and their arrangements were scarcely completed when the vast host of the enemy was descried covering the whole country far and wide, and forming a magnificent spectacle of martial pomp and splendour. On approaching Stirling, the English king detached Sir Robert Clifford with a chosen body of eight hundred horse, directing them to make a circuit round the left flank of the Scottish army, and to throw himself into the beleaguered fortress. But this movement did not escape the eagle eye of Bruce; and Randolph, whom he had enjoined to be vigilant in preventing any such attempt, hastened with five hundred spearmen to intercept the succours before they could reach the castle. After a brief but stubborn conflict the English were completely routed, and fled in disorder to the main body of the army.
While this affair was undecided, the English vanguard came within sight of the Scottish army. King Robert was, at the moment, riding along the front of his line marshalling the ranks of his host. He was mounted on a small palfrey, but was clad in complete armour, and carried a battle-axe in his hand. He was easily recognized, both by his position, and by a golden coronet which he wore on his helmet. Sir Henry de Bohun, "a wycht knight and a hardy," who rode in front of the English vanguard, armed at all points and mounted on a strong warhorse, perceiving Bruce thus engaged, couched his lance, and spurring his charger rode furiously against the king with the evident expectation that he would easily bear him to the earth, and end the war at a single blow. The contest was most unequal, but, to the surprise of the spectators, Bruce calmly awaited the onset. Just as they were about to close, however, he suddenly turned his palfrey to one side, so that de Bohun missed his aim, and, as he passed in his rapid career, Bruce, rising in his stirrups, with one blow of his battle-axe dashed helmet and head to pieces, and laid his assailant dead at his feet. The English vanguard, intimidated by the result of this personal encounter, retreated in confusion, and were pursued for some distance by the Scottish spearmen. After a spirit-stirring address from the king to his assembled generals, they repaired to their respective positions, and the troops passed the night in arms upon the field.
Early next morning—Monday, 24th June—the Scottish army heard mass, which was performed by the abbot of Inchaffray upon an eminence in front of their line. They then took breakfast and arranged themselves in their appointed divisions. The vanguard of the English, under the command of the earls of Gloucester and Hereford, now drew near. The king himself brought up the main body, consisting of nine divisions, but compressed by the narrowness of the ground into one immense column. At this moment the abbot of Inchaffray, bareheaded and barefooted, walked along the Scottish line, and holding up a crucifix exhorted the soldiers to fight bravely for their rights and liberties. As he passed the whole army knelt down, and "made a short prayer to God to help them in their fight." "See!" cried Edward, "they are kneeling to ask mercy." "They do," replied Sir Ingram de Umfraville, who rode beside him; "but it is from God, not from you. Trust me, yon men will win or die." "Be it so," said the king, and immediately commanded the charge to be sounded. The English van advanced at full gallop on the right wing of the Scots, commanded by Edward Bruce, but was unable to produce any serious impression on the serried ranks of the Scottish spearmen. The centre and left wing of the Scots were soon after led up, so that the battle became general along the whole line. The English cavalry attempted, like the French cuirassiers at Waterloo, by repeated and desperate charges, to break through the phalanx of the Scottish infantry, but were repulsed with great slaughter in every attack. The English archers, however, began to do considerable execution on the close ranks of the spearmen, but were taken in flank and completely routed by Sir Robert Keith, marshal of Scotland, at the head of five hundred horsemen, whom Bruce had kept in reserve for that purpose. The battle continued to rage with great fury, but King Robert, perceiving that the English were becoming exhausted and dispirited, brought up his reserve, and pressed with redoubled vigour upon the wavering ranks of the enemy. At this critical period, the attendants on the Scottish camp, whether acting on the impulse of the moment or from previous orders it is impossible to say, suddenly appeared on the Gillies'-hill, in the view of the army; and having hastily laid hold of such arms as were at hand, and fastened blankets and sheets upon tent poles for banners, presented the appearance of a new army advancing to the assistance of the Scots. The English, dismayed at this unexpected sight, began to give way, and King Robert, seizing the favourable moment, shouted his war-cry, and made a furious assault on the main body of the enemy, by which they were completely broken. This well-timed charge decided the fate of the day. The English fled in all directions, and were pursued with immense slaughter. Thirty thousand were left dead upon the field, among whom were twenty-seven barons, two hundred knights, and seven hundred esquires. Twenty-two barons and baronets, and sixty knights, with an immense quantity of spoil, fell into the hands of the victors, and, according to the monk of Malmesbury, "the chariots, waggons, and wheeled carriages, which were loaded with the baggage and military stores, would, if drawn up in a line, have extended for twenty leagues." The English king himself escaped with difficulty from this fatal field, and after a continuous flight of sixty miles, during which he was closely pursued by Douglas, he at length found refuge in the castle of Dunbar, from which he escaped in a fishing skiff to Bamborough castle.
Such was the memorable battle of Bannockburn, which, both in its immediate consequences and its more remote effects, must be regarded as one of the most important events in the history of Scotland. It virtually secured at once the freedom and independence of the country. It showed the English monarchs the hopelessness of their iniquitous attempts to reduce it permanently to the condition of a conquered province, and taught the Scottish people never to regard their cause as desperate even in the last extremity. There cannot be a doubt that they were greatly encouraged during their subsequent struggles for civil and religious liberty by the recollection of the victory of Bannockburn, and that the proud position which Scotland now occupies is in no small degree owing to the great deliverance achieved by King Robert and his gallant compatriots.
Deeply as Bruce had been injured by the English, he made no attempt to retaliate upon the prisoners who had fallen into his hands. He treated them with so much courtesy and humanity that, according to the testimony of an English historian, he "wonderfully changed the hearts of many of the English from enmity to admiration and esteem." So far was his success at Bannockburn from rendering him presumptuous, that he immediately followed it up with a proposal for peace. Commissioners were appointed for that purpose, but as the English refused to abandon their claims to feudal superiority over Scotland, the negotiations at once fell to the ground. The war was instantly resumed, and was continued for fourteen years, with almost uninterrupted success on the part of the Scots. During this interval England was twelve times invaded by them, and frequently wasted as far as the gates of York. The northern provinces abandoned to their fate, in consequence of the fickleness and incapacity of the English king and the fierce factions among his nobles, were compelled to purchase exemption from plunder by the payment of a heavy tribute, and many of the inhabitants even tendered their allegiance to King Robert, that they might escape from ruin and captivity. On the 26th of April, 1315, the Scottish parliament, in a meeting held at Ayr, solemnly ratified an act of settlement, regulating the succession of the crown. It was determined, with the consent of Marjory, his only child, that if King Robert should die without male issue his brother Edward should ascend the throne, and that failing Edward and his heirs male, Marjory and her heirs should be next in succession. This important arrangement, equally wise and patriotic on the part of Bruce, was speedily followed by the marriage of Marjory with Walter the hereditary High-Steward of Scotland. From this auspicious union sprung a race of sovereigns, under whom the two kingdoms were at length happily united, and their descendant wears at this moment the British crown.
About this period, a party of Irish chiefs, eager to throw off the oppressive yoke of England, sent messages to Bruce, imploring his aid in the attempt to expel their oppressors, and offering in return to bestow the crown of Ireland on his brother Edward. Though the chances of success must have seemed both remote and doubtful, the king ultimately complied, and within a month after the passing of the act of settlement. Edward Bruce embarked for Ireland with six thousand soldiers, and landed near Carrickfergus on the 25th of May, 1315.
