position on the hill of Flodden. At that fatal battle Home, along with Huntly, had command of the vanguard. By a furious charge at the commencement Home completely routed Edmund Howard, who, with one thousand Cheshire men and five hundred Lancastrians (Letters of Henry VIII, i. 444), had command of the right; but conceiving that the battle was already won, Home's men, who had followed far in pursuit, began, according to their border habits, to concentrate their energies on pillaging. Lindsay of Pitscottie states that Huntly, observing the desperate straits of the king, sent to Home to come to his rescue, but that Home replied, ‘He does weill that does for himselff, for we have foughten our vangaird and wone the same, and thairfoir latt the rest doe thair pairtis as weill as we have done’ (Chronicles, ed. 1814, p. 278). However this may be, Home and his followers took no further part in the conflict, and remained in ignorance of the result in the neighbourhood of the field of battle all night. On the morrow they found it deserted by both parties and the Scottish artillery standing without a guard on the hillside, but retired without any attempt to bring it with them. On 13 Oct. 1513 following Home's lands were ravaged by the English under Dacre (Cal. State Papers, Henry VIII, vol. i. entry 4529). For repression of disorders consequent on the minority of the king, Home was in April 1514 constituted chief justice on the south side of the Forth (ib. i. 4951), a position which greatly increased his influence, and rendered him a powerful rival of the Earls of Angus. Archibald Douglas, sixth earl of Angus [q. v.], had married the widow of the king, and Home, being of opinion ‘that he would overrun all the whole countrie’ (Lindsay, p. 289), convened a council of the nobles at Edinburgh, where he proposed the recall of the Duke of Albany to act as regent. The lords were somewhat reluctant to take so bold a step, but on Home consenting that his name should appear first, they immediately signed an agreement for Albany's appointment. Circumstances, however, soon occurred in connection with the election in 1514 of an archbishop to the see of St. Andrews which caused Home to ally himself against Albany. Angus supported the claims of his uncle, Gavin Douglas [q. v.], for the see, while Andrew Forman [q. v.], the nominee of the pope, had obtained the support of Lord Home; but the claims of Douglas were not persisted in, and finally John Hepburn [q. v.], prior of St. Andrews, the third claimant, who had been besieged by Angus in the archbishop's palace, came to terms, and withdrew his opposition to Forman's appointment. Nevertheless, to Hepburn the loss of this great preferment was permanently galling; and becoming one of the chief confidants of Albany, he revenged himself by poisoning the duke's mind against both Angus and Home. They therefore found it expedient to make common cause with each other. In accordance with a decision of the estates, Albany determined to obtain possession of the young king, but this was met by the queen with the proposal that he should be committed to the custody of four persons nominated by herself, her husband Angus and Home being two of these. The terms were rejected, and Albany resolved to besiege Stirling Castle, where the young king was under the care of his mother. Home was ordered to arrest Sir George Douglas [q. v.], the brother of Angus, but declined to do so, and returned to his border fortress at Newark, while Angus also retired to his own territories. Threatened by the forces of the regent, the queen at once surrendered, and she and the young king were sent to the castle of Edinburgh. On this, Home immediately entered into communications with Dacre, and raised a large force to co-operate with one to be sent to his assistance from England. Ordered by Albany to leave the kingdom, he replied by recapturing his castle of Home on 26 Aug. (Cal. State Papers, Henry VIII, ii. 861) and also the strong border fortress of Blackadder.
The queen, who had gone to Linlithgow on the plea that she was near her time of childbearing, now made her escape by the help of her husband Angus, and was escorted by some followers of Home to the fortress of Blackadder. The promised help from England failed to arrive, and Home, threatened by the formidable force under Albany, agreed, on the promise of an amnesty and pardon, to have a conference with Albany at Douglas. Albany is also stated to have made Home promises of high reward and promotion if he would leave the queen's party (ib. 1012). Probably it was these offers that finally determined him to consent to a personal interview, but immediately on arriving he was arrested (ib. 1086) and sent to the castle of Edinburgh, where he was placed under the charge of the Earl of Arran. Arran was persuaded by Home not only to permit him to escape, but to join him in his flight to the borders. Angus and the queen now left Home's fortress of Blackadder, and joined Home and Arran in Northumberland. On 15 Oct. 1515 Angus, Home, and Arran entered into a league, engaging themselves and their supporters to resist the regent, and to deprive
