3. His victory over the English; reasons for his success
In 1307 Bruce was on the run. He had been defeated in battles at Methven Wood near Perth and Dalry. His brothers had been captured and executed and his wife and sister had been imprisoned by Edward II. Edward and his cronies mocked Bruce by calling him “King Hob”. Edward II also called his minstrel (personal entertainer) "King Robert". The message was clear: Robert THE Bruce's claim to be King of Scotland was a joke.
Seven years later, Bruce was master of Scotland. How did he do it? Simples! It was as easy as AB and 2Cs!
A = Ambushes. Bruce changed his tactics. He gave up fighting major battles and changed to ambushes and hit and run. We would now call this “guerrilla warfare”. Bruce used his knowledge of the Scottish country side to choose his battle grounds carefully and he increased his advantage by digging traps and trenches to cancel out the advantage of the English mounted knights.
B = Brutality. The ordinary people of Galloway and Buchan were innocent. Their only crime was to live on land controlled by Bruce’s enemies. This made no difference to Bruce. He attacked these lands without mercy. This streak of ruthless brutality is something which all successful military leaders possess: nice people don’t win wars!
C1= Castles. Bruce and his followers gradually captured all of Scotland’s important castles except Stirling. This was done by stealth and sneakiness: Bruce did not have the strength or the wealth to pay for long sieges. For example, Linlithgow was captured by “ram raiding” a hay cart into the main gate. Edinburgh was captured by a daring climb up the castle rock. When castles were captured, Bruce pulled down the walls or threw dead bodies into the wells to prevent them being re-occupied by his enemies.
C2 – the Church. Bruce had the support of the Scottish church. The Scottish Bishops also contacted the Pope to get his support fro Bruce.
Revision Task D3: Make up a detailed mind map to show why Bruce was successful by 1314.
This BBC website gives more information about the life of Robert the Bruce including clips from the TV series “A History of Scotland.”
