PIRATES AND PILLAGERS 7 



high-born dames who were going out to Ghent to join 

 the Queen. Presumably these matrons and maidens 

 were in transports, and were protected by three hundred 

 men-at-arms. 



That battle on the North Sea shores remains on 

 record as one of the most savage and momentous com- 

 bats. There was little in the way of strategy or tactics ; 

 it was a case of immense bodies of valiant armed men 

 getting close together and settling their fight with arrows, 

 swords, axes, and any other weapon that could be hurled 

 or handled, to the martial strains of trumpets. 



So closely packed together were the French ships 

 that their masts looked like a forest. Edward led his 

 soldiers on, covering his advance with showers of arrows. 

 Both sides fought with furious courage, the fiercest of 

 the battle being reached when the English men-at-arms 

 and the enemy were mingled in a struggling crowd. 



The battle grew into a butchery. The two fleets 

 became a tangled medley, and there was a hideous com- 

 motion of strife. In one French ship alone 400 men 

 were killed, and the survivors escaped only by leaping 

 into the sea, where most of them were drowned. The 

 Christopher was triumphantly recaptured. The English 

 flag was again hoisted in her and she was manned 

 with English archers and sent to attack the Genoese 

 galleys. 



The stones proved deadly missiles, for the crew of a 

 galley belonging to Hull were crushed to death by them. 

 The few captures made by the French included the 

 vessel which contained the King's wardrobe, and with 

 the exception of a woman and two men all on board were 

 slain. Amongst the killed on Edward's side were a 



