and then outlawed. Those were dangerous days, and friends often
quarrelled. Hence during his troubles the Duke of Norfolk and Lord
Scales tried to get possession of Caister, and after his death laid
siege to it. The Pastons lacked not courage and determination, and
defended it for a year, but were then forced to surrender. However, it
was restored to them, but again forcibly taken from them. However, not
by the sword but by negotiations and legal efforts, Sir John again
gained his own, and an embattled tower at the north-west corner, one
hundred feet high, and the north and west walls remain to tell the
story of this brave old Norfolk family, who by their _Letters_ have
done so much to guide us through the dark period to which they relate.

[Illustration: Caister Castle 7 Aug 1908]

[Illustration: Defaced Arms. Taunton Castle]

We will journey to the West Country, a region of castles. The Saxons
were obliged to erect their rude earthen strongholds to keep back the
turbulent Welsh, and these were succeeded by Norman keeps.
Monmouthshire is famous for its castles. Out of the thousand erected
in Norman times twenty-five were built in that county. There is
Chepstow Castle with its Early Norman gateway spanned by a circular
arch flanked by round towers. In the inner court there are gardens
and ruins of a grand hall, and in the outer the remains of a chapel
with evidences of beautifully groined vaulting, and also a winding
staircase leading to the battlements. In the dungeon of the old keep
at the south-east corner of the inner court Roger de Britolio, Earl of
Hereford, was imprisoned for rebellion against the Conqueror, and in
later times Henry Martin, the regicide, lingered as a prisoner for
thirty years, employing his enforced leisure in writing a book in