Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 8.djvu/250

198 brave, good, and attractive Sir William Douglas, who had no inheritance but his sword. It was wonderful that in such a case the course of true love should have run smooth: but so it did. Robert II. approved of her affection, and gave her hand to the young knight, with the fair lordship of Nithsdale for her dowry.

Sir William was not permitted to rest long in peace with a beautiful princess for his bride; for the piracies of the Irish upon the coast of Galloway, in the neighbourhood of his new possession, summoned him to arms. Resolved to chastise the pirates upon their own territory, and in their own strongholds, he mustered a force of five hundred lances and their military attendants, crossed the Irish sea, and made a descent upon the coast in the neighbourhood of the town of Carlingford. Being unable to procure boats for the landing of his small army simultaneously, he advanced with a part of it, and made a bold assault upon the outworks of the town. Struck with terror, the inhabitants, even though their ramparts were still unsealed, made proposals for a treaty of surrender; and to obtain sufficient time to draw up the terms, they promised a large sum of money. Sir William Douglas received their envoys with courtesy, and trusting to their good faith in keeping the armistice, he sent out 200 of his soldiers, under the command of Robert Stuart, laird of Durriesdeer, to bring provisions to his ships. But it was a hollow truce on the part of the men of Carlingford, for they sent by night a messenger to Dundalk, where the English were in greatest force, representing the small number of the Scots, and the ease with which they might be overpowered. Five hundred English horse rode out of Dundalk at the welcome tidings, and came down unexpectedly upon the Scots, while the men of Carlingford sallied from their gates in great numbers, to aid in trampling down their enemies, who in the faith of the truce were employed in lading their vessels. But Douglas instantly drew up his small band into an impenetrable phalanx; their long spears threw off the attacks of the cavalry; and notwithstanding their immense superiority, the enemy were completely routed, and driven off the field. For this breach of treaty the town of Carlingford was burnt to the ground, and fifteen merchant ships, laden with goods, that lay at anchor in the harbour, were seized by the Scots. On returning homeward, Douglas landed on the Isle of Man, which he ravaged, and after this his little armament, enriched with spoil, anchored safely in Loch Ryan, in Galloway.

As soon as he had stepped on shore, Sir William heard, for the first time, of the extensive inroad that had commenced upon the English border in 1388, which ended in the victory of Otterburn; and eager for fresh honour, instead of returning home, he rode to the Scottish encampment, accompanied by a band of his bravest followers. In the division of the army that was made for the purpose of a double invasion, Sir William was retained with that part of it which was destined for the invasion of England by the way of Carlisle, and thus he had not the good fortune to accompany James, Earl of Douglas, in his daring inroad upon Durham. After the battle of Otterburn, an interval of peace between England and Scotland succeeded, of which Sir William was soon weary; and, impatient for military action, he turned his attention to the continent, where he found a congenial sphere of occupation. Of late years, the mingled heroism and devotion of the crusading spirit, which had lost its footing in Syria, endeavoured to find occupation in the extirpation or conversion of the idolaters of Europe; and the Teutonic knights, the successors of the gallant Templars, had already