Heroine: Marjorie Dunbar (nee Comyn) of Cumnock
27 October
In 1296 MARJORIE DUNBAR held Dunbar Castle against her husband and Edward I, but what happened to her after that?
We hear of her granddaughter, Black Agnes, but nothing of MARJORIE. WHY?
March 25,1296, Patrick, Earl of Dunbar and March swore fealty to the Edward I.
In the same year, his wife of 14 years, mother of his three sons, Marjorie, daughter of Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan, took the Scottish side and retained the castle of Dunbar for Balliol, surrendering it to King Edward I in April. The Comyns were taken to London.
August 28 1296, Edward again called together the Scots to sign a 2nd Ragman Roll.
Aug/Sept 1296, Aleyn Waleys, (tenant le Roi du counte de Are) signed the Roll.
In 1297 (when exactly?) it appears that the Earl of Dunbar ceased his allegiance to Edward I, held his lands for the Scottish Crown, and was favourably received by Sir William Wallace, with whom he had been in bitter battle the previous year!
September 1297, Battle of Stirling Bridge.
October 11 1297, seal on Lubeck Letter reads: William, son of Alan Wallace.
In 1298 Patric de Comenagh was King Edward's Lieutenant for Scotland.
So what happened to Marjorie, the heroine of Dunbar?
Was William Wallace at the Battle of Dunbar?
We hear of her granddaughter, Black Agnes, but nothing of MARJORIE. WHY?
March 25,1296, Patrick, Earl of Dunbar and March swore fealty to the Edward I.
In the same year, his wife of 14 years, mother of his three sons, Marjorie, daughter of Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan, took the Scottish side and retained the castle of Dunbar for Balliol, surrendering it to King Edward I in April. The Comyns were taken to London.
August 28 1296, Edward again called together the Scots to sign a 2nd Ragman Roll.
Aug/Sept 1296, Aleyn Waleys, (tenant le Roi du counte de Are) signed the Roll.
In 1297 (when exactly?) it appears that the Earl of Dunbar ceased his allegiance to Edward I, held his lands for the Scottish Crown, and was favourably received by Sir William Wallace, with whom he had been in bitter battle the previous year!
September 1297, Battle of Stirling Bridge.
October 11 1297, seal on Lubeck Letter reads: William, son of Alan Wallace.
In 1298 Patric de Comenagh was King Edward's Lieutenant for Scotland.
So what happened to Marjorie, the heroine of Dunbar?
Was William Wallace at the Battle of Dunbar?
Was his father, Alan Wallace, a tenant of Cumnock Castle in Kyle Regis?
Cumnock Castle was held by Patrick Dunbar but no-one seems to know how or when he took over. Was it when he married Marjorie Comyn?
If Marjorie and her followers were executed or imprisoned, this could be the missing link as to why William Wallace rose up against the English and why Patrick Dunbar is said to have let Wallace shelter for three months in the Afton Glen of Comenagh.
Just a thought.
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