It is to be deplored that there is no original account of the expedition of the four hundred, such as exists in the "Herald’s" account of the expedition to Dixmude, preserved in John Leland’s Collectanea, which happened in the same year (1488). I have tried laboriously to find out the names of the chief inhabitants of the Isle of Wight at that time; but owing to the great danger and discomfort there was in living in the island during the 15th century, arising from the constantly threatened invasions of the French, and their many actual occupations of the island, the chief families appear either to have become extinct in that period, or to have retired to the mainland. It is also worthy of note, to see how many times the chief manors passed into new families through the female line. This fact is very significant of the troubled state of the times. It was not that the manhood of the island ceased for want of sons, but that these sons met a violent death in the many wars of that age. In conclusion, I may add that, while the story is mainly written for the young, with which object in view I have paid less attention to the delineation of character than the animation of incident, and the variety of the scene, I trust their elders may also find information about a romantic episode in our local and national history. *CONTENTS.* CHAP. I. HOW THE GERFALCON SPED II. HOW THE FLEDGLING LEFT THE NEST III. OF THE FLEDGLING REJOICING IN HIS FREEDOM IV. HOW THE FLEDGLING GREW TO A COCKEREL V. OF THE COMING TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT VI. HOW THEY CAME TO CARISBROOKE CASTLE VII. HOW THE COCKEREL SHOWED FIGHT VIII. HOW THE COCKEREL GOT A FALL IX. HOW THE COCKEREL LEARNT HARDIHOOD X. HOW THE COCKEREL VAUNTED HIMSELF XI. HOW JOYOUSLY LIFE GOETH XII. HOW THE COCKEREL FELT HE WAS BUT A COCKEREL XIII. OF THE SHARPENING OF THE COCKEREL’S SPURS XIV. HOW THE COCKEREL USED HIS SPURS XV. HOW THE COCKEREL CROWED XVI. HOW THE COCKEREL WAS PETTED XVII. HOW THEY WERE AT FAULT XVIII. HOW THE RUSTY KNIGHT LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON HIS WRATH XIX. OF THE PERPLEXITY OF THE LITTLE MAID XX. HOW THE CAPTAIN KEPT TRYST XXI. OF THE COMBAT *À OUTRANCE* XXII. OF THE VOICE OF THE CHARMER XXIII. HOW THEY LEFT THE WIGHT XXIV. OF LA "BEALE FRANCE" XXV. OF ST AUBIN DU CORMIER XXVI. HOW "THE FLOWERS OF THE FOREST WERE A’ WEDE AWAY" XXVII. "OF THE CRAWLING TIDE" XXVIII. HOW THE MIST ROSE IN TERQUETÉ BAY XXIX. HOW THERE’S NO CLOUD WITHOUT ITS SILVER LINING *LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.* "WHAT ART THOU?" STAMMERED THE PAGE _Front._ RALPH WAVED HIS CAP IN TRIUMPH THE CAPTAIN OF THE WIGHT ENTERING CARISBROOKE CASTLE THE NUN OFFERED THE WINE TO YOLANDE HOW THEY TILTED AT CARISBROOKE A SHARP SPASM WAS THE SUDDEN ANSWER HE DROVE HIS DAGGER INTO THE CAITIFF ABOVE HIM HOW THEY LEFT ST HELENS