Note 247 — Chapter VIII

Compare John and Rich. Hexham 1138. Ail. de bel. Stand. Flor. Vigorn. Contin. 1138. Hen. Hunt., l. 8, p. 222. In the description of the battle I have principally followed Ailred. A comparison between the Priors of Hexham and the Continuator of Florence, will show the difference between the chronicler who lived in the neighbourhood of the scenes he describes, and he who, a tenant of a distant monastery, probably relied upon hearsay evidence. The battle of Northallerton was naturally a disagreeable subject for the Scottish chroniclers. Wynton, with characteristic honesty, says “the Scottis ware discomfyt and mony ... in depe lowchys drownyd was.” Fordun, Major, and Buchanan, divide the battle into two, perhaps from some confusion with the fight at Clitheroe. At the battle of Northallerton the English are routed; but in the following year the Scots, through despising their enemy, who are in great numbers, receive a check at the Standard. Boece, with a soul above such half-measures, stoutly claims a victory, ransoming the English leader, the Duke of Gloucester, at an enormous sum! Ford., l. 5, c. 42. Maj., l. 3, c. 11. Buch. l. 7. Boece, bk. 12, c. 17.