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Scottish
Wars of Independence
In
1286, Alexander III, King of Scots, died when he fell off a
cliff at Kinghorn in Fife while riding to see his wife on a
stormy March night. The successor to the Scottish throne was
his granddaughter Margaret (a sickly three year old girl, the
daughter of the King of Norway and the late Margaret, Alexander's
daughter). The earls and other great magnates had accepted Margaret
as the heir to the throne and arrangements were made to bring
her to Scotland. In the meantime several Guardians were appointed
to govern in the Queen's absence. Discussions were held with
Edward I of England to prevent any instability. Edward was very
generous and kind, and after much diplomacy, a treaty was signed
whereby the new queen was to marry Edward's own son, also Edward.
Had this treaty ever taken effect who knows what would have
happened to both England and Scotland. In the event, Margaret
died in Orkney, never seeing her kingdom. After her death, Edward
brought out his claims of overlordship of Scotland. This was
based on a trawl through the records of every monastic house
in England. He used the treaty of Falaise (where William the
Lion had signed away Scotland) despite the fact that it had
been canceled by the Quit-claim of Canterbury. Having been frustrated
by the Guardians on the grounds that whether Scotland was subject
to England was a matter for the king of Scots and not them.
Edward therefore got every claimant to the throne to swear fealty
to him for the realm of Scotland if he chose them.
So, the situation is this. Margaret's death had left 13 claimants
to the throne, although only 3 were worth looking at. Bruce,
Balliol and Count Florence. This last claim was important as
he claimed that Alexander had signed a paper whereby the succession
went through him in the event of Alexander dying leaving no
heirs.
Unfortunately, he was unable to find the paper despite a lengthy
adjournment. So we are left with the Bruce and Balliol claims.
Bruce claimed through the second daughter of David earl of Huntingdon,
while Balliol claimed through the elder daughter of the same
man. Bruce argued that he was closer in line as he was the son
of the second daughter while Balliol was only the grandson of
the elder daughter. In the event, after much legal argument,
the stronger claim won, that of Balliol. He was undoubtedly
the rightful claimant to the throne whether or not he would
make a good king.
So, Balliol was crowned in 1292, and was faced with constant
pressure from Edward to acknowledge him as his overlord. To
Balliol's credit he refused to do so. In 1295, Edward gave the
Scots an ultimatum. He wanted every man of rank to attend him
on his forthcoming invasion of France. This was one step to
far and the Scots instead signed a treaty of mutual aid with
France. In consequence, Edward invaded Scotland instead.
The invasion of 1296 saw the beginning of the wars of independence.
Scotland would now be in almost constant conflict with England
for the next 300 years. To put this in perspective it should
be understood that the two nations had been on fairly friendly
terms for the preceding century. Even when there was conflict
it was fairly low key.
Edward began his invasion at Berwick. The town was besieged
and after a short struggle, the town was sacked and the inhabitants
put to the sword, literally. A group of Flemish merchants were
burnt to death in their guild hall at the express orders of
Edward. The numbers of dead caused severe problems and they
were ordered to be thrown into the sea, or into deep pits. The
English army stayed at Berwick while a probe in force was sent
towards Dunbar. There they routed the main Scottish army, back
from raiding the north of England.
After the defeat of the Scottish army, Edward went on a progress
through Scotland. On the way, he took the Scottish piece of
the true cross, the black rood, the Stone of Destiny (or at
least what he was told was the stone!) and stripped Balliol
of his heraldic arms. Having thus secured Scotland, he went
south again.
Why
you may ask did the Scots not put up much of a fight? Well the
simple answer to that is they hadn't fought a serious battle since
1235, when Alexander II subjugated Galloway. The last battle had
been at Largs in 1265, but that wasn't really a battle being more
of a skirmish on the shore with the Norwegians.
In
consequence the Scots were badly equipped to face Edward, and
an English army which had fought many times on the continent.
They were moreover badly equipped to deal with the heavy chivalric
horse and archers which English armies were equipped with.
Having subjugated Scotland, Edward now demanded that all nobles
and landholders swear fealty to him at either Berwick or to their
local justiciar or Sheriff. The names of all those who took this
oath were then put on a list, this list is now known as the Ragman
Rolls. One notable exception to this was the son of a Lanarkshire
knight named Malcolm Wallace and his brother William.
The Wallaces had probably come from Shropshire originally sometime
during the twelfth century and had gained land in the parish of
Paisley. There they were subject to the lordship of the Stewarts.
The rising of Wallace in 1297, must be placed into some context.
Wallace's standing and ability to operate required that he have
support or at least no hostility from Sir James Stewart his lord.
Moreover, as the son of a knight and possibly a minor landholder,
he would have the ability to bring together some trained men for
his struggle.
It is commonly assumed that Wallace led a band of outlaws and
common men. While there would undoubtedly have been many like
this in his band, some of his exploits required trained men with
horses. Moreover, it should be stated that Wallace was not alone
in this struggle. In the north a young knight Sir Andrew Moray,
was engaged in a widespread and highly effective campaign to rid
the English from the north of Scotland. A campaign Wallace certainly
was not involved in.
After
having cleared Scotland of the English, Wallace and Moray brought
their armies together to face the next threat. A huge English
army was being led north by the Earl of Surrey and the Edward's
treasurer in Scotland Hugh Cressingham. The two armies met at
Stirling Bridge where the English were routed. They were routed
by an army predominantly of foot soldiers, a fact that shocked
many both in Scotland and England as well as further afield.
After this victory, Wallace and a severely wounded Moray were
appointed Guardians of Scotland and promptly invaded England over
the winter of 1297/8 causing widespread havoc. At some point around
this time, Wallace was knighted. The only source for this is a
reliable English one. The source states simply that one of the
great nobles had knighted him. At the time, there were only three
present in Scotland, the earls of Strathearn, Lennox and Carrick.
It is from this evidence that the story has grown that it was
the earl of Carrick, Robert Bruce who carried out the ceremony.
However it is equally possible that Lennox or even Strathearn
did it instead.
A furious Edward marched north the next year, again with a huge
army. Wallace (Moray died of wounds inflicted at Stirling Bridge)
met him at Falkirk having burned most of Southern Scotland to
try and starve Edward out. The Scots were hugely outnumbered but
Wallace had no option but to fight it out. Despite initial success
in beating off the English knights, Wallace had no way to fight
back against the thousands of Welsh and English archers who poured
arrows into the static Scots. After a long period of this, the
English knights charged again and the Scots were wiped out. Wallace
escaped the field, resigned the guardianship and went to France
to the French court.
In the meantime, the Scots had elected new guardians. Robert Bruce
earl of Carrick (grandson of the Robert Bruce who had claimed
the throne) and John Comyn lord of Badenoch and cousin of John
Balliol. The two men could not work together often coming close
to blows during meetings. Bruce was planning to marry Elizabeth
de Burgh, a marriage which was being held up by Edward's displeasure
at him. So, in 1302 Bruce resigned the guardianship, swore fealty
to Edward (for the umpteenth time) and married. One of the most
decisive battles in the wars of independence took place in 1302.
The battle took place not in Scotland but in Flanders. At Courtrai,
the flower of the French army was destroyed utterly by an army
of Flemish foot soldiers armed with pikes who withstood the French
knights charges before butchering them.
This battle is decisive because up to that point the Scots had
been if not winning certainly holding their own against Edward.
Edward was fighting a war on two fronts, and was finding it increasingly
difficult to do so. There were several campaigns in Scotland which
achieved nothing except the starvation of the invading army. However
with the French king now without an army, and suing for peace
with Edward, the Scots would be faced with only one option. Stand
or surrender. To their credit, they held out until 1305, but when
the crunch came, they packed it in.
Edward still wanted Wallace captured and had offered a fairly
large reward for this. It was not until 1305 however that anyone
took the bait. The Scot who did so was Sir John Stewart of Menteith.
He sent one of his men as part of Wallaces band and had him lead
Wallace to a spot where he could be apprehended. Wallace was then
taken south with all speed where he was tried, convicted of High
Treason (amongst other things), then hung drawn quartered and
variously mutilated.
It is often stated that this act of barbarism on Edward's part
was unforgivable and illegal. While this may be so, it should
be remembered that while the high treason indictment was questionable
to say the least (Wallace had never sworn fealty to Edward, so
couldn't be charged with breaking that fealty), Wallace was also
subject to a host of other charges,some true others, such as murdering
schoolboys unlikely. The huge propaganda machine which was used
in England to justify the Scottish wars and to get support to
continue them left little room for leniency for a man who had
soundly defeated a conventional army by unconventional means.
With Wallace now a decoration for London Bridge, Edward turned
his hand to the governance of his new lands. Various acts were
passed for the effective government of Scotland. None of them
had any effect for, within six months of Wallaces execution, there
was rebellion again in Scotland. The man behind that rebellion
was Robert Bruce, earl of Carrick, and now lord of Annandale.
The death of Bruce's father had left him the claim to the throne,
a claim he now determined to take on forcibly.
To put Robert Bruce into perspective, we should perhaps look at
him in a little detail. The Bruce family had ties both north and
south of the border. The abbey of Guisborough in Northumberland
was a Bruce foundation. Bruce "the competitor" was involved
a great deal with the English court and held extensive lands in
England. he acted as a justiciar for Edward in the north of England.
His son also was involved in the English court and was keeper
of Carlisle castle for a while. The young Robert Bruce was brought
up at Edward's court and had extensive knowledge of it and was
also a favorite of Edward. However, he was also an angry young
man feeling that his family had been deprived the crown of Scotland.
In the early years of the rebellion, Bruce was in many ways hamstrung
by both a desire to fight for Scotland, and also well aware that
the fight was being carried out in the name of Balliol. He, along
with most Scottish nobles, changed sides on more than one occasion
depending upon how the wind blew.
By
early 1306, however things had changed. He was now the head of
his family and therefore did not have any ties to prevent him
claiming the throne for himself. In addition, he was faced with
a crisis. While in London, news reached him that John Comyn, lord
of Badenoch, had let Edward know of a plot that Bruce was hatching
to claim the throne. Bruce received a few minutes warning and
fled to Scotland. In a church in Dumfries, Bruce met Comyn, argued
with him and then killed him at the alter. This act changed things
dramatically, he was left with no option but to claim the throne
as quickly as possible, and then deal with the Comyn wrath as
king. He rushed to Scone, passing by Glasgow to be absolved for
the sacrilegious murder of Comyn. he was hurriedly crowned at
Scone and shortly after defeated by a small English force at Methven,
outside Perth. Sending his wife and sister north, Bruce fled West
with the remains of his small army. He was defeated again by Lame
John MacDougall at Dal Righ in Argyll, and fled to the isles.
Where
Bruce spent the winter of 1306/7 is unknown. Any island from Rathlin
to Orkney has been said to be the location. It is probable that
we should look at a Hebridean location for this sojourn. Probably
in the lands of Angus Og MacDonald, certainly his wife and sister
were attempting to flee for a boat when the were captured at Kildrummy
castle and imprisoned.
The situation was bleak for the new king, his kingdom was overrun
by English troops, moreover the north of the country was very
hostile to him. Over the winter, plans were laid for the new year.
1307 brought the turning point in Scotland's fight for independence.
Bruce landed at Turnberry, to discover the area overrun with English
soldiers. A group of troops under his younger brothers were captured
and beheaded. Then, a stroke of genius. At Loudon hill in Lanarkshire,
Bruce defeated a large troop of English soldiers. Edward in an
extremely angry mood order an army put together for a campaign
to put down Bruce. Edward was however ill, the army marched north
but never made it to Scotland. Edward died on the Solway cursing
the Scots. He ordered his body boiled and the bones taken with
the army. His son, now Edward II took the more pragmatic view
and marched south again.
Bruce was now free to deal with his enemies within Scotland. A
battle on the slopes of Ben Cruachan in Argyll put paid to any
involvement from the MacDougalls and then it was the turn of the
Comyns. During the later part of 1307 and into 1308, the lands
of the Comyns in Buchan and Badenoch were raided, burnt and generally
destroyed. The Comyns were then forfeited and their lands granted
out to Bruce supporters. By the new year, Bruce was in undisputed
control of Scotland, now he could turn his hand to riding it of
the English. In this he was aided by the ineptitude, disinterest
and political problems of Edward II. There was no effective English
invasion of Scotland until 1314. By which time the only castles
in English hands were Stirling and Berwick.
Stirling
was, due to an agreement with the garrison, to be surrendered
by midsummer 1314. The English got round to putting an army together,
advanced to Stirling and were annihilated by Bruce and an army
1/3 of the size. Scotland was to all intents and purposes free.
It would be 1329 before this was finally admitted to by the English
king. However, when the news came that the English had agreed
that Scotland was free and Scottish kings could be anointed, Bruce
was dead. He had achieved more in his reign than many others had.
He had united a realm behind him. From now on there would be no
conflict of loyalties between Scots who held land on both sides
of the border. After 1318, all Scots landholders had to decide
which lands they wanted and swear fealty to the relevant king.
If they wanted their Scottish lands then they forfeited their
English lands and vice-versa.
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