Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough
A canon regular of the Augustinian Guisborough Priory, Yorkshire, formerly known as The Chronicle of Walter of Hemingburgh, describes the period from 1066 to 1346. Before 1274 the Chronicle is based on other works. Thereafter, the Chronicle is original, and a remarkable source for the events of the time. This book provides a translation of the Chronicle from that date. The Latin source for our translation is the 1849 work edited by Hans Claude Hamilton. Hamilton, in his preface, says: 'In the present work we behold perhaps one of the finest samples of our early chronicles, both as regards the value of the events recorded, and the correctness with which they are detailed; Nor will the pleasing style of composition be lightly passed over by those capable of seeing reflected from it the tokens of a vigorous and cultivated mind, and a favourable specimen of the learning and taste of the age in which it was framed.'
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Paternal Family Tree: Burgh
Maternal Family Tree: Margaret Burgh Countess Ulster
1306 Murder of John "Red" Comyn
1306 Coronation of Robert the Bruce
1306 Imprisonment and Execution of Scottish Prisoners
1307 Battle of Loch Ryan and the Execution of the Bruce Brothers
In or before 1280 [her father] Richard "Red Earl" Burgh 2nd Earl of Ulster [aged 20] and [her mother] Margaret Burgh Countess Ulster were married. She by marriage Countess of Ulster. He the son of [her grandfather] Walter Burgh 1st Earl of Ulster. They were third cousins.
In 1284 Elizabeth Burgh Queen Consort Scotland was born to [her father] Richard "Red Earl" Burgh 2nd Earl of Ulster [aged 25] and [her mother] Margaret Burgh Countess Ulster.
In 1296 [her future husband] King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland [aged 21] and Isabella Mar [aged 43] were married. The difference in their ages was 21 years; she, unusually, being older than him. She the daughter of Donald Mar 7th Earl of Mar and Elen ferch Llewellyn Aberffraw Countess Huntingdon and Mar. He the son of [her future father-in-law] Robert Bruce Earl Carrick [aged 52] and Marjorie Carrick 3rd Countess Carrick. They were fifth cousins. He a great x 5 grandson of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England. She a great granddaughter of King John of England.
On 12th January 1297 [her brother-in-law] Thomas de Multon 1st Baron Multon and [her sister] Eleanor Burgh Baroness Multon Egremont [aged 15] were married. She the daughter of [her father] Richard "Red Earl" Burgh 2nd Earl of Ulster [aged 38] and [her mother] Margaret Burgh Countess Ulster.
In 1302 King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland [aged 27] and Elizabeth Burgh Queen Consort Scotland [aged 18] were married. She the daughter of Richard "Red Earl" Burgh 2nd Earl of Ulster [aged 43] and Margaret Burgh Countess Ulster. He the son of Robert Bruce Earl Carrick [aged 58] and Marjorie Carrick 3rd Countess Carrick. They were fifth cousin once removed. He a great x 5 grandson of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England.
On 10th February 1306 John Comyn 3rd Lord Baddenoch [aged 37] was murdered by [her husband] Robert the Bruce [aged 31], future King of Scotland, before the High Altar of the Greyfriars Monastery [Map]. Robert Comyn, John's uncle, was killed by Christopher Seton [aged 28]. Christopher's brother John Seton [aged 28] was also present.
Murder, in a church, in front of the altar, regarded as a terrible crime. The act gave King Edward I of England [aged 66] cause to invade Scotland. Robert the Bruce was ex-communicated by the Pope for his actions.
King Edward I of England charged Bishop David de Moravia as being complicit in the murder.
On 25th March 1306, [her husband] King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland [aged 31] was crowned King Scotland at Scone Abbey [Map] by Bishop of St Andrews and Bishop Robert Wishart. Elizabeth Burgh Queen Consort Scotland [aged 22] was crowned Queen Consort Scotland. Christopher Seton [aged 28] and Bishop David de Moravia were present. He was wearing royal robes and vestments previously hidden from the English by Bishop Robert Wishart.
The following day, 26th March 1306, King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland was crowned by Isabella Countess Buchan whose family held the hereditary right to place the crown on the King's head; she had arrived too late for the coronation the day before. The right was held by her brother Duncan Fife 4th Earl Fife [aged 18] who was under-age and held by the English so she assumed the right in his place.
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. [19th June 1306] So they went out in the evening as they had agreed, and found them lying about at ease; and before they could all mount up, they fell upon them fiercely. Many were cut down, and the king, with a few men resisting for a while, was at length put to flight. The new king fled, and they pursued him as far as the island of Kintyre; and they besieged the castle of that place [Methven Castle], believing that he had taken refuge there, but he had gone into the farthest islands of that region. When they had taken the castle, they found one of the new king's brothers, namely Lord [her brother-in-law] Nigel Bruce [aged 30], along with the new queen [Elizabeth de Burgh [aged 22]] and many others. Bringing them with them to Berwick, there before the justiciars of the lord king of England, who by the king's command had assembled there, they were formally condemned: the men were drawn, hanged, and beheaded. But the new queen, because she was the daughter of the [her father] earl of Ulster [aged 47] (and that earl, at the beginning of the war started by his son-in-law, Lord Robert de Bruce, so that the lord king of England should suspect no ill will from him, had sent two of his sons to the king to be kept at the king's pleasure, as an excuse that he had always been loyal), and because of a certain remark she had made to her husband, when at his coronation he had spoken to her and said, "Rejoice now, my consort, for you have become queen and I king," she is reported to have answered him thus: "I fear, my lord, that we have become king and queen as children do in their summer games", for these two reasons, the king sent her with an honourable household to be lodged at his manor of Burstwick, and ordered that she be maintained with honour.
Exierunt ergo in vesperis ut condixerant, et invenerunt eos recumbentes secure, et antequam possent omnes ascendere, irruerunt in eos vehementer, cæsisque multis, regem cum paucis aliquamdiu resistentem, in fugam tandem converterunt. Fugitque rex novus, et insecuti sunt eum usque in insulam de Kentyr; obsederuntque castrum loci illius, credentes eum se ibidem recepisse sed ille abierat in extremas insulas regionis illius. Expugnatoque castro, invenerunt unum ex fratribus novi regis dominum scilicet Nigellum de Brus, cum nova regina, et multis Nigel Bruce aliis; quos adducentes secum usque Berewyk, Kildrummie ibi coram justitiariis domini regis Angliæ, qui is hanged at ex præcepto regis ibidem convenerant, judicialiter damnati sunt homines, tracti, suspensi et decollati. Reginam autem novam, quia filia comitis de Huluerster erat, (qui quidem comes, in principio guerræ motæ per generum dominum Robertum de Brus, ne dominus rex Angliæ quicquam mali contra eum suspicaretur, misit ad regem duos filios suos pro voluntate regis retinendos in excusationem sui quod semper ei fidelis extiterat,) et propter unum verbum quod marito suo dixerat cum in coronatione sua loqueretur ei et diceret, "Lætare modo consocia, quia regina effecta es, et ego rex," fertur eam sic respondisse ei: "Timeo, domine, quod sumus effecti rex et regina, sicut efficiuntur pueri in ludis æstivalibus:" propter istas ergo duas causas, misit eam rex cum honesta familia perendinandam in manerio suo de Bruscewych, et jussit eam honorifice sustentari.
Calendar Scottish Documents Volume 2. 7th November 1306. 1851. Farther orders for the custody of the Countesses of Carrick [aged 22] and Buchan, Marie [aged 24] and [her sister-in-law] Christine [aged 33] the sisters, and Margerie the daughter of Robert de Brus, and other Scottish prisoners; three of the ladies to be in 'kages' [Chapter House (Scots Documents), Box 1, No. 4.]
On 9th February 1307 the Battle of Loch Ryan was a victory of local forces, led by Dungal MacDowall, supporter of King Edward I, over a force consisting of 1000 men and eighteen galleys led by [her brother-in-law] Thomas Bruce [aged 23] and Alexander Bruce [aged 22], brothers of King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland [aged 32], supported by Malcolm McQuillan, Lord of Kintyre, and Sir Reginald Crawford. Only two galleys escaped. Malcolm McQuillan was captured an summarily executed.
Thomas Bruce, Alexander Bruce and Reginald Crawford were hanged (possibly hanged, drawn and quartered) at Carlisle, Cumberland [Map].
In 1308 Hugh 4th Earl Ross [aged 11] and [her sister-in-law] Matilda Bruce Countess Ross [aged 21] were married. She by marriage Countess Ross. She the daughter of [her father-in-law] Robert Bruce Earl Carrick and Marjorie Carrick 3rd Countess Carrick.
Calendar Scottish Documents Volume 3. 22nd June 1308. 48. The K. having ordered that Elizabeth de Brus [aged 24] wife of Robert de Brus, late earl of Carrick, shall change her residence, commands the bailiff of Brustwyk [Map] to deliver her with her retinue and baggage to his vallet John de Bentelee to be conducted where the K. has instructed him. Marlborough [Close, 1 Edw. II. m.1]
On 16th August 1312 [her brother-in-law] Thomas Fitzgerald 2nd Earl of Kildare and [her sister] Joan Burgh Countess Kildare [aged 12] were married at Greencastle, County Down. She by marriage Countess Kildare. She the daughter of [her father] Richard "Red Earl" Burgh 2nd Earl of Ulster [aged 53] and [her mother] Margaret Burgh Countess Ulster. He the son of John Fitzgerald 1st Earl of Kildare [aged 62] and Blanche La Roche Countess Kildare [aged 57].
On 24th June 1314 the Scottish army of [her husband] King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland [aged 39] including, James "Black" Douglas [aged 28], heavily defeated the English army led by King Edward II of England [aged 30] at the Battle of Bannockburn.
[her brother-in-law] Gilbert de Clare 8th Earl Gloucester 7th Earl Hertford [aged 23] was killed. Earl Gloucester, Earl Hertford extinct.
John Comyn 4th Lord Baddenoch [aged 20], Robert Felton 1st Baron Felton [aged 44] and William Vesci were killed.
William Marshal 1st Baron Marshal [aged 36] was killed. His son John [aged 22] succeeded 2nd Baron Marshal.
Robert Clifford 1st Baron Clifford [aged 40] was killed. His son Roger [aged 14] succeeded 2nd Baron de Clifford.
John Lovell 2nd Baron Lovel [aged 25] was killed. His son John succeeded 3rd Baron Lovel of Titchmarsh.
Henry Bohun was killed by King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland. He was buried in Llanthony Secunda Priory, Gloucestershire [Map].
Walter Fauconberg 2nd Baron Fauconberg [aged 50] possilby died although his death is also reported as being on 31 Dec 1318.
Bartholomew Badlesmere 1st Baron Badlesmere [aged 38], Humphrey Bohun 4th Earl Hereford 3rd Earl Essex [aged 38], Goronwy ap Tudur Hen Tudor, Henry Beaumont Earl Buchan [aged 35], Aymer de Valence 2nd Earl Pembroke [aged 39] and Robert Umfraville 8th Earl Angus [aged 37] fought.
Pain Tiptoft 1st Baron Tibetot [aged 34] was killed. His son John succeeded 2nd Baron Tibetot.
John Montfort 2nd Baron Montfort [aged 23] was killed. Peter Montfort 3rd Baron Montfort [aged 23] succeeded 3rd Baron Montfort.
Thomas Grey [aged 34] undertook a suicidal charge that contributed to the English defeat and subsequently blemished his career.
William Latimer 2nd Baron Latimer of Corby [aged 38] was captured.
Michael Poynings [aged 44] was killed.
The Bruce 1306. [24th June 1314] Lines 4.39-58:
| The Queyn, and als dame Marjory, | The Queen [aged 30]1, and also [her step-daughter] Lady Marjory [aged 18], |
| Hyr dochtyr that syne worthily | Her daughter who later worthily |
| Wes coupillyt in-to Goddis band | Was joined into God's bond |
| With Walter, Stewart off Scotland; | With Walter [aged 18], Stewart of Scotland; |
| That wald on na wys langar ly | Who would not in any way longer stay |
| In the castell off Kyldromy, | In the castle of Kildrummy, |
| To byd a sege, ar ridin raith | To await a siege, but riding quickly |
| With knychtis and with squyeris bath, | With knights and with squires both, |
| Throw Ros, rycht to the gyrth off Tayne. | Through Ross, right to the girth of Tayne2. |
| Bot that travaill thai maid in vayne; | But their efforts were in vain; |
| For thai off Ros, that wald nocht ber | For the men of Ross3, who would not bear |
| For thaim na blayme, na yheit danger, | Any blame or even danger for them, |
| Owt off the gyrth thame all has tayne; | Out of the girth, they all have been taken; |
| And syne has send thaim evirilkane | And then they have sent them all |
| Rycht in-till Ingland, to the King, | Right into England, to the King, |
| That gert draw all the men, and hing; | Who ordered all the men to be drawn and hanged; |
| And put the ladyis in presoune, | And put the ladies in prison4, |
| Sum in-till castell, sum in dongeoun. | Some in a castle, some in a dungeon. |
| It wes gret pite for till heir | It was a great pity to hear |
| Folk till be troublyt on this maneir. | People being troubled in this manner. |
Note 1. dame Marjory. Bruce's daughter by his first wife, Isabel, daughter of Donald Earl of Mar. She afterwards married Walter, the High Steward (see Bk. XIII. 689).
Note 2. the gyrth of Tayne. The enclosure or "sanctuary" attached to the chapel of St. Duthac, at Tain, Ross-shire, a favourite place of pilgrimage with the Scottish kings, especially James IV. There was, however, no privilege of sanctuary for treason. William Earl of Ross was in the English interest, and on May 20, 1308, is the recipient of thanks from Edward II. "for faithful service to his father and himself" (Bain, iii., No. 43). Hemingburgh says "the new Queen" was taken in Kildrummy (ii. 249); Gray that Cristina Bruce was captured there, and the Queen and Nigel Bruce in Dunaverty (Scala., p. 131); Trivet agrees with the second statement, but obviously confuses (p. 410); according to Fordun the Queen was taken at Tain, and many ladies at "Kyndrumy" (Gesta Ann., cxx.).
Note 3. thai of Ros. Fordun says the Queen was seized at St. Duthac's by the Earl of Ross (Gesta Ann., cxx.).
Note 4. put the ladyis in presoune. On November 7, 1306, there are "further orders for the custody of the Countesses of Carrick (the Queen) and Buchan, Marie, and Christine, the sisters, and Margerie the daughter, of Robert de Bruce ... three of the ladies to be in 'kages.'" (Bain, ii., No. 1851). The Countess of Buchan, who had crowned Bruce, was to be placed in a cage of wooden bars and lattice in one of the turrets of Berwick Castle (Palgrave, p. 358; Scala., p. 131); Marie Bruce in a "kage" in Roxburgh (Palgrave, 359); Marjory in a "kage" in the Tower of London (359); [her sister-in-law] Cristina [aged 41] in ward in England (Palgrave, 359). The Queen was to be in custody at "Brustewik" (Palgrave p. 357); was removed thence by an order of June 22, 1308 (Bain, iii., No. 48). Marjory was in ward at Wattone in March, 1307 (Bain, ii., 1910). By 1311-1312 Maria de Brus is a prisoner in Newcastle (Bain, iii., 227, 340).
Abbot John Whethamstede’s Chronicle of the Abbey of St Albans
Abbot John Whethamstede's Register aka Chronicle of his second term at the Abbey of St Albans, 1451-1461, is a remarkable text that describes his first-hand experience of the beginning of the Wars of the Roses including the First and Second Battles of St Albans, 1455 and 1461, respectively, their cause, and their consequences, not least on the Abbey itself. His text also includes Loveday, Blore Heath, Northampton, the Act of Accord, Wakefield, and Towton, and ends with the Coronation of King Edward IV. In addition to the events of the Wars of the Roses, Abbot John, or his scribes who wrote the Chronicle, include details in the life of the Abbey such as charters, letters, land exchanges, visits by legates, and disputes, which provide a rich insight into the day-to-day life of the Abbey, and the challenges faced by its Abbot.
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In 1315 Walter Stewart 6th High Steward [aged 19] and [her step-daughter] Marjorie Bruce [aged 19] were married. She the daughter of [her husband] King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland [aged 40] and Isabella Mar. They were second cousin once removed. She a great x 2 granddaughter of King John of England.
In 1320 [her sister] Matilda Burgh Countess Gloucester and Hertford [aged 32] died.
After 1323 [her sister-in-law] Matilda Bruce Countess Ross [deceased] died.
On 5th March 1324 twins [her son] King David II of Scotland and John Bruce were born to King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland [aged 49] and Elizabeth Burgh Queen Consort Scotland [aged 40] at Dunfermline Abbey [Map].
After August 1324 [her sister] Eleanor Burgh Baroness Multon Egremont [deceased] died.
On 29th July 1326 [her father] Richard "Red Earl" Burgh 2nd Earl of Ulster [aged 67] died at Altassel Priory. His grandson William [aged 13] succeeded 3rd Earl of Ulster.
Before 1327 [her son] John Bruce [aged 2] died.
On 26th October 1327 Elizabeth Burgh Queen Consort Scotland [aged 43] died.
On 7th June 1329 [her former husband] King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland [aged 54] died at Cardross Manor, Argyll. He was buried at Dunfermline Abbey [Map]. His son David [aged 5] succeeded II King Scotland. Joan of the Tower Queen Consort Scotland [aged 7] by marriage Queen Consort Scotland.
[her daughter] Margaret Bruce was born to King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland and Elizabeth Burgh Queen Consort Scotland. She married 1345 her sixth cousin William de Moravia Sutherland 5th Earl Sutherland, son of Kenneth de Moravia Sutherland 4th Earl Sutherland and Mary or Marjorie Mar Countess Sutherland, and had issue.
[her daughter] Matilda Bruce was born to King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland and Elizabeth Burgh Queen Consort Scotland.
Scotland Documents and Records Palgrave. 4. Let it be remembered that when the wife [Elizabeth Burgh Queen Consort Scotland] of the Count of Carrick has come to the King, she should be sent to Brunstwick, and that she should have her household and her sustenance arranged in the manner described below.
4. Fait a remembrer q quant la femme le Conte de Carrik sera venue au Roi, ele soit envee a Brustewik, et q ele eit tieu mesnee t sa sustenance ordenee en la mañe desouzescrite .
Kings Gwynedd: Great x 10 Grand Daughter of Maredudd ab Owain King Deheubarth King Powys King Gwynedd
Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 12 Grand Daughter of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth
Kings Powys: Great x 10 Grand Daughter of Maredudd ab Owain King Deheubarth King Powys King Gwynedd
Kings Franks: Great x 16 Grand Daughter of Charles "Charlemagne aka Great" King of the Franks King Lombardy Holy Roman Emperor
Kings France: Great x 9 Grand Daughter of Hugh I King of the Franks
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 13 Grand Daughter of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
Great x 3 Grandfather: Walter Burgh 
Great x 2 Grandfather: William Burgh
Great x 3 Grandmother: Alice Unknown
Great x 1 Grandfather: Richard Mór Burgh 1st Baron Connaught
GrandFather: Walter Burgh 1st Earl of Ulster
Great x 4 Grandfather: Gilbert de Lacy 
Great x 3 Grandfather: Hugh Lacy
Great x 2 Grandfather: Walter Lacy Lord Meath
Great x 4 Grandfather: Baderon Monmouth Lord Monmouth
Great x 3 Grandmother: Rohese Monmouth Baroness Lacy
Great x 4 Grandmother: Rohese de Clare 
Great x 1 Grandmother: Egidia Lacy Baroness Connaught
Great x 4 Grandfather: William de Braose 3rd Baron Bramber 
Great x 3 Grandfather: William de Braose 4th Baron Bramber
Great x 4 Grandmother: Bertha Gloucester Baroness Bramber
Great x 2 Grandmother: Margaret de Braose
Great x 4 Grandfather: Bernard St Valery
Great x 3 Grandmother: Maud "Lady of Hay" St Valery Baroness Bramber
Great x 4 Grandmother: Matilda Unknown
Elizabeth Burgh Queen Consort Scotland
Great x 3 Grandfather: Walter Burgh
Great x 2 Grandfather: Hubert de Burgh Count Mortain 1st Earl Kent
Great x 3 Grandmother: Alice Unknown
Great x 1 Grandfather: John Burgh
Great x 4 Grandfather: Reginald Warenne 
Great x 3 Grandfather: William Warenne
Great x 4 Grandmother: Alice Wormegay
Great x 2 Grandmother: Beatrice Warenne
GrandFather: John Burgh
Great x 1 Grandmother: Hawise Valey
Mother: Margaret Burgh Countess Ulster