d to leave the field, till the armies were
on the point of engaging. The Scots have often been unfortunate in the
great pitched battles which they fought with the English; even though
they commonly declined such engagements where the superiority of numbers
was not on their side: but never did they receive a more fatal blow than
the present. They were broken and chased off the field: fifteen thousand
of them (some historians say twenty thousand) were slain; among whom
were Edward Keith, earl mareschal, and Sir Thomas Charteris, chancellor:
and the king himself was taken prisoner, with the earls of Sutherland,
Fife, Monteith, Carrick, Lord Douglas, and many other noblemen.[*]

Philippa, having secured her royal prisoner in the Tower,[**] crossed
the sea at Dover; and was received in the English camp before Calais
with all the triumph due to her rank, her merit, and her success. This
age was the reign of chivalry and gallantry: Edward's court excelled in
these accomplishments as much as in policy and arms: and if any thing
could justify the obsequious devotion then professed to the fair sex, it
must be the appearance of such extraordinary women as shone forth during
that period.

[Illustration: 1_223_calais.jpg CALAIS]

{1347.} The town of Calais had been defended with remarkable vigilance,
constancy, and bravery by the townsmen, during a siege of unusual
length: but Philip, informed of their distressed condition, determined
at last to attempt their relief; and he approached the English with an
immense army, which the writers of that age make amount to two hundred
thousand men. But he found Edward so surrounded with morasses,
and secured by intrenchments, that, without running on inevitable
destruction, he concluded it impossible to make an attempt on the
English camp. He had no other resource than to send his rival a vain
challenge to meet him in the open field; which being refused, he was
obliged to decamp with his army, and disperse them into their several
provinces.[***]

* Froissard, liv. i. chap. 139.

** Rymer, vol. v. p. 537.

*** Froissard, liv. i chap. 144, 145.

John of Vienne, governor of Calais, now saw the necessity of
surrendering his fortress, which was reduced to the last extremity by
famine and the fatigue of the inhabitants. He appeared on the walls,
and made a signal to the English sentinels that he desired a parley.
Sir Walter Manny was sent to him by Edward. "Brave knight," crie