Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/308

288. Although the affectation of a correspondence might still be maintained, the English party had, in fact, perished in the abandonment of St Andrews. The Douglases and the Reformers were as forward to take the field as the Hamiltons and the priests. The fiery cross sped north and south, east and west. The Scots of the Isles brought up four thousand Irish archers. Priest and prelate and preacher buckled on his armour; and the baron from his Lowland castle, the Highland chief from his home among the crags of the Grampians, the trader from his desk, the night rider of the Border from his tower and peel, hurried to the gathering of the nation. Feuds of clans and enmities of creeds were no longer felt in the overpowering peril of Scottish freedom; there was one people with one cause; and the crowds who had listened to Wishart, and the kinsmen of those who were carried off prisoners for revenging his murder, were content to fight behind a banner on which a lady representing the Catholic Church was kneeling to Christ, and praying Him to save her from heresy.

In the last week in August, Somerset reached Berwick. He had sent before him a letter to the Scottish lords, repeating the language which he had learnt from his master, insisting on their promises, and urging the common interests of both nations in the marriage. On Friday, the 2nd September, he put out a proclamation, though too late to undo his former errors, in which he