sufficient provisions. The next day he proceeded a long journey as far as the bridge of Ov, which those of the town of Carentane had broken down, and the King caused it to be rebuilt the same night, and passed it the next day, and proceeded as far as the said town of Carentane, which is not more than about an English league from the said bridge: the which town is as large as Leicester, where he found an abundance of wines and provisions; and much of the town was burnt, notwithstanding all the King could do3. And on Friday* the King came to and slept in a village on a river, which it was difficult to cross; and those of the town of St. Lo broke the bridge, and the King rebuilt it and passed the next day, he and his Host, and took up his quarters adjoining the town, and all belonging to the town began to fortify it, and collected many armed men to defend it, who waited for the arrival of the King; and they found in the said town full one thousand tuns of wine and an abundance of other goods; and the town is larger than Lincoln 10. The next day11 the King pro 11 the king proceeded by land, the ships plundered the towns on the coast; but that Chronicler says, "They advanced until they came to Cherbourg, which they burnt and pillaged in part, but they could not conquer the castle, as it was too strong, and well garrisoned with men-at-arms; they therefore passed on and came before Montebourg, near Valongnes, which they pillaged and then set fire to."-Johnes's Froissart, chap. cxx. 1 Wednesday, July 19th. 2 Thursday, July 20.-Speaking of Carentane, Froissart says, "Those lords that were on board the fleet then disembarked with their people, and made a vigorous attack upon it," &c. He then states, that the inhabitants opened their gates and submitted to the English ; but that the men-at-arms defended the castle for two days and then surrendered it, "their lives and fortunes being saved." 9 Et fust mult de la ville arz p'r rien qe le Roy purroit faire. ↑ July 21st. 5 Villes campestres. tells "He took up his quarters on the banks of this river," Froissart us, "to wait for the return of that part of his army which had been sent along the sea coast;" but it is clear that Edward did so because the bridge over it had been destroyed. 7 Mal a passer. 8 Saturday, July 22nd. 9 Gentz d'armes. 10 Froissart does not notice any attempt to defend St. Lo; but describes it as containing "much drapery and many wealthy inhabitants; among them you might count eight or nine score that were engaged in commerce." He then says that Edward would not lodge in it for fear of fire; that it was taken by his advanced guard with a trifling loss, who completely plundered it; and that no one can imagine the quantity of riches they found in it, nor the number of bales of cloth.-Johnes's Froissart, chap. cxx. 11 Sunday, July 23rd. ceeded on his march, and slept at an abbey, and his Host in the villages around him; and the soldiers of the Host committed inroads all the day, robbing and destroying within about v or vj leagues, and burnt many places. And the Monday the King removed, and took up his quarters in villages; and the Tuesday also: and on Wednesday, at the hour of nones', he came before the town of Caen, and was informed that a great quantity of armed men were in the town; and the King arrayed his fine and numerous battles, and sent some persons to the town to examine it 10, and they found the castle fine and strong, in which were the Bishop of Baions, Knights, and troops11, who defended it. And towards the river the town is very fine, and very large; and at one end of the town is an Abbey as noble as possible where William the Conqueror lies buried; and it is surrounded by walls and embattled towers 12, large and strong, in which Abbey there was no one. And at the other end of the town, another noble Abbey of ladies; and no one remained in the said Abbeys, nor in the part of the town towards the river as far as the castle; and the inhabitants were in the town on the other side of the river, where the Constable of France and the Chamberlain de Tankerville, who was a very great Lord, and many troops, to the amount of five or six hundred, and the commons of the town, were 13. And our people of the Host, without permission or order, attacked the bridge, which was well fortified with bretages and walls, and they had much to do, as the French defended the said bridge bravely, and behaved 7 A houre de none. Roquefort explains hour of the day, i. e. three after noon; and which agrees with the meaning of the English word " nones." 8 Gentz d'armes. 9 Et le roy fist arraier ses batailles beals et grosses. 10 66 A la ville des veer," in Johnes's copy, but " a la ville de les veer," in the Harleian MS. 200, f. 991. 11 Gentz. 12 Tours battaillis. 13 Froissart's description of the capture of Caen is too long for insertion; nor does it contain any thing very remarkable, excepting that Sir Thomas Holland particularly distinguished himself; that the inhabitants who had taken refuge in the garrets flung upon the English stones, benches, and every missile they could find, by which they killed and wounded, he says, upwards of five hundred of them, which so enraged Edward that he commanded the remainder of the inhabitants to be put to the sword, and the town burnt. At the remonstrance of Sir Godfrey Harcourt, however, he countermanded his orders.. very well until they were taken1; and then were taken the said Constable and Chamberlain, and to the amount of one hundred Knights, and one hundred and twenty, or one hundred and forty Esquires, and a great many Knights, Esquires, and other people of the town were killed in the streets, houses, and in gardens; but no one could ascertain how many were persons of consequence3, because they were so stripped that it was impossible to recognise them; and no Gentleman of ours was slain, excepting an Esquire who was wounded and died two days afterwards. And there were found in the town wines, provisions, and other goods and chattels innumerable, and the town is larger than any town in England excepting London. And when the King quitted La Hogue, he left about two hundred ships, which went to Rothemasse, and proceeded and burnt the country two or three leagues in land, and took many goods and brought them to their ships; and then they went to Cherburgh, where was a good town and a strong castle, and a fine and noble abbey, and they burnt the said town and abbey; and all on the sea coast was burnt from Rothemasse as far as Hostrem on the haven of Caen, extending to one hundred and twenty English leagues, and the number of ships which were burnt is sixty-one of war, with castles before and behind, and twenty-three craiers, besides other smaller vessels, many laden with from twenty-one to thirty tuns of wine. And the Thursday after the King arrived before Caen, those of the city of Bions offered our Lord the King that they would render to him themselves and their town, and to perform homage to him; but he would not receive them upon any terms whilst it was in their power to do him harmR. 6 The next letter is from Robert Lord Willoughby, of Eresby, to his father-in-law Henry Lord Fitz-Hugh, and is what may be termed a domestic letter. It derives its principal claim to attention from the early period in which it was written, and from the rank of the parties to whom it relates. Although it contains no other date than "Tuesday, after the feast of the Nativity," it is certain, 1 Saunz assent & saunz arraie assaillerent le pount qe fust mult bien afforce des Bretages, et barrer, et avoient mult affeare, et les Fraunceys defenderent le dit pount fortment, et a eaux porteront mult bien devant qil poel estre pris sour eaux. Roquefort explains Bretages" to be, fortresses, citadels, parapets, strong places, moveable towers of wood to attack and defend places, &c. 66 2 Hollingshed asserts, that the Constable was taken by a person named Leigh, ancestor of the family of Leigh of Hanleigh, in Cheshire. 3 Gentz de bien. 4 Query-Rouen ? XX 5 Qamounte a vi lieges Engleis; but the writer must have meant "miles," as it is about that distance from Rouen to Cherburgh. 6 July 27th. 7 Query-Bayeux ? 8 Query-The original is, " meas il ne lez voleit resoeure pour ascuns enchesouns, et tanq' les purreit salver de damage.” from internal evidence, that it was written on Tuesday, the 9th September, 1411; hence, with the exception of a few printed in one of the volumes of Collins's "Peerage," and to which we shall, probably, on some occasion refer, it is, perhaps, one of the earliest family letters which is extant. Robert Lord Willoughby was then nearly twenty-six years of age; and, as is evident from the address, had married the daughter of Lord Fitz-Hugh, though Dugdale attributes no other wife to him than Maud, the cousin and heiress of Ralph Lord Cromwell. In the pedigree of Fitz-Hugh, however, that eminent genealogist says, that Lord Fitz-Hugh had a daughter "Joan, wife of Sir Robert Willoughby, a statement which this letter proves to be correct. The indefinite meaning which was formerly attached to the words "father," "mother," "brother," &c. renders it necessary to observe, that William, the son and heir of Henry Lord Fitz-Hugh, is said to have married Margery, the sister of this Lord Willoughby; but independent of the improbability that this connexion should induce him to style Lord-Fitz Hugh "his most honoured father," it must be remembered, that, in 1411, the said William was only about fourteen years old; a fact which, though it does not absolutely negative the possibility of his being then married, makes it extremely unlikely. William Lord Willoughby, the father of the writer of this letter, had two wives; first, Lucy, daughter of Roger Lord Strange, and secondly, Joan, sister and coheiress of Edmund Holland, Earl of Kent, and widow of Edward Plantagenet, Duke of York, but by her he had no issue, and died on the 4th December, 1409. The duchess, his widow, re-married in the 12th Henry IV. 1410-11, Henry Lord Scrope of Masham, who was appointed Lord Treasurer in the 11th Henry IV., from which dates the year in which this letter was written has been fixed; since he is described in it as "Treasurer of England," and it is manifest that he was not then married, though he was to be so "in all haste." Robert Lord Willoughby, who thus complains that his property was withheld from him, became one of the most distinguished warriors of his time; and is said by Sir William Dugdale to have served at Harfleur, Agincourt, the siege of Rouen, Vinoil, Mouns, and other battles in France, in the reigns of Henry the Fifth and Sixth. He died on the festival of St. James, 30th Henry VI. 25th July, 1452, leaving by Maud, the cousin and co-heiress of Ralph Lord Cromwell, and who must have been his second wife, (his first, the daughter of Lord Fitz-Hugh, having died, probably without issue, before 1425,) Joan, the wife of Sir Richard Welles, his daughter and heiress, then twenty-seven years old. The original of this letter is preserved in the Bodleian Library; it is written on a piece of paper 113 inches by 5', and the space occupied by the writing is 10 inches by 1, with the exception of the signature; and was sealed with red wax in the form of a cross, which extends from 3 to 32 inches. [MS. Dodsworth, 118, f. 53, Original.] A HONNURE Sr ET MOUN TRESSOUN'AIGNEMENT BIEN AME PIER' Honure S. et tressoun'aignement bien ame Pier. Je me comank a vous en taunt com Je say ou plus puisse. Desiraunt toutduz a oier et savoir bones novelx de vous et de v're honurable estat quels ieo prie adieux q' toutz iours sibones soient come vous mesmez sauetz mieulx deviser ou sohaider et come Je vorroie sentier de moy mesmes. Et vous please de savoir honure Sr. q' iay p'sue a ma treshonuree dame et mier' la duchesse Dev'wyk p' c'tainez chosez q'a moy deussent descender p' voie del heritage et unqore ie nay null' deliv'rance decelts et cett cause moy fate destre absente de vous si longement. Vous enprie q' ne soiez displeasez dautre p't ma d'ce t's honuree dame soy p'pose destre mariez ove le Sire de Scrope Tresorer dengleterre en tout le hast si come jeo suy enfo’mez et pr. tant qele ferroit carier lez biens avu'ntdiz hoes du pays tanq' ils furent deliv'ez Jeo suy demorantz et exspectantz en la pays. Et touchant lez novels n're Sr le y sey p'pose daler vers voz parties si come Jeo suy enfourme. Honure Sr. si rien soit q' ieo p'ra faire moy voillez c'tifier et ieo lez p'fo'nera de treslee coer a tout mun poair. Autres ne say a vous escrier mes ie prie a n're S. tout puissant vous eit en sa t'sentisme garde et vous ottroie tresbone vie et long' a endure. Escr' a Eresby le Marsdy ap's le fest del nativite n're Dame. Tout le vre' fitz Rob't de [TRANSLATION.] TO MY HONOURED LORD AND MOST ENTIRELY BELOVED FATHER, HENRY FITZ HUGH, LORD OF RAVENSWATH, Honoured Lord and right entirely well-beloved Father, I commend me unto you as much as I know how or most can, desiring always to know and hear good news of yourself, and of your honourable estate, which I pray to God may always be as good as you yourself can best devise or wish, and as I should desire to feel myself. And may it please you to know, honoured Lord, that I am claiming from my most honoured lady and mother, the Duchess of York, certain things which ought to have descended to me by right of inheritance, and which have not yet been delivered to me; and this has caused me to be absent so long from you. I entreat that you will not be displeased. On the other hand, my said most honoured lady intends to be married with the Sire de Scrope, Treasurer of England, in all haste, as I am informed; and for as much as she would cause the before-mentioned goods to be conveyed out of the country, until they be delivered I am remaining and waiting in the country. And respecting news, our Lord proposes to proceed toward your parts, as I am informed. Most honoured Lord, if there be any thing that I can do, be pleased to mention it to me, and I will perform it with a will |