History of Scotland by Patrick Tytler 2

Defeat of the Scots at Falkrik

The columns of infantry, however, with the intermediate companies of archers, kept their ground, and a few of the armed knights remained beside them. Amongst these, Sir John Stewart of Bonkill, in marshalling the ranks of the archers from the forest of Selkirk, was thrown from his horse. The faithful bowmen tried to rescue him, but in vain. He was slain, and the tall and athletic figures of those who fell round him drew forth the praise of the enemy.On the death of this leader, the archers gave way; but the columns of the Scottish infantry stood firm, and their oblique lances, pointing every way, presented a thick wood, through which no attacks of the cavalry could penetrate.

Edward now brought up his reserve of archers and slingers, who showered their arrows upon them, with volleys of large round stones, which covered the ground where they stood. This continued and galling attack, along with the reiterated charges of the cavalry, at last broke the first line, and the heavy-armed horse, pouring in at the gap which was thus made, threw all into confusion, and carried indiscriminate slaughter through their ranks. Macduff, along with his vassals from Fife, was slain ; and Wallace, with the remains of his army, having gained the neighbouring wood, made good his retreat, leaving nearly fifteen thousand men dead upon the field.-f- On the English side, only two men of note fell; one of them was Sir Bryan de Jaye, Master of the Scottish Templars, who, when pressing before his men in the ardour of the pursuit, was entangled in a moss in Calendar wood, and slain by some of the Scottish fugitives. The other was a companion of the same order, and of high rank.

The remains of the Scottish army immediately rotreated from Falkirk to Stirling. Unable to maintain the town against the English army, they set it on fire; and Edward, on entering it on the fourth day after the battle, found it reduced to ashes. The convent of the Dominicans, however, escaped the flames; and here the king, who still suffered from the wound given him by his horse, remained for fifteen days, to recover his health. Meantime he sent a division of his army across the Forth into Clackmannanshire and Menteith, which, after ravaging the country, and plundering the villages, advanced in its destructive march through Fife. The whole of this rich and populous district was now regarded with great severity, on account of the resistance made by Macduff and the men of Fife at Falkirk. It was accordingly delivered up to complete military execution; and, to use the words of an ancient chronicle, "clene brent."

Edwards Progress after the battle

The city of St Andrews was found deserted by its inhabitants, and delivered to the flames. Beginning to be in distress for provisions, the English pushed on to Perth, which they found already burnt by the Scots themselves; so that, defeated in the hope of procuring supplies, and unable longer to support themselves in a country so utterly laid waste, they returned to Stirling, the castle of which Edward had commanded to be repaired. Having left a garrison there, he proceeded to Abercorn,-f- near Queensferry, where he had hopes to find his long-expected fleet, with supplies from Berwick; but his ships were still detained. He then marched to Glasgow, and through the district of Clydesdale, by Bothwell, to Lanark, from which he proceeded towards the strong castle of Ayr, then in the hands of the younger Bruce earl of Carrick. Bruce fled at the approach of the king, after having set fire to the castle; and Edward marched into Galloway with the intention of punishing this refractory baron, by laying waste his country.

Retreats to Carlisle

The army however, began again to be grievously in want of provisions; and the king, after having for fifteen days struggled against famine, was constrained to return through the middle of Annandale, and to be contented with the capture of Bruce's castle of Lochmaben,§ from which he proceeded to Carlisle.

Thus were the fruits of the bloody and decisive battle of Falkirk plucked from the hands of Edward, by famine and distress, at the moment he expected to secure them; and after leading against Scotland the most numerous and best appointed army which had perhaps ever invaded it, and defeating his enemies with great slaughter, he was compelled to retreat while still nearly the whole of the country beyond the Forth was unsubdued, and even when that part which he had wasted and overrun, was only waiting for his absence, to rise into a new revolt against him. At Carlisle the Earls of Norfolk and Hereford left the army to return home, under the pretence that their men and horses were worn out with the expedition, but in reality because they were incensed at the king for a breach of faith.

Edward, when at Lochmaben, had, without consulting them or their brother nobles, disposed of the Island of Arran to Thomas Bisset, a Scottish adventurer, who, having invaded and seized it, about the time of the battle of Falkirk, pretended that he had undertaken the enterprise for the King of England. This was done in violation of a solemn promise, that, without advice of his council, he would adopt no new measures; and to atone for so irregular a proceeding, a parliament was held at Carlisle, in which the king, who as yet was master of but a very small part of Scotland, assigned to his earls and barons the estates of the Scottish nobles. These, however, as an old historian remarks, were grants given in hope, not in possession; and even the frail tenure of hope by which they were held, was sooii threatened: for on reaching Durham, messengers arrived with the intelligence that the Scots were again in arms, and the king hastily returned to Tynemouth, and from thence to Coldingham, near Beverley.

His army was now much reduced by the desertion of Norfolk and Hereford; and the soldiers who remained were weakened with famine and the fatigues of war. To commence another campaign at this late season was impossible; but he instantly issued his writs for the assembling of a new army, to chastise, as he said, the obstinate and reiterated rebellions of the Scots; and he appointed his barons to meet him at Carlisle, on the eve of the day of Pentecost. He also commanded the speedy collection of the money granted by the clergy of the province of York, to assist him in his war with Scotland; and despatched letters to the nobles of England, ordering their attendance in the army destined against Scotland. Patrick earl of Dunbar and March, and his son Gilbert de Umfraville earl of Angus, Alexander de Baliol, and Simon Fraser, all of them Scottish barons, were at this time friends to Edward, and resident at his court, and to them were the same commands directed.

Wallace resigns the office of Governor

Wallace, soon after the defeat of Falkirk, voluntarily resigned the office of Governor of Scotland. The Comyns had threatened to impeach him of treason for his conduct during the war; and the Bruces, next in power to the Comyns, appear to have forgot their personal animosity, and united with their rivals to put him down. To these accusations the disaster at Falkirk gave some colour, and he chose rather to return to the station of a private knight, than to retain an elevation, which, owing to the jealousy of the nobility, brought ruin and distress upon the people.

The Regency Appointed

One ancient manuscript of Fordun asserts, that he passed over into France, where he was honourably welcomed and entertained by Philip, and increased his high character for personal prowess, by his successes against the pirates who then infested the seas; so that his exploits were celebrated in the French songs and ballads of the day. An examination of the valuable historical materials which exist in the public libraries of France, might perhaps throw some light on this dark portion of his story. It is certain that his great name does not again recur in any authentic record, as bearing even a secondary command in the wars against Edward; nor indeed do we meet with him in any public transaction, until eight years after this, when he fell a victim to the unrelenting vengeance of that prince.

On the demission of Wallace, the Scottish barons chose John Comyn of Badenoch, the younger, and John de Soulis, to be governors of Scotland,! and after some time, Bruce earl of Carrick, and William Lamberton bishop of St Andrews, were associated in the command.

The King of France's efforts to bring about peace

It is now necessary to allude to an attempt at a pacification between Edward and the Scots, which some time previous to this had been made by Philip of France; as the negotiations which then took place conduct us to the termination of Baliol's career, and throw a strong light on the character of the King of England.

John Baliol, whom the Scots still acknowledged as their rightful monarch, had remained a prisoner in England since 1296. On the conclusion of a truce between the Kings of France and England in 1297, the articles of which afterwards formed the basis of the negotiations at Montreuil, and of the important peace of Paris.J Philip demanded the liberation of Baliol, as his ally, from the tower. He required, also, that the prelates, barons, knights, and other nobles, along with the towns and communities, and all the inhabitants of Scotland, of what rank and condition soever, should be included in the truce, and that not only Baliol, but all the other Scottish prisoners, should "be liberated, on the delivery of hostages. These demands were made by special messengers, sent for this purpose by Philip to the King of England ;§ and it is probable that John Comyn the younger, the Earl of Athole, and other Scottish barons, who had left Edward on his embarkation at Hardenburgh in Flanders, and repaired to the Court of France, prevailed upon Philip to be thus urgent in his endeavours to include them and their country in the articles of pacification. Edward, however, had not the slightest intention of allowing the truce to be extended to the Scots. He was highly exasperated against them, and was then busy in collecting and organizing an army for the purpose of reducing their country. He did not, at first, however, give a direct refusal, but observed, that the request touching the king, the realm, and nobles of Scotland, was so new and foreign to the other articles of truce, that it would require his most serious deliberation before he could reply.Immediately after this, he marched, as we have seen, at the head of an overwhelming army into Scotland; and, after the battle of Falkirk, found leisure to send his answer to Philip, refusing peremptorily to deliver up Baliol, or to include the Scottish nobles in the truce, on the ground, that at the time when the articles of truce were drawn up, Philip did not consider the Scots as his allies, nor was there any mention of Baliol or his subjects at that time. "If," said Edward, "any alliance ever existed between Baliol and the French king, it had been deliberately and freely renounced.'' To this Philip replied, "That as far as the King of Scots, and the other Scottish nobles who were EdwardV prisoners, were concerned, the renunciation of the French alliance had been made through the influence of force and fear, on which account it ought to be considered of no avail; that it was they alone whom he considered as included in the truce; and if any Scottish nobles had afterwards, of their own free will, submitted to Edward, and sworn homage to him, as had been done by Patrick earl of Dunbar, Gilbert earl of Angus, and their sons, the King of France would not interfere in that matter.

Edward, however, who, at the time he made this reply, had defeated Wallace at Falkirk, and dispersed the only army which stood between him and his ambition, continued firm, notwithstanding the earnest remonstrances of Philip. The mediation of the pope was next employed; and at the earnest request of Boniface, the king consented to deliver Baliol from his imprisonment, and to place him in the hands of the papal legate, the Bishop of Vicenza. "I will send him to the pope," said Edward, "as a false seducer of the people, and a perjured man."Accordingly, Sir Robert Burghersh, the Constable of Dover, conveyed the dethroned king, with his goods and private property, to Whitsand, near Calais. Before embarking, his trunks were searched, and a crown of gold, the Great Seal of Scotland, many vessels of gold and silver, with a considerable sum of money, were found in them. The crown was seized by Edward, and hung up in the shrine of St Thomas the Martyr; the Great Seal was also retained, but the money was permitted to remain in his coffers. On meeting the legate at Whitsand, Burghersh formally delivered to this prelate the person of the ex-king, to be at the sole disposal of his Holiness ; but a material condition was added, in the proviso "that the pope should not ordain or direct anything in the kingdom of Scotland concerning the people or inhabitants, or anything appertaining to the same kingdom, in behalf of John Baliol or his heirs." Edward obsequiousness to the Roman See even went farther, for he conferred on the pope the power of disposing of BalioFs English estates.

These estates were many and extensive. They were situated in nine different counties, and gave a commanding feudal influence to their possessor. But the king had not the slightest intention of paying anything more than an empty compliment to Boniface; for he retained the whole of Baliol's lands and manors in his own hand, and, some years afterwards, bestowed them upon his nephew, John of Bretagne.

Baliol Retires to France

The dethroned King of Scotland was conveyed by the messengers of the pope to his lands and castle of Bailleul, in France, where he passed the remaining years of his life in quiet obscurity.

The restless activity of Edward's mind, and the unshaken determination with which he pursued the objects of his ambition, are strikingly marked by his conduct at this time. He was embroiled in serious disputes with his barons; some of the most valuable prerogatives of his crown were being wrested from his hands; he was deeply engaged with his negotiations with France; he was on the eve of his marriage; but nothing could divert him from the meditated war. He held a council of his nobility at Westminster, concerning the Scottish expedition. At midsummer he took a journey to St Albans, for the purpose of imploring the assistance of that saint. In September he was married at Canterbury, to the sister of the King of France; and on the seventh day after his marriage, he directed his letters to Edmund earl of Cornwall, to meet him with horse and arms at York, on the 10th of November. He commanded public prayers to be made for the success of his arms in all the churches of the kingdom, and enjoined the Friars Predicant to employ themselves in the same pious office.

Edward assembles an army

Aware of these great preparations, the Scottish Regents, whose army was encamped in the Torwood, near Stirling, directed a letter to Edward, acquainting him that information of the late truce had been sent them by Philip king of France; and that they were willing to desist from all aggression, during the period which was stipulated, provided the King of England would follow their example. Edward did not deign to reply to this communication; but having assembled his parliament at York, in the beginning of November, he communicated to them his intentions as to the continuance of the war; and in the face of the approaching severity of the winter, marched with his army to Berwick-on-Tweed, where he had appointed a body of fifteen thousand foot soldiers, with a large reinforcement from the diocese of York,and the whole military strength of his greater barons, to meet him. So intent was he on assembling the bravest knights and most hardy soldiers to accompany him, that he forbade, by public proclamation, all tournaments and plays of arms, so long as war lasted between him and his enemies; and interdicted every knight, esquire, or soldier, from attending such exhibitions, or going in search of adventures, without his special permission.

The Scottish Regents Become Masters of Stirling

The object of the king was to march immediately into Scotland, to raise the siege of Stirling, then invested by the regents, and to reduce that great division of Scotland beyond the Firth of Forth, which, along with the powerful district of Galloway, still remained independent. But after all his great preparations, his hopes were cruelly disappointed. His barons, with their military vassals, refused to go farther than Berwick. They alleged that the early severity of the winter, the impassable and marshy ground through which they would be compelled to march, with the scarcity of forage and provisions, rendered any military expedition against Scotland impracticable and desperate. The nobles, besides this, had other and deeper causes of discontent. The great charter, and the perambulation of the forests, had not been duly observed, according to promise; and withT out waiting remonstrance, they withdrew to their estates. Edward, in extreme anger, marched forward, with a small force, "and seemed determined to risk a battle; but being informed of the strong position of the Scottish army, and of the resolute spirit with which they awaited his advance, the king submitted to the necessity of the case, and retreated to England.

Meanwhile the English, who were beleaguered in Stirling, after making a brave and obstinate defence, had begun to suffer the extremities of famine; upon which the king, finding it impossible to raise the siege, commanded them to capitulate; and the castle was delivered to Sir John de Soulis, one of the regents. The Scots garrisoned it, and committed it to the keeping of Sir William Olifant.

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History of Scotland by Patrick Tytler 2

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