Chapter XXIV: Appendix: G

THE WORD "BRETASCHE"

This word, which also appears as bretagium, britagium, or bristega, evidently means a tower, as is clear from the following passages: Order from King John to erect a _mota et bretagium_ at Roscrea, in Ireland (Sweetman's _Calendar_, i., 412); Order by Henry III. to the dwellers in the Valley of Montgomery "quod sine dilatione motas suas bonis bretaschiis firmari faciant" (_Close Rolls_, ii., 42); Order that the timber and bretasche of Nafferton Castle be carried to Newcastle, and the bretasche to be placed at the gate of the drawbridge _in place of the little tower_ which fell through defect in its foundations (_Close Rolls_, i., 549b).

The word is also expressly defined by William the Breton as a wooden castle: "Circuibat castrum ex omni parte, et fabricavit brestachias duplices per septem loca, _castella videlicet lignea_ munitissima." (Bouquet, xvii., 78.)

See also Wright, "Illustrations of Domestic Architecture," _Arch. Journ._, i., 212 and 301. In these papers it is clear that "breteske" means a tower, as there are several pictures of it. At a later period it seems to have been used for a wooden balcony made for the purpose of shooting, in the same sense as the word "hurdicium"; but I have not met with any instance of this before the 14th century.

APPENDIX H

THE WORDS "HURDICIUM" AND "HORDIARI"

These words refer to the wooden galleries carried round the tops of walls, to enable the defenders to throw down big stones or other missiles on those who were attempting to attack the foot of the walls. "Hurdicia quæ muros tutos reddebant." (_Philippidos_, vii., 201; Bouquet, xvii.) The word "alures" is sometimes used in the same sense. See a mandamus of Henry III., cited by Turner, _History of Domestic Architecture_, i., 198: "To make on the same tower [of London] on the south side, at the top, deep alures of good and strong timber, entirely and well covered with lead, through which people can look even to the foot of the tower, and better defend it, if need may be." The alures of the castle of Norwich are spoken of as early as 1187, but this mention, and one of the alures round the castle of Winchester in 1193, are the only ones I find in the 12th century in England.

APPENDIX I

"HERICIO, ERICIO, HERITO, HERISSON"

This is derived from the French word _hérisson_, a hedgehog, and should mean something bristling, perhaps with thorns or osiers. Several passages show that it was a defence on the counterscarp of the ditch, and it may sometimes have been a hedge. Cohausen, _Befestigungen der Vorzeit_, shows that hedges were frequently used in early fortifications (pp. 8-13). The following passages seem to show clearly that it was on the counterscarp of the ditch: "[Montreuil] il a bien clos, esforce e ferme de pel e _hericon_." (Wace, 107.) "Reparato exterioris Ardensis munitionis valli fossato et amplificato, et sepibus et ericiis consepto et constipato." (Lambert of Ardres, 623, _circa_ 1117.) The French poem of Jordan Fantosme, describing the siege of Wark by the Scots in 1174, says the Scots attacked and carried the _hericon_, and got into the ditch, but they could not take the bayle, _i.e._, they could not get over the palicium.

APPENDIX K

THE CASTLE OF YALE

In the year 1693, the antiquary Edward Llwyd was sitting on the motte of Tomen y Rhoddwy engaged in making a very bad plan of the castle [published in _Arch. Camb._, N.S., ii., 57]. His guide told him that he had heard his grandfather say that two earls used to live there. Llwyd called the guide an ignorant fellow. Modern traditions are generally the work of some antiquary who has succeeded in planting his theories locally; but here we have a tradition of much earlier date than the time when antiquaries began to sow tares, and such traditions have usually a shred of truth in them. Is it possible that this castle of Tomen y Rhoddwy and the neighbouring one of Llanarmon were built by the earls of Chester and Shrewsbury, who certainly went on expeditions together against Wales, and appear to have divided their conquests? It is to be noted that the township is called _Bodigre yr Yarll_, the township of the earls.