Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 1.djvu/322

308 brother Llewellyn, agreed to act in concert with him. On the 2-2wl of Mirch, A.D. 1282, David suddenly descended from the Flintshire hills with a body of troops, and surprised the strong castle of Hawarden. Roger Clifford, the justiciary, was taken in his bed and made prisoner, and on the part of the garrison little resistance was made. This success emboldened the natives, who now rose on all sides to join the standard of their chiefs. Llewellyn led his men against the castles of Flint and Rhuddlan, and though repulsed from these strong fortresses, he inflicted great damage upon the English in other places, forcing them from their strongholds, and often driving them across the borders.

When the news of the insurrection was brought to Edward he refused to believe it; but it has been supposed that his surprise was rather feigned than real, and that he was not displeased to have a pretext for another expedition which should complete his conquest, and place it on a firm basis. He obtained money by means of a forced loan, levied upon all his subjects who had money to pay; and having collected an army, he advanced once more into North Wales, attended, as before, by a fleet. Among his forces were a large body of pioneers, who opened a passage for the troops through the woods and marshes, and enabled him to beat back the Welsh as far as the foot of Snowdon. The accounts which have reached us of this campaign are very obscure; and it is difficult to trace the successive encounters between the mountaineers and their assailants. It would appear, however, that the advantage was by no means all on one side, and that a pitched battle took place, in which the numerous army of the king was worsted. The fleet of the king had occupied the Isle of Anglesey, whence the troops directed their offensive operations. A bridge of boats was laid across the Menai Straits, where now the suspension bridge of Telford and the iron tube of Stephenson afford a safe and convenient passage. The Welsh had raised some entrenchments on the mainland, and there awaited the expected attack. During the absence of Edward, a body of his troops crossed over the straits before the bridge was quite completed, so that they were compelled to wade some distance through the water to reach the shore. The Welsh made no opposition to their landing, and even suffered them to approach their works; but meanwhile the tide was rising, and presently reached a height which rendered it impossible for the English to gain their boats. While in this position the mountaineers rushed out upon them and drove them into the sea, where all those who escaped the sword were speedily engulfed. The loss to the English on this occasion numbered thirteen knights, seventeen esquires, and several hundred men-at-arms. Another engagement afterwards took place, at which Edward himself was defeated, and compelled to fly from the field, leaving several of his chief nobles among the number of the dead.

These successes caused great joy to Llewellyn and his associates, though the struggle which they so heroically maintained was, in reality, hopeless. Fresh troops were constantly arriving to the support of the king, while his numerous fleet offered them protection and support. Among the reinforcements were some mountaineers of the Basque provinces, well suited for that mode of warfare, in which agility of limb and rapidity of motion possessed a decided advantage over the slow operations of the English troops. The Basques followed the Welsh to their fastnesses, and there fought them in their own way, usually with the advantage of numbers. The natives were thus dislodged from their defences, driven from mountain to mountain, and compelled, inch by inch, to retreat.

But while such was the frequent result of these conflicts, the combined efforts of the Welsh leaders were attended with the success which has been described. Llewellyn trusted that the elements to which he owed his former defeat would now exert an influence in his favour, and that the rigours of winter would compel the king to quit the country. But Edward was too able a general to suffer himself to be so defeated. He undertook more vigorous measures, and while pressing the natives to the utmost with his own forces, he dispatched a second army, which had recently been collected, into South Wales, for the purpose of attacking the enemy in the rear. Llewellyn immediately marched to meet this new danger, leaving his brother David to oppose the king. At Bailth, in the valley of the Wye, the Welsh prince found himself suddenly in the presence of a large force of English troops, who were encamped on the opposite side of the river. Llewellyn had advanced in front of his men, and descended a hill to watch the motions of the enemy. He had entered a barn, either for shelter or repose, when he was surprised by a party of English who had crossed the river. Hopeless as the contest was, the prince turned desperately on his assailants, struck his last blow for home and liberty, and then fell, pierced through the body by a spear. His head was cut off, and, by direction of Edward, was sent to London, where it was placed in the Tower, with a crown of willow round the brows. This order was given by the king, in derision of the prophecy of Merlin.

The independence of Wales was buried in the grave of Llewellyn. The king had, indeed, some further resistance to encounter, but it was unorganised and soon subdued, as far as active hostilities were concerned, many of the native chiefs at once gave in their submission to the crown, but David maintained his opposition for six mouths, surrounded by a few followers, in the fastnesses of the mountains. At length he was betrayed into his enemies' hands, and was carried in chains to the castle of Rhuddlan. In the following month Edward brought the case of the captive before a parliament, hastily and irregularly summoned at Shrewsbury. That parliament assented obsequiously to whatever the king described as just and necessary; and, consequently, they condemned the Welsh prince to be dragged by a horse to the place of execution, because, after receiving the order of knighthood from the king, he had turned traitor; to be hung, because he had caused the murder of the knights in Hawarden Castle; to have his bowels burned, because he had profaned the sacredness of Palm Sunday, the day on which the deed was committed, and to be quartered, and have his limbs hung up in different provinces, because he had conspired against the king's life. This shameful sentence was not only carried into effect, but served for many years as a precedent in cases of high treason.

Edward now directed his attention to more peaceful measures for securing his conquest, he remained in Wales during another year, and occupied himself in enticing the natives as far as possible from their uncultivated habits, and in prevailing upon them to adopt fixed residences and English customs. To this end he divided the country into shires