ANST - FW: Musing on August 11th -- The King's Field and 'Stout' Douglas

j'lynn yeates jyeates at realtime.net
Sat Aug 12 10:55:56 PDT 2000


-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1


- -----Original Message-----
From: Ellsworth Weaver [mailto:astroweaver at yahoo.com]
Sent: Saturday, August 12, 2000 12:29
To: 2thpix at surfari.net
Subject: Musing on August 11th -- The King's Field and 'Stout'
Douglas


Dear Folk,

I am sure you will remember that Robert the Bruce became King Robert
I
of Scotland (1306 - 1329) but do you know how close he came to being
a
very quickly dead king? Part of his adventure, a near escape from a
determined foe happened on this day August 11, 1306 at a place called
Dalry.

When King Alexander III died the only one left with clear title to
the
throne was Margaret "the Maid of Norway." She was still a child,
Alexander III’s granddaughter, but Queen of Scotland. The Bruce clan
had been kicking up some dust down in the south western part of
Scotland. Something about Robert being a better candidate. Eric of
Norway wanted to make sure Margaret was safe and so he kept her in
England until some of the tussling would be over. The Scots appointed
a
six man guardianship over Margaret, all with the provision that she
was
not married and was not contracted to anyone. This was the Treaty of
Salisbury (1289).

Edward I (Longshanks) told everyone that he was taking care of the
wee
lass. Secretly, however, he was arranging for Margaret to marry his
son
Edward II. Yes, we know about him: not a good king, not a pleasant
person, a very unpleasant end. More shenannigans and another treaty
later, Margaret was set to sail up to her new kingdom. Sadly, she
died
in route. Now who was to be Scotland’s ruler?

To make a long story somewhat shorter, suffice it to say that Edward
I
managed to have his puppet, John Balliol, appointed as King of
Scotland
but established that Scotland was a vassal state of England. Vassal
states should fight for their liege lord, Edward decided, so the
Scots
should prepare to march against France. The Scots refused to do this
and signed a separate peace treaty with Philip II of France. Edward
came marching up to Scotland to teach his new subjects a thing or
three.

It was war. The Scots were led by William Wallace and the Earl of
Moray(go rent "Braveheart") and the English by men appointed by
Edward.
"The Hammer of the Scots," Edward I, was busy whomping on the French.
A
two front war kept the English right busy. The Scots were deserted in
January 1298 when Philip of France signed a peace treaty with Edward.
Edward could now turn his attention to crushing the Scottish bid for
freedom.

After some defeats of the Scottish forces, especially at Falkirk,
William Wallace resigned as Guardian of Scotland leaving Robert Bruce
and John Comyn (‘the Red Comyn’, Lord of Badenock) in charge.

There hangs our tale. There seemed to be some slight hard feelings
and
a wee bit of disagreement as to how Scotland should be run. Comyn
even
was so ungentle as to take Bruce by the throat in a discussion. And
he
did not mean it in a polite and courteous way. Robert Bruce resigned
his position and said the heck with it, let Edward rule this bunch.
In
1304 John Comyn shifted his allegiance over to Edward and sat on
Edward’s "Scottish Council."

The fighting continued sporadically until 1305 when William Wallace
was
betrayed, given over to Edward I, tried for treason (to a king he
never
acknowledged in the first place,) hanged, drawn and quartered.  Still
makes me mad. Grrr. Wallace was cruelly dispatched in August 1305.
Edward was then in charge. No doubt. Finis.

On February 10, 1306 Robert Bruce had a quiet, private meeting with
Red
Comyn in the Franciscan church in Dumfries. We do not know what was
said on either side. Red John Comyn was never loath to mince words
and
Robert Bruce usually showed his teeth when he talked. Maybe Robert
told
John that the Bruce and company were going to launch another campaign
against Edward and maybe Comyn said that he was going to snitch.
Maybe
Bruce said he was going to be king and maybe Comyn could go suck
eggs.
Like I said, no one alive knows exactly. The final result was that
Comyn had this accident with a dagger, right at the communion rail of
the church. Okay, Robert Bruce won the argument, whatever it was, and
Red Comyn was acutely and chronically dead.

Plans now had to be pushed forward and Bruce was crowned on March
27th
at the ancient holy site of Scone. Things were far from skittles and
stout ale for the new king as he now had not only Edward to face but
also the feud of the Comyns and their kin to deal with. He was also
excommunicated for sacrilege by the pope. Isn’t that always the way?

His first tests as Scotland’s fearless leader ended in disaster at
Methven and again at Tyndrum. Bruce found refuge in Dunaverty castle
for a while but then he disappeared for four and a half months.
Bruce's
wife Isobel, and daughters, Elizabeth and Marjory, were captured and
imprisoned. Other supporters were hanged, including his brother
Nigel.

Bruce had headed west with the survivors of his army and sought
refuge
in the Perthshire hills. It would be some years before Perth saw him
again.

‘Dail Righ' or Dalry, the King's field, was where that Robert the
Bruce
almost met his death on August 11, 1306 after he had fled from
Methven.
Bruce was attacked in this low lying strip of land by a stout and
angry
band of MacDougall and MacNab clansmen led by the celebrated John
MacDougall of Lorne. The MacDougall chief was the maternal uncle of
the
Red Comyn. Lorne felt he owed Bruce a blood debt for Bruce's
sacrilegious murder of John `Red' Comyn in February. One of the men
of
Lorne caught hold of Bruce's plaid in the melee and despite a deadly
wound kept dragging Bruce back toward his attackers with such force
that Bruce could only free himself by releasing his plaid. His plaid
broach went with it and remains a trophy in MacDougall hands to this
very day. It is now preserved at Dunollie Castle in Argyllshire by
the
descendants of those same MacDougalls of Lorne. Bruce and his
remaining
men managed to escape this ambush and took refuge for a while in Glen
Falloch and in a cave near Inversnaid in what is now MacGregor
country.

Fortunately for Robert Bruce, he found a strong friends in Rannoch.
Donnachadh Reamhar sent around the Fiery Cross or `crois taraidh' to
gather his clansmen for Bruce at Fea Choire, `the assembly place'.
This
site is a secluded glen connecting Rannoch with Glenerochty and was
the
central rallying place for the defense of the clan territory. Twice
the
MacDougalls and their allies came into Rannoch to find and kill Bruce
and twice Bruce’s men, lead by ‘Stout’ James Duncan, mustered to
defeat
them.

The first invasion was from the south and no real details seem to
survive. It was a clear victory for Bruce’s forces, however. Shortly
after this defeat, the MacDougalls and their MacNab allies again
threatened. This time they approached from the northwest and camped
within two miles of Loch Rannoch. Scouts reported their presence but
`Stout' Duncan decided to determine for himself the strength of the
foe
before he committed his forces.

Disguised as a beggar or traveling man, he was able to enter and
wander
about the MacDougall camp. Unfortunately, his great stature gave him
away and he had to take to skedaddle out of there with the enemy
chasing after him. Having outdistanced all but one of his pursuers,
`Stout' Duncan turned back and dispatched him. This allowed his other
pursuers time to catch up. According to tradition, the remaining
MacDougalls soon had Duncan trapped at the River Ericht where he made
a
prodigious standing leap of 16 feet and was able to clear the river
and
escape. This rocky site is still called Leum Donnachadh Reamhar or
"Stout Duncan's Leap".

Based on the information he learned during his visit, the surprise
attack early the following morning was totally successful. Not only
were the surviving men of Lorne scattered over the wasteland of the
Rannoch Moor but their leader, Alexander MacDougall, was captured.
Duncan placed his prisoner in the island fortress known as the "Isle
of
the Gulls" at the western end of Loch Rannoch. He remained in this
island fortress until he tricked his captors and managed to escape in
his jailer’s boat.

This second defeat ended MacDougall sightseeing into Rannoch and
`Stout' Duncan didn't meet up with them again until 1314 when the
clan
was mustered at Fea Choire a third time to join Bruce at Bannockburn.
Bannockburn was to be the decisive battle for Bruce. There he
defeated
the forces of the new English king, Eddie II, and Eddie’s Scottish
allies.

The Pope finally released Bruce from his Excommunication in October
1328. Moreover he issued a papal Bull on 13th June 1329 authorizing
Robert I and his successors to be crowned and anointed as Kings of
Scotland.  Unfortunately, Bruce had already died at Cardross of
leprosy
a week earlier, and never knew of the final recognition of his
Kingship
and, with it, the independence of Scotland which he had striven for
all
his life.

Bruce’s body was buried in Dunfermline Abbey, although his heart was
embalmed and taken by Douglas and other Scottish Knights in a
crusade.
They, only got as far as Spain where, in battle against the Moors,
Sir
James Douglas and other of the Scottish Knights were slain after
being
cut off from the rest of the Christian army. Both the heart which
Douglas had taken into battle and died fighting over, and Douglas
himself, were borne back to Scotland, the former being buried in
Melrose abbey and the latter in the parish kirk of Douglas.

What have we learned from this? Even arguments in church can turn
suddenly very bad? Sometimes ruling is not as much fun as we would
like
to think? Even stout folks can make enormous leaps if they have
faith?
Wee little beasties can unmake that which cold steel cannot? How
about
friends help friends move, but real friends help friends move bodies?
In a very real way, I have to admire Sir James ‘Stout’ Douglas.
Mayhaps
we will talk more of him some other day.

As always, if ye wish to send these words on your own mickle courtesy
crusade, keep me plaid and broach intact – my sig and name attached.

May we all have such strong and true friends as Sir James,
J.  Ellsworth Weaver

SCA – Sir Balthazar of Endor
AS – Polyphemus Theognis
TRV – Sebastian Yeats


=====
SmileWeavers Astrology Charts & Interpretations
Modern & Medieval (but always discreet)
If you are interested, contact me at
astroweaver at yahoo.com or 805.473.8867

Read back issues of Musings at
http://www.thereadersvine.com/~Jennifer_deTocqueville/sebastiansmusing
s.html

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail – Free email you can access from anywhere!
http://mail.yahoo.com/

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: PGP Personal Privacy 6.5.3
Comment: public key for jyeates at realtime.net at certserver.pgp.com

iQA/AwUBOZSSjc50zdvN3Vp0EQIk3gCePAkA8IB9uf9M9hgPmwVxdpAUEysAnRkP
S4TJE6faE3DgaRr33d1S5pT/
=95ND
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

============================================================================
Go to http://lists.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.



More information about the Ansteorra mailing list