A March on London: Being a Story of Wat Tyler's InsurrectionHenty, G. A. (George Alfred)
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A March on London: Being a Story of Wat Tyler's Insurrection
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
Tyler's Insurrection, 1381 -- Juvenile fiction
"I would gladly add something of my own account," Sir Hugh said,
"seeing that you are in my train, and one does not like to be surpassed
by a foreign knight. As to the matter of the ransom, that does not
trouble me, and indeed, seeing that you surrendered to him, and that he
felt that he could not give protection, and you had to risk your lives
in getting away, it was but reasonable that he should remit it, but in
the matter of the armour the case is different. I will add to your
chains a reliquary which was presented to me by Pedro of Castile when I
saved his life in the fight at Najarra. He told me that it contained a
nail of the true cross, and that it was brought to Spain by a Spaniard
of royal blood who was a knight commander of the Temple.
"I do not know how far this is true, for as one gets older one loses
faith in these monkish stories of reliquaries. However, the casket is
set with gems of value, and there is with it a parchment setting forth
its history; at any rate it is a gift that is worthy of even a prince's
acceptance. I will send it to him as a token that Sir Hugh Calverley
recognizes his chivalrous behaviour to the knights who were captured
while covering his carriage from the ramparts of Ypres, and, therefore,
sends this gift to him in all honour and courtesy, together with the
gold chains of the knights themselves. We shall not have long to wait.
There are fights well-nigh every day, and when these are over there is
a truce of an hour to carry off the wounded and dead."
The young knights thanked Sir Hugh for thus generously supplementing
their own offering in return for their armour, but he waved it aside.
"You saved my life," he said; "or at any rate you saved me from
capture, and had I fallen into their hands methinks that I should have
had to pay a far heavier ransom before they let me out again."
Two days later there was heavy fighting again and much loss on both
sides. It ceased as usual without any advantage being won by the
besiegers. The fighting ended soon after mid-day, and at one o'clock
the trumpet sounded a truce. Sir Hugh mounted, with his two knights,
saying to Edgar: "It were perhaps best that you should not ride with
me. 'Tis likely that the townsmen still think that you are in
Beaulieu's house, and were it known that you had escaped it might bring
trouble upon him and the two knights who aided your escape from the
wall."
He took with him a pursuivant and trumpeter, and, riding through the
English and Flemish men-at-arms, who were already engaged in carrying
away the dead and wounded, he rode up to within a short distance of the
wall, then the pursuivant and trumpeter advanced to the edge of the
moat, and the latter blew a loud blast.
In a short time a knight appeared on the wall, and the pursuivant cried
in a loud voice:
"Sir Hugh Calverley, a valiant and puissant knight of England, desires
speech with Sir Robert De Beaulieu, a brave and gentle knight of
Flanders."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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