The Raider (38 page)

BOOK: The Raider

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AUTHOR’S NOTE

Sir Robert Boyd is probably the most well-known historical figure of the Guardsmen I will write about. He plays a large part in the Wars of Independence, fighting alongside both William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, with his name mentioned a number of times by the important chroniclers, including both Barbour and Blind Harry. Blind Harry refers to Boyd over twenty times and calls him “wise and strong,” which inspired his place among my Highland Guard as the strongest man in Scotland.

I debated on whether to make Boyd a Guardsman because there is so much known about him (except—conveniently—whom he was married to), but he is such a compelling figure I couldn’t resist. To me, he is the William Wallace type of freedom fighter and serves as an important link connecting Bruce’s cause to Wallace’s.

Boyd was probably born a few years earlier than I suggested, about 1275. His father (or possibly his grandfather) was a hero of the Battle of Largs in 1263, and the family was rewarded with land and a barony in Noddsdale in Ayrshire. Boyd’s father, also Robert Boyd, is said to have been one of the Scottish nobles who were called to a meeting by the English and treacherously murdered at the “Barns of Ayr” (an event immortalized in the movie
Braveheart
). In reprisal, Wallace later trapped the English garrison in the barns and set it on fire. I combined the events in the novel for Boyd’s father’s death.

Wallace is said to have left Boyd in charge of his army when he was away, helping the Boyd clan earn its motto of “Confido,” as well as their nickname of the “Trusty Boyds” for their loyalty to the Scottish cause for independence. Boyd fought faithfully beside Wallace, his boyhood companion, and some suggest his kinsman, until the latter’s death in 1305. Boyd was also one of the early supporters of Robert the Bruce and fought (loyally) alongside him for the duration of the war, even serving as one of his commanders in the key Battle of Bannockburn, which will feature in a future book.

As Blind Harry says of Boyd at Bannockburn (
History of the Counties of Ayr and Wigton, Vol. III
, by James Paterson, Edinburgh, 1866):

“Ranged on the right the Southron legions stood,
And on their front the fiery Edward rode,
With him the experienced Boyd divides the sway,
Sent by the King to guide him thro’ the day.”

Boyd may also have been with Bruce and Sir Roger de Kirkpatrick at Greyfriars Monastery in Dumfries in 1306, when Bruce stabbed John “The Red” Comyn before the altar, launching his bid for the crown.

The schooling and military history leanings I give Boyd in the novel are actually based on Wallace’s early life. Wallace was reputed to have quoted Hannibal and attended school first in the Stirling area at Cambuskenneth Abbey where his uncle was a clergyman, and then at a popular school in Dundee, taught by William Mydford, who is believed to have fostered Wallace’s fervor for liberty. Interestingly, Wallace met Duncan (MacDougall) of Lorn and Neil Campbell (Arthur “Ranger” Campbell’s brother) at school in Dundee. Both would later join him in his rebellion.

The works by Polybius and Appian probably didn’t make their way west until the fifteenth century. The Latin translation of Appian wasn’t until 1477.

Boyd’s sister Marian in the novel is fictional, but his brother Duncan was captured and executed in 1306. Around this same time, Boyd was taken prisoner at Kildrummy but managed to escape. How he managed to do so is lost in the mists of time, but it was what sparked the idea for Rosalin.

Rosalin is the fictional sister of Sir Robert (de) Clifford, first Baron (de) Clifford, who is one of the most important English commanders in the War against Scotland. Clifford’s mother was a great heiress, and while the genealogical charts aren’t consistent (they never are), most suggest he was an only child. Clifford’s father died fighting in Wales when Clifford was seven or eight, and his wardship was held by the king’s brother Edmund of Cornwall, the Earl of Gloucester, and eventually King Edward I.

Clifford’s military career in Scotland began in 1296 with raids in Annandale (Bruce lands) and Annan, and he appears in many battles over the years until his death at Bannockburn in 1314. But he is probably most remembered for his enmity with Sir James “The Black” Douglas. The fight over the Douglas lands would launch a feud between the Cliffords and Douglases that would last for over one hundred years.

Although Clifford was fighting the Bruce “rebels” in Scotland at the time of the prologue in
The Raider,
his name doesn’t appear in the siege of Kildrummy. Kildrummy probably wasn’t garrisoned but was immediately dismantled after Edward, Prince of Wales (the future Edward II) and Aymer de Valence (the future Earl of Pembroke) lay siege to it. It was the treachery of the blacksmith Osborne (see
The Viper
) that was responsible for the castle’s fall, Boyd’s imprisonment, and Nigel Bruce’s subsequent execution.

Clifford was, however, at Berwick Castle during the time of Bruce’s raids in 1311 and 1312, having been appointed Keeper of Scotland South of the Forth on April 4, 1311, which made him the perfect brother for my fictional heroine.

There is really no chivalrous way to spin the Bruce raids in 1311 and 1312. They were basically a campaign of blackmail (sometimes with hostages) to support his kingship and fund the costly war. If the money was not paid, the English were threatened with “fire and sword.” However, with the exception of the raid in Durham in 1312, which was led by Edward Bruce and the Black Douglas, the Bruce raiders did not typically kill anyone unless they resisted. Even the
English
monks at Lanercost Abbey made note of this in their records of the period.

The enormous two-thousand-pound figure for the truce between Boyd and Clifford is based on the actual amount paid by Northumberland in August 1311.

At the time of
The Raider,
Bruce was laying siege to the castle at Dundee, which would eventually fall and be destroyed in May 1312. Key to understanding the reason for the raids is remembering that although Bruce had a hold on Scotland north of the Tay at this time, the south was still occupied by English garrisons. It was clearing these garrisons from Scotland’s important castles (and usually the destruction of the castle afterward) that marks the period between 1311 and 1314. But laying siege to castles and paying men beyond their hundred days of service was expensive, the royal coffers were empty, and Scotland was devastated after years of war. Without the raids, Bruce wouldn’t have been able to get a foothold in the south and evict the English who were so deeply entrenched there.

Boyd, James Douglas, Thomas Randolph, and Edward Bruce were the king’s key lieutenants in the south and the men more often than not leading the raids in England. How you viewed them (whether hero or terrorist) was largely an issue of perspective, i.e., on which side of the border (called the Marches at the time) you lived. For example, Douglas was known as “Good Sir James” in Scotland, but in England he was reviled as “The Black Douglas.”

Similarly, from our modern perspective there is nothing heroic in hostage taking. But in medieval times, it was basically institutionalized and an accepted part of warfare. We’ve already seen it with David, the young Earl of Atholl, in
The Recruit,
who was held as a hostage most of his young life by the English king as surety for his father’s good behavior. That David came to sympathize with his hostage takers was also very common and actually served a purpose as a bridge between the two sides when the hostage was returned.

It appears uncommon for something bad to happen to the hostage even when a deal was reneged upon. David is a good example of that as well. Even when his father rebels and is eventually executed, the boy is not harmed.

The most famous example is probably the great English knight William Marshall. He was held by King Stephen as a youth and famously avoided death when his father broke his promise and taunted the king that he still had “the hammer and anvil with which to forge still more and better sons.”

Men—of course—were vastly preferred, but there were some examples of women serving as hostages.

I couldn’t resist the temptation to name Rosalin after her illustrious relative. The famously beautiful “Fair Rosamund,” who captured the heart of King Henry II and became his mistress, would have been Rosalin’s great-aunt three times over.

Finally, although I have Rosalin giving birth at Dean Castle in Kilmarnock in the epilogue, the old Balliol lands were not formally given to Boyd until after Bannockburn. Dean Castle would be built by his son, Thomas, and their descendants would be the future Earls of Kilmarnock.

To my very own strapping lad. (Yes, Dave, stop looking around, I
am
talking about you.)

And to all the readers on Facebook, thanks for your enthusiasm, encouragement, and expertise on subjects far and wide. You’ll see one of the examples here (oats, that’s all I’m saying!).

BY MONICA MCCARTY

The Raider

The Hunter

The Recruit

The Saint

The Viper

The Ranger

The Hawk

The Chief

Highland Warrior

Highland Outlaw

Highland Scoundrel