Eight pence equals one hen

On 23 September 1245 a pitched battle took place - we might call it a mass brawl - over a stranded supply ship from Ireland on the banks of the River Conwy. The ship was loaded with provisions for sale to the army of Henry III, camped at Deganwy, but it had run aground on the Welsh side of the river.

Seeing this, the Welsh rushed down from the heights to grab the supplies as the boat lay on dry ground. Henry sent three hundred Welsh borderers, some crossbowmen and a band of knights to stop them. The Welsh retreated to the mountains and woods, pursued by the king’s men. Some of the fugitives were killed, but then the pursuers stopped to plunder the Cistercian abbey of Aberconwy.

This gave the Welsh time to rally. They ‘rushed with noisy shouts’ upon the king’s men, who were laden with goodies taken from the abbey. Now it was their turn to flee in panic; many were slaughtered in the rout or drowned in the river. Among the casualties were four knights, Alan Bucel, Adam Moia, Geoffrey Sturmy and a Gascon crossbowman named Raymond, who had evidently risen from low birth only to be struck down in North Wales. Raymond was a favourite of Henry’s, who used to make ‘great sport’ of him.

At this point the war got really nasty. Some of the English knights were taken prisoner, and soon afterwards the Welsh learned that Henry’s men had killed some Welsh captives, including a nobleman named Naveth son of Odo. In revenge they dragged their prisoners to the banks of the Conwy, tore them to pieces and threw the body parts into the river, in full sight of the English army on the other side.

The Welsh launched a second attack on the stranded boat, now defended by Walter Bisset and his men. Fighting raged on until midnight, until the sea rose and caused the ship to roll. At this the Welsh withdrew again, only to come back in the morning to find the English had abandoned ship. They promptly seized the sixty casks of wine aboard and made off with them.

Starving and desperate, King Henry’s men were reduced to a state of feral savagery. They threw themselves upon the Welsh, slaughtered and decapitated a hundred of them, and brought the reeking heads back into camp to claim the customary bounty of twopence per head. Thanks to the lack of supplies, one chicken inside the English camp now cost eightpence: thus, four Welsh lives bought one hen. Food supplies continued to dwindle, and men and horses died in droves.