ailants plunged into
the moat below.

There are a large number of interesting details connected with both
the military functions of the castle and its domestic economy. There
were at least four exits (not counting the two water-gates); this
would give the garrison opportunities of harassing assailants by
sallies, and would make a much larger army necessary in order to
blockade the castle; contrast the single narrow entrance to the Norman
keep--high up in the wall and visible to all outside. The water-gates
are worth studying, especially the methods of protecting the eastern
water-gate--two grates with a shoot above and between them. One should
notice, too, the "splaying" of the outer wall, by which missiles from
the top would be projected outwards; and also the use of the
mill-stream to carry away the refuse of the garderobe tower. And there
are many other points, to which one would like to call attention, if
time allowed.

The history of Caerphilly in the Middle Ages need not detain us long.
It was besieged by Llywelyn in 1271, while it was being built.
Llywelyn declared he could have taken it in three days if he had not
been persuaded to submit the dispute to the arbitration of the king.
It is clear that the castle was not finished; shortly after this
Gilbert de Clare obtained license from the king to "enditch" the
castle: such license was not, as a rule, required in the Marches (as
it was in England) and was only necessary now because the king was
acting as arbitrator. The Earl of Gloucester kept possession. We next
hear of it in 1315, when it resisted the attack of Llywelyn Bren. It
was then in the hands of the king, pending the division of the
Gloucester inheritance among the three co-heiresses. In 1318
Caerphilly, with the rest of Glamorgan, was granted to the younger
Despenser, who perhaps enlarged the hall and made the other
alterations referred to above. Edward II. was there for a few days
when flying for his life; had he trusted to Caerphilly, instead of
fleeing further through South Wales, he might have saved his head and
his crown; at any rate, there would have been a great siege to add to
the history of mediaeval warfare. The king's adherents held out in
Caerphilly for months, and only surrendered when, the king being dead,
there was nothing more to fight for, and they were allowed to go free.
Happy is the castle which has no history. The perfection of Caerphilly
as a fortress saved it from serious attac