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The unsung warrior
We tell the story of one of the lesser-known heroes of the Scottish Wars of Independence
Words by JOHN MILES
© CHRONICLE/ALAMY/ANDREW HILLHOUSE On 11 September 1297, the Scottish army of William Wallace and Andrew Moray, his co-commander, delivered a resounding victory over the English at Stirling Bridge. Many people around the world are familiar with the name William Wallace – the awardwinning movie Braveheart was even about him – but, curiously, the just as valiant and equally as important Andrew Moray is much less well known.
William Wallace was a member of the lesser nobility, but scarcely little is known of his family history. There are also disagreements about where exactly Wallace was born. Much more is known about Andrew Moray’s background.
Andrew Moray, ‘The Younger of Petty’ was born in the latter half of the 13th century. Andrew’s father was the Justiciar of Scotia, a title referred to the most senior legal office in the Feudal Kingdom of Scotland.
Moray The Younger’s mother was the daughter of John Comyn. Clan Comyn was one of the most powerful families in 13th-century Scotland. To say that Andrew Moray’s family was well connected would be putting it mildly. It is very probable that, like other members of his social class, young Moray embarked on early training for knighthood. The result of this training was that Andrew Moray had a solid grasp of military tactics to call upon. That military knowledge would be used in the defining moment of Andrew Moray’s life, the First War of Scottish Independence. The Wars of Scottish Independence were a response to the relentlessness of English kings in attempting to establish their mandate over Scotland, something the Scots fought hard to resist. The genesis of these wars was the lack of a definitive ruler of Scotland. The previous Scottish King, Alexander III, had died after being thrown from his horse in March 1286, and all his children had predeceased him.
After the king’s death, several Scottish nobles vied for the vacant crown. In these uncertain times, Scotland’s nobility turned for guidance to their nearest neighbour, King Edward I of England. Edward was widely respected and had a good relationship with the recently deceased King Alexander. The power
LEFT TO RIGHT:
The Scots fought against King Edward I to keep English rule out of Scotland; Andrew Moray
CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT:
The Battle of Stirling Bridge; Edward I became known as the ‘Hammer of the Scots’; Stirling Bridge
and influence that Edward possessed allowed him to assess the merits of the various claimants to the Scottish Crown.
Edward’s willingness to fill this role came at a price. The contenders had to recognise him as Overlord of Scotland. After much deliberation, John Balliol was awarded the Crown. The newly crowned King John duly recognised King Edward I as his feudal superior and, thereafter, King Edward’s interference became a regular part of Scottish legal and political affairs.
The Scottish political community soon grew weary of his involvement, and by late 1295 King John had renounced his loyalty to Edward. This defiance infuriated King Edward, making hostilities between the kingdoms inescapable.
John Balliol was stripped of his power and King Edward’s army defeated the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar in 1296. After this, government bureaucracy in Scotland was filled with English appointees. English tax collectors imposed heavy tariffs to fill King Edward’s coffers. He also sought to conscript Scots, including the nobility, into English armies. This plan caused widespread concern – factors that contributed to growing agitation against English rule.
In early 1297 there were violent outbreaks across the country against the English occupiers and their Scottish allies. By May 1297, Andrew Moray was leading the rebellion against the English in northeast Scotland, while Wallace was operating to the south. They now joined forces to oppose the English.
By late summer 1297, King Edward had lost control of Scotland. In September the English stirred into action against Moray and Wallace. The English mustered an army and marched into central Scotland. Moray and Wallace responded by marching their combined army to Stirling. They deployed their men to the north of the River Forth close to the longstanding bridge at Stirling Castle. The English sent the vanguard of their army across the narrow bridge. Moray and Wallace wisely struck when only part of it had crossed over and this isolated unit was destroyed. The bulk of the English Army, which had still not crossed, panicked as it became clear that they had been outmaneuvered. It’s estimated that the English lost one hundred knights and five thousand infantrymen at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.
The victorious Scottish army suffered far fewer casualties, but of those who were injured or killed, was Andrew Moray, who was fatally wounded. It is believed that Moray died of his injuries around November 1297. Months later Moray’s widow bore him a son, also named Andrew. This Andrew would play a major role in defeating the continuing attempts of English King Edward III to conquer Scotland in the 1330s.
This all begs the question of why Moray isn’t as well remembered as Wallace. This can be answered by psychology. Wallace’s execution was well documented and truly grisly; once someone learns about it, they can’t help but be drawn to his story. While Moray was mortally wounded in battle, he died of those wounds significantly later. If Andrew Moray had died on the battlefield at Stirling, history may have remembered him as well as it does his comrade, Wallace. S The sources referenced for this article include Bannockburn and Stirling Bridge: Exploring Scotland’s Two Greatest Battles by Murray Cook and Patrick Fraser Tytler’s History of Scotland. Third Edition.
