Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 8.djvu/90

 by his rich dress, his splendid armour of proof, and the gold chain around his neck, to which was attached a whistle of the same metal, the emblem of his office as high admiral of Scotland, he took his stand upon the highest part of the deck, and encouraged his men to fight bravely. The battle commenced, and continued on both sides with the utmost desperation. One manœuvre of Scottish naval warfare which Barton used, was derived from an old Roman practice used against the Carthaginians, although he had, perhaps, never read their history; this was, to drop large weights or beams from the yard-arms of his vessel into that of the enemy, and thus sink it while the two ships were locked together; but, to accomplish this feat, it was necessary for a man to go aloft to let the weight fall. The English commander, apprised of this, had appointed the best archer of his crew to keep watch upon the movement, and shoot every man who attempted to go aloft for the purpose. The archer had already brought down two Scottish seamen who had successively ventured to ascend, when Andrew Barton seeing the danger, resolved to make the attempt himself. As he ascended the mast for this purpose, Lord Howard cried to his archer, "Shoot, villain, and shoot true, on peril of thy life." "An' I were to die for it," replied the man despondingly, "I have but two arrows left." These, however, he used with his utmost strength and skill. The first shaft bounded from Barton's coat of proof, but the second entered the crevice of his armour, as he stretched up his hand in the act of climbing the mast, and inflicted a mortal wound through the arm-pit. He descended as if unhurt, and exclaimed, "Fight on, my merry men; I am but slightly wounded, and will rest me awhile, but will soon join you again; in the meantime, stand you fast by the cross of Saint Andrew!" He then blew his whistle during the combat, to encourage his followers, and continued to sound it as long as life remained. After his death the conflict terminated in the capture of the Lion, and also the pinnace, called the Jenny Pirwen, which were brought in triumph into the Thames. The Lion was afterwards adopted into the English navy, and was the second largest ship in the service, the Great Henry, the first vessel which the English had expressly constructed for war, being the largest.

Such was the end of Andrew Barton, a bright name in the early naval history of Scotland. While his death was felt as a great national calamity, it was particularly affecting to James IV., whose nautical studies he had directed, and whose infant navy he had made so distinguished among the European maritime powers. Rothesay herald was instantly despatched to London, to complain of this breach of peace, and demand redress; but to this appeal Henry VIII. arrogantly replied, that Barton was a pirate, and that the fate of pirates ought never to be a subject of contention between princes. Here, however, the matter was not to rest. Robert Barton, one of Andrew's brothers, was immediately furnished with letters of reprisal against the English; and thus commissioned, he swept the narrow seas so effectually, that he soon returned to Leith with thirteen English prizes. War by sea between England and Scotland was soon followed by war by land, and in the letter of remonstrance and defiance to Henry VIII., with which James preceded the invasion of England, the unjust slaughter of Andrew Barton, and the capture of his ships, were stated among the principal grievances for which redress was thus sought. Even when battle was at hand, also, Lord Thomas Howard sent a message to the Scottish king, boasting of his share in the death of Barton, whom he persisted in calling a pirate, and adding, that he was ready to justify the deed in the vanguard, where his command