A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



But the English queen was not deceived by his political manoeuvres. 

 Peremptory orders were sent to Lord Hunsdon, her lieutenant in the 

 north, to arrest ' that cankred suttill traitor, Leonard Dacres,' as she after- 

 wards called him. 1 He was summoned to Carlisle on the plea of holding 

 a consultation on the state of the country. With skilful diplomacy he 

 pleaded the state of his health as an excuse, and in turn asked Lord Scrope 

 to dine with him in his chamber. 1 Lord Hunsdon, disregarding the 

 warning of Scrope as to the popularity of the Dacres and the impossibility 

 of getting Cumberland men to act against any of them, 3 determined to 

 advance with what troops he could collect. After a night march from 

 Hexham, he came before Naworth at daybreak on the morning of 20 Feb- 

 ruary 1 570 ; the beacons had been burning all night and every hill 

 was full of horse and foot, crying and shouting as if they had been mad. 

 As the castle was well furnished with ordnance, men and munition, Lord 

 Hunsdon thought it more prudent to evade an encounter till he joined 

 forces with Lord Scrope at Carlisle. Dacre, however, had no intention 

 of allowing him to escape. He pursued him for four miles, and fell upon 

 him with vigour in a heath as he was preparing to cross the river Gelt, 

 not far from the cliff on which are found the letters which 



the vexillary 

 Hath left crag carven o'er the streaming Gelt. 



The onslaught of Dacre's tenants on the royal forces was terrific. In 

 his report of the skirmish * Hunsdon told the queen that ' hys foot- 

 men gave the prowdyst charge on my shott that I ever saw.' Leaving 

 Sir John Forster with 500 horse to protect his rear, Lord Hunsdon 

 charged with the rest of his cavalry, slew between 300 and 400, and 

 took between 200 and 300 prisoners. On the following day Dacre was 

 proclaimed a traitor," his castles of Naworth, Rocliffe, Greystoke and 

 Kirkoswald were seized, and a great part of his force, who had been 

 induced to rebel in defence of what they conceived to be the rights of 

 their feudal superior, surrendered and submitted themselves to the 

 queen's mercy. 8 



Scottish affairs continued to dominate the political fortunes of 

 Cumberland. To meet any emergency that might arise on the western 

 frontier, steps were taken to inquire into the military levies of the 

 county and the condition of its defences. The names of the well- 



i S.P. Don. Eliz. Add. rvii. 112. 



' His letter has been printed by Sharpe (Mem. of Rebellion, etc., 217). 



3 S.P. Dam. Eliz. Add. rvii. 56, 67 (i.). 



Sir John Forster gave a graphic description of the encounter to Sir William Cecil (Cotton MS. 

 Calig. C. I, 384), which has been printed by Sharpe (Memorials of the Rebellion, 221-2). 



In the proclamation of Lord Scrope, Dacre was accused of levying the queen's subjects in Gilles- 

 land by firing and burning the beacons on pretence of an invasion by the Scots, and other enormities. 

 To avoid deception in future, the lieges were ordered, upon the burning of the beacons, to repair to none 

 save to the beacon of the castle of Carlisle (S.P. Dom. Eliz. Add. xvii. 108 [i.]). 



Leonard Dacre fled to Scotland and afterwards to Flanders, where he died on 12 August 1573 

 as a pensioner of the King of Spain. One of the English spies reported in 1575 that he was buried in the 

 church of St. Nicolas, Brussels, with an epitaph representing him as exiled for the sake of his religion 

 (S.P. Dom. Eliz. cv. 10 ; Douay Diaries, i. 298-9). 



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