in the struggle, was left there under the care of a loyal guard.
They march towards Rochester.
Odo at Pevensey.
Odo exhorts Robert of Mortain to hold out.
The first blow had thus gone well to the mark.
Such an exploit as this, the capture by English valour
of one of the hated strongholds of the stranger, was
enough to raise the spirit of William's English followers
to the highest pitch. And presently they were summoned
to a work which would call forth a yet fiercer glow of
national feeling. After Tunbridge had fallen, they set
forth on their march towards Rochester, believing that
the arch-enemy Odo was there. Their course would be
to the north-east, keeping some way from the left side
of the Medway; Bishop Gundulf's tower at Malling,[1]
if it was already built, would be the most marked point
on the road. But they were not to reach Rochester
by so easy a path. While they were on their way,
news came to the King that his uncle was no longer
at Rochester. While the King was before Tunbridge,
the Bishop with a few followers had struck to the
south-east, and had reached his brother's castle of
Pevensey.[2] The Count of Mortain and lord of Cornwall
was perhaps wavering, like his neighbour at Arundel.
The Bishop exhorted him to hold out. While the King
besieged Rochester, they would be safe at Pevensey, and
meanwhile Duke Robert and his host would cross the
- ↑ See N. C. vol. iv. p. 366. While I am revising my text, an account of this tower by Mr. Clark has appeared in the Builder, November 27, 1880.
- ↑ Chron. Petrib. 1088. "Se cyng mid his here ferde toweard Hrofeceastre,
and wendon þæt se bisceop wære þærinne, ac hit wearð þam cynge
cuð þæt se bisceop wæs afaren to þam castele on Pefenesea." Florence
helps us to an hexameter in the middle of his prose; "Relatum erat ei ibi
esse episcopum Odonem cum omnibus suis et cohortem ultramarinam. . . .
Fama volans dicti pervenit Odonis ad aures,
et cum sociis inito consilio, relinquens Roveceastram, cum paucis adiit castrum fratris sui Roberti Moritanensis comitis quod Pevenessa dicitur." Are the "cohors ultramarina" those who had come with Eustace and Robert of Bellême?
