Donald of Mar, who would defect to the Balliol side at the crucial
moment.^82 However, he was soon disabused of this notion. Donald
became the new regent of Scotland in early August 1332, and proceeded
to corner the Disinherited just outside Perth. Although a small night raid
provided the English with a much-needed morale boost, the prospects
before them were very grim indeed. They may well have been outnum-
bered by more than ten to one. It is possible, though, that Henry’s
martial expertise made all the difference at this point: that he was able
to call upon his memories, both of victory and defeat, so as tofind a way
to turn this dreadful situation to advantage. It is worth noting, too, that
Henry may have known the terrain quite well, since he had been
entrusted with the castle of Perth more than twenty years earlier, during
the campaign of 1310–11.^83 Whilst the English pikemen duly heldfirm
against the enemy charge, the longbowmenfired into the Scottishflanks
and rear. The momentum of the remaining Bruce forces, piling in from
behind, added to the crush.‘So hastily did they come against them,’says
theBrut,‘that they [were] piled into a heap of thousands, each on top of
the others.’When the Scots’momentumfinally gave out and they turned
toflee, Henry and his fellow knights leapt onto their waiting horses,
cutting down the survivors as they ran. The carnage was appalling. We
are told that the dead lay in heaps, the highest pile as tall as a spear.
Perhaps more importantly, the Scots had lost the earls of Mar, Moray
and many others, for the price, apparently, of only two knights and 33
squires.^84 Henry was also proved right in his assumption that a quick,
impressive victory would be sufficient to give Edward Balliol a fair run
at the throne. Over the course of the next few weeks, large numbers of
Scots came to make their peace with Edward, who was crowned at
Scone on 24 September.^85 ThebattleofDupplinMoorwasatruly
astonishing victory, and it marks thefitting culmination of Henry’slong
military career.
However, what had been done so quickly could be undone equally
rapidly, and Henry discovered this as soon as his back was turned. In one
of those kaleidoscopic changes of fortune so characteristic of the period,
Edward Balliol was suddenly defeated at Annan in December 1332, in
(^82) For suspicions about Donald’s loyalty to the Bruce cause, see Beam,The Balliol Dynasty,
213 – 15.
(^83) For this campaign in context, see McNamee,The Wars of the Bruces,49–53.
(^84) For the battle, see DeVries,Infantry Warfare in the Early Fourteenth Century, 115–20; and
85 Rogers,War Cruel and Sharp,27–47.
For this, and for Henry’s attendance at the new King Edward’s parliaments, see Beam,
The Balliol Dynasty, 225–31.
The Coming of the Hundred Years’War 159