Andrew Moray
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Andrew Moray, also called Andrew of Moray (La: Andreas de Moravia), Andrew Murray or simply Moray (d. 1297) Guardian of Scotland, (de facto head of state) during the Second Interregnum of 1296-1306, was a key military and political leader in Scotland during the Scottish Wars of Independence.
A member of the Scottish nobility, of Norman descent, he went to prison with his father, Sir Andrew de Moray, following the 1296 Battle of Dunbar during the Wars of Scottish Independence. He escaped from Chester Castle, and carried on the fight against English occupation of Scotland. While William Wallace fought the English occupation in southern Scotland for the most part Moray raised support for the same cause in northern Scotland.
The Scots forces in Moray (the district) had their base at Avoch Castle, near Inverness. They organised and carried out guerrilla attacks on English occupiers, and later captured Balconie Castle from the Countess of Ross, who sided with the English. Balconie Castle would prove to be a strategic stronghold for the Scots.
Wallace and Moray met, and perhaps each took courage from the other's conviction. When Wallace prepared for the English invasion at Stirling, Moray brought an army to join the cause, and some attribute the Scottish victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge (11 September 1297) to de Moray's tactical skill.
Unfortunately, the battle at Stirling Bridge cost Moray his life; an arrow wound he suffered in the fight killed him two months later.
Moray's son, also called Andrew, went on to fight for Scottish independence with the same fierce determination shown by his father and grandfather.
Note on the etymology of the name Murray
Murray is a common variation of the word Moray, an anglicisation of the Medieval Gaelic word Muireb (or Moreb); the b here was pronounced as v, hence the Latinization to Moravia. These names denote the district on the south shore of the Moray Firth. Murray is actually a direct transliteration of how Scottish people pronounce the word Moray.
Murray is no longer used for the geographical area, but it became the commonest form of the surname, especially among Scottish emigrants, to the extent that the surname Murray is now much more common than the original surname Moray.