Edward ordered the Welsh archers to prepare the way with their missiles for the advance of the men-at-arms.  But the Welsh refused to move, so that Edward was forced to proceed by a direct cavalry charge.  For this purpose he divided his men-at-arms into four “battles”.  The first of these was commanded by the Earl of Lincoln, with whom were the constable and marshal, who at last had an opportunity of serving the king in battle in the offices which belonged to them by hereditary right.  On approaching the morass this first line was thrown into some confusion, and paused in its advance.  Behind it the second battle, under command of the Bishop of Durham, who, perhaps, knew the ground better, wheeled to the east and took the Scots on their left flank.  But Bek’s followers disobeyed his orders to wait until the rest of the army came up, and they suffered heavy losses in attacking the left schiltron.  Before long, however, Lincoln found a way round the morass westwards to the enemy’s right, while the two rearmost battles, headed by the king and Earl Warenne, also advanced to the front.  The combat thus became general.  The Scots cavalry fled without striking a blow, and some of the English thought that Wallace himself rode off the field with them.  The archers between the schiltrons were easily trampled down, so that the only effective resistance came from the circles of pikemen.  The yeomanry of Scotland steadily held their own against the fierce charges of the mail-clad knights, and it looked for a time as if the day was theirs.  But the despised infantry at last made their way to the front and poured in showers of arrows that broke down the Scottish ranks.  Friend and foe were at such close quarters that the English who had no bows threw stones against the Scottish circles.  When the way was thus prepared, the horsemen easily penetrated through the gaps made in the circles, and before long the Scottish pikemen were a crowd of panic-stricken fugitives.  Edward’s brilliant victory was won with comparatively little loss.

It was years before the Scots again ventured to meet the English in the open field.  Yet the king’s victory was not followed by any real conquest even of southern Scotland.  Edward advanced to Stirling, where he rested until he had recovered from his accident, while detachments of his troops penetrated as far as Perth and St. Andrews.  Meanwhile the south-west rose in revolt, under Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, whose father had fought at Falkirk.  Late in August, Edward made his way to Ayr and occupied it, while Bruce fled before him.  Provisions were still scarce, and the army was weary of fighting.  The Durham contingent deserted in a body,[1] and the earls were so lukewarm that Edward was fain to return by way of Carlisle, capturing Lochmaben, Bruce’s Annandale stronghold, on the way.  On September 8 the king reached Carlisle, where the constable and marshal declared that they had lost so many men and horses that they could no longer continue the campaign.