Page:Life and adventures of Sir William Wallace, General and Governor of Scotland (2).pdf/21

BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN. 21 ing to tradition, King Robert's standard was fixed, the royal tent having been erected near it. This ſtone is well known in that neighbourhood by the name of the BORESTANE. The ſmall river of Bannockburn, remarkable for its ſteep and rugged banks, ran in a narrow valley between the two camps.

The caſtle of Stirling was ſtill in the hands of the Engliſh, Edward Bruce, the King's brother, had in the ſpring of this year, laid ſiege to it, but found himſelf obliged to abandon the enterpriſe; only by a treaty between that Prince and Moubray, the governor, it was agreed, that if the garriſon received no relief from England before a year expired, they ſhould ſurrender to the Scots. The day preceding the battle, a ſtrong body of cavalry, to the number of 800, was detached from the Engliſh camp, under the conduct of lord Clifford, to the relief of that garriſon. Theſe, having marched through ſome hollow grounds upon the edge of the Carſe, had paſſed the Scots army before they were obſerved. The King himſelf was the firſt that perceived them, and deſiring Thomas Randolph, earl of Murray, to look towards the place where they were, told him, that a roſe had fallen from his chaplet. Randolph, conſidering this as a reproach, becauſe he had the charge of that part, through which the Engliſh had marched, immediately ſet out after them with a party of 500 horſe, and coming up with them, in the plain where the ſmall village of New-houſe now ſtands, a ſharp action enſued, in fight of both armies, and of the garriſon of Stirling. It was fought with valour on both ſides: and it was ſome time doubtful where victory would turn. King Robert, attended by ſome of his officers, beheld the encounter from a riſing ground, ſuppoſed to be the round hill immediately upon the weſt of St. Ninians, now called Cock-ſhot-hill, Sir James Douglas, perceiving the diſtreſs of Randolph, who was greatly inferior to the enemy in numbers, aſked leave to go to his ſupport. This King Robert at firſt refuſed, but afterwards conſenting, Douglas put his ſoldiers in motion; obſerving, however, as he was on the way, that the victory was upon the point of being won without his aſſiſtance, he ſtopped ſhort, that his friend might have the unrivalled glory of it. The Engliſh were entirely defeated, and many of them ſlain; and Randolph returned to the camp amidſt acclamations of