Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

Of his combat with the giant, Dugdale gives the following account:—

In the third year of King Athelstan, anno 926, the Danes invaded England under the generals Aulafe and Govelaph, and besieged Winchester twelve months, where were Athelstan and his nobles. The Danes sent various proposals in order to terminate the war, amongst which was, to decide the fate of the nation by single combat: if the Danes won, they were to receive the crown and realm; and if they lost, they were to quit the nation without delay. This latter Athelstan accepted, but he was in much trouble, as all his famous warriors were in foreign countries; but he was comforted by an angel, who bade him arise, and go to the north gate of the city (Winchester), at the hour of prime, and he would see a palmer with a chaplet of white roses, and barefoot; he arose, saw the palmer, and requested him, for the love of Jesus Christ, to accept the challenge of Colbrand, the Saracen; the palmer did, and they met in a valley called Chiltecumbe, near the city. They fought from morn till eve, when Colbrand fell from loss of blood, having had one hand cut off at the commencement of the day: when he fell, the palmer cut off his head. This palmer proved afterwards to be Guy, Earl of Warwick. After the battle, Guy, having first made himself known

to the Saxon monarch, under an oath of secrecy, retired to a romantic retreat, since called, after him Guy's Cliff, near his castle, where he lived the life of a hermit, without discovering himself even to his beloved wife, Felicia, who resided there till near his death, which happened in 929. Colbrand's battle-axe was formerly preserved in Winchester Cathedral, and Guy's ponderous armour is still shewn at the Castle, of which more anon.

The issue of Guy's marriage with Felicia, was one only son, who, as might have been expected from such parents, proved no vulgar boy.' Reynburn, the romantic Reynburn, 66 was stolen away from his parents in childhood, and carried into Russia, where he gave great testimony of his singular valour in sundry feats, whilst he continued in those foreign parts. Upon his return into England, he wedded the beautiful Lady Leonatta, daughter to King Athelstan; but afterwards dying beyond the seas, was buried in a certain island near unto Venice." Passing over the succeeding Earls, Wegeat, Ufa, Wolgeat, and Wigod, we arrive at that period of the Warwick history when, in the incursions of the Danes under Canute, in the year 1016, it was again doomed to experience its old fate, sustaining, happily for the last time, considerable injury, having, from the period of its foundation to the Norman conquest, been nearly totally destroyed no

less than six successive times. From the injuries it received in this last attack of the Danes it, however, speedily recovered, and at the era of the Norman Conquest, when it came under the jurisdiction of Turchil, was described in Domesday Book as a "Burgus" (Borough), having 261 houses; 118 belonging to the King, 113 to the King's Barons, all paying Danegeld; and the remainder to the Bishops of Worcester, Chester, Coventry, and other individuals, exclusive of 19 burgesses having 19 dwellings, with sac and soc, and all customs as they had in the time of King Edward the Confessor. It was evidently from this a town of considerable power and consequence. On the death of Harold, and conquest of England by the Normans, William the Congueror, naturally anxious to secure the possession of his newly-acquired dominions, determined to repair all the fortified places, and crect others in various parts of the kingdom; and pursuant to this determination, Turchil, the son of Alwyne, was directed by him immediately to fortify the town and castle of Warwick, which was accordingly done. From this period till the reign of Edward the First, Warwick continued increasing in strength and consequence. In this reign Guy de Beauchamp, its then Earl, considerably repaired its fortifications, and commenced paving the town, receiving from Edward and his successors, patents for toll on the

markets. Down to the time of Henry the Seventh, in 1538, remains of these fortifications still existed, as attested by Leland in his Itinerary, vol. 4, p. 61. In the reign of Edward the First, a grand tournament, or festival of the round table, was held in Warwick; and in 1572 Queen Elizabeth honored it with a visit in her memorable progress to Kenilworth, continuing at the castle two days, and afterwards returning to it. Under the Newburgs, the Beauchamps, the stout Earl Richard Neville, surnamed king-maker, the Plantagenets, Dudley's, and the Richs, that successively sustained the title of Earls of Warwick, it progressively improved; we have not space to dwell on the various worth and achievements of

-the goodly train of chiefs, by Warwick's name Distinguished, and by deeds of fair renown Gracing the much-loved title,

To thy line transferred, O Greville! last;

[blocks in formation]

With promise fair as now- (more fair what heart

Parental craves)—of long transmissive worth,
Proud Warwick's name with glowing fame to grace,
And crown with lasting joy its castled hill.

Warwick was subsequently visited by King James the First, and King William the Third; and was tne scene of civil war in the contest that took place between Charles the First and his Parliament, in

1642, when the castle sustained a siege in the cause of the King, under the patriotic command of Robert Greville, Lord Brooke. The religious edifices of Warwick, established by public authority, were formerly more numerous than they are now, which deficiency is now made up by the number of private places of worship, chapels, &c. erected by the inhabitants; besides the two churches of Saint Mary and Saint Nicholas, which now remain, there were formerly one dedicated to All Saints, within the precincts of the castle; another to Saint John the Baptist in the market-place; a third to Saint James, over the west gate; a fourth to Saint Peter over the east gate; a fifth to Saint Helen, near the Bridge end, where the Priory now stands; and two others to Saint Michael and Saint Lawrence, the former at the lower end of the Saltisford, and the latter at that of the West Street; besides a Priory, Nunnery, Hospitals, &c. Most of these edifices were as early as the reign of Edward the Third, 1367, falling into decay and gradually disappearing, and at the reformation were, with the religious houses, finally done away with. Warwick was incorporated in the reigns of Henry the Eighth, Philip and Mary, James the First, and William and Mary, and sent members to Parliament, the office of mayor being then first instituted. The last charter granted by William

« AnteriorContinua »