CHAPTER IX.DRUM AND TRUMPET.“The history of Northumberland is essentially a drum and trumpet history, from the time when thebuccinaof the Batavian cohort first rang out over the moors of Procolitia down to the proclamation of James III. at Warkworth Cross”—Cadwallader J Bates.This sentence of the historian of Northumberland sums up the story of our northern county no less admirably than tersely, and it would be difficult to find one which should more clearly bring before us the whole atmosphere of north-country history and north-country doings for many centuries.Within the limits of this chapter it is impossible to go into the details of every “foughten field” within the county; the most that can be done is to indicate the many and treat in detail only the few. A goodly number have already been alluded to in connection with the place where each occurred.After the Roman campaigns, from those of Agricola to those of Theodosius the elder and Maximus, and the legion sent by Stilicho, the earliest battle story is that of the one in Glendale fought by King Arthur. Then the forming of the kingdom of Bernicia with the advent of Ida at Bamburgh was the beginning of a long-protracted struggle between the various little states, each fighting for its life, and surrounded by others equally determined to take every advantage that offered against it. The sons of Ida fought against the celebrated Urien, a Keltic chief, who almost succeeded in dispossessing them of their kingdom of Bernicia. Hussa, one of Ida’s sons, ultimately vanquished Urien’s son Owen, “chief of the glittering West”; and after Hussa’s death Ethelric of Bernicia, as we have seen, overcame the neighbouring chieftain of Deira, thus forming the kingdom of Northumbria. His successor, Ethelfrith, in the year 603 gained a great victory over a large force of northern Britons under a leader named Aedan at a place called Daegsanstan, which is thought to be Dissington, near Newcastle. His further victories were gained outside the limits of our present survey.After the long and glorious reign of Edwin, his successor, Ethelfrith’s sons came back to Bamburgh; the eldest, Eanfrid, was slain within a year, and his brother Oswald carried on the struggle against Penda of Mercia. We have seen how he fought against Penda and Cadwallon on the Heavenfield near Chollerford, and gained a victory which obtained for him many years of peace. Penda was finally slain by Oswald’s successor Oswy in a great battle which is supposed to have taken place on the banks of the Tweed.Many years afterwards, Sitric, grandson of that Prince Guthred who was once a slave at Whittingham, married a sister of King Athelstan, grandson of Alfred the Great. When Sitric died, Athelstan came northward to claim Northumbria for himself. He captured Bamburgh—the first time that stronghold of the Bernician kings had ever been taken—and arranged for two earls to govern Northumbria for him. They attempted unsuccessfully to oppose a force of Scots under Anlaf the Red, who was joined by two earls of Bretland (Cumbria); and the whole force encamped near a place called Weondune, supposed to be Wandon near Chatton. Athelstan advanced against them and challenged them to a pitched battle on this ground. They agreed, and with much deliberation the course was staked out with hazel wands between a wood and a river (Chillingham woods and the Till). The Scots greatly outnumbered Athelstan’s men, who set up their tents at the narrowest part of the plain, giving their king time to reach a little “burg” (Old Bewick) in the neighbourhood. A running fight followed, which was carried on the next day, and with the help of two brothers, Egil and Thorold, who were Norsemen, it ended in a complete victory for Athelstan. While in the north, King Athelstan gave the well-known rhyming charter to a certain Paulan of Roddam;“I kyng Adelstangiffs hier to PaulanOddam and Roddamals gud and als fairals evyr thai myne war,and thar to wytnessMald my Wiffe.”Shortly after this, at the Battle of Brunanburh, Athelstan vanquished Anlaf Sitricsson and Constantine, king of the Scots. The site of this battle would seem to have been in Northumbria, as it was into the Humber that Anlaf and Constantine sailed with their large fleet; but the precise spot has never been determined.In the reign of Knut the Dane, the Scots obtained the whole of Lothian from the Saxon earl of Northumberland, and the vast possessions of St. Cuthbert beyond the Tweed seemed about to be lost to the church of Durham. Accordingly, the clergy called upon all the people of St. Cuthbert from the Tees to the Tweed—all those, that is, who dwelt on lands granted by various donors to the church of St. Cuthbert—to rise and march northward to fight for their lands. This great company set out, in the autumn of 1018, and reached Carham on the Tweed, where they were met by Malcolm king of the Scots. A comet had been seen in the sky for some weeks and the fears inspired by this dread visitant seem to have had more effect upon the Northumbrians than upon the Scots. From whatever cause it arose, when the two forces joined in battle a panic spread among the followers of St. Cuthbert. They were utterly routed, and most of the leading Northumbrians as well as eighteen priests were slain—thus curiously repeating the experience of the earlier battle of Carham.For the next three hundred years Northumberland was swept by successive waves of raid and reprisal, in the course of which occurred the two well-known events, the attack of William the Lion of Scotland on Alnwick Castle, and the more famous affair still, the struggle between Percy and Douglas known as the battle of Otterburn, which was fought in “Chevy Chase” (Cheviot Forest). More important poetically than politically, it stands out more vividly in the records of the time than many other conflicts of larger import. The personal element in the fight, the deeds of gallantry recorded, the sounding roll of the chief knights’ names, and the high renown of the two leaders, throw a glamour around this particular contest which is kept alive by the ballads that chant the praises of Percy or Douglas according as the singer was Scot or Saxon. Sir Philip Sidney, that “verray parfit gentil knight” and discriminatinglitterateur, said “I never heard the old song of Percie and Douglas that I found not my hart mooved more than with a trumpet: and yet it is sung but by some blynd Crowder,[11]with no rougher voyce than rude stile! which beeing so evill apparelled in the dust and cobweb of that uncivill age, what wolde it work trimmed in the gorgeous eloquence of Pindare!”[11]Crowder = fiddler.In the endless warfare of the Borders the second of two short-lived periods of truce had just expired, and an organised raid on a large scale was arranged by the Scots. The main body was to ravage Cumberland; and a smaller, but picked force led by Earls Douglas, Moray, and March came southward by way of Northumberland. But Northumbrian towers and towns knew nothing of their passing; they marched rapidly and by stealth into Durham, having crossed the Tyne between Corbridge and Bywell, and began to harry and lay waste the greener pastures and richer villages of the southern county, the smoke of whose burning homesteads was the first intimation to the unlucky English of the fact that a Scottish host was in their midst.The Earl of Northumberland remained at Alnwick in the hope that he might be able to attack the Scots on their homeward journey; but he despatched his sons Henry Hotspur and Ralph in all haste to defend Newcastle. The Scots in due time appeared before the walls.And he marched up to NewcastelAnd rode it round about;“O wha’s the lord o’ this castel?Or wha’s the lady o’t?”But up spake proud Lord Percy then,And O but he spake hie!“I am the lord o’ this castel,My wife’s the lady gay.”Douglas challenged Percy to meet him in single combat, and Percy promptly accepted. In the duel Percy was unhorsed, and Douglas captured his pennon and his gauntlet gloves, embroidered with the Percy lion in pearls. This trophy Douglas vowed he would carry off to Scotland with him, and set it in the topmost tower of his castle of Dalkeith, that it might be seen from afar. “By heaven! that you never shall,” replied Percy; “you shall not carry it out of Northumberland.” “Come and take it, then,” was Douglas’ answer; and Hotspur would have attempted its recovery there and then, but he was restrained by his knights. Douglas, however, said he would give Percy a chance to recover it, and agreed to await him at Otterburn.“Yet I will stay at Otterbourne,Where you shall welcome be;And if ye come not at three dayis end,A fause lord I’ll call thee”Next day the Scots left Newcastle and marched northward. They took Sir Aymer de Athol’s castle of Ponte-land, and the good knight Sir Aymer himself, and went on their way, harrying and burning as they went. At Otterburn they halted, and rested all night, making huts for themselves of boughs and branches. The spot they had chosen was a strong one, on the site of a former British camp; and not only was it surrounded by trees, but was near marshy ground as well. Next day they attempted to take Otterburn tower, but without success.Meanwhile word was brought to Hotspur that the Scots would spend the night at Otterburn; and he, without waiting for Walter de Skirlaw, Bishop of Durham, who was expected that evening with a strong force, at once set off with 600 spearmen, and a force on foot which is variously given as anything from 800 to 8,000. They covered the thirty-odd miles by the time evening fell: and as the Scots were at supper in their little huts, they were startled by a tumult amongst their grooms and camp-followers, and cries of “a Percy! a Percy!” and the Englishmen were among them. The Scottish leaders had placed their camp-followers and servants at the outermost; part of their encampment, facing the Newcastle road; and Hotspur’s force, ignorant of this, mistook it for the main camp. While they were thus engaged, the Scottish knights were enabled to make a detour around the scene of the first attack, and take the English in the rear. With loud shouts of “Douglas! Douglas!” they fell upon them, and a fierce hand-to-hand struggle began. The moon rose clear and bright, and the quiet evening air was filled with the din of battle, the ring of steel on steel, the crash of axe on armour, the groans of the wounded, and the battle-cries of the combatants on each side. Sir Ralph Percy, pressing too rashly forward, was captured by a newly-made Scottish knight, Sir John Maxwell. The battle was turning in favour of Hotspur, when Douglas sent his silken banner to the front and with renewed shouts of “Douglas!” the Scots pressed forward and overbore their foes. According to Froissart, there was not a man there, knight, squire, or groom, who played the coward. “This bataylle was one of the sorest and best foughten without cowards or faynte hearts; for there was neither knight nor I squire but that did his devoyre and foughte hande to hande.” Great deeds were done, and the fame of none amongst them is greater than that of the gallant Widdrington;“For Witherington my heart is woe,That ever he slaine sholde be!For when his legs were hewn in twoHe knelt and fought on his knee”Douglas rushed into the thickest of the fray, and Hotspur tried to find him, but in the dim light that was difficult, especially as Douglas had, in his haste, come to the fight without helmet or breastplate. Presently he was borne to the ground by three English spears; and as he lay guarded by his faithful chaplain, Sir John and Sir Walter Sinclair, with Sir James Lindsay, came upon him. “How fare you, cousin?” asked Sir John. “But poorly, I thank God,” answered Douglas; “for few of my ancestors died in bed or chamber. I count myself dead, for my heart beats slow. Think now to avenge me. Raise my banner and shout ‘Douglas!’ and let neither my friends nor my foes know of my state, lest the one rejoice and the other be discomforted.” His dying commands were obeyed; and while his battle-cry was raised anew, his dead body was laid by a “bracken bush,” and the fact of his death concealed from friend and foe alike. The furious onslaught of the Scots now carried all before them; and Hotspur fell a captive to the sword of Sir Hugh Montgomery, a nephew of Douglas, after a fierce hand-to-hand encounter. The two chief English leaders being captured, the day, or rather the night, was with the Scots, in fulfilment of an old prophesy that “a dead Douglas should win a field.”“This deed was done at OtterbourneAt the breaking of the day;Earl Douglas was buried at the braken bush,And the Percy led captive away.”When the fray was over, the two sides treated their captives with knightly courtesy, many being allowed to go to their homes until they recovered from their wounds, on giving their word of honour to send the amount of their ransom, or themselves return to their captors.The Bishop of Durham, immediately after having had some refreshment at Newcastle, had set out to join the Percies; but as he and his men neared Otterburn, they met so many fugitives who gave them anything but reassuring accounts of the fortunes of their friends, that half of his force melted away, and the Bishop had perforce to return to Newcastle; it was scarcely to be expected, indeed, that everyone should have that thirst for hard blows which distinguished the knights and their immediate followers. The Bishop, however, made one capture—Sir James Lindsay, who had ridden so far in pursuit of Sir Matthew Redman that he found himself amongst the force advancing under the leadership of the warlike prelate.When the Scots retired from their camp, they took the body of Douglas from the “bracken bush” where it lay, and carried it away for burial in Melrose Abbey; and Hotspur, as the price of his ransom, built a castle for Sir Hugh Montgomery.After this there was peace on the Borders for the next ten years or so, when the game began again as merrily as ever. When Sir Thomas Gray was absent from his castle of Wark-on-Tweed, attending Parliament, the Scots came down upon it and carried off his children and servants. Sir Robert Umfraville met and checked another company that were harrying Coquetdale. In the year 1400, Henry Bolingbroke himself led an army to Edinburgh; but a guerilla band of Scots, avoiding his line of march, stole behind him and ravaged Bamburghshire.Two years after this, a party of Scots under the next Douglas rode into Northumberland, coming nearly as far south as Newcastle. Hotspur set off from Bamburgh, of which castle he was Constable at the time, to intercept them. He awaited them on the banks of the Glen, near Wooler; and the archers of his force went out for forage meanwhile. When the Scots arrived, they found themselves in the presence of an enemy whom they had imagined to be behind them, and they immediately occupied Homildon Hill. The archers, returning, saw the Scottish force on the hill, and began the attack forthwith, letting fly their arrows upon the foe with deadly precision. Flight after flight fell upon the Scots, who were completely bewildered, and seemed incapable of action. A Scottish knight, Sir John Swinton, implored the leaders to charge, passionately exclaiming, “What madness has seized you, my brave countrymen, that you stand here like deer to be shot down? Follow me, those who will! We will either gain the victory, or die like men of courage.”On hearing these brave words, Adam de Gordon, Swinton’s deadly foe, felt his hatred turn to admiration, and kneeling before Swinton, begged that he might receive the honour of knighthood from so valiant a hand. The two gallant knights then charged the enemy, followed by a number of the Scots; but the showers of arrows forced them to retreat towards the river, and thither also moved the whole Scottish force, followed still by that grim and deadly hail from the English bows. Hotspur would now have charged, but the Earl of March, his former antagonist, now his friend, restrained his impetuous leader, and persuaded him to let the archers continue their effective work.The event proved his wisdom; the Scots were utterly routed by the archers alone. The unfortunate Archibald Douglas added another to his long list of reverses; he was taken prisoner, sorely wounded, as was also Sir Hugh Montgomery, and over four-score others of importance. It was in connection with these prisoners, whom Hotspur refused to deliver up to Bolingbroke, that the quarrel took place which eventually led Northumberland and his son Hotspur openly to throw off their allegiance to Henry Bolingbroke and join in the rebellion of Owen Glendower. Not only did Hotspur refuse to give up Douglas and the others to King Henry, but he wished Henry to ransom his brother-in-law Mortimer.K. Henry. But sirrah, henceforthLet me not hear you speak of Mortimer.Send me your prisoners with the speediest means,Or you shall hear in such a kind from meAs will displease you.—My lord Northumberland,We licence your departure with your son.—Send us your prisoners, or you’ll hear of it.(ExeuntK. Henry, Blunt,and train)Hotspur. And if the devil come and roar for themI will not send them:—I will after, straight,And tell him so.Worcester. These same noble ScotsThat are your prisoners—Hotspur. I’ll keep them all;By heaven, he shall not have a Scot of them;No, if a Scot would save his soul, he shall not;I’ll keep them, by this hand.Worcester. You start away,And lend no ear unto my purposes.Those prisoners you shall keep.—Hotspur. Nay, I will, that’s flat:—He said he would not ransom Mortimer;Forbade my tongue to speak of Mortimer;But I will find him when he lies asleep,And in his ear I’ll holla “Mortimer!”Nay, I’ll have a starling shall be taught to speakNothing but “Mortimer,” and give it himTo keep his anger still in motion.The First Part ofKING HENRY IV.,Act I., Scene 3.The fight at Homildon Hill took place on a Monday in August, 1402, and the memory of it is kept alive by the name of the “Monday Clough” near Wooler, where the archers commenced the fight.More than a hundred years after this, the last, and in many respects the greatest, battle ever fought on Northumbrian soil took place at Flodden. King James IV. of Scotland had several grievances against England, which had rankled in his mind for some time; he had not yet received the full amount of the dowry which had been promised with his wife, Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII., although they had been married for many years; a Scottish noble, Sir Robert Ker, had been killed in Northumberland, and the slayer could not be found to be brought to justice—he was outlawed, but that seemed to King James very insufficient; a Border raid on a large scale, led by Lord Hume, had met with disastrous defeat on Milfield Plain at the hands of Sir William Bulmer; and Andrew Barton, a notable sea-captain, whom James was looking forward to seeing as one of the best leaders of his new navy, had been killed in a sea-fight by Thomas Howard, Lord Admiral of England. Added to all this, France had appealed to him to invade England in order to force Henry VIII. to abandon his French war; the English monarch was just then conducting the siege of Terouenne, and the Queen of France sent a romantic appeal to James (together with a large sum of money) begging him to march “three feet on to English ground” for her sake.No time could have been more favourable in James’ eyes for the enterprise; and in a very short space of time he had an army of 100,000 men collected, and marched from Edinburgh to the Tweed, which he crossed near Coldstream. He laid siege to Norham, and captured it after a week’s investment; and thereafter Wark, Ford, Etal, Duddo and Chillingham fell before him. He took up his quarters at Ford Castle, and on marching later to meet Surrey, left it almost in ruins.Surrey meantime had gathered a large force from the northern counties, much to James’ surprise, for he had taken it for granted that nearly every English fighting man would be with Henry in Flanders. There were bowmen and billmen from Cheshire and Lancashire under the Stanley banner; and James Stanley, Bishop of Ely, brought the banner of St. Etheldreda, the Northumbrian queen who founded the monastery of Ely. Admiral Sir Thomas Howard brought a band of sailors to join his father at Alnwick. Dacre came with a strong contingent from the western Marches, men from Alston Moor, Gilsland, and Eskdale, and also some from Tynemouth and Bamburgh; and Sir Brian Tunstall with Sir William Bulmer led the men of the Bishopric under the banner of St. Cuthbert.From Alnwick Surrey sent a letter pledging himself to meet James by September 9th, and challenging him to battle, a challenge which was promptly accepted by the Scottish king. Marching from Alnwick towards the Scottish army, Surrey encamped on September 6th on Wooler Haughs. James had formed his camp on Flodden Hill, and all Surrey’s devices could not induce him abandon this strong position. Many of his own nobles advised him not to risk a battle, but to withdraw while there was yet time; and some were ready to leave the camp and return home, which thousands of the more undisciplined in his army had done already, being more anxious to carry off their plunder safely than to stay and fight. But James was eager for the contest, and felt himself bound in honour to give battle to Surrey; he answered haughtily those who counselled retreat, and scornfully told Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus, that he might go home if he were afraid. The old man sorrowfully left the field, but his two sons remained with their rash but gallant king, and were both slain.On the day before the battle took place, Surrey, that “auld crooked carle,” as James called him, marched his men northward across the Till and encamped for the night near Barmoor Wood. To the Scots this looked as though they had gone off towards Berwick, to repeat James’ own manoeuvre, and invade the country in the absence of its king; and they must have thought that there would be little chance of the battle for which James had punctiliously waited taking place on the morrow. But Surrey’s purpose proved to be quite otherwise. On the following morning he sent the vanguard of his army, with the artillery, to make a detour of several miles round by Twizell bridge, where they re-crossed to the south bank of the Till; and coming south-eastward towards Flodden, they were joined by the rest of the army, which had plunged through the stream, swollen by continuous rains, at two points near Crookham. The two divisions met at Branxton, after having waded through a marsh which extended from Branxton nearly to the Till, and which the Scots had thought impassable.Seeing that the English were about to occupy Branxton Hill, which would entirely cut him off from communication with Scotland, James was forced to abandon his advantageous position; he gave orders for the camp-refuse to be fired, and under cover of the dense clouds of smoke marched down to forestall Surrey and occupy Branxton ridge. The two armies suddenly found themselves within a few spears’ length of each other, and the battle was begun by the artillery on both sides.Sudden, as he spoke,From the sharp ridges of the hill,All downward to the banks of TillWas wreathed in sable smoke.Volumed, and vast, and rolling far,The cloud enveloped Scotland’s warAs down the hill they broke;Nor martial shout, nor minstrel toneAnnounced their march; their tread alone,At times one warning trumpet blown,At times a stifled hum.Told England, from his mountain throneKing James did rushing come.Scarce could they hear or see their foesUntil at weapon-point they close.Many of the raw levies on the English side fled at the first sound of the Scottish cannon; but the master of the ordnance, Lord Sinclair, was killed, and his guns silenced. Then the battle joined, and the first result was that the English right wing under Sir Edmund Howard was scattered and broken before the impetuous charge of the Gordons and Highlanders under the Earl of Huntley and Lord Home. Sir Edmund narrowly escaped with his life; but Lord Dacre bringing up his reserve of horsemen at that moment checked the further advance of the Scots. The two central divisions of the armies engaged each other fiercely, the Earl of Surrey, with his son Sir Thomas Howard commanding the English centre, and King James, with the Earls of Crawford and Montrose that of the Scots. Sir Thomas, after having been so hard pressed as to send theAgnus Deihe wore to his father as a signal for help, afterwards with Sir Marmaduke Constable defeated the Earl of Crawford, whose division was opposed to him. Dacre and Sir Thomas now charged Lord Home and drove him some little way back, but could not dislodge his men entirely from their position. The Earl of Bothwell, who commanded the Scottish reserves, now came up to the help of the king, and the day seemed about to be decided in favour of the Scots, when Lord Stanley, on the English left, exactly reversed the fortunes of the right wing, and scattered and routed the Highlanders led by the Earls of Lennox and Argyle. Then with his Lancashire lads he attacked the rear of the Scottish position, as did also Dacre and Sir Thomas Howard.“They saw Lord Marmion’s falcon fly,And stainless Tunstall’s banner whiteAnd Edmund Howard’s lion brightAll bear them bravely in the fight,Although against them comeOf gallant Gordons many a one,And many a stubborn Highlandman,And many a rugged Border clanWith Huntly and with Home.Far on the left, unseen the while,Stanley broke Lennox and Argyle.”Nothing now remained for the Scottish centre, hemmed in on all sides, but to make a stubborn last stand; and gallantly did they do it. The flower of Scotland’s chivalry surrounded their brave monarch, and in the falling dusk fought desperately to guard their king.“No thought was there of dastard flight;Linked in that serried phalanx tight,Groom fought like noble, squire like knight,As fearlessly and well.The stubborn spearmen still made goodTheir dark impenetrable wood,Each stepping where his comrade stoodThe instant that he fell.”As night fell, the fierce struggle continued until the darkness made it impossible to see friend or foe, but the fate of Scotland’s bravest was sealed. The king lay dead, covered with wounds, and around him a heap of slain; those who were able made their way in haste from the field, while the English host encamped where it stood. The more lawless in each army plundered both sides impartially, and when the king’s body was found next day, it too was stripped like many others around it.“Then did their loss his foemen know,Their king, their lords, their mightiest low,They melted from the field as snowDissolves in silent dew.Tweed’s echoes heard the ceaseless plashWhile many a broken band,Disordered, through its currents dashTo gain the Scottish land;To town and tower, to down and dale,To tell red Flodden’s dismal tale,And raise the universal wail.”The tragic effects of that terrible day were long felt in Scotland. Every family of note in the land lost one or more of its members on the fatal field, besides the thousands of humbler beings who fell at the same time. Scotland did not recover from the crushing blow for more than a hundred years; and for many a day the people could not believe that their gallant king was really slain, but continued to hope that he had escaped in the darkness, and would one day return.There has recently been erected on Flodden Field a simple cross of stone as a memorial of that tragic day. It was unveiled on September 27th, 1910, by Sir George Douglas, Bart. The inscription on the stone is “To the Brave of both Nations.”THE FLOWERS OF THE FOREST.A LAMENT FOR FLODDEN.I’ve heard the liltin’ at our ewe-milking,Lasses a’ liltin’ before dawn o’ day;But now they are moaning on ilka green loaning—The Flowers of the Forest are a’ wede away.At bughts,[12]in the mornin’, nae blythe lads are scornin’,Lasses are lonely and dowie and wae;Nae daffin’, nae jabbin’, but sighin’ and sabbin’,Ilk ane lifts her leglin[13]and hies her away.In harst, at the shearing, nae youths now are jeering,Bandsters are lyart,[14]and runkled, and gray;At fair or at preaching, nae wooing, nae fleeching[15]The Flowers of the Forest are a’ wede away.At e’en, in the gloaming, nae younkers are roaming’Bout stacks, with the lasses at “bogle” to play;But ilk ane sits drearie, lamenting her dearie—The Flowers of the Forest are weded away.Dool and wae for the order sent our lads to the Border!The English for ance by guile wan the day;The Flowers of the Forest, that fought aye the foremost,The prime of our land, are cauld in the clay.We’ll hear nae mair liltin’ at our ewe-milkin’;Women and bairns are heartless and wae;Sighing and moaning on ilka green loaning—The Flowers of the Forest are a’ wede away.[12]Bughts = sheep-pens.[13]Leglin = milk-pail.[14]Lyart = grizzled.[15]Fleeching = coaxing.
“The history of Northumberland is essentially a drum and trumpet history, from the time when thebuccinaof the Batavian cohort first rang out over the moors of Procolitia down to the proclamation of James III. at Warkworth Cross”—Cadwallader J Bates.
This sentence of the historian of Northumberland sums up the story of our northern county no less admirably than tersely, and it would be difficult to find one which should more clearly bring before us the whole atmosphere of north-country history and north-country doings for many centuries.
Within the limits of this chapter it is impossible to go into the details of every “foughten field” within the county; the most that can be done is to indicate the many and treat in detail only the few. A goodly number have already been alluded to in connection with the place where each occurred.
After the Roman campaigns, from those of Agricola to those of Theodosius the elder and Maximus, and the legion sent by Stilicho, the earliest battle story is that of the one in Glendale fought by King Arthur. Then the forming of the kingdom of Bernicia with the advent of Ida at Bamburgh was the beginning of a long-protracted struggle between the various little states, each fighting for its life, and surrounded by others equally determined to take every advantage that offered against it. The sons of Ida fought against the celebrated Urien, a Keltic chief, who almost succeeded in dispossessing them of their kingdom of Bernicia. Hussa, one of Ida’s sons, ultimately vanquished Urien’s son Owen, “chief of the glittering West”; and after Hussa’s death Ethelric of Bernicia, as we have seen, overcame the neighbouring chieftain of Deira, thus forming the kingdom of Northumbria. His successor, Ethelfrith, in the year 603 gained a great victory over a large force of northern Britons under a leader named Aedan at a place called Daegsanstan, which is thought to be Dissington, near Newcastle. His further victories were gained outside the limits of our present survey.
After the long and glorious reign of Edwin, his successor, Ethelfrith’s sons came back to Bamburgh; the eldest, Eanfrid, was slain within a year, and his brother Oswald carried on the struggle against Penda of Mercia. We have seen how he fought against Penda and Cadwallon on the Heavenfield near Chollerford, and gained a victory which obtained for him many years of peace. Penda was finally slain by Oswald’s successor Oswy in a great battle which is supposed to have taken place on the banks of the Tweed.
Many years afterwards, Sitric, grandson of that Prince Guthred who was once a slave at Whittingham, married a sister of King Athelstan, grandson of Alfred the Great. When Sitric died, Athelstan came northward to claim Northumbria for himself. He captured Bamburgh—the first time that stronghold of the Bernician kings had ever been taken—and arranged for two earls to govern Northumbria for him. They attempted unsuccessfully to oppose a force of Scots under Anlaf the Red, who was joined by two earls of Bretland (Cumbria); and the whole force encamped near a place called Weondune, supposed to be Wandon near Chatton. Athelstan advanced against them and challenged them to a pitched battle on this ground. They agreed, and with much deliberation the course was staked out with hazel wands between a wood and a river (Chillingham woods and the Till). The Scots greatly outnumbered Athelstan’s men, who set up their tents at the narrowest part of the plain, giving their king time to reach a little “burg” (Old Bewick) in the neighbourhood. A running fight followed, which was carried on the next day, and with the help of two brothers, Egil and Thorold, who were Norsemen, it ended in a complete victory for Athelstan. While in the north, King Athelstan gave the well-known rhyming charter to a certain Paulan of Roddam;
“I kyng Adelstangiffs hier to PaulanOddam and Roddamals gud and als fairals evyr thai myne war,and thar to wytnessMald my Wiffe.”
Shortly after this, at the Battle of Brunanburh, Athelstan vanquished Anlaf Sitricsson and Constantine, king of the Scots. The site of this battle would seem to have been in Northumbria, as it was into the Humber that Anlaf and Constantine sailed with their large fleet; but the precise spot has never been determined.
In the reign of Knut the Dane, the Scots obtained the whole of Lothian from the Saxon earl of Northumberland, and the vast possessions of St. Cuthbert beyond the Tweed seemed about to be lost to the church of Durham. Accordingly, the clergy called upon all the people of St. Cuthbert from the Tees to the Tweed—all those, that is, who dwelt on lands granted by various donors to the church of St. Cuthbert—to rise and march northward to fight for their lands. This great company set out, in the autumn of 1018, and reached Carham on the Tweed, where they were met by Malcolm king of the Scots. A comet had been seen in the sky for some weeks and the fears inspired by this dread visitant seem to have had more effect upon the Northumbrians than upon the Scots. From whatever cause it arose, when the two forces joined in battle a panic spread among the followers of St. Cuthbert. They were utterly routed, and most of the leading Northumbrians as well as eighteen priests were slain—thus curiously repeating the experience of the earlier battle of Carham.
For the next three hundred years Northumberland was swept by successive waves of raid and reprisal, in the course of which occurred the two well-known events, the attack of William the Lion of Scotland on Alnwick Castle, and the more famous affair still, the struggle between Percy and Douglas known as the battle of Otterburn, which was fought in “Chevy Chase” (Cheviot Forest). More important poetically than politically, it stands out more vividly in the records of the time than many other conflicts of larger import. The personal element in the fight, the deeds of gallantry recorded, the sounding roll of the chief knights’ names, and the high renown of the two leaders, throw a glamour around this particular contest which is kept alive by the ballads that chant the praises of Percy or Douglas according as the singer was Scot or Saxon. Sir Philip Sidney, that “verray parfit gentil knight” and discriminatinglitterateur, said “I never heard the old song of Percie and Douglas that I found not my hart mooved more than with a trumpet: and yet it is sung but by some blynd Crowder,[11]with no rougher voyce than rude stile! which beeing so evill apparelled in the dust and cobweb of that uncivill age, what wolde it work trimmed in the gorgeous eloquence of Pindare!”
[11]Crowder = fiddler.
In the endless warfare of the Borders the second of two short-lived periods of truce had just expired, and an organised raid on a large scale was arranged by the Scots. The main body was to ravage Cumberland; and a smaller, but picked force led by Earls Douglas, Moray, and March came southward by way of Northumberland. But Northumbrian towers and towns knew nothing of their passing; they marched rapidly and by stealth into Durham, having crossed the Tyne between Corbridge and Bywell, and began to harry and lay waste the greener pastures and richer villages of the southern county, the smoke of whose burning homesteads was the first intimation to the unlucky English of the fact that a Scottish host was in their midst.
The Earl of Northumberland remained at Alnwick in the hope that he might be able to attack the Scots on their homeward journey; but he despatched his sons Henry Hotspur and Ralph in all haste to defend Newcastle. The Scots in due time appeared before the walls.
And he marched up to NewcastelAnd rode it round about;“O wha’s the lord o’ this castel?Or wha’s the lady o’t?”But up spake proud Lord Percy then,And O but he spake hie!“I am the lord o’ this castel,My wife’s the lady gay.”
Douglas challenged Percy to meet him in single combat, and Percy promptly accepted. In the duel Percy was unhorsed, and Douglas captured his pennon and his gauntlet gloves, embroidered with the Percy lion in pearls. This trophy Douglas vowed he would carry off to Scotland with him, and set it in the topmost tower of his castle of Dalkeith, that it might be seen from afar. “By heaven! that you never shall,” replied Percy; “you shall not carry it out of Northumberland.” “Come and take it, then,” was Douglas’ answer; and Hotspur would have attempted its recovery there and then, but he was restrained by his knights. Douglas, however, said he would give Percy a chance to recover it, and agreed to await him at Otterburn.
“Yet I will stay at Otterbourne,Where you shall welcome be;And if ye come not at three dayis end,A fause lord I’ll call thee”
Next day the Scots left Newcastle and marched northward. They took Sir Aymer de Athol’s castle of Ponte-land, and the good knight Sir Aymer himself, and went on their way, harrying and burning as they went. At Otterburn they halted, and rested all night, making huts for themselves of boughs and branches. The spot they had chosen was a strong one, on the site of a former British camp; and not only was it surrounded by trees, but was near marshy ground as well. Next day they attempted to take Otterburn tower, but without success.
Meanwhile word was brought to Hotspur that the Scots would spend the night at Otterburn; and he, without waiting for Walter de Skirlaw, Bishop of Durham, who was expected that evening with a strong force, at once set off with 600 spearmen, and a force on foot which is variously given as anything from 800 to 8,000. They covered the thirty-odd miles by the time evening fell: and as the Scots were at supper in their little huts, they were startled by a tumult amongst their grooms and camp-followers, and cries of “a Percy! a Percy!” and the Englishmen were among them. The Scottish leaders had placed their camp-followers and servants at the outermost; part of their encampment, facing the Newcastle road; and Hotspur’s force, ignorant of this, mistook it for the main camp. While they were thus engaged, the Scottish knights were enabled to make a detour around the scene of the first attack, and take the English in the rear. With loud shouts of “Douglas! Douglas!” they fell upon them, and a fierce hand-to-hand struggle began. The moon rose clear and bright, and the quiet evening air was filled with the din of battle, the ring of steel on steel, the crash of axe on armour, the groans of the wounded, and the battle-cries of the combatants on each side. Sir Ralph Percy, pressing too rashly forward, was captured by a newly-made Scottish knight, Sir John Maxwell. The battle was turning in favour of Hotspur, when Douglas sent his silken banner to the front and with renewed shouts of “Douglas!” the Scots pressed forward and overbore their foes. According to Froissart, there was not a man there, knight, squire, or groom, who played the coward. “This bataylle was one of the sorest and best foughten without cowards or faynte hearts; for there was neither knight nor I squire but that did his devoyre and foughte hande to hande.” Great deeds were done, and the fame of none amongst them is greater than that of the gallant Widdrington;
“For Witherington my heart is woe,That ever he slaine sholde be!For when his legs were hewn in twoHe knelt and fought on his knee”
Douglas rushed into the thickest of the fray, and Hotspur tried to find him, but in the dim light that was difficult, especially as Douglas had, in his haste, come to the fight without helmet or breastplate. Presently he was borne to the ground by three English spears; and as he lay guarded by his faithful chaplain, Sir John and Sir Walter Sinclair, with Sir James Lindsay, came upon him. “How fare you, cousin?” asked Sir John. “But poorly, I thank God,” answered Douglas; “for few of my ancestors died in bed or chamber. I count myself dead, for my heart beats slow. Think now to avenge me. Raise my banner and shout ‘Douglas!’ and let neither my friends nor my foes know of my state, lest the one rejoice and the other be discomforted.” His dying commands were obeyed; and while his battle-cry was raised anew, his dead body was laid by a “bracken bush,” and the fact of his death concealed from friend and foe alike. The furious onslaught of the Scots now carried all before them; and Hotspur fell a captive to the sword of Sir Hugh Montgomery, a nephew of Douglas, after a fierce hand-to-hand encounter. The two chief English leaders being captured, the day, or rather the night, was with the Scots, in fulfilment of an old prophesy that “a dead Douglas should win a field.”
“This deed was done at OtterbourneAt the breaking of the day;Earl Douglas was buried at the braken bush,And the Percy led captive away.”
When the fray was over, the two sides treated their captives with knightly courtesy, many being allowed to go to their homes until they recovered from their wounds, on giving their word of honour to send the amount of their ransom, or themselves return to their captors.
The Bishop of Durham, immediately after having had some refreshment at Newcastle, had set out to join the Percies; but as he and his men neared Otterburn, they met so many fugitives who gave them anything but reassuring accounts of the fortunes of their friends, that half of his force melted away, and the Bishop had perforce to return to Newcastle; it was scarcely to be expected, indeed, that everyone should have that thirst for hard blows which distinguished the knights and their immediate followers. The Bishop, however, made one capture—Sir James Lindsay, who had ridden so far in pursuit of Sir Matthew Redman that he found himself amongst the force advancing under the leadership of the warlike prelate.
When the Scots retired from their camp, they took the body of Douglas from the “bracken bush” where it lay, and carried it away for burial in Melrose Abbey; and Hotspur, as the price of his ransom, built a castle for Sir Hugh Montgomery.
After this there was peace on the Borders for the next ten years or so, when the game began again as merrily as ever. When Sir Thomas Gray was absent from his castle of Wark-on-Tweed, attending Parliament, the Scots came down upon it and carried off his children and servants. Sir Robert Umfraville met and checked another company that were harrying Coquetdale. In the year 1400, Henry Bolingbroke himself led an army to Edinburgh; but a guerilla band of Scots, avoiding his line of march, stole behind him and ravaged Bamburghshire.
Two years after this, a party of Scots under the next Douglas rode into Northumberland, coming nearly as far south as Newcastle. Hotspur set off from Bamburgh, of which castle he was Constable at the time, to intercept them. He awaited them on the banks of the Glen, near Wooler; and the archers of his force went out for forage meanwhile. When the Scots arrived, they found themselves in the presence of an enemy whom they had imagined to be behind them, and they immediately occupied Homildon Hill. The archers, returning, saw the Scottish force on the hill, and began the attack forthwith, letting fly their arrows upon the foe with deadly precision. Flight after flight fell upon the Scots, who were completely bewildered, and seemed incapable of action. A Scottish knight, Sir John Swinton, implored the leaders to charge, passionately exclaiming, “What madness has seized you, my brave countrymen, that you stand here like deer to be shot down? Follow me, those who will! We will either gain the victory, or die like men of courage.”
On hearing these brave words, Adam de Gordon, Swinton’s deadly foe, felt his hatred turn to admiration, and kneeling before Swinton, begged that he might receive the honour of knighthood from so valiant a hand. The two gallant knights then charged the enemy, followed by a number of the Scots; but the showers of arrows forced them to retreat towards the river, and thither also moved the whole Scottish force, followed still by that grim and deadly hail from the English bows. Hotspur would now have charged, but the Earl of March, his former antagonist, now his friend, restrained his impetuous leader, and persuaded him to let the archers continue their effective work.
The event proved his wisdom; the Scots were utterly routed by the archers alone. The unfortunate Archibald Douglas added another to his long list of reverses; he was taken prisoner, sorely wounded, as was also Sir Hugh Montgomery, and over four-score others of importance. It was in connection with these prisoners, whom Hotspur refused to deliver up to Bolingbroke, that the quarrel took place which eventually led Northumberland and his son Hotspur openly to throw off their allegiance to Henry Bolingbroke and join in the rebellion of Owen Glendower. Not only did Hotspur refuse to give up Douglas and the others to King Henry, but he wished Henry to ransom his brother-in-law Mortimer.
K. Henry. But sirrah, henceforthLet me not hear you speak of Mortimer.Send me your prisoners with the speediest means,Or you shall hear in such a kind from meAs will displease you.—My lord Northumberland,We licence your departure with your son.—Send us your prisoners, or you’ll hear of it.
(ExeuntK. Henry, Blunt,and train)
Hotspur. And if the devil come and roar for themI will not send them:—I will after, straight,And tell him so.
Worcester. These same noble ScotsThat are your prisoners—Hotspur. I’ll keep them all;By heaven, he shall not have a Scot of them;No, if a Scot would save his soul, he shall not;I’ll keep them, by this hand.Worcester. You start away,And lend no ear unto my purposes.Those prisoners you shall keep.—Hotspur. Nay, I will, that’s flat:—He said he would not ransom Mortimer;Forbade my tongue to speak of Mortimer;But I will find him when he lies asleep,And in his ear I’ll holla “Mortimer!”Nay, I’ll have a starling shall be taught to speakNothing but “Mortimer,” and give it himTo keep his anger still in motion.The First Part ofKING HENRY IV.,Act I., Scene 3.
The fight at Homildon Hill took place on a Monday in August, 1402, and the memory of it is kept alive by the name of the “Monday Clough” near Wooler, where the archers commenced the fight.
More than a hundred years after this, the last, and in many respects the greatest, battle ever fought on Northumbrian soil took place at Flodden. King James IV. of Scotland had several grievances against England, which had rankled in his mind for some time; he had not yet received the full amount of the dowry which had been promised with his wife, Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII., although they had been married for many years; a Scottish noble, Sir Robert Ker, had been killed in Northumberland, and the slayer could not be found to be brought to justice—he was outlawed, but that seemed to King James very insufficient; a Border raid on a large scale, led by Lord Hume, had met with disastrous defeat on Milfield Plain at the hands of Sir William Bulmer; and Andrew Barton, a notable sea-captain, whom James was looking forward to seeing as one of the best leaders of his new navy, had been killed in a sea-fight by Thomas Howard, Lord Admiral of England. Added to all this, France had appealed to him to invade England in order to force Henry VIII. to abandon his French war; the English monarch was just then conducting the siege of Terouenne, and the Queen of France sent a romantic appeal to James (together with a large sum of money) begging him to march “three feet on to English ground” for her sake.
No time could have been more favourable in James’ eyes for the enterprise; and in a very short space of time he had an army of 100,000 men collected, and marched from Edinburgh to the Tweed, which he crossed near Coldstream. He laid siege to Norham, and captured it after a week’s investment; and thereafter Wark, Ford, Etal, Duddo and Chillingham fell before him. He took up his quarters at Ford Castle, and on marching later to meet Surrey, left it almost in ruins.
Surrey meantime had gathered a large force from the northern counties, much to James’ surprise, for he had taken it for granted that nearly every English fighting man would be with Henry in Flanders. There were bowmen and billmen from Cheshire and Lancashire under the Stanley banner; and James Stanley, Bishop of Ely, brought the banner of St. Etheldreda, the Northumbrian queen who founded the monastery of Ely. Admiral Sir Thomas Howard brought a band of sailors to join his father at Alnwick. Dacre came with a strong contingent from the western Marches, men from Alston Moor, Gilsland, and Eskdale, and also some from Tynemouth and Bamburgh; and Sir Brian Tunstall with Sir William Bulmer led the men of the Bishopric under the banner of St. Cuthbert.
From Alnwick Surrey sent a letter pledging himself to meet James by September 9th, and challenging him to battle, a challenge which was promptly accepted by the Scottish king. Marching from Alnwick towards the Scottish army, Surrey encamped on September 6th on Wooler Haughs. James had formed his camp on Flodden Hill, and all Surrey’s devices could not induce him abandon this strong position. Many of his own nobles advised him not to risk a battle, but to withdraw while there was yet time; and some were ready to leave the camp and return home, which thousands of the more undisciplined in his army had done already, being more anxious to carry off their plunder safely than to stay and fight. But James was eager for the contest, and felt himself bound in honour to give battle to Surrey; he answered haughtily those who counselled retreat, and scornfully told Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus, that he might go home if he were afraid. The old man sorrowfully left the field, but his two sons remained with their rash but gallant king, and were both slain.
On the day before the battle took place, Surrey, that “auld crooked carle,” as James called him, marched his men northward across the Till and encamped for the night near Barmoor Wood. To the Scots this looked as though they had gone off towards Berwick, to repeat James’ own manoeuvre, and invade the country in the absence of its king; and they must have thought that there would be little chance of the battle for which James had punctiliously waited taking place on the morrow. But Surrey’s purpose proved to be quite otherwise. On the following morning he sent the vanguard of his army, with the artillery, to make a detour of several miles round by Twizell bridge, where they re-crossed to the south bank of the Till; and coming south-eastward towards Flodden, they were joined by the rest of the army, which had plunged through the stream, swollen by continuous rains, at two points near Crookham. The two divisions met at Branxton, after having waded through a marsh which extended from Branxton nearly to the Till, and which the Scots had thought impassable.
Seeing that the English were about to occupy Branxton Hill, which would entirely cut him off from communication with Scotland, James was forced to abandon his advantageous position; he gave orders for the camp-refuse to be fired, and under cover of the dense clouds of smoke marched down to forestall Surrey and occupy Branxton ridge. The two armies suddenly found themselves within a few spears’ length of each other, and the battle was begun by the artillery on both sides.
Sudden, as he spoke,From the sharp ridges of the hill,All downward to the banks of TillWas wreathed in sable smoke.Volumed, and vast, and rolling far,The cloud enveloped Scotland’s warAs down the hill they broke;Nor martial shout, nor minstrel toneAnnounced their march; their tread alone,At times one warning trumpet blown,At times a stifled hum.Told England, from his mountain throneKing James did rushing come.Scarce could they hear or see their foesUntil at weapon-point they close.
Many of the raw levies on the English side fled at the first sound of the Scottish cannon; but the master of the ordnance, Lord Sinclair, was killed, and his guns silenced. Then the battle joined, and the first result was that the English right wing under Sir Edmund Howard was scattered and broken before the impetuous charge of the Gordons and Highlanders under the Earl of Huntley and Lord Home. Sir Edmund narrowly escaped with his life; but Lord Dacre bringing up his reserve of horsemen at that moment checked the further advance of the Scots. The two central divisions of the armies engaged each other fiercely, the Earl of Surrey, with his son Sir Thomas Howard commanding the English centre, and King James, with the Earls of Crawford and Montrose that of the Scots. Sir Thomas, after having been so hard pressed as to send theAgnus Deihe wore to his father as a signal for help, afterwards with Sir Marmaduke Constable defeated the Earl of Crawford, whose division was opposed to him. Dacre and Sir Thomas now charged Lord Home and drove him some little way back, but could not dislodge his men entirely from their position. The Earl of Bothwell, who commanded the Scottish reserves, now came up to the help of the king, and the day seemed about to be decided in favour of the Scots, when Lord Stanley, on the English left, exactly reversed the fortunes of the right wing, and scattered and routed the Highlanders led by the Earls of Lennox and Argyle. Then with his Lancashire lads he attacked the rear of the Scottish position, as did also Dacre and Sir Thomas Howard.
“They saw Lord Marmion’s falcon fly,And stainless Tunstall’s banner whiteAnd Edmund Howard’s lion brightAll bear them bravely in the fight,Although against them comeOf gallant Gordons many a one,And many a stubborn Highlandman,And many a rugged Border clanWith Huntly and with Home.Far on the left, unseen the while,Stanley broke Lennox and Argyle.”
Nothing now remained for the Scottish centre, hemmed in on all sides, but to make a stubborn last stand; and gallantly did they do it. The flower of Scotland’s chivalry surrounded their brave monarch, and in the falling dusk fought desperately to guard their king.
“No thought was there of dastard flight;Linked in that serried phalanx tight,Groom fought like noble, squire like knight,As fearlessly and well.The stubborn spearmen still made goodTheir dark impenetrable wood,Each stepping where his comrade stoodThe instant that he fell.”
As night fell, the fierce struggle continued until the darkness made it impossible to see friend or foe, but the fate of Scotland’s bravest was sealed. The king lay dead, covered with wounds, and around him a heap of slain; those who were able made their way in haste from the field, while the English host encamped where it stood. The more lawless in each army plundered both sides impartially, and when the king’s body was found next day, it too was stripped like many others around it.
“Then did their loss his foemen know,Their king, their lords, their mightiest low,They melted from the field as snowDissolves in silent dew.Tweed’s echoes heard the ceaseless plashWhile many a broken band,Disordered, through its currents dashTo gain the Scottish land;To town and tower, to down and dale,To tell red Flodden’s dismal tale,And raise the universal wail.”
The tragic effects of that terrible day were long felt in Scotland. Every family of note in the land lost one or more of its members on the fatal field, besides the thousands of humbler beings who fell at the same time. Scotland did not recover from the crushing blow for more than a hundred years; and for many a day the people could not believe that their gallant king was really slain, but continued to hope that he had escaped in the darkness, and would one day return.
There has recently been erected on Flodden Field a simple cross of stone as a memorial of that tragic day. It was unveiled on September 27th, 1910, by Sir George Douglas, Bart. The inscription on the stone is “To the Brave of both Nations.”
THE FLOWERS OF THE FOREST.
A LAMENT FOR FLODDEN.I’ve heard the liltin’ at our ewe-milking,Lasses a’ liltin’ before dawn o’ day;But now they are moaning on ilka green loaning—The Flowers of the Forest are a’ wede away.At bughts,[12]in the mornin’, nae blythe lads are scornin’,Lasses are lonely and dowie and wae;Nae daffin’, nae jabbin’, but sighin’ and sabbin’,Ilk ane lifts her leglin[13]and hies her away.In harst, at the shearing, nae youths now are jeering,Bandsters are lyart,[14]and runkled, and gray;At fair or at preaching, nae wooing, nae fleeching[15]The Flowers of the Forest are a’ wede away.At e’en, in the gloaming, nae younkers are roaming’Bout stacks, with the lasses at “bogle” to play;But ilk ane sits drearie, lamenting her dearie—The Flowers of the Forest are weded away.Dool and wae for the order sent our lads to the Border!The English for ance by guile wan the day;The Flowers of the Forest, that fought aye the foremost,The prime of our land, are cauld in the clay.We’ll hear nae mair liltin’ at our ewe-milkin’;Women and bairns are heartless and wae;Sighing and moaning on ilka green loaning—The Flowers of the Forest are a’ wede away.
[12]Bughts = sheep-pens.
[13]Leglin = milk-pail.
[14]Lyart = grizzled.
[15]Fleeching = coaxing.