Edward II of England had kept up the wars against the Bruce and his followers. He was growing more and more angry with each victory of Robert the Bruce and his followers. Determined to put an end to Bruce once and for all he assembled a very large army. It consisted of mounted knights, archers, crossbow-men, and foot soldiers led by Edward himself. the exact size of his army is unknown, but it was several times larger than that of Robert the Bruce. King Robert chose the place for the upcoming battle at Bannockburn very carefully He chose a position with several natural defenses many of which prevented heavy cavalry or large mass formations to operate. He formed his army into four 'battles' or Battalions, three of which consisted of 'hedgehog' or schiltrons Just before the battle began king Robert knighted Sir James Douglas, his cousin Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, and many others. James and Walter were joint leaders of the left battalion.
When the English army was still approaching, king Robert sent Douglas and Sir Robert Keith, Marischal of Scotland to observe the English and report back to him. Douglas and Keith reported king Edward was approaching with a very large army. During the battle most of the fighting was directed at the other two battalions. When the center battalion led by Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray was in trouble, Douglas went to their rescue of his close friend. But the English retreated before Douglas could help. Finally the Scots won the battle and the English fell back in confusion, king Edward with 500 mounted knights fled the field. James Douglas with a small mounted force gave chase to the English king. They chased them all the way to Dunbar, but Edward escaped back to England.
After English defeat at Bannockburn the northern border of England was very lightly defended. In August of 1314 James Douglas, along with Edward Bruce (the king's brother), and John of Soules led a large raid into England. From 1314 to 1319 Douglas was raiding northern England at least once a year. When Edward Bruce left for Ireland in 1317 Douglas took his place as leader in the south of Scotland. These raids were not just to frighten the English but to get cash payment for king of Scotland for not attacking that village. It was also to prove to the English that their king Edward II could not protect them. Douglas was the one of the main leader in the wars on the English border until the final peace in 1328.
Two times, in 1319 and in 1322, when Douglas raided into Yorkshire he tried to capture King Edward II and his wife Queen Isabella of France. While he did not succeed this only added to his reputation by the English as "the Black Douglas." On 25 December 1319 the Scots and English signed a two year truce. In 1320, James Douglas put his seal on the Declaration of Arbroath. This declaration of Scottish independence was in the form of a letter to Pope John XXII.
During this period Douglas was rewarded many times with grants of lands. One grant was not of land but of privileges. Called the Emerald Charter, it gave James Douglas and his heirs freedom from many obligations to the king. It also made Douglas and his heirs a judge in their own lands. In giving James Douglas this special grant the king took an emerald ring from his finger and placed it on Douglas' finger. His importance to King Robert and to Scotland was increasing as time went on.
In 1328 Robert the Bruce was in poor health and was dying. One thing he had not been able to do was to go on a crusade. He asked his friend Sir James Douglas to take his heart to the Holy Land. The king died on 7 June 1329. After the king's death James Douglas had a silver casket made and placed in it the heart of Robert the Bruce. He kept it safe on a chain around his neck. In 1330 he and six knights set out in a ship with royal banners. This is so all who saw it would know the heart of Robert, King of Scotland was on its way to Jerusalem in the Holy Land. The ship waited at Sluys, Flanders for other knights to join them before continuing on their voyage. They sailed to Spain where they stopped at Seville. They were welcomed by Alfonso XI, King of Castile and Leon as well as many English knights who had come to Spain to fight against the Moors. In August 1330 outside the walls of the Moorish town of Teba de Ardales Douglas and his knights joined the king's army. King Alfonso asked Douglas if he would lead the vanguard and placed all the English and Scottish knights under his command. Douglas ordered the charge and the fighting began right away. When the moors pretended to retreat, Douglas and ten of his knights chased after them. But it was a trick and the Moors turned and surrounded them. Trying to rescue a fellow knight Douglas and all his knights were killed. Sir James Douglas was found with the silver casket still around his neck. His body was made ready for the trip home. The silver casket containing the heart of Bruce never reached the Holy Land. It was buried at the Abbey of Melrose. Sir James Douglas was buried at the Kirk of Douglas.
The Shaggy Dog
The Shaggy Dog is a 1959 Walt Disney movie. It stars Fred MacMurray, Tommy Kirk, Kevin Corcoran, and Annette Funicello. It is based on the story, "The Hound of Florence" by Felix Salten. It was Disney's first live-action movie. A sequel was made in 1976 called "The Shaggy D.A." which stars Dean Jones, Tim Conway, and Suzanne Pleshette.
Old Yeller (movie)
Old Yeller is a 1957 Walt Disney movie. It stars Tommy Kirk, Fess Parker, Kevin Corcoran, Dorothy McGuire, and 'Spike'. It is based on a book by Fred Gipson. The movie is about a boy and a stray dog in post-Civil War Texas. A sequel called "Savage Sam" followed in 1958.
Berserk!
Berserk! is a 1967 British movie starring Joan Crawford, Judy Geeson, Ty Hardin, and Michael Gough. It is about a circus plagued with gruesome murders. Reviews were lukewarm in general, but Crawford was praised. The movie was popular and well attended. SInce many tickets were sold, the movie was considered a box office success.
Priscilla Mullins Alden
Priscilla (Mullins or Mullens) Alden (ca. 1602 – ca. 1685) was a passenger on the "Mayflower" in 1620 when it sailed from England to North America. She married John Alden in Plymouth Colony in 1623, and bore him ten or eleven children.
The couple founded Duxbury, north of Plymouth. She died in 1685 and is buried in the Myles Standish Burial Ground. She is the heroine of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1858 poem, "The Courtship of Miles Standish".
Her birthplace and parents are not known with certainty. She may have been born in Surrey to Col. William Mullins, Sr. and Alice Mullins. She sailed to the New World with her parents and brother Joseph. These three died the winter of 1620-1621.
Priscilla married John Alden in 1623 in Plymouth Colony. They had ten or eleven children. John and Priscilla Alden lived in Plymouth until the late 1630s. They then moved north to found the town of Duxbury, Massachusetts.
Priscilla Alden died about 1685, and is buried in the Myles Standish Burial Ground in Duxbury. The exact location of her grave within the burial ground has not been found.
She is a main character in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1858 poem, "The Courtship of Miles Standish". Longfellow was a descendant of the Aldens. He romanticized a family legend for the poem.
John and Priscilla Alden Family Sites
John and Priscilla Alden Family Sites is a National Historic Landmark consisting of two properties in Duxbury, Massachusetts, United States.
According to the Department of the Interior's press release:
This property is the site of John Alden's original home. It was built about 1632. John and Priscilla Alden first lived in this house. Traditional accounts say the house was abandoned around 1653. The building has not survived. The property is now an important archeological site. It is owned by the Town of Duxbury.