[Illustration: FLINT CASTLE.]
This Castle is, or rather was, situated on an insulated rock, in
a marsh on the river Dee, which still, at high tides, washes its walls.
It is a site of considerable historical interest, being the place where
the unhappy King Richard II was delivered into the hands of his rival,
Bolingbroke. The unfortunate monarch, it appears, finding himself
deserted, had withdrawn to North Wales, with a design to escape to
France. He was, however, decoyed to agree to a conference with
Bolingbroke, and on the road was seized by an armed force, conveyed to
Flint Castle, and thence led by his successful rival to the metropolis.
Shakspeare has perpetuated Flint Castle by its frequent mention in his
"Life and Death of King Richard the Second." He has indeed invested it
with high poetical interest. Thus, in Scene 2 of Act iii. where occurs
that touching lament of unkingship--
----Of comfort, no man speak:
Let's talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs, &c.