In the 1470s
conflict developed between the king and his two brothers. By 1479
the alliance was collapsing, and war with England existed on an
intermittent level between 1480-1482. In 1482 Edward launched a
full-scale invasion, led by the Duke of Gloucester, the future
Richard III, and including the Duke of Albany, styled "Alexander
IV", as part of the invasion party.
James, in attempting to lead his subjects against the invasion, was
arrested by a group of disaffected nobles, at Lauder Bridge in July
1482. It has been suggested that the nobles were already in league
with Albany. The king was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle, and a new
regime, led by 'lieutenant-general' Albany, became established
during the autumn of 1482. Meanwhile the English army, unable to
take Edinburgh Castle, ran out of money and returned to England,
having taken Berwick-upon-Tweed for the last time.
Despite his lucky escape in 1482, when he easily could have been
murdered or executed in an attempt to bring his son to the throne,
James did not reform his behaviour. Obsessive attempts to secure
alliance with England continued, although they made little sense
given the prevailing politics.
He continued to favour a group of 'familiars', unpopular with the
more powerful magnates. He refused to travel for the implementation
of justice, and remained invariably resident in Edinburgh. He was
also estranged from his wife, Margaret of Denmark, who lived in
Stirling, and increasingly his eldest son.
Instead he favoured his second son.
Matters came to a head in 1488 when he faced an army raised by the
disaffected nobles, and many former councillors at the Battle of
Sauchieburn, and was defeated and killed. His heir, the future
James IV, took arms against his father, provoked by the favouritism
given to his younger brother.
On the eve of the Battle of Sauchieburn, Sir David Lindsay, son of
Sir John, Lord Lindsay of the Byres, presented James III with a
"great grey horse" that would carry him faster than any other horse
into or away from the battle.
In the course of the fighting that ensued James's horse bolted and
threw him. James was badly injured by the fall.
The tragedy of James is that he fled the battle after being
wounded and escaped to this Millhouse near this
spot.
The miller's
frantic wife ran out, shouting for a priest to administer last
rites to the dying King. A small party of insurgents had been
tracking the King, so dutifully answered the woman’s pleas
for help. One of the men, avowing he was a priest, entered the
miller’s house but instead of giving him last rites, the
so-called priest stabbed the King several times. Eventually the
royal corpse was discovered and carried to Stirling Castle, then
laid to rest in Cambuskenneth Abbey, near the body of Queen
Margaret who had preceded him in death.
Unfortunately the house fell into a ruinous state and no longer
exists as a vandal burned it to the ground.
A plaque marks this spot.
James is buried at Cambuskenneth Abbey.
