gained in the first assault; and the battle was maintained, from sunrise
till noon, with excessive obstinacy on both sides; but it at last
concluded in favour of the resolution and endurance of the Scots, who
repulsed the enemy on every quarter, and cleared their ramparts of their
assailants. At this moment, by Edward's orders, the sow began its
advance towards the walls; and the cran, or catapult, armed with a mass
of rock, was seen straining its timbers, and taking its aim against the
approaching monster. On the first discharge the stone flew far beyond;
and, as its conductors hurried forward the immense machine, the second
missile fell short of it. A third block of granite was now got ready,
and an English engineer who had been taken prisoner was commanded, on
pain of death, to direct the aim; whilst the sow was moving forward with
a rapidity which in a few seconds must have brought it to the foot of
the walls. All gazed on for an instant in breathless suspense,--but only
for an instant. The catapult was discharged,--a loud booming noise in
the air accompanied the progress of its deadly projectile,--and, in a
moment afterwards, a tremendous crash, mingled with the shrieks of the
victims and the shouts of the soldiers from the walls, declared the
destruction of the huge machine. It had been hit so truly, that the
stone passed through the roofs, shivering its timbers into a thousand
pieces; and crushing and mangling in a frightful manner the unhappy
soldiers who manned its different platforms. As those amongst them who
escaped rushed out from its broken fragments, the Scottish soldiers,
imitating the witticism of black Agnis at the siege of Dunbar, shouted
out that the English sow had farrowed. Crab now cast his chains and
grappling-hooks over the ruins of the machine, and, dragging it nearer
the walls, poured down his combustibles in such quantity, that it was
soon consumed to ashes. The complete failure in this land attack seems
to have cast a damp over the naval operations; and, although the ships
attempted to move on to the walls at flood-tide, they were driven back