Two Kings in One Kingdom: A Scottish Military Collapse? (1332–34)

Peace between England and Scotland was agreed in 1328, bringing to a close thirty-two years of conflict. Ratified at Edinburgh and Northampton, the peace treaty did not last. The fragile peace was undermined by the unresolved issue of territorial claims held by a group of English and Anglo-Scottish nobles known as the Disinherited. Their desire to gain or regain Scottish territories provided Edward III with a means to recommence the war with Scotland. Led by Edward Balliol, son of the deposed King John, the Disinherited plotted the forcible seizure of the lands they claimed. This was undertaken at first with the complicity of Edward III, but soon after with the English king's active personal involvement. The death of Thomas Randolph, Scottish Guardian and loyal lieutenant of Robert I, provided the opportunity for the Disinherited to attack Scotland while the kingdom lacked obvious leadership. Aware of Balliol's imminent invasion, the Scots met in council at Perth around 2 August 1332 to elect Randolph's replacement. A new Guardian was chosen but only ‘efftyr gret and lang dyssentyown’. The choice of Earl Donald of Mar fell upon a Scottish noble whose allegiance to the Bruce cause in the face of a Balliol alternative was far from guaranteed.

Following his election as Guardian, Mar ordered the gathering of two armies, one on each side of the Firth of Forth, to guard the coast in anticipation of Balliol's seaborne attack. Mar himself led the northern levies while Earl Patrick of March commanded the southern forces. Not knowing where the Disinherited would land, the Bruce Scots could do little more, but their wait was brief. On 6 August 1332 Balliol and his forces landed at the Fife port of Kinghorn. The only immediate opposition to the invaders came from local levies led by the earl of Fife, but the earl's forces were driven off by the Disinherited archers who were the first ashore ahead of the menat-arms. With this early success achieved Balliol and his army marched inland to Dunfermline. The town held important political and religious significance and from here Balliol could begin to propagate his claims to legitimacy. Encamped at the long-established burial place of Scottish kings, Balliol could claim locally that he was in the ascendant and the true king of Scotland.