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Rusting conveyor system, Inverkeithing. Fife

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July 20th 1651 saw The Battle of Inverkeithing when Royalist force supporting Charles II failed to halt advance of army of Oliver Cromwell heading for Perth.

It was during the night or early morning of 16th /17th July 1651 that the troops of Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army landed on the north shore of the Forth in the vicinity of Inverkeithing Bay. Whilst they had inflicted a heavy defeat on the Scottish army at Dunbar on 3rd September 1650, they had been thwarted by attempts to advance further into Scotland. Cromwell came to the conclusion that Fife was the key and by 20th July, 4,500 of Cromwell’s Parliamentarian force were dug in on Ferry Hills, whilst a Scottish force of a similar size had grouped at Castland Hill. The threat of Scottish reinforcements coming from Stirling provoked Cromwell’s Parliamentarians to attack and force the Scottish infantry to retreat north towards Pitreavie Castle.

On land close to the Castle, the Scottish infantry made a final stand but were soon overwhelmed by the more experienced Parliamentarians who had the additional advantage of cavalry. The Scots suffered heavy losses. This became known as The Battle of Inverkeithing (sometimes The Battle of Pitreavie) and was the last major battle of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in Scotland. From 1652, Scotland was wholly under control of Cromwell’s Protectorate.

Of course the battle was and straightforward as this, there are always stories within the battles themselves, if you remember my Bannockburn posts and more recently yesterdays, where we saw a prominent member of the Douglas Clan killed, Inverkeithing was no different.

Clan Maclean of of Duart, Mull was commanded by their chief, Sir Hector, they found themselves surrounded by superior enemy forces. The clansmen fought fiercely in defence of their chief, calling out, “Fear eile airson Eachainn!” (Another for Hector!), he was supported and covered from their attacks by these intrepid men; and as one brother fell, another came up in succession to cover for him, seven brothers of the clan sacrificed their lives in defence of their leader, they were traditionally Hector’s foster-brothers. He too was killed in the battle that day.

The photo shows the monument at Pitreavie, it reads

Battle of Inverkeithing Memorial

"Near here Sir Hector Maclean of Duart was killed at the Battle of Inverkeithing along with some 760 of his men. 20 July 1651. Another for Hector!*

Erected by the Clan Maclean Heritage Trust 20 July 2001 The day was remembered very vividly for several generations, the Annals of Dunfermline record that….“A rill, traversing the valley, called the Pinkerton-burn,” tradition says, “ran with blood for several days, and the appearance of the little mounds, or heaps of the slain, resembled a hairst field of stooks of corpses.” *harvest field of stacked sheaves

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