History of Scotland by Patrick Tytler 2

Edward's claim as Lord Paramount

The English king opened the deliberations in a speech delivered by his Justiciary, Roger Brabazon, in which, after an introductory eulogium upon the godlike and regal attribute of justice, and the blessings attendant on the preservation of tranquillity, "he observed, that the sight of the great disturbances, which on the death of Alexander the Third had arisen in the kingdom of Scotland, was highly displeasing to him; on this account, and for the purpose of satisfying those who had claims upon the crown, and for the confirmation of peace in the land, he had requested its nobility to meet him, and had himself travelled from remote parts, that he might do justice to all, in his character of Lord Paramount, and without encroaching upon the rights of any man. "Wherefore," concluded the Justiciary, "our lord the king, for the due accomplishment of this design, doth require your hearty recognition of his title of Lord Paramount of the kingdom of Scotland."

This unexpected demand struck dismay and embarrassment into the hearts of the Scottish assembly. They declared their entire ignorance that such a right of superiority belonged to the King of England; and added, that at the present conjuncture, when the country was without its king, in whose presence such a challenge ought to be made, they could give no answer."By Holy Edward!" cried the King of England, "whose crown I wear, I will either have my rights recognised, or die in the vindication of them!"

"And to make this speech good," says Hemingford, "he had issued writs for the convocation of his army; so that, in case of his demand being resisted, he might conquer all opposition, were it to the death."

The representatives of the Estates of Scotland, who were well aware of hia, now found themselves placed in trying circumstances, and requested time to consult and deliberate with their absent members. Edward at first would give them only one day; but on their insisting that a longer interval was absolutely necessary, the king granted them three weeks, to prepare all that they could allege against his pretensions. This delay the king well knew would be productive of some good consequences towards his great scheme, and, at any rate, could not possibly injure his ambitious views. Before these three weeks elapsed, his army would meet him at Norham. He had already ensured the services of Fraser the regent ;and the money and promises which he judiciously distributed, had induced no less than ten competitors to come forward and claim the Scottish crown. In this way, by the brilliant prize which he held out to the most powerful of the nobility of Scotland, he placed their private ambition and their public virtue in fatal opposition to each other. All hoped that if they resigned to Edward this right of superiority, they might receive a kingdom in return; and all felt, that to rise up as the defenders of the independency of a country, which was then torn by mutual distrust and civil disorder; which was without a king, without an army, and with the most powerful of its nobility leagued against it, would be a desperate undertaking against so able a general, so profound a politician, and so implacable an enemy, as Edward. I do not say this to palliate the disgraceful scene which followed, nor to insinuate that any circumstances can occur which entitle the subject of a free country to sacrifice its independence; but to prove that the transaction, which was truly a deep stain upon our history, was the act not of the Scottish nation, or of the assembled states of the nation, but of a corrupted part of the Scottish nobility.

The competitors for the Crown assemble at Norham

To return to the story. On the 2d of June, eight of the competitors for the crown assembled, along with many of the prelates, nobles, and barons of Scotland, on a green plain called Holywell Haugh, opposite to Norham Castle. These competitors were,—Robert Bruce, Florence earl of Holland, John Hastings, Patrick Dunbar earl of March, William de Ross, William de Vescy, Walter Huntercombe, Robert de Pynkeny, and Nicholis de Soulis. The Bishop of Bath and Wells, then Chancellor of England, spoke for the king. He told them, that his master having on a former occasion granted them three weeks to prepare their objections to his claim of superiority, and they having brought forward no answer to invalidate his right, it was the intention of the King of England, in virtue of this acknowledged right, to examine and determine the dispute regarding the succession.

The chancellor then turned to Robert Bruce, and demanded whether he was content to acknowledge Edward as Lord Paramount of Scotland, and willing to receive judgment from him in that character; upon which this baron, expressly answered, that he recognised him as such, and would abide by his decision. The same question was then put to the other competitors, all of whom returned the same answer. Sir Thomas Randolph then stood up, and declared that John Baliol lord of Galloway, had mistaken the day, but would appear on the morrow; which he did, and then solemnly acknowledged the superiority of the English king. At this fourth assembly, the chancellor protested in the name of the king, that although with the view of giving judgment to the competitors, he now asserted his right of superiority, yet he had no intention of excluding his hereditary right of property in the kingdom of Scotland, but reserved to himself the power of prosecuting such right at whatever time, and in whatever way, he judged, expedient

Recognise Edward as Superior

The king in person next addressed the assembly. He spoke in Norman-French; recapitulated the proceedings; and, with many professions of affection for the people of Scotland, declared his intention not only to pronounce a speedy decision in the controversy, but to maintain the laws and re-establish the tranquillity of the country. John Comyn lord of Badenoch, called the Black Comyn, who had married a sister of Baliol, now came forward as a competitor for the crown, and acknowledged the superiority of Edward; after which, the claimants affixed their signatures to two important instruments. The first declared, that, "Forasmuch as the King of England has evidently shown to us that the sovereign seignory of Scotland, and the right of hearing, trying, and terminating our respective claims, belongs to him—we agree to receive judgment from him, as our Lord Paramount. We are willing to abide by his decision; and consent that he shall possess the kingdom to whom he awards it.

By the second deed, possession of the whole land and castles of Scotland was delivered into the hands of Edward, under the pretence, that the subject in dispute ought always to be placed in the hands of the judge; but on condition that Edward should find security to make a full restitution within two months after the date of his award, and that the revenues of the kingdom should be preserved for the future sovereign. It was next determined, after grave consultation with the prelates and earls, that, in order to prepare the point in dispute for an ultimate decision, Baliol and Comyn for themselves, and the competitors who approved of their list, should choose forty " discreet and faithful men" as commissioners; that Bruce, for himself, and the competitors who abided by his nomination, should choose other forty; and that Edward, the king, should select twenty-four commissioners, or, as he thought fit, a greater or lesser number. These commissioners were to meet in a body, to consider the claims of the competitors, and to make their report to the king.

Proceedings at Norham

On the 11th of June, the four regents of Scotland delivered the kingdom into the hands of Edward; and the captains and governors of its castles, finding that the guardians of the realm, and the most powerful of its nobility, had abandoned it to its fate, gave up its fortresses to his disposal. And here, in the midst of this scene of national humiliation, one Scottish baron stood forward, and behaved worthy of his country. The Earl of Angus, Gilbert de Umfraville, who commanded the important castles of Dundee and Forfar, declared, that having received these, not from England, but from the Estates of Scotland, he would not surrender them to Edward. A formal letter of indemnity was then drawn up, which guaranteed the Earl of Angus from all blame; and, in name of the claimants of the crown, and of the guardians of the realm, enjoined him to deliver the fortresses of which he held the keys.

This removed the objection of Umfraville, and Dundee and Forfar were placed in the hands of Edward. The King of England, satisfied with this express acknowledgement of his rights as Lord Paramount, immediately redelivered the custody of the kingdom into the hands of the regents, enjoining them to appoint Alan bishop of Caithness, an Englishman, and one of his dependants, to the important office of chancellor; and to nominate Walter Agmondesham, another agent of England, as his assistant. To the four guardians, or regents, Edward next added a fifth, Bryan Fitz-Alan, an English baron; and having thus secured an effectual influence over the Scottish councils, he proceeded to assume a generous and conciliating tone. He promised to do justice to the competitors within the kingdom of Scotland, and to deliver immediate possession of the kingdom to the successful claimant; upon the death of any king of Scotland who left an heir, he engaged to wave his claim to those feudal services, which, upon such an occasion, were rigidly exacted by lords superior in smaller fiefs, with the exception of the homage due to him as Lord Paramount; but he stipulated, that, in the event of a disputed succession occurring, the kingdom and its castles were to be again delivered into his hands.

The first act of this extraordinary drama now drew to a conclusion. The great seal, which had been brought from Scotland for the occasion, was delivered to the joint chancellors, the. Bishop of Caithness and Walter Agmondesham. The four guardians, in the presence of a large concourse of English and Scottish nobility, swore fealty to Edward as lord superior; while Bruce lord of Annandale, with his son the Earl of Carrick, John de Baliol, the Earls of March, Mar, Buchan, Athole, Angus, Lennox, and Menteith,'the Black Comyn lord of Badenoch, and many other barons and knights, followed them in taking the oaths of homage. A herald then proclaimed the peace of King Edward as Lord Paramount; and the monarch added a protestation, that his consent to do justice in this great cause within Scotland, should not preclude him from his right of deciding in any similar emergency within his kingdom of England. The assembly then broke up, after an agreement that its next meeting should be at Berwick on the 2d of August, on which day the King of England promised to deliver his final judgment upon the succession to the crown of Scotland.

Edward's progress through Scotland

It was now only the 13th of July, and Edward determined to employ the interval till the 2d of August in a progress through Scotland, for the purpose of receiving the homage of its inhabitants, and examining in person the disposition of the people, and the strength of the country. He proceeded, by Edinburgh and Stirling, as far as Perth, visiting Dunfermline, St Andrews, Kinghorn, and Linlithgow; and at these places peremptorily called upon persons of all ranks, earls, barons, and burgesses, to sign the rolls of homage, as vassals of the King of England.In the more remote districts, which he could not visit, officers were appointed to receive the oaths, and enforce them by imprisonment upon the refractory; and having thus examined and felt the temper of the country, which he had determined to reduce under his dominion, he returned to Berwick; where, in the presence of the competitors, with the prelates, earls, and barons of both countries, assembled in the chapel of the castle, he, on the 3d of August, opened the proceedings.

He meets the Competitors at Berwick

First of all, he commanded the hundred and four commissioners or delegates, to assemble in the church of the Dominicans, adjoining to the castle, and there receive the claims to the crown. Upon this, twelve competitors came forward. These were—
I. Florence count of Holland, descended from Ada, the sister of King William the Lion.
II. Patrick Dunbar earl of March, descended from Ilda, or Ada, daughter of William the Lion.
III. William de Vescy, who claimed as grandson of Marjory, daughter of William the Lion.
IV. William de Ross, descended from Isabella, daughter of William the Lion.
V. Robert de Pynkeny, descended from Marjory, daughter of Henry prince of Scotland, and sister of William the Lion.
VI. Nicholas de Soulis, descended from Marjory, a daughter of Alexander the Second, and wife of Alan Durward.
VII. Patrick Galythly, claimed as the son of Henry Galythly, who, he contended, was the lawful son of William the Lion.
VIII. IJoger de Mandeville, descended from Aufrica, whom he affirmed to be a daughter of William the Lion.
IX. John Comyn lord of Badenoch, who claimed as a descendant of Donald, formerly King of Scotland.
X. John de Hastings, who was the son of Ada, the third daughter of David earl of Huntingdon, brother to King William the Lion.
XI. Robert de Bruce, who was the son of Isabel, second daughter of David earl of Huntingdon; and lastly,
XII. John de Baliol, who claimed the crown as the grandson of Margaret, the eldest daughter of David earl of Huntingdon.

Arguments of Bruce-and Baliol

The petitions of these various claimants having been read, Edward recommended the commissioners to consider them with attention, and to give in their report at his next parliament, to be held at Berwick on the 2d of June, in the following year. This was an artful delay. Its apparent purpose was to give the commissioners an interval of nine or ten months to institute their inquiries; yet it served the more important object of accustoming the nobility and people of Scotland to look to Edward as their Lord Paramount. When the parliament assembled at Berwick on the appointed day, and when Eric king of Norway appeared by his ambassadors, and insisted on his right to the crown of Scotland as the heir of his daughter Margaret, his petition and the claims of the first nine competitors were easily disposed of. They were liable to insuperable objections: some on account of the notorious illegitimacy of the branches from which they sprung, which was the case with the Earl of March, along with the barons William de Ross and De Vescy; others were rejected because they affirmed that they were descendants of a sister of the Earl of Huntingdon,when the direct representatives of a brother of the same prince were in the field.

Indeed, before the final judgment was pronounced, these frivolous competitors voluntarily retired. They had been set up by Edward, with the design of removing the powerful opposition which might have arisen to his schemes, had they declared themselves against him; and to excuse his delay in giving judgment, by throwing an air of intricacy over the case. This object being gained, the king commanded the commissioners to consider, in the first place, the claims of Bruce and Baliol; thus quietly overlooking the other competitors, whose rights were reserved, never to be again brought forward; and virtually deciding that the crown must be given to a descendant of David earl of Huntingdon. The scene which followed was nothing more than a premeditated piece of acting, planned by Edward, and not ill performed by the Scottish commissioners, who were completely under his influence. The king first required them to make oath, that they would faithfully advise him by what laws and usages the question should be determined: they answered, that they differed in opinion as to the laws and usages of Scotland, and its application to the question before them; and therefore required the assistance of the English commissioners, as if from them was to proceed more certain or accurate advice upon the law of Scotland. A conference with the commissioners of the two nations having taken place, it was found that the differences in opinion were not removed. The English commissioners modestly refused to decide until they were enlightened by the advice of an English parliament; and the king, approving of their scruples, declared his resolution to consult the learned in foreign parts; and recommended all persons of both kingdoms to revolve the case in their minds, and consider what ought to be done. He then appointed a parliament to assemble at Berwick on the 15th of October; at which meeting of the Estates he intimated he would pronounce his final decision.

On the meeting of this parliament at the time appointed, Edward required the commissioners to give an answer to these two questions: 1st, By what laws and customs they ought to regulate their judgment? or, in the event of there being either no laws for the determination of such a point, or if the laws of England and Scotland happened to be at variance, what was to be done? And, 2d, Was the kingdom of Scotland to be regarded as a common fief, and the succession to the crown to be regulated by the same principles which were applicable to earldoms and baronies? The commissioners replied, that the laws and usages of the two kingdoms must rule the question; but if none existed to regulate the case, the king must make a new law for a new emergency; and that the succession to the Scottish crown must be decided in the same manner as the succession to earldoms, baronies, and other indivisible inheritances. The king then addressed himself to Bruce and Baliol, and required them to allege any further arguments in explanation of their right; upon which they entered at great length into their respective pleadings upon the question.

Bruce insisted, that being the son of Isabella, second daughter of David earl of Huntingdon, he was next heir to the crown; that Alexander the Second had so declared to persons yet alive, when the king despaired of having heirs of his own body; and that an oath had been taken by the people of Scotland to maintain the succession of the nearest in blood to Alexander the Third, failing the Maid of Norway and her issue. He maintained, that a succession to a kingdom ought to be decided by the law of nature, rather than by the principles which regulated the succession of vassals and subjects ; by which law, he, as nearest to the royal blood, ought to be preferred; and that the custom of succession to the Scottish crown—by which the brother, as nearest in degree, excluded the son of the deceased monarch—supported his title. He contended that a woman, being naturally incapable of government, ought not to reign; and, therefore, as Devorguilla, the mother of Baliol, was alive at the death of Alexander the Third, and could not reign, the kingdom devolved upon him, as the nearest male of the blood-royal.

To all this Baliol replied, that as Alexander the Second had left heirs of his body, no conclusion could be drawn from his declaration; that the claimants were in the court of the Lord Paramount, of whose ancestors, from time immemorial, the realm of Scotland was held by homage; and that the King of England must give judgment in this case as in the case of other tenements held of the crown, looking to the law and established usages of his kingdom; that, upon these principles, the eldest female heir is preferred in the succession to all inheritance, indivisible as well as divisible, so that the issue of a younger sister, although nearer in degree, did not exclude the issue of the elder, though in a degree more remote, the succession continuing in the direct line. He maintained, that the argument of Bruce, as to the ancient laws of succession in the kingdom of Scotland, truly militated against himself; for the son was nearer in degree than the brother, yet the brother was preferred. He observed, that Brace's argument, that a woman ought not to reign, was inconsistent with his own claim; for if Isabella, the mother of Bruce, had no right to reign, she could transmit to him no claim to the crown; and besides all this, he had, by his own deliberate act, confuted the argument which he now maintained, having been one of those nobles who swore allegiance to Margaret, the Maiden of Norway.

The competitors, Bruce and Baliol, having thus advanced their claims, King Edward required of his great council a final answer to the following question, exhorting the bishops, prelates, earls, barons, and commissioners, to advise well upon the point:—" By the laws and customs of both kingdoms, ought the issue of an elder sister, but more remote by one degree, to exclude the issue of the younger sister, although one degree nearer?" To this the whole council unanimously answered, that the issue of the elder sister must be preferred; upon which Edward, after affectedly entreating his council to reconsider the whole cause, adjourned the assembly for three weeks, and appointed it to meet again on Thursday the 6th of November.

On this day, in a full meeting of all the competitors, the commissioners, and the assembled nobility of both countries, the king declared: that, after weighing Brace's petition, with its circumstances, and deeply considering the arguments on both sides, it was his final judgment, that the pretensions of that noble person to the Scottish crown must be set aside, and that he could take nothing in the competition with Baliol. The great drama, however, was not yet concluded; for the king having ordered the claims of Baliol, and the other competitors which were only postponed, to be further heard, Bruce declared, that he meant to prosecute his right, and to present a claim for the whole or a part of the kingdom of Scotland, under a different form from what he had already followed. Upon this, John de Hastings, the descendant of the third daughter of David earl of Huntingdon, stood up, and affirmed that the kingdom of Scotland was partible; and ought, according to the established laws of England as to partible fiefs, to be divided equally amongst the descendants of the three daughters. This plea was founded upon an opinion of one of the French lawyers, whom Edward had consulted; and Hastings had no sooner concluded, than Bruce again presented himself, and, adopting the argument of Hastings, claimed a third part of Scotland, reserving always to Baliol, as descended from the eldest sister, the name of king, and the royal dignity. Edward then put the question to his council, "Is the kingdom of Scotland divisible; or, if not, are its escheats or its revenues divisible V The council answered, "That neither could be divided." Upon which the king, after having taken a few days more to re-examine diligently, with the assistance of his council, the whole of the petitions, appointed the last meeting for the hearing of the cause to be held in the castle of Berwick, on the 17th of November.

Edward decides in favour of Baliol

On that great and important day, the council and parliament of England, with the nobility of both countries, being met, the various competitors were summoned to attend; upon which Eric king of Norway, Florence earl of Holland, and William de Vescy, withdrew their claims. After this, Patrick earl of March, William de Ross, Robert de Pynkeny, Nicholas de Soulis, and Patrick Galythly, came forward in person, and followed the same course. John Comyn and Roger de Mandeville, who did not appear, were presumed to have abandoned their right; and the ground being thus cleared for Edward's final judgement, he solemnly decreed: That the kingdom of Scotland being indivisible, and the King of England being bound to judge of the rights of his subjects according to the laws and usages of the people over whom he reigns, by which laws the more remote in degree of the first line of descent is preferable to the nearer in degree of the second; therefore, John Baliol ought to have seisin of the kingdom of Scotland, with reservation always of the right of the King of England and of his heirs, when they shall think proper to assert it.

After having delivered judgement, Edward exhorted Baliol to be careful in the government of his people, lest by giving to any one a just cause of complaint, he should call down upon himself an interference of his Lord Paramount. He commanded the five regents to give him seisin of his kingdom, and directed orders to the governors of the castles throughout Scotland, to deliver them into the hands of Baliol.

Baliol's Coronation

A humiliating ceremony now took place. The great seal of Scotland, which had been used by the regents since the death of Alexander the Third, was, in the presence of Edward, Baliol, Bruce, and a concourse of the nobility of both kingdoms, broken into four parts, and the pieces deposited in the treasury of the King of England, to be preserved as an evidence of the pretended sovereignty and dominion of that kingdom over Scotland.

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History of Scotland by Patrick Tytler 2

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