Loudon Hill, or, Drumclog [Child 205]

DESCRIPTION: Claverse prepares for battle at Loudon Hill. His cornet would avoid battle; the enemy are too mighty to attack. Claverse calls him a coward and leads the attack himself, but his forces are defeated and chased from the field
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1803 (Scott)
KEYWORDS: battle nobility cowardice
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
June 1, 1679 - Battle of Drumclog. Covenanters defeat the army of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee
FOUND IN: Britain
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Child 205, "Loudon Hill, or, Drumclog" (1 text)
Whitelaw-BookOfScottishBallads, pp. 533-538, "The Battle of Loudon-Hill" (1 text)
DT, LOUDNHIL*
ADDITIONAL: Walter Scott, Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (Edinburgh: Longman and Rees ("Digitized by Microsoft")), second edition, Vol. III, pp. 188-208, "The Battle of Loudounhill" (1 text)
Michael Brander, _Scottish & Border Battles & Ballads_, 1975 (page references are to the 1993 Barnes & Noble edition), pp. 171-173, "Loudon Hill, or Drumclog" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4018
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Battle of Loudon Hill
NOTES [605 words]: The "Claverse" of Child's text is, of course, Claverhouse (James Graham of Claverhouse, First Viscount Dundee, c. 1649-1689, known as "Bonnie Dundee" and killed at Killiecrankie; see the entry on "Killy Kranky" for details of that battle).
Drumclog was not, in terms of size, much of a battle (historians have been known to call it "the 'battle' of Drumclog," because the forces were so small). After the restoration, Charles II had appointed James Sharp as Archbishop of Saint Andrews. Bishops were anathema to Presbyterians anyway, and Sharp was unusually obnoxious in that he had begun life as a Presbyterian and had turned Episcopalian (Keay, p. 205), presumably to gain preferment with Charles II. Apparently no one in Scotland liked him much because of his lack of principles. Plus he was much the strongest figure in the Scottish church (most Scots didn't want any part of an episcopal hierarchy, so Charles had to appoint second-raters and the power-hungry to bishoprics. Sharp was the only top-quality man willing to be part of Charles's church, and so was given the top Scottish post, Archbishop of St Andrews; Hutton, p. 179). As a result, "Scotland was dominated by the triumvirate of Rothes, Lauderdale [Charles's main agent], and Archbishop Sharp" (Hutton, p. 207).
He was ambushed and killed on May 3, 1679. His daughter was with him when he was murdered. Apparently those who killed him weren't actually after him -- they wanted a local sheriff -- but they were happy to get rid of such an obnoxious character when they found him (Keay, pp. 205-206).
The murder didn't make the problem of governing Scotland any easier: "The struggle was intensified after the 3rd, when Archbishop Sharp was removed from his coach near St Andrews by a group of aggrieved presbyterians, and stabbed many more times than was medically necessary for his departure to another life. The incident was atrocious, especially as he died beneath his daughter's eyes" (Hutton, p. 375. Hutton goes on to add that much of the mess was the fault of Charles II, who had a policy of "encouraging the Scottish government to persecute presybterians while showing advocates of toleration at court," which had the effect of making everyone think Charles would accept their views. Instead, he would send the forces that crushed the presbyterians at Bothwell Bridge.).
It wasn't really a rebellion, but Claverhouse treated it as if it were, and rode against the "rebels." They were only a few hundred ill-armed men, but Claverhouse had only a handful of troops, who eventually fled.
The success of the Covenanters at Drumclog did not last long; indeed, it helped induce their next defeat. The victory caused many more men to flow to the cause, but they were utterly disorganized. This rabble was defeated at Bothwell Bridge in the same year (see Child 206, "Bothwell Bridge").
There were actually two battles known as Loudon (Loudun) Hill. The first was fought in 1307 between the forces of England and of Robert the Bruce. Magnusson, pp. 172-173, describes how the Earl of Pembroke challenged Bruce to come out and fight. Bruce did so -- but arranged the battle so that Pembroke's forces charged over a series of hidden trenches. The horsemen went down, and were slaughtered by the Scottish spearmen, with Pembroke fleeing with the rearguard. It was the first real success of Bruce's rebellion (though it probably would not have been enough had not the English King Edward I, "The Hammer of the Scots," died soon after.) It will be obvious that this song refers to the second Battle of Loudon Hill, usually called "Drumclog" to prevent confusion. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 6.6
File: C205

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