The action at Earnside was a skirmish which took place in the

Wars of Scottish Independence The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. The First War (1296–1328) began with the English invasion of ...

in September 1304. Not much is known about it, but it is significant as the last action known to be fought by

William Wallace Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army ...

. Even its location is uncertain. Contemporary records describe it as taking place at "Yrenside". This is usually interpreted to mean "Earnside", i.e. somewhere on the banks of the

River Earn , name_etymology = , image = River Earn at Forteviot.jpg , image_size = 250px , image_caption = The River Earn viewed from Forteviot bridge. , map = , map_size = , map_caption ...

. However it has been suggested that it should be interpreted as "Ironside", which could possibly mean Ironside Hill in the

Sidlaw Hills The Sidlaws are a range of hills in the counties of Perthshire and Angus in Scotland that extend for 30 miles (45 km) from Kinnoull Hill, near Perth, northeast to Forfar. A continuation of the Ochils, they separate the valley of Str ...

. There is mention in English records of compensation being paid for a horse lost in a flight from William Wallace below "Yrenside". There is also mention of the Constable of Dundee pursuing Wallace. To complicate matters further, there is a plaque at NO 26298 19407 in Fife, about 2½ miles (4 km) NE of Newburgh in a lay-by on the unclassified road to Gauldry, which claims that on 12 June 1298 Wallace defeated the

Earl of Pembroke Earl of Pembroke is a title in the Peerage of England that was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title, which is associated with Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, has been recreated ten times from its origin ...

here at a site apparently called "Black Earnside". However it is not clear that this has any basis in contemporary records, and raises some problems, among them that Wallace was at the Battle of Falkirk the following month, and the Earldom of Pembroke was vacant at that time. The name "Black Earnside" is not mentioned on the

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

maps of the area and the site is not in any case in Earnside, the

River Earn , name_etymology = , image = River Earn at Forteviot.jpg , image_size = 250px , image_caption = The River Earn viewed from Forteviot bridge. , map = , map_size = , map_caption ...

having flowed into the River Tay some 4½ miles (7 km) upstream of the site. The National Record of the Historic Environment (Canmore) states "There is no good historical evidence for this battle".Site of the Battle of Earnside, https://canmore.org.uk/event/684913

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Earnside Battles of the Wars of Scottish Independence Conflicts in 1304 1304 in Scotland Battles between England and Scotland