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18 from the present village of St. Ninians. On the summit of an eminence, called Brock's Brae, is a stone sunk in the earth, with a hole in it, in which, according to tradition, Robert's standard was fixed. The small river of Bannockburn ran in a narrow valley between the two camps.

The castle of Stirling was in the possession of the English. Edward Bruce, the king's brother, had, in the spring of 1313, laid siege to it, but found himself obliged to abandon the enterprise; and, by a treaty between that prince and Moubray the governor, it was agreed, that if the garrison received no relief from England before a year expired, it should surrender to the Scots.

The day preceding the battle, a strong body of cavalry was detached from the English camp, under the conduct of Lord Clifford, to the relief of Stirling castle. The detachment having marched through some hollow ground, had passed the Scots army before they were observed. The king himself was the first who perceived them;—he desired the Earl of