What Is: a Schiltron

Since time immemorial, at least as long as horse cavalry has had to contest the same ground as infantry, there have been various means adopted to keep the foot soldiers from being trampled and overrun by the horses (or sometimes even elephants, though that's not our era here).  From Greek and Roman phalanxes to shield walls used by many Barbaric tribes including Anglo-Saxons, and similar round formations of massed Viking fighters, the basic principles have always been tightly packed infantrymen wielding pikes or spears in a vicious porcupine that could take the bellies out of horses and cause riders to be crushed under their mounts and successive layers of comrades meeting the same fate.

The Scottish version of this, famous from everyone who's ever watched Braveheart umpteen times, is the schiltron.  The word itself is an Old English term meaning troop shield and the concept may have come from the Anglo-Saxon shield wall, or the Vikings circular formation, which could sometimes include impromptu palisades of poles tied together as well as shields or spears.  The Scots, who often had to improvise for weapons, put their own spins on the technique.  The first row of spearmen would kneel, with the butt of their weapons stuck in the ground to give leverage, while successive rows of comrades aimed their spears over the heads of the men in the danger zone.  Schiltrons were meant to be mobile, with the upper ranks of spears being able to turn in close formation to meet any threat.  Though most horses would steer clear of bristling rows of pikes, as a cavalry charge piled up in front of the spear points, horses could easily become impaled, riders trampled, and down in the middle of all of it were the lowest ranks of men keeping a sharp underbelly on the porcupine.

The first mention of a schiltron formation was at Falkirk in 1298.  That doesn't mean it was the first time it was used, long before the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons, Pictish spearmen were also feared by Roman legions and one wonders if it wasn't for nasty tricks like this.  William Wallace gathered his men into circular schiltrons at Falkirk in 1298.  The stable formation on the field took withering fire from Welsh and English bowmen and crumbled.  Robert Bruce recognized the usefulness of the formation, but also knew that his men needed to be trained to hold formation, and be able to move or turn to deal with threats as they came up.  Other formations were meant to be mobile.  Mobile groups of spearmen, able to march or pivot to any threat were known at Glen Trool, 1307, Bannockburn, 1314, Myton, 1319, Dupplin Muir, 1332, Culblean, 1335, Halidon Hill, 1333, Neville's Cross, 1346, and Otterburn, 1388.  English commanders also picked up the idea and may have used it in other battles against the Scots.