After Bannockburn

by H A CULLEY

  Knowing that King Robert would be eager to move on the next day, Edgar went and purchased an empty cart from someone in the baggage train and they sent their family north to Lamberton with an escort of two of the serjeants. They joined a party of borderers herding stolen cattle north for the first part of the journey as far as Kelso. From there they travelled alone to Simon’s manor.

  Bridget was somewhat surprised by the arrival of a mother-in-law and two sisters-in-law that she barely knew existed, but she welcomed them and quickly arranged a meal for them whilst she wondered what to do with them. They all stank and were dressed very differently to Bridget in her linen shift and velvet gown. Once they had eaten she had a bath prepared in the solar and invited them to wash. To her relief they gladly accepted her offer and whilst the women bathed in the solar, the man and the boy did the same downstream in the burn that provided the village with water.

  She quickly sorted out some of her old clothes for the two girls, who were fifteen and thirteen but the mother was bigger than she was. She sent a man over to Foulden to see if there were any of Cara’s old clothes left there. She thought that they may well have been thrown out when she had died but she was in luck. The two males were easier to clothe with a mixture of items borrowed from Geoffrey the steward and the sixteen year old son of the reeve.

  There was little call for a tailor in Lamberton; the villagers made their own clothes and Bridget’s were made by her maid, who was a competent seamstress. However, a visit to Eyemouth revealed a suitable premises and a week later the family moved down to the town.

  What had surprised Bridget most was the reaction of Simon’s mother’s to her grandchildren. Her cold demeanour changed instantly when she met four year old John and two year old Cara. It was the same when Catriona came over with her seven month old baby son, named William after Sir William Keith, Edgar’s former master.

  By the time that Gertrude and her family had settled in Eyemouth, Simon and Edgar had crossed into Yorkshire. Robert’s intelligence was that King Edward was at Byland Abbey with an army commanded by the Earl of Richmond, where he was waiting for the newly created Earl of Carlisle to join him with another two thousand men.

  ‘It’s imperative that we defeat Richmond before he is reinforced by Carlisle. Not only would their combined forces outnumber us, bur Carlisle is by far the better general.’

  ‘How far away is Carlisle now, Sire?’ Walter Stewart asked.

  ‘Two days march at the most, which is why it is imperative that we defeat Richmond tomorrow.’

  ‘Where do you expect him to take up his position?’ James Douglas was his normal abrupt self. He rarely called the king ‘Sire’ but he had become his closest friend and counsellor.

  ‘I don’t know Richmond well enough to try and guess how he thinks but, if it was me, I’d draw up my men on Scawton Ridge. If he does, there is feature that he may ignore. It’s the steep hill on the right of the ridge, which, hopefully, he will fail to secure.’

  ‘How do you intend to play it, Robert? The same as the Pass of Brander?’ Like James Douglas, John of Islay didn’t stand on ceremony.

  Robert nodded. ‘Yes, take your men and the other highlanders around the far side of the hill, if it is indeed where they set their line, and come over the top and strike them in the flank.’

  Although King Edward’s army outnumbered their Scots opposition, it was apparent from the outset that they were a rabble. They consisted of mainly locally mustered peasants who were poorly armed and lacked discipline. The professional troops were with the Earl of Carlisle, who was still a day’s march away. As Robert had expected, Richmond commanded the English army and it was drawn up on Scawton Ridge; not along the crest as he had expected but on the forward slope.

  Robert had grouped his knights together so Simon and Edgar sat side by side amidst forty five others. James Douglas organised them in three ranks and placed a thousand serjeants, hobelars and mounted borderers behind them. Richmond had about the same number of knights but he had a hundred serjeants as well. His six thousand infantry stood in a long line, six or seven deep, along the hillside with three hundred archers and crossbowmen in front of them. His cavalry were kept in reserve on the crest of the ridge.

  In contrast, Robert only had two thousand infantry and two hundred or so archers. In the event they didn’t even to get to fire a single arrow. Whilst the English were still forming up, Douglas gave the order to charge and Simon and Edgar found themselves in the front rank galloping towards the startled English. They weren’t close packed enough to ride knee to knee, as normal, to impart the maximum shock, but that didn’t matter. The English archers fired one volley and then ran like frightened rabbits into their infantry. The volley brought down five knights and thirty of the following light horsemen, so the Scots got off lightly.

  The massed infantry were too densely packed to allow the archers passage and a struggle broke out along the line as panicked archers tried to reach the rear. It was at that critical moment that the highlanders appeared, charging down the hill on the English right flank. It was enough to break the line without a blow being struck. The panic engendered by the archers, combined with that of those on the right flank, spread like wildfire and the line crumbled as the whole mass took to their heels.

  They swept past the Earl of Richmond and his knights before the former had really grasped what was happening. Before he had a chance to join the rout, Richmond saw Douglas and the Scots knights charging towards him and he kicked his horse forward, followed by most of his knights, though a craven few joined the rest in flight.

  Douglas levelled his lance at a French noble called Henri de Sulley and Simon found himself faced by a knight with a blue and yellow chequered shield with a red border and an upper canton of ermine. His knowledge of English heraldry was good and he pointed his lance at the centre of the Earl of Richmond’s shield. Both lances splintered on impact and both men were lifted out of their saddles.

  Simon landed on the ground with a thump that knocked the wind from his body. He knew that he was likely to be trampled to death by the mass of following horses but he couldn’t move. Suddenly he felt a body covering his own. When they had finally passed he tried to get up but the body protecting him was limp. He rolled him to one side and saw that it was Edgar. He took one look at the dented helmet and, for a moment he feared that his brother had died saving his life. All he could think of at that moment was that Catriona would never forgive him.

  ~#~

  Douglas continued the chase until he came in sight of Byland Abbey. As he neared the entrance, he saw a mass of mounted men at the entrance with several banners he recognised, including the three gold lions passant on red of King Edward. The King of England was within his grasp!

  During the chase, the Scots had become spread out and James Douglas found that he only had twenty men with him. As Edward’s escort numbered about forty knights and his men were mainly lightly armed, he had to watch in frustration as Edward got away. It seemed like a repetition of Bannockburn, when he had chased Edward for several days after the battle - and very nearly caught him at Dunbar.

  By the time that James Douglas had gathered enough men to take on Edward’s escort, he was long gone. It was then that he discovered that the king had left in such haste that he had left his baggage train behind with all his personal jewels and a considerable sum in coin.

  Whilst Douglas stayed to secure the baggage train and prevent looting, Walter Stewart continued the chase and pursued Edward as far as York, nearly capturing him twice.

  ~#~

  As Simon knelt beside the inert body of his brother Edgar moaned and opened his eyes, gazing blearily at Simon.

  ‘By God’s bones, I feel as if I’ve been kicked by a horse.’

  ‘You have been, thank the Lord that you are alright. Stay there a moment; there’s something I must do.’

  The Earl of Richmond was struggling to get to his feet when Simon walked over and put a sword to his throat.

&nbs
p; ‘Do you yield, my lord.’

  ‘I suppose that would be the sensible thing to do.’ He smiled ruefully. ‘I suspect that I have the distinction of having commanded the army that has suffered the quickest defeat in history. Who do I have the honour of surrendering to. I don’t seem to recognise the surcoat.’

  ‘I’m Sir Simon de Powburn, my lord.’

  ‘Ah, the pirate who keeps destroying Edward’s fleets. Do you know that there is a price on your head and on that of your brother?’

  ‘No, that’s news to me.’

  ‘How much is it?’ Edgar asked staggering up, holding his dented helmet in his hand and mopping at his bleeding head with a piece of cloth.

  ‘Seven hundred marks each.’

  The two brothers whistled at the size of the bounty. It was more than their manors produced in five or six years.

  ‘In that case, my lord, I think it’s only fair that we set your ransom at fourteen hundred marks.’

  Richmond sighed ruefully. ‘Perhaps it was a mistake to tell you. Luckily for all of us I am a wealthy man.’

  At that moment King Robert rode up with Thomas Randolph.

  ‘Well, John. You didn’t put up much of a fight did you?’

  ‘No, my lord. I fear that Edward will not be best pleased with me.’

  Robert was used to the English refusing to acknowledge his royal status and let the slight pass.

  ‘Well done, you two. It seems that I am indebted to you once again. To which of you has John of Brittany surrendered?’

  Although John was known as the Earl of Richmond in England, he was also the Duke of Brittany; a very valuable catch.

  ‘To me, Sire, but as Edgar saved my life when I was unhorsed, we intend to share it.’

  ‘Very well. You had better get your prisoner back to Berwick and keep him there until the ransom is paid. I’ll give you an escort to make sure he gets there safely.’

  ~#~

  Edward blamed the Earl of Richmond for the debacle at Byland and was so angry at Richmond’s defeat and his own subsequent humiliation at becoming a fugitive in his own country that he prevented the payment of his ransom. His problems intensified when he learned of the perfidy of Andrew Harclay, the newly created Earl of Carlisle.

  After Byland Moor, Harclay withdrew to Carlisle. His two thousand being no match for Robert Bruces’ victorious army. At the same time, Robert started to withdraw his own army back over the border. Simon and Edgar had returned to their respective manors and families once they had handed John of Brittany over to William Keith at Berwick.

  Simon said goodbye to his brother as he cantered his tired horse up the hill to his hall, Rollo following on with the pack horse at a more sedate pace. His men made their own way in the opposite direction into the village. It was a cold day in early November and the wind driving in over the North Sea meant the cold penetrated the many layers of clothing the two wore, so both knight and squire were thankful to enter the hall and find a fire burning merrily in the grate. When he had designed the hall Simon had incorporated a fireplace in the centre of one long wall with a chimney to take the smoke away. With the strong wind howling outside, the fire was drawing well so that he whole room was warm, except perhaps in the furthermost corners.

  Bridget, John and little Cara ran to meet him and Simon swung the two children round in his arms, generating squeals of delight. It would not be seemly for him to embrace his wife with Rollo, the two pages and other servants looking on, not to mention his steward, Geoffrey, who was waiting his turn to welcome Simon home. At that moment the twenty three year old knight felt that he wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of his days sitting in front of the fire with his family. His estrangement from Bridget now seemed very distant, almost unreal, like a nightmare which he had almost forgotten once he had woken up.

  A similar scene was playing out at Ayton, except that Catriona started to chide Edgar as soon as she saw the bloody bandage around his head. He told her it was just a bang on the head and made a fuss of the baby. Patrick Graham walked in at that moment with the first armful of Edgar’s gear. His brother, Alexander, wanted to rush and embrace him but he knew that, even if he wasn’t a page and Patrick a squire, his brother would be embarrassed by such a show of affection, so he just grinned at him inanely instead.

  The next day Simon rode over and invited his brother to come with him to Eyemouth to see how their mother and sisters were faring. The knights took along their squires and all three pages, knowing that the latter would especially enjoy a day out riding instead of being stuck inside their respective halls. It was also a good opportunity for the two Logan brothers, Ian aged ten and Lachlan aged eight, to get to know Alexander better.

  When they arrived in Eyemouth, with a nod from Simon, Edgar told the boys that they could go down to the beach and just be boys for a change. The squires looked a little askance at this invitation, fancying themselves as nearly men but when they reached the beach they enjoyed themselves playing tag and leapfrog just as much as the pages did.

  The brothers’ sense of wellbeing lasted until they reached the premises that served as the tailor’s shop and the house for their mother’s family. The shop itself was closed and, when their youngest sister, Millicent, opened the door it was plain that she had been crying.

  She embraced each brother in turn, weeping and making little sense.

  ‘Calm down Millicent and tell us what’s wrong,’ Simon told her gently, holding her in his arms.

  ‘It’s mother,’ she stuttered.

  At that moment her elder sister, Abigail, appeared down the stairs. The door to the private side of the building was at street level but the living quarters were on the first and second floors, the ground floor being devoted to the shop and the cutting and stitching room.

  ‘Mother’s gravely ill. We don’t know what ‘s wrong but she has a fever and she is delirious.’ She too then started to weep.

  ‘Has the apothecary been?’ Eyemouth didn’t have a physician or even a barber-surgeon and the apothecary dealt with most ailments.

  Abigail nodded. ‘He wasn’t much help. He said she had an evil humour and advised bloodletting. He sold us a potion, saying it would reduce the fever but it hasn’t. If anything its worse. Then the priest came. He was even less help. He said it was a punishment from God because she hadn’t attended mass last Sunday. It’s true, she didn’t but that was because she was already ill.’

  The two men went up to see their mother but she didn’t know them and just tossed and turned restlessly in the bed. They commiserated with Gertrude’s husband but he seemed at a loss as to what to do. He just wrung his hands, saying how unfair it was of God to take two good wives from him.

  ‘She’s not dead yet,’ Edgar told him brusquely.

  The apprentice sat in a corner, evidently wishing that he was elsewhere, so Simon told him to take care of Edgar’s horse, which was still in the street with his, and then go to his room for now.

  I’m going to Coldingham Priory to ask the Infirmarian’s advice. Are you happy to stay here?’

  ‘Yes you go. Take Rollo in case you need a messenger and ask Patrick to take Ian and Lachlan back to your hall, then take Alexander to Ayton.’

  The Infirmarian said that it was difficult to be certain without an examination but he suspected that Gertrude had an ague. She needed to sweat out the toxins from her body. Unlike the apothecary, he didn’t advise bleeding to get rid of the evil humours but an infusion containing angelica, elderberry, rosemary, and yarrow. This would purify her body without blood-letting. Simon was dubious but took the pouch containing the ground herbs and made a donation to the priory in return.

  When he and Rollo returned his mother had fallen into an uneasy sleep. He gave the herbal mixture to Abigail with a promise to return the next morning. When they did so they found their mother lucid but still very weak. When she saw her sons, she broke down in tears. She composed herself after a minute or two and beckoned them closer. Then she spoke to them in a h
oarse whisper.

  ‘I know that I have never shown you that I loved you but I did and I do now more than ever. Your father had many good qualities but he was a jealous man. He resented my love for you when you were quite young and, as you grew, that jealousy got worse. I don’t know why he was like that but he was. I know he was hard on you, he was unfair and he beat you for no reason. I longed to comfort you but I knew that, if I did, it would make the situation much worse, so I forced myself to be cold towards you.’

  Gertrude stopped to rest, and then she started to cough repeatedly. When she had finished she lay back exhausted and they thought that she was dropping off to sleep. But suddenly she half sat up and grasped Simon’s arm.

  ‘I know that I don’t deserve it but I know that my end is near, so I beg your forgiveness. Look after the girls for me. This fool only wanted a cheap housekeeper and won’t want to be bothered with them when I’m gone, unless they skivvy for him, as I have done. They deserve better.’

  Simon could have said that she would get better and try to be optimistic but he knew his mother was right, she was near her time.

  ‘I can’t speak for Edgar but I understand and I forgive you with all my heart’

  ‘I too forgive you, mother. I confess that I have hated you at times in the past but, like Simon, I now understand. Go in peace with our love.’

  Fifteen minutes later the priest bustled in and gave Gertrude the last rites, though she was in a restless delirium again by then. Then she ceased moving and seemed calm. Half an hour later she was dead but she died with a beautiful smile on her face and her children knew that she was at peace.

  Their sisters couldn’t stay in a house with a man and a boy unchaperoned, so Simon took them back to Lamberton with him whilst Edgar stayed to arrange the funeral. The tailor couldn’t wait to ask what was to become of him and his apprentice. Edgar was irritated at his insensitivity but he realised that he was worried that, with Gertrude and the girls gone, there was no more reason for her sons to provide a house and tailor’s shop for him.