It had been arranged that Glendower should meet the allies at
Lichfield; and on his being joined by his uncle, the Earl of
Westmoreland, with his following, Hotspur marched south. His intention
was, after effecting a junction with Glendower, to march and give
battle to the army with which Henry and the Prince of Wales were
advancing against him. At Lichfield, however, he learned that Glendower
had not completed his preparations in sufficient time to join him. He
therefore changed his direction, and made for Shrewsbury, towards which
place Glendower was marching.
Percy's array had swollen as he went south. He had been joined by a
number of archers, from Cheshire, and by other adherents of the late
king; these regarding the war as an attempt, not to place the Earl of
March upon the throne, but to overthrow the usurper who had dethroned
their king.
Oswald rode with sixty spearmen from his own estate; while his father,
with thirty men from Yardhope, rode in his company. Both regarded the
failure of Glendower to come to the place appointed as a serious
misfortune.
"Of course," Oswald said, "if he joins us at Shrewsbury, before the
king comes up, it will not matter much; and indeed would be, in one
respect, the better.
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