Page:History of the Black Douglas.pdf/16

22 them to their ancles, like what are now called short gaiters. As this sort of buskin had the hairy side of the hide outermost, the English called those who wore them rough-footed Scots, and sometimes, from the colour of the hide, red-shanks.

As the army needed to earrycarry [sic] nothing with them, either for provisions or ammunition, the Scots moved with amazing speed, from mountain to mountain, and from glen to glen, pillaging and destroying the eountrycountry [sic] wheresoever they came. In the meanwhile, the young King of England pursued them with a much larger army; but, as it was eneumberedencumbered [sic] by the neeessitynecessity [sic] of earryingcarrying [sic] provisions in great quantities, and by the slow motions of men in heavy armour, they could not eomecome [sic] up with the SeotsScots [sic], although they saw every day the smoke of the houses and villages whiehwhich [sic] they were burning.

At last the King of England grew so impatient, that he offered a large reward to any one who would show him where the Scottish army were.

At length, a gentleman named Rokeby, came into the eampcamp [sic], and claimed the reward whiehwhich [sic] the King had offered, guiding the English army to the plaeeplace [sic] where the Scots lay eneampedencamped [sic].

But the English king was no nearer to the battle which he desired; for Douglas and Randolph, knowing the force and numbers of the English army, had taken up their eampcamp [sic] on a steep hill, at the bottom of which ran a deep river, so that there was no possibility for the English to attack the Scots without crossing the water, and then