36 REPORT OF MEETINGS FOR 1903 



gone the way of all flesh !" This Earl Henry is heard of 

 in Merton College, Oxford, as a disputant regarding the 

 advowson of Embleton, which was decided in favour of the 

 College in 1331. Later still the Duchy of Lancaster, including 

 Dunstanburgh, became again vested in the Crown, inasmuch 

 as Henry IV. was the son of John o' Gaunt, who married 

 Blanche, younger daughter and sole heiress of Henry Wryneck, 

 Duke of Lancaster, himself the son of the aforesaid Earl 

 Henry. In the great struggle between the Houses of York 

 and Lancaster, known as the Wars of the Roses (1449-1461), 

 this hereditary stronghold of the Red Rose faction in North- 

 umberland was much involved, in the course of three years 

 having been taken and retaken no less than five times. 

 In 1461 it surrendered to Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry 

 VI., whose name is commemorated in the title of Queen 

 Margaret's Cove, given to a deep chasm in the rock-bound 

 coast to the East of the building. After sharing the fortunes 

 of the Red Rose faction, which culminated in the defeat and 

 death of Henry at Tewkesbury in 1471, she finally retired 

 to France, and spent the remainder of lier life in deep distress. 

 Through the triumph of the White Rose and the accession 

 of Edward IV. to the throne, the Castle once more passed 

 into the hands of the sovereign. During the reign of Henry 

 VIII., a survey was made of the buildings by Royal Com- 

 missioners, who reported, in 1538, that the Castle was "a 

 very reuynus howsse and of smaylle strengthe," a view which 

 is confirmed by Sir Robert Bowes ia his " Book of the state 

 of the Marches," compiled in 1550, in which he pronounced 

 the Castle to be "in wonderfull great decaye." It is generally 

 believed, however, that in place of being repaired the Castle 

 was to a great extent dismantled, its stones and lead and 

 timber supplying a convenient store from which to draw for 

 the maintenance and construction of other buildings in the 

 neighbourhood. During the reign of James I., Dunstanburgh 

 was sold to Sir Ralph Grey, and it continued to be the property 

 of his descendants till its conveyance, in 1869, by the Earl 

 of Tankerville, to the trustees of the late Mr Samuel Eyres, 

 of Leeds, for the sum of £155,000, whose successor, Mrs 

 Eyros-Monsell, of Dumbleton Hall, Worcestershire, is the 

 present proprietrix. 



