415.—Entrance to Warwick Castle.details

[Piers] Gaveston endeavoured to defend himself in Scarborough Castle (of which the crumbling ruins now only remain, Fig. 919), while the king went to York to seek an army for his relief. But before any force could be collected for such a purpose, Piers Gaveston, on the 19th of May, 1312, capitulated to the Earls Pembroke and Percy, who pledged their faith, it is said, that he should be kept unharmed in the castle of Wallingford. At Dedington, a village between Oxford and Warwick, the Earl of Pembroke, who escorted him, left him for a night under the pretext of visiting the Countess of Pembroke, who was in the neighbourhood. Gaveston seems to remained full of confidence, as usual, until he was roused from his sleep by the startling order to “dress speedily.” He obeyed, descended to the courtyard, and found himself in the presence of the “black dog of Ardenne.” He must have repented then his wretched wit, for he knew the stern Warwick had sworn a terrible vow that he would make the minion fee; “the black dog’s teeth.” A deeper darkness than that of the night must then have overshadowed the wretched Gaveston. No help was at hand. Amid the triumphant shouts of the large armed force that attended Warwick, he was set on a mule, and hurried thirty miles through the night to Warwick Castle (Figs. 415, 416, 417, and 917), where his entrance was announced by a crash of martial music. (p. 235)