Andrew Moray - Invasion and Defeat

Invasion and Defeat

In the spring of 1296, Andrew Moray, together with his father and uncle, joined the Scottish feudal host assembling in preparation for the impending conflict. A small force, led by the earls of Atholl, Ross and Mar and John Comyn the younger of Badenoch, entered Cumberland and marched to Carlisle, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. The St. Edmundsbury Chronicle records the destruction of 120 villages and townships. When the raiders reached Carlisle they found it held against them by their compatriot, Robert Bruce, lord of Annandale, the son of the recently-deceased Bruce-claimant the Crown. Bruce kept the gates of Carlisle firmly shut. More raiders crossed from Jedburgh and rampaged through Northumberland, burning homes and farms as they went. Pierre de Langtoft, an English chronicler, records:

King Edward, who assembled a large army on the Anglo-Scottish border for the invasion of Scotland, was able to depend on the support of a faction of Scottish lords. On 25 March 1296, a number of the king's Scots supporters, including Robert Bruce of Annandale, and his son, Robert, the twenty-one-year-old earl of Carrick and the future king, swore fealty and solemnly pledged on “the Holy Gospels” that they would “be faithful and loyal ... to King Edward, King of England”.

The king's army initially marched on the prosperous Scottish port of Berwick, which then lay on the Anglo-Scottish border. By 30 March, it was camped outside the port. Berwick fell quickly, with the king personally leading the assault against its limited defences, and a bloody slaughter ensued. The king permitted the slaughter and rapine of the port's inhabitants to continue for three days before he finally called an end to it. The English Lanercost Chronicle condemned the slaughter as a “crime” and recorded that fifteen-thousand “of both sexes perished, some by the sword, others by fire, in the space of a day and a half”. The Scottish army was overmatched by this English host. It had been many years since Scottish society had been mobilized for war, and at the Battle of Dunbar the Scots were overwhelmed quickly by elements of King Edward's army led by John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey. The author of the Chronicle of Bury St. Edmunds records the death of eight-thousand Scottish soldiers at Dunbar.

In the aftermath of the defeat at Dunbar, the realm quickly capitulated. No further meaningful resistance was offered. Edward I deposed King John at Montrose Castle: the symbols of he Scottish kingship were stripped from him, including the ripping of the royal coat of arms from his surcoat (thereby earning him the enduring title Toom Tabard ('Empty Coat')). King Edward, having dealt with this treasonous vassal, rode north from Montrose on an extended march that took him all the way to Elgin, which he reached on 26 July 1296. He remained in the town’s castle for a few days, taking the fealty of a number of Scots nobles, including Bishop Robert Wishart of Glasgow, before returning to England.

While King Edward marched through the subdued realm, the Scots nobles captured at Dunbar were taken south in chains. The most important prisoners, such as Sir Andrew Moray of Petty, were taken to the Tower of London. Andrew Moray the younger, a prisoner of much less significance, was imprisoned in Chester Castle, the northernmost stronghold to which the Dunbar captives were taken; he would not, however, long remain a captive.