887 
SCOT 
plied, that he had come to England to be married, not to 
treat of affairs of state-, and that he could not comply with 
his desire without the approbation of the great council of 
the Scottish nation. With this prince commenced that senes 
of regal minorities which caused so much distraction to Scot¬ 
land for several centuries, through the intrigues of the nobles, 
and of the court of England, to secure the chief influence in 
the state. Henry began to forward his views, by dismissing, 
all the leading men attached to the late king, and elevating 
a more subservient faction to power; but this arrangement 
was quickly overthrown by a coalition of the nobles, headed 
by the Cumyns, who seized the persons of the king and 
queen, and ruled in their names. As this party consisted of 
the most powerful persons in the kingdom, Henry found it 
necessary to accommodate himself to the state of affairs, and 
a new regency was formed, including the chiefs of all the 
factions. Thus domestic peace was restored; but foreign 
invasion almost immediately succeeded. In the year 1263, 
Haco, king of Norway, came into the Clyde with a fleet of 
160 sail, and landed a numerous army near Largs, in Ayr¬ 
shire. The Scottish forces, commanded by Alexander, has¬ 
tened to oppose him, and in a decisive battle fought on the 
2d of October, in the same year, completely routed the 
Norwegians. Haco, with difficulty, escaped to his ships, 
attended only by a few followers, and soon after expired in 
Orkney. Magnus, his successor, made over to Alexander all 
the islands of the Hebrides in full sovereignty, but he still 
retained the islands of Orkney and Zetland. From this 
period the Scottish king was chiefly occupied, for several 
years, in asserting the independence of the Scottish church 
against the pretensions of the pope, and in curbing the am¬ 
bition of his own clergy. In 1278 he went to London, to 
attend the coronation of king Edward I., and to do homage 
for the lands held by him in England. The events which 
ensued were at once afflicting to the king, and ultimately 
disastrous to the nation. Within one year, viz., in 1283, 
Alexander, the young prince of Scotland, and his sister 
Margaret, who had married Eric, king of Norway, died. 
The former had no issue, but the latter left an only daughter, 
Margaret, commonly called the Maid of Norway.. The 
Scottish king, anticipating the dangers of a disputed succes¬ 
sion, resolved, if possible, to avert them. He assembled the 
great council of the nation at Scone, in which it was de¬ 
clared that the princess of Norway should succeed to the 
throne, “failing any children Alexander might have, and 
failing the issue of the late prince,” whose widow it was 
supposed might be pregnant. To add strength to these pru¬ 
dent measures, Alexander himself married, for his second 
wife, Jolelta, daughter of the Count de Dreux; but the 
festivities for that event had scarcely ceased, when he was 
killed by a fall from his horse, near Kinghorn, on the 16th 
of March 1285-6. 
VI.—History of the Third Peeigb. 
On this fatal accident, Margaret was unanimously declared 
queen, and a regency, consisting of six principal prelates and 
barons, was appointed to govern the kingdom during her 
absence and minority. Through their exertions, and pro¬ 
tected by her father, Eric, and her grand uncle, king Edward 
of England, she seemed firmly seated on the throne; a cir¬ 
cumstance from which the English monarch was led to an¬ 
ticipate great advantages. Having lately subjugated Wales, 
he formed the plan of marrying his eldest son, Edward, to 
the Scottish queen, hoping thereby to consolidate the whole 
island into one monarchy. With this view he drew closer 
the ties of amity between England and Norway, and did all 
in his power to attach the -Scottish regency and nobles to his 
interest. The friendship which had of late prevailed between 
the two nations greatly facilitated the execution of this de¬ 
sign, so favourable to the happiness and grandeur of both 
kingdoms. The states of Scotland not only gave a ready 
assent to the marriage, but agreed that their young sovereign 
should be educated in the court of Edward. Anxious, at 
the same time, to ensure the independence of their country, 
Vol. XXII. No. 1544. 
LAND. 
they took care to stipulate very equitable conditions before 
they entrusted themselves into the hands of so ambitious a 
monarch. It was solemnly agreed that they should enjoy all 
their ancient laws, liberties and customs; that in case their 
queen should die without issue, the crown of. Scotland should 
revert to the next heir, and should be inherited by him free 
and independent; that the military tenants of the crown 
should never be obliged to leave Scotland, in order to do 
homage to the sovereign of the united kingdoms, nor the 
chapters of cathedrals, collegiate or conventual churches, in 
order to make elections; that the parliaments summoned for 
Scottish affairs should always be held within the bounds of 
that kingdom; and that Edward should bind himself, under 
the penalty of 100,000 marks, payable to the pope, to ob¬ 
serve all these articles. It is not easy to conceive that two 
nations could have treated upon terms of greater equality 
than Scotland and England maintained during the whole 
course of this transaction; and though Edward gave his 
assent to the article concerning the future independence of 
the Scottish crown, with a saving of his former rights, this 
reserve gave no alarm to the nobility of Scotland. The mar¬ 
riage treaty was therefore signed at Brigham, on the 18th of 
July 1290, with the cordial concurrence of all parties. 
But this project, so happily planned, and so amicably 
conducted, failed of success by the sudden demise of the 
Norwegian princess, who expired in Orkney, while on her 
passage to Scotland, and left a very dismal prospect to the 
kingdom. Though for the present disorders were prevented 
by the authority of the regency, the succession of the crown 
was now become an object of dispute, and the regents could 
not expect that a controversy, which is not usually decided 
by reason and argument, would be peaceably settled by them, 
or even by the states of the kingdom, amidst so many power¬ 
ful competitors. As the posterity of king William became 
extinct by the death of the Maid of Norway, the right to the 
throne devolved on the issue of David, earl of Huntington, 
brother of William, whose male line being also extinct, left 
the succession open to the posterity of his daughters. 
The earl had three daughters, Margaret, married to Allen, 
lord of Galloway; Isabella, wife of Robert Bruce, lord of 
Annandale; and Adama, who espoused Henry, lord Hastings. 
Margaret, the eldest of the sisters, left one daughter, Dever- 
gilda, married to John Baliol, by whom she had a son of 
the same name, one of the present claimants. Isabella, the 
second, bore a son, Robert Bruce, who was now alive, and 
also urged his pretensions; Adama, the third, left a son, 
John Hastings, who contended that the kingdom of Scot¬ 
land, like other inheritances, ought to be divided equally 
among the three daughters of the earl of Huntington, and 
that he had a right to a third of it, as representing his mother. 
Baliol and Bruce united against Hastings in maintaining the 
indivisibility of the kingdom, but each of them supported by 
plausible arguments the preference of his own title. This 
occasioned a long and complicated investigation and dispute. 
Edward of England was appointed umpire, and he pro¬ 
nounced in favour of Baliol; but as he treated him in many 
respects as a vassal, imposing upon him the most degrading 
services, Baliol was soon incited to resist his pretensions, and 
the two kingdoms were thus involved in a war, which termi¬ 
nated in the conquest of Scotland. Edward, having settled 
the government, and, as he thought, ensured tranquillity, 
returned to the south, carrying with him the stone chair in 
which the Scottish kings were seated during the ceremony of 
coronation. Baliol was sent a prisoner to the Tower of 
London, where he remained two years, and was only libe¬ 
rated upon the condition of residing upon the continent 
during the remainder of his life. At this period, William 
Wallace, one of the greatest heroes of which the annals of 
history can boast, appeared as the vindicator of his country’s 
freedom. Beginning with small attempts, in which he was 
always successful, he gradually proceeded to more moment¬ 
ous enterprises, and discovered equal caution in securing his 
followers, and valour in annoying the enemy. His intimate 
knowledge of the country enabled him, when pursued, to 
10 D ensure 
