The first attack of the English was repulsed. On the second, a well-concerted stratagem put them in possession of the town, which was given over to pillage, and a frightful and unsparing massacre ensued. Some English writers state, that no less than forty thousand of the inhabitants[55] were immolated, to assuage the wrath of the victor. Wyntown, however, may be considered nearer the truth, when he fixes the amount of the carnage at seven thousand five hundred. Barons and burgesses, nuns and friars, women and children,—all were involved in one indiscriminate and appalling butchery, which continued through the day, and only subsided when the following occurrence rekindled the spark of humanity, which had become extinct in the breast of the unprincipled usurper.
“Thus thai slayand ware sá fast
All the day, qwhill at the last
This Kyng Edward saw in that tyde
A woman slayne, and of hyr syde
A barne he saw fall out, sprewland
Be-syd that woman slayne lyand.
‘Lasses, Lasses,’ than cryid he;
‘Leve off, leve off,’ that word suld be.”
Wyntown, vol. ii. p. 83.
This catastrophe, from which Berwick never entirely recovered, took place on Good Friday, while the people were preparing for the celebration of that high festival—a circumstance which sufficiently proves that the Scots were taken by surprise. Edward remained at Berwick from the 30th of March till the 27th April, during which time he received the formal renunciation of the allegiance of Baliol, who also published an edict, ordering all English ecclesiastics holding benefices in Scotland to quit the country.
On the 27th April, regardless of the atrocities resulting from his guilty ambition, Edward left the shambles at Berwick, and proceeded northward on his desolating career, having previously despatched the Earl of Warren, with ten thousand chosen troops, to reduce the Castle of Dunbar. This fortress, from its strong position, was considered as one of the keys to the kingdom, and had belonged to the Earl of March, a disappointed candidate for the crown, who had now attached himself to the banner of England. His wife, however, possessing more patriotism than her husband, delivered it over, in his absence, to be garrisoned by the King of Scotland. Aware of its importance, Baliol led the army he had collected, amounting to upwards of 40,000 men, to its defence. In the meantime, Sir Richard Siward, the governor, had agreed to deliver it up to Warren in three days, if not relieved. On the third day, the army of Scotland appeared on the heights, and took up a strong position on Downhill, above Dunbar. Warren advanced to attack them; and from having a difficult line of road to traverse, his ranks became irregular. The Scots, from their elevated station, saw the momentary confusion, and foolishly imagined that the English were on the retreat. Under this impression, they abandoned their strong and well-chosen position, and rushed down on the enemy. The English received their disorderly charge with firmness, and repulsed them with slaughter. Broken, and dismayed at their unexpected reception, a great part of the Scots betook themselves to flight. Sir Patrick Graham, however, and a few chivalrous spirits, maintained the unequal contest; and, though mostly cut to pieces, yet the heroism and self-devotion they displayed, extorted the applause, and excited the regret, of their adversaries.
Though there be no direct evidence of the fact, yet there is reason to conjecture, that both Wallace and his brother were present at the battle of Dunbar. It has already been shown, from respectable authority, that Sir Malcolm outlived his father; and, in the work of the Minstrel, we have an account, though rather obscure, of the manner in which he met his death. He is represented as surrounded by a multitude of enemies, and bravely defending himself on his knees, with all the energy of despair, after he had been hamstrung, in order to prevent his escape. Being at last borne down by a mass of spearmen, he was unmercifully put to death.[56] Though Henry does not mention when this took place, yet, from the previous comparative tranquillity which reigned in the country, the conflict of Dunbar appears most likely to have been the scene of so deadly a struggle; and the close intimacy which Wallace afterwards maintained with the family of Graham, may have originated in the circumstance of his brother and himself having been among the few who stood by their chief, Sir Patrick,[57] on this disastrous occasion.
The banner of Sir Richard Siward (black, with a white cross flowered at the ends)[58] still floated on the battlements of the Castle of Dunbar. To this place many of the Scottish barons fled for refuge. The protection they received, however, was of short duration. The fortress, according to agreement, was surrendered to Warren. On this Lord Hailes remarks, “Our historians impute this also to treachery; and they accuse the Governor, Richard Siward. But this charge is manifestly unjust. Siward had agreed to surrender the castle, if it was not relieved within three days; and it was not relieved.” His Lordship is sometimes rash in bringing charges against the historians of his country. The treason of Siward did not consist in delivering the castle, according to agreement, but in making that agreement. There is enough in the fact of his consenting to surrender one of the strongest and most commanding fortresses in the country, in so short a time, to warrant the charge they have made against him. That the Scots nobles were ignorant of the terms, is evident from their flying to it, after the battle, as to a place of safety, which they would not have done, had they known that they were instantly to be delivered over in chains to the mercy of the enemy. Siward could have no certainty of his being succoured in three days, as the Scottish army, according to his Lordship’s account, only came in sight “on the third day;” and if any accident had detained it, Dunbar must have been surrendered on the day following. Besides, if Lord Hailes had referred to Vol. II. p. 274, 275, of the Chronicle of Peter Langtoft, an Englishman, and a favourite authority of his own, he would have found not only the statement of Scottish authors confirmed, but a regular detailed account of the treason. That his Lordship, in the face of such evidence, should have charged the Scottish historians with doing what was “manifestly unjust,” can only be imputed to that singular predilection towards white-washing the Negro, which his Lordship has displayed on so many occasions.
1296. Ten thousand Scots were slain at this memorable battle, and a vast number were made prisoners, among whom were many of the principal nobility of the kingdom, who were sent to the South in chains, and distributed among the prisons of England and Wales. Baliol, after performing a most degrading feudal penance, and imploring the clemency of his conqueror, was sent prisoner, along with his son Edward, to the Tower of London, having previously resigned the kingdom and the people of Scotland into the hands of Edward. Thus terminated the brief and unfortunate reign of John Baliol, who had aspired to a sceptre he had neither the judgment nor the energy to wield. With a spirit subdued before the commanding genius of Edward, any efforts he made to regain the independence he had relinquished, were rather forced upon him, by the impatience of his people to the English yoke, than the result of any magnanimous resolution of his own. Though possessing qualities that might have graced the seclusion of private life, he was destitute of those talents which were required in the discharge of the duties of a sovereign.
Selected by Edward from the other competitors, more on account of the natural timidity of his character than the superior justice of his claim, it is impossible to look on the degradation that was inflicted on him, without feeling disgusted at the total want of generosity which marked the character of the English monarch. Listening to the interested advice of the Bishop of Durham,[59] who counselled him to set aside the claim of Bruce, because the talents and spirit of the latter might be troublesome, he arrayed Baliol in the trappings of royalty; and, while he insulted the tame unresisting puppet he had created, he fancied himself trampling with impunity on the hitherto unsullied majesty of a free people.
The destruction of Berwick, and the discomfiture at Dunbar, laid Scotland prostrate at the feet of her invader, who marched triumphantly through the kingdom, receiving the homage of the terrified chieftains, and placing garrisons in the deserted fortresses; while churchmen of all grades, Earls, Barons, Knights and Esquires, hastened to avert his displeasure, by taking the oath of allegiance, and renouncing the French alliance.