Forest Days: A Romance of Old Times

by G. P. R. James

  CHAPTER XXI.

  The march of a feudal army of that day was a beautiful thing to see.Although a part of the splendour which it afterwards assumed, when thesurcoats of the knights were embroidered with their arms, was not yetdisplayed, still those arms were emblazoned upon the banners and on theshields, still the richest colours that the looms of France, Italy, andEngland could supply, were to be found in the housings of the horses,and in the pourpoints and coats of the knights, and in the beautifulscarfs, called cointises, then lately introduced, which, passing overthe right shoulder and under the left arm, fluttered like many tintedstreamers in the air, with every breath of wind.

  Yes, it was a beautiful sight to see; and wisely does the rugged frontof war deck itself with every brilliant accessory, to hide the dark andmurderous look which would otherwise scare the hearts of men.

  It was a beautiful sight; and as Hugh de Monthermer detached with abody of horse-archers and men-at-arms from the main army to reconnoitrethe neighbouring country--stood for a moment on a little hill, lookingdown the lovely vale of Evesham, and watched the host of De Montfortwinding on its way from Kemestow, probably a more magnificent scenenever met the eyes of man.

  Sunshine, the bright sunshine of a summer's day, was over the whole,mingling the ingredient of its own loveliness with every fair thing inthe landscape. Still, now and then, over the brilliant blue sky floateda light cloud, like a flying island, casting here and there a deepshadow, which hurried speedily onward, leaving all shining behindit--like those fits of gentle pensiveness which come at times even uponthe happiest spirit, scarcely to be called melancholy, but seeming asif a shade from something above us flitted over our minds for a moment,and then left them to the sunshine and the light.

  On one hand, rising tall and blue, was the beautiful range of Malvern,with many a lesser hill springing out from the base, wooded to the top,and often crowned with an embattled tower. On the other side were thehigh grounds running down in the direction of Sudleigh, covered withmagnificent trees, and bearing up innumerable castles, while here andthere the spire of a church peeped out, or the pinnacles of an abbey.In the wide expanse between the two were seen the rich slopes, thegreen meadows, the corn-bearing fields, the long lines of forest thatstill distinguish the lovely vale of Evesham, with tower, town, andhamlet, brook and river, offering a confusion of beautiful forms andsplendid colouring; and, in the midst of this, marched on the army ofDe Montfort, with banners displayed and pennons fluttering in the wind.

  First came the slingers with their staves and leathern bands, and thenthe light foot pikemen, armed with the shorter spears and oucins. Theformer were totally without defensive armour, and the latter were onlyprotected by a pectoral, or breastplate of steel scales hanging fromthe neck, and a round steel buckler on the arm. All was confusionamongst them, as they ran on, preceding the rest of the army, somewhatin the manner of modern skirmishers, only with less discipline andskill. But immediately following these appeared the first regulartroops, consisting of various bands of heavy armed spearmen, with muchlonger lances than the former, and defended by the steel cap, or_chapel de fer_, the long oval shields, and thickly-stuffed hauqueton,so stiff and hard as to resist the blow of sword or dagger.

  Some of these bands, according to the taste or the means of theirleader, were furnished with the same pectorals of scales that wereborne by the lighter spearmen; while some had short hauberks of steelrings, set edgewise--and some were unprovided with any other armour forthe body than the hauqueton of which we have already spoken. Marching,however, in regular order, with their spears leaning on theirshoulders, and their steel caps glistening in the sun, they presented afine martial appearance, and were, in fact, a very formidable body toattack.

  After the pikemen came the bands of archers, the pride of the Englisharmy. In general they were covered with the hauberk and the steelcap of the times, but--upon what account it is difficult to bediscovered--each wore above his armour a sort of leathern cuirass,ornamented with four round plates of iron. Their arrows were in a beltat their waist, their bows unbent in their hands, while each man hadhis anelace, or short dagger, hanging from his neck by a cord, and manyof the bands were also, furnished with a strong broad sword of abouttwo feet in length.

  Little difference existed in the equipment of the crossbowmen, who inthe army of De Montfort were not very numerous, as the arbalist was aforeign arm; for his being more especially the English party, care wastaken to avoid everything that had not some touch of the nationalcharacter about it.

  Bodies of horse-archers followed, and then came the long line ofmen-at-arms, marching four abreast, with their polished harnessreflecting every ray, but presenting a very different appearance fromthat of the cavalry at an after period, when plate armour had beenintroduced. At this time each ring of their mail caught the light, andsent the rays glancing to the eyes of the beholder, at a differentangle from the one next to it, so that a more sparkling object couldscarcely be seen than the new hauberk of a knight in the middle of thethirteenth century. Great pride, too, was taken by each soldier inkeeping his arms bright and highly polished; and though many of theleaders wore a rich surcoat without sleeves, yet others took a pride indisplaying their full panoply. Certainly a more splendid sight hasrarely been witnessed than the long line of De Montfort's cavalrywinding onward through the beautiful vale of Evesham.

  Ever and anon, too, the light summer wind brought to the ears of Hughde Monthermer the stirring blast of the trumpet, and the loud shoutedword of command; and as he gaged and listened, his high chivalrous soulseemed to swell within him, and he longed to break a lance or wield asword against the most renowned champion that Europe could produce.

  Riding onward at the head of his men, through the by-ways by which hehad been directed to advance upon Evesham, visions of glory, and ofhonour, and of knightly fame, swam before his eyes, chasing away, forthe first time, a dark train of melancholy images which had possessedhim ever since the father of her he loved had gone over to the enemy.It was not, indeed, that the hope of winning renown could banish thememory of Lucy de Ashby, but in those days the passion for glory was sointimately mingled with the thoughts of love, that they never could beseparated from each other. To know that she would hear of his deeds ofarms--to know that her bosom would thrill at the tidings--to know thather heart would go with him to the battlefield, and that she wouldwatch and listen for every tale and every history concerning the scenesin which he was now mingling, was a solace and a comfort to him.Glorious actions were one of the ways of wooing in chivalrous times,and but too often the only way to which the true-hearted lover couldhave recourse. Such indeed was now the situation of Hugh de Monthermerhimself, and such, he knew, would, in all probability, be his state formany years, unless some of the great accidents of war brought to aspeedy extinction the flame which was just kindled in the country.

  Thus the desire of military glory was the twin sister of his love forLucy de Ashby, and at that moment, when the splendid pageantry of themarching army passed before his eyes, and the inspiring blast of thetrumpet reached his ear, he would gladly have defied the most renownedchampion in all Europe for honour and the lady that he loved.

  The host moved on, however, and, after gazing for a minute or two, Hughonce more pursued his course, eagerly examining from every littleeminence in the plain the whole country around him, to see if friend orfoe was near, in arms, to the forces of De Montfort. But nothingappeared--all was calm and tranquil. There was the village girltripping away through the fields, the long ears of corn almost reachingto her head; there was the labourer reaping the barley of a rich andearly season; there was the wagoner guiding his team along the road;there was the herd driving his cattle into the shade; but the onlymartial thing that struck the eye was the glancing of De Montfort'sspears, as they wound onward at the distance of about a mile.

  It was towards evening, and the host of the Earl was entering thelittle town of Evesham, about two miles from the spot at
which Hugh deMonthermer had by this time arrived, when an object attracted hisattention in a small wood at some short distance. The declining sunshone upon something glistening under the trees. It might be aploughshare, the young knight thought; but a moment after, anothergleam came from a different part of the copse, and he instantly turnedhis horse's head thither, advancing cautiously along a narrow lane,with some archers thrown out in the fields on either side.

  After having gone on for about ten minutes, a living creature, creepingalong under the hedge, was observed both by the young lord and thepersons immediately behind him, but in the dimness of the shade theycould not discover what it was.

  "'Tis a dog," said Tom Blawket, who was in the first rank behind hisleader.

  "Or a wolf," remarked another man near.

  "'Tis more like a bear," observed a third, "and it goes like a bear."

  "Pooh! you are always thinking of the Holy Land," rejoined Blawket; "wehave no bears here but bears upon two legs."

  At that moment Hugh spurred on his horse, and raising his voice,shouted aloud, "Tangel, Tangel, is that you?"

  The dwarf started upon his feet, for he was creeping along withwonderful swiftness upon his hands and knees; and, turning round at thewell known sound of the young lord's call, he darted towards him withvarious wild and extravagant gestures.

  "They are here," he cried--"they are here; Robin and Ralph and all, andright glad will they be to see you, for we have had a sore time of itthese last four days. They thought it was the Prince's army again, andsent me out of the wood to discover."

  "Right glad shall we be to meet them, too," replied Hugh; "for thoughwe are strong enough, I trust, and shall soon be stronger, yet areinforcement of seven or eight hundred gallant men can never comeamiss."

  "Not so many as that, good knight--not so many as that!" cried thedwarf. "Some of the Yorkshire churls were afraid to come by the road wetook, and went round by Stafford--the rascals that Leighton raised, andShergold of the bower. Thus there are but Robin and Ralph Harland, andtwo hundred and fifty barely counted; but they are good men and true,who will send you an arrow through the key-hole of Mumbury church-door,or beat the sheriff's constable into the shape of a horseshoe."

  "They shall be welcome--they shall be welcome!" said Hugh; "and as forthe others, the man who has ever felt a doubt or fear in a good cause,had better not bring his faint heart to spread the mildew through agallant army."

  When the young knight, however, met his yeoman friends, under the firsttrees of the little wood, he found the bearing of bold Robin Hoodsomewhat more serious than it was wont to be.

  "What is the matter, Robin?" he asked, after they had greeted eachother kindly.

  "I know not, my lord," replied the forester; "but wild rumours havereached us in the course of the day, of a battle fought and De Montfortrouted."

  Hugh de Monthermer laughed. "Nay, Robin," he said, "from that littlehill you may see even now the last troops of the great Earl's gallantforce marching into Evesham without a plume shorn from a crest, withoutbanner torn, or a surcoat rent."

  "That is good news, my lord," answered Robin Hood, "that is good news."But still he looked grave, and added, "the tidings came from theWarwick side, and I love not such rumours, whether they show what menfear, or what men hope."

  "From the Warwick side!" said Hugh, musing in turn. "My Lord ofLeicester must hear this. Come, Robin--come, Ralph, let us quickly onto Evesham. My uncle's men keep good quarters for me and mine, and Iwill share them with you for to-night. Have you no horses?"

  "No, my lord," replied Ralph; "we have marched with our people afoot.I have here a hundred good spears, and Robin some seven score archers.If you go on with your mounted men, we will soon follow, now that weknow there are friends before us. For the last four days we have sleptin the fields and woods; for the marchings and countermarchings ofPrince Edward have more than once brought us nearly into a net. Goon--go on, my lord, and we will follow you."

  Hugh de Monthermer did not hesitate to do so; for he was well awarethat at such a critical moment the least intelligence might be ofimportance to De Montfort. The moment he reached Evesham he left hismen under the command of one of the principal followers of his house,and proceeded through the thronged confusion of the streets to seek thehead-quarters of the Earl of Leicester. He found him at the abbeysurrounded by a number of officers, and leading the King, with everyappearance of deference and profound respect, to the apartment whichhad been prepared for him. This being done, and the usual measureshaving been taken to guard against the monarch's escape, the Earlturned to go back to the refectory.

  The moment his eye fell upon Hugh, De Montfort beckoned him to follow;and, in the large dining hall of the monks, called him into one of thedeep windows, saying, "You have some news for me, I see. What is it?"

  Hugh related to him his meeting with their friends, and mentioned therumours they had heard, which brought a sudden gloom on De Montfort'sbrow.

  "Ah!" he exclaimed; "from Warwick did he say the news had come?"

  "From the side of Warwick, my lord," replied Hugh.

  "By St. James, that were bad tidings, if true!" continued the Earl;"but it cannot be! I had letters from my son, last night. No, no; allis well. He had watched for Edward," he said, "but the Prince had notcome.--Thanks, thanks, my young friend!--these good yeomen arrive mostseasonably. See that they be well lodged and fed. Take care of your ownpeople too; for, although the King told your uncle just now that helooked upon him as the worst enemy he had, I regard him as one of thebest subjects in the land. So good night for the present, we must beearly in the saddle to-morrow."