James Douglas took Roxburgh Castle by one of the most audacious stratagems of the war. On Shrove Tuesday 1314, his men crawled toward the castle on hands and knees wrapped in black cloaks, pretending to be cattle in the dark. When they reached the walls they threw up grappling hooks and scaled them. The garrison was taken completely by surprise — the constable was killed trying to escape. The castle was demolished. Roxburgh was one of Scotland's most important border fortresses.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
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