ld carry it to Scotland, and set
it high on his castle of Dalkeith. 'That,' cried Hotspur, 'no Douglas
shall ever do, and ere you leave Northumberland you shall have small
cause to boast.' 'Your pennon,' answered Douglas, 'shall this night be
placed before my tent; come and win it if you can.' But the Scots were
suffered to retreat without any hostile attempts on the part of the
English, and accordingly, after destroying the tower of Ponteland, they
came on the second day to the castle of Otterburn, situated in
Redesdale, about thirty-two miles from Newcastle. The rest may be read
in the ballad.

'Of all the battayles,' says Froissart, 'that I have made mention of
here before, in all thys hystorye, great or small, thys battayle was one
of the sorest, and best foughten, without cowards or faint hertes: for
ther was nother knyght nor squyre but that dyde hys devoyre, and fought
hand to hand.'

THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURN

1.
Yt fell abowght the Lamasse tyde,
Whan husbondes Wynnes ther haye,
The dowghtye Dowglasse bowynd hym to ryde,
In Ynglond to take a praye.

2.
The yerlle of Fyffe, wythowghten stryffe,
He bowynd hym over Sulway;
The grete wolde ever to-gether ryde;
That raysse they may rewe for aye.

3.
Over Hoppertope hyll they cam in,
And so down by Rodclyffe crage;
Vpon Grene Lynton they lyghted dowyn,
Styrande many a stage.

4.
And boldely brente Northomberlond,
And haryed many a towyn;
They dyd owr Ynglyssh men grete wrange,
To battell that were not bowyn.

5.
Than spake a berne vpon the bent,
Of comforte that was not colde,
And sayd, 'We have brente Northomberlond,
We have all welth in holde.

6.
'Now we have haryed all Bamborowe schyre,
All the welth in the world have wee;
I rede we ryde to Newe Castell,
So styll and stalworthlye.'

7.
Vpon the morowe, when it was day,
The standerds schone full bryght;
To the Newe Castell the toke the waye,
And thether they cam full ryght.

8.
Syr Henry Perssy laye at the New Castell,
I tell yow wythowtten drede;
He had byn a march-man all hys dayes,
And kepte Barwyke upon Twede.

9.
To the Newe Castell when they cam,
The Skottes they cryde on hyght,
'Syr Hary Perssy, and thow byste within,
Com to the fylde, and fyght.

10.
'For we have brente Northomberlonde,
Thy erytage good and ryght,
And syne my logeyng I