Copy 1, Volume 1

A topographical history of Surrey / By Edward Wedlake Brayley, assisted by John Britton, and E. W. Brayley, jun. The geological section by Gideon Mantell. The illustrative department under the superintendence of Thomas Allom.

  • Edward William Brayley
Date:
1850
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A topographical history of Surrey / By Edward Wedlake Brayley, assisted by John Britton, and E. W. Brayley, jun. The geological section by Gideon Mantell. The illustrative department under the superintendence of Thomas Allom. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    When the insurrection of the gallant Bruce in Scotland, in the early part of 1306, rendered a new expedition necessary to subdue the revolt, King Edward, though in an ill state of health, determined to wreak a most signal vengeance on that unhappy country ; and, as a preparatory step, he caused proclamation to be made, that £ all those who were heirs to estates held by knight’s service, or military tenure,’ should appear at Westminster, on the ensuing Feast of Pentecost; there to be admitted, and receive the honour of Knighthood, in com- pany with his son, the Prince of Wales. Three hundred youthful aspirants to renown, among whom was the Earl of Surrey, were made knights on this occasion. The ceremony was accompanied by the most solemn observances; the King himself making oath by “the God of Heaven and the Swans,” that he would proceed to Scotland, “ and dead or alive, avenge the death of John Comyn [who had been slain by Bruce], and the broken faith of the Scots.” He afterwards demanded, and received, the pledges of all present, that they would accompany him; and even if he should die, that they would cause “ his body to be carried before them into Scotland, and not have it buried, until they had triumphed over that perfidious King and nation.”87 On the following day, the newly-made knights, with their military retainers, marched towards Scotland; but, notwithstanding the vast armament which Edward had prepared for the re-conquest of that country, his long illness and subsequent decease, (at Burgh-on-Sands, near Carlisle,) on the 7th of July, 1307, conjoined with the weakness and irresolution of his successor, rendered the attempt abortive. In the fourth year of Edward the Second, this Earl was again employed in Scotland; and his services there, particularly in the neighbourhood of Selkirk, were rewarded by a free grant, for life, of the Castle and Honor of the Peak, in Derbyshire, with the whole Forest of the High Peak.88 The next year, he was present with the Earl of Pembroke and other nobles, at the siege of Scarborough castle; in which fortress Piers Gaveston, the profligate favourite of the King, who had been declared a public enemy, had sought refuge. After a short defence, Gaveston was compelled to surrender, on the promise that his life should be spared; but the contemptuous nick- names which, in his prosperity, he had dared to lavish on some of the 2J See Brayley and Britton’s Ancient Palace of Westminster, pp. 96—98, for some curious particulars of this extraordinary scene. The crowd was so great about the high- altar in the Abbey church at Westminster, where the principal ceremonies took place, that two knights were killed by the pressure, and many others injured. 28 Patent. 4 Edw. II. p. 2, m. 13 ; and Fines, same year, m. 13.
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