"Robert Bruce summoned the array of his kingdom to rendezvous in the
Tor-wood, about four miles from Stirling, and by degrees prepared the
field of battle which he had selected for the contest. It was a space of
ground then called the New Park--perhaps reserved for the chase, since
Stirling was frequently a royal residence. This ground was partly open,
partly encumbered with trees, in groups or separate. It was occupied by
the Scottish line of battle, extending from south to north, and fronting
to the east. In this position, Bruce's left flank and rear might have
been exposed to a sally from the castle of Stirling; but Mowbray
the governor's faith was beyond suspicion, and the king was not in
apprehension that he would violate the tenour of the treaty, by which
he was bound to remain in passive expectation of his fate. The direct
approach to the Scottish front was protected in a great measure by a
morass called the New-miln Bog. A brook, called Bannockburn, running to
the eastward, between rocky and precipitous banks, effectually covered
the Scottish right wing, which rested upon it, and was totally
inaccessible. Their left flank was apparently bare, but was, in fact,
formidably protected in front by a peculiar kind of field-works. As
the ground in that part of the field was adapted for the manoeuvres of
cavalry Bruce caused many rows of pits, three feet deep, to be dug in
it, so close together, as to suggest the appearance of a honeycomb, with
its ranges of cells. In these pits sharp stakes were strongly pitched,
and the apertures covered with sod so carefully, as that the condition
of the ground might escape observation. Calthrops, or spikes contrived
to lame the horses, were also scattered in different directions.
"Having led his troops into the field of combat, on the tidings of the
English approach, the 23d of June, 1314, the King of Scotland ordered
his soldiers to arm themselves, and making proclamation that those who
were not prepared to conquer or die with their sovereign were at liberty
to depart, he was answered by a cheerful and general expression of their
determination to take their fate with him. The King proceeded to draw
up the army in the following order: Three oblong columns or masses of
infantry, armed with lances, arranged on the same front, with intervals
betwixt them formed his first line. Of these Edward Bruce had the
guidance of the right wing, James Douglas and Walter, the Steward of
Scotland, of the left, and Thomas Randolph of the central division.
These three commanders had their orders to permit no English troops to
pass their front, in order to gain Stirling. The second line, forming
one column or mass, consisted of the men of the isles, under Bruce's
faithful friend and ally, the insular prince Angus, his own men of
Carrick, and those of Argyle and Cantire. With these the king posted
himself in order to carry support and assistance wherever it might be
required. With himself also he kept in the rear a select body of horse,
the greater part of whom he designed for executing a particular service.
The followers of the camp were dismissed with the baggage, to station
themselves behind an eminence to the rear of the Scottish army, still
called the Gillies' (that is, the servants') hill....
"On the morning of St. Barnaby, called the Bright, being the 24th of
June, 1314, Edward advanced in full form to the attack of the Scots,
whom he found in their position of the preceding evening. The Vanguard
of the English, consisting of the archers and bill-men, or lancers,
comprehending almost all the infantry of the army, advanced, under the
command of the Earls of Gloucester and Hereford, who also had a fine
body of men at arms to support their column. All the remainder of the
English troops, consisting of nine battles, or separate divisions, were
so straitened by the narrowness of the ground, that, to the eye of the
Scots, they seemed to form one very large body, gleaming with flashes of
armour, and dark with the number of banners which floated over them.
Edward himself commanded this tremendous array, and, in order to guard
his person, was attended by four hundred chosen men at arms. Immediately
around the King waited Sir Aymer de Valence, that Earl of Pembroke who
defeated Bruce at Methven Wood, but was now to see a very different day;
Sir Giles de Argentine, a Knight of St. John of Jerusalem, who was
accounted, for his deeds in Palestine and elsewhere, one of the best
Knights that lived; and Sir Ingram Umfraville, an Anglicised
Scottishman, also famed for his skill in arms.
"As the Scottish saw the immense display of their enemies rolling
towards them like a surging ocean, they were called on to join in an
appeal to Heaven against the strength of human foes.--Maurice, the Abbot
of Inchaffray, bare-headed and bare-footed, walked along the Scottish
line, and conferred his benediction on the soldiers, who knelt to
receive it, and to worship the power in whose name it was bestowed.
"During this time the King of England was questioning Umfraville
about the purpose of his opponents. "Will they," said Edward, "abide
battle?"--"They assuredly will," replied Umfraville; "and to engage them
with advantage, your Highness were best order a seeming retreat, and
draw them out of their strong ground." Edward rejected this counsel,
and observing the Scottish soldiers kneel down, joyfully exclaimed,
"They crave mercy."--"It is from Heaven, not from your Highness,"
answered Umfraville: "on that field they will win or die." The King
then commanded the charge to be sounded, and the attack to take place.
"The Earls of Gloucester and Hereford charged the Scots left wing, under
Edward Bruce, with their men at arms; but some rivalry between these two
great Lords induced them to hurry to the charge with more of emulation
than of discretion, and arriving at the shock disordered and out of
breath, they were unable to force the deep ranks of the spearmen; many
horses were thrown down, and their masters left at the mercy of the
enemy. The other three divisions of the Scottish army attacked the mass
of the English infantry, who resisted courageously. The English archers,
as at the battle of Falkirk, now began to show their formidable skill,
at the expense of the Scottish spearmen; but for this Bruce was
prepared. He commanded Sir Robert Keith, the Marshal of Scotland, with
those four hundred men at arms whom he had kept in reserve for the
purpose, to make a circuit, and charge the English bowmen in the flank.
This was done with a celerity and precision which dispersed the whole
archery, who, having neither stakes nor other barrier to keep off the
horse, nor long weapons to repel them, were cut down at pleasure, and
almost without resistance.
"The battle continued to rage, but with disadvantage to the English.
The Scottish archers had now an opportunity of galling their infantry
without opposition; and it would appear that King Edward could find no
means of bringing any part of his numerous centre or rear-guard to the
support of those in the front, who were engaged at disadvantage.
"Bruce, seeing the confusion thicken, now placed himself at the head of
the reserve, and addressing Angus of the Isles in the words, "My hope is
constant in thee," rushed into the engagement followed by all the troops
he had hitherto kept in reserve. The effect of such an effort, reserved
for a favourable moment, failed not to be decisive. Those of the English
who had been staggered were now constrained to retreat; those who were
already in retreat took to actual flight. At this critical moment, the
camp-followers of the Scottish army, seized with curiosity to see how
the day went, or perhaps desirous to have a share of the plunder,
suddenly showed themselves on the ridge of the Gillies'-hill, in the
rear of the Scottish line of battle; and as they displayed cloths and
horse-coverings upon poles for ensigns, they bore in the eyes of the
English the terrors of an army with banners. The belief that they beheld
the rise of an ambuscade, or the arrival of a new army of Scots, gave
the last impulse of terror, and all fled now, even those who had before
resisted. The slaughter was immense; the deep ravine of Bannockburn, to
the south of the field of battle, lying in the direction taken by most
of the fugitives, was almost choked and bridged over with the slain,
the difficulty of the ground retarding the fugitive horsemen till the
lancers were upon them. Others, and in great numbers, rushed into the
river Forth, in the blindness of terror, and perished there. No less
than twenty-seven Barons fell in the field; the Earl of Gloucester was
at the head of the fatal list: young, brave, and high-born, when he saw
the day was lost, he rode headlong on the Scottish spears, and was
slain. Sir Robert Clifford, renowned in the Scottish wars, was also
killed. Two hundred Knights and seven hundred Esquires, of high birth
and blood, graced the list of slaughter with the noblest names of
England; and thirty thousand of the common file filled up the fatal
roll.
"Edward, among whose weaknesses we cannot number cowardice, was
reluctantly forced from the bloody field by the Earl of Pembroke. The
noble Sir Giles de Argentine considered it as his duty to attend the
King until he saw him in personal safety, then observing that "it was
not his own wont to fly," turned back, rushed again into the battle,
cried his war-cry, galloped boldly against the victorious Scots, and was
slain, according to his wish, with his face to the enemy. Edward must
have been bewildered in the confusion of the field, for instead of
directing his course southerly to Linlithgow, from which he came, he
rode northward to Stirling, and demanded admittance. Philip de Mowbray,
the governor, remonstrated against this rash step, reminding the
unfortunate Prince that he was obliged by his treaty to surrender the
castle next day, as not having been relieved according to the
conditions.
"Edward was therefore obliged to take the southern road; and he must
have made a considerable circuit to avoid the Scottish army. He was,
however, discovered on his retreat, and pursued by Douglas with sixty
horse, who were all that could be mustered for the service. The King, by
a rapid and continued flight through a country in which his misfortunes
must have changed many friends into enemies, at length gained the castle
of Dunbar, where he was hospitably received by the Earl of March. From
Dunbar Edward escaped almost alone to Berwick in a fishing skiff, having
left behind him the finest army a King of England ever commanded.
"The quantity of spoil gained by the victors at the battle of
Bannockburn was inestimable, and the ransoms paid by the prisoners
largely added to the mass of treasure. Five near relations to the
Bruce--namely, his wife, her sister Christian, his daughter Marjory,
the Bishop of Glasgow (Wishart), and the young Earl of Mar, the King's
nephew, were exchanged against the Earl of Hereford, High Constable of
England.
"The Scottish loss was very small: Sir William Vipont and Sir Walter
Ross were the only persons of consideration slain. Sir Edward Bruce is
said to have been so much attached to the last of these knights as to
have expressed his wish that the battle had remained unfought, so Ross
had not died."
The present volume contains 350 pages, in a very pleasing type, and a
vignette title; and the style in which it is produced is uniformly
worthy of the very responsible quarter whence it emanates.
* * * * *