A drop of wine

 

In mid-July 1298 the English army was camped at Kirkliston, west of Edinburgh. They were waiting for much-needed supply ships to arrive from Berwick. When the ships finally came, according to Walter of Guisborough, they were carrying 200 barrels of wine. Edward I had the booze distributed to the Welsh, who got drunk and rioted. The king sent in his household knights to restore order, killing eighty Welshmen and some priests who had tried to mediate.

A dramatic tale, but (as so often with Guisborough) it doesn't jive with the facts. Edward I had indeed summoned seventeen ships from Berwick. Of these, only five arrived in time to supply the army before the battle of Falkirk. The inventory for these ships happens to have survived. It shows they were carrying 63 quarters of malt, 7 meat carcasses, 250 quarters of oats and 725 quarters of wheat. None of the ships carried a single drop of wine.

The surviving muster rolls for the army are of little help. These show the number of Welsh infantry increased from 10, 260 to 10, 584 while the army was at Kirkliston. However, six contingents lost a total of 195 men over the same period. Whether these men were killed, or had deserted, or simply been turned loose, is impossible to say.