The following is reprinted from the the summer 2007 edition of the Murray Clan newsletter - the Aitionn.

Magazine Article Review
Fighting For The Lion, The Life of Andrew Murray. By James G. Taylor. History Scotland. Vol.5 No.5 September/October 2005.

Doug Piper

Taylor’s main premise is that Andrew Murray was at least as important as William Wallace in the Scottish resistance to English King Edward I although his contribution is not recognized.

His family was was one of Scotland’s most important families with connections to the most powerful Scottish families compared to William Wallaces’ less brilliant origins. Andrew would have been educated in military matters in his preparation for the knighthood. Wallace apparently had little of no training for a knighthood. One question is why Andrew Murray chose to forgo his comfortable future and eventually join with Wallace.

In April 1296, Andrew Murray was part of the Scottish army defeated by Edward I’s forces near Dunbar. After the battle Sir Andrew Murray, Andrew’s father, among others was incarnated in The Tower of London. Rather than holding Andrew captive in London, he was held captive at Chester Castle from which he escaped. Apparently he wasn’t considered to be as important as his father and, thus, wasn’t held in the tower of London.

After his escape, he returned to Avoch, his father’s castle, overlooking the Firth of Moray where he built forces in opposition to Edward I. Under the familiar 3 six-pointed stars on a blue field Murray banner he attacked many of the main castles in Moray including laying siege to Urquhart Castle. With the exception of the attack on Urquhart most of these battles were undocumented. Although Murray was probably not very successful in these attacks, his actions certainly worried Edward I.

In, perhaps, the only documented incident, Andrew attacked Sir William fitz Warin, constable of Urquhart Castle as he was returning from a meeting with Sir Reginald Cheyne – Edward’s main supporter in Moray – and killed several of his men. After the attack on Sir William fitz Warin, Edward I directed several Scottish notables, including John Comyn the Earl of Buchan, to deal with Andrew Murray – Andrew was the stepson of Euphemia Comyn. When Edward’s men met with Andrew, he managed to ‘escape’ to the wilds of Moray. Edward’s men decided not to pursue him in this area with which they all had intimate knowledge and used the terrain as an excuse for inaction. Taylor says that it appears Scottish nobility tacitly supported Andrew and supplied him with cash, weapons, and horses.

During the autumn of 1297, Murray and Wallace joined their 2 armies and then won the battle of Stirling. Andrew’s was one of the few deaths from the Wallace/Murray army. Many say that Andrew was merely wounded because 2 letters were sent bearing both his seal and Wallace’s seal after the battle of Stirling. Taylor concludes that Wallace controlled Andrew Murray’s seal and used Murray’s seal on the 2 letters because he felt insecure in his power until the time when he had become the Guardian of Realm.

Edward I was still worried enough about Murray that he had Murray’s posthumous son kidnapped and kept in England until his release after Bannockburn.

Taylor suggests that one reason that Wallace became the hero was that it made a better story. “The acknowledgement of Murray’s deeds means Wallace is no longer able to dominate the narrative and he is forced to share centre-stage with a man whose deeds also mark him as a patriot of heroic stature.”a lion-hearted man, who fought with courage and unselfishness in defence of the kingdom of Scotland ; he deserves a better fate than to languish in virtual obscurity amongst the footnotes of Scottish history.”