Expoit or Sir James Douglas
Having thickly twisted together, the young birch trees on either side, so as to prevent escape,he concealed his archers in a hollow way near the gorge of the pass, and when the English ranks were compressed by the narrowness of the road, and it was impossible for their cavalry to act with effect, he rushed upon them at the head of his horsemen, whilst the archers, suddenly discovering themselves, poured in a flight of arrows, so that the unwieldy mass was thrown into confusion, and took to flight. In the melee, Douglas slew Thomas de Richemont with his dagger; and although, from his inferiority of force, he did not venture to pursue the enemy into the open country, yet they were compelled to retreat with great slaughter.Soon after this, Edmund de Cailou, a knight of Gascony, whom Edward had appointed to be Governor of Berwick, was encountered by Douglas, as the foreigner returned to England loaded with plunder, from an inroad into Teviotdale. Cailou was killed; and, after the slaughter of many of the foreign mercenaries, the accumulated booty of the Merse and Teviotdale was recovered by the Scots. Exactly similar to that of Cailou, was the fate of Sir Ralph Neville. This baron, on hearing the high report of Douglas's prowess, from some of De Cailou's fugitive soldiers, openly boasted that he would fight with the Scottish knight, if he would come and show his banner before Berwick. Douglas, who deemed himself bound to accept the challenge, immediately marched into the neighbourhood of that town, and, within sight of the garrison, caused a party of his men to waste the country, and burn the villages. Neville instantly quitted Berwick with a strong body of men, and, encamping upon a high ground, waited till the Scots should disperse to plunder; but Douglas called in his detachment, and instantly marched against the enemy. After a desperate conflict, in which many were slain, Douglas, as was his custom, succeeded in bringing the leader to a personal encounter, and the superior strength and skill of the Scottish knight were again successful. Neville was slain, and his men utterly discomfited.
An old English chronicle ascribes this disaster to "the treason of the marchersbut it is difficult to discover in what the treason consisted. Many other soldiers of distinction were taken prisoners, and Douglas, without opposition, ravaged the country, drove away the cattle, left the towns and villages in flames, and returned to Scotland. So terrible did the exploits of this hardy warrior become upon the Borders, that Barbour, who lived in his time, informs us, the English mothers were accustomed to pacify their children by threatening them with the name of the "Black Douglas.