He could not conceal his delight in this and sent scouts out ahead, who burned some of the surrounding hamlets as they returned so that the sparks drifted skywards, and the
English suffered a great deal of distress, wanting to sally out against those who were committing such atrocities, but their leaders would not permit them to do so.
The following day, the
king of Scotland and his entire host came to encamp three short leagues from
Newcastle, on the
river Tyne, within the territory of the
lord Neville, and very presumptuously sent a message to those in the town that if they were willing to issue out he would wait for them and gladly engage in combat.
The lords of
England took counsel and responded that they would risk their lives to defend the inheritance of their lord. And so they marched out into the fields and found themselves to be around twelve hundred men-at-arms, three thousand archers and five thousand other men including the
Welsh. The
Scots, who were well aware of their strength, paid little regard to them, saying that no matter if there were four times as many of them they would still take them on. And so one day they drew up in the fields and arranged themselves in battle order, the
English doing the same on the other side. When the
queen of England heard that her men were to engage in combat and that the
Scots were in the fields before them, she left the town of
Newcastle and came to where her people were making preparations to organise themselves into battle array. She remained there until her men were prepared and formed into four divisions.
The first was led by the
bishop of Durham and the
lord Percy; the second by the
archbishop of York and the
lord Neville; the third by the
bishop of Lincoln and the
lord Mowbray; the fourth by
Sir Edward Balliol and the
archbishop of Canterbury. In each division there were the right proportion of men-at-arms and archers according to their requirements. The good
queen was among them, who entreated them kindly to do their duty well and protect her lord's honour, and that each should be ready to put up a good fight. In particular she entrusted the undertaking to the four prelates and the four barons there, and they gave her their word that they would acquit themselves faithfully. Then the
queen left her men and returned to
Newcastle, commending them to God and St George.
Quite soon afterwards, the divisions, who were raring to clash with one another, particularly the archers, came together. The archers began to fire at one another, but the fire from the Scottish side did not last long. The English archers were able and light and fired with such art and skill and with such rapidity that it was a marvel to behold. When the divisions clashed, I can assure you that it was the hardest and best fought battle that had been seen for some time. It began around the hour of Terce and lasted until high None. You can imagine that during this time there were many great deeds of arms performed, for these
Scots were wielding sharpened axes with which they meted out some terrible blows. On the other side the
English were striving to defend their land and to attain the favour of their lord, so much so that a lowly page was as worthy as a fine knight.
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