a clownish lout), Edward swore a famous “oath upon the swans” that he would not rest until Scotland was finally conquered. And within weeks the now-aging Hammer of Scotland was leading yet another army into the land of the north, slashing and burning a path toward his latest impetuous usurper. Within three months the English had smashed Bruce’s small army in a battle at Methven Park near Perth, summarily hanging their captured prisoners and driving Bruce north into the Highlands.
As Bruce avoided him, Edward’s retribution was ferocious. Isabella, who had attended Bruce’s coronation, was put into a cage in Berwick and kept there for four years, never fully set free for the rest of her life. Bruce’s brother Nigel was seized and executed without a trial, and two other brothers were also soon killed by Edward. His wife and daughter, attempting to escape to Norway, were captured and kept prisoner. Over the next year Scotland itself fell into civil war as several powerful families took up arms against him.
But Bruce did indeed have a saving grace: resoluteness. He kept fighting, and in fighting he kept adapting, matching the strengths of his smaller forces against the weaknesses of those who sought to destroy him. And then he started winning. Bruce knew that his only hope was to gain the respect of the typical Scot. Ironically—but also predictably—the common penchant for disliking Bruce was eased by the passions that Proud Edward had set loose, both with the execution and desecration of William Wallace and his latest foray into Scotland. Quite simply, the whole of Scotland was finally ready to repulse the English, and this time they were in search of a leader. And in historic Celtic fashion, Bruce finally won over the doubters by his unrelenting efforts on the battlefield.
In the summer of 1307 fate intervened in his behalf. Edward I, aged and in ill health, died while moving toward yet another battle in Scotland. As Churchill put it, “Edward was now too ill to march or ride. Like the emperor Severus a thousand years before he was carried in a litter against this stern people, and like him he died upon the road. His last thoughts were on Scotland and on the Holy Land. He conjured his son to carry his bones in the van of the army which should finally bring Scotland to obedience.” 34
The Hammer of Scotland passed his throne on to Edward II, whose skills were far less than those of his father and in the end were no match for Bruce’s.
The battles piled up, some against the English and others against powerful Scottish families who had their own ambitions. But other Scots, now including the leaders of many of the powerful Celtic families just beneath the high nobility, gradually came over to Bruce’s side. He began to win more than he lost and he kept on fighting. On the battlefield, Bruce was a smart tactician and a skillful innovator. As Professor Mackie writes, Bruce developed a highly effective battlefield doctrine against the English, relying on smart defenses of his own choosing and a maneuverable offense that allowed him to concentrate his forces. In sum, he “denied ground to hostile cavalry by digging trenches to prolong his short battle line; he avoided pitched battle; he destroyed the castles which he captured, and moved swiftly while his enemy, relying on heavy horses, were sometimes unable to stir until the fields could supply fodder.” 35
One can question Bruce’s ethics and recoil from the extremes he took to eliminate personal enemies, but such judgments must be balanced against his goals as a national leader and his brilliance as a fighter. Wallace had the heart. Bruce had the stomach, and the brains.
By early 1314, Bruce’s forces had taken all the major castles in Scotland except Stirling, and it was there, not far from where William Wallace had first defeated the English fourteen years before, that Bruce lured the English into the most decisive battle in Scotland’s history. Laying
As Bruce avoided him, Edward’s retribution was ferocious. Isabella, who had attended Bruce’s coronation, was put into a cage in Berwick and kept there for four years, never fully set free for the rest of her life. Bruce’s brother Nigel was seized and executed without a trial, and two other brothers were also soon killed by Edward. His wife and daughter, attempting to escape to Norway, were captured and kept prisoner. Over the next year Scotland itself fell into civil war as several powerful families took up arms against him.
But Bruce did indeed have a saving grace: resoluteness. He kept fighting, and in fighting he kept adapting, matching the strengths of his smaller forces against the weaknesses of those who sought to destroy him. And then he started winning. Bruce knew that his only hope was to gain the respect of the typical Scot. Ironically—but also predictably—the common penchant for disliking Bruce was eased by the passions that Proud Edward had set loose, both with the execution and desecration of William Wallace and his latest foray into Scotland. Quite simply, the whole of Scotland was finally ready to repulse the English, and this time they were in search of a leader. And in historic Celtic fashion, Bruce finally won over the doubters by his unrelenting efforts on the battlefield.
In the summer of 1307 fate intervened in his behalf. Edward I, aged and in ill health, died while moving toward yet another battle in Scotland. As Churchill put it, “Edward was now too ill to march or ride. Like the emperor Severus a thousand years before he was carried in a litter against this stern people, and like him he died upon the road. His last thoughts were on Scotland and on the Holy Land. He conjured his son to carry his bones in the van of the army which should finally bring Scotland to obedience.” 34
The Hammer of Scotland passed his throne on to Edward II, whose skills were far less than those of his father and in the end were no match for Bruce’s.
The battles piled up, some against the English and others against powerful Scottish families who had their own ambitions. But other Scots, now including the leaders of many of the powerful Celtic families just beneath the high nobility, gradually came over to Bruce’s side. He began to win more than he lost and he kept on fighting. On the battlefield, Bruce was a smart tactician and a skillful innovator. As Professor Mackie writes, Bruce developed a highly effective battlefield doctrine against the English, relying on smart defenses of his own choosing and a maneuverable offense that allowed him to concentrate his forces. In sum, he “denied ground to hostile cavalry by digging trenches to prolong his short battle line; he avoided pitched battle; he destroyed the castles which he captured, and moved swiftly while his enemy, relying on heavy horses, were sometimes unable to stir until the fields could supply fodder.” 35
One can question Bruce’s ethics and recoil from the extremes he took to eliminate personal enemies, but such judgments must be balanced against his goals as a national leader and his brilliance as a fighter. Wallace had the heart. Bruce had the stomach, and the brains.
By early 1314, Bruce’s forces had taken all the major castles in Scotland except Stirling, and it was there, not far from where William Wallace had first defeated the English fourteen years before, that Bruce lured the English into the most decisive battle in Scotland’s history. Laying
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