The Bruce 16Book 11 · The Lanercost chronicler affirms (1311) that in the war the Scots
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Fiction · Historical Fiction
The Bruce 16
Book 11 · The Lanercost chronicler affirms (1311) that in the war the Scots
BarbourEnglish
were so divided that sometimes a father was with the Scots and his son with the English, or brothers were on opposite sides, or even the same person at one time on the Scottish side, at another on that of England; but that it was a pretence, either because the English seemed to get the better or to save their English lands, “for their hearts, if not their bodies, were always with their own people” (p. 217). Thus, at this time, there were still to be found among supporters of the English King such names as Stewart, Graham, Kirkpatrick, Maxwell, St. Clair, etc. (Bain, iii., Introd., pp. xvi, xvii). As many of these were Border lairds--some, indeed, are of Annandale--even their Scottish lands were specially exposed to English attack. Late in 1313 (October or November) we have a Petition to the King (of England) _from the People of Scotland, by their envoys, Sir Patrick de Dunbar, Earl of March, and Sir Adam de Gordon_, complaining of the great losses they have suffered “by their enemies”--i.e., the Bruce party--also of the brigandage of the English garrison in Berwick and Roxburgh (Bain, iii., No. 337). One of the results of Bannockburn was to bring many of these waverers over to the national side. Adam de Gordon, indeed, was already under suspicion, and apparently was a waverer. He had, in fact, a grant of the lands of Strathbogie in 1309, according to Robertson (Index, p. 2; 40). Cf. also 103-4.* For Gordon, see also Bk. IX. 720, etc.; XV. 333; and on March, Bk. XIX. 776, note.
79-82 Cf., as bearing out Barbour’s assertion, the comment by the author of the Vita Edwardi Secundi on the army when assembled at Berwick: “There were in that assemblage amply sufficient men (_satis sufficientes_) to traverse all Scotland, and, in the judgment of some, if the whole of Scotland had been brought together, it could not make a stand against the army of the King (cf. line 150). Indeed, it was confessed by the whole host that, in our time, such an army had not gone out of England” (Chronicles of Ed. I. and Ed. II., ii., pp. 201-2).
91 Erll of Hennaut. Count William of Hainault, Flanders. Cf. on Bk. XIX. 262.
93. Almanyhe: Germany. Friar Baston says four German knights came “gratis” (Eng. Hist. Rev., vol. xix., p. 507).
100 of Irlande ane gret menyhe. In Foedera we have the list of twenty-five Irish chiefs summoned to the campaign against the Scots--O’Donald, O’Neil, MacMahon, O’Bryn, O’Dymsy, etc. The Irish contingent was commanded by Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, Bruce’s father-in-law (III., pp. 476-478).
*103-4 See note on 46.
103 Ane hundreth thousand men and ma. See Appendix C.
105 Armyt on hors. That is, the men alone wore armour, being thus distinguished from the knights “with helit hors,” or horses armoured also in bardings of leather or mail. Skeat rejects the reading of E in favour of “playn male,” taking “playn” to represent the French plein = “complete mail,” on the ground of Innes’s remark that the distinction between mail or ring-armour and plate, “if known, was not so specific in Barbour’s age.” But plates had been coming into use since the last quarter of the thirteenth century, and by 1300 the practice of attaching such additional defences was rapidly developing. See note on 131. In 1316 we read of “200 men armed in plate,” who were sent to Ireland from England (Bain, iii., p. 99, No. 519).
114 Of cartis. “The multitude of waggons (multitudo quadrigarum), if it had been extended in a line one behind the other, would have taken up a space of twenty leagues” (Vita Edw. Sec., p. 202). The meaning of “league” is uncertain; apparently it was just a mile.
117 veschall. In Vita Edw. Sec. (pp. 206-7) the author speaks of “costly garments and gold (or gilt) plate” (vasa aurea). Baker of Swinbroke, in his Chronicon Angliæ (p. 55), also mentions the “plate of gold and silver,” and affirms that, in addition to an abundant supply of victuals, the English brought with them things which were wont to be seen only in times of peace on the luxurious tables of princes. Among the ornaments of the high altar of Aberdeen Cathedral in 1549 was “an old hood made of cloth of gold ... from the spoil of the Battle of Bannockburn” (Reg. Episc. Aberd., ii., p. 189).
119 schot. Arrows, and bolts for cross-bows. Cf. Bk. XIII. 311, and below, note on 544.
130 ryche weid. The rich flowing housings or drapery of the steeds, covering the armour, if any, as the “surcoat” of the knight did his.
131-*132. Armour was in a state of rapid transition, and so at this time is very complicated. An English brass of 1325 shows a knight wearing (1) a gambeson, or close-fitting quilted tunic, to ease the pressure of the armour; (2) a hauberk of banded or chain mail, with half-plates on the upper arm; (3) an habergeon (“hawbyrschown”), or lighter hauberk, apparently of small plates; (4) a haketon, another padded coat like the gambeson; (5) and a short surcoat. He has leggings of mail covering also the feet, and half-plates in addition from the knees to the toes: a hood of mail continued upward from the hauberk and a bascinet, or pointed, nut-shaped helmet, with no visor. Over this he would wear in battle such a heavy, closed, flat-topped helm as we see on the seal of Robert I. He carries a small triangular shield on his left arm, and his sword, a little more than half the body in length, hangs in front from a waist-belt. Such was probably the equipment of the leading knights at Bannockburn.
136 Till Berwick. The army was to assemble at Werk on the Tweed by Monday, June 10, 1314 (Foedera, iii., p. 481). But the start was made from Berwick on June 17 or 18 (Vita Edw., 201).
150 Mannaustt the Scottis. Cf. note on 79-82.
163 Glowcister. Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, nephew of the King, and a young man of twenty-three. Herfurd. Humphrey de Bohun, or Boun, Earl of Hereford and Essex, and Constable of England. “The Earl of Gloucester and the Earl of Herford commanded the first line” (primam aciem, Vit. Edw. Sec., p. 202). The Scalacronica says Gloucester commanded “the advance guard” (p. 141), but does not mention Hereford (see note on Bk. XIII. 466).
174 Schir Gylys de Argente. Sir Giles d’Argentine, popularly regarded as one of the three most eminent men of the time, the others being the Emperor Henry and Robert Bruce (Scotich. Lib., xiii. 16). He “guided the King’s bridle” (Vita Edw. Sec., p. 204). Cf. also Scalacronica (p. 143), votre reyne me fust baillez--“your rein was entrusted to me”: among others (p. 142).
210 the Torwood. Stretching north and west from Falkirk. It reached to near Bannockburn, a little south of which is “Torwoodhead” Castle.
237 See note on 103.
250 abaysing. Fear which grew to panic. Morale, or firm courage, is always an important element in warfare, but in medieval times it seems to have been specially important (cf. IV. 191-200, and XII. 184-8). The remarkable successes of the Scots against larger numbers were often due to the “abaysing,” for one reason or other, of their opponents. Footmen were peculiarly liable to this loss of nerve, as they received no mercy, as a rule, from the mounted knights. Bruce was all along most anxious to guard against the rise of any such spirit of “funk” among his men. “Success in battle,” said Napoleon, “depends not so much upon the number of men killed as upon the number frightened.”
277 the wayis. As Bruce explains in the lines that follow, there were two “ways” of advance to Stirling; one through the wooded New Park, and the other by the level below St. Ninian’s, extending to the “pools” or lagoons along the side of the Forth. The trees of the New Park seem to have extended from above the banks of the burn to St. Ninian’s on the one side and Stirling, or near it, on the other (cf. note on Bk. XII. 58). It was made as late as 1264 by Alexander III., and enclosed with a paling in 1288 (Excheq. Rolls, I. 24, 38); whence the name “New.”
291 licht armyng. “Everyone of them (the Scots) was protected by light armour” (levi armatura). (Vita Edw. Sec., p. 203). See further, note on Bk. XII. 448.
296 ficht on fut. Fighting was still regarded as almost entirely the business of armoured men on horseback, the footmen serving only for minor purposes. That an army all on foot should oppose chivalry was a new departure. Bruce was an original general. Sir Thomas Gray says that the Scots “took example from the Flemings,” who, in 1302, at Courtrai had in this way defeated the French knights (Scalacronica, p. 142). But this is an after-thought. The Vita Edwardi Sec. also draws the parallel with Courtrai (p. 206). But the Scots could take the hint from the tactics at Falkirk in 1298, where Wallace was only defeated by the English archers. An English chronicler of about 1330 suggests that the Scots were made to fight on foot to avoid the mischance at Falkirk when their little body of cavalry fled at the sight of the English advance (Annales Johannis de Trokelowe, p. 84).
300 the sykis. No doubt shallow lagoons with a muddy bottom, about the Bannock, where it entered the Forth, flooded by the tide. Jamieson, in his Dictionary, defines syk as “a marshy bottom, with a small stream in it.” A rivulet in Selkirkshire is known as the Red Syke (Chambers’ Popular Rhymes, p. 17, ed. 1826).
333-6 Pinkerton suggests in his edition that Bruce could not trust the Highlanders and Islesmen, and so put them in the rear, and stiffened their ranks with his own followers from Carrick. For this there is no warrant. The “barons of Argyll and Inchgallye” (the Hebrides) attended Bruce’s Parliament at St. Andrews in March, 1309 (Acts Parl. Scot., i. 99). Cf. also note on X. 14. In any case on the Sunday afternoon Bruce took the front position in the New Park with these very men (445, 446).
360 ane playne feld by the way. I.e., an open, level part by the road through the park, just outside the wood. The historians have shifted the position to suit their various and erroneous ideas of the field of battle. Barbour, it is to be noted, says nothing of bogs, nor of Buchanan’s “calthrops of iron” (Scot. Hist., ed. 1762, p. 213). Friar Baston, captured at Bannockburn, in his Latin poem, says there were stakes in the pits (Scotichronicon, lib. xii., chap. xxii.). Geoffrey Baker, of Swinbroke, enlarges them to long ditches covered with hurdles, an utter misapprehension (Chronicon, pp. 56, 57. Cf. notes on Bk. XII. 536, 537). At Cressy (1346) the English dug “many pits” (multa foramina) of the depth and width of a foot in front of their first line as a defence against possible pursuit by the French cavalry (Baker, p. 166). An analagous device is described by Herodotus as having been successfully used by the Phocians to destroy Messalian cavalry (Book viii., chap. xxviii.).
426 till ane vale. Apparently in the valley behind Coxet Hill. “Gillies Hill” is said to have taken its name from these “gillies,” or servants (Nimmo’s History of Stirlingshire, second edition, p. 219). Barbour never calls them “gillies,” and why a Gaelic name? The writer of the description of the district in the Old Statistical Account (1796) makes no mention of this “tradition,” and suggests a derivation from the personal name Gill or Gillies. “The names both of Gillies and Morison occur in the muirlands” (vol. xviii., p. 392).
437 the Fawkirk. A Scots translation of the original Gaelic name (in twelfth century) Eaglais breac, “the speckled or particoloured church,” in reference to the stone of which it was built. In “Falkirk” the “l” has been substituted for “w,” as a sign of length in the vowel (see Language l, App. G). Local pronunciation does not sound the “l.” The English chroniclers write the name Foukyrk (Vita Edw. Sec., p. 205), or Faukirke (Annales London., p. 104).
440-453 Acting on the information received, and unaware, as yet, which road the English would choose for an advance to Stirling, Bruce makes a fresh disposition of his troops, departing from that laid down in lines 305-347, so as to be ready for either line of advance. He himself occupies the “entry” to the Park road, which was a continuation of the medieval (Roman?) highway passing west of St. Ninian’s, with his mixed brigade of Highlanders and Lowlanders; while Randolph is posted at St. Ninian’s Kirk overlooking the level about seventy feet below. Apparently (see below) both divisions are masked by the wood. The others are in reserve to reinforce when it should turn out to be necessary. The historians, ignoring this alteration in dispositions, land themselves, as a result, in unintelligible confusion. Douglas later trapped an English column in the “entre” of Jedburgh Forest (Bk. XVI. 310 et seq.).
486 confort his men. See note on 250.
523 Aucht hundreth. Gray says they were only three hundred, under the command of Robert Lord de Clifford and Henry de Beaumont (Scalacronica, p. 141). We learn from the same author that Philip de Mowbray, constable of Stirling, went out and met Edward when the army was three leagues, or miles, from the castle, and suggested that he should advance no farther as, the English having come so far, and being within touch, he considered himself relieved; besides, he said, the Scots had blocked the narrow ways (lez estroitz chemyns) of the wood--i.e., of the New Park. But from the conditions, as we have seen (Bk. X. 822), the castle could not be held to be relieved so long as the Scots were in force before it. We note that Mowbray also expected the army to come by the Park roads. Now Barbour says that Clifford’s detachment left the main body two miles away (515). Apparently, then, this movement was the result of Mowbray’s information (see next note). However, it was known to Edward when he summoned his army that the Scots had taken up a position between him and Stirling in strong, marshy places difficult for horsemen (Foedera, ii., p. 481).
532 it suld reskewit be. So the Scots might conclude, but the version of the Lanercost chronicler better fits the case: “After dinner” (post prandium--say, about midday) “the army of the King (Edward) came to the neighbourhood of the Torwood” (he takes the Park to be an extension of the larger forest), “and when it was known that the Scots were in the wood” (from Mowbray), “the first line (prima acies) of the King, whose leader was Lord Clifford, wished to surround the wood so that the Scots should not escape in flight” (p. 225). This is in harmony with the self-confidence of the English, and explains why the horsemen did not, as they might have done, avoid Randolph’s foot, if they were only making for the castle. There was apparently no obstacle to Mowbray communicating personally with the relieving army, and he cannot have gone alone; so that the parties were actually in touch, and, as Mowbray argued, a technical “relief” had been performed.
536 thai wist weill. From Mowbray probably, but cf. note on 523. Aymer de Valence, too, had gone on before the army to prepare its line of march and carefully examine the stratagems of the Scots (_insidias Scotorum._ Vit. Edw., p. 201).
537 Beneth the Park. “Made a circuit upon the other side of the wood towards the castle, keeping the open ground” (as beaux chaumps. Scalacronica, p. 141).
544 thai so fer war passit by. The English writers report the matter as it appeared to them. “The Scots, however, suffered this” (Clifford’s advance) “until they had placed a considerable distance between themselves and their friends, when they showed themselves, and cutting off that first line of the King from the middle and rear divisions (_a media acie et extrema), rushed on it,” etc. (Chron. de Lanercost_, 225). “Thomas Randolph, ... who was leader of the advance guard of the Scots, having heard that his uncle had repulsed the advance guard of the English on the other side of the wood, thought that he must have his share, and issuing from the wood with his division” (Barbour says “five hundred men,” line 542), “took the level plain” (_le beau chaumpe_--Barbour’s “playn feld”) “towards the two lords aforesaid” (Scalacronica, p. 141). Note that both Bruce at the “entry,” and Randolph at “the Kirk,” were in the wood (see on this also note on Bk. XII. 58); and the reiterated use of the term “playn feld” for the level below St. Ninian’s.
546 ane rose of his chaplet. Hailes suggests a far-fetched explanation of this: “I imagine that rose implies a large bead in a rosary or chaplet,” when the dropping of a rose would imply carelessness of duty (Annals, ii. 51, note). The _New English Dictionary_ defines chaplet as “A wreath for the head, usually a garland of flowers or leaves,” and cites this passage. Randolph in the wood, keeping his eyes on the main body, could easily miss an advance by his flank, which had started independently two miles away, and probably kept to cover as far as possible.
547 Wes faldyn. Skeat explains this form as “fallen” with an “excrescent d, due to Scandinavian influence,” citing also Bk. XIII. 632. A form, foolde, occurs in The Sowdone of Babylone, line 1428, where Hausknecht explains it as from fealden, “to fold,” meaning “folded, bent down, fallen”; citing also “Folden to grunde” and “Fiftene hundred Folden to grunden,” from Layamon, 23,894 and 27,055-6. The result as to meaning is the same either way.
548 war past. Clifford then had passed the Kirk before Randolph made a move. The scene of the conflict is usually placed at a position half-way between St. Ninian’s and Stirling, now known as Randolph’s Field. But this name is not older than the end of the eighteenth century (Old Stat. Acct., vol. xviii., p. 408). The origin of the nomenclature is two standing stones said to have been erected in memory of the victory (Nimmo’s History of Stirlingshire, ed. 1817, p. 216). But standing stones are no uncommon feature in Scotland, and various traditions attach to them; and why this preference in commemoration? “Standing stones,” on the other side of the Forth, are mentioned in the Wallace (Bk. v. 298).
557 In hy thai sped thame. Gray gives an account of this affair, in which his father was taken prisoner, in the Scalacronica (edit. Maitland Club. p. 141): “Sir Henry de Beaumont said to his men, ‘Let us retire a little; let them [the Scots] come on; give them room [_donez les chaumps_.]” His father, Sir Thomas, charging on the Scots, was carried off a prisoner on foot, his horse having been slain on the pikes. He, too, mentions the death of Sir William Deyncourt (line 573), and says the squadron was utterly routed. If Beaumont--to whom, with Deyncourt, Gray gives the command--proposed to allow the Scots more room by retiring, his detachment cannot have gone far past Randolph’s original position (cf. also line 538). The remark seems absurd if applied to the ground at Randolph’s Field. Buchanan says Randolph had horse, in which he is clearly wrong (Rerum Scotic. Hist., ed. 1762, chap. xxxix.), and he is followed on this point in White’s _History of the Battle of Bannockburn_ (Edinburgh, 1871), p. 55.
573 Schir Wilyhame Dencort. See previous note.
598 Styk stedis, and ber doune men. An unhorsed knight in his heavy suit of full armour was a cumbrous unit, and if he fell, might find it impossible to rise in the press, or be assisted to do so, so as to be remounted on a fresh steed by his squire, whose duty it was to see to this, among other things. The author of the Vita Edw. notes as a mischance deserving remark that in this day’s fighting the Earl of Gloucester was unhorsed (p. 202; see also on Bk. XII. 504).
BOOK XII.
22 quyrbolle. Cuir-bouilli, or “boiled leather,” was not really boiled, as in that case it would become horny and brittle and so quite unsuitable for the purposes to which it was put--the strengthening of armour in the transition period of the fourteenth century prior to the full use of plate, and the making of sheaths, bottles, caskets, etc. The leather was steeped in a warm mixture of wax and oil, which made it pliable and fit to receive the designs cut or embossed on it. It was then slowly dried. Helmet crests or other fittings were also made of it, as here.
29 the Boune. Henricus de Boun in Vita Edw. Sec. (see below). The name is variously spelled--Bowme (C), Bohun, etc. He was the nephew of Hereford. Barbour says “cosyne” in 31, but this, formerly, very frequently denoted a nephew or niece (N.E.D.).
33 merk-schot. Jamieson’s Dictionary gives as explanation: “Seems the distance between the bow markis which were shot at in the exercise of archery.” In the New English Dictionary: “The distance between the butts in archery” (citing this passage). E and H read bow-schote = 150 to 200 yards.
36 his men. That is, the men of his own battle at the “entry,” not the whole army drawn up in line, as is generally assumed. Cf. Bk. XI. 440-53, and note.
42 his hors he steris. Cf. with the account, professing to be based on Barbour, in Scott’s Lord of the Isles, canto vi., XV.: “The Bruce stood fast,” etc.
49 in-till a lyng. “They quickly took their positions so as to come at each other in a line.”
58 And he doune till the erd can ga. I.e., De Boun; but Sir Herbert Maxwell says Bruce! (Robert the Bruce, p. 205). With this Scottish version of the event cf. the following English one (c. 1326): “When the English had now passed the wood”--i.e., the Torwood--“and were approaching Stirling, behold! the Scots were moving about, as if in flight, on the edge of the grove” (sub memore, i.e., the wood of the New Park), “whom a certain knight, Henry de Boun, with the Welshmen, pursued up to the entry” (introitum, Barbour’s “entre”) “of the grove. For he had it in his mind that, if he should find Robert Bruce there, he would either slay him or bring him back his captive. But when he had come hither, Robert himself issued suddenly from the cover of the wood” (a latebris silvæ); “and the aforesaid Henry, seeing that he could not resist the crowd of Scots, and wishing to retire to his friends, turned his horse; but Robert withstood him, and with the axe which he carried in his hand, smashed in his skull. His squire, while endeavouring to shield and avenge his lord, is overcome by the Scots” (Vita Edw. Sec., p. 202). Gray says the advanced guard under the Earl of Gloucester entered the road within the Park and were repulsed (tost furvont recoillez. Scala., p. 141) by the Scots; and that, as was reported, Robert Bruce here slew a knight, Peris de Mountforth, with an axe. A John de Mountfort was slain at Bannockburn, and in the list cited his name immediately precedes that of Henry de Boun (Annales Londonienses, p. 231, in _Chronicles of Edward I. and Edward II._, vol. i.). Buchanan places this incident at the beginning of the main battle on Monday as something scarcely worth mentioning (parum quidem dictu) (Rer. Scot. Hist., ed. 1762, chap. xxxix.). Barbour, of course, concentrates on Bruce’s performance, but the _Vita Edwardi_ incidentally corroborates Gray in remarking that in this day’s fighting Gloucester was unhorsed (p. 202), which could have happened only in the Park affair.
67 thai com on. As we see, the De Boun affair was part of a serious skirmish, an attempt to force the road to Stirling through the Park, in which the English van was repulsed. See above on 58, and hereafter on 176. This important fact is usually overlooked, as in Hume Brown’s History, i., p. 158.
140 The layff went. Some, says Gray, fled to the Castle of Stirling (au chastel), the others to the King’s host (Scala., p. 141).
144-6 “Quickly took off their helmets to get air, for they were hot, and covered with perspiration.”
176 twis. I.e., repulsed in the De Boun skirmish, and in that of Randolph and Clifford. These successes were clearly of the greatest importance, in so far as they put heart into the Scots, and prevented their being overawed, as they might well have been, by the greatness and terrifying appearance of the English host. The author of the _Gesta Edw. de Carnarvon_ thus notes that at Bannockburn “they fought on both days” (utrisque diebus pugnaverunt), and the Scots “prevailed” (Chron. Edw. I. and Edw. II., ii. 46).
194 gif yhe think, etc. Bruce here offers his men alternative courses, either to stay and fight or to retreat. Gray tells us that the Scots were on the point of retiring to a stronger position in the Lennox, when Sir Alexander Seton, secretly deserting the English side--no doubt because he saw that the chances of success were now with the Scots--came to Bruce and told him of the shaken condition of the English army, pledging his head that if Bruce attacked next day, he would win easily, and with little loss (Scala., p. 141). Bruce did attack. Seton was an English partisan in February, 1312 (Bain, iii., No. 245). Later he appears on the Scottish side (ibid., 767, etc.).
210 Lordyngis, etc. For Bruce’s speech, see Appendix B.
255-6 The various readings here show that to the scribes the sense was somewhat obscure. Bruce says that, should the English find them weak, and defeat them, they would have no mercy upon them. Skeat, by reading To in 255, and putting a period after oppynly, misses the point. That happyn and that wyn are hypothetical subjunctives. E and H have altered 256.
290 my brothir Neill. Nigel Bruce. See IV. 61, 176.
302 enveronyt. “The strength of this place shall prevent us being surrounded”--always Bruce’s special fear, his men being few in comparison with the enemy. See note on Bk. XIII. 275.
357 The Inglis men sic abaysing, Tuk. Similarly Gray writes that the English had “sadly lost countenance and were in very low spirits” (etoint de trop mal covyne) from what had taken place (Scala., p. 142). “And from that hour,” says the Lanercost Chronicle, “fear spread among the English and greater boldness among the Scots” (p. 225). The rhetorical John de Trokelowe, however, declares that the English were “exasperated” (exacerbati), and firmly determined to be revenged or vanquished on the morrow (Chronica et Annales, p. 83). The last statement, though it would seem to be only a presumption on the chronicler’s part, may apply to the lords, who, Barbour says, urged on their men to “tak a-mendis.” Barbour, Gray, and the Lanercost writer speak for the general mass, and their agreement establishes the fact.
390 bot he war socht. The English certainly feared a night attack. According to Gray, they passed the night under arms, with their horses bitted (p. 142). In the Vita Edwardi also we read that there was no rest for them, and that they spent a sleepless night. “For they thought the Scots would rather attack by night than await battle in the daytime” (pp. 202-3).
392 Doune in the Kers. The Carse is the low-lying ground along Forth side, on which were the “pools” (see note on Bk. XI. 300), and which was thus in a generally marshy condition. The ancient limits of the Carse proper seem to be indicated in the O.S. map by the names Kerse Patrick, Kerse Mill, and Springkerse, all on the 40-feet level. Eastwards the land sinks towards the Forth; westwards it rises slightly to the 50-feet level at the foot of the ridge on which stands St. Ninian’s. This middle division is called “the dryfield lands” in the Old Stat. Act, xviii., p. 388. Friar Baston also has the name: “The dry land (arrida terra) of Stirling” (see note on XI. 360). The English had to keep to the marshy land of the east in order to be clear of the Scottish leaguer in the Park. They thus crossed the Bannock (see below), and kept the “dryfield land” between them and the Scots. Having crossed, they could advance to the “hard feld” (Barbour) from their front. It is of the first importance to understand that the English did camp here, for, if so, the battle was fought on the strip of level, firm ground separating the armies. Gray corroborates Barbour: “The host of the King ... had arrived on a plain towards the water of Forth, beyond Bannockburn--a bad, deep morass with pools” (ruscelle, Scala., p. 142.). Mr. Lang, seeing the difficulty of reconciling this statement with the site of battle as fixed by him and the other historians, says that Gray, in “beyond Bannockburn” (outre Bannockburn), must mean “south of Bannockburn, taking the point of view of his father, at that hour a captive in Bruce’s camp” (History, i., p. 221). But Gray’s hour of writing was forty years later; and Barbour, who says the same thing, cannot be explained away by supposititious hallucination.
407 quhen it wes day. “About the third hour of the day” (Trokelowe, p. 84). On June 24 the sun rises about 4 a.m.
413 Thai maid knychtis. A usual ceremony before an important battle. Those receiving the honour for distinguished conduct in the field were known as “knights-banneret.” Previously they had been only “bachelors,” for which see Glossary.
421 tuk the playne. Note the reiteration of this expression, and cf. what is said on Bk. XI. 544, and above on 392; also Vita Ed., p. 203: “When he (Bruce) learned that the English battles had occupied the plain (campus), he led out his whole army from the grove” (_de nemore_).
426 richt as angelis schane brichtly. Probably in reference to the white “surcoats” worn by the knights over their armour (cf. Bk. VIII. 232-35). Baston writes: “The English folk, like Heaven’s folk, in splendour shine” (Anglicolæ, quasi cœlicolæ, splendore nitescunt, Scotich. ed. Goodall, ii., lib. xii., chap. xxii.).
429 a schiltrum. A close-packed body of men of any order or size (see Glossary). Cf. Morte Arthure, line 2, 922: “Owte of the scheltrone they schede (separated themselves), as schepe of a folde”; also several other uses in the same poem. Hemingburgh says that Wallace’s “schiltrouns” at Falkirk were round (_qui quidem circuli vocabantur “schiltrouns,”_ ii., p. 180). Skeat questions this, for philological reasons! (see note here).
448 apon fut. I.e., the Scots left the cover of the wood, and advanced to meet the English chivalry on foot, contrary to all contemporary rules of the art of war. Cf. what is said on Bk. XI. 296. “None of them (the Scots) mounted a horse, but every man of them was protected by light armour such as a sword could not easily penetrate.... They marched close-packed like a thick hedge, and such a body could not be easily broken into” (Vita Edw. Sec., p. 203). Also of the Scots: “On their side all were on foot: moreover, chosen men of the highest courage, suitably equipped with very sharp axes and other weapons of war, packing their shields close together in front of them, made the column (cuneum) impenetrable” (Trokelowe, p. 84). The formation, in fact, was that of the famous “shield-wall” of Hastings and other early English battles.
477 Knelyt all doune. So, too, in Chron. de Lanercost: “But when the two armies had come very close all the Scots fell on their knees to say a Paternoster, and committed themselves to God, and asked help from heaven; when they had done this they advanced boldly against the English” (p. 225). This ceremony was directed by Maurice, Abbot of Inchaffray, afterwards Bishop of Dunkeld (Bower, Scotich., lib. xii., ch. xxi.).
488 dout of ded. “Fear of death.”
498 Schir Edward. The author of Vita Edw. says it was commanded by James Douglas, but in this he is wrong (p. 203).
504 frusching of speris, etc. The Lanercost writer, who derived his information, as he himself says, from a trustworthy eyewitness, has a very similar description. The English chargers, he writes, galloped against the Scottish spears as against a thick wood, “whereupon arose an exceeding great and terrible noise from breaking spears and steeds mortally wounded” (p. 225). The Scots, of course, would “stick” the horses, so as to unseat the heavily armoured riders--a serious accident for them (see note on Bk. XI. 598).
519 With speris ... and axis. Of the Scots it is said in Vita Edw.: “They had an axe by the side, and carried spears (lanceas) in their hands” (p. 203). For the “weill grundyn” axes, cf. Trokelowe above, line 448.
535 He held his way. The Scots appear to have attacked with successive battles, each coming up later than, and to the left of, its predecessor--in echelon by the right. So we may infer from Barbour, as well as from the rather obscure description in the Lanercost chronicle: “But they so ordered their army, that two divisions (_duæ acies_) of it should precede the third, the first on the flank of the second, so that neither should go in front of the other (_una ex latere alterius, ita quod neutra aliam præcederet_), to be followed by the third, in which was Robert” (p. 225). Gray simply says that the advance guard of the Scots came on in line of schiltrons and engaged the English (Scala., p. 142). Baker alone states that the Scots stood drawn up in solid array behind an artificial “hurdle” covered ditch, and waited the English attack (Chron., p. 56).
537 The nyne battales. Probably, as Mr. Oman suggests (_Art of War_, p. 574), in the way the French were at Creçy, in three lines of three battles each, the advance guard under Gloucester and Hereford thus forming a separate body (cf. lines 435-7). Mr. Oman gives the tenth, however, to “a reserve under the King” (ibid.). Baker, whose account is the latest and is really a summary essay on tactics, divides the English army into three “wards” (custodias): first, the heavy horsemen, which he tumbles into the “fragile” ditch (see above on 536, and note on Bk. XI. 360); next, the foot with the archers reserved to deal with the enemy in flight (see on Bk. XIII. 51); and, third, the King himself, with the bishops and other “religious” men (Chronic., 56-7).
BOOK XIII.
32 tynt the suet. “Lost their lives.” The phrase in this sense occurs also in the Wallace: “The Scottis on fute gert mony _loiss the suete” (The Wallace, Jamieson’s edition, Bk._ xii., line 194).
36 slew fire. “Struck out fire.” Also in Wallace, iv. 285: “_slew fyr_ on flint.” Cf. from The Buik of Alexander: “thare dyntis, That kest fyre as man dois flyntis” (p. 236, line 24).
51 the archeris war perelous. Baker says that the archers were not given a suitable position, as in his time, being placed behind the first line instead of on the wings (cf. note on Bk. XII. 537, and below lines 102-5, and note on 104). “Some,” he adds, “shot upwards so that their arrows fell fruitlessly (incassum) on the helmets of their adversaries; those who shot straight wounded a few Scots in the breast, but more English in the back” (Chron., pp. 57-58). At Falkirk (1298), after the failure of the first attack by the horsemen, Edward I. brought up his archers to play on the Scottish masses till these were broken, and then charged and dispersed them. Bruce anticipated this manœuvre, and made provision for it (see note on 98).
61 Robert of Keth. The Kethes or Keiths took their name from the barony of Keith, in Lothian. This Robert was still in the English service on May 23, 1308 (Bain, iii. 44), yet his name appears among those present at Bruce’s Parliament of March 16, 1309, as Robert de Kethe, Marshall (Acts Parl. Scot., i., p. 99). Elsewhere he is said to have joined Bruce at Christmas, 1308 (Bain, No. 245). He received from Bruce the office of Earl Marshall as its holders, one of the branches of the “Mareschals,” were adherents of England, and continued to be (Bain, iii., p. lxviii).
68 at a syde. “On one side,” as in line 163, “in-till a front.” This movement is too vaguely described to be located exactly. Most probably it was to the left of the three “battles” now engaged (English right), on ground presently occupied by Bruce with his own division.
98 nakit. “Without defensive armour,” as in Bk. VII. 330. The two previous lines mean that the Scottish horsemen did not have to stop a stroke or hold against a blow; i.e., the archers offered no resistance. Bruce’s intention, we may gather from lines 58-60, was so to harass the archers on the flank as to occupy them with their own defence and restrain their shooting. The attack, however, was so successfully pushed home that the archers were wholly scattered.
104 thair awne folk had no space. We gather that the archers had taken up a position on the right front of the main body, where they blocked the advance of the horsemen directly behind. These received the flying archers with blows, and pushed forward to take their place. The Lanercost chronicler says the battle began with a skirmish between the opposing archers, and that the Scots archers were driven back. This, again, suggests that the archers were somewhere in front. Mr. Oman follows Baker in placing them behind the first line. See note on 51.
132 on a syde. See above on 68.
162 All four the battelis. The Vita Edw. Sec. (p. 203) and the Chron. de Lanercost (p. 225) divide the Scots into three battles (turmas, acies), the usual medieval arrangement. The latter also gives Robert the rear division, as here.
175 in ane schiltrum all. Gray says that the “battles” of the English were crowded close together (entassez estoint), and could not repeat their attacks upon the Scots (remuerent devers eaux), as their horses were impaled by the pikes (p. 142). In the Lanercost chronicle we read that the English behind (sequentes) “were not able to reach the Scots because of the interposition of the first line, nor in any way to help themselves” (p. 224). The English, indeed, were too many to be manœuvred according to the simple tactics of the day, and were, in addition, crowded on too narrow a front. There was no generalship. These were Bruce’s chief advantages. He was protected by the hill and wood behind from being surrounded (cf. note on Bk. XI. 300). Besides, his rapid and successive advance prevented the English from developing any such intention. They could not well deploy among the “pools” and marshes.
183 quyntis. “Quyntis is merely the French cointises, signifying finery or quaint attire” (Skeat); generally, ornamental attachments to the armour. E reads quhytys, and H coates, so that we may have to do with the “white” surcoats. In viii. 232 Barbour speaks of hauberks “quhit as flour.”
208 the Scottis archeris. The effective part played by the Scottish archers is usually overlooked.
283 quhen the King of England saw his men fle. The English writers make no mention of the appearance of the camp-followers. They date the break-up from the failure of Gloucester’s attack with the van. As those behind, says the Lanercost chronicler, could not get forward (see note on 275), nothing remained but to take measures for flight (pp. 225-6). The front line had fallen back only to add to the confusion (cf. line 170, etc.). “When those who were with the King saw the Earl’s division smashed up (contritum) and their friends making ready to fly, they said it was dangerous to stay longer,” etc. (_Vita Edw. Sec._, p. 205). Gray says the King went much against his will (as Barbour reports one version in line 298), and that he knocked over with his mace the Scots that were catching at his charger’s housings (Scala., p. 142). Trokelowe affirms that he laid about him “like a lion,” and brandished a sword dripping with blood (Annales, p. 86).
297 By the renyhe. “Those who had been assigned to the King’s rein were drawing the King forward by the rein out of the plain (_hors du chaumpe) towards the castle” (Scala._, p. 142).
307 I cheis heir to byde and de. In Vita Edw. Sec. it is said he hastened to assist the Earl of Gloucester when he saw him fall, and perished with him, “thinking it more honourable to perish with such a man than to escape death by flight” (p. 204). Cf. also Scala.: “I have never been accustomed to fly” (p. 143).
321 thrid best knycht. See note on Bk. XI. 174. He is highly spoken of by both Baston and the Vita Edw. writer. According to Bruce’s English eulogist in the Scotichronicon, the other two were Bruce himself and the Emperor Henry (lib. xiii., ch. xvi.).
328-9 fra ... the King Wes fled, wes nane that durst abyde. “When the King’s banner is seen to depart the whole army quickly disperses” (Vita Edw. Sec., p. 205).
335 Fled to the wattir of Forth. On no hypothesis other than that the battle was fought on the plain between the Forth and the Bannock can this fact be explained. Of the fact itself there is no question. The Lanercost chronicler, in his Versus, says: “Forth swallowed up many well furnished with arms and horses” (p. 227). They were probably seeking for a ford.
337 And Bannokburn. “The folk in the English rear fell back upon the ditch (fosse) of Bannockburn, one tumbling over the other” (Scala., p. 142). “Another unfortunate thing happened to the English, because, since a little before they had crossed a great ditch into which the tide flows--Bannockburn by name--and now in confusion wished to retire, many knights and others, on account of the pressure, fell into it with their horses (cf. Barbour, line 338), and some with great difficulty got out, and many were quite unable to clear themselves of the ditch; and on this account Bannockburn was on English lips for many years to come” (Lanercost, 226). In Vita Edw. also mention is made of a “certain ditch” (fovea) which “swallowed up (absorbuit) many,” and where a great part perished (p. 205). The Bannock turns sharply north near the English rear, but the description in Barbour and the reference above to the tide with the inclusion of the Forth, indicate the part nearer the mouth.
341 laddis, etc. I.e., the camp-followers.
352 Of slyk. In Chron. de Lanercost (p. 226) “Bannock’s mud” (Bannoke limus). Edmund de Malolacu (Mauley), Edward’s steward, met his death “in a certain slimy hollow” (in quodam antro lutoso. Flores Historiarum, iii., p. 159).
363 Philip the Mowbray said. Different interpretations were put upon Mowbray’s action, but the fact and the quite satisfactory reason given by Barbour are borne out by the English chroniclers. “When the King comes to the castle, thinking he will find refuge there, he is repulsed like an enemy; the bridge is drawn up and the gate closed. On this account the keeper of the castle was believed by many to be not unacquainted with treason, and yet he was seen that very day in his armour on the field, as it were ready to fight for the King. However, I neither acquit nor accuse the keeper of treason, but confess that in the providence of God the King of England did not enter the castle, because if he had then been admitted he could not have failed to be captured” (Vita Edw. Sec., p. 205). In Gesta Edw. de Carnarvon the Governor is wrongly called Alexander de Mowbray, and the account is: “The foresaid keeper, knowing that his supplies were not sufficient for himself and his men, and also fearing that Robert Bruce, having got the victory, would attack and capture the castle, did not wish to expose his King of England to such great danger, and, preferring to incur misunderstanding, refused on this account to open the castle of the King” (p. 47). The castle was surrendered, and Mowbray entered the service of Bruce.
379 the Rownde Tabill. Usually and quite wrongly identified with the King’s Knot--i.e., garden--a regular mound below the castle rock. It is mentioned by Sir David Lindsay in the sixteenth century. In 1302 Edward I. had a “Round Table” (la table rounde) ordained (ordinari) at Falkirk (Ann. Lond., p. 104). To “hold a Round Table” was a sporting function among knights; here some sort of building may be referred to, like that described by Murimuth (1344), intended to be built for the purpose at Windsor (Chronicle, p. 155). Probably, in that case, it was only of Barbour’s own time. I incline, however, to the belief, from its associations in Lindsay’s verse, that it was a natural feature--the circular crags enclosing the western division of the modern King’s Park. It would thus be a place-name, like “Arthur’s Seat.”
380 the Park enveronyt thai. Gray says the King was taken round the Torwood and by the plains of Lothian (Lownesse, p. 143).
381 held in hy. The Lanercost chronicler says that they had “as guide a Scottish knight who knew by what route they could escape” (p. 227).
409 wes tane in. The Lanercost chronicler writes that Hereford and those with him were making for Carlisle when they were captured at Bothwell Castle: “For the sheriff, the keeper of the castle, who up to that time had held the castle for the King of England, seeing that his countrymen had been victorious in the war, suffered the more noble of them who had come there to enter the castle as if to have a safe retreat, and when they entered seized them,” afterwards surrendering them to Bruce (p. 228). In the anonymous chronicle used by Stevenson we have a similar account. Hereford and a few nobles were allowed to enter the castle, where they found themselves in custody. The rest remained outside the walls, and were suddenly set on by the Scots, who slew them, except a few who surrendered (_Illustrations of Scottish History_, p. 2). Barbour says three-fourths were taken or slain (416). In Ann. Lond. Hereford is said to have been accompanied by a thousand men-at-arms (p. 231). The Lanercost estimate is 600 horse and 1,000 foot, Umfraville being of the company (ibid.). Walsingham gives the total of earls, barons, and baronets captured and slain as 154; of clerics and squires an excessive number (Historia Angl., i., p. 154). The name of the keeper was Gilbertson as in E; he appears on record as “Fitz-Gilbert” (Bain, iii. No. 243, etc.). He joined Bruce and was the ancestor of the great Hamilton family. Bothwell Castle is on the Clyde.
417 Moris de Berclay. In Vita Edw. (p. 206) he is among those captured at Bothwell. According to the Lanercost historian, it was Pembroke (Valence) who fled “on foot” with the Welshmen, and escaped (p. 228). In Ann. Lond. de Valence is said to have fled _nudis pedibus_ (bare-footed); that is, apparently, he removed his foot and leg armour (p. 230).
456 Thai dispendit haly that day, In spoulyheing. The author of _Vita Edw._ declares that it was the preoccupation of the Scots with the plunder that allowed many English to escape. In his precise way, he estimates that the valuable equipment which fell to the Scots was worth £200,000 (p. 206), or at the ratio of 1:15 about £3,000,000 present day (cf. note on 667-8).
463 spuris rede. I.e., gilt or gold spurs worn only by knights. The 700 pairs of C would give us 700 knights slain; E’s 200 is probably nearer the truth. In Ann. Lond., (p. 231) we get a list of thirty-seven knights slain at “the battle of Stirling.” Of the foot and squires, it is said, the most part (maxima pars) was not slain. Baker says about 300 men-at-arms (viri militares) were among the slain (57). Bower gives 200 knights slain besides Gloucester (Scotich. Goodall, edition 1759, ii., p. 250). Walsingham, from his MS. source, fixes the number of knights and squires who fell at 700 (_Historia Anglicana_, p. 141); Capgrave the lords, barons, and knights slain and captured at 154. More than 500 were reported dead who were afterwards found to be captives (Chronicle, p. 180) and had to be ransomed (Vita Edw., p. 206). Fabyan gives forty-two noblemen slain, and sixty-seven knights and baronets, while twelve “men of name” were taken prisoner (New Chronicles, p. 420).
466 Gilbert of Clar. About twenty-three years of age (Ann. Lond., p. 231). He fell in the first charge (Vita Edw.; Baker). Baker says the Scots would have gladly taken him alive for ransom had they known who he was, but that he did not wear his surcoat (toga) with his coat of arms (p. 57). Cf. lines 510-11. That men callit, says Barbour, having in mind Ralph de Monthermer, his step-father who had previously borne the title.
468 Payne Typtot. Paganus Typetot (Vita Edw.) or Tybetot (_Ann. Lond.). “Paganus Typetoft,” or “Typetot,” is the name in Chron. de Lanercost_.
472 Wilyhame Vepownt. Sir William de Vepont (Veteriponte) was a Scotsman in the service of England till 1312, having been imprisoned on capture during the Comyn resistance in 1302. He was under Valence in Ayr in 1307 (Bain, ii., Nos. 1,283, 1,294; iii., No. 263). _Walter the Ros_ was serving England in Linlithgow in 1312 (Bain, iii., p. 411).
486 at rebours. I.e., treated badly, held “in great dislike” (Skeat). See Glossary. Edward had a son, Alexander, by Isabella of Atholl (Exchq. Rolls, II. cxxxii.).
489-90 Erll Davy of Adell. Lord Hailes did not know “what judgment to form of this story,” in view of the fact that sentence of forfeiture was not passed against Atholl till 1323 (Annales, ii. 58 note). But his lands were forfeited by October, 1314, and granted to Sir Neil Campbell (Robertson’s Index, p. 26; ii. Scots Peerage), and he, then being in England, received three manors from Edward II. “till he recovers his Scottish possessions” (Bain, iii., p. 75). Atholl’s career is, however, puzzling. His wife was Johanna, daughter of the murdered Comyn of Badenoch. Up till 1312 he is a supporter of England, and in December of that year even seems to have sat in the English Parliament. But in the previous October he is among those present in Bruce’s Parliament at Inverness (Acta. Parl. Scot., vol. i., 103); next appears as Constable of Scotland, and, early in 1313, is a witness to charters to the Abbey of Arbroath (Scots Peerage). Then comes a blank till October, 1314, as above. There is thus room for Barbour’s story: Atholl did give a short-lived support to the national cause, and a forfeiture of his lands did follow soon after Bannockburn. He remained an active adherent of England till his death, January, 1327.
495 Wilyhame of Herth. Apparently William Mareschal of Erth (Bain, iii. 343; cf. note on 61). Sir William de Erth was a supporter of Comyn in the Barons’ War, and capitulated with him and others at Strathorde on February 9, 1304 (Bain, ii., No. 1,741). William de Erth, knight, was alive in 1333 (Bain, iii. 1,099). Erth, or Airth, is on the east of Stirlingshire, on the Forth.
510 somdeill anoyit. Cf. note on 466.
512 till a kirk he gert hym be Brocht. John de Trokelowe says that Bruce sent the bodies of Gloucester and Clifford to King Edward while at Berwick, to be buried as he wished, and this without demanding any payment as ransom (Annales, p. 87).
533 Betung in C is certainly wrong; E gives the correct form Twenge. Marmaduke de Twenge appears on the list in Foedera and elsewhere. He was the hero of Stirling Bridge (1297), who cut his way back over the bridge.
531 trete hym curtasly. Trokelowe says that Bruce caused his noble prisoners to be treated so becomingly and courteously (_decenter ac civiliter_) “that the hearts of many who were opposed to him he turned, in a wonderful way, to feeling an affection for him” (Annales, p. 87).
544 become of his dwelling. “Became one of his company,” as in Bk. IV. 481, where Bruce says of Douglas and his men in Arran: “Thai ar all of my duelling.”
553 Lowrens = Lawrence. Probably the same Sir Lawrence de Abernethy who in 1338 had provisions sent him by Edward III. for the Castle of Hawthornden. He was thus “Inglis man” again (Bain, iii., p. 235, No. 1,291).
578-85 He convoyit thame so narrowly, etc. “Some, however, lagging in the flight, were slain by the Scots, who followed them swiftly (velociter)” (Chron. de Lanercost, p. 227). “The King escaped with great trouble” (a graunt payn, Scala., p. 143).
587 Wynchburch. On the road from Linlithgow to Edinburgh.
592 so feill. According to the Lanercost historian, the King was accompanied by many knights and footmen (p. 227).
612 Erll Patrik. Of March. See note on Bk. XI. 46. “Patrick Earl of March received him honourably, etc., for at that time he was his man” (soun homager. Scala., 143.).
615-16 A bate, etc. “When he came thither (Dunbar) he embarked on a ship, and with his own company put in at Berwick” (Vita Edw. Sec., p. 205). “Thence the King went by sea to Berwick and afterwards to the south” (Scala., 143). “At Dunbar the King, with his special friends, embarked on a boat (scapham) for Berwick” (Lanercost, p. 227). Barbour says they landed at Bamborough on the coast of Yorkshire, and in line 645 gives the number who thus accompanied the King as seventeen.
619-21 The laiff, etc. “The others (see above), not having a ship, come (to Berwick) by land” (Vita Edw. Sec., p. 205). The King, says the Lanercost writer, left all the others to their fate, who, however, came safe and sound to England (p. 228).
631 The Kyng eschapit. According to Baker, “no mortal ingenuity, neither the swiftness of the horses nor the cover on the way (involucra locorum) could have kept the King from capture by the Scots,” had not Christ Himself, at the intercession of His Mother, brought him out of Scottish territory, as both the King and his companions afterwards confessed. In his peril Edward vowed to found a monastery dedicated to the “Mother of God,” where twenty-four friars might study theology (Baker, p. 58); and, in fulfilment thereof, established Oriel College at Oxford (Hailes, ii. 57 note).
667-8 The castell and the towrys ... doune gert he myne. Stirling Castle thus lay in ruins till 1336-7, when it was rebuilt for Edward III. “after the conquest,” probably on the old plan. Stone walls and towers were erected, a “peel” of wood, to the north the walls (parietes) of which were plastered over, and various inner buildings for the garrison, etc., also of wood daubed with mortar and roofed with turf (Bain, iii., pp. 364-8). The rebuilding and repairs cost £280, equal to about £4,000 now (Bain, lviii.).
676 he gaf. See note on 409.
687 The Erll wes changit. In Vita Edw. Sec. (pp. 208-9) is recorded the exchange of the Earl for the wife of Bruce and other Scottish captives, including the Bishop of Glasgow. On October 2, 1314, “Robert, Bishop of Glasgow, the Countess Carrick, wife of Robert de Brus, with his sister and daughter and Donald de Mar,” were at Carlisle Castle, “to be taken thence to a place arranged by the Earl of Essex and Hereford and the Sheriff” (Bain, iii., No. 393). Mar is, no doubt, the “young earl” referred to in the Vita Edw., which says further that Edward gave to his sister, Hereford’s wife, all the Scottish captives since the time of Edward I.--fifteen and more--to procure the release of her husband (p. 208).
695 wes King. Robert II.
697 Davy. David II. (June 7, 1329 to February 22, 1371). He scarcely deserved Barbour’s epithet “worthy.”
702 Fif yheir. In 1375 Robert was in the fifth year of his reign; he would not have “passit” it till February 22, 1376. He was born March 2, 1316, and in 1375 was in his sixtieth year. The year in Scotland, however, began on March 25, so that Barbour’s cross-dating really stands for what we should call the early spring of 1376. He was then engaged on The Bruce.
705-6 the gud King Robert. I.e., Robert I. the Bruce, dead forty-six years. It is curious to find this elaborate dating “of the compyling of this book” here, and not at the end. Evidently the mention of the marriage of the Steward, the reigning King’s father, is Barbour’s cue. There is no reason to suppose that this was a subsequent insertion, and we may conclude that the poem was completed somewhat later.
736 our-raid all Northumbirland. “They (the Scots) plundered the northern bounds of England as far as Richmond and returned, devastating the country with fire and carrying off with them many captives” (Gesta Edwardi, p. 47). Cf. Barbour, lines following. On July 1, 1314, the Bishop of Durham writes the King regarding Scottish preparations for an invasion of England, of which he has heard. On October 7, 1314, the Prior and Convent of Durham pay the Earl of Murray eight hundred marks to secure the bishopric immunity from invasion for a stated period (Letters from Northern Registers, Nos. cxliv., cxlix.). According to the Lanercost chronicler, the Scots entered by Berwick, and burned almost all Northumberland, spared Durham for a monetary consideration, penetrated to the Tees and to Richmond, and returned, via Lanercost, with a great body of cattle and captives (pp. 228, 229).
BOOK XIV.
4 Scotland to litill wes. According to the Annalist, it was the Scots who were not satisfied with their own country; but this is merely a rhetorical comment (Annals of Ireland, p. 344). The anonymous Chronicle in Stevenson’s Illustrations says that Edward Bruce, elated by the success of the Scots, aspired to the name of King (_ad nomen regium aspirans_, p. 3). Fordun’s version is the same as that of Barbour: “Edward Bruce was not willing to live in peace with his brother unless he got half the kingdom for himself, and for this reason the war was started in Ireland” (Gesta Annalia, cxxxiii.).
8 had treting With the Erischry. It was afterwards (1316-17) made a charge against Walter de Lacy and Hugh de Lacy, Earl of Ulster, that they had sent messengers and letters to invite Edward Bruce to Ireland. The legal documents in the case are given in _Chartularies, etc., of St. Mary’s Abbey_ (vol. ii., pp. 407-9). This charge is also noted in the Annals of Ireland (Fragment), under February 2, 1317, where it is said that, on inquiry, the Lacys were acquitted (p. 298). Nevertheless, they and their relatives were fined £200 (Preface, p. cxxix). The Chronicle in Stevenson appears to refer to the same case, when it says that Edward Bruce was persistently (sæpissime) invited by a certain Irish magnate with whom he had been educated in his youth (p. 3).
21 Maii. “The Scots first entered Ireland on May 26, 1315” (_die Sancti Augustini Anglorum, mense Maii._ Annals of Ireland, p. 344). The Annals of Ulster fix his landing at the beginning of the year (ii., p. 423); as do also Annals of Loch Cé (i., p. 563). Edward Bruce had a fleet of 300 ships (Annals of Clonmacnoise, p. 268).
25 Philip the Mowbray. Cf. Bk. XIII., line 544. Mowbray’s name does not appear in the Annals as accompanying Edward Bruce, nor that of Soulis or Ramsay, but others are mentioned (p. 344). Mowbray is mentioned later (Annals, Fragment, p. 299), and in Knighton, i., p. 411.
28 Schir Johne Steward. Brother of Sir Walter Steward. See Bk. XVIII. 33 (Annals, 344).
29 Ouchtirhouss, or Auchterhouse, is in the south of Forfarshire. From the Wallace we learn that this was Alexander Ramsay, son of Sir John Ramsay Wallace’s friend.
“His sone was called the flour of courtlyness;
As witnes weill in to the schort tretty
Eftir the Bruce, quha redis in that story.”
(The Wallace, Bk. vii. 900-2.)
31 Fergus de Ardrossane. Ardrossan is on the coast of Ayr. Fergus had at first joined Bruce, was captured, and procured his release by going over to Edward II., from whom he in 1312 received the “barony of Bisshoplande,” near Kirkintilloch (Bain, iii., Nos. 51, 227, 265). Probably he reverted to Bruce after Bannockburn. He is among those mentioned in the Annals (p. 344). He received a fresh grant of the lands of Ardrossan and others apparently in 1316 (Reg. Mag. Sig., pp. 10, 51).
33 Wokingis Firth. This name is evidently corrupt. Innes identifies it with Larne Lough, and so also do Bain and Skeat, citing from Reeves (Eccles. History of Down and Connor) forms such as Wolderfrith, etc., and the present Olderfleet Castle on that Lough (Bain, iii. xxxiv, note). In a letter of Edward II., 1311, we have “Wolrikesford, near Knacfergus (Carrickfergus), in Ulster,” whence a fleet is to sail against Robert Bruce (Bain, iii., No. 216). In 1327 King Robert is to get corn from the Ulster men delivered at “Ulringfirth” (ibid., 922). The Annals say, first, that the Scots put it at “Clondonne,” or Glen Dun, in Antrim, south of Torr Head, the nearest point (eighteen miles) to the Scottish coast, and, immediately after, that they entered Ireland “near Cragfergus, in Ulster” (p. 344). Robert Bruce was at “Glendouyne” when he executed the agreement mentioned above. Probably the Scots touched at Glendun, and then coasted down to Larne Lough.
38 sex thousand men. Six thousand is the number in the Annals (p. 344).
47 Maundvell. The Scots “drove out Sir Thomas de Maundevile and other loyal men from their own land” (Annals of Ireland, p. 344). The Bysets were descended from John Byset, who was banished from Scotland by Alexander II., and who got land in Antrim under the de Burghs. The Logans were large proprietors in the north of Ireland (Reeves’s _Down and Connor_ in Innes), as also were the Savages (ibid.). John Logan and Sir Hugh Byset are the heroes of a great slaughter of the Scots in Ulster on November 1, 1316 (Annals, Fragment, p. 298). Sir Hugh afterwards joined the Scots (Bain, iii., No. 632).
80 In that battale. Near the river Bann (Annals, 344). “_tane or slane._”--The Earl of Ulster, Richard de Burgh, was put to flight; his son, William de Burgh, and John de Statona were captured, and many English slain. The Scots were successful (Annals, pp. 344-5).
102 the kyngis. Reguli, petty kings or important chiefs, a usual Gaelic equivalent. Cf. Bk. XVIII. 9 and note.
105 Makfulchiane (C), Makgullane, Makgoulchane (H). Jamieson says Irish Macleans (MacGillian); Innes suggests MacCoolechan: “MacEthelan” is among the chiefs in Foedera (iii., p. 476). Most likely we have to do with O’Fuillchain in the form MacFuillchain, from which, by MacFhuillchain, could also come MacGuillchain, as in H.
106 Makartane, Makmartane (C), Macarthane (H). “Macartan” was one of “the septs of Ire, son of Miletus” (Annals of Clonmacnoise, p. 30).
113 Endwillane. Innes suggests “the Pass of Emerdullam” (1343), which he identifies with Moiry Pass, where Moiry Castle is about a quarter of a mile from Kilnsaggart, or Kilsaggart. Apparently this is Moiry Castle, north of Dundalk.
133 At Kilsaggart. Kilnasaggart (“cell of the priest”), about a quarter of a mile from Moiry Castle; for which see on Bk. XVI. 62.
135 Dundawk. Dundalk, within the English Pale. For spelling, cf. in XI. 437 and Appendix G.
138 Richard of Clare. Barbour has been censured by his editors, following the cue of Lord Hailes (Annals, ii. 70, note), for the prominence given to Richard de Clare in the opposition to the Scots. True, as Hailes pointed out and reasons from, he was not the Justiciar of Ireland, a post occupied at this time by Sir Edmund de Butler (Historic and Munic. Docts., Ireland, p. 328); after November 23, 1316, by Roger de Mortimer (Patent Rolls); and so was not technically “in all Irland luf-tenand.” Nevertheless it is perfectly certain that Clare took the leading part, at this stage at least, in the defence of English interests, and that Barbour’s statement to this extent is justified. Thus, in a letter to Edward of February 15, 1316, it is mentioned, with respect to the operations of the Scots, that the writer, to protect the King’s honour, will take counsel with certain lords and Richard de Clare, a reference which Bain (Index) interprets to mean that Clare was in command in Ireland. The writer, too, thinks it worth mentioning that Clare was not at the battle (of Arscoll). Again, on May 16, Clare is pardoned an ancestral debt for his great labour and cost repelling the disturbance stirred up in Ireland by the Scottish enemies” (Bain, iii., Nos. 469, 488; Patent Rolls, p. 459). And there is a further grant of same date to de Clare, “in consideration of his great labours as above,” of certain privileges, castles, and lands, “to hold during pleasure, and the continuance of the disturbance by the Scots, in aid of his maintenance on the King’s service” (Patent Rolls, p. 459).
142 Erll of Kyldare. The Geraldines, or Fitz-Geralds, had been Earls of Kildare since 1294 (Annals of Ireland, p. 323 and Index).
143 The Bremayne with the Wardune. This pair appear in later operations as “Richard de Birmingham” and “Robert de Verdon” (Annals, p. 350). But on May 18, 1316, Nicholas de Verdun gets 200 marks for losses sustained against the Scots (Patent Rolls).
145 The Butler. Edmund de Butler, Justiciary (cf. on 138).
146 Moris le Fyss Thomas. Maurice Fitz-Thomas, who married, in 1312, the daughter of the Earl of Ulster, and afterwards (1329) was created Earl of Desmond (Annals, p. 341).
172 on the morn. June 29, 1315 (Annals, p. 345).
188 Half-deill ane dyner. In the Alexander Clarus says of the army of Alexander:
“And thay ar anely till dynare
To our great hoste” (pp. 308-9).
224-6 “The Scots took the town, spoiled and burned, and slew all who resisted” (Annals, 344).
252 Kilross. “(Cill-rois of Adamnan) is now Maghross, or
Carrickmacross” (Innes).
254 Richard of Clare. According to the Annals, Edmund de Butler (p. 345).
257 A gret hoost. “A great army”; and Richard de Burgh with “an innumerable army” as well. They came together to the district of Dundalk (p. 345).
270 to ges. Barbour usually “guesses” ten thousand to “a battle,” as here and elsewhere.
280 gadering of the cuntre. I.e., “mere countrymen not skilled soldiers.” This great army was raised from Munster, Leinster, and Connaught (Annals, p. 345), and Edward Bruce’s description is no doubt right.
289 stedis trappit. See note on Bk. XI. 130.
300 fled scalit. “They fled--how is unknown” (Annals, p. 345). The date is circa July 22, 1315.
313 Judas Machabeus. See note on Bk. I. 466.
329 Odymsy. “Fyn O’Dymsy” among those summoned to Bannockburn (Foedera, iii. 476). O’Dempsy was “dux Reganorum,” or chief of the Ui’ Riagain; Iregan in Queen’s County (Annals, p. 333). In the Annals of Clonmacnoise Bruce is taken north “by the procurement of O’Neal and Ulstermen” (p. 269).
332 To se his land. I.e., in Leinster. He, of course, takes them out of the way (cf. on 360).
337 A gret revar. Skeat holds that this is the Blackwater flowing into the southern end of Lough Neagh, which was the boundary between the English Pale and the independent country of the Tyrone O’Neils, and was of old known as the Avon More, “the great river.” But this is inconsistent with lines 369-371, where one of the rivers is the northern Bann, “ane arme of se,” and Skeat’s ingenious explanation of the latter phrase, taking sea = Lough, Beg or Neagh, is quite superfluous. In fact, he is astray as to vital details, as witness what is said on Thomas Dun (line 376). Barbour himself is unsatisfactorily vague in his geographical matter, and none of the Annals makes any mention of the trick here descanted upon, nor of the intervention of the pirate Thomas. But the main features can be found in the _Annals of Clonmacnoise, pp. 269-271, and Annals of Loch Cé_, 265-7. The Scots and the Ulster men (Antrim and Down) were at Innis Kaeyne (Innishkeen), seven miles west of Dundalk. The English marched to Louth, just south of them. The Scots retired through Ulster (Antrim and Down), not, as Skeat suggests, by the west shore of Lough Neagh, until they came to Coleraine, not far from the Bann estuary. Then they crossed the river by the bridge, which they broke down so that the English who followed them could not cross, and the Bann lay between the two armies. Thereupon the English plundered on the Ulster side, apparently among the sympathizers with the Scots, finally retreating to Connor (cf. lines 396, 460). In the interval must have occurred the attempted drowning out of the Scots and the passage back over the river by means of Thomas of Dun, who had sailed up the estuary of the Bann (line 371).
354 The ysche of a louch. “The outlet of a loch”; from the hurried nature of the operation necessarily a small loch or a narrow outlet; possibly, too, a loch since drained off. It cannot be Lough Beg, for that would be too far away for Thomas Dun. On the other hand, they must have been brought some distance up the west side of the Bann, for after they had crossed it was still not known where they were (line 386), and they soon got in touch with the English, who were ten miles from Connor, to which they afterwards retreated (460).
360 With mekill payne. To add to the difficulties of this passage, the misleading of the Scots seems to be claimed for the Lacys in the case regarding them (see on line 8). The Lacys explain that on the occasion on which they had a conference (parliamentaverunt) with Edward Bruce they, by their cunning (per eorum cautelam), led Edward Bruce with his army among the Irish who were felons to the King--that is, apparently, the North Ulster men (see on 337). Among them Edward Bruce marched for fourteen days, and lost a great number of men and horses on the march towards Leinster, to which he could have come in two days if he had been rightly directed (Chartularies of St. Mary’s, I., p. 408). It is scarcely likely that Edward Bruce was twice tricked in this way, and the Irishman, Dempsy or another, may have been the agent of the Lacys. But to be able to follow the whole operation we should require much more information than is available.
373 Ullister. Ulster in the ancient sense of Antrim and Down.
376 Thomas of Dun. Skeat compiles an hypothetical biography for this “scummar of the se,” but Thomas was an uncomfortably well-known personage. He was the most notorious pirate on the west coast, as John Crab was on the east (see Bk. XVII. 239). We learn from Bain’s Calendar that on September 12, 1315, Thomas Dun and others, “with a great ‘navye’ of Scots,” plundered a ship in Holyhead Harbour (No. 451). He kept on his depredations with a crew of Scots (No. 549; Patent Rolls, i., p. 696). He was captured in July, 1317, and gave information about an intended attack by the Earl of Moray on the Isle of Man (No. 562). Thereafter he disappears from notice, probably via the gallows. He was hovering about between Ulster and Scotland at this time, and Edward was ordering the Mayor and bailiffs of Drogheda to chase him (Hist. and Munic. Docts., Ireland, p. 377).
