western marches. Later that year, he led an expedition to Norham Castle, which had been besieged by the Scots for the previous eighteen days, and relieved it on 26 July; this was followed by a Chevauchée into Scotland which only ceased when Montagu's force ran out of supplies. Royal patronage In the meantime though, John received the first royal patronage of the reign, being granted the royal gold and silver mines in Devon and Cornwall worth £110 annually, for life. This was followed by duty payments from York and Kingston upon Hull and manors belonging to the dead Lancastrian Viscount Beaumont. In June 1461 he received the wardship of Edward Tiptoft, the heir of John Tiptoft, during his minority, and also the lands of Lord Clifford (who had died at Ferrybridge in a sharp encounter the night before Towton). Professor A. J. Pollard has noted, ironically, that Neville "had to earn his rewards." In 1462 he was appointed Steward of the Household of the Palatinate of Durham, for which he received around £40 a year. This was twice the salary his legally-trained and "non-noble" successors would receive from the Bishop in later years, and has been described as a "unique post." Hexham and Hedgeley Moor In spite of Montagu's and Warwick's northern successes in the years following Towton, a not-insubstantial Lancastrian army was still active in the area; it had been slowly re-taking castles, like Bamburgh, Langley, Norham, and Prudhoe Castles, between February and March 1464. This threatened Newcastle, a major Yorkist supply centre. Local Lancastrians were returning to their estates, such as the Cliffords, who regained their castle at Skipton Craven with no royal response, military or otherwise. They "virtually controlled most of the country immediately south of the Scottish border", wrote Charles Ross, although very few local gentry directly supported them. The situation was severe enough that in April 1464 he was too occupied with the northern situation to travel to London, and was exempted from attending the Order of the Garter Chapter meeting on the 29th of the month. He has been described as the king's 'resident commander' in the north and a "confident and aggressive commander." In early 1464, the Lancastrians having coalesced in the East March, the ongoing peace negotiations with the Scots were moved from Newcastle to York. Montagu was sent to escort their embassy through now-unfriendly territory. On his way to pick them