What is Bannockburn Day in Scotland?
Is celebrated on 24 June and commemorates the Battle of Bannockburn and Robert Bruce (see info below). Prelude Stirling Castle was besieged by the Scots in the spring of 1314. The commander at Stirling, Sir Philip Mowbray, agreed to surrender if a relieving force had not arrived by the end of June. On hearing of this agreement, Edward II of England organized a considerable force of possibly 25,000 men to head north. The army was mustered at Berwick-upon-Tweed before crossing the border at Coldstream and heading for Stirling. The battle On Sunday, June 23, the English force had reached the ford at Bannockburn, a few miles south of Stirling, where the Scottish force of maybe 9,000 was waiting for them under the command of Robert Bruce. The Scots intended to fight in a narrow gap, relying on their disciplined schiltron to blunt the advantages of the English heavy cavalry. The actual battle spread over the few miles of poor ground between Bannock Burn and the River Forth. The battle was fo
