Chester Castle in the 18th century

In the dim light of history and in the Shadow of William Wallace stood a young man called Andrew de Moray. Believed to be the tactical genius behind the early success of The Wallace, de Moray was an experienced guerrilla fighter who had been captured by the English at the disastrous Battle of Dunbar in 1296 and imprisoned in Chester Castle while his father (Sir Andrew de Moray) and uncle were incarcerated in The Tower of London.

Our young hero escaped from Chester and managed to make his way back to the family lands at Avoch Castle near Inverness. Once home the newly married Andrew set about raising an army to roust the forces of Edward Longshanks out of the Highlands. The region was suffering under the heavy hand of the English, headed by the likes of Sir Reginald le Chen, so-called Guardian of Moray and Sir William Fitzwarine, Constable of Urquhart castle.

Urquhart Castle - now available for hire for weddings, stag nights and corporate beanfeasts

De Moray’s men carried out a very successful guerrilla campaign against the English and their pawns, they laid siege to Urquhart Castle but were thwarted by the Countess of Ross who ordered her son to resupply the stronghold, which he somehow managed. Andrew retaliated by taking Balconie Castle from the silly woman who had only sided with Longshanks in hopes of gaining the release of her husband, yet another prisoner of the English.

The taking of Balconie allowed Andrew to split his forces and carry out his war on two fronts. His army by now was large and growing daily, many folk from all over the North and East came to join him, including the burgesses of Inverness, led by one Alexander Pilche who became de Moray’s most trusted lieutenant. The castles at Avoch and Balconie provided excellent rallying points and safe shelter for parties returning from Andrew’s guerrilla raids.

In desperation, Sir Reginald le Chen sent a message to Longshanks alerting him to the trouble de Moray was causing in the North and asking for military help. Meanwhile Andrew’s forces continued to wreak havoc and succeeded in killing a number of Edward’s officers.

When Le Chen’s message reaches Edward, he strikes a deal with some of the Scottish prisoners to support his armies in the North, among them were John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, John Comyn of Badenoch, Alexander de Balliol, Alexander, Earl of Menteith and Reginald de Crauford. The Comyns of course had designs on the Scottish throne themselves and no doubt sided with Edward in hopes of persuading him to help them gain it, a very naive notion.

An artist's impression of Duffus Castle

Meanwhile, de Moray busied himself taking le Chen prisoner and reaquiring his family’s ancestral home at Boharm which had been ceded to le Chen on his marriage into the de Moray family. On the way, he laid waste to the land and burned the Castle of Duffus, another gift that had been deeded to le Chen.

Boharm was an excellent choice from which to face Edward’s forces, this is bog country with the river Spey running through it. Andrew placed his army on a wooded hillside overlooking the river and planned to ambush the enemy as they crossed on their way to Elgin. The other side, being composed of Scots as familiar with the area as de Moray, are not fooled and it ends with one side trailing the other all the way to the castle at Inverness.

It should be said at this point that many of the Scots fighting on the English side were doing so because they had no choice, all had relatives held prisoner in England that they hoped would freed if they cooperated.

One of FirstFoot's favourites - Dunnotar Castle - another artist's impression

Meanwhile, back at the war, word has been received in Inverness of a successful uprising at Aberdeen (Sir Henry de Latham, an Englishman, had been given charge of Aberdeen Castle, but he went over to the Scottish side and put the castle in the hands of the Scots. His compatriots tried to escape by sea, but were slaughtered by the Wallace and his army.) and Henry le Chen sent word asking for help to quell the uprising. The Comyns and Sir Gartenet, son of the Earl of Mar agreed and set off on their task. As Andrew watched them leave he realised this was his opportunity to reclaim a good part of the North. In short order, he freed the castles of Inverness, Urquhart, Nairn, Forres and Elgin.

So now, Moray and Aberdeen have risen up against the English, Wallace has freed Cupar, Perth, Dunnotar and laid siege to Dundee, and Robert the Bruce has surrendered to an overwhelming force at Irvine without a sword being raised. The enormous army that forced his capitulation is soon to be joined by another currently making it’s way through the Lothians and both the Wallace and de Moray set out to merge their armies for what will be the most famous battle of this conflict.

Stirling Castle

It’s not know how or when in 1297 Wallace and de Moray met up, but they did and marched South to face the English at the Battle of Stirling Brig. Edward Longshanks meanwhile, trusting his armies in Scotland to the incompetent Earl of Warrene and his second, the deeply unpopular and very obese Cressingham, had left for Flanders to carry on his campaign there.

Wallace and de Moray’s armies stood on the Abbey Craig watching the English armies crossing the bridge and heading to their doom. It was almost certainly de Moray’s plans that had the enemy marching into the swampy ground beyond the bridge. In retrospect, it could be said that the fact that they won this battle was perhaps as much due to the mistakes of the English as to de Moray’s planning, but that doesn’t negate the fact the fight went Scotland’s way (for a change). However the battle was at a price, at some point during fight de Moray was wounded by an arrow and died of his injuries some time later. Both he and William Wallace were knighted and made ‘leaders of the army of the realm of Scotland’ at the Scottish council at Perth in October 1297, de Moray’s honour was conferred in his absence as he was too ill to attend.

Had de Moray lived we would undoubtedly have been ‘blessed’ with a Mel Gibson epic of his exploits rather than those of William Wallace as there’s no doubt he was, tactically, socially and politically, the greater of the two.

Another of FirstFoot's favourites - Barbara Castle

Andrew de Moray’s father and one uncle died under the ‘gentle’ care of the English in the Tower of London. Another uncle David, Bishop of Moray served Robert the Bruce on his accession. De Moray left a son, also called Andrew who served Scotland well again the armies of Edward III and married Christina, daughter of Robert the Bruce.

As an aside, In an attempt to prevent a war and as a condition of his support for John Baliol, Edward Longshanks had demanded that Scotland’s nobles sign the ‘Ragman’s Roll’, a roll of deeds swearing allegiance to Edward. De Moray and Wallace were among the few who refused.

Shortly before de Moray died he signed a letter sent to the mayors of Lubeck and Hamburg informing them 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 further letters were sent from Hexam in November 1297 and these are the last time the second Andrew de Moray took any part in Scotland’s affairs.

This article contributed by "Senga" from the Scottish Writers Site