Henry of Monmouth, Volume 1

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[Footnote 96: The name of this extraordinary man is
very variously spelt. His Christian name is either
Owyain, or Owen, or Owyn. On his surname the
original documents, as well as subsequent writers,
ring many changes: the etymology of the name is
undoubtedly The Glen of the waters of the Dee, or,
Of the black waters. The name consequently is
sometimes spelt Glyndwffrduy, and Glyndwrdu. In
general, however, it assumes the form in English
documents of Glendor, or Glyndowr: in Henry of
Monmouth's first letter it is Oweyn de Glyndourdy.
In these Memoirs the form generally adhered to is
Owyn Glyndowr. In the record of the Scrope and
Grosvenor controversy, Owyn's name is spelt
Glendore, whilst his brother Tuder's, who was
examined the same day, is written Glyndore.]

CHAPTER V. (p. 088)

THE WELSH REBELLION. -- OWYN GLYNDOWR. -- HIS FORMER LIFE. -- DISPUTE
WITH LORD GREY OF RUTHYN. -- THAT LORD'S LETTER TO PRINCE HENRY. --
HOTSPUR. -- HIS TESTIMONY TO HENRY'S PRESENCE IN WALES, -- TO HIS
MERCY AND HIS PROWESS. -- HENRY'S DESPATCH TO THE PRIVY COUNCIL.

1400-1401.

Previously to the accession of Henry IV, Wales had enjoyed, for nearly
seventy years, a season of comparative security and rest. During the
desperate struggles in the reign of Henry III, in which its inhabitants,
chiefly under their Prince Llewellin, fought so resolutely for their
freedom, many districts of the Principality, especially the border-lands,
had been rendered all but deserts. From this melancholy devastation
they had scarcely recovered, when Queen Isabella, wife of Edward II,
headed the rebel army against her own husband, who had taken refuge in
Glamorganshire; and carried with her the most dreadful of all national
scourges,--a sanguinary civil war. The whole country of South Wales,
we are told, was so miserably ravaged by these intestine horrors, (p. 089)
and the dearth consequent upon them was so excessive, that horses and
dogs became at last the ordinary food of the miserable survivors. From
the accession of Edward III, and throughout his long reign, Wales
seems to have enjoyed undisturbed tranquillity and repose. Its
oppressors were improving their fortunes, rapidly and largely, in
France, reaping a far more abundant harvest in her rich domains than
this impoverished land could have offered to their expectations.
Through the whole reign also of Richard II, we hear of no serious
calamity having befallen these ancient possessors of Britain. A
friendly intercourse seems at that time to have been formed between
the Principality and the kingdom at large; and a devoted attachment to
the person of the King appears to have sprung up generally among the
Welsh, and to have grown into maturity. We may thus consider the
natives of Wales to have enjoyed a longer period of rest and peace
than had fallen to their lot for centuries before, when the deposition
of Richard, who had taken refuge among their strongholds, and in
defence of whom they would have risked their property and their lives,
prepared them to follow any chieftain who would head his countrymen
against the present dynasty, and direct them in their struggle to
throw off the English, or rather, perhaps, the Lancastrian yoke.

The French writer to whom we have so often referred, M. Creton, (p. 090)
in describing the creation of Henry of Monmouth as Prince of Wales,
employs these remarkable words: "Then arose Duke Henry. His eldest
son, who humbly knelt before him, he made Prince of Wales, and gave
him the land; but I think he must conquer it if he will have it: for
in my opinion the Welsh would on no account allow him to be their
lord, for the sorrow, evil, and disgrace which the English, together
with his father, had brought upon King Richard." How correctly this
foreigner had formed an estimate of the feelings and principles of the
Welsh, will best appear from that portion of Henry's life on which we
are now entering. His prediction was fully verified by the event.
Henry of Monmouth was compelled to conquer Wales for himself; and in a
struggle, too, which lasted through an entire third part of his
eventful career.

* * * * *

In accounting for the origin of the civil war in Wales, historians
generally dwell on the injustice and insults committed by Lord Grey of
Ruthyn on Owyn Glyndowr, and the consequent determination of that
resolute chief to take vengeance for the wrongs by which he had been
goaded. Probably the far more correct view is to consider the Welsh at
large as altogether ready for revolt, and the conduct of Lord Grey as
having only instigated Owyn to put himself at their head; at all
events to accept the office of leader, to which, as we are told, his
countrymen[97] elected him. The train was already laid in the (p. 091)
unshaken fidelity of the Welsh to their deposed monarch, whom they
believed to be still alive[98] and in the deadly hatred against all
who had assisted Henry of Lancaster in his act of usurpation; the
spark was supplied by the resentment of a personal injury. His
countrymen were ripe for rebellion, and Owyn was equally ready to
direct their counsels, and to head them in the field of battle.

[Footnote 97: The proceedings of the Welsh, in
detail, at this time, are not found in any
contemporary documents, on the authenticity of
which we may rely. As to the general facts,
however, whether we draw them from the traditions
of the Welsh or the English chroniclers, no
reasonable doubt can be entertained. But the Author
cannot take upon himself the responsibility of
vouching for the truth of the biographical
particulars recorded of Owyn's early life and
adventures, or the measures which he adopted
previously to his breaking out into open revolt,
any more than he can undertake to establish by
proof the genealogy of that chieftain, and trace
him through Llewellin ap Jorwarth to Bleddyn ap
Cynfyn, or the third of the five royal tribes.]

[Footnote 98: It is curious, in point of history,
to observe for how very long a time rumours that
Richard was still alive were industriously spread,
and as greedily received. The royal proclamations
again and again denounced the authors of such false
rumours. In the rebellion of the Percies it was
asserted that Richard was still alive in the Castle
of Chester. In 1406 the Earl of Northumberland
(though he had charged Henry with the murder of
Richard), in his letter to the Duke of Orleans
states the alternative of his being still alive.
And even Sir John Oldcastle, in 1418, when before
the Parliament, protested that he never would
acknowledge that court so long as his liege lord,
Richard, was alive in Scotland.--See Archaeologia,
vol. xx. p. 220.]

Owyn Glyndowr was no upstart adventurer. He was of an ancient (p. 092)
family, or rather, we must say, of princely extraction, being descended
from Llewellin ap Jorwarth Droyndon, Prince of Wales. We have reason to
conclude that he succeeded to large hereditary property. The exact time
of his birth is not known: most writers have placed it between 1349 and
1354; but it was probably later by five years than the latter of those
two dates.[99] This extraordinary man, whose unwearied zeal and
indomitable bravery, had they taken a different direction, would have
merited, humanly speaking, a better fate, was invested by the
superstitions of the times with a supernatural character. His vaunt to
Hotspur is not so much the offspring of Shakspeare's imagination, as
an echo to the popular opinions generally entertained of him:[100]

[Footnote 99: Owyn and his brother Tudor were both
examined at Chester, September 3, 1386, during the
controversy between the families of Scrope and
Grosvenor as to the arms of the latter; and it
appears from their own evidence that Owyn was born
before Sept. 3, 1359, and that his brother Tudor
(who was slain in the battle of Grosmont, or Mynydd
Pwl Melin) was three years younger. The record of
this controversy assigns to Owyn himself this
honourable title "Oweyn Sire [Lord] de Glendore del
age XXVII ans et pluis."]

[Footnote 100: Strange wonders, says Walsingham,
happened, as men reported, at the birth of this
man; for, the same night he was born, all his
father's horses were found to stand in blood up to
their bellies. It is curious to find both the
Sloane MS. and the Monk of Evesham pointing to the
fulfilment of this prophetic prodigy during the
battle in which Edmund Mortimer was taken, when the
bodies of the slain lay between the horses feet
rolling in blood.]

At my birth (p. 093)
The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes,
The goats ran from the mountains, and the herds
Were strangely clamorous in the frighted fields.
These signs have marked me extraordinary,
And all the courses of my life do show
I am not in the roll of common men.
1 HENRY IV. iii. 1.

Whether Owyn had persuaded himself to believe the fabulous stories
told of his birth; or whether for purposes of policy he merely
countenanced, in the midst of an ignorant and superstitious people,
what others had invented and spread; there is no doubt that even in
his lifetime he was supposed, not only within the borders of his
father-land, but even through England itself, to have intercourse with
the spirits of the invisible world, and through their agency to possess,
among other vague and indefinite powers, a supernatural influence over
the elements, and to have the winds and storms at his bidding. Absurd
as were the fables told concerning him, they exercised great influence
on his enemies as well as his friends; and few, perhaps, dreaded the
powers of his spell more than the King himself. Still, independently
of any aid from superstition, Glyndowr combined in his own person many
qualities fitting him for the prominent station which he acquired, and
which he so long maintained among his countrymen; and as the enemy of
Henry IV. he was one of a very numerous and powerful body, formed from
among the first persons of the whole realm. He received his (p. 094)
education in London, and studied in one of the Inns of Court. He
became afterwards an esquire of the body to King Richard; and he was
one of the few faithful subjects who remained in his suite till he was
taken prisoner in Flint Castle. After his master's fall he was for a
short time esquire to the Earl of Arundel, whose castle, situated in
the immediate neighbourhood of Glyndowrdy, was called Castel Dinas
Bran. Its ruins, with the hill on the crown of which it was built,
still form a most striking object near Llangollen, on the right of the
magnificent road leading from Shrewsbury to Bangor.

A few months only had elapsed after the deposition of Richard when
those occurrences took place which are said to have driven Glyndowr
into open revolt. He was residing on his estate, which lay contiguous
to the lands of Lord Grey of Ruthyn. That nobleman claimed and seized
some part of Owyn's property. Against this act of oppression Owyn
petitioned the Parliament, which sate early in 1400, praying for
redress. The Bishop of St. Asaph is said to have cautioned the
Parliament not to treat the Welshman with neglect, lest his countrymen
should espouse his cause and have recourse to arms. This advice was
disregarded, and Owyn's petition was dismissed in the most uncourteous
manner.[101]

[Footnote 101: Leland records the expressions of
contempt and insult with which the dismissal of
Owyn's petition was accompanied, and the advice of
the Bishop of St. Asaph scorned. "They said they
cared not for barefooted blackguards:"--"se de
scurris nudipedibus non curare." We cannot wonder
if their national pride was wounded by such
contumely.]

Another act of injustice and treachery on the part of Lord Grey (p. 095)
drove Owyn to take the desperate step either of raising the standard
of rebellion, or of joining his countrymen who had already raised it.
Lord Grey withheld the letter of summons for the Welsh chief to attend
the King in his expedition against Scotland, till it was too late for
him to join the rendezvous. Owyn excused himself on the shortness of
the notice; but Lord Grey reported him as disobedient. Aware that he
had incurred the King's displeasure, and could expect no mercy, since
his deadly foe had possession of the royal ear, Owyn put himself
boldly at the head of his rebellious countrymen, who almost unanimously
renounced their allegiance to the crown of England, and subsequently
acknowledged Owyn as their sovereign lord.

The Monk of Evesham, and the MS. Chronicle which used to be regarded
as the compilation of one of Henry V.'s chaplains, both preserved in
the British Museum, speak of the Welsh as having first risen in arms,
and as having afterwards elected Owyn for their chief. It is, however,
remarkable that no mention is made of Owyn Glyndowr in the King's
proclamations, or any public document till the spring of 1401. Probably
at first the proceedings, in which he took afterwards so (p. 096)
pre-eminent a part, resembled riotous outrages, breaking forth in entire
defiance of the law, but conducted neither on any preconcerted plan, nor
under the direction of any one leader.

Lord Grey's ancestors had received Ruthyn with a view to the protection
of the frontier; and on the first indication of the rebellious spirit
breaking out in acts of disorder and violence, both the King and the
Prince wrote separately to Lord Grey, reminding him of his duty to
disperse the rioters, and put down the insurgents. These mandates were
despatched probably in the beginning of June 1400, some days before
the King departed for the borders of Scotland. Lord Grey, in the
letter[102] to which we have above referred, supposing that the (p. 097)
King had already started on that expedition, returned an answer
only to the Prince, acknowledging the receipt of his and his father's
commands; but pleading the impossibility of executing them with
effect, unless the Prince, with the advice of the King's council,
would forward to him a commission with more ample powers, authorizing
him to lay hands on the insurgents in whatever part of the country
they might chance to be found; ordaining also that no lord's land
should be respected as a sanctuary to shield them from the law; and
that all the King's officers should be enjoined through the whole
territory to aid and assist in quelling the insurrection.[103]

[Footnote 102: Sir Henry Ellis, to whom we are
deeply indebted for his succinct and clear
statement of the events of these times, appears, in
his introductory remarks on Lord Grey's letter, to
have overlooked the date of Henry IV.'s departure
for Scotland. He says: "Upon Henry's return, the
Welsh were rising in arms, and Lord Grey was
ordered to go against them. It seems to have been
at this point of time that the letter was penned.
It was apparently written in the month of June
1400." But the King did not leave London till
towards Midsummer, and we have a letter from him
(on his march northward) dated York, July 4, 1400,
commanding the mayor and authorities of London to
provide corn, wine, &c. for the King's use in
Scotland, and as much money as they could raise on
his jewels. The writ in consequence of this letter
was issued July 12. Walsingham, indeed, says that
they seized the opportunity of the King's absence,
and rose under their leader Owyn. The King, on his
return from Scotland, was at Newcastle upon Tyne on
the 3rd of September.]

[Footnote 103: At the back of this letter of Lord
Grey to Prince Henry we now find another, pasted,
sent by David ap Gruffyth to Lord Grey, probably
the very epistle which the Earl says he had
received "from the greatest thief in Wales;" the
few last sentences of which, apparently written in
a sort of jingling rhyme, indicate the character of
its author and the spirit of the times. "We hope we
shall do thee a privy thing: a rope, a ladder, and
a ring, high on a gallows for to heng; and thus
shall be your ending; and he that made thee be
there to helpyng, and we on our behalf shall be
well willing." The conclusion of another letter
from the same pen, in defiance of Lord Grey's
power, breathes the feelings with which the Welsh
entered upon this rebellion. "And it was told me
that ye been in perpose for to make your men burn
and slay in whatsoever country I be and am seisened
in (have property). Withouten doubt as many men
that ye slay, and as many housen that ye burn for
my sake, as many will I burn and slay for your
sake; and doubt not I will have bread and ale of
the best that is in your lordship. I can no more.
But God keep your worshipful state in prosperity.
Written in great haste, at the Park of Brinkiffe,
the xi day of June.--GRUFFUTH AP DAVID AP
GRUFFUTH."]

This nobleman had evidently taken a very alarming view of the state of
the country; and the first documents which we inspect manifest (p. 098)
the uncurbed fury and deadly hatred with which the Welsh rushed into
this rebellion. Indeed, the general character of Owyn's campaigns
breathes more "of savage warfare than of chivalry." Lord Grey's letter
is dated June 23, and must have been written in the year 1400; for,
long before the corresponding month in the following year had come
round, the Prince had himself been personally engaged in the district
which the Earl was more especially appointed to guard.

It does not appear what steps were taken in consequence of this
communication of Lord Grey; except that the King, on the 19th of
September, issued his first proclamation against the rebels. Probably
on his return from Scotland, the King went himself immediately towards
Wales; for the Monk of Evesham states expressly that he came from
Worcester to Evesham on the 19th of October, and returned the next day
for London. In the course, however, of a very few months at the latest,
a commission to suppress the rebellion, and restore peace in the northern
counties of the Principality, was entrusted to an individual whose
character, and fortunes, and death, deeply involved as they are in an
eventful period of the history of our native land, could not but (p. 099)
have recommended the part he then took in Wales to our especial notice
under any circumstances whatsoever; whilst his name excites in us feelings
of tenfold greater interest when it offers itself in conjunction with
the name of Henry of Monmouth.

Henry Percy, eldest son of the Earl of Northumberland, known more
familiarly as HOTSPUR,--a name which historians and poets have preferred
as characteristic of his decision, and zeal, and the impetuosity of
his disposition,--very shortly after Henry IV.'s accession had been
appointed not only Warden of the East Marches of Scotland and Governor
of Berwick, but also Chief Justice of North Wales and Chester, and
Constable of the Castles of Chester, Flint, Conway, and Caernarvon. In
this latter capacity, with the utmost promptitude and decision,
Hotspur exerted himself to the very best of his power, at great
personal labour and expense, to crush the rebellion in its
infancy.[104]

[Footnote 104: At as early a date as April 19,
1401, the Pell Rolls record the payment to him of
"200_l._ for continuing at his own cost the siege
of Conway Castle immediately after the rebels had
taken it, without the assistance of any one except
the people of the country."]

The letters of this renowned and ill-fated nobleman, the originals of
which are preserved among the records of the Privy Council, seem to have
escaped the notice of our historians.[105] They throw, however, (p. 100)
much light on the affairs of Wales and on Glyndowr's rebellion at this
early stage, and to the Biographer of Henry of Monmouth are truly
valuable. The first of these original papers, all of which are beautifully
corroborative of Hotspur's character as we have received it, both from
the notices of the historian and the delineations of the poet, is dated
Denbigh, April 10, 1401. It is addressed to the King's council under
feelings of annoyance that they could have deemed it necessary to
admonish him to exert himself in putting down the insurgents, and
restoring peace to the turbulent districts over which his commission
gave him authority. His character, he presumes, ought to have been a
pledge to them of his conduct. In this letter there is not a shade of
anything but devoted loyalty.

[Footnote 105: The observations of Sir Harris
Nicolas, to whom we are indebted for the
publication of these letters, are very just: "Much
information respecting the state of affairs in
Wales is afforded by the correspondence of Sir
Henry Percy, the celebrated Hotspur; five letters
from whom are now for the first time brought to
light. Besides their historical value, these
letters derive great interest from being the only
relics of Hotspur which are known to be preserved,
from throwing some light on the cause of his
discontent and subsequent rebellion, and still more
from being in strict accordance with the supposed
haughty, captious, and uncompromising character of
that eminent soldier."--Preface, vol. i. p.
xxxviii.]

The reference which Hotspur makes in this first letter to "those of
the council of his most honoured and redoubted Prince being in these
parts," is perhaps the very earliest intimation we have of Henry (p. 101)
of Monmouth being himself personally engaged in suppressing the rebellion
in his principality, with the exception, at least, of the inference to
be fairly drawn from the acts of the Privy Council in the preceding
month. The King at his house, "Coldharbour," (the same which he
afterwards assigned to the Prince,) had assented to a proclamation
against the Welsh on the 13th of March; and on the 21st of March the
council had agreed to seal an instrument with the great seal,
authorizing the Prince himself to discharge any constables of the
castles who should neglect their duty, and not execute their office in
person. It is, however, to the second letter of Hotspur, dated
Caernarvon, May 3rd, 1401, that any one who takes a lively interest in
ascertaining the real character of Henry of Monmouth will find his
mind irresistibly drawn; he will meditate upon it again and again, and
with increasing interest as he becomes more familiar with the
circumstances under which it was written; and comparing it with the
prejudices almost universally adopted without suspicion and without
inquiry, will contemplate it with mingled feelings of surprise and
satisfaction. The name of Harry Hotspur, when set side by side with
the name of Harry of Monmouth, has been too long associated in the
minds of all who delight in English literature, with feelings of
unkindness and jealous rivalry. At the risk of anticipating what may
hereafter be established more at large, we cannot introduce this document
to the reader without saying that we hail the preservation of this (p. 102)
one, among the very few letters of Percy now known to be in existence,
with satisfaction and thankfulness. It is as though history were
destined of set purpose to correct the fascinating misrepresentations
of the poet, and to vindicate a character which has been too long
misunderstood. In the fictions of our dramatic poet Hotspur is the
very first to bear to Bolinbroke testimony of the reckless, dissolute
habits of Henry of Monmouth.[106] Hotspur is the very first whom the
truth of history declares to have given direct and voluntary evidence
to the military talents of this same Prince, and the kindness of his
heart,--to his prowess at once and his mercy; the combination of which
two noble qualities characterizes his whole life, and of which, blended
in delightful harmony, his campaigns in Wales supply this, by no means
solitary, example. Hotspur informs the council that North Wales, where
he was holding his sessions, was obedient to the law in all points,
excepting the rebels in Conway, and in Rees Castle which was in the
mountains. "And these," continues Percy, "will be well chastised, if
it so please God, by the force and governance which my redoubted lord
the Prince has sent against them, as well of his council as of his
retinue, to besiege these rebels in the said castles; which siege, (p. 103)
if it can be continued till the said rebels be taken, will bring great
ease and profit to the governance of the same country in time to
come." "Also," he proceeds, "the commons of the said country of North
Wales, that is, the counties of Caernarvon and Merioneth, who have
been before me at present, have humbly offered their thanks to my lord
the Prince for the great exertions of his kindness and goodwill in
procuring their pardon at the hands of our sovereign lord the
King."[107] The pardon itself, dated Westminster, 10th of March 1401,
bears testimony to these exertions of Prince Henry in behalf of the
rebels: "Of our especial grace, and at the prayer of our dearest
first-born son, Henry Prince of Wales, we have pardoned all treasons,
rebellions, &c."[108] Henry of Monmouth, when one of the first
noblemen and most renowned warriors of the age bears this testimony to
his character for valour and for kind-heartedness, had not quite
completed his fourteenth year.

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