David did not argue. He turned to Cospatrick. "You know this part of the march better than any, my lord. What think you could be the reason?"
"God knows!" the Earl said. "Small men's raiding is easily understood - cattle, gear, women! But this is different. Who is it against? Myself and my earldom? Or you, my lord? If we knew who led, 'we might be wiser."
"Three different forces means many men. None could move such large numbers northwards without the knowledge and permission of Ivo de Vesci, who presently acts Earl of Northumbria. Why should de Vesci countenance this? Against me? Or against you, either?"
"Perhaps . . . perhaps it is against us both, David. For I claim Northumbria, of which my father was once earl. And does not your lady-wife also claim it, in right of her father Waltheof son of Siward, whom the Conqueror used to displace my father? De Vesci now rules Northumbria, in Henry's name. He may think to warn us off, both . . ."
"King Henry it is who decides who will be Earl of Northumbria - not de Vesci, nor you, nor me!"
"Will Henry fight for your claim, or mine? I think not. This is Scotland, a long way from London or Winchester. What happens here will concern him little. It is not only the Norman barons on the Welsh marches who may draw sword to carve their own sway."
"We shall see. But—enough of talk. We must move, and fast. Unfortunately our armed strength is far from us here, dispersed. I cannot bring up any part of my Cumbrian force into the Tweed valley in less than four days. The same applies to my Lord Fergus and most others. Only de Soulis and de Brus can put men in that field fairly quickly - and you, my lord of Dunbar. But to wait even for these to be mustered and brought, is unthinkable. By then these invaders could have overrun Tweeddale and the Merse, Lauderdale and Teviotdale. Or wherever they aim. So we must move my friends - ourselves! Down Tweed. Here we are but some score of miles from Rook's Burgh. Well mounted, we can be there before evening. We are not many — but we are strong in trained knights. We will be poor creatures if we cannot give these Northumbrians pause, one way or another, until our own forces come up."
There were growls of agreement from almost all.
"So, de Soulis and de Brus - off with you. Bring your men, so many as you can quickly muster, by the swiftest route to Lower Tweedale. That will be down Teviot and Jed. I shall seek to keep you informed, by courier. The rest, my friends, to horse. Clad as we are! Time only to say a brief farewell to our women. Every able man to ride - the women to bide here at the abbey meantime. We shall plan it as we ride ..."
In haste and disorder, then, the great celebration broke up. In fact, some three hundred men prepared to ride off, for the lords and chieftains and Norman knights had all brought small mounted escorts with them; also some of the local herders and foresters were possessed of garrons, and well able to bear arms. Nevertheless they made up a rather extraordinary company with almost as many officers as men and anything but a unified force, their finery of apparel and lack of armour and chain-mail notable.
David's parting with Matilda gave him cause to think. Although she did not seek to dissuade nor delay him, she did venture a warning note.
"My dear - have you considered well? That there may be more to this than appears? Henry. If this de Vesci it is who leads, or at least permits, he may be acting not against Henry's wishes and interests but at Henry's instigation. Have you thought of this?"
"Henry would never desire this armed invasion. What could it serve him?"
"Do not be so sure. Henry has a devious mind. It could be his way of warning you off any claim to the Northumbrian earldom, through myself. Warning off Cospatrick likewise. At no cost to himself, not seeming to be involved, using de Vesci as tool. I am sure that Henry does not intend that my claim to Northumbria should be granted. Not that I care for it — but it could benefit you. He may reckon that you have ambitions there. Especially as the Kings of Scots have long considered it as truly part of their realm — and now you are heir to Scotland. He may see it as a danger. So would have you to perceive that it would be . . . difficult. Encourages de Vesci."
"I do not believe that. If he thinks that way, could he not tell me so?"
"That would not be Henry's way. This may well be." So David rode off thoughtfully. They went, in fact, not down Tweedside, north-eastwards as he had intended, but up into the hills due eastwards of Shiel Kirk, on the advice of locals, who pointed out that they could cut a great corner by so doing, even though the terrain was more difficult. By climbing over the high common lands by Midlem to the Ale Water, they could reach Teviot at Ancrum and so save four or five miles. Thereafter it was only some six more miles to the joining of Teviot and Tweed at Rook's Burgh.
He had intended to plan as he rode, but it was difficult to do so without any real knowledge of the strengths, positions and objectives of the invaders. Only generalities could be envisaged. Clearly they must rely upon their wits rather than on armed strength. Surprise must be exploited to the utmost, for their presence could hardly be expected so soon. Authority too ought to be brought into play, if at all possible. Men were conditioned, to some extent, to respect authority - and he, David, was the viceroy of both kings. Even if Henry was in any degree behind this adventure, he could not be present and so in no position to over-rule his representative's voice.
They followed the Ale Water down into Teviotdale, to reach Ancrum in late afternoon. Here was the rath of one of Cospatrick's vassals, Colbain mac Comgall, who was able to inform them that the raiders - or some of them - had crossed Teviot from the south that morning about three miles downstream and then turned eastwards, not coming in this direction. He had men out shadowing them, but no further word so far. So whatever the enemy's objective, it did not appear to be Teviotdale and its subsidiary valleys.
They moved on, taking Colbain of Ancrum with them, plus about a score of his men, all additions welcome. They approached Nisbet ford warily, in case the Northumbrians should have left the crossing guarded, the more so as they saw smoke rising from the area of the nearby mill. But scouts reported no enemy presence, no presence at all save for a maddened, raped woman and sundry dead bodies, the mill and its cothouses burned down.
The woman, only part-clothed, fled screaming into scrub woodland at sight of them; and there was nothing to be done for Nisbet Mill. David steeled himself, and they rode on leaving behind this all-too-normal detritus of war.
As they moved on eastwards they passed other similar evidences that they were following the tracks of the raiders, and David had to take himself very much in hand, reminding himself that he was here for the larger purpose of ridding the land of the invaders, not for comforting and assisting the victims. They were heading up into an ever-narrowing tongue of land between Teviot and Tweed, which would come to a point at the confluence, where his new castle of Rook's Burgh was being built. Such advance could be dangerous, David did not have to be told, for they could be trapped between the rivers. They maintained scouts ahead and to the flanks, of course. The question as to where the enemy were heading became ever more vital, and where their other two forces might be. Near the confluence, Tweed took on a somewhat different character as it entered the Merse, the lowland plain which stretched for nearly twenty-five miles due eastwards to the river's mouth at Berwick, through an ever-widening and open vale—where, according to the reports, the invaders had crossed at two points. In the other direction, the great river coiled its way through closer country, presently to turn almost due northwards, to pass the mouth of Lauderdale and circle the tall peaks of the Eildon Hills. Cospatrick was growing ever more anxious about his castle and town of Ersildoune, where were his wife and family.
David decided, although it would weaken his little force, that they should part company meantime. By striking due northwards from their present position on Nisbet Moor, Cospatrick could utilise one of the very few crossings possible on this stretch of Tweed, at Rutherford, and so be able to reach Ersildoune, some seven miles north, cross-country by Bemersyde, in about an hour. More than fifty m
en, including Colbain's people, could not be spared; but at least Cospatrick would be able to send back news as to any enemy presence on that side of Tweed. Also, he could raise as much as possible of his armed strength in Lauderdale, and if he found all well at Ersildoune, come back to aid in the situation here.
So they split up. David's company had not gone more than a mile further, eastwards, when his scouts brought back one of Colbain's people who had been sent earlier to shadow the invaders, and whom they had picked up returning. This man reported that the Northumbrians who had crossed at Nisbet had halted some three miles ahead, a bare mile this side of the joining of Teviot with Tweed, where the neck of land had narrowed to less than half-a-mile. There they had taken up a defensive position across the peninsula, backs to the township of Rook's Burgh, facing this way, making use of burn-channels, outcropping rock and the like to form a protective line.
"Halted? Facing this way? Defensive?" David exclaimed. "Why? To what end? They must have learned that we come.
But - how could they? If they had left scouts behind to watch their rear, our scouts would surely have seen them ..."
"I know not, lord," the Ancrum man said. "But there they wait."
"How many?"
"Many. More than you, lord. Who can tell? Six hundred, perhaps, Seven. I could not see them all."
"And the town? Of Rook's Burgh. Are they occupying that? Have they sacked it?"
"I know not. But they must hold it, yes."
"I do not understand this. Somehow they must have learned of our approach. But - if they so outnumber us, why wait in a defensive position? Why not turn and attack us?"
"Does it matter why, David?" Fergus of Galloway asked. "The fact is, they wait for us to attack. So they must fear us. So be it - let us do so! If they are stretched across a half-mile neck, they must make a fairly thin front. Even a thousand men would not look very many over half-a-mile. With our charging cavalry we can break through such line, and then turn and roll them up."
There were cries of agreement, especially from the Normans, for whom such tactics were basic.
"Perhaps, Sweenie- but first we must see the situation. There are other invading forces than this one, remember." David turned to the Ancrum man again. "Are there any of the enemy nearer? This side of their line?"
"I think not. I saw none. Two more of my lord Colbain's men are forward there, watching."
"Then we shall go look. Fergus, Hugo, Hervey - come with me. Richard - bring you the company on, more slowly. Watchful. Be ready for action. You, friend," he said to the local man. "Is there a ford across Teviot between here and Rook's Burgh? We must watch our flank."
"Yes, lord - below Heiton. Heiton Mill ford. Yonder, a mile." He pointed south-eastwards.
"Richard d'Avranches — send a small patrol to inspect that ford. To cross and discover if there is any enemy presence on that side of Teviot. We have to know."
With the Ancrum man as guide, David's little group rode forward, at speed.
The land soon began to fall gently but steadily before them, the moorland giving way to scattered open wood and rough pasture, the trees providing ample cover — although this could cut both ways. Smoke rose high and murky ahead in a number of places in the middle and farther distance, no doubt burning, harried farmeries and hamlets. The township of Rook's Burgh itself was not actually visible, because of the trees, it being on still lower ground near the confluence; but no great smokes billowed there, so presumably it had so far escaped devastation.
Two miles or so they rode, taking advantage of the shelter of the woodland and saw only cattle and sheep, with now the rivers' troughs on either side becoming ever more evident, the feeling of enclosure manifest. Presently they came to the edge of the cover, only the open spaces of Rook's Burgh common ahead. And there they found the two other Ancrum men waiting, watching, hidden behind scrub and bush.
One of these watchers pointed, unspeaking.
Some six hundred yards out there the line of the enemy was clear to be seen, although scarcely as a recognisable line or front, more as groups and parties of men stretching away on either hand, with gaps between, occasioned by undulations in the ground, outcrops of rocks, clumps of whin-bushes and the like. Men came and went, without any attempt at hiding. Numbers were very difficult to calculate, but what was not difficult to recognise was the confidence, the assurance that all was well, with camp-fires sending up their slender blue columns into the evening air, so very different from the dense brown clouds from burning thatch. Also it was clear that however unconcerned these Northumbrians were, they were most certainly facing this direction, westwards, as positioned.
Significant as all this was, David's glance lifted nevertheless beyond, to where, on the rocky spine which formed the very tip of the peninsula, the new castle was being built. Standing considerably higher than the township, it was quite visible from his stance, under one mile away. And although it was too far to distinguish much in the way of detail, it was entirely evident what was going on there. Large numbers of men were at work on the great building - but work of destruction. The masonry was being smashed and cast down, containing walls levelled, ramparts undermined, scaffolding-poles felled and burned, dressed stones hurled down into the rivers. David's new bastion of the East March was in process of demolition.
He stared, lips tight, fists clenched, but said no word.
Hugo coughed. "Ill work" he said. "Much toil, much thought, brought to naught. There is spleen there! Who would do that, David? And why?"
"Someone who mislikes you!" Fergus jerked. "But - what of it? That is only stone and lime. These here, before us, are flesh and blood! Time that we showed them whose land this is!"
"Stone and lime . . . !" David echoed. "There is hatred behind this, I think. So be it." He turned his eyes back to the foreground. "This. . . this is passing strange. These men. They face us, backs to that destruction. Yet they look as though they feared nothing, no attack, knew nothing of our near presence. It scarcely makes sense . . ."
Fergus's mind dwelt on other aspects of the situation. He jabbed a pointing finger eastwards. "If we drove through there, and there — yonder between those whins. There would be no stopping us. And there, the rocky slope up to that scarp. They could by no means hold that line against cavalry."
' "They would reform behind us," Hervey said.
"Even so, we could wheel and break them up. Three places, four, along this line, and we would have them. Their defence would serve against foot, never against trained cavalry."
"Which it seems, they do not look for. Let us ride further along, northwards," David said. "Look for other points to breach. So that our people may charge straight for their objectives, with no milling here: That the enemy gain no warning
Still in the cover of the trees, they turned back a little way and then trotted some distance northwards, towards Tweed. Their guide told them that the land there eventually dropped sheer into the greater river in quite high cliffs. Either side driven in that direction would be trapped.
Satisfied that they knew the terrain sufficiently, they cantered back towards the Viscount's main party.
D'Avranches had two fresh items of news for David. Messengers had arrived back from the Earl Cospatrick. He sent word that no enemy appeared to have proceeded up Tweed as far as the area opposite Rutherford - local folk had seen no sign of invaders. So, the urgency off him as far as Ersildoune was concerned, he had turned eastwards, down river, for some way, scouts out. They had found a force of Northumbrians, encamped, settled for the night evidently, and facing westwards, some two miles down, in a defensive position near the Trows, where the Tweed narrowed and ran through a rocky gorge. Numbers were uncertain but there were some hundreds. The other tidings were from the patrol sent down to the Teviot ford at Heiton. These had found the ford unmanned, but at the village above, on the far side, they had learned that a large number of the invaders were massed about a mile further east, at a place where a tributary burn entered Teviot am
idst bog, difficult of passage. They had been there for some hours.
David smashed down his fist on his saddle-bow. "You see it?" he exclaimed. "You hear? It can only be . . . All these enemy forces at the same ploy. All in position, settled, facing westwards, waiting. No doubt there are others, at the other side of Rook's Burgh, facing eastwards. Or north. They are placed for one purpose - to protect the men who are pulling down my new castle! That is the objective. Whoever leads them, or sent them, wants no castle at Rook's Burgh. It is all to wreck that."
Considering it, none could disagree.
"Who would do this . . . ?" Hugo was demanding, when Fergus interrupted.
"There is one way to find out! Attack! At once, before they learn of our presence. This line, in front. We have seen their positions and weakness. We can cut through them like a dirk-like four dirks! Then round on them."
"Yes," David nodded. "It must be that, now. We have here some two hundred and seventy men. Four horsed wedges of fifty each. The others as reserve. The Norman knights, trained in this, to be the spearheads of each wedge. There is good cover until less than half-a-mile. There, at a blast of my horn, we charge, together. Each wedge perhaps two hundred yards apart. Once through, each to split into two, and turning, ride down on the enemy from behind. Is it understood?"
There were no questions.
"The reserve will go to the aid where most needed. But, first - Cospatrick's couriers. Go you back to the Earl, and tell him what we do. Tell him to ride forward with his party, openly, to just before the enemy on that side. At this place you spoke of-aye, the Trows. Make a show of marshalling and the like, in front of them. No need to fight. Only to keep them occupied, so that they do not come to the aid of the men at the castle. You have it? Then off with you . . ."
David the Prince - Scotland 03 Page 25
