The Siege of Conisbrough Castle

By Bard of Burgh Conan

A young squire called Eubulo le Strange is sent to Conisbrough Castle to complete his military training in the service of John de Warenne. While he is there he gets caught up in an intricate web of politics, love and war, which leads to his involvement in the abduction of Lady Alice de Laci, wife of the powerful Earl Thomas of Lancaster. Unfortunately, the Earl is not slow to seek revenge, and lays siege to Conisbrough Castle.This story is a taster extract from The Abduction of Lady Alice which gives a detailed account of all the events leading up to the siege, and the love story that follows. This free ebook is a sampler of the full novel which is available under the same title as a paperback and as "The Abduction of Lady Alice" on Kindle.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bard of Burgh Conan
• Release date: Jul 30, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370974061

Bard of Burgh Conan

Bard of Burgh Conan is the pen name Christopher Webster uses for his writing about his home town, Conisbrough. He was brought up in Conisbrough, went to Station Road School, and has lived at various times on Daylands Avenue, Roberts Avenue and Castle Avenue. The town, with its rich history and magnificent castle, has been an important influence in his life and has inspired some of his best work, hence his pen-name, Bard of Burgh Conan (from a medieval form of the town’s name). He read English at St David’s, Lampeter and Leeds University, and is now a teacher and writer. His first educational publication was Poetry Through Humour and Horror (Cassell, 1987). This was followed by many more educational publications including books for KS3 and GCSE English Language and Literature published by Hodder, and the best-selling 100 Literacy Hours (Scholastic, 1997/2005). He has also published several novels and some volumes of poetry under his own name. His writing about Conisbrough includes Crusader, The Abduction of Lady Alice, Richard of Conisbrough, The Poet and the Castle, Conisbrough Tales, Coal Dust Kisses and three books of short stories.

Book preview

THE SIEGE OF CONISBROUGH CASTLE

This story is a taster extract from The Abduction of Lady Alice

Christopher Webster

aka

Bard of Burgh Conan

Copyright © 2017 Christopher Webster

aka Bard of Burgh Conan

All rights reserved.

CONTENTS

Introduction

THE SIEGE OF CONISBROUGH CASTLE

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

Chapter VII

Chapter VIII

Chapter IX

Chapter X

Historical Note

About the Author

INTRODUCTION

As a boy, I had a panoramic view of Conisbrough Castle from my bedroom window in our house in Roberts Avenue. Not surprisingly, therefore, I grew up with an interest in its history. I was intrigued to read in the official guidebook (Thompson, M. W., Conisbrough Castle, Ministry of Works, 1959) a brief mentioned that the castle had once been under siege, but no details were given. Recently, I tried to find out more about this siege. My interest had been revived by a recent visit to the castle and the guided tour through the keep which included an audio dramatisation of the events surrounding the siege. Thanks partly to Conisbrough library and partly to the Internet, I was able to piece together a surprisingly detailed account. This account was the basis of a poem entitled, The Bridal of Eubulo le Strange which is published in Conisbrough Tales. I went on to do further research, and wrote the novel, The Abduction of Lady Alice from which the following is an extract.

CHAPTER I

All the stories they tell about the abduction of Lady Alice are wrong. First of all, it wasn’t an abduction, because she went willingly, nor was it an elopement, because they couldn’t be married, as she was still married to Lancaster. Finally, there was no dramatic chase – like the old poem describes, though it is true that Lancaster was not long in coming after her.

De Warenne and San Martin had been closeted in the Great Chamber for most of the morning. Eubulo and Oswin were summoned for various minor errands, but whenever they entered the room, De Warenne and San Martin stopped talking and looked abstractedly out of the Great Window. It was clear that some secret plan was being hatched.

At noon, De Warenne called for refreshment, and Eubulo and Oswin brought food and drink from the kitchens. Oswin spread the table and Eubulo poured the wine, then assuming that De Warenne and San Martin would wish to continue their private conference while they ate, he bowed and left the room. De Warenne called him back.

Eubulo, stay and serve, and listen to what we have to say. Tell him, San Martin.

San Martin put down the wing of chicken that he was eating, and looked at Eubulo. Well, my boy, tonight we are going to make your dreams come true!

Eubulo wondered if it had something to do with Alice, but decided not to say anything. San Martin continued: Sir John has decided to help you in your little love affair...

Eubulo must have looked shocked, because San Martin said suddenly, Don’t look so surprised. He knows all about it. I told him everything that happened on our visits to Pomfret.

But Lady Alice is...

"Yes,