ON advancing with this united force, Surrey despatched Rouge Croix, herald, to carry his challenge to the King of Scots, which was couched in the usual stately terms of feudal defiance. It reproached him with having broken his faith and league, which had been solemnly pledged to the King of England, in thus invading his dominions, and offered him battle on the succeeding Friday, if he would be content to remain so long in England and accept it. Lord Thomas Howard added a message, informing the king that, as high-admiral, and one who had borne a personal share in the action against Andrew Barton, he was now ready to justify the death of that pirate, for which purpose he would lead the vanguard, where his enemies, from whom he expected as little mercy as he meant to grant them, would be sure to find him. To this challenge James instantly replied that "he desired nothing more earnestly than the encounter, and would abide the battle on the day ap

pointed." As to the accusation of broken honour, which had been brought against him, he desired his herald to carry a broad denial of the statement. "Our bond and promise," he observed, "was to remain true to our royal brother, so long as he maintained his faith with us. This he was the first to break; we have desired redress, and have been denied it; we have warned him of our intended hostility,-a courtesy which he has refused to us; and this is our just quarrel, which, with the grace of God, we shall defend." These mutual messages passed on the 4th of September; and on the day appointed, Surrey advanced against the enemy. By this time, however, the distress for provisions, the incessant rains, and the obstinacy of the king in wasting upon his pleasures, and his observation of the punctilios of chivalry, the hours which might have been spent in active warfare, had created dissatisfaction in the soldiers, many of whom deserted with the booty they had already collected,

so that in a short time the army was much diminished in numbers. To accept the challenge of his adversary, and permit him to appoint a day for the encounter, was contrary to the advice of his best counsellors; and he might have recollected that, in circumstances almost similar, two great masters in war, Douglas and Randolph, had treated a parallel proposal of Edward the Third with a sarcastic refusal. He had the sagacity, however, to change his first encampment for a stronger position on the hill of Flodden, one of the last and lowest eminences which detach themselves from the range of the Cheviots; a ground skilfully chosen, inaccessible on both flanks, and defended in front by the river Till, a deep sluggish stream, which wound between the armies.

On advancing and reconnoitring the spot, Surrey, who despaired of being able to attack the Scots without exposing himself to the probability of defeat, again sent a herald, to request the king to descend from the eminence into the plain. He complained somewhat unreasonably that James had

our;" but James would not even admit the messenger into his presence. So far all had succeeded, and nothing was required on the part of the king but patience. He had chosen an impregnable position, had fulfilled his agreement by abiding the attack of the enemy; and such was the distress of Surrey's army in a wasted country, that to keep it longer together was impossible. He attempted, therefore, a decisive measure, which would have appeared desperate unless he had reckoned upon the carelessness and inexperience of his opponent. Passing the Till on the 8th of September, he proceeded along some rugged grounds on its east side to Barmoor Wood, about two miles distant from the Scottish position, where he encamped for the night. His march was concealed from the enemy by an eminence on the east of Ford; but that the manoeuvre was executed without observation or interruption, evinced a shameful negligence in the Scottish commanders. Early on the morning of the 9th, he marched from Barmoor Wood in a north-westerly direction; and then turning suddenly to the eastward, crossed the Till with his vanguard and artil

1 Letter of Surrey; published by Ellis, vol. i. pp. 86, 87; dated at "Woolerhaugh, the 7th day of Sept., at five of the clock in the afternoon."

Lord Howard, 'at Twisel Bridge, not far from the confluence of the Till and the Tweed,-whilst the rear division, under Surrey in person, passed the river at a ford about a mile higher up.

Whilst these movements were

taking place, with a slowness which afforded ample opportunity for a successful attack, the Scottish king remained unaccountably passive. His veteran officers remonstrated. They showed him that if he advanced against Surrey, when the enemy were defiling over the bridge with their vanguard separated from the rear, there was every chance of destroying them in detail, and gaining an easy victory. The Earl of Angus, whose age and experience gave great weight to his advice, implored him either to assault the English, or to change his position by a retreat ere it was too late; but his prudent counsel was only received by a cruel taunt,-" Angus," said the king, "if you are afraid, you may go home;" a reproach which the spirit of the old baron could not brook. Bursting into tears, he turned mournfully away, observing that his former life might have spared him such a rebuke from the lips of his sovereign. "My age," said he, "renders my body of no service, and my counsel is despised; but I leave my two sons and the vassals of Douglas in the field: may the result be glorious, and Angus's foreboding unfounded!

The

army of Surrey was still marching across the bridge, when Borthwick, the master of the artillery, fell on his knees before the king, and earnestly solicited permission to bring his guns to bear upon the columns, which might be then done with the most destructive effect; but James commanded

him to desist on peril of his head, declaring that he would meet his antagonist on equal terms in a plain field, and scorned to avail himself of such an advantage. The counsel of Huntly was equally ineffectual; the remonstrance of Lord Lindsay of the Byres, a rough warrior, was received by James with such vehement indignation, that he threatened on his return to hang him up at his own gate. Time ran on amidst these useless altercations, and the opportunity was soon irrecoverable. The last divisions of Surrey's force had disentangled themselves from the narrow bridge; the rear had passed the ford; and the earl, marshalling his army with the leisure which his enemy allowed him, placed his entire line between James and his own country. He was thus enabled, by an easy and gradual ascent, which led to Flodden, to march upon the rear of the enemy; and, without losing his advantage for a moment, he advanced against them in full array, his army being divided into two battles, and each battle having two wings.1 On becoming aware of this, the king immediately set fire to the temporary huts and booths of his encampment, and descended the hill, with the object of occupying the eminence on which the village of Brankston is built. His army was

which had assumed the form of squares, some of wedges; and all were drawn up in line, about a bow-shot distance from each other.1 Their march was conducted in complete silence; and the clouds of smoke, which arose from the burning camp, being driven in the face of the enemy, mutually concealed the armies ; so that when the breeze freshened, and the misty curtain was withdrawn, the two hosts discovered that they were within a quarter of a mile of each other. The arrangement of both armies was simple. The van of the English, which consisted of ten thousand men, divided into a centre and two wings, was led by Lord Thomas Howard; the right wing being entrusted to his brother, Sir Edmund, and the left to Sir Marmaduke Constable. In the main centre of his host Surrey himself commanded; the charge of the rear was given to Sir Edward Stanley; and a strong body of horse, under Lord Dacre, formed a reserve. Upon the part of the Scots, the Earls of Home and Huntly led the vanguard or advance; the king, the centre; and the Earls of Lennox and Argyle, the rear near which was the reserve, consisting of the flower of the Lothians, commanded by the Earl of Bothwell. The battle commenced at four in the afternoon by a furious charge of Huntly and Home upon the portion of the English vanguard under Sir Ed

1 Gazette of the Battle in the Herald's Office. Pinkerton, vol. ii. p. 456.

resistance, was thrown into confusion, and totally routed. Howard's banner was beaten down; and he himself escaped with difficulty, falling back on his brother the admiral's division. That commander, dreading the consequences of the defeat, instantly despatched a messenger to his father, Lord Surrey, entreating him to extend his line with all speed, and strengthen the van by drawing up a part of the centre on its left. The manœuvre was judicious, but it would have required too long a time to execute it; and at this critical moment, Lord Dacre galloped forward with his cavalry, to the support of the vanguard.2 Nothing could have been more timely than this assistance; he not only checked the career of the Scottish earls, but, being seconded by the intrepid attack of the admiral, drove back the division of Huntly with great slaughter, whilst Home's men, who were chiefly borderers, imagining they had already gained the victory, began to disperse and pillage. Dacre and the admiral then turned their attack against another portion of the Scottish vanguard, led by the Earls of Crawford and Montrose, who met them with levelled spears, and resolutely withstood the charge. Whilst such was the state of things on the right, a desperate contest was carried on between James and the Earl of Surrey in the centre. In his ardour, however, the king "Letter of Lord Dacre in Pinkerton, vol. ii. p. 460.