144 



SCOTLAND (HISTORY). 



Norway, apprehensive lor tin- interests of Iris 

 daughter, applied to Edward, king of England, for 

 his assistance and protection. Edward had already 

 formed a scheme for uniting the two kingdoms hy 

 the mariiage of his eldest son, Edward, with the 

 young queen of Scots. A treaty was entered into 

 for this purpose , and had the marriage taken place, 

 and been followed by children, England and Scot- 

 land might have been united three hundred years 

 sooner than they were. But the Maiden of Nor- 

 way unfortunately died at Orkney, on her passage 

 to Scotland, and the nation was struck with grief 

 and consternation in beholding the extinction of a 

 race of sovereigns who had distinguished themselves 

 for their bravery and wisdom, and in anticipating 

 the miseries of a contested succession. 



The line of Alexander's descendants being thus 

 extinguished, the right of succession reverted to 

 the posterity of David, earl of Huntingdon, grand- 

 son of David, the Scottish king. The earl of 

 Huntingdon had three daughters Margaret, Isa- 

 bella, and Ada. John Baliol was the grandson of 

 the eldest daughter; Robert Bruce was the son of 

 the seeond daughter; and John Hastings was the 

 son of the youngest daughter. In our days, John 

 Baliol would have been indisputably heir to the 

 throne, but at that time the law of succession was 

 not so clearly established. Baliol claimed the 

 crown, as being sprung from the eldest daughter ; 

 Bruce pleaded that though he was descended from 

 the second daughter, yet, being grandson to the 

 earl of Huntingdon, he ought to be preferred before 

 Baliol, who was only great-grandson to that earl ; 

 and Hastings alleged that the kingdom of Scotland, 

 like many other inheritances, was divisible, and 

 that he had a title to a third. The kingdom being 

 declared impartible, the pretensions of Hastings 

 were excluded, and there remained only two com- 

 petitors Baliol and Bruce. Eager to avoid a civil 

 war, the decision between these rival princes was 

 referred to Edward I., of England, as umpire. 

 Under pretence of having it in his power to enforce 

 his decision, Edward demanded that all the places 

 of strength in the kingdom should be put into his 

 hands, that he might deliver them up to the suc- 

 cessful candidate. The demand was complied with. 

 Edward, thus put in possession of the kingdom, 

 and wishing to retain it, revived those pretensions, 

 which had been formerly in some cases avowed, of 

 the supreme sovereignty of the English monarchs 

 in the Scottish kingdom. This sovereignty, all 

 the learning and ingenuity of his court, aided by all 

 the arts of plausible forgery, were employed to de- 

 monstrate, though every one saw, and Edward 

 himself perpectly well knew, the utter groundless- 

 ness of the claim. But an army of Englishmen, 

 assembled upon the frontiers, enforced every argu- 

 ment; some pretended to be convinced; some 

 laboured by cunning to evade the required conces- 

 sion, and some nourished in their breasts a secret 

 resentment to which they hoped that time might 

 yet afford ample gratification. 



Edward, in the mean time, either convinced that 

 Baliol's claim was superior, or imagining that he 

 was of a more obsequious disposition than his rival, 

 averred, that to him belonged the right of succes- 

 sion, and he was immediately dressed out in the 

 pageantry of a monarch. Lest he should forget, 

 however, that he had a superior, he was summoned 

 to London on the most frivolous pretences, where 

 he was subjected to the most degrading insults, 

 till, unable longer to endure the ignominy of his 



situation, he retired with indignation to his own 

 country. 



The English king saw, with little regret, a mode 

 of conduct in the Scottish king, which might give 

 him a plausible pretence for earning his arms into 

 that nation. A war with Fnmce, in which lie was 

 then engaged, prevented him from immediately 

 executing his designs; but he then formed the 

 resolution which he soon executed. The Scots 

 entered into an offensive and defensive alliance 

 with France. Baliol formally renounced his alle- 

 giance to Edward; and, not waiting for the 

 expected attack, invaded the English frontiers; 

 but the Scottish soldiers, little trained to regular 

 warfare, were unable to resist the disciplined forces 

 of England. Baliol himself was carried to London, 

 and confined in the Tower, whence, after two 

 years' imprisonment, he was liberated, and, retiring 

 to France, relinquished for ever the contest for 

 regal power. 



Edward now held complete possession of Scot- 

 land, which he had obtained .more through fraud 

 than open warfare. He destroyed or took away all 

 the public records, and endeavoured to obliterate 

 every monument of the former independence of 

 Scotland. He displaced those who had held im- 

 portant offices under Baliol, and bestowed them on 

 Englishmen, who exerted their authority 'in the 

 most cruel and despotic manner. The unlimited 

 exactions of Cressingham, the treasurer, and the 

 rigour of Ormsby, the justiciary, in taking the oath 

 of fealty, soon rendered them odious to the nobles ; 

 while the rapacity and barbarism of Edward's 

 soldiers laid the wretched inhabitants open to every 

 species of wrong and insult. In short, the whole 

 country was laid under a military despotism of the 

 most unqualified and irresponsible kind. At this 

 crisis, SIR WILLIAM WALLACE arose. Having 

 killed an English nobleman in an affray, he fled, 

 and offered himself as a leader to a few companions 

 whose desperate fortune, or hatred of the English 

 government, had reduced them to a similar neces- 

 sity. With a resolute band, he infested the Eng- 

 lish quarters. His success in these predatory 

 expeditions attracted multitudes to be his com- 

 panions in arms. With their united forces, they 

 attacked the English justiciary at Scone. The 

 viceroy fled to England, and was followed by all 

 the officers of state. Emboldened by their success, 

 the Scots assailed the castles, and put to the sword 

 all the English who came within their power. 

 Meanwhile, a large English army, under the com- 

 mand of the earl of Surrey and Cressingham, ad- 

 vanced to Stirling, to quell the insurgents. Wal- 

 lace hastened to guard the passage of the Forth, 

 and encamped near Cambuskenneth. The English 

 general ordered his troops to cross the Forth by a 

 wooden bridge; but scarcely had a division passed 

 over, when Wallace attacked them, routed them, 

 and pushed them into the river. The English 

 burned the bridge, abandoned their baggage, and 

 fled to Berwick. Thus Scotland was once more 

 free; and the castles which the English had still 

 retained were immediately surrendered. Wallace, 

 now invested with the title of governor of Scot- 

 land, in the name of king John, marched his army 

 into the north of England, and laid waste the 

 country from Carlisle to Newcastle. 



The English king was in Flanders when he re- 

 ceived the news of Surrey's defeat and of the libera- 

 tion of Scotland. Inflamed at this overthrow of his 

 exertions and schemes, he issued orders to all those 



