hbishop Arundel landed at
Ravenspur, and the King hurried back as soon as he heard of it, landing
in Wales, and securing himself, as he hoped, first at Conway and then at
Flint. According to Froissart, Aumerle and Le Despenser had remained
behind in Bristol, and when they heard that the King was taken, they
retired to Heulle, a manor in Wales belonging to the latter. But
Creton, an eye-witness, expressly tells us that "the brave Earl of
Gloucester" was with King Richard in Wales, and his indenture mentioned
on the Patent Roll shows that he was in London in October. (Froissart's
_Chronicles, book_ iv, _chapter_ 114; _Harl. Ms_. 1319; _Rot. Pat_, 1
H. IV, Part 6.) It was on the 19th of August that King Richard and his
faithful few were seized in the gorge of Gwrych. (_Harl. Ms_. 1319.)
The route taken to London was by Chester, Nantwich, Newcastle, Stafford,
Lichfield (where the King all but effected his escape), Coventry,
Daventry, Northampton, Dunstable, Saint Albans, and Westminster,
reaching the last place on the first of September. It is difficult to
say whether Le Despenser was present, or what part he took, at the
coronation of Henry the Fourth. According to Cretan's continuator, the
canopy was held by four dukes--York, Aumerle, Surrey (who accepted his
post very unwillingly), and Gloucester. There was no Duke of Gloucester
at this time. It might be supposed that Le Despenser, Earl of
Gloucester, was meant, were it not that the writer more than once
intimates that there were four _dukes_ concerned. The probability is
that he mistook the name, and that the fourth duke was the only other
whom it well could be, and who we know was present--Exeter. Le
Despenser was still in London on the 27th of October. On the fourth of
January, 1400, the six loyal friends met at Kingston, as detailed in the
text. The account there given is strictly accurate up to the point of
Surrey's death and the escape of the survivors from Cirencester, with
the simple exceptions that it is not stated who suggested firing the
hotel, nor who executed it. From this point the main incidents are
true:--the parting of Le Despenser and Salisbury near Berkeley Castle,
the flight of the former to Cardiff, his escape (we are not told how)
from officers sent to apprehend him, his adventure with the traitorous
bargeman, imprisonment in Bristol Castle, seizure by the mob, and
beheading in the market-place. All chroniclers who name the incident