The Battle of Falkirk (; ), on 22 July 1298, was one of the major battles in the First War of Scottish Independence. Led by King Edward I of England, the English army defeated the Scots, led by William Wallace. Shortly after the battle Wallace resigned as Guardian of Scotland.
Background
After the Battle of Stirling Bridge, from November 1297 until January 1298 Wallace led a Scottish army south. From Newcastle upon Tyne to Carlisle, the Scots raided the countryside, bringing back the spoils. Stuart Reid estimates Edward's force at 214 knights with 900 troopers, 1,000 cavalry supplied by the Earls, 500 mercenary crossbowmen, 2,000 archers with billmen from the Lancashire and Cheshire feudal levies, though the infantry may only have totalled 8,000.
Edward left Roxburgh on 3 July and reached Kirkliston in two weeks, where he awaited supplies expected to arrive along the coastal ports, delayed due to weather. In the interim, he dealt with a Welsh mutiny. Finally, on 20 July, he advanced, reaching Linlithgow on 21 July. Edward was on the point of falling back on Edinburgh, when he received intelligence the Scots were at Torwood, near Falkirk, ready to harass his retreat. Edward reportedly said that he "would not trouble them to seek me", and placed his army south of Falkirk on the morning of 22 July. Edward wanted to make camp and feed his men while waiting for his infantry to catch up with his cavalry. His cavalry commanders though, favoured an immediate attack.
Reid calculates the Scots could have manned four schiltrons with about 1,000 men each, in addition to the cavalry and archers. These men would have come from the sheriffdoms of Fife, Kinross, Midlothian, Haddington, Stirling, Linlithgow, Lanark, Merse and Teviotdale. With that, Wallace supposedly said, "I have browghte yowe to the ryng. Hoppe yef ye canne!" Absent were forces under the Comyns and Robert Bruce.
Battle
The Scots army, again made up chiefly of spearmen as at Stirling Bridge, was arranged in four great "hedgehogs" known as schiltrons. The long spears (pikes) pointing outwards at various heights gave these formations a formidable and impenetrable appearance. The gaps between the schiltrons were filled with archers, with 500 mounted knights at the rear.
|image2 = Memorial to Sir William Wallace (geograph 4694138).jpg
|caption2 = Scots Wha Hae
|image3 = Memorial to Sir John de Graeme - geograph.org.uk - 1578712.jpg
|caption3 = John de Graeme's Memorial
|image4 = Sir John De Graeme tomb, Falkirk Old Parish Church (geograph 5391147).jpg
|caption4 = Sir John De Graeme tomb, Falkirk Old Parish Church
|image5 = Memorial Stone & Esplanade Gardens, Rothesay (geograph 3571776).jpg
|caption5 = Memorial Stone & Esplanade Gardens, Rothesay. "In honour of the 'Men of Bute' who, under the command of Sir John Stewart, fell to a man at the Battle of Falkirk, 22nd July 1298.
Who fought for Wallace on Falkirk's field, John Stewart's men with sword and shield but o'er pow'rd thus! Their fate was sealed for freedom fell."
Edward occupied Stirling and raided Perth, St. Andrews and Ayrshire. Yet, he retreated to Carlisle by 9 September. Edward invaded again in the summer of 1300.
Falkirk Roll of Arms
The Falkirk Roll is a collection of the arms of the English bannerets and noblemen present at the battle of Falkirk. It is the oldest-known English occasional roll of arms, and contains 111 names and blazoned shields.
Following are a collection of modern illustrations of the Falkirk Roll based on the blazons published in Henry Gough's book, Scotland in 1298. Documents Relating to the Campaign of King Edward the First. There have been three proposed sites: at Campfield, around the modern Central Retail Park; south of Callendar Woods (as depicted in the diagrams above), and; at Mumrills, the site of the Antonine Fort.
Walter of Guisborough stated that the Scots were positioned "on hard ground ... on one side of a hillock". The Scalacronica reported that the site was "on this side of Falkirk." Stuart Reid has suggested the burgh muir of Falkirk (i.e. "the plain which is called Falkirk"),