=12. Raid of Otterburn.=--A few years later the Scots barons made another raid on the north of England. An army 5,000 strong mustered at Jedburgh. By the capture of an English spy, they learned that the English meant to keep out of their way, and, while they entered England, to make a counter-raid on the south of Scotland. To defeat this plan the Scots parted their force into two bands, one of which was to enter England on the east, the other on the west. The eastern division, under the Earls of _Douglas_, _Dunbar_, and _Moray_, swept the country as far as _Durham_. As they were returning laden with spoil, they tarried three days near _Newcastle_, where were gathered the English barons under _Ralph_ and _Henry Percy_, sons of the _Earl of Northumberland_, the Warden of the Marches. Many skirmishes then took place between the two forces. In one of these Douglas took the pennon of Sir Henry Percy, surnamed _Hotspur_, and challenged him to come to his tent and win it back. The next day the Scots moved off and encamped near _Otterburn Tower_. Percy hurried after them and attacked them in the night. The Scots, though fewer in number, had the advantage of being in a well-defended camp. They won the day, but the victory was dearly bought, for Douglas was slain in the fight. This battle, in which many lives were lost without any real cause, and without doing any good whatever, was reckoned one of the best fought battles of that warlike time. It was all hand to hand fighting, and all the knights engaged in it on both sides showed great valour. Their feats of arms have been commemorated in the spirit-stirring ballad of _Chevy Chase_. The Scots came back to their own land, bringing with them Hotspur and more than forty English knights whom they had taken prisoners. This fight, which was called the Raid of Otterburn, took place in August 1388. Robert died in 1390. He left the country at peace; for a truce between England and France, taking in Scotland as an ally of the latter, had been made the year before.