The cumulative effect first of Bruce’s survival against the odds and then of his subsequent successes was having a profound influence throughout the country. By 16 May 1307 a Scottish lord on the English side was writing to a high official in London:
Sir Robert de Brus never had the goodwill of his own followers or of the people at large or even half of them so much with him as now; and it now for the first time appears that he has the right and that God is openly for him, for he has destroyed all King Edward’s power both among the English and the Scots and the English force is in retreat to its own country not to return. And the people firmly believe by the encouragement of false preachers who come from his army that Sir Robert de Brus will now have his will. These preachers are such as have been charged before the justices as advocates of war and are at present freed on bail and carry themselves worse than before, boasting in their malice and deceiving the people by their false preachings … For they have told them that they have found a prophecy of Merlin that after the death of ‘Le Roi Coveytous’ the Scottish people and the Welsh shall band together and have the sovereign power and live together in peace until the end of the world.1
This prophecy was soon to be put to the test.
The angry astonishment with which King Edward heard, time after time, that his commanders had failed to capture the elusive Bruce determined him to carry out the task himself. Summonses were sent to all the leading men in England who owed him feudal service to assemble at Carlisle on 8 July together with the Welsh levies. By sheer willpower he persuaded himself that his illness had abated, made a thanks offering in the cathedral of the litter in which he had hitherto been carried, and mounting his horse prepared to place himself at the head of his troops. But the effort was too great. After covering only six miles in four days, he reached the little village of Burgh-on-Sands a few miles north of Carlisle and there, on 11 July, expired.2
His last request to his son was that his heart should be conveyed to Jerusalem but that his bones should be separated from his flesh and borne in an urn at the head of his army into Scotland and remain unburied until that obdurate country had been totally subdued.3
But ancestor worship was never a characteristic of the Plantagenets and the first actions of Edward II were to dispose of his father’s corpse, bones and all, at Waltham Abbey to await a royal burial later, and to recall from banishment his profligate minion, Piers Gaveston, whom that same father had recently exiled. Having carried out these two agreeable tasks, he returned to the army assembled at Carlisle and marched it in leisurely fashion to Cumnock on the borders of Ayrshire. There he remained until 28 August and then, for want of provisions, withdrew it to England without striking a blow.4 Three years were to pass before he again took the field in person against the Scots.
The Earl of Pembroke was left as Viceroy of Scotland but remained inactive, contenting himself with holding the line of Clydesdale to contain Bruce in the southwest. Early in October he was superseded by the Earl of Richmond.*
The withdrawal of the English forces gave a breathing space to Bruce in which to consider his plans for the future. Hitherto he had been defending himself against two separate enemies united for his destruction: the English and the Scottish nobles of the Comyn faction. Now that King Edward I was dead, the rabid hostility which had concentrated all the energies of England on one objective, the annihilation of Bruce, would no longer operate. Edward II had more pressing matters to deal with at home, and without his impulsion the garrisons in the English-held castles would be more concerned with securing the safety of their own bailiwicks than sallying forth in search of foes.
This allowed Bruce a greater freedom of movement to deal with his other opponents in Scotland. In broad terms these were the Macdowalls of Galloway, the Macdougalls of Lorne, the Earl of Ross and the numerous Comyn supporters under the Earl of Buchan in the rich lowlands of the northeast. Even so the undertaking was formidable. Bruce was, in effect, still only the leader of guerrilla bands who depended for their provisions on what they could obtain from the land, for their pay on the loot they could extract from their enemies, and for their very existence on their devotion to their leader personally and to the cause of Scottish freedom.
In the campaigns that follow, Bruce’s skill in timing and diplomacy, his daring and determination in combat, mark him not merely as a formidable warrior but as a master of strategic warfare.
His primary objective, as he unerringly grasped, must be the destruction of the Comyns in their own heartlands before the English King could once more turn his attention to Scotland. They were the head and main front of the opposition to his kingship. His lesser foes must be briefly savaged or overawed until this end had been achieved, and for that achievement much depended on the success of the Bishop of Moray in the north.
In accordance with the plans which he had agreed with Bruce at Aberdeen the previous year, the bishop had returned from the Orkneys to the Mounth at about the same time as Bruce was preparing to land in the southwest. There he launched a fiery crusade throughout his bishopric to such effect that the men of Moray began to take down their weapons from the walls of their dwellings, to join in small groups and then in greater groups until the whole area hummed with menace like a hive of bees about to burst out in a swarm at the signal of their sovereign. Sir Reginald Cheyne and other pro-English sheriffs in the region were soon aware of this undercurrent of revolt, and by May were openly declaring
that if Bruce can get away in this direction or towards the parts of Ross he will find the people all ready at his will more entirely than ever before unless King Edward will send more troops. For there are many who stay loyal to his crown only so long as the English are in power for otherwise, they say, they must come to terms with their enemies.5
But it was not until after the death of Edward I and the retreat of Edward II that Bruce was in a position to take advantage of this potential support. When that opportunity arose his first action was to shatter the Macdo walls of Galloway, partly because their lands were nearest and plentiful in cattle, but also to wreak vengeance on Dugald Macdowall who had caused the murder of Bruce’s two brothers. With fire and sword he swept through the province so furiously that many peasants fled from their homes and with their livestock found refuge across the border in the Cumbrian forest of Inglewood, while those who remained were given the choice of paying tribute or death.6
Leaving the Macdowalls to lick their wounds and Sir James Douglas to remain in command in the southwest, Bruce broke through the English line on the Clyde at the propitious moment when Pembroke was handing over his office to the indecisive Earl of Richmond.7 Then, marching north through the western Highlands, gathering support as he went, he confronted the Macdougalls of Lorne by land while Angus Macdonald of the Isles, with his fleet of galleys keeping pace through the waters of the Firth of Lorne and Loch Linnhe, threatened them by sea. Bruce had no time to waste on a minor campaign, so offered to John of Lorne a temporary truce which he accepted for, as he wrote dolefully to Edward II, ‘Robert Bruce approached these parts by land and sea with 10,000 men they say or 15,000. I have no more than 800 men … The barons of Argyll give me no aid. Yet Bruce asked for a truce which I granted him for a short space and I have got a similar truce until you send me aid.’8 Either a scribe added an extra nought or John of Lorne was grossly exaggerating the number of Bruce’s men. Less than a year later at the important battle of Inverurie Bruce had only 700 men.
Having immobilized the Macdougalls of Lorne, Bruce swept up the Great Glen capturing the Comyn castle of Inverlochy at its foot and Castle Urquhart on the shores of Loch Ness and at last joined hands with the Bishop of Moray.
Reinforced by the bishop’s supporters, he seized Inverness Castle, burned Nairn, and after razing all the captured castles to the ground turned in October 1307 to face the Earl of Ross.9
The Earl of Ross had been responsible for the capture of Bruce’s Queen and his womenfolk, and it would have been understandable if Bruce had sought to ravage his earldom in revenge. But Bruce was King of Scotland and far-sighted enough to subjugate his personal grievance to the future interests of his kingdom. The Earl of Ross was guardian of the young Earl of Sutherland and thus virtual lord of all the north of Scotland from the Moray Firth to Cape Wrath. It was better to win him as a friend than leave a yawning gap in the maintenance of the realm. So Bruce offered him a truce to run until June 1308. For Bruce this left his hands free to deal with the Comyns without danger to his rear, for the Earl of Ross a chance to delay a final decision until he could see how matters would evolve. He accepted the truce, but being a cautious man excused himself to Edward II as follows:
We heard of the coming of Sir Robert Bruce towards the parts of Ross with great power, so that we had no power against him but nevertheless we caused our men to be called up and we were stationed for a fortnight with three thousand men, at our own expense, on the borders of our earldom and in two other earldoms Sutherland and Caithness and Bruce would have destroyed them utterly if we had not made a truce with him at the entreaty of good men, both clergy and others until next June. May help come from you, our Lord, if it please you, for in you, Sire, is all our hope and trust. And know, dear Lord, that we would on no account have made a truce with him if the warden of Moray had not been absent from the country and the men of his province would not answer to us without his orders, for the purpose of attacking our enemies, so that we have no help save from our own men. Wherefore, dear Lord, remember us and tell us what is your will on these matters of which we have given an account.10
So far Bruce’s plan of campaign had been a brilliant success. The Macdougalls of Lorne and the men of Ross had, for the time being, been eliminated as a fighting force without a blow being struck. Now Bruce could concentrate his whole strength against the nerve centre of Comyn power: and in his whole strength he could count among his shock troops not only his old comrades – his brother Edward, the Earl of Lennox, Gilbert de la Haye and Robert Boyd-but Sir William Wiseman, Sir David Barclay and other knights of Moray, so that he had a force at his disposal of 700 picked men.
Apprised of Bruce’s approach, Comyn, Earl of Buchan, whose great domain stretched over the level lands from Aberdeen along the coast to the Moray Firth, mustered his forces and prepared to oppose him.
Bruce had advanced as far as Inverurie, the chief town of his hereditary estate of Garioch, when he was seized with a violent sickness which drained him of his strength. Fearful of being attacked in the open plain while their leader lay out of action, Bruce’s men under his brother Edward carried him in a litter to a strong defensive position of wood and bog at Slioch, 16 miles to the northwest, and there on Christmas day, while the snow lay thick on the ground, the Earl of Buchan caught up with them. For three days there was a running fight and then the earl withdrew to wait for reinforcements.
Bruce’s men were in a precarious position for their provisions had given out. Edward Bruce thereupon took the bold decision – and throughout his life he was bold to the point of foolhardiness – to march out in battle array in full sight of the enemy with the sick King in his litter in their midst, and retire in close order to the mountains of Strathbogie where the lord of that area, Sir Lawrence, was a staunch adherent of their cause. So formidable was their attitude that the Earl of Buchan, who was none too sure of the loyalty of his followers, let them depart unscathed.11
Slowly Bruce regained his strength and, as the onset of winter began to freeze the mountains, his army descended once more to Inverurie for the milder climate and better provender of the plains.
In the meantime, the Earl of Buchan had received reinforcements from Sir David Brechin and his men from Angus and an English contingent under Sir John Mowbray, and by late January had assembled 1000 men at Old Meldrum.
From there Sir David Brechin made a reconnaissance in strength and, surprising Bruce’s outposts, slew some and sent the rest flying back to their main army at the far side of Inverurie. When the news was brought to Bruce he rose from his sick-bed and called for his horse, saying to his servants who remonstrated with him on account of his weakness, ‘Their arrogance has made me sound. Therefore, as the Lord wills, I shall either destroy them or they me.’12
At the head of his army, animated by the sight of their King on horseback supported by a man on each side,13 Bruce advanced steadily against the enemy cavalry. These, when they saw so unexpectedly the mounted figure of Bruce with his banners waving, began to back their horses for they knew his reputation as a warrior: and when the foot soldiers and archers saw them falter they turned and fled, and the cavalry seeing them flee turned also in panic and never drew rein until they reached the English-held castle of Fyvie, 12 miles to the north. The King, exhausted by his effort, handed over the pursuit to his brother Edward. The Earl of Buchan and Sir John Mowbray with their men, after a brief respite at Fyvie, continued their flight towards the nearest seaport but were brought to bay by Edward at Old Deer and after a fierce encounter fled in all directions. Buchan and Mowbray escaped to England where Buchan died within the year. Sir David Brechin rode hotfoot to his own castle at Brechin and a few months later transferred his allegiance.14
The whole province of Buchan now lay wide open to Bruce and, while he was recovering his strength, he sent his brother Edward to ravage it from end to end so that never again would it become a threat to his throne. The Comyn men were slain, their farms burned, their livestock slaughtered. Not for two generations would the land recover and then only when it was colonized by Lowlanders loyal to the Scottish Crown, and for fifty years men talked of the Herschip (harrowing) of Buchan.15
Meanwhile the young James Douglas had been active in the south- west. Broad-shouldered and slim with a pale complexion and black hair, he had a warmth and thoughtfulness of disposition which attracted the love and loyalty of all who were near him. In company he was gentle and courteous, speaking with a slight lisp, but to his enemies the daring of his projects, the boldness of their execution, his sudden appearance in their midst when least expected smacked of the devil. 16 The ‘Black Douglas’ became, in the popular imagination, a figure of menacing ubiquity at whose mention stout men quailed and with whose name mothers frightened their unruly children into trembling obedience.
Hearing that Sir Robert Clifford had refurbished Castle Douglas and placed in command a seasoned warrior named Thirlwall, Douglas once more threaded his way secretly to Douglasdale and made contact with his local supporters. From them he learnt that whenever farmers moved their cattle within range of the castle, Thirlwall would sally forth with his garrison and seize the beasts. So a few nights later, Douglas hid the greater part of his men in a wood and the rest, disguised as countrymen, he sent forth in the early morning to drive cattle past the gates of the castle. When Thirlwall was informed of their passage by his sentries, he called his horsemen together and set out to plunder the drovers in such haste that his head was unhelmeted. But as he neared the drovers, a little past the wood where Douglas lay in ambush, he heard behind him the sudden cry of ‘Douglas, Douglas’, and turned to find himself cut off from the castle and outnumbered. Thirlwall and most of his party were slain but a few rode hellbent in time to warn the garrison to bar the gates and man the walls before Douglas could come up with them.17
Two governors of Castle Douglas had now been killed and Douglas let it be known that he would take revenge on anyone who dared to take possession of his ancestral home. In England and Scotland it became known as the perilous castle of Douglas and no candidates would come forward for the post.
But by the autumn of 1307 it had been assumed by a young knight called Sir John Webton. The reason for his action was contained in a letter that he carried upon his person in which the young lady whom he had been wooing unsuccessfully promised that if he defended Castle Douglas for a twelvemonth she would become his bride. Her tactful method of disposing of an unwelcome suitor proved successful. He was lured from the castle by a stratagem similar to that which Douglas had previously employed and was slain in the encounter. His garrison was overwhelmed and Douglas, at his leisure, was able, in accordance with Bruce’s policy, to raze the castle to the ground.18
After this success many of the men of Douglas joined him, and with increased forces he drove eastwards and by the summer of 1308 had gained control of all Douglasdale, Upper Clydesdale and Selkirk forest as far as Jedburgh.19 In July, just as he was about to move north to join Bruce for his next campaign, he captured Thomas Randolph, Bruce’s nephew, near Peebles. Randolph had been taken prisoner by the English at Methven and since then had fought for his captors. When he was brought by Douglas before his royal uncle and reproached for his change of allegiance, he fiercely replied that the King made war like a brigand instead of fighting a pitched battle as a gentleman should.
Bruce had known Randolph as a boy and had recognized his exceptional military qualities. He therefore treated him with an ironic tolerance. Randolph was placed under the close constraint of his captor and within a very short time had so succumbed to the genial personality of his uncle that he humbly begged for pardon and in due course became, after Douglas, the most brilliant of Bruce’s commanders.20
The campaign which Bruce was contemplating was against the Macdougalls of Lorne. Throughout the spring and summer of 1308 he had moved in the northeast from one success to another. The Comyn castles of Tarradale, Slains, Kinedar, Rattray, Dundarg and Kelly were captured and destroyed; Duffus and Belvenie were wrested from Sir Reginald Cheyne; Sir William Wiseman seized Skelbo Castle. The royal English castle of Elgin was overcome at the third attempt and the other royal castles of Fyvie, Kintore and Aboyne succumbed to their assailants. In July these activities were crowned by the revolt of the citizens of Aberdeen against the English and the surrender of its commanding fortress.21 Now at last Bruce had a main seaport in his hands from which to re-establish trade with Flanders, the Hanseatic towns and the countries of Scandinavia. All eastern Scotland from the Moray Firth to the Tay had come to his allegiance except for Banff, Perth, Dundee and Forfar, and by the end of the year Forfar had fallen to the enterprise of an Angus man, Philip the Forester, who with others of his countrymen scaled the castle walls by night and put the defenders to the sword.22
By mid-August the truce with John of Lorne was due to expire and Bruce made his dispositions accordingly. James Douglas was summoned from Selkirk forest to join him, and Edward Bruce with his freebooters, fresh from their harrying of Buchan, were sent to Galloway to intimidate the Macdowalls, whose pugnacity was being revived by the approach of English reinforcements from Carlisle.
By the end of July Bruce began to march his army westward towards Argyll and by the third week of August was ready to launch his attack. To reach into the heartlands of the MacDougalls of Lorne he had to advance through the Pass of Brander, a narrow and hazardous track reduced to a few yards in width by the precipitous flank of Ben Cruachan on the right and on the left by a sheer drop into the waters of Loch Awe. At this ideal site for an ambush John of Lorne prepared to make his stand. Placing some of the 2000 men at his disposal to block the pass with a barrier, he concealed the more numerous part on the mountainside above while he himself, at that time a sick man, lay in one of his galleys on Loch Awe below.
But Bruce was too experienced in guerrilla warfare to be caught in such a trap. Warned by a scout of John of Lorne’s dispositions, he sent James Douglas with a party of light-armed archers to climb by a circuitous route unperceived to a place high on the mountainside above the ambush. When he had received a message that Douglas was in position, he moved with his armoured knights into the mouth of the pass against those who held it and at the same time sent his Highlanders fanning up the hillside.
With a shout of triumph Lorne’s men rose to their feet and began to hurtle boulders down on the warriors below, but even as they did so the concealed archers under Douglas let fly a hail of arrows into their backs and then drawing their swords charged down upon them from above. Taken by surprise and assailed from both sides, the men of Lorne tried to make a stand but as one after another fell before the enemy onslaught the rest took to their heels for the only bridge over the River Awe and attempted to destroy it behind them. But the pursuit was too fast. The bridge was captured intact by Bruce’s men and his army spread over the land of Argyll, rounding up cattle and gathering spoil.
John of Lorne fled with his galleys and in due course found his way to the English and received from Edward II the resounding title of Admiral of the Western Seas. His father, Alexander, the aged Lord of Lorne, who had remained in his castle of Dunstaffnage, was soon besieged by Bruce and in a short time surrendered and was taken as hostage for the good behaviour of his followers. Bruce then garrisoned and provisioned the castle and placed in charge a warden to overawe with his authority any dissidents among the Macdougalls.23
With the glamour of his successful campaign in Argyll fresh upon him, Bruce marched up the Great Glen to Moray to come to a final reckoning with the Earl of Ross. The Earl of Ross, as has already been indicated, was a cautious man. Weighing up the events which had occurred since he entered into truce with the Scottish King, he came to the conclusion that there was little to be gained from reliance on Edward II. His natural inclination for the independence of Scotland, provided it could be indulged in without unpleasant consequences for his security, was increased by the territorial concessions which Bruce was prepared to offer him. Accordingly, on the last day of October 1308 at Auldearn, near Nairn, in the presence of an imposing array of Scottish knights and clerics, he humbly submitted his person to Robert Bruce, King of Scots, and asked pardon for his trespasses.
In the rolling phrases of the deed in which his submission is recorded the earl states:
Because the magnificent prince, Sir Robert by the Grace of God King of Scots, my lord, out of his natural goodness, desire, clemency and special grace has forgiven me sincerely the rancour of his mind and relaxed and condoned to me all transgressions or offences against him and his by me and mine … and has graciously granted me my lands and tenements and has caused me also to be heritably enfieffed in the lands of Ding wall and Ferncrosky in the sheriffdom of Sutherland of his benign liberality: I, taking heed of the great benevolence of such a prince and because of so many gracious deeds to me … do surrender and bind me and my heirs and all my men to the said lord my King … and we will be of a surety faithful to him and his heirs and we will render him faithful service assistance and counsel… against all men and women who live or die. And in token of this, I, William, for myself, my heirs and all my men to the said lord my King have made homage freely and have sworn on the Gospel of God.24
His promise of faithful service was fulfilled. A friendship grew up between his family and that of Bruce and in due course Hugh Ross, his eldest son, married Matilda, the youngest but one of Bruce’s sisters.
In the meantime, Edward Bruce had descended upon Galloway like the Angel of Destruction. Dugald Macdowall, who had gathered together the shattered remnants of his clan after Bruce’s whirlwind campaign in the autumn of 1307, joined forces with an English contingent under Sir Ingram de Umfraville and Aymer St John and together, with some 1200 men, they attempted to oppose Edward at a crossing of the River Dee. But though his force was inferior in numbers, Edward, with his usual impetuosity, launched against them on 29 June an attack so furious that they broke and fled and their leaders with difficulty escaped to the nearby castle of Buittle.25 Dugald Macdowall’s family fled to England where they were granted a manor by Edward II26 and Dugald himself was appointed Governor of Dumfries.27
With this main force defeated Edward overran the province, levying heavy contributions of corn and cattle, destroying a number of minor castles and receiving into allegiance the now dispirited inhabitants. He then moved north to link up with Douglas returning south after the battle of Brander Pass, and together they besieged and captured in December 1308 the key fortress of Rutherglen, hard by Glasgow.
He moved south again on hearing that Aymer St John had recruited in England a force of knights and foot soldiers some 1500 strong and was once more in Galloway. On this occasion Edward Bruce was accompanied by those seasoned warriors James Douglas, Robert Boyd and Alexander Lindsay, and was joined by Angus Macdonald with a reinforcement of Highlanders from the Western Isles.
They had pitched camp at the head of a narrow defile when early one morning Edward was roused by a scout who informed him that the English, learning of the Scottish position, had made a forced march to surprise him and were now close at hand. There was a heavy mist that morning so that men could not see as far as a bowshot distance. Stationing his foot soldiers to bar the defile, Edward took the little body of fifty armed knights he had in a detour to the rear of the advancing English and followed their track a short way behind them, concealed in the mirk. His daring intention was to wait until the English clashed with the foot soldiers and then to charge out of the mist and take them from the rear. Before mid-morning the mist suddenly cleared and Edward and his little posse of knights found themselves exposed to view a short distance from a greatly superior body of cavalry. If they retreated they would be overwhelmed so, as Sir Alan Cathcart who was with them related to John Barbour, Edward gave the immediate order to charge. The English, taken by surprise, had hardly time to turn their horses before the Scotsmen had sliced through them, leaving a trail of blood and slaughter, and before the English could turn again the Scots with exemplary discipline had wheeled round and charged back through the disordered lines, creating such confusion that when they wheeled once more to deliver a third onslaught the English broke and fled.28
From that time the hinterlands of Galloway were under the control of Bruce.
The last centre of resistance by Scottish enemies had been eliminated. Henceforward he could devote his energies to clearing his kingdom of English garrisons, ordering his administration and obtaining the recognition of other powers as the rightful monarch of an independent kingdom.
NOTES - CHAPTER 10
1 Cal. Doc. Scots, ii, 1926
2 Flores Historiarum, ii, 595
3 Walsingham, 114
4 Lanercost, 183, 184
5 Cal. Doc. Scots, ii, 1926
6 ibid., iii, 14, 15
7 ibid., iii, 12
8 ibid., iii, 80
9 Barrow and Barnes, S. H. R., xlix, 57–9
10 Cal. Doc. Scots, iv, 1837
11 Barbour, 141–4
12 ibid., 145–6
13 Pluscarden, 181
14 Barbour, 147
15 ibid., 148
16 Barbour, 10, 266
17 ibid., 101–2
18 ibid., 137–9
19 ibid., 137; Cal. Doc. Scots, iii, 28
20 ibid., 150–60
21 Barrow and Barnes, S.H.R. xlix, 57–9
22 Barbour, 148
23 ibid., 161–4
24 Barron, 348
25 Barbour, 154
26 Cal. Doc. Scots, iii, 83, 84
27 ibid., iii, 235, 281
28 Barbour, 155, 156
* cf note VII