Battle of Dryfe Sands
Who Fought
History & Significance
The Battle of Dryfe Sands was a Scottish clan battle that took place on 6 December 1593, near Lockerbie, Scotland. It was fought between the Clan Maxwell and Clan Johnstone after a hundred years of feuding between them. The Johnstones won a decisive victory over the Maxwells.
In 1585, John Maxwell, 8th Lord Maxwell, was declared a rebel for having quarreled with the Earl of Arran who was a favorite of James VI of Scotland. A commission was therefore given to Johnstone, Lord of Annandale, who was then the Warden of the West Marches. Because Maxwell had numerous vassals and friends, it was thought necessary to send two bands of mercenaries to support Johnstone. However, these two companies, that were commanded by captains Cranston and Lammie, were attacked at Crawfordmoor and cut to pieces by a party of Maxwells who were under the command of Robert Maxwell, natural brother to the chief. He followed up this advantage by burning Johnstone's Lochwood Castle. In a subsequent conflict Johnstone himself was defeated and taken prisoner, and is said to have died of the grief at the disgrace which he had sustained.
Maxwell was soon restored in the King's favor, and obtained the Wardenship of the West Marches. He subscribed a bond of alliance with Lord James Johnstone, son of the slain Lord Johnstone, and for some time the two clans lived in peace. However, the feud was revived in 1593 when Johnstone of Wamphray who was a relation of Lord Johnstone, along with some friends, went to Nithsdale and took away a horse which belonged to Crichton of Sanquhar. They were pursued by Crichton and some of his friends who took Johnstone prisoner and hanged him from a tree. A nephew of Johnstone of Wamphrey, William Johnstone, managed to escape from the Crichtons and raised a powerful band of Johnstones, again going over to Nithsdale, and swept the country of cattle. Crichton of Sanquhar and Douglas of Drumlanrig raising what forces they could muster attacked the Johnstones at a place called Biddes-burn, but were completely defeated and the Johnstones carried off the spoil. In this encounter several Johnstones and fifteen Crichtons were killed.
The men of Nithsdale resolved that they would apply to Lord Maxwell for assistance and protection. However, Maxwell would not easily embrace their cause because of his recent reconciliation with Johnstone. They overcame this by entering into a bond of manrent with Maxwell and therefore became his followers and liege-men. In return he granted to them a bond of maintenance or protection in which he bound himself to maintain them in their feuds. Some of the most powerful families in Dumfriesshire therefore became vassals of the house of Maxwell, including: Kirkpatrick of Closeburn, Douglas of Drumlanrig (ancestor of the Duke of Queensberry), Crichton of Sanquhar (ancestor of the Earl of Dumfries), Stuart of Castlemilk, Stuart of Garlies (ancestor of the Earl of Galloway), the Murrays, Lord Annandale, Grierson of Lag, Gordon of Lochmaben, and many others in the south-west of Scotland, all binding themselves as vassals of Maxwell.
The ground they fought on
The site of Battle of Dryfe Sands lies on Stewartry Group, bedrock that formed in the Early Permian. The rock here is sandstone, breccia and conglomerate.
The battle left its mark on everyday speech. As the beaten Maxwells fled towards Lockerbie, they were ridden down and slashed across the face by the swords of the pursuing Johnstone horsemen. Walter Scott records that such a facial wound became known 'to this day' in the district as a 'Lockerbie lick', a phrase the Dictionary of the Scots Language still defines simply as a gash or wound in the face. Few battles leave a scar so literal in the local tongue.
- Clan Johnstone; Clan Scott; Clan Graham: "Heavy"; (only 160 survivors)
- Clan Maxwell; Clan Grierson; Clan Pollock: 700 killed
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything a full report reveals about Battle of Dryfe Sands
This page covers Battle of Dryfe Sands. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Dryfe Sands
Battles near Battle of Dryfe Sands
Explore the landscape around this battlefield
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in the UK — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
- Battle of Dryfe Sands · Wikipedia
- Lockerbie lick · Dictionary of the Scots Language