THE KING IN EXILE
When Sir Nigel Bruce parted for the last time with his brother and
passed on his fated way to Kildrummy, the King was left with some two
hundred men, all on foot. He kept steadily to the hills, where he
suffered severely from hunger, cold, and wet, till at last he resolved
to make southward to Cantyre. Despatching Sir Nigel Campbell, whose
kinsmen dwelt in these parts, to obtain boats and victuals, and to
meet the party 'at the sea'--either on Loch Long or on the Firth of
Clyde--Bruce, says Barbour, struck for Loch Lomond, probably about
Rowardennan. Here he could find no boats, and either way round was long
and beset with foes. At last Douglas discovered a sunken boat, capable
of holding but three men. In the course of a night and a day the party
were ferried over, two by two, a few of them, however, swimming 'with
fardel on back.' Meanwhile Bruce cheered their drooping spirits by
reading from the old romance how Fierabras was overcome by the right
doughty Oliver, and how the Twelve (Eleven) Peers held out in Aigremont
against Lawyne (Laban, Balan) till they were delivered by Charlemagne.
The most pressing difficulty was lack of food. Presently, however, this
was relieved by the Earl of Lennox, who had noted the sound of the
King's horn and joyfully hastened to him. Shortly Sir Nigel returned
with boats and food in abundance. Bruce and his friends embarked.
Barbour has a dramatic story how Lennox made delay in starting, how
his boat was pursued--probably by Lorn's men--and how he escaped
by throwing overboard his belongings, which the enemy stopped to
appropriate. The boats ran down the Firth and safely landed the party
in Cantyre.
Here Bruce received a friendly welcome from Angus of Islay, Lord of
Cantyre, who placed at his disposal the rock fortress of Dunaverty.
He entertained suspicions of treachery, however, and stayed only three
days. Then, with all his following, he passed over to the island of
Rathlin, an exile from his kingdom.
Such is Barbour's story. Taking it, meantime, as it stands, let us
see what the English had been doing in the south-west. The details of
operation are very scanty. Percy, the King's lieutenant on the western
March, had exerted himself during June, July and August in fortifying
and provisioning the castles. Lochmaben Castle fell on July 11, and
Prince Edward felt himself free to go to Valence at Perth a few days
later, and to carry through the siege of Kildrummy by the middle
of September. He seems to have acted with more zeal than prudence.
Rishanger says he took 'such vengeance that he spared neither sex
nor age; towns, too, and hamlets, wherever he came he set on fire,
and he mercilessly devastated the country.' This conduct 'is said to
have gravely displeased the King his father, who chid him severely.'
The King had moved northwards by slow stages, borne in a litter on
horseback. It was September 29 when he reached the priory of Lanercost,
eight miles from Carlisle, and this house he made his headquarters till
March 26.
In September, the siege of Dunaverty was proceeding under the direction
of Sir John Botetourte, the King's ablest engineer. The local people
were very slack in aiding the English, and Edward, on September 25,
ordered Sir John de Menteith to compel them to supply the besiegers
with provisions and necessaries, 'if they will not with a good grace.'
Next month Edward empowered Sir John of Argyll to receive to his peace,
on special conditions, Donald of Islay, Gotheri his brother, John
MacNakyld, and Sir Patrick de Graham. The conditions suggest that they
had been in a position to drive a good bargain; and the submission
of the first three at least may, perhaps, be connected with the
capitulation of Dunaverty towards the end of October.
Now, at what date did Bruce pass from Dunaverty to Rathlin? Even were
it not for Barbour's weather indications, and for the necessity of the
awkward admission that, for some good reason--say commissariat--Bruce
fled before the English approach and left some of his stanchest
supporters in Dunaverty, it is difficult to suppose that he could
have lain undisturbed in Rathlin from mid September to the end of
January. Sir Thomas Gray records that Prince Edward, on his return
from Kildrummy (say mid September), had an interview with Bruce, 'who
had re-entered from the Isles and had collected a force in Athol,' at
the bridge of Perth, much to the displeasure of the King his father.
Gray is manifestly wrong in some points, and he may be wrong in all.
Still, Bruce, finding his way barred by Alexander of Argyll and not
daring to descend to the plains, may likely enough have turned back to
Athol, and, on hearing of the disaster of Kildrummy and the capture
of his Queen, his daughter, and his sisters, may have felt driven
to a desperate attempt at accommodation. On such a supposition, it
becomes easy to accept Barbour's Perthshire and Atlantic weather, to
absolve Bruce from an apparent sacrifice of friends in Dunaverty, and
to shorten to a credible length his stay in Rathlin. There are two
difficulties to this view. One is that the English should have gone
so far out of their way as to besiege Dunaverty so zealously, or at
all. They seem, however, to have been under the impression that Bruce
himself was there. The other difficulty is that Dunaverty had just been
taken by the English. But if the astute Angus Oig was governor when
Bruce arrived, Dunaverty was remote enough to allow him large scope for
temporising.
The secret of Bruce's retreat appears to have been well kept. In
October, indeed, Edward had commissioned Sir John of Argyll admiral on
the west coast. But he did not find Bruce. It was not till January 29,
that Edward commanded the Treasurer of Ireland to aid Sir Hugh Bisset
in fitting out 'as many well-manned vessels as he can procure, to come
to the Isles and the Scottish coast, and join Sir John de Menteith in
putting down Robert de Bruce and his accomplices lurking there, and in
cutting off their retreat.' More precise are the terms of appointment
of Sir Simon de Montacute (January 30) as commander of the fleet
specially destined 'for service against the rebels lurking in Scotland,
and in the Isles between Scotland and Ireland.' On February 1, Edward
ordered up vessels from Skinburness and neighbouring ports 'towards Ayr
in pursuit of Robert de Bruce and his abettors, and to cut off his
retreat.' Bruce, therefore, must have left Rathlin some days before the
end of January, and probably because of the menace of the English fleet.
Barbour keeps him in Rathlin till winter was nearly gone--not really
an inconsistency; but he seems to attribute the exodus to Douglas's
chafing at inaction. Douglas, he says, proposed to Boyd an attempt
on Brodick Castle, which Boyd knew well. With Bruce's leave they
proceeded to Arran, and overnight set ambush at the castle. As they lay
in wait, the sub-warden arrived with over thirty men in three boats,
bringing provisions and arms; and Douglas and Boyd set upon them. The
outcry brought men from the castle, who fled, however, before the bold
advance of the Scots, and barred the gate. The Scots appropriated the
sub-warden's provisions and arms, and took up a position in a narrow
pass; and the garrison does not seem to have even attempted to dislodge
them.
On the tenth day, it is said, Bruce arrived with the rest of his men,
in thirty-three small boats, and was conducted by a woman to the glen
where Douglas and Boyd lay, strangely ignorant of his coming. Then
Bruce determined to dispatch the trusty Cuthbert of Carrick to sound
the people on the mainland, arranging that Cuthbert, in case he found
them favourable, should raise a fire on Turnberry Point at a time
fixed. Cuthbert found Percy in Turnberry Castle, with some 300 men;
and, as for the Scots, some were willing, but afraid, while most were
distinctly hostile. He dared not fire the beacon.
At the appointed time, Bruce looked eagerly for the signal. He descried
a fire. The party put to sea, 300 strong, and rowed, in the dusk and
the dark, right on the fire. Cuthbert was at his wits' end; he dare
not extinguish the fire. He met Bruce at the shore, and explained the
untoward attitude of the people. 'Why, then,' demanded Bruce angrily,
with a suspicion of treachery, 'why did you light the fire?' Cuthbert
explained it was none of his doing, and beyond his help. What was to
be done? A council of war was held. Sir Edward Bruce is said to have
decided the question by a point-blank refusal to retire. He, for one,
would strike at once, let come what might.
Cuthbert had learned that two-thirds of the garrison were lodged in
the town. Bruce and his men entered quietly in small parties, breaking
open the doors and slaying all they found. Percy did not venture to
sally from the castle. Bruce stayed three days, testing the feeling of
the people; but even those that secretly favoured him were afraid to
show an open preference. It is said that a lady, a near relative of his
own, Christian of the Isles, came and encouraged him, and afterwards
sent him frequent supplies of money and victuals. While mewing up
Percy, he harried the country with increasing daring. A strong force
of Northumberland men, however, raised the siege. Hemingburgh places
Bruce's attack on Turnberry Castle 'about Michaelmas'; but it seems
very unlikely that Bruce ventured to take the field in the south-west
before he passed to Rathlin.
Apart from Barbour's details, it is plain that Bruce had struck a heavy
blow. On February 6, Edward wrote to his Treasurer expressing surprise
'at having no news of Valence and his forces since he went to Ayr,
if they have done any exploit or pursued the enemy.' He commands him
'quickly to order Valence, Percy, and Sir John de St John, and others
he sees, to send a trustworthy man without delay with full particulars
of their doings and the state of affairs.' And he is 'not to forget in
his letter to them to say on the King's behalf that he hears they have
done so badly that they do not wish him to know.' To the same effect he
wrote himself to Valence on February 11, and commanded him 'to write
distinctly and clearly by the bearer the news of the parts where he is,
the state of affairs there, and the doings of himself and the others
hitherto, and how he and they have arranged further proceedings. For
he suspects from his silence that he has so over-cautiously conducted
matters that he wishes to conceal his actions.' At the same time he
addressed similar letters to the Earls of Gloucester and Hereford, St
John, and Percy. The tone is too earnest to permit the supposition that
Edward was dissembling knowledge of the facts.
Bruce had at last regained a footing--though but a precarious
footing--in his kingdom, and rendered Edward anxious about the
immediate future.