Springs from the blow the startled horse,
Drops to the plain the lifeless corse.
The battle began on the following morning, Midsummer Day, and the mighty
host of heavily armed men on large horses moved forward along what they
thought was hard road, only to fall into the concealed pits carefully
prepared beforehand by Bruce and to sink in the bogs over which they had
to pass. It can easily be imagined that those behind pressing forward
would ride over those who had sunk already, only to sink themselves in
turn. Thousands perished in that way, and many a thrown rider, heavily
laden with armour, fell an easy prey to the hardy Scots. The result was
disastrous to the English, and it was said that 30,000 of them were
killed, while the Scots were able afterwards to raid the borders of
England almost to the gates of York.
The surgeon said that in the Royal College of Surgeons in London a rib
of Bruce, the great Scottish king, was included in the curios of the
college, together with a bit of the cancerous growth which killed
Napoleon. It was said that Bruce's rib was injured in a jousting match
in England many years before he died, and that the fracture was made
good by a first-class surgeon of the time.
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