Fulk Fitz-Gwarine acted the hero in all his enterprizes with such vigour,
capacity, and celerity, that Henry I. knighted him, made him steward of
his house, and conferred on him the arduous office of Lieutenant of the
Marches; it was this that gave him the name of Fulco or Fulk, signifying
Lieutenant. In this department his sword did not long remain undrawn;
the Cambrian Prince, Gryffydd ap Cynan, according to the general practice
of his countrymen, made a descent upon the lordship of Whittington, and
the surrounding country. These incursions were made so frequently, and
attended with such pernicious effects, that the power of the Lords’
Marchers was often necessary to repel their progress: indeed this was
their sole office, and a very useful one it was. In the present case,
Fitz-Gwarine nobly conducted himself, by wounding the Welsh king in the
shoulder, and completely routing his army. The Welsh however returned
soon after, drove Fulk from the Castle of Whittington, and gained
possession of the lordship; and it appears from a peace made by Henry II.
with Owen Gwynedd, the succeeding prince of Wales, that it was kept by
the latter, and bestowed on one of his favourites, of the name of Roger;
Fulk had the manor of Alston, in Gloucestershire as a recompence.
It is recorded that Fulk Fitz-Gwarine, and John son to Henry II.
afterwards King John, were playing at chess together, when it happened
that they disagreed, and the prince gave Fulk a severe blow upon the head
with the board, which the latter returned in such a violent manner, as
almost to kill the young prince; a circumstance, had it happened, not
much to be regretted, were it not in consideration of the glorious Magna
Charta afterwards obtained from him.
Mr. Dovaston in speaking of the noble actions of Fitz-Gwarine, mentions
Fulk and John’s quarrel in the following manner:
“Enough to name our last affray,
The prince his temper lost at play,
The chess-board swung with coward sway
And hurl’d my head upon.
Ill could the wrong my bosom brook,
I sent him first a furious look,
Then firm with knuckles clench’d I strook
The pate of royal John.”
Fulk Fitz-Gwarine was succeeded by his eldest son, who bore the same
name. He raised the glory and dignity of his family beyond any thing it
had yet attained to, by numerous and valourous actions, hereafter
respectively to be recorded. At the time, his father died, he was
actively engaged in Lombardy, where he conducted himself with such
ability and vigour, that king