to his court an abundance of these baronial cavaliers, he proclaimed the holding of tournaments on a scale of extraordinary magnificence. A circular hall or theatre was constructed at Windsor, two hundred feet in diameter, which contained a round table, in imitation of king Arthur, at which all the knights that arrived were feasted. Philip of France, jealous of the influence which his rival was acquiring by these splendid festivities, which, he was aware, served chiefly to cover the private agreements for the levy of troops, soon to be used against himself, instituted similar tournaments in various parts of France; but having discovered that some knights who had been drawn to them by the splendour of them and by the custom of the times, had secretly entered into engagements with Edward, he caused them to be seized and beheaded. In vain did Philip endeavour to vindicate himself from a charge of treachery so contrary to the received principles of chivalry; Edward, glad of a pretence to resume the war, proclaimed to all Christendom that the truce had been broken by this atrocious violation of the laws of knighthood. Henry, earl of Lancaster, or rather, the earl of Derby, for his father was yet alive, although then on his death-bed, was sent with an army into Guienne. Richard Fitz Alan, earl of Arundel, was joined with him, in command, and these leaders were accompanied by Hastings, earl of Pembroke, Vere, earl of Oxford, lord Stafford, Sir Walter de Manny and several other barons and knights. The earl of Lancaster had greatly distinguished himself during his father's life, while he was known by the title of earl of Derby. He was employed in the wars during the preceding campaigns, and was sent over to clear the isle of Cagant of a garrison which the French had placed there. On the first onset he was beaten to the ground, but by the valour of the famous Walter de Manny he was brought safely off, to the great joy of his military adherents, who rushed forward with intrepidity, while the brave Sir Walter shouted “Lancaster! for the earl of Derby."

As great part of the earl's estates lay in this county, we may suppose many of the men of Derbyshire to be comprehended in the cry of "Lancaster!"—He had command also in Flanders and was at the great sea fight, already mentioned, before Sluys.

Sir Walter de Manny was by birth a foreigner and soldier of fortune, born in the archbishopric of Cambray. He attended Isabella, mother to Edward III. into England, and rapidly rose into the confidence of the young king, and became possessed* of manors in various counties. In Derbyshire he held Bretby and the neighbouring district. He was a man who had imbibed the chivalric spirit of the period. Having promised various ladies, under whose colours he had tilted with success in numerous tournaments held at the court of Edward, that their knight should be the first to enter France and to take some castle, he, on the defiance of war to Philip of France being proclaimed, rode with forty adherents, armed with spears, through Brabant and Hainault without resting, and crossing the borders of the French territories, with his pendant displayed, entered the town of Mortaigne, and marched down the High Street in open day. On arriving at the extremity, he found the gate closed, the tower garrisoned, and the populace shouting "Treason, treason!" On this, perceiving that he and his troop were in danger of being taken, he caused the wooden houses on each side the street to be set on fire, and in the confusion that ensued rode on through Condé and Valenciennes, and to a strong castle called Tiné, which he took by surprise. Committing this prize to his brother, Giles de Manny, he rode back almost wholly unattended and joined the king at Mechlin.

This expedition to Guienne, with which the most important campaign in the war of Edward for the crown of France commenced, was embarked at Southampton and landed at Bayonne, on the 6th of June, 1344. The body of the army consisted only of five hundred knights and two thousand archers. At Bourdeaux, to which the earl immediately marched, he was received by the inhabitants in solemn procession, and publicly entertained for fifteen days. He then proceeded towards Bergerac, in which town, situate on one of the main branches of the Garonne, the French were stationed in great force. When within sight of this place, the English army halted for refreshment, and there being some complaint of the deficiency of wine, Sir Walter de Manny, who was one of the marshals of the army, said to the royal earl, "If we were good men at arms, we should drink this evening with the French officers at Bergerac." The brave earl replied, "For my part, I'll be no hinderance: taste their wine, if you will." The rest who were present shouted out "To arms!" The assault commenced as soon as they could arrive at the walls, but finding themselves resolutely opposed, orders were despatched to the boats which had accompanied them up the river, to attack the town on the other side. The town instantly surrendered, but the soldiers could not be restrained and it was given up to plunder. During the sacking of the place, a Welsh knight had the good fortune to enter the office of the receiver general of the taxes, and being astonished at the sight of so much money, he was afraid to meddle with it, thinking that none but princes or generals were entitled to so much plunder at once, as he then saw before him. He hastened to the earl of Lancaster, and informed him of the booty; and was, no doubt, very pleasingly surprised, when the noble earl told him it was all his own. After taking Bergerac, the towns of Upper Gascony surrendered to this small army of brave Englishmen one after another. They then attacked the castle of Peligren, but before it could be taken, the garrison sallied out and took the earl of Oxford prisoner. That fortress was shortly carried by assault, and the earl was rescued. The town and castle of Auberoque cost them some trouble; and no sooner did it fall into their hands, than it was invested by a large re-enforcement of the French army. The young earl of Lancaster immediately sent to Hastings, earl of Pembroke, whom he had left at Bergerac, and likewise to lord Stafford, to meet him on his march, and proceeded with Sir Walter de Manny towards Auberoque. The army halted for a day at Lybourne, expecting Hastings, but the troops were impatient to engage the enemy, and the earl of Oxford, Sir Walter de Manny, Sir Richard Hastings and lord Ferrers, who commanded a

* By marriage with Margaret, daughter and heiress of Thomas de Brotherton, earl of Norfolk, and widow of John de Segrave.

company of archers from Derbyshire and Leicestershire, urged an immediate surprisal of the enemy's camp. The army marched all night, and at break of day, were within two miles of Auberoque. The men were then refreshed and the horses were turned out to graze, while a deep wood served as a temporary place of concealment. Scouts were sent out to take note of the position of the French on one side, and to look out for the arrival of Hastings on the other. All were in a state of anxious agitation; particularly as they found that the foe, who lay strongly encamped before the town, consisted of ten or twelve thousand men, while their small army, reduced by continued warfare, and by placing garrisons in various towns and castles, did not muster above three hundred horsemen, armed with spears, and six hundred archers. The time advanced and no tidings arrived of the approach of the earl of Pembroke. Sir Walter Manny repeatedly swore that the brave men whom they had left in the castle of Auberoque should not fall prisoners to the French whilst he had life; and, the evening approaching, Sir Walter, no longer able to restrain his daring spirit, seized his horse, and exclaimed, "Sirs, let us leap upon our horses, and coast under the covert of this wood, till we be on the same side that joineth their encampment; and when we be there, let us put spurs to our horses and cry our cries. We shall enter while they be at supper and not aware of us: then shall you see them so discomfited that they shall keep no array." The earl of Lancaster agreed to the bold proposition. The army proceeded eagerly round the wood until they came opposite to that side of the French camp which was occupied by the men of Gascony, who had been forced into the French service, and among whom they had many friends. The leaders were regaling themselves when the cry of " A Derby! a Derby!" accompanied by a shower of arrows and a fearful onset of the knights, threw the whole camp into confusion. The tumult was increased by the conflagration of the tents, which Sir Walter Manny ordered his followers to set on fire; so that by the smoke as well as by the approach of night, the numbers of the assailants could not be discerned. The English slew, at the very onset, several hundreds. Among the numerous prisoners were the counts de Laille and de Pieregort, with other eminent noblemen. The enemy lost, in this affair, not fewer than seven thousand men. The historian Walsingham states, that among the plunder of Bergerac alone, was a wine pipe full of gold, which the earl of Lancaster distributed with such munificence, that warriors from all parts were induced to join his standard. He took numerous other towns and laid siege to the strong castle and fortress of Montsegur, which he repeatedly assaulted during fifteen days before he became master of it. He was besieging the town of Angouleme, which occupied him a month before its surrender, when he heard of the death of his father, who had just lived long enough to be made acquainted with the glorious victories of his son, by which the whole province of Guienne was recovered to the crown of England. Such a series of successes, by so small an army, is almost without a parallel in the pages of history. The death of his father being known to the army, he was saluted, in a military manner, with the titles of honour to which he had succeeded, but he retired mournfully to his tent, lamenting aloud that he could not attend the funeral obsequies of his parent, and shortly after withdrew the remnant of his brave adherents to Bourdeaux.

END OF THE FIRST PART OF VOLUME ONE.