Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 3.djvu/76

104 SIR JAMES DOUGLAS. of this faithful dependent, Douglas was soon made acquainted with the numbers of those, in the neighbourhood, who would be willing to join him in his enterprise, and the more important of these being brought secretly, and by one or two at a time, before him, he received their pledges of fidelity and solemn engagements to assist him to the utmost of their power towards the recovery of his inheritance. Having, in this manner, secured the assistance of a small, but resolute band, Sir James determined to put in execution a project which, he had planned for the surprisal of the castle. The garrison, entirely ignorant and unsuspicious of the machinations of their enemies, and otherwise far from vigilant, offered many opportunities which might be taken advantage of to their destruction. The day of Palm Sunday, however, was fixed upon by Douglas, as being then near at hand, and as furnishing, besides, a plausible pretext for the gathering together of his adherents. The garrison, it was expected, would on that festival, attend divine service in the neighbouring church of St Bride. The followers of Douglas having anus concealed upon their persons, were, some of them, to enter the building along with the soldiers, while the others remained without to prevent their escape. Douglas, himself, disguised in an old tattered mantle, having a flail in his hand, was to give the signal of onset, by shouting the war cry of his family. When the concerted day arrived, the whole garrison, consisting of thirty men, went in solemn procession to attend the service of the church, leaving only the porter and the cook within the castle. The eager followers of the knight did not wait for the signal of attack; for, no sooner had the unfortunate Englishmen entered the chapel, than, one or two raising the cry of "a Douglas, a Douglas," which was instantly echoed and returned from all quarters, they fell with the utmost fury upon the entrapped garrison. These defended themselves bravely, till two thirds of their number lay either dead or mortally wounded. Being refused quarter, those who yet continued to fight were speedily overpowered and made prisoners, so that none escaped. Meanwhile, five or six men were detached to secure possession of the castle gate, which they easily effected: and being soon after followed by Douglas and his partisans, the victors had now only to deliberate as to the use to which their conquest should be applied. Considering the great power and numbers of the English in that district, and the impossibility of retaining the castle should it be besieged; besides, that the acquisition could then prove of no service to the general cause, it was determined, that that which could be of little or no service to themselves, should be rendered equally useless and unprofitable to the enemy. This measure, so defensible in itself, and politic, was stained by an act of singular and atrocious barbarity; which, however consistent with the rude and revengeful spirit of the age in which it was enacted, remains the sole stigma which even his worst enemies could ever affix to the memory of Sir James Douglas. Having plundered and stripped the castle of every article of value which could be conveniently carried off and secured; the great mass of the provisions, with which it then happened to be amply provided, were heaped together within an apartment of the building. Over this pile were stored the puncheons of wine, ale, and other liquors which the cellar afforded; and lastly the prisoners who had been taken in the church, having been despatched, their dead bodies were thrown over all; thus, in a spirit of savage jocularity, converting the whole into a loathsome mass of provision, then, and long after, popularly described by the name of the Douglas' Larder. These savage preparations gone through, the castle was set on fire, and burned to the ground.

No sooner was Clifford advertised of the miserable fate which had befallen his garrison, than, collecting a sufficient force, he repaired to Douglas in