KING ROBERT BRUCE.
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excepting Sir Willian Vipont, and Sir Walter Ross, the favourite of Edward Bruce; and so grievously was Edward afflicted by the death of this man, that he exclaimed, “Oh, that this day's work were undone, so Ross had not died!" On the English side were slain 27 barons and bannerets, and 22 taken prisoners; of knights there were killed 42, and 60 taken prisoners; of esquires there fell 700; but the number of the common men who were killed or taken was never known with certainty. The English, who had taken refuge among the rocks in the neighbourhood of Stirling, surrendered at diseretion: the castle was surrendered, and the privy seal of England fell into the hands of the Scottish monarch. The spoils of the English camp were immense, and enriched the conquerors, along with the ransom of many noble prisoners who fell into their hands. Bruce shewed much generosity in his treatment of the prisoners who fell to his share. He set at liberty Ralph de Monthermer and Sir Marmaduke Twerge, two officers of high tank, without ransom; and by humane and generous offices alleviated the misfortunes of the rest. The dead bodies of the Earl of Gloucester and Lord Clifford were sent to England, that they might be interred with the usual solemnity. There was one Baston, a Carmelite friar and poet, whom Edward is said to have brought with him in his train to be spectator of his achievements, and to record his triumphs. Baston was made prisoner, and obliged to celebrate the victory of Bruce over the English. This he did in wretched Latin rhymes, which, however, procured his freedom.
After the battle of Bannockburn, the Earl of Hereford retreated to the castle of Bothwell, where he was besieged by Edward Bruce, and soon obliged to surrender. He was exchanged for the wife, sister, and daughter of the king, the young Earl of Mar, and the Bishop of Glasgow. The terror of the English was now almost incredible. Walsingham asserts, that many of them revolted to the Scots, and assisted them in plundering their own country. “The English," he says, “were so bereaved of their wonted intrepidity, that 100 of that nation would have fled from two or three Scotsmen!!
Edward Bruce and Douglas entered England on the cast side, ravaged Northumberland, and laid the bishopric of Durham under eontribution. Thence they proceeded to Richmond, laid Appleby and some other towns in ashes, and returned home laden with plunder. Edward summoned a Parliament at York, to coneert means for the public security; and appointed the Earl of Pembroke to be guardian of the country between the Trent and the Tweed. Bruce, however,
