The English, however, followed up, and Bruce was unable to show fight. The whole party, therefore, took to the hills again. The exact date is not recorded; but we know that Valence was at Aberdeen on August 3. The very next day (August 4) a painful scene was enacted at Newcastle. Fifteen Scots, all prisoners from Methven, including Sir David de Inchmartin, Sir John de Cambhou, Sir John de Somerville, Sir Ralph de Heriz, and Sir Alexander Scrymgeour, were arraigned before nine justices, whose instructions directed that 'judgment be pronounced as ordained, and none of them be allowed to answer.' They were all hanged. At the same time, John de Seton, who had been taken in Tibbers Castle, which he was holding for Bruce, and who had been present with Bruce at the death of Comyn, and at the capture of Dumfries Castle, of which Sir Richard Siward of Tibbers was constable, was condemned, drawn, and hanged. It appears to have been due to the earnest intervention of Sir Adam de Gordon that Randolph—as we shall henceforth call Thomas Randolph (Thomas Ranulphi) Bruce's nephew, later Earl of Moray—was spared.
Bruce and his followers suffered serious privations in the hill country. Barbour engagingly tells how Douglas especially exerted himself in hunting and fishing, and, as became a chivalrous youth hardly out of his teens, served indefatigably the ladies as well as his lord. The party pushed south-westwards by 'the head of the Tay.' Eventually, they found themselves face to face with the Lord of Lorn, Alexander MacDougal, a 'deadly enemy to the King,' says Barbour, 'for the sake of his uncle John Comyn.' Alexander was really Lord of Argyll, and had married Comyn's third daughter; it was his son, John of Lorn, whose uncle Comyn was, and Barbour may mean John. Alexander is said to have had over 1000 men, with the chiefs of Argyll as his lieutenants. Bruce was in no case for battle, but he was encouraged, in his necessity, by the nature of the ground, and put on a bold front. A stern combat ensued at Dalry—the 'Kings Field'—in Strathfillan, near Tyndrum. Fordun gives the date August 11; and, if this be correct, Barbour has misplaced the episode. The men of Lorn, wielding their great pole-axes on foot, did serious execution upon Bruce's horses; and they wounded badly some of his men, including Douglas and Sir Gilbert de la Haye. Bruce satisfied himself by a determined charge that further contest would cost him too many men, and, forming close, he retreated steadily, protecting his rear in person so vigilantly and boldly that none of the Lorns durst advance from the main body.
The wrath of Lorn incited two brothers named MacIndrosser—that is, sons of Durward (the Doorkeeper) as Barbour explains—to perform an oath they had sworn to slay Bruce. This oath may possibly be connected with the fact that Alan Durward, the celebrated Justiciar of Scotland, had vainly endeavoured to get his family claims to the throne forwarded by the legitimation of his daughters, his wife being an illegitimate daughter of Alexander II. Joined by a third man—possibly the MacKeoch of the Lorn tradition—they rushed on Bruce in a narrow pass—perhaps between Loch Dochart and Ben More—where the hill rose so sheer from the water that he had barely room to turn his horse. One caught his bridle, but Bruce instantly shore off his arm. Another had seized his leg and stirrup; but Bruce rose in his stirrups and spurred his horse, throwing down his adversary, who still grimly maintained his grip. The third meanwhile had scrambled up the incline and jumped on Bruce's horse behind him; but Bruce at once dragged him forward and clove his head. He then struck down the man at his stirrup. This exploit cowed the Lorns. Barbour glorifies Bruce by citing the admiring comment of MacNaughton, a Baron of Cowal. 'You seem to enjoy our discomfiture,' said Lorn angrily. 'No,' replied MacNaughton; 'but never did I hear tell of such a feat, and one should honour chivalry whether in friend or in foe.' Bruce rode after his men, and Lorn retired in chagrin. Barbour, it will be observed, makes no mention of a personal encounter between Bruce and Lorn, or of the capture of the famous Brooch of Lorn,
'Wrought and chased with fair device,
Studded fair with gems of price.'
Bruce, according to Barbour, now applied himself to comfort his party, though probably he was less versed than the devoted Archdeacon in historical examples of courage in despair. There was need for comfort; things were going rapidly from bad to worse. The ladies began to fail. And not only the ladies, but some of the harder sex: the Earl of Athol, Barbour says, could hold out no longer on any terms. A council of war was called, with the result that Bruce himself, with some 200 of the tougher men, took to the higher hills, and Sir Nigel Bruce, taking all the horses, even the King's, essayed to conduct the Queen and the other ladies, as well as the more exhausted of the men, back to the Aberdeenshire stronghold of Kildrummy.
Sir Nigel reached Kildrummy in safety. The castle was well provisioned, and was deemed impregnable. It had not been taken by Valence in early August, when he 'well settled affairs beyond the Mounth, and appointed warders there.' Sir Nigel was soon besieged, probably by the Prince of Wales. A vigorous attack was met by a spirited defence, the besieged frequently sallying and fighting at the outworks. There was hardly time for the besiegers to despair of success, as Barbour says they did, when a traitor set fire to the store of corn heaped up in the castle hall, involving the place in flames, and driving the garrison to the battlements. The English seized their opportunity and attacked as closely as the fire permitted, but they were gallantly repelled. The entrance gate, though burnt, is said to have been so hot that they could not enter. They accordingly waited till the morrow. The defenders, with great exertion, managed to block up the gate overnight. At daybreak, the attack was renewed, with all the energy of certain hope. The besieged, however, having neither food nor fuel, recognised that further defence was impossible, and surrendered at discretion. The precise date is not clear. A calendered letter, anonymous, dated September 13, states that 'Kildrummy was lately taken by the Prince'; but, if this date be correct, it seems strange that Edward, writing on September 22, should not say more than that 'all is going well at Kildrummy Castle.'
The prisoners included Sir Nigel Bruce, Sir Robert de Boyd, Sir Alexander de Lindsay, 'and other traitors, and many knights and others.' Hemingburgh mentions the Queen; but Barbour and Fordun relate that she and the Princess Marjory, in order to escape the siege, had been escorted to the sanctuary of St Duthac at Tain, where they were taken by the Earl of Ross, who delivered them to Edward. It may be incidentally noted that some two years afterwards (October 31, 1308), the Earl of Ross did fealty and homage to King Robert at Auldearn, and was reinstated in his lands.
The fate of the more important prisoners demands particular notice. Most of the captives were interned in English castles; but
'Some they ransomed, some they slew,
And some they hanged, and some they drew.'
The Queen was sent to stay at the manor of Burstwick, in Holderness, Yorkshire. Edward certainly meant to treat her handsomely. His directions were that she should have 'a waiting-woman and a maid-servant, advanced in life, sedate, and of good conversation; a butler, two man-servants, and a foot-boy for her chamber, sober and not riotous, to make her bed; three greyhounds, when she inclined to hunt; venison, fish, and the "fairest house in the manor."' Hemingburgh gives two reasons. First, her father, the Red Earl of Ulster, had proved faithful to him. Second, he was pleased with a reported saying of hers on the coronation of her husband. 'Rejoice now, my consort,' Bruce said, 'for you have been made a Queen, and I a King.' 'I fear, Sir,' she replied, 'we have been made King and Queen after the fashion of children in summer games.' Other chroniclers give the story with slight variation. In a letter, without date, but apparently belonging to next year, she complains to Edward 'that, though he had commanded his bailiffs of Holderness to see herself and her attendants honourably sustained, yet they neither furnish attire for her person or her head, nor a bed, nor furniture of her chambers, saving only a robe of three "garmentz" yearly, and for her servants one robe each for everything'; and she prays him 'to order amendment of her condition, and that her servants be paid for their labour, that she may not be neglected, or that she may have a yearly sum allowed by the King for her maintenance.' In autumn 1310, she was at Bistelesham; in 1311–12, at Windsor Castle; in autumn 1312, at Shaftesbury; in 1313, at Barking Abbey; in 1313–14, at Rochester Castle; in October 1314, at Carlisle Castle, on her way back to Scotland, in consequence of Bannockburn.