Chapter XIX: Appendix: , No. I. (p. 385)

OWYN GLYNDOWR's ABSENCE FROM THE BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY.

Had Owyn Glyndowr joined the army of Hotspur before Henry IV. had compelled that gallant, but rash and headstrong warrior, to engage in battle, their united forces might have crushed both the King and Henry of Monmouth under their overwhelming charge, and crowned the Percies and Owyn himself with victory; but the reader is reminded that the question for the more satisfactory solution of which an appeal is made to the following original documents, is simply this: Did Owyn Glyndowr wilfully absent himself from the fatal battle of Shrewsbury, leaving Hotspur and his host to encounter that struggle alone, or are we compelled to account for the absence of the Welsh chieftain on grounds which imply no compromise of his valour or his good faith?

The first of the series of documents from which it is presumed that light is thrown on this subject, is a letter from Richard Kyngeston, Archdeacon of Hereford, addressed to the King, dated Hereford, Sunday, July 8, and therefore 1403,--just thirteen days before the battle of Shrewsbury. It is written in French; but the postscript, added evidently in vast trepidation, and as if under the sudden fear that he had not expressed himself strongly enough, is in English. "His eagerness for the arrival of the King in Wales by forced marches, is expressed with an earnestness which is almost ridiculous."[344]

[Footnote 344: See Ellis.]

"Our most redoubted and sovereign Lord the King, I recommend (p. 386)
myself[345] humbly to your highness.... From day to day letters
are arriving from Wales, by which you may learn that the whole
country is lost unless you go there as quick as possible.
Be pleased to set forth with all your power, and march as well by
night as by day, for the salvation of those parts. It will be a
great disgrace as well as damage to lose in the beginning of your
reign a country which your ancestors gained, and retained so
long; for people speak very unfavourably. I send the copy of a
letter which came from John Scydmore this morning.... Written in
haste, great haste at Hereford, the 8th[346] day of July.
"Your lowly creature,
"RICHARD KYNGESTON,
"Archdeacon of Hereford.

"And for God's love, my liege Lord, think on yourself and (p. 387)
your estate; or by my troth all is lost else: but, and ye
come yourself, all other will follow after. On Friday last
Carmarthen town was taken and burnt, and the castle yielden by
Rº Wygmor, and the castle Emlyn is yielden; and slain of the
town of Carmarthen more than fifty persons. Written in right
great haste on Sunday, and I cry you mercy, and put me in your
high grace that I write so shortly; for, by my troth that I owe
to you, it is needful."

[Footnote 345: This ecclesiastic was much in the
royal confidence. By a commission dated June 16,
1404, he, as Archdeacon of Hereford, is authorized
to receive the subsidy in the counties of Hereford,
Gloucester, and Warwick, and to dispose of it in
the support of men-at-arms and archers to resist
the Welsh.[345-a] And sums, three years afterwards,
were paid to him out of the exchequer for the
maintenance of soldiers _remaining with him_ in the
parts of Wales for the safeguard of the same. He
seems to have been not only the dispenser of the
money, but the captain of the men. The debt,
however, had probably been due from the crown for a
long time. He was for many years Master of the
Wardrobe to Henry IV; and during his time the
expences of the court appear to have become more
extravagant, and to have led to that remonstrance
and interference of the council and parliament, to
which reference has been made in the body of this
work. Pell Rolls, Issue, 5 May 1407.--Do. Michs.
1409.]

[Footnote 345-a: MS. Donat. 4597.]

[Footnote 346: This letter is the more valuable,
because, though the year is not annexed in words,
the information that he wrote it on Sunday, July 8,
fixes the date to 1403: the next year to which this
date would apply being 1408, four years after
Kyngeston had ceased to be Archdeacon of Hereford;
and far too late for any such apprehension of great
mischief from Glyndowr.]

John Skydmore's letter, dated from the castle of Cerreg Cennen, not only fixes Owyn Glyndowr at Carmarthen on Thursday, July the 5th; but acquaints us also with his purpose to proceed thence into Pembrokeshire, whilst his friends had undertaken to reduce the castles of Glamorgan. It is addressed to John Fairford, Receiver of Brecknock.

"Worshipful Sir,--I recommend me to you. And forasmuch as I may
not spare no man from this place away from me to certify neither
the King, nor my lord the Prince, of the mischief of these
countries about, nor no man may pass by no way hence, I pray you
that ye certify them how all Carmarthenshire, Kedwelly,
Carnwalthan, and Yskenen be sworn to Owyn yesterday; and he lay
[to nyzt was] last night in the castle of Drosselan with Rees ap
Griffuth. And there I was, and spake with him upon truce, and
prayed of a safe-conduct under his seal to send home my wife and
her mother, and their [mayne] company. And he would none grant
me. And on this day he is about the town of Carmarthen, and there
thinketh to abide till he may have the town and the castle: and
his purpose is thence into Pembrokeshire; for he [halt (p. 388)
him siker] feels quite sure of all the castles and towns in
Kedwelly, Gowerland, and Glamorgan, for the same countries have
undertaken the sieges of them till they be won. Wherefore write
to Sir Hugh Waterton, and to all that ye suppose will take this
matter to heart, that they excite the King hitherwards in all
haste to avenge him on some of his false traitors, the which he
has overmuch cherished, and rescue the towns and castles in the
countries, for I dread full sore there be too few true men in
them. I can no more as now: but pray God help you and us that
think to be true. Written at the castle of Carreg Kennen, the
fifth day of July.
"Yours, JOHN SKYDMORE."[347]

[Footnote 347: The custody of Carreg Kennen
(Karekenny) was granted to John Skydmore, 2 May
1402.]

Two other letters, which internal evidence compels us to assign to this year,--the first to the 7th of July (two days only after John Skydmore's), the second to the 11th of the same month,--carry on Owyn's proceedings with perfect consistency. They were written by the Constable of Dynevor Castle, and seem to have been addressed to the Receiver of Brecknock, and by him to have been forwarded to the King's council. "The first gives us no exalted notion of the Constable's courage: 'A siege is ordained for the castle I keep, and that is great peril for me. Written in haste and in dread.' The second informs us of the extent of force with which Glyndowr was then moving in his inroads; when threatening the castle of Dynevor, he mustered 8240 (eight thousand and twelve score) spears, such as they were."[348]

[Footnote 348: Ellis.]

The first letter, written on Saturday, July 7, ("the Fest of St. Thomas the Martir,") he seems to have posted off immediately on the news reaching Dynevor that Carmarthen had surrendered to Owyn, (p. 389) without waiting to ascertain the accuracy of the report; for, in his second letter, he tells us that they had not yet resolved whether to burn the town or no.

"Dear Friend,--I do you to wit that Owyn Glyndowr, Henry Don,
Rees Duy, Rees ap Gv. ap Llewellyn, Rees Gether, have won the
town of Carmarthen, and Wygmer the Constable had yielded the
castle to Carmarthen; and have burnt the town, and slain more
than fifty men: and they be in purpose to Kedwelly, and a siege
is ordained at the castle I keep, and that is great peril for me,
and all that be with me; for they have made a vow that they will
[al gat] at all events have us dead therein. Wherefore I pray you
not to beguile us, but send to us warning shortly whether we may
have any help or no; and, if help is not coming, that we have an
answer, that we may steal away by night to Brecknock, because we
fail victuals and men [and namlich], especially men. Also Jenkyn
ap Ll. hath yielden up the castle of Emlyn with free will; and
also William Gwyn, and many gentles, are in person with Owyn....
Written at Deynevour, in haste and in dread, in the feast of St.
Thomas the Martyr.[349]
"JENKYN HANARD,
"Constable de Dynevour."

[Footnote 349: This letter was probably written on
Saturday, July 7, 1403,--that is, on the
Translation of St. Thomas the Martyr.]

In this letter the Constable says that Owyn's forces were in purpose to Kedwelly: the second letter refers to Owyn's purpose having been altered by the formidable approach of the Baron of Carew towards St. Clare. This was probably on Monday, July 9, the third day after the surrender of Carmarthen. The Tuesday night he slept at Locharn (Laugharne). Through the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, the (p. 390) little garrison of Dynevor were negociating with him; for he was resolved to win that castle, and to make it his head-quarters. On that Wednesday, the Constable tells us, that Owyn intended, should he come to terms with the Baron of Carew, to return to Carmarthen for his share of the spoil, and to determine on the utter destruction of the town, or its preservation. By a letter sent from the Mayor and burgesses of Caerleon to the Mayor and burgesses of Monmouth,--the propriety of referring which to this very year can scarcely be questioned,--we are informed that the Baron of Carew was not so easily tempted from his allegiance as some other "false traitors" in that district; and that he defeated and put to the sword a division of Owyn Glyndowr's army on the 12th of July,--the very day probably after the date of the Constable's last letter. This fact, when admitted, increases in importance; because it proves that as late, at least, as July 12th, Owyn Glyndowr, though generally successful in that campaign, was not without a formidable enemy there; and therefore by no means at liberty to quit the country at a moment's warning, or to leave his adherents without the protection of his forces and his own presence.

* * * * *

Copy of the second letter from the Constable of Dynevor:

"Dear Friend,--I do you to wit that Owyn was in purpose to
Kedwelly, and the Baron of Carew was coming with a great retinue
towards St. Clare, and so Owyn changed his purpose, and rode to
meet the Baron; and that night he lodged at St. Clare, and
destroyed all the country about. And on Tuesday they were at
treaties all day, and that night he lodged him at the town of
Locharn, six miles out of the town of Carmarthen. The intention
is, if the Baron and he accord in treaty, then he turneth again
to Carmarthen for his part of the good, and Rees Duy[350] (p. 391)
his part. And many of the great masters stand yet in the castle
of Carmarthen; for they have not yet made their ordinance
whether the castle and town shall be burnt or no; and therefore,
if there is any help coming, haste them all haste towards us, for
every house is full about us of their poultry, and yet wine and
honey enough in the country, and wheat and beans, and all manner
of victuals. And we of the castle of Dynevor had treaties with
him on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday; and now he will ordain for
us to leave that castle, [for ther a castyth to ben y serkled
thince,] for that was the chief place in old time. And Owyn's
muster on Monday was eight thousand and twelve score spears, such
as they were. Other tidings I not now; but God of Heaven send you
and us from all enemies! Written at Dynevor this Wednesday in
haste."

[Footnote 350: This partisan of Owyn, who is here
said to have gone to share with him in the spoil of
Carmarthen, partook even in greater bitterness of
his cup of affliction. He was taken prisoner and
beheaded. The Chronicle of London asserts that his
quarters were salted, and sent to different parts
of the kingdom; but this assertion, in an affair of
little importance, shows how small reliance can be
placed on anonymous records. The King, by writ of
privy seal, 29 May 1412, commands Rees Duy's body,
then in the custody of his officers, to be buried
in some consecrated cemetery. It had perhaps been
exposed for some time. MS. Donat. 4599, p. 128.]

The despatch from the burgesses of Carleon, after stating that seven hundred men, whom Owyn had sent forwards as pioneers and to search the ways, were to a man slain by the Lord of Carew's men on the 12th day of July, records an anecdote so characteristic of Owyn's superstition, that, whilst examining his conduct, we may scarcely pass it by unnoticed. He sent after Hopkyn ap Thomas of Gower, inasmuch (p. 392) as he held him Master of Brut, (_i. e._ skilled in the prophecies of Merlin,) to learn from him what should befal him, and he told him that he should be taken within a brief time between Carmarthen and Gower under a black banner. [The Author finds the next sentence so obscure that he leaves it to the interpretation of the reader.] "Knowelichyd that thys blake baner scholde dessese hym, and nozt that he schold be take undir hym."

In weighing the evidence brought to light by these original despatches, it will be necessary to have a few dates immediately present to our mind.

We have it under the King's own hand, that, when he was at Higham Ferrers, he believed himself to be on his road northward to form a junction with Hotspur and his father Northumberland, and together with them (of whose allegiance and fidelity he apparently had not hitherto entertained any suspicion) to make a joint expedition against the Scots. This letter is dated July 10, 1403.

Five days only at the furthest intervened between the date of this letter and the King's proclamation at Burton on Trent (still on his journey northward) to the sheriffs to raise their counties, and join him to resist the Percies, whose rebellion had then suddenly been made known to him. This proclamation is dated July 16, 1403. Four days only elapsed between the issuing of this proclamation and the death of Hotspur, with the total discomfiture of his followers in Hateley Field, where the battle of Shrewsbury was fought on Saturday, 21st of July, the very week on the Monday of which he had first heard of the revolt of the Percies.

If the dates relating to Owyn's proceedings,--some ascertained beyond further question, and others admitted on the ground of high probability, approaching certainty, with which the documents above quoted supply us,--are laid side by side with these indisputable facts, the inference from the comparison seems unavoidable, that Owyn was never made acquainted with the expectation on the part (p. 393) of his allies of so early a struggle with the King's forces in England; (indeed the conflict evidently was unexpected by Hotspur himself;) that Owyn was in the most remote corner of South Wales when the battle was fought; and that probably the sad tidings of Hotspur's overthrow reached him without his ever having been apprised (at least in time) that the Percy needed his succour.