much spoil.  But, as he returned with his booty, he was attacked, at unawares, by Sir John Lillburne, a Northumbrian, who, with a superior force, lay near Carham in ambush, to intercept him.  Gordon harangued and cheered his followers, charged the English gallantly, and, after having himself been five times in great peril, gained a complete victory; slaying many southerns, and taking their leader and his brother captive.  According to the prior of Lochlevin, he was desperately wounded; but

  “Thare rays a welle gret renowne,
  “And gretly prysyd wes gud Gordown.”

Shortly after this exploit, Sir John of Gordon encountered and routed Sir Thomas Musgrave, a renowned English marc-hman whom he made prisoner.  The lord of Johnstone had, about the same time, gained a great advantage on the west border; and hence, says Wynton,

  He and the Lord of Gordowne
  Had a soverane gud renown,
  Of ony that war of thare degre,
  For full thai war of gret bounte.

Upon another occasion, John of Gordon is said to have partially succeeded in the surprisal of the town of Berwick, although the superiority of the garrison obliged him to relinquish his enterprise.

The ballad is accurate, in introducing this warrior, with his clan, into the host of Douglas at Otterbourne.  Perhaps, as he was in possession of his extensive northern domains, he brought to the field the northern broad-swords, as well as the lances of his eastern borderers.  With his gallant leader, he lost his life in the deadly conflict.  The English ballad commemorates his valour and prudence;

  “The Erle of Huntley, cawte and kene.”

But the title is a premature designation.  The earldom of Huntly was first conferred on Alexander Seaton, who married the grand-daughter of the hero of Otterbourne, and assumed his title from Huntly, in the north.  Besides his eldest son Adam, who carried on the line of the family, Sir John de Gordon left two sons, known, in tradition, by the familiar names of Jock and Tam.  The former was the ancestor of the Gordons of Pitlurg; the latter of those of Lesmoir, and of Craig-Gordon.  This last family is now represented by James Gordon, Esq. of Craig, being the eleventh, in direct descent, from Sir John de Gordon.

The Graemes.

The clan of Graeme, always numerous and powerful upon the border, were of Scottish origin, and deduce the descent of their chieftain, Graeme of Netherby, from John with the bright sword, a son of Malice Graeme, Earl of Menteith, who flourished in the fourteenth century.  Latterly, they became Englishmen, as the phrase went, and settled upon the Debateable Land, whence they were transported to Ireland, by James VI., with the exception of a very few respectable families; “because,” said his majesty in a proclamation, “they do all (but especially the Graemes) confess themselves to be no meet persons to live in these countries; and also, to the intent