28 FRAMLINGHAM CASTLE CHAP. when Sir Robert Hitcham bequeathed the castle to Pembroke College, Cambridge, conditionally on its interior being demolished and the material thus obtained employed for the erection of certain charitable institutions. No doubt, the good man believed he was doing a praiseworthy deed when he inscribed this condition in his last will and testament; but who will not lament that he could not devise some other means of attaining the ends he had in view? Still, we may thank him for having left us the noble walls and towers, to remind us of the famous men and women who lived and died within them, and the moving scenes they witnessed in the stirring days of knightly deeds. Now that night is come, and, leaning against the gate-tower bridge, I have turned my back on the town, there is nothing, save the silence which reigns within the castle walls, to remind me that those brave old days are long gone by; I can revive them at will and with them the men who made them. In less than an hour a long procession of nobles and squires, knights and dames files before me and silently passes through the grim old gateway; and among them is a fugitive princess who is soon to become an English queen. Sir Thomas Erpingham, who led the English archers at Agincourt, makes a brave figure as he alights from his horse, his sturdy step almost belying time's furrows on his face and frost upon his "good white head." Thomas, Earl Mowbray, who with Richard Scroope, the fighting Archbishop of York, will soon lose his head for taking up arms against his king, rubs shoulders with a crowd of Bigods who, without regard to precedence or era, to-night seek rest and refuge in their Suffolk stronghold. Then there are Howards who were leaders and fighters at Bosworth and Flodden; and altogether it is a very martial, if ghostly, cavalcade which rides up to the castle gate this mild spring night just as the good folk of Framlingham are closing their shops and thinking of bed. Framlingham Castle was thrice threatened with siege; twice when in the hands of the Bigods, who saved it by judicious I PRINCESS MARY 29 submission, and a third time when Princess Mary, fearful of the rejection of her claims to the throne, came here so that, should need arise, she might easily escape to Flanders. Yet in spite of its age and the brave reputation of many of its holders, it seems, like Norwich Castle, to have known little of actual warfare. When, in 1553, Princess Mary, soon to be England's first queen-regnant, held her court here, it saw a brave array of courtiers and men-at-arms, and, with the royal standard flying from its towers, entered upon a brief but eventful era of its history. Mary, who was at Hunsdon when King Edward died, started for London as soon as news of his death reached her; but hearing that there was danger in continuing her journey thither, she left the road to the metropolis and set out by way of Cambridgeshire for her manor of Kenninghall in Suffolk. She was accompanied by a retinue of cavaliers and ladies, all Roman Catholics and faithful adherents to her cause. At Sawston Hall, near Cambridge, she was hospitably entertained by Sir John Huddleston, a kinsman of one of her gentlemen, who welcomed her warmly, though well aware that her presence in his house would arouse the ire of the Protestant inhabitants of the neighbouring town. This, indeed, happened. The news that the Princess was at Sawston soon spread, and a party of Cambridge Protestants set out from the town, hoping to make her prisoner. But Mary was awake to the risks she Before sunrise she had continued her journey to Kenninghall, disguised, some say, as a market-woman and riding behind Huddleston, who had donned one of his servants' livery. From the crest of the Gogmagog Hills she looked back and saw Sawston Hall in flames. Her enemies, baulked in their efforts to seize her, were burning the home of the friend of her need. Some members of her train lamented his loss; but we do not hear that he himself regretted what he had done; and Mary, as she gazed upon the burning hall, simply said, "Let it blaze; I will build Huddleston a better” —a promise she may have intended to keep, but which does ran. 30 PRINCESS MARY CH. I not seem to have been fulfilled, as the present hall at Sawston, though begun during her reign, was not completed until after her death. At Bury St. Edmunds she was received with royal honours, but only stayed long enough to partake of refreshment. The inhabitants, however, had not heard of Edward's death, and Mary, according to Bishop Godwin, explained to them that the shortness of her stay was due to an outbreak of plague in her Hunsdon household and her fear that some of her retinue might communicate it to the townspeople. So, no doubt, in spite of their professed loyalty, they were glad to be rid of her. She arrived at Kenninghall that night. From thence she addressed a letter to the Privy Council, promising them amnesty for their plottings against her, providing they at once proclaimed her queen. But the Council refused to consider her claims; told her she was only an illegitimate daughter of Henry VIII.; and proclaimed Lady Jane Grey queen. Mary's position was critical; she might well despair of having her rights admitted and being raised to the throne. Penniless and without armed assistance, she was powerless to strike a blow on her own behalf; and although Jerningham and Bedingfield, two of her chief Norfolk supporters, came with their tenantry to protect her, they took care to impress upon her the hopelessness of thinking to hold Kenninghall against an armed force. So she decided to move nearer to the coast, where, if her enemies threatened, she could take ship and find refuge across the sea. Framlingham suggested itself as a suitable place of refuge. From its castle towers beacon signals could be flashed to Aldborough, the nearest seaport; the castle itself was one of the strongest in East Anglia. It slumbered peacefully in the midst of somnolent surroundings. Since the day when the Duke of Norfolk surrendered it to Henry VIII. no distinguished guests had entered its portals, nor had the jackdaws which nested in the crannies of its walls been disturbed by the rattle of musketry or the clash of arms. This brooding 32 SIR HENRY JERNINGHAM CHAP. peace was now to be broken. Scarcely had the royal standard been hoisted on the gate-tower than the Suffolk knights, who hated Northumberland, began to arrive at the town and castle and tender their aid to the hitherto helpless princess. Cornwallis, Shelton, Drury, and Tyrrel followed the example of Jerningham and Bedingfield; and in a little while an army of 13,000 men, all "voluntarily serving without pay," were encamped outside the castle walls. No such warlike gathering had ever before been seen at Framlingham, nor had the castle, though its foundation dates from the days of Redwald the Saxon, ever come so near being the scene of a serious conflict. The dense woods around the camp--for there were dense woods around Framlingham three and a half centuries ago-echoed the shouts of hunters whose duty it was to provide food for the men-at-arms; every road and woodland lane leading to the castle was guarded by sentinels devoted to the service of the princess whom they now looked upon as queen. While the Suffolk knights were daily coming in, and, with their hinds, increasing the strength of Mary's army, the Privy Council took a step which, though it seemed a wise one, did much to bring them into ridicule and strengthen Mary's hand. They sent six ships of war to the Suffolk coast, with instructions to lay siege to Framlingham, or at any rate prevent Mary's escape from the country. When the ships were seen making for Yarmouth Roads, the Suffolk leaders began to ask themselves whether it were possible for a force armed with bills and pikes only to make any useful stand against troops possessing the advantage of artillery and all the best weapons of war. But they were soon relieved of their anxiety. Sir Henry Jerningham had gone to Yarmouth, and was there when the fleet entered the roadstead. With impudent daring, he, as soon as they were anchored, rowed out in a small boat and hailed them. On being asked what he wanted, he replied, "Your captains, who are rebels to their lawful queen." His boldness, if Speed may be believed, was not without its effect upon the sailors, who |