To Ride For The King
by
Aahlu
by
Aahlu
When the light finally went out in the window of an upper chamber of Henry Tudor’s Old Palace at Sheen some time in the early hours before sunrise on the twenty fifth of March sixteen hundred and three it was far from unexpected. Many had waited for the moment for a long time, some indeed had waited for years. Now at last men knew with a stark certainty that the old Queen, who had refused steadfastly to lie on a deathbed had at last passed away, sitting, as one observer put it, ‘upright little a little old man’ in her chair.
In the courtyard below Sir Robert Carlow saw the light extinguish and knew it for the signal he’d awaited for many long weeks. As Warden of the Middle March he alone was charged with the task of informing the King in waiting of Queen Elizabeth’s death. His horse, one of many which had stood, saddled and ready in anticipation, was led out, Sir Robert mounted and immediately took the road for London and the north.
He rode all day, changing horses five times en route until, on the evening of that same day he had reached Doncaster and, on the evening of the following day and a further six horses later, he reached his own house in Widdrington Northumberland. Here he halted only long enough to change horses and kiss his wife before he was off again.
By the next morning he was approaching Norham Castle on the road to Edinburgh when his tired mount shied at a flapping bird and threw him. In spite of suffering a broken thumb and some head injuries he managed to catch his horse, remount and ride on, eventually reaching the city of Edinburgh by the evening of the twenty seventh.
Some time before midnight Sir Robert, his red hair by now matted with blood from his wounds, reached Holyrood House where, upon being challenged by the guard, managed to recall, and tell them the password in order to be admitted to the royal chambers.
The king had already gone to bed by the time Sir Robert, reeling dizzily and nursing his injured hand managed to rouse him from his sleep to inform him that he was now not only King of Scotland but King of England too.
A physician was eventually called to tend to Sir Robert’s wounds and servants fetched to bring him drink and food. Then, after more than two whole days in the saddle, the man was allowed to rest in a room right next to the king’s own chamber.
The servants brought, unasked, a willing woman to comfort him, a woman who in due course would bear his son, the child his wife had for so long been unable to give him. Holyrood’s staff left the couple alone for three whole days, ostensibly until Sir Robert had fully recovered from his horseback journey.
When King William and his entourage made their way south Sir Robert accompanied him on the road, his passage slower and more comfortable than it had been on the way up.
The entourage took eight days to reach London where the King was proclaimed William the First of Scotland and Second of England. Eight days and nights of leisurely travel and Sir Robert enjoyed a different woman on each one of them. It is said, even to this day that you can tell where the company stayed for the night by the number of people still living in that place who have Sir Robert’s flame coloured hair.
© Aahlu 2010
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Sun, 2nd May, 2010
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