Edinburg Castle Taken by Randolph
At this time Randolph earl of Moray had strictly invested the castle of Edinburgh, which, for twenty years, had been in the possession of England, and was now commanded by Sir Piers de Luband, a Gascon knight, and a relative of Gaveston, the English king's favourite, The garrison suspected the fidelity of this foreigner, and, having cast him into a dungeon, chose a constable of their own nation, who determined to defend the place to the last extremity. Already had the Scots spent six weeks in the siege, when an English soldier, of the name of Frank, presented himself to Randolph, and informed him he could point out a place where he had himself often scaled the wall, and by which, he undertook to lead his men into the castle. This man, in his youth, when stationed in the castle, had become enamoured of a girl in the neighbourhood, and for the purpose of meeting her, had discovered a way up and down the perilous cliff, with which custom had rendered him familiar; and Randolph, with thirty determined men, fully armed, placed themselves under his direction, and resolved to scale the castle at midnight.The surprise, however, was not nearly so complete as at Roxburgh, and the affair far more severely contested. Besides, Randolph had only half the number of men with Douglas, the access was far more difficult, and the night was so dark, that the task of climbing the rock became extremely dangerous. They persevered, nevertheless, and, on getting about half-way up, found a jutting crag, on which they sat down to take breath. The wall was now immediately above them; and it happened that the check-watches, at this time, were making their round, and challenging the sentinels, whilst Randolph and his soldiers could hear all that passed.
At this critical moment, whether from accident, or that one of the watch had really perceived something moving on the rock, a soldier cast a stone down towards the spot where Randolph sat, and called out, Away! I see you well." But the Scots lay still, the watch moved on, and Randolph and his men waited till they had gone to some distance. They then got up, and clambering to the bottom of the wall, at a place where it was only twelve feet in height, fixed the iron crochet of their rope-ladder on the crib-stone.
Frank was the first who mounted, then followed Sir Andrew Gray, next came Randolph himself, who was followed by the rest of the party. Before, however, all had got up, the sentinels, who had heard whispering and the clank of arms, attacked them, and shouted "Treason!" They were soon, however, repulsed or slain; and the Scots, by this time on the parapet, leapt down, and rushed on to the keep, or principal strength. The whole garrison was now in arms, and a desperate conflict ensued, in which the English greatly outnumbered their assailants. But panic and surprise deprived them of their accustomed bravery; and, although the governor himself made a gallant defence, he was overpowered and slain, and his garrison immediately surrendered at discretion. Randolph liberated Sir Piers Luband from his dungeon, and the Gascon knight immediately entered the service of Bruce. The castle itself shared the fate of every fortress which fell into the hands of the Scottish king. It was instantly demolished, and rendered incapable of military occupation. If we consider the small number of men which he led, and the difficult circumstances in which the assault was made, we shall probably be inclined to agree with the faithful old historian, who characterizes this exploit of Randolph as one of the hardiest and most chivalrous which distinguished a chivalrous age.
These great successes so rapidly succeeding each other, and an invasion of Cumberland, which soon after followed, made the English king tremble for the safety of Berwick, and induced him to remove, the unfortunate Countess of Buchan from her imprison ment there, to a place of more remote confinements The conferences for a cessation of hostilities were again renewed, at the request of the French king; and Edward ostentatiously talked of granting a truce to his enemies in compliance with the wishes of Philip, which, when it came to the point, his enemies would not grant to him.