388 'Rey.'R. Jones on the Battle of Flodden Field. 



We shall not therefore err far from the truth, when we 

 assign to the different armies at the commencement of the 

 battle something more than forty thousand each, besides horse 

 soldiers, which in all probability would not be far from four 

 or five thousand. The Borderers alone could muster strongly 

 in this arm of the service, for they prided themselves in being 

 inured to war from their boyhood, and always ready for the 

 fray. Look at Lord Home's party called together in a few 

 hours, to avenge the aggression of the English a short time 

 previous to the battle. The king had only been a few weeks 

 on English ground, and we know when he passed the Tweed 

 his army consisted of one hundred thousand men. Such 

 slaughter and carnage could not possibly be inflicted in so 

 short a time by a less number, and we cannot upon calm 

 reflection but conclude in assigning to each army the figures 

 stated above. The effect of the battle was felt for generations 

 after, and even at this day in Scotland, Flodden Field cannot 

 be mentioned without a sensation of terror and sorrow. Sir 

 Walter Scott remarks, that there is scarcely a Scottish family 

 of eminence who does not number an ancestor killed at 

 Flodden. 



To town and tower, to down and dale, 

 To tell red Flodden's dismal tale, 

 And raise the universal wail, 

 Tradition, legend, tune and song. 

 Shall many an at^e that wail prolong, 

 Still from the sire the son shall hear, 

 Of the stern strife and carnage drear 



Of Flodden's fatal field, 

 Where shivered was fair Scotland's spear 



And broken Avas her shield. 



Scotland wept and mourned her king and nobility ; her 

 bards sang her loss in plaintive strains, and England in de- 

 scriptive verse. He was the most beloved monarch that ever 

 filled the Scottish throne. " As he was greatly beloved while 

 alive," says Buchanan, " so when dead his memory was 

 cherished with an affection beyond what I have ever read or 

 heard of being entertained for any other king." More poetry 

 has been written about Flodden Field than any other battle 

 since the days of Homer. Scott has immortalized Flodden 

 in his inimitable poem of Marmion, every part of which bear- 

 ing on the battle can be read over and over again, without 

 in the least degree diminishing the grandeur and excitement 

 that enthrals the heart when first read ; and which will con- 

 tinue to captivate and delight the soul of every one who 

 understands the English language. 



