The Battle of Pitreavie
Also known as The Battle of Inverkeithing
Well into a beautiful Sunday, the 20th of July 1651, fifteen hundred Scottish clansmen, bereft of cavalry support, met - in deadly combat - artillery, infantry and mounted forces much superior in armour and number from the ‘New Model Army’ of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England. The Highlanders occupied a shallow valley just south of the Fife Castle of Pitreavie, from whence the engagement takes its name. That day witnessed the Scots in the encounter almost annihilated and the cause of the king for whom they had striven so courageously, Charles II, extinguished militarily within Scotland.
The events which led to Pitreavie had their roots in the lifetime of the king’s father and predecessor, Charles I, whose doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings to rule accountable solely to God and whose attempt to impose Episcopacy on both of his linked kingdoms of Scotland and England would precipitate divisive hostilities in each; in England known as the English Civil War; in Scotland as the Covenanters’ War from those who swore a covenant to uphold the Presbyterian faith in resistance to the king. At the time, separate parliaments existed for Scotland and England, each the bulwark against royal pretension. Whereas, in both countries, the strife was a turmoil of politics intermixed with religion, the conflicts were distinct with different objectives, being interwoven primarily through the monarchy being a protagonist in each; and moreover expediency, for the Scots Presbyterians went south to fight alongside the Puritans (i.e. the English Protestants supporting the parliamentarian party) in their quarrel against the king purely with the proviso that Presbyterianism would later be established the length and breadth of England.
On the other hand, by and large Scottish Highlanders - unaware of the unbridled autocratic nature and Anglicisation of the native Stuart monarchy since its abandonment of Edinburgh for London at the Union of the Crowns in 1603 - clung ingenuously to the Celtic belief of the king as simply chief of chiefs and thus - like their clan chief - obligated to look after their interests in return for their loyalty. Hence they were - more easily than Lowlanders - cajoled to the Royalist Cause but, in furthering it by killing Presbyterians and carrying off the spoils of war, they incurred increasing Lowland prejudice against themselves. Massacres - perpetrated by both sides but with each justifying their atrocities as revenge for those of the other - widened antipathy. Generally it came to pass that Lowlanders regarded Highlanders as ungodly savages, desecraters and defilers of innocents, an attitude which would prove to Scotland’s subsequent significant detriment - and arguably even manifest itself at the very walls of Pitreavie Castle.
In 1649 the English Parliament, having gained the upper hand therefore enabling it to indict Charles I for treason against his (English) people, beheaded him. This regicide so appalled the Scots that - irrespective of previous partisanship - they united in acclaiming his son’s right to kingship when England turned to republicanism under a cabal headed by Oliver Cromwell.
Nevertheless there was a condition to this Scottish advocacy of the proposed new monarchy. The Puritans had reneged upon the stipulation of implanting Presbyterianism throughout England. So it was now touted as a prerequisite for Scotland unilaterally crowning Charles II as King of Scots and for assisting his bid for the English Throne. Charles, cynically pragmatic, hypocritically agreed although secretly despising Presbyterianism and no less all of its purveyors, being of the same religious persuasion as his father but of a much more devious bent as to how to contrive his own way.
Even before the coronation, Cromwell invaded Scotland to nip in the bud the perceived threat to his power. In the Autumn of 1650 he defeated a much bigger Scottish army at Dunbar, not exclusively through its inept strategy but also due to its having been weakened by a Scots parliamentary edict (formulated prior to the Lowlands swinging behind the monarchy but still extant) which forbade participation in the national army of any who had fought for Charles I. This was a shortsighted Lowland spite aimed specifically at Highlanders, ironically some of the country’s most redoubtable and currently invaluable warriors; a costly policy which common sense thereafter rescinded.
The first half of 1651 passed in stalemate with King Charles and his main forces entrenched at Torwood - a naturally strong position commanding mid-Scotland and the road to the north - from which they had no incentive to budge while Scottish recruitment burgeoned and Cromwell’s stretched communications plus prolonged absence from his London headquarters caused the Englishman worsening concern. To resolve the impasse, Cromwell, from the 17th of July 1651 onwards, sent a substantial part of his army - located south of the River Forth - across to Fife where it postured as though to march northwest and outflank the Scottish army, accordingly to cut off the latter’s considerable resources from the Highlands. This had the desired effect of enticing a Scottish expeditionary force, foot and horse, westwards from the Royal camp to meet the challenge.
The adversaries confronted one another on that fateful Sabbath of July 20th in the environs of the town of Inverkeithing. With a ratio of 6000 to 4000 men, the odds were heavily in favour of the English, commanded by a Major-General Lambert. His initial attempts to lure the Scots into attack proving fruitless, he gambled on an assault up the steep slope on the west side of Inverkeithing Bay with such success that the supreme Scots commander fled the field - taking with him most of the cavalry - (he would later be court-marshalled for cowardice but inexplicably acquitted, though never exonerated!) Thus forsaken, the remainder of the Scottish forces had no option but to retire, closely harried by the enemy, being driven northwards three or so kilometres until they reached level ground little more than a couple of hundred metres southeast of Pitreavie Castle where they turned defiantly to face their pursuers. The scene was now set for the military action some regard as a mere offshoot of the affray at Inverkeithing but which, due to the distance therefrom and the distinctness of character, fully merits its more usual description of the Battle of Pitreavie.
In more recent times Pitreavie Castle has been extended to the east and much embellished; modernised too as befitting a grand house, albeit adhering to its Scots baronial style. But in 1651 it was a relatively simple structure, in plan resembling the letter E minus the middle leg, with its back opposite the battlefield; austere and with small apertures (defence being the priority in such warlike times) by contrast to the large, handsome 19th century bay windows which now grace the building.
In 1608 Henry Wardlaw of the local Balmule family re-purchased this former Wardlaw territory and by increments bought others, among them Masterton neighbouring eastwards, and to the west St. Margaret’s Stone (a piece of land named from a massive slab of rock in its midst, possibly an ancient standing stone fallen over on its edge). All in 1614 were incorporated into the ‘feudal barony’ of Pitreavie, this a jurisdiction which meant that Henry as laird (Scots for lord) was effectively the law as well as the landlord throughout his lands. It is speculated that he may have been skilled as an architect with ability to design his own castle which, by the time of the battle, had long been inherited by his son, another Henry, who had subscribed to the National Covenant in 1638 hence was a convinced Presybterian Covenanter, this affirmed by his service during 1646 and 1648-9 on the Scottish Parliament’s Committee for War as a representative for Fife.
It would appear that the remnant of the Scottish army which gathered that day to make its last stand in the domain of this Sir Henry Wardlaw of Pitreavie was almost entirely composed of Gaels; seven hundred of the Clan Buchanan under their chief, Colonel Sir George Buchanan, and eight hundred Macleans under theirs, Sir Hector Maclean of Duart, or - as he would more readily have been known in the tongue of his clansmen - Eachunn Ruadh; Ginger (haired) Hector. (Hector is a Greek name imported into non-Gaelic Scotland as a substitute for Eachunn - deriving from Eachdhonn, Old Irish for horse-lord - a specious linguistic correlation incredibly made only on the strength of a tenuous similarity in sound plus the proficiency in horsemanship of the Trojan hero, Hector!)
Standing thus at bay, passively awaiting onslaught, was never a preferred martial stratagem of Highlanders. Normally they would take the initiative to charge and - whilst running - discharge at close range then swiftly discard their muskets to immediately draw claymores and fall upon the foe with such ferocity that even the best disciplined professional soldiers would quail with fear and often break ranks. The terror instilled would be redoubled by the clansmen shrieking their sluagh ghairm - cry of the host - a warcry fired by the ethos of warrior-ancestors whose bravery they must aspire to emulate for, not for nothing is a revered Highland proverb Cuimhnich air na daoine bho’n d’thàinig thu - Remember those you came from. So even in the present plight, in desperately defending, when now borne down upon by mounted troopers as well as infantrymen and whilst under a continuous barrage of canon-fire, these ancient slogans would spring automatically to lips. Buchanans would give full vent with “Clàr Innis!” - the name of the fish-shaped islet in Loch Lomond on whose shore opposite they were wont to muster in emergency; a first possession of the clan and icon of their homeland. Few of the exclaimers that day would ever see the ‘Bonnie Banks’ again. The Macleans’ uncompromising roar would be “Bàs no beatha!” - literally death or life; a resolve to die unless living victorious. And such stirring stoicism would indeed be needed for the vicious struggle ahead.
Prudence would caution against a Highland charge - however daring - having any hope of success in the circumstances and, besides, there was little chance for the Scots to prepare for one before the English horde was upon them.
In the English ‘New Model Army’, the Highlanders faced formidable battle-hardened veterans, well-trained, paid regulars with a standard uniform, the infantry dressed in red coats with white facings and armed with matchlock muskets or long pikes, the cavalry wearing iron ‘lobster-tail’ headpieces and chest armour over thick buff coats and weaponed with a sword and two pistols. Each major deployment - such as this - would be backed by an artillery train. Their nickname ‘roundheads’ derived from close-cropped craniums which epitomised the austerity of religious zealots whose members preached, prayed, were fined for profanity or drunkenness and advanced on the foe singing psalms, yet - typical of the period - were culpable of un-Christian intolerance, indeed indiscriminate excesses, toward the vanquished of a different denomination. History does not relate what holy song they defamed that day as a battle-hymn when closing for the kill.
It is said that the victors rewrite history. Lambert would retrospectively trivialise his casualties as a mere eight killed and some others hurt but in truth the Highlanders sold their lives dearly. Clan lore tells that not only did they repulse frequent thrusts and sorties but counter-charged fearlessly in spite of tremendous losses thereby. And foremost amongst the Macleans was their young, daring, popular chief. A contemporary Maclean bard, Eachann Bacach, however laments:
Gura h-iomadh laoch dòrn-gheal chaidh an òrdan mud’ bhrataich,
Agus òganach sgiamhach bha ’ga riasladh fo eachaibh…
That many a white-fisted hero was fragmented round about your banner,
And many a handsome youth was mangled under horses’ hooves…
Surrounded and with English numerical superiority increasingly telling, they were unable indefinitely to sustain such slaughter and soon English offensives could only be rallied against in exhausted despair. Lambert, to destroy clan spirit through eliminating the leader, ordered targeting the person of Sir Hector, now sorely cut and bleeding although undaunted. Devoted clansmen - reports vary the number as six, seven or eight - possibly brothers but certainly not (as one account avers) the chief’s sons - except insofar that the chief was symbolic father to all of his clan (Gaelic clann = children) - one after the other stood directly between him and the enemy’s swords, trying valiantly but in vain to shield him. As each was cut down, his successor stepping unflinchingly into the gap cried out “Fear eile airson Eachuinn!” - another man (or one) for Hector. Anecdotally these words are sometimes attributed as a salutation from the chief himself to his would-be protectors but whoever uttered them, in this phrase was born a Maclean slogan to be shouted ever afterwards in battle alternately with the original one; a maxim and an inspiration to future generations to be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for whatever was precious to the clan.
Pitreavie is unique insofar that in no other instance can the occasion of spontaneous creation of a clan slogan be so precisely pinpointed. Some claim the wording of the cry to have been “Bàs airson Eachuinn!” - death on behalf of Hector - a form even more fatalistic but less imbued with a sense of personal volunteering than the version which was to be perpetuated in the warcry.
Notwithstanding his clansmen’s selflessness, the gallant chief was felled on the spot when a musket ball penetrated his breast. Yet despite his death the bloodletting went on, for Lambert’s soldiery had no intention of letting anyone escape, regarding the troublesome Gaels as little better than vermin. Two centuries forward, in 1851, workmen trenching on a site less than ten metres from and slightly southwest of the castle uncovered a considerable quantity of human bones assumed to belong to retreating participants of the battle due to being found along with Charles I coins: relicts alas since vanished without trace. This suggests skirmishing ongoing between the main killing-field and the castle.
Certainly one aftermath incident concerns a group of fugitives seeking refuge - or at least succour for their wounded - at the castle itself whereupon the castellan is reputed not only to have refused them admittance but to have rained down rocks, killing some of the poor fellows with the rest thenceforth dispatched by the English but only after a sanguinary - literally backs-to-the-wall - fierce retaliation.
Wartime makes for extenuating circumstances and anyway - as laird - Henry Wardlaw was the law locally. Nevertheless his conduct evoked the district’s recrimination (some sources say a Highland curse!) that the Wardlaws of Pitreavie should “melt awa like snaw aff a dyke’, this seemingly befalling with Henry’s early - in fact quite sudden - demise in 1653, then his son and heir dying the next year with the Pitreavie estate passing to a collateral lineage, and furthermore out of the family altogether within half a century.
An eminent 19th century Celtic scholar, John Coventry, claimed that the Highlanders - in supplicating to Sir Henry - had invoked the aid of the Virgin Mary by crying the word for ‘virgin’ in their language: “Oigh! Oigh!” If that be true, such papacy would have offended Henry’s Protestantism - if he had even understood; for, although Gaelic had once been the vernacular of Fife, it had died-out long ago hereabouts. To his ear the words would resemble the Scots tongue’s “Hoy! Hoy!”, a vulgar clamour for attention, potentially confirming a biased Lowland opinion of Highlanders as uncouth barbarians.
It has been postulated that Sir Henry’s measures of extreme deterrence were motivated by sympathy for the Cromwellians - effectively treason - “wherefore none seems to know”. It is far more likely (while no less reprehensible) that, lacking affinity for Highlanders, he would be loath to suffer retribution from the English for affording shelter to such, and anyway averse to having his home turned into a battleground by whoever entered among the combatants. His priority would be to preserve the safety of the inmates of the castle.
The manhunt following the main conflict appears to have been widespread. To the west St. Margaret’s Stone (still extant although slightly moved to allow modern road-widening) would be found smeared with gore, desecration of a site hallowed by association with the canonised 11th century Queen Margaret who reputedly rested there when journeying to and from Dunfermline. And it was to that burgh that the English now trailed stragglers where, however, they broke off to indulge in an orgy of robbing church collections, wrecking chapels and wreaking general havoc. And even when the army did depart, some were billeted on the town until September. Pitreavie Castle, by contrast, seems to have remained unscathed as its laird had contrived.
To the east of Masterton the Pinkerton Burn ‘ran with blood for three days’ revealing a major clash in a vicinity fully one and quarter kilometres (three quarters of a mile) from the battlefield.
The carnage on the field had been awesome. Eyewitnesses speak of mounds of corpses resembling ‘a hairst field of stooks’ (a harvest field of stacked sheaves). The Gaelic of the place-name Pitreavie, peit riabhach - variegated portion (etymology describing the colour of the land, deriving probably from the one-time mixed crops grown thereon) - would be given a latter-day macabre twist with the green sward now streaked crimson with blood.
Of the Clan Maclean, one branch alone, that of Ross in Mull, lost one hundred and forty stalwarts that day. All told not more than forty Macleans survived. Plus a similar number of Buchanans who tend to be overshadowed, perhaps through having no poets to eulogise them or to immortalise their undoubtedly equal prowess and doughty deeds.
Actually, the Buchanan chief was amongst those who lived, captured rather than slain presumably because of his importance but perishing a prisoner before the year was out. His son (who was to have no male issue) proved profligate whereupon creditors sold the estate and so the chiefly line terminated at this wastrel’s death in 1682. Although cadet Buchanan landed houses continued, it may be speculated that the impacts of mismanagement and chieflessness in combination with the indubitable manpower depletion after Pitreavie knocked the heart out of the clan which never again functioned as a fighting unit.
The Macleans however persevered as a thorn in the flesh of Cromwell wherever opportunity arose such that in 1653 he sent a fleet of half a dozen ships to destroy their clan’s island fortress, Duart Castle on the Isle of Mull, but a timely gale dispersed it to a watery grave upon arrival. Despite mounting debts and deaths due to adherence to Charles II, plus ultimately considerable contribution to all the Jacobite uprisings of the 18th century, the clan never wavered in its staunch faithfulness to the Royal House of Stuart. Nor did it ever forget the Battle of Pitreavie. Even three and a half centuries on!
On a verge at the side of the nowadays busy public road a few minutes walk to the east of Pitreavie Castle, stands a memorial cairn - dedicated with appropriate clan ceremony - on which there are plaques in Gaelic and English proclaiming that:
Near here Sir Hector Maclean of Duart was killed at the Battle of Inverkeithing (sic!) along with some 760 of his men. 20 July 1651.
Another for Hector!
Erected by the Clan Maclean Heritage Trust, 20 July 2001.
Adjacent, detailing the story to passers-by, are information boards which however regrettably omit to mention participation of the Macleans’ partners of that proud episode, the Buchanans.
And what of the man whose kingship had been the crux of the whole sorry affair? After Pitreavie, Cromwell’s army had continued with and soon completed its manoeuvre to outflank Charles at Torwood, successfully dislodging and chasing him into England. A defeat at the Battle of Worcester on the 3rd of September 1651 finally dashed his hopes and forced him into Continental exile, there to remain while Cromwell ruled throughout the British Isles until departing this life exactly seven years after the final battle between the pair of them. But only after a further two years kicking his heels was the throneless Charles invited back by England to be its king. Scotland dutifully sent congratulations. Charles’ distain for his northern kingdom was however such that he never visited it again but instead in due course persecuted the Covenanters, the first folk to put a crown on his head. It may be surmised that such a person would pay little heed to honouring the memory of the heroic Highlanders whose blood was spilled so freely for him, so richly staining the grass and saturating the soil around Pitreavie.
Quite a number of books refer to the Battle of Inverkeithing/ Pitreavie. Unfortunately much they include is recorded well after the event from hearsay and as a result there are contradictions aplenty. For example the duration of fighting varies from a quarter of an hour to three hours and the extent of the chase from 3-6 miles. And so on. Even the site of the earlier stages of conflict is not uncontentious though that for Pitreavie is pretty sound. The above noted tries to interpolate from the best and earliest of these sources (from which later ones seem to have copied). The principal ones consequently used were:
An Historical and Genealogical Account of The Clan Maclean…
By a Seneachie (since identified as Lachlan Maclean)
Published: 1838 in London
Historical and Statistical Account of Dunfermline
By Rev. Peter Chalmers, D.D., A.M.
(Minister Abbey Church, Dunfermline)
Published; 1859 in Edinburgh
The Wardlaws in Scotland
By John C. Gibson
Published: 1912 in Edinburgh
History of Inverkeithing and Rosyth
By Rev. William Stephen, M.A., B.D., F.S.A. (Scot.)
(Minister of Inverkeithing and Rosyth)
Published: 1921 in Aberdeen
Òran do Shir Eachann (Song to Sir Hector)
By Eachann Bacach (Lame Eachann,
poet within Clan Maclean in the early 17th century)
Included under the title
Eachann Bacach agus Baird Eile de Chloinn Ghill-Eathain
(Eachann Bacach and Other Maclean Poets)
Edited by Colm Ó Baoill
Published: 1979 in Edinburgh
by the Scottish Academic Press for the Scottish Texts Society
The Slogans & Warcries of Scotland of Old
By Andrew Pearson
Unpublished manuscript |
