by Griff Hosker
We had some Welshmen amongst our men. Three were mine and I trusted them implicitly. I would use those as my scouts. Our horses would mark us as English but my men were good and knew how to hide. Their knowledge of the language could make the difference. We headed along the Dee Valley and then the Afon Dyfrddwy which led to the sea and Abermaw. My aim was to cut the lines of communication from the south. We reached the lake and the village of Bala in the early afternoon. This was too small a place to have a lord but there were rebels for, as we approached, they fled into the hills. We camped in their village and slaughtered their cattle. We would eat well, for one night at least.
The next day we rode hard down the road towards Dolgellau. There was a hall there for Owen the Welshman knew the place. We moved fast down the road but word travelled faster for we had to stop to collect animals and destroy buildings. The only people we saw were the very old or the very young. The rest hid as our company galloped through their villages and hamlets; we were not stopped. Dolgellau was different and there we saw a wall of spears and archers awaiting us. They had blocked the road into the town with carts and wagons from behind which they would loose arrows at us. My scouts had warned me of the barrier and we were prepared. The nature of the ride meant that we had not brought our horse armour which remained in Chester. For that reason, I was loath to risk our horses in a charge against bowmen. We dismounted.
“We will advance with our archers. The squires have shields and they will precede the archers. I do not think that they will have heavy war bodkins and, until we are close, our plate armour should protect us. This is our first test. I believe we will pass it.”
We formed up. Many of the knights used long pole weapons including pikes and poleaxes. A couple had war hammers. I had my sword and a dagger for I had seen little evidence of mail and helmets. There were four standards which suggested four nobles and I intended to take my household knights to engage them. We marched down the road to within arrow range. I knew when we had reached it as they began to rain arrows upon us. Those men at arms who did not have plate still retained shields and they took the force of the arrows as they fell. We had no such protection and the war arrows and occasional needle bodkin rattled and cracked against our armour. It sounded terrifying but we were relatively safe from harm. The danger lay in an arrow loosed horizontally. A war arrow in the face could kill and certainly disfigure. Our own archers sent arrows at the enemy. Their arrows would thin out the Welsh archers who would try to eliminate the mailed men.
After the initial rain of arrows, I saw that my archers had hit twenty of their archers. Now was the time to attack, “Forward!”
I had a tightly fitted coif and my face was a small target; nonetheless, one Welsh archer sent an arrow at my face. I barely saw it but I had enough of a glimpse to move my head to the side. The war arrow slammed into my mail coif. The tip actually broke the skin on my cheek but I had had worse cuts shaving! Although we were not mounted, we still used the same commands and when I shouted “Charge!” we ran. We were twenty paces from them when I gave the order. It proved too much for the Welsh archers who broke and fled through the line of knights and spearmen. It was not a solid wall and I was able to deflect up the spear which was rammed at my throat by using my dagger. I sliced across the body of the Welshman and hacked him open. He tumbled to the ground and the knight who was behind him swung his war hammer at me. He brought it over his shoulder and tried to split open my skull. I held my dagger and sword up to make a v and I managed to hold his weapon. I had learned to fight in the mêlées of Spanish battles. There were no rules in such fights and I drove my poleyn up between his legs. He was a knight and had no protection there. His face contorted as his genitals were crushed and the strength went from his arms. I smashed the pommel of my sword and the hilt of my dagger on to the top of his helmet. The two blows, combined with the strike from my knee made him fall backwards. As he lay there, I drove my sword between the metal plates of his breastplate and the plates on his arm. I put my weight on the sword and it drove through the mail. He screamed as my sword tore through the tendons and muscles. He would never wield a sword again.
“Yield!” He nodded for he knew he was finished.
A spear was rammed at me and I was unable to deflect it. It smashed into my breastplate and forced me back. The man at arms, who wore an open helmet and had a mail hauberk thought that he had me for he pulled back to lunge again. This time I was ready and I swept my dagger up. The blade rang off the metal of the spearhead and I lunged at his face with my sword. My blade drove through his mouth and out of the back of his head. Tearing it to the side I let his body drop to the ground.
When Sir John slew another knight and Sir Roger captured a third the heart went from them and they broke. I turned and shouted, “Alan of the Woods, mount and pursue them. Kill as many as you can!”
“Aye, lord!”
It was brutal but any who survived would only return to fight us again. “Captain Edgar, search the bodies. Tom, see to our prisoner. His wound needs binding.”
I took off my helmet and lowered my coif. It was hot. I saw that all of our knights had survived but a couple of the men at arms from some of the other companies had either been hurt or killed; the healer we had brought was tending to them. I sheathed my sword and Harry fetched my horse. I mounted and rode through the bodies towards the town. I saw that the door to the hall was open and I dismounted and went inside. They had left in a hurry for there was still food upon the table. I heard shouting from a back room and, drawing my sword, I headed for it. When I opened the door, I saw a bound man. He had been beaten.
“Who are you?”
“I am Dafydd Gam of Parc Llettis and I would be grateful if you would free me, Sir William Strongstaff.”
I nodded and sliced through the bonds. When he stood, I saw that he had a bad leg, it explained his name for Owen the Welshman had told me that Gam was Welsh for lame. “What is your story, Dafydd and how do you know me?”
“My family have always supported the English kings. I served King Richard in Ireland and I led four archers. I saw you there. Owain Glyndŵr had me imprisoned for I would not support him and, in his eyes, I was a traitor.”
“Then I will tell King Henry of your action. You can join us if you wish?”
He shook his head, “No, lord, for I can be of more use further south. I can rally those men who are loyal to King Henry!”
Just then I heard my knights as they entered the hall. Harry was one of the first in. “Harry, go to the stables and find a horse for Dafydd Gam here and fetch him weapons. He is proof that not all Welshmen fight us!”
We buried our own men in the churchyard and we spent the next day gathering animals and food. I rode with four archers and my squires towards Abermaw. It lay on the north bank of the estuary and looked a mean and desolate place. I decided that we would head south, as I had originally planned and raid Machynlleth and then Aberystwyth. I doubted that we would actually reduce Aberystwyth for it had a castle which had been improved twenty years earlier. It had been English but the Welsh had managed to take it too. It would do no harm to ravage the countryside around that bastion of the west.
The next day we headed towards the heartland of Wales. Owen had already told us that the road twisted its way down a narrow valley. The places we passed would be small, Corris, Corris Uchaf, Ceinws and there would be little opposition but, equally, there would be places where we could be ambushed and some of those who had fled us at Dolgellau would have spread the word about English raiders. I sent two men at arms to ride with the scouts in case the opposition was in the form of mailed men.
It took two days to reach the Afon Dyfi and the bridge which led to Machynlleth. Alan and the scouts waited at the edge of the forest which stopped some two hundred paces from the bridge. The road itself was hidden by the woods. They would see us but have no idea of numbers. There were armed men at the bridge. We reined in next to my scouts. Alan pointed to the two ends of the bridge. At one end w
ere archers behind their pavise and then at the other were pavise, men at arms and archers. He said, “And you can bet that they have bodkins. They know we are coming. This will be bloody, lord.”
I nodded, for I was already thinking of a way around it. I looked towards the town and saw that they had improvised barricades and had men defending there too. I stood in my stirrups and looked upstream. I saw, just less than half a mile away, what looked like a sandbank. I was guessing we could ford it.
“Alan, we have height on our side, do we not?”
“Aye, lord.”
“And that means we can release when they cannot.” He nodded. “Then have all the archers brought here and we will do what they expect and attack them but we shall use archers to do so. Use your skill to probe for weaknesses. I will take the men upstream and ford the river. We will cross and negate their defences by attacking the rear of their lines.”
He nodded, “Aye, lord, but I fear we will not hit many of them.”
“Just keep their attention fixed here.”
Turning, I rode back to the column. “We will head through the woods and make our way half a mile to the river. We cross the river and then attack the men who are defending the bridge. Archers ride to Captain Alan. You have target practice.”
We rode through the woods, each rider plotting their own course for there were no paths. I led as I knew where I was heading. I gradually descended the slope. I managed to bring us out beyond the bend in the river. I let Hart pick her own way towards the sandbank. The water came up to the top of my poleyns but no deeper. Once on the other side, I awaited my men. Once again there was neither path nor track on the other side. The ground looked to be rough grazing and seemed to me as though it was a flood plain of some sort.
When the men had all crossed, I said, “We charge the men on the town side of the bridge and we stop them getting into the town. Once Captain Alan joins us then we will take the town. I will lead the attack with the knights. Squires, remain at the rear. We will not need banners this day. When we strike then join us and send them from the field.”
I saw the joy on the faces of the squires. They had thought they would be relegated to holding horses once again.
I spurred Hart and she rose up through the undergrowth. I saw the bridge; it was four hundred paces from us. As soon as we cleared the hedges and bushes, we were seen and I saw the consternation in the frantic gestures of the men on both the bridge and at the barricade. I began to gallop towards the road which led to the crossing as the archers there were already thinking about fleeing. Their indecision was fatal for Alan and his archers began to send arrows into them. That decided them and they ran. As soon as they did then those at the northern end of the bridge also broke ranks. They raced for the safety of the town. Most would not make it. I heard Alan give the command to mount. He and the archers would be just moments behind us. We were spread out in a line of steel. I pulled back my lance and rammed it into the side of the nearest mailed warrior. He had a shield and a helmet but, in his panic, neither was of any use to him. There is an art as well as a technique to the use of a lance when chasing down fleeing men. You twisted as you struck and as you retracted the lance. It made the tip slip out and allowed the rider to strike again. My knights and men at arms were masters of it. His body fell behind me and Tom’s horse trampled it.
The barrier bristled with spears and archers but none could use their bows for fear of hitting their own men. We were travelling much faster than the men who were running. We struck the barrier together. The Welsh who had fled the bridge scrambled up over the hastily crafted defence and our spears rammed over the top into faces and chests which were unprotected. The sheer weight of men, mail and horses made the barrier break and men were crushed by the flailing hooves of mighty horses. With the barrier down all defence ceased and it became a mad rush to escape us. Ahead of us, I heard the screams of women as they realised that they could not stop us.
We were only stopped by the exhaustion of our horses. We were a mile on the other side of Machynlleth when I called a halt to the chase. We made our weary way back to the town. It was largely deserted. This time the children had fled with their parents and only the old and infirm remained. There were no prisoners for us to escort back to England. After setting sentries we began to collect all that we could from the town. This time there was not only a great quantity of grain and animals, but there was also treasure in the houses of the rich. We found wagons and we loaded them. It was late in the evening by the time we ate and I was able to speak with the senior knights to discuss our plans for Aberystwyth.
Sir Henry Longchamp was in an ebullient mood, “We have done all that King Henry could have wished and more. We could return to Conwy now and be seen as heroes!”
I shook my head, “No, Sir Henry, we have made a good start only.”
“But Aberystwyth is an English castle; it is well made. They will have the walls manned!”
“Aye, they will and I have no intention of attacking the castle for we do not have enough men. I intend to do that which I was ordered. We will seal up the town and then we will raid the countryside. We take every animal and every piece of food we can find. We let our horses graze until they are gorged and then when I decide, we will cross over the Dyfi and the Mawddach rivers and do the same to the land between there and Conwy.”
Sir Henry’s eyes widened, “You are a hard man, Baron.”
“I have served two kings of England and I have seen what they need to do to hold on to a crown. We are their servants and it is our duty to end this rebellion. It should have been quashed the last time. The fact that there has been treachery and a lack of vigilance means that they will be encouraged. The harder we are the less likely it is that they will rebel a third time.”
I was wrong but at the time I had no way of knowing that. If I had to do the same again then I would do.
That evening I sat with Tom and Harry. Normally they sat with Richard and the other squires. Richard had done well in the skirmish and I think that he and his father were discussing when he would be knighted. I understood the young man’s frustration. He wanted to lead and not just be a horse holder. If we fought in a battle then he would not be able to draw his sword in anger. I felt, in my bones, that there would be a battle. It might not be with the Welsh for they were reluctant to face us but the French might choose to do as they had with the Scots and use this rebellion to further their own ends. During the reign of King John, they had almost succeeded!
Harry was also in a chatty mood and he went over every detail of the skirmish. When he stopped, albeit briefly, I asked, “Tom, what is on your mind?”
“Richard is courting my sister and will soon be a knight. I am just a month or so younger and…”
“And you would be the same?”
He shook his head, “I know that I still have much to learn but there is no bride for me. How did you meet mother?”
I laughed, “By accident although I believe that it was Fate which sent us to meet each other. You cannot plan for these things, Tom. It just happened that Richard and Alice got on. You may find a bride that way too.”
“But she needs to be a lady.”
“Who says so?”
He looked confused, “Mother!”
“She wanted a good marriage for Alice as she does for Mary but you will be a knight. I care not whom you marry so long as you are happy.” I thought back to my parents. My father’s nature and, perhaps, the wrong choice of wife, had ruined his life and I would not have that for my son.
He brightened, “You mean that? Truly?”
“Aye son, for a good knight is never foresworn.”
It was then that he began to talk about the skirmish. All was well.
We stayed in Machynlleth for two days and then made our way down the road to the coast and the castle of Aberystwyth.
Chapter 5
They were ready for us and there were no animals within a mile of the castle for they had taken everything of value
within the walls of the castle. It was a foretaste of what we could expect in the future. I rode with Sir Henry and our squires to ask them to surrender. I knew they would not agree to it but it was part of the protocol of a siege. It would also give me the opportunity to gauge the resistance of the garrison.
I rode bareheaded save for my coif and my hands were empty. Tom carried my standard. We halted within hailing range and I shouted, "Ho, within the castle; I am Sir William Strongstaff sent by Prince Henry of Monmouth, the rightful Prince of Wales, and I am here to demand the surrender of this castle.”
A face appeared above the gate. It was a younger face than I expected but he was flanked by two older knights, “I am Sir Rhodri of Machynlleth and we reject your offer. You have laid waste to our land, killed our warriors and taken our animals. Leave our land for in Owain Glyndŵr, we now have a leader who is capable of fighting you and your King.”
“This will not end well, Sir Rhodri. As you have said we have already slain many warriors and we have suffered no hurts. Surrender now and save yourself the hardship of siege.”
I saw a brief nervous glance from the young man towards one of the older men next to him. The older knight said something and Sir Rhodri returned his gaze to me, “Leave now Sir William for we have spoken enough.”
As we rode back, I said to Sir Henry, “They have little food. We will spend a week besieging them and see if that makes them more amenable to talk. We form siege lines. Have the men hew down the largest trees that they are able. We will make them think that we intend to build war machines.”
