The Broken Band

The Characters

Andrew Kerr....A Border soldier
Mary....A Glasgow girl (camp follower)
Christina....A Highland woman (camp follower)
Sir John Renwick....A Lothian Nobleman
A Borderer....(Non-speaking)

The Setting
A ruined sheiling close to the border between England and Scotland

Time
10th September, 1513; the day after the Battle of Flodden

(Approx running time: 40 minutes)

Sample Scene

A few miles north of the battlefield, two Scottish survivors are hiding in a ruined sheiling (a temporary shelter for shepherds). Two wounded men from different backgrounds. One, Sir John Renwick, is a young nobleman spurred by chivalric loyalty. The other, Andrew Kerr, is an older commoner bound by feudal duty. Their views of the battle, its cause and its aftermath are very different. How different is revealed in this short extract. 

JOHN  Are we not safe here, at least for a time?
ANDREW  You fund this place. Ithers micht.
JOHN  Do you know exactly where we are?
ANDREW  Still oan English soil, I doot. I think we're aboot a mile ablow the Tweed.
JOHN  You think we'll be safer north of the river?
ANDREW  In border country, naewhaur's safe.
JOHN  You think the English will follow? Invade?
ANDREW  Wha's to prevent them?
JOHN  But their victory cost them. They suffered losses.
ANDREW  Naethin as sair as ours.
JOHN  It was a slaughter beside me. So many good men.... We just couldn't get close to the English. Their cursed halberds carved our pikes to pieces.
ANDREW  And a sword's nae match for a halberd.
JOHN  I took a blow from one and fell. The next blow would have finished me, but another man fell dying on top of me. I remember little else until nightfall. Somehow, I managed to crawl clear and get away. What happened to you?
ANDREW  Much the same. I could tell the battle was lost. The English were closin oan every side. It was gettin daurk. I took my chaunce.
JOHN  Your chance?  You mean.... you fled?
ANDREW  I survived.
JOHN  Some fought to the end.
ANDREW  Did they? Heroes, eh?
JOHN  Every man.
ANDREW  They're back there. We're here.
JOHN  I pray the King was spared.
ANDREW  I doot. Him and his nobles.
JOHN  A sorry day for the nobility. For Scotland.
ANDREW  For us! The common folk! We'll suffer warst! There'll be raids and reprisals. Oor villages burn while the last o' the fine lords wha stertit this, lick their wounds safe ahint castle wa's.
JOHN  The English began this war.
ANDREW  I wadna ken aboot that.
JOHN  King Henry invaded France.
ANDREW  What's that to folk like me?
JOHN  We were treaty bound to help France.
ANDREW  Why? I canna mind the French helpin me till my fields. You fine nobles, you stert yer wars, but we feenish them. I'll tell ye. Maist o' the men oan yon hill yesterday didna want to be there.
JOHN  I did. I served my King.
ANDREW  Yer King meant nocht to me. I was there at the command o' my Laird.... my late Laird. He taks up arms, the likes o' me maun dae likewise. It him we follow. Not yer King. Not Scotland.
JOHN  I can't understand such narrow-minded reasoning.
ANDREW  Ye dinna understaun border weys. We've nae quarrel wi' the English. Hauf my village are related to folk ablow the border. Kin were oan baith sides o' the battlefield.
JOHN  Yes, that was plain to see, the way your border division seemed to miss most of the fighting.
ANDREW  And avoid openin auld wounds. Rekindlin faimily feuds. If  ye lived here, ye'd ken survival comes first. Ye'd hae won awa frae the battle afore the English got close eneuch to herm ye. (indicates his own head wound) This? I was rode into a ditch this mornin by some o' your fellow nobles. We'd dae best to forget yesterday and survive today. If ye've rested, I suggest we get oan our wey. 

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