It was not, however, till the close of the following year that the pardons were completed, Edward having in the meantime been to France. [Sidenote: Renewal of war with Scotland. 1314.] [Sidenote: Battle of Bannockburn.] This closes the first period of the reign, but it is plain that the Barons were not yet satisfied. Their chief enemy was removed, but their policy was not accepted. Thus, when in 1314 the King collected a large army, many of them still held aloof, though they sent their forces. If Scotland was to be saved it was time for energetic action. One by one the fortresses had been taken. Stirling still held out, but the Governor promised to capitulate unless relieved before St. John’s Day. By a rapid march Edward reached the place before the fatal day. But Bruce was ready to receive him. He had arranged his troops a little to the south and east of the castle, with his right resting on the little brook Bannockburn. His position was carefully prepared. His front was partly covered by a marsh, and where this ceased and waste land began he had dug shallow pitfalls, with a pointed stake in each, to check the advance of the heavy cavalry, of which the English army then consisted. His left was defended by the cliffs of the castle. Edward Bruce commanded the right, Thomas Randolf the left, Walter Stewart and James Douglas the centre, a small rearguard was commanded by Bruce himself. On the eve of St. John’s the English attempted to secure Stirling, but were beaten back by Randolf. On the morning of the 24th of June, the Abbot of Inchaffray said mass in the Scotch army. As they knelt, Edward exclaimed, “See, they beg pardon.” But Ingram of Umfranville, a Scotch nobleman, by his side, replied, “Yes, sire, but of Heaven, not of you.” Immediately after this the battle began, and already the weight of the English men-at-arms and the flights of arrows were thinning the Scotch ranks, when Bruce fell upon the flank of the archers with his reserve. The fortune of the day was still doubtful, when troops were seen advancing with flying standards behind the Scotch. They were the camp followers of Bruce’s army, who were eagerly pushing forward to watch the fight, but the English believed it was the arrival of reinforcements. They had already found enough to do, and did not wait the new arrivals. The flight soon became a disorderly rout. The horses stumbled and fell in the pitfalls or stuck fast in the morass, and the Scotch pursued ruthlessly. With difficulty the King, under the guidance of the Earl of Pembroke, escaped from the field, and sought safety with a few hundred men in Dunbar, whence he took ship to Berwick. The Earl of Gloucester, with great numbers of Barons and Knights, were left dead upon the field, and during the retreat the Earl of Hereford was captured at Bothwell. He was subsequently exchanged for the Bishop of Glasgow and Bruce’s wife and daughter, who had long been in honourable custody in England.