The English monarch delivered up Lilburn to justice
in Scotland, but Heron and Starhead escaped. The latter chose his
residence in the very centre of England, to baffle the vengeance of
Ker's clan and followers. Two dependants of the deceased, called Tait,
were deputed by Andrew Ker of Cessford to revenge his father's
murder. They travelled through England in various disguises till they
discovered the place of Starhead's retreat, murdered him in his bed,
and brought his head in triumph to Edinburgh, where Ker caused it to
be exposed at the cross. The bastard Heron would have shared the same
fate, had he not spread abroad a report of his having died of the
plague, and caused his funeral obsequies to be performed.--_Ridpath's
History_, p. 481.--_See also Metrical Account of the Battle of
Flodden, published by the Rev. Mr. Lambe_.]
As this border hero was a person of great note in his way, he is
frequently alluded to by the writers of the time. Sir David Lindsay
of the Mount, in the curious play published by Mr. Pinkerton, from the
Bannatyne MS., introduces a pardoner, or knavish dealer in reliques,
who produces, among his holy rarities--
--The cordis, baith grit and lang,
Quhilt hangit Johnnie Armistrang,
Of gude hempt, soft and sound,
Gude haly pepill, I stand ford,
Wha'evir beis hangit in this cord,
Neidis nevir to be drowned!
_Pinkerton's Scottish Poems_, Vol.
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