Page 154 of Bound By Honor
“It will be my pleasure to relieve him of yet another fortress,” said King Robert.
A hint of a smile played about Lady Catherine’s lips. “Assuming you are successful, my lord, I will be pleased to swear fealty to you.”
That brought a smile to King Robert’s face, and he lifted his goblet of wine in toast to the baroness.
The next day Angus sailed his fleet the short distance to Castletown at the south end of the isle where he ordered the ships beached in the broad harbor watched over by Castle Rushen.
Built in the Norman fashion, the stone fortress had stood for hundreds of years, ruled by the Norse-Gael Kings of Man, from which the Macdonalds descended. A strong defense against invaders, its limestone keep soared more than seventy feet into the air, and was flanked by towers on each side.
They arrived as the sun was beginning to set, its golden light making the castle’s thick walls seem to glow. Around the castle, the moat’s waters, refreshed by the nearby river, glistened in the reflected sun.
Angus said to the king, “My ancestor, Somerled, took as his bride the Princess of Man who lived in Castle Rushen. He knew well this castle and later ruled as the King of Man.”
“Then our actions reclaiming the isle for Scotland should feel like coming home. Tomorrow, at first light, with the aid of your Islesmen, we lay siege.”
“Doubtless, your history with Dungal MacDouall will instruct him on how this will end,” said Angus.
“I am trusting that to be the case,” replied the king, “for I do not intend to lose.”
The next morning, their archers applied themselves, dropping many from the battlements. The siege continued for three weeks before the king’s men scaled the walls using his rope ladders. The sound of the iron portcullis being raised marked the king’s victory.
Dungal MacDouall, accomplished at escape, managed to slip away in the fighting, headed, some of the captives said, for Ireland.
“This time, we will pursue him,” said the king as he ordered some of his knights after MacDouall.
Angus graciously offered some of his galleys and the services of his Irishmen to sail to Ireland. “The crews of these galleys are mostly Irishmen who came to the Isles as a part of Áine’s dowry. They know Ireland well.”
CHAPTER 27
Dunyvaig Castle, Isle of Islay, July 1313
A MONTH AFTER the king returned to Scotland, Angus received a letter from Duncan that spoke of a dark cloud hanging over the country.
To Angus Og Macdonald, Lord of the Isles, from his cousin, Duncan MacAlasdair,
I have never seen the king in such a rage. And at his brother!
You recall that when the king sailed with you to the Isle of Man, he sent Sir Edward to capture Stirling Castle. Apparently, after expending some effort in that pursuit, Sir Edward concluded the castle’s defenses were too strong to overcome and the garrison too well-supplied to starve into submission. (The king doubts the truth of that.) Nevertheless, Sir Philip Mowbray, the castle governor, put forward a challenge: he would surrender the castle if the English army did not arrive to rescue the garrison by Midsummer’s Day a year hence.
Without consulting the king, Sir Edward accepted Mowbray’s challenge, thus giving the English an excuse for invasion and a year to prepare for a pitched battle on an open field, something King Robert would never have agreed to.
Once his temper cooled, the king ordered all remaining castles held by the English—Linlithgow, Roxburgh and Edinburgh—to be taken and rendered useless. (The king’s sister, Mary, was at Roxburgh but apparently has been moved to Newcastle.)
Sir James Douglas and the king’s nephew, Thomas Randolph, now Earl of Moray, are ever in competition to please their sire. Hence, they have vowed to take all three and destroy them, all save St. Margaret’s Chapel at Edinburgh Castle, which the king has allowed to stand. It grieved the king to give the orders to raze the castles but, as he told us, “They can be rebuilt.”
King Robert’s orders for “his friend in the Isles” are enclosed.
Inside the parchment was a small folded note bearing the king’s seal;
To Angus Og Macdonald, Lord of the Isles, from Robert, King of Scots by the grace of God,
One battle more, Angus, and Scotland will be free. As I am sure Duncan has told you, I did not set this in motion nor did I choose the time, but I will choose the battlefield and train my men to use all to their advantage.
The location will be south of Stirling Castle where the Bannock Burn crosses the old Roman road coming from Falkirk. It is the road the English will be forced to take as they march north.
I will base my camp in the New Park forest, which commands the approach to Stirling from the south.
I expect King Edward will take the full year to gather his forces as he will draw from the Continent, Ireland and Wales. Now that he is reconciled to his barons, I do not doubt he will be able to raise the numbers he seeks, which are tens of thousands. However, I understand the four earls involved in Gaveston’s demise—Lancaster, Warwick, Arundel and Surrey—will not accompany Edward to Scotland. My spies in Ulster tell me that my father-in-law, the Red Earl, has been summoned but is reluctant to go. One of his daughters is married to me and another daughter to the Earl of Gloucester, my cousin.
