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On October 14, 1322, Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeated King Edward II of England at Byland, forcing Edward to accept Scotland's independence. From the article:
"Battle of Byland - Historic UK
by Jane Struthers
Sutton Bank, North Yorkshire: a dramatic inland cliff, with a near vertical drop of around 140 metres from the top to the bottom. It was formed during the last Ice Age around 20 thousand years ago. The view from the top today is spectacular, with wonderful views over the Vale of York and the Vale of Mowbray.
It is thought to be the location of the Battle of Byland, or the Battle of Scotch Corner as it is sometimes called, fought during the Wars for Scottish Independence.
On 14th October 1322, the view from the top of the bank would have looked very different. The churned up ground, the sea of mud, the gloom cast by palls of smoke hanging over the area from burning towns and villages and many fires, all masking any view the English army had of the advancing Scots. The fields on the top, towards Rievaulx Abbey, would have been covered with the encampments of this large English army, while to the west of Sutton Bank, in the Vale, would have been the steadily advancing Scottish army, many less in number.
There has been some debate as to the actual site of the Battle of Byland. It is thought to be somewhere around Old Byland – not the Abbey – and the main battle is thought to have been fought on Roulston Scar, the escarpment just to the south of Sutton Bank. (Roulston Scar is also the site of a massive Iron Age hill fort built around 400BC).
Following Edward I’s invasion of Scotland, his English garrisons occupied many Scottish castles. Years of warfare followed, with the Scottish nobles rebelling against the English. In 1306, Robert the Bruce, having proclaimed his right to the Scottish throne, was crowned king of Scotland at Scone Abbey in Scotland. He crushed those against him, and the people of Scotland began to look to him to free them from the English tyranny. Edward I died in 1307 while moving to engage the Scots once again. His death encouraged the Scots, as he was succeeded by his son Edward II, who did not have the military experience of his father and was rather incompetent, unlike Edward I who had been known as ‘The Hammer of the Scots’ because of his brutal conduct towards them.
During his reign, Edward II was involved in a struggle with rebel barons in England while battling the Scots, and his army suffered many defeats. Robert the Bruce, after his Bannockburn victory against the English in 1314 made many incursions into the English lands in the north, gathering booty and replenishing the Scottish coffers.
Having successfully beaten his rebellious lords at the Battle of Boroughbridge in March 1322 and encouraged by this success, Edward II turned his attention to Scotland and marched on Edinburgh with a large army. This was to be his last campaign into Scotland. Robert responded with his scorched earth policy – ahead of the advancing English, driving out livestock, burning, destroying, trampling crops – so that the English would find no sustenance on the way and would turn back. Famously it was said that the only thing left to eat in Lothian was an old lame cow; the Earl of Surrey is supposed to have said ‘this is the dearest cow that I ever beheld; for of a certainty it has cost a thousand pounds and more’.
Edward reached Edinburgh, but due to the wet weather, lack of shelter and food, his army began to suffer and became apathetic, ill and demoralised. Edward ordered the slaughter of remaining Edinburgh inhabitants (a lot had fled); the English army ran amok and then retreated into England, harried by the Scots, and at around half its original numbers. They straggled back towards York, committing appalling atrocities in their retreat.
In response, Robert the Bruce had taken an army of around 20,000 to the west. Edward heard of this while travelling his way south, and ordered northern lords to attend him around Sutton Bank to assist. Robert the Bruce reached Carlisle and Lancaster, laying waste as he went, and then came across the Pennines to Northallerton where he was joined by Sir James Douglas. Their army marched south overnight, hoping to surprise the English who had by then taken refuge on the Hambledon Hills. He received news that Edward II was at Rievaulx Abbey (or Byland Abbey, accounts differ) and planned, if possible, to capture him to bring the Wars of Scottish Independence to an end. The English heard of the Scottish advance and moved at Old Byland to hold the ridge and block the path up to the top. While awaiting reinforcements, Edward spent his time drinking and feasting at the Abbey. Extra reinforcements from the south supplemented the number of men to a probable 65,000 according to the Lanercrost Chronicle (a northern English history).
Robert the Bruce planned that Sir Walter Stewart (one of his commanders) was to break through to Rievaulx, once the English line had been broken at Roulsden Scar. He could have gone round the ridge and then to Rievaulx, around 15 miles, but decided to attack in case the delay allowed Edward more time to escape. The Scots hid in the trees at the foot of the Scar, shrouded by these and by the smoke from fires.
Bruce assaulted the ridge causing the Earl of Richmond (Edward’s commander) to respond by sending thousands of troops to counter, having the advantage of the heights and in numbers, but Highlanders in the Scottish ranks then attacked up the flanks, being used to mountainous conditions. Bruce and some of his men made their way unnoticed, stealthily, up onto Shaws Moor where the English were encamped and then, through the unprotected rear ranks, charged, roaring, crashing through the English lines, causing the subsequent confrontation to end in a rout. The armies below, hearing the triumphant Scots, looked up to see the Scots on the top of the ridge, causing the remaining English to flee for their lives if they could; the Earl of Richmond was captured, along with other notables.
The Scottish cavalry led by Sir Walter Stewart went after Edward, galloping on towards the Abbey and Edward fled, leaving everything behind, desperately trying to reach the coast at Bridlington to board a ship. He had been settling down to a feast at the Abbey but had had to flee in haste for his life. He managed to evade his pursuers in the dark, but at Bridlington discovered no ship available and so turned for York, riding flat out. From York he managed to make his way to Burstwick and from there, back to London.
The remains of the English army made their way to York seeking protection. Edward had left all his finery, treasure and the Great Seal of England at the Abbey – all then captured by the Scots. The victorious Scots raided the abbeys and made their way back north after plundering and moving through into the Wolds as far as Beverley. York was a fortified city and so was spared. Robert’s army set about making castles unusable and demanding payment from towns and villages – those that could not pay were looted and burnt. The monasteries and priories tried to save their wealth by moving their riches south before the Scottish army arrived, but had to pay heavily and never really recovered their former riches. The treasure gathered on the way back to Scotland helped Robert to make a start rebuilding his realm.
There are two Scotch Corners in Yorkshire – one on a well known major road (the A1) – and the other, thought to be on the site of the Battle of Byland, is a little to the north of the village of Oldstead, on the promontory of the hill by Sutton Bank known as Scots Corner, or Scotch Corner. An old ‘drovers road’ runs through the site, used by the Scots in later centuries to bring livestock south to sell. There used to be an inn there – the Scotch Corner Inn. When this and the farmhouse fell into ruin, rather fittingly a chapel was built out of the old stone in 1957 to honour war dead in the Second World War, on the site of the battlefield.
Today, there is the Sutton Bank National Park Centre on the top of the cliff, and the Gliding Club. There are many paths and routes over it, where a visitor can walk over the ground where this bloody and fierce battle was fought."
"Battle of Byland - Historic UK
by Jane Struthers
Sutton Bank, North Yorkshire: a dramatic inland cliff, with a near vertical drop of around 140 metres from the top to the bottom. It was formed during the last Ice Age around 20 thousand years ago. The view from the top today is spectacular, with wonderful views over the Vale of York and the Vale of Mowbray.
It is thought to be the location of the Battle of Byland, or the Battle of Scotch Corner as it is sometimes called, fought during the Wars for Scottish Independence.
On 14th October 1322, the view from the top of the bank would have looked very different. The churned up ground, the sea of mud, the gloom cast by palls of smoke hanging over the area from burning towns and villages and many fires, all masking any view the English army had of the advancing Scots. The fields on the top, towards Rievaulx Abbey, would have been covered with the encampments of this large English army, while to the west of Sutton Bank, in the Vale, would have been the steadily advancing Scottish army, many less in number.
There has been some debate as to the actual site of the Battle of Byland. It is thought to be somewhere around Old Byland – not the Abbey – and the main battle is thought to have been fought on Roulston Scar, the escarpment just to the south of Sutton Bank. (Roulston Scar is also the site of a massive Iron Age hill fort built around 400BC).
Following Edward I’s invasion of Scotland, his English garrisons occupied many Scottish castles. Years of warfare followed, with the Scottish nobles rebelling against the English. In 1306, Robert the Bruce, having proclaimed his right to the Scottish throne, was crowned king of Scotland at Scone Abbey in Scotland. He crushed those against him, and the people of Scotland began to look to him to free them from the English tyranny. Edward I died in 1307 while moving to engage the Scots once again. His death encouraged the Scots, as he was succeeded by his son Edward II, who did not have the military experience of his father and was rather incompetent, unlike Edward I who had been known as ‘The Hammer of the Scots’ because of his brutal conduct towards them.
During his reign, Edward II was involved in a struggle with rebel barons in England while battling the Scots, and his army suffered many defeats. Robert the Bruce, after his Bannockburn victory against the English in 1314 made many incursions into the English lands in the north, gathering booty and replenishing the Scottish coffers.
Having successfully beaten his rebellious lords at the Battle of Boroughbridge in March 1322 and encouraged by this success, Edward II turned his attention to Scotland and marched on Edinburgh with a large army. This was to be his last campaign into Scotland. Robert responded with his scorched earth policy – ahead of the advancing English, driving out livestock, burning, destroying, trampling crops – so that the English would find no sustenance on the way and would turn back. Famously it was said that the only thing left to eat in Lothian was an old lame cow; the Earl of Surrey is supposed to have said ‘this is the dearest cow that I ever beheld; for of a certainty it has cost a thousand pounds and more’.
Edward reached Edinburgh, but due to the wet weather, lack of shelter and food, his army began to suffer and became apathetic, ill and demoralised. Edward ordered the slaughter of remaining Edinburgh inhabitants (a lot had fled); the English army ran amok and then retreated into England, harried by the Scots, and at around half its original numbers. They straggled back towards York, committing appalling atrocities in their retreat.
In response, Robert the Bruce had taken an army of around 20,000 to the west. Edward heard of this while travelling his way south, and ordered northern lords to attend him around Sutton Bank to assist. Robert the Bruce reached Carlisle and Lancaster, laying waste as he went, and then came across the Pennines to Northallerton where he was joined by Sir James Douglas. Their army marched south overnight, hoping to surprise the English who had by then taken refuge on the Hambledon Hills. He received news that Edward II was at Rievaulx Abbey (or Byland Abbey, accounts differ) and planned, if possible, to capture him to bring the Wars of Scottish Independence to an end. The English heard of the Scottish advance and moved at Old Byland to hold the ridge and block the path up to the top. While awaiting reinforcements, Edward spent his time drinking and feasting at the Abbey. Extra reinforcements from the south supplemented the number of men to a probable 65,000 according to the Lanercrost Chronicle (a northern English history).
Robert the Bruce planned that Sir Walter Stewart (one of his commanders) was to break through to Rievaulx, once the English line had been broken at Roulsden Scar. He could have gone round the ridge and then to Rievaulx, around 15 miles, but decided to attack in case the delay allowed Edward more time to escape. The Scots hid in the trees at the foot of the Scar, shrouded by these and by the smoke from fires.
Bruce assaulted the ridge causing the Earl of Richmond (Edward’s commander) to respond by sending thousands of troops to counter, having the advantage of the heights and in numbers, but Highlanders in the Scottish ranks then attacked up the flanks, being used to mountainous conditions. Bruce and some of his men made their way unnoticed, stealthily, up onto Shaws Moor where the English were encamped and then, through the unprotected rear ranks, charged, roaring, crashing through the English lines, causing the subsequent confrontation to end in a rout. The armies below, hearing the triumphant Scots, looked up to see the Scots on the top of the ridge, causing the remaining English to flee for their lives if they could; the Earl of Richmond was captured, along with other notables.
The Scottish cavalry led by Sir Walter Stewart went after Edward, galloping on towards the Abbey and Edward fled, leaving everything behind, desperately trying to reach the coast at Bridlington to board a ship. He had been settling down to a feast at the Abbey but had had to flee in haste for his life. He managed to evade his pursuers in the dark, but at Bridlington discovered no ship available and so turned for York, riding flat out. From York he managed to make his way to Burstwick and from there, back to London.
The remains of the English army made their way to York seeking protection. Edward had left all his finery, treasure and the Great Seal of England at the Abbey – all then captured by the Scots. The victorious Scots raided the abbeys and made their way back north after plundering and moving through into the Wolds as far as Beverley. York was a fortified city and so was spared. Robert’s army set about making castles unusable and demanding payment from towns and villages – those that could not pay were looted and burnt. The monasteries and priories tried to save their wealth by moving their riches south before the Scottish army arrived, but had to pay heavily and never really recovered their former riches. The treasure gathered on the way back to Scotland helped Robert to make a start rebuilding his realm.
There are two Scotch Corners in Yorkshire – one on a well known major road (the A1) – and the other, thought to be on the site of the Battle of Byland, is a little to the north of the village of Oldstead, on the promontory of the hill by Sutton Bank known as Scots Corner, or Scotch Corner. An old ‘drovers road’ runs through the site, used by the Scots in later centuries to bring livestock south to sell. There used to be an inn there – the Scotch Corner Inn. When this and the farmhouse fell into ruin, rather fittingly a chapel was built out of the old stone in 1957 to honour war dead in the Second World War, on the site of the battlefield.
Today, there is the Sutton Bank National Park Centre on the top of the cliff, and the Gliding Club. There are many paths and routes over it, where a visitor can walk over the ground where this bloody and fierce battle was fought."
Battle of Byland - Historic UK
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Thank you my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware that on October 14, 1322, Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeated King Edward II of England at Byland, forcing Edward to accept Scotland's independence.
Old Byland Round
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG7s4dRdU1g
Image
1. View from Sutton Bank - Battlefield area.
2. Byland Abbey
3. Holkham Bible full image of the Battle of Byland 1322
4. Pickering Castle
Biographies
1. cunninghamh.tripod.com/2001/Byland/byland.htm]
2. bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/bruce_robert_the.shtm
1. Background from {[http://cunninghamh.tripod.com/2001/Byland/byland.htm]]
THE BATTLE
October 1322
1322 was an eventful year for Edward II. It started badly with a continuing revolt by his cousin, the Earl of Lancaster and Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford after Edward II reneged on undertakings made at a parliament in 1321 to limit him and his favourites abuses of power. Edward was further enraged by the Judicial murder of his favourite pretty boy, the Breton, Piers Gaveston whose head was presented to the Earl of Lancaster. Edward showing unusual energy and acumen enlisted the aid of Sir Andrew Harclay and defeated Lancaster and Hereford at the battle of Boroughbridge on the 16th and 17th March 1322.
Encouraged by his success in crushing his rebellious Lords, Edward II decided to invade Scotland after the clergy in this year granted fourpence in the Merk of tithes raised, to Edward II to carry on the war against Scotland. An action for which they would later pay most dearly. Edward accompanied by Queen Isabella marched to Edinburgh with an army estimated to be over 100,000 strong. This number is like all medieval estimates, grossly inflated and according to the Lanercost chronicles, could not have exceeded 60,000 men based on the victualling returns.
Since 1314 King Robert the Bruce had sought a peace treaty in order that the war ravaged realm of Scotland could recover. Edward II was obdurate and impervious to the pleas from his lords, so, each year, the Bruce instigated forays into northern England to extract Tribute and booty to help rebuild the bankrupt Scottish economy. He hoped the forays would put pressure on the English barons to persuade King Edward II to negotiate a peace treaty which would recognise Scotland as an Independent Kingdom with himself as it’s rightful king. Accordingly he sent Sir James Douglas (The Black Douglas) and Sir Thomas Randolph (The Earl of Moray) in a series of wide ranging raids into Northumberland, Cumberland, Lancashire, Durham and Yorkshire to extract tribute which for a medium sized town was 2000 Silver Merks or £1,300 English pounds. (Worth £140,000 by today’s standards.)
Each year the coffers of Scotland were slowly replenished and the process of rebuilding started. Despite the serious ebbing of a high percentage of the English economy to Scotland, Edward still refused to negotiate and a good number of his lords were in revolt and his position was becoming untenable. Edward attacked Scotland several times, the last being in 1319 when he tried to retake Berwick on Tweed. That failed when Bruce led a long range foray into England, forcing Edward to retreat. Now Edward had beaten his two most dangerous enemies at Boroughbridge. Emboldened by this success, Edward struck at Scotland.
Bruce reacted with savage energy and resolve. He instituted a ‘Scorched earth’ policy in the Merse and lothians. All the livestock were driven away to safe places. Granaries emptied and what could not be transported away was set on fire. The Roofs os the houses were torn off and burnt and any growing crops were trampled to deny them to the English. Bridges were destroyed, wells befouled with manure and carcasses and streams were dammed causing morasses and floods. He sent Douglas and 4000 Mosstroopers with some 2000 highland clansmen to harry the English army in Durham as they marched north and burn before them, all food, forage and shelter that might be of use to the English. Bruce himself led an expedition of 8000 light cavalry and Highland Clansmen supported by the galley’s of the Lord of the Isles in a long range sweeping raid into the northwest of England, sacking Preston and pillaging scores of other towns.
By doing this, King Robert hoped that Edward II would turn back to defend his northern shires, but instead, Edward II fell out with Sir Andrew Harclay on policy and ordered him to confine Bruce to Northern England whilst he, Edward ravaged Scotland. Sir Andrew Harclay protested at this unmilitary division of the English forces which would leave the English Army unbalanced and short of Archers. Edward backed by the Earl of Richmond (John of Brittany) and his favourites, the, Le DeSpensers summarily dismissed the only competent military leader he had (Sir Andrew harclay had won the battle of Boroughbridge whereas in the same action, Le DeSpensers had lost theirs.) Sir Andrew Harclay, retired in a huff to Carlisle with his army and came to an accommodation with King Robert on the lines of, ‘Don’t mess with me and I’ll leave you alone’ variety.
When King Robert heard this news, he returned post haste by the Solway Sands in a marvellous move of logistics, involving tides, mudflats, quicksands from Morecambe bay to Silloth in less than a day. He reached the Scottish border in late July a day ahead of Edward and immediately mobilized his forces. King Edward occupied Edinburgh and Leith setting up home in Holyrood with Queen Isabella. It is estimated that three-quarters of the populace had fled the city before Edward arrived to be welcomed and feted by the remaining quarter of the populace who thought that preferment would come their way. The castle had been slighted (Made Indefensible) by the Earl of Moray in 1314 and true to Robert the Bruce’s wishes, had not been rebuilt so that it could not be held against him. (Bruce believed in Mobile warfare, not static.)
Edwards army found there was no foraging to be had. Foraging parties were ambushed by the Mosstroopers under Sir James Douglas. The Earl of Surrey, Hugh de Warrene is recorded as making the comment about an old lame cow which was all the English Army had managed to capture. ‘Yonder cow is the dearest piece of beef I have ever seen, as it has cost a thousand pound or more!’ Scots black humour came to the fore once more and grim jokes about the English waiting for next years harvest began to circulate. Food became even scarcer, even forage for the horses, but this did not really matter too much as the English were now eating the horses, so Edward did what he should have done earlier, organised supply ships to sail from the Humber, Tees and Tyne.
On receipt of this news on the 6th August, Robert the Bruce requested Angus Og, Lord of the Isles to sail some of his galleys round the North of Scotland to the Forth and institute a blockade. On the 10th August a lone Galley with the Black ship emblem of the MacDonald’s on it’s sail, under the command of John of Islay,(Angus Og’s Eldest Son and heir) sped up the Forth to Culross to report that Angus Og’s fleet was in the Tay and had already sent scouting ships down to the Farne islands and the Bass Rock with more galleys sent down to blockade the Humber, Bridlington, Whitby, Hartlepool and Tynemouth. King Robert was delighted at this news and knighted young John of Islay straightaway. Several days later, Edward had to grind his teeth in anger with the chagrin of seeing three English supply ships laden with foodstuffs, captured as prizes of war off the Bass Rock, and sail past Edinburgh, up the forth to Culross where they were unloaded and their contents distributed to the Scottish Army which by now numbered at least 25,000. Angus Og’s galleys captured most of the English Supply ships and drove some ashore to be wrecked on the Northumbrian cliffs a few others, less seaworthy were lost at sea in the severe gales during August. A Group of Whitby merchants wrote a letter of complaint to King Edward that they could not move their goods from the port due to the presence of ‘Scottish pirates and privateers.’
The weather was unseasonably wet with constant driving rain and high winds every day. Due to lack of shelter and food the English army began to suffer from ‘Divers fevers and agues,’ Dysentery added it’s misery to the constant cold and hungry soldiery. What morale there was soon slumped into apathetic misery despite the efforts of a small minority of officers who tried to raise their morale, and inevitably the English Army became a barely controllable, sick and semi mutinous rabble. On the 2nd of September, Holyrood Abbey was set on fire and in a fit of petulance and pique, Edward ordered the valedictory slaughter of the remaining inhabitants of Edinburgh. The English soldiery ran amok, killing some 5,000 men, women, children and even babies were slaughtered and disembowelled in the streets and closes in an act of blood crazed savagery not seen since Edward I sacked the city of Berwick on Tweed, slaughtering 17,000 of it’s inhabitants to be left rotting where they fell for months afterwards. Only a few of the inhabitants of Edinburgh managed to escape.
Sir James Douglas and Sir Thomas Randolph with extra Highland Clansmen sent by Bruce, harried the retreating English rabble unmercifully so much so that only half of the army which had marched into Scotland, stumbled and reeled out of the Country. No army is at its best during a rout and it is not surprising that many atrocities were committed , some by Edwards direct orders. Sir James Douglas was too late to save that most beautiful of all Scotland’s Abbeys, Melrose from being set on fire and much too late to save the life of the gentle Godly Abbot William Peebles being crucified to the Abbey doors and then shot full of arrows. The other monks who had stayed with him were all dreadfully tortured and then slaughtered. King Robert who greatly loved and respected the Abbot, was moved to tears at the news and vowed that the English churchmen who had financed Edwards expedition would pay dearly for their sins.
The demoralised English army were by now in a state of mutiny. Badly led by incompetent leaders, without adequate food or clothing, forced to flee from an implacable enemy in downpours of rain, walking in glutinous mud, fording rain swollen rivers, forced to sleep in the open and staggering wearily further and further south towards York, where there was a promise of fresh reinforcements of southern levies and plenty of food round the rich lands of the Abbeys and monasteries. Each day men deserted, fell out sick and diseased, too ill to move or fell foul of the Scots who were hotly pursuing them. By the time they reached the encampments round Rievaulx Abbey, Byland, Shaws moor and Scawton Moor, only one third of the English remained.
Here they were joined by some 25,000 southern levies and the Lanercost Chronicles indicate that some 48,000 English men at arms, Hobelars and auxiliaries were being fed daily in addition to the Archers and general conscripts who possibly made up another 15,000. Medieval estimates of 200,000 men are wildly inaccurate as the available food supply locally could not possibly support such great numbers. In 1321 an outbreak of cattle plague had reduced the herds to a quarter of the 1319 figure. Rievaulx Abbey made its wealth from wool, having flocks totalling some 14,000 sheep. The wet autumn meant the loss of the hay crop and reduced yields of corn.
Robert the Bruce now took his army of 20,000 mosstroopers and clansmen through the west marches and laid waste to the areas round Carlisle, Lancaster and Preston before marching across the Pennines through Swaledale and Wensleydale where he could and should have been ambushed and stopped in his tracks by any competent defender of the easily defensible passes. Bruce joined forces with Sir James Douglas at Northallerton and received the news that Edward II was staying at Rievaulx Abbey. Bruce conferred with Sir James Douglas, Sir Walter Stewart, and Sir Thomas Randolph and discussed the possibility of capturing King Edward and bringing this long drawn out war to an end.
The task was given to Sir Walter Stewart the hereditary High Steward of Scotland, who with three hundred mosstroopers was to break through to Rievaulx Abbey as soon as the English line was broken by the Scottish Army on Roulston Scar. Bruce ordered Sir James Douglas to light more fires and increase the amount of smoke to conceal his movements from the English commander the Earl of Richmond. This was done and Bruce concealed two thirds of his army in clumps of trees below a gully which led round the rear of Roulston Scar.
Bruce then sent Sir James Douglas and Sir Thomas Randolph along with six thousand mosstroopers and spearmen to directly assault the ridge next to Roulston Scar hoping that the Earl of Richmond would call on his reserve forces to meet this threat. Out of the smoke the English watched the advance of the Scots , the Earl of Richmond then countered the Scottish move by sending fifteen thousand of his men down the slope to assault the inferior Scottish force. What the Earl of Richmond had not observed was that the gully the Scots were advancing up was very narrow and constricted with steep slopes on each sides making movement on horseback very difficult. He found out too late that he could only attack on a very narrow front which the Scots ably defended by forming a schiltrom with their long spears which completely turned the first English charge into a bloody charnel house of dead, dying and injured horses and men.
The Earl of Richmond sent down more men and at this point the Bruce sent up his highlanders under Neil Campbell of Loch Awe and Robert MacGregor to assault both flanks of the English position. The lightly clad clansmen soon scaled both flanks driving the English back with their fierce attacks and Gaidhlig war cries, thus forcing the Earl of Richmond to pull in all his picquets and guards to throw into the Battle. This left the alternative route unguarded and then Robert the Bruce struck hard!
Back in Rievaulx Abbey , King Edward and his close cronies the Le DeSpensers were sitting down to a meal in the quarters of Abbot John of Rievaulx. The Lanercost chronicles reveal that ‘two swanis roastit, divers fowls, Salmonys and other fishis with divers pies of meat and fruitis and sweetmeats. A Tun of Claret wine and a keg of burgundy wine with the best abbey ale.’ They were fated never to finish that meal, that pleasure would fall to Sir Walter Stewart’s men.
Bruce sent Sir Walter Stewart and his mosstroopers to Rievaulx Abbey in an attempt to capture the King. Bruce with his remaining mosstroopers and light cavalry made their way largely unseen, onto Shaws Moor and there in front of them lay, unprotected, the encampments of the English Army. Bruce formed his men into three arrowhead divisions and with the trumpeters blasting out the charge he led his men stirrup to stirrup in an all out thundering gallop, his Lion Rampant Banner flying bravely in the hands of Scrymgeour his standard bearer and with a great cry of ‘ A Bruce! A Bruce!’ they came galloping out of the smoke and smashed through the English lines causing widespread panic and destruction . Even a tightly disciplined army would have found it difficult to withstand such a charge. The demoralised English mostly deserted their posts and ran for their lives but some salvaged what honour there was for England that day by standing their ground even though their stand was useless.
What casualties Bruce’s mosstroopers suffered that day came from the arrows of the few English archers who bravely stood their ground before being hacked down. Bruce’s Standard bearer Scrymgeour took an arrow in his arm which did no damage due to the chain mail suit. Sir Gilbert hay lost his horse which was shot through the head and was nearly trampled by his following men. Backwards and forwards, Bruce’s force charged scattering the surviving English troops. No quarter was given and the English casualties were horrendous. Finally only the dead and the victorious Scots remained in command of the battlefield.
King Robert then led his horsemen to the edge of Roulston Scar and ordered his trumpeters to sound the Rally. Down below in the Gully the English and the Scots turned their heads towards the clamour of the Trumpets, to see Bruce’s host on the escarpment and with a roar of triumph, Douglas’ men surged forward and the English army dispersed , some in flight, most in surrender when Sir James Douglas ordered that the Scots gave quarter. The Corrie was a difficult place to escape from and very few English made a clean getaway. The Earl of Richmond surrendered his sword to Sir James Douglas as did his lieutenants, well those who were still alive and unwounded, that is. Twenty English knights lay amid the dead with twice as many wounded. The Scots ushered their prisoners up the hill to present to King Robert who it is recorded sat hunched, hawk-like on his horse at the top of the escarpment. Sir James Douglas and Sir Thomas Randolph (himself wounded by a spear thrust in his sword arm) presented their prisoners to the King.
The Earl of Richmond (whom Bruce had last met at Stirling Castle when as John of Brittany before being made Earl, he had gloated over the death of Sir William Wallace) was insolent to King Robert and Bruce had him hustled away under close guard as a valuable Hostage. (It took three years to raise the 50,000 silver Merks which freed him from prison in Stirling Castle. By Comparison the Town of Richmond only paid tribute of 1,200 Silver Merks to prevent it from being sacked and burned by Bruce’s army.) Other Notable prisoners were the badly wounded Sir Thomas de Uthred the keeper of the Royal hunt at Pickering castle who Sir James Douglas singled out for praise as a worthy fighter and Sir Ralph Cobham who was reckoned to be the first knight of England.
Also captured were Messieur Henry De Sulliey, Grand Butler of France with a party of ten other French Knights who were on a visit to Queen Isabella and as guests of King Edward II were expected to fight for him according to the law and codes of knightly chivalry. King Robert warmly welcomed them and invited them to come back with him to Scotland as his honoured guests, which they accepted with alacrity. Now all that was left to do was clear up the battlefield, bury the dead, succour the wounded and then ransack as much wealth as possible from the defenceless supine counties of Northern England.
What of the Steward? His men were seen by Edward’s personal guard as they thundered towards the Abbey at breakneck speed. Edward was hustled from the Abbots House, mounted on his grey charger and with a close guard of twenty men galloped away from the scene of his humiliation to try and take ship at Bridlington. Leaving over 100 of his bodyguard to sell their lives in buying him some time to escape. This they did do and delayed the Scots sufficiently to allow Edward to slip away. He was pursued by the Steward and fifty of his men for many miles but in the darkness they lost Edward in the on the road to Nunnington. Edwards horse became lame and He was forced to seek a fresh mount at Pickering Castle where a day later his grey charger became a prize of War and was presented to King Robert.
Edward eventually arrived at Bridlington and requested the keeper of the castle to provide him with a ship to take him to London. The keeper escorted Edward to a lookout tower and grimly pointed out in the bay, three long sleek galleys belonging to Angus Og. Escape by sea was impossible, no trading galliot could outrun these greyhounds of the sea. Edward then rode pellmell to York narrowly escaping capture twice, but losing his shield in the process. (Bruce later returned this shield to Edward as an unspoken challenge, Fight or Negotiate peace! Edward did not rise to the challenge and this later was one of the reasons he was later deposed.)
From York, Edward and his party made their way to the safety of Burstwick in Holderness and from thence to London there to be later reunited with Queen Isabella who was not best pleased at being abandoned by Edward, having to make a perilous journey in disguise as a Nun to Tynemouth Priory. She herself only narrowly escaping capture at Rievaulx. leaving the whole of the north of England open to the Scottish army to extract tribute, to pillage and loot at its leisure. What was left of Edwards army abandoned their weapons and retreated to York which being a fortified City was the only refuge open to them. King Edward left behind his finery, personal treasury, armour and to his great shame, the great seal of England at Rievaulx Abbey, in all 100 horse loads with a combined value of 260,000 silver Merks.
Many of the monasteries and priories attempted to save their valuables by moving them south before the Scottish army arrived. For example, Prior Robert of Bridlington decided to move to Goxhill in Lincolnshire with all the valuables and most of the canons, leaving just 12 hours before the Scottish Army arrived. However he left a poisoned chalice behind for Robert of Bainton the senior canon left behind. The Scots were plundering the countryside round about and were threatening the priory. Canon Robert rode to Malton, where King Robert had set up his headquarters in the slighted Castle and sought audience with the Bruce. King Robert agreed not to despoil the priory if canon Robert provided Bread, meat and wine to the quantity of 18 horse loads per day whilst the Scots were in the area and this was faithfully carried out for 12 days until the Scottish Army had left. The priory was left intact and unharmed.
Poisoned chalice? I hear you say? Yes, Canon Robert and the canons who remained were accused of aiding the enemy and to prevent King Edward taking draconian action against them, they were excommunicated by Archbishop William of melton and later on in December 1322 they were quietly given absolution and reinstated.
King Robert when at Malton summoned all the Abbots and senior churchmen into his presence. Abbot John of Rievaulx like all the other churchmen was dressed in rich apparel with bejewelled and gold encrusted vestments and protesting volubly about the desecration of his Abbey. Bruce silenced him, although there is no written record of what was actually said Bruce related to Abbot John what had happened to Abbot William Peebles at Melrose Abbey which was a Cistercian foundation the same as Rievaulx and that he was party along with other Churchmen to financing King Edward’s war against Scotland. Now was the day of reckoning, they would have to pay the price. The price was the complete pillaging of all valuables and trade goods the only saving grace from the Churchmen’s point of view was that the Abbey buildings were unharmed and the Monks were not tortured or murdered as had been the fate of Scottish Monks.
King Robert grimly reminded them that Scotland had been Pillaged and its infrastructure destroyed by the English Armies and now He was going to extract every last piece of treasure that was to be had, starting with them. Thereupon the Clerics were all forcibly stripped of their rich apparel, golden rings and other finery and given a monks plain coarse habit in its place. He is recorded as saying ‘Our Lord Christ was not the holder of great riches, vestments and privileges whilst He was on earth, why should you desire such as he rejected?’ The Humiliated churchmen were made to walk back to their Churches, Monasteries and Priories barefoot. (Even today Yorkshire schoolchildren are falsely taught that the Scots stripped the Monks and Nuns naked and burnt down the Buildings.)
Bruce’s Army set about Slighting (making unusable) the castles and extracting tribute from all the towns and villages round about. (One can pity the unfortunate Nicholas Haldane, William Hastings and John Mansregh, merchants of Pickering in North Yorkshire who were held as surety for the Tribute of 1,200 Silver Merks. They were held for three years because King Edward II refused to allow the Town to pay the ransom. Three years later, they petitioned the King who again refused. Eventually, their families raised the wherewithal otherwise they would have perished in Stirling Prison cells.)
Those towns and villages that could not or would not pay were first comprehensively looted and then burnt to the ground with only the lives of the inhabitants being spared. So complete was this process that the Monasteries and Priories never recovered their former riches ever again. After 6 weeks, Bruces’ army made it’s way back triumphantly to Scotland via Durham and Northumberland extracting tribute of eight hundred silver Merks from the Bishop of Durham (not to burn his sumptuous palace down to the ground) on the way back. The Treasure has never ever been properly estimated (Some estimates put it as high as 18,000,000 Silver Merks - One quarter of all the English Treasure) as each of Bruces Soldiers must have had a portion of the loot as well, but it enabled King Robert to make a start on rebuilding his realm."
2. Background from {[http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/bruce_robert_the.shtml]}
Robert the Bruce (1274 - 1329)
Robert I, known as Robert the Bruce, was the king of the Scots who secured Scotland's independence from England.
Robert was born on 11 July 1274 into an aristocratic Scottish family. Through his father he was distantly related to the Scottish royal family. His mother had Gaelic antecedents. Bruce's grandfather was one of the claimants to the Scottish throne during a succession dispute in 1290 - 1292. The English king, Edward I, was asked to arbitrate and chose John Balliol to be king. Both Bruce and his father refused to back Balliol and supported Edward I's invasion of Scotland in 1296 to force Balliol to abdicate. Edward then ruled Scotland as a province of England.
Bruce then supported William Wallace's uprising against the English. After Wallace was defeated, Bruce's lands were not confiscated and in 1298, Bruce became a guardian of Scotland, with John Comyn, Balliol's nephew and Bruce's greatest rival for the Scottish throne In 1306, Bruce quarrelled with Comyn and stabbed him in a church in Dumfries. He was outlawed by Edward and excommunicated by the pope. Bruce now proclaimed his right to the throne and on 27 March was crowned king at Scone. The following year, Bruce was deposed by Edward's army and forced to flee. His wife and daughters were imprisoned and three of his brothers executed. Robert spent the winter on the island off the coast of Antrim (Northern Ireland).
Returning to Scotland, Robert waged a highly successful guerrilla war against the English. At the Battle of Bannockburn in June 1314, he defeated a much larger English army under Edward II, confirming the re-establishment of an independent Scottish monarchy. Two years later, his brother Edward Bruce was inaugurated as high king of Ireland but was killed in battle in 1318. Even after Bannockburn and the Scottish capture of Berwick in 1318, Edward II refused to give up his claim to the overlordship of Scotland. In 1320, the Scottish earls, barons and the 'community of the realm' sent a letter to Pope John XXII declaring that Robert was their rightful monarch. This was the 'Declaration of Arbroath' and it asserted the antiquity of the Scottish people and their monarchy.
Four years later, Robert received papal recognition as king of an independent Scotland. The Franco-Scottish alliance was renewed in the Treaty of Corbeil, by which the Scots were obliged to make war on England should hostilities break out between England and France. In 1327, the English deposed Edward II in favour of his son and peace was made with Scotland. This included a total renunciation of all English claims to superiority over Scotland. Robert died on 7 June 1329. He was buried at Dunfermline. He requested that his heart be taken to the Holy Land, but it only got as far as Spain. It was returned to Scotland and buried in Melrose Abbey.'
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Old Byland Round
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG7s4dRdU1g
Image
1. View from Sutton Bank - Battlefield area.
2. Byland Abbey
3. Holkham Bible full image of the Battle of Byland 1322
4. Pickering Castle
Biographies
1. cunninghamh.tripod.com/2001/Byland/byland.htm]
2. bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/bruce_robert_the.shtm
1. Background from {[http://cunninghamh.tripod.com/2001/Byland/byland.htm]]
THE BATTLE
October 1322
1322 was an eventful year for Edward II. It started badly with a continuing revolt by his cousin, the Earl of Lancaster and Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford after Edward II reneged on undertakings made at a parliament in 1321 to limit him and his favourites abuses of power. Edward was further enraged by the Judicial murder of his favourite pretty boy, the Breton, Piers Gaveston whose head was presented to the Earl of Lancaster. Edward showing unusual energy and acumen enlisted the aid of Sir Andrew Harclay and defeated Lancaster and Hereford at the battle of Boroughbridge on the 16th and 17th March 1322.
Encouraged by his success in crushing his rebellious Lords, Edward II decided to invade Scotland after the clergy in this year granted fourpence in the Merk of tithes raised, to Edward II to carry on the war against Scotland. An action for which they would later pay most dearly. Edward accompanied by Queen Isabella marched to Edinburgh with an army estimated to be over 100,000 strong. This number is like all medieval estimates, grossly inflated and according to the Lanercost chronicles, could not have exceeded 60,000 men based on the victualling returns.
Since 1314 King Robert the Bruce had sought a peace treaty in order that the war ravaged realm of Scotland could recover. Edward II was obdurate and impervious to the pleas from his lords, so, each year, the Bruce instigated forays into northern England to extract Tribute and booty to help rebuild the bankrupt Scottish economy. He hoped the forays would put pressure on the English barons to persuade King Edward II to negotiate a peace treaty which would recognise Scotland as an Independent Kingdom with himself as it’s rightful king. Accordingly he sent Sir James Douglas (The Black Douglas) and Sir Thomas Randolph (The Earl of Moray) in a series of wide ranging raids into Northumberland, Cumberland, Lancashire, Durham and Yorkshire to extract tribute which for a medium sized town was 2000 Silver Merks or £1,300 English pounds. (Worth £140,000 by today’s standards.)
Each year the coffers of Scotland were slowly replenished and the process of rebuilding started. Despite the serious ebbing of a high percentage of the English economy to Scotland, Edward still refused to negotiate and a good number of his lords were in revolt and his position was becoming untenable. Edward attacked Scotland several times, the last being in 1319 when he tried to retake Berwick on Tweed. That failed when Bruce led a long range foray into England, forcing Edward to retreat. Now Edward had beaten his two most dangerous enemies at Boroughbridge. Emboldened by this success, Edward struck at Scotland.
Bruce reacted with savage energy and resolve. He instituted a ‘Scorched earth’ policy in the Merse and lothians. All the livestock were driven away to safe places. Granaries emptied and what could not be transported away was set on fire. The Roofs os the houses were torn off and burnt and any growing crops were trampled to deny them to the English. Bridges were destroyed, wells befouled with manure and carcasses and streams were dammed causing morasses and floods. He sent Douglas and 4000 Mosstroopers with some 2000 highland clansmen to harry the English army in Durham as they marched north and burn before them, all food, forage and shelter that might be of use to the English. Bruce himself led an expedition of 8000 light cavalry and Highland Clansmen supported by the galley’s of the Lord of the Isles in a long range sweeping raid into the northwest of England, sacking Preston and pillaging scores of other towns.
By doing this, King Robert hoped that Edward II would turn back to defend his northern shires, but instead, Edward II fell out with Sir Andrew Harclay on policy and ordered him to confine Bruce to Northern England whilst he, Edward ravaged Scotland. Sir Andrew Harclay protested at this unmilitary division of the English forces which would leave the English Army unbalanced and short of Archers. Edward backed by the Earl of Richmond (John of Brittany) and his favourites, the, Le DeSpensers summarily dismissed the only competent military leader he had (Sir Andrew harclay had won the battle of Boroughbridge whereas in the same action, Le DeSpensers had lost theirs.) Sir Andrew Harclay, retired in a huff to Carlisle with his army and came to an accommodation with King Robert on the lines of, ‘Don’t mess with me and I’ll leave you alone’ variety.
When King Robert heard this news, he returned post haste by the Solway Sands in a marvellous move of logistics, involving tides, mudflats, quicksands from Morecambe bay to Silloth in less than a day. He reached the Scottish border in late July a day ahead of Edward and immediately mobilized his forces. King Edward occupied Edinburgh and Leith setting up home in Holyrood with Queen Isabella. It is estimated that three-quarters of the populace had fled the city before Edward arrived to be welcomed and feted by the remaining quarter of the populace who thought that preferment would come their way. The castle had been slighted (Made Indefensible) by the Earl of Moray in 1314 and true to Robert the Bruce’s wishes, had not been rebuilt so that it could not be held against him. (Bruce believed in Mobile warfare, not static.)
Edwards army found there was no foraging to be had. Foraging parties were ambushed by the Mosstroopers under Sir James Douglas. The Earl of Surrey, Hugh de Warrene is recorded as making the comment about an old lame cow which was all the English Army had managed to capture. ‘Yonder cow is the dearest piece of beef I have ever seen, as it has cost a thousand pound or more!’ Scots black humour came to the fore once more and grim jokes about the English waiting for next years harvest began to circulate. Food became even scarcer, even forage for the horses, but this did not really matter too much as the English were now eating the horses, so Edward did what he should have done earlier, organised supply ships to sail from the Humber, Tees and Tyne.
On receipt of this news on the 6th August, Robert the Bruce requested Angus Og, Lord of the Isles to sail some of his galleys round the North of Scotland to the Forth and institute a blockade. On the 10th August a lone Galley with the Black ship emblem of the MacDonald’s on it’s sail, under the command of John of Islay,(Angus Og’s Eldest Son and heir) sped up the Forth to Culross to report that Angus Og’s fleet was in the Tay and had already sent scouting ships down to the Farne islands and the Bass Rock with more galleys sent down to blockade the Humber, Bridlington, Whitby, Hartlepool and Tynemouth. King Robert was delighted at this news and knighted young John of Islay straightaway. Several days later, Edward had to grind his teeth in anger with the chagrin of seeing three English supply ships laden with foodstuffs, captured as prizes of war off the Bass Rock, and sail past Edinburgh, up the forth to Culross where they were unloaded and their contents distributed to the Scottish Army which by now numbered at least 25,000. Angus Og’s galleys captured most of the English Supply ships and drove some ashore to be wrecked on the Northumbrian cliffs a few others, less seaworthy were lost at sea in the severe gales during August. A Group of Whitby merchants wrote a letter of complaint to King Edward that they could not move their goods from the port due to the presence of ‘Scottish pirates and privateers.’
The weather was unseasonably wet with constant driving rain and high winds every day. Due to lack of shelter and food the English army began to suffer from ‘Divers fevers and agues,’ Dysentery added it’s misery to the constant cold and hungry soldiery. What morale there was soon slumped into apathetic misery despite the efforts of a small minority of officers who tried to raise their morale, and inevitably the English Army became a barely controllable, sick and semi mutinous rabble. On the 2nd of September, Holyrood Abbey was set on fire and in a fit of petulance and pique, Edward ordered the valedictory slaughter of the remaining inhabitants of Edinburgh. The English soldiery ran amok, killing some 5,000 men, women, children and even babies were slaughtered and disembowelled in the streets and closes in an act of blood crazed savagery not seen since Edward I sacked the city of Berwick on Tweed, slaughtering 17,000 of it’s inhabitants to be left rotting where they fell for months afterwards. Only a few of the inhabitants of Edinburgh managed to escape.
Sir James Douglas and Sir Thomas Randolph with extra Highland Clansmen sent by Bruce, harried the retreating English rabble unmercifully so much so that only half of the army which had marched into Scotland, stumbled and reeled out of the Country. No army is at its best during a rout and it is not surprising that many atrocities were committed , some by Edwards direct orders. Sir James Douglas was too late to save that most beautiful of all Scotland’s Abbeys, Melrose from being set on fire and much too late to save the life of the gentle Godly Abbot William Peebles being crucified to the Abbey doors and then shot full of arrows. The other monks who had stayed with him were all dreadfully tortured and then slaughtered. King Robert who greatly loved and respected the Abbot, was moved to tears at the news and vowed that the English churchmen who had financed Edwards expedition would pay dearly for their sins.
The demoralised English army were by now in a state of mutiny. Badly led by incompetent leaders, without adequate food or clothing, forced to flee from an implacable enemy in downpours of rain, walking in glutinous mud, fording rain swollen rivers, forced to sleep in the open and staggering wearily further and further south towards York, where there was a promise of fresh reinforcements of southern levies and plenty of food round the rich lands of the Abbeys and monasteries. Each day men deserted, fell out sick and diseased, too ill to move or fell foul of the Scots who were hotly pursuing them. By the time they reached the encampments round Rievaulx Abbey, Byland, Shaws moor and Scawton Moor, only one third of the English remained.
Here they were joined by some 25,000 southern levies and the Lanercost Chronicles indicate that some 48,000 English men at arms, Hobelars and auxiliaries were being fed daily in addition to the Archers and general conscripts who possibly made up another 15,000. Medieval estimates of 200,000 men are wildly inaccurate as the available food supply locally could not possibly support such great numbers. In 1321 an outbreak of cattle plague had reduced the herds to a quarter of the 1319 figure. Rievaulx Abbey made its wealth from wool, having flocks totalling some 14,000 sheep. The wet autumn meant the loss of the hay crop and reduced yields of corn.
Robert the Bruce now took his army of 20,000 mosstroopers and clansmen through the west marches and laid waste to the areas round Carlisle, Lancaster and Preston before marching across the Pennines through Swaledale and Wensleydale where he could and should have been ambushed and stopped in his tracks by any competent defender of the easily defensible passes. Bruce joined forces with Sir James Douglas at Northallerton and received the news that Edward II was staying at Rievaulx Abbey. Bruce conferred with Sir James Douglas, Sir Walter Stewart, and Sir Thomas Randolph and discussed the possibility of capturing King Edward and bringing this long drawn out war to an end.
The task was given to Sir Walter Stewart the hereditary High Steward of Scotland, who with three hundred mosstroopers was to break through to Rievaulx Abbey as soon as the English line was broken by the Scottish Army on Roulston Scar. Bruce ordered Sir James Douglas to light more fires and increase the amount of smoke to conceal his movements from the English commander the Earl of Richmond. This was done and Bruce concealed two thirds of his army in clumps of trees below a gully which led round the rear of Roulston Scar.
Bruce then sent Sir James Douglas and Sir Thomas Randolph along with six thousand mosstroopers and spearmen to directly assault the ridge next to Roulston Scar hoping that the Earl of Richmond would call on his reserve forces to meet this threat. Out of the smoke the English watched the advance of the Scots , the Earl of Richmond then countered the Scottish move by sending fifteen thousand of his men down the slope to assault the inferior Scottish force. What the Earl of Richmond had not observed was that the gully the Scots were advancing up was very narrow and constricted with steep slopes on each sides making movement on horseback very difficult. He found out too late that he could only attack on a very narrow front which the Scots ably defended by forming a schiltrom with their long spears which completely turned the first English charge into a bloody charnel house of dead, dying and injured horses and men.
The Earl of Richmond sent down more men and at this point the Bruce sent up his highlanders under Neil Campbell of Loch Awe and Robert MacGregor to assault both flanks of the English position. The lightly clad clansmen soon scaled both flanks driving the English back with their fierce attacks and Gaidhlig war cries, thus forcing the Earl of Richmond to pull in all his picquets and guards to throw into the Battle. This left the alternative route unguarded and then Robert the Bruce struck hard!
Back in Rievaulx Abbey , King Edward and his close cronies the Le DeSpensers were sitting down to a meal in the quarters of Abbot John of Rievaulx. The Lanercost chronicles reveal that ‘two swanis roastit, divers fowls, Salmonys and other fishis with divers pies of meat and fruitis and sweetmeats. A Tun of Claret wine and a keg of burgundy wine with the best abbey ale.’ They were fated never to finish that meal, that pleasure would fall to Sir Walter Stewart’s men.
Bruce sent Sir Walter Stewart and his mosstroopers to Rievaulx Abbey in an attempt to capture the King. Bruce with his remaining mosstroopers and light cavalry made their way largely unseen, onto Shaws Moor and there in front of them lay, unprotected, the encampments of the English Army. Bruce formed his men into three arrowhead divisions and with the trumpeters blasting out the charge he led his men stirrup to stirrup in an all out thundering gallop, his Lion Rampant Banner flying bravely in the hands of Scrymgeour his standard bearer and with a great cry of ‘ A Bruce! A Bruce!’ they came galloping out of the smoke and smashed through the English lines causing widespread panic and destruction . Even a tightly disciplined army would have found it difficult to withstand such a charge. The demoralised English mostly deserted their posts and ran for their lives but some salvaged what honour there was for England that day by standing their ground even though their stand was useless.
What casualties Bruce’s mosstroopers suffered that day came from the arrows of the few English archers who bravely stood their ground before being hacked down. Bruce’s Standard bearer Scrymgeour took an arrow in his arm which did no damage due to the chain mail suit. Sir Gilbert hay lost his horse which was shot through the head and was nearly trampled by his following men. Backwards and forwards, Bruce’s force charged scattering the surviving English troops. No quarter was given and the English casualties were horrendous. Finally only the dead and the victorious Scots remained in command of the battlefield.
King Robert then led his horsemen to the edge of Roulston Scar and ordered his trumpeters to sound the Rally. Down below in the Gully the English and the Scots turned their heads towards the clamour of the Trumpets, to see Bruce’s host on the escarpment and with a roar of triumph, Douglas’ men surged forward and the English army dispersed , some in flight, most in surrender when Sir James Douglas ordered that the Scots gave quarter. The Corrie was a difficult place to escape from and very few English made a clean getaway. The Earl of Richmond surrendered his sword to Sir James Douglas as did his lieutenants, well those who were still alive and unwounded, that is. Twenty English knights lay amid the dead with twice as many wounded. The Scots ushered their prisoners up the hill to present to King Robert who it is recorded sat hunched, hawk-like on his horse at the top of the escarpment. Sir James Douglas and Sir Thomas Randolph (himself wounded by a spear thrust in his sword arm) presented their prisoners to the King.
The Earl of Richmond (whom Bruce had last met at Stirling Castle when as John of Brittany before being made Earl, he had gloated over the death of Sir William Wallace) was insolent to King Robert and Bruce had him hustled away under close guard as a valuable Hostage. (It took three years to raise the 50,000 silver Merks which freed him from prison in Stirling Castle. By Comparison the Town of Richmond only paid tribute of 1,200 Silver Merks to prevent it from being sacked and burned by Bruce’s army.) Other Notable prisoners were the badly wounded Sir Thomas de Uthred the keeper of the Royal hunt at Pickering castle who Sir James Douglas singled out for praise as a worthy fighter and Sir Ralph Cobham who was reckoned to be the first knight of England.
Also captured were Messieur Henry De Sulliey, Grand Butler of France with a party of ten other French Knights who were on a visit to Queen Isabella and as guests of King Edward II were expected to fight for him according to the law and codes of knightly chivalry. King Robert warmly welcomed them and invited them to come back with him to Scotland as his honoured guests, which they accepted with alacrity. Now all that was left to do was clear up the battlefield, bury the dead, succour the wounded and then ransack as much wealth as possible from the defenceless supine counties of Northern England.
What of the Steward? His men were seen by Edward’s personal guard as they thundered towards the Abbey at breakneck speed. Edward was hustled from the Abbots House, mounted on his grey charger and with a close guard of twenty men galloped away from the scene of his humiliation to try and take ship at Bridlington. Leaving over 100 of his bodyguard to sell their lives in buying him some time to escape. This they did do and delayed the Scots sufficiently to allow Edward to slip away. He was pursued by the Steward and fifty of his men for many miles but in the darkness they lost Edward in the on the road to Nunnington. Edwards horse became lame and He was forced to seek a fresh mount at Pickering Castle where a day later his grey charger became a prize of War and was presented to King Robert.
Edward eventually arrived at Bridlington and requested the keeper of the castle to provide him with a ship to take him to London. The keeper escorted Edward to a lookout tower and grimly pointed out in the bay, three long sleek galleys belonging to Angus Og. Escape by sea was impossible, no trading galliot could outrun these greyhounds of the sea. Edward then rode pellmell to York narrowly escaping capture twice, but losing his shield in the process. (Bruce later returned this shield to Edward as an unspoken challenge, Fight or Negotiate peace! Edward did not rise to the challenge and this later was one of the reasons he was later deposed.)
From York, Edward and his party made their way to the safety of Burstwick in Holderness and from thence to London there to be later reunited with Queen Isabella who was not best pleased at being abandoned by Edward, having to make a perilous journey in disguise as a Nun to Tynemouth Priory. She herself only narrowly escaping capture at Rievaulx. leaving the whole of the north of England open to the Scottish army to extract tribute, to pillage and loot at its leisure. What was left of Edwards army abandoned their weapons and retreated to York which being a fortified City was the only refuge open to them. King Edward left behind his finery, personal treasury, armour and to his great shame, the great seal of England at Rievaulx Abbey, in all 100 horse loads with a combined value of 260,000 silver Merks.
Many of the monasteries and priories attempted to save their valuables by moving them south before the Scottish army arrived. For example, Prior Robert of Bridlington decided to move to Goxhill in Lincolnshire with all the valuables and most of the canons, leaving just 12 hours before the Scottish Army arrived. However he left a poisoned chalice behind for Robert of Bainton the senior canon left behind. The Scots were plundering the countryside round about and were threatening the priory. Canon Robert rode to Malton, where King Robert had set up his headquarters in the slighted Castle and sought audience with the Bruce. King Robert agreed not to despoil the priory if canon Robert provided Bread, meat and wine to the quantity of 18 horse loads per day whilst the Scots were in the area and this was faithfully carried out for 12 days until the Scottish Army had left. The priory was left intact and unharmed.
Poisoned chalice? I hear you say? Yes, Canon Robert and the canons who remained were accused of aiding the enemy and to prevent King Edward taking draconian action against them, they were excommunicated by Archbishop William of melton and later on in December 1322 they were quietly given absolution and reinstated.
King Robert when at Malton summoned all the Abbots and senior churchmen into his presence. Abbot John of Rievaulx like all the other churchmen was dressed in rich apparel with bejewelled and gold encrusted vestments and protesting volubly about the desecration of his Abbey. Bruce silenced him, although there is no written record of what was actually said Bruce related to Abbot John what had happened to Abbot William Peebles at Melrose Abbey which was a Cistercian foundation the same as Rievaulx and that he was party along with other Churchmen to financing King Edward’s war against Scotland. Now was the day of reckoning, they would have to pay the price. The price was the complete pillaging of all valuables and trade goods the only saving grace from the Churchmen’s point of view was that the Abbey buildings were unharmed and the Monks were not tortured or murdered as had been the fate of Scottish Monks.
King Robert grimly reminded them that Scotland had been Pillaged and its infrastructure destroyed by the English Armies and now He was going to extract every last piece of treasure that was to be had, starting with them. Thereupon the Clerics were all forcibly stripped of their rich apparel, golden rings and other finery and given a monks plain coarse habit in its place. He is recorded as saying ‘Our Lord Christ was not the holder of great riches, vestments and privileges whilst He was on earth, why should you desire such as he rejected?’ The Humiliated churchmen were made to walk back to their Churches, Monasteries and Priories barefoot. (Even today Yorkshire schoolchildren are falsely taught that the Scots stripped the Monks and Nuns naked and burnt down the Buildings.)
Bruce’s Army set about Slighting (making unusable) the castles and extracting tribute from all the towns and villages round about. (One can pity the unfortunate Nicholas Haldane, William Hastings and John Mansregh, merchants of Pickering in North Yorkshire who were held as surety for the Tribute of 1,200 Silver Merks. They were held for three years because King Edward II refused to allow the Town to pay the ransom. Three years later, they petitioned the King who again refused. Eventually, their families raised the wherewithal otherwise they would have perished in Stirling Prison cells.)
Those towns and villages that could not or would not pay were first comprehensively looted and then burnt to the ground with only the lives of the inhabitants being spared. So complete was this process that the Monasteries and Priories never recovered their former riches ever again. After 6 weeks, Bruces’ army made it’s way back triumphantly to Scotland via Durham and Northumberland extracting tribute of eight hundred silver Merks from the Bishop of Durham (not to burn his sumptuous palace down to the ground) on the way back. The Treasure has never ever been properly estimated (Some estimates put it as high as 18,000,000 Silver Merks - One quarter of all the English Treasure) as each of Bruces Soldiers must have had a portion of the loot as well, but it enabled King Robert to make a start on rebuilding his realm."
2. Background from {[http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/bruce_robert_the.shtml]}
Robert the Bruce (1274 - 1329)
Robert I, known as Robert the Bruce, was the king of the Scots who secured Scotland's independence from England.
Robert was born on 11 July 1274 into an aristocratic Scottish family. Through his father he was distantly related to the Scottish royal family. His mother had Gaelic antecedents. Bruce's grandfather was one of the claimants to the Scottish throne during a succession dispute in 1290 - 1292. The English king, Edward I, was asked to arbitrate and chose John Balliol to be king. Both Bruce and his father refused to back Balliol and supported Edward I's invasion of Scotland in 1296 to force Balliol to abdicate. Edward then ruled Scotland as a province of England.
Bruce then supported William Wallace's uprising against the English. After Wallace was defeated, Bruce's lands were not confiscated and in 1298, Bruce became a guardian of Scotland, with John Comyn, Balliol's nephew and Bruce's greatest rival for the Scottish throne In 1306, Bruce quarrelled with Comyn and stabbed him in a church in Dumfries. He was outlawed by Edward and excommunicated by the pope. Bruce now proclaimed his right to the throne and on 27 March was crowned king at Scone. The following year, Bruce was deposed by Edward's army and forced to flee. His wife and daughters were imprisoned and three of his brothers executed. Robert spent the winter on the island off the coast of Antrim (Northern Ireland).
Returning to Scotland, Robert waged a highly successful guerrilla war against the English. At the Battle of Bannockburn in June 1314, he defeated a much larger English army under Edward II, confirming the re-establishment of an independent Scottish monarchy. Two years later, his brother Edward Bruce was inaugurated as high king of Ireland but was killed in battle in 1318. Even after Bannockburn and the Scottish capture of Berwick in 1318, Edward II refused to give up his claim to the overlordship of Scotland. In 1320, the Scottish earls, barons and the 'community of the realm' sent a letter to Pope John XXII declaring that Robert was their rightful monarch. This was the 'Declaration of Arbroath' and it asserted the antiquity of the Scottish people and their monarchy.
Four years later, Robert received papal recognition as king of an independent Scotland. The Franco-Scottish alliance was renewed in the Treaty of Corbeil, by which the Scots were obliged to make war on England should hostilities break out between England and France. In 1327, the English deposed Edward II in favour of his son and peace was made with Scotland. This included a total renunciation of all English claims to superiority over Scotland. Robert died on 7 June 1329. He was buried at Dunfermline. He requested that his heart be taken to the Holy Land, but it only got as far as Spain. It was returned to Scotland and buried in Melrose Abbey.'
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CWO3 Dennis M.
I love Scots history, but then again I am of Scots descent! Thanks for the post! LTC Stephen F. SGT (Join to see).
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Robert the Bruce's Bloody Road to Kingship (Hammer of the Scots) (LU77)
Boardgames, Philosophy, History, Comics, Miniatures, Books, Singapore. See a Keyword you like, give a video on this channel a try. Today I talk about the the...
Robert the Bruce's Bloody Road to Kingship (Hammer of the Scots) (LU77)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWj8n4PpJls
Image:
1. Felix Philippoteaux's 1856 rendering of the 'Death of Comyn'
2. Robert the Bruce statue
3. engraving Robert the Bruce artist 1797
4. Statue of Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn
Background from { https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/monarchs/roberti-a.html/]}
Robert the Bruce, or Robert I of Scotland, or Robert Bruce, lived from 11 July 1274 to 7 June 1329 and was King of Scotland from 25 March 1306 to 7 June 1329. He was the son of Robert Bruce, 6th Lord of Annandale, and Marjorie, Countess of Carrick, and was born at Turnberry Castle. The wider picture in Scotland at the time is set out in our Historical Timeline.
The Bruce family was one of the most powerful in Scotland. They confusingly tended to call the eldest son in each generation Robert. Robert's grandfather, also called Robert Bruce, had been one of the competitors from among whom King Edward I had chosen John Balliol to be King of Scotland in 1292. Edward's involvement had been welcomed as a means of heading off civil war between the older Robert Bruce and the Comyn family over the succession, and had come as Robert Bruce was on the verge of seizing the crown for himself.
In the event the older Robert Bruce's claim was judged by Edward I's assessors to be marginally less strong than John Balliol's. Although probably the legally correct decision, this choice was never accepted by the Bruce family, and their claim on the Scottish crown was passed down via the old Robert's son (yet another Robert Bruce) to the Robert we are considering here.
John Balliol was forced to abdicate by Edward I in 1296 and thereafter Edward ruled Scotland as a province of England. Robert the Bruce (our Robert the Bruce) took part in a revolt of Scottish nobles against Edward I in 1296 that concluded with the Capitulation of Irvine. Under this the nobles, including Robert, had to swear allegiance to Edward I.
After the Scottish victory under William Wallace and Andrew Murray in September 1297 at the Battle of Stirling Bridge, Bruce supported the Scottish cause: but after Wallace's defeat at the Battle of Falkirk in 1297, Bruce's lands were amongst those not confiscated by Edward I. This has led some to suggest that Robert actually fought on the English side at Falkirk, but most feel this unlikely: certainly his portrayal in the film Braveheart has more to do with drama than history. It seems more likely that Edward I felt that Bruce was someone whose allegiance could be won or brought: and he had need of some supporters in Scotland.
Wallace resigned the Guardianship of Scotland after the Battle of Falkirk and dropped out of sight for a number of years. Joint Guardianship of Scotland was bestowed by the collected nobility of Scotland on Robert the Bruce and on John III Comyn of Badenoch, the Red Comyn. The Bruces and the Comyns had been arch-enemies for at least three generations, since a Comyn stood as a competitor against grandfather Robert Bruce's claim to the Scottish crown in 1290, then supported the cause of John Balliol, a close relative, in a move that almost sparked civil war. John III Comyn was Balliol's nephew. As joint Guardians, Bruce and Comyn were unable to work together and in 1299 William Lamberton, Bishop of St Andrews, was appointed as a third Guardian. Bruce resigned his part of the Guardianship in 1300.
Edward I of England invaded Scotland once more in July 1301 and in January 1302 a truce was agreed. As part of this, many Scottish nobles, including Bruce, pledged themselves to the English King. Many reasons have been offered for this: most likely is that he was not prepared to risk his estates in support of a cause that would see John Balliol returned to the throne when Bruce believed that his own grandfather ought to have been made King instead. Edward invaded again in 1303 and in February 1304 the Scots (except William Wallace, who may have been abroad) under the sole Guardianship of John III Comyn, agreed peace terms with Edward.
By the end of 1305 there were signs that Edward I believed that Bruce was plotting against him: but Bruce's repeated switching of sides meant he was also little trusted by many in Scotland. Bruce, it seems, was planning to seize the arguably vacant crown of Scotland for himself. His main obstacle in Scotland was John III Comyn. On 10 February 1306 the two met to discuss their differences in the safe and neutral Church of the Grey Friars in Dumfries. It seems they disagreed, either because both wanted the Scottish crown for themselves, or because Comyn refused to lend his support to Bruce's planned uprising against the English. Robert Bruce drew a dagger and stabbed Comyn in front of the high altar of the church. Bruce fled the church, telling waiting comrades outside what had happened. One of them, Sir Roger Kirkpatrick, went back in and finished off the seriously wounded Comyn.
It is unlikely that Bruce had gone to the meeting intending to murder the leading member of the most powerful family in Scotland: and certainly not in a place that caused revulsion in an age well used to savagery. But the die was cast and Bruce had no choice but to press on with his plans, in very different circumstances to those he had hoped for. His first move was to take the strongholds of the Comyns in Southern Scotland. His second was to confess his crime to the Bishop of Glasgow and receive absolution, on condition that as King he would be suitably respectful of the church. There is strong evidence that Bruce's plans - the murder of Comyn aside - were supported in advance by many in the Church in Scotland.
Robert I of Scotland was inaugurated at Scone on 25 March 1306. The Stone of Destiny and the royal regalia had all been taken south by Edward I in 1296, so it was a simple ceremony. This was lead by Isabella, Countess of Buchan, who claimed the right of her family, the Macduff Earls of Fife, to crown Scottish Kings, even if the crown were notably absent on this occasion.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWj8n4PpJls
Image:
1. Felix Philippoteaux's 1856 rendering of the 'Death of Comyn'
2. Robert the Bruce statue
3. engraving Robert the Bruce artist 1797
4. Statue of Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn
Background from { https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/monarchs/roberti-a.html/]}
Robert the Bruce, or Robert I of Scotland, or Robert Bruce, lived from 11 July 1274 to 7 June 1329 and was King of Scotland from 25 March 1306 to 7 June 1329. He was the son of Robert Bruce, 6th Lord of Annandale, and Marjorie, Countess of Carrick, and was born at Turnberry Castle. The wider picture in Scotland at the time is set out in our Historical Timeline.
The Bruce family was one of the most powerful in Scotland. They confusingly tended to call the eldest son in each generation Robert. Robert's grandfather, also called Robert Bruce, had been one of the competitors from among whom King Edward I had chosen John Balliol to be King of Scotland in 1292. Edward's involvement had been welcomed as a means of heading off civil war between the older Robert Bruce and the Comyn family over the succession, and had come as Robert Bruce was on the verge of seizing the crown for himself.
In the event the older Robert Bruce's claim was judged by Edward I's assessors to be marginally less strong than John Balliol's. Although probably the legally correct decision, this choice was never accepted by the Bruce family, and their claim on the Scottish crown was passed down via the old Robert's son (yet another Robert Bruce) to the Robert we are considering here.
John Balliol was forced to abdicate by Edward I in 1296 and thereafter Edward ruled Scotland as a province of England. Robert the Bruce (our Robert the Bruce) took part in a revolt of Scottish nobles against Edward I in 1296 that concluded with the Capitulation of Irvine. Under this the nobles, including Robert, had to swear allegiance to Edward I.
After the Scottish victory under William Wallace and Andrew Murray in September 1297 at the Battle of Stirling Bridge, Bruce supported the Scottish cause: but after Wallace's defeat at the Battle of Falkirk in 1297, Bruce's lands were amongst those not confiscated by Edward I. This has led some to suggest that Robert actually fought on the English side at Falkirk, but most feel this unlikely: certainly his portrayal in the film Braveheart has more to do with drama than history. It seems more likely that Edward I felt that Bruce was someone whose allegiance could be won or brought: and he had need of some supporters in Scotland.
Wallace resigned the Guardianship of Scotland after the Battle of Falkirk and dropped out of sight for a number of years. Joint Guardianship of Scotland was bestowed by the collected nobility of Scotland on Robert the Bruce and on John III Comyn of Badenoch, the Red Comyn. The Bruces and the Comyns had been arch-enemies for at least three generations, since a Comyn stood as a competitor against grandfather Robert Bruce's claim to the Scottish crown in 1290, then supported the cause of John Balliol, a close relative, in a move that almost sparked civil war. John III Comyn was Balliol's nephew. As joint Guardians, Bruce and Comyn were unable to work together and in 1299 William Lamberton, Bishop of St Andrews, was appointed as a third Guardian. Bruce resigned his part of the Guardianship in 1300.
Edward I of England invaded Scotland once more in July 1301 and in January 1302 a truce was agreed. As part of this, many Scottish nobles, including Bruce, pledged themselves to the English King. Many reasons have been offered for this: most likely is that he was not prepared to risk his estates in support of a cause that would see John Balliol returned to the throne when Bruce believed that his own grandfather ought to have been made King instead. Edward invaded again in 1303 and in February 1304 the Scots (except William Wallace, who may have been abroad) under the sole Guardianship of John III Comyn, agreed peace terms with Edward.
By the end of 1305 there were signs that Edward I believed that Bruce was plotting against him: but Bruce's repeated switching of sides meant he was also little trusted by many in Scotland. Bruce, it seems, was planning to seize the arguably vacant crown of Scotland for himself. His main obstacle in Scotland was John III Comyn. On 10 February 1306 the two met to discuss their differences in the safe and neutral Church of the Grey Friars in Dumfries. It seems they disagreed, either because both wanted the Scottish crown for themselves, or because Comyn refused to lend his support to Bruce's planned uprising against the English. Robert Bruce drew a dagger and stabbed Comyn in front of the high altar of the church. Bruce fled the church, telling waiting comrades outside what had happened. One of them, Sir Roger Kirkpatrick, went back in and finished off the seriously wounded Comyn.
It is unlikely that Bruce had gone to the meeting intending to murder the leading member of the most powerful family in Scotland: and certainly not in a place that caused revulsion in an age well used to savagery. But the die was cast and Bruce had no choice but to press on with his plans, in very different circumstances to those he had hoped for. His first move was to take the strongholds of the Comyns in Southern Scotland. His second was to confess his crime to the Bishop of Glasgow and receive absolution, on condition that as King he would be suitably respectful of the church. There is strong evidence that Bruce's plans - the murder of Comyn aside - were supported in advance by many in the Church in Scotland.
Robert I of Scotland was inaugurated at Scone on 25 March 1306. The Stone of Destiny and the royal regalia had all been taken south by Edward I in 1296, so it was a simple ceremony. This was lead by Isabella, Countess of Buchan, who claimed the right of her family, the Macduff Earls of Fife, to crown Scottish Kings, even if the crown were notably absent on this occasion.
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MGySgt Michael P. McNeal, MBA 1SG (Join to see)
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LTC Stephen F.
Your Scottish Ancestry: Clan Cumming (1992) VHS
Brought to you buy the Heritage Corporation Scotland Production in 1992. This one entails the history of the once powerful, Clan Cumming of Scotland. Enjoy!
Your Scottish Ancestry: Clan Cumming (1992) VHS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBKCjagb5Gk
Image:
1. Robert the Bruce's Effigy in St Conan's Kirk
2. John III 'Red' Comyn, Lord of Badenoch and Lord of Lochaber, and Robert VII the Bruce
3. John III 'Red' Comyn, Lord of Badenoch and Lord of Lochaber (c1269-1306)
Background from {[http://www.sath.org.uk/edscot/http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandshistory/warsofindependence/johncomyn/index.html]}
John 'Red' Comyn, Lord of Badenoch
Red Comyn was the son of John Comyn, ‘the Black Comyn’, one of the claimants for the Scots throne. His mother was Eleanor Balliol so King John Balliol was his uncle. The Comyns sided with the Balliols and became the enemies of the Bruces.
John Comyn married an English noblewoman, Joan de Valence. Her father was an uncle of King Edward I.
When Scotland was plunged into war, Robert the Bruce’s father was constable of Carlisle Castle under Edward I. The Black Comyn and the Comyn Earl of Buchan attacked Carlisle Castle in support of the Scots King Balliol.
Red Comyn was among the Scots captured at the Battle of Dunbar in 1296. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London. After agreeing to fight for Edward in Flanders, Red Comyn deserted and sailed to Scotland. It is said that he led the cavalry at the Battle of Falkirk. The Scots cavalry at Falkirk were vastly outnumbered by English knights and mounted men at arms. They turned and rode away, leaving the Scots foot soldiers to be slaughtered by Edward I’s army.
Red Comyn was made a guardian of Scotland alongside Robert the Bruce, after the resignation of William Wallace and the death of Andrew Moray. In 1299, at a council in Peebles, a fight broke out between Comyn and Bruce - it was reported that Comyn grabbed Bruce by the throat. Within a year Bruce had resigned the guardianship.
When his father, the Black Comyn, died, John Comyn became Lord of Badenoch.
In February 1303, Red Comyn and Sir Simon Fraser defeated three successive English forces at the Battle of Roslin. It is said that Wallace may have fought at the battle. The Scots drove the English knights over the steep sides of Roslin Glen and cut down their English prisoners as a second then a third force arrived. In 1304 Red Comyn was forced to make peace with Edward I.
On 10 February 1306, Robert the Bruce and the Red Comyn fought by the high altar at Greyfriars Kirk in Dumfries. Comyn was killed and Bruce went on to become king.
FYI CWO3 Dennis M. Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen MSgt Stephanie McCalister SMSgt Lawrence McCarter SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL PO1 William "Chip" Nagel LTC (Join to see)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBKCjagb5Gk
Image:
1. Robert the Bruce's Effigy in St Conan's Kirk
2. John III 'Red' Comyn, Lord of Badenoch and Lord of Lochaber, and Robert VII the Bruce
3. John III 'Red' Comyn, Lord of Badenoch and Lord of Lochaber (c1269-1306)
Background from {[http://www.sath.org.uk/edscot/http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandshistory/warsofindependence/johncomyn/index.html]}
John 'Red' Comyn, Lord of Badenoch
Red Comyn was the son of John Comyn, ‘the Black Comyn’, one of the claimants for the Scots throne. His mother was Eleanor Balliol so King John Balliol was his uncle. The Comyns sided with the Balliols and became the enemies of the Bruces.
John Comyn married an English noblewoman, Joan de Valence. Her father was an uncle of King Edward I.
When Scotland was plunged into war, Robert the Bruce’s father was constable of Carlisle Castle under Edward I. The Black Comyn and the Comyn Earl of Buchan attacked Carlisle Castle in support of the Scots King Balliol.
Red Comyn was among the Scots captured at the Battle of Dunbar in 1296. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London. After agreeing to fight for Edward in Flanders, Red Comyn deserted and sailed to Scotland. It is said that he led the cavalry at the Battle of Falkirk. The Scots cavalry at Falkirk were vastly outnumbered by English knights and mounted men at arms. They turned and rode away, leaving the Scots foot soldiers to be slaughtered by Edward I’s army.
Red Comyn was made a guardian of Scotland alongside Robert the Bruce, after the resignation of William Wallace and the death of Andrew Moray. In 1299, at a council in Peebles, a fight broke out between Comyn and Bruce - it was reported that Comyn grabbed Bruce by the throat. Within a year Bruce had resigned the guardianship.
When his father, the Black Comyn, died, John Comyn became Lord of Badenoch.
In February 1303, Red Comyn and Sir Simon Fraser defeated three successive English forces at the Battle of Roslin. It is said that Wallace may have fought at the battle. The Scots drove the English knights over the steep sides of Roslin Glen and cut down their English prisoners as a second then a third force arrived. In 1304 Red Comyn was forced to make peace with Edward I.
On 10 February 1306, Robert the Bruce and the Red Comyn fought by the high altar at Greyfriars Kirk in Dumfries. Comyn was killed and Bruce went on to become king.
FYI CWO3 Dennis M. Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen MSgt Stephanie McCalister SMSgt Lawrence McCarter SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL PO1 William "Chip" Nagel LTC (Join to see)
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