Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 3.djvu/75

Rh vindictive temper of the English king, and the particular dislike which he bore to the memory of the former Douglas; but he soon saw that the haughty conqueror was neither to be prepossessed nor conciliated. Edward no sooner understood the birth of the suitor, than, turning angrily to the bishop, he reproached him, in harsh terms, for his presumption. "The father," said he, "was always my enemy; and I have already bestowed his lands upon more loyal followers than his sons can ever prove." The unfavourable issue of this suit must have left a deep and resentful impression on the mind of the young Douglas; and it was not long before an occasion offered whereby he might fully discover the incurable inveteracy of his hostility to the English king.

While he yet resided at the bishop's palace, intelligence of the murder of Comyn, and the revolt of Bruce, spread over the kingdom. Lamberton, who, it is well known, secretly favoured the insurrection, not only made no difficulty of allowing the young Douglas to join the party, but even assisted him with money to facilitate his purpose. The bishop, it is also said, directed him to seize upon his own horse for his use, as if by violence, from the groom; and, accordingly, that servant in an unwitting attention to his duty, having been knocked down, Douglas, unattended, rode off to join the standard of his future king and master. He fell in with the party of Bruce at a place called Errickstane, on their progress from Lochmaben towards Glasgow; where, making himself known to Robert, he made offer to him of his services; hoping that under the auspices of his rightful sovereign, he might recover possession of his own inheritance. Bruce, well pleased with the spirit and bearing of his new adherent, and, besides, interested in his welfare, as the son of the gallant Sir William Douglas, received him with much favour, giving him, at the same time, a command in his small army. This was the commencement of the friendship between Bruce and Douglas, than which, none more sincere and perfect ever existed between sovereign and subject

It would, of course, be here unnecessary to follow Sir James Douglas, as we shall afterwards name him, through the same tract described in the life of his heroic master; as in that, all which it imports the reader to know has been already detailed with sufficient minuteness. Of the battle of Methven, therefore, in which the young knight first signalized his valour; that of Dalry, in which Robert was defeated by the lord of Lorn, and Sir James wounded; the retreat into Raclurin; the descent upon Arran, and afterwards on the coast of Carrick; in all of which enterprises, the zeal, courage, and usefulness of Douglas were manifested, we shall in this place take no other notice, than by referring to the life which we have mentioned. Leaving these more general and important movements, we shall follow the course of our narrative in others more exclusively referable to the life and fortunes of Douglas.

While Robert the Bruce was engaged in rousing the men of Carrick to take up arms in his cause, Douglas was permitted to repair to his patrimonial domains in Douglasdale, for the purpose of drawing over the ancient and attached vassals of his family to the same interest, and, in the first place, of avenging, should an occasion offer, some of the particular wrongs himself and family had sustained from the English. Disguised, therefore, and accompanied by only two yeomen, Sir James, towards the close of an evening in the month of March, 1307, reached the alienated inheritance of his house, then owned by the lord Clifford, who had posted within the castle of Douglas a strong garrison of English soldiers. Having revealed himself to one Thomas Dickson, formerly his father's vassal, and a person possessed of some wealth, and considerable influence among the tenantry, Sir James, and his two followers were joyfully welcomed, and carefully concealed within his house. By the diligence and sagacity