Robert the Bruce had won Scottish independence at Bannockburn in 1314 and the Treaty of Northampton in 1328. The treaty was widely loathed in England, where it was nicknamed turpis pax - 'the shameful peace.' Some Anglo-Scots nobles who had backed England in the wars and lost their Scottish lands as a result - known collectively as the 'disinherited' - refused to swear fealty to Bruce and were stripped of what remained. Bruce died in 1329 leaving a five-year-old heir, David II. By 1331 the disinherited had gathered in Yorkshire under Edward Balliol and Henry Beaumont, 4th Earl of Buchan, plotting an invasion of Scotland. The new English king Edward III, eighteen years old, officially forbade the venture - and unofficially encouraged it. He insisted only that they not invade overland from England. So they took ships.

David II's regent, the experienced soldier Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray, had prepared the Scots for the invasion. He died ten days before Balliol sailed. The Scots, scrambling, chose Donald, Earl of Mar, as the new guardian and divided the army. Mar took the troops north of the Forth. Patrick, Earl of March, kept those to the south. Balliol had been secretly corresponding with Mar, hoping he would defect; on that calculation, Balliol chose to land on the northern shore, where Mar was in command. The disinherited force was tiny: only 1,500 men, of whom 500 were men-at-arms and 1,000 were English longbowmen. They expected to be joined by large numbers of Scots once they had landed. They were wrong about that, but the longbowmen would prove decisive anyway.

The Scottish force at Kinghorn was commanded by Duncan, Earl of Fife, and Robert Bruce, Lord of Liddesdale - an illegitimate son of King Robert the Bruce. Their numbers are disputed: English chronicles claim 4,000, 10,000, 14,000, even 24,000. Scottish sources say much less. The historian Clifford Rogers concludes 4,000 is probably closest. They attacked while Balliol's force was still climbing out of the boats - a perfect tactical moment, the enemy strung out and unable to form up. The English longbowmen on the beach laid down a withering fire. The supporting infantry held the line. The Scots pressed hard but could not close the distance. By the time Balliol and Beaumont's men-at-arms had landed, the Scottish assault was broken. The English chronicler of the Brut wrote that Fife was 'full of shame' at being beaten by so small a force. Casualties on the Scottish side were disputed - English chronicles claim anywhere from 90 to 1,000 killed - but five or six Scottish nobles died, including Sir Alexander Seton.

Balliol marched inland to Dunfermline, where he looted a Scottish armoury. On 11 August his army - reportedly outnumbered ten to one - met Donald of Mar's main Scottish force at Dupplin Moor and inflicted what may have been the most one-sided defeat in medieval Scottish history. Thousands of Scots died, including most of the high nobility. Balliol was crowned at Scone on 24 September. His support inside Scotland was thin, and within six months it collapsed. He was ambushed at Annan by supporters of David II and fled to England 'half-dressed and riding bareback,' as the chroniclers put it. Edward III, no longer hiding his hand, marched north and smashed the Scots at Halidon Hill in July 1333. Balliol was reinstated. Then deposed in 1334. Restored in 1335. Finally deposed for good in 1336. The wars he had started by landing at Kinghorn would drag on, in changing forms, until David II's death in 1371. The beach at Burntisland is quiet now.