Such a summons was extremely unusual. Hotspur had his own estates, and
his own retinue and following; and was, jointly with his father, warden
of the marches; and though he dwelt, generally, with him at Alnwick, he
had his own portion of the castle. Thus it was seldom that the earl had
any communication with Hotspur's knights.
Hastening to obey, Oswald found Hotspur with his father.
"I have a mission for you, Sir Oswald," Hotspur said, "on the part of
the earl and myself. You know that, for a long time, there has been a
disputation between my father and the Earl of Westmoreland, respecting
the Scottish prisoners. The earl sent a small force to fight under me
at Homildon, but it was a mere handful; and on the strength of this he
advanced a claim to a considerable share of the ransoms of the
prisoners; or, since they could not be ransomed, to the custody of the
persons of the Earls of Moray and Angus. The king has now, contrary to
all reason, inflicted upon us the indignity of appointing four
commissioners, two of whom are but knights and the other two men of no
consequence, to inquire into the question between my father and my
uncle, the Earl of Westmoreland.
"Does he think that two of his earls are going to submit themselves to
so gross an indignity?--we, who are as much masters in the north of
England as he is in the south--and even that he owes to us.
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