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When the young king David was landed in his own country, his subjects came to him in crowds; and with great joy and solemnity they conducted him to the town of Perth. Thither came people from all parts to see him, and to carouse; they afterwards remonstrated with him, upon the destruction which king Edward and the English had done to Scotland. King David told them he would have ample revenge, or he would lose his kingdom, and his life into the bargain. By the advice of his council, he sent messengers to all his friends far and near, to beg and entreat they would aid and assist him in this enterprise. The earl of Orkney was the first who obeyed the summons: he was a great and powerful baron, and had married king David’s sister. There came with him many men at arms. Many other barons and knights came from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark: some out of affection and friendship, and others for pay. There were such numbers from all parts, that, when they were arrived at Perth and its neighbourhood, on the day which king David had appointed, they amounted to sixty thousand men on foot, and three thousand men more mounted on galloways, with arms, knights, and squires: in short, all the nobility and gentry of Scotland. When they were ready, they set out, to do as much mischief as possible to their neighbours in England; for the truce was expired; or to fight with the king who had destroyed their country. They left, therefore, the town of Perth, in regular order, and came the first night to Dunfermline, where they lay. On the morrow, they crossed a small arm of the sea1hard by. When they had all passed, they pushed forward, and went under Edinburgh castle, traversing Scotland near to Roxburgh, where there was an English garrison, but without making an attack upon it, for fear of losing any of their men, or despoiling their artillery; not knowing what force they might have to encounter, as they proposed doing some gallant deeds of renown before their return to Scotland.
They then passed near to the town of Berwick, but without assaulting it, entered the county of Northumberland, and came to the river Tyne, burning and destroying all the country through which they passed. They marched on until they were before the town of Newcastle, where king David and his army halted that night, in order to consider if they could not achieve something worthy of them. Towards daybreak, some gentlemen of the neighbourhood, who were in the town, made a sally out of one of the gates, in a secret manner, with about two hundred lances, to make an attack upon the Scots army. They fell upon one of the wings of the army, directly on the quarters of the earl of Moray, who bore for his arms three pillows, gules on a field argent. He was in his bed when they took him prisoner, and killed a great many before the army was awakened. Having made a very large booty, they regained the town, which they entered with great joy and triumph, and delivered up the earl of Moray to the governor, the lord John Neville2. When the army was awakened and armed, they ran like madmen towards the town, even to the barriers, where they made a fierce assault, which lasted a considerable time. It availed them, however, nothing, but the loss of their people; for the town was well provided with men at arms, who defended themselves valiantly and prudently, which obliged the assailants to retire with loss.