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a mile to the northward, upon several small eminencies, south from the present village of St. Ninians. Upon the summit of one of these eminencies, now called Brock's-brae, is a stone sunk into the earth, with a round hole in it, near three inches in diameter, and much the same in depth, in which, according to tradition, King Robert's standard was fixed, the royal tent having been erected near it. This stone is well known in that neighbourhood by the name of the Bore-stone. The small river of Bannockburn, remarkable for its steep and rugged banks, ran in a narrow valley between the two camps. The Castle of Stirling was still in the hands of the English. Edward Bruce, the King's brother, had, in the spring of this year, laid siege to it, but found himself obliged to abandon the enterprize; only by a treaty between that Prince and Moubray, the Governor, it was agreed, that, if the garrison received no relief from England before a year expired, they should surrender to the Scots. The day preceding the battle, a strong body of cavalry, to the number of 800, was detached from the English camp, under the conduct of Lord Clifford, to the relief of that garrison. These having marched through some hollow grounds, upon the edge of the Castle, had passed the Scots army before they were observed. The King himself was the first that perceived them, and desiring Thomas Randolph, Earl of Murray, to look towards the
