Distress of the English Army
The deserted encampment was then visited by their mortified opponents, and presenteda singular spectacle. In it were found five hundred slaughtered cattle, and more than three hundred caldrons, or kettles, which were made of skins of cattle with the hair on, suspended on stakes, and full of meat and water, ready for boiling; with about a thousand spit-racks, with meat on them; and about ten thousand pairs of old shoes, commonly called brogues in Scotland, and made of raw hides, with the hair on the outer side. The only living things found in the camp were five poor Englishmen, stript naked and tied to trees. Three of these unfortunate men had their legs broken: a piece of savage cruelty, which, if committed with their knowledge, throws a deep stain upon Douglas and Randolph.On witnessing this, it is said that the young king, grievously disappointed at the mortifying result of an expedition commenced with such high hopes, and involving such mighty preparations, could not refrain from tears. In the meantime, the Scottish army, with safety and expedition, regained their own country in health and spirits, and enriched with the plunder of a three-weeks' raid in England. Very different was the condition of the army of Edward. The noble band of foreign cavalry, consisting of knights and men-atarms from Hainault, Flanders, and Brabant, commanded by John of Hainault, were reduced, by the privation and fatigue of a mode of warfare with which they were little acquainted, to a state of much wretchedness. On reaching York, their horses had all died, or become unserviceable; and the rest of the English cavalry were in an almost equal state of exhaustion and disorganization.