290 NOTES ON THE FLODDEN BANNER, 



a card attached, on which are written the words : *' Banner 

 raised by the Homes of Wedderburn on the Battle-Field of 

 Flodden." There is no other written record that I can find 

 of it having been the flag so raised ; but the tradition handed 

 down, and believed in by the family, has every appearance 

 of reliability. It is well known that Border chiefs and 

 Highland clans had, in the olden time, rallying banners — 

 banners which were sometimes looked on with superstitious 

 reverence — e.g. the " Fairy Flag " of the Macleods, which 

 hangs to this day on the walls of Dunvegan Castle. (See 

 an article, " Over the Sea to Skye," in the Border Magazine 

 for February 1899.) There is also preserved at Cavers House, 

 near Hawick, a very ancient banner, or standard, 13 feet 

 long, tapering in width towards the end, charged with a 

 saltire, or St. Andrew's Cross, a heraldic lion, and certain 

 other emblems from the Douglas arms with their motto. It 

 is said to have been borne before the great Earl of Douglas 

 at Otterburne (1388), and has remained in the possession of 

 his descendants ever since. It is in good preservation, but 

 though its alleged date is earlier than our Flodden banner, 

 Otterburne was, at best, a brilliant and romantic encounter 

 between two great nobles ; whereas Flodden and Dunbar 

 were pitched battles between two nations, which perhaps 

 accounts for the damaged state of our heirloom. But in 

 regard to clannish flags, I may refer, very particularly, to 

 a stanza in the "Lay of the Last Minstrel" — a stanza 

 which is specially prized by us, owing to the occasion of 

 its insertion. It may be interesting to Border readers to 

 know that the stanza in question was not in the first edition 

 of the "Lay," but was introduced into the second, as 

 explained in an autograph, and hitherto unpublished, letter 

 from Sir Walter Scott to Mr George Home, which accom- 

 panied a presentation copy of the work (published 1806.) 

 The book is inscribed : — 



George Home, Esqre, 

 of Paxton : 

 from his obliged friend The Author"; and the letter there- 

 with runs as follows : — 



