BOOK VI.

“Of handis and heidis baith braune and bludeHe maid anelardnarequhare he stood” (p. 233, 5).

Dr. Neilson says, “there is nothing corresponding in the French,” and claims that the lines in theBruceare the source of the “lurid and telling phrase” (John Barbour, p. 56). But this does not follow, as the word occurs in this sense elsewhere (see N.E.D.), and the simple sense of “slaughter” in theAlexanderis not quite parallel to the full significance of the word in theBruce, where the “meile, malt, blude and wyne” fill out the suggestiveness of its use. According to Hume of Godscroft, the Douglas historian, the “wyne-sellar” of line 399 is identified with a cellar “called yet the Douglas Lairder” (History of the House of Douglas, p. 28, ed. 1644).

460The thrill-wallis.May be “John de Thirlewal, vallet of Sir Adam de Swynburne,” who, “with a barbed horse,” was one of a company hunting Bruce in Glentrool, April, 1307 (Bain, ii., p. 572).

483Schyr Ingrame Bell.Evidently a misreading of “Ingrame Umphrevell,” as is clear fromBk.VI. 3; not the other way, as Skeat puts it. There was no such person as “Bell.” Umfraville was holding Cumnock Castle on May 18 (Bain, ii., 1931). Later in the year he is at Ayr, July or August, sent there by Valence (ibid., No. 1961).

575about his hals.Hung from his neck. A two-handed sword too long to be supported by a waist-belt.

642toym.“Leisure.” Modern Scotstoom= empty; not time. The distinction is clearly marked in theGest. Hystoriale: “But thistymeis so tore (inconvenient), and we notomehave” (644).

3the Umphrevell.SeeBk.V. 483, 513, etc.

69Gilbert de la Hay.See note onBk.II. 237.

120 “Since he was provided with armour.”

121thurt.“Needed.” The word occurs once inMorte Arthure, in the present impersonal: “Hymtharebe ferde (afraid) for no faces” (403).Cf.alsoBk.VIII. 257.

128For litill strynth of erd.“On account of a slight natural defence in the character of the ground.”

149fiff-sum.“Five together.” The compound is still familiar in Scotland—e.g., a “three-some reel,” a “four-some” in golf.Cf.“sex-sum” in line 231.

179The story is from theThebaidof Statius through some intermediate source which cannot now be identified. SeeAppendixF, § iv.

195-6 “First the one should reign a year, then the other for a year from the expiry of the previous term,” and so on.

201his constabill.Defined in theAlexander:

“That of the duke’s hoist all hale,Wasconstabilland chief ledere” (73; 14, 15).

252the gret anciente.“Through its great antiquity.”

314 “Then they praised greatly God the all-mighty.” The comparativefastaris inBk.XIII. 129.

316Thaim byrd.“It behoved or was necessary for them.” (O.E.byrian, impersonal verb).Cf.“Sabyrdal Galouya hyme honoure” (Lives of the Saints, Ninian, 932): “Me byrd be blyth” in same (Martha, 152). Frequent in theAlexander.Cf.onBk.I. 381.

336Worschip extremyteis has twa.Valour as a mean between two extremes is an Aristotelian notion (cf.line 347).

339 “And they are both to be avoided.”

341 “Things which should be left alone as well as those which should be done” (cf.lines 348-9).

463In Cumnok.A town and parish in Kyle, Ayrshire.

481Johne of Lorn.See note onBk.III. 1.

483aucht hundreth men and ma.On July 19, 1307, there is a command from Aymer de Valence, the King’s lieutenant, for aid to John of Lorn “guarding the town of Ayr and parts adjacent.” Lorn had 22 men-at-arms and 800 foot, so that Barbour’s statement is remarkably accurate, while his details enable us to fix the date of the events (Bainii., No. 1957).

484A sleuthhund.Jean le Bel has a reference to some such occurrence as this, though he credits it to Edward I., and distorts the course of events. He explains that one time Edward had Robert Bruce chased through great forests for the space of three or four days, “by dogs and sleuth-hounds” (par chiens et limiers), and gives as his authority not only popular report (ce dit on), but also “an account composed by the said King Robert” (et le treuve on en hystoire faitte par le dit roy Robert.Chroniquei., chap. xxii.). Sleuth-hounds were common for police purposes: “That thar sal nane lat (obstruct) a sluthe hund passand or the men that are cumand with hym for to follow theyffis or to tak mysdvaris,” etc. (1289) (Acta Parl. Scot., I. 108). See on VII. 17.

487a strecour.A fast runner, a dog for the chase; from the verbstreke, to go rapidly (Skeat).

503his emys sak.See note onBk.III. 3.

507Schir Amery.Valence is at Glenken, Kirkcudbrightshire, on July 24, and at Doon-side on July 31, 1307 (Bainii., Nos. 1958, 1959).

510Thomas Randale.Thomas Randolph, on the English side. See note onBk.II. 463.

558 “He would pay no attention to the others.”

650Out of dawis doyn.“Done out of days”—i.e., killed.

657yhow ane.“Yourself alone”—a rather awkward expression, but the reading in H supports E.

665-6 “As they did not fear me, I could do them much more harm.”

2will of wayn.“Wild of weening” or thought—i.e., quite at a loss. See on II. 471.

10yhe.Yefrom an inferior to a superior;youon the part of the latter, as in line 15.

17I haf herd, etc. In a note to theWallace,Bk.v. 25, Jamieson cites from “Bellenden, after Boece,” a long passage on bloodhounds, in which this occurs: “And thocht the thevis oftymes cors the wattir, quhair thai pas, to caus the hound to tyne the sent of thaym and the guddis, yit he serchis heir and thair with sic deligence, that be his fut he fyndis baith the trace of the theiff and the guddis” (Description of Albion, chap. xi.). See on VI. 484.

48 “And he is a good distance off by this time.”

90price and loving.“Honour and praise.”Cf.99, 294.

103war bodyn all evynly.“Were armed equally well,” equipped for fighting.

132bryng hym than of daw.“Bring him then out of day”—i.e., kill him.Cf.onBk.VI. 650.

163housis.MSS. give “hous” with flourished “s,” here expanded to “is.” SeePreface3.

177slep.“To sleep,” infinitive, not a substantive.

188as foul on twist.“Like a bird on a bough.”

*302to-waverand.“To-wavering”—i.e., distracted, uncertain.Waverandoccurs in line 112 above, and in theWallacein “waverand wynd” (Bk.iv. 340). “To” is intensive = Germanzer. InMorte Arthurewe have “to-stonayede” = astounded (1436) and “to-briste” = burst asunder (3982). Skeat gives for the text, “wandering uncertainly in different directions,” but “her and thar” follows.

330nakyt.“Without armour,” as always in the poem.

423for Jhon Cumyng’s sak.That this feeling did operate in certain quarters we gather, further, from a story told in theScalacronica, citing “the chronicles of his (Bruce’s) actions,” in which two men ferry Bruce, whom they did not know, over a passage between two islands. They ask about Bruce, and express a wish that they had him intheir hands, that they might kill him. Bruce inquired why, and the answer is, “Because he murdered John Comyn, our lord.” This incident is placed after Loudon Hill, and the precise locality is not mentioned. Bruce discloses his identity in parting from them (Scala., pp. 132-3).

455top our teill.“Top over tail,” head over heels. The phrase occurs in theAlexander(72, 8).

468till him dreuch.“Drew the man towards him.”

494Glentruell.Glen Trool and Loch Trool are in the west of Kirkcudbright. See below on 622.

497the deir war in sesoun.June or July, and so after Loudon Hill inBk.VIII.

561the Clyffurd.Sir Robert Clifford. See note on 622 and onBk.I. 282.

588his baneour.“His banner-bearer,” as inMorte Arthure, “He byddys hisbaneoure, Buske yow,” etc. (3732).

622Vaus.“Vaux” =de vallibus, like Clifford, a Cumberland family. Sir John de Vaus is on service under Valence against Bruce in June, 1307 (Bain, ii., No. 1938). We have a set of memoranda relative to expeditions against Bruce in Galloway, dated February 12 to May 3, 1307, for wages to horse, foot, and archers under different commanders, “in the valley of Nith,” “beyond the water of Cree,” “Glentruil, riding in search of Robert de Brus,” “on the raid to Glentruyl, against said Sir Robert,” “in Carrick and Glentruyl”; and among the leaders is Sir Robert de Clifford (Bain, ii., No. 1923).

623raucht him a colè.“Reached him a blow.” Skeat explainscolèas from O.F.colee, fromcol(cou), the neck.Cf.accolade, a blow with the flat of a sword in dubbing a knight.

624 “Both drew up their men in sides,” for a fight.

632than he com of toune.“Than when he set out,” a general phrase.

9Kyle.The central division of Ayrshire, betweenCarrickto the south andCunningham(13) in the north.

14He gert helde.“He made to submit” (O.E.,hieldan, to incline; Anglianhaeldan).Cursor Mundi, “All folk to Rome suldheild” (22,235, N.E.D.).

15Bothweill.Bothwell Castle, on the Clyde. It had seen a good deal of fighting in the earlier war. In August, 1301, the castle and barony, which had belonged to William de Moray, were presented to Aymer de Valence and his heirs (Bain, ii., No. 1214). See also note onBk.xiii. 409.

21Philip the Mowbray.More probably Sir John de Mowbray serving in Ayr for Valence, with others, in June to August, 1307 (Bain, ii., Nos. 1938, 1961).

28Makyrnokis way.Godscroft gives the name in the formMachanacks; but David Macpherson, supporting the spelling in the text, says it is “a narrow pass on the bank of Makyrnok wattyr,” which he located near Kilmarnock (Geog. Illust., s.v.).

34Edry-furd.The meaning of this name appears to be given in the line below, “betwix marras twa,” in which caseEdryis for GaelicEadar, “between,” as in other ancient names—e.g.,Eddirdailfor the Black Isle, beingEadar-da-dhail, “between two dales.” “Furd,” of course, is English, and we may conjecture that the place was first known as “the ford,” with a Gaelic name beginning withEadar, and signifying “between the marshes”; then that the unwieldy title was telescoped, the latter part of the Gaelic compound dropping out, and reduced to the hybrid “Eadar-ford,” finally to the form given.

95Kilwynnyn.Kilwinning is west of Kilmarnock, near Ardrossan. At Ardrossan they turned north by the coast road and passed Largs on to Inverkip, where are still the remains of the castle. In 1301 Edward I., after capturing Bothwell Castle, went on to besiege that of Inverkip, and in July, 1306, after Methven, Thomas Randolph was imprisoned there (Bain, ii., Nos. 1224, 1807).

123Gawlistoun.Galston is a little east of Kilmarnock. Beyond it rises Loudon Hill.

133the tend day of May.May 10. The memoranda cited in note toBk.VII. 622, relating to the pursuit of Bruce in Galloway, extend to May 3. The battle of Loudon Hill was fought before May 15. See note on 362.

164The hye-gat.“The high-road” to Ayr, as we learn also from theWallace,Bk.iii. That hero, with his men, there lay in wait for “Persey’s caryage,” which was being convoyed up Avondale (78) to Ayr (63). The waggons of supplies “took Loudon Hill” (116), on which Wallace had prepared a position (100). Loudon Hill itself is a bold, outstanding eminence commanding the valley of the Avon. The road must have crossed the lower slope (line 165).

172thre dykis.On each side of the road, but a bowshot (150 to 200 yards) away (169), was a moss, impassable for horsemen. Further to narrow the hard ground (170), Bruce dug inwards from “the mosses” three ditches up to the road (173), each a bowshot behind the other (175). In the ditches he left gaps (“stoppis”) for the road (179), wide enough for 500 men to ride abreast (? 650 to 700 yards). Thus he could not be outflanked (185) or attacked in the rear (186), and he had sufficient men to deal witha frontal attack (187, 188). If he could not check the English at the first ditch, he could retreat to the next, and so to the third, if necessary (189-194). Bruce’s tactics was thus to make a position defensible by a small number on foot, and open only to an attack in front. Maxwell’s suggestion that the ditches were to shelter the Scots from the archers has no warrant in the text (Robert the Bruce, p. 164). In theWallace:

“A manerdyk, off stanys thai had maid,Narrowyt the wayquhar throuch thair thikar raid”(iii. 133-4).

The incident in theWallaceis certainly derived fromThe Bruce, but Barbour’s “dykis” = ditches, as in the modern English sense, has become a stone dike in theWallace, where “dyk” has been taken in its modern Scots sense = a wall.

216The sone wes rysyn schynand bricht.So too in theWallace. He took up his position “in the gray dawing,” and then “The sone was rysyne our landis schenand brycht” (Bk.iii. 119).

232quhit as flour.See onBk.II. 415; XI. 131. Barbour here must mean the white linen garment covering the armour—the surcoat.

257that us thar dout.“Whom it needs us to fear.” See for “thar” = needs, note onBk.VI. 121.

280cant and keyn.Cant= lively, brisk;cf.canty.Keyn(keen) is probably in the sense of “bold” or “valiant.” The words are almost synonymous.Cf.Morte Arthure:

“The knyhte coveride (got) on his knees with akauntherte” (2195).

326skalyt in soppis.“Scattered in groups.” TheWallacesimply paraphrases:

“The Inglissmen, that besye was in wer,Befors ordand in sondyr thaim to ber” (163-4).

339At erd ane hundreth and weill mar.So inWallace:

“A hundreth dede in feild was levyt thar” (205).

351to-ga.A past tense: “went off in a hurry.” See note onBk.VII. *302.

362He gaf up thar his wardanry.Loudon Hill was fought in May, 1307; Valence was still “warden of Scotland” in July 31 (Bain, ii., No. 1959), but was replaced by Sir John de Bretagne, Earl of Richmond, on September 13 (Foedera, iii., p. 10). An anonymous letter of May 15 says that “the King (Edward I.) was much enraged that the guardian and his force had retreated before ‘King Hobbe’”; also that James Douglas “sent and beggedto be received, but when he saw the King’s forces retreat, he drew back” (Bain, ii. 1979).

380For that victour.There exists a letter written by “some high official” at Forfar on May 15, which appears to refer to the events of this year. Bain gives it in full in Anglo-French in vol. ii., pp. 536-7, and an abstract on p. 513. The writer says that “the news of these parts are as follows: so far as I am able to understand, Sir Robert de Bruys has never before had the good will of the people even half so fully as at the present moment” (ne avoyt onkes sa en arere si avaunt la volunte des gentz ne la moyte si entierement cum il ad ore aparmeymes); “and that now they consider it manifest that he is in the right, and that God is clearly on his side, since he has now discomfited and defeated the full power of the King, as well English as Scots” (ausint bien les Engleis cum les Escoteys), “on which account the power of England is in full retreat before his men, not to return.”

391Than wox his power.According to Hemingburgh, who sets Bruce riding through Lothian “a little after Easter,” before the battle of Loudon Hill, many then joined him who had been “exiled” by the English justiciars in the former year when they “sat” upon malefactors and supporters of “the new king.” “And because, according to the English law, they were sentencing them to burning, being drawn on horses and hanging, on that account they rose unanimously and went with him (Bruce), preferring to die rather than be judged by English laws” (ii., p. 265). Then follows the account of Valence’s defeat at Loudon Hill, the driving of the Earl of Gloucester into Ayr Castle, and Bruce’s subsequent defeat, after which he lurked “in moors and marshes” with ten thousand foot; and how Bruce always “slipped out of the hands” of his pursuers—clearly a misplaced account of the Galloway operations. Of the late summer and autumn of this year the Lanercost chronicler says that “Robert Bruce, with his brother Edward and many others adhering to him, without any opposition from the English guardians, wanders about in Scotland wherever he wished, and especially in Galloway, and took tribute from that country on condition that it should be left in peace; for,on account of the number of people who then adhered to him, they were not able to resist him” (Chron., p. 210). See alsoFoedera, iii., p. 14, for the official English description of Bruce’s raids on Galloway in August to September of this year.

393Outour the Month.The writer of the letter cited above says that he learns from those who are watching the place beyond and on this side of the mountains, “that if Sir Robert Bruce is able to get away in any direction withoutinconvenience” (saun dreytes), “or towards the districts of Ross, he will find them all ready to his will more wholly than ever.” For “the Month,” see note onBk.II. 494.

395Sir Alexander the Fraser.See note onBk.II. 239, and next note.

397his brother Symon.See onBk.II. 239. Skeat thinks this mention and that inBk.IX. 10 “odd,” because he identifies him with the Sir Simon executed in 1306. Hence one of Barbour’s “errors.” Sir Alexander Fraser, sheriff of Kincardine, and “Simon Fraser his brother” are witnesses to a charter not dated, but later than 1312. (Fraser’s of Philorth, ii., p. 126). Simon Fraser is one of the honorary burgesses of Aberdeen in 1317 (Miscellany of Spalding Club, v., p. 283). He fell at Halidon Hill, 1333. In line 396 C readsfrendiswhere E givescosyngisand Hcousingsin the general sense of “relatives.” Bruce gifted the Earl of Atholl’s lands in part to Alexander Fraser’s wife, Marie, his own sister (Robertson’sIndex, p. 19, 105). The gift must be after 1315 (Bk.XIII. 490).

400Schir Johne Cumyne.On September 26, 1306, John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, is forgiven his debts to the Exchequer (England), on account of the loss sustained “in the death of Sir John Comyn his cousin” (Bain, ii., No. 1835).

401Schir Johne the Mowbray.Had the custody of “the late John Comyn’s” lands in England from February 23, 1306; on duty in Ayr, June and July, 1307 (Bain, ii., Nos. 1746, 1938, 1961).

402Schir David of Brechyne.Also serving Edward in Ayr, July or August, 1307 (ibid., No. 1961); of Forfarshire (ibid., p. 199). See onBk.IX. 293.

413The Erle of Lennox.See onBk.II. 235. With line 414cf.extract from Fordun onBk.II. 482.

415Schir Robert Boyd.See onBk.IV. 342.

425The forest of Selcryk.Sir Walter Scott has a note (45) toThe Lord of the Isleson “The forest of Selkirk, or Ettrick,” which, he says, “embraced the neighbouring dales of Tweeddale, and at least the upper ward of Clydesdale.” But Gray distinguishes between “the forests of Selkirk and of Etryk” (Scala., p. 127); and Douglas, later, had a grant of the forests of Ettrick, Selkirk, and Traquair (Robertson’sIndex, p. 10, No. 24).

427Gedward Forest.“Jedworth,” or Jedburgh Forest. “The vulgar, and, indeed, almost universal, pronunciation, Jethart” (Jamieson on theWallace,Bk.vii. 1277). See further onBk.XVI. 363.

447Lanrik fair.No doubt “Lanark” fair, as it appears in Godscroft’s account (History, p. 30, ed. 1644). “Lanerik” is an old form of the name in charters, etc.

449gang on raw.“Go in a row.”

453Schir Johne of Webitoune.In Godscroft “Sir John Walton,” under which name Sir John de Walton, he figures in Scott’sCastle Dangerous. The citation from Godscroft will be found in the Appendix to the Introduction to that tale.

492per drowry.Drowryis O.F.druerie,droerie, love, friendship; here = “as a sweetheart,” apparently in a sinister sense.Cf.Chaucer:

“To be loved is not worthy,Or bere the name ofdruerie.”(Romaunt of the Rose, 5063).

In theAlexander, as here, “And yharnes to lufebe droury” (126, 21).

34Enverrowry.Inverury, on the Don, fifteen miles north-west of Aberdeen.

64a-pane.A curious use of the French adverbial phrasea peine, in, or with, difficulty; here = “hardly,” “scarcely.” The sense seems to be that even in a case in which a company is successful without a captain, which they can be only with difficulty, still they will not accomplish as much as if they had one.

107the Slevach.Sliach in Drumblade parish, about sixteen miles north-west of Inverurie. Certain archæological features in the district are connected with Bruce’s visit, the “Meet-hillock,” “Robin’s Height,” etc. (Old. Stat. Acct., iv., p. 55; Macpherson’sGeograph. Coll., i., pp. 8, 19).

117And als frendis.According to Fordun, whose account is independent of that of Barbour, Buchan had many nobles, both English and Scots, when he went to attack Bruce at Sliach (Gesta Annalia, cxxii.).

118Schir Johne the Mowbray.See note onBk.VIII. 21.

127Martymes.Martinmas, November 11, 1307.

153thai send.This second “thai” refers to the Scots of Bruce’s party.

183begouth to fale.“They retired, overcome with shame and in confusion” (Gesta Annalia, cxxii.). But in Fordun the reference is to Christmas Day. See below, 204.

188Strabogy.Strathbogie.

190cover and ga.“Recover and go about.”

202Ald Meldrom.About five miles north-east of Inverury.

204Before Yhoill-evyn nycht.“One night before Christmas Eve.” Fordun records an attack by Brechin on Bruce on Christmas Day (see above on 183), but the battle ofOld Meldrum he puts on to 1308 (cxxiv.). But he sends Bruce north right away after his landing in Carrick and capture of Turnberry to destroy Inverness and other fortresses (cxxi.), whereas Bruce could scarcely go north before the autumn, as he was in Galloway on September 30 (Foedera, iii., p. 14). After his victory at Inverury, Bruce ravages Buchan, subdues the north, and, according to Fordun, is in Argyll by August, 1308 (cxxvi.). This would be quick work, even for Bruce, and Lord Saltoun therefore argues that Barbour is right in his chronology (Frasers of Philorth, ii. 183-194).

221His horse ... he askit.When the King heard of the attack, says Fordun, “though he was still prostrated by great weakness, he rose from the litter on which he was constantly carried, and ordered his men to arm him and place him on his horse” (Gesta Annalia, cxxiv.).

249merdale.“Rabble”; O.F.merdaille, “a dirty crowd.”Cf.Alexander, “For thay war pure, smallmardale” (379; 14); alsoLives of the Saints; Ninian, 921.

289 “The son of him (the Earl of Atholl) that was in Kildrummy.” But see note onBk.XIII. 489. Atholl was English, and Barbour must be wrong.

293Com syne his man.But on May 20, 1308, Edward II. was expressing his thanks to “David de Breghyn,” etc. (Bain, iii., No. 43). This would support Fordun’s date for the battle, if, as Barbour says, Brechin submitted soon after. But “Sir David de Breghyn” is receiving wine from Edward II. on July 12, 1310 (Bain, iii., No. 121). See further onBk.XIX. 19.

296all Bouchane.The district of Buchan is in the north-east of Aberdeenshire.

307Toward Angus.In the north of Forfarshire.

309the Scottis Se.The Firth of Forth (see on 461). Of old it marked the boundary between the land of the Gaelic-speaking Scots and the English Lowlands.

312Philip the Forster of Platan.Jamieson explains that there is still aForest-muirin Angus, “the name of a great track of waste ground a few miles to the north of Forfar” and about two miles east of it, “a village vulgarly namedForster-seat... said to be properly designedForester-seat, as having been the place where the forester anciently resided.” He identifiesPlatanwithPlatter, a forest which is the subject of a grant by Robert Bruce (Index Chart., p. 4, No. 43); while a charter of Robert II. confers on Alexander de Lindsay the office of Forester of the Forest of Plater, “in the sheriffdom of Forfar” (ibid., p. 120, 63).

330Till Perth is went.According to Gray, it was the Earl of Atholl who captured Perth for Bruce (Scala., p. 140). This is quite wrong; Atholl was English.

335the wallis war all of stane.Perth was an exceptional case, the larger Scottish towns, except Berwick, being fortified only with ditch and palisade (de bons fossez et de bons palis.Le Bel, I., xxii.). And so was Berwick till 1296.

338Olyfard.Barbour is about four years too soon with the capture of Perth. William de Olifard (modern Oliphant) was still holding it for Edward II. in February, 1312 (Bain, iii., No. 247). Oliphant was a Scot, and the state of the garrison for July, 1312, shows a great number to have been Scotsmen (ibid., pp. 425-7). Fordun says Perth fell on January 8, 1313; theChron. de Lanercostgives the date as January 10, 1313 (Gesta Annalia, cxxix.,Lanerc., p. 221). According to the Lanercost writer, the Scots climbed the walls on ladders during the night, and captured the place through the neglect or lack of sentinels and defenders (propter defectum vigilum et custodum, p. 222).

340Of Stratherne als the Erll.But see below on 433.

354the dik.The burgesses of Perth had, by order, made “a pielle and fosse”—i.e., a tower and a ditch—“when Robert de Brus broke the peace” (Bain, iii., No. 68).

371, 373mak ledderis ... in a myrk nycht.See above on 338.

377slepit all.See on 338.

391A knycht of France.In theWallaceit is explained that this was Sir Thomas de Longueville, a French pirate and a friend of Wallace. Such an identification is in the usual plagiarising fashion of the author of theWallace.

405eftir the Kyng.Cf.preceding note.

412the tothir man that tuk the wall.“The second man to reach the top of the wall.”

433Malis of Strathern.Barbour is quite wrong in placing the Earl of Strathearn in Perth, and his son on the Scottish side. Both were still in the English interest. Malise of Stratherne, son of the Earl of Stratherne, is in English pay November, 1309 (Bain, iii., No. 121). The Earl appears to have been at Berwick during the winter of 1310-1311 (Bain, iii., No. 208); and it is no doubt his son who on January 28, 1313, after the fall of Perth (see on 338), is still in receipt of an allowance from Edward II. (ibid., No. 299). Malis, Earl of Strathearn, is among the signatories to the 1320 letter to the Pope (Act. Parl. Scot.I., p. 114).

448thai war kynde to the cuntre.“They were related to the country”—i.e., they were Scots (see on 338). TheLanercostaccount is the contrary of this; it is there said that on the morrow of the capture, a Tuesday, Bruce had the chief burgesses of the town (meliores burgenses), who were of the Scottish nation, put to death, but allowed the English to depart in freedom. This writer errs, however, as to the fate of Olifard, a Scot, who, he says, was sent in bonds (ligatus) far off to theIsles (p. 222); for Olifard was in England a few months afterwards, and there is no mention of any escape or exchange (Bain, iii., p. xviii). Fordun’s version is that the treacherous folk (perfida gens), both Scots and English, were slain, but that Bruce, in his mercy, spared the common people (plebi), and gave pardon to those who asked for it (Gesta Annalia, cxxix.).

452wallis gert he tummyll doune.Bruce’s usual policy with fortified places. See onBk.X. 496. TheLanercostchronicler says he completely destroyed the town (p. 222); Fordun that he destroyed the wall and ditches, and burned everything else (ibid.).

461Obeysit all.Not quite, in 1308. Dundee was in English hands in April, 1312, when reinforcements were being sent to its “rescue” (Bain, iii., p. 401); and in 1313, according to Barbour himself (Bk.X. 800-1). So was Banff (Watt’sHistory of Aberdeen and Banff, p. 68). Bain assigns to June, 1308, a note of instructions regarding Scotland, in which two wardens are appointed for “beyond the Scottish sea between the Forth and Orkeneye,” with 120 men-at-arms, “besides garrisons.” The “guardians of Scotland,” however, are told “that it is the King’s pleasure they take truce from Robert de Bruys, as from themselves, as long as they can”—an indication of the growing power of Bruce, emphasized by Barbour (Bain, iii., No. 47).

497With all the folk, etc. TheLanercostwriter explains this raid as being on account of the discord between the English King and his barons. With Edward Bruce, he says, went Robert himself, Alexander de Lindsay, and James Douglas, with their following, which they had brought together “from the remote isles of Scotland” (p. 212).

500ryotit gretly the lande.The people of Galloway had paid tribute to be left alone (see onBk.VIII. 391), but, says theLanercostwriter, they made no account of this, and in one day slew many of the more noble men of Galloway, and subjugated nearly the whole country, the Galloway men who could escape flying to England (p. 212).

502Ingrame the Umphrevell.In June, 1308, Umfraville, with two others, was made a warden of Galloway, Annandale, and Carrick (Bain, iii., No. 47).

509als Amery.Amery St. John; but there is no one on record of this name. Aymer de Valence was still a warden, but in September, 1307, when Bruce was raiding Galloway (see onBk.VIII. 391), John de St. John was one of “the greater men” there (Bain, iii., No. 15). “Amery St. John” is referred to again inBk.XVI. 506.

517Besyde Cre.The River Cre divides Kirkcudbrightshire from Wigtown. Fordun says the battle was on the Dee, and dates it June 29, 1308 (Gesta Annalia, cxxv.). The Deeflows into the Solway at the town of Kirkcudbright. Though Barbour’s position is universally accepted, Fordun is probably right. See next note.

522Buttil.Here, at least, C is more correct in a place-name than E, which gives Bothwell, on the Clyde, an absurd distance away, across mountains. The castle is that at Buittle, near Dalbeattie, a Balliol hold. It is a few miles east of the Dee, which seems to bear out Fordun as in the preceding note;cf.also lines 533-5. Edward’s operations by the Cree could hardly be seen from Buittle.

547by Cre.A second battle by the Cree, or, more probably, one following on the English reverse by the Dee.

575Schir Alane of Catcart.Cathcart is near Glasgow. Sir William de Cathcart (Kethker) is a knight of Roxburgh garrison (English) in December, 1309 (Bain, iii., No. 121).

610 “Directed their heads inwards again”—i.e., turned their horses to make a fresh charge from the rear.

658Thretten castellis.Small castles, Border “peels”—ditch and palisade.

683the wattir of Lyne.In Peeblesshire, flowing into the Tweed from the north, a short distance west of Peebles.

692Alysander Stewart.In C,Alexander Bonkill. Son of Sir John Stewart, who married the heiress of Sir Alexander de Bonkyl in Berwickshire, and grandson of the fourth High Steward. He died, apparently, in 1319, and his son John was created by Bruce Earl of Angus (Scots Peerage, i. 13, 169).

694Thomas Randole.Randolph. See note onBk.II. 463.

695Adame ... of Gordoun.See note onBk.II. 463; XI. 46; XV. 333.

728His emys son.The mother of Douglas was Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander, the fourth High Steward, and her elder brother was Sir John Stewart, father of Alexander Stewart, of Bonkil.Cf.on 692. Thus Douglas and Sir Alexander were cousins.

9toward Lorn.Barbour’s chronology is here not specific, but he apparently places the expedition against Lorn in the late summer or autumn of 1308. So does Fordun (see onBk.IX. 204). On the other hand, there exists a letter from John of Lorn to Edward II., clearly referring to the present expedition. Unfortunately, it is not dated further than as an acknowledgment of the receipt of the King’s letters of March 11. About that date, in 1308, Bruce must have been in the North, beyond the Mounth (see onBk.IX. 204). On June 16, 1309, Alexander of Lorn and John are in council with Edward at Westminster (Bain, iii., No. 95). Meantime Alexander of Argyll is in the sederunt of Bruce’s first Parliament, March 16, 1309, at St. Andrews (Act. Parl. Scot., vol. i., p. 160). Either, then, Bruce’s expedition is to be placed in the spring and early summer of 1309, or, after the defeat at Loch Awe, John of Lorn held out during the winter, and Dunstaffnage fell at some date between March 11, 1308, and June 16, 1309.

14twa thousand.In the letter referred to above, John of Lorn says that “Robert Bruce had approached his territories with 10,000 or 15,000 men, it was said, both by land and sea. He had no more than 800 to oppose him, 500 of these being in his pay to keep his borders, and the barons of Argyll gave him no aid.... He has three castles to guard, and a lake 24 leagues (miles) long on which he has vessels properly manned, but is not sure of his neighbours” (Bain, iii., No. 80). Lorn’s estimate of Bruce’s strength is clearly exaggerated. Hemingburgh similarly gives Bruce 10,000 men in his Galloway wanderings (ii., p. 265).

17Ane evill place.From the description, the Pass of Brander through which the River Awe flows from Loch Awe to Loch Etive, a sea-loch. The Callander-Oban Railway follows this route. The Pass is three miles long.

27Crechanben.Cruachan Ben, or Ben Cruachan, on the north side, 3,689 feet.

34-35on the se ... with his galays.Skeat says this must be “Loch Etive, a sea-loch, not the inland Loch Awe, from which the ships could not have escaped.” He is thinking of line 130, but the flight there mentioned has no connection with the present case. Loch Etive is not “weill neir the pas” (35;cf.also 97, 98), but Loch Awe is, and we see from Lorn’s letter (note on 14) that he had ships on that loch. He says further that he “was on sick-bed” when he received Edward’s letters, “and had been for half a year”; which probably accounts for his presence in a galley, or large Highland row-boat, as the Marquis of Argyll was, for a like reason, when his forces were cut to pieces by Montrose at Inverlochy in 1645.

46Williame Wisman.A “William Wysman” was made Edward’s Sheriff at Elgin in 1305 (Bain, ii., p. 458). The wife of “Monsieur William Wysman” was among the ladies captured in 1306, and was sent to Roxburgh (Foedera, ii., p. 1014). William Wyseman was at the St. Andrews Parliament, 1309 (Act. Parl. Scot., i., p. 160). It was a Moray name.

47Schir Androu Gray.Ancestor of the Lords Gray. Sir Andrew Gray received from Bruce in 1315 the barony of Longforgan and other lands in Perthshire and Forfarshire,which had belonged to Edmond Hastings (Robertson’sIndex, p. 26, No. 19; Crawford’sPeerage, p. 179, ed. 1716).

82ane wattir.The River Awe. The river here is wide, deep, and broken by rapids.

88till brek it.The bridge, of course, was of wood. It was probably beyond the lower extremity of the Pass, somewhere near the present bridge.

113Dunstaffynch.In FordunDunstafynch; Dunstaffnage Castle at the mouth of Loch Etive.

126And com his man.As has already been noted (see on 9), Alexander of Arygll is, with the other “barons” of Argyll and the Hebrides, present at Bruce’s Parliament at St. Andrews, which, if correct, indicates that Barbour, so far, is right. Lorn wrote to Edward that, “though he and his were few in respect of his power, Robert de Brus had asked a truce from him, which he granted for a short space, and received the like, till the King sends him succours. He hears that Robert, when he came, was boasting and saying that the writer had come to his peace at the report that many others would rise in his aid, which God and the writer know is not true. Should the King hear this from others, he is not to believe it” (Bain, as cited). Fordun’s story is that Bruce besieged Alexander of Argyll in Dunstaffnage, that the castle was surrendered, but Alexander refused to do homage and was allowed a safe-conduct for himself and friends to England (Gesta Annalia, cxxvi.).

137at Lythkow wes than a peill.Linlithgow “peel” was constructed by Edward I. in 1301-1302. Barbour’s chronology is again at fault, or he is not concerned about it. Linlithgow was still being munitioned against the Scots in August, 1313 (Bain, iii., No. 330). Barbour appears to be simply grouping the different captures of castles together (see lines 144-7). Strictly a “peel” was a fortification consisting of a stockade and ditch, enclosing the buildings of the garrison (see lines 144-7).

153Wilyhame Bunnok.See note on 254. C readsBownehere, butBunnokin line 194.

180the hede-soyme.That is, the “trace” or “traces” connecting the animals with the cart would be cut, when the waggon would block the gateway. By a similar trick, in which the agents are dressed as carters and the traces are loosened by withdrawing the pins, Oudenarde was captured in 1384 (Froissart, Johnes, ii., chap. cli.).

185the harvist tyde.September or October, 1313. See above on 137.

195To leid thair hay.To “lead” the hay, still the usual country phrase, is to bring it in from the field to the place of storage. Bunnok was to gather the hay and cart it to the castle.

196but dangeir.“Without difficulty,” readily.

223callit his wayn.“Drove” or “urged forward” his waggon. The word occurs in this sense in theWallace“Thir cartaris ...callytfurth the cartis weill” (Bk.ix. 717-8), where, as usual, the incident is borrowed from theBruce.Cf.Burns: “Ca the yowes to the knowes.”

232he leyt the gadwand fall.“He” is not Bunnock, but the driver, who drops his goad and cuts the trace.

254hym rewardit worthely.According to Nisbet’sHeraldry, Bunnock is the same name asBinning, and the arms of Binning of Easter-Binning are “placed on the bend of a waggon argent”; and he gives as an explanation that “one of the heads of that family, with his seven sons, went in a waggon covered with hay, surprised and took the castle of Linlithgow, then in the possession of the English, in the reign of David II.” (I. 100, ed. 1816). The reference is clearly to the present incident, though “sons” is a later development, and the date is wrong. Jamieson is highly suspicious over the identification, and it seems, in fact, to be a case of ancestry manufacture.

265-6Murref ... And othir syndri landis braid.“Murref” is English transcription of the Gaelic form,muiraibh, dative plural ofmuir, the sea. The grant to Randolph was most extensive, including lands from the mouth of the Spey to Lochaber and Mamore, and “the marches of northern Argyll,” and covering 2,550 square miles in Banff, Elgin, Nairn, and Inverness (Robertson’sIndex of Charters, p. xlix; Rampini’sMoray and Nairn, p. 140).

324Schir Peris Lumbard.Peter de Loubaud (Lybaud, Libaut) was constable of Edinburgh Castle and the peel of Linlithgow in March, 1312 (Bain, iii., No. 254). Edinburgh Castle was captured during Lent, 1314 (Chron. de Lanercost, p. 223; Fordun says March 14, 1314), by Randolph (Gesta Annalia, cxxx.); March 24, apparently, inGesta Edw. de Carn.(p. 45), where it is said that Roxburgh and Edinburgh fell between February 29 and March 24, 1314. Hailes goes a year wrong in these dates, and Skeat adopts. For the intrusion of “m” before “b,”cf.FerumbraceforFierabrasinBk.III. 437.

327mystrowit hym of tratory.So we have it in theVita Edw. Sec.that Edinburgh Castle was captured “by the betrayal of a certain Gascon, who was known as Peter de Gavestone, to whom the King had committed the custody of the castle. He, a perjured traitor, adhered to Robert the Bruce, and betrayed the castle” (p. 199).Cf.on 766.

360-1ledderis ... With treyn steppis, etc. Ladders of this sort are carefully described by the Carlisle friar as having been used at an unsuccessful siege of Berwick by Bruce in 1312. Two strong ropes were taken, of a length accordingto the height of the wall. These were knotted at intervals of a foot and a half; on these knots rested wooden (treyn) steps two and a half feet long by half a foot broad, sufficient for one man at a time, and every third step had a projection inwards, to keep the ladder out from the wall. At the top end was a curved iron (cf.“a cruk ... of iron”), one end of which, about a foot long, lay on the top of the wall, while the other hung down, was pierced with a hole, and had a ring on each side for the rope. In the hole a sufficiently long spear was inserted, by which the ladder was put in position by two men. When the Scots had placed two ladders for a night attack, a dog barked, and Berwick was saved, the Scots making off and leaving their ladders behind to be hung up in derision of the Scots by the garrison (p. 221).

372on the fasteryn evyn.“Fastern’s Eve,” Shrove Tuesday, February 27, 1314. So, too, in Fordun (Gesta Annalia, cxxx.), and inScalacronica, the night of Shrove Tuesday (p. 140); inLanercostthe capture is dated the day after, February 28, the first day of Lent, 1314 (p. 223). The castle was still in English hands on February 7, 1314 (Bain, iii., No. 352), but lost before May 29 (No. 358), in 1314 (894).

400up thair ledderis set.“For James (Douglas) himself on a certain night secretly approached the castle (of Roxburgh), and placed ladders, which had been carried up in concealment (latenter) against the wall, and so by these ascended the wall,” etc. (Vita Edw. Sec., p. 200).

441The custom.It was the custom to spend the day before the beginning of the fast of Lent in feasting and jollity. This practice continued in Scotland long after the Reformation, when Lent was no more observed. TheVita Edw.says that the garrison were sleeping or off their guard.

456-7Gylmyne de Fenis ... in the gret toure, etc. “They (the Scots) took the whole castle except one tower, to which, with difficulty, had escaped the warden of the castle, Sir Gilminus de Fenes, a Gascon knight, and his men with him, but that tower the Scots had soon afterwards” (Lanercost, p. 223). Sir William de Filinge (Filling, Felynges) was constable of Roxburgh since 1312 at least (Bain, iii., Nos., 332, 337, 351). On the conduct of Roxburgh garrison see onBk.XI. 46.

479Woundit so felly.According to Gray, “Guillemyng Fenygges” was killed by an arrow while holding the great tower (Scala., p. 140).

496to tummyll it doune.“And all this beautiful castle, as with all the other castles which they were able to get, they laid level with the ground, that the English might never afterwards by holding the castles be able to dominate the country” (Lanercost, p. 223). So alsoVita Edw. Sec.,p. 199, andGesta Edw., p. 45, where it is alleged that Bruce did this to prevent the Scottish nobles taking refuge therein instead of helping him. See onBk.IX. 452, and below on 771.

504Outane Jedworth.There was fighting about Jedburgh in 1315, 1316 (Bain, iii., No. 494), but it was still in English hands in 1321 (ibid., 746).

509At Edinburgh.Edinburgh Castle was still in English hands in August, 1313 (Bain, iii., No. 330). See further note on 324.

513all his purchas.“By his own procurement.”

516voidry.Skeat’s suggestion. See footnote. It means “cunning, stratagem” (S).

529 “Ere that siege should miscarry, or go wrong.”Cf.onBk.I. 478. The mood here is subjunctive, past tense.

530William Francas.Francis or “Fraunceys” appears from Bain to have been a common name in the Lothians. A “William Francis” got lands from Bruce in Roxburgh in 1322. His grant just precedes one to John Crab (Robertson’sIndex to Charters, p. 15, No. 20;cf.Bk.XVII. 239).

701The Erll has tane the castell all.TheLanercosthistorian says the castle was captured in this manner: “Those besieging the same castle, one day in the evening, made a bold assault on the south gate, because on account of the position of the castle, there was no other place where an assault could be given. But those within, all collecting at the gate, resisted them stoutly; meanwhile, however, others of the Scots climbed the rock on the north side, which was very high and steep, up to the foundation of the wall, and there, placing their ladders against the wall, they climbed up in such numbers that those within could make no resistance; and so they (the Scots) opened the gates and brought in their friends, and took the whole castle and slew the English” (p. 223). TheScalacronicaaccount is that Moray took the castle at the highest part of the rock, where there was no thought of danger (a quoi il ne se dotoit) (p. 140).

708Lap fra a berfrois.For a “beffroi,” see onBk.XVI. 597. O.F., “berfroi,” etc. For form “belfry,”cf.“pilgrim,” from “peregrinus”; in English not before the fifteenth century. French dropped the “r” (N.E.D.). The reference here is to one of theAlexanderromances, of which there was no translation, and is indicative of Barbour’s familiarity with this literature.Cf.AppendixE.

740in stede of prophesye.“In the way of, or as, a prophecy.”

742hir chapell.St. Margaret’s Chapel, built for Queen Margaret, wife of Malcolm Canmore. She died in Edinburgh Castle in 1093. In 1336 the chapel was fitted with four windows of glass (Bain, iii., p. 335).

746as old men sayis.The picture and inscription were, therefore, no longer extant.

747 “Gardez-vous de Francois.” “Beware of Francis or of the French.”

766he becom the Kingis man.Gray tells how “Lebaud” went over to Bruce, but, because he was in heart English (qil estoit Engles qe quer), Bruce had him accused of treason and hanged (Scala., p. 140). The official record is that he was convicted of treason, and, from his forfeitures, he seems to have received large holdings in Lothian (Reg. Mag. Sig., where he is styledPeter Luband, p. 3, 3; p. 13, 63, 64, 66).

771myne doune all halely.TheLanercostwriter adds that the Scots levelled Edinburgh Castle to the ground, as they had done Roxburgh.

815Fra the lenteryne.Lent, 1313. In theVita Edw.it is said that Mowbray brought the news of his pact at the beginning of Lent, which must be Lent, 1314, suggesting a considerable difference in dates (p. 200).

816Quhill ... Saint Johnnis mess.That is, by June 24, 1313, the English garrison began to find their food running short. “Their victual was insufficient” (Vita Edw., p. 200).

822-3it was nocht with battaill Reskewit.So, too, inVita Edw. Sec., where the agreement is that Mowbray “would either procure the King of England to come to the defence of the castle, or, if he should not be able to induce the King to do this, that he would summarily (indilate) surrender the castle.” St. John’s day is fixed as the limiting date. The writer makes Robert Bruce himself conduct the siege (p. 200). So does Gray, who says that the castle was to be surrendered, “unless the English army came within three leagues of the said castle within eight days after St. John’s day in the summer next to come” (dedenz viii jours apres le Saint Johan en este adonques procheine avenir, p. 141). Butcf.Bk.XI. 8-9.

32outrageous a day.“Day” has here the meaning of “a space of time,” as in Berners’Froissart. “The truce is not expired, but hathdayto endure unto the first day of Maye next” (I. ccxiii., N.E.D.): a sense of the Latindies. For “outrageous,” see onBk.III. 162.

44Akatane.Aquitaine, the ancient southern duchy of France, the hereditary possession of the Kings of England.

46TheLanercostchronicler 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 aPetition 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 alsoBk.IX. 720, etc.; XV. 333; and on March,Bk.XIX. 776, note.

79-82Cf., as bearing out Barbour’s assertion, the comment by the author of theVita Edwardi Secundion 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).

91Erll of Hennaut.Count William of Hainault, Flanders.Cf.onBk.XIX. 262.

93.Almanyhe: Germany. Friar Baston says four German knights came “gratis” (Eng. Hist. Rev., vol. xix., p. 507).

100of Irlande ane gret menyhe.InFoederawe 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).

*103-4See note on 46.

103Ane hundreth thousand men and ma.SeeAppendixC.

105Armyt on hors.That is, the men alone wore armour, being thus distinguished from the knights “with helit hors,” or horses armoured also inbardingsof leather or mail. Skeat rejects the reading of E in favour of “playn male,” taking “playn” to represent the Frenchplein= “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).

114Of 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.

117veschall.InVita Edw. Sec.(pp. 206-7) the author speaks of “costly garments and gold (or gilt) plate” (vasa aurea). Baker of Swinbroke, in hisChronicon 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).

119schot.Arrows, and bolts for cross-bows.Cf.Bk.XIII. 311, and below, note on 544.

130ryche 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) agambeson, or close-fitting quilted tunic, to ease the pressure of the armour; (2) ahauberkofbandedorchain mail, with half-plates on the upper arm; (3) anhabergeon(“hawbyrschown”), or lighter hauberk, apparently of small plates; (4) ahaketon, another padded coat like the gambeson; (5) and a shortsurcoat. 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 abascinet, or pointed, nut-shaped helmet, with no visor. Over this he would wear in battle such a heavy, closed, flat-toppedhelmas we see on the seal of Robert I. Hecarries 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.

136Till 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).

150Mannaustt the Scottis.Cf.note on 79-82.

163Glowcister.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). TheScalacronicasays Gloucester commanded “the advance guard” (p. 141), but does not mention Hereford (see note onBk.XIII. 466).

174Schir 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.alsoScalacronica(p. 143),votre reyne me fust baillez—“your rein was entrusted to me”: among others (p. 142).

210the 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.

250abaysing.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.”

277the 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 onBk.XII. 58). It was made as lateas 1264 by Alexander III., and enclosed with a paling in 1288 (Excheq. Rolls, I. 24, 38); whence the name “New.”

291licht armyng.“Everyone of them (the Scots) was protected by light armour” (levi armatura). (Vita Edw. Sec., p. 203). See further, note onBk.XII. 448.

296ficht 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. TheVita 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).

300the sykis.No doubt shallow lagoons with a muddy bottom, about the Bannock, where it entered the Forth, flooded by the tide. Jamieson, in hisDictionary, definessykas “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 thefrontposition in the New Park with these very men (445, 446).

360ane 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 onBk.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 defenceagainst 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.).

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