THE TURN OF THE TIDE
In the midst of his new success, another severe family blow was
impending on Bruce. On February 10, 1306-7--the first anniversary of
the Dumfries tragedy--his brothers Thomas and Alexander made a raid on
Galloway, with some 300 Scots and 700 Irish auxiliaries, landing at
Loch Ryan, in the territory of Sir Dougal MacDowall. In a desperate
fight, the force was completely crushed by MacDowall, who captured
Thomas and Alexander, and Sir Reginald Crawford, Wallace's uncle, all
'wounded and half-dead.' Hemingburgh says the Scots were caught by
surprise; Trevet adds 'in the night.' MacDowall delivered his chief
prisoners, together with the heads of a baron of Cantyre and two Irish
kinglets, to Prince Edward, at Wetheral, near Carlisle. These prisoners
were all executed at Carlisle on February 17. Sir Thomas Bruce was
drawn, hanged, and beheaded; Alexander Bruce, being a beneficed
clergyman (Dean of Glasgow), was not drawn, but he and Sir Reginald
Crawford, and apparently Sir Brice de Blair, were hanged and beheaded.
Thomas's head was placed on the castle tower, and the heads of the
others graced the three gates of the city. MacDowall was rewarded with
the lands and possessions of Sir Robert de Boyd and Sir Brice de Blair,
and on February 19, he received fifty marks and a charger; while on
March 1, a profitable privilege was conferred, at his instance, upon
his son.
According to Gray and Trevet, Bruce had sent his brothers to Nithsdale
and Annandale 'to gain over the people.' It may be that the expedition
was intended first to operate as a diversion, and then to join Bruce
himself in Nithsdale. For Bruce, if not already in these parts, was
moving thitherwards. On February 12, Sir John Botetourte, with a
considerable force, including over a score of knights, started to make
a raid on Bruce in Nithsdale; and on March 8, he was reinforced by 180
archers from Carlisle. The details, however, are not recorded.
It was probably in February, upon the landing of Bruce in Carrick,
that Edward issued from Lanercost an ordinance intended to conciliate
the Scots, while it graded carefully the degrees of punishment for the
worst classes of delinquents. Contrary to the King's intention, the
ordinance had been interpreted as too harsh and rigorous. On March 13,
therefore, he materially modified it. A few days later, he directed
steps to be taken for the repair and fortification of several castles
on the east side beyond Forth, and ordered fresh levies from the
northern counties of England to muster, 2300 strong, at Carlisle by a
fortnight after Easter.
In a lull of the Nithsdale operations, Bruce is said to have
reluctantly granted Douglas leave to proceed to Douglasdale,
accompanied only by two yeomen. On arrival, Douglas disclosed himself
to Tom Dickson of Hazelside, a stanch old warrior-tenant of his
father's, who was overjoyed to see the youth, and introduced him to
the other leal men of the land, one by one, at private conferences. It
was quickly decided to fall upon the unsuspecting garrison of Douglas
Castle in St Bride's Church on Palm Sunday (March 19). The countrymen
would bring concealed weapons, and Douglas would appear, with his
two men, in the guise of a corn-thresher, a threadbare mantle on his
back and a flail on his shoulder. The moment he raised his war-cry,
they would overpower the soldiers, and then the castle would offer no
resistance. Everything fell out as planned, except that an over-eager
friend prematurely raised the Douglas war-cry. Dickson instantly fell
upon the English in the chancel, and a neighbour followed his example;
but both were slain. At this moment Douglas came on the scene, raised
his war-cry, and pressed hard on the English, who manfully defended
themselves. About twenty were killed; the remaining ten were taken
prisoners. At the castle, Douglas found only the porter and the cook;
and so he barred the gates, and dined at leisure. After dinner, he
packed up valuables, arms, and other portable things, and proceeded to
destroy what he could not take away. He piled the wheat, flour, meal,
and malt on the floor of the wine cellar, beheaded the prisoners on
the pile, and broached the wine casks. This ghastly mess was locally
designated 'the Douglas Larder.' He then spoilt the well by throwing
in salt and dead horses. Finally, he set fire to the castle, and left
nothing but stones. The party dispersed, and hid away their wounded.
But Clifford, for whom the castle had been held, soon had it rebuilt
and regarrisoned.
A later petition, by Lucas de Barry, represents that Lucas had been
'under Sir Robert de Clifford in Douglas Castle when Sir Robert de Brus
and Sir James Douglas attacked it, the year when the late King died.'
But this does not necessarily mean that either Clifford or Bruce was
there in person.
On the same Sunday morning, Edward entered Carlisle with Peter,
Cardinal Bishop of St Sabine, a papal legate, who had just arrived to
arrange terms of peace between the English and French kings on the
basis of a marriage between Prince Edward and Isabella, daughter of
the King of France. On the Wednesday following, in the Cathedral, the
legate explained the objects of his mission, and, with bell, book and
candle, excommunicated the murderers of Comyn, with all their aiders
and abettors. The like denunciation was busily repeated through the
churches, especially of the north of England. On Friday, the peace was
proclaimed.
Towards the end of March, Sir John Wallace is said to have been
captured 'in the plain, pursued by the northeners,' and was taken
to Carlisle. Edward sent him to London, 'fettered on a hackney,' to
undergo the same barbarous death as his heroic brother. His head was
fixed on London Bridge, 'raised with shouts,' says Langtoft, 'near the
head of his brother, William the Wicked.' It could not have been more
nobly honoured.
By the middle of April, Bruce had moved to Glen Trool, where he was
hard beset for some three weeks by superior forces under a number of
able knights, young Sir John Comyn among them. The incidents of the
period have not been preserved. Barbour, indeed, tells how Valence and
Clifford advanced stealthily on Bruce, with over 1500 against less
than 300 men, and found him in a narrow pass, where horse could not
reach him. Valence sent a woman, disguised as a beggar, to spy out
the position; but Bruce saw through the dodge, and the spy confessed.
The English had to advance on foot. Bruce dashed upon them with fury,
seizing with his own hand their foremost banner. Some of his men,
Barbour admits, had gone off, but came back on seeing how the fight
went. The foremost English company being overpowered, the main body
retreated; and a quarrel between Clifford and Vaux seems to point to a
fruitless attempt of Clifford's to rally the fugitives. One can only
say that some such incidents are probable enough. Anyhow, Bruce appears
to have baffled all the attempts of the English in Glen Trool, and to
have got away towards Lothian.
In Lothian, Bruce found friends. The people, Hemingburgh explains,
had been exasperated during the preceding year by the justice of the
English justiciars; and, therefore, 'as if unanimously, they rose and
went with Bruce, willing rather to die than to be judged by the English
laws.' Thus reinforced, Bruce turned back to meet Valence. Perhaps it
was now that he over-ran Kyle and Cunningham. Valence, says Barbour,
despatched from Bothwell 1000 men under Sir Philip de Mowbray, whom
Douglas with 60 men met at Ederford, a narrow pass between two marshes,
and, by skilful strategy, totally defeated. Stung by this ignominious
reverse, Valence challenged Bruce, who lay at Galston, to meet him on
May 10, at Loudon Hill--the scene of Wallace's father's death and of
Wallace's first victory. Bruce accepted the challenge. Choosing his
ground between two stretches of moss, he cut three deep trenches (with
adequate gaps for the passage of his men) across the hard moor between,
and marshalled his 600 followers, so that Valence's 3000 men could come
into action only in detail. He ordered a fierce onset on the foremost,
with the view of discouraging the rest--the successful tactic in Glen
Trool; and Sir Edward and Douglas, as well as himself, are said to have
performed prodigies of valour. The English gave way, and, despite
his utmost efforts, Valence was driven from the field. Barbour says
he retreated to Bothwell; Gray states that Bruce pursued him to Ayr.
Three days later, Bruce also defeated the Earl of Gloucester with even
greater slaughter (says Hemingburgh) than had reddened Loudon Hill, and
besieged him in Ayr Castle.
From a letter, anonymous, dated May 15, we learn without surprise
that Edward 'was much enraged that the Warden and his force had
retreated before King Hobbe'--his familiar designation of Bruce. What
does surprise one is to learn, on the same authority, that 'James of
Douglas sent and begged to be received, but, when he saw the King's
forces retreat, he drew back.' It would be quite intelligible that the
hardships of his first terrible year of service had shaken the nerve
of the youthful warrior. But there were now 'rumours of treasonable
dealings between some of the English and the enemy,' and it seems far
more probable that Douglas was engineering one of his ruses. It needs
better evidence to stamp this solitary suggestion of a blot on the
clear scutcheon of Douglas.
The news of Bruce's success, no doubt exaggerated and distorted,
produced a great sensation in the northern parts of Scotland. A
calendared letter, anonymous, written from Forfar to some high official
under date May 15, graphically pictures the local feeling.
The writer hears that Sir Robert de Brus never had the goodwill
of his own followers or the people at large, or even half of
them, so much with him as now; and it now first appears that he
was right, and God is openly with him, as he has destroyed all
the King's power both among the English and the Scots, and the
English force is in retreat to its own country not to return.
And they firmly believe, by the encouragement of the false
preachers who come from the host, that Sir Robert de Brus will
now have his will. And these preachers are such as have been
attached before the Warden and the justices as abettors of war,
and are at present freed on guarantees and deceiving the people
thus by their false preachment. For he (the writer) believes
assuredly, as he hears from Sir Reginald de Cheyne, Sir Duncan de
Frendraught, and Sir Gilbert de Glencairney, and others who watch
the peace both beyond and on this side of the mountains (Mounth),
that, if Sir Robert de Brus can escape any way 'saun dreytes' or
towards the parts of Ross, he will find them all ready at his
will more entirely than ever, unless the King will be pleased to
send more men-at-arms to these parts; for there are many people
living well and loyally at his faith provided the English are in
power, otherwise they see that they must be at the enemies' will
through default of the King and his Council, as they say. And it
would be a deadly sin to leave them so without protection among
enemies. And may it please God to keep the King's life, for when
we lose him, which God forbid, say they openly, all must be on
one side, or they must die or leave the country with all those
who love the King, if other counsel or aid be not sent them. For
these preachers have told them that they have found a prophecy
of Merlin, how, after the death of the grasping King (_le Roi
Coueytous_), the Scottish people and the Bretons shall league
together, and have the sovereign hand and their will, and live
together in accord till the end of the world.
It was probably reports of this tenor that drew Valence and Bevercotes
on a hasty visit to the north immediately after Loudon Hill. They were
both in Inverness on May 20.
The reverses sustained by Valence and Gloucester led to increased
activity on the English side. The Bishop of Chester, with his successor
as treasurer (the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry), was at Lanark on
May 15, at Dumfries next day, and on May 18 he was back at Carlisle,
having seen to the provisioning of the fortresses. Edward was 'so
greatly pleased with his account that he kissed him--especially for
his borrowing the castle of Cumnock from its owner, Earl Patrick, for
a term, and garrisoning it with 30 men-at-arms under Sir Ingram de
Umfraville and Sir William de Felton, besides 100 foot.' The Bishop
went south next day to represent Edward at the funeral of the Countess
of Gloucester, the King's daughter Joan.
Edward himself was too ill to travel. Besides, he was immersed in
military preparations, summoning reinforcements and hurrying up
supplies. Bruce, though unable to maintain the siege of Ayr, did
considerable damage; for on June 1, Valence requisitioned masons and
carpenters from Carlisle 'to repair the castle and houses.' At the same
time, Valence added some 300 men to the garrison, 'to strengthen the
castle and secure the country round, while he is on his foray towards
Carrick and Glen Trool.' He was following up Bruce. Probably, too, he
avenged Loudon Hill before the arrival of Edward's fresh levies, which
had been summoned to be at Carlisle by the middle of July. Hemingburgh
says the English 'defeated Bruce with great slaughter, so that he
lurked thereafter in moors and marshes' with the ridiculous force of
'some 10,000 foot, and the English could not get at him, as he always
slipped out of their hands.' Gray says that Bruce was so badly beaten
'that he retired on foot through the mountains, and from isle to isle,
and sometimes he had not so much as a single companion with him.' One
is inclined to give the credit of this defeat to Valence--if defeat
there was. Bruce may have taken refuge again in Glen Trool; Gray's
mention of the isles may result from a confusion with earlier events.
This record of fresh disaster finds no mention in Barbour or in Fordun.
Sir Thomas Gray, professing to quote from 'the chronicles of his
deeds,' relates how at this time Bruce came, all alone, to a passage
between two islands, over which he was ferried by two boatmen. Had he
heard any news of what had become of Bruce? they asked. 'None,' he
replied. 'Certes,' said they, 'we would we had grip of him at this
moment; he should die by our hands.' 'And why?' queried Bruce. 'Because
he murdered John Comyn, our lord,' was the answer. They landed him. 'My
good fellows,' said Bruce, 'you wanted to get hold of Robert de Bruce.
Look at me!--that will give you satisfaction. And were it not that you
have done me the courtesy of ferrying me over this narrow passage, you
should rue your wish.' So he went on his way.
* * * * *
Barbour recounts various exploits of Bruce and Douglas between the
landing in Carrick and the first retreat to Glen Trool; but, if they
represent facts, they must clearly be spread over a longer period.
For example. Sir Ingram Bell, the governor of Ayr--Barbour writes Sir
Ingram de Umfraville, who was probably in Cumnock Castle--intrigued
with a personal attendant of Bruce's, a man of local importance, a
one-eyed, sturdy rascal, nearly related to Bruce. The villain was
promised a reward of £40 in land to compass the King's death. With his
two sons, who were also trusted by Bruce, he lay in wait one morning
for his master, when he had gone out with only a page in attendance.
Bruce, suspecting the men, ordered them to stand. As they still came
on, he drew his page's bow, and shot the father in the eye; and with
his sword he cleft the skull of one son after the other. This may be
one of half a dozen possible variants of the story of the Brooch of
Lorn.
Not long afterwards, in the dusk of evening, Bruce with 60 men was
attacked by over 200 Galwegians, who had brought a sleuth-hound to
track him. Warned by his sentinels, he drew his men into a narrow pass
in a bog, and, leaving Sir Gilbert de la Haye in charge, went out with
two men to reconnoitre the position. Passing some way along the water
side, he found the banks high and the water deep, and no ford but the
one he had crossed. Here he sent his men back to camp, and watched
alone. Presently he heard the deep baying of the hound, and soon the
enemy appeared, under a bright moon. He determined to stand; they must
come on singly in the strait passage. They plunged confidently into the
water, but Bruce bore down the foremost with his spear, and stabbed the
horse, which fell in the ascent from the water and impeded the others.
He kept the ford; and, when his men came up, they found fourteen slain,
and the rest in retreat. The rumour of this exploit drew many to his
side.
Again Douglas repaired to Douglasdale and set an ambush near
Sandilands. With a small party he then took some cattle near the castle
of Douglas and drove them off. Thirlwall, the constable, sallied out
and pursued the party past the ambush. Attacked suddenly, he was slain
in attempted defence, together with most of his men. The survivors fled
to the castle, barred the gate, and manned the walls. Douglas had to
content himself with what booty he could find about the castle.
Presently Douglas, hearing of the approach of Valence with a strong
force, joined the King in a narrow pass near Cumnock. Bruce had but
300 men. Valence was accompanied by John of Lorn, who headed over 800
and had a sleuth-hound, said to have been once a favourite of Bruce's.
On finding himself caught between the two bodies, Bruce divided his
men into three companies, anticipating that the enemy would follow
his own track, and that so his other two companies would escape. The
hound followed Bruce, who gradually dispersed his company, at last
keeping only his foster-brother with him. Still the hound persisted.
John of Lorn then sent forward five of his stoutest men to take
Bruce. Three attacked Bruce; two assailed his foster-brother. Bruce
killed one of his opponents, and, marking the dismay of the others,
jumped aside to help his foster-brother, and smote off the head of
one of his assailants. He then killed his own two pursuers, while
his foster-brother despatched the only one remaining. Meantime Lorn
closed up with the hound. Bruce, with his companion, made for a wood,
and threw himself down by a stream, declaring he could go no farther;
but, yielding to his friend's remonstrances, he got up, and they waded
together some way down the stream, thus baffling the hound and escaping
further pursuit. Another account, according to Barbour, was that the
King's companion lurked in a thicket and shot the hound with an arrow.
Anyhow, Bruce escaped. It is said that Randolph captured Bruce's banner
in the pursuit, much to the satisfaction of the English King.
Having cleared the forest, Bruce and his companion were crossing a
moor, when they came on three men, armed with swords and axes, one of
them carrying a sheep on his shoulder. The men said they wished to join
Bruce, and Bruce said he would take them to him. They perceived that he
was Bruce, and he perceived that they were foes. Bruce insisted that,
till better acquaintance, they should go separate and in front of him.
Coming to an empty house at night, they killed the sheep, roasted it,
divided it, and dined at opposite ends of the room. Bruce, tired and
hungry as he had been, must sleep, his man promising to keep watch. His
man, however, fell asleep too; he 'might not hold up an e'e.' The men
then attacked Bruce, who instantly awoke, grasped his sword, and trod
heavily on his man. Bruce slew the three, but lost his companion, who
was killed in his sleep.
Bruce now made for the rallying-point of his dispersed companies. Here
he found the goodwife of the house 'sitting on a bink.' In answer to
her exhaustive inquiries, he said he was a wayfarer. 'All wayfarers,'
said she, 'are welcome for the sake of one--King Robert the Bruce.'
Then the King revealed himself. Where were his men? He had none.
Thereupon the gallant woman declared her two big sons should become his
men. As he sat at meat, he heard the tread of soldiers, and started up
to offer defence. It was Douglas and Sir Edward Bruce with 150 men.
Bruce now suggested that the enemy, confident that his force was
dissipated, would lie open to surprise. He made a forced march
overnight, and at daylight caught a large detachment--certainly nothing
like 2000 (Barbour's figures)--in some town, and slew two-thirds of
them. He retreated before the main body began to stir, and Valence did
not pursue.
On another occasion Bruce went a-hunting alone, with two hounds. He
had his sword, but had laid aside his armour. Presently he saw three
men with bows approaching--men that had in fact been watching for such
an opportunity to take vengeance for Comyn. Bruce taunted them for
attacking with arrows, three to one, and they chivalrously threw down
their bows and drew their swords. Bruce struck down one; a hound fixed
in another's throat and brought him to the ground, when Bruce cut his
back in two; and the third, fleeing to the wood, was seized and pulled
down by a hound and despatched by Bruce.
These stories represent early traditions and may easily be true, though
they may be merely imaginary. The three-men stories may be variants of
a single original, but by no means necessarily.
* * * * *
On July 7, 1307, Edward I. died at Burgh-on-Sands, some three miles
from Carlisle. Owing to the poor success of his lieutenants, the
gallant King had determined to move forward in person. On Monday, July
3, he is said to have advanced from Carlisle; but it was Thursday
before he reached Burgh-on-Sands. On Friday, as his attendants raised
him up in bed to eat, he died in their hands. On his sick-bed--or, as
Walsingham says, on his death-bed--Edward had again charged the Prince
to persist steadily in the war against Bruce, taking his bones with
him in a casket. 'For,' said the dying King, with heroic confidence,
'no one will be able to overcome you while you have my bones borne
with you.' But all his dying advice and solemn charges the Prince
eventually disregarded.
The body of the late King was conveyed south in great state, to lie
in the church at Waltham till a definite settlement was attained in
Scotland. The Prince attended the cortège several stages, and then
returned to Carlisle. Edward was buried at Westminster on October 28.
Edward I. was not only the greatest of English Kings, but one of the
greatest of Englishmen. His treatment of Scotland, however he may
have reasoned out the justice of it, must always remain a very dark
blot on his memory. Never was his military ardour or his personal
resolution more signally manifested than in the last months and days of
his latest expedition. He died in harness, his valiant spirit shining
undimmed till the moment it was quenched by death itself. The virile
judgment and stern purpose of Edward I. was succeeded by the childish
incompetence and obstinacy of Edward II. The death of the great King
assured the eventual triumph of Bruce. The moment anticipated by
nationalists with hope and by anti-nationalists with dread was come. It
was the turn of the tide.