22nd July 1298 Battle of Falkirk

On 22nd July 1298 King Edward I of England (age 59) defeated the Scottish army led by William Wallace during the 22nd July 1298 Battle of Falkirk at Falkirk [Map] using archers to firstly attack the Scottish shiltrons with the heavy cavalry with infantry completing the defeat.

John de Graham (age 31) and John Stewart of Bonkyll (age 52) were killed.

The English were described in the Falkirk Roll that lists 111 men with their armorials including:

Guy Beauchamp 10th Earl Warwick (age 26).

Walter Beauchamp (age 55).

Roger Bigod 5th Earl Norfolk (age 53).

Humphrey Bohun 3rd Earl Hereford 2nd Earl Essex (age 49).

Robert Clifford 1st Baron Clifford (age 24).

Hugh "Elder" Despencer 1st Earl Winchester (age 37).

William Ferrers 1st Baron Ferrers of Groby (age 26).

Thomas Berkeley 6th and 1st Baron Berkeley (age 52).

Maurice Berkeley 7th and 2nd Baron Berkeley (age 27).

Henry Grey 1st Baron Grey of Codnor (age 43).

Reginald Grey 1st Baron Grey of Wilton (age 58).

John Grey 2nd Baron Grey of Wilton (age 30).

John Mohun 1st Baron Dunster (age 29).

Simon Montagu 1st Baron Montagu (age 48).

Roger Mortimer 1st Earl March (age 11).

William Ros 1st Baron Ros Helmsley (age 43).

John Segrave 2nd Baron Segrave (age 42).

Nicholas Segrave (age 42).

Robert de Vere 6th Earl of Oxford (age 41).

Alan Zouche 1st Baron Zouche Ashby (age 30).

Thomas Plantagenet 2nd Earl of Leicester, 2nd Earl Lancaster, Earl of Salisbury and Lincoln (age 20).

Henry Plantagenet 3rd Earl of Leicester 3rd Earl Lancaster (age 17).

John Warenne 6th Earl of Surrey (age 67).

Henry Percy 9th and 1st Baron Percy (age 25).

Hugh Courtenay 1st or 9th Earl Devon (age 21).

Richard Fitzalan 1st or 8th Earl of Arundel (age 31).

Henry Beaumont Earl Buchan (age 19).

John Capet II Duke Brittany (age 59).

Philip Darcy (age 40).

Robert Fitzroger.

Robert Fitzwalter 1st Baron Fitzwalter (age 51), or possiby a Roger Fitzwalter?.

Simon Fraser.

Aymer de Valence 2nd Earl Pembroke (age 23).

John Wake 1st Baron Wake of Liddell (age 30), and.

Henry Lacy 4th Earl Lincoln, Earl Salisbury (age 47).

William Scrope (age 53) was knighted.

John Moels 1st Baron Moels (age 29) fought.

John Lovell 1st Baron Lovel (age 44) fought.

Lanercost Chronicle. 22nd July 1298. But on the feast of blessed Mary Magdalene, the Scots encountered him at Falkirk with all their strength, their leader being the aforementioned William Wallace. They placed great confidence, as was their custom, in their infantry of spearmen, whom they positioned in the front line. However, the English cavalry, who composed the majority of the army, surrounded them on all sides and charged through them; and when all the Scottish cavalry quickly fled, there were killed among the standing and bravely fighting spearmen and foot soldiers sixty thousand, according to some; eighty thousand, according to others; and according to others, one hundred thousand. No nobleman from the English side was killed, except for the Master of the Templars with five or six squires, who had penetrated too deeply and recklessly into the Scottish wedge formation. With the enemies of the king and kingdom thus defeated, the English army proceeded by one route to the Scottish sea and returned by another, destroying those things the Scots had previously abandoned. But when winter drew near, the king dismissed the English nobles to return to their own lands, and he himself, with a few men, guarded the March for a time. Yet before Christmas, he returned to the southern parts, having left a garrison in the aforesaid March.

In festo autem beatæ Mariæ Magdalene occurrerunt ei Scotti apud Faukirk cum toto robore suo, duce eorum Willelmo Waleis superius nominato, confidentes maxime, more solito, in peditibus lanceariis, quos in prima acie pofuerunt. Equites autem armat: Angliæ, quorum erat maxima pars exercitus, circuentes undique transvolverunt eos, et fugientibus cito omnibus equitibus Scotiæ, interfecti sunt de lanceariis et peditibus stantibus et viriliter agentibus sexaginta mille, secundum alios octaginta mille, secundum alios centum mille; nec fuit aliquis nobilis homo ex parte Angliæ interfectus nisi magister Templariorum cum quinque vel sex armigeris, qui nimis valde et inconsiderate penetraverat cuneum Scotticorum. Devictis autem sic inimicis regis et regni, processit exercitus Angliæ per unam viam ad mare Scoticanum et rediit per aliam, destruendo ea quæ Scotti ante dimisserant. Hyeme vero ingruente, dimisit rex magnates Angliæ redire ad propria, et ipsemet cum paucis Marchiam custodivit ad tempus. Sed ante Natale Domini rediit ad partes australes, dimissa custodia in Marchia supradicta.

Chronicle of the Monastery of Melsa. 22nd July 1298. The Scots, for their part, likewise planned to meet the king with all their forces. And so a battle was fought on the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, in the year of our Lord 1298, and twenty-two thousand Scots were slain at Falkirk primarily because the leader of the Scots, William Wallace, and the other magnates of Scotland, upon seeing the banner of Edward, King of the English, abandoned their army, leaving it without a head; and thus it was almost entirely destroyed. Of the English army, only one notable man fell, Brian de Jay, Master of the Knights Templar in England, who, in pursuing William Wallace, was slain. Afterward, King Edward, leaving behind forces to suppress the stubbornness of the remaining Scots, returned to England. Nevertheless, the Scots, gradually regaining strength over the next thirty years, frequently overran the English and their borders, until the time of King Edward the Third after the Conquest, as shall be told later. This misfortune was attributed by some to the treachery and effeminacy of the English, in accordance with that prophecy made in the time of King Æthelred, which foretold that the English people would be destroyed by the Danes, the French, and the Scots.

Scotti quoque e contra cum exercitu totis viribus eidem occurrere proponebant. Factus est ergo congressus exercituum in die Sanctæ Mariæ Magdalenæ, anno Domini 1298, et cesa sunt ex Scottis apud Fawkyrk viginti duo millia, pro eo precipue quod dux Scottorum Willelmus de Walays, et alii magnates Scociæ, viso vexillo Edwardi regis Anglorum, dimiserunt exercitum suum sine capite ; et ideo fuit quasi totus peremptus. De exercitu autem Anglorum probus unicus Brianus de Jay, magister militiæ Templi in Anglia, tantum corruit, qui persequendo Willelmum de Walays perimebatur. Deinde rex Edwardus, dimissis exercitibus qui proterviam Scottorum adhuc remanentium refreenarent, in Angliam est reversus. Verumtamen Scotti, paulatim invalescentes, per 30 annos inde sequentes, usque ad tempora regis Edwardi tertii post conqueestum, Anglos et Anglorum fines sepius protriverunt, ut inferius referetur. Quod quidem infortunium dolo et effœminationi Anglorum [imputandum est], juxta prophetiam illam que, tempore regis Egelredi, preedixit gentem Anglorum per Dacos, Francos et Scottos, fore exterminandam.

Historia Anglicana by Bartholomew de Cotton. 22nd July 1298. In the year of our Lord 1298, after the Parliament which was held at York following Pentecost, and after various deliberations, Lord Edward, King of England, with his entire army set out on a great expedition toward Scotland. Advancing by his designated marches, he eventually arrived at Falkirk, which some call The Fairy Chapel, on the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene. There he arranged his army into four divisions or battles. In the first division were twenty-three banners of earls and magnates. In the second, also twenty-three banners. In the third was the lord king himself, with forty banners. In the fourth and final division, which is called the rearguard, were earls and magnates with twenty-five banners.¹ With the troops thus arranged and all prepared for battle, the Scots met him with a large army and a vast multitude of men at the place mentioned. It was said they had 1,500 fully armored cavalry, 500 hobelars [light cavalry], and 260,000 foot soldiers. A great battle was fought; and on that day, it was said, more than 40,000 Scots fell—though few of their cavalry, as their horsemen quickly fled. When the Scots reached Stirling, they set fire to the town and the castle, and taking with them the English prisoners they had held there, they fled beyond the Scottish sea. Some dispersed and went into hiding in various places. The king and his army pursued them to Stirling, and remaining there for some time, the king sent part of the army beyond the Scottish sea, and they plundered the land, cities, and boroughs, inflicting great damage on the Scots. They returned with great spoils and an almost countless multitude of livestock. And the king with his army returned to England in victory, arriving at Carlisle. Meanwhile, many Scots gathered with their forces in a region of Scotland called Galloway, but the king did not enter that land.

Anno Domini MCC nonagesimo octavo, post Parliamentum quod erat post Pentecosten apud Eboracum post varios tractatus, dominus Edwardus Rex Angliæ cum toto exercitu suo et magno iter arripuit versus Scotiam, et ingrediens per suas dietas, demum venit apud Faukirke, quæ quibusdam vocatur la Chapelle de Fayerie, die sanctæ Mariæ Magdalenæ, ordinavit exercitum suum in quatuor acies sive bella. In prima acie suerunt XXIII vexilla Comitum et magnatum. In secunda viginti tria vexilla. In tertia fuit dominus Rex cum XL vexillis. In quarta et ultima, quæ dicitur la reregarde, fuerunt Comites et magnates cum XX quinque vexillis. Dispositis sic turmis et omnibus ad bellum paratis, occurrerunt ei Scoti cum exercitu magno et multitudine maxima Scotorum ad locum prædictum, et, ut dicebatur, habebant equos coopertos mille quingentos et de hobyns quingentos, et pedites ducentos sexaginta milia; et commissum est prœlium magnum; et ceciderunt in illa die, ut dicebatur, plusquam XL milia Scotorum, pauci tamen de equitibus, quia cito equites eorum fugerunt. Et cum venissent Scoti apud Strivelyn, incenderunt villam et castrum igne, et ducentes fecum incarceratos quos habebant ibidem captivos de Anglia, fugerunt ultra mare Scotticum; aliqui dispersi latitabant in diversis locis. Rex et exercitus ejus infequebantur eos usque ad Stryvelyn, et trahens ibi moram per aliquod tempus, misit exercitum ultra mare Scotticum, et deprædati sunt patriam, civitates et burgos, et maxima damna Scotis fecerunt, et reversi sunt cum præda magna et multitudine animalium quasi infinita: et Rex cum exercitu suo reversus est in Angliam cum victoria apud Kardoyl. Sed interim multi Scoti cum exercitu suo congregati sunt in quadam patria Scotiæ quae vocatur Galewey, sed Rex eandem patriam non intravit.

Note 1. Compare the Falkirk Roll of Arms. The total number of banners, as given on p. 157 of this volume, is the same as here (111), but the number in each of the four battalions differs from that stated above.

Annales of Angliae and Scotiae. How King Edward prepared himself against the Scots

In the year of the Incarnation of the Lord 1298, which was the twenty-sixth year of the reign of King Edward, that same king prepared himself, not with a feeble company, but with a mighty host of warriors, to crush the audacity of the Scots. At Easter of that year, he arrived with all his strength at Berwick. He entered the town without resistance, for the Scots had fled, struck with great terror upon hearing of the king’s approach. He then pursued them, and on the next feast of Saint Mary Magdalene he engaged them in battle at Falkirk 22nd July 1298. There he inflicted upon his enemies such a great slaughter that the living could not bury the dead; reportedly nearly one hundred thousand.

How William Wallace arranged his army for battle

William Wallace had constructed a barrier between his army and the English: he fixed long and substantial stakes into the ground and bound them together with ropes and cords, forming a sort of hedge, in order to hinder the charge and advance of the English. Then, having summoned his companies, he forced all the foot soldiers to enter into the front line, saying to them in his native tongue: 'They have put you into a game—hop, if you can,' as if to say, 'I have now led you into a pit and the peril of danger; leap back, if you can, in order to save yourself.'

He himself, not as a prince but as a deceiver, fled. For an army without a leader, and ignorant of military discipline, either falls apart before the battle or is easily defeated in the very conflict. Great value in war lies in the presence of a commander, in proven boldness in such matters, in experience, and above all in discipline. Deprived of these things, as I have said, William le Wallace was therefore of no worth—he misled the people. For it is easier to make a hawk out of a kite than to make a learned man out of a peasant in an instant; and one who tries to pour deep knowledge into him does as much good as one who scatters pearls before swine.

But when the king saw such a great multitude of unarmed foot soldiers—indeed, the Scots were three times more numerous than the English, but advanced without order or proper arms, he immediately commanded the Welsh, who had come with the king, nearly ten thousand in number, to attack the Scots. But they refused and scattered at once, not yet having harmed the Scots, as they had premeditated deceit; for they still remembered the slaughter of their kinsmen, which the same king had inflicted the previous year, and they deeply hated him for it. Thus, at that time, the English suspected that if the king were to suffer the worse side of the battle, the Welsh might seize the moment to take revenge. And indeed, if permission or opportunity had been granted, the Welsh, stirred by such grievances, would have attempted to exact vengeance. But while they plotted such things, divine mercy restrained them, for God does not abandon those who hope in Him.

Then, upon realizing the treachery of the Welsh, a certain Englishman addressed the king as follows:

'King Edward, if you trust the Welsh, you are mistaken,

As you once did before; now strip their lands.'

The Welsh, however, delayed attacking the Scots until, the king having triumphed, the Scots were falling on all sides—like the blossoms of trees when the fruit begins to ripen. Then the king said: 'The Lord is with us—who can be against us?' Immediately the Welsh charged upon the Scots, cutting them down so completely that the ground was covered with their corpses, as if with snow in winter. In that battle, nearly one hundred thousand Scots fell, mostly from the poor common folk. Thus did God grant the fortune of battle to those who believed in Him, and unerring destruction to those who scorned Him.

Thus King Edward, the Third, became a most glorious victor. When William Wallace and the chief leaders of Scotland saw that they could no longer resist the King of England, and that such a slaughter had befallen their people, they said to one another, 'Let us withdraw from here, for God is not with us.' Immediately, driven by fear, they fled and hid themselves in towns, in the woods, and in any place they believed might offer safe refuge. The women, taking their children and household belongings, escaped by way of the coast. Having prepared ships, they even took to the sea, setting sail wherever fate might lead them. But when they had unfurled their sails, contrary winds suddenly rose, scattered their ships, and in the blink of an eye they perished in the depths of the sea.

Quomodo Rex Edwardus paravit se contra Scotos.

Anno ab Incarnatione Domini millesimo ducentesimo nonagesimo octavo, qui est annus regni Regis Edwardi vicesimus sextus, idem Rex se paraverat non inerti cohorte virorum bellatorum, ut audaciam Scotorum Scots opprimeret. Eodem tempore Paschali apud Berwicum, cum tota fortitudine sua, applicuit. Mox intravit, absque obstaculo; quia Scoti fugerant, audito Regis adventu, nimio terrore perculsi. Deinde prosecutus est eos, et in festo Mariæ Magdalenæ proximo sequenti commisit helium apud Faukurke. Ibi maximam stragem hostium suorum commisit, quam non poterant vivi humare, videlicet, fere centum millia.

Quomodo Willelmus le Waleis ordinavit exercitum suum in bello.

Willemus le Waleis construxerat sepem inter exercitum suum et Anglicanos; longos palos, et non modicos, in terram fixit, et cum funibus et cordis illaqueavit, ad modum sepis, ut congressum et egressum Anglicanorum impediret. Deinde convocatis catervis suis, omnem populum pedestrem in primo concursu compellebat intrare, dicens illis patria lingua: 'Hy haue pult ou into a gamen, hoppet yif ye kunnet,' —quasi dicat, '—Jam introduxi vos in foveam et periculi discrimen, resilite, si poteris, ut salvemini.'

Ipse autem, non ut princeps, sed ut seductor, aufugit. Nam exercitus, principe carens, et discipline militaris ignarus, aut ante congressionem dilabitur, aut in ipso conflictu facile decidet. Valet multum in bellis ducis presentia, valet spectata in talibus audacia, valet usus, et maxime disciplina. Quibus, ut dixi, carens Willelmus le Waleis, et, per consequens, nihil valens, sed populum seducens, — nam facilius est accipitrem ex milvo fieri, quam ex rustico subito eruditum et qui profundam doctrinam ei infundit, idem facit aesi margaritas inter porcos spargit.

Distulerunt tamen Walenses ne Scotos expugnarent, donec, Rege triumphante, Scoti undique corruerent, quomodo flores arborum, maturescente fructu. Tunc ait Rex, — "Dominus nobiscum, quis contra nos?" Statim Walenses irruerunt in Scotos, eos prostemendo, in tantum, ut terrm operirent cadavera eorum, tanquam nix in hyeme. Ceciderunt in illo bello de Scotis fere centum millia, de paupere vulgo. Concessit ergo Deus fortunam belli se credentibus, et inerrabilem contritionem se contemnentibus.

Rex autem, cum vidisset tantam multitudinem populi pedestris et inermis, — erant enim in triplo plures Scoti quam Angli, sed sine ordine et armis incedentes, — statim Rex jussit Walensibus, qui cum Rege venerant, fere ad decern millia, ut Scotos expugnarent. Qui nolentes, sed continuo diffugerunt, necdum Scotis nocuerunt, dolum prsemeditantes; semper enim necis parentum suorum memores, quam idem Rex anno elapso intulerat, seterao ilium habebant odio. Unde tunc temporis suspicabatur ab Anglicis, quod si Rex deteriorem partem belli pateretur. Quibus etiam nugis Walenses incitati, si fas libito concessisset, vindictam sumere niterentur. Mox illis talia præmeditantibus, compescuit eos miseratio divina, qui non derelinquit sperantes in se.

Deinde cognita malitia Walensium, quidam Anglicanus sic Regem affatur:

"Rex Edwarde, fidem si des Walensibus, erras,

"Ut dederas pridem$1 sed eorum diripe terras."

Rex itaque Edwardus Tertius victor clarissimus extitit: Wilelmus Waleis et majores Scotiæ, cum vidissent se Regi Anglim minime resistere, et tantam stragem populo suo accidisse, mutuo dixerunt,— "Recedamus hinc, non enim est Deus nobiscum." Continuo, cogente timore, fugerunt, et ad oppida et nemora, et ad omnem locum ubi tutum putabant refugium, delituerunt. Mulieres vero, acceptis parvulis suis et supellectilibus, per partes maritimas evaserunt. Parato navigio, etiam ingrediuntur mare, tendentes quo sors illas conduceret. Demum cum vela pretendissent, insurrexerunt venti contrarii, et navigia eorum dissipaverunt, et in ictu oculi infra maria periclitaverunt.

Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. [22nd July 1298] The Scots had positioned all their common soldiers in four divisions, arranged like circular rings, on solid ground on one side of the field near Falkirk. In these circular formations sat spearmen, with their lances held slantwise and upright; each man was joined to the next, and they all faced outward toward the circumference of the circles. Between those circles were certain open spaces where archers were stationed. And at the very rear stood their cavalry. When these things were reported to our king after he had heard Mass, he hesitated and proposed that tents should be pitched until the men and horses had eaten something, for they had tasted nothing since the third hour of the previous day. But they said to him, "This is not safe, O king, for only a small stream separates our two armies." And the king said, "What then?" And they replied, "Let us ride forth in the name of the Lord, for the field is ours and so is the victory." And the king said, "Then let it be so, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Immediately, the earls of the first line, namely, the Earl Marshal, the Earl of Hereford, and the Earl of Lincoln, directed their formation straight toward the enemy, unaware of a marshy and bituminous lake that lay between. When they saw it, they turned westward to go around it, and so were delayed somewhat. The second line, that of the Bishop of Durham, which had been formed from thirty-six chosen banner-bearers, knew of the lake's obstacle and turned east to go around it. That line advanced with great haste, eager to receive the first blows of battle. When the bishop had ordered them to wait until the king's third division approached, the brave knight Ralph Basset of Drayton answered him, saying: "It is not your place, bishop, to instruct us now in matters of warfare, when you ought to concern yourself with Mass. Go," he said, "celebrate Mass if you like, for today we shall all attend to what pertains to war."

They made haste and immediately engaged with the first of the Scottish circles; meanwhile, the aforementioned earls joined the fight from the other side with the first division. And as soon as our men arrived, the Scottish cavalry fled without striking a single blow of the sword, though a few remained behind, and these were to organize the infantry circles, which were called schiltrons. Among them was the brother of the Steward of Scotland, who, after arranging the archers from the Forest of Selkirk, happened by chance to fall from his horse and was killed among the archers, for they surrounded him, and with him perished men of noble appearance and tall stature. After the archers were killed, our men turned to the Scottish spearmen, who, as mentioned, sat in circular formations with their spears slanted, densely arrayed like a forest. Because the cavalry could not break through due to the thick wall of spears, they struck at the outer ranks and pierced many with their own lances. Meanwhile, our infantry shot arrows at them, and others hurled round stones, of which there was an abundant supply, stoned them. And so, after many were killed and others terrified, those who had stood on the outer edges of the circles began to collapse inward upon the rest. Then the cavalry broke through, laying waste to everything. On that day, there fell of the Scots, besides the many who drowned, whose number is unknown, and about twenty knights, fifty thousand infantry, all counted. It was said by those taken prisoner that the Scottish army had been numbered at nearly one thousand armoured horsemen, and about three hundred thousand infantry. The Lord saved our men, and no man of note fell in the whole battle, except for the Master of the Knights Templar, who, while pursuing the fleeing enemy, was caught in a lake and slain.

Statuerunt enim Scoti omnem plebem suam per turmas quatuor, in modum circulorum rotundorum, in campo duro, et in latere uno juxta Fawkyrk. In quibus quidem circulis sedebant viri lancearii, cum lanceis suis obliqualiter erectis; conjuncti quidem unusquisque ad alterum, et versis vultibus in circumferentiam circulorum. Inter circulos illos erant spatia quædam intermedia, in quibus statuebantur viri sagittarii. Et in extrema parte retrorsum erant equestres eorum. Cumque, audita missa, regi nostro talia dicerentur, hæsitavit, et proposuit ut tentoria figerent quousque gustassent aliquid homines et jumenta. Non enim gustaverant ab hora diei præcedentis tertia. At illi dixerunt ei, "Non est securum hoc, O rex, quia inter hos duos exercitus non est nisi torrens permodicus." Et ait rex, "Quid ergo?" et inquiunt, "Equitemus in nomine Domini, quoniam campus noster est et victoria nostra." Et ait rex, "Fiat ergo sic, in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti." Statimque comites primæ aciei, scilicet comes marescallus, comes Herfordensis et comes Lincolniensis, direxerunt aciem suam linealiter ad hostes, nescientes lacum intermedium et bituminosum. Quem cum vidissent, circumduxerunt eum versus occidentem, et sic in parte retardati sunt: acies vero secunda, scilicet Dunolmensis episcopi, quæ constituta fuerat ex XXXVI vexillariis electis, sciens impedimentum laci illius, tendebat ad orientem ut eum circumduceret. Quam supra modum festinantem, ut primos belli ictus susciperet, cum ipse episcopus præstolari jussisset usque ad appropinquationem regis tertiæ aciei, respondit ei ille miles strenuus Radulphus Basset de Drayton, et ait: "Non est tuum, episcope, docere nos in præsenti de militia, qui te intromittere debes de missa. Vade," quidem inquit, "missam celebrare si velis, quoniam die hac quæ ad militiam pertinent nos omnes faciemus."

Festinaveruntque, et primo Scotorum circulo se statim post conjunxerunt; comites vero prædicti cum acie prima ex parte altera convenerunt. Moxque venientibus nostris, fugerunt Scotorum equestres absque ullo gladii ictu, paucis tamen remanentibus, et hii quidem ad ordinandum circulos pedestrium, qui quidem circuli vocabantur schiltrouns." Inter quos frater senescalli Scotia, cum ordinasset viros sagittarios de foresta de Selkyrk, casu ex equo cecidit, et inter eosdem sagittarios occisus est; circumsteterunt enim eum iidem sagittarii, et cum eo corruerunt homines quidem elegantis formæ et proceræ staturæ. Peremptis itaque sagittariis, dederunt se nostri ad Scotos lancearios, qui, ut dictum est, sedebant in circulis cum lanceis obliquatis et in modum silvæ condensæ. Dumque non possent equestres ingredi præ multitudine lancearum, percusserunt exteriores et perforaverunt plures lanceis suis. Sed et pedestres nostri sagittabant eos, et quidam allatis rotundis lapidibus, quorum erat ibi multitudo copiosa, lapidabant eos. Et sic multis interfectis et aliis attonitis, qui in extrema parte circulorum extiterant recurvabantur in alios reliqui exteriores, et ingressi sunt equestres vastantes omnia. Corrueruntque ex Scotis in die illa, præter submersos multos, quorum nescitur numerus, et præter quasi viginti equestres, quinquaginta millia peditum numeratorum. Erat autem Scotorum exercitus numeratus, ut dicebant qui capti sunt, quasi mille equestres armati, et peditum quasi trecenta millia. Salvavitque Dominus nostros, nec cecidit homo valoris in omni proelio nisi solus magister militiæ Templi, qui in sequendo fugientes in quodam lacu interceptus est et occisus.

Annals of Oseney by Thomas Wykes. 22nd July 1298. In the year of our Lord 1296 [1298!], King Edward killed 60,000 Scots at Falkirk on the feast of Blessed Mary Magdalene. Yet the Scots, gradually growing stronger over the course of thirty years, repeatedly overran the English and their neighboring territories up to the time of King Edward the Third after the Conquest. Many attributed this misfortune to the treachery and effeminacy of the English, while others ascribed it to the avenging hand of God, in accordance with the prophecy which, in the time of King Æthelred, foretold that the English people would be destroyed by the Danes, the French, and the Scots. Concerning this matter, a certain Scottish anchorite prophesied in the following manner: 'The English, because they are given over to treachery, drunkenness, and the neglect of God's house, will first be crushed by the Danes, then by the Normans, and thirdly by the Scots, whom they regard as the most contemptible of peoples. And then the age will be so unstable that the variety of minds will be signified by the many changes in dress.'

Anno Domini MCCXCVI. Rex Edwardus ocvidit LX milia Scotorum apud Foukyrke in festo beatæ Mariæ Magdalenæ; veruntamen Scoti paulatim invalescentes per triginta annos usque ad tempora regis E[dwardi] post conquæstum tertii Anglos et Anglorum vicina loca smpius protriverunt; quod quidem infortunium dolo et effœminationi Anglorum multi deputarunt, nonnulli vero vindici dextræ Dei hoc ascripserunt, juxta prophetiam illam quem tempore regis Egelredi prædixit, gentem Anglorum per Dacos, Francos, et Scotos fore exterminandam. De qua re prophetavit quidam Scotus anachorita in hunc modum, "Angli quia proditioni, ebrietati, et negligentiæ domus Dei dediti sunt, primo per Danos, deinde per Normannos, tertio per Scotos quos vilissimos reputant, erunt conterendi, adeoque tunc varium erit sæculum, ut varietas mentium multimoda vestium variatione designetur."

Chronicle of Henry Knighton. 22nd July 1298. Then the king turned toward the Scots and pitched his tents in the middle of the plains. And as the Scots approached, they shouted at the English with loud voices, and our men prepared themselves for battle with all speed and readiness. And as the king mounted his warhorse, spurring it forward, he broke two of the horse's ribs. Yet the king did not stop because of this, but quickly mounted another and encouraged his men to battle, consoling them with kind words. Thus both armies engaged on the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, at a place called Fowchirche (Falkirk), and the battle was exceedingly fierce. There, about thirty thousand and more Scots were slain, and the English won the victory. From there, they moved toward the town of St. Andrews, which they devastated. And from there they advanced and laid waste to Selkirk. Then they came to the castle of Ayr, from which Robert de Brus had fled, leaving it empty. They then marched to Annandale, and afterwards to Lochmaben; and thus to Carlisle. There, the two earls—of Hereford and the Marshal—received permission from the king and returned to their own lands. Then the king went on to Tynemouth, and afterward to Cottingham, where he kept the feast of the Nativity (Christmas).

Tunc rex direxit se versus Scotos, et tentoria fixit in medio camporum, et Scoti appropinquantes clamaverunt Anglicos altisonis vocibus, et gentes nostre sub omni celeritate se paraverunt ad pugnam prompti; et cum rex dextrarium ascenderet urgens equum calcaribus, fregit duas costas ejusdem, sed rex ex hoc non omittens cito alium ascendit et suos ad bellum hortatur, et blandis sermonibus consolatur, sicque congressi sunt uterque exercitus in die sanctæ Mariæ Magdalenæ apud Fowchirche: et fuit bellum forte nimis; ibique ceciderunt de Scotis mortui numero XXX millia et plures, et Anglici habuerunt victoriam. Inde abeuntes versus villam sancti Andræ quam devastaverunt. Et inde procedentes exterminaverunt Selfechirche, veneruntque ad castellum de Are de quo Robertus de Brus: fugerat vacuumque reliquézat. Deinde tendunt: Anandiam, et postea ad Loughmaban; et sic ad Karliolum, ubi duo comites Herfordensis et Mares. challus capientes licentiam a rege, redierunt in patriam suam. Deinde perrexit rex apud Tynnemewe. Deinde apud Catynggam et ibi tenuit natale domini.

John of Fordun's Chronicle. Battle of Falkirk

In the year 1298, the aforesaid king of England, taking it ill that he and his should be put to so much loss and driven to such straits by William Wallace, gathered together a large army, and, having with him, in his company, some of the nobles of Scotland to help him, invaded Scotland. He was met by the aforesaid William, with the rest of the magnates of that kingdom; and a desperate battle was fought near Falkirk, on the 22d of July [1298]. William was put to flight, not without serious loss both to the lords and to the common people of the Scottish nation. For, on account of the ill-will, begotten of the spring of envy, which the Comyns had conceived towards the said William, they, with their accomplices, forsook the field, and escaped unhurt. On learning their spiteful deed, the aforesaid William, wishing to save himself and his, hastened to flee by another road. But alas! through the pride and burning envy of both, the noble Estates (communitas) of Scotland lay wretchedly overthrown throughout hill and dale, mountain and plain. Among these, of the nobles, John Stewart, with his Brendans; Macduff, of Fife; and the inhabitants thereof, were utterly cut off. But it is commonly said that Robert of Bruce, — who was afterwards king of Scotland, but then fought on the side of the king of England — was the means of bringing about this victory. For, while the Scots stood invincible in their ranks, and could not be broken by either force or stratagem, this Robert of Bruce went with one line, under Anthony of Bek, by a long road round a hill, and attacked the Scots in the rear; and thus these, who had stood invincible and impenetrable in front, were craftily overcome in the rear. And it is remarkable that we seldom, if ever, read of the Scots being overcome by the English, unless through the envy of lords, or the treachery and deceit of the natives, taking them over to the other side.