366 Rev. R. Jones on the Battle of Flodden Field. 



other. The Bartons in Scotland and the Howards in Eng- 

 land had met and fought on sea ; and the Borderers — those 

 fierce, wild, and restless men, residing on the banks of the 

 Tweed, belonging to both nations — ^had met in deadly combat 

 time after time, sometimes few in number, headed by a daring 

 and chosen chief, and at other times, but in more remote ages, 

 under the command of the head of a clan, as a Douglas, a 

 Home, or a Percy, when the strife for superiority, plunder, 

 and victory terminated in torrents of blood. 



This hatred of each other had been smouldering in the 

 hearts of the men of England and Scotland for generations 

 past, and it only required the aspiring touch of ambition to 

 kindle it into a flame. From the days of the invasion under 

 Edward I. the men of Scotland had justly and deliberately 

 brooded over the wrongs inflicted upon them by that rapa- 

 cious king. A Wallace and a Bruce had shewn what their 

 countrymen could perform in daring feats of combat, and on 

 the bloody field of Bannockburn — a battle which makes the 

 hearts of all true Scotchmen, even at this day, burn with 

 heroic valour — they had prostrated their powerful foe and 

 tarnished England's glory. 



From "this time to the battle of Flodden, a deadly hatred of 

 each other's power had manifested itself at various times, and 

 in various ways. Scotland and France held together for 

 their own mutual benefit, and the intercourse between these 

 two nations was of the most friendly and durable nature, 

 even continuing down to the unhappy days of the unfortun- 

 ate, but ever to be lamented, Mary queen of Scotland. 



The Border marches on both sides of the Tweed were occu- 

 pied by men who delighted in plunder and slaughter. No 

 sooner had the sun gone down and the shades of night ap- 

 peared, than these bold, fearless men were across the fords, 

 pillaging and killing, robbing and destroying, and their most 

 daring feats of personal valour resounded in exulting joy at 

 their wassail feasts, and in their homes, night after night, for 

 the amusement and excitement of those who came to praise, 

 to laugh, and to hear. 



Such was the feeling and state of the countries of England 

 and Scotland when King James IV. ascended the throne — a 

 throne that was spotted at the very commencement of his 

 reign, with the blood of intestine war, which always haunted 

 that monarch from the beginning of his sovereign authority 

 to his untimely death on the fatal field of Flodden. He had 

 married Margaret, the eldest sister of Henry VIII., from 



