Mar 17 2009
Your Commander Must…Kiss His Own Arse
“Here are Scotland’s terms:
Lower your flags and march straight back to England - stopping at every home you pass by to beg forgiveness for a hundred years of theft, rape and murder.
Do that and your men shall live. Do it not, and every one of you will die today.
Before we let you leave… your commander must cross that field, present himself before this army, put his head between his own legs and kiss his own arse.”
Most movie fans will recognize this challenge issued by Mel Gibson’s version of William Wallace to the English envoy on Stirling Field.
Why do I bring this up on today of all days?
It’s only because on this day in 1328 the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton was signed in Edinburgh by Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, and was later ratified by the English Parliament in Northampton. It brought an end to the First War of Scottish Independence, which had begun with the English invasion of Scotland in 1296.
The First War of Scottish Independence started because there was no clear cut heir to the Scottish throne after King Alexander III fell off his horse and broke his neck in 1286. Edward I of England (Long Shanks - Patrick McGoohan) initially supported the claim of John Balliol, who was crowned King of Scots in 1292, but then he changed his mind and decided he wanted Scotland for himself. After Balliol’s removal and exile, Robert the Bruce broke from the English camp and took up his own rival claim to the crown, by leading a resistance to Edward.
The drama we witness whenever we pop the old Braveheart disc into the DVD player shows us only the early part of that war which cost rivers of blood and mountains of grief. The struggle lasted 32 years and can be broken down into roughly four phases:
- The initial English invasion and success in 1296.
- The campaigns led by William Wallace, and various other Scottish Guardians from 1297 until the threat of English penetration into northern Scotland compelled a general Scottish submission in February 1304.
- Renewed campaigns led by Robert the Bruce between his coronation in 1306 and the Scottish victory at Bannockburn in 1314.
- The final phase of Scottish diplomatic initiatives and military campaigns in Scotland, Ireland and Northern England from 1314 until the peace treaty in 1328.
Even the last, decisive scene of Mel Gibson’s movie showing the Battle of Bannockburn (which took place eight years after William Wallace’s execution) occurs fourteen years before Scotland was finally able to regain its independence.
So what’s the lesson we want to take away from this episode in history? How about this? Freedom can be lost overnight and once lost it is hard to regain.
