Stirling Castle, its place in Scottish history

by Eric Stair-Kerr

The Scottish historians maintain that Edward broke his word to the defenders, but they seem to have surrendered unconditionally, not being in a position to make stipulations. William Oliphant, William de Dupplin, William de Ramsay, Ralph de Halliburton, Alan de Vipont, John Napier and others were led half-naked before His Majesty, who spared their lives, but put them in chains and sent them to various English prisons. The King entered into possession of the castle on July 24th, 1304.

All the Scottish fortresses were now in Edward’s hands, and in the following year his arch-enemy, Wallace, was captured and put to death. But Scotland, though crushed, was by no means conquered, for just at this time rose Robert Bruce to kindle the almost extinguished sparks of patriotism into an unquenchable flame. Stirling Castle, however, remained for ten years in English keeping in charge of various constables. John Lovel was the first to take over the fortress, but he was succeeded next year by William Bisset, a Scot in the King of England’s service. Another Scotsman was Philip Mowbray, who held the castle for Edward II. after all the other strongholds in the country, except Berwick and Bothwell, had been won for King Robert the Bruce. The English tenure ceased the day after the decisive Scottish victory at Bannockburn.

The great battle that established the freedom of Scotland was fought almost under Stirling rock. Indeed, to reach the castle itself was the object of the English invasion. The events leading up to the conflict are well known. In the spring of 1313, Edward Bruce, brother of King Robert, invested Stirling, but growing impatient with the long-protracted siege, he imprudently agreed to the one-sided bargain which Mowbray audaciously proposed. The compact was that the fortress should surrender if not relieved by June 24th, Saint John the Baptist’s Day, in the following year. Edward Bruce’s consent to this arrangement may have been given in the hope that it would terminate the war by bringing about a decisive pitched battle. Both nations, at any rate, prepared for the coming struggle; for it was clear that the duty of the English monarch was to succour his northern castle, while the Scottish King’s task was to block the way of any relieving army.

STIRLING CASTLE FROM BANNOCKBURN.

On June 23rd, 1314, Edward II., with his vast feudal host, amounting, perhaps, to fifty thousand men, came in sight of Stirling Castle, but between him and his goal lay Bruce’s Scottish troops, relying not upon their numbers but upon their valour and the skill of their commanders. The main body of the English army apparently kept to the low ground near the Forth, while the advanced guard marched on the higher land to the south, and encountered the Scots on the border of the New Park. Here Bruce slew de Bohun in single combat, while Sir Robert Clifford, with a troop of horse, pushed on to relieve the Castle of Stirling. Randolph, with a company of spearmen, intercepted this English force, and after a stubborn engagement drove them back on their own lines. King Robert’s successful duel and the triumph of Randolph’s men caused the whole of King Edward’s advanced guard to retreat before the elated Scots. It was on the next day, the 24th of June, that the armies came fully into contact. The English had passed the night in the carse, which in those days, even in summer, was a marshy tract of country. Barbour, the author of The Brus, was told that the Stirling garrison assisted the movements of the Southrons by carrying doors and shutters from the castle, under cover of darkness, and laying them over the numerous pools.

The question of the exact site of the battle has provoked a good deal of dispute. Tradition favours the ground between the Borestone Hill and the burn, and this most likely was the scene of the skirmish that followed the death of de Bohun. The great conflict of the ensuing day, however, seems to have been fought out on the low land near the confluence of the Bannock and the Forth, where the English, hemmed in by the two streams, were unable to take advantage of their superiority in numbers.[20] The Lanercost chronicler mentions that he heard from an eye-witness that the English in the rear were unable to fight owing to the leading division being in the way, and that there was nothing they could do but take to flight.

Barbour states that after the battle the King of England fled to Stirling Castle, but was counselled by Mowbray to depart with all speed, as the place could no longer be held. There are people who find it impossible to believe this and another statement by the same writer to the effect that many fugitives sought refuge on the castle rock, for the most obvious way of retreat would be south-eastwards, across the Bannock. Great weight, however, must be given to Barbour’s account, for the poet derived his information from men who had actually fought in those wars, and in many cases his testimony is corroborated by other records and documents. The Scalacronica makes Sir Giles de Argentine urge the King to flee to the castle. The author of that work, Sir Thomas Gray, no doubt acquired his knowledge from his father, who witnessed but did not take part in the battle, having been brought by Randolph to the Scottish camp after the engagement with Clifford. Most of the fugitives probably escaped across the Bannock, but doubtless some found their way to the castle past the Scottish left flank; and it must be remembered that King Robert kept his men well in hand and would not allow them to begin the pursuit till the day was indisputably won, lest their foes, realising the strength of their own numbers, should make a successful rally. History furnishes other examples of portions of defeated armies retreating round and behind their conquerors. It is well known that after the Battle of Prestonpans, Sir John Cope’s soldiers fled in all directions except towards the Firth of Forth.

THE PROSPECT OF STIRLING CASTLE.