Wallace's Siege of Dundee Castle, 1297 (English Surrender)

Who Fought

History & Significance

Andrew Moray (Anglo-Norman: Andreu de Moray; Latin: Andreas de Moravia), also known as Andrew de Moray, Andrew of Moray, or Andrew Murray, was a Scots esquire, who rose to prominence during the First Scottish War of Independence. He initially raised a small band of supporters at Avoch Castle in early summer 1297 to fight King Edward I of England and had soon successfully regained control of the north for the absent Scots king, John Balliol. Moray subsequently merged his army with that of William Wallace, and on 11 September 1297 jointly led the combined army to victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. He was severely wounded in the course of the battle, dying at an unknown date and place that year.

Andrew Moray the younger of Petty was born late in the second half of the 13th century. The date and place of his birth are unknown. Andrew's father was Sir Andrew Moray of Petty, an influential north Scotland baron and Justiciar of Scotia (1289?–1296), and his mother was the historically anonymous fourth daughter of John Comyn I of Badenoch.

Nothing is known of the formative years of Moray the younger's life. In common with other members of his social class, he likely embarked in his youth on the training for knighthood. This would have entailed him being fostered in the household of a mature knight outwith his family, where he would undergo training in horsemanship and in the use of weapons, he would care for the knight's armour and weapons, and for his horses. He would also serve the foster-knight meals at the table. It is not recorded that Moray attained knighthood within his lifetime.

The Morays of Petty were a wealthy and politically influential baronial family whose power base was located in the province of Moray in north-east Scotland. The family traced their origins to Freskin of Uphall, in Lothian, who was granted lands in the Laich of Moray during the 12th-century reign of King David I of Scotland. Freskin built a motte-and-bailey castle on these lands at Duffus on the north shore of Loch Spynie (this sea-loch was almost completely drained in the 18th and 19th centuries to bring hundreds of acres of land into agricultural use).

The Morays of Petty possessed significant political influence. The family were loyal agents of the Scots king. Sir Andrew Moray of Petty, head of the north branch of the family, acted from 1289 as the king's chief law officer in north Scotland (the Justiciar) and may have been co-opted to the guardianship following in the premature death of King Alexander III. He had close personal connections to the most politically influential family in Scottish society, the Comyns. Sir Andrew's first wife was a daughter of John (I) 'the Red' Comyn of Badenoch, and his second wife was Euphemia Comyn. The Morays of Petty also had links to the Douglases of Douglasdale.

The ground they fought on

The site of Wallace's Siege of Dundee Castle, 1297 (English Surrender) lies on Arbuthnott-Garvock Group, bedrock that formed in the Pragian. The rock here is sandstone with subordinate conglomerate, siltstone and mudstone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Scheduled Monuments near Wallace's Siege of Dundee Castle, 1297 (English Surrender)

Tayfield, settlement NE of South Lodge

Scheduled monument · ~2.2 mi

Tayfield is a settlement situated northeast of South Lodge in Fife, Scotland, protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland. The site occupies ground underlain by Silurian to Devonian extrusive rocks, specifically mafic lava and tuff formed during the Devonian period, which h…

Esky Loch, unenclosed settlement 400m ENE of

Scheduled monument · ~3.1 mi

Esky Loch is an unenclosed settlement located approximately 400 metres east-north-east of Fife in Scotland. The site lies upon bedrock of Devonian mafic lava and mafic tuff, ancient volcanic rocks formed during the Devonian period when intense geological activity shaped the landscape of what is n…

St Peter's Church & graveyard, Invergowrie

Scheduled monument · ~3.3 mi

St Peter's Church and graveyard, Invergowrie is a medieval parish church with its associated burial ground in Perthshire, Scotland. The church stands on bedrock of the Arbuthnott-Garvock Group, a sandstone formation laid down during the Pragian period and interspersed with conglomerate, siltstone…

Esky Loch, barrows 400m E of

Scheduled monument · ~3.3 mi

Esky Loch barrows is a Bronze Age cemetery located in Fife, Scotland, comprising multiple burial mounds positioned 400 metres east of Esky Loch. The site sits upon Silurian to Devonian extrusive rocks, specifically mafic lava and mafic tuff formed during the Devonian period, which would have crea…

Dundee and Newtyle Railway,embankment N of Baldragon

Scheduled monument · ~3.4 mi

Dundee and Newtyle Railway embankment north of Baldragon is a section of railway infrastructure surviving from the early nineteenth-century expansion of transport links in eastern Scotland. The embankment runs across Angus, constructed to carry the railway on a level course across the undulating…

Paddock Stone, standing stone

Scheduled monument · Bronze Age · ~3.6 mi

Paddock Stone is a Bronze Age standing stone located in Angus, Scotland, protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland. The monument belongs to a widespread tradition of monumental stone-setting that flourished across Britain and Ireland during the second millennium BC. Stand…

Other Medieval Battles

Battles near Wallace's Siege of Dundee Castle, 1297 (English Surrender)

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• Andrew Moray · Wikipedia
• Dundee Castle · Wikipedia