The year was 1306. William Wallace's head was still impaled on the spikes at London Bridge and his body parts were scattered among Newcastle-on_tyne, Berwick, Stirling, and Perth. John Balliol, crowned king of Scotland in 1992, now lived in exile on his estates in Fance. The Stone of Destiny, upon which all Scottish kings were crowned, was removed by order of Edward I, King of England, and carried into England so that no Scottish King could ever be crowned again. Edward ruled Scotland now, and there would be no more talk of freedom.
On March 25, 1306, in the Abbey of Scone, Bishop Wishart stood before the great banner of lion and scarlet lilies and laid a gold circlet upon the head of Robert the Bruce. Hearing the news, nineteen-year-old Isabel chose loyalty to her brother over loyalty to her husband, the Earl of Buchan, and rode to Scotland, where she crowned her brother a second time.
King Edward I of England lost no time in raising the dragon. He ordered his heralds to proclaim throughout the country that all the wives of his enemies were to be treated as outlaws. Any man, as he might wish, could rob, rape or murder them immune from punishment. Robert the Bruce initially kept them by his side but, when that proved too dangerous, sent them to Kildrummy Castle in Aberdeen. His brother Nigel took the women to safety and prepared to fortify and hold the castle against the advancing English.
Kildrummy castle was one of the most formidable in Scotland and well-prepared for a seige. Nigel Bruce and his men defended the castle well and inflicted so much damage upon the English that they were considering abandoning their seige when they found another alternative.
According to tradition, the castle's blacksmith, Osborne, agreed to betray the castle in return for all the gold he could carry. He threw a red-hot ploughshare into the corn store and the flames spread from this to the wooden buildings and the castle gate. The English swarmed the castle and won a day-long battle. Afterwards, Osborne was rewarded by the English, who poured molten gold down his throat.
Nigel Bruce was dragged through Berwick and hanged and then beheaded. The women were punished in a uniquely humiliating manner. Isabel, the Countess of Buchan who crowned her brother, and Mary Bruce were imprisoned in wooden cages. Isabel was imprisoned in a wooden cage that jutted from the battlements of Berwick castle while Mary was imprisoned in a cage at Roxburgh castle so that on-lookers might view them like animals in a zoo. For the next four years, these women endured solitary confinement with their sole communication limited to English servants who bought them food and drink. Their only concession to modesty was that the privies were within the walls of the castles.
A similar cage was built at the Tower of London for Marjorie, Robert Bruce's twelve-year-old daughter and all were forbidden to talk to her excepting the constable of the Tower. However, Marjorie was never taken to London and was sent, instead, to a nunnery at Walton. The imprisonment of Elizabeth Bruce presented a quandry to Edward I as she was the daughter of the Earl of Ulster, and Edward I needed the Earl's loyalty so greatly that he didn't dare offend him by imprisoning his daughter as he had her sisters-in-law. Thus, she was placed under house arrest and allowed two elderly and unpleasant ladies-in-waiting. She remained a prisoner for eight long years, until the Battle of Bannock, when Bruce was able to arrange an exchange of hostages.
Many popular stories surround the next few years of Robert the Bruce's actions, including the legend of the spider in the cave which taught him to try and try again until he succeeded. What is known with certainity is that Robert the Bruce was a remarkable warrior who also possessed the ability to win people to his side. Slowly and against great odds, he united the countryside under his banner. Among those whose fought with him at the Battle of Bannock are the Camerons, Campbells, Carmichaels, Chisholms, Frasers, Gordons, Grants, Gunns, McKays, Mackintoshes, Macphersons, Macquarries, Macleans, MacDonalds, MacFarlanes, MacGregors, MacKenzies, Menzies, Munros, Robertsons, Rosses, Sinclairs, and Sutherlands. Robert trained his troops for at least two months to protect Sterling Castle and prepared the gound well, for he knew that the English would far outnumber them and his greatest strength laid in planning well.
The Menzies had supported William Wallace and had earned Edward I's enmity by fighting with William Wallace at Stirling and Falkirk, and refusing to sign the Ragman's Roll as ordered. The Clan had suffered much from their steadfast resistance to English domination and now the Menzies were there for the battle. Sir Alexander and his sons, Robert, Thomas and Alexander, were all present and it may be assumed, as was traditional, that many of their clansmen accompanied them.
An ancient Roman road leads from Edinburgh to Stirling, some five miles north of Falkrick. There, the forest of Torwood was vast and filled with rocky outcroppings. The vanguard was commanded by Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, who brought about 500 men. The second division was led by Edward Bruce, and included men from Buchan, Mar, Angus, the Mearns, Menteith, Stathearn, and Lennox as well as a small group from Galloway. The third division, a group of about 1,000 from Lanark, Renfrew, and the Borders, was under the token command of the High Steward, Walter Stewart. However, Walter Stewart was a minor and thus the real control was in the hands of his cousin, the famed James Douglas, who inspired the children's bedtime warning: Hush yes, hush ye, little pet ye; Hush ye, hush ye, do not fret ye; The Black Douglas shall not get ye. The fourth division, which the King commanded himself, had a double strength of 2,000. Under his banner rode western Scotland Highlanders from many clans who quelled their feuds for the duration of their battle, as well as Bruce's own men from Carrick, Kyle, and Cunningham and Angus Macdonald with his liegemen from the Western Isles. Finally, Marishal Sir Robert Keither has 500 light horse and a company of archers from the Ettrick forest. Altogether, this gave the Scots an army between five and six thousand, to face enemy forces almost four times as great in number.
Knowing his disadvantages, Bruce trained and disciplined his army in a way that was unique to Scotland. In England, the natural leaders were high on horses and remote from the lowly foot soldiers. In Scotland, there was a different relationship between man and master and the chiefs, burthers, and landowers were acustomed to fighting side-by-side with their own men on foot. They wore lighter armour than they wore on horseback and they carried twelve-foot spears and swords or axes. Setting an example for later commanders to follow, Bruce took great pains to greet all those who followed him and speak well to them.
Bruce chose his battlefield carefully, selecting an area where the English could not approach from the east, due to the spongy area, nor could they come from the west, due to the unbroken forest of Torwood and New Park. Thus, he limited their means of approaching Stirling to the Roman Road through New Park or slightly eat, where fording the Bannock burn would grant them access to New Park. To further strengthen his geographic advantage, Bruce ordered the area honeycombed with foot-wide pits that were knee-deep and camouflaged with brushwood and grass. He had trees felled to use as barricades across any tracks through the forest. When word arrived that the English were approaching, Bruce gave orders that camp followers, grooms, and others too il-armed to fight should retire with the wagonloads of food and equipment to a hidden valley behind Gillies Hill and wait until summoned.
Bruce dispatched the vanguard and other divisions to the prepared divisions and sent the vanguard, under Thomas Randolph, to St. Ninian's Kirk to guard the track along the Carse.
When the English reached Torwood, they were met by Sir Philip Mowbray, the Governor of Stirling Castle. He pointed out that there was no need for a battle for, under the laws of chivalry, the English had fulfilled their obligation by arriving within three leagues of the castle and thus the castle must remain in their hands. The English, however, did not come so far to turn back. Sir Philip warned them of the Scots' preparations on the west and the barricades and thus the English vanguard advanced along the Roman Road under the Earl of Gloucester, confident that the overwhelming show of force would force the Scots to retire. if not, Gloucester's heavy cavalry would quickly disperse them. At the same time, Sir Robert Cliford and Sir Henry Beaumont took 600 knights along the edge of the Carse to block their retreat. The Earl of Hereford, claiming his hereditary right to lead the army, was made joint commander with Gloucester.
The English vanguard contracted into columns as they approached the forst and the Earl of Hereford's nephew, Sir Henry de Bohum, rode in front, wearing full armour and carrying a spear. When he saw a rider with a golden circlet on his helmet, carrying an axe and mounted on a grey palfrey, de Bohum couched his lance and spurred forward.
Much has been made of Bruce's decision to accept the knight's challenge, rather than wisely falling back behind his men. Edward I had given de Bohuns the Bruce's lands in Annandale and Carrick and Edward II had given the Bruce domains in Essex to the de Bohuns. It could have been this thought, an impulsive response, or a well-calculated appraisal of his ability that caused Robert the Bruce to to ride forward. When de Bohum charged, Bruce swerved to one side, rose up in the stirrups, and brought his axe down upon de Bohum's head with such force that he cut through the helmet and the skull and his axe handle shivered in two.
A stunned, brief, silence was folled by a wild war cry from the Highlanders, who climbed over the fieldwork and charged the English cavalry. The Earl of Gloucester was unhorsed when his mount stumbled in one of the pits and his squires quickly came to his aid. All fled and Bruce stopped the pursuit.
During the battle that followed, the Scots triumphed and Bruce offered his men the opportunity to retire afterwards. They declined and ths the chief commanders debated the wisdom of retiring and preserving their only Scottish army versus continuing the battle and risking greater loss of life. While they were debating, Sir Alexander Seton, serving in the English army, visited the camp and advised Bruce that if he attacked the following day, he would surely win.
Never before in military history had foot soldiers marched forward to meet knights, and Sir Ingram de Umfraville is alleged to have said, "...but indeed this is the strangest sight I ever saw for Scotsmen to take on the whole might of England by giving battle on hard ground."
The Scots pushed the English and came close to capturing the King himself. Edward II sought refuge at Stirling caste, where Sir Philip Mowbray pointed out that he would have to surrender the castle and thus the King would become a prisoner. A local knight guided Edward II around the battle area so he could safely return to England.
Once the royal standard disappeared from the field, the English army began to give way.At this point, the watchers on Gillies were signalled to join the fray. When the English saw them, they believed another Scottish army was arriving and began a retreat that disintegrated into a panicked rout with each man looking only to himself.
The Earl of Pembroke was one of the few to remain calm. Having conducted his king to safety, he returned to the battlefield to find and guide his men over a hundred miles of wild country to Carlisle and safely across the Solway to the English headquarters at Carlisle. The others dispersed in all directions, with little guidance from their leaders. Some tried to cross the Forth and were swept away in its currents or sucked into the swamps. The majority raced for Stirling and sought refuge on the crags beneath the castle. This action may have saved Edward II, for Bruce saw so many fleeing in the same direction that he had just reason to fear a regrouping and attack and thus did not pursue Edward. He did, however, allow Douglas to take sixty horse and follow the king while Stirling Castle surrendered to Bruce. One of the greatest triumphs of the day was the capture of hostages. The Earl of Hereford was such a prize that his wife was empowered by her brother, Edward II, to offer fifteen Scottish captives as ransom. Among those released were Bruce's wife, Elizabeth, his daughter, Marjorie, and his sister, Christina.
Bruce reigned until his death on June 7, 1329, just short of his fifty-fifth birthday, leaving behind instructions that his heard should be removed and taken on the crusade that he could not undertake during his lifetime. Here, as at Bannock, the Menzies followed.
Sir James Douglas commissioned a casket of silver and enamel for Bruce's heart and he wore this on a chain around his nect. The following Spring, he set sail from Berwick accompanied by seven knights: Sir William St. Clair (or Sinclair) of Roslyn; Sir Robert and Sir Walter Logan; Sir William Keith; Sir Alan Cathcart; Sir Seymour Loccad of Lee, and one other knight unnamed. Twenty-six others, knights, squires and gentlemen also accompanied the group and Sir Robert Menzies, then Chief of the Clan Menzies and High Sheriff of Edinburgh (who had fought at Bannockburn alongside his father, Alexander, and his younger brothers, Thomas and Alexander), was one of those unnamed who accompanied the group. Sir Robert Menzies's mother, Egidia Stewart, was sister to Walter Stewart, husband of the late king's daughter, Marjory. Thus, he was cousin to Robert Bruce, then eleven, who would rule in 1371. [Robert was cut from his mother's body when she died after being thrown from a horse while riding. Robert succeeded Robert Bruce's son, David, who was then heir to the throne.]
The ship landed at Sluys in Flanders and remained their twelve days, gathering new followers from among the veterans of the land before setting sail along the coast of Spain and up the Guadalquiver River to Seville. At Seville, other knights came to join them and King Alfonso XI, ruler of Castile and Leon, offered them hospitality. However, the Moorish King of Granada, as part of Southern, Muslim Spain, advanced against the city and Alfonso scurried to assemble a force to meet the threat.
Sir James led the King's vanguard, with all foreign knights under his command. They came face-to-face with the Muslim armies at Zebas de Ardales and there, Douglas gave the order to charge. The Saracens employed a ruse that Douglas didn't recognize: they preteneded to flee and when the Knights pursued them, they turned suddenly and attempted to flank them. Sir William Sinclair was trapped and tradition says that Douglas tore the chain from his neck and flung it into the fray, shouting, "Now pass on before us, gallant heart, as thou were wont, Douglas will follow thee or die!" This story is the basis for the Douglas Motto, "Pass Forward", or "Forward!" and their Crest shows and heart and crown in remembrance of the Bruce. Sir Robert and Sir Walter Logan, who were beside Douglas, dove into the fight. Sir Robert Menzies, presumably at the forefront of the fast-approaching vanguard, is said to have shouted back, "God will it, I'll do it," before charging after the others. This is the origin of the Motto of Clan Menzies, "God will, I shall!". The trio of rescurers and Sinclair fell in desperate fighting before the others could reach them.
Accordiing to the tradition of the Cathcart family, Sir Allan Carthart removed the chain from Douglas's neck and wore it himself. Douglas's body was brought to his cousin, Sir William Keith, who had broken his arm and been unable to take part in the battle. Keith ordered the flesh to be boiled from Douglas's bones and buried in hold ground before the few survivors sailed for home under his command.
The heart of Robert the Bruce was interred at the Abby of Melrose and the bones of Sir James Douglas were carried back to the Kirk of Douglas.
The Earl of Moray assumed the government of Scotland as regent for the minor King, David II. Three years later, the Earl died and two years later, Edward III disavowed the Treaty of Edinburgh upon the grounds that he had been a minor when he signed it. Thus, the war between Scotland and England resummed and continued intermittently for about four hundred years
Sir Robert the Menzies is said to have died fighting for King David II, son of Robert the Bruce, at the battle of Neville's Cross, near Durham, on October 7th, 1346. While the wars continued, there was never again a true threat of Scotland becoming a subject race. The reason why is stated best in Robert Burn's poetry:
Scots wha hae with Wallace bled
Scots wham Bruce has aften led
Welcome to your gory bed
Or to victorie.
[Robert Burns] Some years later, the Scots took this self-confidence and sense of self-worth with them to Ireland, during the Plantation Era.