Battlefields›Battle of Duns
Medieval

Battle of Duns

1372
Scotland
Era
Medieval
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Scotland
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
English (Henry, Lord Percy)
VS
Victor
Scots (local population of Duns)
Forces involved

English: approximately 7,000 troops under Henry, Lord Percy, English March Warden; Scottish: local peasantry of Duns

Outcome
English withdrawal across the Border, leaving their baggage behind.
The Battle

History & Significance

The Battle of Duns or Battle of Duns Park was an engagement fought in 1372 near the site of the present day town of Duns, Berwickshire.

In retaliation for previous Scottish raids, Henry, Lord Percy, the English March Warden had invaded Scotland with 7,000 troops, and met little resistance. Having crossed the Merse, the English army camped at Duns awaiting reinforcements. The shepherds and farmers of Duns used a type of rattle out of dried skins with pebbles inside, which they used to scare wild animals away from their crops and beasts. These rattles were put to effect on the English encampment. By frightening the English horses, the English camp awoke in turmoil, in disarray and being harassed by the local peasantry, the English retired over the Border leaving their baggage behind.

The motto of the town of Duns: 'Duns dings a'!', is supposed to have come from this battle.

The Buik of the Croniclis of Scotland : or, A metrical version of the History of Hector Boece ed. Turnbull, W.B., London 1858

Ridpath, G., The Border History of England and Scotland. London 1776

Dunse History Society Archived 1 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine

The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Duns lies on Inverclyde Group, bedrock that formed in the Osagean. The rock here is sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.

Buried history

The decisive moment at Duns came not from any clash of arms but from the local people's use of their everyday rattles, fashioned from dried skins with pebbles inside, which they normally employed to scare wild animals from their crops and beasts. By deploying these rattles against the English horses in the night encampment, the shepherds and farmers of Duns threw the 7,000-strong English force into such disarray that Henry, Lord Percy's army abandoned its baggage and retreated over the Border without a formal battle being fought.

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Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Stat Accounts
The parish Statistical Accounts of the 1790s and 1830s, describing life, work and population here.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Duns

Duns Law,fort and Covenanters' Camp
Duns Law,fort and Covenanters' Camp
Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~1 mi

Duns Law is a hillfort situated in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders, rising prominently above the surrounding landscape. The fort occupies a naturally defensible position on bedrock formed from the Stratheden Group, a Late Devonian sequence of sandstone and conglomerate deposits interbedded i…

Woodend, palisaded enclosure 335m NNE of
Woodend, palisaded enclosure 335m NNE of
Scheduled monument · Post-Medieval · ~1.4 mi

Woodend is a post-medieval palisaded enclosure located in Berwickshire, Scotland, situated 335 metres north-north-east of the settlement it served. The monument consists of a defensive or stock-containing timber palisade, a construction method common in rural Scotland during the early modern peri…

Preston Church, church and burial ground
Preston Church, church and burial ground
Scheduled monument · Medieval · ~2.5 mi

Preston Church is a medieval church and burial ground located in Berwickshire, Scotland. The site occupies sandstone and siltstone bedrock of the Inverclyde Group, sedimentary deposits laid down during the Osagean period. This stable geological foundation provided a suitable setting for the estab…

Preston Market Cross, 35m ESE of 1 Preston Cottages
Preston Market Cross, 35m ESE of 1 Preston Cottages
Scheduled monument · ~2.8 mi

Preston Market Cross is a stone monument located in Berwickshire, Scotland, situated 35 metres east-south-east of Preston Cottages. The cross stands on bedrock formed from the Inverclyde Group, a geological formation of sandstone, siltstone and mudstone dating from the Osagean period. This stable…

Blanerne Castle
Blanerne Castle
Scheduled monument · ~3.8 mi

Blanerne Castle is a medieval fortified structure located in Berwickshire, Scottish Borders. The castle dates to the medieval period and represents the defensive architecture typical of the Border region during a period of considerable strategic importance. The site survives as earthwork remains…

Walter Baxter / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Bunkle Castle
Bunkle Castle
Scheduled monument · ~4.4 mi

Bunkle Castle is a late medieval fortified tower house located in Berwickshire, in the Scottish Borders. The structure dates to the fifteenth or sixteenth century and represents the domestic military architecture characteristic of the Border region during a period of frequent Anglo-Scottish confl…

Brendandh / CC BY 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Dunsmill Farm, settlement 125m NNE of
Scheduled monument · ~0.7 miles
Cairnbank, settlement 210m ENE of
Scheduled monument · ~1.2 miles
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Battles near Battle of Duns

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Sources
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