by Griff Hosker
Chapter 14
The metal we had recovered would make the second bell. Tam was enjoying a new challenge. Black Bob had limited his work. Here he was his own master and he thrived. Matthew could not ride, nor could he walk very far but he was a hard-working squire and he would not sit idly by. He became a sentry at the top of the keep. My tower had a clear line of sight to all the farms but Cedric’s. He supervised the construction of the bell tower. While we toiled to make our home safe and secure, he watched. It was he spied the first raiders. It was four days later and he saw movement in the woods close by David of Amble’s farm. David had the smallest of farms. He had a field of barley and one of oats. He had three sows and four cows. He had a flock of fifteen sheep. All were within sight of his farm. We now knew the pattern of life around the manor. The archers were to the north of David’s farm. They were by Phillip the Priest’s land. Matthew cupped his hands and shouted, “Intruders by David of Amble’s land!” Had the bell been ready it would have alerted not only the castle but the farmers and the patrolling archers.
I heard, as did John. He was already racing for my horse as I shouted, “Roger Two Swords, mount four men and come with me. Intruders by David’s farm.” We now wore mail all day. The only time it was removed was when we prepared for bed. It was like a second skin. I mounted Eagle and, without waiting for my men at arms, John and I rode out of the castle and turned east.
David and Alice had none to work their farm. They were alone. With a young child, Alice stayed close to the farmhouse and that saved her. We heard David’s dog barking and, as we headed up the track towards the farm, we saw David loosing arrows. He was not an archer trained but he knew how to send an arrow at a foe. There were four men and they had neither helmets nor shields. They were cattle thieves. David had a small herd. They were after it. The track rose and then fell. The cattle thieves lost sight of us as we dropped into a natural hollow but I headed off the road to cut them off. David had harvested his oats and it was just stubble with his three sows grazing. They scattered as John and I rode through them and then we emerged from the hollow. We were just forty paces from the four men. One had stopped to pull the arrow from his arm. The others had spread out and David’s dog was racing towards them. The distraction of the dog had helped John and I to close to within thirty paces. They turned and saw us. The one with the arrow in his arm ran. David sent an arrow into the chest of another. The other two ran. I turned my sword so that I could hit one with the flat of my blade. I leaned out to strike the one on my right. I smacked him hard. He fell to the ground. The other ducked and kept running. John had no such compunction. This would be his first kill and he raised his short sword and brought it down to split open the head of the man he chased.
I turned and saw Roger and my men appear, “There is one left!” They galloped after the wounded man. Dismounting I handed my reins to John. “Well done, John.” He was a little green. The dead man’s brains oozed from his skull. I picked up the unconscious man and, after removing his dagger, draped him over the back of my horse. I led my horse to the house. Alice and her suckling babe emerged. The man David had hit with his arrow tried to rise and then fell back, dead. David nodded, “Thank you, lord. That might have gone ill for us had you not seen us in such dire straits.”
“I think there may be more such attacks. Next time do not be so brave. Go into your house and bar the door.”
“But my animals!”
“They will not move far. The fact that we take our animals indoors at night has made them change their approach. It shows how desperate they are. Attacking at night is one thing but daylight means that they have to risk being spotted. I will have my men patrol on foot too.”
I turned as Roger and his men rode with a body slung on the back of one of the horses. “He fought lord. I am sorry.”
“No matter, I have a prisoner. Burn the bodies. At least their ashes will fertilise your soil, eh David?”
“Aye lord, this has been a lesson.”
John and I returned to Elsdon with the prisoner. Brother Paul treated his wound and we bound his hands. When he awoke, I saw the amazement on his face. He thought that he was a dead man. When we questioned him, we discovered that he came from north of the Forth. The Earl of Fife had spread the word that there were many cattle and sheep to be had with little risk to the thieves. The man and his friends had come south. It soon became clear that there were large numbers of them. This was a clever plan. It cost the Earl nothing and no blame could be attributed to him. These were poor men with little themselves. Their lords were lazy and did not help the folk in their manors. They encouraged them to raid the English. It would weaken us. When I asked why they did not raid Rothbury, which was richer, I was told that the Earl had ordered them to leave it alone. I sent the prisoner to Morpeth with Alan of Bellingham and Wilfred of Sheffield. “Advise the baron to be merciful. We have learned much and the man is not a bad one.”
As September came to a slow close, we found we were working as hard as the farmers. Our buildings were almost complete but my archers now not only patrolled the Otterburn road but also the woods. My men at arms patrolled the Rothbury road and also walked the farms of my manor. Cedric had his horn and he had his sons. If raiders came then he would be able to summon help. My worry was now our horses. The daily riding took its toll. We would need more mounts. I wrote a letter to my father. I asked him for remounts. I would not take charity. I would pay him. He had promised he would return but I did not expect him yet. I also wrote to the Bishop and informed him of recent events. As it was Tuesday, I was able to let Brother Paul ride to Durham. He enjoyed the company of his priests and the ride would allow him to spend a night in Durham and still be back for services on Sunday.
Tam finished the bell by the last day in September. He had cast one for Sir Richard. It awaited finishing. He had spent some time polishing his first bell. He had even engraved it. It took half a day to mount it in the bell tower atop my keep. It was a wooden tower but an archer could use it to send arrows in case of attack. I sent messages to my farmers on the day we tested it. I did not wish them to panic. I allowed Alan of Bellingham the honour of ringing the first chimes. It was clear and true. It had, because of its size, a higher pitch. That was no bad thing. I saw the pride on Tam’s face as we descended from the keep.
“If I had continued to work for Black Bob then such work would be denied me.”
“Then you do not regret my offer of work?”
“It was the best decision I made, Sir William. These are good people. My wife and the Yalesham widows are happy. Their children are occupied. You know that Brother Paul teaches them to read?”
I nodded, “I had heard he did.”
“Where else would such children gain an education? They may never need it but it is good, lord, that they can. I cannot read and I envy them.”
“Then join the classes, Tam. What stops you?”
He looked at me and I saw the light in his eyes, “Nothing, lord! I am a foolish man.”
“If you cannot read, Tam, then how did you carve the bell?”
“I know not what I carved, lord. I copied the marks Brother Paul made. He told me what I wrote. It was Latin!”
He said it with such pride. He thought he was lucky but I knew that I had been the fortunate one.
As the weather changed, we worked even harder. Soon it would be time for the bone fire. We had fewer animals to slaughter for we had byres and we had winter fodder prepared. Cedric brought his animals from the high fells. The animals we did slaughter were the old and the sick. Nothing was wasted from them. Men went into my woods to fetch kindling. We had startled and killed four other men who had been found hiding in my woods but the collection of the kindling guaranteed that none would be in my woods over winter.
I stood at the top of my keep and I surveyed my land. A little more than a year ago I had come and found a manor which was run down. Now it bustled. Our walls, ramparts and ditches were strong. We had buildings in the inner
and lower bailey. We had roads which were dry all year. We had a mill which now ground grain and cereal for the neighbouring manors. Even Morpeth sent cartloads of grain to be milled. The river was controlled and our bridge strengthened.
Alan smiled at me. “You have done much for this manor, lord. When I saw one so young riding towards our walls I feared for our future.”
“No more than I, Alan. The people have pulled together but there will be harder times coming.”
“The Earl of Fife.” He nodded.
“The good news is that when he comes, he cannot use masses of knights. He will come thinking that we are what we were, a rundown manor with poor defences and inadequate numbers of men. He is in for a shock.”
“Will your father come?”
“He promised to return but his return is not for some time. If he can he will but it is four days from Stockton to here and that is still a hard ride. We need to be able to withstand a siege of a month or so. Can we do that?”
“We have a well and we have the river. There are barrels of salted game and we are well provided with grain. If we do not lose the lower bailey then a month will not be a problem.”
I nodded. That was all that I could hope for.
When Brother Paul had returned it was with the news that the Bishop had informed the King’s officers of the border problems. I was unsure how long it would take the message to reach the King and I also worried that I might be censured. I knew I had done nothing wrong but my father had learned that kings did not act as ordinary men did. When he returned, he examined Matthew’s leg. It had healed and coincided with the completion of the bell for Otterburn. We loaded the wagon and rode to Otterburn. We delivered the bell to Sir Richard and Tam helped to fit it.
Sir Richard had also encountered cattle thieves. He had not sent them to Morpeth, he had hanged them. He built a gibbet at the end of the village and the rotting bodies swung there. He showed me his new moat. It was fordable but men would not be able to use a ram. Men with ladders would be subject to arrows from the tower. He had also strengthened the base of the tower. The bell delighted him. “We will fit it as soon as we have built a tower for it. I will send coin to your smith. A skilled man deserves payment.” He grinned at me, “We heard your bell!”
“Tam tells me that this one will sound different. He used the same mould but a different mix. When you sound it, I will tell you.” I gave him the news from the Bishop and of our encounters with raiders. “I believe that they will come before Christmas. Last year we had such snow as to hamper movement. This autumn has had storms and rain but, generally, it has been benign.”
“I think you are right. God will test us soon enough.” I asked Richard to sound it the next day as a test. We were back in Elsdon by then and we heard it clearly. It was just three peals of the bell. If there was danger it would be continuous. It worked. We heard it clearly. I sent a rider back to Sir Richard with the good news.
And then the rains came. The farmers who had already harvested their crops were pleased but those, like Dick Jameson who had been waiting to collect their beans, were not. The beans would not suffer too much but it was simpler collecting them when they were dry. It made them easier to store. It was too wet to collect kindling and, instead, my villagers set to preparing their homes for winter. Inevitably wattle and daub became damaged. In summer it did not matter but a hole in winter could make a house feel like ice. Those who had slate rooves checked them while the ones with turf rooves repaired them.
After three days the first of the autumn rains stopped and the women hung washing out to dry. It was then we heard the sound I had been dreading. It was the bell of Otterburn. I sent a man at arms to the keep to sound ours. My men at arms and archers manned the walls and Alan of Bellingham went to the gates with John and Matthew to shepherd the villagers to their temporary quarters. Dick, Tom and Harry were the first to arrive. They had the fewest animals and lived the closest. David of Amble and Alice, along with their son and animals were next.
I was becoming anxious. If the Scots had timed their attacks to coincide then we could expect an imminent assault. Margaret, wife of Stephen, and her children helped Rafe and his family drive their animals towards us. Despite the fact that I had ordered him to come in to the castle I knew that Cedric the Sheepman would disobey me. It could not be helped. Rafe’s son Rafe and his other son, Henry, brought their families and the last to arrive was Phillip the Priest and his wife. Once they were within my walls we went to the sluice and opened the leat from the mill and the mill pond began to empty into the ditch which ran around the lower bailey making it a moat. We would have to refill the pond when the threat was over but this was a small price to pay for security. Finally, we raised the bridge over the ditch. We were ready.
With archers in the half dozen wooden towers we had built around my palisade and in my keep, the men of my village dispersed themselves along the fighting platform. I walked with Roger Two Swords to allocate my men at arms. This was the first time we had done this and it did not go smoothly. In the end, there was no need for worry. We were not attacked.
As darkness fell, we sent the villagers and half my men to eat. I stood with Roger, Matthew and Garth at the top of my keep. Alan of Bellingham climbed the ladder to join us. “Was this a false alarm, my lord?”
“I am not certain, Alan. We heard Otterburn’s bell and that means they were under attack. I suspect that the Earl of Fife thought to trick us. He hoped we would go to the aid of Otterburn. Then he could either attack Elsdon or ambush us along the road.” I peered to the northeast. My fear was not the Scots but the men of Rothbury. “We leave one man in five to watch the walls. The rest eat and then sleep. Tonight, we have half of our garrison stand a watch. The villagers can rest. If we need them then we call them.”
“What of Cedric the Sheepman, Sir William?”
“We have not heard his horn, Alan of Bellingham. He may not be under attack and even if he were it would be folly to go to his aid. Sir Richard and I have made our plans and we must be resolute. Alan, here, thinks we can hold out for a month or more. Let us show the Scots that Englishmen have backbones.”
Roger and Garth went to send the men to eat and I wandered amongst my folks. They were all eating at long tables out in the open. We had emptied the two halls in the lower bailey of all furniture. We would be crowded. The men looked happy enough and, to the children, it was all a grand game. The children who lived outside the castle suddenly found new friends with whom they could play. The women looked nervous but the Yalesham widows who should have been the most apprehensive were laughing and joking. Mary, widow of Harry, patted the bench next to her, “Come, my lord, and sit here. Mistress Anne has made a fine stew. The rabbits are so tender that they fall from the bone.”
“I have much to do. I merely came to see if all was well.”
Mary of Yalesham banged the table, “Mistress Anne, food for his lordship. All is well, my lord. We are all safe inside your walls and we are all content. You have good warriors and they watch your walls.”
Mistress Anne now had a slight bump and she looked radiant. She brought me a bowl of food, “Mary is right, my lord. All is prepared. We have a priest amongst us. There is more food than I have ever seen and besides, the Scots are only dangerous when they strike in the night. These walls will keep them hence.”
Mary nodded resolutely, “Aye and this time the women of Yalesham will not go easily. If they breach the walls, which I doubt, then they will have to fight us too eh?”
The women all cheered and banged the table. “Very well then, I shall eat!”
I ate. I drank freshly brewed ale and I laughed. Mary and the others had the joy of life for they had been slaves and then freed. When I had finished and wiped my mouth with my napkin, I turned and said, “A fine meal! And now…”
Anne sat on the other side of me, “Master John says that you are a fine singer, lord?”
I shook my head, “John would not know a good voice and I…” I now regr
etted singing for my men when we had first arrived.
“Come, my lord, you have had your supper, now you shall sing for it.”
I looked at the expectant faces. The whole of the lower bailey had become silent. Anne leaned in and whispered in my ear, “It will make those who are nervous forget their fears, my lord.”
I nodded and stood. I saw John coming from the upper bailey. In his hands, he held my crowd. I would have words with my page! He handed me the crowd and gave me a sheepish grin. I checked the tuning. When there was silence and I was ready then I began. I sang the song I had sung when I had been knighted. It was a song of unfulfilled love and sadness. The children did not understand it but I saw some of the women wiping tears from their eyes.
John stood close by looking apprehensive. He said, “Lord, give them the one about Sir Hubert. It will make them laugh.”
“I think I have made enough of a fool of myself for one night.”
Mary put her rough hand on mine, “Lord, you have done no such thing. Look at their faces. You are held in higher esteem now than before and that is hard to do. If you can make them laugh now then all fear will fly from their hearts.”
I nodded and I sang.
Hubert de Burgh is a fine fat man
He can count his numbers better than a miser can
He roars and struts when the enemy cheer
But when they are close he flees in fear
You know where he is for he cannot hide well
I only sang three verses. They did not know Sir Hubert but they knew the type of knight and they laughed. When I had finished, I stood, “And now I must go. It is time for Brother Paul to hear my confession. War is coming and your lord must be ready!”
My people cheered and it was the best war cry I had ever heard.
I arranged with Garth and Roger for one of us to be awake all night. I spoke to them before I retired, “They might come tonight and they might not. We need to be alert but make certain that our sentries do not move around. Remain still and let our eyes do the work. When we see them then the cry is ‘stand to’. We ring the bell. We stop them from getting to the walls.”