Bruce, Balliol and the lordship of Galloway: south-western Scotland and the Wars of Independence

Abstract

First paragraph: The role of south-western Scotland in the Scottish Wars of Indeperdence is one of the forgotten chapters in the history of the region. As an area where the intcrests of several of the key players in the wars - John Balliol, John Comyn earl of Buchan and John Comyn lord of Badenoch, and Robert Bruce lord of Annandale and his son and grandson of the same name - all collided, Galloway was destined to be one of the major battlegrounds of the wars which followed the deposition of Balliol. The internal divisions within the region which became apparent in the course of the sixty years after that event mirrored in microcosm the political cleavages within Scotland as a whole and the ebb and flow of the fortunes of both sides is chronicled closely by events in Galloway. Overshadowed by the better documented and more closely-studied Bruce campaigns in the north-east, the savage civil war which convulsed the lordship between 1306 and 1314, and again from 1332 to 1356, is a neglected area of potentially great value, as it stemmed from a failure of Bruce policies. When faced with the evidence for the success of Robert I in achieving lasting and stable political settlements in most parts of his kingdom, the failure to establish a sound political structure in what had been the heartland of Balliol’s Scottish lands is a phenomenon which cannot be conveniently overlooked. The reasons for the failure were in large part deep-rooted in the politics of the succession to the throne of Scotland after 1286, but the ultimate failure was purely personal, solely the responsibility of the king.