by James Hogg
CHAPTER VIII.
So they shot out and they shot in, Till the morn that it was day, When mony o' the Englishmen About the draw-brigg lay; When they hae yoket carts and wains, To ca' their dead away, And shot auld dikes aboon the lave, In gutters where they lay.
_Ball. of Old Mettlin._
The expedition of the Douglas against Musgrave is, like theinnumerable Border battles of that reign, only shortly mentioned byhistorians; and although it was a notable encounter, and is detailedby Isaac at great length, it lies out of our way here. Let it sufficethat they skirmished cautiously for two days with various success, andat last came to an engagement on a field right opposite to thejunction of the Tweed and Gala. After a hard fought battle, Douglas'left wing was discomfitted; and just as he was arranging his force soas to cover the retreat, an unaccountable confusion was noted amongthe English ranks, which seemed to be engaged anew, and with oneanother, there being no other army nigh. Douglas, recalling his routedsquadrons, faced about, but advanced with caution, till he sawMusgrave's army broken and flying in all directions. This gallant featwas accomplished by a Sir John Gordon, who was on his way with sevenhundred fresh men to the assistance of Douglas; and as he came on theEnglish ranks behind at that important crisis, he broke them at thefirst onset, and took Sir Thomas Musgrave prisoner with his own hand.
Thus far the affairs of Douglas wore the aspect of prosperity--but asettled gloom hung over his mind; an oppression of spirits was apparentin every sentence that he uttered and every plan he suggested, and thesewere far from being traits of his wonted disposition. But the monkBenjamin had been with him again and again!--had been harrassing hissoul with commissions and messages from the mansions of the dead; andone night he heard the voice of his lost and dearly regretted princess,speaking to him in his tent, as it were out of the canvas. Still themost solemn injunctions of secrecy were imposed on him, insomuch that hedeemed himself not at liberty to open his mind to any one. Besides allthis, the disconsolate Mary Kirkmichael had been constantly lingeringnigh to him, and always presenting herself in the utmost agony of mind,to make enquiries about her royal mistress. That lady's appearancebecame so terrible to him that he was unable to bear it, and gave strictcharges that she should not be suffered to come within the limits of hiscamp. But for all that, availing herself of her rank and her sex'sprivilege, she forced her way to him several times, and at every visitfilled his soul with the most racking torments; so that, harrassed with_war_ as he was, he found this his first intercourse with _women_,attended with ten times more distracting and grievous perils than theformer. While, on the other hand, the heroes that visited the castle ofAikwood, even those who escaped, not including the wretched victims whoremained behind, discovered, to their dear bought experience, thatthere were perils in nature infinitely superior to both.
It is now absolutely necessary to shorten the curate's narrative, toprevent this work running to an inordinate length; and though two ofhis tales have been left out already, the great events that followmust also be related in a style abbreviated, though not mangled byindistinctness.
After the intrepid Lord Musgrave had sacrificed his own life in orderto save those of his only brother and the lady of his love, Claveringwas unanimously chosen captain in his room, and every soldier took anew oath to him to die in defence of the fortress. The commission ofwhich he accepted was a dismal one; but he entered into all thefeelings of the famishing inmates in their hatred of the Scots, andimplacable enmity against them,--therefore, he was the very man fortheir purpose.
Every attempt of the besiegers to scale the walls of the castle, or togain an entrance by fraud or force, had hitherto proved utterlyabortive; the determined sons of England laughed at them, regardingthem in no other light than as freaks of mere insanity, or the gambolsof children. The fortress was impregnable with such heroes within, hadthey been supplied with sufficient stores of food and of arrows, bothof which had long been exhausted; and though a small and welcomesupply of the former had been obtained during the tempest and theflood which followed, for which they were obliged to the devil andMaster Michael Scott, yet, like all the benefits derived from thatquarter, it proved rather more hurtful than advantageous, for theydevoured it with such avidity that the distemper, with which they hadformerly been visited, broke out among them with greater violence thanever. Yet disregarding all these privations, which a looker-on wouldsuppose might naturally tend to break the human heart and daunt theresolution of the boldest,--with famine and pestilence both staringthem in the face,--they bound themselves by a new and fearfuloath never to yield the fortress to the Scots while a man of themremained alive. Every new calamity acted but as a new spur to theirresolution; and their food being again on the very eve of exhaustion,their whole concern was how to procure a new supply. Not that theyvalued their own lives or their own sufferings,--these had for a goodwhile been only a secondary consideration,--but from the excruciatingdread that they should die out, and the Scots attain possession of thefortress before Christmas.
The warders soon noted the alteration that had taken place in thebeleaguering army. They perceived the ground that had formerly beenoccupied by the Angus men, and the Mar Highlanders, now taken up bythe tall, athletic, and careless looking borderers, against whom theyfound their antipathy was not so mortal: and they had some surmisingsof what really was the case, that a strong diversion had been made intheir favours, that had drawn off their inveterate and hateful enemyDouglas from the siege. Every hour convinced them farther of the truthof this suggestion; for they perceived a laxness in the manner ofconducting the blockade which they had not witnessed for many days,and all their conversation turned on the manner in which they ought toavail themselves of it. The carelessness of the besiegers themselves,or something subordinate thereto, soon furnished an opportunity tothem of putting their policy once more to the test, and that by anadventure the most ardently desired. On the second day after thedeparture of Douglas the warder on the topmost tower perceived, on arising ground two miles to the southward, about thirty head of cattle,that came gradually in view as a wing of a large drove might besupposed to do; and after they had fed for some time there, two mencame before them and chased them back out of sight of the castle, asif a great oversight had been committed by letting them come in viewof it. Notice of this important discovery was instantly given to thecaptain, and the news spreading among the garrison, many a long andlonging look was cast from the battlements and loopholes of the highwestern tower that day. They were not cast in vain. Just toward thefall of evening they perceived a part of the drove appear again only avery short space from the castle, and they likewise perceived by theircolours that they were a drove of English beasts which had beenbrought from their native pastures by the strong hand of rapine, forthe supply of this new come border army. They perceived likewise thatthey approached the army by a concealed way, that the two glances theygot of them were merely casual, and that they were very slightlyguarded.
A council of war was immediately called, in which it was agreed,without one dissentient voice, that the garrison should make a shamsally at the eastern draw-bridge, as if with intent to gain the city,in order that they might draw the attention of the besiegers to thatpoint; and in the meantime the captain, with the choicest of themen were to march out by Teviot-bridge, of which the garrisonhad necessarily the sole possession, and endeavour to seize theprey. Thence they were to proceed westward, and try to elude theenemy's posts, or give them battle, if the former were found tobe impracticable; but at all events, either to die or succeed inattaining that valuable supply, or a part of it. The success of thecontest now turned on that single point as on a pivot; the balance wasagainst them, but, that turned in their favours by an exertion ofwarrior prowess, they could then reckon on a complete triumph overtheir unappeasable foes.
Besides, every thing seemed to concur in support of their gallantexpedition. The nights were dark even beyond their usual darkness atthat gloomy season, and t
he moon did not arise till two in themorning. Both these circumstances were in their favour,--the one inattaining possession of the prey unperceived, and the other inenabling them to fight their way home; for they knew that though theythemselves might pass the strong Scottish posts favoured by the deepdarkness, still it was impossible to bring the drove through them, andalong the bridge, without a hard skirmish. The captain, therefore,gave command to the division left behind, that the more noise theyheard of an engagement about the bridge of Teviot, and the gate towardthe west, the more they should press their battle eastward, to divertthe strength of the army to that quarter. Because on that side theScots could make no impression, and the English could lose nothingthere save a few lives, which they accounted of small avail; but ifthe expedition to the west failed, their cause was finally ruined.
That was a busy evening within the walls of Roxburgh, while all wasquietness and indifference without. Within there was arming anddisarming, for the suits of armour that once fitted these emaciatedwarriors would not now hang on their frames. There was grinding ofswords, pointing of spears and ox-goads, and even the slaughter-housesof the fort were cleared, with a provident concern seldom overlookedby Englishmen; and at eleven o'clock at night, by the convent matinbell, Clavering, with five hundred chosen men, well armed, issuedsilently from the garrison, creeping along the Teviot-bridge on theirhands and knees. From that they proceeded westward in the mostprofound silence, and so close by the Scottish posts, that they heardthem breathing and conversing together. One party crept up all the waywithin the water-brae, and the other, led by Clavering himself, pastthrough between two Scottish posts, drawing themselves along theground close on their breasts, and once or twice were obliged to squatclose down, and lie silent for a considerable space, while thefollowing dialogue passed between the sentinels.
"Od, Sandie Scott, think ye it can be true that the English are eatingane another?"
"There's nae doubt o't. I hear that they're snapping up five o' thefattest o' their number every day. They will eat themsels out bit bybit that gate."
"Aih wow, man! I wad rather die o' hunger than pick the banes of aneacquaintance. Bursten devils, that they are!"
"Aha, Sandie, billie, ye dinna ken till ye be tried. A man will doought or he die o' hunger. An do you ken, Sandie Scott, I think ourcaptain has done wrang in bringing sae mony fat bullocks a' sae nearthe castle at ae time. Thae hungered louns will hae a haud o' some o'them, and maybe cut a wheen o' our throats into the bargain, some o'thir dark nights."
"Now, ye see neighbour, I ken sae weel that our master never does thesma'est thing without some design, that I think he wants to wile outthe English, and then kill them; and that he has brought a' thir brawstots o'er the border, just on the same principle that a fisher throwsa bait into the water."
"Na, na, Sandie, that canna be the case, for he has gi'en strictorders that no ane o' them be suffered to come within sight o' thecastle. He just thinks the beasts canna be sae safe ony where else asbeside himsel' and his lads. But hunger has sharp een, and I wadnawonder if this drove should lead to some hard tulzie."
"Whisht! Godsake, haud your tongue! What's that I hear?"
"The English, I'll warrant you. If hunger hae clear een, fear has uncolang lugs. What was it that Sandie heard?"
"I heard a kind o' rubbing and thristing, as a fox or a foumart hadbeen drawing himsel through a hole aneath the ground. Hilloa! Whatguard?"
"Howpasley and Gemelscleugh."
"Watch weel. There's something stirring."
"Not a mouse."
"So say the sleeping foresters; but I can tell you, men o'Gemelscleuch and Howpasley, an there be nought stirring aboon theground, the moudies are very busy aneath it the night. Clap close, andkeep an ee on the withergloom. I had a heavy dream at nightfa', andI'm resolved no to close an ee. Come, neighbour, tell a tale, or say arhame to keep us wauking."
"Have ye heard the new ballant made by the rhiming dominie o'Selchrit, the queerest thing ever was heard? It begins this gate:
The Devil he sat in Dornock tower, And out at a slip-hole keekit he, And he saw three craws come yont the lift, And they winged their flight to the Eildon tree. O whow, O whow, quo the muckle deil, But yon's a sight that glads my ee, For I'll lay the steel-brander o' hell There's a storm a-brewing in the west countrye."
* * * * *
"Whisht, for heaven's sake! I heard the tod again, Hilloa!Gemelscleuch to the glaive! Have lug and hawk e'e, or there'll be newsafore the morn that's unheard tell o' yet."
"And that there will! Saint David be with us! and the blessed SaintMary, the mother of God, be with us! Hist havering, say Benedicite."
At that instant a sharp breeze arose which drowned the noise, andClavering and his men passed fairly by on their perilous expedition.Beyond the next hollow they found the cattle all lying puffing anddozing on a round hill. An immense drove of them there seemed to be,for the hill appeared to be literally covered, but the night was asdark as pitch, and they could see nothing distinctly. Clavering gavehis commands in a whisper to his chief men, to surround the wholedrove, and drive them furiously, that by these means they might throwthe enemy's lines into confusion. "We have the advantage of theground," said he; "the bridge is clear, and the gates open. Let usplay the men for once, and our difficulties are all over. Providencehas favoured us beyond what could have been calculated on. Our forceis superior to that of our enemies on this side the river. On whateverside our column is attacked, let us keep a running fight, so as topush on and preserve the prey, and the day is our own: And now, SaintAnthony for the right!"
The men then formed themselves into a crescent behind the cattlesix-line deep, and with club, goad, and spear pushed them on. Therewere a few dour lazy driving runts behind that bore all the thumps,but the bulk were high-spirited, and galloped off on the path towardRoxburgh with the utmost fury, insomuch that the delighted driversnever got a sight of them. They broke through the Scottish lineswithout either stop or stay. The alarm was instantly given, but anight muster is always attended with some delay. So the Englishthought,--so they said; and to their great joy they found theirsuggestions realized; for not till the last cow was past the strongline of posts on the height were they attacked by the Scots. But then,indeed, the Gemelscleuch and Howpasley men set upon them withunparallelled fury, and being every five minutes joined by more oftheir companions, they pressed hard upon the English, who, beingobliged to keep up a retreating battle, fell thick on the brae beyondthe bridge. The brave and judicious Longspeare himself led the attack,and behaved like a lion; for though wounded in three different placesof the body, he fought in the front of the main battle all that night.
The Scots, to the utter amazement of their enemies, never once offeredto stop the cattle, but merely attacking the English crescent behind,drove them and cattle and all towards the bridge. This Clavering andhis chief men attributed wholly to the surprise by which the Scotswere taken; and when the former saw the dark column of cattle take thebridge, he thanked the God of heaven, the blessed Virgin, and all thesaints whose names were known to him, for such a wonderful success andmerciful deliverance. The English host then raised such a shout oftriumph that the echoes called from the castled towers to the forest,and from the forest to the distant rocks. The Scots soon joined in itwith equal enthusiasm; and the two armies then engaged at the easterngate, also joined their voices to the general chorus. The gray friarsof Roxburgh, and the Benedictine monks of Kelso, raised their headsfrom their flinty pillows, committed themselves to heaven, anddeplored the madness and folly of the men of the world. The city dameswept and prayed, and the men ran to head-quarters to learn the causeof the uproar. The sounds were actually heard in the camp of Douglas,at the distance of sixteen miles; and when this was reported to himnext morning, he said, "There was the Redhough on the ramparts ofRoxburgh!"
But man's thoughts are vanity! He cannot judge of events so as tocalculate on what is to happe
n from one moment to another: incidentsof the slightest moment so often having the effect of overturning thegreatest and most momentous enterprizes. Never was there one sonearly overturned as this, although it was not once thought of tillafterwards,--and it was on this wise: There was a strong guard ofEnglish placed at the south end of the bridge, to guide the foremostof the drove on to it, or help to cut a way for the cattle throughsuch troops as might interpose. The cattle, as was said, camegalloping furiously without intervention, and, as if led by an unseenprovidence, took the bridge with all their vigour, the battle beingthen raging behind them, and the shouts beginning to rend the sky.This guard had nothing to do, of course, but to open into two lines,and give them head. But at the end of the bridge there was a deeppuddle, and among the men there chanced to be a little boy, who wasrunning about and thrashing the cattle as they went through thispuddle, which made them spring up the arch with redoubled velocity,which the urchin thought good sport. But in the midst of thisfrolic he bolted away at once with such velocity that he had almostoverthrown one of the men in the file, and as he ran he cried out,"Lord, saw ever ony mortal the like o' that?" "What was it, rashidiot?" said the man. "Grace and mercy, man, did you not see how yongreat black stott stood straight up on his hind legs and waded thepool?" said the boy. "Take that to clear your eyes, impertinent brat,"said the man, and gave him a blow with his fist that made him run awayhowling and crying, always repeating as he went, "I'll tell yourcaptain,--now! 'at will I that--now!"
The combat behind the cattle thickened apace. The English were soreborne down on the hill, but when they came to the little plain at thebridge-end they stood firm, and gave as hard blows as they got. Theyhad fairly gained their aim, and their spirits, so long depressed,mounted to an unusual height. The last lingering hoof of the wholecountless drove was now on the arch, and they could calculate onholding out the fortress against their hated foes not only tillChristmas, but till that time twelvemonth. Their shouts of joy wereredoubled. So also were those of the Scots. "The people are mad!" saidthey, "thus to shout for their own loss and their own defeat. It is asmall trait of the cursed perversity of the whole nation!"
The English narrowed their front and narrowed their front still astheir files found room on the arch of the bridge, which was long andnarrow, and very steep at the south end, that rose directly from theplain. But the road up to the castle by the two tremendous iron gateswas likewise exceedingly steep, and went by a winding ascent, so thatthe latter end of the drove, those dull driving ones that bore all thestrokes, got very slowly up, and with great difficulty. There was aguard of considerable strength left in this gateway by Clavering, lestany attempt should be made by the enemy to enter in his absence. Butthese men had strict charges to clear the way for the cattle, and helpto drive the foremost ones up the steep. The fore part of the drovehowever came up the steep with such main fury, that the men were gladto clear a way for them, by flying out of the path, up to the citadel.There was not a man left in the gateway, save two at each of the ironportcullises, and these stood in deep niches of the wall, out of alldanger. Each of these men held the end of a chain that was twistedround an immense bolt in the wall,--and these bolts, Isaac says, areto be seen sticking to this day. On untwisting this chain theportcullises fell down, and when they were to raise up it was donewith levers. Well, as the two outermost men stood in their niches,holding by the ends of their chains, they observed, that two of theoxen that first came in, nay the very first two that came in, turnedround their ugly heads, leaned their sides to the wall, and kept intheir places, the one on the one side and the other on the other, tillthe whole drove passed them. The men could not move from their poststo drive them on with the rest, but they wondered at the beasts; andthe one cried to the other, "What can ail them two chaps?" "O them aretwo tired ones," said the other: "Dom them for two ugly monsters! theylook as them hod been dead and roosen again."
At length, by dint of sore driving and beating, the last hoof of theWarden's choice drove passed inward through the castle gate ofRoxburgh, for the maintenance of his irascible enemies. Could anything be so unfortunate? or how was he to set up his face, and answerto the Douglas now? But the Redhough was determined that he would setup his face and answer to the Douglas and his country too, as well asto his kinsmen and followers, whom he valued highest of all. Just asthe last lazy cow crossed the gate, and when the triumphant shouts ofthe English were at the loudest, the two great lubberly oxen thatstood shaking their ugly heads, and leaning against the wall, rippedup their own bellies; and out of two stuffed hides two most ingeniouscases, started up two no less men than Sir Ringan Redhough and hisdoughty friend Charlie Scott of Yardbire. Off went the heads of thetwo porters in one moment, and down came the portcullis with athundering rattle, and a clank that made the foundations of the gateshake. "Now, southron lads, haud ye there!" cried the Redhough: "Timeabout is fair play. Keep ye the outside o' the door threshold as langas ye hae gart us keep it."
They next went up and seized the other two porters, whom they savedalive, to teach them how to bolt, bar, open, and shut the gates; butthe men had taken the oaths with the rest, and remained obstinate. Nothreatening could make them move either finger or tongue except inmockery, which provoked the Redhough so that he despatched themlikewise. On reaching the great square the Warden found his men inpeaceable possession. Six score brave chosen men had entered among thecattle, each in a stuffed ox or cow hide, and had now like theircaptain cast their sloughs, and stood armed at all points to executehis commands. They found nothing to do, save a prodigious difficultyin working their way from the western to the eastern gate. There wereso many turnings and windings; so many doors and wickets; so manyascents and descents,--that an army might have gained possession ofthe one end and yet have been kept out of the other for years. But thesurprise here was so complete, that the Borderers had in fact nothingto do but to keep the possession, thus obtained in so easy and at thesame time so gallant a style. The shouts that arose from the westernbattle had so much encouraged those at the eastern gate, that they hadsallied out, and attacking the besiegers sword in hand, had driventhem back within their strong line of defence. This retreat was a partof the plan of the Scots, to draw off the remaining force from thegate, and while they were in the hottest of the skirmish, down cameRedhough and his lads from the interior of the castle behind them, cutdown the few guards about the entrance and the draw-bridge with ease,and having raised that, and shut the double gates on that quarterlikewise, he placed the Armstrongs there as a guard, and returned intothe interior, still uncertain what enemies he had to combat within.
This mighty fortress was, from the one drawbridge to the other, a fullquarter of a mile in length, walled and moated round, and containedseven distinct squares or castles, every one of which was a fortressof itself. But the strongest of all was the division on the westernpart, which was denominated the citadel, and had gates and bars of itsown, and towers that rose far above the rest. Into this strong placethe sole remnant of the English soldiers had retreated, whichconsisted merely of the guard that kept the western porch and made wayfor the cattle, a few stragglers beside, and some official people thatkept always within. Through every other part of the castle the Scotsfound free passage; and by the time the moon had been risen for anhour, the shouts of "A Douglas! a Douglas! a Redhough! a Redhough!"were heard from every part of the walls, excepting the western tower.There indeed a faint and subdued shout announced at intervals the nameof the King of England, for it was now no more a Musgrave! and as forClavering they wist not whether he was dead or alive, taken or atliberty.
When the first ranks of the Englishmen that came up behind the cattlesaw the gates shut against them, they took it for some accident, orsome mistake that the porters had fallen into, on listening to theshouts of the adverse parties: but after calling and remonstrating tono purpose, they began to suspect that there was treason at the bottomof it, and the whisper of treason spread among that part of the forceswhich was now forced against the gate. The
y could do nothing; for theyneither had room to fight nor fly, and they knew not whom to suspect,or what had befallen them. As for those at the farther end of thebridge, they were so hotly engaged with their opponents, that they hadlittle time to consider of any thing; but finding themselves fixed tothe spot, and no movement making toward the gate, they conceived thatsomething there was wrong, which retarded the regular entrance of thetroops for so long a time. They now fought only three to three abreaston the steep arch of the bridge, down which the English drove theScots six or seven times, the latter always returning to the chargewith that vigour which a certainty of success inspires. Claveringfought them in the rear, and in the hottest of the battle stillencouraging his men to deeds of desperate valour, little weening howmatters went within. But when the names of the Scottish chiefs wereresounded from the walls, every heart among the English was chilled,and every arm unnerved in one instant. They had no conception how thething could have happened; it appeared so far beyond all human powerto have effected it, that it was several hours before it gainedgeneral credit among them. They had kept the fortress so long, with solittle dread of its being wrested from them, and withal suffered somuch in it, that they could not believe the evidence of their senses,that by a course of events entirely of their own planning, theyshould be all without the walls, and the Scots within. It was like awork of enchantment. Like some of the late inconceivable works of thespirits of divination.
The Scots could make no impression on them upon that long narrowbridge; but they could not long stand cooped up there; and whenthey saw that all hope was lost of regaining entrance, they threwthemselves over a high parapet, and took possession of the steep bankbetween the bottom of the southern wall and the river Teviot. Theriver being dammed below, it stood like a frith round the bottom ofthis bank, which was so steep that they could not stand on it, butwere obliged to clamber alongst it on their hands and feet. Escapebeing impracticable, the Scots suffered them to take possession ofthat bank undisputed, and to keep it, supposing they must surrendernext day; but a great number were slain before the latter end of thetrain was disentangled of the bridge.
The Scots had now free access to the gate, into which Gemelscleuch andHowpasley were admitted. The Warden embraced them, and thanked themfor their wise counsel, as well as their great bravery; and they againset about traversing and surveying the fortress, concerning whichCharlie Scott said, "It wad tak a man a year and a day to find out a'the turnings and windings about it."
The battle at the eastern draw-bridge had continued from midnightwithout intermission; and after the break of day our chiefs witnesseda scene from the walls that was without a parallel. That division ofthe Scots army was composed of Douglas' men, being the same troopsthat were there before, and they were commanded by Sir James Douglasof Dalkeith. That knight got private intelligence of the Warden'sintention to storm the castle, by what means he knew not, but resolvedto hold himself in readiness; and, as he was desired, when the sortiewas made, he retreated at first, drawing them off from the gate. Whenthe cry arose that the castle was taken, his men became frantic withjoy, and resolute on taking ample vengeance on their enemies, theyburst upon them without regularity, making great havock, and at thesame time throwing away many of their own lives. Sir James with greatdifficulty restrained them, called a parley, and offered the expelledgarrison quarter; but they returned for answer, that they weened hehad called the parley to ask quarter of them, and they had determinedto refuse it. They concluded by telling him to see to himself, andinsult them no more by such messages, for as yet he knew not with whomhe was warring. The battle was then renewed by the light of the moonwith greater fury than ever; they fought like baited bears, withrecklessness of life and the silence of death. Deadly hate was inevery thrust, and the last words of every falling warrior were, "Haveat them yet."
When the day light arose, the English fought within a semicircularwall of mangled carcasses; for, grievous to relate, they were notcorpses; yet were they piled in a heap higher than a man's height,which was moving with agonized life from top to bottom, and from theone end to the other; for the men having all fallen by sword wounds,few of them were quite dead. The English were now reduced to a smallnumber, yet, in the strife, their ardour seemed to prevail over thatof their opponents. The Border chiefs, inured as they were to war,stood amazed, and even shocked, at the scene presented to theirview. Yardbire was the first to deprecate it in these words: "Gudefaith, Sirs, it strikes me, that this is rather carrying war to anextremity."
"Rescue! rescue!" shouted the Warden: "Give quarter to these men formy sake. I will pay their ransom myself."
When the Douglas' vassals heard this, they lowered the points of theirswords, and drew back from the slaughter, commanding the English toground their weapons. The latter consulted together for a few minutes,and void of all dread, save that of being obliged to submit to theScots, they broke with one consent over the pile of human bodies, and,carrying destruction before them, opened a way into the middle of theScottish columns; nor ceased they fighting until every man of themwas cut down. The rest of the English army were in a fold. Escape wasimpossible. Ten men could have prevented it on all sides, yet for awhole day and night did they hold their tenure of that perpendicularbank, although before the evening many were losing their holds, androlling into the river from exhaustion. Then the sudden immersionarousing them somewhat from their torpor, scores of them might be seenat a time crawling to the side of the water, and endeavouring toclamber once more up the bank; but at last they sunk back into thedeep, and their last breath arose to the surface in small chains offetid air bubbles. No one knew what became of the young and intrepidClavering,--at what time, or in what place he fell; and without a headas these men were, it was not till the second morning, when the breathof revenge had cooled, and after much expostulation on the part of theconquerors, that the wretched remnant yielded themselves prisoners ofwar, and were all suffered to depart on their parole, with highencomiums on their valour. But these commendations were received withthe gall of bitterness; and none of them could tell, when they wenthome, how or by what means they were expelled.
The Warden and his men now set themselves with all their endeavour totake the citadel; and, feebly as it was defended, it cost them nolittle trouble. It is probable that it might have held out a few dayslonger, but when Douglas and his army were seen approaching on theirreturn from the battle, the impatience of the Borderers could be nolonger restrained; and Yardbire, with a remnant of his Olivers, Potts,and Laidlaws, scaled the wall in the faces of the enemy, who hadscarcely power left to cleave a head without a helmet, and throwingthemselves into the square, became masters of the gate in a fewminutes; so that before Douglas reached the top of the hill of Barns,his colours were placed on the topmost tower of the citadel.
It may easily be conceived with what joy, wonder, and admiration hegazed on this phenomenon. Joy that his broad lands and possessionswere thus insured to him, of which for some time past he scarcelyretained a hope; and admiration how that indefatigable chief hadaccomplished, in a few days, that which he had exerted himself in vainto accomplish for the space of as many months. The idea of being sofar outdone in policy was without doubt somewhat bitter to the palateof a Douglas, for never till this day can they brook a competitor inthe field; but, considering how matters stood, it would have been theworst of policy to have let such a feeling appear. Douglas thereforetestified the highest satisfaction, extolling the Warden's head toconceive and hand to accomplish, in terms such as he had never beenheard to utter. "Glorious Redhough! unparallelled Redhough!" exclaimedhe again and again: "Thou and thy lads are the men to trust."
The chief received him at the castle gate, welcoming him in jocularterms of high chivalry to the castle of Roxburgh, which he took carealways to denominate "my castle." This was soon noted by the Douglas:and as soon as they entered the governor's house in the citadel,Douglas made over to him, by regular deeds and instruments, the sevenfirst baronies he chose to name. This document, toget
her with theroyal charters confirming it, is extant, and in the possession of oneof the Warden's lineal descendants at this day. On receiving thisgrant, signed, sealed, and witnessed, Sir Ringan delivered over thekeys of the castle to the Earl of Douglas and Mar, and the twoexchanged seats at the table. Douglas also conferred the honours ofknighthood on Charlie Scott, Simon Longspeare, and John of Howpasley;while Sir Ringan bestowed one of his new baronies on each of thesebrave gentlemen in support of their new dignities, burdened only witha few additional servitudes. On his right hand hero, the hereditaryclaimant of the post of honour, he conferred the barony of Raeburn andCraik, that he might thenceforward be the natural head of hishard-headed Olivers and skrae-shankit Laidlaws. To Longspeare he gaveTemadale; and to Howpasley, Phingland and Langshaw. When Charlie firstrose from his knee, and was saluted as Sir Charles Scott of Raeburnand Yardbire, he appeared quite cast down, and could not answer aword. It was supposed that his grateful heart was overcome with thethought that the reward bestowed on him by his generous chief had beenfar above his merits.
The news of the capture were transmitted to court with all expedition;on which King Robert returned word, that he would, with his queen,visit the Douglas in the castle of Roxburgh, and there, in thepresence of the royal family, and the nobles of the court, confer onhim his daughter's hand in marriage, along with such other royalgrants and privileges as his high gallantry and chivalrous spiritdeserved. He added, that he had just been apprized by his consort,that his daughter, the princess Margaret, had been for some timeliving in close concealment in the vicinity of Roxburgh, watching theprogress of her lover with a devotion peculiar to her ardent andaffectionate nature. If the Douglas was aware of this, which the Kinghad some reasons for supposing, he requested that he would deferseeing her until in the presence of her royal parents. There was athrust indeed! An eclaircissement was approaching too much for man tobear.--But that heart-rending catastrophe must be left to the nextchapter. In the meantime, for perspicuity's sake, we must relate howthis grand device of the Warden's originated, by which the castle waswon, and himself and followers honoured and enriched.
It was wholly owing to the weird read by the great enchanter MasterMichael Scott. So that though the reader must have felt (as the editordid in a very peculiar manner,) that Isaac kept his guests too long inthat horrible place the castle of Aikwood, it will now appear that notone iota of that long interlude of his could have been omitted; fortill the weird was read, and the transformation consummated, theembassy could not depart,--and unless these had been effected, thecastle could not have been taken. The editor, for brevity's sake leftout both the youth's and maiden's characteristic tales, which shallappear by and by, but more he durst not cancel.
When the passage out of the book of fate was repeated to Sir Ringan,he never for a moment doubted either its truth or fulfilment, providedhe and his friends could discover its true meaning. But the words werewrapt in mystery; and, when conjoined with the enchantment practisedon his men, were for a long time so completely unintelligible, thatall save Sir Ringan himself, and his echo Dickie of Dryhope, gave upthe hope of reconciling the given destiny with reason or common sense.As for the friar, he entered his protest against paying any regard toit from the beginning, on the principle that all the Master's powersand foreknowledge were deputed to him by subordinate and malevolentspirits, and that good could not arise out of evil. The Warden'sphilosophy, on the other hand, taught him to estimate facts andknowledge as he found them developed among mankind, without enquiringtoo nicely into the spirit of their origin; for the more deeply thatwas wrapt in mystery, the more powerful was its sway over hisimagination. Charlie Scott felt much disposed to coincide with hismaster in these principles, but in all deep matters he was diffidentin offering his advice or sentiments. He, however, hit upon the rightcue in this instance, and that by the most natural combination ofideas that ever presented themselves to mortal man. The rightunderstanding of the prophecy was about to be given up in despair. Theintervals of silence during the discussion were becoming longer andlonger each time. It was in order to break one of these, rather thanto impose his advice on his chief, that Charlie ventured to deliverhimself as follows: "Gude faith, my masters, I see nothing for it, butthat we get Master Michael Scott to turn us into fat owsen again, orbulls, or stotts, or what ye like. Then the English will drive us a'gladly into the castle for marts to their beef barrels. But when weare fairly in, we wad need the gospel friar to change us to men again,or, gude faith, we wad be in a bad predicament. But I hae some faithto put in auld Michael's power, (as I hae good right,) and gin thatcould be done as he seemed to hint, by the blood of Bruce! but we waddowss their doublets for them."
"Might we not rather disguise ourselves as cattle, cousin?" saidHowpasley.
"I have seen our jugglers and mountebank players," said Longspeare,"disguise themselves as a lion, a tiger, a bear, a wolf, and even as agreat serpent, and dragon, so that I myself took them for theseanimals."
"Why then may not we disguise ourselves as oxen, so that we may passfor them in a dark night?" said the Warden.
"Ay, in a dark night," said Dickie; "what is to hinder us? If we butwalk on all four we will pass with hungry men for oxen in a darknight."
Thus was the hint given, which was improved on as above related, tillit effected the desired and important event, the taking of Roxburghcastle, and that in the most masterly and prudent style ever conceivedby man. They had a small drove of cattle collected, as well as hides;but the disguised ones took care to keep in the front or the middleof these, in short on the side farthest from an Englishman. The onewho walked through the dub in an upright posture, had not perceivedthe shabby boy so near him.
Abundance of all the good things that the kingdom could produce werenow poured into the castle with all expedition; and every preparationmade for the reception of the King and Queen of Scotland. The carnagehad been so great at the two gates that night the fortress was taken,that the citizens of Roxburgh, as well as the three establishments ofmonks and friars in the vicinity, besought of Douglas that the slainmight not be buried nigh to the city, for fear of infection; and ifthis was granted, they proffered to be at the sole charge of removingand burying them with all holy observances. This was readily granted,and they were removed to a little plain behind the present village,where thousands of their bones have lately been dug up. The buryingcontinued for three days.