The Situation of Post Bannockburn

After Robert the Bruce's death, the boy king was too young to rule, so the regency passed to another of Bruce's nephews, Donal, Earl of Mar, an anglicized Scot who had once been sympathetic to the Balliol cause. John Balliol had been dead for nearly twenty years, but his son Edward was now hot for regaining the throne, encouraged, secretly at first, by Edward III of England.

Despite having given his name to the Treaty of Northampton, Edward III was determined to avenge the humiliation of both Bannockburn and the Weardale Campaign in which the Scots had thoroughly trounced the English forces. The Treaty of Northampton was the treaty which officially recognised Scotland as an independent Kindom and Robert the Bruce as its rightful King.

The Disinherited.

The class of Scottish nobles, now led by Edward Balliol, that had been on the losing side of Bannockburn; the Comyns; Balliols and many Englsih supporters; provided a ready-made insurgency and the English king was happy to supply a fleet of 88 ships, in which the new claimants set sail from the Humber in the summer of 1332. Edward Balliol was the son of the unlamented John Balliol, "Toom Tabard" or empty coat.

These landless ex-nobles were known as the "Disinherited". After the hugh Scottish Victory at Bannockburn under Robert the Bruce, the Scottish supporters of Edward I and his son Edward II, had lost all of their lands and holdings as Bruce gave them to his allies whom had supported him. These Disinherited were hungry for their old lands and the Crown of Scotland again.

A new invasion of Scotland was then mounted in 1332. Once again the new English king did not lead the army in person. The campaign being organised totally by the Disinherited and English supporters , led by Edward Balliol. This English army was small to medium for its day, consisting of about 500 knights and 15, 000 archers, along with several thousand foot. Under the terms of the Treaty of Northamptom, English soldiers were not permitted to cross the Tweed, so the invasion force landed in Scotland from the sea and marched directly on Perth. The news of their advance had preceeded them, and they found their route barred by a large Scottish army of mostly infantry numbering around 10,000-15,000 men, under the earl of Mar. Next, the battles.