CHAPTER XXXV
THE RUDDY LION RAMPANT
On the 3rd of March, 1213, a great feudal ceremony was performed atClerkenwell. On that day, at the Priory of the Knights of St. John ofJerusalem, the King of England knighted twenty-one young men of noblename, the heirs of the great vassals of the crown. Foremost among themwas a boy of fourteen, with a thoughtful countenance and handsome,albeit the hair was somewhat too red, and attracted much attention; forhe was heir to the crown of Scotland, and, his father being old, he hadthe prospect of early coming to his kingdom.
Moreover, the alliance of this red-haired lad was contended for by therival Kings of England and France. John, probably with his youngdaughter Joan in view, offered to provide the Scottish prince with asuitable bride. Philip Augustus, hoping to make him useful in thestruggle so constantly maintained with the Plantagenets, pressed on hima daughter whom Agnes Méranie had borne ere the pope forced her husbandto repudiate her. The Scot, who was sagacious and intelligent for hisyears, perfectly comprehended the game of his royal contemporaries; andwhile they played he looked on watchfully, and with a keen eye to hisown interests.
Alexander--such was the name of the Scottish prince--was the only son ofWilliam the Lion and Ermengarde de Beaumont, a kinswoman of thePlantagenets, a lady celebrated for “a soft and insinuating address,”which more than once saved her husband from the consequences of hisimprudence when he provoked the wrath of his powerful neighbours in theSouth, as he did rather too frequently for his comfort. On the 4th ofDecember, 1214, however, William the Lion expired of age and infirmity,and Alexander was ceremoniously crowned King of Scotland in the Abbey ofScone; and scarcely was he seated on the throne of Malcolm Canmore andSt. David, when the Anglo-Norman barons of the North of England sent tooffer him their homage and to crave his protection.
Alexander, then about sixteen, was, naturally enough, rather flattered,and more readily listened to their proposals than he would had he beenolder and wiser. Accordingly, the barons of Northumberland did homage tohim at Felton; the barons of Yorkshire, somewhat later, did homage tohim at Melrose. Moreover, Alexander immediately raised the standard onwhich, in a field _or_, ramped the red lion from which his fatherWilliam derived the surname by which he is known in history, crossed theTweed early in October, and laid siege to the castle built at Norham byRalph Falmbard, “the fighting Bishop of Durham.” But his efforts to takethe stronghold proved unsuccessful, and, after remaining before it forforty days, he raised the siege, and consoled himself for hisdisappointment by ravaging North Northumberland. Suddenly, however, helearned that he was not to be permitted to slay and plunder withimpunity. In fact, news that John, with a host of mercenaries, wasmarching northward in hot haste, reached the royal Scot’s ears; and hemade a timely retreat towards Edinburgh, to the very gate of which hewas pursued by the hirelings of the foe whom he had provoked.
It soon appeared, however, that Alexander was not so daunted by thestorm he brought on his kingdom as to leave the king and the barons ofEngland to fight out their battle without his interference. Far from it.No sooner was John’s back turned than Alexander, bent on retaliation,again mustered an army, buckled on his mail, mounted his steed, and ledhis wild forces, many of whom were Highlanders, across the border.
It was the spring of 1216; and Alexander, having entered England by theEast March, penetrated through the bishopric of Durham, marking his waywith carnage and devastation. But, probably alarmed by the attitude ofHugh Baliol and Philip de Ullecotes, whom John had intrusted with thegovernment of the country between Tees and Tweed, the King of Scots,after reaching Richmond, wheeled round, and, carrying his booty withhim, bent his way homewards through Westmoreland and Cumberland,halting, however, to attack and pillage the Abbey of Holmecultram, wherethe Highlanders of his army were guilty of such sacrilege and atrocitiesas utterly threw into the shade the outrages perpetrated by John’smercenaries at Coldingham, in the Merse. Much indignation on the partof the monks was the consequence; and the monkish chronicler goes thelength of saying that, as a judgment for their wickedness, about twothousand of them were drowned in the Eden while attempting to cross withthe spoil. But, however that may have been, this raid was not, in anypoint of view, very beneficial to the cause of the confederate barons;and Alexander remained quiet till he was summoned by Louis of France toleave his home and appear at Dover, and render his homage as one of thevassals of the English crown.
It was August, 1216, when Alexander, for the third time, crossed theborder, leaving behind the Highlanders who had brought such disgrace onhis former expedition. However, he had a considerable army, andsucceeded in making himself master of Carlisle, without being able toreduce the castle. From Carlisle he advanced southward; and, after beingjoined by his brother-in-law, Eustace de Vesci, he, while passingthrough Durham, came before Bernard Castle, which belonged to Hugh deBaliol. But here Alexander experienced the loss of a valuable ally.Eustace de Vesci, while riding round the fortress, was mortally woundedby a bolt shot from a cross-bow on the walls; and on De Vesci’s deaththe Northern men were so discouraged that they abandoned the siege, anddispersed.
Alexander, however, pursued his career of carnage and plunder. Sparingthe friends of the barons, but treating cruelly those of the king, hemarched right through England, reached Dover without interruption, and,going down on his knees, placed his hand in the hand of Louis, and, as avassal of the English crown, did formal homage to the French prince ashis feudal superior. At the same time, Louis and the Anglo-Norman baronsswore not to make any peace with John without including the King ofScots in the treaty; and Alexander, having thus been secured, as hesupposed, against the consequences of his imprudence, sojourned fifteendays with Louis, and then turning his face towards Scotland, pressednorthward, proving as he went his respect for the laws and liberties ofEngland by taking the lives and seizing the property of Englishmen.
For a time Alexander and the Scots met with no enemy, and encountered noopposition; and northward they went, slaughtering, plundering, andburning to their hearts’ content. On reaching the Trent, however, theyfound themselves in the presence of foes as cruel and unscrupulous asthemselves, in the shape of John’s army of mercenaries. Alexander mightwell have stood aghast, for he knew to his cost that the hirelingsoldiers of Falco and of Soltim had more of the characteristics of thewolf than of the lamb; and, with the fate of Malcolm Canmore and his ownfather, William the Lion, in his memory, he might well despair ofcrossing the Trent alive and at liberty.
It seemed probable, indeed, that, not for the first time, the banner onwhich the ruddy lion ramped in gold had waved defiantly in southerngales was to be trampled ignominiously in the dust, when an eventoccurred which averted the danger, and gave Alexander an opportunity ofindulging in fresh carnage, and gathering fresh spoil. King John wasdead, and a new scene opened.
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