Tue CASTLE OF DUMFRIES. 63 
of Caerlaverock. Others arrived after the operations were com- 
pleted—notables, many of them, whose stories adorn the meteri- 
cal narrative of that celebrated siege. 
Sir John de St. John, who at this time was Warden of the 
Marches about Dumfries, and who as the oldest and most experi- 
enced of Edward’s officers, was entrusted with the guidance and 
care of the Prince of Wales, nominal commander of the fourth 
squadron of the besieging army, elicits the commendation of the 
poet. 
“The brave John de St. John 
Was everywhere with him (the Prince), 
Who on all his white caparisons 
Had upon a red chief two gold mulletts. 
The St. John, the Latimer, 
Were associated to him the first 
Who were to array his squadron, 
As those who best understood that ; 
For it would not be wise to seek elsewhere 
Two more valiant or two more excellent men.’’ 
And of Sir Robert de Clifford, who was much in evidence 
about the Castle of Dumfries, the poet says :— 
“Robert the lord of Clifford, 
To whom reason gives consolation 
To overcome his enemies, 
Every time he calls to memory 
The fame of his noble lineage. 
He calls Scotland to bear witness, 
That he begins well and nobly, 
As one who is of the race 
Of the noble Earl Marshal, 
Who beyond Constantinople 
Fought with the unicorn, 
And struck him dead beneath him. 
From him he is descended through his mother. 
The good Roger, his father’s father, 
Was considered equal to him; 
But he had no merit which does not appear 
To be revived in his grandson ; 
Wherefore I well know that I have given him no 
Praise of which he is not worthy. 
For he exhibits as good proofs 
Of wisdom and prudence as any I see. 
The King his good lord knows 
