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All About History Books
The Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke. Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson. Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback.
The Bruce is in Late Medieval Books.
Late Medieval Books, The Bruce 1306
| The Queyn, and als dame Marjory, | The Queen (age 21)1, and also Lady Marjory (age 9), |
| 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 (age 9), 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); Cristina (age 32) 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).
| The Queyn, and als dame Marjory, | The Queen (age 21)1, and also Lady Marjory (age 9), |
| 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 (age 9), 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); Cristina (age 32) 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).