Lindsay, who has got the first vote, I vow, that when I return to Scotland, I will cause him to be hanged over his own gate.' In this rash and precipitate resolution to fight at all risks, the King was much supported by the French ambassador, De la Motte. This was remarked by one of our old acquaintances, the Earl of Angus, called Bell-the-Cat, who, though very old, had come out to the field with his sovereign. He charged the Frenchman with being willing to sacrifice the interests of Scotland to those of his own country, which required that the Scots and English should fight at all hazards; and Angus, like Lord Lindsay, alleged the difference between the parties, the English being many of them men but of mean rank, and the Scottish army being the flower of their nobility and gentry. Incensed at his opposition, James said to him scornfully, " Angus, if you are afraid, you may go home." The Earl, on receiving such an insult, left the camp that night; but his two sons remained, and fell in the fatal battle, with two hundred of the name of Douglas. While King James was in this stubborn humour, the Earl of Surrey had advanced as far as Wooler, so that only four or five miles divided the armies. The English leader inquired anxiously for some guide who was acquainted with the country, which is divided by one or two large brooks, and is, besides, in part mountainous. A person, well mounted and completely armed, rode up, and, kneeling before the Earl, offered to be his guide, if he might obtain pardon of an offence of which he had been guilty. The Earl assured him of his forgive ness, providing he had not committed treason against the King of England, or personally wronged any lady-crimes which Surrey declared he would not pardon. "God forbid," said the cavalier, "that I should have been guilty of such shameful sin; I did but assist in killing a Scotsman, who ruled our Borders too strictly, and often did wrong to Englishmen." So saying, he raised the visor of his helmet, which hid his face, and showed the countenance of the Bastard Heron, who had been a partner in the assassination of Sir Robert Ker, as you were told before. His appearance was most welcome to the Earl of Surrey, who readily pardoned him the death of a Scotsman at that moment, and knew him to be as well acquainted with every pass and path on the eastern frontier, as a life of constant incursion and depredation could make him. The Scottish army had fixed their camp upon a hill called Flodden, which rises to close in, as it were, the extensive flat, called Millfield Plain. This eminence slopes steeply towards the plain, and there is an extended piece of level ground on the top, where the Scots might have drawn up their army, and awaited, at great advantage, the attack of the English. Surrey liked the idea of an assault on that position so ill, that he resolved to try whether he could not prevail on the King to abandon it. He sent a herald to invite James to come down from the height, and join battle in the open plain of Millfield below-reminded him of the readiness with which he had accepted his former challenge-and hinted, that it was the opinion of the English chivalry assembled for battle, that any delay of the encounter would sound to the King's dishonour. We have seen that James was sufficiently rash and imprudent, but his impetuosity did not reach to the pitch Surrey perhaps expected. He refused to receive the messenger into his presence, and returned for answer to the message, that it was not such as it became an Earl to send to a King. Surrey, therefore, distressed for provisions, was obliged to resort to another mode of bringing the Scots to action. He moved northward, sweeping round the hill of Flodden, keeping out of the reach of the Scottish artillery, until, crossing the Till near Twisell Castle, he placed himself, with his whole army, betwixt James and his own kingdoin. The King suffered him to make this flank movement without interruption, though it must have afforded repeated and advantageous opportunities for attack. But when he saw the English army interposed be 68 twixt him and his dominions, he became alarmed lest he should be cut off from Scotland. In this apprehension he was confirmed by one Giles Musgrave, an Englishman, whose counsel he used upon the occasion, and who assured him, that if he did not descend and fight with the English army, the Earl of Surrey would enter Scotland and lay waste the whole country, Stimulated by this apprehension, the King resolved to give signal for the fatal battle. With this view the Scots set fire to their huts, and the other refuse and litter of their camp. The smoke spread along the side of the hill, and under its cover the army of King James descended the eminence, which is much less steep on the northern than the southern side, while the English advanced to meet them, both concealed from each other by the clouds of smoke. The Scots descended in four strong columns, all marching parallel to each other, having a reserve of the Lothian men, commanded by Earl Bothwell. The English were also divided into four bodies, with a reserve of cavalry, led by Dacre. The first which encountered was the left wing of the Scots, commanded by the Earl of Huntly and Lord Home, which overpowered and threw into disorder the right wing of the English, under Sir Edmund Howard. Sir Edmund was beaten down, his standard taken, and he himself in danger of instant death, when he was relieved by the Bastard Heron, who came up at the head of a band of determined outlaws like himself, and extricated Howard. It is objected to the Lord Home by many Scottish writers, that he ought to have improved his advantage, by hastening to the support of the next division of the Scottish army. It is even pretended, that he replied to those who urged him to go to the assistance of the King, that "the man did well that day who stood and saved himself." But this seems an invention to criminate Home, and to account for the loss of the battle in some other way than by the superiority of the English. In reality, the English cavalry, under Dacre, which acted as a reserve, appear to have kept the victors in check, while Thomas Howard, the Lord High Admiral, who commanded the second division of the English, bcre down, and routed the Scottish division commanded by Crawford and Montrose, who were both slain. Thus matters went on the Scottish left. Upon the extreme right of James's army, a division of Highlanders, consisting of the clans of Mackenzie, Maclean, and others, commanded by the Earl of Lennox and Argyle, were so insufferably annoyed by the volleys of the English arrows, that they broke their ranks, and, in despite of the cries, entreaties, and signals of De la Motte, the French ambassador, who endeavoured to stop them, rushed tumultuously down hill, and being attacked at once in flank and rear by Sir Edward Stanley, with the men of Cheshire and Lancashire, were routed with great slaughter. The only Scots division which remains to be mentioned, was commanded by James in person, and consisted of the choicest of his nobles and gentry, whose armour was so good, that the arrows made but slight impression upon them. They were all on foot-the King himself had parted with his horse. They engaged the Earl of Surrey, who opposed to them the division which he personally commanded. The Scots attacked with the greatest fury, and, for a time had the better. Surrey's squadrons were disordered, his standard in great danger, Both well and the Scots reserve were coming up, and the English seemed in some risk of losing the battle. But Stanley, who had defeated the Highlanders, came up on one flank of the King's division; the Admiral, who had conquered Crawford and Montrose, assailed them on the other. The Scots showed the most undaunted courage. Uniting themselves with the reserve under Bothwell, they formed themselves into a circle, with their spears extended on every side, and fought obstinately. Blows being now useless, the English advanced on all sides with their bills, a huge weapon which made ghastly wounds. But they could not force the Scots either to break or retire, although the 64 TALES OF A GRANDFATHER carnage among them was dreadful. James himself | the house like a piece of useless lumber. Stowe, the He historian, saw it flung into a waste room anong old Some idle died amid his warlike peers and loyal gentry. was twice wounded with arrows, and, at length, pieces of wood, lead, and other rubbish. despatched with a bill. Night fell without the battle workmen, for their foolish pleasure," says the same being absolutely decided, for the Scottish centre kept writer, hewed off the head; and one Lancelot Young, their ground, and Home and Dacre held each other master-glazier to Queen Elizabeth, finding a sweet at bay. But during the night, the remainder of the smell come from thence, owing, doubtless, to the Scottish army drew off in silent despair from the spices used for embalming the body, carried the head bloody field, on which they left their King, and their home, and kept it for some time; but in the end, caused the sexton of Saint Michael's, Wood Street, choicest nobles and gentlemen. to bury it in the charnel-house. This great and decisive victory was gained by The the Earl of Surrey on 9th September, 1513. victors lost about five thousand men-the Scots twice that number at least. But the loss lay not so much in the number of the slain, as in their rank and quality. The English lost very few men of distinction. The Scots left on the field the King, two Bishops, two mitred Abbots, twelve Earls, thirteen Lords, and five eldest sons of Peers. The number of gentlemen slain was beyond calculation;-there is scarcely a family of name in Scottish history who did not lose a relation there. The Scots were much disposed to dispute the fact, that James IV. had fallen on Flodden Field. Some said he had retired from the kingdom, and made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Others pretended, that in the twilight, when the fight was nigh ended, four tall horsemen came into the field, having each a bunch of straw on the point of their spears, as a token for them to know each other by. They said these men mounted the King on a dun hackney, and that he was seen to cross the Tweed with them at night-fall. Nobody pretended to say what they did with him, but it was believed he was murdered in Home Castle; and I recollect, about forty years since, that there was a report, that in cleaning the draw-well of that ruinous fortress, the workmen found a skeleton wrapt in a bull's hide, and having a belt of iron round the waist. There was, however, no truth in this rumour. It was this belt of iron, which the Scots founded upon to prove, that the body of James could not have fallen into the hands of the English, since they either had not that token to show, or did not produce it. They contended, therefore, that the body over which the enemy triumphed, was not that of James himself, but of one of his attendants, several of whom, they said, were dressed in his armour. But all these are idle fables, invented and believed because the vulgar love what is mysterious, and readily gave credit to what tended to deprive their enemies of so signal a trophy of victory. The reports Lord Home was are contrary to common sense. the Chamberlain of James IV., and high in his confidence. He had nothing whatever to gain by the King's death, and therefore we must acquit him of a great crime for which there could be no adequate motive. The consequence of James's death proved, in fact, to be the Earl's ruin, as we shall see presently. It seems true, that the King usually wore the chain of iron in token of his repentance for his father's But it is not undeath, and the share he had in it. likely that he would lay aside such a cumbrous article of dress in a day of battle; or the English may have found it, and thrown it aside as of no value. The body which the English affirm to have been that of James, was found on the field by Lord Dacre, and carried by him to Berwick, and presented to Surrey. Both of these Lords knew James's person too well to be mistaken. The body was also acknowledged by his two favourite attendants, Sir William Scott, and Sir John Forman, who wept at beholding it. The fate of these relics was singular and degrading. They were not committed to the tomb, for the Pope, being at that time in an alliance with England against France, had laid James under a sentence of excommunication, so that no priest dared pronounce the funeral service over them. The royal corpse was therefore embalmed, and sent to the monastery of Sheen in Surrey. It lay there till the Reformation, when the monastery was given to the Duke of Suffolk; and after that period, the body, which was lapped up in a sheet of lead, was suffered to toss about Such was the end of that King, once so proud and powerful. The fatal battle of Flodden, in which he was slain, and his army destroyed, is justly considered as one of the most calamitous events in Scottish history. CHAPTER XXII. Consequences of the Battle of Flodden-The Queen Dowager Margaret assumes the Regency, and marries the Earl of Angus -The Duke of Albany recalled from France-Contests between his Party and that of Margaret-Rencounter between the Douglasses and Hamiltons on the High Street of EdinburghStorming of Jedburgh-The Duke of Albany's final departure from Scotland. THE event of the defeat at Flodden threw all Scotland into a degree of mourning and despair, which is not yet forgotten in the southern counties, on whom a great part of the loss fell, as their inhabitants, soldiers from situation and disposition, composed a considerable portion of the forces which remained with the King's army, and suffered, of course, a great share in the slaughter which took place. The inhabitants of the smaller towns on the Border, as Selkirk, Hawick, Jedburgh, and others, were almost entirely cut off, and their songs and traditions preserve to this day the recollection of their sufferings and losses. Not only a large proportion of the nobility and of the baronage, who had by right of birth the important task of distributing justice and maintaining order in their domains, but also the magistrates of the burghs, who, in general, had remained with the army, had fallen on the field, so that the country seemed to be left open to invasion and conquest, such as had taken place after the loss of the battles of Dunbar and Halidon-Hill. Yet the firm courage of the Scottish people was displayed in its noblest colours in this formidable crisis;-all were ready to combat, and more disposed, even from the excess of the calamity, to resist than to yield to the fearful consequences which might have been expected. Edinburgh, the metropolis or capital city of Scotland, set a noble example of the line which should be adopted under a great national calamity. The provost, bailies, and magistracy of this city had been carried by their duty to the battle, in which most of them, with the burghers, and citizens who had followed their standard, had fallen with the King. A certain number of persons called Presidents, at the head of whom was George Towrs of Inverleith, had been left with a commission to discharge the duty of magistrates during the absence of those to whom the office belonged. The battle was fought, as we have said, on the ninth of September. On the tenth, being the succeeding day, the news reached Edinburgh, and George Towrs and the other presidents published on that day a proclamation which would do honour to the annals of any country in Europe. The presidents must have known that all was lost; but they took every necessary precaution to prevent the public from yielding to a hasty and panic alarm, and to prepare with firmness the means of public defence. "Whereas," says this remarkable proclamation, news have arrived, which are yet uncertain, of misfortune which hath befallen the King and his army, we strictly command and charge all persons within the city to have their arms in readiness, and to be ready to assemble at the tolling of the common bell of the town, to repel any enemy who may seek to attack the city. We also discharge all women of the lower class, and vagabonds of every description, from appearing on the street to cry and make lamentations; and we command women of honest fame and character to pass to the churches, and pray for the King and his army, and for our neighbours who are with the King's host." In this way the gallant George Towrs took measures at once for preventing the spreading of terror and confusion by useless laments, and for the defence of the city, if need should arise. The simplicity of the order showed the courage and firmness of those who issued it, under the very great national calamity which had been sustained. The Earl of Surrey did not, however, make any attempt to invade Scotland, or to take any advantage of the great victory he had obtained, by attempting the conquest of that country. Experience had taught the English, that though it might be easy for them to overrun their northern neighbours, to ravage provinces, and to take castles and cities, yet that the obstinate valour of the Scots, and their love of independence, had always, in the long run, found means of expelling the invaders. With great moderation and wisdom, Henry, or his ministers, therefore resolved rather to conciliate the friendship of the Scots, by foregoing the immediate advantages which the victory of Flodden afforded them, than to commence another invasion, which, however distressing to the Scots, was likely, as in the Bruce and Baliol wars, to terminate in the English also sustaining great loss, and ultimately being again driven out of the kingdom. They remembered that Margaret, the widow of James, was the sister of the King of England-that she must become Regent of the kingdom, and would naturally be a friend to her native country. They knew that the late war had been undertaken by the King of Scotland against the wish of his people; and with noble as well as wise policy, they endeavoured rather to render Scotland once more a friendly power, than, by invasion and violence, to convert her into an irreconcilable enemy. War therefore followed only on the Borders; but no great attempt against Scotland was made, or apparently meditated. Margaret, the Queen Dowager, became Regent of Scotland, and guardian of the young King, James V., who, as had been too often the case on former similar occasions, ascended the throne when a child of not two years old. But the authority of Margaret was greatly diminished by a hasty and imprudent marriage which she formed with Douglas, Earl of Angus, the grandson of old Bell-the-Cat. That celebrated person had not long survived the fatal battle of Flodden, in which both his sons had fallen. His grandson, the inheritor of his great name, was a handsome youth, brave, high born, and with all the ambition of the old Douglasses, as well as with much of their military talents. He was, however, young, rash, and inexperienced; and his elevation to be the husband of the Queen Regent excited the jealousy and emulation of all the other nobles of Scotland, who dreaded the name and the power of the Douglas. A peace now took place betwixt France and England, and Scotland was included in the treaty; but this can hardly be termed fortunate, considering the distracted state of the country, which, freed from English ravages, was left to prosecute its domestic feuds and quarrels with their usual bloody animosity. The nation, or rather the nobles, disgusted with Margaret's regency, chiefly on account of her marriage with Angus, and that young Lord's love of personal power, now thought of calling back into Scotland John Duke of Albany, son of that Robert who was banished during the reign of James III. This nobleman was the nearest male relation of the King, being the cousin-german of his father. The Queen was by many considered as having forfeited the right of regency by her marriage, and Albany, on his arrival from France, was generally accepted in that character. John Duke of Albany had been born and bred up in France, where he had large estates; and he seems always to have preferred the interests of that kingdom to those of Scotland, with which he was only connected by hereditary descent. He was a weak and passionate man, taking up opinions too slightly, and driven out of his resolutions too easily. His courage may justly be suspected; and, if not quite a VOL. VI.-I fool, he was certainly not the wise man whom Scotland required for a governor. He brought over with him, however, a large sum of money from France, and, as his manners were pleasing, his birth high, and his pretensions great, he easily got the advantage over Queen Margaret, her husband the Earl of Angus, and other lords who favoured her interest. After much internal disturbance, Queen Margaret was obliged altogether to retire from Scotland, and to seek refuge at her brother's court, where she bore a daughter, Lady Margaret Douglas, of whom you will hear more hereafter. In the mean time, her party in Scotland was still farther weakened. Lord Home was one of her warmest supporters; this was the same nobleman who commanded the left wing at the battle of Flodden, and was victorious on that day, but exposed himself to suspicion by not giving assistance to the other divisions of the Scottish army. He and his brethren were enticed to Edinburgh and seized upon, tried, and beheaded, upon accusations which are not known. But this severity was so far from confirming Albany's power, that it only excited terror and hatred; and his situation became so difficult, that to his friends in secret he expressed nothing but despair, and wished that he had broken his limbs when he first left his easy and quiet situation in France, to undertake the government of so distracted and unruly a country as Scotland. In fact, he accomplished a retreat to France, and, during his absence, committed the wardenry of the Scottish frontiers to a brave French knight, the Chevalier de la Bastie, remarkable for the beauty of his person, and gallantry of his achievements, but destined, as we shall see, to a tragical fall. The office of warden had belonged to the Lord Home; and his friends, numerous, powerful, and inhabitants of the eastern frontier to which the office belonged, were equally desirous to avenge the death of their Chief, and to be freed from the dominion of a stranger like De la Bastic, the favourite of Albany, by whose authority Lord Home had been executed. Sir David Home of Wedderburn, one of the fiercest of the name, laid an ambush for the unlucky warden, near Langton, in Berwickshire. De la Bastie was compelled to fly, in hopes to gain the Castle of Dunbar; but near the town of Dunse, his horse stuck fast in a morass. The pursuers came up, and put him to death. Sir David Home knitted the head, by the long locks which the deceased wore, to the mane of his horse, rode with it in triumph to Home Castle, and placed it on a spear on the highest turret. The hair is said to be yet preserved in the charter chest of the family. By this cruel deed, Wedderburn considered himself as doing a brave and gallant thing in avenging the death of his chief and kinsman, upon a friend and favourite of the Regent, although it does not appear that De la Bastie had the least concern in Lord Home's execution. The decline of Albany's power enabled Queen Margaret and her husband to return to Scotland, leaving their infant daughter in the charge of her maternal uncle, King Henry. But after their return to their own country, the Queen Dowager quarrelled, to an irreconcilable pitch, with her husband Angus, who had seized upon her revenues, and paid her little attention or respect, associating with other women, and giving her much cause for uneasiness. She at length separated from him, and endeavoured to procure a divorce. By this domestic discord, the power of Angus was considerably diminished; but he was still one of the first men in Scotland, and might have gained the complete government of the kingdom, had not his power been counterbalanced by that of the Earl of Arran. This nobleman was the head of the great family of Hamilton, who were connected with the Royal family by blood, and had such extensive possessions and lordships as enabled him, though inferior in personal qualities to the Earl of Angus, to dispute with that chief of the more modern Douglasses, the supreme administration. All, or almost all, the great men of Scotland were in league with one or other of these powerful Earls, and each supported those who followed him, in right or wrong, and oppressed those who opposed him, without any form of justice but his own pleasure. In this distracted state of things, it was impossible for the meanest man in Scotland to obtain success in the best founded suit, unless he was under the protection either of Angus or Arran; and to whichsoever he might attach himself, he was sure to become an object of hatred and suspicion to the other. Under pretence, also, of taking a side, and acting for the interests of their party, wicked and lawless men committed violences of every kind, burned, murdered, and plundered, and pretended that they did so in the cause of the Earl of Angus, or of his rival the Earl of Arran. At length, 30th April, 1520, these two great factions of the Douglasses and the Hamiltons came both to Edinburgh to attend a Parliament, in which it was expected that the western noblemen would in general take part with Arran, while those of the east would side with Angus. One of the strongest supporters of Arran was the Archbishop of Glasgow, James Beaton, a man remarkable for talents, but unfortunately also for profligacy. He was at this time Chancellor of Scotland; and the Hamiltons met within his palace, situated at the bottom of Blackfriars-Wynd, one of those narrow lanes which run down from the High-Street of Edinburgh to the Cowgate. The Hamiltons, finding themselves far the more numerous party, were deliberating upon a scheme of attacking the Douglasses, and apprehending Angus. That Earl heard of their intentions, and sent his uncle, Gawain Douglas, Bishop of Dunkeld, (a scholar and a poet,) to remonstrate with Beaton, and to remind him, that it was his business as a churchman to preserve peace; Angus offering at the same time to withdraw out of the town, if he and his friends should be permitted to do so in safety. The Chancellor had, however, already assumed armour, which he wore under his rochet, or bishop's dress. As he laid his hand on his heart, and said, "Upon my conscience I cannot help what is about to happen," the mail which he wore was heard to rattle. "Ha, my Lord!" said the Bishop of Dunkeld, "methinks your conscience clatters!" And, leaving him after this rebuke, he hastened back to his nephew, the Earl of Angus, to bid him defend himself like a man. "For me, ," he said, "I will go to my chamber and pray for you." Angus collected his followers, and hastened like a sagacious soldier to occupy the High-Street of the city. The inhabitants were his friends, and spears were handed out to such of the Douglasses as had them not, which proved a great advantage, the Hamiltons having no weapons longer than their swords. In the mean time Sir Patrick Hamilton, a wise and moderate man, brother to the Earl of Arran, advised his brother strongly not to come to blows; but a natural son of the Earl, Sir James Hamilton of Draphane, of a fierce and cruel nature, exclaimed that Sir Patrick only spoke thus, "because he was afraid to fight in his friend's quarrel." "Thou liest, false bastard!" said Sir Patrick; "I will fight this day where thou darest not be seen." Immediately they all rushed towards the street, where the Douglasses stood drawn up to receive them. Now the Hamiltons, though very numerous, could only come at their enemies by thronging out of the little steep lanes which open into the High-Street, and the Douglasses had barricaded the entrance with carts, barrels, and such like lumber. As they endeavoured to force their way, they were fiercely attacked by the Douglasses with pikes and spears. A few who got out on the street were killed or routed. The Earl of Arran, and his son the bastard, were glad to mount upon a coal-horse, from which they threw the load, and escaped by flight. Sir Patrick Hamilton was killed, with many others; thus dying in a scuffle, which he had done all in his power to prevent. The confusion occasioned by this skirmish was greatly increased by the sudden appearance of Sir David Home of Wedderburn, the fierce Border leader who slew De la Bastie. He came with a band of eight hundred horse to assist Angus, and finding the skirmish begun, made his way into the city by bursting open one of the gates with sledge-hammers. The Hamiltons fled out of the town in great confusion; and the consequences of this skirmish were such, that the citizens of Edinburgh called it Cleanthe-Causeway, because the faction of Arran was, as it were, swept from the streets. This broil gave Angus a great advantage in his future disputes with Arran; but it exhibits a wild picture of the times, when such a conflict could be fought in the midst of a populous city. A year after this battle, the Duke of Albany returned from France, again to assume the Regency. He appears to have been encouraged to take this step by the King of France, who was desirous of recovering his influence in the Scottish councils, and who justly considered Angus as a friend of England. The Regent being successful in again taking up the reins of government, Angus was in his turn obliged to retire to France, where he spent his time so well, that he returned much wiser and more experienced than he had been esteemed before his banishment. Albany, or the contrary, showed himself neither wiser nor more prosperous than during his first government. He threatened much and did little. He broke the peace with England, and invaded that country with a large army; then made a dishonourable truce with Lord Dacre, who commanded on the English frontier, and retired without fighting, or doing any thing to support the boasts which he had made. This mean and poor-spirited conduct excited the contempt of the Scottish nation, and the Duke found it necessary to retreat once more to France, that he might obtain from that government money and forces to maintain himself in the Regeney, which he seemed to occupy rather for the advantage of that country than of Scotland. The English, in the mean while, maintained the war which Albany had rekindled, by destructive and dangerous incursions on the Scottish frontiers; and that you may know how this fearful kind of warfare was conducted, I will give you some account of the storming of Jedburgh, which happened at this time. 1 Jedburgh was, after the castle and town of Roxburgh had been demolished, the principal town of the county. It was strongly walled, and inhabited by a class of citizens, whom their neighbourhood to the English frontier made familiar with war. The town was also near those mountains, in which the boldest of the Scottish Border clans had their abode. The Earl of Surrey, (son of him who had vanquished the Scots at Flodden, and who was now Duke of Norfolk,) advanced from Berwick to Jedburgh in September, 1521, with an army of about ten thousand men. The Border chieftains, on the Scottish frontier, could only oppose to this well-appointed army about fifteen or eighteen hundred of their followers; but they were such gallant soldiers, and so willing to engage in battle, that the brave English general, who had served in foreign countries as well as at home, declared he had never met their equal. "Could forty thousand such men be assembled,' said Surrey, "it would be a dreadful enterprise to withstand them." But the force of numbers prevailed, and the English carried the place by assault. There were six strong towers within the town, which continued their defence after the walls were surmounted. These were the residences of persons of rank, walled round, and capable of strong resistance. The Abbey also was occupied by the Scots, and most fiercely defended. The battle continued till late in the night, and the English had no way of completing the victory, but by setting fire to the town; and even in this extremity, those who manned the towers and the Abbey continued their defence. The next day Lord Dacre was despatched to attack the castle of Fairnyherst, within about three miles of Jedburgh, the feudal fortress of that Andrew Ker, a Border chief, formerly mentioned. It was taken, but with great loss to the besiegers. In the evening Lord Dacre, contrary to Surrey's commands, chose to encamp with his cavalry without the camp which the latter had chosen. About eight at night, when the English leaders were at supper, and concluded all resistance over, Dacre's quarters CHAP. XXIII.] SCOTTISH HISTORY.. were attacked, and his horses all cut loose. The terrified animals, upwards of fifteen hundred in number, came galloping down to Surrey's camp, where they were received with showers of arrows, and volleys of musketry; for the English soldiers, alarmed by the noise, thought the Scots were storming their entrenchments. Many of the horses ran into Jedburgh, which was still in flames, and were seized and carried off by the Scottish women, accustomed like their husbands to the management of horses. The tumult was so great, that the English imputed it to supernatural interference, and Surrey alleged that the devil was seen visibly six times during the confusion. Such was the credulity of the times; but the whole narrative may give you some notion of the obstinate defence of the Scots, and the horrors of a Border foray. The Scots, on their side, were victorious in several severe actions, in one of which the Bastard Heron, who had contributed so much to Surrey's success at Flodden, was slain on the field. The young King of Scotland, though yet a boy, began to show tokens of ill-will towards the French and Albany. Some nobles asked him what should be done with the French, whom the Regent had left behind. "Give them," said James, "to David Home's keeping." Sir David Home, you must recollect, was the chieftain who put to death Albany's friend, De la Bastie, and knitted his head by the hair to his saddle-bow. Albany, however, returned again from France with great supplies of money, artillery, arms, and other provisions for continuing the war. These were furnished by France, because it was the interest of that country at all hazards to maintain the hostility between Scotland and England. The Regent once more, with a fine army, made an attack upon Norham, a castle on the English frontier; but when he had nearly gained this fortress, he suddenly, with his usual cowardice, left off the assault on learning that Surrey was advancing to its relief. After this second dishonourable retreat, Albany left Scotland, detested and despised alike by the nobles and the common people, who felt that all his undertakings had ended in retreat and disgrace. He took leave of Scotland, never to return, in the month of May, 1524. too desirous to confer all the great offices, ands, The King, who was now fourteen years old, be- At length it seems to have been determined to employ the agency of Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch, a man of great courage and military talent, head of a numerous and powerful clan, and possessed of much influence on the Border. He had been once the friend of Angus, and had even scaled the walls of Edinburgh, with a great body of his clan, in order to render the party of the Earl uppermost in that city. But of late he had attached himself to Lennox, by whose councils he seems to have been guided in the Some excesses had taken place on the Border, enterprise which I am about to give you an account of. probably by the connivance of Buccleuch, which inKing in his company, lest he should have made his duced Angus to march to Jedburgh, bringing the escape during his absence. He was joined by the clans of Home and Ker, both in league with him, and he had, besides, a considerable body of chosen attendants. Angus was returning from this expedition, and had passed the night at Melrose. The with the King and his retinue had left Melrose, Kers and Homes had taken leave of the Earl, who QUEEN MARGARET, who hated her husband An- when a band of a thousand horsemen suddenly apgus, as I have told you, now combined with his peared on the side of an eminence called Halidonenemy Arran, to call James V., her son, (though Hill, and, descending into the valley, interposed be"Sir," said Angus to the King, "yonder comes then only twelve years old.) to the management of tween the Earl and the bridge, by which he must the public affairs; but the Earl of Angus, returning pass the Tweed on his return northward. at this crisis from France, speedily obtained a superiority in the Scottish councils, and became the head Buccleuch, with the Border thieves of Teviotdale and of those nobles who desired to maintain a friendly Liddesdale, to interrupt your Grace's passage. I alliance with England rather than to continue that vow to God they shall either fight or fly. You shall league with France, which had so often involved halt upon this knoll with my brother George, while Scotland in quarrels with their powerful neighbour. we drive off these banditti, and clear the road for The King made no answer, for in his heart he deMargaret might have maintained her authority, for your Grace." she was personally much beloved; but it was the fate or the folly of that Queen to form rash mar-sired Buccleuch's undertaking might be successful; Angus, mean time, despatched a herald to charge riages. Having obtained a divorce from Angus, she but he dared not say so. married a young man of little power and inferior rank, named Henry Stewart, a younger son of Lord Buccleuch to withdraw with his forces. Scott replied, Evandale. She lost her influence by that ill-advised that he was come, according to the custom of the Angus, therefore, rose to the supreme Borders, to show the King his clan and followers, The Earl advanced, and the Borpower in Scotland, possessed himself of the person and invite his Grace to dine at his house." To of the King, transacted every thing in the name of which he added, "that he knew the King's mind as James, but by his own authority, and became the well as Angus.' diately joined battle, and fought stoutly; but the complete Regent of Scotland, though without as- derers, shouting their war-cry of Bellenden, immesuming the name. Homes and Kers, who were at no great distance, returned on hearing the alarm, and coming through the little village of Darnick, set upon Buccleuch's men, and decided the fate of the day. The Border riders fled, but Buccleuch and his followers fought stoutly in their retreat, and turning upon the Kers, slew several of them, in particular Ker of Cessford, a The talents of the Earl of Angus were equal to the charge imposed on him, and as he reconciled himself to his old rival the Earl of Arran, his power seemed founded on a sure basis. He was able to accomplish a treaty of peace with England, which was of great advantage to the kingdom. But, according to the fashion of the times, Angus was much |