Henry of Monmouth, Volume 1
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J. Endell Tyler >> Henry of Monmouth, Volume 1
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* * * * *
Should any one be disposed to think that questions of this sort (p. 382)
might well be left undecided, and that the settlement of them is
not worth the trouble and research often required for their thorough
investigation, the Author ventures to suspect that, in the generality
of instances, such reflections originate in an inexperience of the
vast practical moment which facts, the most trifling in themselves,
often carry with them in the investigation of the most important
questions. Doubtless, the wise man will exercise his discretion in not
confounding great things with small; but, on the contrary, in stamping
on every thing its own intrinsic and comparative value. Still, in
great things and small, (though each in its own weight and measure,)
the truth is ever dear for its own sake, and should be for its own
sake pursued. And it must never be forgotten, that one truth, in
itself perhaps too minute and insignificant for its worth to be felt
in the calculation, when probabilities are being estimated, may be a
guiding star to other truths of great value, which, without its
leading, might have remained neglected and unknown. In itself, a false
statement, though generally acquiesced in, may be unimportant; in its
consequences, it may be widely and permanently prejudicial to the
cause of truth. If viewed abstractedly, it might appear like a cloud
in the horizon not larger than a man's hand; but that speck may be the
harbinger of wind and tempest. With regard, indeed, to those natural
appearances in the sky, the most experienced observer can do nothing
towards arresting the progress of the threatened storm; his (p. 383)
foresight can only enable him to provide himself a shelter, or hasten
him on his journey, "that the rain stop him not." In the case of
literary, physical, moral, religious, and historical subjects of
inquiry, (or to whatever department of human knowledge our pursuits
may be directed,) by rectifying the minutest error we may check the
propagation of mischief, and preserve the truth (it may be some
momentous practical truth) in its integrity and brightness.
* * * * *
Connected with the subject of this and the preceding chapter, problems
of very difficult solution present themselves, a full and
comprehensive elucidation of which would involve questions of deep
moral and metaphysical interest with regard to the structure, the
cultivation and training, the associations and habits of the human
mind. Upon the merits of those problems in their various ramifications
the Author has no intention to venture; and probably few persons would
pronounce unhesitatingly how far on the one hand the facts of past
ages (constituting a valuable deposit of especial trust) should be
kept religiously distinct from works of fiction; or on the other hand
how far the field of history itself is legitimate ground for the
imagination in all its excursive ranges to disport upon freely and
fearlessly: in a word, how far the practice is justifiable and
desirable of bending the realities of historical record to (p. 384)
the service of the fancy, and moulding them into the shape best suited
to the writer's purpose in developing his plot, perfecting his
characters, and exciting a more lively interest in his whole design.
Whatever might be the result of such questions fully enucleated, the
Author, with his present views, cannot suffer himself to doubt that
society is infinitely a gainer in possessing the historical dramas of
Shakspeare, and the historical romances of Walter Scott. Instead of
putting the moral and intellectual advantages, the improvement and the
pleasure with which such extraordinary men have enriched their country
and the world in one scale, and jealously weighing them against the
erroneous associations which their exhibition of past events has a
tendency to impart, a philosophical view of the whole case should seem
to encourage us in the full enjoyment of their exquisite treasures;
suggesting, however, at the same time, the salutary caution that we
should never suffer ourselves to be so influenced by the naturalness
and beauty of their poetical creations, as to forego the beneficial
exercise of ascertaining from the safest guides the real facts and
characters of history.
APPENDIX, No. I. (p. 385)
OWYN GLYNDOWR's ABSENCE FROM THE BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY.
Had Owyn Glyndowr joined the army of Hotspur before Henry IV. had
compelled that gallant, but rash and headstrong warrior, to engage in
battle, their united forces might have crushed both the King and Henry
of Monmouth under their overwhelming charge, and crowned the Percies
and Owyn himself with victory; but the reader is reminded that the
question for the more satisfactory solution of which an appeal is made
to the following original documents, is simply this: Did Owyn Glyndowr
wilfully absent himself from the fatal battle of Shrewsbury, leaving
Hotspur and his host to encounter that struggle alone, or are we
compelled to account for the absence of the Welsh chieftain on grounds
which imply no compromise of his valour or his good faith?
The first of the series of documents from which it is presumed that
light is thrown on this subject, is a letter from Richard Kyngeston,
Archdeacon of Hereford, addressed to the King, dated Hereford, Sunday,
July 8, and therefore 1403,--just thirteen days before the battle of
Shrewsbury. It is written in French; but the postscript, added
evidently in vast trepidation, and as if under the sudden fear that he
had not expressed himself strongly enough, is in English. "His
eagerness for the arrival of the King in Wales by forced marches, is
expressed with an earnestness which is almost ridiculous."[344]
[Footnote 344: See Ellis.]
"Our most redoubted and sovereign Lord the King, I recommend (p. 386)
myself[345] humbly to your highness.... From day to day letters
are arriving from Wales, by which you may learn that the whole
country is lost unless you go there as quick as possible.
Be pleased to set forth with all your power, and march as well by
night as by day, for the salvation of those parts. It will be a
great disgrace as well as damage to lose in the beginning of your
reign a country which your ancestors gained, and retained so
long; for people speak very unfavourably. I send the copy of a
letter which came from John Scydmore this morning.... Written in
haste, great haste at Hereford, the 8th[346] day of July.
"Your lowly creature,
"RICHARD KYNGESTON,
"Archdeacon of Hereford.
"And for God's love, my liege Lord, think on yourself and (p. 387)
your estate; or by my troth all is lost else: but, and ye
come yourself, all other will follow after. On Friday last
Carmarthen town was taken and burnt, and the castle yielden by
Rš Wygmor, and the castle Emlyn is yielden; and slain of the
town of Carmarthen more than fifty persons. Written in right
great haste on Sunday, and I cry you mercy, and put me in your
high grace that I write so shortly; for, by my troth that I owe
to you, it is needful."
[Footnote 345: This ecclesiastic was much in the
royal confidence. By a commission dated June 16,
1404, he, as Archdeacon of Hereford, is authorized
to receive the subsidy in the counties of Hereford,
Gloucester, and Warwick, and to dispose of it in
the support of men-at-arms and archers to resist
the Welsh.[345-a] And sums, three years afterwards,
were paid to him out of the exchequer for the
maintenance of soldiers _remaining with him_ in the
parts of Wales for the safeguard of the same. He
seems to have been not only the dispenser of the
money, but the captain of the men. The debt,
however, had probably been due from the crown for a
long time. He was for many years Master of the
Wardrobe to Henry IV; and during his time the
expences of the court appear to have become more
extravagant, and to have led to that remonstrance
and interference of the council and parliament, to
which reference has been made in the body of this
work. Pell Rolls, Issue, 5 May 1407.--Do. Michs.
1409.]
[Footnote 345-a: MS. Donat. 4597.]
[Footnote 346: This letter is the more valuable,
because, though the year is not annexed in words,
the information that he wrote it on Sunday, July 8,
fixes the date to 1403: the next year to which this
date would apply being 1408, four years after
Kyngeston had ceased to be Archdeacon of Hereford;
and far too late for any such apprehension of great
mischief from Glyndowr.]
John Skydmore's letter, dated from the castle of Cerreg Cennen, not
only fixes Owyn Glyndowr at Carmarthen on Thursday, July the 5th; but
acquaints us also with his purpose to proceed thence into
Pembrokeshire, whilst his friends had undertaken to reduce the castles
of Glamorgan. It is addressed to John Fairford, Receiver of Brecknock.
"Worshipful Sir,--I recommend me to you. And forasmuch as I may
not spare no man from this place away from me to certify neither
the King, nor my lord the Prince, of the mischief of these
countries about, nor no man may pass by no way hence, I pray you
that ye certify them how all Carmarthenshire, Kedwelly,
Carnwalthan, and Yskenen be sworn to Owyn yesterday; and he lay
[to nyzt was] last night in the castle of Drosselan with Rees ap
Griffuth. And there I was, and spake with him upon truce, and
prayed of a safe-conduct under his seal to send home my wife and
her mother, and their [mayne] company. And he would none grant
me. And on this day he is about the town of Carmarthen, and there
thinketh to abide till he may have the town and the castle: and
his purpose is thence into Pembrokeshire; for he [halt (p. 388)
him siker] feels quite sure of all the castles and towns in
Kedwelly, Gowerland, and Glamorgan, for the same countries have
undertaken the sieges of them till they be won. Wherefore write
to Sir Hugh Waterton, and to all that ye suppose will take this
matter to heart, that they excite the King hitherwards in all
haste to avenge him on some of his false traitors, the which he
has overmuch cherished, and rescue the towns and castles in the
countries, for I dread full sore there be too few true men in
them. I can no more as now: but pray God help you and us that
think to be true. Written at the castle of Carreg Kennen, the
fifth day of July.
"Yours, JOHN SKYDMORE."[347]
[Footnote 347: The custody of Carreg Kennen
(Karekenny) was granted to John Skydmore, 2 May
1402.]
Two other letters, which internal evidence compels us to assign to
this year,--the first to the 7th of July (two days only after John
Skydmore's), the second to the 11th of the same month,--carry on
Owyn's proceedings with perfect consistency. They were written by the
Constable of Dynevor Castle, and seem to have been addressed to the
Receiver of Brecknock, and by him to have been forwarded to the King's
council. "The first gives us no exalted notion of the Constable's
courage: 'A siege is ordained for the castle I keep, and that is great
peril for me. Written in haste and in dread.' The second informs us of
the extent of force with which Glyndowr was then moving in his
inroads; when threatening the castle of Dynevor, he mustered 8240
(eight thousand and twelve score) spears, such as they were."[348]
[Footnote 348: Ellis.]
The first letter, written on Saturday, July 7, ("the Fest of St.
Thomas the Martir,") he seems to have posted off immediately on the
news reaching Dynevor that Carmarthen had surrendered to Owyn, (p. 389)
without waiting to ascertain the accuracy of the report; for, in
his second letter, he tells us that they had not yet resolved whether
to burn the town or no.
"Dear Friend,--I do you to wit that Owyn Glyndowr, Henry Don,
Rees Duy, Rees ap Gv. ap Llewellyn, Rees Gether, have won the
town of Carmarthen, and Wygmer the Constable had yielded the
castle to Carmarthen; and have burnt the town, and slain more
than fifty men: and they be in purpose to Kedwelly, and a siege
is ordained at the castle I keep, and that is great peril for me,
and all that be with me; for they have made a vow that they will
[al gat] at all events have us dead therein. Wherefore I pray you
not to beguile us, but send to us warning shortly whether we may
have any help or no; and, if help is not coming, that we have an
answer, that we may steal away by night to Brecknock, because we
fail victuals and men [and namlich], especially men. Also Jenkyn
ap Ll. hath yielden up the castle of Emlyn with free will; and
also William Gwyn, and many gentles, are in person with Owyn....
Written at Deynevour, in haste and in dread, in the feast of St.
Thomas the Martyr.[349]
"JENKYN HANARD,
"Constable de Dynevour."
[Footnote 349: This letter was probably written on
Saturday, July 7, 1403,--that is, on the
Translation of St. Thomas the Martyr.]
In this letter the Constable says that Owyn's forces were in purpose
to Kedwelly: the second letter refers to Owyn's purpose having been
altered by the formidable approach of the Baron of Carew towards St.
Clare. This was probably on Monday, July 9, the third day after the
surrender of Carmarthen. The Tuesday night he slept at Locharn
(Laugharne). Through the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, the (p. 390)
little garrison of Dynevor were negociating with him; for he was
resolved to win that castle, and to make it his head-quarters. On that
Wednesday, the Constable tells us, that Owyn intended, should he come
to terms with the Baron of Carew, to return to Carmarthen for his
share of the spoil, and to determine on the utter destruction of the
town, or its preservation. By a letter sent from the Mayor and
burgesses of Caerleon to the Mayor and burgesses of Monmouth,--the
propriety of referring which to this very year can scarcely be
questioned,--we are informed that the Baron of Carew was not so easily
tempted from his allegiance as some other "false traitors" in that
district; and that he defeated and put to the sword a division of Owyn
Glyndowr's army on the 12th of July,--the very day probably after the
date of the Constable's last letter. This fact, when admitted,
increases in importance; because it proves that as late, at least, as
July 12th, Owyn Glyndowr, though generally successful in that
campaign, was not without a formidable enemy there; and therefore by
no means at liberty to quit the country at a moment's warning, or to
leave his adherents without the protection of his forces and his own
presence.
* * * * *
Copy of the second letter from the Constable of Dynevor:
"Dear Friend,--I do you to wit that Owyn was in purpose to
Kedwelly, and the Baron of Carew was coming with a great retinue
towards St. Clare, and so Owyn changed his purpose, and rode to
meet the Baron; and that night he lodged at St. Clare, and
destroyed all the country about. And on Tuesday they were at
treaties all day, and that night he lodged him at the town of
Locharn, six miles out of the town of Carmarthen. The intention
is, if the Baron and he accord in treaty, then he turneth again
to Carmarthen for his part of the good, and Rees Duy[350] (p. 391)
his part. And many of the great masters stand yet in the castle
of Carmarthen; for they have not yet made their ordinance
whether the castle and town shall be burnt or no; and therefore,
if there is any help coming, haste them all haste towards us, for
every house is full about us of their poultry, and yet wine and
honey enough in the country, and wheat and beans, and all manner
of victuals. And we of the castle of Dynevor had treaties with
him on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday; and now he will ordain for
us to leave that castle, [for ther a castyth to ben y serkled
thince,] for that was the chief place in old time. And Owyn's
muster on Monday was eight thousand and twelve score spears, such
as they were. Other tidings I not now; but God of Heaven send you
and us from all enemies! Written at Dynevor this Wednesday in
haste."
[Footnote 350: This partisan of Owyn, who is here
said to have gone to share with him in the spoil of
Carmarthen, partook even in greater bitterness of
his cup of affliction. He was taken prisoner and
beheaded. The Chronicle of London asserts that his
quarters were salted, and sent to different parts
of the kingdom; but this assertion, in an affair of
little importance, shows how small reliance can be
placed on anonymous records. The King, by writ of
privy seal, 29 May 1412, commands Rees Duy's body,
then in the custody of his officers, to be buried
in some consecrated cemetery. It had perhaps been
exposed for some time. MS. Donat. 4599, p. 128.]
The despatch from the burgesses of Carleon, after stating that seven
hundred men, whom Owyn had sent forwards as pioneers and to search the
ways, were to a man slain by the Lord of Carew's men on the 12th day
of July, records an anecdote so characteristic of Owyn's superstition,
that, whilst examining his conduct, we may scarcely pass it by
unnoticed. He sent after Hopkyn ap Thomas of Gower, inasmuch (p. 392)
as he held him Master of Brut, (_i. e._ skilled in the prophecies of
Merlin,) to learn from him what should befal him, and he told him that
he should be taken within a brief time between Carmarthen and Gower
under a black banner. [The Author finds the next sentence so obscure
that he leaves it to the interpretation of the reader.] "Knowelichyd
that thys blake baner scholde dessese hym, and nozt that he schold be
take undir hym."
In weighing the evidence brought to light by these original
despatches, it will be necessary to have a few dates immediately
present to our mind.
We have it under the King's own hand, that, when he was at Higham
Ferrers, he believed himself to be on his road northward to form a
junction with Hotspur and his father Northumberland, and together with
them (of whose allegiance and fidelity he apparently had not hitherto
entertained any suspicion) to make a joint expedition against the
Scots. This letter is dated July 10, 1403.
Five days only at the furthest intervened between the date of this
letter and the King's proclamation at Burton on Trent (still on his
journey northward) to the sheriffs to raise their counties, and join
him to resist the Percies, whose rebellion had then suddenly been made
known to him. This proclamation is dated July 16, 1403. Four days only
elapsed between the issuing of this proclamation and the death of
Hotspur, with the total discomfiture of his followers in Hateley
Field, where the battle of Shrewsbury was fought on Saturday, 21st of
July, the very week on the Monday of which he had first heard of the
revolt of the Percies.
If the dates relating to Owyn's proceedings,--some ascertained beyond
further question, and others admitted on the ground of high
probability, approaching certainty, with which the documents above
quoted supply us,--are laid side by side with these indisputable
facts, the inference from the comparison seems unavoidable, that Owyn
was never made acquainted with the expectation on the part (p. 393)
of his allies of so early a struggle with the King's forces in
England; (indeed the conflict evidently was unexpected by Hotspur
himself;) that Owyn was in the most remote corner of South Wales when
the battle was fought; and that probably the sad tidings of Hotspur's
overthrow reached him without his ever having been apprised (at least
in time) that the Percy needed his succour.
APPENDIX, No. II. (p. 394)
LYDGATE.
Extracts from the Dedication to Henry of Monmouth of his poem, "The
Death of Hector:"
"For through the world it is known to every one,
And flying Fame reports it far and wide,
That thou, by natural condition,
In things begun wilt constantly abide;
And for the time dost wholly set aside
All rest; and never carest what thou dost spend
Till thou hast brought thy purpose to an end.
And that thou art most circumspect and wise,
And dost effect all things with providence,
As Joshua did by counsel and advice,
Against whose sword there is none can make defence:
And wisdom hast by heavenly influence
With Solomon to judge and to discern
Men's causes, and thy people to govern.
For mercy mixt with thy magnificence,
Doth make thee pity all that are opprest;
And to withstand the force and violence
Of those that right and equity detest.
With David thou to piety art prest;
And like to Julius Caesar valorous,
That in his time was most victorious.
And in thine hand (like worthy Prince) dost hold
Thy sword, to see that of thy subjects none
Against thee should presume with courage bold
And pride of heart to raise rebellion; (p. 395)
And in the other, sceptre to maintain
True justice while among us thou dost reign.
More than good heart none can, whatsoe'er he be,
Present nor give to God nor unto man,
Which for my part I wholly give to thee,
And ever shall as far forth as I can;
Wherewith I will (as I at first began)
Continually, not ceasing night nor day,
With sincere mind for thine estate thus pray.
"The time when I this work had fully done
By computation just, was in the year
One thousand and four hundred twenty-one
Of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour dear;
And in the eighth year complete of the reign
Of our most noble lord and sovereign
King Henry the Fifth.
"In honour great, for by his puissant might
He conquered all Normandy again,
And valiantly, for all the power of France;
And won from them his own inheritance,
And forced them his title to renew
To all the realm of France, which doth belong
To him, and to his lawful heirs by true
Descent, (the which they held from him by wrong
And false pretence,) and, to confirm the same,
Hath given him the honour and the name
Of Regent of the land for Charles his life;
And after his decease they have agreed,
Thereby to end all bloody war and strife,
That he, as heir, shall lawfully succeed
Therein, and reign as King of France by right,
As by records, which extant are to light,
It doth appear.
And I will never cease, both night and day,
With all my heart unto the Lord to pray
"For HIM, by whose commandment I tooke (p. 396)
On me (though far unfit to do the same)
To translate into English verse this booke,
Which Guido wrote in Latin, and doth name
'The Siege of Troy;' and for HIS sake alone,
I must confess that I the same begun,
When Henry, whom men _Fourth_ by name did call,
My Prince's father, lived, and possest
The crown. And though I be but rustical,
I have therein not spared to do my best
To please my Prince's humour."
This poem, "The Life and Death of Hector," was published after the
marriage of Henry with Katharine, and before her arrival in England.
Among its closing sentiments are the following, intended probably as
an honest warning to his royal master, that in the midst of life we
are in death, and that the messenger from heaven knocks at the palace
of the conquering monarch with no less suddenness than at the cottage
of his humblest subject. How appropriate was the warning! Henry did
not survive the publication of this poem more than a single year.
"For by Troy's fall it plainly doth appear
That neither king nor emperor hath here
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