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THE BLACK DOUGLAS.
33

victorious in fifty-seven. The Scottish historians describe him as one who was never dejected by bad fortune, or unduly elated by that which was good. Notwithstanding the many battles in which he had fought, his face had escaped without a wound. A brave Spanish knight, whose face was scarred by the marks of Moorish sabres, expressed wonder that Douglas's countenance should be unmarked with wounds. Douglas modestly replied, he thanked God, who had always enabled his hand to guard and protect his face.

Many of Douglas's followers were slain in the battle in which he himself fell, and those who remained alive returned to their country. They brought back the heart of Bruce and the bones of the Good Lord James, which they buried in the church of St. Bride, where Thomas Dickson and Douglas held so terrible a Palm Sunday. The Bruce's heart was buried below the high altar in Melrose Abbey



THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURN.


This famous battle, familiarly known to our boyhood by the name of the Battle of Chevy Chace, was fought on the 19th of August, 1388, betwixt the Earl of Douglas, with a chosen band of 5000 Scots, and Sir Ralph and Sir Henry Percy, otherwise called Hotspur, at the head of an equal or superior number of English.

Earl Douglas, grand-nephew to the Good Sir James, in a skirmish near Newcastle, encountered Sir Henry Percy, and, in the struggle which ensued, got possession of Hotspur's spear, at the end of which was attached a small