thus joining that feu to that of Stoubes,
you will have an estate that will make you a power in the upper glades
of Reddesdale and Coquetdale; and will support the dignity of a knight
banneret, which I now bestow upon you, and also appoint you a deputy
warden of the marches, with power of life and death over all marauders,
reivers, and outlaws. I have long felt that it would be well that there
should be one who, in case of necessity, could raise a hundred spears;
and so prevent bodies of marauders, from the other side of the border,
making sudden irruptions into the dales; and from what I have heard of
you, from Sir Henry, I am sure that you will carry out the charge most
worthily."

The new acquisition would not very largely increase Oswald's revenues,
for the greater portion of the grant was hill and moor. Nevertheless,
there were a good many houses and small villages scattered in the
dales, and it was these that raised the tract of land to the value of a
knight's feu.

In point of position, however, it was a large addition. As a knight
banneret, with the castle of Stoubes at one end of his holding, and the
hold of Yardhope at the other, he would occupy an important position on
the border; and could raise at least a hundred spears among his
tenants, in addition to the men-at-arms of the two strongholds.

Three days later Hotspur released the whole of his Scottish prisoners; and
sent them, under escort, to the border. The Percys now began, in earnest,
their preparations for war. For greater convenience Hotspur went down to
Morpeth, while the earl betook himself to Berwick-on-Tweed, where he could
confer more easily with his Scottish allies; who, on their part, were
carrying out the condition on which they had been released without ransom;
namely, that they would join their forces to those of the Percys.

Oswald made another journey to Wales, this time by ship from Carlisle
to Aberystwith, and there acquainted Glendower and Mortimer with the
preparations that had been made, assuring them that the rising would
take place at the end of May. He also asked Glendower to raise as large
an army as possible, without delay; and Sir Edmund Mortimer to betake
himself at once to Hereford, there to raise his banner and summon his
vassals, and those of the Earl of March, to join him--the king having,
on his return from his last expedition, entered Ludlow, seized
Mortimer's plate and other property, and appointed to the governorshi