77 



taken prisoner at the battle of Alnwic, he was con- 

 strained, for the recovery of his liberty, to swear fealty 

 to the victor. But even this faint claim to feudal su- 

 periority on one side, of submission on the other, was 

 done away by Richard II. That monarch being desirous 

 to conciliate the friendship of the Scottish king, before 

 his departure for the Holy Land, renounced the homage, 

 which he said, in express terms, had been extorted by his 

 father. 



The commissioners soon perceived with dismay, that 

 all which they could urge against the pretensions of the 

 English monarch, were utterly unavailing. They heard, 

 too, that a royal commission had been issued for the fitting 

 out of a great armament, and intelligence quickly followed 

 that the army was on its march to Scotland. 



Edward and his men-at-arms, reached Norham Castle, 

 on the southern banks of the Tweed, where he insiduously 

 invited the Scottish parliament, and all the competitors to 

 attend him, in order to determine the cause which had 

 been referred to his arbitration. They came, but not 

 on equal terms, for the English king brought with him a 

 large body of warlike men, ready to do his bidding ; 

 while the parliament found themselves betrayed into a 

 situation in which it was impossible to make any stand, 

 for the liberty and independence of their country. One 

 anxious year for Scotland passed on, while Edward pre- 

 tended, impartially, to examine the claims of the various 

 competitors, for nine others had now started. Having 



