Life of Sir William Wallace of Elderslie, Vol. 1 (of 2) - John D. Carrick

Sire Johan Count de Gareyn gyst ycy.
Dieu de sa alme eit mercy:
Ky pur sa alme priera,
Trois mill jours de pardon avera.”

“Of the subject of this article, but little that is favourable to his memory can be said; though his faults, or more properly his vices, were those of the age in which he lived. His treachery at the battle of Lewes has, to apply the beautiful expression of a distinguished statesman of the present day, ‘left indelible stains upon his character, which all the laurels of’ Dunbar ‘cannot cover, nor its blood wash away;’ whilst his subsequent conduct was invariably marked by a turbulent and intractable spirit. Not only was he frequently embroiled in disputes both with his compeers and his sovereign, but, with almost unparalleled hardihood, he dared, in a court of justice, to use personal violence towards a baron of the realm. That he should acquire renown in the field, and consequently become possessed of the King’s esteem, is perfectly consistent with that impetuous temper for which he is celebrated. Bravery is, however, but one redeeming trait in a picture, where all besides is dark and repulsive; and even the bold answer relative to his right to his lands, when properly considered, affords no room for praise; for the same resolute opposition to such an inquiry would, there is no doubt, be as readily evinced to defend any part of his property, if it had been acquired by the most flagrant injustice on his part, instead of on that of his ancestors.

“A proof of the estimation in which the Earl was held by Edward the First, is afforded, in Dugdale’s opinion, by the fact, that the King issued precepts, directed to the Bishops of Canterbury and London, and to several Abbots, commanding them to cause masses to be said for his soul; but this testimony of the royal consideration might have arisen from the near connection between the Earl and his Majesty, as is shown by the annexed table:—

“By the said Alice le Brun, who died on the 9th February 1291, the Earl of Warren had issue, William, who died in his father’s lifetime, leaving his wife enceinte with John, his son and heir, who succeeded his grandfather in his honours. Alianor, who married, first, Henry Lord Percy, by whom she had Henry Lord Percy, spoken of in the poem, (i.e. Caerlaverock Castle), as the Earl’s ‘nevou;’ and, secondly, the son of a Scotch Baron; and Isabel, wife of John Baliol, King of Scotland.”[153]

II. PERCY

“If the biographer of an ancient warrior,” says Mr Nicolas, “is in any degree influenced by that enthusiasm which deeds of chivalrous courage are calculated to excite, it is only by more than ordinary restraint upon his feelings that he is enabled to relate them in the sober and chastened language suitable to historical truth; and, perhaps, in no instance is that caution so necessary as when any member of the house of Percy is the subject of his pen. In the age to which Henry de Percy belonged, as well as in a few succeeding centuries, that name was synonymous with almost uncontrollable power, impetuous valour, and all those stern military virtues which characterized the time; and the difficulty of successfully detailing the career of an individual is considerably increased, when, as in the case of this Baron, the merits of his descendants have been sung, not only by rude contemporary bards, but have been immortalized by the greatest dramatic genius that ever existed.

“Henry de Percy was the third son of Henry Lord Percy, by Eleanor, daughter of John Earl of Warren and Earl of Surrey, and succeeded to the barony upon the death of his brother John de Percy, who died under age soon after the year 1272, at which time he appears to have been very young. The first circumstance recorded of him is, that, in the 15th Edward I., being then in ward, on the King’s expedition into Wales, he was acquitted of 120l. required from him for scutage. In the 22d Edward I. 1294, he made proof of his age, obtained livery of his lands, and was summoned to attend the King into Gascony; and in March 1296, having accompanied Edward in his invasion of Scotland, he received the honour of knighthood before Berwick. He was present at the battle of Dunbar, and was soon afterwards appointed Governor of Galloway and Aire in Scotland; and in 1297, being with Lord Robert Clifford, commander for the King of England in the eastern parts of Scotland, they were appointed to receive Margery, daughter of Robert Brus Earl of Carreck, as an hostage for his fidelity to Edward. About the same time he was sent by the Earl Warren, then General of all the English army beyond the Trent, with the forces at Carlisle into Scotland; and having entered Annandale with 300 men-at-arms, and 40,000 foot, about the 10th August he proceeded to Aire, where he endeavoured to persuade the inhabitants of Galloway to submit. Finding that a party of Scots were on their route to oppose him, he marched towards them; but from the inferiority of their numbers, they surrendered upon condition of being pardoned.

“In the 26th Edward I., Lord Percy was again in the wars of Scotland, in which year he obtained a grant of the lands forfeited by Ingelrom de Umfreville; and in the following year he was present at the siege of Carlaverock—a fact unnoticed by either of the writers just mentioned—when he must have been about forty-two years of age. The poet alludes to his determined hostility against the Scots, which feeling appears to have been inherited by his descendants, and describes him as the ‘nevou’ of the Earl Warren, which, like the word ‘nepos,’ seems to have been used for grandson as well as nephew, he being the son of Eleanor, the daughter of that nobleman. In February, 28th Edward I., 1301, he was a party to the letter from the Barons to Pope Boniface, wherein he is styled ‘Lord of Topclive;’ and in the 34th Edward I., was again sent into Scotland, to oppose Robert Bruce, against whom he valiantly defended Kenteir. In the 35th Edward I., he was a party to the treaty of peace with Scotland.

“On the accession of Edward the Second, he was, in common with the other peers of the realm, summoned to attend that monarch’s coronation; and in the 3d Edward II., he purchased the celebrated castle of Alnwick, which is now possessed by his representative the Duke of Northumberland. In the 5th Edward II., he succeeded John de Segrave, as Constable of Nottingham Castle, and Justice of the Forests beyond the Trent, and about the same period was constituted Governor of Scarborough and Bamburgh Castles. From a writ tested on the 14th September, 1309, it appears that he was then Constable of the Castle of York, and in that and the preceding years he was again in the wars of Scotland.