Page:Essays and studies; by members of the English Association, volume 1.djvu/113

 want of courage. Barbour truly enough says, he 'fled with all his mycht'. Now Byland is not far from Rievaux Abbey about midway between Malton and Northallerton, so that it perfectly conforms to Harry's geography. And Sir Rauf Rymunt? He has been supposed to be a 'Richmond', although the Christian name was not found to square with that of the earl. But at the battle of Byland the two distinguished prisoners were Sir Rauf Cobham and the Earl of Richmond, John of Bretagne. Sir Rauf Rymunt, therefore, a literary figment, disintegrates under the chemical analysis of history into that not uncommon phenomenon, two gentlemen who have been poetically rolled into one.

On their defeat in (Harry's) battle the English fled to Malton, whither Wallace pursued them. In 1322, as the Bridlington Chronicle records, Bruce remained for a time in possession at Malton. English and Scots historians alike tell how Bruce chased the English to the gates of York. And if York did not redeem itself from Bruce, as Harry says it did from Wallace, certain it is that the adjacent town of Beverley did so ransom itself for 400. As for Fehew's castle, it is the castle of Ravenswath or Ravensworth, in Richmondshire, seat of the Fitzhughs, and we shall perhaps find later a reason for Harry's hatred of its lord. Harry's