Stuart, of Darnley, purchased it from one of his soldiers for 1,000 angels, and Sir Robert Houston afterwards lent him five times that sum upon it. Buchanan, on the authority of the lost "Book of Pluscardine," asserts that it was Sir Alexander Macauslan, a knight of the Lennox, who took the diadem from the helmet of Clarence. Sir John Carmichael, in memory of shivering his spear on the duke's breast, added to his arms a hand grasping a broken spear; though the honour of unhorsing him was claimed by Swinton and the Laird of Auchmar. To the shield of Sir Hew Kennedy the King of France added azure, three fleurs-de-lys or, in memory of his defence of the bridge, and these are still borne by all of the surname of Kennedy who are descended from him. On the victor, Buchan, was now bestowed the sword and office of Constable of France, of which Charles of Lorraine had been the last holder. He was the first stranger to whom such an honour had been given, and it was followed by other gifts, such as castles and princely domains, stretching over all the territory between Chartres and Avranches. The Earl of Buchan, after capturing the castle of the former place, laying siege to the old fortress of Alençon, and repulsing with the loss of 400 men Lord Salisbury, who attempted its relief, was compelled to return to Scotland, in consequence of the feuds which had broken out there. He left Stewart of Darnley commander, or, as he was named, "Constable of the Scots in France." CREVANT. Henry V. was now master of all northern France to the banks of the Loire. Save at Baujé, no leaf had fallen from the laurels he had won at Agincourt; but just as he had almost won the summit of his ambition he died, and, surviving him by only two months, Charles VI. of France also passed away on the 21st October, 1422. John of Bedford, the persecutor of Joan of Arc, immediately ordered his young nephew, Henry VI., to be proclaimed King of France; whilst the Dauphin, now Charles VII., to whom the Scots adhered, was called in mockery by the English and Burgundians, "King of Bourges," as these two powers held all the provinces that lay between the Loire and the Scheldt. All the bravest captains in France and all the princes of the royal blood adhered to Charles; and we are told by Monstrelet that early in July, 1423, "he ordered a large body of forces to cross the Loire, and besiege the town of Crevant. The chief of his expedition was," he adds, "the Constable of Scotland," a mistake of the chronicler, for Stewart of Darnley was simply Constable of the Scots, who had soon reason to regret the absence of their former leader, as Stewart, though brave, was destitute of military skill. Rapin states that the troops which crossed the Loire were commanded by the Maréchal de Severac; but he only led the French. Crevant, which they besieged, lies six miles southeast of Auxerre, and the river Yonne was between them and the united English and Burgundians, at whose approach, 15,000 strong, Stewart drew up his forces in order of battle on the slope of a hill. The blockaded town was in his rear; before him rolled the river, which was crossed there by a stone bridge. At Dijon the Duchess of Burgundy had urged that, at all hazards, Crevant should be saved from the Scots and French; whereupon the Lord de Toulongeon, Maréchal of Burgundy, united his forces to those of the Earls of Salisbury and Suffolk, with whom came Lord Willoughby, one of the heroes of Agincourt, and many more brave knights. The armour of the French man-at-arms of this period differed a little from that used by his English rival. Back and breast-plates were worn. To these were attached "a system of articulated lames, or narrow plates, in their contour adapted to cover the figure, and so arranged that each one should slightly overlap the one below it; thus was formed a species of kilt of armour. Over the flanks, on each side of the figure, to the faudes or taces was appended a small shield, or garde-faude, which would cover the front of the thigh, and, being secured by only buckles and straps, would allow free movement to the limb. These plates appear in every variety of form-square, hexagonal, lozenge-shaped, serrated, &c. In front and also behind, the haubergeon was shown uncovered." "Such," says Boutell, “was the armour worn by the brothers of Charles VI., the Sires des Fleurs de Lis, when they went to war. Such also was the armour of the famous Duke of Burgundy, John the Fearless, who caused the Duke of Orleans to be assassinated; and the same armour was worn by the nobles of Armagnac and of Burgundy who, in the fifteenth century, desolated France with such ferocious rapacity." Gauntlets of steel were then recent inventions in France, where previously a strong leather glove had been the sole protection for the hand of the soldier. The troops of Lord Salisbury suffered much on their march, by the weight of their armour and the extreme heat of the sun, especially the gendarm erie, many of whom marched on foot, leading by the bridle their horses, that the latter might be more fresh for battle. As they drew near Crevant, 120 English and Burgundian horse, with the same number of archers, were sent forward as a reconnoi tring party. Each archer had a pointed stake, to plant in the earth if necessary, to keep off cavalry. In Auxerre the English and Burgundians heard mass celebrated; "drank a cup in much brother-like affection; and departed to fall upon the Scots and French, who had been under arms all night, and towards whom they advanced in handsome array, at ten o'clock on the morning of Saturday." 87 lay dead upon the plain, and almost as many were led away prisoners, among whom were the Constable and the Count de Ventadour." The latter, who had also lost an eye, surrendered to the Lord of Gamaches; and John Poton, Lord of Xaintrailles, was also taken. Of the Scots, 1,200 were killed, and among them are enumerated by Monstrelet a nephew of the Sir John Stewart had under his orders 3,000 Earl of Buchan, Sir William Hamilton, and his son, Scots, with some French under Aumaury, the Sir Thomas Swinton, and "John Pillot, a Scots Maréchal de Severac, the Lord of Estissac, and the captain, and bastard to the king." Sir William Comte de Ventadour. With their troops in solid Crawford and 400 were taken prisoners. Among aray, and with all their armour shining in the morn- the English who fell were Sir Gilbert Halselle, ing sun, he and those leaders sat quietly in their Sir John Grey, Sir William Hall, and Richard saddles, while the adverse forces surveyed each Ap Murdoc. The English and Burgundians offered other for three hours; after which "they tamely up solemn thanks in the churches of Crevant for permitted the English and their allies to defile this victory. across the bridge of the Yonne, and then to arrange their squares of foot and squadrons of men-at-arms, when they ought to have occupied the tête-du-pont with cannon and crossbow-men, or have attacked them when half their strength was over. The most simple lessons of military art and tactics were forgotten by these leaders, and most disastrous was the result." Then, without striking a blow, nearly the whole of the French, the confidence of whose soldiery had been destroyed at Agincourt, fell back, under the Seigneur de Severac, and left the field to the Scots, who stood firm. A writer asserts that in most of the encounters at this time "the French generally ran away, and left the Scots to fight for them." Overlapped and overwhelmed by the superior strength of the English and Burgundians, who assailed them in front and on both flanks, while a sortie from Crevant came upon their rear, the unlucky Scots fell into disorder. Stewart fought desperately to repair his first error, but lost an eye in the conflict, by a sword-thrust through the ventaille of his helmet; and becoming thereby blinded with blood, he surrendered himself to a Burgundian noble, Claude de Beauvoir, of Castellux. : "Le Connestable d'Escosse," according to "Mémoires Historiques," Vol. VII., "descendit à pied, et avec lui plusieurs vaillans Français et Escossais, croyons que Severac et les autres deusent ainsi faire; ou au moins frapper à cheval sur les ennemies il y fut fort combatu, et finalement les Français et Escossais furent defaits et y en eut plusiers de tuez et pris, jusques au nombere de deux à trois mille, qui fut un grand dommage pour les Roy de France." Following up the mistake of Monstrelet, it is stated by De Mezeray, that "the Constable de Bouchain and the Maréchal de Severac were beaten, and 1,000 of their most valiant soldiers Sir John Stuart was exchanged for the Lord Pole; and after being made Lord of Aubigny, Concressault, and Evereux, with the right of quartering the arms of France with his own, he was slain in his old age at the siege of Orleans. VERNEUIL. Shortly after the battle of Crevant, Réné of Chartres, who was Chancellor of France, and Juvenal des Ursins, Archbishop of Rheims, the historian of the reign of Charles VI., were sent to Scotland for more auxiliaries, and another small force took service under the Constable Buchan for that purpose. The Earl of Douglas-he who lost an eye at Homildon, who fought at Shrewsbury, and defended Edinburgh Castle with such success against King Henry, in 1409-on being created Duke of Touraine and Maréchal of France, joined him with a body of horse and foot. Holinshed states the number of this new force at 10,000 men, but there is reason to suppose they were far fewer. Their leaders were Adam Douglas, afterwards Governor of Tours; Bernard Lindesay, of the house of Glenesk; the Laird of Smailholm, who was armour-bearer to Earl Douglas; two other Douglases, who were the ancestors of the lines of Lochleven and Queensberry; and a very aged border warrior, Sir Alexander Home, of that ilk. Landing at Rochelle in the spring of 1424, they joined the other Scottish troops, then in Poitou, under Charles VII. At this time the Duke of Bedford had laid siege to Ivri-la-Bataille, a Norman town, which a brave knight, named Girault de la Pallière, was defending, but had agreed to surrender if not succoured by a certain day; so Charles resolved to hasten to its relief. With difficulty he collected 18,000 men, one-half of whom were Scots, "under the Earls of Douglas, Buchan, and Murray," according to Monstrelet. The French arms, completely mailed, with lance, battle-axe, were under De Ventadour, De Tonnere, and the Viscount of Narbonne; while Buchan, in right of his office as Constable of France, commanded the whole, though Monstrelet, in his account of the battle that ensued, always gives the preference to the Duke of Alençon. The Regent Bedford, with 18,000 men-at-arms and 8,000 archers, with the Lords Salisbury, Suffolk, and Willoughby, having reinforced those troops which blockaded Ivri, the relieving force came too late, or just in time to see St. George's cross waving on the walls, with an English garrison in possession, under a knight of Wales. On this Buchan and Alençon marched several miles further to Verneuil, on the Arve. The old walls by which it was then surrounded still exist, and also the tower into which its English garrison retired on their approach. To this place Bedford now hastened with all his available troops, while about the exact number of the Constable's force no two authors agree. Hall says he had 5,000 Scots and 15,000 French; Père Daniel has it only 14,000 men, one-half of whom were Scots. However, the combined force was marched to Verneuil by the Earl of Buchan as leader, "who then," says Rapin, "was pleased to was pleased to resign that honour to the Earl of Douglas, his father-in-law, to whom the king sent for that purpose (ie., to command) a patent constituting him lieutenant-general of the whole kingdom, otherwise the Constable could not have acted under his orders." On both sides the forces were apparently pretty equal; and when within a mile of Verneuil the Duke of Bedford sent a herald and trumpeter to "Le Maréchal Comte de Du Glas," as the French styled the earl, to say that "he would come and dine with him;" to which Douglas, who had long been wont to ridicule the English regent as "John with the Leaden Sword," sent for answer that "he was welcome, as the cloth was ready laid." Bedford was resolved to wait an attack; and, knowing the fiery nature of those allies he had come to oppose, he judiciously selected a piece of ground suitable alike for fighting or camping. It was flanked by a hill whereon he posted 2,000 archers, and along his front he planted a row of those pointed stakes introduced at Agincourt for the repelling of cavalry. Douglas drew up his troops in order of battle before the walls of Verneuil. To the Constable Buchan, with the Scots, he assigned the centre; the command of the wings he gave to the Viscount of Narbonne, and Gilbert, the Maréchal de la Fayette. Each wing he covered by 1,000 mounted men-at and barbed horses. Those on the right flank were led by the Lords of Thionville and Estissac, and two Marshals of France, viz., the Seigneur de Xaintrailles, and Philippe de Culant, Seigneur de Jaloignes. Those on the left flank were led by the Lords Laquin de Rue and Valpergue. In his ranks were some raw peasantry, but he had a body of 900 Lombard crossbow-men, who had been sent by the Duke of Milan, and who were all on horseback and in armour. Douglas, after reconnoitring the English position, urged before a Council of War "that as the Duke of Bedford, instead of advancing, evidently intended to fight with advantage on strong and intrenched ground chosen by himself, no battle should be risked." On this many of the French leaders, but chiefly the Viscount de Narbonne, who was jealous of Douglas, declared that if a battle were avoided the honour of France would suffer. Then the viscount -a fierce soldier, who was among the slayers of the Duke of Burgundy-ordering his banner to be displayed, and, in defiance of all orders and advice, began to march with his own followers towards the enemy. enemy. Hall and Père Daniel record that "Douglas was infuriated by this disobedience, but that neither he nor the Constable could avert the purpose of those rash French lords. Scotland they would have left them to their fate, or might perhaps have ended the matter more readily by killing their leader on the spot. But Douglas was in a foreign land, and afraid that his honour might suffer if the field was lost by only half his troops being engaged; and so, compelled by this fear, he issued orders for the whole to advance up the hill, and attack the position of the English." It was at three o'clock in the afternoon of the 16th of August, 1424, that this somewhat important battle began a battle all accounts of which are confused, but on the issue of which the fate of Charles VII. and of France seemed to depend; for Bedford had now reduced every town and castle beyond the Loire. The mass of Douglas's army was on foot; and his Lombard crossbow-men had special orders to attack the English archers, two bodies of which protected Bedford's wings, each, as we have said, with a pointed stake before him, planted at an angle of forty-five degrees. In rear of the English men-atarms were the grooms and pages, with such horses as were unfit for battle, with their collars and tails tied together, so that they could not, if surprised, be carried off with ease. Over these was a guard composed of 2,000 archers, Monstrelet records that "the English as usual set up a great shout," which alarmed the French very much. At the time when the centre column of Scots, under Buchan, came to blows with the English, the Lombard crossbow-men had galloped round to their rear, and there-after failing to make the slightest impression on the stake-protected flanks-they had fallen on the baggage-guard, and, after contriving to cut off a number of sumpter horses, deliberately fled. And now the Viscount of Narbonne, inspired by fresh anger and jealousy on finding that the Scots, halfbreathless though they were from their up-hill march, had first encountered the enemy, according to some accounts maliciously withheld his division from supporting them in a proper manner, in that very conflict which his rashness had brought about. Though the 2,000 mailed horse who covered the extreme flanks attacked the English archers, and, forcing a passage beyond the stakes, broke through the ranks and slew or trampled great numbers of them under hoof, their clothyard shafts from other points soon told with deadly effect on the Scots under Buchan, and the column of La Fayette. The centre, improperly supported, began to retire, though all the nobles and knights, forseeing the ruin and disaster that a defeat would ensure, fought with heroic courage, using their swords, maces, and battle-axes in the closest conflict for more than an hour and during that time, choosing rather to die on the field than survive it with reproach, there fell the Constable Buchan; his father-in-law, the veteran Earl of Douglas; Hop-Pringle, of Smailholm; Sir Robert Stewart; Sir John Swinton, of that ilk; Sir Alexander Home, of that ilk; two Sir James Douglases; Sir Walter Lindesay; De Ventadour; the Viscount of Narbonne; the Lords 89 Graville and Rambouillet; the Comte d'Aumale, aud many gallant knights from Languedoc and Dauphiné, with 5,000 men, "the greater part of whom were Scotsmen," says Enguerrand de Monstrelet, in his Chronicle. Many were wounded, and among them was found by the English, who remained masters of the field, the young Duke of Alençon half dead. He states the English loss at 1,600; among these were two captains, named Dudley and Carleton. Holinshed, on the authority of Montjoy, the English King of Arms, who was present, gives the losses at 9,700 French and Scots, and that of the English at 2,100. Next day Bedford found in Verneuil the military chest, and all the baggage of the French, Scots, and Italians. The latter, on being informed that Douglas and the Constable were victorious, had the hardihood to revisit the field, where they were unhorsed and shot down in the twilight by the English archers, who stripped the dead and wounded of their armour, and even of their clothing. As the English marched into Verneuil, on the 17th of August, they met the body of Narbonne being borne forth for interment; and as his sword had been the first to pierce John the Undaunted, at the bridge of Monterreau, they quartered his remains and hung them on a gibbet. The bodies of the Constable and of Douglas were found covered with wounds, and they were borne from the field with honour by the English, and were interred in one grave, in the cathedral church of St. Gratian, at Tours; and there and at Orleans, so lately as 1643, mass was offered up daily for the souls of the Scots who died in the cause of Charles VII. The survivors of Verneuil he incorporated in his Garde du Corps Escossais. CHAPTER X V I. ROVERAI, 1429. PRIOR to the disastrous Wars of the Roses, Eng- | court, the power of Bedford in France grew weak; land fought no great conflict either by land or sea, save one known in history by the curious title of the "Battle of the Herrings," in which Sir John Fastolfe, with whose name Shakespeare has made us so familiar under another spelling, figured conspicuously. After the victory at Verneuil, where more men ell on both sides than in any battle since Agin for the Duke of Gloucester, on his marriage with Jacqueline of Bavaria, claimed a part of the Netherlands as her inheritance; the Duke of Brabant, who also claimed to be her husband, opposed him, and was supported by the Duke of Burgundy, who thus became estranged from the English alliance. Subsidies came from London grudgingly, and then the Maid of Orleans came upon the scene. In the the bridge, and was looking over Orleans from one of the windows, when a cannon-shot carried away an eye and a cheek, one side of his face; and he expired a day or two after at Melun, leaving the command to the Earl of Suffolk. year before this, 1428, the Regent, contrary to his own wish, was compelled, we are told, by the Council to consent that the English army should cross the Loire and ravage those provinces which owned the sway of Charles, who, since the defeat at Verneuil, had been in ignoble retirement, where This event, together with the duration of the he lived with boon companions, contemplating siege, which had now lasted four months, confirmed only flight to Scotland or to Spain. As a prepara- the Regent Bedford in his first opinion, that the tory step, the Regent besieged Orleans, which was undertaking was a rash one. However, to neglect so situated between the provinces commanded by nothing that was in his power to further the end in England and those possessed by Charles, that it opened an easy entrance to either, and being strongly fortified, was one of the most important places in France. The eyes of all Europe were turned to this scene of action, and numberless deeds of courage and bravery were performed alike by the besiegers and besieged; but the blockade was enforced so strictly, and the general plan of attack was so vigorous, that Charles of France gave over the city for lost, especially after the affair at Roverai which we are about to narrate. Cannon were extensively used in this siege, and by a shot from one of these, Thomas Montacute, the gallant Earl of Salisbury, fell. At the head of the English troops he had succeeded in capturing the tower on view, as the season of Lent was at hand, he sent from Paris an immense supply of fish, chiefly salted herrings, together with a train of artillery, shot, powder, and other stores, in 500 carts, escorted by 1,700 men, under Sir John Fastolfe, one of the bravest and most skilful generals possessed by England at that time, and one whom Henry VI. created Knight of the Garter. Under his orders were Sir Thomas Rampston and Sir Philip Hall, together with 1,000 followers, says Monstrelet, in addition to the troops-meaning, probably, wagoners and grooms. King Charles having received notice of the very day on which the convoy was to leave Paris, resolved to cut it off, and dispatched Louis de |