the country of the Scots, or that part of Great Britain lying to the north of the Tweed; is situated between the 54th and 59th degrees of north latitude, and extends in length about 278 miles, and in some places near 180 in breadth; containing an area of 27,794 miles. On the south it is bounded by England; on the north, east, and west, by the Deucalonian, German, and Irish seas.

It is extremely difficult to give any satisfactory account of the origin of the appellation of Scots, from which the name, the country has derived its name. It has puzzled the most eminent antiquaries, whose conjectures serve rather to perplex than to clear up the difficulty. Nor is this to be wondered at, when Varro and Dionysius could not agree about the etymon of Italia, nor Plutarch and Solinus about that of Rome. All that we know with any degree of certainty, concerning the appellation of Scot, amounts to this—that it was at first a term of reproach, and consequently framed by enemies, rather than assumed by the nation distinguished by that name. The Highlanders, who were the genuine descendants of the ancient Scots, are absolutely strangers to the name, and have been so from the beginning of time. All those who speak the Gaelic language call themselves Albanich or Gael, and their country Alba or Gael-dochd.

The Picts, who possessed originally the northern and eastern, eastern, and in a latter period also the more southern division of North Britain, were at first more powerful than the Caledonians of the west. It is therefore probable, that the Piets, from a principle of malevolence and pride, were ready to traduce and ridicule their weaker neighbours of Argyle. These two nations spoke the same language, the Gaelic. In that language Scot, or Scodie, signifies a corner or small division of a country. Accordingly, a corner of north Britain is the very name which Giraldus Cambrensis gives the little kingdom of Argyle, which the six sons of Muredus king of Ulster were said, according to his information, to have erected in Scotland. Scot in Gaelic is much the same with little or contemptible in English; and Scotlan, literally speaking, signifies a small flock; metaphorically, it stands for a small body of men. (Dr Macpherson's Differt.)

Others observe, that in the same language the word Suit signifies a wanderer, and suppose that this may have been the origin of the name of Scot; a conjecture which they think is countenanced by a passage in Ammianus Marcellinus (l. xxvii.), who characterizes the men by the epithet of roaming; "per diversa vagantes." (Mr Macpherson, and Mr Whitaker).

All that we can say is, that for some one of the reasons couched under the above disparaging epithets, their malicious or sneering neighbours, the Piets or the Britons, may have given the appellation of Scots to the ancestors of the Scottish nation.

At what time the inhabitants of the west of Scotland came to be distinguished by this name is uncertain. Porphyrius the philologist is the first who mentions them, about the year of the Christian era 267; and towards the middle of the 4th century we find them mentioned with other British nations by Am. Marcellinus, in the passage above referred to.

The origin of the Scots has been warmly disputed by many antiquaries of note; particularly by Mr Macpherson and Mr Whitaker. The first contends, that they are of Caledonian, the latter, that they are of Irish extraction. Each supports his position with such arguments and authorities, that an impartial inquirer is almost at a loss which of their opinions he ought to espouse. What appears most probable is, that they are both partly in the right and partly in the wrong—The Scots seem to have been originally defended from Britons of the south, or from Caledonians, who being pressed forward by new colonies from Gaul, till they came to the western shore of Britain, passed over from thence into Ireland, probably about 100 years before the Christian era. About the year of Christ 320, they returned again into Britain; or at least a large colony of them, under the conduct of Fergus, and settled on the western coasts of Caledonia, from whence they had formerly migrated. As early as the year 340, we find them associated with the Piets in their expeditions to the Roman province; and for 90 or 100 years after, their ravages are frequently mentioned by the Roman and British writers. (Whitaker's Hist. of the Britons, 284.)

The territory of the ancient Scots, before the annexation of Pictavia, comprehended all that side of Caledonia which lies along the north and western ocean, from the frith of Clyde to the Orkneys. Towards the east, their dominions were divided from the Pictish territories by those high mountains which run from Dumbarton to the frith of Tain. In process of time, the Scots, under the reign of Kenneth the son of Alpin, became so powerful as to subdue entirely their neighbours the Piets, and gave their own denomination to all Caledonia, Pictavia, and Valentia; all which are still comprehended under the general name of Scotland.

Like those of all other nations, the historians of Scotland affirm too great an antiquity for their countrymen; however, they are much less extravagant in this respect than many others. By them the reign of Fergus, the first Scots monarch, is placed in 330 B.C. He was the son of Ferchar an Irish prince; and is said to have been called into Scotland by the Caledonians, to assist them against the southern Britons, with whom they were then at war. Having landed on one of the Albute or western isles, he had a conference with the Caledonians, whose language and manners he found to be the same with those of his countrymen. Having then landed in Scotland, and taken the field at the head of his new allies, he engaged the Britons under their king Coilus. Victory declared in favour of the Scots; Coilus was defeated and killed; and from him the province of Kyle first received its name. After this Fergus was declared king of the Scots, with the solemnity of an oath. But he did not long enjoy his new dignity: for having been recalled to Ireland to quiet some commotions there, he was drowned, by a sudden tempest, on his return, at a place in Ireland called from him Knock-Fergus, or Carrick-Fergus; i.e., Fergus's Rock.

Fergus was succeeded by his brother Fertharis, to the prejudice of his two sons Ferlegus and Mainus. This, we are told by the ancient Scottish writers, was done in conformity to a law, by which it was ordained, that whilst the children of their kings were infants, one of their relations who was reckoned the most fit for the government should be raised to the throne, but that after his death the sovereignty should return to the sons of the former king. This was the case at present; however, Ferlegus, impatient for the crown, made a formal demand of it from his uncle. The dispute being referred to an assembly of the states, Fertharis was confirmed on the throne; and Ferlegus would have been condemned for sedition, had not his uncle interposed. However, he was imprisoned; but having made his escape, he fled first to the Piets, and then to the Britons, in order to excite them against Fertharis. With both he failed in accomplishing his purpose; but, in the mean time, his uncle being stabbed in his bed, the suspicion fell upon Ferlegus, who was thereupon set aside from the succession, and died in obscurity, the throne being conferred upon his brother Mainus.

The reigns of Mainus, Dornadil, and Nothat, afford nothing remarkable, excepting that Dornadil, who was a great hunter, instituted the laws of hunting in this country. Nothat was killed in a battle with Reuther his nephew; upon which the latter was immediately invested with the sovereignty. A bloody war ensued, in which both parties were reduced to the last extremity, and glad at length to conclude a peace. The fate of Reuther is not known; but it is generally supposed that he ended his life in the year 187 B.C.

The reigns of Reutha, Thereus, Jasina, and Finnian, afford no remarkable transactions, excepting that under the last we find the first beginnings of the Scottish parliament; as he enacted, that kings should do nothing without the consent of their grand council.

After him followed Durstus, Even, and Gillus, whose reigns afford nothing of consequence. Even II., the nephew of Finnian, who succeeded Gillus, is said to have built the towns of Innerlochey and Inverness. He overcame Belus king of the Orkneys, who had invaded Scotland; and was succeeded by his son Eder, in whose time Julius Caesar invaded the southern parts of this island. Eder is said to have assisted the Britons against the common enemy. He was succeeded, after a reign of 48 years, by his son Even III., who is represented as a monster of cruelty and lust. Not content with having 100 noble concubines of his own, he made a law that a man might marry as many wives as he could maintain; and that the king should have the first night with every noble bride, and the nobles the like with the daughters of their tenants. Nor was he less remarkable for his cruelty and rapaciousness, which at last occasioned a rebellion; and Even was dethroned, imprisoned, and put to death.

We meet with nothing memorable in the history of Scotland from this time to that of Agricola, excepting that the famous Caratacus, who was carried prisoner to Rome, is said to have been one of the Scottish monarchs; which, however, seems not very probable, as the Romans in his time had not penetrated near so far as Scotland. The invasion of Agricola happened during the reign of Corbred, called by the Roman historians Galgacus. Agricola having completed the conquest of the southern parts, and in a great measure civilized the inhabitants, formed a like plan with regard to Scotland. It is probable, that at this time the Caledonians or Scots were rendered more formidable than ever they had been, by the accession of great numbers from the south; for though the Romans had civilized the greatest part, it cannot be doubted that many of those savage warriors, disdaining the pleasures of a peaceable life, would retire to the northward, where the martial disposition of the Scots would better suit their inclination. The utmost efforts of valour, however, were not proof against the discipline of the Roman troops, and the experience of their commander. In the third year Agricola had penetrated as far as the river Tay; but the particulars of his progress are not recorded. The following year he built a line of forts between the firths of Forth and Clyde, to exclude the Caledonians from the southern parts of the island; and the year after, he subdued those parts which lay to the south and west of his forts, namely, the counties of Galloway, Cantyre, and Argyle, which at that time were inhabited by a people called Gangi, though some historians place these as far south as Cheshire in England, and the north part of Wales. This supposition, however, can scarcely be admitted, when we consider that Tacitus expressly informs us, that the people whom Agricola conquered had never before been known to the Romans.

Agricola still pursued the same prudent measures by which he had already secured the possession of such a large tract of country, that is, advancing but slowly, and building forts as he advanced, in order to keep the people in obedience. The Scots, though commanded by their king, who is said to have been well acquainted with the manner of fighting and discipline of the Romans, were yet obliged to retreat; but at last, finding that the enemy made such progress as endangered the subjugation of the whole country, he resolved to cut off their communication with the southern parts, and likewise to prevent all possibility of a retreat by sea. Agricola, though solicited by some of his officers, refused to retreat; but divided his troops into three bodies, having a communication with each other. Upon this, Galgacus resolved to attack the weakest of the three, which consisted only of the ninth legion, and lay at that time, as is said, at a place called Lochore, about two miles from Loch-Leven in Fife. The attack was made in the night; and as the Romans were both unprepared and inferior in number, the Scots penetrated into the heart of their camp, and were making a great slaughter, when Agricola detached some light-armed troops to their assistance; by whom the Caledonians in their turn were routed, and forced to fly to the marshes and inaccessible places, where the enemy could not follow them.

This engagement has been magnified by the Roman historians into a victory, though it can scarce be admitted from the testimonies of other historians. The Romans, however, certainly advanced very considerably, and the Scots as constantly retreated, till they came to the foot of the Grampian mountains, where the Caledonians resolved to make their last stand. In the eighth year of the war, Agricola advanced to the foot of the mountains, where he found the enemy ready to receive him. Tacitus has given us a speech of Galgacus, which he has undoubtedly fabricated for him, in which he sets forth the aspiring disposition of the Romans, and encourages his countrymen to defend themselves vigorously, as knowing that every thing valuable was at stake. A desperate engagement accordingly ensued. In the beginning, the Britons had the advantage, by the dexterous management of their bucklers; but Agricola having ordered three Tungrian and two Batavian cohorts, armed with short swords, and embossed bucklers terminating in a point, to attack the Scots, who were armed with long swords, the latter soon found these weapons useless in a close encounter; and as their bucklers only covered a small part of their bodies, they were easily cut in pieces by their adversaries. The most forward of their cavalry and charioteers fell back upon their infantry, and dispersed the centre; but, the Britons endeavouring to out-flank their enemies, the Roman general opposed them with his horse; and the Caledonians were at last routed with great slaughter, and forced to fly into the woods, whither the Romans pursued with so little caution, that numbers of them were cut off. Agricola, however, having ordered his troops to proceed more regularly, prevented the Scots from attacking and cutting off his men in separate parties, as they had expected; so that this victory proved the greatest stroke to the Caledonians that they had hitherto received. This battle is supposed by some to have been fought in Strathern, half a mile south from the kirk of Comrie; but others imagine the place to have been near Fortingal-Camp, a place somewhat farther on the other side of the Tay.

Great as this victory was, it seems not to have been productive of any solid or lasting advantage to the Romans; since we find that Agricola, instead of putting an end to the war by the immediate conquest of all Caledonia, retreated into the country of the Foresti, commonly supposed to be Forfarshire, though others imagine it to have been the county of Fife. Here he received hostages from part of the Caledonians; and ordered part of his fleet to sail round Britain, that they might discover whether it was an island or a continent. The Romans no sooner had left that part of the country, than the Caledonians demolished all the forts they had raised; and Agricola being soon after recalled by Domitian, the further progress of the Roman arms was stopped; Galbaeus proving superior to any of the successors of that general.

From the time of Agricola to that of Adrian, we know little of the affairs of Scotland, excepting that during this interval the Scots must have entirely driven the Romans out of their country, and reconquered all that tract which lay between Agricola's chain of forts and Carlisle on the west, and Newcastle or Tynemouth-Bar on the east; which Adrian, on visiting Britain, thought proper to fix as the northern boundary of the Roman dominions. Here he built a wall of turf between the mouth of the Tine and the Solway frith, with a view to shut out the barbarians; which, however, did not answer the purpose, nor indeed could it be thought to do so, as it was only built of turf, and guarded by no more than 18,000 men, who could not be supposed a sufficient force to defend such an extent of fortification.

On the departure of Adrian, he left Julius Severus as his lieutenant; but this man, though one of the greatest commanders of his age, did not carry his arms to the northward of Adrian's wall; and this long interval of peace gave too much security to Mogold the Scottish monarch, that he degenerated into a tyrant, and was murdered by some of his noblemen. The only instance of his tyranny which is produced, however, is a law by which it was enacted, that the estates of such as were condemned should be forfeited to his exchequer, without any part thereof being allotted to their wives and children; an act which subsists almost in its full force to this day in Great Britain and the best regulated European governments.

In the reign of Antoninus Pius, the proprator Lollius Urbicus drove the Scots far to the northward, and repaired the chain of forts built by Agricola, which lay between the Carron on the frith of Forth and Dunglass on the Clyde. These were joined together by turf walls, and formed a much better defence than the wall of Adrian. However, after the death of Antoninus, Commodus having recalled Calpurnius Agricola, an able commander, who kept the Scots in awe, a more dangerous war broke out than had ever been experienced by the Romans in that quarter. The Scots having passed the wall, put all the Romans they could meet with to the sword; but they were soon repulsed by Ulpius Marcellus, a general of consummate abilities, whom Commodus sent into the island.—In a short time the tyrant also recalled this able commander. After his departure, the Roman discipline in Britain suffered a total relaxation; the soldiery grew mutinous, and great disorders ensued; but these were all happily removed by the arrival of Clodius Albinus, a person of great skill and experience in military affairs. His preference for some time restrained the Scots within proper bounds; but a civil war breaking out between him and Severus, Albinus crossed over to the continent with the greatest part of the Roman forces in Britain; and meeting his antagonist at Lyons, a dreadful battle ensued, in which Albinus was utterly defeated, and his army cut in pieces. See Rome, p. 375.

The absence of the Roman forces gave encouragement to the Scots to renew their depredations, which they did with such success, that the emperor became apprehensive of losing the whole island; on which he determined to go in person and quell their troublesome enemies. The army he collected upon this occasion was far more numerous than any the Romans had ever sent into Britain; and being commanded by such an able general as Severus, it may easily be supposed that the Scots must have been very hard pressed. The particulars of this important expedition are very imperfectly related; however, we are assured that Severus lost a vast number of men, it is said not less than 50,000, in his march through Scotland. Notwithstanding, he penetrated, it is said, to the most northern extremity of the island, and obliged the enemy to yield up their arms. On his return, he built a much stronger fortification to secure the frontiers against the enemy than had ever been done before, and which in some places coincided with Adrian's wall, but extended farther at each end. But in the meantime, the Scots, provoked by the brutality of the emperor's son Caracalla, whom he had left regent in his absence, again took arms; on which Severus himself took the field, with a design, as it would seem, to extirpate the whole nation; for he gave orders to his soldiers "not to spare even the child in the mother's belly." The event of his furious declaration is unknown; but in all probability the death of the emperor, which happened soon after, put a stop to the execution of this revenge; and it is certain that his son Caracalla, who succeeded Severus, ratified the peace with the Scots.

During all these important transactions, Scotland was governed by Donald I., who is said to have been the first Christian king of this country. From him to the time of Eugene I., no remarkable occurrence offers; but under the latter, the Roman and Pictish forces were united against the Scots. The Picts were commanded by their king, named Hargyft; and the Romans by Maximus, who murdered Valentinian III. and afterwards assumed the empire. The allies defeated Eugene in the county of Galloway; but Maximus being obliged to return southward on account of an insurrection, the Picts were in their turn defeated by the Scots. Next year, however, Maximus marched against the Scots; who being now reduced to extremity, brought into the field not only all the men capable of bearing arms, but the women also. In this engagement the Picts would have been utterly defeated, had not they been supported by the Romans; but Eugene being killed, with the greatest part of his nobility, the Scots were defeated; and so well did the conquerors improve their victory, that their antagonists were at last totally driven out of the country. Some of them took refuge in the Ælbudæ islands, and some in Scandinavia and Ireland, from whence they made frequent descents upon Scotland. The Picts were at first mightily pleased with the victory they had gained over their antagonists: but being commanded to adopt the laws of the Romans, and to choose no king who was not sent from Rome, they began to repent of their having contributed to the expulsion of the Scots; and in the year 421, when Aulphus king of the Goths sent over a body of exiled Scots to Britain, under Fergus, a descendant of the royal family of Scotland, the Piets immediately joined them against the common enemy.

The consequence of this was, that the Britons were pushed to the last extremity; and the Romans being obliged, on account of the inundation of northern barbarians who poured in upon them, to recall their forces from Britain, the inhabitants were reduced to the most miserable situation that can be imagined. In the time of Fergus II., they were obliged to give up all the country which lies to the north of Adrian's wall; and in the reign of Grimus or Graham, the successor of Fergus, they were obliged to write that remarkable letter to Rome, intitled, "The groans of the Britons." This, however, not being attended with success, the Britons were obliged to call in the Saxons to their assistance. By these new allies the Scots were defeated in a great battle, and their king (Eugene) drowned in the river Humber; which put a stop for some time to these incursions.

Hitherto we have seen the Scots very formidable enemies to the southern Britons. But when the Saxons became the enemies of the Britons, the Scots joined in a strict alliance with the latter; and the famous king Arthur is said to have been assisted by the Scots in all his battles with the Saxons: neither does it appear that this league was ever dissolved again, though the united efforts of the Scots and Britons were not sufficient to preserve the independency of the latter.

The next remarkable event in the history of Scotland is the war with the Piets, which took place in the ninth century. The occasion of the quarrel was, that Dongal king of Scotland pretended a right to the Pictish throne; which, however, was rejected by the Piets: upon which both parties had recourse to arms; but when everything was ready for the campaign, Dongal was drowned in crossing the river Spey.

At this time the dominions of the Scots comprehended the western islands, together with the counties of Argyle, Knapdale, Kyle, Kintyre, Lochaber, and a part of Breadalbane; while the Piets possessed all the rest of Scotland, and part of Northumberland; so that the Piets seem to have been by much the most powerful people of the two. However, the Scots appear to have been superior in military skill; for Alpin, the successor of Dongal, having engaged the Pictish army near Forfar, after an obstinate engagement defeated them, and killed their king, though not without the loss of a great number of his own men. The Piets chose Brudus, the son of their former king, to succeed him; but soon after deposed and put him to death, on account of his stupidity and indolence. His brother Kenneth shared the same fate on account of his cowardice; till at last another Brudus, a brave and spirited prince, ascended the throne. Having raised a powerful army, he began with offering terms of peace to the Scots; which, however, Alpin rejected, and insisted upon a total surrender of his crown. Brudus on this endeavoured to procure the assistance of Edwin king of Northumberland. Edwin accepted the money; but pretending to be engaged in other wars, he refused the assistance which he at first promised. Brudus, not dismayed by this disappointment, marched resolutely against his enemies; and the two armies came to an engagement near Dundee. The superior skill of the Scots in military affairs was about to have decided the victory in their favour, when Brudus bethought himself of the following stratagem to preserve his army from destruction. He caused all the attendants, and even the women who attended his army, to assemble and show themselves at a distance as a powerful reinforcement coming to the Piets. This struck the Scots with such a panic, that all the efforts of Alpin could not recover them; and they were accordingly defeated with great slaughter. Alpin himself was taken prisoner, and soon after beheaded by order of the conqueror. This execution happened at a place now called Pitlochry, but d-fated, in former times Bar-alpin, which in the Gaelic language signifies the death of Alpin. His head was afterwards stuck upon a pole, and exposed on a wall.

Alpin was succeeded by his son Kenneth II., who being a brave and enterprising prince, resolved to take a most severe revenge for his father's death. The Scots, however, were so dispirited by their late defeat, that they were exceedingly averse to any renewal of the war; while, on the other hand, the Piets were so much elated, that they made a law by which it became death for any man to propose peace with the Scots, whom they resolved to exterminate; and some of the nobility were expelled the council on account of their opposition to this law. The consequence of this was, the civil dissensions took place among them, and a bloody battle was fought between the opposite parties, before the Scots had thought of making any farther resistance.

By these distractions Brudus, who had in vain endeavoured to appease them, was so much affected, that he died of grief; and was succeeded by his brother Druken.—The new prince also failed in his endeavours to accommodate the civil differences; so that the Scots, by gaining so much repose, at last began to recover from their consternation; and some of them having ventured into the Pictish territories, carried off Alpin's head from the capital of their dominions, supposed to have been Abernethy. In the mean time, Kenneth found means to gain over the nobility to his side by the following stratagem; which, however ridiculous, is not incredible, if we consider the barbarism and superstition of that age. Having invited them to an entertainment, the king introduced into the hall where they slept a person clothed in a robe made of the skins of fishes, which made such a luminous appearance in the dark, that he was mistaken for an angel or some supernatural messenger. To add to the terror of those who saw him, he denounced, through a speaking trumpet, the most terrible judgments, if war was not immediately declared against the Piets, the murderers of the late king. In consequence of this celestial admonition, war was immediately renewed with great vigour. The Piets were not deficient in their preparations, and had now procured some assistance from England. The first battle was fought near Stirling; where the Piets, being deserted by their English auxiliaries, were utterly defeated. Druken escaped by the swift Scotland

ness of his horse, and a few days after made application to Kenneth for a cessation of hostilities; but as the Scottish monarch demanded a surrender of all the Pictish dominions, the treaty was instantly broken off. Kenneth pursued his good fortune, and conquered the counties of Merns, Angus, and Fife; but as he marched against Stirling, he received intelligence that these counties had again revolted, and cut off all the garrisons which he had left, and that Druken was at the head of a considerable army in these parts. On this Kenneth hastened to oppose him, and a negociation again took place. The result was equally unfavourable with the rest. Kenneth insisted on an absolute surrender of the counties of Fife, Merns, and Angus; which being refused, both parties prepared for a decisive battle. The engagement was very bloody and desperate, the Picts fighting like men in despair. Druken renewed the battle seven times; but at last was entirely defeated and killed, and the counties in dispute became the immediate property of the conqueror.

Kenneth did not fail to improve his victory, by reducing the rest of the Pictish territories; which he is said to have done with the greatest cruelty, and even to have totally exterminated the inhabitants. The capital, called Gamelon, (supposed to have been Abernethy), held out four months; but was at last taken by surprize, and every living creature destroyed. This was followed by the reduction of the Maiden Castle, now that of Edinburgh; which was abandoned by the garrison, who fled to Northumberland.

After the reduction of these important places, the rest of the country made no great resistance, and Kenneth became master of all the kingdom of Scotland in the present extent of the word; so that he is justly to be esteemed the true founder of the Scottish monarchy. Besides this war with the Picts, Kenneth is said to have been successful against the Saxons, though of these wars we have very little account. Having reigned 16 years in peace after his subjugation of the Picts, and composed a code of laws for the good of his people, Kenneth died of a fistula, at Port Teviot, near Duplin in Perthshire. Before his time the seat of the Scots government had been in Argyleshire; but he removed it to Scone, by transferring thither the famous black stone supposed to be the palladium of Scotland, and which was afterwards carried off by Edward I. of England, and lodged in Westminster abbey.

Kenneth was succeeded by his brother Donald, who is represented as a man of the worst character; so that the remaining Picts who had fled out of Scotland were encouraged to apply to the Saxons for assistance, promising to make Scotland tributary to the Saxon power after it should be conquered. This proposal was accepted; and the confederates invaded Scotland with a powerful army, and took the town of Berwick; however, they were soon after defeated by Donald, who took also their ships and provisions. This capture proved their ruin; for some of the ships being loaded with wine, the Scots indulged themselves so much with that liquor, that they became incapable of defending themselves; the consequence of this was, that the confederates rallying their troops, attacked them in that state of intoxication. The Scots were defeated with excessive slaughter. Twenty thousand of the common soldiers lay dead on the spot; the king and his principal nobility were taken prisoners; and all the country from the Tweed to the Forth became the property of the conquerors. Still, however, the confederates found themselves unable to pursue their victory farther; and a peace was concluded, on condition that the Saxons should become masters of all the conquered country. Thus the Forth and Clyde became the southern boundaries of the Scottish dominions. It was agreed that the Forth should from that time forward be called the Scots Sea; and it was made capital for any Scotman to set his foot on English ground. They were to erect no forts near the English confines, to pay an annual tribute of a thousand pounds, and to give up six of the sons of their chief nobility as hostages. A mint was erected by the Saxon prince named O'breath, at Stirling; and a cross raised on the bridge at that place, with the following inscription, implying that this place was the boundary between Scotland and England:

Anglos a Scottis separat crux ifla remota: Arma hic flant Briti, flant Scotti sub hac cruce tuli.

After the conclusion of this treaty, so humiliating to the Scots, the Picts, finding that their interest had been entirely neglected, fled to Norway, while those who remained in England were massacred. Donald shared the common fate of unfortunate princes, being dethroned and shut up in prison, where he at last put an end to his own life in the year 858.—In justice to this unhappy monarch, however, it must be observed, that the character of Donald, and indeed the whole account of these transactions, rests on the credit of a single author, namely Boece; and that other writers represent Donald as a hero, and successful in his wars; but the obscurity in which the whole of this period of Scottish history is involved, renders it impossible to determine anything satisfactory concerning these matters.

Donald was succeeded by his nephew Constantine, the son of Kenneth Mac Alpin, in whose reign Scotland was first invaded by the Danes, who proved such formidable enemies to the English. This invasion is said to have been occasioned by some exiled Picts who fled to Denmark, where they prevailed upon the king of that country to send his two brothers, Hungar and Hubba, to recover the Pictish dominions from Constantine. These princes landed on the coast of Fife, where they committed the most horrid barbarities, not sparing even the ecclesiastics who had taken refuge in the island of May at the mouth of the Forth. Constantine defeated one of the Danish armies commanded by Hubba, near the water of Leven; but was himself defeated and taken prisoner by Hungar, who caused him to be beheaded at a place since called the Devil's Cave, in the year 874.

This unfortunate action cost the Scots 10,000 men; but the Danes seem not to have purchased their victory very easily, as they were obliged immediately afterwards to abandon their conquests, and retire to their own country. However, the many Danish monuments that are still to be seen in Fife, leave no room to doubt that many bloody scenes have been acted here between the Scots and Danes besides that above-mentioned.

Constantine was succeeded by his brother Eth, surnamed the Swift footed, from his agility. Concerning him we find nothing memorable; indeed the accounts are so confused and contradictory, that it is impossible Gregory the Great, to form any definitive opinion concerning the transactions of this reign. All agree, however, that it was but short; and that he was succeeded by Gregory the son of Dongal, contemporary with Alfred of England, and that both princes deservedly acquired the name of Great.

The Danes at their departure had left the Picts in possession of Fife. Against them Gregory immediately marched, and quickly drove them into the north of England, where their confederates were already masters of Northumberland and York. In their way thither they threw a garrison into the town of Berwick; but this was presently reduced by Gregory, who put to the sword all the Danes, but spared the lives of the Picts. From Berwick, Gregory pursued the Danes into Northumberland, where he defeated them; and passed the winter in Berwick. He then marched against the Cumbrians, who being mostly Picts were in alliance with the Danes. They easily overcame, and obliged to yield up all the lands they had formerly possessed belonging to the Scots, at the same time that he agreed to protect them from the power of the Danes. In a short time, however, Constantine the king of the Cumbrians violated the convention he had made, and invaded Annandale; but was defeated and killed by Gregory near Lochmaben. After this victory Gregory entirely reduced the counties of Cumberland and Westmorland, which, it is said, were ceded to him by Alfred the Great; and indeed the situation of Alfred's affairs at this time renders such a cession by no means improbable.

We next find Gregory engaged in a war with the Irish, to support Donach, an Irish prince, against two rebellious noblemen. The Irish were the first aggressors, and invaded Galloway; but being repulsed with great loss, Gregory went over to Ireland in person, where the two chieftains, who had been enemies to each other before, now joined their forces in order to oppose the common enemy. The first engagement proved fatal to one of their chiefs named Brian, who was killed with a great number of his followers. After this victory Gregory reduced Dundalk and Drogheda. On his way to Dublin he was opposed by a chieftain named Cormel, who shared the fate of his confederate, being also killed, and his army entirely defeated. Gregory then became guardian to the young prince whom he came to assist, appointed a regency, and obliged them to swear that they would never admit into the country either a Dane or an Englishman without his consent. Having then placed garrisons in the strongest fortresses, he returned to Scotland, where he built the city of Aberdeen; and died in the year 892, at his castle of Dundore in the Garioch.

Donald III. Gregory was succeeded by Donald III., the son of Constantine, who imitated the virtues of his predecessor. The Scots historians unanimously agree that Northumberland was at that time in the hands of their countrymen; while the English as unanimously affirm that it was subject to the Danes, who paid homage to Alfred. Be this as it will, however, Donald continued to live on good terms with the English monarch, and sent him a body of forces, who proved of considerable advantage to him in his wars with the Danes. The reign of Donald was but short; for having marched against some robbers (probably no other than the Danes) who had invaded and ravaged the counties of Murray and Ross, he died at Forres soon after, having Scotland defeated and subdued them in the year 904. He was succeeded by Constantine III., the son of Eth the Swift-footed, concerning whom the most remarkable particular we find related is his entering into an alliance with the Danes against the English. The occasion of this con-Confederation is said to have been, that the English monarch, the ill Edward the Elder, finding the Scots in possession of the northern counties of England, made such extravagant demands upon Constantine as obliged him to ally himself with the Danes in order to preserve his dominions in against security. However, the league subsisted only for two years, after which the Danes found it more for their advantage to resume their ancient friendship with the English.

As soon as Constantine had concluded the treaty with the Danes, he appointed the presumptive heir to the Scottish crown, Malcolm, or, according to some, Eugene the son of the late king Donald, prince of the southern counties, on condition of his defending them against the attacks of the English. The young prince had soon an opportunity of exerting his valour; but not behaving with the requisite caution, he had the misfortune to be defeated, with the loss of almost all his army, he himself being carried wounded out of the field; and in consequence of this disaster, Constantine was obliged to do homage to Edward for the possessions he had to the southward of the Scots boundary.

In the beginning of the reign of Athelstan the son of Edward the Elder, the northern Danes were encouraged by some conspiracies formed against that monarch to throw off the yoke; and their success was such, that Athelstan thought proper to enter into a treaty with Sithric the Danish chief, and to give him his daughter in marriage. Sithric, however, did not long survive his nuptials; and his son Guthred, endeavouring to throw off the English yoke, was defeated, and obliged to fly into Scotland. This brought on a series of hostilities between the Scots and English, which in the year 938 issued in a general engagement. At this time the Scots, Irish, Cumbrians, and Danes, were confederated against the English. The Scots were commanded by their king Constantine, the Irish by Anlaf the brother of Guthred the Danish prince, the Cumbrians by their own sovereign, and the Danes by Froda. The generals of Athelstan were Edmund his brother, and Turkeil his favourite. The English attacked the entrenchments of the confederates, where the chief resistance they met with was from the Scots. Constantine was in the utmost danger of being killed or taken prisoner, but was refused by the bravery of its utterly his soldiers; however, after a most obstinate engagement, do'cated by the confederates were defeated with such slaughter, that the slain are said to have been innumerable. The consequence of this victory was, that the Scots were deprived of all their possessions to the southward of the Forth; and Constantine, quite dispirited with his misfortune, resigned the crown to Malcolm, and retired to the monastery of the Culdees at St Andrew's, where he died five years after, in 943.

The distresses which the English sustained in their subsequent wars with the Danes gave the Scots an opportunity of retrieving their affairs; and in the year 944, we find Malcolm, the successor of Constantine, invested with the sovereignty of Northumberland, on condition dition of his holding it as fief of the crown of England, and afflicting in defence of the northern border. Soon after the conclusion of this treaty Malcolm died, and was succeeded by his son Indulfus. In his reign the Danes became extremely formidable by their invasions, which they now renewed with greater fury than ever, being exasperated by the friendship subsisting between the Scots and English monarchs. Their first descent was upon East Lothian, where they were soon expelled, but crofted over to Fife. Here they were a second time defeated, and driven out; and so well had Indulfus taken care to guard the coasts, that they could not find an opportunity of landing; till having seemed to steer towards their own country, the Scots were thrown off their guard, and the Danes on a sudden made good their landing at Cullen, in Banffshire. Here Indulfus soon came up with them, attacked their camp, and drove them towards their ships, but was killed in an ambuscade, into which he fell during the pursuit. He was succeeded by Duffus, to whom historians give an excellent character; but, after a reign of five years, he was murdered, in the year 965. He was succeeded by Culen the son of Indulfus, who had been nominated prince of Cumberland in his father's lifetime, as heir-apparent to the throne. He is represented as a very degenerate prince; and is said to have given himself up to sensuality in a manner almost incredible, being guilty of incontinence not only with women of all ranks, but even with his own sisters and daughters. The people in the mean time were fleeced, in order to support the extravagance and luxury of their prince. In consequence of this, an assembly of the states was convened at Scone for the resettling of the government; but on his way thither Culen was assassinated, near the village of Methven, by Rohard, thane or sheriff of Fife, whose daughter the king had debauched.

The provocations which Culen had given to his nobility seem to have rendered them totally untractable and licentious; which gave an occasion to a remarkable revolution in the reign of Kenneth III. who succeeded Culen. This prince, being a man of great resolution, began with relieving the common people from the oppressions of the nobility, which were now intolerable; and this plan he pursued with so much success, that, having nothing to fear from the great barons, he ordered them to appear before him at Lanark; but the greatest part, conscious of their demerits, did not attend. The king so well dissembled his displeasure, that those who came were quite charmed with his affability, and the noble entertainment he gave them; in consequence of which, when an assembly was called next year, the guilty were encouraged to appear as well as the innocent. No sooner had this assembly met, however, than the place of meeting was beset with armed men. The king then informed them that none had any thing to apprehend excepting such as had been notorious offenders; and these he ordered to be immediately taken into custody, telling them, that their submitting to public justice must be the price of their liberty. They were obliged to accept the king's offer, and the criminals were accordingly punished according to their deserts.

About this time Edgar, king of England, finding himself hard pressed by the Danes, found means to unite the king of Scotland and the prince of Cumberland along with himself in a treaty against the Danes; which gave occasion to a report that Kenneth had become tributary to the king of England. This, however, is utterly denied by all the Scots historians; who affirm that Kenneth cultivated a good correspondence with Edgar, as well because he expected affluence in defending his coasts, as because he intended entirely to alter the mode of succession to the throne. About this time the Danes made a dreadful invasion. Their original intention seems to have been to land on some part of the English coasts; but finding them probably too well guarded, they landed at Montrose in Scotland, committing everywhere the most dreadful ravages. Kenneth at that time was at Stirling, and quite unprepared; however, having collected an handful of troops, he cut off many of the enemy as they were straggling up and down, but could not prevent them from besieging Perth. Nevertheless, as the king's army constantly increased, he resolved to give the enemy battle. The scene of this action was at Lonearty, near Perth. The king is said to have offered ten pounds in silver, or the value of it in land, for the head of every Dane which should be brought him; and an immunity from all taxes to the soldiers who served in his army, provided they should be victorious: but, notwithstanding the utmost efforts of the Scots, their enemies fought to desperation, that Kenneth's army must have been totally defeated, had not the fugitives been stopped by a yeoman and his two sons of the name of Hay, who were coming up to the battle, armed with such rustic weapons as family of their condition in life afforded. Buchanan and Boece inform us, that these countrymen were ploughing in a field hard by the scene of action, and perceiving that their countrymen fled, they loosed their oxen, and made use of the yokes as weapons, with which they first obliged their countrymen to stand, and then annoyed their enemies. The fight was now renewed with such fury on the part of the Scots, that the Danes were utterly defeated; and, after the battle, the king rewarded Hay with the barony of Errol in the Carle of Gowrie, ennobled his family, and gave them an armorial bearing alluding to the rustic weapons with which they had achieved this glorious exploit.

In the year 994, Kenneth was murdered at the instigation of a lady named Fenella, whose son he had murdered, caused to be put to death. The murder was perpetrated in Fenella's castle, where she had persuaded the king to pay her a visit. His attendants waited long near the place; but being at length tired out, they broke open the doors, and found their king murdered; upon which they laid the castle in ashes; but Fenella escaped by a postern. The throne was then seized by an usurper named Constantine; who, being killed in battle after a reign of a year and a half, was succeeded by Grime, the grandson of king Duffus; and he again was defeated and killed by Malcolm the son of Kenneth, the lawful heir of the Scottish throne. After this victory, however, Malcolm did not immediately assume the sovereignty; but asked the crown from the nobles, in consequence of a law passed in the reign of Kenneth, by which the succession to the throne of Scotland became hereditary. This they immediately granted, and Malcolm was accordingly crowned king. He joined himself in strict alliance with the king of England; and proved so successful against the Danes in England, that Scotland. Sweyn their king resolved to direct his whole force against him by an invasion of Scotland. His first attempt, however, proved very unsuccessful; all his soldiers being cut in pieces, except some few who escaped to their ships, while the loss of the Scots amounted to no more than 30 men. But in the mean time, Duncan, prince of Cumberland, having neglected to pay his homage to the king of England, the latter invaded that country in conjunction with the Danes. Malcolm took the field against them, and defeated both; but while he was thus employed in the south, a new army of Danes landed in the north at the mouth of the river Spey. Malcolm advanced against them with an army much inferior in number; and his men, neglecting every thing but the blind impulses of fury, were almost all cut to pieces; Malcolm himself being desperately wounded.

By this victory the Danes were so much elated, that they sent for their wives and children, intending to settle in this country. The castle of Nairn, at that time thought almost impregnable, fell into their hands; and the towns of Elgin and Forres were abandoned both by their garrisons and inhabitants. The Scots were everywhere treated as a conquered people, and employed in the most servile offices by the haughty conquerors; who, to render the castle of Nairn, as they thought, absolutely impregnable, cut through the small isthmus which joined it to the land. All this time, however, Malcolm was raising forces in the southern counties; and having at last got an army together, he came up with the Danes at Murtloch, near Balveny, which appears at this day to have been a strong Danish fortification. Here he attacked the enemy; but having the misfortune to lose three of his general officers, he was again obliged to retreat. However, the Danish general happening to be killed in the pursuit, the Scots were encouraged to renew the fight with such vigour, that they obtained at last a complete victory; but suffered so much, that they were unable to derive from it all the advantages which might otherwise have accrued.

On the news of this ill success, Sweyn ordered two fleets, one from England and another from Norway, to make a descent upon Scotland, under the command of Camus, one of his most renowned generals. The Danes attempted to land at the mouth of the Forth; but finding every place there well fortified, they were obliged to move farther northward, and effected their purpose at Redhead in the county of Angus. The castle of Brechin was first besieged; but meeting with a stout resistance there, they laid the town and church in ashes. From thence they advanced to the village of Panbride, and encamped at a place called Karboddo.

Malcolm in the meantime was at hand with his army, and encamped at a place called Barr, in the neighbourhood of which both parties prepared to decide the fate of Scotland; for as Moray and the northern provinces again were already in the possession of the Danes, it was evident that a victory at this time must put them in possession of the whole. The engagement was desperate, and so bloody, that the rivulet which proceeds from Loch Tay is said to have had its water dyed with the blood of the slain; but at last the Danes gave way and fled. There was at that time in the army of Malcolm, a young prince of the name of Keith (A). He pursued Rife of the Camus; and having overtaken him, engaged and killed him; but another Scots officer coming up at the same time, disputed with Keith the glory of the action. While the dispute lasted, Malcolm came up; who suffered them to decide it by single combat. In this second combat Keith proved also victorious, and killed his antagonist. The dying person confessed the justice of Keith's claim; and Malcolm dipping his finger in his blood marked the shield of Keith with three strokes, pronouncing the words Veritas vincit, "Truth overcomes," which has ever since been the armorial bearing and motto of the family of Keith (B).

The shattered remains of the Danish forces reached their ships; but being driven back by contrary winds, and provisions becoming scarce, they put ashore 500 men on the coast of Buchan, to procure them some food; but their communication with the ships being soon cut off, they fortified themselves as well as they could, and made a desperate resistance; but at last were all put to the sword. The place where this massacre happened is still called Cruclane; being probably an abbreviation of Cruor Danorum, the blood of the Danes, a name imposed on it by the ecclesiastics of those days.

Sweyn, not yet discouraged, sent his son Canute, afterwards king of England, and one of the greatest war-invasionious of that age, into Scotland, with an army more powerful than any that had yet appeared. Canute landed in Buchan; and, as the Scots were much weakened by such a long continued war, Malcolm thought proper to act on the defensive. But the Scots, who now thought themselves invincible, demanded to be led on to a general engagement. Malcolm complied with their desire, and a battle ensued; in which though neither party had much reason to boast of victory, the Danes were so much reduced, that they willingly concluded a peace on the following terms, viz. That the peace concluded, Danes should immediately depart Scotland; that as long as Malcolm and Sweyn lived, neither of them should wage war with the other, or help each other's enemies; and

(A) This prince is said to have commanded a colony of the Catti, a German nation who settled in the northmost part of Scotland, and from whom the county of Caithness takes its name.

(B) Mr Gordon, in his Itinerarium Septentrionale, observes, that in all probability the Scots gained two victories over the Danes on the present occasion; one near the place called Karboddo, already mentioned; and the other at Aberlemno, four miles from Brechin. At both places there are monuments with rude sculptures, erected most probably in memory of a victory. That at Karboddo is called Camus's cross; near which, somewhat more than a century ago, a large sepulchre, supposed to be that of Camus, was discovered. It consisted of four great stones; and had in it a huge skeleton, supposed to be that of the Danish prince. The fatal stroke seemed to have been given him on the back part of the head; a considerable portion of the skull being cut away, probably by the stroke of the sword. Scotland, and that the field in which the battle was fought should be set apart and consecrated for the burial of the dead. These stipulations were punctually fulfilled by Malcolm, who built in the neighbourhood a chapel dedicated to Olaus, the tutelar saint of these northern nations.

After all these glorious exploits, and becoming the second legislator in the Scottish nation, Malcolm is said to have slain the latter part of his reign with avarice and oppression; in consequence of which he was murdered at the age of 80 years, after he had reigned above 30. This afflication was perpetrated when he was on his way to Glamis. His own domestics are said to have been privy to the murder, and to have fled along with the conspirators; but in passing the lake of Forfar on the ice, it gave way with them, and they were all drowned, their bodies being discovered some days after. The latter part of this account is confirmed by the sculptures upon some stones erected near the spot; one of which is still called Malcolm's grave-stone; and all of them exhibit some rude representations of the murder and the fate of the assassins.

Malcolm was succeeded, in the year 1034, by his grandson Duncan I. but he is said to have had another grandson, the famous Macbeth; though some are of opinion that Macbeth was not the grandson of Malcolm, but of Fenella who murdered Kenneth III. The first years of Duncan's reign were passed in tranquillity, but domestic broils soon took place on the following occasion. Banquo, thane of Lochaber, and ancestor to the royal family of Stuart, acted then in the capacity of steward to Duncan, by collecting his rents; but being very rigid in the execution of his office, he was way-laid, robbed, and almost murdered. Of this outrage Banquo complained as soon as he recovered from his wounds and could appear at court. The robbers were summoned to surrender themselves to justice; but instead of obeying, they killed the messenger. Macbeth represented this in such strong terms, that he was sent with an army to reduce the insurgents, who had already destroyed many of the king's friends. This commission he performed with such success, that the rebel chief put an end to his own life; after which Macbeth sent his head to the king, and then proceeded with the utmost severity against the insurgents, who were composed of Irishmen, Islanders, and Highlanders.

This insurrection was scarcely quelled, when the Danes landed again in Fife; and Duncan put himself at the head of an army, having the thanes Macbeth and Banquo serving under him. The Danes were commanded by Sweyn king of Norway, and eldest son of Canute. He proceeded with all the barbarity natural to his nation, putting to death men, women, and children who fell in his way. A battle was fought between the two nations near Culross, in which the Scots were defeated; but the Danes purchased their victory so dearly, that they could not improve it; and Duncan retreated to Perth, while Macbeth was sent to raise more forces. In the mean time Sweyn laid siege to Perth, which was defended by Duncan and Banquo. The Danes were so much distressed for want of provisions, that they at last consented to treat of a peace, provided the pressing necessities of the army were relieved. The Scots historians inform us, that this treaty was set on foot in order to amuse Sweyn, and gain time for the stratagem which Duncan was preparing. This was no other than a barbarous contrivance of infusing intoxicating herbs into the liquors that were sent along with the other provisions to the Danish camp. These foreshortenings had their intended effect; and while the Danes were under their influence, Macbeth and Banquo broke into their camp, where they put all to the sword, and it was with difficulty that some of Sweyn's attendants carried him on board; and we are told that this was the only ship of all the fleet that returned to Norway. It was not long, however, before a fresh body of Danes landed at Kinghorn in the county of Fife; but they were entirely defeated by Macbeth and Banquo. Such of the Danes as escaped fled to their ships; but before they departed they obtained leave to bury their dead in Inchcolm, a small island lying in the Forth, where one of their monuments is still to be seen.

When the English barons found it necessary to put themselves under the protection of Louis, son to the king of France, that prince, among other acts of sovereignty, summoned Alexander to do him homage; but the latter being then engaged in the siege of Carlisle, which had fallen into the hands of King John, he could not immediately attend. In a short time Alexander found himself obliged to abandon this enterprise; after which he laid siege to Barnard-castle; but being baffled here also, marched southwards through the whole kingdom of England, and met Louis at London or Dover, where the prince confirmed to him the rights to Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmoreland. He continued a faithful ally to Louis and the barons in their wars with John; and, in 1216, brought a fresh army to their assistance, when their affairs were almost desperate. This once more turned the scale against John; but he soon after dying, the English easily became reconciled to the government of Henry III., and the party of Louis dwindled every day, till at last he was obliged to drop all thoughts of being king of England.

As long as Louis continued in England, Alexander proved faithful to his interest; but, in 1217, he was on such good terms with Henry as to demand his eldest sister, the Princess Joan, for a wife. His request was granted, and in 1221 he espoused the princess; while his eldest sister Margery was married to Hubert de Burgh justiciary of England, and his second sister to Gilbert earl Marshal, the two greatest subjects in England.

As long as the queen of Scotland lived, a perfect harmony subsisted between the Scots and English; but in 1239 Queen Joan died without children; and Alexander soon after married Mary, the daughter of Egelrand de Coucy, a young and beautiful French lady, by whom he had a son named Alexander, in 1241. From this time a coolness took place between the two courts, and many differences arose; but no hostilities were commenced on either side during the lifetime of Alexander, who died in 1249 in the 35th year of his reign.

Immediately after the death of his father, Alexander III. took possession of the throne. He is the first of the Scots kings of whose coronation we have any particular account. We are told, that the ceremony was performed by the bishop of St Andrew's, who girded the king with a military belt, probably as an emblem of his temporal jurisdiction. He then explained in Latin, and afterwards in Gaelic, the laws and oaths relating to the king; who agreed to and received them all with great appearance of joy, as he also did the benediction and ceremony of coronation from the same prelate. After the ceremony was performed, a Highlander, probably one of those who went under the denomination of Sannichies, repeated on his knees before the throne, in his own language, the genealogy of Alexander and his ancestors, up to the first king of Scotland.

In 1250, the king, though no more than ten years of age, was married to the daughter of Henry, who now thought it a proper opportunity to cause him do homage for the whole kingdom of Scotland. But Alexander, notwithstanding his youth, replied with great fenfe and modesty, that his business in England was matrimony; that he had come thither under Henry's protection and invitation; and that he was no way prepared to answer such a difficult question.

Henry seems to have been encouraged to make this attempt by the distracted state of the Scots affairs at that time; for, during the minority of the king, the nobility threw everything into confusion by their dissensions with one another. The family of Cummin were now become exceedingly powerful; and Alexander II. is blamed by Buchanan for allowing them to obtain such an exorbitant degree of power, by which they were enabled almost to shake the foundation of government. Notwithstanding the king's refusal to submit to the homage required of him, they imagined that Henry's influence was now too great; and fearing bad consequences to themselves, they withdrew from York, leaving Henry in full possession of his son-in-law's person. Henry, however, to show that he deserved all the confidence which could be reposed in him, publicly declared, that he dropped all claim of superiority with regard to the crown of Scotland, and that he would ever afterwards act as the father and guardian of his son-in-law; confirming his assurances by a charter. Yet when Alexander returned to Scotland, he found they had made a strong party against his English connections. They now exclaimed, that Scotland was no better than a province of England; and having gained almost all confined the nobility over to this opinion, they kept the king with his and queen as two state-prisoners in the castle of Edinburgh. Henry had secret intelligence of these proceedings; and his queen privately sent a physician whom she could trust, to inquire into her daughter's situation. Having found means of being admitted into the young queen's presence, she gave him a most lamentable account of her situation. She said, that the place of their confinement was very unwholesome, in consequence of which their health was in imminent danger; and that they had no concern in the affairs of government. Historians do not inform us by what means they were reduced to this dismal situation; only in general, that the Cummins usurped the whole power of the state. Henry did not well know how to act. If he proceeded at once to violent measures, he was afraid of the lives of his daughter and son-in-law; and, on the other hand, by a more cautious conduct, he left them exposed to the wicked attempts of those who kept them in thralldom, some of whom, he very well knew, had designs on the crown itself. By advice of the Scots royalists, among whom were the earls of Dunbar, Fife, Strathearn, Carrick, and Robert de Bruce, Henry assembled his military tenants at York, from whence he himself advanced to Newcastle, where he published a manifesto, disclaiming all designs against the peace or independency of Scotland; declaring, that the forces which had been collected at York were designed to maintain both; and that all he meant was to have an interview with the king and queen upon the borders. From Newcastle he proceeded to Wark, where he privately dispatched the Earl of Glocester, with his favourite John Manfel, and a train of trusty followers, to gain admission into the castle of Edinburgh, which was then held by John Baliol and Robert de Rois, noblemen of great influence both in England and Scotland. The Earl and Manfel gained gained admittance into the castle in disguise, on presence of their being tenants to Baliol and Rofs; and their followers obtained access on the same account, without any suspicion, till they were sufficiently numerous to have mastered the garrison, had they met with any resistance. The queen immediately informed them of the thraldom and tyranny in which she had been kept; and among other things declared, that she was still a virgin, as her jailors obliged her to keep separate from her husband. The English, being masters of the castle, ordered a bed to be prepared that very night for the king and queen; and Henry, hearing of the success of his party, sent a safe-conduct for the royal pair to meet him at Alnwick. Robert de Roos was summoned by Henry to answer for his conduct; but throwing himself at the king's feet, he was punished only by the sequestration of his estate, as was John Baliol by a heavy fine, which the king of England reserved entirely to his own use.

Alexander and his queen were attended to Alnwick by the heads of their party; and when they arrived, it was agreed that Henry should act as his son-in-law's guardian; in consequence of which, several regulations were made in order to suppress the exorbitant power of the Cummins. That ambitious family, however, were all this time privately strengthening their party in Scotland, though they outwardly appeared satisfied with the arrangements which had been made. This rendered Alexander secure; so that, being off his guard, he was surprised when asleep in the castle of Kinroth by the earl of Menteith, who carried him to Stirling. The Cummins were joined in this treason by Sir Hugh de Abernethy, Sir David Lochore, and Sir Hugh de Barclay; and, in the mean time, the whole nation was thrown into the utmost confusion. The great seal was forcibly taken from Robert Stuterville, substitute to the chancellor the bishop of Dunkeld; the estates of the royals were plundered; and even the churches were not spared. The king at last was delivered by the death of the earl of Menteith, who is said to have been poisoned by his wife, in order to gratify her passion for a young English gentleman named John Ruffell. This charge, however, was never proved; but it is certain that the earl died at a juncture very critical for Scotland, and that his death disconcerted all the schemes of his party, which never afterwards could make head against the royals.

Alexander being thus restored to the exercise of regal authority, acted with great wisdom and moderation. He pardoned the Cummins and their adherents, upon their submitting to his authority; after which, he applied himself to the regulation of his other affairs; but a storm was now ready to break upon him from another quarter. We have already seen, that the usurper Donald Bane, brother to Malcom Canmore, had engaged to deliver up the islands of Orkney and Shetland to the king of Norway, for afflicting him in making good his pretensions to the crown of Scotland. Haquin, the king of Norway, at this time alleged, that these engagements extended to the delivering up the islands of Bute, Arran, and others in the Firth of Clyde, as belonging to the Eburiae or Western isles; and as Alexander did not think proper to comply with these demands, the Norwegian monarch appeared with a fleet of 160 sail, having on board 20,000 troops, who landed and took the castle of Air. Alexander immediately dispatched ambassadors to enter into a treaty with Haquin; but the latter, flushed with success, would hearken to no terms. He made himself master of the isles of Bute and Arran; after which he passed over to Cunningham. Alexander, prepared to oppose him, divided his army into three bodies. The first was commanded by Alexander high steward of Scotland (the great grandfather of Robert II.), and consisted of the Argyle, Athol, Lenox, and Galloway men. The second was composed of the inhabitants of Lothian, Fife, Merse, Berwick, and Stirling, under the command of Patrick earl of Dunbar. The king himself led the centre, which consisted of the inhabitants of Perthshire, Angus, Mearns, and the northern counties. Haquin, who was an excellent commander, dispoled his men in order of battle, and the engagement began at a place called Lurgi. Both parties fought with great resolution; but at last the Norwegians were defeated with dreadful slaughter, no fewer than 16,000 of them being killed on the spot. The remainder escaped to their ships; which were so completely wrecked the day after, that Haquin could scarce find a vessel to carry him with a few friends to Orkney, where he soon after died of grief.

In consequence of this victory, Owen or John king of the island of Man submitted to Alexander; and his example was followed by several other princes of the islands belonging to the Norwegians. Haquin's son, Magnus, a wife and learned prince, soon after arrived in Scotland with fresh reinforcements, and proposed a treaty; but Alexander, instead of listening to an accommodation, sent the earls of Buchan and Murray, with Allen the chamberlain, and a considerable body of men, to the western islands, where they put to the sword some of the inhabitants, and hanged their chiefs for having encouraged the Norwegian invasion. In the mean time, Magnus returned to Norway; where a treaty was at last concluded between him and Alexander. By this Magnus renounced all right to the contested islands; Alexander at the same time consenting to pay him 1000 marks of silver in the space of two years, and 100 yearly ever after, as an acknowledgment for these islands. To cement the friendship more firmly, a marriage was concluded between Margaret &c., the daughter of Alexander, and Eric the son and heir of Magnus, who was also a child; and, some years after, when the parties were of proper age, the marriage was consummated.

From this time to the accession of Edward I. of England, we find nothing remarkable in the history of Scotland. That prince, however, proved a more cruel enemy to this country than it had ever experienced. Alexander was present at the coronation of Edward, who was then newly arrived from the Holy Land, where he had been on a crusade. Soon after this Alexander paid him homage for his English estates; particularly for the lands and lordship of Penith and others, which Henry had given him along with his daughter. He proved an excellent ally to Edward in his wars against the French; and the latter passed a charter, by which he acknowledged that the services of the king of Scotland in those wars were not in consequence of his holding lands in England, but as an ally to his crown. Even at this time, however, Edward Scotland had formed a design on the liberties of that kingdom; for in the charter just mentioned, he inserted a salvo, acknowledging the superiority, by which he referred his right to the homage of the kingdom of Scotland, when it should be claimed by him or his heirs. The bishop of Norwich suggested this salvo; and this was the reason why Alexander would not perform the homage in person, but left it to be performed by Robert Bruce earl of Carrick; Alexander standing by, and expressly declaring, that it was only paid for the lands he held in England.—No acts of hostility, however, took place during the lifetime of Alexander, who was killed on the 19th of March 1285, in the 45th year of his age, by his horse rushing down the black rock near Kinghorn as he was hunting.

Both before and after the death of Alexander, the great subjects of Scotland seemed to have been sensible of Edward’s ambitious designs. On the marriage of Margaret with Eric prince of Norway, the states of Scotland passed an act obliging themselves to receive her and her heirs as queen and sovereigns of Scotland. Edward at that time was in no condition to oppose this measure, in which the Scots were unanimous; and therefore contented himself with forming factions among the leading men of the country. Under pretence of refusing the cross, he renewed his intrigues at the court of Rome, and demanded leave from the pope to collect the tenths in Scotland; but his holiness replied, that he could make no such grant without the consent of the government of Scotland. On the death of Margaret queen of Norway, her daughter, in consequence of the act above-mentioned, was recognized by the states as queen of Scotland. As she was then but two years old, they came to a resolution of excluding from all share in the government, not only Edward I., but their queen’s father; and they accordingly established a regency from among their own number, consisting of the six following noblemen; viz. Robert Wishart bishop of Glasgow, Sir James Cummin of Badenoch, senior, James lord high steward of Scotland, who were to have the superintendency of all that part of Scotland which lay to the south of the Forth; William Frazer bishop of St Andrews, Duncan MacDuff earl of Fife, and Alexander Cummin earl of Buchan, who were to have the direction of all affairs to the north of the same river.—With these arrangements Eric was exceedingly displeased, as considering himself as the only rightful guardian of his own child. He therefore cultivated a good correspondence with Edward, from whom he had received considerable pecuniary favours; and perceiving that the states of Scotland were unanimous in excluding all foreigners from the management of their concerns, he fell in with the views of the king of England, and named commissioners to treat with those of Edward upon the Scots affairs. These negotiations terminated in a treaty of marriage between the queen of Scotland and Edward prince of Wales, young as they both were. This alarmed the states of Scotland, who resolved not to suffer their queen to be disposed of without their consent. It was therefore agreed by the commissioners on both sides, to acquaint them with the result of their conferences, and to demand that a deputation should be sent up for settling the regency of Scotland, or, in other words, for putting the sovereign power into the hands of the two kings. As the two parties, however, were within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity, being first cousins, a dispensation was applied for to Pope Boniface, who granted it on condition that the peers of Scotland consented to the match.

Though the Scots nobility were very much against this match, they could not refuse their consent to it when proposed by the father and grand-uncle of their young queen. They therefore appointed the bishops of St Andrew’s and Glasgow, with Robert Bruce lord of Annandale, and John Cummin, to attend as their deputies, but with a salvo to all the liberties and honours of the realm of Scotland; to which Edward agreed. These deputies met at Salisbury with those of England and Norway; and it was at last agreed, 1. That the young queen should be sent from Norway (free of all marriage-engagements) into England or Scotland. 2. That if the queen came to England, she should be at liberty to repair to Scotland as soon as the distractions of that kingdom should be settled; that she should, on her arrival in her own dominions, be free of all matrimonial contracts; but that the Scots should engage not to dispose of her in marriage without her father or Edward’s consent. 3. The Scots deputies promised to give such security as the Norwegian commissioners should require, that the tranquillity of the nation should be settled before her arrival. 4. That the commissioners of Scotland and Norway, joined with commissioners from England, should remove such regents and officers of state in Scotland as should be suspected of disaffection, and place others in their stead. If the Scots and Norwegian commissioners should disagree on that or any other head relating to the government of Scotland, the decision was to be left to the arbitration of English commissioners.

The party of Edward was now so strong in Scotland, that no opposition was made to the late agreement, in a parliament held at Brechin to deliberate upon the settlement of the kingdom. It is uncertain whether he communicated in form to the Scottish parliament the pope’s dispensation for the marriage; but most probably he did not; as, in a letter written to him by the states of Scotland, they mention this as a matter they heard by report. On the whole, however, they highly approved of the marriage, upon certain conditions to which Edward was previously to agree; but the latter, without waiting to perform any conditions, immediately sent for the young queen from Norway. This exceedingly displeased Eric, who was by no means inclined to put his daughter into the hands of a prince whose sincerity he suspected, and therefore shifted off the departure of the princess till he should hear farther from Scotland. Edward, alarmed at this, had again recourse to negotiation; and ten articles were at last drawn up, in which the Scots took all imaginable precautions for the safety and independency of their country. These articles were ratified by Edward on the 28th of August 1289; yet, even after the affair of the marriage was fully settled, he lost no time in procuring as strong a party as he could. At the head of these were the bishop of St Andrew’s and John Baliol. That prelate, while he was in England, was highly caressed by Edward, from whom he had great expectations of preferment; and Baliol, having great estates in England, considered the latter as his sovereign. The bishop, Scotland. Hop, on his return to Scotland, acted as a spy for Edward, and carried on with him a secret correspondence, informing him of all public transactions. It appears from this correspondence, that the Scots were far from being unanimous as to the marriage. Bruce earl of Annandale suspected, for some reason or other, that the young queen was dead; and, soon after Michaelmas 1290, assembled a body of forces, and was joined by the earl of Mar and Athol. Intelligence of these commotions was carried to Edward by Baliol; and the bishop of St Andrew's advised Edward, in case the report of the queen's death should prove true, to march a body of troops towards Scotland, in order to secure such a successor as he thought proper.

Edward, in the mean time, consented to allow ambassadors to be sent from Scotland to bring over the young queen; previous to which, he appointed the bishop of Durham to be lieutenant in Scotland for the queen and her future husband; and all the officers there, both civil and military, obliged themselves to surrender their employments and fortresses to the king and queen (that is, to Edward) immediately on their arrival in Scotland. But while the most magnificent preparations were making for the reception of the young queen, certain intelligence of her death was received; but it is not certainly known whether this event happened before the arrival of the ambassadors in Norway or after her departure from that country.

The Scots were thrown into the utmost consternation by the news of their queen's death; while, on the other hand, Edward was as well prepared as if he had known what was to happen. The state of Scotland at this time indeed was to the last degree deplorable. The act of succession established by the late king had no farther operation, being determined by the death of the queen; and since the crown was rendered hereditary, there was no precedent by which it could be settled. The Scots, in general, however, turned their eyes upon the posterity of David earl of Huntingdon, brother to the two kings Malcolm the Maiden and his successor William, both of whom died without lawful issue. The earl had three daughters. Margaret, the eldest, was married to Allan lord of Galloway; the only issue of which marriage was Derverguill wife to John Baliol, who had a son of the same name, a competitor for the crown. The second daughter, Isabella, was married to Robert Bruce; and their son Robert was a candidate likewise. The third daughter, Ada, had been married to Henry Hastings, an English nobleman, and predecessor to the present earl of Huntingdon. John Hastings, the son of this marriage, was a third competitor; but as his claim was confessedly the worst of the three, he only put in for a third of the kingdom, on the principle that his mother was joint-heir with her two sisters (c). Several other claimants now started up. Florence earl of Holland pretended to the crown of Scotland in right of his great grandmother Ada, the eldest lawful sister of William, sometime king; as did Robert de Lynkewy, in the right also of his great-grandmother Marjory, second sister of the same king William. Patrick Gallightly was the son of Henry Gallightly, a bastard of William; William de Rois was descended of Isabel; Patrick earl of March, of Ilda or Ada; and William de Velfi, of Marjory; who were three natural daughters of king William. Roger de Mandeville, descended from Aufric, another natural daughter of William, also put in his claim; but the right of Nicolas de Soulis, if bastardy could give a right, was better than the former. His grandmother Marjory, the wife of Allan le Huifier, was a natural daughter of Alexander II. and consequently sister to Alexander III. John Cummin lord of Badenoch derived his claim from a more remote source, viz. Donald Bane, who usurped the crown about 200 years before this time; but he was willing to resign his pretensions in favour of John Baliol. The latter indeed had surely the best right; and, had the succession been regulated as it is in all hereditary kingdoms at this day, he would undoubtedly have carried it. Bruce and Hastings, however, pleaded that they were preferable, not only to John Baliol the grandchild of Margaret, but also to Derverguill her daughter and his mother, for the following reason. Derverguill and they were equally related to their grandfather earl David: she was indeed the daughter of his eldest daughter; but she was a woman, they were men; and, said they, the male in the same degree ought to succeed to sovereignties, in their own nature impalpable, preferable to the female.

Notwithstanding this number of candidates, however,

(c) The pedigree of the three principal competitors will be fully understood from the following scheme.

| David I. King of Scots. | | --- | --- | | | Henry Prince of Scotland. | | | David Earl of Huntingdon, second son. | | 3. Ada—Henry de Hastings. | 2. Isabella—Robert Bruce. | | | 1. Margaret—Allan of Galloway. | | Henry de Hastings. | ROBERT BRUCE, competitor. | | JOHN DE HASTINGS, competitor. | JOHN BALIOL, competitor. |

John Baliol—Derverguill. Scotland, ever, it was soon perceived, that the claims of all of them might be cut off excepting two, viz. Baliol and Bruce, of whom the former had the preference with respect to hereditary right, and the latter as to popularity. Baliol had strongly attached himself to Edward's party; which being by far the most powerful in Scotland, gave him a decided superiority over Bruce. The event was, that Edward, by his own party most probably, though, some lay, by the unanimous voice of the Scot's parliament, was appointed to decide between the two competitors. It soon appeared, however, that Edward had no mind to adjudge the crown to any person but himself; for, in an assembly held at Norham on the 10th of May 1291, Brabançon the chief justice of England informed the members, "That his master was come thither in consideration of the state of the realm of Scotland, which was then without a king, to meet them, as direct sovereign of that kingdom, to do justice to the claimants of his crown, and to establish a solid tranquillity among his people; that it was not his intention to retard justice, nor to usurp the right of any body, or to infringe the liberties of the kingdom of Scotland, but to render to every one his due. And to the end this might be done with the more ease, he required the assent of the states ex abundante, and that they should own him as direct sovereign of the kingdom; offering, upon that condition, to make use of their counsels to do what justice demanded." The deputies were astonished at this declaration, and replied, that they were by no means prepared to decide on Edward's claim of superiority; but that Edward ought previously to judge the cause between the two competitors, and require homage from him whom he should choose to be king. Edward treated this excuse as trifling, and gave them till next day to consider of his demand. Accordingly, on that day, the assembly was held in Norham church, where the deputies from Scotland insisted upon giving no answer to Edward's demands, which could be decided only by the whole community; representing, at the same time, that numbers of the noblemen and prelates were absent, and that they must have time to know their sense of the affair. In consequence of this, Edward gave them a delay of three weeks; which interval he employed in multiplying claimants to the crown of Scotland, and in flattering each with hopes, if he would acknowledge his superiority. But when the assembly met, according to appointment, on the 2d of June following, they found the place of meeting surrounded by a numerous army of English. Edward had employed the bishop of Durham to draw up the historical evidence of his right to the crown of Scotland; which has since been published. In this paper mention is made of the fealty and homage performed by the kings of Scotland to the Anglo-Saxon kings of England; but no sufficient evidence is brought of any such homage being actually performed. As to the homage performed by the kings of Scotland from the time of William the Conqueror to that of the dispute between Bruce and Baliol, the Scots never denied it; but they contended, and indeed with justice, that it was performed for the lands which they held from the crown of England; and they alleged, that it was as far removed from any relation to a fealty or homage performed for the crown of Scotland, as the homage paid by the English monarchs to the crown of France Scotland, was removed from all relation to the crown of England. With regard to the homage paid by William king of Scotland to Henry II. of England, it was not denied that he performed it for the whole kingdom of Scotland; but they pleaded, that it was void of itself, because it was extorted when William was a prisoner to Henry; and they produced Richard I.'s charters, which pronounced it to have been compulsive and iniquitous.

But, however urgent these reasons of the Scots might be, Edward was by no means disposed to examine into their merits. Instead of this, he cloistered the several pretenders to the crown; and having found them all ready to comply with his measures, he drew up the following charter of recognition to be signed by them all.

"To all who shall hear this present letter.

"We Florence earl of Holland, Robert de Bruce the lord of Annandale, John Baliol lord of Galloway, John de Hastings lord of Abergavenny, John Cummin lord of an affeint, Badenoch, Patrick de Dunbar earl of March, John Veschi for his father Nicholas Soulis, and William de Roos, greeting in the Lord:

"Whereas we intend to pursue our right to the kingdom of Scotland; and to declare, challenge, and aver the same before him that hath most power, jurisdiction, and reason to try it; and the noble prince Edward, by the grace of God king of England, &c., having informed us, by good and sufficient reasons, that to him belongs the sovereign seigniory of the same: We therefore promise, that we will hold firm and stable his act; and that he shall enjoy the realm to whom it shall be adjudged before him. In witness whereof, we have set our seals to this writing, made and granted at Norham, the Tuesday after the Ascension, in the year of Grace 1291."

Edward then declared, by the mouth of his chancellor, that although, in the dispute which was arisen between the several claimants, touching the succession to the kingdom of Scotland, he acted in quality of sovereign, in order to render justice to whomsoever it was due; yet he did not thereby mean to exclude himself from the hereditary right which in his own person he might have to that crown, and which right he intended to assert and improve when he should think fit: and the king himself repeated this protestation with his own mouth in French. The candidates were then severally called upon by the English chancellor, to know whether they were willing to acknowledge Edward's claim of superiority over the crown of Scotland, and to submit to his award in disposing of the same; which being answered in the affirmative, they were then admitted to prove their rights. But this was mere matter of form; for all the force of England was then assembled on the borders in order to support the claims of Edward, and nothing now remained but to furnish him with a sufficient pretence for making use of it. He observed, that the Scots were not so unanimous as they ought to be in recognizing his superiority, and that the submission, which had been signed by the candidates, was not sufficient to carry it into execution; for which reason he demanded that all the demands of all forts in Scotland should be put into his possession, that he might resign them to the successful candidate.

Though nothing could be more shameful than a tame Scotland, compliance with this last demand of Edward, the regency of Scotland without hesitation yielded to it also; for which they gave the following reasons. "That whereas they (the states of Scotland) had, with one assent, already granted that King Edward, as superior lord of Scotland, should give sentence as to their several rights and titles to the crown of Scotland, &c., but as the said king of England cannot put his judgment in full execution to answer effectually without the possession or seisin of the said country and its castles; we will, grant, and assent, that he, as sovereign lord thereof, to perform the things aforesaid, shall have seisin of all the lands and castles in Scotland, until right be done to the demandants, and to the guardians and community of the kingdom of Scotland, to restore both it and its castles, with all the royalties, dignities, franchises, customs, rights, laws, usages, and possessions, with their appurtenances, in the same state and condition they were in when he received them; saving to the king of England the homage of him that shall be king; so as they may be restored within two months after the day the rights shall be determined and affirmed; and that the profits of the nation which shall be received in the mean time shall be kept in the hands of the chamberlain of Scotland that now is, and one to be joined with him by the king of England; so as the charge of the government, castles, and officers of the realm, may be deducted. In witness whereof, &c."

For these reasons, as it is said, the regency put into the hands of Edward all the forts in the country. Gilbert de Umfreville alone, who had the command of the castles of Dundee and Forfar, refused to deliver them up, until he should be indemnified by the states, and by Edward himself, from all penalties of treason of which he might afterwards be in danger.

But though Edward had thus got into his hands the whole power of the nation, he did not think proper to determine every thing by his own authority. Instead of this, he appointed commissioners, and promised to grant letters-patent declaring that sentence should be passed in Scotland. It had been all along foreseen that the great dispute would be between Bruce and Baliol; and though the plea of Cummin was judged frivolous, yet he was a man of too much influence to be neglected, and he agreed tacitly to resign it in favour of Baliol. Edward accordingly made him the compliment of joining him with Baliol in nominating 40 commissioners. Bruce was to name 40 more; and the names of the 80 were to be given in to Edward in three days; after which the king was to add to them 24 of his own choosing. The place and time of meeting were left in their own option. They unanimously pitched upon Berwick for the place of meeting; but as they could not agree about the time, Edward appointed the 2d of August following. Soon after this, the regents resigned their commissions to Edward; but he returned them, with powers to act in his name; and he nominated the bishop of Caithness to be chancellor of Scotland; joining in the commission with him Walter de Hemonesham an Englishman, and one of his own secretaries. Still, however, he met with great difficulties. Many of his own great men, particularly the earl of Gloucester, were by no means fond of increasing the power of the English monarch by the acquisition of Scotland; and therefore threw such obstacles in his way, that he was again obliged to have recourse to negotiation and intrigue, and at last to delay the meeting until the 2d of June in 1292: but during this interval, that he might the better reconcile the Scots to the loss of their liberty, he proposed an union of the two kingdoms; and for this he issued a writ by virtue of his superiority.

The commissioners having met on the second of June 1292, ambassadors for Norway presented themselves in the assembly, demanding that their matter should be admitted into the number of the claimants, as father and next heir to the late queen. This demand too was admitted by Edward, after the ambassadors had acknowledged his superiority over Scotland; after which he proposed that the claims of Bruce and Baliol should be previously examined, but without prejudice to those of the other competitors. This being agreed to, he ordered the commissioners to examine by what laws they ought to proceed in forming their report. The discussion of this question was attended with such difficulty, and the opinions on it were so various, that Edward once more adjourned the assembly to the 12th of October following; at which time he required the members to give their opinions on the two following points: 1. By what laws and customs they ought to proceed to judgment; and, supposing there could be no law or precedent found in the two kingdoms, in what manner? 2. Whether the kingdom of Scotland ought to be taken in the same view as all other fiefs, and to be awarded in the same manner as earldoms and baronies? The commissioners replied, that Edward ought to give justice conformable to the usage of the two kingdoms; but that if no certain laws or precedents could be found, he might, by the advice of his great men, enact a new law. In answer to the second question they said, that the succession to the kingdom might be awarded in the same manner as to other estates and great baronies. Upon this, Edward ordered Bruce and Baliol to be called before him; and both of them urged their respective pleas, and answers, to the following purpose.

Bruce pleaded, 1. That Alexander II. despairing of heirs of his own body, had declared that he held him to Bruce and be the true heir, and offered to prove by the testimony of persons still alive, that he declared this with the advice and in the presence of the good men of his kingdom. Alexander III. also had declared to those with whom he was intimate, that, failing issue of his own body, Bruce was his right heir. The people of Scotland also had taken an oath for maintaining the succession of the nearest in blood to Alexander III. who ought of right to inherit, failing Margaret the Maiden of Norway and her issue.—Baliol answered, that nothing could be concluded from the acknowledgment of Alexander II. for that he left heirs of his body; but made no answer to what was said of the sentiments of Alexander III. and of the oath made by the Scottish nation to maintain the succession of the next of blood.

2. Bruce pleaded, that the right of reigning ought to be decided according to the natural law, by which kings reign; and not according to any law or usage in force between subject and subject: That by the law of nature, the nearest collateral in blood has a right to the crown; but that the constitutions which prevail among vassals bind not the lord, much less the sovereign: That although in private inheritances, which Scotland are divisible, the eldest female heir has a certain prerogative; it is not so in a kingdom that is indivisible; there the nearest heir of blood is preferable whenever the succession opens.—To this Baliol replied, that the claimants were in the court of their lord paramount; and that he ought to give judgment in this case, as in the case of any other tenements, depending on his crown, that is, by the common law and usage of his kingdom, and no other. That by the laws and usages of England, the eldest female heir is preferred in the succession to all inheritances, indivisible as well as divisible.

3. It was urged by Bruce, that the manner of succession to the kingdom of Scotland in former times, made for his claim; for that the brother, as being nearest in degree, was wont to be preferred to the son of the deceased king. Thus, when Kenneth Macalpin died, his brother Donald was preferred to his son Constantine, and this was confirmed by several other authentic instances in the history of Scotland.—Baliol answered, that if the brother was preferred to the son of the king, the example proved against Bruce; for that the son, not the brother, was the nearest in degree. He admitted, that after the death of Malcolm III., his brother usurped the throne; but he contended, that the son of Malcolm complained to his liege lord the king of England, who dispossessed the usurper, and placed the son of Malcolm on the throne; that after the death of that son the brother of Malcolm III. again usurped the throne; but the king of England again dispossessed him, and raised Edgar, the second son of Malcolm, to the sovereignty.

4. Bruce pleaded, that there are examples in other countries, particularly in Spain and Savoy, where the son of the second daughter excluded the grandson of the eldest daughter. Baliol answered, that examples from foreign countries are of no importance; for that according to the laws of England and Scotland, where kings reign by succession in the direct line, and earls and barons succeed in like manner, the issue of the younger sister, although nearer in degree, excludes not the issue of the eldest sister, although more remote; but the succession continues in the direct line.

5. Bruce pleaded, that a female ought not to reign, as being incapable of governing: That at the death of Alexander III., the mother of Baliol was alive; and as she could not reign, the kingdom devolved upon him, as being the nearest male heir of the blood royal. But to this Baliol replied, that Bruce's argument was inconsistent with his claim: for that if a female ought not to reign, Isabella the mother of Bruce ought not, nor must Bruce himself claim through her. Besides, Bruce himself had sworn fealty to a female, the maiden of Norway.

The arguments being thus stated on both sides, Edward demanded an answer from the council as to the merits of the competitors. He also put the following question to them: By the laws and usages of both kingdoms, does the issue of the eldest sister, though more remote in one degree, exclude the issue of the second sister, though nearer in one degree? or ought the nearer in one degree, issuing from the second sister, to exclude the more remote in one degree issuing from the eldest sister? To this it was answered unanimously, That by the laws and usages of both kingdoms, in every heritable succession, the more remote in one degree lienally descended from the eldest sister, was preferable to the nearer in degree issuing from the second sister. In consequence of this, Bruce was excluded from the succession; upon which he entered a claim for one third of the kingdom: but being baffled in this also, the kingdom of Scotland being determined an indivisible fee, Edward ordered John Baliol to have seisin of Scotland; with this caveat, however, "That this judgment should not impair his claim to the property of Scotland."

After so many disgraceful and humiliating concessions on the part of the Scots, John Baliol was crowned king at Scone on the 30th November 1292; and Scone finished the ceremony by doing homage to the king of England. All his submissions, however, could not satisfy Edward, as long as the least shadow of independence remained to Scotland. A citizen of Berwick appealed from a sentence of the Scots judges appointed by Edward, in order to carry his cause into England. But this was opposed by Baliol, who pleaded a promise made by the English monarch, that he should "observe the laws and usages of Scotland, and not withdraw any causes from Scotland into his English courts." Edward replied, that it belonged to him to hear the complaints made against his own ministers; and concluded with asserting his right, not only to try Scots causes in England, but to summon the king of Scotland, if necessary, to appear before him in person. Baliol had not spirit to resist; and therefore signed a most disgraceful instrument, by which he declared, that all the obligations which Edward had come under were already fulfilled, and therefore that he discharged them all.

Edward now thought proper to give Baliol some marks of his favour, the most remarkable of which was giving him seisin of the Isle of Man; but it soon appeared that he intended to exercise his rights of superiority in the most provoking manner. The first instance was in the case of Malcolm earl of Fife. This nobleman had two sons, Colban his heir, and another who is constantly mentioned in history by the family-name of Macduff.—It is said, that Malcolm put Macduff in possession of the lands of Reres and Crey. Malcolm died in 1266; Colban his son, in 1270; Duncan the son of Colban, in 1288. To this last earl, his son Duncan, an infant, succeeded. During the nonage of this Duncan, grand-nephew of Macduff, William bishop of St Andrew's, guardian of the earldom, dispossessed Macduff. He complained to Edward; who having ordered his cause to be tried, restored him again to possession. Matters were in this state when Baliol held his first parliament at Scone, 10th February 1292. There Macduff was cited to answer for having taken possession of the lands of Reres and Crey, which were in possession of the king since the death of the last earl of Fife. As his defences did not satisfy the court, he was condemned to imprisonment; but an action was referred to him against Duncan, when he should come of age, and against his heirs. In all this defence, it is surprising that Macduff should have omitted his strongest argument, viz., that the regents, by Edward's authority, had put him in possession, and that Baliol had ratified all things under Edward's authority. However, as soon as he was set at liberty, he petitioned Baliol for a rehearing; but this being refused, he appealed to Edward, who ordered Baliol to appear before him in person on the 25th of March 1293; but as Baliol did not obey this order, he summoned him again to appear on the 14th of October. In the meantime the English parliament drew up certain standing orders in cases of appeal from the king of Scots; all of which were harsh and capricious. One of these regulations provided, "that no excuse of absence should ever be received either from the appellant, or the king of Scotland respondent; but that the parties might have counsel if they demanded it."

Though Baliol had not the courage to withstand the second summons of Edward, he behaved with considerable resolution at the trial. The cause of Macduff being come on, Edward asked Baliol what he had to offer in his own defence; to which he replied, "I am king of Scotland. To the complaint of Macduff, or to ought else respecting my kingdom, I dare not make answer without the advice of my people."—Edward affected surprise at this refusal, after the submissions which Baliol had already made him; but the latter steadily replied, "In matters respecting my kingdom, I neither dare nor can answer in this place, without the advice of my people." Edward then desired him to ask a farther adjournment, that he might advise with the nation. But Baliol, perceiving that his doing so would imply an acquiescence in Edward's right of requiring his personal attendance on the English courts, made answer, "That he would neither ask a longer day, nor consent to an adjournment."—It was then resolved by the parliament of England, that the king of Scotland had offered no defence; that he had made evasive and disrespectful answers; and that he was guilty of manifest contempt of the court, and of open disobedience. To make recompense to Macduff for his imprisonment, he was ordered damages from the king of Scots, to be taxed by the court; and it was also determined that Edward should inquire, according to the usages of the country, whether Macduff recovered the tenements in question by the judgment of the king's court, and whether he was dispossessed by the king of Scots. It was also resolved, that the three principal castles of Scotland, with the towns wherein they were situated, and the royal jurisdiction thereof, should be taken into the custody of the king, and there remain until the king of Scots should make satisfaction for his contempt and disobedience. But, before this judgment was publicly intimated, Baliol addressed Edward in the following words: "My lord, I am your liege-man for the kingdom of Scotland; that, whereof you have lately treated, respects my people no less than myself: I therefore pray you to delay it until I have consulted my people, lest I be surprised through want of advice: They who are now with me, neither will nor dare advise me in absence of the rest of my kingdom. After I have advised with them, I will in your first parliament after Easter report the result, and do to you what I ought."

In consequence of this address, Edward, with consent of Macduff, stopped all proceedings till the day after the feast of Trinity 1294. But before this term Edward was obliged to suspend all proceedings against the Scots, by a war which broke out with France. In a parliament held this year by Edward, the king of Scotland appeared, and consented to yield up the whole revenues of his English estates for three years to assist Edward against his enemy. He was also requested and ordered by Edward to extend an embargo laid upon the English vessels all over Scotland; and this embargo to endure until the king of England's further pleasure should be known. He also requested him to send some troops for an expedition into Gascony, and required the presence and aid of several of the Scottish barons for the same purpose. The Scots, however, eluded the commands of Edward, by pretending that they could not bring any considerable force into the field; and, with unable to bear his tyranny any longer, they negotiated an alliance with Philip king of France. Having assembled a parliament at Scone, they prevailed upon Baliol to dismiss all the Englishmen whom he maintained at his court. They then appointed a committee of twelve, four bishops, four earls, and four barons, by whose advice every thing was to be regulated; and, if we may credit the English historians, they watched the conduct of Baliol himself, and detained him in a kind of honourable captivity. However, they could not prevent him from delivering up the castles of Berwick, Roxburgh, and Jedburgh, to the bishop of Carlisle; in whose custody they were to remain during the war between England and France, as a pledge of his allegiance. Notwithstanding this, Baliol concluded the alliance with Philip; by which it was stipulated, that the latter should give in marriage the eldest daughter of the count of Anjou to Baliol's son; and it was also provided, that Baliol should not marry again without the consent of Philip. The king of Scotland engaged to assist Philip in his wars at his own expense, and with his whole power, especially if Edward invaded France; and Philip on his part engaged to assist Scotland, in case of an English invasion, either by making a diversion, or by sending succours.

Puffed up with the hopes of assistance from France, the Scots invaded Cumberland with a mighty army, and laid siege to Carlisle. The men abandoned the place; but the women mounted the walls, and drove off the assailants from the attack. Another incursion into Northumberland proved almost as disgraceful. Their whole exploits consisted in burning a nunnery at Larmley, and a monastery at Corebridge, though dedicated to their patron St Andrew; but having attempted to storm the castle of Harbottle, they were repulsed with loss. In the meantime Edward, with an army equal in number to that of the Scots, but much superior on account of its discipline, invaded the east coast of Scotland. Berwick had either not been delivered according to promise, or had been refused by the Scots, and was now defended by a numerous garrison. Edward assaulted Berwick by sea and land. The ships which began the attack were all either burnt or disabled; but Edward, having led on his army in person, took the place by storm, and cruelly butchered the inhabitants, to the number of 8000, without distinction of sex or age. In this town there was a building called the Red-hall, which certain Flemings possessed by the tenure of defending it at all times against the king of England. Thirty of these maintained their ground for a whole day against the English army; but at night the building being set on fire, all of them perished in the flames. The same day the castle capitulated; the garrison, consisting of 2000 men, marched out with all the honours... Scotland, of war, after having sworn never to bear arms against England.

In the mean time, Baliol, by the advice of his parliament, solemnly and openly renounced his allegiance to Edward, sending the following declaration.

"To the magnificent prince, Edward, by the grace of God, king of England; John, by the same grace, king of Scotland.

"Whereas you, and others of your kingdom, you not being ignorant, or having cause of ignorance, by your violent power, have notoriously and frequently done grievous and intolerable injuries, contempts, grievances, and strange damages against us, the liberties of our kingdom, and against God and justice; citing us, at your pleasure, upon every slight suggestion, out of our kingdom; unduly vexing us; seizing our castles, lands, and possessions, in your kingdom; unjustly, and for no fault of ours, taking the goods of our subjects, as well by sea as land, and carrying them into your kingdom; killing our merchants, and others of our kingdom; carrying away our subjects and imprisoning them: For the reformation of which things, we sent our messengers to you, which remain not only unredeemed, but there is every day an addition of worse things to them; for now you are come with a great army upon the borders, for the disinheritting us, and the inhabitants of our kingdom; and, proceeding, have inhumanly committed slaughter, burnings, and violent invasions, as well by sea as land: We not being able to sustain the said injuries, grievances, and damages any longer, nor to remain in your fealty or homage, extorted by your violent oppression, we restore them to you, for ourself, and all the inhabitants of our kingdom, as well for the lands we hold of you in your kingdom, as for your pretended government over us."

Edward was presented with this renunciation by the hands of the intrepid Henry abbot of Aberbrothwick; and as it was favourable to his political views, he received it rather with contempt than anger. "The foolish traitor," said he to the abbot, "since he will not come to us, we will go to him." The abbot had been persuaded by his enemies, of whom he had many in Scotland, to present this letter, in hopes that Edward would have put him to death; but he had adroits enough to escape safe out of his hands, without receiving any other answer.

Though this scheme of renunciation had been concerted some time before, the declaration was not sent to Edward till after the taking of Berwick. The fate of Scotland, however, after it, was soon decided. The Earl of March had taken part with Edward, but the countess betrayed his castle of Dunbar into the hands of the Scots. Edward sent a chosen body of troops to recover the place. The whole force of Scotland opposed them on the heights above Dunbar; but, leaving their defeated advantage post, and pouring down on their enemies in confusion, they were dispersed and defeated.

The castle of Dunbar surrendered at discretion; that of Roxburgh followed the same example; the castle of Edinburgh surrendered after a short siege; and Stirling was abandoned. The Scots, in the mean time, were guilty of the greatest extravagances. During the short interval between the loss of Berwick and the defeat at Dunbar, an order was made for expelling all the English ecclesiastics who held benefices in England; all the partizans of England, and all neutrals, were declared traitors, and their estates confiscated. But the great success of Edward soon put an end to these impotent acts of fury. Baliol was obliged to implore the mercy of the conqueror. Divested of his royal ornaments, mits, and bearing a white rod in his hand, he performed a most humiliating penance; confessing, that by evil and false counsel, and through his own simplicity, he had grievously offended his liege lord. He recapitulated his various transgressions, in concluding an alliance with France while at enmity with England; in contracting his son with the niece of the French king; in renouncing his fealty; in attacking the English territories, and in resisting Edward. He acknowledged the justice of the English invasion and conquest; and therefore he, of his own free consent, resigned Scotland, its people, and their homage, to his liege-lord Edward, 2d July 1296.

The king of England pursued his conquests, the barons everywhere crowding in to swear fealty to him, and renounce their allegiance with France. His journey ended at Elgin, from whence he returned southward; and, as an evidence of his having made an absolute conquest of Scotland, he carried off from Scone the wooden chair in which the kings were wont to be crowned. This chair had for its bottom the fatal stone regarded as the national palladium (v). Some of the charters

(d) "This stone is thus described by W. Hemingford, T. i. p. 37. "Apud monasterium de Scone positis erat lapis pergrandis in ecclesia Dei, juxta magnum altare, concavus quidem ad modum rotunde cathedrae confectus, in quo futuri reges loco quafi coronationis ponebantur ex more. Reges itaque novo in lapide positio, misfaram solemnia incepta peraguntur, et praeterquam in elevatione sacri domini corporis, semper lapidatus, manfit." And again, T. i. p. 108. "In redeundo per Scone, praecepit tolli et Londonis cariar, lapidem illum, in quo, ut supra dictum est, Reges Scotorum solebant ponere loco coronationis fuere, et hoc in signum regni conquesti et resignati." Wallingham mentions the use to which Edward put this stone: "Ad Westmonasterium transtulit illum, jubens inde fieri breviarium cathedralm facerdotum." This account of the fatal stone is here transcribed, that it may be compared with the appearance of the stone that now bears its name at Westminster.

Fordun has preserved the ancient rhymes concerning it; L. xi. c. 25.

"Hic rex fic totam Scotiam fecit fibi notam, Qui sine mensura tulit inde jocalia plura, Et pariter lapidem, Scotorum quem fore fedem Regum decrevit fatum; quod fic inolevit, Ni fallat fatum, Scotti quoquunque locatum Inveniant lapidem, regnare tenentur ibidem." charters belonging to the abbey were carried off, and the seals torn from others: "which," says Lord Hailes, "is the only well-vouched example which I have found of any outrage on private property committed by Edward's army." It is mentioned in a charter of Robert I. and we may be assured that the outrage was not diminished in the relation."

On the 28th of August 1296, Edward held a parliament at Berwick, where he received the fealty of the clergy and laity of Scotland. It is said, that while the English monarch was employed in the conquest of Scotland, he had promised the sovereignty to Robert Bruce, lord of Annandale, in order to secure his fidelity; but being put in mind of his promise, he answered, "Have I no other business but to conquer kingdoms for you?" Bruce slyly retired, and passed his days in obscurity. Among those who professed their allegiance at this parliament was Robert Bruce the younger, earl of Carrick. After this, Edward took the most effectual methods of securing his new conquest. He ordered the estates of the clergy to be restored; and having received the fealty of the widows of many of the Scottish barons, he put them in possession of their jointure-lands, and even made a decent provision for the wives of many of his prisoners. Yet, though in every thing he behaved with great moderation towards the Scots, he committed the government of certain districts, and of the chief castles in the south of Scotland, to his English subjects, of whose fidelity and vigilance he thought himself assured. In order to conciliate the affections of the clergy, he granted to the Scottish bishops, for ever, the privilege of bequeathing their effects by will, in the same manner as that privilege was enjoyed by the archbishops and bishops of England. In honour of the "glorious Confessor St Cuthbert," he gave to the monks of Durham an annual pension of 40 pounds, payable out of the revenues of Scotland, by the tenure of maintaining, before the shrine of the saint, two wax-tapers of 20 pounds weight each, and of distributing twice a year one penny each to 3000 indigent persons. At last, having settled everything, as he thought, in tranquillity, he departed for England, with all the pride of a conqueror.

The tranquillity established by Edward, however, was of short duration. The government of Scotland at that time required many qualities which Edward's vicegerents had not. Warenne, earl of Surry, who had been appointed governor, took up his abode in England, on pretence of recovering his health. Crellingham, the treasurer, was a voluptuous, proud, and selfish ecclesiastic; while Ormby the justiciary was hated for his severity. Under these officers the administration of Edward became more and more feeble; bands of robbers infested the highways, and the English government was universally despised. At this critical moment arose Sir William Wallace, the hero so much celebrated in Scottish fables, and by which indeed his real exploits are so much obscured, that it is difficult to give an authentic relation of them. The most probable account is, that he was the younger son of a gentleman (Wallace of Ellerlie) in the neighbourhood of Paisley. Having been outlawed for some offence (generally supposed to have been the killing of an Englishman), he associated with a few companions, of fortunes equally desperate with his own. Wallace himself was endowed with great strength and courage, and an active and ambitious spirit; and by his affability, eloquence, and wisdom, he maintained an authority over the rude and undisciplined multitudes who flocked to his standard. In May 1297, he began to infest the English quarters; and being successful in his predatory incursions, his party became more numerous, and he was joined by Sir William Douglas. With their united forces, these two allies attempted to surprise Ormby the justiciary, while he held his courts at Scone; but he saved himself by a precipitate flight. After this the Scots roved over the whole country, assaulted castles, and massacred the English. Their party was joined by many persons of rank; among whom were Robert Wishart bishop of Glasgow, the Steward of Scotland and his brother Alexander de Lindsay, Sir Richard Lundin, and Sir Andrew Moray of Bothwell. Young Bruce would have been a vast accession to the party; for he possessed all Carrick and Annandale, so that his territories reached from the frith of Clyde to Solway. But the wardens of the western marches of England suspected his fidelity, and summoned him to Carlisle. He obeyed, and made oath on the consecrated host, and on the sword of Becket, to be faithful and vigilant in the cause of Edward; and to prove his sincerity, he invaded with fire and sword the estate of Sir William Douglas, and carried off his wife and children. However, he instantly repented of what he had done: "I trust," (said he), "that the pope will absolve me from an extorted oath;" on which he abandoned Edward, and joined the Scottish army.

All this time Edward was in France, not in the least suspecting an insurrection among people whom he imagined he had thoroughly subdued. As soon as he received the intelligence, he ordered the earl of Surry to suppress the rebels; but he declining the command of the army himself on account of his health, resigned it to his nephew, Lord Henry Percy. A great army, of some say no fewer than 40,000 men, was now assembled, of the which Percy marched against the Scots. He Scots found them encamped at Irwin, with a lake in their front, and their flanks secured by entrenchments, so that they could not be attacked without the utmost danger. The Scots, however, ruined everything by their defences. Wallace was envied on account of his accomplishments, which had raised his reputation above the other officers, whose birth and circumstances were higher than his. His companions accordingly became jealous, and began to suggest, that an opposition to the English could only be productive of farther national destruction. Sir Richard Lundin, an officer of great rank, formed a party against Wallace, and went over to Edward with all his followers. He attempted to justify

This was the stone which Gathelus sent from Spain with his son when he invaded Ireland, which king Fergus won in Ireland, brought over with him, and placed at Scone. As the most proper authority for a story of this nature, see Acts of Sir William Wallace, by Blind Harry, B. i, c. 4. his treachery, by laying, "I will remain no longer of a party that is at variance with itself;" without considering that he himself, and his party, were partly the occasion of that variance. Other leaders entered into a negociation with the English. Bruce, the Steward and his brother Alexander de Lindefay, and Sir William Douglas, acknowledged their offences, and made submissions to Edward for themselves and their adherents.

This scandalous treaty seems to have been negociated by the bishop of Glasgow, and their recantation is recorded in the following words.—"Be it known to all men: Whereas we, with the commons of our country, did rise in arms against our lord Edward, and against his peace, in his territories of Scotland and Galloway, did burn, slay, and commit divers robberies; we therefore, in our own name, and in the name of all our adherents, agree to make every reparation and atonement that shall be required by our sovereign lord; referring always what is contained in a writing which we have procured from Sir Henry Percy and Sir Robert Clifford, commanders of the English forces; at Irvine, 9th July 1297." To this instrument was subjoined, "Ecrit a Sire Willaume;" the meaning of which lord Hailes supposes to be, that the barons had notified to Sir William Wallace their having made terms of accommodation for themselves and their party.

Edward accepted the submission of the Scottish barons who had been in arms, and granted liberty to those whom he had made prisoners in the course of the former year, on condition that they should serve him in his wars against France. The inconstancy of Bruce, however, was so great, that acknowledgements of submission or oaths of fealty were not thought sufficiently binding on him; for which reason the bishop of Glasgow, the Steward, and Alexander de Lindefay, became sureties for his loyalty and good behaviour, until he should deliver his daughter Marjory as an hostage.

Wallace alone refused to be concerned in these shameful submissions; and, with a few resolute followers, resolved to submit to every calamity rather than give up the liberty of his country. The barons had undertaken to procure his submission as well as their own; but finding that to be impossible, the bishop of Glasgow and Sir William Douglas voluntarily surrendered themselves prisoners to the English. Edward, however, ascribed this voluntary surrender, not to any honourable motive, but to treachery. He asserted, that Wilheart repaired to the castle of Roxburgh under pretence of yielding himself up, but with the concealed purpose of forming a conspiracy in order to betray that castle to the Scots; and in proof of this, Edward appealed to intercepted letters of Wilheart. On the other hand, Wallace, ascribing the bishop's conduct to traitorous pusillanimity, plundered his house, and carried off his family captives.

Immediately after the defection of the barons at Irvine, Wallace with his band of determined followers attacked the rear of the English army, and plundered their baggage; but was obliged to retire, with the loss of 1000 men. He then found himself deserted by almost all the men of eminence and property. His army, however, increased considerably by the accession of numbers of inferior rank, and he again began to act on the offensive. While he employed himself in besieging the castle of Dundee, he was informed that the English army approached Stirling. Wallace, having charged the citizens of Dundee, under the pain of death, to continue the blockade of the castle, hastened with all his troops to guard the important passage of the Forth; and encamped behind a rising ground in the neighbourhood of the abbey of Cambuskenneth. Brian Fitz-Alan had been appointed governor of Scotland by Edward; but Warenne, who waited the arrival of his successor, remained with the army. Imagining that Wallace might be induced by fair means to lay down his arms, he dispatched two friars to the Scottish camp, with terms of capitulation. "Return," said Wallace, "and tell your masters, that we came not here to treat but to assert our right, and to set Scotland free. Let them advance, they will find us prepared." The English provoked at this answer, demanded impatiently to be led on to battle. Sir Richard Lundin remonstrated against the absurdity of making a numerous army pass by a long narrow bridge in presence of the enemy. He told them, that the Scots would attack them before they could form on the plain to the north of the bridge, and thus certainly defeat them: at the same time he offered to show them a ford, which having crossed with 500 horse, and a chosen detachment of infantry, he proposed to come round upon the rear of the enemy, and by this diversion facilitate the operations of the main body. But this proposal being rejected, the English army began to pass over; which was no sooner perceived by Wallace, than he rushed down upon them, and broke them in a moment. Cressingham the treasurer was killed, and many thousands were slain on the field, or drowned in their flight. The loss of the Scots would have been inconsiderable, had it not been for that of Sir Andrew Moray, the intimate friend and companion of Wallace, who was mortally wounded in the engagement. The Scots are said to have treated the dead body of Cressingham with the utmost indignity; to have flayed him, and cut his skin into pieces, which they divided among themselves; while others tell us, they used it for making girths, and saddles.

The victory at Stirling was followed by the surrender of Dundee castle, and other places of strength in Scotland; at the same time the Scots took possession of Berwick, which the English had evacuated. But as a famine now took place in Scotland by the bad seasons and miseries of war, Wallace marched with his whole army into England, that he might in some measure relieve the necessities of his countrymen by plundering the enemy. This expedition lasted three weeks, during which time the whole tract of country from Cockermouth and Carlisle to the gates of Newcastle was laid waste with all the fury of revenge and rapacity; though Wallace endeavoured, as far as possible, to repel the licentiousness of his soldiers.

In 1298, Wallace assumed the title of "Governor of Scotland, in name of king John, and by consent of the Scottish nation;" but in what manner this office was obtained, is now in a great measure unknown. In a parliament which he convoked at Perth, he was confirmed in his authority; and under this title he conferred the constabulary of Dundee on Alexander surname Skirnigour and his heirs, on account of his faithful aid in bearing the royal standard of Scotland. This grant grant is said to have been made with the consent and approbation of the Scottish nobility, 29th March 1298. From this period, however, we may date the very great jealousy which took place between Wallace and the nobles who pretended to be of his party. His elevation wounded their pride; his great services reproached their inactivity in the public cause; and thus the counsels of Scotland were perplexed with distrust and envy, when almost its very existence depended on unanimity.

In June 1298, Edward, who had all this time been in Flanders, returned to England, and summoned the Scottish barons, under pain of rebellion, to attend him in parliament; and, on their disobeying his summons, he advanced with his army towards Scotland. His main force, commanded by himself, assembled at Berwick; but a body of troops, under the earl of Pembroke, having landed in the north of Fife, were defeated with great loss by Wallace, on the 12th of June. The same month Edward invaded Scotland by the way of the eastern borders. No place resisted him except the castle of Dirleton. After a resolute defence, it surrendered to Anthony Beck, bishop of Durham.

Meanwhile the Scots were assembling all their strength in the interior part of the country. Few barons of eminence repaired to the national standard. They whose names are recorded, were: John Comyn of Badenoch, the younger; Sir John Stewart of Bonkill, brother to the Steward; Sir John Graham of Abercorn; and Macduff, the grand-uncle of the young earl of Fife.—Robert Bruce again acceded to the Scottish party; and with his followers guarded the important castle of Air, which kept the communication open with Galloway, Argyleshire, and the isles.

The aim of Edward was to penetrate into the west, and there to terminate the war. He appointed a fleet, with provisions, to proceed to the firth of Clyde, and await his arrival in those parts. This precaution was absolutely necessary for the subsistence of his numerous army in a country impoverished and waste.

Waiting for accounts of the arrival of his fleet, he established his head-quarters at Templeton, between Edinburgh and Linlithgow.

A dangerous insurrection arose in his camp. He had bestowed a donative of wine among his soldiers; they became intoxicated; a national quarrel ensued.—In this tumult the Welsh flew 18 English ecclesiastics. The English horsemen rode among the Welsh, and revenged this outrage with great slaughter. The Welsh in disgust separated themselves from the army. It was reported to Edward, that they had mutinied, and gone over to the Scots: "I care not," said Edward, dissembling the danger; "let my enemies go and join my enemies; I trust that in one day I shall chastise them all."

Edward was now placed in most critical circumstances. As the fleet with provisions had been detained by contrary winds, he could not venture to advance, neither could he subside any longer in his present quarters. To retreat would have nullified the glory of his arms, and exposed him to the obloquy and murmurs of a discontented people. Yet he submitted to this hard necessity. Abandoning every prospect of ambition and revenge, he commanded his army to return to the eastern borders. At that moment intelligence arrived that the Scots were advanced to Falkirk.

Edward instantly marched against them. His army lay that night in the fields. While Edward slept on the ground, his war-horse struck him and broke two of his ribs. The alarm arose, that the king was wounded. They who knew not the cause, repeated the cry, "The king is wounded; there is treason in the camp; the enemy is upon us." Edward mounted on horseback, and by his presence dispelled the panic. With a fortitude of spirit superior to pain, he led on his troops. At the break of day, the Scottish army was decimated, forming on a stony field at the side of a small eminence in the neighbourhood of Falkirk.

Wallace ranged his infantry in four bodies of a circular form. The archers, commanded by Sir John Stewart, were placed in the intervals. The horde, amounting to no more than a thousand, were at some distance in the rear. On the front of the Scots lay a morass. Having drawn up his troops in this order, Wallace pleasantly said, "Now I have brought you to the ring, dance according to your skill."

Edward placed his chief confidence in the numerous and formidable body of horsemen whom he had selected for the Scottish expedition. These he ranged in three lines. The first was led by Bigot Earl Marshal, and the Earls of Hereford and Lincoln; the second by the bishop of Durham, having under him Sir Ralph Basset of Drayton; the third, intended for a reserve, was led by the king himself. No mention is made of the disposition of his infantry: it is probable that they were drawn up behind, to support the cavalry, and to annoy the Scots with their arrows and other missile weapons.

Bigot, at the head of the first line, rushed on to the charge. He was checked by the morass, which in his impetuosity he had overlooked. This obliged him to incline to the solid ground on his left, towards the right flank of the Scottish army. The bishop of Durham, who led the second line, inclined to the right, turned the morass, and advanced towards the left flank of the Scottish army. He proposed to halt till the reserve should advance. "To arms, bishop," cried Basset, and instantly charged. The shock of the English cavalry on each side was violent, and gallantly withstood by the Scottish infantry; but the Scottish cavalry, dismayed at the number and force of the English men-at-arms, immediately quitted the field. Stewart, while giving orders to his archers, was thrown from his horse and slain. His archers crowded round his body and perished with him. Often did the English strive to force the Scottish circle. "They could not penetrate into that wood of spears," as one of their historians speaks. By repeated charges, the outmost ranks were brought to the ground. The English infantry incessantly galled the Scots with showers of stones and arrows. Macduff and Sir John Graham fell. At length the Scots were broken by the numbers and weight of the English cavalry, and the rout became universal.

The number of the Scots slain in this battle must have been very great. As is commonly the case, it is exaggerated by the historians of the victors, and reduced too low by the historians of the vanquished.

On the side of the English the loss was inconsiderable. The only persons of note who fell were Brian le Jay, master of the English Templars, and the prior of Torphichen. phichen in Scotland, a knight of another order of religious soldiery (e).

The Scots in their retreat burnt the town and castle of Stirling. Edward repaired the castle, and made it a place of arms. He then marched to the west. At his approach, Bruce burnt the castle of Ayr, and retired. Edward would have pursued him into Carrick; but the want of provisions stopped his further progress. He turned into Annandale, took Bruce's castle of Lochmaben, and then departed out of Scotland by the western borders.

Here may be remarked the fatal precipitancy of the Scots. If they had studied to protract the campaign, instead of hazarding a general action at Falkirk, they would have foiled the whole power of Edward, and reduced him to the necessity of an inglorious retreat.

In 1299 Edward thought proper to release John Baliol the unfortunate king of Scotland, whom he had kept close prisoner ever since the year 1296. Before this time Baliol had used the most disgraceful methods to recover his liberty. He had solemnly declared, that "he would never have any intercourse with the Scots; that he had found them a false and treacherous people; and that he had reason to suspect them of an intention to poison him." However, notwithstanding all his protestations, Edward still detained him in captivity; but at last released him at the mediation of the pope, though after a singular form: He ordered the governor of Dover to convey him to the French coast, and there Scotland, to deliver him to the papal nuncio, "with full power to the pope to dispose of Baliol and his English estate."

In consequence of which he was conveyed to Witland, delivered to the nuncio in presence of a notary and witnesses, and a receipt taken for his person. Notwithstanding this abject state, however, the Scots continued to own him for their king, and to assert their national independency. That the misfortune at Falkirk had deprived them of a very considerable extent of territory, they were still in possession of the whole country beyond the Forth, as well as the county of Galloway. By general consent William Lamberton bishop of St Andrew's, Robert Bruce earl of Carrick, and John Cummin the younger, were chosen guardians of Scotland in name of Baliol. Wallace at this time was reduced to the condition of a private man; nor had he any longer the command of the Scots armies, nor any share in their councils.—The new guardians undertook to reduce the castle of Stirling, and Edward prepared to defend it.

The Scots posted themselves at the Torwood, and chose Edward their ground judiciously, so that Edward could scarcely oblige to have raised the siege without dislodging them; which finding it impossible for him to do, he returned home in disgust. Next year he invaded Scotland on the west side, wasted Annandale, and reduced Galloway; but the Scots being now taught by experience to avoid a general action, chose their posts with such skill, that Edward

(e) "This account of the action at Falkirk, extracted from Lord Hailes's Annals, is drawn, his Lordship informs us, from the testimony of the English historians. They have done justice (he observes) to the courage and steadfastness of their enemies; while our historians represented their own countrymen as occupied in frivolous unmeaning contests, and, from treachery or resentment, abandoning the public cause in the day of trial.

"It would be tedious and unprofitable to recite all that has been said on this subject by our own writers from Fordun to Abercrombie. How Wallace, Stewart, and Comyn, quarrelled on the punctilio of leading the van of an army which stood on the defensive: How Stewart compared Wallace to 'an owl with borrowed feathers': How the Scottish commanders, busied in this frivolous altercation, had no leisure to form their army: How Comyn traiterously withdrew with 10,000 men: How Wallace, from resentment, followed his example: How by such dilatory incidents, the Scottish army was enfeebled, and Stewart and his party abandoned to destruction. Our histories abound in truth of this kind: There is scarcely one of our writers who has not produced an invective against Comyn, or an apology for Wallace, or a lamentation over the deserted Stewart. What dissensions may have prevailed among the Scottish commanders, it is impossible to know. It appears not to me that their dissensions had any influence on their conduct in the day of battle. The truth seems to be this: The English cavalry greatly exceeded the Scottish in numbers, were infinitely better equipped and more adroit: the Scottish cavalry were intimidated, and fled. Had they remained on the field, they might have preserved their honour; but they never could have turned the chance of that day. It was natural, however, for such of the infantry as survived the engagement, to impute their disaster to the defection of the cavalry. National pride would ascribe their flight to treachery rather than to pusillanimity. It is not improbable that Comyn commanded the cavalry: hence a report may have been spread, that Comyn betrayed his country; this report has been embellished by each successive relator. When men are seized with a panic, their commander must from necessity, or will from prudence, accompany them in their flight. Earl Warrenne fled with his army from Stirling to Berwick; yet Edward I. did not punish him as a traitor or a coward.

"The tale of Comyn's treachery, and Wallace's ill-timed resentment, may have gained credit, because it is a pretty tale, and not improbable in itself: but it amazes me that the story of the congress of Bruce and Wallace after the battle of Falkirk should have gained credit. I lay aside the full evidence which we now possess, 'that Bruce was not, at that time, of the English party, nor present at the battle.' For it must be admitted, that our historians knew nothing of those circumstances which demonstrate the impossibility of the congress. But the wonder is, that men of sound judgment should not have seen the absurdity of a long conversation between the commander of a flying army, and one of the leaders of a victorious army. When Fordun told the story, he placed a 'narrow but inaccessible glen' between the speakers. Later historians have substituted the river Carron in the place of the inaccessible glen, and they make Bruce and Wallace talk across the river like two young declaimers from the pulpits in a school of rhetoric." This year a new competitor appeared for the crown of Scotland. Boniface VIII., in a bull directed to Edward, averred, that Scotland belonged anciently, and did still belong, to the holy see; and supported his extravagant claim by some strange authorities; such as, that Scotland had been miraculously converted by the relics of St Andrew: after which he proceeded to show the futility of Edward's pretensions, and that Scotland never had any feudal dependence on England. He required Edward to set at liberty all the Scottish ecclesiastics, particularly Wifheart bishop of Glasgow, and to remove his officers from the patrimony of the church: "But (added he) should you have any pretensions to the whole, or any part of Scotland, send your proctors to me within six months; I will hear and determine according to justice; I take the cause under my own peculiar cognizance."

This interposition of the pope had probably been procured by Scottish emissaries at the court of Rome; but, however ridiculous his pretensions might be, they afforded matter of very serious consideration to Edward.

After spending a whole winter in deliberations, Edward and his parliament made separate answers to the pope. The answer of the parliament was to the following purpose: All England knows, that ever since the first establishment of this kingdom, our kings have been liege-lords of Scotland. At no time has the kingdom of Scotland belonged to the church. In temporals, the kings of England are not amenable to the see of Rome. We have with one voice resolved, that, as to temporals, the king of England is independent of Rome; that he shall not suffer his independency to be questioned; and therefore, that he shall not send commissioners to Rome. Such is, and such, we trust in God, ever will be, our opinion. We do not, we cannot, we must not, permit our king to follow measures subversive of that government which we have sworn to maintain, and which we will maintain."

The king entered into a more full refutation of the pope's arguments; and having, as he thought, answered them sufficiently, he marched again into Scotland; but, by the mediation of France, another truce was concluded, to last till St Andrew's day 1302.

After the expiration of the truce, Edward sent an army into Scotland, under the command of John de Segrave. This general divided his troops into three bodies; but, keeping them so far distant that they could not support each other, they were all engaged and defeated in one day by the Scots, near Rofflin (see Rosslyn). This, however, was the last successful exploit of the Scots at this period. The pope deserted them; and the king of France concluded a peace with England, in which all mention of the Scots was industriously avoided; so that they were left alone to bear the whole weight of Edward's resentment, who now invaded their country in person with a mighty army. He met with no resistance in his progress, except from the castle of Brechin, which was commanded by Thomas Maul, a brave and experienced officer. He held out for 20 days against the whole power of the English army; but at last, being mortally wounded, the place capitulated.

From thence he proceeded northward, according to some historians, as far as Caithness. He then returned towards the south, and wintered in Dunfermline. In that place there was an abbey of the Benedictine order; a building so spacious, that, according to an English historian, three sovereign princes with all their retinue might have been lodged conveniently within its precincts. Here the Scottish nobles sometimes held their assemblies. The English soldiers utterly demolished this magnificent fabric.

The only fortress that remained in the possession of the Scots was the castle of Stirling, where Sir William Oliphant commanded. To protect this single place of refuge, Comyn assembled all his forces. He posted his army on the south bank of the river, in the neighbourhood of Stirling, there to make the last stand for the national liberty. The Scots fondly imagined, that Edward would attempt to force the passage, as the impetuous Cressingham had attempted in circumstances not dissimilar. But the prudence of Edward frustrated their expectations. Having discovered a ford at some distance, he crossed the river at the head of his whole cavalry. The Scots gave way, and dispersed themselves.

All resources but their own courage had long failed them; that last resource failed them now, and they hastened to conciliate the favour of the conqueror. Previous to this, Bruce had surrendered himself to John de St John, the English warden. Comyn and his followers now submitted to Edward. They stipulated for their lives, liberties, and estates; referring always to Edward the power of inflicting pecuniary mulcts on them as he should see fit.

From the general conditions of this capitulation, the following persons were excepted: Wifheart bishop of Glasgow, the Steward, Sir John Soulis, David de Graham, Alexander de Lindefay, Simon Frazer, Thomas Bois, and Wallace. With respect to them, it was provided, that the bishop of Glasgow, the Steward, and Soulis, should remain in exile for two years, and should not pass to the north of Trent; that Graham and Lindefay should be banished from Scotland for six months; that Frazer and Bois should be banished for three years from all the dominions of Edward, and should not be permitted, during that space, to repair to the territories of France. "As for William Wallace, it is agreed, that he shall render himself up at the will and mercy of our sovereign lord the king, if it shall seem good to him." These were all the conditions that the Scottish nation stipulated for the man who had vanquished the English at Stirling, who had expelled them from Scotland, and who had once set his country free!

Amid this wreck of the national liberties, Wallace scorned submission. He lived a free man: a free man he resolved to die. Frazer, who had too oft complied with the times, now caught the same heroic sentiments. But their endeavours to rouse their countrymen were in vain. The season of resistance was past. Wallace perceived that there remained no more hope; and sought out a place of concealment, where, eluding the vengeance of Edward, he might silently lament over his fallen country.

Edward assembled at St Andrew's what is called a parliament. Scotland. Wallace, Fraser, and the garrison of Stirling, were summoned to appear: They appeared not, and sentence of outlawry was pronounced against them.

Edward now prepared to besiege the castle of Stirling; and, foreseeing that the reduction of this place would be attended with considerable difficulty, he stripped the abbey of St Andrew's of the lead which covered it, in order to employ the metal in bullets for his battering machines. Oliphant was solemnly summoned to surrender; but in vain. Edward drew out all his artillery, and battered the walls with stones of 200 pounds weight. The besieged, however, defended themselves with obstinacy, and killed a great number of the English: but at last they were obliged to surrender: and Edward, looking upon the conquest of Scotland as now complete, set out for York, and from thence to Lincoln.

Though Edward had thus met with all the success he could fire in his expeditions against the Scots, he could not but perceive that his dominion over them must be very precarious, as long as he held them in the subjection of a conquered people. He resolved therefore once more to renew his attempts for an union of the two kingdoms. He began with taking into favour the bishop of Glasgow, Robert Bruce, and John Mowbray, who, next to Bruce and the Cumings, was amongst the greatest of the Scottish nobility. To them he recommended the settling the affairs of their country, but in such a manner as to leave it in his power to effect the proposed union with England. This scheme, however, was by no means agreeable to Bruce; who had now no other competitor for the crown but Cuming, who was in a great measure incapable of opposing his designs: neither indeed could it ever be made agreeable to the bulk of the nation; and therefore came to nothing at last. Scotland, however, was subdued. Its inhabitants had renounced every idea of afflicting their liberty, and only strove to make their court to the conqueror. Wallace alone remained an exception. Edward, who had received into favour those who had proved traitors over and over again, showed a mean revenge against the only man who discovered a steady and honourable spirit, and whose friendship seemed worth the courting. Ralph de Haliburton, a prisoner, offered his assistance for discovering Wallace; and for this purpose he was granted a temporary liberty: but what he did in this very dishonourable employment is unknown. Certain it is that Wallace was discovered, and betrayed into the hands of the English, by Sir John Menteith, as is commonly supposed; who is also said to have been the intimate friend of Wallace, though without any just foundation. Be this as it will, however, this celebrated and heroic patriot was arraigned at Westminster as a traitor to Edward, and as having burnt villages, stormed castles, and slaughtered many subjects of England. Wallace denied his ever having been a traitor, and indeed with truth; for he had always been the avowed enemy of Edward, and had not at any time owned allegiance to him. But whatever his defences might have been, they were of no avail with a judge who had resolved on his destruction. Wallace was condemned to die a traitor's death, and the sentence was executed with the utmost rigour! In his last moments he asserted that independency which a degenerate nation had renounced. His head was placed on a pinnacle at London, and his mangled limbs were distributed over the kingdom.

After the death of Wallace, Edward thought of nothing but settling the affairs of Scotland as a conquered country; however, he took care to preserve the ancient forms as far as was consistent with the dependent state of the nation. It has been said, indeed, that Edward abrogated all the Scottish laws and customs, and endeavoured to substitute the English in their stead; but this is denied by others. Lord Hailes gives us at length the record with respect to these laws, in the following words. "And, with respect to the laws and usages of the government of Scotland, it is ordained, that the custom of the Scots and the Brets shall for the future be prohibited, and be no longer practised. It is also ordained, that the king's lieutenant shall forthwith assemble the good people of Scotland: and that, at such assembly, shall be read over the statutes made by David king of Scots, and also the additions and amendments which have been made by other kings; and that the lieutenant, with the assentance which he shall then have, as well of Englishmen as of Scots, shall amend such of these statutes and usages as are plainly against the laws of God and reason, as they best may in so short a space, and in so far as they can without consulting the king; and as to matters which they cannot undertake to correct of themselves, that they be put in writing, and laid before the king by the lieutenant, and any number of commissioners, with parliamentary powers, whom the Scots shall think fit to choose. That they shall meet with commissioners appointed by the king, and finally determine as to the premises."

This is the record by which it is generally supposed that the law of Scotland was abrogated. But Lord Hailes is of opinion, that the usage of the Scots and Brets did not here mentioned was something different from the common law of the land. "We know (says he), from our statute-book, that the people of Galloway had certain usages peculiar to themselves; Stat. Alex. II. c. 2. One was, that causes were tried among them without juries [Quon. Attch. c. 72, 73, placed in four ancient MSS. among LL. David I. c. 15.], and this may probably have been the usage which Edward abolished. The people of Galloway were sometimes distinguished by the name of Scots: thus the wild Scot of Galloway is an expression to be found in ancient instruments, and is proverbial even in our own days. The usage of the Brets, to be what relates to the judge called britibb, or brebon; in Ireland, breban; and consequently, that the thing here abolished was the commutation of punishments by exacting a pecuniary mulct."

An indemnity was now granted to the Scots upon certain conditions. Various fines were imposed, from one to five years rent of the estates of the delinquents. One year's rent was to be paid by the clergy, excluding the bishop of Glasgow; two by those who were more early in their submissions than Comyn; three by Comyn and his associates, and by the bishop of Glasgow; four years rent was to be paid by William de Baliol and John Wifheart; and five by Ingelram de Umfraville, because they had stood out longer. Three years rent was also paid by the vassals of Baliol, Wifheart, and Umfraville. These fines were to be paid in moieties. The person taxed was to pay half his income annually; and thus Umfraville, taxed in five years rent, was allowed... Scotland owed ten years to discharge the fine. This was an express reservation to Edward of all the royal demesnes which Baliol might have alienated. There was also an exception for those who were already in custody, and those who had not yet submitted.

Thus, after a long and obstinate contest, was Scotland wholly reduced under the dominion of Edward. — Within four months that system was overthrown, which the incessant labour of fifteen years had established by craft, dissimulation, and violence, with a waste of treasure, and the effusion of much blood. The causes of this event are related as follows. Derverguill of Galloway had a son, John Baliol, and a daughter named Marjory. John Comyn was the son of Marjory, and, setting Baliol aside, was heir to the pretensions of Derverguill. He had for many years maintained the contest against Edward; but at last laid down his arms, and swore fealty to the conqueror; and as Baliol had repeatedly renounced all pretensions to the crown of Scotland, Comyn might now be considered as the rightful heir. His rival in power and pretensions was Bruce earl of Carrick. This young nobleman's grandfather, the competitor, had patiently acquiesced in the award of Edward. His father, yielding to the times, had served under the English banners. But young Bruce had more ambition, and a more restless spirit. In his earlier years he acted upon no regular plan. By turns the partisan of Edward and the vicegerent of Baliol, he seems to have forgotten or stifled his pretensions to the crown. But his character developed itself by degrees, and in maturer age became firm and confident. According to the traditionary report, Bruce made the following proposal to Comyn: "Support my title to the crown, and I will give you my estate; or give me your estate, and I will support yours." The conditions were properly drawn out and signed by both parties; but Comyn, either through fear or treachery, revealed the whole to Edward. On this the king showed Bruce the letters of his accuser, and questioned him very hard; but the latter found means to pacify him by mild and judicious answers. Notwithstanding this, however, Edward still suspected him, though he dissembled his sentiments, until he should get the brothers of Bruce into his power, and then destroy all the family at once. The king having drank freely one evening, informed some of his lords that he had resolved to put Bruce to death next day. The earl of Gloucester, hearing this resolution, sent a messenger to Bruce, with twelve pence and a pair of spurs, as if he had meant to restore what he had borrowed. Bruce understood the meaning of his message, and prepared for flight. The ground was covered with snow, which would have discovered his flight; but, it is said, that Bruce ordered his farther to invert the shoes of his horses, and immediately set out for Scotland in company with his secretary and groom. In his way he observed a foot-passenger whose behaviour seemed to be suspicious, and whom he soon discovered to be the bearer of letters from Comyn to the English monarch, urging the death or immediate imprisonment of Bruce. The latter, filled with resentment, immediately behelded the messenger, and set forward to his castle of Lochmaben, where he arrived the seventh day after his departure from London. Soon after this he repaired to Dumfries, where Comyn happened at that time to reside. Bruce requested an interview with him in the convent of the Minorites, where he reproached him with his treachery. Comyn gave him the lie, and Bruce instantly stabbed him; after which he hastened out of the convent, and called "To horse." His attendants, Lincesay and Kirkpatrick, perceiving him pale, and in extreme agitation, inquired how it was with him? "Ill" (replied Bruce); I doubt I have slain Comyn." "You doubt!" cried Kirkpatrick; on saying which, he rushed into the place where Comyn lay, and instantly dispatched him. Sir Robert Comyn, a relation, attempted to defend his kinsman, and shared his fate. Bruce had now gone so far, that it was in vain to think of retracting; and therefore set himself in opposition to Edward in good earnest. The justiciaries were then holding their court at Dumfries; who hearing what had happened, imagined their own lives to be in danger, and barricaded the doors. Bruce ordered the house to be set on fire: upon which they surrendered; and Bruce granted them leave to depart out of Scotland without molestation.

The above account of this catastrophe is taken from Opinion of the Scots historians; those of England differ in many particulars. Lord Hailes supposes both to be wrong, and that the true circumstances of the quarrel are unknown. "My opinion (says he) is, that Bruce, when he met Comyn at Dumfries, had no intention of embroiling his hands in his blood, nor any immediate purpose of afflicting his right to the crown of Scotland; that the slaughter of Comyn was occasioned by a hasty quarrel between two proud-spirited rivals; and that Bruce, from necessity and despair, did then assert his pretensions to the crown."

The death of Comyn affected the Scots variously, according to their different views and interests. The relations of the deceased viewed it as a cruel assassination, and joined with Edward in schemes of revenge. Some who wished well to the peace of their country, thought that it was better to submit quietly to the government of the English, than to attempt a revolution, which could not be effected without much danger and bloodshed; but, on the other hand, the friends of Bruce now saw the necessity they were under of proceeding to the coronation of the new king without loss of time. The ceremony was therefore performed at Scone on the 25th of March 1306, in presence of two earls, the bishops of St Andrew's and Glasgow, the abbot of Scone, John de Athol, and John de Menteith. It had been customary, since the days of Macbeth, for one of the family of Fife to put the crown on the king's head; and Bruce found the prepossession of the Scots in favour of this circumstance so strong, that he was obliged to seek for an expedient to satisfy them. Macduff the earl of Fife was at that time in England, where he had married a near relation of Edward. His sister was wife to the earl of Buchan, one of the heads of the family of Comyn, and consequently the determined enemy of Robert. By an uncommon effort of female patriotism, she postponed all private quarrels to the good of her country, and in her husband's absence repaired, with all his warlike accoutrements, to Bruce, to whom she delivered them up, and placed the crown upon his head. This crown is said to have been made by one Conyers an Englishman, who narrowly escaped being punished for it by Edward.

The king of England received intelligence of all these proceedings with astonishment; and without delay sent a body of troops under the command of Aymer de Valence earl of Pembroke, to suppress the rebellion. Bruce omitted nothing for his defence. He had always been considered by his countrymen as a promising accomplished young nobleman, but firmly attached to Edward's person and government; for which reason he had not been trusted by those independent patriots who joined Wallace. But their confidence was now gained by his rendering himself so obnoxious to Edward, that no possibility of a reconciliation was left; and he soon saw himself at the head of a small army. With these, who consisted of raw and unexperienced soldiers, Bruce formed a camp at Methven near Perth, which last was the head-quarters of the enemy; but knowing the disadvantage under which he laboured from the inexperience of his men, he resolved to act upon the defensive. The English general at last sent Bruce a challenge to fight him, which was accepted; but the day before the battle was to have been fought by agreement, the Scots were attacked by surprise, and totally defeated. Bruce behaved with the greatest valour, and had three horses killed under him. Being known by the slaughter which he made, John Mowbray, a man of great courage and resolution, rushed upon him, and catching hold of his horse's bridle, cried out, "I have hold of the new-made king!" but he was delivered by Christopher Seton. Some Scottish historians have asserted, that on this occasion all the prisoners of note were put to death; but others inform us, that though Edward did send orders to that purpose, the English general pardoned all those who were willing to swear fealty to his master; however, it is certain, that after the battle of Methven, many prisoners were hanged and quartered.

This disaster almost gave the finishing stroke to the affairs of Bruce. He now found himself deserted by a great part of his army. The English had taken prisoners great numbers of women whose husbands followed Bruce; and all those were now ordered, on pain of death, to accompany their husbands. Thus was Bruce burdened with a number of useless mouths, and found it hard to subsist. The consequence was, that most of his men departed with their families, so that in a few days his army dwindled down to 500. With these he retreated to Aberdeen, where he was met by his brother Sir Neil, his wife, and a number of other ladies, all of whom offered to follow his fortune through every difficulty. But, however heroic this behaviour might be, it put Bruce to some inconvenience, as he could scarce procure subsistence; and therefore he persuaded the ladies to retire to his castle of Kildrommy, under the protection of Sir Neil Bruce and the Earl of Athol. In the mean time the defection among Bruce's troops continued, so that now he had with him no more than 200 men; and as winter was coming on, he resolved to go into Argylshire, where Sir Neil Campbell's estate lay, who had gone before to prepare for his reception. In his way thither he encountered incredible difficulties; and some of his followers being cut off at a place called Dalry, the rest were so disheartened, that they all forsook him, excepting Sir Gilbert Hay, Sir James (sometimes called Lord) Douglas, and a few domestics. Bruce, however, kept up the spirits of his little party by recounting to them the adventures of princes and patriots in circumstances similar to his own. Having crossed Lochlomond in a small crazy boat, he was discovered by his trusty friend the Earl of Lenox, who had been proscribed in England, and now lived in a kind of exile on his own estate. The meeting between these friends was very affecting, and drew tears from the eyes of all present. Lenox, who had heard nothing of Bruce's misfortunes, furnished him and his half-famished attendants with plenty of provisions: but being soon made sensible that it was impossible for them to live in a place where they were well known, and surrounded by enemies, Bruce resolved to seek out some more safe habitation. For this purpose Sir Neil Campbell had already provided shipping; but our adventurers had scarcely set sail, when they were pursued by a large squadron of the enemy's fleet. The bark which carried the earl of Lenox escaped with the utmost difficulty to Cantire, where Bruce was already landed; and, at their meeting, both agreed that their persons whom he should never afterwards be separated while they remain alive.

In the mean time Edward having compromised some differences with his English subjects, resumed his old project of entirely subduing Scotland; and his intention now appears to have been to divide the lands of such as he suspected of disaffection among his English followers. He ordered a proclamation to be made, that Edward's all who had any title to the honour of knighthood, either by heritage or estate, should repair to Westminster to receive all military ornaments, their horses excepted, from his royal wardrobe. As the prince of Wales came under this denomination, he was the first who underwent the ceremony; which gave him a right to confer the like honour on the sons of above 300 of the chief nobility and gentry of England. The prince then repaired, at the head of this gallant train, to Edward; who received them, surrounded by his nobility, in the most solemn manner. The king then made a speech on the treachery of the Scots, whose entire destruction he vowed. He declared his resolution of once more heading his army in person; and he desired, in case of his death, that his body might be carried to Scotland, and not buried till signal vengeance was taken on the perfidious nation. Having then ordered all present to join him within fifteen days, with their attendants and military equipages, he prepared for his journey into Scotland. He entered the country soon after Bruce's defeat at Methven. The army was divided into two bodies; one commanded by the king himself, the other by the prince of Wales, and, under him, by the earls of Lancaster and Hereford, with orders to proceed northwards, and penetrate into the countries where the interest of Bruce was strongest. As he passed along, Edward caused all that fell into his hands, whom he suspected of favouring Bruce's party, to be immediately executed. The bishop of Glasgow was the only exception to this barbarity; he was taken, but had his life spared on account of his function.

In the mean time, as the prince of Wales continued his march northwards, Bruce's queen began to be alarmed for her own safety. She was advised to take sanctuary at the shrine of St Duthac in Rossshire; but there she was made prisoner by William earl of Ross, who was of the English party. By Edward's order she Robert's was sent to London; her daughter, who was taken at the same time, being shut up in a religious house. The taken directions. directions for the entertainment of the queen are still preserved. She was to be conveyed to the manor of Brustewick; to have a waiting-woman and a maid-servant, advanced in life, sedate, and of good conversation: a butler, two men-servants, and a foot-boy for her chamber, sober, not riotous, to make her bed; three greyhounds when she inclines to hunt; venison, fish, and the fairest house in the manor. In 1308, she was removed to another prison; in 1312, she was removed to Windsor castle, 20 shillings per week being allowed for her maintenance. In 1314, she was committed to Rochester castle, and was not set at liberty till the close of that year.

The only fortress which Bruce possessed in Scotland was the castle of Kildromney; and it was soon besieged by the earls of Lancaster and Hereford. One Olburn treacherously burnt the magazine; by which means the garrison, destitute of provisions, was obliged to surrender at discretion. The common soldiers were hanged; Sir Neil Bruce and the earl of Athol were sent prisoners to Edward, who caused them to be hanged on a gallows 50 feet high, and then beheaded and burnt. The countess of Buchan, who had crowned King Robert, was taken prisoner; as was Lady Mary Bruce, the king's sister. Some historians say, that Edward ordered these two ladies to be shut up in wooden cages, one to be hung over the walls of the castle of Roxburgh, and the other over those of Berwick, as public spectacles: but Lord Hailes only tells us, that the countess of Buchan was put into close confinement in the castle of Berwick (f).

About this time also many others of Bruce's party were put to death; among whom were Thomas and Alexander Bruce, two of the king's brothers, and John Wallace, brother to the celebrated Sir William. Bruce himself, in the mean time, was in such a despicable situation, that it was thought he never could give more disturbance; and it was even reported that he was dead. All his misfortunes, however, could not intimidate him, or prevent his meditating a most severe revenge upon the destroyers of his family. He first removed to the castle of Dumbarton, where he was hospitably received and entertained by Angus lord of Kintyre; but, suspecting that he was not safe there, he fled in three days to Rachrin, a small island on the Irish coast, where he secured himself effectually from the pursuit of his enemies. It was during his stay in this island, that the report of his death was generally propagated. Notwithstanding this, his party increased considerably; and, even when he landed on this island, he was attended by 300 men. However, after having lived for some time in this retreat, being apprehensive that the report of his death might be generally credited among his friends in Scotland, it was resolved to attempt the surprize of a fort held by the English under Sir John Hastings, on the isle of Arran. This was performed with success by his two friends Douglas and Sir Robert Boyd, who put the greatest part of the garrison to the sword. The king, hearing of Arran of their success, passed over into Arran; but, not knowing where his people resided, is said to have found them out by blowing a horn. He then sent a trusty servant, one Cuthbert, into his own country of Carrick; with orders, in case he found it well affected.

(f) M. Westminster, p. 455, says, "Capitur etiam et illa impissima conjuratrix de Buchan, de qua confultus Rex, ait, Quia gladio non percussit, gladio non peribit; verum, propter illicitam conjurationem quam fecit, in damicilio lapideo et ferreo, in modum coronae fabricato, firmissime obstruatur, et apud Bervicum sub die formicibus suspendatur, ut sit data, in vita et post mortem, spectulum viatoribus, et opprobrium fementem." Other English historians, copying M. Westminster, have said the same thing. We cannot, therefore, blame Abercrombie for saying, "She was put in a wooden cage shaped like a crown, and in that tormenting posture hung out from high walls or turrets to be gazed upon and reproached by the meanness of the multitude?" Vol. I., p. 579. Hemingford, Vol. I., p. 221, relates the story in a manner somewhat different. He says, that the earl of Buchan her husband fought to kill her for her treason; but that Edward restrained him, and ordered her to be confined in a wooden cage.

The intentions of Edward I. touching the duration of the countess of Buchan, will be more certainly learned from his own orders, than from the report of M. Westminster. His orders run thus: "By letters under the privy-seal, be it commanded, that the chamberlain of Scotland, or his deputy at Berwick upon Tweed, do, in one of the turrets of the said castle, and in the place which he shall find most convenient, cause construct a cage strongly latticed with wood (de fuji, i.e. beams of timber or palisades), cross-barred, and secured with iron, in which he shall put the countess of Buchan. And that he take care that she be so well and safely guarded therein, that no one may issue therefrom. And that he appoint one or more women of Berwick, of English extraction, and liable to no suspicion, who shall minister to the said countess in eating and drinking, and in all things else convenient, in her said lodging place. And that he do cause her to be so well and strictly guarded in the cage, that she may not speak with any one, man or woman, of the Scottish nation, or with any one else, saving with the women who shall be appointed to attend her, or with the guard who shall have the custody of her person. And that the cage be so constructed, that the countess may have therein the convenience of a decent chamber (element de chambre courteuse); nevertheless, that all things be so well and surely ordered, that no peril arise touching the right custody of the said countess. And that he to whom the charge of her is committed shall be responsible, body for body; and that he be allowed his charges." Fadera, T. ii., p. 1014.

Such were the orders of Edward I. and he surely was not a man who would suffer his orders to be disobeyed. Here, indeed, there is a detail concerning the custody of a female prisoner, which may seem ridiculously minute, but which is inconsistent with the story related by M. Westminster and other historians. To those who have no notion of any cage but one for a parrot or a squirrel, hung out at a window, we despair of rendering this mandate intelligible. to his cause, to light a fire on a certain point near his castle of Tunberry, whence it could be discerned in Arran. Bruce and his party perceived the signal, as they thought, and immediately put to sea. Their voyage took up but little time; and as Bruce had now 400 men along with him, he resolved immediately to act on the offensive. His first exploit was to surprise his own castle of Tunberry, which had been given, along with Bruce's estate, to lord Henry Percy. Him he drove out, along with the English garrison; but, in the mean time, he met with his servant Cuthbert, who gave him disagreeable intelligence. This man had met with very little encouragement on his landing in Scotland; in consequence of which he had not lighted the fire agreed upon as a signal of his success, that which Bruce had observed having been kindled by accident. He also told him, that the English were in full possession of the country, and advised his master to be upon his guard. Soon after this the king was joined by a lady of fortune, who brought along with her 40 warriors. By her he was first particularly informed of the miserable fate of his family and relations; which, instead of disheartening, animated him the more with a desire of revenge. However, he did not immediately attempt any thing himself, but allowed Douglas to attempt the recovery of his estate of Douglas-dale, as Bruce himself had recovered his in Carrick. In this expedition Douglas was joined by one Thomas Dickson, a man of considerable fortune, and who gave him intelligence concerning the state of the country. By his advice he kept himself private till Palm Sunday; when he and his followers with covered armour repaired to St Bride's church, where the English were performing divine service. The latter were surprised, but made a brave defence; though, being overpowered by numbers, they were at last obliged to yield. Douglas, without farther resistance, took possession of his own castle, which he found well furnished with arms, provisions, and money. He destroyed all that he could not carry with him, and also the castle itself, where he knew that he must have been besieged if he had kept it.

While Bruce and his friends were thus signalizing themselves, and struggling with the English under so many disadvantages, it is natural to think that they must have met with many dangerous and difficult adventures. Many of these, indeed, are related by the Scots historians; but most of them have the appearance of fables, and it is now impossible to distinguish the true from the false; for which reason we shall pass them all over in silence, confining ourselves only to those facts which are at once important and well authenticated.

In 1307, the earl of Pembroke advanced into the west of Scotland to encounter Bruce. The latter did not decline the combat; and Pembroke was defeated. Three days after this, Bruce defeated with great slaughter another English general named Ralph de Monthermer, and obliged him to fly to the castle of Air. The king laid siege to the castle for some time, but retired at the approach of succours from England. This year the English performed nothing, except burning the monastery at Paisley. Edward, however, resolved still to execute his utmost vengeance on the Scots, though he had long been retarded in his operations by a tedious and dangerous indisposition. But now, supposing that his malady was decreased so far that he could safely proceed on his march, he offered up the horse-litter, in which he had hitherto been carried, in the cathedral church of Carlisle; and, mounting himself on horseback, proceeded on the way towards Solway. He was so weak, however, that he could advance no farther than six miles in four days; after which he expired in sight of Scotland, which he had so often devoted to destruction. With his dying breath Death of he gave orders that his body should accompany his army into Scotland, and remain unburied until the country was totally subdued; but his son, disregarding this order, caused it to be deposited in Westminster abbey.

The death of such an inveterate enemy to the Scottish name, could not fail of raising the spirits of Bruce and his party; and the inactive and timid behaviour of his son Edward II. contributed not a little to give them fresh courage. After having granted the guardianship of Scotland to his favourite Piers de Gavelton earl of Pembroke, whom his father had lately banished, he advanced to Cumnock, on the frontiers of Ayrshire, and then retreated into England; conferring the office of guardian of Scotland upon John de Bretagne earl of Richmond, a fortnight after he had bestowed it on Gavelton. He was no sooner gone than Bruce invaded Galloway. The inhabitants refusing to follow his standard, he laid waste the country; but was defeated, feared in and obliged to retire northwards by the guardian. In Galloway, the north he over-ran the country without opposition; and soon began to move southwards again in order to repair his late disgrace. He was encountered by Comyn earl of Buchan with an undisciplined body of English, whom he entirely defeated and dispersed. But about this time he was seized with a grievous distemper, which weakened him to much, that no hopes were left of his recovery. In this enfeebled situation, he was attacked by the earl of Buchan and John Mowbray an English commander, who had assembled a body of the English troops in order to efface their late dishonour. Then in his turn, armies met at Inverury in Aberdeenshire. Bruce was too weak to support himself, and therefore was held dangerous upon horseback by two attendants; but he had the pleasure of seeing his enemies totally defeated, and pursued with great slaughter for many miles; and it is reported, that the agitation of his spirits on that day proved the means of curing him of his distemper. This battle was fought on the 22d of May 1308.

The king of Scotland now took revenge of his enemies, after the manner of that barbarous age, by wasting the country of Buchan with fire and sword. His successes had so raised his character, that many of the Scots who had hitherto adhered to the English cause, now came over to that of Robert. Edward, the king's brother, invaded Galloway, and defeated the inhabitants of that country. John de St John, an English commander, with 1500 horsemen, attempted to surprise Edward him; but Edward having received timely information of his designs, ordered the infantry and meager part of his army to entrench themselves strongly, while he himself, with no more than 50 horsemen, well armed, under cover of a thick mist, attacked his enemies, and put them to flight. After this he reduced all the fortresses in the country, and totally expelled the English from it. About this time also, Douglas, when roving about the mountainous tainous parts of Tweedale, surprized and made prisoners Thomas Randolph the king's nephew, and Alexander Stewart of Bonkhill, who had hitherto continued inimical to the interests of Robert. Randolph was conducted to the king, but talked to him in an haughty strain; upon which his uncle put him into close confinement.

The next exploit of Robert was against the lord of Lorn, a division of Argyleshire. It was this nobleman who had reduced the king to such straits after his defeat at Methven; and he now resolved to take ample revenge. Having entered the country, the king arrived at a narrow pass, where the troops of Lorn lay in ambush. This pass had a high mountain on the one side, and a precipice washed by the sea on the other; but Robert having ordered Douglas to make a circuit and gain the summit of the mountain with part of the army, he entered himself with the rest. He was immediately attacked; but Douglas with his men rushed down the hill, and decided the victory in favour of the king; who soon after took the cattle of Dunstaffnage, the chief residence of this nobleman.

While Robert and his associates were thus gaining the admiration of their countrymen by the exploits which they daily performed, the English were so unsettled and fluctuating in their councils, that their party knew not how to act. Edward still imagined that there was a possibility of reconciling the Scots to his government; and for this purpose he employed William de Lamberton, bishop of St Andrew's, who, after having been taken prisoner, and carried from one place of confinement to another, had at last made such submissions, as procured first his liberty, and then the confidence of Edward. This ecclesiastic having taken a most solemn oath of fidelity to Edward, now resolved to ingratiate himself, by publishing against Robert and his adherents a sentence of excommunication, which had been resolved on long before. This, however, produced no effect; and the event was, that in 1329, through the mediation of the king of France, Edward consented to a truce with the Scots. This pacific disposition, however, lasted not long. The truce was scarcely concluded, when Edward charged the Scots with violating it, and summoned his barons to meet him in arms at Newcastle; yet, probably being doubtful of the event of the war, he empowered Robert de Umfraville, and three others, to conclude a new truce; declaring, however, that he did this at the request of Philip king of France, as his dearest father and friend, but who was in no sort to be considered as the ally of Scotland.

The new negotiations were soon interrupted. They were again renewed; and in the beginning of the year 1310 the truce was concluded, but entirely disregarded by the Scots. The progress of Bruce now became very alarming. The town of Perth, a place at that time of great importance, was threatened; and to relieve it, Edward ordered a fleet to sail up the river Tay; he also commanded the earl of Ulster to assemble a body of troops at Dublin, and from thence to invade Scotland; his own barons were ordered to meet him in arms at Berwick. About the end of September, he entered Scotland; passed from Roxburgh, through the forest of Selkirk, to Biggar; from thence he penetrated into Renfrew; and turning back by the way of Linlithgow, he retreated to Berwick, where he continued inactive for eight months.

During this invasion, Robert had carefully avoided a battle with the English; well knowing, that an invasion undertaken in autumn would ruin the heavy armed cavalry, on which the English placed their chief dependence. His cause was also favoured by a scarcity which prevailed at this time in Scotland; for as magazines and other resources of modern war were then unknown, the English army were greatly retarded in their operations, and found it impossible to subsist in the country.

The spirit of enterprise had now communicated itself to all ranks of people in Scotland. In 1314, the castle of Linlithgow was surprized by a poor peasant, named William Binnock. The English garrison were secure, and kept but a slight guard; of which Binnock being informed, concealed eight resolute men in a load of hay, which he had been employed to drive into the castle. With these, as soon as the gate was opened, he fell upon the feeble guard, and became master of the place; which was dismantled by Robert, as well as all the other castles taken in the course of the war.

Edward now resolved to invade Scotland again; and for this purpose ordered his army to assemble at Roxburgh. But Robert, not contented with defending his own country, resolved in his turn to invade England. He accordingly entered that country, and cruelly ravaged the bishopric of Durham. He returned loaded with spoil, and laid siege to Perth. After remaining six weeks before that place, he raised the siege, but returned in a few days; and having provided scaling ladders, approached the works with a chosen body of infantry. In a dark night he made the attack; and having waded through the ditch though the water flooded to his throat, he was the second man who reached the top of the walls. The town was then soon taken; after which it was plundered and burnt, and the fortifications levelled with the ground. This happened on the 8th of January 1312.

Edward was now become adverse to the war, and renewed his negotiations for a truce; but they still came to nothing. Robert again invaded England; burnt great part of the city of Durham; and even threatened to besiege Berwick, where the king of England had, for the time, fixed his residence. He next reduced with great cattles of Butel, Dumfries, and Dalwinton, with succours, many other fortresses. The castle of Roxburgh, a place of the utmost importance, next fell into his hands. The walls were scaled while the garrison was revelling on the eve of Lent. They retreated into the inner tower; but their governor, a Frenchman, having received a mortal wound, they capitulated.

Randolph, the king's nephew, who had been imprisoned, as we have already observed, was now received into favour, and began to distinguish himself in the cause of his country. He blockaded the castle of Edinburgh so closely, that all communication with the neighbouring country was cut off. The place was burghe commanded by one Leland, a knight of Galfony; but keen by the garrison suspecting his fidelity, imprisoned him in Randolph's dungeon, and chose another commander in his stead. One William Frank presented himself to Randolph, and informed him how the walls might be scaled. This man in his youth had resided in the castle; and having an intrigue with a woman in the neighbourhood, had been accustomed to defend the wall, during the night, by means of a ladder of ropes; whence, by a steep and difficult path, he arrived at the foot of the rock. Randolph himself, with 30 men, undertook to scale the castle walls at midnight. Frank was their guide, who still retained a perfect memory of the path, and who first ascended the wall. But before the whole party could reach the summit, an alarm was given, the garrison ran to arms, and a desperate combat ensued. The English fought valiantly till their commander was killed; after which they threw down their arms. Leland, the former governor, was released from his confinement, and entered into the Scottish service.

In 1313, king Robert found the number of his friends increasing with his successes. He was now joined by the earl of Athol, who had lately obtained a grant of lands from Edward. This year, through the mediation of France, the conferences for a truce were renewed. These, however, did not retard the military operations of the Scots. Cumberland was invaded and laid waste: the miserable inhabitants behooved Edward's protection; who commended their fidelity, and defied them to defend themselves. In the mean time, Robert, leaving Cumberland, passed over into the isle of Man, which he totally reduced. Edward found great difficulties in raising the supplies necessary for carrying on the war; but at last overcame all these, and, by the beginning of the year 1314, was prepared to invade Scotland with a mighty army. In March he ordered his ships to be assembled for the invasion; invited to his assistance Eth O'Connor, chief of the Irish of Connaught, and 26 other Irish chiefs; summoned them and his subjects in Ireland to attend his standard, and gave the command of these auxiliaries to the earl of Ulster. His barons were summoned to meet him at Berwick on the 11th of June; and 22,000 foot-soldiers, from the different counties of England and Wales, were required by proclamation to assemble at Wark.

In the mean time, the successes of the Scots continued. Edward Bruce had reduced the castles of Rutherglen and Dundee, and laid siege to the castle of Stirling. The governor of the place agreed to surrender, if he was not relieved before the 24th of June 1314; and to this Edward agreed, without consulting his brother. The king was highly displeased with this rash treaty, which interrupted his own operations, allowed the English time to assemble their utmost force, and at last obliged him either to raise the siege or to put all on the event of a single battle. However, he resolved to abide by the agreement, and to meet the English by the appointed day. Having appointed a general rendezvous of his forces between Falkirk and Stirling, he found their number to amount to somewhat more than 30,000, besides upwards of 15,000 of an undisciplined rabble that followed the camp. He determined to wait the English in a field which had the brook or burn of Bannock on the right, and Stirling on the left. His chief dread was the strength and number of the English cavalry, and these he took every method to oppose. The banks of the brook were steep in many places, and the ground between it and Stirling was partly covered with wood. The king commanded many pits, of about a foot in breadth and two or three feet deep, to be dug in all places where cavalry could have access. From the description given of them by the historians of those times, there seem to have been many rows of them, with narrow intervals. They were carefully covered with brushwood and sod, so that they would easily be overlooked by a rash and impetuous enemy. It is said by some authors, that he also made use of caltrops, to annoy the horses in the most effectual manner.

On the 23rd of June, the Scots received intelligence of the approach of Edward, and prepared to decide of the fate of their country. The front of their army extended from the brook called Bannockburn to the neighbourhood of St Ninians, pretty nearly upon the line of the present turnpike-road from Stirling to Kilflyth; and the stone in which the king is said to have fixed his standard is still to be seen. Robert commanded all his soldiers to fight on foot. He gave the command of the centre to Douglas, and Walter the young steward of Scotland; his brother Edward had the command of the right wing, and Randolph of the left; the king himself taking charge of the reserve, which consisted of the men of Argyll, Carrick, and the islanders. In a valley to the rear, said to be to the westward of a rising ground now called Gilles-bill, he placed the baggage, and all the useless attendants on his army.

Randolph was commanded to be vigilant in preventing the English from throwing succours into the castle of Stirling; but 800 horsemen, commanded by Sir Robert Clifford, made a circuit by the low grounds to the east, and approached the castle. The king, perceiving their motions, chid Randolph for his inadvertency, on which the latter hastened to encounter that body. As he advanced, the English wheeled to attack him. Randolph drew up his men in a circular form, holding out their spears on every side. At the first onset Sir William Daynecourt, an English commander of distinguished valour, was killed; but Randolph, who had only a small party with him, was surrounded on all sides, and in the utmost danger. Douglas perceived his danger, and requested the king to let him go to his affiance. Robert at first refused, but afterwards consented with reluctance. Douglas set out without delay; but as he approached he saw the English falling into disorder; upon which he called to his men to stop, and not diminish the glory of Randolph and his men by sharing their victory.

Robert was in the front of the line when the van-guard of the English appeared. He was mainly dressed knighted, with a crown above his helmet, and a battle-ax in his hand. Henry de Bohun, an English knight, armed cap-a-pie, rode forward to encounter him. Robert did not decline the combat, and struck his antagonist so violently with his battle-ax, that he is said to have cleft him down to the chin; after which the English vanguard retreated in confusion. The Scottish generals are said to have blamed their king for his rashness in thus encountering Bohun; and he himself, conscious of the justice of their charge, only replied, "I have broke my good battle-ax."

On Monday the 24th of June, the whole English army moved on to the attack. The van, consisting of dics of the archers and lancers, was commanded by Gilbert de Clare earl of Gloucester, nephew to the English king, and Humphry de Bohun constable of England; but the ground was so narrow, that the rest of the army had not sufficient Scotland, sufficient room to expand itself; so that it appeared to the Scots as consisting of one great compact body. The main body was brought up by Edward in person, attended by Aymer de Valence earl of Pembroke, and Sir Giles d'Argentine, two experienced commanders. Maurice abbot of Inchaffray, placing himself on an eminence, celebrated mass in the sight of the Scottish army. He then passed along the front, barefooted, with a crucifix in his hands, and in few words exhorted the Scots to fight for their rights and liberty. The Scots fell down on their knees; which being perceived by Edward, he cried out, "They yield! See, they implore mercy" "They do," answered Umfraville, one of his commanders, "they do implore mercy, but not from us. On that field they will be victorious or die."

As both parties were violently exasperated against each other, the engagement began with great fury. The king of Scotland, perceiving that his troops were grievously annoyed by the English archers, ordered Sir Robert Keith the marischal, with a few armed horsemen, to make a circuit and attack the archers in flank. This was instantly accomplished; and as the weapons of the archers were useless in a close encounter, they could make very little resistance, at the same time that their flight spread disorder through the whole army.

Robert now advanced with the reserve: the whole English army was in the utmost confusion; for the defeat of the archers had decided the victory in favour of the Scots. The young and gallant earl of Gloucester attempted to rally the fugitives, but was thrown from his horse, and cut in pieces, which increased the general confusion. At this critical moment, the numerous attendants on the Scottish camp, prompted by curiosity or the desire of plunder, issued from their retirement. The English mistook them for a body of fresh troops coming to the assistance of their enemies, and fled with precipitation on all sides. Many sought refuge among the rocks in the neighbourhood of Stirling castle, and many were drowned in the rivers. Pembroke and Sir Giles d'Argentine had never quitted Edward during the action; but now, seeing the battle irretrievably lost, Pembroke constrained the king to quit the field. D'Argentine refused to fly. He was a man of great valour, and had a high reputation in Scotland. According to the vulgar opinion, the three most eminent worthies in that age were the emperor Henry of Luxemburg, Robert Bruce, and Giles d'Argentine. He is said to have thrice encountered two Saracen warriors in Palestine, and to have killed them both each time. His valour now availed him but little; for rushing into the midst of the Scots army, he was instantly cut in pieces. Douglas, with 60 horsemen, pursued Edward close. At the Torwood he met Sir Lawrence Abernethy, who was hastening to the English rendezvous with twenty horsemen. The latter soon abandoned the cause of the vanquished, and joined Douglas in the pursuit of Edward, who fled to Linlithgow. He had scarcely arrived there, when he was alarmed by the approach of the Scots, and again obliged to fly. Douglas and Abernethy followed him with such fidelity, that (as Lord Hailes chooses to Latinize the expression of an ancient historian) ne vel mingendi locus concederet; but, notwithstanding their utmost efforts, Edward got safe to Dunbar, where he was received by the earl of March, who protected him till he could be conveyed by sea to England.

Such was the decisive battle of Bannockburn, the greatest defeat the English ever sustained from the Scots. On the side of the latter no persons of note were slain, excepting Sir William Vipont, and Sir Walter Roos the favourite of Edward Bruce; and so grievously was Edward afflicted by the death of this man, that he exclaimed, "O that this day's work were undone, so Roos had not died!" On the English side were slain 27 barons and bannerets, and 22 taken prisoners; of knights lots of the there were killed 42, and 60 taken prisoners; of esquires there fell 700; but the number of the common men who were killed or taken was never known with any certainty. The Welsh who had served in the English army were scattered over the country, and cruelly butchered by the Scottish peasants. The English, who had taken refuge among the rocks in the neighbourhood of Stirling, surrendered at discretion; the cattle was surrendered, and the privy-seal of England fell into the hands of the king of Scots. The spoils of the English camp were immense, and enriched the conquerors, along with the ransom of many noble prisoners who fell into their hands. Robert showed much generosity in his treatment of the prisoners who fell to his share. He set at liberty Ralph de Monthermer, and Sir Marmaduke Tweig, two officers of high rank, without ransom; and by humane and generous offices alleviated the misfortune of the rest. The dead bodies of the earl of Gloucester and the lord Clifford were sent to England, that they might be interred with the usual solemnity. There was one Bafton, a Carmelite friar and poet, whom Edward is said to have brought with him in his train to be spectator of his achievements, and to record his triumphs. Bafton was made prisoner, and obliged to celebrate the victory of Robert over the English. Thus he did in wretched Latin rhymes; which, however, procured his liberty. After the battle of Bannockburn, the earl of Hereford retreated to the castle of Bothwell, where he was besieged by Edward Bruce, and soon obliged to surrender. He was exchanged for the wife, sister, and daughter of the king, the young earl of Marr, and the bishop of Glasgow.

The terror of the English after the defeat at Bannockburn is almost incredible. Walsingham affirms, that many of them revolted to the Scots, and assisted them in plundering their own country. "The English," Consternation says he, "were so bereaved of their wonted intrepidity, that an hundred of that nation would have fled from two or three Scottmen." Edward Bruce and Douglas entered England on the eastern side, ravaged Northumberland, and laid the bishopric of Durham under contribution. From thence they proceeded to Richmond, laid Appleby and some other towns in ashes, and returned home loaded with plunder. Edward summoned a parliament at York, in order to concert means for the public security; and appointed the earl of Pembroke, formerly the guardian of Scotland, to be guardian of the country between the Trent and the Tweed. Robert, however, sent ambassadors to treat of a peace; but the Scots were too much elated with their good fortune to make concessions, and the English were not yet sufficiently humbled to yield to all their demands. The ravages of war were again renewed: the Scots continued their incursions into England, and levied contributions in different places.

In 1315, the English affairs seemed a little to revive. The Scots, indeed, plundered Durham and Hartlepool; but they were repulsed from Carlisle, and failed in an attempt on Berwick. The Irish of Ulster, oppressed by the English government, implored the assistance of Robert, and offered to acknowledge his brother Edward as their sovereign; who accordingly landed at Carrickfergus on the 25th of May 1315, with 6000 men.

This was an enterprise evidently beyond the power of Scotland to accomplish, and which could not but be perceived by Robert. However, there were motives which induced him to consent. The offer of a crown, though ever so visionary, inflamed the ambition of Edward Bruce, whose impetuous valour made no account of difficulties, however great. It might have been deemed ungenerous, and perhaps would not have been politic or safe, to have rejected the proposals of the Irish for the advancement of his brother, to whom the king owed more than he could repay. Besides, the invasion of Ireland seemed a proper expedient for dividing the English forces. The event proved unfortunate. Edward, after performing and suffering more than could almost have been expected from human nature, was at last defeated and killed by the English, as is related under the article IRELAND, p. 42.

The king himself had gone over into Ireland, in order to assist his brother in attempting the subjugation of that country; and during his absence the English had made several attempts to disturb the tranquillity of Scotland. The earl of Arundel invaded the forest of Jedburgh with a numerous army; but being drawn into an ambush by Douglas, he was defeated with great loss. Edmund de Cailaud, a knight of Galloway and governor of Berwick, invaded and wasted Teviotdale; but while he was returning home loaded with spoil, he was attacked, defeated, and killed by Douglas. Soon after this, intelligence was conveyed to Douglas that one Robert Neville had boasted that he would encounter him whenever he saw his banner displayed. Douglas did not long delay to give him an opportunity. He advanced to the neighbourhood of Berwick, displayed his banner, and burnt some villages. Neville, provoked at these ravages, took the field, encountered Douglas, and was defeated and killed. By sea the English invaded Scotland, and anchored off Inverkeithing in the firth of Forth, where they soon after landed. Five hundred men, under the command of the earl of Fife and the sheriff of that country, attempted to oppose their landing, but were intimidated by the number of their enemies. William Sinclair bishop of Dunkeld happened to meet the fugitives; and having by his reproaches obliged them to rally, he led them on again to the charge, and drove the English to their ships with considerable loss. For this exploit Robert conferred the title of the king's bishop on Sinclair; and he was long remembered by his countrymen on this account.

In 1317, after king Robert had returned from his Irish expedition, a bull was issued by the pope (John XXII.) commanding a two years truce between England and Scotland, under pain of excommunication. Two cardinals were dispatched into Britain to make known his commands; and they were privately empowered to inflict the highest spiritual censures on Robert Bruce, or whomsoever else they thought proper. About the beginning of September 1317, two messengers were sent to Robert by the cardinals. The king gave them a gracious reception; and after consulting with his barons, returned for answer, that he very much desired a good and perpetual peace, either by the mediation of the cardinals, or by any other means. He allowed the open letters from the pope, which recommended peace, to be read in his presence, and listened to them with due respect. But he would not receive the sealed letters addressed to Robert Bruce governor of Scotland, alleging, that there might be many of his barons whose names were Robert Bruce, and that these barons might probably have some share in the government. Unless, therefore, the letters were addressed to him as king of Scotland, he could not receive them without advice of his parliament, which he promised immediately to assemble on the occasion. The messengers attempted to apologize for the omission of the title of King. "The holy church was not wont," they said, "during the dependence of a controversy, to write or say anything which might be interpreted as prejudicial to the claims of either of the contending parties." "Since then," answered the king, "my spiritual father and my holy mother would not prejudice the cause of my adversary's behaviour by bestowing on me the appellation of king during the Robert, dependence of the controversy, they ought not to have prejudiced my cause by withdrawing that appellation from me. I am in possession of the kingdom of Scotland; all my people call me king; and foreign princes address me under that title; but it seems that my parents are partial to their English son. Had you presumed to present letters with such an address to any other sovereign prince, you might perhaps have been answered in a harsher style; but I reverence you as the messengers of the holy see."

The messengers, quite abashed with this reply, changed the discourse, and requested the king that he would consent to a temporary cessation of hostilities; but to this he declared, that he never would consent, while the English daily invaded and plundered his people. His counsellors, however, informed the messengers, that if the letters had been addressed to the king of Scots, the negotiations would instantly have been opened. This disrespectful omission they imputed to the intrigues of the English at the court of Rome, hinting at the same time that they had received this intelligence from Avignon.

When the messengers had informed the cardinals of these proceedings, the latter determined to proclaim the papal truce in Scotland; in which hazardous of claimed in fice they employed Adam Newton, guardian of the Scotland, monastery of Minorites at Berwick, who was charged with letters to the clergy of Scotland, particularly to the bishop of St Andrew's. The monk found the king encamped with his army in a wood near Old Cambus, making preparations for assaulting Berwick. Personal access was denied to the king; but the monk, in obedience to his matters, proclaimed the truce by the authority of the pope. The king sent him for answer, that he would listen to no bulls, till he was treated as king of Scotland, and had made himself master of Berwick.

The poor monk, terrified at this answer, requested which is either a safe conduct to Berwick, or permission to pass into Scotland, and deliver his letters to the Scottish clergy. Both were refused; and he was commanded to leave the country without loss of time. He set out for Berwick; but in his way thither was attacked by robbers, The most remarkable transaction of this year, however, was the defeat and death of Edward Bruce in Ireland; of which an account is given under the article IRELAND, p. 42. His body was quartered, and distributed for a public spectacle over Ireland; and his head was presented to Edward by John lord Bermingham, the commander of the English army; in return for which service, he was rewarded with the title of earl of Louth.

In the mean time Edward, who had summoned a parliament to meet at Lincoln, was obliged to prorogue it on account of the Scottish invasion, and to assemble an army at York for the defence of his country. At Michaelmas it was determined, in a parliament held at London, that every city and town in England should furnish a certain proportion of men completely armed. Thus a considerable body of troops was soon raised; but, when they assembled at York, their party-animoities and mutual distrust rose to such an height, that it was found necessary to send them back to their habitations.

In 1319, Edward, having succeeded so well in his negotiations with the court of Rome, resolved to make similar attempts with other powers to the prejudice of the Scottish nation. Accordingly he requested the count of Flanders to prohibit the Scots from entering his country; but to this request he received the following remarkable reply: "Flanders is the common country of all men; I cannot prohibit any merchants from trafficking thither, for such prohibition would prove the ruin of my people." Finding himself baffled in this attempt, the English monarch once more again determined to have recourse to war; and with this view commanded his army to assemble at Newcastle upon Tyne, on the 24th of July 1319; but before he proceeded, he requested the prayers of the clergy for the success of his expedition; and, to render their prayers the more effectual, he at the same time demanded from them a great sum of money by way of loan.

Every thing being now in readiness, the English army approached Berwick, which was commanded by the Eng-

Berwick besieged and taken by the Scots.

Who invaded England with great success.

King Robert excommunicated by the Pope.

Vol. XVI. Part II. Crab, a Flemish engineer in the Scots service. This was a kind of moveable crane, whereby great stones might be raised on high, and then let fall upon the enemy. The English made a general assault on the quarter towards the sea, as well as on the land side; so that the garrison, exhausted by continual fatigue, could scarce maintain their posts. The great engine moved on to the walls; and, though stones were incessantly discharged against it from the crane, their effect was so small, that all hope of preserving Berwick was lost.

At length a huge stone struck it with such force, that the beams gave way, and the Scots pouring down combustibles upon it, it was reduced to ashes. The English, however, still continued the attack. The Steward, with a reserve of 100 men, went from post to post, relieving those who were wounded or unfit for combat. One soldier of the reserve only remained with him when an alarm was given that the English had burnt a barrier at the port called St Mary's, possessed themselves of the draw-bridge, and fired the gate. The Steward hastened thither, called down the guard from the rampart, ordered the gate to be set open, and rushed out upon the enemy. A desperate combat ensued, and continued till the close of the day, when the English commanders withdrew their troops.

Notwithstanding this brave defence, it was evident that the town could not hold out long without a speedy relief; and Robert could not, with any probability of success, attack the fortified camp of the English. He therefore determined to make a powerful diversion in England, in order to oblige Edward to abandon the undertaking. By order of the king, 15,000 men entered England by the western marches. They had concerted a plan for carrying off the queen of England from her residence near York; but being disappointed in this attempt, they laid waste Yorkshire. The archbishop of York hastily collected a numerous body of commons and ecclesiastics, with whom he encountered the Scots at Mitton, near Borough-bridge, in the northriding of Yorkshire. The English were instantly routed; 3000 were left dead on the field, and great part of those who fled perished in the river Swale. In this action 300 ecclesiastics lost their lives. The news of this successful inroad alarmed the besiegers of Berwick. The barons whose estates lay to the southward remote from the Scottish depredations were eager for continuing the siege. But they were opposed by those of the north; who were no less eager to abandon the enterprise, and return to the defence of their own country. With them the earl of Lancaster concurred in opinion; who, understanding that his favourite manor of Pontefract was exposed to the ravages of the Scots, departed with all his adherents. Edward, upon this, drew off the remainder of his army, and attempted to intercept Randolph and Douglas; but they eluded him, and returned in safety to Scotland.

The unsuccessful event of this last attempt induced Edward seriously to think of peace; and accordingly a truce between the two nations was concluded on the 21st of December 1319; which interval of tranquillity the Scots made use of in addressing a manifesto to the pope in justification of their cause. This was drawn up in a spirited manner, and made a very considerable alteration in the councils of Rome. The pope, foreseeing that Robert would not be terrified into submission, ordered Edward to make peace with him in the best manner he could. A negociation was accordingly set on foot, which soon terminated ineffectually; the truce was not renewed, and in 1322 a mutual invasion took place. The Scots penetrated into Lancashire by England the western marches; and, after plundering the country, again returned home with an extraordinary booty; while Edward, led by the ward made great preparations for an expedition into Scotland, which took place in August the same year.

In this, however, he was not attended with success. Robert had caused all the cattle to be driven off, and all the effects of any value to be removed from Lothian and the Merse; fixing his camp at Culross, on the north side of the frith of Forth. His orders for removing the cattle were so punctually obeyed, that, according to common tradition, the only prey which fell into the hands of the English was a lame bull at Tranent in East Lothian. Edward, however, still proceeded, and penetrated as far as Edinburgh, but without any hopes of subduing the kingdom. His provisions being consumed, many of his soldiers perished for want; and he was obliged at last to retire without having seen an enemy. On their return, his soldiers burnt the abbeys of Holyrood, Melrose, Dryburgh, &c. killed many of the monks, and committed other sacrileges: but when they returned to their own country, and began again to enjoy a plentiful living, they indulged themselves in such excesses as were productive of mortal diseases; insomuch that, according to an English historian, almost one half of the great army which Edward had brought from England with him were destroyed either by hunger or glutony.

No sooner were the English retired than they were pursued by the Scots, who laid siege to the castle of Norham. Edward lay at the abbey of Biland in Yorkshire, with a body of troops advantageously posted in the neighbourhood. The Scots, invited, as is said, by some traitors about the king's person, attempted to surprise him; and it was with the utmost difficulty that he made his escape to York, abandoning all his baggage and treasure to the enemy. The English camp was supposed to be accessible only by a narrow pass, but Douglas undertook to force it, and Randolph presented himself as a volunteer in this dangerous service under his friend Douglas. The Highlanders and men of the Isles climbed the precipice on which the English camp stood, and the enemy were driven out with great loss, and driven. The Scots pursued them to the very gates of York, waited the country without control, and returned home unmolested.

Edward, disheartened by repeated losses, agreed to a cessation of arms "with the men of Scotland who were engaged in war with him." But the king of Scotland would not consent to it in that form; however, he gave his consent, on the proper form being employed, to which Edward now made no objection. This treaty was concluded on the 30th of March 1323, and was to endure until the 12th of June 1336. It was agreed, that during the continuance of it, no new fortresses should be erected in Cumberland, to the north of England Tyne, or in the counties of Berwick, Roxburgh, or Dumfries; and by a very singular article it was provided, that "Bruce and the people of Scotland might procure absolution from the pope; but in case there was no peace concluded before the expiration of the truce," truce, that the sentence of excommunication should revive." The treaty was ratified by Robert, under the style of the king of Scotland, 7th June 1323.

The next care of Robert was to reconcile himself to the church, and to obtain from the pope the title of king, which had been so long denied him; which at last, though not without great difficulty, was obtained. This year a son was born to the king of Scotland at Dunfermline, and named David. The court-poets of the time foretold, that this infant would one day rival his father's fame, and prove victorious over the English. But scarce had this future hero come into the world, when a rival began to make his appearance. John Baliol, the unfortunate king of Scotland, had long been dead; but left a son named Edward, heir to his pretensions to the crown. The young prince had resided on his paternal estate in Normandy, neglected and forgotten; but in 1324 was called to the court of England, for the purpose, undoubtedly, of setting him up as a rival to young David Bruce, in case his father, now broken with fatigues, should die in a short time. The negotiations for peace, however, still went on; but the commissioners appointed for this purpose made little progress, by reason of demands for feudal sovereignty still made by the English. The reconciliation with the church was also broken off, by reason of the Scots keeping possession of Berwick. This had been taken during the papal truce; and Robert thought proper still to lie under the sentence of excommunication rather than to part with such an important fortress.

In the beginning of the year 1327, Edward II. was deposed, and succeeded by his son Edward III., then in his 15th year. He renewed the negotiations for peace, and ratified the truce which his father had made; but hearing that the Scots had resolved to invade England if a peace was not immediately concluded, he summoned his barons to meet him in arms at Newcastle, and fortified York.—We are not certainly informed of the reasons which induced the Scots at this time to disregard the truce; however, it is certain, that on the 15th of June 1327, Douglas and Randolph invaded England by the western marches, with an army of 20,000 horsemen. Against them Edward III. led an army, consisting, at the lowest calculation, of 30,000 men, who assembled at Durham on the 13th of July. The Scots proceeded with the utmost cruelty, burning and destroying everything as they went along; and on the 18th of the same month, the English discovered them by the smoke and flames which marked their progress. They marched forward in order of battle towards the quarter where the smoke was perceived; but, meeting with no enemy for two days, they concluded that the Scots had retired. Disencumbering themselves of their heavy baggage, they resolved by a forced march to reach the river Tyne, and, by posting themselves on the north bank of that river, to intercept the Scots on their return. On the 20th of July the cavalry having left the infantry behind, crossed the river at Haidon; but before the rest of the army could come up, the river was swollen by sudden rain, so that it could no longer be forded; and thus the troops remained divided for several days, without any accommodation for quarters, and in the greatest want of provisions and forage. The soldiers now began to murmur; and it was resolved again to proceed southwards. The king proclaimed a reward of lands, to the value of 100l. yearly for life, to the person who should first discover the enemy "on dry to offer a ground, where they might be attacked;" and many reward for knights and esquires swam across the river on this discovering errand. The army continued its march for three days without any news of the Scots; but on the fourth day, certain accounts of them were brought by an esquire, Thomas Rokesby: who reported, that "the Scots had made him prisoner; but that their leaders, understanding his business, had set him at liberty;" saying, that they had remained for eight days on the same ground, as ignorant of the motions of the English as the English were of theirs, and that they were delirious and ready to combat." With this man for their guide, the English soon came in view of the Scots. They were advantageously posted on a rising ground, having the river Wre in front, and their flanks secured by rocks and precipices. The English dismounted and advanced, hoping to allure the Scots from their strong post; but in vain. Edward then sent a herald to Randolph and Douglas, with a message in the style of chivalry: "Either," says he, "submit me to pass the river, and leave me room for ranging my forces; or do you pass the river, and I will leave you room to range yours; and thus shall we fight on equal terms." To this the Scottish commanders answered, "We will do neither. On our road hither we have burnt and spoiled the country; and here we are fixed while to us it seems good; and if the king of England is offended, let him come over and chastise us."

The armies continued in sight of each other for two days; after which the English, understanding that their enemies were distressed for provisions, resolved to maintain a close blockade, and to reduce them by famine. Next day, however, they were surprised to find that the Scots had secretly decamped, and taken post two miles up the river in ground still stronger, and of more difficult access, amidst a great wood. The English encamped opposite to them near Stanhope park. At midnight Douglas undertook a most desperate enterprise, some attempt of what resembled those of the ancient heroes. With 200 horsemen he approached the English camp, and the king entered it under the guise of a chief commander calling England the rounds. Having thus eluded the sentinels, he passed on to the royal quarters, overthrew every thing that opposed him, and furiously assaulted the king's tent. The domestics of Edward desperately defended their master; and his chaplain, with many others of his household, were slain. However, the king himself escaped; and Douglas, disappointed of his prey, rushed through the enemy, and effected a retreat with inconsiderable loss.—The following day, the English learned from a prisoner, that orders had been issued in the Scottish camp for all men to hold themselves in readiness that evening to follow the banner of Douglas: on which, apprehending an attack in the night, they prepared for battle, lighting great fires, and keeping a strict watch; but in the morning, they were informed by two trumpeters whom they had taken prisoners, that the Scots had decamped before midnight, and were returning to decamp their own country. This report could scarcely be credited, and the army remained for some hours in order to their battle; but at length some scouts having crossed the own coun- river, returned with certain intelligence that the Scottish camp was totally deserted; which when the young king of England was certainly informed of, he burst into tears; for the enterprise, which thus terminated in disappointment and dishonour, had cost an immense sum. Every preparation had been made for opposing an enemy, and auxiliaries had even been procured at a most enormous expense from Hainault. These auxiliaries consisted of heavy-armed cavalry; and they were now so much worn out, that they could scarcely move. Their horses were all dead, or had become unserviceable, in a campaign of three weeks; so that they were obliged to procure horses to convey themselves to the south of England. Edward having rested at Durham for some days, marched to York, where he disbanded his army. Barbour, a Scots historian, relates, that there was a morass in the rear of the Scottish camp, which he calls the two-mile morass; that the Scots made a way over it with brushwood, removing it as they went along, that the English might not pursue them by the same way. The English historians are filled with descriptions of the strange appearance of the deserted camp of the Scots. They found there a number of skins stretched between stakes, which served for kettles to boil their meat; and for bread, each soldier carried along with him a bag of oatmeal, of which he made cakes, toasting them upon thin iron plates, which appear to have been part of their armour.

On the return of Douglas and Randolph, the king led his army against the eastern borders, and besieged the castle of Norham. However, in 1328, Edward, wearied out with continual losses and disappointments, consented to a perpetual peace between the two kingdoms on the following conditions. 1. The stone on which the kings of Scotland were wont to sit at the time of their coronation, shall be restored to the Scots. 2. The king of England engages to employ his good offices at the papal court for obtaining a revocation of all spiritual processes depending before the holy see against the king of Scots, or against his kingdom or subjects. 3. For these causes, and in order to make reparation for the ravages committed in England by the Scots, the king of Scots shall pay 30,000 marks to the king of England. 4. Restitution shall be made of the possessions belonging to ecclesiastics in either kingdom, whereof they may have been deprived during the war. 5. But there shall not be any restitution made of inheritances which have fallen into the hands of the king of England or of the king of Scots, by reason of the war between the two nations, or through the forfeiture of former possessors. 6. Johanna, sister of the king of England, shall be given in marriage to David, the son and heir to the king of Scots. 7. The king of Scots shall provide the princess Johanna in a jointure of 2000l. yearly, secured on lands and rents, according to a reasonable estimation. 8. If either of the parties fail in performing these conditions, he shall pay 2000 pounds of silver to the papal treasury.

This peace, ratified at Northampton, is styled ignominious by the English historians, and the marriage of the Scots prince to the king of England's sister, denominated that base marriage; because at this time all pretensions to sovereignty over Scotland were given up, though they had in vain attempted to establish them by a rigorous war of 20 years. The marriage of the infant prince was celebrated on the 12th of July 1328.

On the 7th of June 1329 died Robert Bruce, unquestionably the greatest of all the Scottish monarchs. His death seems to have been occasioned by the excessive fatigues of military service; and his disease, called by the historians of those times a leprosy, was probably an inveterate scurvy, occasioned by his want of living. He died at the age of 55. He was married to Isabella, daughter of Donald the tenth earl of Marr; by whom he had a daughter named Marjory, married to Walter the steward of Scotland; whose husband died in 1326. The second wife of Robert was Elizabeth, the daughter of Aymer de Burgh earl of Ulster. By her he had a son, David II.; a daughter named Margaret, married to William earl of Sutherland; another, named Matilda, married to an esquire named Thomas Istan; and Elizabeth, married to Sir Walter Oliphant of Gask. He had also a natural son named Robert.

That king Robert I. was a man of unquestionable virtue and humanity, as well as unequalled in the knowledge of the military art, must be evident from many particulars already related. The only questionable part of his character is his severe punishment of a conspiracy formed against him in the year 1320; a relation of which, to avoid interrupting our detail of more important matters, we have deferred till now.—The chief of the conspirators were William de Soulis, whose ancestor had been a candidate for the crown of Scotland; the countess of Strathearn, and some other persons of high rank. The countess discovered the plot; after which Soulis confessed the whole, and was punished with perpetual imprisonment; as well as the countess, notwithstanding her having made the discovery. Gilbert de Malyerb and John de Logie, both knights, and Richard Brown an esquire, were put to death as traitors; but the person most lamented was Sir David de Brechin, for his bravery styled the flower of chivalry. He was nephew to the king, and served with great reputation against the Saracens. To him the conspirators, after having exacted an oath of secrecy, revealed their designs. He condemned their undertaking, and refused to share in it; but did not discover it, on account of the oath he had taken. Yet for this concealment he was tried as a traitor, condemned and executed, without regard to his personal merit or distinction to the king. The conspirators were tried before the parliament at Scone in 1320; and this felony, in which so much blood was shed, was long remembered by the vulgar under the name of the black parliament. Whether there was any thing real in this conspiracy, or whether the king only made use of this pretence to rid himself of such as were obnoxious to him, cannot now be known with certainty.

After the death of Robert, the administration was assumed by Randolph, in consequence of an act passed in 1318, by which he was appointed regent in case of regency. In his new character he behaved himself in a most exemplary manner; and by impartially discharging the duties of his station, and rigidly administering justice, he secured the public tranquillity in the most perfect manner. A strict exercise of justice was now rendered not only necessary, but indispensable. During a long course of war, the common people had been accustomed to plunder and bloodshed; and having now no English enemies to employ them, they robbed and murdered one another. The methods by which Randolph repressed these crimes were much the same with those which have been adopted in latter times; for he made the counties liable for the several robberies committed within their bounds. He even ordered the farmers and labourers not to house the tools employed by them in agriculture during the night-time, that the sheriff's officers might be the more vigilant in securing them. He gave orders for severely punishing all vagabonds, and obliged them to work for their livelihood; making proclamation, that no man should be admitted into a town or borough who could not earn his bread by his labour. These regulations were attended with the most salutary effects. A fellow who had secreted his own plough-irons, pretending that they were stolen, being detected by the sheriff's officers, was instantly hanged. A certain man having killed a priest, went to Rome, and obtained absolution from the pope; after which he boldly returned to Scotland. Randolph ordered him to be tried, and, on his conviction, to be executed: "Because," said he, "although the pope may grant absolution from the spiritual consequences of sin, he cannot free offenders from civil punishment."

King Robert, just before his death, had desired that his heart might be deposited in our Saviour's sepulchre at Jerusalem; and on this errand the great commander Douglas was employed, who fell sick in June 1330 with a numerous and splendid retinue. He anchored off Sluys in Flanders, the great emporium of the low countries, where he expected to find companions in his pilgrimage; but learning that Alphonso XI., the young king of Leon and Castile, was engaged in a war with Olmyn the Moor, he could not resist the temptation of fighting against the enemies of Christianity. He met with an honourable reception at the court of Spain, and readily obtained leave to enter into what was thought the common cause of Christianity. The Spaniards first came in sight of their enemy near Theba, a castle on the frontiers of Andalusia, towards the kingdom of Granada. The Moors were defeated; but Douglas giving way to his impetuous valour, pursued the enemy too eagerly, and throwing among them the casket which contained the heart of his sovereign, cried out, "Now pass thou onward as thou wast wont; Douglas will follow thee or die." The fugitives rallied and surrounded Douglas; who, with a few of his followers, was killed in attempting to rescue Sir Walter St Clair of Rossin. His body was brought back to Scotland, and interred in the church of Douglas. His countrymen perpetuated his memory by bestowing upon him the epithet of the good Sir James Douglas. He was one of the greatest commanders of the age; and is said to have been engaged in 70 battles, 57 of which he gained, and was defeated in 13.—Of him it is reported, that meeting with an officer at the court of Alphonso, who had his face quite disfigured with scars, the latter said to him, "It astonishes me, that you, who are said to have seen so much service, should have no marks of wounds on your face?" "Thank heaven," answered Douglas, "I had always an arm to protect my face."

In 1331, Edward Baliol began to renew his pretensions to the crown of Scotland, about the same time that David II. and his consort Johanna were crowned at Scone; which ceremony was performed on the 24th of November. Some historians relate, that he was excited to this attempt by one Twynham Lowniton, a person who had been excommunicated for refusing to do penance for adultery, and afterwards was obliged to fly on account of his having way-laid the official, beat him, and extorted a sum of money from him. But however this may be, it is certain, that in this year differences began to arise with England, on the following account. It had been provided by an article of the treaty of Northampton, that "Thomas lord Wake of Ledel, Henry de Beaumont, called earl of Buchan, and Henry de Percy, should be restored to their estates, of which the king of Scots, by reason of the war between the two nations, had taken possession." This article had been executed with respect to Percy, but not to the other two; and though Edward had repeatedly complained of this neglect, he could not obtain any satisfaction (c).

The disinherited barons now resolved to invade Scotland, though their force consisted of no more than 3000 infantry.

(c) As this is an important period of history, we shall here transcribe the opinion of lord Hailes concerning the causes of this strange delay of executing an article seemingly of little importance where a nation was concerned. "By the treaty of Northampton," says he, "all the claims of the English barons to inheritances in Scotland were disregarded, excepting those of Henry de Percy, Thomas lord Wake of Ledel, and Henry de Beaumont. Percy procured satisfaction; but the others did not.

"Henry de Beaumont, in the reign of Edward II., had associated himself with the nobility against the D'Espenfiers, and on that account had suffered imprisonment and exile. He aided queen Isabella in the invasion which proved the cause of the deposition, captivity, and death of her husband. Although, under the administration of Mortimer, he had obtained a share in the partition of the spoils of the D'Espenfiers, he persisted in opposing the measures of the new favourite; and although his own interests were secured by the treaty of Northampton, he boldly exclaimed against the injustice done to the other barons by that treaty. He joined the princes of the blood-royal in their attempt to rescue the young king from the hands of Isabella and her minion, and place him in their own; and, on the failure of that ill-advised conspiracy, he again took refuge in foreign parts. It appears that lord Wake, having followed the political opinions of Henry de Beaumont, was involved in like calamities and disgrace. While the queen-dowager and Mortimer retained their influence, the claims of those two barons were altogether overlooked: But within forty-eight hours after the execution of Mortimer, a peremptory demand was made by Edward III., to have their inheritance restored.

"The demand was unexpected and alarming. Made at the very moment of the fall of Isabella and Mortimer,..." Scotland, infantry, and 400 men at arms. Edward would not permit them to enter Scotland by the usual way, as he himself did not yet choose openly to take part in their quarrel. For this reason they were obliged to take shipping, and landed at a place called Ravensthorpe, Ravensthorpe, or Ravensburgh, at the mouth of the Humber (1). Randolph, having intelligence of the English preparations, had marched an army to the frontiers of East Lothian; but, being afterwards informed of the naval armament, he marched northwards; but died at Musselburgh, six miles east of Edinburgh, on the 20th of July 1332. With him died the glory of Scotland.

The earl of Marr, a man whose only merit consisted in his being related to the royal family, was chosen to succeed him in the regency.—Edward, in the mean time, fell upon a most curious expedient to show the justice of his cause. In March 1332, he had published a prohibition for any person to infringe the treaty of Northampton. The disfavored lords had been suffered to embark, expressly for the purpose of invading Scotland, after this prohibition was published. After they were gone, Henry de Percy was empowered to punish those who should presume to array themselves in contempt of his prohibition; and because he understood that the Scots were arming in order to repel those invaders whom Edward had indirectly sent against them, he empowered Henry de Percy to arm against them.

On the 31st of July, Edward Baliol and his associates landed in the neighborhood of Kinghorn, on the Forth; routed the earl of Fife, who opposed them; and marched next day to Dunfermline. Having then ordered his fleet to wait for him at the mouth of the Tay, he proceeded northwards, and encamped on the Miller's acre at Forteviot, with the river Earn in front. Nothing, however, could be more dangerous than his situation at present, and his destruction would have been inevitable. The earl of Marr was encamped with a numerous army on the opposite bank of the river Earn, Scotland, in the neighborhood of Duplin; and another, nearly as numerous, had advanced from the south, through the Lothians and Stirlingshire, and fixed its quarters at Auchterarder, eight miles to the west of Forteviot.

The Historians differ as to the number of the two armies. Fordun says, that the regent had with him 30,000 men, and the earl of March as many; and that Baliol had between 500 and 600 men at arms, that is, horsemen completely armed. Hemingford reckons each of the Scots armies at 40,000, and Baliol's at 500 armed men. Knyghton says, that Baliol, when he landed in Fife, had 300 armed men, and 3000 more of different sorts; but that he had in all only 2500 men in his camp at Earn. In this desperate situation, the English general formed a design of attacking the Scots in their camp. They were directed to a ford by Andrew Murray of Tullibardine. The Scots kept no watch, but abandoned themselves to intemperance and riotous mirth; while their enemies, led by Alexander Moulbray, crossed the river at midnight. They ascended a rising ground, came unperceived on the right flank of the Scottish army, and made a dreadful slaughter. At the first attack, young Randolph halted with 300 men at arms to oppose the enemy; and being seconded by Murdoch earl of Menteith, Alexander Frazer, and Robert Bruce natural son to the late king, he gave a check to the English, and maintained the combat on equal terms. But now the regent himself, along with the whole multitude, rushed forward to battle without the least order; so that while the hindmost pressed on, the foremost were thrown down, trodden upon, and suffocated. The slaughter lasted many hours, and the remains of this vast army were utterly dispersed. Many men of eminence were killed; among whom were Donald earl of Marr, author of the whole catastrophe; Thomas earl of Moray, Murdoch earl of Menteith, Robert earl of Carrick, Alex-

and in behalf of men who had loudly protested against the treaty of Northampton, it indicated a total and perilous change in the system of the English.

"Randolph, of late years, had beheld extraordinary vicissitudes in England. The D'Espeniers alternately persecuted and triumphant, and at length abased in the dust: The fugitive Mortimer elevated to supreme authority, victorious over the princes of the bloody-royal, and then dragged to a gibbet. Hence it was natural for Randolph to wish, and even to look, for some new revolution, which might prove more favourable to the Scottish interests. Meanwhile, with great reason and good policy, he delayed the restitution of the inheritances claimed under the treaty of Northampton, in behalf of the avowed opposers of that treaty.

"Besides, it was necessary for Randolph to be assured that the English, while they urged the performance of one article of that treaty, did, on their part, sincerely purpose to perform its more important articles, by continuing to acknowledge the succession in the house of Bruce, and the independency of the Scottish nation.

"Of this, however, there was much reason to doubt. For the English king had taken Baliol under his protection, and had granted him a passport to come into England, with permission to reside there during a whole year, (10th October 1330). These things had no friendly or pacific appearance.

"Be this as it will, the event too fatally justified the apprehensions of Randolph; for, while Edward III. was demanding restitution of the estates referred by the treaty of Northampton, his subjects were arming in violation of that treaty.

"It is remarkable, that, on the 24th March 1331-2, Edward appears to have known of the hostile association of the disfavored barons. His words are, 'Quia ex relatu accepimus plurimorum, quod diversi homines de regno nostro, et alii (meaning Baliol and his attendants), pacem inter nos, et Robertum de Brus, nuper Regem Scotorum, intam et confirmatam infringere machinantur, diversas congregationes hominum ad arma indies faciunt, et, per marchias regni nostrri, dictam terram Scotiae, ad eam modo guerrino impugnandum, ingredi intendunt;' Foedera, T. iv. p. 511. And yet, on the 22d April following, he demanded restitution of the inheritance of lord Wake, one of the barons in arms?"

Footnote: (1) This place does not now exist; having been overwhelmed by the sea many centuries ago. Alexander Fraser, and Robert Bruce. The slaughter of the infantry and of the men at arms was very great; the most probable accounts make it 2000 men at arms, and upwards of 13,000 common foldiers. The loss of the English was inconsiderable.

The day after this victory, Baliol took possession of Perth; and, apprehending an attack from the earl of March, caused the ditch to be cleared, and the town to be fortified with palliadoes. The first information which the earl received of this dreadful defeat was from a common folder, who fled from the place mortally wounded. When this poor wretch came up, he had time to do no more than to show his wounds; after which he fell down, and expired. On his arrival at the field of battle, he found a dreadful confirmation of the intelligence given by the folder; but instead of taking his measures with any prudence, he and his men hurried on headlong to Perth, actuated only by a blind impulse to revenge. At first they despaired to assault the place; but their hearts failing them, they next determined to reduce it by famine. This, however, could not be done unless the Scots were matters at sea. One John Crab, a Flemish engineer (who had distinguished himself by destroying the famous engine called the sow at the siege of Berwick), had continued for many years to annoy the English on the eastern coasts. After the blockade of Perth was formed, he came with ten vessels to the mouth of the Tay, where the English fleet was, and took the ship belonging to Henry de Beaumont; but soon after all his ten vessels were burnt by the English in a general engagement. After this the blockade of Perth was raised, the earl of March disbanded his army, and Edward Baliol was crowned king of Scotland at Scone, on the 24th of September 1332.

The new monarch was no sooner put in possession of the kingdom, than he left Perth in the hands of the earl of Fife, while he himself repaired to the southern parts of the kingdom. But the party of king David was far from being extinguished. Baliol was scarce gone, when the town of Perth was surprised, and its fortifications razed, by James Fraser, Simon Fraser, and Robert Keith. The earl of Fife was made prisoner, with his family and vassals. Andrew Murray of Tullibardine, who had directed the English to ford on the river Earn, was put to death as a traitor. Such of the Scots as still adhered to the interest of their infant prince, chose Sir Andrew Murray of Bothwell regent. He was a brave and active man, but had not as yet sufficient force to attempt anything considerable.

In the mean time, Baliol behaved in a most scandalous manner. At Roxburgh, he made a solemn surrender of the liberties of Scotland; acknowledged Edward for his liege-lord; and, as if this had not been sufficient, he became bound to put him in possession of the town, cattle, and territory of Berwick, and of other lands on the marches, extending in all to the yearly value of 2000l. "on account," as the instrument bears, "of the great honour and emoluments which we have procured through the sufferance of our lord the king, and by the powerful and acceptable aid which we have received from his good subjects." He also proffered to marry the princess Johanna, whom he considered as only betrothed to David Bruce, and to add 500l. to her jointure; and this under the penalty of 10,000l. Scotland, to be appropriated as a portion to the young lady, or otherwise disposed of for her behoof. He further engaged to provide for the maintenance of David Bruce as the king of England should advise; and, lastly, he became bound to serve Edward in all his wars, excepting in England, Wales, and Ireland, for the space of a year together, with 200 men at arms, and all at his own charges; and he bound his successors to perform the like service with 100 men at arms. But afterwards Edward having engaged to maintain him on the throne of Scotland, Baliol bound himself to serve him in all his wars whatever.

Though the greatest part of the nation submitted to this shameful treaty, it roused the indignation of those who wished well to the liberties of their country. John, the second son of Randolph, now earl of Moray by the death of his brother; Archibald, the youngest brother of the renowned Douglas; together with Simon Fraser, assembled a body of horsemen at Moffat in Annandale; and, suddenly traversing the country, assaulted Baliol unexpectedly at Annan. His brother Baliol himself escaped almost naked, with scarce a single attendant, and fled to England. After his departure, the Scots began to make depredations on the English frontiers. Edward issued a proclamation, in which he solemnly averred, that the Scots, by their hostile depredations, had violated the peace of Northampton. Baliol, in the mean time, being joined by some English barons, returned to Scotland; took and burnt a castle where Robert de Colville commanded; and, establishing his quarters in the neighbourhood of Roxburgh, began to make preparations for besieging Berwick. Just after his arrival, Archibald Douglas, with 3000 men, invaded England by the western marches, plundered the country, and carried off much booty; in revenge for which, Sir Anthony de Lucy made an inroad into Scotland, defeated and took prisoner Sir William Douglas, celebrated in history by the appellation of the knight of Liddesdale, whom Edward caused to be put in irons. About the same time, Sir Andrew Murray the regent attacked Baliol, with a view to discomfit him before the reinforcements which he expected out of England could arrive. A sharp conflict ensued at Roxburgh, in which the regent, attempting to rescue a fellow-regent, was taken prisoner; and thus Scotland was at once deprived of its two ablest commanders.

Archibald Douglas was now declared regent; and Edward prepared to invade Scotland, in order to take vengeance on its inhabitants, as he said, for the wrongs they had done, and to seek such redress as might seem good to himself. He ordered possession to be taken of the isle of Man in his own name; and soon after made it over to Sir William de Montague, who had some claim of inheritance in it. The chief design of Edward in this expedition, however, was to obtain possession of the town of Berwick, which had been already ceded to him by Baliol. This appeared to Berwick the Scots a place of no less importance than it did to be beleaguered by Edward; and therefore they took all the precautions in their power to prevent the loss of it. The earl of March was appointed to command the castle, and Sir William... Scotland. William Keith the town. The Scots made an obstinate defence; yet it was evident that they must soon have yielded if they had not been relieved. At length the regent, with a numerous army, appeared in the neighbourhood. He endeavoured to convey succours into the town, or to provoke the enemies to quit the advantage of the ground, and engage in battle. But all his efforts were in vain; the English obstructed every passage, and stood on the defensive.

The regent then entered Northumberland, wasted the country, and even assaulted Bamborough-castle, where Philippa the young queen of England had her residence. He fondly imagined that Edward III. would have abandoned the siege of Berwick, after the example of his father, in circumstances not dissimilar. Edward nevertheless persevered in his enterprise.

During a general assault, the town was set on fire, and in a great measure consumed. The inhabitants having experienced the evils of a siege, and dreading the worse evils of a storm, implored the earl of March and Sir William Keith to seek terms of capitulation. A truce was obtained; and it was agreed, that the town and castle should be delivered up on terms fair and honourable, unless succours arrived before the hour of vespers on the 19th July.

It was specially provided, "that Berwick should be held as relieved, in case 200 men at arms, in a body, should force their passage into the town."

By the treaty, Sir William Keith was permitted to have an interview with the regent. He found him with his army in Northumberland; urged the necessity of his return; and showed him, that Berwick, if not instantly relieved, was lost for ever. Persuaded by his importunities, the regent resolved to combat the English, and either to save Berwick or lose the kingdom.

On the afternoon of the 19th of July, the regent prepared for battle. He divided his army into four bodies. The first was led by John earl of Moray, the son of Randolph; but as he was young and inexperienced in war, James and Simon Fraser, soldiers of approved reputation, were joined with him in the command. The second body was led by the steward of Scotland, a youth of 16, under the inspection of his uncle Sir James Stewart of Royston. The third body was led by the regent himself, having with him the earl of Carrick and other barons of eminence. The fourth body, or reserve, appears to have been led by Hugh earl of Roys.

The numbers of the Scottish army on that day are variously reported by historians. The continuator of Hemingford, an author of that age, and Knyghton, who lived in the succeeding age, ascertain their numbers with more precision than is generally required in historical facts.

The continuator of Hemingford minutely records the numbers and arrangement of the Scottish army. He says, that, besides earls and other lords or great barons, there were 55 knights, 1100 men at arms, and 13,500 of the commons lightly armed, amounting in all to 14,655.

With him Knyghton appears to concur, when his narrative is cleared from the errors of ignorant or careless transcribers.

It is probable, however, that the servants who tended the horses of persons of distinction and of the men at arms, and the useless followers of the camp, were more numerous than the actual combatants.

The English were advantageously posted on a rising ground at Halydon, with a marshy hollow in their front. Of their particular disposition we are not informed, further than that Baliol had the command of one of the wings.

It had been provided by the treaty of capitulation, "That Berwick should be considered as relieved, in case 200 men at arms forced their passage into the town." This the Scottish men at arms attempted; but Edward, aware of their purpose, opposed them in Halydon person, and repulsed them with great slaughter. The Scottish army rushed on to a general attack; but they had to descend into the marshy hollow before mounting the eminences of Halydon. After having struggled with the difficulties of the ground, and after having been incessantly galled by the English archers, they reached the enemy. Although fatigued and disordered in their ranks, they fought as it became men who had conquered under the banners of Robert Bruce. The English, with equal valour, had great advantages of situation, and were better disciplined than their antagonists. The earl of Roys led the reserve to attack in flank that wing where Baliol commanded; but he was repulsed and slain. There fell with him Kenneth earl of Sutherland, and Murdoch earl of Menteith.

In the other parts of the field, the events were equal. The Scots by dint of prowess. The regent received a mortal wound, defeated, and the Scots everywhere gave way. In the field, and during a pursuit for many miles, the number of killed, slain and prisoners was so great, that few of the Scottish army escaped.

Besides the earls of Roys, Sutherland, and Menteith, there were among the slain Malcolm earl of Lennox, an aged baron; he had been one of the foremost to repair to the standard of Robert Bruce, and his last exertions were for his country: Alexander Bruce earl of Carrick, who atoned for the short defection from the family of his benefactor; John Campbell earl of Athole, nephew of the late king; James Fraser, and Simon Fraser; John de Graham, Alexander de Lindsay, Alan Stewart, and many other persons of eminent rank.

The Steward had two uncles, John and James. John was killed, and James mortally wounded and made prisoner (1).

The regent, mortally wounded, and abandoned on the field of battle, only lived to see his army discomfited and himself a prisoner.

This victory was obtained with very inconsiderable loss.

(1) Fordun, I. xiii. c. 28 relates, that Sir James Stewart was slain; the English historians, that he was mortally wounded and made prisoner. It may be remarked, that at Halydon two Stewarts fought under the banner of their chiefs; the one Alan of Dreghorn, the paternal ancestor of Charles I. and the other James of Royston, the paternal ancestor of Oliver Cromwell. Scotland. It is related by the English historians, that, on the side of their countrymen, there were killed one knight, one esquire, and 12 foot-soldiers. Nor will this appear altogether incredible, when we remember, that the English ranks remained unbroken, and that their archers, at a secure distance, incessantly annoyed the Scottish infantry.

According to capitulation, the town and castle of Berwick surrendered. The English king took twelve hostages, for securing the fidelity of the citizens of Berwick.

Thus was the whole of Scotland reduced under the subjection of Baliol, excepting a few fortresses; so that it became necessary to provide for the safety of the young king and queen. Accordingly, they were conveyed to France, where they were honourably entertained. Meanwhile, Baliol employed himself in making new concessions to his liege-lord Edward; and in 1334 the work of submission was completed by a solemn instrument drawn up by Baliol, in which he surrendered great part of the Scottish dominions, to be forever annexed to the crown of England. In this instrument Baliol said, that "he had formerly become bound to make a grant to Edward of lands on the marches, to the amount of two thousand-pound lands; that the Scottish parliament had ratified his obligation; and that he had accordingly surrendered Berwick and its territory; and now, for completely discharging his obligation, he made an absolute surrender to the English crown of the forests of Jedburgh, Selkirk, and Ettrick; of the counties of Roxburgh, Peebles, and Dumfries; together with the county of Edinburgh, and the constabularies of Linlithgow and Haddington." This extraordinary surrender was made with too much precipitation, that Baliol forgot to except his own private estate out of it. This, however, was generously restored to him by Edward; who proclaimed, that, "having already received satisfaction in full, he had too much reverence for God, justice; and good faith to man, to allow the cession to be prejudicial to the private rights of the king of Scots." At the same time, Baliol presented himself before his liege-lord; did homage, and swore fealty, "for the whole kingdom of Scotland and the isles adjacent."

A quarrel now arose among the disinherited lords, to whom this revolution had been owing, which produced the worst consequences to the interest of Baliol. The brother of Alexander de Moulbray died, leaving daughters, but no issue-male. Moulbray having claimed a preference to the daughters of his brother, Baliol countenanced his suit, and, as it appears, put him in possession of the inheritance. Henry de Beaumont, earl of Buchan, and David de Strathbolgie or Haatings, earl of Athol, espoused the cause of the heirs-general; but perceiving that their solicitations were not heard, they left the court in disgust, and retired to their castles about the end of August 1334. Baliol soon perceived his error in offending these two powerful lords; and in order to regain their favour, dismissed Moulbray, and conferred on David de Strathbolgie the whole estates of the young Steward of Scotland. Thus he alienated the affections of Moulbray, and added to the power of the earl of Athol, who was by far too powerful before.

About this time Sir Andrew Murray of Bothwell,

Vol. XVI. Part II. he had taken the place, and put the garrison to the sword; however, his utmost efforts were at last baffled, and he was obliged, notwithstanding his oath, to desist.

In the mean time, the regents assembled a parliament at Dairsy, near Cupar in Fife; but no plan of defence could be fallen upon, by reason of the animosities and factions which prevailed among the barons. Through the mediation of the French, some terms of peace were proposed; but being rejected by the English, Edward again invaded Scotland, cruelly ravaging the country with one army, while Baliol and the earl of Warrane did the same with another. Soon after this invasion, count Guy of Namur landed at Berwick with a considerable number of men-at-arms in the service of the English. He advanced to the neighbourhood of Edinburgh; but was defeated and taken prisoner by the earls of March and Moray, and Sir Alexander Ramsay. In this engagement, one Richard Shaw, a Scottish esquire, was singled out by a combatant in the army of count Guy, and both pierced each other with their spears; the stranger being stripped, was discovered to be a woman. The earl of Moray treated Guy with the greatest respect, not only allowing him and the remainder of his troops to depart from Scotland without molestation, but even attending him to the borders, accompanied by William Douglas and his brother James. On his return, William de Preston, warden of the castle and forest of Jedburgh, attacked and defeated his party; James Douglas was killed, the earl himself taken prisoner, and carried into England.

Thus was the Scottish nation once more reduced to the brink of ruin. Alexander de Mowbray, Geoffrey de Mowbray, and some others, pretending powers from "the earl of Athol and Robert the Steward of Scotland," concluded a treaty with Edward at Perth; the substance of which was, that all the Scots should receive pardon, and have their fees, lands, and offices restored, excepting those who by common assent in parliament should be excluded. The liberties of the church and the ancient laws and usages of Scotland were to remain in full force. All offices were to be filled with Scotchmen, excepting that the king should appoint whom he pleased within his regalities.

The earl of Athol now began to persecute with the utmost fury those who wished well to the cause of Scotland. With 3000 men he besieged the castle of Kilbride, which had hitherto been the great refuge of king David's party. Sir Andrew Murray of Bothwell resolved at all events to attempt the rescue of his wife and family, who were shut up in this castle. With 1100 men he surprised Athol in the forest of Kilmuir. The earl's men, seized with a panic, fled and dispersed themselves; on which their commander, refusing to accept of quarter, was killed. Sir Andrew Murray then assembled a parliament at Dunfermline, where he was immediately appointed regent.

In 1336, the king of England perceiving that the Scots were taken under the patronage of France, resolved to invade their country, and crush them at once before they could have any assistance from their new allies. In this expedition he penetrated as far as Inverness; but the Scots, commanded by Sir Andrew Murray, avoided coming to a general action; so that Edward could not effect anything of consequence.

The inhabitants of Aberdeen attacked one Thomas Rothesme, who had landed at Dunottar. They were defeated; but Rothesme fell in the action. Edward chastised the vanquished severely for their temerity, and laid the town in ashes. He then began to repair the castles whose fortifications had been demolished by king Robert. He put in a state of defence the castles of Dunottar, Kincleven, Lawriefton, Stirling, Bothwell, Edinburgh, and Roxburgh; greatly augmented the fortifications of Perth, and left a considerable body of troops in the place. The Scots began to reduce these castles as soon as Edward was departed; and in 1337, under Sir Andrew Murray, invaded Cumberland. No great exploits, however, were now performed on either side. Edward being employed in preparations for invading France, had little leisure to attend to the affairs of Scotland; and the Scots, divided among themselves, and destitute of those leaders under whom they had acquired so much glory, could not now annoy their enemies as formerly. The most remarkable transaction was the siege of the castle of Dunbar, belonging to the earl of March. The English commander was the earl of Salisbury. The earl of March was absent; but his betrothed wife, the daughter of Randolph, from her complexion the English commonly called Black Agnes, undertook to defend it in her husband's absence. The English again employed that huge machine called a sow, formerly mentioned in our account of the siege of Berwick: it met with the same fate now as at that time; an huge stone, let fall upon it from the top of the walls, crushed it to pieces. The English, baffled in every attack, turned the siege into a blockade; but Sir Alexander Ramsay having found means to enter it with 40 resolute men, the garrison made a sally, and cut in pieces the advanced guard of the enemy. The English, disheartened by so many misfortunes, abandoned the enterprise.

In 1338, Sir Andrew Murray the regent died, and was succeeded in his office by Robert the Steward of Scotland. In 1339 he reduced the town of Perth and the castle of Stirling; and gained over to the Scottish interest William Bullock, governor of the castle of Cupar; after which, having expelled the enemy from every post to the northward of the Forth, he employed himself in settling the affairs of the nation as well as he could.

In 1341, the castle of Edinburgh was surprized by a device of Sir William Bullock. According to his appointment, one Walter Currie of Dundee privately received into his ship the knight of Liddesdale, with William Frazer, Joachim of Kinbuck, and 200 resolute men. Currie cast anchor in Leith road, pretending to be an English shipmaster, who had a cargo of wine and provisions, with which he proposed to furnish the commander of the castle. His barrels and hampers were brought to the castle-gate, and suddenly thrown down in such a manner as to obstruct the shutting of it. Currie and his men then flew the centinels; and the knight of Liddesdale, with a party who lurked in the neighbourhood, rushed in, overpowered the garrison, and made themselves masters of the place.—On the 4th of March this year, the king and queen arrived from France, and arrived landed at Inverberie in Kincardineshire.

In 1342, Sir Alexander Ramsay took the strong forts of Roxburgh; for which important service the king bestowed on him the charge of sheriff of Teviotdale, at that time held by William Douglas knight of Liddesdale. The king's liberality proved fatal to Ramsay; for from that time Douglas became his implacable and inveterate enemy; and having, after a pretended reconciliation, unexpectedly surprized him with three of his friends, he put them instantly to death, carrying off Ramsay himself to his castle of the Hermitage, where he caused him to be starved to death in a most barbarous manner. The unhappy man was confined in a room, over which was an heap of wheat; a few grains of which were let fall every day through a hole, not as many as would support life, but as would protract it for a time, and make him longer sensible of the agonies of hunger; and in this miserable situation he survived 17 days. About the same time Sir William Bullock was put to death by Douglas in a similar manner; nor was King David at that time in a capacity to punish such atrocious cruelties committed by so powerful a subject.

In the mean time, David having raised a powerful army, prepared to take a severe revenge of the English, from whom he had suffered so much. Edward was at that time in France, but commanded Baliol to raise all the militia beyond the Trent; which order, however, produced but little effect; so much was this man-spirited prince despised by the English. David invaded Northumberland without opposition, and ravaged the country; but was obliged to raise the siege of Newcastle, which was commanded by Sir John Nevil, an excellent officer. David, exasperated at this repulse, entered the bishopric of Durham, which he ravaged in the most cruel manner. However, on the approach of Edward with a powerful army, the Scots thought proper to retire; and a two years truce was agreed upon.

This pacification was but short-lived. In 1345 the Scots again prepared to invade England, while Edward took all necessary measures for opposing them; however, this year the Scots were successful, ravaging Westmoreland, and burning several towns. The year ended with a new truce between the two nations; and hostilities were not renewed till 1346, when David entered England with an army of 50,000 men. His first exploit was the taking of the fortress of Liddel, and massacring all whom he found in it. The commander, Sir Walter Selby, capitulated with a Scots knight for his life; but the bargain being disapproved of by David, he ordered two of Selby's sons to be strangled in his presence, and then the father's head to be cut off. From thence the Scots marched to Lancroft, which they plundered; then passing into Northumberland, they pillaged the priory of Hexham, but spared the town, that it might serve as a magazine. Three other towns, Corbridge, Durham, and Darlington, were spared for the same reason. In his march to Durham, it is said that he would have made the county a desert, had not some of the monks paid him a contribution of a thousand pounds to spare their estates; however, according to Knighton, every Englishman who fell into David's hands was put to death, unless he could redeem his life by paying threepence.

To put a stop to the cruelties of this barbarous invader, the queen of England, in her husband's absence, assembled a powerful army, which was divided into four bodies; the first commanded by Lord Henry Percy; the second by the archbishop of York; the third by the bishop of Lincoln, the lord Moubray, and Sir Thomas Rokeby; and the fourth and principal division was headed by Edward Baliol.—The king of Scotland headed a chosen battalion, composed of the flower of his nobility, and the auxiliaries with which he had been supplied by France. The high steward of Scotland headed the second line; and the third was commanded by the earls of Moray and Douglas. While the English were approaching, Lord Douglas and Sir David Graham skirmished with them, but were defeated with the loss of 500 of their men; which seemed an omen of the disaster that was about to ensue. The general engagement began between the archers on both sides; but the English being much superior in the use of the bow, the steward of Scotland advanced to the relief of his countrymen. The English archers, unable to bear his attack, fell back upon Lord Henry Percy's division, which was thus put in confusion, and would have been totally defeated, had not Baliol advanced to their relief with a body of 4000 horse. The steward was then obliged to retire; by which means the flank of that division commanded by David, and which was then engaged with another line of the English, was left exposed to an attack. Baliol perceived the advantage; and, without pursuing the steward, attacked the king's division, which was immediately cut in pieces or dispersed. David was left with about 80 noblemen and gentlemen, but still maintained the fight with obstinacy; defeated, nor would he yield even when wounded in the head and their with an arrow, expecting every moment to be relieved king taken by the steward and that line of his army which was still entire under the Lords Moray and Douglas. At last finding himself totally overpowered, he attempted to retreat, but was overtaken by a party under one John Copeland. This captain, endeavouring to seize the king, had two of his teeth struck out by a blow of his gauntlet; but at last, finding it in vain to resist, the king was obliged to give up his sword and surrender himself a prisoner.—After he was taken, Baliol attacked and totally routed that division of the Scottish army which had hitherto remained entire under the Lords Moray and Douglas. In this battle the Scots lost a great number of their nobility, and 15,000 common soldiers. Many persons of the first distinction were also taken along with the king; and had it not been that the escape of the Scots was favoured by the avarice of the English soldiers, who neglected the pursuit in order to plunder, scarce a single Scotsman would have returned.

King David, after this unfortunate battle, was carried to the castle of Bamborough, where he was kept king David with so much privacy, that for some time it was not known where he was, or that he had been taken prisoner. As soon as the truth was known, the queen of England demanded the royal prisoner from Copeland; but the latter positively refused to part with him even to the queen, unless she could produce an order to that purpose under Edward's hand and seal. This resolute behaviour was resented by the queen, and a complaint made to the king; in consequence of which Copeland was summoned to appear before Edward, after having resigned David to the custody of Lord Nevil. The English monarch, at that time in France, approved of all that he had done, rewarded him with 500l. a year, and sent him back to England with the honour of knighthood. Scotland. David was then escorted by Copeland, attended, it is said, by 20,000 men, from the castle of Ogle in Northumberland, till the Lord Nevil, by indenture, delivered him into the hands of Sir Thomas Rokeby sheriff of Yorkshire. In the same pompous manner he was conducted all the way to London, which he entered on a black courier. He was received in the capital with the greatest solemnity by the lord mayor and other magistrates, the city-companies under arms lining all the streets through which he passed, the houses loaded with spectators, who expressed a generous concern for his captivity. Being arrived at the Tower, he was delivered, by indenture likewise, to the custody of the constable, the Lord John Darcy, on the 2d of January 1347.

Baliol now, encouraged by the misfortune of his rival, made an effort once more to establish himself on the throne of Scotland; and before the end of the year reduced the castles of Hermitage and Roxburgh, the forest of Ettrick, the Merse, with the counties of Annandale, Teviotdale, and Tweeddale. The Scots continued faithful to the cause of their king, notwithstanding his misfortune, and chose the Steward for the guardian of the kingdom. He behaved with a prudence equal to the high station he filled: nevertheless the progress of Baliol was so rapid, that it is scarcely probable he could have maintained his ground, had not Edward again consented to a truce; which, however, seems to have been ill observed on the part of the Scots. In fact, though both Scots and English historians are silent as to particulars, we find, that about the end of the year 1348, all Scotland was recovered out of the hands of the English; excepting Berwick, Roxburgh, Hermitage, and Lanric, which was part of Baliol's hereditary estate, and defended by him with an army. The Scots historians inform us, that the English, in revenge for the damages done to their country by the breach of the peace, proclaimed a tournament and other military exercises at Berwick, to which they invited the Scots; but in their way thither the latter fell into an ambuscade, and were all cut in pieces.

The years 1349 and 1350 were remarkable only for a dreadful plague which invaded Scotland, after having ravaged the continent of Europe. According to Fordun, one third of the people of Scotland perished at this time. The patient's flesh swelled exceedingly, and he died in two days' illness; but the mortality chiefly affected the middling and lower ranks of people. The same dreadful calamity continued throughout the years 1351 and 1352; occasioning a cessation of arms not only in Scotland, but throughout all Europe.

All this time King David remained a prisoner in England; for though several treaties had been proposed, they had hitherto come to nothing, because the English monarch insisted upon being indemnified for the ravages the Scots had committed in his territories. At last it was agreed, that the king of Scotland should be immediately set at liberty, on paying 90,000 merks for his ransom, by equal proportions, within the space of nine years: That 11,000 merks, being the first proportion, should be paid at the feast of Candlemas next to come, the second at Candlemas 1357, and so on till complete payment should be made of the whole: That, during the said space of nine years, there should be a truce between the two kingdoms: That 20 Scots gentlemen, of the best families in the kingdom, should remain in Scotland, England as hostages and sureties for the said sum; and that, if any part thereof was not paid at the precise time appointed, then David should remain a prisoner in England till it was paid; or, if he was detained by any just cause, that the lord high steward, the Lord Douglas, John of the Isles, and others of the highest rank, should come and supply his place.

These terms were rejected by the Scots nobility; and, in 1355, war was recommenced with England, at the instigation of France, who sent 40,000 crowns to war recommenced.

With this sum the guardian, having raised an army, once more took the field; but not before the English had destroyed the Lothians and Dougaldale. A battle was fought on Nifbit-moor: in which the English being drawn into an ambuscade, were totally defeated. The next attempt of the Scots was against the town of Berwick, which they designed to surprise by an escalade. They met, however, with such a vigorous resistance, that many persons of distinction were killed. However, the attack proved successful; but the acquisition was of no great importance, as the castle still held out. Edward, in the mean time, hearing of the loss of the town, hurried back from France to London. Here he staid but three days, and marched northward to raise the siege. He reached Durham on the 23d of December 1355; where he appointed all his military tenants to meet him on the 11th of January 1356. On the 14th of the same month he arrived before Berwick, which was instantly retaken; but the Scots were allowed to depart for their own country. The reduction of this place produced an extraordinary effect: for Baliol now perceived that Edward meant not to establish him on the throne of Scotland, but to retain in his own possession as many places of that country as he could, came at last to the resolution of giving up to the king of England the whole of Scotland. This indeed was no more than a form, because at that time he was not possessed of the kingdom. However, the ceremony was performed at Roxburgh; and Baliol presented his crown signs the fane earth and stones by way of investiture. Baliol in return was to have a revenue of 2000 pounds a year; and as Edward was at the head of an excellent army, he had little doubt of being able to force the Scots to submit.

The affairs of Scotland were now in a very critical situation; and it was necessary to gain time. For this reason Edward was amused with a negociation; and to this he more willingly listened, as he was at that time waiting for his fleet, from which he had great expectations. A little time, however, discovered the deceit. The Scots plainly told Edward, that they would die rather than submit to his demands; and he, in return, threatened a most dreadful revenge. His fleet in the meantime arrived in the Frith of Forth; the mariners destroyed and pillaged all that was within their reach, without sparing even the sacred edifices, carrying off the statues of the blest virgin, loading the monks with chains, and committing every thing in those days called impiety and sacrilege. Edward had by this time marched as far as Haddington, but was obliged to receive provisions all the way from his fleet; for the Scots had defoliated the country through which he passed. During his march his army was harassed, and his... Concerning the origin of the Stewart family, we have the following account by the Scots historians. Fleance, the son of the celebrated Banquo, after his father's murder by Macbeth, fled into Wales, where he had a son named Walter, by a princess of that country. After the restoration of Malcolm Canmore, this Walter returned to Scotland, where he was promoted to the high stewardship, a dignity held by service, and which entitled the possessor to all the privileges of a baron. Walter was now distinguished, from this office, by the title of Walter the Stewart, which descended to his posterity; and Steward, afterwards Stewart, or Stuart, became their surname.

On this subject Lord Hailes has the following remarks. "Our historians have recorded the achievements of Walter the Stewart of Scotland in the reign of Malcolm III. He is said to have been the father of Alan, and the grandfather of that Walter who was indeed Stewart of Scotland in the reign of David I. and Malcolm IV. It may perhaps be ascribed to strange prejudices, or to a spirit of scepticism, when I declare, that hitherto I have seen no evidence that such a person as Walter Stewart of Scotland, in the reign of Malcolm III., did ever exist.

"We are gravely told, 'That Walter the son of Fleance, the son of Banquo, Thane of Lochaber, having killed a man at the court of Griffith, prince of Wales, sought refuge with Edward the Confessor; and having killed another man at Edward's court, sought refuge with Alan the Red, earl of Brittany.' That, on the Norman invasion, he came to England with the earl of Brittany, and signalized himself at the battle of Hastings in 1066: 'That the earl of Brittany, by his first wife Emma, daughter of Siward earl of Northumberland, had an only child Christina; and that he bestowed her in marriage on the young hero.'" This is the story which, after various improvements since the days of Boece, has had the good fortune to obtain credit.

"That Walter, before he had well attained to the age of manhood, should have slain two men in private quarrels, is a circumstance improbable, yet possible; and therefore I object not to it. But his alliance with the earl of Brittany cannot be so easily admitted.

"Alan, surnamed le Roux, a younger son of Eudo earl of Brittany, was one of the gallant adventurers who came over with William the Conqueror; he had neither territories nor court. The historians of Brittany positively assert that he had no children. Besides, it is hard to say by what accident Alan le Roux should have become acquainted with Emma the daughter of Siward earl of Northumberland! I suppose that our historians invented this alliance, in order to strengthen the connection between Walter the Stewart and Malcolm III." Some authors tell us, that at the accession of Robert II., his title was disputed by William earl of Douglas. If any such claim was preferred, an assembly of the States set it aside, and it was resolved that Robert should be crowned at Scone; and to take away for the future all disputes concerning the succession, a particular act was framed, by which the kingdom was secured to Robert and his heirs.

The new king being thus established on the throne, endeavoured to renew the war with the English, in order to recover from them the town of Berwick, and some other places on the borders. In this, however, he failed; and as 56,000 pounds of David's ransom still remained unpaid, Robert bound himself to discharge it at the rate of 4000 marks every midsummer. He then proposed an alliance with France; but the terms demanded by that kingdom being, that Scotland should be obliged to make war with England whenever France should require it, Robert could not by any means be induced to consent to such a requisition, which would have obliged him to break through the most solemn treaties, whenever the king of France should think proper to break with England. A new treaty, therefore, was entered into, by which it was provided, that neither Scotland nor France should be obliged to make war with England; and by another clause, that the dispensation or authority even of the pope himself should never free the kings or kingdoms of France and Scotland from the obligations they lay under to assist one another, as often as required, in opposition to the kingdom of England. In case of a competition for the crown of Scotland, the king of France and his heirs were to take care that no English influence was used; but that the matter being by the greatest and best part of the nation decided conformably to the laws and establishments of Scotland, he should with all his power defend and assist the person so established. Lastly, it was agreed that no Frenchman should ever henceforth serve for wages, or otherwise, against Scotland, nor any Scotman against France.

This last article occasioned a recall of all the Scots from the English armies, which Edward looked upon as a prelude to an invasion. He accordingly issued writs and orders for assembling all the militia in the north of England. At this time an invincible hatred subsisted between the neighbouring people of both nations, which extended

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According to one account, the genealogies of their families stand thus:

Siward earl of Northumberland.

Emma = Alan earl of Brittany. Another daughter = Duncan king of Scots.

Christina = Walter the Stewart. Malcolm III.

Thus Walter the Stewart and Malcolm III. were cousins-german.

According to another account, the genealogy of their families stands thus:

Siward Earl of Northumberland.

Emma = Alan Earl of Brittany. Malcolm III.

Christina = Walter the Stewart.

Thus the mother of Walter the Stewart and Malcolm III. were cousins-german.

It is said, 'That Walter the Stewart had a son, Alan, also Stewart of Scotland.' The evidence of this is to be found in a charter granted by Earl Gospatrick, and in another charter granted by his son Waldeve Earl of March, at Dunbar. In them Alden, or Aldan Dapifer, is mentioned as a witness; that is, say our antiquaries, Alan, the steward of Scotland.

This is the fundamental proposition on which the genealogy of the house of Stuart, as it is commonly understood, may be said to rest. It will be remarked, that this hypothesis takes it for granted, that Alan or Aldan, and Alan, are the same; upon what authority I know not. The Alden mentioned in the two charters seems to have been the steward of Earl Gospatrick, and of Earl Waldeve, not the steward of Scotland.

To the charter by Earl Gospatrick, there are eight witnesses: 'Andrew the arch-deacon; Adam his brother; Nigel the chaplain; Ketel the son of Dolphin; Ernald; Alden the Stewart (Dapifer); Adam the son of Alden; Adam the son of Gospatrick.' Is it possible for credulity itself to believe, that the Alden placed so low in such company, was the high steward of Scotland, a man at least as honourable as Gospatrick himself? I can have no doubt, that the witnesses to this charter were the dependents or household-servants of Earl Gospatrick; and that if we interpret Nigellus Capellanus to be Nigel the earl's chaplain, we must interpret Aldenus Dapifer to be Alden the earl's steward.

To the charter granted by Earl Waldeve, there are nine witnesses. Alden Dapifer is the seventh in order. There are only three among them who seem to have been landed men: 'Elias de Hadefstandena (probably Haffenden),'

*There was a certain princess of Denmark who brought forth a son to a bear. This son was called Bern, and, natural enough like, had ears like a bear. He was the father of Siward earl of Northumberland. Bruntonton, p. 915. ap. Twidten.* extended not only through the lower ranks, but had per- vaded the higher classes also. The inhabitants of the borders, indeed, paid very little regard to the orders of their respective sovereigns; so that daily hostilities were committed by them upon each other when there was peace between the sovereigns. The inhabitants of these countries had established with one another certain con- ventions, which have since been collected, and go by the name of the Border laws. The families of Dou- glas and Percy, whose estates lay contiguous to one an- other, were at perpetual variance. It had been com- mon for the borderers of both kingdoms, during a truce, to frequent each others' fairs; and a servant of the earl of March had been killed in a fray at that of Roxburgh, which was still in the hands of the English. Justice for this murder was demanded from lord Percy; but he flighted the complaint. On this the earl of March, with his brother the earl of Moray, assembling their followers, entered the next fair that was held in Roxburgh, plundered and burnt the town, and killed all the English who fell into their hands. The English borderers were ordered to lay waste the lands of the earl of March; but, in their way thither, destroyed the estate of Sir John Gordon, a man of great property in the south of Scotland. Sir John in his turn invaded England, from whence he drove off a large booty in cattle, and a number of prisoners. In his retreat he was attacked by a body of fresh troops under Sir John Lilburn, at a place called Caron. An obstinate en- counter followed. The Scots were five times repulsed; but at last they renewed the charge with such fury, that they made Lilburn, his brother, and several other per- sons of distinction, prisoners, together with all their surviving soldiers. On this lord Percy with 7000 men encamped at Duns, in the south of Scotland; but was obliged to retire, probably for want of subsistence for his army. In the mean time, Mulgrave, the governor of Berwick, who had been ordered to join Percy with a detachment from the garrison, was on his march in- terception, defeated, and taken prisoner by Sir John Gordon; after which the border war became general on both sides. The issue of these disturbances is but little known; however, in 1377, we find them raging with more violence than ever. The fair of Roxburgh was once more the scene of action, and the town was again burnt down by the Scots. Lord Percy, who was now

Hassenden), William de Copland, and William de Hellebat (q. Elbottle); all the three are placed before Alden Dapifer.

"It has been remarked, 'That in those days the title of flewart or dapifer was too high a title to be given to the retainer of an earl.' I answer, that the Saxon Chronicle, anno 1093, says, 'Morel of Bochbahurh was thase corles fleward,' i.e. Morel of Bamborough was this earl's flewart, or the steward of Robert Earl of Northumberland. Besides, to a charter granted by Earl Gospatrick the Elder, Lambertus Dapifer is a witness. If Lambertus Dapifer, in a charter of Gospatrick the Elder, implies Lambert the flewart of the family of March, why should Aldenus Dapifer, in the charters of the son and grandson of Gospatrick, imply the flewart of Scotland?

"I believe that no defender of the common hypothesis will answer this objection, by pretending that Lambertus Dapifer was indeed flewart of Scotland. Such an answer would leave no room for Walter Stewart of Scotland, who is held to have been a distinguished personage in the reign of Malcolm III.

"It is curious to see upon what slight grounds our antiquaries have established the connection between Aldenus Dapifer and the house of Stewart. Walterus filius Alani appears to have flourished in the reign of David I. In the reign of Malcolm IV. he is termed Dapifer. Hence it has been rashly concluded, that Walterus Dapifer filius Alani was the son of that Aldenus Dapifer who is a witness to the charters of Gospatrick and Waldever.

"I persuade myself, that Alden Dapifer, and Alan the father of Walter Stewart of Scotland, in the reign of Malcolm IV. were different persons; and that they had nothing in common but the Christian name, if indeed they had that in common.

"Some of my readers may demand, 'Who then was Alan the father of Walter, Stewart of Scotland in the reign of Malcolm IV.?'

"I can only answer this question by demanding, 'Who was the father of Martach Earl of Marre in the reign of Malcolm III.; of Gilchrist Earl of Angus in the reign of Alexander I.; of Fergus Lord of Galloway in the reign of Malcolm IV.; or of Friskinus de Moravia, ancestor of the family of Sutherland, in the reign of William the Lion? Or, to keep in the supposed line of the royal family of Stewart, 'Who was the father of Banquo- Thane of Lochaber?'

"Many answers may no doubt be made to this last question. Kennedy says, that the father of Banquo was one of the seven sons of Corc king of Munster; Sir George MacKenzie, of Ferquhard, the son of Kenneth III.; and Simpson, the son of Ferquhard Thane of Lochaber, the son of Kenneth, the son of Murdoch, the son of Doir, the son of Eth king of Scotland.

"It is remarkable, that Abercrombie relates all those contradictory stories, without ever suspecting the natural inference arising from them, 'That if noble persons are not satisfied with a long pedigree, proved by authentic instruments, they must believe in flattering and ignorant fictions; and that if they scorn to wait for the dawn of record to enlighten their descent, they must bewilder themselves in dark and fabulous genealogies.'

"In the reign of David I. before the middle of the 12th century, the family of the Stewarts was opulent and powerful. It may therefore have subsisted for many ages previous to that time; but when, and what was its commencement, we cannot determine." Scotland. earl of Northumberland, resolved to take signal vengeance. He ravaged the Scots borders, particularly the earl of March's estate, for three days, at the head of 10,000 men. Some time after this, the Scots insurgents became powerful enough to surprise Berwick; which, however, was quickly retaken by the English, who soon after invaded Scotland. In this expedition, however, they succeeded so ill, that Percy thought proper to desist from his expedition. The Scots in the meantime began hostilities by sea, under one Mercer, an experienced sailor; but he had the misfortune to be taken prisoner by the English, with all his fleet. In 1379, England was afflicted with a dreadful plague, of which the Scots took advantage to invade the country. The English historians tell us that they behaved with the utmost barbarity, killing and plundering the defenseless inhabitants without mercy.

This predatory war continued, generally to the disadvantage of the English, till the beginning of November 1380, when a truce was concluded, to continue for a year; which, however, related only to the borders. This truce, like the others, was but very indifferently observed; so that, in 1383, new negotiations were set on foot; but, in 1384, the war was renewed with greater fury than ever. In the spring, the earls of March and Douglas took the cattle of Lochmaben, and intercepted a rich convoy which the English were sending to Roxburgh; burnt to the ground the castle of Wark, and committed such devastations in the north of England, that several gentlemen offered to resign their estates to King Richard, because they were not able to defend them against the Scots. The Duke of Lancaster entered Scotland at the head of an army; but the inhabitants had removed every thing valuable, so that he marched on to Edinburgh without accomplishing any thing of consequence. On his return, he was harassed by flying parties of Scots, who destroyed a considerable number of his men. This year also the French sent a body of auxiliaries into Scotland. The earls of Northumberland and Nottingham entered Scotland with an army of 10,000 horse and 6000 archers; but retired, after having committed some devastations in the southern counties. The Scots revenged themselves by laying waste all the northern part of England to the gates of Newcastle. Berwick was taken by the Scots, and soon after surrendered for the sum of 2000 marks. A truce was then, as usual, concluded; but in the mean time king Robert was meditating a most severe blow against the English.

The Duke of Burgundy having come to the possession of the estate of his father-in-law the earl of Flanders, claimed the sovereignty of the town of Ghent; but they refused to submit to him, and in this refusal were protected by king Richard II. of England. On this the duke of Burgundy proposed to the French court to invade England in concert with the Scots. This being agreed to, a fleet was fitted out at Sluys; on board of which John de Vienne, the French admiral, embarked, carrying along with him 50,000 pounds in gold, which the duke of Burgundy advanced in order to be distributed in Scotland, where the admiral arrived safe with a considerable reinforcement, together with supplies of all kinds of military stores. Two thousand auxiliaries, of whom 500 were men-at-arms, arrived with this fleet; and 400 suits of complete armour were brought along with them, in order to be distributed among the bravest of the Scots.

The Scots were for a short time elated with the great attention which had been paid them by the French king; but, in the mean time, the Flemings having revolted, the French abandoned the Scots to sustain the whole weight of the English resentment, that they themselves might employ their arms in Flanders. King Richard took the field with a more numerous army than had ever been mustered in England before. Hostilities were begun by the Scots, who, according to custom, invaded the northern parts of England, and carried off a considerable booty; however, in their retreat, they were in the utmost danger of being cut off by the duke of Lancaster, who had been sent with an army to intercept them. The English army proceeded northwards; but could accomplish nothing, on account of the country being defoliated, till they came to Edinburgh, which they laid in ashes. Being, however, incessantly harassed by parties of the enemy, they were obliged to retreat.

Nothing remarkable happened till the year 1378, when, after a short truce, the war was renewed with fresh fury. Northumberland and Westmoreland were ravaged by the earls of Fife and Douglas, and Lord Nithsdale defeated a body of 3000 English; after which he formed the plan of invading Ireland, the inhabitants of which had of late been very active against the Scots. In 1388, Douglas obtained permission to raise a body of forces for this invasion; and having landed in safety, defeated the Irish, plundered the town of Carlingford, and loaded fifteen ships with the booty. From thence the Scots failed to the isle of Man, which in like manner was plundered and laid waste; after which they returned with their booty to Loch Ryan in Scotland.

Encouraged by this success, Robert determined to proceed on a more enlarged plan. Having assembled a large force at Aberdeen, a double invasion of England was resolved upon. Two armies were raised; the one consisting of 25,000 men, commanded by the earls of Menteith and Fife, Douglas, lord of Galloway, and Alexander Lindsay; the other army, consisting of the like number, was commanded by the earls of Douglas, March, Crawford, Moray, the lord high constable of Scotland, and other persons of distinction. The former entered Cumberland, and the latter Northumberland, both which countries they laid waste, and both armies were to meet within ten miles of Newcastle. The English were thrown into the greatest consternation. Newcastle was defended by the earl of Northumberland, whose age and infirmities rendered him incapable of taking the field; but his place was abundantly supplied by his two sons Henry and Ralph, the former of whom is known in English history by the name of Hotspur. The town was garrisoned by the flower of the English nobility and gentry, as well as the inhabitants of the adjacent countries, who had fled thither for refuge. Douglas selected 2000 foot and 300 horsemen out of the two armies, and encamped on the north side of the town, with a view, according to the Scots historians, of forming it next day. In the mean time, he was challenged by Hotspur to fight him hand to hand, with single combat, sharp ground spears, in sight of both armies. Douglas accepted the challenge, and Percy was unhorsed in the first encounter, and obliged to take refuge within the port-Percy. portcullis or gate of the town; from whence Douglas brought off his antagonist's lance, with a pennon affixed to it, and swore in his hearing that he would carry it into Scotland. Next day Douglas attempted to storm the town; but, being repulsed in the attack, he decamped in the night. Percy, breathing furious revenge, pursued and overtook the Scots at Otterburn. His arrival was quite unexpected, so that the principal commanders of the Scottish army were fitting down to supper unarmed. The soldiers, however, were instantly prepared for battle; but in the hurry necessarily attending a surprize of this kind, Douglas forgot to put on his cuirass. Both leaders encouraged their men by the most animating speeches; and both parties waited for the rise of the moon, which happened that night to be unusually bright. The battle being joined on the moon's first appearance, the Scots began to give ground; but, being rallied by Douglas, who fought with a battle-ax, the English, though greatly superior in number, were totally routed. Twelve hundred were killed on the spot; and 100 persons of distinction, among whom were the two Percies, were made prisoners by Keith marshal of Scotland. On the side of the Scots the greatest loss was that of the brave earl Douglas, who was killed in consequence of going to battle without his armour, as above related. It was this single combat between Douglas and Percy, and the subsequent battle, which gave rise to the celebrated ballad of Chevy Chase.

In the meantime the bishop of Durham was marching towards Newcastle with an army of 10,000 men; but was informed by the runaways of Percy's defeat, which happened on the 21st of July 1388. In a council of war it was resolved to pursue the Scots, whom they hoped easily to vanquish, as being wearied with the battle of the preceding day, and laden with plunder. The earl of Moray, who commanded in chief, having called a consultation of his officers, resolved to venture a battle. The prisoners were almost as numerous as the whole Scots army; however, the generals required no more of them than their words of honour that they should continue inactive during the battle, and remain prisoners still. This condition being complied with, the Scots drew out their army for battle.—Their rear was secured by marshes, and their flanks by large trees which they had felled. In short, their appearance was so formidable, that the English, dreading to encounter a resolute enemy so strongly secured, retired to Newcastle, leaving the Scots at liberty to continue their march to their own country.

Robert being now opprest with age, so that he could no longer endure the fatigues of government, the administration of affairs devolved upon his eldest son the earl of Fife; for his eldest son was by nature indolent, and besides lame by an unlucky blow he had received from a horse. Early in the spring of 1389, he invaded England with success; but the same year a truce was concluded, to last from the 15th of June 1389 to the 16th of August 1392; in which the allies of both crowns were included. This truce was violently opposed by the nobility, who suspected their king of being too much under French influence. Upon this the court of France thought proper to send over ambassadors to persuade the nobility to comply; informing them, that in case of a refusal, they could expect no assistance either of men or money from the continent. With difficulty they prevailed, and peace between England and Scotland was once more restored. Scarce, however, was this truce finished, when the peace of the nation was most scandalously violated by Robert's third son the earl of Buchan. This prince having a quarrel with the bishop of Murray, burnt down the fine cathedral of Elgin, which has been called by historians the lanthorn and ornament of the north of Scotland. The king for this crime caused his son to be imprisoned; and a civil war would have been the consequence, had it not been for the veneration which the Scots retained for their old king. However, they did not long enjoy their beloved monarch; for he died on the 19th of April 1390, in the 75th year of his age, and the 19th is succeeded by Robert III.

On the death of Robert II. the crown devolved upon his eldest son John; but the name being thought unlucky in Scotland, he changed it for that of Robert, though he was still called by the commonalty Robert John Fernzier. He had been married to Annabella, the daughter of Sir John Drummond, ancestor to the noble family of Perth; and was crowned along with his comfort at Scone, on the 13th of August 1390. He confirmed the truce which had been entered into with England, and renewed the league with France; but the beginning of his reign was disturbed by the wars of the petty chieftains with each other. Duncan Stewart, the earl, son to Alexander earl of Buchan, who had died in Buchan, prifon for burning the cathedral of Elgin, assembling his followers under pretence of revenging his father's death, laid waste the county of Angus. Walter Ogilvy, the sheriff of Angus, attempting to repel the invaders, was killed, with his brother and 60 of their followers. The king then gave a commission to the earl of Crawford to suppress them; which he soon did, and most of them were either killed or executed. The followers of the earl of Buchan were composed of the wildest Highlanders, distinguished by the title of Gattereners, which answers to that of banditti. That such a race of people existed is certain from the records of Scotland; but it is not easy to determine how they obtained their subsistence, being void of the knowledge of agriculture and of every civil art. There is some reason to believe that many of them came from the Western Isles; and that they or their ancestors had emigrated from the eastern parts of Ireland. The lands they inhabited were never cultivated till towards the middle of the last century; and, according to the most authentic accounts, they lived entirely upon animal food.

The earl of Crawford's success against the followers of Buchan encouraged Robert to intrust him with a commission for subduing other insurgents by whom the peace of the country was disturbed. The most remarkable of these were the Clan Chattan and Clan Kay. As between both these tribes were numerous and brave, Crawford of the clan was not without apprehensions that they might unite Chattan against him as a common enemy, and defeat him if he and clan attempted to suppress them by force. He proposed, therefore, that the two rival clans should each choose 40 men, to determine their differences by the sword, without being allowed the use of any other weapon. The king and his nobility were to be spectators of the combat; the conquered clan were to be pardoned for all their former offences, and the conquerors honoured Scotland with the royal favour. This proposal was readily accepted by both parties, and the north inch of Perth was to be the scene of action. But, upon mustering the combatants, it was found that one of them, belonging to the clan Chattan, had absented himself. It was proposed to balance this difference by withdrawing one of the combatants from the clan Kay; but not one of them could be prevailed on to resign his place. At last one Henry Wynd, a saddler, though no way connected with either party, offered to supply the place of him that was absent, on condition of his receiving a French crown of gold (about 7 s. 6 d. of our money); which was immediately paid him. The combat then began with incredible fury; but at last, through the superior valour and skill of Henry Wynd, victory declared in favour of the clan Chattan. Only ten of the conquerors, besides Wynd, were left alive; and all of them desperately wounded. Of the clan Kay only one remained; and he having received no hurt escaped by swimming across the Tay.

While these internal broils were going on, the truce which had lately been concluded with England was so ill observed, that it became necessary to enter into fresh negotiations. These, like others which had taken place before, had very little effect. The borderers on both sides had been so accustomed to ravage and plunder, that they could not live in quiet. King Robert also was thought to be too much attached to the king of England. He had introduced the new title of duke, which he bestowed first on the prince royal; but making an offer of that honour to one of the heads of the Douglas family, it was rejected with disdain. That powerful family had never lost sight of an ancient claim they had upon the castle of Roxburgh, which was still in the possession of the English; and this year the son of the earl of Douglas, Sir William Stewart, and others, broke down the bridge of Roxburgh, plundered the town, and destroyed the forage and corn there and in the neighbouring country. The English applied for satisfaction; but obtained none, as the confusion which involved the kingdom by the deposition of Richard II. and the accession of Henry IV. prevented them from having recourse to arms, the only argument to which the Scots patriots in those days would listen.

No sooner was the catastrophe of Richard known in Scotland, than they resolved to avail themselves of it; and invading the north parts of England, demolished the castle of Wark, and laid the neighbouring country under contribution. The situation of Henry's affairs did not admit of his resenting this insult. He contented himself with nominating his brother the earl of Westmoreland, to treat with the Scots about a truce or peace; or, if that could not be obtained, to make a mutual agreement, that the towns of Dumfries in Scotland, and Penrith in England, should be free from hostilities during the war. To this proposal the Scots paid no regard; and being encouraged by the court of France, who resented the deposition of Richard, they renewed their ravages in England. In 1400, the king of England called a parliament, in order to consult on the most proper means of repelling the Scottish invasions; and in this he was greatly assisted by the divisions of the Scots among themselves. The duke of Rothesay, the heir-apparent of the crown, was now grown up to man's estate, and it was thought proper to provide a suitable comfort for him. The king is said to have scandalously put up his son's marriage at auction, and offered him behaviour to the lady whose father could give him the highest price. The earl of March was the highest bidder; and with re-advanced a considerable sum in ready money, on condition that his daughter should become the royal bride.

This forlorn match was opposed by Douglas, who proposed his own daughter the lady Margery. So degenerate was the court of Scotland at this time, that neither the king nor the duke of Rothesay opposed this proposal of a new match, because it was to be purchased with a fresh sum; and they even refused to indemnify the earl of March for the money he had already advanced.

As the duke of Albany sided with Douglas, a council of the nobility was privately assembled, which annulled the contract of the lady Elizabeth Dunbar, the earl of March's daughter, in favour of the lady Margery, daughter to the earl of Douglas; but without taking any measures for repaying the money to the earl of March. The continuator of Fordun informs us, that the earl of Douglas paid a larger sum for his daughter's fortune than that which had been advanced by the earl of March, and that the earl of Douglas's daughter was married to the duke of Rothesay: that before the marriage was celebrated, March demanded Earl of that the money he had advanced should be reimbursed; but receiving an unsatisfactory answer, he declared, that as the king had not fulfilled his bargain, he would bring unexpected calamities upon the country. Accordingly he fled into England, leaving his castle of Dunbar to the custody of his nephew Robert Maitland, who soon after put it into the hands of the earl of Douglas, called in history Archibald the Grim, from the sternness of his visage.

As soon as Robert heard of the revolt of the earl of March, he sent ambassadors demanding back his subject; but the request was disregarded. On the other hand, the earl of March demanded repossession of the castle of Dunbar, pleading, that he had committed no act of treason, but had come to England under a safe conduct from king Henry, on purpose to negotiate his private affairs: but this request was disregarded; upon which he sent for all his family and followers to England, where they joined him in great numbers. This produced a war between the two kingdoms. The earl of March, with Henry Percy, named Hotspur, invaded Scotland, penetrating as far as Haddington, and carrying off great numbers of the inhabitants into captivity. From thence they went to Peebles, and then to Linton, ravaging the country all the way as they passed along. They next besieged the castle of Hales, and took several of the neighbouring forts; but Archibald the Grim, or rather his son, having raised an army against them, they were struck with terror, and fled to Berwick, to the gates of which they were pursued by the Scots. At this time the Scottish admiral, Sir Robert Logan, was at sea with a squadron; but miscarried in an attempt he made upon some English ships of war that protected their fleet when fishing upon the coast of Scotland. After this the English plundered the Orkney islands; which, though belong- ing to the crown of Norway, were at that time governed, or rather farmed, by Sinclair the Scots earl of Orkney and Caithness.

All this time the earl of March continued under the protection of the king of England. He had received repeated invitations to return to his allegiance; but all of them being rejected, he was proclaimed a traitor; and the Scottish governor made a formal demand of him from king Henry. With this the latter not only refused to comply, but renewed his league with the lord of the isles. He pretended also, that at this time he had intercepted some letters from the Scottish regency, which called him "a traitor in the highest degree;" and he alleged this as a reason why he protected not only the earl of March but the lord of the isles.

On the 25th of July 1400, the earl of March renounced his homage, fealty, and service, to the king of Scotland, and transferred them to Henry by a formal indenture. For this the earl was rewarded with a pension of 500 merks Sterling, and the manor of Clipestone in Sherwood forest. Henry now began to revive the claim of homage from the kings of Scotland, and even to meditate the conquest of the kingdom. He had indeed many reasons to hope for success; the principal of which were, the weakness of the Scottish government, the divided state of the royal family, and the dissensions among the chief nobility. For this purpose he made great preparations both by sea and land; but before he set out on his journey, he received a letter from the duke of Rothesay, full of reproaches on account of the presumptuous letters which Henry had addressed to Robert and his nobility. The letter was addressed by the duke to his adversary in England, as the Scots had not yet recognized the title of Henry to the crown of England. Towards the end of it the duke, according to the custom of the times, desired Henry, in order to avoid the effusion of Christian blood, to fight him in person with two, three, or an hundred noblemen on a side. But this challenge produced no other answer from Henry, than that "he was surprised that the duke of Rothesay should consider noble blood as not being Christian, since he desired the effusion of the one, and not of the other." Henry arrived at Leith on the very day in which he had appointed the Scottish nobility to meet him and pay their homage, and conclude a peace between the two crowns. In all probability, he expected to have been joined by great numbers of the discontented Scots; and he flattered the English with a promise of raising the power and glory of their country, to a higher pitch than it had ever known. Under this pretext, he seized upon the sum of 350,000 pounds in ready money, besides as much in plate and jewels, which had been left by Richard in the royal treasury. He raised also vast contributions on the clergy and nobility, and likewise on the principal towns and cities. At last, finding that neither his vast preparations, nor the interest of the earl of March, had brought any of the Scots to his standard, he formed the siege of Edinburgh castle, which was defended by the duke of Rothesay, and, as some say, by the earl of Douglas. The duke of Albany, brother to king Robert, was then in the field with an army, and sent a letter to king Henry, promising, that if he would remain where he was for six days, he would give him battle, and force him to raise the siege, or lose his life. When this was written, the duke was at Caldermuir; and Henry was so much pleased with the letter, that he presented the herald who delivered it with his upper garment, and a chain of gold; promising, on his royal word, that he would remain where he was until the appointed day. On this occasion, however, the duke forfeited his honour; for he suffered six days to elapse without making any attempt on the English army.

Henry, in the mean time, pushed on the siege of Edinburgh castle; but met with such a vigorous resistance from the duke of Rothesay, that the hopes of reducing it were but small. At the same time he was informed that the Welsh were on the point of rebellion under the famous chieftain named Owen Glendower. He knew also that many of the English were highly dissatisfied with his title to the crown; and that he owed his peaceable possession of it to the moderation of the earl of March, who was the real heir to the unfortunate Richard, but a nobleman of no ambition. For these reasons he concluded it best to raise the siege of Edinburgh castle, and to return to England. He then agreed to a truce for six weeks, but which was afterwards prolonged, probably for a year, by the commissioners of the two crowns, who met at Kelso.

In 1401, Scotland suffered a great loss by the death of Walter Trail, the archbishop of St Andrew's, a most exemplary patriot, and a person of great influence. Archibald Douglas the Grim had died some time before, and his loss was now severely felt; for the king himself, naturally feeble, and now quite disabled by his age and infirmities, was sequestered from the world in such a manner, that we know not even the place of his residence during the last invasion of Scotland by the English. This year also queen Anabella died, so that none remained who might be able to heal those divisions which prevailed among the royal family. Robert duke of Albany, a man of great ambition, was an enemy to the duke of Rothesay, the heir-apparent to the crown; and endeavoured, for obvious reasons, to impress his father with a bad opinion of him. This prince, however, appears to have been chargeable with no misdemeanor of any consequence, excepting his having debauched, under promise of marriage, the daughter of William Lindsay of Rossy. But this is not supported by any credible evidence; and, though it had been true, could never justify the horrid treatment he met with, and which we are now about to relate.

One Ramorgny, a man of the vilest principles, but an attendant on the duke of Rothesay, had won his confidence; and, perceiving how much he resented the conduct of his uncle the duke of Albany, had the villainy to suggest to the prince the dispatching him by assassination. The prince rejected this infamous proposal with such horror and displeasure, that the villain, being afraid he would disclose it to the duke of Albany, informed the latter, under the seal of the most inviolable secrecy, that the prince intended to murder him; upon which the duke, and William Lindsay of Rossy his associate in the treason, resolved upon the prince's death. By practising upon the doating king, Lindsay and Ramorgny obtained a writ directed to the duke of Albany, empowering him to arrest his son, and to keep him under restraint, in order for his amendment. The same traitors had previously possessed the prince with an apprehension that his life was in danger, and had persuaded him to seize the castle of St Andrew's, and to keep possession of it during the vacancy of that see. Robert had nominated one of his bastard brethren, who was then deacon of St Andrew's, to that bishopric; but being a person no way fitted for such a dignity, he declined the honour, and the chapter refused to elect any other during his lifetime; so that the prince had a prospect of possessing the castle for some time. He was riding thither with a small attendance, when he was arrested between the towns of Nidi and Strati- rum (according to the continuator of Fordun), and hurried to the very castle of which he was preparing to take possession.

The duke of Albany, and the earl of Douglas, who was likewise the prince's enemy, were then at Culross, waiting the event of their detestable conspiracy; of which they were no sooner informed, than they ordered a strong body of ruffians to carry the royal captive from the castle of St Andrew's; which they did, after clothing him in a russet cloak, mounting him on a very sorry horse, and committing him to the custody of two execrable wretches, John Selkirk and John Wright, who were ordered by the duke of Albany to starve him to death. According to Buchanan, his fate was for some time prolonged by the compassion of one of his keeper's daughters, who thrust thin oat cakes through the chinks of his prison-walls, and by a woman who, being a wet nurse, found means to convey part of her milk to him through a small tube. Both these charitable females were detected, and put to death; the young lady's inhuman father being himself the prosecutor. The prince himself died a few days after, on Easter-eve, his hunger having impelled him to devour part of his own flesh.

In the mean time, Robert, being yet ignorant of the murder of his son, had renewed, or rather consented to renew, hostilities with England. On the expiration of the truce, Henry had sent a commission to the earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland, to offer the Scots any terms they could reasonably desire; but every offer of this kind being rejected, there was a necessity for renewing hostilities. The earl of March had received another pension from Henry, on condition of his keeping on foot a certain number of light troops to act against the Scots. This had been done; and so effectually did these now annoy their enemies, that the earl of Douglas was obliged to take the field against them. By dividing his men into small parties, he repressed the depredations of these invaders; and Thomas Haliburton, the commander of one of the Scottish parties, made incursions into England as far as Bamborough, from whence he returned with a considerable booty. This encouraged another chieftain, Patrick Hepburn, to make a similar attempt; but being elated with his success, he remained too long in the enemy's country; so that the earl of March had time to send a detachment to intercept him on his return. This produced a desperate encounter, in which Hepburn was killed; the flower of the youth of Lothian, who had attended in this expedition, were cut off, and scarce a single Scotman remained unwounded.

On the news of this disaster, the earl of Douglas applied to the duke of Albany for assistance. He was immediately furnished with a considerable army, according to some, consisting of 10,000; according to others of 13,000; and according to the English historians, of 20,000 men. Murdoc, the son of the duke, attended the earl on this expedition, as did also the earls of Moray, Angus, Orkney, and many others of the chief nobility, with 80 knights. The Scots on this occasion conducted themselves with the same imprudence they had done before. Having penetrated too far into the country, they were intercepted by the English on their return, and obliged to engage at a place called Homel-Homeldon, under great disadvantages. The consequence was, that they were utterly defeated, and almost the whole army either killed or taken.

Henry Hotspur, to whom this victory was chiefly owing, resolving to pursue the advantage he had gained, entered the southern parts of the kingdom, and laid siege to a castle called Cocklawys, on the borders of Te-Cocklawys viotdale. The castle was for some time bravely defended; but at last the governor entered into a treaty, by which it was agreed to deliver up the castle, in case it was not relieved by the king or governor in six weeks; during which time no additional fortifications were to be made. But while the English were retiring, one of Percy's soldiers pretended that the Scots had broken the capitulation, by introducing a mattock into the place. The governor, hearing of this charge, offered to fight any Englishman who should engage to make it good. A champion was accordingly singled out, but was defeated by the Scotman; and the English army retired according to agreement. The matter then being debated in the Scottish council, it was resolved to send relief to the castle. Accordingly the duke of Albany, with a powerful army, set out for the place; but before he came there, certain news were received of the defeat and death of Hotspur, at Shrewsbury, as related under the article ENGLAND, n° 182.

In the year 1404, king Henry, exceedingly desirous of a peace with Scotland, renewed his negotiations for that purpose. These, however, not being attended with success, hostilities were still continued, but without any remarkable transaction on either side. In the meantime, king Robert was informed of the miserable fate of his eldest son the duke of Rothesay; but was unable to resent it by executing justice on such a powerful murderer. After giving himself up to grief, therefore, for some time, he resolved to provide for the safety of his second son James, by sending him into France, to France. This scheme was not communicated to the duke of Albany; and the young prince took shippping by the English with all imaginable secrecy at the Baas, under the care of the earl of Orkney. On his voyage he was taken by an English privateer off Flamborough-head, and brought before Henry. The English monarch having examined the attendants of the prince, they told him that they were carrying the prince to France for his education. "I understand the French tongue (replied Henry), and your countrymen ought to have been kind enough to have trusted me with their prince's education." He then committed the prince and his attendants close prisoners to the tower of London. The news of this disaster arrived at the castle of Rothesay in the isle of Bute (the place of Robert's residence) while the king was at supper. The news threw him into such an agony of grief, that he died in three days. Scotland, the 29th of March 1405, after having reigned near 15 years.

By the death of Robert, and the captivity of the prince, all the power devolved upon the duke of Albany, who was appointed regent by a convention of the states assembled at Scone. The allegiance of the people, however, to their captive prince could not be shaken; so that the regent was obliged to raise an army for the purpose of releasing him. Henry summoned all his military tenants, and made great preparations; but, having agreed to treat of a final peace with Ireland and the lord of the Isles, the regent laid hold of this as a pretence for entering into a new negotiation with the English monarch; and a truce was concluded for a year, during which time all differences were to be settled. In consequence of this agreement, Rothefay, king at arms, was appointed commissary-general for the king and kingdom of Scotland; and in that quality repaired to the court of England. At the time when the prince of Scotland was taken, it seems that there had been a truce, however ill observed on both sides, subsisting between the two nations. Rothefay produced the record of this truce, which provided that the Scots should have a free navigation; and in consequence of this, he demanded justice of the captain and crew of the privateer who had taken the prince. Henry ordered the matter to be inquired into; but the English brought their complaints as well as the Scots; and the claims of both were so intricate, that the examination fell to the ground, but at the same time the truce was prolonged.

In the end of the year 1409, or the beginning of 1410, the war was renewed with England, and Henry prepared to strike a fatal blow which he had long meditated against Scotland. He had, as we have seen, entered into a league with the lord of the Isles, where a considerable revolution then happened. Walter Lesley had succeeded to the estate and honours of the earl of Ross, in right of his wife, who was the heir. By that marriage, he had a son named Alexander, who succeeded him; and a daughter, Margaret, who was married to the lord of the Isles. This Alexander had married one of the regent's daughters; and dying young, he left behind him an only daughter, Euphane, who was deformed, and become a nun at North Berwick. Her grandfather, the regent, procured from her a resignation of the earldom of Ross, to which she was undoubtedly heir, in favour of John earl of Buchan, but in prejudice of Donald lord of the Isles, who was the son of Margaret, sister to the earl Alexander, and consequently the nearest heir to the estate after the nun. Donald applied for redress; but his suit being rejected, he, with his brother John, fled into England, where he was most graciously received by king Henry. According to the instructions given him by the English monarch, Donald returned to his own dominions in the Isles, where he raised an army, and passing over into Rossshire, violently seized on the estate in dispute. In a short time he found himself at the head of 10,000 Highlanders; with whom he marched into the province of Moray, and from thence to Strathbogie and Garioch, which he laid under contribution. Advancing towards Aberdeen, with a view to pay his troops with the plunder of that city, which was then a place of considerable trade, he was met by the earl of Mar, whom the regent had employed to command against him, at a village called Harlaw, in the neighbourhood of Aberdeen. A fierce engagement ensued, in which great numbers were killed on both sides, and the victory remained uncertain; but Donald, finding himself in the midst of an enemy's country, where he could raise no recruits, began to retreat next day; and the shattered state of the royal army prevented him from being pursued, he escaped to his own dominions, where in a short time he submitted, and swore allegiance to the crown of Scotland.

In the mean time, Henry continued the war with Scotland, and refused to renew the truce, though frequently solicited by the Scots. He had now, however, sustained a great loss by the defection of the earl of March, who had gone over to the Scots, though the historians have not informed us of his quarrel with the English monarch. On his return to Scotland, he had been fully reconciled to the Douglas family, and now strove to distinguish himself in the cause of his country. This, with the countenance which was shown the Scots by the court of France, a bull published by the pope in their favour, and the vigorous behaviour of the regent himself, contributed to reduce Henry to reason; and we hear of no more hostilities between the two nations till after the death of the English monarch, which happened in the year 1413.

In 1415, the truce being either broken or expired, the Scots made great preparations for besieging Berwick. The undertaking, however, came to nothing; all that was done during the campaign being the burning of Penrith by the Scots, and of Dumfries by the English. Next year a truce was agreed upon, and a treaty entered into for the ransom of King James; which was so far advanced, that the English king agreed to his visiting Scotland, provided he engaged to forfeit 102,000 pounds Sterling in case of his failure to return by a certain day. For reasons now unknown, this treaty was broken off, and vast preparations were made for a new invasion of Scotland; Henry, which, however, was executed with so little success, that it became known among the common people of Scotland by the name of the false raid, or the foolish expedition.

In 1420, died Robert duke of Albany, regent of Scotland, at the age of 80; and such was the veneration which the Scots had for his memory, that his post of regent was conferred upon his eldest son Murdoch, though a person no way qualified for that station. The war with England was now discontinued; but in France Henry met with the greatest opposition from the Scots auxiliaries, insomuch, that at last he proclaimed all the Scots in the service of the Dauphin to be rebels against their lawful sovereign, and threatened to treat them as such wherever he found them. It was not long before he had an opportunity of putting this menace into execution; for the town and castle of Melun being obliged through famine to capitulate, one of the articles of capitulation was, that all the English and Scots in the place should be resigned to the absolute disposal of the king of England; and, in consequence of his resolution above-mentioned, caused twenty Scots soldiers who were found in the place to be hanged as traitors. In 1421, Henry returned to England, and with him James the Scots king. On his arrival arrival there, he was informed that the Scots, under the earl of Douglas, had made an irruption into England, where they had burned Newark, but had been forced to return to their own country by a pestilence, though a new invasion was daily expected. Instead of resisting this insult, Henry invited the earl of Douglas to a conference at York; in which the latter agreed to serve him during life, by sea and land, abroad or at home, against all living, except his own liege-lord the king of Scotland, with 200 foot and as many horse, at his own charges; the king of England, in the mean time, allowing an annual revenue of 200l. for paying his expense in going to the army by sea or land.

At the same time, a new negotiation was set on foot for the ransom of king James; but he did not obtain his liberty till the year 1424. Henry V. was then dead; and none of his generals being able to supply his place, the English power in France began to decline. They then became sensible how necessary it was to be at peace with Scotland, in order to detach such a formidable ally from the French interest. James was now highly careful, and at his own liberty, within certain bounds. The English even consulted him about the manner of conducting the treaty for his ransom; and one Dougal Drummond, a priest, was sent with a safe conduct for the bishop of Glasgow, chancellor of Scotland, Dunbar earl of March, John Montgomery of Ardrossan, Sir Patrick Dunbar of Bele, Sir Robert Lawder of Edrington, Sir William Borthwick of Borthwick, and Sir John Forrester of Corstorphin, to have an interview, at Pomfret, with their master the captive king of Scotland, and there to treat of their common interests. Most of these noblemen and gentlemen had before been nominated to treat with the English about their king's return; and Dougal Drummond seems to have been a domestic favorite with James. Hitherto the Scottish king had been allowed an annual revenue of 700 pounds; but while he was making ready for his journey, his equipages and attendants were increased to those befitting a sovereign; and he received a present from the English treasury of 100l. for his private expenses. That he might appear with a grandeur every way suitable to his dignity, at every stage were provided relays of horses, and all manner of fish, flesh, and fowl, with cooks and other servants for furnishing out the most sumptuous royal entertainment. In this meeting at Pomfret, James acted as a kind of a mediator between the English and his own subjects, to whom he fully laid himself open; but, in the mean time, the English regency issued a commission for settling the terms upon which James was to be restored, if he and his commissioners should lay a proper foundation for such a treaty. The English commissioners were the bishops of Durham and Worcester, the earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland, the lords Nevil, Cornwall, and Chaworth, with master John Wodeham, and Robert Waterton. The instructions they received form one of the most curious passages of this history; and we shall here give them, as they are necessary for confirming all we have said concerning the dispositions of the two courts at this juncture.

First, To make a faint opposition to any private conference between the king of Scotland and the Scotch commissioners.

Secondly, To demand that, before the said king shall have his full liberty, the kingdom of Scotland should pay to the English government at least thirty-six thousand pounds as an equivalent, at two thousand pounds a-year, for the entertainment of King James, who was maintained by the court of England, and not to abate any thing of that sum; but if possible to get forty thousand pounds.

Thirdly, That if the Scots should agree to the payment of the said sum, the English commissioners should take sufficient security and hostages for the payment of the same; and that if they should not (as there was great reason for believing they would) be so far mollified, by such easy terms, as to offer to enter upon a negotiation for a final and perpetual peace between the two people, that then the English should propose the same in the most handsome manner they could. Farther, that if such difficulties should arise as might make it impracticable immediately to conclude such perpetual peace, that the English ambassadors should, under pretence of paving a way for the same, propose a long truce.

Fourthly, That in case the English commissioners should succeed in bringing the Scots to agree to the said truce, they should further urge, that they should not send to Charles of France, or to any of the enemies of England, any succours by sea or land. Farther, that the said English commissioners should employ their utmost endeavors to procure the recall of the troops already furnished by the Scots to France. The English are commanded to insist very strenuously upon this point, but with discretion.

Fifthly, If the Scots should, as a further bond of amity between the two nations, propose a marriage between their king and some noblewoman of England, the English commissioners are to make answer, "That the king of the Scots is well acquainted with many noblewomen, and even those of the blood-royal, in England; and that if the king of the Scots shall please to open his mind more freely on that head, the English commissioners shall be very ready to enter upon conferences thereupon." But (continues the record) in case the Scotch commissioners should make no mention of any such alliance by marriage, it will not appear decent for the English to mention the same, because the women of England, at least the noblewomen, are not used to offer themselves in marriage to men.

Sixthly, If there should be any mention made concerning reparation of damages, that the commissioners should then proceed upon the same as they should think most proper; and that they should have power to offer safe-conduct to as many of the Scots as should be demanded, for to repair to the court of England. Those instructions are dated at Westminster, July 6th 1423.

Nothing definitive was concluded at this treaty, but that another meeting should be held at York instead of Pomfret. This meeting accordingly took place. The English commissioners were, Thomas bishop of Durham, chancellor of England, Philip bishop of Winchester, Henry Percy earl of Northumberland, and Mr John Wodeham. Those for Scotland were, William bishop of Glasgow, George earl of March, James Douglas of Balveny, his brother Patrick abbot of Cambus-Kenneth, John abbot of Balmerino, Sir Patrick Dunbar bar of Bele, Sir Robert Lauder of Edrington, Mr George Borthwic archdeacon of Glasgow, and Patric Houlton canon of Glasgow. On the tenth of September, after their meeting, they came to the following agreement:

First, That the king of Scotland and his heirs, as an equivalent for his entertainment while in England, should pay to the king of England and his heirs, at London, in the church of St Paul, by equal proportions, the sum of forty thousand pounds Sterling.

Secondly, That the first-payment, amounting to the sum of ten thousand merks, should be made six months after the king of Scotland's entering his own kingdom; that the like sum should be paid the next year; and so on during the space of six years, when the whole sum would be cleared; unless, after payment of forty thousand merks, the last payment of ten thousand should be remitted, at the intreaty of the most illustrious prince Thomas duke of Exeter.

Thirdly, That the king of Scotland, before entering his own kingdom, should give sufficient hostages for performance on his part. But, in regard that the Scots plenipotentiaries had no instructions concerning hostages, it was agreed,

Fourthly, That the king of Scotland should be at Berwick, or Durham, by the first of March next, where he should be attended by the nobles of his blood, and other subjects, in order to fix the number and quality of the hostages.

Fifthly, That, to cement and perpetuate the amity of the two kingdoms, the governor of Scotland should send ambassadors to London, with power to conclude a contract of marriage between the king of Scotland and some lady of the first quality in England.

James, it is probable, had already fixed his choice upon the lady Joan, daughter to the late earl of Somerset, who was son to John of Gaunt duke of Lancaster, by his second marriage; but he made his people the compliment, not only of consulting their opinion, but of concluding the match. The commissioners, after their agreement at York, proceeded towards London; and Thomas Somerville of Carnwath, with Walter Ogilvy, were added to their number. Being arrived at that capital, they ratified the former articles, and undertook for their king, that he should deliver his hostages to the king of England's officers, in the city of Durham, before the last day of the ensuing month of March; that he should also deliver to the said officers four obligatory letters, for the whole sum of 40,000 l. from the four burghs of Edinburgh, Perth, Dundee, and Aberdeen; that he should give his obligatory letter to the same purpose, before removing from Durham, and should renew the same four days after his arrival in his own kingdom; that the hostages might be changed from time to time for others of the same fortune and quality; that if any of them should die in England, others should be sent thither in their room; and that while they continued to stay in England, they should live at their own charges.

The marriage of James with the lady Joan Beaufort was celebrated in the beginning of February 1424. The young king of England presented him with a suit of cloth of gold for the ceremony; and the next day he received a legal discharge of 10,000 pounds, to be deducted from the 40,000 at which his ransom was fixed, and which sum was given as the marriage portion of the lady. The ceremony being performed, the king and queen set out for Durham, where the hostages were waiting; and arrived at his own dominions, along with the earl of Northumberland and the chief of the northern nobility, who attended him with great pomp. On the 20th of April the same year, he was crowned at Scone; after which ceremony, he followed the example practised by other sovereigns at that time, of knighting several noblemen and gentlemen.

During the dependence of the treaty for James's release, the Scots had emigrated to France in such numbers, that no fewer than 15,000 of them now appeared in arms under the duke of Touraine; but as the history of the war in that country has already been given under the article France, we shall take no farther notice of it at present, but return to the affairs of Scotland.

On his return James found himself in a disagreeable situation. The great maxim of the duke of Albany, when regent, had been to maintain himself in powerland, by exempting the lower class of people from taxes of every kind. This plan had been continued by his son Murdoch; but as the latter was destitute of his father's abilities, the people abused their happiness, and Scotland became such a scene of rapine, that no commoner could say he had a property in his own estate. The Stewart family, on their accession to the crown of Scotland, were possessed of a very considerable patrimonial estate, independent of the standing revenues of the crown, which consisted chiefly of customs, wards, and reliefs. The revenues of the paternal estate belonging to James, had they been regularly transmitted to him, would have more than maintained him in a splendour equal to his dignity, while he was in England; nor would he in that case have had any occasion for an allowance from the king of England. But as the duke of Albany never intended that his nephew should return, he parcelled out among his favourites the estate of the Stewart family, in such a manner that James upon his return found all his patrimonial revenues gone, and many of them in the hands of his best friends; so that he had nothing to depend on for the support of himself and his court but the crown-revenues above-mentioned, and even some of these had been mortgaged during the late regency. This circumstance, of itself sufficiently disagreeable, was attended with two others, which tended to make it more so. The one was, that the hostages which had been left for the king's ransom in England, being all of them persons of the first rank, were attended by their wives, families, children, and equipages, which rivalled those of the same rank in England, and drew a great deal of ready money out of the nation. The other circumstance arose from the charge of the Scots army in France; where Charles, who had never been in a condition to support it, was now reduced to the utmost necessity: while the revenues of James himself were both scanty and precarious. To remedy these inconveniences, therefore, the king obtained from his parliament an act obliging the sheriffs of the respective counties to inquire what lands and estates had belonged to his ancestors David II., Robert II., and Robert III.; and James formed a resolution of resuming these lands wherever they could be discovered, without regard to persons or circumstances. On this occasion... Scotland, occasion many of the most illustrious personages in the kingdom were arrested: the duke of Albany, his two sons, and the earl of Lennox, the duke's father-in-law, the nobility were put to death, though their crimes are not specified by historians. Buchanan mentions a tradition, that James barbarously sent to the countess of Lennox the heads of her father, husband, and sons; for the following more barbarous reason, that in the bitterness of her grief she might drop some expressions tending to involve others in the same catastrophe. The countess, however, calmly said, "That, if the charges against the criminals were proved, they deserved their fate."

James now proceeded with great spirit to reform the abuses which had pervaded every department of the state, protected and encouraged learning and learned men, and even kept a diary in which he wrote down the names of all the learned men whom he thought deserving of his encouragement. James himself wrote some poetry; and in music was such an excellent composer, that he is with good reason looked upon as the father of Scots music, which has been so much admired for its elegant simplicity. He introduced organs into his chapels, and a much better style of architecture into all buildings whether civil or religious. Neither did he confine his cares to the fine arts, but encouraged and protected those of all kinds which were useful to society; and, in short, he did more towards the civilization of his people than had been done by any of his predecessors.

In the meantime the truce continued with England. James, however, seemed not to have any inclination to enter into a perpetual alliance with that kingdom. On the contrary, in 1428, he entered into a treaty with France; by which it was agreed, that a marriage should be concluded between the dauphin of France, afterwards Louis XI. and the young princess of Scotland; and so great was the necessity of king Charles for troops at that time, that he demanded only 6000 forces as a portion for the princess.

The rest of the reign of James was spent in reforming abuses, curbing the authority of the great barons, and recovering the royal estates out of the hands of usurpers. In this, however, he used so much severity, that he was at last murdered, in the year 1437. The perpetrators of this murder were the earl of Athol; Robert Grahame, who was connected with the earl, and who was discontented on account of his losing the estate of Strathern, which had been re-annexed to the crown; and Robert, grandchild and heir to the earl of Athol, and one of the king's domestics. The king had dismissed his army, without even referring to himself a body-guard, and was at supper in a Dominican convent in the neighbourhood of Perth. Grahame had for some time been at the head of a gang of outlaws, and is said to have brought a party of them to Perth in the dead of the night, where he posted them near the convent. Walter Stratton, one of the king's cup-bearers, went to bring some wine to the king while at supper; but perceiving armed men standing in the passage, he gave the alarm, and was immediately killed. Catharine Douglas, one of the queen's maids of honour, ran to bolt the outer door; but the bar was taken away by Robert Stuart, in order to facilitate the entrance of the murderers. The lady thrust her arm into the flaps; but it was instantly broken, and the conspirators rushed in upon the king. Patric Dunbar, brother to the earl of March, was killed in attempting to defend his sovereign, and the queen received two wounds in attempting to interpose herself betwixt her husband and the daggers of the assassins. James defended himself as long as he could; but at last expired under the repeated strokes of his murderers, after having received 28 wounds.

After the murder of James I. the crown devolved upon his son James II. at that time only seven years of age. A parliament was immediately called by the queen-mother, at which the most cruel punishments were decreed to the murderers of the late king. The crime, no doubt, deserved an exemplary punishment; but the barbarities inflicted on some of those wretches are shocking to relate. Within less than six weeks after the death of the king, all the conspirators were brought to Edinburgh, arraigned, condemned, and executed. The meanest sort were hanged; but on the earl of Athol and Robert Graham the most cruel torments were inflicted, such as pinching with hot irons, dislocation of the joints, &c. The earl of Athol, had, besides, a crown of red-hot iron put on his head; and was afterwards cut up alive, his heart taken out, and thrown into a fire. In short, so dreadful were these punishments, that Æneas Sylvius, the pope's nuncio, who beheld them, said, that he was at a loss to determine whether the crime committed by the regicides, or the punishment inflicted upon them, was the greater.

As the late king had prescribed no form of a regency in case of his death, the settlement of the government became a matter of great difficulty as well as importance. Archibald earl of Douglas, who had been created Duke of Touraine in France, was by far the greatest subject in the kingdom; but as he had not been a favourite in the preceding reign, and the people were now disgusted with regencies, he was not formally appointed to the administration, though by his high rank he in fact enjoyed the supreme power as long as he lived; which, however, was but a short time. He died supreme the same year (1438); and Sir Alexander Livingstone, power of Caledon, was appointed to succeed him as governor of the kingdom, that is, to have the executive power; while William Crichton, as chancellor, had the direction of the civil courts. This was a most unfortunate cellor of the partition of power for the public. The governor and kingdom chancellor quarrelled; the latter took possession of the king's person and the castle of Edinburgh, to neither of which he had any right; but the former had on his side the queen-mother, a woman of intrigue and spirit. Her son was shut up in the castle of Edinburgh; and in a short time there was no appearance either of law or government in Scotland. The governor's edicts were counteracted by those of the chancellor under the king's name, and those who obeyed the chancellor were punished by the governor; while the young earl of Douglas, with his numerous followers and dependents, was a declared enemy of both parties, whom he equally fought to destroy.

The queen-mother demanded access to her son, which The queen-Crichton could find no pretext for denying her; and mother sets she was accordingly admitted with a small train into her son at the castle of Edinburgh. She played her part so well, liberty, and dissembled with so much art, that the chancellor, imagining she had become a convert to his cause, treated her with unbounded confidence, and suffered her at all hours to have free access to her son's person. Pretending that she had vowed a pilgrimage to the white church of Buchan, she recommended the care of her son's person, till her return, to the chancellor, in the most pathetic and affectionate terms; but, in the mean time, she secretly sent him to Leith, packed up in a clothes-chest; and both she and James were received at Stirling by the governor before the escape was known.

As every thing had been managed in concert with Livingston, he immediately called together his friends; and laying before them the tyrannical behaviour of the chancellor, it was resolved to besiege him in the castle of Edinburgh, the queen promising to open her own granaries for the use of the army. The chancellor foresaw the storm that was likely to fall upon him, and sought to prevent it by applying to the earl of Douglas. That haughty nobleman answered him in the terms already mentioned, and that he was preparing to exterminate both parties. The siege of Edinburgh cattle being formed, the chancellor demanded a parley, and to have a personal interview with the governor; which the latter, who was no stranger to the sentiments of Douglas, readily agreed to. Common danger united them in a common cause; and the chancellor resigning to the other the custody of the cattle and the king's person, with the highest professions of duty and loyalty, the two competitors swore an inviolable friendship for each other. Next day the king cemented their union, by confirming both of them in their respective charges.

The lawless example of the earl of Douglas encouraged the other great landholders to gratify their private animosities, sometimes at the expense of their honour as well as their humanity. A family-difference happened between Sir Allan Stuart of Darnley, and Thomas Boyd of Kilmarnock; but it was concluded that both parties should come to a peaceable agreement at Polmaishorn, between Linlithgow and Falkirk, where Stuart was treacherously murdered by his enemy. Stuart's death was revenged by his brother, Sir Alexander Stuart of Beilmouth, who challenged Boyd to a pitched battle, the principals being attended by a retinue which carried the resemblance of small armies. The conflict was fierce and bloody, each party retiring in its turn, and charging with fresh fury; but at last victory declared itself for Stuart, the bravest of Boyd's attendants being cut off in the field. About this time, the islanders, under two of their chieftains, Lauchlan Maclean and Murdoc Gibson, notorious freebooters, invaded Scotland, and ravaged the province of Lenox with fire and sword. They were opposed by John Colquhoun of Luts, whom they slew, some say treacherously, and others, in an engagement at Lochlomond, near Inchmartin. After this, the robbers grew more outrageous than ever, not only filling all the neighbouring country with rapine, but murdering the aged, infants, and the defenceless of both sexes. At last, all the labouring hands in the kingdom being engaged in domestic broils, none were left for agriculture; and a dreadful famine ensued, which was attended, as usual, by a pestilence. James was now about ten years of age; and the wisest part of the kingdom agreed, that the public distresses were owing to a total disrespect of the royal authority. The young earl of Douglas never had fewer than 1000, and sometimes 2000 horse in his train; so that none was found hardy enough to control him. He pretended to be independent of the king and his courts of law; that he had a right of judicature upon his own large estates; and that he was entitled to the exercise of royal power. In consequence of this he issued his orders, gave protections to thieves and murderers, affected to brave the king, made knights, and, according to some writers, even noblemen, of his own dependents, with a power of fitting in parliament.

The queen-mother was not wholly guiltless of these abuses. She had fallen in love with and married Sir James Stuart, who was commonly called the Black Knight of Lorn, brother to the lord of that title, and a descendant of the house of Darnley. Affection for her husband caused her to renew her political intrigues; and not finding a ready compliance in the governor, her interest inclined towards the party of the Douglaston. The governor sought to strengthen his authority by restoring the exercise of the civil power, and the reverence due to the person of the sovereign.

The conduct of the lord Callendar was in many respects not so defensible, either as to prudence or policy. When the queen expressed her inclination that her band husband might be admitted to some part of the administration, the governor threw both him and his brother the lord Lorn into prison, on a charge of undutiful practices against the state, and abetting the earl of Douglas in his enormities. The queen, taking fire at her husband's imprisonment, was herself confined in a mean apartment within the castle of Stirling; and a convention of the states was called, to judge in what manner she was to be proceeded against. The case was unprecedented and difficult; nor can we believe the governor would have carried matters to such extremity, had he not had strong evidences of her illegal behaviour. She was even obliged to dissemble her resentment, by making an open profession before the states, that she had always been entirely innocent of her husband's practices, and that she would for the future behave as a peaceable and dutiful subject to the laws and the sovereign. Upon making this purgation (as Lindsay calls it), she was released, as also her husband and his brother, being bailed by the chancellor and the lord Gordon, who became sureties for their good behaviour in the penalty of 4000 marks. The governor was afterwards accused of many arbitrary and partial acts of power; and indeed, if we consider his situation, and the violence of the parties which then divided Scotland, it was almost impossible, consistently with his own safety, to have exerted the virtues either of patriotism or moderation.

The chancellor was exceedingly vexed at the small regard which the governor paid to his person and dignity, and secretly connected himself with the queen-mother; but in the mean time he remained at Edinburgh. The king and his mother continued all this time at Stirling; where the governor, on pretence of confining the public safety, and that of the king's person, maintained a strong guard, part of which attended James in his juvenile exercises and diversions. The queen-mother did not fail to represent this to her son. son as a restraint upon his liberty; and obtained his consent to put himself into the chancellor's hands. The latter, who was a man of activity and courage, knew well how to avail himself of this permission; and crossing the Forth in the dark with a strong body of horse, they surrounded the king as he was hunting next morning by break of day. It was easy to perceive from the behaviour of James, that he was no stranger to the chancellor's attempt; but some of the king's guard offering to dispute the possession of his person, Sir William Livingston, the governor's eldest son, restrained them, and suffered the king to depart quietly. This surprisal happened on a day when the governor was absent from Stirling; and the chancellor, to make sure of his royal acquisition, entered Edinburgh at the head of 4000 horse, where the king and he were received by the citizens with loud acclamations of joy.

The governor showed no emotion at what had happened; on the contrary, he invited the chancellor to an interview, and settled all differences with him in an amicable manner. The young lord Douglas, however, continued to brave both parties. As if he had been a sovereign prince, he demanded by his ambassadors, Malcolm Fleming of Cumbernauld, and Allan Lawder, the investiture of the sovereignty of Touraine from Charles the seventh of France; which being readily granted him, served to increase his pride and insolence. The first-fruits of the accommodation between the two great officers of state was the holding of a parliament at Edinburgh, for redressing the public disorders occasioned by the earl of Douglas; and encouragement was given to all persons who had been injured to make their complaints. The numbers which on that occasion resorted to Edinburgh were incredible; parents, children, and women, demanding vengeance for the murder of their relations, or the plunder of their estates; till, by the multiplicity of their complaints, they became without remedy, none being found bold enough to encounter the earl of Douglas, or to endeavour to bring him to a fair trial. The parties therefore were dismissed without relief, and it was resolved to proceed with the haughty earl in a different manner. Letters were written to him by the governor and chancellor, and in the name of the states, requesting him to appear with his friends in parliament, and to take that lead in public affairs to which they were intitled by their high rank and great possessions. The manner in which those letters were penned, made the thoughtless earl consider them as a tribute due to his greatness, and as proceeding from the inability of the government to continue the administration of public affairs without his countenance and direction. Without dreaming that any man in Scotland would be so bold as to attack him, even single or unarmed, he answered the letters of the chancellor and governor, by assuring them that he intended to set out for Edinburgh; the chancellor, on pretence of doing him honour, but in reality to quiet his suspicions, met him while he was on his journey; and inviting him to his castle of Crichton, he there entertained him for some days with the greatest magnificence and appearance of hospitality. The earl of Douglas believed all the chancellor's professions of friendship, and even sharply checked the wisest of his followers, who counselled him not to depend too much on appearances, or to trust his brother and himself at the same time in any place where the chancellor had Scotland, power. The latter had not only removed the earl's suspicion, but had made him a kind of covert to patriotism, by painting to him the miseries of his country, and the glory that must redound to him and his friends in removing them. It was in vain for his attendants to remind him of his father's maxim, never to risk himself and his brother at the same time: he without hesitation attended the chancellor to Edinburgh; and being admitted into the castle, they dined at the same table with the king. Towards the end of the entertainment, a bull's head, the certain prelude of immediate death, was served up. The earl and his brother started to their feet, and endeavoured to make their escape; but armed men rushing in, overpowered them, his brother, and tying their hands and those of Sir Malcolm Fleming with cords, they were carried to the hill and beheaded. The young king endeavoured with tears to procure their pardon; for which he was severely checked by his unrelenting chancellor.

In 1443, the king being arrived at the age of 14, declared himself out of the years of minority, and took upon himself the administration of affairs. He appears to have been a prince of great spirit and resolution; and he had occasion for it. He had appointed one Robert Sempil of Fulwood to be chief governor of the castle of Dumbarton; but he was killed by one Galbraith (a noted partisan of the earl of Douglas), who seized upon the government of the castle. The popularity of the family of Douglas having somewhat subsided, and the young earl finding himself not supported by the chief branches of his family, he began to think, now that the king was grown up, his safest course would be to return to his duty. He accordingly repaired to the king at Stirling; and voluntarily submitting himself at his majesty's feet, implored his pardon for all his transgressions, and solemnly promised that he would ever after set a pattern of duty and loyalty to all the rest of his subjects. The king, finding that he insisted on no terms but that of pardon, and that he had unconditionally put himself into his power, not only granted his request, but made him the partner of his inmost councils.

James had always disliked the murder of the earl of Douglas and his brother; and the chancellor, perceiving the ascendancy which this earl was daily gaining at court, thought it high time to provide for his own safety. He therefore resigned the great seal, and retired to the castle of Edinburgh, the custody of which he pretended had been granted to him by the late king during his life, or till the present king should arrive at the age of 21; and prepared it for a siege. The lord Callendar, who knew himself equally obnoxious as Crichton was to the earl of Douglas, and that he could not maintain his footing by himself, resigned likewise all his posts, and retired to one of his own houses, but kept possession of the castle of Stirling. As both that and the castle of Edinburgh were royal forts, the two lords were summoned to surrender them; but instead of complying, they justified their conduct by the great power of their enemies, who fought their destruction, and who had been so lately at the head of robbers and outlaws; but promised to surrender themselves to the king as soon as he was of lawful age, (meaning, we suppose, either 18 or 21). This answer being deemed contumacious, the chancellor and the late governor, with his two sons Sir Alexander and Sir James Livingston, were proclaimed traitors in a parliament which was summoned on purpose to be held at Stirling. In another parliament held at Perth the same year, an act passed, that all the lands and goods which had belonged to the late king should be possessed by the present king to the time of his lawful age, which is not specified. This act was levelled against the late governor and chancellor, who were accused of having alienated to their own uses, or to those of their friends, a great part of the royal effects and jewels; and their estates being confiscated, the execution of the sentence was committed to John Forrester of Corforphyn, and other adherents of the earl of Douglas.

This sentence threw all the nation into a flame. The castle of Crichton was besieged; and being surrendered upon the king's summons and the display of the royal banner, it was levelled with the ground. It soon appeared that the governor and chancellor, the latter especially, had many friends; and in particular Kennedy bishop of St Andrew's, nephew to James the first, who sided with them from the dread and hatred they bore to the earl of Douglas and his family. Crichton thus soon found himself at the head of a body of men; and while Forrester was carrying fire and sword into his estates and those of the late governor, his own lands and those of the Douglases were overrun. Corforphyn, Abercorn, Blacknells, and other places, were plundered; and Crichton carried off from them more booty than he and his adherents had lost. Particular mention is made of a fine breed of mares which Douglas had lost on this occasion. That nobleman was so much exasperated by the great damages he had sustained, that he engaged his friends the earl of Crawford and Alexander Ogilvy of Innerquharity, to lay waste the lands of the bishop of St Andrew's, whom he considered as the chief support of the two ministers. This prelate was not more considerable by his high birth, than he was venerable by his virtue and sanctity; and had, from a principle of conscience, opposed the earl of Douglas and his party. Being conscious he had done nothing that was illegal, he first admonished the earl of Crawford and his coadjutor to desist from destroying his lands; but finding his admonitions ineffectual, he laid the earl under an excommunication.

That nobleman was almost as formidable in the northern, as the earl of Douglas had been in the southern parts of Scotland. The Benedictine monks of Aberbrothock, who were possessed of great property, had chosen Alexander Lindsay, his eldest son, to be the judge or bailiff of their temporalities; as they themselves, by their profession, could not fit in civil or criminal courts. Lindsay proved so chargeable, by the great number of his attendants, and his high manner of living, to the monks, that their chapter removed him from his post, and substituted in his place Alexander Ogilvy of Innerquharity, guardian to his nephew John Ogilvy of Airly, who had an hereditary claim upon the bailiwick. This, notwithstanding their former intimacy, created an irreconcilable difference between the two families. Each competitor strengthened himself by calling in the assistance of his friends; and the Lord Gordon taking part with the Ogilvies, to whom he was then paying a visit, both parties immediately mustered in the neighbourhood of Aberbrothock. The earl of Crawford, who was then at Dundee, immediately posted to Aberbrothock, and placing himself between the two armies, he demanded to speak with Ogilvy; but, before his request could be granted, he was killed by a common soldier, who was ignorant of his quality. His death exasperated his friends, who immediately rushed on their enemies; and a bloody conflict ensued, which ended to the advantage of the Lindseys, that is, the earl of Crawford's party. On that of the Ogilvies were killed Sir John Oliphant of Aberdargy, John Forbes of Pitfargo, Alexander Barclay of Cartley, Robert Maxwell of Teling, Duncan Campbell of Campbellether, William Gordon of Burrowfield, and others. With those gentlemen, about 500 of their followers are said to have fallen; but some accounts diminish that number. Innerquharity himself, in flying, was taken prisoner, and carried to the earl of Crawford's house at Finhaven, where he died of his wounds; but the Lord Gordon (or, as others call him, the earl of Huntley) escaped by the swiftness of his horse.

This battle seems to have let loose the fury of civil discord all over the kingdom. No regard was paid to magistracy, nor to any description of men but that of clergy. The most numerous, fiercest, and best allied family, wreaked its vengeance on its foes, either by force or treachery; and the enmity that actuated the parties, stifled every sentiment of honour, and every feeling of humanity. The Lindseys, secretly abetted and strengthened by the earl of Douglas, made no other use of their victory than carrying fire and sword through the estates of their enemies; and thus all the north of Scotland presented scenes of murder and devastation. In the west, Robert Boyd of Duchar, governor of Dumbarton, treacherously surprised Sir James Stuart of Achmynto, and treated his wife with such inhumanity, that she expired in three days under her confinement in Dumbarton castle. The castle of Dunbar was taken by Patrick Heyburn of Hales. Alexander Dunbar dispossessed the latter of his castle of Hales; but it was retaken by the partisans of the earl of Douglas, whose tenants, particularly those of Annandale, are said to have behaved at that time with peculiar fierceness and cruelty. At last, the gentlemen of the country, who were unconnected with those robbers and murderers, which happened to be the care with many, shut themselves up in their several houses; each of which, in those days, was a petty fortress which they victualled, and provided in the best manner they could for their own defence. This wise resolution seems to have been the first measure that composed the public commotions.

The earl of Douglas, whose power and influence at court still continued, was sensible that the clergy, with the wiser and more disinterested part of the kingdom, considered him as the source of the dreadful calamities which the nation suffered; and that James himself, when better informed, would be of the same opinion. He therefore fought to avail himself of the juncture, by forming secret but strong connections with the earls of Crawford, Rothes, and other great noblemen, who wanted to see their feudal powers restored to their full vigour. The queen-dowager and her husband made little or no figure during this season of public confusion; she had Scotland had retired to the castle of Dunbar, while it was in Hepburn's possession, where she died soon after. She left by her second husband three sons; John, who in 1455 was made earl of Athol, by his uterine brother the king; James, who under the next reign, in 1469, was created earl of Buchan; and Andrew, who afterwards became bishop of Murray. As the earl of Douglas was an enemy to the queen-dowager's husband, the latter retired to England, where he obtained a pass to go abroad, with 20 in his train; but being taken at sea by the Flemish pirates, he died in his confinement.

The great point between the king and Sir William Crichton, whether the latter should give up the castle to his majesty, remained still undecided; and by the advice and direction of the earl of Douglas, who had been created lord-lieutenant of the kingdom, it had now suffered a nine months siege. Either the strength of the castle, or an opinion entertained by Douglas that Crichton would be a valuable acquisition to his party, procured better terms for the latter than he could otherwise have expected; for he and his followers were offered a full indemnity for all past offences, and a promise was made that he should be restored not only to the king's favour, but to his former post of chancellor. He accepted of the conditions; but refused to act in any public capacity till they were confirmed by a parliament, which was soon after held at Perth, and in which he was restored to his estate and honours. By this reconciliation between Douglas and Crichton, the former was left at full liberty to prosecute his vengeance against the Lord Callendar, the late governor, his friends and family. That vengeance was exercised with rigour. The governor himself, Sir James Dundas of Dundas, and Sir Robert Bruce of Clackmannan, were forced to save their lives by the loss of their estates; but even that could not preserve their liberty, for they were sent prisoners to the castle of Dumbarton. The fate of Alexander, the governor's eldest son, and of two other gentlemen of his name and family, was still more lamentable; for they were condemned to lose their heads. Those severities being inflicted after the king had in a manner readmitted the sufferers into his favour, fanned the public outcry against the earl of Douglas. We have in Lindlay an extract of the speech which Alexander Livingston, one of the most accomplished gentlemen of his time, made upon the scaffold, in which he complained, with great bitterness, of the cruel treatment his father, himself, and his friends, had undergone; and that he suffered by a packed jury of his enemies.

The king being now about 18 years of age, it was thought proper that a suitable consort should be provided for him; and, after various consultations, Mary, the daughter of Arnold duke of Gueldres, was chosen, at the recommendation of Charles king of France, though the marriage was not completed till some time after. This produced an immediate rupture with England. The earls of Salisbury and Northumberland entered Scotland at the head of two separate bodies. The former burnt the town of Dumfries, as the latter did that of Dunbar; while Sir John Douglas of Balveny made reprisals by plundering the county of Cumberland, and burning Alnwick. Upon the return of the English armies to their own country, additional levies were made, and a fresh invasion of Scotland was resolved upon under the earl of Northumberland, who had along with him a lieutenant, whom the Scots of those days, from the brightness and colour of his beard, called Magnus with the red mane. He was a soldier of fortune, but an excellent officer, having been trained in the French wars; and he is said to have demanded no other recompense for his services from the English court, but that he should enjoy all he could conquer in Scotland. The Scots, in the mean time, had raised an army commanded by George Douglas earl of Ormond, and under him by Wallace of Craigie, with the Lords Maxwell and Johnston. The English having passed Solway Frith, ravaged all that part of the country which belonged to the Scots; but hearing that the earl of Ormond's army was approaching, called in their parties, and fixed their camp on the banks of the river Sark. Their advanced guard was commanded by Magnus; their centre by the earl of Northumberland; and the rear, which was composed of Welch, by Sir John Pennington, an officer of courage and experience.

The Scots drew up in three divisions likewise. Their right wing was commanded by Wallace, the centre by of Sark, the earl of Ormond, and their left wing by the Lords Maxwell and Johnston. Before the battle joined, the earl of Ormond harangued his men, and inspired them with very high resentment against the English, who, he said, had treacherously broken the truce. The signal for battle being given, the Scots under Wallace rushed forward upon their enemies; but, as usual, were received by so terrible a discharge from the English archers, that their impetuosity must have been stopped, had not their brave leader Wallace put them in mind, that their forefathers had always been defeated in distant fights by the English, and that they ought to trust to their swords and spears; commanding them at the same time to follow his example. They obeyed, and broke in upon the English commanded by Magnus, with such fury, as soon fixed the fortune of the day on the side of the Scots, their valour being suitably seconded by their other two divisions. The slaughter (which was the more considerable as both parties fought with the utmost animosity) fell chiefly upon the division commanded by Magnus, who was killed, performing the part of a brave officer; and all his body-guard, consisting of picked soldiers, were cut in pieces.

The battle then became general: Sir John Pennington's division, with that under the earl of Northumberland entirely land, was likewise routed; and the whole English army, struck by the loss of their champion, fled towards the Solway, where, the river being swollen by the tide, numbers of them were drowned. The loss of the English in slain amounted to at least 3000 men. Among the prisoners were Sir John Pennington, Sir Robert Harrington, and the earl of Northumberland's eldest son the Lord Percy, who lost his own liberty in forwarding his father's escape. Of the Scots about 600 were killed; but none of note, excepting the brave Wallace, who died three months after of the wounds he had received in this battle. The booty that was made on this occasion is said to have been greater than any that has fallen to the Scots since the battle of Bannockburn.

The rest of the history of this reign consists almost entirely of a relation of the cabals and conspiracies of the great men. The earl of Douglas had entered into a confederacy with the earls of Crawford, Moray, and Rothes, and appeared on all occasions with such a train of followers as bade defiance to royal power itself. This insolence was detected by the wiser part of the nation; and one Maclellan, who is called the Tutor of Bomby, and was nephew to Sir Patrick Gray, captain of the king's guard, refused to give any attendance upon the earl, or to concur in his measures, but remained at home as a quiet subject. This inoffensive behaviour was by the earl considered as treason against himself; and violently seizing upon Maclellan's house and person, he sent him close prisoner to the castle of Douglas. As Maclellan was a gentleman of great worth and reputation, his uncle Gray applied earnestly to James in his favour; and such was that prince's regard for Maclellan, that he wrote and signed a letter for his release, addressed to the earl of Douglas. Upon Gray's delivering this letter to Douglas at his castle, the latter seemed to receive it with the highest respect, and to treat Gray with the greatest hospitality, by inviting him to dinner; but, in the mean time, he gave private orders that Maclellan's head should be struck off, and his body exposed upon the green before the castle covered with a linen cloth. After dinner, the earl told Gray, that he was ready to obey the king's commands; and conducting him to the green, he showed him the lifeless trunk, which he said Gray might dispose of as he pleased. Upon this, Gray mounted his horse, and trudged to his swift feet for his own safety; for he was pursued by the earl's attendants to the gates of Edinburgh.

The conspiracy against James's government was now no longer a secret. The Lords Balveny and Hamilton, with such a number of other barons and gentlemen, had acceded to it, that it was thought to be more powerful than all the force the king could bring into the field. Even Crichton advised James to dissemble. The confederates entered into a solemn bond and oath never to desert one another during life; and, to make use of Drummond's words, "That injuries done to any one of them should be done to them all, and be a common quarrel; neither should they desist, to their best abilities, to revenge them: that they should concur indifferently against whatsoever persons within or without the realm, and spend their lives, lands, goods, and fortunes, in defence of their debates and differences whatsoever." All who did not enter into this association were treated as enemies to the public; their lands were destroyed, their effects plundered, and they themselves imprisoned or murdered. Drummond says, that Douglas was then able to bring 400 men into the field; and that his intention was to have placed the crown of Scotland upon his own head. How far he might have been influenced by a scene of the same nature that was then passing between the houses of York and Lancaster in England, we shall not pretend to determine; though it does not appear that his intention was to wear the crown himself, but to render it delusive upon his sovereign's head. It is rather evident, from his behaviour, that he did not affect royalty; for when James invited him to a conference in the castle of Stirling, he offered to comply provided he had a safe conduct. This condition plainly implied, that he had no reliance upon the late act of parliament, which declared the proclamation of the king's peace to be a sufficient security for life and fortune to all his subjects; and there is no denying that the safe conduct was expedited in the form and manner required.

This being obtained, the earl began his march towards Stirling with his usual great retinue; and arrived there on Shrove-Tuesday. He was received by interview the king as if he had been the best of his friends, as well as the greatest of his subjects, and admitted to sup with the king in the castle, while his attendants were of Douglas in the tower, little suspecting the catastrophe that followed. The entertainment being over, the king told the earl with an air of frankness, "That as he was now of age, he was resolved to be the father of all his people, and to take the government into his own hands; that his lordship, therefore, had no reason to be under any apprehensions from his old enemies Callendar and Crichton; that there was no occasion to form any confederacies, as the law was ready to protect him; and that he was welcome to the principal direction of affairs under the crown, and to the first place in the royal confidence; nay, that all former offences done by himself and his friends should be pardoned and forgot."

This speech was the very reverse of what the earl of Douglas aimed at. It rendered him, indeed, the first subject of the kingdom; but still he was controllable by the civil law. In short, upon the king's peremptorily putting the question to him, he not only refused to dissolve the confederacy, but upbraided the king for his government. This produced a passionate rejoinder on the part of James; but the earl represented that he was under a safe conduct, and that the nature of his confederacy was such, that it could not be broken but by the common consent of all concerned. The king insisted upon his setting the example; and the earl continued more and more obstinate, James stabbed him with his dagger; and armed men rushing into the room, finished the slaughter.

After the death of the earl of Douglas, the confederacy came to nothing. The insurgents excused themselves as being too weak for such an enterprise; and were contented with trailing the safe conduct at a horse's tail, and proclaiming, by trumpets and horns, the king a perfumed traitor. They proceeded no farther; and each departed to his own habitation, after agreeing to assemble with fresh forces about the beginning of April. James lost no time in improving this short respite; and found the nation in general much better disposed in his favour than he had reason to expect. The intolerable opprobriums of the great barons made his subjects esteem the civil, far preferable to the feudal, subjection; and even the Douglases were divided among themselves; for the earl of Angus and Sir John Douglas of Dalkeith were among the most forward of the royalists. James at the same time wrote letters to the earl of Huntley, and to all the noblemen of his kingdom who were not parties in the confederacy, besides the ecclesiastics, who remained firmly attached to his prerogative. Before the effect of those letters could be known, the insurgents had returned to Stirling (where James still wisely kept himself upon the defensive); repeated their insolences, and the opprobrious treatment of his safe conduct; and at last they plundered the town, and laid it in ashes. Being still unable to take the castle, partly through their own divisions, and partly through the diversity of the operations. tions they were obliged to supply; they left Stirling, and destroyed the estate of Sir John Douglas of Dalkeith, whom they considered as a double traitor, because he was a Douglas and a good subject. They then besieged his castle; but it was so bravely defended by Patrick Cockburn, a gentleman of the family of Langton, that they raised the siege; which gave the royal party farther leisure for humbling them.

All this time the unhappy country was suffering the most cruel devastations; for matters were now come to such extremity, that it was necessary for every man to be a royalist or a rebel. The king was obliged to keep on the defensive; and though he had ventured to leave the castle of Stirling, he was in no condition to face the rebels in the field. They were in possession of all the strong places by which his friends were to march to his assistance; and he even consulted with his attendants on the means of escaping to France, where he was sure of an hospitable reception. He was diverted from that resolution by bishop Kennedy and the earl of Angus, who was himself a Douglas, and prevailed upon to wait for the event of the earl of Huntley's attempts for his service. This nobleman, who was descended from the Seaton, but by marriage inherited the great estates of the Gordons in the north, had raised an army for James, to whose family he and his ancestors, by the Gordons as well as the Seaton, had been always remarkably devoted. James was not mistaken in the high opinion he had of Huntley; and in the mean time he issued circular letters to the chief ecclesiastics and bodies-politic of his kingdom, setting forth the necessity he was under to proceed as he had done, and his readiness to protect all his loyal subjects in their rights and privileges against the power of the Douglas's and their rebellious adherents. Before those letters could have any effect, the rebels had plundered the defences' houses and estates of all who were not in their confederacy, and had proceeded with a fury that turned to the prejudice of their cause.

The indignation which the public had conceived against the king, for the violation of his safe conduct, began now to subside; and the behaviour of his enemies in some measure justified what had happened, or at least made the people suspect that James would not have proceeded as he did without the strongest provocation. The forces he had assembled being unable, as yet, to act offensively, he resolved to wait for the earl of Huntley, who by this time was at the head of a considerable army, and had begun his march southwards. He had been joined by the Forbeses, Ogilvies, Leslie's, Grants, Irvings, and other relations and dependents of his family; but having advanced as far as Brechin, he was opposed by the earl of Crawford, the chief ally of the earl of Douglas, who commanded the people of Angus, and all the adherents of the rebels in the neighbouring counties, headed by foreign officers. The two armies joining battle on the 18th of May, victory was for some time in suspense; till one Colos of Bonnymoon, on whom Crawford had great dependence, but whom he had imprudently disobliged, came over to the royalists with the division he commanded, which was the best armed part of Crawford's army, consisting of battle-axes, broad swords, and long spears. His defection gave the fortune of the day to the earl of Huntley, as it left the centre flank of Crawford's army entirely exposed to the royalists. He himself lost one of Scotland's brothers; and fled with another, Sir John Lindsay, to his house at Finhaven, where it is reported that he broke out into the following ejaculation: "That he would be content to remain seven years in hell, to have in so timely a season done the king his master that service the earl of Huntly had performed, and carry that applause and thanks he was to receive from him."

No author informs us of the loss of men on either side, though all agree that it was very considerable upon the whole. The earl of Huntley, particularly, lost two brothers, William and Henry; and we are told, that, to indemnify him for his good services, as well as for the rewards and presents he had made in lands and privileges to his faithful followers, the king bestowed upon him the lands of Badenoch and Lochaber.

The battle of Brechin was not immediately decisive in favour of the king, but proved so in its consequences. The earl of Moray, a Douglas likewise, took advantage of Huntley's absence to harass and ravage the estates of all the royalists in the north; but Huntley returning from Brechin with his victorious army, drove his enemy into his own county of Moray, and afterwards expelled him even from thence. James was now encouraged, by the advice of his kinsman Kennedy bishop of St Andrew's, to whose firmness and prudence he was under great obligations, to proceed against the rebels in a legal manner, by holding a parliament at Edinburgh, to which the confederated lords were summoned; and upon their non-compearance, they were solemnly declared traitors. This proceeding seemed to make the rebellion rage more fiercely than ever; and against the last, the confederates, in fact, disowned their allegiance to James. The earls of Douglas, Crawford, Ormond, Moray, the Lord Balveny, Sir James Hamilton, Grant, and others, signed with their own hands public manifestoes, which were pasted on the doors of the principal churches, importing, "That they were resolved never to obey command or charge, nor answer citation for the time coming; because the king, so far from being a just malter, was a bloodsucker, a murderer, a transgressor of hospitality, and a surpriser of the innocent." It does not appear that those and the like atrocious proceedings did any service to the cause of the confederates. The earl of Huntley continued victorious in the north; where he and his followers, in revenge for the earl of Moray's having burnt his castle of Huntley, feasted or ravaged all that nobleman's great estate north of the Spey. When he came to the town of Forres, he burnt one side of the town, because it belonged to the earl, and spared the other, because it was the property of his own friends. James thought himself, from the behaviour of the earl of Douglas and his adherents, now warranted to come to extremes; and marching into Annandale, he carried fire and sword through all the estates of the Douglas's there. The earl of Crawford, on the other hand, having now recruited his strength, destroyed the lands of all the people of Angus and of all others who had abandoned him at the battle of Brechin; though there is reason to believe, that he had already secretly resolved to throw himself upon the king's mercy.

Nothing but the most obstinate pride and resentment could have prevented the earl of Douglas, at this time, from taking the advice of his friends, by returning to Scotland. His duty; in which case, James had given sufficient intimations that he might expect pardon. He coloured his contumacy with the specious pretext, that his brother's fate, and those of his two kinsmen, sufficiently instructed him never to trust to James or his ministers; that he had gone too far to think now of receding; and that kings, when once offended, as James had been, never pardoned in good earnest. Such were the chief reasons, with others of less consequence, which Drummond has put into the mouth of Douglas at this time.

James, after his expedition into Annandale, found the season too far advanced to continue his operations; and returning to Edinburgh, he marched northwards to Angus, to reduce the earl of Crawford, who was the second rebel of power in the kingdom. That nobleman had hitherto deferred throwing himself at the king's feet, and had refused his arms, in the manner related, only in hopes that better terms might be obtained from James for himself and his party. Perceiving that the earl of Douglas's obstinacy had cooled some other lords of the confederacy, and had put an end to all hopes of a treaty, he resolved to make a merit of breaking the confederacy, by being the first to submit. James having arrived in Angus, was continuing his march through the country, when the earl and some of his chief followers fell on their knees before him on the road, bareheaded and barefooted. Their dreary looks, their suppliant postures, and the tears which streamed abundantly from the earl, were expressive of the most abject contrition; which was followed by a penitential speech made by the earl, acknowledging his crimes, and imploring forgiveness.

James was then attended by his chief counsellors, particularly bishop Kennedy, who, he resolved, should have some share in the favour he meant to extend to the earl. He asked their advice; which proving to be on the merciful side, James promised to the earl and his followers restitution of all their estates and honours, and full pardon for all that had passed. The earl, as a grateful retribution for this favour, before the king left Angus, joined him with a noble troop of his friends and followers; and, attending him to the north, was extremely active in suppressing all the remains of the rebellion there.

The submission of the earl of Crawford was followed by that of the earl of Douglas; which, however, continued only for a short time. This powerful nobleman soon resumed his rebellious practices; and, in the year 1454, raised an army to fight against the king. The king erected his standard at St Andrew's; marched from thence to Falkland; and ordered all the forces of Fife, Angus, and Strathern, with those of the northern parts, to rendezvous by a certain day at Stirling; which they did to the number of 30,000. Douglas assembled his forces, which amounted to 40,000, some say 6,000 men, on the south side of the river Carron, about half way between Stirling and Abercorn. However, notwithstanding this superiority of force, the earl did not think it proper to fight his sovereign. Bishop Kennedy, the prelate of St Andrew's, had advised the king to divide his enemies by offering them pardon separately; and so good an effect had this, that in a few days the earl found himself deserted by all his numerous army, excepting about 100 of his nearest friends and domestics, with whom he retired towards England. His friends had indeed advised him to come to a battle immediately; but the earl, for reasons now unknown, refused. However, in his journey southward, he raised a considerable body of forces, consisting of his own tenants, of outlaws, robbers, and borderers, with whom he renewed his depredations on the loyal subjects of the king. He was opposed by the earl of Angus, who, though of the name of Douglas, continued firm in the royal cause. An engagement ensued at Ancram-muir; where Douglas was entirely defeated, and he himself barely escaped with great difficulty escaped to an adjacent wood. What his fate was after this battle does not appear; but it is certain that his estates were afterwards forfeited to the king.

The rest of the reign of James II. was spent in making proper regulations for the good of his people. In 1460 he was killed at the siege of Roxburgh castle, by accident, the bursting of a cannon, to which he was too near when it was discharged. This siege he had undertaken in favour of the queen of England, who, after losing several battles, and being reduced to distress, was obliged to apply to James for relief. The nobility who were present concealed his death, for fear of discouraging the soldiery; and in a few hours after, the queen appeared in the camp, and presented her young son, James III., as their king.

James III. was not quite seven years of age at his accession to the crown. The administration naturally devolved on his mother; who pushed the siege of Roxburgh castle with so much vigour, that the garrison was obliged to capitulate in a few days; after which the army ravaged the country, and took and dismantled the castle of Wark. — In 1466, negotiations were begun for a marriage between the young king and Margaret princess of Denmark; and, in 1468, the following conditions were stipulated:

1. That the annual rent hitherto paid for the northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland should be for ever remitted and extinguished. 2. That king Christiern, then king of Denmark, should give 60,000 florins of gold for his daughter's portion, whereas 10,000 should be paid before her departure from Denmark; and that the islands of Orkney should be made over to the crown of Scotland, by way of pledge for the remainder; with this express proviso, that they should return to that of Norway after complete payment of the whole sum. 3. That king James should, in case of his dying before the said Margaret his spouse, leave her in possession of the palace of Linlithgow and castle of Down in Menteith, with all their appurtenances, and the third part of the ordinary revenues of the crown, to be enjoyed by her during life, in case she should choose to reside in Scotland. 4. But if she rather chose to return to Denmark, that in lieu of the said fifteen, palace, and cattle, she should accept of 125,000 florins of the Rhine; from which sum the 50,000 due for the remainder of her portion being deducted and allowed, the islands of Orkney should be reannexed to the crown of Norway as before.

When these articles were agreed upon, Christiern found himself unable to fulfil his part of them. Being at that time engaged in an unsuccessful war with Sweden, he could not advance the 10,000 florins which he had promised to pay down as part of his daughter's fortune. He was therefore obliged to apply to the plenipotentiaries to accept of 2000, and to take a farther mort. mortgage of the isles of Shetland for the other Soce.

The Scottish plenipotentiaries, of whom Boyd earl of Arran was one, gratified him in his request; and this concession is thought to have proved fatal to the earl.

Certain it is, that his father was beheaded for treasonable practices alleged to have been committed long before, and for which he produced a parliamentary indemnity to no purpose: the earl himself was divorced from his wife the king's sister, and obliged to live in perpetual exile, while the countess was married to another.

In 1476, those misfortunes began to come on James which afterwards terminated in his ruin. He had made his brother, the duke of Albany, governor of Berwick; and had entrusted him with very extensive powers upon the borders, where a violent propensity for the feudal law still continued. The Humes and the Hepburns, then the most powerful subjects in those parts, could not brook the duke of Albany's greatness, especially after he had forced them, by virtue of a late act, to part with some of the estates which had been inconsiderately granted them in this and the preceding reign.

The pretended science of judicial astrology, by which James happened to be incredibly infatuated, was the easiest as well as most effectual engine that could work their purposes. One Andrew, an infamous impostor in that art, had been brought over from Flanders by James; and he and Schevez, then archbishop of St Andrew's, concurred in persuading James that the Scotch lion was to be devoured by his own whelps; a prediction that, to a prince of James's turn, amounted to a certainty.

The condition to which James reduced himself by his belief in judicial astrology, was truly deplorable. The princes upon the continent were smitten with the same infatuation; and the wretches who befriended his person had no safety but by continuing the delusion in his mind. According to Lindsay, Cochran, who had some knowledge of architecture, and had been introduced to James as a master-mason, privately procured an old woman, who pretended to be a witch, and who heightened his terrors by declaring that his brothers intended to murder him. James believed her; and the unguarded manner in which the earl of Mar treated his weakness, exasperated him so much, that the earl giving a farther loofe to his tongue in railing against his brother's unworthy favourites, was arrested, and committed to the castle of Craig Miller; from whence he was brought to the Canongate, a suburb of Edinburgh, where he suffered death.

The duke of Albany was at the castle of Dunbar when his brother the earl of Mar's tragedy was acted; and James could not be easy without having him likewise in his power. In hopes of surprising him, he marched to Dunbar; but the duke, being apprized of his coming, fled to Berwick, and ordered his castle of Dunbar to be surrendered to the lord Evendale, though not before the garrison had provided themselves with boats and small vessels, in which they escaped to England. He ventured to come to Edinburgh; where James was so well served with spies, that he was seized, and committed close prisoner to the castle, with orders that he should speak with none but in the presence of his keepers. The duke had probably suspected and provided against this disagreeable event; for we are told that he had agents, who every day repaired to the castle, as if they had come from court, and reported the state of matters between him and the king, while his keepers were present, in so favourable a light, that they made no doubt of his soon regaining his liberty, and being readmitted to his brother's favour. The seeming negociation, at last, went so prosperously on, that the duke gave his keepers a kind of a farewell entertainment, previous to his obtaining a formal deliverance; and they drank so immoderately, that being intoxicated, they gave him an opportunity of escaping over the castle-wall, by converting the sheets of his bed into a rope. Whoever knows the situation of that fortress, must be amazed at the boldness of this attempt; and we are told that the duke's valet, the only domestic he was allowed to have, making the experiment before his master, broke his neck; upon which the duke, lengthening the rope, did down unhurt; and carrying his servant on his back to a place of safety, he went on board a ship which his friends had provided, and escaped to France.

In 1482, the king began to feel the bad consequences of taking into his favour men of worthless characters, which seems to have been one of this prince's pernicious foibles. His great favourite at this time was Cochran, Cochran, whom he had raised to the dignity of earl of the king's Mar. All historians agree that this man made a most infamous use of his power. He obtained at last a liberty of coinage, which he abused so much as to endanger an insurrection among the poor people; for he issued a base coin, called black money by the common people, which they refused to take in payments. This favourite's skill in architecture had first introduced him to James; but he maintained his power by other arts: for, knowing that his master's predominant passion was the love of money, he procured it by the meanest and most oppressive methods. James, however, was inclined to have relieved his people by calling in Cochran's money; but he was diverted from that resolution, by considering that it would be agreeable to his old nobility. Besides Cochran, James had other favourites whose professions rendered them still less worthy of the royal countenance; James Homnil a taylor, Leonard a blacksmith, Torhlan a dancing-master, and some others. The favour shown to these men gave too much offence to the nobility, that, after some deliberation, they resolved to remove the king, with some of his least exceptionable domestics (but without offering any violence to his person) to the castle of Edinburgh; but to hang all his worthless favourites over Lavender-bridge, the common place of execution. Their deliberation was not kept so secret as not to come to the ears of the favourites; who suspecting the worst, awakened James before day-break, and informed him of the meeting. He ordered Cochran to repair to it, and to bring him an account of its proceedings (1). According to Lindsay,

(1) Lindsay's description of this upstart's magnificence is very particular, and may serve to give the reader an idea of the finery of that age. "Cochran (says he), the earl of Mar, came from the king to the council..." Scotland. Say, who seems to have had very minute information as to this event, Cochran rudely knocked at the door of the church, just after the assembly had finished their consultation; and upon Sir Robert Douglas of Lochleven (who was appointed to watch the door) informing them that the earl of Mar demanded admittance, the earl of Angus ordered the door to be thrown open; and rushing upon Cochran, he pulled a heavy gold chain from his neck, saying, that a rope would become him better; while Sir Robert Douglas stripped him of a costly blowing horn he wore by his side, as was the manner of the times, telling him he had been too long the hunter of mischief. Cochran, with astonishment, asked them whether they were in jest or earnest; but they soon convinced him they were in earnest, by pinioning down his arms with a common halter till he should be carried to execution.

With others The earl of Angus, with some of the chief lords, attended by a detachment of troops, then repaired to the king's tent, where they seized his other favourites, Thomas Preston, Sir William Rogers, James Hommil, William Torfsan, and Leonard; and upbraided James himself, in very rude terms, with his misconduct in government, and even in private life, in not only being counselled by the above minions, but for keeping company with a lady who was called the Daif. We know of no resistance made by James. He only interceded for the safety of a young gentleman, one John Ramsay of Balmain. Cochran, with his other worthless favourites, were hanged over Lawder-bridge before his eyes; and he himself was conducted, under an easy restraint, to the castle of Edinburgh.

James, though confined, behaved with great spirit; and even refused to pardon those who had confined him, or who had any hand in the execution at Lawder. At length, however, he was relieved by the duke of Albany, who, at the queen's desire, undertook to deliver her husband from confinement. This he accomplished, as some say, by surprising the castle of Edinburgh; though, according to others, the gates were opened, upon a formal requisition made for that purpose by two heralds at arms. After he had obtained his liberty, the king repaired to the abbey of Holyroodhouse with his brother, who now acted as his first minister. All the lords who were near the capital came to pay him their compliments; but James was so much exasperated at what had happened, that he committed 16 of them prisoners to the castle of Edinburgh. After his release, James granted a patent to the citizens of Edinburgh, and enlarged their privileges.

In 1487, James finished some secret negotiations in which he had engaged with Henry king of England some time. The principal articles agreed on between the two monarchs were, That king James's second son should marry Catherine the third daughter of Edward IV. and sister to the princess Elizabeth, now queen of England; and that James himself, who was now a widower, should marry queen Elizabeth. A third marriage was also to be concluded between the duke of Rothesay and another daughter of Edward IV. That in order to these treaties, and for ending all controversies concerning the town of Berwick, which the king of Scotland desired so much to possess, a congress should be held the ensuing year.

But in the mean time a most powerful confederacy was formed against the king; the origin of which was as follows. James was a great patron of architecture; and being pleased with the situation of Stirling castle, the king resolved to give it all the embellishments which that art could bestow; and about this time he made it the chief place of his residence. He raised within it a hall, which at that time was deemed a noble structure; and a college, which he called the chapel-royal. This college was endowed with an archdean who was a bishop, a subdean, a treasurer, a chanter and subchanter, with a double set of other officers usually belonging to such institutions. The expenses necessary for maintaining these were considerable, and the king had resolved to assign the revenues of the rich priory of Coldingham for that purpose. This priory had been generally held by one of the name of Hume; and that family, through length of time, considered it as their property; they therefore strongly opposed the king's intention. The dispute seems to have lasted some years; for the former parliament had passed a vote, annexing the priory to the king's chapel-royal; and the parliament of this year had passed a statute, strictly prohibiting all persons, spiritual and temporal, to attempt anything, directly or indirectly, contrary or prejudicial to the said union and with the annexation. The Humes resented their being deprived of so gainful a revenue, the loss of which affected most of the gentlemen of that name; and they united themselves with the Hepburns, another powerful clan in that neighbourhood, under the lord Hales. An association was soon formed; by which both families engaged to stand by each other, and not to suffer any prior to be received for Coldingham, if he was not of one of their surnames. The lords Gray and Drummond soon joined the association; as did many other noblemen and gentlemen, who had their particular causes of discontent. Their agents gave out, that the king was grasping at arbitrary power; that he had acquired his popularity by deep hypocrisy; and that he was resolved to be signally revenged upon all who had any hand in the execution at Lawder. The earl of Angus, who was the foul of the confederacy, advised the conspirators to apply to the old earl of Douglas to head them; but that nobleman was now dead to all ambition, and instead of

(wich council was holden in the kirk of Lawder for the time), who was well accompanied with a band of men of war, to the number of 300 light axes, all clad in white livery, and black bands thereon, that they might be known for Cochran the earl of Mar's men. Himself was clad in a riding-pie of black velvet, with a great chain of gold about his neck, to the value of 500 crowns; and four blowing horns, with both the ends of gold and silk, set with precious stones. His horn was tipped with fine gold at every end, and a precious stone, called a beryl, hanging in the midst. This Cochran had his heumont borne before him, overlaid with gold; to were all the rest of his horns; and all his pallions (pavilions or tents) were of fine canvas of silk, and the cords thereof fine twined silk; and the chains upon his pallions were double overlaid with gold." Scotland, of encouraging the conspirators, he pathetically exhorted them to break off all their rebellious connections, and return to their duty; expressing the most sincere contrition for his own past conduct. Finding he could not prevail with them, he wrote to all the numerous friends and descendants of his family, and particularly to Douglas of Cavers, sheriff of Teviotdale, dissuading them from entering into the conspiracy; and some of his original letters to that effect are said to be still extant. That great man survived this application but a short time; for he died without issue at Lindores, on the 15th of April 1488; and in him ended the first branch of that noble and illustrious house. He was remarkable for being the most learned of all the Scots nobility, and for the comeliness of his person.

James appears to have been no stranger to the proceedings of the conspirators: but though he dreaded them, he depended upon the protection of the law, as they did upon his puffianimity. His degeneracy in this respect is remarkable. Descended from a race of heroes, he was the first of his family who had been branded with cowardice. But his conduct at this time fully justifies the charge. Instead of vigorously supporting the execution of the laws in his own person, he shut himself up in his beloved castle of Stirling, and raised a body guard; the command of which he gave to the lord Bothwel, master of his household. He likewise issued a proclamation, forbidding any person in arms to approach the court; and Bothwel had a warrant to see the same put into execution. Though the king's proceedings in all this were perfectly agreeable to law, yet they were given out by his enemies as so many indications of his aversion to the nobility, and served only to induce them to parade, armed about the country in more numerous bodies.

The connections entered into by James with Henry alarmed the conspirators, and made them resolve to strike the great blow before James could avail himself of an alliance that seemed to place him above all opposition either abroad or at home. The acquisition of Berwick to the crown of Scotland, which was looked upon to be as good as concluded; the marriage of the duke of Rothesay with the daughter of the dowager and sister to the consort queen of England; and, above all, the strict harmony which reigned between James and the states of his kingdom, rendered the conspirators in a manner desperate. Besides the earl of Angus, the earls of Argyle and Lenox favoured the conspirators; for when the whole of James's convention with England is considered, and compared with after-events, nothing can be more plain, than that the success of the conspirators was owing to his English connections; and that they made use of them to affirm, that Scotland was soon to become a province of England, and that James intended to govern his subjects by an English force.—Those specious allegations did the conspirators great service, and inclined many, even of the moderate party, to their cause. They soon took the field, appointed their rendezvous, and all the south of Scotland was in arms. James continued to rely upon the authority of his parliament; and summoned, in the terms of law, the insurgents to answer at the proper tribunals for their repeated breaches of the peace. The conspirators, far from paying any regard to his citations, tore them in pieces, buffeted and otherwise maltreated the messengers, and set the laws of their country at open defiance.

Even north of the Forth, the heads of the houses of Gray and Drummond spread the spirit of disaffection through the populous counties of Fife and Angus; but the counties north of the Grampians continued firm in their duty.

The duke of Rothesay was then a promising youth about fifteen years of age; and the subjecting the kingdom of Scotland to that of England being the chief, if not the only cause urged by the rebels for their appearing in arms, they naturally threw their eyes upon that prince, as his appearance at their head would give strength and vigour to their cause; and in this they were not deceived. James, in the mean time, finding the inhabitants of the southern provinces were either engaged in the rebellion, or at best observed a cold neutrality, embarked on board of a vessel which was then lying in the frith of Forth, and passed to the north of that river, not finding it safe to go by land to Stirling. Arriving at the castle, he gave orders that the duke of Rothesay (as foreseeing what afterwards happened) should be put under the care of one Schaw of Sauchie, whom he had made its governor, charging him not to suffer the prince upon any account to depart out of the fort. The rebels giving out that James had fled to Flanders plundered his equipages and baggage before they passed the Forth; and they there found a large sum of money, which proved to be of the utmost consequence to their affairs. They then surprised the castle of Dunbar, and plundered the houses of every man the rebels to the south of the Forth whom they suspected to be a royalist.

James was all this time making a progress, and holding courts of justice, in the north, where the great families were entirely devoted to his service, particularly the earls of Huntley, Errol, and Marshall.—Every day brought him fresh alarms from the south, which left him no farther room either for delay or deliberation. The conspirators, notwithstanding the promising appearance of their affairs, found, that in a short time their cause must languish, and their numbers dwindle, unless they were furnished with fresh pretexts, and headed by a person of the greatest authority. While they were deliberating who that person should be, the earl of Angus boldly proposed the duke of Rothesay; and an immediate application was made to Schaw, the young prince's governor, who secretly favoured their cause, and was prevailed upon by a considerable sum of money to put the prince into their hands, and to declare for the rebels.

James having ordered all the force in the north to assemble, hurried to Perth (then called St John's town), where he appointed the rendezvous of his army, which amounted to 32,000 men. Among the other noblemen who attended him was the famous lord David Lindsay of the Byres (an officer of great courage and experience, having long served in foreign countries), who headed 3000 foot and 1000 horse, mostly raised in Fifehire. Upon his approaching the king's person, he presented him with a horse of remarkable spirit and beauty, and informed his majesty, that he might trust his life to his agility and sure-footedness. The lord Ruthven, who was sheriff of Strathern, and ancestor (if we mistake not) to the unfortunate earls of Gowry, joined James at the head of 3000 well armed men. The whole army being assembled, James proceeded to Stirling; but he was astonished, when he was not only denied entrance into the castle, but saw the guns pointed against his person, and undertook, for the first time, that his son was at the head of the rebels. Schaw pretended that the duke of Rothesay had been carried off against his will; but the king's answer was, "Fye, traitor, thou hast deceived me; and if I live I shall be revenged on thee, and thou shalt be rewarded as thou hast served." James lay that night in the town of Stirling, where he was joined by all his army; and understanding that the rebels were advancing, he formed his line of battle. The earl of Athol his uncle, who was trusted by both parties, proposed an accommodation; which was accordingly effected, if we are to believe Abercromby and other historians; but we know not the terms, for none are mentioned on either side.—James is said to have failed on his part; but had there been any grounds for such a charge against him, there can scarcely be a doubt but that the rebels would have published them. That a treaty was entered into is past dispute; and the earl of Athol surrendered himself as a hostage into the hands of the rebels.

James was sensible of the advantage which public clamour gave to his enemies; and he applied to the kings of France and England, and the pope, for their interposition. His holiness named Adrian de Castello for his nuncio on that occasion; and the two kings threatened to raise troops for the service of James.—He, by a fatality not uncommon to weak princes, left the strong castle of Edinburgh, where he might have been in safety till his friends, who had dispersed themselves upon the faith of the late negociation, could be reassembled; and crossing the Forth, he made another attempt to be admitted into the castle of Stirling; but was disappointed, and informed that the rebels were at Torwood in the neighbourhood, and ready to give him battle. He was in possession of the castle of Blackness; his admiral, Wood, commanded the Forth; and his loyal subjects in the north were upon their march to join him. Hawthornend says, that the rebels had made a show of dismissing their troops, that they might draw James into the field; and that while he remained at Blackness, he was attended by the earls of Montrose, Glencairn, and the lords Maxwell and Ruthven. To give his northern troops time to join him, he proposed a negociation; but that was soon at an end, upon the rebels peremptorily requiring him to resign his crown to his son, that is, to themselves.

The rebels had been inured to war. They consisted chiefly of borderers, well armed and disciplined; in which they had the advantage of the king's Lowland subjects, who had not been accustomed to arms. What the numbers on both sides were does not clearly appear; but it is probable that the forces of James were superior to the rebels. They were then at Falkirk; but they soon passed the Carron, encamped above the bridge near Torwood, and made such dispositions as rendered a battle unavoidable, unless James would have dispersed his army, and gone on board Wood's ships: but he did not know himself, and resolved on a battle. He was encamped at a small brook named Sauchie-burn, near the same spot of ground where the great Bruce had defeated the English under Edward the second. The earl of Menteth, the lords Erskine, Graham, Ruthven, and Maxwell, commanded the first line of the king's army. The second was commanded by the earl of Glencairn, who was at the head of the Westland and Highland men. The earl of Crawford, with the lord Boyd and Lindlay of Byres, commanded the rear, wherein the king's main strength consisted, and where he himself appeared in person, completely armed, and mounted upon the fine horse which had been presented to him by Lindlay.

The first line of the royalists obliged that of the rebels to give way; but the latter being supported by the Annandale men and borderers, the first and second line of the king's army were beat back to the third. The little courage James possessed had forsaken him at the Abadons first onset; and he had put spurs to his horse, intending to gain the banks of the Forth, and to go on board one of Wood's ships. In passing through the village of Bannockburn, a woman who was filling her pitcher at the brook, frightened at the sight of a man in armour galloping full speed, left it behind her; and the horse thrown taking fright, the king was thrown to the ground, and from his carried, bruised and maimed, by a miller and his wife murdered into their hovel. He immediately called for a priest to make his confession; and the rustics demanding his name and rank, "I was (said he inadvertently) your king this morning." The woman, overcome with astonishment, clasped her hands, and running to the door called for a priest to confess the king. "I am a priest (said one passing by), lead me to his majesty." Being introduced into the hovel, he saw the king covered with a coarse cloth; and kneeling by him, he asked James whether he thought he could recover, if properly attended by physicians? James answering in the affirmative, the villain pulled out a dagger, and stabbed him to the heart. Such is the dark account we are able to give of this prince's unhappy end. The name of the person who murdered him is said to have been Sir Andrew Borthwick, a priest, one of the pope's knights. Some pretend that the lord Gray, and others that Robert Stirling of Keir, was the regicide; and even Buchanan (the tenor of whose history is a justification of this murder), is uncertain as to the name of the person who gave him the fatal blow.

It is probable that the royalists lost the battle thro' the cowardice of James. Even after his flight his troops fought bravely; but they were damped on receiving the certain accounts of his death. The prince, young as he was, had an idea of the unnatural part he was acting, and before the battle he had given a strict charge for the safety of his father's person. Upon hearing that he had retired from the field, he sent orders that none should pursue him; but they were ineffectual, the rebels being sensible that they could have no safety but in the king's death. When that was certified, hostilities seemed to cease; nor were the royalists pursued. The number of slain on both sides is uncertain; but it must have been considerable, as the earl of Glencairn, the lords Sempil, Erskine, and Ruthven, and other gentlemen of great eminence, are mentioned. As to the duke of Rothesay, who was grief of his new king, he appeared inconsolable when he heard of his father's death; but the rebels endeavoured to efface his grief, by the profusion of honours they paid him when he was recognized as king.

The remorse and anguish of the young king, on reflecting fleeting upon the unnatural part he had acted, was inexpressible; and the noblemen who had been engaged in the rebellion became apprehensive for their own safety. The catastrophe of the unfortunate James III., however, was not yet become public; and it was thought by many that he had gone aboard some of the ships belonging to the Scottish admiral Sir Andrew Wood. James, willing to indulge hope as long as it was possible, desired an interview with the admiral; but the latter refused to come on shore, unless he had sufficient hostages for his safety. These being delivered, Sir Andrew waited upon the king at Leith. He had again and again, by messages, assured him that he knew nothing of the late king; and he had even offered to allow his ships to be searched: yet such was the anxiety of the new king, that he could not be satisfied till he had examined him in person. Young James had been long a stranger to his father, so that he could not have distinguished him easily from others. When Wood, therefore, entered the room, being struck with his noble appearance, he asked him, "Are you my father?" "I am not," replied Wood, bursting into tears; "but I was your father's true servant, and while I live I shall be the determined enemy of his murderers." This did not satisfy the lords, who demanded whether he knew where the king was. The admiral replied, that he knew not; and upon their questioning him concerning his manoeuvres on the day of battle, when his boats were seen plying backwards and forwards, he told them, that he and his brother had determined to affix the king in person; but all they could do was to save some of the royalists in their ships. "I would to God, (says he), my king was there safely, for I would defend and keep him safe from all the traitors who have cruelly murdered him; for I think to see the day to behold them hanged and drawn for their demerits." This spirited declaration, and the freedom with which it was delivered, struck the guilty part of the council with dismay; but the fear of sacrificing the hostages procured Wood his freedom, and he was suffered to depart to his ships. When he came on board, he found his brother preparing to hang the two lords who had been left as hostages; which would certainly have been their fate, had the admiral been longer detained.

the meanwhile, felt the torment and disquiet of unhappy and miserable passions. At times she courted the shades of solitude, and refused to be consoled or to speak. In other seasons her sighs were frequent, and she broke out into loud and wild exclamations expressive of the state of her mind. Her subjects waited the determination of her will under a distressing agitation and uncertainty. Her ministers, who knew that it is the nature of fear to exclude pity, were industrious in inventing terrifying intelligence, and in circulating it through the kingdom. There were rumours that the Spanish fleet had arrived at Milford haven; that a formidable army of Scottish combatants was advancing to the capital; that the duke of Guise had disembarked many troops of veteran soldiers in Sussex; that Mary had escaped out of prison, and was collecting the English Catholics; that the northern counties had thrown aside their allegiance; and that there was a new plot to kill Elizabeth, and to reduce London to ashes. An actual conspiracy was even maliciously charged upon L'Anhepaine the French resident; and he was forced to withdraw from England in disgrace. From the panic terrors which the ministers of Elizabeth were so studious to excite, they scrupled not loudly and invariably to infer, that the peace and tranquillity of the kingdom could alone be re-established by the speedy execution of the Scottish queen.

While the nation was thus artfully prepared for the destruction of Mary, Elizabeth ordered secretary Davidson to bring to her the warrant for her death. Having perused it with deliberation, she observed that it was extended in proper terms, and gave it the authority of her subscription. She was in a humour somewhat gay, and demanded of him if he was not sorry for what she had done. He replied, that it was afflicting to him to think of the state of public affairs; but that he greatly preferred her life to that of the Scottish princes. She enjoined him to be secret, and desired, that before he should deliver the warrant to the chancellor, he should carry it to Walsingham. "I fear much (said she, in a merry tone), that the grief of it will kill him."

This levity was momentary; and fears and anxieties succeeded it. Though she earnestly desired the death of Mary, she was yet terrified to encounter its infamy. She was solicitous to accomplish this safe transaction by some method which would conceal her consent to it. After intimating to Mr Davidson an anxious wish that his blame should be removed from her, she counselled him to join with Walsingham in addressing a letter to Sir Amias Paulet and Sir Drue Drury, recommending it to them to manifest their love to her by shedding privately the blood of her adversary. The unlawfulness of this deed affected Davidson, and he objected to it. She repeated resolutely her injunctions, and he departed to execute them. A letter under his name and that of Walsingham was dispatched to Mary's keepers, communicating to them her purpose. Corrupted by her passions, and lost to the sensibilities of virtue, Elizabeth had now reached the last extremity of human wickedness. Though a sovereign princess, and entrusted with the cares of a great nation, she blushed not to give it in charge to her ministers to enjoin a murder; and this murder was connected with every circumstance that could make it most frightful and horrid. The victim for whose blood she thirsted was a woman, a queen, a relation, who was splendid with beauty, eminent in abilities, magnanimous under misfortunes, and smiling with innocence. Sir Amias Paulet and Sir Drue Drury, tho' which her slaves of religious prejudices, felt an elevation of mind which reflected the greatest disgrace upon the fated sovereign. They considered themselves as grossly in- sulted by the purpose proposed to them; and in the return they made to Walsingham, they assured him, that the queen might command their lives and their property, but that they would never consent to part with their honour, and to stain themselves and their posterity with the guilt of an assassination. When Daviddon carried their dispatch to her, she broke out into anger. Their scrupulous delicacy, she said, was a dainty infringement of their oath of association; and they were nice, precise, and perjured traitors, who could give great promises in words, and achieve nothing. She told him, that the business could be performed without them; and recommended one Wingfield to his notice, who would not hesitate to strike the blow. The astonished secretary exclaimed with warmth against a mode of proceeding so dangerous and unwarrantable. He protested, that if she should take upon herself the blame of this deed, it would pollute her with the blackest dishonour; and that, if she should disavow it, she would overthrow for ever the reputation, the estates, and the children, of the persons who should assist in it. She heard him with pain, and withdrew from him with precipitation.

The warrant, after having been communicated to Walsingham, was carried to the chancellor, who put the great seal to it. This formality was hardly concluded, when a message from Elizabeth prohibited Daviddon from waiting upon the chancellor till he should receive farther instructions. Within an hour after, he received a second message to the same purpose. He hastened to court; and Elizabeth asked eagerly, if he had seen the chancellor. He answered in the affirmative; and she exclaimed with bitterness against his haste. He said, that he had acted exactly as she had directed him. She continued to express warmly her displeasure; but gave no command to stop the operation of the warrant. In a state of uneasiness and apprehension, he communicated her behaviour to the chancellor and the privy-council. These courtiers, however, who were well acquainted with the arts of their mistress, and who knew how to flatter her, paid no attention to him. They perceived, or were secretly informed, that she desired to have a pretence upon which to complain of the secretary, and to deny that he had obeyed her instructions. They observed to him, that by subscribing the warrant, she had performed whatever the law required of her; and that it was not proper to delay the execution any longer. While they were anxious to please Elizabeth, they were conscious of their own cruelty to Mary, and did not imagine they could be in perfect security while she lived. They dispatched the warrant to the earls of Shrewsbury and Kent, with instructions to them to fulfil its purpose.

When the two earls and their retinue reached Fotheringay-castle, they found that Mary was sick, and reposing upon her bed. They insisted, notwithstanding, to be introduced to her. Being informed by her servants that the message they brought was important and pressing, she prepared to receive them. They were conducted into her presence by Sir Amias Paulet and Sir Drue Drury; and with little formality they told her, that Elizabeth had consoled to her death, and that she was to suffer the next morning at eight o'clock. Then Beale, one of the clerks of the privy-council, who accompanied them, read over the warrant, which she heard with pious composure and unshaken fortitude.

They then affected to justify their mistress by entering Scotland into details concerning the conspiracy of Babington. She put her hand upon the Scriptures, which lay upon a table near her, and swore in the most solemn manner, that she never devised, consented to, or purposed the death of Elizabeth in any shape whatsoever. The earl of Kent, unwisely zealous for the Protestant religion, excepted against her oath, as being made upon a Popish Bible. She replied to him mildly, "It is for this very reason, my lord, to be relied upon with the greatest security; for I esteem the Popish version of the Scriptures to be the most authentic." Indulging his puritanical fervour, he declaimed against popery, counselled her to renounce its errors, and recommended to her attention Dr Fletcher dean of Peterborough. She heard him with some impatience; and discovered no anxiety to be converted by this ecclesiastic, whom he represented as a most learned divine. Rising into passion, he exclaimed, that "her life would be the death of their religion, and that her death would be its life." After informing him that she was unalterably fixed in her religious sentiments, she desired that her confessor might have the liberty to repair to her. The two earls concurred in observing, that their confidences did not allow them to grant this request. She intimated to them the favours for which she had applied by her letter to Elizabeth, and expressed a wish to know if her sister had attended to them. They answered, that these were points upon which they had received no instructions. She made inquiries concerning her secretaries Naw and Curl; and asked, whether it had ever been heard of, in the wickedest times of the most unprincipled nation, that the servants of a sovereign princess had been suborned for the purpose of destroying her. They looked to one another, and were silent. Bourgoin her physician, who with her other domestics was present at this interview, seeing the two earls ready to depart, besought them with an emphatic earnestness to reflect upon the short and inadequate portion of time that they had allotted to his mistress to prepare herself for death. He insisted, that a respect for her high rank, and the multiplicity and importance of her concerns, required at least a period of some days. They pretended, however, not to understand the propriety of his petition, and refused it.

Upon the departure of the two earls, her domestics gave a full vent to their afflictions; and while she experienced a melancholy pleasure in their tears, lamentations, and kindness, she endeavoured to console them. Their grief, she said, was altogether unavailing, and could neither better her condition nor their own. Her cause had every thing about it that was most honourable; and the miseries from which she was to be relieved were the most hopeless and the most afflicting. Instead of dejection and sadness, she therefore enjoined them to be contented and happy. That she might have the more leisure to settle her affairs, she supped early, and, according to her usual custom, she ate little. While at table, she remarked to Bourgoin her physician, that the force of truth was insurmountable; for that the earl of Kent, notwithstanding the pretence of her having conspired against Elizabeth, had plainly informed her, that her death would be the security of their religion. When supper was over, she ordered all her servants to appear before her, and treated them with the kindness which we have mentioned in her life. Having settled these attentions, she entered her bedchamber with her women; and, according to her uniform practice, employed herself in religious duties, and in reading in the Lives of the Saints. At her accustomed time she went to sleep; and after enjoying some hours of found rest, she awoke. She then indulged in pious meditation, and partook of the sacrament by the means of a consecrated host, which a melancholy presentiment of her calamities had induced her to obtain from Pius V.

At the break of day she arrayed herself in rich, but becoming apparel; and calling together her servants, she ordered her will to be read, and apologized for the smallness of her legacies from her inability to be more generous. Following the arrangement she had previously made, she then dealt out to them her goods, wardrobe, and jewels. To Bourgein her physician she committed the care of her will, with a charge that he would deliver it to her principal executor the duke of Guise. She also entrusted him with tokens of her affection for the king of France, the queen-mother, and her relations of the house of Lorraine. Bidding now an adieu to all worldly concerns, she retired to her oratory, where she was seen sometimes kneeling at the altar, and sometimes standing motionless with her hands joined, and her eyes directed to the heavens. In these tender and agitated moments, she was dwelling upon the memory of her sufferings and her virtues, reposing her weaknesses in the bosom of her God, and lifting and solacing her spirit in the contemplation of his perfections and his mercy. While she was thus engaged, Thomas Andrews, the high sheriff of the county, announced to her, that the hour for her execution was arrived. She came forth dressed in a gown of black silk; her petticoat was bordered with crimson velvet; a veil of lawn bowed out with wire, and edged with bone-lace, was fastened to her caul, and hung down to the ground; an Agnus Dei was suspended from her neck by a pommel chain; her beads were fixed to her girdle; and she bore in her hand a crucifix of ivory. Amidst the screams and lamentations of her women she defended the stairs; and in the porch she was received by the earls of Kent and Shrewsbury with their attendants.—Here, too, she met Sir Andrew Melvil the master of her household, whom her keepers had debarred from her presence during many days. Throwing himself at her feet, and weeping aloud, he deplored his sad destiny, and the sorrowful tidings he was to carry into Scotland.

After she had spoken to Melvil, she besought the two earls that her servants might be treated with civility, that they might enjoy the presents she had bestowed upon them, and that they might receive a safe conduct to depart out of the dominions of Elizabeth. These slight favours were readily granted to her. She then begged that they might be permitted to attend her to the scaffold, in order that they might be witnesses of her behaviour at her death. To this request the earl of Kent discovered a strong reluctance. He said that they would behave with an intemperate passion; and that they would practise superstitious formalities, and dip their handkerchiefs in her blood. She replied, that she was sure that none of their actions would be blameable; and that it was but decent that some of her women should be about her. The earl still hesitating, she was affected with the insolent and stupid indignity of his malice, and exclaimed, "I am cousin to your mistress, and descended from Henry VII. I am a dowager of France, and the anointed queen of Scotland." The earl of Shrewsbury interposing, it was agreed that she should select two of her women who might assist her in her last moments, and a few of her men-servants, who might behold her demeanour, and report it.

She entered the hall where she was to suffer, and advanced with an air of grace and majesty to the scaffold, which was built at its farthest extremity. The spectators were numerous. Her magnanimous carriage, her beauty, of which the lutre was yet dazzling, and her matchless misfortunes, affected them. They gave way to contending emotions of awe, admiration, and pity. She ascended the scaffold with a firm step and serene aspect, and turned her eye to the block, the axe, and the executioners. The spectators were dissolved in tears. A chair was placed for her, in which she seated herself. Silence was commanded; and Beale read aloud the warrant for her death. She heard it attentively, yet with a manner from which it might be gathered that her thoughts were employed upon a subject more important. Dr Fletcher dean of Peterborough taking his station opposite to her without the rails of the scaffold, began a discourse upon her life, past, present, and to come. He affected to enumerate her trespasses against Elizabeth, and to describe the love and tenderness which that princess had shown to her. He counselled her to repent of her crimes; and while he inveighed against her attachment to Popery, he threatened her with everlasting fire if she should delay to renounce its errors. His behaviour was indecent and coarse in the greatest degree; and while he meant to insult her, he insulted still more the religion which he professed, and the sovereign whom he flattered. Twice she interrupted him with great gentleness. But he persistently continued his exhortations. Raising her voice, he commanded him with a resolute tone to withhold his indignities and menaces, and not to trouble her any more about her faith. "I was born (said she) in the Roman Catholic religion; I have experienced its comforts during my life, in the trying seasons of sickness, calamity, and sorrow; and I am resolved to die in it." The two earls, ashamed of the savage obstinacy of his deportment, admonished him to desist from his speeches, and to content himself with praying for her conversion. He entered upon a long prayer; and Mary falling upon her knees, and disregarding him altogether, employed herself in devotions from the office of the Virgin.

After having performed all her devotions, her women assisted her to disrobe; and the executioners offering their aid, she repressed their forwardness by observing, that she was not accustomed to be attended by such servants, nor to be undressed before so large an assembly. Her upper garments being laid aside, she drew upon her arms a pair of silk gloves. Her women and men servants burst out into loud lamentations. She put her finger to her mouth to admonish them to be silent, and then bade them a final adieu with a smile that seemed to console, but that plunged them into deeper woe. She kneeled resolutely before the block, and said, "In thee, O Lord! do I trust, let me never be confounded." She covered her eyes with a linen handkerchief in which the eucharist had been inclosed; and stretching forth her body with great tranquility, and fitting her neck for the fatal stroke, she called out, "Into thy hands, O God! I commit my spirit." The executioner, from design, from unkindfulness, or from iniquity, struck three blows before he separated her head from her body. He held it up mangled with wounds, and streaming with blood; and her hair being discomposed, was discovered to be already grey with afflictions and anxieties. The dean of Peterborough alone cried out, "So let the enemies of Elizabeth perish." The earl of Kent alone, in a low voice, answered, "Amen." All the other spectators were melted into the tenderest sympathy and sorrow.

Her women hastened to protect her dead body from the curiosity of the spectators; and solaced themselves with the thoughts of mourning over it undisturbed when they should retire, and of laying it out in its funeral garb. But the two earls prohibited them from discharging these melancholy yet pleasing offices to their departed mistress, and drove them from the hall with indignity. Bourgoin her physician applied to them that he might be permitted to take out her heart for the purpose of preserving it, and of carrying it with him to France. But they refused his intreaty with disdain and anger. Her remains were touched by the rude hands of the executioners, who carried them into an adjoining apartment; and who, tearing a cloth from an old billiard-table, covered that form, once so beautiful. The block, the cushion, the scaffold, and the garments, which were stained with her blood, were consumed with fire. Her body, after being embalmed and committed to a leaden coffin, was buried with royal splendour and pomp in the cathedral of Peterborough. Elizabeth, who had treated her like a criminal while she lived, seemed disposed to acknowledge her for a queen when she was dead.

he death of his mother, the full government of the kingdom devolved on James her son. Elizabeth, apprehensive of his resentment for her treatment of his mother, wrote him a letter, in which she disclaimed all knowledge of the fact. James had received intelligence of the murder before the arrival of this letter, which was sent by one Cary. The messenger was stopped at Berwick by an order from the king, telling him, that, if Mary had been executed, he should proceed at his peril. James thus himself up in Dalkeith castle, in order to indulge himself in grief; but the natural levity and imbecility of his mind prevented him from acting in any degree as became him. Instead of resolutely adhering to his first determination of not allowing Cary to set foot in Scotland, he in a few days gave his consent that he should be admitted to an audience of certain members of his privy-council, who took a journey to the borders on purpose to wait upon him. In this conference, Cary demanded that the league of amity between the two kingdoms should be inviolably observed. He said that his mistress was grieved at the death of Mary, which had happened without her consent; and, in Elizabeth's name, offered any satisfaction that James could demand. The Scots commissioners treated Cary's speech and proposal with becoming disdain. They observed, that they amounted to no more than to know whether James was disposed to tell his mother's blood; adding, that the Scottish nobility and people were determined to revenge it, and to interest in their quarrel the other princes of Europe. Upon this Cary delivered to them the letter from Elizabeth, together with a declaration of his own concerning the murder of the queen; and it does not appear that he proceeded farther.

This reception of her ambassador threw Elizabeth into the utmost consternation. She was apprehensive that James would join his force to that of Spain, and entirely overwhelm her; and had the resentment or the spirit of the king been equal to that of the nation, it is probable that the haughty English princess would have been made severely to repent her perfidy and cruelty. It doth not, however, appear, that James had any serious intention of calling Elizabeth to an account for the murder of his mother; for which, perhaps, his natural imbecility may be urged as an excuse, though it is more probable that his own necessity for money had swallowed up every other consideration. By the league formerly concluded with England, it had been agreed that Elizabeth should pay an annual pension to the king of Scotland. James had neither economy to make his own revenue answer his purposes, nor address to get it increased. He was therefore always in want; and as Elizabeth had plenty to spare, her friendship became a valuable acquisition. To this consideration, joined to his view of ascending the English throne, must chiefly be ascribed the little resentment shown by him to the atrocious conduct of Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was not wanting in the arts of dissimulation and treachery now more than formerly. She prosecuted and fined secretary Davidon and lord Burleigh for the active part they had taken in Mary's death. Their punishment was indeed much less than they deserved, but they certainly did not merit such treatment at her hands. Walsingham, though equally guilty, yet escaped by pretending indolition, or perhaps cajoled because the queen had now occasion for his services. By her command he drew up a long letter addressed to lord Thrilston, king James's prime minister; in which he showed the necessity of putting Mary to death, and the folly of attempting to revenge it. He boasted of the superior force of England to that of Scotland; shewed James that he would for ever ruin his pretensions to the English crown, by involving the two nations in a war; that he ought not to trust to foreign alliances; that the Roman Catholic party were so divided among themselves, that he could receive little or no assistance from them, even supposing him so advised as to change his own religion for Popery, and that they would not trust his sincerity. Lastly, he attempted to show, that James had already discharged all the duty towards his mother and his own reputation that could be expected from an affectionate son and a wise king; that his interceding for her with a concern so becoming nature, had endeared him to the kingdom of England; but that it would be madness to put his resentment farther.

This letter had all the effect that could be desired. James gave an audience to the English ambassador; and being assured that his blood was not tainted by the execution of his mother for treason against Elizabeth, but