13 



The day was fortunately very clear, and thus permitted the 

 enjoyment of one of the most extensive prospects in Gloucester- 

 shire. Far away, on the extreme left, might be seen the high 

 land near Bath, with the racecourse on Lansdowne Hill; then 

 the esttiary of the Severn, Portishead Point, and a portion of 

 the Bristol Channel. Following the line of the Severn, came 

 Aust Cliff, the New Passage, and the mouth of the Eiver Wye, 

 and, further to the right, the whole of the Severn valley, nearly 

 as far as Gloucester. Then, beyond the Severn, the Forest of 

 Dean, and the long line of hills stretching away into Monmouth- 

 shire and Brecon. Immediately below, to the right, nestles the 

 pretty village of North Mbley, with an interesting church, 

 dedicated to St. Martin, and formerly belonging to the Abbey 

 of Tewkesbury. Just beyond is Nibley Green, the scene of the 

 famous fight between William, Lord Berkeley, and Thomas, 

 Lord Lisle. The dispute originated in a law-suit between James, 

 fifth Lord Berkeley, and Richd. Beattchamp, Earl of Warwick, 

 who, in right of his wife, seized Nibley and several other manors 

 belonging to the Lords of Berkeley. During the continuance of 

 the suit, Thomas Talbot, Viscount Lisle, one of the claimants, 

 sent a challenge to William, sixth Lord Berkeley, desiring him 

 to fix time and place that they might decide their title by the 

 sword. The Lord of Berkeley was prompt in his reply, which 

 ran thus : " Fail not to-morrow to be at Nibley Green, at eight 

 or nyne of the clock, and I will not fail, with God's might and 

 grace, to meet thee there, ready to answer thee in all things. 

 So keep thy day, and the truth shall be shewed by the mercy of 

 God." Accordingly "the morrow" being the 20th March, 1470, 

 they met on Mbley Green, when the first to fall was the bold 

 challenger, Yiscount Lisle himself, who was shot in the mouth 

 by an arrow from the bow of a Forest of Dean archer; and 

 about 150 of his followers were likewise slain. The dispute 

 itself was not, however, terminated till long afterwards, when 

 the Courts settled it in a much more peaceable fashion; and 

 the Manor of Nibley returned to the possession of the Lords of 

 Berkeley, its rightful owners. 



