Andrew Moray
Andrew Moray, also known as Andrew de Moray, Andrew of Moray, or Andrew Murray, was a Scots esquire, who rose to prominence during the First Scottish War of Independence. He initially raised a small band of supporters at Avoch Castle in early summer 1297 to fight King Edward I of England and had soon successfully regained control of the north for the absent Scots king, John Balliol. Moray subsequently merged his army with that of William Wallace, and on 11 September 1297 jointly led the combined army to victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. He was severely wounded in the course of the battle, dying at an unknown date and place that year.
Childhood
Andrew Moray the younger of Petty was born late in the second half of the 13th century. The date and place of his birth are unknown. Andrew's father was Sir Andrew Moray of Petty, an influential north Scotland baron and Justiciar of Scotia, and his mother was the historically anonymous fourth daughter of John Comyn I of Badenoch.Nothing is known of the formative years of Moray the younger's life. In common with other members of his social class, he likely embarked in his youth on the training for knighthood. This would have entailed him being fostered in the household of a mature knight outwith his family, where he would undergo training in horsemanship and in the use of weapons, he would care for the knight's armour and weapons, and for his horses. He would also serve the foster-knight meals at the table. It is not recorded that Moray attained knighthood within his lifetime.
The Morays of Petty's place in Scottish society
The Morays of Petty were a wealthy and politically influential baronial family whose power base was located in the province of Moray in north-east Scotland. The family traced their origins to Freskin of Uphall, in Lothian, who was granted lands in the Laich of Moray during the 12th-century reign of King David I of Scotland. Freskin built a motte-and-bailey castle on these lands at Duffus on the north shore of Loch Spynie.The Morays of Petty possessed significant political influence. The family were loyal agents of the Scots king. Sir Andrew Moray of Petty, head of the north branch of the family, acted from 1289 as the king's chief law officer in north Scotland and may have been co-opted to the guardianship following in the premature death of King Alexander III. He had close personal connections to the most politically influential family in Scottish society, the Comyns. Sir Andrew's first wife was a daughter of John 'the Red' Comyn of Badenoch, and his second wife was Euphemia Comyn. The Morays of Petty also had links to the Douglases of Douglasdale.
In the thirteenth-century, the Moray family was established in north and south Scotland. Sir Andrew Moray held the lordship of Petty, which was controlled from Hallhill manor on the south bank of the Moray Firth; the lordship of Avoch in the Black Isle, controlled from Avoch Castle situated to the east of Inverness and overlooking the Moray Firth; and the lordship of Boharm in Banffshire, controlled from Gauldwell Castle. Amongst Sir Andrew's estates at Petty were lands at Alturile, Brachlie and Croy, and at Boharm were lands at Arndilly and Botriphnie. Andrew Moray the younger was heir to these lands and castles. Sir William Moray of Bothwell, the elder brother of Andrew the younger's father, held extensive lands in Lanarkshire and at Lilleford in Lincolnshire.
Sir William, who was known as le riche due to his extensive personal wealth, was in 1296 constructing Bothwell Castle overlooking the River Clyde. Its design was influenced by the latest continental European trends in castle construction, for example Chateau de Coucy. It was clearly intended as an unequivocal statement of his influence and wealth. Andrew Moray the younger of Petty was also heir to his uncle's lands and castles.
The Morays of Petty also had a presence in the Scottish medieval church. A forebear of Moray the younger, also named Andrew, was bishop of Moray early in the 13th century, and an uncle, David Murray, was in the closing years of the thirteenth century a rector of Bothwell church in central Scotland and a canon of Moray. He would subsequently be consecrated in the summer of 1299 as Bishop of Moray by Pope Boniface VIII, and become a vociferous supporter of King Robert I's kingship.
A kingdom in turmoil
The late 13th century was a time of upheaval in Scotland. On 19 March 1286, King Alexander III died after apparently being thrown from his horse as he made his way to Kinghorn, in Fife, from Edinburgh Castle to be with his young Flemish queen, Yolande. The Crown passed to his three-year-old granddaughter, Margaret, Maid of Norway, the children of his previous marriage to Margaret, a sister of King Edward I, having predeceased him. The child-queen was never crowned, dying in 1290 during the sea passage to Scotland.File:Monument to Alexander III, west of Kinghorn, by Hippolyte Blanc.png|thumb|Monument to Alexander III, west of Kinghorn, by Hippolyte Blanc
Scots nobles vied for the vacant crown. The Bruces of Annandale had already unsuccessfully attempted in November 1286 to seize it in an armed coup. In this uncertain time, Scotland's leaders sought support from King Edward I of England. The price of Edward I's involvement in what became known as 'The Great Cause' was the claimants' acknowledgement of him as overlord of Scotland. Edward duly presided over a court to assess the merits of these claims. The most serious claims were advanced by John Balliol, the lord of Galloway, and Robert Bruce, lord of Annandale and grandfather of the future king. Balliol was eventually awarded the Crown, and duly swore fealty to Scotland's new English overlord, Edward I. This decision was widely accepted by the Scottish political community, including many who had previously supported Bruce.
Invasion and defeat
King Edward I became a constant presence in Scottish legal and political affairs. The Scottish political community did not welcome his involvement, and by late 1295 King John had renounced his fealty to the English king and entered into a treaty with France. King Edward was reputedly enraged by such defiance, making hostilities between the kingdoms inevitable.Andrew Moray the younger was part of the Scottish feudal host assembling at Caddonlee in March 1296 in preparation for war with England. He was likely part of his father's retinue. A part of Scottish host, led by the earls of Atholl, Ross, and Mar and John Comyn the younger of Badenoch, entered Cumberland. It marched to Carlisle, destroying, according to The St. Edmundsbury Chronicle, 120 villages. More Scots raiders crossed from Jedburgh, burning homes and farms in Northumberland. Pierre de Langtoft, an English chronicler, records:
King Edward I assembled a large army on the Anglo-Scottish border for the invasion of Scotland. By 30 March it was besieging the prosperous Scottish port of Berwick.
Berwick soon fell and was sacked by the English army. The English Lanercost Chronicle condemned this slaughter as a "crime" and recorded that fifteen thousand "of both sexes perished, some by the sword, others by fire, in the space of a day and a half".
It had been many years since Scotland had mobilized for war, and at the Battle of Dunbar the Scots were overwhelmed quickly by a detachment led by John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey. The Chronicle of Bury St. Edmunds records the death of eight thousand Scots soldiers at Dunbar.
Scotland now capitulated. Edward I deposed King John at Montrose castle. The symbols of the Scottish kingship were taken from him, including the royal coat of arms which was stripped from his surcoat. King Edward undertook an extended march across Scotland, reaching Elgin on 26 July 1296. He remained in the town's castle for a few days, taking the fealty of a number of Scots nobles.
Scots nobles captured at Dunbar were sent to prisons across England. The most important prisoners, such as Sir Andrew Moray of Petty, were taken to the Tower of London. Sir Andrew spent the remainder of his life there, dying on 8 April 1298. Andrew Moray the younger, a prisoner of less significance, was imprisoned in Chester Castle.
Rebellion
King Edward's English administration in the defeated Scottish kingdom was headed by the Earl of Surrey. Sir Hugh de Cressingham was appointed Treasurer, and Walter Amersham, Chancellor. The Justiciars for Lothian, Scotia, and Galloway were English appointees. Most of Scotland's former royal castles were held by English nobles.English tax collectors began to impose heavy taxes on the Scots, corruptly exploiting the populace to enrich themselves as they collected the king's taxes. Cressingham had by the end of May 1297 dispatched £5,188 6s. 8d. to the English treasury. Edward also sought to conscript Scots, including the nobility, into the armies being raised to fight in Flanders. This plan caused widespread alarm across Scotland and further contributed to growing restlessness against English rule.
Scotland may have been easily conquered by King Edward in 1296, but outbreaks of violence soon followed against the English occupiers and their Scots allies. These are usually dated to May 1297. Argyll and Ross were the scenes of earlier violence. In Argyll, Lachlann Mac Ruaidhrí and Ruaidhrí Mac Ruaidhrí were in rebellion, attacking Edward I's MacDonald supporters, killing royal officials and destroying royal property. In Galloway the rebels seized English-held castles. There was violence in Aberdeenshire and in Fife, where MacDuff of Fife and his sons led the rising. In Central Scotland, William Hesilrig, the English sheriff of Lanark, was murdered on 3 May 1297, during an attack on the town led by William Wallace and Richard Lundie.
While the Scots suffered under English occupation, Andrew Moray the younger continued to be imprisoned in Chester castle, but sometime in winter 1296–97 he escaped and made his way back to his father's lands in north Scotland. He was soon a participant in the uprising against English rule. He raised his standard at Avoch in the first days of May 1297. News of Moray's actions drew supporters to him. Sir William fitz Warin, the English constable of Urquhart Castle on the shores of Loch Ness, wrote to King Edward in July 1297: Amongst them were Alexander Pilche, a burgess from Inverness, and a number of burgesses from the town.
King Edward I ordered supporters in Argyll and Ross to assist the Sheriff of Argyll Alexander of the Isles to suppress the rebels. The English Sheriff of Aberdeen, Sir Henry de Latham, was ordered on 11 June 1297 to deal with rebels in Aberdeenshire. Men were dispatched from England, including Henry Percy and Walter Clifford, to suppress the rebellion.