Time for junior

The English king arrived at Berwick on 5 July 1301; by the 12 his army had mustered and consisted of around 6800 footsoldiers. The exceptions were a few mounted officers and light horse or foresters who had been drafted into the army to serve as hobelars. Edward himself was attended by a bodyguard of twenty men, while the rest of his army were all archers save for 20 crossbowmen, 20 miners and 20 masons.

This was even smaller than the army he had taken to Flanders in 1297, and the lack of heavy cavalry - or any cavalry - is notable. It seems the old king intended to play a minor role in the campaign, and wanted his son to have all the credit. Edward had admitted as much in March, when he declared the Prince of Wales should have “the chief honour of taming the pride of the Scots”.

Edward junior was in charge of the main army at Carlisle; about 7000 Welsh and Irish and 1000 English cavalry. This was his time to shine, though he was only in nominal command. His father had given him a minder in the shape of Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, a battle-hardened veteran who was there was to ensure junior didn’t invade the Irish Sea or lead his men over a cliff.

Edward II

Prince Edward probably set off from Carlisle in late July. His first target was the lordship of Ayr on the west coast. On 25 August the king received “good rumours” from Sir Malcolm Drummond, a Scottish knight captured by Sir John Segrave. Drummond presumably informed the king of junior’s success in Ayr. A Gascon knight with the interesting name of Sir Montasini de Novelliano was made constable of Ayr Castle, and Sir Edmund Hastings the sheriff. The keepership of the castle and sheriffdom was granted to Patrick, the pro-English Earl of Dunbar.

Whatever resistance the Cambro-Irish-English army encountered as it marched into Ayr is unknown. The capture of this region had taken three years, and was an important gain for the English: they now had control through to the west coast, and could import supplies from Ireland directly to Scotland.

Not much remains of Ayr Castle these days, so above is a pic of the dramatic ruins of Greenan Castle in Ayrshire, built for John Kennedy of Baltersan in 1603.