‘From the record of Scottish heroes, none can presume to erase her.’

These were the words used by novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott about this week’s warrior woman. And truer words there are not: Agnes Randolph, nicknamed Black Agnes for her dark hair and olive complexion, continues to be one of Scotland’s most famous military heroines.

Agnes came from powerful families; she was kin to Robert the Bruce and the daughter of the Earl of Moray who captured Edinburgh Castle from the English. She was married to Patrick Dunbar, Earl of March, who (with the exception of a brief defection to the English side) was a staunch supporter of Robert the Bruce and David II; at the time of their marriage, he was Sheriff of Lothian and one of the signatories of the Declaration of Arbroath.

As was common in the Middle Ages, when the English again attempted to invade Scotland, Patrick left his wife in charge of managing Dunbar Castle. She was left with a handful of men and her lady’s maids, vastly inferior in number to the English force of 20,000 who laid siege to Dunbar on 13th January 1338. Nevertheless, Agnes was determined to defend the castle, allegedly declaring: ‘Of Scotland’s King I haud my house, I pay him meat and fee, And I will keep my gude auld house, while my house will keep me.’

(we can assume she probably didn’t speak in rhyme)

Dunbar Castle was the core of Scottish resistance in the south-east and it was particularly difficult to capture. Overlooking a harbour, its position meant that the English, led by William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury, could only attack from in front. Furthermore, it was built on top of solid rock, making it near impossible to mine under.

Salisbury had two options for his siege—either he starved them out, or he led a head-on attack. Naturally, he chose to attack.

As the legend goes, Agnes changed her dress for chainmail as the English began to launch boulders and lead shot at the walls. She greeted this with strong disdain; once the assault was over, she appeared on the ramparts with her ladies-in-waiting and proceeded to dust them off with her handkerchief.

Salisbury’s next tactic was to deploy a siege tower called a ‘sow’—so named likely because it carried men inside who would then be ‘birthed’. Agnes was yet again unphased; as soon as the sow was close enough, she had it flattened with a boulder.

The kicker? The boulder was one the English themselves had launched at the castle.

The survivors fled the wreckage of the sow and were subsequently picked off by the Scottish archers. A man standing next to Salisbury had an arrow pierce right through his chainmail coat; it is said that Salisbury sardonically remarked: “There comes one of my lady’s tire pins; Agnes’s love shafts go straight to the heart.“

Whether or not this is true is up for debate. The humour here is distinctly Scottish in nature, and it is important to note that most histories of the siege of Dunbar Castle were written by Scots.

Having been twice defeated, Salisbury decided to change tack entirely. He managed to bribe a gatesman to leave the gate unlocked so that they would be able to enter the castle at night.

The Scotsman agreed, took the English money, and went straight to Agnes.

That night, Salisbury led his men to the gate which had, as agreed, been left so as to grant access to the English. He was at the front of the army, but at the last second, another of his men pushed in front; we can imagine that he deeply regretted this choice, as Agnes dropped the portcullis, trapping him inside.

She had, of course, intended to trap Salisbury himself, but she wasn’t going to let this turn of events dampen her spirits. “Farewell, Montagu,” she taunted. “I intended that you should have supped with us, and assisted us in defending the castle against the English.”

At some point, Agnes’s brother, John, had been captured. Salisbury decided his next move would be to throw a rope around his neck and threaten to hang him if Agnes didn’t surrender. She simply laughed and reminded him that she only stood to gain if he died, as she (along with her sister) was heir to his lands.

By this point, English morale was dwindling. Luckily for them, so too were the Scottish supplies, so Salisbury decided to starve them out. This might have worked, but word reached Ramsay of Dalhousie, who had earned a reputation as a thorn in the side of the English. Dalhousie took supplies and 40 men from Edinburgh and approached Dunbar by the coast, sneaking in through a half-submerged concealed doorway.

The following morning, Agnes once again had the last laugh by sending a gift of bread and wine to Salisbury. Thoroughly humiliated, Salisbury gave up the siege on 10th June.

Agnes had defended Dunbar Castle for nineteen weeks, and her bravery inspired many chroniclers and historians. The triumph was written into a ballad, in which Salisbury says:

“Cam I early, cam I late, I found Agnes at the gate.”

Sources:

• ‘Dunbar, Agnes Countess of [‘Black Agnes’]’, The Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Women’s Biography, 2005
• Swift, Helen Susan, Mujeres de Escocia (Creativia, 2017)
• https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/Black-Agnes/
• https://www.johngraycentre.org/people/heroes/black-agnes-agnes-randolph-countess-dunbar-c1310-1361/
• https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/05/29/black-agnes-the-fearless-countess-who-defended-her-home-during-the-siege-of-dunbar/?edg-c=1
• https://www.rejectedprincesses.com/princesses/black-agnes