The Rout at Bannockburn
On this very day in thirteen hundred and fourteen
The English army under Edward looked pretty green
For ten thousand men of the sixty thousand - lost life
Attempting to relieve the beseiged army at Stirling at night
For they did not know Robert the Bruce had dug a pit
Surrounding the castle, so they went headfirst into it
Where the Scots waited to finish them off with pikes
Depleting the English forces, lost after that terrible fight
Effectively, marking the beginning of Scottish independence
Although it wasn't until Edward the Third had ascended
When Robert the Bruce was recognized as Scotland's King
And granted all of the independence they'd fought so hard to win ...
- Tristram
© Christopher W. Thomas
7:07pm Thurs. June 24th, 1999
The Early Edwards
Edward the First (Edward Longshanks)
born 1239, became king 1272, reigned 35 years
his crypt at Westminster has the following engraved:
"Here Lies Edward - The Hammer of the Scots"
Edward the Second (the one referred to above)
born 1284, became king 1307, reigned 20 years
(deserted by his queen, deposed after Stirling,
abdicated in son's favor, imprisoned, and then
murdered in prison in 1327, at Berkeley Castle.)
Edward the Third (the most successful of these)
born 1312, became king 1328, reigned 50 years,
at once - granted independence to Scotland,
initiated the Hundred Years War with France,
to retain control of the wine trade at Bordeaux,
and the wool trade of Flanders. During this time,
Calais passed into English hands in 1347, after a
12 month siege. It remained part of England for
the next one hundred years ...
Edward, the Black Prince (his eldest son)
born 1330, died 1376, survived by his father.
Richard II (Edward the Black Prince's son)
born 1367, ascended the throne in 1377,
upon the death of his grandfather, Edward III.
Reigned 22 years, was deposed, imprisoned,
and murdered there in 1400 at the beginning
of the War of the Roses. This, effectively,
ended this direct lineage.