the affection and esteem of the nobles and commons. It was to the successful execution of this difficult task that he owed his property in Craven; for when he reflected upon the precarious tenure by which he held the lands in Scotland, allotted to him by Edward the First, which either the chances of war or the stipulations of peace might in a moment snatch from his grasp, he became anxious for possessions more stable; and the castle and domain of Skipton, being situated at a convenient distance from the Scottish border, and enjoying, both by nature and art, the means of defence, he had only, on the death of Gaveston, to point out the advantages which might accrue to himself, his sovereign, and the kingdom, by his occupation of this barrier, to obtain what he eagerly sought.

The barony of Skipton, thus conferred on Robert de Clifford, is situated in the central and most beautiful part of Craven, extending east and west from the river Wharf to the river Air, and included within its limits various parks and demesnes, occupying not less than an area of six miles by four. To the castle which Romille, tempted by the imposing strength and altitude of the situation, had founded on the verge of an almost perpendicular

rock at Skipton, and which consisted, according to the military architecture of that period, of a square tower and spacious bailley, this first Clifford added so many important parts, including seven round towers connected by rectilinear apartments, and forming a kind of quadrangular court within, that his celebrated descendant, Anne, countess of Pembroke and Montgomery, describes him as the chief builder of the most strong parts of Skipton castle, which had been out of repair and ruinous from the Albemarles' time*.

Any long enjoyment, however, of this property was not vouchsafed to the first lord Clifford of Craven; for in the year 1314, being the third only after his accession to the barony, he accompanied Edward the Second from Skipton to the fatal field of Bannockburn.

Of this celebrated battle, so decisive of the ascendancy of Bruce and of the independency of Scotland, and in which Robert de Clifford bore so conspicuous a part, I cannot resist the temptation of copying for my readers the following account, by far the most accurate and circumstantial which has hitherto

* Whitaker, p. 322.

been given, of a conflict, which plunged for a time almost every rank of society in England into terror and distress.

"Edward the Second, continuing his father's claim to Scotland, resolved by one effort to reduce that turbulent nation to subjection. In the year 1314 he assembled an army of above a hundred thousand men. Robert Bruce, grandson of him who had been competitor with Baliol, raised an army against Edward of thirty thousand men, and took his station in the neighbourhood of Stirling, behind the river Bannockburn. The English army coming up encamped near Torwood. The defeat of a detachment of eight hundred cavalry, despatched by lord Clifford to the relief of Stirling, inspired the Scots army with courage for the general engagement. At length, on Monday, June 24th, 1314, appeared the dawn of that important day, which was to decide whether Scotland was henceforth to be an independent kingdom, or subjected to a foreign yoke. Early all was in motion in both armies. Religious sentiments were mingled with the military ardour of the Scots. A solemn mass, in the manner of those times, was said by Maurice, abbot of Inchchanfry, who also administered the sacrament to the

king and the great officers about him, upon a hill near the camp, probably Cockshot-hill, while inferior priests did the same to the rest of the army. Then, after a sober repast, they formed in order of battle, in a tract of ground now called Nether Touchadam, which lies along the declivity of a gently rising hill, about a mile due south from the castle of Stirling. This situation had been previously chosen on account of its advantages. Upon the right they had a range of steep rocks, now called Gillie's-hill, in which the hill abruptly terminates. In their front were the steep banks of the rivulet of Bannockburn. Upon the left lay a morass, now called Milton Bog, from its vicinity to a small village of that name. Much of this bog is still undrained, and a part of it is at present a mill-dam. As it was then the middle of summer, it was almost dry; but Robert had recourse to a stratagem, in order to prevent any attack from that quarter. He had some time before ordered many ditches and pits to be digged in the morass, and in the fields upon the left, and these to be covered over again with green turf, supported by stakes driven into the bottom of them, so that the ground had still the appearance of being firm. He also caused calthrops,

or sharp-pointed irons, to be scattered through the morass, some of which have been found there in the memory of people yet alive. By means of these artificial improvements, added to the natural strength of the ground, the Scottish army stood as within an intrenchment, and the invisible pits and ditches answered to the concealed batteries of modern times.

"The Scottish army was drawn up in three divisions, and their front extended near a mile in length along the brink of the river. The right, which was upon the highest grounds, was commanded by Edward Bruce, brother to the king; the left was posted on the low grounds, near the morass, under the direction of Randolph; and the king himself took the charge of the centre. Mention is also made of a fourth division, commanded by Walter Lord High Stewart, and James Douglas, both of whom had that morning been knighted by their sovereign. As they stood in this posture, waiting for the enemy, the trumpets, clarions, and horns continued to blow with so hideous a noise as made the neighbouring rocks and woods to echo the sound.

"The enemy were fast approaching in three great