married in February, 1399-1400, a daughter of the Earl of Douglas, the hereditary foe of March.  The Dunbar allegiance had always been doubtful, and it was only the influence of the great countess that had brought it to the patriotic side.  In August, 1400, Henry marched into Scotland, and besieged for three days the castle of Edinburgh, which was successfully defended by the regent, while Albany was at the head of an army which made no attempt to interfere with Henry’s movements.  Difficulties in Wales now attracted Henry’s attention, and he left Scotland without having accomplished anything, and leaving the record of the mildest and most merciful English invasion of Scotland.  The necessities of his position in England may explain his abstaining from spoiling religious houses as his predecessors had done, but the chroniclers tell us that he gave protection to every town that asked it.  While Henry was suppressing the Welsh revolt and negotiating with his Parliament, Albany and Rothesay were struggling for the government of Scotland.  Rothesay fell from power in 1401, and in March, 1402, he died at Falkland.  Contemporary rumour and subsequent legend attributed his death to Albany, and, as in the case of Richard II, the method of death was supposed to be starvation.  Sir Walter has told the story in The Fair Maid of Perth.  Albany, who had succeeded him as regent or guardian, made no effort to end the meaningless war with England, which went fitfully on.  An idiot mendicant, who was represented to be Richard II, gave the Scots their first opportunity of supporting a pretender to the English throne; but the pretence was too ridiculous to be seriously maintained.  The French refused to take any part in such a scheme, and the pseudo-Richard served only to annoy Henry IV, and scarcely gave even a semblance of significance to the war, which really degenerated into a series of border raids, one of which was of unusual importance.  Henry had no intention of seriously prosecuting the claim of homage, and the continuance of hostilities is really explained by the ill-will between March and Douglas and the old feud between the Douglases and the Percies.  In June, 1402, the Scots were defeated in a skirmish at Nesbit in Berwickshire (the scene of a small Scottish victory in 1355), and, in the following September, occurred the disaster of Homildon Hill.  Douglas and Murdoch Stewart, the eldest son of Albany, had collected a large army, and the incursion was raised to the level of something like national importance.  They marched into England and took up a strong position on Homildon Hill or Heugh.  The Percies, under Northumberland and Hotspur, sent against them a body of English archers, who easily outranged the Scottish bowmen, and threw the army into confusion.  Then ensued, as at Dupplin and Halidon Hill, a simple massacre.  Murdoch Stewart and Douglas were taken captive with several other Scots lords.  Close on Homildon Hill followed the rebellion of the Percies, and the result of the