Andrew Harclay, 1st Earl of Carlisle the Scots, under the command of Robert the Bruce, at the Battle of Old Byland in Yorkshire. The English commander, John of Brittany, Earl of Richmond, was taken prisoner, while the king himself barely escaped capture. It was the worst defeat the English had suffered in the wars since the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Harclay had received a summons to join the royal army, but had not been able to bring his troops south in time to come to the king's rescue. The event convinced him that the war against Scotland could not be won under the leadership of
Robert the Bruce the heavy fighting. The historian Roy Haines describes the defeat as a "calamity of stunning proportions" for the English, whose losses were huge. In the aftermath of the defeat, Edward retreated to Dunbar, then travelled by ship to Berwick, and then back to York; in his absence, Stirling Castle quickly fell. Freed from English threats, Scotland's armies could now invade northern England. Bruce also drove back a subsequent English expedition north of the border and launched raids into Yorkshire and Lancashire. Buoyed by his military successes, Bruce's forces also invaded Ireland in 1315, in an attempt to free the country