The Battle of Roslin, 1303: The Red Comyn’s Victory

Background

By 1303 the Wars of Independence had ground on for six years. King John Balliol was in exile, William Wallace had been beaten at Falkirk (1298), and Scotland was governed by Guardians in Balliol’s name. From 1302 the sole Guardian was John “the Red” Comyn — nephew of King John and head of the mighty Comyn kindred. With an Anglo-Scottish truce expired, Edward I of England sent Sir John Segrave north on a reconnaissance-in-force ahead of a full invasion. The Scots tracked the English column and struck first.

The battle

By tradition, Roslin was three separate engagements fought in a single day. Comyn and Fraser made a fast night march and fell on Segrave’s divided, resting camps near Roslin Glen, using surprise and the steep, wooded valley of the North Esk. Segrave himself was captured; the English paymaster Sir Ralph Manton was killed; and a third division under Sir Robert Neville was beaten in a harder final clash. Local place-names — “Shinbanes Field,” the “Killburne” said to have run red for three days — still carry the memory, though these belong to tradition.

Aftermath & significance

Roslin was a striking success that briefly humiliated the English and boosted Comyn’s standing — but it changed nothing strategically. Edward I launched his planned invasion later in 1303, and by early 1304 most of the Scottish leadership, Comyn included, had submitted. The site is recorded in Scotland’s national Inventory of Historic Battlefields.

The clans & people involved

• Clan Cumming — John “the Red” Comyn commanded the Scots.
• Clan Fraser — Sir Simon Fraser shared the command.
• Clan Sinclair — the St Clairs of Roslin held this ground.
• Three years on, Comyn and Robert the Bruce would fall out fatally — see the murder of the Red Comyn.

The battlefield today

The wooded glen where the battle was fought survives as Roslin Glen, now a country park on the North Esk — you can walk the very ground. The fight is marked by a memorial cairn, raised by the Roslin Heritage Society, an easy 15-minute stroll from Rosslyn Chapel (out past Manse Road, over the bridge and along the road). Roslin is one of the sites recorded in Scotland’s official Inventory of Historic Battlefields. The old place-names said to remember the day — Shinbanes Field, the Killburne — belong to tradition.

Sources

• Battle of Roslin — Wikipedia; Historic Environment Scotland battlefield inventory (BTL37).