THE ALIEN PRIORIES IN THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 241 armed and unarmed, (" cooperti " or " discooperti ") cross- bowmen, messengers going and coming, men sent to search for arms on the mainland ; the wages of overseers of the works, on whom was laid the additional duty of exciting the workmen to faithful labour, and watching over the engines and springalds, barriers and brestages, as well as of inducing the inhabitants to take up arms, and the infantry to keep faithful watch, — vages paid to three horsemen and as many footmen for conducting to London a certain suspected party, a knight arrested in the island for having been known to hold intercourse with one Thomas de Frobeville, convicted of enmity to the king and his realm. The whole brings before us a scene of din, hurry, bustle, noise, and activity, bespeaking the apprehensions entertained by the king and his advisers of a hostile descent on the shores of the Island, and of the urgent need of placing it in a state of complete defence with as little delay as possible. The whole of this portion of the document will reward careful examination, as an interesting page of mcdiieval military history, rich in picturesque detail.
