Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume II.djvu/28

 as large as life, representing combatants in every situation of military defence; some in the act of heaving down stones on the assailants, others of discharging arrows, wielding battle-axes, and casting javelins. Early in the Saxon times (if not whilst the Romans continued in that kingdom) Alnwick-Castle appears to have been built, though not upon its present extensive scale; nor was its importance sufficient to entitle it to historical record till the Norman æra, when, in the reign of Rufus, Malcolm III. lost his life in attempting to possess himself of it. Already had the garrison consumed all their provisions; and, dispirited with hunger, and hopeless of succour, were on the point of beating a surrender, when a gallant soldier, named Hamond, determined to make an effort for the salvation of his comrades. Armed cap-a-pic, and bearing the keys of the castle on the point of his spear, he rode towards the Scottish camp, as if to present them to the king. Malcolm, delighted with the unexpected event, ran hastily out of his tent unarmed to receive them; when Hamond suddenly drawing his dagger, plunged it into the monarch's heart, and clapping spurs to his horse, rushed into the river, swam the ford, and escaped into the castle. The death of Edward, the eldest son of the deceased king,(who in the bitterness of anguish, exposed