Towards evening, whilst his soldiers were busy cooking their supper,and many were dispersed in foraging parties, a cry was heard that the enemy were upon them; and Pembroke, with his whole army, which outnumbered the Scots by fifteen hundred men, broke in upon the camp.
The surprise was so complete, that it can only be accounted for by the belief, that the king had implicitly relied upon the promise of the English earl. He and his friends had scarcely time to arm themselves. They made, however, a stout resistance, and at the first onset Bruce attacked the Earl of Pembroke, and slew his horse; but no efforts of individual courage could restore order, or long delay defeat; and the battle of Methven was from the first nearly a rout. The king was thrice unhorsed, and once so nearly taken, that the captor, Sir Philip de Mowbray, called aloud that he had the new-made king, when Sir Christopher Seton felled Mowbray to the earth, and rescued his master.
The king's brother, Edward Bruce, Bruce himself, the Earl of Athole, Sir James Douglas, Sir Gilbert de la Haye, Sir Nigel Campbell, and Sir William de Barondoun, with about five hundred men, kept the field, and at last effected their retreat into the fastnesses, of Athole; but some of his best and bravest friends fell into the hands of the enemy. Sir David de Berklay, Sir Hugh de la Haye, Sir Alexander Fraser, Sir John de Somerville, Sir David Inchmartin, and Thomas Randolph, then a young esquire, were all taken, along with Hugh, a chap Iain.
On being informed of the victory, Edward gave orders for the instant execution of the prisoners, but the Earl of Pembroke, with more humanity, did not carry these orders into immediate execution. Randolph, on being pardoned, deserted his uncle; others were ransomed; whilst the chaplain, with other knights who had been taken, were hanged and quartered.
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Bruce and his friends now began to feel the miseries of outlaws. A high price was set on his head, and he was compelled to harbour in the hills, deprived of the common comforts of life. He and his followers presented a ragged and wretched appearance. Their shoes were worn off their feet by constant toil in a mountainous country; and hunting, in better days a joyful pastime, became a necessitous occupation. At length want and.distress drove him and his little band into the low country; and at Aberdeen, his brother, Sir Nigel Bruce, met him with his queen and other ladies, determined to share the pains of war and banishment with their husbands and their fathers.Here, after enjoying a short season of solace and respite, a report was brought of the near advance of the English; and the king and his friends, accompanied by their faithful women, retreated into Breadalbane.
And now, if already they had experienced distress, it was, we may believe, greatly aggravated by the presence of those whose constitutions were little able to struggle against cold and hunger, and whose love, as it was of that sterling kind which was ready to share in every privation, only made the hearts of their husbands and fathers more keenly alive to their sufferings. An ancient author has given a striking account of their mode of life. The roots and berries of the woods, the venison caught in the chase, the fish which abounded in the mountain rivers, supplied them with food—the warm skins of deer and roe with bedding—and all laboured to promote their comfort, but none with such success as the brave and gallant Sir James Douglas. This young soldier, after the imprisonment and death of his father, had been educated at the polished court of France, and whilst his indefatigable perseverance in the chase afforded them innumerable comforts, his sprightly temper and constant gaiety, comforted the king, and amused his forlorn companions!
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They had now reached the head of Tay, and deeper distresses seemed gathering round them, for the season was fast approaching when it was impossible for women to exist in that remote and wild region ; and they were on the borders of the Lord of Lorn's country, a determined enemy of Bruce, who had married the aunt of the murdered Comyn.J Lorn immediately collected a thousand men, and, with the Barons of Argyle, besetting the passes, hemmed in the king, and attacked him in a narrow defile, where Bruce and his small band of knights could not manage their horses.
The Highlanders were on foot; and, armed with that dreadful weapon, the Lochaber axe, did great execution. Sir James Douglas, with Gilbert de la Haye, were bothwounded, and many of the horses severely cut and gashed; so that the king, dreading the total destruction of his little band, managed to get them together, and having placed himself in the rear, between them and the men of Lorn, commenced his retreat, halting at intervals, and driving back the enemy, when they pressed too hard upon them, It was in one of these skirmishes that Bruce, who, in the use of his weapons, was esteemed inferior to no knight of his time, with his own hand killed three soldiers, who attacked him at the same time and at a disadvantage—a feat which is said to have extorted even from his enemies the praise of superior chivalry.
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Having thus again escaped, a council was held, and it was resolved that the queen and her ladies should be conducted to the strong castle of Kildrummie, in Mar, under an escort, commanded by young Nigel Bruce, the king's brother, and John earl of Athole. The king, with only two hundred men, and beset on all sides by his enemies, was left to make his way through Lennox to Kentire, a district which, from the influence of Sir Neil Campbell, who was then with him, he expected would be somewhat more friendly. He now gave up all the horses to those who were to escort the women, and having determined to pursue his way on foot, took a melancholy farewell of his queen.
It was the last time he ever saw his brother, who soon after was taken, and fell a victim to the implacable revenge of Edward. Bruce, meanwhile, pressed on through Perthshire to Loch Lomond. On the banks of this lake his progress was suddenly arrested. To have travelled round it, would have been accomplished at great risk, when every hour, which could convey him beyond the pursuit of his enemies, was of value. After some time, they succeeded in discovering a little boat, which, from its crazy and leaky state, could hold but three persons, and that not without danger of sinking. In it, the king, Sir James Douglas, and another, who rowed them, first passed over. They then despatched it in return for the rest, so that the whole band at length succeeded in reaching the other side. Amid these complicated dangers and distresses, the spirit of their royal master wonderfully supported his followers. His memory was stored with the tales of romance, so popular in that chivalrous age; and in recounting the sufferings of their fabled heroes, he is said to have diverted the minds of his friends from brooding too deeply on their own.
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They began now to feel the misery of hunger, and in traversing the woods in search of food, they encountered the Earl of Lennox, who, since the unfortunate defeat at Methven, had heard nothing of the fate of his sovereign. Lennox fell on his master's neck, and the king wept in embracing him. But even this natural burst of grief proved dangerous, by occupying too much time; for the enemy were now pressing on their track, and every thing depended on Brace's gaining the coast, where he expected to meet Sir Neil Campbell, whom he had sent in advance. This he fortunately accomplished; and Campbell, with a few boats which he had collected, conveyed the monarch and his followers to the coast of Kentire, where they were hospitably received by Angus of Isla, Lord of Kentire. From thence, deeming himself still insecure, he passed over with three hundred in his company, to the little island of Rachrin, situated on the northern coast of Ireland, amid whose rude but friendly inhabitants he buried himself from the pursuit of his enemies.
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Edward, on hearing of the escape of Bruce, proceeded with his usual severity against his enemies. He published at Lanercost, where he then lay, on his road to Scotland, an ordinance, by which all who were guilty of the death of John Comyn, were sentenced to be drawn and hanged; and he decreed, that the same extremity of punishment should be inflicted on such as either advised or assented, or, after the fact, knowingly received them. It was added, that any persons who were in arms against the king, either before or since the battle of Methven, as well as all who were willingly of the party of Robert Bruce, or who assisted the people in rising contrary to law, were, on conviction, to be imprisoned; and it was commanded, that every subject of the king should levy hue and cry upon all who had been in arms against England, and under the penalty of imprisonment, and loss of their estates, apprehend such offenders dead or alive. Finally, as to the common people of Scotland, who, contrary to their inclination, might by their lords have been compelled to rise in arms, the guardian was permitted to fine and ransom them according to their offences.
These orders were rigorously carried into execution, and the terror of the king's vengeance induced some of the Scottish barons to act with meanness.
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Bruce's queen, and his daughter Marjory, thinking themselves insecure in the castle of Kildrummie, which was threatened by the English army, had taken refuge in the sanctuary of St Duthac, at Tain, in Ross-shire, and were treacherously given up to the English by the Earl of Ross, who violated the sanctuary, and made them, and the knights who escorted them, prisoners. These brave men were immediately put to death, and the queen, with her daughter, committed to close confinement in England; where, in different prisons and castles, they endured an eight-years' captivity.
A more severe fate awaited the Countess of Buchan, who had dared to place the king upon the throne, and who was soon after taken. In one of the outer turrets of the castle of Berwick, was constructed a cage, latticed and cross-barred with wood, and secured with iron, in which this unfortunate lady was immured. No person was permitted to speak with her except the women who brought her food, and it was carefully stipulated that these should be of English extraction. Confined in this rigorous manner, and yet subjected to the gaze of every passer by, she remained for four years shut up, till she was released from her misery, and subjected to a milder imprisonment in the monastery of Mount Carmel, in Berwick. Mary and Christina, both sisters to the Scottish king, were soon after made prisoners. Mary was confined in a cage similar to that of the Countess of Buchan, built for her in one of the turrets of Roxburgh castle; and Christina was delivered to Henry Percy, who shut her up in a convent.
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Immediately after the battle of Methven, the troops of the Earl of Pembroke, in scouring the country, took prisoners, Lamberton bishop of St Andrews, and the Abbot of Scone, who were found clad in armour, and conveyed them in fetters to England. Soon after this, Robert Wishart bishop of Glasgow, who had escaped to the castle of Cupar in Fife, was there taken, and sent fettered, and in his mail coat, to the castle of Nottingham 4. These clerical champions were saved from the gallows solely by their sacred function. They had strenuously supported Bruce by their great influence, as well as by their money and their armed vassals; and Edward, after commanding them to be imprisoned in irons, within different castles, wrote to the pope, requesting that, in consequence of their treason against him, William Comyn, brother to the Earl of Buchan, and Geoffrey de Mowbray, should be appointed to the vacant sees of St Andrews and Glasgow—a proposal with which his Holiness does not appear to have complied.
The next victim excited deeper commiseration. Bruce's youthful brother, Nigel, had shut himself up in the castle of Kildrummie, and there defied the English army, commanded by the Earls of Lancaster and Hereford. After a brave defence, the treachery of one of the garrison, who set fire to the magazine of corn, and destroyed their supplies, compelled them to surrender. The beautiful person and engaging manners of Nigel Bruce, rendered his fate a subject of horror and indignation to the Scots, and excited sentiments of pity in every bosom but that of Edward. He was sent to Berwick, there condemned by a special commission, hanged, and afterwards beheaded. Along with him divers other knights and soldiers suffered the same fate. Christopher de Seton, who had married a sister of Bruce, and had rendered essential service to the king, took refuge in his castle of Loch Don, in Ayrshire, which is said to have been pusillanimously given up to the English by Sir Gilbert de Carrick. Seton, who was a great favourite with the people, was especially obnoxious to Edward, as he had been personally present at the death of Comyn. He was immediately hurried to Dumfries, and condemned and hanged as a traitor. So dear to King Robert was the memory of this faithful friend and fellow warrior, that he afterwards erected on the spot where he was executed a little chapel, where mass was said for his soul. Sir Christopher's brother, John de Seton, was taken about the same time, and put to death at Newcastle.
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