Edward, much mortified at the insult which he had received, became still more desirous of chastising those [audacious adversaries]; and one of them at least was not unwilling to afford him an opportunity of revenge. This was Thomas Randolph, Earl of Murray. He asked Douglas, when he returned to the Scottish camp, what he had done. “We have drawn some blood.”—“Ah,” said the Earl, “had we gone all together to the night attack, we should have discomfited them.”—“It might well have been so,” said Douglas, “but the risk would have been too great.”—“Then will we fight them in open battle,” said Randolph, “for if we remain here, we shall in time be famished for want of provisions.”—“Not so,” replied Douglas; “we will deal with this great army of the English as the fox did with the fisherman in the fable.”—“And how was that?” said the Earl of Murray. Hereupon the Douglas told him this story:
“A fisherman,” he said, “had made a hut by a river side, that he might follow his occupation of fishing. Now, one night he had gone out to look after his nets, leaving a small fire in his hut; and when he came back, behold there was a fox in the cabin, taking the liberty to eat one of the finest salmon he had taken. ‘Ho, Mr. Robber!’ said the fisherman, drawing his sword, and standing in the doorway to prevent the fox’s escape, ‘you shall presently die the death.’ The poor fox looked for some hole to get out at, but saw none; whereupon he pulled down with his teeth a mantle, which was lying on the bed, and dragged it across the fire. The fisherman ran to snatch his mantle from the fire—the fox flew out at the door with the salmon; and so,” said Douglas, “shall we escape the great English army by subtlety, and without risking battle with so large a force.”
Randolph agreed to act by Douglas’s counsel, and the Scottish army kindled great fires through their encampment, and made a noise and shouting, and blowing of horns, as if they meant to remain all night there, as before. But in the meantime, Douglas had caused a road to be made through two miles of a great morass which lay in their rear. This was done by cutting down to the bottom of the bog, and filling the trench with faggots of wood. Without this contrivance it would have been impossible that the army could have crossed; and through this passage, which the English never suspected, Douglas and Randolph, and all their men, moved at the dead of night. They did not leave so much as an errand-boy behind, and so bent their march toward Scotland, leaving the English disappointed and affronted. Great was their wonder in the morning, when they saw the Scottish camp empty, and found no living man in it, but two or three English prisoners tied to trees, whom they had left with an insulting message to the King of England, saying that if he were displeased with what they had done, he might come and revenge himself in Scotland.
After this a peace was concluded with Robert Bruce, on terms highly honorable to Scotland; for the English King [renounced all pretensions] to the sovereignty of the country, and, moreover, gave his sister, a princess called Joanna, to be wife to Robert Bruce’s son, called David. This treaty was very advantageous to the Scots. It was called the treaty of Northampton, because it was concluded at that town, in the year 1328.
Good King Robert did not long survive this joyful event. He was not aged more than four-and-fifty years, but, as I said before, his bad health was caused by the hardships which he sustained during his youth, and at length he became very ill. Finding that he could not recover, he assembled around his bedside the nobles and counselors in whom he most trusted. He told them that now, being on his death-bed, he sorely repented all his misdeeds, and particularly, that he had, in his passion, killed Comyn with his own hand, in the church and before the altar. He said that if he had lived, he had intended to go to Jerusalem, to make war upon the Saracens who held the Holy Land, as some expiation for the evil deeds he had done. The King soon afterwards expired and his body was laid in the sepulcher in the midst of the church of Dunfermline, under a marble stone. But the church becoming afterwards ruinous, and the roof falling down with age, the monument was broken to pieces, and nobody could tell where it stood. But six or seven years ago, when they were repairing the church at Dunfermline, and removing the rubbish, lo! they found fragments of the marble tomb of Robert Bruce. Then they began to dig farther, thinking to discover the body of this celebrated monarch; and at length they came to the skeleton of a tall man, and they knew it must be that of King Robert, as he was known to have been buried in a winding sheet of cloth of gold, of which many fragments were found about this skeleton. So orders were sent from the [King’s Court of Exchequer] to guard the bones carefully, until a new tomb should be prepared, into which they were laid with profound respect. A great many gentlemen and ladies attended, and almost all the common people in the neighborhood; and as the church could not hold half the numbers, the people were allowed to pass through it, one after another, that each one, the poorest as well as the richest, might see all that remained of the great King, Robert Bruce, who restored the Scottish monarchy.
It is more than five hundred years since the body of Bruce was first laid into the tomb; and how many, many millions of men have died since that time. It was a great thing to see that the wisdom, courage, and patriotism of a King could preserve him for such a long time in the memory of the people over whom he once reigned. But then, my dear child, you must remember that it is only desirable to be remembered for praiseworthy and patriotic actions, such as those of Robert Bruce. It would be better for a prince to be forgotten like the meanest peasant than to be recollected for actions of tyranny or oppression.
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Discussion. 1. What was the condition of King Robert at the opening of the story? 2. What is said about King Edward III? 3. Who were the “red-shanks”? 4. Why could these forces move so easily and quickly? 5. Describe the Scottish camp on the Wear. 6. What was King Edward’s proposition? 7. What was the lesson Douglas gave the young King? 8. What do you think of this exploit? 9. What is the story of the fisherman and the fox? 10. What is the significance of this story? 11. What was Douglas’s plan of escape? 12. What qualities does Douglas show in these exploits? 13. What part did the Scottish peasantry take in the struggle for independence? 14. What were the terms of the treaty of Northampton? 15. What was King Robert’s great regret? 16. Describe the finding of Robert Bruce’s remains in Dunfermline. 17. Pronounce the following: dexterous; adversaries; subtlety; affronted; advantageous; tyranny.
If you have enjoyed these stories, inquire at the library for a copy of Tales of a Grandfather, and read other stories, such as “Macbeth,” “Tournaments,” “King David,” and “James I.”