71 
inside ladder. The door secured, the ladder drawn up, the hatch- 
way battened down, they defended themselves as best they could 
with long-bows, guns, stones, boiling water, and other means of 
defence—for all were governed by 
The good old law, the simple plan, 
That he shall take who has the power, 
And he shall keep who can, 
The pele garth was simply a fortified enclosure on the fells or 
common, into which, in comparatively peaceable times, the live 
stock were driven at night, as a security against small bands of 
raiders. It was defended by a deep ditch, and usually two walls 
of turf or stone. There is a fine specimen of such a place near 
Langwathby called Crewgarth. 
We need not dwell on the za/tonal battles fought on the borders, 
as they are recorded in ordinary history. From the time of 
William of Normandy, whose armies were met on the borders by 
Malcolm of Scotland, the wars raged incessantly. During the 
reign of Stephen, David of Scotland “cried havoc and let loose 
the dogs of war” in such a way that the border counties of 
_ England were one wide scene of desolation. 
This was repeated by William the Lion of Scotland, and 
Henry II. of England, and again by Alexander of Scotland and 
_ John of England. And so the tale of blood and plunder continues, 
right up to the time when the two countries were united in the 
person of James the First of England. 
There are two battles which stand out prominently on the pages 
of history, at once typical in their character, decisive in their 
issue, and far-reaching in their influence—Bannock Burn and 
_ Flodden Field—immortalized by Campbell and Scott. I have 
traversed the latter with “Marmion” by my side, and, in 
imagination, listened to the blare of the trumpet, the neigh of 
the warhorse, the roar of cannon, and the clash of steel ; seen 
again the flower of the Scotch nobility stretched upon their 
gory bed, and heard Caledonia lamenting, in the language of one 
of her gifted daughters, that the flowers of the forest were ‘a’ 
wede away” :— 
