fred the great, was married to Baldwin with the iron arm, Count of Flanders: the son of this marriage was Baldwin the bald. It was he who obtained the hand of Alfritha, the daughter of Alfred, their offspring was Arnulph, who is mentioned with expressions of celebrity, and who succeeded his father in 918. From a descendant of Arnulph was born Matilda, the wife of William the Conqueror.

At the time of the Norman invasion, in the year 1066, Edwin, the son of Algar, and grandson of Leofric and the celebrated Godiva, was Earl of Mercia: he was extolled for beauty of person, and benevolence of disposition. This Earl, with Morcar, Edric the wild, and several other nobles, made formal submission to the Conqueror, but afterwards rebelled, and being overcome in an engagement with the monarch, were all slain, or taken and imprisoned for life; except Edric, who occupying his castle of Wigmore, sustained a long and arduous contest with the forces sent against him, under the command of Roger de Montgomery and Ranulph Mortimer. Edric, at last compelled to surrender, was sent prisoner to the king, and, for having completed this undertaking, Mortimer was rewarded by the gift of Wigmore Castle and its appendages; and Montgomery had granted to him all Edric's possessions in Salop, comprehending nearly the whole of that county.

The fate of Edwin and of Morcar is feelingly related by Ordericus, a contemporary writer, from whom the following is a translation. "King William," says he, "seduced by wicked counsel, injured his fair fame by fraudulently entrapping in the isle of Ely the illustrious Earl Morcar, who was neither plotting, nor suspecting, any evil. This was effected in the following manner. When the king knew that the Earl was in that island, he sent certain perfidious emissaries, who advised him to surrender himself to the royal authority, and assured him of a gracious reception. In these false assertions the Earl simply confided, and leaving his strong holds in the isle, repaired to William, who, apprehensive lest by his influence the English might be excited to revolt, threw him into chains, and kept him in prison all his life, under the ward of Roger de Beaumont. When the comely youth Edwin heard this, he burned with revenge: six months did he pass in craving assistance from Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Thus employed he was betrayed by three brothers, his principal confidants; and while with twenty horsemen he defended himself against the Normans, he was slain on the banks of a river, from which he could not escape, on account of a high tide. His death was lamented by men of all parties: born, as he was, of religious parents, and inclined to many virtues, notwithstanding the worldly affairs in which he was

engaged; his person was remarkably handsome, and he was an especial benefactor to clerks, to monks, and to the poor. The king wept when he heard of the treason by which this Mercian Earl fell, and banished from his presence the traitors who brought to him their master's head."

It cannot be ascertained at what precise time Ludlow became distinguished either as a town or fortress; it is recorded in a chonicle of the Fitz Guarines, that "Roger de Montgomery erected the greatest part of the castle, and fortified the town with walls." We cannot but suppose a town was found here previous to its being so encircled and defended; it may also be inferred, that in the times and place alluded to, a town and a fortress must have been coincident with each other be this as it may, it is the general opinion of writers on the subject, that the present castle was completed by this nobleman.

It is true this statement has been disputed, but as inconsistencies are observable in all accounts of the affairs of this frontier district, during the periods referred to, we shall retain that which has been most generally adopted.

Roger de Montgomery was related to the Conqueror; led the centre division of his army in that memorable battle which secured the conquest of England, and was advanced to the Earldoms of Arundel and Shrewsbury.

His first wife was Mabel, daughter and heir

ess to William Talvace, (son of William, son of Ivo de Belesme, a person of great power and note in Normandy,) with whom he had a large inheritance, By this Mabel he had five sons and four daughters; of whom Robert de Belesme was the eldest.

Montgomery is represented in history as a person no less distinguished for piety than valour. He was the liberal founder of many rich monasteries and churches, particularly the monastery of Wenlock, and the abbey church of Shrewsbury, in which he was buried, and where there is yet to be seen an image of him found among the ruins of Wenlock monastery, with an inscription, stating that it was placed there by his Majesty's heralds at arms in the year 1622. He died on the 27th of July, 1094, his son Robert succeeding to his Norman property, and Hugh, his second son, inheriting his English titles and estates, became Lord of Ludlow castle, which he did not enjoy long, being suddenly taken off in the prime of life. The account of his death is found in the Welch Chronicle, page

156.

"The year following being 1096, Hugh de Mountgomerie Earl of Arundell and Salopsburie, whom the Welchmen call Hugh Goch, that is to say, Hugh the red-headed; and Hugh Vrås, that is, Hugh the fat, Earl of Chester, and a great number of nobles more, did gather a huge

armie, and entred into North Wales, being thereto moved by certein lords of the country," &c. "And so the Earls came over against the ile of Môn, or Anglesey, where they did build a Castel of Aberlhiennhawc. Then the Earls spoiled the ile and slew all that they found there. And at the verie same time Magnus, the sonne of Haroald, came with a great navie of ships towards England, minding to laie faster hold upon that kingdome than his father had done, and being driven by chaunce to Anglesey, would have landed there, but the Earls kept him from the land. And there Magnus with an arrowe stroke Hugh, Earl of Salop, in the face, that he died thereof, and suddenlie either part forsook the ile, and the Englishmen returned to England, and left Owen ap Edwyn prince in the land, who had allured them thither." The Earl was buried in the abbey of St. Werburgh, which he had founded at Chester.

Robert, on the death of his brother, succeeded to the Earldoms of Shrewsbury and Arundel in England. He was knighted in Normandy by William the Conqueror in the year 1073, and became a great favourite of that Prince; but no sooner was the king dead, than his turbulent and rebellious disposition began to shew itself. He seized on several of the royal forts and garrisons, and joined with Odo, Earl of Kent, against William Rufus, with whom a reconcilia