In Freedom's Cause : A Story of Wallace and Bruce

by G. A. Henty

  Chapter XXVII

  Bannockburn

  After the complete defeat of the party under Lord Clifford, and thefailure of their attempt to relieve Stirling, Randolph and Douglasreturned together to the king. The news of their success spreadrapidly, and when Randolph rode down from St. Ninians to hisdivision, loud cheers broke from the whole Scottish army, who werevastly encouraged at so fair a commencement of their struggle withthe English.

  The English army was still advancing slowly, and Bruce and hisleaders rode down to the front of the Scottish line, seeing thatall was in order and encouraging the men with cheering words. Whenthe English army approached the stream King Edward ordered a haltto be sounded for the purpose of holding a council, whether it wasbest to encamp for the night or at once to advance against theenemy. The Earls of Gloucester and Hereford, who commanded thefirst division, were so far ahead that they did not hear the soundof the trumpet, and continuing their onward march crossed the BannockBurn and moved on toward the Scotch array. In front of the ranksof the defenders the king was riding upon a small palfrey, nothaving as yet put on his armour for the battle. On his helmet hewore a purple cap surmounted by a crown. Seeing him thus withineasy reach, Sir Henry de Bohun, cousin of the Earl of Hereford,laid his lance in rest and spurred down upon the king. Bruce couldhave retired within the lines of his soldiers; but confident in hisown prowess, and judging how great an effect a success under suchcircumstances would have upon the spirits of his troops, he spurredforward to meet his assailant armed only with his axe. As theEnglish knight came thundering down, the king touched his palfreywith his spur, and the horse, carrying but a light weight, swervedquickly aside; De Bohun's lance missed his stroke, and before he hadtime to draw rein or sword, the king, standing up in his stirrups,dealt him so tremendous a blow with his axe as he passed, that itcleft through helmet and brain, and the knight fell dead to theground.

  With a shout of triumph the Scotch rushed forward and drovethe English advance guard back across the stream; then the Scotchleaders led their men back again to the position which they hadquitted, and reformed their array. Douglas, Edward Bruce, Randolph,and Archie Forbes now gathered round the king and remonstrated withhim on the rashness of an act which might have proved fatal to thewhole army. The king smiled at such remonstrances from four menwho had, above all others, distinguished themselves for their rashand daring exploits, and shrugging his shoulders observed only thatit was a pity he had broken the shaft of his favourite axe. TheEnglish array now withdrew to a short distance, and it became evidentthat the great battle would be delayed till the morrow. The Scotcharmy therefore broke its ranks and prepared to pass the nighton the spot where it stood. The king assembled all his principalleaders round him, and after thanking God for so fair a beginningof the fight as had that day been made, he pointed out to them howgreat an effect the two preliminary skirmishes would have upon thespirits of both armies, and expressed his confidence in the finalresult. He urged upon them the necessity for keeping their followerswell in hand, and meeting the charges of the enemy's horse steadilywith their spears; and especially warned them, after repulsinga charge, against allowing their men to break their array, eitherto plunder or take prisoners, so long as the battle lasted, as thewhole riches of the English camp would fall into their hands ifsuccessful. He pledged himself that the heirs of all who fell shouldhave the succession of their estates free from the usual feudalburdens on such occasions.

  The night passed quietly, and in the morning both armies formedtheir array for battle. Bruce, as was customary, conferred thehonour of knighthood upon several of his leaders. Then all proceededto their allotted places and awaited the onset. Beyond the streamand extending far away towards the rising ground were the Englishsquadrons in their glittering arms, the first division in line,the others in heavy masses behind them. Now that the Scotch werefairly drawn up in order of battle, the English could see howsmall was their number in comparison with their own, and the kingin surprise exclaimed to Sir Ingram de Umfraville:

  "What! will yonder Scots fight us?"

  "That verily will they," the knight replied, for he had many atime been engaged in stout conflict with them, and knew how hardit was even for mail clad knights to break through the close linesof Scottish spears. So high a respect had he for their valour, thathe urged the king to pretend to retire suddenly beyond the camp,when the Scots, in spite of their leaders, would be sure to leavetheir ranks and flock into the camp to plunder, when they might beeasily dispersed and cut to pieces. The king, however, refused toadopt the suggestion, saying, that no one must be able to accusehim of avoiding a battle or of withdrawing his army before sucha rabble. As the armies stood confronting each other in battlearray a priest passed along the Scottish front, crucifix in hand,exhorting all to fight to the death for the liberty of their country.As he passed along the line each company knelt in an attitude ofprayer. King Edward, seeing this, exclaimed to Sir Ingram:

  "See yonder folk kneel to ask for mercy!"

  "Ay, sire," the knight said, looking earnestly at the Scots, "theykneel and ask for mercy, but not of you; it is for their sins theyask mercy of God. I know these men, and have met and fought them,and I tell you that assuredly they will win or die, and not evenwhen death looks them in the face will they turn to fly."

  "Then if it must be so," said the king, "let us charge."

  The trumpet sounded along the line. First the immense body ofEnglish archers crossed the burn and opened the battle by pouringclouds of arrows into the Scottish ranks. The Scotch archers, whowere in advance of their spearmen, were speedily driven back toshelter beyond their line, for not only were the English vastly morenumerous, but they shot much further and more accurately. And nowthe knights and men-at-arms, on their steel clad horses, crossedthe burn. They were aware of the existence of Milton Bog, whichcovered the Scottish centre, and they directed their charge uponthe division of Edward Bruce on the Scottish right. The crash asthe mailed horses burst down upon the wood of Scottish spears wastremendous. Bruce's men held firm, and the English in vain stroveto break through their serried line of spears. It was a repetitionof the fight of the previous day, but on a greater scale. Withlance and battleaxe the chivalry of England strove to break theranks of the Scotch, while with serried lines of spears, four deep,the Scotch held their own. Every horse which, wounded or riderless,turned and dashed through the ranks of the English, added to theconfusion. This was much further increased by the deep holes intowhich the horses were continually falling, and breaking up all orderin their ranks. Those behind pressed forward to reach the front,and their very numbers added to their difficulty.

  The English were divided into ten divisions or "battles," andthese one by one crossed the stream with banners flying, and stillavoiding the centre, followed the line taken by the first, andpressed forward to take part in the fray.

  Randolph now moved with the centre to the support of the hardlypressed right, and his division, as well as that of Edward Bruce,seemed to be lost among the multitude of their opponents. Stewartand Douglas moved their division to the right and threw themselvesinto the fray, and the three Scottish divisions were now fightingside by side, but with a much smaller front than that which theyhad originally occupied. For a time the battle raged furiouslywithout superiority on either side. The Scotch possessed the greatadvantage that, standing close together in ranks four deep, everyman was engaged, while of the mounted knights and men-at-arms whopressed upon them, only the front line was doing efficient service.Not only, therefore, was the vast numerical superiority of theEnglish useless to them, but actually a far larger number of theScottish than of themselves were using their weapons in the frontrank, while the great proportion of the English remained helplesslybehind their fighting line, unable to take any part whatever inthe fight. But now the English archers came into play again, andfiring high into the air rained their arrows almost perpendicularlydown upon the Scottish ranks. Had this continued it would havebeen as fatal to the Scots at Bannockburn as
it was at Falkirk; buthappily the Scottish horse told off for this special service werehere commanded by no traitors, and at the critical moment the kinglaunched Sir Robert Keith, the mareschal of Scotland, against thearchers with 500 horsemen. These burst suddenly down upon the flankof the archers and literally swept them before them. Great numberswere killed, others fell back upon the lines of horsemen who wereranged behind, impatient to take their share in the battle; thesetried to drive them back again, but the archers were disheartened,and retreating across the stream took no further part in the battle.The charge of the Scottish horses should have been foreseen andprovided against by placing strong bodies of men-at-arms on theflanks of the archers, as these lightly armed troops were whollyunable to withstand a charge by cavalry.

  The Scottish archers, now that their formidable opponents hadleft the field, opened a heavy fire over the heads of the pikemenupon the horsemen surrounding the squares, and when they had shotaway their arrows sallied out and mingled in the confused mass ofthe enemy, doing tremendous execution with their axes and knives.Hitherto the king had kept his reserve in hand; but now that theEnglish archers were defeated and their horsemen in inextricableconfusion, he moved his division down and joined in the melee, hismen shouting his well known battle cry.

  Every Scotch soldier on the field was now engaged. No longer did thebattle cries of the various parties rise in the air. Men had nobreath to waste in shouting, but each fought silently and desperatelywith spear or axe, and the sound of clanging blows of weapons, ofmighty crash of sword or battleaxe on steel armour, with the criesand groans of wounded men were alone heard. Over and over again theEnglish knights drew back a little so as to gain speed and impetus,and flung themselves on the Scottish spears, but ever without effect,while little by little the close ranks of the Scotch pressed forwarduntil, as the space between their front and the brook narrowed, thewhole of the English divisions became pent up together, more andmore incapable of using their strength to advantage. The slaughterin their front divisions had already been terrible. Again andagain fresh troops had taken the places of those who had formed thefront ranks, but many of their best and bravest had fallen. Theconfusion was too great for their leaders to be able to direct themwith advantage, and seeing the failure of every effort to breakthe Scottish ranks, borne back by the slow advance of the hedge ofspears, harassed by the archers who dived below the horses, stabbingthem in their bellies, or rising suddenly between them to smitedown the riders with their keen, heavy, short handled axes, theEnglish began to lose heart, and as they wavered the Scotch pressedforward more eagerly, shouting, "On them! on them! They give way!they give way!"

  At this critical moment the servants, teamsters, and camp followerswho had been left behind Gillies Hill, showed themselves. Some oftheir number from the eminence had watched the desperate struggle,and on hearing how their soldiers were pressed by the surroundinghost of English men-at-arms they could no longer remain inactive.All men carried arms in those days. They hastily chose one of theirown number as leader, and fastening some sheets to tent poles asbanners, they advanced over the hill in battle array, and moveddown to join their comrades. The sight of what they deemed a freshdivision advancing to the assistance of the Scotch brought toa climax the hesitation which had begun to shake the English, andensured their discomfiture. Those in rear turned bridle hastily,and crossing the Bannock Burn, galloped away. The movement so begunspread rapidly, and although those in front still continued theirdesperate efforts to break the line of Scottish spears, the day wasnow hopelessly lost. Seeing that this was so, the Earl of Pembrokeseized the king's rein and constrained him to leave the field witha bodyguard of 500 horse. Sir Giles de Argentine, who had hithertoremained by the king's side, and who was esteemed the third bestknight in Europe--the Emperor Henry of Luxemberg and RobertBruce being reckoned the two best--bade farewell to the king ashe rode off.

  "Farewell, sire," he said, "since you must go, but I at least mustreturn; I have never yet fled from an enemy, and will remain anddie rather than fly and live in disgrace."

  So saying, the knight spurred down to the conflict, and chargedagainst the array of Edward Bruce, and there fell fighting valiantly.The flight of the king and his attendants was the signal for ageneral rout. Great numbers were slain, many men were drowned inthe Forth, and the channel of the Bannock was so choked with thebodies of dead men and horses that one could pass over dry shod. Thescattered parties of English were still so numerous that Bruce heldhis men well in hand until these had yielded themselves prisoners.Douglas was charged to pursue the king, but he could only mustersixty horsemen. A short distance from the field he met a Scottishbaron, Sir Laurence Abernethy, with twenty-four men-at-arms,on his way to join the English, for even as yet but few of theScottish nobles were on the side of the king. Upon hearing what hadhappened, Sir Laurence, with the easy facility which distinguishedthe Scottish nobles of the period, at once changed sides, sworefealty to Bruce, and joined Douglas in the pursuit of his latefriends. They overtook the king's party at Linlithgow, but Pembrokekept his men well together, and while still retiring, showed sobold an appearance that Douglas did not venture to charge. Finallythe English reached the Castle of Dunbar, where the king and hisimmediate attendants were received by his ally, Earl Patrick ofDunbar. So cowed were the fugitives that they left their horsesoutside the castle gate, and these were captured by their pursuers.The main body of the king's bodyguard continued their way in goodorder, and reached Berwick in safety. Edward gained England ina fishing boat from Dunbar. Eighteen years had elapsed since hisfather had entered Scotland with an army deemed sufficient for itsentire subjugation; had sacked and destroyed the rich and prosperoustown of Berwick, routed the army of Baliol, marched through Scotland,and, as he believed, permanently settled his conquest. Now theson had lost all that his father had won.

  Among the fugitive remains of the English army were a considerablebody of Welsh, who, being lightly armed, fled at full speed towardthe Border, but being easily distinguished by their white dressesand the absence of defensive armour, almost all were slain bythe peasantry. The Earl of Hereford, the Earl of Angus, Sir JohnSeagrave, Sir Anthony Lucy, Sir Ingram de Umfraville, with a greatnumber of knights, 600 men-at-arms, and 1000 infantry, keepingtogether, marched south toward Carlisle.

  As they passed Bothwell Castle, which was held by the governor forEngland, the earls and knights entered the castle, their followersremaining without; but the governor, on hearing the result of thebattle, closed the gates and took all who had entered prisoners,and, changing sides, handed them over to Bruce. Their followerscontinued their march south, but were for the most part slain ortaken prisoners before they reached the Border.

  When all resistance had ceased on the field the victors collectedthe spoil. This consisted of the vast camp, the treasures intendedfor the payment of the army, the herds of cattle, and stores ofprovisions, wine, and forage; the rich wearing apparel and armsof the knights and nobles killed or made prisoners, many valuablehorses, and the prisoners who would have to be ransomed, among whomwere twenty-two barons and sixty knights.

  The spoil was estimated at 200,000 pounds, equal to 3,000,000pounds of money in these days. The king refused to take any sharein this plunder, dividing it wholly among his troops. 30,000 Englishlay dead on the field, including 200 knights and 700 esquires, andamong the most distinguished of the dead were the Earl of Gloucester,Sir Giles de Argentine, Lord Robert Clifford, Sir Edmund Manley,seneschal of England, Sir William de Mareschal, Sir Payne Tybtot,and Sir John Comyn. Sir Marmaduke de Twenge was among the prisoners.

  Bruce's conduct to his prisoners was even more honourable to himselfthan was the great victory that he had won. In spite of his threebrothers, his brother in law Seaton, his friends Athole and Frazer,having been executed by the English, and the knowledge that theirmangled remains were still exposed over London Bridge and thegates of Carlisle and Newcastle--in spite of the barbarous andlengthened captivity of his wife, his sister and daughter, and hisfriend
the Countess of Buchan--in spite of the conviction thathad he himself been made prisoner he would at once have been sentto the scaffold--Bruce behaved with a magnanimity and generosityof the highest kind. Every honour was paid to the English dead, andthe bodies of the chief among these were sent to their relatives inEngland, and the prisoners were all either ransomed or exchanged.Sir Marmaduke de Twenge was dismissed free of ransom and loadedwith gifts, and even the Scotch nobles, such as Sir Philip Mowbray,who were taken fighting in the ranks of their country's enemy, wereforgiven. This noble example exercised but little influence uponthe English. When Edward Bruce was killed four years afterwardsat Dundalk in Ireland, his body was quartered and distributed, andhis head presented to the English king, who bestowed upon Birmingham--whocommanded the English and sent the gift to him--the dignityof Earl of Louth.

  Among the prisoners was Edward's poet laureate, Baston, a Carmelitefriar, who had accompanied the army for the purpose of writinga poem on the English victory. His ransom was fixed at a poem onthe Scotch victory at Bannockburn, which the friar was forced tosupply.

  With Bannockburn ended all hope on the part of the English ofsubjugating Scotland; but the war continued fitfully for fourteenyears, the Scotch frequently invading England and levying heavycontributions from the northern counties and towns, and the Englishoccasionally retaliating by the same process; but at length peacewas signed at Northampton.

  In 1315 a parliament assembled at Ayr for the purpose of regulatingthe succession to the throne. It was then agreed that in case of theking's death without male issue his brother Edward should succeedto it, and that if Edward left no heirs, the children of Marjory,the king's daughter, should succeed. Shortly afterwards Marjory wasmarried to Walter the Steward. Edward Bruce was killed unmarried.A son was afterwards born to the king, who reigned as David II,but having died without issue, the son of Marjory and the Stewardbecame king. The hereditary title of Steward was used as the surnamefor the family, and thus from them descended the royal line ofStewart or Stuart, through which Queen Victoria at present reignsover Great Britain, Ireland, and their vast dependencies.

  After Bannockburn Archie Forbes went no more to the wars. He wasraised to the dignity of Baron Forbes by the king, and was everrewarded by him as one of his most trusty councillors, and hisdescendants played a prominent part in the changing and eventfulhistory of Scotland; but the proudest tradition of the family wasthat their ancestor had fought as a patriot by the side of Bruceand Wallace when scarce a noble of Scotland but was leagued withthe English oppressors of their country.

  THE END