English Knight

by Griff Hosker

  The captain’s name was Olaf. It seemed he came from a long line of seafarers. I saw Viking blood in him and he had a hard face but he was a pleasant man. He lived with his wife in Stockton. She turned out to be Alf’s sister. Most of his trade was in carrying iron ore from the hills on the southern side of the river. He was almost like a ferry. I asked him why he did not bring goods which the villagers could use.

  “They have little money. Norton is a poor manor, meaning no disrespect. The land is marshy and the farms are small. The nearest wheat farm is south of the river. It might not be so bad a living but the Scots raid and pillage every couple of years and the people have little hope of prosperity.”

  “Why does the Bishop not stop them?”

  “Because he lives in London and the other lords, well let us just say it serves them to keep this river and its people frightened and wary. The Normans have long memories and it was the Eorls from around here who rebelled against William the Bastard. All of them were slaughtered but they are still suspicious of those who live hard by the river. My wife and her family hid close by the river to escape slaughter. She was but a child then.” He shook his head. “I know that you are not Normans but it will take some time to win them around. Be patient, my lord, they are good people.”

  I had much to think on as we sailed west. It was slow going for the wind was not in our favour but the captain seemed quite happy to tack back and forth. I could see why he had such a small boat. Anything larger would have struggled to negotiate some of the bends.

  “She is a knarr. They do not make them now but my ancestors sailed them to Miklagård and back. They are a sturdy ship. They can handle the ocean but they ply the river well.” He pointed to the north. “There, that is where the quarries are. Persebrig is a couple of miles to the west but we can quarry and load from here.”

  He pulled his small ship close to the shore. There was no tide and he had his small crew tie us fore and aft to a couple of trees. William had brought his tools with him but he was confident that we could just pick up the stones that we would need.

  We had a short climb up the bank and along a track. It was less than a hundred paces, all told, but the last part was quite a steep climb. We emerged through a hedgerow and I saw the quarry before me. It was not what I was expecting. The ones I had seen in the east were deep holes. This was more like the side of a cliff which had crumbled in a storm.

  “There my lord; this is perfectly good stone for the church and the tower.”

  I only knew marble and granite and this was neither. It was yellow sandstone. I was not so certain. “Why is no one here? Who owns this quarry? The Bishop of Durham could use this stone for his cathedral.”

  “No, my lord. This is good stone but it does not carve well. Your father wants stone to walk upon and to keep him safe. This is perfect for that.” He grinned at Olaf, “Well captain, time for your men to earn their money. The sooner it is loaded the sooner we can get you back to your wife!”

  I sat on one of the larger rocks and watched as they picked the stones selected by William and began to transport them down the slope to the ship. I was surprised at the speed with which they did so. Most of the stones were slightly bigger than my helmet and could be carried by one man but William had them carry some which were thinner and the size of my shield. “These will make our task in the church much easier. I will have less work to do on them.” I saw the wisdom of using a man with such skills. I would have randomly collected all the stones. William chose what he needed.

  And then we were loaded. I was alarmed at how much the knarr had sunk lower into the river. There appeared to be perilously little freeboard left. Olaf laughed at my concern. “Do not worry my lord. It will help us to sail better and this time both the river and the wind will be with us. We will fly back.”

  And he was correct. There was still light in the sky by the time we reached Harold and the horses at Stockton. He tied up to the bank and I saw that the tide was going out. “We will unload in the morning, my lord when the tide is higher and it will save my men wasting their energies.” He held out his hand.

  I was loath to pay him but I had little choice. I counted out the coins and he knuckled his head and said, “Next time my men and I will fetch the stone for you if you like. It will just cost one more silver coin than the payment this time. Now that we know what kind of stone your mason wants we will be able to work quicker.”

  I looked at William. “It is a good idea my lord. We can always use the stone.”

  “Very well. I will return with my father and some carts to transport it.”

  As we rode back through the dusk Harold told me what he had learned. He had been to the ale wife and she knew all. Raiders tended to come at harvest time. The local farmers had nowhere to hide and protect themselves. Most of them just fled into the empty part of the land to avoid the voracious predators. It explained why there were so few farms. It must have been soul destroying to raise crops and animals and have them taken away before they could be used. He also told us about the different crafts who worked in Stockton. There the people used Olaf’s boat to flee across the river when the raiders appeared. It seemed that the Scots had stopped attacking the settlement. It was not worth the effort. I saw that the manor of Norton was not what it seemed. It was an island surrounded by a sea of enemies.

  “You have done well, Alfraed. From what you have told us I can tell that you wish a castle at Stockton.”

  “Aye my lord but I am not foolish enough to think we can abandon this one. It is past midsummer and we need a safe refuge for the farmers. We can look at Stockton in the next year or so. William has told me that it will take some time to finish his work here. Besides we need our new men at arms training and equipping. The smith in Stockton may have a surly tongue but he can make us armour.”

  I saw the nodding and the approving glances from Wulfstan and the others. For the first time in my life I felt as though I had done something right.

  Chapter 10

  While my father, Ralph and a semi-recovered Garth set off to visit with our farmers we left for Stockton to collect our stones. Wulfstan wanted to use the journey to see how our new warriors worked together.

  While the men loaded the stone on to the cart Wulfstan took me to visit Alf the Smith. I was reluctant for I did not like the man but Wulfstan could be very persuasive. “My lord Alfraed, here tells me you are a smith. Is it just horses that you shoe or can you make war gear?”

  He looked up at Wulfstan. My father’s oathsworn was so big that everyone had to look up at him. “I can make war gear.” He looked at my armour. “But I have never seen armour like that and I would need to examine it first if you wished me to repair it.”

  I reddened, “It does not need repair!”

  Wulfstan laughed, “Nothing so complicated, my friend. We need helmets for our men as well as arrow heads. Eventually we would need mail armour but for the moment we would be happy with ten helmets.”

  “Closed or open?”

  “Open will be fine. We have all the closed ones that we need.”

  “I can do them but there will be a price.”

  I wondered how Wulfstan would deal with this. “Of course there will and we will gladly pay it. However once Baron Ridley begins to collect his taxes then we will be getting some of our coins back. And then when young Alfraed builds his castle here then we will be much closer and able to refine our choices of the work we wish you to undertake for us.”

  That surprised the smith. “You would build a castle here?”

  I decided to speak. After all it would be my castle. “Eventually we will build a stone castle here. Remember that, Alf the Smith, the next time you speak with me.”

  Alf looked me up and down and nodded, “I may have misjudged you sir but it is early days yet. When the Scots come then we shall see your mettle.”

  I was about to speak when Wulfstan said, “If I were the Scots I would fear Lord Alfraed’s sword. He has the fastest blade I have ever seen.
”

  The blacksmith nodded. “I can have your helmets ready by harvest time.”

  Wulfstan shook his head, “That is not good enough. We will call once a week and pick up the ones you have made. We will pay for each one as they are produced so that you will not lose money.”

  He held out his hand and Alf grinned and clasped it, “I can see that you are English and not Norman. Good. The first will be ready in three days. I shall start on it now.”

  The next month went by so quickly that I barely had time to think. Harold now had mail and we had to fit it for him. Faren and Judith made the padded under tunic for him. Wulfstan showed him how to make a shield. Harold and Branton then showed the others and by the end of the month the ten archers we had brought north were armed each with a shield and a spear. Most of them had a sword and, thanks to Alf and our captured helmets, half of them had a helmet too. Osric had shown them how to make a shield wall and how to defend their lord.

  All would have been perfect but I still worried about the lack of horses and the total lack of skill they possessed as horsemen. Wulfstan, Harold and myself were the only warriors who could fight on horseback and Harold was still learning. When our enemies came we would have to hide behind our walls. My dreams of meeting them lance to lance were just that, dreams.

  William worked wonders. He finished the church first for that was my father’s dream. Father Peter was delighted to have a stone floor in his church. It had been Father Egbert’s dream. William also improved the somewhat shabby stonework of the buttresses of the church so that the building was more solid and could be used as a refuge in case of an attack.

  The tower was begun just a couple of weeks before harvest time. “We will not finish it before the spring sowing but it will be a solid tower. We will have a refuge.”

  I was about to complain when my father spoke. “We need more labourers. Perhaps we should visit York and hire them.”

  Garth had totally recovered and he disagreed. “It is a four day journey south, my lord and we cannot guarantee success. If we wait until after harvest then we can use all of our tenants to help us. It is in their interest to have a secure tower as a refuge for them.”

  We all saw the wisdom of that but I was still uncertain about the willingness of our people to work for us. As harvest time approached Wulfstan began to give orders related to the defence of the manor. I was less than happy to be taking orders from one of my father’s men but I had yet to command men in battle and Wulfstan had. I went along with his decisions.

  “We will take a conroi of ten men to our borders and watch for sign of the Scots. I would not have your father’s farmers surprised by a sudden attack.”

  “Will they not flee if they see us?”

  He laughed, “If they do flee without fighting then so much the better but I suspect they will come in enough numbers to fight if they are seen.”

  Norton was not a large manor. A knight could ride, as we discovered, all the way around it, in less than one day. Wulfstan impressed upon me the need to show those who looked to us for protection that we were capable of doing so. “They will remember the Scots and the Vikings raiding. They will look at us and be afeard because of our paltry numbers. I will talk to them but you must look the lord.”

  We had equipped the men with shields and they were well made. As a coat of arms we had used the axe my father and Aelfraed had discovered in the Welsh forests when they were fighting the Welsh. It seemed appropriate and looked nothing like any of the other coats of arms we had seen. I insisted upon a blue background and no one argued with me. I used a plain blue Gonfanon which Harold proudly bore. He now looked the part of a squire with his new helmet and shield. One of the swords we had taken from our ambushers was reasonably good broadsword and he bore that too.

  We traversed the manor every three days. At first the villagers and farmers had been both sceptical and wary but after our fourth visit there was more warmth in their greeting. Wulfstan still spoke to them whilst I remained lordly and aloof. If I am to be honest I felt foolish but Wulfstan insisted that they would expect that. Olaf had more stones for us when we visited Stockton and, after paying him, I sent him back for more. The stone was stored at Stockton. It saved us having to store it at Norton which was already becoming crowded. I would have my castle started the following year by which time William would have finished with the defences of the caste at Norton. Wulfstan gave the same message to all of our people; at the first sign of danger they were to head for the church at Norton. With Father Peter now holding services on Sunday we saw all of our people gathered under the one roof. They marvelled at the stone floor and the walls of the castle were increasingly imposing. After the church service Osric would drill all the men. Most only had bill hooks or scythes as weapons but Branton promised he would have bows made for them by the spring. Once they were under his tutelage they would become the bowmen that the Scots would fear.

  The spring was a long way off. I was just grateful when the fruits, crops and vegetables began to be harvested. All of us needed food for the winter. Our arrival had meant that the farmers had less for themselves; they had to provide for those of us within the fort. My father had decided that we would have our own vegetables the following year but man cannot fight nature. For the time being we would be reliant upon our tenants.

  “If I have to I will send this Captain Olaf of yours to buy food for us for the winter.”

  We had plenty of meat for Branton and the men of the woods were excellent hunters. They provided well. We also had fish and shellfish from the river. It was not the life I was used to but I was become accustomed to it. And then the Scots came.

  Our patrols did not see them. It was Aelfric, one of Branton’s hunters who spotted them. He was up by the woods close to Thropp when he spied them. The deer there made fine eating and he had just felled a stag when he saw the column of riders. He saw no identification upon them but knew that they were a war band dressed in war gear. He galloped back as quickly as he could.

  My father was calmness itself. He sent riders to the farms and villages which lay nearby and ordered them within our walls. The ones within a mile or so were there within the hour. Alf and the people of Stockton took a little longer to reach us. Wulfstan looked at the church. “If we had a bell we could signal them quicker.” It was one of many ideas we had after that first attack and raid. We saw the deficiencies in our defences.

  Those from the outlying settlements, close to Yarum and Egglescliffe were the last to reach us and they barely made it before the Scots arrived. We had our men on the walls. Father hoped that a show of strength might send them elsewhere. In my mind lurked the question of the direction of their approach. Coming from Thropp they had to have passed through Durham. Why had the Seneschal’s men not stopped their progress?

  Aelfric stood next to Branton. I saw him frown as the fierce looking Scots halted a mile from our walls. Branton came to my father and I. “My lord, Aelfric says that this is not the same number of men as he saw close by Thropp. There were many more than those before us.”

  Wulfstan studied the land for a while and then said, “They are drawing our attention north so that they can attack across the swamps. Come Alfraed let us see if we can surprise them.”

  We had put a small sally gate in the wall near to the swampy and muddy ground. The autumn rains had made it even worse than when we had arrived in high summer. Under Osric’s keen eye we had created more swampy areas and the Scots would have to tread very carefully to reach us.

  Wulfstan took four of Branton’s men with us. There were just seven of us and I wondered what Wulfstan hoped to achieve. We halted behind the gate. “They will attack here after dark. It is an old Viking trick and the Scots have learned well.”

  “Why not just shower them with arrows from the walls?”

  “We would waste too many valuable arrows loosing blindly in the dark and besides there is nothing more terrifying than being attacked unseen in the dark.” He put his hand on my cloak
. “Your blue cloak makes a good disguise my lord and Branton’s men here can hide in plain sight. We will sally forth and wait. No one attacks until I give the order and when I say fall back you all get inside the gate.” He stared at me. “Especially our reckless English knight!”

  I saw the grins on the faces of Harold and the rest of Branton’s men. They all knew my reputation. I tried to maintain my dignity by donning my helmet to disguise my emotions. I remembered that first night attack on the way to England. I hoped that I had improved as a warrior since then. I nodded and hefted my shield around to my front. We waited until the sun dipped behind the hills to the west before we risked leaving the castle. The Scots would have men watching the walls. Darkness would be our ally.

  There were just three of us armed with shields and the rest had their bows and spears. We slipped silently through the gate. We were like shadows. I glanced at the walls as we left. There were just four boys on the walls and they were armed with mere slingshots. If we failed then the castle would be taken despite our work and new defences. Much rested on our shoulders. Branton and the archers smeared mud on their faces so that they would not show up in the dark.

  Wulfstan slipped out first. He was a huge man but he could move like a cat. I left next followed by Harold. I was reassured by both his weapons and his armour. His skills with a sword had improved during the last few weeks but they would soon be tested for the Scots were fierce warriors. We crossed the small bridge over the ditch and descended the slope to the edge of the swampy area. Wulfstan’s hand came up. I saw, in the gloom of dark, the archers jamming their spears into the ground and nocking their bows. My sword was already drawn and I watched the darkness below. I knew that I would have to ask Wulfstan why the Scots had not raided the farms first. I could not understand this attack on a castle. My speculation was ended when I heard the sound of someone slipping in the mud and grunting.