POLITICAL HISTORY 



of artillery in Scotland was much retarded.™ Supply was another difficulty, 

 which was accentuated by the English command of the sea, which closed the 

 only practical route by which a constant supply of food and stores could 

 be obtained from Scotland, and the Scots in consequence were dependent on 

 the country they passed through. The county of Durham, therefore, was 

 liable to invasion by a force of great mobility without any vulnerable line of 

 communication. This force, although not dangerous to the kingdom at large, 

 was by its method of warfare a most terrible scourge to the unfortunate 

 districts which suffered from its raids. Of the districts lying near the 

 border that of Durham offered in its eastern and southern areas the fairest 

 field for the operations of such a force. 



The force at the bishop's disposal to deal with these invading hordes has 

 now to be considered. First he had his tenants, who were under feudal 

 obligation to military service. The exact nature of this obligation is a matter of 

 doubt. It is called in Bishop Hatfield's Survey servitiutn forinsecum, replacing 

 the older term utivare}^- 



In 1300 Bek, Durham's most warlike bishop, compelled the men of the 

 bishopric to follow him twice into Scotland. On the second occasion they 

 returned without leave. This brought matters to a crisis, for the defaulters 

 were imprisoned. The people of the bishopric appealed to the king against 

 Bek, their complaint being : — 



Whereas no free man is bound to do service beyond the waters of Tyne and Tees 

 there have come the bailiffs of the Bishop and have distrained them to do service elsewhere 

 at their own proper charge, and those who were not able they took and imprisoned together 

 with those who went into Scotland, and for default of means, having received no money 

 from the Bishop, returned. 



To this complaint the bishop replied : — 



That he doth will, that from henceforth they shall not be thereto distrained 

 to go at their own charge, but only at his own expense, and this in great need in 

 defence of the franchise.^"^ 



The victory, therefore, lay with the tenants, but it was a hollow one, 

 for whenever it suited them the king or bishop disregarded the above agree- 

 ment, and fortunately so, for had the narrow view of their obligations put 

 forward by the tenants been sustained the plight of the Palatinate would 



"' Siege artillery was first introduced into Scotland at the beginning of the fifteenth century by James I. ; 

 Lang, Hist, of Scotland, i, 3 I 5. In I496, when James IV was meditating an invasion in support of Perkin 

 Warbeck, Ramsay, the spy, gives but a poor account of the Scots' artillery ; ibid. 369. 



"" In HatfieliTs Sun>. (Surtees Soc), 140, William Hoton holds in Ryhope a messuage and 32 acres. 

 ' per servitiiim forinsecum.' This is the same holding (see Surtees, Hist. Dur. i, 252) as that which is 

 referred to in the inquisition on the death of Philip Ryhope in 1 34 1, where he is stated to hold ' in capite ' 

 of the bishop, ' faciendo utware ' ; Randall MSS. Dur. Cathedral Lib. i, 34. 



^"^ Kellazv's Reg. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 45, 555. In 1581 the regulations for border service in Durham 

 were as follows, viz : — On threat of invasion all men between sixteen and sixty had to assemble at Gates- 

 head Beacon, where the bishop's tenants placed themselves under his officers, and the tenants on the Wcit- 

 morland and Dean and Chapter Estates, and the inhabitants of Barnard Castle, under their respective 

 stewards ; any unattached tenants ranging themselves under the sheriff. After the muster had been taken 

 and the necessary number of men selected, they were then to proceed to the borders and remain there till 

 their period of service had expired. If required to remain after their period of service had expired or to 

 invade Scotland they were to be ptfid wages. The period of service seems to have been ten days on the 

 borders in addition to two days for the journey there and two days for the return. After the defeat of 

 Ancrum Moor in February, 1545, the men of Durham received five shillings a head for remaining, at 

 their bishop's request, for an additional four or five days on the border pending the arrival of levies 

 from Yorkshire and elsewhere. Hunter MSS. (Dur. Cathedral Lib.), xxii. No. 5 ; and Allan MSS. 

 vii, 136. 



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