A French Campaign in Scotland, 1385
An eyewitness description of Scottish soldiers, their gear, and a somewhat miserable stay in Edinburgh by allied French troops.
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
Jean Froissart
(Reign of David II)
From Early Travellers in Scotland by Peter Hume Brown, 1891.
Jean Froissart, priest, canon, and treasurer of the Collegiate Church of Chimay, was born at Valenciennes about 1337. Although intended for the church, all his natural tastes would seem to have suggested a secular calling; for, by his own account, from his earliest years he "loved to see dances, jousts, and late vigils, and fair beds for refreshment, and for my better repose, a night draught of claret or Rochelle wine, mingled with spice." At the age of twenty, by the command of his "dear lord and master, Sir Robert of Namur, Lord of Beaufort," he began his history of the French wars, basing the earlier part of his narrative on the chronicles of Jean le Bel, canon of Liege. With the portion of his history he had written he proceeded to England, and presented it to Philippa of Hainault. the wife of Edward III.
After acting for some time as Clerk to the Queen's Chamber, he returned to the Continent; and thenceforth, till within a few years of his death, his life was spent in travelling between France, England, and Italy. His one object in all his wanderings was to make himself acquainted at first hand with the actors and events whose history it was his ambition to chronicle, "to the end that brave men, taking example from them, may be encouraged in their well-doing." About 1390 he settled down in Flanders to the accomplishment of his task, which appears to have engaged him to the close of his life. The exact date of his death is unknown; but as in his chronicles he narrates events that happened in 1400, he must have lived into the fifteenth century.
Froissart himself tells us what opportunities he had of becoming acquainted with the Scots and their country. "In my younger days," he says, " I had been in Scotland as far as the Highlands (la sauvage Ecosse), and as at that time I was at the court of King David, I was acquainted with the greater part of the nobility of that country." Elsewhere, he tells us that he was altogether six months in Scotland, that he was for fifteen days the guest of Sir William Douglas at Dalkeith Castle, and that he travelled on horseback, with his portmanteau behind him, and accompanied by a greyhound.
The translation here given is that of Thomas Johnes, which was made the subject of an article on Froissart by Sir Walter Scott in the Edinburgh Review (1805). In literary quality the translation of Johnes is far inferior to that of Lord Berners; and in passages of Froissart, which owe their main interest to the manner of the writer, the older translation is always to be preferred. In such extracts as those here given, however, the faithfulness of the translation is the chief point to be considered; and Scott, who does not conceal his preference for Berners, admits that "in a historical point of view there can be no comparison betwixt the usefulness of Mr Johnes's translation and Lord Berners's."
The Scots on Their Military Expeditions
(Froissart, Chronicles, vol. i. chap. 17).
The Scots are bold, hardy, and much inured to war. When they make their invasions into England, they march from twenty to four-and-twenty leagues without halting, as well by night as day; for they are all on horseback, except the camp-followers, who are on foot. The knights and esquires are well mounted on large bay horses, the common people on little galloways. They bring no carriages with them, on account of the mountains they have to pass in Northumberland; neither do they carry with them any provisions of bread or wine; for their habits of sobriety are such, in time of war, that they will live for a long time on flesh half sodden, without bread, and drink the river water without wine. They have, therefore, no occasion for pots or pans; for they dress the flesh of their cattle in the skins, after they have taken them off; and, being sure to find plenty of them in the country which they invade, they carry none with them.
Under the flaps of his saddle, each man carries a broad plate of metal; behind the saddle, a little bag of oatmeal: when they have eaten too much of the sodden flesh, and their stomach appears weak and empty, they place this plate over the fire, mix with water their oat-meal, and when the plate is heated, they put a little of the paste upon it, and make a thin cake, like a cracknel or biscuit, which they eat to warm their stomachs: it is therefore no wonder, that they perform a longer day's march than other soldiers.
A French Army in Scotland—The French Opinion of the Scots (1385) (vol. Ii. chaps 2 and 3)
The French army that was bound for Scotland had very favourable winds, for it was in the month of May when the weather is temperate and agreeable. They coasted Flanders, Holland, Zealand, and Friesland, and advanced until they approached so near Scotland as to see it; but before they arrived there, an unfortunate accident befel a knight of France and an expert man-at-arms, named Sir Aubert d'Angers. The knight was young and active, and to show his ability he mounted aloft by the ropes of his ship completely armed; but, his feet slipping, he fell into the sea, and the weight of his armour, which sunk him instantly, deprived him of any assistance, for the ship was soon at a distance from the place where he had fallen. All the barons were much vexed at this misfortune, but they were forced to endure it, as they could not any way remedy it.
They continued their voyage until they arrived at Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, where the king chiefly resides when he is in that part of the country. The Earls of Douglas and Moray, from the information they had received, were waiting for them in Edinburgh; and as soon as they were come, hastened to meet them at the harbour, and received them most amicably, bidding them welcome to their country. The Scots barons instantly recognised Sir Geoffry de Charny, for he had resided full two months with them last summer in Scotland. Sir Geoffry made them acquainted, as he very well knew how, with the admiral and the barons of France. At that time the king (Robert II.) was not at Edinburgh, but in the Highlands of Scotland: his sons received them handsomely, telling them the king would shortly be there.
They were satisfied with this information, and the lords and their men lodged themselves as well as they could in Edinburgh, and those who could not lodge there were quartered in the different villages thereabout. Edinburgh, notwithstanding it is the residence of the king, and is the Paris of Scotland, is not such a town as Tournay or Valenciennes; for there are not in the whole town four thousand houses. Several of the French lords were therefore obliged to take up their lodgings in the neighbouring villages, and at Dunfermline, Kelso, Dunbar, Dalkeith, and in other villages.
News was soon spread through Scotland that a large body of men-at-arms from France were arrived in the country. Some began to murmur and say, "What devil has brought them here? or who has sent for them? Cannot we carry on our wars with England without their assistance? We shall never do any effectual good as long as they are with us. Let them be told to return again, for we are sufficiently numerous in Scotland to fight our own quarrels, and do not want their company. We neither understand their language nor they ours, and we cannot converse together. They will very soon eat up and destroy all we have in this country, and will do us more harm, if we allow them to remain amongst us, than the English could in battle. If the English do burn our houses, what consequence is it to us? We can rebuild them cheap enough, for we only require three days to do so, provided we have five or six poles and boughs to cover them." Such was the conversation of the Scots on the arrival of the French: they did not esteem them, but hated them in their hearts, and abused them with their tongues as much as they could, like rude and worthless people as they are.
I must, however, say that, considering all things, it was not right for so many of the nobility to have come at this season to Scotland: it would have been better to have sent twenty or thirty knights from France, than so large a body as five hundred or a thousand. The reason is clear. In Scotland you will never find a man of worth: they are like savages, who wish not to be acquainted with any one, and are too envious of the good fortune of others, and suspicious of losing anything themselves, for their country is very poor. When the English make inroads thither, as they have very frequently done, they order their provisions, if they wish to live, to follow close at their backs; for nothing is to be had in that country without great difficulty. There is neither iron to shoe horses, nor leather to make harness, saddles, or bridles: all these things come ready made from Flanders by sea; and, should these fail, there is none to be had in the country.
When these barons and knights of France, who had been used to handsome hotels, ornamented apartments, and castles with good soft beds to repose on, saw themselves in such poverty, they began to laugh, and to say before the admiral, "What could have brought us hither? We have never known till now what was meant by poverty and hard living. We now have found the truth of what our fathers and mothers were used to tell us, when they said, 'Go, go, thou shalt have in thy time, should'st thou live long enough, hard beds and poor lodgings;' all this is now come to pass."
They said also among themselves, "Let us hasten the object of our voyage, by advancing towards England: a long stay in Scotland will be neither honourable nor profitable." The knights made remonstrances respecting all these circumstances to Sir John de Vienne, who appeased them as well as he could, saying, "My fair sirs, it becomes us to wait patiently, and to speak fair, since we are got into such difficulties. We have a long way yet to go, and we cannot return through England. Take in good humour whatever you can get. You cannot always be at Paris, Dijon, Beaune, or Chalons: it is necessary for those who wish to live with honour in this world to endure good and evil.
By such words as these, and others which I do not remember, did Sir John de Vienne pacify his army in Scotland. He made as much acquaintance as he could with the Scottish barons and knights; but he was visited by so very few it is not worth speaking of; for, as I have said before, there is not much honour there, and they are people difficult to be acquainted with. The Earls of Douglas and Moray were the principal visitants to the lords of France. These two lords paid them more attention than all the rest of Scotland.
But this was not the worst, for the French were hardly dealt with in their purchases; and whenever they wanted to buy horses, they were asked, for what was worth only ten florins, sixty and a hundred: with difficulty could they be found at that price. When the horse had been bought there was no furniture nor any housings to be met with, unless the respective articles had been brought with them from Flanders. In this situation were the French; besides, whenever their servants went out to forage, they were indeed permitted to load their horses with as much as they could pack up and carry, but they were waylaid on their return, and villainously beaten, robbed, and sometimes slain, insomuch that no varlet dared go out foraging for fear of death. In one month the French lost upwards of a hundred varlets; for when three or four went out foraging not one returned, in such a hideous manner were they treated.
The French and Scots marched back the way they had come. When arrived in the lowlands, they found the whole country ruined; but the people of the country made light of it, saying, that with six or eight stakes they would soon have new houses, and find cattle enow for provision; for the Scots had driven them for security to the forests, You must however know, that whatever the French wanted to buy, they were made to pay very dear for; and it was fortunate the French and Scots did not quarrel with each other seriously, as there were frequent riots on account of provision. The Scots said, the French had done them more mischief than the English; and when asked, "In what manner?" they replied, "By riding through their corn, oats, and barley, on their march, which they trod under foot, not condescending to follow the roads, for which damages they would have a recompense before they left Scotland; l and they should neither find vessel nor mariner who would dare to put to sea without their permission." Many knights and squires complained of the timber they had cut down, and of the waste they had committed to lodge themselves.
When the admiral, with his barons, knights, and squires, were returned to the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, they suffered from famine, as they could scarcely procure provision for their money. They had but little wine, beer, barley, bread, or oats: their horses, therefore, perished from hunger, or were ruined through fatigue; and, when they wished to dispose of them, they could not find a purchaser who would give them a groat either for their horses or housings. These lords remonstrated with their commander on the manner in which they were treated, a circumstance well known to himself. They said, "they could not longer endure such difficulties, for Scotland was not a country to encamp in during the winter; and that if they were to remain the ensuing summer, they should soon die of poverty. If they were to spread themselves over the country, to better their condition, they were doubtful if the Scots, who had so villainously treated their foragers, would not murder them in their beds, when they should be divided."
The admiral, having fully weighed what they said, saw clearly they were justified in thus remonstrating; notwithstanding, he had intentions of wintering there, and of sending an account of his situation to the King of France and Duke of Burgundy, who, as the admiral imagined, would hasten to him reinforcements of stores, provision, and money, with which, in the course of summer, he would be enabled to carry on an advantageous war against the English.
But having considered how ill-intentioned the Scots were, and the danger his men were in, as well as himself, he gave permission for all who chose to depart. But how to depart was the difficulty, for the barons could not obtain any vessels for themselves and men. The Scots were willing that a few poor knights who had no great command should leave the country, that they might the easier govern the rest. They told the barons of France "that their dependants, when they pleased might depart, but that they themselves should not quit the country until they had made satisfaction for the sums that had been expended for the use of their army."
This declaration was very disagreeable to Sir John Vienne and the other French barons. The Earls of Douglas and Moray, who pretended to be exasperated at the harsh conduct of their countrymen, remonstrated with them, that they did not act becoming men-at-arms, nor as friends to the kingdom of France, by this behaviour to its knights; and that henceforward no Scots knight would dare to set his foot in France. These two earls, who were friendly enough to the French barons, pointed out the probable effect their conduct would have on their vassals; but some replied, "Do dissemble with them, for you have lost as much as we."
They therefore told the admiral, they could not do anything for him; and, if they were so anxious about quitting Scotland, they must consent to make good their damages. The admiral seeing nothing better could be done, and unwilling to lose all, for he found himself very uncomfortable, surrounded by the sea, and the Scots of a savage disposition, acceded to their proposals, and had proclaimed through the realm, that all those whom his people had injured, and who could show just cause for amends being made them, should bring them their demands to the admiral of France, when they would be fully paid. This proclamation softened the minds of the people; and the admiral took every debt on himself, declaring he would never leave the country until everything was completely paid and satisfied.
Upon this many knights and squires obtained a passage to France, and returned through Flanders, or wherever they could land, famished, and without arms or horses, cursing Scotland, and the hour they had set foot there. They said they had never suffered so much in any expedition, and wished the King of France would make a truce with the English for two or three years, and then march to Scotland and utterly destroy it: for never had they seen such wicked people, nor such ignorant hypocrites and traitors. The admiral wrote to the King of France and Duke of Burgundy, by those who first returned, a full state of his situation, and how the Scots had acted towards him: that if they wished to have him back, they must send him the full amount he had engaged to pay the Scots, and for which he had bounden himself to the knights and squires of Scotland: for the Scots had declared, that they had at this time made war for the King of France and not for themselves; and that the damages which the French had committed must be satisfied before they would be allowed to return, which he had promised and sworn to perform to the barons of Scotland.
It was incumbent on the King of France, the Duke of Burgundy, and their councils, to redeem the admiral, for they had sent him thither. They had the money instantly raised, and deposited in the town of Bruges, so that the whole demand of the Scots was paid to their satisfaction. The admiral left Scotland when he had thus amicably settled matters, for otherwise he could not have done it; and, taking leave of the king, who was in the 'highlands, and of the Earls of Douglas and Moray, was attended by them to the seashore.
Brown, Peter Hume. Early Travellers in Scotland. David Douglas, 1891.
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