Andrew de Moray, a member of the Scottishnobility, went to prison with his father, Sir Andrew de Moray, following the 1296Battle of Dunbar. He escaped, and carried on the fight against English occupation of Scotland. While William Wallace fought the English occupation in Southern Scotland for the most part, de Moray raised support for the same cause in Northern Scotland.
The rebels in Moray had their base at Avoch Castle, near Inverness. They organized and carried out guerilla attacks on English occupiers, and later captured Balconie Castle from the Countess of Ross, who sided with the English. Balconie Castle would prove to be a strategic stronghold for the Scottish rebels.
Wallace and de Moray met, and perhaps each took courage from the other's conviction. When Wallace prepared for the English invasion at Stirling, de Moray brought an army to join the cause, and some attribute the Scottish victory at Stirling Bridge (11 September1297) to de Moray's tactical skill.
Unfortunately, the battle at Stirling Bridge cost de Moray his life; an arrow wound he suffered in the fight killed him two months later.
De Moray's son, also called Andrew, went on to fight for Scottish independence with the same fierce determination shown by his father and grandfather.
On September 11, 1297 the forces of AndrewdeMoray and William Wallace clashed with those of John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey, and the English forces suffered defeat.
DeMoray, with William Wallace as his captain, and their forces had come from besieging Dundee and stood situated on the high ground of Abbey Craig, across the Forth and to the north of Stirling.
A theory held to heart by many Scots is that AndrewdeMoray was in position under one end of the bridge and setting it alight, causing its collapse.
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