Robert The Bruce..page 3

Having escaped at Menthven, Bruce had to go into hiding until he could gather support and continue to fight against Edward.
Historical records of this time, the winter of 1306/1307 are again very uncertain of where Bruce actually was during the winter months. Some say Ireland, others say the Scottish Highlands and perhaps even Orkney, which was at that time still under Norwegian rule.

Around this time the reason for the story of the famous spider makes an appearance.
It is said that Bruce, while hiding in a cave, watched the labours of a spider as it tried to make a web. The spider would not give up and this apparently motivated Bruce to do likewise.

Where is this cave? No one knows for certain, there are quite a few of them scattered about Scotland, each claiming to be "the cave".
One of the more famous caves is said to be at Gretna, near the Scottish/English border.
As yet, I have not tried to visit any of the probable sites but somehow the thought of Bruce hiding so near to England does not ring true.

In fact this spider apparently made it's first appearance in relation to Bruce in a book by Sir Walter Scott, Tales of a Grandfather, written in 1828.

Documents from the Douglas family tell a different story. It was the Black Douglas who saw this spider and then told Bruce to encourage him to continue to fight. I have to say I agree with Magnus Magnusson on this one, Scotland, The Story of a Nation..
There was no spider, it was a homily used to encourage Bruce. After all, Douglas and Bruce were on the run, in hiding and desperately trying to form some kind of strategy to use against Edward.
They had time to sit and study spiders, I think not.

However, back to the facts.

Winter was over and Bruce had to make a move. In early 1307 he reappeared in historical documents. Still not recognised by the Scottish people as their King, Bruce continued much as Wallace had done, to fight as a guerrilla leader. Almost immediately disaster befell him. On starting his new campaign, he sailed from Ireland to land at Loch Ryan in Galloway. His brothers, Thomas and Alexander leading one division, Bruce and his other brother Edward leading another heading toward the Island of Arran.

Thomas and Alexander found themselves in a battle with Comyn supporters, the McDougalls. Both were defeated and both were taken to Carlisle in England where Edward ordered them to be executed by beheading.
Bruce and his division decided to land at Turnberry Castle, in Ayrshire, the birthplace of Bruce, but on reaching there found the castle and the surrounding castle heavily under English control. Again Bruce had to go into hiding.

The next battle of any significance was the Battle of Loudon Hill in Ayrshire on the 10th May 1307. This followed on from a minor battle at Glen Trool where the English were defeated. As a result of Glen Trool Edward was putting pressure on to de Valence to get Bruce under control.

De Valance challenged Bruce to fight and Bruce accepted the challenge choosing to fight at Loudon Hill. He picked a good place for his battle, Loudon Hill was surrounded by bogs and a few man made pits perfect for stopping the advance of the English army.
Bruce and his army of 600 defeated de Valence and the English army of 3000.

Now the people of Scotland were beginning to believe they might just be able to escape the harsh and brutal rule of Edward of England.
Events were turning in Bruce's favour and Edward was getting increasingly irate at the failure to stop him. Time was running out for Edward, he was growing too old to fight but in one last bid to defeat Bruce and gain Scotland he sent his son, Edward, Prince of Wales to lead an army into Scotland.

King Edward himself also started to move towards Scotland but became ill on route. He recovered enough to carry on towards the Scottish border but by early July was to ill to go on.
On July 6th 1307, King Edward 1 of England died on English soil within sight of Scotland.

On his deathbed his dying wish was that he not be buried in a manner befitting a King until Scotland was subdued.
Today he lies in Westminster Abbey in an unadorned sarcophagus and there he shall remain, as Scotland will never be subdued.

Following the death of Edward 1, the English crown passed to his son, now King Edward 11 of England. With his throne came the legacy from Edward 1 to continue the fight to subjugate Scotland.
Edward 11 was not driven by the same passion to do this and after his father's death made just one visit to Scotland with his army, going only as far as Dumfries before returning to England where he remained for the next 3 years.
Now was the time for Bruce to try to get his Kingdom under some sort of control and prepare for future English invasions. He had a few old scores to settle. His family had been either executed or treated in a barbaric fashion and Bruce was out to avenge that.

After dealing with the MacDougalls in Galloway he headed north into Scotland making his way to the Highlands. His policy was simple, free the castles from English control then burn them to prevent them being used to shelter the English in case of wars to come.

By March of 1314 Bruce had all of the key Scottish Castles bar one, under his control. Stirling Castle was the only one left in English control.
Stirling Castle was known to be the most impregnable in Scotland, but Bruce left it at siege controlled by his brother Edward. Bruce knew his brother preferred to fight rather than hold a siege and I wonder why he took the risk of leaving this to his brother.

It was a risk and it failed. Rather than stay in the camps upholding the siege, Edward Bruce made a deal with the English governor of Stirling Castle, Sir Philip Mowbray. They agreed that if the English did not relieve Stirling Castle before Midsummer's day, the castle would be surrendered to the Scots.

This left Kings, Bruce and Edward 11 no choice. Edward 11 could not stand by and simply watch the castle being returned to Scottish control. To avoid that he had to fight to keep it, and by doing so, Scotland and England were at war was more. Bruce could not turn his back on the battle his brother had just initiated and so both Kings prepared for war.

Please press next to The Battle of Bannockburn.