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Authors: James Webb
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forward, up the hill toward the unmoving spearmen who made up the Scottish
schilltrons
. One cannot tell this tale better than Churchill himself.
As neither side would withdraw the struggle was prolonged and covered the whole front. The strong corps of archers could not intervene. When they shot their arrows into the air . . . they hit more of their own men than of the Scottish infantry. At length a detachment of archers was brought round the Scottish left flank. But for this Bruce had made effective provision. His small cavalry force charged them with utmost promptitude, and drove them back into the great mass waiting to engage, and now already showing signs of disorder. Continuous reinforcements streamed forward toward the English fighting line. Confusion steadily increased. At length the appearance on the hills to the English right of the camp-followers of Bruce’s army, waving flags and raising loud cries, was sufficient to induce a general retreat, which the King himself, with his numerous personal guards, was not slow to head. The retreat steadily became a rout. The Scottish schilltrons hurled themselves forward down the slope, inflicting immense carnage upon the English even before they could re-cross the Bannock Burn. No more grievous slaughter of English chivalry ever took place in a single day. [The Scottish] feat in virtually destroying an army of cavalry and archers mainly by the agency of spearmen must . . . be deemed a prodigy of war. 37
Other battles were fought over the next several years, but after Bannockburn there was no doubt that Scotland would win its independence. King Edward II had been humiliated, retreating first to Stirling Castle and then narrowly escaping across the border to England before being captured. Many English nobles were indeed captured, some of them later used for ransom or to redeem Scottish captives, among them Bruce’s wife and daughter. The English attempted to use the authority of the pope to subdue the Scots, but without avail. 38 And the resoluteness of the Scots after Bannockburn was reflected in the famed declaration of the Abbot of Arbroath, Bruce’s own chancellor, who wrote to the pope in April 1320:
For so long as one hundred of us shall remain alive we shall never in any wise consent to submit to the rule of the English. For it is not for glory we fight, for riches, or for honours [
sic
], but for freedom alone, which no good man loses but with his life.
This declaration was not merely an expression of the will of a monarchy, for it had become clear that neither Bruce nor any other Scottish leader could fight or rule without the consent—and the unique notion of kinship—of those who had brought him victory. Arbroath’s words reflected the coda of an entire people, born largely through resistance to the yoke of Rome and hardened through centuries of warfare. Nor was it simply the attempted rule of the English that would spur Scottish defiance. A people had been formed, from the bottom up. Later centuries would scatter them across the globe. And wherever they traveled, they would bring with them an insistent independence, a willingness to fight on behalf of strong men who properly led them, and a stern populism that refused to bend a knee, or bow a head, to anyone but their God.
PART THREE
The Ulster Scots
No Surrender.
—
The blood oath of Londonderry, 1689
4
Londonderry. The Boyne. Exodus.
WHEN WILLIAM OF Orange ascended the British throne in December 1688, it brought a quick reaction from Louis XIV of France. The most powerful ruler in Europe viewed the succession of a Dutch Protestant to the English crown as a dramatic shift in the balance of power and a threat to French influence in overall European affairs. Louis immediately threw his weight behind the exiled King James
schilltrons
. One cannot tell this tale better than Churchill himself.
As neither side would withdraw the struggle was prolonged and covered the whole front. The strong corps of archers could not intervene. When they shot their arrows into the air . . . they hit more of their own men than of the Scottish infantry. At length a detachment of archers was brought round the Scottish left flank. But for this Bruce had made effective provision. His small cavalry force charged them with utmost promptitude, and drove them back into the great mass waiting to engage, and now already showing signs of disorder. Continuous reinforcements streamed forward toward the English fighting line. Confusion steadily increased. At length the appearance on the hills to the English right of the camp-followers of Bruce’s army, waving flags and raising loud cries, was sufficient to induce a general retreat, which the King himself, with his numerous personal guards, was not slow to head. The retreat steadily became a rout. The Scottish schilltrons hurled themselves forward down the slope, inflicting immense carnage upon the English even before they could re-cross the Bannock Burn. No more grievous slaughter of English chivalry ever took place in a single day. [The Scottish] feat in virtually destroying an army of cavalry and archers mainly by the agency of spearmen must . . . be deemed a prodigy of war. 37
Other battles were fought over the next several years, but after Bannockburn there was no doubt that Scotland would win its independence. King Edward II had been humiliated, retreating first to Stirling Castle and then narrowly escaping across the border to England before being captured. Many English nobles were indeed captured, some of them later used for ransom or to redeem Scottish captives, among them Bruce’s wife and daughter. The English attempted to use the authority of the pope to subdue the Scots, but without avail. 38 And the resoluteness of the Scots after Bannockburn was reflected in the famed declaration of the Abbot of Arbroath, Bruce’s own chancellor, who wrote to the pope in April 1320:
For so long as one hundred of us shall remain alive we shall never in any wise consent to submit to the rule of the English. For it is not for glory we fight, for riches, or for honours [
sic
], but for freedom alone, which no good man loses but with his life.
This declaration was not merely an expression of the will of a monarchy, for it had become clear that neither Bruce nor any other Scottish leader could fight or rule without the consent—and the unique notion of kinship—of those who had brought him victory. Arbroath’s words reflected the coda of an entire people, born largely through resistance to the yoke of Rome and hardened through centuries of warfare. Nor was it simply the attempted rule of the English that would spur Scottish defiance. A people had been formed, from the bottom up. Later centuries would scatter them across the globe. And wherever they traveled, they would bring with them an insistent independence, a willingness to fight on behalf of strong men who properly led them, and a stern populism that refused to bend a knee, or bow a head, to anyone but their God.
PART THREE
The Ulster Scots
No Surrender.
—
The blood oath of Londonderry, 1689
4
Londonderry. The Boyne. Exodus.
WHEN WILLIAM OF Orange ascended the British throne in December 1688, it brought a quick reaction from Louis XIV of France. The most powerful ruler in Europe viewed the succession of a Dutch Protestant to the English crown as a dramatic shift in the balance of power and a threat to French influence in overall European affairs. Louis immediately threw his weight behind the exiled King James
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