Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 8.djvu/248

106 consent and cession of king David himself. David was a childless man; he was weary of his captivity, and ready to purchase liberty on any terms; and the High Steward of Scotland, who had been appointed his successor by the Scottish Parliament, failing heirs of his own body, had shown little anxiety for the liberation of his captive sovereign. On these several accounts David was easily induced to enter into the purposes of the English king. The knight of Liddesdale was also persuaded to purchase his liberty upon similar terms; and thus Scotland had for its betrayers its own king and the bravest of its champions. The conditions into which Douglas entered with Edward III. in this singular treaty were the following:—He bound himself and his heirs to serve the king of England in all wars whatever, except against his own nation; with the proviso annexed, that he might renounce, if he pleased, the benefit of this exception: That he should furnish ten men-at-arms and ten light horsemen, for three months, at his own charges: That, should the French or other foreigners join the Scots, or the Scots join the French or other foreigners in invading England, he should do his utmost to annoy all the invaders "except the Scots:" That he should not openly, or in secret, give counsel or aid against the king of England or his heirs, in behalf of his own nation or of any others: That the English should do no hurt to his lands or his people, and his people do no hurt to the English, except in self-defence: That he should permit the English at all times to pass through his lands without molestation: That he should renounce all claim to the castle of Liddel: and that should the English, or the men of the estates of the knight of Liddesdale, injure each other, by firing houses or stack-yards, plundering, or committing any such offences, the treaty should not thereby be annulled; but that the parties now contracting should forthwith cause the damage to be mutually liquidated and repaired. To these strange terms Douglas was to subscribe by oath for their exact fulfilment, on pain of being held a disloyal and perjured man and a false liar (what else did such a treaty make him?); and that he should give his daughter and his nearest male heir as hostages, to remain in the custody of the king of England for two years. In return for all this he was to be released from captivity, and to have a grant of the territory of Liddesdale, Hermitage Castle, and certain lands in the interior of Annandale.

Sir William, having obtained his liberty at such a shameful price, returned to Scotland, and attempted to put his treasonable designs in execution. But during his absence another William Douglas had taken his place in influence and estimation. This was the nephew of the good Sir James, also his own god-son, who, having been bred to arms in the wars in France, had returned to Scotland, and assumed his place as the head of the Douglases, a position which his valour was well fitted to maintain, for he quickly drove the English from Douglasdale, Ettrick Forest, and Teviotdale. To him the knight of Liddesdale applied, in the hope of winning him over to the cause of Edward; but this nobleman not only rejected the base proposal, but, being made thus aware of the treachery on foot, assembled his vassals, broke into Galloway, and compelled the barons of that wild district to renounce the cause of England, and return to their rightful allegiance. Soon after, Annandale, which the treacherous knight had designed to make the head-quarters of his perfidious movements, was overrun and occupied by the High Steward and his son. Thus Sir William was foiled at every point, and that chiefly through the agency of his own god-son, whom he therefore hated with a deadly hatred. These failures were soon closed by a deadly termination. One day, while the knight of Liddesdale was hunting in