Nicholas Harrington of Gaunt. He fought in Ireland for at least two years, accompanied in service by his former guardian, under one William Windsor (who was married to Alice Perrers, King Edward III's mistress). In 1373, Harrington was party, with Sir William Curwen, to a raid on Beaumont (near Carlisle, Cumberland). This specifically attacked the lands of Ralph, Lord Dacre, and the large attacking force carried away much of value. Called a 'a rapidly escalating vendetta,' it was doubtless part of the same Dacre family feud that saw Ralph Dacre murdered by his own brother Hugh two years later; indeed, it has
Alice Perrers soon became legendary, and it was reported that she instilled fear into the populace, amongst whom no-one dared to prosecute a claim against her. To her contemporaries, Alice was seen as an ambitious, grasping, calculating and cold-hearted opportunist who manipulated the ailing King into granting her unheard-of wealth and status, at a court that brimmed with spite and loathing of her. Towards the end of Edward's reign, Alice was accused of making his life a misery and of luring him with her charms only to further her own personal ambitions. According to Charles Cawley, Perrers had three illegitimate children by