BANNOCKBURN BATTLE-FIELD 9 



persons who have visited the site of the Battle of 

 Bannockburn have felt some difficulty in understanding 

 why the English army did not easily outflank the left 

 wing of the Scots. At present, a wide fertile plain 

 stretches for miles north and south on the east side of 

 the low plateau on which Bruce's forces were drawn up. 1 

 A small body of the English cavalry did, indeed, make 

 its way across this plain until overtaken and cut to 

 pieces by Randolph. But why was this force so easily 

 dispersed, and why was no more formidable and per- 

 sistent effort made to turn that left flank? It is very 

 clear that, had the topography been then what it is 

 now, the Battle of Bannockburn must have had a 

 far other ending. 



The true explanation of the difficulty seems to me 

 tc be supplied by some almost casual references in 

 Barbour's account of the operations. He makes Bruce, 

 in addressing his followers, allude to the advantage 

 they would gain should the enemy attempt to pass by 

 the morass beneath them. The poet further narrates 

 how the Carse, that is, the low flat land on the left, 

 was dotted with pools of water : how the English, 

 in order to effect a passage, broke down houses, and 

 tried to bridge over these pools with doors, windows, 

 and thatch from the cottage roofs ; and how, with the 

 assistance of their compatriots in Stirling Castle, they 

 were so far successful that Clifford's troop of horse, 

 and, possibly, some more of the English army, got 

 safely over to the hard ground beyond. We thus learn 

 that Bruce's famous device of the ' pots ' was only 



1 This plain is one of the upraised marine platforms referred to in 

 a later part of this Essay. 



