all the southern
coast of the island, was already built in the eleventh century. From
this impregnable fortress, with its massive walls nine feet in
thickness, its squat, strong Norman turrets, its encircling fosse, and
the perpendicular cliffs by which its seaward wall was made unscalable,
Sir Jordan de Marisco used to sally with his retainers, making war on
all alike, levying toll--_blackmail_, if ever there was, in the true
meaning of the word--disobeying the laws of the land, and outraging the
dictates of common humanity. So that, though he had married a
Plantagenet, a blood relation of the King's, Henry II declared his
estate of Lundy forfeited, and granted it to the Knights-Templars.
Whether peace was made between Sir Jordan and Henry, or whether Henry
was not strong enough to enforce his edict (though he was a powerful
and determined monarch), I do not know; but in 1199, in the reign of
King John, Sir Jordan's son William following in his father's evil
ways, the grant of Lundy was confirmed to the Templars.

But this fortress was a hard nut to crack. The only approach is from
the south-eastern corner, by a steep and narrow path commanded by the
castle, and held by Marisco's men, and it was no light undertaking for
the invaders to beach their boats and effect a landing against wind,
weather, and attack. So that, although a tax was levied upon Devon and
Cornwall to support an undertaking for the siege of Lundy, it does not
appear to have been taken; for it was granted to Henry de Tracy (of the
famous family of Tracy, cursed since the murder of Becket), and a few
years later to one Robert Walerand. Then for some years de Marisco
seems to have found even its mighty walls and granite cliffs too
insecure, for he is found fighting among the French, and in 1217 was
taken prisoner in a sea-fight, when Eustace the Monk, the pilot of the
French fleet, was slain. Yet a few months later, in November of the
same year, he was reinstated in possession of Lundy, and his wife, his
sons and daughters, who had been seized by Henry III as hostages, were
restored to him. Now favoured, now disgraced, but turbulent to the
last, he died in possession of Lundy, but in the very year of his death
having paid ransom to Henry of 300 marks.

His grandson, also William de Marisco, filled up the tale of violence
and ill-doing, and forfeited at length the family inheritance, by his
share in the attempted murder of the King at Woodstock.