Lawful King Of Scotland
Bruce returned to his
Earldom of Carrick in February 1307 to find it confiscated by the enemy.
His own tenants were afraid to come out in open support of him, and it
soon became clear to Bruce that his only chance of success lay in avoiding pitch
battles with the English who would always have the advantage in manpower and
military equipment. Instead Bruce decided to concentrate all his energies on a
sustained guerrilla campaign.
In April 1307 he
ambushed John Mobray�s cavalry in the wild countryside of Glen Trool,
inflicting a defeat severe enough to re-establish his military credibility and
open up the way to the north.
On May 10th
1307 he passed an even greater test. Greatly
outnumbered by the army of the experienced Aymer de Valence, Bruce nevertheless
out-manoeuvered him at Loudon Hill near Kilmarnock. By confining de Valence to an area unsuitable for his cavalry
Bruce forced his enemy to flee to Bothwell.
Almost immediately this was followed up by the defrat of the Earl of
Gloucester who fled to Ayr.
On 7th July
1307 Edward I, aged 68, died at Burgh-on-Sands at the Solway Firth.
According to tradition the dying wish of Edward I, was that his bones
should be carried before his army until Scotland was conquered.
The new English King Edward II, was an accomplished sportsman and patron
of the arts but not made for war. Edward
did not choose to begin his reign by attempting to emulate his father�s
hammering of the Scots. He stayed
away from the battlefield, and further played into Bruce�s hand by replacing
the formidable de Valence as lieutenant of Scotland with John of Brittany.
Bruce was this left relatively free to consolidate the ground his
victories had gained, and then to set about establishing himself in the
pro-Balliol territories of Buchan, Argyll and Galloway.
On 24th
December 1307, Bruce put the Earl of Buchan�s army to flight at Inverurie.
The Buchan countryside was ravaged and the people of Buchan were subdued.
He then moved on to Argyll where he defeated the Lord of Argyll at the
Pass of Brander. With Buchan and
Argyll in his control Bruce let his brother Edward get on with the job of taming
Galloway.
Now that he had a
country to be King of, Bruce held his first Parliament at St Andrews on 16th
March 1309. Here the majority of
Scottish endorsed him as legitimate King of Scotland. In two years he had achieved an enormous amount by tactical
brilliance and intelligent use of the respite gained by the death of Edward I.
However, Lothian still had to be taken and the English still held castles
of immense strategic importance � including Edinburgh and Stirling.
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This page created on 20th July , 2001.