In 1329 Robert the Bruce died and was succeeded by his young son. Now was the opportunity for the dispossessed and for Edward Balliol, who claimed the crown of Scotland by the right of his father King John Balliol, who had reigned in Scotland until 1296. They gained the tacit support of Edward III of England for a ‘private’ invasion of Scotland. Henry Beaumont was the driving force behind the campaign, together with various other lords who had lost their Scottish astates as a result of Bruce's victory in the War of Independence. In 1332 Balliol’s army sailed for Scotland with an expeditionary force comprising largely English troops and some mercenaries.

After a skirmish at Kinghorn, where they landed, the dispossessed soon marched for Perth, to engage the smaller of two armies that were being mustered against them. A few miles to the south west of the town, on Dupplin Moor, a heavily outnumbered, mainly English force, destroyed a far larger Scottish army, using tactics that would make English armies a dominant force in Europe for the next hundred years. Dupplin was the battle which first demonstrated the legendary battle winning power of the English longbow.

A REPORT ON THE BATTLE, PREPARED FOR HISTORIC SCOTLAND BY THE BATTLEFIELDS TRUST, IS AVAILABLE FROM THE DOWNLOAD AREA ON THE LEFT