A new book on the battle of Bannockburn aims to provide a clear insight into a defining moment in Scottish history, says Gavin Engelbrecht.

BANNOCKBURN is a name that still resonates within the ranks of Scottish nationalists. It was a key victory in the Scottish War of Independence, when Scots under the leadership of Robert the Bruce unexpectedly trounced the superior army of the English under Edward II.

The latest book about the fateful and bloody battle in June, 1314, has aroused patriotic indignation from some Scottish academics. David Cornell, who spent several years researching the Anglo-Scottish wars while completing his PhD at Durham University, has attracted the ire of his critics by suggesting that Bruce’s army lost time looting battlefield corpses when they should have been chasing fleeing Englishmen.

And they didn’t like argument that the battle itself could have only lasted an hour, because a demoralised English turned heel and fled.

This, in their view, somehow diminished the Scottish victory – and coming from an English historian, to boot.

But collecting booty was common practice. And if the battle itself only lasted an hour or longer, so what?

Bannockburn remained a decisive victory, which ensured the safety of Scotland for a generation. Cornell does not pretend his is a definitive account and readily concedes that much will remain speculation.

There is much to commend this book. Yes, Cornell does use some licence when he speculates what the protagonists might have been thinking at crucial historic moments. And his battlefield descriptions are extraordinarily imaginative and vivid.

But everything is based on a meticulous and sound reading of the available documents and contemporary accounts and his style brings his subject to life.

Cornell sets the scene under King Edward I, who bequeathed his son the poisoned chalice of bringing the Scots to heel. Ranged against King Edward II was the double-dealing Robert Bruce, who was clawing his way to the Scottish throne and had troubles of his own trying to assert his authority. Daring raids by the Scottish on the castles of Edinburgh and Roxburgh left them with only the garrison at Stirling castle to deal with. Much to Robert Bruce’s annoyance, his brother secured a deal that if no English relief came by midsummer 1314, the castle would surrender.

This forced the hand of the English and saw the first set-piece battle between the opposing armies. Ultimately it was the schiltrom – a porcupine- like formation – that saw off the cavalry. Dozens of knights were killed or captured; something unheard of at the time. After the English king fled humiliated from the field, a guerrilla war raged for 14 more years before independence was granted.

The reader emerges from this book enriched and with a clear insight not only of the battle, but of an extraordinary period of history. It’s highly recommended.