History Of Scotland Vol. 1 - Part 15

( Originally Published 1909 )

Accession of the House of Stewart: their Origin—Robert II. and his Family—Claim of the Earl of Douglas: it is abandoned—Defeat of the English near Melrose—Wasteful Incursions on the Border—John of Gaunt negotiates with Scotland: takes Refuge there against the English Rioters—France instigates the Scots to renew the War—Inroad by John of Gaunt—John de Vienne arrives with an Army of French Auxiliaries—They are dissatisfied with Scotland, and the Scots with them—They urge the Scots to fight a pitched Battle with the English—The Scots decline doing so, and explain their Motives—Invasion of Richard: it is paid back by the Scots The French Auxiliaries leave Scotland—The Scots menace England with Invasion—The Battle of Otterbourne—Robert, Earl of Fife, Regent--Truce with England—Robert II. dies

THE genealogy of the Stewart family, who now acceded to the throne of Scotland, has been the theme of many a fable. But their pedigree has by late antiquaries been distinctly traced to the great Anglo-Norman family of Fitz-Alan in England; no unworthy descent, even for a race of monarchs. In David I.'s time, Walter Fitz-Alan held the high post of seneschal or steward of the king's house-hold; and the dignity becoming hereditary in the family, what was originally a title was converted into a surname, and employed as such. Walter, the sixth high-steward, fought bravely at Bannockburn, defended Berwick with the most chivalrous courage, and was unanimously thought worthy of the hand of Marjory Bruce, the daughter of the liberator of Scotland; and to their only child, the seventh lord high-steward, often mentioned during the last reign, the crown descended, on the extinction of the Bruce's male line in his only son David II. The successor to the crown had been twice married. By Elizabeth Mure of Rowallan, his first wife, he had his son John, created earl of Carrick; Walter, earl of Fife; Robert, earl of Monteith, afterward duke of Albany; and Alexander, earl of Buchan. No less than six daughters, united in marriage with the most powerful families in Scotland, assured their support to the succession of the House of Stewart. The new king was, by a second marriage with Euphemia, daughter of the Earl of Ross, the father of David, earl of Strathern, and Walter, earl of Athol. Of four daughters by this second marriage, the eldest was married to James, earl of Douglas, and the other three also wedded into ancient and powerful families.

The father of this numerous race was an elderly man, fifty-five years old, with an infirmity in his eyes, which rendered them as red as blood. He had been in his youth a bold and active soldier; but he was now past the years of martial exertion, and obliged to delegate to others the command of his army. He had the virtues of a pacific sovereign, being just, benign, clement, and sagacious.

The Earl of Douglas threatened the tranquillity of the realm by a claim on the throne, which, however, was no sooner made than abandoned, upon his receiving the hand of the Princess Euphemia in marriage. Robert II. was, therefore, inaugurated at Scone, March 27, 1371, with the usual ceremony. As the Scots continued to pay the ransom of King David with tolerable regularity, no open war with England was entered into until 1378; when, after mutual injuries and inroads, it broke out with great fury, and skirmishes and battles of a destructive rather than a decisive character took place. A small body of Scots made them-selves masters of the citadel of Berwick; but, not being supported by a sufficient force, were surprised and put to the sword. In a fierce encounter near Melrose, the English, under the command of Musgrave, governor of Berwick, were defeated by the Earl of Douglas. The battle was decided by the personal exertions of Archibald Douglas, who, wielding with ease a sword which an ordinary man could hardly lift, broke the English ranks with the fury of his blows. The Scots appear to have had the better in this species of predatory hostility, their borderers being very numerous, and the best qualified in Europe for irregular war. Their rapine was now greater and greedier than usual; for even swine, which they used formerly to spare or neglect, did not now escape them : and there were instances of their driving off forty thousand head of booty in a successful inroad. They are said to have amused themselves by playing at football with the heads of the slain. This is, perhaps, an exaggeration; but it is certain that their ferocity equalled their rapacity. They were led also by a Douglas, whose activity was indefatigable. He surprised the town of Penrith, in 1380, during a fair that was held there. The Scots made a great booty, and gave the town to the flames. The English were also defeated in Annandale, where the borderers of Cumberland entered, for the purpose of retaliating these injuries.

The miseries of this cruel species of hostility were enhanced by a contagious disease which raged on the English frontiers, and which was imported into Scotland by the reckless borderers, whom even the pestilence itself could not deter from spoil.

In the ensuing year John of Gaunt, the celebrated duke of Lancaster, marched to the border with a formidable force, and put a temporary close to these miseries by a truce for twelve months, which, when nearly expired, was renewed for the same period. A singular occurrence took place while this last treaty was negotiating. The insurrection of Wat Tyler broke out; and the Duke of Lancaster, against whom, as a patron of the followers of Wickliffe, much of the popular fury was directed, found it dangerous to return into England. Although the kingdoms could hardly be said to be at peace together, he did not hesitate to choose Scotland for his temporary place of refuge. Nor was this generous confidence ill requited. Edinburgh Castle was assigned to their princely guest and his retinue, that their security might be safely provided for, and they were allowed the exclusive possession of this important fortress. And when the civil commotion was ended, the duke returned to England in security.

France beheld with anxiety this cessation, brief as it was, of hostility between England and Scotland. Toward the latter she always acted as a civilized colony toward some tribe of barbarians in their neighborhood, whose passions they animate by promises or bribes, in order to have their assistance in war with a powerful neighbor. On the present occasion, as a diversion on the English frontiers was of the utmost consequence to their success at home, the French government instigated the Scots, by the distribution of a large sum of money, and the promise of assisting them with an auxiliary force of a thousand men-at-arms and their attendants, and a thousand suits of armor, to suffer the truce to elapse without renewal. The Scots listened to the temptation, and, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the old king, who was pacifically disposed, they resumed hostilities at the end of the truce.

The Duke of Lancaster again visited the frontiers; but it was for the purpose of punishment, not treaty. He marched as far as Edinburgh, plundering the country; but generously spared the city, which had been so lately his place of refuge, and retreated, after he had shown both his power and his clemency. Robert II. again advised peace; but he could not prevail on the warlike nobles of Scotland to accept of its blessings.

In 1385, France, according to her engagement, sent to Scotland a large sum of money, twelve hundred suits of armor complete, with all appurtenances, and a thousand men-at-arms, with their followers, which may be estimated at five thousand men in all, forming, according to Froissart's phrase, a complete garland of chivalry, and commanded by John de Vienne, admiral of France, one of the most distinguished warriors of the day.

The first articles of this importation were gladly received in Scotland, where ready palms were found to receive the gold, and limbs as prompt to bear the armor. But the auxiliaries themselves had but a cold reception. Of this the French were themselves in part the cause. Accustomed to good fare and comfortable lodging, they were surprised at the wretched food and miserable accommodations with which habit and necessity had made the Scots familiar. At first they treated their hardships as a jest; but the continuation of such a rude mode of living wore out their good-humor; and their allies complained that when they had furnished these foreigners with the best which their means afforded, they were only requited with grumbling and murmurs. The petulance of the French national gallantry also gave great offence; for even their general was so inconsiderate as to make love to a near relation of the king, to the scandal and indignation of the Scots, who had no toleration for such unbecoming license.

Neither were the French chivalry of that use to the Scottish cause which had been expected. The Scots, indeed, assembled an army, and marched into England, where they made considerable havoc; but as the spoil was collected by what was called pricking or skirmishing, with which the borderers were better acquainted than the knights of France, it is probable that the former secured the greater part of the booty. John de Vienne and his companions might have done better service in sieges, and were employed for that purpose before Roxburgh, which had remained in the possession of the English since the battle of Durham. The scheme was, however, given up in consequence of an extravagant pretension set up by the strangers to garrison and hold the fortress when it should be taken.

While the French and their allies were thus disputing, they received news that the king of England, Richard II., was advancing with a large army for the purpose of invading Scotland. The French rejoiced, in expectation of a general action, in the event of which they anticipated a large share of glory and spoil. But the Scottish leaders informed them it was not their purpose to engage the English force in a pitched battle, alleging in excuse their inferiority in numbers, but especially in the size of their horses and quality of their archers. "All that may be true," answered their allies; "but if you do not give the English battle, they will destroy your country." "Let them do their worst," said the Scots; "we hold them at defiance. Our gentry will re-move their families and household stuff; our cottagers and laborers will drive into the mountains and forests their herds and flocks, and transport thither their grain and forage, even to the very straw that covers their huts. We will surround them with a desert; and while they shall never see an enemy, they shall not stir a flight-shot from their standards without being overpowered by an ambush. Let them come on at their pleasure, and when it comes to burning and spoiling, you shall see which has the worst of it."

The event of the campaign proved as the Scots had anticipated. The English army advanced into the Merse and Lothian, finding a country totally waste, where there was nothing to plunder, and little that could even be destroyed, excepting here and there a tower, whose massive walls defied all means of destruction then known, or a cluster of miser-able huts, which a few days' labor could easily repair, should they take the trouble to ruin them. Making a shift to maintain themselves by provisions from a fleet which attended their movements, the English army advanced to Edinburgh, when they were recalled by the news that the Scots had invaded Cumberland, and were retaliating with tenfold fury the work of destruction. And such was the superior wealth of England, even in its northern provinces, that, according to Froissart, the Scots obtained more plunder in their raid, and did more damage to their enemies, than the English could have inflicted on Scotland had they burned as far as Aberdeen. Both armies retired to their own country, the Scots loaded with spoil, the English reduced by suffering, and the French execrating a species of warfare in which neither gold nor glory could be gathered. They now desired to leave a kingdom which they despised for its poverty and rudeness, while the natives upbraided them with their effeminate epicurism, and detested them for the arrogance of their pretensions to superior bravery, gallantry, and civilization. The Scots even refused to permit the departure of the Frenchmen until John de Vienne, their commander, agreed to remain as a hostage that the French government should pay the expenses which they had incurred while in Scotland.

Thus parted the French auxiliary force, in poverty, disappointment, and mortification, cursing the hour they had first seen a country so sterile as Scotland, or a people so barbarous as its natives.

The war continued to rage; and in 1388 the Scots thought they had a proper opportunity to retort upon the English the invasion of Richard II. A large army was assembled at Jedburgh for this purpose. The Earl of Fife, second son of the reigning monarch, was commander-in-chief ; but the hopes of the army rested upon James, earl of Douglas, a man as much redoubted as any who ever bore that formidable title. The assembled leaders, hearing that the Northumbrians were collecting a considerable force for an invasion of Scotland, resolved that their main body should not advance into England, as had been originally intended, but that a select detachment under Douglas of three hundred men-at-arms, who, with their followers, made up from a thousand to fifteen hundred men, with two thousand chosen infantry, should invade England.

By a swift and secret march, Douglas entered Northumberland, crossed the Tyne, and threw himself on the bishopric of Durham, where he wasted and destroyed the country with fire and sword as far as the gates of York. In his return from an expedition which had been eminently successful, he passed as if in triumph before the gates of Newcastle. In this town lay the two sons of the Earl of Northumberland, Sir Henry Percy, renowned by his nickname of Hotspur, with his brother Sir Ralph. They did not tamely endure the presence of their hereditary enemy ; but although they had not sufficient forces to give Douglas battle, came forth to skirmish with the Scottish knights, who willingly met them, and broke many spears. A personal encounter took place between the Earl of Douglas himself and Sir Henry Percy, in which Hotspur's lance, bearing a tuft of silk at the extremity, embroidered with his arms, remained in the possession of the Scottish earl. "This trophy," said the Scot, "I will carry to Scotland, and place it on the highest tower of my castle of Dalkeith." "That," said Percy, "shalt thou never do." "Then," replied Douglas, "thou must come this night and take it from before my tent." He then resumed his march up the river Tyne, and encamped at night, expecting that Percy would come to challenge his pennon. Hotspur was only withheld from doing so by the report that Douglas was retreating on the main army of Scotland, and that he might find him united with the Earl of March. But when, on the second day, he heard that the Scottish armies were yet far apart, and that Douglas moved slowly, as if inviting a pursuit, he hastily assembled about six hundred lances, who, with their squires and followers, and several thousand archers, made about eight or ten thousand men in all, and marched westward in pursuit of Douglas.

The Scottish earl had pitched his camp at Otterbourne, a hamlet in Reedsdale, and its lines extended east and west along the banks of the river. The English crossed the Reed, and attacked the right flank of the enemy's position, which they found rudely but strongly fortified, and well defended. Douglas, whose plan of battle had been previously adjusted, continued the defence of the barricade till he had led his men out of the camp, and drawn them up in a compact body, but with a changed front, for his line of battle now stretched north and south, while the river covered one flank, and hills and morasses protected the other. At the same time the vale of the Reed behind gave an avenue for retreat, should that prove necessary. This change of position in the commencement of the action argues that, besides his high character of chivalry, Douglas, as a general, possessed science beyond what we might esteem the tactics of his age. In the meantime the English were something disordered by pressing through the Scottish camp, and it had the effect in some degree of surprise, when, by the moon of a clear autumn night, they met their opponents within a little distance. The battle instantly joined with loud acclamations of Percy on the one side, and Douglas on the other. The conflict was such as might have been expected between two such champions and their followers. At length the numbers of the English began to prevail, when Douglas, as seems to have been the wont of the heroes of that family, made a desperate personal effort. He rushed on the foe, holding his battle-axe in both hands, and clearing his way by main force. His bannerman pressed on to keep up with his heroic master. At length, involved among the English, and far from his followers, Douglas, despite his armor of proof, received three mortal wounds. But the impulse given by his furious advance had animated the Scots and disheartened the English, nor did either army know the fate of the Scottish leader. Several Scottish knights, pursuing their advantage, pressed up to the place where Douglas was lying in the last agony. They inquired anxiously how he fared? "But indifferently," replied the earl: "life is ebbing fast. There is a prophecy in our house that a dead man shall win a field, and I think it will be this night accomplished. I fall as my fathers did, who seldom have died in chambers or on a sick-bed. Conceal my death; raise my banner; cry my war-cry, and avenge my fall!" The Scottish leaders, their hearts swelling with sorrow and desire of revenge, made a new and desperate attack, and put to flight the English, who were already staggered. Both the Percies remained prisoners, and with them almost all the Englishmen of condition who fought in this celebrated action, which Froissart assures us was one of the most desperate in his time, and fought with the most heroic bravery on both sides.

The bishop of Durham arrived the day after the battle with seven thousand men; but after two feints to attack the victor, he shunned to encounter the enemy by whom Hotspur had been beaten. The Scottish detachment rejoined their own main body in a procession which seemed rather that of mourners than of victors, so general was the grief for the loss of their leader.

In 1389, the king of Scotland being now unequal to the fatigues of state, from which he absented himself as much as he could, Robert, earl of Fife, was chosen as regent of the kingdom. He was the second son of the reigning monarch, but was preferred to the seat of government in the place of his elder brother, John, earl of Carrick, because the latter was infirm in his person, being lamed by the kick of a horse, and possessed no efficient activity of mind to amend the want of it in his person.

The regent, after he had been invested with his office, showed considerable energy. The Earl of Nottingham, marshal of England, trusted with the wardenship of the east marches, had reproached the Percies for their defeat at Otterbourne, and boasted of what he would himself have done in similar circumstances. But when the regent Robert, at the head of an equal army, defied him to action, Nottingham declined the combat with the unsoldier-like excuse, "that he was not commissioned to expose the king's liege subjects to danger." The Scots burned Tynemouth, and returned to their own country.