At the start of 1314, Edward II of England was losing his grip on Scotland.   He did not match up to his father in presence or military knowledge, and one by one the Scottish castles held by the English began to fall.  After taking Edinburgh Castle, Perth and Roxburgh, Bruce turned his eyes to Stirling.  This significant Scottish stronghold was garrisoned by the English under the command of Sir Philip Mowbray.  To make matters more difficult, the brother of King Robert, Edward the Bruce, had agreed that if the English had not relieved Stirling Castle by midsummers day, it was to be surrendered.  King Robert realized that this was a good opportunity for the English to mass an army in one place.  He knew that he must defend the castle in a head to head battle, or the English would gain a strong foothold right in the centre of Scotland.  He could not allow the castle to be relieved. 

     The two men, Edward II and King Robert the Bruce had a lot to lose.  If Edward could not even relieve one castle, he would be looked on as a failure.  If Bruce could not demonstrate his skill and leadership in the face of an English advance, especially with such a significant place as Stirling, then there was a real risk of losing his reputation as a couragous leader.  So Bruce began in March of 1314 three months of intense training and drilling of his men.  Bruce knew the lay of the land, and also knew this was going to be his greatest asset.

     He booby-trapped the small Bannock Burn (burn is the Scottish word for stream) with spikes to gouge the feet of advancing cavalry.  He also knew that if he could force the English horse onto the boggy ground of the Carse, they would be of little use to the English king.  Aware that the English army was likely to greatly outnumber his own, Robert had to use every natural advantage of the land that he could.  He had 5,500 well-trained men, and there were 2,000 'small folk' - untrained volunteers.

     On 17th of June the massive army of Edward II was in Edinburgh, where supplies were collected in Leith.  By Saturday 23rd of June, Edwards army was arriving from Falkirk in order to take up their positions for the forthcoming battle.   Bruce himself rode forward to view his enemy and gather information on their numbers and formations.   It was an incredible sight he saw.   Edwards army was 20,000 strong, including some 17,000 archers and 2,000 heavy cavalry, compared to the 500 light cavalry and handful of archers available to Bruce.  The Scots were outnumbered four to one, but king Robert the Bruce had one massive advantage - he was a master tactician and military planner.

     Bruce had his army positioned in four divisions, with the 'small folk' behind Coxet hill, where they would remain unless needed.  Bruce knew that their inexperience in battle may hinder his well-trained troops.  His spearmen were deployed in huge, thick circles, facing outward, with their schiltrons - 20ft long heavy spears - providing a massive hedgehog-like structure that would kill any cavalry attempting to penetrate it.

     Bruce, while surveying the English army, wore his crown and this sparked an idea in the mind of one young English knight.  With Bruce so easy for him to identify, the young Sir Henry de Bohun realized that if he killed him the Scots would suffer a most crushing blow, and that he himself would gain unrivalled admiration from his English king.  The next thing Bruce knew, de Bohun was charging towards him with his 12 foot long lance ready for action.  Bruce was on his Highland pony, and saw the attack coming.  He waited until the last possible moment, then violently wrenched his pony to one side.  The keen de Bohun went speeding past, and Bruce swung his battle-axe, crushing the armour worn by de Bohun and splitting open his skull.  The eager de Bohun fell dead on the spot with the one mighty blow, which broke the shaft of the axe wielded by Bruce.  His army saw their king and his act of courage, and their hearts were filled with admiration and inspiration.  If any of his men had doubted his courage, surely their fears were now at rest.  Bruce had shown that he was indeed a warrior king.  When his commanders reflected on the risk that Bruce took, the king of the Scots pointed out that he was more dismayed that he had broken the shaft of his axe!

     Edward II thought that the Scots were terrified of a head to head confrontation, and when they began advancing, he was convinced that victory was in his hand.  He ordered the Earl of Gloucester to launch a massive full-frontal attack, but the inexperienced Edward did not realize that he had fallen straight into Bruce's trap.  Edwards forces were positioned on the boggy carse, as Bruce had intended, and were also squeezed between two streams - the Bannock Burn and the Pelstream Burn.  On launching the attack, the Earl of Gloucester was met by the advancing schiltrons of Bruce's army.  The circular hedgehog-like formations of Scottish spears cut down the English cavalry and repulsed their advance.  The Earl was killed, and Edward had lost one of his few battle tacticians.

     Bruce ordered in the cavalry under Keith's command to attack the English archers, and scatter them from the battlefield.  Bruce himself, with his reserve army of Highlanders, launched a full attack on the enemy.  Edward, on seeing this, decided that he should flee the field and rush for the safety of Stirling Castle, which was still held by his Garrison.  To his surprise, Sir Philip Mobray refused to allow Edward into the castle, and so the English king was forced to flee towards Dunbar to escape capture.

     The English army, realizing that their king had deserted them, became demoralized and confused.  Bruce then ordered the 'small folk' - the 2,000 untrained volunteers hiding behind Coxet hill - to attack.  The English on seeing this thought that the Scots had a massive reserve force, and horror was struck into their hearts.  The English centre fled, unwisely, towards the waters of the Forth.  The right flank attempted to head in the direction of their king, and the left flank was forced back into the Bannock Burn, where Bruce had laid his booby traps.   Accounts tell of the English falling over each other to cross the Bannock Burn, killing many of themselves in the process.  The £200,000 English supply convoy was captured and Bruce also obtained high-status hostages, which he exchanged for his wife, daughter and the bishop of Glasgow.  King Robert the Bruce, with his Scottish army, had defeated an English army four times their size.

By Stewart MacKay
Editor, Scottishweb.

The day before (23 June) Bruce rode alone, armed with an axe, to see the arrival of the enormous English army and about 1,000 Scots who were anti-Bruce fanatics: Comyn's followers and the MacDougalls. 

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