The Battle of Dornock was fought on 25 March 1333 during the

Second War of Scottish Independence The Second War of Scottish Independence broke out in 1332 when Edward Balliol led an English-backed invasion of Scotland. Balliol, the son of a former Scottish king, was attempting to make good his claim to the Scottish throne. He was opposed b ...

Background

In 1333

Edward Balliol Edward Balliol (; 1283 – January 1364) was a claimant to the Scottish throne during the Second War of Scottish Independence. With English help, he ruled parts of the kingdom from 1332 to 1356. Early life Edward was the eldest son of John Ba ...

, a

claimant A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...

to the Scottish throne, sought support from the English King

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

. In exchange for ceding the region of

Lothian Lothian (; sco, Lowden, Loudan, -en, -o(u)n; gd, Lodainn ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Sco ...

to England, Balliol was given assistance and replenished forces. He returned to Scotland and attacked the Scottish at

Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...

. After several retaliatory and counterattacks from both sides, the attempt failed and no tactical advantage was gained.Battle of Dornock, 1333
/ref>

Build Up

In response, William of

Lochmaben Lochmaben ( Gaelic: ''Loch Mhabain'') is a small town and civil parish in Scotland, and site of a castle. It lies west of Lockerbie, in Dumfries and Galloway. By the 12th century the Bruce family had become the local landowners and, in the 14th ...

, Sir Ralph Dacre and Sir Anthony Lucy led an English force of 800 men into

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...

William Douglas, Lord of Liddesdale Sir William Douglas, Lord of Liddesdale (–1353), also known as the Knight of Liddesdale and the Flower of Chivalry, was a Scottish nobleman and soldier active during the Second War of Scottish Independence. Family and early life Douglas' fa ...

and 50 Scottish defenders along with Sir Humphrey Boys and Sir Humphrey Jardine moved to intercept them.

The battle

On 25 March 1333, the small Scottish force intercepted the English at the village of

Dornock Dornock is a small Scottish village in Dumfries and Galloway, situated about west of Eastriggs and east of Annan. Dornock is built on land which is above sea level. Dornock Burn runs east of the village and the railway between Annan and ...

. Little is known about the battle itself, as it was reportedly over very quickly, but 24 Scots (along with the two Humphreys) were killed and Douglas was taken prisoner. England reported only two losses.

Aftermath

The rest of the Scots fled, and Douglas was imprisoned for two years under special instructions from King Edward. The Scottish poet

Andrew Wyntoun Andrew Wyntoun, known as Andrew of Wyntoun (), was a Scottish poet, a canon and prior of Loch Leven on St Serf's Inch and, later, a canon of St. Andrews. Andrew Wyntoun is most famous for his completion of an eight-syllabled metre entitled, '' ...

noted the battle in his verse: A well in the area was known as the sword well by the late 18th century, probably because artefacts of the battle were discovered near to there.

References

Sources

Primary

* Knighton, Henry, ''Chronicon'', ed.

Joseph Rawson Lumby Joseph Rawson Lumby (1831–1895) was an English cleric, academic and author and divine, Norrisian Professor of Divinity from 1879 and then Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity from 1892. Life He was the son of John Lumby of Stanningley, near L ...

, 1889–1895. * ''The Lanercost Chronicle'', ed. and trans H. Maxwell, 1913. * Wyntoun, Andrew of, ''The Original Chronicle of Scotland'', ed. F. J. Amours, 1907.

Secondary

* Neilson, G., ''The Battle of Dornock'', in Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Antiquarian and Natural History Society, 1895–6. * Nicholson, R., ''Edward III and the Scots'', 1965. {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Dornock 1333 in Scotland Dornock 1333 Conflicts in 1333