The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-03-29

witness, asked
"The man at the bar is Eadwulf the Red ? -
HE is"
son your oath. and of your own knowl-
edge?"
"On my oath, and of my own knowledge"
Did you ever hear that Eadwulf the Red
should call himself or was called by others,
Kenric?'''
"Never, until now
And how have YOU heard it now?"
have seen it stamped on his quarrelS."
Had Eadwulf the Red brother?"
"a brother?"
Had 'Eadwulf the Red brother?"
81 have heard say, he had"
OF your own knowledge, on your oath?"
He had a brother"
"What was his name?"
| CT have forgotten"
/ "On your oath! on your oath, Sirrah!" thun-
| dered Thomas de Curthose. "Was not his name
Kenric -"
81 think it was Kenric.'"
Look at the person at the bar" The man
did SO; but reluctantly, and with an evident
tremor.
is not that man Kenric,' the brother of
Eadwulf the Red p"
"That man is Eadwulf the Red Il have
sworn it."
| "And art forsworn in swearing it. But again,
thou hast sworn, 'that on the third morning
after taking scent of the fugitive from the place
of the deer and thanksgiving, and after hunting
him constantly with bloodhounds, you lost all
| track of him on the bare moor in Borland For
| est? p"
"Why, aye have sworn that; it is quite
true" said the man, seemingly treasured, at the
change of the line of examination.
Il doubt it not. Now, when did the hounds
| take the scent again :? ,"
"Why, not at all. We saw he was making
for the sands, and SO squandersd ourselves in
parties, and on the second morning, at daybreak,
| saw him crossing them"
"How far off was he when you saw him 2"
about three miles"
"Could you see, to know him, at that dis
lance %
"Why, no but we guessed il was he, when
| we saw him run from US and, when we wound
up the clue to the end, and caught him, we found
that we were right"
| "You may stand down. Who is next?"
| -Four other witnesses followed, who all swore
positively to the person of the prisoner, as
4" Eadwulf the Red" and testified to various
| points in the circumstances of the pursuit and
capture, all tending to the Identification of
Kenric with the fugitive; and though the coun-
sci for the defence had succeeded, more or less,
in shaking the credit of some of the witnesses
| with the jury, and of raising a doubt concern
! ing the existence OF brother, with whom the
| fugitive might have been COMPOUNDED, no head
had yet been made against the direct testimony
Of six witnesses, swearing positively to his per
| son, and against the damaging circumstantial
| evidence of the crossbow and quarrels.
When the counsel for the plaintiff rested,
| and the court ad journed at ten o'clock, for
dinner, not lawyer in the court, except those
| retained in the defence, but looked on the case
| of Kenric as hopeless; and the party of Sir
Foulke dolly were consequently i'll high glee.
But when the court reassembled at noon,
| Walter Gourlay arose, and addressed the six
judges
May it please your lordships we shall right
| shortly prove, to your satisfaction and to that
| of this honorable jury, that this case lies in
nutshell, or rather is no case at all, or shadow
of case. First, we shall show to you that
| this person at the bar is not, nor ever was,
called 'Eadwuf the Red though there may
be some slight similarity of person between
him and his brother, of that name but that he
is, and has been called, from his cradle to this
day, Kenric the Dark Secondly, we shall
show you that this Kenric the Dark was not
in Sherwood Forest, or within fifty mile of it,
on the thirteenth day of September last passed,
or on any day within two months thereof.
Thirdly, we shall show you that this 'Kenrc
dolly, or to any Sir in England; but free
man, and free tenant of the Lord of Kendall, in
the county of Westmoreland."
Then William of Tichborne said, "Nay
Brother Gourlay, do not prove too much
against us :" and he laughed sneeringly; "else
thou wilt convict our witnesses, as mansworn."
And Thomas de Curthose laughed, and said,
Marry will we, and pillory them for it, like
wise"
Then the defence called Bertha, the wife of
Werewulf; and an exceeding old woman was
supported into court by younger woman
of exceeding beauty; and, in consideration of
her age and infrmities, she was accommodated
with seat She was very feeble, and much
emaciated, and her hair was as white as snow
but her figure, though frail and quivering, was
erect as a weather-beaten pine, and her eye as
clear as an eagles.
swell, mother, and who art thou?" asked
the justciary in a kindly tone, "and what hast
thou to tell us in this matter?"
81 am Bertha" she replied, in tones singu-
larly clear and distinct, the wife of Werewulf,
the son of Beowulf, who was henchman to
Waltheof, who was the lord of Waltheofstow,
before the Normans came to England"
"a serf to testify in proof of a serf's liberty"
said William of Nchborne. "Such evidence |
may not stand'
She is no serf my lord" said Gourlay, |
but as free as my brother of Tichborne. Let |
the Sheriff of Lancaster be sworn"
30, Sir I 70 de Taillebois, being sworn in his |
place, testified: Bertha, the wife of Werewulf, |
is tree woman. | bought her myself, with her |
own tree consent, of my friend Sir Phillip de |
MorVile, and manumitted her, for reasons of
my own"
:" Let Bertha proceed"
y" am the mother of seven sons. in lawful |
wedlock born; five of whom, and three grand
sons, sleep with their fathers. in the kirkyard |
OF WaitheoiStow; two, rs l believe, vet draw
the breath of life, hiding Gods good time
'Kenric the Dark my second born. and |
Eadwulf the Red my youngest Kenric
stands yonder, at the bar; Eadwulf is wan.
derer on the moorland."
Being cross-examined. "Would she know
her sons anywhere; would she know them
apart?"
"Know my own sonsl" she made answer
"the flesh of my own flesh, the bone of my own |
bone BY day or by night, in darkness or in
light by the lowest sound of the voice, by the
least pressure of the hand, by the feeling of
their hair, or the snow of their breath, would l |
know them, and know them apart, anywhere.
ION is kenric, and Kenric is no more like to |
Eadwulf, than day is to darkness, or bright, |
summer sunshine to a thunder-cloud in Au-
tumn."
"Call Aradas de Radcliffe"
de, being sworn, was asked,
hnow you the person at the bar, and, 1T
aye, what is his name?"
know him we'll his name is Kenric; his
condition, so far as l know, a freeman, and |
verdurer to Sir Yvo de Taiebois."
When did you see him first, to know