Robert The Bruce and Stirling...revised!

Welcome to Stirling Archaeology’s regular piece of Friday research, the second of two weekly blogs compiled by Dr Murray Cook. The Monday newsletter summarises of all the interesting history and archaeological things happening round Stirling and the Friday one presents research. Both are generally free but if you like what I do and want to help please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Regardless we hope you enjoy the blogs and perhaps you’ll come along to a dig sometime!

Ooops a revised entry as the pub in Cambuskenneth is now closed!

Medieval Scotland was forged in the white heat of the Wars of Independence. The Victorian view of the conflict was that it demonstrated that Scotland was worthy of Union with England and together we would conquer the world. While we might question that vision today there is no doubt that the two most important battles of the war were Stirling Bridge and Bannockburn and they they played across Stirling’s majestic landscape.

It is therefore no surprise to find over a dozen monuments to Wallace and Bruce across Stirling each looking heroic and noble, inspiring confidence in the worthy and dread in those would stand against Scotland. My favourite of all of them are the guardians of the Council Chamber at Viewforth casting their steely gaze on all who enter the building.

Wallace and Bruce guarding Stirling Council’s offices at Viewforth.

11th July 2024 is the 750th anniversary of King Robert The Bruce’s birth and so my focus in this blog is on him and his connections to Stirling. There can be no doubt that The Bruce was our most successful warrior king. He was a brilliant genius, loyal to his friends but a ruthless viper to his enemies. He broke oaths and committed sacrilegious acts when it suited him and was primarily interested in his own path to the throne. But he was exactly the man we needed. However, if there was ever any doubt about how Scotland viewed him its in the later official biography of the Wars, John Barbour’s The Brus, the first ever book in Scots and a cracking read. The book makes no mention of Sir William Wallace, Scotland’s most loyal hero, a man who rose from near nothing to become de facto king. An absolutely astonishing achievement: something similar to Lincoln becoming president from his wooden hut…..if he was mixed race. It seems clear from this that Bruce did not come out favourably when compared to Wallace and so his biographers attempted to edit Wallace out.

However, we are here to discuss Bruce. So let me quickly deal with the Battle of Bannockburn. This of course is his most famous victory and Scotland’s most significant battle. For me the battle was a deadly game of chess, multiple moving parts over two days and the big question is not where it was fought but rather was Bruce lucky or had he anticipated every move. Was Day 1 simply fought to force the English to camp on the carse between the Pelstream and the Bannockburn and that in preparation for this location he developed a brand new tactic (mobile schiltrons) to attack the English positions. Now this may need some unpacking, before Bannockburn the Scots army could not march, the main infantry formation was the schiltron, a bunch of guy with big spears who didn’t move. They could of course be decimated by archery but not charged by cavalry. Having forced the English to the carse had he positioned thousands of camp followers on Coxet Hill to move to the English right flank effectively blocking their retreat to the castle? Whatever you think of Bruce this was an incredible victory.

But I really wanted to talk about the other impacts that Bruce had on Stirling…

So one of our earliest records of Bruce and Stirling has to do with Coxet Hill which I covered in an earlier blog. In summary Coxet Hill is one of the earliest cockshot woods in Britain (a cruciform wood used to hunt and trap game birds) and is the only surviving feature of Alexander III’s new Royal Park, it was abandoned following his death and the start of the Wars of Independence. Bruce sold it to raise some funds in the early part of reign.

Bruce didn’t like castles, he through they wee stranded assets and easy to capture…why waste all that time, effort and money when foot soldiers won battles. So following his victory at Bannockburn he gained control of the castle and burned it down, with one exception. I talked earlier about Bruce doing whatever he thought was in his interest and this appears to have included murdering the Red Comyn (his main rival for the throne) under a flag of truce on holy ground, which led to his excommunication. Now Bruce was keen gain to regain God’s favour (Bannockburn was the ultimate trial by combat) so it seems the one building he spared was the chapel royal (now the entrance to the Stirling Head’s Exhibition). When this was excavated during the renovation works the skeleton of knight who fought and died in the castle was recovered….but was he English to Scottish?

The impact of the both the wars and the destruction of the castle led to a collapse in Stirling’s economy by 60%. This led the people to the river the salmon fisheries, which were amongst the most important in Europe but controlled by the church. The people in the town destroyed the church’s traps and the church appealed to the King. Robert of course sided with the church! In a wee aside we all know the story of Bruce’s heart being taken to the Crusades and then ending up at Melrose Abbey. This was another of Bruce’s plans to get him out of trouble with the church…he ordered his body to be buried separately at Dunfermline Abbey so that two sets of prayers could be said for him and thus quicken his trip to heaven!

My final set of impacts and tales concerns the magnificent Cambuskenneth Abbey founded un the 12^th century by King David I. The lowest point of the Wars of Independence was the siege of Stirling Castle in 1304, this marked the real end of the first waive of resistance and culminated in the infamous War Wolf, the world’s largest trebuchet which I’ve discussed before.

Even during Edward I’s brutal triumph at Stirling Castle in 1304, the embers of resistance still glowed. Edward I was clearly getting older (65!) and it was obvious that his son the future Edward II was not his father and a far inferior leader. It was obvious his son was not up to the task and Edward’s death would therefore mean a strategic advantage for future Scots rebellions With an absolutely astonishing level of chutzpah, Bruce met Bishop Lamberton at Cambuskenneth Abbey on the 4^th of June during the siege to discuss further rebellion and agreed to keep each other informed of their plans. The Bishop urged caution and proposed a fine of £10,000 if Bruce acted rashly. It’s worth stressing here that all of Bruce’s patriotism was based on him getting the throne.

The Abbey was also the likely headquarters for the Bruce’s siege of Stirling Castle prior to the Battle of Bannockburn and no doubt the first set of plans for the forthcoming battle. The Abbey was built in a meander of the Forth with water on three sides and the tower has an excellent view of the castle to direct the siege. This the only place on the Bannockburn battlefield that we can link directly to Bruce. 

Certainly, the Abbey was where Bruce’s baggage train was guarded by Sir William of Airth which was subject to a midnight raid at the conclusion of Day 1 of the battle by the renegade Scot the John Strathbogie Earl of Atholl who had fallen out with the Bruce’s family. As Barbour’s The Brus put it: 

That he apon Saynct Jhonys nicht,

Quen bath the kingis war boun to fight,

In Cammyskynnell the kingis vittaill,

He tuk and sadly gert assaile

Schyr Wilyam off Herth and him slew

And with him men ma then ynew.

We think Atholl and his men crossed the Abbey Ford in the dark, a daring and dangerous journey but he had taken the wrong King’s shilling and was no hero. After the battle his lands and title were forfeited. He ended up working for the English as Constable of Northumbria responsible for fending off the raids of his countrymen. His son would become a leading backer of Edward III during the second War of Independence in a failed if brutal attempt to regain his titles and land. This too failed.

The Abbey also held the first post-Bannockburn Parliament when Atholl, along with everyone else that was against Bruce, had their lands forfeited. The Disinherited were of course the major force behind the Second War of Independence. Bruce came at least twice more to Cambuskenneth, once to the Parliament of 1326 where he demanded allegiance to the future king, his son David II (and we know how that ended up) and, finally, when his corpse was being taken to Dunfermline Abbey for its final rest. The Abbey Bell which rang after victory at Bannockburn and again as Bruce’s corpse rested here is now on display at the Church of Holy Rude.

Quite where everything took place is a little unclear but the Abbey is the one location of the whole battle that we can be certain about – momentous events really happened here. Perhaps the most evocative bit for me is the cemetery. Head past the manicured grass and the rounded ruins, towards the ford . The ruined remains here may be an infirmary and certainly the ground between it and the Forth was the cemetery. We know that the dead and dying from Bannockburn were brought here and it is likely that some of the combatants were buried here. Occasionally, some bones from some of the bodies buried here are eroded out by the Forth, so keep your eyes peeled when you go.

To find out more about the Wars of Independence why not have a look at my book Bannockburn and Stirling Bridge Exploring Scotland’s Two Great Battles. Available signed from me for £15 including postage and packing in the UK.