On this Day in History ... 12th August

Archaeologia Volume 20 Section 1. 12th August 1299. Then King Richard wisely replied: "Northumberland, withdraw: ere it be long you shall have our answer, that you may speedily depart."Then might you see them separate. They discoursed long upon the matter of which they had heard the earl speak; till at last the king said,^t "Fair sirs, we will grant it to him, for I see no other way. You perceive, as well as myself, that all is lost. But I swear to you, that whatever assurance I may give him, he shall for this be surely put to a bitter death for the outrage and injury that he hath done unto us. And doubt it not, no parliament shall be held at Westminster upon this business; for I love you so entirely, that I would not suffer you to come to parliament to die, for the fulfilment of his pleasure; for I know full well that he would make you suffer most heavy penalty, and that you would be in very great danger of being put to bitter and certain death, seeing many murmur against you. Yet fear not, my good friends, but that in spite of them, you shall ever be my nearest friends, for I have always found you, without evil intention, good and loyal. Moreover, I tell you, that I will summon and secretly bring together men throughout Wales that may be ready for us on a certain day. When we have spoken with Duke Henry, we will then take our way through Wales; and if he should ask us wherefore we do so, we will tell him that there is no victuals (not a penny-worth) the other way, since his people and his army have wasted every thing, and that we are going that way, lest provisions fail us. Thus will we say to him, if it seem good unto you, and I believe that he will readily agree to it. The earl hath told us so. And when we shall have found our people assembled, we will display our banners to the wind, and suddenly march with vigour against him. For I am sure of it, as of my death, that when they shall behold my arms, they will be so sorry at heart for the wrong that they have done unto me, that the half of those who have gone along with him, will desert him, and indeed come over to us. For good and faithful heart can never prove false; and nature will bring to their remembrance, that during my life, they ought to hold me as their rightful lord. You will then see them come to us straightways, and you will know that we have right (on our side). God, if we trust in him, will aid us. If we are not so much in our place as they shall be, yet, please God, they shall not chuse but fight us; and if they be in any wise discomfited they shall be put to death. There are some of them whom I will flay alive. I would not take all the gold in the land for them; please God, I continue alive and well."

Note t. "He then consulted with his friends, Carlisle, Salisbury, Scroope, Ferriby, and Jenico in the chapel of the castle, and said to them, ' Gentlemen, you have heard what the earl says: what think you of it?' To which they replied, 'Sir, do you speak first.' The king answered, 'It seems to me that a good peace may be made between us two, if it be as the earl says. But, in truth, whatever agreement or peace he may make with me, if I can ever get him to my advantage, I will cause him to be foully put to death, just as he hath earned."¹

Note 1. MS. Ambassades, p. 135. Mr. Allen's Extracts. Galliard interprets it, "I shall no more scruple to put him to death, than he did to gain the upper hand of me." Accounts and Extracts, II. p. 219. This is, however, too periphrastic. The original words are simply, "Je leferay mourir mauvaisement, ainsi comme il ti gaognie."²

The commonly received opinion, which has been echoed by many writers, was, that Richard, desiring a conference at Conway with the Archbishop of Canterbury and Earl of Northumberland, and of his own accord declaring himself ready to resign, first stipulated for his own maintainance, and for the security of eight persons whom he should name. "Indicavit se velle regno cedere, si sibi victus honorificus vitaeque securitas octo personis, quos nominari vellet, fide interposita, donaretur."^1a Whether Henry was willing to grace his new authority by forbearance towards the king's adherents, or whether Richard was afterwards able to negociate for those whom the duke had threatened to bring before the parliament is immaterial: it is, however, plain, that excepting Jenico, whose resistance procured him a temporary confinement, they all remained unprosecuted and at large. But, as to Richard's spontaneous offer of resignation at this time, it may easily be understood that reports like these were propagated to encourage a persuasion that it was an act proceeding entirely from his consciousness of the difficulties to which he had been reduced by his inability to govern, and that it was not forced upon him by his adversaries. Richard himself in this genuine narrative holds no language which can induce a belief of this nature; he never hints at a wish to lay aside the burden of power in his message to Chester, his conference with Northumberland, or consultation with his little band of friends. On the contrary, he contemplates the future exercise of it in retaliation upon his aggressors, and merely in a general way accedes to the propositions of the earl, that he may escape from a part of his difficulties, with the confident expectation of his entire ability to screen his faithful servants. Salisbury, Scroope, and Merks, the only three present of those who were threatened with prosecution, are satisfied with his assurance of protection, and agree that at all hazards it would be well to close with the duke's conditions of peace.

But the king's pretended readiness to abandon his high estate was more industriously endeavoured to be established by an artifice that reflects little credit upon his successor. The story of what passed at Conway relative to the negociation is given in the text with such an appearance of truth, and is so coherent in all it's parts, that it may very properly be taken to correct the variety of suspicious statements with which ignorance or wilfulness have clouded the affair. One of these is of too grave a kind to be passed over. Comparing it with the statements of our author, I am reluctantly compelled to look upon the ground of Richard's retirement from the throne, given in the Roll of Resignation deposited in the Archives of England, to be a gross fabrication published by Henry IV. for purposes of state. In order to colour the transaction and make the renunciation appear more voluntary than it really was, it is entered upon the roll that the Earl of Northumberland in the presence of the Archbishop ofCanterburyandtherestofthecommissionersin the Tower, "remembered King Richard of hispromise made to the said Archbishop, and to him the said earl at Conway in Wales, at what time the same King Richard was at liberty, how that he, for certain defaults and inabilities in himself to rule, would renounce and give up the crowns of England and France, with the whole rule of the same, and that by the best advice that could be devised; King Richard thereto mildly answered, that he would willingly accomplish the same."^1b

Note 2. "I will make him die miserably, just as he has earned it."

Note 1. Walsing. Hist. Angl. p. 358. "He informed them that he was willing to abdicate the throne if he were granted an honorable livelihood and security for the lives of eight persons whom he would name, under a pledge of good faith."

Note 1b. Cotton's Abridgement, p. 385. There is an overstrained affectation of cheerful acquiescence in the report of his renunciation, which defeats itself. The parties are all very courteous, and happy in each other's society while it lasts. "After familiar talk had between the king, the duke, and archbishop, the instrument was ordered to be read; but the king willingly and cheerfully took and read it throughout." The whole is curious; and, I fear, in many particulars, a piece of deliberately recorded falsehood. Ut supra, p. 386.

Archaeologia Volume 20 Section 1. 12th August 1399. Then the earl went on board a vessel and crossed the water. He found King Richard, and the Earl of Salisbury (age 49) with him, as well as the Bishop of Carlisle. He said to the king,^p "Sire, Duke Henry hath sent me hither to the end that an agreement should be made between you, and that you should be good friends for the time to come, — If it be your pleasure, Sire, and I may be heard, I will deliver to you his message, and conceal nothing of the truth; — If you will be a good judge and true, and will bring up all those whom I shall here name to you, by a certain day, for the ends of justice; listen to the parliament which you shall lawfully cause to be held between you at Westminster, and restore him to be chief judge of England, as the duke his father^q and all his ancestors had been for more than an hundred years. I will tell you the names of those who shall await the trial. May it please you, Sire, it is time they should."

Note p. We are here supplied with some additional matter from the MS. Ambassades. Huntingdon, by command of the duke, sent one of his retinue after Northumberland with two letters, one for Northumberland, the other for the king. When he appeared before the king with seven attendants, he was asked by him, if he had not met his brother on the road? "Yes, Sire," he answered," and here is a letter he gave me for you." The king looked at the letter and the seal, and saw that it was the seal of his brother; then he opened the letter and read it. All that it contained was this, "My very dear Lord, I commend me to you: and you will believe the earl in every thing that he shall say to you. For I found the duke at my city of Chester, who has a great desire to have a good peace and agreement with you, and has kept me to attend upon him till he shall know your pleasure."² When the king had read this letter, he turned to Northumberland, and said, "Now tell me what message you bring." To which the earl replied, "My very dear Lord, the Duke of Lancaster hath sent me to you, to tell you that what he most wishes for in this world is to have peace and agreement with you; and he greatly repents with all his heart of the displeasure that he hath caused you now and at other times; and asks nothing of you in this living world, save that it may please you to account him your cousin and friend; and that it may please you only to let him have his land; and that he may be chief judge of England, as his father and his predecessors have been, and that all other things of time past may be put in oblivion between you two; for which purpose he hath chosen umpires (juges) for yourself and for him, that is to say, the Bishop of Carlisle, the Earl of Salisbury, Maudelain, and the Earl of Westmorland; and charges them with the agreement that is between you and him. Give me an answer, if you please; for all the greatest lords of England and the commons are of this opinion." On which the king desired him to withdraw a little, and he should have an answer soon.¹

The latter part of this speech contains an important variation from the metrical history, worthy of the artifice of the earl; but the opposite account of our eye-witness, confirmed in Richard's subsequent address to his friends, is doubtless the true representation. The writer of MS. Ambassades might be at this time at Chester; but admitting that he had been in the train of Northumberland on the journey, he could not have been present at the conference.

Note 2. Accounts and Extracts, II. p. 219.

Note 1. MS. Ambassades, pp. 134, 135. Mr. Allen's Extracts.

Note q. The style of the duke his father was, John, the son of the King of England, Duke of Guienne and Lancaster, Earl of Derby, Lincoln, and Leicester, Steward of England.² " The word seneshal," says Rastall, "was borrowed by the French of the Germans; and signifies one that hath the dispensing of justice in some particular cases, as the High Steward of England;"^1a the jurisdiction of his court, by the statute,^2a" shall not pass the space of twelve miles to be counted from the lodgings of our Lord the King."

These "particular cases" would, however, have secured to him a power of exercising his vengeance upon the parties who are immediately afterwards named. But the request urged with such apparent humility was only a part of the varnish of the plot. He had not waited for Richard's consent, having already, within two days after his arrival at Chester, assumed the title upon his own authority. In Madox, Formulare Anglicanum, p. 327, is a letter of safe conduct from Henry to the prior of Beauval, dated from that place, August 10, 23 Richard II. in which he styles himself" Henry, Due de Lancastre,Conte de Derby, de Leycestre, de Herford, et de Northampton, Seneschal d'Angleterre."

He conferred the office upon Thomas, his second son, by patent dated October 8, 1399; constituting at the same time Thomas Percy Deputy High Steward during the minority of the prince.^3a

Note 2. Cotton's Abridgement, p. 343.

Note 1a. Termes de la Ley. v. Sene

Note 2a. 13 Ric. II. St. 1. c. 3.

Note 3a. Rymer, Fœdera, VIII. p. 90.

Thomas Bateman 1846. On the 12th of August 1846, was opened a low flat barrow at Windle (Wind Lowe) Nook [Map], near Hargate Wall, Derbyshire, about twenty yards in diameter, two feet high, and encircled by a ring of large flat limestones, placed in a sloping manner on one side, about three yards from the margin of the tumulus, apparently for the purpose of preserving its symmetry. The top of this barrow is surmounted by a large square sandstone, which has originally formed the base of one of the wayside crosses, of which numerous examples remain in the north of Derbyshire. About the centre of the barrow was a cist, measuring near six feet by four, in horizontal area, and three feet in depth, of unusual construction, the sides being built of large stones set on end, some of which appeared above the turf; an examination of the contents of this cist led to the conclusion that it had been applied to sepulchral purposes at various distinct periods, and that the last interment had been partially disturbed at a comparatively recent period; the contents were as follows: small pieces of urn, calcined bones and flints, skeletons of two persons of full stature, and of two infants, one of them very young, and various animal bones, amongst which, those of the rat, weasel, and horse were most conspicuous. All these articles were so much out of their ordinary arrangement, as to leave no doubt of their disinterment at the time of the burial of another skeleton, which lay in a contracted position a few inches above the floor of the vault; this skeleton, which, from the ornaments discovered with it, and the slender proportions of the bones, must be attributed to a female, had not entirely escaped spoliation at a recent period; the following circumstances seem to put this question beyond doubt, namely, the discovery of sundry pieces of tobacco-pipe, and nails from rustics' shoes, and from the fact of finding part of a very large ivory pin, and a fragment of an armilla or bracelet of Kimmeridge coal, both of which would undoubtedly have been perfect at the time they were deposited. Whoever these former excavators were, they were not very close observers as they had overlooked a necklace of beads of the aforesaid Kimmeridge coal, terminated by two perforated conical studs of the same, and enriched by six pieces of ivory, ornamented with the everlasting chevron or zig-zag pattern so universally prevalent on Celtic remains. The beads, exclusive of the studs and ornaments, are seventy-six in number, and are identical with two that are figured in plate 3, vol. i of Sir. Richard Hoare's excellent work. The ivory ornaments are quite novel, no other example having been published.

Note. The necklace discovered at Wind Low on display at Weston Park Museum, Sheffield [Map].

Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine 1886 V23 Pages 117-118. 12th August 1886. This was followed by a paper on "Ringsbury Camp"' by the Rev. W. H. E. Mc. Knight, which, in the absence of that gentleman, was very kindly read by Mr. James Sadler, of Purton; and then Mr. William Cunnington, F.G.S., exhibited and commented on several specimens of skulls of the dolichocephalic form, which had been taken from the famous long barrow known as "Bowlsbury Tump [Map]," near Heytesbury, opened by himself and Mr. Henry Cunnington, Hon. Curator of the Society, under the auspices of this Society, in June last. The skulls found are of much interest, all of them being of the long (dolichocephalic) shape. They confirm the views of our late fellow-Member, Dr. Thurnham, who first discovered the fact that the people who erected the long barrows possessed longer skulls than those of the people of the round barrows, who succeeded them, and longer than those of any of the modem races of Europeans. They are apparently the most ancient inhabitants of this island of whom any record exists. No implements of metal of any kind have been found in their interments, and their pottery is of the rudest kind, without any ornaments. The only traces of art found in Bowls Barrow are flint flakes, struck off in making implements, and an oval quartzite pebble, which has been used at both ends as a hammer. The skulls, or fragments of skulls, of at least fourteen individuals were found on the late occasion: more than half of these had been cleft or fractured, apparently at the time of death. Several of them were shown at the Meeting; also specimens illustrating the differences between the long skulls of the long barrow type, and the shorter skulls o£ the round barrow period. As all these papers will appear in the Magazine, they need not be further mentioned here: needless, too, to say that their authors were severally thanked from the chair, and that the approbation of the audience was made very manifest. Before leaving the room, the President expressed, on behalf of the Society, their gratitude to the inhabitants of Swindon generally for the kind, courteous, and hospitable way in which they had been received; to the Secretaries of the Meeting more especially (Mr. Kinneir, Mr. Shopland, and Mr. Radway), for all the trouble taken by those gentlemen on their behalf, and which had resulted in a very successful Meeting; and last, but not least, to Major Dean, for the facilities he had granted to such of the Members as were wise enough to avail themselves of them, for seeing the celebrated Locomotive and Carriage Works of the G. W. R. Company.