SCOTLAND. 
839 
Indeed, such was the alacrity with which the people in ge, 
neral seconded his operations, that in three months the whole 
of Scotland, except one or two fortified places, were wrested 
from the English. Edward II. harassed by dissentions at 
home, now found it necessary to agree to a truce, which, 
though it was only of short duration, enabled Bruce to con¬ 
solidate his power, and organize his government. At its 
conclusion he entered England, and gratified the revenge 
and cupidity of his followers by laying waste and plunder¬ 
ing the northern counties. Edward, in his turn, became the 
assailant during the same year, and advanced beyond Edin¬ 
burgh. But the want of provisions soon obliged him to 
retire, without having gained any material advantage. But 
though he abandoned Scotland for the present, he resolved 
to undertake its conquest again at no distant period. With 
this view he summoned the most warlike of his vassals from 
Gascony, enlisted numerous foreign troops into his service, 
and assembling the whole military force of England, marched 
towards the borders with an army composed of 100,000 
men. The Scots at this time were besieging the castle of 
Stifling, and had compelled the governor to a capitulation, 
unless relieved by a certain day. Bruce, judging that Ed¬ 
ward would endeavour to save this fortress, posted his army 
at Bannockburn, about two miles to the southward, where 
his right flank was protected by a precipitous hill, and his 
left by a deep morass. This gallant band consisted only of 
30,000 combatants, but all of them men of tried courage, 
determined to perish or to ensure the liberties of their 
country. The English arrived in sight on the 24th of June, 
and on the same evening dispatched a body of horse to pe¬ 
netrate to the castle. Bruce ordered his nephew, Randolph, 
earl of Murray, to intercept their march, and a furious en¬ 
gagement ensued, which terminated in the total discomfiture 
of the invaders, and contributed greatly to the confidence of 
the Scots. Early on the following day, the English king led 
his army to a general attack. The earl of Gloucester, who 
commanded the cavalry, rushed forward to the charge with 
the utmost impetuosity, and fell into the covered pits which 
Bruce had formed in front of his line. The Scottish ca¬ 
valry, commanded by Sir James Douglas, advanced upon 
them, and after a prodigious slaughter, chased them from 
the field. Returning, they threw themselves upon the rear 
of the infantry, who were engaged by the Scottish foot. 
At this critical moment, the waggoners and sumpter boys of 
the army, whom Bruce had supplied with military standards, 
appeared on the summit of a neighbouring hill, and decided 
the fortune of the day. The English, supposing them to be 
another army, were panic struck, threw down their arms, and 
fled in the utmost confusion. They were pursued by the 
victors as far as Berwick with immense loss ; and the king 
himself only escaped by the fleetness of his horse. The 
Scots, besides an inestimable booty, took many persons of 
quality prisoners, and above 400 gentlemen, all of whom 
Robert treated with great humanity. Barton, a monk of 
Scarborough, who had accompanied Edward to celebrate 
his triumph, composed a poem in honour of the victory of 
the Scots, as the price of his liberty; and the ransom of 
the other prisoners brought a great accession of wealth to 
the victorious army. Such, says an eminent historian, “ was 
the great and decisive battle of Bannockburn, which se¬ 
cured the independence of Scotland, fixed Bruce on the 
throne of that kingdom, and may be deemed the greatest 
overthrow that the English nation, since the conquest, has 
ever received. The number of slain on those occasions is 
always uncertain, and is commonly much magnified by the 
victors. But this defeat made a deep impression on the 
minds of the English, and it was remarked that for some 
years no superiority of numbers could induce them to keep 
the field against the Scots.” 
After this victory the castle of Stirling surrendered ac¬ 
cording to agreement, and that of Berwick was taken by 
assault. Bruce likewise attempted to make himself master 
of the town of Carlisle, but his efforts were baffled by the 
bravery of its garrison. In April, 1315, he assembled a 
Parliament at Ayr, to settle the succession to the crown» 
which was declared to devolve to Sir Edward Bruce, his 
brother, in preference to the king’s own daughter Margery, 
who gave up her rights for the benefit of her country. Sir 
Edward immediately passed over into Ireland, to aid the 
Irish against the English, and he was soon after followed by 
the king himself, but the latter returned to Scotland in the 
same year. His brother, however, continued to pursue his 
projects of conquest, till his defeat and death in the battle at 
Dundalk, w'hich was fought in 1318." This event rendered 
a new settlement of the regal succession necessary, and ac¬ 
cordingly a Parliament met at Scone in December, and ac¬ 
knowledged as heir, Robert, the infant son of Margery, 
who had married the Stewart, and died in 1316. But this 
destination of the crown was also rendered nugatory in the 
first instance, by the birth of a son to the king himself, in 
1323. In the mean time the war continued to rage with 
various success, and Robert dispatched Randolph as ambas¬ 
sador to France, to conclude a treaty offensive and defensive 
with Charles IV. In March 1327, the English government 
agreed to acknowledge the kingship of Bruce and the inde¬ 
pendence of Scotland, and passed a solemn act of Parliament 
to that effect. The treaty of Northampton was the imme¬ 
diate consequence, and settled the peace between the con¬ 
tending kingdoms as independent sovereignties. One of its 
stipulations was, that David, the infant son of Robert, 
should marry Jane, the sister of the English king. Bruce, 
having thus obtained the consummation of his magnanimous 
efforts, died in the year following, at the age of fifty-five. 
David I. now ascended the throne, which the abilities 
and vigour of his father had re-established, apparently on a 
firm foundation. Randolph, earl of Murray, was declared 
guardian to the young king ; but, unfortunately for the 
prince and for Scotland, he died in 1332, the very year in 
which a new competitor for the crown arose in the person 
of Edward Baliol, son of that John who had so meanly 
surrendered his kingdom to Edward I. This pretender, 
with the secret support of the English monarch, collected a 
considerable body of troops, and landed in Fifeshire. The 
new regent, Donald, earl of Mar, hastened to oppose this 
invasion, and for that purpose is said to have mustered an 
army of 40,000 men. His imprudence and want of skill, 
however, destroyed the advantages which superiority of num¬ 
bers gave him over his antagonist. Both armies encamped 
opposite to each other, separated only by the river Erne; 
and the regent, confiding in that security, and the small 
force of the enemy, neglected all order and precaution. 
Baliol, apprized of this, passed the river in the night, pene¬ 
trated into the camp of the Scots, threw them into confusion, 
and pursued them from the field with great slaughter. Baliol, 
on this unexpected success, marched for Perth, and made 
himself master of that important station. Here he was be¬ 
sieged by the earl of March and Sir Archibald Douglas, but 
their efforts were defeated, and Baliol was proclaimed king. 
David and his betrothed queen were sent over to France, 
and the leaders of his party sued for and obtained a truce 
from his competitor, whose power they were unable to resist. 
Baliol’s reign, however, w’as of short duration; for having 
dismissed the greater part of his English followers, he was 
attacked and defeated near Annan, by Sir Archibald Douglas, 
and other chieftains of the Bruce faction. By this disaster 
he lost his kingdom more rapidly than he gained it. But in 
the interval he had induced the English king openly to sup¬ 
port his cause. Edward resolved to reinstate him in the 
possession of the crown, an enterprize which he flattered 
himself would be easy, and accordingly besieged Berwick, 
which the governor, after a gallant defence, agreed to sur¬ 
render, unless relieved by a certain day. The regent being 
informed of this capitulation, was forced, contrary to his 
wishes, to risk the fate of the kingdom on the issue of one 
battle. He attacked the English at Halydon Hill, north of 
Berwick, and as he himself was slain at the first onset, his 
army was totally routed. The English writers calculate the 
loss of the Scots in this action at 30,000 men ; while Edward 
is 
