cottish freedom. In 1337 there was no great leader: the hour
had come, but not the man. For the next four years, castle after castle
fell into Scottish hands; many of the tales are romantic enough, but
they do not lead to a Bannockburn. The only incident of any significance
is the defence of the castle of Dunbar. The lord of Dunbar was the Earl
of March, whose record throughout the troubles had been far from
consistent, but who was now a supporter of King David, largely through
the influence of his wife, famous as "Black Agnes", a daughter of the
great Randolph, Earl of Moray. From January to June, 1338, Black Agnes
held Dunbar against English assaults by sea and land. Many romantic
incidents have been related of these long months of siege: the stories
of the Countess's use of a dust-cloth to repair the damage done by the
English siege-machines to the battlements, and of her prophecy, made
when the Earl of Salisbury brought a "sow" or shed fitted to protect
soldiers in the manner of the Roman _testudo_,

"Beware, Montagow,
For farrow shall thy sow",

and fulfilled by dropping a huge stone on the machine and thus
scattering its occupants, "the litter of English pigs"--these, and her
"love-shafts", which, as Salisbury said, "pierce to the heart", are
among the most wonderful of historical fairy tales. In the end the
English had to raise the siege:

"Came I early, came I late,
I found Agnes at the gate",

they sang as the explanation of their failure.

The defence of Dunbar was followed by the surrender of Perth and the
capture of the castles of Stirling and Edinburgh, and in June, 1341,
David II returned to Scotland, from which Balliol had fled. David was
now seventeen years of age, and he had a great opportunity. Scotland was
again free, and was prepared to rally round its national sovereign and
the son of the Bruce. The English foe was engaged in a great struggle
with France, and difficulties had arisen between the English king and
his Parliament. But the unworthy son of the great Robert proved only a
source of weakness to his supporters. The only redeeming feature of his
policy is that it was, at first, inspired by loyalty to his French
protectors. In their interest he made, in the year of the Crecy
campaign, an incursion into England, thus ending a truce made in 1343.
After the usual preliminary ravaging, he reached Neville's Cross, near
Durham, in the month of October. There he found a force prepared