401 The vaward. In Le Bel (Froissart) Douglas betakes himself to one of the wings “the better to do his business and display his power” (son effort, p. 84).
402 the strangeris with him weir. So we gather also from Baker, whose informant served under Douglas. Cf. note on 167.
403 mastir of Saint Jak. The Master, or head, of the Order of St. James.
407 To mete their fayis. On March 25, 1330, at Tebas de Hardales, a strong town in Granada (Mariana, Bk. xv., ch. x., p. 255). Fordun, however, dates the battle August 25 (cxliv.).
*421-32 Bot ere they joyned, etc. See on these lines Appendix D.
431 So fer chassit. The account in Le Bel is to the effect that Douglas attacked prematurely, thinking that Alphonso was about to do so, and that he was being followed up. But Alphonso did not move for the reason, we learn from Mariana, that the frontal attack of Moorish cavalry was but a feint, and that the real attack, as the King said, was to be in the rear on the Christian camp (Le Bel, p. 84; Mariana, as cited). Alphonso was better acquainted than Douglas with the Moorish methods of fighting. Fordun’s narrative is that Douglas and his company were cut off by an ambuscade which, though superior in numbers, they readily attacked (Gesta Annalia, cxliv.).
440 That relyit. I.e., the Moors rallied. It was their usual tactics to attempt to draw after them a body of the enemy in pursuit, and then surround the pursuers.
467 ilkane war slayn thar. “Not a single one of them escaped, but they were all slain” (Le Bel, p. 84).
521 the leill Fabricius. Roman consul, 278 B.C. A traitor offered to poison Pyrrhus, but the Roman refused the proposal, and sent information to Pyrrhus (Plutarch).