Amongst British battles, Bannockburn remains a household name. However as a result, the battle often remains a victim of its own mythology.
The result of 14 years of sporadic, bloody conflict, endless politicking and endless switching sides, Bannockburn was the culmination of Robert Bruce’s military education. However, was the battle the battle so one-sided? Was it really as decisive as so often depicted? Was the English Army so mismanaged or Edward II so inept? Sifting the story away from the legend, it is clear that the history is far more interesting.
Drawing on his expertise as battlefield guide for National Trust for Scotland Battle of Bannockburn Centre, Trustee of the Scottish Battlefields Trust and local to Bannockburn, Warwick hopes to break down the events of the Battle of Bannockburn, both archaeologically and historically, placing the battle within its wider context. Most recently, Warwick appeared on Al Murray’s ‘Why Do the Brits Win Every War’ for Sky History, explaining the events of the Battle and reality of life within a 14th Century Army.
November 1313 uh there are only about three or four English castles left throughout Scotland Edam the castle which is taken early in 1314 by Sir Thomas Randolph uh Robert Bruce’s nephew um by Escalade he jumps over the walls roxor Castle which has taken about sixth we weeks before
Banck Burn by Sir James Douglas supposedly dresses a heard of Highland cattle you heard it here first guy is an absolute Nutter you’ve also got um bwell Castle just outside of Glasgow in the hands of the Fitz Gilbert family still uh loyal to the English drown dumbar
Castle right down on the border and Sterling Castle now Sterling Castle is not the castle you see there today that is a 16th to 18th century Renaissance monstrosity now the castle there in 1314 is very very basic indeed we are talking about a Timber and Earth
Norman Fortress with a box vampire and a stone Gateway it’s a building that that is absolutely tiny within that castle there is a Garrison of about 60 english soldiers and they are led by one Scots Knight Philip Mo now you shouldn’t trust M M’s wages might be paid by Ling trown
But he does have sympathies for the brost cord so he is playing both sides off against each other he is not trust it now Sterling Castle is of course important because it overlooks Sterling bridge if you can look at the upper portion of Matthew paris’s map right
Here you can see that it connects northern and southern Scotland if you hold the bridge you hold the castle you hold the castle you hold the bridge hold both of them you hold the hinges under which Scotland is held and for any army campaigning in Scotland that is
Absolutely vital now in the six weeks before banck bur the castle has been under siege by the Scots Army led by Edward Bru now that is a picture of the earlier Siege back in 1305 rather the present Siege would have been just across the fourth uh at cus Kenneth Abby
I don’t think it’s been marked down in that map right there now the people in the castle know that English army is not coming north in a month for Sunday that is just not going to happen e II’s priorities again are just uh subjugating the English Barons and also pursuing the
War in Scotland his eye is off the ball um and that is really important for the Garrison holding out they just can’t and so they make a deal with Edward Bru if Sterling Castle is not believed by midsummer’s day of 1314 the castle will automatically fall for the Scots Army
Now when Rob brce hears about this steel for stering Castle he’s actually not very pleased Edward Bruce and Robert Bruce’s Brothers they actually don’t get on so not much love is being lost there however as well as that Robert Bruce knows that he is not a battlefield
Commander he is a Gilla Commander if he comes and tries to take stering Castle he will also have to fight a pitched battle against any English relieving Army that will be forced to come north now if that happens and he loses his battle well the possibility of him
Losing further iCal support and further control over the English or over the Scot kingship is quite High Bruce’s someone that burns out Carles he attacks Supply trains He vades And Trades he makes a use of himself he does not fight in the open field however if he does
Manage to stand here and fight and win that battle at banck bur he can now assure himself that he’ll gain the support of Lords the Barons their men their money their resources their castles their influence and all the protection that comes with that which upen to this point Bruce has had a a
Minority in and he’ll never want them ever again Bruce will be able to start carving up Scotland in his own image he’ll be able to start acting like a medieval King Shir so it is a win lose situation it could go either way but Bruce thinks it’s the better part of
Valor to stand here and fight he moves the Scots Army which numbers anywhere between I’m just skipping ahead of myself I think he moves the Scots Army which numbers anywhere between 6 and 10,000 men from the Kings Park area into the new park and onto balcon Ridge which is
Just outside of the new park where for the next six to8 weeks those the Scots Army will train in their battle lines forming a battle plan and awaiting that English Invasion it is coming sooner or later now when abber iI hears about this deal for sturing Castle he’s actually
Not very pleased he’s actually not very pleased um and so he decides to must an army to gav at berck for the first of June 1314 now he wants to campaign in Scotland anywhere between uh anywhere between 30 and 40,000 men what he actually gets in reality is anywhere between 18 and
24,000 the reason as I said is that the major Lords he needs on his side the lancastrian Lords uh are again unhappy with his choice of favorites if they’re going to if he’s going to appoint whether commoners to his his uh to the major positions in the land they’re not
Wanting to follow those people either and so that puts ER the second in a bit of a bind that means he is forced to raise and Levy an army now in feudal England every single County hundred is forced to raise a body of armed men for service on the king’s campaigns for
Maybe 40 to 60 days every single year why 40 to 60 days because usually after that time the Harvest needs to be brought in as well now if you can’t feed the rest of the Kingdom you certainly can’t feed the Army either um so naturally you want to keep both sides
Happy that’s why most medieval military campaigns last that long however these men are relatively untrained they’re almost a militia they’ll train for maybe one weekend every single month just like the later train bands moving forward into the 17th century they’ll turn up in a particular spot to train uh they’ll wait for
Everyone else turn up um so they’ll have a bit of a party and then when everyone has turned up they’re so sozzled you actually can’t do anything with them so they a bit useless so that means that Edward is forced to further bolster his ranks with foreign mer missies so when
We talk about an English army we’re not just talking about Englishmen there’s also Scots there’s Irish there’s Welsh there’s french Germans Italians Swiss Danes there’s people from Norway there’s people from Spain as well something that modern day uh post brexit Britain could certainly learn about now certainly looking uh opposite there Scots opposite
Numbers although they don’t have uh you know as as varied National ities within the Scots Army there is still a range of nationalities there as well so You’ got Scots there you’ve got Irish there you’ve got some Welsh there you’ve got Aran there youve got some English Lords
There because remember the English Lords On the Border have a tendency to switch sides According to which way the winds is blowing we’ve also got some Danes Norwegians and French in there as well so lots of different numbers as well so that is the armies are as they fought so
This Army marches North from ber and it reaches full Kirk uh by the evening of Saturday the 22nd of June 1314 in the morning Sunday 23rd they’ll March the 10 miles from ferk to banck bur which I’ll reach by about half 3 in the afternoon now as soon as the English
Army reaches Sterling as soon as that English army reaches Sterling they see they’ve got a number of obstacles in their way firstly you’ve got the banck burn itself right down there now where you see the the bottleneck just below the new Park area uh that is the area around Milton Ford it’s about
5T you could hop across that that’s not an issue however if you move Upstream uh just to where the the trees are along the bottom of the map there um that is the great ditch that is a 40ft ravine it’s steep it’s slippery it’s impossible you try and cross that you will fall
Flat on your face face and I do have firsthand experience from that uh last February I had to go and do a a lecture to a local History Society uh on the history of the battle now I thought it was a good idea and the snow and the ice
And the wet to go out onto the battlefield take some new photos to illustrate that talk now I got to the H of the great ditch and there’s a big stair whe that leads all the way down it and in the snow and the ice I could see
Trackways leading down someone else got down there I thought not a problem I can get that down there as well I managed to F the 4 40 ft from the top to the bottom in the space of about 2 seconds FL so going assure you right now no medieval
Army is getting across that ditch easily so if they can’t cross there they have to move further eastwards and just where the second set of trees is uh just across the burn there that is the area known as the cast of balur it is nasty horrible wet ground to this day however
In the summer it will bake hard and it is a good campsite down there you’ve got fresh water so you can water your horses and your men that’s a good start you’ve also got protection on all on all three sides so your flanks anchored the Scots
Can’t get around you but best of all that area provides plenty of open ground to properly form an army up so by all accounts that’s actually not too bad the big problem is is that when 24,000 boots are continous he tramped cross that ground and churned it up just vby field
That is going to turn to Mud it will turn to a swamp it’s what we call postracial deposit it’s what’s left over from the last ice age it’s really nasty uh soil it’s soil that has a very low coloid so it just won’t bind together and indeed at the time the Scots knew
That area as the pals Pals and old Scot is nasty horrible wet holes and as said if that’s making up the majority of that cast area it is very very hard ground to fight a battle over because you just Churn it up anything it’s going to turn
To swamp it’s going to turn to a quagmire so not good ground uh to be fighting over moving northwards the English army will then have to encounter the pel stream burn now running through Sans that has or but disappeared today it’s retreated underground but it will slow the English army down but finally
Getting over all of those obstacles English army is going to be on firm ground on The Far Side Up on Brom Bridge give battle for the Scots over in the King’s Park and hopefully relieve Sterling Castle and it sounds simple but I assure you that it really is so it’s
Half P three on the afternoon of Sunday the 23rd of June 1314 the English army comes straight up the road which runs roughly parallel to where the modern M9 uh is and they reach Milton Ford and the first first thing they can see they have
A big problem the Scots on the far side of the Ford have prepared the grounds they have set up tramps firstly what they have done the first thing they have done is they have dug potol they have lifted the turf they created divots in the ground uh so the horse will turn its
Leg that is bad enough what theyve also done is they have sewn cow trops now a cow trop is four Nails welded together in the center it looks a bit like wherever you throw that down it will always land with a spiky bit pointing upwards the sole purpose of that is to
Stab into the soft part of H’s hoof or a human foot it’s the medieval version of an anti-personnel mine it’s a pretty nasty piece of Kit from someone who has accidentally stepped on one of these I can tell you it’s not something you walk away from easily so the Scots have sewn
A couple of hundred of those down there at the Ford now what’s going to happen if the English army just battles across that Ford they’re going to a big bank holiday pile up on the mway it will be carnag there it will slow them down and
That is not a price they can pay so most of the English army is going to move off to the east down onto the cast to camp for the night and hopefully give battle later on however a small body of English Knights does manage to get across those
Traps and amongst their number is a 22-year- Old Knight Henry deuan now he wants to make a name for himself and at the under this party he can see that off in the distance there is a lone Horseman on a pony he’s wearing a yellow cir coat
Where uh with a red Li rampant upon it the personal arms of the kings of Scots it’s Robert Bruce himself and he’s all on his own now it’s now what is Bruce doing there at the front is he putting himself at the front to try and go to
The English to come across those traps if that is the case it has partially worked how however is it also the case that Bruce has put himself at the front because he doesn’t intend to fight a battle at banck bur at all if you can see the English army coming up that
Roman Road in overwhelming force and he can’t defeat them that allows him to retreat towards Sterling Castle and off into the Northwest into L now he has done this previously when he stood on this ground against an English army back in 1310 as well that time he’s seen the
English army are coming up in overwhelming numbers that’s Adam escaped to the North heading towards Perth and inet at that time AB thei has chased after him has got all the way up to iness disease has set in men are starting to Desert go home and so er
Thei has been forced to go back to Westminster with his tail between his legs he’s got to account for why he hasn’t fought the Scots to battle now there’s a thousand theories as to why Bruce is there at the front none of them really adds up but we do know they is
There and deuan decides he’s going to go and take him out the rest is Legend Henry deuan gets an axe in the face for his troubles it ruins his day Bruce gives him a frontal labotomy the only thing that Bruce can say is that he’s broken his favorite a it’s so first
Blood to the Scots seeing that deuan is now been killed his Squire tries to race up to save his master’s body he is then unhorsed by the approaching Scots hobar and the ears Herford and Gloucester have also sent their horse across at for to try and regain the
Situation however in the process James Douglas has now started to advance his Division and seeing this the English army has been forced back not wanting to take on the Scots um in the process um the ear Gloucester who in that Vanguard is unhorsed and he’s again sent back to
The English lines with his tail between his legs he’s embarassed and as a result after this e II is going to turn around to him and call him a fool and a coward for not beating the Scots remember this because it’s going to have a huge effect
On what happens on day two so first blood to the Scots meanwhile another body of Scott of English hes man has managed to move down onto the cast uh under Henry Bowmont Y buckin and Sir Thomas Gray now they’re get to see at the top of the eyes in
About half a mile away from their position up near St Lan’s Church which is uh where little and uh Sterling police station is today there is a Scot formation completely and utterly unprepared now if those Knights charge into that formation and they break it they will separate Ro Bruce not only
From the rest of his army but also from Sterling Castle and his a retreat route to the Northwest as well they could break the back of the Scots Army here and now so it’s all to play for those English Knights are going to charge in the reason that formation uh is
Unprepared though is because its Commander is still over with Robert Bruce his name is Thomas Randol now he’s the other Mory he’s the king’s second in command his nephew and he’s also the cap of Edinburg Castle so long and short of it he knows what he’s doing now he is
Over with Robert Bruce giving him aing off for putting himself in danger at the font of his army however Bruce turns around to him and he puts him down he basically tells him to get over himself a rose has fallen from your Chaplet get back there form a defense make sure
Those Knights do not get through our lines that is exactly what Randol decides to do he forms his men up into shult formation now remember that word um because the Scots are going to use a lot of it in the Battle of banck bur but Schulman old Scot it basically means a
Thicket a really thick thny spiky uh headed now that’s a really good description of what these formations actually would have looked like imagine if you will a big block of men there’s a th men in each one to maybe 12200 they’re in six to 12 ranks that’s enough to stop a
Horse and each one of them is carrying a 16 to 18t long pip a big spare it’s basically a human Hedgehog used to kill and combat Cavalry now horse is an intelligent Beast it knows not to run onto a sharpened stake that’s not good for everyone’s head the Knight on top of
That horse so is pretty thick what he’s going to try and do is charge into that block of men get in amongst their ranks make a big hole burst them apart and ride them down alls exactly how edber the first has managed to beat William
Wallace at full Kirk on the 22nd of July 1298 now in the 17 years between F Kirk and banck bur the English arm is not a better way of breaking up these formations so once again then those English Knights are going to charge in don’t for a minute though think that the
Scots are the only ones using the schum uh as a military formation because we know at exactly the same time as Bruce is fighting his war against the English that on the continent in 1302 the Flemings are using shorts against the French at the Battle of CTO the battle
Of the golden Spurs and indeed in the same year after banck bur the Swiss have used the short Trum uh against the Germans at morgarten as well so this is a formation that is diffusing throughout European armies uh throughout this period it’s not in isolation just within
The Scots Army those English Knights uh now need to charge in to try and break that formation now Thomas Dre is a bit vant he can see the Scots are now starting to form up in their battle formations uh he actually turns around to Henry Bowmont and Robert Clifford and
He tells them no we should hold back wait till the rest of the English army has arrived and then we can we can deal with this Shrum uh in in peac meal we can bring up The Archers to shoot holes in them and then we can charge into them
However Robert Clifford and Henry Bowmont again want all the plaudits they want to be the ones to break that Scots army they are having none of this and so they charge straight into that formation but this time they cannot find an opening they spend an six hours riding
Around that block of men kicking up the dust becoming so frustrated that they throw their lances their swords their Maes into that formation trying to break it but it’s no good the short Chum has held firm as this is happening James Douglas has brought up a second shum to
Face off against his Scots knight uh against his English Knight as well so there’s just no way today they’re going to break up this formation as a result of this the English Knight are then forced back on to the cast where they will camp for the night and hopefully
Give battle the following day squeeze like can of sardines between the pel stream to their front the banck burn in their rear and with the Scots now overlooking them on the Ridgeline as well so the English army down on the cast is now completely surrounded that
Said though it can be said that the Scott that the English Knights have stopped the Scots from charging down on the English army as it has marched down onto the pars the English army is in s called line of March which means that as they have come up the Roman Road they’ve
Put all the fastest troops in the Army the knights on Horseback the men at arms at the front the Infantry the guys on foot in the middle and then the baggage train behind it as well so that English army along that road is stretched out over about 15 miles they are not
Traveling anywhere fast and there’s also going to have a huge effect to play on day two of the battle as well however have no bones about it it has been a bad first day for the English army they have lost two fights that is bad enough what
Is worse is that now within that English Camp the commanders are arguing Chief amongst those commanders are the leaders of the Vanguard Humphrey Deon the ear of Herford and jber declair the ear of Gloucester now Humphrey Deon is an experienced campaigner he has five six campaigns against the French the Irish
The Welsh even against Ed II himself so he knows what he’s doing he’s been made Marshal of the English army opposed to him you have zob Clair now he’s 23 years old he has absolutely no experience of War whatsoever however he is cousin to Edward II he is one of the richest men
In England and so naturally Edward has made him Marshal of the army so these two commanders are buting heads against each other there is no clear uh pyramid of command within that English army and as a result of this the ear of Herford might tell one unit of soldiers to move
To one side of the field as soon as they get there the other Gloucester will turn around and say no I don’t want you over there move back to where you were originally so it means that the organization the deployment the English army is forced to make down on the class
Is completely higgledy piggley it’s also back to front as well the knights have been so usess against those Scots shums on day one are going to remain at the front whereas the Infantry The Archers that now need to be brought forward to break up the Scots shum formations
They’re now stuck at the bank so the English army down there on the cast is now back to FS that said it has not been a silent night for I of army round about midnight um the ear of affle who has served in the Scots Army up until previously has
Actually changed sides he goes over to campas Kenneth Abbey where the Scots Camp is and he burns that camp as well he kills William Darth he burns all the Scots tents and their baggage and he forces the Scots camp followers from cbas Kenne Abbey up onto Gillies Hill
Which is about 45 minutes walk away from the main area of fighting on the banic burn Battlefield that’s going to have a huge part to play uh later on on day two of the battle however as well as that people are now starting to change signs
And within that English army there is a young Scots Knight his name is Alexander seon now previously he’s actually served under Robert Bruce as his Steward for his land in Yorkshire so it’s a bit of a turn coat Sean now decides that’s a good idea to go and change signs he goes from
The English army straight over the Robert Bruce and he tells him this if you fight your battle tomorrow there is no doubt about it you will win that English Ary down there is tired it is hungry it is fed up and it’s ready to go
Home Char down in the morning and I can guarantee that the English army will break and Scatter which is exactly what Robert Bruce decides to do at 4: a.m on the 23rd of June the English army on the 24th of June the Scots will form up on
Balcony Ridge in three Big Blocks and they will advance down to the mace of that Ridge line and they will kneel in prayer um they are taking Absolution to what they are about to do ever the second waking up to this turns around to one of his main AIDS at Gilbert at
Umpherville and he says look the Scots they’re kneeling for Mercy from me Gilbert unfill turns around to Edward and he says they’re asking for Mercy but certainly not from you they’re asking for it from the almighty for what you’re about to do the Scots then stand up and
They do something the English had never seen before they Advance previously at full Kirk and other battles those short Chums have been static ideal uh targets for the English archers now they are taking the fight to that English army and English army has to react to this
Very very quickly now remember the ear Gloucester has been called a fool and a coward the previous day for not breing the Scots he now knows it’s his time to shine now in his eagerness to get stuck in roster is going to jump on his horse without his coat of arms without his
Armor don’t TR to home and he charges straight into the center of the Scots line into Edward Bruce division now initially he forced them back here on to the dry field roughly where banck bur High School is today it buys the English army vital minutes to properly
Form up however in the process ler is killed serves and right however by doing that he’s now created a big gap on the Scots left wing and that ours English archers who have until this point being stuck at the back of back of the English
Army it now gives him a chance to move round the side to the west and shoot two bodies into the Scot flank they’re chased off though by Robert Kei Scotts Knight who V them from the field and all this time the Scots continue pushing forward stabbing skewering slaughtering
Every single thing in their path with a side order of bludgeoning stabbing and sashing it’s carnish down there now by this point that English line has started constantina the ble of the Army is now trying to spread into the front the Vanguard of the army the front is trying
To spread into the back men are running left right and Center any command control now within that English army is basically gone um so complete chaos is now veining now as a result of this the English army is slowly being pushed back towards the burn the English army now
Seeing that they’re not making any forward progress against Scots whatsoever they’re being attacked from all sides decide now is the time to cut and run and save the does they’re going to try and pull back across the burn to the southeast in an orderly fashion to fight another day however in the process
They get stuck in a bottleneck in the burn and in the rush and the crush and the Panic to get away between 7even and 8,000 Englishmen are pH in the burn crushed under the weight of an armor and drown so you can walk across the burn without even getting your feet wet on
The backs of the dead bodies it’s a human bridge down there award’s Army is broken and that is Before Sunrise the fighting is bed AR now now amongst those dead 50 of them have been English Knights whereas 50 English Knights have also been captured so the flower of English chivery has
Fallen on the banck bur Battlefield put that into comparison the Scots have only lost maybe between 200 and 900 men at the very most out of that number only two of them have been Knights it doesn’t sound like much in the grand scheme of things it is certainly through the
Point a II by this point is now in the Fick of the fighting now by all accounts he’s had a rather good battle he doesn’t really have a clue what’s going on around him but it is clear to all in sunry if he stays on the battlefield he
Is going to get killed the Scots are starting to surround him they’re grabbing at his harness and his Reigns he will get killed if he stays here so he’s dragged Away by his household of 600 Knights led by the ear of pinook to around here they stop on his main bodyguard a 33y
Old Knight jills de arenton the finest Knight in Christendom he turns around to Edward and he tells him this sire you’re now safe you can get up to Sterling Castle not a problem we will cover you we’re Expendable but I’ve have never left the battlefield before in defeat in
My life and I’m not going to start now I’d be disgraced and so he with Edmund Mory charges straight back into the Scots lines where you guess it he gets killed pretty quickly Brave certainly possibly a bit full hearty possibly a bit frash we are still
Talking about it 703 years later or 78 years later for the wrong reasons that he intended we still remember it anyway so abic II he is now clear to get up to Sterling Castle at this time the Scots camp followers have now come down off Giles Hill whether they get involved in
The fighting is very very debatable indeed it’s about a 45 minute walk between Gillies Hill and the battlefield uh is it at about 4:00 a.m. in the morning and it’s also a case that if you go down onto the battlefield you actually can’t see Giles Hill and from
Giles Hill you can’t see the battlefield either so whether they took part in the fighting or not is open for conjecture certain we know they come down off that Hill though after the fighting is finished and they start to loot the battlefield clean uh we know for a fact
That they took about £120,000 in loot now if you put that into values uh with inflation that comes up to a rate of about uh about 120 million uh today as well so the Scots army goes home very very rich men indeed however in this all
Ail thei is allow to escape back up to Sterling Castle when he gets there Philip MRE who I told you not you shouldn’t trust at the beginning he turns around to Edward and he tells him to get lost he says this Sterling Castle is now indefensible if you come through
Its Gates and gets captured you’ll be captured and the ransom fight will be Scotland and Northern England it will bankrupt England that is not a price ER canadan is willing to pay because if that happens he uh the Scots will bring him to the negotiating table he will be
Forced to recognize their independence and so taking a fast Horse He Retreats down the Northwest down the southwest side of the battlefield chased by about 50 Knights led by Sir James Douglas they pursue him all the way way back down the line of the M9 firstly to the nfo
Wherever the second stops the Chronicles say to relieve himself of water he basically needed a wi he’s cut short though jumps back on his horse and heads back down to Dumar which he reaches by about lunchtime Dumar is 60 miles away from Sterling and he takes the ship from
There back to Safety in Beric leaving a third of his army dead there on the field of banck now prisoner at banck bur are starting to be taken Bruce had said at the beginning of the battle that no prisoners were to be taken No Quarter
Was to be taken the reason for that is if he took prisoners that would deprive his his shrums of men to take those prisoners to the rear and also the garden by depriving his shorts that creates holes to which English Cavalry can charge into it something he can’t
Afford to do however the fighting is now finished and prisoners are there for the taking it fills up Bru’s cofin main prisoner um that is taken uh firstly is a 65-year-old Yorkshire knite maduk to Twain now he had actually previously captured Robert Bruce in 1302 and he’
Given him good service he whined and DED him he given him a really good time while Bruce was Prisoner Bruce now personally takes him prisoner he turns around to maruk Twang and he says look you gave me good service back in 1302 I will give you good service now I will
Whine I will dine you I will have your wounds uh wounds cleaned and and seen to got nothing to worry for so uh Mar quen is allowed to return back to his lands in England most high-profile prisoner taken at banck bur though is Humphrey de and the of Herford he escapes with his
Household back to bwell Castle just outside of Glasgow he goes there because the Fitz Gilbert family up until this point have been sympathetic to the English he goes to sleep there that night only to wake up in the morning to find that the Scots Army under Edward
Bruce is at the castle Gates The Ransom fight for uh for uh tabuan uh will be the return of Bruce’s wife his daughter his sisters Isabelle McDuff they find him at found him at scoon in 1306 and also Bishops Wisher and Lamberton that had anointed him in 1306 as well they
Had all been taken fisna as soon as bruer seized the phone however for a bit of a big head turns around to his capts and says no I’m worth double that triple that raise the ransom price he does himself out of a rather good deal but that’s the of Herford for you that’s
Buel Castle right in the immediate aftermath to the B uh to the Battle of banck burn Bruce goes up to Sterling Castle and the first thing he does is he sles it he tears it down he undercuts the Earthworks he burns the castle to the ground so it
Can’t be held against him ever again Sterling Castle before banck bur had been besieged six times previously in the first Scots war of independence if it held out as a Garrison any longer it’s going to be besieged again and not only that remember that Bruce’s Army is
Small his warchest is small if he garrisons that cast he’s got to pay for their upkeep and their food money that he can’t afford it’s far cheaper just to destroy the castle the most recent uh expansive set of archaeology done Battlefield was part of the banic burn
Big dig uh in 2013 2014 I actually worked on that as one of the archaeological supervisors uh with the center for Battlefield archaeology at the University of Glasgow uh that was with Neil Oliver and uh Dr Tony Pollard now during that survey work we uncovered about 3,000 metal detective finds only
Three of them identifiable uh to the 14th century most of them were tracks couplings and fittings um however we take that data set um all the stuff that was unidentifiable over an 800 meter stretch does give us an idea of the extent of the fighting at banic bur
However the three items that we did uncover were all part of horse Furniture we’ve got a ster Pine a prick spur and a copper allo cross it traces gold and blue enamel on it something we call horse furniture that would have been braided into the hse’s main and vital
First is to show that the rich man that the guy riding that horse is a rich man you don’t want to go and kill him you want to go and sell him back to his family but as well as that when the angel comes to take that Knight up to
The per the gates once he’s been killed the angel knows to take him upstairs rather him down to the hot place down below now free items are never ever going to make a battlefield they never will however compare them to simil ofar battlefields like shrew or Barnet that
Have absolutely no finds whatsoever it is a start there’s two fies to how they’ve been deposited the first is that a knight is ridden along the banks of the of the burn the horses bolted that’ss have been lost that really doesn’t make much sense you got to remember the horses these nights of
Riding uh cost a good King’s Ransom that’s like taking your top of the range Ferrari down a muddy road that really doesn’t make much sense so if that doesn’t make much sense the only possible explanation for them can be starting to find archaological evidence the English heavy cavy collapsing on the
Cast early on the 24th of June 1314 as well as that uh back in 2003 a Bodkin Arrowhead was found up near the banic bur Memorial on Monument Hill um however the battlefield at banck burn is barely a mile away from the saki burn Battlefield dating to 1488 as well that
Aead could quite as easily date to 1488 as it good to 1314 so it’s not conclusive evidence for the battlefield either no Mass Graves have been found as of yet there is one account from the scanner chronic which says that there might be Graves over near cus Kenneth
Abbey that’s about 3 and 1 half miles away from the fighting and on the far side of the fourth doesn’t really make much sense to transport all those bodies kill during the battle all that distance it doesn’t really make much sense however there is one field right next to
Banck bur house and that’s known as the bloody folds that has always been our best guess for a possible Mass grave however we did extensive geophysical survey on the ground so in 2013 and we didn’t find any evidence for Mass Earth movement there associated with a grave
Cut we’ve also got to remember that this area did used to be flood on a seveny yearly cycle the ground is extremely acidic so you throw anything like bone textile arm workor into it um it’s going to break down over about 60 to 70 years
Um so that is not going to survive in the ground we need to look at uh battlefields of a similar time period so places like ton and visby to understand what those Mass Graves uh would would have looked like those Graves have been deposited under particular set of deposition circumstances at Talon
They’ve been buried into frozen soil that’s kept the bodies articulated and they’ve also put a church on top of that at visby um when the fighting is finished back in the 1360s it’s been a hot Summer’s Day the bodies that are left on the battlefield the armor so out
Of date that they’ve been thrown into the grave cut and the armor is thus kept those bodies on particular as well those are the exception to the rule though we don’t get that kind of thing in Britain uh very much so we can continue looking uh but the chances of finding any
Possible Graves associated with banic burn are are few and far between indeed