600 Years Ago.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 53, 24 June 1914, Page 5

600 Years Ago.

I BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN AN HISTORICAL EVENT. The cheerless prophecy “There’ll be trouble in the Balkans in the spring” is so true that no comment is needed on it, nor does it seem unnatural that two such martial and haughty I nations as Scotland and England j should engage in hostilities pretty constantly in the “good old days” before football matches were invented. The Borders seem to have been, five or six hundred years ago, in a perpetual state of warfare, and the Houses of Percy and Douglas made plenty of “news,” but unfortunately prior to the advent of the newspaper. SCOTLAND’S RIGHTFUL HEIR. At about the close of the thirteenth century, Scotland was divided within itself on the question as to who was the rightful heir to the throne—Hubert Bruce or Baliol. It was a practice of that age to decide such disputes to choose some foreign priuce as arbiter. The Scottish Parliament, to avert civil war, agreed in making reference to Edward 1., King of England. The temptation was too strong for Edward to resist, and he decided to lay hold of the present opportunity to revive a claim made by him of a feudal superiority over Scotland. This claim, however just (and historians debate of its justness at groat length), was. very naturally opposed by the .Scottish nation. At* the first opportunity the Scots resisted English. Then arose Wallace, who succeeded in delivering his country from the English yoke. Robert Bruce and the majority of the Scottish nobles took part in this deliverance. But again Edward conquered the country, and it was not till the days of Edward 11. that Robert Bruce had ' the opportunity of striking the decisive blow for the independence of his native land. SCOTSMEN IN THE FIELD.

On the 24tH June, 1314, Brue®, with an army of 30,000 men took up a position about two miles from Stirling, behind the small Bannock Burn. The field was well chosen, the Scottish army having a hill on its right flank and a marsh on its left. Knowing that the English were superior in cavalry, Bruce ordered that pits be dug between his army and the stream and the whole be covered with turf. Bruce’s immediate object was to stop the English army (of about 100,000) reaching Stirling, and relieving the castle, then besieged by the Scots. The English army came in sight on the evening of June 23rd, but beyond some fighting between the cavalry, of the two armies, nothing was done. THE ENGLISH DEFEAT. Early in the morning of June 24th, Edward advanced towards the Scots. The Duke of Gloucester, his nephew, who commanded the left wing of the cavalry, attacked without precaution and fell into the pits. This body of horse was disordered, and Sir James Douglas, in command of tho_ Scottish cavalry, ■ gave the enemy no time to rally, but pushed them off the field with great loss, and pursued them in sight of their whole line of infantry. While the English army wore alarmed at this unfortunate beginning of the action, they descried on a height to the right of the Scottish army, Gillies Hill, what appeared to be another army. This was merely a number of camp-fol-lowers, whom Bruce bad supplied with standards. The stratagem wat successful. The English, fearing that they would he surrounded, were seized with panic, and throwing down their arms fled from the field. They were pursued with great slaughter for ninety miles, to Berwick. Besides a great deal of booty, the Scots took many persons of quality. King Edward himself narrowly escaped. The battle secured independence for Scotland, and may he considered as the greatest defeat sustained by the English since the Norman Conquest.