claiming his right: and James, whose only object was to assist him, had engaged to retire the moment that he should be joined by a competent number of natives. He therefore called on every true Englishman to arm in his cause, and promised to the man who should «< take or distress Henry Tydder », a reward proportioned to his condition, «< so as the most low and simplest of degree « should have for his labour one thousand pounds in « money, and lands to the yearly value of one hundred marks to him and his heirs for ever1». But the proclamation had no effect. The novelty of the thing had worn away, and not a sword was unsheathed in favour of the white rose. The Scots, to console their disappointment, and to repay themselves for their trouble, pillaged the country without mercy. tion in Cornwall. 1497. Feb. 13. As soon as the intelligence of this invasion reached InsurrecHenry, he ordered Dawbeney, the lord chamberlain, to raise forces, summoned a great council, and afterwards a parliament, and obtained a grant of two tenths and two fifteenths2. In most counties the tax was levied without opposition: in Cornwall the people, inflamed by the harangues of Flammock an attorney, and of Joseph a farrier, flew to arms; refused to pay their money for an object which, it was 'pretended, did not concern them, but the natives of the northern counties; and resolved, to the number of sixteen thousand to demand of the king the punishment of archbishop Morton, and of sir Reginald Gray, the supposed authors of this unjustifiable impost. The misguided multitude commenced their march : at Wells they were joined by men, This proclamation is printed in Henry, xii. App. i. p. 387. It is much altered by Bacon, 87. 2 Rot. Parl. vi. 513-519. June 22. Peace with the lord Audely, who placed himself at their head, and conducted them through Salisbury and Winchester into Kent. Opposed by the gentlemen of the county, he turned towards London, and encamped on Blackheath in sight of the capital. But Henry had by this time been joined by most of the southern nobility, and by the troops that had been previously raised against the Scots. On a Saturday (the king superstitiously believed that Saturday was his fortunate day), the lord chamberlain marched to attack the insurgents: the earl of Oxford made a circuit to fall on their rear: and Henry with the artillery waited in St. George's fields the event of the battle. The Cornish archers defended with obstinacy the bridge at Deptford strand: but the moment it was forced, the insurgents fled in despair. Two thousand were killed: fifteen hundred were taken. Lord Audely lost his head: Flammock and Joseph were hanged: the rest obtained a pardon from the king, and were allowed to compound for their liberty with their captors, on the best terms in their power. This lenity, so unusual in Henry, was attributed by some to policy, and a desire to attach to his cause the men of Cornwall; by others to gratitude for the life of the lord chamberlain, whom the insurgents had made prisoner at the commencement of the action, and had restored to liberty without ransom. ' While the attention of the king was occupied by the Cornish insurgents, James again crossed the borders, and laid siege to the castle of Norham, while his light troops scoured the country as far as the Tees. But the earl of Surrey with twenty thousand men, was now hastening towards the north. The plunderers cautiously retired as he advanced James abandoned the siege; I ' Rym. xii. 696. Hall, 41, 42, 43. Fab. 531. Rot. Parl. vi. 544. and Surrey retaliated on the Scottish borderers the injuries which they had inflicted on their English neighbours. The failure of this second expedition, with the news of the defeat of the Cornishmen, induced the king of Scots to listen to the suggestions of don Pedro Ayala, the Spanish ambassador, who laboured with earnestness to reconcile the two monarchs. Commissioners met at Aytown in Scotland: Ayala presented himself as mediator; and a truce was concluded for seven years. James was so satisfied with the impartiality Sept. 30. of the Spaniard, that he intrusted the interests of the Scottish crown to his discretion; and Ayala prolonged the truce till the termination of one year after the death of the survivor of the two kings. There only remained a few points, on which the demands of Henry were deemed by the king of Scots derogatory from his honour and these at the suggestion of Ayala were referred to the impartial decision of Ferdinand king of Spain. 1 : : The enthusiasm which had been excited by the first appearance of Warbeck in Scotland, had long been on the decline and before the meeting of the commissioners, whether it were that he saw the current of public opinion setting against him, or hoped to profit by the troubles in Cornwall, or had received a hint from his royal protector (for all these reasons have been assigned) he departed from Scotland with four ships, and six score companions. He first touched at Cork, and solicited in vain the aid of the earl of Desmond. From Cork he directed his course across the Warbeck channel to Whitsand bay; and proceeding by land to wall. Rym. xii. 671. 673-680. Hall, 45. in Corn Sept. 7. : Bodmin, unfurled the standard of Richard IV. The men of Cornwall had not acquired wisdom from their recent defeat. Three thousand offered their services to the adventurer: and that number was doubled before he reached the city of Exeter. Here he formed his army into two divisions, and while one attempted to scale the walls, commanded the other to set fire to the opposite gate. The first was repulsed with considerable loss the second was foiled by the ingenuity of the citizens, who on their part kindled a fire in the very gateway, and constantly fed it with fuel, till they had dug a deep trench between themselves and the enemy. The loss of two hundred men in this unfortunate attempt, and the arrival of the gentlemen of the county to the defence of the city, compelled the adventurer to decamp. On his road to Taunton he saw himself deserted by many of his adherents: but the Cornishmen bade him proceed, and promised to devote their lives to his service. The royal army had now arrived : the main battle was commanded by the lord steward and lord chamberlain; Henry stationed himself with the reserve; and a complete but sanguinary victory was confidently anticipated. During the day the pretended Richard with great composure made preparation for battle but his heart failed at the sight of the royal He flies to a standard; and as soon as it was dark, he left his camp sanctuary. with a guard of sixty men, and riding all night, entered his name in the sanctuary of Beaulieu in Hampshire. His followers, seeing themselves abandoned by their captain, implored the king's mercy. The ringleaders were hanged, and the rest dismissed without ransom. Warbeck's wife, the lady Elizabeth Gordon, who had been left at Mount St. Michael, submitted at the first Sep, 20. : summons. When she was introduced to the king, she blushed and burst into tears: but he relieved her apprehensions, and sent her to the queen, with whom she afterwards lived as an attendant, still retaining, on account of her beauty, the appellation of « the white « rose, which she had originally derived from the pretentions of her husband. * the king. In the sanctuary of Beaulieu the fugitive had leisure Submits to to reflect on his melancholy situation. He saw the abbey constantly surrounded with a guard he was repeatedly tempted to leave it by promises of pardon : and, after a severe struggle, resolved to throw himself on the mercy of the conqueror. The king did not violate his word, but refused to admit him into his presence. When he returned to London, Warbeck rode in his suite, surrounded by multitudes, who gazed with wonder at the man, whose claim and adventures had so long engaged their attention. He was conducted as a spectacle through the principal streets of the city; ordered to confine himself within the precincts of the palace; and repeatedly examined before a board of commissioners, as to his parentage, his instructors, and his associates. Whatever disclosures he made, were Escapes. kept secret but he grew weary of his confinement in the palace, and at the end of six months contrived to elude the vigilance of his keepers. The alarm was instantly given patroles watched every road to the coast; I xviii. Magno cum rubore et obortis lacrymis. André, MS. Domit. A. 2 Fab. 531. Hall, 46, 47. Bacon, 104. « The white rose » was afterwards married to sir Matthew Cradock, and was buried with him in the church of Swansea in Wales, where their tomb and epitaph are still to be seen. Histor. Doubts, addition. 1498. June 9. |