mit to royal authority when it opposed his own personal interests; and of this he soon gave a fatal proof, in the foul murder of Sir Alexander Ramsay of Dalwolsie, as brave a leader and a better man than himself, because the latter was appointed keeper of Roxburgh Castle, and sheriff of Teviotdale, offices which Douglas thought should have been conferred upon himself, as he had recovered these places from the enemy with much toil and hazard. The particulars of this revolting atrocity are too well known, both from history and popular tradition, to require a further account. It is enough to state that after such a deed—as cowardly as it was cruel, even according to the principles of chivalry itself—the knight of Liddesdale continued to be entitled, as well as esteemed, the "Flower of Chivalry;" and that David II., so far from being able to punish the murderer, was obliged to invest him with the office for the sake of which the crime had been committed.
After this action, and during the short interval of peace that continued between England and Scotland, the character of Sir William Douglas, hitherto so distinguished for patriotism, appears to have become very questionable. This has been ascertained from the fact, that Edward III. was already tampering with him to forsake the Scottish, and join the English interests, and for this purpose had appointed Henry de Percy, Maurice de Berkeley, and Thomas de Lacy "his commissioners," as their missive fully expressed it, "with full powers to treat of, and conclude a treaty with William Douglas, to receive him into our faith, peace, and amity, and to secure him in a reward." Such a negotiation could scarcely have been thought of, unless Douglas, even already had been exhibiting symptoms of most unpatriotic wavering. He held several meetings, not only with these commissioners, but also with Baliol himself, and appears to have fully accorded to their proposals, and agreed to accept the wages of the English king. But whether the promised advantages were too uncertain, or the risk of such a change of principle too great, the treaty was abruptly broken off; and Douglas, as if to quell all suspicion, made a furious inroad, at the head of a large force, across the English border, although the truce between the two countries still continued; burnt Carlisle and Penrith; and after a skirmish with the English, in which the bishop of Carlisle was unhorsed, he retreated hastily into Scotland. By this act the truce was at an end, and David II., believing the opportunity to be favourable for a great English invasion, as Edward III. with the flower of his army was now in France, assembled a numerous army, with which he advanced to the English border, and took the castle of Liddel after a six days' siege. It was now that the knight of Liddesdale counselled a retreat. His experience had taught him the strength of the English northern counties, and the warlike character of their barons, and perhaps he had seen enough of the military character of David to question his fitness for such a difficult enterprise. But his advice was received both by king and nobles with indignation and scorn. "Must we only fight for your gain?" they fiercely replied; "you have filled your own coffers with English gold, and secured your own lands by our valour, and now you would restrain us from our share in the plunder?" They added, that England was now emptied of its best defenders, so that nothing stood between them and a march even to London itself, but cowardly priests and base hinds and mechanics. Thus, even already, the moral influence of William Douglas was gone, the patriotic character of his past achievement went for nothing, and he was obliged to follow in a career where he had no leading voice, and for which he could anticipate nothing but defeat and disaster.
