=2. Chapter of Mitton.=--While the siege went on, the _Border_ counties were so sorely harried by the Scots that at last the _Archbishop of York_ and the clergy took up arms in their defence. But they were thoroughly beaten, and this battle was called the _Chapter of Mitton_, from the number of clerks left dead on the field. Edward could have ended all this by acknowledging Robert as King, but he would not. A two years' truce was made in 1319, but, as soon as it was ended, he once more invaded Scotland with a large army. He found nothing but a wasted country, for the Scots had carried both provisions and cattle to the hills, nor would they come out to fight, though they harassed the rear of the retreating army. At last the people of the northern counties of England grew weary of the constant struggle. They had suffered so much loss from the inroads of the Scots that they at last resolved that, if the King would not make peace for them, they must come to terms with the enemy on their own account. Edward, who feared that he might thus lose a part of his kingdom, agreed to a thirteen years' truce, which was concluded in 1323. In this treaty Robert was allowed to take his title of King, though the English would not give it him. But when a few years later Edward was deposed and his son Edward _the Third_ placed in his stead, his government would not confirm the truce in the form at first agreed on. The Scots upon this made another raid upon England, swept the country, and carried off their spoil before the eyes of a large English army. The Scots had in their plundering expeditions a great advantage over the English in the greater simplicity of their habits. They were mounted on small light horses, which at night were turned out to graze. They carried no provisions, except a small bag of oatmeal, which each man bore at his saddle, together with a thin iron plate on which he baked his meal into cakes. For the rest of their food they trusted to plunder. They burned and destroyed everything as they passed, and, when they seized more cattle than they could use, they slew them and left them behind on the place where their camp had been.