Robert Bruce crowned King of Scots - On this day in Scottish Military History - 1306

In March 1306 the Scots had been without a king for nearly ten years. King John 'Toom Tabard' Balliol had abdicated his throne in July 1296 after his defeat and capture by Edward I of England.

William Wallace and Andrew de Moray had both fought and died to try and win back Scottish independence. Robert Bruce and John Comyn took up the cause, but bitter in-fighting took up their time rather than any attacks on the English.

Matters came to a head in February 1306 in Dumfries when Bruce stabbed Comyn to death in Greyfriars Church.

Without another claimant to the throne Bruce hurridly arranged his coronation. He was crowned King of Scots at Scone in Perthshire on 25th March 1306. He knew Edward would never accept his legitamacy so as soon as he was crowned he re-newed the offensive against the English which had died with Wallace in August 1305.

The war for Scottish independence now entered a new phase, 705 years ago today.

Monument to Andrew de Moray proposed for Stirling

I missed these two articles published on 12th March. Thanks to @ScottishHistory on Twitter for the link to The Scotsman

Fighter, patriot and leader - monument call for the other hero of Stirling

By JOHN ROSS

TOGETHER they were heroic freedom fighters and leaders of the army of Scotland.
But while William Wallace has been immortalised in print, monument and film, the man said to have masterminded Braveheart's most famous victory is all but forgotten.

Andrew de Moray was knighted at about the same time as Wallace and was once held
in equal regard, but he is now relatively unknown, Mel Gibson failing to even mention him in his movie.

But now there are plans to create a national monument to commemorate Moray near Stirling Bridge, where both men jointly led the Scots to victory over the English in 1297. Moray was mortally wounded in the battle, and died soon after, disappearing into relative obscurity, while Wallace went on to become Scotland's hero with a world-famous monument overlooking the site of the victory.

Plans for the national monument to honour both men and raise the profile of Moray are to be discussed by Stirling Council.

Councillor Steven Paterson said "He gave his life for the cause of Scottish independence at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

"A fitting memorial to him is long overdue, and I am delighted to have brought forward a motion that will see a permanent memorial to him established by Stirling Bridge."

Fellow councillor Neil Benny said: "Stirling has always been the key to Scotland and our history is something that every one of us can and should be proud of.

"Placing the monument here in Stirling will help to attract visitors to learn about our history and visit our fantastic town."

The move is also backed by local list MSP Murdo Fraser, the deputy leader of the Scottish Conservatives.

He said: "It is fitting to have a monument jointly for Andrew de Moray and William Wallace as they were co-commanders at the Battle of Stirling Bridge and fought alongside one another."

Moray, a Highlander, was the son of Sir Andrew de Moray, a staunch patriot and fighter who was once captured and held in the Tower of London.

Not much is known about him before 1296, when he was taken hostage and imprisoned in Chester following the Battle of Dunbar. But it was from the family home at Avoch in the Black Isle that Moray led the rising against King Edward I of England in the north of Scotland in the summer of 1297.

He captured castles in Aberdeen, Inverness, Montrose, Brechin, Forfar and Urquhart, successfully regaining control of Scotland north of the River Forth for King John.

He later merged his forces with those led by Wallace, and jointly led the combined army to victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

Some historians say Moray was the senior partner of the two, and he is credited with devising the successful tactical plan that led to victory

How Forth crossing was a bridge too far for the English infantry

The Battle of Stirling Bridge began at dawn on 11 September, 1297. Wallace and Moray held their army on the soft, flat ground to the north of the River Forth as the English knights and infantry made their slow progress across the bridge.
When the vanguard - 5,400 English and Welsh infantry plus several hundred cavalry - had crossed, they ordered the attack. The heavy cavalry to the north of the river was trapped and cut to pieces, and those to the south were powerless to help.

Thousands of English were slaughtered, including more than 100 knights.

The English leader, Hugh de Cressingham - King Edward's treasurer in Scotland - was flayed and his skin cut into small pieces as tokens of the victory. Wallace is said to have used a strip to make a belt for his sword.

The remaining English fled to Berwick, leaving the garrison at Stirling Castle isolated and abandoning the Lowlands to the Scots.

The battle was a shattering defeat for the English and showed that, where the conditions were right, infantry could be superior to cavalry.

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

It seems a little unfair to have another article on Kelvingrove after I discussed the Spitfire for our Object of the Month, but there is so much more to Kelvingrove than that, and for those interested in military history, there are quite a number of items to be discovered.

This is not strictly speaking a review of Kelvingrove. I don't have the space to cover all the treasures on display. All I will say is that it houses perhaps the finest collection of art and artefacts in the country (Edinburgh folk may argue with this!).

I've touched on the Spitfire before so I won't dwell on it, but it is the most obviously military item in the museum, and is the focal point of the West Hall, which is devoted to "life" - all the animal items are here, together with ancient Egyptian artefacts.

The West hall also contains the Arms and Armour collection. This used to be on the ground floor, and contained a lot of items on local regiments, as you can see from the "red coats" on display in this photo.

This is how the hall looked before closing for refurbishment some years ago. It's a shame that these items are no longer displayed like this, but times change. Perhaps one day these items will make a return.

The Arms and Armour is now on display upstairs. The first thing you notice is a display of armour immediately facing you. The display looks good, but I can't help feeling the armour looks slightly "static" - perhaps some effort to show more movement would have been better?

The room is dominated by two large glass cases. These show various weapons - swords and shields etc. There is an interesting angle here as part of the display compares man-made weapons with similar items in nature - for example, contrasting the shell of an armadillo with some chainmail.

Around the walls are displays of various artefacts from colonial campaigns. There is no attempt to glorify these campaigns, and there is an interesting use of comments from the people of these civilisations, putting the campaigns of the time into context.

Colonial campaign medals - the map shows the location of the campaigns for which they were awarded.

One of my favourite cases shows the complete kit of a Private Baird of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders from the Boer War.

As a Glasgow event, there are displays from the Battle of Langside, in particular this memorial stone which used to mark the point where Mary Queen of Scots viewed the battle. This stone was carved in 1854 by sir George Cathcart and used to stand at Court Knowe.

There are smaller "alcoves" in this room. One features a display on the Holocaust - part of the main room is devoted to this as well. A video display features video testimonies from Holocaust survivors.

A second alcove features items belonging to a Glasgow man named James Keith Gorrie, who served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. His uniform is in the main case, with drawers containing smaller items which slide out on either side.

The Arms and Armour section is not the only part of the museum of interest to the military historian - there are other items to be found.

The Art Gallery part of the museum includes a number of military subjects. There are several paintings outside the Arms and Armour room which, as the display states, depict pictures of everyday wartime work:

"Pilot and Navigator Confer" - Keith Henderson

"Driver Abdul Ghani" - Henry Lamb

"WAAF Store" - Evelyn Dunbar

"Scottish Policeman" - James Cowie

There are a number of other paintings within the museum. One in particular is very impressive and can be found at the top of one of the staircases.

"The Alma: Forward the 42nd" was painted by Robert Gibb in 1888 and he used real soldiers as models for the subject. It's a fantastic painting - it's difficult to gauge the size of this painting, as it hangs above your head and you can only see it clearly from the top of the stairs. It keeps it out of reach but makes it difficult to see it properly.

Another of the staircases has a similarly large painting, and I include it here as it no doubt contains the images of a number of Victorian officers.

"Queen Victoria at the Glasgow Exhibition" was painted by John Lavery in 1888, and it was hit by a bomb blast in the Second World War - the original frame was destroyed but the canvas has been restored.

I'll be very impressed if anyone can name any of the figures in this painting - Queen Victoria doesn't count as even I can spot her.

There are a few other military subjects, but I wouldn't want to show you everything - Kelvingrove is well worth the visit and you can always find something new when you visit.

One thing you might spot is in the East Hall. Alongthe top of the hall are the names of prominent Scots from History. Among them are a number of military names:

William Wallace and Robert Bruce are no doubt well known to many.

While Sir John Moore has been the subject of this blog before.

The Art Gallery and Museum are free of charge and is open seven days a week (from 10am every day except Friday and Sunday when it opens at 11) until 5pm. Put it on your list of places you MUST see.

Book review: In the Footsteps of Robert the Bruce

In the footsteps of Robert the Bruce in Scotland, Northern England and Ireland

By Alan Young and Michael J. Stead

We’ll set the record straight at the start. This isn’t a new book it’s a re-issue but this edition has been updated with dozens of new photographs.

First published in 1999 this lavishly illustrated book will be of great interest to anyone with an interest in Robert the Bruce and the Scottish Wars of Independence.

It does what it says on the cover. If you want to retrace Bruce’s steps in these three countries then this is definitely the book for you. You’ll cover a lot of ground though because Bruce’s life took him through most of the length and breadth of the British isles.

I’m familiar with the period but I’m no expert so I can’t comment on the facts in the text however the author Alan Young has obviously consulted many sources in his research. Don’t be fooled by the sheer number of Michael J. Stead’s photographs. This is an illustrated reference book, not a coffee table book with accompanying text.

It isn’t just a history of his campaigns either. It follows Bruce’s life from his youth and the days of peace in late thirteenth century Scotland and England. It also traces his lineage and like me you’ll probably be surprised at just how ‘English’ Bruce’s Norman family was.

Then there are the bitter war years in Scotland and northern England and the uneasy period after Bannockburn including his expedition to Ireland in support of his brother Edward. I’d like to have seen a bit more detail on these campaigns but I guess there aren’t that many sources for early fourteenth century Irish campaigns to go on so we have to make do with only a couple of pages.

As a book for those who have only a primary school knowledge of this period (like me) and would like to know a lot more then it’s a very good book to start with. The text is detailed and informative and full of interesting and well researched facts about Bruce and his contemporaries.

It’s not just a history book, it delivers in its aim to be a guide book too, and at the back there are notes on the primary locations associated with Bruce.

The team behind this book Alan Young and Michael J Stead have also produced a similar volume about William Wallace. I can guarantee that it’s now on my reading list.

now available in paperback from The History Press.