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began the engagement in sight of numberless spectators on both sides of the Frith. The fight continued all that day and was renewed with redoubled fury in the morning; but, in the mean time, the ebb-tide and a south wind had carried both squadrons to the mouth of the Tay. Here the English fought under great disadvantages, by reason of the sand-banks; and, before they could get clear of them, all the three were obliged to submit to the Scots, who carried them to Dundee. Wood treated his prisoners with humanity; and, having afterwards presented them to king James, the latter dismissed them not only without ransom, but with presents, and a letter to king Henry. To this the English monarch returned a polite answer; a truce was concluded, and all differences were accommodated. James all this time had continued to display such moderation in his government, and appeared to have the advantage of his subjects so much at heart, that they became gradually well affected to his government, and in 1490 all parties were fully reconciled; the next year the happiness of his kingdom was completed by the pope taking off his interdict, and giving the king absolution for his father's death. Tranquillity being thus restored, the negociations concerning the king's marriage began to take place, but met with several interruptions. In 1493 Henry VII. proposed a match between James and his cousin, the princess Catharine; but this was treated with contempt. Henry made in 1495 another offer of alliance with James; proposing a marriage betwixt him and his eldest daughter Margaret. This proposal was accepted: but, at the time in which he was negociating the marriage, he not only protected Perkin Warbeck, the avowed pretender to the crown of Henry, but invaded England on his account. This conduct was highly resented by the English parliament; but Henry himself forgave even this insult, and the marriage negociations were resumed. The bride was not more than ten years and six months old; and, being only the fourth degree of blood from James, it was necessary to procure a dispensation from the pope. This being obtained, a treaty of perpetual peace was concluded between the two nations, on the 1st of July, 1503, being the first that had taken place for 170 years, or since the peace of Northampton, between Robert I. and Edward III. One of the great ends that Henry had in view in promoting this marriage was to detach James from the French interest; no sooner, therefore, was the treaty signed, than he wrote to his son-in-law to this purpose; who, however, politely declined to break with his ancient ally. On the 16th of June, the royal bride set out from Richmond in company with her father, who convoyed her as far as Collyweston, the residence of his mother, the countess of Richmond. After passing some days there the king resigned his daughter to the care of the earls of Surrey and Northumberland. On the borders of Scotland a number of her retinue were permitted to take leave; but those who remained still made a royal appearance. At Lamberton church they were met by James, attended by a numerous train of his nobility and officers of state; and at Edinburgh the nuptials

were celebrated with the greatest splendor. On this occasion the Scots vied, we are told, with the most extravagant of their guests in luxury and display. After the celebration of the nuptials James appears to have enjoyed a tranquillity almost unknown to any of his predecessors; and began to make a considerable figure among the European potentates. But the magnificence of his court and embassies, his liberality to strangers and to learned men, his costly edifices, and, above all, the large sums he laid out in ship-building, brought him into some difficulties; and he so far attended to the advice and example of his father-in-law that he supplied his necessities by reviving dormant penal laws, particularly with regard to wardships and old titles of estates. Though he did this without assembling his parliament, yet he found agents who justified his proceedings, in the manner of the English ministers of the day, Empsom and Dudley. At last, however, touched with the sufferings of his subjects, he ordered all prosecutions to be stopped. He even went farther: and, sensible of the detestation into which his father-in-law's avarice had brought himself and his administration, he ordered the ministers who had advised him to these shameful courses to be imprisoned; and several of them died in confinement. About this time James applied himself with incredible assiduity to naval affairs; one ship which he built, the St. Michael, is supposed to have been the largest then in the world. She was 240 feet long, thirty-six wide within the sides, and ten feet thick. She carried 300 small artillery, twelve cannons, and 1000 men. The expense was £30,000. He worked with his own hands in building it, and Scotland at this time produced excellent seamen. The first essay of his arms by sea was in favor of his kinsman John of Denmark. This prince was brother to Margaret queen of Scotland; and had partly been called to the throne of Sweden, and partly possessed it by force. He was opposed by the administrator Sture, whom he pardoned after he was crowned. Sture, however, renewing his rebellion, and the Norwegians revolting, John was forced to return to Denmark; but left his queen in possession of the castle of Stockholm, which she bravely defended. This heroic princess became a great favorite with James; and several letters that passed between them are extant. The king of Denmark, next to the French monarch, was the favorite ally of James. It appears, from the histories of the north, that both James and his father had given assistance to him in reducing the Norwegians; and he resolved to become a party in the war against the Swedes, if they continued in their revolt. Previous to this he sent an ambassador to offer his mediation between John and his subjects. The mediation was accepted and the negociations opened at Calmar. The deputies of Sweden not attending, John prevailed with those of Denmark and Norway to pronounce sentence of forfeiture against Sture and all his adherents. In the mean time the siege of the castle of Stockholm was pressed so warmly that the garrison was diminished to a handful, destitute of all kind of provisions; so that the brave queen was forced to capitulate on

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condition that she should be suffered to depart for Denmark; a stipulation perfidiously violated by Sture, she being confined in a monastery. On this occasion James resolved to employ his maritime power. He wrote a letter, conceived in the strongest terms, to the archbishop of Upsal, the primate of Sweden, exhorting him to employ all his authority in favor of the king; and another to the Lubeckers, threatening to declare war against them, as well as the Swedes, if they continued to assist the rebels. According to Hollingshed, James, in consequence of king John's application, gave the command of an army of 10,000 men to the earl of Arran, who replaced John upon his throne. It is certain that, had it not been for James, John must have sunk under his enemies. Sture, hearing that a considerable armament was fitting out in Scotland, agreed to release the queen, and to conduct her to the frontiers of Denmark; where he died. By this time James's armament, which was commanded by the earl of Arran, had set sail; but, perceiving that all matters were adjusted between John and the Swedes, the ships returned sooner than James expected, which,' says he, in a letter he wrote afterwards to the queen, they durst not have done, had they not brought me an account that her Danish majesty was in perfect safety.' The severity of John having occasioned a fresh revolt James again sent a squadron to his assistance, which appeared before Stockholm, and obliged the Lubeckers to conclude a new treaty. James, having thus discharged his engagements with his uncle, turned his attention towards the Flemings and Hollanders, who had insulted his flag, on account of the assistance he had afforded the duke of Gueldres. He gave the command of a squadron to Barton; who put to sea and treated all the Dutch and Flemish traders who fell into his hands as pirates, sending their heads in hogsheads to James. Soon after Barton returned to Scotland, and brought with him a number of rich prizes. James was then so much respected upon the continent that no resentment was shown either by the court of Spain, whose subjects those Netherlanders were, or any other power in Europe, for this vigorous proceeding. The peace with England continued all the reign of Henry VII.; nor did our Henry VIII., though he had not the same reason as his father to conciliate the Scots, for some time show any disposition to break with them. A breach, however, did soon take place. About thirty years before John Barton, a relation of the above commander, was taken in a trading vessel by two Portuguese captains; and Barton, with several Scotchmen, were killed in defending their property. The action was esteemed cowardly as well as piratical, because it was done under the protection of a large Portuguese squadron. The ship and the remaining part of the crew, with the cargo, were carried to Portugal, whence no redress could be obtained; and James III. granted letters of marque to John and Robert Bartons, heirs to the Barton who had been murdered. Upon the accession of James IV. the letters of marque were recalled, and a friendly correspondence was entered into between James and the king

of Portugal. No redress, however, was to be had from the latter; and Robert Barton being made a prisoner, and his ship a prize, was detained in Zealand, till James procured his deliverance by applying in his favor to the emperor Maximilian. Sir Andrew Barton took part in the quarrel; and, having obtained a like letter of marque, he made dreadful depredations on the Portuguese trade. According to English authors, he also plundered many English ships, on pretence of their carrying Portuguese property, and made the navigation of the narrow seas dangerous to Englishmen. The court of London received daily complaints of his depredations; but, Henry being averse to quarrel with James, these complaints were heard with coldness. The earl of Surrey had then two sons; and he declared to Henry's face that, while he had an estate that could furnish out a ship, or a son who was capable of commanding one, the narrow seas should not be thus infested. Henry could not discourage his generous offers; and letters of marque were accordingly granted to the two young noblemen, Sir Thomas and Sir Edward Howard. The prizes that Barton had taken had rendered his ships immensely rich, consequently they were heavy laden, and unfit for fighting; while the ships of the Howards were clean, and of a superior force. After encountering a great deal of foul weather, Sir Thomas Howard came up with the Lyon, commanded by Sir Andrew Barton; and Sir Edward fell in with the Unicorn, Barton's other ship. The event was such as might be expected from the inequality of the match. Barton was killed, while he was animating, with his whistle, his men to hold out to the last; and both the Scottish ships, being taken, were carried in triumph to London. James could never forgive the loss of this brave officer. He sent to demand satisfaction; but was answered that Barton and his crew were lawless pirates, and that what had been done against them ought never to be resented amongst sovereign princes. James asserted that Barton was no pirate, because he bore his commission; and that he ought to have been convicted of piratical acts before he was treated as guilty. Henry intimated to James that he was willing to accommodate the affair by way of negociation; but James rejected the proposal with disdain. Various negociations took place concerning this and other affairs till 1513; when James, fully resolved upon a war with England, thought it highly necessary that it should have the sanction of his parliament, which he accordingly assembled. The young nobility were not only inspired with the sentiments of James, but had been won over by the French; and the majority of them, as well as of the clergy, were ripe for a war with England. The older statesmen, on the other hand, who saw the flourishing state of Scotland, arising from a long peace, dreaded the ruinous consequences of a war. The queen naturally headed this party; and she was joined by the earl of Angus and the sober part of the nobility. But their arguments made no impression on James, who had received a present from Louis XI. of four ships laden with wine and flour, and two

ships of war completely equipped. He promised to the French queen, upon his honor, that he would take the field against the English; and she had sent him a fresh letter, gently reproaching him for want of gallantry. In short, the reasonings of the wisest and best part of the nobility were over-ruled, and an expedition against England was resolved on. The earl of Hume, who was chamberlain of Scotland, was, at this juncture, at the head of 7000 or 8000 men, with whom he committed great devastation on the English borders. Henry's queen, Catharine of Spain, whom he had left regent of his dominions, issued a commission of array, directed to Sir Thomas Lovel, K. G., for assembling the militia of the counties of Nottingham, Derby, Warwick, Leicester, Stafford, Rutland, Northampton, and Lincoln. The management of this war, however, was chiefly committed to the earl of Surrey, who assembled the militia of Chester, Lancaster, Northumberland, Westmoreland, Cumberland, and the bishopric of Durham. Hume had by this time laid great part of Northumberland waste; and his men were returning home laden with booty. The earl of Surrey, resolving to intercept them, ordered Sir William Bulmer to form an ambush with 1000 archers, at a place called Broomhouse. Bulmer executed his orders with great success. The archers assaulted the Scots all at once, and made such good use of their arrows that their main body was put to flight, 500 killed, and 400 taken, with lord Hume's standard; the greatest part of the plunder being recovered at the same time. The Scots styled this expedition the Ill raid. James was more exasperated than ever by this defeat, and continued his preparations for invading England with additional vigor. His queen did all that became a prudent wife to divert him from his purpose. She endeavoured to work upon his superstition, by recounting to him her ominous dreams. James treating these as mere fictions of the brain, she had recourse to other arts. While he was waiting at Linlithgow for the arrival of his army from the north and the Highlands, he assisted one afternoon at the vespers in the church of St. Michael. Being placed in one of the canons' seats, a venerable man entered, dressed in a long garment of an azure color, and girded round with a towel or roll of linen, his forehead bald, and his yellow locks hanging down his shoulders; in short, he was dressed and formed like St. Andrew, the apostle of Scotland. The church being crowded, this personage made his way to the king's seat; and, leaning over it, said, 'Sire, I am sent hither to intreat you for this time to delay your expedition, and to proceed no farther in your intended journey; for, if you do, you shall not prosper in your enterprise. I am further charged to warn you, if you be so refractory as to go forward, not to use the acquaintance, company, or counsel of women, as ye tender your honor, life, and estate.' After delivering these words he retired through the crowd, and was seen no more, though diligent enquiry was made after him. That this scene was enacted, seems to be past dispute; for Sir David Lindsay, who was then a young man, and present in the church, reported it both to Buchanan and Lind

say the historians. It is the opinion of historians that the whole was a contrivance of the queen, to wnose other afflictions the stings of jealousy were now added. In one of the Scottish inroads into England, one Heron, the proprietor of the castle of Ford, had been taken prisoner and sent to Scotland; where he was detained on a charge of murder, of which he seems to have been innocent. The English historians mention this as having passed after James entered England; but, from the latter part of the supposed phantom's speech, it is probable that it happened before; and that Heron's wife and beautiful daugh ter had been for some time soliciting James for his deliverance. Be that as it may, James was smitten with the charms of the daughter; and her mother, who was a most artful woman, knew how to avail herself of the conquest. Pretending that she had interest enough to procure the release of lord Johnston and Alexander Home, who were prisoners in England, she was permitted by James to keep a constant correspondence with the earl of Surrey, to whom she is said to have betrayed all James's secrets and measures.

The rendezvous of James's army was at the Barrow-muir, to which James repaired; and, having given orders for the march of his artillery, he lodged at the abbey of Holyrood House. While he was there, another attempt was made to divert him from his purpose of invading England: but James, deaf to all solicitations, mustered his army; and on the 22d August passed the Tweed, encamping that night near the banks of the Twissel. On his arrival at Twisselhaugh, on the 14th, he called an assembly of his lords, and declared that the heirs of all such as should die in the army, or be killed by the enemy during his stay in England, should have their wards, relief, and marriages, of the king; who, upon that account, dispensed with their age. This was the crisis of that prince's fate. Abandoned to his passion for his English mistress, she prevailed with him, at her mother's instigation, to trifle away his time for some days; during which interval the junction of the English army was formed. The earl of Surrey, the English general, was then at Pomfret; but ordered the landholders of the neighbouring counties to certify to him in writing what number of men each could furnish, charging them to be ready at an hour's warning; and laid his plan so as not to bring his army into the field till James had advanced so far into England as to render it difficult for him to retire without a battle. This precaution assisted the lady Ford in persuading James that there was no danger in the delay. In the mean time the earl of Surrey ordered the governors of Berwick and Norham, the two strongest places on the frontiers of England, to prepare for a vigorous resistance; and directed them to certify how long they could hold out; in hopes that, if they made a resolute defence, James would march on, and leave them in his rear. The governor of Norham's answer was, that his castle was so well provided as to leave him no doubt, in case of a siege, to be able to defend it till king Henry should return from abroad and relieve it in per

son. James, however, besieged it on the 25th posals for an exchange of prisoners, which seems of August, and battered it so furiously that he to have been calculated to give the lady Ford took it by capitulation on the sixth day. James the more credit with James; but concluded with then proceeded to the castle of Etal, belonging reproaches for his perfidious invasion of England, to the family of Manners, which he took and and a defiance to a general battle. The herald demolished likewise, as he also did Wark, and was farther charged with a verbal commission to arrived before the castle of Ford. The Scottish James, that the earl of Surry had issued orders army is generally allowed to have consisted of at that no quarter should be given to any of the least 50,000 men when it passed the Tweed. At Scottish army but the king. A council of war this time it was encamped on the heights of was called on this occasion; in which the earl Cheviot, in the heart of a country naturally bar- of Huntly and others made strong remonstrances ren, and now desolate through the precautions against a general engagement. They showed taken by the English general. Being obliged to how fatal it must be to Scotland, should it prove extend their quarters, for the benefit of subsistence, unsuccessful; and that the wisest course James the mercenary part of them had acquired a con- could follow was to return home, where, if he siderable plunder, with which, as usual, they re- was pursued by the enemy, he could fight to tired to their own country, as many more did great advantage. Huntly, however, added that for want of subsistence. The earl of Surrey knew he was equally ready to share in his majesty's their situation, and ordered the rendezvous of danger as his glory. Other noblemen, and the his army, first at Newcastle, and then near Nor- French ambassador, represented a retreat as disham, having certain intelligence of the vast de- graceful to the nobility of Scotland and the arms sertions daily happening in the Scottish army. of James, and used many romantic arguments, The wetness of the season rendered his march, which but too well suited with the king's dispoespecially that of the artillery, extremely difficult; sition. According to Drummond, the council but, being joined by several persons of distinc- were of opinion that the king should immetion, he arrived on the 3d of September at Aln- diately besiege Berwick; but the majority were wick, where he was reinforced by 5000 hardy of opinion that it was beneath the dignity of veteran troops, sent from the English army on James to fight the earl of Surry at that noblethe continent; so that his army now consisted man's requisition. Patrick lord Lindsay of of 26,000 men, all completely provided for the Byres, who was president of the council, exfield. James having, in the manifesto which he pressed himself so strongly on that head, that dispersed on his entering England, given the James, in a passion, is said by the historian death of Barton as one of the causes of his in- Lindsay to have sworn that if he lived to return vasion, the lord-admiral had prevailed with to Scotland he would hang that nobleman at Henry to send him upon this service; and he his own gate. He ordered Rouge Croix to be informed James by a letter that he intended to called in; and, after treating him with great justify the death of that pirate in the front of politeness, sent a message to the earl of Surrv the English army. By this time the army of by one of his own heralds (Islay), importing that James was, by desertion and other causes, re- he would give the English battle on the Friday duced to less than half its numbers; but the following; and that had he received such a meschief misfortune attending it was his own con- sage from the earl even in his own castle of duct. His indolence, inactivity, and scandalous Edinburgh, he would have left that, and all other amours, at such a season, had disgusted several business, to have fought him. With this mesof his greatest and best friends; some of whom sage, a manifesto, in vindication of James's consuspected a correspondence between the English duct, was sent by the same herald. The earl of lady and the earl of Surrey. James was deaf to Surry, who was then so infirm that he was carall their remonstrances; until the earl of Angus ried about in a sedan or chariot, had foreseen declared that he was resolved to return home, as that James would return an answer by one of his he foresaw the ruin of the army was inevitable. own heralds; but, unwilling that he should obHe accordingly withdrew to Scotland, but left tain any knowledge of the situation of the Engbehind him his two sons. Lord Hume and the lish camp, he ordered proper persons to receive earl of Huntley were likewise discontented. Them at two miles' distance, where soon after he former had brought his men into the field; but, according to some historians, with a design rather to betray than to serve James; but Huntley, though he disliked his conduct, remained firmly attached to his person. The defection or backwardness of those great men seemed to make no impression upon James. He had chosen a strong camp in the neighbourhood of Ford, on the side of a mountain called Flodden Hill; and separated from the English army by the river Till. This advantageous situation put the earl of Surry under great difficulties; for it rendered the Scottish army inaccessible, as it was fortified by artillery, and was well supplied with provisions. The earl drew up a manifesto, with which he charged Rouge Croix herald, who was attended by a trumpet. It contained some pro

attended in person. Islay executed his commission, and the English general dismissed him, after bestowing great compliments upon the honor and courage of James. The earl then order d his army to march in the line of battle towards Wollerhaugh. There he was joined by Rouge Croix, who gave him an account of the strong situation of the Scottish camp; but the advanced posts of the English army were then within three miles of the enemy, and the earl of Surry found his difficulties daily increasing. The roads were broken up, the swelling of the rivers cut him off from the necessary communications for supplying his army, and nothing but a battle could save him either from being disbanded or destroyed. James seems to have so far regarded the advice of his wisest counsellors,

as not to abandon his strong situation. They endeavoured to persuade him that it was sufficient for his honor, if he did not decline the battle on the day appointed; and that his engagement did not bind him to fight upon disadvantageous ground. The Scots, at the same time, knew of their enemy's distresses; and warmly represented to their king that he wanted nothing but patience to be victorious. The earl of Surry, however, again sent Rouge Croix to inform James that he was ready to give him battle, and James was nettled at this tacit imputation upon his courage. It is certain that he neglected the necessary precautions for guarding the passages of the Till, which the English crossed, partly at a place where it was fordable, and partly at a bridge. While the English were passing the bridge, Borthwick, master of the Scottish artillery, fell upon his knees, and begged permission from James to point his cannon against them; but James answered in a passion that it must be at the peril of his (Borthwick's) head, and that he was resolved to see all his enemies that day on the plain before him in a body. The earl of Surry, after passing the Till, took possession of Braxton, which lay to the right of the Scottish camp; and by that manœuvre cut off the communication of his enemies with the Tweed, and commanded the river below Eton castle. The Scottish generals saw themselves now in danger of being reduced to the same straits in which their enemies had been involved two days before. James had intelligence that this was far from being the intention of the English general; and imagining that the latter's intention was to take possession of a strong camp upon a hill between him and the Tweed, which would give the English a farther command of the country, he resolved to be before-hand with the earl, and gave orders for making large fires of green wood, that the smoke might cover his march along the height, to take advantage of that eminence. But, while this stratagem concealed his march, the movements of the enemy were also concealed from him: for, when he came to the brow of the height, he found them drawn up in order of battle on the plain, so close to where he was that his artillery must overshoot them. A battle was now not only unavoidable, but the only means of saving the Scottish army. James's person was so dear to his troops that many of them dressed themselves as nearly as they could in the same coats of armour and with the same distinctions that James wore that day. His generals had earnestly desired him to retire to a place of safety, where he would be secure in all events; but he obstinately refused to follow their advice; and on the 9th of September, 1513, early in the morning, dispositions were ordered for the line of battle. The command of the van was allotted to the earl of Huntly; the earls of Lennox and Argyle commanded the Highlanders under James: and the earls of Crawford and Montrose led the body of reserve. The earl of Surry gave the command of his van to his son, the lord admiral; his right wing was commanded by his other son, Sir Edward Howard; and his left by Sir Marinaduke Constable. The rear was commanded

by the earl himself, lord Dacres, and Sir Edward Stanley. Under those leaders served the flower of all the nobility and gentry then in England. Lord Hume served under the earls of Crawford and Montrose, and Hepburn earl of Bothwell was in the rear. The first movement of the English army was made by the lord admiral, who suddenly wheeled to the right, and seized a pass at Milford, where he planted his artillery so as to command the most sloping part of the ascent where the Scots were drawn up; and it put them into such disorder that the earl of Huntly found it necessary to attack the lord admiral: he drove him from his post; and the consequence must have been fatal to the English, had not his precipitate retreat been covered by some squadrons of horse under the lord Dacres, which gave the admiral an opportunity of rallying. The earl of Surry now advanced to the front, so that the English army formed one continued line, which galled the Scots with perpetual discharges of their artillery and bows. The Highlanders, as usual, impatient to come to a close fight, rushed down the declivity with their broad swords, without order or discipline, and before the rest of the army, particularly the division under lord Hume, advanced to support them. Their impetuosity, however, made a considerable impression upon the main battle; and, the king bringing up the earl of Bothwell's reserve, the conflict became general. By this time the lord admiral, having again formed his men, came to the assistance of his father, and charged the division under the earls of Crawford and Montrose, who were marching to support the Highlanders, among whom the king and his attendants were fighting on foot: while Stanley, making a circuit round the hill, attacked the Highlanders in the rear. Crawford and Montrose, not being seconded by the Humes, were routed; and thus all that part of the Scottish army which was engaged under the king was completely surrounded by the division of the English under Surry, Stanley, and the admiral. In this situation James acted with a coolness not common to his temper. He drew up his men in a circular form, and their valor more than once opened the ranks of the English, or obliged them to stand aloof, and again have recourse to their bows and artillery. The chief of the Scottish nobility made fresh attempts to prevail with James to make his escape while it was practicable; but he obstinately continued the fight. He saw the earls of Montrose, Crawford, Argyle, and Lennox, fall by his side, with the bravest of his men; and, darkness now coming on, he himself was killed by an unknown hand; while the English, ignorant of the victory they had gained, had actually retreated from the field of battle, with a design of renewing it next morning. This disaster was evidently owing to the romantic disposition of the king, and to the want of discipline among his soldiers; though some writers have ascribed it to the treachery of lord Hume. Many of James's domestics knew and mourned over his body; and it appeared that he had received two mortal wounds, one through the trunk with an arrow, and the other on the head with a ball. His coat of armour was presented to queen Ca

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