by Griff Hosker
We spent three days ensuring that the Welsh had indeed departed, and then we headed down the coast towards Harlech which we believed still held out against Glendower. We managed to reach no further than Criccieth before we learned that the castle was in Welsh hands. Whilst not as formidable as Harlech, it would still take too long to subdue and winter would soon be upon us. Reluctantly we headed north but this time, when we had passed Caernarfon, we stopped on the shore which lay opposite Beaumaris. The straits looked narrow enough to swim and yet they might as well have been an ocean for we had no ships and could not transport the men. As we stood looking at the castle and those besieging it Prince Henry said, “I have read Tacitus who was a Roman writer and he said that a general called Agricola invaded Anglesey by having his men swim their horses across the straits.”
I shook my head, “Then they were either braver or luckier than any warrior I know; probably both. Let us wait until we have ships, in the spring, lord. Use your money wisely.”
He nodded, “But I will not leave my people without hope.” He mounted his horse and took his banner from Sir Richard Fulk. He rode down the rough ground to the shingle beach and, riding up and down, he waved the standard and shouted, “I am Henry of Monmouth and I swear that I will relieve the sieges of Beaumaris and Harlech!” He repeated it four or five times. Some men might have said that it was an empty gesture for only we heard his words but Prince Henry believed that the land and the sea heard. His riding back and forth, waving his banner would be a sign of his intentions. While some of Sir Thomas’ knights shook their heads my men and Prince Henry’s knights nodded their approval. We were not beaten but we would need time to gather the men and the weapons we would need.
When we reached Rhuddlan the castle was on the point of surrender to the Shropshire levy which we had left surrounding it for they had had not laid in food for a protracted siege. When the Prince demanded that the Welsh defenders surrender then they obeyed. It was one thing to hold out against the levy but not the mounted knights we took to their gates. We took hostages from the nobles but freed the rest after disarming them.
We parted with Sir Thomas at Shrewsbury and it was there we heard that the King had subdued the north and the punishment he had inflicted was financial although his confirmation of the appointment of Sir Ralph Neville as Sherriff of Westmoreland promised that Henry Percy would be watched. I rode with the Prince to Windsor where he would meet with his father. Its defences had been strengthened and it would be a place to train and to plan his strategy. While riding south I expressed my doubts about the Earl of Northumberland for I did not trust Henry Percy.
“Will, you do not like him and that I can understand for he tried to have you killed.”
“It is nothing to do with that. We killed his son and his brother. He is a northern warrior and this has become a blood feud. Better he had been executed and his lands confiscated. It will need to be done sometime. The men of Northumberland are pragmatic. They will ally with anyone, including the Scots, to get that which they want!”
Prince Henry nodded. I saw him looking at the knights who accompanied him and I knew what he was thinking. When he became king then these would be the men he would have to trust. His father was an isolated and lonely man, much as his cousin, Richard, had been. My opinion was confirmed when he asked, in a quiet voice so that only I could hear, “Will, your men are the most loyal of any that I have seen. How did you achieve that?”
I smiled and said, “You should know that Prince Henry, for you have lived in my home at Weedon. They are part of my family. I grew up, as you know, without brothers, sisters, and even a mother. My father raised me but treated me harshly. It was the brothers in arms, the company, who were my family and I have tried to do the same with the men who follow me.”
“Then that is what I shall do. When you leave me at Windsor, I will spend the winter becoming stronger in my body for the wound took more out of me than I would care to admit. I will also seek to surround myself with men that I will make close to me. I would have you enjoy the winter with your family. I know the sacrifices which you have made and also the demands my father had made of you. I will not forget them but as this brief foray into Wales has shown me, I need you at my side until I can command and make wise decisions as well as you do.”
I nodded and smiled, “Prince Henry, I know that my life and yours are intertwined. Your father and King Richard are the reason for my elevation. I cannot have one without the other. I will serve both you and England for as long as I am able. When I face my death, I will know that I have done my duty.”
By the time I had ensured that he was safe and protected inside Windsor’s walls, it was almost the end of November and we endured a wet and dismal ride back to Northampton and Weedon. I had lost no men in this brief campaign but I saw, on their faces, that they were weary beyond words. The campaign which led to Shrewsbury and the raid into Wales had kept us from our homes for a long time. The Prince’s words told me that we would be spending as long away when the new grass began to grow. I was rich and had power but they came at a price!
Chapter 3
Christmas that year was wonderful for I had two grandchildren to make smile and Northampton Castle was more than large enough for my family to enjoy a comfortable time; there were some advantages to being a Sherriff. It was a joyous time and, looking back, I can see that I should have made more of the happiness which filled my life but I confess that I was distracted for one of my curses was that I always looked ahead and I saw danger for both the King and his son. I did not show that concern to any of my family and that included my two sons but, at night, I spent restless hours fearing for the future and contemplating the threat of Scots, Welsh, English rebels and the increasing threat from France. My family helped alleviate the fears during the days which were, quite simply, not long enough.
When Christmas had passed my wife was anxious to return to Weedon for she was the one who managed all of our estates and Weedon, whilst not the largest, was the one in which she felt most comfortable. Taking only Harry and Abelard we went for a week to Weedon. We had a good steward, John, and the manor was well run but my wife liked to organise and to make certain that all knew what they had to do. She had many lists. Now that only Mary was at home, she was teaching Mary the skills she would need to run her own household when she married. I knew that Mary would make a wonderful wife and mother. She had begged to be left in Northampton for she enjoyed the company and it meant she had fewer tasks than she would if she was at home with my wife and I. For myself, it was good to ride my lands and speak to the farmers and tenants. Most had served with me at some time either as a warrior or as a camp servant. Every man who pulled a bow or raised a sword in my service knows that the reward would be land on one of my manors. Unlike the knights with hereditary titles, my lands had been rewards from King Richard and King Henry for service to England.
It was as we rode around my land that I noticed how much Harry had grown. He had seen more than seventeen summers and was just a few years younger than the Earl of Arundel who commanded Worcester and the Welsh marches. His brother had almost been ready for knighthood at the same age. I now had Abelard to make into a knight and so, as we rode, I asked Harry of his ambitions.
“When you knighted Ralph, you offered me a knighthood and I was honoured for I would be a knight, father, but not yet, if that is what you are asking. Working with Abelard in the last campaign has shown me my shortcomings. When I ride behind you, I see a warrior who is complete and I am far from complete.”
“Yet, my son, you have more skill and experience than many who have been knighted already.”
He smiled, “You mean like those foolish knights who charged off at Caernarfon? It was they who made me realise that I wanted to be better than they are. Give me the summer campaign in Wales and then ask me again.” He lowered his voice even though Abelard was acting as a sort of scout and riding forty paces ahead of us; it was part of his training. “Sir Roger was a good knight but
he did not do all that he could to make Abelard a knight. He cannot read and he has other shortcomings!”
“His father was an archer!”
“Which makes him stronger than I was when I began my training and yet if he becomes a knight then he will be rubbing shoulders with those who are nobler. Not all are kind. Would you burden him with such a stigma? I will teach him to read and rub off those rough edges before I am knighted. I like Abelard and I believe he will be a better knight than I for he has his father’s build. He is broad of shoulders and already powerful. The training his father gave him with a bow was not wasted.”
I nodded for I could see that my son had wisdom beyond his years. “Very well, and then we must find a husband for Mary.”
“My sister is younger than I am.”
“And you cannot marry until you have your spurs! Mary will see her elder sister and her brother with their children and she will desire to be as they are. Better we find her a husband than she goes to seek one.”
“Can she not seek one herself?” In some matters my son was naïve.
“If I was just Will Strongstaff, man at arms, then there would be no issue but she is the daughter of the Sherriff and whomsoever she marries will need to be one who wishes to marry Mary and not my title!”
We stayed longer at Weedon than any of us thought but it was a comfortable experience for this was my true home. My wife had made it so. I had lived there during the odd time of peace but my wife had built it. It had been her vision and she was comfortable. We returned to Northampton at the start of February for I had duties as Sherriff. My son, Thomas, could perform many of them but I had to be seen to at least attempt them. That we had tarried too long became clear when we reached the castle for we were greeted by my son Thomas who had a concerned expression upon his face, “It is Mary, father, she has become unwell.”
As my youngest daughter, Mary had always held a special place in our hearts and she was the favourite of both Harry and Tom. That she should be ill was unthinkable for she had always enjoyed the best of health. I felt relieved that there was a doctor who lived in the castle. It was a royal castle and the upkeep was the King’s. Harold Beauclerk was a good doctor but I saw from his expression when we entered the bedchamber that he was troubled.
“My lord, I know not what this ailment is; I cannot find a cause for it in any of the books that we use. Your daughter complained, three days’ since, of a fever. I applied the usual compresses and gave her the potions which normally bring down such fevers but none appeared to work. I have searched my books and those of my colleagues but cannot find any other answer.”
“Her mother is here now and we both know that a mother’s love is the best cure for many ailments but I wish you to continue to seek an answer.”
As he left, I went to my daughter’s side. My wife had brushed past the doctor to be Mary’s mother for a mother knows her own child better than any. I saw her with Mary held tightly in her arms. Mary was weeping, “I am cursed, mother! Why am I cursed thus?”
Eleanor’s voice was calming and soothing yet I knew that beneath her calm demeanour she would be as distressed as any, “Hush child, it is but a winter fever. Do you remember, your father had one and we sent for the priest for we thought he would die and yet here he stands before you, hale and hearty, the defender of kings? I will do as I did when he was ill. I will treat you with the medicines we used on my father’s farm when we did not have enough money to pay for a doctor.” If the doctor was insulted, he was wise enough to remain silent.
My wife’s family and most of the village in which she had lived had died of the plague and that was on my daughter’s mind for she said, “Is this the plague? Are you all doomed by me?”
My wife shook her head, “It is not the plague for I can see that immediately but you are ill for you are burning in my arms. Husband, come and hold our child while I fetch my own medicines.”
I had dropped my cloak at the door and so I sat on the bed and my daughter threw her arms around my neck and squeezed so tightly that I thought I would be choked. I could watch men die on a battlefield and not turn a hair but my daughter’s distress and her hug were such that I felt myself tearing up. I had to be strong and I had to believe that, between them, my wife and the doctor could rid Mary of this ailment.
“We are here now and we shall not leave until you are well again.” I tried to make my voice as calm and reassuring as I could.
She tried to speak but, instead, was overtaken by a coughing fit. She brought forth green spume and white phlegm and her body was so wracked that I thought she would break. “I fear I am dying! Hold me, father, and tell me that I will be well.”
“And you will be, child. When you were a bairn, I remember you as the hardiest of our children. You fought off all the agues which afflicted your brothers and sister. You are strong and, with God’s help, you will triumph and overcome this pestilence.”
My wife returned and she smiled when she saw how tightly Mary and I held each other. “If love can conquer an ague then Mary will be saved. I will take over, husband, now go to the chapel and pray to God. The doctor and I will do all that we can but we need God’s help.”
Mary said, as I laid her on the bed, “I have been a good girl, I swear. I have not sinned. Surely God will watch over me!”
As I headed towards the chapel, I thought back to the men who should have lived but had died on battlefields while others who deserved to die prospered. God did not work that way but my wife was right and I spent an hour prostrated on the chapel floor begging God to intervene and to save my child. I prayed as I had never prayed before nor since.
My wife’s medicine and her love made my daughter more restful but she did not improve. She either could not or would not eat and she lived on broth but each day she became worse. The doctor sent to London to ask a colleague for advice but even he failed to find a cure. It was when Harry became ill that we began to fear for us all. He had spent an hour each day with his sister and after seven days be began with the symptoms his sister had shown. Fearing for my grandson I sent Thomas and his family to Weedon. Abelard insisted upon remaining with Harry and that showed great courage. My wife and I now feared for our son and I wondered if I had been cursed by some enemy. When I went to the chapel to pray, I had to force the anger from my head. My family were suffering and God had not helped.
This time I held my sword before me as a cross and I knelt as I prayed aloud, “God, I beg of you to save my children. I am old and serve my king, my country and my church. If one is to die then let it be me but let my son Harry and his sister Mary live. They have their whole lives ahead of them and mine is almost spent. I beg of you to hear my prayer.”
It was four days’ later when I received the answer to my prayers, or half of them, at least. On the day that Harry showed signs of recovery his sister slipped away. She had spent three days without waking and my wife had not moved from her side. She cradled her dying body until the doctor gave her the news that Mary had gone. The priest had given her the last rites two days’ before she died but she was not awake and we did not have the satisfaction of saying goodbye. We thought that she would recover. I took some consolation that she was with God but from that day my faith in God diminished a little. He had not saved an innocent and precious child and yet others, who deserved death, lived and it made no sense to me.
We did not bury her in Northampton for that was not her home, but in the churchyard of Weedon where the villagers all turned out for the golden child they had all adored as she had grown up. The words Father Michael said over the grave were not meaningless platitudes for he had known her and he spoke with emotion thick in his voice. Mary’s death had a profound effect on us all, but especially Harry. He blamed himself for her death for he had had the disease and survived and she had not. Like me, he wished that their places had been exchanged.
It was left to my wife to give Harry some perspective, “Mary was the most loving of all my children. She cared for all equally a
nd would have done anything for anyone. Before she slipped into sleep we spoke and she told me of her dreams for the future. She saw herself marrying some noble knight as her sister had done and she hoped he would be as you are, Harry, for you were her favourite brother as you were closer in age. I know your father tried to make a bargain with God and I believe, in my heart, that your sister did too. Live but live for your sister. Be the knight she hoped you would be and find a wife whom you can treat the way you would have hoped that Mary would have been treated. I shall mourn my daughter and not a day shall go by that I do not place flowers upon her grave but I shall do as I know she would have hoped and live for my children, grandchildren and husband. It is all that we can do.”
It was as fine an eulogy as one could have wished. I found the strength to speak without tears coursing down my cheeks, “And I will have a mason carve an effigy of her for her grave shall be marked by stone. She is the first of my bairns to die and the world will know of the family of Will Strongstaff. Unlike my father, we shall not lie in a nameless grave in some foreign field!”
Whilst the death made everyone sad my wife’s words spurred Harry and he began to work even harder than he had done before to become the best of knights. He was at the pel from first light and poor Abelard had to join him. In the evening we had to call them in for their food long after darkness had fallen. Even when he was indoors, he was still striving to be the best that he could be and we would play game after game of chess for he knew the importance of strategy. I was a competent player at best and soon he was defeating me each time we played. He began to play against Abelard and soon Sir Roger’s old squire became good enough to defeat me more than I won.
It was when the new grass was growing and thoughts were turning to campaigning once more when I was summoned to Windsor to meet with the King and his son. I took my squires and just eight of my men: four archers and four men at arms. We took two servants. I took my men because although the country was quiet, it was not at peace. The north still seethed and the west was in the hands of Glendower and Mortimer. To the east lay a France with ambitions to take over an England which still seemed on the brink of full-blown rebellion.