Carlisle was the strongest English stronghold on the west border and the base for English military operations into south-west Scotland. Douglas made it a regular target after Bannockburn. The 1316 raid brought him to the walls: the suburbs were burned, cattle lifted across a wide area, and the garrison was humiliated by its inability to protect the surrounding countryside. Harclay prudently refused to march out and fight. The raids on Carlisle continued until the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton ended the war.
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