Battle of Otterburn

The Battle of Otterburn was fought on August 5, 1388.  The fight was initiated by James, the 2^nd Earl Douglas, against an English force under Henry “Hotspur” Percy.  Douglas’ side won, but the battle cost him, and Scotland, his life. 

Sir Walter Scott collected a ballad titled “Battle of Otterbourne” in his “Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border”:

  It fell about the Lammas tide,

  When the muir-men win their hay,

  The doughty earl of Douglas rode

  Into England, to catch a prey.

  He chose the Gordons and the Graemes,

  With them the Lindesays, light and gay;

  But the Jardines wald not with him ride,

  And they rue it to this day.

  And he has burn'd the dales of Tyne,

  And part of Bambrough shire;

  And three good towers on Roxburgh fells,

  He left them all on fire.

  And he march'd up to Newcastle,

  And rode it round about;

  "O wha's the lord of this castle,

  "Or wha's the lady o't?"

  But up spake proud Lord Percy, then,

  And O but he spake hie!

  "I am the lord of this castle,

  "My wife's the lady gay."

  "If thou'rt the lord of this castle,

  "Sae weel it pleases me!

  "For, ere I cross the border fells,

  "The tane of us shall die."

  He took a lang spear in his hand.

  Shod with the metal free,

  And for to meet the Douglas there,

  He rode right furiouslie.

  But O how pale his lady look'd,

  Frae aff the castle wa',

  When down, before the Scottish spear,

  She saw proud Percy fa',

  "Had we twa been upon the green,

  "And never an eye to see,

  I wad hae had you, flesh and fell;

  "But your sword sall gae wi' me."

  "But gae ye up to Otterbourne,

  "And wait there dayis three;

  And, if I come not ere three dayis end,

  "A fause knight ca' ye me."

  "The Otterbourne's a bonnie burn;

  "'Tis pleasant there to be;

  "But there is nought at Otterbourne,

  "To feed my men and me.

  "The deer rins wild on hill and dale,

  "The birds fly wild from tree to tree;

  "But there is neither bread nor kale,

  "To fend my men and me.

  "Yet I will stay at Otterbourne,

  "Where you shall welcome be;

  "And, if ye come not at three dayis end,

  "A fause lord I'll ca' thee."

  "Thither will I come," proud Percy said,

  "By the might of Our Ladye!"--

  "There will I bide thee," said the Douglas,

  "My trowth I plight to thee."

  They lighted high on Otterbourne,

  Upon the bent sae brown;

  They lighted high on Otterbourne,

  And threw their pallions down.

  And he that had a bonnie boy,

  Sent out his horse to grass;

  And he that had not a bonnie boy,

  His ain servant he was.

  But up then spake a little page,

  Before the peep of dawn--

  "O waken ye, waken ye, my good lord,

  "For Percy's hard at hand."

  "Ye lie, ye lie, ye liar loud!

  "Sae loud I hear ye lie:

  For Percy had not men yestreen,

  "To dight my men and me."

  "But I hae dream'd a dreary dream,

  "Beyond the Isle of Sky;

  "I saw a dead man win a fight,

  "And I think that man was I."

  He belted on his good braid sword,

  And to the field he ran;

  But he forgot the helmet good,

  That should have kept his brain.

  When Percy wi' the Douglas met,

  I wat he was fu' fain!

  They swakked their swords, till sair they swat,

  And the blood ran down like rain.

  But Percy, with his good broad sword,

  That could so sharply wound,

  Has wounded Douglas on the brow,

  Till he fell to the ground.

  Then he call'd on his little foot-page.

  And said--"Run speedilie,

  "And fetch my ain dear sister's son,

  "Sir Hugh Montgomery."

  "My nephew good," the Douglas said,

  "What recks the death of ane!

  "Last night I dream'd a dreary dream,

  "And I ken the day's thy ain,

  "My wound is deep; I fain would sleep;

  "Take thou the vanguard of the three,

  "And hide me by the braken bush,

  "That grows on yonder lilye lee,

  "O bury me by the braken bush,

  "Beneath the blooming briar;

  "Let never living mortal ken,

  "That ere a kindly Scot lies here."

  He lifted up that noble lord,

  Wi' the saut tear in his e'e;

  He hid him in the braken bush,

  That his merrie men might not see.

  The moon was clear, the day drew near,

  The spears in flinders flew,

  But mony a gallant Englishman,

  Ere day the Scotsmen slew.

  The Gordons good, in English blood,

  They steep'd their hose and shoon;

  The Lindsays flew like fire about,

  Till all the fray was done.

  The Percy and Montgomery met,

  That either of other were fain;

  They swapped swords, and they twa swat,

  And aye the blude ran down between.

  "Yield thee, O yield thee, Percy!" he said,

  "Or else I vow I'll lay thee low!"

  "Whom to shall I yield," said Earl Percy,

  "Now that I see it must be so?"

  "Thou shalt not yield to lord nor loun,

  "Nor yet shalt thou yield to me;

  "But yield thee to the braken bush,

  "That grows upon yon lilye lee!"

  "I will not yield to a braken bush,

  "Nor yet will I yield to a briar;

  But I would yield to Earl Douglas,

  "Or Sir Hugh the Montgomery, if he were here."

  As soon as he knew it was Montgomery,

  He stuck his sword's point in the gronde;

  And the Montgomery was a courteous knight,

  And quickly took him by the honde.

  This deed was done at Otterbourne,

  About the breaking of the day;

  Earl Douglas was buried at the braken bush,

  And the Percy led captive away.

Battle of Shrewsbury

‘His government [Robert, Duke of Albany], after the death of his brother, Robert III (1407), commenced with a show of prosperity. He renewed the league offensive and defensive with the kingdom of France, and entered into negotiation with England. In the communings which ensued, he made no application for the liberation of his nephew, the present sovereign, nor was his name even mentioned in the transaction. But the Earl of Douglas, whose military services were valuable to the defence of the frontier, was restored to freedom, having been taken at the battle of Shrewsbury, where he had fought on the side of Sir Henry Percy with his usual distinguished valor, beating down the king of England with his own hand, but being in the course of the conflict himself made prisoner, according to his habitual bad luck. George, Earl of March, had rendered Henry IV effectual assistance during that insurrection, being the first who apprised that monarch of the conspiracy against him. But he was now weary of his exile, and, disappointed of his revenge, returned to his allegiance to Scotland, upon restoration of his estates. These were great points gained in reference to defence upon the border…’

The Battle of Shrewsbury was fought on July 21, 1403.  King Henry IV of England battled Hotspur; Henry Percy in this encounter, with results favoring Henry IV.  The text above, from Sir Walter Scott’s ‘Scotland”, discusses some of the players at a time after Shrewsbury had taken place.

Owen Glendower

The last independent prince of Wales died on September 20, 1415.  Glendower served the future Henry IV of England while a young man.  Glendower led a Welsh revolt, beginning in 1400/01, which began when neighbor Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn, failed to notify Glendower of Henry's call to his Scottish campaign in 1400, then disingenuously charged Glendower with treason.  By the time Henry learned of the rebellion, he had difficulty quelling it.  Glendower gained control over most of Wales by 1405, in part due to an alliance with Henry Percy and Edmund Mortimer.  Welsh control lasted until 1408, when Henry's son, the future Henry V captured Aberystwith.  The circumstances of Glendower's death remain uncertain to this day.

Walter Scott references Owen Glendower, and the setting in 1400, in a publication titled "Scotland", by Sir Walter Scott, Dionysius Lardner, and Mayo Williamson Hazeltine:

'In 1400, Henry therefore summoned the whole military force of England to meet him at York, and published an arrogant manifesto, in which he vindicated the antiquated claim of supremacy, which had been so long in abeyance, and, assuming the tone of lord paramount, commanded the Scottish king, with his prelates and nobles, to meet him at Edinburgh and render homage. Of course no one attended upon that summons, excepting the new proselyte March, who met Henry at Newcastle, and was received to the English fealty. But if Henry's boast of subjecting Scotland was a bravado inconsistent with his usual wisdom, his warfare, on the contrary, was marked by a degree of forbearance and moderation too seldom the characteristic of an English invader. Penetrating as far as Edinburgh, he extended his especial protection to the canons of Holyrood, from whom his father, John of Gaunt, had experienced shelter, and in general spared religious houses.


The castle of Edinburgh was gallantly held out by the Duke of Roth say, aided by the skill and experience of his father-in-law, the Earl of Douglas. Albany commanded a large army, which, according to the ancient Scottish policy, hovered at some distance from the English host. The Soots had wisely resolved upon the defensive system of war which had so frequently saved Scotland. But they could not forbear some of the bravado of the time. The Duke of Rothsay wrote to Henry that, to avoid the effusion of Christian blood, he was willing to rest the national quarrel upon the event of a combat of one, two, or three nobles on every side. Henry laughed at this sally of youthful vivacity, and, in answer, expressed his wonder how Rothsay should think of saving Christian blood at the expense of shedding that of the nobility, who, it was to be hoped, were Christians as well as others. Albany also would have his gasconade. He sent a herald to Henry to say that, if he would stay in his position near Edinburgh for six days, he would do battle with him to the extremity. The English king gave his mantle and a chain of gold to the herald, in token that he joyfully accepted the challenge. But Albany had no purpose of keeping his word; and Henry found nothing was to be won by residing in a wasted country to beleaguer an impregnable rock. He raised the siege and retired into England, where the rebellion of Owen Glendower soon after broke out. A truce of twelve months and upward took place between the kingdoms.'

Battle of Homildon Hill

The Battle of Homildon Hill (or Humbleton Hill) took place on September 14, 1402.  This fight pitted Earl Archibald Douglas against Earl Henry Percy of Northumberland.  Douglas' Scots took ground on Holimdon Hill while Percy's English faced Douglas on Harehope Hill.  English archers carried the day, and Percy's forces were victorious that day.

The character of Archibald Douglas has inspired more than one bard.  He appears in Shakespeare's Henry IV, and Walter Scott includes him in his "The Fair Maid of Perth":

'But there remained a third party to be consulted, and that was no other than the tremendous Archibald Earl of Douglas, terrible alike from the extent of his lands, from the numerous offices and jurisdictions with which he was invested, and from his personal qualities of wisdom and valour, mingled with indomitable pride, and more than the feudal love of vengeance. The Earl was also nearly related to the throne, having married the eldest daughter of the reigning monarch.'

Sources:
http://www.oldandsold.com/articles32n/northumbria-10.shtml
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