Book XX

. 191, 192. Evidently the idea of his going to the Holy Land, as Froissart explains the commission,[118] and as it occurs in Bower, gave an opening for embellishment, which expands in the hands of Boece to the extent of thirteen victories achieved by Douglas over the Turks! This, however, is only to give more precision to a composite account contained in the _Buke of the Howlat_ of the middle of the fifteenth century, a poem written in glorification of the Douglases. The author, supposed to be Richard Holland, speaks of the great friendship Bruce had for Douglas: “Reid the writ of thar work to your witness”[119]--a clear reference to the _Bruce_, especially as in xxxv. and xxxvi. he paraphrases the reply of Douglas to the King in