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.
The garrison of Dundee Castle, which had been in English hands since its surrender in 1296, capitulated to William Wallace during his siege in 1297, yielding the stronghold to the Scots before the decisive engagement at Stirling Bridge later that year.
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- Andrew Moray · Wikipedia
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