AT BORDEAUX
Not long was I allowed to linger at the castle of Roxburgh, though, at
the time of my escape from Mount Moreville, there was on the borders
of Scotland much work for English warriors to do. Retaliating the
invasion of their country by the King of England, the Scots, scarce
taking time to recover from their fright, rushed to arms and commenced
their inroads, and many a Northumbrian village blazed in revenge for
the havoc so recently wrought in Lothian. On the Marches men almost
slept in their mail. The little barons, who held their lands and towers
south of the Tweed for the service of winding a horn to intimate to the
inhabitants that the Scots were approaching, had to "watch weel;" and
the garrison of Roxburgh and its brave governor were often roused at
dead of night to mount their horses, and contend with the assailing foe.
But, however exciting and instructive this kind of warfare might
have proved, I was destined for service beyond the sea; and, leaving
Copeland to struggle with the Scots, and Salle to attach himself to the
garrison of Berwick, whose slumbers, like those of their neighbours,
were often broken by the sound of trumpets and the war-cry of foes, I
reached London, and, having been charged with letters for the Prince of
Wales, I embarked for Guienne.
It was on the 1st of July that I set foot in Bordeaux, where the prince
then was, and beheld, for the first time, the province of which it was
regarded as the capital. Nor can I forget how pleasing was the effect
which the novelty of the scene produced upon me, as I found myself in
the commercial emporium of Southern France, staring with surprise at
the quaint dresses of the inhabitants, and gazing with interest on the
busy quays, the strong walls, the immense gates and towers, the noble
castle, the broad river running round the castle walls, and the hills
beyond the city, clothed with woods and vineyards. All the various
objects, presented for the first time to my view, gilded, as it were,
with the summer's sun, had their charm; and, under the influence of
mingled emotions, I could not but exclaim, "Who, save a coward, would
not fight for such a land as this?"
It is not wonderful that, the country being such as it was--so
fruitful, so productive, so pleasant, and so picturesque--the King of
England was eager to retain what had been saved, and to regain what
had been lost, of the bright and beautiful territory which came to his
ancestor, the second Henry, with the hand of Eleanor of Guienne. But,
in truth, it was not merely because the land was bright and beautiful,
ever blossoming and ever perfumed, with a sunny sky and a genial
climate, and shady groves and gay vineyards, appearing in the eyes of
strangers a terrestrial paradise, that it haunted the imagination and
stirred the ambition of our Plantagenets. Far, indeed, and quite free
were these politic princes from the weakness of allowing fancy to lead
them captive, when dealing with the interests of the nation with whose
history all their great triumphs in war and peace were associated in
the mind of Europe. Policy, not fancy, prompted their efforts to retain
and recover; for rich and fertile was the region watered by the Garonne
and the Adour, and of mighty importance to their island home was the
trade carried on between Bordeaux and the ports of England. It was of
commerce, and the wealth which commerce creates, that our English kings
thought; and it was because they deemed the possession of Guienne, with
that old city on the left bank of the Garonne as its capital, essential
to the prosperity of the country over which they reigned, that the
Plantagenets clung tenaciously to the fragment of that empire which,
in the days of their ancestor, the son of Geoffrey of Anjou and the
Empress Maude, had extended from the Channel to the Pyrenees.
When I reached Bordeaux, to draw my sword, under the banner of
England's heir, for the right of England's king to the territory which
Philip Augustus had wrested from King John, the Prince of Wales was
lodged in the abbey of St. Andrew, and his people were quartered
within the city. Accordingly, I rode through the streets to the abbey,
and, meeting Liulph, the archer, the companion of my struggle with
the wild bull in Windsor Forest, I informed him of my desire to see
the prince. Forthwith Liulph communicated my desire to a squire named
Bernard, who was not without influence, and, at my request, conducted
me to the presence of the young hero whose brows were, ere long, to be
decked with trophies still prouder than the feather which he had won
when its former owner, the blind King of Bohemia, fell in his memorable
charge at Cressy.
"Welcome, Master Winram," said the prince, as I presented the letters
with which I had been intrusted. "What news bring you from England?"
"Such, my lord, as it irks me to tell," replied I. "Never have the
Scots been more insolent in their bearing--never more ferocious in
their inroads. Again and again they have crossed the Border, burning
and ravaging the country. Even now, it may be, the sky is red with the
fires they have kindled in the North."
"And no sign of a truce--no prospect of a treaty?" said the prince with
curiosity.
"None, my lord," answered I with emphasis. "Nor, to speak frankly,"
continued I earnestly, "do I opine, from what I have seen and heard,
that, even if the Scots conclude truce or treaty, they will ever do so
with any serious intent to be bound by one or the other, so long as
their hatred of England and their predatory incursions are encouraged
and rewarded by him whom they call King of France."
"Ha! by St. George!" exclaimed the prince thoughtfully, "I have for
some time held such to be the case; and, if these letters from England
confirm what you say, and what I believe, I know but one way that I can
take to bring John of Valois to his senses, and render him powerless to
bribe our enemies to destroy the life and property of Englishmen; and,
by the memory of my sainted namesake who sleeps at Westminster, I will
take that course, and steel my heart against compunction for the misery
I may cause. For, mark you, it is only by destroying the provinces
whence John of Valois draws the wealth with which he carries on the war
to my prejudice as Duke of Guienne, and to the exclusion of my lord and
father from the throne of France, which is his rightful inheritance,
that we can influence his actions; and, therefore, if affairs wear
not a new face ere a week passes, I have resolved, and it is my fixed
purpose, to raise my banner and sally forth, and sweep the country as
far, even, it may be, as the fertile province of Berry."