Prophecies of Thomas the Rhymer (3)/Chapter 4
AN ACCOUNT
OF THE
Battle of Bannockburn.
EDWARD II. of England, kept up the same claim upon Scotland, which his father had began; and after several unsuccessful attempts to establish it, he resolved to make a great effort and with one blow reduce that turbulent nation, which had put so many signal affronts upon his father and himself.
In the spring, 1314, he assembled the most numerous army that had ever crossed the borders, composed of different rations, and amounting to above a hundred thousand effective men, beside a huge multitude of attendants, who came along in hopes of sharing in the plunder of a conquered enemy. At the head of these he marched northward with an uncommon parade, and in full confidence of victory.
Robert Bruce, the son of that Robert Bruce who held a conference with Wallace upon the banks of the Carron, and grandson to him who had been competitor with Baliol, had, in 1306, been crowned King of Scotland; and being informed of Edward's formidable preparations, he raised an army of thirty thousand of his subjects, to oppose him. This armament bore but a small proportion to that of Edward's; but it was composed of soldiers, who were hardened by long practice of war, and who now carried upon the point of their sword, liberty and honour, and every thing that was dear to them. With these Robert took up his station in the neighbourhood of Stirling, and waited for Edward's arrival.
The two armies came in sight of each other, in the month of June, and soon after, a bloody battle was fought, in which the Scots obtained a victory, the most celebrated of any in the annals of that kingdom. The procedure of this memorable event was as follows:—
The English having marched from Edinburgh to Falkirk in one day, and upon the morrow, setting out thence towards Stirling, encamped to the north-yard of Torwood. About Upper-Bannock-burn, and backward upon the Muir of Plean, in the neighbourhood of the Roman Causeway, pieces of broken pots, and other vessels have been found; and upon rocks near the surface marks of fire have been discovered, where it was supposed the soldiers had made really their provisions. Barbour, the author of King Robert Bruce's life, speaks as if their camp had stretched so far northward as to occupy a part of carse ground; and so vast a multitude must doubtless have covered a large tract of the country.
The Scottish army was posted about a mile to the northward, upon several small eminences, south from the present village of St. Ninians. Upon the summit of one of these eminences, now called Brock's-Brae, is a stone sunk into the earth, with a round hole in it, rear three inches in diameter, and much the same in depth, in which, according to tradition, King Robert's standard was fixed, the royal tent having been erected near it. This stone is well known in that neighbourhood by the name of the Bore-stone. The small river of Bannockburn, remarkable for its steep and rugged banks, ran in a narrow valley between the two camps.
The castle of Stirling was still in the hands of the English. Edward Bruce, the King's brother, had, in the spring of the year, laid seige to it, but found himself obliged to abandon the enterprize; only by a treaty between that Prince and Moubray the Governor, it was agreed, that, if the garrison received no relief from England before a year expired, they should surrender to the Scots.
The day preceding the battle, a strong body of cavalry, to the number of eight hundred, was detached from the English camp, under the conduct of Lord Clifford, to the relief of that garrison. These having marched through some hollow grounds, upon the edge of the Carse, had passed the Scots army before they were observed. The King himself was the first that perceived them, and desiring Thomas Randolph Earl of Murray, to lock towards the place where they were, told him, that a rose had fallen from his chaplet. Randolph considering this as a reproach, because he had the charge of that part through which the English had marched, immediately set out after them with a party of five hundred horse, and coming up with them in the plain where the small village of New-House now stands, a sharp action ensued; in sight of both armies, and of the garrison of Stirling. It was fought with valour on both sides; and it was for some time doubtful where victory should turn. King Robert, attended by some of his officers, beheld this re-encounter from a rising ground, supposed to be the round hill, immediately upon the west of St. Ninians, now called Cock-shot-hill. James Douglas, perceiving the distress of Randolph, who was greatly inferior to the enemy in number, asked leave to go to his support. This King Robert at first refused, but afterwards consented. Douglas put his soldiers in motion; observing, however, as he was on the way, that the victory was upon the point of being won without his assistance, he stopped short, that his friend might have the unrivalled glory of it.—The English were entirely defeated, and many of them slain; and Randolph returned to the camp amidst acclamations of universal joy. To perpetuate the memory of this victory, two stones were reared up in the field, and are still to be seen there. They stand in a spot which has lately been enclosed for a garden, at the north end of the village of New-House, and about a quarter of a mile from the Borough Port of Stirling
This victory gave new spirits to the whole army, and made them so eager for the general engagement, that the night, though among the shortest of the year, seemed long to them. At length appeared the dawn of that important day which was to decide whether Scotland was henceforth to be an independent kingdom, or subject to a foreign yoke. Early all was in motion in both armies; religious sentiments were mingled with the military ardour of the Scots: a solemn mass, in the manner of those times, was said by the Abbot of Inchaffery, a monastry in Strathearn, who also administered the sacrament to the king, and the great officers about him, while inferior priests did the same to the rest of the army. After this, they formed in order of battle, in a track of ground called Nether Touchadam, which lies along the declivity of a gentle rising hill. This situation had been previously chosen, because of its advantages. Upon the right they had a range of steep rocks, now called Murray's Craig, and in their front were steep banks of the rivulet of Bannockburn. Not far behind them was a wood, some vestiges of which still remain. Upon the left was a morass, now called Milton-bog, from its vicinity to a small village of that name; much of this bog is still undrained, and a part of it is at present a mill-dam. As it was then the middle of summer, it was almost quite dry. But King Robert had recourse to a stratagem in order to prevent any attack from that quarter. He had ordered many ditches and pits to be dug in the morass, and stakes sharpened at both ends to be driven into them, and the whole to be covered over again with green turf, so that the ground had still the appearance of being firm. He also caused crow-feet, or sharp-pointed irons to be scattered throughout the morass; some of which have been found there in the memory of people still living; the same manoeuvres were likewise carried on for a little way, along the front of the left wing; for there the banks for about two hundred yards, being flatter than they are any where else, it was the only place where the enemy could pass the river in any sort of order. By means of these artificial improvements, joined to the natural strength of the ground, the Scotch army stood as within an entrenchment, and the invisible pits and ditches answered to the concealed batteries of modern times.
Amongst the other occurrences of this memorable day, historians mention an incident of a singular nature. As the two armies were about to engage, the Abbot of Inchaffery posting himself before the Scots, with a crucifix in his hand, they all fell down upon their knees in act of devotion. The enemy, observing them in so uncommon a posture, concluded that they were frighted unto submission, and that, by kneeling when they should be ready to fight, they meant to surrender at discretion, and only begged their lives; but they were soon deceived, when they saw them rise again, and stand to their arms with steady countenances.
The English began the action by a brisk charge upon the left wing of the Scots, commanded by Randolph, near the spot where the bridge is now thrown over the river at the small village of Chartershall. Hereabout was the only place where the river could be crossed in any order.———A large body of cavalry advanced to attack him in front, while another fetched a compass to fall upon his flank and rear, but before they could come to a close engagement, they fell into the snare that had been laid for them. Many of their horses were soon disabled by the sharp irons rushing into their feet, others tumbled into the concealed pits, and could not disentangle themselves. Pieces of the harnessing, with bits of broken spears, and other armour, still continue to be dug up in the bog.
In the beginning of the engagement, an incident happened, which though in itself of small moment, was rendered important by its consequences. King Robert was mounted on horseback, carrying a battle-axe in his hand, and upon his helmet he wore a high turban, in the form of a crown, by way of distinction. This, together with his activity, rendered him very conspicuous as he rode before the lines. An English Knight named Bohun, who was ranked among the bravest in Edward's army, came galloping furiously up to him, in order to engage with him in single combat, expecting by so eminent an act of chivalry, at once to put an end to the contest and gain immortal renown to himself; but the enterprising champion having missed his blow, was immediately struck dead with the battle axe which the King carried in his hand. This was a sort of signal for the charge. So bold an attack upon their King, filled the Scots with sentiments of revenge; and the heroic achievement performed by him before their eyes, raised their spirits to the highest pitch; they rushed furiously upon the enemy, who, having by this time passed the river in great numbers, gave them a warm reception.
A singular occurrence, which some accounts represent as an accidental sally of patriotic enthusiasm, others as a premeditated stratagem of King Robert, suddenly altered the face of affairs, and contributed greatly to the victory. All the servants and attendants of the Scottish army, who are said to have amounted to twenty thousand, had been ordered, before the battle, to retire behind Murray's Craig. But having, during the engagement, arranged themselves in a martial form, they marched to the top of the hill, and displaying banners, moved towards the field of battle with hideous shouts. The English perceiving this motely crowd, and taking them for a fresh reinforcement advancing to support the Scots, were seized with so great a panic, that they began to give way in confusion. Buchanan says that the King of England was the first who fled; but in this he contradicts all other historians, who affirm that he was among the last in the field. The Scots pursued; and great was the slaughter among the enemy, especially in passing the river, where they could keep no order, because of the irregularity of the ground. King Edward himself escaped with much difficulty being closely pursued above-forty miles, by Sir James Douglas, with a party of light horse, He was upon the point of being taken prisoner when he was received into the Castle of Dunbar by the Earl of March, who conveyed him to England, by sea, in a fisher's boat; his immense army being entirely discomfited. The Scots lost only four thousand men; while the loss of the English amounted to above thirty thousand.