Douglas and Randolph, along with March, were commanded to assemble with a chosen body of men at Duns Park in the evening; and at nightfall, having left their horses at the rendezvous, they marched to Berwick; and, by the assistance of Spalding, fixed their ladders, and scaled the walls. Orders seem to have been given by Bruce, that they should not proceed to storm the town, till reinforced by a stronger body; but Douglas and Randolph found it impossible to restrain their men, who dispersed themselves through the streets, to slay and plunder, whilst, panic-struck with the night attack, the citizens escaped over the walls, or threw themselves into the castle. When day arrived, this disobedience of orders had nearly been fatal to the Scots; for Roger Horsley, the governor of the castle, discovering that they were but a handful of men, made a desperate sally, and all but recovered the city.
Douglas, however, and Randolph, who were veterans in war, and dreaded such an event, had kept their own soldiers well together, and, assisted by a young knight, Sir . William Keith of Galston, who greatly distinguished himself, they at last succeeded in driving the English back to the castle; thus holding good their conquest of the town, till Bruce came up with the rest of his army, and effectually secured it. The presence of the king, with the men of Merse and Teviotdale, intimidated the garrison of the castle, which soon surrendered; and Bruce, with that generous magnanimity which forms so fine a part of his character, disdaining to imitate the cruelty of Edward the First, readily gave quarter to all who were willing to accept it.
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For this we have the testimony of the English historians, Thomas de la More, and Adam Murimuth, although the pope, in his bull of excommunication, represents him as having seized Berwick by treachery during a time of truce; and charges him moreover, with having committed a great and cruel slaughter of the inhabitants. Both accusations are unfounded. The truce was publicly disclaimed by the king, and the city was treated with uncommon lenity. It was at this time the chief commercial emporium of England, and its plunder greatly enriched the Scottish army. There were also found in it great quantities of provisions and military stores, and Bruce, after having examined the fortifications, determined to make it an exception from his general rule of demolishing all fortresses recovered from the English.-f In execution of this plan, he committed the keeping of both town and castle to his son-in-law, Walter the Steward; and aware that, from its importance, the English would soon attempt to recover it, he provided it with every sort of warlike engine then used in the defence of fortified places.
Springalds and cranes, with huge machines for discharging iron darts, called balistw de turno, were stationed on the walls; a large body of archers, spearmen, and cross-bowmen, formed the garrison; and the young Steward was assisted in his measures of defence by John Crab, a Fleming, famous for his skill in the rude engineering of the times 4 Five hundred brave gentlemen, who quartered the arms of the Steward, repaired to Berwick, to the support of their chief; and Bruce, having left it victualled for a year, marched with his army into England, and ravaged and laid waste the country. He besieged and made himself master of the castles of Wark and Harbottle, surprised Mitford, and having penetrated into Yorkshire, burnt the towns of Northallerton, Boroughbridge, Scarborough, and Skip ton in Craven. The plunder in these expeditions was great, and the number of the captives may be estimated from the expression of an ancient English chronicle, that the Scots returned into their own country, driving their prisoners like flocks of sheep before them.
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A parliament was accordingly assembled at Scone in December, in which the whole clergy and laity renewed their engagements of obedience to the king, and promised to assist him faithfully, to the utmost of their power, in the preservation and defence of the rights and liberties of the kingdom, against all persons of whatever strength, power, and dignity, they may be; and any one who should attempt to violate this engagement and ordinance, was declared guilty of treason. It was next enacted, that, in the event of the king's death, without issue male, Robert Stewart, son of the Princess Marjory and of Walter, the Lord High Steward of Scotland, should succeed to the crown; and in the event of that succession taking place during the minority of Robert Stewart, or of other heir of the king's body, it was appointed, that the office of tutor to the heir of the kingdom should belong to Thomas Randolph earl of Moray, and failing him, to James lord Douglas; but it was expressly provided, that such appointment should cease, whenever it appeared to the majority of the community of the kingdom that the heir is of fit age to administer the government in person.
It was also declared, that since, in certain times past, some doubts had arisen regarding the succession of the kingdom of Scotland, the parliament thought proper to express their opinion, that this succession ought not to have been regulated, and henceforth should not be determined, by the rules of inferior fiefs and inheritances, but that the male heir nearest to the king, in the direct line of descent, should succeed to the crown; and failing him, the nearest female in the direct line; and failing the whole direct line, the nearest male heir in the collateral line respect being always had to the right of blood by which the last king reigned, which seemed agreeable to the imperial law.
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Having settled this important matter, various other laws were passed, relative to the military power, and to the ecclesiastical and civil government of the kingdom. All men were required to array themselves for war. Every layman possessed of land, who had ten pounds worth of moveable property, was commanded to provide himself with an acton and a basnet, that is a leathern jacket, and a steel helmet, together with gloves of plate, and a sword and spear. Those who were not thus provided, were enjoined to have an iron jack, or back and breast-plate of iron, an iron headpiece, or knapiskay, with gloves of plate; and every man possessing the value of a cow, was commanded to arm himself with a bow and a sheaf of twenty-four arrows, or with a spear. It was made imperative upon all sheriffs and lords to insist on the execution of this law; and in case of disobedience, to cause the recusant to forfeit his moveable estate, half to the king, and half to his overlord, or superior.
All persons, while on the road to the royal army, were commanded to subsist at their own charges; those who came from places near the rendezvous being commanded to bring carriages and provisions along with them, and those from remote parts to bring money; and if, upon an offer of payment, such necessaries were refused, the troops were authorised, at the sight of the magistrates or bailies of the district, to take what was withheld. All persons were strictly prohibited from supplying the enemy with armour or horses, bows and arrows, or any kind of weapons, or to give to the English assistance in any shape whatever, and this under the penalty of being guilty of a capital offence. All ecclesiastics were prohibited from transmitting to the papal court any sums of money for the purchase of bulls; and all Scotsmen, who, although possessed of estates in their own country, chose to reside in England, were prohibited from drawing any money out of Scotland, —a clause apparently directed against David de Strabogie earl of Athole, who at this time stood high in the confidence of Edward the Second.
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This weak monarch, when he found that Bruce could not be brought to terms by negotiation, or intimidated by the papal thunders, determined once more to have recourse to arms; and having assembled an army, he crossed the Tweed, and sat down before Berwick. His first precaution was to secure his camp by lines of circumvallation, composed of high ramparts and deep trenches, so as to enable him to resist effectually any attempt of the Scots to raise the siege. He then strictly invested the town from the Tweed to the sea, and at the same time the English fleet entered the estuary of the river, so that the city was beleagured on all points. This was in the beginning of September; and from the strength of the army and the quality of the leaders much was expected.
The first assault was made on the seventh of the month; it had been preceded by great preparations, and mounds of earth had been erected against that part of the walls, where it was expected there would be the greatest facility in storming. Early in the morning of St Mary's Eve, the trumpets of the English were heard, and the besiegers advanced in various bodies, well provided with scaling ladders, scaffolds, and defences, with hoes and pickaxes for mining, and under cover of squadrons of archers and slingers. The assault soon became general, and continued with various success till noon; at which time the English ships entered the river, and, sailing up as far as the tide permitted, made a bold attempt to carry the town, from the rigging of a vessel which they had prepared for the purpose. The topmasts of this vessel, and her boat, which was drawn up half-mast high, were manned with soldiers; and to the bow of the boat was fitted a species of drawbridge, which was intended to be dropt upon the wall, and to afford a passage from the ship into the town. The walls themselves, which were not more than a spear's length in height, afforded little defence against these serious preparations; but the Scots, animated by that feeling of confidence, which a long train of success had inspired, and encouraged by the presence and example of the Steward, effectually repulsed the enemy on the land side, whilst the ship, which had struck upon a bank, was left dry by the ebbing of the tide; and being attacked by a party of the enemy, was soon seen blazing in the mouth of the river. Disheartened by this double failure, the besiegers drew off their forces, and for the present, intermitted all attack. But it was only to commence new preparations for a more desperate assault. In case of a second failure in their escalade, it was determined to undermine the walls; and for this purpose, a huge machine was constructed, covered by a strong roofing of boards and hides, and holding within its bosom large bodies of armed soldiers and miners. From its shape and covering, this formidable engine was called a soio. To co-operate with the machine, moveable scaffolds, high enough to overtop the walls, and capable of receiving parties of armed men, were erected for the attack; and undismayed at his first failure by sea, Edward commanded a number of ships to be fitted out similar to that vessel which had been burnt; but with this difference, that in addition to the armed boats, slung half-mast high, their top-castles were fult of archers, under whose incessant and deadly discharge it was expected that the assailants would drag the ships so near the walls, as to be able to fix their moveable bridges on the capstone. Meanwhile the Scots were not idle. Under the direction of Crab, the Flemish engineer, they constructed two machines of great strength, similar to the Roman catapult, which moved on frames, fitted with wheels, and by which stones of a large size were propelled with steady aim and destructive force. Springalds Were stationed on the walls, which were smaller engines like the ancient balistae, and calculated for the projection of heavy darts, winged with copper; iron chains, with grappling hooks attached to them, and piles of fire-fagots, mixed with bundles of pitch and flax, bound into large masses, shaped like casks, were in readiness; and to second the ingenuity of Crab, an English engineer, who had been taken prisoner in the first assault, was compelled to assist in the defence. The young Steward assigned, as before, to each of his officers a certain post on the walls, and put himself at the head of the reserve, with which he determined to watch, and, if necessary, to reinforce the various points. Having completed these arrangements, he calmly awaited theattack of the English, which was made with great fury early in the morning of the 13th of September. To the sound of trumpet and war-horns, their various divisions moved resolutely forward; and, in spite of all discharges from the walls, succeeded infilling up the ditch, and fixing their ladders; but after a conflict, which lasted from sunrise till noon, they found it impossible to overcome the gallantry of the Scots, and were beaten back on every quarter. At this moment the King of England ordered the sow to be advanced; and the English, aware that if they allowed the Scottish engineers time to take a correct aim, a single stone from the catapult would be fatal, dragged it on with great eagerness. Twice was the aim taken, and twice it failed. The first stone flew over the machine, the second fell short of it; the third, an immense mass, which passed through the air with a loud booming noise, hit it directly in the middle with a dreadful crash, and shivered its strong roof-timbers into a thousand pieces. Such of the miners and soldiers who escaped death, rushed out from amongst the fragments; and the Scots, raising a shout, cried out that the English sow had farrowed her pigs. Crab, the engineer, immediately cast his chains and grappling hooks over the unwieldy machine, and having effectually prevented its removal, poured down burning fagots upon its broken timbers, and consumed it to ashes. Nor were the English more fortunate in their attack upon the side of the river. Their ships, indeed, moved up towards the walls at flood-tide; but whether from the shallowness of the water, or the faint-heartedness of their leaders, the attack entirely failed. One of the vessels which led the way, on coming within range of the catapult, was struck by a large stone, which damaged her, and killed and mangled some of the crew; upon which the remaining ships, intimidated by the accident, drew off from the assault. A last effort of the besiegers, in which they endeavoured to set fire to St Mary's gate, was repulsed by the Steward in person; and at nightfall, the English army, foiled on every side, and greatly disheartened, entirely withdrew from the assault.
The spirit with which the defence was carried on, may be estimated from the circumstance, that the women and boys in the town, during the hottest season of the assault, supplied the soldiers on the walls with bundles of arrows, and stones for the engines.
Although twice beaten off, it was yet likely that the importance of gaining Berwick would have induced the King of England to attempt a third attack; but Bruce determined to raise the siege by making a diversion on a large scale, and directed Randolph and Douglas, at the head of an army of fifteen thousand men, to invade England. During the presence of her husband at the siege of Berwick, the Queen of England had taken up her quarters near York, and it was the plan of these two veteran warriors, by a rapid and sudden march through the heart of Yorkshire, to seize the person of the queen, and, with this precious captive in their hands, to dictate the terms of peace to her husband. Bruce, who, in addition to his talents in the field, had not neglected to avail himself in every way of Edward's unpopularity, appears to have established a secret correspondence, not only with the Earl of Lancaster, who was then along with his master before Berwick, but with others about the queen's person."f- The plan had in consequence very nearly been successful; but a Scottish prisoner, who fell into the hands of the English, gave warning of the meditated attack, and Randolph, on penetrating to York, found the prey escaped, and the court removed to a distance. Incensed at this disappointment, they ravaged the surrounding country with merciless execution, marking their progress by the flames and smoke of towns and castles, and collecting much plunder.
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