62 ErUdokt and its Manor Lords. 



Englishmen spoken of by Matthew Paris as having gained lasting 

 renown by their desperate valour.^ In 1244 he was placed in 

 command of a force of three hundred knights and sent to the 

 Welsh border to check the insolence of England's troublesome 

 neighbours, who, under the encouragement of the Pope, as it is 

 said, were making great efforts at this time to throw off their 

 allegiance to the English crown. The Welsh had lately defeated 

 the troops of Ealph de Mortimer, and while they were celebrating 

 the victory in their mountain retreats, Herbert endeavoured to 

 take them unawares, but was himself drawn into ambush and 

 compelled to retreat with heavy loss.^ In 1245 he was still in 

 service on the Welsh border, and it was while opposing one of the 

 many raids made by David, Prince of Wales, that Herbert met 

 his death. " When the brave English knights on the borders 

 came to oppose them, the Welsh as was their custom flew to the 

 crags and inaccessible parts of the mountains, to lie in ambuscade 

 for their passing enemies. From the sunmiits of rocks they hurled 

 stones and weapons, wounding many of the English ; amongst 

 others, one of the English nobles, named Herbert Eitz-Matthew, 

 was overwhelmed by a mass of rock, which broke his neck and 

 crushed him to death. To this same Herbert a wonderful oc- 

 currence happened, worth being told and handed down in writing. 

 After it had been agreed and determined by the English on the 

 preceding day that they should on the morrow proceed in order of 

 battle against David and his Welsh troops, the said Herbert was 

 so disturbed in his sleep by dreams, or rather apparitions, that he 

 awoke in a state of great fear and tremor, and continued restless 

 and sleepless the whole of the rest of the night. Early in the 

 morning he sent for a priest, to whom he made full confession, 

 and also fortified himself by partaking of the wholesome viaticum ; 

 and when asked the reason for so doing he, with a sigh, addressed 

 his friends as if with a forewarning spirit, and related to them the 

 particulars of his terrible dream, and at the same time said, ' Many 

 times have I indulged in the use of arms, and exposed myself to 



' Ed. Bohn., i., 422. 

 - Ibid, ii., 45. 



