Ayrshire > Volume 2

44 HISTORY OF AYRSHIRE
equipped no fewer than sixty ships for the conveyance
of the troops, and greatly contributed to the success of
the expedition by his general superintendence of the
preliminary operations. He was left in charge of
Normandy when William crossed over, and it was not
until two years later that he accompanied the great
Norman to England. His services were munificently
rewarded. He was granted the castle of Arundel in
the city of Chichester. He was created Earl of Shrews-
bury. His lands embraced nearly the whole of
Shropshire, and in ten or twelve other counties he had
given to him upwards of an hundred and fifty lordships,
or manors. He held high court. He was designated in
regal style — Roger, by the grace of God, Earl of
Shrewsbury. He attempted to conquer Wales, gained
the castle and town of Baldwyn in Powis, and annexed
to himself the district which still bears the name of
Montgomery. He founded and made grants to abbeys ;
and to one of these, that of Shrewsbury, in 1094, when
he felt his end to be approaching, he retired, assumed
the habit of a monk, and after three days spent with the
brethren in pious discourse and in prayer, died on the
27th of July, and was buried with great honour between
the two altars. He is described by a contemporary
historian as " wise, moderate, and just, and ever ready
to extend his patronage to wise and unassuming men."
His first wife, Mabel, Countess of Belesme and
Alencon, is represented as a woman of great cruelty,
oppressive to her neighbours, and the cause of ruin to
many ; and she is said to have been killed as she lay in
her bed by one who suffered at her hands, and who, bent
on revenge, forced his way into her chamber. A Norman
knight, William Pantoul, was charged with being
accessory to her death. He sought refuge in a convent,
and his estates were seized by the Earl. At Rouen an
opportunity was given him to prove his innocence by
the ordeal of fire ; and it is said that he purged himself
of the charge by carrying, unscathed, a red hot iron in
his naked hand.