Black Agnes, Countess of Dunbar and March
Agnes's family was active in Scottish resistance to English attempts to conquer the country in the fourteenth century. Her father, Thomas Randolph, earl of Moray, was regent from 1329 to 1332. Her mother was Isabel Stewart, a daughter of John Stewart of Bonkyll. Her brother John became joint regent in 1335 but was captured by the English shortly afterwards.
On January 13, 1338, the English thought it would be a good time to lay siege to the castle thinking it would be easy because the only people that were there was Lady Agnes, some servants, and a few guards. What they didn’t expect was the pure power and determination of Black Agnes against the vastly stronger 20,000 English army.
The besiegers arrived and soon cut off the castle both on land and with two galleys at sea. Agnes was not intimidated and throughout the siege taunted the attackers. When stones were hurled against the castle walls, she and her ladies appeared on the battlements with white handkerchiefs to wipe off the dust from their impact. A machine called a "sow " was built to act as a shield to bring the English soldiers up to the walls of the castle. The Liber Pluscardensis reports that Agnes taunted Montagu, saying, "For all the power you may have, I shall shortly cause your sow to farrow against her will." Her soldiers dropped a huge rock on the machine, crushing many of those below and sending the rest out squealing like pigs.
Montagu tried to persuade Agnes to surrender by bringing her captive brother to the siege and threatening to kill him. Unmoved, she replied that the castle was her husband's and she could not surrender it without his permission. Moreover, if her brother was killed, she would inherit the earldom of Moray. Montagu next tried to win the castle by stealth, bribing a guard to open a gate at night. The guard took the money, then informed his mistress, who set an ambush. When Montagu's men crept into the castle, they were surrounded by soldiers, and the portcullis dropped behind them. Montagu escaped just before the portcullis closed, and fled with Agnes's derisive words "Adieu, adieu, Monsire Montagu" ringing in his ears.
With the help of local allies, Agnes was able to arrange to smuggle goods into the castle at night and keep her forces well supplied. Finally, on 16 June the besiegers used the excuse of joining Edward III's expedition to France at the opening of the Hundred Years' War to retire. A truce was arranged, but the English never returned. Agnes Randolph had gained a victory.
Black Agnes is famous for her heroic actions when Dunbar Castle was laid siege to by the English During the Second Scottish War for Independence from 1331 to 1341. That failed siege cost the English army nearly 6,000 pounds and they got completely nothing from it, and for centuries after Agnes’s defense of Dunbar Castle caught the attention of many Scottish historians due to her bravery and is one the best-remembered instances of Woman defending their homes during the Middle Ages.
Agnes of Dunbar had a passion for conflict and adventure as well as a loyalty to Scotland's cause.
Physical Characteristics: Agnes, Countess of Dunbar was known as Black Agnes because of her black hair and eyes and also her sallow complexion.
Quotes from others about the person
Salisbury made up a song:
"She makes a stir in tower and trench,
That brawling, boisterous, Scottish wench;
Came I early, came I late.
I found Agnes at the gate."
Walter Scott said, "From the record of Scottish heroes, none can presume to erase her."
By 1324 Agnes of Dunbar had married Patrick, ninth earl of Dunbar and March, governor of Berwick. Accounts differ about whether Agnes and Patrick had and were survived by any children, and it seems their titles and inheritances passed to the children of the marriage between Patrick's younger brother and Agnes' younger sister.
