ABSTRACT
The mediaeval definition of ' heavy' cavalry is that the men, whether the superior knights or the inferior scutiferi, rode ' covered ' horses—cum equis coopertis—and in the reign of Edward I they were the only English cavalry. In all battles the English horse attacked ahead of the foot, and were repulsed until the archers were brought up. But in Scotland the campaign was more important than the battle, and Robert Bruce's great contribution to military history is that he mounted his men on ponies to avoid battle, to starve out the English, and to retaliate by devastating raids. To describe the feeble invasion, the weariness and starvation of the ' infantry preferred ' whom Bruce saw no need to fight in pitched battle, the return, and the counter-invasion into Yorkshire, where Edward I was nearly taken, would be out of place.
