Goodbye you mountains and the North - goodbye
Here valor was born, here is the northern edge.
And wherever I am and wherever I roam, I have always loved high mountains.
(R. Burns. My heart is in the mountains. Translated by the author)
We are used to seeing Scots as "men in plaid skirts", but they have become such relatively recently. During Roman rule, the Picts lived in the lands of the modern Scots. A very warlike people, whose warriors were smeared with blue paint before battle. The Romans did not waste their strength and people on the conquest of this cold and joyless world, but preferred to fence themselves off from it with a wall. During the reign of Emperor Antonin, it was decided to erect a fortification between the western and eastern coasts, that is, between the Firth of Clyde and Firth of Forth, 160 km north of the previously constructed Hadrian's Wall, and called the Antonin Wall. During excavations in the territory of the Falkirk region lying here, archaeologists have found numerous traces of the presence of the Romans here. But then the Romans left here, and the centuries-old era of turmoil and strife began.
Modern reenactors of the Battle of Bannockburn.
Well, during the period we are considering, that is, from 1050 to 1350 in the late Anglo-Saxon and Norman eras, the Kingdom of Scotland was theoretically under English suzerainty. But when British influence was replaced by attempts at direct political control in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, this immediately led to the Wars of Independence, culminating in the defeat of England at Bannockburn in 1314.
They are the same, but larger. From a historical point of view, everything is very accurate. Unless the helmets are already very shiny, rust touched them a little. But at that time the iron was of poor quality …
At the same time, within Scotland, there was a process of cultural, political and military unification, which, however, was not completed until the 18th century. The heart of the kingdom was the Pictish-Scottish state known as the Kingdom of Alba, located in Scotland north of the line between the Firth of Forth and Clyde. Subsequently, the Vikings landed here several times, so that the Anglo-Scottish border was moved away from this line far to the south.
Statue of King Malcolm III of Scotland from 1058 to 1093, (Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh)
The Scottish monarchs also embarked on a policy of feudalization, drawing on Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman institutions and even encouraging Normans to settle in Scotland, which ultimately had a profound influence on the military culture of the Scots. Nevertheless, Scotland of the 11th century was still not a single state, which was also due to such natural geographical reasons as lowlands ("Lowland") in the east and south and highlands ("Highlands") in the north and west, which caused also differences in economic activity.
“The English knights attack the Scots at the Battle of Bannockburn. Artist Graham Turner.
In the eleventh century, the military organization, tactics and equipment of the Scottish warriors of the lowlands were very similar to those in northern England, in particular in Northumbria, with cavalry playing only a minor role here until 1000. The infantry's favorite weapons were axes, swords and spears, and the warriors of most regions, such as Galloway, had relatively light weapons throughout this era.
Viking sword hilt of the 10th century (National Museum of Scottish History, Edinburgh)
Despite the emergence of even a small, but typical feudal elite in the XII-XIV centuries, the Scottish army still mainly consisted of infantry, armed at first with swords and short spears, and later with long spears or pikes. Unlike England, where war was now the province of professionals, the Scottish peasantry continued to play an important role in military affairs, and booty and looting were the main targets of military operations. In the late 13th and 14th centuries, the Scots learned to use the same siege weapons as the British, and archery was also widespread among them.
At the same time, the war in the mountains and on the islands has retained many archaic features, although even these have changed over time. In general, we can say that military equipment largely reflected the Scandinavian influence, and even in the XIV century, the weapons and armor of the warriors of the highland clans remained lighter than those of the warriors of the "lowlands", which, in turn, was old-fashioned compared to neighboring England …
A miniature of the Holkham Bible, 1320-1330, supposedly depicting the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. (British Library, London)
The main weapon of the Scottish spearmen was a 12-foot spear, and an additional weapon was a short sword or dagger. Leather or quilted jackets, as well as chain mail mittens and corsets of iron plates tied with leather straps served as armor for protection from arrows and swords. The head was covered with a conical or wide-brim bascinet. The exact ratio of spearmen and archers is unknown, but, apparently, there were still more spearmen. The archer fired a long bow (approx. 1.80 cm) of yew and had a quiver containing 24 arrows, one yard long, with an iron petiolate tip. In battle, archers came forward, lined up, standing at a distance of five to six steps from each other, and fired on command, sending arrows at an angle to the horizon so that they would fall on the target at an angle or almost vertically. The army of King Edward I of England consisted mainly of archers from Ireland, northern England and Wales. And from there, the Scottish feudal lords recruited archers, completing their troops.
Effigia Alan Swinton, died 1200, Swinton, Berwickshire, Scotland.
(From the monograph by Brydall, Robert. 1895. The monumental effigies of Scotland. Glasgow: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland)
An important source of information on the history of military affairs in Scotland are effigies - gravestone sculptures. Quite a lot of such effigies, which today are very valuable historical sources, have survived here, but they, as a rule, are much more damaged than their counterparts in England. In addition, it is also possible that some of them were made south of the Anglo-Scottish border and, as such, may not accurately represent the military equipment of the Scottish warriors. On the other hand, their characteristic rough carvings and old-fashioned style may indicate that although their creators were inspired by the effigies from England, they were local products. For example, the heavily damaged image of the Count of Strathharne depicts a man in a hauberg with a chain mail kouaf on his head and a large and old-fashioned shield, clearly hinting that he still did not wear plate armor or even a cuirass made of leather under surcoat, being content with only chain mail. The sword is relatively short and straight.
Many Scottish effigies have suffered greatly from time … One of the effigies of the Inchmahon Priory.
And here is the effigy of Walter Stewart, Earl of Menteith, Perthshire, late 13th century from the Priory of Inchmahon in Scotland, in which he is depicted with his wife. He is wearing the same hauberg with chain mail “mittens” braided to the sleeves, which hang freely from the brushes. That is, they had slots on their palms through which their hands, if necessary, could be easily released. He also has a large flat-topped shield, albeit heavily worn, and has a traditional sword belt on his hips.
The effigy of Sir James Douglas, (Lanarkshire, circa 1335, Church of the Holy Bride, Douglas, Scotland), one of the greatest barons of Scotland, has survived to our time, but he is depicted in it in very simple, almost elementary military equipment, consisting from chain mail hauberk, and chain mail gloves. He has a padded gambeson visible under the hem of the hauberk, and has a splendidly decorated sword belt. The shield, however, is still very large given the date the effigy was made, and likely reflects its lack of plate armor.
Later depictions from the 14th and 16th centuries, such as the Finlaggan effigy by Dognald McGillespie, show that the region has a distinct style of weaponry and armor; a style that has some parallels in Ireland. The deceased is dressed in quilted clothes with a chain mail mantle. Such a fashion is unknown among the knightly class of England. And this can be the result of both isolation and lack of resources, as well as traditional tactics of the Scottish infantry and light cavalry. The man is clearly wearing separate mittens. On his hip is a long rider's sword with a large curved crosshair, but the scabbard is supported in the old fashioned way. The design of the handle is remarkably similar to the earliest depictions of the famous Scottish sword Claymore, dating from the late 15th century.
Effigia by Donald McGillespie, c. 1540 from Finlaggan, Scotland. National Museum of Scotland). The most expressive part of her is the sword!
Claymore, approx. 1610-1620 Length 136 cm. Blade length 103.5 cm. Weight 2068.5 g. (Metropolitan Museum, New York)
Thus, if the Scottish nobility's knightly armament in almost everything corresponded to the "English fashion", although with some elements of anachronism, the peasant infantry was armed for a long time in the traditions of past eras, and tactics were used even during the Pictish times - that is, dense formations bristling with long spears, which made them inaccessible to enemy cavalry, including even knightly.
References:
1. Brydall, R. The Monumental Effigies of Scotland, from the 13th to the 15th Century. Harvard University, 1895
2. Norman, A. V. B., Pottinger, D. Warrior to soldier 449 to 1660. L.: Cox & Wyman, Ltd., 1964.
3. Armstrong, P. Bannockburn 1314: Robert Bruce's Great Victory. Osprey Campaign # 102, 2002.
4. Reese, P., Bannockburn. Canongate, Edinburgh, 2003.
5. Nicolle, D. Arms and Armor of the Crusading Era, 1050-1350. UK. L.: Greenhill Books. Vol.1.
6. Gravett, K. Knights: A History of English Chivalry 1200-1600 / Christopher Gravett (Translated from English by A. Colin). M.: Eksmo, 2010.
