Through the fair country of Tiviotdale King David marched forth; King David and his princely son, The heroes of the North. And holy Thurston fro' merry Carlisle, In haste his way doth wind, With many a cross-bearer before, And many a knight behind. The arguments used by the bishop to dissuade the invader are of universal interest, and as applicable now as then:-- Out then spoke the holy Thurston, And full of woe spake he, "O Christ, thy kingdom of heavenly bliss, Alas, when shall we see! For here on earth is nought but sin, And kings for pride do ill, And when they with each other war The poor folks blood must spill. What hath the husbandman done wrong That he must spoil his grain? What the poor widow, and what the child, That they must all be slain? And what is the simple maid to blame To be made of lust the prey? And what the lowly village priest That they so oft do slay? And when the doleful day of doom Shall call ye from the grave, From the crying blood of these innocents What tyrants shall ye save? Now think thee well, O mortal King, And thy misdeeds bemoan, And think what will save thy hapless soul, When all thy pomp is gone. Nor fancy that alms will save thy soul, Though bounteous they be given; Nor the rearing of abbeys all rich endowed Will carry thy soul to heaven." From the time of Henry I. the place began to prosper, though it appears from Stowe that, in 1829, a great portion of it was burned down. In the year 1300, King Edward I. summoned his barons and knights to meet him here on the feast-day of St. John the Baptist, to prepare for the invasion of Scotland; which was afterwards commenced by the siege of Carlaverock castle. The same monarch also summoned a Parliament to meet here in the year 1307, the last parliament of his reign. A complete list of the members who attended is to be found in Stowe's _Annals_, including, says the historian, "eighty-seven earls and barons, twenty bishops, sixty-one abbots, and eight priors, besides many deacons, archdeacons and other inferior clerks. The subject of their deliberations was the Scottish war, and the sore annoyance given by Robert Bruce. The King remained here from January, when the Parliament was summoned, during all the winter and summer, disposing of many things concerning Scotland at his pleasure," but vexing himself to death at his inability, from sickness and other causes, to march against Robert Bruce. He had some revenge, however, for a party of his men "capturing one Thomas, that was a knight, and one Alexander, that was a priest and dean of Glasgow," who had been sent by Robert Bruce to "allure away the English people by gentle persuasion;" he had them summarily hanged, drawn, and quartered, and placed their heads upon the gates of