Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 1.djvu/332

318 by the ruthless character of the king, the abbot appeared before him, and delivered to him Baliol's formal renunciation of his homage. "What! is the traitor capable of such madness?" the king exclaimed. "If then, he will not come to us, we will go to him."

The injury which the Scots had sustained excited the deepest feelings of indignation throughout the country. Eager for vengeance, the Scottish army, headed by the Earls of Ross, Monteith and Atholl, entered England, ravaged Redesdale and Tynedale, and put the inhabitants of all ranks and ages to the sword. Towns, villages, and monasteries were burnt to the ground, and a war of extermination continued for awhile on both sides. But the vengeance of the Scots was short-lived, while that of Edward, deeply planned and unrelenting, was far more terrible and lasting.



The castle of Dunbar was one of the strongest and most important fortresses of Scotland. Patrick, Earl of Dunbar, was at this time fighting against his countrymen in the English army; but his countess, who held the castle, and whose hatred of the English was intense, entered into a treaty with the Scottish leaders to deliver it up to them. The offer was speedily taken advantage of, and the Earls of Ross, Atholl, and Monteith, with other powerful chiefs, and a body of thirty-one knights, and a number of foot, took possession of the castle. Having driven out the few soldiers who refused to join their standard, they prepared to maintain, at all hazards, the strong position they had obtained. Aware of the importance of this movement, Edward dispatched the Earl Warenne, with 10,000 foot and 1,000 horse, to recover the castle. When the earl summoned