overcome Wallace. Clifford also brought a retinue to fight at Falkirk which included knights from Cumbria and Scotland – one of the latter being a certain Sir Roger Kirkpatrick of Auchen Castle, Annandale, and the ‘real’ Kirkpatrick who murdered the Red Comyn.
CRAW, Sim
A semi-fictional character – Sim of Leadhouse is mentioned only once in history, as the inventor of the cunning scaling ladders with which James Douglas took Roxburgh by stealth in 1314. Here, he is Hal of Herdmanston’s right-hand man, older than Hal, powerfully built and favouring a big latchbow, a crossbow usually spanned (cocked) using a hook attached to a belt. He is strong enough to do it without the hook.
CRESSINGHAM, Sir Hugh
Appointed by Edward I as Lord Treasurer of Scotland, he was disliked by his English colleagues as an upstart and universally detested by the Scots, whom he taxed. His attempts to curtail the expense of the campaign of 1297 fatally compromised the English army at Stirling Bridge, where Cressingham himself was killed leading the Van. Famously, legend has it that he was flayed and strips of his skin were sent all over Scotland, one being made into a baldric for Wallace.
DE FAUCIGNY, Manon
Fictional character, a stone-carver from Savoy brought into a conspiracy from which he has subsequently fled. Now all factions are hunting him out for what they believe he knows.
DE JAY, Sir Brian
Master of the English Templars, he brought a force to Falkirk in the service of Edward I, thus pitting the Templar knights against fellow-Christians, to general odium. With Brother John de Sawtrey, commander of the Scottish Templars, he pursued Wallace into a thicket, where both Templar commanders were killed – the only ‘notable deaths’ in the entire affair according to the chroniclers.
DE WARENNE, Sir John, Earl of Surrey
Long-time friend and supporter of King Edward, De Warenne was already in his sixties when Edward appointed him ‘warden of the land of Scots’ and had served in the Welsh campaigns of 1277, 1282 and 1283. He hated Scotland, complaining that the climate did not suit him, and attempted to run the place from his estates in England. Finally forced to do something about the rebels, he brought an army to Stirling Bridge and was famously defeated. Fought again at Falkirk, commanding one of the four ‘hosts’ of heavy horse. He died, peacefully, in 1304.
DOG BOY
Fictional character, the lowest of the low, a houndsman in Douglas and of ages with the young James Douglas. Given to Hal as a gift by Eleanor Douglas to spite her stepson, the Dog Boy finds that service at a Herdmanston at war brings him to rub shoulders with the great and the good and invests him with a new stature he would not otherwise have enjoyed.
DOUGLAS, James
Son of The Hardy by his first wife, a Stewart, whom he simply sent off to a convent in order to marry his second, Eleanor de Lovaigne. After the death of ‘Le Hardi’, Eleanor and her two sons, James’s stepbrothers, were packed off south to a convent and the Douglas lands given to Clifford. James went to Paris under the auspices of Lamberton, Bishop of St Andrews. He returned as a young man just as Bruce became king and joined him, rising to become one of Robert the Bruce’s most trusted commanders.
DOUGLAS, Sir William
Lord of Douglas Castle in south-west Scotland, father of young James Douglas, later to be known both as The Black Douglas (if you were his enemy and demonising him with foul deeds) and The Good Sir James (if you were a Scot lauding the Kingdom’s darling hero). It is clear nicknames ran in the family – William was known as The Hardy (which simply means Bold) and was a typical warlord noble of Scotland. Sent to defend Berwick against Edward I in the campaign that brought John Balliol to his knees, William Douglas was finally forced to surrender and watch as Edward ravaged the town in a slaughter which became a watchword for the Scots and their later revenge. Douglas agreed to serve Edward I in his French wars, but absconded as soon as possible and joined Wallace’s rebellion. Taken into custody – in chains – after the convention of Irvine, he was imprisoned in the Tower and died of ‘mistreatment’ there not long after.
DUNBAR, Earl Patrick
The most powerful Baron of the Lothians, Dunbar was a staunch supporter of the Plantagenets right up until 1314, when it was clear he had to submit to Bruce or suffer. He is, technically, the lord to whom the Sientclers owe their fealty – and the one they continually defy by joining with the cause of the Scots. Together with Gilbert D’Umfraville, another lord with extensive holdings in Scotland, he brought the news of Wallace’s Falkirk location to Edward just when it seemed that the English would have to give up and retreat.
EDWARD I
King of England. At the time of this novel he has only recently conquered the Welsh and has a vision to become ruler of a united Britain before returning to his first love, a Crusade to free the Holy Land. He sees his chance to take over Scotland when the nobles come to him, as a respected monarch of Christendom, to adjudicate in their attempts to elect a new king of Scots from the many factions in the realm. His subsequent attempts to impose what he sees as his rights inveigle both realms in a long, vicious, expensive and bloody war that lasts for decades. Much maligned by Scots, for obvious reasons, he was beloved by the English, who were mournful about what would happen to their realm under his son, Edward II – and with good reason.
GAVESTON, Piers
Seen here briefly as a young squire at Falkirk, Gaveston was actually picked by Edward I as a suitable companion for his son, in an attempt to give the Prince some sort of benchmark for how to conduct himself with the dignity and honour of his station. This fatal error resulted in an unhealthy relationship between the two men which eventually brought both Edward II and his kingdom to ruin.
KIRKPATRICK, Roger
Fictional character, but based on the real Sir Roger Kirkpatrick of Closeburn, whom I have as kin to the fictional one. This is because my Kirkpatrick is a staunch Bruce supporter from the outset and the real Sir Roger was not – he even fought for Clifford in the English retinue at Falkirk. My Kirkpatrick assumes the mantle of Bruce’s henchman, prepared for any dirty work on behalf of his master’s advancement, including murder.
LAMPRECHT
Fictional character, a pardoner and seller of relics from Cologne, a sometime spy and agent of those who pay most, he becomes involved in the Buchan plot against Hal of Herdmanston.
MALENFAUNT, Sir Robert
Real family, fictional character – a knight of dubious renown who captures Isabel at Stirling Bridge and is then duped into handing her over to what he believes is her husband, the Earl of Buchan, by Bruce and Hal.
MORAY, Sir Andrew
He raised the standard of rebellion in the north of Scotland in 1297, then joined forces with Wallace and, arguably, provided an acceptable commander for the nobility to rally to rather than the ‘brigand’ Wallace. Arguably, too, he provided the military skill of handling an army – but was badly wounded at Stirling Bridge and later died, leaving Wallace to organise subsequent events with disastrous results.
SIENTCLER, Sir Henry of Herdmanston
Known as Hal, he is the son and heir to Herdmanston, a lowly tower owing fealty to their kin, the Sientclers of Roslin. He is typical of the many poor nobles of Lothian who became embroiled in the wars on both sides of the divide – but Hal has fallen in love with Isabel, Countess of Buchan, and their ill-fated affair is shredded by war and her husband’s hatred. Hal himself is torn by doubts as to whom he can trust, even between Wallace and Bruce, in a kingdom riven by family rivalries and betrayals. The Sientclers of Herdmanston are a little-known branch of that family, appearing prominently for one brief moment in fifteenth-century history. Herdmanston is now an anonymous pile of stones in a corner of a ploughed field and any descriptions of it are pure conjecture on my part.
SIENTCLER, Sir Henry of Roslin
In reality, held as a hostage for ransom by the English, with his father, William, also held in the Tower. Here he is grandson of the Auld Templar and eventually ransomed by Hal and Bruce. In reality, he was also ransomed and later fought in the Battle of Roslin Glen alongside Red John Comyn and Sir Simon Fraser and against the English of Segrave and others, a famous victory for the Scots in 1303, when victories were scarce.
SIENTCLER, Sir John of Herdmanston
