In these border struggles Earl Randle found himself on one occasion shut up in the castle of Rhuddlan—then called Rothelent—to which he had retreated, and hard pressed by his foes. At this time his constable of Cheshire, that doughty warrior Roger Lacy, baron of Halton, whose fierceness had earned for him the sobriquet of “Hell,” happening to be at Chester, hastily mustered all the beggars, minstrels, debauched men, harlots, and other disorderly characters who were then assembled at the fair, and with this tumultuous company marched to his master’s rescue. The Welsh, who were as much alarmed at the sight of such a multitude as the French were at the sight of Talbot, raised the siege and fled; and the Earl, returning in safety, in reward and in memory of such welcome service, conferred upon his trusty follower the government and licensing of all beggars, vagrants, strollers, and minstrels within the limits of his earldom, a privilege which Lacy in turn bestowed upon his steward, Hugh Dutton; and the Duttons of Dutton, his successors, continued to exercise the right until the passing of the Vagrant Act, a few years ago—the custom being for them or their deputies to ride through the streets of Chester to St. John’s Church every year, with the minstrels of Cheshire playing before them; after which their licenses were renewed. After this adventure, peace was concluded (1222) between the Earl and Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales, which was happily cemented by the marriage in the same year of Randle’s nephew and heir, John Scot, Earl of Huntingdon, with Llewelyn’s daughter Helen. Randle Blundeville, after having held the earldom for the long period of fifty-two years, died at Wallingford on the 26th Oct. 1232, and was buried at St. Werburg’s, Chester, his heart being deposited in the Abbey of Dieu-la-cresse. Having no issue, his sister’s son, John the Scot, succeeded; but he bore rule only five years, dying in 1237, having, as was commonly believed, been poisoned by his wife, the Welsh princess. That amiable lady not having borne him any children, his vast possessions should by right have devolved upon his sisters; but King Henry, being unwilling, as he said, “that so great an inheritance should be divided among distaffs,” considerately took the earldom into his own hands, and gave them other lands instead. In this transaction there is little doubt but that the King got the best end of the bargain, though it might have been better for his grandson if the “distaffs” had been left in undisturbed possession of their property; for in that case it is more than probable England would not have had to deplore the defeat at Bannockburn which made Scotland a nation. Maidens of England, sore may ye mourn, For your lemans ye have lost at Bannockburn.