Marshall - The Battle of Bannockburn - Keeping the Public in Public Domain

 

The first Saturday in August is always the St. Andrew's Society of Detroit's Annual Highland Games and this year is the 177th! 

Scots have a long memory! 

On this blog in 2025 I told the story of the Battle of Bannockburn and look forward to sharing it again at the Games. I will be telling at the Wee Bairns area. That name is slightly misleading for the Wee Bairns is actually aimed at sharing Scottish culture for all ages.

The version I used here in 2025 was difficult to read online. I suggest going to its source The history of England by Arnold-Foster where it's slightly larger than was able to be produced here. As I mentioned then, it's an English version of the battle, but "one of the easiest Public Domain summaries of the major facts." 

I also mentioned  Scotland's Story: A history of Scotland for Boys and Girls by H. E. (Henrietta Elizabeth) Marshall. At that time giving a picture from the chapter on "The Bruce killing de Bohun at the Battle of Bannockburn." That picture was from Marshall's chapter on the day before the battle. Here is her description of the actual battle. 

 

I think both the Arnold-Foster and Marshall versions are worth knowing as they point out different things, including looking at the results from both perspectives. Arnold -Foster looking at the "unfortunate" reign of Edward II and its end. Marshall points to the way the Scots treated the English, both the dead and their prisoners in what was "more kind to these prisoners than was usually the case in those wild days." At the same time she points to Bruce getting back "his wife, daughter, and sisters, and the other noble ladies who had been kept in English prisons for eight years." Both point out that from then on Scotland was never ruled by a foreign king.

Personally I wish Marshall had said more about the schiltrons the Scots used. That use of spears and sabotaging the terrain permitted the smaller Scottish force of 6,000 to defeat the roughly 30,000 of the invading English. 

A Wikipedia overview of the Battle of Bannockburn is not as engrossing as actual visiting the Bannockburn Visitor Centre where they do an outstanding job of putting you in the experience.

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This is part of a series of postings of stories under the category, “Keeping the Public in Public Domain.” The idea behind Public Domain was to preserve our cultural heritage after the authors and their immediate heirs were compensated. I feel strongly current copyright law delays this intent on works of the 20^th century. My own library of folklore includes so many books within the Public Domain I decided to share stories from them. I hope you enjoy discovering them.

At the same time, my own involvement in storytelling regularly creates projects requiring research as part of my sharing stories with an audience.  Whenever that research needs to be shown here, the publishing of Public Domain stories will not occur that week.  This is a return to my regular posting of a research project here.  (Don't worry, this isn't dry research, my research is always geared towards future storytelling to an audience.)  Response has convinced me that "Keeping the Public in Public Domain" should continue along with my other postings as often as I can manage it.

See the sidebar for other Public Domain story resources I recommend on the page “Public Domain Story Resources."