near a windmill. On the knight's arrival, he said, 'Sir, the earl of Warwick, the lord Stafford, the lord Reginald Cobham, and the others who are about your son, are vigorously attacked by the French, and they intreat that you would come to their assistance with your battalion; for, if their numbers should increase, they fear he will have too much to do.' The king replied, Is my son dead, unhorsed, or so badly wounded that he cannot support himself?" Nothing of the sort, thank God!' rejoined the knight; but he is in so hot an engagement that he has great need of your help.' The king answered, 'Now, Sir Thomas, return back to those that sent you, and tell them from me, not to send again for me this day, or expect that I shall come, let what will happen, as long as my son has life; and say, that I command them to let the boy win his spurs; for I am determined, if it please God, that all the glory and honour of this day shall be given to him, and to those into whose care I have instrusted him.' The knight returned to his lords, and related the king's answer, which mightily encouraged them, and made them repent they had ever sent such a message.

It is a certain fact, that Sir Godfrey de Harcourt, who was in the prince's battalion, having been told by some of the English, that they had seen the banner of his brother engaged in the battle against him, was exceedingly anxious to save him; but he was too late, for he was left dead on the field, and so was the earl of Aumarle, his nephew. On the other hand, the earls of Alcençon and of Flanders, were fighting lustily under their banners, and with their own people; but they could not resist the force of the English, and were there slain, as well as many other knights and squires that were attending on or accompanying them. The earl of Blois, nephew to the king of France, and the duke of Lorraine, his brother-in-law, with their troops, made a gallant defence; but they were surrounded by a troop of English and Welsh, and slain in spite of their prowess. The earl of St. Pol, and the earl of Auxerre, were also killed, as well as many others. Late after vespers, the King of France had not more about him than sixty men, every one included. Sir John of Hainault, who was of the number, had once remounted the king; for his horse had been killed under him by an arrow; he said to the king, Sir, retreat whilst you have an opportunity, and do not expose yourself so simply; if you have lost this battle, another time you will be the conqueror.' After he had said this, he took the bridle of the king's horse, and led him off by force; for he had before entreated of him to retire. The king rode on until he came to the castle of la Broyes, where he found the gates shut, for it was very dark. The king said to the governor, 'Open, open, governor ; it is the fortune of France.' The governor, hearing the king's voice, immediately descended, opened the gate, and let down the bridge. The king and his company entered the castle; but he had only with him five barons-Sir John of Hainault, the lord Charles of Montmorency, the lord of Beaujeu, the lord of Aubigny, and the lord of Montfort. The king would not bury himself in such a place as that, but, having taken some refreshments, set out again with his attendants about midnight, and rode on, under the direction of guides who were well acquainted with the country, until about day-break, he came to Amiens, where he

halted. This Saturday, the English never quitted their ranks in pursuit of any one, but remained on the field, guarding their position, and defending themselves against all who attacked them. The battle was ended at the hour of vespers.

CHAPTER CXXX.-The English on the morrow again defeat the French.' When, on this Saturday night, the English heard no more hooting or shouting, nor any more crying out to particular lords or their banners, they looked upon the field as their own, and their enemies as beaten. They made great fires, and lighted torches, because of the obscurity of the night. King Edward then came down from his post, who all that day had not put on his helmet, and, with his whole battalion, advanced to the prince of Wales; whom he embraced in his arms, and kissed, and said, 'Sweet son, God give you good perseverance: you are my son, for most loyally have you acquitted yourself this day; you are worthy to be a sovereign.' The prince bowed down very low, and humbled himself, giving all honour to the king his father. The English, during the night made frequent thanksgivings to the Lord, for the happy issue of the day, and without rioting. On the Sunday morning the king ordered a detachment from the army, under the command of the two marshals, consisting of about five hundred lancers and two thousand archers, to make an excursion, and see if there were any bodies of French collected together. The quota of troops, from Rouen and Beauvais, had, this Sunday morning, left Abbeville and St. Ricquier in Ponthieu, to join the French army, and were ignorant of the defeat of the preceding evening; they met this detachment, and, thinking they must be French, hastened to join them.

As soon as the English found who they were, they fell upon them; and there was a sharp engagement; but the French soon turned their backs, and fled in great disorder. There were slain in this flight in the open field, under hedges and bushes, upwards of seven thousand; and had it been clear weather, not one soul would have escaped.

A little time afterwards, this same party fell in with the archbishop of Rouen and the great prior of France, who were also ignorant of the discomfiture of the French; for they had been informed that the king was not to fight before Sunday. Here began a fresh battle; for those two lords were well attended by good men-at-arms: however, they could not withstand the English, but were almost all slain, with the two chiefs who commanded them; very few escaping. In the course of the morning, the English found many Frenchmen, who had lost their road on the Saturday, and had lain in the open fields, not knowing what was become of the king, or their own leaders. The English put to the sword all they met, and it has been assured to me for fact, that of foot soldiers, sent from the cities, towns, and municipalities, there were slain this Sunday morning four times as many as in the battle of the Saturday."-vol. I. p. 164–168.

Our next extract shall be the Battle of Otterbourne, in which the Scots gained their great victory, and in which the author has related the discomfiture of the English (whom he has been wrong

fully supposed generally to favour,) with the same impartiality with which we have seen him relating the defeat of the French at the battle of Crecy. He has in both cases dealt out even-handed justice, and might with just as much truth have been charged with favoring the Scots in the one as the English in the other. On this disastrous battle, the celebrated ballad of Chevy Chace is founded, and the fall of Percy is described with as much graphic skill in the page of the historian as in the verses of the minstrel.

As the Scots were supping, some indeed were gone to sleep, for they had laboured hard during the day, at the attack of the castle, and intended renewing it in the cool of the morning, the English arrived, and mistook at their entrance the huts of the servants for those of their masters. They forced their way into the camp, which was, however, tolerably strong, shouting out, Percy! Percy!' In such cases, you may suppose an alarm is soon given, and it was fortunate for the Scots the English had made their first attack on their servants' quarters, which checked them some little. The Scots, expecting the English, had prepared accordingly; for, while the lords were arming themselves, they ordered a body of their infantry to join their servants, and keep up the skirmish. As their men were armed, they formed themselves under the pennons of the three principal barons, who each had his particular appointment. In the mean time, the night advanced, but it was sufficiently light; for the moon shone, and it was the month of August, when the weather is temperate and serene.

When the Scots were quite ready, and properly arrayed, they left their camp in silence, but did not march to meet the English. They skirted the side of a mountain which was hard by; for, during the preceding day, they had well-examined the country around, and said among themselves, Should the English come to beat up our quarters, we will do so and so;' and thus settled their plans before hand, which was the saving of them; for it is of the greatest advantage to men-atarms, when attacked in the night, to have previously arranged their mode of defence, and well to have weighed the chance of victory or defeat. The English had soon overpowered the servants; but, as they advanced into the camp, they found fresh bodies ready to oppose them, and to continue the fight. The Scots, in the mean time, marched along the mountain-side, and fell on the enemy's flank quite unexpectedly, shouting their cries. This was a great surprise to the English, who, however, formed themselves in better order, and reinforced that part of their army. The cries of Percy and Douglas resounded on each side.

The battle now raged: great was the pushing of lances, and very many of each party were struck down at the first onset. The English being more numerous, and anxious to defeat the enemy, kept in a compact body, and forced the Scots to retire, who were on the point of being discomfited. The earl of Douglas, being young, and impatient to gain renown in arms, ordered his banner to advance, shouting, 'Douglas! Douglas!' Sir Henry and Sir Ralph Percy, indignant for

the affront the earl of Douglas had put on them, by conquering their pennon; and, desirous of meeting him, hastened to the place from which the sounds came, calling out, Percy! Percy!' The two banners met, many gallant deeds of arms ensued. The English were in superior strength, and fought so lustily that they drove back the Scots. Sir Patrick Hepburne, and his son of the same name, did honour to their knighthood and country, by their gallantry, under the banner of Douglas, which would have been conquered but for the vigorous defence they made, and this circumstance not only contributed to their personal credit, but the memory of it is continued with honour to their descendants.

'I was made acquainted with all the particulars of this battle, by knights and squires, who had been actors in it on each side. There were also, with the English, two valiant knights from the county of Foix, whom I had the good fortune to meet at Orthès the year after this battle had been fought. Their names were Sir John de Châteauneuf and John de Cautiron. On my return from Foix, I met likewise at Avignon a knight and two squires of Scotland, of the party of earl Douglas. They knew me again, from the recollections I brought to their minds of their own country; for in my youth, I, the author of this history, travelled all through Scotland, and was full fifteen days resident with William earl of Douglas, father of earl James, of whom we are now speaking, at his castle of Dalkeith, five miles distant from Edinburgh. Earl James was then very young, but a promising youth, and he had a sister called Blanche. I had my information, therefore, from both parties, who agree that it was the hardest and most obstinate battle that was ever fought. This I readily believed, for the English and Scots are excellent men-at-arms, and whenever they meet in battle, they do not spare each other; nor is there any check to their courage so long as their weapons endure. When they have well beaten each other, and one party is victorious, they are so proud of their conquest, that they ransom their prisoners instantly, and in such courteous manner to those who have been taken, that on their departure they return them their thanks. However, when in battle, there is no boy's play between them, nor do they shrink from the combat; and you will see, in the further detail of this battle, as excellent deeds performed as were ever witnessed.

CHAPTER CXXVII.-The Earl of Douglas, in rallying his men who were retreating, is mortally wounded. Sir Ralph Percy, badly wounded, surrenders to Sir John Maxwell, who puts him in the hands of the earl of Moray.

The knights and squires of either party were anxious to continue the combat with vigour, as long as their spears might be capable of holding. Cowardice was there unknown, and the most splendid courage was every-where exhibited by the gallant youths of England and Scotland: they were so closely intermixed, that the archers' bows were useless, and they fought hand to hand without either battalion giving way. The Scots behaved most valiantly, for the English were three to one. I do not mean to say the English did not acquit them

selves well; for they would be sooner slain, or made prisoners in battle, than reproached with flight. As I before mentioned, the two banners of Douglas and Percy met, and the men-at-arms under each exerted themselves by every means to gain the victory; but the English, at this attack, were so much the stronger, that the Scots were driven back. The earl of Douglas, who was of a high spirit, seeing his men repulsed, seized a battle-axe with both his hands, like a gallant knight, and, to rally his men, dashed into the midst of his enemies, and gave such blows on all around him, that no one could withstand them, but all made way for him on every side; for there were none so well armed with helmets or plates but that they suffered from his battle-axe. Thus he advanced, like another Hector, thinking to recover and conquer the field from his own prowess, until he was met by three spears that were pointed at him: one struck him on the shoulder, another on the stomach near the belly, and the third entered his thigh. He could never disengage himself from these spears, but was borne to the ground fighting desperately. From that moment he never rose again, some of his knights and squires had followed him, but not all; for, though the moon shone, it was rather dark. The three English lancers knew that they had struck down some person of considerable rank, but never thought it was Earl Douglas: had they known it, they would have been so rejoiced that their courage would have been redoubled, and the fortune of the day had consequently been determined to their side. The Scots were ignorant also of their loss until the battle was over, otherwise they would certainly from despair have been discomfited.

I will relate what befel the earl afterward. As soon as he fell, his head was cleaved with a battle-axe, the spear thrust through his thigh, and the main body of the English marched over him, without paying any attention, not supposing him to be their principal enemy. In another part of the field, the earl of March and Dunbar combated valiantly; and the English gave the Scots full employment who had followed the earl of Douglas, and had engaged with the two Percies. The earl of Moray behaved so gallantly in pursuing the English, that they knew not how to resist him. Of all the battles that have been described in this history, great or snall, this of which I am now speaking was the best fought and the most severe; for there was not a man, knight, or squire, who did not acquit himself gallantly, hand to hand with his enemy. It resembled something that of Cocherel, which was as long and as hardily disputed. The sons of the earl of Northumberland, Sir Henry and Sir Ralph Percy, who were the leaders of this expedition, behaved themselves like good knights in the combat. Almost a similar accident befel Sir Ralph as that which happened to the earl of Douglas; for, having advanced too far, he was surrounded by the enemy, and severely wounded, and, being out of breath, surrendered himself to a Scots knight, called Sir John Maxwell, who was under the command, and of the household, of the Earl of Moray.

When made prisoner, the knight asked him who he was; for it was dark, and he knew him not. Sir Ralph was so weakened by loss of blood, which was flowing from his wound, that he could scarcely