--Among these was the Lord Maxwell, who was compelled, by the
menaces of Henry, to swear allegiance to the English monarch. There is
still in existence the spirited instrument of vindication, by which
he renounces his connection with England, and the honours and estates
which had been proffered him, as the price of treason to his infant
sovereign. From various bonds of manrent, it appears, that all
the western marches were swayed [Sidenote: 1543] by this powerful
chieftain. With Maxwell, and the other captives, returned to Scotland
the banished Earl of Angus, and his brother, Sir George Douglas, after
a banishment of fifteen years. This powerful family regained at least
a part of their influence upon the borders; and, grateful to the
kingdom which had afforded them protection during their exile, became
chiefs of the English faction in Scotland, whose object it was to urge
a contract of marriage betwixt the young queen and the heir apparent
of England. The impetuosity of Henry, the ancient hatred betwixt the
nations, and the wavering temper of the governor, Arran, prevented
the success of this measure. The wrath of the disappointed monarch
discharged itself in a wide-wasting and furious invasion of the
east marches, conducted by the Earl of Hertford. Seton, Home,
and Buccleuch, hanging on the mountains of Lammermoor, saw, with
ineffectual regret, the fertile plains of Merse and Lothian, and the
metropolis itself, reduced to a smoking desert.
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