Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/296

 282 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 54. Sussex; himself had caught a cold by sleeping in the air at Hawick;; the cold had been followed by fever, and he could not leave his bed. But Sir William Drury, the marshal of the army, would be as useful in the field as himself. The Borders had suffered sufficiently ; the Hamiltons were the centre of the anti- English Con- federacy, and no heavier blow could be dealt to Mary Stuart, no material support short of the recognition of the King could be given more effectively to Morton, than a direct attack on Chatelherault himself. On the I oth of May the army was again in Scottish territory on its mission of destruction, with the Earl of Lennox in Drury 's company as the representative of James, and Morton, taking courage at last, gave them a formal and friendly reception at Edinburgh. The news of their coming flew swiftly to Chatelherault, and the Duke and his sons, unable to defend themselves at home, made a dash on Glasgow Castle, surprised the gates, and forced their way into the inner court ; but they were repulsed with loss and retired with West- moreland into the Highlands, while Drury, Morton, and Lennox advanced leisurely upon Hamilton. They car- ried guns with them, and after a few shots the garrison left by the Duke capitulated. The plunder was given to the soldiers. The castle itself, the town, ' half a score of villages/ and all the houses of the Hamilton family in the neighbourhood, were burnt and blown up. Dum- barton ought to have followed, for Dumbarton was an open port through which the French at any time could have access into Scotland. But Drury was tied by his