114 REPORT OF MEETINGS FOR 1904 



Ascending by a steep and sinuous path to the left of 



Monday Cleugh, the party reached the rugged 

 Humbieton summit of Humhleton Hill, on which is planted 

 Hill. another strong fortification of the nature already 



referred to. From the numerous hut-circles 

 dotted along its lower slopes, it is evident that the population 

 of these hills in early days must have been considerable, 

 while the accumulation of sheep and cattle folds bespeaks 

 their comparative wealth, and the fertility of the surrounding 

 country. Lower down the hill are successive tiers of artificial 

 terraces or baulks, on which its ancient possessors cultivated 

 their crops. From the path descending in the direction of 

 Humbieton, a hamlet of ruinous houses about half-a-mile 

 to the South of the main road, a fine prospect is obtained, 

 with Wooler in the foreground, Chillingham to the East, and 

 Doddington and Ford Castle to the North. At the base of 

 the hill, and skirting the North Eastern Railway, lies the 

 Eedriggs' field, in which was fought the bloody battle of 

 Homildon Rill, in 1402, between the English under the Earl 

 of Northumberland, led by his son Hotspur and the Earl of 

 March, and a body of Scottish raiders under the Earl of 

 Douglas, who were returning from the Tyne, whither they 

 had penetrated by way of retaliation for the reverse sustained 

 at Nesbit Moor. Finding their progress towards the Tweed 

 obstructed by their Northumbrian foes, the Scots occupied a 

 strong position on the side of the hill, but were so discomfited 

 by the accurate aim of the English archers that they broke 

 and fled in confusion. Of the host that followed the banner 

 of Douglas, eight hundred are said to have fallen in the 

 engagement, and five hundred more to have perished while 

 crossing the Tweed. 



The botanizing section of the party meanwhile traversed the 



lower slopes of Yeavering Bell, occupying them- 

 Serrate selves with the flora of the district. Attention 



Winter- was s^iecially devoted to the wood of natural 



green. oak which stretches up from the enclosed 



fields of the farm of Yeavering to a consider- 

 able height on the North-east face of the hill, in the 

 expectation of identifying the station of the rare Winter- 

 green (Pyrola secunda), reported on two different occasions, 



