On This Day in 1305

[tonymaillman]

5th August 1305 ......... William Wallace was defeated and captured at the Battle of Stirling Bridge ....... later to be tried and hung, drawn and quartered.

[byrdy]

later to be tried and hung, drawn and quartered.

 

Quite right too.

[observer]

Errm? William Wallace won the battle of Sterling Bridge in 1297, having observed that a portion of the English Army had crossed the bridge and could be defeated in detail, not allowing them room to deploy and the bridge limiting reinforcement. Wallace was defeated at the later battle of Falkirk, from whence he pursued a guerilla campaign for the next seven years, when he was betrayed into the hands of the English. Interestingly, Falkirk was the first battle of importance where the English longbow was used as the battle winning weapon; used to mow down the Scottish schiltrons, which were inpenetrable by English Knights. (Source: Battles in Britain 1066 - 1547. William Seymour).

[tonymaillman]

Somebodys got a bit of knowledge then I was curious as to how long it would be before somebody spotted the deliberate mistake 10 out of 10 Obs ......... watching the telly is paying off then ?

 

Could start a whole new trend with 'catchout' threads

[observer]

Not the TV - I consulted my library! The English at Falkirk had 2,500 knights, 1,000 Cheshire and Lancashire archers and 10,000 Welsh longbowmen - some firepower there! The Scottish schiltron could contain a dense formation of around 1,500 men, presenting an inpenetrable barrier of spearpoints. The English failiure at Sterling Bridge and later at Bannockburn, was due to tactical incompetance, rather than the inherent superiority of their troop and weapon types.

[observer]

Just watched "Braveheart" (again!); a total distortion of the actual history alas; but it did capture the stench of trechery and betrayal prevelent in Scottish Nobility at the time, and subsequently adopted by all trimmers throughout history.