History of Scotland by Patrick Tytler 2
Holds his Parliament at Berwick
On the 28th of August, the king held his parliamentat Berwick, for the purpose of receiving the fealty of the clergy and laity of Scotland. Multitudes of Scotsmen of all ranks resorted to him—earls, barons, knights, and esquires. The terror of his arms; the well-known severity of his temper, which made imprisonment and the immediate confiscation of their estates the consequence of their refusal; the example of their nobility, who now felt, too late for remedy, the sad effect of their dissensions, all combined to render this submission to Edward a measure as unanimous as it was humiliating; and the oaths of homage, the renunciation of the French alliance, and the names of the vassals, which fill thirty-five skins of parchment, are still preserved amongst the English archives.Settlement of Scotland
On the 28th of August, the king held his parliament at Berwick, for the purpose of receiving the fealty of the clergy and laity of Scotland. Multitudes of Scotsmen of all ranks resorted to him—earls, barons, knights, and esquires. The terror of his arms; the well-known severity of his temper, which made imprisonment and the immediate confiscation of their estates the consequence of their refusal; the example of their nobility, who now felt, too late for remedy, the sad effect of their dissensions, all combined to render this submission to Edward a measure as unanimous as it was humiliating; and the oaths of homage, the renunciation of the French alliance, and the names of the vassals, which fill thirty-five skins of parchment, are still preserved amongst the English archives.After the battle of Dunbar, Bruce earl of Carrick, who was then in the service of England, reminded Edward of his promise to place him on the throfle. "Have I nothing to do," said the haughty monarch, "but to conquer kingdoms for you?" Judging it probably a more befitting occupation, the King of England empowered the Earl of Carrick, and his son the younger Bruce, to receive to his peace the inhabitants of their own lands of Carrick and Annandale.-f How little did he then think, that the youthful baron, employed under his royal commission in this degrading office, was destined to wrest from him his conquest, and to become the restorer of the freedom of his country!
Edward next directed his attention to the settlement of his new dominions; and the measures which he adopted for this purpose were equally politic and just. He commanded the sheriffs of the several counties in Scotland, to restore to the clergy their forfeited lands;and he granted to the Scottish bishops for ever, the privilege of bequeathing their effects by will, as fully as the right was enjoyed by the prelates of England. The widows of those barons whose husbands had died before the French alliance, and who had not since then been married to the king's enemies, were faithfully restored to their estates; but, effectually to secure their allegiance, the English Guardian of Scotland was permitted, at his option, to take possession of the castles and strengths upon their lands. He even assigned pensions to the wives of many of his Scottish prisoners; and few of those who held office under the unfortunate Baliol were dispossessed. The jurisdictions of Scotland were suffered to remain with those who possessed them, under ancient and hereditary titles; no wanton or unnecessary act of rigour was committed, no capricious changes introduced, yet all means were adopted to give security to his conquest. John Warrene earl of Surrey, was made Guardian of Scotland; Hugh de Cressingham, Treasurer; and William Ormesby, Justiciary. Henry de Percy, nephew of Warrene, was appointed keeper of the county of Galloway, and the sheriffdom of Ayr; the castles of Roxburgh, Berwick, Jedburgh, and Edinburgh, were committed to English captains; a new seal, in place of the ancient Great Seal of Scotland, surrendered by Baliol and broken into pieces at Brechin, was placed in the hands of Walter de Agmondesham, an English chancellor; and an Exchequer for receiving the king's rents and taxes was instituted at Berwick, on the model of that at Westminster.
Period of Wallace
Edward had scarcely made this settlement of Scotland, and set out for his own dominions, when he found, that instead of the acclamations due to a conqueror, he was to be received at home with the lowering countenances of discontent and rebellion. He had incurred a heavy expense in his Scottish expedition, and he was now anxious to carry on with vigour his war with France; but the clergy of England, headed by a proud and firm prelate, Winchelsea archbishop of Canterbury, demurred as to the .supplies which he demanded; and a powerful party of the barons, led by the Constable and the Marshal of England, refusing to pass over into France, indignantly retired from parliament, with a great body of their armed retainers.
These discontents in England encouraged the people of Scotland to rise against their English oppressors. Although deserted by their nobility, a spirit of determined hatred against England was strongly manifested by the great body of the nation. Throughout the whole country, numerous bands of armed peasants infested the highways, and in contempt of government plundered the English, and laid waste their lands. Their numbers increased, and their successes soon became alarming. They besieged the castles garrisoned by the English, took prisoners, committed all kinds of rapine and homicide; and the impression made upon the mind of Edward may be judged of by a letter still remaining, addressed to his treasurer Cressingham, commanding him not to scruple to spend the whole money in his exchequer to put down these violent disorders.
Rise of William Wallace
The patriotic principle which seems at this time to have entirely deserted the highest ranks of the Scottish nobles, whose selfish dissensions had brought ruin and bondage upon their country, still burned pure in the breasts of these broken men and rebels, as they are termed by Edward. The lesser barons, being less contaminated by the money and intrigues of England, preserved also the healthy and honest feelings of national independence; and it happened, that at this time, and out of this middle class of the lesser barons, arose an extraordinary individual, who, at first driven into the field by a desire to avenge his individual injuries, within a short period of time, in the reconquest of his native country, developed a character which may, without exaggeration, be termed heroic. This" was William Wallace, or Walays, the second son of Sir Malcolm Wallace of Ellerslie, near Paisley, a knight, whose family was ancient, but neither rich nor noble.In those days bodily strength and knightly prowess were of the highest consequence in commanding respect and ensuring success. Wallace had an iron frame. His make, as he grew up to manhood, approached almost to the gigantic; and his personal strength was superior to the common run of even the strongest men. His passions were hasty and violent; a strong hatred to the English, who now insolently lorded it over Scotland, began to show itself at a very early period of his life; and this aversion was fostered in the youth by an uncle, a priest, who, deploring the calamities of his country, was never weary of extolling the sweets of liberty, and lamenting the miseries of dependence.
His First Exploits
The state of national feeling in Scotland, at this time, has been already described; and it is evident, that the repressing of a rising spirit of resistance, which began so strongly to show itself, required a judicious union of firmness, gentleness, and moderation. Upon the part of the English all this was wanting. Warrene, the governor, had, on account of ill health, retired to the north of England. Cressingham, the treasurer, was a proud, ignorant ecclesiastic. Edward, before he departed, had left orders that all who had not yet taken the oath of fealty, including not only the lesser barons but the burghers and inferior gentry, should be compelled to do so under severe penalties, exacted by military force; and Ormesby, the justiciary, had excited deep and general odium, by the intolerable rigour with which these penalties were extorted.The intrepid temper of Wallace appears first to have shown itself in a quarrel, in the town of Lanark, with some of the English officers who insulted him. This led to bloodshed; and he would have been overpowered and slain in the streets, had it not been for the interference of his mistress, to whose house he fled, and by whose assistance he escaped to the neighbouring woods. In a spirit of cruel and unmanly revenge, Hislop, the English sheriff, attacked the house, and put her to death; for which he was himself assaulted and slain by Wallace, f The consequence of this was to him the same as to many others, who at this time preferred a life of dangerous freedom to the indulgence and security of submission.He was proclaimed a traitor, banished his home, and driven to seek his safety in the wilds and fastnesses of his country. It was here that he collected by degrees a little band, composed at first of a few brave men of desperate fortunes, who had forsworn their vassalage to their lords, and refused submission to Edward, and who at first carried on that predatory warfare against the English, to which they were impelled as well by the desire of plunder, and the necessity of subsistence, as by the love of liberty. These men chose Wallace for their chief. Superior rank—for as yet none of the nobility or barons had joined them—his uncommon courage and personal strength, and his unconquerable "thirst of vengeance against the English, naturally influenced their choice, and the result proved how well it had fallen. His plans were laid with so much judgment, that in his first attacks against straggling parties of the English, he was generally successful; and if surprised by unexpected numbers, his superior strength and bravery, and the ardour with which he inspired his followers, enabled them to overpower every effort which was made against them.
To him these early and desultory excursions against the enemy were highly useful, as he became acquainted with the strongest passes of his country, and acquired habits of command over men of fierce and turbulent spirits. To them the advantage was reciprocal, for they began gradually to feel an undoubting confidence in their leader; they were accustomed to rapid marches, to endure fatigue and privation, to be on their guard against surprise, to feel the effects of discipline and obedience, and by the successes which these ensured, to regard with contempt the nation by whom they had allowed themselves to be overcome.
He is Joined by Sir William Douglas
The consequences of these partial advantages over the enemy were soon seen. At first few had dared to unite themselves to so desperate a band. But confidence came with success, and numbers flocked to the standard of revolt. The continued oppressions of the English, the desire of revenge, and even the romantic and perilous nature of the undertaking, recruited the ranks of Wallace, and he was soon at the head of a great body of Scottish exiles.Surprises and Routs Ormesby, the English Justiciary
When it was known that this brave man had raised open banneragainst the English, Sir William Douglas,who had been taken by Edward at the siege of Berwick, and restored to his liberty, upon swearing fealty, disregarding his oath, joined the Scottish force with his numerous vassals. Ormesby, the English justiciary, was at this time holding his court at Scone; and Surrey, the guardian, had gone to attend the English parliament. Wallace, by a rapid march, surprised the justiciary, dispersed his followers, and, whilst he himself escaped with the greatest difficulty, took a rich booty and many prisoners. This exploit giving new confidence to their little army, they more openly and boldly ravaged the country, and put all Englishmen the sword. As circumstances allowed, they either acted together, or engaged in separate expeditions. Whilst Wallace marched into Lennox, the castles of Disdeir and Sanquhar were taken by Douglas; and when their united strength afterwards broke in upon the west of Scotland, they were joined by some of the most powerful of the Scottish nobility. The Steward of Scotland, and his brother, Sir Andrew Moray of Bothwell, Alexander de Lindesay, and Sir Richard Lundin, with a spirited prelate, Wishart bishop of Glasgow, were amongst the number.Inconsistent Conduct of Bruce
The conduct of the younger Bruce, afterwards the heroic Robert the First, was at this period vacillating and inconsistent. His large possessions in Carrick and Annandale made him master of an immense tract of country, extending from the Firth of Clyde to the Solway; and the number of armed vassals which his summons could call inty the field, would have formed an invaluable accession to the insurgents. His power caused him to be narrowly watched by England; and as his inconstant character became suspected by the Wardens of the Western Marches, they summoned him to treat on the affairs of his master the king at Carlisle. Bruce, not daring to disobey, resorted thither with a numerous attendance of his friends, and was compelled to make oath on the consecrated host, and the sword of Thomas-a-Becket, that he would continue faithful to the cause of Edward.
To give a proof of his fidelity, he ravaged the estates of Sir William Douglas, then with Wallace, seized his wife and children, and carried them into Annandale. Having thus defeated suspicion, and saved his lands, he privately assembled his father's retainers; talked lightly of an extorted oath, from which the pope would absolve him; and urged them to follow him, and join the brave men who had taken arms against the English. This, however, they refused, probably because their master and overlord, the elder Bruce, was then with Edward. Robert, however, nothing moved by the disappointment, collected his own tenants, marched to join Wallace, and openly took arms against the English.
The news of this rebellion reached the King of England, as he was preparing to sail for Flanders. He at first disregarded it; and as many of the most powerful of the Scottish nobles were then either prisoners in England, or in attendance upon himself, and ready to embark for the continent, he was easily persuaded that it would be instantly put down by the authority of the governor. Anthony Beck, however, the martial Bishop of Durham, was despatched in great haste into Scotland; and Edward, finding from his account, that the revolt was of a serious nature, commanded the Earl of Surrey to call forth the military force on the north of the Trent, and, without delay, to reduce the insurgents.