The poetical works of Sir Walter Scott, with memoir of the author.

156 THE LAY OF [CANTO V.
Their men in battle-order set;
And Swinton laid the lance in rest,
That tamed of yore the sparkling crest
Of Clarence's Plantagenet.'
Nor list I say what hundreds more,
From the rich Merse and Lammermore,
And Tweed's fair borders, to the war,
Beneath the crest of old Dunbar,
And Hepburn's mingled banners come,
Down the steep mountain glittering far,
And shouting still, " A Home! a Home "! 2
1 At the battle of Beaugd, in France, Thomas, Duke of
Clarence, brother to Henry V., was unhorsed by Sir John
Swinton of Swinton, who distinguished him by a coronet set
with precious stones, which he wore around his helmet. The
family of Swinton is one of the most ancient in Scotland, and
produced many celebrated warriors.3
2 The Earls of Home, as descendants of the Dunbars, ancient Earls of March, carried a lion rampant, argent; but, as
a difference, changed the colour of the shield from gules to
vert, in allusion to Greenlaw, their ancient possession. The
slogan, or war-cry, of this powerful family, was, " A Home!
a Home! " It was anciently placed in an escrol above the
crest. The helmet is armed with a lion's head erased gules,
with a cap of state gules, turned up ermine.
The Hepburns, a powerful family in East Lothian, were
usually in close alliance with the Homes. The chief of this
clan was Hepburn, Lord of Hailes; a family which terminated in the too famous Earl of Bothwell.
3 [See the Battle of Hallidon Hill. Sir W. Scott was descended from Sir John Swinton.-ED.]