A collection of ancient and modern Scottish ballads, etc

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BATTLE OF OTTERBOURNE.
[To avenge the ravages committed in Lothian and Berwick-
shire by the English army under Richard II. in 1385,
and taking advantage of the distracted state of Richard's
kingdom, Robert II. assembleti a Parliament at Aberdeen
in 1388, in which it was resolved, and immediately carried
into execution, to invade England at two points. His
sons, the Earls of Fife and Strathearn, commanded one
army that entered the western borders, which they laid
waste, and returned unmolested with a considerable
booty. The other, under the orders of the Earls of
Douglas and March ravaged Northumberland and part
of Durham. The renowned Hotspur, his brother Sir
Ralph, and almost all the gentlemen of the adjacent
counties, retired to Newcastle, to which Douglas ad-
vanced with about three thousand men. In a skirmish
before the walls, and in sight of both armies, he person-
ally encountered Hotspur, unhorsed him at the first
shock, and would have taken him prisoner, had he not
been rescued by the garrison ; the Earl, however, brought
oiF his antagonist's lance and pennon, which he waved
around his head, calling out that he would carry it as a
trophy into Scotland, to which he began his march the