himself more than a match for the king, mounted on his little pony and armed only with an axe. So he galloped forward with the intention of bearing him to the ground. Bruce saw him, and allowed him to come very near, then suddenly turned his pony aside, so that Sir Henry missed his aim and was carried past by his horse. As he passed, Bruce rose in his stirrups, and brought down his battle-axe with such force upon the head of the unlucky man as to break his iron helmet in pieces and kill him instantly. The Scottish leaders blamed their king for thus exposing himself, but were proud of his mighty deed.

At daybreak on the 24th of June the battle began in earnest. The English opened the attack by the archers shooting closely together; as Sir Walter Scott says, 'their arrows fell like flakes of snow on a Christmas day.' Bruce was prepared for them. A body of men-at-arms, ready for the event, rode full gallop at the archers, who had now no other weapons than their bows and arrows, and who were cut down in great numbers.

The splendid cavalry then advanced to the support of the archers, but coming over the treacherous ground, the horses fell into the holes, and the riders tumbled about, unable to rise from the very weight of their armour. A general disorder among the English troops ensued, during which the Scotch took every advantage, and inflicted severe losses.

The battle raged fiercely on both sides, when suddenly and unexpectedly an incident occurred which decidedly gave the victory to the Scotch. You remember that Bruce had disposed of the servants and camp-attendants by placing them at some distance behind his army. Now these

people could watch the progress of the fight from their place of concealment, and, whether mistaken or not we cannot tell, they thought the tide of battle was strongly in favour of their countrymen. Anxious to increase the victory, and possibly share in the spoil, they armed themselves with anything that they could lay hold of, and hoisted old sheets and rugs on the top of their tent-poles. Coming in a great mass over the hill, they struck terror into the hearts of the English, who thought it was a new army coming to the aid of their foes. Edward set an example by flying from the field, which his followers were not slow to imitate. The English were defeated with terrible slaughter; no less than thirty thousand were left dead on the field, and a great number taken prisoners; while the loss of the Scotch was comparatively small.

Stirling surrendered a few hours afterwards; and by this glorious victory of Bannockburn, Bruce re-established the independence of Scotland.

Ibid.

LESSON 46.

STORIES FROM SCOTTISH HISTORY.

IV. THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE.

al-le-gi-ance, duty to the in-dem-ni-ty, security against

This is a chapter in the chronicles of Scotland that has left a stain on the fair name of William, Prince of Orange; but you will gather from this account that the charges of baseness and cruelty ought to be laid to his advisers rather than to the king himself.

William had been on the English throne about three years when it was represented to him that many of the Highland chiefs were in a state of disloyalty, if not in open defiance. The Earl of Breadalbane was entrusted with a sum of money to conciliate some of the chieftains; and, in addition to this, a proclamation was issued in the month of August 1691, to the effect that all chiefs of clans should take the oath of allegiance to King William before the first day of January 1692, or they and the clansmen they represented should be subjected to the extremities of fire and sword.

One by one the chiefs submitted themselves, to the

great disappointment of two men, who were for some reason or other actuated by feelings of revenge against the Highland chiefs, and who hoped to have an opportunity of satisfying that revenge when the clans should prove refractory. These two men were the Earl of Breadalbane and Sir John Dalrymple. The latter was called the Master of Stair, and had largely contributed to the framing of the proclamation, suggesting that the punishment threatened should be of the severest kind.

Towards the close of the year every clan had given in its adherence to King William III. except one-the clan of the Macdonalds of Glencoe. If you have travelled in Scotland, you will know that the valley which this clan inhabited is one of the wildest but grandest in the world. Its mountains, rocks, and precipices had no small share in moulding the character of the bold people who lived there. Maclan, the chief of the Macdonalds of Glencoe, was a stately and venerable-looking man; he was noted for his courage and sagacity, and highly esteemed by the neighbouring chieftains. He had given offence at several times to Breadalbane, who was eagerly waiting an opportunity for revenge.

A few days before the end of the year, either of his own free will or by the advice of his friends, Maclan resolved to submit as others had done, and went, with his principal followers, to take the oath of allegiance to King William. When he arrived at Fort-William he was rather alarmed to find that the governor, Colonel Hill, had no power to receive the oath, being a military and not a civil officer. The colonel, however, gave him a letter to Sir Colin Campbell, the sheriff of Argyleshire, requesting him to administer the oath, that the brave

chieftain might have the advantage of the indemnity, though so late in claiming it.

MacIan hastened from Fort-William to Inveraray, not even stopping to call at his home, although he passed within a mile of it. The roads, bad at the best, were almost impassable now from a fall of snow; and so the fatal first of January was past before he reached Inveraray.

The sheriff was satisfied with the explanation of delay, and administered the oath in the presence of the proper law-officer. He sent off an express messenger to the Privy Council to announce the submission of MacIan, with full details of the cause of delay; he also wrote to Colonel Hill to ask him to see that the clan was not annoyed by any military parties until the pleasure of the Council was known.

home, and told He bade them

So the chief returned to his his people what he had done. live peaceably, and trust to the protection of the Government, to whom he had sworn allegiance.

Now it is believed that the letter of the sheriff was never produced before the Privy Council, and that the certificate of MacIan's having taken the oath was destroyed. These things are generally attributed to the Master of Stair, who had become Secretary of State, and who was a bitter foe of MacIan. This is confirmed by many of the actions and much of the correspondence of the Secretary. However that may be, he got the king to sign a paper ordering the destruction of the whole clan. His delight was unbounded now that his vengeance could be glutted. He wrote to the officers entrusted with the execution of the sentence that they were to do the work secretly and suddenly, and