Chapter VI: War of Independence. Robert Bruce

AS we have seen, the Earl of Carrick was assisting Edward I. in his last campaign, and supplied him with a battering-ram for the siege of Stirling Castle. His father, Robert Bruce of Annandale, died in the spring of 1304, and he then succeeded to the large family estates in England and in Scotland. Bruce was a young man, little over thirty years, and hitherto had shown a rather vacillating character. As he was the grandson of the Bruce who had fought out the contest in Edward’s court for the Crown with the deposed Baliol, he had always looked forward to the throne of Scotland. In June, 1304, he met with Bishop Lamberton; they had a conversation together touching impending dangers, and entered into a friendly covenant to resist their enemies. They engaged to seek each other’s safety in their common affairs against all persons opposed to them, both individually and by their adherents; they also agreed that the one should not enter on any great undertaking without consulting the other, and if the one became cognisant of dangers impending over the other he should forewarn him, and use his utmost efforts to avert the same. For the performance of the compact they bind themselves to each other by oath, and under a penalty of ten thousand pounds.¹ Considering the condition of Scotland at the time, and the position of the two men, this compact possibly had in view some attempt by Bruce to mount the throne and recover the kingdom. It seems that the existence of this bond became known to Edward I., and Bruce, when attending the English court, was questioned concerning it; he at once saw that his life was in danger, and one morning he mounted his horse and rode swiftly to Scotland.

¹ Palgrave’s _Documents_, Volume I., page 323‒325.

Bruce arrived at his castle of Lochmaben early in February, 1306. On the 12th of February, as a freeholder of the county, he attended the English judges who were then holding their courts at Dumfries, and there he met the Red Comyn, the late guardian. Bruce and Comyn entered the Grayfriars convent to have a private interview touching public affairs, and their conversation waxed warm. Bruce referred to the miserable state of Scotland, once an independent kingdom, and now nothing but a province of England. He then proposed that Comyn should take his lands and help him to be king; or, if he preferred it, Bruce was to take his lands and assist him to be king. Comyn demurred, and professed loyalty to King Edward I. Bruce charged him with betraying important secrets of his; their talk became bitter and hot, and at last Bruce drew his dagger and stabbed Comyn. He turned from the convent and rushed into the street, shouting for a horse! His friends asked if anything was amiss. “I doubt,” said Bruce, “I have slain Comyn.” Instantly Kirkpatrick, one of his followers, ran into the convent and slew the wounded man outright, and also killed his uncle, Sir Robert Comyn.¹

¹ Palgrave’s _Documents_, page 322. Barbour’s _Bruce_. It
appears that in a meeting of the guardians and some of the
nobles held at Peebles, July, 1299, a scuffle occurred,
which originated in a proposal touching the property of
Wallace, who was then in France:――“And upon that, each of
these knights gave the lie to the other and they drew their
daggers; and the Earl of Buchan and Sir John Comyn thought,
because Sir David de Graham is with Master John Comyn,
and Malcolm Wallace with the Earl of Carrick, that some
quarrel was begun with intention to deceive them, and Master
John Comyn leaped on the Earl of Carrick and took him by
the throat, and the Earl of Buchan upon the Bishop of St.
Andrews, and they held them fast, until the Stewart and
others went between them and stopped the scuffle.” _National
Manuscripts_, Part II., Number 8.

Probably the murder of Comyn was unpremeditated, still it removed the only competitor for the throne of Scotland whom Bruce had reason to fear. Comyn had a claim to the Crown, as his mother was a sister of the deposed John Baliol. He also claimed to be a descendant of Donald Bane, a brother of Malcolm III., which would have given him a great advantage among the people in any struggle between the two for the throne of Scotland. But Bruce had rashly committed himself and could not recede; he had assassinated the highest noble in the kingdom, stained the altar with blood, brought down on his own head all the terrors of religion, and the enmity of the kin and numerous followers of the dead earl.

Immediately after these tragic deeds Bruce drove the English judges and officials out of Dumfries and beyond the Border. The news soon spread, the people assumed a threatening attitude in Galloway, and many of Edward’s officials fled from the kingdom. Bruce resolved on a bold step, he mounted the throne, and was crowned at Scone on the 27th of March, 1306. But, as yet, his followers were not numerous; they consisted of the Bishops of St. Andrews, Glasgow, and Moray, and the Abbot of Scone; his four young and stalwart brothers, his nephew, Thomas Randolph of Strathdon, and his brother-in-law, Christopher Seton; John de Strathbogie, Earl of Athole; and the Earls of Lennox and Menteith; Gilbert Hay of Erroll and his brother Hugh, Nigel Campbell of Argyle, David of Inchmarten, Robert Boyd of Kilmarnock, Sir John Somerville of Linton, David Barclay of Cairns, Alexander Fraser, Sir James Douglas, and Robert Fleming. Against this small party――the forlorn hope of the Scottish nation――stood arrayed the mighty hosts of England, the numerous followers of the Comyns, and many of the Scotch nobles.

When tidings of these events reached the ears of Edward I., he was extremely wroth, and threatened dire vengeance. Orders with a sharp and incisive ring were issued. It was proclaimed in all the cities and towns of Scotland that all those in arms against the King should be pursued by hue and cry, from city to city, from county to county, from place to place, and taken dead or alive. All persons taken in arms against Edward I. were to be hanged and beheaded, and all in any way connected with the murder of Comyn were to be drawn and quartered. The implacable rage of Edward runs through all the royal proclamations. Another great invasion of Scotland was resolved on; the military force of Yorkshire and Northumberland were ordered to muster immediately to march against the rebellious Scots. He also invoked the aid of religion, notwithstanding his former contempt of “Mount Zion and Jerusalem.” Bruce’s estates were declared forfeited, and his execution was determined on in the event of his capture. The advance army, under the Earl of Pembroke, reached the doomed country in the spring of 1306, and Edward himself, bracing up all his remaining energy, once more moved northward; but his frailty rendered his progress very slow.¹

¹ _Fœdera_, Volume I., pages 982, 995; Palgrave’s _Documents_,
pages 361‒363, 301‒318, _et seq._

Pembroke advanced on Perth, and on his way he captured Bishop Wishart and sent him to Berwick. On reaching Perth, Pembroke occupied the town and fortified it. Bruce and his party found that they could not face the English army; but he encamped in the wood of Methven six miles from Perth. On the 19th of June, Pembroke attacked Bruce, and after a severe encounter, completely defeated him; he narrowly escaped capture, while many of his followers were slain and others taken prisoners. Bruce with two or three hundred of his followers retired into the forest of Athole. Among the prisoners captured at Methven were Thomas Randolph, Sir John Somerville, David of Inchmarten, Hugh Hay, and others; and Edward I. ordered that the prisoners should be immediately executed, accordingly they were hanged and quartered.¹

¹ Hemingford’s _Chronicles_, page 249; Barbour’s _Bruce_.

The desperate nature of the enterprise now appeared. Bruce and his friends were pursued as outlaws, and they soon began to feel the extreme miseries of their position. Bruce was forced to leave Athole to save his followers from starvation; and with great difficulty he moved by unfrequented tracks from Athole to Aberdeenshire. At Aberdeen he was joined by his wife and other ladies; but on the approach of a large body of the enemy, Bruce and his company betook themselves to the mountains of Breadalbane. Amid these wilds they suffered extreme privation. As food was scarce, they gathered wild berries, some of them hunted, and others fished, in order to preserve their existence; while their clothing was often in tatters, living day and night for weeks and months exposed to the open air in these high altitudes. Bruce with a number of his friends had reached the head of the Tay, and were approaching Argyleshire, the district of the Lord of Lorne. This chief was related through marriage to the Red Comyn, and naturally he was eager to vent revenge on Bruce. Lorne at the head of a strong body of his followers attacked Bruce and his small company in Strathfillan. A severe encounter ensued; but Bruce’s company was overwhelmed by numbers and fell back. Gilbert Hay of Erroll and Sir James Douglas were wounded, and many of their horses were killed. To avert the total destruction of his little band, Bruce commanded them to retreat through a narrow pass while he brought up the rear himself, and repeatedly turned his horse and drove back the assailants, till at last the pursuit of the enemy ceased.¹

¹ Ibid.

Winter was approaching, and they could not then subsist in this mountainous region. The Queen and her attendants were conveyed under an escort of cavalry to the castle of Kildrummy. Bruce then had only two hundred men on foot, and with these he resolved to seek refuge in Cantyre or in some of the islands, Sir Neil Campbell being sent forward to provide vessels and provisions for the voyage. The King and his small company proceeded in the direction of Cantyre; but they were reduced to the utmost extremities for want of provisions. While wandering amongst the hills and woods in search of food, they met the Earl of Lennox, who, since the battle of Methven, had heard nothing of the fate of Bruce, and the King and Lennox feelingly embraced each other. Lennox supplied his friends with provisions, and by his assistance they reached Cantyre, where Neil Campbell rejoined them. Angus, Lord of the Isles, welcomed Bruce and his followers, and treated them all with great hospitality; he also gave them the castle of Dunaverty to live in and enjoy themselves after their wanderings and privations. So numerous were the emissaries of Edward I. and the Comyns, and so alert in their efforts to capture Bruce, that he, with the recent fate of Wallace before him, did not deem himself safe, even in this castle, from the pursuit of his enemies. In the end of the year 1306, Bruce, with a few of his friends, passed over to the small isle of Rathlin, on the northern coast of Ireland, and remained there during the winter.

But ruin and death befell many of Bruce’s friends and supporters, as the English troops scoured the country and seized all suspected persons. The Bishop of Glasgow, as already mentioned, was imprisoned at an early stage. Bishop Lamberton, of St. Andrews, and the Abbot of Scone, were sent in fetters to England. Bruce’s wife and his daughter were captured and imprisoned in England; the Countess of Buchan, who had dared to assist at the coronation of Bruce, was taken to Berwick and placed in a wooden cage, specially built for her, which hung in one of the centre turrets of the castle. The English besieged and took the castle of Kildrummy, and Nigel Bruce, the King’s brother, was sent in fetters to Berwick, and there executed. The Earl of Athole and Sir Simon Fraser were conveyed to London and executed as traitors; and their heads were placed upon London Bridge beside that of Wallace. Sir Christopher Seton, Sir Walter Logan, Bernard Mouat, Herbert Morham, Ralph Herries, Thomas Bruce and Alexander Bruce, brothers of the King, these and many others were executed with all the horrible and shocking cruelties of the period. Further, many of the people were struck down and slain without trial, evidence, or question, in any form; and for several years a scene of bloodshed, enormous cruelty, and oppression, prevailed throughout the kingdom.¹

¹ _Fœdera_, Volume I., page 996; Hemingford’s _Chronicles_,
Volume I., page 247, _et seq._; Barbour’s _Bruce_.

In the spring of 1307, Sir James Douglas and Sir Robert Boyd, with Bruce’s sanction, sailed from the island of Rathlin with a small band of followers, and made a descent upon the island of Arran. They landed during the night, and Douglas placed his men in ambush in the vicinity of the Castle of Brodick. The following morning he attacked the escort of a convoy which was proceeding with stores for the garrison, defeated and scattered the escort, and thus secured a store of provisions, arms, and clothing. The governor of the castle sent out a body of soldiers to assist the escort, but they were repulsed by the Scots and driven back to the castle. Douglas then retired to a prehistoric fort on a woody spot in the neighbourhood; and soon after Bruce arrived with a company of about two hundred men and joined Douglas. Bruce then despatched one of his followers into the district of Carrick, to ascertain how his own vassals were affected; but the report of this messenger was disheartening. He informed Bruce that Lord Percy had a strong garrison in Turnberry Castle, and many of his men stationed in the town; that the people were dispirited, and that there was little hope of assistance from them. Bruce seemed perplexed, and consulted with his brother Edward, who said that he would pursue the enterprise. They then attacked the English troops stationed in the village of Turnberry, and defeated them. Three days after Bruce retired into the mountainous range of Carrick; and being deprived of aid which he had expected from Ireland, his position was perilous. His enemies and the emissaries of Edward I. were constantly hunting him, and he had several very narrow escapes. At Cumnock, in Ayrshire, he was joined by his friend Sir James Douglas, who had collected a body of men in his own barony. With his followers thus increased, Bruce determined to give a good account of himself.

In the beginning of May 1307, Pembroke advanced into Ayrshire at the head of three thousand cavalry, with the intention of extinguishing Bruce. But the King in his wanderings had acquired some experience, and he fixed on a position at Loudon Hill. After inspecting the ground, he limited the space for the evolutions of the enemy’s cavalry, and at the same time protected both his flanks, by three deep trenches on each side of his position; beyond these trenches the ground was marshy. Having thus prepared the ground, Bruce posted his six hundred spearmen, and coolly awaited the attack of the English cavalry. On the 10th of May, the English cavalry under Pembroke advanced in two lines; and the first line at full gallop charged the Scotch spearmen, but they stood firm and unhorsed many of their assailants. The cavalry reeled and then broke, and retired in disorder upon the second line; the Scots with their spears levelled, followed them at the double, and completely defeated them. Pembroke fled to the castle of Ayr, and reported his defeat. Bruce’s followers now began to have confidence in him, and from this time he gradually gained ground. Three days after the encounter at Loudon Hill, Bruce completely defeated a body of the English commanded by the Earl of Gloucester. The result was that many of the Scots joined Bruce.

The leading spirit of the conquest, Edward I., by short stages had advanced within sight of Scotland; but the hand of the grim and implacable enemy was upon him, and on the 7th of July 1307, he expired. He had inflicted enormous suffering upon the Scots; and when his feet were on the brink of the grave, the venom of his heart was not appeased, for he then implored his son and barons to continue his scheme of torturing the Scots. Edward II. was weak and vacillating. He advanced to the outskirts of Ayrshire, and without effecting anything of importance, he returned home. Shortly after he removed Pembroke from the Guardianship of Scotland, and appointed the Earl of Richmond to the office. Edward Bruce assailed the English in Galloway; while Sir James Douglas expelled them from Douglasdale, and the forests of Jedburgh and Selkirk.

Bruce crossed the Tay, and marched northward to Aberdeenshire, with the object of reducing Comyn, the Earl of Buchan, who upheld the English authority in this quarter of the kingdom. He was, however, attacked by a severe illness, caused by the exposure and privation which he had endured; and the war operations were somewhat delayed. The King’s army proceeded by Inverurie, and in the march northward several skirmishes took place between his troops and the followers of the Comyns. Bruce’s army retired into Strathbogie, to obtain a supply of provisions and to afford their leader some rest. When he had partly recovered from his illness, they returned to Inverurie. At the same time, the Earl of Buchan, with a force numbering upwards of a thousand men, had advanced to Old Meldrum; and Comyn’s ally, Sir David de Brechin, with a small party rapidly marched on Inverurie, and surprised some of Bruce’s outposts. This was the signal for a general attack. The King instantly rose from his bed, called for his horse, and mounting, led his army direct to Old Meldrum. There he delivered a decisive attack upon the Earl of Buchan, and utterly defeated his army, and slew and pursued them for many miles. Bruce then proceeded with merciless severity to waste and destroy the territories of the Comyns in Buchan, so that their power was broken. The castles in the hands of the English were attacked, and when taken they were levelled to the ground, in order to prevent the enemy from again occupying them. The citizens of Aberdeen, assisted by a few of Bruce’s followers, captured the castle and expelled the English garrison. The castle of Forfar was taken and the English garrison slain; after which the King marched southward.

The recovery of the kingdom steadily proceeded, and the Scots readily submitted to the King; indeed the people soon recognised the abilities of Bruce. On the 24th of February, 1309, in a general council held at Dundee, the estates recognised Bruce’s right to the throne; at the same time the clergy of Scotland formally proclaimed their recognition of his title and their adherence to him as king. The document then issued by the clergy is of great historic value, inasmuch as it boldly asserted the constitutional rights of the people even in the choice of the king. The main points of the document are the following:――“To all the faithful, to whose knowledge the present writing shall come, the bishops, abbots, priors, and the rest of the clergy of the kingdom of Scotland.... Be it known to you all that when between the Lord John de Baliol, long ago in fact raised to be King of Scotland by the King of England, and the deceased Lord Robert de Bruce, grandfather of our Lord Robert the King who now is, a ground of dispute had arisen which of them, to wit, was nearest by right of blood to inherit and reign over the Scotch people; the faithful people without doubt always held, as from their predecessors and ancestors they had learned and believed to be true, that the said Lord Robert, the grandfather, after the death of King Alexander and his grand-daughter, the daughter of the King of Norway, was the true heir, and ought, in preference to all others, to be advanced to the government of the kingdom, although the enemy of the human race sowing tares, by the various machinations and plots of his rivals, which it would be tedious to narrate in detail, the thing has turned contrariwise; on account of whose overthrow, and the want of kingly authority, heavy calamities have thenceforth resulted to the kingdom of Scotland and its inhabitants.... The people, therefore, and the commons of the aforesaid kingdom of Scotland, worn out by the stings of many tribulations, seeing the said Lord John, by the King of England, on various pretexts, taken, imprisoned, stripped of his kingdom and people, and the kingdom of Scotland by him also ruined and reduced to slavery; laid waste by a mighty depopulation and overwhelmed by the bitterness of frequent grief, desolated from the want of right government, exposed to every danger, and given up to the spoiler, and the people stripped of their goods, tortured by wars, led captive, bound, and imprisoned; by immense massacres of the innocent, and by continual conflagrations, oppressed, subjected and enslaved, and on the brink of total ruin ... being no longer able to bear so many and so great losses of things and persons more bitter than death, often happening for want of a captain and faithful leader ... the said Lord Robert, with the concurrence and consent of the said people, was chosen to be king, that he might reform the deformities of the kingdom, correct what required correction, and direct what needed direction; and having been by their authority made King of Scots, with him the faithful people of the kingdom will live and die ... and if any one on the contrary claim right to the kingdom in virtue of letters in past times, sealed and containing the consent of the people and the commons, know ye that all this took place, in fact, by force and violence, which could not at the time be resisted, and through multiplied fears, bodily tortures, and various terrors, enough to confound the senses and distract the minds of perfect men.... We, therefore, the bishops and the rest of the clergy, acting under no compulsion, knowing that the premises are based on truth, and cordially approving the same, have made due fealty to our Lord Robert, the illustrious King of Scotland, and we publicly declare that the same ought to be rendered to him and his heirs by our successors for ever.”¹ Seeing that Bruce was then under the excommunication of the Pope for the slaughter of Comyn, this announcement of the Scotch clergy was a great accession of strength to his cause.

¹ _National Manuscripts of Scotland_, Part II., Number 17.

In the spring of 1309 there was an attempt to make peace, but the Scots were not inclined for peace till the English were expelled from all the castles and the territories of Scotland. Edward II., in September 1310, entered Scotland with a great army, but Bruce wisely avoided a battle. After driving off their cattle and sheep into the narrow glens, the Scots retired to the woods and mountains; while the invading army advanced to Renfrew, looking intently for an enemy to conquer, but in vain. The English soon began to suffer for want of provisions and forage, and without effecting anything of the slightest moment, the army retreated to Berwick. Several of Edward’s subsequent expeditions came to a similar end. In the summer of 1311 Bruce thought that his turn to invade the territories of the enemy had at last come. He accordingly marched his army into the northern counties of England and plundered the country, levying heavy contributions; and having remained for eight days, he returned home laden with booty.¹

¹ _Chronicles of Hexham_, Appendix, pages 58, 59.

Bruce then resolved to besiege Perth, which still remained in the bands of the English. The town was fortified by a strong wall, and surrounded by a deep moat full of water. The garrison made a brave and determined resistance, and for six weeks repelled all the efforts of the besiegers. But Bruce having ascertained and marked the shallowest part of the moat, marched off to a considerable distance, as if he had abandoned the siege. Ten days after, the king, at the head of a picked party of his men, furnished with scaling ladders, returned to Perth during the night, and they then waded through the moat, scaled the wall, and surprised the garrison in their beds. The town was soon taken, and the fortifications were completely demolished in accordance with the policy of the king. The lives of the English garrison were spared; and the Earl of Strathern, who then served under the English, was taken prisoner. On renewing his allegiance to Bruce, the Earl was pardoned.

Shortly after the castles of Dumfries and Linlithgow were captured; and on the 7th of March, 1312, the castle of Roxburgh was taken by Douglas, and by the orders of the king both the castle and the town were levelled to the ground. The Castle of Edinburgh, which had been for nineteen years in the possession of the English, on the 14th of March the same year, after a desperate struggle, was captured by Randolph. Edward Bruce had expelled the English from Galloway and Nithsdale, and demolished the castles in these districts; he also took the castles of Rutherglen, and Dundee, and at last besieged the Castle of Stirling――the citadel of the kingdom. The English Governor, Mowbray, defended the castle with great determination, but at length his provisions were becoming exhausted, and he then made an agreement with Edward Bruce to surrender it, unless it should be relieved, before the 24th of June, 1314. This agreement was very favourable to England, inasmuch as it compelled the Scots to peril the fate of the kingdom on a pitched battle.

As we have seen, the siege of Stirling Castle had cost Edward I. enormous labour, and he deemed its capture one of his greatest achievements. It was then the most important stronghold in Scotland, and if England intended to retain a hold of the country she must relieve it within the appointed time. So another great invasion was resolved on, and great preparations were made. The whole feudal array of England was called out, and levies drawn from Wales and Ireland; vast quantities of all kinds of provisions for the troops were collected from all quarters of England, and the army was well provided with cars and waggons for the transport of the baggage, tents, and arms. Edward II. entered Scotland in June, 1314, at the head of the largest and best equipped army that had ever marched from England; for in all it numbered one hundred thousand fighting men, one half of them cavalry, who were then considered the chief arm of strength in battle.

To face this mighty host the Scots made a supreme effort. Bruce ordered his force to muster in the Torwood, between Falkirk and Stirling, where he found that his fighting men only numbered thirty thousand infantry, and five hundred cavalry. He resolved to fight on foot, and prepared to guard and strengthen his position to the utmost. After a careful examination of the ground he determined to dispose his army in four divisions――three of them forming a front line, inclining to the south-east, facing the advance of the enemy, the fourth division being held in reserve and placed behind the centre. The formation of the Scottish spearmen was a series of solid circles, so inclined in front as most effectively to resist the shock of cavalry charges: it was similar to Wallace’s circles at the Battle of Falkirk. The right flank of Bruce’s line was well protected by the rugged ground and the broken banks of the Bannock burn, while his left wing was admirably secured by a series of trenches and pits, which effectively limited the space for the movements of the enemy’s cavalry. By this limitation of the space in front of his line, Bruce hampered the development of the cavalry charges of the English, which gave him a great advantage. The right wing of the Scots was commanded by Edward Bruce, the centre by Randolph, Earl of Moray, and the left wing by Sir James Douglas and the Steward of Scotland, the reserve or fourth division was under the command of the King himself, and it consisted of the men of the Isles, Argyle, and Cantyre, accompanied by Angus, the Lord of the Isles, and Bruce’s own vassals of Carrick; and there also the five hundred cavalry, under Sir Robert Keith, was stationed, ready to execute their special duty, when the proper moment came.

On the 23rd of June the enemy appeared, and made a bold attempt to throw a body of cavalry into the castle of Stirling, but they were repulsed by Randolph, the Earl of Moray. Bruce asked his leaders whether they thought it best to fight or to retreat, and they unanimously declared that they were determined to fight and to abide the issue of the conflict. The Scots then made all the necessary arrangements for the battle, passing the night under arms on the field. At night the Mayne of St. Fillan, that is, the enshrined arm of the saint, was shown to the Scottish army. At daybreak, the 24th of June, the Abbot of Inchaffary celebrated mass on an eminence in front of the army. He then passed along the line and in a few words exhorted the Scots to fight for their rights and liberty. After this they breakfasted, and then placed themselves under their different banners in battle array.

The mighty host of Edward II. was early in motion on that memorable Monday morning, and the English began the battle by the advance of a body of lancers under the command of the Earls of Hereford and Gloucester. The lancers charged at full gallop on the right wing of the Scots, but the spearmen firmly withstood the impetuous onset of the enemy, and some of the lancers were pitched from their saddles and slain. The main body of the enemy’s cavalry rapidly advanced and charged the Scottish centre, which for a moment appeared to be engulphed amid the seething mass of the English. The whole Scottish line was soon assailed and wrestling in a hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. The battle raged with the utmost fury, while the English attempted by desperate charges, many times repeated, to break through the Scottish spearmen, but in vain. At this all-important hour they thought of the home of their fathers, and their native hearths; and remembering, too, the many grinding injuries, galling outrages, stinging insults, cruel and unmitigated suffering inflicted upon them during long years of dire oppression, they repelled every attack with steady valour and slew heaps upon heaps of their assailants. The English bowmen and archers, who supported the cavalry charges, were beginning to gall the ranks of the Scottish spearmen; but Bruce sent Sir Robert Keith with five hundred cavalry to charge the left flank of the archers, and, as they had no weapons to defend themselves at close quarters, they were instantly broken and scattered in all directions, and so completely cowed that they declined to return to their posts. In front the battle continued to rage with unabated fury, but with obvious disadvantage to the English. Seeing the enemy flagging, Bruce encouraged his leaders to strive on, assuring them that the victory would soon be won. He then brought up the reserve, all the four divisions of his army being now engaged. The English fought bravely and determinedly, making many but unavailing attempts to pierce through the front of the spearmen, and at every successive charge losing more men and horses, and falling into greater confusion. Then was heard afar the clashing and crashing of armour, the commingled whooping and shouting of the war-cries, and withal the agonising moans and groans of the wounded and dying; many masterless horses were madly running hither and thither, heedless of friend or foe; the ground was streaming with blood and strewn with shreds of armour, broken spears, arrows, and pennons, rich scarfs and armorial bearings torn and soiled with blood and clay.

The Scots continued to gain ground, and pressed with increasing energy upon the confused and tottering mass of the enemy, rending the air with shouts of “On them! on them! they fall!” The English gave way slowly along the whole line. Bruce perceiving this, placed himself at the head of the reserve, and raising his war-cry, which was repeated by the Lord of the Isles, they pressed with redoubled and unbearable fury on the falling ranks of the enemy. This onset, well seconded by the other divisions of the army, decided the fate of the day. The English broke into disjointed squadrons and began to quit the field, and in spite of all the efforts of their leaders to rally them and restore order, they dispersed and fled headlong in all directions. King Edward stood gazing intently upon the fatal field till he saw that all was lost, when he fled in utter bewilderment. The struggle was over, the enemy in flight, and the victory complete. Glory to the heroes who fought, and bled, and fell on Bannockburn. Peace to the ashes of Robert Bruce, who skilfully planned, ably led, and won the field on that memorable day; while Scotsmen’s blood runs warm and human sympathies endure, the nation’s heart will throb over the remembrance of Bannockburn.

Thirty thousand of the English fell upon the field, and the standards of twenty-seven barons were laid in the dust, their owners being slain. Two hundred knights and seven hundred esquires were among the fallen. The prisoners consisted of twenty-two barons, sixty knights, and a multitude of the lower ranks. Although only two men of note, Sir Walter Ross and Sir William Vipont, were slain on the Scottish side, nearly four thousand of the rank and file fell on the field. A large number of the English must have been trampled to death by their own cavalry, especially after the confusion in their lines began. For though the Scottish spearmen stood in their positions like a rock so long as the issue of the battle was doubtful, whenever Bruce placed himself at the head of the reserve there was then an instantaneous forward movement of the whole line, and a series of successive charges were made upon the confused and entangled mass of the enemy, and it seems to have been then that the greater part of the English were killed. Edward II. fled by Linlithgow and thence to Dunbar, escorted by five hundred cavalry, who were pursued all the way by Douglas at the head of sixty horsemen. There was no rallying point after the battle, and Edward escaped from Dunbar to Berwick in a fishing-boat.

Bruce showed a noble forbearance in the hour of victory, and treated his fallen enemies and the prisoners with much respect and humanity. In this he exhibited a striking contrast to the cruel and rancorous policy of the Edwards. Of course some of the prisoners who were rich, paid large sums of money for their ransom. The enormous spoil of the English camp fell into the hands of the Scots, amongst which was the military chest containing the money for the payment of the troops, and the privy seal of Edward II. Mowbray, the governor, surrendered Stirling Castle the day after the battle, according to the agreement, and he then entered into the service of Bruce. The Earl of Hereford had taken refuge in the castle of Bothwell, which, after a short siege, surrendered to Edward Bruce; he was exchanged for Bruce’s queen and daughter, and his sister Christina, Bishop Wishart of Glasgow, and the Earl of Mar.

The Battle of Bannockburn was not only one of the greatest events in the history of Scotland, but it was also one of the greatest events in the history of Britain. Its immediate effects were obvious; while its results have been continuously felt in the internal history of Britain to the present time, and will continue to be felt throughout all time; as it contributed an element to human freedom which in its essence can never be lost.

After the Battle of Bannockburn, Bruce’s chief aim was to bring the English government to equitable terms of peace, but they refused to treat him as a king. The result of this was a succession of invasions and border raids which, for many years, kept both countries in a state of turmoil; for the Scots naturally resorted to a convincing mode of showing the advantages which they had gained, and they crossed the Border in force and plundered and wasted the northern counties of England. This was carried to such extremities that England became anxious for peace, but the Scots would listen to it only on the condition of the full acknowledgment of the independence of the kingdom. The English were still extremely loth to recognise this; and Edward tried the weapons of spiritual warfare and applied to the Pope for a pacifying Bull, which was issued in the beginning of the year 1317. This papal document was addressed to the illustrious Edward, King of England, and the noble Robert de Bruce, conducting himself as King of Scotland; it ordered the observance of a truce between England and Scotland for two years. Two cardinals appeared in England as the papal legates to enforce the observance of the truce, but Bruce declined to observe it or to treat with the representatives of the Pope unless he was addressed as King of Scotland. He told them that he would listen to no Papal Bulls until he had taken Berwick. Bruce pushed on the siege of Berwick, and it surrendered in the end of March, 1318. The Scots then invaded Northumberland, and took the castles of Wark, Harbottle, and Mitford. They advanced into Yorkshire, plundered the country, and levied contributions, returning home laden with booty, driving their prisoners before them like a flock of sheep.¹

¹ Walsingham’s _Chronicles_, Volume I., page 142, _et seq._;
_Chronicles of Hexham_, Volume I., page 59, _et seq._;
_Fœdera_, Volume II., pages 317, 340.

The two papal legates in England excommunicated Bruce and his adherents. Owing, however, to the keen national sympathies of the Scotch clergy, this had little effect in Scotland.

In December 1318, Robert I. assembled a parliament at Scone, in which a number of wise laws were passed. Acts were passed touching the administration of justice, the organisation and mustering of the army, and the freedom of the Church. The King commanded that the old and common law of the kingdom should be rightly administered to rich and poor alike. Acts relating to cattle-lifting, and to the salmon-fishing were passed. It was enacted that every man who had goods of the value of one cow, should arm himself with a good spear, or with a bow and a sheaf of twenty-four arrows. An act was passed, which prohibited all persons holding fiefs in Scotland from sending money or rents out of the kingdom, under severe penalties. This parliament settled the succession to the throne. In the event of the King dying without a lawful male heir, Robert, the son of the Princess Marjory, should succeed to the crown and kingdom; and in the event of the succession falling to a minor, Randolph, Earl of Moray, should be appointed tutor to the heir and guardian of the kingdom, and, failing him, Sir James Douglas. The rule of succession was then settled thus:――“The male nearest to the King at his death, in the direct line of descent, should succeed to the Crown, and, failing such, then the nearest female in the same line; and, failing the direct line, then the nearest male in the collateral line, respect always being had to the right of blood by which the last king reigned.”¹

¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages
105‒114.

Edward II. attempted to retake Berwick, but failed. To divert Edward from the siege of Berwick, the Scots marched into Yorkshire and wasted the country. This continual warfare was ruinous to both kingdoms; and on the 21st of December 1319, a truce was concluded for two years. About this time the Pope renewed his excommunication of Bruce and his adherents: many denunciatory edicts had been issued from Rome against Bruce and Scotland since he mounted the throne, and England had done all that she could to increase their number and to enforce them. The immaculate Edward II. pretended that he could not treat with an excommunicated man like Bruce without a papal dispensation. Thus obstacles were constantly thrown in the way of peace, and the policy of King Robert was greatly hampered. At the same time, it was keenly felt that the attitude of the King and the nation towards the head of the Church was unsatisfactory. Therefore it was resolved by a parliament, which met in the Abbey of Arbroath in April 1320, to prepare an address to the Pope, and present to him the real state of the nation. This address is of much historic and constitutional importance, and may be quoted at some length. After referring to the antiquity of the kingdom and its long line of kings, the conversion of the nation by Saint Andrew, and the many favours which preceding popes had granted to the kingdom, it proceeds:――

“So that our nation under their protection has hitherto continued free and peaceful, until that prince, to wit, the King of the English, Edward, the father of him who now is, under the semblance of a friend and ally, in a most unfriendly way harassed our kingdom, then without a head, and our people conscious of no guilt, and at that time unaccustomed to wars: and the injuries, slaughters and deeds of violence, plunderings, burnings, imprisonments of bishops, spoliations and murders of men of religion, and other outrages, which this prince perpetrated on the people, sparing no age or sex, religion or order, no one could describe or fully understand but he who has learned it from experience. From these innumerable evils, by the help of Him who, after wounding, heals and restores to health, we were freed by our most gallant prince and king, Lord Robert, who, for the delivering of his people and heritage from the enemies’ hands, like another Joshua, has cheerefully endured toil, fatigue, hardship, and danger. The Divine Providence, the laws and customs of the kingdom which we will maintain till death, the right of succession, and the due consent and assent of all the people, have made him our prince and king. To him we are obliged and resolved to adhere in all things, both on account of his right and his merits, as the person who has restored the people’s safety, and will defend their liberty. But, if this prince should leave those principles which he has so nobly pursued, and consent that we or our kingdom be subjected to the King or people of England, we will immediately endeavour to expel him as our enemy and the subverter of his own and our rights, and make another king who would defend our liberties; for, so long as one hundred of us remain alive, we will never consent in any way to subject ourselves to the English. Since it is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours, but liberty alone that we fight and contend for, which no good man will lose but with his life. For these reasons, Reverend Father and Lord, we earnestly beseech and entreat your Holiness, ... to deign to admonish and exhort the King of England to rest satisfied with his own dominions, seeing that of old England was enough for seven kings or more, to let us live in peace in our small kingdom of Scotland, beyond which we have no habitation, and desire nothing but our own, ... if your Holiness do not implicitly believe these things, but trusting too much to the reports of the English, and thus continue to favour them to our destruction, we must believe that the Most High will lay to your charge all the loss of life, the ruin of souls, and other evils which they will inflict on us and we on them.... We commit the defence of our cause to the Supreme King and Judge, casting our care on Him and firmly trusting that He will give courage to us and bring our enemies to nought.”¹

¹ _National Manuscripts_, Part II., Number 24.

This spirited and constitutional address had an immediate effect at the papal court; the severe measures against Scotland were suspended for some time. Sir Adam Gordon and another baron were sent as ambassadors to the papal court, and the Pope consented to address Bruce by the title of the King of Scotland. But no final settlement of the difficulty was obtained. In September 1320, commissioners were appointed by England, empowered to treat with Scotland for peace; but it appeared that Edward II. and his government were not sincere, as they shortly after announced their intention to make peace by force of arms.¹

¹ _Fœdera_, Volume II., pages 431, 481.

Another great invasion of Scotland was resolved on, and in August 1322, Edward II. marched into the doomed kingdom at the head of an army numbering one hundred thousand men. Bruce adopted the tactics of starving out the enemy, and all the cattle and provisions in the Merse and the Lothians were removed to places beyond the reach of the invading host. This was completely effective, as Edward II. and his vast army, without striking a single blow, were compelled to retreat in a state of wretchedness; many of the soldiers having died from starvation and the effects of the fine generalship of their King. In their retreat the English were harassed by Douglas and Randolph, who, with a body of the Scots, hung on their rear and slew the stragglers. When Bruce received tidings of the success of his tactics, he immediately recrossed the Forth, marched rapidly southward, and with a strong army advanced into England. On hearing that Edward II. was encamped with the remnant of his army at Biland Abbey in Yorkshire, Bruce determined to surprise him, and at once marched forward. He found his enemies posted in a strong position on the summit of a steep hill, accessible only on one side. But the sagacity and experience of Bruce was equal to the occasion; and he ordered a party of the men of the Isles and Argyle to march to a certain spot at the foot of the hill, and then climb the rocks and attack the flank and rear of the enemy posted on the summit. The Islemen shortly reached the ridge of the hill and drove the English from the heights, and then the main body of the Scots advanced and attacked the enemy. The English were completely defeated, and fled in all directions; Edward escaped and rode to York, hotly pursued by the Steward of Scotland. The baggage of the army, the privy seal of England, and several prisoners of note, amongst whom were the Earl of Richmond and Henry de Sully, fell into the hands of the Scots. They proceeded to waste the country and advanced to the banks of the Humber, levying contributions. In the middle of October they returned home with their booty.¹

¹ _Walsingham_, Volume I., page 166; Barbour’s _Bruce_; Hailes’
_Annals_, Volume II., pages 216‒218.

Indeed it had become manifest that if peace was not soon concluded with Scotland, the consequences would be disastrous to England. The inhabitants of the border counties of England saw and felt that Edward II. was quite unable to protect them; and if the war was to be continued, it seemed probable that these counties would soon be annexed to Scotland. The prospect of this induced the English government to make proposals of peace. Still the difficulty of Edward II. and his advisers was their extreme reluctance to recognise Bruce as the King of an independent kingdom; a truce, however, was agreed to, on the 7th of June 1323, which was to continue in force for thirteen years.¹

¹ _Fœdera_, Volume II., page 510, _et seq._

Although Edward II. and his government were very anxious for a truce with the Scots, they were loth to relinquish their ideas of the conquest of Scotland, which they had received from the great hammer――Edward I. Accordingly Edward II. continued his efforts to stir up the Pope against Bruce and the Scots; and he intimated to the Pope that the Scotch clergy encouraged the people in their rebellion to the utmost; and by their contempt of the solemn censures of the Church, they had certainly incurred the suspicion of heresy; and therefore he thought that no Scotsman should be elected to the office of a bishop in his native land. Bruce sent Randolph, the Earl of Moray, to the papal court; and he so far succeeded as to induce the Pope to address a Bull to Bruce with the title of King. On his way home, Randolph was joined by other Scotch envoys, and they concluded a treaty of alliance with France, in which it was agreed that in future wars with England, France and Scotland were to assist each other against her.¹

¹ _Fœdera_, Volume II., page 541.

Further attempts were made to arrange a final peace; but the English government was still invidious, and persistently continued to instigate the papal court to renew its denunciatory edicts against Scotland. On the 20th of January 1327, Edward II. was dethroned. He was murdered on the 21st of September, the same year; and his son was crowned on the 25th of January under the title of Edward III. The new King and government of England, however, was not inclined to recognise the independence of Scotland, and the negotiations were broken off. The truce was terminated, and both kingdoms prepared for a renewal of the struggle.

The King ordered the Scots to muster, and in June 1327, an army of twenty thousand men, under the command of Randolph and Douglas, marched over the western border and plundered Northumberland. They out-manœuvred the English army, and after staying three weeks in the enemy’s country they returned home. Preparations were immediately made for another expedition. Bruce himself at the head of a large army invaded England; one division of the army under the King besieged the castle of Norham; another division attacked the castle of Alnwick; and the third division proceeded to waste the open country of Northumberland. Thus Bruce by his energy at last compelled the English government to sue for peace on equal terms, as commissioners came to the Scottish camp and offered proposals of a peaceful character. One of these was, that a marriage should be contracted between David, the King’s son, and Joanna, the sister of Edward III.

But Bruce determinedly insisted that the independence of Scotland should be first recognised as the basis of any treaty between the two kingdoms. This was conceded. In a Parliament held at York, on the 1st of March 1328, it was agreed that England should renounce for ever all claims of superiority over Scotland; the main points of this document were these:――“Whereas we, and others of our predecessors, Kings of England, have endeavoured to obtain a right of dominion and superiority over the kingdom of Scotland, and have thereby been the cause of long and atrocious wars between the kingdoms, ... we have, by the assent of the prelates, barons, and commons of our kingdom, in parliament assembled, granted, and hereby do grant, for us, and our heirs and successors, that the kingdom of Scotland shall remain for ever to the magnificent prince and lord, Robert, by the grace of God the illustrious King of Scots, our ally and dear friend, and to his heirs and successors, free, entire, and separated from the kingdom of England by its respective marches, as in the time of Alexander III., King of Scotland, without any subjection, servitude, claim or demand whatsoever. And we hereby renounce and convey to the said King of Scotland, his heirs and successors, whatsoever right we or our ancestors in times past, have laid claim to in any way over the kingdom of Scotland. And we renounce and declare void, for ourselves and our heirs and successors, all obligations, agreements, or treaties, touching the subjection of the kingdom of Scotland and the inhabitants thereof, entered into between our predecessors, and any of the Kings thereof, or any of their subjects.”

After the adjustment of this preliminary condition, the negotiations proceeded smoothly and rapidly; the treaty of peace was concluded at Edinburgh on the 17th of March 1328, and formally ratified by the English parliament at Northampton, on the 4th of May, the same year. The stipulations of the treaty of peace may be indicated thus: The King of England and the King of Scotland promised to be faithful allies of each other; reserving the obligations of the King of Scots to his ally, the King of France. If the Irish people rebelled against the King of England, the King of Scots should not assist them; and, if any one rose in arms against the King of Scots in the Isle of Man or in the other islands of Scotland, the King of England should not assist them. It was provided that a marriage should be solemnised between David, son and heir of the King of Scots, and Joanna, sister of the King of England. Scotland agreed to pay a sum of £20,000 sterling to England, within three years, at three separate terms: further, it was stipulated that Sir James Douglas should be reinstated in the lands which he had forfeited in Northumberland; and that Henry Beaumont, Earl of Buchan, Thomas, Lord Wake of ♦Liddel, and Henry Percy, should be restored to their lands and lordships in Scotland. The King of England promised to aid in obtaining the recall of all proceedings instituted by the Pope’s authority against the King and people of Scotland.¹

♦ “Liddell” replaced with “Liddel” for consistency

¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., page 126;
_National Manuscripts_, Part II., Number 26; _Fœdera_,
Volume II., pages 762, 806.

Robert I. had now secured to the people of Scotland the full acknowledgment of their national independence and liberty. To obtain this he had struggled hard and long against fearful odds, cheerfully endured the utmost privation, and bore with a strength of spirit unrivalled in the annals of the world, the successive blows of bereavement inflicted upon him by the implacable rage of his enemies. The justice and the glory of his culminated achievement, was amply attested by his enemies, when they at last pleaded guilty as above, admitted, and stated that they had been the cause of the manifold and extreme suffering inflicted upon the people of Scotland and the people of England.

The King’s son, David, who had been made Earl of Carrick, a boy five years of age, proceeded with a large retinue from Cardross to Berwick to meet his bride; and there Joanna, a girl of eleven years, was handed over, in accordance with the treaty, to Sir James Douglas and the Earl of Moray. On the 18th of July 1328, the marriage was celebrated at Berwick, amid great rejoicing. Robert I. was unable to be present at the marriage of his young son, as he had been for years afflicted with an illness brought on by the privations which he had endured in the early stage of his career. In the latter years of his life, he spent much of his time at Cardross on the Clyde, a manor which he acquired in 1326. He occupied his attention and in some measure assuaged the tedium and pain of his malady by improving his residence at Cardross. He repaired the park there, and greatly improved the garden; he had a house for falcons which was surrounded by a hedge, and it appears that he kept a pet lion. The Earl of Moray, Randolph, was often with the King, and both devoted much of their time to shipbuilding. The King had a ship of his own which plied on the Clyde and the neighbouring waters. At Cardross the King lived in a quiet but hospitable style, as appears from the large number of sheep, salted salmon, haddocks, eels, lampreys, and other provisions which were consumed. He gave gifts and pensions to a number of persons, and charities to poor men.¹

¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume I.

Robert I. had done his work; and when he found his life drawing to its close, he dictated a letter to his son, giving him his last paternal advice, and directing that his heart should be buried at Melrose. A portion of this letter may be quoted:――“Robert, by the grace of God King of the Scots, to David his most beloved son and the rest of his successors, wishes health, and so to keep his precepts that they may reign with his blessing. Dearest son, he appears worthy to be esteemed a son, who, imitating his father’s example in good things, endeavours to follow out his devout wishes, nor does he properly take the name of heir who does not adhere to the goodly designs of his predecessor. Desiring therefore that you, and the rest of our successors, should follow out in devout sincerity that pious love and sincere regard which we have conceived toward the Monastery of Melrose, where, of our special devotion, we have appointed our heart to be buried.... And this exhortation, supplication and command, do you our son, and the rest of our successors, take care with earnest resolution to fulfil, if ye would have our blessing together with the blessing of the Son of the Most High King, who taught sons to do the will of their fathers, in that which is right.... And in witness of our devotion towards Melrose, so loved and chosen by us, we give this present letter to the aforesaid religious, to be shown to our successors in time to come.”¹ This letter was written twenty-seven days before the King’s death, yet we know that the instructions which it gave touching the burial of his heart were superseded by a later expression of his wishes. There appears to be no doubt that Bruce in his last hours besought Sir James Douglas to carry his heart to Jerusalem. It is also certain that Douglas actually made an attempt to fulfil the wishes of the King, although he failed to reach Jerusalem. It is, however, uncertain what became of Bruce’s heart in the end.

¹ _National Manuscripts_, Part II., Number 29.

Robert I. died at Cardross on the 7th of June, 1329, in the fifty-fifth year of his age, and thus ended a remarkable career and a memorable reign. His remains were interred in the choir of the Abbey Church of Dunfermline, and a marble monument, made in Paris, was erected over the grave. Bruce married Isabella, a daughter of the Earl of Mar. By her he had one daughter, Marjory, who married Walter the Steward of Scotland. Bruce’s second wife was Elizabeth, a daughter of the Earl of Ulster, and by her he had two sons, David, mentioned in preceding pages, and John, who died in infancy, and two daughters. King Robert had two natural sons, Walter of Odistown, on the Clyde, who predeceased his father, and Sir Robert Bruce, who fell at the battle of Dupplin in 1332. A papal bull, dated a few days after the death of Robert I., but addressed to him, finally cleared Scotland from the interdict, and authorised the Bishop of St. Andrews, or the Bishop of Glasgow, to solemnly anoint and crown the Kings of Scotland.