by G. A. Henty
Chapter 19: The Battle Of Homildon Hill.
"But how have you made your way back, ahead of the army?" Hotspurasked, after Oswald had given him full information as to the militaryoperations.
"Roger and I were left for dead, in that fight I have told you of, nearLlanidloes; and we fell into the hands of the Welsh, and were takenbefore Glendower, who treated us well, and put me to ransom, with theengagement that I was not again to bear arms, in Wales."
"That was a strange leniency, on his part," Hotspur exclaimed; "for Ihear he puts to the sword all who fall into his hands, without anyregard for the rules of civilized war."
"He is a strange man, Sir Henry, and subject, I fancy, to changeablemoods. When I was brought before him he was in a happy one, over thesuccess he had gained; and it may be that he took a liking for me. Atany rate, he fixed my ransom at a very small sum."
"Which I will, of course, pay," Hotspur said, "since you were mysquire, and were at Ludlow on my service."
"I thank you much, Sir Henry, but 'tis so small a sum that I myselfdischarged it, without difficulty."
"'Tis strange, most strange, that you should have gone into the lion'sden, and have come out unscathed. Strange, indeed, that Glendower, who,as we know, is greatly in want of money, should have fixed your ransomat a low sum. How much was it, Sir Oswald?"
"I will tell you the story, Sir Henry, though I would tell no one else;for my freedom is due to something that happened, nigh two years ago,when I was first with Sir Edmund Mortimer. I failed in what was mystrict duty, although I disobeyed no orders that I had received, and myconscience altogether acquits me of wrong."
"You may be sure, Sir Oswald, that the matter will go no further; andknowing you as I do, I feel sure that, whatever the matter was, it wasnot to your discredit."
"So I trust, myself, my lord; but it might have cost me my head, hadthe king come to know it. I will first tell you that my ransom wasfixed at a crown, and that of Roger at a penny."
Hotspur, who had been looking a little grave, laughed.
"Surely never before was so much bone and sinew appraised at so small asum."
"It was so put, simply that I might, with truth, avow that I was put toransom. However, I paid the crown and the penny, and have so dischargedmy obligations.
"This was how the matter came about;" and he related the wholecircumstances to Sir Henry; and the manner in which the little chain,given to him by Glendower's daughter, had been the means of saving hislife.
"I blame you in no way, Sir Oswald," Hotspur said cordially, when hehad heard the story; "though I say not that the king would have viewedthe matter in the same light. Still, you held to the letter of yourorders. You were placed there to give warning of the approach of anyhostile body, and naught was said to you as to letting any man, stillless any women, depart from the place. But indeed, how could I blameyou? Since heaven itself has assoiled you. For assuredly it was notchance that placed on your arm the little trinket that, alone, couldhave saved your life from the Welsh.
"Now to yourself, Sir Oswald. You will, I hope, continue my knight, asyou have been my squire."
"Assuredly, Sir Henry, I have never thought of anything else."
"Very well, then; I will, as soon as may be, appoint to you a doubleknight's feu. I say a double feu, because I should like to have you asone of the castle knights, and so have much larger service from you,than that which a knight can be called upon to render, for an ordinaryfeu. I will bid Father Ernulf look through the rolls, and see what feusare vacant. One of these I will make an hereditary feu, to pass downfrom you to your heirs, irrevocably; the other will be a service feu,to support the expenses caused by your extra services, and revocableunder the usual conditions."
A week later there was a formal ceremonial at the castle, and in thepresence of the earl, Hotspur, and the knights and gentlemen of theirservice, Oswald took the oath of allegiance to Sir Henry Percy; andafterwards, as required by law, to the king; and received from Hotspurdeeds appointing him to two knight's feus, including the villages ofStoubes and Rochester, in Reddesdale. There were, at the time, sixknight's feus vacant; and as Percy had left it to him to choose whichhe liked, he had selected these, as they lay but a twelve miles' ride,over the hills, from his father's place in Coquetdale.
The oath of allegiance to the king, as well as to the feudal lord, wasenacted by Henry the Second; with the intention of curbing, to someextent, the power of the great vassals; but although taken by allknights, on being presented with a feu, it was deemed of no effect inthe case of the immediate lord being at war with the king; and whenevertroubles arose, the lord's vassals always sided with him, it beinguniversally understood that the oath to him, from whom they hadreceived their land, was paramount over that to the king.
There having been several formalities to be observed, and matters to bediscussed, Oswald was unable to ride home until after this ceremony hadtaken place; but upon the following morning he and Roger started early,and arrived, that evening, at Yardhope. His welcome was a warm one, andthe satisfaction of his father, and the delight of his mother, atseeing him in knightly armour was great, indeed; and it increased whenhe told them that he had received knighthood at the hands of the kinghimself, and that Hotspur had granted him the feus of Stoubes andRochester.
"Then we shall have you within a ride of us," his mother exclaimed."That will be pleasant, indeed."
"The feus have always gone together," John Forster said, "and Stoubescastle, although small, is a strong one. How many tenants will youhave?"
"Twenty-three. That, at least, was the number of names set down in theparchments."
"That is not bad, as a beginning. Of course, you will keep some ten ortwelve retainers in the castle; and with such men as will come in fromthe villages, at the approach of danger, you will be able to musterfifty or sixty in all for the defence."
"I shall live chiefly at Alnwick, Father. Rochester is given to me asan hereditary feu, but I shall hold Stoubes for extra service at thecastle; and I have little doubt that Percy will, if I do him goodservice, make it also hereditary. He as much as said so."
"It will make a good portion, lad. Yardhope is a knight's feu, though Ihave never taken up the knighthood; and the Percys know that I shouldfight just as stoutly, as John Forster, as if I wore knightly armour;but though the lands are wide they are poor, while yours are fertile,lying down by the river. Moreover, Coquetdale is more liable to Scotchincursions than Reddesdale, as the road into Scotland runs along it. Ifneeds be we can lend a hand to each other; though, both together, wecould not hold either your place or mine against a strong invasion.
"Now, tell us how it was that you won your spurs; and how it was thatthe king, himself, knighted you."
"After I have eaten and drank I will do so, Father; for indeed, Rogerand I are well-nigh famishing."
After the meal, he related the whole story of his adventures.
"Well, lad, you were in luck," his father said, when he had finished."The help you gave those maidens might have brought your head to theblock; but it turned out well, and was the saving of your life, so Iwill say nought against the deed; especially as you owed no allegianceeither to Mortimer or to Talbot, and were, save for the orders thatHotspur had given you, your own master."
Two days later, having sent over, on the morning after his arrival, amessage to the tenants to present themselves at Stoubes to take theiroaths to him, Oswald, accompanied by his father, rode into Reddesdale.He found the castle a much stronger place than Yardhope, which was buta fortified house; while this was a moated building, with strong wallsand flanking towers, and a keep that could be held successfully, evenif the walls were captured by a sudden assault.
At twelve o'clock the tenants assembled. Oswald read to them the twoparchments, and they then took the oaths to him. They were wellsatisfied to have a young knight as their lord; for the feus had beenheld by a minor, who had died two years before; and had not been at thecastle since he was taken away, as a child, to be bro
ught up at thetown of Alnwick, where he had remained under the eye of the Percys. Ithad long been understood, however, that the feu would not be granted tohim; for he was weakly from his birth, and wholly unfitted for thecharge of a castle, so near the Scottish border.
According to feudal usage, each tenant expected that he would be calledupon to pay a heavy sum, under the name of a relief, as was customaryin the case of a new lord taking possession; and they were greatlyrelieved when Oswald told them that, as he already possessed armour andhorses, he would quit them for a fourth part of the usual amount;although he should, of course, require their services to enable him torepair such dilapidations as the castle had suffered, during the longterm that it had stood empty.
For the next three months, he stayed in Stoubes. Roger had been sentoff at once, with two men-at-arms, to bring the horses and armour thathad been left at Welshpool; bearing a letter to the governor fromOswald, thanking him much for having taken care of them, and sayingbriefly that he had been left on the field for dead, after the fightnear Llanidloes; but had recovered, and been well treated by Glendower,who had put him to ransom. He took money with him, to pay the expensesfor the keep of the horses; and returned, with them and the armour,after an absence of three weeks.
Passing through Worcester on his way back, he had, at Oswald's order,purchased for himself clothes suitable for his position as an esquire.As for armour, it had been arranged that he should have it made for himat Alnwick, as it would be difficult to obtain a suit sufficientlylarge for him.
At the end of the three months the necessary repairs to the castle werefinished. The gates had been greatly strengthened with thick bands ofiron, the moat cleared out, and at various points the defences had beenstrengthened. The small amount of furniture then deemed necessary stillremained there and, where needful, had been repaired and put in goodorder. Eight men-at-arms had been taken by Oswald into his service, anda trusty man appointed as seneschal.
Then, after paying another visit to Yardhope, Oswald rode, with Rogerand two well-mounted men-at-arms, to Alnwick.
It was now April, and bad news had just arrived. Glendower hadcommenced the campaign with great vigour, as the appearance of a comethad been interpreted, by the bards, as an omen most favourable to him,and his force had greatly increased during the winter. He had destroyedthe houses and strong places of all Welshmen who had not taken up armsat his orders, and had closely blockaded Carnarvon. He marched toBangor, levelled the cathedral, and that of Saint Asaph, by fire, burntthe episcopal palaces and canons' houses. So formidable did he becomethat the king issued writs, to the lieutenants of no fewer thanthirty-four counties, to assemble their forces at Lichfield, to crushGlendower.
The latter had now taken the offensive, and advanced towards Hereford,and carried fire and sword through Mortimer's lands. Sir Edmundgathered his own and his nephew's tenants and retainers, fromHerefordshire and Radnorshire, and advanced against Glendower. Thearmies met on the 22nd of June, 1402, at a short distance fromKnighton. The battle was obstinately fought, but was decided by thedesertion of the Welsh tenants, and by the Welsh bowmen in Mortimer'sservice turning their bows against his men-at-arms; and, finally, theEnglish were defeated, with the loss of eleven hundred men, Sir Edmundhimself being made a prisoner.
After the battle the Welsh behaved with the greatest savagery; killingall the wounded, stripping the fallen, and horribly mutilating theirbodies. The news created great excitement at Alnwick and, had not thesituation in the north been critical, Percy would have gathered hisforces and marched, with all speed, to avenge the defeat and capture ofhis brother-in-law.
The Earl of Dunbar, with many of the tenants of his former estates, andnumbers of the English borderers, had entered Scotland and carried outconsiderable raids. In revenge for this, Douglas despatched ThomasHalliburton and Patrick Hepburn, each with a considerable force, toinvade Northumberland. Halliburton ravaged the country as far asBamborough, collected great spoils, and returned with them. Hepburn,who had a still larger force, penetrated farther into England, carriedhis ravages to within a few miles of Alnwick; and then retired north,with an enormous amount of booty.
When, however, he had crossed the border into the country known as theMerse, north of Berwick, the Earl of Dunbar fell upon him at WestNesbit, and completely defeated him. Hepburn himself, with a largenumber of his men, fell in the battle; and many important prisonerswere captured. This battle was fought on the same day that Glendowerdefeated Mortimer.
The victory caused great exultation on the border; but Alwyn said tohis nephew:
"Although this is good, as far as it goes, Oswald, you may be sure thatDouglas will not brook this disaster with patience, but will gather theScottish forces; and we may expect him, ere long, at the head of twentythousand men, and we shall have a fight as stiff as that of Otterburn.We shall have Northumberland ablaze, and you will see that the earl andHotspur will soon be preparing to meet the storm.
"These last forays took them by surprise; and, as lords of the marches,they have suffered serious humiliation, for this victory was nottheirs, but the work of Dunbar; and had he not intercepted the Scots,on their own side of the border, they would have returned, scatheless,with the spoils of our northern districts. This disgrace will spur themon to make great efforts, and these will be needed, or we shall seeNorthumberland, Cumberland, and Durham in flames."
Alwyn was not mistaken. Messengers were sent off to all those holdingknights' feus, throughout the county, bidding them to prepare to answerto the Percy's call; and to hold themselves, and their tenants, inreadiness to march to any point fixed upon for a general rendezvous.They were to warn all the countryside that, directly news arrived thatthe Scots were in motion, they were to drive their cattle and horses tothe nearest fortified town, or to take them to hiding places among thehills. Everything of value was to be taken away, or hidden, so that theenemy should find but empty houses.
Oswald rode to Yardhope, with the message to his father.
"I know, Father," he said, "that it needed not to warn you; but as itwas but a short distance out of my way to come round here, I thoughtthat I would pay you a day's visit."
"No, lad; directly I heard of the victory of Dunbar, I said to myself,this will bring the Scots upon us in force. Douglas will never put upwith the defeat, and will make every effort to turn the tables. I shallsend all there is worth taking away, to a shepherd's hut among thefells; and shall, as soon as I hear that Douglas's preparations arewell-nigh complete, journey with your mother to Alnwick, and leave herthere. I shall return, and with my men will drive the cattle and horsesto places where there is little chance of the Scots finding them; andwill then, after leaving three or four men to look after them, comeback to Alnwick.
"What do you propose to do?"
"I shall do much the same, Father. Stoubes is strong enough to hold outagainst any ordinary raid, but not against an army led by Douglas. Ishall remove the furnishing and tapestry, and shall send the mostvaluable into Alnwick, and have the rest of them hidden in the woods.These are the orders that have been sent, all along the border. Anywhose places are so strong that they may well defend themselves, forsome time, are to gather all their neighbours there. The rest are torepair to Alnwick, to join Percy's force.
"You see, there is no knowing where the storm may break. The Scots maycross the Cheviots anywhere between Berwick and Carlisle; and, untiltheir movements are known, the earl and Hotspur must keep their forcesat Alnwick, in readiness to march wheresoever required.
"Hotspur has sent messengers down to the Midlands, to engage as manyarchers as he can get. Of course, we have many here; but the borderersare spearmen rather than archers, and it were well to strengthen ourforce. Still, however large a force he may raise, we cannot hope tocheck their first incursion. The whole country is open to them and, ifthey enter near Carlisle, they may be in the heart of Cumberland, orDurham, before we are fairly in motion. We may count, however, onmeeting them as they retire, if not before."
O
swald then rode to his own place, bade all the tenants prepare to ridewith him to Alnwick, at an hour's notice; and either to send theirwomen and children on there, as soon as it was known that the Scotcharmy was gathering strongly on the border; or else to gather stores ofprovisions, up in the hills, and to send the women and children there,the moment word came that the Scots were on the move.
The news of Mortimer's defeat and capture had been received, by thetime Oswald returned to Alnwick.
"'Tis bad news, indeed," Percy said to him, "and I know that, as youhave been staying so long at Ludlow, you will be deeply grieved at themisfortune that has befallen Mortimer. However, I doubt not that hewill soon be ransomed. I know that the king appointed a commission ofknights, to treat at once with Glendower for Lord Grey's ransom, andhas given orders for the raising of the great sum demanded. It is to begathered from a tax on church properties, and in other ways; anddoubtless he will do the same for Mortimer, whose lands have been soharried, by the Welsh, that it will be impossible to raise any largesum from the tenants."
"I fear, Sir Henry," Oswald said, "that the king will be lukewarm onthe subject. During his three invasions, he has never once summoned SirEdmund to join him; nor has he passed through Ludlow, as he might wellhave done, seeing that it is a central position, and the nearest wayfor an army marching towards Plinlimmon. I remarked, too, that when Imentioned Mortimer's name in my discourse with him, the king's browclouded, as if ill pleased at the name."
"Then he acts wrongly," Hotspur said angrily. "Mortimer has given nocause for offence. He has never, in any way, upheld the cause of theyoung Earl of March; and knows, well enough, that it would be madnessto set up his claim to the throne, when Henry has given no cause forcomplaint, and that the boy's existence seems to be well-nigh forgottenby the country.
"However, as soon as this business is over I will, myself, to London;and will beg the king to exercise the same benevolence, in the case ofMortimer, as he has shown on behalf of Lord Grey. Why, he might as wellsuspect us, to whom he largely owes his kingdom, as Mortimer, seeingthat my wife is aunt to the young earl."
Early in August it became known that preparations were being made, upona great scale, by Douglas for the invasion of England; and that, asMilitary Governor of Scotland, he had summoned all the great nobles tojoin, with their forces; and it was even said that numbers of Frenchknights were, on account of the long friendship between France andScotland, crossing the seas, to fight under Douglas against their oldenemies.
"Methinks," Hotspur said to his knights, "there can be little doubtthat there is an agreement between Scotland and Glendower; and thiswould account for the fury the Welshmen have been showing, and themanner in which they have destroyed the cathedrals, churches, andcastles alike; and so forced Henry to march against them, with theforces of the greater part of England, just when Douglas is preparingto assail us here.
"The forces of Westmoreland, Cumberland, Durham, and Northumberland, iftogether, might hope to make a stout resistance, even against so largea force as Douglas is collecting; but we cannot so gather. The Earl ofWestmoreland, who commands the forces of his own county and Cumberland,must needs hold them together; lest the Scots pour down, besiegeCarlisle, and carry fire and sword through those counties.
"From here up to Berwick the country has been so plundered, anddevastated, that it is almost a desert; and I can draw no strength fromthere. As to Durham, they urge, and with some truth that, as the Scotshave, before now, laid portions of their county waste, they cannot sendtheir forces so far north as this place; as it would leave themunprotected, should the enemy march through Tynedale into their county.
"The king has entered Wales with the fighting men of thirty-fourcounties, so from him no aid can be expected; and it seems to me thatwe shall be quite unable to make head against the invasion; thoughassuredly, when we have gathered our forces, and are joined by thoseDunbar will bring us, we will meet them as they return, spoil laden, tothe border."
Well-mounted messengers had been placed on every road by which theScots could cross the border; and on the 18th of August, one came withthe news that, twelve hours before, they had crossed into Cumberland atKirksop Foot; that they were reported to be ten thousand strong; andthat a dozen villages were already in flames. Another portion of theirarmy had crossed near Tynehead, and were pouring into Tynedale.
John Forster and his wife had arrived, some days before. Oswald hadfound comfortable lodgings for his mother in the town, which wasalready crowded with women and children from the border. His father hadleft again, at once; but returned, with twenty spears, twelve hoursafter the messenger had brought the news.
"I had two or three of my men out," he said to Oswald, as he rode inand dismounted in the castle yard; "but as soon as I heard that theScots had entered Tynedale, I knew that it was time to be off, for theyare sure to send over strong parties to ravage Coquetdale. The road waswell-nigh blocked, in some places, with fugitives. In spite of thewarnings that have been issued, most of the people seem to have thoughtthat the Scots could never come in their direction, and the news hascaused a panic.
"However, near the border the Scots will find but little plunder. Wehave had so many invasions that no man is foolish enough to spend moneyon aught that he cannot easily carry away, and the raiders will, there,find but empty houses. They may sweep in some of the cattle from thehills, to supply them with food on their march; but more than this theywill not take, as they go south, as it would be but an encumbrance."
In a few days a strong force was collected at Alnwick; but, thoughchafing at the news of the terrible devastations, that were being madeby the Scots in Cumberland and Durham, the Earl and Hotspur could, atpresent, do nothing. The invasion was, indeed, one of the mostdisastrous that had ever taken place; and after having almostdevastated the two counties, Douglas, with the united force, and anenormous train of waggons laden with plunder, great quantities ofcattle, and other spoil, turned north again, at the end of the secondweek of September.
In the meanwhile, Percy's force had been steadily growing. He had earlyresolved that upon the return of the Scots the battle must be fought,and contented himself with sending small bodies, of well-mountedknights and horsemen, to hover in the neighbourhood of the Scotch army;and to keep him informed of their intentions, and the route they seemeddisposed to take.
Douglas had carried his devastations up to the walls of Newcastle, buthad not attempted to attack that strongly-defended town. He had,indeed, gathered as much spoil as could possibly be taken along; and hemoved north in a quiet and leisurely way, being greatly hampered by theenormous train of loaded waggons.
As soon as the Earl of Northumberland and his son saw that he intendedto march up through Northumberland, instead of returning by the linethat he had come through Tynedale, they set their force in motion andmarched out; leaving a sufficient strength to hold Alnwick, shouldDouglas attack it. Being joined, two days later, by the Earl of Dunbar,they posted themselves in a position whence they could march tointercept the Scots, upon any road they might follow on their waynorth.
On the 12th, they learned for certain that the Scots were following theroad that would take them through Wooler. Moving instantly, the Earlwith his forces came up to them, posted on a hill, a mile to thenorthwest of Homildon. He at once seized a hill facing it, and disposedhis knights, men-at-arms, and spearmen along the crest.
Hotspur would straightway have charged down, and attacked the Scots intheir position; but Dunbar put his hand on his bridle, and urged him,strongly, to await the assault; and to provoke the Scots into takingthe offensive by galling them with his archers, in which he was farsuperior to them; while, on the other hand, they were much stronger inspears and horsemen.
Hotspur, seeing the goodness of the advice, assented to it; and orderedthe archers to descend, at once, into the valley between the two hills;and to launch their arrows against the Scots. On descending, it wasfound that the Scottish bowmen were already in the valley. These theyspeedily drove up t
he hill, and then sent their arrows thick and fastamong the Scottish men-at-arms.
Douglas had, like the Earl of Dunbar, perceived at what disadvantagethe party who took the offensive would have to fight; and haddetermined to stand on the defensive, especially as, if he movedforward, the English could detach bodies of horsemen to work round thehill, and fall upon his immense train of waggons.
For a time, he refused to accede to the earnest entreaties of hisknights to advance. But as man after man fell under the English arrows,their impatience increased; until one of his best knights, Sir JohnSwinton, rode a few paces out of the ranks, and in a loud voice said:
"My brave comrades, what fascinates you today, that you stand like deerand fawns in a park to be shot; instead of showing your ancient valour,and meeting your foes hand to hand? Let those who will descend with meand, in the name of God, we will break that host and conquer; or ifnot, we will at least die with honour, like soldiers."
A mighty shout followed his words, and the whole Scottish host dasheddown the hill. The English archers fell back a little, still shootingas they did so; but halted a short way up the hill, and shot so hotlyand strongly that they pierced helmet and armour with their arrows.
Nothing could withstand these missiles, shot by the finest andstrongest bowmen in the world. The Scots rolled over in heaps. Douglas,although clad in the most perfect steel armour, was wounded in fiveplaces, one arrow destroying the sight of one of his eyes. He fell fromhis horse, and utter confusion reigned in the Scottish ranks.
Swinging their bows behind them, the archers drew their axes and rushedinto the crowd, effecting a terrible slaughter. Douglas was madeprisoner, as was the Earl of Fife, a son of the Regent Albany, theEarls of Moray and Angus and Orkney. Two barons, eighty knights, amongwhom were several Frenchmen, and several other persons of rank werealso captured; while Swinton, Gordon, and many other knights andgentlemen were slain, together with seven hundred of the commonalty.With the exception only of Flodden, no battle on the Border was sofatal to the Scottish nobility, whose defeat was effected by thearchers only.
The confusion was so terrible that the Earl of Northumberland refusedto allow his knights and men-at-arms to charge, seeing that they musttrample down both friend and foe; therefore they stood as passivespectators of the desperate fight, not a lance being couched nor a blowstruck by any of them. When all was over they took up the pursuit ofthe fugitives; many of these were overtaken and killed, and the pursuitwas continued to the Tweed, where, not knowing the fords, many of thefugitives were drowned while endeavouring to swim the river.
"Roger, what say you to that?" Oswald asked, as he and his squire drewrein, after pursuing the enemy for some distance.
Roger's face expressed the strongest disgust.
"Well, Sir Oswald, I don't call it a battle, at all. Who ever heard ofa battle where neither knight nor man-at-arms drew sword? 'Tis out ofall reason to fight in that manner."
"Nevertheless, Roger, as we have won a great victory, what matter is itwhether we or the archers bore the chief hand in it? The last battle wefought in was a different matter. We had plenty of fighting, but novictory."
"It was more to my taste, nevertheless," Roger grumbled, "even thoughthe Welsh well nigh made an end of me; and, for myself, I could nothelp hoping that the archers would be beaten, and leave it to us totake our part in the fighting. They had done more than their share whenthey had broken the Scottish ranks, and slain I know not how many; andit would have been fair of them, after that, to draw back, and leave itto us to finish the business."
"'Tis well as it is, Roger, and for one I am well satisfied. We havegiven the Scots a lesson that will keep them quiet for a long time. Wehave recovered all the spoil they were carrying off, and we could havewon nothing more, had we been in the thick of the melee, and come outof it, perhaps, sorely wounded again."
Roger, however, was by no means satisfied; and, to the end of his life,always fell into a bad temper when the battle of Homildon was spokenof.
All the prisoners of consequence were taken to Alnwick, where the armyfell back; much to the disgust of some of the more eager spirits, whowould fain have crossed the frontier, and made reprisals for the woesthe Scots had inflicted. Northumberland, however, was well satisfiedwith what had been won, and did not wish to provoke the Scots toextremities; feeling that with so many of their leaders in his hands,he might be able to arrange terms that would ensure peace, for aconsiderable time, on the border.
The prisoners were all treated with great kindness and consideration.They were lodged in the castle, and were treated as guests rather thanas prisoners.
Oswald and his father were both pleased to hear, two days after thebattle, that when the Scottish dead were examined, the bodies ofWilliam Baird and ten of his kinsmen were found, lying together. Theyhad resisted desperately to the last, refusing to surrender themselves;well knowing that their misdeeds and many depredations, in England,would bring them to the gallows, if taken alive.
"Well, Father, we shall be able to live in peace for a time, now. Nodoubt the Bairds have brought with them every spear they could muster,for none would willingly have stayed at home, when there was a promiseof gathering so much booty; therefore their strength must be altogetherbroken, and it will be long, indeed, before the Bairds ride in a raidinto Northumberland."
His father nodded.
"'Tis a good thing, Oswald, assuredly; though I would rather that wehad had the attacking of them in their own hold. Still, at any rate,there is an end of the feud for years to come; and I shall be able tolie down to sleep, without wondering whether they will be knocking atthe gate, before morning."