Battle of Boroughmuir

Battle of Boroughmuir
	Part of the Second War of Scottish Independence
Date	30 July 1335
Location	Edinburgh, Scotland
Result	Scottish victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Scotland	Kingdom of England
Commanders and leaders
John Randolph, 3rd Earl of Moray ; Patrick V, Earl of March ; Sir Alexander Ramsay	Guy, Count of Namur
Strength
300 knights, men-at-arms and archers	unknown
Casualties and losses
unknown	unknown

Last updated February 26, 2024

The Battle of Boroughmuir was fought on 30 July 1335 between Guy, Count of Namur, a cousin of Queen Philippa of England, and John Randolph, 3rd Earl of Moray and Guardian of Scotland. Namur was on his way to join Edward III on his invasion of Scotland, when he was intercepted on the common grazing ground to the south of Edinburgh – the Borough Muir. The fighting continued into the city itself, and concluded in a desperate struggle in the ruins of the old castle. Randolph was victorious in a fight which forms a small part of the Second War of Scottish Independence.

The Great Invasion

Ever since 1332 a part of Anglo-Scots nobles, known collectively as the 'disinherited', had been trying to establish Edward Balliol, son and heir of John Balliol, on the throne of Scotland in place of David II. These men, who had fought against Robert Bruce during the First war of Independence, were given the active support of the English. Yet despite two remarkable victories at the Battle of Dupplin Moor and the Battle of Halidon Hill, which came close to exterminating the governing class of Scotland, the Balliol party was not strong-or popular-enough to establish itself by its own means. Twice Edward Balliol had been seated on the Scottish throne, and twice had he been toppled off. In 1335 King Edward decided to make one great effort on behalf of his hapless and unlucky protégé, coming to Scotland himself at the head of an army, the largest to enter the country since his father came to Edinburgh in 1322.

By the second week of July the king had over 13000 men in arms at Newcastle. He was joined there by Edward Balliol, coming from Carlisle. A council of war was held and it was decided that Scotland would be enveloped in a vast pincer movement by land and sea. The army was divided in two: Edward was to command the invasion of Scotland from Carlisle, while Balliol moved northwards from Berwick. His progress would be supported by a strong naval force moving up the east coast towards the Firth of Tay, while Edward would have similar support from a force sailing from Ireland into the Firth of Clyde.

The purpose of the invasion was to find and destroy the Scottish army in the field, rather than take castles. Edward marched through Nithsdale, bypassing Loch Doon castle, still held for King David, and overran Carrick, Cunninghame and Kyle. In the meantime, Balliol moved quickly up the east coast into Lothian. Like a plague of biblical locusts his army consumed everything in its path. Letters of protection issued by Edward himself did nothing to protect Newbattle Abbey or Manuel Nunnery from destruction. In the Firth of Forth the abbey on the island of Inchcolm was destroyed by the English navy, which then proceeded north into the Tay, landing at Dundee, setting the town and its Franciscan friary alight. The looting and destruction of the friary caused the English author of the Lanercost Chronicle to drop his usual patriotic cloak and express his disapproval in a brief flourish of Christian solidarity. Towards the end of July the land arms of the pincer joined at Glasgow, having caught nothing of substance in their embrace and from there marched on to Perth.

The driving force behind the Scottish resistance was the Earl of Moray. Not strong enough to face the enemy in direct attack; he limited his actions to small-scale operations in the rear of the main English army, attacking supply columns and the like. The opportunity for more decisive action came about the time Edward and Balliol were meeting up at Glasgow.

Will You Go to Boroughmuir?

Guy of Namur had arrived with his retinue at Berwick, too late to join the king in his invasion. Namur's motives were firmly in the tradition of chivalry; to take part in a military adventure and to thereby enhance the chivalric reputation of himself and of the company of 100 or so men-at-arms who accompanied him. He was a Fleming, and beyond his kinship to Queen Philippa, should have had little interest in Edward's Scottish war. It is reasonably safe to assume that he was simply looking for adventure; for his desire for action led him to take a step that more prudent council should have advised against. With a small force of some 300 knights, men-at-arms and archers he entered Scotland, hoping to meet up with the king in the centre of the country. His movements are likely to have been observed virtually from the outset; for he was ambushed as he approached Edinburgh by the earl of Moray. Namur managed to fight his way through to the Borough Muir, where on 30 July he found himself in the midst of a full-scale battle. His men gave a good account of themselves; but when Sir William Douglas arrived from the nearby Pentland Hills to reinforce Moray, they were in immediate danger of being overwhelmed.

A Wall of Horse Flesh

With no other option Namur and his men made for Edinburgh, a little to the north of their present position. Closely pursued by the enemy they entered the city by way of the Friars' Wynd, and the fighting continued through the St. Mary Wynd all the way up to the castle, which had lain in ruins since 1314. The gaps in the defenses were filled in the only way possible; the horses were killed to provide a barricade of flesh. Moray and his men were held for the time being, but the position was hopeless. Walter Bower, the chronicler, describes their predicament and the outcome;

The men of Namur therefore, as they fled and fought bravely, kept together until they climbed the lamentable hill where there used to be the Maidens' castle of Edinburgh, which had been demolished earlier for fear of the English. These rocks they defended courageously, and killing their exhausted and injured horses besides, they made a defensive wall with their bodies. And thus, surrounded and besieged by the Scots throughout the whole of that night, they passed it continuously without sleep, hungry, cold, thirsty and weary. Tired out and distressed in this way, and with no hope of any help, they in the morning of the next day surrendered themselves to the Scots in capitulation, after an agreement had been reached about the ransom to be paid, provided that they could depart to their home country.

Defeat in Victory

Moray behaved with generosity, allowing them to depart on swearing never again to take arms against the supporters of King David. There was, besides any chivalric considerations, a political dimension to his actions. Namur was the subject of Philip VI, king of France, and the Guardian had no wish to upset Scotland's most vital ally. He even decided to escort Namur in person back towards the border. It cost him dearly. On his way back he was ambushed by an English force from Jedburgh under William Pressen. Sir William Douglas managed to escape, but his brother, James, was killed. Moray himself was taken prisoner, destined to spend the next five years in English jails. Namur returned to Berwick and sailed with Queen Philippa to join Edward at Perth. He was well received by the king, although his recent discomfiture must have been the occasion for some political embarrassment. Because of his pact with Moray the count was of no military value to Edward, and he soon left Scotland, never to return. With his reputation compromised the unfortunate Namur was severely censured by the English chroniclers for daring to enter enemy territory with so modest a following.

Related Research Articles

Sir William Wallace was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence.

The wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.

The Battle of Bannockburn was fought on 23–24 June 1314, between the army of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, and the army of King Edward II of England, during the First War of Scottish Independence. It was a decisive victory for Robert Bruce and formed a major turning point in the war, which ended 14 years later with the de jure restoration of Scottish independence under the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton. For this reason, the Battle of Bannockburn is widely considered a landmark moment in Scottish history.

The Battle of Halidon Hill took place on 19 July 1333 when a Scottish army under Sir Archibald Douglas attacked an English army commanded by King Edward III of England and was heavily defeated. The year before, Edward Balliol had seized the Scottish Crown from five-year-old David II, surreptitiously supported by Edward III. This marked the start of the Second War of Scottish Independence. Balliol was shortly expelled from Scotland by a popular uprising, which Edward III used as a casus belli, invading Scotland in 1333. The immediate target was the strategically-important border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which the English besieged in March.

The Battle of Dupplin Moor was fought between supporters of King David II of Scotland, the son of King Robert Bruce, and English-backed invaders supporting Edward Balliol, son of King John I of Scotland, on 11 August 1332. It took place a little to the south-west of Perth, Scotland, when a Scottish force commanded by Donald, Earl of Mar, estimated to have been stronger than 15,000 and possibly as many as 40,000 men, attacked a largely English force of 1,500 commanded by Balliol and Henry Beaumont, Earl of Buchan. This was the first major battle of the Second War of Scottish Independence.

Andrew Moray, also known as Andrew de Moray, Andrew of Moray, or Andrew Murray, an esquire, became one of Scotland's war-leaders during the First Scottish War of Independence. Moray initially raised a small band of supporters at Avoch Castle in early summer 1297 to fight King Edward I of England. He soon had successfully regained control of the north for the absent Scots king, John Balliol. Moray subsequently merged his army with that of William Wallace, and jointly led the combined army to victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge on 11 September 1297. In the fighting at Stirling, Moray was severely wounded. He died at an unknown date and place that year.

Patrick de Dunbar, 9th Earl of March, was a prominent Scottish magnate during the reigns of Robert the Bruce and David II.

Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray was a soldier and diplomat in the Wars of Scottish Independence, who later served as regent of Scotland. He was a nephew of Robert the Bruce, who created him as the first earl of Moray. He was known for successfully capturing Edinburgh Castle from the English, and he was one of the signatories of the Declaration of Arbroath.

The First War of Scottish Independence was the first of a series of wars between English and Scottish forces. It lasted from the English invasion of Scotland in 1296 until the de jure restoration of Scottish independence with the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton in 1328. De facto independence was established in 1314 at the Battle of Bannockburn. The wars were caused by the attempts of the English kings to establish their authority over Scotland while Scots fought to keep English rule and authority out of Scotland.

Henry de Beaumont, jure uxoris 4th Earl of Buchan and suo jure 1st Baron Beaumont, was a key figure in the Anglo-Scots wars of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, known as the Wars of Scottish Independence.

Sir William Douglas, Lord of Liddesdale, also known as the Knight of Liddesdale and the Flower of Chivalry, was a Scottish nobleman and soldier active during the Second War of Scottish Independence.

The Battle of Annan, also known in the sources as the Camisade of Annan, took place on 16 December 1332 at Annan, Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland.

Edward Balliol or Edward de Balliol was a claimant to the Scottish throne during the Second War of Scottish Independence. With English help, he ruled parts of the kingdom from 1332 to 1356.

The Second War of Scottish Independence broke out in 1332 when Edward Balliol led an English-backed invasion of Scotland. Balliol, the son of former Scottish king John Balliol, was attempting to make good his claim to the Scottish throne. He was opposed by Scots loyal to the occupant of the throne, eight-year-old David II. At the Battle of Dupplin Moor Balliol's force defeated a Scottish army ten times their size and Balliol was crowned king. Within three months David's partisans had regrouped and forced Balliol out of Scotland. He appealed to the English king, Edward III, who invaded Scotland in 1333 and besieged the important trading town of Berwick. A large Scottish army attempted to relieve it but was heavily defeated at the Battle of Halidon Hill. Balliol established his authority over most of Scotland, ceded to England the eight counties of south-east Scotland and did homage to Edward for the rest of the country as a fief.

Sir Andrew Murray (1298–1338), also known as Sir Andrew Moray, or Sir Andrew de Moray, was a Scottish military and political leader who supported King David II of Scotland against Edward Balliol and King Edward III of England during the Second War of Scottish Independence. He held the lordships of Avoch and Petty in north Scotland, and Bothwell in west-central Scotland. In 1326 he married Christina Bruce, a sister of King Robert I of Scotland. Murray was twice chosen as Guardian of Scotland, first in 1332, and again from 1335 on his return to Scotland after his release from captivity in England. He held the guardianship until his death in 1338.

The Battle of Kinghorn was fought on 6 August 1332 at Wester Kinghorn, Fife, Scotland. An invading seaborne force of 1,500 men was commanded by Edward Balliol and Henry Beaumont, Earl of Buchan. A Scottish army, possibly 4,000 strong, commanded by Duncan, Earl of Fife, and Robert Bruce, Lord of Liddesdale was defeated with heavy loss. Balliol was the son of King John Balliol and was attempting to make good his claim to be the rightful king of Scotland. He hoped that many of the Scots would desert to him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Grey (constable)</span> 14th-century English soldier and knight

Sir Thomas Grey of Heaton Castle in the parish of Cornhill-on-Tweed, Northumberland, was a soldier who served throughout the wars of Scottish Independence. His experiences were recorded by his son Thomas Grey in his chronicles, and provide a rare picture of the day-to-day realities of the wars.

The siege of Berwick lasted four months in 1333 and resulted in the Scottish-held town of Berwick-upon-Tweed being captured by an English army commanded by King Edward III. The year before, Edward Balliol had seized the Scottish Crown, surreptitiously supported by Edward III. He was shortly thereafter expelled from the kingdom by a popular uprising. Edward III used this as a casus belli and invaded Scotland. The immediate target was the strategically important border town of Berwick.

The English invasion of Scotland of 1296 was a military campaign undertaken by Edward I of England in retaliation to the Scottish treaty with France and the renouncing of fealty of John, King of Scotland and Scottish raids into Northern England.

Burnt Candlemas was a failed invasion of Scotland in early 1356 by an English army commanded by King Edward III, and was the last campaign of the Second War of Scottish Independence. Tensions on the Anglo-Scottish border led to a military build-up by both sides in 1355. In September a nine-month truce was agreed, and most of the English forces left for northern France to take part in a campaign of the concurrent Hundred Years' War. A few days after agreeing the truce, the Scots, encouraged and subsidised by the French, broke it, invading and devastating Northumberland. In late December the Scots escaladed and captured the important English-held border town of Berwick-on-Tweed and laid siege to its castle. The English army redeployed from France to Newcastle in northern England.

References

Notes

Sources

PRIMARY

Bower, Walter, Scotichronicon, ed. D. E. R. Watt, 1987–1996.
Fordun, John of, Chronicles of the Scottish Nation, ed. F. W. Skene, 1872.
Gray, Thomas, Scalicronica, ed. H. Maxwell, 1913.
The Lanercost Chronicle, ed. H. Maxwell, 1913.
Pluscarden, the Book of, ed. F. J. H. Skene, 1880.
Wyntoun, Andrew, The Original Chronicle of Scotland, ed. F. J. Amours, 1907.
Hailes, Lord (David Dalrymple), The Annals of Scotland, 1772

SECONDARY.

Brown, C. "The Second Scottish War of Independence"
Brown, M., "The Black Douglases"
Nicolson, R., Edward III and the Scots, 1965.
Ramsay, J. H., The Genesis of Lancaster, 1307-99, 1913.

55°56′N3°11′W / 55.933°N 3.183°W / 55.933; -3.183

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.