On July 19, 1333, an English army led by Edward III decisively defeated the Scots under Sir Archibald Douglas at the Battle of Halidon Hill. The English victory was secured by their longbowmen, who devastated the Scottish schiltrons on the slopes of the hill. This battle re-established English control over the Scottish Lowlands and led to the siege of Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Halidon Hill was widely celebrated in English chronicle poetry and ballads, often contrasted with the earlier Scottish victory at Bannockburn. The battle's vivid imagery of the English longbow's power influenced later war poetry and the chivalric romance tradition. It also appears in Scottish lament poetry, becoming a symbol of the shifting fortunes in the Anglo-Scottish struggle.