On the other hand,
Lord Maxwell, armed with the royal authority, and numbering among his
followers all the barons of Nithesdale, displayed his banner as the
king's lieutenant, and invaded Annandale, at the head of 2000 men. In
those days, however, the royal auspices to have carried as little good
fortune as effective strength with them. A desperate conflict, still
renowned in tradition, took place at the Dryffe sands, not far from
Lockerby, in which Johnstone, although inferior in numbers, partly by
his own conduct, partly by the valour of his allies, gained a decisive
victory. Lord Maxwell, a tall man, and heavily armed, was struck from
his horse in the flight, and cruelly slain, after the hand, which he
stretched out for quarter, had been severed from his body. Many of
his followers were slain in the battle, and many cruelly wounded;
especially by slashes in the face, which wound was thence termed
a "_Lockerby lick_." The barons of Lag, Closeburn, and Drumlanrig,
escaped by the fleetness of their horses; a circumstance alluded to in
the following ballad.
[Footnote 195: It is devoutly to be wished, that this Lammie (who was
killed in the skirmish) may have been the same miscreant, who, in the
day of Queen Mary's distress, "hes ensigne being of quhyt taffitae,
had painted one it ye creuell murther of King Henry, and layed down
before her majestie, at quhat time she presented herself as prisoner
to ye lordis.
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