The Dunston Blade

by John Daines

  “You are to come with me to court tomorrow and we will receive the final decision then,” continued Sir Cedric. “I feel the answer will be to go after Dafydd and it will be off to Wales whatever.”

  When they arrived at the court the next day, the place was buzzing with the preparations for the march to Wales. Various Dukes, Earls and Barons were departing to their homes to assemble their forces and meet again. Sir Cedric appeared with the King and John bowed, he was rewarded with a nod of the head from the King and a signal from the Earl to follow him. They walked to a small garden where the King stopped and said he expected John to provide additional men for Sir Cedric and he looked to him to support his efforts in subduing the uprising in Wales. When they left the palace Sir Cedric said he had been right and that they were bound for Wales. He told John to collect his men together and meet him at Wymondham as soon as he could.

  “I am leaving now so I hope to see you within the week,” he said.

  John hurried back to the London house to tell Tania the news.

  “I must make all haste home but you and Joan may stay awhile with the Lady Ann, I will leave you a guard.” John found Tristan and Stephen, told them to rouse the men and prepare to leave within the hour. Tania was not pleased that he was leaving so soon.

  “It is not fair that you are going away immediately after coming home.”

  John had no defence other than the King had ordered it, he kissed her and went to meet his men. They rode at a fast pace and only rested when the horses could go no further. People in the villages they passed through kept out of the way of these grim fighting men. They sighted the towers of Dunston and quickened their pace as in their minds they could taste the fresh cooked food and the soft beds of home.

  Boorman welcomed John home and said that everything was in order also Roderick would speak to him after he had eaten and rested. John spoke to Tristan and Stephen and told them to tell the men-at-arms based at the Castle to be in the Bailey in the morning and to go and bring in the men who were bound to fight for him, in from the farms. Later that night John calculated he should be able to raise over 500 armed men to take to Wymondham and join with the Earl’s troops and still leave enough men to defend the Castle. When Roderick came he assured John that all would be well whilst he was away he was now respected by the farmers in his position.

  It was not the best of days as they set out for Wymondham, an east wind was blowing and the persistent drizzle made everything soaking wet.

  “It is good practice for Wales I’m thinking,” remarked John to Tristan. “They say it’s permanently wet in that country.”

  They made a large convoy as they moved out with horses, carts and men. John rode Hammer and Anvil was led, all his amour and weapons were in a cart. The column bypassed the town of Wymondham so as not to destroy their streets and finally camped outside the Castle.

  They joined a large camp already there and John recognised some of the colours of Barons from north of Norwich, plus the Earl’s troops. He joined Sir Cedric in the Great Hall which was filled with the leaders of the troops camped outside. The Earl called and they all turned towards him.

  “I am pleased to see such numbers,” he began. “I know there are some disputes between a few of you and I do not want that to escalate so Sir John Ivanson’s troops will serve as camp bailiffs as I know he will deal fairly with any disputes. We will depart at first light tomorrow and I will give the order of march later. I remind you that we are to go and fight for our King and Country so let us make the time on the march to join together as an unbeatable army.”

  There were a number of cheers and banging of tables but John could see he would have his work cut out to keep order with such a large number. Sir Cedric waved him over.

  “I know that was a surprise but I also know you have a well trained force who are loyal to you and I hope, to me.”

  John said he would do his utmost to keep order and left with Tristan and Stephan to organise patrols. It was still raining which did not improve the mood of the men, but most of them were tired from the day’s marching and soon settled down trying to find shelter and get a night’s sleep. There were a small number who were drinking hard, but these gradually fell into drunken stupors. John returned to the Castle to sleep and left Tristan and Stephen to organise their patrols. He was lucky to have a dry bed in a room to himself, most of the other ‘guests’ were laid out in the Hall or wherever they could find a comfortable corner.

  John woke early and went down to the camp to find his Squires, Stephen met him and told him Tristan was out with a patrol but they had had a quiet night, a few with too much ale but nothing they could not handle.

  John thanked him and said he and Tristan were to rejoin their men and prepare to move. Most of the camp were awake and loading wagons, the rain had stopped and there a mood of anticipation of what was to come.

  Soon the whole cavalcade was on the move, they were making for Bishop’s Lynn where another Baron was joining them bring their strength up to a rough count of 3000 fighting men. Pressing on they reached Chester and there joined with the rest of the army. John’s men formed part of Sir Cedric’s force, with two-thirds of his men being bowmen his was a valuable force. The camp outside Chester was very large and the provenders were having to go far afield to find food for all the men.

  John was summoned to a meeting in Sir Cedric’s pavilion. The Earl said to him.

  “We need good intelligence John, I want you to take a group of your men and go out and find out as much as you can as to what the enemy are up to, where they are camped and what their strength is. Keep me informed by messenger and take care of yourself.”

  John went to find Tristan and Stephen, they were competing with a group of archers as to who could shoot as many arrows in the shortest time as they could, into a hat nailed to a tree. John stood and watched for a moment when he suddenly realised it was his hat. After much laughter Tristan explained that John was the only one with two hats, so he wouldn't miss one!

  The three of them sat and discussed the Earl’s plan and Stephen thought they should form three groups, then they would cover more ground, this met with approval from the other two so they fell to discussing who they would select. They agreed that the men should be proficient bowmen who could handle a sword if needed. They must wear strong jerkins and light chain mail, if they could find enough, and dark cloaks with no insignia. They would need to be mounted so that they could move quickly, and to send messages back to Sir Cedric.

  They fell to selecting the men and ended up with thirty, more would be too conspicuous. With this decided they went back to their men and began to set the plan in motion, the trouble came when they had more men who wanted to join them than they needed. Eventually the groups were formed and they began to get everything ready as they had discussed. Before the camp was awake the next morning John’s group moved quietly out, they planned to move a group each morning so as not to be too obvious. They disappeared into the morning mist like wraiths, their cloaks and hoods making them as the ghosts of the dead soldiers of battles fought before. John made for the coast and the fishing villages hoping to find news, he knew that as the boats moved from port to port freely they picked up information. Nearing the first village John sent out a scout to find out if there were enemy soldiers about. The man returned saying the village was quiet and there were no groups of armed men in the vicinity. They moved around the village and made for the coast. As the day brightened they tried to keep to the trees so as not to be obvious. At the next village there was more activity as people went about their daily lives, so John and four men rode in. Fortunately one of the men in the group was Welsh and still spoke the language and could reply to the greetings they received as they ventured up the main street. He told John that some of them asked if they were going to join David against the English, if they were they should go further south as he was gathering a force at Hawarden. John sent a courier back to Sir Cedric with this news and gathered the rest of his men to go
south and find the Welsh.

  They were riding through the forest when the scent of camp fires came drifting towards them. One of them crept forward to see who and how many were cooking their breakfast. He returned and reported to John that there were a large group of Welshmen waking up, they didn’t seem to be in any hurry. John signalled to his men to spread out and circle the camp, when they were in position he raised his horn and gave a quick blast.

  The Welshmen were thrown into confusion as John’s bowmen loosed a cloud of arrows into their midst from their hidden positions, many died in that first attack. John blew a second time and his men drew swords and swept into the encampment shouting as loud as they could while cutting down the enemy who were trying to defend themselves. John faced a great brute of a fellow who was wielding an enormous axe, John lent back as the weapon scythed towards him and he ducked under the swing and stabbed at the man’s middle feeling the point enter the soft flesh, but the man steadied himself and brought the axe back to strike again, John bent double as he managed to avoid the swing and he struck at the man’s unprotected legs. The big man fell with a roar of pain and John raised his sword and plunged it through the neck of his opponent. He swung round to find that most of the Welshmen were down and the remainder had surrendered. They gathered all the weapons together and bound the prisoners that could walk, two of John’s men had died and there were no others with serious wounds.

  “Bury our friends and take their personal possessions to give to their families, four of you take these prisoners back to Chester,” said John. “Hurry, as the noise may bring others and we need to be away.”

  They disappeared back into the trees and after they had distanced themselves from the battle ground they rested and John thought about his next move. They had won that encounter easily, it would not be that way next time, thought John. The enemy were now warned and his party would be depleted if he had to take prisoners every time. Continuing through the woods they moved ever closer to Hawarden, suddenly his scouts came running back to tell him that an enemy patrol was heading towards them.

  “Dismount,” called John and the horses were collected and moved into the trees. The Welsh were close behind and John’s bowmen only loosed a couple of flights before the enemy were on them. Fierce fighting started and John found himself facing two men who were determined to end his life, as he fought them off he shouted “BOX!” as loud as he could, a move they had practiced with all his men backed together with bowmen in the centre. The move was successful and the Welsh found them selves facing a solid square of swords with arrows flying out from the middle, many of them went down and John shouted “Charge!” the Box broke with his men falling on the enemy. With their battle blood up it was not long before the Welshmen were defeated but before John sounded his horn to stop, a frenzy took hold of his men and when he at last put the horn to his lips there was not an enemy standing. One of his men brought him a pouch full of papers, John looked through them and realised there was important information of support going to David’s army, he had lost another six dead and two seriously wounded, it was time to return to Chester.

  Riding into the English camp John went to find Sir Cedric.

  “Glad to see you made it back in one piece,” said the Earl. “What news do you have?”

  John reported on what they had found out and Sir Cedric told him that it tied in with what the other patrols had reported. He suggested the next move would be to find a boat to take a force up the coast and come ashore as near as possible to Rhuddlan Castle. John left to find his Squires and arrange how to split his forces.

  “Stephen, I want you to come with me on the next patrol and Tristan, you provide a guard for the Earl with the men we leave. Stephen, select bowmen and good sword’s men we shall not need the horses when we board the boat so there will have to be some to return our mounts.”

  John gave these instructions and walked to his own tent to prepare. That night they left the camp and proceeded to the coast, looking for a village that could provide two or three boats to take them up the coast. The first village they came to had only small boats pulled up on the beach so they rode on in the darkness. The next fishing village had a small harbour and John could see several boats that could carry them, tied up at the quays. The men dismounted on the outskirts of the village and John with Stephen and the man who could speak Welsh, walked down to a building showing lights. They entered and found themselves in what could loosely be called an Inn. The men who were drinking there turned and some stood up.

  “Good evening,” said John. “You will know by my voice I am English, I am not here to fight you even though my men surround your village. I wish to offer some employment to those who wish to take it.”

  He held up a purse and shook it, the coins jingled and he let one fall out. The gold glistened in the lamp light and he could see most of the eyes in the room became fixed on the winking coin. He was gambling that these men were fishermen and were not too interested in the fight with the English as they must have been selling their catch to Chester and surrounding towns. One of the men walked forward.

  “What is it you want?”

  John explained he wanted transportation for his men up to the headland at the mouth of the estuary. The spokesman turned and a discussion ensued and eventually four men stood before John.

  “We will take you, if we can agree a price. How many men are there?”

  John said he wanted to see the boats before he gave any further information. They all walked down to the harbour and were shown four large fishing boats, capable of carrying all of the patrol. John and the man who had become the fisherman’s leader agreed a price. The tide would be right for them to leave at dawn and John said he would bring his men down to camp at the harbour which would also guard the boats.

  “I shall leave enough men around the village to discourage any attempt to warn the forces of David.”

  At which the leader laughed and said that would not happen as they did not support the rebellion as it interfered with their livelihood. John wondered if he had paid too much but he smiled and shook the man’s hand to seal their bargain. As dawn approached several of the fishermen arrived to prepare the boats and John’s force packed up and stood ready to board. Several of the soldiers looked very nervous as they walked up the gangplank as it was their first trip on the sea. John spoke to the men who were to return with the horses and told them to wait until they were embarked and on their way. Soon all the boats were underway and with the sails hoisted they started to make good speed out of the river and into the estuary. John had not been to sea either, only a trip on a lake, but he found the sensation of the boats movement exhilarating and he smiled to himself. Soon they hit the swell of the tide and the boat’s movement became more exaggerated, many of the men made for the boat’s side and some released their breakfast to the fishes. The headland came into view and the Captain of John’s boat asked him where he wanted to be put ashore.

  John sprung a surprise by asking him to round the headland and take them further along the coast, he said this while holding up another purse and smiling at the Captain.

  “Or would you prefer that we take command ourselves?” he said.

  The Captain called to the other boats and they sailed round the headland and along the coast of North Wales. “Take us into the mouth of the River Clwyd and we will go ashore there” said John.

  The Captain signalled the other boats to follow him and it was not long before they were in the mouth of the river.

  “This is far as we can go without grounding,” said the Captain and steered his boat to the bank. The men disembarked and a few fell to the ground giving thanks while some just lay trying to recover from the seasickness. Stephen soon had them up and in some sort of order.

  “We will make for Rhuddlan Castle,” said John. ”Send out forward patrols and lets move off.”

  He paid the fishermen who thanked him and said he could hire their boats anytime at these rates. The column marched away and
John hoped their intelligence was correct that Davids forces were not in this area, but there was alway chance there were sympathisers looking to make a name for themselves. Nearing the Castle they could hear the sound of voices and John called a halt as one of the scouts came back to report that the Castle was under siege from David’s men. The column moved into the woods and John went forward to see what was going on. The Welshmen were congregated at the main entrance and a small gate at the rear of the Castle, there was little organisation as they fired the odd arrow at the walls and shouted at the soldiers inside to come out and fight. Some had started to tunnel under the walls with the intent to start a fire but had not gone far and were sitting on the side of the trench drinking ale, another group were cutting branches off a large tree trunk which was obviously going to be a battering ram. The whole atmosphere lacked any urgency or organisation. John went back to his men and deployed the bowmen to cover the main gate and the two trenches, he then sent Stephen with the rest to be prepared to storm the gate on his signal. When all were in place John gave the signal for the bowmen to fire and suddenly the air was filled with arrows arching their way to their targets. Pandemonium broke out in the Welsh lines as men fell wounded or dying, they ran to find shelter but John’s well trained bowmen found them as they ran. John blew his horn and out of the trees swept Stephen and his band making for the main gate of the Castle, cutting down all before them. The defenders in the Castle opened the gate and rushed out to join the fight. The battle did not last long and out of the melee stepped the leader of the Welsh signalling his surrender, John walked to him and received his sword. The remaining Welshmen were herded into the Castle and sent down to the dungeons. John called Stephen to him.

  “When they have cooled down take some out as a burial party and clear up outside, make sure they are guarded as we don’t want them running off to join David.”

  Since Llewelyn’s death John had hoped that the fighting would finish but David still continued, so John fortified the Castle and waited for news from the King. They had time to care for the wounded and look after their weapons while the Castle builders carried on with the work that had been interrupted by the Welsh. John found the Captain of the Castle guard a likeable fellow and they talked at length on the best design for Castles. John filed these away in his mind with the prospect of using some of them for Dunston, if he ever got home. He was walking the battlements one afternoon when men appeared moving towards the Castle, they were part of the retreating army of the Welsh. John sounded the alarm and instructed Stephen to prepare for an attack. The Welshmen tried to storm the gates but were soon discouraged by John’s bowmen, and a familiar sight of dead bodies littering the field made them withdraw. When night fell John could make out the glow of campfires in the distance but no more attacks came. They were all awakened by the sounds of battle as King Edward’s army caught the rebels. As John looked out from the battlements he saw riders galloping towards the Castle, one unfurled a standard and John recognised the crest of the Earl. A courier from the Sir Cedric brought the news that the King’s army was approaching, they had success in the field and commanded John to meet him at Wrexham as soon as he was able. There was also a letter from Tania that had found it’s way to him. The letter contained the good news that everything was well at the Castle though she missed him dearly. He read the letter several times and longed to go home, fighting for your King was a duty but he yearned to be at Dunston with Tania, especially as his son was growing daily.