James Douglas used a brilliant ruse to take Roxburgh Castle — one of the most important English fortresses in the Borders. His men crawled to the walls draped in black cloaks in the dark of Shrove Tuesday, while the garrison was celebrating inside. Grappling hooks were thrown; the men scrambled up the walls and slaughtered the garrison. Bruce ordered the castle demolished. This was Scottish strategic policy: castle after castle was captured and destroyed to deny the English strongpoints from which to control Scotland.
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.
Research a location near Roxburghshire