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P412b
v.l
1134111

eENEAUOGY COLLECTION

:i^

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY

3 1833 03629 1703

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2010 with funding from

Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center

http://www.archive.org/details/historyofhouseof01bren

A HISTORY

OF THE

Ibouse of pcvcq

A HISTORY

OF THE

Dougc of n^ercv

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES DOWN TO
THE PRESENT CENTURY

GERALD BRENAN

V.I

EDITED BY

W. A. LINDSAY, Esq., K.C, M.A.
(Windsor Herald)

IN TWO VOLUMES

Folutne JE

LONDON

FREEMANTLE & CO.

217 PICCADILLY W

MCMII

113d lld>

"DEDICATED

HIS GRACE

"^ ^be Duke of mortbumbeiiant)

^ K.G.. P.C.

CONTENTS

PAGE

List of Illustrations ....... xi

List of Genealogies ....... xi

Introductory. Notice by the Editor ..... xiii

Author's Preface ....... xv

CHAPTER I

How the Percies won foothold in England — William de Percy, called
" Als-gernons," first baron of that name — The obstinacy of William
" Als-gernons," and his death as a Crusader — Of the three Barons who
followed William "Als-gernons" ..... i-

CHAPTER II

How the Percies linked their name with Northumberland — Henry, second
Lord Percy of Alnwick ; victor of Neville's Cross — Henry, third Lord
Percy of Alnwick ; a small warrior with a great heart — Henry Percy,
first Earl of Northumberland — How Percy stood for John Wickliff —
Of Harry Percy, called " Hotspur " — The Quarrel with John of Gaunt
— How " Hotspur" earned his war name — Sir Thomas Percy, states-
man and soldier ....... 13-41

CHAPTER III

The Douglas and the Percy — The bloody battle of Otterbourne — The Percy
and the King — Sir Thomas Percy, Ambassador — The House of Lan-
caster and the Percies — Some letters of Hotspur — Nesbitt Moor and
Homildoun Hill — Hotspur's rebellion and death — How Hotspur
marched to Shrewsbury — Shrewsbury : Hotspur's last battle — The re-
sults of defeat — The end of the first Earl of Northumberland . 42-

CHAPTER IV

The son of Hotspur, Henry, second Earl of Northumberland — Romantic
legends concerning Percy — The home life of the second Earl — The
restored Earl and his doings — Trial by combat — Fresh border wars —

viii CONTENTS

PAGE

Percy against Nevill — The battle of St. Albans — Henry, third Earl of
Northumberland — The League of the Young Lords — The Queen and
the young lords — Wakefield and St. Albans: Lancastrian revenge —
Towton Field : a black day for the Percies — Sir Ralph Percy, last of
the soldier brethren — The end of the " Gledd of Dunstanburgh " 89-120

CHAPTER V

Henry, fourth Earl of Northumberland — Border warfare and Richard HL'^
reign — Northumberland pleads for the people, and is by them slain
— The Earl's children ...... 121-135

CHAPTER VI

Henry Algernon Percy, fifth Earl, styled the "Magnificent" — A Queen's
progress — The Earl fined for "abduction" — The Earl's domestic life
— The Battle of the Spurs and Flodden Field — Cardinal Wolsey and
the Earl — Matchmaking Shrewsbury — A change comes over the spirit
of the fifth Earl — Northumberland again escorts Queen Margaret —
Field of the Cloth of Gold and its results — Northumberland's unpopu-
larity and embarrassments — Sir William Percy upholds the name —
Last deeds and death of the "Magnificent" Earl — The long arm of
Wolsey ........ 136-171

CHAPTER VII

Henry "the unlucky," sixth Earl of Northumberland — The King's rival
makes reply— The end of the romance — Earl only in name — The
Cardinal's spies — The Earl sets his back to the wall — A wight Border
Warden — The saving of young Humphrey Lysle — Angus flies to Eng-
land and Northumberland revisits Court — Husband against wife— The
Cardinal's fall — Forbearance of the Earl .... 172-210

CHAPTER VIII

Debts : and the defence of the Border — Fire and sword — Josceline Percy
and his line — Lawlessness at home — Anne Boleyn once again — The
mockery of a trial — The last days of the Queen — The Pilgrimage of
Grace — How Thomas Percy rebelled — The dying Earl remains loyal
— The sixth Earl's death — the King and the Countess . . 211-253

CHAPTER IX

Heirs of a barren heritage— Earl Percy once more— A wight Lord Warden
— Death of Mary : Cecil's ^pies breed trouble — Northumberland resigns
in disgust — Trouble brewing in the North — Mary Queen of Scots and

CONTENTS ik

PAGE

the Earl — The affair of the copper mine — The supposed Catholic plot
• — Northumberland will not to Court— The Rising of the North — Pro-
clamations and counter-measures — Progress of the Rising — A very
solemn ceremony — The insurgents march southward — The end of the
Rising ........ 254-302

CHAPTER X

Flight of the Earls— The "Thieves of Liddesdale "—Betrayal of the Earl
— A respite for Earl and Countess — England tries other methods —
Slaughter and spoliation — Some of the victims — Raid and counter-
raid : Northumberland in Lochleven — Lady Northumberland goes
oversea — A faithful wife— Spies among the exiles: Master John Lee
— " Far above rubies " — A black bargain — The Earl sold to his doom
— Outcry against the traitors — Avarice begets "clemency": the Earl
is respited — Examination of the prisoner — The Earl's doom is sealed
— The Earl's last progress — The last hours of Thomas Percy — Inter-
ment of the Earl, and his beatification by the Roman Church — The
brave Countess . . . . . . . 303-363

L\DEX TO Vol. L ....... 365

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Village of Perci ......

Hotspur's Seat, Tower of London, by Herbert Railton .

Seal of Henry, first Baron Percy

Seal of Henry, second Baron Percy

Seal and Autograph of Henry, first Earl of Northumberland

Cockermouth Castle, from Buck's "Antiquities"

First Earl of Northumberland, from Harleian MS. " Deposi

tion of King Richard " (Lithographed in Colotir)
Bamborough Castle, by Herbert Railton
Seal of Henry, second Earl of Northumberland .
Hermitage, Warkworth, by Herbert Railton
Plan of Alnwick Castle .....
Percy's Cross, by Herbert Railton
Seal of Henry, sixth Earl of Northumberland
Autograph of Henry, sixth Earl of Northumberland
Prudhoe Castle, from Buck's " Antiquities "
Warkworth Castle, from Buck's " Antiquities " .
Ingelgram's Cell, Tower of London (monogram one-third actua

size), by Herbert Railton ....
Autographs of Thomas, seventh, and Henry, eighth Earl of

Northumberland .....
Alnwick Castle, by Herbert Railton
Thomas, seventh Earl of Northumberland, from Adolphus'

" British Cabinet " .....
The Draw-well and Court-yard, Alnwick Castle, by Herbert

Railton ......

Frontispiece
Facingpage i
i8

22
28
36

64
84
89

120

189
192
216

249

280
306

350

LIST OF GENEALOGIES

Table I. From William de Percy, to Henry, ninth Baron Percy Facing page 6

Genealogy of William of Scotton . . . ,, ,, 126
Table 2. From Henry, tenth Baron Percy, to Henry, eighth

Earl of Northumbetland . . . . ,, ,, 168

Genealogy of Ann Boleyn ..... Fage 176

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE BY THE EDITOR

The " History of the House of Percy," by Mr.Gerald Brenan,
was originally undertaken as a separate work, and not as
one of a series. Messrs. Freemantle & Co., having afterwards
determined to issue a series of histories of great houses,
and having proposed to me that I should be general
editor, the History of the Percies was included in a
series, which recently opened with a " History of the
House of Douglas." It is necessary, therefore, I should
explain that I have not had the opportunity of conferring
with the author of the present work, with many of
whose opinions and remarks I cannot altogether agree.
Mr. Brenan's ideas respecting the feudal law and chivalry
are not mine ; and I disclaim responsibility for certain
references to the supposed plebeian origin of great
statesmen who come within the scope of the narrative.
I have, nevertheless, formed the opinion that the volumes
now offered to the public are well arranged, well written,
and of great interest.

There was, perhaps, no more illustrious House in the
English nobility than that of Percy. Both in the age
of chivalry, and in the so-called " Renaissance " or
Reformation period, the house of Northumberland occu-
pied a position of great, if not paramount, importance.
Consequently the reader is here brought into closer
contact with such historical magnates as King Henry
VIII., Cardinal Wolsey, Archbishop Cranmer, Queen
Elizabeth and her mother, Cromwell, Earl of Essex, the
two Cecils, and King James I., than — unless he is an
advanced student — he has ever been before. Many
original documents, little known to the general public

xiv INTRODUCTORY NOTICE

are here revealed, and the result is very unfavourable to
the reputations of the mighty dead. Her relations as a
girl with Northumberland add a pathos to the life of
Anne Boleyn, and to her cruel death, which the author
has well delineated ; and no one of his readers can fail
to be impressed with the degradation to which her royal
seducer and judicial murderer descended from a splendid
pedestal. In respect, too, of the religious schism and re-
sultant changes in the English Church, the Percy history
indicates how far worse and inexcusable was the Catholic
persecution by Protestants under Elizabeth and James than
was that of Protestants by Queen Mary. The author is not
personally known to me. I assume that his sympathies
are Catholic. But after every effort to resist his
influence the reader of these volumes cannot fail to
be convinced, and, if he is candid, to conclude, that our
popular school histories, written in the Protestant in-
terest and to flatter the national vanity, are far — very
far — from veracious.

And yet Protestantism as understood on the Continent
seems never to have prevailed in England except in the
reign of Charles. The nobles of England, and more
particularly the ancient nobles, had an influence which
at last overcame unscrupulous demagogues and arbitrary
kings. And among these nobles the Percies stand pre-
eminent. Catholic, but not Ultramontane ; monarchical,
but steadfast opponents of tyrants ; they contributed more
than their share to the development of the National
Church and Constitution. Heroes in war, pioneers of
learning, martyrs for religion, are all represented by
Percies ; while from the earliest period of authentic re-
cords there has been no grander title than that of King
or Earl of Northumbria.

W. A. L.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

In its original scope and character, as planned by the
author and his pubhshers, this history of "The House of
Percy " differed materially from the two volumes now issued.
It was intended to produce a brief, popular account of the
great race of Louvain-Percy, somewhat in the nature of a
series of sketches dealing with the race's more remarkable
scions and their adventures, warlike or romantic. Indeed,
it was not until the book had been practically completed,
and even partly printed in this form, that other counsels
prevailed, and it was decided by the publishers that there
was room for a more extended work. This fact must serve
to excuse sundry discrepancies which the observant reader
will no doubt discover, especially in the first volume.
For instance, space being of the utmost value under the
earlier scheme, the author was driven to curtail his
references as much as possible, and to content himself
in many cases with a general mention of the work
drawn upon. Of course where really important points
appeared to demand confirmation, he endeavoured to
give volume and page of all authorities quoted. When
his simple narrative was suddenly transformed into an
elaborate historical production, the task of printing the
first part had proceeded so far that the publishers
deemed it expedient to interfere very slightly with the
footnotes, references, &c., appended thereto, and a desire
for uniformity in the second volume has rendered that
portion of the " House of Percy " less precise in these
matters than the severe historian might wish. Still all
facts of vital importance, and all leading matters in
dispute, to which reference is made by the author, will,
VOL. I "v b

xvi AUTHOR'S PREFACE

it is anticipated, be found to have been annotated
sufficiently, if not quite exhaustively.

The present Duke of Northumberland objected to
further search among the documentary collections of
Alnwick Castle and Syon House as unnecessary. The
author had therefore to fall back upon the manuscripts
preserved in the Record Office, and upon the published
researches of Bishop Thomas Percy and the late
Edward Barrington de Fonblanque (both authorised
chroniclers of the third dynasty of Percy) for his main
facts. In most cases where the "Alnwick" and "Syon
MSS." are alluded to, he may be understood as referring
to MSS. quoted either by Bishop Percy or De
Fonblanque, if not by both. "The Household Book"
of the fifth Earl of Northumberland, for instance, was
first transcribed and published by the indefatigable Bishop
of Dromore. The "Chronicle" of Friar Peeris, to which
frequent reference is made, has also been published,
as have the ninth, or "Wizard" Earl's curious "In-
structions" and "Advice " to his son. To De Fonblanque's
"Annals of the House of Percy," ^ a work prepared
practically under the eye of the late Duke of Northumber-
land, and largely from original sources, the author is
under manifold obligations.

The author may, perhaps, be blamed for dwelling
too extensively upon the claim of James Percy, the
" Trunkmaker," to the Earldom of Northumberland ; but
he felt that the mystery which still surrounds that case,
as well as the undoubted efforts made by those in author-
ity to suppress both Percy and his evidence, justified
him in setting forth the known facts in full. Researches
in Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire have, so far, failed
to throw any further light on the question of James
Percy's ancestry. It may be that the undeniable fear of
the "Trunkmaker" evinced by Earl Josceline's female
representatives and the stubborn manner in which they
blocked his efforts, arose, not from any knowledge of

^ These Annals were privately printed and limited to a few copies.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE xvii

the justice of his claims, but rather from a desire to
keep the actual male heir of the house of Percy in
ignorance of his rights. For an actual male heir there
almost certainly was — if not James Percy of Dublin, then
probably Alan Percy of Beverley or one of that branch.

To the author's mind, one of the most interesting
features of the Percy family history is the curious change,
or series of changes, which came over the character of the
race after growing luxury and love of court life had led its
chiefs away from their native Borders. From being a line
of rugged warriors, the Earls of Northumberland became,
firstly, a line of courtiers, and subsequently (after they had
experienced the perfidy of princes) one of broad-minded
statesmen. Strength of arm gave place to subtlety of
mind : but with the growth of their intellectual powers, the
Percies began to fail in bodily stamina^ and to become as
physically weak as they were mentally vigorous. The
bloody Wars of the Roses could not destroy this fruitful
stock while still rooted in its congenial North ; but once
transplanted to city soil, and trained in the new fashions of
Elizabethan and early Stuart times, it withered lamentably,
and well nigh perished altogether. What a difference exists
between the picture of young Hotspur, that " infant Mars
in swaddling clothes," leading the assault upon Berwick
while not yet in his teens, and the sickly Earl Josceline,
learned in many sciences, yet doomed to die in early man-
hood, the last male of his line. But even had they desired
to do so, the Percies could not have remained Border
chieftains after the Reformation. The policy of the Cecils,
and of the monarch whom they served, altogether forbade
that ; and the seventh and eighth Earls lost their lives
because, while owning the old, noble blood, and following
the ancient faith, they had dreamed of reviving the Percy
viceroyalty north of the Humber.

London, April 1902.

t-v.. '

■■■.jHfr^;^ •f%piir/ /eest

.'1^''^'

THE HOUSE OF PERCY

THE FIRST LINE OF PERCY

When William the Conqueror came with his warriors to
crush the Saxon power, there dwelt in Lower Normandy,
hard by the burgh of St. L6, a certain noble
Perdes won family, knowu, from its chief domain, by the sur-
foothoid in j^^j^e Qf i3g Perci.

England.

Tradition bestows upon these lords of Perci
a remote Scandinavian origin ; and monkish historians
afterwards traced the house from those old Danish sea-
rovers who harried every European shore from Shannon
mouth to Tiber. In the words of Dugdale :— " This ancient
and right noble family do derive their descent fro 7n Mainfred
de Percy, which Mainfred cajue out of Denmark into Nor-
mandy, before the adventwe of the famous Rollo thither^ ^
And a rhyming chronicler of the fifteenth century - tells us
that a son of this Mainfred the Viking w^as one of those who
fought side by side with Rollo, first Duke of Normandy : —

" Roiys associate that was called feffrey Fercie,
A right valliant knight, gracious arid fortunate ,
Whose father, named Mainfred, was fallen u?iio fateP

There exists, moreover, a specious pedigree professing to
deduce the line of Perci from this Geoffrey Fitz-Mainfred,

^ Dugdale, Baronage of England, art. "Percy."

^ The Metrical Chronicle of the Percye Family : by William Peeris, elk. lie
was chaplain to the fifth Earl of Northumberland.

2 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

through four generations of Counts of Caux, down to the
sturdy WilHam de Perci styled ^^ Als-gerno7is" who brought
the blood to England.

But no trustworthy evidence can be set forth of Danish
Mainfred's existence, or even of the source from which the
race of Perci sprang. Sir Francis Palgrave points out that
none of the Norman invaders thought of claiming descent
from Scandinavian Jarls and Vikings until long after the
Conquest. The very name of Duke Rollo's father was
apparently unknown ; ^ for this progenitor of many kings is
described in the chronicles as ^^ senex quidavi in partibiis
Daciae!' Normandy, in the tenth and eleventh centuries,
had probably a population as heterogeneous as that of
ancient Italy, or as that of modern England.^ The race of
Perci may well have been Celts or P'ranks, rather than
Danes ; indeed the tradition that their forebears held the
fief of Perci before the coming of Duke Rollo would seem
to bear out such a supposition.

Nevertheless, for the benefit of those that choose to
believe in tales, long later told, of Norman pedigrees — for
those, in fact, that gloss over, or forget the animal careless-
ness of the Neustrian vikings in regard to ancestry (as so
well exemplified in the case of that great chief of the race,
William the Conqueror), the often-quoted stem of the
ancient Perci may here be set down. It is as follows : —

" Mainfred ; ' who came out of Denmark into Normandy, before

the advent of Duke Rollo ; ' he begat : —
Geoffrey; associate of Rollo; baptized at Artois, a.d. 912; he

begat : —
William, Sieur de Perci, governor of South Normandy, and

Comte de Caux; slain by Hugh Capet; he begat : —
Geoffrey II., Comte de Caux, Sieur de Perci, &c. ; he begat : —
William II., Comte de Caux and de Poictiers, Sieur de Percy;

he begat : —
Geoffrey III., Comte de Caux and de Poictiers, Sieur de Perci,

&c. ; reputed father of William de Perci, who settled in the

North of England, and of Serlo de Perci, Abbot of Whitby."

^ Palgrave, History of England and NoriitaHd)\ vol. i. p. 704.
- Ibid., vol. iii. p. 480.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 3

Froiii whatsoever people they drew their being, it is
at least certain that, at the coming to England of Duke
William in A.D. 1066, the Percies were firmly and broadly
settled upon Norman soil. William de Perci, Count of
Caux and Poictiers, then chief of his name, held the chateau
of Perci near Villedieu, in what is now the arrondissement
of St. L6, department of La Manche ; together with other
great estates in both Lower and Upper Normandy. Accord-
ing to the rhyming chronicler already quoted,^ and to the
genealogists who have accepted his traditions, it was this
Count William who first settled in England, and planted
the name of Percy north of Humber. The weight of
evidence seems wholly opposed to this theory. Had the
puissant Count of Caux and Poictiers landed upon these
shores, his name and titles would surely have appeared in
the list of " les grands " — in the roll of the greater nobles
who accompanied the Conqueror. But no such dignities
may be found therein ; and, as the most accurate and pains-
taking historian of the Percies - justly observes, it is far more
likely that the William de Percy who came hither from
Normandy was some cadet, some scantily portioned scion
of the elder stock. There is another place named Perci
in Normandy — Perci-en-Auge, situated in Calvados — from
which he may have taken his territorial name. We know
that a powerful family of Perci remained behind in
Normandy, and sustained the dignity of Count down to
the period immediately preceding the French Revolution.
In 1757 this line was represented by Antoine-Guillaume
de Perci, Comte de Monchamps, Baron de Monchauver
&c.. Chevalier of several orders, who had married on
March 3, 1710, Francoise du Pui d'lgni.^ The Comte de
Monchamps was son of Guillaume, Sieur de Perci by
Marie de Crennes, Dame de Monchamps, and grandson
of Robert, Sieur de Perci by Huguette de Chitfrevast

^ Friar Peeris.

■^ De Fonblanque, Annals of the House of Percy, vol. i. p. ii.
' Diciioiinaire G^n^alogique,Iieraldique,&'c.,\.om^iii. p. 21 (Paris: Duchesne
1757)1 " •^^'^'^ Approbation du Rot."

4 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

This family, however, although it asserts kinship with the
English Percies, bears for arms — ^^ sable a chief indented
ory J^Iale descendants of the line survive in Lower Canada
and in Martinique — the name having been corrupted in the
latter place to " Percin."

To revert to William de Percy " Als-gernons," in no con-
temporary record is he described by the title of Count ;
and it is difficult to understand what became of those large
estates in Normandy, which he must have owned had he
been the lord of Caux and Poictiers. There is good cause
to doubt whether Percy crossed the channel with Duke
William at all, or took any part in the battle of Hastings.
In some of the various lists which purport to be copies of
the lost Roll of Battle Abbey, his name is to be found. In
others, names resembling " Percy " — (such as " Percehay "
and " Pacy," given by Leland) — occur. But in Holinshed's
list, and in several of the versions published by Duchesne,^
the Sire de Percy is not mentioned among the companions
of the Conqueror. And, to quote from a document of his
own time, the Register of Whitby Abbey positively asserts
that ** Hugo d'Avranches and William de Percy came into
England in A.D. 1067," — i.e. the year after the Conquest.^

De Fonblanque ^ advances the theory that Percy already
possessed lands in England, being one of the Normans
brought in by Edward the Confessor, and afterwards ex-
pelled by Harold. The supposed new-comer was nick-
named by his own countrymen ^^ Als-gcrnons" (or, as we
would say, " With-the- Whiskers"), which showed that he
had adopted the Saxon fashion of permitting hair to grow
upon the cheeks, '' a habit wholly at variance with Norman
customs." On more than one occasion he showed a strong
sympathy with the defeated race, as when he interceded
earnestly for Earl Gospatrick after the revolt of 1069, and
he married a Saxon lady, called by the chronicles " Emma
de Porte," probably because she inherited Semer, near

^ Historiae Nonnaniiontm Scriptores Antiqni.
2 Monast. Angl. (Harleian MSS.).
" Atnials of the House of Percy.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 5

Scarborough, then a notable seaport. " Emma of the
Porte .... was Ladye of the Semer beside Skarburgh
afore the Conquest. . . . William Conqueror gave (her)
to Syr William Percye.''^ All of which facts show that
Percy was unusually well disposed towards the Saxons and
their ways, if indeed he had not been domiciled in England
before the Norman invasion. From Domesday Book we
learn that he held in capite eighty-six lordships in the North
Riding of York, exclusive of Whitby (which be obtained
in a manner to be told presently); thirty-two lordships in
Lincoln ; and many broad acres in Essex and Hampshire.
The recital of his landed estates in Domesday Book occu-
pies nearly eleven closely printed columns.

A man of obstinate domineering character, not untinged
by superstition, yet enlightened and charitable beyond his
„ ■ time, — such was William de Percy, nicknamed

William de -^ '

Percy, called ^^ Als-gemons. He made for himself a home in
"Ais-ger- vvhat was then the Wilderness of Yorkshire, that

nons nrst '

baron of that tract laid wastc by the infamous Hugh Lupus,
nephew of the Conqueror, and there strove with
might and main to repair the desolation wrought by the
wolfish Earl of Chester. Hugh Lupus, to quote from
Palgrave, had turned the entire region between York and
Durham '' into a desolate desert, bounded by a wide circuit
of ruins." 2 The wretched inhabitants were slaughtered
ruthlessly, or driven to hide with the beast in forest or
moor. Their homes were levelled with the earth ; their
crops wantonly destroyed ; their flocks and herds driven
southward, across the Humber. The torch seared what
the sword could not smite ; hunger and pestilence gleaned
in the wake of that red harvest ; until there fell upon the
land a solitude so profound that, we are told, "the very
birds hushed their voices and were still."

Into the midst of this desolation rode William de Percy,
to claim the blackened, blood-soaked lordships granted to
him by grace of his liege the king. Little by little he drew

^ Register of IVhithy, Harl. MSS., 692, 26. "^ Hist, of England and Normandy,

6 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

the starving, wild-eyed English out of their lurking-places,
filled their mouths with food, and found work suited to their
weakness. A soldier before everything, he first built and
fortified the castles of Spofforth and Topcliffe, which long
remained the chief strongholds of his line.^ But this pre-
caution taken, he turned his broad blade into a plough-
share ; and set his vassals, Norman as well as Saxon, to
make the waste places fruitful, to bring back the stolen
herds, and to rear new homes upon the ruins of the old.
For full twenty-five years he laboured among his people,
before the desert began to smile ; but, in the end, success
was his. In the North Riding of York to-day there is
not a field of grain or a field of grass that does not
owe some of its sap to the generous obstinacy of William
de Percy.

It is this very sturdy obstinacy which gives us the key
to the second part of Percy's history. In all broad Eng-
„, , ,. land there was no more obstinate man than

The obsti-
nacy of Wil- William ^^ Als-gernonsy It was an age when

I!L"ionf'';nH both Throne and Church claimed absolute

g^ernons, and

his death as sway, — cach in its own dominion ; yet it may
fairly be said that neither to priest nor to king
did this first English Percy yield one inch of way. The
man's headstrong nature may well be shown by a
dispute which raged for years over the control of Whitby
Abbey. William I. had given the site and lands of Saint
Hilda's ancient convent to Hugh Lupus ; but Lupus had
little use for a Whitby which he himself had laid waste, so
that in due time the estate found its way into the possession
of William de Percy.^ Straightway Percy reared a new
Abbey upon the ruins of that founded by Saint Hilda ; and
brought over from Normandy his old friend Reinfred to
rule as abbot. With Reinfred came some two-score of
friars and lay-brethren, gathered with unfortunate haste
from the riff-raff of " frocked companions " who had
followed the Normans to England. Among these was one

^ Camden. — Surtees' Z^wW^aw. ^ Register of Whitby.

Gekberga,
iau. of Henry,
)eror of Germany.

Lambekt I.,
jnt of Brabant and Louvain,

.A OF Thuringia.

(ist w.)
iTus, = Clemence,

dau. of William ,
Duke of Burgundy.

Adeliza,
the " Fair Maid

of Brabant,"
Queen of Eng-
land ; d. 1 151.

: William de

Albini,
Earl of Arundel.

Godfrey II.,

Count of Brabant

and Louvain.

An stage,
m. Ralph

Fitz-Ralph,
Lord of

Middleham.

Joan,
m. Henry
Ferlington.

Alice, Agnes,

rn. Ralph de m. Eustace de
Haringwood. Baliol.

6 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

the starving, wild-eyed English out of their lurking-places,
filled their mouths with food, and found work suited to their
weakness. A soldier before everything, he first built and
fortified the castles of Spofforth and Topclifte, which long
remained the chief strongholds of his line.^ But this pre-
caution taken, he turned his broad blade into a plough-
share ; and set his vassals, Norman as well as Saxon, to
make the waste places fruitful, to bring back the stolen
herds, and to rear new homes upon the ruins of the old.
For full twenty-five years he laboured among his people,
before the desert began to smile ; but, in the end, success
was his. In the North Riding of York to-day there is
not a field of grain or a field of grass that does not
owe some of its sap to the generous obstinacy of William
de Percy.

It is this very sturdy obstinacy which gives us the key
to the second part of Percy's history. In all broad Eng-
_. , ^. land there was no more obstinate man than

The obsti-
nacy of Wil- William ^^Als-gernons." It was an age when

gemonf^-^Ind botli Throuc and Church claimed absolute

his death as sway, — cach in its own dominion ; yet it may

fairly be said that neither to priest nor to king

did this first English Percy yield one inch of way. The

man's headstrong nature may well be shown by a

dispute which raged for years over the control of Whitby

Abbey. William I. had given the site and lands of Saint

Hilda's ancient convent to Hugh Lupus ; but Lupus had

little use for a Whitby which he himself had laid waste, so

that in due time the estate found its way into the possession

of William de Percy.- Straightway Percy reared a new

Abbey upon the ruins of that founded by Saint Hilda ; and

brought over from Normandy his old friend Reinfred to

rule as abbot. With Reinfred came some two-score of

friars and lay-brethren, gathered with unfortunate haste

from the riff-raff of " frocked companions " who had

followed the Normans to England. Among these was one

^ Camden. — Surtees' Z'wr/iiaw. ^ Register of Whitby.

GENEALOGY OE THE HOUSE OE PERCY

TABLE I.

William dk Percy,
tyled " Als-Gernons,"

a Norman Knight,
:tiled in Yorkshire, 1067,

HON DK Percy ;

sight of Jerusalem,"

- Emma de Port,
I a Saxon lady, heir of
Semar by Scarborough.

Alan de Percy, = Emma, dau. of '

2nd Baron, styled i Gilbert de Gaunt,

"Macjnus Alanus"; ' Baron of Folkingham

b. circ. io6u; d. 1120. grand-dau. of Baldwir

■ I Count of Flanders.

William,

2nd Abbot

of Whitby

(1 102).

Richard,
from whom

sprang
Percy of

DUNSLEY.

William de Percy, -

Alice, dau. of

Everard,
Baron de Ros.

Walter,

Baron of

Rougemont,

Geokfrev.
Henry.
Robert. '

Gosfrid,

Abbot of St.

Mary's at York.

Charlemagne, Emperor of the West.

[a quo)
Louis IV., = Gekberga.

■'Oultre Mer." I dau, of Henry,
King of France ; d, 954. Emperor of Germany.

Charles,

Duke of Louvain and

Count of Brabant ; d. 992.

Gerberga, = Lambekt I.,

heir of Brabant and Louvain. I Count of Brabant and Louvain.

Lambert II.,

Count of Brabant and

Louvain ; k. 1054.

I
' Henry II.,
Count of Bi-abant and I
Louvain ; (/. 1068.

AllEl.A OF THURINGIA

Apeliza de -
Tunbrigg, dau,
of Richard, 3rd

Earl de Clare.

William de Percy, = Sybilla de

4th Baron; I Valines.

b. 1112; d. 1 168 (last
of thedirectmalelinej. |

William de PkRCY,
Abbot of Whitby, a.p.

William de New-
burgh, 3rd Earl

Godfrey Barbatus
Count of Brabant
. and Louvain ;

Clemence,
dau. of William,
Duke of Burgundy.

Agnes de Percy, :

BARONES.S de Percy,

co-heir and ev. heir

of her father ;

h, 1134 ; d. 1205. -

iJosceline de Louvain,

who assumed the name
of Percy ; d. before 1189.

HENRY I.,
King dk
England.

Adeliza, = William de
the ■' l^air Maid Albini,

of Brabant," Earl of Arundel.
Queen of Eng-
land ; d. 1 1 CI.

Godfrey 11.,

Count of Brabant

and Louvain.

dau. of Adam de

Brus. Lord of

Skellon.

Sir Henkv Pekcv, Kt. ,

died before his mother,

1196 (falsely styled

" 5th Baron ").

(ist».)

El.EANA,

. of Ingelgra
B^iiol.

Rau'h,
said to have returned
to France ; probably
the " Ralph Percy "
of the legend.
I
I
= William, =

I 6th Baron de Percy ; I
b. H93; d. 1245.

RiCHAHD, = Agnes de Nevili,.

, 5th Baron de Pehcv,

' ' by right of the strong

hand ; " signed Magna

Charta ; d. 1244.

t2ndTi..)

Joan,

dau. and co-heir of

William de Briwere.

Henry.

Henry,

7th Bakon de Percy ;

b. 1228 ; taken

prisoner at Lewes ;

d. 1272.

= Eleanor Plantagenet,
ist dau. of John, Earl of
Surrey, Sussex, and Warrene.
by the Lady Alice, half-
sister of King Henry III.

John,
died young,

Henry, 8ih Baron, and
ist Lord Percy of Alnwick

(by summons) ; fought at
Bannockburn; *. 1272; rf. 1315.

= Eleanor Fitz-

I Alan, dau. of

. John, Earl of

' Arundel ; d. 1^28

Sir Ingelgram Percy,

Kt., Lord of Dalton.

[/«. Aveline, dau. and

co-heir of William de

Fortibus, Earl of

Albemarle.]

(From whom descended

the line of

Percy of Dalton,

still e.xisting in 1390).

William Percy,

Canon of
St. Peter's, York.

I
Geoffrey,
Alan, s.p.
Josceline,

Lord of
Levin gstone.

Eleana,

Abbess of

Werewell in

Herts.

[
An STAGE,
m. Ralph

Fitz-Ralph,
Lord of

Middleham.

Joan,
tn. Henry
Ferlington.

Alice, Agnes,

m. Ralph de m. Eustace dr*
Haringwood. Baliol.

1 DONE A,
dau. of Robert, Lord
Clifford of .\ppleby.

Henry, gth' Baron de Percy,

2nd Lord Percy of Alnwick, K.B.

commanded at the victory of Nevill's

Cross, 1346; b. 1299; d. 1353.

(From whom descended
the lines of Percy of
Kildale and Percy
OF Ormsby ; the former
extinct in the i6th cent.
The latter long repre-
sented by (l^onyers of
Ormesby. )

alogy.)

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 7

sleek monk, who, working upon Abbot Reinfred's simple
nature, shouldered himself into the position of prior.
This man was s'oon at odds with William de Percy, upon
the subject of the charter under which the abbey held its
lands.i Percy refused to make the charter absolute, reserv-
ing for himself a certain jurisdiction over the territory of
Whitby. Violent quarrels ensued, during which the Baron
of Topcliffe was threatened with the wrath of Mother
Church. A certain number of the brethren sided with their
feudal lord, so that dissensions reigned even within the
abbey walls. At length Percy, refusing to brook the prior's
menaces longer, boldly

"... broke into the spence,
And turned the cowls adrift."

The malcontent party, without exception, was driven forth
from Whitby, only old Abbot Reinfred and those favourable
to the founder being permitted to remain.^ The banished
friars laid their woes before the king ; and a stern reprimand,
accompanied by orders to reinstate all the complainants,
came speeding North. But Percy roundly refused to obey the
king's commands. " Only those monks personally agreeable
to him," he declared, should occupy his Abbey of Whitby.^
He summoned his own brother, Serlo de Percy, from
overseas, and had him chosen abbot in lieu of old Reinfred.
But this Serlo possessed many of the family characteristics,
and it was not long before the brothers, baron and cleric,
were at war over the old question of the abbey charter.
Serlo de Percy fled to the court of the new king, William
Rufus ; and presently returned with that monarch's mandate
to the effect that the monks were not to be interfered with
by the feudal lord. The baron's sole reply was to march
a troop to Whitby ; and, despite royal displeasure and
threats of excommunication, to drive Abbot Serlo and those
who upheld him away from the monastery.* In the end the
monks were glad enough to come to terms. The goodly

' De Fonblanque. ^ Register of IVhithy.

3 De Fonblanque. * Register of Whitby.

8 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

slice of land which Percy had shorn from Whitby, and given
to his faithful squire Ralf de Eversley, was permitted to
remain in that honest soldier's hands.^ Well pleased with
the bestowal of this — apparently the chief bone of conten-
tion— and satisfied with having outlasted the anger of two
kings and as many abbots, Percy then permitted the
banished brethren, headed by Serlo, to return to Whitby.
Peace was finally concluded after a warfare of nearly twenty
years, and a new charter granted to the community.^

In 1096 William de Percy donned the Red Cross, and
joined Robert of Normandy's forces in the first attempt to
conquer Palestine. But he was not fated to share in the
crowning exploits of the Crusade; for he died, "within
sight of Jerusalem," in the autumn of the same year.^ His
body was buried at Antioch ; but Ralf de Eversley carried
his heart back to England, where it was laid by the
reconciled Abbot Serlo, in the chapel of Whitby Abbey.

So lived and so died William de Percy, called ^' A/s-
gernonSy' first baron of his name in England. By his
English wife, Emma de Porte, he left four sons,^ of whom
the eldest, Alan, was his successor. There is little doubt
but that William *^ Als-gernons" had been summoned in
right of tenure to the councils of the Conqueror and of
Rufus. His brother Serlo, reinstated as Abbot of Whitby,
lived on until A.D. 1102 ; and, on his deathbed, secured the
abbot's chair to his nephew, William " Fitz-Alsgernons."

History tells us little of the second baron by tenure of
the House of Percy, save that he was called ^^ Magnus
Ala?mSf" or "Great Alan" ; that he kept intact
g^oni^who *^^ v^\de possessions of his father ; and that his
followed wii- wife was Emma de Ghent, daughter of Gilbert
gel^ons.'^' ^^ Ghent, Baron of Folkingham, and grand-
daughter of Count Baldwin of Flanders. This
was a powerful and illustrious alliance, for Emma was also

^ Register of Whitby. — De Fonblanque. ^ Register of Whitby.

' Memorials of Fountains Abbey ^ Surtees Society.
* Sec Percy Genealogy, Plate I.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 9

grand-niece of Queen Matilda, wife of Henry I. It is pro-
bable that " Great Alan " fought under the latter sovereign
in Normandy and France ; at any rate the ancient arms
of Percy, — ^^ azure five fusils in fesse, or" — lost none of their
prestige while he bore them upon his shield. He died in
A.D. 1 1 20, and was buried beside the heart of his father, in
Whitby Abbey.i Besides several children by his wife, Emma
de Ghent,2 he left a natural son, Alan de Percy, of whom we
shall hear later as a shrewd captain fighting against his
native country in behalf of the Scots.

The eldest son, William, became third Baron de Percy ;
but his one noteworthy deed was the founding of Handel
Abbey.^ He died in A.D. 1133, and was succeeded by his
only son, William de Percy, fourth baron. At the age of
twenty-five, this William led a goodly band of Yorkshiremen
to fight with King Stephen against the Scottish invaders ;
and at the Battle of the Standard (a.d. 1138) he showed a
prowess, which was all the more noteworthy from the fact
that his uncle Alan de Percy, natural son of "Great Alan,"
was among the leaders of the enemy. Of this bastard
Percy, we are told that he was one of the most skilful
captains of his time. It was considered no shame that he
should serve under King David of Scotland, and against his
own kith and kin ; for the majority of the Anglo-Norman
nobility had learned to hate Stephen, and, but for the
massacres perpetrated by the Scots in their southward
march, it is likely that Northumbria would have sided with
the hosts from over Tweed. Alan de Percy strongly urged
King David not to abandon the good position which he had
taken up ; and, had his advice been taken, the fortunes of
the day at Northallerton might have been far different. As
it u^as, Malise, Earl of Strathearn, broke in upon Percy's
good counselling, and angrily demanded why David
hearkened to "that Frenchman." ^ Ajax prevailed over
Ulysses. Percy was overruled, and the Scottish host suffered
a signal defeat. Some authorities hold that Alan " leMeschin "

^ Register of Whiiby. ^ See Genealogy, Plate I.

' De Fonblanque. ^ Peeris' Rhyming Chron., Surtees, &c.

lo THE HOUSE OF PERCY

(as he was called) perished at this Battle of the Standard ;
others that he escaped, and founded a family in North
Britain. But to his nephew, William, the chief of the house,
were increased honours and estates ; especially when, on
the death of Stephen, there came to the throne Henry
Plantagenet, grandson of good Queen Matilda, and thus a
blood relative of the Baron de Percy. Among other
additions to his territorial power, this fourth baron acquired
10,000 acres in the neighbourhood of Petworth, in Sussex, to
be held directly from the Crown.^ He founded the Abbey
of Sawley or Salley in Craven, where many of his de-
scendants were afterwards buried. By his first wife
(Adeliza de Tunbrigg, daughter of Richard, third Earl of
Clare) he had four sons, none of whom left issue,^ and two
daughters, in whom all his baronies, manors, and other rights
and titles became vested. Legend gives to him a fifth son,
unrecognised by the genealogists, but who may possibly
have been illegitimate. Allusion is made to Ralph de Percy
Lord of Smeaton, hero of the penance referred to by Scott
in the second canto of Marmion. The old Northumbrian
story tells how Ralph de Percy, hunting through Whitby
Forest, in company with a Herbert and a Bruce, started a
fine boar, which sought sanctuary in the adjacent chapel of
Saint Hilda. The priest of the chapel made haste to close
its doors ; but Percy and his companions, enraged at being
thus baulked of their quarry, broke sanctuary and slew both
protecting friar and hunted beast upon the steps of the
altar. For this crime they must have suffered death had it
not been proved that, as he lay on the threshold of heaven,
the poor priest had blessed them, prayed for them, and
given them absolution. But, by way of penance, they were
compelled each year on the anniversary of their fell deed
to repair to the forest where it was committed, and to
gather up and carry to Whitby Abbey a bundle of faggots
for the brethren's use. Other pains and penalties were
said to have been laid upon Percy ; and one of these is still
commemorated by the local authorities of Whitby. Every

^ De Fonblanque. ^ See Genealogy, Plate I.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY ir

year, on a certain day/ the representatives of the lord of
the manor proceed solemnly to a fixed spot upon the shore,
and exclaim three times " Out on ye ! Out on ye ! " by
way of showing the detestation and horror with which they
regard the sacrilege committed by Percy. This curious
ceremony was last performed in May 1901 in the presence
of a large concourse of people.

From this and other evidences, it seems highly probable
that Sir Ralph de Percy of Smeaton really existed, and
was concerned in the brutal murder of the forest priest.
But it is far more likely that, in place of being a son of
William, fourth baron of the name, he lived a generation
later. A Sir Ralph de Perci, grandson of Baron William,
is mentioned in all the pedigrees of the house ; and this
Ralph, for some reason not stated, is described as having
" returned to Fra?ice, and settled in Provence, where he married
a lady of the house of De fennes, and founded a family long
existent in those parts." If he had been one of the rude
invaders of the forest sanctuary, Sir Ralph's departure
from English soil might easily be explained. It is interest-
ing to note that his last male representative, the Chevalier
de Perci, fled to London during the bloody period of the
French Revolution, and was hospitably entertained at Sion
House by the second Duke of Northumberland.

When William, fourth baron, died A.D. 1168, he was
succeeded by his daughters, Maud and Agnes de Percy.
The former had married William de Newburgh, Earl of
Warwick, who fell in the Crusades A.D. 1184, without
issue ; when his widow paid to the Crown 700 marks
for assignment of dower, and the right to marry again
" according to her liking." ^ At this time she must have
been fifty-two years of age ; ^ and it does not appear that
any suitors "to her liking" were tempted to come forward.
At her various castles she maintained a rude state, verging
on royalty. In a grant to the monks of Tadcaster, she
speaks of acting "by the advice of the Lord Vavasour

' Ascension Thursday. ' De Fonblanquc. ^ Born circa 1 132.

12 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

and others of our faithful Heges, and of our whole Court." ^
She died in 1203, at the age of seventy-one, bequeathing
the half of her father's estate which she had inherited to
her youngest nephew, Richard de Percy. Now such a
bequest she had absolutely no right to make. Dying
childless, her estates should have passed to her sister
Agnes, who thus became the sole heir. But the Countess
Maud was apparently a person of strong will, and had
moreover taken a fancy for the aforesaid nephew, Richard,
in whom she perceived something of the old doughty spirit
of William *' Als-gernons." The eldest nephew, Henry,^
was already dead, and his son a child, so that Maud
found less difficulty in persuading her sister Agnes to enter
into a " family covenant " by which the great Percy
estates should continue divided. This led later to serious
complications, and gave Richard de Percy an excuse for
usurping a title to which he had no right, — that of Baron
de Percy. Having accomplished thus much in favour of
her nephew Richard, Maud de Percy died A.D. 1203, and
her sister and co-heir, Agnes, became sole inheritor of the
line which, for five generations, had lorded it over the
North Riding. But the Lady Agnes only survived her
sister two years.^ Last of the original family planted in
Yorkshire by William ^^ Als-gcrnons," she passed on the
great name and heritage to the sons whom she had borne
to her husband, Josceline de Louvain. With her burial in
Whitby Abbey began the story of the second and more
splendid dynasty of Percy.

^ Monast. Angl., vol. v.

"^ Wrongly styled " Sixth Baron de Percy." He died in his mother's lifetime.
See Genealogy, Table I.
* She died A.D. 1205.

THE SECOND LINE OF PERCY; ITS
BEGINNINGS

While the Lady Agnes de Percy, eventual heiress of the
race, was in her sixteenth year, and as yet unwedded, it
occurred to the shrewd Queen Adeliza of Brabant, second
wife of Henry I., that no fitter match than this could be
found for her own half-brother, Josceline de Louvain.
Accordingly she hastily summoned young Josceline from
Brabant,! and established him at Court, where Agnes de
Percy was a Maid of Honour.

Now the birth and ancestry of this Josceline de Louvain
were as splendid as his estate was slender. The younger
son by a second marriage of Godfrey *' Barbatus," Count of
Brabant and Louvain, he possessed little of land or gold ;
but he descended in the direct line from Charlemagne,
through Louis " Oultrc-wer," King of France and Count of
Brabant. 2 His mother had been Ida, daughter of Albert,
Count of Namur ; and his half-sister Adeliza had, as we
have seen, married King Henry I. of England. Thus, if
his eldest brother Godfrey II., Count of Brabant and
Louvain, inherited all, or nearly all, of the paternal estate,
Josceline had, at least, many royal and noble relatives to
whom he might fairly look for advancement. Moreover,
he appears to have been of handsome presence, and
great skill in tourney ; with that equability of temper
which is very desirable in the young man who aims
to achieve a rich and happy alliance. Not long had

* Register of Whitby. • ^ See Genealogy, Table I.

14 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Josceline sojourned in England before the Dowager Queen
Adeliza began to make overtures in his behalf to the father
of Agnes de Percy. Old Baron William, albeit somewhat
dazzled by the splendours of the house of Louvain, and its
indubitable descent from Charlemagne, had no intention
that the name of Percy should be forgotten in Northumbria.
So, before he would consent to a marriage between the
Lady Agnes and Josceline de Louvain, he put forward
certain alternative conditions. " T/n's Jocelyn^' says the
Whitby MSS., "... wedded this dame Agnes Percye upon
condition that he shold be called Jocelyn Percy, or els that he
shold bare the arms of the Lord Percy ; and he toke the
counsell of his syster, and he chose rather to be called focelyn
Percy than to forsake Jus own armes (zvhich be feld ore, a lion
rampant asure) ; for so shold he have no right title to his
fathers inheritance, and so of right the Lord Percy shold be
Duke of Brabant, tho they be not so indede." ^ And in his
Rhyming Chronicle the good Friar Peeris tells us that : —

" Therefore in co-clusion, he chose to holde hs otV7ie ariiiys styll.
And to take the name of Percy at the saide Lady Agnes^ tm'l."

The date of this marriage is not certain ; but it probably
occurred about A.D. 1150, when Agnes de Percy was in
her seventeenth year. Queen Adeliza conferred upon
her brother, by way of a wedding gift, live and a half
knight's fees in Yorkshire, and the honour of Petworth in
Sussex. He lived for the remainder of his career in great
splendour ; and is chiefly remembered for the many rich
gifts which he made to abbeys and religious houses. His
death occurred previous to the accession of Richard I. —
A.D. 1 189. The Lady Agnes survived her husband until
1205 ; in which year she was buried on the day of her
patron saint, in Whitby Abbey. The inscription on her
tomb commemorates this event : —

" Agnes, Agnetis festo tumulatur, et istls
Idem sexus, idem nomen et una diesT

It was doubtless considered a happy omen for the eternal

1 Register of Whitby.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 15

life of Agnes de Percy, that she should have been laid to
rest on St. Agnes' Day.

The eldest son of Josceline de Louvain and Agnes de
Percy having died in his mother's lifetime/ his only child,
William, now became by right Baron de Percy. But
this WilHam was only fifteen years of age ; so that his
uncle. Sir Richard de Percy, found no difficulty in usurp-
ing not only the administration of the entire estates of
the family, but even the baronial title as well. Indeed
Richard is generally accepted by genealogists as the sixth
(or as some wrongly have it, "seventh") Baron de Percy.
It has been told how his aunt, Maud de Percy, discern-
ing in him some of the domineering spirit of William
Als-geriionSj had contrived, by an illegal arrangement, to
settle upon this youngest of her nephews the half of her
father's possessions to which she had succeeded. The
character of Richard did not disappoint his aunt's ex-
pectations. He proved a veritable reincarnation of the
obstinate, acquisitive founder of the family. Not even
when his nephew, William, came of age, would he resign
either the estates or the title of baron ; and this too in
the face of the royal command, and the fact that William de
Briwere had been appointed the young baron's guardian.''^
Such usurpations were common enough at that period
when the strong hand was a law unto itself. A few years
later Richard Cocur-de-Lion' s kingdom was appropriated
in his absence by John ; and the same John treated his
nephew, Arthur of Bretagne, much as Richard de Percy
attempted to treat the lad whose rights he had so coolly
seized. But, in the case of the Percies, it must be owned
that the uncle was by far the more admirable character.
Young William, seventh Baron de Percy, was of a sluggard
disposition, as may be judged from his tame submission
to the usurpation of his relative. Not until he had reached
middle-age did he make any effort to regain his ravished
lordships, and, even then, his struggles against the Baron
Richard were but faint-hearted. On the other hand,

^ See Ceiualogy, Table I. - De Fonblanque.

i6 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Richard de Percy, sixth baron by dint of occupation,
was a man of iron will and unfailing energy. When
(as is asserted by some historians, and by others — including
Mr. Andrew Lang, — seriously questioned) Richard I., with
a view to raising money for the Crusade, wished to sell the
county of Northumberland to the King of Scots for 15,000
marks, Baron Richard led the fierce opposition aroused
by this project among the northern nobility.^ In spite
of this, however, he managed to retain the favour and
friendship of Coeur-de-Lion, who summoned him to his
councils, and gave him many other signs of good-will.
One of these latter is so curious, and withal so charac-
teristic of the time, that it will bear repetition. The king,
desirous of replenishing Percy's coffers without emptying
his own, formally bestowed upon the baron a certain
wealthy Jew, to be farmed out for profit. The Jew was
given in lieu of lands or money ; and Percy, while entitled
to take abundant toll upon all the financial transactions
of this son of Jacob, was bound on the other hand to
protect and defend him against the rapacity of others.^
Perhaps the arrangement was not such a bad one for
the Jew as it may seem at first sight. After several years
of successful "farming," we find Percy making over his
Jew to Queen Alianore for a goodly sum in gold.^

If Percy cherished a friendship for " Cceur-de-Lion," for
King John he had nought but hatred. Against this
monarch he had many private grudges, one of which was
the cruel starving to death of his kinsfolk, the Lady de
Braose and her son, in the dungeons of Windsor Castle.
Seventh on the list of barons who, at Runnymede, forced
John to sign Magna Charta we find the name of Richard
de Percy, and the same name occurs among the twenty-
five elected guardians of the Charter. The sturdy patriot-
ism of Percy had refused to sanction King Richard's sale
of Northumberland ; yet, such was his hate of John, that
he willingly surrendered to the Scots king, Alexander, the

^ De Fonblanque, &c.
"^ Madox, Antiquiiies 0/ the Exchequer. ' Madox.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 17

snme territory, as the price of the latter's help against the
English sovereign. Into the cause of the French prince,
Louis, Percy threw himself vigorously, so that all his
lands were declared forfeit. But no sooner was John
dead than the northern baron returned to his loyalty,
swore allegiance to Henry III., and had his possessions
back again — if indeed his loss of them was anything
more than nominal. It was not possible, however, to
bribe him into forgetfulness of the provisions of Magna
Charta. On the assembly of Parliament in 1237, Henry III.
asked for a subsidy of one-thirteenth upon all movables.
The demand having been duly recorded, the barons pre-
pared to go "into a private place for deliberation," as their
custom was. Gilbert de Bassett, a close friend of the king,
said aloud to his master : " My lord the king, send some of
your friends to go along with the barons to their delibera-
tion." ^ Whereupon, we are told, " Richard de Percy, not
without reason angered at this speech, arose and answered
him : * What is it, Friend Gilbert, that you say ? Do you
take us for foreigners, and not the king's friends ? ' And
Gilbert stood reproved for his rude and rash words." 2

Meanwhile Richard de Percy's nephew, William, had
been gradually induced to assert himself, probably through
the influence of his wife's relatives, the family of Baliol.
He had recourse, however, to the courts of law rather
than to the only code recognised by his uncle — that of
the strong hand. As a result, Baron Richard defied every
effort to dislodge him until 1234; when the king him-
self was appealed to, and a compromise was effected by
which Richard was left in undisputed possession of the
barony and estates until his death, after which William was
to inherit both, to the exclusion of the usurper's sons.^
Thus until the very hour which ended his life, Richard
maintained himself in the position of head of the house.
In 1244 he died, and was buried in Whitby Abbey.

When William, seventh Baron de Percy, at length came
to his own, he was in his fifty-second year ; nor did he live

^ Matthew Paris, Hist. Maior, p. 435. ^ Malt. Paris. ^ De Fonblanque.

i8 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

long to enjoy the undisputed barony. In 1245, less than a
year after his uncle's death, he too passed away. By his
first wife,^ Eleanor de Baliol, he left seven sons, of whom
the eldest, Henry, became eighth Baron de Percy. In 1249
this Henry had livery of his lands, and was accorded per-
mission to marry as he pleased, on payment of ^900 — a
very large fine even for a baron. He inherited little of his
father's faineant nature, fighting valiantly in Wales and
Scotland, and in 1263 suffering confiscation and attainder
because, with the other barons, he had protested in arms
against the king's extravagance and the ever-increasing
swarm of foreign favourites at Court. But the arrogance
of Simon de Montfort seems to have disgusted him, for
he eventually returned to the king's side and was taken
prisoner while fighting under the royal standard at the
battle of Lewes. In the following year he helped to
negotiate the treaty between Henry and the royal barons.
By his marriage with the Lady Eleanor Plantagenet, niece
of the king,- he knitted still closer the ties of relationship
between the family of Percy and the reigning house.
Dying in A.D. 1272, he made way for his son, another
Henry ; who, inheriting as ninth Baron de Percy by right
of tenure, was summoned to Parliament as Lord Percy
in 1298-99. This nobleman became the first of the border
Percies. An infant at the time of his father's death, Queen
Eleanor of Castile was appointed his guardian ; and his
early years were spent as a page at Court. After a bitter
quarrel with the monks of Fountains Abbey over a question
of game rights — it is interesting to note that the Percy was
ever ready for a conflict with the ecclesiastical power — he
was sent at the head of an army against the invading Scots,
and succeeded in arresting their march. When barely
twenty-two, the king picked him out of many other
aspirants to head the English archers in Gascony ; and
from this time onward young Percy's life was crowded with
wars and forays. Wherever blows were sounding, there
might be heard the cry of " Esperance ! Esperance ! " for the

1 See Ce//ea/oirv, Plate I. ^ //,/,/^

SEAL OK HENRY, FIRbT l;ARON PERCY

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 19

Louvain Percies, while they retained their own arms, had
gladly taken the fine motto of the former line, — " Esperance
en Dieu ! " The ninth baron fought in France, in Normandy,
and in Wales ; but it was along the Scottish borders that
his deeds of greatest prowess were wrought. In 1296, his
cousin Edward I. knighted him before the gates of Berwick ;
and, for his share in the victory of Dunbar, he was made
Governor of Ayr and Galloway, and a Custodian of the
Borders. In 1300 he was at the siege of Caerlaverock ; his
pennon being described in the curious heraldic poem
written upon that occasion : —

^^/aitne 0 nn bleu lyon rampant
Fu sa baner bieii vuable.'" ^

And in the next year, we find him once more at odds with
Mother Church ; signing, with 103 other barons, the famous
letter of remonstrance addressed to Boniface XII. against
papal encroachments.

Those were the days of William Wallace in Scotland ;
and, while Aymer de Valence was the nominal commander
of the English forces against the knight of Ellerslie, Henry
Percy unquestionably bore the brunt of the war. John
Blair, the faithful chaplain of Wallace, while extolling his
hero fervidly, is fair enough to admit that the latter's
adversary, Percy, was

" True, and ay of great avail,
Sober in peace, and cruel in battail"

In 1306, Percy took prisoners Alexander and Thomas
Bruce ; and withstood a siege from the Scottish army, until
relieved by the Lord Umfreville. When Edward I. lay
dying at Burgh-on-Sands in 1307, he summoned three of his
most trusted barons to his bedside, and administered to each
in turn a solemn oath to secure the succession to the Prince
of Wales. The names of the chosen three were Henry de
Percy, Aymer de Valence, and Robert de Clifford. This
trust was faithfully carried out ; and Percy's reward was

^ Siege of Caerlaverock, Cotton MSS.

20 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

the new king's permission to purchase a fortress upon the
borders, with an important lordship which should make of
his race a permanent bulwark against Scottish inroads. In
this way the House of Percy was transplanted from the soil
of Yorkshire to the district beyond Tyne ; for the castle
and lordship which the ninth baron coveted most were
those of Alnwick.

Alnwick, in Northumberland, had first been held by
Gilbert de Tesson, the Conqueror's standard-bearer at
„ ^^ Hastings. From the family of De Tesson, it

How the ° -' '

Percies passcd to that of De Vesci ^ ; and in 1092 the Scots

liame'^iuh' l^i"g' Malcolm Canmore, met his death at its
Northum- gatcs. lu 1 2 10 it was a most important border
stronghold, still belonging to the De Vescies. But
in 1297 William de Vesci, dying without lawful heirs, was
permitted by the king to enfeoff Anthony Beke, Bishop of
Durham, in the castle, to hold it in trust for Vesci's natural
son, William, then a minor. Beke, however, treacherously
sold lordship and castle to Henry de Percy in 1309. The
latter can scarcely be blamed for his part in the transac-
tion ; for, upon learning that Beke had acted illegally, he
offered to the heirs of Vesci the sum of 700 marks by
way of compensation ; and in this manner secured a final
release, and full possession of Alnwick. His first endeavour
was to repair the castle ; which, since the death of the elder
Vesci, had been allowed to fall into a dilapidated condition.
He built the barbican, the gate-house of approach, the
western garret, the Abbot's Tower, the Falconer's Tower,
the Armourers' Tower, the sally-port, the Constable's Tower,
the Ravine Tower, and many other portions of the castle as
it stands to-day .^

In the meantime, the first mutterings of the storm had
arisen about Edward II. and his favourite, Gaveston. During
the second Parliament of this reign, Percy was elected one
of the Twelve Ordainers, whose duty it was to " regulate "
the royal household ; but whose scarcely concealed object

' De Fonblanque. - Surtees ; De Fonblanque.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 21

was the overthrow of Gaveston. The favourite being shut
up in Scarborough Castle, Pembroke and Percy followed
him thither, and induced him to surrender. There is
nothing to show that Percy was guilty of bad faith in this
transaction. It is known that he merely desired the banish-
ment of Gaveston ; and with the latter's execution by order
of Warwick he had nought to do. Yet Edward H. strove
to visit his vengeance upon the new lord of Alnwick, and
ordered his immediate imprisonment and the confiscation
of all his lands. In this emergency the strong Baronial
League stood stoutly by Percy, however ; and he was
included, the king's wishes notwithstanding, in the General
Pardon which followed. Repairing to Court, he soon made
his peace with the vacillating Edward, and even obtained
the Governorship of Scarborough and Bamborough Castles,
with the Wardenship of "all forests on this side Trent," and
free warren of his great estates in Yorkshire.^ In 13 14 he
marched with the king to Stirling ; and shared in the utter
overthrow of the great English army at Bannockburn, on
June 23 of that year. In attempting to cover Edward's
headlong retreat, Percy fell a captive into the hands of
his old enemy Bruce.-^ He was speedily " ransomed for
anayle " ; and returned to Alnwick to die, as some de-
clare, of a broken heart by reason of England's defeat, in
November 1314.^

He who now succeeded as second Lord Percy of
Alnwick and tenth baron by tenure was but sixteen
years of age at his father's death, yet already
"condLord fcnowned for his skill in tourney, and the
Percy of promise which he gave of becoming a stout and
victor of' fearless captain. This promise was, in the end,
Nevjiies fully justified. Of the fourth Henry Percy of
the line it is written in the records of Alnwick,*
that he became "beyond all his forebears, the most famous
and powerful." Long before his twenty-first year he had

' De Fonblanque. ^ Hardyng's Chronicle.

' Inqiiisitiones Post Mortem. ■* Chronic'e of Almvick Abbey.

22 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

carried the Blue Lion many times successfully against the
Scots, and had earned praise and popularity by the vigour
with which he stamped out baronial brigandage and law-
lessness north of Humber. In 1322 he was knighted,
and accompanied the king on an expedition to the walls
of Edinburgh. Against Edward's new favourites, the
Spensers, Percy made a firm stand ; and he was of the
party of that "she-wolf of France," Queen Isabel, until —
after the murder of the king — her behaviour and that of
her paramour, Mortimer, set all that was honest in
England against them. Then the Lord of Alnwick drew
sword for the young king, Edward III.; and his name is
among the list of peers who passed sentence of death
upon Mortimer. Edward rewarded him with a grant of
Warkworth castle and lordship ; and he fought by the
king's side at the siege of Berwick in July 1333, and at
the battle of Halidon Hill. In January 1335, when the
Scots came raiding into Redesdale, Percy met them with
a picked force and drove them back across the borders.
Between 1335 and 1342 he missed none of the battles
and skirmishes between Scots and English, save for the
brief period while he was in France, serving at the Battle
of Sluys.

In 1345 we find the great rival houses of Douglas
and Percy pitted against each other. Sir William Douglas
had recovered the whole of Teviotdale and the castle
of Hermitage from the English ; and he now strove
to push his conquests beyond the border. Percy, how-
ever, held him manfully in check ; and, after a series
of desultory conflicts, Douglas retired into Scotland, for
the time being. When, in July 1346, Edward III. sailed
for France, he left Percy to keep the North against
marauding Scots. In this wise was the baron deprived
of a part in the crowning victory of Cregy ; but it has
been truly said that the service which he rendered to his
country during the king's absence was fully as useful as
both Cregy and Poictiers together. For it was Percy who
commanded the English in the battle of Neville's Cross —

SEAL OF HENRY, SECOND BARON PERCY

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 23

that splendid fight which saved the North, crippled the
Scottish power, and all but avenged Bannockburn. Taking
advantage of Edward's absence, David Bruce in October
1346 invaded England with 50,000 men, marching un-
opposed to the gates of Durham. The Constable of the
North strove with might and main to muster a goodly
army ; but even the name of Percy could not gather
together more than 16,000. Nay, the great majority of
his troops were "clergymen, priests, chaplains, fryers and
the like . . ., yet good, tall trenchermen, such as were not
afraid of a crack'd crown, though they had no hair to
hide the wound." ^ Indeed, without the Northern clerics
Percy could have offered but little resistance to Bruce
and his 50,000. Each of the four divisions of his battle
was commanded by a dignitary of the Church, the Arch-
bishops of Canterbury and York, and the Bishops of
Durham and Carlisle, wielding sword and spear at the
head of their men. With Percy too fought scions of all
the brave old Northern stocks — Umfreville, Scrope, Mus-
grave, Nevill of Raby, Rokeby, Mowbray, and the rest.
Border ballads a-many ring with the story of that desperate
fray ; in which the English, woefully outnumbered, fought
with a valour well-nigh fanatical, yet could not have hoped
for victory but for the far-sighted generalship of Lord
Percy. In the end the great Scottish host wavered and
fled, leaving many thousands dead upon the field, or
prisoners in the hands of the enemy. The rout was
complete ; Percy following the flying army of invasion
as far as Berwick. King David himself, and the flower
of the Scots nobility, were among the captives ; and tradi-
tion has it that with the gold which he received in ransoms
Percy was enabled to rebuild Bamborough Castle, and to
add a new tower to Alnwick.

Once more, in 1349, Percy harried Scotland, in com-
pany with his kinsman Edward Baliol, little resistance
being offered to their progress. This was his last ex-
ploit. He died suddenly at Alnwick, on February I'j,

' Earnes, p. 37S.

24 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

1352 ;^ and was the first Percy buried within the walls of
the old De Vesci fortress.

The stature of Henry Percy, who succeeded his father

as third Lord of Alnwick and eleventh baron by tenure,

, . must have been brief beyond the ordinary ;

Henry, third . ,,t^,-, i-, , 11

Lord Percy sincc the Old English chroniclers, who seldom
of Alnwick: jndulf^ed in any personal descriptions of their

a small war- . . .

riorwitha hcrocs, again and again refer to his small size,
great ear. rpj^^ Alnwick Chroniclc speaks of him as ^^ hie
pai-vus miles" and again as ** vir paii'ce statta'cs" \'^ but is
careful to add that this " man of few inches," this " little
knight," was "loyal, brave, and kindly-hearted," and withal
'* of so generous a mind that he coveted not the lands of
others, but remained satisfied with those he had inherited." ^
The Lanercost Chronicle •* calls him a "small but skilful
captain." When only fourteen he was contracted to the
Lady Margaret Plantagenet, daughter of Henry, Earl of
Lancaster, and great-granddaughter of Henry III,, — the
second marriage of a Percy with a member of the royal
house in a period of little over half a centur}'-. P>om boy-
hood upward he was his father's constant companion on
field and foray, acting successively as page, squire, and
lieutenant to that scourge of the Scots. More lucky than
his father, however, he followed Edward III. to France,
and led a Northumbrian levy at the battle of Crecy.^ But
no sooner had Crecy been won than, sniffing border war-
fare from afar, the "little knight" hastened back from
Picardy ; and rode blithely down into the North to draw a
sword in that stalwart army of " priests, chaplains, fryers
and the like," which his sire had brought together for the
defence of Durham. Thus it was his enviable lot to take
part in the victory of Neville's Cross, with the hard dints of
Crecy still fresh upon his armour. At one critical mo-
ment, when the English showed signs of retreat before the
Scottish onslaught, he is credited with a brave deed, which

^ Chronica Monasterii de Ahiewykc. ~ Alnwick Chi-onicle. ^ Ihid.

* Lanercost Chronicle, p. 350. ^ Rot. Frattc, 20 Edw. III.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 25

helped materially to turn the tide of fight. Resolving to
shame these tall borderers into holding their own, he rushed
ahead of his men, hacking furiously to right and left with
his great sword ; so that at sight of so much courage in so
small a soldier, the Northumbrians took heart of grace,
and followed shouting upon his heels.^ The Scots too,
embarrassed by the little man's attack, gave way before his
blows ; and a great press of Northern knights closing about
Harry Percy, the first vantage of the day was won.

After his father's death, Percy was on many occasions
Warden of the Scottish Marches ; and it is not improbable
that it was during his career that the hunting fray of Chevy
Chace (since wrongly confounded with the battle of Otter-
bourne) took place.2 It is certain that many such bloody
encounters happened between the forces of the English
Warden and the musters of Douglas. It will be re-
membered that in the older Ballad of Chevy Chace, the
leader of the English is styled not " Earl Percy " (as in the
version of the Reiiques), but

" The Percie out of Northuinberlonde^''

However, the period of Chevy Chace, and the identity of
the Percy who took part therein, have long been questions
upon which antiquaries cannot pronounce decisively. The
character of the stout baron who vowed to take his pleasure
in the Scottish woods "/;z spite of do ugh te Douglas," bears
no little resemblance to that of the third Lord of Alnwick.
Brave to the point of rashness, yet supremely generous to a
fallen foe, the Percy of the ballad is our ^^ pm-vus miles " to
the life. The manner of the eleventh baron's death is not
stated, but we know that it occurred on June 17, 1368.^
He was buried beside his father in Alnwick. No mention
has hitherto been made of his brothers,* one of whom,
Thomas Percy, was Bishop of Norwich, while another,
Richard, Lord of Semar, was summoned to Parliament as

^ Alnwick Chronicle.

^ See later under the account of Otterbourne, page 46,

^ De Fonblanque. ^ See Gcuealogy, Plate I.

26 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

a baron during the reign of Edward III. Of Percy's sisters,
one married Robert de Umfreville, and another Ralph,
second Lord Nevill of Raby, both of whom fought beside
Percy at Neville's Cross.

The elder son of the eleventh baron was yet another
Henry Percy. From his youth up the near relationship
which he bore to the royal family brought him
first Earfo7' i^to closc associatiou with the Court ; and his
Northumber- cousiu, Johu of Gaunt (who was his senior by
barely two years), became the constant com-
panion of Henry and the latter's brother. Sir Thomas
Percy, in their early experiences of war and venerie.
At the age of fourteen, Henry Percy served at Poictiers ;
and three years later he was married to his cousin, the
daughter of Lord Nevill of Raby. In 1360 he proved his
skill as a leader of troops in France, earning knighthood at
the hands of the Black Prince. With his brother, Thomas,
he took part in the costly expedition to Castile in 1364 ; and
1366 witnessed his investiture with the Order of the Garter.
In 1367 he was made Warden of the Eastern Scottish
Marches, to which, a twelvemonth later, was added the
care of the Western Marches as well, so that the peace of
the entire border was in his keeping.

Meanwhile his brother. Sir Thomas Percy, had also
been winning fame as a stout and adventurous knight ; and
in the pages of Froissart many stories of his prowess
may be met wath. He succeeded stalwart John Chandos as
Seneschal of Poitou, and in that capacity took Moncontour
and St. Severe. At the latter battle his cousin. Sir William
Percy — there were several of the name then warring at
home and abroad, — fell in the escalade, bearing the English
standard. When Thomas Percy was at length wounded
and taken prisoner by that strange mercenary, the Welsh
soldier-monk Owen, outside Soubise, the Black Prince
gladly yielded up the fortress of Levroux as the price of his
kinsman's freedom.^

' De Fonblanque.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 27

While Thomas shouted " Esperance " so lustily in
France, be sure that upon the Scottish Marches Harry was
not idle. A brawl at Roxburgh Fair in 1370 between
Northumbrian yeomen and Scots brought swords flashing
and arrows flying ; so that many vassals of Patrick Dunbar,
Earl of March, met their death, and the English bowmen
had much the best of the fairing. But vengeful Earl
Patrick had no thought to suffer such an affront in his own
bailiwick ; so, mustering his moss-troopers, he broke across
the western border, and swept Cumberland like a whirlwind,
carrying off a great booty of prisoners, horses, and kine.
Naturally this foray brought about immediate reprisals on
the part of the English. Skirmish followed hot upon
skirmish, raid upon raid ; until at length Percy raised a
large army, and invaded Scottish territory. If the successes
of the House of Percy be herein faithfully set down, its
failures and defeats must not be forgotten ; and this luckless
expedition proved a defeat and a failure verging on the
laughable. Scots rhymers, as quick to seize upon the satirical
side of the English repulse as their descendants were long
afterwards to hold the rout of "Johnny Cope" up to death-
less ridicule, have left us a metrical account of the invasion
and its results. It may be that they have somewhat
exaggerated the humorous features of this inglorious
campaign, but their verse is well worth perusal. Speaking
of Percy, we are informed that

*' With sevin thousand of nob ill men and wycht,
He came till Duns ; atid thair he baid all nycht^ ^

During the night, however, some Scotch shepherds had
occasion to blow upon the rude horns which they used for
the purpose of frightening away deer and wild cattle from
their flocks. Startled by the hideous uproar, the horses
of the Northumbrian army stampeded ; and a wild panic
followed among the troops themselves. Cries were heard
on all sides that the Scots were coming ; and, heedless of

^ Bulk of Chroniclis of Scotland.

28 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

their leader's threats or entreaties, the frightened English
fled helter-skelter back to Northumberland —

" Sone by the flour ies in the dezv didfleit:
And kit the Percie pas hame on his feit."'^

Soon after this untoward retreat, serious disputes arose
between Percy and the first Earl of Douglas, in conse-
quence of hunting expeditions which the Lord of Alnwick
had been accustomed to make along the southern fringe of
Jedburgh Forest. Several bloody skirmishes resulted, any
of which might have supplied the germ of ** Chevy Chase."
At length Douglas, finding that he could not put an end
to Percy's Scottish hunting by force of arms, laid com-
plaint before the English Court ; and the king appointed
Commissioners to settle the matter. It does not appear
that these peacemakers were very successful in their
efforts ; for, after a while, the feud broke out with more
vigour than ever, matters being complicated by the fact
that Douglas took to hunting in Northumberland in his
turn. But a brief lull there was, while the Commissioners
nosed over musty charters, and questioned woodmen ; so
that in 1373 Lord Percy found time to cross channel, and
draw his good sword in France. He took with him a
picked company consisting of twelve knights, forty-seven
squires, and 160 mounted men.^ With him too went his
son Harry, a boy of eight, — afterwards to hew his way to
fame as " Harry Hotspur." The French campaign how-
ever proved unsuccessful. The great captain, Du Guesclin,
roundly defeated the English on land ; while the fleet was
almost annihilated by a French armament off Rochelle. As
commander of one of the vessels in this engagement, w^e
find Percy's brother, Thomas, whose restless energy had
led him to exchange land-fighting for the perils of the
sea. Just in time to save England from utter disgrace, a
truce was patched up ; and Lord Percy — who appears, at
this portion of his life, to have been a particularly unlucky
commander — returned dejectedly to Alnwick.

' Bulk of Chroniclis, ' De Fonblanque.

SEAT, AND AUTOGRAPH OF HENRY, FIRST EARL
OF NORTHUMBERLAND

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 29

But the news which met him as he crossed the Humber
was of a kind calculated to shake off dejection, and awaken
the lust of vengeance. The good advice of the king's
Commissioners notwithstanding, hunting quarrels had again
kindled the torch of war upon the borders. It was Sir
John Gordon who, on this occasion, had a grievance against
the Northumbrians ; but when blows were to be struck
against Percy and Percy's men, there was no holding
back the Earls of Douglas and of March. Gordon,
Douglas, and March raided the countryside from Berwick
to Newcastle, retiring into Scotland with bloody spears
and a great prey of cattle. Swift on their heels came
Percy, his soul still hot with recent French defeat ;
and Teviotdale paid dearly for the harrying of Nor-
thumberland. Fight succeeded fight, raid followed raid,
all through the years 1375-76. A savage fury seemed
to possess both Scots and English. In the w^ords of the
old rhymer —

•' They spairit neither vian fior wyfe,
Yoiiftg or old of mankind that bare lyfe;
Like wilde tvolfis in furiositie
Baith brint and sle'ive with greate cruel tie J' ^

The feud seems to have spent itself, for the time being, at
the close of 1376.

When John of Gaunt embraced the cause of Wickliff in

1377, Lord Percy was not slow to join his old friend. In

his usual sturdy manner, he took up the cud-

Flow Pcrcv

stood for gels for the Yorkshire priest ; and, during Wick-
johnWick- ijf^'g march through London to appear before
the bishops at St. Paul's, Percy acted as his
protector, walking armed in front to shield the sup-
posed heretic from the fury of the crowd. Even in the
cathedral he persisted in keeping guard over Wickliff in
defiance of the protests of Courtenay, Bishop of London.
The mob (set on, it is said, by Lord Fitz- Walter) broke into

^ Metrical Chronicles.

30 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

his house,^ and into the Duke of Lancaster's palace (the
Savoy) with the intention of kilHng them ; but wily John of
Gaunt had spirited Percy away before these forerunners of
the Gordon Rioters arrived. The fanatical 'prentices (such
they were in 1377, as in 1780) satisfied themselves by work-
ing havoc in the Savoy and Percy house ; while the two
chief sympathisers with Wickliff escaped by water to
Kensington, where they were sheltered by the Princess of
Wales.2

Immediately after the accession of Richard II., and
before the coronation of that ill-starred monarch — i.e. on
July 16, 1377 — Percy was elevated to the dignity of Earl of
Northumberland, chiefly through the powerful influence
of John of Gaunt and the new queen. Since the Conquest,
this proud title had been held by twelve earls — six of Saxon,
three of Scots, and three of Norman blood. Henceforward,
save for certain brief intervals, it was destined to be identi-
fied with the name and race of Percy.

At the same time the newly created earl became Earl
Marshal of England despite the vigorous opposition offered
by the Lady Margaret, daughter of Thomas of Brotherton,
Earl of Norfolk, and rightful inheritor of that office. This
dame, from whom the present Earl Marshal (the Duke of
Norfolk, K.G.) descends, failed in her efforts to supplant
Northumberland. It would appear that the earl's hereditary
obstinacy prevented him from yielding before he had ful-
filled the duties of his newly acquired office at the king's
coronation. Having done this, he was satisfied. The
ceremony over, he at once resigned the Earl Marshalship,
with all its privileges and dignities, in favour of the Lady
Margaret. History does not tell us if the fair Plantagenet
showed any gratitude for this tardy gallantry.

Perhaps Northumberland might have clung to his
Marshal's staff a little longer, had not rumours of border

^ Percy House then stood on the west sitle of Aldersgate Street, on the site of
the Bull and Mouth Inn, say the old topographers. His son Jlotspur owned a
house in Wood Street, near Goldsmiths' Hall.

* Fonblanque. — Life of Wickliff, &c.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 31

warfare and Scottish inroads summoned him to the North.
Roxburgh was pillaged and partially dismantled by the Earl
of Dunbar ; and several minor raids took place along the
Eastern and Western Marches. But Northumberland,
shaking off the soft trammels of Court, was hard upon the
heels of the retiring Scots. Gathering his lieges and
supporters as he hastened towards the border, he made a
great hosting into Dunbar's territory — sweeping away cattle
and gear, burning castles, and bearing down all that barred
his way. The Scots were ready with a counter-movement ;
and, as he rode homeward, Northumberland learned that
they had surprised and captured Berwick. The earl fell
upon that place, and, after a fierce struggle, succeeded in
once more planting King Richard's banner on the walls.
In this exploit he was ably seconded by one whose name is
destined to live for ever in the annals of English chivalry —
Harry Percy the younger, better known as " Hotspur."

Harry " Hotspur," eldest son of the first Earl of
Northumberland, was born in Alnwick Castle on May
ofHar ^°' 1366.^ Even in those rough days it was not

Percy, called customary for lads of gentle birth to leave the
otspur. ^^j^ ^£ their tutors and ride forth to war until
they had passed the fourteenth year. At the age of eight,
while his fellows were yet learning

" To daunce and singe and speake ofgenllefiesse"

Hotspur had already tasted the stern delights of war. In
1378 he accompanied his father on the campaign against
Du Guesclin, serving as a page,^ and wearing in his cap
the badge of Percy — the Crescent and Manacles. Next
year, when only nine, he witnessed (if indeed he did not
share in) the bloody fights between Scots and Enghsh ;
and, at the coronation of Richard II., this child of eleven
became Sir Harry Percy, knighted by the king's hand.

^ His own evidence in the Scrope-Grosvenor trial, 1386.
- De Fonl)Ianqiie.

32 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

How he came by his famous war-name of Hotspur, we
have yet to tell.

Scarcely had Berwick been retaken, than the Scots
again made themselves masters of this most debatable of

fortresses. During the autumn of 1378 a band of border
raiders, to the number of forty-four, led by John Hogg
and Alexander Ramsay, assailed the town on a dark night,
and overcame a garrison said to have been superior in
numbers. The greater part of the defenders, together
with the acting governor. Sir Robert Boynton, fell before
the unexpected onslaught of Hogg and Ramsay, who
assumed control of Berwick on behalf of the Scottish
king. Northumberland heard the news while riding the
Western Marches ; and, furious at the death of Boynton,
as well as at the slight which had been cast upon his
reputation for watchfulness, took the shortest road for the
fallen stronghold. A stubborn resistance was offered by
the raiders, who entertained hopes of succour from beyond
Tweed. The siege lasted nine days in all ; the final victo-
rious assault being led in person by young Harry Percy,
to whom his father granted this dangerous honour.^ In
spite of sober history's assurances, one must marvel at
the story of this urchin of twelve leaping foremost through
the breach, and falling, sword in hand, upon the desperate
Scots. But doubtless there were stalwart Northumbrians
at his side to see that Sir Harry came to no serious
harm, and to shout ** Esperance !" as they hacked out a
pathway for the hope of Alnwick. The slaughter was
relentless. Quarter was neither asked nor offered. Hogg
and Ramsay fell fighting ; nor of all the stark moss-
troopers did one survive.^ So were avenged Sir Robert
Boynton and his garrison. But in those days vengeance
called for vengeance. A body of Scots broke across
Tweed, between Coldstream and Carham, and ravaged the
country for leagues. Northumberland summoned a great
levy, with the intention of carrying the war into the
enemy's country ; and the northern host was actually on

1 Walsingham, Hist. Angl. '^ Walsingham.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 33

its way towards Scotland, when couriers came spurring
from the king, commanding a truce until next " March-
Day." ^ In vain the Percy and his followers stormed
and expostulated. Their sovereign's order could not be
overridden ; and so the army broke up, and Scropes,
Musgraves, Redmaynes, Rokebies, Swinburnes, and the
rest, returned to their homes without striking a blow. In
a little while it came to light that this interference with
the Lord Warden's border rights had been brought about
by none other than his old friend John of Gaunt, Duke of
Lancaster. The wily Lancaster gave out that it was his
intention to lead a large southern force to co-operate with
Northumberland in an invasion of Scotland, the like of
which had not been seen since the brave days of Edward
Longshanks. But Northumberland was suspicious of his
ancient associate, chiefly because of the efforts made by
the duke to have his own son recognised as next heir to
the English crown ; and — as it proved — his suspicions
were not ill-founded. John of Gaunt led an army north-
ward indeed ; but he held his men inactive in the neigh-
bourhood of York, while, by way of Hull and other
ports, he kept up negotiations with the King of Scots, —
Robert II., first of the royal house of Stuart. All doubts
of a secret alliance, between Lancaster and King Robert,
were removed when the former's troops, instead of march-
ing across the border, began to ravage Northumbria itself ;
and when John of Gaunt signed a treaty with his pre-
tended enemy, in w^hich terms the most humiliating to
England were willingly accepted.^ Rage and consterna-
tion spread from Berwick to Carlisle ; and had not
Lancaster withdrawn the bulk of his army beyond the
H umber, a civil war would almost certainly have followed.
As it was, when the duke returned from affixing his seals
to the treaty of peace, and demanded admission to
the town of Berwick, Sir Matthew Redmayne (who had

1 Walsingham. *' March-Day " was the great annual border meeting, at which
complaints were heard, and grievances adjusted.
- Rid path ; Border History.

34 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

succeeded Boynton as acting governor of that place) re-
fused to open the gates. Lancaster vainly protested that he
came on the king's service ; the sturdy Redmayne roundly
answered that no armed body should enter Berwick un-
opposed without the direct orders of the Warden of the
Marches, the representative of the king.^ And with this
reply John of Gaunt had to be content for the time being.
As he rode southward no Percy came out to meet him.
The man who had stood by his side through war and
persecution was now his enemy ; the friendship of thirty
years had been broken.

Northumberland was summoned to the royal banquet
held at Berkhampstead on the Assumption Day following.
The quarrel ^^^er the fcastiug, Lancaster suddenly broke
with John of forth, into a storm of reproaches levelled against
Northumbrians in general, and against their
leader in particular. In plain words he accused Percy
of high treason, in that he had caused the gates of
Berwick to be closed against the royal envoy. The
attack had probably been planned beforehand, for the
king sat idly by while his uncle hurled denunciations at
Northumberland. At length Lancaster plucked off his
glove and fiung it on the floor of the banquet hall, "/w
the presence of the kj'ngc, here present, I cast doun my
gage; rayse it an ye dare ;^^ — these were his words, as re-
ported by Walsingham. Perhaps John of Gaunt believed
that his royal blood gave him the right to challenge
with impunity. If so, he knew nought of the Percy
spirit. Northumberland sprang from his seat, and picked
up the glove. Then he answered his challenger, as Wal-
singham tells us, ^^ after the manner of his race, zvith
furious tvords." Instantly the hall was in a tumult. The
king bade both disputants hold their peace. Lancaster
had cunning enough to obey. Percy continued to storm,
and was ordered under arrest. Knights and men-at-arms
closed in around the earl, and he was borne struggling

^ WalsiriLilinni.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 35

out of the hall to a secure prison in one of the castle
towers. When the passions aroused by this episode had
time to cool, the Earls of Warwick and Suffolk interceded
for their peer with King Richard, and succeeded in
obtaining his release from durance vile. The two dis-
putants were then confronted, and Richard made a praise-
worthy attempt to patch up a peace between them. Peace,
however, was impossible between John of Gaimtand Henry
Percy. Nominally the quarrel ended when they saluted
each other and exchanged fair words in the royal presence ;
but each man rode away from Berkhampstead yearning
for revenge. Lancaster's chance came first. Early in
1383 the conciliatory Richard made Northumberland
Admiral of the Northern Coast ; and the earl came to
London in order to hold consultation with the Lord Mayor
respecting the tax to be levied on commerce for the uses
of the Northern navy. The Earl of Devon, then Admiral
of the West, also took part in this early meeting of an
English admiralty board. Parliament assembling about
this time, Northumberland betook himself to Westminster,
attended by a large armed retinue ; and there encountered
the Duke of Lancaster guarded in like manner. Both
lords were in full armour ; and the daily encounters
between themselves and their follow-ers greatly terrified
the peaceful Londoners. ^ At last the king interfered,
sternly rebuking Percy ; and the Admiral of the North
was compelled to retire to his domains, leaving the field
in possession of his enemy.

Meanwhile Lancaster's peace with the Scots had proved
sadly abortive. Howsoever King Richard and King Robert
might desire harmony betw-een their subjects, it lay not in
their powers to effect a lasting truce upon the border
under the conditions which then prevailed. The great
lords on either side of the frontier had long maintained
armed retinues ; and these men, bound to their chiefs by
ties of heredity and feudal service, might not be dis-
banded and set adrift by the mere signing of a parchment.

^ Stow's Annals.

? 1

34J.li

36 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Northumberland alone could boast of four bannerets, sixty-
seven knights, and over a thousand esquires and archers,
besides foot-soldiers in large numbers, upon his personal
establishment. Among the names of his knights we find those
of D'Arcy, De Roos, Le Dispenser, Boynton, Fauconer,
Fitz-Hugh, Umfraville, Swinburne, Monbochier, Colvylle,
Constable, Delavall, Washington, Conyers, Fenwick, Red-
mayne, Luttrell, Mauleverer, and Mitford.^ On the thither
side of Tweed, Douglas and Dunbar kept similar armed
forces at their beck and call. Scarcely a warrior of them
all but had some old wound to avenge, some feud to fight
out with his ancestral foes. The seals of all the English
and Scottish b:ironage could not have held these bandogs
in leash. So it soon fell out that John of Gaunt's peace
was rudely broken.

The temptation of finding Percy absent in the West
proved too much for some of the Scots barons. Swooping
down unexpectedly upon Berwick, they took that luckless
town, it is said, through the treachery of Sir Matthew
Redmayne's deputy. *' 111 news travels fast," and Lancaster
heard of the disaster as soon as did Northumberland. The
duke was quick to seize this opportunity of compassing
his revenge. Parliament was still sitting ; and, through
Lancaster's influence, the Warden of the Marches was
impeached for having twice permitted an important fortress
to fall into the enemy's hands. The retaliation was all the
sweeter to John of Gaunt, for the reason that this same
Berwick had once closed its gates against him. Short shrift
was allowed to Percy's cause. His friends were absent or
outnumbered at Westminster, and sentences of attainder
and death were passed against the earl.^ Already Lancaster
saw himself dividing the estates and dignities of Northum-
berland. He had yet to learn that it was one thing to
condemn a Percy to the scaffold, and another to carry out
the condemnation. Utterly regardless of the proceedings
against him, Northumberland marched against Berwick,
and besieged the place so rigorously that " a bird could

' Cottotiian Charters, xiii. 3. - De Fonblanque.

4t1l

S'li)'

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 37

not have escaped." Learning, however, of the approach of
a large Scots army, and knowing full well that he need look
for no aid from the South, he made overtures to the gar-
rison, and eventually bought them off with a thousand marks,^
raised from his private resources. Parliament then revoked
the sentence passed upon the earl ; and he was pardoned
by the king, in spite of Lancaster's strenuous objections.

In 1386 Northumberland, long time a widower, married
again. His first consort had been a Nevill of Raby ; his
second was the Lady Maud de Lucy, sister and heiress of
Anthony, fourth baron of that name, and widow of Gilbert
de Umfraville, Earl of Angus,^ This dame brought with
her a great inheritance, including Cockermouth Castle, in
Cumberland, with nine manors, estates in Northumberland,
Cumberland, and Lincoln, eight thousand acres of meadow
and forest land in Annandale.^ Unkindly antiquaries have
hinted that, at the period of her espousals, the Lady Maud
was of something more than mature age. However this
may be, it is certain that she entertained a deep love for
her warrior husband ; since, having no children by him,
she settled all her estates upon his heirs male by his
former wife.* The only condition imposed was to the
efifcct that the house of Percy should for ever bear,
quartered with their own, the arms of the family of De
Lucy — gules three luces argent. The wish of the childless
countess was honourably carried out by the Percies ; and
a glance at the complete achievement of the present Duke
of Northumberland will show that the arms of De Lucy
still figure in their proper place upon the shield.

About this time all England began to ring with [ne
fame of young Harry Percy. His youth, good looks, and
How "Hot- absolute fearlessness had caught the popular
spur" earned faucy ; and gcutlc and simple swore that never
IS war name. g|j.j^g ^j-^g days of the Black Prince and Du
Guesclin, had the world seen such a knight. But as yet,

^ De Fonblaiique. " See Genealogy, Tal)le II.

^ Surtees ; De Fonblanqiie. ^ Rot. Fin., 8 Rich. II.

38 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

he was not known as " Hotspur " ; and the bestowal of that
famous name came about in this wise. Threats of French
invasion were in the air ; and Harry Percy, with his third
brother, Sir Ralph, ^ were sent by their father to Yarmouth,
there to await an attack from overseas. The brothers
brought with them from the North a force of three
hundred men-at-arms and six hundred lances, all proper
fellows and tall, from the banks of Coquet, Till, and Tyne.
At first the time passed pleasantly enough at Yarmouth,
the Percies and their little force being buoyed up by the
hope of a battle with the French. But weeks went by, and
no invaders made their appearance. Watching for a foe
that came not grew irksome to these gallant borderers — to
none of them more so than to Harry Percy. In the North
Countrie bows might be twanging, and swords reddening ;
while here by the dreary Suffolk coast, nine hundred stout
soldiers, the flower of the Eastern Marches, lay pent up
and inactive. Percy's impatience grew with every hour.
At last he swore by Saint Hilda that if the French came
not to seek him, he would go forth to seek the French.
Seizing upon every available craft in Yarmouth harbour
(for the most part fishing-boats and the like) he hurried his
men aboard ; and, dropping down the Channel with a fair
wind, landed on the French coast, to the utter amazement
of the enem}'. Thereafter, and for many weeks, he " made
such ridings into the quarters about Calles, that they never
wish a worse neighbour." '- Having thus revenged himself
and his merry men against unkind fortune, he sailed back
to Yarmouth with a booty worthy of the exploit. His
quickness of action on this occasion made him more of
a hero than ever; and ''Hotspur" was his name thence-
forward, hrst among his own soldiery, and afterwards
throughout the length and breadth of England. When
he came to London the populace acclaimed him louder than
it did the king. To such a pitch did public admiration run,
that his very personal defects were copied by the young
knights of the Court. A certain hesitation of speech from

' Sec Genealogy, Chart II. - Speed.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 39

which he suffered was eagerly imitated ; ^ and lads of birth
and spirit sought eagerly for the high lionour of sporting
the Percy badge, and serving him as page or squire.

Such a man could not but have enemies. The older
courtiers seeing Hotspur already famous at twenty,
were consumed with fear and envy. Slanderous tongues
whispered of this dare-devil springald in the king's ear, and
prophesied evil to the realm if his unprecedented rise were
not checked in time. An attempt was even made to kill
him- by sending him across the Channel in a leaky boat ;
but he returned successfully, to the confusion of the
plotters. In 1386 he was called on as a witness in the suit
brought by Lord Scrope, to restrain the Cheshire family
of Grosvenor from using the Scrope arms, — asure a bend
ot\ Geoffrey Chaucer was another witness in the same
celebrated trial ; which should have possessed a special
significance to a Percy, since the Grosvenor family claimed
descent from that very Hugh *' Ltipus," Earl of Chester,
whose rut^anly excesses in Yorkshire old William " Als-
genioHs " had toiled so zealously to repair.^ Northumber-
land presided over the trial, which lasted from 1386 to
1389 ; and the adherents of Sir Robert Grosvenor were not
slow to accuse the earl of undue partiality towards Scrope,*
who, besides being of the North Country, was also a
kinsman of the Percies. The weight of evidence, however,
seems to have been upon the side of Scrope. Careful
archaeologists have come to look askance upon the tale
that the family of Grosvenor sprang from a certain Norman
*^ Gros-Veneur" — a name which, it is pretended, meant
"Great Hunter" in the sense of powei% rather than in that
of corpulence. The suggestion that they merely represented
a respectable yeoman stock, long settled at the hamlet of
Gravenor, on the Welsh Marches,^ carries with it a far
greater sense of likelihood. In any case little credit can be
attached to the insinuation (repeated in our own times by

^ De Fonl)Ian(iue. - Ilolinshed. •' See Chapter I.

^ Sir H. Nicholas, History of the Soopc-Grosvenor Trial.

^ The Herald and Genealogist, vols. iv. and v., ait. "Grosvenor."

40 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Sir J. Bernard Burke and other apologists for the House
of Grosvenori), that Northumberland showed partiality as
presiding judge, or that the chivalrous Hotspur's evidence
might have been influenced by the power and kinship of
Scrope.

While his brother and nephews were thus prominently

in the public eye, Sir Thomas Percy advanced rapidly in

fame and influence. During the feud between

Sir Thomas e r^ i-vtiii

Percy.states- John of Gauut and Northumberland, Thomas
«)Wier"^ had taken no active part. Neither had he been
openly identified with the Lollardist movement.
Of a politic temper, — the only Percy who had as yet
shown any aptitude for the nice affairs of court, — his
disposition suited well with that of Lancaster ; and he re-
tained that prince's favour long after the rupture with his
brother, the earl. But he was no mere courtier, or sleek
diplomatist, as his prowess both on land and sea abun-
dantly testifies. In 1377, while convoying a fleet of
merchant vessels down the Channel, he fell in with fifty
Spanish and Flemish ships of war. As Spain was then
at peace with England, Percy requested the Flemish
to leave their allies and fight with him on equal terms.
This was refused, whereupon the English admiral fell
upon the united fleets and utterly routed them. In 1379
he was made Admiral of the North, and attempted to
carry an army to the aid of the Duke of Brittany. Pre-
vented from landing his men by an overwhelming fleet of
galleys, he *' turned ageyn to Calais, and riden by lande thorw
France . . . bretit and killed without any resistance!' ^ A few
months later he joined his ships to those of Sir Henry
Calverley, and defeated the enemy in several engagements,^
taking many prizes. During the great gale of 1379, the
British fleet was suddenly dispersed by stress of storm ;
and Percy found himself in a single battered and leaking
ship, the rudder of which had been carried away, drifting

' Represented by ihe Duke of Westminster.
- Capgrave, Chronicle. ^ Le Neve.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 41

helplessly towards the French coast. Through an entire
night the admiral and his men toiled unceasingly to keep
afloat. Daybreak came at last, only to reveal a new terror.
A Spanish man-of-war, unharmed by the elements, made its
appearance, and bore down upon the crippled vessel. But
Percy and his sea-dogs, sleepless and weary as they were,
had no thoughts of surrender. Awaiting the Spaniard's
near approach, Sir Thomas gave the order to grapple and
board. At the head of his crew he leaped upon the
enemy's deck, and engaged her commander with the sword.
The battle which followed lasted for three hours ; but all
the foreigners' efforts failed to repel the attack. In the
end, the Spanish colours were struck ; and Percy took the
captured craft into port, where he pledged her for the sum
of ;^ioo. This money was distributed among the survivors
of his crew, by way of reward for their bravery.

Not satisfied with this success, the admiral speedily
rallied his scattered fleet, and swooped down upon the
P'rench armament anchored at St. IMalo. Bertrand du
Guesclin commanded the enemy ; and, in the crushing
defeat which he inflicted upon this great captain, Percy
wiped out his own reverse of 1378.

John of Gaunt's pretensions to the throne of Castile
resulted in a Spanish expedition, Sir Thomas Percy being
chosen to command the fleet of two hundred ships. In the
campaign which followed, Percy showed that he could
battle as well on land as he had done on sea. Outside the
gates of Nova he fought and won a hand-to-hand fight with
the Spanish champion, Barrois de Barres. Gallicia he swept
with fire and sword, after the manner of border harryings ;
and a valorous assault upon Ribadivia with less than eight
hundred men, made that strong fortress his. When Lan-
caster, according to his custom, concluded matters by a
profitable if none too honourable peace, he sent Percy as
his chief agent to conduct negotiations with the court of
Castile.

Ill

While these things were being done in Spain, the Earl
of Northumberland had set his name to a treaty of his own.
TheDou las ^^^^ document still survives, whereby, in the
and the vcar 1386, the head of the house of Percy entered

^"^^' into a solemn covenant with the Scots Earl of

Douglas,^ for the peace and protection of the border.
The language used by the monkish scribes who drew
up the treaty is high-sounding in the extreme, and
frequently difficult of comprehension. Douglas and Percy
set their seals thereto " af the Water of Eske beside Solowe
the XV day of March!' - But, as we have already observed,
parchment compacts were of little avail in curbing the
feuds of the East and West Marches. . Within a month
after the meeting at Eske water, some restless jMus^rave or
Armstrong led a private foray across the frontier ; and, in
spite of themselves, the Wardens were forced to take part
in the quarrels and skirmishes that were the natural out-
come of this hasty action. For over a year these " cross-
road fights " were of almost weekly occurrence ; so that
men went armed to mass and merry-making, and coats of
mail were donned instead of Lincoln green, when

" To hunt the deer, with horn and hound,
Earl Percy took his 7vay.'"

Be it well-defended peel, or rush-thatched shepherd's
hut, no borderer's home was secure from attack and
plunder. The steers that had been safe in byre overnight,
might be driven leagues beyond Carter's Fell ere morning.

^ James, 2nd Earl of Douglas, son of William, 1st Earl by Margaret, Countess
of Mar ; and grandson of Sir Archibald Douglas, Regent of Scotland, who fell at
Ilali.iun IJill. 2 Fcva'av, vii. 468.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 43

The snooded maiden, who yesterday danced the morris
with her village friends, might be to-day the pale and
trembling prisoner, whom my lord was to honour with a
" broomstick wedding." The goodly knight or sturdy
yeoman, riding out so fearlessly to the chase, was fated,
all too often, to find a bloody deathbed among the mosses
of the Waterbreak,^ or in the shaws of the Debateable
Ground.'- It was soon realised by the great barons of the
Marches that actual war — and war upon a large scale —
could alone put an end to the reign of rapine and slaughter
which prevailed in their dominions. The Scots were the
first to strike the desperate blow by which they hoped to
bring peace, however short-lived, to the border. In the
month of July 1388 they invaded England with 50,000
men, in two columns. The right and larger wing, under
the Earl of Fife, advanced, through Eskdale, upon Carlisle.
The left, commanded by Douglas, under whom were the
Earls of Dunbar and Moray, and Lord Alontgomerie, broke
impetuously across Tweed and Tyne, laid waste the country
as far as Durham, and closely invested Newcastle.

The Earl of Douglas, we are told, was at this time ^^ a
noble young knightj a parallel i)i the Jionoj' of arms of Hotspur!'"
But, whatever may be said of his personal prowess, he
showed on this occasion a decided lack of generalship. In
pushing so recklessly southward his object may have been
to measure arms with young Harry Percy, who defended
Newcastle. But he had omitted to take cognisance of the
elder Percy's movements. This experienced leader, finding
himself at the time unable to stem the tide of invasion,
quietly withdrew to Alnwick, and permitted Douglas to
pass on his way. But no sooner had the Scottish host sat
down before Newcastle, than the Lord Warden emerged

^ "The Waterlireak " was the name applied to the wild and mountainous
country stretching from Wark Common towards the Solway Firth, and in which
most of the English or Scottish border streams took their rise. For a considerable
distance the Waterbreak formed the natural frontier.

^ "The Debateable Ground" was the district south of the Scots' Dyke,
bounded on the cast by the Esk, and on the west by the Sark, It was claimed
by bi3th kuigdunis. •* Sjiecd.

44 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

from his stronghold, and set about raising an army to cut
off the enemy's retreat. Douglas had allowed himself
to be drawn into a trap.^

The belief that the Scots leader's rapid advance upon
Newcastle was largely prompted by chivalrous rivalry of
Hotspur, is borne out by the fact that he lost no time in
sending a cartel of defiance to the latter. Needless to say,
the challenge to single combat was no sooner received
than accepted. A course was arranged before the gates of
Newcastle, and the two champions advanced unattended to
the encounter. Douglas had the advantage alike in strength
and age^ (Hotspur had barely attained his majority);
but in other respects the combatants were fairly matched.
They met ^^ mounted on Huo greete coursers, with sharpe grounde
speares at the utterance^ ^ Fortune favoured not the Percy.
Hotspur was struck in the side, and borne bodily out of his
saddle. Fearing lest he might fall into the hands of the
Scots, " the Englishmeti that stode without the gate made for
the rescue, recovered him on foot, and bj'ought him forthwith
back into the tovjn." ^ It is probable that Percy had been
stunned by his fall, else he would have made some effort
to continue the fight dismounted.

This untoward event was galling to the Northumbrians
in proportion as it filled the hearts of the Scots with fresh
vigour. The victorious Douglas at once ordered a general
assault upon Newcastle. Huge heaps of faggots were
thrown into the ditches ; and, across these, the invaders
attempted to make their way. Again and again they were
beaten back ; Harry Percy and his brother Ralph fighting
in the forefront of the garrison. So resolute was the de-
fence that Douglas determined to raise the siege, and retire
towards the border. Perhaps rumours had reached him
of the preparations which Northumberland was making
to bar his homeward way ; Hotspur was certainly in

1 De Fonblanque.

'^ He was born, according to most accounts, in 1358 ; and was thus eight
years Hotspur's senior.

* Holinshed. ■* P'roissart.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 45

possession of cheering news from Alnwick. Before retir-
ing Douglas could not resist flinging a farewell taunt at
the unhorsed champion. This was perhaps somewhat un-
generous ; but it must be remembered that the action of
the garrison in sallying forth to rescue their fallen leader
had been contrary to the accepted rules of single combat.
Riding within earshot of the walls, followed by a squire
carrying Percy's captured lance and pennon, the Scots
earl demanded a parley. "5jr," he said, " / shall bear this
token of your prowess into Scotland, and shall set it high itt
my castle of Dalkeith^ that it may be seen far ofF." " Syr,^'
quoth Hotspur in reply, "ye may be sure ye shall not passe
the bounds of the countrye tyll ye be mett withal in such zvyse
that ye shall make none avaunt thereof y " Well, syr,'' answered
the earl, " come you this night to my lodgyngs, and seek for
your pennon. I shall set it before my lodgynge, and see if you
will come and take it awaye.'' ^ So ended, for the time being,
the dispute between these valiant knights. The left wing
of the Scots army struck camp ; and the siege of Newcastle
was raised.

Several accounts are given regarding the fate of Hot-
spur's lost pennon ; but that quoted by Thomas Percy,
Bishop of Dromore (who cannot in this instance be accused
of partiality) may well be accepted. Quoting from a
manuscript (still preserved) at Sypn House, Bishop Percy
states that the pennon was given by Douglas to his squire,
Douglas of Cavers ; and that it continued in the family of
that gentleman, who were hereditary Sheriffs of Teviotdale.
During a visit to Roxburghshire in September 1774, the
bishop was shown the ancient relic.^ He does not describe
its appearance after a captivity of well-nigh five hundred
years. Tradition tells us that Douglas of Cavers, while
bearing the pennon from the field of Otterbourne, was
pursued by Harry Percy ; and that this pursuit was the
cause of Hotspur's being cut off from his followers." ^

1 Froissart.

- Natural son of James, 2nd Earl of Douglas. The family of Cavers is now
represented by Archibald Palmer-Douglas, Esq., of Cavers, Hawick, N.B.
^ Correspondence of Bishop Percy.

46 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Leaving Newcastle, Douglas retired by slow marches,
plundering as he went. Ponteland Castle surrendered to
The blood ^^^^ Scots; but at the peel of Otterbourne they
battle of met with an unexpected rebuff, the small garri-
otterbourne. ^^^^ refusing to opcu their gates. Otterbourne
lies beside the River Rede, in the hillv parish of Elsdon.
Half a day's march would have sufficed to carry the
Scots safely across the border with their booty ; but
Douglas, rejecting the advice of Moray and Dunbar,
stopped short before Otterbourne peel, and awaited the
approach of Percy.^

The exact date of the battle of Otterbourne is doubtful,
but most modern authorities state that the engagement
began during the evening of August 19, 1388 — a Wednesday,
according to the Julian Calendar. Hotspur had availed
himself of the time spent by the enemy before New-
castle to assemble a force of horse and foot ; and he
looked with confidence for aid from his father, as well as
from the Bishop of Durham. It was not in the Percy
nature, however, to delay an attack because of temporary
disparity in numbers. Without waiting for reinforcements
from Alnwick, Hotspur, pursuing, " broke the battle upon
the Scottish host." The sun had already set, when he
made his onslaught. " 77ie//," says Froissart, " ///tj cfyec^
^ Percy !' the other party cryed 'Doug/as !' . . . their tzvo
banners niett, and their nienne ; there ivas a sore figlit!' But
the Scots had been clearly surprised, and their hastily-
formed line of battle was shattered by the Northumbrians'
onset. Darkness closed in, however, before the panic
became a rout. The mighty voice of Douglas was heard
through the gloaming, calling upon his men to rally, or
never to think upon Scotland again. Moray, Dunbar,
and the other lieutenants ranged through the press of flight,
bidding their followers stand fast, and face the enemy. The
Scottish archers halted and wheeled about ; the scattered

^ The spot chosen for the fight was at the junction of two main roads, the one
leading north-east towards Alnwick and L?crwick, the olher along Redesdale,
past Hungry Law, to Jedlnirgh.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 47

pikemen formed again ; and when the moon rose Percy
found that the <^rimmest of his work was yet to do. Now
it was the turn of Doughis to attack, and he swept down
upon the Enghsh at the head of his knights. To make
matters worse, the Bishop of Durham, coming late, mistook
the position of the forces, and attacked the English in the
rear ; so that Hotspur's defeat seemed imminent, when
the arrival of Northumberland — thirsting for battle — at
the head of his Newcastle garrison, turned for the time the
tide of war. The Scots were driven back, only to attack
again and again. Hour after hour, and far into the night,
the bloody struggle raged around the peel of Otterbourne.
In the words of old Froissart : " Of all the bataylles and cn-
coiintryngcs that I have made inencion of heretofore in all this
my story, great or small, this bataylle that I treet of noiv was one
of the sorest and best foughten, zvithont cozvardes or faynte
hartes ; for there was nother knygJtte nor sqnyer but that did
his devoyre, and foughte hande to hande."

Twice or thrice Douglas and Hotspur met face to face ;
and Hardyng expressly states that the latter wiped out
the disgrace of his overthrow at Newcastle, by slaying the
Scottish chieftain.^ This too is the traditional version of
the earl's death ; but PYoissart's account is quite ditiferent.
Douglas, he declares, ** took his axe in both his handes, and
entered into the presse . . . but at last he 7vas encountered with
three speares all at once , . . so that he ivas borne perforce to
the earth." Mortally wounded, however, he continued to
cheer his men to the attack ; and his last words to his
cousin St. Clair were words of cheer.- The assertion of
Hardyng, however, that Harry Percy was the actual slayer
of Douglas, carries weight, when it is remembered that
Hardyng entered Hotspur's service as a page, fought in
this battle by his side, and remained his intimate friend
until the fatal day of Shrewsbury.^

Doubt and contradiction surround even the issue of
Otterbourne tight. Scot and Northumbrian alike claim the

^ Ilardyng's Chronicle. - Fraser, The Douglas Book.

^ Froissart' s description, on llic contrary, was derived wholly from Scots whom
he met overseas.

48 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

victory to this day. It is certain that both Hotspur and
Ralph Percy were taken prisoners ; but the Enghsh
account runs that they fell into the hands of the enemy,
owing to their rashness in pursuing too far.^ Certain also
it is that the remnant of the Scots host immediately re-
crossed the Cheviots ; a fact which scarcely tallies with the
claim that Douglas, though dead, was still a conqueror.
The losses on either side must have been great indeed,
judging by the impression which this terrible moonlight
fray — fought out in the watches of the night — produced
throughout the two kingdoms. Flodden itself could not
efface the memories of Otterbourne along the borderland.

Ralph Percy yielded his sword to Sir John Maxwell, a
knight of the Earl of Moray ; while the honour of taking
Hotspur prisoner "when deserted by most of his followers "
is generally ascribed to Sir Hew Montgomerie. This lucky
knight benefited notably by the capture ; for the heir of
Northumberland was ransomed, after a brief sojourn across
the border, for the sum of ;^30oo, towards which (so great
was the esteem in which Hotspur was held) Parliament
willingly voted ^looo.^ It is said that Sir Hew Montgomerie
built the castle of Polnoon, in Renfrewshire, with this
money.2

Thus runs the old ballad of Tlie Battle of Otterbouniey
as quoted by Bishop Percy from a MS. in the Cotton
Library : * —

" Yt felle aboivght the Latnasse iyde,^
Whan husbands wynn ther haye,
The dou'ghtye Dowghxsse boivytid him to ryde,
In Yngland to take a praye :

The Yerlle of Fyffe, withowghten stryffe,

He boivynd him over Sulway :
The grete wolde ever together ryde ;

That race they may rue for aye.

' Hardyng. * Issue Rolls, 12 Richard II.

' De Fonblanque. The ballad of Otterbourne, however, has it that Mont-
gomerie, himself a prisoner, was exchanged for Hotspur.

* Cottov MSS., Cleopatra, c. iv. " Lammas Day, August I.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 49

Over Otter cap ^ hyll they came in,

And so doivyn by Rodelyffe cragge,
Vpon Grene Ley ton they lyghted down

Styrande many a stagge ;

And boldely brent Northomberlonde,

And haryed many a towyn :
They dyd owr Ynglyssh men grete zurange,

To bat tell that tvere not boivyn.

Than spake a be me upon the bent,

Of comforte that was not colde,
And sayd, * We have brent Northomberlond,

We have all tvelth in holde.

' Noiu we have haryed all Bamboroiveshyre,
All the welth in the worlde have tuee ;

I rede we ryde to Neive Castell,
So sty II and stalwurthlyej

Uppon the morowe, tvhen it 7i'as daye,

The standards schonefiille bryght ;
To the Neive Castelle they toke the waye,

And thether they cam fulle ryght.

Sir Henry Percy laye at the Newe Castelle^

I telle yow withoivtten drede ;
He had byn a march-man all hys dayes.

And kepte Banvyke upon Twede.

To the Newe Castell when they cam,

The Skottes they cryde on hyght,
' Syr Harye Percy, and thow byste ivithin,

Com to thefylde andfyght:

For we have brente Northomberlonde,

Thy eritage good and ryght ;
And syne my logeyng I have take^

With my brande dubby ed inany a Knyght.^

^ Ottercap hill is in Kirk-Whelpington parish in Tynedale Ward ; Rodecliffe
or Rodeley Crag is in Hartburn parish, Morpeth Ward ; and Green Leyton is a
village also in Hartburn. — (Percy, Kelujues.)

^ Douglas here takes up the tale.

so THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Sir Harry Percy cam to the walks,
The Skottyssh oste for to se ;

* And thmv hast brent Northomberlond^

Full sore it rewyth me.

' Yf thou hast haryed all Bambarou'eshyre,
Thow hast done me grete envye ;

For the trespasse thow hast me done,
The tone of us schall dye.^

' IVhere schall I byde the 1 ' sayd the Dowglas^
' Or where wylte thow come to me ? *

' At Otterborne in the hygh way,
Ther maist thow well logeed be.

' The roo full rekeles there sche rinnes.

To make the game and glee :
The faivkon and the fesaunt both.

Among the holies on hee.

' Ther maist thotv have thy welth at wyll.

Well looged ther maist be.
Yt schall ?iot be long, or I com the tyll,'
Sayd Syr Harry Percye.

' Ther schall I byde the^ sayd tJie Doivglas,
'■By the fay th of my bodye.^

* Thether schall I com,' sayd Syr Harry Percy ;

' My irowth J plyght to the:

A pype of wyne he gave them over the 7valles,

For soth, as I yoiv saye :
Ther he mayd the Douglas drynke.

And all hys oste that daye.

The Dowglas turnyd him homeivarde agayne.

For soth withowghten naye.
He tooke his logeyng at Otterborne

Vppon a Wedyns-day :

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 51

And titer he pyght hys standerd doivyn^

Hys gettytige more and iesse,
And syne he tvarned hys fnen to goo

To chose ther geldyngs gresse.

A Skottysshe knyght hoved upon the Bent^

A wache I dare well saye ;
So was he 7vare on the noble Percy

In the dawnynge of the daye.

lie pry eked to his pavyleon dore,

As faste as he niyght ronne^
*■ A7vaken, Do7vglas,^ cryed the knyg/tf,

' For hys love that syttes yn throne.^

^ Aivaken, Dowglas,^ cryed the knyght,
* For thow ?naiste waken wyth wynne :

Vender have I spyed the prowde Percy,
And seven siandardcs wyth hyin.^

' Nay, by my tro7uth,' the Douglas sayed,

' // is but a fayned taylle ;
He durst 7Wt loke on my bred banner.

For all Ynglande so haylle.

' Was I not yesterdaye at the Newe Castell

That stonds so fayre on Tyne ?
For all the men the Percy hade.

He cowde not gar re me ones to dyne.'

He stepped owt at hys pavelyon dore

To loke and it were Iesse :
^ Araye yow, lordyngs, one and all,

For here begy fines no peysse.

* The Yerle of Mentaye} thow arte my erne

The fonvarde I gyve to the:
The Yerlle of Huntlay, cawte and kene.

He schall wyth the be.

' The Earl of Menteith, who was " erne " or kinsman of the Scots leader.

52 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

' The lorde of Boivghan} in arfuure bryght
On the other hand he schall be ;

Lorde Jhonstone and lorde Maxwell
They schall be with me.

' Swynton fayre fylde upon your pry de^
To batell tnake yoiv boioen :

Syr Davy Scotte,- Syr Walter Steivarde,
Syr/hon of Agursto/ie.''

A Fytte

The Perssy came byfore hys oste,
IVych was ever a gentyll knyghf,

Vpon the Dowglas lowde can he crye,
* / 7vyll holde that I have hyght :

* For thow haste brente Northumberlonde,

And done me grete envye ;
For thys trespasse thou hast me done.

The tone of 7is schall dye.'

The Dowglas answerde hym agayne

With grete ivnrds up on hee,
And sayd, ^ I have tiventy agaynst thy one.

By holde and ihon' tnaiste see.'

Wyth that the Percye was grevyd sore,

For soothe as I yow saye:
He lyghted dozv?i jipott his fote,

And schoote his horsse dene ajvay.^

^ Buchan.

^ Ancestor of the Dukes of Biiccleugh, and of Sir Walter Scott. " Agurstonc "
was the lord of Haggerston. It were idle to speak at length upon the names in
this brief catalogue. They stood for the flower of the Eastern Scottish Border.

' A like act of defiant daring is ascribed to the "King-Maker" Earl of
Warwick, who slew his war-horse and fought afoot in order to hearten his men.
In this case Percy merely " schoote" or drove away his steed.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY S3

Every man sawe that he dyd soo,

That ryall was ever in rowght ;
Every man schoote hys horse himfroo,

And iyght hym rowynde abotvght.

Thus Syr Hary Percy e take the fylde.,

For soth as I yotv saye :
Jesu Cryste in hevyn on hyght

Dyd heipe him well t/iat daye.

But nyne thowzand ther was no moo ;

The cronykle wi/l not layne ;
Forty thowsande Skottes andfowre

That day fought tlietn agayne.

But when the batell beganne tojoyne^

In hast ther came a knyght,
Then letters fayre furth hath he tayne^

And thus he say d full ryght :

* My lorde, your father he gretes yow ivell^

Wyth many a noble knyght ;
And he desyres yow to byde
That he tnay see thysfyght.

* The Baron of Grastoke ys com otvt of the west,

Wyth hym a noble companye ;
All they loge at your fathers thys nyght^
And the Battel fay ne wold they see.''

* For JesiCs love^ sayd Syr Harye Percy y

' That dyed for yow and me,
Wende to my lorde my Father agayne.
And saye thow saw me not zvith yee :

' My troivth is p Iyght to yonne Skottysh knyght.

It ?ieedes me not to layne.
That I schulde byde hym upon thys bent^

And I have hys trowth agayne :

54 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

* Afid if that I iveiide off thys groivnde,

For soth U7ifoughte7i awaye^
He zvolde call me but a kotvarde knyght.
In hys londe another daye.

' Yet had I lever to be rynde and rente.

By Mary that 7nykel niaye ;
Then ever viy manhod schulde be reprovyd

Wyth a Skotte another daye.

' Wherefore schote, archars, for niy sake,

And let scharpe arowes flee :
Mynstrells, playe up for your wary so n^

And well quyt it schall be,

* Every fnan ihynke on hys trewe love^

A?id marke hym to the Trenitc :
For to God I inake inyne avozve
Thys day wyll 1 7iot fie'

The blodye Harte i7i the Do7vglas ar7nes,

Hys standerde stode on hye ;
That every 7nan 7iiyght full iveil k7iowe :

By syde stode Starres three : -^

The whyte Lyon on the Y/iglish parte.

For soth as I yozv say/ie ;
The Lucetts a7id the Cressaw7its both :

The Skotts f aught the/n agay7ie.

Vppon Sent Andreive loivde ca7ie they crye,

A7id thrysse they schoivte on hyght,
And sy7ie 7/iarked them 07ie owr Y7iglysshe 7nen^

As J have tolde yozv ryght.

Sent George the bryght otvr ladyes k/iyght,

To na77ie they tvere full fay 7ie,
Owr Y7iglysshe 77ie7i they cryde on hyght,

A7id thrysse the schowtte agay7ie.

^ The ancient arm? of Douglas were: "Argent, a man's heart gules; on a
chief azure three stars of the first."

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 55

Ifyf/i that scharpe arotves bygan to flee,

I tellyow in sertayne ;
Men of amies byganne to joyne ;

Many a do7vghty man was ther slayne.

The Percy and the Doivglas viette,

That ether of other was fay tie ;
They schapped together, ivyhll that the swette.

With swordes offyne CoUayne ; ^

Tyll the bloode from ther bassonetts ranne,

As the roke doth in the ray fie.
' Yelde the to me, ' sayd the Dowglas,

' Or ells thotv schalt be slayne :

* For I see by thy bryght bassonet,

Thaw arte sum man of myght ;
And so I do by thy burnysshed brande,
Thoiv art an yerle or ells a knyght.^

* By my good fay the, ^ sayd the noble Percy,

* No%v haste thou rede full ryght.
Yet wyll I never yelde me to the,
Why II I maye stonde andfyght.'

They swapped together, tvhyll that they sivette,

Wyth swordes scharpe and long ;
Ych on other so faste they beetle,

Tyll ther helmes cam in peyses dowyti.

The Percy was a mati of strength,

I tell yo7v in thys stomide,
He smote the Doivglas at the swordes length.

That he fell to the groivynde.

The sworde was scharpe and sore can bvte,

I tell yo7v in sertayne ;
To the harte, he cowde him smyte,

Thus 7i>as the Doivglas slayne.

^ Steel of Cologne.

56 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

The standerds stode styll o?i eke syde.

With many a grevous grone ;
Ther they fought the day and all the nyght,
A7id many a dowghty man was slofie.

Ther was nofreke^ that ther wolde flye^
But styffly in stoivre can stand,

Ych one hewytig on other whyll they myght drye
Wyth many a baleful bronde.

Ther 7vas slayne uJ>o?t the Skottes syde,

For soth and sertenly,
Syr James a Dowglas ther was slayne.

That daye that he cotvde dye.

The Yerlle Mefitaye of he was slayne,
Grysely groned upon the growynd ;

Syr Davy Scotte, Syr Walter Steward^
Syr John of Augursto?te.

Syr Charlies Morrey in that place.

That never a fate ivoldfiye ;
Sir Hughe Maxwell, a lorde he was,

With the Dowglas dijd he dye.

Ther was slayne upon the Skottes syde,

For soth as I yow saye,
Offowre a7id forty thowsande Scotts

Went but eyghtene awaye.

Ther 7e>as slayne upon the Ynglysshe syde

For soth and sertenlye,
A gentell knyght, Sir John Fitz-Hughe,
It was the morpetye.

Syr James Harebotell ther was slayne.
For hym ther hartes were sore ;

The gentyll Lovelle ther was slayne.
That the Percy^s standerd bore.

* Stewart of Dalswinton.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 57

Ther ivas slay tie uppon the Ynglyssh perte.

For soth as I yow saye ;
Of nyne thoxvsand Ynglyssh men,

Fyve hondcrt cam awaye :

The other tvere slayne hi thefylde,

Cryste kepe their sowles from tvo,
Seytig ther was so fewe fryndes

Agaynst so fnany afoo.

Then one the morne they mayde them beeres

Of byrch, and haysell graye ;
Matty a zvydowe with zvepyng teyres, >

Ther makes they fette awaye.

Thy s fray e bygan at Otter borne

Bytwene the nyghte and the day :
Ther the Doivglas lost his lyfe.

And the Percy was lede awaye.

Then was ther a Scottyshe prisoner tayne,
Syr Hughe Mongomery zvas hys name.

For soth as I yow saye.

He borroived the Percy home agayne.

Noiv let us all for the Percy praye.

To Jesu most of myght,
To bryng hys soivle to the blysse of heven, '

For he was a getityll knyght."

Such is the English metrical version of the fight of
Otterbourne. Many of the events narrated, and not a few
of the gallant names mentioned above, are used again by
the unknown maker of that " fine old heroic song of Chevy
Chase." But as has already been pointed out, the real or
imaginary encounter of Chevy Chase cannot be identified
with any particular epoch ; and the ballad so beloved of
Sidney and Addison, so familiar to every admirer of British
battle-lyrics, is probably but the strung-together memories
of many such border frays.

58 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

The death of Douglas, and the cruel slaughter of Otter-
bourne, awed the border into a peace more lasting than it
The Percy had known for many a long year. This cessa-
and the King:, tion of hostilities gave Northumberland leisure
to turn his eyes towards the affairs of the Court, which
had for some time worn a grave and threatening aspect.
Little by little Richard H. had allowed himself to fall
into the ways of his unhappy ancestor, Edward of Car-
narvon. Favourites, chief among whom was Robert de
Vere, Earl of Oxford, created " Duke of Ireland," dominated
the feeble mind of the king, and tempted him (as Gaveston
the Despensers had tempted Edward II.) into luxury and
wastefulness. Opposed to the party of the Court was a
strong, and growing, body of malcontents ; whose opinions
were voiced in Parliament by the Duke of Gloucester
(the king's uncle) and by the Earl of Arundel. For a
time Northumberland held aloof from both sides, and
even sought to act as peacemaker between Richard and
Gloucester. But the royal folly was too flagrant to escape
frank censure from one who never numbered sycophancy
among his faults. During a council held at Clarendon,
Northumberland addressed his sovereign in the following
words, which Richard would have done well to ponder :
" Sir, there is no doubt but these lordes who now be in the
fielde ^ alwaies have been your sure and faythful subjects, and
yet are not intendying to attempt anything agaynst your state,
wealth and honor; nevertheless they feel themselves sore
molested and disquieted by the warlike devices of cej tain persons
about your maiestye, that seeke to oppose them ; and verily,
without fayle, all your realuie is sore grieved therewith, both
great and small, as well lordes as comniotis, and I see not the
contrajye, but they mind to adventure their lives with the
lordes that are in amies, especiallie in this case which they
reckon to be yours, and your realnie's. And, sir, now ye be in
the cheefe place of your realine, and in the place of your corona-
tion, order yourself therefore wisely e, and like a king ! Send

' The Duke of Gloucester and the Earl of Arundel were in a state of armed pro-
test against the Court, and had come to Clarendon escorted by a great multitude.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 59

to them to come before your presence in some public place,
where they can declare unto you the extent and piirpose of
their coming accompanied by so greete a nombre of people unto
these partes, and I beleeve it verily e they will show such reasons
that you will hold them excused.^'' ^

This honest and manly speech was warmly supported
in council by the Archbishop of Canterbury and others ;
so that the king's better feelings were touched, and he con-
sented to receive Gloucester, Arundel, and others of the
protesting party. He met them at Westminster, where a
reconciliation was effected. De Vere and the pack of
favourites fled ; and a new council, in which Northumber-
land was prominent, took advantage of the royal repentance
to introduce numerous reforms chiefly dealing with the
raising of revenues. Richard's fickle favour shone also
upon Hotspur ; who, having recovered from the wounds
of Otterbourne, was made Governor of Carlisle, Warden of
the West Marches, and a Knight of the Garter. The latter
proud distinction was already enjoyed by both Northumber-
land and Sir Thomas Percy ; ^ perhaps the only instance
in history of three closely related members of a family not
royal holding the Garter at one and the same time.

From Calais, whither he had been sent as Governor,
Northumberland was, in 1391, hurriedly recalled to aid in
repelling fresh invasions from beyond the Scottish border.^
As Warden of the Eastern Marches he received over 7000
marks a year by way of expenses ; but, whether the Scots
were too elusive, or the earl too careless, it is certain that,
in 1393, the former succeeded in laying waste Northumbria,
so that the latter incurred the severe reproaches of King
and Parliament.* In October 1396 he was one of the four
great lords who assisted at the meeting between Richard
and the French king at Guisnes ; and during the same year
Sir Thomas Percy, with Hotspur among his knights, went
in full state to conduct the child-queen, Isabel of France,
to English territory.

^ Holinshed. - Anstis, Hist, of the Garter.

^ Walsinqhani. ■• Aniialis Ricardi II.

6o THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Thomas Percy had on several previous occasions acted
Sir Thomas '^^ *^^^ cnvoy of his Sovereign to foreign courts.
Percy, Am- Indeed the renown which this brother of the earl
had long since won as England's foremost sea-
captain, was now eclipsed by his success as man of affairs.
He ^^ had been long soveraygn sqtiyer of the kyjige's house , for
all the state of the kynge passed througJi his handes " ; ^ and
in the capacity of Lord Steward he introduced Froissart
to Richard in 1395. This chronicler gives the following
interesting account of Percy's doings, when sent during
the same year on a mission to France : — These knyghtes of
Englande, Syr Thovias Percy and other, alighted in Paris in
the streete called the Crosse at the sign of the Castle , . . atid
the nexte day about nyne of the clocke they lefte oti their horses
ryght honorably, and rode to the Castle of the Louvre, to the
kynge, where he with his brother and his uncles were redye to
receyve the Englissche Embassadours. . . Then they approached
and were commended to declare their ci-edence. . . The kynge
answered and sayde ; ' Syr Thomas Percy, you and all your
company are ryght heartilye welcome. . . Ye shall tarry here
in Paris a Season, and we will speake with our counsayle, and
make you such convenable answer ere you depart that it shall
suffyce you! With this anszuer the Englysshmen were well
content. Then it was neer dyner tyme, and the Englysshmen
were desyred to tarry and dyne ; and so the Lord of Coucy
brought them into a chambre, and the Lord de la Riviere ;
there they dyned cit their leyser, and after dyner they returned
into the kynge^s chambre, and there they had wyne and spyces,
and then took their leave of the kyttge, and went to their
lodgyjige, , . The daye before that they shulde depart out of
Paris, the kyjige . . . made a dyner to the Englisshe knyghtes,
and caused Syr Thomas Pejxy to sit at his borde, and called
hym cousyn by reason of the Northumberland blode!^ ^

The adherence of Thomas Percy to Richard II. prob-
ably served to keep that unwise monarch upon the throne

^ Froissart.

^ Besides the descent of the house of Louvain- Percy from Charlemagne, it
must be remembered that vSir Thomas (through his mother, Mary Plantagenet)
was a direct descendant of Louis VIII. of France.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 6i

for a period considerably longer than would have been
possible without such powerful support. The king,
who had grown weary of well-doing, and permitted his
banished favourites to creep back to their old places
at Court, was once more at war with the party of
reform. Most of the great barons, and the commons
generally, regarded the return of Richard's evil counsellors
with anger and disgust. Only the aid of the ecclesias-
tical power was needed to precipitate a revolution. But,
through years of cautious championship of the Church,
Sir Thomas Percy had made himself the political adviser
and spokesman of the clergy ; and now his influence in
this direction saved the day for the king. Civil war was
stayed ; and at the Parliament held in Nottingham, Richard
asserted himself to such purpose that all the statutes
limiting royal authority which had been enacted since 1388,
were formally revoked. The Earl of Arundel was seized,
and beheaded on Tower Hill ; while Gloucester, the other
great leader of popular opinion, was secretly done to death
at Calais. Sir Thomas Percy took no part in these excesses ;
and Northumberland risked his own head by speaking against
them, and interceding warmly for his kinsman, the doomed
Arundel.^ But the younger brother's influence among the
bishops had shown the Court Party that he was a man to
conciliate; and, on September 29, 1398, Sir Thomas Percy
was raised to the dignity of Earl of Worcester. Richard II.
and his short-sighted advisers were, however, almost at the
end of their tether. The time drew near when even the faith-
ful Thomas Percy could no longer uphold such a master.

All his life long, " old John of Gaunt " had been a
menace to the peace and prosperity of England; but the

evils which he had wrought when living were as
Lancaster, uothiug to thosc which hc bequeathed to the
and the Per- nation upon his deathbed; for the passing away

of the unscrupulous duke on February 4, 1399,
was but the beginning of that terrible four-score years of

* Grafton's Chronicle.

62 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

rapine and bloodshed which we call the "Wars of the
Roses."

Lancaster's intrigues to place his own son, Henry of
Bolingbroke, in the position of next heir to the throne, had
(as will be remembered) largely caused the tierce quarrel
between Northumberland and his old ally. The same
ambitious schemes had not unnaturally drawn upon Boling-
broke the dislike and suspicion of the king, and eventually
resulted in the former's banishment. News of John of
Gaunt's death reached Richard as he was making prepara-
tions for an invasion of Ireland, to avenge his heir-apparent,
the Earl of March.^ Without consulting his council, the
king (moved no doubt by Bolingbroke's growing popularity)
revoked the letters-patent granted to the heir of Lancaster,
and confiscated all his estates. Great was the outcry against
this arbitrary proceeding. Northumberland, Hotspur, and
other great lords protested so vehemently against Boling-
broke's despoilments that the king ordered their arrest. The
Earl of Worcester warned his brother and nephew in time,
and they escaped the Tower by a swift journey northward.
Richard sent several emissaries commanding them to return
to Court ; but this they wisely refused to do, pleading in
excuse the unsettled condition of the border. Sentences
of banishment and confiscation were therefore pronounced
against them;^ but although offered an asylum at the
Scottish Court, they remained under arms in their own
territory.

Postponing the execution of his sentences until after
the h'ish expedition, Richard sailed from Milford Haven in
a fleet commanded by Worcester. Hardly had he reached
Waterford when the Percies opened communications with
their cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, and invited him to
attempt the recovery of his inheritance by force of arms.
The inheritance in question was simply that left by John of

^ Rof;er Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, grandson of Lionel, Duke of Clarence
the third son of Edward III.), was, according to the English law of succession,
next heir to the throne.
' Froissart.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 63

Gaunt. As yet, at least, the Percies had no desire to put
forward the banished Plantagenet as a candidate for the
Crown.* Their position is perfectly intelligible. Boling-
broke, their near relative and close friend, had been un-
justly treated by the king. Their own heads were in
jeopardy should Richard return from Ireland and find
them unprepared. For these reasons they invited Henry
to England ; and he landed at Ravenspur on July 4th of the
same year. There " 7nette with hym the Erie of Northumber-
land, zvith a grete power to helpe and succor the said duke." ^
From Ravenspur the united forces proceeded to Don-
caster ; where, it was claimed by the Percies and their
friends, young Lancaster was compelled to take a solemn
oath not to lay claim to the throne, but to rest content
with the goodly estates whereof Richard had despoiled
him. To quote the metrical version of Chaplain William
Peeris :

*' T/ie said Henry 0/ darby after he was entered to this lond,
At Dan easier in the Whiei-frears was sworn on the sacrament^
To the said seventh Henry ^ \st Earl of Northumberlond,
A nd to the lord Percy his eldest son, being there present,
With his uncle the Earl of Worcester, that he wold be content
His owne inheritance onely to dame.

Which was the dukedom of lancaster which of right he shuld obteine;
And not to usurpe the crowne upon his prince King Richard;
And after he was perjured, and of his oat he had no regarde^^

Even the adherents of Henry admit that, for some time
after his landing, he merely claimed the estates of Lancaster.
But, finding the kingdom favourably disposed towards a
regency, it was not long before he put forward that idea.
It was enthusiastically received, by none so more than by
Northumberland, who saw in such an arrangement the
extinction of the power of those who had so long swayed
the feeble mind of Richard. When the king returned in
haste from Ireland, he found the might of the nation
arrayed against him. Seeing that his power had vanished,
he commanded the Earl of Worcester to break his staff of

^ De Fonblanque, &c. - Eiii^Usshe Chrouiile, Camden Society.

64 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

office and dismiss the royal household.^ His next step
was to despatch the Duke of Exeter to Chester (where
Lancaster lay with a great army), asking that Northumber-
land might be allowed to visit him.^ From this point
onward the accounts of Northumberland's behaviour to-
wards the unfortunate king vary widely. The earl himself
and his son, Hotspur, maintained that they had no part in
extorting Richard's abdication of the throne, or in selecting
Henry as his successor. Their objects were, they declared,
a regency during the remainder of Richard's life, and
(should he die without issue) the eventual succession of
the young Earl of March. These statements are repeated
by the contemporary historian Hardyng (who was, how-
ever, a strong partisan), by Friar Peeris in his Metrical
History, and by most subsequent chroniclers of the House
of Percy. De Fonblanque^ boldly asserts that, so far
from there being any proof of Northumberland's tricking
Richard into abdication, the evidence is strongly to the
contrary effect. Peeris accuses Henry of double-dealing
not only towards Richard, but towards the Percies as well ;
and, having stated that Northumberland and Hotspur with-
drew from Court after the Lancastrian assumption of the
crown, goes on to tell how the new king was punished
by Providence

" For his lurotigfull dealling^ atid perjury^
As Polychronicon in his life dothe plainly expres^
God punished him right sore and greuously ;
For, after he had taken tipoti him the Croime wrojigfiilly^
Inimediatly strickene he was with contagious seknes
Of Lepre, which is a disease remediles."

On the other hand, we are told by the Annales Ricardi Il.y
an authority accepted by many later historians, that North-
umberland induced Richard to leave Conway for Flint
Castle ; there handed him over to the Duke of Lancaster ;
and, on September 29, recited before the Council a promise
of abdication which he had received from the king, then

* Annales Ricardi II. - Ibid. ^ De Fonblanquc.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 65

imprisoned in the Tower. It is also claimed that the earl
officiated at Henry's coronation.

Whether it be true that the Percies wittingly helped
Henry to climb the throne ; or whether they were duped
by John of Gaunt's right worthy offspring, and kept in
ignorance until too late ; it is certain that, for a short time
after his accession, Henry IV. saw fit to seek the goodwill
of these north-country kinsmen by loading them with new
honours. His first signature as a king was attached to
a charter making Northumberland Lord High Constable,
and he shortly afterwards granted him the Isle of Man
and its dependencies.^ Worcester was associated with the
youthful Prince John, Henry's second son, as Lord High
Steward ; and received in addition the posts of Governor
to the Prince of Wales, Admiral of the Fleet, Treasurer of
England, Keeper of the Privy Seal, Lieutenant of South
Wales, and Governor of Aquitaine.^ To Hotspur fell the
Wardenship of the Eastern Marches, and the Justiciaryship
of North Wales ; while he was also named Governor or
Constable of Berwick, Roxburgh, Bamborough, Chester,
Carnarvon and Flint.

The arrival at Alnwick of a Scots refugee and outlaw
in the person of George Dunbar, Earl of March, drew the
Percies' attention towards the North. Dunbar was their
hereditary enemy ; yet now that he came to their gates a
fugitive they made him welcome, treated him with every
honour, and positively refused to hearken to the Scots
king's demands for his surrender. Indeed their attitude
led to war with Scotland ; and in August 1400 the king
led an army across the border, but was obliged to retire by
news of Owen Glendower's insurrection in Wales. Nor-
thumberland and Hotspur, however, took up the cause of
George Dunbar with such good will that in 1401 the Earl
of Douglas 3 laid formal complaint before Henry of North-
umberland's aggressions, stating that the English Warden
had repeatedly broken truce, and urging that joint com-
missioners should be appointed to investigate the troubles

^ Dugdale's Baronage. ^ Ibid. ^ Archiljakl, 4th Earl of Douglas.

66 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

of the border. The king, in his reply, exonerated North-
umberland from all blame, but agreed to appoint com-
missioners on behalf of England.^ So continuous and
so fierce had been the recent fighting along the frontier,
that the Duke of Rothesay proposed to hold the investiga-
tion at Melrose Abbey, giving as his reason the deplorable
condition of the Marches themselves. Raid after raid had
devastated the country to such a pitch that there was no
food to be had for either man or beast — " mil vivre pour
gentz oil chivalx cV assembler en vianer accustumez." ^ The
joint commission sat from March until May,^ but arrived
at no definite decision. In October Northumberland and
Douglas tried their hands at peace-making, and met in
conference at Yetholm ; * but, owing to the obstinate
temper of the knights and barons on both sides of the
border, and the impossibility of settling the countless feuds
and cross-feuds between them, this praiseworthy effort
also came to nought. Before another spring had gone by,
Northumbrian and Scot were at each other's throats again.

While these bootless negotiations were pending, there
had appeared the first open signs of ill-will between the new-
made king and the house of Percy. Northum-
orHot^^"^"^^ berland urged the strengthening of Carlisle and
Berwick as protection against probable invasion,
but the king took no notice of the appeal. On Good
Friday 140 1 Conway Castle was betrayed to the Welsh;
but Hotspur succeeded in recovering the stronghold after
one month's siege. When he wrote for funds wherewith
to pay the expenses of this enterprise, all that he could
induce the king to send fell short by over one-half of the
sum actually necessary. To add to this the troops on
the Western Marches had been left unpaid for months.^
Whether such niggardliness was natural to Henry IV. (as
in later times to Henry VI L), or whether the king's ad-
mitted duplicity led him to take this means of quarrelling

1 Colhm MSS. 2 gi_^(g pjvpeis, Hen. IV. 3 Wylie.

■* Letters of Hen. IV. ^ Adam of Usk. Orel. Privy Council, Hen. IV.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 67

with and discrediting the Percies, whom he feared, it is
ditHcult to say. Again and again Hotspur wrote, pleading
for the money fairly due to his troops ; but king and
council turned a deaf ear. Addressing the letter from
Carnarvon on May 2, 1401,^ he prays them to ^'remember
how I have 7'epeatedly applied for payment of the kin^s soldiers,
. . . who are in such distress as they can 110 longer endure,
owing to the lack of money, . . . / therefore implore you to
order that they may be paid. . . . If better means cannot be
found, . . . I shall have to go to you in person to claim pay^
inent, to the neglect of other diities."

This, of course, is a translation of Hotspur's letter from
the language in which it was written. For the benefit of
the curious, a copy is subjoined of one of his original
epistles to the council, written at this time, and preserved
with others from his hand in the Cotton MSS., British
Museum : —

" SWYNESHEDE, T, ftlly I401 ;

Sir Henry Percy to the Council :

' Ti'esrcverentz piers en Dieiix et mcs tresJionurez Srs. ;
feo me recomanc a vous. Et voiis please remembrer coment
fay pursues vers le Roi vioun soverain Sr. et vous diverse
foitz pur la payment q'^ mest duez pur la Marche Dcscoce, dont
fe suy gardein, Sibien pur ceo questoit aderere a le darrien
Parlement, come davoir payement en avaunt sur Hull et
Bostone, solonc le patent eut grauntez par le Roi moun soverayn
Sr. susdit a moun tresredoute Sr. et pier et moy, par avis de
vous, mes Srs. de soun graunt Conseille, dont fcspoire q^ vous
avez bone conisance. Et touchant le debt a moy duez a moun
darrien partier de Londrez le Roi nostre soverayn Sr. susdit
chargea soun Tresorer q^ lors estoit pur la dite matej-e, et
le dit Tresorer moy disoit q^ sil fuist greable a vous autres,
mez Srs., du graunt Conseille, qil ordener\oit\ q" feo serroie
paiez de if ml. inarcz en monoy entour cest Pentecost darrien,
et q'^ feo serroie senns par assignetnent de le rcjnenaunt q'
moy fuist duez a pluis tost q' faire purroit ; pur quelle argent

» Issue Rolls, 3 lien. IV.

68 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

et assignenient avoir Jay fait mez servamits pursuer^ sibie7i a
Londrez come a Hull et Bostone stisdit, destre paiez selonc
leffect de la dite graunt et patent sanz asciin denier resceyver
ungues depuis moun partier dillesqueSy mez a inoy graunt
costage^ et travaille a mez seruauntZy sans nulle esploit. Et
come Jey entenduz a le darrien Parlement, quant la necessitee
de roialme fuist moustrez par vous, mez Srs. de graunt con-
seillcy as Barons et Comons de roialme, il estoit demandez, par
toutz les marchez — Caleys, Guyenne et Escoce, la meer, et
Irlattde, come pur guerre et la Marche Descoce estoit limitez
a xxxvij Ml. livreSy ou pluis : et la ou le payment de temp de
trievez a moun dit Sr. et pier et moy duez namonte q^ a V ml.
livres par au, ne poet est re paiez, en bone foy Jeo moy graunt
mervaille, et moy semble q^ vouz mettez les ditz marchez trop
a nouncJialoir, queux serront trovez les pluis fortz enemy s q'
vouz avez, on autrement q^ vouz nagrees point de nostre service
en lez ditz marchez ; et si vous cherchez bien, Jespoir q^ le
greindre defaute q'^ voiis troverez en lez ditz marchez est defaute
de payment, sanz quelle vous ne troverez mdle qi vous poet f aire
tiel service. Sur qoy, tresreverentz, piers en Dieux, et mez
treshonurez Srs., Jay escript a Roi jnon soverain Sr. susdit, en
suppliant q'^ (si) ascun male aveigne a sez ville, chastelles, on
marche, q^ Jay en governaticCy pur defaute de payment, q^ Dieux
defende, q^ Je nay poynt de blame, mez ceux q'^ ne moy voillent
paier, solonc so?in honorable mandement et voluntee. Tres-
revere7itz piers en Dieux et mes treshonurez Srs., ne vous dis-
please q^ Jescrive tiounsacJiantnient en ma royde etfeble manere
de ceste matere, qar necessitee le moy fait fair e, noun pas seule-
ment de moy, mez auxi de mez souldeours, qi sont en tresgraunt
mischief sanz i^eniedy du quelle Je ne puisse ne ose aler vers les
ditz marchez, pur quelle vous supplie et requerre dordenir solonc
q' vous semble busoignable. Jy prie a Dieux q' vous est en sa
seintisme garde. Escrit a SivynesJiede le iiij Jour de Juyleet! "^
The language and style of this letter may indeed be
" royde," but the writer was wrong to call them ^'Jeble."
It is a plain, honest statement of the ill-treatment accorded
by King and Parliament to the defenders of the borders.

1 Col/on I\/SS., Cleopatra, F. III., fol. 7x and 32.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 69

Hotspur, it appears, had written to the king as well, warn-
ing him that serious trouble might result upon the Marches
if the soldiers were left unpaid. But once more Henry de-
clined to afford any relief, although his exchequer was
well filled. At last Hotspur resigned his ungrateful post
as justiciary of North Wales; and, on September i, 1401,
went northward to assist his father in the endeavour to
preserve peace with the Scots. That endeavour, as we
have seen, was destined to be fruitless.

On May 7, 1402, a considerable body of Scots raiders,
led by Hepburn, crossed the border ; and, careless of
NesbittMoor well-uieant commissions of peace, proceeded to
and Homii- plunder and slay, until encountered at Nesbitt
dounHiii. Moor by a force of equal strength under the
Earl of Northumberland and Hotspur. The marauders
were taken somewhat by surprise ; and the advantage thus
gained by the Percies resulted, after a long and unflinching
struggle, in complete victory for the English. Thousands
of Scots were slain ; and their chief, Hepburn, fell into
Hotspur's hands, together with many other prisoners of
distinction.

To avenge the defeat at Nesbitt Moor, a second expedi-
tion invaded England during the following August, com-
manded by the Earl of Douglas and by Murdoch Stewart,
Earl of Fife.^ Thirty French knights of great distinction
accompanied the army, which numbered over 12,000
picked men. They ravaged Northumberland and Durham,
penetrating as far as the Wear.^ Returning homeward
with a rich prey, they found themselves intercepted, on
the morning of September 14, at a point about six miles
north of Wooler, by Northumberland and his son. With
the two Wardens fought the Scotsman George Dunbar,
Earl of March, whom we have seen driven from his own
country. The English occupied at Millfield-on-Till a
strong position, commanding the main line of the enemy's
retreat. The Scots halted at Homildoun, or Humbledown,

^ Son of the Regent Albany. - Fordun, Scotichrotticon, xv. 14.

70 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Hill, a bowshot off. Hotspur was all for charging at the
head of his horse ; but the cautious George Dunbar suc-
ceeded in restraining his eagerness.^ At the advice of Dunbar
the battle was left to the English archers, who had been
drawn up in the van, and who sent such showers of arrows
into the exposed ranks of the invaders, that the fight was
over within an hour.^ The Northumbrian men-at-arms
were never even called into action ; and the victory, which
was complete, belonged entirely to the archers. Sir David
Swinton attempted to cut his w^ay through, only to fall
back in utter rout. Five hundred fugitives were drowned
in the Tweed, miles away ; ^ while five earls — Douglas,
Fife, Angus, Moray, and Orkney — were taken prisoners on
the field of battle.* Henry IV. gave an annuity of £^o to
the courier — one Nicholas Sherbury, an esquire of Hotspur
— who brought him the first tidings of success.^

Sir Walter Scott, in his dramatic poem of Halidon
Hilly boldly uses some of the leading incidents of Homil-
doun to describe the former battle. The deadly rain of
arrows upon the chivalry of Scotland is introduced ; and
the Lord Percy is represented as saying to Edward III. —

" Horses and riders going down togetlier I
^Tis almost pity to see nobles fall.,
And by a peasant's arroiv I "

Rejoiced as was the king by the victory, one of his
first acts after the arrival of Percy's welcome courier was
to issue an edict strictly forbidding that any of the prisoners
taken should be ransomed or exchanged.*^ His excuse
for such a course — wholly at variance with established
custom, and certain to breed lively discontent — was that,
by keeping the Scottish border-lords in durance, peace
might be insured between the two kingdoms. Captives
and captors were alike enraged ; — the latter by the loss

' Scotichronicon. ^ Ibid. ^ Walsingham. Ilardyng.

* Ann. Heiir. IF. Wyntoun.

' Records of the Tower. This annuity was subsequently renewed by I Icnry V.
® Fadern,

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 71

of tlieir liberty, the former by what they held to be a breach
of chivah-y, and a deliberate insult from the throne. Henry
followed up his first order by a second, desiring that all
the prisoners should be conveyed to London without delay.
Hotspur, who had himself taken the Earl of Douglas, posi-
tively refused to comply ; and when the Scots and French
lords arrived in the capital, Douglas was not among them.
This disobedience brought about a stormy interview be-
tween the King and Northumberland, during which the
earl reiterated his son's protests against the lack of pay
for the border troops. " The erle having urged payment
for the custody of the Marches, said ; — * My son and I have
spent our all in your service! The king replied ; — */ have no
money, and money you shall not have.' The erle said ; —
' When you entered the kingdom you promised to rule according
to our counsel. You have since, year by year, received great
sums from the country ; and yet you have fiought, and pay
nought. . . God gj'ant you better counsel!' ^

The king then sent couriers to Alnwick demanding
Hotspur's instant attendance at Court, together with
that of his prisoner Douglas. The second portion of the
message was ignored ; but Harry Percy himself set out
for London. On his way to the capital news reached
him that the young Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, and
the latter's uncle, Sir Edmund Mortimer, had been captured
on the Welsh frontier by Owen Glendower. Only a few
months before Hotspur had married Elizabeth Mortimer,
sister of Sir Edmund, and aunt of the earl ; so that he
had now family reasons for being interested in the fate
of this unfortunate house. But, apart from the ties of
kindred, he must have been moved by the fact that the
legitimate heirs to the English throne lay at the mercy of
the wild Glendower. For, it will be remembered, young
Roger of March stood next after Richard II. in the strict
line of succession to the throne. Hastening on to London,
Hotspur lost no time in seeking audience with the king.
** Then came in like manner . . . Henry Percy, who was married

^ Eidogium Historiarum, vol. iii. 396.

72 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

to the sister of the captive Edmund Mortimer in Wales, and
he prayed that the king wotdd allow the said Edmund to be
ransomed at his cost. The king replied that the public money
should not be expended in strengthening his enonies against
himself. Henry answered ; — ' How is this ? You would
have us expose ourselves when you or your crozvn is in danger,
and yet you will not help us?^ ' Thou art a traitor T said
the king wrathfully. ^ And wouldst thou have us help our
enemies, and those of the State?' ' Traitor am I none,* Henry
replied, ' but a true man ; and as a true man I speak.' The
king drezu his dagger upon him} * Not here,' cried Henry,
'but in the field ;' and so departed'"^ Hall adds that,
Hotspur made further application for leave to ransom the
young Earl of March, only to be again refused. Where-
upon, in leaving the king's presence, he exclaimed so that
all might hear ; — ^^ Behold the Jieyre of the realme is robbed of
his rigJit ; and the robber, with his owne will not redeem him."
The king made no effort to have Henry Percy im-
peached. His partisans maintained that this forbearance
was due to generosity and the recollection of past friend-
ship. But the impartial chronicler is more likely to ascribe
the sovereign's conduct to crafty motives. Realising the
instability of his throne, and the widespread popularity of
Hotspur, he desired, under cover of fair words and a
pretence of magnanimity, to provoke the Percies into war,
and so rid himself of their opposition, while, at the same
time, retaining popular sympathy. Had he openly attacked
Northumberland and his son, it is probable that throughout
the country (and especially in London, where the name of
Percy was intensely popular) feeling of a hostile and
dangerous nature would have been created. But by
placing Hotspur in the light of a rebel, and by driving
him into alliance with the dreaded Glendower, Henry
foresaw that he should have Parliament and the majority
of the people at his back. One of the first steps which he
took had the effect of removing the Percies from London

^ In the original text, "AVx traxit contra etim pugioneiit,"
'^ Eu!oginiii Hiitoriarum, vol. iii. 396,

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 73

and sending them to the North. On March 2, 1403, he
granted to Northumberland "all the lands of the Earl of
Douglas ; " — that is to say, almost all the country between
the Tweed and the border, and the greater part of
Galloway.^ Of course, although this great estate had been
nominally annexed to England, English sway did not extend
over one-tenth of the area which Henry pretended to
bestow. Consequently, before the Percies could enjoy
their new possessions, they had first to conquer them.
As we have seen, the king refused to pay the supplies
necessary for the proper carrying on of such a border war.
Cheaply indeed, therefore, did Henry earn popular praise
for his " generous " treatment of the truculent lords of
Alnwick.

Northumberland made a determined effort to take
the regions in question. At first he made some progress
against the Scots, but two fortresses held out strongly
against the invaders. To these places — Cocklaw peel, near
Yetholm, and Ormiston, by Hawick — Hotspur laid siege.
So prolonged was the defence, that the earl's resources
became exhausted. He had no money to pay his soldiers,
and provisions became scarce. In this grave emergency
he resolved to write once more to the king, — to make one
more effort to loosen the royal purse-strings. His letter,
a straightforward and dignified appeal, points out that over
20,000 marks were fairly owing to himself and his son by
the royal exchequer ; and that without this sum disaster
must certainly fall upon the defenders of the border.^ The
earl signed himself, ^'your Matthias^' such being the old
name given to him by the king in happier days, when
Henry Bolingbroke chose to compare Northumberland to
the heroes of the Maccabean house. Instead of sending the
sorely-needed money, or even deigning to answer the letter,
the king mustered an army, and marched northward. This
sudden movement, regarded as hostile by the Percies, preci-
pitated the civil war w^hich had been threatening ever since
Henry's refusal to ransom the Mortimers.

^ Fat, ^ Close Rolls. - rrocecdiitgs of the Privy Couiiill, i. 203-4.

74 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

A son had been born to Harry Hotspur while he was
laying siege to Ormiston and Cocklaw. This son, the sole
Hotspur's offspring of the union with Elizabeth Mortimer,
rebellion and strengthened the alliance already existing between
^^^^^' his father and the legitimate heirs to the throne.

At the same time his birth greatly increased the king's
fear and hatred of the house of Percy. " T/ie king began
to think that now Hotspur^ s son had a nearer right to the
crown than his own offspring ; it ivas not to be borne with^^
Hotspur on hearing of the king's armed march from
London sent his wife and her babe to a secure retreat,^
most likely to some peel across the border. Then leaving
his father to gather an army in Northumbria, he took a
force of one hundred and sixty picked horsemen across
the Yorkshire moors, through Lancashire and into Cheshire.
With him rode his ancient foe, but present ally, the Earl
of Douglas, together with some others of the Scots prisoners
taken at Homildoun. Arrived in Chester (a town always
inimical to Henry IV,) on Monday July 9th, Hotspur
and Douglas took up their quarters at the house of one
Petronilla Clark,^ and thence sent couriers across the
Welsh border to Owen Glendower. This last-named chief-
tain had released Edmund Mortimer and the Earl of March
from captivity during the previous November, and had
since established a blood alliance with Sir Edmund by
giving him his daughter's hand in marriage. No positive
evidence to that effect exists, but it is more than likely
that secret communications were opened between the Earl
of Northumberland on the one hand, and Glendower and
Mortimer on the other, almost immediately after the news
of King Henry's northern march reached the Welsh and
Scottish borders. It is certain that, by the time Hotspur,
Douglas, and their hard - riding knights reached Dame
Clark's house in Chester, the Welsh were already preparing
for war.

The combination against Henry IV. was beyond all
question formidable ; and it is when we see that monarch

* Holinshed. " Ilardyng. ^ Wylie.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 75

rising promptly and vigorously to the occasion that we
forget for the time his unscrupulous craft, his niggardliness,
and his other ill qualities ; for none but a born leader, a
man of iron nerve and extraordinary decision of character,
could have faced as he did the odds arrayed against him.

In Wales was Glendower, with the legitimate heirs to
the throne by his side, calling his fiery Celts together in
the name of liberty, and even urging them to war by
means of that other potent infiuence upon their racial
character, the supernatural. For one of the old prophecies
of Merlin — long secretly whispered among the mountains
— was now chanted triumphantly by the bards, and (trans-
lated into the English tongue) repeated through the shires
across the border. "And now,''' ran the words of the
Arthurian seer, "after these there shall come out of the
North a Dragon and a Wolf, the whicJi shall be the help of
the Lyon, and bring the realnie great rest, zuith peace and
glory. , . . These three shall rise agaynst the Moldeivarpe^
which is accurst of God. Also they shall tJirust him forth
from the realnie ; and the Moldeivarpe shall fee, atid take a
ship to save himself"

There can be no doubt of the importance attached to
this prophecy in a superstitious age. The application
seemed clear. The Lyon was Glendower ; Percy and
Douglas were respectively the Dragon and the Wolf " out
of the North." King Henry was the Moldewarpe, loathly
beast ; and, as to his being under the ban of Heaven, we
have quoted the words of Peeris to show that many held
him to have been stricken with leprosy for his crimes
of perjury and usurpation. Many of the great lords of
the Welsh Marches joined Hotspur or Glendower ; the
rest remained, like Nevill of Furnival, outwardly neutral,
while secretly sympathising with the insurgents. The
impression created by the prophecy among the border
shires did much to earn for Glendower that reputation

^ " /« this, as Glendon7- persuaded thetii, they thought they should accomplish
a prophecy, as though King Heury ivere tJie A/onldivarp cursed of GocTs 0701
Mouth.'' (Baker's Chrouiclcs, p. l6l.) The "Moldwarp" or " Mouldwarp "
was the mole.

76 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

as a worker of magic which survived until the time of
Shakspeare.i

In the North the Earl of Northumberland was not
relying upon prophecies. Making his headquarters at
Berwick, he drew to his standard a great host, both of
Scots and English. Letters were sent broadcast over all
the countries north of H umber, and by sea to Kent, Sussex,
and the South. Hardyng asserts that, when he was Con-
stable of Warkworth Castle under the Umfrevilles, after,
the attainder of the Percies, he found there letters from
nearly all the great barons of England, written under their
seals, and promising aid to Northumberland and allegiance
to the Earl of March. The Earl of Worcester, casting
aside the king's favour, and jeopardising all his high
Court offices, threw in his lot with his brother and nephew.
Northumberland and he drew up a manifesto, declaring
that the king had obtained his crown by fraud and per-
jury, and demanding that the money raised by means
of taxation should be used, not for Henry's privy purse,
but for the use and defence of the nation.- With this
document Worcester proceeded to Chester, where he
joined Hotspur; while the head of the house made his
final preparations for a march southward. Had that
march ever been carried out the rising v^'ould probably
have succeeded. But, worn out and weakened by his
exertions, the earl was attacked by fever near Berwick ; ^
and when he was able to leave his bed and move to the
relief of Hotspur it was, as we shall see, too late.

Meantime in Chester were brave doings, and the little

force which came out of the North with Hotspur and Douglas

had swelled to goodly proportions. Armourers

How Hot- , , ^ . / *^ *^

spur marched wcre Dusy, and grmdstones a-whirr from morn-

bur^y*!'^"^'" ^"S till night. To the house of Dame Petronilla

Clark (where the blue lion hung side by side

with the arms of Douglas) knights and gentlemen came and

' See Henry IV., Tart I. - Ann. Hen. IV.

^ Surtecs, Dcscaidants of Joscdine de Lovain.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 77

went unceasingly. The galleried courtyard was thronged
with envoys and couriers from every corner of the land.
Broad Scots, Norman-French, homespun English, eager
Cymbric, and the burr of Tyne and Tees, — you might
well have heard them all had you dwelt in Chester town
when the "Dragon" and the "Wolf" were making ready
to fight against the " Moldewarpe."

Cheshire, loyal to the memory of Richard II., sent its
knights and squires to battle with Hotspur for Richard's
heir. All the old Cheshire names may be found upon the
insurgent muster-roll,— Vernon, Venables, Leigh, and
the rest ; while reinforcements poured in from Lancashire,
Derbyshire, and the Marches. About July 17th, Worcester
arrived at Chester with the manifesto ; and uncle and
nephew issued a proclamation to the effect that the Earl
of March was rightful King of England, that Henry of
Bolingbroke was deposed, and that they themselves had
assumed the "style and title of Joint Protectors of the
Commonwealth." 1 Also they sent out letters of defiance,
accusing Henry of breaking the oath made to them at
Doncaster in 1399 relative to his intention not to claim
the crown ; and further stating that he had caused Richard
II. to be starved to death.^

Learning that Glendower was on the march. Hotspur
set his force in motion, and, on the morning of Saturday
July 2ist, he appeared by the Oswestry road before the
Castle Foregate of Shrewsbury, near which town he ex-
pected to make a juncture with the Welsh. But dire
disappointment awaited him. On the walls of Shrewsbury,
floated the banner of Henry IV. !

By one splendid stroke the king had resolved to win
or lose all. Hearing of the rebellion on July i6th, he saw
that, with enemies on every side, but a single hope re-
mained, that of pushing into the very heart of the war and
cutting off the central body of insurgents before they could
unite with Glendower or with Northumberland. Some
historians^ state that this plan of action was suggested to

^ Hardyng. - Ibid. •' Ramsay, Lancaster and Yo7-k, &c.

78 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

him by that skilful strategist, the banished Dunbar, Earl of
March. This theory is by no means unlikely ; for Dunbar
was with Henry's army at the time, and he had already
given signal evidence of his generalship at Homildoun
when fighting with, instead of against. Hotspur. Whoever
may have been the author of the movement, it is certain
that Henry effected it with a rapidity and success which
utterly surprised Hotspur, himself no sluggard on the
march.

At sight of the royal standard over Shrewsbury, Hot-
spur drew back along the Whitchurch road for about three
and a half miles, and chose a position of considerable
strength on the slope of the Hayteley field, to the left of
the road, in the parish of Albright Hussey.i His front
was protected by a tangled crop of peas, and — according
to Ramsay ^ — by three small ponds. The king, advancing
from Shrewsbury, took up perforce a situation at the foot
of the slope. Hence he despatched messengers, among
them the Abbot of Shrewsbury, to Hotspur, asking him to
come into the royal lines, together with Worcester, for
the purpose of averting bloodshed. The real object of
this course is disputed. Perhaps Henry was sincere in
his desire of a peaceful settlement ; but his proved duplicity
rather leads us to believe that he had some ulterior motive
in desiring the presence of the two insurgent leaders.
The theory that he wished to gain time can scarcely be
maintained, for delay might have proved fatal to his
cause. The scouts of Glendower were already in sight ;
while Northumberland, recovered from his illness, was
again on his way with a strong force.

Hotspur refused to go in person to the king, probably
fearing some such treatment as had been meted out to
Richard II.; but he allowed his uncle to attempt negotia-
tions. Capgrave and other historians assert that Worcester
proved an untrustworthy envoy, false both to the king and
to Hotspur. This view of the old soldier-statesman's char-
acter has been perpetuated by Shakspeare in Henry IV.,

' Wjlie, Hist, of Henry IV. - Lancaster and York.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 79

Part I., where Worcester is represented as concealing the
king's fair olfers of peace from Hotspur, lest the latter
should decide to accept them. It is difficult to believe
the earl guilty of such wanton treachery. Froissart
declares that continental sovereigns and statesmen were
ever ready to accept the bare word of Thomas Percy as
sufficient ratification of all treaties or conventions. It is,
however, quite probable that (like his nephew) he dis-
trusted the king's fine promises, and so advised Hotspur
not to hearken to them. After some hours of parleying,
it became apparent that a battle could not be avoided.
Hotspur's final answer to the king was, " I put no trust
in thy mercy." To which Henry replied, by the mouth
of Worcester, " I pray the Lord that thou and not I may
be held responsible for the blood spilt this day." 1

Before the ranks had begun to move, an omen happened
which blanched for a little space the cheeks of Hotspur
and his friends. Turning to an esquire, Percy called for
his favourite sword, the staunch weapon with which he
had won so many fights. "Alack, my lord," replied the
esquire, *' it was left behind at the place where you
encamped overnight, i/ie village of Berzvick." Hotspur
groaned. "Then," cried he, "has my plough reached its
last furrow ! " A soothsayer had long beside prophesied
that Harry Percy should die before Berwick ; but naturally
the north-country hero had thought his own border
Berwick the place referred to. At this southern Berwick
he had passed the night, without even knowing its name ;
and to have left there his good sword seemed to him a
warning of death.- For, although Shakspeare makes Percy
mock at the tales which credited Glendower with magic
power, the real Hotspur, like so many brave captains,
seems to have been of a superstitious nature. His fears
soon vanished, however, and he made ready for attack,
taking a leaf out of crafty George Dunbar's book by
placing the archers of Cheshire in the foremost line of
fight.

^ EuloQiuiii Hisloriarunt. - Ibid.

8o THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Not long after noon King Henry gave the word to
charge — " En Avant Bauer ! " ^ ^^ Esperance ! Esperance,
_. , Percy!" cried the insurgents; to which the

Shrewsbury : -^ is J

Hotspur's royal troops replied with a lusty " St. George ! "
last battle. rpj^^ Cheshire archers shot not so well as their
northern brothers at Homildoun, for although their arrows
broke a portion of the royal line, they were themselves
driven back by a second and more determined attack, said
to have been headed by the boy Prince of Wales.^ Thence-
forward the combat raged hand to hand. Hotspur and
Douglas with thirty chosen knights cut their way through
the advancing host straight to the royal standard. The
standard-bearer fell beneath the sword of Percy. The
banner, beaten to earth, would have been captured had
not the Earl of Stafford seized it and borne it out of the
press. Swift followed Hotspur, and Stafford in his turn
bit the dust. Striding over the fallen standard, Percy saw
approaching a knight arrayed in the royal armour. "The
king ! " he cried, and thrust him furiously through the
throat, so that he fell a corpse beneath the feet of the
royalists. " The king ! " echoed those who followed
Hotspur — "the king is slain!" Henry's host wavered
and would have broken, had not a second knight rushed
to the front, bearing likewise the royal arms and crest.
This man went down, his skull cloven by the battle-axe
of Douglas. Again was the cry raised that the king had
fallen. Not so ! Henry the cautious, knowing full well
that a direct attack would be made upon his person, had
but sent two gentlemen forth disguised in his royal harness,
whilst he himself directed the battle from the rear in
company with George Dunbar.^ Such cunning tricks of

^ Walsingham, Hist. Angl., ii. 396.

2 Shakspeare has it (in Henry IK, Part I.) that Harry Percy and the Prince
of Wales were of the same age, and makes the king speak of the former as —

" T/ii's Hotspur Mars in swaddling clothes,
This in/ant warrior! "

Yet the king himself was born in the same year as the man he styles an infant,
while the Prince of Wales was barely seventeen.
^ Eulogiiim Nistoriarit/ii, &c.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 8i

warfare commended themselves not to that soul of chivalry,
Harry Percy. He neither sheltered himself among the
men-at-arms, nor sent his devoted esquires to die behind
a lying 'scutcheon. Hotspur had he been all his life ; and
here on Shrewsbury field he was Hotspur yet. Even
where his knights fought back to back above the trampled
standard of skulking Bolingbroke, even where the bloody
axe of Douglas cut its terrible path, Harry Percy could
not tarry long. Lifting his visor so that all might know
him, he burst through the enemy's van, shouting ^^ Esper-
ance ! " and calling on those that loved the right to follow.
Perhaps he had seen the hosts of Glendower drawn up
across the neighbouring river,^ and hoped to cut his way
thither through the royal army. Perhaps he expected the
Welsh to fall upon the royal rear, as, to their disgrace,
they did not fall ! Whatever were his thoughts, he was
not long to think. As Harold died at Senlac, so died
Hotspur at Shrewsbury. A chance arrow, falling from
aloft, pierced him through the brain. His followers, in
doubt, still shouted " Percy ! Esperance ! " and pressed
onward. But the king, emerging from safe shelter, lifted
up his voice and cried, " Harry Percy is slain ! " ^ The
royal troops took heart of grace, and bore the insurgents
back. Glendower and his legions, on the opposite bank
of the river, made no attempt to turn the tide. The knights
of Northumbria and Scotland, scorning to fiy, fell before
the onrush. The gallant Cheshire bowmen fired their last
shafts, drew their skians, and perished on the battle side
of the slope. Few indeed of the insurgent army left the
field alive. The sunset of that day was the sunset of the
cause of Mortimer.

In the twilight, Henry Bolingbroke searched the field
for Hotspur's body. The road thither was plainly marked
by a broad line of royalist dead. There, too, lay the thirty
knights who had followed their lord into the fight, resting
side by side, with the fallen ensign of the king for their
right worthy couch. There lay the Douglas, his great axe

^ Wylie. Ramsny. - A>i/t. Hen. IV.

82 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

clutched in the grip of death. And there, beyond them
all, with his face to the early stars and his forehead pierced
by the arrow of doom, lay the bravest, rashest, staunchest
knight in England, Harry Percy of Northumberland,
whom men called Hotspur.

" The earth that bore him dead.
Bore not alive so stout a gentlema7tr ^

It is said that the king wept over Hotspur's body. Perhaps
in the first shock of thus beholding this near kinsman,
this friend of his boyhood, Henry may have been moved
to tears. It is known, at least, that he permitted one of
the neutral barons, Thomas Nevill, Lord Furnival, to re-
move the body from Shrewsbury, and to inter it during
the night in a family chapel at Whitchurch, sixteen miles
from the field. But the royal generosity was short-lived.
A day or two later he had the remains torn from their
grave and carried back to the scene of battle. There they
were rubbed in salt, and placed upright between two mill-
stones, by the side of the pillory, in Shrewsbury market-
place.'^ So they stood, while gaping crowds came to view,
for the greater part of a week. Then the head was hewn
off, and sent to be fixed upon that gate of York which
looked towards Northumberland. The four quarters
were distributed between London, Bristol, Chester, and
Newcastle. Long afterwards Hotspur's sorrowing widow
obtained leave to gather together these ghastly remnants
of him she had loved. Doubt exists as to the ultimate
resting-place of the dismembered body ; but Friar Peeris
expressly states in his Rhyming Chronicle that Harry
Hotspur was buried by his faithful widow in the Northum-
berland tomb at York Minster. The Earl of Worcester,
sorely wounded, had been beheaded on the field of battle,
and it was probably his body which was subsequently
brought to light in St. Mary's Church of Shrewsbury.

During the night succeeding the struggle Owen Glen-

* Hen. IV., Act v. sc. 4.

'^ Wylie, i. 364. Chroiiiqitc dc la Trnison de Richard Deux.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 83

dower, who had remained inactive across the river,
retreated with Mortimer into South Wales. Henry Boling-
broke's bold stroke had amply succeeded. One of his
foes utterly crushed, the other a fugitive, he had now only
to reckon with old Northumberland.^

Tardily marching (tardily through no fault of his) to
relieve his son and brother, Northumberland was arrested

by the dire news of this catastrophe. Moreover,
ofdefeaf'* ^^ fouud his southward pathway blocked by

Nevill, Earl of Westmoreland, who had been de-
tached from the main body of the royalist force for this
purpose. Stricken with grief by the death of Hotspur,
the old earl made no attempt to attack Westmoreland,
but retreated to Newcastle. Misfortune is ever a sore
severer of old ties, and the Percy found the gates of New-
castle closed against his army. In vain he pleaded the
memory of the past : the burgesses whom Hotspur had
commanded, whom the house of Percy had so often de-
fended, hardened their hearts against the baffled earl, and
refused his troops a refuge. All that could be obtained
from them, after long negotiation, was permission for
Northumberland and his personal train to enter the city .2
The soldiers were compelled to pass the night outside
the walls. Next day the earl retired still farther north,
marching to his own castle of Warkworth. Here, of
course, he was made welcome ; and here he received a
summons from the king to present himself forthwith at
York. The royal message intimated that no harm should
come to its recipient, provided that he made his defence in
due form before Parliament. Northumberland set out at
once, scantily attended, and appeared before the king at
York on nth August. He was received with extreme cold-
ness; and treated, to all intents and purposes, as a State

1 Authorities on the battle of Shrewsbury and the death of Hotspur : A>in.
Hen. IV., Chron. de la Trdison de Richard Deux, Hardyng, Holinshed,
Wylie's Hist, of Hen. IV., Ramsay's Lancaster and York, Surtees' Descis. of Jos.
dt Lovain, De Fonblanque, &c. ^ Ann. Hen. lY.

84 THE HOUSE OP PERCY

prisoner.^ A few days later the Court moved to Pontefract,
where the earl, despite the king's assurances, was coerced
into formally yielding up all his northern castles to be
governed by royal nominees.

No sooner had he signed a treaty to this effect than all
disguise was thrown off, and he was conveyed to Baginton,
near Coventry, and there kept in close captivity until
February 1404. In that month Parliament met, and the
earl was carried to Westminster to offer what defence he
could against the charge of high-treason. After grave
deliberation the Lords decided that his acts had not
amounted to treason, but merely to a trespass against the
sovereign authority. A fine they held sufficient to atone
for the delinquency. Thereupon Northumberland, at his
own request we are told, took an oath of fealty on the
cross of St. Thomas ; and the king pardoned him at the
request of both Lords and Commons. The Commons,
with whom he was especially popular, sent to Henry on
9th February a memorial of thanks for this clemency.
For some time a feud had existed between the earl and
his cousin of Westmoreland. The growing power of the
latter in the north had been a thorn in the side of the
Percies ; and bitter ill-will prevailed between the adherents
of Nevill and of Percy upon the border. But now *' at
the request of the Commons [the king] commanded the Earl
of Northumberland and the Earl of Westmoreland, in token
of perfect amity, to kiss each other in open Parliament!"^ This
ceremony was duly carried out ; and the two noblemen
became ostensibly reconciled,^ — although, as will be seen,
the feud still secretly continued.

Northumberland was then restored to all his honours
and dignities, save the High Constableship ; and to all his
possessions except the Isle of Man. However, he agreed
to make over his castles to be governed by nominees of the
Crown,

It was one thing for the king to receive Northumber-

^ Enloghim Hisloriariiiit, iii. 398. - Brydges' Cc//ifts' Peerage.

^ Rot. Pari., iii. 524.

4^ ^b

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 85

land's submission, and another to enforce that submission
upon some of the turbulent borderers who governed
Berwick, Bamborough, Warkworth, and other northern
strongholds for their feudal lord. Several of these captains
positively refused to believe that the Percy had agreed
to surrender his fortresses, and the officers of the king
were in more than one instance denied admittance by
Northumberland's loyal lieutenants. The earl was natu-
rally suspected of secretly sanctioning this opposition, and
repeated summonses were sent him to attend Court and
set himself right with the Council. At last, about mid-
summer, he repaired to Pontefract, where Henry then lay,
bringing with him as hostages his grandsons — the only son
of Hotspur, and the two sons of Sir Thomas Percy of
Athol.^ After some vacillation on the king's part the sur-
render of Berwick and Jedburgh Castles was cancelled, and
Northumberland was allowed to retain the governorship of
those places.2 He returned to the border apparently well
satisfied, but in reality irritated by the manner in which he
had been treated, and ripe for further mischief. Called to
attend the Council in January 1405, he excused himself
from this irksome duty in a letter to Henry, pleading old
age and infirmity, and signed ^^ your humble Matathyas."
Probably he feared to share the fate of the Earl Marshal,
the Archbishop of York, and others who had trusted them-
selves in the hands of Westmoreland and the king.

While in this frame of mind he was approached by
the agents of Mortimer and Glendower, and there seems
little reason to doubt that he entered into a treaty with
them, by which a new insurrection was planned. England
and Wales were to be portioned out between the three
conspirators, it is said, the earl receiving twelve northern
and eastern counties for his share.^ Before the scheme
could come to maturity, proof of its existence was brought
to Henry by Westmoreland. The king lost no time in
marching an army to the north ; but before he could
reach Alnwick, Northumberland had fled across the border

1 See Giiiealogy, Table II. " Ann. Hen. IV. » Chroii., ed. Giles.

86 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

in company with his close friend and ally, the Lord Bardolf
— a nobleman renowned for his great size and strength,
rather than for any qualities of his mind. Together they
sought an asylum at the Scottish Court ; while the king
ravaged Northumbria, capturing one castle after another
until all were reduced. In June 1406 the earl and
Bardolf were cited to appear before Parliament within
fourteen days, to answer an accusation of high-treason
preferred against them. In default of their presence they
were duly adjudged outlaws and traitors — a sentence in-
volving the forfeiture of all their estates and titles, and the
penalty of death at the king's pleasure.^ Hardly had the
decree of confiscation been signed, than Henry set about
the congenial task of distributing the Percy possessions.
The southern manors were given to the Duke of Bedford,
the king's brother ; while all the remainder, including
Northumberland House in Aldersgate Street, London, fell
to the queen's share. ^ In addition, Commissioners were
despatched to Scotland for the purpose of obtaining, by
threats or persuasion, the surrender of the outlawed lords.
It is likely that the Scots Court would have delivered up
the fugitives had not Sir David Fleming of Cumbernauld
(who cherished a friendship for the gigantic Bardolf) given
them timely warning of danger. Not a day too soon Percy
and his companion fled by sea, probably from Glasgow,
and succeeded in reaching the coast of South Wales, where
they joined Glendower and Mortimer.

For two years thereafter the life of the attainted earl
was one succession of hasty flights and narrow escapes
from capture. Lord Bardolf shared with him every trial
and misfortune. Now we find them in Brittany, now
in Wales. They ventured even to return to the Scottish
Jborder ; and in 1408 the strange spectacle was presented
of Northumberland raiding his own estates at the head of
a body of Scots, and carrying off a prey of sheep and
cattle. A proclamation was issued, in consequence of this

1 Rolls of Piirll., 7 Hen. IV.

- This mansion afterwards became known as the "Queen's Wardrobe."

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 87

exploit, setting a price upon the earl's head ; ^ and all
loyal subjects were urged to capture or slay " Henry Percy,
late Earl of Northiuuberland."

This state of affairs could not last long. King Henry

had sworn never again to make peace with Percy ; nor

was the Scottish Court inclined to offer him pro-

the first Earl tcctiou. Upon tlic border and in Wales, Bardolf

of Northum- ^^^ j^g found hazardous shelter for short spaces

berland. *•

of time ; but the English agents were too watch-
ful and energetic to give them any lasting rest. The perils
and privations which he had suffered since his outlawry
had added greatly to the earl's infirmities ; but harassed as
he was, he seems to have retained his indomitable spirit to
the last.

While lurking in one of the border peels in the Douglas
country, messages were brought to him promising the aid
of " a strong party " in case he invaded England.^ It is
generally admitted that these cozening communications
had been prompted, if not actually sent, by Thomas Rokeby,
Sheriff" of York. Rokeby was a friend of Northumberland,
and had served under him in France and England ; so that
the earl would naturally have been well disposed to trust
to his promises.

Whether the sheriff" really had a hand in the treachery
or not, Northumberland took the bait all too eagerly.
Arousing his friends upon the Scots border by promises of
a raid even more successful than that upon which he had
previously led them, the valiant old soldier succeeded in
mustering an army of no mean proportions. Likely it is
that knights not a few from the English side of the frontier
came to join their quondam lord, or swelled his forces as
he marched across the Tweed and Tyne. The ScoticJu-onicon
asserts that Thomas Rokeby had promised to join him neai
Tadcaster, in Yorkshire, and that Northumberland pushed
on without opposition to that place. With him rode the
faithful Bardolf. At Bramham Moor Rokeby appeared with

1 Scotic/ironicon. ' Ibid.^ p. 1167.

88 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

a superior army ; but alliance with Percy and the Scots was
far from being his intention. By means of ambuscades he
succeeded in surrounding the invading troops on every
side. Then, " with a stafidard of St. George's spread,^' he " set
fiercely upon the earl ; whOj under a standard of his own^
encountered his adversary with great manhood." ^ Rokeby was
a man in the prime of life ; Northumberland had reached
his sixty-third year. After a sturdy fight the latter was
unhorsed, but continued, although wounded, to do battle
on foot. The huge Bardolf, battle-axe in hand, rushed to
his friend's assistance, and for some time kept back the
grim press of Rokeby's knights. Tradition avers that, seeing
further resistance hopeless, the kindly giant would have
carried off Northumberland in his arms. But a lance-thrust
pierced Bardolf 's throat, and he was slain. Northumber-
land, bleeding from many wounds, fought valorously on,
until life forsook him, and he fell beside the corpse of his
fellow-outlaw. Then '^ his head, crowned and bearded with
hoary ftair, was set high upon a pike, and borne in all men's
sight to London, to be fixed upon the bridge of that city!' ^

In such wise died Henry Percy, first Earl of Northum-
berland. While neither a great captain, nor possessed of
any extraordinary intellectual gifts, he had all the dauntless
courage and rugged honesty of his race. The racial obsti-
nacy and quickness of temper also distinguished him ; and
the upright independence of his nature can be judged from
his vigorous support of Wickliff, as well as for the stout
efforts which he made in favour of court and parliamentary
reform throughout the reign of Richard II. When his char-
acter and attainments are compared with those of his con-
temporaries among the English or Scots nobility, the first
Earl of Northumberland must be accorded a very high
place. Seldom surely in the history of the Island have
three such near relatives occupied, at one and the same
time, a position so prominent, or encountered harsher fates,
than did Northumberland, Harry Hotspur, and Thomas,
Earl of Worcester.

1 Holinshed. ^ VValsingham.

SEAL OF HENRY, SECOND EARI, OF NORTHUMBERLAND

When the old earl fell at Bramham Moor, the heir of his

name and race — Henry Percy, only son of Hotspur — was

a sojourner across the border. Young Percy

The son of • , ■ rci. i.u u • u f

Hotspur, ■ was in his fifteenth year, having been born on
"^"I^Eari 3^^ February 1394. His grandfather had sent
ofNorthum- him into Scotland in 1405, when the clouds were
beriand. oucc iiiorc beginning to lower upon the house of

Percy ; and mainly to protect the lad from Henry IV.'s
treachery and hatred, the Scots held him as a prisoner of
war, refusing to yield him up to the English sovereign, on
the plea that the latter had similarly detained Douglas and
other Scottish prisoners after Homildoun.^ At the northern
court, however, the attainted heir of Northumberland was
treated with great kindness, and allowed every privilege
consistent with his own safety. It is interesting to note
that his signature appears to a charter dated January 18,
1404, by which Robert, Duke of Albany, conferred lands in
Clackmannan on his son - in - law Duncan Campbell of
Lochaw.2 It is " a far cry to Lochaw" indeed; but one
may remember that a direct descendant of this Duncan of
Lochaw (afterwards first Lord Campbell) is Edith, present
Duchess of Northumberland.^ King Robert selected Lord
Percy as a fit companion and fellow-student for his son and
heir, the future James \. ; and together they trod the road
of letters at the now venerable, but then newly-established.
University of St. Andrews. Bishop Wardlaw (who was

' Scotichronicon^ p. 1166.

''■ This document — connecting for the first time the names of Percy and
Campbell — is preserved in the MSS. of the Duke of Argyll.
^ See Genealogy, Table IV.

£9

90 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

governor to the young prince), becoming fearful of the
evil intentions of the Regent Albany towards his charge,
eventually prevailed upon the king to send James, in
company with young Percy, into France. This voyage,
however, ended in ill-luck. Off Flamborough Head the
prince caused his captain to cast anchor, and himself went
ashore " to refresh himself after his sea vomit and nausea-
tion." ^ In this way he fell into the hands of the English ;
and, in defiance of all treaties, was carried a prisoner to
London, where, as we know, Henry IV. detained him in cap-
tivity for eighteen years. Another account - has it that the
ship ran ashore off Flamborough Head ; but this would
appear to be untrue, for the reason that the heir of the
Percies was not imprisoned at the same time as his friend,
but actually returned to Scotland and re-entered the halls
of St. Andrews. It is by no means likely that Henry IV.
would have permitted so valuable a hostage as Percy to slip
through his grasping fingers ; and a natural supposition is
that the account of Buchanan is correct, and that our sub-
ject, being a better sailor than the prince, remained on
board, while the latter went on shore to recover from the
pangs of sea-sickness. No mention is made of the fate of
the vessel and its officers ; hence it is probable that, hearing
of their master's capture, and being attacked by a superior
force, they put off to sea again, and made their way back to
Scotland.

Henry Percy, during the intervals of study at St.
Andrews, did not neglect to attain for himself that know-
ledge of arms which had become an attribute

Romantic .,.,. xt^i- i • t

legends con- ot his luie. Not Only m tourneys, but m the
ceming morc scrious civil frays of the day, he took an

honourable part ; and Northumbria treasures
ballads and legends not a few, telling of his secret journeys
across the border to visit his own country and his lost
lands. No absolute evidence exists of these dangerous
voyages ; but some of the old traditions respecting them

^ Buchanan. - David Scot, I//sf. of Scotland, p. 222.

1 *->-.* f- ^/<:.%^,

./^ t-:.' .^-C^

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 91

were in the year 1818 made into a drama, entitled " Percy's
Masque," and even acted upon the stage. According to
this romantic, though very doubtful, authority, Percy served
for a time as a page, and under an assumed name, in
the household of his father's enemy the Earl of Westmore-
land. Here he fell in love with the earl's daughter, the
Lady Alianore Nevill, who afterwards became his wife.
The rest of the masque is wholly impossible. Bishop
Percy, in his charming ballad, the " Hermit of Wark-
worth," tells how Percy, coming clandestinely into England,
won the heart of Lady Alianore, and was married to her
at the Warkworth Hermitage. He then returned to Scot-
land ; but the Countess of Westmoreland, learning her
daughter's secret, began at once to intrigue for the re-
storation of Percy to his paternal estates. The legend
is preserved by the Register of Whitby ; 1 but cannot be
substantiated by any contemporary evidence. Still there
seems little reason to doubt that Hotspur's son did
on more than one occasion elude the vigilance of King
Henry's wardens, and pay flying visits across the frontier
which separated him from his home and the home of his
fathers. The quaint hermitage of Warkworth, where the
wandering heir and the lovely Alianore Nevill were said
to have met and married, still stands ruggedly by the
waterside, hard by Warkworth Castle ; and a pleasanter or
more inviting spot for young love to mate in spite of
family feud and royal displeasure, one must wander far
to find.

Whether her daughter's legendary marriage to Percy
had aught to do with the Countess of Westmoreland's
sudden favour, or whether other influences overcame the
enmity which this noble dame (like her husband) had long
borne towards the Percies, it is certain that, no sooner
did Henry V. reach the throne, than the mother of Lady
Alianore Nevill interceded vigorously with that monarch for
the banished and landless youth. The intercession had all
the more effect, since Joan of Westmoreland was the king's

' Ex KegisL Monast. dc Whitbyc, Harl. MSS. 692, 26, fol. 235.

92 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

aunt/ and exercised great influence at Court. Henry was
prevailed upon at length to restore Percy in blood ; and on
November ii, 1414, the nominal prisoner of Scotland was
permitted to present a petition to Parliament praying for
the restoration of his estates and titles.^ Upon this petition
Parliament reported favourably, adding that " le dit suppliant
est deinz age et detenu en Escose encontre son ton gri et volunte'e" ^
— showing that the Scottish Court, partly doubting English
good faith towards Percy, and partly desirous of obtaining
in exchange some of the prisoners taken at Homildoun,
still kept up the fiction of the young man's forcible de-
tention. The latter theory is supported by the fact that
the Regent Albany offered to exchange Percy for his son
Murdoch, Earl of Fife ; and negotiations to this effect were
pending when the discovery of the Earl of Cambridge's
conspiracy caused them to be temporarily abandoned.
Cambridge attempted to implicate Percy in his schemes;*
but this charge was quickly disproved, and the exile's ex-
change was duly arranged for on July i, 1415, the English
Commissioners being the Lords Grey and Nevill. Fife was
delivered up to Scotland ; while Henry Percy, upon enter-
ing into a recognisance with the king for the sum of
;^io,ooo, became once more free of English soil.^ So poor
at the time were both of these long-exiled nobles, that
grants of X200 and 100 marks were needed before they
could appear becomingly at their respective courts.^ The
hereditary possessions of Percy \vere duly restored ; and
on March 16, 1416, he did homage in Parliament for his
earldom and other titles, receiving a new patent of creation.^
Some little w^hile later he was made Governor of Berwick
and General Warden of the East Marches, ^'with same
powers as Lord Grey formerly had." ^ Thus the Percies were
once more restored to the lofty position which they had
forfeited when the first earl was outlawed and attainted.

' She was the daughter of John of Gaunt, and consequently sister of Henry IV.
2 Rulls of Parlt., iv. 36-7. » Rol. Pari., 3 Hen. V., m. 21.

* Fa:diia, ix. 300. ^ Proceedings of Privy Cowicil.

*• Issue Polls, 8th February 14 16. ^ Pol. Pari., iv. 21-2.

8 Koi. Scot., 4 Hon. V., Feb. 23, 1417.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 93

It is satisfactory to note that one of the new earl's first
acts was to obtain the royal leave to remove from London
the head of his unhappy grandsire, and to bear that grisly
relic dutifully to York Minster, where it was interred with
the mortal remains of Harry Hotspur.^

Whether or not the second Earl of Northumberland
had been secretly married to Lady Alianore Nevill at
The home life Warkworth Hermitage (as Bishop Percy sings,
of the second and as the old stories tell), he was publicly united
*"*■ to that fair damsel shortly after his restoration.

A double wedding seems indeed to have taken place, for the
earl's sister ^ — the only daughter of Hotspur — was united
to John, Lord Clifford.

It is regrettable that no account exists of these nuptials.
Even the gossipping monkish chroniclers of Whitby do
not enter into any details concerning them. Romance
indeed has woven legends around Alianore Nevill before
her marriage ; yet, after that event, it tells us nought of
her life. All that we can gather concerning the coun-
tess is told in a very few words. She celebrated her
new dignity by a grand banquet to the king at Leckonfield
— the parish and church of which place were ever after-
wards under her patronage, probably by gift from her
husband. She bore her husband in all twelve children ;
and in or about 1425 we are afforded a fleeting glimpse of
the earl and countess proceeding from Leckonfield, at-
tended by some of their offspring, to witness the great
plays or mysteries of Beverley, held annually on the feast
of Corpus Christi.3 These performances were of ancient
origin in Beverley, and must have afforded keen delight
to the children of Northumberland. " There were" says
Poulson, " theatres for the several scenes, large and high, placed
upon wheels, and drawn to all the eminent parts, for the better
advantage of the spectators. Strutt says that the antient stage

1 Dugdale.

2 Elizabeth Percy married, first, Lord Clifford, and, secondly, the second Earl
of Westmoreland. ^ Poulson's BeverUu.

94 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

consisted of three several platforms raised one above another.
In the uppermost sat God, surrounded by his angels ; in the
second appeared the holy saints ; and in the last mere mortals.
On one side of this lowest platform was the resemblance of a
dark, pitchy cavern, from whence issued appearances of flames
of fire ; and wheji it was necessary the audience was treated
with hideous yellings and noises, as imitative of the howls and
cries of the wretched souls tormented by restless demons. From
this yawning cave the devils themselves constantly ascended to
delight a7id instruct the spectators." One would imagine that
the more youthful members of the family of Leckonfield
must have been frightened rather than delighted at this
spectacle. The entry from the rolls of Beverley describing
the visit of Northumberland and his family runs as follows :
— " A.D. 1423/ 2nd of Henry VI. — And in expenses of a}i
entertainment made by agreement of the twelve governors in
Corpus Christi day, to the Earl and Countess of Northujnber-
land and their children in the house of Wm. Thyxhill barber
dining and supping at the charge of the said town of Beverley,
and in several presents given to the different officers and
ministers as appears by bill produced examined and approved
upon this account ; — £\. os. /i^d. Also paid the archers of the
town of Beverley riding in the mornitig through the whole
town ; — 20d. Also paid for the charges of the twelve governors
of the town in the day of the play of Corpus Christi expended
upon the aldej'men of the different crafts and burgesses of the
town and other gentlemeti assembled as appears by a bill thereof
made and written in the paper book ; — 30j-. g\d.^^

While the distinguished guests of the town were so
hospitably treated at the house of barber William Thyxhill,
the mysteries themselves took place at the North Bar. After
the feasting and playing the earl and countess, with their
family and train, returned to Leckonfield ; which appears to
have been their favourite place of residence.^ Alianore,
Countess of Northumberland, survived her husband eight

^ Leckonfield or Lecon field, where the second Earl of Northumberland and
his wife spent most of their time, lies about three miles from Beverley to the
N.NW. The ancient manor-house was replaced l)y a stately castle, probably

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 95

years. As a widow in 1459 and in 1461 she made grants of
the advowson of the parish church of Leckonfield.^

Although the earl preserved feeUngs of the kindhest
nature towards Scotland, where he had dwelt so long, and
The restored "^^'^ich had treated him so hospitably in the days
earl and his of his advcrsity, yet duty soon called him to serve
°"^^^' actively against his friends across the frontier. In

the spring of 141 7 he was made Warden of the East
Marches and Governor of Berwick. Under Archibald,
fourth Earl of Douglas and the Duke of Albany, the Scots
attacked Roxburgh and Berwick during the following
October. Northumberland lost no time in mustering an
army — the first raised by a Percy in the north of England
since the tragedy of Bramham Moor. Gentle and simple
flocked to his standard ; one of the first to join the array
being that sturdy churchman Bowet, Archbishop of York.
The Northumbrians encamped on Barmoor by Wooler ;
and subsequently marched to the relief of the threatened
towns, driving the invaders before them. An English raid
into the southern counties of Scotland followed ; and more
than one castle which of old had sheltered the banished
Percy, now fell before his attack.^ Again in 1419 Sir
William Haliburton having crossed the Tweed (it is said
without provocation) and captured Wark Castle, Northum-
berland advanced with a promptness worthy of Hotspur
and laid siege to that fortress. The defence was most
determined ; but in the end the English succeeded in
effecting an entrance through the main sewer, and " s/eiv
every Scot ivithin the ivalis." ^

To Henry V., the monarch who had restored him to
his titles and estates, the earl ever showed an unfailing
loyalty. He was still exiled in Scotland at the time of

built between 1400 and 1410 ; and this structure was itself demolished in 1600 to
furnish materials for the repair of Wressel Castle. The moat may still be traced,
in the middle of a rich pasture. The estate has passed into the family of
Wyndham.

^ Calend. Inqiiis. ad cjiiod damnum, 37 & 39 Hen. VI.

2 Scotichronicon , p. 1186; Gesta Hen, F.

* Ilolinshed, v. p. 411.

96 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

the battle of Agincourt, so that (in spite of the erroneous
statements of Banks ^ and Wainwright 2) he could have
taken no part in that great victory. But in 1419 he was
one of the ten earls who rode with Henry on his entry
into Rouen ; and at the marriage of the king to his " fair
Kate" on February 24, 142 1, Northumberland officiated
as Lord High Steward. When the king's untimely death
occurred, the earl became a member of the Council of
Regency ; and a year later saw him filling the former post
of his great-uncle, Thomas Percy, as Ambassador to the
Court of France. For this important service he received
the sum of 66s. 8d. a day,=^ as well as ;^ioo to be used as
expenses " in going and coming upon the embassy aforesaid!' *
Embassies to Pavia in 1423, and to Scotland from 1423 to
1424 and from 1429 to 1430, followed ; during the latter of
which missions he succeeded in effecting a prolonged truce
with the Scots.

Northumberland was notable at this period of his life

for his great skill in tourney. That such a chivalrous

knight should evince a distaste for what he con-

Triaiby sidcrcd the chicanery of the law is by no means

combat. •' . -'

strange ; and we find him m or about 1422
figuring as one of the suitors in a case which had been
referred to a court of honour — that characteristic institu-
tion of the period by means of which disputes were decided
between armed champions in single combat, rather than
by the arguments of cunning pleaders. The case in which
Northumberland became involved arose out of the rival
claims advanced by himself and one Sir Peter Cokain
[? Cockaigne] to the manor of Cappenhow, in Cumberland.
The full account of this curious trial is preserved in the
original Norman-French among the manuscripts at Syon
House. The following is a translation of a portion of the
record : — " Sir Peter Cokain Knight presents Brief of Right
against Henry Percy Earl of Northumberland for the manor

' Extinct Baronage of England. ^ Hist, of Yorkshire.

2 Fcedera, x. 271. •* Issue Rolls, I Hen. VI.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 97

of CappcnJioti in the County of Cumberland ; Strange for the
Tenant joins battle upon the ' meer Right ' by the Body of
Coltson, if God give him success, and Pas ton for the Demandant
rejoins Battle by the body of his Free Tenant or Freeholder f .P .
if God give him success.

" A nd it was commajided to the CJiampion of the Tenant
or Holder of the said manor {scilicet the Farl of Northumber-
land) that he should put into his glove five pence, into each
fingerstall one penny, and that he should hold it in his right
ha7td naked to the Elbozv, and that he should throw down his
glove into the Court, and it was commanded to the Champion
of the Demandant to do in like manner.

" Brown and Clerk received the Gloves, and it was com-
manded by the Court that they should come the next morning in
their array. And then the Champions came . . . ajid Babington
commands to the Champion of the tenant that he should mount
behind the Bar, and that he should come ifito his place bare-
headed and ungirt without hose or shoes, and it was commanded
of him to be upon the east side of the place, and that the
Champio7t of the defendant sliould come in like guise, and be on
the left of the place. And then the Champions being on their
knees before the Justices, and the Chief fustice demaiided of
Strange and Paston, who tvere with the parties, if they had
anything to say why the two champio7is should not be allozued
by them, or why the iivo champions should not Join in {dir-
reigner) this Battle ; who answered they had Not. Cokain
then said, ' See that they are without meti,' and then Brown
gave the gloves and searched if there were in each glove five
pence, or not ; atid fie found in each glove five pence, that is to
say in each finger one pen?iy. And then he gave one glove to
the Champion for the tenant and one glove to the Champion for
the defendant, but he took fio notice zvhich of the gloves he gave
to the one or the other, for this is unimportant [car il nest
plusforse)."

The champions were then asked whether they stood
ready to engage in battle for their claims ; and having
answered in the affirmative, they were commanded to be
in that same place "in their array" to engage in combat

98 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

on the following Saturday. To one of them one of the
gloves cast into the arena was then given with orders that
he was to carry it to the north door of St. Paul's, and there
implore Heaven to give the victory to him that best de-
served it. In a similar manner the other claimant received
a glove ; but he was instructed to bear it to St. Edward's
shrine at Westminster, in order to offer up a prayer for the
defence of the right. Sureties were demanded that the
champions should be prevented from meeting until the
appointed day. Sir Peter Cokain and the Earl of North-
umberland were then called before the bar ; and the latter
was ^^ solemnly deniajided that he should covie with his
champion to darraign this Battle in his defence against the
said knight y Sir P. C. and his cJiampion for the Manor of
Cappenhozv in the cowtty of Cumberlaitd, or otherwise the
said earl should lose the land for Jnmself and his heirs
for ever."

When the day set apart for the combat arrived the earl
failed to appear before the court. He had in the mean-
time satisfied himself of the justice of Cokain's claim, and
for this reason let the decision go by default. He was
accordingly ordered to be " amerced according to his rank and
estate by his brother peers ; " and Cokain was declared to have
established his case. On several occasions Northumber-
land himself presided as judge over tribunals of a similar
strange character. During the dispute for precedency be-
tween the Earl Marshal and the Earl of Warwick, both
sides chose him umpire.^

In spite of the efforts of the recently-released King of
Scots, James I., on the one side, and of those of his old

comrade, Northumberland, on the other, war
Fresh border ^^^^ brokc out afrcsh upou the border. The

truce with Scotland expired in May 1436 ; but
long before that event Northumberland foresaw bloodshed,
and made his preparations accordingly. Alnwick, which
had been partially destroyed in former conflicts, was re-
walled ; and the earl bestowed knighthood upon many of

' AW. /'ar/., 3 lien. VI.

98 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

on the following Saturday. To one of them one of the
gloves cast into the arena was then given with orders that
he was to carry it to the north door of St. Paul's, and there
implore Heaven to give the victory to him that best de-
served it. In a similar manner the other claimant received
a glove ; but he was instructed to bear it to St. Edward's
shrine at Westminster, in order to offer up a prayer for the
defence of the right. Sureties were demanded that the
champions should be prevented from meeting until the
appointed day. Sir Peter Cokain and the Earl of North-
umberland w-ere then called before the bar ; and the latter
was ^^ solemnly demanded that he should come with his
champion to darraign this Battle in his defence against the
said knight. Sir P. C. and his champioft for the Manor of
Cappe7ihoiv in the county of Cumberland, or otherwise the
said earl shoiUd lose the land for himself and his heirs
for ever."

When the day set apart for the combat arrived the earl
failed to appear before the court. He had in the mean-
time satisfied himself of the justice of Cokain's claim, and
for this reason let the decision go by default. He was
accordingly ordered to be ^^ amerced according to his rank and
estate by his brother peers ; " and Cokain was declared to have
established his case. On several occasions Northumber-
land himself presided as judge over tribunals of a similar
strange character. During the dispute for precedency be-
tween the Earl Marshal and the Earl of Warwick, both
sides chose him umpire.^

In spite of the efforts of the recently-released King of

Scots, James I., on the one side, and of those of his old

comrade, Northumberland, on the other, war

Fresh border ^^^^ ^^.^j.^ ^^^^ afrcsh upou the bordcr. The

' AV. /ai7., 7 Hen. VI.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 99

the northern chivalry. An army of about five thousand men
Avas also held in readiness to overcome any invasion which
might take place. At length, either in consequence of a
Scottish raid, or, as some say, because of a private feud
between himself and William Douglas, Earl of Angus,^
Northumberland advanced towards the Eastern Marches.
At a place called Piperden or Pepperden on Brammish,
among the foothills of the Cheviots (and consequently well
within his own territories), he unexpectedly encountered
a Scots force of equal strength commanded by Angus,
Hepburn of Hales, Elphinstone of Elphinstone, and
Ramsay of Dalhousie.- It seems probable that the Scots
had prepared an ambush for Northumberland ; whose
reckless generalship led him into the trap. The English
were crushingly defeated. Forty knights and nearly fifteen
hundred gentlemen and commons were left by them upon
the field, while the losses of the conquerors were trifling.
Sir Richard Percy, cousin of the earl, Sir John Ogle, and
Sir Henry Clidsale were among the Northumbrian captains
who fell ; and Angus lost his lieutenant, the brave Elphin-
stone.^ Many of the incidents of this bloody encounter
are supposed to have been woven into the ballad of
Chevy Chase.

Northumberland fell back upon Alnwick ; while the
invaders, led by their king in person and reinforced by
some 20,000, pushed on to the walls of Roxburgh. This
fortress, however. Sir Ralph Grey gallantly defended against
them for twenty days. During this time Northumberland
had been able to rally his army ; and coming to Grey's
relief, he fell upon the besiegers and routed them with
great slaughter. King James is accused by Holinshed*
and Hardyng^ of flying from the field even before Nor-

' The second earl. Boece, p. 353, states that it is doubtful whether Northum-
berland had the royal authority for making war against the Scots.

- Ridpath, Border History. ^ Ibid. * Ilolinshed, iii. 1 89.

^ Ilardyng, Chronicle, p, 397 : —

" Therle then of Northumberland throti;^hoitt
Raysed up the lattde, and ufhen he came it nere
l^he Kyng trumped up and 'went aioay full ckre."

loo THE HOUSE OF PERCY

thumberland arrived. Ridpath, on the contrary, seeks to
explain the monarch's retreat by the arrival of news,
brought by the queen, of a plot against the throne. No
doubt exists, however, as to the defeat and dispersal of the
Scottish army, among the survivors of which the luckless
expedition was long expressively known as " the Dirtin
Raid." A truce was concluded almost immediately after
this event.^

Although the earl had been so badly defeated at Piper-
den, his services in raising the siege of Roxburgh were
rewarded with an annuity of ;^ioo for life ; and he was
despatched on a special mission to deliver the Order of the
Garter to the King of Portugal.^ This sovereign was his
own cousin, being the grandson of John of Gaunt ; so that
it may be presumed that Northumberland met with a good
reception at the Portuguese Court. After his return he
purchased the lordship of Doncaster from Sir John Sal-
vayne ; and began the erection of Warkworth keep, which,
though to-day a ruin, remains an impressive monument to
his memory. In 1441 we find him as a lord of Council
inquiring into the accusations brought against the Duchess
of Gloucester and others of sorcery and treason aimed at
the king's life ; ^ and in 1442-43, during a feud with Kemp,
Archbishop of York, Northumberland's men wrought havoc
upon the archiepiscopal property at Ripon and Bishops-
thorpe, for which over-zeal in his behalf their lord was
afterwards forced to make good.*

The truce which had subsisted for an unusually pro-
longed period between England and Scotland was broken
in 1448. Each side accused the other of having been the
first to commence hostilities. Buchan^ asserts that the
Earls of Northumberland and Salisbury, respectively
Wardens of the East and West Marches, raided and
burned the towns of Dumfries and Dunbar, thereby
compelling the Scots to make reprisals. English writers,
on the other hand, would have it that the first blow was

' Pat., 16 Ilcn. VI. 2 ;;•(,(_ Scot., l6 Men. VI.

* Devon. Issues, p. 444. * Proceedings, v. 269-70, 309. * Buchan, i. 1 1.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY loi

struck by Douglas of Balveny,^ who burst furiously across
the border, ravaged Cumberland, and laid the town of
Alnwick in ashes. Northumberland pursued Balmeny
across the Sohvay ; until he found himself confronted, on
the banks of the Sark, by a large army under the Earl of
Ormond.2

The fight was keenly contested. For a time fortune
favoured the English ; " Oruwnd and the rest of the {Scot-
tish) leaders being sore disconifitt ; " ^ but the sudden arrival
of the Lord Maxwell with belated reserves wrought a
complete change in the condition of affairs, and Northum-
berland's army was put to flight, 3000 being either slain on
the field or drowned in the Sohvay Firth. The earl himself
escaped capture or death only through the courageous
devotion of his eldest son, Henry, Lord Percy, who was
himself taken prisoner while defending his father against
the enemy.* Next year, however, the earl succeeded
in repelling a Scottish raid, and received (in company
with another of his sons, Sir Ralph Percy) the thanks
of the king for ^^ diligence in protecting the Marches" and
for ^^ rebuking and resisting the malice of our enemyes
the Scottes that studiene by all tJiir wayes the noysance of our
saide countreye and subjettes." Other marks of royaV favour
followed, Wressill Castle, part of the confiscated property
of Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester, was bestowed upon
the latter's grand-nephew ; who was also elevated to the
dignity of Lord High Constable.^ Northumberland's
second son was about the same time created Baron of
Egremont;^ and the earl himself sat as one of the judges
upon De la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, for complicity in the
murder of the Duke of Gloucester, and the surrender of
some of the French provinces.

* James Douglas of Balveny, brother of the Earl of Douglas.

- Hugh, Earl of Ormond, brother of Balmeny and of the Earl of Douglas.
' Book of Caerlaverock, vol. i. p. 1 37.

* Holinshed.

* Wressill again passed out of Percy hands in 1469, but was restored to the
fourth Earl of Northumberland by Henry VH. It was transferred to the Wynd-
hani family in 1750. * Pat., 28 Hen. VI.

102 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

In spite of intermarriages/ and public professions of
friendship on the part of both houses, the old feud
p^^^ between the families of Nevill and Percy had

against uevcr wholly died out. Political troubles — the

discontent arising out of intolerably heavy taxa-
tion, and the loss of so much French territory — now
fanned the smouldering embers into a blaze. Early in
1452 a serious conflict occurred between Northumberland
and his brother-in-law, the Earl of Salisbury,'- probably in
the neighbourhood of Beverley, over the control of
which town the Nevills and Percies had of late been at
odds.^ This affray, wherein many were slain or wounded,
brought in July 1453 a letter from the king,* praying the
two earls to keep the peace, It was as though the un-
fortunate Henry had instinctively recognised in these
northern frays a prophetic warning of the coming civil
war which was to hurl him from his throne. But even
the royal wishes had no effect upon the rival houses.
Northumberland and Salisbury themselves, it is true,
sheathed their swords for a space ; but the younger gene-
ration was not to be held back. Scarcely a month had
elapsed before a furious battle was fought at Stamford
Bridge,^ near York, between Thomas, Lord Egremont and
Sir Richard Percy (the sons of Northumberland) on the
one part, and the two sons of Salisbury on the other.
Through the treason of one of their knights, it is said, the
Percies were defeated and taken prisoner. Egremont was
sentenced by the Justices of York to pay the heavy fine of
14,800 marks ; and "/^r lakke of payment thereof, or of
putting siiretie for the same, the sayd Lorde Egremonde ivas

' In acklition to the marriage of the I^ajy Allanore Nevill to the second Earl
of Northumberland, the latter's sister (after the death of her first husband, Lord
Grey) had been married to the second Earl of Westmoreland, nephew of the Lady
Allanore,

2 Richard Nevill, Earl of Salisbury, second son of the first Earl of Westmore-
land.

^ Poulson's Beverlac. * rrocecdiiigs, vi. 147.

* Stamford or Stanford Bridge had been the scene of a previous struggle, that
between Harold and the Danes, September 23, 1066.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 103

cominytted to Newgate."'^ His brother, Richard, was also
lodged in prison ; but not for long did these grandsons of
Hotspur remain in durance. In the words of Stow,^
"Lord Egremond and Sir Richard Percy ^ his brotliery
brake out of prisofi by night, and zvent to the king ; the
other prisoners took the leads off the gate, and defended
it a long while against the sheriffs and all their officers,
insomuch that they were forced to call more aid of the
citizens, whereby at last they subdued them and laid them
in irons." The two Percies, however, succeeded in getting
clean away, ^^ to the grete charge of the sheriffs," which latter
officials became responsible for Egremont's fine. Once
more the king wrote to Northumberland, imploring him
to do his duty, and keep his unruly sons and their ad-
herents in order.^

In May 1455 the war-storm broke upon England. The

Duke of York, whose commission as Lieutenant of the

Kingdom had been withdrawn, resolved upon

The battle of ^j^ overthrow of the king. With the Earl of

St. Albans. o

Warwick and a formidable force he marched
upon St. Albans, where Henry and his loyal followers
lay encamped. The veriest pretence at negotiation was
followed on May 22 by a sudden attack upon the Lan-
castrian lines. The battle was brief and bloody ; York
and Warwick were everywhere victorious. Northumber-
land, the real leader of the royalists, showed himself once
more as brave as he was unlucky. The king stole away
from the fight and fled to London, presently to fall into
the hands of his enemies. But running away was not to
the liking of Hotspur's son: —

" The great Lord of Norf/iuinbcrhvid,
I'VIiose warlike ears could 7tevcr brook retreat.
Cheered up the drooping army ; and himself
Charged our main battles front, and, breaking in,
Was by the swords of common soldiers slain.*

^ The Engl is he Chronicle. • Siii~i'ey, vol. i. p. 20.

3 Proceedings, pp. 159-64.
■* Third VoiXloi King Henry VI., Act i. sc. 2.

104 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

So, indeed, died the second Earl of Northumberland,
the first of his race to fall for the house of Lancaster.
Henry V. had restored to him his forfeited possessions ; he
gave to the cause of Henry VI. his life in requital. The
slaughter was terrible on the royalist side. " There died
under the sign of the Castle {underneath an ale-house paltry
sign) Edwardy Duke of Somerset, Henry, second Earl of
Northumberland, Humphrey, Earl of Stafford, fohn, Lord
Clifford, with VH M. men or more." '^ Hume places the
number of the slain at 5000.

The body of Northumberland was temporarily laid in
the Lady-Chapel of St. Albans Abbey ; but was afterwards
removed to York Minster, where a painted window, re-
moved in 1590, represented him kneeling in prayer, to-
gether with his Countess Alianore and their twelve
children.^

To the second earl succeeded his eldest son, Henry,
third Earl of Northumberland, the same loyal knight that
we have seen sacrifice his liberty to save his father from
capture on the Sark Water in 1448.

The third earl was bound to his ill-fated sovereign,
Henry VI., by many ties of sympathy and friendship.

King and subject had been born within the
Henry, third same ycar, 1421;^ and within the same year,
thumberiand. almost within the same month, they had been

married. When, on May 4, 1426, at the age of
five years, the young King Henry was knighted by the
Duke of Bedford, his first act, after receiving the accolade,
was to knight young Henry Percy.^ Before that they
had been playmates ; thereafter they became fellow-
students and companions in camp and court. But always
from the first they were friends ; and we shall see how
loyal was Percy's friendship.

^ Mall's Chronicle.

' Drake's Eboracum. The window was taken down for repairs, and never
replaced.

5 Focdeia, x. 356. * Ibid.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 105

The third earl was born at Leckonfield, the beloved
home of his parents, on July 25, 1421 — his two elder
brothers died in infancy, leaving him heir of his name.
Without doubt he was one of the children who accom-
panied the Earl and Countess of Northumberland to the
mystery-plays at Beverley, heretofore described ; but just
so soon as he had

"... bene setie
To scale and lea7-nt the doctrine of Ictlj'itre,
And afterward to have htm in language
And sit at meat seniely in all nurtinr" ^

he was removed from the quiet halls of Leckonfield and
placed at Court. In 1439, at the age of eighteen, he had
already so well established his fame as a soldier, that the
Wardenship of the East Marches towards Scotland was
committed to him ;2 and the following year saw him one of
the Commissioners of the Border. In March 1443 occurred
his marriage to a great heiress — Eleanor Baroness Poy-
nings, Fitz-Payn and Bryan. This lady (the daughter
of Sir Richard Poynings who fell at the siege of Orleans in
1429) inherited not only the titles and estates of her grand-
father, Robert, Lord Poynings and Fitz-Payn, but also
those of the latter's wife Elizabeth, Baroness Bryan. Her
mother (daughter of Sir John Berkeley and widow of the
Earl of Arundel) made a turious will, dated 1455, by which
she bequeathed to " my dear daughter the lady Eleanor Percy,
a golden collar for her neck, .... also a basin of silver with
the anus of the said Poynings and of Sir fohn Berkeley my
father t herein , likewise a ewer of silver, and C£ sterling."^
Through the Lady Eleanor the baronies of Poynings, Fitz-
Payn and Bryan were brought into the Percy family,^ to-
gether with large estates in Sussex, Suffolk, Norfolk,
Somerset, and Kent. In 1446 the Lord Percy was
summoned to Parliament as Lord Poynings. Scottish
authorities state that he precipitated a new border war by

' Ilardyng's Chronicle. 2 fa-dera.

^ Testamenta Vettista. ■* Dugdale, Baronage.

io6 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

burning Dunbar in May 1448 ; and we know that he was
taken prisoner on Sark Water in that year. Having re-
gained his Hberty on payment of a heavy ransom, he was
recompensed by his friend the king with a grant of one-
half the lands of the outlawed Sir Robert Ogle. The royal
favour was further shown when, on the death of the
second Earl of Northumberland at the battle of St. Albans,
King Henry (although virtually a prisoner in the hands of
the Duke of York) succeeded in procuring for Lord Percy
the peaceful inheritance of his father's domains and
dignities ; nor could the Yorkists, much as they hated
the name of Percy, hope to retain popular approval while
barring the way to the third earl's succession, seeing that
on July 3 he had raised an army " at his oivn great ex-
pejises," beaten back the Scots from Berwick, and saved the
distracted kingdom from invasion.^ The dominant party
even permitted Northumberland to be given the important
post of Justiciary of the Royal Forests beyond Trent 2 as
a further reward for his vigorous defence of the border.

The Scots repulsed from Berwick, Northumberland's
first thought was to revenge the death of his father, and
The Lea e ii^cidentally to free the king, his friend, from
of the Young Yorkist clutchcs. With these ends in view he
^°'^^^- set himself to gather together a band of young

nobles, whose sires (like his own) had fallen on the stricken
field of St. Albans. Many responded to his call ; among
the number the Duke of Somerset, the Lord Clifford,
and Northumberland's own three brothers — Thomas, Lord
Egremont, Sir Ralph Percy, and Sir Richard Percy.^ All
the members of the band were young ; all were staunchly
Lancastrian in their sympathies ; and all had a debt of
blood to repay.*

Queen Margaret — that heroic, almost masculine, woman

1 Rot. Fin., 33 Hen. VI. 2 p^f^^ ^8 Hen. VI.

' Of the earl's two remaining brothers, one, George Percy, was a priest; the
other, William, likewise a cleric, became Chancellor of Cambridge, and eventually
Bishop of Carlisle. ■ * Lingard.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 107

— lent open countenance to this " League of the Young
Lords," as it came to be called. But the craven king
sought only peace, preferring even to continue a prisoner
than to undergo again the risks and terrors of war. Hear-
ing of the movement in the north, he hurriedly sent out
summonses to Yorkists and Lancastrians alike, bidding them
come to London and discuss their grievances in open
council. The great meeting was convened for March 15,
1457 ; but more than a month before that date the chivalry
of the kingdom began to pour into London and its suburbs.
From the north came the young nobles, each member of
the league attended by a great company of knights,
esquires, and men-at-arms. So threatening indeed was
the behaviour of the Percies, Somerset, and Clifford, that,
according to one historian,^ " The cytie {of London) wolde
not receyve theyni, because they came ngaynst the pease. The
Duke of Yofke and the Erie of Salisbuiy came out onely with
ther householde men in pesyble manner, thinking none harme,
and were lodgyd withyne the cytie ; but the abovesaide came for
to destroy utterly the saide Duke of Vorke, armed for to with-
stande the malice of the young Lordes yf nede had be!' This
writer, however, shows signs of strong prejudice in favour
of the White Rose. Grafton states that the young lords
abode in the suburbs of London, because ^^ as the fezvs dis-
dained the company of the Samaritans, soe they abhorred the
familiaritie of the Yorkshire lineage." If York, Warwick,
and Salisbury brought only their private households *^ in
pesyble manner," to London, they must have possessed
unusually large and well-armed trains. " The Earle of
Salisburie" declares Stow,- " came zvith 500 men on horseback,
and was lodged in the Herber ; Richard, Duke of York, with
400 men lodged at Baytiard Castle. The Dukes of Excester
and Somerset with 800 men ; and the Earle of Northumber-
land, the Lord Egremont and the Lord Clifford with 1500 men.
Richard, Earle of Warwick, with 600 men, all in red jackets
embroidered with ragged staves before and behind, was lodged
in Wanvick Lane!'

^ An EiigUssche C/iroiiicIc, Camden Society. " Siiney, p. 72.

io8 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Naturally the worthy citizens of London dreaded an
outbreak with such formidable forces within and without
the walls, and took every precaution against violence. The
civic trained bands " kept greate watche as well by dale as
by night, riding about the citie by Houlbourne and Fleet Street,
with four thousand men well armed and arrayed, to see good
order and peace at all times kept." ^ The Archbishop of
Canterbury and others of the hierarchy, too, acted as
mediators between the young lords and their enemies ;
making daily journeys from the city to the northern heights
whereon Northumberland lay with his troops. On March
15 the leaders of both parties appeared before the king
and Council in Westminster. Negotiations were prolonged
until March 25 ; when an award, acceptable to the Lancas-
trians, was finally made. The adherents of York were
ordered by the Council to found a chauntry for the repose
of the three great lords (Somerset, Northumberland, and
Clifford) slain at St. Albans ; and to pay substantial fines
to their sons and heirs. The young Duke of Somerset
received 5000, and the Lord Clifford 1000 marks. Nor-
thumberland, however, proudly refused to accept one
penny. His father's death, he averred, could not be atoned
for by the payment of any sum of money howsoever great ;
nor could all the persuasions of king and friends induce
him to change his mind. It is even said that he opposed
the order of Council remitting that heavy fine which, six
years before, his brother Egremont had been condemned
to pay to the Nevills for his share in the affray at Stamford
Bridge. A grand thanksgiving was held at St. Paul's by
way of termination to these proceedings. The king was
present, wearing his crown ; the Duke of York escorted
the queen with every appearance of friendship ; and the
nobles, ostensibly reconciled, walked hand in hand in
solemn procession.^ History does not state whose hand
Northumberland clasped on this memorable occasion ; nor
indeed do we know with certainty that he participated in
the ceremony at all. A few weeks later he was again in

* Holinshed, iii p. 640. ^ Ibid,, iii. p. 648.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 109

his beloved north. The League of the Young Lords re-
mained unbroken, despite all the efforts at reconciliation
made by the Yorkists ; and it soon became apparent that
Northumberland and his friends looked upon the decisions
of Parliament as anything but final. In London, Queen
Margaret was busy for the cause of the Red Rose. Her
emissaries crossed and recrossed the Channel, or made
their way to and fro between Alnwick and the Court. Even
the purblind king saw that the truce was destined to be
short ; and, one by one, the Yorkist leaders began to steal
away from the capital and to look to the strengthening
of their fortresses.

Within a year after that futile thanksgiving in St. Paul's
the queen sent secret word to Northumberland summoning
^^ the young lords once more to London. The

The queen .

and the Warning beacon blazed from hill to hill ; the

young lords, j^qj-^j^ j-Qgg jj^ arms ; and the sons of those who

had died at St. Albans rode forth resolved that, this time at
least, vengeance was to be theirs. In spite of civic opposi-
tion they made their way into London, and demanded the
punishment of the Yorkists. The king, no longer intimi-
dated by his enemies, was easily induced to hearken to the
loyalist nobles ; and Northumberland brought formal
charges against York, the Nevills, and others of having
rebelled against the royal authority and ^^feloniously slayne
divers Lordes of the Bloode, that is to saye the Duke of
Sonierset, the Earle of Northumberland^ and the Lorde Clif-
ford."^ At the Parliament held in Coventry, November 28,
1459, an act of attainder was passed against all those
accused ; and the young lords, headed by Northumber-
land, took oath to maintain the succession to the throne
in the king's family. At the queen's instigation the
government of the country north of Humber was then
bestowed upon the Earl and Lord Clifford, as the " trusty
and most faithfid friends" of the House of Lancaster.-
This was a shrewd stroke ; since " the whole north of

1 Rot. Par!., 27 Hen. VI. • Hall, p. 242,

no THE HOUSE OF PERCY

England" (as Hume observes) ^^ ivas by means of these
Uvo nobleme7i ivarinly engaged in the interests of Lancaster^
Without their influence, indeed, the cause of the Red Rose
would have found but shght favour in those regions, where
the pitiable character of Henry VI. was well known, and
the superior claims of York to the throne fully recognised.^
But, although they might hold the men of the north country
together, the Percies and Cliffords could do little to stem
the flowing tide of Yorkist influence in the south and west.
Along the Welsh Marches especially the name of Mortimer's
heir was one to conjure with.

Although Northumberland and his brothers were at
feud with each and all of their cousins, the Nevills, it was
against Richard Nevill, the great Earl of Warwick, that their
hate was chiefly directed. Many traditional reasons are
given for this, the most plausible being that it was by
Warwick's sword that the second Earl of Northumberland
had been slain at St. Albans. When the royalist and Yorkist
forces met at Northampton, the four Percies ^^ determined to
take Warwick dead or alive" ;'^ and the impetuosity of the
Lancastrian attack upon the future " King-maker's" forces
is traceable to this unfortunate resolve. The battle lasted
several hours, and ended in a complete victory for the
veterans of York, — the royal army losing, according to
Hall, ^^feiv lesse than xnt talk Englishmen." Northumber-
land, seeing that affairs were past mending for the time,
sent his brother, Lord Egremont, to guard the king's
person ; while he himself retreated with the queen and the
young Prince Edward. Egremont hastened to the royal
tent only to meet a furious charge of the enemy led by
Warwick in person. No thought of surrender, however,
crossed the brave soldier's mind : to ask quarter of a

^ Richard, Duke of York, was son of the Earl of Cambridge by the sister of
Edmund Mortimer, last Earl of March, who had died s.p, 1425. Consequently,
like Northumberland, he descended from Lionel, Duke of Clarence. It will be
remembered that, at the outset, the Percies had sided with their kinsmen of York ;
but that the gratitude of the second earl towards Henry V., and the third earl's
friendship for Henry VI., had made the family Lancastrian.

' Hall.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY iii

Nevill — and, above all, of Warwick — were to him un-
speakable shame. Drawing his sword he placed himself
directly between the trembling Henry and the whole host
of York. Two knights, bearing Warwick's badge of the
bear and staff, precipitated themselves upon him ; but he
defended himself obstinately, slaying both of his assailants.
Then Warwick (who had recognised Egremont) ordered
several knights and esquires to attack him at once ; ^ and so
this second of the soldier brethren of Northumberland, — a
man "full stoiite infeate of warre" — paid for his loyalty with
his life, and fell pierced by many wounds at the very feet of
the king.2

Although the battle of Northampton was straightway
followed by the proclamation of the Duke of York as heir
Wakefield to the throue and Regent of England ; and
and St. although the craven king was actually induced

Albans: . ° , . , °. , . ^

Lancastrian to forcgo his own SOU s Hghts m consentmg to
revenge. ^j^jg humiliating arrangement ; the Lancastrian
party had but suffered a temporary stay, and the revenge
of the young lords, so long looked for, was really near at
hand.

The queen and Northumberland rallied their forces at
York, where they were joined by the Lords Clifford and
Dacre with fresh levies. It was in vain that the king at the
bidding of York and Warwick sent urgent messages calling
upon Margaret to join his gilded captivity in London. The
regent would have hailed with joy any chance which de-
livered Henry's strong-willed consort into his hands ; but
Margaret had no intention of being snared. She utterly
repudiated the base surrender of Prince Edward's birth-
right, and refused either to visit London or recognise the
new regency. In November there was a great muster of
the Lancastrians at York. The Duke of Somerset and the
Earl of Wiltshire hurried to join their fellow-leaguers ; and

^ Stubb.s's Const it, llist, of England.

^ Thomas, Lord Egiemont, left an only son, Jolin Percy, who is supposed to
have died without issue.

112 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

the tenants and supporters of the regent were ruthlessly
plundered.

Furious at these evidences of renewed activity on the
part of the young lords, York rashly advanced against the
queen's army with only 10,000 men. Reaching Wakefield
in December he found his way barred by 20,000 royalists,
commanded by the queen, Northumberland, and Clifford.
The regent took temporary refuge in Sandal Castle, with
the intention of awaiting reinforcements ; but on December
31 his proud spirit could no longer brook inactivity, and
he sallied forth to do battle against these heavy odds. Had
he but remained in Sandal until after Christmas, he must
have been relieved by Warwick ; as it was he rushed blindly
to defeat and death. ^^ Invironed on every side, like fish in a
net J he fongJit vianfullie ; yet was he within half an hour
slain, and dead, and his ariny discomfited." ^ Nearly 2800
Yorkists died around their chief, ^^ whereof vianie were young
gentlemen and heires of great parentage in the South Partes!"^
The lust for vengeance overmastered all other feelings on
the part of many of the victors. The queen herself acted
more like a fury than a woman in the cruelty with which
she treated the dying Duke of York. Lord Clifford, calling
upon the name of his own slaughtered father, stabbed to
the heart the Earl of Rutland, a boy of twelve, whose only
offence was the name he bore. With such examples before
them, it is not surprising that most of the young Lancastrian
lords refused quarter to the enemy, and that the bloodshed
was so great. Indeed, but for the noble magnanimity of the
Earl of Northumberland, Wakefield might have become a
very shambles. No royalist of them all had more wrongs
to avenge than the head of the House of Percy ; yet, when
he saw the battle surely won, he sheathed his sword and
sternly called his soldiers from their bloody work. He was
not one that warred with boys and sorely wounded men ;
and the chronicles record his earnest condemnation of the
murder of young Rutland. To the queen's face he remon-
strated against the fiendish taunts and revilings with which

1 Holinshed. 2 jj^jj^

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 113

she embittered York's last moments. In the Third Part of
King Henry VL, Shakespeare has made immortal the
colloquy between Margaret and her chief supporter : —

" Northumberland —

Beshreiv 7nc, but his passions move Die so,
That hardly can I check my eyes from tears . . .
Had he been slaughter-man to all my kin,
I should not, for my life, but weep tvith him.
To see how inly sorrow gripes his soul.

Q. Margarf.t —

IVhat, weeping-ripe, my Lord Northumberland ?
Think but upon the wrong he did us all.
And that will quickly dry thy melting tears."

From Wakefield, the queen and Northumberland ad-
vanced rapidly south to attack the Earl of Warwick, who
was vigorously recruiting in the neighbourhood of London,
By a strange trick of fortune the two armies met at St.
Albans, the scene of Lancastrian defeat and the death of
Northumberland's father, six years before. A battle was
fought on February 17, in which Warwick was utterly
routed. Very many prisoners were taken, among them the
poor shuttlecock king, who was found in Warwick's tent, as
fearful no doubt of falling into the power of his wife and
the party which he had betrayed as he was of remaining
the captive of the Yorkists.

But even two victories in rapid succession were not

sufficient to restore the fallen fortunes of Lancaster.

Hardly was the second fight of St. Albans won,

Field: a when ncws reached Northumberland that the

black day for young Earl of IMarch, son of the Duke of York,

the Percies. if-,

had defeated the Earl of Pembroke with great loss
at — name of good omen to the Yorkists ! — Mortimer's Cross.
The royalist army, although hitherto successful, had lost
heavily both at Wakefield and St. Albans ; so that, in view
of March's advance, Northumberland deemed it the best
policy to fall back upon York for reinforcements. This was

114 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

done ; and March, hastening southward, entered London,
and was there proclaimed by soldiers and citizens King of
England under the name of Edward IV. The remarkable
beauty of the new monarch's person, his legitimate right
to the throne, and the contrast between his strength of
character and the weakness of the wretched Henry, caused
men of every rank to flock to his banners. A great army
marched behind him, when, with the rapidity of a born
leader, he turned again towards the north, prepared for a
death-struggle with the Lancastrians.

Meanwhile, at York, Northumberland had increased his
army to some 6o,coo, but many of the new levies were raw
and undisciplined. On March 28, 1461, the advanced
guards of the two hosts found themselves close together in
the neighbourhood of the river Ayre. With Northumber-
land were his two brothers, Sir Ralph and Sir Richard
Percy. The Yorkist van was commanded by Warwick,
still smarting from his defeat at St. Albans.

Seeing the advantage which must accrue from the pos-
session of Ferriby Brig over the Ayre, Warwick despatched
Lord Fitz-Walter^ to take it. The attempt was however
forestalled by Northumberland, who sent Lord Clifford
with a superior force to drive Fitz-Walter back. The Lan-
castrians were successful ; and only a few of Fitz-Walter's
men escaped with their lives from the encounter. It was
then that Warw'ick resorted to one of those impressive,
though theatrical devices by which medineval captains so
often stirred the sluggish blood of their soldiers. Springing
from the saddle he plunged a sword into the heart of his
war-horse, crying aloud that upon that day there was to
be no retreat, and that he would fight a-foot among his
men-at-arms until Ferriby Brig was won. The example
fired all hearts; and, headed by Warwick in person, the
advanced guard rushed upon the defenders of the cause-
way. Clifford, courageous if cruel, beat back his assailants

' This nobleman had a hereditary feud with the Earls of Northumberland,
arising out of the first earl's defence of John Wickliffe, and the attempts which
the Lord Fitz-Walter made to arouse the London populace against him.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 115

again and again ; but numbers in the end prevailed ; and,
towards nightfall the brig was taken, and Clifford slain.

At an early hour on the following day both hosts were
in motion. Most of the combatants carried sprigs of blest
palm or yew, for it was Palm Sunday ; ^ and mass was sung
in each camp before the trumpets sounded to the tight.
A harsh, boisterous morning it proved to be ; and as the
sacred host was uplifted in the centre of the Lancastrian
army, there came a heavy snowstorm, blown by the wind
into the faces of Northumberland's soldiers — so that it
was whispered hither and thither that Heaven was wroth
at the desecration of such a festival.

The snow, in truth, proved the undoing of the Lan-
castrians. Under cover of its blinding gusts the Yorkist
archers under Lord P'alconbridge crept unperceived within
bowshot of the opposing ranks, and discharged a murderous
volley ; after which they fell back out of the enemy's range.
Utterly ignorant of this skilful manoeuvre, the king's bow-
men replied to the best of their ability ; but, naturally, all
their shafts fell short. Then the Yorkists, advancing again,
picked up the fallen arrows and sent them winging back
into the thick of the foe. The trick was repeated until
every Lancastrian quiver was empty. ^^The Northern vieUy
f cling the shoot, but by reason of the snow not ivel viezving the
distance betwene them and their eneniyes, like hardy men shot
their shicfc arrows as fast as they might, but al their shot was
lost and their labor vayn, for they came not neer the Southerners
by xi taylors yardesy ^

With all their shafts spent, there was nought for the
Lancastrian archers but to fall back upon the main body.
Then the Earl of Northumberland resolved upon a charge ;
and, placing himself at the head of his entire force, led
the way directly into the enemy's centre. The schemes of
Warwick and Falconbridge were now of no avail : it was
a battle hand to hand — almost a blindfold battle, for the
snow continued to fall heavily, shower following shower,
and the two forces were so confused and broken up that

» March 29, 1461. 2 ii^n.

ii6 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

no man could tell a foe at further than a sword's thrust.
For ten hours the terrific struggle lasted, "/« doubtful
victorie, the one part sojiietijne flowing, and sometime ebbing ; "^
and the one guiding rule was carnage without quarter.
About four o'clock in the afternoon the snow ceased
altogether ; and the Earl of March, who had wisely with-
drawn some picked troops and held them in reserve,
ordered a charge. The Lancastrians broke and fled before
this unexpected onslaught, nor did Edward and Warwick
allow them time to rally. The battle of Towton Fields
ended in a victory for the Yorkist cause, as complete and
decisive as it was bloody. Holinshed places the total loss
on both sides at 38,000 ; and, in a private letter from the
Earl of March — now truly King Edward — to his mother,
it is stated that 28,000 Lancastrian corpses were counted
next day upon the field and in the neighbouring villages.^
Queen Margaret and her son escaped to Scotland, guided
by Somerset and Sir Ralph Percy ; but the Earl of Nor-
thumberland and his other brother, Sir Richard, fell
swords in hand, even as their grandsire Hotspur had
fallen at Shrewsbury. Some say that Northumberland's
life was not yet extinct when he was discovered ; and that
he was carried into York where he died before nightfall.^
It is certain that this chivalrous nobleman — "The Loyal
Earl " as he well deserved to be called — was laid to rest
in the church of St. Dionys at York, close by " Percy's
Inn," the mansion maintained by his family in the Northern
capital.

But Yorkist spite marked itself even upon the earl's
tomb. When Parliament met to confirm Edward's title to
the throne, and to outlaw the late king, it took the oppor-
tunity to issue writs of attainder against the dead Percies
— Northumberland, his brother Richard, and even Lord
Egremont, who had fallen so long before.^ Sir Ralph

1 Hall.

^ Sheahan and Willan, Hist, of Yorkshire. A gold ring bearing the earl's
crest was, say tlie same authors, found on Towton Fields in 1786.
^ Not, Pari., V. 480, i Edw. IV., November 9, 1461.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 117

Percy, the sole survivor of the brothers, was Hkewise placed
under sentence ; but he — having seen Queen Margaret
and her son safely into Scotland, and sent his own youth-
ful nephew (Northumberland's heir) in the same direction
— shut himself up with a determined band in the castle
of Dunstanburgh, and prepared to defend that fortress to
the bitter end.

The Lancastrian armies had been practically annihi-
lated ; the North was in Yorkist hands ; but still Ralph

Percy held out against King Edward. Attempts
Percy, last wcre uiadc to dislodge hull, but without suc-
of the soldier ^ess ; and by dint of moonlight ridings into the

surrounding country, he succeeded in keeping
his little garrison sufficiently well supplied with food. To
such a pitch did he harass his neighbours of the opposite
party — attacking their hinds when they sought to garner
the first peaceful harvest of years ; carrying off their cattle
and fat wethers (and, if tradition tells truth, their daughters
as well) ; and ever choosing a time for his attacks when
they deemed themselves most secure — that the Yorkists
resolved in the end to make terms with this " Gledd of
Dunstanburgh," 1 this kite of the tower, as they had
learned to style him. Accordingly, " by the king's grace,"
Sir Ralph was granted leave to hold Dunstanburgh as
governor ; ^ and a pardon was drawn up in his name,
although it does not appear that he made formal submis-
sion to Edward. Indeed, he became more active than
ever in the cause of the Red Rose ; and, w^hereas his
former efforts had been directed towards keeping Dun-
stanburgh inviolate, and annoying Sir John Astley^ and
others of the Yorkist lieutenants in those parts, he now
began to increase the force at his command by bringing
bands of Scots from across the border. They came in
small parties, so as to arouse the suspicion of the Yorkists

' "The Gledd," or Kite, of Dunstanburgh was a name given in the North
to Sir Ralph Percy.

'- A'oi. Far/., 2 Edw. IV.

"* Astley held Alnwick Castle for Edward IV.

ii8 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

as little as possible ; and it was not long, as Grafton tells
us, until Dunstanburgh was ^^ stuffed with Scotts." Com-
munication was opened with the exiled Queen Margaret,
and with the Duke of Somerset, who had also been secretly
at work for the house of Lancaster. Margaret had at
length succeeded in gathering an army of sorts, it is said
by means of a promise to surrender Calais to France and
Berwick to Scotland ; but this latter assertion rests upon
the authority of Yorkist chroniclers. She was joined by
the Duke of Somerset ; and, with ill-judged haste, burst
into England. " The Gledd of Dunstanburgh " flew to
join his royal mistress ; and it was long afterwards her
regret that she did not assign to this tried and faithful
captain, rather than to the weak Somerset, the chief com-
mand of the Lancastrian troops. But the superior rank
of Somerset prevailed, and he associated with him in the
leadership the Lords Hungerford and Roos. Percy ac-
cepted his exclusion from the councils of war without
complaint ; and made ready to do his duty loyally.

The first step taken by Somerset was an attack upon

Alnwick Castle, still defended by stout Sir John Astley.

This attempt failed miserably. Thanks to the

the "Gledd of two last Earls of Northumberland, the defences

Dunstan- q[ Alnwick had been greatlv strengthened : and

burgh. & ^ o >

Somerset had neither the skill to take the
stronghold by assault, nor the persistence to compel its
surrender by blockade. After a series of half-hearted
efforts he abandoned the siege, and marched in the direc-
tion of Chillingham, At Hedgeley Moor, near that place,
he found himself opposed by a strong body of Yorkists,
raised by John Nevill, Lord Montagu.

Now, at last, the advice of Sir Ralph Percy was asked
by the captain of the invaders. He gave it simply, and to
the best of his knowledge as a soldier. The Lancastrians
were face to face with a desperate situation. The time
wasted at Alnwick had permitted the enemy to get between
them and the border, thus cutting off their retreat into

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 119

Scotland. Fight they must sooner or later ; and it was as
well to fight then, even though outnumbered, as to delay
until the foe had been still further reinforced. Under
the circumstances Percy counselled an attack. At first
Somerset and his lords seemed to hearken to this advice,
and the queen's army advanced to within bow-shot of the
Yorkists. But before the trumpets sounded to the onset
a disgraceful thing came to pass. Somerset, Hungerford,
and Roos, stricken with a sudden panic, turned their
horses' heads, and without drawing sword, galloped from
the field. Utterly demoralised by the cowardly conduct
of their leaders, most of the archers and men-at-arms
followed in headlong rout. Only Sir Ralph Percy, and
the brave hearts that had defended Dunstanburgh with
him, remained to face the enemy. In compact files they
calmly awaited the Yorkist onfall, protecting by this heroic
stand the wild flight of Somerset and his army. There is
a grim reticence among the contemporary historians re-
specting the fate of the devoted band ; but enough can
be gathered from the various accounts to show that Percy
himself, and nearly all who fought by his side, fell in the
affray. In the simple words of Grafton, Hedgeley Moor
is thus summed up : — " Sodaymly the sayde Lordes {Soinerset,
Hungerford, mid Roos) without stroke stryki7tg fled, and onely
Syr Rauf Percie abode and was tJiere inanfullie Slayne."

So stooped the " Gledd of Dunstanburgh " for the last
time. Those who left him cravenly to his fate were not
long destined to keep the lives which they had saved at
such a cost. After the battle of Hexham, on the follow-
ing 15th of May, when the power of Lancaster was once
more crushed, the very lords who had deserted Ralph
Percy at Hedgeley Moor perished, one and all, beneath
the headsman's axe.^

Upon the spot where Sir Ralph fell, a column, roughly
carved with badges of the house of Northumberland, was
subsequently erected — probably by his nephew, the fourth
earl. It stands to this day, and is known as " Percy's

' Holinshcd.

I20 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Cross." Not far away upon the moor is a spring called
"Percy's Well," whence, say the country-folk, the loyal
knight took his last draught. Even his dying words are
preserved by tradition ; for we are told that, glorying in
his allegiance to the Lancastrian kings, "//^ cried with his
last breath ; — ' I HAVE SAVED THE Bird IN MY Bosom.' " 1

With Sir Ralph's death the fortunes of the house of
Percy were indeed at a low ebb. Outlawed and exiled,
the young heir of the house, Henry, Lord Percy, hid his
sorrows at the Scottish Court. Not one square foot of
English ground could he call his own ; his scanty means
of subsistence he owed to the charity of King James ; nor
had he (as was the case with his grandfather, the second
earl) a single powerful friend to plead his cause in his
native land. Within four short years his father and his
three uncles had been slain in battle ; he himself was an
only son ; and his nearest male relatives, the Nevills, were
bitterly hostile. So great had been the slaughter during
the Civil War that it is extremely doubtful whether, fail-
ing the exiled Henry, a single Percy existed who could
prove descent from the ancient line.^ Upon the single
life of this boy of seventeen — surrounded as that life was
by a thousand dangers — depended the very existence of
the race of Louvain-Percy.

^ Holinshed. Sir Ralph Percy had married Eleanor, daughter and heir of
Laurence Acton of Acton, Co. Northumberland, and left issue three sons, Henry,
Ralph, and George. His eldest son Sir Henry Percy, Knt, of Acton, was
governor of Bamborough, and died in i486, leaving a son, John Percy of Acton,
who sold his estates and left Northumberland circ. 1520. (See Genealogy,
Table n.)

^ This is all the more remarkable as, a few generations before, Northumber-
land and Yorkshire had swarmed with Percies "of the blood." But such
"wipings out" of fine old families during the Wars of the Roses were common
enough, and explain the fact that so few of the English titled persons of to-day
can satisfactorily prove their descent from baronial houses of Plantagenet times.

■^•' J

icy/ {TO// ■

■^i^-^'

The exact manner in which the heir of Northumberland
eventually returned to his native land is unknown ; but it
Henr fourth ^^ bcHeved that, driven to despair by poverty and
Earl of Nor- neglect, he determined to risk his life across the
thumberiand. border. Accordingly he left the Scottish court,
entered England, and was taken prisoner in or about the
year 1468. A few years before the forfeited earldom of
Northumberland had been conferred by Edward upon John
Nevill, Lord Montacute, brother of Warwick.^ Conse-
quently it was as "Sir Henry Percy" that the homesick
captive was committed to the Fleet Prison. An entry in
the Fleet records runs as follows : — " To Sir Heniy Percy ^
knighty to provide for Ids table and four persons to attend upon
him . . . dun'ng two viontlis and four days, for each week
£1, 6s. 8d. = £ii, 3s. Sd." " From this it would appear that,
although in confinement, he enjoyed more comfort than
he had done while at liberty beyond the frontier. Possibly
the shrewd Edward had already begun to suspect the Nevill
faction of disloyalty, and was therefore determined to hold
Percy in reserve, and to use him as kindly as possible by
way of winning him over to the Yorkist side. After the
revolt of Warwick, Percy was transferred to the Tower,
where he was treated in all respects as a prisoner of the
highest rank. Edward was as yet unable to prove the
charge of treason against John Nevill, so that he could not
strip him of the recently conferred Northumberland earl-
dom without offering some sort of substitute honour. But
the king's agents set to work in the North, and caused a
petition to be drawn up praying for Henry Percy's restora-

' Hall's Chronicle. - Issue Rolls, 5 Edw. \'I.

122 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

tion to his ancestral dignities.^ Even before this document
could reach him, however, Edward had Percy brought
from the Tower to Westminster ; and there, in the presence
of most of the council, caused him to take the oath of
allegiance : — " /, Soveraigne Lorde, Henry Percy become your
subjette and liegeman," — (such were the terms of the oath) —
" and promyt to God and youe that herafter I Feyth and
Troiith shall bere to yon, as to my Soveraigne Liege Lorde, and
to yotire Hey res, Kynges of Englande, of Lyfe and Lymme and
of erthely ivorshippe for to lyve and dye agenst all erthely people.
And to youe and to youre commandementes I shall be obeisaunt,
as God me helpe and his Hole Evangelistes." ^ Percy was
then pardoned and set at liberty. During the Parliament
which followed, the petition of the Northerners for his
restoration was favourably received, and recommended for
the royal approval. Montacute sulkily relinquished his
earldom, and received by way of exchange the title of
Marquis of Montacute, with (as he himself expressed it)
" a pyes nest to maintain it zvithal." ^ Three years later,
by Act of Parliament, Henry Percy was " restored in blond to
the said Erldome {of Northumberland) and to all such heredita-
ments of the same Earl as came into the King's hands, the
second day of March, in Ann. 9 Edw. IV., and the attainder
made against the said Earl, Ann. i Ediv. IV., is made void!' "*
In the meantime he had acted as one of the judges who
tried the Duchess of Bedford for sorcery. ^ One of the
evidences of witchcraft brought against the duchess was
that she had, by dint of the black art, brought about a
marriage between Edward IV. and the Lady Elizabeth Grey.
His appointment as Warden of the East Marches towards
Scotland ensued ; and he was engaged upon the duties of
this office when Warwick "the king maker" returned from

1 •' Kyng Edward fered then the Lord Montacute, the Earl Warwickes brother,
whom he had made Erie of Northiiinberland, and so privilie causid vien of the
cuntery to desyre the ryghtfjcl heyre, Percy, siinne to Henry that was slayne at
York i^f/aV."— Leland's Collectanea, vol. i. '^ Fcedera, xi. 649.

^ Leland's Collectanea, vol. i. p. 503-

^ Cotton's Abridged Acts of Parliament.

5 Rot. Scot., 10 Edw. IV.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 123

France at the head of an expedition and forced Edward to
fly to Holland. It is hard to believe that Percy's blood was
not stirred when he learned that Henry VI. — a king of straw
indeed, but the king for whom his father and grandfather
had fought and died — was once more upon the throne of
England. That a Nevill (and, of all Nevill's, the virulent
Warwick) should have restored the house of Lancaster,
must have been galling to the heir of Northumberland ;
but one prefers to believe that it was his oath, so lately
taken, rather than any jealousy of the rival faction, which
kept him neutral during the brief struggle which followed.
Absolutely neutral he remained, even after Edward landed
at Ravenspur ; nor did the king blame him for thus
^^ syttynge stilly' seeing that the Northumbrians had **/«
theyr freshe remenibraunce how that the Kyjtge at the first
entne-wimiing of his ryght to the Royfne and Crotvne of
Englande had and ivon a great battaill in those same partes,
IV he re they re viaystar the E riles father was slayn" and so
" it zaas thought that they coivth nat have borne very good
wyll, and done theyr best service to the Kynge at this time,
and in this qwarelU'^ The death of Warwick at Barnet,
the defeat and capture of brave Queen Margaret at
Tewkesbury, and the extinction of the Lancastrian cause
— throughout all these events Percy stood aloof. On
October 6, 1473, ^^ the King sitting in the Chair of State in
the Painted Chamber, he {Henry Percy) was present, and by
the Kin^s commandment was restored in blood to the Earldom
of N ortlinmberland and to all the hereditaments of Henry
Percy, late Earl of Northumberland, as came into the King's
hands, attd the attainder against the said Earl, of ist Edw. I V.
tit. 1 7, was made void.'^ ^

A year later, in 1474, he entered into a curious compact
with Richard, Duke of Gloucester, by which he bound him-
self to serve that crouch-backed prince ^' at all tymes lawfdl
and convenient when thereunto .... lawfully requyred. The
dutie of the alegauence of the said erle to the kynge' s highnes,

^ Historic of the arivdll of Edward 1 V. ^c. ; — Camden Society, vol. i. p. 6.
- Collins.

124 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

the queue, his sci-vice and pi'oniise to Prince Edward, their
first begot en soiiy and all the king's issue begot en, and to be
begoten, first at all tynies receyved and hadd."^ In 1475
Northumberland accompanied Edward to France ; and was
present at the meeting between the sovereigns at Pecquigni,
when peace was proclaimed, and the release of Queen
Margaret agreed upon. His elevation to a Companionship
of the Garter occurred in the following winter ; and his
name occurs among the list of peers who concurred in the
sentence of death passed upon the Duke of Clarence.

An attempt made in 1488 to recapture Berwick having
proved abortive, Gloucester and Northumberland (accom-
panied by the banished Duke of Albany) again
fare, and assailed the border fortress two years later. The
Richard ni.'s g^j.[ commanded the vanguard. His force num-

reign. _ t^* _ _

bered 6700 men in all ; and with him fought his
brother-in-law, Lord Scrope of Bolton, and other gentlemen
of prowess. Berwick Castle, defended by Lord Bothwell,
held out courageously ; whereupon, foreseeing a protracted
siege, Northumberland left troops enough to guard the
place, and marched into Scotland. Meanwhile King James,
marching to the relief of Berwick, had been confronted
with the rebellion of many of his nobles, and carried a
prisoner to Edinburgh. The invaders were permitted to
march unopposed to the very gates of Edinburgh. A
hurriedly executed peace, secured through the offices of
Albany, restored Berwick permanently to England. This
treaty was signed on behalf of the Scots by the Duke of
Albany, the Bishop of Dunkeld, and the Earl of Argyll ;
and on behalf of England by Gloucester, Northumberland,
and Lord Stanley.

As a reward for this important service Northumberland
received the thanks of Parliament ; - and was granted the
privilege of conferring knighthood upon five of his ofificers

' The original counterpail of ihis document is preserved in the Muniment
Room at Syon House.

2 Kot. Pari., 22 Kdw. IV.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 125

— to wit, Sir Thomas Grey, Sir Marmaduke Constable, Sir
Christopher Ward, Sir Ralph Widdrington, and Sir Thomas
Tempest — all of whom he made knights bannerets. On
the attainder of the Earl of Oxford, a year later, he was
still further honoured by being elevated to the post of Lord
High Chamberlain.^

In accordance with the compact already quoted, North-
umberland stood faithfully by Richard, Duke of Gloucester,
when, on the death of Edward VI. in 1483, that prince
became regent of England. Richard and he had been
allies and companions in the field ; and, while it cannot be
shown that Northumberland had the slightest cognisance of
any of the crimes by which Richard is supposed to have
reached the throne, it is certain that, at the latter's corona-
tion, the earl bore the chamberlain's sword, and thus lent
his sanction to the ceremony. His kinsman, Sir Robert
Percy,- acting on the same occasion as Comptroller, came
in and served the " kynge solemnly with one dishe of golde
and another of silver." ^ Not long afterwards the earl pre-
sented to his new lord a petition, in which he pleaded for
the full restoration of all the estates which had belonged to
his great-grandfather prior to the latter's attainder ; and
beginning — ^* Please it youre Hig/ifiess, of you re inoost habun-
daunt grace, to have in yotire tender consideracioti how that
youre hiimble subject and true liegeman Henry Percy, noiu Erie
of Northumberland^ is, and all tymes hath ben, sith the tyme of
your moost noble reigne, of humble ; true and due obeissaunce
to you, liege lordc, and to youre lawes, and ever shall be during
his life, tvith the grace of God.'"^ The document goes on to
mention the attainder of the first earl by Henry IV., ^' late in
dede but not of right, Kyng of England ; " and to pray that it
be set aside. Next year, by Letters-Patent dated May 5,
Richard III. granted all the requests contained in the
petition.

1 Rot. Pari, 14 Edw. IV., vi. p. 144.

- The precise relationship of this knight is a moot point among genealogists.
He was of ScoUon, Co. York, grandson of Robert Percy of Section, w/io flourished
yj Hen. VL, and descendant of John Percy of Scoftoii,JI. 1394. [See Genealogy of
Pkrcy of Scotton.) ^ Hall. ^ A'ot. Pari., i Rich. HI.

126 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Meanwhile Henry, Earl of Richmond, had been gradu-
ally advanced by the enemies of Richard as a claimant to
the crown and the representative of the Lancastrian cause.
Although the Percies themselves, the Nevills and other
English families could show hereditary rights to the succes-
sion far nearer and clearer than this descendant of the
adulterous intercourse between John of Gaunt and Catherine
Swynford, yet to such a degree had the people been im-
pressed by the tales spread broadcast of Richard Crouch-
back's evil deeds, that this first pretender to the heirship of
Lancaster was eagerly accepted as the true champion of the
Red Rose. The conduct of the Earl of Northumberland
up to the time of Richmond's landing in Wales had been
such that even a monarch as suspicious as Richard could
find no fault with his loyalty. He had even supported his
sovereign in the condemnation and execution of Earl Rivers
and the Duke of Buckingham, thereby justly incurring for
himself widespread unpopularity, and the just blame of
posterity. But when the forces of Richard and the Earl
of Richmond confronted each other at Bosworth, Northum-
berland once more played the part which he had chosen
during Edward IV.'s second invasion of England — that of
complete inactivity. The efforts to explain this behaviour
are many and various. Lingard asserts that Northumber-
land, discovered that his followers were "wavering and on
the point of flying, or going over" to the enemy. Others
allege a sudden quarrel between Richard and the earl,
which led the king to post Northumberland in the rear of
the army with strict orders not to advance. Insinuations
against the earl of positive treachery, or at least of a dis-
position to await the result of battle before taking sides,
are not wanting ; but it is undeniable that, after Richard
had been slain and the bloody crown placed upon the
invader's head, Northumberland was seized as a prisoner
of war. Grafton says: ^^ Amongst these {the prisoners) zvas
Henrie IV. Earl of Northiiniberlande, which, whether it was by
the comniandemejit of Kynge Richarde puttj/nge diffidence in
hj>)n, or he did it for the love and favour ivhicJi he bare' unto

YORK

3-]

ro Sir Robert Percy ok Scotton
BY Richard III.

SRCY

ancestor of

:laimant

iom].

I I

Elizabeth ; Theodosia ;

TH m. Rowland Revel m. Richard Shier-

)ln. of Stanington, clifee of Ecclesfield.

Co. York.

Elizabeth ;
TON m. Thomas Ingleby

k. of Thornton, Co. York.

TAME.S Percy. Walter Percy ; William
a priest at Percy

St. Omers. of London.

126 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Meanwhile Henry, Earl of Richmond, had been gradu-
ally advanced by the enemies of Richard as a claimant to
the crown and the representative of the Lancastrian cause.
Although the Percies themselves, the Nevills and other
English families could show hereditary rights to the succes-
sion far nearer and clearer than this descendant of the
adulterous intercourse between John of Gaunt and Catherine
Swynford, yet to such a degree had the people been im-
pressed by the tales spread broadcast of Richard Crouch-
back's evil deeds, that this first pretender to the heirship of
Lancaster was eagerly accepted as the true champion of the
Red Rose. The conduct of the Earl of Northumberland
up to the time of Richmond's landing in Wales had been
such that even a monarch as suspicious as Richard could
find no fault with his loyalty. He had even supported his
sovereign in the condemnation and execution of Earl Rivers
and the Duke of Buckingham, thereby justly incurring for
himself widespread unpopularity, and the just blame of
posterity. But when the forces of Richard and the Earl
of Richmond confronted each other at Bosworth, Northum-
berland once more played the part which he had chosen
during Edward IV.'s second invasion of England — that of
complete inactivity. The efforts to explain this behaviour
are many and various. Lingard asserts that Northumber-
land, discovered that his followers were "wavering and on
the point of flying, or going over" to the enemy. Others
allege a sudden quarrel between Richard and the earl,
which led the king to post Northumberland in the rear of
the army with strict orders not to advance. Insinuations
against the earl of positive treachery, or at least of a dis-
position to await the result of battle before taking sides,
are not wanting ; but it is undeniable that, after Richard
had been slain and the bloody crown placed upon the
invader's head, Northumberland was seized as a prisoner
of war. Grafton says: ^^ Aviongst these {the prisoners) zvas
Henrie IV. Earl of Northiiviberlande, which, whether it was by
the comniandement of Kynge Richarde putty tige diffidence in
hy)>i, or he did it for the love and favour ivhich he bare unto

GENEALOGY OF PERCY OF SCOTTON, Co. YORK

[From a Pedigree, Familice. Minorutn Gentium, Harleian Society Publications, p. 873.]

JdHN Pkrcy

. of Scotton. Co. York ;

vivit 1394

{perhaps a son of William Percy

of Kirk Levingston , younger son

of the 2nd Lord Percy of Alnwick.

See Cjgnealogy, TabIe II.).

!
Robert Percy of Scotton,

Robert Percy

of Scotton ;

vivit IT Henry VI.

Cecily Metcalfe. = Robert Percy

I of Scotton and Brearto
Co. York ;
vivit 37 Henry VI,

Robert Percy

of Scotton and Brearton ;

vivit 14 Edward IV. >

I ^^

Eleanor,

dau. of

Sir Ralph Bewley, Kt.

Elizabeth Norton
of Norton Conyers, Co. York.

Robert Percy of Scottor
vivit temp. Henry VIII.

Sir Robert Percy, Kt.,

of Scotton and Brearton, Co. York;

of Garbolsham, Co. Norfolk;

and of Campes, Saxton,

■and Arbiton, Co. Cambridge;

Comptroller of the Household, and

Captain of the Guard,

under Richard III. ;

slain at Bosworth Field.

[Attainted.)

IVf argaret Swayle.

Francis Percy of Scotton ;
vivit temp. Elizabeth.

Frances.
dau. of Ralph Vavasour.

Henry Percy
[? of Pavcnham ; ;

James Percy, claimant
of the Earldom].

Frances, = John Percy

sister and co-heir of I of Stubbs

Sir Andrew Young, VValden.

JOSCELINE. BaRTHOLOMEV

Oglethorpe.

I I

Mary; - Jane;

in at Ghent, m. Brian Haworth
of Parr, Co. Lincoln.

Elizabeth ;

, Rowland Rev

of Stanington,

Co. York.

Theodosia ;
m. Richard Shier-
CLiFi-E of Ecclesfield.

Cecily.

dau. and co-heir of Robert

Shan of Methley.

= Thomas Percy

I of Stubbs Walden;

b. 1627; d. 1665.

John ;
d. young.

Robert Percy
[a Roman- Catholic priest ;
conveyed his lands to his
brother Thomas, 1680I.

John Percy,
Cavalier: slain at
Willoughby. 1648.

Frances ;

. Sir William Langdale, Kt.,

of Langthcrpe, Go. York.

Dorothy ;
m. Capl. John Bre'ito
of Bretton, Co. York.

Elizabeth ;
m. Thomas Inglebv
of Thornton, Co. York.

Thomas Percy -
of Stubbs Walden,
' ' Esq.

Dorothy Poole.

Francis Percy

of King St.. St. Jame;

d. i688.

zMary Bacon. Charles Percy. Philip Jo

Wal-
apn

Percy ;
t at
.St. Omers.

Thomas Percy
of Stubbs Walden ;
. 1680; d. unm. 1758,

Elizabeth Percy ;

heir of Stubbs Walden,

Co. York.

WiLLLAM ShUTTLEUT)

of Turnover Hall,
Co. Lanes.

William

Percy
of London.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 127

tJie earle, stoode still with a great covipanie and intermitted not
in the bataille." A point, held to be in favour of the earl's
loyalty, is the letter written to him two days after the hght,
by the council of York, who asked his advice on the subject
of recognising Richmond as Henry VII. The citizens
beseeched him to advertise them as to what might best
"proiijitt and sauffegarde" the city of York, since *^ King
Richard, late lawfully reigning over ns, was through grete
treason . . . piteojisly slaine and murdered to the grete heavi-
ness e of this citye." ^

After weighing all evidence, however, it seems clear that
Northumberland accepted the death of Richard and the
downfall of the house of York without sorrow, and perhaps
even with a certain sense of relief. His compact with
Richard was now at an end, and he felt himself absolved
from the oath of allegiance taken before Edward IV. Henry
VII., as we know, showed after Bosworth a clemency sur-
prising in those harsh days, and inspired probably by his
extremely questionable title to the crown. The only person
of consequence executed was Catesby ; and great considera-
tion was shown to the prisoners, most of whom (including
Northumberland) were liberated ^^ sub cautione!' This gene-
rosity of the victor was not lost upon the earl, who advised
his adherents, the citizens of York, to acknowledge the new
king. They promptly obeyed ; and Northumberland — a
prisoner no longer — was rewarded by Henry's favour, con-
firmed in all his titles and offices, made Warden of the
East and Middle Marches, Bailiff of Tynedale for life.
Justiciary of the King's Forests beyond Trent, Constable
of Newcastle, Bamborough, and Dunstanburgh, Maister
Forester of Knaresborough, and Commissioner of the Royal
Mines in the North of England.'^ At the same time several
other Percies received concessions and appointments, the
earl's eldest son, a boy of eleven, being made keeper of
Bamborough Castle.^

' Drake's Eboraciim. ^ Rot. Far!., i & 2 Hen. VII.

^ Richard's Comptroller, the Sir Robert Percy of Scotton, above mentioned,
had fallen in Bosworth fight.

128 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

When Henry first rode beyond Hiimber, Northumber-
land met him at Barnesdale with a goodly array of knights
and horsemen ; ^ and subsequently the royal party was
sumptuously entertained at Leckonfield. During the rising
of Lord Lovell and the Staffords, it is ascribed to the caution
and resourcefulness of the Earl that the king escaped cap-
ture or assassination. ^^ King Henry wonld most certainly
have been taken by them whilst he was devoutly solejunyaing of
St. George's day in that city ( Yo'k), had not the Earl of North-
umberland been more prudent in coming to the rescue!' ^ Again
during the attempt of Lambert Simnel to secure the throne,
under the pretence that he was the imprisoned Earl of
Warwick, Northumberland took a firm stand against the
absurd claimant of Plantagenet blood. Here he found
himself opposed to a strong party in the North, the very
party which he himself had at one time fostered and led.
Indeed symptoms of that unpopularity which afterwards
proved fatal to the earl now began to show themselves
in the very regions where the name of Percy should have
been most potent. Hall states that the men of the North
^^ bare agaynst the Earle continual grudge by the deth of
Kynge Richard, whom they entirely loved and highly favoured."
That much of this love and favour was due to the former
exertions of Northumberland in Richard's behalf we may feel
assured. Apart from the fact that his sometime followers
neither understood nor appreciated his sudden acquiescence
in King Henry's rule, Northumberland's lack of personal
magnetism also turned many of his countrymen against
him. Consequently, when Simnel's army landed in Fur-
ness, its ranks of Irish and German swordsmen were quickly
swelled by large reinforcements from Lancashire, York-
shire, and Durham, nor was Northumberland able to
prevent some of his own vassals and near relatives from
joining the pretender's motley host. However, he succeeded
in bringing a considerable body to the king's aid, and
at the battle of Stoke (where the hopes of Simnel and
his chief sponsor, the Earl of Lincoln, were crushed) he

^ Cotton MSS., Julius, B. 12, " Drake's Eboracuiii.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 129

rendered excellent service. Henry rewarded him with the
Wardenship of Berwick and the custody of Sir Bryan
Stapleton's 1 estates ; but, although he strove to regain
the affections of the citizens and religious of York by
presents of fat bucks and the like liberality, and went so
far as to protest boldly against the heavy taxation enforced
by the king, he remained widely unpopular. Even while
virtually standing between the people and their grasping
monarch, and endeavouring to secure for the former some
remission of the burden they were forced to bear, his own
life was compassed by those who should have felt for him
only gratitude.

The earl, taking upon himself the just grievances of the
people, sent word to Henry that serious complaints were
rife concerning the extortionate tax upon land
Northumber- ^^^^ personal property. " T/iey hadbeen charged,'
forthepeopie, hc Said, ^^ of late yeres with innumerable incovi-
siatii^"'^^''^'" '''^odities and oppressions without any defaut or
desert, and now there was a huge soinme requyred
of they m ivhich neyther they were liable to satisfy, so grete a
deinaunde, jior yet woulde once consent to paye one penny of
the saide somme requyred." - To cross or attempt to cross
the will of Henry VII. in the matter of money, was to
touch him on his most sensitive point. Indignant at
Northumberland's words, he despatched a stinging rebuke
to the earl, ordering him to compel the payment of the
taxes, by force of arms if necessary.^

With a heavy heart, and perhaps with some forebodings
of his fate, the lieutenant-royal set about obeying his
master's behests. Those who protested most bitterly (or,
as the king himself phrased it, who ^^whyned most") had
made common cause against the tax-gatherers, and chosen
John a' Chambre and Sir John Egremond as their leaders
and spokesmen. Northumberland sent word to John a'
Chambre to meet him at a certain hunting-lodge called

^ Sir Bryan Stapleton of Carleton, in Yorkshire, one of the supporters of
Lambert Simnel.

- Hall. ^ Il>iJ.

130 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Cockledge or Cocklodge^ situated in his deer-park at
Topcliffe, there to discuss what might be done towards a
peaceful settlement of the dispute. Chambre brought to
the appointed spot a very large body of his discontented
neighbours ; so that the earl found himself unexpectedly
outnumbered. However, he read the king's harsh answer
unflinchingly — so much so indeed that many of the listeners
credited him with approving of it, and angry murmurs
began to rise. Chambre, a man of glib tongue, seized
the opportunity to deliver a fierce personal attack upon
the earl. Northumberland it was, he declared, who
had caused all their misery by deserting Richard III. at
Bosworth, and thus placing Henry on the throne. Richard
Avas belauded as a magnanimous sovereign who would
never have stooped to grind down his people by cruel
imposts; while Northumberland was abused in terms as
coarse as they were undeserved.

At first the earl heard Chambre's angry words in silence;
but some unusually insulting epithet brought him to his
feet. " TJiou art a scurvy knave,'^ he exclaimed, ^^ and tJiey
that hearken to thee hearken to a false and dango-ous adviser."
Then he urged the people who thronged the hall to stop
their ears against such treasonable talk, and to betake them-
selves to their homes without delay. So far from his words
producing a soothing effect upon the mob, they only served
to precipitate a riot. Led by Chambre, who cried out that
Northumberland was the real author of the taxes,^ the
malcontents fell upon the earl and his few servants. No
clear account exists of the affray ; but every one of the
royalists was ruthlessly put to the sword. Most historians
agree that Northumberland fell fighting against the rebels
in the hall at Cockledge ; but a tradition exists that his body
was dragged to Thirsk, 4I miles away, and there beheaded
under an elm tree.^ This tree, which was of great antiquity,

' In this lodge Charles I. was afterwards imprisoned while negotiations were
being conducted between the Scots and the Parliamentary forces for his sur-
render. It was also known as " Maiden's Bower."

2 Hall. 3 Smith, OU Yorkshire.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 131

stood until comparatively recent times on the " elm-green "
of Thirsk. It was a pitiable end— all the more so for the
reasons that it occurred upon the very ground which
Northumberland's great ancestor, William Als-gernons, had
made fertile, and that it was brought about by the very
people who owed so much to the same Als-gernons and his
descendants.

Skelton, the court poet of the day, wrote at the king's
desire an elegy upon the murdered earl ; of which the
following is portion —

" The ground of the guard was for his souerain lord,
The well concernittg of all the hole lande,
Demandyng suche duties as needs most accorde.
To the ryght of his prince .^ which s hold not be withstand :
For whose cause ye slew him with your owne hand:
But had his noble 7nen done wcl that day
Ye had not bene able to haue sayd hy7n nay.

He was enuironed aboute on every syde

With his enemys that were stark mad and wode ;

Yet while he sfode he gaue them woundes wyde,

Alias for ruth / What thoughe his viynde wer goode.

His corage manly, yet ther he shed his block.

Al left alone, alas / he foughte iti vayne.

For cruelly among them ther he was slayne.

Alas for pile I that Percy thus was spy It,

The famous Erie of ISIorthumberlandej

Of knightly prowes the sword, pomel atid hylt,

7 he myghty lyon doutted by se and lande !

O dolor us chaunce of fortune's forward hande !

What man remembryftg howe shamefully he was slayne,

From bitter weping himself caft restrai7i ? " ^

Skelton apparently intended to suggest that Northum-
berland's death was due to the desertion of his own house-
hold and the treason of the Yorkshire nobility ; but in no

> This elegy may be found in Percy's Reliques.

132 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

other contemporary writer can any corroboration of this
charge be found.

The king sent the Earl of Surrey in hot haste north-
ward to avenge the assassination, and to punish the rebels
with the utmost rigour. Bacon asserts, however, that his
wrath at the earl's murder was merely simulated ; and that
he secretly welcomed the event as giving him an excuse
for employing greater force against the northern insurgents,
and thus insuring the payment of his taxes. One of his
iirst acts after the news of the tragedy reached Court was
to increase the amount of the tribute imposed upon
Yorkshire ; and, while he issued orders that the burial of
his *^ vioste faythful servaunte" should be carried out with a
pomp worthy almost of royalty, he took good care that not
one groat of the expenses came out of his own purse.
The earl's family was burdened with the whole of this
costly funeral.^

The interment took place in Beverley Minster, whither
the body was borne by easy stages from Wressill Castle.
Every poor person who visited the grave on the day of the
burial received a dole of 2d. — charity being distributed to
about 13,340 souls. Every priest present at the burial
received I2d. and every clerk 4d. The cost of ^^ Meate
and Drinke and Horse Meate" amounted to ;^266, 13s. 4d.
A magnificent monument was erected in the Minster to
Northumberland's memory.

The fourth earl left, by Maud Herbert,^ his wife, four
sons and three daughters. The third son, Alan, was a
cleric, and became in turn Vicar of Giggleswick
dliwren!^ in Yorkshire, Master of St. John's College, Cam-
bridge, and Warden of Holy Trinity College at
Arundel in Surrey. Jocelyn(or "Gosslyne," as he is styled
in the curious will of his father^), the youngest son, acted as

^ Papers in the Alnwick J\ISS. show that the mere expenses of the burial
ceremony exceeded ;i^i040.

^ Daughter of William, first Earl of Pembroke.

^ This will may be found in the Testainenta Eboraccnsia.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 133

cup-bearer to Henry VIII. during his expedition to France
in 1513. He is thus mentioned in the fourth earl's testa-
ment:— ^^ Also I will it my feoff es make astat of lande andtene-
viettts to the yearly value CCC merk to Gosslyne my son for term
of his leve within the county of Sussex^ whereof the manor and
lordship of Poynings shall be parcell, to the entent that the
said Gosslyne shall be of lovi7tg and lowly dispocion toward
the said Henry his broder and give him next his allegance, and
that I charge him to do and to be, upon my blessing as he will
ansiver before God!' A genealogical tree of the descendants
of this Josceline will be found in the Genealogy of the
House of Percy.^ Assuming the accuracy of the descent,
it will be seen that, but for the attainder of 1572 (and, as
some maintain, even in spite of that attainder), Alan Percy
of Beverley (who died in 1692) should have succeeded as
Earl of Northumberland and heir male of the family after
the failure of the direct male line.^ In like manner, Charles
Percy of Cambridge (who died 1743), and Josceline, son of
Charles, might have inherited the chief honours of the
house. The genealogical tree is extracted from an article
in the Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica, vol. ii., com-
piled from materials collected by Robert Surtees (the his-
torian of Durham), the Rev. Joseph Hunter (the historian
of South Yorkshire), and Charles George Young, F.S.A.,
York Herald, afterwards Garter King of Arms. Portions
of the earlier links in the chain of descent were gathered
by Sir William Dugdale, Garter King of Arms, who, on
November 9, 1691, gave it as his formal opinion that
"Mr. Francis Percy, now living and residing in Cambridge^
is lineally descended from Thojnas Percy, who was one of
the conspirators in ye Gzmpowder Treason in ye 'i^rd year of
King fames!' ^ So far as is known, this branch of the

^ See Genealogy, Plate III. Josceline made his own will, Sept. 7, 1532.
- As in the case of the Earldom of Ormonde, to which a junior branch of the
house of Butler, not afTected in blood by the attainder, succeeded.
* See Geticalcgy, Plate III.
^ MS. Coll, vol. iv. p. 82.

134 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

house became extinct in the male Une with the death of
the Rev. Josceline Percy in 1756. In the female line
it is represented by the Anglo-German family of Baum-
gartner, settled at Island Hall, near Godmanchester, Co.
Huntingdon.!

Of the two daughters of the fourth Earl of Northumber-
land, the younger, Ann, married William Fitz-Alan, Earl
of Arundel ; while the elder, Alianore, was united to
Edward, Duke of Buckingham. On December 14, 1490,
the king granted " that Edward Duke of Buckingham shall
by the grace of God wed and take to wife, Alianore eldest
daughter of the Erie of Northumerland by Xmas of next
year. In tlie event of the Duke of Buckingham dying before
this marriage, then his next brother shall marry the said
Alianore, the Pope's sanction being if necessary obtained : but
if the said Alianore should die before the marriage with
either, then the Duke or his brother shall marry the 7text
daugJiter, Anne, within twelve months of the said Alianore s
death. In corisideration of which the executors shall allow
the king the sum of £4.000 out of the said Erles revenues''
Evidently Northumberland was particularly desirous of
an alliance with the house of Buckingham. The marriage
between the duke and the Lady Alianore took place before
the appointed time. It will be observed that the royal
Harpagon did not allow the occasion to pass without
squeezing a considerable sum out of Northumberland's
coffers. Although the Lady Alianore Percy had scarcely
seen her husband before the day of the nuptials, and
although her wishes were not considered in the matter at
all, she subsequently conceived for the splendid Bucking-
ham ^ so great an affection, that when he was condemned
by Wolsey's instrumentality to the scaffold, she fell ill from

^ General Robert Julian Baumgartner, C.B., heir general of these Percies,
died in 1895, leaving a son and heir, Henry Percy Julian, now of God-
manchester.

'•^ The Duke of Buckingham claimed the office of Constable of England and
had judgment in favour of his right.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 135

shock and in a little while followed her loved husband to
the grave.i Her sister, the Countess of Arundel, was one
of the dames who in 1494 distributed the prizes at the
tournament held to celebrate the elevation of Prince Henry
to knightly dignity .^

1 Collins. 2 Hall.

The fifth Earl of Northumberland was in his twelfth

year at the time of his father's assassination. Born at

Leckonfield on January 13, 1478, this " Yonge

Henry Alger- ^ ^y ^/^^ North" (so Skclton calls him), had

non Percy, -^ -^ ^ -"

fifth earl, been for some time in the royal household as a
Magnificint" compauion of the king's sons. When the heir
to the throne^ became Prince of Wales on
November 29, 1489, the youthful earl was made a Knight
of the Bath.- On that occasion his esquires were James
Hide and John Parker; of whom the latter was severely
reprimanded for that he had ^^ emploied the money otherwise
that he had received from the Sectours {executors) for that
cause, and 7iot to his ivorship."^ In 1494 Northumberland,
although only sixteen, took an important part in the cere-
monies attendant upon the investiture of Prince Henry
with the Order of the Bath. On this occasion (when, as
has been already stated, the earl's sister, Ann, distributed
knightly guerdons to the victors in tourney) the prince was
attended by ** the three gret Astates in their robbes ; that
is to saye, the Earl of Suffolk, which bore a rustic sitwrd, the
pommele upward ; the Erie of Northumberland bore a rod of
golde, and the Erie of Darby the cape for astate furred with
armyfte." *

With the appearance of the new pretender to the throne,
Perkin Warbeck, Earl Henry Algernon was enabled to
prove both his loyalty and his courage in fight. The

^ Prince Arthur, elder brother of the future Henry VIH.
^ Nicolas, Hist, of the Orders of Knighthood.
2 Nicolas. ■* Letters of Henry VII.

136

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 137

Cornish supporters of the pseudo Richard Duke of York,
having rashly marched towards London, and united with
the forces of Lord Audley, a royahst army was sent to meet
them upon Blackheath. Northumberland, although the
entire influence of the Yorkist party was brought to bear
upon him, had repudiated Warbeck; and he was now
placed in command of the " Northern Horse," most of
whom he had himself raised. The encounter took place on
May 22, 1497. Although the rebels fought stubbornly and
the Cornish archers defended the causeway at Deptford
Strand with true Celtic valour, the king's troops prevailed —
Northumberland and his Horse showing especial activity
in the capture of the causeway. Over 2000 of the pre-
tender's men were left dead upon the field.

Northumberland had now attained his majority, and
was in full possession of the great estates bequeathed to
him by his father. He at once began to display those tastes
for splendour and lavish hospitality, as well as that intelli-
gent patronage of art and letters, which eventually gained
for him the name of " The Magnificoit." When in 1500
King Henry went to Calais to meet the Archduke Peter,
the earl accompanied his sovereign, and astonished all by
the richness of his raiment. The author of "The Chroni-
cles of Calais" states that Northumberland was attired
from head to foot in cloth of gold, with ^^ the goodliest
pluinashes of ivJiit austriche feders that ever I saw!' This
same chronicler furnishes us with some details concerning
the abundance of good things set forth at the royal banquet
given to the Archduke. " TJierc were ordeyned vij horse-
loades of cherry's ; ther lakkit noo creine, strawberys, nor
sugar, bake venison, spice- kakes nor wafers. Ther were couched
gret plentie of wyne and byer in houscyng thereby for them that
will drinke!' Moreover there was ^^ the gretest noinbre of
yonge kiddes that ever I saw ;" besides *^ an Englishe fat ox
powdered and lesed." "

^ Warlieck pretended that he was Richard, Duke of York, second son of
Edward IV. ; and claimed that he had escaped from the Tower at the time
Edward V. was murdered. "^ Chronicles of Calais.

138 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

A year later Northumberland was present at the marriage
of Prince Arthur and Catherine of Arragon ; ^ and his
name figures as one of the subscribing witnesses to the
marriage of the Princess Mary. Meanwhile he had been
made General Warden of the Scottish Marches ; and the
splendid pageants and banquets with which he astonished
and delighted the honest gentlemen of the northern
counties soon won back for the name of Percy all its old
prestige and popularity. To the governor and burgesses
of Beverley in particular he gave a feast of such magnifi-
cence that its memory survives to this day. It is curious
to find in the old records of the town that Northumber-
land's clerk of the kitchen was, like the giver of the
entertainment, a Percy ; - and that the Beverley burgesses,
mindful of the good dinner with which he had provided
them, presented this nobly-named servitor with the sum of
one shilling and tenpence. During this period of hospi-
tality the earl was married to Katherine Spenser, daughter
of Sir Robert Spenser by Eleanor Beaufort, sister and
co-heir of Edmund, sixth Duke of Somerset, and thus a
near relative of Henry VII.

In 1503 it fell to the lot of Northumberland to conduct
the Princess Margaret, bride of King James of Scotland,

towards the Border, where her husband awaited
^ro"res"s^ her. The earl performed this agreeable duty

in a manner so regal that one wonders how
Henry VII. (ever jealous of his nobles' influence and
covetous of their wealth^) permitted a subject thus to
display his power and grandeur. The king accompanied
his daughter on her journey northward as far as Colly-
Weston, the residence of his mother in Northampton-
shire. Thence she was escorted by the Earl of Surrey

1 Harleian MSS., 6725.

'■^ He was Thomas Percy, probably some humble offshoot of the family —
perhaps, indeed, the missing ancestor for whom Thomas Percy, Bishop of Dromore,
afterwards sought.

^ Henry had, on more than one occasion, fined great nobles for what he pre-
tended to consider undue isplay. The Earl of Oxford was a notable sufferer.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 139

across the Hiimber to York, from which point onward she
was to be under the care and guidance of the Warden
of the Scottish Marches. Northumberland met the young
queen's cavalcade a few miles south of York ; and so
splendid was his retinue, that it quite outshone that of
Margaret. '^ Above all other," says Hall, ** was the Erie of
Northumberland : what for the ryches of hys cote, being gold-
smyths zvorke gartiyshed with perle and stone, and what for
the costly apparel of his hcjixnien and galaunt trappers of their
horses, besydes four hundred tall men, well horsed and ap-
parelled in his colours, that he was esteemed both of the Scottes
and the Englishmen more lyke aprynce than a subject." Yonge,
the Somerset Herald, who accompanied the queen, has
left a circumstantial account of the voyage.^ " Att iiuo
My lie fro the sayd Cite ( York) " he writes, " cam toward the
sayd Queue my Lord the Earle of Northumberland, well horst
opon a fayre Corser, zvith a Foot Cloth to the Grounde of
Cramsyn Velvet t, all bordered of Orfavery ; his Arms vary
rich in many Places uppon his Saddle and Harnays ; his
Sterrops gylt ; hy7nselfe arayd of a Gowne of the said Cramsyn,
At the Opnyngs of the Slyves and the Coller a grett Bordeur
of Stones. His Boutts of Velvett blak ; and in many places
he made Gambads plaisant for to see." Behind the earl rode
a number of knights of ancient race, among them Sir John
Hastings, Sir Lancelot Thirlekeld, Sir Thomas Curwen, Sir
John Penyngton, Sir Robert of Aske, and Sir John Norman-
ville, all handsomely arrayed. Then came the earl's private
Officer of Arms, ^^ named Northumberland Harault ;" ~ fol-
lowed by a great concourse of gentlemen wearing the Percy
livery, " some in Velvet, others in Damask and Chamblett, and
others in Cloth, well monted to the Nombre of Three Hmidred
Horsys." ^

During the next day, which was Sunday, Margaret

^ The Fyancelh of Margarel, eldest daughter of King Henry VI!., to James,
King of Scotland, by John Yonge, Somerset Herald.— (Leland's Collectanea.)

^ In addition to this private herald, Northumberland had boasted of another
called " Percy Herald." — (Anthony Wood's MSS., Ashmole Museum.)

^ Yonqe.

146 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

remained in York, lodging at Percy House. Attended by
Northumberland, she heard High Mass sung in the earl's
private chapel ; the Archbishop of York, and the Bishops
of Durham, Moray, and Norwich taking part in the sacred
ceremony. After mass the Countess of Northumberland
and several other great ladies of the north country had
audience with the bride. She had known her kinswoman
the countess at Court, and so gave her very cordial greet-
ing, *^ kyssitig her in the zvelcoming." At Newcastle, whither
the party next proceeded, Northumberland gave to all the
knights and ladies a ^^ goodly bmmket which lasted till
viydnyght, for cause of the games ^ daunces, sportes and songs :
with force of ypocras, sucres and other inetts of many dely-
couses inaners." ^

On reaching the deer forest about two miles from
Alnwick, Northumberland turned aside from the main road,
so that the queen might enjoy a day's hunting "under
the greenwood tree." Margaret killed a buck from her own
bow, whereupon the gallant earl and his gentlemen loudly
hailed her as " the Diana of England." The fatigues of the
chase necessitated repose ; and perhaps the queen, with
the natural timidity of maidenhood, was not sorry to linger
a little longer in her native land before meeting the husband
whom, as yet, she had never seen. At any rate, ^^ she was
all the ho II next day in the said cast ell {of Alnwick)^ and by the
Lord well chetyste and her company!' In after years, when
Flodden had been fought and sorrows came thick upon
her. Queen Margaret may well have looked back with
regret upon that week of careless happiness during which
she was the guest of " The Magnificent " Northumberland.

When Northumberland had safely handed over his fair
charge to King James at Kirk Lamberton beyond Berwick
Bounds, he accompanied the royal pair to Dalkeith, and
thence to Edinburgh. The marriage took place in the
latter city on August 8th, the bride being scarcely fourteen
years of age ; and it is probable that Northumberland's

^ Yonge. - Yonge.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 141

investiture with the Garter took place immediately after his
return from this brilliant and successful pilgrimage.

But although Henry affected to be pleased with the
honours paid by Northumberland to his daughter, he must
The earl havc frowucd in secret over the liberality with
fined for which the joumcy of the princess was con-
ab uction. (^y^,^g(-j^ ^Yhe Earl of Oxford had already been
mulcted in a great sum of money for the simple reason
that he had welcomed Henry himself to one of his castles
with a retinue larger than the king wished his nobles to
possess, and thus gave evidence that his coffers were worth
pillaging.! It was not likely that the avaricious monarch,
or his worthy agents of the iniquitous Star Chamber, would
permit Northumberland to flaunt his wealth so proudly
without making him pay for the privilege. Accordingly,
one is not surprised to find in the Records of the Star
Chamber,^ under date "25 Nov, 1508" (little more than
two months after the earl's return from Scotland), the
following significant entry : " For the pardon of the Earl of
Northumberland £10,000." What, it may be asked, had the
Percy done to deserve a punishment so great as this ? —
for, if we remember the relative value of money in those
days,^ the fine seems enormous, and probably represented
at least four years of the earl's income. The mystery is
not solved until the records of the following reign are
opened. There we discover that Henry, through his
agents, ordered Northumberland to deliver up this vast
amount, simply because the latter had interfered in the
love affairs of a young lady to whose wardship and custody
the king had pretensions. Elizabeth, daughter and heiress
of that same Sir John Hastings whom we have seen riding
in Northumberland's train, had been committed by her

^ Henry, visiting Oxford at Henningham, commented on the earl's great
hospitality and the number of his servants. Reviving an old statute against
luxury, he compelled Oxford to pay a fine of ;[{^io,ooo.

2 Lansd(nvne MSS., No. l6o, fol. 311. Published in Archaolo^ia, vol. xxv.

3 Money was then about eight times its present value, making the fine in our
valuation /'So,ooo or more.

142 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

father to the earl's care, and was probably domiciled in the
household at Leckonfield. It is to be presumed that the
young lady had certain matrimonial wishes of her own, or
else that she was willing to accept some suitor chosen for
her by the earl. But the king, hearing that she had been
either affianced or actually married without his knowledge,
saw in the event a chance to lay hands upon a goodly
portion of Northumberland's store. Aided by some of his
Empsons or Dudleys, he trumped up a claim to the ward-
ship of the heiress of Hastings. The result was the fine
mentioned above ; nor had the earl any appeal from the
royal decision. It was too large a sum to pay all at once,
however ; so that Henry was perforce obliged to accept
the money in instalments. By grasping at so much, the
rapacious king lost all or nearly all of the fine ; for he died
some few months later,^ having only collected a few of the
earl's gold pieces, and a written acknowledgment of the re-
mainder. The new king, Henry VIII., speedily cancelled this
recognisance, and remitted the rest of the fine — as he might
well do, seeing that he found his treasury already full to
overflowing with his father's ill-gotten gains. By Patent in
his first year, dated March 21, 1510, he granted ^^ the pardon
and release of ;^io,ooo, recovered against the said Earl of
Northumberland in the Common Pleas, for abduction of
Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir John Hastynges,
Knight, and for the loss of her custody and marriage." ^
Shortly before this, in July 1509, Northumberland had
been one of the judges who presided over the trial of the
notorious Dudley,^ — the adviser of Henry VIII. — who,
together with Empson, had been so largely instrumental
in bringing about his own fine, as well as in plundering the
country to gratify the late king's lust for wealth. And so
ended the episode of Elizabeth Hastings' abduction.

Under Henry VIII. the Earl of Northumberland could

1 On April 22, 1509.

2 Letters and Papers of Henry VIII,

^ The son of this Dudley afterwards became Duke of Northumberland during
the attainder and temporary disgrace of the Percies, and was himself executed.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 143

indulge without stint or fear of evil consequences those tastes
which had earned for him his sobriquet of " Magnificent."

It was indeed an era of magnificence; and Henry
Lme^sticiife. Algernon Percy stands forth as an enlightened

type of the great, but wasteful, nobleman of his day.
At Court the Arts were reviving, and Luxury and Learning
walked hand in hand ; nor were the households of Northum-
berland far behind those of his sovereign in the complete-
ness of their arrangements, the adornments of their halls and
chambers, and the armies of servitors maintained within
them. Thanks to the loving labours of the Bishop of
Dromore, we have an exact record of the mode of life, the
amounts of expenditure, and the thousand-and-one details
of the Magnificent Earl's many establishments.^

Northumberland's domestic arrangements were as pre-
cise, and, at the same time, as costly as those of a great
prince. To assist him in the proper governance of his affairs
he employed a chamberlain of the household, a comptroller,
a treasurer, a secretary, a master of the horse, and clerks of
the kitchen and signet. These dignitaries were entitled to
places at " the Knights' Table," and had each from three to
six servants of his own. Attached to his lordship's chapel
were a dean (holding the rank of Doctor or Bachelor of
Divinity), ten priests (one of whom was almoner),'- a master
of grammar, a Gospeller, a " Pistoller " (z.e, reader of the
Epistle), and a "riding chaplain," whose duty it was to
accompany the earl on long journeys and in times of
war. The gentry of the chapel also numbered seventeen
choristers — " io wit three Bases, four Tenoj's, four Counter-
tenors and six child Tribles ;*' and on feast days the religious
music was increased by the addition of "^ Tabarette, a Luyte
and a rabeece." Then follow a host of receivers, constables,

^ The Northumberland HonsehoU Book, compiled in 1770 by permission of the
first Duke of Northumberland. An authorised transcript is contained in the
Antiquarian Repertory,

- The reverend almoner was also a "maker of Interludes." From 1490 to
15 13 the Earl of Northumberland maintained his own Company of Players, twenty
persons in all. [Household Boohs : also the Household Booh of Hen. VI],
1 490- 1 500.]

144 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

auditors, and the like ; mostly concerned with the manage-
ment of the estates. Of domestic servants there were one
hundred and sixty-six, each of whom was allowed annually
£2, IIS. 6d. for meat and drink, or, in our present money,
about £^0. Bread, let it be remembered, then cost less
than a farthing a pound ; while fat beeves were sold for
13s. 6d., calves and sheep for is. 8d., capons for 2d., and
beer for ijd. a gallon.

The Household Booke of the earl (the full title of which
is " The Booke of all the Directions and Orders for kepyttge of
my Lordes Hous Verely") is divided into fifty parts, and
deals with everything needed for the proper regulation of
the various mansions of Wressill, Topcliffe, Leckonfield, as
well as of Alnwick Castle, and of the town houses in
London ^ and York. Wressill appears to have supplanted
Leckonfield as the favourite abode of the family. A sum of
;^iioo was set apart annually for household expenses ; but,
from the accounts shown in the Booke, this must have fallen
considerably short of the amount actually needed. Indeed
it did not even include what are labelled "forren expcnces,"
i.e. New Year's gifts, offerings to the Church, charity, pay-
ments to players and musicianSj^and so forth. Every Maundy
Thursday Northumberland distributed among his poor neigh-
bours " as many russet cloth gowns, linen shirts, cups of wine
and penny pieces, as he counted years ;'' and when this ceremony
was over he stript off his own violet gown of good cloth,
lined with sheepskin, and gave it to the poorest man present.

Although Wressill Castle was the earl's mansion of state,
he would seem to have preserved a greater fondness towards
his birthplace of Leckonfield ; for he caused several rooms
of the latter house to be handsomely decorated, and adorned
with stanzas and distiches, some written by himself, but
for the most part composed by the various poets and
learned men who visited him. Lydgate and Skelton, both

' The London residence was situated in Aldgate.

2 Among the strollers who annually visited the earl's northern home and
received gifts from him were the "King's Jugi^ler " and the "Queen's
Bear-ward."

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 145

of whom were patronised by Northumberland, contributed
not a few of these rhymes. One of them, which is a quaint
play upon the family motto,^ runs as follows : —

" ESPERAUNCE EN DyEU !

Truste in hym that is most treive.

En Dieu Esperaunce !
In hym put thine affiaimce.

Esperaunce in the Worlde ? . . . Nay ;
The Worlde varieth every day.

Esperaunce in riches ? . . . Nay not so ;
niches slidethe^ and sone tviil go.

Esperaunce in exaltacion of Honourel
Nay, it widderithe . . . lyke afloure.

Esperaunce in bloode and highe Lynage ?
At most nede, bot esy avauntage.

Esperaunce en Dieu, in hym is All ;

Be thou contente, and thou art above Fortune^ s fall. ^^ '^

This was inscribed " in the Rooffe of the Hyest Chaumbre
in the Gardinge' — probably the apartment wherein the Percy
genealogy was preserved, according to Leland. Another
" Proverb," written " in the Rooffe of viy Lordis Library at
Lekyngefelde " has the following stanza : —

" To every tale geve thou no credetis,
Trove the cause or thou gyve sentens.
Agayn the right make no dyffens,
So thou hast a dene Consciens."

It is remarkable how little the sixteenth century nobles
had departed from the simple rules of life — the habits of
early rising and early dinner — of their robust ancestors in

^ The Ihird Earl of Northumberland had used ^' Esperance ma Comforte" for
his motto.

2 This description of the inscriptions of Leckonfield is taken from Leland's
Itinerary, vol. i.

146 TFIE HOUSE OF PERCY

the time of the Norman kings. The household rose every
morning in time to hear six o'clock mass. At seven came
breakfast ; and, except on very great occasions (such as
the banquet given in honour of Queen Margaret at New-
castle), bedtime must have been soon after nine o'clock,
when the gates of the castle were made fast for the night.
The fare, too, was simple. The breakfast of the earl and
his wife consisted of "a loaf of bread in trencher, two
manchets, one quart of beer, one quart of wine, and half
a chine of mutton, or else a chine of beef boiled." On fast
days and in Lent the Earl's table was served with bread,
manchets, wine, beer, and (in place of the flesh meat) with
" two pieces of salt fish, six ' bacon'd ' herrings, and a dish
of- sprats, or else three white herrings."

The other tables enjoyed much the same kind of food.
Young Lord Percy and his brother Thomas had on " flesh
days " the " half of a loaf of household bread, a manchet,
a 'pottell'of beer, and a chicken, or else three mutton
bones boiled"; while the little Lady Margaret and Ingel-
gram Percy, both still in the " Nurcy," were given "a
manchet, a quart of beer, and three mutton bones boiled."
What would the mothers of our own times think of allowing
two children of four or five to drink a quart of beer between
them at a sitting ? But, no doubt, the Countess Katherine
of Northumberland would have been equally disgusted at
the idea of tea for her nurselings. The gentlemen of the
household breakfasted for the most part upon boiled beef
and beer ; while in the stables and porters' lodges they had
bread and a quart of beer to each man. Salt fish formed
the staple Lenten diet of the humble members of the
establishment on fast days.

The quarrel between the Pope and the King of France

having afforded Henry VII L the opportunity which he had

so long desired— that of showing to all the world

Campaign in ^j^^^ j^^ ^^,^g ^g skilful and as brave in actual war

France.

as he had shown himself in joust and tourney —
on June 3, 1512, he declared war against France, taking as

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 147

his immediate excuse the natural refusal of Louis to restore
to England her lost territories across the Channel.^ The
early stages of the war (directed on land by the Marquis
of Dorset, and on sea by Sir Edward Howard) having
brought but little success to the English arms, King Henry
resolved to enter France in person at the head of a large
army. Among those whom he summoned to accompany
him on this expedition was the Earl of Northumberland.
The text of the royal message to the earl runs thus ;
" Whereas we according to our dutie to God and to his Chyrche,
and at the ijtstant requests and desyres of the Poopes holiness
and other Christian Princes j have for the defence of the said
Chyrche, being by our enemy the King of France oppressed, and
the extinction of detestable schism, raised by certain powers
cardinals and mayntayncd by the same, entered into actual
warre agaynst him :

" JVe signifie unto you that for our better assistance in that
behalfe we have appoynted you amongs others to passe over
zvith us in our journey and voyage with the number of five
hundred able men for the warres to be by you provided, wJiereof
a hutidred to be demy lances, well and sufficiently horsed and
harneysed, and CCC archers and a hundred bills onfote^ -

Little time did Northumberland lose in making ready to
join his liege lord in what all England hoped was to prove
the defeat of France and the reconquest of the British
patrimony there. A manuscript quoted in the Antiquarian
Repository, vol. iv., and transcribed in 1620 from the original
manuscript in the College of Arms, gives full particulars
regarding Northumberland's muster-roll, as well as the
arms and equipment of himself and his troops. The force
included 380 of his own tenants from Wressill, Leckonfield,
Semer, Hundemanby, Craven, Pocklington, Nafferton, and
Catton. To serve under his banner came Sir John Hotham
from Scarborough, Sir Ralph Salvyn from Newbiggin,
William Thwaytes of Londe-of-the-Wolde, and Stephen
Hamilton of Gigleswicke, whose united retinues amounted
to 143 fighting men. In the Exchequer Rolls there is an

' Lingard. - Add. AJSS., Brit. Museum, 5758, F., 165.

148 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

order granting Northumberland £42>9> 9^- ^d., being his
"wages for one month" as Grand Captain in the royal
army. He had for his "cheef Capteyns," — Sir John
Normanvill, Roger Lascells, John TampHew, Cuthbert
Musgrave, and William Middleton ; and, for his "petty
Capteyns," — George Swynborne, Thomas Eryngton,
Thomas Horslay, John Hearon, and John Huthom : most
of them gentlemen of fine old North-Country names, and
bringing in their trains stout fellows from Cumberland,
Yorkshire, Durham, and Northumberland. The Grand"
Captain had with him a treasurer, a herald, a pursui-
vant, and a chamberlain, together with kitcheners, yeomen
of the tent, and yeomen of the wardrobe. For his own use
and the use of his squires, he took twenty-three horses
of mettle ; besides several others to give to the Dukes of
Burgundy and Brittany, and twenty sumpter-horses to.
carry his baggage, and the baggage of his captains and
soldiers. Following the king's example, Northumberland
chose that his wardrobe should be gorgeous in the ex-
treme. Doublets of crimson, green, and white satin ;
riding-coats and cloaks garnished with cloth of gold and
silver ; twenty pairs of hose ; fourteen " hattys " of black,
scarlet, crimson, and white ; twenty-five pairs of boots,
shoes, and slippers ; silk laces, silk points, garters of silk, and
many-coloured hat-bands — these form but a few of the
many "items" set forth in the long list of *'niy lordes
parcells of stuffe" His suits of armour had been selected
with great care, and included " a payre of Myllan brygaudys^'
(Milanese coats of mail) ^^ couered with Make fusten and
sett with rou7idhedyt gilt naile." The harness of his
horses was equally fine, with '^ a change for every day, and
another for meating of princes which be the Kynge s friends ."
All his personal train are remembered in the list ; his
chaplains being 2i\\o\VQ6.^*xjyea}'dsandjgrterofrede cloth
for iij gownys," and '^ iij bcfidys of white sarssenett and gren,
wth vj cross y vj ross, and if cressaunt." Many escutcheons
and devices, for purposes of camp and tourney, are
mentioned, among them '' xxx scochons in viettall,

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 149

wrought in oyle cullors upon bokeJiain with my Lords hole
arines, for to be sett upon my Lord's tents ; " " CCC scochons in
metall withiJi the garter, wrought upon pauper, fer to sett upon
my Lord's otvne lodgyngs " ; devices in colours upon paper,
within the Garter, for the captains' lodgings ; and white
crescents (the Percy badge) upon red and black paper for
the lodgings of the lackeys. Among the other items are :
*' a folding table for the cooks to dress my Lords meete upon,"
" iij scythes for mawing of gresse and come for my Lord's
horsses," and "a cupboard for my Lorde's owne tent, and to
serve an auter for the prests to say mess on " — the last-
mentioned showing that either the earl or his chamberlain
had an inventive mind, and knew the value of making camp
furniture pay " a double debt."

Northumberland embarked from Dover on June 16,
15 13, in the second division of the army; which division

was under the chief command of the Lord
the^Spurs!" Chamberlain Herbert.^ On reaching Calais,
AJidFiodden where his troops were reinforced by 1500

Germans of the Emperor Maximilian's army,
Herbert marched at once upon Terouenne, before which
town the Earl of Shrewsbury already lay. Here, a few
weeks later, they were joined by the third division, com-
manded by the king in person,^ and by the Emperor
Maximilian with 4000 horse. King Louis advanced to
the relief of the besieged town, and despatched his entire
cavalry, divided into two bodies, along the opposite bank
of the Lis, under the Dukes of Longueville and Alengon.
Henry, acting on the emperor's advice, sent the German
horse and English mounted archers to repel the attack. At
the very first shock a sudden and inexplicable panic seized
upon the French soldiers — 10,000 of the best veterans in
Europe — and they fled like deer. In vain the Chevalier
Bayard, that mirror of knighthood, strove to rally his men.

^ Afterwards Earl of Worcester.

2 Henry had spent a useless fortnight in Calais, merry-making and holding
jousts and carnivals.

I50 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

In vain Longueville and Bussy d'Amboise attempted to
stem the torrent of flight. The pursuing Germans and
the Earl of Northumberland's light horse followed so hard
at the heels of the fugitives that they broke into the thick
of the relieving army and, taking Louis by surprise, suc-
ceeded in putting his entire forces to rout. Many prisoners
were taken, among them the fearless and blameless
Bayard, Bussy d'Amboise, Clermont, and La Fayette. The
headlong retreat earned for this inglorious action the
derisive name of the " Battle of the Spurs." Terouenne,
seeing its hopes of relief vanish, surrendered almost
immediately.

While Northumberland was still with the royal army,
outside Tournay,^ news came from the Border which must
have filled him with pleasure, not only for patriotic, but
also for family reasons. The victory of Flodden had been
fought and won ; and among those who had battled most
bravely through that bloody day had been the earl's second
brother. Sir William Percy. Percy fought as second in
command of the left wing of the English army,^ under the
aged Sir Marmaduke Constable. The ancient ballad of
" Flodden Feld " places him among the right wing : —

" The 7-ight wing, as I iveen, was my lord Litviley,
A cap ieyne full keen, with St. Cuthbert baner,
My lord Clifford 7vith him came all in clere armour.
So did Sir IVilliam Percy that proved was of deeds T

But this is an error, according to the English Chronicle,
Holinshed, and other authorities. Percy was one of those
who signed the letter sent from Surrey to the King of
Scots, by which the shrewd captain of the English hoped,
by dint of playing on his adversary's chivalry, to induce
him to abandon his strong position on Wooller-haugh.^
After the stern fight was done, and the " Flowers o' the
Forest," with their king among them, lay dead on Flodden

^ After the capture and demolition of Terouenne, Henry had laid siege to
Tournay.

» Ridpath. =* Ibid.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 151

side, Percy, for his deeds of valour, was made Knight
Banneret. " W/ien the field was doone, and that the skouts
brought word that there was no more appearance of the Scots,
but that they were all auoyded and gone, the earl {of Surrey)
gave thanks to God, and called to hint certain lords and gentle-
men, and them made knights ; as Sir Edward Howard his
Sonne, the Lord Scroop e, Sir William Persie, Sir Edward
Gorge and divers others y ^

In the meantime, slowly but ever so surely, there had
been growing up at Court a new power fraught with
Cardinal danger towards the StafTords, the Percies, the
woisey Howards, and others of the old nobility. Thomas

Wolsey, son of Suffolk trading-folk, had pushed
himself forward in the king's graces ; until, as every
reader of English history knows, he became first minister
of the realm and Archbishop of York. Northumber-
land, like his brother-in-law, Buckingham, and the other
great lords, cordially detested Wolsey, whom he looked
upon as an upstart, and whose plebeian birth ^ he exag-
gerated and ridiculed. It was a sore matter with the
survivors of the Plantagenet aristocracy that the king
should repose so much trust in a priest, who, according to
Skelton, had been —

" Begat by butchers, and by beggars bred.^''

Moreover, the new-made archbishop was shaping his
policy upon the very lines afterwards followed in France
by Richelieu. He aimed at crushing the power of les
grands seigneurs, and placing the government in the hands
of the king and his chief adviser. No doubt Buckingham,
Northumberland, and the rest were quick to realise these
intentions ; although at first they failed to discern the

1 Ilolinshed,

- The contemporary assertion that Wolsey was the son of a butcher has
never been substantiated. On the other hand, it is known that he belonged to a
wealthy burgher family of Ipswich, connected by marriage with the Greshams and
other Suffolk houses. .

152

THE HOUSE OF PERCY

true strength of their enemy. Buckingham openly flouted
Wolsey in the royal presence, even after the latter had
obtained the cardinal's hat ; and replied with superb in-
solence to the minister's threats. Little they heeded his
warnings then, those grands seigneurs of the Court who
laughed so heartily at the duke's jibes ; but they had good
reason to remember them later — none more so than hapless
Buckingham himself. We may be sure that Northumber-
land was one of those who looked scornfully upon the
cardinal before he had tried his strength against that man
of iron will. Wolsey had foisted himself into the See of
York, left vacant by the death of the earl's old friend,
Cardinal Bambridge ; and, although the new archbishop
spent most of his time in London, yet he exercised great
influence north of the Humber, and must have proved a
most distasteful neighbour to the Percies. Friction soon
arose, and Wolsey resolved to strike a blow which would,
at one and the same time, punish Northumberland and put
a powerful friend of Buckingham out of the way. In his
quiet, steadfast way he had for some time been under-
mining the duke's influence, and preparing for his final
overthrow. The young Earl of Surrey,^ Buckingham's
son-in-law, had been practically banished to Ireland. Now
it was Northumberland's turn to feel the lash. .^^ There
rested yet the Earl of Nor thumb erland^ whom the Cardinal
doubted also, lest he might hinder his purpose^ when he should
go about to wreak his malice against the Duke of Buckingham :
and therefore he picked a quarrel to him, for that he had seized
upon certain wardes, which the Cardinal said belonged of right
to the King. And because the Erie would not give over his
title, ^ he was also committed to prison ; and after took it as a
great benefit at the Cardinal's hands that he might be de-
livered out of his danger." ^ We hear more of the earl's
confinement through the correspondence of the astute

^ Son of the former Surrey (now Duke of Norfolk), the victor of Flodden.
"^ i.e. his title to the wards. The names of these wards are not mentioned ;
but they were doubtless of northern families.
' Holinshed, iii. 645.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 153

Shrewsbury^, who at this particular time was striving to
keep in Wolsey's good graces; although when the tide had
turned against the cardinal he became his bitterest foe.
Writing to his chaplain, Thomas Allen, on April 30, 15 16,
Shrewsbury says : " I ant sorry to hear thai my Lord of
Northumberland is committed to the Fleet, but hope the King
will shortly be good lorde to him, and that the earl will take
no displeasure, as it might hurt himself^' ^ A week later
Chaplain Allen, who acted as a sort of spy for his master
in London, writes to Shrewsbury : " The King's grace sat
in the Star Chambery and there was examined the Earl of
Northumberland, and so commanded to the Fleet ; and there
remains as yet." ^

Unless he humbled himself before Wolsey, Northum-
berland need look for no mercy from the Star Chamber.
In his "ragged rime," the laureate Skelton speaks elo-
quently of the cardinal's influence in that so-called Court
of Justice : —

" In the Exchequer he thetn checks ;
In the Star Chamber he nods and becks,
And beareth him there so stout,
That no man dare rout
— Duke, Earl, Baron or Lord — •
But to his sentence must accord.^*

The rude lines indeed ^^ have in them some pith, ^^ as their
author declared, and give us a lifelike picture of the
truculent cardinal. Little wonder that, still refusing to
bow himself down before the enemy of his order, North-
umberland was once more bundled back to the Fleet. He
did not remain there long. The block might not have
terrified him, or cowed his spirit ; but the prospect of an
indefinite sojourn between prison walls soon brought the
splendour-loving Percy to his senses. He saw at length
that it was useless for even an Earl of Northumberland to
struggle against the cardinal's power, backed and sustained

^ George Talbot, fourth Earl of Shrewsbury.
2 lalbot Papers, I. 40. ' Ibid.

154 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

as it was by the royal prerogative. His wife, too, pleaded
with him to yield ; and it is probable that Shrewsbury and
others of the politic nobles brought their influence to
bear upon him. On May i6, 1516, Sir Richard Sacheverell
writes to Shrewsbury : " No news, but that my Lord of
Northumberland came out of the Fleet on Saturday, and was
with the King on Wednesday in his Privy Chamber." ^ His
imprisonment had lasted nearly a month ; and, if he did
not love the cardinal any better after leaving the Fleet, he
had at least learned the lesson that it were better not to
range himself too openly against so influential a minister.

The underlying cause of Lord Shrewsbury's keen
interest in Northumberland became apparent soon after
Match- ^^ latter had regained his freedom and re-

making turned to Court. Shrewsbury had five daughters,

ews ury. ^j^^ successful marrying and portioning of whom
he had made one of the serious problems of his life.
Nearly everything that this cunning noble did was done
cautiously and well ; so that it is no surprise to learn that
all of the five Ladies Talbot were advantageously disposed
of, and at the smallest possible expense to their somewhat
close-fisted sire. Now one of the daughters, the Lady Mary,
had been intended by her father for the widowed Duke of
Buckingham ; but the match was broken off ostensibly on
account of difficulties in the matter of settlements, but
really in consequence of the grave dangers which Shrews-
bury's foresight perceived to be hanging over the duke's
head. He had no intention of plighting the Lady Mary to
a peer, however great, upon whom the evil eye of the
cardinal had rested ; and whose lands and life might alike
be forfeited to-morrow. Accordingly Shrewsbury began to
cast about for another mate for his daughter ; and the
name of the young Lord Percy,^ Northumberland's heir,
at once occurred to him. Lord Percy's father safely out of
the Fleet and once more in the king's favour, Shrewsbury

' Talbot Papers. - At this time in his fifteenth year.

THE HOUSE OP^ PERCY 155

broached the subject of an alliance to him ; and arrange-
ments were come to by which the young people were
practically affianced. Shrewsbury, however, in the char-
acter of anxious parent, kept careful watch through his
agents and correspondents lest Northumberland might be
tempted to break through the agreement. Chaplain Thomas
Allen writes to his lord from London : " The question hath
been asked of the Earl of Northumberland for the marriage of
his son by Sir William Conipton and divers otJiers, who hath
made answer : — ' / Jiave concluded with my Lord of Shrews-
bury.^ He hath also been desired to bring hint to Court. He
answered: ' When he is better learned and well acquainted
zvith his wife, shortly after that he shall come to Court! This
conversation pricks hijn more hartely forivard than ever he
was!' ^

It is to be regretted that no particulars survive as to
how Lord Percy was made " well acquainted " with his
future bride. Such information would afford to the
curious an invaluable glimpse of the domestic manners of
the day, besides supplying the key to much that can now
only be guessed at in the subsequent unhappy story of these
young people. Did Percy, as was frequently the custom,
don the Talbot livery, and serve for a time in Lord Shrews-
bury's household ? Or was little Lady Mary sent to Wressill
to win her betrothed's regard, with his mother for a kindly
governess, and his sisters for playmates ? The contem-
porary records do not say what was done to bring the
twain together ; but they must have met, and become " ac-
quainted," for in all too brief a time, the engagement be-
tween them was set aside by mutual consent of their
parents, owing to the strong aversion which the affianced
children had conceived for each other. Strong, indeed,
must the aversion have been before the obstinate fathers
of the Tudor epoch allowed it to interfere with their matri-
monial arrangements. But in this case the wishes of the
plighted pair were for once allowed to prevail. Lord
Shrewsbury looked elsewhere for a husband for his fifth,

1 Talbot Papers.

156 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

and least comely, daughter ; while young Percy was packed
off to London, there to serve as a page to my lord the
cardinal, and perchance to find some damsel more suited
to his taste. Such a one he was fated to find soon enough,
to his own life-long sorrow ! But for the present he was
happy. The fear of a marriage with Mary Talbot had been
removed ; and the joys of the great world, from which he
had hitherto been debarred, were at last to be opened be-
fore him. So he set out from Wressill with a light heart
and a purse of weight, as befitted the heir of a great and
apparently wealthy nobleman. When he next turned his
face homeward it was under woefully different circum-
stances.

Whether it was that his pride had been broken by the
defeat and humiliation inflicted upon him at the hands of

Wolsey, or whether (as is likely) resources crippled
comes over by y outhf ul cxtravagancc brought about the change
Ihefiftfeari. ^^ ^is nature, the erstwhile "Magnificent Earl"

began at this period of his life to give evidence
of a character widely different from that which had formerly
earned for him the admiration and envy of the world. The
splendours of the past were to a large extent abandoned.
Northumberland became morose, and neglectful of the
public duties regarded as inseparable from one of his name
and station. In the affairs of the Border especially, he
showed a lack of interest which provoked at first surprise,
and then unpopularity. Lord Dacre of Gillesland,^ newly
appointed Warden of the East, West, and Middle Marches,
was driven to complain to the king that Northumberland
lent him little or none of that assistance which was expected
from the head of the house of Percy. He was forced, he
said, to contend single-handed, or at least " without grete
help " against " the hole power of the realme of Scotland^ ^

^ William, third Lord Dacre of Gillesland, a son-in-law of the Earl of Shrews-
bury, bore the reputation of being a fierce and relentless ravager of the Scottish
Marches.

=* Cotton MSS,

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 157

If Northumberland was rebuked for not aiding the Warden
more loyally, he seems to have treated the royal reprimand
but lightly ; and to have continued to stand aloof from
Border warfare. Dacre was forced to bring further charges
against him ; and to beg Wolsey that the earl should be
forced to make his tenants and dependants ^^ gif attendaunce
as in tymes past." For, it appears that not only was
Northumberland himself disinclined to share the perils of
the marches, but that he had gone so far as to issue orders
among those who followed his banner not to help the
Warden without his permission — " not to rise without special
commaiindment!'^ Northumberland entered but half-
heartedly into the guarding of the frontier ; so that mur-
murs began to be heard even among the most devoted
vassals of his house. To the sturdy Northumbrians it
seemed shameful that the descendant of Hotspur should
sit idly in his castle, a book in his hand in place of a
sword, while the Scots were riding and reiving from
Berwick to Carlisle, and the king's captain was crying
out for help.

The reader will remember that when Margaret of
England went to meet her husband the King of Scots in
Northumber- iS^S* Northumberland met her outside York,
land again and acted as her guide and protector across the
Queen Border. Rarely had he shown more magnifi-

Margaret. ceucc than upou that occasion. Now, after the
lapse of fourteen years, it once more fell to his lot to
act as escort to Queen Margaret. But the circumstances
were greatly and unhappily different. She who had so
thoroughly enjoyed the earl's hospitality while yet a light-
hearted bride, was now returning to England a trembling
fugitive, bearing her little son ^ into safety from the
machinations of the Duke of Albany. Her royal husband
slain at Flodden, the queen was remarried to the Earl of

^ Ellis, Original Letters,

- Afterwards James V., '•'■the King of the Commons," ihe fames Filz-James of
Scott's Lady of the Lake.

158 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Angus ; and, in spite of the fact that she was scarce thirty-
years of age, sorrow and persecution had Hned her brow
and streaked her hair with white. But deeply occupied
as Margaret was with her own distress, she can hardly
have failed to notice that Northumberland, the splendid
princely figure of fourteen years before, was now a morose
and prematurely aged man, w^hose slender resources no
longer admitted of luxuriant banquets and glittering
pageants. The earl, learning of Margaret's flight, met her
at Berwick Bounds early in the spring of 15 17, and
journeyed with her as far as York. No merry-making
signalised this voyage, nor did the Countess of Northum-
berland come to York, as on the former occasion, to greet
the king's sister. The earl acquitted himself of his trust
faithfully, but without any effort at display.

When Margaret reached sanctuary in her brother's
Court a few weeks later, and when favourable negotiations
had been concluded with Albany in regard to her return to
Scotland, Henry wrote to Northumberland as follows :
^^ Right trustie and ryght well-beloved cotisine, zve grete yoiL
well. And foreasniucJi as we understand that at the time of
the late repayre hither of our derest sister, the Queen of Scots,
ye, according to our letters then addressed, ryght thankfully
acquitted yourself in geving your attendaunce for her cotiduct-
inge and honorable conveyence, we tJierefore geve unto you our
speciall thanks.

** A nd wheir it is appoynted that our sayd derest sister shall
now retur}i into the realm of Scotlande, zve wot and desyne you
to put yourself e, and our cousyne the lady your zuiffe, in a redines
likexuas to accompany and conduct her at this her sayd returne
from our citie of Yorke, where she cntendith to be the xxix
dale of this monnetJi instaunte so to attend upon Jiyr to Neiv-
burrow, zvherby you shall deserve our further thankes to be
remembered accordingly.

" Geven under our signe at our Manor of Richmonde this
vii dale of Male!' ^

In spite of the gracious nature of this letter, Northum-

' Talliol Papers, i. 49.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 159

berland by no means welcomed the new commission, for
he realised full well that, economise as rigidly as he might,
to escort the Queen of Scots and her son once more to
their dominions would prove a serious drain upon his
depleted purse. He wrote to the king broadly hinting
that some other northern noble — Clifford or Dacre, perhaps
— should now be given the honour of guarding Margaret.
But Henry either did not see, or else afifected not to see,
the hint thus broadly conveyed. The earl then wrote to
his friend Shrewsbury praying him to use his influence at
Court to the end that Lady Northumberland at least might
be ex'cused from attending upon the queen. His wife,
he pleaded, was not "/« caise to ride" \ but he omits to
mention the nature of her indisposition. His own wish to be
excused from duty he repeats to Shrewsbury, in such terms
that the true cause of his disinclination for such costly service
is easily seen to be lack of money. Shrewsbury, interested
on behalf of his daughter, Lady Mary (the engagement still
existed), in preserving as much as possible the Percy fortune,
acted as Northumberland's advocate with the king ; but his
negotiations were only partially successful. The Countess
of Northumberland was permitted to remain at Wressill
on account of her ailment (real or contrived); but Henry
refused to accept any substitute for the earl. The latter's
request to be allowed to meet Margaret on the further
side of York, thereby avoiding the cost of lodging her in
the city, was also refused. We learn from a letter written
by Magnus to Wolsey, that " my lord steward^ attended the
Queen to Doncaster ; she was honourably received on entering
Yorkshire by Lord Darcey, and at York by the Lord of Nor-
thumberland and the Mayor^ Perhaps the earl succeeded
in inducing the mayor and citizens of York to bear some
of the heavy charges thus forced upon him.

Northumberland was now greatly pressed for money ;
yet the relentless king (or perhaps Wolsey still more re-
lentless) compelled him in the following year to undergo

^ Shrewslniry, Lord Steward of the Household.

i6o THE HOUSE OF PERCY

expenses to which those attendant upon Queen Mar-
garet's coming and going were as nothing. He was
commanded to raise and equip a goodly retinue ; to
J accompany Henry on his second and more

Cloth of Gold famous visit to France ; and there to make one
reslitl ^^ ^^^ ^^" earls who were to wait upon Francis I.

at that scene of gorgeous mummery, the Field of
the Cloth of Gold. With his characteristic bluntness, the
king bade his ^^ dere cosyne" see to it that the numbers
and general appearance of his following were well
worthy of the occasion. To the best of his ability
Northumberland obeyed the royal mandate. He brought
with him to Guisnes, near which place the meeting
of Henry and Francis was to take place, six gentle-
men of birth, three chaplains, and twenty-three men-
at-arms and domestics, together with ^^ twenty horses all
caparisoned in trappings of velvet, embroidered with gold and
silvery But the descriptions of the earl and his train read
but poorly when compared with the account of Northum-
berland's previous voyage across the Channel. In order to
accomplish the feat of fitting out his contingent at all he
was driven to borrow considerable sums from the substan-
tial citizens of York and Beverley, giving in exchange
orders on his various estates payable at the next rent
gathering. Others of the noblemen who accompanied
Henry to Guisnes were similarly situated; even Bucking-
ham, the richest of England's peers, having felt the strain
occasioned by years of wasteful expenditure and the conse-
quent scarcity of money. Hence it was not difficult for
Wolsey to outshine them all, and thus gratify the vanity so
commonly found in men thus quickly raised from obscurity
to power and great riches. The cardinal's retinue, it is
said, almost equalled in magnificence that of the king him-
self, and far surpassed the troops of Buckingham or North-
umberland. Hated by the nobles, as his Eminence had
been before, this insolent splendour (for such it was
deemed) filled the cup of his unpopularity. They ridiculed
his pomp as openly as they dared ; and Northumberland

THE HOUSE OF PERCY i6i

and his nine brother earls, waiting on King Francis, mocked
the "flesher's son of Ipswich" for the amusement of that
gay prince. But the " flesher's son " as yet held King Henry
wholly on his side. Buckingham, acting as spokesman of
his peers, protested bitterly against the great pageant at
Guisnes, declaring that England had been drained dry in
order that the upstart cardinal might strut upon cloth-of-
gold. Northumberland and all the great lords, except
Shrewsbury and one or two of the more cautious, joined
in the chorus of angry discontent. The king listened to
them but impatiently, and then inclined his ear to the
whispers of the favourite minister. Wolsey never forgot,
and rarely forgave a slight. Within two years after the
protest of the nobles, Buckingham, their leader, laid his
proud head upon the block. In the words of Charles V. : —
"a butcher s mongrel had slain the finest buck in England!'

Taking warning from the fate of his brother-in-law,
Northumberland abandoned the Court and hastened north-
ward. Rendered gloomier and less desirous of public life
than ever, he retired to his Yorkshire estates, hoping to be
allowed to spend the remainder of his life in peace.

The grim cardinal, however, had no intention of thus
permitting one of his enemies to dwell in safe seclusion.
Northumberland was again and again summoned
Northumber- |.q council, the joumcys to London and back in-
popuiarity curriug cxpeuscs only a little less heavy than the
andembar- alternative fines for non-attendance. In 1523

rassments. ' ^ -^

the Regent Albany threatened war upon a large
scale, and massed troops along the Border. The king,
at Wolsey's advice, selected Northumberland for the ex-
ceedingly difficult and responsible post of General Warden
of the Marches ; and this in spite of the fact that the earl
had never before been tried in any high command, except
perhaps that of the light horse in France, Northumberland
accepted the Wardenship with misgiving ; a misgiving that
was more than justified when after a few months he realised
that, while personally courageous enough, he lacked the
military skill necessary to cope with Albany, and that, in

i62 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

consequence of the reserved habits of his later years, he scar-
cely possessed the confidence of his heutenants. Under the
circumstances he took the best course, and resigned his
high command to the Earl of Surrey, with whom were
associated the Marquis of Dorset and that experienced
Border-captain Lord Dacre.

However honourable the earl's motives may have been,
they were everywhere misconstrued throughout the North
Country. For over five hundred years the Percies had
been hereditary soldiers. The fighting strain had been
transmitted from father to son ; and, save for a few priests,
tonsured perhaps against their inclinations, the line had
never before brought forth man-child that did not love
battle better than books. Even the fifth earl, in his brave
youth, had shown a spirit worthy of his sires. Yet now he
refused to take the Percy's natural place at the head of a
Northern army. He cast aside the glorious chance of
once more standing in the gap of danger, and of hurling
back the Scots as they had been hurled back by the old
Percies at Northallerton, at Nevill's Cross, and at Homil-
doun. Had the blood of the house of Alnwick turned to
water ? — so asked the perplexed and disgusted Northum-
brians. Radcliffes, Musgraves, Redmaynes, Swinburnes,
and Scropes, who had been proud to follow the Percy to
war, or to ride in his train at joust and tourney, now passed
him by with scarce a word. Rough ballads were made
upon him, and sung, in all their uncouth satire, around the
hall fires of many a Border castle. His name became a
by-word : his own kin (even his brother, Sir William of
Flodden fame) looked askance when he was spoken of ; his
vassals and tenants were stricken with shame. ^^ For re-
fusing this commission " (the Wardenship of the Marches),
" the Earl of Northumberland zvas not regarded of his owne
tenaunts, which disdained him and his blode, and much
lamented his folyT ^

The real reasons for the earl's resignation of the
Wardenship were his own knowledge of his inability to

1 Hall.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 163

perform the duties properly (as has already been stated),
and probably also that poverty which had haunted him for
so many years. One month after he incurred the unde-
served contempt of the North by declining to act as
General Warden against Albany, we find him writing to
one of his successors, Lord Dacre of Gillesland, asking for
a loan of ;^ioo. He explains that he had just returned
from attending Parliament, which expedition had entirely
exhausted his supplies ; and that no sooner was he home
at Wressill again than a second summons had arrived from
the king, bidding him present himself at Court without
delay. To obey the royal command he must have ready
money ; and it is for this purpose that he asks Dacre to
oblige him with a loan. By way of security, he encloses
an order on the steward or receiver of his estates in Cum-
berland, payable on the following Lady Day.^ Had he
retained the Wardenship, he must have run the risk of
expenses far beyond his means — expenses which, since the
Royal Treasury itself was not over well stocked, he might
never have been able to recover.

Although the Northumbrians regarded Earl Henry with
doubt, and even with aversion, they had nought but good

words for Sir William Percy. While the elder
Percy weir brother was busy squandering his substance at
upholds the Court, the younger had lived the life of a Border

knight — sharing in fray and foray, and leading as
many men as his brother could spare to the help of each
successive Warden of the Marches. We have seen his
prowess on Flodden Field, where Surrey invested him with
the well-earned dignity of Knight Banneret. Long before
Flodden, however, he had won his spurs ; and long after-
wards he was to uphold the Percy name upon the frontier.
Little fear of the Cheviot passes forgetting to echo ^^ Esper-
ance" while Sir William was in the saddle! There were
not wanting those who said that he should have been the
earl, in place of his brother ; but who can tell whether
honest William would have been able to withstand the

> Add. MSS. (Brit. Museum), 24, 965 ; p. 18.

i64 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

temptations of the Court any better than he who now
sorrowed in sackcloth for what he had spent upon cloth-of-
gold. Fortunately or unfortunately for himself, William's
life was passed almost wholly among " the Marches towards
Scotland " ; and it is extremely doubtful if he ever went so
far afield as London in all his days.

Lord Warden Dacre showed little affection towards the
Earl of Northumberland, whose tastes and habits he de-
spised ; but Sir William Percy he at once admired and
understood. Indeed, the Warden's letters to the king are
replete with praise of the cadet of Northumberland. In
1522 the Bishop of Carlisle reported to the Council that
" Sir William Percy , the Lord Ogle, and others to the
number of 200, attacked the Border, and slew Lance Carr,
and brought his son and heir and a great prey in safety to
England, losing only one man." The bishop suggests that
the king should be asked ^^for a letter of thanks to them" ;
adding shrewdly that " otherwise he would have to give them
money!' "^ His lordship's advice was duly acted upon ; and
Henry sent the raiders a letter of thanks on June 14. To
this Wolsey added a more substantial recognition of
their services, in the shape of money to the amount of
;^i22, 13s. 4d, The. list showing how this sum was divided
is interesting, containing as it does so many brave old Border
names. The fact that Sir William Percy's name is placed
fifth upon the roll means nothing ; as it will be observed
that he received the same honorarium as Ogle, the other
leader of the raid.

^^ Reward given unto divers men of the Noj'th by thehandes
of My Lorde Lieutenant, for the casting down of Blackatur^

and other fortresses in Scotland: —

£ s. d.
For the Souldiers of) ,

Benvick . . ] ' ' ' ' ^3 4

Lord Ogill 13 6 8

Sr William Beron . . . , , 10 o o

^ Bishop of Carlisle to the Council, May 22, 1522 ; Record Office.
- Blackadder, Co. Berwick ; now the property of Sir G. L. Houston-Boswall,
Bart.

THE HOUSE OP^ PERCY

L s. d.

Sr Edward Graye . . . . .1000

Sr William Percy .

13 6 8

Sr Philip Dacre

500

Sr Ralph a Fenivick

1000

Sr William Lysle .

500

Sr Roger Guast

400

Robert a Collin^tvood

400

To the Gunners

500

7o Claverynge

53V4"

Sir John Delavak .

53V4''

Jolm Sivinburne

4070"^

John Heron of Chipease

400

Sr. William Hilton

10 0 0

Sr. William Ellerbee

500

Ciithbert RacUffe

400

Sr. Nicholas Ridley

4oVo^

Certain guards

4070-^

165

Total

£122, 1T,S. 4^."i

It will be noticed that "gunnes" were used during this
sweeping foray, and that archers are not mentioned. Sir
Thomas and Sir Ingelgram Percy, younger sons of the
Earl .of Northumberland, fought under their uncle's eye,
and took part in the capture of young Carr.^ Both lads
were already knighted, although neither had as yet attained
his majority. They were being trained in the same hardy,
open-air school as that in which Sir William had won his
spurs; just as their elder brother, Henry *' the Unlucky f"
was already learning, as his father had learned, the thriftless
lessons of the Court.^

In 1523 Percy wrote to Lord Dacre asking for a fresh
supply of arrows ; and desiring that twenty of his horsemen
might have eight days' leave of absence in which to procure
remounts, the steeds they were then riding " being so sore
creysed." The Warden, however, was a stern commander,
even to his favourites. Further arrows he refused, for the

1 Cot/OH MSS,, " Caligidar Book I. 125. 2 /^/,/^ BqqJ. yi. p. 426.

^ He was then in Wolsey's househoJd,

i66 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

time being, on the ground that to comply with such a
request would be to bring half the Borderside clamouring
to his gates for ammunition. He also denied Percy's men
their hoped-for furlough, because they had ^^ only made five
raids that quarter." The king, he informed Sir William,
expected his marchmen to " make a raid at least once a week
while the grass is on the ground'.' ^ With the Scots replying
to each English assault by another, the condition of the
Borders during these years must have been one of con-
tinuous strife. To such an extent was the " game of give
and take " carried, that the yeomen on either side of the
line had no spare time in which to cut firewood for their
dames at home, and were driven to hew down and carry
away the enemy's timber while riding back from a foray .^
A few days after Percy's application for arrows, the Warden,
by way of practically illustrating his statement, planned a
raid upon an unusually large scale, the objects of which
were — " to burn Ednani and Stichellj the towns under Stichel
Crag, Hasington, Manes, Newton, Aynthorne and others on
the road, also Akles and Alersington." Sir William Percy
brought 200 men to the tryst appointed by Dacre ; but
only part of the intended plan was carried out in conse-
quence of the stubborn resistance offered by the Scots.

In October 1524 the Earl of Northumberland surprised
friends and foes alike by shaking off for the nonce

the lethargy into which he appeared to have
^liddeath^of fallen. Mustering a great force of his kinsmen
the"Magm- ^nd tenants, he marched across the Border.

With him went his brothers, Sir William and
Josceline, and his sons Sir Thomas and Sir Ingelgram.
Beyond raiding a section of the Merse, fighting one un-
important skirmish, and carrying off some prey, little was
done upon this expedition. But the wholly unexpected
action of the earl irritated, as much as it astonished Lord
Dacre, who, brave captain as he ever showed himself,

^ Dacre to Percy, June 23, 1523 ; Add. MSS., 24, 965.
2 Letters of Henry VIII., June 27, 1523.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 167

was not proof against jealousy. The Warden wrote post
haste to the Council, complaining that Northumberland
had ''gone agaynst the Scots as if he had been the King of
England in person^ bearing the Cross Keys."'^ If Dacre
hoped to excite the king's wrath against the earl by
these means, he was doomed to disappointment. Cardinal
Wolsey, who, since Northumberland's eldest son was
placed in his household, had become an ally of the house
of Percy, now interposed in the earl's behalf. ** Your
highness was informed" he said to the king, " that my lord
of Northujnberland, in this Ids proceeding against the Scotts,
wore the Crosse Keys, ivhich is the bage of your Church of
York. . . . I have comnioned with your servant e, my treasurer
Sir William Gascoyne, who sheivith me assuridly and un-
doubtidly, as he wil abide by and is redy to justifie upon his
oath . . . that neither the said Erie of Northumberland, ne
any of his retynue, ware the Crosse Keyes ; but that they ware
your highnes' cognizance onely, and under that his own bage.'
Wherefor, Sir, your grace hath cause to give the less credence
unto those which wolde make tmto the same such fayned and
untrue reaportes." ^ Wolsey was a powerful friend ; and
the earl received praise from Henry instead of blame.
But the circumstance originated a feud between Dacre
and the Percies, which was afterwards to bear evil fruit.

In 1526 Northumberland was hastily summoned from
the North by the cardinal, to interpose his parental
authority between his son, Lord Percy, and a certain
fair lady of Queen Katherine's household — one Mistress
Anne Boleyn. How, with the cardinal's aid, he suc-
ceeded in separating these young lovers ; and how that
separation brought only sorrow and tragedy in its train —
these things remain to be told in the history of the earl's
successor, to whose sad life they more properly belong.

Satisfied that he had done his duty as a father and a
loyal subject, yet grievously troubled by what he con-
sidered the waywardness and lack of thrift of his heir,
Northumberland returned for the last time to Wressill

^ The " Cross Keys " was the badge of the Archiepiscopal See of York.

2 The " Crescent and ManxdesP ^ Letters of Henry VIII., Nov. 26, 1524.

i68 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Castle. It was but cold comfort that he found there.
His bailiffs and receivers brought him little or no money,
and every day the demands upon his shrunken purse
grew more and more importunate. Satisfied that Lord
Percy's extravagance would complete the ruin which he
himself had begun in his own careless youth, he cast
about for a means of disinheriting Anne Boleyn's late
lover, and of settling the estates, if not the titles, of the
house upon one of his younger sons. He had openly
threatened Lord Percy with disinheritance ; ^ and it is
quite possible that he would have succeeded in carrying
out his threats, owing to the king's jealousy of that luck-
less youth and love of Mistress Boleyn, had not another
alternative presented itself. Young Percy's early be-
trothal to the Lady Mary Talbot will be remembered.
The engagement had been broken off by mutual consent ;
but now, at Wolsey's suggestion, Northumberland sought
to have it renewed. Perhaps the Lady Mary did not
relish this method of playing fast and loose with her
future ; perhaps Northumberland's altered position in re-
gard to worldly wealth caused Shrewsbury, the lady's
father, to look less favourably upon a Percy alliance.
Difficulties certainly blocked the way ; and, while en-
deavouring to remove them, the fifth Earl of Northumber-
land was suddenly overtaken by death, on May 19, 1527.

His life cannot be described as either useful or happy.
Beginning his career with great riches, high rank, and
intelligence far above most of the nobles of his day, he
wasted all these endowments in striving to sustain at Court
that prodigal magnificence which eventually shattered his
resources, and forced him to spend his latter years in
poverty and retirement. The courtiers whom he had
dazzled soon forgot his evanescent splendours ; and the
soldier barons of the North Country found in their hearts
but little kindness for the morose and broken man that
had flouted them in the days of his pride. On his death-
bed all the ready money at his disposal amounted to less

1 See later, under the account of the sixth earl.

i68 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Castle. It was but cold comfort that he found there.
His bailiffs and receivers brought him little or no money,
and every day the demands upon his shrunken purse
grew more and more importunate. Satisfied that Lord
Percy's extravagance w^ould complete the ruin which he
himself had begun in his own careless youth, he cast
about for a means of disinheriting Anne Boleyn's late
lover, and of settling the estates, if not the titles, of the
house upon one of his younger sons. He had openly
threatened Lord Percy with disinheritance ; ^ and it is
quite possible that he would have succeeded in carrying
out his threats, owing to the king's jealousy of that luck-
less youth and love of Mistress Boleyn, had not another
alternative presented itself. Young Percy's early be-
trothal to the Lady Mary Talbot will be remembered.
The engagement had been broken off by mutual consent ;
but now, at Wolsey's suggestion, Northumberland sought
to have it renewed. Perhaps the Lady Mary did not
relish this method of playing fast and loose with her
future ; perhaps Northumberland's altered position in re-
gard to worldly wealth caused Shrewsbury, the lady's
father, to look less favourably upon a Percy alliance.
Difficulties certainly blocked the way ; and, while en-
deavouring to remove them, the fifth Earl of Northumber-
land was suddenly overtaken by death, on May 19, 1527.

' See later, under the account of the sixth earl.

s^5 s n g
S s- £ wo

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0-- Jfi^g

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THE HOUSE OF PERCY 169

than £ij\ ; and the wherewithal to bury the body of the
" Magnificent Earl " had to be borrowed upon the security
of what Httle plate remained at Wressill.^

No sooner was Northumberland dead than Wolsey
interfered in the affairs of the Percy family so imperiously,
The long '^"^ ^vith so little apparent right, that he must
arm of have had the king's direct sanction for his actions,

o sey. ^^^ j^^.^ ^^ ^^^ deceased earl was of full age,
and entitled to direct his father's obsequies ; but Wolsey
sent down from London strict injunctions to the effect
that the Earl of Cumberland,^ young Percy's brother-in-
law, should make all the necessary arrangements and act
as executor of the estate. Nay, Cumberland was even for-
bidden to allow the new earl to attend his father's funeral ! ^
Whether the design was simply to punish Percy for his
love-affair with Mistress Boleyn (hereinafter to be dwelt
upon) ; or whether king and cardinal feared that, were he
allowed control of his patrimony, the young man would
use it to carry off his lady-love by force ; it is difficult to
determine. But motives connected with the royal designs
upon Anne Boleyn almost certainly inspired the cardinal's
high-handed conduct ; and only the abject poverty in which
he found himself can explain Percy's tame submission.

With Cumberland was associated one Brian Higden,
a creature of Wolsey. Six days after Northumber-
land's death they wrote as follows to Thomas Hennege,
the cardinal's gentleman-usher: — "Have made a new
proportion of expences for the fmeral of my lord of
Northumberland^ which have appointed to take place on
Thursday come se^inigJit ; and trust not to exceed the sum
assigned in his highnes letter. Will send up Will Worme^
as desired, though he would be of great use to them.

^ See later.

- Henry Clifford, first Earl of Cumberland, had married as his second wife
the I^ady Margaret Percy. — (See Genealogy, Table II.)

^ State Papers, 1527,

•* The chief steward at Wressill Castle. The family of Worme is still to be
met with in this part of Yorkshire.

I70 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Neither beeves nor salt-fish left at my lord's death ; and only
twenty marks in moneys which is spent long ago, with much
more for which pledges have been given. More money vtust
be borrowed before the funeral ; else the house ivill break and
* sparplCy which would be a dishonour while the body lies
unburied. If it be broken up afterwards, the servants should
have their wages at least for the past time and for this
quarter." ^

Shortly after the funeral Cumberland and Brian Higden
wrote again : — " Have according to his grace's command, de-
livered to my Lord {Abbot) of St. Mary's, York, certain parcels
of plate of^ny lord of Northumberland late deceased, ammounting
to £666, 6s. ^d, which money have received from the Abbot y
and therewith buried the said Lord. There were neither
priests, scholars, poor folk, noblemen nor gentlemen at the
burial to the number they had prepared for . . . so that a
good sum was reso'ved both of the fnoney for the doole and for
the housekeeping at the time of the burial. Had proportioned
the liveries of divers prices, some los., some 6s. 8d. and less ;
but the purveyors could not find cloth of so much value in the
country, and, as the time was too short to send to Loitdon, they
had to take coarser cloth, ivhich saved still more money.

^^ Have discharged the household according to his grace's
letter of the XI fune, received on Friday. Paid them accord-
ing to a book made by Will IVorme, and delivered to the
writers by Ambrose Yrton ; though, where it did not quite
agree with my Lord's Chequiroull here, have followed the
latter. Have advised the Countess with her children to remain
with my lord of Cumberland, who has offered her his house,
and to be as chief lady and mistress of the same. She evi-
dently does not wish to live in Craven for the coldness of the
air, and would be glad to remain here, or be with my lady
Pykering in this country, being of kin to my lord her son,
until otherwise provided for. She is zvilling to live poorly,
and will be at pains to please his grace. My lord her soft,

1 Or about £\Z. 6s. 8d.

"^ Earl of Ctivihcrlaud and Brian Higden to Hcnnfge, XXV. May ; State
Papers.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 171

and her children go with my lord of Cumberland until his
grace^s pleasure is known." ^

The fifth earl was buried at Beverley. By his wife,
Katherine Spenser 2 (who, dying in 1542, not only outlived
her husband but all three of her sons as well), he left five
children : Henry, sixth Earl of Northumberland, Sir Thomas
Percy (of whom later), Sir Ingelgram or Ingram Percy
(who is supposed to have died unmarried in or about 1540,
and from whom the " Trunkmakery" Thomas Percy, claim-
ant of the earldom, afterwards claimed descent), Margaret
(second wife of Henry, first Earl of Cumberland), and
Mary (wife of William, Lord Conyers).

^ State Papers.

^ The countess was one of the daughters and co-heirs of Sir Robert Spenser,
Knt., by his wife Eleanor, daughter and co-heir of Edmund Beaufort, sixth Duke of
Somerset (one of the legitimatised descendants of John of Gaunt and Katherine
Swynford).

VII

He who now inherited the titles and impoverished estates

of Northumberland was one of those whom fate seems to

have marked out for a Hfe of sadness and dis-

Henry"the appointments. Throughout his short career,

Unlucky," , , . .

sixth Earl of scarcely anything prospered to which he turned
Northumber- j^j^ ^^^^^ j^j^ ^^^j^^^. ^igiji^g^ ^ji^ . f^j. ^he very

reason, probably, that the older man saw in the
younger many of those same traits of wastefulness which
had left his own coffers void. From his mother and
brothers, Henry "the Unlucky" had been separated at
an early age ; so that of family ties or family affection
he knew but little. The cup of his misfortune was filled
by an unhappy love affair, and a marriage equally un-
happy.

Very soon after his boyish engagement to Mary Talbot
had been broken off, the then Lord Percy was placed by
his father in the household of Cardinal Wolsey. Since his
imprisonment, and the execution of his brother-in-law
Buckingham, the fifth Earl of Northumberland, realising
that further opposition was both useless and dangerous,
had become one of Wolsey's adherents ; and did not disdain
to pay a considerable sum for the establishment of his heir in
the palace of his Eminence of York — which was then held
to be " t/te best introduction to Court!' ^ Wolsey's household
consisted of over eight hundred persons ; including nine
or ten young nobles, who occupied a separate table,

* Benger, Memoirs of Anne Boleyn.
173

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 173

fifteen knights, and forty squires. ^ Young Percy's life
among these surroundings was at once idle and beset with
temptations to extravagance. His principal duty consisted
in waiting upon the cardinal when the latter visited Court ;
and it was during one of these visits to the royal palaces
that Henry the Unlucky first saw the damsel who was fated
to win his heart and make him the unconscious rival of a
king. Mistress Anne Boleyn, youngest daughter of Sir
Thomas Boleyn, was then in her seventeenth year, and had
but recently returned from a sojourn at the French Court.
While the cardinal deliberated with the king, Percy passed
his time more agreeably, though more perilously, with the
ladies of Queen Katherine. So it came to pass that he
made the acquaintance of Anne Boleyn ; and, quickly out-
stripping Sir Thomas Wyatt — (self-constituted laureate to
the new beauty) — and other competitors for her smiles,
offered to Mistress Anne his hand and heart. He was little
more than twenty years of age, of comely presence, and
heir to one of the few ancient houses spared by the civil
wars. Perhaps because she really loved him, perhaps
because no more promising suitor appeared at the time,
Sir Thomas Boleyn's beautiful and coquettish daughter
accepted Percy's offer of marriage ; and they plighted
their troth without consulting the wishes of the Earl of
Northumberland, or dreaming for a moment that any
serious obstacle would mar their courtship. No attempt
was made to conceal their happiness from the Court ; and
presently gossip carried news of the engagement to the
king's ears. Henry, himself secretly in love with Mistress
Anne, resolved that the stripling Percy should not stand in
the way of his desires. The royal libertine had, at the
time, no intention of entering into anything more than a
left-handed union with this prettiest of Katherine's maids.
No thought of putting Katherine aside and raising the

* Fiddes, Life of Wolsey,

174 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

daughter of a simple knight to the vacant throne had entered
his head. Consequently only disgust can be felt at the
conduct of Cardinal Wolsey, who, learning from Henry's
own lips what his wishes were in regard to Anne Boleyn,
deliberately set himself to pander to them by checking the
loves of that pretty coquette and the heir of Northumber-
land. There exist numerous accounts, more or less faithful,
of how Wolsey carried out the foul work by which he
hoped to strengthen himself in Henry's favour, but which
— justly enough — eventually brought about his disgrace
and ruin. Perhaps the most reliable of these narratives
(since it emanates from an eye-witness to the scenes des-
cribed) is that published in Nott's Life of Wyatt, and entitled
'M« Account of Queen Ann Btillen, from a MS. in the
handwriting of Sir Roger Twisden Bart., 1623." This
manuscript was endorsed by the writer, as follows : — " /
receaved this from my Vncle Wyatt anno 1623." The Wyatt
alluded to was brother of Sir Thomas Wyatt the elder, and
one of the cardinal's gentlemen. Applying to the story
the test of contemporary evidence, it will be found that
Cavendish in his Life of Wolsey corroborates Wyatt in
almost every detail.

Wyatt relates how the king, hearing of Lord Percy's
engagement to Anne Boleyn, sent for Wolsey and revealed
the state of his own affections towards the young maid of
honour. The cardinal promised to do his utmost towards
preventing a match between Anne and Percy. " So that,"
continues the manuscript, " wheti the Cardinall returned from
the Court to his house at Westminster, being in the Gallerye,
and not forgetting the king's conmiaundment, called the sayd
Lo : Percye unto him, and, before us his servants then attend-
inge, sayde to him : — ' / marucile not a little {quoth he) of thy
folly, that thou wouldest thus attetnpt to assure thyselfe with
a foolishe gyrle yonder in the Court, Ann Bullen. Doest thou
not consider the estate that God hath called thee unto this
world ; for after thy father's death thou art most like to inherite

SEAL OF HENRY, SIXTH EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 175

and evjoye one of the noblest Earledomes in this Kingdome, and
therefore it had been most vieete and connenient for thee to haue
had thy father^ s consent in this case ; and to haue acquainted
the Kings Ma*'' therewith^ requiring his princely fauore, and
in all such matters submitting thy proceedings unto his High-
Tiese, who would not onely tliankefully haue excepted {accepted)
thy submission^ but I am assured would haue so provided for
the purpose, that hee ivould haue aduanced thee much more
nobly, and haue matched thee according to thy degree and honor ;
and so by thy wyse behauiour {thou) mightest haue growne into
his high fauore to thy greate aduancejnent. But now see what
you haue done I Through your wilfulness you haue not onely
offended your father, but also your louinge Soneraign Lorde,
and matched yourself with such a one as neyther the King nor
your father will consent unto. And hereof I put thee out of
doubt, that I will send for thy father, who at his coining shall
eyther breake this ufiadvised bargayne, or else disinherite thee
for euer. The King''s Ma''' will also coniplayne on thee to thy
father, and require no less than I haue saide, because he in-
tended to prefer Ann Bullen to another, ivherein the King had
already trauilled, and being allmost at a poynt with one for
her : though shee kneive it not, yet hath the King, like a Politique
Prince, conveyed the matter in such sort, that shee ivill bee, I
doubt not, upon his Grace's mention gladd attd agreeable to
the same.'

"'Sir' (quoth the Lo : Percye), '/ knewe not the King's
pleasure, and am sory for it : I considered I am of good yeares,
The kind's ^^"^ thought mcsclfe able to prouide me a conuenient
rival makes zvifc, as my faucic shoold plccse me, not doubting but
that my Lorde and father would haue bene right well
content. Though shee {be) but a simple maide, and a knight
to her father, yet is she descended of right noble bloude and
parentage ; for her mother is nighe of the Norfolk's bloud^ and

^ Ann Boleyn's mother was a daughter of Thomas Howard, second Duke of
Norfolk. The Boleyn family had been founded by Anne's great-grandfather.
Sir Geoffrey Boleyne, Lord Mayor of London in 1458.

176

THE HOUSE OF PERCY

her father descended of the Earle of Orvioun, bemg 07ie of the
Earles heires generall}

" * Why then, sir, should I be anything scrupulous to match
with her in regard to her estate afid descent, equall with inyne,
even when I shall bee in most dignitie? Therefore I most
humbly beseech your Grace s fauore herein, and also to entreate
the King's Ma'" on my behalf e, for his Princely fauore in this
matter J which I cannot forsake ! '

^ Ann Boleyn's father was one of the co-heirs of the senior line of Oruiond, as
may be seen by the aid of the following table : —

James Buti,p:r,
3rd Earl of Ormond, died 1405.

Jamks,

4th Earl of

Ormond, died 1452.

I I I

James, John, Thomas,

5th Earl of 6ih Earl of 7th Earl of

Ormond ; Ormond ; Ormond ;

s./>. s.p. P. C, died le^i^.

Ann,

1st dau. and

co-heir.

Married

Sir James

St. Leger, Kt.,

of Shipton.

Sir George

St. Leger, Kt. ,

of Annercy.
[Senior Co-lieir.)

Margaret,

and dau. and

co-heir.

Married

Sir William

Boleyn, K.B.,

of Blickling.

Sir Thomas

Boleyn, K.G.

(afterwards Earl

of Ormond and

Wiltshire).
{Junior Co-Iieir. )

Sir Richard
Butler, Kt.,
of Polestown,
Co. Kilkenny.

I
Sir Edmund
Butler, Kt.,
of Polestown.

Sir James

Butlkr, Kt. ,

of Polestown.

Sir Pierce

Butler, Kt.,

called " Ruadh,"

or " the Red" ;

8th Earl of Ormond,

and ist Earl of

Ossory.

(Male Heir.)

James Butler Richard,
(afterwards ist Viscount
9th Earl). Mountgarrett.

George,

Viscount

Rochford ;

s.p.

Queen Anne

Boleyn

(afterwards

Consort of

Henry VIII.).

Mary Boleyn,
m. William
Carey, Esq.

Sir Thomas Boleyn claimed the Earldom of Ormond, although it was inherit-
able only in the male line, and although, even were the case otherwise, Sir George
St. Leger was equally a co-heir with Boleyn. Meanwhile Sir Pierce Butler, the
heir male, had assumed the title. The dispute was referred to the king, and the
Boleyn influence prevailed. Butler was forced to relinquish his rights, being

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 177

" ' So ! sirs ' {guothe the Cardinall to us) ^ yee may see what
wisdome is in this ivillfull boyes heade ! I thought that when
thou heardest the King's pleasure and intendement herein, thou
wouldest have relented, and put thyself and thy voluptuous act
wholly to the King's will and pleasure, and by him to have beene
order ere d, as His Grace should have thought good.^

" ^ Syr^ {quoth the Lo : Percy e) so I would; but in this
matter I haue gone so farre before so many worthy witnesses
that I knowe not how to discharge meselfe and my conscience.'

" ' Whye ' {quoth the Cardinall) ' thinkest thou that the King
and I knowe not what we haue to doe in as weightie a matter
as this? Yes, I ivarrant thee. But I see no submission in

thee to that purpose! ' Forsooth, my Lord' {quoth my

Lo : Percye) * if it please your GracCy I will submitte meselfe
wholly to the King and your Grace in this matter, my conscience

being discharged of the weightie burden thereof!

* Welly then' {quoth my Lo : Cardinall) '/ will send for your
father out of the north, and he and we shall take such order ;
and in the meane season I chardge thee that thou resort no more
unto her company, as thou wilt abyde the King's indignation!
And soe he rose upy and went into his chamber!^

Cavendish, speaking of Anne Boleyn and Percy, says : —
*' There grewe such love betweene them, that at length they were
ensured together, intending to marry!' Later, however, " it
was advised that the Lord Percy's assurance should be infringed
and dissolved. ' '

Historians inimical to Anne Boleyn have endeavoured
to attach a deeper significance to certain of Percy's con-
fessions before the cardinal, such as his statement that
his conscience troubled him in the affair, and that he had

created first Earl of Ossory (1527) instead; while, St. Leger being altogether
passed over, Boleyn became Earl of Ormond (1527). On the death of the usurp-
ing earl in 1537, however, the king restored Pierce "the Red" to the ancient
dignity of his family, and to the enjoyment of all the Butler estates, half of which
had also been given to the Boleyns. It is interesting to note that, while the
earldom was still in dispute, it was proposed by both sides to compromise the
matter by a marriage between Anne Boleyn (then in France) and James Butler,
son of Pierce, who afterwards became ninth earl. Anne's love affair with Lord
Percy put an end to this scheme.

J78 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

gone too far to withdraw honourably. Ten years later,
during the trial of Henry's second consort, these slender
evidences were made much of ; and sundry of the king's
advocates even asserted that a secret marriage had been
entered into between Anne and Percy. But an unpre-
judiced consideration of the facts leads us to believe that
nothing existed between the young people more serious
than an informal engagement. Had the case been other-
wise, some hint of the truth must have leaked out among
Queen Katherine's ladies, of whom Anne Boleyn was one.

The Twisden MS. continues : — " TJien was the Earle of
Northuntberla7id sent 7iorth for, in the Kings name; who, uppoft
receipt of the Kings letters^ made all the speede he could out of
the north, unto the King ; who, at tJ lis first cominge made his
resort to my Lord Cardinally — as conunonolie all others that
were sent for in such sort did, — ivho certified them of the course
of their sendinge : and when the Earle was come to my Lord,
he was brought unto viy Lord into his gallery y and were there a
long space in secrette communication ; which done, and after
the drinking of a cup of ivine, the Earle departed, and going his
zuay sate down at the galleries' end, in the Jialfe-place upon a
forme that tvas standing there for the wayto's ease ; and
calling his sonne thither, said tmto him to this effect : ^ Sonne'
{quoth he) ' even as thou hast bene, and allwayes wert, a proud
licentious and untJiriftie waster, so hast thou now declared
thy self e ; and therefore what Joy, comfort, pleasure or solace
shall I conceave of thee, that thus, without discretion hast
misused thyselfe? hauinge neyther regarde u7ito vie, thy
naturall father, nor yet to the King thy naturall Soveraigne

Lord, nor to the zvealthe of thine owne estate ; but

hast unadvisably assured thyselfe unto her, for whom the King
is with thee highly displeased. But his Grace, con-
sidering the lightnesse of thy head and willfull qualities of
thy person, his indignation were able to ruine me and my
posteritie bitterly. Yet, he being my singular good Lord and
favorable Prince, and also my Lord Cardinal, my good Lord,
hath and doth clearely excuse me in thy lewd fact, and doe lament
thy lightnes, rather than maligne me for the same, and hath

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 179

devised an order to he taken for thee, to wJiovi both tlion and
I be more bound than wee may be able well to consider. I pray
God, that this may be to thee a sufficient admonition to use
thyselfe more wisely hereafter, for I assure thee that, if tliou
doest not amend thy prodigalitie thou wilt be the last Earle of
our house ; for of thy naturall inclination thou art wastfull
and prodigall, and zvilt continue to waste all that thy progenitors
haue tuith greate care and trauel gathered and kept together
with honor. But the King's Ma'", beinge my singular and good
and gracious Lord, I assure thee that I trust soe to order my
succession, that you shall consume but a Utile tJiereof ; for to
tell thee true, I intend not to make thee my heire ; for I thanke
God I have more boyes} that I trust will proue much better
than yo2i, and use themselves more like unto wise and Jionest
men, of wJiom I will choose the most likeliest to succeed me.
A' owe, good my masters and gentlemen ' {quoth he, unto us) * it
may be you chaimce hereafter, when I am dead, to see these
things that I haue spoken to my sonne, proue as true as I speake
them. Yet in the meane season I desire you to be his freendes,
and to tell hint his faulte, when he does amisse, wherein you
schall sfiew yourselfe freendly unto him, and' {quoth he) */
take my leaue of you : and, Sonne, goe your waies unto my Lord
your Master and attend uppon him according to your due tie.*
.... And soe he ivent doune through the Hall, and into his
Barge:'

It is hardly probable that the earl knew anything of
the king's real intentions in regard to Anne Boleyn, or
that he had in any way lent himself to the conspiracy for
the gratification of the royal Minotaur's desires. Wolsey,
in his capacity of Sir Pandarus, surely knew better than
to confide such shameful secrets to the proud and austere
Northumberland. The cardinal's natural course in dis-
cussing the matter with Percy's father was to exaggerate
the coquetry of Mistress Anne, to dwell upon her small
dower and comparatively insignificant birth, and to point

^ See Genealogy, Table II. The earl had two other sons surviving, viz., Sir
Thomas Percy (ancestor of the present Duke of Northumberland), and Sir
Ingelgram.

i8o THE HOUSE OF PERCY

out the danger to the already impoverished Northumber-
land estates of permitting a union between two persons
so evidently disposed towards extravagance and pleasure.
For years the earl had been haunted, day and night, by
the spectre of poverty ; a fact of which Wolsey was well
aware. Northumberland's long and choleric speech to his
son reads, allowing for different forms of expression, much
like what a modern father might say to his son who medi-
tated an undesirable match. The threat of altering the
succession probably had some foundation. Henry VIII.,
who by a pen-stroke robbed Ormond of lands and title,
would not have hesitated for a moment to transfer the
earldom and inheritance of Northumberland from Lord
Percy to one of his younger brothers, had the former
continued to stand in his way. But with Percy removed,
and all expectations of an honourable marriage to one
of the first noblemen of the realm thus dispelled, Henry
hoped that Anne Boleyn might easily be induced to become
his mistress.

" Then, aficj' longe concultation about the Lord Perc)''s late
assurance,^' goes on the Twisden MS., "z/ was deuised that
the same should be mf ringed and dissolued, and that the Lord
Percy should marry one of the Earle of Shrewsbury's daughters."
This was the same Mary Talbot, whose previous engage-
ment to Percy had been broken ofif " by mutual agree-
ment." The suggestion that it should now be renewed was
cruel and inconsiderate in the extreme. Lady Mary disliked
Percy, and Percy reciprocated to the full that feeling of
dislike. But the king w^ished his young rival married as
quickly as possible ; who the bride might be mattered little,
so that her name was not Anne Boleyn. Then, on the one
hand, there was sleek Shrewsbury, eager to get his dower-
less daughter ^ well provided for ; and on the other, Nor-
thumberland, cowed and fearful of the royal wrath, seeking
only to keep his son out of further mischief by an alliance
with the influential Comptroller. So the strings were pulled
without any thought of the poor puppets ; and presently

' Lady Mary Talbot brought no fortune of any kind to her husband.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY i8i

the master-showman, my lord cardinal, announced that
he had "made a match of it" between Percy and Mary
Talbot. " Wherewith," according to our authority, "Mis-
tress Ann Bullen was greatly offended, promising that if ever
it lay in her power she would worke much displeasure to the
Cardinally as afterwards she did indeed: and yet he was not
to blame altogether, for he did nothing but by the King's defused
will and commandment. And as my Lo: Percy e was com-
manded to auoid her company, soe she zvas dischardged of the
Court, and sent home to her father for a season, whereat she
smoked : for all this time she knew nothing of the King's
intended purpose. Now began the grudge that afterwards
xvrought the CardinaW s overthrowe."

But, although Anne may have treasured feelings of
revenge against Wolsey for thus putting an end to her
love-affair with Percy, it is plain that her affection for the
latter was only of a French depth ; and one may well
doubt whether, had she actually become Countess of
Northumberland, her wifely constancy would have with-
stood any serious temptation. Already she began to
"smoke" the king's intentions with regard to her, nor
does it appear that she experienced any virtuous indigna-
tion thereat. With Percy it was far different. Separation
from Anne brought upon him a serious illness, from the
effects of which he never fully recovered.

The place to which Mistress Boleyn had been tem-
porarily exiled was Hever Castle, a residence owned by
her father on the banks of the Eden in Kent. A French
duenna, Simonette by name, was chosen to watch over her
in this retreat, and, if possible, to turn her mind from
thoughts of Percy (who was kept in complete ignorance of
her whereabouts, believing that " shee had gone back to
France"). Presently, "after my Lord Percye's troublesome
matters were brought to a good stay, and all things done that
zvere deuised. Mistress Anne zvas removed to the Court, where
she after florished in greate estimacion and fauore.^'' ^ The
traditions of King Henry's love-pilgrimages to Hever Castle

1 Nott's Life of Wyatt, p. 438, &c.

i82 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

do not belong to this period of Anne's life. For all her
natural fickleness and French training, she did not quite
forsake Percy until after her return to Court.

Although Anne was caged at Hever under Dame
Simonette's experienced eye, and her swain lay upon a
The end of siick bed, equally well-guarded, the cardinal felt
the romance, ^hat the work of Separating them was not yet
fully accomplished. There were rumours of mysterious
horsemen galloping through Kentish lanes under cover
of darkness, and of love-billets cast across the moat into
Sir Thomas Boleyn's lonely castle. Wolsey knew that
Lord Percy had a few staunch friends, like Thomas
Arundel, ^ who might act as his go-betweens with the
pretty prisoner, and seek to upset the royal plans by carry-
ing her off to France or the North. Or Percy's malady
might itself be a mere pretence, under cover of which the
ardent lover held midnight converse with Mistress Anne.
Prompt and vigorous action was necessary if the king's
desires were to be gratified, and this troublesome love-story
ended beyond all doubt.

Wolsey at once communicated with the Earl of Surrey,
then General Warden of the Marches towards Scotland,
asking him to find forthwith some post of responsibility
for Lord Percy which would keep that infatuated youth
safely north of Humber until the arrangements for his
marriage had been completed, Surrey, tired no doubt
of his own long exile from Court, offered to resign the
Wardenship itself in favour of Northumberland's heir ;
and although the latter was in matters of warfare (and,
in particular, of Border warfare) nothing more than an
inexperienced boy, a royal order was immediately signed,
despatching him to the North, there to take up the reins
of authority, and to command men who, like Dacre and
Sir William Percy, had grown grizzled battling against the

■* Thomas Arundel (so-called) was younger brother of William Fitz-Alan,
thirteenth Earl of Arundel, and had been a fellow pnge with Percy in the cardinal's
household. He remained Percy's life-long friend and correspondent.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 183

Scots. It was useless to resist such a command, even had
Percy been in a position to attempt resistance. As it was,
the lad was taken from his bed, where he lay recovering
from an attack of fever, and carried nolens volens into the
North. He rode on horseback until he reached Godman-
chester near Huntingdon, at which place he was obliged
to take to a litter. Probably never before had a new-made
Warden of the Marches gone to his stern duties in such
unsoldierlike wise. The rigours of his northern journey
sowed in Percy's system the seeds of that disease which
was destined to make the rest of his life one weary round
of sickness and suffering.

He had not visited the North since his boyhood, and
the somewhat harsh climate of those regions was ill suited
to his shattered constitution.^ With most of his kinsmen
and dependents he was unpopular. The ways of those
hard-riding borderers were not his ways. They could not
help contrasting this languid, sickly heir of the Percies
with his two stalwart brothers, Thomas and Ingelgram.
Both of these had been bred wholly in the North, had
shared in foray and chase since early childhood, and had
suffered no hapless love-affairs with fine Frenchified Court
ladies to make them moody and ungenial. Small wonder
that the old Earl of Northumberland was not alone in
wishing that either Thomas or Ingelgram, rather than
unlucky Henry, had been the heir.

From the period of his return to the paternal domains
a kind of lethargy seems to have fallen upon Lord Percy.
He obeyed the king's order, it is true, but without any
evidence of alacrity or martial ardour. Surrey must have
seen that to place the Wardenship in such hands would
have been dangerous, at a time when the Scots were par-
ticularly active, for he continued to carry out the duties
of the office, and Ridpath states that he was still in chief
command upon the frontier at the close of 1523. In
October of the same year Percy led a large force to the
Border, but he is not styled Warden by contemporary

^ See his own statements to Arundel and Wolsey.

i84 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

authorities. The Cotton MSS.^ informs us that there
rode in his train on this occasion '■^ eight chief and eight
petty captayneSj" together with '* Esperaunce Herald, two
chaplaynes and two chirurgeons." He received the king's
thanks, but no exploit of any note on the part of the
expedition is recorded.

Meantime Wolsey continued active. He urged the
Earls of Northumberland and Shrewsbury to hasten the
marriage of Lady Mary Talbot and Percy ; and he sent
emissaries into Kent to convey to Anne Boleyn the truth
concerning the king's passion, together with a casquet of
valuable gems as a gift from his Majesty. Shortly after-
wards Anne was permitted to revisit Court, where she
listened to Henry's coarse addresses as though no such
person as Percy had ever existed. It is difficult to reconcile
this ready acquiescence on the part of the future queen
with the bitter hatred which she undoubtedly entertained
towards Wolsey, not only at the time, but to the prelate's
last hours. She professed a keen desire to be revenged
upon the man who had torn her lover from her arms ;
yet Cavendish assures us that, when released from her
moated solitude at Hever, she bore herself with every
outward appearance of gaiety — ^^very hault and stout,
having all manner of jewels or rich apparel that might be
got with money? The theory that religious convictions
had aught to do with shaping the course of her life from
this time onward, is surely extravagant. A new admirer,
or a new gown, ever outweighed a new doctrine in the
mind of Mistress Anne. She was no more a wanton
than she was a saint ; but she loved flattery and courtly
dalliance perilously well. Reared in the same light school
as Mary Stuart, Anne's character and conduct present
many resemblances to those of the Scottish queen. It
is not difficult to imagine Mary acting, under similar
circumstances, much as Anne Boleyn did now, when all
hopes of a union with Percy were at an end, and when
a great king and practised gallant exhausted every artifice

^ Caligula, Book V. 304. ^ Li*^e of Wolsey.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 185

to win her regard. Sir Thomas Boleyn's daughter was
besieged with gifts from Henry and compHments from
his Court. Her own father ridiculed her fideUty to the
absent ; and all her relatives received substantial marks
of royal favour. Henry made a show of putting away
his mistresses (Anne's own sister had been one of these) ;
and even hinted that Queen Katherine herself need not
stand in the road, should the new favourite prove scrupu-
lous. In the end Anne yielded to temptation, accepted
the king's presents, and listened without shame to his im-
portunities and the ambitious promptings of her kinsfolk.

One wonders in what spirit Percy heard these tidings,
sent to him from London by his friends in the cardinal's
household, or perhaps by the triumphant cardinal himself.
In his letters he makes only veiled allusion to the ^'greate
sorrow " of his life ; but an early result of Anne's change
of heart was that her former lover at last resigned himself,
with the apathy of despair, to his father's wishes, and con-
sented to marry Mary Talbot. So ended this romance ;
to be bitterly recalled years later in the shadow of the
scaffold.

It has been shown how Henry the Unlucky succeeded
as Earl of Northumberland at the age of twenty-five ; and
Earl only in how Wolscy, with an arrogance which even
name. Richelieu, in the plenitude of his power, would not

have ventured to display, took the entire management
of his affairs out of the new lord's hands, and actually
interdicted him from attending his own father's funeral.
That the sixth earl, sick both in mind and body as he was
at the time, should have tamely submitted to such high-
handed treatment seems at first sight inexplicable. But
there was another reason for his submission besides fear
of royal displeasure and personal infirmities. In spite of
sounding titles and broad acres to which he had succeeded,
Northumberland was little more than a poor debtor, at
the mercy of the Crown and its chief minister. Some
writers have given to him the nickname of " Unthrifty,"

i86 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

and on one occasion his father so styled him. But the
truth of the matter is that it was this very father who
had been the " Unthrifty Earl " ; whereas the son was
compelled all his life long to suffer for the parental extrava-
gance, and to endure on that account the insults of Wolsey
and the extortions of the latter's successor, Cromwell. At
the period of his death the fifth earl had owed over ;^700o
to private individuals, and arrearages of ;^io,049 to the
State. In the Letters and Papers of Henry Vlll.y volume v.,
will be found a statement of the claim put forward by
Wolsey against the Percy estates. The claim, which ex-
plains the hold that the cardinal had gained over the new
earl, is thus summarised : —

^^ Arrears for the ^th Earl of Northcin- \ £ s. d.

berland's wardship and marriage r 66 13 4

of Sir fohn Thaivayts' daughter . )
For his debt to Anthony Bonvyse . . 8062 9 6

For the redernptiori of the Manor of)

Poynitigs and other manors in r 1604 o o

Sussex from Sir Edward Seymour /
For livery payable by the tth Earl . . 316 13 4

Total of Exchequer \ r ^s d ^t

^, . . , J^ y -A 10,049 6^ 2.

Claim against the Estate )

The plate at TopcUffe and Leckonfield had to be pledged
to the monks at York in order to raise sufficient money for
the deceased earl's decent interment ; and to all intents
and purposes the Percy family was dependent upon the
bounty of the Crown — which, at the time, meant the
bounty of Cardinal Wolsey. For the good of his mother
and brothers, quite as much as of himself, Northumberland
was compelled to put up with the minister's tyranny. Two
days after the "Magnificent Earl" — he who was the real
cause of this ruin — had been laid to rest, his son wrote to
his close friend, and some time companion, Thomas
Arundel : — " Before Ambrose ^ came unto me, I was comyn unto

^ One of Wolsey's couriers.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 187

my house at Topcfyf, totvards the fuiieralls of my late lorde and
fader .... but seeing I know my Lo : Grace's pleasor con-
trary^ I woll not come to ye funeralls at Beverly y ye whiche to

have bene at I wolde have bene very glade Sense the

weke after Estre I have bene in jeoptie of my lyve^ not only by
reason of aii agoor" (ague) '* bnt also of myn olde disease and
the U7ihappy ayer of this North Country ; having more amende-
ment unto the tyme I cam to Topclyf where somethyng I nowe
doo amended ^

After the Earl of Cumberland (whom Wolsey placed as
executor of the estate) had arranged for the maintenance
of the dowager countess and her younger children, the
cardinal drew up a scheme of living for his former page,
which can only be described as niggardly in the extreme.
The long-postponed marriage of Northumberland and Lady
Mary Talbot was celebrated in a manner at which many
well-to-do yeomen of the period would have sneered.
Contrary to the custom followed through ages by the house
of Percy, no largesse was distributed after the ceremony,
and the poor were sent hungry from the gates. The earl
pleaded for more generous treatment of his vassals, but
Wolsey sternly forbade any further expenditure. The un-
happy character of the union was believed in the North
Country to have been due to this apparent churlishness
on Northumberland's part ; but the truth was, of course,
that earl and countess were wholly unsuited to each other,
and should never have been married at all. The rigid
economy in which the cardinal and his agents compelled
the young couple to live may be judged from a few
instances. For their own subsistence they were allowed,
by the steward set over the property, a weekly sum of
six shillings and tenpence apiece.^ Out of this all that they
ate and drank had to be paid for. Two male and two
female attendants were permitted to them, the board and
wages of each of these domestics being one shilling and
sixpence a week. "My lady's wardrobe" was valued at

^ Northumberland to Arundel, in Cavendish's Life of Wolsey.
* Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. iv. 3378.

i88 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

£^0, including jewelry, &c. One is led to wonder how
Anne Boleyn, who by this time was glittering in gems
and gorgeous raiment at Court, would have relished such
slender fare and so scantily furnished a wardrobe had she
carried out her original purpose and become Countess of
Northumberland.

Everything that could be spared from the rents of the
Percy estates was supposed to be turned over to the Ex-
The car- chcqucr by Wolsey's agent. But there is good
dinais spies, reason to believe that some of the gentry em-
ployed as bailiffs for the Crown allowed not a little of
the gold thus obtained to stick to their lingers. Certain
it is that the claims were not finally discharged until 1531.
In that year Cromwell (who was then chancellor), seeing the
slowness with which the earl's obligations were being paid
off, took formal action in the Court of Exchequer. Nor-
thumberland managed to raise the balance of the sums due
by sacrificing all his estates in Kent, and by mortgages
upon other parts of his patrimony.

Wolsey lost no opportunity of further aggravating the
unhappy lot of the earl, behaving to him generally as
though he had been some barefoot novice of a begging
fraternity, rather than the chief of the greatest family in
the North and a blood-relative of the king. Again and
again we find Northumberland accused of ^^wastefulness"
or " lacke of thrift" by the minister or his insolent (and
probably dishonest) agents. Yet there seems little or no
justification for these charges. The fifth earl had left debts
amounting to over ;^i 7,000. So far as can be discovered,
the sixth earl owed only ;^8oo, and this in spite of the fact
that his younger brothers (to whom he was as generous as
his means allowed) were wholly dependent upon him. But
these unfair attacks did not hurt or humiliate our subject
half so much as the swarm of spies which were kept con-
stantly about his house by Wolsey. His servants were
encouraged to watch all his doings, and inform the cardinal
concerning them. Since they received pay for any news

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 189

of this kind sent to London, they not infrequently carried
slanderous and lying stories thither ; and the complaints
and protests of Northumberland were disregarded in favour
of anything which this venal crew chose to say against their
master. It was a most intolerable form of persecution ;
and one is not surprised to find the earl writing in the
following strain to his friend Arundel — his one friend
apparently, for even his wife was understood to be in the
cardinal's pay : — " Alyne owne good bedfellow,^ thys Saterday
at XII off the clock at ntydnyght, I reseyved yr loveyng and
kind advertisements, thereby not onely well perseyvyng the true
hart in old tyine which ye have borne to me, but also ye perse-
ver ant good mind off ye sayme by whiche daily you do renue
myne old bond of ainyte, which in hart cannot be more than yt
ys, as yt ys bounden.

^^ Also I perseyff y' som Judas about me, notwithstanding
my goodness to all my servaufits, hayth sertiffyed my Lord's
Grace off my dettes. I assure you, bedfellow, y' which I do
how " (owe) " bothffor my lord my ffayther and my self e ys but
that som of VIM marks, ffor whiche I trust I have takin such
dereckcion as ys to myn honour, notwithstanding the practices
off my servant thus to defame his master : praying you, good
bedfellow, I may know who he is, as my trust ys in you abouff
all. . . . My hous sens my coming ether" (hither) ^^ hayth bene
very costly (nothwithstanding ther ys not a penny howing ffor
the sayme) and specyally by reson of demcss off come, for every
quarter woll ivell cost iiii schill"". And whereas y Judas
wrote I could not serve the Kyng yff my Lord Cardenall dyd
nott iak some order with me, I trust my lord, upon the informa-
cion of such a lyght person, wyll not take nor follow no such
ways as may pluk my pour e hart ffrom him, pondderyng watt
servis I may do him. . . . Sertyne secret comunycacion was
betwene my lord Cardinall and my tresorere, y' whiche as yet
I can not serteffy you the trueth off ; but I do extent thys was a
part ther off. . . . More wold I wryt, but my sykness and my
troubled mynd will not suffer me."

^ They had shared the same bed in Wolsey's household. The term was a
common one between old schoolfellows and the like in Tudor times. Edward VI.
applies it to Sir Barnaby Fitz-Patrick, afterwards Lord Upper- Ossory.

I90 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Probably through Arundel's good offices, the spy's
identity was soon discovered. He proved to be one William
Worme, auditor of the earl's accounts. Worme — appro-
priate name ! — belonged to a family which had served the
Percies faithfully for generations ; but shortly after the
death of the fifth earl he had been taken into Wolsey's
pay. There is more than a suspicion that he took ad-
vantage of his position, director of the Northumberland
finances, to rob his master extensively, while at the same
time reporting to the cardinal that these unexplained
overdrafts upon the estate were due to the earl's extrava-
gance.i The discovery that such an old retainer had played
him false roused Northumberland out of the lethargy
which had become habitual to him since his separation
from Anne Boleyn. So great was his wrath, that he
offered a considerable bribe to Wolsey in order to obtain
license for the punishment of Worme. " Yff viy Lords
Grace wyll be so good Lord unto ine," he wrote, " as to give me
lychens to put Wyllnt. Worme within a castell of myne off
Alnuyk in assurty, unto the tyme he have accomptyd ffor more
money reed, than ever I recd.^ I shall gyff his Grace ii CJ' "
(^200) " a7id a Benyfiss of a C. zvorth unto his colleyg^^ with
such other thynges resserved as his Grace shall desyrcT

There is no direct proof that Wolsey accepted this
offer ; but a tradition preserved by Bishop Thomas Percy
inclines one to believe that, whether the ;^30o was handed
over or not, the traitorous Worme met with a well-deserved
punishment. In the Alnwick MSS. Bishop Percy states
that one of the castle legends relates how " an Auditor was
formerly confined in the Dungeon under one of the Towers,
until he could make up his Accounts to his Lord's satisfac-
tion." There is certainly a tower at Alnwick known as the
** Auditor's Tower," beneath which Worme may have been
immured.

^ Extracts from the accounts kept by Worme may be found in the Letters ami
Papers of Henry VIII., vol. iv. Part II.

2 The college newly founded by the cardinal at Oxford, and now known as
Christchurch.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 191

If William Worme wronged his master in many ways,

he did him at least one indirect service. The anger stirred

, , up in Northumberland's breast by his auditor's

The earl sets ^ -^ .

his back to treachery and dishonesty did not expire after
the wall. ^^^ latter had been removed from office and dis-
graced. Successful in battling with meaner foes, the earl
even dared to face the cardinal.

Wolsey had appointed one of his creatures, a person
named Manning, to succeed Worme as agent and receiver
of the Percy estates. But Northumberland had had enough
of such mayors of the palace, and was determined to be
master in his own house. Accordingly he wrote to Thomas
Arundel : — " Ye news off M"" Manyng ys blone abroad over all
Yorksher ; y neyther by y' Kyng nor by my Lord Cardenall
am I regardyd ; and y* he wy II tell me" (so) ^^ at my vietyng
with hym, when I come unto Yorksher ; which shall be within
thys monthy God willing ; but I ffer" (fear) " 7ny words to M'
Manyng shall despleas my Lord^ ffor I wyll be no Ward!' . . .
(If) "yepayns I tayk and have taykin sens my comyng heyther
are not better regardyd. . . . I wyll never occupy thys Rom off
the Kyng, to dy for it, longer than my comyng up^ but trust me
to serve God as well as I have done ye Worlde trustyng to
ffynde a better Reward there, and be more able to do ffor my
ff rends!'

The obnoxious Mr. Manning was apparently recalled
by Wolsey, who must have seen that he should not try
Northumberland's temper too severely. The earl, left to
his own devices, appointed two stewards of tried fidelity —
Roger Eyssells and Thomas Johnson. His bodily ailments
having increased, he became anxious about the succession
to his estates, and determined to execute a will. Writing
to Arundel in June 1528, he says : — ^^ Daily moore and moore
it pleaseth God to visit me with 7nyn old disease ; by reason
whereof I am very casuaill and uncertayne of my Lyf. Andy

1 This obscure passage may be explained as meaning that Northumberland
would not continue to serve as Lord Warden, and risk his life in the harsh
northern climate any longer than it would take him to " come up" to London
and resign, unless he were better treated.

192 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

as yet I have not maide nor fumy shed no Willy for myne owne
soule, and for the well of thoes that will come after me, I de-
sire and hartily pray you to move my Lords Grace to procure
Maister Broke, Chefe Baron of the Exchequer, after hys terme
and his Circuit fynished, to take the pay ne to come down unto
me for the p erf ey ting of my Will; for I have wry ton unto
Maister Broke desyriug hym for the same ; and nozve have
lyen this sennet" (se'nnight) "«/ my castell of Prowdehowe}
within V mile of Tyndale, to see good orders to be kept, the
which nowe, thanks be to Godde, is well kept in this countrey,"

The closing sentence of the earl's letter reminds us
that his delayed appointment to the difficult and dangerous
A wight Bor- post of Warden General of the Marches towards
der Warden. Scotland had actually taken place on December 2,
1527, after an apprenticeship in arms served under the
experienced eye of Surrey.

In spite of all his trials and sufferings — shattered
health, the persecutions of Wolsey, and another grievous
trouble hereafter to be dwelt upon (his unhappy married
life) — Northumberland proved himself to be the best and
most reliable Lord Warden that the Border had known
for many a day. It must have taken no little strength of
will, and no little of the finest kind of bravery, for a man
racked by disease, poor in pocket, and betrayed by those
who should have been his most loyal friends, to defend the
frontier so stoutly and with such success. It was not alone
against the Scots, now fully recovered from the crushing
blow of Flodden and more vigorous in their inroads than
ever, that he had to fight. Turbulence and open rebellion
within his own territories rendered the task doubly hard.
And, as if all this were not enough for one of scant experi-
ence to cope with, there was ever Wolsey at his elbow,
fault-finding, contemning, spying — doing everything, in
fact, but offering encouragement or aid.

Rarely had the Borders, especially upon the Scottish
side, been in a more disturbed condition than when North-

Prudhoe.

n Mill

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 193

iimberland assumed the staff of wardenship. Sir Roger
Lassells, his principal lieutenant, writing to him about this
time, declared that, — "As tochyng tJie order of the Bordures,
the thefes of boothe sydes ^ never did steale so faste. If there
be not a stay in it shortly e, I fere vie it shall be past making of
redress ; for the Kynge's company doth rob be and spoyle all of
theym that belo7igith to the Earl of Anguish {■ and the Earl
lykewyse and his frendes doth robbe and spoyle all theyme that
takes the Kynge's part . ... by reason whereof the Bordures
of both sydes takith all that they may gett." ^ On the English
side of the frontier there were several bands of freebooters,
recognising no law, and murdering and pillaging Scot or
Northumbrian with impartiality. Many of these Ishmaelites
of the Border belonged to ancient and honourable houses
which had fought side by side with the Percies in bygone
days for the defence of their native land. Yet now we find
them outlaws, living by deeds of violence, and even openly
sympathising with the Scottish enemy. In Redesdale and
Tynedale especially, a state of active revolt prevailed ; and
the new Warden realised that only by the most stringent
methods could he hope to put an end to the reign of anarchy
which left the North a prey to Scottish invasion.

The chief leaders of the outlaws were Sir William Lysle
of Felton and William Charleton of Shottlington. In Redes-
dale, according to the confession of Humphrey Lysle (son
of Sir William), made later in the Tower of London, the
rebel families, with the numbers of each in arms against
the king, were as follows : — " Halles, 70 under fohn Halle of
Otterbourne ; faffrasons, 2 ; Ellesdens, y ; Dons, y ; Nichol-
sons, g ; Spores, 75 / Cooksons, 18 ; Fleckers, ij ; Potts, 2g ;
Hedleys,6^ ; Lowisdens,8 ; Beuykes {Bewicks), g ; Waulesses
{Wallaces), g ; Dawgs,6; Nexsons,j; Chators,j; Edgors,2;
Brownes, 20 ; Wilkinsons, § ; Grenes, g ; Hangenshawes, j ;
Stefensons, j ; Fosters and Forstcrs, 28 ; Wans, y ; Myl-
burnes, ^ ; Hogs, 6 ; Merwoods, 2 ; Robsons, 5 ; Colwells, 2 ;

^ Lassells speaks of both sides in the struggle between James V. of Scotland
and the rebel lords.

2 Angus. " Cotton MSS,

194

THE HOUSE OF PERCY

ClerkeSj2; Robinsons, j; Raiues,^; Hoppes,^; Sinythes,2;
Hogktons, J ; WadhaweSyd ; Andersons y i; and Redes, jp."
Tynedale had its share of Pringles, Redes, Halls, and
Robsons — all, or nearly all, disaffected ; while Lysles,
Shaftoes, Erringtons, and Swinburnes thought no shame in
putting themselves at the head of these ever-ready banditti
and harrying the castles and homesteads of their own
countrymen.

Northumberland was hardly a month installed when
he struck a stern blow against the insurgents. Hearing
that Felton,^ the seat of Sir William Lysle, was their chief
meeting-place, he sent thither at midnight a strong force
under Sir Roger Lassells, The Lysles and others managed
to escape after a sharp fight ; but Lassells succeeded in
capturing fourteen, including ^^ Alexander Crawshawe, the
chief-counsellor of the rebels ; fohn Pringill, to whose house
the Lysles and their spies resorted ; Roivly Eryngton ; Gerard
Shaftoe ; Edde He die (Hedley^ of Bowreshelys in Riddesdale ;
Edward Bewike ; Matthew Stokehall ; and fohnnie Arme-
strangCy who brought the Armestranges to Newcastle when
they broke the gaol there." ^ The prisoners were carried
to Alnwick, where, on January i8, Northumberland held
a Warden Court, and sentenced them to death. Nine were
beheaded for March treason, and five hanged for felony.
" The countrey^' he wrote to Wolsey, " is nowe in greate fear
and drede." But fear and dread were of brief lasting upon
the Border. Before a fortnight had passed, the outlaws
were "up" once more. Sir William Lysle and many of
his followers had taken refuge in Scotland, where they
were secretly protected by Angus, in spite of the fact that
the latter nobleman was at the time professing the deepest
friendship towards King Henry and the Lord Warden.
From their refuge in Teviotdale, the Lysles made frequent
forays into English territory. Sir William boasting that he
would, ere long, " pluck the proud cardinal by the nose."

1 P'elton, on the Coquet, nine miles south of Alnwick, now a seat of the
Riddells.

2 The Armstronj:;;s had been the means of helping Sir William Lysle to break
out of Newcastle gaol.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 195

On or about January 24, a raid of a more serious
character than usual took place, this time under the
leadership of " wyght Will Charleton of Shotymgtoti, the keyed
rebell of all the howthlazves." The night-riders " descended
upon Wolsynghant," slew every one that offered resistance,
spoiled the neighbourhood " as cleanly as dogg strips bone^'
and carried off the local parish priest for ransom. But
either they delayed too long, or else Northumberland was
quicker and more resourceful than they gave him credit
for. The Tyne chanced to be too full for fording in con-
sequence of recent heavy rains. Hearing this, the Warden
called a "screy" or pursuit, and gave orders that Haydon
Brig,^ by which alone the raiders could return to their
homes, should be locked fast. Thomas Errington, a tenant
of the Percies, possessed several sleuth-hounds, and with
their aid the rebels were tracked and run down. After a
bloody struggle " wyght Will Charleton " and four of his
troop fell into Northumberland's hands, the captured clerk
and most of the prey being released.'-

This second success, following so soon after the first,
did indeed go far to make the young Warden feared and
respected upon the Border. Angus became pressing in his
wish for a conference, but Northumberland would have
nought to do with the slippery Scottish earl so long as the
Lysies and other English malefactors were sheltered by
him. Angus promptly ordered the Lysies to leave Teviot-
dale, and nothing remained for the luckless marauders but
to return to Northumbria. Here they found it impossible
to resume their old outlaw life, and so determined to throw
themselves upon the mercy of that Wolsey whose nose
they had promised to pluck. Thus it befell that on the
last Sunday in January, while Northumberland was coming
from mass at Norham Castle, he was met by Sir William
Lysle, his son Humphrey Lysle, and fifteen of their band,
clad only in their shirts and with halters around their necks
in token of abject submission. " TJiey asked for no condi-

^ Over the South Tyne, between Hexham and Haltwhistle.
- Northumberland to Wohey: Cotton MSS.y Calig. Book VII.

196 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

cions," writes the Warden, ^' but declared them redy to byde
the exeaition of your Graces most dredful laws!' ^ Haltered
and barefooted, they were conveyed to Alnwick, and there
left to await judgment. The king, moved by this surrender,
asked Northumberland for the names of those who had
signalised themselves most in subduing the rebels and
keeping law upon the Marches. The Warden recom-
mended Sir Thomas Tempest, his cousins Lord Clifford
and Widdrington, Lord Delaval, Sir Roger Lassells, and
others. Among these the not very large sum of ;^ioo
was distributed.

Whatever may have been the earl's feelings towards
killing men in open fight, he had no liking for sending
them to the scaffold, a disagreeable duty which
J^'young"^ was forced upon him by March Law. Accord-
Humphrey ingly, he urgently petitioned the king to allow
^^^' one or more of the Assize Judges, then sitting

at York, to try the Lysles and their fellow-rebels, plead-
ing that he was himself " little conversant with the law of
attainder." But that humanity, rather than ignorance of
legal forms, was at the bottom of his desire to escape
sentencing these doomed men, may be judged from his
efforts to save the life of Humphrey Lysle, a boy of
thirteen, who had followed his father, Sir William, simply
for the love that was between them, and who could not,
by reason of his years, have shared in the murders, rob-
beries, and other crimes of the band. Not satisfied with
imploring both the king and Wolsey to spare this lad,
Northumberland wrote secretly to his old friends William
Arundel and Bryan Tuke, asking their assistance to the
same end. Honest Tuke proved a valuable ally ; and a
letter of his to the king is preserved in which he asks
mercy for Humphrey Lysle, vowing that he could not
water his flowers for thinking of the undeserved and
awful peril in which the boy was placed.^

1 Letters to King and Council, Chapter House, vol. iii. 50.
'■* Letters and Papers of Llenry VII L

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 197

The efforts in favour of Lysle's son succeeded ; although
Cardinal Wolsey had little sympathy for Northumberland's
scruples, and doubtless considered them utterly unworthy
of the king's viceroy upon the Border. " You should not
use so cantellous and colourable dealing," ^ he wrote, " with
one that thus tenderly hath brought you up and set you
forward. . . . For the sparing of putting to execution of Sir
IVillm. Lyle^s elder son, if it should not embolden other men
under your rule not to offend . . . it should be much more
to my contentation that he should live than die, 'quia non
aipio mortem peccatoris, sed ut cojivertatur et vivat! Wher-
fore the King's pleasure is that you shall in safe custody send
hither to the Tower of London the said Sir IVillm. Lysle's
eldest son, . . . and as touching the execution of the father and
the other offenders, the Kings pleasure is that with diligence
you shall petfortn the contents of his Grace s attd my letters
directed unto you. And thus fare ye well. At Hampton
Court, this lyth March, 1528''

There was nothing for the earl but to rest satisfied with
having saved young Humphrey, and submit to the instruc-
tions so grimly sent him. On March 31 he wrote to
Wolsey : — "/ have now^ according to the King's laws, justly
proceeded against William Lisle and his other accomplices
remaining with me in prison, in several wise, .... that the
lands and tenements of the said William Lysle should be the
more surely and indefensibly entitled to the Kinge's use^ and for
the more terrible and dreadfid example of all the inhabitants in
these parts, William Lisle, Htimfj'cy Lisle his son, fohn Ogle,
William Shaftowe and Thomas Fcnwick, gentlemen of name,
chief leaders and most heynous offenders of all the saide rebels,
zvere according to their demerits attainted of high treason ;
and by me had judgment given to be hanged drawn and
quartered, the execution whereof was accomplished upon them
accordingly — only reserving Humfny Lisle, whom, according
to the pleasure of the King and your Grace, I have sent by

1 The spelling of this letter, being particularly eccentric, has here been
modernised.

198 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

this bearer^ John Norton, my servant, to be further ordered
as shall stand with your Grace's pleasure!'

Young Humphrey was conveyed to London in time to
escape the gruesome sight of his father's head grinning
from Newcastle gate. While in prison he was coerced
into a confession giving the names of the Redesdale and
Tynedale rebels, and implicating Sir William Lysle in no
less than five deliberate murders. Another of the family,
Nicholas Lysle, captured by Lassells, owned on the scaffold
that the English outlaws were supported and encouraged
by Angus, Bothwell, and Maxwell. On April 21 five of
the chief Redesdale rebels were hanged at Alnwick " in the
presence of the gentlemen of Northumberland^' and a great
crowd of suspected persons from the Redesdale district made
submission in their shirts, with halters about their necks.

It is probable that Northumberland, under plea of ill-
ness, did not witness these executions. Wolsey was informed
that the earl was troubled not only with his old disease,
but also with an ^^ extreme agoo," whereby he was like to
have died. At the same time he wrote to his former " bed-
fellow," Arundel (whom he had lately appointed com-
missioner of his woods and forests in Somerset and
Dorset^) : — " Yt pleasyd God to vesytt me with syknes ; not
only myne old deses, but also a swelling of my stomack, with
an extrem agoo ; not esteinyng in myne owne mynd to have
seynyow again, or els to have trowbelyd you with thes, my rud
lettres." He adds that the last rites of the Church were
administered to him in expectation of death.

Few knew better the treacherous character of the Earl

of Angus than the Warden of the Marches ; and, in common

with most well-affected English borderers, he

to"Siand, must have heartily disliked the proposed alliance

and North- between Henrv VIII. and the arch-enemy of the

umberland .... ' •r-.Ti .» i

revisits Scottish kmg. But Wolsey s bosom scheme was

Court. ^^^ placing of King James' crown upon Henry's

head ; and Angus, by pretending to favour such a union

1 Northumberland also conferred upon Arundel a life annuity of £()0, charged
upon the Percy estates in Devon.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 199

of the realms, had apparently won the cardinal's con-
fidence and friendship. Thus when, after some years of
intrigue, Angus openly demanded a conference, Northum-
berland strove to put him off by various excuses. But
Scotland had grown too hot to hold Angus ; and, from his
lair in Tantallon Castle, he sent the Abbot of Holyrood to
Sir Roger Lassells, asking leave to seek refuge in England.
Lassells, on August 19, 1528, sent this letter to his chief,
who in turn forwarded it to Wolsey. The reply showed
beyond all question that the king's policy was to be one
opposed to his nephew, James V. Wolsey directed that
Angus and his friends were to be received with all honour,
and any attempts on the part of James to prevent them
from entering English territory resisted by force of arms.
The Abbot of Holyrood went back to Tantallon ; and on
Thursday, August 29, Angus landed at Newcastle, where
he was greeted by the Warden " in as loving wise as could
be, all the gentlemen of Northumberland being there assembled" ^
A great banquet took place in the evening (at the cardinal's
expense, fortunately for Northumberland, who could ill
afford such hospitality). But in spite of the outward show
of respect, and even of cordiality, which they were com-
pelled to wear, the "gentlemen of Northumberland" must
have felt in their hearts that they had this black-avised
Douglas guest of theirs to thank for half the murders and
plunderings which had been done on the Border for a
round score of years.

James V. was naturally angry that his uncle and his
uncle's minister should welcome Angus to England, and
in the first heat of his wrath it is probable that he made
preparations for an invasion of Northumbria with the view
of capturing his foe. Word of these intentions reached the
Warden, who at once wrote to Wolsey that James would
probably attack Norham Castle, where Angus had been
lodged. " But I shall be nighe unto your said castell," he
added, ^^ with all the power of NortJiumberland to ivithstande
his purpose, as f err as in vie shoulde lye, yff he be abouiward

^ State Papers.

200 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

to attempt anye such malice." James, however, changed his
mind, and determined to try fair words rather than hard
knocks. He knew that Northumberland did not love
Angus, and he also knew that the Warden was possessed of
an earnest desire to give lasting peace to the Marches
under his charge. Hence the following curious letter
written in the monarch's own handwriting, under the date
October 5, 1528 : —

" To our rycht traist a?id holly lovit cousing, ye Erie of
Northumbrelande.

" Richt traist and weilbelovit cousing, we cormnend us to you
in all hertlie manner. Your letters off ye dait at Topcliff, ye
i^ day of Septembro last bigone^ b eying ressavit by wSy we
know and onderstandis yarby ye gud and kynd mynd ye beir
anentes ws, our weilfair tranquilitie and rest of our Realm.
And quhar be certane writtingis sent to you be our derrest
uncle ^ your soverane, ye are movit to be advertist of ye terme
and diet we wald war kepit, and of ye plaice for ye takyne and
prorogacion of new trewis " (truce) " betuix ws and our said
derrest uncle ^ and off ye namis of ye personagis quhame we
will send to trait and conclude ye samyne. . . . Rycht traist
cousing, we haiff send our Maister of A rmcs, Lyoun, to our
derrest uncle, instrukit tvith writtingis contenent our mynd
and desyris in yat behalff at lenche. . . . Quharfor we exhort
you rycht tenderlie, that ye ivil, eftir your greit and usit
wisdome, suppresse all opionione of commonis, bayth on Bor-
douris and oyer placis fra beleiff of ony new motioun to be
had betuix baithe ye realms^ for ony truble proceeding by ye
mishaving of Archibald sometyme Erie of Angus , quhil ye
day off meting for s aid ; quhar na folt salbe fundin on our
part for prorogacion of pease to be had ; and yarefter all
faltes to be onended wyth Goddis grace, quha haiff you in
kepingr ^

In many letters to Wolsey, Northumberland shows his
distrust of Angus. It had been decided to house the Scot-
tish exiles in Norham ; but the Warden had no intention

1 Cotton MSS., Caligula, Book VII. 149.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 201

of allowing them to pry too deeply into the plan of
that stronghold. In a communication to the cardinal on
October 28, he says: — ^^ There shall 7100 moo" (no more)
" come within your Graces castell but the Erie, George Dowglas,
and Archibald Dou'glas, with three with theym, and noo moo ;
and they shall lye in the otter" (outer) ^^ ivarde ; and in noo
wyse they shall be maid prevey to any of the ynner wardes." ^

Wolsey was now in high good humour with his some-
time pupil, so that when Northumberland asked leave to
come to Court for the purpose of declaring more fully
"the state of these Borders," the request was almost im-
mediately granted. The king, it is true, demurred a little
at first ; for he was not as yet married to Anne Boleyn,
and he could not drive from his mind the memory that
Henry Percy had been once Mistress Anne's favoured
suitor. Wolsey, however, protested that Northumberland
now stood to him in the light of a son, *^ leaving off his
prodigality, sullcnness, mistrust, disdayne and making of
partis;'"^ so that Henry finally consented to receive the
Lord Warden, who all this while had been practically
banished from the scenes and friends he loved best. Per-
haps Anne Boleyn could not trust herself to face her old
lover, perhaps she was bidden by the king to absent herself ;
it is certainly a highly suggestive fact that on the eve of
Northumberland's coming to London the queen to be was
suddenly taken ill with the sweating-sickness, ^ so that she
had to be removed in haste to the country house of her
brother. Viscount Rochford, and was thus prevented from
renewing her acquaintance with the earl. Nor did she
return to London until the gates of Northumberland House
had been once more closed, and Percy and his train had
departed into the North.

While in London, the earl made good use of his time
by bringing to W^olsey's attention a dispute which greatly
embarrassed the English forces on the Border. This was

^ Letters and Papers of Henry VIII.

- Cotton AISS., Appendix.

3 Love Letters of Henry VI I L ; Letters of Cardinal Du Beliay, Slc.

202 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

the feud between the Earl of Cumberland and Lord Dacre
— both of them Northumberland's brothers-in-law ^ — which,
having started in disputes over forest hunting-rights, had
reached such a pitch that encounters between Cliffords
and Dacres were of weekly occurrence, and half the great
families of the Marches were involved. Northumberland's
personal predilections were all in favour of Cumberland,
for Dacre had long been his enemy, had carried tales about
him to Wolsey, and (as we shall see later) had helped to
incite his wife against him. But, holding as he did the
post of March-Warden, the earl's sense of justice would
not permit him to favour either side. The report which
he laid before the cardinal was so fair as to win praise from
both king and minister; and on his return the Warden
was commissioned to visit both lords and, for the good of
the Border, attempt to make peace between them. He did
so, and succeeded in quelling the feud for the time being.
It was destined to break out anew, and to blaze with a fury
as great as that which had kept Nevill and Percy at sword-
points in bygone days.

But feuds raged not alone between great nobles, the
chiefs of rival houses. For years Northumberland had
„ . . known the bitterness of strife within his own

Husband

against family circle, and — sadder still — his enemy was

^•^"- his wife.

The two had never loved each other, notwithstanding
the efforts of their families to foster such a feeling. Their
union was even worse than what is now called a " marriage
of convenience," for they had been forced into each other's
arms despite the fact that dislike, if not positive hatred, had
existed between them from childhood. We know little of
the Countess Mary's character, beyond the fact that she
was cold and unsympathetic. Had she been otherwise,
she might not improbably have succeeded in making her

1 Cumberland had married the earl's sister, Margaret Percy (see Genealogy,
Table II.), while Dacre's wife was a Talbot, sister of the Countess of Northum-
berland.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 203

husband's burdens lighter, and in weaning his mind from
thoughts of the lost Anne Boleyn. As it was, she offered
him neither kindness nor comfort, quarrelled with him
incessantly, plotted with her relatives against him, and is
more than suspected of having joined the ranks of the
cardinal's spies who surrounded him on every side. No
promise of any offspring occurred until they had been
married four years. Just before she became a mother, the
countess, taking advantage of her husband's absence, left
home and rode by rapid stages to one of her father's
houses,^ a considerable distance away. The result of this
imprudent and untimely flight was that her child was born
dead. Northumberland's first news of the event was from
his father-in-law. *^ So yt ys,'' the former writes to William
Arundel in April 1529, " my wyff is brod to bed of a chyld
ded, and as I have word from my Lord Steward"^ and them
abowtt her, she looks for non other but deth, and yff she
cscap ye ffechysions " (physicians) " wryt plain she cannot
continew."

Lady Northumberland recovered, and, probably through
the influence of Wolsey, consented to return to her husband.
But any hope of reconciliation was soon spoiled by the
persistent interference of the relatives of the countess. Of
these the most malignant were her brother-in-law, Dacre
(who bore the Percies an old grudge), and her sister. Lady
Dacre. The latter, under pretence of sisterly affection,
instilled into the young wife's ears poisonous tales about
Northumberland. His early failings were magnified a
thousandfold ; his brief love - affair with Anne Boleyn
was paraded anew ; and the unfortunate countess was
gradually led into the belief that one of the kindliest and
most upright gentlemen of his time was a monster eager
to end her life. The result was deplorable. From listen-
ing to the wanton falsehoods of her sister and brother-in-
law. Lady Northumberland became a hypochondriac,

1 Probably Sheffield.

2 The Earl of Shrewsbury, father of the countess, was Lord Steward of the
Household.

204 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

dreaming of poison, daggers, and the like, and never
happy save in her husband's absence. For her sake, as
well as for his own, Northumberland was compelled to
close his doors to the Dacres, and even to old Shrews-
bury, whom they had succeeded in tricking into fears for
his daughter's safety. By these means the earl hoped
that peace might be restored under his roof-tree ; but the
relatives of Lady Northumberland, with the aid of secret
messengers, managed to keep alive the fear and hatred
with which she now regarded her husband.

The following letter from Northumberland to his god-
father, the Duke of Norfolk (then President of the Council
of the North), tells its own tale : — ^^ Pleaseth it your Grace to
be advertised that before my coming home, one Thirlkeld, servant
to the Lord Dacre, was from him and his bedfellow^ with my
zvife, talking with her secretly a greate space, after which her
wordes anenst me anight have been well amended^ for which
and other her former dealing, to your Grace not imknown^ I
have put Edivard Edgar my auditor, and Thomas Kelk with
George Hodgson my servaunts, to see her entertained a great
deal better than she hath deserved. Notwithstanding, I will
not suffer her to speak with them, to contrive more malicious
acts against me. Nevertheless Rauff Leche and one Sampson
a priest ivas sent from my Lord of Shrewsbury to speak with
her . . . with whom I spoke, my Lord of Cumberland and Sir
Thomas Clyfford being present ; and Rauff Leche using these
words: that my Lord his master, hearing his daughter to be
in some agony did send him and his fellow to bring her his
blessing and to speak with her. . . . To whom / answered
that her malicious purpose, so matiifestly known unto them by
her letters, ivhich they were privy unto, and contrived as did
appear by the counsel of my Lord her father, / could not be
contented that he, or any from him, should speak to her to in-
vent more malicious imaginations of untruth ; being most sorry
that my Lord her father, therein regarding neither his own

^ i.e. Lady Dacre.

2 Referring to a former letter to the duke describing how Lady Northum-
berland, instigated by her sister, had vilified him to the cardinal.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 205

honour, nor the kindness of me, which took nothing with his
daughter,'^ should set forward that which should touch both
mine hojiour and life.

*^ And if my Lord her father ivould make his excuse, that
less he could not do, considering his duty to the Kin^s higness.
.... than to make the said certificate, and that he thought his
daughter not so entertained as he would, and she being in fear
of poisoning, would send for her, I would send her unto him
with a reasonable fielding- for eschewing of -niore inconvenience :
for peremptorily, her acts so openly manifest, I would never
come in her company as lo7ig as I lived : with which atiswer
they departed, . . . At my Castle of Warkeworth, the iif' of
September, MDXXVIIL"^

The time was now at hand when Wolsey's arrogance
and Wolsey's spies should torment Northumberland no
The car- more. The fall of the great cardinal had begun,
dinars fau. f^g jj^d Stepped blindly into the meshes which
his enemies were spreading through so many years of
patient hatred ; and, once trapped, age and infirmities
forbade all hope of his winning back to the paths of
freedom and power. His voice, lately all-powerful at Court,
was heard of royal ears no more ; his fate and the fate of
England depended now upon the wheedling words of the
wench that he had flouted. Mistress Anne Boleyn. And
while a man, in time of victory, often shows forbearance
towards the conquered, the triumphant woman rarely
forgives her enemies. Mistress Boleyn was resolved to
glut her vengeance upon the disgraced minister, and in the
ears of the libidinous king her lightest word was law. The
doom of Wolsey was already pronounced. Judges whom
he had placed upon the bench set to work, all too willingly,
to prepare the articles of his impeachment. Valuers were
busy in the sumptuous rooms of his Westminster palace ;

^ Alluding to the fact, most unusual in those days, that Lady Mary Talbot
had received no dowry from her father.

2 Reasonable allowance. The earl's views in this respect were liberal, as we
know from his treatment of his brothers.

^ Northumberland to Arundel ; Cotton MSS., Caligttla, Book I. 127.

2o6 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

most of his goods were already confiscate to the Crown ;
and he himself had been ordered to leave London and
betake himself within the confines of his archiepiscopal
See. Norfolk, Shrewsbury, and Suffolk, a little while past
his obedient servants, were now foremost of those who
cried out for "his attainder and death. They were a pack
of bloodhounds, hot upon his heels — thirsting for his
blood ; bloodhounds self-confessed indeed, for did not
their leader, Norfolk, ferociously swear that he would "tear
Wolsey with his teeth " ?

Now, of all the great lords, not one had more reason to
hate the cardinal than Henry Percy. Yet the earl took
no part in the hue and cry against his former tyrant ; and it
was due to the Percies that, when this "old man broken
by the storms of fate " sought refuge in the North, he was
received with kindliness and respect. Stout Sir William
Percy of Flodden fame, the earl's uncle,i who acted as his
nephew's chief steward in Yorkshire, met Wolsey upon the
way, knelt to receive his blessing, and escorted him with
honour to the manor house of Cawood. Such treatment
of "this traitor priest," as they called him, roused to
fury many northern barons. Sir Robert Constable and
others railed bitterly at the Percies, and threatened to
complain to the king, "their Most Gracious Liege." The
same " Most Gracious Liege " was to hang Constable in
chains at Hull gate a few years later ; but now Sir Robert
was zealous in the king's service, and especially eager to
hunt down and harry all those who had incurred the royal
displeasure. The bluff banneret,^ William Percy, was not
to be frightened by threats out of what he held to be the
worthiest course ; nor could Northumberland be induced
to treat the cardinal with discourtesy.

This attitude of her old lover towards the man that had
parted them agreed but little with Anne Boleyn's idea of
the fitness of things. Womanlike, although she had long

^ Sir William Percy was steward of Pocklington, and chief forester of Leckon-
field and Catton under his nephew.

^ He had been made knight banneret on Flodden Field,

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 207

since abandoned Northumberland, and accepted the king
in his place, she thought that the discarded admirer should
have continued faithful, and that his desire to humble
Wolsey should have been as great as her own. To find
him neglectful of so rare an opportunity for paying off old
scores hurt her vanity — that jealous vanity which she was
to bequeath to her daughter, Elizabeth ; and there came
into her mind a means whereby the earl might be brought
to book for his lack of fidelity, while, at the same time, the
cardinal's humiliation was increased fourfold. This plan,
the mocking humour of which strongly recommended it to
the king, was to place the intended arrest of Wolsey in
Northumberland's hands. The proud minister who had
so long lorded it over Henry Percy, and who had behaved
towards him "as a harsh schoolmaster might towards a
froward pupil," was now to make submission to this same
Henry Percy, and become his prisoner.

To Northumberland, chivalrous and humane as he was,
such a mission could not but be hateful. However, as the
king's lieutenant in the North, he had no choice but to
obey the royal mandate. On November 2, 1530, Walter
Walsh, a gentleman of the king's Privy Chamber, arrived
at Topcliffe with instructions to the Lord Warden respect-
ing the immediate arrest of the cardinal. On November 4
Northumberland, attended by Walsh and a number of his
own gentlemen, set out for Cawood ; arriving there early
in the afternoon, just as Wolsey had finished dinner.
Having passed through the gates, the earl sent to demand
the keys ; but the porter roundly refused to give them up
except at the express command of his master. Other
nobles of the period — Norfolk, for instance — would have
had the man flogged for his insolence ; but Northumberland
had been too often betrayed not to know the value of
fidelity such as this. " Thou art a good fellow^' he said to
the porter, " ivho speaketh like a faithful servant to thy master,
and like an honest man. Keep thou thy master^ s keys, but let
no one pass 07it save with my permission." ^

' Cavendish ; Lift of W^olscy,

2o8 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Wolsey was rising from table, when word was brought
him that the Earl of Northumberland was in the hall, with
a considerable company of retainers. " Whereat," says
Cdivend'ish,*^ he marveilled, .... but commanded a gentleman
to bri7ig him the truth, who, going down the staircs, satve the
Erie of Northumberland, and returned and sayde it was very
hee. ' Then^ quoth the Cardinal, ' / ajn sorrie we have dyned,
for I feare our officers be not provided with any more of good
fish^ to make him some ho7torable cheere ; let the table stand''
quoth he : and tvith that he rose up, and goi?ig downstairs . . .
as soon as the Cardinall espied the Erie coming up with all his
traine, he put off his cap, and saide, ' My Lorde, ye be most
heartily welcome ; ' and so embraced each other? . . . Then my
Lorde led the Earl to the fire, saying, ^ My Lorde, ye shall go
jinto my bedchamber, where is a good fire made for you, and
then ye may shift your apparel until your chamber be tnade
ready. Therefore let your male ^ be brought tip and, or ever
/ go, I pray you give me leave to take these gentlemen, your
servants, by the hands' And when he had taken them by the
hands, he returned to the Erie, and said, ^ Ah, my Lord, I
perceive well that ye have observed my old precepts and instruc-
tions, which I gave you when you were abidittg with me in
your youth, which was to cherish your father's old servants,
luhereof I see here present a great number. . . . For these be
that will not only serve and love you, but they will also live and
die with you, and glad to see you prosper in honor, the which
I beseech God to send you with long life.' This said, he took
the Earl by the hand and led him into his bedchamber, and
they being all alone {save only I, that kept the door, being
gentleman usher) these two Lords standing at a window by the
chimney . . . the Earl, trembling, said with a very faint and
soft voice, laying his hand upon his arm, ^ My Lord, L arrest
you of high treason ; ' with which the Cardinall, being marvel-
ously astonied," (astonished) *^ standing still both a good space,
without speaking." *

1 It was Friday, and a day of abstinence.

2 " The Cardinal now shewed hifiiselfe muck more humbler than he was wont
to be." — (Hall's Chronicle.)

^ Mail, or trunk. * Life of Wolsey.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 209

It is difficult to understand why, after reading this
passage, certain historians have seen lit to blame Northum-
Forbearance bcrland for the part which he took in Wolsey's
of the earl, arrcst. The duties of his office compelled him
to carry out the royal warrant ; but it must be admitted
that the manner in which he executed this painful com-
mission was in every respect courteous and considerate.
To a man of less generous character, the opportunity thus
presented of making Wolsey feel some of the mortification
which he had loved to inflict upon those in his power,
would have been so tempting as to be well-nigh irresistible.
Had their positions been reversed, it is more than likely
that the cardinal would not have hesitated to reproach
and upbraid his prisoner ; but Northumberland behaved
with a chivalry and self-restraint which do him the highest
honour. The bitterest taunts flung at him by the disgraced
and despairing Chancellor were not sufficient to make him
lose his temper, or to abate one jot of that respect which he
felt to be due to his old master.

When Wolsey had recovered from the first shock of
the ill news thus suddenly brought to him, he demanded
to see the warrant for his arrest. Northumberland had
strict orders not to show this document, which contained
minute secret instructions as to the treatment of the
cardinal. " ' We// t/icn^ quotJi my Lorde " (to cite from
Cavendish again), *'^ I wi// not obey your arrest, for t/iere hatJi
been between some of your predecessors and mine great con-
tention and debate given upon an ancient grudge, whicJi may
succeed in you witli /i/ee inconvenience as it Jtath done Jiereto-
fore ; therefore, un/ess I see your autJtority and commission, I
wi// not obey you ; ' and Jie proceeded to argue tJiat, as a member
of the See Aposto/ic, Jie was not subject to tempora/ aut/iority,

" The ear/ answered, ' When I was sworn Warden of tJte
Marches, you yourse/f to/d me tJiat I migJit with my staff arrest
a// men under the degree of the King ; and nozv I am stronger,
for I have a commission so to do! "

Wolsey then appealed to Walter Walsh (who had carried
the warrant to Northumberland), absolutely refusing to

210 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

take the earl's word on the subject. Even when Walsh
confirmed what the Warden had said, and explained that
the latter acted through no personal animosity, but solely
in obedience to the king, the cardinal refused to submit
to his former pupil. Turning his back upon Northumber-
land, he surrendered himself prisoner to Walsh, saying in
a loud voice that " the worst in the King's Privie Chamber
is sufficient to arrest the greatest peer in the realme by the
Kings commandmenty^ Lord Herbert of Cherbury ex-
presses himself as doubtful whether this conduct arose
" out of stubborness to the Earl who had been heretofore educated
in his house y or out of despight to Mistress Atine Bolen^ who {as
he might conceive) had put this affront upon him in finding
measures to employ her ancient suitor to take revenge on both
their names." ^ The latter supposition is not improbable.

The earl continued to treat Wolsey with all possible
leniency and respect. Grave fears were entertained of a
rising among the cardinal's armed retainers, who out-
numbered the Lord Warden's soldiers ; yet in spite of
the adverse counsel of Walsh and others, Northumberland
permitted these honest fellows to wait upon and guard
their lord. The cardinal was also allowed to take a public
farewell of his tenants and friends, and to bestow his
blessing upon them. On the following Sunday, after he
had celebrated mass in the private chapel at Cawood, he
was sent under the care of Sir Roger Lassells to be de-
livered over to the Earl of Shrewsbury at Sheffield. Illness
overtook him under Shrewsbury's roof, and he remained
there for three weeks, before being taken to Leicester.
The pathetic story of his death in Leicester Abbey is
familiar to all.

^ Cavendish. ^ Life of Henry VIII.

VIII

After Wolsey's death, the services of Northumberland
as Warden of the Marches began to earn their just recog-
Debts;and nition at Court. On St. George's Day, 1531, he
the defence of was installed Knight of the Garter in the presence

the Border. r^ur- j i. r

or the foreign envoys and a great concourse of
spectators.^ No doubt the bright eyes of Anne Boleyn
were among those that looked upon the ceremony from
the ranks of the maids of honour. But as in the case of
Hotspur, and his father the first earl, such empty honours
were almost the only compensation that the Warden ob-
tained. His March-keeping expenses were heavy ; and
the annual sums which the Treasury paid towards the
preservation of peace on the Border were sadly inadequate
for the purpose. The debts left to him by his predecessor
grew larger instead of decreasing, so that the new Chan-
cellor, Cromwell, entered suit (as has been already stated)
for repayment of the amount due to the Crown. By
grant of April i, 1531, license was given to the Earl and
Countess of Northumberland and to Sir Ingelgram Percy,
to alienate the manors of Westwood, Eastwell, Rokeslie,
Horsmonden, Tyrlingham, North Cray, Newyngton, and
Barham in Kent.2 With the money obtained in this
manner, and by means of mortgage, the greater part of
the Treasury claim was paid off ; but that the earl was
still in debt may be judged from a letter of his to Crom-
well, dated September 27, in which he thanks the minister
for an extension of time given him in the case of one of
his creditors, Sir Edward Seymour.^ At the same time he
offers to sell the estate of Petworth to the king.

1 Austis, History of the Garter. 2 j-z^/^ Papers.

2 Afterwards Duke of Somerset,

212 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

During the summer of 1531 the earl's agents inter-
cepted near Ahiwick certain letters of importance from the
emperor to the Scots king.^ The letters contained a treaty
guaranteeing peace between Germany and Scotland for
one hundred years, and urged an alhance between James
and the Princess Dorothea of Denmark, the emperor's
niece. Arms and ammunition for use against the English
were also promised. The same report in which Northum-
berland conveyed news of his capture to London, tells of a
peace conference which he had held at Ridingburn on the
East Marches with the principal members of the Clan Carr
or Ker. The meeting ended apparently in mutual recrimi-
nations, and the Kers at once recommenced their raids into
English territory.2

Meanwhile the young Earl of Bothwell, following the
example of Angus, had been seeking an alliance with
England. On December 21, 1531, Northumberland met
Bothwell by the king's orders. The meeting took place
in the dead of night, at Dilstone, two miles from Hexham.
With Bothwell came David Hepburn, Robert Ellwold,
and Nicholas Rutherford. Bothwell's grievances against
his sovereign were many, though scarcely undeserved.
James had given his estates to the Kers of Teviotdale, had
held him prisoner in Edinburgh for six months, and had
even (so he declared) planned his assassination. He was
willing to take the oath of allegiance to Henry VIII., and
claimed that he could raise a force of 1000 gentlemen and
6000 commons to fight against their native country. With
the help of these troops, and those of Angus, he declared
that Henry might supplant his nephew, and be crowned
King of Scotland ^^withyn breif tyme."

Northumberland was favourably impressed by the
sanguine Bothwell. Writing to Henry, he describes his
new acquaintance thus : — " Of parsonage , wit, lernynge and
manneres, of his yeres as goodly a gentliman as ever I saw

1 The letters were carried by a party of Scots, headed by one Davy Pander.
On being taken prisoner, Pander made a confession, real or pretended.
^ Letters and Papers of Henry VIII.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 213

in my liff, and to my simple understandynge he is verey meete
to serve your Highnes in anything that shall be your most
gracious pleasure to command him withal." ^

James V., hearing of this midnight conference at Dilstone,
quickly abandoned his efforts to make a friend of North-
umberland, and lodged formal complaints against the earl
at the English Court. He who had formerly been a " right
trusty cousin," was now, according to James, guilty of in-
numerable crimes against the peace of the two kingdoms.
Among other things, the Warden was accused of " burnyng
of Churche lands and come, and murderyng and burnyng in the
silence of the nighty 2 The districts in which these enormities
were supposed to have been committed is not specified,
and it is likely that Northumberland did no more than
make reprisals upon the Kers and others of the Scots
king's friends. Henry VIII., at least, acquitted his Warden
of all the charges made against him, and in a letter dated
March 2, 1532, and sent by the hands of Carlisle Herald,
blamed James for sheltering outlaws and marauders upon
his side of the dividing line.

On August 23, 1532, Northumberland was able to an-
nounce to the king that he had "established" — i.e. placed
on an efficient military footing — the county of Northumber-
land and the North generally, causing ^^ every gentibnan
zvhich lay within the towne of Newcastle to repayre aud lye
at their owne houses, there to kepe watch, warde, showte and
crye, and every man to be ready to ryse with his neghbor and
followe upon payne of deth." Sir Ralph Fenwick, he reported,
had defeated and captured a body of Scots led by " Hector
Armistrange, and Andrew his sonne," who had descended
upon Northumberland through Bewcastledale. Hector
Armstrong is described as "« tall personage, son to Mykell
Sym^ The prisoners were taken to Warkworth, where
they volunteered to swear fealty to England and fight
for King Henry.^

A little later in the year, 7000 of the enemy, com-

1 Cotton MSS., Caligula, Book VII. 157.

^ Scottish State Papers, ^ State Papers.

214 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

manded by Dan Ker of Graydon, ran " an open day forey "
into Norhamshire and routed the force hastily raised to
oppose them. Encouraged by this success, a second raid
was attempted on August 19, by the Kers, Rutherfords,
and Davidsons. The invaders were met near Hawteshill
by a body of EngHsh under the leadership of Thomas
Errington, Alexander Fetherstonhaugh, and Robert Thyrle-
wall. After a fight lasting for several hours, the North-
umbrians were completely victorious, putting the Scots
to rout and taking twelve prisoners. These latter were
brought to Norham Castle, and there hanged under March
Law. In his letter to the king describing this event,
Northumberland mentions that he had good reason to
suspect certain Pringles and other persons resident in
Tynedale of being in league with the enemy, and of
having helped many to escape. Should his suspicions
of treachery at home be confirmed, he vows that he " will
not fayle to put them {the men of Tynedale^ to S7ich terrible
execution that it shall be a warnyng to all such offenders not
to bring in the Scottes hereafter y ^

The close of the year 1532 was one of exceptional
restlessness on both sides of the Border. Armed bands
Fire and scoured the country; and such was the pre-
sword. valence of treachery and disloyalty, that it was

hard for either Scots or English to tell who were enemies
and who friends. As a matter of fact, the heads of the
great frontier families were firstly for themselves, and
only secondly for the king or warden under whom they
chanced at the time to be serving. Bothwell, as we
have seen, was in negotiation with England. Angus had
actually transferred his allegiance from James to Henry ;
and when Northumberland visited him at Berwick he
found him "true to the king," and eager to invade Scot-
land. His allies in the Merse, declared this renegade
Douglas, had promised to give him full information of
any hostile movements on the part of James, and to

1 Letters and Papers of Henry VIII.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 215

stand aloof in case of hostilities. The Scots king lay at
Coldingham, while his new Warden of the Marches, the
Earl of Moray, protected the frontier with 3000 picked
men. James was reported by Angus to be in dire financial
straits, as the emperor, then engaged in wars of his own,
had neglected to send him certain promised moneys. But
although the king was too poor to attack, and Angus had
gone over to the enemy, the English Warden had still to
reckon with turbulence at home (chiefly instigated by his
own brothers, Thomas and Ingelgram Percy), and with
ceaseless raids from Teviotdale and Tweeddale. On
October 10 a large company of moss-troopers under
Launce Ker eluded the watchfulness of Sir Richard
Tempest and fell suddenly upon the village of Alnham,^
which they gave to the flames, slaying most of the male
inhabitants. Pushing on next day to Newstead, they
captured twenty-six prisoners, vassals of Northumberland,
and two hundred head of cattle. On Sunday, October 31,
Lorbottle was taken and destroyed ; after which Launce
Ker rode back to Tweeddale with his prey.^

Such forays as this induced Northumberland to in-
crease his army of defence. Sir Arthur Darcy was sent
to the Border with reinforcements, while Clifford and
Angus each raised considerable levies. But in spite of
these formidable preparations the Kers and other Scots
freebooters were not to be terrorised. Mark Ker boldly
sent word to Northumberland that, within the space of a
week, he proposed burning one of the earl's towns in the
heart of the county, and so near Warkworth Castle that
the blaze would give the earl ^^ licJit enow to put on his
clothes by at midnichty Knowing the daring character of
the Kers, the Lord Warden doubled his guards ; but Mark
Ker broke into England through one of the wild passes
towards the north-west, and was within four miles of

^ Alnham lies under Ilazelton Rigg about thirteen miles west of Alnwick.
Newstead is a hamlet some five miles south-west of Bamborough. Lorbotell or
Lowrebotell is in Whittingham parish, hardly.

^ CoUon MSS., Caligula, Book VI. 24.

2i6 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Warkworth before the watchers had set light to a single
beacon. " Uppon Ttiesday at nyght last" wrote the earl to
Henry, ^^ came thyrty lyght horsemen into a litell village of
myne called Whitell^ having not past sex howses in ity and
there wold have fyred the said howses but there was no fyre
to gyt there, and they forgate to brynge any withe theym ; and
so take a wyfe, being grete with child in the towne, and said
to hyr ; ' Where we cannot give the Lord lyght, yet we shall
do this in spyte of hym ; ' and gave her three mortell woundes
7ipon the head, and another in the right syde with a dagger,
whereupon the said wyf is dede, and the child in her belly is
loste" 2 While the Kers were at this brutal business, word
of their coming was brought to Warkworth, and the beacon
at once kindled to arouse the countryside. Answering
fires leaped up from the surrounding hills and castles, and
the Warden's deputies made haste to block every known
pathway to the Border. The Kers, abandoning their in-
tention of burning Whittle, made off by the way they had
come ; and though the breadth of the county lay between
them and safety, and all the roads were alive with armed
men, these daredevil Celts reached the fastnesses of the
Waterbreak without the loss of a single life.

The black deed of which they were accused — the kill-
ing of a woman with child — was unfortunately but too
common a crime on both sides of the frontier ; but it served
so to inflame the passions of the English marchmen, that
Northumberland was able to lead a serviceable force into
the Merse and Teviotdale within three days after the escape
of the reputed murderers. Joined by some Scots horsemen
under George Douglas, the invaders attacked and burned
Coldingham, whence King James had retreated in hot haste.
The towns of Blackhill and " Branerdergast " were likewise
destroyed after heavy slaughter ; while eighty prisoners,
sixty horses, two hundred head of cattle, and corn worth
1000 marks sterling fell into the hands of the English.

■" High and Low Whittle are now two farmsteads, four miles from Warkworth
in the parish of Shilbottle.

'^ Northumberland to the king, Coitoji A/SS.y Caligula^ Book VI. 24.

,C < t S -s '^ 5

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 217

Thus was the poor wife of Whittle well avenged. Moray
attempted reprisals ; whereupon Northumberland raised
2500 men and despatched them across the Border at five
different points. He himself commanded one troop ; while
Sir Arthur Darcy, Sir Thomas Clifford, Angus, and Tempest
each led a separate foray. All were successful except Angus,
who was taken prisoner, and only managed to escape by
bribery and specious promises to his captors.^ The Lord
Warden burnt Raynton 2 and many other places of import-
ance. In his report to the king, he says : — " Thankes be
to Godf we did not leave one pele^ gentleman s house or
grange unburnt or {un)destroyed ; and so reculed to England." ^
Northumberland, after this triumphant raid, wrote to Henry
asking that the ancient privilege granted to Lords Warden
of conferring knighthood upon their most distinguished
followers might be revived in his favour. Wolsey was
held chiefly responsible for the loss of this long-recognised
right ; the last occasion upon which a Warden had knighted
his lieutenants having been after Flodden. Henry, how-
ever, was not inclined to renew the lapsed privilege, and
so returned no answer to the appeal.

There occurred about this time an event of considerable
interest to the Percy family — the death, under suspicion
of foul play, of Josceline, youngest son of the
Percy and fourth Earl of Northumberland, and ancestor of
his hne. ^j^g Percies of Beverley and Cambridge.* Josceline

Percy, who had held Newlands and part of Great Sandal
near Wakefield, died on September 8, 1532, a few days after
making his will. His brother. Sir William Percy, announced
the event to Cromwell on September 19, asking at the same
time for the wardship of the deceased's son and heir, Edward
Percy, then " nine years old," yet, in spite of his tender age,
already " married to one Walterton, a sorry bargain, his

^ Lesly.

2 Raynton or Renton in Berwickshire, the seat of a branch of the Stirling
family.

^ State Papers, December 15, 1532.
^ See Genealogy^ Tables II. and III.

2i8 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

blood considered."^ The "Walterton" in question was
Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Waterton, knight,
of Walton.2 On January 20, 1533, Sir William wrote
again to Cromwell, accusing three of Josceline's servants
— Humphrey Snawdell, William West, and a maid, their
confederate — of having killed their master by poison,
after inducing him to sign a will in their favour. They
then, he declares, took all the dead man's money and
movable goods and went to Walton Hall, where they
were sheltered by Sir Thomas Waterton. Later on, with
the sheriff's consent, an inquest was held at York, the
jury consisting wholly of the friends of Waterton and
the poisoners. Custody of the heir was allowed to Sir
William Percy, but he was only given ;^20 out of his
brother's estate upon which to bring up the boy. Nothing
further is mentioned of the affair in the State Papers ;
but Edward Percy subsequently recovered such of his
father's property as lay in and around Beverley, consum-
mated his juvenile marriage to Elizabeth Waterton, and
was father of Alan Percy, M.P. for Beverley in 1603, and
of Thomas Percy, of "Gunpowder Plot" notoriety. His
great-grandson, Alan Percy of Beverley (who died 1686),
was, after the extinction of the senior line in the person of
Josceline, eleventh Earl of Northumberland, entitled to
inherit the earldom, his blood being unaffected by the attainder
of Sir Thomas Percy in 1537.^ Whether through ignorance
of his rights or lack of sufficient wealth, he never made any
attempt to bring his just claims before Parliament. The
last known male representative of this branch of the family
was the Rev. Josceline Percy, M.A. of Corpus Christi

^ Letters and Papers of Henry VIII.

^ Ancestor of the celebrated traveller "Wandering Waterton." Walton Hall
is within a little distance of Sandal.

' A similar case, in which the heir actually succeeded in establishing his
claim, was that of John Butler of Kilkenny Castle, afterwards fifteenth Earl of
Ormonde. The second Duke of Ormonde had been attainted, and thus
forfeited his title ; but John Butler, belonging to a younger branch of the family,
was unaffected by the attainder, and so succeeded to the hereditary titles and
estates.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 219

College, Oxford, and Rector of Marham in Northampton-
shire, who died in 1755.^

The discontent and lawlessness among English borderers,
which had been stayed for a time by the execution of Sir
Lawlessness William Lyslc and his fellow-outlaws, now raged
at home. niorc fiercely than ever. Lord Dacre sought by
every means in his power to hamper his brother-in-law, the
Warden, in the discharge of his duty; and in 1531 Nor-
thumberland complained to the king that Dacre refused to
deliver up to him some prisoners whom he had illegally
taken. When the royal warrant for the handing over of
the prisoners was sent to Dacre, he coolly " allowed them
to slyp" 2 — preferring that they should be at large, than in
Northumberland's care. The Mayor of Hull was another
delinquent. Seizing upon an English ship which had
towed a Scots prize into the Humber, he returned only
insolent answers when ordered by Northumberland's
deputy, Sir John Lamplaugh, to surrender both vessels
in the king's name. " He wold in no ivies obey^" reported
Lamplaugh, " but with disdcnnous wourdes, and like handelyng
of my said Warden Sargente,causied hym to departe."'^ But
it was the reckless behaviour of his own brothers, Sir
Thomas and Sir Ingelgram Percy, which caused the Lord
Warden most uneasiness. These young men, like their
ancestor Hotspur, had been "marchmen all their lives";
and their sympathies were with the Northumbrians. While
Henry was laying up for himself a store of grief and ill-
health in the stifling atmosphere of the Court, Thomas and
Ingelgram had ranged the borderside, and learned the arts
of war and venerie under old Sir William, their uncle, and
many other captains of renown. When he came to his own
Henry had treated his brothers generously, although him-
self hard pressed for money ; yet there never was much

^ See Genealogy, Table III. See also under Josceline, eleventh Earl of North-
umberland. It is by no means improbable that James Percy, the famous "Trunk-
maker," who claimed the Earldom in the seventeenth century, sprang from this line.

" Cotton MSS.y Caligula, Book I. 124.

•^ Letters and Papers of Henry VIII.

220 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

sympathy and friendship between the new earl and these,
his nearest kin. Thomas and Ingelgram began to consort
with some of the wildest spirits in the North — the survivors
and representatives of those who had defied the king's
power under Lysle and Charleton. Throughout Redesdale
andTynedale they were regarded as leaders of every disturb-
ance, and among their followers and associates were young
Humphrey Lysle (the same boy whom Northumberland
had saved from death in 1628, and who had but a few
months before been released from the Tower),^ John
Heron, the Fenwicks, Swinburnes, Shaftoes, and many
others of good name. Northumberland blamed Thomas
Percy for having ''^debauched Humfrey Lysle, and led hym
astraye from the dutie whych he above all other oweth to the
Kinge" ; so that when Sir Thomas asked for the post of
Deputy Warden of either the East or Middle Marches, he
met with a stern denial, and the coveted office was given to
Lord Ogle, a nobleman of proved loyalty, but ill regarded
by the Northumbrians. Furious at what they deemed an
undeserved slight, Thomas and Ingelgram Percy openly
defied their brother, and ordered their tenants and ad-
herents not to rise at his summons. Such conduct as this
could not be overlooked by the Warden. He never for-
gave Thomas Percy for his share in the troubles which
followed ; and, so far as can be ascertained, the earl and
his heir presumptive were as strangers from that time
forward.

A truce was entered into with the Scots in 1533, chiefly
through the mediation of the French ambassador to Scot-
land, Vido Floreus or Fleury.^ Friendly letters passed
between James V. and his "dear uncle," and in May of
the same year a formal treaty of peace was concluded at
London, to last during the joint lives of the two kings, and
for twelve months after the death of him that died first.*
In the autumn Northumberland disbanded the army which

^ Humphrey Lysle was about eighteen years of age at this time, and had re-
ceived the hoH' )ur of knighthood on his being set at liberty.
2 Buchanan. ^ Ibid.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 221

he had raised with considerable pains, and kept in a con-
stant state of efficiency. Money for the paying off of the
troops was wanting ; and the Lord Warden, with a gene-
rosity scarcely justified by his own resources, took upon
himself the risk of advancing the necessary funds. ^^ For
soo nioche as there was not in the Jiandys of the saidc Syr
George Lawsonj" he writes, ^^ any money from your Highnes
for dissoloynge of the said garyson, I dyde by advice of your
counsaille here shewe myselfe to the advaunceinent of the same
to my possible power, and soo heith dissolved theym for the
tyme." ^ In the same letter to the king he asserts that grave
dissension still existed in Scotland. James had vainly at-
tempted to make peace between the warring factions, and,
despairing of success, had shut himself up in Holyrood
under the pretence that he was " ill of a sorefois."

At the spring Warden Court in 1535 young Sir
Humphrey Lysle (who had disregarded Northumberland's
warnings, and persisted in the lawless courses which
brought his father to the scaffold) was among those
charged with rebellion and treason. Together with
Alexander Shafto, he was convicted and sentenced to
death ; but the two managed to break gaol with the assist-
ance of their friends, and so escaped into Scotland. The
outlaw instinct seems to have been very strong in Lysle,
whose estates, so recently regained, were now again for-
feited to the Crown. Northumberland was accused by his
enemy, Dacre, and by Sir Thomas Percy (who, out of pure
spite against his brother, had allied himself with Dacre) of
showing partiality in this trial ; but a commission sent to
investigate the matter acquitted the earl of the charge.-
Indeed it seems strange that, after Northumberland's
humane and vigorous efforts to preserve the life of
Humphrey Lysle as a boy, he should now desire to
put him to death by unfair means. The accusation was

1 Cotton Jl/SS., Book III. l6l.

2 Among the witnesses whose evidence exonerated Northumberland were Sir
William Eure, Sir Robert Ellerker, Robert Collingwood, Lionel Gray, and
Christopher Milford,

222 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

probably only a piece of revenge on the part of Dacre ;
as, a little while before, the earl had caused him to be
tried for treasonable correspondence with William Scott of
Buccleugh,^ and he had only escaped conviction through
the presence upon the jury of several friends of Thomas
and Ingelgram Percy.

The breach between these young knights and their
brother grew wider as time went on. A certain Sir
Raynold Carnaby had been for several months employed
by Northumberland, as confidential messenger, journeying
to and fro with letters between the earl and the king.
Carnaby, who was a young man of comely presence and
agreeable manners, speedily acquired great influence with
his employer, whose frequent hours of suffering he helped
to cheer by the latest news of London and the Court. In
the North, and especially by the younger Percies, Sir
Raynold was held to be an agent of the king, sent for the
express purpose of estranging the Lord Warden from his
kindred and connections. This view was strengthened by
the fact that Northumberland, on hearing of some fresh
depredations committed by his brothers against Lord
Ogle's tenants, publicly threatened to cut both Sir Thomas
and Sir Ingelgram off from the succession to his estates,
and leave all he possessed to the Crown.^ It is probable
that he did not, as yet, seriously entertain such an in-
tention ; but Sir Thomas Percy, alarmed at the menace,
wrote to Cromwell, bitterly complaining that Sir Raynold
Carnaby had wrought discord between the earl and his
brethren, and asserting that Carnaby's removal could alone
restore harmony in the family.^ Probably it was not to
Cromwell's interest that harmony should be restored ;
at any rate, Thomas Percy's letter was ignored, and
Carnaby continued to act as Northumberland's agent and
friend.

^ state Papers, Scotland ; Chapter House, Part I.

2 It will be remembered that on one occasion the earl had threatened
to disinherit him, and to leave the estates to this same Sir Thomas or his
brother.

" Letters and Papers of Henry VIII,

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 223

It was at this period of the earl's history that his name
became once more Hnked with that 'of Anne Boleyn.
AnneBoieyn The arrangements for the divorce of Henry VIII.
once again, from Katherinc of Arragon had of late proceeded
swiftly ; and it was on every side admitted that, unless
something occurred to change the king's capricious
heart, Mistress Anne would surely reach the goal of her
ambition, and take Katherine's place upon the throne. Her
enemies, led by the Earl of Shrewsbury, sought eagerly
for some means by which her elevation might be pre-
vented, and at length a plan which appeared feasible was
decided upon. The Earl of Northumberland's wife (who
had finally deserted her husband, and was now living
under Shrewsbury's roof) supplied the first hint for this
insidious cabal. Northumberland, in one of the many
painful quarrels between the countess and himself, had
rashly owned to his former love for Anne Boleyn, and the
desire which he had once entertained of making that lady
his wife. A recent writer ^ has it that the earl went so
far as to allege an actual contract of betrothal with
Anne ; and this was certainly the form into which Lady
Northumberland, prompted possibly by her sister. Lady
Dacre, twisted her husband's heedless speech. Remem-
bering the strange, hypochondriacal character of the
countess, and the former false charges which she had
made against her consort, we can attach but little credence
to her statements. "The truth of the case," says De
Fonblanque, "appears to be that Northumberland, hav-
ing in a fit of anger ungenerously reminded his wife of
his early love for Anne, and perhaps expressed his regret
that she had not become his wife, the countess, glad of
any opportunity of injuring her husband, chose to interpret
and to represent these remarks as an admission on his part

^ Paul Friedniann ; Ann Boleyn, a Chapter in English History. Mr. Fried-
mann throughout his book is very unfair towards Northumberland, of whose real
nature he appears to know but little. He speaks of Lady Northumberland send-
ing an account of her husband's remark to her father by letter ; whereas she had
dwelt under Shrewsbury's roof for nearly two years, and was still dwelling there,
when she told him the story of the pretended pre-contract.

224 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

of a previous marriage, and therefore, as far as he was
concerned, of an act of bigamy." i

The Earl of Shrewsbury may have had no hand in
altering Northumberland's words to suit his purpose, but
he was quick to realise the importance of the words thus
altered. Lady Northumberland and her sister urged that
the matter should be laid directly before the king, thinking
thus to end Anne's hope of a royal marriage, and endanger
the life and liberty of Northumberland at one and the
same time. " But Lord Shrewsbury," says Friedmann,
" though an enemy of Anne, was a cautious man. Had he
done as his daughter desired, he would not have gained
much : the letter would have been at once communicated
to Anne, who would have found means to defend herself.
It was accordingly taken to the Duke of Norfolk, by whom
it was handed to his niece. Anne at once chose the
boldest course. She showed the letter to the King, and
insisted that the affair should be investigated. At her re-
quest, Northumberland was sent for, and strictly examined."

Northumberland unhesitatingly contradicted his wife's
allegations. " Before the Council he denied that any pre-
contract existed between him and Anne, and this statement
he solemnly repeated before the Archbishop of Canterbury .2
Anne had once more defeated the plots of her enemies."^
This writer speaks loosely of the earl's " intrigue " with
Anne Boleyn. There is not a tittle of evidence to the effect
that any criminal relations had existed between them. Had
such evidence been forthcoming, it would have been used
at the trial of Anne.

On or about January 25, 1533, Anne Boleyn,* being
with child, was secretly married to Henry in the pre-
sence of a few attendants.^ The name of the priest who

1 De Fonblanque, Annals of the House of Percy, vol. i. p. 427.

2 Before the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. After taking an oath in
the presence of these prelates, the earl heard mass and partook of Holy Communion.

3 Friedmann.

^ She was now Marchioness of Pembroke. Her condition was very noticeable,
and she had the effrontery to boast of it publicly.
^ Archceolo^ia Brittanica, vol. xviii. p. 87.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 225

performed the ceremony is unknown, but Chapuis, in a
letter to the emperor, declares the complaisant cleric was
an Augustinian friar. This description agrees very well with
that of George Brown, who shortly afterwards was made
Prior of Austin Friars in London, and eventually rose to
be Protestant Archbishop of Dublin.^ The marriage was
kept secret for some time, chiefly in order to hoodwink
the Pope, and to delay the issue of a Bull of Excommunicas
against Henry. Meanwhile strong pressure was brought to
bear upon Queen Katherine to resign her rights, and accept
the titles and revenues which had been hers as Princess
of Wales. Katherine proudly refused to take any course
which would impugn the legitimacy of her child, the
Princess Mary ; and was banished by the king's order to
Ampthill. On April 12 Anne Boleyn appeared for the
first time in royal state. A wave of dissatisfaction swept
over England when the news was known. During Anne's
journey to Westminster, on May 31, crowds lined the
streets hooting her loudly and cheering for "the true
queen " — Katherine. When Cranmer, who had been
commanded to officiate at her coronation, made his ap-
pearance in public, he was received with jeers ; and
disturbances of a serious character occurred in various
parts of the city and suburbs. After the coronation,
Anne went by barge to Greenwich, where a week of feast-
ing and merrymaking followed. But with the great mass
of the people — even of those opposed to Roman inter-
ference— the king's divorce, and his hasty remarriage, were
exceedingly unpopular. During Katherine's removal from
Ampthill to Bugden, early in July, great throngs of country-
folk followed her cavalcade, and every village through
which she passed was strewn with flowers. The Princess
Mary, who rode pillion behind her mother's chamberlain,
met with a reception so enthusiastic that Anne Boleyn
bitterly complained to the king. Mary, she declared, in
spite of her " illegitimacy," had been *' treated in every
village as if she were God Himself who had descended from

^ Friedmann.

226 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Heaven."^ But the new queen's complaints were not
listened to with as much attention as of old. Already
the king's passion for Anne had begun to wane ; and
during the period of her confinement, the royal satyr
amused himself with the maids-of-honour (among whom
was Jane Seymour, wanton, roguish-eyed, and by no means
averse to the coarse gallantries of his Grace). Anne was
a woman of spirit, and angrily upbraided Henry for his
fickleness ; only to be told that she had no reason to
murmur, since she herself had played the same part
in Katherine's household which Mistress Seymour and
others were now playing in hers. Quarrel after quarrel
followed.

The birth of a female child,- instead of the eagerly ex-
pected Prince of Wales, still further embittered the relations
of the couple ; and when Anne suffered a miscarriage in
the following year, the king made up his mind to have the
marriage annulled. In vain the Boleyn faction resorted to
the loathsome expedient of sacrificing Anne's pretty cousin,
Margery Shelton, to Henry's carnal appetite, in order to re-
tain their influence at Court.^ The " Defender of the Faith "
grew weary of poor Margery as he had grown weary of so
many others, and she that had left Kent a maid went back
dishonoured and forsaken. The advanced Reformist party
no longer basked in the sunshine of kingly favour, and
Anne's enemies were busily engaged in plotting her down-
fall. The selfishness and arrogance of her father, my Lord
of Wiltshire " and Ormonde," together with the rapacity
displayed by many of her relatives, had greatly increased
the numbers of those who bore her ill-will. For some time,
indeed, her one friend in the North had been Henry Percy,
who, in spite of evil report, continued faithful to the memory
of the Anne that he had loved. But even Northumberland
could not brook the insolence of the queen's kindred. On
December 15, 1534, Chapuis was informed by the earl's

^ Chapuis to Charles V., July II, 1533.
2 Afterwards Queen Elizabeth.
2 Anne Boleyn (Friedmann).

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 227

physician 1 that "the only peer north of Trent who had
remained favourable to Anne," now stood sternly aloof,
having been offended by the overbearing conduct of Lord
Wiltshire, Lord Rochford, and the Boleyns and Careys, their
relatives.2 There is absolutely no proof that Northumber-
land's former love for the queen had been "turned into
hate" (as Friedmann asserts with his usual unfairness
towards the earl).^ Even had he hated her, it was not
in Percy's nature to take any part in the relentless per-
secution of Anne, instigated by Cromwell and Shrewsbury,
and sanctioned by the unspeakably mean and ungrateful
Cranmer.* Yet the loss of this, her last disinterested friend,
was an event of ill omen for the unhappy woman.

The facts concerning the arrest of Anne Boleyn, of her
brother Rochford, and of her so-called " partners in crime,"
Smeton, Weston, and Norreys, scarcely need to
mockery of be repeated here. Suffice it to say that Cromwell's
**"**• stealthy labours and Anne's own reckless vanity

bore fruit at last. Guilty or not— adulteress or only in-
discreet coquette, the young queen's doom was sealed
when she had once passed the dark arch of Traitor's Gate.
To the outside world, however, the certainty of her convic-
tion and execution was as yet unknown. With the rest of
those who were not in Cromwell's confidence, Northumber-
land probably believed that her worse fate would be a sentence
of divorce from the king. The earl was in London, dwell-
ing in one of his houses at Newington Green,^ when her
trial began. Norfolk, as High Steward/r<? tempore, was com-
pelled to summon the jury of peers which met in the Tower

1 This person was in the pay of Chapuis, and had on former occasions acted as
a spy upon Northumberland.

2 Chapuis to Charles V., February 25, 1535.
^ Anne Boleyn (Friedmann).

•» Cranmer had begun life as a servant of the Boleyns, and owed his all to
Anne's favour.

5 He had two mansions — one in the north, the other on the south side of
Newington Green. After his death both came into the king's possession. A
footpath, leading from a corner of the Green to the turnpike road at Ball's Pond,
is known as " King Harry's Walk."— (Thornbury.)

228 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

on May 15 for the purpose of considering the charges against
Anne. It may be that the duke had still some hope of
saving his niece's life ; at any rate, none of the jurymen
whom he selected belonged to the ranks of the queen's
avowed enemies. Besides Northumberland, the nobles
who attended were : the Duke of Suffolk, the Marquis
of Exeter, the Earls of Arundel, Oxford, Westmoreland,
Derby, Worcester, Rutland, Sussex, and Huntingdon, and
Lords Audley, Delawarr, Montague, Morley, Dacre of the
South, Cobham, Maltravers, Powys, Monteagle, Clinton,
Sandys, Windsor, Wentworth, Burgh, and Mordaunt.
Anne's chief foes, Lords Dacre of Gillesland, Hussey, Braye,
and Darcy, were not summoned. The jury was sworn in on
May 15 ; on the following day the trial began in the great
hall of the Tower. Before an hour had passed, the peers
present realised that, instead of being free agents presiding
over a state tribunal, they had merely been called together
for the sake of formality ; and that Anne was already con-
demned by the will of the king. The evidence laid before
them was of the flimsiest nature, proving nothing more than
that the queen had at times foolishly flirted with some of
her courtiers. Smeton, it is true, confessed upon the rack
to an adulterous intercourse with her ; but he recanted all
his craven admissions when he learned that they would not
save him from the gallows. The jury was commanded to
accept the statements made by him under torture, while
wholly disregarding his subsequent retraction. Friedmann
observes that, in his belief, Anne had probably committed
"offences quite as grave as most of those of which she was
accused, . . . crimes which it did not suit the convenience
of the Government to divulge. At the subsequent trial,
some hints to this effect were thrown out, and although
proof was not adduced, they were likely enough to have
been true." ^ No doubt mysterious " hints " and loose state-
ments of this kind were freely produced at the trial, to take
the place of actual proof, and to salve as much as possible
the consciences of the jurymen, who well knew that, even

^ Anne Boleyn^ vol. ii. p. 265.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 229

had they dared to acquit the prisoner, she could not escape
a capital sentence.

What must have been the feelings of Henry Percy when
his old love was led into the hall to go through the mockery
of pleading her cause ! Already he had seen the utter
futility of this pretended "court of justice." Already he
beheld in fancy that fair neck bared to the headsman's
stroke. Anne and he had met when both were young ;
before sorrow had saddened the one, or courtly folly
spoilt the other. The memory of a man's first sweet-
heart oftentimes continues fresh and fragrant through
every vicissitude of life ; and we have learned from
Northumberland's own passionate admission that he still
looked back with longing and regret to the happy days
when he courted Mistress Boleyn, the queen's maid-of-
honour.

It was a woeful fate that made Henry the Unlucky one
of the judges of that day. Norfolk was Anne's uncle ; but
Norfolk had a callous soul that recked but little of another's
pain. To Northumberland, on the contrary, each cruel
accusation against the queen was as a poignard thrust in
his own heart. It needs no great effort of imagination to
depict him as he sat by the High Steward's side : his face
wan and furrowed from sickness and many griefs ; his
frail figure trembling under the splendid robes of state ;^
his fevered eyes now bent upon the ground, now lifted
for a pitiful, fleeting glance at the lonely woman in the
dock. At length, when Anne rose to speak in her own
defence, he could bear th«? horror of the situation no
longer. To save her was impossible ; but at least he
would be no party to her condemnation. He rose from
his seat. Their eyes met for one brief moment. Then
Northumberland turned and went in silence from the
hall.2

^ A nervous disorder had been added to his other ailments, so that even on
warm days he shivered as one in an ague. — {Letters and Papers.)

2 Benger, Memoirs of Anne Boleyn. The official records of the trial state
that all the peers, except Northumberland, pronounced a verdict of guilty against
the accused.

230 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

But of Anne Boleyn's other judges, not one dared to
brave the king's wrath. When the queen had said her use-
Last days of ^^ss Say, the twenty-five peers that remained, after
the queen. g, pretcncc of deUberation, unanimously found
her guilty of the crimes alleged against her. Then, with
an amazing bravery — some say with a smile upon her
face — Anne heard Norfolk deliver the sentence of death.
She was to be burned at the stake or beheaded, according
to the king's pleasure. The court was over ; the ghastly
comedy was played out ; and the mother of England's
greatest queen went back to her cell to prepare for
death.

But even as she stood upon the threshold of the future,
her enemies gave her no peace. They wished, by way of
a last indignity to deprive her of the name of wife — to
make her child a bastard, as the Princess Mary was already
proclaimed to be. A strong party, headed by Cromwell,
favoured the settlement of the crown upon the young
Duke of Richmond, a natural son of the king. But
Richmond's succession was impossible so long as Anne's
daughter, Elizabeth, stood in the way ; hence the desire to
annul the marriage of Henry and Anne. The first step
taken in this direction was the sending of Sir Raynold
Carnaby to the Earl of Northumberland, with an earnest
request to the effect that he should withdraw his denial of
a pre-contract between Anne and himself. Only a few
years before he had in the most solemn manner repudiated
any such engagement or betrothal ; and it is characteristic
of a Court wherein honour and truth were alike disre-
garded, that he should now be asked to avow what he had
previously sworn upon the Eucharist to be false. The
message came directly from Cromwell, but it contained a
strong hint that ready compliance on the earl's part would
atone for his action in leaving the Tower before the con-
clusion of Anne's trial. With the insulting proposals of
the minister Northumberland positively refused to comply.
His letter to Cromwell, in which he repeats the former
disavowal of a pre-contract, is as follows : —

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 231

" Maister Secretary : This shall be to signifie to you that
I perceave by Sir Reginald Carneby that ther is a supposed
Pre-contract between the Queen and me. Wherfor I was not
only examined upon my othe before the Archbishoppes of
Canterburie and York, but also reccaved the blessed Sacrament
upon the sayme, before the Duke of Norfolk, and others of
the Kynges hignes Council learned in spiritual law ; assuring
you, Mr. Secretary, by the said othe and bessed bodye, which
affore I receaved, and herafter entend to receave, that the same
may be to my damnation if there were any contract or promise
of marriage betweane her and vie.

"At Newingtone Grene, the XII daye of May, in the 28th
year of the reigne of our Soveraigne L ord. King Henry the VIII. :
your assured Northumberland." ^

Cranmer was then sent to the Tower for the purpose of
gaining Anne's confidence, and of persuading her, if pos-
sible, to admit what Northumberland denied. He was
instructed to hold out vague hopes of mercy as an induce-
ment to the queen ; but, whether Anne was resolved to
preserve her own dignity and the legitimacy of her child
at all hazards, or whether she had learned to take the
promises of such men as Cromwell and Cranmer at their
proper worth, this cowardly mission proved as great a
failure as that of Carnaby to Northumberland. Unable
to prove the existence of a pre-contract, the king's advisers
sought anxiously for some other pretext upon which to
claim a dissolution of the marriage. One was found in
the statement by Henry himself that he had, previous to
meeting with Anne Boleyn, committed adultery with her
elder sister Mary.^ Cranmer readily affirmed that, according
to the Canon Law, such carnal relations, whether lawful or
the reverse, placed Henry and Anne within the forbidden
degrees of affinity. He then proceeded to " declare invalid

^ Letters and Papers of Henry VIII.

2 Mary Boleyn married in 1520-21 William Carey of an old west country
family, by whom she was the mother of Sir Henry Carey, first Lord Hunsdon,
and ancestor of the Careys or Carys, Earls of Dover and of Monmouth. The
family of Cary, Viscounts Falkland, descends from Sir John Cary, brother of
Mary Boleyn's husband.

232 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

that which he had solemnly declared to be valid," ^ and to
stigmatise as a harlot the woman whose influence had raised
him to high place. This decree had, of course, the im-
mediate effect of rendering the Princess Elizabeth a bastard
in the eyes of the law.

Anne Boleyn was beheaded on May 19, 1536, in the
courtyard of the Tower. Frivolous and simple she may have
been in life, but she went to her death with the courage of
a Joan of Arc. Not twenty-four hours after her death,
while her body still lay in its winding-sheet, Henry VIII.
took to himself another wife in the person of Jane
Seymour.2

Sir Raynold Carnaby, riding post-haste into the North
with the likeliest budget of Court gossip which he had
carried for many a day, was refused an audience by his
patron, the Lord Warden. Northumberland had no wish
to hear of the gay doings at Hampton Court — the jests and
laughter, the music and merrymaking. To his ears came
only the sound of a sexton's spade digging the narrow
grave wherein Anne Boleyn was to lie. He, too, had re-
ceived his sentence of death. His last illness was upon
him ; and in a little while he would follow Anne to the
world beyond. Tossing restlessly upon his bed of pain,
forsaken by all save a few old retainers, he may well have
bewailed his lot in some such words as those placed in his
mouth by the modern poet : — ^

" What joy can fayre earth offer nowe to me ?
Ah, none ! Iwepe that ever I was born.
No more delight I in swete minstrelsy,
Or trumpefs clang, or sound of hunting horn.

^ Wilkins, Concilia, vol. iii. fol. 804.

^ The marriage of Henry and Jane Seymour took place privately at Hampton
Court about 6 a.m. on May 20. Mr. Froude characteristically observes that, in
thus taking a third consort, while the blood of her predecessor was scarce dry
upon the scaffold, Henry '■^ sacrificed himself to a sense of public duty."

^ F. R. Surtees. This graceful effort to copy the sixteenth century style of
versification is entitled " The Lamente of Henry Percye."

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 233

IVAaf boots gyf happiness he cannot bryng,
Phcebtis his bryght rays sheds on Almvick's toivers.
Where birds i?i wodes bedeckt with leafis syng,
Chauntyng melodiousle ifi yon green boivers.
One birde there 7vas, a faulcon^ fitie to vietu ;
Why hynderedfate that I might be her fere.
Whose harte to ??iifie., and tnine to Jiers, beat trew ?
But she is flow tie — and Tm distraught wi' care.
JVhafs lyfe to me, Northicmberland' s proud pere ?
Lyfc without love, is erth ivithout a sunn.
Why dyd the fates then ever place me here,
Why was I dotned lifers cheerless course to run 1
Pale is the crescent of my hope, atidffled
Is all my thought of happiness e'er tnore.
Soon be my days as suvwier shaddows sped,
And soon my breaste as cold as Laplande shore.
But thee, fofid ?nayd, to starry hyght upborne.
Whose name my lips to ^plaifie of scarce may move ;
Thee fyke Philofnel, why II I ever mourn,
Anna / myfyrste, my laste and onlye love."

The doctrines of Luther had made but scant progress in
the north of England, where the old religion was still
The pu- reverenced and adhered by the great mass of the
grimageof peoplc and by nearly all the families of note.
Hall observes that the honest folk of Yorkshire
and the Border counties were " altogether nose-led in super-
stition and popery y This conservatism in matters of faith
and attachment to the proscribed Church was due in no
small measure to the strong Celtic leaven in the Northern
population. The suppression of monasteries and the con-
fiscation of Church lands were not received in Strathclyde
or upon the Eastern Marches with the same apathy as in
the Saxon South. Discontent spread rapidly, fanned by
the lay nobility rather than by the priests. Great gather-
ings of the commons were held at Percy's Cross and similar
places of meeting ; and while loyalty to the king was
everywhere proclaimed, bitter reproaches were levelled at

^ The falcon was the device of the Boleyn family.

234 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Cromwell, Cranmer, and others of his councillors. No
adequate efforts were made to prevent the threatened
outbreak. Northumberland, who, although himself a
sincere Catholic, would have considered it his bounden
duty to suppress any movement hostile to the Government,
lay fettered by sickness at Wressill. Henry, occupied less
by his new religion than by his new sultana, paid little heed
to such rumours as reached him from beyond Trent.
Cromwell deemed the violent demonstrations against his
policy so much idle clamour of the populace. But king
and minister were soon to be undeceived. All that the
men of the North needed to spur them to vigorous
action was a worthy leader ; and this want was soon sup-
plied in the person of Robert Aske of Aske Hall by
Richmond, a gentleman of birth, whose religious enthu-
siasm, natural eloquence, and established courage all com-
bined to fit him for the post. With Aske at the head of
affairs the agitation rapidly assumed formidable propor-
tions. The beacon fires were lit ; the men of six counties
rushed to arms. Early in October, what had appeared
an undisciplined mob, began to present the appear-
ance of a large and well-trained army. Private feuds
and differences were forgotten ; Yorkshire yeomen made
common cause with moss-troopers from Cumberland ;
outlaws from Redesdale and Tynedale marched shoulder
to shoulder with the burghers of York, of Beverley,
and of Hull.

At first the great lords, although they sympathised with
Aske, held back from open participation in the rising.
The Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Durham made
faint protests against violence. Lord Darcy closed the
gates of Pomfret, and sent couriers to London asking for
reinforcements. Sir Thomas Percy, the heir of North-
umberland, took up his residence at Semer near Scar-
borough, the home of his mother, the dowager countess,
and there awaited developments.

Aske's first step was to demand a personal inter-
view with Darcy. He was admitted to the old soldier's

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 235

presence ; and, such were the man's persuasive powers, that
before he left Pomfret Darcy had taken the oath, and en-
rolled himself in the " Pilgrimage of Grace " — the name
now bestowed upon the insurgents. Darcy had only a
few months before seized upon the goods of St. Mary's
Abbey at York and other religious houses for the king.
He now declared his intention of winning back these
properties, and of preventing further confiscation. The
Pilgrims took possession of Pomfret without opposition,
and marched upon York. The sacred banner of St.
Cuthbert was born before them ; Darcy and Aske rode at
their head. Each day brought large accessions to the
ranks ; at every cross-road upon the line of march parties
of horse and foot awaited their coming. The Abbot of
Salley gave them his blessing (Henry had left him little
else to give), and the banished monks of St. Mary's com-
posed a rude song for them to sing by the wayside. These
rhymes are still preserved.^ They consist of sixteen
stanzas of seven lines each, and their character may be
judged from the first and last verses : —

'■'■ Christ crucifyid,
For thy woundes wyde
Us Commons guy dcy

Which pilgrif?ies be ;
Throughe Godes grace
For to purchace
Old welth and peax
Of the Spiritualitie.

Crom, Cram and Riche,"^
With LLL 3 andy"" liche.
As some men teach,
God them attiend ;

1 Letters and Papers 0/ Henry VIIL, 1536, 787.

^ "Crom," "Cram," and " Riche," were Cromwell, Cranmer, and Richard
Rich.

^ The three " L's " were Leigh, Ley ton, and the Bishop of London.

236 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

And that Aske jfiay,
Without delaye,
Here make a stay,
And tvell to endP

Scarcely Tyrtaean strains these ; but the Pilgrims of Grace
needed not the stimulant of martial music. Towards the
king they still professed nothing but fidelity ; but for " the
base-borne heretics around hys grace" they entertained a
lively hate.

Darcy having boldly joined the rising, the other Catholic
nobles and gentlemen of the North took heart of grace.
Percies, Nevills, Scropes, Latimers, Fairfaxes, Swinburnes,
Danbies, Nortons, Tempests, Musgraves, Lumleys, Markyn-
fields, and many others of ancient name, rode out, with their
retainers behind them, to support the rebellious commons.
In most cases they came of their own free will ; but occa-
sionally a little coercion — real or pretended — was used to'
persuade them into rebellion. Sir Ingelgram Percy was one
of the first to follow Aske. His brother. Sir Thomas, re-
frained from taking the oath for several weeks ; but on or
about October 6, he too became a sworn Pilgrim, and was
given the command of the insurgent vanguard.

The following is the deposition of Sir Thomas Percy him-
self, when examined by the Council in February 1537 : —
How Thomas " '^^ Tkoiuas Pcrcyc Knight examined , saith as
Percy re- hereafter doth ensue.

belled. ...

" To the first article he saieth that being at my
Lady's house, his mother s, in Yorkshire, he heard a noise going
abroad, and can remember no person by name that he should hear
it of else, that they were up in Lincolnshire ; but at the first
neither he nor any other did believe the same. And within three
day es after he heard . . . . of one Stringer, that brought a tegg
from Wresill to my said Lady, his mother, that Aske had been
at Wresill and Holden, and there stirred up all the Commons,
and cry ed out at the gates of Wresill, ' Thousands for a Percy V
Then within a daye or twain after, this Examinate prepared

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 237

himself to avoid and steal away from his said mother s house,
to his oiune house ; and took with him but a man or two and
his boy, and because he would not be known he took one of his
sei'vant's coats on him, and led his mail horse himself, and being
two or three miles in his way, he met with two men, whereof
the one was called Percey^ a man with a red face, who asked
this Examinate whether he knew where Sir Thomas was. And
this Examinate answered Jiim that he heard say he was at my
Lady his mother's. Then said the said Percey to this Examinate
that the Commons were then assembled at Malton, and that they
had laid watch in every town to take Sir Thomas Pejxy. A nd
they said they would have him by noon, or else they would leave
my Lady his mother never a penny or pennyworth of goods.
Which this Examinate hearijtg, returned bye and by to his
said mother's house to Semer again. And then he shewed my
Lady his mother that he ivas stopped so that he could not pass
home, whereup07t she wept and sore lamented. And about tufo
of the clock at after noon came a great e many of the Commons,
with three or four gentlemett that were Captains, whereof one
was named Preston, of the other he knew not the names.
A nd the gentlemen entered into the house bye and by, without
any resistance, and inquired for this Examinate, who canie forth
to them to the great Chajnber, where Preston aforesaid declared
unto him how that the Commons, in greate number, were as-
sembled about a thing that should be for the weal of us all {said
he). 'And there be zvith them my Lord Latimer^ my Lord
Nevill, Mr. Danby, Mr. Bowes and divers other gentlemen.
And we are come to fetch you unto them and to swear you to
take such part as we do.' And this Examinate asked what
oathe should that be. And the said Preston read unto him the
same oathe ; which this Examinate said he was content to take,
and so was sworn.

" Then they appointed this Examinate to be on the morrozu
with them at the Wolde beyond Spyttcll. A nd so he did, with

^ This " man with a red face " was William Percy of Ryton, a prominent in-
surgent.

The Percies of Ryton belonged to a distant branch of the family, probably de-
scended from Walter Percy of Kildale, fourth son of William, sixth Baron de Percy.
William Percy, alias Play of Ryton, was Sheriff of York in 1376.

238 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

a dozen or sixteen persons in his company j where there were
within a while a three or four thousand men assembled. A nd
from thence they went to Mr. Chamley' s^ and on the morrow
spoiled his house and his goodes because he was required to
come to them and would not. . . . And going from thence toward
York by Aske's and other gentlemen s commandment to besiege
the same, received a counter mandment from the said Aske,
saying that York was won, and commanding this Examinate
and his company to go toward Hull to helpe them that were
besieging the same, whereupon they went thitherward. And
as they were at Semer, that night about midnight, came word
unto them that Hull was also won, and on the morrow they
received a commandment from Aske to set forward toward
Pomfret. And thither they came, where they perceived that
the same was also won, before they came thither by Aske and
his company. And on the morrow came thither my Lord Nevill
and Mr. Bowes, with a three or four thousand men out of the
Bishoprick? And as soon as the Bishoprick was come, {my
Lord Darcy being then at dinner in the Castle') Aske came in
with the gentlemen of the Bishoprick with him, and brought
them to my said Lord Darcy. Which as soon as he saw them
rose from his dinner and gat him to a window. And there he
and Robert Aske together called unto them my Lord Nevill,
Mr. Bowes, Roger Lassels, S"" Robert Constable, Sir Ralph
Ellerker the younger, Rudston, this examinate and other more.
A nd there my Lord Darcy first declared them that, forasmuch
as he had heard say that my Lord of Norfolk, and my Lord of
Shrewsbury were marching forward towards them, it was
expedient, because Fery bridge was a straight passage, that they
should send thither certain to watch the same that night and to
keep it from the other party. A nd thought best that the Bishop-
rick should go thither and watch it. Then Mr. Bowes answered,
that they of the Bishoprick were come thither but lately, and
both they and their horses were weary, zvherefore he desired that
they might be excused for that night from going thither. Whei^e-
upon all they concluded to send this Examinate and his company.
Sir Ralph Ellerker, Sir William Constable, and the said Rud-
' Cholmely. ^ The Bishopric of Durham,

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 239

stofiy with their companies, being in the whole about the number
of four thousand men to Fery b7'idge aforesaid. And there they
kept watch for that night. And on the morrow came all the
rest of the host to them, save only my Lord Dairy and my
Lord Archbishop of York, with their own retinue which were
left in Pomfret Castle. And the same day they went from
Fery Bridge to a little nunnery beyond Doncaster, besides Robin
Hoods Cross, and there kept the field all that night. A nd on
the morrow came about a thirty horsemen from Doncaster {by
likelyhood) to view their company, and took up two fellows that
were straying abroad. Whereupon the whole host of the north
side pursued after them, and rescued the said two persons.
And as he saith the Lord Darcy and my Lord of York were
left at Pomfret for their ease, because they should not lie forth
that night as the other did, but they were appointed to be with
the host on the morrow, and came other on the morrow, or the
next day after, vnto them to the field against Doncaster. A nd
here began the treaty between both parties.

" Being examined what causes were alleged of the same in-
surrection saith, it was for maintaining of the rights of the
church, for holding up of Abbeys that should be suppressed, and
for maintaining of old usages and customs as zveir used before
time, and for the statute of vses for ingressum takings. Also
there were communication among them, that there should be
money paid for christening and for every plough and divers
other things.

^^ And the chief ringleader was Aske, and he coulde not per-
ceive but that all the other gentlemeii wej'e willing enough in
that matter. And my Lord Darcy was also very earnest in
the matter before other.

" A nd saith that every town found certain men, and the
gentlemen went of their own costs.

^^ Also this deponent had of the Abbot of St. Mary Abbey 20
nobles upoti this Examinate s request, saying that he lacked
money to find his men. A fid saith that Sir Nicholas Fairfox
and Sir Oswald Wolsethoipe caused afterward the Abbot to
come foi^wai'd with his Cross, before the Commons through the
City of York, ivhich as he saith went with a very ill will, this

240 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Examinate thought that Sir Oswald had not been well pleased
by the Abbot. And afterward this Examinate bade the Abbot
steal away from thein, and so he did as soon as they were at the
Town's end, leaving his Cross behind him. Also he saith that
the Abbot of Whitby sent to this Examinate, and at his request,
saying that their going forth was for their cause, four or five
marks and an ambling nag. Also he sent for a gelding to
Walton A bbey and had it.

" A nd examined what comfort they had out of the South
partes, saith that there was a bruit among the Commons that
my Lord of Derby would take their part, but he heard that of
no notable person, as he saith, that he can tell the name of.

^^ And examined how far they intended to have gone, and
what the end of their purpose was, saith that they thought to
have come toward London and to take up the countrey by the
way, and afterward to have spoken with the King, and to sue
for his grace, to have certain statutes revoked, and to have
them punished that were the causes of the making thereof ;
which he heard in 7io council but by a common bruit that went
abroad among the Commons.

^^ Also he saith that the Commons, both at York and also at
Pomfret, called this Examinate Lord Percy, and he, examined
whether he had procured any of them so to do, saith no, but
withstood them as much as he could therein, and prayed them
that they would not call him so. And so lighted off his horse,
and took off his cap and desired them that they would not so
say, for he said that the same would turn him but to dis-
pleasured ^

Further light is shed upon the doings of Sir Thomas
Percy and his brother, Sir Ingelgram, by a document pre-
served in the Record OfBce, and entitled: "A Brief Re-
membrance of the Demeanour of Sir Thomas Percy Knight,
in the County of Northumberland, in the time of the late
Rebellion in 1536." The manuscript, which follows the
affairs of both Percies from October 1536 to the final defeat
of the second rising under Bigod, is arranged in a series of
itemised charges, stating : —

^ Stale Papers, Henry VIII., Northern Rebellion, ist series, 40S-774.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 241

"(l) First hozo tJie said Sir Thomas Pej'cy behaved him-
self in Yorkshire, in setting forward as much as in him was
the East Riding there, and with such number as he could
make ; how gorgeouslie he rode through the Kings Highness city
of York, in compleat harness, with feathers trimmed, as well as
he might deck himself at that time ; which did shew well he
did nothing constrained, but of a willing malicious stomack
against his moste naturall and drede soveraign Lord ; and
what writings he made in his 7iame under pain of deathy as
divers placardes, preceptes and other, signed with his hande; and
made entry upon landes belonging to other the Kinges Highness
true subjects, and how many acts he there did against the dutie
of allegance, the whole countrey there can bear witnesse. But in
the comity of Northumberland, after that, Sir Raif Ellerker and
Robert Bowes was se7it from the Commons at Doncaster to the
Kinges Majesty, partly of his doings hereafter followeth.

"(2) The said Thomas immediately after the meetyng at
Doncaster . . . zuith all speed to his house at Pridhowe ; to
whom at his first comyng resorted the most notable offenders
both of Tyndale and Hexhamshire, that had done most harm to
all the true inhabitants of the country ; and with him was as
familiar as they had been his owne household servaunts, and
especiallie fohn Heron of Chypches^ and his friendes, Edward
Charlton, Cuddy Charlton, Geoffrey Robson, Anthony Errington,
with such other ; which was a greate encouragement to all
malefactors and evil I doers.

"(3) Item, notwithstandyng the said Sir Thomas had
neither authority by the Kinges Majesty ; nor yet by my Lorde
of Northu7nberland, his Highness' s Warden of the East and
Middle Marches, he toke upon him as Lieutenant of the Middle
Marches, and all to th' intent that under the colour of that
office he might move and stirr the Kinges people, and to muster
them at his pleasure.

" (4) Item, immediately after his said comyng, he and his
brother, Sir Ingram Percy, appointed a meeting at Rothebery^

^ Chipchase Castle.

' Rothbury on the Coquet, twelve miles S.W. of Alnwick, and famous for its
forest. Thomas Mangus, the Rector of the day, was a Roman Catholic.

242 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

commanding all the gentlemen of the country to be therefor the
establishment of Tyndale and Riddesdale . . . which, supposed
to the whole country to be true, and of a faithfull meaning,
a great part of the inhabitants of Northumberlatid^ as well
gentlemen as other, resorted thither''

The narrative then goes on to describe how Percy pro-
mised to aid the commons with 500 Northumbrian spears ;
how he spent a night with Heron of Chipchase ; how he
endeavoured without success to induce some of the Scots
lords to treat with him as Lieutenant of the Middle Marches ;
and how he interfered with force to prevent the real Lieu-
tenant, Lord Ogle, from holding a Warden Court.

Sir Ingelgram Percy was accused of having also joined
the rebels, and of supporting his brother in many acts
contrary to loyalty and law. It was also alleged against
Sir Ingelgram that he had spoken despitefully of Cromwell
while at York, " wishing him, being of the Kinges most
honourable Council, to be hanged as high and he might look
u?ito ; and if he were there present, as he wished to God he
were, he would put his sworde in his belly!' The brothers
did not forget their old hatred of Sir Raynold Carnaby,
whom they blamed for setting Northumberland against
them ; and one of their first acts was to harry Carnaby's
lands. Sir Ingelgram audaciously named himself as Sheriff
of Northumberland, and put Sir Humphrey Lysle — but a
little while before an outlaw and a fugitive — in the position
of Under-Sheriff. Having forced John Ogle of Ogle and
others to contribute to the funds of the Pilgrimage of
Grace, Sir Ingelgram publicly swore that ^^ no man shoulde
rule there but his brother and he." ^

Aske was not satisfied with crying "A thousand for a
Percy ! " at the gate of Wressill. He determined if possible
The dying- ^° '^^^ °'^^'" ^^ "^^ixX of Northumberland to the
earl remains side of the Pilgrims. It was true that the North-
°^*' umberland lay "racked with pains and sick unto

death," so that there was no hope for his active participa-

' A Brief Remembrance of the Demeanor of Sir Ingelgram Percy, ^^c.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 243

tion in the rising. But the very name of the chief of the
Percies was a tahsman of wondrous power throughout the
North, and when he that bore it was also Lord Warden
of the East and Middle Marches, the value of alliance
with him seemed to the insurgent leader beyond all price.

In the narrative of William Stapleton,^ we have a full
account of how Aske and Sir Thomas Percy came to
Wressill, with the intention of forcing Northumberland to
take the Pilgrims' oath ; and of how the earl, placing the
obligations of his high office far above the personal
sympathy which he felt for the Northern Catholics, with-
stood threats and fair words alike, and remained loyal at
the risk of his hfe.

Stapleton, a tenant of the Lord Warden, and himself
already sworn as a rebel, was summoned to Wressill Castle,
" where Aske was above with my Lord, moving him to he
goode to his brother, and to make him his Lieutenant of the one
March, and Sir Lngrram of the other ; which in no wise my
Lord would grant that Sir Thomas should have any meddling
under him ; and for that night departed to the chamber where
Sir Thomas and the said Aske lay together. And the said
William, after their departure, sent to my Lord to know his
pleasure, in that he was comen to see his Lordshipp ; who sent
up for the said William, where he saw the said Lord lying in
his bed. And when he saw the said William, he fell in weep-
ing, ever wishing himselfe out of the world ; which the said
William was sore to see. A ndfor that night the said William
departed to his lodgyng in the town at one Humphreyes ; after
which, the morrow, after mass and breakfast, Aske went to
my Lord with his labours again, but my Lord was in the same
mind that he was before. Then Aske moved my Lord if he
would be contented with that he and the Lords would do ; and
what by the general importunacy of Aske . . . he did there-
unto agree, but he would in no wise see the said Sir Thomas,
wherewith the said William ivas halfe angrie with my Lord,
seeing what danger he was in ; for it was openly spoken of the

^ Deposition of Wm. Stapleton, gent. ; Exchequer Miscellaneous Papers,
A, Tf\. p. 167, Record Office.

244 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

field^ ' Strike off the head of the Eafl, and make Sir Thomas
Earl ; ' whereof the said William was sore afraid. Also Sir
Thomas Hiltoji axed the said William where my Lord was
staying ; ^ He is now crept into a corner^ and dare not shew
himself, he hath made a mennye of knaves, gentlemen,'^ to
ivhom he hath disposed Diuch of his livyng, and able now to
do nought himselfe ;' all which wordes, the said William
opened to my Lord, desiring him to speak e with Sir Thomas
for fear of the worst. And at that and all other times, he was
very earnest against the Commons (in) the Kinges behalf and
my Lord Privy Seal's, which then was very dangerous. . . .
And so Aske and Master Percy e departed ; Aske that nyght
to Beverley . . . and Master Percye to Seymer, to my Lady his
mother, the moj'ning after towards Northumberlande as he said."

Still firmly refusing to cast in his lot with the insurgents,
or to place the affairs of the Marches in the hands of either
Thomas or Ingelgram Percy, Northumberland was made a
prisoner in his own house. The garrison of Wressill, all but
two or three faithful servitors, went over to Sir Thomas
Hilton, whom Aske had left as custodian of the place. After
a few days orders came for the removal of the earl, and he
was placed upon a horse-litter and carried to Percy's Inn,
his town house in York.

But in spite of the thoroughly loyal manner in which he
had acted, his enemies at Court endeavoured by every means
in their power to make him out a participator in the rising.
That the wretched Countess of Northumberland and her
sister Lady Dacre were at the bottom of these calumnies is
practically certain. Lord Shrewsbury, from whom the
charges directly emanated, was but a tool in the hands of
his daughters.

Under pretence of reminding the earl that his wife's
allowance was due, Shrewsbury sent a spy to Wressill to find
out if possible that Northumberland had countenanced the
rising, or, as it is expressed in a letter to the king, " to dis-
cover in what case the Erie of Northumberla^id and the

^ I.e. the commons encamped outside Wressill.

•^ An allusion to Raynold Carnaby and his brothers.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 245

countrye there standyth," ^ The emissary was one John
Moreton, Shrewsbury's chaplain ; and not long after he
returned to his master Northumberland was accused at
Court of being in league with the rebels, of having sur-
rendered Wressill Castle of his own free will, and of several
other acts of treason, including the giving to Aske of an
order for certain articles of Percy plate which had been
pledged with the monks of Wressill Abbey.-^

It was not long, however, before this bubble was pricked.
Prior Harry Guyall of Wressill deposed that Northumber-
land had not authorised the taking of the plate in any way ;
but that Aske had demanded it from the monks "under
threats of worse harm." Abundant evidence was also forth-
coming to the effect that the earl had in no way favoured
the rising, and that certain of the fanatical members of
Aske's council were clamouring for his immediate execution.

About the middle of November Aske's army numbered
35,000 men. Sir Thomas Percy, as has been stated, com-
manded the vanguard of 6000 men, mostly veteran horse-
men ; and had hostilities begun at that time the brunt of
the battle must have fallen to his share. But the Duke of
Norfolk, well knowing that the insurgent army vastly out-
numbered the king's levies and was quite as effectively armed
and drilled, came to the conclusion that the only sure plan
of dealing with the rising was by negotiation. He had the
king's authority to parley with Aske, and to ^^ speake him
fayre " ; but this was to be done solely for the purpose of
gaining time, and without the slightest intention of keeping
any promises which should be made. Henry expressly told
his lieutenant to " esteeme no promyse " ^ made to the rebels,
but, having if possible induced them to lay down their arms,
to punish the ringleaders with as much severity as though
they had been actually defeated and taken prisoners in open
fight. It is strange that a man of Aske's intelligence did not

1 Shrewsbury to the king, dated from Wynfell, Nov. I2, 1536: State Papers,
Northern Rebellion, ist series.

^ State Papers, Northern Rebellion, 1st series.

* King to Norfolk : Letters and Papers of Henry VIII,

246 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

suspect some such treacherous design. Old Darcy, who had
learned from experience how absolutely destitute of honour
the king was capable of showing himself, could not be pre-
vailed upon to listen to any of the sovereign's " fair speak-
ing." When Norfolk sent Lancaster Herald to the insurgent
camp with a royal proclamation, it was through Darcy's
efforts that the emissary was refused a hearing. Eager to
wreak vengeance on somebody for this slight, Henry had
the unfortunate herald executed with the butcher's jest that
^^ they shoulde qtiarter him according to the lawes of Amies!'
Aske, however, finally succeeded in bringing the insurgent
chiefs to his way of thinking ; and commissioners were ap-
pointed by both sides to discuss terms of peace. Sir Thomas
Percy, Sir Cuthbert Radcliff, and Sir John Widdrington re-
presented the county of Northumberland at the meeting
which followed. Norfolk, on behalf of the king, announced
that all reasonable reforms demanded by the Pilgrims
should have full and favourable consideration. He also
invited Lord Darcy and Aske to proceed to Court, there to
lay whatever grievances they had before the king and
Council. Darcy positively refused to trust himself in Henry's
clutches ; but Aske was induced to go. He was well re-
ceived, and dismissed with "promises of indulgent con-
sideration." These promises led to the disbandment of the
greater part of the army. Aske himself, with Percy and
many others, returned to their homes. No sooner were
they out of the way than royal troops were poured into the
North. Every important town in Yorkshire was garrisoned
anew; and Suffolk, with the title of High Commissioner,
was placed in control.

A royal commission met at York in January, and, with
absolute disregard of all the promises made by the Crown,
proclaimed that, before any insurgent could obtain pardon,
he must swear to respect all statutes then in existence.
Such an oath would, of course, entirely nullify the labours
of Aske and his adherents. The people felt that they had
been shamefully tricked. Some of those who had not yet
returned home were hastily mustered under Sir Francis

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 247

Bigod. They numbered in all but 500 men ; and, from
the first, their cause was hopeless. Bigod issued a pro-
clamation accusing the king and his lieutenants of having
duped the Northern Catholics, and calling upon the dis-
banded forces to rise in arms. At the same time he wrote
^^ to ye olde Lady of Northumberland, that she would send
her son, Sir Thomas Percy, to come forwarde to be Captayne
of the Coimnons in Yorkshire, in their going forwarde against
the Duke of Norfolke." ^

Long before Percy could take his place as leader of
this second rising, it had been crushed by Suffolk. Nor
can any evidence of value be found connecting Aske or
Lord Darcy with Bigod's ill-advised attempt. Both of
these gentlemen were, like Percy, at their homes ; and, even
had they so desired, could not have reached Bigod in time.
George Lumley, in his Confession,^ says that " the country
was ready to rise again, if Sir Thomas Percy would have
sett forward, for they trusted him before any other man ; "
but he adds that Percy took no part in any hostile move-
ments— a fact which is corroborated by the evidence of
Sir Thomas himself, and of his servants. But Bigod's
proclamation sealed the fate of all those who had been
associated with Aske. The king's letters betray a savage
glee that so good an excuse had been given him for the
wholesale extermination of the Catholic leaders. He was
resolved that, guilty or not guilty, all should perish. When
a rash jury ventured to throw out one of the indictments
"for lack of evidence^' Henry wrote to Norfolk in angry
terms demanding the names of the jurymen, so that he
might bring them to a sense of what was expected from
them, and thus " beate out the mystery!' ^ Eventually Bigod
and George Lumley were found guilty of having risen in
arms against the Crown ; and Aske, Darcy, Sir Thomas
Constable, Sir John Bulmer, Margaret Cheyne (Lady
Bulmer), Stephen Hamerton, Ralph Bulmer, James Corke-
rill, William Thriske, John Pykeringe of Lythe, and others

' State Papers ; Northern Rising. ^ Ibid,

'^ State Papas ; Northern Rebellion.

248 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

of having ^^ aided and abetted the said Francis Bigod and
George Lumley in these before mentioned treasons'' ^

A special commission, sitting at Westminster, sentenced
to death all the accused against whom true bills had been
returned. The male prisoners were to be hanged, drawn,
and quartered at Tyburn, with the exceptions of Aske and
Constable, who suffered at York and Flull respectively ;
while for the unfortunate Lady Bulmer — " a very fayre
creature and a beautiful" - — was reserved the hideous doom of
being carried in a cart to West Smithfield and there burnt
alive.^ But it was not only against the chiefs of the
Pilgrimage that the king's vengeance was directed. The
commons were punished with a fury worthy of the Orient.
" You shall cause such dredful execucion" wrote Henry to
Norfolk, " to be doone upon a good nonibre of these habitants of
every town, village a?id hajnlett, that have offended in this
rebellion, as well by the hanging of them tippon trees, as by
the quartering of them, and the setting up of their heads and
quarters in every tozvn, great and small ; which we requyre you
to do without pity or respect^ Norfolk obeyed his master to
the letter. The miserable commons were put to death by
hundreds, without any pretence of trial. Carcases of men
and women dangled from every village tree or rotted in
the public streets. The statutes against Romanism were
carried out with greater harshness than ever ; and for
months the stake-fires of religious persecution crackled
and blazed in all the northern cities.

The leaders of the rebellion went to their deaths with
fortitude. Robert Aske was ^^ hanged in chains, at Yorke,
till he died;" and a like fate befell Sir Robert Constable
before the principal gate of Hull. On '■^ the second dale of
fune, being Saturdaye after Trinitie Sundaie, Sir Thomas
Percy Knight was drawn from the Tower of London to
Tyburne, and there hanged and beheaded ; and Sir Francis
Bigott Knight, George Lumley Esquire, sojine to the Lorde
Lumley, the Abbot of Gervise, and the Frier of Bridlington
were there hanged and quartered . . . and their heades sett

^ Slate Papers. ^ Wriothesley's Chronicle. ^ State Papers.

/ . -

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 249

on London Bridge, and other gates of London. Sir Thomas
Percies bodie was buried at the Crossed Friers, beside the
Tower of London^ ^ Lady Bulmer died at the stake, " call-
ing for Heaven s vengeance agaynst the Kinge, and all his
seede;" and the rest of those sentenced to death suffered
in due course. For some unknown reason, the life of
Sir Ingelgram Percy, Northumberland's youngest brother,
was spared. He was imprisoned in the Tower for some
months, and then pardoned. On the wall of a cell in the
Beauchamp Tower may still be seen a relic of his incar-
ceration, in the following inscription : —

"Saro Fideli.
INGGRAM PERCY

I537-"
Sir Ingelgram retired to Yorkshire, where he made his will
in 1538. From him James Percy of Dublin, called the
" Trunkmaker," claimed descent on the extinction of the
senior male line ; but genealogists now agree that Sir Ingel-
gram left no legitimate offspring.^

Sir Thomas Percy and the other victims of the king's
wrath were all attainted and their worldly goods confiscated
The sixth to the Crown. The Earl of Northumberland had
earis death, wished to vcst his lauds in the Crown, with a
view to their ultimate reversion to one of his nephews, the
sons of Sir Thomas.

On January 22 he wrote both to the king and Cromwell,
proposing that this course should be adopted. But the
attainder of his brother took from the earl all power of
regulating the succession. The children of the attainted
man were now outlaws ; and the Percy estates must pass,
after the then holder's death, to the king's possession.

Northumberland took the best and most generous course
under the circumstances. He had no quarrel with his

^ Wriothesley's Chronicle.

"^ He had, however, a daughter Isabell, presumably illegitimate, who in 1544
married Henry Tempest of Broughton. An account of the claim of James Percy
will be found on a later page.

250 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

brother's sons, and desired, if possible, to save some of the
ancestral estates for their use. The one way by which this
might be accomplished was to make over the property
absolutely to the Crown, and to trust to the generosity of
Henry or his successors, that, when the young Percies had
atoned for their father's offences, they might receive back
portion of the lost property. Northumberland journeyed by
litter from York to his house at Hackney ; i and in a deed of
gift, dated at the latter place very shortly before his death,
formally presented all his estates to the king. This was pro-
bably done, as Bishop Percy observes in a note to Collins'
Peerage, " by the wise forecast of some eminent lawyers, by
whom he appears to have been directed, in order that the
great family lands, being vested in the Crown, might be
capable, at some future period, of being restored to his heirs,
in which expectation he was not disappointed."

The only conditions which the earl attached to the gift
were that his remaining debts might be paid, and that
during the few weeks he had to live a small sum might
be set apart for his maintenance. Not over much to ask
for, surely ; yet the grasping king, although he accepted
the gift of the estates, positively refused to pay even the
interest on the giver's debts, "and left the poor earl to
linger and die in penury." 2 On March 30, 1537, Nor-
thumberland wrote from Hackney to Cromwell, asking,
if no allowance could be spared him from the estates which
he had unselfishly given up for his nephews' sake, that at
least some of the money still due from his salary as Warden
of the Marches might be paid him by the Treasury.^ Even
this, his undoubted right, was denied to the dying man.

Richard Layton,^ Rector of Harrow, visited Northum-

^ Northumberland's residence at Hackney is described as "afay/'e house all of
Brick, with afayre Hall and Parlour, a large gallery, a proper Chapel and proper
Library to lay books in.^^ It subsequently passed to the Lords Brooke, and Earls
of Warwick ; eventually becoming a lunatic asylum.

^ De Fonblanque, vol. i. p. 475.

3 Cotton MSS., Vespasian, F, XIII. fol, 83.

^ Layton afterwards acquired notoriety as a great suppressor of monasteries,
and "monk-hunter."

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 251

berland on June 28, and found him almost penniless, and
not long for this world. On the same day Layton wrote
to Cromwell : —

^^ Hit may please your Lordcshippe to be advertised that this
Saint Peters day at iiii of the cloke at affternone^ I went to se
the Earle of Northumberlonde^ beying sent for five days paste,
to have come unto hyme, and supposyying to have founde hyme
syke, as I was wonte, I founde him languens in extremis, vara
desirouse to have spoken to me, but hit wolde not be. His syght
began to faile, profiler he cowlde not one perfite worde, his
stomake swollen so gret as I never see none, his face, brest,
stomake, all his bodye as yealowe as saffrone ; his memorie as
yet goode and onderstendynge whatever ys said unto hym, but
speke he cannot. I told hym for his comfortte that ye sende me
to see hyfn, and that ye wolde he shulde take nothyng, and that
your Lordeshipp wyllede hym to be of goode comfortte, and that
ye wolde helpe to spede all his affayres with the King, nowe at
your goyng to the Cowrte ; and I comfortede hym before his
servaunts in your Lordshipps name the beste I cowlde : but the
trowthe is, I suppos, he cannot lyve xiijj ourss. This Hi wekes
be hade no money but by borowyng, as his servauntes declarede
to m.e. He hath made your Lordeshippe and the Bishope of
Hereforthe his executors, and the King his supervisor. I rede
his will whiche me seemeth is of small treasure.

"/ thowght hit to be my dewtye to advertyse your Lorde-
shippe of the premises, supposynge that he will be deade before
this letter comes unto your handes.

^^ From London this Saint Peters day, at nyght, by your
Lordshippes most bounden to commaunde.

" Richard Layton, Preste.^*

Layton prophesied truly when he said that North-
umberland could not live fourteen hours. Between two
and three o'clock on the morning of June 29 the manifold
sorrows of the Unhappy Earl were ended in death. An old
tradition ^ tells that, some little time before he passed
away, the bonds which had for days restrained his speech

^ Letters of Bishop Percy.

252 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

were broken, and he burst forth into a hymn in praise of
the Creator. Only his confessor and two old servants
were with him at the last ; of his kindred and friends there
were none to give him comfort.

Fearing a public scandal, Cromwell persuaded the king
to advance out of the Northumberland estates sufficient
money to defray the earl's funeral expenses. The body
was laid in Hackney Parish Church, whither it was at-
tended by friars of four orders, besides clerks and priests.
Cromwell sent his nephew, Sir Richard Williams,^ to re-
present him at the funeral ; while the chief mourner was
the Lord Butler.^ No person of the name of Percy was
present, nor did any of Lady Northumberland's relatives
attend. The last rites were performed by the Bishop of
St. Asaph and the Abbot of Stratford. A monument
erected over the grave had already disappeared in
1767.^

Earl Henry had not long found rest beyond the tomb
when his widow began to bestir herself in the matter of
The kin what shc deemed her dower rights. As the king
and the had now complete control of the Percy estates,

countess. j^^ ^^^^ j-^^j^ inclination to let any of their revenues
slip through his fingers. But the lady was persistent in
her demands that the allowance made to her by her late
husband might be continued. She was thirty-three years
of age, and had some prospect of remarrying ; but, as her
father, one of the most parsimonious men of his time,
showed no inclination to present her with a dowry, she
desired to secure such provision for the future from the
property of the attainted Percies. Shrewsbury, satisfied
that he himself would not be expected to disburse any
money, succeeded after great difficulty in obtaining for his

1 Sir Richard Williams subsequently took the name of Cromwell, acquired the
estate of Hinchinbrooke, and was the direct ancestor of the Protector, Oliver
Cromwell.

2 Records of the Heralds' Office. This was Thomas, afterwards eleventh
Earl of Ormonde.

^ Bishop Percy.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 253

daughter an interview with the king, Henry heard her peti-
tion with unconcealed impatience, and finally answered :
— ^' Madame, howe can your lady s hype desire any lyffing of
your husbandes landes ; seyifig your father gajfe no money to
your husbande in marriage with your ladyshype ? " With this
excuse she had to rest content for the time ; but powerful
influences exercised in her behalf at Court secured for her
in the end a not inconsiderable portion of conHscated
abbey lands. It is characteristic of the woman, that, al-
though professing the most devout Catholicity, she willingly
accepted this gift, enjoyed it without scruple, and at her
death bequeathed it to her heirs.

There was now no Earl of Northumberland. The
young sons of Sir Thomas Percy, landless and nameless
in the eyes of the law, were dependent upon the bounty
of their father's friends. On October 11, 155 1, John
Dudley, Earl of Warwick, was raised to the dignity of
Duke of Northumberland ; but the title proved one of ill
omen. Two years later Dudley was attainted and be-
headed for his share in the attempted usurpation of Lady
Jane Grey.

By his wife Eleanor, daughter and heir of Sir Guiscard
or Wygarde HarbotelP of Beamish, Sir Thomas Percy
„ . , left two sons, Thomas and Henry. After their

Heirs of . ' r • r 11

a barren father's tragic death, and the confiscation of all
heritage. |^-g j^nds, these children were thrown on the
charity of friends. To the honour of the Duke of Norfolk,
it may be recorded that, although he had been foremost
in suppressing the Pilgrimage of Grace and bringing its
leaders to the scaffold, he honestly endeavoured to find
an asylum for the lads, the elder of whom was barely
in his eleventh year.^ In the midst of the slaughter which
followed the Catholic rising, Norfolk wrote to Cromwell : —
"As to Syr Thomas Percy s chyldren, I have entreated good
Syr Thomas Tempest^ to take the^n into his custodie, they
being at this tyme in the Bushopricke'^ withyn twoo myles
of his house, and Jiave promised hym to have ther costes
payed for." ^

Tempest consented to act as guardian of the landless
heirs ; but when the funds for their maintenance began
to fail, he made application to be relieved of the charge.
No doubt he considered that their mother (who had
succeeded in regaining some of the Harbotell lands), or

1 Sir Guiscard Harbotel fell at Flodden Field, slain, it is said, by James IV.
himself. His daughter, Lady Percy, remarried Sir Richard Holland of Denton,
who died 1548-

2 Rev. Fr. Phillips, S. J., " The Blessed Thomas Percys

3 Sir Thomas Tempest of Tong in Yorkshire, ancestor in the female line of
Sir Robert (Ricketts) Tempest, Bart., of Tong Hall, by Bradford.

* They were protected by tenants of their mother's family.

* Norfolk to Cromwell, July 8, 1537; State Papers^ Henry VHL, vol. v.
p. 92.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 255

her second husband, Sir Richard Holland, should assume
the responsibility. Tunstall, the Roman Catholic Bishop
of Durham, was Tempest's intercessor with the Secretary.
" A /so Sir Thomas Tempest^ at the commaundnient of my Lorde
of Noifolke, hath the sonnes of Sir Thomas Percy in his
kepinge, at his house in the By shop rick ; which house is not
stronge^ but very weyke, and within 16 myle of Tyndal ;
no town betwyx nor nodyr obstacle than the ryver of Tyne
when the water is rysen ; for at low waters ther be 2 fordes
that every man may passe, by whiche thevys niych do annoy
our cou7itrey. I knozv this to be trew by experience, for I
have rydden the same way. He desyreth mych to be rydde
of the custody of them, and dcmandyth of me licence to be
absent for the kepinge off them ; which resonably I cannot
deny, and yet his presence wer veray necessary. Some odyr
place more within the contre, were more mete than his hows,
and the chyldren be yonge, and most be among women.'^ ^

As will be seen, the excuse advanced by Tempest for
removing the lads from his Durham residence, was the
possibility that they might be carried off by marauding
Scots or by their father's friends in Tynedale or Redesdale.
Permission was granted by Cromwell ; and Thomas and
Henry Percy passed the remainder of their boyhood at
Denton in Yorkshire, or at their mother's manor of
Beamish, near Chester-le-Street. In spite of the fact that
they were legally nameless as well as landless, the
Government permitted them to take part in the defence
of the Border ; and from very early years they rode side
by side to muster and foray. Their characters were very
dissimilar : Thomas, the elder, being genial and generous,
but of no great capacity for affairs ; while Henry, on the
contrary, was reserved, harsh to his inferiors, and possessed
of considerable talents and judgment. Both were gallant
soldiers ; but Thomas was by far the more popular of the
two, with all classes of society.

So long as Henry VIII. lived, however, the courage and
good service of the young Percies went unrewarded and

1 State Papers, vol. v. p. Ii8.

256 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

unacknowledged. But immediately after the king's death
Lord Protector Somerset and his Council "restored the
sons of Sir Thomas Percy in blood" — that is to say,
legitimatised them sufficiently to allow of their inheriting
their mother's lands and the surname of their race. Another
step towards the rehabilitation of the family fortunes was
accomplished in 1549, when the elder brother received the
honour of knighthood ; and both Thomas and Henry were
granted the right "to have and enjoy in survivorship all
offices, fees and profits, and to inherit the annuity of
100 marks bequeathed to them by their uncle, the sixth
earl." To this grant, however, was attached a proviso,
specially excluding them from any right to their father's
confiscated estates or to the Percy property vested in the
Crown. Then came the accession of Warwick to power,
and his strutting in borrowed plumage as " Duke of
Northumberland " ; during which time honours and pre-
ferment were withheld from the Percies. But the just
reward of loyalty and patience came at last under Queen
Mary. Henry Percy was knighted ; and to Thomas was
entrusted the important governorship of Prudhoe Castle.
Stout old Thomas Carey, who had ruled the fortress under
two sovereigns, refused to " make waye for any Papist
lordynge" ; whereupon, by order of Council, dated March
14, 1555, Mary commanded him to pay Percy ;^2o compensa-
tion and " wholly to avoyde the said Castel at Whitsuntide^' ^ It
is pleasant to observe that Sir Thomas declined to take the
^20 ; and that he and Carey became staunch friends in
consequence.

Early in 1557 Sir Thomas Stafford, at the head of a
mixed force of French and English Protestants, made a
Earl Percy desccnt upou the Yorkshire coast and captured
once more. Scarborough Castle. The Percies lost no time
in besieging the place, which they won back after two days.
For this exploit, Mary, on April 30, 1557, created Sir Thomas
Percy a peer, with the title of Baron Percy of Cockermouth ;

1 Almvick MSS., vol. i.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 257

and, on the following day, still further ennobled him as Earl
of Northumberland, " in consideration of his descent, constancy,
virtue, and valour in arms, and other strong qualifications !' ^
Both earldom and barony were to revert, in case of failure
of heirs male of Sir Thomas Percy's body, to his brother.
Sir Henry. The earldom was created anew ; so that, strictly
speaking, Sir Thomas was the first earl of the second crea-
tion, and not the seventh earl of the creation of 1377.^ T\\q
attainder of his father was, in fact, never removed ; so that
he cannot be said to have inherited any of the ancient
baronies enjoyed by his ancestors. Yet, in subsequent
reigns, eldest sons of his successors were summoned to
Parliament in right of these baronies ; a fact which, in the
opinion of some authorities, had the effect of creating new
baronies by writ.^ The patent of the new earldom, richly
illuminated, and bearing portraits of Philip and Mary, is still
preserved at Syon House.

Simultaneously with his restoration to the rank of his
ancestors, the seventh (or first) Earl of Northumberland
was granted a large portion of the land which his uncle
had given to the Crown. These estates were, like the
titles, to descend in tail male, with remainder to Sir Henry
Percy.* The utmost joy prevailed throughout the North
when the news went forth that " the sons of Sir Thomas
Percy were restored," and that the lion and luces once
more waved above the keep of Alnwick. Old Bishop
Tunstall sang High Mass in Durham Cathedral ; the bells
were rung backward in church and minster ; and the
honest gentlemen, whose fathers had ridden in the Pilgrim-
age of Grace, flocked by hundreds to give greeting to the
earl and his brother. As for the peasantry, their satisfac-
tion knew no bounds. Oxen were roasted whole on every
village green between Beverley and Berwick ; and all the
beacon hills blazed with bonfires. Northumberland's

^ Fadera, xv. 461, 462.

^ Nicol, Synopsis of the Peerage, and other authorities summarised in the new
Peerage by G. E. C, vol. vi., p. 89.

3 Nicol, Synopsis of the Peerage. , . . Collectanea Topographica et Genealogi<a,
ii. 59. ■* Letters Patent, 4 & 5, Philip and Mary.

258 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

journeys from Beamish to Alnwick and the Border, and
thence southward again to long-empty Topcliffe, were
progresses more than royal in the enthusiasm which they
provoked. And hardly had the excitement time to quiet
down when it was aroused once more by the nomination
of the earl to the post of " Marshal of the Field against
the Scots," ^ Lord Warden of the East and Middle
Marches, and Governor of Redesdale, Tynedale, and
Berwick,^ on May 19, in the same year. A Percy Lord
Warden once more ! The very thought was enough to
make the heart of every true north-countryman beat high.

Wherever the earl went he made friends of high and
low, gentle and simple. This was an enviable faculty which
remained his to the last. He was, says De Fonblanque,
"affectionate and simple-minded, a warm friend, a jovial
and hospitable neighbour, and a kind and generous master ;
devoted to field sports and martial exercises ; and, although
of an indolent and irresolute nature, and possessed of little
intellectual power, yet by no means devoid of dignity, or
of a due sense of the responsibility attaching to him as
head of his house, and as a great Border chieftain ; what
faith would have been placed in the prophet who should
have foretold that, within little more than twelve years, this
kindly and genial nobleman would have lit the torch of
civil war, and passed, through penury and exile, to an igno-
minious death on the scaffold ? " ^

Certainly none in the North dreamed that such a fate was
in store for the Percy, when, at the outset of 1588, he brought
home to Topcliffe his young and beautiful wife, Lady Anne
Somerset, daughter of William, second Earl of Worcester.
Honoured and trusted of his queen ; loved by his people ;
untroubled, as was his predecessor, by ill-health or poverty ;
and married to perhaps the most charming Englishwoman
of her day — such were the happy fortunes of the seventh
Earl of Northumberland at the age of thirty-one.

^ State Papers, Queen to Northern Council, May 19, 1557.

" Fcedera, xv. 468, 472, and 475.

' Annals of the Ho%ise of Percy, vol. ii. p. 9.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 259

The earl's fust step was to set his Border defences
upon a proper footing. This was all the easier, since
, . , men flocked to his standard who had sulked

A wight ,

Lord in the ingles, or lurked ni moor and moss,

Warden. through the twenty years which followed the
Pilgrimage of Grace. His frontier garrisons soon numbered
1 150 men, distributed in bands of 100 and 50, all well
armed and excellent horsemen. Of these, 450 were
" spoyled inhabitants ;' that is to say, Northumbrians who
had been made homeless by Scots raiders, or the still
more cruel foe, religious persecution. The rest were
retainers of his own or of other great Border houses.
There was hardly one of them whose father or some of
his kin had not been implicated in the Catholic rising of
1536-37. ^^ Some" he informs the queen, ^^ are brought to
Gkndale at inoonlyght^ but at other tymes lie where in the
dark there is as much danger and 7nore plenty of food." '^ The
pay ranged from 6d. to i2d. a day — equivalent to from
three shillings to six shillings of our money ; but out of this
the marchmen were obliged to keep and equip themselves
and their horses. The earl urged the queen to increase
the forces at his command ; and, so persistent was he
to this end, that in January 1558 he was permitted to
raise another thousand men to keep the eastern coasts
against combined attacks of the French and Scots. During
the following April, he writes : — " Last Thursday I devised
with my brother to burn a town in the Merse, called Langton,
because it was a place of harbour for their chief officer^ and
there was much corn there. . . . We crossed over with 1000
foot and 100 horse at Norham, burnt the tozvn and a large
quantity of corn, and divers villages thereabout, and took a
great booty of cattle. . . . Lord Hume and all the company
so straightly followed, that my brother, after he had drawn
the horse in order, was compelled to light on foot, and after
a long encounter the victory was on your side; 100 Scots
killed, ^00 prisoners ; English losses not above six, and as many
taken!' ^ Dunse was also burnt and plundered during this

^ Northumberland to Queen and Privy Council, Dec. 21, 1557; State Papers,
Philip and Mary. 2 state Papers.

26o THE HOUSE OF PERCY

expedition, in which Sir Henry Percy and Sir George
Bowes, the Marshal of Berwick, took part. Hume's men
fell upon the retreating English from the direction of
Kelso, with 2000 horse and three bands of foot. The
encounter took place at Swinton. It was a foggy morning ;
and when the Scots foot charged, the English were taken
by surprise, and fell back. The English horse, however,
turned the scale by routing Hume's mounted Borderers ;
whereupon Sir Henry Lee restored order to his retreating
infantry, and the Scots were completely overpowered, after
a stubborn contest lasting long into the afternoon. Many
Scots and French prisoners of note were taken, among
them Lord Keith, son of the Earl Marischal, and ^Uhe
foot-captains, Cullen and Kennedy!"^ Sir Henry Percy,
Sir William Brereton, and Captains Thomas Markham and
Ralph Ellerker displayed signal bravery on the English side.
A curious feature of this engagement was that, in conse-
quence of the damp weather, the powder became useless,
and the fighting was almost entirely hand to hand.^

A project of the Scots Queen Mother for the capture of
Norham and Wark castles was defeated by the vigilance
and prompt action of the Lord Warden in August 1558.
With only a day's notice of the enemy's approach, he suc-
ceeded in mustering a formidable army at Lowick. The
Queen Mother's troops, by dint of forced marches, reached
the woods beyond Wark about sunset on August 2,
deeming their presence wholly unknown to the English.
What was their surprise and mortification when they
perceived the banners of the Warden, the Earl of West-
moreland, and the Lord Talbot floating defiantly between
them and the fortress ! They retreated swiftly, without
attempting an engagement. Northumberland, however,
did not propose to let them escape so easily, and so sent
his brother, Sir Henry, with Sir John Forster and the men
of the Middle Marches in pursuit. Percy and Forster were
met at a point near Cheviot, almost on the border-line, by
a large force of Teviotdale troopers under Sir Andrew Ker,

^ OfCulzean. 2 Ridpath.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 261

son of Sir Walter Ker of Cessford. The sides were fairly
matched, and the fight was one long remembered on the
frontier. Ker succeeded in driving the English back, until
some rising ground gave Percy and Forster the advantage.
Three times the Scots swept up the slope, and three times
were they beaten back with slaughter. Then Sir Henry
Percy, at the head of his men, charged in turn, and drove
the enemy into a morass, where, raked by a heavy fire,
they were forced to surrender. Ker and other gentlemen
were captured ; and the English made their way to
Berwick, burning several villages upon the way.^

About this time there occurred a serious dispute be-
tween Sir Henry Percy on the one part and the Earl of
Westmoreland and Lord Eure (Governor of Berwick) on
the other. Northumberland sided with his brother ; and
it seemed likely that the old feud of Nevill and Percy was
to be revived. The queen, however, exercised her influ-
ence, and ordered the Bishop of Ely and the Master of
the Rolls " to examine the causes of the division . . . and if
possible appease the same, or we must seek other means of
address!'^ So far as Northumberland, Westmoreland, and
Eure were concerned, peace was quickly restored ; indeed,
the two earls became friends from that date, and in later
times we shall see them linked together in misfortune.
But Sir Henry Percy proved implacable. With West-
moreland or Eure he would have nought to do ; and,
rejecting his brother's solicitations and the queen's com-
mands, took himself off in high dudgeon to his mother's
house at Beamish. Indeed, he never forgave Westmore-
land ; and this quarrel afterwards greatly influenced his
behaviour during the Northern Rising.

The early portion of Northumberland's Wardenship was
brought to an agreeable conclusion on the last day of May
1559, when a treaty of peace between Scotland and
England was signed "in the Church of St. Mary" at
Upsetlington.^ The Scots Commissioners on this occasion

' Ridpath. " State Papers, Philip and Mary.

' Probably the so-called " Kirk ofLadykirk" built by James IV. in the parish
of Upsetlington, across the Tweed from Norham.

262 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

were James Earl of Morton, Lord Dalkeith, Lord Home,
Henry Sinclair, Dean of Glasgow, and James Macgill of
Nether Rankeillour, clerk to the Privy Council ; while for
England acted the Earl of Northumberland, Cuthbert,
Bishop of Durham, William Lord Dacre and Greystock
(Warden of the Western Marches), and Sir James Crofts,
Warden of Berwick Castle.^ Sir Henry Percy had been
named one of the Commissioners, but had refused to
serve, being still at odds with his brother on account of
the latter's alliance with Westmoreland.

The death of Mary and accession of Elizabeth wrought
a great change in the North Country. All Catholics were
Death of now uudcr suspiciou, as they had been in the days
^*^= . of Henry and Edward. It is true that the new

Cecil s spies -^

breed qucen was at first favourably disposed towards

trouble. j^^ name of Percy, which had been associated so

tenderly, and yet so painfully, with that of her mother, Anne
Boleyn. But Mr. Secretary Cecil had for the Lord Warden
and all his kin only distrust and bigoted hatred. There is
something in noble name and long descent peculiarly irritat-
ing to the politician of obscure birth, who has wormed his
way into power. As it had been with Wolsey and Cromwell,
so was it now with Cecil. To harass and humiliate the
great northern earl gave a malevolent pleasure to this son of
Saxon peasants. Like Wolsey, Cecil worked by means of
spies. He had spies of every rank and class, from the well-
born who filled their purses by serving him, down to such
creatures as the woman, known as " Madame," ^ who traded
her wretched body to buy secrets for his ear. To the North
he sent several agents, chief of whom was Sir Ralph Sadler,^

1 Ridpath.

^ The life-story of this unfortunate woman was an extraordinary one. It was
she who was sent to spy upon O'More, Prince of Leix, after his capture of " Black
Thomas," tenth Earl of Ormonde,

^ It may interest the reader to learn that the notorious John Sadleir, M.P., who
terminated a career of fraud by committing suicide on Hampstead Heath some
fifty years ago, was a direct descendant of Cecil's Puritan spy. See Burke's
Landed Gentry.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 263

an austere and bigoted Puritan. This individual was ap-
pointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and given a
place on the Commission for the defence of the Border, of
which the Lord Warden was President. Sadler had secret in-
structions from his master to watch Northumberland closely,^
and to report the slightest fault of omission or commission of
which the earl might be guilty. He knew little or nothing
of Border ways or Border warfare, yet he was hardly settled
in his new position than he began to criticise the Percies
and their friends. We have seen how, owing to the dispute
with Westmoreland and its results. Sir Henry Percy had
retired for a time from active service. This fact was seized
upon by Sadler as an excellent opportunity for disparaging
a man who, whatever might be his shortcomings, had
again and again proved himself a most skilful and energetic
leader.

^^ As for Sir Henry Percy J' — thus Sadler, in a letter dated
August 29, 1559, — "/ saw him not yet, for he hath not ben
nere the frontiers synse I came hyther, nor a good whyle before ;
nor do I judge him a man of such integryte as in any wyse may
be comparable to Sir fames Croft} And the Earl, his brother,
is, I assure you a very unmete man, for the charge which is
comytted unto him here!' ^

Again, on September 19, he offers his opinion that Lord
Dacre " woulde be very loth that the protestants in Scotland,
yea or in England, should prosper, if he might let it. And
even of the same sorte is your Warden of the Est and Middell
Marches." ^

Acting on his instructions, Sadler proceeded to thwart

and irritate Northumberland in a thousand ways. No

clearer proof can be found of the absolute unfair-

Northumber- ,\ , . , ,i . , x i ii xu

land resigns ncss With which the carl was treated than the
in disgrust. agent's own letters to Cecil, as preserved in the
Sadler State Papers and elsewhere. Two sets of reports

1 See the Sadler State Papers, vol. i. p. 387.

2 This gentleman had reverted to the Protestant faith.

3 Sadler State Papers. ■* ^bul.

264 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

were regularly sent from the North. One contained state-
ments signed by the Warden and his Council ; the other
consisted of Sadler's secret letters. The former rarely
reached the queen in their entirety, being mutilated or
suppressed to suit Cecil's views ; but the latter, which, need-
less to say, were bitterly hostile to the Northern Catholics,
were carried to Elizabeth immediately on their arrival. For
months Northumberland remained ignorant of this nefarious
course of statecraft. When, at last, it was made clear to
him that he was being duped, and that his every action was
misrepresented at Court, he wrote to the queen, pointing
out that he could not govern the North under such condi-
tions.^ This protest silenced Sadler for a time ; but before
long Elizabeth's ears were again poisoned by every species
of falsehood and insidious half-truth calculated to injure the
earl in her estimation. The very right of appointing his
lieutenants, which had belonged to the Lord Warden from
earliest times, was now assailed and overridden for the
purpose of lessening Northumberland's influence, and, if
possible, of goading the hot Percy blood into rebellion. Sir
Thomas Clavering,^ a brave soldier, but, unfortunately for
himself, a Catholic, had been appointed by the earl to the
Deputy-Governorship of Norham Castle. Sadler now de-
nounced him as " a Scots spy," and Elizabeth was informed
that he had betrayed an important secret to Queen Mary.
The "important secret" was to the effect that the Earl
of Arran, while coquetting with the English Puritans, had
been entertained at Berwick.^ No proof whatever was pro-
duced of Clavering's alleged disloyalty, beyond the facts
that he did not belong to the dominant religion and that
he was a nominee of Northumberland. Cecil made a
personal appeal to the queen for his removal, and he was
accordingly ordered to deliver the keys of Norham, neither
to the honorary governor of the fortress nor to the Warden,

^ State Papers.

^ Ancestor of the Claverings, Baronets, of Axwell Park, Co. Durliam, The
Governor of Norham was Sir Henry Percy.
"* State Papers.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 265

but — to Sir Ralph Sadler ! Before Northumberland could
protest against this unheard-of interference with his pre-
rogative, another case of even more wanton persecution
completely exhausted his patience.

Francis Slingsby of Scriven/ Keeper and Bailiff of Tyne-
dale, had been granted by the queen the use of a house at
Hexham in order that he might be able to carry out the duties
of his office with greater convenience. The favour — a slight
one, seeing that the house had long been unoccupied, and
that Slingsby's presence in the district would conduce to the
preservation of peace — was obtained through Northumber-
land's representations. This was enough for Cecil, who
laboured night and day until he prevailed upon Elizabeth
to withdraw her consent, and Slingsby was ordered to
purchase a mansion in Tynedale for himself if he needed
one.2 The house at Hexham remained empty, as before ;
and Slingsby resigned his keepership.^

Insults like these could no longer be borne. In 1560
Northumberland demanded permission to resign the Lord
Wardenship. Sadler was eager to succeed him ; but Cecil
did not dare to place such a person at the head of northern
affairs, and — to the spy's keen disappointment — the coveted
dignity was bestowed upon Lord Grey of Wilton. Then
followed an episode in which Cecil's cynical insolence over-
reached itself. The secretary, knowing that Grey had no
residence in Northumberland, instructed him to take up
his abode at Alnwick Castle ; which, of course, was not a
Crown possession, but the private property of Northumber-
land. Accordingly the new Lord Warden proceeded thither.
But the rightful owner (by no means forgetful of how his
brother-in-law, Slingsby, had been treated in the matter of
the queen's house at Hexham) was determined that Alnwick
should not be turned into the official stronghold of her
Majesty's lieutenants. Grey found on his arrival that the
earl had ^^ carried aw aye the most parte of the stuff e there, and

' Slingsby had married Mary Percy, one of the earl's sisters. The family still
survives at Scriven in the female line.

^ Sadler State Papers. •' Ibid.

266 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

broken up the brewing vessels, and other necessary implements
of the householde," ^ thus rendering the castle useless as a
dwelling. He urged that he could not remain in the county
" without a suitable house." Northumberland was requested
to restore the furniture taken from Alnwick, but this he
declined to do. The place, he explained, had long stood in
need of extensive repairs, and while these were being carried
out he could not ^^ lende his castell to my Lorde Warden
or anyone else." ^ The repairs took a suspiciously long time,
for in 1562, when it was proposed that Mary Queen of
Scots should visit Elizabeth at York, the earl wrote to Cecil
that he could not receive either sovereign at Alnwick, as the
castle was " utterlie unfurnished, and not so much as one bed,
or any part of household stuff." ^ Lord Grey was forced to
make shift as best he could with Sadler, Sir George Bowes,
and other friends of the secretary.

Having resigned the Wardenship, Northumberland de-
voted himself for several years to hunting and kindred
Trouble amuscmcuts, making his home for the most part
brewing in at Pctworth. But his heart was true to the North
t e ort . Country ; and even among the Sussex downs he
contrived to keep himself well informed of all that passed
upon the Border-side. Indeed, although absent, he con-
tinued to wield an extraordinary influence in the country of
his birth, and private disputes and grievances were frequently
submitted to his arbitration by marchmen who would not
trust his successor to do them justice. His brother, Sir
Henry Percy, who had added largely to his estates and
dignity by a judicious marriage with the only daughter and
heir of Lord Latimer,* remained in the North, and served
valiantly under Lord Grey.^ During the early months of

^ State Papers, February 6, 1 560.

2 State Papers, February 8, 1 560. ^ State Papers.

* Katherine, eldest daughter and heir of John Nevil, Lord Latimer, brought
the barony of that name into the Percy family. This lady's mother was a sister of
the Countess of Northumberland, so that the latter was both aunt and sister-in-law
of Sir Henry Percy's wife.

^ Ridpath.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 267

1563 Northumberland entertained Elizabeth at Petworth ;
and in spite of his avowed Catholic sympathies, and the
strenuous opposition of Cecil, the queen made him a Knight
of the Garter on May 23 in the same year.^

The Puritan party freely asserted (and probably believed)
that the earl's withdrawal from public life was but a pre-
tence to hide deep designs against the peace of the kingdom.
There were rumours that he corresponded with the discon-
tented Northern Catholics, with Mary Queen of Scots, and
even with the Pope and the King of Spain. Cecil's agents in
Yorkshire and upon the Border were extremely anxious that
the chief of the house of Percy should remain as much as
possible on his southern estates. They feared the effects
which his presence might produce among the northerners,
irritated as the latter were by religious restraints and
unsympathetic rulers. In 1565 Throgmorton wrote to
Leicester : — " Let the Earl of Northumberland be stayed in
London ; from all I hear it is very necessary : the papists in
these parts" (Northumberland) ^^ do stirr themselves. Look to
yourselves and to Her Majestie's safetie. . . . Sir Henry Percy
also is dangerous!' ^

A month later the Archbishop of York, in sending to
the queen a list of the principal lords and gentlemen of his
diocese, mentions Northumberland as the chief personage
of Richmondshire. While he admits that the earl was
" too much given to pastime^ and would be better fitted at Court"
he adds that, " his Lordshipp is an open friend of Lady Lenox ^^
and ^^ gives the upper hand to Lord Darnley at tabled ^ More-
over, according to the archbishop, Northumberland was
^^ an obstinate Catholicy

In the spring of 1568 Mary Queen of Scots fled from
Scotland, with the intention of trusting herself to the
"generous hospitality" of her sister sovereign. She was
met at Cockermouth, in Cumberland, by Richard Lowther,

^ Aflstis, History of the Garter.

2 Throgmorton to the Earl of Leicester, May 1565 ; State Papers,

3 Archbishop of York to the Queen and Council ; State Papers.

268 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Deputy-Warden of the Western Marches, who conveyed
her to Carlisle. The news of the queen's arrival was carried
-, _ to Northumberland by some of his Cockermouth

Mary Queen J

of Scots and teuants ; but it is very probable that he had been
^^^' for some time forewarned of her intentions. In
company with the great body of English Catholics, he
regarded Mary as heir-presumptive to the throne ; and
no sooner had he heard of her landing than he became
anxious that the privilege should fall to his share of enter-
taining her at one or other of his seats. The vague tales
of a love-affair between the lovely and unfortunate queen
and the earl must be dismissed by all who examine into
the facts without prejudice. Lady Northumberland was
as eager as her husband to welcome Mary to England;
which could hardly have been were there any foundation
for the morbid stories of the earl's supposed passion for
the Scots monarch. The first (and last) time that the
two saw each other, indeed, was at Carlisle, in the presence
of the Deputy-Warden and a page, and this interview
lasted but a little while. John Leslie, Bishop of Ross,
deposed (when at the Tower in 1571) that, shortly after
her landing in England, Mary had told him that ^^ she
had niony good friendis in the countrey, that did favour her
and stick to her, such as th^erle of Northumberlond and his
Lady, be whom she had inony intelligences and messages." ^

From Topcliffe the earl despatched a letter to Elizabeth,
describing what had occurred. He goes on to say, that
*'for her enterteignment and saftye I have sent to myne officers
and frendes there diligently to attend upon the same untyl
your highness good pleasure be understanded in that behalf ^ ^
Under the same date he writes to Cecil urging that ^^ seeing
she hath happened unto my handes, I trust you, and other my
dear frendes there will be meyne that my credit be not so much
impaired in the face of the country as she should be taken from
tne and delyvered to any other person in these partes'' ^

Without waiting to hear from London, he then obtained

' Btirghley State Papers (Murdin), p. 52.

2 State Fapen. ^ Ibid.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 269

a so-called " order in the queen's name " signed by several
members of the Northern Council, sitting at York ; and,
armed with this document, hastened at the head of a large
escort to Carlisle, fully expecting that Lowther would de-
liver up Mary to his care. But the Deputy-Warden of the
Western Marches was a cautious man, and, being of the
Protestant persuasion, probably doubted Northumberland's
intentions. He refused to accept the earl's warrant ** in
nomine reginae " as authentic, and positively refused to give
up the Scots queen without a direct command from
Elizabeth or her secretary.

Such a rebuff enraged Northumberland to the utmost
degree. He stormed at Lowther as Hotspur might have
done, and expressed his amazement that a mere country
gentleman should presume to play gaoler to a queen. ^ But
notwithstanding his furious words and undisguised con-
tempt, he failed to move Lowther, who would only allow
him to visit Mary accompanied by one page, as though he
meditated carrying her off.

Lowther thus describes the attack made upon him ;
— " The Earl used some rough wordcs towards me, adding too
that I was too mean a man to have such a charge, and that he
marvelled how I dared take it in hand. Afterwards he sent
for me to his lodgging, and growing into some heate and
anger, gave me great threatening, with many evil wordes, a7td
a like language, calling me a varlet, and such others, as I had
7ieither deserved at his handes, neither at any mans, for the
servyce of the Prynce^^^

Sir Francis Knollys, sent in haste by Elizabeth with in-
structions in regard to the Queen of Scots, was met near
Boroughbridge by Northumberland, Sir Nicholas Fairfax,
Sir William Fairfax, Mr. Hungate, and Mr. Vavasor, ^^ being
all unsound in religion!' ^ The earl, according to Knollys,
complained of Lowther's refusal to hand Mary over to his

^ Although the earl spoke slightingly of Lowther's blood, the latter sprang
from a family of considerable distinction. His ancestor, Sir Hugh de Lowther,
had been Governor of Carlisle under Edward HL

^ Lowther to Scroope ; State Papers.

- Knollys to Cecil, May 27, 1568 ; Slate Papers.

270 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

care in obedience to the order of Council. Knollys replied
that ^^ although the Council of Yorke had forgotten themselves^
inasmuch to appointe the assistance of the shier to any other
than to the Deputy e Warden, or to allow of the repair of your
lordship'^ (Northumberland) '■^ to the Queen of Scots, before her
Highness special pleasure knowne in that behalf e ; yet, neverthe-
less, Mr. Gargrave ^ utterlie denied this giving of authoritye to
your lordship to interrupt the Warden in any part of his
chardge, and he saith further, your lordship maid your repaire
firste, and had their allowance and letter of assistance sent
after you ; because they understoode by your letters that the
Queen of Scots was arrived at a house of yours being an in-
convenient place for her safety if her enemies should pursue
her." 2

Northumberland continued his complaints against
Lowther, whom he accused of insolence both to the
queen and to himself. A particular grievance was that
he had not been allowed to pay his respects to Mary
attended as became a person of his rank. Lowther, he
stated, had refused him all access to the prisoner's^ apart-
ments, until he agreed to go thither accompanied only
by a single foot-page, "as thoughe he had been a sus-
pect person!'^ But he obtained no satisfaction from
the Court. Knollys defended the "prudent conduct" of
Lowther in warm terms, and "informed his lordship that
he {Northumberland) had overshot t himself very much, to
the discontentment of her Highness." ^

Cecil had never forgotten his old hatred of Northum-
berland, nor allowed a chance to slip by which he could

1 Thomas Gargrave, Sheriff of York.

"^ Knollys to Cecil. It was true that Mary had landed on one of Northumber-
land's manors, near Cockermouth.

* Mary was to all intents and purposes a prisoner from the time she fell into
Lowther's hands.

* State Papers.

^ Ibid. Lowther acquired some temporary favour at Court by his sturdy
conduct ; but he afterwards fell into disgrace during the plot to marry Mary to
the Duke of Norfolk.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 271

injure the earl without hurting himself. Such a chance
appeared about the time of Queen Mary's flight to
The affair f ^"g'^^^^' -^ rich coppcr deposit was discovered
the copper near Newland in Cumberland on the Percy
'"'"^' estates. The earl had already begun to mine

and sell the ore, when Cecil, hearing through his agents of
what was going on, urged the queen to claim the mineral
rights by plea of royal prerogative, Elizabeth readily
swallowed the bait offered her by Cecil ; and Commis-
sioners were sent down to Cumberland to investigate her
claim — or rather to go through the form of doing so.
The Commissioners unhesitatingly declared the mine to
be Crown property ; but, unable to quite stifle all sense
of fairness, they pleaded that the earl should be allowed
some indemnity, such as an exchange of lands, or a sum
of money, by way of partial atonement for the loss of
his property.^

Cecil, however, set his face resolutely against giving
Northumberland any quid pro quo whatsoever ; indeed,
he urged the queen to claim restitution of the ore already
dug up and disposed of. And as avarice was one of
Elizabeth's pet, inherited vices, she readily consented to
this act of robbery. Northumberland was commanded
to vacate the mine unconditionally, and to pay a heavy
fine for the copper which he had drawn thence before
the Crown put forward its claims.^ This, and similar
acts of gross injustice, serve to show that Cecil — not
satisfied with having driven the chief of the Northern
Catholics into private life — had now adopted the policy
of goading him to the point of armed resistance. A
rebellion of Queen Mary's friends upon the Border would
afford the Puritans an admirable excuse for ridding
themselves of what they considered a menace to their
power.

^ Newburn to the Privy Council, May 1567.

- The order bears date, October 1567. A similar piece of robbery was com-
mitted by Strafford during his term as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in the matter
of the Kilkenny iron and coal mines.

272 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

With such an end in view, the Earl of Sussex,^ an active
Protestant, was made President of the Northern Council. At
first Sussex enacted the role of conciliator, visiting
posed the principal Catholics at their houses, and enter-

CathoUcpiot. tjjining them in turn at his own. Hunting and
hawking parties were of daily occurrence ; and Northumber-
land, who was no bigot, and loved venerie dearly, gladly
welcomed to his forests so keen a sportsman as the new
president. In April 1569 Sussex informs Cecil that he has
been a guest at TopclifTe **with other good fellows." '^ No
doubt while the "good fellows" were talking rather freely
of their grievances, as country gentlemen will, the courtier
kept his ears open for anything which might be construed
into a hint of treason. In September Lord Dacre held a
hunting ; and on the 15th of the same month Sussex enter-
tained the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland,
Lord Talbot, the wives of these noblemen, and "all the
principall gentlemeti and their wyfes of this countrie," in
Cawood.^ It is difficult to understand how such zealous
followers of the chase found time to plot ; yet on October
30 Sussex sends word of a great Catholic conspiracy headed
by Northumberland and Westmoreland, with whom were
leagued the Duke of Norfolk, the Earl of Arundel, Lord
Talbot, and many others. Their objects, he declares, were
the recognition of the Catholic faith, and the liberation of
Mary Queen of Scots. The president concludes by strongly
advising Elizabeth to invite Northumberland and Westmore-
land to Court,^ from whence they might be quietly and
judiciously conveyed to safe keeping in the Tower. If no
conspiracy existed (and it is highly probable that, beyond
natural sympathy with the imprisoned heir to the throne
and a dislike for the treatment meted out to their co-
religionists, the two earls had up to this time behaved with
absolute loyalty), a summons of this kind would almost
certainly help to precipitate one. Too many had been

1 Thomas Ratclifife, second Earl of Sussex.

* State Papers ; Sussex to Cecil.

' Ibid. * Sussex to Elizabeth, State Papers.

THE BOUSE OF PERCY 273

cajoled to London, and then sent to cool their heels in
prison, for Northumberland and Westmoreland to miss the
significance of the royal summons. The case of the Scots
queen was alone sufficient to make them hesitate before
trusting their lives and persons to Elizabeth's care.
Norfolk, too, had just been arrested and clapt into the
Tower. It is hardly surprising that, whether guilty of
conspiracy or not, Northumberland and Westmoreland
should seek to keep out of such treacherous hands.
Accordingly, when Sussex forwarded the queen's bidding
to the earls he received at first only evasive replies.
Northumberland went a-hunting among his boyhood's
haunts by the Tyne, while his wife replied in her absent
lord's behalf to the messenger : — " My lady excuses her
husband s feere upon intelligence from London, or the Cort,
and she assureth, upon her lyfe, her lord will never seke
to stirr the peple on to show any rebellion ; and in the ende
she sente me worde that he would goo to your Mqfestye,
but he wolde firste write to your Majesty, What answer
my Lord of Westmoreland will make, I knowe not ; but suerly
seeing the daily delayes and excuses, I doubt vioche they be
led by ill counsel, and therefore 1 dare not put your Majesty
in hope that they mean to come ; but by all likelihood they will
in the ende either stirre open rebellion, if they may {which I trust
they will not be able to do in Yorkshire), or retire themselves to
some strengthes" {fortress), ^^ or seke to flee ; and therefore the
sooner your plesure is knowen what should be done in every of
them, seeing the matter is now openlie discovered, the speedier
execution it shall have, and, I trust, a shorter end." ^

Presently Northumberland returned from his hunting-
trip, in the course of which it was the opinion of Sir George
Bowes that he had '* seene more game than staggs," i.e.
that he had been consulting with some of his old friends
as to the course to be pursued. Sussex sent to Topcliffe
to meet him, and reiterated the queen's summons to Court.
The reply was a vague promise to visit her Majesty at some

^ Siate Papers ; Sussex to the queen, November I2, 1569.

274 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

future time. Westmoreland, about the same date, sent
a positive refusal — acting at the instigation of his wife, ^
who was then as vigorous in stirring up the Catholics to
rebellion as, in the hour of defeat, in striving against and
betraying them.

Thus reports the President : — " Northumberland promiseth
to come, but he wryteth not when ; the Erie of Westmoreland
refuseth to come for fear of his enemy s^ except he should cotne
in grete force^ which would be cause of offence, and therefore
I intende to write the Queen's commaundments to them for
their repayre to Her Majesty presentlie. My Lady North-
umberland sayeth there will be no troubell ; but I wyll no
more trust any wordes, therefore I pray you give me good
spyallSf for within six dayes, we will see the sequel of these
matters," ^

Such calm defiance of her wishes enraged Elizabeth,
and rendered her more than ever desirous of securing
the earls. Against Northumberland she was especially
bitter, because of his friendship for her hated heir,
the Scots queen. She despatched a hasty letter order-
ing Sussex to call the earls to Court on peril of her
vengeance, and concluding : — " We are the rather moved
not to be zuithout some hope of a better consideration in them,
when they shall perceave that your sending for them is upon
our commandment to cojue to us." ^

In obedience to the royal wish, Sussex once more wrote
to each of the earls : — " The Queen has sent for you on your
allegiance ; if you come your friends will stand by you, and you
need feer no enemies. If you have slipped, your friends will be
suitors for you to the Queen, who never shows herself extre^tte,
and has always borne you affection. If you refuse, you make
enemies of your friends and seal the subversion of your house.
Perform your duty, and do not take council of the wicked, who

' Lady Westmoreland was a sister of the Duke of Norfolk, who had been
arrested on September 15.

- Memorials, November 9, 1 569.

^ Elizabeth lo Sussex, November 10, 1569, Haynes' Bmghley State Papers,
P- 552.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 275

would make you like themselves. If you forsake this my offer ^
and now my last counsel, whatsoever false parasites shall flatter
and tattel in your eares, loke not to escape the plague in this
worlde tJtat God hath appointed to disobedience, and in the worlde
to come the punishment that he hath promised to be dew for it.
And so y my lord, I take my leave, and pray to God he may ptit
into your heart tJte spirit of dew obedience." ^

This missive was carried by the President's secretary to
Topcliffe, and there delivered into Northumberland's hands.
He read it through carefully, and, as Sussex informs the
queen, at first showed ^^ great anger and discontent y Eventu-
ally he bade the secretary say that he would ^^ go to London
in obedience" ; but declined to fix any date for the journey.

That night a hurriedly summoned council was held at

Topcliffe. The voices of Lady Northumberland and a few

others were raised in favour of moderation and

Northiunber- , • • x ,t -i-. i • •

land wiu not submissiou to the queen. But the great majority
to Court. q£ those present, including the Countess of West-
moreland, Leonard Dacre, the Nortons, Markinfield, and
others of influence, counselled Northumberland on no
account to yield himself up, and favoured open rebellion as
the preferable alternative. The earl, in spite of the hard
usage which he had received, shrank as yet from an appeal
to arms ; but he was by no means willing to submit to
almost certain imprisonment, particularly when appealed to
by the unanimous voice of the Catholic North. Queen
Mary was also to be considered. With Northumberland in
prison, the captive heir to the throne would lose a powerful
and devoted friend. The result of the deliberations was a
decision on the earl's part not to allow himself to be
enmeshed in the Puritan web. Next morning he sent a
letter to the queen, professing unaltered loyalty to her
person, but declining to accept an invitation which would
put him in the power of his deadly enemy, Cecil. The
charges of rebellion levelled against him were, he declared,

^ Sussex to Northumberland and Westmoreland, November 12, 1569, State
Papers,

276 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

as yet without foundation. " Yety" the letter continues, " as
the mamtainers thereof in these parts are in some credit with
some of your private counsellors,^ who, as experience has taught
me, have been willing to hear matters to my discredit, I durst
not adventure to your presence, till I had craved your pardon if
I Jiave, through lack of skill, liked that which may not content
your majesty, and till tifne had shown how untrue those slanders
are." 2

After the refusal of both earls to go to Court, it was of
course fully understood throughout the North that strenuous
efforts would be made to take them by force. This the
Dacres, Nortons, and others decided should not be done,
until a guarantee of fair trial was given to the accused, and
pledges were forthcoming that the Border counties should
not be subjected to further religious persecution in the
absence of their natural chiefs. The treacherous massacre
and confiscation which followed the submission of the
leaders in the Pilgrimage of Grace were too recent not to
be keenly remembered. In fact, old Richard Norton,^ the
patriarch of the Catholics, had himself ridden in the
Pilgrimage ; while, as we have seen. Sir Thomas Percy, the
earl's gallant father, was one of the victims of that move-
ment. Without any concerted plan whatsoever, and simply
by way of protection for their families and property, the
gentlemen of the North Country began to arm their retainers.
Sir George Bowes, in great trepidation, wrote to Sussex that
the Catholics had " swept up all manner of weepons that can
be gotten for money ; for this day they boght all the bowes and
arroivs in Barnard Castel, and, as I heere, in Durham." He
added that " they make open call for men for alteracion of
religion, and to spoyle such as wyll not follow ther dyrections ; '
but, very contradictorily, concluded with the opinion that
no serious trouble would ensue, the earls intending to retire
quietly to Alnwick, " without doing of evilH' *

^ Reference is made to Sussex, Bowes, Sadler, and others, all Cecil's agents.
- State Papers, Addenda^ vol. xv. 23, i.

^ Richard Norton of Norton Conyers, who with eight of his sons fought in the
Rising.

■* Sharpe's Memorials of the Northern Rebellion (Bowes to Sussex).

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 277

Apparently without consulting Cecil (who had already
given orders for the arrest of the earls), Elizabeth sent a
private letter to Northumberland and Westmoreland,
couched in the following terms : — " IVe do command yow
upon the duety of your allegeance, furthwith to make your
speedy repayre hither unto us without any delaye or excuse
whatever the same may be. A nd this do we trust you will
not forbeare upon any synister and u?iloyall perswasions, or any
other matter to induce yow to any mistrust without Just cause
or ground ; for so yow shuld vary e from the dutyfulnes^ ivhich
as yow many tymes pryvatly with grete Assurance professid
to usy so have we ever made good accoinpt of the same, and shall
do the lyke, untyll yow shall give us cause of the contrary!' ^

Had the queen addressed herself to the earls directly
at an earlier stage of the proceedings, instead of speaking
through agents and spies whose aim it was to create
discord and incite the Northerners to rebellion, all the
trouble which followed might have been averted. But it
was now too late. There is reason to believe that the
letter was really sent on November 13, but intercepted
and delayed by Cecil until the igth.^ It was then, of
course, too late. Northumberland had been attacked in
his castle by Sussex's soldiers, and had fled to join West-
moreland. Believing themselves already condemned, the
earls had unfurled the banner of St. Cuthbert, and the
Rising of the North had begun, before the belated royal
courier was permitted to reach York.

In spite of the strong party among the Catholics which
clamoured for rebellion, Northumberland determined that
The Rising the first blow should, if possible, be struck
oftheNortii. ^^y their cncmies. Every effort was made to
turn him from this resolution, but without avail. It is a
curious, and, in the minds of some writers, a suspicious fact,
that the two persons most eager to plunge their fellow-

^ Elizabeth to Northumberland and Westmoreland, November 19, 1569,
Ilaynes' Burghley State Papers, p. 552.

'^ Haynes' Burghley State Papers, p. 552.

278 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Northerners into war — Lady Westmoreland and Leonard
Dacre^ — should have afterwards proved traitors to their
party and become pensioners of Cecil. Westmoreland's
virago wife was above all others the prime instigator of
the revolt. At Brancepeth, on November 15, when peaceful
measures were spoken of, "my Lady Westmoreland braste
owte agaynst them with great curses!' ^ She it was who had
persuaded her husband into his refusal to obey the queen's
behest. Lady Northumberland, on the contrary, seems
to have exercised a restraining influence upon her husband,
as long as it lay within her power to do so. The " Ballad
of the Rising," presently to be quoted in extenso, represents
her as entreating him to submission : —

" Now heaven for ef end ^ my dearest Lord,

That ever harm shall hap to thee :
But goe to London to the courte.
And fair fall truth and hones tie 1 "

Of these two dames we shall hear much more : how
she who was mainly responsible for her husband's rebellion
deserted him in days of sorrow, and left him to starve in
a foreign country, while herself enjoying the bounty of
Elizabeth and Cecil ; and how she that had played the
peacemaker for her lord's sake bore poverty and banish-
ment contentedly on his account, and laboured to the last
to save him from the scaffold.

On the night of November 13, Northumberland retired
to rest at Topcliffe after a weary day spent in consultation
with his friend Swinburne and some of the sons of Richard
Norton. Shortly before dawn word came that the castle
was surrounded by the troops of Sussex, and that several
retainers had been wounded and taken prisoners. Lady
Northumberland, to whom the news was brought, at once
aroused her husband. He sprang from his couch, hastily
armed himself, mounted and passed through the park by
a bridle-path, followed by a handful of men. Once clear

^ Uncle of the last Lord Dacre of Gillesland, and claimant of the dignity.
' Sharpe's Memorials,

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 279

of the castle, the little troop set spurs to their horses and
rode northward to Brancepeth, where the Earl of West-
moreland lay with a considerable force.

Sussex, on demanding the surrender of Topcliffe, found
only Lady Northumberland there to meet him ; and was
afterwards bitterly reproached by Elizabeth for thus allow-
ing his prey to slip through his fingers.^ In Dr^ike's Edora-
cum it is stated that "the queen's messengers had nearly
surprised Northumberland, when he escaped by a
stratagem."

Lightly attended as he was, the earl received a royal
welcome at Brancepeth. It was now broad daylight, so
that the beacons could not be lighted ; but couriers were
despatched on every side to summon the Catholic leaders
to a council. Great was the joy of Lady Westmoreland
and the other advocates of rebellion when they learned
that Northumberland had at last abandoned his scruples
against taking up arms. At the outset, however, while all
were for war, there was wide difference of opinion as to
how the campaign was to be begun. Leonard Dacre, old
Richard Norton, Markinfield, and the Swinburnes favoured
an immediate attack upon Sussex and the queen's forces.
Northumberland, on the other hand, advised a rapid cavalry
descent upon Tutbury, where Mary Queen of Scots was
confined. This plan was eminently feasible. Tutbury
Castle was ill fortified and its garrison small. Already
Lord Hunsdon had warned Cecil that such a design might
be carried out : — " Their meaning is to take the Scottish
Queene, and therefore for God's sake let her not remain where
she is, for their greatest force is horsemen!' ^ The liberation
of the heir presumptive to the throne would at once have
lent dignity to the movement, won for it sympathy and aid
from overseas, and drawn to the side of the insurgents many
wavering English lords. But in spite of these advantages, the
scheme was over-ruled, and Northumberland accused of put-

^ Haynes' Burghley Papers, p. 521. The secret path by which the earl left
Topcliflfe Park was still pointed out in Bishop Percy's time.
» Border MSS.

28o THE HOUSE OF PERCY

ting the cause of Mary before that of the Northern Catholics.
A letter from the Pope turned the scale of deliberation.
Pius V. sent his blessing to the insurgents, and exhorted
them to emulate St. Thomas a Becket in refusing to submit
to an excommunicated sovereign.^ This ill-advised epistle
was read amid profound emotion ; and it was straightway
decided to commence operations by proclaiming the Roman
Catholic religion.2 At the last moment a letter arrived from
the Spanish minister in London warning the Northerners
that Derby, Arundel, Southampton, and others, who had
pledged their support to a rising, were now engaged in
making their peace with Cecil ; and strongly advising
Northumberland and Westmoreland "to put no matter in
execution," but to escape at once to the Low Countries,
whither the writer offered to procure them safe passage.
The minister also pointed out that although the Duke of
Alva had promised aid, he could not send it at the time.
But such was the enthusiasm at Brancepeth, that this grave
warning passed almost unheeded. The flag of St. Cuthbert
was flung to the winds ; and Sussex wrote to Elizabeth —
" Those simple earls are in open rebellion !" ^

One man, however, had not been carried away by the
general fervour. Leonard Dacre, erstwhile one of the
prime promoters of the Rising, lost heart of grace at the
Spanish minister's words. Stealing out of the council, he
mounted his horse under pretence of seeking reinforce-
ments, and galloped straight as he might towards
York. Sussex sent him thence under guard to London,
where he threw himself at the queen's feet, divulged every-
thing, and even had the baseness to pray for a command
against the rebels. In a reign teeming with traitors, Dacre
stands forth in evil prominence.^

The discovery of Leonard Dacre's desertion struck a chili

* Lansd(nv>ie MSS. ^ Sharpe.
^ Deposition of l^Vilkinson ; Murdin, p. 225.

* Treachery was in the man's blood. His mother was that Lady Dacre who had
egged on her sister, the Countess of Northumberland, to harass the sixth earl into
an early grave, and who had lied and plotted against the same unfortunate noble-
man under Wolsey and Cromwell,

/*r yv ■:/-/tf feA^e -jflKWC

AUTOGRAPHS OF THOMAS, SEVENTH, AND HENRY, EIGHTH EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 281

to many hearts hitherto eager for the fight. Whom could
they trust now ? Who would be the next leader to play
them false ? ' Dacre's own followers at once rode off towards
Cumberland, there to await their master's bidding. But in
the main, the insurgents stood fast. Lady Westmoreland
and old Norton addressed them fervently ; and the two
earls announced their intentions of standing or falling
by the Rising. Not even Northumberland's unblemished
character for honour and bravery could, however, save him
from some suspicion — for since Dacre's flight each man
looked askance at his neighbour. The earl proposed to
ride to Alnwick, there to raise troops, arms, and money.
He had, as already told, left Topcliffe with only a few
attendants, and carried with him less than ;^i20 — scarcely
enough for his share in a campaign against the royal
armies. To pay the force already mustered he con-
tributed this sum, and also pledged ** his Garter collar and
his plate!' ^ But his proposed journey to Alnwick, though
it would have been productive of much good for the
insurgent forces, caused doubt in certain quarters. West-
moreland had escorted him on his way for about two miles
out of Brancepeth, and was about to bid him farewell,
when the sound of horses in pursuit was heard ; and a
large party headed by three of the younger Nortons arrived
upon the scene. The newcomers implored him to return
at once to Brancepeth, pointing out that his absence had
already bred fear and misgiving among their followers.
For a long time they argued the question, ^^ walking up and
downe there, till the sun was sett, riding nether one way or
other" ;^ but at last, when one Wightman, captain of West-
moreland's levies, sided with the Nortons, the earl (wholly
against his better judgment) was persuaded to return to
Brancepeth. Thus within two days two excellent projects
of Northumberland — the capture of the Scots queen at
Tutbury and the raising of the flag at Alnwick — were
thwarted by his associates. And while these things were

1 The EarPs answers to Lord Huitsdon : State Pa/^ers.
' The Earl's deposition.

282 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

a-doing, the small force of Sussex might have been defeated,
York taken, and the insurrection made general north of the
Humber. It was a bad beginning ; but there was worse to
follow.

Northumberland's reappearance at Brancepeth restored

in some degree the failing spirit of the little army. At the

head of 500 horsemen the two earls descended upon

tionsand Durham, which surrendered after a mere show of

counter- fight. Pilkiugton, who had been made bishop of

measures. o o r r

the diocese after old Cuthbert Tunstall had re-
fused to take the Oath of Supremacy, was expelled ; but
Northumberland protected him from the anger of the troops
and escorted him to a safe retreat. High Mass was then
sung in the cathedral for the first time in many years ; and,
according to Camden, a great bonfire of the Protestant
prayer-books was made in the cathedral yard.^

While time was being spent in this wise, a messenger
arrived from Sussex. The President of the North was in
dread lest the insurgents, by pushing on at once to York,
might crush him before reinforcements arrived from the
South. He appealed to the earls' sense of loyalty to disband
their men and return to their homes. To this Northumber-
land made answer that " t/iey must now seek all the zvays they
could to serve their turn ; . . . for seeing their lives in danger^
they were determined to lose them in the field'' ^

It is likely that the earls would now have marched upon
York, but that they deemed their army too small for the
task as yet. To replenish it, they set about issuing pro-
clamations to the people. The surrounding country was
strongly devoted to Catholicism ; but action was needed,
rather than words, to induce the people to follow St.
Cuthbert's banner. An attack upon York, or the freeing
of Queen Mary, would have done far more for the in-
surgents' cause than a library of proclamations and
the burning of every Book of Common Prayer in the
bishopric.

1 Annales, I, 1 94. ' SiaU Papers, Addenda (1566-79), p, 107.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 283

The first public appeal ^ was issued on November 15,
and dealt exclusively with religious grievances : —

" Proclamation.

" We, Thomas Erie of Northumberland and Charles Erie of
Westmoreland, f Queene's trewe and faithfull Stib'% to all the
same, of this old and Catholiqe Religion : Know f y we, w^
many other well-disposed Persons as well of y' Nobility as
other, haue promised our Faith to ye Furtherence of this, our
good Meaning Fforasmuch as diuers disordered and evil dis-
posed Persons about y' Qu'" Ma'^, haue by their subtill and crafty
Dealings to advance themselves, overcome in this Realme y' true
and Catholike Religion towardes God, and by y' same abused y'
Queene, disordered y Realme, and now, lastly, seeke and procure
y Destruction of y Nobility : Wee therefore haue gathered our-
selues together, to resist by Force, and f rather by the Helpe of
God and you, good People, to see Redress of these Thinges amiss,
w"" the restoring of all ancyettt Customs and Liberty s, to Gods
church, and this noble Realme ; leaste, if we should not doe it
ourselves, we might be reformed by Strangers, toy' great Hazard
of y' State of this our Country, whereunto we are all bounde.

" God Save y' Queene ! " ^

Two days later a second proclamation was issued simul-
taneously in the towns of Darlington and Richmond. It
contained an attack upon Cecil, as well as a threat of
foreign invasion ; and was as follows : —

" Thomas, Earl of Northumberland, and Charles, Earl of
W estmoreland, the Queen's most true and lawful subjects, and
to all her Highness people sendeth greeting.

" Whereas, divers newe sette upp nobbles about the Quenes
Majestic, have and doe dailie not onlie goe about to overthrow
and put down the ancient nobilitie of this reelme, but also have

^ Both this and the second proclamation are said to have been the work of
one Marmaduke Blackston or Blakiston, a gentleman of good family attached
to the rebel cause. (Deposition of Hamelyng, in Haynes' BurghUy Papers,

P- 594-)

2 Harliian MSS., No. 787 (14), fol. 10.

284 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

misused the Queene's Majesties personne, andalsoe have by the
space of twelve years now past, sett upp and inayntayned a newe
found religion and heresie, contrarie to Gods worde ; for the
ajnending and redressing whereof divers foren powers doo
purpose shortlie to invade thes realines, which will be our utter
destruction if we doe not ourselves speedilie forfend the same.
Wherefore we are noiv constreyned at this tyme to go aboute to
amende and redresse it ourselves, which if we shold not do and
forenners enter upon us, we sholde be all made slaves and
bondsmen to them. Tluse are therefore to will and require
you, and euery of you, being above the age of sixteen yeares,
and not sixty, as your duty toivards God doth bynde you for
the setting forthe of his trewe and catholick religion, and as you
value the commonwealth of your contrie, to come and ressort
U7ito us with all spede, with all such armour and furnayture as
vou, or any of you, have. This faile you not herein, as you will
answere the contrary e at your perills.

" God Save the Queen." ^

The fears of Sussex, as to the spread of the Rising, were
by this time communicated to others of the great Protestant
nobles. Lord Shrewsbury implored Cecil to have the Queen
of Scots removed from Tutbury. " The castell," he wrote,
" is very weke and not able to resist . , . and the enemy is
within §4. miles!' ^ The Puritans well knew what an effect
the appearance of a free Queen Mary, with an army to
support her, would have upon the people of the North.

Elizabeth determined to strike a hard blow ; and, if
possible, prevent the further growth of the Catholic move-
ment. Lord Warwick and the High Admiral^ were ordered
to raise between them a picked force of 8000 men for service
against the insurgents. Ships were sent along the coast to
prevent any help from abroad, and, at the same time, to cut
off all chance of escape for the rebel leaders. The Regent
Moray was requested to bring a powerful Scots force
to the aid of his English allies ; but, although special

' Harleian MSS.y No. 6, 990, fol. 44.

^ State Papers. ^ Lord Clinton.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 285

Commissioners were sent into Scotland to this end, Moray
remained neutral. By way of reply to the insurgent pro-
clamations, the queen bade Sussex post counter-notices in
York and neighbouring towns,^ casting as much discredit
as possible upon the earls, their religion, and their following.
The President performed this grateful task with unction,
describing the leaders of the Rising as vile traitors *' who
had never had cai'e of conscience, or respected any religion " — (a
curious accusation in view of the fact that Northumberland
had lost the Lord Wardenship years before on account of
his religion) — *^ but continued a dissolute life till they were
driven to pretend a popish holiness to put false colour upon their
manifold treasons!' ^ The charge of having lived dissolutely
might perhaps have been applied to Westmoreland, who in
his youth had shared the courtly follies of the day ; but
when directed against Northumberland, whose worst vanity
was his honest passion for field sports, and whose life
from boyhood upwards had been beyond reproach, it was
wantonly false, as none knew better than Sussex himself.

The crafty Cecil made use of yet another means of
injuring the Rising. This was by sending an army of
Progress of hireling ballad-writers and hack pamphleteers
the Rising, ^q vilify the carls from an effective, but safe dis-
tance. One Thomas Smith assailed the " bloody-minded popish
traitours " in a pamphlet still preserved ; ^ and was honoured
for his services by a knighthood. Master Thomas Norton,
barrister, said to have been an illegitimate scion of the
Nortons of Norton Conyers, addressed a similar manifesto
to ^* the Queenes poore deceived subjectesy' whom he warned
with mingled sarcasm and virulence against ^^ those good men^
your Erie of Westmoreland and the Other^ in whom no lewd-
nesse lacked but rebellion, which they have now added to make
up their heepe of iniquity." * We have numerous relics of

^ Elizabeth to Sussex, November l S, 1 569 ; Btirghley State Papers.
^ State Papers. ^ British Museum,

^ Blackletter Pamphlet, printed by Henrie Bynneman, 1569 ; preserved in
British Museum.

286 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

the ballads made and sung with the object of turning the
Rising into ridicule ; but it is a curious fact that while
several of the insurgents' songs survive in their entirety,
only scraps of the efforts of Cecil's hired bards remain.
Probably most of the Puritan literature was poor stuff. A
northern churchwarden's account, dated January 1570, ^
contains the entry : — " Item for vij Ballys " {Ballads) " con-
sarning the Retells^ to be sonng ijd."

The North Country men took anything but kindly to
this new method of warfare ; indeed, Cecil's hack-writers
appear to have done their master's cause more harm than
good. In their zeal, the pamphleteers overran discretion,
and the attacks which they made upon Northumberland,
Westmoreland, and old Norton were so extravagant as to
be everywhere discredited. The farthing ballads, too, were
nearly all written in southern dialect — a grave mistake.
Vast crowds flocked to Durham, beside which city the
earls set up their standards. Men of all classes were re-
presented— nobles, knights, landed gentlemen, yeomen,
and labouring folk. But unfortunately for the Rising,
two causes militated against its success. In the first
place, there was a sad scarcity of arms and money with
which to prosecute the war. In the second place, the
leaders, while men of bravery and honour, were fitted
rather to follow than to command. Northumberland was
a soldier, and a soldier of renown, but he lacked most of
the requisites of a commander. Had his brother. Sir Henry
Percy, been at the head of the troops, Yorkshire would have
been raided long since, the stores at York seized, and Sussex
sent flying south. But Henry Percy had chosen another
part ; and the gallant but unskilful Thomas was cursed with
the curse of Reuben. So it fell out that many precious
days were wasted in burning prayer-books that could do
no harm, and in waiting for a Spanish wind that never
blew.

The messages of the royal lieutenants abundantly be-
tray their dread of the great host which was gathering so

1 Quoted in the British Magazine, April 1863, p. 417.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 287

threateningly along the Wear. Sussex pleaded with the
queen to make terms before it was too late. ** All the
wisest Protestants," he wrote, " thinke that you should offer
mercy before you drawe the sworde." ^ And on the same
day he informs Cecil that ^* he is a rare birde that has
not some of his with the two Earles, or, in his heart, wishes
not well to their cause ; and I heartily wish that her Majestie
would quenche all this fire at the beginning by pardon or
force.'"^ On November 16 the Northern Council sent
word that " the people like soe well of their cause of religion,
that they doe flocke to them " (the earls) " in all places wher
they co7ne, and manye gentlemen shewe themselves readie to
serve under your Majestie whose sons and heires, or other
sones, be on the other side."^ Here we have a curious
phase of humanity which was noticeable long years later,
during the Jacobite rebellions in Scotland — father and
son fighting on different sides, the one from conviction,
the other through a desire to preserve the family estates.

As time went on, the insurgent army grew daily greater.
The old Puritan Sadler bade Cecil have a care lest Popery
should prevail. " There be not in all this countrey," quoth
he, ^^ X gentilmen that do favor and allow e of her Majesties
proceedings in the cause of religion ; and the common people
be . . . altogether blynded with th' olde papish doctrine 1' ^
Gargrave, Sheriff of Yorkshire (the same who had been
at odds with Northumberland over Mary Queen of Scots'
captivity), estimated the rebels at 20,000 about the end of
November. But as not one quarter of this horde was
properly armed, the numbers sent to London by Hunsdon
would seem to be nearer the mark. According to the
latter, the Catholic forces consisted of 4000 footmen and
1700 light horsemen, ^^ mostly gentlemen and their depend-
ents y ^ Hunsdon admits that these horsemen were far

' State Papers ; Sussex to Elizabeth, November 1 5.

"^ Ibid. ; Sussex to Cecil.

3 Northern Council (by Ryson) to Elizabeth, November 16 ; State Papers.

* Sadler Papers, vol. ii. p. 55 ; Sadler to Cecil, December 6.

• Hunsdon to Cecil ; State Papers.

288 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

better mounted and in every way superior to any of the
queen's cavalry. We have unprejudiced foreign evidence
to the same effect ; for the French ambassador, Fenelon,
describes these Border troopers as ** en aiissi bon equipage
quit sen peult trouver en Angleterre ;" and Sussex bitterly
laments their superiority to his few hundreds of mounted
men. The infantry, however, were in no such good con-
dition ; and, since money was absolutely wanting, and
they could not scour the countryside and forage like the
hardriders of the Border, these poor fellows were almost
starving. The remainder of the earl's recruits were utterly
undisciplined, and, for weapons, carried only staves, scythes,
pitchforks, and the like.

To resist this force, Sussex had with him at York, on
November 26, only 500 indifferent horsemen and 2000
foot. Moreover, his soldiers were in a state of dangerous
discontent, owing to heavy arrears of pay.^ The reinforce-
ments, eagerly looked for from the South, had not yet
arrived ; and much difficulty was experienced in persuading
the scattered Protestants of Yorkshire to leave their homes.
Queen Mary still lay at Tutbury Castle, and communica-
tions had been opened between her and Northumberland.

It was at this juncture — certainly a favourable one for
their attempt — that the insurgent earls at last broke up
camp and gave the order to march.

Meanwhile, at Windsor, Queen Elizabeth had been
revenging herself upon the Earl of Northumberland in a
^^gj. characteristically feminine manner. Unable to

solemn cere- inveigle the culprit himself into her power, she
'"°"^' procured his degradation from the Order of the

Garter. The obedient heralds proclaimed him a recreant
knight ; ^ and, on November 27, the ceremony of degrada-
tion took place in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, in the

^ State Papers ; Sussex to Cecil, November 26.

^ The proclamation was dated on the same day as the degradation, i.e.
November 27. Three days previously Elizabeth had issued a " Declaration Setting
Forth the Treason of the Earls."

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 289

presence of the Queen herself, the French Ambassador,
and the entire court. The chief officials who acted on this
memorable occasion were : Sir Gilbert Dethick, Garter
Principal King of Arms, and Robert Cooke, Clarencieux.
It may be observed that Norroy, King of Arms (William
Flower), whose jurisdiction extended over "the north
parts of England," was absent, serving perhaps under
the banner of the earls. Norfolk, the Earl Marshal, was
a prisoner in the Tower, and his place was filled by
deputy.

A minute account of the degradation has been pre-
served : —

" Firste, Chester Herrold of A rnies, ivith the Qiieenes Coat
of amies on his backe, came to the backeside of the Stalls of the
same Earle, andy with a ladder being sett up agaynste his
hatchments, ascended to the toppe of the ladder. Then Garter
and ClarentycjilxCy ii Kinges of Amies, Richmond, Rouge
Draggon, and Rouge Crosse, Pursovants of armes, came out of
the Cloyster, havinge the Queene^s Coat of armes on their Backes,
( Waye being made by the Knighte Marshall and his men)
directly againste the Stalk of the said Earle, and Chester being
on the other side, came upon the ladder and strode by the hatch-
ments. Then Rouge Crosse made with a loud voyce the Queene^s
proclamatyon of the Earles degradinge which was under Her
Ma*"' hand {the copy hereafter followeth) ; this beinge reade
over againste the stakes, Chester did hurle doune with violence
the Earles banner of armes to the ground ; then his sworde,
and after his creste and disappor, and after his kelme and
mantle, and after beinge all throune doune, they were with lyke
violence spurned from that place out of the windowe of the same
chappell of Windsore by Garter King of armes aforesaid ; and
after he had spurned, fyrste the Banner of armes, then the
swoard, then the helmete and mantles, and laste the creste and
dissoper, which creste and dissoper was not only spurned out of
the weste door of the same chappell, but cleane out of the otter-
moste gates of the castle." ^

The French Ambassador (who seems to have regarded

1 HarUian MSS., No. 304 (48) Fol. 84 *>.

290 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

the whole scene from much the same standpoint as his
contemporary, Cervantes, might have done), describes how
the lion crest of the Percies was trodden under foot by
grooms and kitcheners, eager to win a smile from the lips
of royalty ; and how this proud token of chivalry and
valour was eventually thrown by the rabble into the castle
ditch.i

The first halt made by the earls on their southward
march was at Darlington. Here, writes Holinshed, they
Theinsur- ^^ lewdly heard Mass, and besprinkled the soldiers
gents march with holy Water!' Northumberland and his

war . i^i-other chief had committed the amazing error of
permitting all the ragged thousands that swarmed to their
banners to accompany the army upon much the same
footing as the disciplined horse and foot. The natural
results soon made themselves apparent. Where a small
and well-armed force could have reached York by rapid
marches, living without difficulty, upon the resources of a
friendly county, this huge, unwieldy, and three parts useless
mass crawled tediously onward, wasting all the available
sustenance, and yet continually tortured by dearth of food.
From a military point of view such a state of affairs was
beyond pardon, and richly deserved the disasters to which
it led.

Leaving Darlington, the insurgents passed without let
or hindrance through Richmond, Northallerton, and Ripon,
until they reached Clifford Moor near Wetherby on
November 23 : —

*' At Wetherbye they niustered their host.
Thirteen thousand faire to see." 2

To this place came a special messenger from the Queen
of Scots (it may have been the famous Dan Carr himself ^),

^ ^^ Et puys jectees aulx fossez." ^tt Recucil des D^peches,'^ov. 1569.

2 " The Rising of the Norths

•* Dan Carr of Shylstock Braes was Mary's most trusted emissary in dealing
with her friends on both sides of the Border, His doings occasioned grave anxiety
both to Moray and Hunsdon.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 291

bringing to Northumberland *' a rynge of gold enamel, requyr-
ing hyvi to remember his promise,' ^ What the promise was,
or where it had been given, we may not know ; but pro-
bably it had something to do with the hoped-for liberation
of Elizabeth's royal victim. The earl already possessed
another token from the hands of Mary Stuart, to wit, a
thorn reputed to have formed part of the crown placed in
mockery upon the Saviour's head. This venerated relic
Northumberland carried, mounted in a golden cross, upon
his breast, until the eve of his execution.^

For a few days the movements of the insurgents were
crowned with success. The infantry succeeded in dispers-
ing the levies which were being raised for Elizabeth's
service ; while the cavalry, led by Northumberland in
person, fell upon and captured a body of 300 horse near
Tadcaster, and so cut off royalist communications with
York. The captured troopers belonged to Sussex's garri-
son, which was thus still further reduced ; and there seems
little reason to doubt that, had the advantage been pressed,
and York itself attacked, the President of the North must
have surrendered.^ It was a golden opportunity for the
two earls, but through irresolution or ill-luck they lost
it for ever.

A royalist diversion from the north, on the part of Sir
George Bowes, was magnified by the chattering tongues of
the great, useless insurgent rearguard into the advance
of a Scottish army under Elizabeth's ally, the Regent
Moray. Fearing to be caught between two fires, the earls
abandoned the siege of York, and fell back upon Durham.
It was not until they reached Barnard Castle that the truth
concerning the supposed " Scots invasion " became known.
Enraged at being duped in such a fashion they fell upon
Barnard, into which fortress Sir George Bowes had hastily
retreated at their approach. Every effort was made to

^ Deposition of Hamelyng, Haynes' Burghley State Papers, p. 594.
2 This '^ spina de corofia DominV^ is still presen'ed at Stoneyhurst College.
^ Sussex had now only 2CXX) men in York, and these, as has been pointed out
were discontented because of ill pay.

292 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

induce Bowes to come forth and fight, but without avail.
It is even said that Northumberland offered to meet him
in single combat, as Douglas had met Hotspur outside
Newcastle. ^ But Bowes was not to be drawn from the
safe shelter of the ramparts. In his own words : " They
every daye come to offer schrymishinge, and beareth in our
Scoutes and Scremagers ; but we take no alarom^ but keepeth
close!' There is an old rhyme, quoted as a taunt in the
north to this day, which had its origin in the prudence
of Sir George Bowes ^ : —

" Coward, a Coward d Barney Castell^
Darena come out to fight the Battell."

The lines, perhaps, formed part of a contemporary
satirical ballad.

Assault after assault was delivered upon the castle ; and,
to make matters worse for Sir George, his men "deserted
to the rebels, dropping over the walls by scores." At last
he was forced to capitulate ; but, although defeated, he had
rendered a great service to the queen's cause. While time
was being spent by the insurgents in reducing Barnard
Castle, Sussex had been given an opportunity to fortify
York ; and the Earl of Warwick and the High Admiral
had advanced to Wetherby with 7000 horse and foot.
The tide had turned ; the days of the Rising were
numbered.

One hope remained for the insurgents. With the help
long since promised from abroad, they might yet win back
The end of ^ost ground. Northumberland attacked and took
the Rising, ^hc port of Hartlepool, from whence an urgent
appeal was sent to Alva in the Low Countries. But if
Alva sent any answer, it arrived all too late.

The earls might have made their escape from Hartlepool,
and left their army to its fate, but this they would not do.

^ This, however, is merely a Northumbrian tradition.
' Bowes to Cecil, November 29 ; State Papers,

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 293

Keeping the port open in case of a Spanish landing,^ they
hurried back to the main body of their forces, which lay
helplessly near Durham. They found hunger rampant
throughout the army. The men clamoured for food, or for
money to buy it withal ; and even the faithful veterans, who
had followed Northumberland in the days of his wardenship,
now drew but little comfort from his words of hope. They
would go with him still, they declared, but they would go
despairingly. As for the undisciplined mob whose presence
had encumbered the army from the first, they were loudest
in their lamentations. Dissatisfaction spread fast, increased
by reports of the royalist advance. Little by little the army
began to melt away. Constable, one of Cecil's spies, saw
men deserting '* by dosens yn severall company es^ compleaning
they wolde be hangged at hojne, or they returned agayn to sarve
wit how t wayges." ^

On November 27 the earls sent a joint " Protestacion "
to the various great lords who, by their promises, had urged
them on to insurrection. But one and all, the worthies
addressed repudiated any connection with " the rebellpeeres"
and this too in spite of the fact that Cecil possessed through
his agents the strongest evidence implicating most of them.
The grim secretary must have smiled, as he compared these
incriminating documents with the fulsome language in which
their authors now addressed the queen. All his former
associates deserted Northumberland now ; even as his an-
cestor, the first earl, had been forsaken and denied by the
very men whose arguments and assurances had drawn him
into conflict with Henry IV. Derby sent the " Protestacion "
to the queen. Arundel and Pembroke, still pallid from their
confinement in the Tower, fawned upon Cecil, and de-
nounced the northern earls. And Norfolk — Lady West-
moreland's brother, the would-be consort of the Scots
Queen, more deeply involved than the rest — even Norfolk
wrote from the Tower to assure Elizabeth of his *^poor

1 The earls have been severely blamed for inviting Spanish aid ; but Elizabeth
and Cecil were equally culpable in regard to the Scots.
■^ Sadler Papers, ii. p. 63.

294 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

honestie," and to swear that he had " never dealt with those
rebcllius persons." ^

By this time Sussex felt himself strong enough to
venture out of York, and a junction was effected between
his forces and those from the south at Allerton on December
10. Next day the insurgent earls issued a last proclama-
tion, calling upon the Bailiff of Richmond to meet them
"rt/ Staneydrop, zvith all able men between xvi and Ix
years as be within Richmond,^* and " with victuals for six dayes
to serve with ally- But the Bailiff, although notoriously
well disposed to the Rising, would not obey the summons ;
while the number of desertions from the insurgent army
daily increased.

Others of the queen's northern lieutenants, who, like
Sussex and Bowes, had preferred the shelter of stout walls
to doing battle with a large and powerful army, now began
to come forth from their retreats so as to earn a share of
the quarry. Among the rest, Sir John Forster (afterwards
the infamous despoiler of Alnwick) raised a belated hue
and cry from the direction of Newcastle. Learning of his
approach, the earls turned to meet him. Forster, to his
surprise, found them not in flight, but advancing to give
him battle at Chester-Dean. In hot haste the discreet knight
turned tail and retired to a safe distance, leaving several of
his men dead upon the lield.^

This was the last effort of the Rising. On December i6
— realising that, with their small and exhausted following,
further resistance was hopeless, and could only result in a
massacre of those who had remained faithful — the earls
decided to disband their troops. The Countess of North-
umberland had joined her husband several days before,
nor could he induce her to leave him even for the sake of
her children.^ Lady Westmoreland, on the contrary, had
hastened to a place of safety, as soon as the first signs of
failure appeared. Bidding a sad good-bye to the poor

^ Haynes' Biirghley State Papers, p. 567.

^ Orig. Slate Papers, RiXord Office.

^ llolinshed. * Northumberland's Deposition,

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 295

remnant of their army, and sharing with them what money
they possessed, the two fallen leaders, and Lady North-
umberland fled towards Hexham. An escort of horse,
mostly friends and retainers, insisted on accompanying
them on their way.

The earliest news of this event reached Cecil through
Valentine Browne, treasurer of Berwick. " The Lord
Rebellesy^ wrote Browne, " at one of the clock of this present
daye have given warning to the comon people to make shifte for
themselves^ and therefore have themselves departed with a grete
number of horsemen ^ westward it is reported!' ^

As a matter of fact, the fugitives had with them little
more than 200, mostly friends and retainers, who refused
to leave them in this emergency.

The courageous Sir John Forster, who had so lately run
away from the insurgents, although his troops were superior
to theirs, was one of the first to learn of the disbandment.
Here was a chance for a gallant soldier to distinguish him-
self in the queen's eyes ! here a rare opportunity to spurn
the fallen crest of Percy ! With 1000 light horsemen Sir
John sped in pursuit. Sussex was not far behind with 1500
horse and 600 arquebusiers ; and in the rear of the chase
lumbered the infantry of Warwick and the High Admiral.
Even Sir Henry Percy made a loyal show of pursuing his
brother ! ^

At Hexham the earls were denied admittance ; and here
they bade farewell to the greater part of their escort. Only
Richard Norton, two of his sturdy sons, and a few retainers
accompanied them farther. Their aim was to throw them-
selves upon the generosity of Leonard Dacre at Naworth
Castle, for at least one night, before seeking refuge across
the Scottish Border. Their route lay along the Carlisle road,
by Haltwhistle to Naworth. At the latter place they were
doomed to disappointment. Leonard Dacre not only refused
to receive them, but even threatened to join in the pursuit.
His brother, Edmond Dacre, begged that at least Lady

^ Valentine Browne to Cecil, Dec. 6 ; State Papers,

2 At least so Cecil told Sir Henry Norris. See Cabala, p. 159.

296 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Northumberland, worn out by her long ride, and the priva-
tions of the last week, should be given an asylum. ^^ For
surely if there were ever honour ^ goodness, and virtue in any
woman" he pleaded, " they are in her" ^ But Leonard,
late the orator of the Rising, shook his head, and vowed
that he would shelter no rebels. Lest worse might befall
them, the little party pressed wearily onward. The Secre-
tary of State tells with unction of their flight : The i6th
hereof they broke up their sorry army, the i %th they entered into
Northu7nberland, and on the igth into the mountains. They
have scattered all their footmen, willing them to shift for them-
selves, and of one thousand horsemen there fled but few hundred.
By this time they be fewer, and I trust either taken or fled
into Scotland, where the Regent Murray is in good readiness to
chase them to their ruin." ^

For greater security Norton and others left fhe earls
near the Border. These last, with Lady Northumberland
and one or two devoted servants, crossed into Liddesdale :
** The Erles rebells and their principal confederates do lurk
and hide themselves in the woodds and deserts of Lyddesdale,
but if they tarry on the borders there is good hope to have sotne
of them or it be long. The greatest fear is of their escape by the
sea. There is no doubt but that the Regent will do all he can to
get those rebells into his own handes." ^ Thus Sir Ralph Sadler
to his master.

So ended the Rising of the North — famous in song and
story. Rashly begun, all wrongly planned, the insurrec-
tion had been foredoomed to failure. The lot of the
northern Catholics was as hard to bear as that of the
French Huguenots ; but it had been better far for the
former to have acted — as did the Huguenots — upon the
defensive, against persecution and religious intolerance,
than to have rushed blindly into war without adequate re-
sources, and without adequate leadership. Their failure
placed them, bound hand and foot, in the power of Cecil.

' State Papers.

■^ Cecil to Norris, 24th December 1569 ; Cabala, p. 159.

* Sadler to Cecil ; Sadler Stale Papers, vol. ii. p. 70.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 297

Already the axe was being sharpened for the foohsh heads
of those ^^ good fellowes," — the Percies, Nevills, and Nortons
— that had thought to cope with the most cunning and
unscrupulous man in England. Already the rope was
dangling from the cross-tree for many an honest yeoman,
who had gone forth trustingly to fight for the faith in
which he had been bred. Already the gentry of the robe
laboured lovingly upon those parchments, which were to
uproot many an old northern stock from the soil in which
it had thriven. And already, with expectant eyes, the godly
Sadlers and grasping Forsters waited for " Popish spoils."

But in spite of all the sufferings which the rebellion
entailed the hearts of the north-country folk went out to
their late chiefs, and to Northumberland's devoted wife,
sleeping with the hill-fox, wandering by night through the
heather, and lurking forlorn and hunted still, among the
wild freebooters of Liddesdale.

An echo of this feeling of loyalty to the outlawed earls,
finds expression in that rare old ballad which Bishop Percy,
long afterwards, took down from the lips of the people : —

" Listen, lively lor dings all,
Lithe a?td listen unto mee,
And I will sing of a noble Earle,

2'he noblest Earle in the North Coiaitrih

Earle Percy is into his garden gone,
And after him walkes his faire ladi} ;

' / heard a bird sing in niyne eare.
That / 77iust either fight or flee.'

' Noiv heaven forefend, my dearest lord.
That ever such harm should hap to thee :

But goe to London to the co2irte,
And fair fall truth and hones tih I '

^ Reliques of Ancient English Poetry.

298 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

' Noiv nay, tunv nay, my ladye gay,
Alas 1 thy coimsell stilts not fiiee ;

Myne enemies prevail so fast,

That at the courte I may not bee.'

' O goe to the courte yet, good my lord,
And take thy gallant men with thee :

If any dare to doe you wrong.

Then your warrant they may bee.'

^ No7v nay, now nay, thou lady fa Ire,

The courte is full of subtlltie ;
And if I goe to the courte, lady,

Never Jtiore may I thee see.'

' Yet goe to the courte, my lord' she sayes,
'And I my self e will ryde 7f'/' thee :

At courte then for my dearest lord.
His faithfull borrowe "^ I zuill bee.'

' How nay, now nay, my lady deare ;

Far lever had I lose my life,
Than leave among my cruell faes

My love lit jeopardy and strife.

'But come thou hither, fny little foot-page

Come thou hither unto ?nee.
To maister Norton thou must goe

In all the haste that ever may bee.

' Commend me to that gentleman,
And beare this letter here fro mee ;

And say that earnestly I pray e.
He will ryde in my companie'

One while the little foot-page went,

And another while he rati ;
Untill he came to Ids journey's end ;

The little foot-page never blan."

' " 'S>oxxoyiQ," surety, hostage, "^ "^Xaxi" loitered.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 299

When to thai gentleman he came,
Doun he kneeled on his knee ;
And tooke the letter betwixt his hands.
And lett the gentleman it see.

And when the letter it was redd,

Affore that goodlye companye,
I wis, if you the truth wolde knowe

There was many a iveeping eye.

He sayd, * Co}ne thither, Christopher Norton,
A gal lafit youth thou seems t to bee ;

IVhat dost thou counsell me, my sonne,
Ao2u that good Erie's in jeopardie 1 '

* Father, tny counselle' s fair a7id free ;

That Erie he is a noble lord.
And 'whatsoever to hyfu you hight,

I wold not have you breake your worded

' Gramercy, Christopher, my sonne,

Thy counsell ivell it liketh mee.
And iftve speed and scape with life.

Well advanced shall thou bee.

* Come ye hither, my nine good sotines.

Gallant men I trowe ye bee ;
Ifotv many of you, my childre7i deare.
Will statid by that good Erie and jnee ? '

Eight of them did answer make,

Eight of them spake hastilie,
' O father, till the daye we dye.

We'll statid by that good Erie and thee.'

' Gramercy now, my children deare.

You showe yourselves right bold and brave ;

And whethersoever I live or dye,
A father's blessing thou shall have.

300 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

* But what sayst thou, O Francis Norton,

Thou art mine eldest sonne and heire :
Someivhat lyes brooding in thy breast ;

Whatever it bee, to viee declare,^

' Father, you are an aged man.

Your hair is white, your bearde is grey ;

It were a shame at these your yeares
For you to ryse in such a fray.'

*• Now fye up07i thee, cozvard Francis,

Thou never learnedst this of mee :
When thou wert yong and tender of age.

Why did I make soe much of thee ? '

' But father, I will tvend with you,

Unarmed and 7iaked will I bee ;
And he that strikes agaifist the crowne

Ever an ill death fnay he dee J ^

The7t rose that reverend gentle?nafi.
And with him came a goodly e band, ^

To join with the brave Erie Percy,
And all the flower d Northutftberland.

With thetn the noble Nevill ca?ne,

The Erie of Westmorland was hee :
At Wet her bye they mustered their host,

Thirteen thousand faire to see.

Lord Westmorland his ancyent^ raisde,

The Dun Bull he rays' d on hye,
And three Doggs with golden collars

Were there sett out most royallye.^

1 The sad story of Francis Norton, eldest of the brothers, is told in Wordsworth's
poem The White Doe of Ryhtone. Francis, although he took no part in the
Rising, is said to have been killed by the order of Sir George Bowes.

* " Ancyent," ensign or standard.

3 The supporters borne by the Nevills, Earls of Westmoreland were "two Bulls
Argent, ducally collared Or." The device of the three dogs' heads has not been
identified as belonging to the Nevill family ; but Nevill of Chyte in Yorkshire
(of the Westmoreland branch) bore for crest in 1513 a greyhound's head erased.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 301

Erie Percy there his ancyent spred,

The Halfe-Moone shining all soe faire ; ^

The Norton ancyent had the crosse,

And the five tvounds our Lord did beared'

Then Syr George Bowes he straightwaye rose,

After them some spoyle to make ;
Those noble Earles turned back againe,

And aye they vowed that knyght to take.

That baron he to his castell filed,

To Barnard Castell then fled hee.
The uttermost tvalles were eathe ^ to win.

The earles have 7Von them presentlie.

The uttermost walks were lime and bricke ;

But thoughe they won them soon anone,
Long e^er they wan the innermost walles,

For they were cut in rocke of stone.

Then newes unto leeve * London came,

Ln all the speede that ever might bee.
And word is brought to our royall queene

Ofi the rysing in the North Countrih

Her grace she turned her round about.
And like a royall queene shee swore,
* / will ordayne them such a breakfast
As never was in the North before.^

She caused thirty thousand ?nen berays'd,

With horse and harneis fiaire to see ;
She caus'd thirty thousand men be raised.

To take the Earles V the North Countri^.

IVV them the fialse Erie Warwicke went,
TK Erie Sussex and the Lorde Hunsdan ;

Until they came to Yorke Castell,
/ 7vis they never stint tie blan.

^ The Crescent was the ancient badge of Percy.
^ Norton bore the sacred emblem as his device.
' •• Eathe," ^ajj/. * " Leeve London," a'far /<'««'<'«.

302 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

JVo'iU spred thy ancyent Westmorland,
The Dun Bull f nine ivould wc spye ;

And thou, tK Erie o' Northumberland,
Now rayse thy halfe moone up on hye.

But the Dun Bulk is fled and gone.
And the halfe moone vanyshed away ;

The Erles, though they were brave and bold
Against soe many could not stay.

Thee, Norton, wV thine eight good sotmes.
They doomed to dye, alas ! for ruth 1

Thy reverend lockes thee could not saije.
Nor them their fair e and blooming youthe.

JVf them full many a gallant wight,

They cruelly e bereav'd of life :
And many a childe made fatherlesse.
And tvidowed ma?iy a tender wifeP

When the gates of Naworth were closed against them, the
fugitive leaders of the Rising turned eastward again, and
Flight of the entered Northumberland by fording the Irthing,
earls. between But Rig and Black Fell. Their intention

was to make their way by Wark and Bellingham to the
friendly shelter of Redesdale. But this road of escape
had already been blocked. The queen's troops under
Forster, Bowes, and others, held every bridge and ford on
the northern arm of the Tyne, from Bellingham to Hexham.
Perforce the earls took to the hills, and for two days and
nights wandered perilously through the wild country to-
wards the north. One by one men slipped away from the
little troop, until less than a hundred horse remained.
Most of the travelling was done under cover of darkness,
Lady Northumberland being carried on a species of litter
formed of a cloak swung between spear-shafts. Avoiding
Falstone, they reached Kielder Castle on the evening of
November 19. Here several of the Reeds took their leave ;
but Richard Norton and two of his stout sons accompanied
the earls farther. Late on the 20th they rode into the fast-
nesses of Liddesdale : " TJie Earls rebelles, with their principal
confeyderates and the Countess of Northumbcidand, did, the
20th of the present in, the night, fee into Liddesdale with
about 100 horse ; and there reinaine under the conduction of
Black Orinstone,'^ one of the niurtherers of the Lord Darnley,

^ "Black" Ormiston, Laird of Ormiston in Teviotdale, was one of those
who assisted Bothwell to blow up the house in Kirk of P'ield where Darnley lay.
He was an associate and vassal of Bothwell, and is described as a ruffian of great
size and strength. After Bothwell's downfall he became an outlaw : the family
of Ormiston of that ilk bore the very inappropriate arms ; — argent three pelicans
in piety gules. John of the Syde, and the Laird's Jock were both Armstrongs.

303

304 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

and John of the Syde and the Lairds Joke, two notable theves
of Liddesdale."

In Liddesdale they deemed themselves secure. The
district had long been recognised — informally, perhaps, but
none the less strictly — as a sanctuary in which outlaws
and wrongdoers from either side of the Border might
deem themselves free from pursuit. Northumberland him-
self, while Warden of the Marches, had faithfully followed
the old traditions in this respect ; and hundreds of rough
moss-riders owed their lives to his constant recognition of
" Liddesdale liberty." They had always been safe, so long
as they were content to endure the privations of this waste
region ; and only when they engaged in feud or foray be-
yond its limits were their necks in danger. It was but
natural that the earl should look for refuge in a country,
the ancient rights of which he had ever respected.

Westmoreland found temporary shelter under the roof
of the black Laird of Ormiston, while Northumberland and
his wife were the guests of an Armstrong, known as "John
o' the Side." This latter character was one of the most
notorious of all the Liddesdale freebooters. In the words
of Sir Richard Maitland : —

" He is wel kennd, John d the Syde ;
A greater ihefe did never ryde."

The hut in which Lady Northumberland was lodged is de-
scribed by Sussex as " a cottage not to be compared to any
dogge-kennel in England \ " ^ but the dwellings of Liddesdale
were, as a rule, of this character. After the trials through
which she had passed, Countess Elizabeth was, no doubt,
thankful to have a roof — even one of rushes or bracken —
over her weary head. The other refugees found billets as
best they might among the hills and morasses of the
neighbourhood ; and all prepared with confidence to pass
the winter among the outlaws.

But Cecil was not one to allow old customs and

^ Sussex to the queen, December 22, 1569 ; Ori^. State Papers, Record Office,
* Sussex to Cecil ; State Papers.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 305

unwritten laws to stand in the path of his vengeance. No
sooner did he learn the whereabouts of the earls and their
friends, than he proceeded to bring every possible influence
to bear upon the Regent Moray for their expulsion from
Scottish territory. But to any such measure Moray would
not consent — indeed he dared not. All sides of Scottish
opinion were hostile to an invasion of the time-honoured
asylum of Liddesdale. Sanctuaries once violated, might be
violated again ; and who could tell that those then in
power might not some day be driven to seek safety even as
the English earls had done ? So, in spite of Elizabeth's
fury and the threats of her ministers, the Regent positively
refused to deliver up the refugees. Fearing, however, that
his attitude might tempt England into making a foray into
Liddesdale on her own account, and carrying off the earls
(an act which even those Scots most favourable to the
English Puritans would bitterly resent, and which would
almost certainly lead to his own overthrow), Moray re-
solved to get Northumberland and Westmoreland into his
hands, if possible. Could he bring them, by force or
guile, to Edinburgh, he might, at one and the same time,
satisfy the Scots, stave off the dangerous possibility of an
English raid, and strengthen his position against the in-
sidious diplomacy of Cecil.

To this end he sent one of his agents, Martin Elliot,
into Liddesdale. Elliot had many friends and relatives
^j^^ among the outlaws ; and to these he was in-

" Thieves of structcd to addrcss himself, assuring them that
Liddesdale. gg^j-g^ adviccs had reached Moray of England's
resolve to disregard all customs and covenants, and to in-
vade Liddesdale with fire and sword. He also hinted that
the Regent himself was disposed to assist the English ; so
that the men of the Dale might find themselves between
two fires, and liable to the severest punishment, simply
because they had given shelter to two lords from across
the Border who looked down upon them and their ways,
and who only used their hospitality as a temporary

3o6 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

convenience. At words like these from a kinsman whom
they trusted, and whom they knew to be well informed as
regarded matters of State, the Liddesdale night-riders grew
timorous, and ^^felt their craigs in peril." Black Ormiston,
John o' the Side, and the rest of these gentry, had no desire
to see their territories invaded ; and so the earls were
tricked into leaving Liddesdale by a false message brought
to them during the night, to the effect that Moray's troopers
were coming to take them prisoners. Lady Northumber-
land's recent fatigues had brought on a fever, which
rendered it impossible for her to be moved from the hut
of John o' the Side ; but honest John and his fellow-out-
laws promised the earl that she would be treated with the
utmost care and courtesy. Thus assured, Northumberland,
Westmoreland, Richard Norton, and a handful of men fled
towards the Debatable Land lying between Liddesdale and
English territory. They were disguised in moss-trooper
costume, and rode " lyke the outlawes of Lyddesdale^ ^ John
o' the Syde and Ormiston accompanied them for a few
miles, and then bade them adieu " with many goode wishes^
and promises to guard my lady of Northtimberland from all
harme" How well the ruffians kept their word may be
judged from what follows.

No sooner were the earls out of the way, than the men
of Liddesdale, headed by Black Ormiston, broke into the
hut where Lady Northumberland lay, and utterly regardless
of her ill-health, pillaged her of well nigh everything she
possessed. " The laird of Ormestoune . . . spoulzeist the
Erie of Northumberland'' s house and his wyff of all her jewellisy
her claithing and porse,^'^ says a contemporary chronicler.
No doubt that *^ great thefe," John o' the Syde, had a hand
in the transaction as well as Ormiston ; perhaps, since
Lady Northumberland was the tenant of his hovel, he
looked upon the taking of her goods as a species of rent-
levy. Only the clothes which she wore were left to
the unfortunate woman ; and such of her friends and

' Sadler Papers, ii. 71.

■■* Sharpe ; Memorials, p. 343.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 307

retainers as had remained with her were treated in a like
manner.!

Stretched upon rushes, in the bare hut, Lady Northum-
berland lay racked with fever until the New Year. Fortu-
nately one of her husband's physicians had accompanied
the party from Hexham, and remained behind in Liddesdale
to watch over the countess. Without the aid of his skill, she
could hardly have survived through so many privations.
Happily, too, the ill news of the disaster which had over-
taken Northumberland was not brought to her, until her
health had improved sufficiently to bear it. Her servants,
left by Ormiston unarmed and with scarcely a rag to cover
them, " snared the small game of the forest, and even used
the mosses and lichens for food." ^

At length, on January 6, a kindly Scots gentleman, Ker
of Fernieherst, vindicated the chivalry of the Border-side
by riding at his own risk into Liddesdale and succouring
the countess. This action had the effect of arousing all
Scotland to a sense of the heroism of Lady Northumber-
land, and of the inhuman treatment from which she and
her loyal adherents had suffered.^

Believing his wife to be safe under the protection of the
men of Liddesdale, Northumberland, with his brother earl,
Betrayal of ^ud Richard Norton, camped in the Debatable
the earl. Ground, " using caves and hollows of the rocks
for their habitations."* But the Regent's spies pursued
them even to these wilds. Martin Elliot, who had suc-
cessfully incited the Liddesdale outlaws to expel the
earls, was now sent to capture Northumberland. A
plot was laid by which the earl was to be enticed away
from his friends, and betrayed to a body of horse sent
by Moray for the purpose. The instrument chosen by

1 Sharpe ; Memorials. It is an eloquent commentary upon the policy of Cecil
that he should have urged the Regent Moray to grant a free pardon to the ruffian
Ormiston as a reward for this '■^service to the Queen"

"^ Dr. Sanders to Alva, Archives des Pays Bas, Bruxelles.

^ See later, p. 309-13. * Dr. Sanders' Letters.

3o8 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Elliot, for the carrying out of his design, was one Heckie,
or Hector, Armstrong. This man, who owned a strong
fortress at Harselaw, near Canobie, was trusted by the
refugees and freely admitted to their camp, for the reason
that, when himself an outlaw and banished from his
native land, he had been protected and housed by North-
umberland. Under the circumstances, his treachery seems
all the blacker.

Perhaps the fairest account of the transaction is to
be found in the words of a contemporary Scottish writer :
" Upoun the xxv day of the said moneth of December, my
Lord Regent convenit with Mairtene Eliot that he soulde
betraie Thomas Erie of Northumberland, quha wes fled in
Liddisdaill, out of Ingland for refuge, in this maner ; that is
to say the said M air tine causit Heckie A rmy strong desyre my
Lord of Northumberland to cum and speik zvith him tinder
tryst, and causit the said Erie believe that, efter speiking, gif
my Lord Regent wold persew him, that he and his friendis
sould tak plane pairt with the Erie of Nor thumb erla7id. And
when the said Erie come with the said Heckie Arniystrong to
speik the said Mairtine he causit certane licht horsmen of my
Lord Regentis with vtheris his frei^tdis to ly at a wait, a?id
quhen thay sould sie the said Erie and the saide Mairtyne
speiking togidder, that they suld come and tak the said Erie ;
and sua as was devysit^ sua come to pass.

** And the said Erie being tane under traist, as said is,
certane of his assistaris followed, and persew ed the said Marline
and his company, purposing to have releivit the said Erie ; and
in their perforce, Capitaine fohne Borthwick, Capitan of my
Lord Regentis horsmen, was slane, and the remanent raid to
Hawick ; quhairto they brocht the said Erie, and thairefter to
fedburgh, quha gat na presens of my Lo7'd Regent quhill the
xxvij day of December, at the quhilk tyme they wer comand
to Edinburgh"'^

It will be observed that the betrayal of the earl oc-
curred on Christmas Eve. No attempt was made to snare

1 " Diurnal of Remarkable Occurrents ; " published in the Transactions of the
Bannatynt Club, 1833.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 309

Westmoreland. Hector Armstrong's base treachery had, no
doubt, opened the eyes of the refugees to the danger of put-
ting trust in any of the Scots outlaws upon the marches : and
Moray realised that the capture of the other earl would be a
matter of the utmost difficulty. Some seven of Northumber-
land's personal followers loyally made their way to Jedburgh
at the peril of their lives, and implored permission to be
allowed to wait upon him in captivity. Although these men
are styled "servants" in the letters and despatches, they
were not all such in the modern acceptation of the word.
At least two — John Swinburne and Robin, or Robert, Reed
— belonged to ancient and gentle families of the North
Country. Their prayer was granted after some delay ; and,
when the earl was carried to Edinburgh, we find them in
attendance upon him. Robin Reed was afterwards en-
trusted with an important letter to Sir Henry Percy.^

The Regent held back from a personal interview with
Northumberland for three days after the latter's arrival in
the capital.^ The reason for this delay is not difficult to
find. Cecil had redoubled his efforts for the earl's surrender :
and so powerful were the arguments which he advanced,
that Moray wavered between his original scheme of retain-
ing Northumberland in custody for diplomatic purposes,
and his present fear of hostilities with England. Lord
Hunsdon, Elizabeth's northern lieutenant,^ believed at one
time that he had succeeded in persuading the Regent into
compliance. But a fresh element entering into the situa-
tion caused Moray to decide against giving up the earl, and
upset Hunsdon's hopes. The Scots nobility spoke out
loudly and persistently against any such inhospitable act
as that which they believed to be meditated by the Regent.
The truth concerning Northumberland's betrayal by Elliot

^ Wright's Life of Queen Elizabeth; Alan King to Sir H. Percy.

•^ Ibid.

•* He was also the queen's cousin-german, which may account for the liberty
of speech allowed him. Henry Carey, first Lord Hunsdon, W^arden of the Northern
Marches, was son of Mary Boleyn by William Carey, esquire of the body to
Henry VIH., and thus nephew of Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth's mother. Although
a zealous servant of the queen, he was an honest gentleman and no fanatic.

310 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

and Armstrong had reached Edinburgh, and awakened
shame and anger among all save those absolutely blinded
by prejudice against the friends of Queen Mary. So strongly
was public opinion opposed to the surrender, that hardly
one of the Regent's councillors advised in its favour. Moray
hesitated no longer ; and, on December 30, Hunsdon wrote
to Elizabeth that, for the time at least, it was impossible to
induce the Scots to yield up their prisoner. " The most
parte of the nobylette of Scotland ^,^ he explained, ^^ and especyally
a^ this syde Edenburro, thynkes yt a grete reproche and ygnominy
too the hole country, to delyver any banysht man to the slaughter;
accounting ytt a lybertye and freedome^ yncydent to all nacions
to succor banysht men^ ^

On December 31, the day after Hunsdon had received

this answer, Moray paid his first visit to Northumberland.

Although they had but little in common, a certain

A respite o j '

for earl and friendlincss sprang up between the two earls,
countess. According to a letter, presently to be quoted in
full, their subsequent meetings were frequent and amicable.
In January, gallant Ker of Fernieherst^ succeeded in
bringing Lady Northumberland safely out of Liddesdale to
his own house. Here she was enabled to rest in comfort
for the first time since the flight from Hexham. The good
ladies of Fernieherst bustled their briskest to pay her all the
attentions which the Border castle could afford ; and her
pitiful story, noised far and wide, brought her offers of
assistance from the greater folk of the neighbourhood,
irrespective of creed or party. Lord Home, an active
Protestant, was so moved that he invited the countess to
Home Castle ; and, learning from her that the Earl of

^ Hunsdon to the Queen, December 30, 1570; State Papers.

' Sir Thomas Ker or Carr of Fernieherst was son of Sir John Ker of
Fernieherst by Kalherine, daughter of Walter Ker of Cessford. The lady of
Fernieherst at the time of Lady Northumberland's visit was Janet, daughter
of William Scott the younger of Buccleugh and Branxholm. One of Fernie-
herst's sons was Robert Carr, afterwards Viscount Rochester, the notorious
favourite of James I. Fernieherst Castle, near Jedburgh, is now owned by the
Marquis of Lothian, a direct descendant of Lady Northumberland's benefactor.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 311

Westmoreland was still hiding in the Debatable Ground,
sent servitors to bring him forth. When Hunsdon threatened
him with the loss of Cecil's friendship, and punishment at
the hands of Moray, Home swore that rather than ^^ do so
vyil a deid" as to betray either Westmoreland or the coun-
tess, he would ^^ give his head." ^ Indeed the menaces of the
English court seem to have had a curious effect upon him,
for, soon afterwards, he became a Roman Catholic, had an
altar erected in the old chapel at Home,^ and heard ^^ two or
three masses daily." ^

On January 8, 1569-70, Sir Ralph Sadler reported to
the Lord Admiral as follows : " The Erie of Northumberland
is in the custodie of the Regent ; and the Countess of Northum-
berland, Erie of Westmoreland and others be receyved, ayded
and maytayned agenst the Regent's will, by the Lord Hume,
the Lord of Far ny hers t, the Lady of Bucleugh and others"^

About this time Alan King wrote to Sir Henry Percy,
asking him to do his duty towards his brother, and the
chief of his house: ^^ My Lord of Northumberland is in
Edenbrough, and not in ward, but in the keeping of my Lord
Regent, who hath gyven my Lord license to lye in the town of
Edenburgh with a garde of the Regent's men ; and my Lord
hath of his owne men seven principal. . . . My Lord's request
is by Robert ^ to you ; who is both in grete distresse and misery e
at this present, cleane without apparell or money, of your
brotherlynes to extend your liberalitie to releve him withal at
this his present necessitie ; and also he desyreth you to write,
or send him word of such newes as you may impart him withal;
first what lykeing the nobility hath of his trouble ; secondly,
how and in what case his frendes, men, and those were with
him are used ; thirdly of his children.

" My Lady of Northumberland hath her heartily commended
unto you, who craveth and desyreth of your counsell in the

^ Maitland.

' Home Castle, some three miles south of Greenlaw in the Merse, is now
dismantled and deserted.

3 State Papers ; Gargrave to Cecil. * Sadler Papers.

* Robert, or Robin, Reed.

312 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

behalf of my Lord. Aly Lady lyeth as yet at Fernyhursty but
the Lord Hume hath written licefice for her to come to hym,
which she wyll. She might have accesse to my Lord to Edin-
burgh but she thynketh not so good as yet, till she have some
more zvarrent from the Lord Regent ; for that she being at
liberty e^ she is able to make some shifte for my Lord now, and
hath already e sent home to her frendes, as to my Lord of
Worcester. Her request also is, that if you wolde send some
trustye man of your owne to my Lord and her, you might
pleasure them very much, and they would discourse unto him
of such things as are yet in safetie, which might be now to
their releves, or at the least it might come to your handes.
Farther my lady wolde that you should understand, that dis-
agreement that was amongst them chiefly was the cause of this
their mishappe and ill fortune to sever and flie ; also for my
Lord Dakers breach, which hath been aforetime, he hath showed
himself a sorrowful man, who is as yet thought, and no other-
wise knowne to my lady, but that he will assiste them if they
will cumme into England, or when they cumme?-

"At my Lord of Northumberland's first cumming into
Scotland, the Regent did not, nor wolde not, talk with him
ifi three dayes together ; but after they had mett and talked,
they otherwyse agreed and many times talked.

"My Lady Northumberland hath sent to my Lady," and
eamestlye desyreth her to send her some apparell, as she is
destitute both of wollen and lynnen!^ ^

Had Northumberland known the truth he would have
had cold comfort in his guarded Edinburgh lodgings. His
brother was plotting against him ; his "frendes, men and
those that were with him," had fallen victims to the queen's
vengeance ; and his little girls — the eldest but a child of
eleven — were left, without fuel or food, to face the
rigours of a Yorkshire winter. In the same week that

^ Leonard Dacre had already repented of his treachery towards his own party,
had quarrelled with Elizabeth, and had been driven across the Border by Sussex.
He subsequently died on the Continent.

"^ Sir Henry Percy's wife.

' Alan King to Sir H. Percy, in Wright's History of Queen Elizabeth.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 313

saw Alan King's letter sent southward, Sir Henry Percy-
visited his nieces (presumably at Topcliffe) : " Passing by
the younge ladys^ I founde them in harde case, for nether had
they any provisions, nor one penny to relyve with, but some
lyttel things from me. They would gladly be removyde ;
their want of fire is grctte, whose yeres may not suffer that
lacked 1

The English agents at first believed that the Regent
intended to place Lady Northumberland under arrest, as
he had done her husband. They were soon to be unde-
ceived. Moray visited Jedburgh for the purpose of inquir-
ing into the case of the countess. He was met there by
Home and others, who told him so much concerning the
lady's sufferings and loyalty to her husband, that he un-
hesitatingly declared in her favour, and promised not to
interfere with those that harboured her. A few days later,
Hunsdon learned that the countess had set out for Home
Castle ; and wrote in great wrath to the Regent : " Upo7i
TJiursday night last the Countess of Northumberlande
was brought by Farnehurst toward Heume Castell, and was
fayne to staye by the waye at Rocksborrowe,- by the soreness
of the wether [being a greate storme) ; so as it was eight of the
clock on Fridaie inoming or she came to Heume, and is ther
yettf onlesse this dale she be convoyed to Fauxe Castell."^

" Your Grace knowes well that the Quenes Maiestie cannot
take this well at ther hands ; espetially at my Lord Heumes,
with whom she may easelie be quittaunce, and make him repent
his follie, as I doubt not but she will." ^

Lady Northumberland's hospitable reception by Pro-
testants like Home, was all the more resented by Elizabeth,
because particular pains had been taken to insert the name
of the countess in the list of fifty-seven persons attainted

^ Sir H. Percy to Sussex, January 9, 1570 ; State Papers.

^ Roxburgh.

•' Fast Castle, a strong fortress of Lord Home, situated on the coast a few
miles N.W. from St. Abb's Head. It is supposed to have been the " Wolf's
Crag" of Scott's Bride of Lam mer moor,

* Hunsdon to the Regent Moray, January 9, 1570; Haynes' Cecil Papers.

314 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

for the Rising. To Hunsdon's remonstrance, the Regent
replied : —

"/ dcnie you will not think it strange, although it sal be
reported that the Countesse of Northumberland is in Hume
Castell ; for then it is that at my being in fedburgh, hearing
of her great miserie, and inhuman usage be the outlawes and
theves, I declared to the Countrymen that I wolde not take it
in evill parte, whosoever resett" (received) ^' her, making me
privie thereto." ^ When, later on, the Earl of Westmoreland
was also reported to be a guest on Lord Home's estates,
and Hunsdon once more remonstrated against what he
termed " ingratitude " towards the queen, Moray evasively
replied that no reliable information concerning Westmore-
land's whereabouts had been brought to his knowledge.

Having failed to secure their ends by the ordinary ways
of diplomacy, Elizabeth and Cecil now had recourse to a
different plan of operations. From the secretary's
tries other large army of spies, several were chosen whose
methods. antecedents and apparent loyalty to the causes
which had prompted the Rising were likely to win the
confidence of the fugitive insurgents. These persons were
despatched into Scotland to ferret out and report upon the
movements of Westmoreland, Lady Northumberland, and
others of importance. Full authority was given to them to
promise anything — free pardons, even — if by such means
some of the escaped leaders of the Rising might be lured
across the Border and captured.

A typical member of this " Black Brigade," as it has been
called, was a young man named Constable — the penniless
cadet of an honourable Yorkshire family which had re-
mained constant to the Roman Catholic faith. He had
many kinsfolk and connections of rank ; the Earl of West-
moreland, indeed, being his near relative. His grandfather
had fought and died under St. Cuthbert's banner in
the " Pilgrimage of Grace " ; and he himself had always

' Murray to Sussex, January 14 ; State Papers.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 315

professed the strongest attachment towards the ancient re-
Hgion, even while he was actually in Cecil's pay as a secret
agent. When instructed to cross the Border, and make
every endeavour to gain the friendship of his cousin,
Westmoreland, Constable wrote to Cecil accepting the
commission with an unholy glee. "/ am^' he declared
^^ prepared to trap them that trust in me, as Judas trapped
Christ." ^

It is agreeable to record that, as far as Westmoreland
was concerned, this zealous instrument of English Puri-
tanism failed in his mission. Either his true character was
suspected by the earl ; or else Lord Home — who knew a
good deal concerning Cecil and his tools — unmasked the
would-be "Judas." Constable left Home Castle without
having even seen the man whom he had hoped to trap.
His reports to Cecil must have been anything but gratifying.
Wherever he went throughout the Lowlands, he found
strong opposition to any surrender of the insurgent leaders.
Bitter indignation prevailed against Hector Armstrong of
Harselaw, who, although indebted to the Earl of North-
umberland for protection and hospitality, had betrayed his
benefactor under the guise of friendship. Constable heard
chance acquaintances at inns and upon the road express
their hatred of the traitor, and some even wished to " eat
Hector's head at supper!' This account of popular feeling
against Armstrong is corroborated by Sir Richard Mait-
land ; who adds that the expression "/<? take Hector s cloak "
became a proverb on the Border for the betrayal of a
friend.2

Sadler now advised Cecil to place strong garrisons along
the Northern Marches " to the ende that if those proud Scots
will not delyver the said rebells they may be persecuted by her
maj'es tie's forces, and have their houses, landes and goods over-
thrown, wasted and destroyed by fyre and sword" ^ Cecil's
spies having failed to accomplish aught of moment, he

* Haynes' Cecil Papers.

2 Maitland MSS. (Pinkerton, p. 132).

^ Sadler Papers.

3i6 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

recommended this new plan to the queen, and it was
adopted. Detachments of trusty men were drafted from
the southern counties, and placed at frontier posts such
as Norham, Coldstream, Wark, Naworth, and the like. The
design was to frighten Moray into submission ; or else,
by a display of force upon the Border, to excite the Scots
into hostilities, whereby it could afterwards be said that
any war which might result was not of the queen's begin-
ning. This force having been duly posted. Sir Henry Gates,
its chief captain, sent to Moray, insolently demanding the
surrender of all English insurgents then harboured in
Scotland. Moray was unprepared for war, and had no
intention of giving up Northumberland and the others,
without receiving in return some substantial gain for
Scotland. He sought to temporise ; meanwhile keeping
the English demand secret, lest its publication should still
further arouse the country on behalf of the refugees, and
so, not improbably, lead to serious conflicts on the Border.
Queen Mary, he pointed out, had long been detained upon
English soil without the consent of her subjects. Elizabeth
at once offered to give the Scots queen her liberty, in
exchange for the surrender of the Earl of Northumberland.^
Perhaps this was what Moray had been waiting for ; yet
he requested further time for consideration. No council
was summoned ; so far as can be discovered the Regent
acted in the matter entirely upon his own authority. It
is by no means improbable, however, that he may have
informed Northumberland of the offer made by England.
The earl, as we know, was devotedly attached to Mary,
whom he regarded as "the rightful heir to the English
throne." This fact, taken in combination with the simple,
loyal nature of the man — shown in a thousand ways, before
and after this time — make it almost certain that, if consulted
by Moray, he would have gladly offered to surrender him-
self to Elizabeth (and to certain death), if by such a course
he could have set the Scots queen at liberty. However

^ State Papers.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 317

this may be, the Regent after the brief time which he took
for "consideration," accepted Elizabeth's terms.

A council was hastily summoned at Linlithgow for the
purpose of ratifying the treaty drawn up by Hunsdon and
Moray. At the English court great jubilation prevailed ;
already Cecil was busy making arrangements for the arrest
of Northumberland upon the Border, and his conveyance to
London. But fate intervened at the last moment to spoil
their plans. Instead of sending Northumberland to his
death, the Regent met death himself. On the very day
for which the council had been called — January 22 — an
assassin's bullet ended the career of James Stuart, Earl of
Moray.^ He died the next morning, leaving the treaty of
exchange unratified and unsigned. Queen Mary's prison-
doors, ajar for the moment, were closed again. The friends
of Northumberland breathed more freely ; and before the
new-raised altar in Home Castle, a pale woman thanked
Heaven for her husband's safety.

Robbed of her prey by the assassination of Moray, the

Queen of England proved in the clearest manner that she

was indeed a daughter of the eighth Henry.

Slaughter ° i

and Northumberland she could not touch, nor many

spoliation. ^^ ^j^g Q^j^gj. ig^dej-s of the Rising : but the wretched
peasantry of the north — the poor creatures who had but
followed their feudal lords, and taken up arms in defence of
their faith — these were at her mercy. Just as, after the
" Pilgrimage of Grace," Henry had turned upon the North
Country with blind fury, slaughtering innocent and guilty
alike ; so now, Elizabeth proclaimed a "war of retribution "
against the Catholics of the Northumbrian counties — the
mere fact that these unfortunates were suspected of follow-
ing the ancient faith, being held as proof sufficient of their
complicity in the insurrection. The age reeked of fanaticism,
and cruelties done in the name of what men called their

1 He was shot by James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh while passing through the
streets of Linlithgow on his way to the council.

3i8 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

religion ; yet, with the possible exception of Alva's atrocities
in the Netherlands, no similar crime of the period surpassed
in the number of its victims, and the utter injustice with
which it was carried out, this northern massacre of the
"good Queen Bess."

It is impossible to say how many persons were actually
put to death by Sussex, Bowes, and the other perpetrators
of this cold-blooded butchery. Among the peasantry, and
those unable to escape the gallows by dint of bribery, the
slaughter was enormous. The queen, over her own signa-
ture, absolutely forbade any of the ordinary forms of
justice, complaining that quite enough valuable time was
wasted in the hanging of a Papist, without allowing him the
benefit of trial.^ Unrecorded hundreds were piked to
death upon the moors, or left swinging from the trees of
Richmondshire. From the reports of the executioners
themselves, the fury of the persecution may be fairly judged.
Sir George Bowes,^ the very cautious defender of Barnard
Castle, was, as might be expected, among the first to draw
his sword against the disarmed and helpless insurgents.
Surrounded by a strong force, he marched through Tyne-
dale and Redesdale, murdering, plundering, and destroying
^^ with greate zeal and loyaltie ;" and it was his loudly ex-
pressed opinion that " the best fruite a tree can bear is a dead
traytour."^ On January 23, he boasted that, in less than a
fortnight he had put to death about 600 ^^ suspected rebels^
Nor was the Earl of Sussex behindhand in carrying out
the queen's wishes. His first report announced the hanging
of 314 Papists from Durham alone. Fearing that this
might seem in his sovereign's eyes but a paltry offering, he
promised (and subsequently performed) ''a like execution
in Richmondshire f when the Marshall has finished this ; as
also at A Her ton, Top cliff e and Thirske ; besides which there
shall be no towne whence any man went to serve the Earles . . .

* Sharpe ; Memorials, p. 153.

^ Bowes' wrath against the men who had taunted him with cowardice outside
Barnard Castle procured for him the post of Provost Marshal to Sussex.
2 Sadler Papers, ii. 82.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 319

but one or more shall be executed for example!' ^ But in spite
of these efforts of the president, Elizabeth's thirst for
blood was as yet only whetted. Seven days after the
receipt of the above despatch, she wrote : '' We marvel
that we have heard of no execution by martial law, as was
appointed, of the meaner sort of rebels in the north. If
the same be not already done, you are to proceed thereunto,
for the terror of others, with expedition." 2

If Sussex was deemed remiss, however, not so Thomas
Gargrave, Sheriff of York, who won golden opinions at
court because of his extreme diligence in hanging and
beheading. Gargrave had an old grudge against the Earl
of Northumberland^ ; and his attacks were chiefly directed
against the friends and tenants of the house of Percy.
Elizabeth sent him an autograph letter, warmly com-
mending the rigorous measures which he had taken, but,
at the same time, warning him not to reject any substantial
sums of money which might be offered in extenuation of
treason. *^ I counsel you," she concludes, ^* to preserve for our
use all goods and lands within your sherifpwyck, belonging to
the rebellsT^ As a means of securing the confiscation thus
urged upon him, Gargrave advised that all Catholics re-
fusing "service and communion," should be attainted and
put to death for heresy, in case the charge of rebellion
could not be proved against them.^ This suggestion was
eagerly adopted : but Cecil showed himself by no means
satisfied with the mere execution of " Popish recusants."
He held that preliminary torture, and the starvation of
heretic prisoners, would produce an excellent effect among
the northern malcontents, besides serving to bring to light
the connection of Norfolk and other great lords with the
late Rising. It is good to find that honest man, Hunsdon,
protesting stoutly against rack and thumbscrew. He was

^ Sussex to Cecil, January 4, 1570 {.Original State Papers, Record Office).
2 Elizabeth to Sussex, January 11, 1570 {Original State Papers).
' This grudge had its origin in Northumberland's action after the flight of
Mary Queen of Scots into England.

* State Papers. ^ Gargrave to Cecil, January 6 ; State Papers.

320 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

as staunch a Puritan as any ; but he saw no reason for
reviving the torments of the Middle Ages, for the punish-
ment of these ^^ pore simple creatures" as he termed them.
The keen zest which Cecil experienced in persecution can
best be realised from his official letters. "/ would have
you," he writes, " make the examples grete in Ripon and
Tadcaster ; and therefore if you find not sufficient nombres
within the tozvns that be in the doings of the late rebellion,
take of other towns, and bryng them to the execution in these
places."'^ Alva, that "man of blood," could not have
played the master-butcher more coolly than this Puritan
closet-minister. Sussex, Bowes, and Gargrave, stirred to
greater exertions than ever, emulated each other in the
bloody work. Lord Huntingdon reported 700 persons
hanged, " mostly peasants," the gentry being held for
ransom. Thomas Plumtre, who had celebrated mass in
Durham Cathedral, was arraigned before the Provost
Marshal, convicted of being a Popish priest, and sentenced
to death. " On his arriving at the place of execution, his
life was offered to him if he would renounce the Catholic
faith." 2 He refused; and was hanged outside the great
doors of Durham minster, which were left open "so that
he could look upon the altar which he had profaned." Accord-
ing to Surtees, his body was left thus hanging for ten
days.^ Several of the Catholic aldermen and other leading
townspeople of Durham suffered at the same time.

The following noblemen and gentlemen were attainted,
and declared outlaws : " Thomas Percy, Earl of Nor-
Someofthe thumbcrlaud; Charles Nevill, Earl of West-
victims. moreland ; Anne, Countess of Northumberland ;

Leonard Dacre, called Lord Dacre, of Harlsey, Yorks ;
Edward Dacre, esquire, of Morton, Yorks; Sir John Nevill,
knight, of Leversedge, Yorks; John Swinbourne, esquire,

^ Sharpe ; Memorials, p. i6o.
^ Bridgewater ; Concertaiio Ecclesiae in Anglia.

^ Thomas Plumptre has since been beatified by Rome. Beyond celebrating
mass, he took no part in the Rising.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 321

of Chopwell, Durham ; Thomas Markenfield, esquire, of
Markenfield, Yorks ; Egremounde RatcUffe, esquire, of the
City of York ; Christopher Nevill, esquire, of Kirby-More-
side, Yorks ; Richard Norton, esquire, of Norton Conyers ;
Francis Norton, esquire, of Baldersbie, Yorks ; George
Norton, gentleman ; Sampson Norton, gentleman ; William
Norton, gentleman ; Christopher Norton, gentleman ; Mar-
maduke Norton, gentleman ; Thomas Norton, gentleman ;
Robert Tempest, esquire, of Holmside in the Bishopric ;
Michael Tempest, his son ; William Smith, esquire, of
Nunstanton, Durham ; Bryan Palmer, esquire, of Morton,
Durham ; George Strafford, esquire ; Thomas Bishop, the
elder, gentleman, of Pucklinton, Yorks ; Marmaduke Blake-
stone, gentleman ; Cuthbert Nevell, esquire ; Christopher
Danby, esquire, of Beiston, Yorks ; John Trolopp, esquire,
of Thornley, Durham ; Anthony Hebborne, esquire, of
Hardwyke, Durham ; Ralph Conyers, esquire, of Layton ;
John Gower, gentleman, of Richmond, Yorks ; Tristram
Fenwick, gentleman, of Brinckebourne, Northumberland ;
Anthony Wilberie, gentleman, of Bransepethe ; John Salt-
mershe, gentleman, of Rednes, Yorks ; Henry Johnson,
esquire, of Waltonhead, Yorks ; Simon Digby, esquire, of
Askew, Yorks ; John Fulthropp, esquire, of Islebeck, Yorks;
Leonard Metcalfe, esquire, of Burreparke, Yorks ; Robert
Claxton, gentleman, of Old Park, Durham; Robert Lambert,
esquire, of Owton, Durham ; Ralph Conyers^ esquire,
of Cottam, Durham ; Cuthbert Wytham, gentleman, of
Bretonby, Yorks ; Robert Heighington, gentleman, of
Richmond, Yorks ; Thomas Jenny, gentleman ; Cuthbert
Fenwick, gentleman, of South Shields ; Cuthbert Armorar,
gentleman, of Belford ; Richard Dacre, gentleman, of
Ayketon, Cumberland ; William Dacre, gentleman, of St.
Bees, Cumberland ; Robert Collingwood, gentleman, of
Alberwicke, Northumberland ; Robert Collingwood, gentle-
man, of Etel, Northumberland; John Welborne, gentleman,
of Bransepeth ; George Horsley, gentleman, of Ackelington
Park, Northumberland ; Thomas Taylour, yeoman, of Tad-
caster; Thomas Green, yeoman, of Tadcaster ; John Cowper,

322 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

tailor, of Kiswyke, Yorks ; Ralph Swynnowe, gentleman, of
the city of Durham ; and James Swynnowe, gentleman, of
Thornehill in the Bishoprick." It will be noticed that
while the name of Lady Northumberland was included in
this list, that of Lady Westmoreland (who had done far
more to spread the flames of rebellion) was omitted.

The official returns of those executed, "/^r treason or
Popish heresyy' between January 4 and May 27, 1570, are
thus given in the State Papers : ^^ January ; at Durham
(100 to 106 persons)" — (the very numbers were uncertain)
— " including the Ret'. Thomas Plumtre, and Alderman
Struther. — At Barnard Castle (20). — At Darlington (99 to
105). — At Eslington (20). — At Stockton (55). — At Chester-le-
Street (20 to 21). — In Richtnondshire (231). — In various pa^-ts
of Northionberland {1^). — At Ripon, the Constables of the West
Riding, the townsmeti of Ripon, and the serving-men of the
W est Riding {about 320). — At Wetherby, Topdiff, Boroughbrig
and Tadcaster, the Constables, townsmen, and serving-men y en-
gaged in the rebellion {about 280) ; at Thirske, the townsmen
of Thirske, with the Constables and serving-men of the North
Riding {about 250). — January 16, at Allerton, the following ;
Christopher Hancock, Richard IVynde, Randall Horner, Robert
Hickley, Henry Thompson, Allan Lynsley, and Williain
Tayler. — Jan. 22, at Craven, a?td other places ; — Robt. Araye,
Richard Cayley, William Scranston and others. — Jayt. 27, at
Yarm and other places, James Hill, Hugh Stoker, John
Atkinson, William Topley, John Johnson, Richard Yonge,
John Pearson, Robert Thompson. — March 24, at York ; Sitnon
Digby Esq., John Fulthropp Esq''., Robt. Penyman, Thomas
Bishop the younger, gentletnan, and others. — May 27, at
Tyburn, Thomas Norton gentleman, and Christopher Norton
gentleman,^ with others." How many unfortunates were
included under the vague expression *^ and others," who
can say ? When we consider that the Provost Marshal's
men did not stop to make certain whether their tale of

* Two of the sons of old Richard Norton of Norton Conyers. The confiscated
estates of the Norton family remained in possession of the Crown until 2 or 3 Jas, I.,
when they were granted to the Earl of Cumberland.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 323

victims amounted to "100 or 106" — when five or six
dead Papists, more or less, did not greatly matter — the
estimate of 2000 persons executed during the first five
months of 1570, seems but a moderate one. Of the many
done to death without even the poor pretence of martial
law, no earthly account was taken.

In the confusion following upon Moray's assassina-
tion, all negotiations for the surrender of the Earls of
Northumberland and Westmoreland to the Eng-

Raid and rr r-, • i i <■

counter- lish Were broken off. Sympathy with the refu-
Northumber- §^^^ grew apace in Scotland, especially along the
land in Bordcrs, where Westmoreland, Lady Northum-

even. berlaud, and many others prominent in the Rising
were sheltered. The massacres and confiscations by which
Elizabeth sought to revenge herself upon the defeated
insurgents, excited the fiercest indignation among the
Scots ; and several serious raids were made into English
territory, under Ker of Fernieherst, the Scotts, and other
Border chieftains. Sadler accuses the Earl of Westmore-
land of having accompanied at least one of these expedi-
tions, when cattle and goods (recently confiscated from
the Northern Catholics), were taken at the sword's point
from "the Queen's loyal servants."^ Enraged by these
evidences of how her poHcy was regarded beyond Tweed,
even by the extreme Puritans, Elizabeth temporarily stayed
the butchery in Northumbria, and ordered a general in-
vasion of Scotland.'^ About the middle of April the English
army crossed the frontier in three columns. Sussex and
Hunsdon advanced from the East Marches into Teviotdale ;
Forster and Scrope made similar movements from the
Middle and West Marches respectively. But the " inva-
sion " degenerated into a mere Border raid upon an ex-
tensive scale. Sussex reported to the queen,^ that he had
destroyed about fifty castles, and burnt over five hundred
villages and hamlets. No engagement of any consequence
took place ; nor was Forster — who had been specially

^ Sharpe, Memorials, p. 297.
■•' Cecil to Norris, May 22 ; Cabala, p. 162. ^ Cabala, p. 164.

324 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

delegated for that purpose — able to capture either West-
moreland or Lady Northumberland. Fernieherst Castle,
which had sheltered the fugitive countess, was, however,
taken and dismantled ; and Home Castle was also attacked.
An unfortunate retainer of Lady Northumberland — one of
those who remained faithful to that hapless woman after
she had been stripped by Black Ormiston in Liddesdale —
was captured by Sir Ralph Sadler near Berwick. Every
endeavour was made to wring from the prisoner some
information concerning his mistress's whereabouts, but
without avail ; and Sadler sourly reports that the Papist
rogue went to his death without making a confession.
Indeed the secret of Lady Northumberland's hiding-place
remains a secret to this day.i

The English raid over, the countess emerged from her
place of concealment, and resumed her interrupted en-
deavours for her husband's liberation. Northumberland
had been removed by command of the new Regent, Mar,
to Lochleven Castle, where he occupied the same apart-
ments which had formerly been the prison of Mary Stuart.
It is probable that he was at first allowed a certain amount
of liberty ; and he himself declares that, on one occasion,
he enjoyed his favourite pastime of hunting in the neigh-
bouring forest of Falkland. But his gaoler, William Douglas
of Lochleven, had an eye to the main chance, and took
good care that this important captive should not escape
without ransom. The countess was informed (probably
through the medium of Morton, rather than of Mar) that
her husband's release might be purchased — in other words,
that if a sufficiently large sum of money were forthcoming,
he might be allowed to escape overseas. She at once set
about raising the bribe. Her own relatives and friends
were at first appealed to ; but they refused to help the out-
lawed earl in any way. Indeed, Lord Worcester positively
declined to receive his sister's emissary ; and was so proud

^ One gratifying result of this raid was that, owing to a mistake, Ormiston
Tower, the home of " Black " Ormiston, who had so cruelly robbed Lady North-
umberland, was burnt by the English.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 325

of this act of loyalty that he sent post-haste to report it to
Cecil, and to lay the written appeal of the countess before
the Council.^ Thus repulsed, Lady Northumberland turned
to her brother-in-law. Sir Henry Percy. But Sir Henry
was at this time in alliance with the Puritans ; and, instead
of sending help to the head of his house, he asked the
queen's leave to correspond with Northumberland with a
view to inducing the latter to surrender. The behaviour
of Henry Percy at this juncture is, certainly, open to grave
suspicion. He was heir to his brother's titles and estates,
so that he had much to gain and nothing to lose by the
earl's capture or death. Under these circumstances it
surely behoved him, at least, to remain neutral in the
matter, if, through prudence or religious conviction,'^ he
was disinclined to assist his brother. Yet, having obtained
Elizabeth's permission to write to the earl, he addressed
him in the following terms (the letter having first been
submitted to Cecil for revision) : — ^

" My lord, I pray let no fantastical bruit make you have
opinion of a future time, nor any aid, assistance or mainte-
nance that shall come from any other places to support the action
you have entered in ; for they be but devices, and who trusteth
unto them shall be deceived. And to make an end, if that I find
your lordship not willing and glad to seek means to attain unto
the Queen s majesty's favour, accept and take me for 07ie of the
greatest enemies you have livifig, and one that shall be most
glad to be employed to correct your offence ; which otherwise you
shall find me as natural, diligent and travailsome a brother as
any man shall have.

*' And thus, desirifig of God that you may give occasio?i to
attain unto the Queen s mercy, as also her Majesty willing to
receive the same; which shall be my daily prayer. From
Beamish,'^ the vif''- of fune, 1570. H. Percy:' ^

1 State Papers.

"^ Sir Henry Percy at this time proclaimed iiimself " a true and loyall Protes-
tant ; " but he afterwards reverted to, and indeed died in, the Roman Catholic faith.
^ The spelling of this letter is here modernised.
* Beamish was the residence of Sir Henry's mother.
'^ Original State Papers {Domestic Series, Eliz.), Record Office.

326 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

To his sister-in-law, Sir Henry made no reply of any
kind.

Thus disappointed of aid from friends and kinsfolk at

home, the devoted countess resolved to betake herself to

the Continent, and there seek the intervention of

Lady _.

Northumber- Romc or Spain. As a preliminary to her de-
oversel" parture, however, she entered into an agreement
with the earl's custodians as to the exact sum
which was to be paid to them by way of ransom. Under the
protection of Lord Seton she journeyed to Edinburgh,
where the necessary pledges were given and received.
Lord Westmoreland and others of the fugitives accom-
panied her ; and there is little doubt but that the Regent
was fully cognisant of the whole affair, as the party
travelled openly and without concealment. From the
capital, they journeyed overland to Old Aberdeen, still
guarded by Seton. Since they passed so near to Loch-
leven, it seems hard to believe that the countess was not
permitted to see and speak with her lord ; especially as
Northumberland's consent to the arrangements made was
desirable. But the watchful English spies were unable to
learn anything about such an interview ; and, if it took
place, it was the last meeting in this world of Anne and
Thomas Percy. The exiles gathered at Old Aberdeen
during the first week of June 1570. While waiting for the
vessel which was to convey her to the Continent, Lady
Northumberland was delivered of a fifth daughter, the
Lady Maria.^ This ^^ childe of sorrowe,^^ as her mother
called her, was the only one of the countess's offspring
who crossed the seas. We shall hear of her again as
the founder of a religious house, and the comfort of her
mother's last days. Her birth occurred on June 11 ;2 and,
as soon as possible after this event, the entire party set sail
on a trading ship for the Low Countries.^ Notwithstand-

^ She is confounded by the Rev. G. E. Phillips and other writers with her
elder sister, Lady Mary Percy, who married Sir Thomas Grey of Wark.
* According to a MS. quoted by the Catholic Magazine of August 1838.
^ Cobham to Cecil ; Sept. 4, 1570.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 327

ing his swarm of secret agents, Cecil did not learn of the
fugitives' escape, until they were safely under Spanish
protection.

Lady Northumberland, Westmoreland, and their com-
panions, to the number of about a score, reached Antwerp
at the end of August. They were absolutely penniless,
and their clothing was coarse and almost ragged. Friends,
however, came to their assistance ; and the countess was
enabled to hasten on to Mechlin, where the Duke of Alva
lay with the main body of his army. Her story had
preceded her, and the grim "Unbeaten Commander" re-
ceived this representative of a lost cause with almost royal
honours.^ Whatever were Alva's faults, he knew how to
value loyalty and courage. The letter which he wrote on
behalf of the countess to Philip II., urged upon that
monarch in the strongest terms the desirability of contri-
buting largely to Northumberland's ransom.^ In reply,
Philip authorised the payment of 6000 crowns for that
purpose. " Et pourtant" wrote the king, " que louche I'asszS'
tance de dejiiers que la dite comtesse denimide pour mettre son
dit muri en liberty {je) vous en ay aultres escript en espagnole^
que {je) seroye content dy employer jusqu a six mille hcus,
selonquoy vous pouvez r^gler." ^

In the meantime several English Catholic clergymen
living at Antwerp had memorialised the Pope to a similar
effect ; and Dr. Alleyne brought from Rome a promise of
another 4000 crowns — thus making the full sum of 10,000
crowns required by Douglas of Lochleven (or his masters)
for the release of the earl. But here, when all seemed plain
sailing, a new and serious difficulty arose. The agents of
Rome and Spain somewhat distrusted Douglas, and de-
manded a written guarantee that Northumberland would
really be released, before they permitted the countess
to pay over the money. On the other hand, Lochleven

1 State Papers.

"^ Archives des Pays Bas {Brussels).

^ King of Spain to Duke of Alva, Nov. 1570: Archives des Pays Bas,
Bruxelles.

328 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

required the full sum agreed upon before he gave the earl
his freedom. For all that a man's life hung in the balance,
there was an element of comedy in the negotiations which
ensued. It was bargain-making between chapmen, each of
whom believed the other a cheat. The canny Scot was
pitted against the Jesuit. The Jesuit had money in plenty
at his command ; but the Scot controlled the merchandise
desired, and knew full well that, if this transaction should
fall through, other wealthy bidders might be found else-
where. So, it will be seen at a glance, that the Scot had a
decided advantage in the dealing.

Poor Lady Northumberland laboured with all her might
to bring affairs to a happy issue. On January 27, 1571 —
A faithful 3,fter months had been spent in chaffering — she
wife. wrote to Lochleven a letter of appeal, which

few men of honour and ordinary humanity could have
withstood.^ She pledged her own personal faith that the
money should be paid to the last stiver ; she implored her
husband's gaoler to display that knightly courtesy and
generous spirit which had ever prevailed between the
houses of Douglas and Percy ; she even offered herself
as a hostage in Northumberland's stead. Lochleven was
plainly moved by this communication, and answered it with
a civility which renewed the hopes of the earl's friends.

On the same date, the countess wrote to her husband,
warning him against putting any trust in his brother. Sir
Henry Percy, who was still trying to bring about a surrender
to Elizabeth's "mercy." She says: ^^ Heare are so many
bruits of your brother^ s beitig and aiming away, and so many
imaginacions thereupon, both by them that be zvise and others^
as it were good that his frends understode partlie what they
might aunswer on that behalf. For myne owne parte, I am
persuaded that his doeings cannot be as is convenyent towards
you, bothe bicause Nature will binde him thereimto, and that
his own wealthe arid welldoeng do the stande thereupon ; in the
contrary whereof he can reap no benefite^^
^ Murdin, p. 186.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 329

Continuing, she advises the earl, if released, to take ship
from Aberdeen, and pass into Denmark. A faithful servitor
will be needed, and she has just such a one in her mind :
" Wherin I thinke John Swynborne were a man for your
Lordship to advise zvithall, and to accompany you , both bi cause
I am persuaded that he lovithe you dearely, is honest, wise, of
good experience, and well acquainted with the Natures and
Condicons of the Contry Men, wherby he is the better hable
to discern what Way or Meane is best for yoic to take, and with
what persone you may most safcliest dealer^

The countess dwells for a space upon some of the
exiled Catholics in whom her husband may place his trust ;
and then passes on to other matters, such as the possibility
of obtaining funds from his friends and tenants in England,
and the best means of having his children carried to the
Continent : —

" Dr. Knott, a Civilian, a Man of greate Gravitie and well
language d ; Mr. Fenne, Master of Arts and Preste, a Man
verey eloquent, and wittie, . . . and Dr. Alyn, the most
singuler Man in myne Opinion, next to Mr. Sanders, on this
side the Seas ; if he might be hadde, I thinke you could not
have the choise of the like, whensoever God should send you
hither. . . . I trust you do see to get into your owne handes
or into safe custodie, as much of your owne out of England, as
you may procure. Michaell and Witherington,^ as I writ to
you before, best knowethe where they are ; and how nedeful it
will be for you to have as much in store as you may get, being
in a strange Contry, I doubt not but you will consider. For
your Children^ the best Meanes that I can imagine to have
them transported hither, were for a sewte to be made to have
them ly censed to cumme to see you, and then, being left with the
Lady Hume, or somme of your other Frends, they may be trans-
ported hither. . . . I ende with prayeng to our Lorde to be

1 Murdin, p. 187.

^ "Michaell" was Michael Tempest, son of Robert Tempest of Holmside,
and one of the earl's agents. He had been sentenced for complicity in the Rising,
but had purchased his pardon. Witherington was a member of the ancient
family of that name, and another devoted friend. He is frequently mentioned in
the letters.

330 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

your Director^ and to send you good Spede and Successe in all
your Atteniptes, that you may enjoy your Fredome and Liberties
and be a Comfort to a N ombre which lyve in daily expectation
of you, and pray for your Delyvera^tce and Welfare.

" This 2d>th fanuary,

" You know by Whom."

Three days later, on January 31, the countess sent a
third important letter to Scotland. She had learned, through
secret channels, that Douglas of Lochleven was a mere
puppet in the hands of that other Douglas, the future
Regent, Morton. To Morton, therefore, she wrote from
Mechlin, praying him to hasten the negotiations for her
husband's release.^ To the Earl of Mar, she does not seem
to have made any appeal.

It need hardly be said that Cecil did not leave un-
watched so powerful a colony of English Catholics as

that dwelling in the Low Countries. Numerous
fifi'eXsT'' spies kept my Lord Burghley informed of nearly
Master everything that went on among the refugees at

Antwerp, Mechlin, and Amsterdam. Chief among
these, by reason of his exceptional gifts of cunning and
duplicity, was one John Lee, who made his headquarters
at the first-named city. Lee posed as a devout Romanist,
whose estates in England had been confiscated for his
devotion to the old faith. He loudly proclaimed his de-
votion to Queen Mary Stuart, and railed against the " base-
born harlot," as he termed Elizabeth. His views were
only shared by the most extreme of the exiles ; but none
thought of questioning the good faith of so sturdy a son
of Mother Church, who went to his religious duties so
regularly, and had suffered so much at the hands of the
Puritans. When Lady Northumberland and her fellow-
voyagers landed at Antwerp quays, weary and in sore
need, Master John Lee was among the first to bid them
welcome. Indeed the Earl of Westmoreland went to lodge

^ Murdin, p. 193.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 331

at this good man's house ; and more than one of that
forlorn company was beholden to Master Lee for food
and raiment. All of which was duly detailed (together
with other information of far more useful nature), by the
kind-hearted benefactor to his employer, Burghley.

Lee was a glib talker, and a clerk of skill ; facts which
led to his being made letter-writer in ordinary to many of
the English Catholics who had little knowledge of penman-
ship. Both the countess and Lord Westmoreland trusted
him implicitly, and made him the medium by which most
of their letters were sent into England. These epistles
were allowed to reach their destinations — the scheme would
have been suspected otherwise — but not before they had
been carefully examined by Lord Burghley or his secre-
taries. Thus when, in order to curry favour at Court, the
Earl of Worcester sent his sister's pleadings to be read by
the Council, he took a great deal of needless trouble, and
was probably only laughed at for his pains. Thanks to
Master Lee's activity, both queen and minister had been
enabled to read the poor countess's tear-stained pages
long before. Lee informed Burghley of the advances
promised by Spain and the Pope. On November 9, 1571,
he sent word that Lords Seton and Dacre had entered into
a compact to free the Earl of Northumberland, after which
it was resolved to enter the English Marches, and once
more " raise the North." To this plot, he declared that the
Duke of Norfolk was privy. The movements of Lady
Northumberland between Antwerp and the Duke of Alva's
camps were faithfully chronicled, as well as everything of
importance that Westmoreland — then a resident in the
spy's house — had said or done.

From Scotland Hunsdon forwarded exhaustive reports
of the progress of events in that kingdom. Douglas of
Lochleven, it seemed, had been boasting openly of the
large sum of money which he was to receive for setting
Northumberland free. Hunsdon informed his chief that
*' the Scotch Commissioners having made resytal of the chargis
that the Lorde of Lochievyn hath byne att with the saide Erie,

332 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

. . . ///' Erie hath offered the Lorde of Lochlevyn 4000 viarkes
sterlinge to be paide presentlie to him in hande to lette hym
goe." ^ Burghley began to realise that, since he had failed
to terrorise the Scots into yielding up their prisoner, his
best policy was to take a leaf out of Lady Northumberland's
book, and tempt their cupidity by the offer of a counter
bribe. Hunsdon was instructed to sound the Regent on
this delicate subject ; and did so, with results which more
than justified the change of policy. Lochleven, from being
satisfied with the proposals of the countess, suddenly
resumed his old attitude of churlish distrust towards that
lady and her agents. Four thousand crowns as earnest
money no longer seemed to him sufficient. He had heard
that the full ten thousand crowns could be raised, if
necessary ; and he held out for the entire sum, with
which Lady Northumberland's friends were not disposed
to trust him. In this dilemma the harassed wife had resort
to a stratagem. She wrote to her husband a secret letter
of advice, enclosing a second missive intended for his
gaoler's eye. The latter, which was brief and business-
like, pointed out that it was better for Lochleven to take
the four thousand crowns in hard cash, with the assured
prospect of more when Northumberland was free, than to
trust to the promises of so notoriously treacherous a
politician as Burghley. Any English bribe would have to
be waited for, and perhaps eventually shared with Mar
and others ; whereas, if the laird treated directly with
Northumberland's friends, he might keep the earnest money
for himself, ^^ with all benevolence, favor and commendacion."
The private note to the earl was of a somewhat different
character. It contained information for the prisoner's
knowledge alone, and was to be destroyed immediately
after perusal. '* I write this other letter," the countess con-
tinues, "so that you may show the same to the Larde, if you
think it so good ; and for that I heare it from France that
the Larde is perswaded that you shotdd have from the Pope and
the King 10,000 Crozvnes towards your Redemption. , , . I
^ Hunsdon to Burghley, Nov. 22, 1 57 1.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 333

do all that I can to have the same perswasion pulled out of his
Heade. . . . Tho' I have no Mistrust of his Truthe, yet I
thinke it not mete to have commytted the full Certentie to his
knowledge^ and wold do what I could to bring the Larde to
some reasonable conditions." Even this honest and honourable
woman had begun to learn duplicity from her adversaries !

Rarely indeed has the world seen such an example of
wifely devotion as that shown by Lady Northumberland.
"Far above When the Rising of the North collapsed, she
rubies." might have remained safely in England, like

Westmoreland's wife, and left her husband to bear alone
the burden of his rashness. But neither fear of the
future nor the entreaties of the earl could induce her
to turn her palfrey's head from what she deemed the
path of duty. She had been " as great a rebel as any one
of them," she declared ; and so she joined in the flight
across the Border, shared her lord's hardships until
treachery parted them, and endured all the misery and
suffering which followed with a courage that moved
even Cecil's callous heart to admiration. Puritan Home
turned Papist, " for that such a creed had brought forth
such a woman ; " and savage Alva wonderingly told his
master that in this frail Ann Percy he had found the em-
bodiment of tireless loyalty and truth.

Through the weary years of doubt and striving, while
she toiled for her husband's liberation, Lady Northumber-
land's spirit never faltered. One after another she saw
her hopes shattered ; one after another her friends grew
cold and fell away. But she never lost heart ; nor did the
prisoner of Lochleven ever learn from letter of hers how
desperate his chances had become. To him she wrote
confidently, even blithely — talked of merry meetings at
Antwerp or Copenhagen, of the delight of seeing their
children again, and sometimes of hawking and hunting,
those gentle sports which Northumberland loved so well.
All the while she was hurrying to and fro — now interceding
with Alva, now reasoning with the agents of Rome, now

334 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

sending urgent letters to Morton or Lochleven. Dr.
Sanders bears testimony to her ceaseless industry, in a
letter written by him to the earl (probably Northumber-
land's first intimation of the sacrifices which his wife was
making in his behalf) : " W/zai travail My Lady hath taken
for your delivery not only do I know, who was a part of it^
but all men see, because she was no longer able to zvork by
private means, but was forced to follow the Court, and to press
upon the Duk^s Graced eveti agaynst his will. God saw her
tears, and heard her prayers ; but what say I? hers? He
saw and heard yours, which were so earnest that they also
appearede in her." ^

What a contrast is presented in the conduct of Lady
Westmoreland, wife of the other insurgent leader ! This
woman, who had done so much to force her husband and
his associates into war against the Crown — who had mocked
at their prudence, and urged them on with taunts, and even
with oaths — was one of the first to desert the broken cause,
and to buy her own safety at the expense of her former
friends. She now upbraided her husband as fiercely as she
had formerly encouraged him. With a covert sneer, Cecil
records how she humbly prayed for permission to cast her-
self at the queen's feet. ** Permit me to sue for her grace's
pardon," she implored, " although My Lord's doings are such
as must abase me to do so" * To prove her new-born devo-
tion to the queen, whom six months before she had styled
" bastard," she wrote in angry terms to Lord Westmoreland,
condemning him for his traitorous practices, and advising
him to submit unconditionally to the queen's mercy. Sir
Henry Percy had acted similarly towards Northumberland ;
but then Sir Henry had taken no part in the Rising. The
queen received this fair penitent when she had humbled her-
self sufficiently ; and about the same time that her brother,
the Duke of Norfolk, was beheaded in the Tower, my lady of

' Sanders had acted as agent in the negotiations with Rome.
2 The Duke of Alva.

* Dr. Richard Sanders to Northumberland, from Louvaine, Jan. 8, 1572:
Original State Papers.

* Lady Westmoreland to Cecil, March 23, 1570; State Papers.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 335

Westmoreland was granted a Royal Pardon, and permitted
to convert a large slice of the confiscated Nevill estates
to her own use. She took care that no portion of this
property found its way overseas to the earl, who was com-
pelled to dwell abroad to the end of his long life, subsist-
ing upon the very scanty pension allowed him by Spain.
We catch occasional glimpses of this last of a proud line,
creeping in patched and faded garments along the quays
of Antwerp, and eagerly sharing bottle or platter with the
chance English traveller ; while his gorgeous consort, high
in Elizabeth's favour, flourished at Court, and trained up
her children to hate their father's name.

Burghley's broad hints regarding the surrender of the
Earl of Northumberland having been favourably received
A black at Edinburgh, Lord Hunsdon was now autho-
bargain. rised to demand the exact sum in return for
which Mar and Morton were prepared to yield up their
" guest." ^ This left two courses, both profitable, open
to the Scottish Government. They might on the one
hand, by conniving at the earl's escape, pocket the two
thousand pounds or thereabouts, offered as ransom by the
countess, with the prospect of a still larger amount later
on. Or they might, by selling Northumberland to England,
secure a considerable sum, while at the same time placing
Elizabeth and her minister under an obligation. Popular
sentiment in Scotland no doubt favoured setting the earl
free ; but then a powerful English army menaced the
Borders, and Elizabeth, if thwarted, might endeavour to
wreak her vengeance upon the Regency itself. In the end,
fear prevailed over avarice. Hunsdon was informed that
the captive earl would be placed at his disposal, in exchange
for the sum of j^20oo sterling. Only one condition was
attached to the offer. For appearance' sake, and to shield
himself from popular indignation. Mar insisted that
the English Court should present a formal demand for

' The earl was never spoken of by Morton as a "prisoner," but always as
a "guest."

336 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Northumberland's surrender, advancing the plea of " treaty
obligations." Such obligations had, of course, no existence.
In 1570 a treaty had certainly been drawn up, by the terms
of which Mary Stuart was to have recovered her throne, or,
at least, her liberty, if she consented to betray Northumber-
land to England. But the Queen of Scots had positively
refused to sign or sanction any such document, on the
ground that it did not ^^ stande with her honour to delyver
those who . . . come for refuge zuithin her countrey."'^ Mar (who
had none of Mary's scruples concerning honour or hospi-
tality) now asked Burghley to make believe that some such
agreement had actually been adopted by the two countries.
The Cecilian conscience was little likely to be troubled by
so small a deviation from the truth. The bribe of ;^20oo
being considered surprisingly modest, Burghley was quite
ready to pay it, and to lend (temporary) countenance to
this tale of an international treaty, if by these means he
could get Northumberland into his clutches.

But here again, as in the case of Lady Northumberland's
negotiations, the Scots evinced a deep distrust of the persons
with whom they were deahng. In vain Hunsdon blustered,
and Elizabeth gave her royal promise that the blood-money
should be forwarded to Edinburgh immediately after the
surrender. Mar's agents demanded their pay in advance.
** They mean to delyver hyni very shortlie" wrote Hunsdon,
" but will not delyver hym without the money" ^ Haggling
over this point prolonged the transaction until the end of
May 1572. At length Burghley agreed to have the gold
counted out before the accredited representative of the
Regent, and duly placed in his hands " immediately upon the
receipt of the person of Thomas Percy, formerly Earl of North-
umberlandy The Scots expressed themselves satisfied at
this arrangement ; but, as will be seen, they continued
watchful and suspicious to the very last moment. Mar
gave his fmal consent to the bargain, merely expressing
the wish, worthy of Pilate, that, if possible, Northumber-
land's life might be spared.

' Ilayncs, p. 609. '■^ Hunsdon to Burghley, April 1572 ; State Papers,

/A^o^^<x/i. J'r'CoaA// f^^yFot^.M^/^A^AyCa'f^A^

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 337

The manner in which Earl Thomas was betrayed into the
hands of his enemies is soon told. To have brought him
The earl sold towards the Border by land might have provoked
to his doom, a popular tumult ; for his friends were many, and
sufficiently influential to cause grave trouble to the Govern-
ment. It was therefore decided to have him conveyed by
sea ; and a shooting expedition to the Bass Rock was made
the pretext upon which he was lured from Lochleven.
Northumberland's keen enjoyment of every form of sport
has been alluded to more than once in these pages,^ so that
it will be understood how gladly he welcomed such a
chance to vary the monotony of prison life. The Laird of
Cleish, a considerable landed proprietor on the shores of
the loch, was the individual chosen to carry out the plot.
Cleish won the earl's confidence by his cunning discourse
upon the subject of hawk and hound, " which things he
understood right well, for a Scott." Accompanied by a
few boatmen and servants, they sailed from one of the
ports on the Firth of Forth (Douglas of Lochleven having
given leave for the journey, after much pretence of reluc-
tance). It is probable that the Bass was visited ; but in-
stead of returning to the Firth, after their shooting was done,
Cleish made for Dunbar. Here a body of foot-soldiers had
been posted to await their coming, and Northumberland
was for the first time made aware of Cleish's treachery.

From Dunbar the prisoner was conveyed to Coldingham,
where he was left in custody while Cleish hurried on to
Berwick to inform Lord Hunsdon. On May 29, Hunsdon
sent the "good news" to Cecil (incidentally calling atten-
tion to the fact that the Scottish agent was still fearful lest the
English, by trickery or force of arms, might seek to possess
themselves of the earl without paying the price agreed on): —

" Yesternight came thyther unto me the Larde of Clyshe,
who had delt with me hertofore, about the Erie of Northum-

^ He is understood to have been the Blandamour of Spenser's Faoy Queen : —

" A jolly youthful knight,
That bore great sway in arms and venerie."
Westmoreland was the Paridel of Spenser.

338 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

berland, who declared too inee that he had brought the saide
Erie to Coldifigham, and was come to know what tynie I would
receve hym thys daye at Aymouthe, as also, bycause it would
be tedyous to have the money towld there, that he myght tell it
here and scale it upp, and so upon the receyving of the Erie too
delyverthe money." ^ This was accordingly done, and the earl
was handed over to Hunsdon at Eyemouth, some five miles
south of Coldingham, about noon on May 29. From Eye-
mouth he was carried to Berwick, and there lodged for the
time being in the house of the treasurer, Valentine Browne.

Hunsdon continues: "/ have had no greate talk with
hym, but trewly he seems to follow his old humors, reddyer to
talk of hawks and hounds than anything els, very much abasht
and sorrowful, and beyng in grete feere of his lyfe, and yett
reddyer to talke of these vayne matters than otherwyse. . . . I
wold be glad to knowe how I should ease hym, and would fayne
be quigly delyvered of him, yfytt will please Her Majesty that
I shall bring hym upp." ^

Hunsdon was anxious that he alone should have the
credit of escorting the earl to London. It had been origi-
nally intended that one Vaughan, a member of the Northern
Council, should perform this duty ; but Hunsdon wrote to
his sovereign relative, begging that he might take Vaughan's
place. " Your Maiestie may doe your pleaser, hit sewrly yt wyll
touch meyne C7'edytt to have any other man bryng him upp." ^

Naturally the shameful surrender of the earl caused a

great outcry both in England and Scotland. Hunsdon felt

that it was unsafe to detain the noble prisoner

Outcry ^

against the too loug at Bcrwick, surrounded as the castle
traitors. ^^^ ^^ evcry side by persons devoted to the
Percy family. On June 7 he informs Cecil that he looks
" howrly for a discharge of the Erie, of whom I am right
weary ; for I assure your Lordship I have slept few quiet
sleeps since I had hym ; for as there is no strong or safe howse
to keepe him in, I am faine to keepe watch and warde round
the howse day and night." * Later he adds : " / wonder

^ Hunsdon to Burghley, May 29 : Slate Papers.

^ Ibid. ' Stale Papers. * Ibid.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 339

no order is taken for the Earl of Northumberland ; praye
have him sent somewhere els, I dare not undertake to keep
him here ; so if he happen to escape^ it cannot be said that I
have not warned you. I am afraid some of my unfriends pro-
cure his abode here, to procure me displeasure if he escape" ^

That these fears were not without foundation may be
gathered from the angry flood of ballads and verses which
the treachery of Mar and Morton called forth on both sides
of the Border. The best known of these is the " Ballad of
Northumberland Betrayed by Douglas," quoted by Bishop
Percy in his Reliques. In this poem Morton is made the
Regent instead of Mar — an error which may be explained
by the facts that the former nobleman had actually suc-
ceeded to the Regency at the period of Northumberland's
execution, and that he was well known to have played a
prominent part in all the events leading up to the betrayal.
The ballad relates how Northumberland, while confined at
Lochleven, is warned by the Regent's sister that he is about
to be sold to the English Puritans. He has a high opinion of
Douglas chivalry, however, and refuses to credit the story —

" Now nay., noiv nay, thou goodly lady.
The Regent is a noble lord ;
Ne for the gold in all England,

The Douglas wuld not break his word,^

When the Regent was a banisht man.
With me he did f aire welcome find ;
And whether weal or woe betide,

I still shall find him true and kind.'"

The pretext of the shooting party, by means of which
Northumberland was induced to leave the mainland and
embark in a boat, is then described. Berwick is given as
the landing-place, instead of Dunbar or Coldingham —

" When they had sailed other fifty mile.
Other fifty mile upon the sea,
They landed him ; at Berwick toune
The Douglas landed Lord Ferciel*

1 State Papers. ' Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, vol. ii.

340 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

In the Cotton MSS., preserved in the British Museum,
may be found many bitter metrical attacks upon the Scots by
EngHsh admirers of Thomas Percy. One of these exclaims —

" Fy on thee, Scotland, and thy seed,

Aboue all realmes woe thee befall !
Thy lordes have done so shameful deed,

That traytours ay men will you call.
You are so greedie on English gold,
That all yo2ir credit now is sold I " ^

And another of a similar character, written by one
Singleton, ** a Gentleman of Lancashire, now prisoner at
York for religion^' is even more virulent —

" Who shall hereafter trust a Scot ?
Or who will doe that nation good ?
That so themselves doe stayne and blott,

In selling of such noble blood 1

Let Lordes of this a mirror make,

. And in distresse that lande forsake !

Their Lordes and Limmours are forlorne,

Their people curst of each degree ;
Their faith a?id protnise all too tome

And rumor rings it to the sky,
Hotu they for money sold their guest
Unto the shambles like a beast ! " ^

It was, of course, grossly unjust to blame the entire
kingdom of Scotland for the evil deed of the Regent, Black
Morton and their venal associates. The surrender of
Northumberland was looked upon by the great majority
of Scots with abhorrence. The following verses were
evidently written to defend the nation as a whole against
the charge of base treachery, while, at the same time, con-
demning the real culprits —

" Although some trai tours be amang us.
In blaming all forsuith ye wrang us,
Thoch sum have playet Judas' pair t,
Ln selling gud Northumberland,

» Cotton MSS., Caligula, B. IV. 243, British Museum. " Cotton MSS.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 341

Quhy suld they thoill for their desert, '
That faime would have that fact withstand 1
Or yet the country bear the blamed
Let them that sould him have the shame !

Afar, and the devilishe Douglassis,

And namely Morton and LochleviJi ;

M'Gill and Orkney, Scottish assis,

And Cleishe, quhunto the gold was given.

Dumferling that the Ploy prepared.

And lowse Lindsay, quho was his guairdeP ^

In addition to the ballads and epigrams, a great number
of pamphlets were published on the subject, nearly all ex-
pressing sympathy with the doomed earl, and holding up
the Scots Government to scorn and detestation.

The cause of the delay in dealing with Northumberland,
which had given Hunsdon so much anxiety, was soon
Avarice brought to light. Elizabeth's first intention was
begets to have him put to death at once, and no sooner

thVe'^uT did the news of his capture reach London than
respited. gj^g signed a warrant for his execution. But the
hereditary Tudor avarice intervened, and gave the earl a
brief respite. According to the patents of Queen Mary,
the Northumberland titles and estates were to pass, in
default of male issue of Thomas Percy's body, to his
brother, Sir Henry Percy. Thus even were Earl Thomas
attainted and executed as a traitor, his attainder would not
affect the succession of the said brother. Now, ever since
the earl's outlawry the Crown had farmed and enjoyed
the fruits of his great estates. With his execution this
state of things would cease, and the property would revert
to that "good Protestant," the hitherto loyal Sir Henry
Percy, thus depriving Queen Bess of a large annual
income. Such a calamity must be averted, if possible ;
and the astute Cecil advised that the order for Northum-

' From Poems by Vnknawin Makars, collected by Pinkerton. Attributed to
John Maitland, Lord Thirlestane, son of the poet Sir Richard Maitland.

342 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

berland's death should be temporarily withdrawn, until
some good excuse might arise for retaining the Percy
estates under royal control. Accordingly the earl was
respited. Honest Hunsdon, while fully understanding the
benefits accruing to his sovereign during the outlawed
Percy's life, believed that Elizabeth meant to spare the
prisoner's life ; and under this very mistaken impression
wrote to Cecil : —

" / am not sorry ^ for trewly though he have fully by law
deserved to dye, yet, consydering what loss Her Majesty shall
receive by his deathe, . . . Her Majesty hath and doth show
as great mercy to a number that as well deserved to dye as
he, without any benefyt to hyrl' ^

While Burghley cast about for a plan to keep the
inconveniently loyal Sir Henry Percy out of his inheri-
tance,2 he instructed Hunsdon to secure, by fair or foul
means, confession from the earl. The character of this
unprincipled and cynical minister is all too clearly exem-
plified in the letter of advice which he wrote upon this
occasion (under the Queen's name) : —

" In the dealynge herein you may use such speeches as may
justly terrify him with all extremite of punishment if he shall
conceal anything; and some tymes, as you may see caw se, you
may also comforte him with some hope, so it be not in our
name nor by us warranted, if he will utter the truth of every
person, without regard to any, whatsoever they be, though he
may think they be in place of credite. As for any chargeable
entertaynment of his in his diet we lyke not, consydering him
as a person attaynted ; by over tender usage he viay gather
comfort to persist in denyal of things to his knowledge." ^ In
other words, the prisoner was to be tortured with the
torture of hope deferred ; to be now bullied, now coaxed

' State Papers. The last allusion is probably to Lady Westmoreland, among
others.

"^ Burghley himself was particularly well disposed towards Sir Henry ; but
Elizabeth was determined to retain the Percy revenues as long as possible, and
the minister was obliged to carry out her wishes.

' To Hunsdon, June 5, 1572 ; State Papers.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 343

into revealing the secrets of the Northern Rising ; and to
be stinted even in his daily bread, lest good food should
give him strength to flout his persecutors.

Fortunately Hunsdon was not one to carry out these
orders too stringently. So far from tormenting the earl,
he appears to have treated him with courtesy and forbear-
ance. When first the prisoner came to Berwick, he had
absolutely no money, and his only apparel consisted of
an old suit which he had donned for sea-going purposes.
Hunsdon induced Sir Valentine Browne, the treasurer of
Berwick, to advance ^^12 from his secret service accounts
for the purpose of suitably clothing the earl, and supplying
him with a little pocket-money.^

Before turning to the subject of the "Confession," it
may be noted that, even in his perilous state, Northumber-
land drew considerable amusement from the rumours
which reached him of wrangling and disputing among
his betrayers over the English blood-money. Douglas
of Lochleven claimed, as his share, ;^iooo (or half the
entire amount), alleging that he had spent more than
that "in entertaining the Percy." The other gentry
scoffed at this demand ; and Cleish quoted the earl him-
self, to the effect that, while in custody at Lochleven, he
^'■seldom or ever had a morsel of goode meate."- When it
came to his turn, the laird of Cleish asked for ;^ioo, since
** only by his great travail"^ he had carried the earl to
Coldingham and Eyemouth. When all had been allotted
their shares, these were found to be so small that wrath
and disappointment prevailed ; and from recriminations
the conspirators came to blows.

Border tradition has it that "no luck attended any of
those who participated in this perfidy." Mar died within
the twelvemonth, by poison it was said ; and Morton
(whom many accused of having been the poisoner)
perished miserably on the block a few years later.

^ Browne to Burghley ; Slate Papers.
^ Hunsdon to Cecil ; State Papers.
3 j),,d.

344 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

On June 12, 1572, Hunsdon and Sir Valentine Browne

visited the earl for the purpose of taking his official de-

. ,. position, should he desire to make one. The

Examination ^ . '

of the preliminary questions sent by Cecil and the

prisoner. queen seem to have dealt chiefly with affairs
of religion ; and on this head Hunsdon reports that his
prisoner was more obstinately affected towards Romanism
than ever ; while Browne adds that the earl had " nothing
altered from his old inummish opynions, whiche he wolde
persuade to be taken for the cawse of the rebellion!' ^ That
there was another, and an equally important cause (the
recognition of Mary Stuart as next heir to the throne),
Northumberland's own statement, presently to be quoted,
serves to prove. Hunsdon appears to have respected this
religious " obstinacy " ; nor did they seek (as was after-
wards done by Forster at York) to argue the earl into
accepting the new doctrines.

To all questions put to him in respect of his own
conduct during the Rising, Northumberland answered
without fear or concealment. But when the inquisitors
touched upon the names of his associates, he either
answered evasively, or refused to reply at all. West-
moreland he was particularly anxious to shield, hoping,
no doubt, to pave the way for that nobleman's pardon.
Of hope in his own case he seems to have had little or
none ; at least he made no attempt to excuse his treason,
or to lay the blame of it upon others. " Having answered,"
reports Hunsdon to Burghley, " /z^ requyred me presentlye,
as hys memory is short, and that he wold not wyllingly consele
anythynge utteryd, that I wold leve them " (the reports of
his answers taken down by Sir Valentine Browne) ^^ with
hym that nyght, and lycence hym to have paper and ynke ;
which I dyd."

Northumberland's reasons for this request are easily
penetrated. He knew by hard experience my lord
Burghley's skill in juggling with the words and phrases
of others, and feared lest any unwary expression of his

^ Siate Papers, Domestic Series, Add., June, 1 572.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 345

should be twisted into a meaning dangerous to the lives
and liberties of those who had been associated with him
in the rebellion. Distrusting his own mental powers, he
would not accept the written answers at the first reading,
but asked leave to consider them carefully and alone, so
as to make certain that they compromised none of his
loyal friends. A man of the Cecil type would have refused
such a boon upon the spot ; but Hunsdon, who doubtless
understood the prisoner's true motives, gave him all he
asked. Through the night, therefore, Northumberland
pored over the written deposition, altering words and even
whole sentences wherever he believed the sense to be
prejudicial to the interests of his wife, of Westmoreland,
or of the other insurgent chiefs. At daybreak on June 12
he had finished his task, and set his name to the document.

His personal statement concludes by giving the motives
which had induced him to take arms against the ministers
of Elizabeth ; towards the queen herself, he declares,
the insurgents bore only sentiments of loyalty. They
rose, to quote the earl's words, "/cr the reforviacion of
relfgion, and for the preservation of the Second Person "
(of the realm) ^^ the Queen of Scotts, whom we accovipted
by Gods lawe and mans lawe to be the right heire. . . . I
was in hope {although I had little for me) both the Erie of
Leycester and my lorde Burleghe had beene blessit ivith some
godly inspiracion by this tyme of the daye to discern cheese from
chalke ; ^ the matters being so evidently discoussed by the
learned divines of thys our tyme. . . . And now^ finding my-
self deceved of that expectacio?t, I can no more doe, but shall
praye faythefully to Almyghtie God to imbue Her Highnes
and them zvith His grace, that they may knowe hym and f care
hym aright." ^

In forwarding the earl's signed statement to Burghley,
Hunsdon remarks : " / think the Erie hath answered truth-
fully. He doth great lye excuse my Lord of Westmoreland, and
sayeih plainly e that they could never gett howld of him tyll the

^ With regard to the Stuart succession, and th€ question of religious toleration.
2 Sharpe, Memorials, p. 202,

346 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

last owre, and that by procureinent of hys wyfe . . . tvho was
more vehement than any other." '^ This attack upon Lady
Westmoreland (the sole case in which Northumberland
wittingly gave evidence against his former associates) is
surely pardonable, when one remembers how traitorously
the countess had behaved to the insurgents, how she had
left her husband to starve in exile after first luring him and
others into the plot, and how she was even then enjoying
the favour of Elizabeth as the price of her treachery.
Hunsdon, while admiring the courage and extraordinary
generosity of Northumberland, has but a slender opinion
of his worldly wisdom. '* / assure your Majestye," the re-
port concludes, " / dyd never thynke hyni so sy^npell as now
I fynde hyni, and yf his confessyon ys trew, he was greatly e
urged to yt by others ; and yett in this whole matter he ex-
cusyth Westmoreland more than hymselfe" ^ Truly there was
little of selfishness or cunning in the nature of Thomas
Percy.

The inquisition having failed to elicit any evidence of

importance against Northumberland's fellow - insurgents,

Elizabeth speedily dropped her cruel pretence

The earis ^ ,, • ^t-.-!

doom is of clemency towards the prisoner at Berwick,

sealed. There was no longer any make-belief squeamish-

ness with regard to signing the earl's death-warrant ;
and Hunsdon, who had been duped into believing that
his captive's life might perhaps be spared, was rudely
disillusioned by letters from his royal cousin, and from
Burghley. Between Northumberland and the sturdy
Warden of the Eastern Marches a friendship had sprung
up ; and the two were accustomed to spend hours in each
other's company, either in the prisoner's cell, or upon the
ramparts of Berwick Castle. Hunsdon now determined
to do all he could in the doomed man's interests ; and
with this end in view wrote to Elizabeth, urging that
imprisonment or exile should be substituted for capital

^ Hunsdon to Burghley, June 12 ; Orig. Siale Papen.
2 jf,i^i

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 347

punishment. Knowing his kinswoman's weak points, he
used what he believed to be the most forcible argument
in favour of mercy, i.e. that were Northumberland put to
death, the Percy estates and the emoluments therefrom
would pass out of royal control into the possession of
the earl's "loyal" brother. Sir Henry. It was a likely
plea, and had been used effectively a short time before ;
but in the meantime the queen's advisers had successfully
hatched out a crafty plan, whereby even the loyal Percy
was entrapped into a quarrel with the Government, arrested
on various vague charges,^ and lodged in the Tower. It
would now be an easy matter to behead Earl Thomas and
at the same time attaint his heir, so that the broad acres
of the family might continue to produce abundantly for
her Majesty's benefit. Thus it came to pass that Hunsdon's
kindly efforts went for naught. The queen had nothing
to gain by keeping Northumberland alive any longer ; and
at the next meeting of her Council she signed the warrant
for his execution.

The warrant was handed to Lord Hunsdon on July 11,
as he was '^ sytting downe to dynner" ; and he (in his own
homely phrase) " wanted no dynner after gettyng it." By
the terms of the document the Warden was commanded
to escort his prisoner to York, and there superintend the
details of the latter's execution. This was probably a
characteristic piece of Burghley's spite ; for the Secretary
had learned through his spies of the consideration and
courtesy shown to Northumberland, in defiance of mini-
sterial wishes, and of the mutual liking which existed
between Hunsdon and his charge. But if Burghley had
hoped to indulge his brutal cynicism by forcing upon the
Warden duties so painful as those of chief executioner to a
condemned friend, he reckoned without the courage and
resolution of the man whom he thus sought to punish.
Henry Carey knew by this time that he could not save

^ It was pretended that he had engaged in a plot to liberate the Queen of
Scots.

348 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Northumberland's life ; but despite Burghley, Leicester,*
Killigrew, and the rest of them, despite the^ai of Elizabeth
herself, he was firmly resolved not to stain his hands with
the earl's blood. His duties as Governor of Berwick and
Warden of the East Marches supplied him with some sort
of excuse for refusing to carry out the terms of the
warrant ; but even were this disallowed, he was prepared
to bear imprisonment rather than comply. To Burghley
he wrote in bitter complaint : —

^^ Fyndyng myself e hardly delt withal to be a carryer of
any nobelman to executyon yntoo a place wherein I have no-
tJiyng to do. My charge ys butt in thys toune and the Este
Wardenry, and therefore for inee to be putt to bryng him to
York to be executed, I can neyther thynke that hyr Majestic
deales wyth inee thereyn, nor that I have anye suche frendes
about Her Majestic as I accounted of; and sewrly I wyll
rather suffer sum ymprysonment than doo yt. Sir John
Forster hathe bothe the comodity and proffytt of all hys landes
yn Northumberlafid^ and he is fyttest to have the carryage of
hym to Yorky and I wyll delyvcr hym safely att Alnwycky but
no farther, by my wyll." ^

This vigorous letter at once astonished and angered the
Secretary ; but Elizabeth refused to punish her cousin for
his temerity, and, after efforts had been vainly made to
break Hunsdon's resolution, he was allowed to have his
way. A fresh warrant was, of course, rendered necessary
by the change of plans ; and the Warden renewed his
arguments and entreaties in favour of clemency, with
some apparent success, for the queen granted Northum-
berland another respite. The earl had two friends, at least,
who laboured zealously in his behalf until the end. Of

^ There was an old feud between the families of Dudley and Percy ; begin-
ning in the prosecution of the notorious Dudley, the minister of Henry VII.,
and continued when Warwick assumed the title of Duke of Northumberland
in the reign of Edward VI. Leicester was, after Burghley, perhaps the bitterest
enemy of the seventh earl.

2 Forster was lessee under the Crown of most of the Northumberland estates
and factor or agent over the rest.

^ Ilunsdon to Burghley, from Berwick, July ii, 1572; State Tapers.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 349

these, one was Hunsdon ; the other, Lady Northumber-
land. Although her husband's betrayal by Mar and Morton
had temporarily daunted even the great heart of Countess
Ann, new hopes had arisen there of late, and the earl's
cause was pleaded eloquently and persistently at the
Courts of France and Spain. The spy, John Lee, in-
formed Burghley that Lady Northumberland had gone
in person to Paris, and implored the king to use his
influence with Elizabeth ; and that Alva had been per-
suaded by the devoted wife's prayers to make one more
effort in the earl's behalf at Madrid.^ But although both
Philip and Louis replied with fair words and assurances
of sympathy, neither could be induced to move in the
matter.

The new death-warrant was signed early in August,
Sir John Forster being substituted for Hunsdon as the
person delegated to bring Northumberland to York, and
there superintend his execution. But here another unex-
pected delay occurred. Elizabeth received an appeal for
mercy, written, as some say, by the Queen of Scots, but
more probably by Lady Northumberland. When Burghley,
waiting for news of his enemy's death, wrote to demand
why the prisoner had not been delivered up to Forster,
Lord Hunsdon replied that he stood ready to obey the
warrant on the date fixed, but on that very morning he
had " receved the Queene's Majesties letter to staye hyin "
(the earl) at his discretion, and to disregard all other
orders, until he " heerde from hyr ageyne." ^

During the few days Elizabeth flattered her vanity by
aping the merciful sovereign, reluctant to shed blood.
She had acted similarly in the case of the Duke of Nor-
folk ; she was to repeat the hypocrisy in later years when
Mary Stuart and when Essex came to die. Burghley,
knowing his royal mistress, and having no doubts as to
the final issue of these "scruples," allowed her to play
the grim farce out without remonstrance. Twice in that

* John Lee to Burghley, July 14 ; State Papers.
- Hunsdon to Burghley, August 9 ; State Papers.

350 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

brief time Hunsdon was bidden to hand over his prisoner,
and twice the order was set aside.^ At length her Majesty
tired of the game, and a final command was issued to the
Warden, who on August 17 escorted Northumberland to
Alnwick Castle, and there, in the ancient stronghold of the
Percies, placed him in the custody of Sir John Forster.^

Disarmed and terrorised as the North had been, Forster
did not dare to have it known that Thomas Percy, chief of
his name, was being borne to a shameful death
last along the very road whereby his fathers had so

progress. qHqh marchcd to victory. Accordingly it was
given out that the earl had at last made his peace
with the queen, and that he journeyed south solely for
the purpose of being reinstated in his titles and posses-
sions.^ This specious tale was spread far and wide, and
eagerly received by the country-folk along the line of
march ; but in order to guard the more surely against
rescue and disturbance, Forster surrounded his captive
with a considerable force of picked men " drawn from the
shires," well armed and mounted. The size of this body of
horse can only be judged from the fact that their expenses
for the short journey amounted to over ;^i50.* Under
the pretence that he had but recently recovered from an
illness the earl was conveyed in a coach, so that the
crowds which assembled to greet him between Alnwick
and Durham were only able to catch passing glimpses
of their late leader. The vehicle — in itself an object of
curiosity to the Northerners — was protected on every side
by the so-called "escort" of armed men.^

The earl's last progress occupied three days in all ; one
night being spent at Newcastle, and another at Darlington.
After crossing the Tyne, Forster relaxed his vigilance to
the extent of permitting several old friends and associates
of the prisoner — Tempests, Conyerses, Swinburnes, and

1 Sfa/e Papers. ^ Ibid.

' Martyrium Thovia Percei, by Dr. Sanders, in Bridgewater's Comertatio
(Treves, 1589). . . . Life of the Blessed Thomas Percy, by Rev. G. E. Phillips.
■* Sharpe, Memorials, pp. 333-34- ^ Ibid.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 351

others — to hold converse with him. The gaoler himself
was always present at these interviews however, and no
opportunity was given " for the plotting of treasons."
Northumberland was apparently resigned to his fate.
"Life," he told his friends, "would be more pleasing to
my flesh than death ; that I neither can nor will deny,
provided that my conscience be not injured. But rather
than that should suffer, let death come, and life depart." ^

On August 21 there was a midday halt at Topcliffe,
once the earl's favourite seat, but somewhat out of the main
road from Darlington. No doubt Forster, as agent or
lessee under the Crown of the earl's northern estates, found
it convenient to obtain food and forage for his troops at
this place. But it is to be hoped that Northumberland
was not brought to his old home without being permitted
to see and embrace, for the last time, his four little
daughters, who were still sheltered by the good people
of the neighbourhood. Neither Forster's reports nor the
Memorials mention that this humane privilege was ac-
corded to the prisoner ; but from indirect evidence it
may be assumed that an interview between parent and
children actually took place. Allusion has been made to
a sacred relic, a supposed thorn from the crown of Christ,
presented by the Queen of Scots to her champion, and
carried by him through the days of his exile and imprison-
ment. This token, set in a golden cross, was, we are told,
given by Northumberland, about the time of his execution,
to his eldest daughter, Elizabeth.- It is more than prob-
able that he placed it in the child's own hands during
the brief stay at Topcliffe, and that this brief wayside
halt brought him the sad consolation of a visit from his
little ones.

Elizabeth Percy ^ guarded her father's precious gift with
loving care from the hour of its bestowal until, when on

^ Sanders in Bridgewater's Concertaiio. Phillips' Life of the Blessed Thotnas
Percy. ~ De Fonblanque ; Phillips.

^ She subsequently married Richard VVoodroffe of Woolley, Co. York, and
died a Catholic.

352 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

her deathbed, she in turn bequeathed it to her confessor,
the Jesuit Father Gerard. This relic is now at Stonyhurst
College, enclosed in a handsome casket, upon which are
inscribed the words : " Hcec spi?ia de Corona Domini sancta
fuit prima Marice Regince Scotice Martyris, et ab ea data
Comiti Northumbrice Martyri, qui in morti misit illam filice
su(E, Elizabethcs, qucB dedit Societate."

Between Topcliffe and York large bodies of gentlemen
and yeomanry joined the party, and when the Northern
capital was reached the streets were found to be thronged
with people. Forster, fearful lest his carefully laid plans
should be spoiled at the last moment by some untoward
outbreak, allowed his prisoner less than twenty-four hours
in which to prepare for death. But a day more or less
mattered little to Northumberland after his weary months
of captivity. Carried to York Castle, and lodged there
under a double guard, he was not permitted to see a priest
of his own faith, or even to write a farewell letter to his
wife. Sanders asserts that the earl's life was offered to him
by the queen's agents, Forster, and a Protestant clergyman
named Palmer, on condition that he publicly abjured the
doctrines of the Roman Church, and took the oath of
supremacy ; and that he refused the offer with contempt.^
Cardinal Allen makes a similar statement,^ adding that
Forster and others vainly argued with the condemned man
until late on the evening of August 21, when they left him
to die in his belief.

There was confined in York Castle at the time an aged
gentleman. Sir Thomas Metham by name, whose sole crime
appears to have been his religion. He had taken no part
whatever in the Rising, but owed his imprisonment to the
fact that he was "a most wilful Papist." ^ Learning of
Northumberland's arrival, the venerable knight and his wife
(also a captive) implored Forster for permission to see the
earl, whose father and grandfather they had known. The

1 Bridge water's Conceriatio.

- Responsio ad Persecuiores ; Bridgewater Edition.

' Domestic State Papers, February 6, 1570.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 353

boon was granted out of respect for Metham's years. Lady
Metham proved too feeble to venture forth, but Sir Thomas
was assisted from his cell to that of his fellow-prisoner ;
and we are told by Dr. Sanders that he saw Northumber-
land, " held converse with him, and bade him a last adieu.
Then, returning to his own place of confinement, he gave
up his soul to God a little while afterwards." ^

Northumberland's execution was fixed for 2 P.M. on the
following day — Friday, August 22 ; and a scaffold had been
hastily erected in The Pavement, then the prin-
hours^of cipal market-place of York. During the night
Thomas of August 21 the carl refused to take any rest,
in spite of the pleadings of his faithful body-
servant, old John Clarke. Save for portion of an hour,
he spent in prayer and fasting the entire interval between
the departure of Sir Thomas Metham and the coming of
Forster and Sheriff Gargrave to call him to the scaffold.
The messengers of death found him in readiness. His
request for a confessor was again refused, although there
were at least two Catholic priests in York Castle at the
moment ; and Forster insisted that he should be attended
to the block by a clergyman of the Established Church,
the Mr. Palmer already mentioned. The events which
followed are thus minutely described by Dr. Sanders, who,
if he was not present himself, derived his information
directly from John Clarke and other eye-witnesses: "On
arriving at the place of execution, the earl took off his
cloak, and again making the sign of the cross, not only
on his forehead, but also on the steps, he mounted cheer-
fully to the platform, where Palmer, the same Protestant
minister who had visited him the night before, began to
urge him to acknowledge his crime against the queen in
presence of the assembled crowd.

" On this the earl, turning towards the people, said :
* I should have been content to meet my death in silence,
were it not that I see it is the custom for those who

* Martyriton T. Percei, in Bridgewater's Cottcertatio,

354 THE HOUSE OK PERCY

undergo this kind of punishment, to address some words
to the bystanders as to the cause of their being put to
death. Know, therefore, that, from my earHest years down
to the present day, I have held the Faith of that Church
which, throughout the whole Christian world, is knit and
bound together ; and that in the same Faith I am about
to end this unhappy life. But as for this new Church of
England, I do not acknowledge it.'

" Here Palmer, interrupting him, cried out in a loud
voice ; ' I see that you are dying an obstinate Papist ; a
member, not of the Catholic, but of the Roman Church.'
To this the earl replied: 'That which you call the Roman
Church is the Catholic Church, which has been founded
on the teaching of the Apostles, Jesus Christ Himself
being its corner-stone, strengthened by the blood of
Martyrs, honoured by the recognition of the holy Fathers ;
and it continues always the same, being the Church
against which, as Christ our Saviour said, the gates of
Hell shall not prevail.'

"When Palmer tried a second time to interrupt him,
the earl said : ' Cease, pray, to further trouble me, for of
this truth my mind and conscience are most thoroughly
convinced.' And when Palmer still would not be silent,
the earl, turning to the people, said : — * Beware, beloved
brothers, of these ravening wolves, who come to you in
the clothing of sheep, whilst, meantime, they are the men
that devour your souls.' At this, rushing straight down
from the platform, as though he had received a blow,
Palmer left the earl free to finish his address. . •. . After
commending to his brother's care his children, his servants,
and some small debts, he begged all present to forgive
him, declaring that he on his part forgave all from his
heart. Then kneeling he finished his prayers.

"Then, after kissing a cross, which he traced upon the
ladder of the scaffold, with his arms so folded as to form
a cross, he stretched himself upon the block ; and as soon
as he had said ' Lord, receive my soul ! ' the executioner
struck off his head. At that same instant, a great groan.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 355

which sounded like a roll of thunder, burst from the weep-
ing spectators, as with one voice they called on God to
receive his soul into eternal rest.

" It was thought very wonderful that, from the moment
of his laying himself upon the block, he gave not the
slightest sign of fear, and made no movement whatever
of either head or body. The people gathered up the
martyr's blood so diligently with handkerchiefs and linen
cloths, that not even a straw stained with it was suffered
to remain without their carrying it home to be treasured
as a sacred relic. For throughout his life he was beyond
measure dear to the whole people." ^

That this version of the death of Northumberland
was coloured by the prejudices of the writer is of
course probable ; but it is in the main borne out by the
report of the Protestant Sir Thomas Gargrave, written
the day after the execution : — " So farre as may appere by
any talk or doyings of the late Erie of Northinnberland, at
or before his dethe, he contynued obstynate in relygion, and
declared he wold dye a Catholyke of the Popes Churche. He
coinpted his offence nothynge^ and cspecyally after he kneiu he
shold dye, , , . He confessyd he was reconcyled to the Pope ;
he afferinyd this realvie was in a scysnie, and that all were
sysinatykes. He said here was nether pitye nor vicrcye. In
his talke with dyvers he naviyd hyniselfe ' Syviple Thojne, and
sayd * Symple Thome must dye to sett up crcwell Henry ' ^ [or
^ crew ell Heresy.'^ ^ At his dethe he wyshed his brother to be
of his relygyon, and that if he had hys lyvynge, he trysted he
wold pay his dettes and helpe his chyldren and servantes. He
dyd not here either pray for the Qucene's Majestie, nor even
wysJied her wellj nor yet wold confesse he had offendyd Her

* Sanders ; Martyrium Thovuc Pcrcei, in Bridgewater's Comcrtalio (Treves,

1589)-

2 This is the reading adopted by the printed version of the original letter,
and followed by the majority of historians. In the original, however, the two
last words are so indistinct as to be almost illegible; and in Wright's Queen
Elizabeth and Her Times they are quoted as '' creivell Heresy,'' instead of
''creweil HenryJ'' Vet other authorities read '' cunning Henry" It seems most
probable that the earl did refer to his brother, Henry Percy.

356 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

Majestic ; whereat many was offendyd and fhoyght he had no
deutyfull consideration of her Ma^'t ; and on the other syde, the
styf-neckyd papystes 7'ejoyced vioche of his stedfastnes in their
crede of popyshe relygyrony^ The Spanish Ambassador in
London, writing to the Duke of Alva on August 30,
mentioned the execution, adding : — " On the scaffold he
said he died in the Catholic faith, and that if he had a
thousand lives he would sacrifice them all for its sake ;
that this sect was bad and false ; and other matters of
the same sort." ^

The actual hour of Northumberland's death was
three o'clock in the afternoon of Friday, August 22,
1572.^

The body of Earl Thomas was buried by John Clarke

and others in the Church of the Holy Cross, known as

, Crux Church, at one end of The Pavement.

Interment of ' .

the earl, and None attended the funeral "save two men and
uon'^by ^r* three maid domestics, and a stranger in disguise,
Roman who, causing suspycyon, immediately fled/'*

Church. r^y^^ servants probably belonged to the earl's
former household at Topcliffe, while the disguised stranger
may have been an agent of Lady Northumberland — per-
haps the same Dr. Sanders who leaves so minute (and
apparently accurate) an account of the execution. No
memorial of any kind was erected ; and when Crux Church
was pulled down, and the site built over in 1788, all
vestiges of the grave disappeared. In the parish register
of St. Margaret's, Walmgate, there is a simple entry : —
*^ Dominus Percy decollatus erat XXH die Augusti."

With regard to the decapitated head, more than one
legend survives. This ghastly trophy of Cecil's hatred was
set upon a high pole over Micklegate Bar, and continued
in that position for nearly two years, when it was stolen

1 Cotton MSS., Caligula, c. iii, fol. 394 ; Sir Thos. Gargrave to Burghley.

'■^ Ibid.y Calba, c. iv.

^ Domestic State Papers, Addenda, Sept. 2, 1572.

* Deckivith MS., " History of York."

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 357

by friends and never afterwards recovered.^ One story
has it that the head was buried by midnight according to
the rites of the Catholic Church in the woods of TopcHffe ; ^
another, that it was " carried overseas hid in a roll of new
cloth," and eventually delivered to Lady Northumberland,
An old pamphlet,^ following a legend still current in York-
shire, credits the famous seeress, Mother Shipton, with a
prophecy on the subject. She is said to have stopped the
earl, then only Sir Thomas Percy, upon the highway, and
accosted him in these boding words : — " Jlfy lord, shoot your
horse hi the guicke, and you shall do well ; but your bodie will
be buried in Yorke pavement^ and your head sluill be stolne
from the Barre, and carryed into France^' *

Among Roman Catholics, the seventh Earl of Northum-
berland is recognised as the Blessed Thomas Percy.^ " By
the Brief of December 29, 1886," says the Rev. G. E. Phillips,
**a large group of our English martyrs were beatified, as
we commonly say, but, as we should more correctly say,
recognised as having in days long past attained to that
honour. Gregory XIII., as this Brief of 1886 tells us,
granted in their honour several privileges appertaining to
public and ecclesiastical worship, and chiefly that of using
their relics in the consecration of altars, when relics of
ancient holy martyrs could not be had. Moreover . . ,
he permitted also the martyrs of the Church in England,
both of ancient and more recent times, to be represented
in like manner by the same artist (Nicholas Circiniani) in
the English Church of the Most Holy Trinity in Rome,
including those who from the year 1535 to 1583 had died
under Henry VIII. and Queen Elizabeth for the Catholic
faith and for the Primacy of the Roman Pontiff." These
pictures were destroyed by the French m 1809 ; but copies

' Drake's Hist, of Vork, vol. i. p. 143.

- The park is still said to be haunted by Earl Thomas's spectre, headless and
bearing a skull.

2 Printed by Richard Loundes in 1641, and preserved in the British Museum.

* Antiquarians point out that as Mother Shipton was not a contemporary o(
the 7th earl, the prophecy must have been uttered by sorpe other soothsayer.

* T/ie Blessed Thomas Percy, p. 66.

358 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

had fortunately been preserved, and to fifty-four of these
copies the names of the originals were attached. All these
martyrs were beatified, — i.e. " their veneration was sanc-
tioned"— by the Church in 1886. There remained, how-
ever, nine portraits (among them that of Thomas Percy),
to which no names were attached ; and these were held
back for due investigation. Eventually, after much sifting
of evidence, the nine paintings were identified, and a
supplementary decree sanctioning their cultus was issued
on May 13, 1895. With Percy were beatified Adrian
Fortescue, three Benedictine abbots, and four Benedic-
tine monks. With the exception of the earl, all had
suffered for their religion during the persecutions of
Henry VIII.i

Before turning to the next inheritor of the Northumber-
land honours, it remains but to follow briefly the fortunes
of the widowed countess and her children. The four
elder children of Earl Thomas remained for some time
after his death in the care of tenants and retainers at
Topcliffe, being prevented by Cecil's petty spite from
joining their mother in the Low Countries. Lady
Northumberland, however, succeeded in slightly bettering
their condition through the influence which she exercised
over her niece and sister-in-law, the wife of the eighth
earl.^ The change of heart which came over this latter
nobleman, after his second release from the Tower, also
proved beneficial to " the young ladies," as he had called
them. They were removed from their peasant surround-
ings, and permitted to reside with their cousins at Petworth.
Fate had bestowed upon them a fair share of comeliness,
if not of worldly wealth, and all four were happily married.
The eldest, Elizabeth, wedded a Catholic squire, Richard
Woodroffe of Woolley, near Wakefield, who had loved
and won her, while she still dwelt among the good folk
of Topcliffe. There is a pleasant story to the effect that

^ Phillips, B. Thomas Percy.

^ Katherine Latimer, consort of Earl Henry, was (as previously stated) daughter
of a Somerset, and niece as well as sister-in-law of Countess Ann.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 359

Lady Elizabeth remained true to Master Woodrofife, in
spite of the many distractions which London and Petworth
must have presented to one reared as she had been. The
new countess, who possessed the kindly nature of her
aunt, fostered instead of discouraging this attachment ;
and the squire of Woolley's wooing was crowned with
success. It was Elizabeth Woodroffe who presented to
the Jesuit priest Gerard the "relic of the Crown of Thorns"
now preserved at Stonyhurst College. Another north
countryman, Sir Thomas Grey of Wark, espoused the
second of the daughters, Mary Percy. The third, Lucy,
was married to Sir Edward Stanley, K.B. of Eynsham, Co.
Oxford^; and the fourth, Jane, to Lord Henry Seymour,
son of Edward, Earl of Hertford. Maria, the youngest
of all Northumberland's children (who was born before
the embarkation of the exiles at Old Aberdeen, on June 11,
1570), remained her mother's constant companion until
the latter's death. In 1598 Lady Maria founded at Brussels
a community of Benedictine nuns, and, taking the veil,
became herself prioress of the convent. The direct suc-
cessors of these religious have, since the relaxation of the
laws against Catholicism in England, settled at East
Bergholt in the Abbey of St. Mary. The memory of
Thomas Percy is naturally held in peculiar veneration by
the good sisters, who allude to him as their "grandfather,"
and to his daughter as their " mother." ^

The execution of Northumberland filled his widow's
heart with a bitter hatred of England and England's Puritan
The brave Tulers. The wholc nature of Countess Ann ap-
countess. pearcd to change from the time that the woeful
news reached her ears. She had been a patient, pleading
woman, a humble suitor at the thrones of the great, bear-
ing her privations uncomplainingly, and toiling only to save
the life of Thomas Percy. Robbed of the man she loved,
she became the very incarnation of hate and scorn, eager

^ The second daughter of this union was the wife of Sir Kenelm Digby.
" PhilHps ; De Fonblanque.

36o THE HOUSE OF PERCY

to avenge her husband's shameful death upon Elizabeth
and Elizabeth's chief minister. In vain her advisers coun-
selled silence, Ann of Northumberland was not to be
silenced. The time that others of her sex might have
given to sorrow, or to prayer, she spent in the composition
of a scathing attack upon the English government, and
upon Burghley in particular. This work, entitled "Z>/V-
coiirs des troubles du Cotnte de No$'thumberland" was pub-
lished at Li^ge in August, 1572, and circulated far and wide
by the countess and her agents. Copies even made their
appearance in England, and lashed Elizabeth to fury by
the daring and plausible charges levelled against her. Even
the phlegmatic Burghley, who affected a contempt for
the onslaughts of such enemies, allowed himself to be be-
trayed into anger, and even wrote a lengthy ^^ Reply " to the
accusing pamphlet. The truth seems to have been that,
while Lady Northumberland's resentment led her at times
into exaggeration of language, there was much in the
'* Discours" which could not conveniently be disproved.
The " Reply^' while evidently compiled with Cecilian care,
fails to convince the reader, since it glosses over or evades
so many of these accusations, instead of denying (and sup-
porting the denial with evidence) that his government had
deliberately goaded the North into rebellion in order to
provide an excuse for the overthrow of Roman Catholic in-
fluence, Burghley prefers to ignore such charges altogether.
Moreover he attempts to prove that the rising was a revolt
against Crown and Constitution, rather than a protest
against the treatment of the Catholics. No attempt is made
to justify the behaviour of the Government towards Earl
Thomas in regard to the Wardenship, the Cumberland
Mines, and the score of other cases of spiteful persecution,
by which, according to the " Discours^' a loyal and useful
nobleman was driven into armed resistance. Lady Nor-
thumberland showed her contempt for Burghley's laboured
sophistries by translating them into French, and republish-
ing them in conjunction with her own work, to which only
a few notes and comments had been added. This course

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 361

aroused Burghley to a pitch of fury ; for he dreaded ridicule
keenly. The countess, apparently, could not be worsted in
fair argument ; therefore her opponent had recourse to
weapons with which he was more familiar. Through his
spies, John Lee and Edward Woodshaw,^ he knew the
whereabouts of most of the Catholic exiles. By a bribe,
euphemistically described as a "loan or subsidy," to
William of Orange, he hoped to induce that prince to
follow the example of Mar and Morton in delivering up the
English refugees who were sheltered in the territory under
his control. William was sorely in need of funds, so that the
temptation was likely to prove irresistible ; and in order to
secure the discreet carrying out of his scheme, Burghley
chose Sir Thomas Gresham, the great London merchant,
as his prime agent. Gresham had resided in Holland as
the queen's factor, and spoke Flemish fluently. The Prince
of Orange was easily persuaded into accepting the con-
ditions attached to the English "loan"; and it was decided
that the exiles at Louvain, Mechlin, and other cities favour-
able to William should be surprised, captured, and sent
prisoners to London, Fortunately for those who trusted
in Flemish honour and hospitality, the Spanish Ambassador
in London heard of the plot in time, and was able to notify
the Duke of Alva, by letter of September 16, that Gresham
had been sent secretly to the Low Countries with a con-
siderable sum of money, in order " to claim the Countess of
Northumberland^ who resides at Malines^ the Earl of West-
moreland, Lord Morley^ and others, who live at Louvain, if
they have been found in any of the towns which ivelconied
Orange. He {Gresham) is ready to pay a large sum of money
to get these people into his hands, and send them hither ; and
much importance is attached to this, so that if the poor people

* This worthy was, at the time, endeavouring to secure a troop of Light Horse
in the Spanish service. His headquarters were at Brussels.

'^ Henry Parker, 4th Lord Morley, at the time in exile for his religion, had
married the daughter of the 3rd Earl of Derby. His grandson was William
Parker, Lord Monteagle, who discovered the Gunpowder Plot; and from both
was directly descended Alfred, Lord Tennyson, late Poet Laureate of Eng-
land.

362 THE HOUSE OF PERCY

have not fled before the town's surrender , they will be bought by
tJiese English." ^

Alva hastily sent word by young Egremounde Ratcliffe
to Lady Northumberland and her friends, so that they
were able to save themselves in time. When the troops of
Orange entered Mechlin they found that Countess Ann
had escaped to Antwerp. Her house was sacked and
burnt by William's orders ; and with this poor revenge
Burghley had to rest content. A short-lived revenge it
proved, for the countess returned to Mechlin in the
following year, where we find her engaged in fostering
various schemes prejudicial to English interests. One of
these was a project for the union of Mary, Queen of Scots,
with Don John of Austria,^ the laurels of whose splendid
victory at Lepanto were still fresh, and who had already
been designated as the successor of Alva in the Nether-
lands. During the summer of 1573 Lady Northumberland
petitioned Philip II., through the Duke of Medina-Celi, for
the due payment of a pension which had been allotted to
her, but which, in accordance with Spanish habits, was
continually in arrears. At the same time she asked the
King's help for her husband's cousin, Thomas Markenfield,^
for the now repentant traitor, Leonard Dacre, and for
others at Louvain.* From Mechlin the countess moved to
Brussels, where she became so active that Elizabeth,
inspired by Burghley, demanded and obtained her tem-
porary banishment from the Low Countries. The favour
of the new viceroy, Don John of Austria, soon brought her
back to the old haunts, and she continued her efforts to
bring about a match between Philip's brother and the
imprisoned Scots Queen. The untimely death of Don
John put an end to this prospect ; but Lady Northumber-
land continued to mix prominently in all the plots which

1 Cotton MSS., Galha, c. iv,

"^ Sir W. Stirling-Maxwell ; Don John of Austria. Mary Stuart was four
years older than the hero of Lepanto.

^ Thomas Markenfield, of Markenfield in York, was one of those attainted for
rebellion in 1571. His pension from Spain was eighteen crowns per month.

■* The original petition is preserved at Siniancas.

THE HOUSE OF PERCY 363

were hatched for Mary's release. In 1590 she was hving
comfortably at Namur, with a pension (somewhat irregu-
larly paid) of about 1200 crowns a year.^ She died on
September 9, 1591. A fortnight later, Charles Paget,^ one
of the busiest agents of the exiled Catholics, wrote from
Antwerp to Giles Martin in London : — " / want lueencs to
signify to Lady Jane Percy ^ that her mother, the Coujitess of
Northianberland died fourteen days ago of the sviall-pox, and
has left jewels and goods behind worth having ; and to advise
her to come over soone, for iinlesse she is present she cannot enjoy
them, and besides she may procure the discounts * of her mother ,
luhich arise to two thousand crowns of gold, I must not be known
to have advysed this, nor with having intelligence with her ; but
hearing that she is not in the best state for wealthe, she would
be unwise to lose this commodity." Paget, in his zeal for
Jane Percy's interests, would appear to have completely
forgotten that lady's youngest sister, Lady Maria. The
latter had been her mother's constant companion and
solace from the time, twenty years before, when they left
Old Aberdeen together, until death came to break the union.
Lady Maria had surely the best right to what little the
countess left ; and the Spanish Government probably took
this view of the matter, for the youngest of Northumber-
land's five daughters remained in the Low Countries, and
founded there the religious community already alluded to.

^ Sta(e Papers ; Woodshaw, the spy, to Burghley.

^ Charles Paget, 4th son of William, 1st Lord Paget, was, like Lady Nor-
thumberland, implicated in most of the Catholic and Marian plots of the day.
We shall hear of him again in connection with the 9th Earl of Northumberland.
After an adventurous and chequered career, he made his peace with the English
Government, and died a country squire in Somerset.

'^ Afterwards wife of Lord Henry Seymour.

* This probably refers to the accumulated arrears of Lady Northumberland's
Spanish pension.

END OF VOL. I

Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson &^ Co.
Edinburgh if London

INDEX TO VOLUME I.

[A^ames of Persons are printed in ordinary type : all other names
in italics. Numerals refer to pages of Vol. I. The letter " n "
signifies " note."\ ,

Aberdeen^ Old, 326, 329, 363
Abbofs Tower, Ainwick, 20
Ackeliitgto7i Park, 321
Acton, CO. Northumbcrla7id, 120
Acton, Eleanor, heiress of Acton,

wife of Sir Ralph Percy, 120

and 7t.
Acton, Laurence, of Acton, 120
Acton, Percy fauiily of, 120 and //.
Addison, Joseph, 57
Adeliza de Tunbrigg, 10
Adeliza of Louvain, Queen, 13, 14
Agincourt, Batilc of 96
Akles, 166
Albany, Robert, Duke of (Regent

of Scotland), 69, 8g, 90, 92, 95
Albany, Regent Duke of, 124, 157,

158, 161, 163
Alberivicke, Northumberland, 321
Albert, Count of Namur, 13
Aldersgaie Street, London, old

Percy House in, 30 ;/., 86
Alen^on, Due d', 149
Alianore, Queen, 16
Allen, Thomas, 153
Allerton, 294, 318, 332
Alleyne, Dr., exiled Romanist, 327,

329

Ainham, 315 and n.

Alnwick, loi, 140, rgS, 212, 215 ;/.

Alnwick Castle, acquired by the
Percies ; early history ; rebuilt,
20, 23 ; second Lord Percy dies
VOL. I. 365

at, 23, 24, 28 ; Hotspur born at,
31, 43, 45, 46, 65, 71, 85 ; re-
walled by second Earl, 98, 99,
109 ;;., 117, 118, 140, 144, 190,
194 n., 196, 241, 257, 258, 265 ;
deserted state of, 266, 276, 281,
294 ; seventh Earl halts there on
his way to execution, 350

Alntvick, Chronicles of (quoted),
21, 24

" Als-gernons," William, see Percy,
William de

Alva, Duke of, Governor of the
Low Countries, 292, 320, 327,

33^ 333, 334^ 35^, 361, 362
Amp thill, 225
Amsterdam, 230
Andersons, 194.
Angus, Earl of, 70
Angus, Earl of, see Umfraville
Angus, Earl of, see Douglas
Annandale, Percy estates in, y}
Anne Boleyn, see Boleyn
Antioch, William " Als-gernons "

buried at, 8
A)itiquaria7i Repository, The

(quoted), 147
Antwerp, 327, 330, -^22>, 335, 3^2
Aquitai/ie, 65
Araye, Robert, 322
Argyll, Earl of, 124
Argyll, see Campbell
Armorar, Cuthbcrt, of Belford, 321
2 A

366

INDEX

'■^ Armotircrs' Toiver" Alnwick

Castle, 20
Arms : —

Of the House of Louvain, 14
Of Louvain-Percy, 14, 19, 22
Of the Lucy family, 37, 54
Of De Percy, 9
Of De Percy of France and
Canada, 4
Armstrong, Andrew, 213
Armstrong, Hector, 213
Armstrong, Hector or " Heckie,"
of Harselavv (betrayer of the
seventh Earl), 308-310, 315
Armstrong, "Johnnie," 194
Armstrong, "Mickle Sym," 213
Armstrongs, 42, 194 and ;/.
Armstrongs of Liddesdale, see
"John o' the Syde " and "the
Laird's Jock"
Aragon, Katherine of, see Kathe-

rine. Queen
Arthur of Ikittany, 15
Arthur, Prince of Wales, 136,

138
Artois, Baptism of Geoffrey de

Perci at, 2
Arundel, Earl of, see Fitz-Alan
Arundel, Holy Trinity College at,

132
Arundel, Thomas, alias Fitz-Alan,

182 and 71., 186, 189-192, 196,

198 and «., 203
Aske hall, co. 1 ork, 234
Aske, Robert, of Aske (leader of

the " Pilgrimage of Grace"), 234,

235-248
Aske, Sir Robert, of Aske, 139
Askew {Ayscough), co. ) ork, 321
Astley, Sir John, 117, 118
Athol, 85. ^ee Percy, Sir Thomas
Atkinson, John, 322
" Auditors' Tower," Alnwick Casllc,

legend of, 1 90
Audley, Lords, 137, 228
Austria, Don John of, 362 and ;/.
Avranches, Hugo d', 4

Ayketon, co. Cumberland, 321

Aynthorne, 166

Ayr, first Lord Percy governor of,

19
Ayre or Aire, River, 1 14

Babington, 97

Badge of the House of Percy, see

Crescent and Manacles
Baldersbie, co. York, 321
Baldwin, Count, see Flanders
Baginton, 84
Baliol, Edward, 23
Baliol, Eleanor de, wife of the

seventh Baron de Percy, 18
Balveny, see Douglas of Balveny
Bamborough Castle, 2 1 ; rebuilt by

Percy, 23,65, 85, 127,215
BamboroughsJiire, 49, 50
Bambridge, Cardinal -Archbishop

of York, 152
Bannockburn, Battle of,i\, 23
Banks, 96
Bardolf, Lord (friend of the first

Earl), 86 ; slain with the Earl at

Bramham Moor, 87-88
Barham, co. Ketit, 2 1 1
Bannoor by Wooler, 95
Barnard Castle, 291, 292, 322
Barnes dale, 128
Barfiet, Battle of, \22,
Barons' League, The, 2 1
Barrios de Barres, Spanish cham-
pion, 41
Bassett, Gilbert de, 17
Bass Rock, 337
Bath, Order of the, 136
Battle Abbey, Bolls of, 4
Baumgartner, family of, 134 and n.
Baumgartner, General R. J., 134

and n.
Baumgartner, Henry Percy Julian

134;;.
Bayard, Chevalier, 149
Baynard Castle, 107
Beamish, co. Durham, 254, 255,

258,261,325

INDEX

367

Beauchavip Tower, Si'*' Ingelsp-am

Percy in the, 249
Beaufort, Edmund, sixth Duke of

Somerset, 106, 108, 116, 118, 119,

I3«, J71

Beaufort, Edward, Duke of Somer-
set, 138 n.

Beaufort, Lady Eleanor, wife of
Sir Robert Spenser, Knt., 1 38, 1 7 1

Bedford, Duke of, 86, 104

Bedford, Jacqueline, Duchess of,
122

Beistoii, CO. York, 321

Beke, Anthony, Bishop of Durham,
20

Belford, Norihutnberland, 321

Bellinghnin, 303

Benedicii/ie abbots attd monks
beatified by Rovie, 358

Benedictine convent founded by
Lady Maria Percy, 359

Bergholt {East), co. Nor/., Bene-
dic lines at, 359

Berkeley, Sir John, 105

Berkhanipstead, Court at, 34 ; quar-
rel between John of Gaunt and
Percy at, 34, 35

Berwick Bounds, 1 40, 158

Berwick in Shropshire, story of
Hotspur at, 79

Bervuick-on-Tweed, 19 ; besieged by
Edward III., 22, 23, 29 ; lost and
retaken by Lord Percy ; again
lost and retaken by Hotspur, 32 ;
John of Gaunt refused entrance,
32-34 ; supposed betrayal of, 36 ;
recovered by Percy, 37, 49 ;
Hotspur Constable of, 65, 66, 76,
85 ; second Earl of Northumber-
land governor of, 92, 95, 118,
124, 129, 157, 214, 257, 258, 260,
261, 295, 324, 333, 338, 346, 348

Beverley, 102, 138, 160, 187, 234,
257

Beverley Minster, 132, 171

Beverley, Mystery Plays at, 93, 94,

IDS

Beverley, Percy family of, 217, 218

Beverley, Rolls of, 94

Bewcastledale, 213

Bewicks, 193

Bigod, Sir Francis, 240, 246-248

Bishop, Thomas, of Pucklington,

CO. York, 321
Bishop, Thomas, the younger, 321
Bishopsthorpe, ico
Black Fell, 303
Black Prince, The, 26, 37
Blackadder, 164
Blackheath, 137
Blackston, see Blakiston
Blair, John, chaplain to William

Wallace, 19
Blakiston, or Blackston, Marma-

duke, 283 n., 321
" Blandamour," name given by

Spenser to the seventh Earl of

Northumberland, in the Faerie

Queen, 337 n.
Blickling, seat of the Boleyns,

176 n.
Boleyn, Queen Anne, 167-169, 173-

185, 201, 203, 205, 206, 210, 223-

233. 309 n.
Boleyn, Sir Geoffrey, Lord Mayor

of London, 175 «.
Boleyn, George, Viscount Roch-

ford, 176 n., 201, 227
Boleyn, Lady (born Howard), 175 «.
Boleyn, Mary, married to William

Carey, 176 n., 185, 231, 309 71.
Boleyn, Thomas, Earl of Wiltshire,

173, 176 «., 177 «., 182, 226, 227
Boleyn, Sir William, K.B. of Blick-

ling, 176 ;/.
Bolingbroke, Henry of, see

Henry IV.
Bolton, Lord Scrope of, 124
Boniface XII., Pope, 19
Bonvyse, Anthony, 186
Borders, Scottish, Percies settle on

the, 18-20. See also Marches,

Scottish
Boroughbridgc, 269, 322

368

INDEX

Bortliwick, Captain John, 308

Boston, 67, 68

Boswall (Houston-), Sir G. L.,

164 ti.
Bosworih, Battle of, 126, 127
Bothwell, Earls of, see Hepburn
Bowes, Sir George, 260, 266, 273,

291, 292, 294, 301, 303, 318 and «.,

320
Bowet, Archbishop of York, 95
Bowreshelys iti Redesdale, 194
Boynton, 36

Boynton, Sir Robert, 32, 34
Brabant, Dukedom of (right of

House of Percy to), 14
Brabant, House of, see Louvain
Braiiiham Moor, fight of, 87-89, 95
Brannnish, 99
Brancepcth Castle, 278, 279, 281,

321
" Branerdergast,^^ 216
Braose, Lady de, and her son, 16
Braye, Lord, 228
Brereton, Sir William, 260
Bretottby, co. York, 321
Bridlington, the Briar of, 248
Brinckbourjie, Northumberland, 32 1
Bristol, 82
Brittany, 86
Brittany, Duke of, 40
Briwere, William de, 1 5
Brooke, Lord, afterwards Earl of

Warwick, 251
Brotherton, Thomas of, Earl of

Norfolk, 30
Broughton, Henry Tempest of, 249
Brown, 97
Brown, George, Archbishop of

Dublin, 225
Browne, Sir Valentine, Treasurer

of Berwick, 295, 338, 343, 344
Brownes, 193
Bruce, 10, 11
Bruce, Alexander, 19
Bruce, King David, 23
Bruce, King Robert, 21
Bruce, Thomas, 19

Brussels, Benedictine Convent
founded at, by Lady Maria
Percy, 359 ; Countess Anne of
Northumberland resides in, 362

Brj'an, Barony of, inherited by the
House of Percy, 105 ; becomes
dormant after the attainder of
the seventh Earl, 320 et seq.

Bryan, Elizabeth, Baroness, 105

Buccleugh, Lords and Dukes of,
see Scott

Buchan, Lord, 52

Buchanan, George, 90

Buckingham, Duke of, see Stafford

Bugdeti, 225

" Bull and Mouth " Inn, on site of
Old Bercy House, 30 n,

Bulmer, Sir John, 247, 248

Bulmer, Lady (Margaret Cheyne),

247-249
Burke, Sir J. Bernard, 40
Bussy d' Amboise, 150
Butler, Lady Anne, 176 n.
Butler, Sir Edmund, of Polestown,

176 n.
Butler, James, third Earl of Or-

mond, 176 n.
Butler, James, fourth Earl of

Ormond, 176 n.
Butler, James, fifth Earl of Ormond,

1 76 //.
Butler, James, ninth Earl of

Ormond, 177 ;;.
Butler, James, second Duke of

Ormond, 218 n.
Butler, Sir James, of Polestown,

176 n.
Butler, John, sixth Earl of Ormond,

176 ;/.
Butler, John, fifteenth Earl of

Ormond, 218 n.
Butler, Lady Margaret, 176 ;/.
Butler, Pierce Ruadh, eighth Earl

of Ormond and first Earl of

Ossory, 176 n., 177 «., 180
Butler, Richard, first Viscount

Mountgarret, 176 ;/.

INDEX

569

Butler, Sir Richard, of Polestown,
176 ;;.

Butler, Thomas, seventh Earl of
Ormond, 1 76 ;/.

Butler, Thomas (Lord Butler),
afterwards tenth Earl of Ormond,
252 and n.

Butlers and Boleyns dispute suc-
cession to the Earldom of Or-
mond, 176 ;/.

Bynneman, Hcnrie, 2S5 ;/.

Caerlaverock, Siege of^ 19

Calais, 38, 59, 61, 68, 118, 137, 149
and ;/.

Calais, Chronicles of, \ 2,7

Calvados, 3

Calverley, Sir Henry, 40

Campbell, Duncan, Lord (of Loch-
awe), 89

Campbell, Earl of Argyll, 124

Campbell, George Douglas, late
Duke of Argyll, 89

Campbell, Lady Edith, now
Duchess of Northumberland, 89

Cambridge, Percy family of, 133,
2 1 7-2 1 9

Cambridge, Richard, Earl of, 92,
wo 71.

Cambridge, St. Johtis College, 132

Camden (quoted), 282

Canada, family of Perci or Percin
in, 4

Canterbury, Archbishops, 23, 108,
224, 231. See also unaer sur-
names of the Archbishops

Capet, Hugh, slays William de
Perci, 2

Capgrave (quoted), 78

Cdppenlww, manor of, in dispute,
96,98

Carey, Henry, first Lord Hunsdon,
279, 287, 288, 290//., 301, 309 and
n., 310, 311, 313, 314, 317, 323,
335-339, 341-350

Carey, Sir John, 231

Carey, Thomas, 256

Carey, Viscount, Falkland, 231
Carey, William, 176 n., 231 ;/.,

309 ;/.
Careys, Earls of Dover and of

Monmouth, 231
Carham, 32

Carleton, co. York, \ 29 n.
Carlisle, 33, 43, 59, 66, 157, 268, 269
Carlisle, Bishops of, 23, 164. See

also under surnames of the

notable Bishops
Carlisle Herald, 213
Carnaby, Sir Raynold, 222, 230'

232, 24-, 2447?.
Carnarvon Castle, 6^, 6j
Car, Dan, of Shilstock Braes (secret

agent of Mary Queen of Scots),

290 and n.
Carr, see also Ker
Carr, Launce, 164
Carr, Robert, Viscount Rochester

and Earl of Somerset, 310
Carter's Fell, 42
Castile, 26, 41
Catesby, Minister of Richard III.,

127
Catton, 147, 206 ;/.
Caux, Counts of, see Perci
Cavendish's Wolsey (quoted), 177,

184, 208
Cavers, 45 and ;/.
Cawood, CO. York, 206, 207, 210,

271
Cayley, Richard, 321
Cecil, William, first Lord Burghley,

262, 265, 268, 270, 271, 275, 277,

278-280, 284-287, 293, 29s, 296,

304, 305. 307 «•, 309, 31 15 314-

317, 3191 320, 325» 327, -iio-izz,

334, 336, 337, 338, 341, 342, 344-

349, 358, 360, 362
Cessford, Kers of, 261. See also

Ker
Chamberlain, Lord High, North-

umbcrlajtd as, 125
Chambrd, John \ 129, 130
Chandos, Sir John, 26

370

INDEX

Chapuis, German Ambassador, 225,

226, 227 n.
Charlemagne, Emperor, the House
of Louvain, Percy descended
from, 13, 14, 60
Charles I., 130 11.

Charles V., Emperor of Germany,
i6r

Charleton, Cuddy (Cuthbert), 241

Charleton, Edward, 241

Charleton, William, of Shottlington,
(chief of the Redesdale free-
booters), 193, 195, 220

Chators, The, 193

Chaucer, Geofifrey, 39

Cheshire archers at Shrewsbury^
79-81

Chester, 64, 65 ; Hotspur's head-
quarters at, 74, 76, -]■}, 82

Chester, Earl of, see Hugh Lupus

Chester-Dean, 294

Chester-le-Street, 255, 322

Cheviot Hills, The, 48

" Chevy Chase," Ballad of, 25, 28,
99

Chevy Chase, Hu7iting Fray of,
cofifounded with Buttle of Otter-
bourne, 25

Chififrevast, Henriette de, 3

Chillingham, 118

Chipchase, 165, 241, 242

Cholmeley (Chamley), Mr., 238

CItopwell, 321

Christchurch Collej^e, Oxford, 190
and n.

Circiniani, Nicholas, 357

Clackmannan, 89

Clare, Richard, third Earl of, 10

Clarence, George, Duke of, 124

Clarence, Lionel, Duke of, 6:,
1 10 n.

Clarencieux King of Arms, 289

Clarendon, Council at, 58 and «., 59

Clark, Petronilla, of Chester, 74

Clarke, John (servant of the seventh
Earl of Northumberland), 353,
-.^6

Clavering, 165

Claxton, Robert, of Old Parke, 321

Cleish, laird of (agent in the

betrayal of the seventh Earl),

337, T:>^, 341, 343
Clerk, 97

Clerkes, of Redesdale, 194
Clermont, Sieur de, 150
Clidsale, Sir Henry, 99
Clifford, Henry, first Earl of

Cumberland, 169 and ;/., 170,

171, 187, 202, 204
Clifford, Lord, 106, 107, 108, in,

112, 114, 115
Clifford, Lord (afterwards second

Earl of Cumberland), 196
Clifford, John, Lord, 93 and n., 104,

108, 109
Clifford Moor, 290
Clifford, Robert de, 19
Clifford, Sir Thomas, 204, 215, 217
Cliffords, Earls of Cumberland, 322
Cliffords, Lords Clifford, 150, 159
Clinton, Lord, 228
Clinton, Lord (Lord High Admiral

of England), 284, 292, 295
Cobham, Lord, 228
Cockayne (Cokain), Sir Peter, 96,

98
Cockermouth, yj, 267, 270 ft.
Cockermouth, Baron Percy of, 256
Cocklaw Peel, 71, 74
Cockledge, or Cocklodge, co. Yorky

1 30 and n.
Coldingham, 215, 216, 337-239,

343
Coldstream, 32, 316
" Collectanea Topographica et

Heraldica'^ {(\\io\.Qd.), 133
Collingwood, Robert, 221 n.
CoUingwood, Robert, of Alber-

wicke, 321
Collingwood, Robert, of Etel, 321
Collingwood, Roger k, 154
Collins' Peerage, 250
Colly- Weston, co. Northampton,

138

INDEX

371

Coltson, 97

Colvylle, 36

Cohvells of Redesdale, 193

Com f no f I /'/cas, Court of, 142

Compton, Sir William, 155

Constable, 36

Constable, Lord High, Percies as,

65, lOI
Constable, Sir Marmaduke, 125,

150
Constable, Sir Robert, 206, 238,

247, 248
Constable, Sir William, 238
Constable, spy of Lord Burghley,

293, 314, 315
" Constable's l^ower" Alnwick

Castle, 20
Conway Castle, 64, 66
Conyers, 36

Conyers, Ralph, of Cottam, 321
Conyers, Ralph, of Layton, 321
Conyers, William, Lord, 171
Conyerses, 350
Cooke, Robert, Clarencieux King

of Arms, 289
Cooksons of Redesdale, 193
Copenhagen, 333
Coquet River, 38, 194 n., 241
Cornish supporters of Ferkin War-
beck, 137
Corpus Cliristi College, Oxford,

218, 219
Cottam, CO. Durham, 32 1
Cotton MSS. (quoted), 48, 67, 68,

184, 240
Coucy, Sieur de, 60
Courtenay, Bishop of London, 29
Coventry, 84, 109
Covvper, John, tailor, of Kiswyke,

Yorks, 321, 322
Cranmer, Thomas, 225, 227 and «.,

231, 234, 235 and n.
Craven, 10, 147, 170, 322
Crawshavve, Alexander, 194
Cray {North), co. Kent, 21 1
Cre(iy, Battle of, 22 ; third Lord

Percy at, 24

^^ Crescent and Manacles ^^ Badge of
Percy, 31, 149, 301

Crennes, Marie de (Dame de Mon-
champs), 3

Crofts, Sir James, 262, 263 and n.

Cromwell, Oliver, 252 ;/.

Cromwell, Sir Richard {alias Wil-
liams), 252 and n.

Cromwell, Thomas, Earl of Essex,
186, 188, 211, 217, 218, 222, 227,
230, 231, 234, 235 and n., 249,
250-252, 255, 262

" Crossed Priars," London, 249

Crusade, First, William de Percy
at, 8

Crux Church, York, body of seventh
Earl of Northumberland buried

in, 356
Ciillen, see Culzean
Cumberland, Percy estates in, 37,

163, 270 «., 271, 360
Cumberland, Earls of, sec Clifford
Cumbernauld, 86
Culzean, Kennedy of, 260
Curwen, Sir Thomas, 139
Cuthbert, St., banner of, 235

Dacre, Edmund, 295, 296
Dacre, Edward, of Morton, 320
Dacre, Lady (born Talbot), 202-

204, 223, 244
Dacre, Leonard, 275, 278, 279,

280,281, 295,296,312 and«., 320,

33i> 362
Dacre, Lord, iii
Dacre, fifth Lord (of Gillesland),

272
Dacre, Sir Philip, 165
Dacre, Richard, of Ayketon, 321
Dacre, William, third Lord (of

Gillesland), 156, 159, 162, 163-

167, 182, 202, 203, 204, 219, 221,

222, 228
Dacre, William, fourth Lord (of

Gillesland), 262
Dacre, William, of St. Bees, 321
Dacre of the South, Lord, 228

372

INDEX

Dae res, 276

Dalkeith Casth\ 45, 140

Dalkeith, Lord, 263

Danbies, 236

Danby, 237

Danby, Christopher, of Beiston,

CO. York, 321
D'Arcy, 36

Darcy, Sir Arthur, 215, 217
Darcy, Lord, 159, 228, 234-236,

238-239, 246-248
Darlmgton, 283, 290, 322, 350,

351
Darnley, Henry Stuart, Lord, 267,

303
David L, King of Scots, 9.
Davidsons, 214
Dawgs of Redesdale, 193
'''■ Debateable Ground^ 'I lie" 43 and

«., 306
De Fonblanque (quoted), 4, 223,

258 ; and majority of excerpts

from Alnwick MSS.
De la Pole, William, Duke of

Suffolk, loi
Delaval (Delavall), 36
Delaval, Lord, 196
Delaval, Sir John, 196
Delawarr, Lord, 228
Denmark, 329
Denmark, Princess Dorothea of,

212
Denton, co. York, 255
Deptford Strand, \yj
Derby, Henry, Earl of, see Henry

IV.'
Derby, Stanleys, Earls of, 136, 228,

240, 280, 293, 361 n.
De Roos, 36

Despensers, see Spensers
Dethick, Sir Gilbert, Garter King

of Arms, 289
De Vere, see Vere
Devereux, Robert, second Earl of

Essex, 349
De Vesci, see Vesci
Devon, Earl of, 35

Digby, Sir Kenelm (marries a
grandchild of the seventh Earl
of Northumberland), 359 ;/.

Digby, Simon, of Askew, 321, 322

Dilstone, Northumberlatid, 212,
213

Dionys, St., CJiurch of, at York,
116

'''' Dirtin Raid, T/ie," joo

'■^ Discoiirs des Troubles dii Cointe
de Northumberland" 360

Dispenser, Le, 36

Domesday Book, The, 5

Doncaster, 63, -j-j, 239, 241

Dons, of Redesdale, 193

Dorothea, Princess of Denmark,
212

Dorset, Marquis of, 147, 162

Douglas, 22

Douglas at " Chevy Chase," 25

Douglas, Arms o/, ^4.

Douglas, Archibald, Earl of Angus,

158, I93-I95> 198, 199. 201, 212,
214-216

Douglas, Sir Archibald, Regent of
Scotland, 42 n

Douglas, Archibald, third Earl of
Douglas, 65, 66, 69-71, 72,-7? ;
slain at Shrewsbury Field, 80-
82,89

Douglas, Archibald, retainer of
Angus, 201

Douglas iamily of Cavers, and
Hotspur's pennon, 45 and n

Douglas, George, 201, 216

Douglas, Hugh, Earl of Ormond,
loi and ;/.

Douglas, James, of Balveny, loi
and n.

Douglas, James, second Earl of
Douglas, 42 ; invades Northum-
berland, 43 ; single combat with
Hotspur, 44 ; his challenge, 45 ;
prowess and death at Otter-
bourne, 46-48 ; in Ballad of
Oiterbourne, 49-58
I Douglas, James, Earl of Morton,

INDEX

373

Regent of Scotland, 26:;, 324,

330, 334, 335, 339-341, 343
Douglas, William, second Earl of

Angus, 99
Douglas, William, first Earl of

Douglas, 28, 29, 36, 42 n.
Douglas, William, of Lochleven

(gaoler of the seventh Earl of

Northumberland), 324, 327, 328,

330-334,337,341,343
Douglas, Sir William, the Knight of

Liddesdale, 22
Dublin, Archbishop of (George

Brown), 225
Duchesne (quoted), 4
Dudley and Percy, feud between,

348 ;/.
Dudley, Edmund, minister of

Henry VII., 142, 348 ;/.
Dudley, John, Earl of Warwick

and Duke of Northumberland,

142 «.. 253, 256, 348 //.
Dudley, Robert, Earl of Leicester,

267, 348 and n.
Dugdale, Sir William, Garter King

of Arms, 133
Du Guesclin, Bertrand, 28, 31,37, 41
" Dumfermling," 341
Dumfries^ 100
Dunbar, 100, 106, 337, 339
Dunbar, Battle of, 1 8
Dunbar, Earl of, 43, 46
Dunbar, George, Earl of March,

65, 69, 70, 78, 79, 80
Dunbar, Patrick, Earl of March,

27, 29, 31. 36
Dunkeld, Bishop of, 124
Dunse, 27, 259
Dunstanburi^h Castle, 1 17, 1 18, 1 19,

127
'■'■ Dunstanbiirgh, Gledd of" sec

Percy, Sir Ralph
Durham, 24, 43, 286, 293, 320, 322,

350
Durham, Bishops of, 23, 46, 47, 65,
69, 140, 234. ^ee also under
sur nanus of Bishops

Durham CatJiedral, 320
Durham, county of, 24, 69, 318

Rastwell, co. Kent, 2 1 1

I-.dcn River, 181

Edgars (or Edgors), of Rcdcsdale,

193
Edgar, Edward, 204
Edward I., 19, 33
Edward II., 20, 21, 22, 58
Edward III., 22, 23, 24, 26, 62,

70
Edward IV., 113, 114, 116, 117,

122, 123, 124, 125, 137 ;/.
Edward V., 124, 137 ;/.
Edward VI., 262
Edward, the Black Prince, see

Black Prince
Edward, Prince, Son of Henry VI.,

no. III
Edward, St., the Confessor, his

shrine, 98
Egremond, Sir John, 129
Egremont, Lord, see Thomas Percy
Eleanor of Castile, Queen, 18
Elizabeth, Queen, consort of

Edward IV., 122
Elizabeth, Queen, 207, 226 ;/., 230,

232, 262, 266, 268-271, 272-274,

277-280, 284, 287, 288-291, 293,

295. 309 and n., 310, 313, 314,

316-320, 323, 325, 330, 335, 341,

342, 345, 346, 348-350, 357,

360-362, 367
Ellerby, or Ellerbee, Sir William,

165
Ellerker, Ralph, 260
EUerker, Sir Ralph, " the younger,"

238, 241
Ellerker, Sir Robert, 221 //.
Ellesdens, The, 193
Elliot, Martin (agent of Moray),

305, 307-309
EUwold, 212
Elphinstone of Elphinstonc, 99

Eisdon, parish of, 46

374

INDEX

Ely, Bishop of, 261

Emma "de Porte," of Semer, a

Saxon lady (wife of William de

Perci), 4, 5
Empson, Richard, minister of

Henry VII., 142
English Church of the Trinity, in

Rome, 357
" Englissche Chronicle" (quoted),

150
Errington, Anthony, 241
Errington, Rowland (Rowley), 194
Errington, Thomas, 195
Errington, Thomas, 214
Errington (Eryngton), Thomas, 148
Erringtons, The, 194
Eskdale, 43
Eske Water, 42 ;/., 43
Eslington, 322
" Esperance en Dieu" Percy

war cry, 18, 19, 27, 32, 80, 81,

145
" Esperance Herald," employed by

Northumberland, 184
Essex, Earl of, sec Cromwell
Essex, Earl of, see Devereux
Essex, Percy estates in, 5
Etel, CO. Northuinberland, 321
Eure, Lord, 261
Eure, Sir William, 221 ;/.
Eversley, Ralf de, squire of William

de Perci, 8
Exchequer, Court of , 188
Exeter, Dukes of, 64, 107
Exeter, Marquis of, 228
Eyemouth, 338, 343
Eynsham, co. Oxford, 359
Eyssels, Roger, 191

Fairfax, Sir Nicholas, 269
Fairfax, Sir William, 269
Fairfaxes, 236
Falconbridge, Lord, 115
Falconer or Fauconer, 36
^'Falconer's Tower ^^ Alnwick
Castle, 20

Falkland Forest., 324,

Falstone, 303

Fast Castle, 313

F el ton, 193, 194

Fen^lon, French Ambassador, 288-

290
Fenne, Mr,, Master of Arts, 32
Fenwick, 36, 220
Fenwick,Cuthbert, of South Shields,

321
Fenwick, Sir Ralph, 213
Fenwick, Sir Ralph k, 165
Fenwick, Thomas, 197
Fenwick, Tristram, of Brinck-

bourne, 321
Fcrnieherst Castle, 310 and «.,

324

Ferriby Brig, 114, 115

Ferrybridge, 238, 239

Fetherstonhaugh, Alexander, 214

"■ Field of the Cloth of Geld,'' 160,
161

Fife, Earl of, 43, 48

Fife, Murdoch Stewart, Earl of, 67,
70,92

Fitz-Alan, Archbishop of Canter-
bury, 59

Fitz-Alan, Thomas, called "Arun-
del," see Thomas Arundel

Fitz-Alan, Earls of Arundel, 58,
59,61, 105, 134,272, 280, 293

Fitz-Alan, William, thirteenth Earl
of Arundel, 182 n., 228

Fitz-Hugh, 36

Fitz-Hugh, Sir John, 56

Fitz-Payn, Barony of, inherited by
the Percy fatnily, 105 ; falls into
abeyance after attainder of
seventh Earl

Fitz-Payn, Robert, Lord Poynings
and, 105

Fitz- Walter, Lords, 29, 30, 114
and n.

Flamborough Head, 90

Flanders, Count Baldwin of, 8

Fleet Prison, 121, 153, 154

Fleet Street, 108

INDEX

375

Fleming, Sir David, of Cumber-
nauld, 86
Fletchers of Redesdale, 193
Fleury (Florens), Vido, 220
Flint Castle^ 64, 65
" Flflddcn, Ballad of" \ 50
Floddcfi, Battle of, 4S, 140, 150,

151, 153, 217
Flower, William, Norroy King at

Arms, 289
Folkingham, Baron of, see Gilbert

de Ghent
Forests, Royal, 106, 127
Forster, Sir John, 260, 261, 294,

295> Z'^l>^ 323, 324, 344, 348-35o>

352) 353
P'orsters of Redesdale, 193
Fortescue, Adrian, beatified by

Rome, 358
J'orth, Firth of, 2,^7
Fosters of Redesdale, 193
Fount aifis At'/bcy, 16
Francis I., of France, 160, 161
Friedmanns Ann Bolcyn (quoted),

223, 224
Froissart, 26, 46, 47, 60
Froude, J. A. 232 n.
Fulthropp, John, of Islebeck, 321,

322
Furness, 128
Furnival, Lord, see Thomas Nevill

Gallicia, 41

Calloway (first Lord Percy, gover-
nor of), 19, 73

Gargrave, Sir Thomas (sheriff of
York), 270, 287, 319, 320, 353,
355,356

Garter, King of Arms, 289

Garter, Order of (conferred on
members of the House of Percy),
26, 39, 124, 141, 211, 267

Gascoyne, Sir William, 167

Gaunt, John o{,sre Lancaster, Duke
of

Gaveston, Piers, 20, 21, 58

Gerard, Father, Jesuit priest, 352,

359

Gcrvise, see Jervaulx

Ghent, Emma de (wife of second
Lord Percy), 89

Ghent, Gilbert de (Baron of Folk-
ingham), 8

Giggleswick, co York, 132, 147

Glasgow, 86

" Gieddof Dunstanbutgh, The," see
Percy, Sir Ralph

G lend ale, 259

Glendower, Owen, 65, 71, 72, 74,
75, 77, 78, 79, 81-83

Gloucester, Duchess of, 100

Gloucester, Duke of, loi

Gloucester, Richard, Duke of, see
Richard IIL

Gloucester, Thomas, Duke of, 58,
59,61

Godfrey, Barbatus, Count of Bra-
bant and Louvain, 13 ft.

Godfrey IL, Count of Brabant and
Louvain, 13

Godnianchester, 134, 1S3

Goldsmiths' Hall, 30

Gordon, Sir John, 29

Gordon Riots, 30

Gospatrick, Earl, 4

Gower, John of Richmond, 321

" Grace, Pilgrimage of," 223, 249

Grafton (quoted), 107, 118, 119, 126,
127

Gravenor, 39

Gray, Henry, Marquis of Dorset
and Duke of Suffolk, 147, 162,228

Gray, Lady Jane, 253

Gray, Lionell, 221

Graydon, Dan Ker of, 214

Green Ley ton, 49 and n.

Green, Thomas, yeoman of Tad-
caster, 321

Greenwich, 225

Gregory XII L, 357

Grenes, 193

Gresham, family of, 151

Gresham, Sir Thomas, 361

376

INDEX

Grey, Sir Edmond, 165

Grey of Wilton, Lord, 265, 266

Grey, Sir Ralph, 99

Grey, Sir Thomas, 125

Grey, Sir Thomas, of Wark, 326 ;/.,
359

Greystock, see Dacre

Greystoke, Baron of, 53

Grosvenor family, reputed and pro-
bable descent of, 39, 40

Grosvenor, Sir Robert, 39

Grosvenor- Scrope case, 39

Guast, Sir Roger, 165

Guiettne, 68

Cidsnes, 59, 160

Gunpowder Plot, 133

GuyalJ, Harr)', Prior of Wressil],245

Hacktiey, Parish Church of, sixth

Earl buried in, 252
JJackney, sixth Earl's house at, 250

and ;/. ; his death there, 251, 252
Haggerston, Sir John of, 52, 56
Haliburton, Sir William, 95
Halidon Hall, Battle of, 22 ;/., 42
" Halidon Hill" poem by Scott, 70
Hall (quoted), 72, 128, 139, 233
Hall, John, of Otterbourne, 193
Halls, the, 193, 194
Haltwhistle, 195 n., 295
Hamilton, James, of Bothwell-

haugh, 317 «.
Hamilton, Stephen, of Giggles wick,

147

Hampshire, Percy estates in, 5

Hainpstead Heath, 262 ;/.

Hampton Court, 197, 232

Hancock, Christopher, 322

Hangenshawes, 193

Harbottel, Eleanor (wife of Sir
Thomas Percy), 254, 325

Harbottel, Sir Guiscard, of Beam-
ish, 255 and 71.

Harbottel, Sir James, 56

Hardwyke, co. Durham, 321

Hardyng (quoted), 47, 64, 99 and n.

}iarold. King, 81

Harselaiv, 315

Hartburn, 49

Hartlepool, 292

Harwich, y;^, 308

}Iasingtofi, 166

Hastiiigs, Battle of, 4, 20

Hastings, Elizabeth, 141, 142

Hastings, Sir John, 139, 141, 142

Hay don Brig, 194

Hayteley Jield, 78

Hazleton Bigg, 215 «.

Hearon, see Heron

Hebborne, Anthony, of Hardwyk,

321
" Hec'of^s Cloak " (Scots proverb),

315

Heighington, Robert, of Richmond,
321

Heneage, Thomas, 169

Hennege, see Heneage

Hi?i>iiftgham, 141

Henry I., 9, 10

Henry H. (a blood relation of the
Percies), 10

Henry HI., 17, 18, 24

Henry IV., 62-91

Henry V., 80 and ;;., 91, 92, 95,
96, 104 ;/., 1 10

Henry VI., 102-104, 106-111, 114,
123

He7try VI., King, play of, 113

Henry VII., his niggardly char-
acter, 66 ; as Earl of Richmond,
126 ; as King of England, 127-
130, 132, 136-138, 141, 142

Henry VIII., as Prince Henry,
I35j 136; as king, 142, 146-150
n., 151, 153, 154, 1 58-161, 164,
166-168, 173, 175, 177, 178, 182,
184, 194, 196-198, 205-207, 209-
214, 216, 217, 220, 223, 232, 234,
235, 241, 244, 246-248, 250-253,
255,256, 262, 309;/., 357

Hepburn, 69

Hepburn, David, 212

Hepburn, first Earl of Bothwell,
1-4

INDEX

377

Hepburn, second Earl of liothwell,

198, 212-214
Hepburn, James, third Earl of

Bothwell, 303
Hepburn of Hales, 99
Heralds, private, in service of the

House of Percy, 139, 184
Herber{or Erber\ The, 107
Herbert, 10, 11
Herbert, Earl of Worcester, 149

and «.
Herbert, Lady Maud, wife of the
fourth Earl of Northumberland,
132, 138
Herbert, of Chcrbury, Lord, 210
Herbert, William, first Earl of

Pembroke, 132 «.
Heriiiita£;e, Castle of 22
Heron, John, 221
Heron (or Hearon), John, 148
Heron, John (of Chipchase) 164,

241, 242
Heron, Sir William, 164
Hertford, Earl of, see Seymour
Hever Castle, Anne Boleyn's resi-
dence in, 181, 182, 184
Hcxliam, 195 n., 295, 303, 310
Hexham, Battle of 119
Hickley, Robert, 323
Hide, James, 136
Higden, Bryan, 169, 170
Hilda, St., Abbey of, see Whitely

Abbey
Hilda, St., Chapel of, 10

Hilt, James, 321

Hilton, Sir Thomas, 244

Hilton, Sir William, 165

Hinchinbroke, 252

Hodgson, George, 204

Hogg, John, 32

Hoghtons, The, 194

Hogs, The, 193

Holborn, 108

H olden, 236

Holinshed (quoted), 4, 99, 15°, 290

Holland, Sir Richard, of Denton,
254 n., 255

Holmside, Tempests of, 321
"•Holy Thorn,'' supposed relic of

Christ, 351, 352, 359
Holy 'Trinity College, Arundel,

132
Holy rood, Abbot of, 199
hotne Castle, 313, 315, 3I7, 3^4
Home, Lady, 329
Home, Lord, 259, 260, 262, 310,

3U, 315
Homildo:vn, Battle of, 69, lo, 74,

78, 80, 89, 162
Hoppes, The, 194
Horner, Randall, 322
Horseley, George, of Ackelington

Park, 321
Horsley or Horslay, Thomas, 148
Horsmonden, co. Kent, 211
Hotham, John, 148
Hotham, Sir John (of Scarboro'), J 47
" Hotspur." see Henry Percy, Lord
Household Book of the fifth Earl of

Northumberland. 143, '44, 146
Howard, Sir Edward, 147
Howard, Mary, Countess of West-
moreland, 272-275, 289, 293, 294,
334, 335. 319, 33', 334, 349
Howard, Thomas, Earl of Surrey

and first Duke of Norfolk, 132
Howard, Thomas, Earl of Surrey
and second Duke of Norfolk,
138, 150, 151, 175 "■
Howard, Thomas, Earl of Surrey
and third Duke of Norfolk, 152,
162, 182, 183, 204-207, 224, 227,
229-231, 238, 245-248
Howard, Thomas, Earl of Surrey
and fourth Duke of Norfolk, 272-
275, 289, 293, 294, 319, 331, 334,

335,249 ^ ^ _

Hull, 33, 67, 68, 206, 234, 238, 248
Hull, Mayor of, 219
H timber. River, 33, in, 128, 139,

152, 219
Hume, see Home
Hungate, 269
Hungerford, Lord, 118, 119

378

INDEX

Hunmandeby, 147
Hunsdon, see Carey
Hunter, Rev. Joseph, 133
Huntingdon, 183
Huntingdon, Earl of, 228
Huntingdon, Lord, 320
Huntley, Earl of, 51
Hussey, Lord, 228

Ida of Namur, 13

Ipswich, 151

Ireland, Duke of, see Vere

Irlhing, River, 203

Isabel, Queen (consort of Ed-
ward II.), 22

Island Hall, co. Hunts (Baum-
gartner of), 134

Is If beck, CO, York, 321

Jaffrasons of Redesdale, 193
James I. of Scotland, 89, 90, 98-

100
James III. of Scotland, 120, 124
James IV. of Scotland, 138, 140,

157, 261
James V. of Scotland, 157 and ;/.

198, 199, 200, 212-216, 220, 221
Jedburgh, 308
Jedburgh Castle, 85
Jedbiirgh Forest, hunting in, 28
Jennes, De (family of), 1 1
Jenny, Thomas, 321
Jerusalem, William de Percy dies

in sight of, 8
Jervaulx, Abbey ^248
Jew, farmed out for rei'enue, 16
John, Don, of Austria, 362
John, King, 15-17
John o' the Syde (Armstrong),

303 «., 304, 306
John of Gaunt, see Lancaster, Duke

of
John, Prince (son of Henry IV.), 65
Johnson, Henry, of Waltonhead,

321
Johnson, John, 322
Johnson, Thomas, 191

Johnston, The Lord, 52
Julius II., Pope, 144
Julius III., Pope, 225

Katherine of Arragon, 138, 167

173, 178, 185, 223, 225
Katherine, Consort to Henry V.,

96
Keith, Earl Marischal, 260
Keith, Lord, 260
Kelk, Thomas, 204
Kemp, Archbishop of York, 100
Kennedy, Captain, 260
Kensington, 30

Kent, Percy estates in, 105, 211
Ker, daughter of Graydon, 214
Ker, or Carr, Lance, slain, 164
Ker, Launce, 215
Ker, Mark, 215, 216
Ker, Marquis of Lothian, 310 ;/.
Ker, Sir Thomas, of Ferniehurst,

307, 310, 311, 313,323
Ker, Walter, of Cessford, 310 n.
Ker, Sir Walter, of Cessford, 261
Kielder Castle, 303
Kilkenny Castle, 2 1 8
Kilkenny, coal and iron mines,

271 n.
Killigrew, 348
King, Alan, Kirkby Moreside, 311,

313
Kirk Lambcrton, 140
Kirk Whelping ton, 49
Kiswyke, York, 322
Knaresborongh, 127
Knollys, Sir Francis, 269, 270
Knott, Dr., 329

Lady-Kirk, Kirk of, 261

La Fayette, 150

" Laird's Jock," " Lament of Henry
Percy," 303 n., 304

Lambert, Robert, of Owton, Dur-
ham, 321

Lamplugh, or Lamplaugh, 219

Lamplugh, or Lampliew, John,
148

INDEX

379

Lancaster, Henry, Earl of, 24

Lancaster, Diicliy of, 293

Lancaster, Henry, Duke of, sec
Henry IV.

Lancaster, John of Gaunt, Duke
of, 26 ; embraces the cause of
Wickliff, 29, 30 ; interferes in
Border affairs, 33, 34 ; quarrel
with Northumberland, 34, 35 ;
procures the attainder of the
Earl, 36 ; remains favourable to
Sir Thomas Percy, 40 ; his
Spanish expedition and its
result, 41 ; his death and its
results, 61, 63, 65, 100; descent
of Henry VIL from, 126, 171

Lancaster Herald, 246

Lanercost Chronicle (quoted), 24

Lang, Mr. Andrew, 16

Langton, 259

La Riviere, Sieur de, 60

Lascells, see Lascelles

Lascelles, Roger, 148

Lascelles, Roger, of the Pilgrimage
of Grace, 238

Lascelles, Sir Roger, 193, 194, 196,
198, 199, 210

Lasselle, see Lascelles

Lawson, Sir George, 221

Layton, Ralph Conyers of, 321

Lay ton, Richard, rector of Harrow,
250, 251

Leche, Raufif, 204

Leckonfield, or Leckinfiehl, 93, 94,
95, 105, 128, 136, 142, 144, 147,
186, 206 n.

Lee, Sir Henry, 260

Lee, John (Cecil's spy in the Low
Countries), y:P, 33 1. 3^1

Leicester Abbey, 210

Leicester, Earl of, see Dudley

Leigh, 235 n.

Leigh of Cheshire, 77

Leix, 262 It.

Leland (quoted), 4, 145

Lenox, Countess of, 267

Lepanto, Battle of, 362

Leslie, John, Bishop of Ross, 268

Levroux {ransom for Sir 7 ho in as
Percy), 26

Lewes, Battle of, 18

Liddesdale, 27, 29, 303, 308

Liege, 360

Lincoln, Earl of, 12S

Lincoln, Percy estates in, 5, 37

Lindsay (alleged betrayer of Nor-
thumberland), 341

Lingard (quoted), 126

Lis, River, 149

Lochleven Castle, 324, 326, 337,

339
Lochleven, Douglas of, see Douglas
Londe - of- the - Worlde, co. 1 'ork

(Thwaytes of), 147
London, 82, 114, 249
London, Bishop of (and see also

under surnames of Bishops),

235

London Bridge, Earl of Northum-
berland's head on, 88, 249

London, Lord Mayor of, and naval
taxation, 35

Longueville, Due de, 149, 150

Lorbottle or Lowrcbottelle, 215
and ;/.

Louis d'Outre-mer, King of France,

13
Louis VI I L of France, 17
Louis XI I., King of France, 146,

147, 149, 150
Loiivain, 361, 362
Louvain and Brabant, Counts of, 13
Loiivain and Btaba7it, House of

[descent of), 13, 14
Louvain, Josceline, see Percy
Louvre palace, 7 he, 60
Lovell, Lord, 56, 128
LoveWs rebellion, 128
Lowick, 260
Lowisdens, The, 193
Lowther, Sir Hugh de, 269 //.
Lowther, Sir Richard, 267, 270
Lucy, Anthony, fourth Baron de

38o

INDEX

Lucy, Arms of, adopted by the

House of Percy, 2,7, 54
Lucy, Maud de, weds Henry, first

Earl of Northumberland, estates

and arms, 37
Lumley, George, 247, 248
Lumley, Lord, 150, 248
Lumleys, The, 236
Lupus, Hugh (Earl of Chester^ 5,

6,39
Luttrell, 35
Lydgate, patronised by fifth Earl

of Northumberland, 144, 145
Lynsley, Allen, 322
Lyon King of Amis, 200
Lysle, Sir Humphrey, 193, 195, 196,

198, 220, 221, 224
Lysle, Nicholas, 198
Lysle, Sir William, of Felton, 165,

193-196, 198, 219, 220
Lysles, The, 193, 195, 198

Maccabees, Henry IV^s comparison

of Northumberland to the, 73
Macgill, 341
Macgiil, James, of Nether Rari-

keillour, 262
" Madame," one of Cecil's female

spies, 262
Madrid, 349
Magna Charta, important part

played by Richard de Percy in

securing, 16, 17
" Magnificent Earl," see Henry

Algernon, fifth Earl of North-
umberland
Magnus (quoted), 159
Maiden's Bower, at Topclife,

1 30 ;/.
Maitland, John, Lord Thirlestane,

satirical verses ascribed to, 340,

341 and //.
Maitland, Sir Richard, 315
Malcolm, Ceann-Mhor, King of

Scots, 20
Malines, see Mechlin
Malton, iy]

Maltravers, Lord, 22S

Man, Isle of, granted to first Pari

of Xorthuinberland, 65 ; fotfeiied

for rebellion, 84
Manes, 166
Mangus, Thomas, 241
Manifred the Viking, see Perci
Mar, Margaret, Countess of, 42 ;/.
Mar, Earl of, Regent of Scotland,

324, 330, 335, 336, 339-343
" March Day,^'' significance of term,

33 and n.
March, Earls of, see Dunbar
March, Earls of, see Mortimer
Marches, Scottish, Perciesas Lords

Warden of, 19, 26, 42, 59, 95,

105, 127, 128, 138, 161, 182, 192,

211, 220, 263
Margaret, Queen, consort of Henry

VL, 106, 107, 109, 111-113, 116-

118, 123, 124
Mar ham, co. Northampton, 219
Markenfield, Thomas, of Marken-

field, CO. York, 275, 279, 321,

262 and n.
Markenfields, 236
Markham, Captain Thomas, 260
Marinion, 10
Marshal, Earl, 85, 98
Marshal, Earl, title borne by the

first Earl of Northumberland,

but resigned, 30
Martin, Giles, 363
Martinique, Percy fa)nily in, 4
Mary, Queen (of England), 225,

230, 256, 262, 267
Mary, Princess of England, Queen

of France, 138
Mary, Princess of England, Queen

of Scots, 138-140, 146, 157-159
Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, 266-

271, 275, 279, 282, 284, 287, 291-

324, 336, 344-351, 362, l(i2>
" Mathias " or " Mathatyas " (name
given by Henry IV. to the first
Earl of Northumberland), 73, 85
Mauleverer, 36

INDEX

381

Maximilian, Emperor, 419
Maxwell, Sir Hugh, 56
Maxwell, Sir John, 46
Maxwell, Lord, 52, loi, 198
Mechlin, Lady NortJnimberlaiui

and the English Catholic exiles

af,2)^7, 33o>36i, 362
Medina-Celi, Duke of, 362
Melrose Abbey, 66
Menteith, Earl of, 51, 56
Merlin, Prophecy of, 75
Aferse, The, 166, 214, 259. See also

Berwick
Mersifig/on, 166
Merwoods of Redesdale, 193
"Meschin," Alan " le," see Alan

Percy
Metcalfe, Leonard, of Brancepeth,

321
Metham, Lady, confined in York

Castle, 352, 353
Metham, Sir Thomas, 342, 353
Micklcgaie Bar, York : head of

seventh Earl of Northumberland

on, 356; stolen thence, 357
Middleton, William, 148
Milburnes of Redesdale, 193
Milford Haven, 62
Millfield-on-Till, 69
Mitford, 36

Mitford, Christopher, 221 n.
" Moldivarp^' The, name applied to

Henry IV., 75 and n., Tj
Monbochier, 36

Monchamps, Comte de (Perci), 3
Monchauver, Baron de (Perci), 3
Montacute, Marquis of, see Nevill
Montagu, or Montague, Lord, 228
Monteagle, Lord, 228
Monteagle, William Parker, Lord,

261 n.
Montfort, Simon de, 18
Montgomerie, Lord, 43
Montgomerie, Sir Hew, 48
Moray, Earls of, 43, 46, 70, 215
Moray, James Stewart, Earl of (Re-
gent of Scotland), 291, 305-317

VOL. I.

Mordaunt, Lord, 228

Moreton, John, clerk, 245

Morley, Henry Parker, fourth Lord,
361 and n.

Morley, Lord, 228

Mortimer, Edmund, last Earl of
March, no ;/.

Mortimer, Sir Edmund, 71, 7?, 74

Mortimer, Elizabeth, wife of Hot-
spur, 71,72, 74

Mortimer, Roger, 22

INIortimer, Roger, fifth Earl of
March, 62 and n., 71, 72, 74,
76-77

Mortimer's Cross, Battle of, wt,

Morton, co. Durham, 321

Morton, Earl of, see Douglas

Mountgarret, Viscount, see Butler

Mowbray, 23

Murray, Sir Charles, 56

Naffer ton, co. Yofk, 147

Naivorth Castle, 295, 310

Nesbitt Moor, Battle of, 69

Nevill and Percy feud, 102

Nevill, Lady Alianore, wife of second
Earl of Northumberland, 91-93,
102 n., 104

Nevill, Charles, last Earl of West-
moreland, 260, 261 ; in the Nor-
thern Rising, 272-303 ; sheltered
in Liddesdale, 304 ; guest of
Lord Home, 315, 3 '6 ; attainted,
321 ; joins Scots raid into Eng-
land, 323 ; escapes to Holland,
326, 327 ; watched by Cecil's spies,
331 ; Northumberland's gene-
rosity towards him, 345 ; plot to
capture him, 361, 362

Nevill, Christopher, of Kirby-More-
side, 321

Nevill, Cuthbert, 321

Nevill, John, fourth Lord Latimer,
266 and 71.

Nevill, John, Lord Montacute (for
a time Earl of Northumberland),
118, 121, 122

2 li

:,S2

INDEX

Nevills, Sir John, of Leversedge, 320
Nevill, Katherine (of Latimer), wife

of eighth Earl of Northumber-
land, 266 and ;/., 312 and n., 358

and «., 359
Nevill of Chyte, co. York, Arms of,

300 ?!.
Nevill of Furnival, Thomas, Lord,

75,82
Nevill of Raby, Ralph, second

Lord, 26
Nevill of Rabv, The Lords, 92, 237,

238
Nevill, Ralph, Earl of Westmore-
land, 83-85, 91, 102 7;.
Nevill, Richard, Earl of Salisbury,

102 and ;/.
Nevill, Richard, Earl of Warwick,

("The King Maker"), 98, 103,

107, 110-113
Nevills, 236, 297, 300 ;/.
Nevills, Earls of Westmoreland,

their device, 300 and ;/.
NevilVs Cross, Battle of, 22, 23
Newbiggin, 147
Newburgh, William de. Earl of

Warwick, 1 1
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 43-45, 49, 82,

146, 194, 198, 199, 292, 294
Newmgton Cree^i, Northumberland

Houses at, 227 and n., 231
Newstead, Northumberland, 215
Newyngton, co. Kent, 211
Nexsons of Redesdale, 193
Nicholsons of Redesdale, 193
Norfolk, Duke of, and Earl Mar-

shalship, 30
Norfolk, Dukes of, see Howard
Norfolk, Thomas, of Brotherton,

Earl of, 30
Nor ham Castle, 195, 199, 200, 201,

259, 264 and n., 316
Normandy, Dukes of, i, 2
Normandy, Perci family in, see

Perci
Normans, carelessness of, with re-
gard to ancestry, 2

Normanville, Sir John, 139, 148
Norreys, alleged paramour of Ann

Boleyn, 227
Norroy King of Arms (W. Flower),

289
Northallerton, 290
:\'orthallerton, Battle of, 9, 10, 162
NorthamptoJi, Battle of no, 1 1 1
North Cray, co. Ke?it, 2 1 1
Northumberland, Countesses of,
see under their various family
names
A'orthumberlajid Earldom, its his-
tory, 30
Northumberland, Earls of, see

Percy, Dudley, &c.
Northumberland House, Alders-
gate, 30, 86
Norton Arms, 301 and ;/.
Norton, Christopher, 299, 321 ; exe-
cuted at Tyburn, 322
Norton family, of Norton, co. York,
236, 275, 276, 278, 281, 285, 295 ;
in the Northern Rising, 297-302
Norton, Francis, pathetic fate of,
3ooand«. ; attainted as of Bal-
dersby, co. York, 3?.!
Norton, George, 321
Norton, Marmaduke, 321
Norton, Richard, of Norton Con-
yers, 276 and ;;., 278, 279, 281,
295, 296 ; hero of the " Rising of
the North," a ballad, 297-302,
306, 307 ; attainted, 321, 322
Norton, Sampson, 321
Norton, Thomas, 32 1 ; executed at

Tyburn, 322
Norton, Thomas, barrister, 2S5
Norton, William, 321
Norton Conyers, co. York, 276 ;/,
Nott's Life of Wyqtt, 174-181
Noya, 41
Nnnstanton, co. DurJiam, 321

0(;le, John, 197
Ogle, Sir John, 99

INDEX

383

Ogle, Lord, 320, 222, 242

Ogle, Sir Robert, 107

Old Park., co. Dur/tatu, 321

O'More, Anthony, Prince of Leix,

262 71.

Ordainers, The Twelve, 20
Orkney, Earls of, 70, 341
Orleans, Siege of, 105
Ormiston, Black Laird of, 302 and
n., 304 ; robs Lady Northumber-
land in Liddesdale, 306, 307 and
H. ; his castle burnt by the Eng-
lish, 324 n.
Ormiston Toivcr, 73, 74, 303 ;/.
Ormond, Earls of, see Butler
Ormond, Earl of, see Douglas
Ormond and Wiltshire, Earl of,

see Boleyn, Sir Thos.
Ossory, Earldom of, see Butler
Oswestry Road, Shrewsbury, 77
Otterbourne, Battle of, Accoimt of,

45-57
Otterbotirne Peel, Northumberlattd,

46
Otterbourne, The Ballad of, 48-57
Ottercap Hill, Northumberland, 49

and n.
Owton, CO. Durham, 321

Pacv, family of, 4

Paget, Charles, agent of the English

Catholics, 363 and n.
Paget, William, first Lord, 363 n.
Palgrave, Sir Francis, quoted, 2, 5
Palmer, Protestant cleric at York,

352-354

Palmer, Bryan, of Moreton

" Paridel," character of, in Spen-
ser's Faery Queene, 337

Parker, John, esquire to fifth Earl,
136

Pander, Davy, 212 )i.

Pavia, 96

Pearson, John, 322

Pecquigni, 124

Peeris, William, friar, i and //., 3,
14, 63, 64

Pembroke, Earls of, 21, 115, 293
Penyman, Robert, 322
I'enyngton, Sir John, 139
Percehay, 4

Perci, De, ancient line of, 1-3
Perci, De, modern families of, in
France, Canada, and Martinique,

3, 4
Perci-en-Auge, 3
Percin, family of, 4
Perci, town of cradle of the race, i , 3
Percy, Agnes de, co-heir of the

House of Percy, 1 1 ; becomes

sole heir, 12 ; marriage, 13, 14 ;

buried in Whitby, 14, 15
Percy, Alan " le ;\Ieschin," fights

for the Scots, 9, 10
Percy, Alan, Master of St. John's

College, Cambridge, 132
Percy, Alan, of Beverley, i\LP., 21S
Percy, Alan, of Beverley, said to

have been twelfth Earl of North-
umberland, 133 and ;/.
Percy, Alan de, " Magnus Alanus,"

second Baron de Percy, 8 ; death

and burial, 9
Percy, Lady Alianore, married

Duke of Buckingham, 134, 135
Percy, Lady Anne, married Earl

of Arundel, 134-136
Percy, Antoine de, Comte de Mon-

champs, &c., 3
Percy, Arms of, 14, 19, 22, 54
Percy, Charles, of Cambridge,

Percy, Chevalier de, 1 1

Percy, Edward, of Beverley, 217,
218

Percy, Lady Elizabeth, married
Lord Clifford, and subsequently
the Earl of Westmoreland, 93

Percy, Lady Elizabeth, married
Richard Woodroffe of Woolley,
351 and n. ; inherits the " Holy
Thorn," and bequeathes it to the
Jesuits, 351, 352, 358, 359 and ;/.
I Percy, Francis, of Cambridge, 133

384

INDEX

Percy, Geofifrey Fitz-Mainfred de,
I, 2

Percy, Geoffrey (II.) de, Comte de
Caux, 2

Percy, Geoffrey (III.) de, Comte
de Caux, 2

Percy, George, cleric, son of second
Earl, io6 ;;.

Percy, George, I20

Percy, Henry de, heir of Percy :
his death, 12

Percy, Henry, eighth Baron de
Perci (by tenure), 18

Percy, Henry, first Baron Percy
(by writ) : first of the Border
Percies, 19; Governor of Ayr
and Galloway ; fought before
Caerlaverock, ig ; acquires Aln-
wick Castle, and refortifies it, 20 ;
captures Piers Gaveston, 21 ; at
Bannockburn, ib. ; dies " of a
broken heart," ib.

Percy, Henry, second Lord : op-
poses the Spensers, 22 ; granted
Warkworth Castle, ib. ; fought
at Halidon Hill, ib. ; commands
at Neville's Cross, 22, 23

Percy, Henry, third Lord (^'' Pa)i.nis
Miles") : fights at Cregy, and
Neville's Cross, 24 ; Warden of
the Marches, 25 ; fights at Chevy
Chase, ib.

Percy, Henry, first Earl of Nor-
thumberland : Warden of the
Marches, 26 ; invades Scotland
unsuccessfully, 27 ; sides with
Wickliff, 29, 30 ; created Earl of
Northumberland, 30; quarrel with
former friend, John of Gaunt,
34-36 ; attainted and sentenced to
death, but secures his pardon,
36 ; marries Maud de Lucy, 37 ;
treaty with Douglas, 42 ; comes
late to Otterbourne, 47 ; opposes
the king's favourites, and joins
Bolingbroke, whom he helps to
make king, 58-65 ; made Lord

High Constable by Henry IV.,
65 ; fights at Nesbitt Moor and
Homildoun, 69, 70; disputes with
the king, 71 ; rebels with Glen-
dower, Mortimer, and Hotspur,
but fails to reach Shrewsbury in
time, 74-78 ; surrenders, and is
pardoned conditionally, 83, 84 ;
again rebels, flies to Scotland,
and returning to England, is
slain at Bramham Moor, 85-88 ;
his character, 88 ; his head buried
in York Minster, 93

Percy, Henry " Hotspur," Lord
Percy : his first campaign, 28 ;
leads attack on Berwick, 32 ;
popularity, 37 ; how he won the
war name of " Hotspur," 38 ;
defending Newcastle, is defeated
by Earl Douglas in single com-
bat, and makes tryst to meet him
at Otterbourne, 43-45 ; he fights
there, is said to have slain Doug-
las, and is himself captured, 46-
48 ; receives the Garter, 59 ;
sides with Bolingbroke, and is
made Warden of the East
Marches, &;c., 62-65 > disputes
with Henry IV. over financial
matters, 66-68 ; fights at Nesbitt
Moor and Homildoun, 69, 70 ;
rebels with his father, the Earl,
the Mortimers, and Glendower,
74-76 ; defeated and slain at
Shrewsbury field, 79-81 ; fate of
his remains, 82, 83, 88

Percy, Henry, second Earl of
Northumberland : in exile in
Scotland, 88 ; companion of
James I. : romantic story of his
courtship and marriage, 90-93 ;
pardoned and reinstated by
Henry V., 92, 93 ; Warden of
the Marches, 95 ; defeated at
Piperden, 99 ; mission to Portu-
gal, 100 ; granted Wressil Castle,
and made Lord High Constable,

INDEX

38:

loi ; Feud with Nevills, 102,
103 ; defeated and slain at first
battle of St. Albans, on Lancas-
trian side, 103, 104

Percy, Henry, third Earl of North-
umberland : fights as Lord Percy,
loi ; marries the heiress of
Poynings, Fitz-Payn, and Bryan,
105 ; fights on the Lancastrian
side at Northampton, Wakefield,
and St. Albans, 110-113; de-
feated and slain at Towton,
113-116

Percy, Henry, fifth Earl of North-
umberland (" the Magnificent ") :
attends Henry VIII. to France,
137 ; Warden of the Marches,
and marriage, 138 ; escorts Queen
of Scots to Edinburgh with great
splendour, 138-141 ; his domestic
life, as detailed in his " House-
hold Booke," 143-146 ; makes the
campaigns in France, 147-150;
quarrels with Wolsey, and is im-
prisoned, 1 5 i-i 54; greatly pressed
for money, becomes morose and
unpopular, 156, 157, 159, 160,
161-163 ; interferes between his
son and Anne Boleyn, 167 ; dies
in comparative poverty, 168, 169.

Percy, Henry, sixth Earl of (" the
Unhappy"): match with Lady
Mary Talbot broken off, 156;
enters Wolsey's household, 172 ;
love affair with Anne Boleyn,
and its ending, 173-180 ; marries
Lady Mary Talbot, 187 ; his
poverty and long struggle against
Wolsey's tyranny, 187-192;
serves ably as Lord Warden,
192-201 : his unhappy married
life, 202-205 ; arrests Wolsey,
206-210; Border troubles, 210-
222 ; deserted by his wife, 223,
224 ; called as a judge to Anne
Boleyn's trial, but leaves the
Court, 227-229 ; refuses to join

the Pilgrimage of Grace, 242-
245 ; resigns his estates to Henry
VIII. ; causes of this act, 249,
250 ; dies in great poverty, after
much suffering, in London, 251,

Percy, Sir Henry, afterwards
eighth Earl of Northumberland :
early life and character, 2^4,
255 ; restored in blood, 256 ;
fights skilfully in Scotland, 260;
his judicious marriage, 266 ;
sides against his brother, the
Earl, and the insurgent Catholics,
286 ; pursues the Earl, 295 ;
advises him to surrender : his
motives doubtful, 325 ; the queen
desires to keep him from his
inheritance, and vague charges
are trumped up against him,
342

Percy, Sir Henry, cf Acton, 120 /;.

Percy, Sir Ingelgram, son of sixth
Earl, 146, 165, 166, 171, 179 ;/.
183, 2! I, 215, 219, 220, 222, 240-
242, 243, 244, 249 and ;;.

Percy, Isabella, daughter of Sir
Ingelgram, 249 ?;.

Percy, James (" the Trunkmaker "),
171, 219 «., 249

Percy, Lady Jane, wife of Lord
Henry Seymour, 359, 363 and ;/.

Percy, John, of Acton, 120 n.

Percy, John, of Scotton, 125

Percy, Sir John, son of Thomas,
Lord Egremont, 1 1 1 ;/.

Percy, Josceline, eleventh Earl of
Northumberland, 218, 219, n.

Percy, Josceline, of Louvain : an-
cestry and character, 1 3 ; takes
name of Percy, 1 4> 1 5

Percy, Josceline, son of the fourth
Earl, 132-134, 166 ; supposed to
have been poisoned, 217, 218

Percy (Rev.), Josceline, M.A.,
Rector of Marham, 133, 134,
218, 219

386

INDEX

Percy, Lady Lucy, marries Sir
Edward Stanley, K.B., 259

Percy, Mainfred de, supposed an-
cestor of the House of Percy, i ;
his doubtful origin, 2

Percy, Lady Maria (the "child of
sorrow"), 326, 359, 363 and ;/.

Percy, Lady Margaret, wife of Earl
of Cumberland, 146, 169, 171,
202 ;/.

Percy, Lady Mary (Conyers), 171

Percy, Lady Mary (Grey), 326 n.,

359
Percy, Lady Mary (Slingsby), 265
Percy, Maud de. Baroness de Percy

and Countess of Warwick, 11,

12, 15
Percy, Ralph, Lord of Smeaton,

10, II
Percy, Sir Ralph, son of first Earl,

38, 44, 48

Percy, Sir Ralph, son of second
Earl: "the Gledd of Dunstan-
burgh," loi, 106, 114-118; slain
fighting at Hedgeley Moor, 119,
120 ; his descendants, 120 n.

Percy, Sir Ralph, " the younger,"
120 n.

Percy, Richard, sixth Baron de
Percy ; usurps the title over his
nephew's head, 12, 15 ; signs
Magna Charta, 16 ; sturdy con-
duct in Parliament, i

Percy, Richard, Lord of Semer, 25,
26

Percy, Sir Richard, slain at Piper-
den, 99

Percy, Sir Richard, son of second
Earl, 102, 103, 106, 114 ; slain at
Towton, 1 16

Percy, Robert, of Scotton, 125

Percy, Sir Robert, of Scotton,
comptroller to Richard IIL, 125 ;
slain at Bosworth, 127 n.

Percy, Serlo de, Abbot of Whitby,
2, 7, 8

Percy, Thomas, seventh Earl of

Northumberland : early life and
character, 254, 255 ; restored
estates by Queen Mary, 256 ;
created Earl of Northumberland
anew, 256, 257 ; Lord Warden,
258 ; marriage, ib. j activity
against Scots, 259, 260 ; harassed
by Cecil, Sadler, and the Puri-
tans, 262-265 ; resigns Warden-
ship, 265, 266 ; attempts to release
Queen of Scots, 268-270 ; Eliza-
beth seizes his copper mine,
271 ; refuses to go to Court, or
surrender himself to Cecil, 273-
277 ; heads the Rising of the
North, for the emancipation of
the Catholic faith, and the re-
lease of Mary Stuart, 279-293 ;
deserted by the Catholic Lords,
293, 294 ; failure of the Rising :
he flies to Liddesdale, 294-297 ;
betrayed to the Regent Moray,
307-310 ; a prisoner in Edin-
burgh and afterwards in Loch-
leven Castle, 31 1-336 ; he is sold
by Mar, Morton, and others to
England, 337, 338 ; his death-
warrant signed by Elizabeth,
346-350; account of his "last
progress," from Berwick to York,
350 ; dies on the scaffold, 353-
356 ; he is beatified by the
Catholic Church, 357, 358

Percy, Thomas, Bishop of Dro-
more, and Dean of Carlisle, 45,
48, 91, 143, 190, 250, 339

Percy, Thomas, Bishop of Nor-
wich, 25

Percy, Thomas, clerk of the kitchen
to the fifth Earl of Northumber-
land, 138 and n.

Percy, Thomas, Constable of Aln-
wick, 133, 218

Percy, Thomas, Earl of Worcester :
early campaigns by land and
sea, 26, 28 ; gallant exploits as
Admiral of the English fleet, 40,

INDEX

387

41 ; fights in Spain, 41 ; receives
the Garter, is made Lord Steward,
and goes as Ambassador to
France, 59, 60 ; created Earl
of Worcester, 61 ; sides with
BoHngbroke, and becomes Lord
Treasurer and Privy Seal, 62-65 ;
joins Hotspur's Rebellion, 76-
79 ; captured and beheaded at
Shrewsbury Field, 82

Percy, Thomas, Lord Egremont,
101-103, 106, 108 ; slain at
Northampton, no, in, n6

Percy, Sir Thomas, of Athol, 85

Percy, Sir Thomas, son of the fifth
Earl, 146, 166, 171, 179 ;/., 183,
215, 218, 219-222, 234; joins
the " Pilgrimage of Grace," 236 ;
his conduct during the Rebellion,
236-248 ; his attainder and exe-
cution on Tower Hill, 249, 250

Percy, Walter, of Kildale, 237 n.

Percy, William de, called " Als-
genions" 2 ; his coming to Eng-
land, 4 ; marriage, 4, 5 ; his
northern estates, 5, 6 ; quarrels
with monks of Whitby, 6-8 ;
dies a crusader, 8

Percy, William de, Comte de
Caux, 2

Percy, William (H.) de, Comte de
Caux, 2

Percy, William de, " Fitz-Alsger-
nons," Abbot of Whitby, 8

Percy, William de, third Baron by
tenure, 9

Percy, William de, fourth Baron by
tenure, 9-n

Percy,William de, seventh Baron by
tenure, 14 ; his sluggard nature,
14 ; succeeds his usurping uncle,
17; marriage and descendants,
18, 237 n.

Percy, William, Bishop of Carlisle,
106 n.

Percy, William, of Ryton, co.
York, 237 and n.

Percy, William (otherwise Hay) of
Ryton, 237 n.

Percy, Sir William, fights at Flod-
den, 150; knighted, 151 ; activ-
ity on the Border, 162-166; his
respect for the fallen Wolsey,
206 ; reports the poisoning of
his brother, 217, 218 ; instructs
his nephews in arms, 218

Percy family, of Ryton, York,
237 n.

Percy House, Alder sgate Street,
Lo7ido7i, 30 and ;/.

" Percy's Cj-oss,^^ ng, 120 ; meetings
at 233

''Percy's Well;' 120

Perkin Warbeck, 136, 137

Peter, Archduke, 137

Petiuorth, CO. Sussex, 14, 2n, 266,
^67, 35S

Philip IL, of Spain, 327, 362

Phillips, Rev. G. E. {Life of B.
Thomas Percy), 350, 351, 357,

'359 «•
Pilgrimage of Grace, Account of,

233-249
Pilkington, Bishop of Durham,

282
Pinkerton's Collection, quoted, 340,

341 and n.
Piperden, Battle of, 99
Pius v., Pope, 280
Plantagenet, Lady Eleanor, wife of

eighth Baron de Percy, 18
Plantagenet, Lady Joan, Countess

of Westmoreland, 91, 92
Plantagenet, Lady Margaret, wife

of third Lord Percy of Alnwick,

24, 60
Plumptre, Thomas, Catholic priest,

320, 322
Pocklington, co. York, 147, 206 ;/.,

321
Poic tiers. Battle of, 22, 26
Poictiers, Counts of(De Perci), 2-4
Poiton, 26
Polnoon Castle, co. Renfrc'iV, 48

388

INDEX

Poniefract {Pom/ret), 84, 234, 235,

239, 240
Ponieland Castle, Northiiinbcrhmd,

46
Porte, Emma of the, wife of William

de Percy, 4, 5
Potts of Redesdale, The, 193
Powys, Lord, 228
Poynings, Barony of, loi,
Poynings, Elizabeth, Baroness, wife

of third Earl, 105
Poynings, Sir Richard, 105
Poynings, Robert, Baron, 105
Preston, Captain, 237
Pringle, John, 194
Pringles of Tynedale, The, 194,

214
Proclamations by the Rebel Earls

in 1569, 283
Prudhoe Castle, 192, 241, 256
Pucklinton, see Pocklington

Paby, see Nevill
RaclifFe, Cuthbert, 165
Radcliff, Sir Cuthbert, 246
Radcliffes, 162
Ramsay, Alexander, 32
Ramsay of Dalhousie, 99
Ramsay (quoted), 78
Kankeillour, Nether, see Magill,

James
RatclilTe, Egiemound, 321, 362
Ratclifife, first Earl of Sussex, 228
Ratcliffe, Thomas, 2nd Earl of

Sussex, 272-282, 284, 285, 287,

288, 292, 294, 301, 318, 319
Ravenspur, 63, 123
Rawes, 194
Raynton, 217
Rede, River, 46
Redes of Redesdale, 194
Redesdale, 22, 193, 198, 242, 255,

258, 303, 318
Reed, 303

Reed, Robin or Robert, 309, 311
Redmayne, 33, 36, 162
Redmayne, Sir Matthew, 33-36

Red ties, co. York, 321

Reinfred, Abbot of Whitby, 6, 7

Ribudivia, 41

Rich, Richard, 235

Richard I., 14, 16

Richard II., 58-65, 71, 77, 78

Richard III., 123-127, 130

Richard, Duke of York, 137 n.

Richmond, co. York, 283, 290, 294,

321
Richmond, Bailiff of, 294
Richmond, Duke of, natural son of

Henry VIII., 230
Richmond Pursuivant, 289
Richmondshire, "tii-i
Ridingburn, 212
Ripon, 322
Risiftg in the North, The, 277-

363
" Rising in the North,'' Ballad of

the, 297-302
Robert II., King of Scots, 2i2)
Robitt Hoods Cross, co. York, 239
Robinsons of Redesdale, 194
Robson, Geoffrey, 241
Robsons of Redesdale, 194
Robsons of Tynedale, 194
Rochford, Viscount, see Boleyn,

George
Rodecliffe, or Rodeley Crag, 49 and //,
Rokeby family, 23, 33
Rokeby, Thomas, Sheriff of York,

87, 88
Rokeslie, co. Kent, 2 1 1
Roos, Lord, 1 19
Rothesay, Duke of, 66
Rouen, 96

Rouge Croix Pursuivant, 289
Rouge Dragon Pursuivant, 289

Roxbicrgh,2>\,(i^,9% 31 3
Rudston, 238, 239
Runnymede, 16
Rutherford, Nicholas, 212
Rutherfords, 214
Rutland, Earls of, 112, 228
Ryton, CO. York, 237 n.
Ryton, Percy family of, 237 n.

INDEX

389

Sacheverkll, Sir Richard, 154
Sadler, Sir Ralph, 262-265, 287,

296, 3^0, 324
Sadlier, John, 262 h.
S/. Albans Abbey, 104
SL Albans, first Bailie of, 103, 104,

107-110, 113
Si. Albans, second Bailie of, w^,
St. Andrews, University of, 88-90
St. Asaphs, Bishop of, 252
^7. Bees, 321
St. Clair, 47

St.fohtis College, Cambridge, 132
St. Leger, Sir George, 176 n.
St. Leger, Sir James, 176 «•
St. Lo, burgh of \,2
St. Malo, 41

St. Marys Abbey, York, 235, 239
St. Mary's, York, Abbot of 170,

239» 240
St. Margarefs, Walingate, York,

356
Salisbury, Earl of, 100, 107
Salley, see Sawley
Saltmershe, John, of Rednes, 113
Salvayne, Sir John, 100
Salvyn, Sir Ralph, 147
Sampson, a priest, 204
Sandal Castle, 1 1 2
Sandal {Great), 217, 218 n.
Sanders, Dr. Richard, 329, 334,

353-356
Sandys, Lord, 228
Sark, River, 43, loi, 104, 105
Savoy Palace, 30
Sawley Abbey, 10
Sawley, Abbot of, 235
Scarborough, 5, 147, 235, 256
Scarborough Castle, 21, 256
" Scotichronicon" (quoted), 87
Scots' Dyke, The, 43
Scott of Buccleugh, 52
Scott, Sir David, 52, 56
Scott, Janet (Lady Ker), 3, 10
Scott, Sir Walter, 52, 70
Scott, Sir William, of Buccleugh,

222

Scott, Sir William, the younger,
of Buccleugh, 310 n.

Scranston, William, 322

Scriven, co. York, 265 and ;/.

Scrope, 23, 33, 162, 236, 363

Scrope-Grosvenor controversy, 39

Scrope, Lord, 39

Senlac, Battle of 8 1

Seiner or Semar, near Scarborough,
4, 5, 147, 235, 237, 238, 244

Seton, Lord, 226, 331

Seymour, Sir Edward, afterwards
Duke of Somerset, 186, 211, 256

Seymour, Edward, Earl of Hert-
ford, 359

Seymour, Lord Henry, 359, 363 n.

Seymour, Queen Jane, 226, 232 ;/.

Shafto family, 194, 220

Shafto, Gerard, 194

Shafto, William, 197

Shakespeare's Henry VI., quoted,

113

Sheffield, co. York, 203 ;/., 210

Shelton, Margery, 226

Sherbury, Nicholas, esquire to

Hotspur, 70 n.
Shrewsbury, Abbot of, 78
Shrewsbury, Battle of Account of,

47, 77-83
Shrewsbury, Earl of, see Talbot
Shipton, Mother, alleged prophecy

of, 357 and //.
Shylstock Braes (Dan Carr of)»

290 n.
Simnel, Lambert, 12S
Simonette, Dame, duenna of Ann

Boleyn, 181, 182
Singleton's satirical verses on the

Scots, 340
Skelton, elegy on fourth Earl, 130,

131, 136 ; patronised by fifth

Earl, 144, 145
Slingsby, Francis, of Scriven, 265

and n.
Smeaton, see Ralph de Perci
Smeton, 227
Smith, Thomas, 285

390

INDEX

Smith, William, of Nunstanton, 321

Smithfield^ West, 248

Smythes, 194

Snawdell, Humphrey, 218

Solway Firth, 43, 48

Somerset, Lady Ann, wife of

seventh Earl, 258 ; in the

Northern Rising, and a fugitive,

273-363 ; death in the Low

Countries, 363
Somerset, Edmund Beaufort, Duke

of, 106-109, 118, 119
Somerset, Edward Beaufort, Duke

of, 104, 108
Somerset Herald, 139
Somerset, third Earl of Worcester,

324,325, 331
Somerset, William, second Earl of

Worcester, 258
Southampton, Lord (Wriothesley),

280
Spenser, Katherine, wife of fifth

Earl, 138, 171
Spenser, Sir Robert, 138, 171 /?.
Spensers, The, 22
Spoffbrth, CO. York, 6
Spores of Redesdale, 193
Spurs, Battle of the, 149, 150
Spy t tell, CO. York, 237
Stafford, Earl of, 80
Stafford, Henry, Duke of Bucking-
ham, 126, 134, 135 and «., 151,

152, 160, 161, 172
Stafford, Humphrey, Earl of, 104
Stafford, Sir Thomas, 256
Staffords, Rising of the, 128
Staindrop, 294
Staviford Bridge, Battle of, 102,

108
Standard, Battle of the, 9, 10, 162
Stanley, Sir Edward, K.B., 359
Stanley, Lord, 124
Stanleys, Earls of Derby, 136, 228,

240, 280, 293, 261 n.
Stapleton, Sir Bryan, 129 and n.
Stapleton, William, his deposition,

243> 244

Star Chamber, The, 141
Stefensons of Redesdale, 193
Stewart, Murdoch, Earl of Fife,

69, 70, 92
Stewart, Robert, Duke of Albany,

89, 90> 92, 95

Stewart, see Moray

Stewart, Sir Walter, 52, 56

Stockton-OH-Tces, 322

.'^toke, Battle of, 128, 129

Stoker, Hugh, 322

Stokehall, Matthew, 194

Stoneyhurst College, Kelic of the
Holy Thorn at, 352

Strafford, George, 321

Stratford, Abbot of, 352

Strathearn, Malise, Earl of, 9

Stringer, 236

Struther, Alderman, of Durham,
322

Stuart, see Moray, Earl of

Suffolk, Earl of, 35

Suffolk, Duke of, 246, 247

Surtees, F. R., his '■'■ Lamente of
Henrie Percye," 232-234

Surtees, Robert, historian of Dur-
ham, 133

Sussex, Earls of, 228

Sussex, Thomas Ratcliffe, second
Earl of, see Ratcliffe

Swinburne family, 33, 162, 194, 220,
236, 279, 350

Swinburne, George, 148

Swinburne, John, of Chopwell, 278,
321

Swinburne, John, servant of seventh
Earl, 309, 329

S win to ft, 260

Swynford, Catherine, 126, 171 n.

Swynnowe, James, of Thornhill,
•^22

Swynnowe, Ralph, of Durham,
322

Syon House, Isleworth, 1 1 ; Manu-
scripts at, quoted, 45 ; original
patent of Philip and Mary at,
257

INDEX

391

Tadcxster, 87, 291, 321, 323

Tadcaster Abbey, 1 1

Talbot, George, fourth Earl of
Shrewsbury, 149, 153 and «., 154,
155, 159, 161, 168, 180, 184, 185,
203-206, 210, 223, 224, 227, 238,
244, 245, 252, 253

Talbot, Lady Mary (wife of
sixth Earl of Northumberland),
154-156, 159, 168, 171, 180, 184,
1S5

Talbot, fifth Earl of Shrewsbury, 284

Talbot, Lord, 260, 272

Tantallon Castle, 199

Tayler, William, 322

Taylour, Thomas, yeoman, 321

Tempest family, 350

Tempest, Michael, 321, 329 n.

Tempest, Richard, of Holmsidc,
321

Tempest, Sir Richard, 215, 216

Tempest, Sir Thomas, 196

Tempest, Sir Thomas, of Tong,
254, 255

Tennyson, Alfred, Lord, 361 ;/.

Terouenne, 149, 150

Tessen, De, family of, 20

Tessen, Gilbert de. Lord of Aln-
wick, 20

Thirlekeld, or Thirlkeld, 204

Thirlekeld, Sir Lancelot, 139

Thirlestane, John Maitland, Lord,
341 n.

Thirske,co. York, 130, 131, 318, 322

Thompson, Henry, 322

Thompson, Robert, 322

Thornehill, co. Durham, 322

Thorn, Holy, Relic of the, 351, 352

Thornley, co. Durham, 321

Thriske, William, 247

Throgmorton, 267

Thwaytes, Sir William, 147

Thyrlewall, Robert, 214

Thyxhill, William, 94

Topcliffe, CO. York, ancient scat of
the Percies, 6, 130, 144, 186, 187,
200, 258, 268, 272, 273, 275, 278,

279 and //., 281, 313, 318, 322,

351, 352, 356
Topcliffe Woods, the seventh EarPs

head said to have been buried

in, 357 and n.
Topley, William, 322
Tournay, 150
Tower of London, 121, 123, 193,

228, 248, 249, 273, 293
Tow ton Field, Battle of, 115, 116
Trolopp, John, of Thornley, 321
Take, Bryan, 196

Tunstall, Cuthbert, Bishop of Dur-
ham, 255, 257, 262, 282
Tutbury Castle, 279, 281, 284, 288
Twisden, Sir Roger (his MS.

quoted), 1 76-1 81
Tyburn, 248, 322
lyne. River, 38, 43, 51, 87, 195,

255> ^IZ, 303
Tynedale, 127, 194, 198, 214, 242,

258,318
Tynedale Ward, 49, 193, 255, 265
'lyrlingham, co. Kent, 2 1 1

Upsetlington, 261 and 71.

Valence, Aymer de, 19
Vaughan, member of Northern

Council, 338
Vavasour, Mr., 269
Vavasour, The Lord, 1 1
Vere, De, Earls of Oxford, 58, 59,

125, 138 n, 141 and n., 228
Vere, Robert de. Earl of Oxford,

58, 59
Vesci, De, Lords of Alnwick, 20
Vesci, William de, 20
Vesci, William de, the younger,

Wadshawes of Redesdale, 194
Wainwright (quoted), 95
Wakefield, 338

Wakefield, Battle of 112, 113
Wallaces (Waulesses) of Redesdale,

i9j

392

INDEX

Wallace, William, 19
M'nlinj^afe, York, 356
Walsh, Walter, 207, 209, 210
Walton Hall, co. York, 218 and ;/.
Waltonhcad, co. York, 3:1
Wans of Redesdale, 193
Warbeck, Perkin, 136
W'ardlaw, Bishop, 89
Ward, Sir Christopher, 125
Warden, Lord, see Marches
Wark Castle, ()i, 260, 303, 316, 359
Wark CoviDwn, 43 n.
Warkworth Castle, granted to Lord

Percy, 22, 83, 85, 91, ico, 205,

213, 216
Warkworth Hermitage, 91
" Warkworth, The Hermit of," 91
Warwick, Countess of, see Percy

Maud de
Warwick, Earl of, 35
Warwick, Earls of, see Nevill
Warwick Lane, 107
Warwick, Rich., Earl of, 284, 292,

295, 301
Warwick, William de Newburgh,

Earl of, 1 1
Washington, 36
Waterbreak, l he, 43 71
Waterton, Edward, of Walton,

218 «
Waterton, Elizabeth, wife of Ed-
ward Percy, 217, 218
Waterton, Sir Thomas, of Walton,

218
Watt on Abbey, co. York, 240
Wear, River, 287
Welborne, John, of Brancepeth,

321
Wentworth, Lord, 228
West, William, 218
Westmoreland, Countess of {ne'e

Howard), 274 and n., 275, 278,

281, 294, 322
Westmoreland, Earls of. see Nevill
Weston, 227

Westwood Manor, co. Kent, z 1 1
Wctherby, 290, 322

Whitby, 5 ; curious legend and

custom at, 10, 1 1
Whitby Abbey, 2, 6, 8,9, 12, 24, 240
Whitby Abbey, Registers of, 4, 91
Whitby Forest, 10
Whitchurch, 70. 82
Whittinghani, 2 1 5
Whittle, 216 and //., 217

Wicklifif, John, 29, 30, 88

Widdrington, Sir John, 246

Widdrington, Lord, 196

Widdrington, Sir Ralph, 125

Wightman, Captain, 281

Wilberie, Anthony, of Brancepeth,
321

Wilkinsons of Redesdale, 193

Williams, Sir Richard (afterwards
Cromwell), 252 and n.

William the Silent, Prince of
Orange, 361, 362

Wiltshire, Earl of Ormond and,
see Boleyn, Thomas

Wiltshire, Earl of, 1 1 1

Windsor Castle, 16 ; degradation
of the seventh Earl from the
Order of the Garter in, 288-290

Windsor, Lord, 228

Witherington, 329

Witherington, see Widdrington

Wolsethorpe, Sir Oswald, 239, 240

Wolsey, Thomas, Cardinal-Arch-
bishop of York, 134, 151, 152-
154, 156, 157, 159, 160, 161, 164,
167-182, 185-192, 194-197, 203,
205-21 1, 262

Wolsinghain, co. Northumberland,

195
Woodroffe, Richard, of Woolley,

351 n., 358, 359
Woodshaw, Edward, spy of Cecil,

261 and n.
Wood Street, London, Hotspur's

house in, 30 n.
Wooler, CO. Northumberland, 95
Woolley, CO. York, 351 n., 358
Worcester, Earl of, 228
Wormc, Will (steward and auditor

INDEX

393

to the sixth Earl), i6g and v. ;
his peculations and traditional
fate, 190

Wressil Abbey, 245

IVressill or Wresscl Castle, 95 ;
conferred on second Earl of
Northumberland, loi and ;;.,
132, 144, 147, 155, 156, 159, 163,
168, 169, 234, 236, 242, 245

Wyatt, Sir Thomas, 173, 174

Wynde, Richard, 322

Wyatt, Sir Thomas, 173, 174

Wyndham family, 95, loi

Wytham, Cuthbert, of Bretonby,
321

]'arf/i, 322

Yarnwiiih, 38

Yet/iolm, coiferejice at, 66, 73

Yonge, John, Somerset Herald,

139 and n.
Yonge, Richard, 322

York, Archbishops of, 23, 140, 224,

71., 231, 234, 239, 267. See also

under surnavies of Principal

Archbishops
York Castle, 352, 353
York City, 33, 83, 84, 1 13, 116, 127,

139, 140, 144, 158-160,238, 248,

250, 266, 270, 277, 280, 282, 285,

288, 291, 294. 322, 352
York, Richard, Duke of, 103, 106,

108, 1 10, and 71., 1 1 1-113
York, Mayor of, 1 59
York Minste7; Po'cy tomb in, 52
York, Percy Inn at, see Percy

In7i
Yorkshire, Percy estates i7j, 5, 6,

20, 21
Yorksliire ine7t, led by Lord Percy

at the Battle of the Standard, 9
Young, Charles George, Garter

King of Arms, 133
Yrton, Ambrose, 170

END OF INDEX TO VOL. I.

3465

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