Callum Watson

1314: The Year of Bannockburn

(Pen & Sword Books, 2024) 240 pp. $49.95

Almost no other medieval battle has symbolized the tensions between England and Scotland more than Bannockburn in 1314. Despite not being the first, or last, military confrontation between the two polities during the Middle Ages, Bannockburn holds pride of place as the embodiment of this struggle. As such, it has attracted the close scrutiny of Callum Watson. In his recent book, Watson rightly acknowledges the many previous texts that have discussed this important battle. However, rather than look at the battle of Bannockburn as part of the broader struggles – political and military – between England and Scotland under Edward II, or even under both Edward I and II, Watson seeks to explore the more immediate context of the battle, focusing largely though not exclusively, on the nine months leading up to the fateful day in June, 1314.

Much of Watson’s argument revolves around the figure of Robert Bruce himself, his ambitions and behavior. Indeed, Watson states emphatically that not only were actions preceding Bannockburn driven by Bruce’s burning desire to be recognized as king, but also the earlier political turmoil in Scotland was caused by Bruce royal ambitions (3, 7). Couching Bruce’s movements and the developments of 1313 and 1314 in such terms, Watson reinforces Bruce’s own agency in the unfolding of events, remarking on Bruce’s shrewdness and political acumen, though he draws special attention to the possible effect Bruce’s illness at that time had, which is not something especially considered in other scholarship. As a result, Watson’s fresh analysis emphasizing the potential impact of Bruce’s illness is a welcome addition to the historiography. Watson highlights the deep-seated and contentious competition that existed between the Bruce family and the Balliol-Comyn faction, which colored the various alliances and agreements that entangled proponents of the latter with English interests, and which ultimately were tested at Bannockburn.

Watson’s book is well-researched, and it is clear that he has a good command of the historiographical debates, including those centered on the interpretation of primary sources (for example on p. 221, n. 24). Furthermore, he makes use of a wide array of printed primary sources, such as chronicles, poetry, and calendared administrative and political records. One might wish, however, that a greater effort had been made to translate into modern English all of the quotations from the heavily utilized poem “The Bruce” written by fourteenth-century Scottish author John Barbour. Some of Watson’s claims are very convincing, such as his argument that the deal that was struck between the Stirling castle garrison and the Scots was not part of Bruce’s plan all along (100). However, other musings are more questionable, such as the assertion that the purveyed stockfish moved to Berwick in 1314 was to be used by the royal household instead of the army (77); moreover, it is unlikely that the men chosen to procure supplies for the English army in 1314 were selected because of experience as sailors – despite the sea transport of the goods – but rather because of their administrative expertise (e.g., Stephen le Blount was the receiver for Scotland in 1314 and John “de Torryng” was noted in the Patent Rolls as a clerk and attorney in 1315) (58).

Watson has organized his book roughly chronologically, so that the narrative unfolds progressively over the several months leading to the battle of Bannockburn. However, in order to insert background information, some of the chapter discussions jump around chronologically, which can be more distracting than helpful. This is especially noticeable in a section in chapter four devoted to explaining the Scottish raid of April 1314; including details spanning 1296 through 1327, but sometimes without mentioning a year, along with haphazard chronology generally makes this section particularly confusing (85-90). Moreover, one gets the feeling that the structure of the book had been revised substantially at one point, but that the placement for some of the details were overlooked in the revision and not appropriately or sufficiently adjusted (this can be seen in an endnote incorrectly marked as “ibid”). For example, the deal that was struck between the Stirling castle garrison and the Scots is mentioned in passing pages before – and in a separate chapter – the deal is actually described, so that this reader was initially left wondering, “what deal?” (94). Additionally, extended details about Robert Bruce’s nephew Donald and Edward II’s half-brother Thomas of Brotherton are unnecessarily repeated in later chapters (117, 186). Even the organization of the first chapter is an awkward amalgam that feels disjointed. The first two pages act like a true introduction (or forward?) for the book, outlining the book’s goals and how the author plans to address them; without so much as a transition, the remainder of the chapter shifts to the historical background of the conflict between England and Scotland that culminated – as far as this book is concerned – in the battle of Bannockburn.

Given the importance of specific location and topography for explaining this battle, the three maps Watson has included with chapters five and six are welcome. However, the maps are quite incomplete, as places mentioned in the text – and whose specific locations, therefore, presumably are important – are absent. Map 2, particularly bereft of specifics, is especially guilty of omitting places discussed in the narrative for geographical reference; the Torwood, River Carron, Milton Bog, and New Park are all missing, and, as it is unlabeled, one must assume from context that the main river depicted on the map is the Forth. Useful details are similarly sparse on the other maps. For example, where is the Balquhidderock Ridge relative to the Wood of the same name, and why is Gillies Hill not marked? Furthermore, the maps lack keys, so it is impossible to know for certain what the series of small squares marked on Map 3 signify, nor whether the lines surrounding the Scottish army’s position on that map refer to the palisade discussed in the text. Apart from the maps, the textual description of the landscape would have been more effective if condensed into a single discussion; the description of the Carse of Stirling, and its associated landmarks, would have been useful thirty-five pages earlier when the rest of the area’s topography was explained (147).

The book is enhanced by both copious endnotes and an expansive bibliography, though it is strange that the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, whose articles are used frequently enough that it is abbreviated in the notes, is not included in the latter. There are also several glossy image plates with descriptions in an appendix, but they seem an afterthought as they are unconnected to the book’s narrative which does not refer to them. Oddly, while the text does mention an illuminated initial from a 1316 charter, it fails to indicate that an image of the initial exists as a plate; this is a missed opportunity (170).

Despite some of the book’s shortcomings in organization and detail, Watson offers a genuinely valuable contribution to the scholarship of this period, and raises important questions not previously considered about the part Robert Bruce’s own health may have played in influencing the course of events leading to the battle of Bannockburn.

Ilana Krug
York College of Pennsylvania
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