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THE
BATTLE OF SAUCHIEBURN.*
A. D. 1488.
JAMES III. was a monarch whose
untimely
fate marks in
a peculiar
manner the characteristic
features of the age
in
which he lived. The Scotish nobles, fierce
and
powerful,
utterly disregarded
the authority
of their sovereign,
and con-
History
of Stirlingshire ; Pinkerton's History
of Scotland ;
Lindsay of Pitscottie's History ; Statistical Account of Scotland.
118 THE SCOTISH WARS.
sidt-red the reigning prince
as a
mere
machine,
with whom
the administration of the
government ostensibly rested,
but who
depended
on them for
co-operation
and
support.
James, on the
contrary,
to adopt the quaint language
of
Drummond of
Hawthornden,
"conceived that
noblemen,
like the coin,
were of his
predecessors' making,
and
why
he
might
not put
his
stamp upon
the same
metal,
so when
those old metals were
defaced,
he
might not refound them,
and
give
them a new
print,
he could not well conceive."
On
many points
the Scotish nobility
differed from their sove-
reigns,
but none
exasperated
them more than
additions to
their ancient order,
and the elevation of
persons
whom
they
considered obscure minions, to a participation
of their rank
and
privileges.
A series of intestine broils
ensued,
for the
most
part
caused
by
the
imprudent
conduct of James,
which
ended in the nobles
appealing
in arms
against
their sovereign
near a spot
illustrious in the annals of Scotish History
where their ancestors
boldly encountered the English
host
where
Bruce, the great
restorer of the
monarchy,
obtained
his signal victory.
Near this
spot
the well-known field of
Bannockburn the
indignant
nobles of Scotland were suc-
cessful with less bloodshed than when Bruce rode
triumph-
ant over the tented field won
by
his skill and the valour of
his warriors.
The disastrous termination of the
reign
of James III.
forms the subject
of the present
narrative. After succes-
sive misfortunes, collisions,
and fruitless
negotiations,
the
insurgent nobility
took the field, having
obtained possession
of the King's
eldest son,
afterwards James
IV.,
by
the treach-
ery
of Shaw of
Sauchie, the governor
of Stirling Castle, to
whose
custody
the
young prince
had been committed
by-
James, with strict orders that
no one of the
disaffected
should be allowed to
approach
him,
and that he was on no
account to be suffered to go
out of the fortress. Ignorant
of Shaw's conduct, the
King
saw no other alternative than
120 THE SCOTTISH WARS.
burgh.
The celebrated Sir Andrew
Wood,
his admiral, had
indeed sailed
up
the Forth as far as Alloa,
and he would
have
proceeded
farther
up
the river if there had been
suf-
ficient
depth
of water for his
vessels. James could have
easily
embarked on board the admiral's
ship,
but as this might
have been
interpreted by
the insurgents
as the result of ti-
midity,
it would
have
increased their boldness,
and done ma-
terial injury
to the royal
cause. Situated as the
King
was,
he had no other alternative than either to betake himself and
followers to the admiral's fleet, or to decide the contest
by
a battle,
and after
calling
a council of the chiefs who followed
his standard,
it was resolved to hazard the latter.
It was in the
month of
June,
and the
forests of Stirling-
shire were clothed with their summer
foliage,
when this
fatal contest was decided. Different indeed were the mo-
tives
which stimulated this
array
of the Scotish nobles from
those
by
which their
gallant
ancestors were
actuated under
the banners of Bruce. The
insurgents,
who soon under-
stood the intentions of the King,
also prepared
for battle,
and
passed
the Carron,
which falls into the Forth near FaU
kirk. Famous as the scene of
many
a stiife in the olden
time as the alleged locality
where Oscar, the son of
Ossian, signalized
himself as a hero,
and where his ancient
warriors contended with the heroes of the streams of
Caros,
the Carron now rolls
along
no
longer
disturbed by
the din
of arms,
and coloured
by
the blood of the dying
and the
dead.
The
insurgent
nobles had
encamped
at the bridge
over
the Carron, near the
Torwood,
when the
King
led his
army
against them,
and
encamped
at a small brook named Sauchie-
burn, a mile south from
the famous field
of Bannockburn.
According
to Lindsay
of Pitscottie,
on the
night
before the
battle another attempt
was made to effect a
negotiation,
which was unsuccessful. The
contending
armies met on a
tract of land now
designated
Little Canglar,
on the east
BATTLE OF SAUCHIEBURN.
side of Sauchieburn.
The forces of the
insurgents
were
greatly superior
to those of the King.
They
consisted
chiefly
of hardy
Borderers inured to war, well armed and
well disciplined,
and were most
unequally opposed by
the
Lowlanders.
The exact number of the
insurgent army
is
not ascertained. The
royal army,
it is said
by
some
writers,
consisted of
30,000 men,
that of the insurgents
but there can be no doubt that these numbers are
greatly
ex-
aggerated,
and it is
generally
admitted that the royal
forces
were
very
inferior in every respect.
James
appeared
in complete
armour on horseback at the
head of his
army,
which he divided
into three lines. The
first was commanded
by
the Earl of Menteith, Lords Er-
skine, Gray,
Ruthven, Graham,
and
Maxwell,
and con-
sisted chiefly
of Highlanders
armed
with swords and bows
;
the second line was headed
by
the Earl of Glencairn,
and
consisted also of Highlanders
arid retainers from the west-
ern counties ; the third,
in which was the
greatest strength
of the army,
was commanded
by
Lords
Boyd
and
Lindsay ;
and the main
body,
in which was the
King,
was led
by
the
Earl of Crawford,
and consisted of men from
Fife, Strath-
earn, the district of Stormont,
and Forfarshire.
The
insurgents also divided their forces into three lines,
and
they
had the
advantage
of displaying
a strong array
of
mounted
troopers.
The first line was
composed
of men
from East Lothian and
Berwickshire, led
by
Lord Home
and the Baron of Hailes
;
the second consisted of men from
Galloway
and the Borders
;
and the
third, under the
nomi-
nal command of the Duke of
Rothsay, though
the prince
was
completely
under the control of the insurgent
noble-
men who
belonged
to this division,
was
composed
of men
from the
midland Lowland
counties.
The
insurgents
advanced with
great boldness,
presuming
too well on the King's
want of
military experience.
James
felt considerable alarm when he saw them
approaching
with
BATTLE OF SAUCHIEBURN.
filling
a pitcher
with water from the stream. Alarmed at
seeing
a man
in armour,
and
riding furiously
as if towards
her,
she threw down the
pitcher
and
fled for safety.
The
noise startled the horse,
and the excited
steed, leaping
over
the Bannockburn
at one
spring,
threw his rider. The
King
was so stunned
and bruised
by
the weight
of his ar-
mour that he
fainted,
and seemed to all
appearance
dead.
This accident
happened
near a mill, the occupants
of which,
consisting of
the miller and his
wife, ran to the assistance
of the unfortunate horseman.
Ignorant
of his rank, they
carried him into their
house,
laid him on a couch in a cor-
ner of their apartment,
and covered him with a cloth to
conceal him from
any
pursuer. Having
administered to him
the remedies they possessed,
the
King revived,
and called
for a priest
to hear his confession. The rustics
inquired
the name and
quality
of their guest,
and James
incautiously
said,
I was
your
King
this morning."
The
miller's wife,
overcome with
astonishment, wrung
her hands,
and
hastily
ran to the door in search of a priest
as the
King
desired.
It
happened
that at the very
moment the miller's wife
came out of the house
some of the
insurgents passed,
who
were
following
the route of the King.
One of these
persons
was a
priest
named
Borthwick,
connected with Lord
Gray's
retainers,
and the
pursuers, having
discovered the object
of
their search, failed not to
improve
the opportunity.
One
of them exclaimed to the woman
Here,
1 am a
priest,
lead me to the
King."
He was
accordingly admitted,
and
kneeling
at the
side of James heard his confession. He
then asked the
King
if he thought
he would recover.
I
might," replied
the unfortunate
monarch,
if I had the
at-
tendance of a physician,
but give
me absolution and the
sa-
crament."
That I shall
readily do,"
said the villain, and
pulling
out a dagger,
he inflicted
several mortal wounds on
the King,
who
instantly expired.
The
perpetrator
of this
atrocious
act was never discovered.
THE SCOTISH WARS.
Some of the
King's
forces retreated towards the Tor-
wood,
and others took
refuge
in the town of
Stirling.
The
insurgents
retired to Linlithgow,
after resting
all the night
succeeding
the battle on the field. The fate
of James was
not then
known,
but in a short time rumours were soon
spread
over the country
of the assassination, aggravated by
an additional report
that the Duke of
Rothsay
was the
murderer
; but it
was
some
days before the
young prince,
now James
IV., received certain information of his father's
fate,
and he heard it with the
deepest anguish.
Still some
asserted that the
King
was
alive,
and a
person
who
came to
Linlithgow
informed the insurgents
that Admiral Wood
was still
traversing
the Forth,
and it was believed that the
King
had reached the fleet in
safety. They immediately
proceeded to Leith,
whence a
message
was sent from the
Duke of
Rothsay
to
Wood,
desiring
to know if the
King
was on board
any
of his vessels. The Admiral
solemnly
declared that he was
not,
and
gave
them
permission
to search
his ships.
A second
message
was
sent, desiring
an inter-
view,
but the Admiral refused to
go
on shore without hos-
tages
for his safety.
Lords Seton and
Fleming
were the
persons
sent as hostages,
and were committed
by
the
Admiral to the
custody
of his brother,
while he
proceeded
to Leith,
and
presented
himself before the prince.
Mis-
taking
the Admiral at
first, from his noble appearance
and
striking resemblance, for the
King, Rothsay
exclaimed,
with tears,
Sir, are
you my
father?"
I am not
your
father," replied
the Admiral,
"but
I
was
your
father's faith-
ful servant,
and an
enemy
to those who have occasioned
his downfal." Some of the
insurgent leaders,
who were be-
ginning
to tremble
for their own
safety,
asked Wood if he
knew
any thing
of the King, or
where he
was,
to which he
replied
that he knew not.
They
then inquired
who the
persons
were who went on board his vessels in boats
op-
posite
Alloa? "I
and
my
brother," replied
the Admiral,
126 THE SCOTISH WARS.
person
who then
possessed
it. The author of the Picture
of Scotland informs us that
he had the
curiosity
to visit
it,
and
to inquire
into the traditionary
account of the cir-
cumstances above
related, as
preserved by
the people
of
the place,
which he was
surprised
to hear tallied in every
particular
with the historical narrative. He was even
shown
the particular
corner in which the
King
was slain.
The house has been somewhat
modernized,
and
converted
from a mill into a dwelling-house.
The lower
part
of the
walls, however,
are to about a man's height unaltered,
and
impressed
with the appearance
of great antiquity.
A corner
stone of the modern
part
of the fabric bears date 1 667.
The
house is divided into two
ends, with separate
doors accom-
modating
two
families,
and is thatched. It stands about
fifty yards east of
the road from
Glasgow
to Stirling,
in
the close
neighbourhood
of the new
mill,
which had been
substituted when it was converted into a
dwelling-house."
