troops were maintained on so high a scale, that the Scots could neither retaliate nor effectually check them. Jedburgh and Kelso were again ravaged. Coldingham was taken and fortified, and an English garrison was left in possession; and though Arran attempted to recover it by assault, he failed disgracefully: except for the energy of Angus, whose patriotism was stronger than his promises to Henry, he would have left his guns under the walls to the enemy. Yet these misadventures added only to the hatred of the people without exciting their fears. The rumour had gone abroad of the menace of the annexation. Evers and Sir Brian Layton, it was said, had promised to conquer the whole country south of the Forth. Imagination had added that the land was to be desolated, 'the noblemen to be made into shepherds,' or else the population—man, woman, and child—to be exterminated.[1] Encouraged by the despair which these stories provoked, by the promise of assistance from France, and the expectation of a war between England and the Empire,[2] the Scots determined that they would never yield while a sword remained unbroken or an arm was left to strike a blow. The Douglases continued to correspond with Henry and affect a goodwill; but the King judged their in-
- ↑ Henry VIII. to Sir George Douglas; Douglas to Henry VIII.: State Papers, vol. v. pp. 415–418. The inroads of the English in the winter were distinguished by peculiar ferocity. Evers's troops were many of them English Marchers, who carried their personal feuds into the war; and if Sir George Douglas spoke the truth, some of these had even killed women and children.
- ↑ State Papers, vol. v. pp. 415–418.
