Henry, son of "Hotspur," was the second earl. He repaired and added to the castle and was present at the battle of Agincourt. It was not the habit of the Percies to die in their beds, and this one was killed in the Wars of the Roses, at the first battle of St Albans, in 1455.
The fact of their having taken the losing Lancastrian side in these wars kept the family under a cloud for a number of years. One of them deserted Richard III. on Bosworth field in 1485; one of them was beheaded at York in 1572, for taking part in the "Rising of the North"; one of them was found shot in his bed in 1585, and another died in the Tower in 1632. So that the family could hardly be said to be quieting down.
They sided with Parliament during the Civil War, but later on they favoured the Restoration. At last there came a time when there were no male heirs left in this great line, but only a daughter, Elizabeth. She married the Duke of Somerset, and had thirteen children, the eldest surviving of whom was created Earl of Northumberland in 1748. But he died the year after, leaving only a daughter, who had married a very able baronet, to whom was given the title of Duke of Northumberland in 1766. He very wisely took the surname of Percy, and again restored the castle of Alnwick, putting the family estates and affairs in good order. So that the Percies of Alnwick Castle are Dukes of Northumberland to this day.
Chapter XIV
Hexham and Queen Margaret
The town of Hexham stands on the south bank of the Tyne, rising gradually up the hill and presenting a most picturesque appearance. About two miles above Hexham the North and the South Tyne meet, and the combined river is broad and noble, and the hills around Hexham give strength and beauty to the scene. The commanding appearance and central position of the priory church adds its note of dignity, and the total effect of the town is very pleasing to the eye.
There is no doubt that from very early times there was a town in this fine natural position. The burial-grounds of primitive races have been discovered here, with stone and bronze implements. The Romans had a town here of some importance, although it was four miles south of their great wall. A Roman tombstone was discovered here, nine feet by three and a half feet, showing a Roman officer on horseback, overthrowing in fierce fight a savage and scowling foe. This fine relic is set up in the church, and is not the only thing to see there. The original church upon this spot was built in 674, in the reign of King Egfrid of Northumbria. Wilfrid, the very able and influential Bishop of York, was the man who presided at the building of it, and there were bishops at Hexham for a couple of centuries. In 875 the Danes ruthlessly burnt the town; and nearly one thousand years later, in 1832, there was found buried in the ground a bronze vessel containing about nine thousand Saxon coins of the eighth and ninth century, evidently buried to protect this treasure from the invaders. Those who buried them were probably slain before they had time to dig them up again. There was a legend of another treasure hidden between Hexham and Corbridge, and King John came to Hexham in 1201 to search for it. He returned in 1208 and in 1212, but found nothing. Time passed, and this tale of hidden treasure ceased even to be local gossip, but in 1735 by accident it was found.
The present handsome priory church must have been built about the time of King John's visits to Hexham. It is a noble building, well worth a visit. In 1725, when some work was being done in the church, a wonderful discovery was made. It was found that there was an old Saxon crypt, a narrow vault with several passages, underneath the church! This was so carefully hidden that it was evidently intended as a place of refuge in danger. It was built of Roman stones, several of which have Roman inscriptions.
The Scots several times attacked Hexham. Once Sir William Wallace came there with his army, but he would not let his Scots damage the church, so that Hexham, on the whole, had a less stormy life than many of the Border towns, although in 1537, when Henry VIII. caused the monastery to be suppressed, the prior and five of the leading monks were hanged before the gates as a gentle reminder that they were to live there no longer.
But by far the most stirring event in Hexham's history was the battle which raged there in 1464. The Wars of the Roses do not form a pleasing episode in English history. They were pitiless, and treachery was mingled with bloodshed; desertions and executions were the accompaniment of every battle. Edward IV. was coldly cruel and unscrupulous, one of the blackest figures of a black time. But romance centres round Queen Margaret, the dauntless and resourceful wife of the feeble King Henry VI., with whom Edward disputed the throne. She it was who, making up for her husband's weakness, urged ever bravely and hopefully the cause of her son. Thus she pressed on to the very end, till that son, worthy of his heroic mother, proudly answered the taunts of his base enemies, even though in their power, preferring speedy death to any lessening of his tragic dignity, and dying before the eyes of the successful and exultant Edward.