"The monarch rode along the van,
The foe's approaching force to scan,"
when Sir Henry Boune, thinking, as the Bruce was mounted on a slight palfrey, far in advance of his own line, to ride him down with his heavy war horse, set his lance in rest, and dashed out from the English lines with that intent.
"He spurred his steed, he couched his lance,
And darted on the Bruce at once,"
thinking to distinguish himself and have his name in history. He did so, but not in the manner, probably, he had anticipated; for
"While on the king, like flash of flame,
Spurred to full speed, the war horse came!
But swerving from the knight's career,
Just as they met, Bruce shunned the spear.