Darcy’s great influence in the north was in part owing to this connection with the Nevilles which was strengthened by his second marriage, to Lady Neville, the young Earl’s mother. Darcy held various offices of trust on the Borders during the reign of Henry VII. The King kept a watchful eye on his powerful servant, and in 1496 he was indicted at Quarter Sessions in the West Riding for giving various people his badge, “a token or livery called the Buck’s Head.” However, Henry by his well-known system of compensation created him Deputy Warden of the East and Middle Marches (16 Dec., 1498) and later Warden of the East Marches (1 Sept., 1505). On the accession of Henry VIII his offices were confirmed to him[69]. Early in the new reign occurred the strangest adventure of Darcy’s life—his expedition to Spain. Ferdinand had asked his son-in-law for the aid of 1500 English archers in his war against the Moors. Darcy at his own request was appointed leader of this force. The troops were mustered on 29 March, 1511. The expedition, consisting of five companies of 250 men each, sailed from Plymouth in May and arrived at Cadiz on 1 June. There was in Darcy something of the spirit of his crusading ancestors; but the time for a crusade had passed. The English were unruly and quarrelled with the Spaniards so much that Ferdinand was only too glad to seize the excuse of a truce with the Moors to pack them off home again. They were in Spain little more than a fortnight, and on 17 June reembarked without having loosed a shaft against the enemy. Darcy was bitterly disappointed and to add to his troubles the voyage home was long and stormy: on 3 August they had only reached St Vincent and he was obliged to spend large sums on victualling the ships and paying his men. His life-long friend, Sir Robert Constable, was one of the five captains under him who shared the humiliation and expense of it all. Such an experience might have made him shun all further dealings with Spain, but on his return to England the Spanish ambassador dealt liberally with him in the matter of money and overcame his resentment. The archers who went out to fight for a Christian prince against the Moors wore as their badge a curious device called the “Five Wounds of Christ.”[70]