History of Scotland

Our ongoing history of Scotland that chronicles the events in Scotland over the past million years with a special focus on the last thousand as you might expect. We have also digitised a copy of Patrick Tytler's History of Scotland which is an eccentric but wonderfully written history of the the mediaeval years in Scotland. The project of chronicling Scotland's history is ongoing, as is the process of organising and structuring and linking the pages together.

Alexander III and his Queen attend the coronation of Edward

At the coronation of this great prince, who succeeded Henry, Alexander, and his queen the new king's sister, attended with a retinue of great pomp and splendour. He took care, however, to obtain a letter under the hand of the English monarch, declaring that the friendly visit should not be construed into any thing prejudicial to the independence of Scotland, —a policy which the peculiarities of feudal tenure made frequent at this time; for we find Edward himself, when some years afterwards he agreed to send twenty ships to the King of France, his feudal superior for the duchy of Normandy, requiring from that prince an acknowledgment of the same description.

The designs of Edward upon Scotland had not yet, in any degree, betrayed themselves, and the kingly brothers appear to have met on cordial terms. Both were in the prime of manhood; Alexander having entered, and Edward having just completed, his thirtyfourth year. Scotland, still unweakened by the fatal controversies between Bruce and Baliol, was in no state to invite ambitious aggression. The kingdom was peaceful, prosperous, and loyal, possessing a warlike and attached nobility, and a hardy peasantry, lately delivered, by the defeat of Haco and the wise acquisition of the Western Isles, from all disturbance in the only quarter where it might be dreaded; and from the age of Alexander, and his queen, who had already born him three children, the nation could look with some certainty to a successor. Edward, on the other hand, who had lately returned from Palestine, where he had greatly distinguished himself, received his brother-in-law with that courtesy and kindness which was likely to be increased by his long absence, and by the perils he had undergone. About this time the pope sent into Scotland an emissary named Benemund de Vicci, corrupted into Bagimont, to collect the tenth of all the ecclesiastical benefices, the estimate being made not according to the "ancient extent, but the true value." The tax appears to have been strictly exacted, and went by the name of Bagimonfs Roll.

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Alexander deputes the Earl of Carrick to perform homage to Edward in his name for the lands which he holds of him

This, however, could scarcely be true; the event showed that Edward had either misconceived or misstated the purpose of Alexander. He appeared before the English parliament at Westminster, and offered his homage in these words:— "I, Alexander king of Scotland, do acknowledge myself the liegeman of my Lord Edward king of England, against all deadly." This Edward accepted, reserving his claim of homage for the kingdom of Scotland, when he should choose to prefer it. The King of Scots then requested that the oath should be taken for him by Robert de Bruce earl of Carrick, which being granted, that earl took the oath in these words:—

"I, Robert earl of Carrick, according to the authority given to me by my lord the King of Scotland, in presence of the King of England, and other prelates and barons, by which the power of swearing upon the soul of the King of Scotland was conferred upon me, have, in presence of the King of Scotland, and commissioned thereto by his special precept, sworn fealty to Lord Edward king of England in these words:— 'I, Alexander king of Scotland, shall bear faith to my lord Edward king of England and his heirs, with my life and members, and worldly substance; and I shall faithfully perform the services, used and wont, for the lands and tenements which I hold of the said king?" Which fealty being sworn by the Earl of Carrick, the King of Scotland confirmed and ratified the same. Such is an exact account of the homage performed by Alexander to Edward, as given in the solemn instrument by which the English monarch himself recorded the transaction.

Alexander probably had not forgotten the snare in which Edward's father had attempted to entrap him, when still a boy; and the reservation of an unfounded claim over Scotland might justly have incensed him. But he wished not to break with Edward: he held extensive territories in England, for which he was willing, as he was bound in duty, to pay homage; yet he so guarded his attendance at Edward's coronation, and his subsequent oath of fealty, that the independence of Scotland as a kingdom, and his own independence as its sovereign, were not touched in the most distant manner; and the King of England, baffled in his hope of procuring an unconditional homage, was forced to accept it as it was given. It is material to notice, that in the instrument drawn up afterwards, recording the transaction, Edward appears to declare his understanding, that this homage was merely for the Scottish king's possessions in England, byagain reserving his absurd claim of homage for Scotland, whenever he or his heirs should think proper to make it.

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Marriage of Princess Margaret of Scotland to Eric king of Norway

This matter being concluded, Alexander, who had suffered a severe domestic affliction in the death of his queen, began to seek alliances for his children. He married his daughter Margaret to Eric king of Norway, then a youth in his fourteenth year. Her portion was fourteen thousand marks, the option being left to her father to give one-half of the sum in lands, provided that the rents of the lands were a hundred marks yearly for every thousand retained. The price of land at this early period of our history seems, therefore, to have been ten years' purchase.

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Marriage of the Prince Royal of Scotland

The young princess, accompanied by Walter Bullock earl of Menteith, his countess, the Abbot of Balmerino, and Bernard de Monte-alto, with other knight sand barons, sailed for Norway; and on her arrival was honourably received and crowned as queen. The alliance was wise and politic. It promised to secure the waveriog fealty of those proud and warlike island chiefs, who, whenever they wished to throw off their dependence on Scotland, pretended that they were bound by the ties of feudal vassalage to Norway, and whose power and ambition often required the presence of the king himself to quell.

This marriage was soon after followed by that of Alexander the Prince of Scotland, then in his nineteenth year, to Margaret, a daughter of Guy earl of Flanders; the ceremony being performed at Roxburgh, and accompanied with fifteen days' feasting. Such alliances, so far as human foresight could reach, promised happiness to Alexander, while they gave an almost certain hope of descendants. But a dark cloud began to gather round Scotland, and a train of calamities, which followed in sad and quick succession, spread despondency through the kingdom.

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Death of the Prince Royal and his sister Margaret Queen of Norway

The Prince of Scotland, who from infancy had been of a sickly constitution, died not long after his marriage, leaving no issue; and intelligence soon after came, from Norway that his sister, Queen Margaret, was also dead, having left an only child, Margaret, generally called the Maiden of Norway. David, the second son of Alexander, had died when a boy; and thus the King of Scotland, still in the flower of his age, found himself a widower, and bereft by death of all his children.

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Settlement of the succession and Second marriage of Alexander 3

To settle the succession was his first care; and for this purpose a meeting of the Estates of the realm was held at Scone, on the 5th of February, 1283-4. The prelates and barons of Scotland there bound themselves to acknowledge Margaret princess of Norway, as their sovereign, failing any children whom Alexander might have, and failing any issue of the Prince of Scotland deceased. The parliament in which this transaction took place, having assembled immediately after the death of the prince, it was uncertain whether the princess might not yet present the kingdom with an heir to the crown. In the meantime, the king thought it prudent to make a second marriage, and chose for his bride a young and beautiful woman, Joleta, daughter of the Count de Dreux. The nuptials were celebrated with great pomp, and in presence of a splendidconcourse of the French and Scottish nobility, at Jedburgh.

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Death of Alexander III

In the midst of the rejoicings, and when musio and pastime were at the highest, a strange masque was exhibited, in which a spectral creature like Death, glided with fearful gestures amongst the revellers, and at length suddenly vanished, The whole was no doubt intended as a mummery; but it was too well acted, and struck such terror into the festive assembly, that the chronicler, Fordun, considers it as a supers natural shadowing out of the future misfortunes ofthe kingdom. These misfortunes too rapidly followed. Alexander, riding late, near Kinghorn, was counselled by his attendants, as the night was dark, and the road precipitous, not to pass Inverkeithing till the morning. Naturally courageous, however, he insisted on galloping forward, when his horse suddenly stumbled over a rocky cliff above the sea, fell with its rider, and killed him on the spot. He died in the forty-fifth year of his age, and the thirty-seventh of his reign; and his death, at this particular juncture, may be considered as one of the deepest amongst those national calamities which chequer the history of Scotland.

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Reflections on his Reign

Alexander's person was majestic; and although his figure was too tall, and his bones large, yet his limbs were well formed, and strongly knit. His countenance was handsome, and beamed with a manly and sweet expression, which corresponded with the courageous openness and sincerity of his character. He was firm and constant in his purposes; yet, guided by prudence and an excellent understanding, this quality never degenerated into a dangerous obstinacy. His inflexible love of justice, his patience in hearing disputes, his affability in discourse, and facility of access, endeared him to the whole body of his people; whilst his piety, untinctured with any slavish dread, whilst he acknowledged the spiritual supremacy of the popedom, rendered him the steadfast friend of his own clergy, and their best defender against any civil encroachments of the see of Rome. In his time, therefore, to use the words of the honest and affectionate Fordun,—"The church flourished, its ministers were treated with reverence, vice was openly dis couraged, cunning and treachery were trampled under foot, injury ceased, and the reign of virtue, truth, and justice, was maintained throughout the land." We need not wonder that such a monarch was long and affectionately remembered in Scotland. Attended by his justiciary, by his principal nobles, and a military force which awed the strong offenders, and gave confidence to the oppressed, it was his custom to make an annual progress through his kingdom, for the redress of wrong, and the punishment of delinquents. For this purpose, he divided the kingdom into four great districts; and on his entering each county, the sheriff had orders to attend on the kingly judge, with the whole militia of the shire, and to continue with the court till the king had heard all the appeals of that county, which were brought before him. He then continued his progress, accompanied by the sheriff and his troops; nor were these dismissed till the "monarch had entered a new county, where a new sheriff awaited him with the like honours and attendance.

In this manner the people were freed from the charge of supporting those overgrown bands of insolent retainers which swelled the train of the Scottish nobles, when they waited on the king in his progresses; and as the dignified prelates and barons were interdicted by law from travelling with more than a certain number of horse in their retinue, the poor commons had leisure to breathe, and to pursue their honest occupations.

In Alexander's time, many vessels of different countries came to Scotland, freighted with various kinds of merchandise, with the design of exchanging them for the commodities of our kingdom. The king's mind, however, was unenlightened on the subject of freedom of trade; and the frequent loss of valuable cargoes by pirates, wrecks, and unforeseen arrestments, had induced him to pass some severe laws against the exportation of Scottish merchandise. Burgesses, however, were allowed to traffic with these foreign merchantmen; and in a short time the kingdom became rich in every kind of wealth; in the productions of the arts and manufactures; in money, in agricultural produce, in flocks and herds; so that many, says an ancient historian, came from the West and East to consider its power, and to study its polity. Amongst these strangers, there arrived in a great body, the richest of the Lombard merchants, who offered to establish manufacturing settlements in various parts of the country. They specified among other places the mount above Queensferry, and an island near Cramond, and only asked of the king certain spiritual immunities. Unfortunately, the proposal of these rich and industrious men, for what cause we cannot tell, proved displeasing to some powerful members of the state, and was dismissed; but from an expression of the historian we may gather, that the king himself was desirous to encourage them, and that favourable terms for a settlement would have been granted, had not death stept in and put an end to the negotiation.

The conduct pursued by this king, in his intercourse with England, was marked by a judicious union of the firmness and dignity which became an independent sovereign with the kindliness befitting his near connexion with Edward; but, warned by the attempts which had been first made by the father and followed up by the son, he took care, that when invited to the English court, it should be expressly acknowledged-fthat he came there as the free monarch of an independent country.

To complete the character of this prince, he was temperate in his habits, his morals were pure, and in all his domestic relations, kindness and affection were conspicuous. The oldest Scottish song, which has yet been discovered, is an affectionate little monody on the death of Alexander, preserved by Winton, one of the fathers of our authentic Scottish history.

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Accession of Margaret, the grand daughter of Alexander III., and appointment of a Regency

MARGARET, THE MAIDEN OF NORWAY.

Margaret, the grand-daughter of Alexander, and grand-niece to Edward the First, who had been recognised as heir to the crown in 1284, was in Norway at the time of the king's death. A parliament, therefore, assembled at Scone on the 11th of April, 1286; and a regency, consisting of six guardians of the realm, was, by common consent, appointed. The administration of the northern division of Scotland, beyond the Firth of Forth, was intrusted to Fraser bishop of St Andrews, Duncan earl of Fife, and Alexander earl of Buchan. The government of the country to the south of the Forth was committed to Wishart the Bishop of Glasgow, John Comyn lord of Badenoch, and James the High Steward of Scotland.

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Timeline of Scottish History

How to use Timeline

Timeline of Scottish History

History of Scotland

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