1307: The fall of a king

1307: The fall of a king 1/2/19 AIM – Learn how Bruce tried to rebuild his power in Scotland in 1307. SUCCESS CRITERIA – Be able to describe Bruce’s actions to rebuild his powerbase in mainland Scotland. Be able to explain why Bruce was more successful in battle in 1307 as compared to 1306. Be able to assess the most important events in 1307 for Bruce’s attempts to re-establish his sovereign power. TASKS Copy today’s aim and heading into your jotter. Through class questioning, recap the events of Bruce’s reign in 1306 and build a mind map together on the whiteboard. Note this down in your jotter. Discuss through plenary the answer to last lesson’s ‘big question(s)’. Go through today’s PPt, taking notes of information given in bold. Use what we’ve learned and apply it to today’s ‘big question’. HOMEWORK (due in today) Completed notes and ‘big question’ tasks from our lesson on ‘King Hob’.

Return Bruce returned to mainland Scotland in February 1307 in order to reclaim his kingdom. His forces arrived in two groups. The first landed on the shores of his own earldom of Carrick, led by Robert and his youngest brother, Edward. They recaptured Turnberry Castle and raised a small army from amongst his tenants. Turnberry Castle: An artist’s reconstruction of the castle in its heyday, compared to the present day ruin. Bruce ordered the destruction of his own home in order to prevent it from falling into the hands of the English in 1310 and it was never rebuilt.

Their army consisted of 1000 soldiers and 18 war galleys. The second group was led by Robert’s other surviving brothers, Thomas and Alexander, who landed slightly further south in Loch Ryan, near Stranraer. Their army consisted of 1000 soldiers and 18 war galleys. This group was quickly overwhelmed and defeated by local forces led by Dungal McDougall, who was loyal to the Balliols and Edward. Thomas and Alexander were captured and sent to Carlisle, where they were executed. The Battle of Stranraer was fought on the 9th/10th of February, 1307. Only 2 war galleys escaped the disaster. All at sea: Thomas and Alexander Bruce’s Birlinns were packed with warriors from Ireland and the Western Isles.

Glen Trool Undeterred by the loss of yet more family members, Bruce set up his camp in Glen Trool – a narrow glen in the uplands of Dumfries & Galloway. Bruce realised he could no longer afford to fight like a king or a knight. He would instead use the tactics of ‘guerrilla warfare’. In previous years Wallace had used this method of fighting against the English with notable success. Bruce’s first success came with a raid on an English army camp on the eastern shores of Clatteringshaws Loch, 15 miles east of his base. The attack alerted Aymer de Valance and the main English army hunting Bruce. In April 1307, Valence marched his forces to Glen Trool to chase down his prey. . The axeman cometh: Bruce’s forces would have included the fearsome gallowglass warriors from the Western Isles. Their double handed axes could fell a mounted knight.

Bruce’s base of Glen Trool was a narrow valley, holding a small loch closely hemmed in by steep hillsides. It was a difficult position to approach, as the loch takes up much of the glen. There is only one narrow track through it, bordered by a steep slope. Bruce made effective use of the terrain before the English arrived. During the preceding night Bruce sent men up the slope with orders to use levers and crow-bars to loosen as many of the detached blocks of granite as they could. As the English vanguard approached up the narrowest point of the track, near the middle of the glen at a place called the "Steps of Trool", they were forced to march single file. The Battle of Stranraer was fought on the 9th/10th of February, 1307. Only 2 war galleys escaped the disaster. A king’s view: At this spot, Bruce's Stone commemorates where Bruce stood looking over to the battle site on the opposite side of Loch Trool and the steep 'Steps of Trool'

Bruce observed their progress from across the loch and, at a given signal, his men pushed the wall of boulders down the slope. This was followed by arrows and hand-to-hand combat as Bruce's men charged down the slope. The narrowness of the path prevented Valence from supporting his men from either the front or the rear. Without room to manoeuvre, many of the English below were killed, and the rest withdrew in panic. Bruce’s new guerrilla tactics had proven successful – for the first time he had fought the English and won. OMG, they killed Steve!

Loudoun Hill Bruce continued northwards with his small army into Ayrshire, once again coming face to face with Valence at Loudoun Hill on 10th May, 1307. News of his victory at Glen Trool had attracted more followers, swelling Bruce’s army to around 600 men. Valence’s pursuing force numbered around 3000.

At Methven Wood, Bruce had learned his lesson not to fight a larger enemy army on even terms. At Loudoun Hill he chose a battlefield where he could use his intimate knowledge of the Scottish landscape to his advantage. Bruce’s army took up position on a small plain, about 500 metres across, south of Loudoun Hill. Valence’s only route of approach was along a narrow highway through a deep bog, which extended for the width of the plain on either side of the road. Bruce’s men dug ditches outwards from the bog, parallel to the road. This stopped Valence’s army from fanning out and using their numbers to encircle Bruce’s men. Watson suggests that King Robert had taken inspiration for the ditch digging from Flemish footsoldiers who had also gained an unlikely victory. "King Robert had studied reports of the Flemish victory at Courtrai five years earlier in July 1302," she notes. "Basically the footsoldiers, merchants, craftsmen of the great Flemish cities of Bruges, Ghent and Ypres - took on the French cavalry, digging ditches and using the terrain and won an astounding victory." Read more at: https://www.scotsman.com/future-scotland/tech/what-actually-happened-at-the-battle-of-loudoun-hill-1-4836567 Read more at: https://www.scotsman.com/future-scotland/tech/what-actually-happened-at-the-battle-of-loudoun-hill-1-4836567 Loudoun Hill today: John Barbour wrote of the battle that ‘the king rode out to see and chose his ground…’

The ditches were also laid out in such a way that Valence was forced to attack only along the highway. He faced a narrowly constricted front, attacking up the flanks of the hill towards the waiting spears of Bruce’s ranks. It was a battle which echoed the situation another superior English army had found themselves in at Stirling Bridge, with the same 'filtering' effect at work.. “The king's men met them at the dyke So stoutly that the most warlike And strongest of them fell to the ground. Then could be heard a dreadful sound As spears on armour rudely shattered, And cries and groans the wounded uttered. For those that first engaged in fight Battled and fought with all their might. Their shouts and cries rose loud and clear; A grievous noise it was to hear. “ John Barbour, The Brus The grind of battle: Bruce’s infantry formed a grimly determined line against Valence’s cavalry charge.

Struggling with the terrain, Valence’s charge did not go well Struggling with the terrain, Valence’s charge did not go well. As Bruce's spearmen pressed downhill on the disorganised English knights, they fought with such vigour that the rear ranks of Valence’s army began to flee in panic. A hundred or more English soldiers were killed in the battle, for the loss of only a handful of Scots. Aymer de Valence managed to escape the carnage and fled to the safety of Bothwell Castle. Three days after the Battle of Loudoun Hill Bruce defeated another English force in Ayrshire, this time under the Earl of Gloucester. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05gGgejyfmo (3 mins)

Edward’s response Alarmed by Bruce’s return, Edward I decided to launch another invasion of Scotland, as he had successfully done the year before. He was determined to defeat Bruce as he had defeated Wallace. He lead the main English army north, headed for Bruce’s heartlands of Dumfries & Galloway. But at 68, Edward was old and his health was failing. He caught dysentery and on 7th July, 1307, the Hammer of the Scots died at Burgh-on-Sans, only a few miles from the Scottish border. The 19th-century memorial to Edward I at Burgh Marsh. This structure replaced an earlier one and is said to mark the exact spot where he died. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w7HEZ2GoEM Play from 4:35 – 9:25 (optional)

Various accounts survive of Edward’s last wishes. The sources agree that Edward wanted his son to continue campaigning against the Bruce. The Prince of Wales decided to take his father’s body to Richmond to hand it over to the Archbishop of York before returning to south-west Scotland to campaign against Bruce’s rebellion. By this time, Bruce had marched into the far north. The Prince of Wales was in no mood to pursue him and instead returned to England in August 1307 to be crowned in London as Edward II. His decision gave Bruce a free hand to act in Scotland. Traces of the Latin inscription Edwardus Primus Scottorum Malleus hic est, 1308. Pactum Serva ("Here is Edward I, Hammer of the Scots, 1308. Keep the Vow"), can still be seen painted on the side of his marble sarcophagus in Westminster Abbey, referring to his vow to avenge the rebellion of Robert Bruce. *Dry*: The remains of Edward I, from an illustration made when his tomb was opened in 1774.

Today’s ‘Big Question’ Take note of the question in your jotter and write an answer drawing upon the notes you have taken today: In your opinion, what was the most important event in reinvigourating Bruce’s campaign for the throne of Scotland in 1307? Explain your reasons why.