þarfor þat bargane callit was þe Chapter of Mytoune; for þare slayn sa mony prestis ware.

 

NOW leiff we þir folk heir lyand
all still, as I haf borne on hand,
and turn þe cours of our carpyng
till Schir Robert the douchty Kyng,
þat assemblit baþ fer and neir
ane host, quhen þat he wist, but weir, 
þat the Kyng swa of Yngland
had assegit with stalward hand
Berwyk, quhar Walter Steward was.

Till purpos with his men he tais,
þat he wald nocht sa soyne assale
þe Kyng of Yngland wiþ battale,
and at his dykis specially,
for it mycht weill turn to foly.

þarfor he ordanit lordis twa,
þe Erll of Murreff wes ane of þa,
þe toþir wes þe Lord Dowglas,
wiþ fyftene þousand men to pas
in Yngland, for till burn and sla,
and swa great ryot þar till ma,
þat þai þat lay segande þe toune,
quhen þai herd þe distructione,
þat þai suld intill Yngland ma, 
suld be sa dredand, and sa wa
for þair chyldir and for þair wyffis,
þat þai suld dreid suld leis þar lyffis,
and þar gudis alsua, þat þai
suld dreid þan suld be had away,
þat þai suld leif þe sege in hy,
and wend to reskew hastely
þair gude, þair frendis, and þair land.

þarfor, as I haf borne on hand,
þir lordis send he furþ in hy;
and þai þair way tuk hastely,
and in Yngland gert byrn and sla,
and wroucht þarin so mekill was
as þai forrayit þe cuntre,
þat it wes pite for to se
till þame þat wald it ony gude,
for þai distroyit all as þai ȝude.

So lang þai raid distroyande swa,
as þai traversit to and fra,
þat þai ar cummyne till Repoune, 
and distroyit haly þat toune.

At Burrow Brig syne þar herbry
þai tuk, and at Mytoun þarby.

And quhen þe men of þat cuntre
saw þar land sa distroyit be, 
þai gaderit, intill full gret hy
archeris, burges, wiþ ȝemenry,
prestis, clerkis, monkis, and freris,
husbandis, and men of all mysteris,
quhill at þai sammyn assemmyllit war
weill tuenty þousand men and mair.

Richt gud armyng eneuch þai had.

þe archbischop of ȝork þai maid
þair capitaine; and to consale
has tane, þat þai in playn battale
wald assale þe Scottis men,
þat fer fewar þan þai war þan.

þan he displayit his baneir,
and oþir bischoppes, þat þar wer,
gert display baneris alsua.

All in a rout furþ can þai ga
toward Mytoune þe reddy way;
and quhen þat Scottis men herd say
þat þai war till þame cumand neir, 
þai buskit þame on þar best maneir,
and delit þame intill battellis twa.

Dowglas þe vaward he can ma;
þe reirward maid þe Erll Thomas,
for chiftane of þe host he was.

Quhen aþir had of oþir sicht,
þai pressit on baþ halfis to ficht.

þe Ynglis men com on sadly
wiþ gud contenans and hardy,
rycht in a frount with a baner,
quhill þai þair fayis com so neir,
þat þai þar visage weill mycht se.

þre sper-lynþ, I trow weill, mycht be
betuix þame, quhen sic abasing
tuk þame, but mar, into a swyng,
þai gaf þe bak all, and toga.

Quhen Scottis men has seyn þame swa
affrayitly fle all þar way,
in gret hy apon þame schot þai,
and slew and tuk a gret party.

þe laiff fled full effrayitly
as þai best mycht, to seik warrand.

þai war chassit so neir at hand,
þat weill ane þousand deit þar;
and of þaim ȝeit þre hundreþ war
prestis þat deit into þat chas.

þarfor þat bargane callit was
þe Chapter of Mytoune; for þare
slayn sa mony prestis ware. 

But now
we leave that folk and land
and banter instead
about Sir Robert
the doughty king
who assembled far and near
a host
when he learned
was concerned to hear
the King of England
had with stalwart hand
laid siege to Berwick
where Walter Steward was

His men he arrayed
with a will 
not so soon to assail
the King of England in battle
behind his works especially
for well might it turn to folly

So he ordained lords twain
the Earl of Murreff for one
t'other the Lord Douglas
with fifteen thousand men 
to pass over into England
for to burn and slay
and riot the more
so those sieging the town
when they heard the destruction
to England once more return
such their dread
for their children and wives
such their dread
for lives and goods lost
such their dread
to be far from home
they lift the siege in haste
to rescue
their goods
their friends
their land

So
as I wrote now
the lords sent he to hasten
to take the road hastely
to set about England
to burn and slay
and wreak therein
such enomous woe
as they forrayed the country
it was a pity for to see
for them that wished it any good
for they destroyed it all they could
as on their way they went

So deep they raided
to and fro
they came to Ripon
and destroyed it whole
at Boroughbridge 
then they took 
to the fields and woods
and came thereby 
to Myton

And when the men of that country
saw their land destroyed
gathered they in full great urgency
archers
townsmen and yeomen
priests and clerks
monks and friars
husbandmen
the men of all mysteries
the men of all crafts
twenty thousand 
assembled there
or more
armed well enough

There they made
their captain
the Archbishop of York
and in council told
the Scot's they'd assail
in plain battle
for fewer they were
than them

He displays his banner
and the other bishops
who were there
flew their banners also
and off they went
a rabble 
by the ready way
to Myton

When the Scots 
heard they were near
they shook themselves out
in their finest manner
arrayed themselves
into battles twain
Douglas the vaward formed
the rearward took Earl Thomas
chiftain of the host he was

Ordered in good array
on their foes
they made their way

When the one
caught sight the other
they pressed on
for to fight

The Englishmen
came on grimly
countenance
good and hardy
their banner 
before

Come on
till they were so near
their foemen's countenance
they well could read
come on
three spear-length's
between them
truly say I
when they lost all heart
turned their backs 
without so much
as a swing

When the Scotsmen
saw them
fly in fright
they went for them
like a shot
slew them
took plenty

The rest
fled in fear
as best they might
for to seek shelter
somewhere safe
they pressed the pursuit
so hard upon them
a good thousand
died right there
and of them
three hundred priests
died in the chase
so they called it
the Chapter of Myton
for there slain
so many priests
were

Notes.

his men he tais. That moment when you find the entry in the Early Scots dictionary, and it reads '?'

Contexually, I think this relates to teillen, one of whose senses is of shaking men out into a battleline; that works here, as Robert sets his columns on the road south. It also chimes somewhat with the examples I've seen from the Scots corpus, which concern stones and ingots being laid out. 

at Burrow Brig syne þar herbry / thai tuk, and at Myton þarby. Barbour nails this. Look at this capture from the current OS map.

Ripon top left, Boroughbridge bottom right. I suspect the top most east/west road is the one they followed, crossing the Great North Road (in blue) into the town from the north via the bridge, and then off into the meadows and copses beyond. 

Between Boroughbridge and Myton is decent enough hill, such that anyone in the meadows towards Myton would be hidden from anyone in the town. This also illustrated how close the two battles really were; Myton is marked bottom right, while the fight for the ford at Boroughbridge happened top left, on the river below Milby. 

What the þe reddy way the Archbishop's men took to Myton was, I am not sure. Something to explore. But if they had been told exactly where the Scots were, their making for the crossing at Myton does make sense, else I assume they'd have taken the Great North Road like anyone else. 

men of all mysteries. Guildsmen. Men initiated into their craft. That indeed is where all that comes from. 

The description of the York muster conspicously doesn't mention men-at-arms; whether the archeris heading the list were seasoned soldiers making their living that way this early in the fourteenth century is doubtful; the Hundred Years War would change that. 

richt gud armyng eneuch þai had. The usual method for raising an army was to call a muster of everyone eligible to serve, then pick the youngest, fittest, most experienced and best armed and equipped. Here, Barbour is saying they turned out well enough for their various stations in life.

þai buskit þame on þar best maneir / and delit þame intill battellis twa. Their watch warns them the Archbishop's men are coming, and they array themselves into two 'battles' or 'wards', which in the Brut were called wenge, wings. Think about them as brigades of small contingents, and you've pretty much got it. Organisation could be ad hoc, but  notice how often Barbour stresses their sense of discipline and soldierly intent. No drama, they just turn out for it. 

Dowglas the vaward he can ma / the reirward maid the Erll Thomas / for chiftane of the host he was. Typically, historians will talk of an army of this period being arrayed into three 'guards'; the main body is preceeded by the vanguard, whose job it is to scout the road and hold the enemy in place should contact be made, to allow the rest to catch up and deploy. Behind comes the rearguard; between rear and main the baggage often travelled.

When they formed on the field of battle, the vanguard would form on the right, the main in the middle, and the rear on the left. 

However, and as I hope to entertainingly show, no two Medieval battles are really the same, and leaders on the day improvised and adapted, much as they do today. The number of divisions varied; three often enough, but two also, as we see here and at Boroughbridge, and occasionally four. Baggage would also sometimes comprise its own battlefield presence. 

Thomas being senior commands the main, while Douglas, dashing and aggressive, takes the vaward, and vanguard. Likely Thomas's ward was the larger. 

Barbour doesn't mention the hobilers from the Brut, but they were likely drawn from Douglas' vanguard. The coup would also be characteristic of Douglas, who was a renowned border fighter. Doesn't mention the smoke screen, either. 

John Barbour's The Brus is a masterpiece of Medieval storytelling, and in some respects is to literary Scots what Beowulf is to English. It was composed during the 1370s, and tells the story of the war waged under Robert Bruce and James Douglas to expel the English, and then press their advantage. This passage is topped and tailed by a lively description of the Siege of Berwick, which I'll come back to at some point. 

In terms of language, Early Scots is a branch of Northumbrian; the divergence of Scots and English which we know today took place during the Middle Scots/Early Modern English period, after about 1450. 

Illustration: John Hassall's 'Bannockburn' (1914-15). A romantic view of a Scots army arrayed before battle; they'd have been somewhat better decked out than this, and there'd be a lot of long spears. And the plaid is much, much later. But it does capture something of what Barbour is describing, and in the context of the opening of the Great War, there is a poignancy. It illustrates how the lore of one war contributes to another; this is about the time the 'Angels of Mons' and other ghostly phenomena relating to earlier wars in the Low Country and Northern France were rumoured.