By Englands Aid | Page 4

these two years were
counterbalanced by the cowardly surrender of Grave by its governor,
and by the treachery of Sir William Stanley, governor of Deventer, and
of Roland Yorke, who commanded the garrisons of the two forts
known as the Zutphen Sconces. Both these officers turned traitors and
delivered up the posts they commanded to the Spaniards. Their conduct
not only caused great material loss to the allies, but it gave rise to much
bad feeling between the English and Dutch, the latter complaining that
they received but half-hearted assistance from the English.
It was not surprising, however, that Leicester was unable to effect more
with the little force under his command, for it was necessary not only to
raise soldiers, but to invent regulations and discipline. The Spanish
system was adopted, and this, the first English regular army, was
trained and appointed precisely upon the system of the foe with whom
they were fighting. It was no easy task to convert a body of brave
knights and gentlemen and sturdy country men into regular troops, and
to give them the advantages conferred by discipline and order. But the
work was rendered the less difficult by the admixture of the volunteers
who had been bravely fighting for ten years under Morgan, Rowland
Williams, John Norris, and others. These had had a similar experience
on their first arrival in Holland. Several times in their early encounters
with the Spaniards the undisciplined young troops had behaved badly;
but they had gained experience from their reverses, and had proved
themselves fully capable of standing in line even against the splendid
pikemen of Spain.

While the English had been drilling and fighting in Holland things had
gone on quietly at Hedingham. The village stands near the head waters
of the Colne and Stour, in a rich and beautiful country. On a rising
ground behind it stood the castle of the Veres, which was approached
from the village by a drawbridge across the moat. There were few more
stately piles in England than the seat of the Earl of Oxford. On one side
of the great quadrangle was the gate-house and a lofty tower, on
another the great hall and chapel and the kitchens, on a third the suites
of apartments of the officials and retinue. In rear were the stables and
granaries, the butts and tennis-court, beyond which was the court of the
tournaments.
In the centre of the quadrangle rose the great keep, which still stands,
the finest relic of Norman civil architecture in England. It possessed
great strength, and at the same time was richly ornamented with
carving. The windows, arches, and fireplaces were decorated with
chevron carvings. A beautiful spiral pattern enriched the doorway and
pillars of the staircase leading to galleries cut in the thickness of the
wall, with arched openings looking into the hall below. The outlook
from the keep extended over the parishes of Castle Hedingham, Sybil
Hedingham, Kirby, and Tilbury, all belonging to the Veres--whose
property extended far down the pretty valley of the Stour--with the
stately Hall of Long Melford, the Priory of Clare, and the little town of
Lavenham; indeed the whole country was dotted with the farmhouses
and manors of the Veres. Seven miles down the valley of the Colne lies
the village of Earl's Colne, with the priory, where ten of the earls of
Oxford lie buried with their wives.
The parish church of Castle Hedingham stood at the end of the little
village street, and the rectory of Mr. Vickars was close by. The party
gathered at morning prayers consisted of Mr. Vickars and his wife,
their two sons, Geoffrey and Lionel, and the maid-servants, Ruth and
Alice. The boys, now fourteen and fifteen years old respectively, were
strong-grown and sturdy lads, and their father had long since owned
with a sigh that neither of them was likely to follow his profession and
fill the pulpit at Hedingham Church when he was gone. Nor was this to
be wondered at, for lying as it did at the entrance to the great castle of

the Veres, the street of the little village was constantly full of armed
men, and resounded with the tramp of the horses of richly-dressed
knights and gay ladies.
Here came great politicians, who sought the friendship and support of
the powerful earls of Oxford, nobles and knights, their kinsmen and
allies, gentlemen from the wide-spreading manors of the family, stout
fighting-men who wished to enlist under their banner. At night the
sound of music from the castle told of gay entertainments and festive
dances, while by day parties of knights and ladies with dogs and
falcons sallied out to seek sport over the wide domains. It could hardly
be expected, then, that lads of spirit, brought up in the midst of