William Wallace's Forgotten Soldier...

[The_Kilted_Erse]

ANDREW DE MORAY
William Wallace's Forgotten Soldier...

In March, 1297, young Andrew de Moray escapes from imprisonment in England and travels back to his family's lands in the province of Moray. He raises the standard of revolt against the English and soon gathers a small army of rebels at Avoch castle, a scant 7 miles distant from Inverness across the
Inverness Firth.

Young Andrew had been a prisoner of Edward I. His father, Sir Andrew de Moray, and his uncle are still held in the Tower of London, along with many other Scottish knights who had shown earlier tendencies to revolt and had had the misfortune to be captured and taken to England as assurance against further uprisings.

This did not deter the young Andrew. He knew the men of Moray would rally to his standard in an effort to throw off the English yoke.
Inverness at this time was held by the English, along with the castles of Urquhart, Nairn, Forres, Elgin, and Lochindorb. The burgesses of Inverness were chafing below the castle, from the battlements of which flew the pennon of an English knight. When the word went out that Andrew was raising the
banner of revolt, many of them traveled to Avoch castle and cast their lot with the rebels. The leader of the burgesses was a man named Alexander Pilche, and he became the trusted lieutenant of Andrew and his warriors from the Moray lands. Pilche is an unsung hero of the Scottish War of Independence.

Here is how Evan MacLeod Barron describes young Andrew de Moray:

"He is the son and heir of one of Scotland's greatest houses, bearer of an historic name, leader by virtue of his descent of the warlike men of Moray. His father and his uncle, great nobles both, and he himself but a few months
before was suffering a similar fate, So he is under no illusion as to the strength of England or the character of the English king. He is only recently married; He is young, gallant, and full of life and hope; he is heir to the great possessions of his family, the lands of Petty, Avoch, Boharm, Croy, and others, and the great estates of Bothwell; he is, in a word, one of the most favoured of the younger Scottish men of rank. If loyalty to Edward would pay anyone, it would pay him, yet here we find him prepared to put all to the touch on a venture of which no one knows better
than he the tremendous danger."

Andrew's band begins a series of guerrilla raids against English officials. They stir up so much trouble that the guardian of Moray for Edward, Sir Reginald le Chen, sends a plea to Edward for help in putting down the uprising. Sir Reginald calls for a conference of his subordinates at Inverness castle on 25 May, 1297.
Sir William Fitzwarine, constable of Urquhart castle, travels to the conference to discuss what is to be done. When the conference ends, Sir William rides back toward Urquhart with his band of men. Andrew and his rebels ambush his party "by the old hill road which wound over the shoulder of Dunain and thence by way of the Caiplich..." (Rev. John, do you know of these place references?). Many English men at arms and their mounts are killed, but Fitzwarine and some of his followers break free and hasten to the safety of Urquhart Castle.
The following morning, the English occupiers awake to find the castle under siege by de Moray, Pilche, and an increasing band of Scots. In a few short hours, another army shows up on the scene, under the command of the Countess of Ross and her son. The Countess is in the field on the side of the English, for her husband, the Earl of Ross, is in an English prison, and she is trying to win his release by taking Edward's side. She sends an emissary to Fitzwarine. They talk to each other in front of Andrew's band, the emissary before the castle wall and Fitzwarine shouting from the battlements.
The emissary offers the Countess's help to Fitzwarine, but he is suspicious of her motives and declines the offer. Her army retires from the field but remains close by during the siege, daring not to take a hand on either side. If she helps Andrew, she risks her husband's freedom; if she helps Fitzwarine, she risks retaliation from the Scots. The Ross lands are adjacent to the de Moray lands. Her son and young Andrew have been friends
since childhood. In short, she is between a rock and a hard place. Finally, she takes positive action. She orders her son to re-provision the castle.
There is no record of how this was accomplished, but accomplished it was.
Fitzwarine recorded the deed in a letter.

Thanks to the influx of provisions, the siege of Urquhart Castle does not succeed, and Andrew's army leaves the scene having neither won nor lost against the English. But news of his ambush of Fitzwarine travels fast, and soon many other Scots rally to his banner. There is no record of how many
man were with him, but it must have been a considerable number, for Andrew is able to divide his forces into two separate bands. One operates out of Avoch Castle and the other from Balconie Castle.

How he came into possession of Balconie Castle is part of the story. Upon
leaving Urquhart, Andrew led his army into Ross and took Balconie Castle from the Countess, thus teaching her that siding with the English had it's consequences. Operating out of Avoch and Balconie provided him with several advantages. Balconie became a rallying point for recruits coming out of the
North and provided a safe haven for his men after raids against English strongholds in the area. Also, the combination of Avoch and Balconie gave him the ability to invade the flanks of any English army that would come
after him from any direction.

Safe within the walls of Inverness Castle, Sir Reginald le Chen dispatches a
message to Edward alerting him to the uprising in the North and asking for military help. Sir Andrew de Rait, of Rait Castle near Nairn, and a neighbor of the de Moray's, is the likely messenger. It took a long time for messages to travel from Inverness to London and back in those days. In the meantime,
Andrew's army wreaks havoc on the English positions in the North, killing many of Edward's officials, or capturing them and throwing them into prison.

At the same time, Bruce is operating against the English in Ayrshire, and Wallace is becoming a factor in Argyll.

Before Sir Reginald's message reaches him, Edward makes a deal with some of
the Scottish knights and nobles in his prisons. He is about to embark on a military campaign to Flanders. He offers the captive Scots their parole if they agree to accompany his army. Many of them take him up on his offer.

Among them are John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, John Comyn of Badenoch, Alexander
de Balliol, Alexander, Earl of Menteith, Reginald de Crauford, and a few others. These men depart for Scotland under safe conduct to make themselves ready to accompany Edward on his campaign to Flanders. En route, they are overtaken by Sir Andrew de Rait who has ridden in great haste to catch up with them and deliver Edward's orders to raise all their forces and suppress
once and for all the revolt led by Andrew de Moray.

This put the Comyns in a very awkward spot. They were Scots, after all, and they surely must have had designs on a free Scotland. King John (Balliol) had recently resigned the throne, and the Comyns considered themselves next in line, but they had no hope of keeping the kingship within their family without Edward's help. Of course, the Bruces and the Comyns, though blood
relatives, were at odds over this matter of succession to the throne, but that's a whole other subject.

The four men to whom Edward had issued his order to suppress the uprising
meet in Aberdeen to consider their course of action. That is to say, Henry le Chen, Bishop of Aberdeen; Sir Gartenet, son of the Earl of Mar; John Comyn, Earl of Buchan and Constable of Scotland; and Sir Alexander Comyn, his brother. Of these, only the Bishop's loyalty to Edward could go unquestioned. Nevertheless, the others had little choice but to carry out Edward's orders.

Adding to their dilemma is the fact that a large English army has forced the capitulation of the Scots army in Ayr under Bruce, the Bishop of Glasgow, and Sir William Douglas (7th July). A second English force of 300 horse and 10,000 foot has reached Berwick and the two English armies will soon unite.
Thus, it behooves the Comyns to carry out Edward's orders, and they set out for Moray with that in mind.

Young Andrew is not idle while these plans are unfolding. He takes dead aim
on the lands of Reginald le Chen, to whom he is related by marriage. Sir Reginald's estates, which he acquired by marrying into the de Moray family, are located midway between Forres and Elgin. Andrew leads his forces there and lays waste to the land, burns the Castle of Duffus, the ancient home of the de Morays, now in the hands of le Chen, and, in fact, takes Sir Reginald prisoner. Next, he crosses the Spey into Banffshire and settles his army at Boharm, one of his father's principal castles, to await the forces coming to quell his rebellion. He has chosen his ground wisely. Barron writes:

"There amid his own people, and in a country of bog and wood with the swift flowing Spey running through it, he was in an admirable situation for awaiting the coming of the force which he must by this time have known was advancing against him from Aberdeen."

He positions his forces on a wooded hillside to await the coming of the forces Edward Longshanks of England has ordered into the field to snuff out the Moray rebellion. With him is a sizable force of the men of Moray and the Burgesses of Inverness headed by Alexander Pilche.

Andrews's intention is to ambush his foes as they are preoccupied with fording the River Spey, which lies in their path between Cullen and Elgin, their next stopping place on the way to Inverness.

The English forces consist primarily of Scots under the reluctant leadership of John Comyn, Earl of Buchan and Constable of Scotland, and his brother Alexander Comyn. Sharing leadership with the Comyns are Sir Gartenet, son of the Earl of Mar, and Henry le Chen, Bishop of Aberdeen. The Comyns and Sir Gartenet have recently been prisoners of Edward in England but have been granted parole in exchange for agreeing to accompany Edward on a military campaign against Flanders. Thus, at this time, they have come to Edward's peace, even though the Comyns still harbor ambitions of keeping the throne of Scotland in their family, for they are closely related to King John Balliol,
who has recently renounced his allegiance to Edward and retired from the throne. Of Henry le Chen's loyalty to Edward there can be little question, but the Comyns, along with the other Scots, have mixed emotions about
tangling with their young kinsman, Andrew de Moray.

Andrew's plan is ambuscade, a tactic he has recently employed successfully
against Sir William de Fitzwarine, constable of Urquhart Castle. But the Comyns are wily campaigners and very familiar with Highland modes of battle.
They have heard about young Andrew's exploits and the numbers of men on his
side. Thus, they march through the countryside toward the River Spey in full
battle readiness.

When Sir Andrew perceives this from his position on the hillside above the trail, he wisely decides to withdraw his forces and await a better opportunity. They retreat into the "great stronghold of bog and wood." The
Comyns, aware of Andrew's proximity, send Sir Andrew de Rait, a Scot of Rait Castle near Nairn, to negotiate with de Moray, but he returns with no agreement and the news that de Moray's force is comprised of a "very large
body" of men. From Elgin to Inverness, the Moray forces shadow Edward's surrogates, but they do not molest them. It is not known whether the reason is due to superior numbers and arms on the English side, or whether Andrew de Moray is simply biding his time, waiting for the right opportunity.

Safe for the time being within the walls of Inverness Castle, Edward's assignees gather to themselves the remaining forces in the Highlands still considered loyal to Edward's cause, those being Sir William de Fitzwarine, Constable of Urquhart Castle, John of the Aird, and the Countess of Ross,
with their respective feudal retainers. Here again, as with the Comyns and Mar, the enthusiasm of these new recruits for the task at hand is doubtful.

Sir Reginald le Chen, brother to Henry, the Bishop of Aberdeen, is Edward's
appointed guardian of Moray and he holds the castle of Inverness. His son is Edward's prisoner in England. So the the son of John of the Aird and the husband of the Countess of Ross.

The new arrivals bring into the castle further news of the scope of de Moray's uprising, the size of his forces, and the damage done to English interests in the Highland region.

The first decision in the castle is to send Andrew de Rait to Edward with letters describing the state of affairs in the Highlands. Sir Andrew sets out for London, following the same path he had followed six weeks before on a similar mission.

Shortly after Sir Andrew's departure, Henry le Chen, realizing that Aberdeenshire has been left nearly devoid of English forces by this expedition against de Moray, leaves with his men to return to Aberdeen. But
he is too late. As soon as the English forces were a safe distance from Aberdeen, the Scots of the shire rose up against the English.

News of the Aberdeen uprising reaches Henry the Bishop before he is very far along on his return journey. He hastens his pace and sends messages back to Inverness imploring the others to follow him back to Aberdeen to deal with the new rebellion. His expectation is that it will be quashed in short
order, but he is in for a rude surprise. The Comyns and Sir Gartenet of Mar readily agree to abandon the mission against their kinsman and set out with their retainers for Aberdeen.

Andrew de Moray and his men watch the last of the English forces leave Inverness. It is the opportunity he has been waiting for ever since he decided against direct confrontation back at the ford of the Spey near Elgin.

He immediately sets about recapturing the castles held for Edward in the region, including Inverness, Urquhart, Nairn, Forres and Elgin. They even capture Sir Reginald le Chen, Edward's guardian of Moray, and hold him prisoner for a time.

In the meantime, Sir Henry de Latham, Sheriff of Aberdeen, had been left in charge of the Castle of Aberdeen. When the Scots of Aberdeenshire undertook their rebellion, he switched to the side of the Scots and turned the castle over to them, jailing the few English supporters who had remained behind when
the Bishop left for Inverness with the bulk of the English forces. Aberdeen falls to the rebels, the Scots are in complete control of the northeast, and it is the direct result of Andrew de Moray's brave actions for his country.

Now, the situation in the north is that Moray and Aberdeen are up in arms against the English. Wallace is in Selkirk forest with a large force, but the Lothians are under English control, and Robert Bruce -- with Sir William Douglas, Sir Alexander Lindsay, and the Bishop of Glasgow (Wisehart) -- has
capitulated to the English without a sword being raised at Irvine in Ayrshire on 7 July, 1297. The large English force which precipitated Bruce's surrender is soon to join up with another English army coming north through the Lothians. Andrew de Moray and William Wallace represent the two principle forces in opposition to Edward, and the Battle of Stirling Bridge is just a few short weeks away.

Here is an interesting tid-bit concerning Sir William Douglas and how he reacted after being captured with the forces under Bruce in
Ayrshire. Barron writes: "It is clear from the English documents that Douglas consented to the capitulation with a very bad grace, and some three weeks later he was cast into prison at Berwick for failing to produce his
hostages. There he remained 'Very savage and very abusive' till after the defeat of the English at Stirling Bridge, when he was transferred to the Tower of London, where he died two years later without having made his peace with England. He had been stripped by Edward of all his lands and possessions, but he left behind him a young son who was to live to exact from England a great vengeance for the wrongs which he, his father, and his
country had suffered, and to win in Scottish history undying fame and the honoured name of 'The good Sir James.' "




Unfortunately, nothing is known of the first meeting between Andrew de Moray and William Wallace, where and how they joined up or what conversation would have passed between them. All that is known is that they did join forces and took up battle positions north of the Forth near Stirling to face the English forces under Cressingham and Warrene.

While de Moray was conducting the campaign in the north, Wallace had led his
forces out of Selkirk forest and into Argyll to face an army under MacFadyen, an Irish ally of Edward whose band included a large number of Irish and smaller number of Scots. After an arduous march, Wallace's men fell on
MacFadyen's forces near Loch Dochart. The battle was in doubt, but Wallace prevailed, and MacFadyen escaped with 15 men to a cave at Craigmore. Duncan of Lorne, a loyal ally of Wallace, pursued him there and slaughtered MacFadyen and his men.

Following the MacFadyen affair, Wallace marched his men through the central Highlands to Perth and won the city back for Scotland using siege engines for the first time. Thence, he advanced on Cupar and continued north for Aberdeen. Along the way, he attacked Dunnottar castle, where he ordered the slaughtered 4,000 English troops who were trying to escape, in spite of the Bishop of Dunkeld's plea that they be spared.

Wallace seems to have reached Aberdeen when the Scottish uprising was in full flower. Sir Henry de Latham, the Englishman who had been left in charge of
Aberdeen Castle, had gone over to the Scottish side and put the castle in the hands of the Scots. When Wallace arrived, the English were preparing to leave by sea, but Wallace's army fell on the English fleet at low tide and destroyed the ships laden with English troops and supplies.

The Wallace forces then marched south again to lay siege to Dundee, which was
more stoutly defended than either Perth or Aberdeen. It was at this point, in August of 1297, that Earl Warrene bestirred himself at Edward's urging to bring the Scottish uprising to an end. He assembled a large army of mounted knights and foot soldiers and marched for Stirling, intending to reinforce
this very strategic and nearly impregnable fortress and thence to relieve the siege of Dundee. On hearing that the English army was marching north from the borders, Wallace took most of his men and departed the siege, leaving Alexander Scrymgeouer and a small force behind to finish the job. At about the same time, Edward departed for Flanders with another English army to help
his Flemish allies fight off a French incursion into that country.

Wallace and de Moray must have been in constant communication as these events unfolded, probably with the assistance of the Scottish churchmen who played such an important role in the War of Independence. The two armies joined together and prepared to meet the English in the famous battle where the flower of English knighthood met their worst defeat under the inept leadership of Warrene and Cressingham.

As mentioned, there is no record of where the two Scottish forces came together, but it must have been north of the Forth, somewhere in or near the Ochil Hills which served as their cover as they awaited the coming of the English army. Wallace and de Moray must have hit it off immediately, for
they acted in concert from this time forward until de Moray's death within three months from a wound he received during the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

They certainly would have stood together on the Abbey Craig and watched the
English cavalry cross the bridge and causeway. Oh, to have been there with them on that day and to hear what words passed between them as they decided on the moment of attack.

Most historians attribute the strategy of the battle to young Andrew de Moray. While this is pure speculation, there is some reason to believe it was de Moray who positioned the Scottish forces to take advantage of the
bridge and swampy ground where the English army went down. Pitched battle was not Wallace's way; he was a guerrilla fighter. De Moray, in spite of his youth and lack of direct experience, would perhaps have known more about large battle strategy as a member of the high nobility. Wallace's poor choice of ground at Falkirk a year later is often cited as proof that it was de Moray who worked out the battle plan at Stirling Bridge. Whatever the case, the two commanders carried Scotland on their youthful shoulders on that
day, 11 September, 1297. They had little support from the magnates of Scotland. They had only a smattering of lesser nobles and a large force of the commoners of the realm to command.

It must also be pointed out that, as good as the Scottish battle plan was, the English plan was just as noteworthy for its flaws. With 13,000 heavy horse and 60,000 foot, the English forces should have easily carried the day against the ragtag forces of de Moray and Wallace. However, the arrogance of the corpulent churchman Cressingham overruled the cautious deliberations of Warrene, and the cavalry crossed the bridge to be slaughtered at the hands of the highly motivated Scots. The fatal words of Cressingham during the English parley that morning tell the tale: "There is no point of dragging out this business any longer and wasting our king's revenues for nothing.

Let us advance and carry out our duty as we are bound to do." (quoted in James McKay's "William Wallace, Brave Heart".) The hated Cressingham was among the fallen English on that day, and it is well known that, after the battle when his obese corpse was discovered among the dead, the Scots
mutilated his body and stripped it of his skin. The Lanercost Chronicler maintains that,

"Of his skin William Wallace caused a large strip to be taken from the head to the heel, to make therewith a baldrick for his sword."

(McKay) Other accounts make less of this incident, but they all agree on the point of the flaying of Cressingham.

How de Moray received his fatal wound is not recorded, but it is known that he lived for several weeks after the battle. Where he was taken in the hopes of recovering is also unknown, although it's probable he was taken north to the family castle at Bothwell. Nor is it on record that he attended the Scottish council at Perth in October where he and Wallace were jointly named "leaders of the army of the realm of Scotland." Some historians aver that both de Moray and Wallace were knighted at this council, and that Robert Bruce performed the ceremony. However, this is unlikely in view of the fact
that de Moray and Wallace were both Balliol supporters, and, therefore, Bruce would have been in opposition to them. Whoever did the deed, knighted they were. Perhaps the high magnates of Scotland agreed to it begrudgingly in order to make the victory at Stirling Bridge an official act of the realm.

It was during this period that the famous letter bearing both leaders' signatures went out to the mayors of Lubeck and Hamburg, informing those cities that Scotland had been "recovered by war from the power of the English," and her ports were once more open to the trade which had flourished
prior to Edward's usurpation. Two additional letters under joint signature went out from Hexam on 7 November. In all three letters, the order of the names appears the same: "Andrew de Moray and William Wallace, leaders of the army of the kingdom of Scotland." Some historians have speculated that de Moray's name always appears first because he was the main general to Stirling
Bridge and he was higher born than Wallace. Whether this is so is moot.

It's doubtful it made much difference to Wallace, who set out immediately with the army to take the war into England. The name of Andrew de Moray no longer appears after the letters of 7 November, 1297. Apparently he died shortly after those letters went out.

Evan MacLeod Barron in his book "The Scottish War of Independence" comes down squarely on the side of de Moray is assessing the victory at Stirling Bridge.
He writes: "To Andrew de Moray much more that to William Wallace were due the events which made Stirling Bridge possible, and the chief share in that victory itself was likewise his. This is why his name appears before Wallace's as one of the two leaders of the army of Scotland."

Further on in the chapter, he adds, "It must be remembered, moreover, that Wallace, at the period with which we are at present dealing, was not yet the known and accepted champion of the cause of Scottish freedom. He was merely one of several leaders who had roused different parts of the country against England, and in his own special district, the Scottish Midlands, he had
gained considerable successes, and was looked up to as a warrior of courageand repute. Andrew de Moray occupied a precisely similar position in the north, where the name of Wallace, if it was known at all, was know simply as that of a man who had performed doughty deeds of valour against the English in the south.

"The name and the fame of Andrew de Moray, however, were greater in the Midlands and the south in the summer of 1297 than were the name and fame of Wallace in the north...."

Barron draws his conclusions from the fact that the de Moray family, with its great estates of Petty and Bothwell, was more widely known and influential than that of the landless second son of a minor noble of Lanarkshire. That is certainly true. Andrew's father and uncle were still held in the Tower of London during the revolt in the north. In fact, both of them died there under conditions of extreme severity imposed by Longshanks himself.
Moreover, another of young Andrew's uncles served the rebellion most admirably in the person of David de Moravia, who, as a member of the "church militant" rose quickly from a parson of Bothwell in 1296 to Bishop of Moray in 1299. Bishop David figures prominently, along with Bishop Lamberton, in the story of Robert the Bruce. And, finally, young Andrew left a son who fought valiantly and effectively against Edward III when he renewed his grandfather's quest to reduce Scotland to a vassal state of England.

There is no doubt that Andrew de Moray, had he lived to continue the struggle, would have shared the spotlight with Wallace, and perhaps even have eclipsed Wallace as the leading hero of the Scottish War of Independence. He is directly responsible for the heroic uprising in the north, indirectly
responsible for the overthrow of the English in Aberdeenshire, and one of two great leaders who defeated English chivalry at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

An Historical Essay
by: Russ Jimeson


PS Thanks to Maureen for reminding me about de Moray
KE

[Iona]

Yes, finally someone who has heard about this chap!!
I guess it'll just take a while for me to read through all this.

Any idea on specific books?

Cheers,

[joshua_y]

Finally some information on Andrew Moray!!!

I have been pulling my hair out looking for this stuff!!!

[Thanatos]

Has anyone ever heard of Ewen Cameron, brother of Lochiel, killed a few days after Culloden?
I haven't found much on Ewen Cameron, however. I've been searching for almost six years, and have found little or nothing. He was executed by the English a few miles away from Drummosie Moor itself.

Carol,
You should start a new thread about Cameron. There is a 450 year gap between him and Moray and I don't think it serves any purpose to bring one up in a thread about the other.