, for
four years.

In 1312, the Scots, headed by Robert Bruce, made a desperate foray into
Northumbria, and in 1314, Edward II. marched into Newcastle, on his way
to Berwick, with an army of ninety thousand soldiers, which was beaten
at the battle of Bannockburn. In 1516, the Scots again invaded
England, and famine and pestilence followed in their track. In 1327,
Bruce came again and laid siege to the castles of Norham and Alnwick.
A truce was concluded afterward, and in 1328, David, son of Robert
Bruce, who was in his fifth year, was married to Joanna, sister of King
Edward, who was in her seventh year. The marriage was celebrated with
great pomp, and the Scots afterward called the princess Joan Makepeace.
King David, however, again returned to England at the battle of
Nevill's Cross, and was taken prisoner.

In 1362 John Wickliffe was doing his noble work as a reformer. And
Percy, the Lord Marshall of England, was one of his supporters.

In 1388, the battle of Chevy Chase was fought, the two sons of the Duke
of Northumberland, Sir Henry Percy Hotspur and Sir Ralph Percy, leading
the English forces. The battle of Hamildon Hill was fought on the day
of Holyrood in 1402. King Henry IV. having offended the Percys, the
Duke of Northumberland gave up the Castle of Berwick to the Scots; to
punish which the king brought one of the newly-invented cannon, with
which he struck down one of its towers, and then took possession of
Alnwick and other fortresses and estates.

But only to mention the names and the times of the border forays and
quarrels, would be wearisome. It was a happy thing, indeed, for both
England and Scotland when the two were at last united, and the
strong-hearted men who had hated each other so sincerely, and committed
such terrible deeds of devastation and cruelty, began gradually to
forgive the past, and look upon each other as brethren. It was good,
indeed, when the beautiful hills and valleys of Northumberland, instead
of being deluged with blood, wore the look of calm prosperity which
always attends peace. And it is a pleasant consideration for true
patriots, and one which should send them to the throne of God with
words of hearty thanksgiving upon their lips, that our Queen Victoria,
whom both nations conspire to love and revere, passes from south to
north, through sunny landscapes of bountiful corn-fields and golden
orchards, when she takes her annual holiday in the Highlands of
Scotland,