Scotland -- History -- Stuarts, to the Union, 1371-1707
One of the earliest, if indeed it be not actually the most ancient of
extant enactments for the organization of the national forces of
Scotland, is a Latin document drawn up in the form and style of a
proclamation and purporting to be based on "the Book of Wyntoun laws".
It is undated, but this reference to Edward I's Statute of Winchester
shows it to have been subsequent to the year 1285. This Scottish
adaptation of the English system required every man between sixteen and
sixty years of age to be provided with defensive and offensive armour in
proportion to the quantity of lands and chattels which he possessed. The
owner of chattels to the value of 40 marks was to have a horse; an
habergeon, or sleeveless coat of mail; a chaplet, that is to say, an
iron skull-cap without vizor; a sword, and "a knife called dagger". The
equipment of such as held land worth 40s. or upwards, but less than
100s., was to consist of a bow and arrows, a dagger, and a knife; and,
in their case, the absence of defensive armour suggests that they were
intended as light infantry. The lesser people, with an income under
40s. were expected to have a hand-axe, bow and arrows. All others,
whose means allowed of it, were to be armed with a bow and arrows if
they dwelt outside forest lands, or a bow and "pyles" if within them.
These pyles being square-headed quarrels or bolts, it may be supposed
that the use of them was prescribed because they were looked upon as
less suitable for the purposes of poaching. The same ordinance also
enjoined that there should be two wapenshaws or inspections every
year.[278]
Earlier, though more incidental indication of a system of military
service, is to be found, however, in an enactment which is ascribed to
William the Lion, who began his reign in 1165, and which set forth that
if a man borrowed a horse to join the King's army and the horse were
challenged as stolen, he was to be allowed respite until his return to
the county within which he alleged that the horse had been lent him.
And, rather more than half a century later, in 1220, under Alexander II,
further evidence of military obligation is supplied by a statute fixing
the fines to be imposed on men of various ranks for remaining away from
the King's host in Inverness. A thane was to forfeit six cows and a
heifer; an "ochtyern", which is interpreted as meaning "one equal in
rank to a thane's son", was liable to be mulcted in the amount of
fifteen sheep and 6s., and a yeoman in that of a cow and a sheep.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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