The Bruce
32 _outrageous a day._ “Day” has here the meaning of “a space of time,”
as in Berners’ _Froissart_. “The truce is not expired, but hath _day_
to endure unto the first day of Maye next” (I. ccxiii., N.E.D.): a
sense of the Latin _dies_. For “outrageous,” see on _Bk._ III. 162.
44 _Akatane._ Aquitaine, the ancient southern duchy of France, the
hereditary possession of the Kings of England.
46 The _Lanercost_ chronicler affirms (1311) that in the war the Scots
were so divided that sometimes a father was with the Scots and his son
with the English, or brothers were on opposite sides, or even the same
person at one time on the Scottish side, at another on that of England;
but that it was a pretence, either because the English seemed to get
the better or to save their English lands, “for their hearts, if not
their bodies, were always with their own people” (p. 217). Thus, at
this time, there were still to be found among supporters of the English
King such names as Stewart, Graham, Kirkpatrick, Maxwell, St. Clair,
etc. (_Bain_, iii., _Introd._, pp. xvi, xvii). As many of these were
Border lairds--some, indeed, are of Annandale--even their Scottish
lands were specially exposed to English attack. Late in 1313 (October
or November) we have a _Petition to the King_ (of England) _from
the People of Scotland, by their envoys, Sir Patrick de Dunbar, Earl of
March, and Sir Adam de Gordon_, complaining of the great losses they
have suffered “by their enemies”--_i.e._, the Bruce party--also of the
brigandage of the English garrison in Berwick and Roxburgh (_Bain_,
iii., No. 337). One of the results of Bannockburn was to bring many of
these waverers over to the national side. Adam de Gordon, indeed, was
already under suspicion, and apparently was a waverer. He had, in fact,
a grant of the lands of Strathbogie in 1309, according to Robertson
(_Index_, p. 2; 40). _Cf._ also 103-4.* For Gordon, see also _Bk._ IX.
720, etc.; XV. 333; and on March, _Bk._ XIX. 776, note.
79-82 _Cf._, as bearing out Barbour’s assertion, the comment by the
author of the _Vita Edwardi Secundi_ on the army when assembled at
Berwick: “There were in that assemblage amply sufficient men (_satis
sufficientes_) to traverse all Scotland, and, in the judgment of some,
if the whole of Scotland had been brought together, it could not make
a stand against the army of the King (_cf._ line 150). Indeed, it was
confessed by the whole host that, in our time, such an army had not
gone out of England” (_Chronicles of Ed. I. and Ed. II._, ii., pp.
201-2).
91 _Erll of Hennaut._ Count William of Hainault, Flanders. _Cf._ on
_Bk._ XIX. 262.
93. _Almanyhe_: Germany. Friar Baston says four German knights came
“gratis” (_Eng. Hist. Rev._, vol. xix., p. 507).
100 _of Irlande ane gret menyhe._ In _Foedera_ we have the list
of twenty-five Irish chiefs summoned to the campaign against the
Scots--O’Donald, O’Neil, MacMahon, O’Bryn, O’Dymsy, etc. The Irish
contingent was commanded by Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, Bruce’s
father-in-law (III., pp. 476-478).
*103-4 See note on 46.
103 _Ane hundreth thousand men and ma._ See _Appendix_ C.
105 _Armyt on hors._ That is, the men alone wore armour, being thus
distinguished from the knights “with helit hors,” or horses armoured
also in _bardings_ of leather or mail. Skeat rejects the reading of
E in favour of “playn male,” taking “playn” to represent the French
_plein_ = “complete mail,” on the ground of Innes’s remark that the
distinction between mail or ring-armour and plate, “if known, was not
so specific in Barbour’s age.” But plates had been coming into use
since the last quarter of the thirteenth century, and by 1300 the
practice of attaching such additional defences was rapidly developing.
See note on 131. In 1316 we read of “200 men armed in plate,” who were
sent to Ireland from England (_Bain_, iii., p. 99, No. 519).
114 _Of cartis._ “The multitude of waggons (_multitudo quadrigarum_),
if it had been extended in a line one behind the other, would have
taken up a space of twenty leagues” (_Vita Edw. Sec._, p. 202). The
meaning of “league” is uncertain; apparently it was just a mile.
117 _veschall._ In _Vita Edw. Sec._ (pp. 206-7) the author speaks of
“costly garments and gold (or gilt) plate” (_vasa aurea_). Baker of
Swinbroke, in his _Chronicon Angliæ_ (p. 55), also mentions the “plate
of gold and silver,” and affirms that, in addition to an abundant
supply of victuals, the English brought with them things which were
wont to be seen only in times of peace on the luxurious tables of
princes. Among the ornaments of the high altar of Aberdeen Cathedral in
1549 was “an old hood made of cloth of gold ... from the spoil of the
Battle of Bannockburn” (_Reg. Episc. Aberd._, ii., p. 189).
119 _schot._ Arrows, and bolts for cross-bows. _Cf._ _Bk._ XIII. 311,
and below, note on 544.
130 _ryche weid._ The rich flowing housings or drapery of the steeds,
covering the armour, if any, as the “surcoat” of the knight did his.
131-*132. Armour was in a state of rapid transition, and so at this
time is very complicated. An English brass of 1325 shows a knight
wearing (1) a _gambeson_, or close-fitting quilted tunic, to ease the
pressure of the armour; (2) a _hauberk_ of _banded_ or _chain mail_,
with half-plates on the upper arm; (3) an _habergeon_ (“hawbyrschown”),
or lighter hauberk, apparently of small plates; (4) a _haketon_,
another padded coat like the gambeson; (5) and a short _surcoat_.
He has leggings of mail covering also the feet, and half-plates in
addition from the knees to the toes: a hood of mail continued upward
from the hauberk and a _bascinet_, or pointed, nut-shaped helmet, with
no visor. Over this he would wear in battle such a heavy, closed,
flat-topped _helm_ as we see on the seal of Robert I. He carries a
small triangular shield on his left arm, and his sword, a little more
than half the body in length, hangs in front from a waist-belt. Such
was probably the equipment of the leading knights at Bannockburn.
136 _Till Berwick._ The army was to assemble at Werk on the Tweed by
Monday, June 10, 1314 (_Foedera_, iii., p. 481). But the start was made
from Berwick on June 17 or 18 (_Vita Edw._, 201).
150 _Mannaustt the Scottis._ _Cf._ note on 79-82.
163 _Glowcister._ Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford,
nephew of the King, and a young man of twenty-three. _Herfurd._
Humphrey de Bohun, or Boun, Earl of Hereford and Essex, and Constable
of England. “The Earl of Gloucester and the Earl of Herford commanded
the first line” (_primam aciem_, _Vit. Edw. Sec._, p. 202). The
_Scalacronica_ says Gloucester commanded “the advance guard” (p. 141),
but does not mention Hereford (see note on _Bk._ XIII. 466).
174 _Schir Gylys de Argente._ Sir Giles d’Argentine, popularly regarded
as one of the three most eminent men of the time, the others being
the Emperor Henry and Robert Bruce (_Scotich. Lib._, xiii. 16). He
“guided the King’s bridle” (_Vita Edw. Sec._, p. 204). _Cf._ also
_Scalacronica_ (p. 143), _votre reyne me fust baillez_--“your rein was
entrusted to me”: among others (p. 142).
210 _the Torwood._ Stretching north and west from Falkirk. It reached
to near Bannockburn, a little south of which is “Torwoodhead” Castle.
237 See note on 103.
250 _abaysing._ Fear which grew to panic. _Morale_, or firm courage, is
always an important element in warfare, but in medieval times it seems
to have been specially important (_cf._ IV. 191-200, and XII. 184-8).
The remarkable successes of the Scots against larger numbers were often
due to the “abaysing,” for one reason or other, of their opponents.
Footmen were peculiarly liable to this loss of nerve, as they received
no mercy, as a rule, from the mounted knights. Bruce was all along most
anxious to guard against the rise of any such spirit of “funk” among
his men. “Success in battle,” said Napoleon, “depends not so much upon
the number of men killed as upon the number frightened.”
277 _the wayis._ As Bruce explains in the lines that follow, there were
two “ways” of advance to Stirling; one through the wooded New Park, and
the other by the level below St. Ninian’s, extending to the “pools” or
lagoons along the side of the Forth. The trees of the New Park seem to
have extended from above the banks of the burn to St. Ninian’s on the
one side and Stirling, or near it, on the other (_cf._ note on _Bk._
XII. 58). It was made as late as 1264 by Alexander III., and enclosed
with a paling in 1288 (_Excheq. Rolls_, I. 24, 38); whence the name
“New.”
291 _licht armyng._ “Everyone of them (the Scots) was protected by
light armour” (_levi armatura_). (_Vita Edw. Sec._, p. 203). See
further, note on _Bk._ XII. 448.
296 _ficht on fut._ Fighting was still regarded as almost entirely the
business of armoured men on horseback, the footmen serving only for
minor purposes. That an army all on foot should oppose chivalry was a
new departure. Bruce was an original general. Sir Thomas Gray says that
the Scots “took example from the Flemings,” who, in 1302, at Courtrai
had in this way defeated the French knights (_Scalacronica_, p. 142).
But this is an after-thought. The _Vita Edwardi Sec._ also draws the
parallel with Courtrai (p. 206). But the Scots could take the hint from
the tactics at Falkirk in 1298, where Wallace was only defeated by the
English archers. An English chronicler of about 1330 suggests that the
Scots were made to fight on foot to avoid the mischance at Falkirk when
their little body of cavalry fled at the sight of the English advance
(_Annales Johannis de Trokelowe_, p. 84).
300 _the sykis._ No doubt shallow lagoons with a muddy bottom, about
the Bannock, where it entered the Forth, flooded by the tide. Jamieson,
in his _Dictionary_, defines _syk_ as “a marshy bottom, with a small
stream in it.” A rivulet in Selkirkshire is known as the Red Syke
(Chambers’ _Popular Rhymes_, p. 17, ed. 1826).
333-6 Pinkerton suggests in his edition that Bruce could not trust the
Highlanders and Islesmen, and so put them in the rear, and stiffened
their ranks with his own followers from Carrick. For this there is no
warrant. The “barons of Argyll and Inchgallye” (the Hebrides) attended
Bruce’s Parliament at St. Andrews in March, 1309 (_Acts Parl. Scot._,
i. 99). _Cf._ also note on X. 14. In any case on the Sunday afternoon
Bruce took the _front_ position in the New Park with these very men
(445, 446).
360 _ane playne feld by the way._ _I.e._, an open, level part by the
road through the park, just outside the wood. The historians have
shifted the position to suit their various and erroneous ideas of the
field of battle. Barbour, it is to be noted, says nothing of bogs, nor
of Buchanan’s “calthrops of iron” (_Scot. Hist._, ed. 1762, p. 213).
Friar Baston, captured at Bannockburn, in his Latin poem, says there
were stakes in the pits (_Scotichronicon_, lib. xii., chap. xxii.).
Geoffrey Baker, of Swinbroke, enlarges them to long ditches covered
with hurdles, an utter misapprehension (_Chronicon_, pp. 56, 57. _Cf._
notes on _Bk._ XII. 536, 537). At Cressy (1346) the English dug “many
pits” (_multa foramina_) of the depth and width of a foot in front
of their first line as a defence against possible pursuit by the
French cavalry (_Baker_, p. 166). An analagous device is described by
Herodotus as having been successfully used by the Phocians to destroy
Messalian cavalry (Book viii., chap. xxviii.).
426 _till ane vale._ Apparently in the valley behind Coxet Hill.
“Gillies Hill” is said to have taken its name from these “gillies,” or
servants (Nimmo’s _History of Stirlingshire_, second edition, p. 219).
Barbour never calls them “gillies,” and why a Gaelic name? The writer
of the description of the district in the _Old Statistical Account_