should not be so
hasty; she had no reason to doubt his loyalty. In fact, it was entirely possible that
his indiscretion might have helped.
â
Helped?
â she said.
âYou know it was proposed to Edward of York
that he should marry the Queen of Scots,â Dr Morton said. âBut our gallant duke may have
distracted her.â
Jasper said it was more likely to be Bishop
Kennedy who had thwarted that particular plan. But certainly he did not think that the
young duke was disloyal. âJust young,â he said.
The queen was too tired to argue. âDo as you
think,â she said. âI am not likely to speak to him again. I will set off early forScotland. And you will ride south, to retake the fortresses of the
north!â
In November 1462 Queen Margaret, with
a small army, came out of France into Scotland and, enjoying the aid of the King of
Scots, crossed the border into England and made sharp war.
Great Chronicle of London
There occurred sieges of castles in
Northumberland and various clashes on the Scottish borders â¦
Crowland Chronicle
My Lord of Warwick lies at the castle
of Warkworth and he rides daily to all these castles to oversee the sieges. If they
need victuals or anything else, he is ready to supply them. The king commanded my
Lord of Norfolk to send victuals and the ordnance from Newcastle to Warkworth Castle
to my Lord of Warwick, and so my Lord of Norfolk commanded Sir John Howard [and
several others] to escort the victuals and ordnance and so yesterday [10th December
1462] we were with my Lord of Warwick at Norfolk. The King lieth at Durham and my
Lord of Norfolk at Newcastle ⦠no one can depart, unless, of course, they
steal away without permission, but if this were to be detected they would be sharply
punished â¦
Paston Letters
9
Siege
Some sieges took a long time; months, even
years. Warwick did not think these would. Already he had heard that the garrisons were
eating their horses. It had been reported from Dunstanburgh that Dr Morton, before
taking the first slice of his own horse, had said that
since Our Lord had changed
water into wine he would doubtlessly be capable of changing this poor meat into the
finest venison.
The Earl of Warwick had enjoyed this
comment. He always appreciated the diversions of wit under pressure. He had told his men
there would be no need to use their artillery, they just had to keep up the blockade.
The men grumbled at this, since it was the longer option. But Warwick had no intention
of using up his munitions, nor of causing lasting damage to good fortresses when they
might need them afterwards.
âWhat about provisions?â one of his captains
had said, while another objected that at least the besieged were under shelter. The rain
was turning rapidly to snow and the wind blowing so hard that it ripped through the
tents and lifted the pegs clear out of the ground.
âOur supplies are better than theirs,â was
all Warwick would say. The Duke of Norfolk was sending a stream of provisions from
Newcastle, which was why Warwick made the arduous sixty-mile circuit each day, through
hostile terrain, to ensure that the supplies reached all his men at each castle.
And it
was
hostile, though it had a kind of forbidding, melancholy beauty, sky and sea the same wet
grey colour as the cliffs. As he rode through the desolate landscape there were no
attacks, but the people were full of complaint. The queen had sent out raiding parties
from her garrisons to all the farms, manors and priories, demanding money, livestock and
food. The abbots of Durham and Hexham had gone so far as to demand the return of the
money the queen had taken from them. Margaret of Anjou did not help her own cause; the
earl had observed this before. The people had forgotten neither Towton, nor the queenâs
long march south when they had been forcibly conscripted to her
hasty; she had no reason to doubt his loyalty. In fact, it was entirely possible that
his indiscretion might have helped.
â
Helped?
â she said.
âYou know it was proposed to Edward of York
that he should marry the Queen of Scots,â Dr Morton said. âBut our gallant duke may have
distracted her.â
Jasper said it was more likely to be Bishop
Kennedy who had thwarted that particular plan. But certainly he did not think that the
young duke was disloyal. âJust young,â he said.
The queen was too tired to argue. âDo as you
think,â she said. âI am not likely to speak to him again. I will set off early forScotland. And you will ride south, to retake the fortresses of the
north!â
In November 1462 Queen Margaret, with
a small army, came out of France into Scotland and, enjoying the aid of the King of
Scots, crossed the border into England and made sharp war.
Great Chronicle of London
There occurred sieges of castles in
Northumberland and various clashes on the Scottish borders â¦
Crowland Chronicle
My Lord of Warwick lies at the castle
of Warkworth and he rides daily to all these castles to oversee the sieges. If they
need victuals or anything else, he is ready to supply them. The king commanded my
Lord of Norfolk to send victuals and the ordnance from Newcastle to Warkworth Castle
to my Lord of Warwick, and so my Lord of Norfolk commanded Sir John Howard [and
several others] to escort the victuals and ordnance and so yesterday [10th December
1462] we were with my Lord of Warwick at Norfolk. The King lieth at Durham and my
Lord of Norfolk at Newcastle ⦠no one can depart, unless, of course, they
steal away without permission, but if this were to be detected they would be sharply
punished â¦
Paston Letters
9
Siege
Some sieges took a long time; months, even
years. Warwick did not think these would. Already he had heard that the garrisons were
eating their horses. It had been reported from Dunstanburgh that Dr Morton, before
taking the first slice of his own horse, had said that
since Our Lord had changed
water into wine he would doubtlessly be capable of changing this poor meat into the
finest venison.
The Earl of Warwick had enjoyed this
comment. He always appreciated the diversions of wit under pressure. He had told his men
there would be no need to use their artillery, they just had to keep up the blockade.
The men grumbled at this, since it was the longer option. But Warwick had no intention
of using up his munitions, nor of causing lasting damage to good fortresses when they
might need them afterwards.
âWhat about provisions?â one of his captains
had said, while another objected that at least the besieged were under shelter. The rain
was turning rapidly to snow and the wind blowing so hard that it ripped through the
tents and lifted the pegs clear out of the ground.
âOur supplies are better than theirs,â was
all Warwick would say. The Duke of Norfolk was sending a stream of provisions from
Newcastle, which was why Warwick made the arduous sixty-mile circuit each day, through
hostile terrain, to ensure that the supplies reached all his men at each castle.
And it
was
hostile, though it had a kind of forbidding, melancholy beauty, sky and sea the same wet
grey colour as the cliffs. As he rode through the desolate landscape there were no
attacks, but the people were full of complaint. The queen had sent out raiding parties
from her garrisons to all the farms, manors and priories, demanding money, livestock and
food. The abbots of Durham and Hexham had gone so far as to demand the return of the
money the queen had taken from them. Margaret of Anjou did not help her own cause; the
earl had observed this before. The people had forgotten neither Towton, nor the queenâs
long march south when they had been forcibly conscripted to her
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