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abbey, and slew or made prisoners the whole party within. Sir Thomas Gray was in a house outside the gate, which he held in hopes of a rescue till it began to burn over his head, when he and his men were made prisoners also. His ransom must have been promptly paid, for he reappears at the siege of Stirling in the following spring of 1304. Comyn and his friends had made submission at Strathord in February, and Bruce was in the south, looking after the succession to his English estates,-finding, however, plenty of time to devote to King Edward's service, forwarding engines and munitions of war by sea for the campaign in Scotland. Dauntless Sir William Oliphant-vn jouen bacheler Descoce-disdained, says Gray, to be bound by the conditions submitted to by Comyn, but claimed to hold authority from the Lion (se clamoit a tenir du Lioun), a somewhat obscure allusion, wherein the lion seems to be used figuratively to denote the Scottish cause.

Oliphant armed and provisioned his castle, and prepared to defy all the power of the mighty Edward. Wallace, almost the only other commander still resisting the English king, was at large in the Lennox, with a heavy price on his head. Oliphant was practically single-handed in his splendid enterprise. The siege began. Gray was in the retinue of Sir Henry de Beaumont, and his son describes an exciting scene which took place during an assault on the barriers. Among the engines of defence were some which flung grapnels (tenails) among the assailants. The hooks of one of these grapnels fastened on De Beaumont, who was being drawn rapidly over the wall, when Gray dashed forward and relieved his chief. Immediately after, Gray

was struck in the face by a quarrel from a heavy crossbow, which inflicted such a frightful wound that his comrades bore him out of the fray, believing him to be dead. A parade was formed for his burial, when somebody noticed a movement in the supposed corpse. He revived, and eventually recovered (il comensa a mouoir et regardir et garry apres).

One is tempted to dwell on the incidents of this siege, they are so picturesquely described, and convey such an excellent picture of Edward I., than whom nobody more thoroughly enjoyed life in the trenches, or was more eagerly alive to the importance of having the very latest inventions in military science. military science. He was so full of energy and fire that he was impatient of those who were more leisurely. Just as he was setting out for Stirling, on March 4, he wrote a stinging letter to the Earl of March, reproaching him for want of energy in the pursuit of Wallace. "We cannot conceive," he said, 66 why you are so slow, unless it be to fulfil the proverb'Quant la guerre fu finee,

Si trest Audegier sespee.' (When the war was over, then Audegier drew his sword.)" Who, by the bye, was Audegier, and what is the allusion?

It was natural enough that Edward should urge on his generals the importance of securing Wallace, though a letter written by him the following day is not such agreeable reading for Scotsmen. It is addressed to Robert de Brus, Earl of Carrick, begging him earnestly, "C as the cloak is well made, so also to make the hood." The meaning of this is shown by the context to be that it was good to have quelled the rising of Comyn, De Soulis, Fraser,

and James the Steward; but the business would not be complete till Wallace should be taken also. Researches during recent years by Messrs Bain, Stevenson, and others have brought to light an immense number of original letters and papers of this period, and one cannot but reflect to what excellent use Lord Hailes would have put this material in compiling his Annals, and how he would have rejoiced in the light therein reflected upon persons and events.

Very full details have thus been exhumed of the siege of Stirling, and the volumes of Historical Documents' prepared from these papers and printed by direction of Parliament ought to be read side by side with Sir Thomas Gray's narrative. Edward set to work in earnest as soon as he had dissolved his mid-Lent Parliament at St Andrews. He wrote to the Prince of Wales, directing him to obtain material for his siege-engines by stripping the lead from all the church roofs between Perth and Dunblane, being careful to leave a covering over the altars. All this material, be it noted, was scrupulously paid for at a subsequent date. The siege-engines, thirteen of them, were thoroughly up to date in the latest improvements. Each bore a distinctive name, registered as precisely as that of a battleship-the Lincoln and the Segrave, the Robinet and the Kingston, the Vicar and the Parson, the Berefrey, the Linlithgow, the Bothwell, the Prince, the Gloucester, the Dovedale, and the Tout-le-monde, besides a mighty "war-wolf," the like of which had never been seen.

Aloft, on their precipitous rock, William de Oliphant and his stout garrison looked down on the gathering storm. They could see the masons busy constructing an

VOL. CLXI.-NO. DCCCCLXXV.

oriel window in a house in the town, whence the queen and her ladies might view the progress of the siege.

For nineteen weeks the fortress resisted the thundering missiles and streams of wild-fire; then, when all their provender was gone, Oliphant surrendered unconditionally. But Edward was not quite satisfied. He sent word to the garrison to get into shelter till he tried a shot with his war-wolf (tauntz il eit ferru ove le Lup de guerre).

How clearly the scene rises before one! The eager king, intensely interested in the effect of the new machine, explaining its merits to the ladies in the oriel; the groups of knights, professionally critical; the straining ropes and creaking wheels; the stout men of Lincoln sweating under the July sun as they poised the mighty missile; then-silence! a sharp word of command, the trigger is released, the wheels fly round, the rock goes hurtling through the air, and plunges with a crash against the much-dinted walls. Then what a buzz of comment and criticism, to be hushed in turn as the order is given for the garrison to come forth, Oliphant being the last to leave the gates. They were brought before the queen, half-starved and in their rags, then shipped off to various prisons in England, after which, says Gray, the king held a grand tournament before breaking up his camp.

Among the prisoners taken in Stirling was one Ralf de Haliburton. A line is drawn through his name in the list, apparently showing that he had been released, and it is not unreasonable to identify him with "le vallet qui espia Will de Waleys," and received a reward of 40 merks. It is known from a paper in the Arundel collection

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that Wallace was arrested in the house of one Rawe Raa, in Glasgow; and this Rawe or Ralf may have obtained his liberty on condition of betraying Wallace. The obloquy of this deed has usually been attached to Sir John de Menteith; but that knight was Edward's Sheriff of Dunbarton, and would be doing no more than his duty in receiving Wallace when. brought to him for imprisonment.

The next point in the 'Scalacronica' which throws an original light on historical events is an account of the circumstances of the murder of John Comyn by Robert de Brus. The statements of historians are so various and irreconcilable on this subject that it would be hardly worth while to add another, even under the hand of a contemporary, but for the curious fact that all Bruce's biographers have overlooked or intentionally suppressed the story told by Gray. It is distinctly unfavourable to Bruce, which tells all the more seriously against him, because Gray generally writes in a remarkably impartial way, taking, as a man of the world, a broad view of characters and actions.

Writing in his prison in Edinburgh in 1355, forty-nine years after an event of which he must have heard his father's account, Gray states that on the fatal 10th of February Robert de Brus sent his two brothers, Thomas and Neil, from Lochmaben to Dalswinton, the residence of John Comyn, to invite him to an interview in the church of the Minorite Friars at Dumfries. They were instructed to ride with Comyn, attack and kill him on the way. Comyn, however, received them so kindly and showed so much readiness to ride with them and meet their brother, that Thomas and Neil thought shame of their trea

son, and brought Comyn safely to Dumfries, where their brother Robert was waiting for them.

"Sir," they said to their future king, "he gave us such a handsome reception and such large gifts, and won so upon us by his open countenance, that we could not bring ourselves to hurt him.”

"Indeed," replied Robert; "you are mighty particular. Let me meet him." (Voir, bien estez lectous, lessez moi convenir.)

Then Bruce led Comyn before the altar, and Gray gives a lengthy report of the interview, which, as it is impossible that the substance could be known to any but the two principals, who, it is supposed, had drawn apart, is not worth repeating afresh. He mentions, however, that Sir Robert Comyn, immediately on his nephew falling wounded, struck Bruce with his sword, which glanced from his armour, and incontinently Sir Robert was cut down. The amplitude of detail which Gray has put into this incident is in marked contrast to the brevity of his style in dealing with some of the most important transactions.

There was plenty of work for the elder Gray in the long warfare brought about by Bruce's revolt, and it may be gathered from the public records how constantly he was employed on the Borders during these years. But his son has nothing to tell of his father's adventures till the spring of 1308. The greatest of the Plantagenets had passed away before then, and men had cause already to realise how little of his powerful spirit had descended on Edward of Carnarvon. Sir Thomas Gray was returning from the coronation of Edward II. to the castle of Cupar, in Fife, of which he was governor, when a countryman warned him that Sir Walter de Bickerton

chiualer Descoce, qenherdaunt estoit a Robert de Bruys-was lying in ambush for him with four hundred men, about half a league farther on. Gray's party contained only six-and-twenty men-at-arms. To these he explained the situation, and with one voice they declared they would force the ambuscade. The grooms and valets were directed to fall behind; a standard was given to them, with instructions that they were on no account to show themselves till their masters were engaged with the enemy. The clump of spears moved on, and, as they had been warned, were fiercely attacked by De Bickerton's men. Gray was ready for them; down went the lances into rest, and the men-atarms charged clean through the opposing force; wheeled, charged back, and again a third time. De Bickerton's men had not bargained for this: they had reckoned on making an easy prey of such a small party. Just then the party of lads and grooms rode into view, the standard gaily fluttering above them. The Scots beat a retreat, and, getting into bad ground, left nine score horses in a bog, which Gray extricated at leisure, and took home to his stables at Cupar.

Perhaps the most interesting episode in the elder Gray's adventures related by his son was his experience at Bannockburn. It is historically important, too, though it has received but little serious attention, and affords an insight into some of the circumstances of that great battle which have hitherto remained most obscure. For instance, it has generally been assumed by historians that, in the skirmish on the day before the battle. the Quatre

Bras of Bannockburn-Moray was in command of a body of horse. It could not be explained otherwise how he was able to intercept or overtake the cavalry of De Clifford and De Beaumont in their attempt to reach Stirling Castle, after they had got round the left flank of the Scottish position. On the other hand, nobody could say how Moray obtained cavalry for the purpose, as it is known that the only mounted troops in the Scottish army were the 500 lances under Sir Robert de Keith. The difficulty is clearly explained in 'Scalacronica.'

According to Gray, it was the original intention of Edward II., in advancing from Stirling, to attack the Scots in their position on the Bannock Burn on Sunday, June 23. It is not quite clear whether Gloucester, in pressing forward with the vanguard of heavy cavalry, was aware that the main body had received orders to halt on the rising ground about Plean. At all events he held on his way les ioenes gentz ne aresterent my tindrent lour chemyns-and the famous singlehanded encounter took place between King Robert and Sir Henry de Bohun, or, as Gray avers, Piers de Montfort. Meanwhile Clifford and De Beaumont had been detached by Gloucester to make their way with 300 horse 1 round the east flank of the Scots, past the hamlet of St Ninians, and effect communication with the garrison of Stirling. King Robert had foreseen this, and specially charged his nephew, Randolph Moray, to prevent any such movement. Now, Moray commanded the central of the three divisions of the Scottish line, and from his position commanded but an im

1 Barbour says 800, but Gray is sure to be right in this instance.

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that Wallace was arrested in the house of one Rawe Raa, in Glasgow; and this Rawe or Ralf may have obtained his liberty on condition of betraying Wallace. The obloquy of this deed has usually been attached to Sir John de Menteith; but that knight was Edward's Sheriff of Dunbarton, and would be doing no more than his duty in receiving Wallace when brought to him for imprisonment.

The next point in the 'Scalacronica' which throws an original light on historical events is an account of the circumstances of the murder of John Comyn by Robert de Brus. The statements of historians are so various and irreconcilable on this subject that it would be hardly worth while to add another, even under the hand of a contemporary, but for the curious fact that all Bruce's biographers have overlooked or intentionally suppressed the story told by Gray. It is distinctly unfavourable to Bruce, which tells all the more seriously against him, because Gray generally writes in a remarkably impartial way, taking, as a man of the world, a broad view of characters and actions.

Writing in his prison in Edinburgh in 1355, forty-nine years after an event of which he must have heard his father's account, Gray states that on the fatal 10th of February Robert de Brus sent his two brothers, Thomas and Neil, from Lochmaben to Dalswinton, the residence of John Comyn, to invite him to an interview in the church of the Minorite Friars at Dumfries. They were instructed to ride with Comyn, attack and kill him on the way. Comyn, however, received them so kindly and showed so much readiness to ride with them and meet their brother, that Thomas and Neil thought shame of their trea

son, and brought Comyn safely to Dumfries, where their brother Robert was waiting for them.

"Sir," they said to their future king, "he gave us such a handsome reception and such large gifts, and won so upon us by his open countenance, that we could not bring ourselves to hurt him.”

"Indeed," replied Robert; "you are mighty particular. Let me meet him." (Voir, bien estez lectous, lessez moi convenir.)

Then Bruce led Comyn before the altar, and Gray gives a lengthy report of the interview, which, as it is impossible that the substance could be known to any but the two principals, who, it is supposed, had drawn apart, is not worth repeating afresh. He mentions, however, that Sir Robert Comyn, immediately on his nephew falling wounded, struck Bruce with his sword, which glanced from his armour, and incontinently Sir Robert was cut down. The amplitude of detail which Gray has put into this incident is in marked contrast to the brevity of his style in dealing with some of the most important transactions.

There was plenty of work for the elder Gray in the long warfare brought about by Bruce's revolt, and it may be gathered from the public records how constantly he was employed on the Borders during these years. But his son has nothing to tell of his father's adventures till the spring of 1308. The greatest of the Plantagenets had passed away before then, and men had cause already to realise how little of his powerful spirit had descended on Edward of Carnarvon. Sir Thomas Gray was returning from the coronation of Edward II. to the castle of Cupar, in Fife, of which he was governor, when a countryman warned him that Sir Walter de Bickerton

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