The Path to the Throne

by H A CULLEY

  Lamberton rubbed his forehead as he read the letter from Bishop Wishart. He could understand why Wishart had granted Bruce absolution but he had a nasty feeling that King Edward would apply to the Pope to excommunicate him, which would place the Scottish clergy in a difficult position. Wishart also informed Lamberton, as primate, that Robert Bruce had asked him, Wishart, to arrange for his formal coronation at Scone on the twenty-fifth of March.

  The bishop sighed and sat back in his chair, deep in thought. Eventually he realised that James Douglas was still with him and was hopping about like a man with a hive of bees in his hose.

  ‘I suppose I should tell you what’s happened.’

  ‘If you wouldn’t mind, my lord bishop. Obviously something momentous has happened.’

  ‘You could say that. Certainly, for good or ill, the die is now cast. The Red Comyn and his uncle have been killed in Dumfries and Robert Bruce has declared himself king.’

  Douglas could hardly contain his glee. ‘How did it happen?’

  ‘Apparently Comyn had betrayed negotiations between him and Bruce about which of them should be King of Scots to Edward Longshanks. Bruce confronted him the abbey church in Dumfries and a fight broke out in which Comyn was wounded. Then later he was found in the churchyard and murdered by two of Robert’s supporters.’

  ‘Well, however it occurred, we now have someone to lead us in our fight for independence. If I had to choose between Bruce and Comyn, I’d have chosen Bruce too.’

  ‘I don’t think it’s a simple as that, James. Many will accuse Robert of murder and, if we aren’t careful we’ll have a civil war on our hands as well as one with the English. I think we are in for a difficult time, whether or not Robert is king.’

  ‘Well I for one think that it is about time we had a king behind whom we Scots can fight for our rights and our independence.’

  Chapter Thirteen – The King of Summer - Spring 1306

  On the day of the coronation at Scone, the traditional place of enthronement for Scottish kings as far back as anyone could remember, the wind howled and the rain lashed down. Elizabeth had been horrified when she had found out what had happened at Dumfries. As ever, she was torn between devotion to her father, who she knew would always support King Edward, and loyalty to her husband. She had expected Comyn to be arrested and tried, not killed, and she now viewed their future with gloomy trepidation. She was convinced that Robert had been foolhardy in the extreme and that eventually he would share the same fate as William Wallace.

  When he had told her of his plans to be crowned as king she had scornfully replied that he would be king of summer but be dead by winter, anticipating Robert’s defeat and capture by Edward. However, Edward was in no position to lead a campaign against Bruce himself as he was now bedridden and not expected to live much longer.

  It was with a heavy heart that she took Robert’s arm and walked the short distance to the church. The rain had stopped but her slippers were soaking wet from the puddles. At least she had had the foresight to have suitable vestments made in the weeks leading up to the coronation. Coira had taken the death of John Comyn hard; she hadn’t been in love but she had grown fond of him during their short time as lovers. Nevertheless, she had helped to sew a surcoat of gold embroidered satin for Elizabeth and a yellow tabard with a rampant lion embroidered on it in red inside a double border fleury for Robert. A red lion on yellow had been the emblem of the kings of Scots ever since the days of William the Lion.

  In the absence of a crown, the other royal regalia or the Stone of Destiny, carted away by Longshanks to Westminster Abbey, the Bishop of Glasgow anointed both Robert and Elizabeth and declared them King and Queen of Scots. Then they splashed back through the puddles to the castle to attend the coronation feast.

  Robert could have wished for a greater turnout. In addition to his four brothers, the Earls of Moray, Lennox, Athol and Errol had come, together with a dozen barons, three bishops and a number of abbots. However, the next day things improved.

  As they attended morning mass there was a great hullabaloo in the courtyard. It sounded as if a large party had arrived and at first Robert feared it might be the Comyns come to take revenge. In one way it was a Comyn; it was the wife of John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, but Isabella hadn’t come with a large entourage to represent her husband but, in contrast, had come as the sister of the boy Earl of Fife to represent him. The boy was a prisoner in England. His was the traditional right to crown the King of Scots and, as he couldn’t come, his sister had come in his stead to place the crown on the head of the new king.

  She had melted down some of the Earl of Buchan’s gold plates and got a goldsmith to produce a simple circlet to serve in lieu of a crown and a smaller one with which to crown Elisabeth as queen. Therefore, on twenty ninth of March once more the procession set out for the church, this time in weak spring sunshine, Isabella, Countess of Buchan, placed the gold circlet on Robert’s head and the smaller one on Elizabeth’s. Both William Lamberton and Robert Wishart blessed them this time and Robert immediately set about ruling his new kingdom.

  ~#~

  The twenty year old James Douglas had watched both coronations with delight and was one of the first to place his hands between those of King Robert and pledge his fealty for Douglasdale as its lord. All he had to do now was to dislodge Robert Clifford and he could claim his inheritance. He knew that this was going to prove a difficult task, but at least Robert had acknowledged him as his father’s heir, whereas Edward of England was never going to do so.

  Not long after his coronation King Robert started the long struggle to regain control of his kingdom. A number of castles surrendered to him and he issued a proclamation requiring all those who were not prepared to acknowledge him as king to remove themselves from Scotland forthwith. It was aimed at those Englishmen who had been granted lands in Scotland by Edward Longshanks but most of those had departed already, leaving minions to manage their Scottish estates. His other problem was the Scots who refused to acknowledge him.

  Accompanied by James Douglas and the Earl of Athol, Robert rode into the Earl of Strathearn’s lands as he had refused to declare his fealty to Robert and had replied to his demands to do so with considerable contempt. Robert had captured Strathearn’s castle at Foulis without difficulty and then chased him to Crieff.

  ‘He has asked to meet you,’ James told him after he had met him in the woods near Crieff under a flag of truce.

  ‘Is he in earnest? Is he prepared to submit and swear fealty to me?’

  James shrugged. ‘I doubt it; he called you murderer and worse.’

  The Earl of Athol was incensed. ‘You must execute him for treason, Robert, if only to set an example to the others who still oppose you.’

  ‘If I executed all those who currently oppose me, there would be precious few people left in Scotland, my lord.’ He thought for a moment. ‘No, set a time and a place for us to meet face to face and let’s see what he has to say for himself.’

  The two men met at Muthill, Strathearn under the protection of a safe conduct issued by Robert.

  ‘Why won’t you swear fealty to me as your lawful king?’

  ‘Because you are a murderer, besides how can you be King of Scots when you have given your allegiance to King Edward.’

  ‘I have formally renounced my fealty to him. As for Comyn, he tried to betray me and Scotland but I didn’t slay him, only wounded him when he attacked me.’

  ‘You’re splitting hairs, Bruce. It was your men who slew him when he was wounded and couldn’t defend himself.’

  ‘I have been absolved for my part in that and I have been crowned and consecrated king. If the bishops accept me, why can’t you?’

  ‘Because I have sworn fealty to Edward; I cannot serve two kings, if such you really are.’

  ‘Have him taken out and I’ll gladly strike his head from his body.’ Sir Robert Boyd, one of Bruce’s followers urged Robert.

  ‘No, he is under my protection and safe con
duct.’ He turned back the recalcitrant earl. ‘You may leave here in peace because I gave you my safe conduct. Unless you decide to submit by Noon tomorrow, your lands will be forfeit and you will be declared an outlaw. Good day to you my lord.’

  ‘I wouldn’t trust that man if he decides to bend the knee, Sire.’ James Douglas whispered in the king’s ear. ‘He will go back on his word, claiming it was only given under duress.’

  ‘Perhaps you are right, Jamie, but I have to give him a chance.’

  The next day the two men met again and this time the earl agreed to swear fealty to Robert as his king.

  ‘You give me little choice,’ he paused and after a few seconds added ‘Sire.’

  Robert just hoped that he would keep his word.

  ‘I need to increase my power base. At the moment it’s concentrated in the south-west,’ he told Elizabeth, his brothers and his closest supporters in the great hall of Dalswinton Castle. He had captured it, and the rest of Nithsdale, from the Comyns after the death of the Red Comyn. Coira found it unsettling to be back in the castle where she had been Comyn’s paramour and found the place depressing, but her mistress, Elizabeth, was full of high spirits, relishing the fact that Robert was now including her more and more in strategic discussions.

  In truth, it was Wallace’s inclusion of Mary as one of his closest advisers that had got him thinking. However, his deeply ingrained prejudice had made it a slow process. Although his mother had been the dominant person in his father’s marriage, the commonly accepted position was that women looked after the home and produced children whilst the men dealt with important matters like politics, warfare and trade.

  It had taken Robert a long time to realise that his wife had a very clever head on her shoulders and, ever since she became queen, she had graduated from being his confidant in private to being a proper member of his council. It was Elizabeth who had advocated a policy of capturing castles and either garrisoning them if that was possible or destroying them to deny them to their enemies if it wasn’t. So far the castles at Dumfries, Ayr and the Siward castle at Tibbers had fallen in the south west and now the new King of Scots was considering moving against Fife and Aberdeenshire, the area controlled by the Earl of Buchan.

  ‘I suggest that we should move against Rothsay and Inverkip first, Sire,’ James Douglas advised. ‘They control the entrance to the Clyde from the sea and so would prevent the Earl of Ulster,’ here he looked apologetically at the queen, ‘from sending troops to help our enemies.’

  After some further discussion it was agreed that Sir Robert Boyd, Lord of Cunningham, should besiege Inverkip and Rothsay in turn. Meanwhile the king and the rest of his supporters would launch a three pronged attack against John Comyn of Buchan, aimed at Cupar, Dundee and Brechin. By the end of the month all had fallen to Robert’s men except for Rothsay.

  It had all started so well; it couldn’t last.

  ~#~

  And so it proved. Edward Longshanks, far from being on his deathbed, as many had thought, seemed to have made a good recovery and was incandescent with rage that Robert Bruce had declared himself King of Scots. He swiftly ordered a muster at Berwick upon Tweed and placed it under the command of Aymer de Valance, Earl of Pembroke. He decided that his son should take part in the campaign, not as a commander - he had learned that lesson – but as commander of a battalion of newly created knights.

  The prince and his companions assembled for the mass ceremony and the king went along the line striking each one a gentle blow in the face with his gauntlet whilst the Earl Marshal, the Earl of Norfolk, muttered the youth’s name in the king’s ear so that he could tell him he was dubbed a knight. Some three hundred scions of the nobility and senior squires had been selected for the honour but, in fact, it was a cheap way for Edward to raise a battalion of knights for the Scottish campaign at no cost to himself; and it kept Prince Edward happy without being allowed to interfere with de Valence’s overall command of the army.

  The ceremony was followed by a night of feasting and drinking, the centrepiece being two stuffed and roasted swans. The next morning the three hundred knights, most nursing extremely sore heads, climbed aboard their destriers and, accompanied by their squires and a long baggage train carrying pavilions, luxuries and numerous servants, not to mention dozens of whores, set off for Berwick. One of the new knights was called Piers Gaveston, the son of a Gascon baron, who was a close friend of Edward of Carnarvon.

  Many of Comyn’s former supporters had rallied to Pembroke’s side by the time that the youthful band of knights joined them. De Valance looked them over as he greeted the Prince of Wales. Edward might have thought that he was getting a sizeable force of knights cheaply, but he was distinctly unimpressed. The former squires would not have completed their training and some of the noble’s sons looked to be as young as fourteen. A lot of the squires were older than the knights they served. He sighed and shook his head in despair.

  He commenced the campaign by besieging Cupar Castle, now held by Robert Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow; the man who had anointed Robert Bruce as king.

  ‘What can we do, Robert?’ Neil asked.

  ‘Nothing much, I suspect. We are committed to the sieges of Forfar, Aboyne and Aberdeen and to break those off would be disastrous. I would be seen as weak and we would leave them as strongholds in our rear. In any case, we can muster too few men to meet Pembroke in open battle. My army is too scattered, engaged as it is in regaining control of the country and collecting back taxes so we can continue the fight. We will just have to see what transpires.’

  Three days later came the devastating news that Cupar, damaged as it had been when Robert had captured it the previous month, had fallen and the Bishop of Glasgow captured. Even worse tidings followed in early June: King Edward had sentenced Robert Wishart to death, despite his status as a bishop, and William Lamberton, Bishop of St. Andrews, had also been arrested.

  ‘There is some good news,’ James Douglas told him a few days later. ‘Pembroke has split his forces in an effort to recapture the land we have taken control of as quickly as possible. It is rumoured that he is now in Perth with just a few hundred men.’

  Two days later King Robert arrived outside Perth with over four thousand men and sent his herald forward.

  ‘My lord of Pembroke, good folk of St. John’s Town of Perth and English scum, my master the noble and puissant Robert, King of Scots, Earl of Carrick and Lord of Annandale and the Garioch sends you greetings and demands that you to surrender the town to him forthwith.’

  ‘Tell your treacherous and traitorous master, Robert Bruce, king and lord of nothing by decree of my master the noble Edward, King of England, Lord of Wales and Ireland and Lord Paramount of Scotland, that he can go and fornicate with himself. However, if he has a mind to do so, we can settle this without putting the loyal people of Perth to any inconvenience. I, Aymer de Valance, Earl of Pembroke and Count de la Marche, challenge Robert Bruce to single combat at noon tomorrow. If I prevail, Bruce undertakes to withdraw and not to renew the siege within one year but, if he defeats me, my men will surrender the town and march out with their weapons and horses. Is it agreed?’

  ‘Sire, you cannot do this. It is too risky. If you are killed Scotland will be without a leader again.’ James Douglas urged him.

  ‘James is right, Robert, don’t do it.’ Edward implored his brother.

  ‘And if I decline, what then? What sort of leader would I be? I’d be seen as a coward and I might just as well be dead.’ He turned to his herald. ‘Tell him I accept; weapons to be lance, battle axe and sword. I’ll meet him one hour before dawn before the main gate.’

  Robert lifted the siege and he and his army camped that night between Methven and Perth. Sentries were posted as normal but, with the fight between the two commanders scheduled for the morrow, they weren’t expecting trouble and so weren’t particularly alert. It therefore took them by surprise when the English army materialised at dawn lined up ready for battle between the Almondb
ank Woods and the Cowgask Burn.

  ~#~

  De Valance had many more men than the few hundred he was reputed to have with him in Perth. He had wanted Robert to think that, but in fact he had thousands more hidden in the woods north of Scone Abbey until the trap was sprung. The only troops in the town were his own mesnie, Prince Edward and his battalion - mainly because he didn’t trust them out of his sight - and a few hundred men-at-arms for guard duty and the like. As he suspected they would, the prince’s men spent most of their time in the taverns drinking and whoring, so he decided that they should have the honour of leading the attack. That should sober them up quickly, he smiled to himself.

  They started to move forward at midnight and by dawn they were finally in position, though a few had got lost. The Scots piquets gave the alarm as they materialised through the early morning mist. Robert himself and many of his knights were already up and were being strapped into their chain mail by their squires so by the time that the De Valance’s men reached them they were ready. The sergeants, men-at-arms and the levies were still asleep and most of them panicked when they realised that they were under attack. A few hundred quickly prepared for battle but the great majority fled. King Robert therefore faced nearly six thousand enemy with a couple of hundred knights and mounted serjeants and less than a thousand archers and men-at-arms.

  As De Valance had planned, the first division into battle were the Prince’s battalion, though he kept young Edward safely at his side. As they charged forward they forget what they had been taught and, instead of riding forward at a walk, knee to knee and gradually increasing the pace and keeping formation so that they arrived as an unstoppable armoured block, they raced each other to see who could smash into the Scots cavalry first.