The Battle of Arbroath

Arbroath Abbey is famous as both a holy site and for the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320. It hasn’t always been a place of peace and reflection though. Just over 100 years after the Declaration was signed, Arbroath Abbey would be the location of one of Scotland’s bloodiest battles.

The monks at Arbroath had declared Alexander Lindsay, son of the Earl of Crawford, as the Bailie of Regality. His father was one of the most powerful men in Scotland, so having the Abbey under their protection should have been reassuring. The position gave Lindsay power and wealth, but he was also now responsible for upholding the law. Instead, he chose to abuse that power while his fighting men caused mayhem within the Abbey walls.

Things got so bad that the monks decided to replace Lindsay with Alexander Ogilvy, one of his family’s worst enemies. Naturally, the Crawfords were furious and diplomatic solutions were doomed to fail. In 1445, Lindsay raised an army of 1000 men and marched to the doors of Arbroath Abbey to claim back the position he had lost.

Ogilvy had allies but even together they were badly outnumbered. As the two sides lined up against each other, they shouted the usual insults, but nobody wanted to be first to act. News had reached the ears of Lindsay’s father, and the Earl of Crawford was racing to stop the madness at Arbroath.

As soon as he arrived, the Earl rode into the middle of the field to calm everything down. One Ogilvy soldier thought this was the start of an attack and threw a spear, killing Crawford instantly. That broke the stalemate and the Lindsay army rushed forward to get their revenge.

The Battle of Arbroath raged for hours, the Ogilvy side fought valiantly but stood little chance. They retreated from Arbroath to Leysmill where the fighting continued into the evening. When everything was finally over, Ogilvy himself had fallen and the Lindsays were victorious. Control of Arbroath Abbey had been won at the heavy cost of 600 lives.