Concerning historical facts he is not more thorough in research. The
story, in Percy's Reliques, of the slaying of Douglas by Percy, "is, so
far as I know, supported neither by history nor by tradition." {53c}
If unfamiliar with the English chroniclers (in Latin) of the end of the
fourteenth century, Colonel Elliot could find them cited by Professor
Child. Knyghton, Walsingham, and the continuator of Higden (Malverne),
all assert that Percy killed Douglas with his own hand. {54a} The
English ballad of Otterburne (in MS. of about 1550) gives this version
of Douglas's death. It is erroneous. Froissart, a contemporary, had
accounts of the battle from combatants, both English and Scottish.
Douglas, fighting in the front of the van, on a moonlight night, was
slain by three lance-wounds received in the mellay. The English knew
not whom they had slain.
The interesting point is that, while the Scottish ballads give either
the English version of Percy's death (in Minstrelsy, 1806) or another
account mentioned by Hume of Godscroft (circ.
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