"Come, come, my hearts of flint; modestly; decently; soberly; and
handsomely.--No man afore his leader.--Ding down the enemy
to-morrow,--ye shall not come into the field like beggars.--Lord
have mercy upon me, what a world this is!--Well, I'll give an
hundred pence for as many good feathers, and a hundred more for as
many scarts:--wounds, dogs, to set you out withal! Frost and snow,
a man cannot fight till he be brave! I say down with the enemy to
morrow!"
_Sir John Oldcastle._
The castle of Roxburgh was beleaguered by seven thousand men in armour,
but never before had it been so well manned, or rendered so formidable
in its butresses; and to endeavour to scale it, appeared as vain an
attempt as that of scaling the moon.
There was a great deal of parading, and noise went on, as that of
beating drums, and sounding of trumpets and bugles, every day; and
scarcely did there one pass on which there were not tilting bouts
between the parties, and in these the English generally had the
advantage. Never was there, perhaps, a more chivalrous host than that
which Musgrave had under his command within the walls of Roxburgh; the
enthusiasm, the gallantry, and the fire of the captain, were
communicated to all the train.
Their horses were much superior to those of the Scots; and, in place of
the latter being able to make any impression on the besieged, they could
not, with all the vigilance they were able to use, prevent their posts
from being surprised by the English, on which the most desperate
encounters sometimes took place. At first the English generally
prevailed, but the Scots at length became inured to it, and stood the
shocks of the cavalry more firmly. They took care always at the first
onset to cut the bridle reins with their broad-swords, and by that means
they disordered the ranks of their enemies, and often drove them in
confusion back to their strong-hold.
Thus months flew on in this dashing sort of warfare, and no impression
was made on the fortress, nor did any appear practicable; and every one
at court began to calculate on the failure and utter ruin of the
Douglas. Piercy of Northumberland proffered to raise the country, and
lead an army to the relief of the castle; but this interference Musgrave
would in nowise admit, it being an infringement of the task imposed on
him by his mistress.
Moreover, he said, he cared not if all the men of Scotland lay around
the castle, for he would defy them to win it. He farther bade the
messenger charge Piercy and Howard to have an army ready at the expiry
of the Christmas holidays, wherewith to relieve him, and clear the
Border, but to take no care nor concern about him till then.
About this time an incident, right common in that day, brought a number
of noble young adventurers to the camp of Douglas. It chanced, in an
encounter between two small rival parties at the back of the convent of
Maisondieu, which stood on the south side of the Teviot, that Sir Thomas
de Somerville of Carnwath engaged hand to hand with an English knight,
named Sir Comes de Moubray, who, after a desperate encounter, unhorsed
and wounded him. The affair was seen from the walls of Roxburgh, as well
as by a part of the Scottish army which was encamped on a rising ground
to the south, that overlooked the plain; and, of course, like all other
chivalrous feats, became the subject of general conversation. Somerville
was greatly mortified; and, not finding any other way to recover his
honour, he sent a challenge to Moubray to fight him again before the
gate of Roxburgh, in sight of both armies. Moubray was too gallant to
refuse. There was not a knight in the castle who would have declined
such a chance of earning fame, and recommending himself to his mistress
and the fair in general. The challenge was joyfully accepted, and the
two knights met in the midst of a circle of gentlemen appointed by both
armies, on the castle green, that lay betwixt the moat and the river,
immediately under the walls of the castle. Never was there a more
gallant combat seen. They rode nine times against each other with full
force, twice with lances and seven times with swords, yet always managed
with such dexterity that neither were unhorsed, nor yet materially
wounded. But at the tenth charge, by a most strenuous exertion, Sir
Thomas disarmed and threw his opponent out of his saddle, with his
sword-arm dislocated. Somerville gained great renown, and his fame was
sounded in court and in camp. Other challenges were soon sent from both
sides, and as readily accepted; and some of the best blood both of
Scotland and England was shed in these mad chivalrous exploits. The
ambition of the young Scottish nobles was roused, and many of them
flocked as volunteers to the standard of Douglas. Among these were some
of the retainers of Redhough, who could not resist such an opportunity
of trying their swords with some rivals with whom they had erst
exchanged sharp blows on the marches. Simon of Gemelscleuch, his cousin
John of Howpasley, and the Laird of Yard-bire, all arrived in the camp
of Douglas in one night, in order to distinguish themselves in these
tilting bouts. Earl Douglas himself challenged Musgrave, hoping thereby
to gain his end, and the prize for which he fought; but the knight, true
to his engagement, sent him for answer, that he would first see the
beginning of a new year, and then he should fight either him or any of
his name, but that till then he had undertaken a charge to which all
others must be subordinate.
The Laird of Yardbire, the strongest man of the Border, fought three
combats with English squires of the same degree, two on horseback and
one on foot, and in all proved victorious. For one whole month the siege
presented nothing new save these tiltings, which began at certain hours
every day, and always became more obstinate, often proving fatal; and
the eagerness of the young gentry of both parties to engage in them grew
into a kind of mania: But an event happened which put an end to them at
once.
There was a combat one day between two knights of the first degree, who
were surrounded as usual by twenty lancers from each army, all the rest
of both parties being kept at a distance, the English on the tops of
their walls, and the Scots on the heights behind, both to the east and
west; for there was one division of the army stationed on the hill of
Barns and at the head of the Sick-man's Path, and another on the rising
ground between the city and castle. The two gentlemen were equally
matched, and the issue was doubtful, when the attendant Scottish guards
perceived, or thought they perceived, in the bearing of the English
knight, some breach of the rules of chivalry; on which with one voice
they called out "foul play." The English answered, "No, no, none." The
two judges called to order, on which the spearmen stood still and
listened, and hearing that the judges too were of different opinions,
they took up the matter themselves, the Scots insisting that the knight
should be disarmed and turned from the lists in disgrace, and the
English refusing to acquiesce. The judges, dreading some fatal
conclusion, gave their joint orders that both parties should retire in
peace, and let the matter be judged of afterwards; on which the English
prepared to quit the ground with a kind of exultation, for it appeared
that they were not certain with regard to the propriety of their hero's
conduct. Unluckily, it so happened that the redoubted Charlie Scott of
Yard-bire headed the Scottish pikemen on the lists that day, a very
devil for blood and battery, and of strength much beyond that generally
allotted to man. When he saw that the insidious knight was going to be
conducted off in a sort of triumph, and in a manner so different from
what he deemed to suit his demerits, he clenched the handle of his sword
with his right hand, and screwed down his eyebrows till they almost
touched the top of his nose. "What now, muckle Charlie?" said one that
stood by him. "What now!" repeated Charlie, growling like a wolf-dog,
and confining the words almost within his own breast, "The deil sal bake
me into a ker-cake to gust his gab wi', afore I see that saucy tike
ta'en off in sic a way." And with that he dropt his pike, drew his
sword, and rushing through the group he seized the knight's horse by the
bridle with his left hand, thinking to lead both him and his master away
prisoners. The knight struck at him with all his might, but for this
Charlie was prepared; he warded the blow most dexterously, and in wrath,
by the help of a huge curb-bridle, he threw the horse backward, first on
his hams, and then on his back, with his rider under him. "Tak ye that,
master, for whistling o' Sundays," said the intrepid borderer, and began
to lay about him at the English, who now attacked him on both sides.
Charlie's first break at the English knight was the watch-word for a
general attack. The Scots flew to the combat, in perfect silence, and
determined hatred, and they were received by the other party in the same
manner. Not so the onlookers of both hosts,--they rent the air with loud
and reiterated shouts. The English poured forth in a small narrow column
from the east gate along the draw-bridge, but the Scottish horsemen, who
were all ready mounted, the better to see the encounter from their
stations, scoured down from the heights like lightning, so that they
prevailed at first, before the English could issue forth in numbers
sufficient to oppose them. The brave Sir Richard Musgrave, the captain's
younger brother, led the English, he having rushed out at their head on
the first breaking out of the affray; but, notwithstanding all his
bravery, he with his party were driven with their backs to the moat, and
hard pressed, Douglas, with a strong body of horse, having got betwixt
them and the castle-gate. The English were so anxious to relieve their
young hero that they rushed to the gate in crowds. Douglas suffered a
part to issue, and then attacking them furiously with the cavalry, he
drove them back in such confusion, that he got possession of the
draw-bridge for several minutes, and would in all likelihood have
entered with the crowd, had it not been for the portcullis, the
machinery of which the Scots did not understand, nor had they the means
of counteracting it; so that just when they were in the hottest and most
sanguine part of their enterprize, down it came with a clattering noise
louder than thunder, separating a few of the most forward from their
brethren, who were soon every one cut down, as they refused to yield.
In the meantime it fared hard with Richard, who was overpowered by
numbers; and though the English archers galled the Scottish cavalry
grievously from the walls, he and all that were with him being forced
backward, they plunged into the moat, and were every one of them either
slain or taken prisoners. The younger Musgrave was among the latter,
which grieved his brother Sir Philip exceedingly, as it gave Douglas an
undue advantage over him, and he knew that, in the desperate state of
his undertaking, he would go any lengths to over-reach him. From that
day forth, all challenges or accepting of challenges was prohibited by
Musgrave, under pain of death; and a proclamation was issued, stating,
that all who entered the castle should be stripped naked, searched, and
examined, on what pretence soever they came, and if any suspicious
circumstances appeared against them, they were to be hanged upon a post
erected for the purpose, on the top of the wall, in sight of both
armies. He was determined to spare no vigilance, and constantly said he
would hold Douglas at defiance.
There was only one thing that the besieged had to dread, and it was
haply, too, the only thing in which the Scots placed any degree of hope,
and that was the total failure of provisions within the castle.
Musgrave's plan, of getting small supplies at a time from England by
night, was discovered by Sir Ringan Redhough, and completely cut off:
and as Douglas hanged every messenger that fell into his hands, no new
plan could be established; and so closely were the English beleaguered,
that any attempt at sending additional supplies to those they had proved
of no avail. The rival armies always grew more and more inveterate
against each other, and the most sharp and deadly measures were
exercised by both. Matters went on in this manner till near the end of
October, when the nights grew cold, long, and dark. There was nothing
but the perils of that castle on the Border talked of over all Scotland
and England. Every one, man, maid, and child, became interested in it.
It may well be conceived that the two sovereign beauties, the Lady Jane
Howard and Princess Margaret of Scotland, were not the least so; and
both of them prepared, at the same time, in the true spirit of the age,
to take some active part in the matter before it came to a final issue.
One of them seemed destined to lose her hero, but both had put on the
resolution of performing something worthy of the knights that were
enduring so much for their sakes.