| Battle of Arbroath | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Gordon – Lindsay feud | |||||||
 Arbroath Abbey where the battle took place | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Clan Ogilvy Clan Gordon Clan Oliphant Clan Seton Clan Forbes | Clan Lindsay | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Baron of Inverquharity | Earl of Crawford † | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 500. [1] | At least 100. [1] | ||||||
The Battle of Arbroath was fought on 24 January 1445 (or by another version in 1446) at Arbroath in Scotland. It was between rivals claimants to the post of Baillie of the Regality. [1]
The conflict began after the monks of the Abbey of Arbroath appointed Alexander Lindsay, Master of Crawford as the "Bailie of the Regality", a position charged with dispensing justice throughout the jurisdiction of the monastery. [2]
The monks soon regretted this appointment, as Crawford began quartering large numbers of his men in the abbey, whose behaviour was considered by the monks to be vile and cruel. [2] The monks described the Master of Crawford as "uneasy to convent", and soon dismissed him from his position. [2] In his place they appointed Alexander Ogilvy, 2nd Baron of Inverquharity. [2] Alexander Ogilvy not only had the right of election, but also had hereditary claims to the office. [2] The Master of Crawford disputed the rights which Ogilvy claimed. [2] When unable to reconcile the dispute, rather than arbitrate, they went to battle. [2]
The Master of Crawford, who would become the 4th Earl of Crawford, was the son of David Lindsay, 3rd Earl of Crawford, and son of Marjory Ogilvy, daughter of Alexander Ogilvie of Auchterhouse. [3]
On 24 January 1445, the Master of Crawford arrived at the gates of the abbey with over one thousand men: mostly from clan Lindsay, but also a group of clan Hamilton from Clydesdale. [2] Alexander Ogilvy of Inverquharity, was fortunate that he was entertaining guests on the day of the attack; Alexander Gordon, 1st Earl of Huntly, Sir John Oliphant of Aberdagie, Maxwell of Tealing, Brucklay of Gartley, Forbes of Pitsligo, and Gordon of Borrowfield, were all in the Baron's company. [2] Though outnumbered, Ogilvy and his allies drew up the lines of battle. [2] Alexander Ogilvy's force was supported by men from Clan Oliphant, Clan Seton, Clan Gordon and Clan Forbes. [2]
Meanwhile, the Earl of Crawford rode with great haste from Dundee in order to avert hostilities. [2] The Earl rode across the centre of the battlefield, between the two armies, in order to confer with Ogilvy. [2] However, one of Ogilvy's infantry, mistook the Earl's approach for hostilities, and threw a spear, striking the Earl in the mouth, and piercing his neck, killing him instantly. [2] Although an accident, this ended any chance for a peaceful resolution. [2] The battle began, both lines with spears at the ready. [2] It is said in an account of the battle by Buchanan, that the Lindsays cried out "Why do you bring those goads with you, as if you had to do with oxen? Pray, throw them away, and let us fight it out with out swords, hand to hand, by true valour, as becomes men." [2] As a result, both sides abandoned their spears, with the exception of a hundred of the Clydesdale men, who held the points of their spears in their hands behind them. [2] When they entered combat, the Clydesdale men held the spears out, creating a spear wall, which broke the ranks of the Ogilvy line. [2]
The Ogilvy army left the Abbey, making a last desperate stand about three miles away, at the village of Leysmill, where they rallied and turned to face the pursuers. [2] This second battle raged into the night, and Ogilvy and Pitsligo fell. [2] The Lindsays, though victorious, suffered heavy casualties at Leysmill, and were unable to pursue the Ogilvys further when they fell back to Kinnell, the men carrying the bodies of Ogilvy and Pitsligo with them. [2] It was determined that the body of Ogilvy should be interred in the aisle of the church in Kinnell. [2] This couplet was engraved on the aisle where he was buried: "While the girss grows green and the water rins clear, Let nane but Ogilvys lie here". [2]
Though the battle ended in Clan Lindsay's favor, they lost a disproportionate number of men, and the Earl of Crawford. [2] Alexander Ogilvy, Forbes of Pitsligo, Brucklay of Gartley, Gordon of Borrowfield, and Sir John Oliphant of Aberdalgie perished. [2]
Following the battle, the Master of Crawford, who would later be known as "The Tiger Earl of Crawford", unleashed what remained of his army upon the lands of his enemies: "and the flames of their castles, the slaughter of their vassals, the plunder of their property, and the captivity of their wives and children, instructed the remotest adherents of the Bailie of Aborath, how terrible was the vengeance which they had provoked". [2]
From this time forward, clan Lindsay had an aversion to the color green, and from the battle originated the couplet: "An Ogilvy in Green, Should never be seen". [2] It appears to have become a curse to the Lindsays, who were later defeated at the Battle of Brechin against the Earl of Huntley. [2] The Earl of Crawford attributed this loss to the Lindsays being dressed primarily in green, much like the Ogilvys at Arborath. [2]
The body of Alexander Ogilvy, 2nd Baron of Inverquharity, was uncovered at the church of Kinnell village in 1885, during a demolition. A local tale stated that for hundreds of years, the large boots and spurs of the Baron hung over the aisle. [2] The remains found were of a "gigantic" man, confirming the stories of the great stature of Ogilvy. [2] The spur, having been recovered, now sits in the vestibule of the present church at Kinnell. [2]
The graves of the dead from this battle have from time to time been found below the surface of the ground. [1]
Earl of Crawford is one of the most ancient extant titles in Great Britain, having been created in the Peerage of Scotland for Sir David Lindsay in 1398. It is the premier earldom recorded on the Union Roll.
Clan Gordon, also known as the House of Gordon, is a Scottish clan. The chief of the clan is the powerful Earl of Huntly, and now also the Marquess of Huntly. During the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 13th century, the Gordons supported William Wallace in the cause of independence. In the 15th century, the chiefship of the clan passed to an heiress, who married into the Seton family and her male descendants assumed the surname Gordon and continued as chiefs of the clan. The Gordons assisted in defeating the rebellion of the Earl of Douglas also in the 15th century. In the 16th century, the Gordons as Catholics feuded with their Protestant neighbors the Clan Forbes and also defeated at the Battle of Glenlivet, the Protestant Earl of Argyll. During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms of the 17th century, the Gordons supported the Royalist cause. During the Jacobite rising of 1715 the Clan Gordon was Jacobite. During the Jacobite rising of 1745, their chief, then the Duke of Gordon, pledged his support to the British-Hanoverian Government, but his clan remained Jacobite.
Clan Ramsay is a Lowland Scottish clan.
Clan Carmichael is a Scottish clan and is also considered a sept of the Clan Douglas, Clan MacDougall, Stewart of Appin, and Stewart of Galloway.
Clan Carnegie is a Lowland Scottish clan.
Clan Ogilvy/Ogilvie is a Scottish Highland clan from Angus, Scotland. Gillebride, Earl of Angus, received a barony from King William the Lion in 1163 and bestowed the lands of Ogilvy upon his son Gilbert. In 1491, King James IV elevated Sir James Ogilvy as Lord Ogilvy of Airlie. Saint John Ogilvie was a Scottish Jesuit martyr who was hanged for his faith in 1615 and who was canonised in the Roman Catholic Church. In 1639, the 7th Lord Ogilvy of Airlie was made the 1st Earl of Airlie by King Charles I for his support of the Crown in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The present Chief of Clan Ogilvie is David Ogilvy, 13th Earl of Airlie, who served as Lord Chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth II. His brother Angus Ogilvy married Queen Elizabeth II's first cousin Princess Alexandra of Kent.
Clan Lindsay is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands.
Clan Oliphant is a Highland Scottish clan.
Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Huntly, who adopted the family name of Gordon from about 1457, was a powerful 15th-century Scottish magnate. He was knighted in 1439/1440 and was Lord of Badenoch, Gordon, Strathbogie and Cluny.
The Battle of Corrichie, also known as the Battle of Corrichy was a battle fought near Meikle Tap, near Aberdeen, Scotland, on 28 October 1562. It was fought between the forces of George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, chief of Clan Gordon, against the forces of Mary, Queen of Scots, under James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray.
Clan Forbes is a Highland Scottish clan from Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
The Battle of Brechin was fought on 18 May 1452 during the reign of James II of Scotland, about two and a half miles north north east of Brechin. It has been regarded as part of the civil war during his reign between the king and an alliance of powerful noble families led by the Black Douglases, which as the king won was significant in the development of a relatively strong centralised monarchy in Scotland during the Late Middle Ages.
Inverquharity Castle is a 15th-century tower house in Angus, Scotland. It lies around 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) north-east of Kirriemuir near the River South Esk.
David Lindsay, 3rd Earl of Crawford was a regent to James II of Scotland. He was a member of Clan Lindsay, a Scottish Lowland clan. He was the son of Alexander Lindsay, 2nd Earl of Crawford by his wife Marjorie.
Marion Ogilvy was the mistress of Cardinal David Beaton an advisor of James V of Scotland.
The Sheriff of Aberdeen was a royal official who was responsible for enforcing justice in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Prior to 1748 most sheriffdoms were held on a hereditary basis. From that date, following the Jacobite uprising of 1745, they were replaced by salaried sheriff-deputes, qualified advocates who were members of the Scottish Bar.
The Raid of Angus took place in 1391 when Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, otherwise known as the Wolf of Badenoch raided the lands of Angus, Scotland.
Henry Lindsay, 13th Earl of Crawford also known as Harry Charteris, was a Scottish landowner and courtier.
James Ogilvy, 5th Lord Ogilvy of Airlie was a Scottish landowner and diplomat.