On March 30, 1296, King Edward I of England stormed the Scottish border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, sacking it with great brutality. Edward slaughtered almost the entire population, including those who had sought refuge in churches. This act was a decisive start to the First War of Scottish Independence, as Edward sought to enforce his overlordship over Scotland and crush any resistance to his authority.

The sack of Berwick was a traumatic event in Scottish history, inspiring a tradition of patriotic poetry and historical lamentation that celebrated the town's defiance and mourned its destruction. The event was recorded in both English and Scottish chronicles, often with contrasting perspectives, and became a powerful symbol of English tyranny and Scottish suffering in later literary works, including the poems of Robert Burns and the historical narratives of the Wars of Scottish Independence.