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In 1314 Bruce was furious with a major mistake made by his brother. Edward Bruce made an
agreement with the Commander of the vital Stirling Castle -
day, it would be surrendered. Bruce knew this must result in a major English force being sent to Scotland. Bruce was an experienced guerilla fighter, hit and run, no expert in major battle confrontations
The Battle of Bannockurn
No one knows for sure the true size of the forces involved. Best guess is 20,000 English and 7,000 Scots. It is agreed that the Scots were massively out numbered by the English. No one on the Scottish side had ever had experience of a large staged battle. But somebody of experience must have planned it.
The Scots were very cunning indeed. They knew the ground and they knew their foe would expect an easy victory. The Scots had chosen their defensive positions with care making use of bogs, a gorge and sloping terrain. After a skirmish on the first day, the battle raged on day two. The English could not deploy properly on the narrow front and Bruce's spearmen held firm.
The Scots attacked before dawn, catching the English by surprise in their camp. The Scots advanced on foot, another surprise, drawing in the English horsemen. The Scots had dug ditches during the night, and the English knights impaled themselves on the Scottish pikes. The English archers, behind their own cavalry shot some of their own Knights in the back and were ordered to stop.
As the day progressed the English began to lose the struggle. Towards the end the
remaining English forces ran off, when a large crowd of supposedly "wee folk" came
over the hill waving banners. These were usually the scavengers, camp followers and
those who followed all battles for the spoils. But there is to-
It must have been the first time that a big army ran away from camp followers. Probably, too, the first time that camp followers ever waved banners announcing their presence. Something odd. Very, very odd
To-
The Templars continued their movement in secret. However in 1324 the then Grand Master, John Marc Larmenius expelled the Scottish Templars because they had disbanded rather than face the inquisition and as he wrote "they had bathed their swords in bloddy bannockburn"
Templars survived to become the Freemasons movement. The Templar name St Clair, survives to this day as Sinclair.
Epilogue. Bruce’s heart taken on a Crusade.
Robert the Bruce possibly died of leprosy, a disease he feared. In the ancient tradition
of Celtic High Kings, the heart of the Bruce was removed from his body after death.
By his wish it was carried to the Spanish Crusade by his great friend and ally Sir
James Douglas, and The Scottish Grand Master Knight Templar, a Sinclair. They both
died there while Bruce’s heart was thrown into the Muslim horde. Later it was recovered
and is to-
Robert the Bruce, robert the bruce. the bruce, Bannockburn, battles in Scotland, scotland's freedom fight, The Knights Templar, Battle of Bannockburn
King Robert the Bruce from the Clydesdale Banknote. In truth his head and face were scarred from battleaxe wounds
BANNOCKBURN,
THE BATTLE FOR SCOTLAND’S FREEDOM
A one page summary
Bannockburn, King Robert the Bruce’s heroic Scottish Battle against the odds
King Robert the Bruce had a good year in 1307. He won lands in the South-
By 1314 he had captured Edinburgh castle. Edward 1st, his great foe had died, leaving his weak son as heir, Edward 2nd. Until now, Bruce had survived a civil war and his forces won only through hit and run tactics. He had lost his two bigger fights at Methven and Falkirk. This was to be the biggest Battle of all.