In the reign of Henry V. the country around the royal manor and castle of Melbourne sent many warriors to the battle of Agincourt; and although it may be a question whether the hills in the neighbourhood, which are called “Derby Hills” to this day, or those in the Peak, at the north end of the county, are intended in the ballad—
“Recruit me Cheshire and Lancashire,
And Derby Hills that are so free;
No marry’d man or widow’s son:
For no widow’s curse shall go with me.
“They recruited Cheshire and Lancashire,
And Derby Hills that are so free;
No marry’d man or widow’s son:
Yet there was a jovial bold company”—
certain it is that Derbyshire men were among the most valiant in that battle, and that John, Duke of Bourbon, who was taken prisoner, was brought to Melbourne Castle, and there kept in close confinement for nineteen years. Melbourne Castle, now entirely destroyed, is traditionally said to have been founded by Alfred the Great in 900. There appears, however, to be no mention of it until 1307. In 1319 it passed into the hands of Thomas de Holland, who obtained a license to crenellate the place in the fourth year of Edward II. In 1322 “John de Hardshull was joined in the governorship of the castles of Melbourne and Donington,” and a few years later it became the property of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. In 1414. as already stated, John, Duke of Bourbon, was prisoner here under Sir Ralph Shirley, the governor of the castle, and afterwards under Nicholas Montgomery, the then governor. It is said to have been dismantled by order of Margaret, Queen of Henry VI. It was, it seems, repaired by Edward IV., and in Henry VIII.’s reign is said to have been in “good reparation.” In 1602 a survey was made, by order of Queen Elizabeth, by Thomas Fanshawe, then auditor of the duchy of Lancaster, in which it is said, “Her Majesty hath a faire and ancient castle which she keepeth in her own hands, and that Gilbert, Earl of Shrewsbury, was then constable of the same and bailiffe there by letters patent during his life, with the annual fee of £10.” It afterwards came into the hands of the Huntingdons, and was suffered to fall into decay. The site now belongs to Mr. Hastings.