MATTHEW OF WJS8TMINSTEB. A.D. 1303. of the want which the besieged had endured, and how many of them were dead, and he advised them to persist in their enterprise. Oh thou traitor, thou eon of Rechab, art thou ignorant of the reward which the king of David will give you ? Who has resisted him, and found peace ? Who has deceived him, and not mourned in his turn ? Therefore the Scots returned, and laid siege to the castle a second time ; and the besieged not having any means of supporting life, after three days surrendered the castle to the lord John de Soulis, and the Scots agreed to allow them to depart in freedom to the king of England. Then the guardianship of that castle was entrusted to a valiant soldier selected from among thousands, William Olifant, who had under him three hundred warlike men, stationed in various places, of whom he retained a hundred and twenty about himself for the defence of that castle. For these and many other injuries the king of England now invaded Scotland, in order to bridle the jaws of the Scots with bit and bridle, as they, not agreeing to the peace which he offered them, had violated it, and were planning treachery all day. Therefore, he occupied their towns and fortresses with a strong army. And when he approached the castle of Brechin, which opposed him, he commanded siege to be laid to it. But the defender of that castle, a most valiant knight of great personal strength, by name Thomas Maille, not fearing the army of the king, but trusting in the strength of his thick walls, did not in the least regard the violent assaults of the engines. Since, when the powerful instruments of the king of England kept incessantly hurling stones against the walls of the castle, and yet the wall did not yield ; that valiant knight, Thomas, stood by with a towel, and wiped off the mark of the stone from the wall, by way of insulting and deriding the whole English army. And when he had defended the castle gallantly for forty days, on the eve of Saint Lawrence, while he was standing near the battlements of the wall, the engine being aimed at Thomas himself, a blow from the stone which was shot from it struck a part of the battlement, and bounding off onwards by its own force, struck the valiant knight Thomas, who was standing near, in the chest, and he being fearfully shaken, presently fell down on his back. And while he was still breathing, his servants ran up, and asked whether they were to surrender the castle yet. And he, bidding them farewell, cursed them for entertaining such an idea, and so expired.