FLODDEN
The establishment of Scottish independence, in the teeth of English
claims to supremacy, not unnaturally led to a feeling of opposition
to England, and of consequent alliance with France, which on the
whole worked disastrously for Scotland. Unfortunately also the policy
of hostility gradually developed in the smaller people a feeling of
bitter animosity towards their neighbours, which the English on their
side hardly felt. On the borders mutual injuries stimulated personal
hatred, but only rarely affected the relations of the two states.
The English government had no motive for hostility to Scotland, no
passion to indulge: it would at any time have been glad of firm peace
with Scotland, but was apt to try to secure this by establishing
its influence over Scotland, rather than by relations of equal
friendliness. While the long contest with France lasted, England had
obviously every motive for desiring to be free of a troublesome enemy
in the north: but Scotland was ever hostile. Sometimes a Scottish
army invaded England more or less in concert with the French, as when
Nevil's Cross followed hard upon Crecy. Later, Scottish nobles and
soldiers swarmed in the French armies: the defeat of Verneuil was a
heavier blow to Scotland than to France.
Unfortunately for the success of the Scots in their many encounters
with the English, Bannockburn had been too great a victory. The
spearmen had on that day so decisively defeated the English mailed
horsemen that the Scots seem always to have assumed that nothing could
be more effective. Time after time the English archers inflicted
crushing losses on the Scottish armies. Halidon Hill (1333), Nevil's
Cross (1346), Homildon (1402) are the chief instances, but not the
only ones, before the day of Flodden, the last great victory of the
bow, and perhaps the most overwhelming defeat which a kingdom ever
suffered.
From the accession of the house of Tudor, the English policy was
directed, more systematically than ever, towards gaining over Scotland.
The difficulty was obvious, that an alliance between the two countries
must needs mean Scotland following in the wake of England, which was
galling to Scottish pride, and distasteful to their hereditary hatred
of the English. Henry VII. succeeded, with the help of Spain, in
bringing Scotland for the time into his circle of allied powers, and
in cementing that union, as he hoped, by the marriage of his eldest
daughter Margaret to the young king of Scots. Personal ties, however,
seldom count for much as against national interests and prejudices,
or even against the passions of kings: as soon as ever Henry VIII.
entangled himself in a war with France, his brother-in-law followed
the traditional practice of his predecessors and attacked England.
There were plenty of small grievances on both sides, which might be
used as pretexts; but the only adequate reason for war was to be
found in the Scottish king's own disposition. James IV., with the
virtues of chivalry, carried to great lengths its fantastic follies,
including total indifference to his own wife, and susceptibility to
the fascinations of other women. Scottish chroniclers say that James
was greatly influenced by a letter from the queen of France, sending
him a turquoise ring and a sum of money, and begging him to take three
steps on English ground for her sake: and whether this be true or not,
it is in accordance with his character. The war was not altogether
welcome to Scotland: some at least of the king's advisers thought the
venture dangerous, or desired to maintain friendly relations with
England. More than one attempt was made to work on James' well-known
superstitiousness, the most daring being the midnight voice from the
Cross at Edinburgh which Sir Walter Scott describes in _Marmion_. James
had however gone too far to recede: he invaded England with an army
which is said to have amounted to 100,000 men, and which certainly
comprised every great noble in Scotland who was capable of bearing
arms.
On August 22, 1513, the Scots crossed the border. The king seems
to have had no definite purpose beyond gratifying his taste for
knight-errantry. Norham Castle surrendered a week later, and there was
no English army as yet ready to dispute his further advance: he might
have penetrated far into England if he had chosen. Instead of this he
occupied himself in taking Wark and other small castles, "enterprises
worthy of a border chieftain," as a Scottish historian contemptuously
remarks, and in devastating the country, to his own speedy detriment.
Unless all the chroniclers were in a conspiracy to calumniate him,
James was guilty of a far worse folly, quite in keeping with his
character as a knight-errant, but absolutely unpardonable in a king and
a general conducting a great war. After taking Ford Castle, he fell
deeply in love with Lady Heron of Ford, and loitered day after day near
Ford for her sake, until it was too late to advance. Meanwhile his army
was suffering, provisions were failing, and the season was rainy. The
army melted away by desertion to something like a third of its original
strength: the numbers that fought at Flodden seem to be ascertained
with tolerable certainty at not much over 30,000 on each side. The
spirit of chivalry prevented the nobles leaving their king in the
field, whatever the common soldiers might do: they stayed with James
without influencing his conduct, and shared his fate.
Meanwhile the earl of Surrey, who had been entrusted with the defence
of England during the king's absence in France, had gathered an army,
which would have been largely overmatched at first if James had not
wasted his opportunities. Surrey knew the man he had to deal with, and
as soon as he felt himself strong enough, sent to the Scottish king a
formal challenge to fight a battle on a given day, Friday, September
9. Of course the crowned knight-errant accepted the challenge, and
thereby precluded himself from fighting earlier, as would have been to
his obvious advantage. The aged earl of Angus, the famous Archibald
Bell-the-Cat, who had played a great part in Scottish history for the
last half-century, is said to have vainly implored the king not to
accept: the only answer he could get was, "Angus, if you are afraid,
you can go home." After such an insult, the old man could but go; but
two of his sons remained to die with the king.
[Illustration:
_Map VIII._
_Battle of Flodden._
_9^{th} Sep^{t} 1513._
(_From an old Map._)]
On September 7, Surrey reached Wooler, a few miles from the Scottish
camp: on the previous day James moved from the low ground near Ford,
and took up his position on Flodden Edge. The lower course of the
Tweed, where it forms the boundary between England and Scotland, is
towards the north-east. About ten miles from its mouth, a mile or two
above Norham, the Till falls into it on the English side, nearly at
right angles. Flodden Edge is a high ridge a mile or more in length,
running east and west, nearly south of the mouth of the Till, and
about five miles off; its easternmost end almost reaches the Till,
just above Ford. The descent is abrupt on the south to the wide plain
of Millfield, stretching along the Till nearly to Wooler. On the north
the slope is more gradual, and is broken by a hollow rising to another
lower ridge, beyond which the descent is continued to Brankston.
Flodden Edge was an excellent position in which to await attack, at
any rate from the south, but an impossible one for long occupation,
being badly supplied with water, though not quite destitute of it.
Local ingenuity, anxious to gratify the lovers of poetry, and devoid
of military insight, points out a scanty spring on Flodden Edge as the
"Sybil's Well" beside which the wounded Marmion was laid to die. As
will be seen from the details of the battle, it is simply impossible
that any Englishman should have come there, still more impossible that
Marmion should have left Clare there under charge of his squires. Sir
Walter Scott is not however in any way answerable for this mistake: in
a note he expressly says that Sybil's well must be situated somewhere
behind the English right. The well was of course the creature of
his own imagination; and from the shape of the ground no spot in
that quarter could have given the dying Marmion a view of the whole
battle-field.
Surrey, on arriving at Wooler, and discovering where the Scots were,
tried to play once more on James' weakness: he sent him a letter
reproaching him for having quitted the level ground, and challenging
him to come down on the appointed day and fight on the Millfield. This
time however James refused even to hear the herald; either he was
visited by a stray gleam of common sense, or his nobles prevented the
purport of the message from reaching him. Surrey was not at all the
man to attack a formidable position if he could manœuvre his enemy
out of it. Accordingly on September 8 he crossed the Till at Wooler
and marched down its right bank, but far enough from the river to be
concealed from the Scots by the high ground east of it. Halting for the
night on Barmoor, he continued his march next morning, and recrossed
the Till with his vanguard and artillery at Twizel Bridge close to its
mouth, the rest of his army crossing by fords higher up the stream.
Surrey was now between the Scots and their country: James must fight,
and his promise was given to fight on that day.
James was ignorant or careless of every duty of a general. He did not
know that Surrey had moved until the English were seen in the far
distance crossing Twizel Bridge. The only precaution he had taken was
to plant some cannon to command the bridge (if there was one then) or
the ford on his right, leading across the Till to Ford.
"And why stands Scotland idly now,
Dark Flodden! on thy airy brow,
Since England gains the pass the while,
And struggles through the deep defile?
What checks the fiery soul of James?
Why sits that champion of the dames
Inactive on his steed,
And sees, between him and his land,
Between him and Tweed's southern strand,
His host Lord Surrey lead?
What 'vails the vain knight-errant's brand?
—O, Douglas, for thy leading wand!
Fierce Randolph, for thy speed!
O for one hour of Wallace wight,
Or well-skill'd Bruce, to rule the fight,
And cry—'Saint Andrew and our right!'
Another sight had seen that morn,
From Fate's dark book a leaf been torn,
And Flodden had been Bannockbourne!—
The precious hour has pass'd in vain,
And England's host has gain'd the plain;
Wheeling their march, and circling still,
Around the base of Flodden hill."
The censure is just, but not quite accurately placed. By the time James
was aware of Surrey's manœuvre it was probably too late to attack
him with his army half across the river, as Wallace had done with
fatal effect at Cambuskenneth. James' first and unpardonable fault was
in neglecting to watch Surrey's movements; his second was the usual
halting between two opinions of a weak man. When he saw Surrey's whole
army advancing towards him, he could neither be content to remain
in his position, sufficiently formidable if not so strong as on the
reverse aspect, nor resolve boldly to push on so as to encounter Surrey
as soon as possible, with the angle of the Tweed and Till to enclose
him fatally if defeated. Suddenly taking it into his head that the
Brankston ridge in front either was a better position for himself, or
would be a convenient one for the English, he ordered his camp to be
fired, that the south wind might blow the smoke towards Surrey and
conceal his movements, and descended from Flodden Edge. It did not
occur to James that the smoke would prevent his seeing the English,
which was much more important: they were steadily on the march and knew
where they were going. It could have been no surprise to Surrey on
reaching Brankston to see the Scots on the near ridge in front, though
it was an obvious advantage to him that they had not yet had time to
get fully into order.
The English army formed its line of battle on tolerably level ground,
facing south, the Scots being on higher ground. Both armies were drawn
up in the same manner, in four divisions, with a reserve of horsemen
in rear of the centre. On the English right was Sir Edmund Howard,
Surrey's younger son; next to him his brother the Admiral, next to him
Surrey, and on the left Sir Edward Stanley, while Lord Dacre commanded
the horsemen in reserve. Nothing is expressly said about it, but no
doubt all the divisions were composed as usual of archers and spearmen
combined. On the Scottish side the earls of Huntly and Home faced Sir
Edmund Howard, Huntly with the Gordons of the north-eastern Highlands,
Home with the borderers. Opposite to the Admiral were Crawford and
Montrose, opposite Surrey was the king. On the Scottish right the earls
of Lennox and Argyle had with them a mass of wild Highlanders. The earl
of Bothwell was in reserve behind the centre.
The battle began about four p.m. with a cannonade. The English guns
were well served and did great execution; the Scots were less skilful,
and probably at a disadvantage from their hasty move. At any rate
the artillery duel, as it would be called now-a-days, was so greatly
in favour of the English that the Scots hastened to come to close
quarters. On their left the borderers with their long spears charged
home with such determination that they broke Sir Edmund Howard's line.
The white lion banner of the Howards was trampled in the dust, part
of the English right wing fled: it was only by the prompt support of
Dacre's horsemen that defeat on this wing was averted. In the right
centre the Admiral had a severe struggle with Crawford and Montrose,
but ultimately prevailed, both the earls being slain. On the left the
English success was much more decided: the wild clansmen, unable to
bear the clothyard arrows, broke their ranks and dashed at the enemy,
who beat them off with great slaughter. Meanwhile James in person had
engaged Surrey, and being presently supported by the reserve under
Bothwell pressed him hard. The day however was virtually decided: the
success on the Scottish left was now more than neutralised, for Huntly
had fled apparently before Dacre's first charge, and Home, isolated
from the rest of the army, did not venture to renew the conflict,
but drew off, watched and held in check by Dacre. The Admiral, after
defeating Crawford, took James in flank: Stanley still more fatally
attacked him on the right rear. The time for exhibiting the best side
of knight-errantry had come: James, with a splendid courage which
has more than half redeemed his credit, refused to yield. Forming
themselves into the national circle, the Scots held their ground to the
last.
"But yet, though thick the shafts as snow,
Though charging knights like whirlwinds go,
Though bill-men ply the ghastly blow,
Unbroken was the ring;
The stubborn spear-men still made good
Their dark impenetrable wood,
Each stepping where his comrade stood,
The instant that he fell.
No thought was there of dastard flight;
Link'd in the serried phalanx tight,
Groom fought like noble, squire like knight,
As fearlessly and well;
Till utter darkness closed her wing
O'er their thin host and wounded king.
Then skilful Surrey's sage commands
Led back from strife his shatter'd bands;
And from the charge they drew,
As mountain waves, from wasted lands,
Swept back to ocean blue.
Then did their loss his foemen know;
Their king, their lords, their mightiest low,
They melted from the field as snow,
When streams are swoln and south winds blow,
Dissolves in silent dew.
Tweed's echoes heard the ceaseless plash,
While many a broken band,
Disorder'd, through her currents dash,
To gain the Scottish land;
To town and tower, to down and dale,
To tell red Flodden's dismal tale,
And raise the universal wail.
Tradition, legend, tune and song,
Shall many an age that wail prolong:
Still from the sire the son shall hear
Of the stern strife and carnage drear,
Of Flodden's fatal field,
Where shiver'd was fair Scotland's spear
And broken was her shield!"
The Scottish loss in men was heavy, about 10,000 men, and the English
paid for the victory with a loss of perhaps half the amount. But the
rank of the Scots who fell made it a blow to the kingdom which perhaps
has no equal in history. The king, his natural son the archbishop of
St. Andrew's, twelve earls, or nearly every man of the highest rank
below royalty, many other lords and chiefs of clans, all perished:
there is scarcely a family of distinction in Scotland but had a member
killed at Flodden. The last victory of the long-bow was even more
complete than its first great triumph at Crecy. For to the bow is
fairly to be attributed alike the defeat of the fierce rush of the
Highlanders which proved so formidable on other occasions, and the last
destruction wrought upon the nobles around their king.