Hiya I'm Bruce Fummey. A tourist once asked me, 'Who's better, William Wallace or Robert the Bruce? A lot
of folks see the Scottish wars of Independence like that. Edward the First invading, William
Wallace winning the Battle of Stirling Bridge, being defeated at Falkirk, then Robert the Bruce
winning independence finally at Bannockburn, but there are 16 years from Falkirk to Bannockburn.
There are nine years between Falkirk and Robert the Bruce being crowned King of Scots,
and in that time the Scots inflicted possibly the biggest and most stunning defeat of all on
the English invaders, with neither man present. If you want to know about the battle that this
monument represents, then this video's for you. Now I'm about to tell you about stuff that took place
in the open ground behind those trees, but it'll be nicer to take you the short walk through the glen
as I tell you the story. Incidentally let me know in the comment section below who's your favourite,
Wallace or Bruce? Oh and if you're interested in the people, places and events in Scottish
history then hit the subscribe button at the bottom right and ring the notification
bell to find out when I publish new videos. In the meantime, let me tell you that story.
There's Rosslyn Chapel. It's stunning inside, it's known all over the world. It
was made famous by that film, 'The Da Vinci Code', yet how many folks, even in Scotland
know about the huge battle that took place against the English just in front of its doors? Of course
the chapel wasn't there at the time of the battle, but they tell me that this castle behind it was
built just after the battle. There must have been a stable door that needed locked, or is it bolted?
The Scottish Wars of Independence, here's a quick summary;
Scotland had been left without a King, because Alexander the Third fell off his horse.
I assume that's the one that bolted! Two rival factions competed for control, the Bruces and
the Comyns. Edward the First of England offered to mediate, but only if everyone swore allegiance to
him first. He crowned the Comyns' man John Baliol, but humiliated him so much that he signed a treaty
with France, so Edward invaded and laid waste to Scotland. William Wallace fought back, winning at
Stirling, then losing at Falkirk. Robert the Bruce murdered John Comyn, then declared himself King,
but he was continually defeated by Edward's forces, until he met a talking spider, who
helped him win the Battle of Bannockburn. The whole story is summarised in two documentaries
one's called Braveheart, and the other, slightly less entertaining, but somewhat more accurate
Outlaw King, but today I want to focus on a bit that's missing in between these two films and I
want to ask, why the biggest battle in all the wars of independence is one that nobody talks about.
When Edward the First invaded, Scotland in 1296, he famously said it's a good thing to
get rid of a turd, and I don't think he was actually constipated so much as full of it.
It doesn't matter he had loads more shit to come.
First, William Wallace and Andrew de Moray ousted Edward's Sheriffs and henchmen in Scotland.
Then they came together to defeat the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297.
Now Andrew de Moray is one of the great characters of the wars of independence
that doesn't get enough attention, so I've made you a video all about him. If you want to see it, you
can come back to this point and click the white tab at the top of the screen when you're finished.
The point is that the Scots weren't going to lie down so easily. After Stirling Bridge, Edward had
to come all the way back himself with an army to defeat Wallace at Falkirk in 1298.
It wasn't until 1306 that Robert the Bruce declared himself King, so what happened after Falkirk?
Well, again Edward put his English henchmen into the castles and positions of power, and he went back
to London, but again Scottish resistance movements fell into place. This time the key leader was John
Comyn. The Scots' resistance had been attacking English garrisons, overthrowing English sheriffs
and generally making a nuisance of themselves. Then Edward the First struck a truce with the
King of France. This freed him up to send a secret punishment force to devastate Scotland.
So 30 000 men, tiptoed secretly across the border, and made their way here to Roslin, on the
southern side of Edinburgh. I'll be honest, there's some debate about the actual numbers of troops, and
they might not have been quite as secret as I made out, but they did split up into three battle groups
of ten thousand. Now there's also debate about the reasons that they split up and camped in three
different places. Some have said that there wasn't the space for them all to camp in one place, others
that they planned to head in three different directions to maximise the plunder, after all
the Scots were defeated, and there was no way that their paltry guerrilla forces could oppose the
might of this English army. Better to split up, so that everyone wasn't trying to bag the same loot,
but it was common for armies to split up like this, and they divided into three
before they reached Roslin, so maybe it was always part of the plan. The first battle group
camped in the farmyard just outside the current town of Roslin, at that
monument where we started, with the two others slightly further away. What they didn't expect
was for a much smaller Scottish force, led by John Comyn, and Simon Fraser to ride
from Biggar, overnight in February, to surprise the surprisers. Aye, you didn't see that coming did you?
Comyn's 8 000 men, described by medieval historian John Fordun,
as some selected men who chose rather death before unworthy subjection to the English nation,
and all of a sudden they fearlessly fell upon the enemy. Slightly smaller in number
than this first battle group, they had the advantage of surprise, and comfortably defeated the invaders
with light losses. Having taken lots of prisoners for ransom, they were in the process of dividing
up the spoils of war, oh this looks like a good battle axe, I'll have his sword, oh Maisie, that
armour will suit you perfectly, you just need a nice steel plated handbag to set it off,
but some of the English who'd escaped the first battle, had reported to their mates' camp nearby,
and they arrived on the scene in full battle readiness. The Scots looked up and they saw another
10 000 approaching. That's when they realised they'd only defeated half the English army. The
surprised had become the surprisers but were now the surprised again. This battle was more bloody,
more visceral, more costly, and bitterly fought hand to hand with tenfold fury. What the Scots did have,
was newly acquired weaponry from their English captives and eventually, in spite of heavy losses
they prevailed, but you and I know that this wasn't the end of it. The Scots hadn't just defeated the
second half of the English army, they defeated the second third, and now the third third approached in
the distance. The original force of eight thousand Scots were now depleted and physically exhausted.
They'd ridden overnight, fought two battles, all sinew had been stretched, all energy was spent
a third battle seemed an insurmountable challenge of human endurance.
Again Fordun tells us, when the people were thus thrown into bewilderment, the afore said John
and Simon with hearts undismayed, took up with their weapons the office
of preachers, and comforting them with their words, cheering them with their promises and
moreover reminding them of the nobleness of freedom and the baseness of thraldom,
and of the unwearied toil to which their ancestors had willingly undertaken for the deliverance
of their country. They, with healthful warnings heartened them to the fray.
So, being greatly emboldened by these and such-like words, the Scots laid aside all
cowardice and got back their strength. Facing a force bigger than themselves and fresh to the fray,
with their own forces depleted and exhausted, the Scots decided that they couldn't afford
to hold the valuable prisoners from the first two battles, and they were killed. It wisnae (wasn't) me!
The third battle was the fiercest yet, both sides knowing that the choice was simple; victory
or death! All the horrors of medieval battle that had already taken place were mere entrees to this
main course. When the Scots triumphed a third time, we can't say for sure how many were dead,
but some reports, however accurate, said that only three thousand of the thirty thousand English
punishment force returned across the border. A small force, outnumbered almost four to one,
had ridden overnight then fought three battles, each progressively
more bitter and insurmountable, with no rest by in between, and they'd prevailed.
This was in 1303. Edward had to make a personal appearance again, with another
huge force, and in 1304 he invaded by land and sea and crossed the Forth to subjugate once
more. In August 1305 he had Wallace hung, drawn and quartered. Finally the Scots were subdued.
Two years before he'd sent a force of 30,000 north to teach us a lesson, but here at Roslin
what we learned was that there was always hope, and seven months after Wallace was executed,
Robert the Bruce was crowned at Scone. Now I've got a final thought for you, and it's possibly the
most important bit of the video, so don't switch off, but just before I make this point can I say
that if you want to support the channel then you can do that by becoming a member
or buying me a coffee, there are links in the description below. So, here's the thing,
if the figures provided by medieval historians and used by historic Scotland are accurate,
then this was the largest number of troops to take to the field in any battle during the war
of Scottish independence, it was the greatest disparity in numbers between the few Scots
and the thousands of English. What Scots thought was a tactical advantage, turned into a mountain
to overcome, and overcome again, but they triumphed against the odds, and yet the
Battle of Roslin, doesn't seem to have impacted in the cultural psyche of the nation. Why is that?
Now it might be the distaste for prisoners undoubtedly being killed, maybe out of necessity,
they'd much rather have had the ransom money, but that may have cost their own lives. It still
doesn't sit well with our modern eyes. Maybe the rivalry between the Comyns and the Bruces was
such, that after Robert the Bruce finally came to power, he wanted to suppress the success achieved
by John Comyn, the man that he murdered in a church on his way to the throne.
Now the Church certainly absolved Bruce of that murder. Was that part of the whitewash?
The Church's involvement goes deeper and further back than you might think, and if you want to
know, then I've got a video about 'Why the Bishop Saved Robert the Bruce', and it'll open your eyes,
you should watch it. I'll leave a link here in just a second right, the point is that again and
again, when Edward came, there were Scots, unnamed, who stood up to resist. The people of Scotland
never gave up, but maybe it was the people at the top, fighting amongst themselves that held back
the cause of Scottish independence. I wonder if there's a lesson there. That's something to ponder
as you watch this video. In the meantime, tha mi an dochas gum bith lath math leibh. Tiorridh an drasda.