Clan Gillean

66 The Clan Gillean.
pockets, or seizing the lands which' belonged to the
monastery of Iona. He was not the only man,
however, who was guilty of covetousness in action
in these respects.
In 1513, James IV. resolved to invade England.
He crossed the border on the 22nd of August at
the head of the largest army that any Scottish
king had ever yet commanded. He captured Nor-
ham Castle and the fortresses of Wark, Etal, and
Ford in a short time. Instead, however, of prose-
cuting the war with vigour, he remained at Ford
Castle for quite a long time, either to keep com-
pany with Lady Heron, whose husband was a
prisoner in his hands, or else to serve the flesh and
the Devil. This attractive woman was thoroughly
true to her country, and faithfully communicated
full information with respect to the purposes and
movements of her royal slave to his enemies. In
consequence of his delay at Ford Castle, James had
only about 30,000 followers when he pitched his
camp on Flodden Hill on the 6th of September.
He was a thoroughly trained fighter and a brave
man ; but his stubbornness, vanity, absurd notions
of chivalry, and lack of skill as a general, utterly
unfitted him for the position of commander-in-
chief of an army. When Lord Patrick Lindsay,
a warrior of experience and sense, advised that the
King should retire from the army for the safety of
his person, James replied in a rage that when he
would return to Scotland he would hang Lindsay
over his own gate. When the aged Earl of