From Belt and Spur, Stories of the Knights of the Middle Ages from the Old Chronicles , by E. L. S. (Emma L. Seeley), New York: Scribner and Welford, 1883; pp. 12-23.
CHAPTER II.
THE BATTLE OF THE STANDARD.
In the year of our Lord 1138, King Stephen being occupied in the south country, the King of the Scots gathered together an innumerable host, not of those only who owned his rule, but also not a few from the islands and from the Orkneys. With great ferocity and audacity he entered into the land of England, purposing either to subdue to his authority all the north of England, or to devastate it with fire and sword.
But the Archbishop Thurstan and Walter Espec roused the leaders beyond the Humber, and they, coming together, covenanted to resist him with force. Therefore they assembled an army, few, indeed, in numbers, but strong in arms and valiant men, and, gathering together in a wide field near Allerton with the royal ensign, which is commonly called the Standard, waited to receive the enemy. For Thurstan, the archbishop, had sent his edict throughout his whole diocese, commanding that all who could go to war should gather hastily to the leaders to defend the Church of Christ against the barbarian host, and that from every parish they should come, led by the 13 priests with the cross and the holy ensigns. In the southern army among the leaders there was William, Earl of Albemarle, young but valiant, and well exercised in arms, having with him many soldiers, and being not less excellent in military astuteness than in courage. And there was Walter de Ghent, in extreme old age, a gentle and good man, himself leading his Flemings and Normans, and encouraging the people much by his wisdom and the weight of his words. Neither was Gilbert de Lacy slow to come; and he, having lived long in exile in King Henry’s time, had grown used to toil and hardship, and in this time of necessity remained unmoved. And Robert de Bruce, though he was in friendship with the King of the Scots, failed not the people in this extremity, but came to this place with his young son Adam and a company of brave youths. And so fervently were all men moved to resist the Scots that there came Roger de Mowbray, who was but a lad, to be with the army, though it would have been more proper for him at his age to have remained at home. And with him assembled all the men of his lands, with such zeal and devotion that neither in wisdom, courage, nor numbers, did they seem inferior to the rest, so that the little age of their lord seemed no loss to any of the army.
And there was Walter Espec, an old man and full of days, acute in mind, prudent in counsel, modest in peace, wary in war, ever loyal to the King and faithful to his friends. He was man of great stature, with mighty limbs and thick black hair and beard, and a voice like a trumpet, and he was great and ready in 14 speech. He came of noble race, and was noble in deeds of Christian piety.
Then he, being held in honour by the whole army on account of his age and wisdom, ascending the machine which was constructed round the royal ensign, encouraged the dejected and animated the eager. ‘Hear me, oh, brave men!’ he said, ‘for I have lived long and seen many wars and changes of time. I see many of you wavering and hesitating, fearing greatly that our little company will be swallowed up by the great host of the Scots; but victory depends not on multitudes, but on strength and a good cause. Therefore, considering what a cause, what a necessity brings us here to fight against such enemies, I stand intrepid, as secure of victory as of battle. Why should we despair of victory when victory has, as it were, been given in fief to our race by the Highest? Did not our ancestors, in small numbers, invade a large part of Gaul, erasing even the name? Did not our fathers and we, in short space, subdue this island, which cost the victorious Julius many years of hard fighting? We have seen with our own eyes the King of France and all his army turn their backs, and the greatest leaders of his kingdom led captive. Who subdued Apulia, Sicily, and Calabria? Did not both the emperors flee before the Normans almost on the same day and hour, one fighting against the father and the other against the son? And who would not rather laugh than fear at having to fight with half-naked Scots? These are they who yielded without resistance when William, conqueror of English and 15 Scots, advanced to Abernethy? What are their spears that they should terrify us so greatly? Of fragile wood and blunt iron, that break in piercing and are scarce strong enough for one thrust. Save for a stick, the Scots are unarmed. And shall we fear numbers? The greater the numbers the greater the glory of conquest. And for what a cause do we fight! None will deny us the right of fighting for our country, for our wives and children, and for our Church in such extreme peril. Remember what befell beyond the Tyne, and hope for nothing better if the Scots conquer. I will not speak of the slaughter and rapine, such as no history related of the cruellest tyrants. No order, no age, no sex, were spared. Noble boys and girls were carried away captive, and little children borne on the points of spears by the men of Galloway, churches entered and polluted. You have to fight not with men, but with beasts, who know no humanity nor piety, whom Heaven abhors and the earth abominates, and who would have been swallowed up by the earth, or struck down by lightning, or drowned in the sea, but that they are reserved for you to conquer. Then let us join battle with assured minds, for ours is the just cause; our hands are stronger, necessity, glory urge us, Divine aid will be ours, and all the heavenly host will fight for us.’ Then he turned him to the Earl of Albemarle, and taking him by the hand, ‘I swear,’ said he, ‘this day to conquer the Scots, or fall by the hands of the Scots/’
And all the leaders bound themselves by a like 16 vow. And that all hope of flight should be entirely taken away, they dismounted to fight on foot, and all the horses were removed to a distance, for they desired either to conquer or die.
In the meanwhile the King of the Scots, having assembled his earls and the chief leaders of his kingdom, began to hold counsel with them; and some advised that armed men and bowmen should go before the army, so that armed men might be opposed to armed men, soldiers to soldiers, and bowmen to bowmen. But to that the men of Galloway replied, that it was their right to hold the front rank and first attack the enemy, animating the rest of the host by their valour. But others thought it perilous thus to make the first attack with unarmed men, for if not sustaining the force of the battle, the first line should take to flight, the hearts of the strong would melt. Nevertheless the men of Galloway demanded that their right should be conceded to them. ‘What fearest thou, O King? and why art thou so greatly terrified at those coats of mail? Our sides are iron, our breasts brass, our minds are free from fear, and our feet have never known flight, nor our backs a wound. We bore away the victory from the armed men at Cliderhou, and this day will we overthrow the spearmen.’
But perceiving that the King leaned to the counsel of the soldiers, Malis, Earl of Strathearn, cried out in anger, ‘Wilt thou, O King, yield to the will of the Gauls? but I swear that no man in armour shall this day precede me in the battle.’ At which words the 17 young Alan de Percy, a strong man and well proved in military matters, restraining his anger with difficulty, turned him to the Earl and said, ‘Thou hast spoken words this day which thou wilt not be able to make good.’ Then the King, bidding them both be silent, lest a tumult should have arisen from the altercation, yielded to the will of the men of Galloway.
The second line being given to the King’s son, he set the soldiers and bowmen in array with great skill, the Cumbrians and men of Teviotdale being joined with them. And the youth was handsome in person and proper in demeanour, of so great humility that he seemed inferior to all, of so great authority that he was feared by all, gentle and affable, so that he was beloved by all; decorous in manners, sober in speech, honest in all things, devout, apt to speak, benevolent to the poor, firm against evil-doers, a monk among kings and a king among monks. He was also of such valour that there was none like him in attack or in sustaining an attack, swift in pursuit, fierce in repelling, slow in flight. There was joined with him Eustace FitzJohn, one of the great leaders of England who had been familiar with the late King Henry, a man of great prudence and counsel in secular matters, who had forsaken the king of the English because an accusation having been brought against him concerning some castles that Henry had given him he was compelled to restore them, on which account he joined the enemy to take his revenge.
In the third line were the men of Lothian and the Isles, and the Highlanders. The King retained in his 18 own line the Scots and the men of Moray, and English and French knights to guard his person. Such was the array of the northern army.
The little company of the southerners was ordered with great skill in one body. For, the most valiant men-at-arms being placed in front, there were mixed with them lancers and bowmen, who, protected by the armed men, might securely and fiercely meet the enemy’s attack; and the elder leaders assembled round the standard, that they might thence command the army. Then shields were joined to shield side by side, lances with pennons unfurled were raised, the coats-of-mail glittered in the sun, and the priests, clad in their sacred white garments, went round the army with crosses and relics of saints, strengthening and animating the men with their exhortations.
Then Robert de Bruce, a man of great age and of great deeds, grave in manners and of rare speech, whose words were with weight, who, while he was by oath one of the King of England’s men, had in youth joined the King of the Scots, and been admitted to familiar friendship with him, — he, therefore, a man of military experience and well known in such matters, seeing the peril which hung over the King, moved by his ancient friendship, went, with the leave of the confederate leaders, to the King, that he might dissuade him from war, or persuade him to wage it more lawfully. When, therefore, he was come to the King, he spake thus, saying, ‘I come, O King, to give thee good counsel, useful to thy kingdom and to thy posterity; for he is wise who looks not only to the 19 beginning, but to the results of deeds. Against whom dost thou fight this day? Is it not against the English and the Normans? And have they not often aided thee? Nay, wilt thou be safe from the Scots without their aid? With whose aid did thy brother Duncan, son of Donald, overcome his enemies? Who restored thy brother Edgar to his kingdom? Thou thyself obtainedst the portion of land which thy dying brother left thee from thy brother Alexander through our terror. And remember how but the year past there came to thy aid against thine enemy Malcolm, gladly and swiftly, Walter Espec, and other English leaders, and overcame him and delivered him into thine hand; and, in truth, the Scots hate us because we have served and aided thee. Forbear then, O King, for thine own sake, and for thy kingdom’s sake, and, above all, for the sake of thy noble young son. Why dost thou join in the sins of wicked men, at whose hands will be required the slaughter of babes and women, and the sacrilege of holy things; against whom the blood, not of one Abel, but of innumerable innocent victims, cries from the ground? Declare thou that these deeds are done against thy will. For there is opposed to thee no contemptible army, but one as much superior to thine in arms and good soldiers as it is inferior to thine in numbers. And thou knowest, O King, the courage of despair. If thou conquer, we die certainly: we, and our little ones, and our wives; and our priests will be murdered at the altar. But we are resolved to conquer or to die gloriously; and none of us doubts of 20 victory. Therefore, I mourn, I weep, because for my dear lord, my friend, my old companion, in whose friendship I have grown old, whose generous munificence I have known, with whom I played in boyhood, and in whose dangers I have shared, there remains nothing but death or a shameful flight.’
He ceased, his voice choked with tears and grief; and the King was moved to tears and instantly would have made peace. But William the King’s nephew, a man strong of will and bent on war, came between them, and with great fury accusing Robert of treason, moved the King from his purpose. Robert, therefore, delaying no longer, according to the manner of his country, renounced the faith by which he was bound to the King, and returned to his men — not without grief.
Then, straightway, the northern army advanced with lances raised, and with the shrill blast of clarion and trumpets and the clash of arms, the heavens and the earth trembled, and mountain and hill resounded.
In the meantime, Radulph, Bishop of the Orkneys, whom Archbishop Thurstan had sent to them, standing on a high place, gave absolution to the people, who, beating their breasts and lifting up their hands, prayed to Heaven for aid; and absolution being pronounced, the Bishop blessed them solemnly. And the people cried aloud, ‘Amen! Amen!’
Then the men of Galloway, uttering after their manner yells and horrible cries, ran upon the southern army with such fury that they forced the spearmen to give way; but they, being supported by the soldiers, 21 soon recovered their courage, and the lances of the Scots proving of delusive brittleness, they drew their swords and sought to fight hand to hand. But the southerners poured upon them a dense rain of arrows, and assailed them with such a ceaseless shower of missiles in their breasts and faces, that they retarded their attack. Nevertheless, the men of Galloway, bristling with arrows as the hedgehog with its spines, brandishing their swords, fell in blind fury upon their enemies, striking vain blows upon the empty air. Then, suddenly overcome by a panic of fear, they dissolved into flight; when the King’s noble young son, coming up with his company, with lion-like fury broke the southern lines like cobweb, and cutting down all who opposed, swept beyond the royal standard, supposing himself to be followed by the rest of the army, and that he might make it impossible for the enemy to escape, he attacked the place where the horses were stationed, dispersed them and drove them away for a space of two miles. Terrified by the force of this attack, the unarmed men began to give way; but a certain wise man, holding up the head of a man that had been slain, cried out that the King was slain; and thus they were encouraged and stood firm.
Then the men of Galloway, being unable to stand longer before the shower of arrows and the swords of the soldiers, turned to flee, two of their leaders, Ulric and Donald being slain. And the men of Lothian, scarce waiting for the first attack, melted away. Thereupon the King and the leaders, leaping from 22 their horses, advanced upon the enemy. But the Scots, panic-struck at the flight of the others, began to drop away from the royal troop, until, in a short time, there were but few left round the King. Then the army of the English advanced upon them, and the King himself, and all his men, would have been taken or slain, if his soldiers, having vainly implored him to flee, had not lifted him upon his horse and compelled him to retire. And those who were fleeing, seeing the royal ensign, which being a dragon was easily recognised, and perceiving that the King had not fallen, returned to him and formed a body to oppose those who were pursuing.
In the meantime, that flower of youth and glory of chivalry — the King’s son — looking behind him, saw himself with but few men in the midst of the enemy. Then, turning him to one of his companions, he said, smiling, ‘We have done what we could, and certainly we have overcome as many as ourselves, and it is a sign of a great mind not to be broken in adverse fortune, and when we cannot overcome by strength to do so by prudence. Therefore, let us divide one from another, and join ourselves to the enemy, as if we were pursuing with them, that so we may pass them by, and get as soon as possible to my father, whom I see yielding to necessity.’ This said, spurring his horse he passed through the midst of his enemies, and having issued beyond, slackened his horse’s speed. Then he, with his knights, throwing away their heavy armour, came to a poor cottage, and, calling out the peasant, he took off his princely 23 chain, and casting it at the man’s feet, said, ‘Take what is a burden to me, but may help you in need.’
And the King, having put a distance between himself and his enemies, gathered a company and set them again in array, hoping to capture some who were pursuing, that thus he might deter others from attacking; and he came to Carlisle, and there, being in safety himself, he awaited his son in great fear for two days, but the third day he received him safe and sound.
And the English leaders pursuing far, took prisoners, and killed great numbers, both of the Scots and the men of Galloway; and all the English leaders returned safe and uninjured, and gathering round Walter Espec, whom they venerated as their captain and father, gave great thanks to Almighty God for such an unhoped-for victory.