Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border Volume I Part 15

"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 ca' thee."

"Thither will I come," proud Percy said, "By the might of Our Ladye!"-- "There will I bide thee," said the Douglas, "My trowth I plight to thee."

They lighted high on Otterbourne, Upon the bent sae brown; They lighted high on Otterbourne, And threw their pallions down.

And he that had a bonnie boy, Sent out his horse to gra.s.s; And he that had not a bonnie boy, His ain servant he was.

But up then spake a little page, Before the peep of dawn-- "O waken ye, waken ye, my good lord, "For Percy's hard at hand."

"Ye lie, ye lie, ye liar loud!

"Sae loud I hear ye lie: For Percy had not men yestreen, "To dight my men and me."

"But I hae dream'd a dreary dream, "Beyond the Isle of Sky; "I saw a dead man win a fight, "And I think that man was I."

He belted on his good braid sword, And to the field he ran; But he forgot the helmet good, That should have kept his brain.

When Percy wi' the Douglas met, I wat he was fu' fain!

They swakked their swords, till sair they swat, And the blood ran down like rain.

But Percy, with his good broad sword, That could so sharply wound, Has wounded Douglas on the brow, Till he fell to the ground.

Then he call'd on his little foot-page.

And said--"Run speedilie, "And fetch my ain dear sister's son, "Sir Hugh Montgomery."

"My nephew good," the Douglas said, "What recks the death of ane!

"Last night I dream'd a dreary dream, "And I ken the day's thy ain,

"My wound is deep; I fain would sleep; "Take thou the vanguard of the three, "And hide me by the braken bush, "That grows on yonder lilye lee,

"O bury me by the braken bush, "Beneath the blooming briar; "Let never living mortal ken, "That ere a kindly Scot lies here."

He lifted up that n.o.ble lord, Wi' the saut tear in his e'e; He hid him in the braken bush, That his merrie men might not see.

The moon was clear, the day drew near, The spears in flinders flew, But mony a gallant Englishman, Ere day the Scotsmen slew.

The Gordons good, in English blood, They steep'd their hose and shoon; The Lindsays flew like fire about, Till all the fray was done.

The Percy and Montgomery met, That either of other were fain; They swapped swords, and they twa swat, And aye the blude ran down between.

"Yield thee, O yield thee, Percy!" he said, "Or else I vow I'll lay thee low!"

"Whom to shall I yield," said Earl Percy, "Now that I see it must be so?"

"Thou shalt not yield to lord nor loun, "Nor yet shalt thou yield to me; "But yield thee to the braken bush,[105]

"That grows upon yon lilye lee!"

"I will not yield to a braken bush, "Nor yet will I yield to a briar; But I would yield to Earl Douglas, "Or Sir Hugh the Montgomery, if he were here."

As soon as he knew it was Montgomery, He stuck his sword's point in the gronde; And the Montgomery was a courteous knight, And quickly took him by the honde.

This deed was done at Otterbourne, About the breaking of the day; Earl Douglas was buried at the braken bush, And the Percy led captive away.

[Footnote 103: _Fell_.--Hide. Douglas insinuates, that Percy was rescued by his soldiers.]

[Footnote 104: _Fend_.--Support.]

[Footnote 105: _Braken_.--Fern.]

NOTES ON THE BATTLE OF OTTERBOURNE.

_He chose the Gordons and the Graemes_.--P. 64. v. 2.

The ill.u.s.trious family of Gordon was originally settled upon the lands of Gordon and Huntly, in the shire of Berwick, and are, therefore, of border extraction. The steps, by which they removed from thence to the shires of Aberdeen and Inverness, are worthy notice. In 1300, Adam de Gordon was warden of the marches.--_Rymer_, Vol. II. p. 870. He obtained, from Robert the Bruce, a grant of the forfeited estate of David de Strathbolgie, Earl of Athol; but no possession followed, the earl having returned to his allegiance.--John de Gordon, his great-grandson, obtained, from Robert II., a new charter of the lands of Strathbolgie, which had been once more and finally forfeited, by David, Earl of Athol, slaine in the battle of Kilblene. This grant is dated 13th July, 1376. John de Gordon who was destined to transfer, from the borders of England to those of the Highlands, a powerful and martial race, was himself a redoubted warrior, and many of his exploits occur in the annals of that turbulent period. In 1371-2, the English borderers invaded and plundered the lands of Gordon, on the Scottish east march. Sir John of Gordon retaliated, by an incursion on Northumberland, where he collected much spoil. But, as he returned with his booty, he was attacked, at unawares, by Sir John Lillburne, a Northumbrian, who, with a superior force, lay near Carham in ambush, to intercept him. Gordon harangued and cheered his followers, charged the English gallantly, and, after having himself been five times in great peril, gained a complete victory; slaying many southerns, and taking their leader and his brother captive. According to the prior of Lochlevin, he was desperately wounded; but

"Thare rays a welle gret renowne, "And gretly prysyd wes gud Gordown."

Shortly after this exploit, Sir John of Gordon encountered and routed Sir Thomas Musgrave, a renowned English marc-hman whom he made prisoner. The lord of Johnstone had, about the same time, gained a great advantage on the west border; and hence, says Wynton,

He and the Lord of Gordowne Had a soverane gud renown, Of ony that war of thare degre, For full thai war of gret bounte.

Upon another occasion, John of Gordon is said to have partially succeeded in the surprisal of the town of Berwick, although the superiority of the garrison obliged him to relinquish his enterprise.

The ballad is accurate, in introducing this warrior, with his clan, into the host of Douglas at Otterbourne. Perhaps, as he was in possession of his extensive northern domains, he brought to the field the northern broad-swords, as well as the lances of his eastern borderers. With his gallant leader, he lost his life in the deadly conflict. The English ballad commemorates his valour and prudence;

"The Erle of Huntley, cawte and kene."

But the t.i.tle is a premature designation. The earldom of Huntly was first conferred on Alexander Seaton, who married the grand-daughter of the hero of Otterbourne, and a.s.sumed his t.i.tle from Huntly, in the north. Besides his eldest son Adam, who carried on the line of the family, Sir John de Gordon left two sons, known, in tradition, by the familiar names of _Jock_ and _Tam_. The former was the ancestor of the Gordons of Pitlurg; the latter of those of Lesmoir, and of Craig-Gordon. This last family is now represented by James Gordon, Esq. of Craig, being the eleventh, in direct descent, from Sir John de Gordon.

_The Graemes_.

The clan of Graeme, always numerous and powerful upon the border, were of Scottish origin, and deduce the descent of their chieftain, Graeme of Netherby, from John _with the bright sword_, a son of Malice Graeme, Earl of Menteith, who flourished in the fourteenth century.

Latterly, they _became Englishmen_, as the phrase went, and settled upon the Debateable Land, whence they were transported to Ireland, by James VI., with the exception of a very few respectable families; "because," said his majesty in a proclamation, "they do all (but especially the Graemes) confess themselves to be no meet persons to live in these countries; and also, to the intent their lands may be inhabited by others, of good and honest conversation." But, in the reign of Henry IV., the Graemes of the border still adhered to the Scottish allegiance, as appears from the tower of Graeme in Annandale, Graemes Walls in Tweeddale, and other castles within Scotland, to which they have given their name. The reader is, however, at liberty to suppose, that the Graemes of the Lennox and Menteith, always ready to shed their blood in the cause of their country, on this occasion joined Douglas.

_With them the Lindsays light and gay_.--p. 64. v. 2.

The chief of this ancient family, at the date of the battle of Otterbourne, was David Liudissay, lord of Glenesk, afterwards created Earl of Crawford. He was, after the manner of the times, a most accomplished knight. He survived the battle of Otterbourne, and the succeeding carnage of Homildon. In May, 1390, he went to England, to seek adventures of chivalry; and justed, upon London Bridge, against the lord of Wells, an English knight, with so much skill and success, as to excite, among the spectators, a suspicion that he was tied to his saddle; which he removed, by riding up to the royal chair, vaulting out of his saddle, and resuming his seat without a.s.sistance, although loaded with complete armour. In 1392, Lindsay was nearly slain in a strange manner. A band of Catterans, or wild Highlanders, had broken down from the Grampian Hills, and were engaged in plundering the county of Angus. Walter Ogilvy, the sheriff, with Sir Patrick Gray, marched against them, and were joined by Sir David Lindsay. Their whole retinue did not exceed sixty men, and the Highlanders were above three hundred. Nevertheless, trusting to the superiority of arms and discipline, the knights rushed on the invaders, at Gasclune, in the Stormont. The issue was unfortunate.

Ogilvy, his brother, and many of his kindred, were overpowered and slain. Lindsay, armed at all points, made great slaughter among the naked Catterans; but, as he pinned one of them to the earth with his lance, the dying mountaineer writhed upwards and, collecting his force, fetched a blow with his broad-sword which cut through the knight's stirrup-leather and steel-boot and nearly severed his leg.

The Highlander expired, and Lindsay was with difficulty borne out of the field by his followers--_Wyntown_. Lindsay is also noted for a retort, made to the famous Hotspur. At a march-meeting, at Haldane-Stank, he happened to observe, that Percy was sheathed in complete armour. "It is for fear of the English hors.e.m.e.n," said Percy, in explanation; for he was already meditating the insurrection, immortalised by Shakespeare. "Ah! Sir Harry," answered Lindsay, "I have seen you more sorely bestad by Scottish footmen than by English horse."--_Wyntown_. Such was the leader of the "_Lindsays light and guy_."

According to Froissard, there were three Lindsays in the battle of Otterbourne, whom he calls Sir William, Sir James, and Sir Alexander.

To Sir James Lindsay there fell "a strange chance of war," which I give in the words of the old historian. "I shall shewe you of Sir Mathewe Reedman (an English warrior, and governor of Berwick), who was on horsebacke, to save himselfe, for he alone coude nat remedy the mater. At his departynge, Sir James Limsay was nere him, and sawe Sir Mathewe departed. And this Sir James, to wyn honour, followed in chase Sir Mathewe Reedman, and came so nere him, that he myght have stryken hym with hys speare, if he had lyst. Than he said, 'Ah! Sir knyght, tourne! it is a shame thus to fly! I am James of Lindsay. If ye will nat tourne, I shall strike you on the back with my speare.' Sir Mathewe spoke no worde, but struke his hors with his spurres sorer than he did before. In this maner he chased hym more than three myles.