The Bruce
back to the beginning of the siege of Carrickfergus after the victory
at Connor. According to the _Annals of Ir._, Moray crossed to Scotland
on September 15, 1315, to procure more soldiers, “at which time the
said Bruce was besieging the Castle of Carrickfergus” (p. 346). Moray
was back in November with five hundred men (p. 347). Barbour mentions
but one trip on which he returned with King Robert (line 43), but that
would have to be a year later. Further, he dates this journey _after_
the fall of Carrickfergus (see on 38).
16 _till his schippes._ He had four pirate vessels laden with Irish
plunder, of which one was sunk (_Annals of Ir._, p. 346). The Scots had
sent back their own ships (_Bk._ xiv. 35).
38 _Till Cragfergus._ According to Barbour’s chronology, Robert Bruce
crossed to Ireland at some time after the fall of Carrickfergus, as
related in the previous book. But the news of King Robert’s arrival
appears to have reached Dublin about the first week in September, 1316.
Carrickfergus fell some time later in the same month (_Frag._, p.
297). The _Annals of Ulster_ date the arrival about the end of 1316 or
beginning of 1317 (II., p. 429, and note). The _Annals of Clonmacnoise_
(p. 279) and the _Annals of the Four Masters_ (III., p. 515) place it
in 1317, by which time Carrickfergus, of course, was in possession of
the Scots.
62 _Inderwillane._ “Dr. Reeves believes this to be an old garbled name
for that pass, known later as _Bealach an Maghre_, or Moyry Pass. It
was on the old road; indeed, the only possible one, from Leinster to
Ulster. It is in the parish of Killevy, county of Armagh, but only a
few perches from the boundary of Lowth” (_Innes_).
63 _the moneth of May._ Must have been much earlier (see on 262).
74 _The wardane thair._ See on _Bk._ XIV. 638.
119 _Schyr Colyne Cammell._ Sir Colin Campbell, Bruce’s nephew, as son
of his sister Marie by her marriage with Sir Neil Campbell (Robertson’s
_Index_, p. 26; 11, 18). Bain strangely says that of Sir Neil’s two
wives on record neither was a Bruce (_Calend._, ii., lix). Marie’s
marriages are somewhat ravelled (see on _Bk._ viii. 397), but this one
is certain. Colin got the grant of Lochaw (Robertson, _ibid._). There
was another nephew of the same marriage, John (_Index_, p. 19; 105),
who also went on this occasion to Ireland (_Annals_, p. 344).
131 _That he dynnit on his arsoune._ “Knocked heavily against his
saddle.” _Cf._ _Alexander_, where Gaudifer is struck with spears.
“Quhill on his arsoune dintit he” (p. 99).
132 _tyt hym doune._ “The King bade (the others) remove him quickly
from his horse,” apparently because his horse was killed (line 126)
and he stunned; or, as Skeat suggests, that he should fight on foot,
instead, I suppose, of being rash on horseback.
141 _That we sall have, etc._ “That we shall have plenty to do
presently.”
150 _In four battellis, fourty thousand._ _Cf._ on _Bk._ XIV. 270. The
numbers, of course, are improbable; but see next note.
179 _So hard ane fichting._ This battle I cannot trace in the _Annals_,
but Butler, the Justiciary, is said to have assembled an army of
30,000 against the Bruces, which did nothing; not, however, till April
(_Fragment_, p. 301).
182 _thre yheir._ Spring, 1315, to October, 1318.
185 _trappit horse._ See note on _Bk._ XI. 130.
187 _quhen lest wes he._ “He was always at the very least one to five.”
262 _forrouth Devillyn._ The Scots and the Ulster men were at Swords,
eight miles north of Dublin (_Hist. and Municip. Docts._, p. 451); at
Castleknock in the immediate neighbourhood on the west (_St. Mary’s
Annals_, p. 282; _Fragment_, 299), on the eve of St. Matthew’s Day,
February 23, 1317 (_Fragment_). They moved to a position in the
vicinity, where they stayed for four days, burned a part of the town,
and spoiled the churches (_ibid._).
265 _Lunyk._ Correctly Limerick, which is not, however, the “southmast
toune” in Ireland. The Scots came to Limerick, but were defeated at
Castle Connell (_Annals_, p. 353).
293 _Northwarde agane._ On May 1, 1317, Bruce took the road to Ulster
(_Fragment_, p. 302).
295 _Conage._ Connaught; _Myth_, Meath; _Irell_, _i.e._, Uriel or Oriel
= Louth, Armagh and Monaghan; _Munser_, Munster; _Lainenser_, Leinster.
Limerick is, of course, in Munster, which should come first.
301 _The kyngis._ See note on _Bk._ XIV. 102.
336 _hawch of Lyntoun-le._ A “haugh” is low-lying level ground,
generally beside water, river, or sea. “Lentalee, in the forest of
Jedworth” (Jedburgh), as Gray has it, is about two miles south of that
town. Gray groups this incident, as Barbour does, with the Scaithmoor
and Berwick fights, but in a different position (see note on _Bk._ XV.
435; and _Scala._, p. 143). “Lentelee” in Stevenson (_Illustrations_,
p. 3). “Near Jeddeworth” is the location of the “foray” in _Bain_
(iii., No. 576).
337 _a fayr maner._ The anonymous chronicler in Stevenson says
that Douglas was passing the time (_moram traxit_) in a sort of
fortification (_municioni quadam_) with 200 men (_Illustrations_, p. 3).
339 _gert purvay him richt weill._ The English found “much victuals” in
the place (_Stevenson_, p. 3).
342 _wonnand then._ The date of the fight is about April 23, 1317
(_Stevenson_, p. 3).
343 _Schir Thomas._ Sir Thomas Richmond was not an earl, but a
Yorkshire knight, owner of Burton-Constable, and a well-known figure
on the Border (_Bain_, iii., p. xxv, No. 178). The “Earl” in command
was the Earl of Arundel, appointed guardian of the district between
the Trent and Roxburgh on February 2, 1317 (_Rotuli Scotiæ_, i. 169;
_Illustrations_, p. 3). “Sir Edmund, Earl of Arundel, warden of the
March” (_Bain_, iii., No. 576).
352 _War passit than of the cuntre._ That is, King Robert and many
with him were in Ireland. So, too, in _Stevenson_: “The leaders of the
Scots being then engaged in war in Ireland, and Scotland being almost
destitute of men” (_Illustrations_, p. 3).
354-55 _the cuntre was Febill of men._ _Cf._ previous note.
357 _of the marchis._ But _cf._ note on 343.
360 _ten thousand men._ In Stevenson’s chronicler “thirty thousand men”
(_Illust._, p. 3). Officially it was called “a foray” (_Bain_, iii.,
No. 576). The English exaggeration is worse than Barbour’s.
363 _Till hewe doune Jedward forest._ Since the time of the Romans
and the disastrous march of Septimius Severus (third century) the
forests of Scotland had been recognized as the natural defences of the
country. They are, for the most part, the “strengths” which figure so
prominently in Barbour. See on Jedward, _Bk._ VIII. 427.
375 _And of archeris a gret menyhe._ _Cf._ note on 377.
380 _The entre._ As in the wood of the King’s Park (_Bk._ XI. 446).
383 _a penny-stane cast._ A “penny-stane” was a flat stone used as a
quoit, hence “as wide only as the throw of a quoit.”
384 _Douglas thiddir yheid._ “Douglas abandoned his position and
retired” (_Illustrations_, p. 3).
406 _on thame schot thai._ In _Stevenson_ this, the main attack,
follows the surprise at Lintalee (p. 4).
418 _reft the liff._ Richmond was slain (_Scala._, p. 143; _Stevenson_,
p. 4).
419 _Ane hat._ Hailes notes that “In _Histoire de Bretagne par
Lobineau_, t. i., p. 665, there is a portrait of Arthur de Richemont,
Duke of Brittany, with a _furred hat_, such as is described by Barbour”
(_Annals_, ii., p. 82 note). Richmond was identified by the hat on the
word of a prisoner. See lines 480-5.
441 _ane clerk, Elys._ “A clerk called Helias” (_Stevenson_, p. 3).
Stevenson says he was a “noble ‘schavaldur.’” See on this _Bk._ V. 205
(note).
442 _thre hundreth enymys._ “With thirty comrades” (_Stevenson_, p. 3).
444 _herbery had tane._ Ellis and his companions occupied Douglas’s
house, and took their fill (_se saciavit_) of the victuals there
(_Stevenson_, _ibid._).
450-1 _with suerdis.... Thai servit thame._ They despatched them with
the sword (_reliquos gladio jugulavit._ _Stevenson_, p. 4). The head of
Ellis was cut off, and placed in a humiliating position beside the body
(_ibid._).
458 “That addition to the repast was overmuch.”
472 _Till wend hamward._ “The said Earl (Arundel) retreated southwards
without doing more” (_Scala._, p. 143).
504 _forrouth._ Before, in _Bk._ IX. 570-630.
509 _Schir Johne de Sowlis._ _Cf._ _Bk._ XIV. 25, and note.
512-4 _With fifty men_, etc. _I.e._, Soulis had the fifty, Harcla the
three hundred.
518 _Schir Androu ... has tane._ Harcla was a prisoner with the Scots
at some date in November, 1316, when he asks the King of England for
help towards his ransom (_Bain_, iii. 514, 515, 697). He was ransomed
with difficulty (_Scala._, p. 149). He was executed in 1323 for
treasonable dealings with the Scots.
549 _besyde Enverkethyne._ Inverkeithing, Fife. Near Donibristle, says
Fordun’s continuator, showing that here he follows another source than
Barbour (_Scotic._, _Bk._ xii., chap. xxv.).
552 _The Erll of Fiff._ Duncan de Fife, the young Earl, with his mother
and step-father joined the Scots some little time before August 2,
1317, when his mother had her English manor forfeited (_Bain_, iii.,
No. 566). He came with a troop of five hundred armed men (_Scotic._, as
cited).
575 _Willyhame Syncler._ William St. Clair was the brother of Sir Henry
St. Clair of Roslin. He had been a canon of Dunkeld, and was elected
Bishop in 1312 (Dowden in _Scot. Hist. Rev._, vol. i., pp. 316-17). On
his return from Rome Edward II. tried to keep him in England (_Bain_,
iii. 301). In the _Wallace_ he figures as a Bishop already, and a
friend of the patriot (vii. 932; viii. 1225). He was among the four
bishops specially summoned to Rome to answer for their support of Bruce
in defiance of the Church.
592-3 _aucht weill to ma Of yhow._ “Should think highly of you!”
596 _The gilt spurs._ The sign of knighthood; to hew them off was a
ceremony of degradation (_cf._ line 598). So, too, in _Scotic._, as
cited.
635 _that yheit held unslayn._ “That had held or kept themselves from
being slain.”
676 _the Scottis Se._ The Firth of Forth. See on IX. 309.
BOOK XVII.
13 _Redis Swyr._ The pass over Cheviot to the valley of the Rede, a
tributary of the Tyne. By it went the road from Jedburgh, and in it is
the site of the Battle of Otterburn, 1388. _Swyr_ is A.S. _swira_ or
_swera_, the neck.
15 _Outakin Berwik, it allane._ “One town in Scotland was left to the
King” (_Vita Edw. Sec._, p. 234). On September 20, 1317, and January
30, 1318, certain burgesses were going to England and France to
purchase provisions “for the munition of the town” (_Bain_, iii., Nos.
575, 588). To save expense (_Scala._), the defence of the town itself
had been entrusted to the mayor, bailiffs, and burgesses (_ibid._, No.
593; _Vita Edw._, p. 234; _Scala._, p. 148). According to Stevenson’s
Chronicler, the citizens had begged to be entrusted with the defence
because of their ill-treatment by the royal garrison, August 1, 1317
(p. 5).
17 _That capitane was._ Roger de Horslee, Keeper of the Castle (_Bain_,
iii., No. 607). He had been appointed, August 19, 1317, to command the
castle when the city was committed to the burgesses (_Stevenson_, p. 5;
_Rot. Scot._, i., p. 175). _Cf._ on 224.
19 _tretit thame richt ill._ On February 4, 1318, Edward appointed a
commission of three to “inquire into the disputes arisen, or likely to
arise, between the burgesses and the garrison of Berwick, to the danger
of the town” (_Bain_, iii., No. 589). _Cf._ note on 15.
23 _a burges, Sim of Spaldyng._ “Peter de Spalding” in _Scala._, p.
144; _Lanerc._, p. 234; _Illustr._, p. 5; _Trokelowe_, p. 103, etc.
The _Annales Paulini_ adds John Drory and other accomplices (p. 282).
“Peter de Spalding” is on the roll of the garrison of Berwick in 1312