aesar,--the appropriating Saxons,--and the savage Danes and
Norsemen, with their pirate hordes, storming the outposts of the military
camp from their uncouth naval fleets,--and thence to the era of the
Norman hero planting his foot upon our soil, when barons multiplied in
the land; and one scene of history enacted within the castle walls,
bearing this date, tells much of feudal laws and feudal power.

The earldom of the city, castle, and meadow lands, being then possessed
by a Breton, named Ralph de Gael, or Guader, partly by gift from the
Conqueror, partly perhaps by force of arms, this local sovereign designed
to wed the daughter of one Fitz-Osborn, a relation of William.

This matrimonial scheme not pleasing his lord the king, without ceremony
it was prohibited; but in that day of might _versus_ might, earls and
barons would sometimes have a will of their own, and the fair affianced
was made a bride within the chapel walls, whose doorway in an angle,
marks the site of the act of disobedience; the banquetting room then
received the bridal guests, and the sumptuous feast, with its attendant
libations, witnessed a yet more decided scene of rebellion; the
bridegroom and the bride's own brother, the Earl of Hereford, already
committed by carrying the forbidden marriage into effect, became eloquent
and bold in their language and designs, until a chorus of excited voices
joined them in oaths that sealed them as conspirators against their
absent sovereign. Treachery revealed the plot, and the church lent its
aid to the crown to crush the rebels. Lanfranc, the primate and
archbishop, sent out troops, headed by bishops and justiciaries, the
highest dignitaries of church and law, to oppose and besiege them; the
bridegroom fled for succour to his native Brittany, leaving his bride for
three months to defend the garrison with her followers, at the end of
which time the brave Emma was compelled to capitulate, but upon mild
terms, obtaining leave for herself and followers to flee to Brittany; her
husband thenceforth became an outlaw--her brother was slain, and scarcely
one guest present at that ill-fated marriage feast escaped an untimely
end. Each prisoner lost a right foot, many their eyes, and all their
worldly goods. A sorrowful romance of real life, to mark the early
history of our castle halls.

Nor did the city go unscathed, the devastation carried into its midst by
the siege was heavy; many houses were burnt, many dese