Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 3.djvu/81

Rh other side of the pass, and there patiently awaited the approach of the English. These preparations for their reception having been made with great secrecy and order, the army of Arundel had no suspicion of the snare laid for them; and, having entered the narrow part of the defile, seem even to have neglected the ordinary rules for preserving the proper array of their ranks, these becoming gradually compressed and confused as the body advanced. In this manner, unable to form, and, from the pressure in their rear, equally incapacitated to retreat, the van of the army offered an unresisting and fatal mark to the concealed archers; who, opening upon them with a volley of arrows, in front and flank, first made them aware of the danger of their position, and rendered irremediable the confusion already observable in their ranks. Douglas, at the same moment, bursting from his ambush, and raising the terrible war cry of his name, furiously assailed the surprised and disordered English, a great many of whom, from the impracticability of their situation, and the impossibility of escape, were slain. Sir James himself encountered, in this warm onset, a brave foreign knight, named Thomas de Richemont, whom he slew by a thrust with his dagger; taking from him, by way of trophy, a furred cap which it was his custom to wear over his helmet. The English having at length made good their retreat into the open country, encamped in safety for the night; Douglas, well knowing the danger he would incur, in following up, with so small a number of men, the advantage which art and stratagem had so decidedly gained for him.

Had this been otherwise, he had service of a still more immediate nature yet to perform. Having intelligence that a body of about three hundred men, under the command of a person named Ellies, had, by a different route, penetrated to Lintalee, Sir James hastened thither with all possible expedition. This party, finding the house deserted and unguarded, had taken possession of it, as also of the provisions and liquors with which it had been amply provided; nothing doubting of the complete victory which Arundel would achieve over Sir James Douglas and his few followers. In this state of security, having neglected to set watches to apprize them of dangers, they were unexpectedly assailed by their dreaded and now fully excited enemy, and mercilessly put to the sword, with the exception of a very few who escaped. The fugitives having gained the camp of Arundel, that commander was no less surprised and daunted by this new disaster, than he had been by that which shortly before befell his own men; so that, finding himself unequal to the task of dealing with a foe so active and vigilant, he prudently retreated back into his own country, and disbanded his forces.

Among the other encounters recorded as having taken place on the borders at this time, we must not omit one, in which the characteristic and unaided valour of the good Sir James unquestionably gained for him the victory. Sir Edmund de Cailand, a knight of Gascony, whom king Edward had appointed governor of Berwick, desirous of signalizing himself in the service of that monarch, had collected a considerable force with which he ravaged and plundered nearly the whole district of Teviot, As he was returning to Berwick, loaded with spoil, the Douglas, who had intimation of his movements, determined to intercept his march, and, if possible, recover the booty. For this purpose, he hastily collected together a small body of troops; but, on approaching the party of Cailand, he found them so much superior to his own, in every respect, that he hesitated whether or not he should prosecute the enterprise. The Gascon knight, confident in his own superiority, instantly prepared for battle; and a severe conflict ensued, in which it seemed very doubtful whether the Scots should be able to withstand the numbers and bravery of their assailants. Douglas, fearful of the issue of the contest, pressed forward with incredible energy,