Not long afterwards, the before-named villain, who had, as above stated, calumniated the nobles and the aforesaid Ralph, was ignominiously hanged outside the City of London, on that instrument of punishment called a gibbet: and when he saw that death was certain, he, although late, openly confessed before the people and his executioners that he had made the aforesaid accusations only for the purpose of prolonging his life.[116] =1242.= William de Marisco, or Marsh, was the son of Geoffrey, justiciar or viceroy of Ireland. In 1235 Henry Clement, a messenger from the Irish peers to the king, was murdered in London. William Marsh was accused of the murder, but he always protested his innocence. William was also accused of being implicated in the attempted assassination of the king at Woodstock (p. 30). His father, Geoffrey, was also suspected of being privy to the attempt, and his lands being seized on this account, he fled to Scotland, whence he was finally driven out at the king’s instance, dying friendless and poor in France. This is the chronicler’s account of the doings of William after his father’s fall:— William sought refuge in a certain island not far from Bristol, Devon, or Cornwall, named Lundy, an impregnable retreat. Here, having drawn to himself a number of outlaws and fugitives, he lived by piracy; he gave himself up to plunder and rapine, seizing the goods of merchants trading in those parts, especially wine and provisions. He also made sudden descents on the coasts, carrying off booty, injuring greatly thereby the kingdom of England, by preying upon merchants, both native and foreign. Now, a great number of nobles, English as well as Irish, who could not honourably dwell at home while the king was engaged in war in parts beyond the sea, journeyed across the countries not far distant from the said island, and ascertained beyond doubt that the said William and his band could be taken only by stratagem. They told the king that he must proceed in the matter not violently, but cautiously, in order to capture these devastators. The king therefore gave his orders to trusted men, engaging them by the promise of a rich reward to undertake the capture of this man and the deliverance of their country. The said William was hateful to the king, because he suspected him of being privy, together with his father, Geoffrey, to the attempted assassination, and to have been wickedly guilty of treason by sending the wretch who went by night to Woodstock to cut the king’s throat; also to have killed in London, in the king’s presence, a certain messenger sent by an Irish nobleman. William’s denial of the charges was not believed, nor even listened to. Therefore he imprudently sought safety in remote places, living like an outlaw and a fugitive. After narrating other events, the chronicler continues:—