A.TJ. 1306. BOBEBT BBT7CE COLLECTS A OTJMEEOUS ARMY . 587 peated from choir to choir, could not be heard. And the next day, the king invested his son with the belt of a knight, in his own palace, and conferred on him the duchy of Aquitaine. Therefore, the prince being now made a knight, went into the church at Westminster to adorn his comrades, in like manner, with the decoration of knights. Moreover, so great was the pressure there of the people in front of the great altar, that two knights died, and many fainted, even though each had at least their knights to guide and countenance him. And, on account of the pressure of the crowd, the prince caused the multitude to be divided by his mounted guards, and invested his comrades on the great altar. Then there were brought in in procession, with great splendour, two swans, or genets, before the king, equipped with golden trappings or gilded pipes, a beautiful spectacle for the beholders. And when he beheld them, the king vowed to the God of Heaven, and to the swans, that living or dead he would march into Scotland, and avenge the death of John Comyn, and chastise the perjury of the Scots ; and adjuring the prince, and the other superior nobles of the land, by the faith which they owed him, that if he died before he had accomplished his vow, they would carry his body with them into Scotland with the army, and not bury him till the Lord had given him victory and triumph over the crowned traitor, and the perjured nation. And this they all promised in good faith, declaring that whether the king lived or died, they were ready to march with the prince into Scotland, in fulfilment of the king's vow. After this, they all became more calm, and having saluted the king on the day after the feast of the Holy Trinity, they departed from Westminster, engaging to be present with the king, in the course of the fortnight after the feast of Saint John the Baptist, to march into Scotland. And for this expedition of the king's son, the thirtieth penny, from both laity and clergy, was granted to the king ; and the merchants granted him the twentieth penny. Meantime, a great contest was going on between the people of the Scots and English, as to which of them should prove to be greater in battle. In the meantime, Robert Bruce, going round the country and receiving the homage of many, having collected a numerous army, on the morrow of Saint John the Baptist approached the town of Saint John, for the defence of which Aymer de Valence had lately arrived ; and,