General Notes

REFN: 6568AN
Robert De Clifford (c. 1275 – 1314), was the 1st Baron De Clifford.
He was a son of Roger De Clifford (d. 1282), inherited the estates of h
is grandfather, Roger De Clifford, in 1286; then he obtained through his m
other part of the extensive land of the Viponts, and thus became one of t
he most powerful barons of his age. A prominent soldier during the reig
ns of Edward I and Edward II, Clifford was summoned to parliament as a bar
on in 1299, won great renown at the siege of Carlaverock Castle in 1300, a
nd after taking part in the movement against Edward II's favourite, Pie
rs Gaveston, was killed at Bannockburn.
His son Roger became the 2nd baron Baron De Clifford.
1st Lord Clifford of Appleby; Lord Clifford of Westmorland
24 JUN 1314 in Slain at Battle of Bannockburn, St. Ninians, Stirlingshir
e, Central, Scotland
Vivian says "only child", yet the IGI/LDS Ancestral File list 3 more child
ren. They are listed.
Sir Robert played a significant part at the Battle of Bannockburn on Ju
ne 24, 1314. Herewith are the details. He is hilighted as CLIFFORD.
"Gang cry the hounds o' Douglas Vale,
Gang string your Ettrick bows,
Gang warn the spears o' Liddesdale,
That Edward leads the foe.
There is a legend that in the days when he was a fugitive king harried fr
om one hiding place to another, when all his friends and family seem
ed to be either dead or rotting in English gaols, the Bruce found himse
lf completely alone and hiding in a cave somewhere in the west of Scotlan
d. So many times he had raised armies only to see them destroyed or scatte
red and as he lay on the damp floor of the cave he must have been dispirit
ed beyond imagination, the bitter taste of despair welling up in his thro
at and onto his tongue. It was then that he saw a spider. Foolish creatur
e, it seemed intent on spinning its web across an impossibly wide space a
nd as the Bruce watched the spider leapt and failed, again and again. S
ix times it jumped and six times it failed but on the seventh attempt it s
ucceeded. The Bruce took heart from this example of arachnid perseveran
ce and rose once more determined to see his quest for the throne fulfille
d. The quest led him directly to the banks of the Bannock Burn and the bat
tle that would decide his throne's, his country's, his family's  and his o
wn fate
Imagine if you will a great castle, standing a few miles distant, perch
ed on a rocky outcrop 400 feet above the plain. There is an old Roman ro
ad in front of you and it runs northward to the castle through an open ar
ea called the New Park. The western edge of the New Park is heavily wood
ed to the left of the road and on the east, sometimes a thousand yards fr
om the road sometimes only two hundred an escarpment drops down about a hu
ndred feet. A path, known as the the Way, roughly parallels the base of t
he escarpment and runs on to join the Roman road about a mile from the cas
tle. Directly in front of you a stream, the Bannock Burn, flows from we
st to east across the road and then turns to meander in a general north-ea
sterly direction across a plain of soft at times marshy land to a confluen
ce with the River Forth about four miles east of the castle. This is appro
ximately what Edward II saw when his army arrived after a five day march f
rom its assembly point at Wark. They had reached Falkirk and camped the
re on the night of the July 22nd and by the rules of Mowbray and Edward Br
uce's agreement there were still two days in which to relieve the castl
e. With such a powerful army and two days to spare Edward II must have fe
lt confident indeed. If so the confidence was misplaced. Robert the Bruc
e, King Robert I of Scotland had become a skilled general in his yea
rs of struggle against numerically superior forces and he had a sharp e
ye for the advantages a well chosen piece of ground could bestow. The posi
tion he had selected was one of great strength. His spearmen had been fo