Traditions of Lancashire Volume I Part 74

"Troth," said Tempest, still wishful to maintain the king's incognito, "the Turks having now taken Byzantium, the great bulwark of Christendom, I did fear me that the first of the tribe from that great army of locusts had descended upon us."

"Fear not," said the unfortunate monarch, with a smile; "this poor innocent will do no ill. His mistress brought him for me a present from her father's court; and, to say the truth, he has been a great solace in my trouble. He hath not forsaken me when they who fattened on my bounty--who dipped their hands with me in the dish--have been the first to betray me. The knave is shrewd and playful, but of an incredible strength, being, as ye may observe, double-jointed. Madoc, let them behold some token of thy power."

The cunning rogue obeyed in a twinkling. He seized the host's chair with one hand, lifting its occupant without difficulty from the ground. With the other he laid hold on him by the throat, and would certainly have strangled him but for the king.

The a.s.sault was so sudden and unexpected that the domestics stood still a moment, as though rendered powerless by surprise.

The next instant they all fled pell-mell out of the hall, every one struggling to be foremost, apprehending that the great personification of all evil was there, bodily, behind them, and in the very act of flying off with their master.

In vain Joan shouted after the cowardly villains; her threats but increased their speed.

"Fly, King Henry," cried the dwarf, in a voice that sounded like the roar of some infuriated beast; "the rascal curs are barking; the stag is in the net. This traitor"--Here he became at a loss for words; but his gesticulations were more vehement. "Fly!" at length he shouted, in a louder voice than before; "I've seen sword and armour glittering in the forest."

But the king was irresolute, as much amazed as any of the rest. He saw the imminent danger of his host, whose face was blackening above the grip of this fierce antagonist, and he cried out--

"Leave go, Madoc; let the curs bark, we fear them not in this good house. Let go, I command thee."

With a look of pity and of scorn the savage loosened his hold, saying--

"Thou be'st not king now; but Henry with the beads and breviary; and here come thy tormentors."

A loud whistle rang through the hall, and in burst a band of armed men, led on by Sir Thomas Talbot of Bashall, and his oldest son of the same name, together with Sir James Harrington.

Tempest, recovered from his gripe, made a furious dart at the king; but ere he had accomplished his purpose, Edmund Talbot rushed between, at the peril of his life, opening a way for the terrified monarch through the band that had nearly surrounded him.

The king fled through the pa.s.sage made by his deliverer; and the dwarf, keeping his enemies at bay, heroically and effectually covered his retreat.

"Edmund Talbot, art thou traitor to thy kin?" said Sir Thomas, from the crowd. "Let me pa.s.s; 'tis thy father commands thee. 'Tis not thy king, he is a coward and a usurper."

"I care not," said the retreating and faithful Edmund. "My arm shall not compa.s.s with traitors. Cowards attack unarmed men at their meals."

"Then take thy reward." It was the eldest brother of Edmund who said this, whilst he aimed a terrific blow; but the dwarf caught his arm ere it descended, and a swinging stroke from a missile which he had picked up in the fray would have settled accounts between the heir of Bashall and posterity had he not stepped aside.

This unequal contest, however, could not long continue, though time, the princ.i.p.al object, was gained, and the king was fast hastening again towards the cavern. In the courtyard he met Elizabeth, who implored him to step aside into another place of concealment; but he was too much terrified to comprehend her meaning. Fear seemed to have bewildered him, and the poor persecuted monarch sped on to his own destruction. In the hurry and uncertainty of his flight, he unfortunately took the wrong path, which led by a circuitous route to the ford; and, as he stepped out of the wood, two of his enemies, having broken through the gallant defence of his adherents, had already gained, and were guarding, the stepping-stones over the river, called "Brunckerley Hippens." Terrified, he flew back into the wood, but was immediately followed; and again his evil destiny seemed to prevail. He took another path, which led him back to the ford. Here he crossed, and, whilst leaping with difficulty over the stones, the pursuers came in full view. Having gained the Lancas.h.i.+re side, he fled into the wood, but his enemies were now too close upon him for escape, and the royal captive was taken, bound, and conveyed to Bashall. Many cruel indignities were heaped upon him; and he was conveyed to London in the most piteous plight, on horseback, with his legs tied to the stirrups. Ere he departed, it is said that he delivered a singular prediction--to wit, that nine generations of the Talbot family, in succession, should consist of a wise and a weak man by turns, after which the name should be lost.

FOOTNOTES:

[54] Whitaker's _Craven_.

[55] Pennant.

[56] _Hist. Whalley_.

[57] Webster, in his _Metallographia_, mentions a field called Skilhorn, in the towns.h.i.+p of Rivington-within-Craven, "belonging to one Mr Pudsay, an ancient esquire, and owner of Bolton Hall, juxta Bolland; who, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, did get good store of silver-ore, and convert it to his own use, or rather coined it, as many do believe, there being many s.h.i.+llings marked with an escallop, which the people of that country call Pudsay s.h.i.+llings to this day. But whether way soever it was, he procured his pardon for it, and had it, as I am certified from the mouths of those who had seen it." Webster further adds: "While old Basby (a chemist) was with me, I procured some of the ore, which yielded after the rate of twenty-six pounds of silver per ton. Since then, good store of lead has been gotten; but I never could procure any more of the sort formerly gotten; the miners being so cunning, that if they meet with any vein that contains so much ore as will make it a myne royall, they will not discover it."

Dr Whitaker, in his _History of Craven,_ says: "The following papers, lately communicated to me from the evidences of the Pudsays, put the matter out of doubt:--'Case of a myne royall. Although the gold or silver contained in the base metalls of a mine in the land of a subject be of less value than the baser metall, yet if gold and silver doe countervaile the charge of refining, or bee of more value than the baser metall spent in refining itt, this is a myne royall, and _as wel the base metall_ as the gold and silver in it, belongs to the crown.

"'Edw. Herbert, Attorney-General. Oliver St John, Solicitor-General. Orl.

Bridgman. Joh. Glanvill. Jeoffry Palmer. Tho. Lane. Jo. Maynard. Hdw.

Hyde. J. Glynn. Harbottle Grimstone,' &c.

"So favourable at that time were the opinions of the most const.i.tutional lawyers (for such were the greater part of these ill.u.s.trious names) to the prerogative. But the law on this head has been very wisely altered by two statutes of William and Mary.--Blackstone, iv. 295.

"The other paper is of later date:--'To the King's most excellent Majestie. The humble pet.i.tion of Ambrose Pudsay, Esq., sheweth, that your pet.i.tioner having suffered much by imprisonment, plunder, &c., for his bounden loyalty, and having many years concealed a myne royall, in Craven, in Yorks.h.i.+re, prayeth a patent for digging and refining the same.'"

[58] _Hist, of Whalley_, p. 504.

[59] This lady, whose attractions or good fortune must have been uncommon, says the historian of Craven, was daughter to Henry Pudsay of Bolton. She married, first, Sir Thomas Talbot of Bashall, who died 13 Henry VII.; after which she became the second wife of Henry, Lord Clifford, the shepherd; and, after his decease, by the procurement of Henry VIII., gave her hand to Richard Grey, youngest son of Thomas, Marquis of Dorset.

END OF VOL. I.