A TOWN LOST AND WON
It was not my fortune to accompany the Prince of Wales in that
expedition which, in the autumn of 1355, he made in the South of
France. At this time I was with the King of England, at Calais, and
engaged in the enterprise which circumstances, not under his control,
compelled him to abandon, after reaching Hesdin and destroying the
outworks.
Nevertheless, on Edward's return to Calais, it seemed that there was
still some hope of the French once more bearding the lion of Cressy.
In fact, John of Valois summoned an army to assemble at Amiens, and,
advancing as far as St. Omer, sent his marshal to challenge the king
to a general battle. But events proved that the French were not in
earnest, and that the challenge was sent for no other purpose than to
keep the king inactive at Calais until preparations could be made for
the Scots crossing the Tweed, and ravaging the North of England, so as
to compel Edward to cross the seas, and hasten to the rescue of his
subjects.
At this crisis I was all vigilance; and, having my suspicions that John
of Valois was playing the game which his sire had attempted with so
little success, I exercised all my ingenuity to gain intelligence. My
efforts were not in vain; and one day, while the king, still under the
delusion that he was to have an opportunity of combating his enemies,
was in the courtyard of Calais Castle, with his sons, Lionel and John,
and looking on while the young princes were diverting themselves with
chivalrous exercises, I carried to him the alarming intelligence that
John of Valois, in order to induce his allies of Scotland to make a
diversion in his favour, had despatched to that country a knight, named
Eugène de Garentière, with sixty picked men-at-arms, and forty thousand
crowns to be expended in mustering an army.
On hearing of this new danger, Edward entered the castle, and, after
duly considering the matter, ordered me to depart instantly to England,
to make with all speed to the North, and to warn Sir John Copeland to
draw fighting men together, to exercise the utmost vigilance against
surprise, and to be ready in case of a regular invasion, to take steps
for giving the Scots battle.
"But," said the king, "it is rather a surprise than any regular
invasion that I apprehend; for, after the result of their march to
Durham, and their rout at Neville's Cross, they will shrink from any
great enterprise, and recur to their old system of making sudden and
rapid inroads."
I embarked for England without loss of time; and, so far as I was
concerned, no delay occurred in the execution of the king's behest. But
I was all too late to prevent mischief. As Edward had foreseen, the
Scots did not occupy themselves with extensive preparations. Having
shared the French crowns among them, the chief nobles and Robert
Stuart, who acted as guardian of Scotland during the captivity of the
King of Scots, determined on an immediate incursion, and accordingly
sent a force to the Border, under Lord Douglas and Sir William Ramsay,
a knight of prowess and courage.
But the Scots were cautious. In order to insure success it was
necessary to resort to stratagem; and, well knowing that such was the
case, Douglas, on reaching the Merse, halted at a place called Nisbet
Moor, and sent forward Ramsay with a body of horse, who, fording the
Tweed, pushed as far as Norham, burned the little town, defied the
castle, and then, pretending to fly, allured Sir Thomas Dacre and an
English force over the Border and into the Merse, and ultimately,
fighting as they went, to Nisbet Moor, where, ready for action, the
main body of the Scots lay in ambush.
And no sooner, indeed, did Dacre and his band reach this place than
the Scots sprang upon them and made a fierce attack, with shouts of
"Douglas! Douglas for ever! Ye shall die, ye thieves of England!" It
was in vain that the English struggled against the numbers opposed
to them. Surprised and surrounded, they were speedily overcome; and
Dacre, after killing Haliburton and Turnbull, two Scottish knights of
consequence, was forced to yield and surrender his sword.
Elate with this advantage, such as it was, the Scots determined to
pursue their success. But they coveted something more substantial than
barren honour, and, eager for spoil, they turned their eyes towards
Berwick.
Natural it was that the Scots should have bethought themselves of the
town which, at the beginning of his reign, and after his victory at
Halidon, Edward had torn from their grasp; for, as a stronghold in
English hands, it was to them an awkward neighbour. Not only did it
form a formidable barrier in the East Marches to the incursions of the
Scots, but checked their operations in other quarters; and the boldest
of them shrank from the consequences of an inroad by the Middle or
West Marches, when they reflected on the probability of the Captain of
Berwick sallying forth in retaliation, at the head of his garrison, and
sweeping the country to the gates of Edinburgh.
And, in another respect, it was a tempting prize; for the king, eager
to repair the injuries sustained by its trade during the Scottish
wars, had granted the town great privileges; and, availing themselves
of their privileges, the townsmen had grown prosperous and rich. Such
being the case, the Scots felt that there was nowhere a better chance
of booty.
At this time Sir Alexander Ogle was Captain of Berwick, and Sir Robert
Boynton governor of the castle. Neither of them seems to have been
apprehensive of danger, and probably both of them deemed the place
perfectly secure, even in case of an assault being attempted. On the
first point, however, they deceived themselves, and on the second they
forgot that they had to deal with men no less crafty than courageous.
It was late in the year 1355, and Thomas Stuart, who called himself
Earl of Angus, having collected a fleet, embarked with a multitude of
armed men, and on a dark night sailed into the mouth of the Tweed.
The hour favoured his adventure. It was just as the first dawn of
returning day was perceptible, and the town was hushed in repose, that
the Scots, accompanied by Garentière and his Frenchmen, disembarked on
the northern bank of the river, and moved stealthily and unobserved to
the foot of the walls. Reaching a part called the Cowgate, and making
use of scaling ladders, they climbed the walls, and, overpowering the
sentinels, leaped into the town. But at this stage of affairs the
alarm was sounded, and Ogle, rousing his men, appeared to oppose them
sword in hand. A desperate conflict then took place in the streets and
lanes; and the Scots, after slaying Ogle and two other English knights,
remained masters of the town. But the Scots had purchased their
victory dearly. Even taken at advantage, and overborne by numbers, the
reputation which that famous garrison enjoyed had been well maintained.
In yielding to numbers, they had proved their valour and prowess; and,
when the sun rose and revealed the carnage, the conquerors found that,
in the encounter, they had lost six knights of note, besides a host of
inferior men.
Moreover, Ogle's resistance had been of infinite service to the
inhabitants, for great, as may be supposed, was their consternation
when they became aware that the Scots were upon them. Roused from
sleep, and springing from their beds, the townsmen carried off the
women and children, and ran for their lives in terror and despair.
Some escaped by the gates, others ran to the castle; and the Scots
found themselves in possession of the wealth, the thought of which had
excited their cupidity and stimulated their ardour.
But the situation of the Scots was not, in all respects, pleasant.
The castle held sternly out, and all their efforts to take it proved
failures. Moreover, the garrison sent to ask the counsel and aid of
Copeland; and, in concert with him, a plan was formed for introducing
into the castle a number of English warriors, who might enter the town
by what was called Douglas Tower, and recover the place by strength of
hand.
However well conceived, the project came to naught. By some process
intelligence of what was passing reached the Scots; and, on learning
the intentions of the garrison, and after having been masters of
Berwick for a week, they hastened to seize the Douglas Tower. Having
done so, with the assistance of Garentière and his Frenchmen, they
defended both town and tower so resolutely that no impression could be
made.
But matters could not possibly remain as they were, and John of Valois
soon had reason to congratulate himself on the success of Garentière's
mission. So great was the importance of Berwick, that Edward, on
hearing how affairs were, abandoned his schemes on the Continent, and
embarked for England, to take measures for the recovery of the place,
and, after staying three days in London, set out on his way northward.
It was on an early day in January, 1356, when the king, having kept his
Christmas in Newcastle, and summoned the fighting men of the North to
his standard, came before Berwick at the head of his army, accompanied
by his two sons and Sir Walter Manny, while his fleet appeared in the
Tweed. Repairing to the castle, while Manny set miners brought from
Dean Forest to work, Edward prepared to let down the drawbridge and
attack the town from the castle, while Sir Walter, with the aid of the
miners of Dean, was employed in advancing a mine below the walls. But a
brief period proved that neither operation was necessary. Indeed, when
the Scots perceived the combination of art and force that was to be
used against them, the sight was enough. With one voice they cried that
it was time to surrender, and only begged that they might be permitted
to march out with safety of life and limb.
Not wishing to drive matters between himself and the Scots to
extremity, Edward, indignant and angry, as he might well be, at their
unprovoked aggression, granted their prayer; and terms of capitulation
having been agreed to, they were allowed to march out and return to
their own country.
Nevertheless, after Berwick had in this way been lost and won, and
when the townsmen, returning to their homes, complained loudly of
the injuries they had sustained, the King of England considered it
expedient to take precautions against future inroads; and, leaving
men to garrison the town and repair the fortifications, he set out for
the castle of Roxburgh, where he was to hold a conference with Edward
Baliol, who, as legitimate heir of the ancient Kings of Scotland, still
claimed the Scottish throne.