POLITICAL HISTORY of June. On 23 July Henry IV himself was in Shropshire preparing for a Welsh campaign. Stores were accumulated in the castle of Hereford, Leominster was to be fortified, and Wigmore was made the centre of the line of defence, the frontier south of that fortress being under the charge of the earl of Stafford, while the northern line was under the care of the earl of Arundel.'^'^ Operations were interrupted for the time by the irruption of the Scots into Northumberland, which ended in the battle of Homildon Hill, and in November Sir Edmund Mortimer, incensed by Henry's failure to succour him, and by his refusal to allow him to be ransomed, made an alliance with Glendower and married his daughter. In March, 1403, the whole force of Herefordshire was summoned to muster under the Prince of Wales at Shrewsbury, together with the levies of Shropshire, Worcestershire, and Gloucestershire.*'^' Richard of Conisbrough, afterwards earl of Cambridge, was stationed at Hereford, and on 9 May wrote to the king's council pressing for payment for his force, which had been under arms since 9 April. Want of money hampered young Henry's operations. On i July the sheriff of Hereford- shire attacked and defeated Welsh raiders in Brecon, inflicting on them a loss of over two hundred and forty men.^^* But directly he retired the Welsh reappeared. On 8 July Richard Kyngeston, archdeacon of Hereford, wrote to the king from Hereford that the country was lost unless he came at once in person.^^^ The peril was still further increased by the alliance between Glendower and the Percies, and though the battle of Shrewsbury on 21 July destroyed the earl of Northumberland's power before he could join Glendower, it did nothing to impair the strength of the Welsh chieftain. Towards the close of August communication between Hereford and Abergavenny was dangerous,^^ and a few days later the county of Hereford was invaded by more than four hundred men, who swept away men and cattle in spite of the fact that a truce had been concluded.^" The county was protected from Welsh aggressions by a long line of castles in Brecon and in the Marcher lordships, not then included in the administrative shire. But these castles had been carelessly kept, and early in September circular letters were issued ordering the fortresses to be placed in a state of defence. ^^' Within the modern limits of the county were Ewyas Harold under the charge of Lord Bergavenny, Goodrich under Lord Furnival, father-in-law of the owner, John Talbot, afterwards earl of Shrewsbury, Eardisley under Nicholas Montgomery, Ewyas Lacy (now Longtown) under Constance Lady Despenser, Huntington under Anne Lady Stafford, Dorstone under Sir Walter Fitzwalter, and Brampton Bryan under Brian de Brampton. This Hst only comprises those castles which required to be placed in a state of defence, and for this reason Wigmore, Clifford, and other famous fortresses are not included. On 1 1 September, in response to repeated appeals, the king and his victorious army reached Hereford. He remained there until after the i cth, making preparations for reprovisioning the frontier castles, including the two ^'^ Wylie, England under Hen. IV, i, 284-5. 2» Rymer, Foedera, viii, 291. * Sheriff of Hereford to Henry IV, 7 July, 1403, Royal Letters, i, 146.
- ^* Ellis, Original Letters (Ser. 2), i, 17-9.
^ William de Beauchamp to Henry IV, 23 Aug. 1403, Royal Letters, i, 152. ^-^ Richard Kyngeston to Henry IV, 3 Sept. 1403 ; ibid, i, 155. ^^' Rymer, Foedera (1709), viii, 328-g. I 369 47
