lands, bestowing them on his favourite Hugh le Despencer. In 1312 King Robert I created him Earl of Moray, and he became ruler of a large swathe of land in the north of Scotland, far exceeding his southern possessions. He was also made lord of the Isle of Man; according to the reddendo or charter this was in exchange for six ships of 26 oars and money to the value of 100 merks to be paid at Inverness. Around this time he became one of Robert's most trusted lieutenants, and he seems to have accompanied him on most of his campaigns. His most famous achievement was on 14 March 1314 when he carried out a daring attack on Edinburgh Castle. This was one of a handful of castles in Scotland still in English hands, and stood on top of an apparently unscalable rock. Amongst Moray's men was William Francis, the son of a former governor of the castle, who knew of a secret path up the rock. Moray used this path to reach the castle, and successfully retook it for the Scots. Moray played an important role in the Scottish victory at the Battle of Bannockburn, where he commanded one of the three divisions (schiltrons) of the infantry, the others being commanded by King Robert and Edward Bruce, the king's brother. Many historians, however, citing John Barbour's work, contend that there were four schiltrons, one commanded by James Douglas and Walter Stewart. On the first day of the two-day battle, a body of three hundred English cavalry under Sir Robert Clifford, Sir Henry de Beaumont and Sir Thomas Gray attempted to bypass the Scots army and in order to relieve Stirling Castle. Seeing this, Randolph led his men to block the road and drew up in a circular schiltron. They were attacked from all sides by the English. Unable to break the hedge of spearmen and taking numerous casualties, the English began to waver. Sir James Douglas was given permission to go to Randolph's aid, but seeing that it was not needed, he took no share in the action, the site of which became known as Randolph's Field. The next day found Randolph in command of the centre of the Scottish battle. Ireland In 1315 Moray accompanied Edward Bruce, the king's brother, during his invasion of Ireland. He was one of the principal leaders in the war against the English