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SKIPTON CASTLE BESIEGED.
were sworn to the oath by which the insurgents
bound themselves, and the former became at once
one of the chief leaders of the insurgents.
Hull was the next place which was seized upon by
the rebels, and one town after another was given
up to them, for the feeling of the inhabitants was
wholly with them.
Skipton Castle, the fortress of the
Cliffords, was the only one which held out for the
king. A thrillingstory is toldby Mr. Froude (" Hist."
iii. p. 141) of an attack made by the insurgents upon
this stronghold. Lady Eleanor, Lord Clifford's young
wife, with three young children, and several other
ladies, were staying at Bolton Abbey when the insurrection
broke out. It became known to the
assailants where they were, and notice was sent to
the Earl that they would seize upon them and hold
them as hostages for his submission, and that on the
day following, Lady Eleanor, her children, and the
ladies, should be brought before the castle in front of a
storming party, and that if Lord Clifford refused to
surrender, they should be subjected to indignities
worse than death. A brother of Robert Aske was,
however, one of the garrison. He knew the country,
and set forth at dead of night to Bolton Abbey,
brought the ladies by unfrequented paths, eluded
the vigilance of the besiegers, and brought them safely
within the walls of the fortress. Unfortunately for
this stirring narrative, it is not easily reconciled with
certain dates in the Clifford pedigree. Lady Eleanor
was not married until a year after the siege, and it
does not appear that she ever had more than one
child, a daughter, who was not born until 1 540.
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