Battle of Methven The Battle of Methven took place at Methven in Scotland in 1306 , during the Wars of Scottish Independence . The battlefield is currently under research to be included in the Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland and protected by Historic Scotland under the Scottish Historical Environment Policy of 2009 . Comyn ' s Death . In February 1306 , Robert Bruce and a small party of his followers killed John Comyn , also known as the Red Comyn , before the high altar of the Greyfriars Church in Dumfries . Both Comyn and Bruce had been forced to give fealty to King Edward I of England on pain of execution , and every appearance is that both intended to pursue the Scottish crown . According to John Barbour ' s " The Brus " , written with access to people who were at the event , Comyn and Bruce had previously signed an agreement to that effect which Comyn betrayed to King Edward I . However , the bad blood between the two men went far back , and they had found it impossible to work together as Guardians of the Realm . For Bruce , after Comyn ' s murder , the only way was forward for he would never be received back into the peace of Edward I . His only defense lay in the seizure of the political high ground : a few weeks after Comyn ' s death Bruce was crowned King of Scots at Scone . The Oath of the Swans . The killing of John Comyn took Edward by complete surprise . News travelled slowly : it was some thirteen days after the event that the details reached his court at Winchester , and even then the full circumstances were unclear . The murder was initially described as the ' work of some people who are doing their utmost to trouble the peace and quiet of the realm of Scotland ' , but he learned the true facts later . On 5 April , he appointed Aymer de Valence , Comyn ' s brother - in - law , and the future Earl of Pembroke , as his plenipotentiary in Scotland , with powers to raise the Dragon Banner , signifying that no quarter would be given to Bruce and his adherents ; or , as the chronicler John Barbour puts it ' to burn and slay and raise dragon ' . At Westminster on 20 May , the king knighted the Prince of Wales and 250 other young men in preparation for the coming war . A banquet was held after the ceremony during which two decorated swans were presented to the king . Edward then vowed ' by the God of Heaven and these swans ' to avenge Comyn ' s death and the treachery of the Scots . On his demand the newly created knights took a similar oath . Methven . In Scotland , Robert Bruce was already engaged in a full - scale civil war with the family and friends of John Comyn . The coronation in March had given him some legitimacy ; but overall the position was very uncertain . Even his wife , Elizabeth de Burgh , the daughter of the Earl of Ulster , and now queen of Scots , was concerned . After the coronation she is reported to have said ' It seems to me we are but a summer king and queen whom children crown in their support ' . Valence moved quickly , and by the middle of summer he had made his base at Perth , where he was joined by many of the supporters of John Comyn . King Robert came from the west , ready to meet his foe in battle . He was prepared to observe on this occasion the gentlemanly conventions of feudal warfare , while the English adopted less orthodox tactics . Valence was invited to leave the walls of Perth and join Bruce in battle , but he declined . The king , perhaps believing that Valence ' s refusal to accept his challenge was a sign of weakness , retired only a few miles to nearby Methven , where he made camp for the night . Before dawn on 19 June , his little army was taken by surprise and almost destroyed , because Bruce had accepted Valence at his word and failed to take the precaution of placing pickets around the camp . His entire army was routed . After this experience , he borrowed a page from the book of William Wallace and switched to the guerrilla warfare which the latter had usually preferred .