DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61904#0079
CHEPSTOW CASTLE.
67
Richard, Earl of Clare. The original name of this Strongbow
was Tonnebruge, a name which (hows his Danifh origin,
Dannebrog being the great Danifh ftandard. This Richard
Tonnebruge, therefore, was doubtlefs defcended from a flout
northman, the ftandard-bearer of the Dannebrog, when the
northmen feized Normandy. In the Norman tranfmigration
the name had been corrupted into Tonnebruge, and in Eng-
land foon became further corrupted into Strongbow. Thefe
Strongbows were fine fellows. Richard, the grandfon of the
original Richard, conquered Ireland, and married the daughter
of Dermot, king of Leinfter, and held Dublin, making over,
however, his conquefts to king Henry II. of England. His
daughter Ifabella married William, Marlhal of England, and
founded the illuftrious family of the Earls of Pembroke. The
hufband of Ifabel Strongbow, the firfl Earl of Pembroke, was
one of the greateft men that England has produced. Dugdale
fays of him,—■“ This illuftrious peer was the greateft warrior
in a period of warfare, and the moft loyal fubjedt in an age of
rebellion : by the united influence of wifdom and valour he
fupported the tottering crown of king John, broke the con-
federacy of the barons, who had fworn allegiance to Louis,
dauphin of France, drove away the foreign ufurper, fixed
Henry III. on the throne of his anceftors, and gave peace to
his diftradted country.”
And all this is moft true. For though it has fuited our his-
torians to go on affirming and re-affirming the tale that the
barons won the Magna Charta from king John at Runnymede ;
and though, like parrots, we go on talking of “ the barons of
Runnymede,” and of their winning Magna Charta; the
truth is that they never did win Magna Charta, and that the
charter of king John never was our Magna Charta, but the
charter of Henry III. True, the barons forced John to fign a
67
Richard, Earl of Clare. The original name of this Strongbow
was Tonnebruge, a name which (hows his Danifh origin,
Dannebrog being the great Danifh ftandard. This Richard
Tonnebruge, therefore, was doubtlefs defcended from a flout
northman, the ftandard-bearer of the Dannebrog, when the
northmen feized Normandy. In the Norman tranfmigration
the name had been corrupted into Tonnebruge, and in Eng-
land foon became further corrupted into Strongbow. Thefe
Strongbows were fine fellows. Richard, the grandfon of the
original Richard, conquered Ireland, and married the daughter
of Dermot, king of Leinfter, and held Dublin, making over,
however, his conquefts to king Henry II. of England. His
daughter Ifabella married William, Marlhal of England, and
founded the illuftrious family of the Earls of Pembroke. The
hufband of Ifabel Strongbow, the firfl Earl of Pembroke, was
one of the greateft men that England has produced. Dugdale
fays of him,—■“ This illuftrious peer was the greateft warrior
in a period of warfare, and the moft loyal fubjedt in an age of
rebellion : by the united influence of wifdom and valour he
fupported the tottering crown of king John, broke the con-
federacy of the barons, who had fworn allegiance to Louis,
dauphin of France, drove away the foreign ufurper, fixed
Henry III. on the throne of his anceftors, and gave peace to
his diftradted country.”
And all this is moft true. For though it has fuited our his-
torians to go on affirming and re-affirming the tale that the
barons won the Magna Charta from king John at Runnymede ;
and though, like parrots, we go on talking of “ the barons of
Runnymede,” and of their winning Magna Charta; the
truth is that they never did win Magna Charta, and that the
charter of king John never was our Magna Charta, but the
charter of Henry III. True, the barons forced John to fign a