History of Scotland
by Margaret MacArthur · English · Gutenberg #44121 · 422,411 chars · public domain (US)
The Project Gutenberg eBook of History of Scotland
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.
Title: History of Scotland
Author: Margaret MacArthur
Editor: Edward A. Freeman
Release date: November 7, 2013 [eBook #44121]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44121
Credits: Produced by Paul Marshall, Greg Bergquist and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF SCOTLAND ***
_FREEMAN'S HISTORICAL COURSE FOR SCHOOLS._
HISTORY
OF
SCOTLAND
BY
MARGARET MACARTHUR.
EDITED BY
EDWARD A. FREEMAN, D.C.L.
_Edition Adapted for American Students._
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
1874
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1874, by
HENRY HOLT,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
[ Transcriber Notes:
1. Obvious misspellings and omissions were corrected.
2. Uncertain misspellings or ancient words were not corrected.
3. "_" indicates italics, "=" indicates bold. ]
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
THE GAELIC PERIOD 1
CHAPTER II.
THE ENGLISH PERIOD 19
CHAPTER III.
THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE 35
CHAPTER IV.
THE INDEPENDENT KINGDOM 52
CHAPTER V.
THE JAMESES 67
CHAPTER VI.
THE REFORMATION 96
CHAPTER VII.
THE UNION OF THE CROWNS 125
CHAPTER VIII.
AFTER THE UNION 167
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
THE GAELIC PERIOD.
Agricola's Invasion 80
Severus' Invasion 208
Founding of Northumberland by Ida 547
Founding of Dalriada by the Scots about 503
Union of Picts and Scots 843
Commendation to Eadward 924
Battle of Brunanburh 937
Battle of Carham 1018
Cnut's Invasion 1031
Malcolm Canmore King 1057
William's Invasion 1073
Malcolm slain 1093
THE ENGLISH PERIOD, 1097-1286.
Eadgar 1097
Alexander I. 1107
David 1124
Battle of the Standard 1138
Malcolm IV 1153
William the Lion 1165
Capture at Alnwick 1174
Treaty of Falaise 1174
Council of Northampton 1176
Treaty with Richard I. 1189
Alexander II. 1214
Border-line fixed 1222
Council at York 1237
Alexander III. 1249
Battle of Largs 1263
Man and the Sudereys annexed 1266
Death of Alexander III. 1286
THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE, to 1314.
Queen Margaret 1286
Treaty of Brigham 1290
Margaret dies 1290
Council meets at Norham, 3rd June 1291
Judgment given at Berwick, 11th November 1292
John crowned King 1292
Edward's first Conquest 1296
Rising of Wallace 1297
Surrender at Irvine 1297
Battle of Stirling, 11th September 1297
Battle of Falkirk 1298
Edward's second Conquest 1303
Capture of Wallace 1305
Robert Bruce crowned King, 27th March 1306
Death of Edward 1307
Battle of Bannockburn, 24th June 1314
THE INDEPENDENT KINGDOM, 1314-1424.
Parliament at Cambuskenneth 1326
Peace of Northampton 1328
David II. 1329
Edward Balliol's Invasion 1332
Battle of Halidon Hill 1333
Capture of David 1346
His release 1347
Invasion of Edward III. 1356
Robert II. 1370
Raid of Otterburn 1388
Robert III. 1390
Fight on North Inch 1396
Invasion of Henry IV. 1400
Battle of Homildon Hill 1402
Capture of the Earl of Carrick 1405
Robert III. dies 1406
Burning of Reseby 1408
St. Andrews University founded 1408
Battle of Harlaw, 24th July 1411
Albany the Regent dies 1419
THE JAMESES, 1424-1557.
James I. crowned King 1424
Parliament at Inverness 1427
Murder of the King 1436
James II. 1436
Murder of the Douglases 1439
Murder of William, Earl of Douglas 1452
Battle of Arkinholm 1454
The King slain at Roxburgh 1460
James III. 1460
Orkney and Shetland annexed 1469
St. Andrews raised to an Archbishopric 1471
Revolt of Lauder Bridge 1482
Battle of Sauchieburn 1488
James IV 1488
Marriage of James to Margaret Tudor 1502
Lordship of the Isles broken up 1504
Battle of Flodden, 9th September 1513
James V. 1513
"Erection" of the King 1524
Fall of Angus 1528
Rout at Solway Moss 1542
Mary 1542
Hertford's first Invasion 1544
Hertford's second Invasion 1545
Burning of George Wishart 1545
Murder of Beaton 1545
Battle of Pinkie 1547
Mary sails for France 1548
First marriage of Mary, 24th April 1558
THE REFORMATION PERIOD, 1557-1603.
The "First Covenant" signed 1557
Burning of Walter Mill 1558
Religious riots 1559
Treaty of Berwick 1560
Reformation Statutes passed 1560
Return of the Queen 1561
Battle of Corrichie 1562
Second marriage of Mary, 29th July 1565
Murder of Rizzio 1566
Murder of Darnley, 9th February 1567
Third Marriage of Mary, 15th May 1567
Surrender at Carberry, 15th June 1567
Abdication of Mary 1567
James VI. crowned 1567
Battle of Langside, 13th May 1568
Conference at York begins, October 1568
Murder of Murray the Regent 1570
Taking of Dunbarton, 2nd April 1571
Parliament at Stirling, 4th September 1571
Lennox the Regent slain 1571
Episcopacy revived 1572
Death of John Knox, 24th November 1572
Death of Mar the Regent, 24th November 1572
Surrender of Edinburgh Castle 1573
The King rules alone, 4th March 1578
Raid of Ruthven 1581
Death of Mary Stuart, 8th February 1587
Marriage of the King 1590
Abolition of Episcopacy 1592
The Gowrie Plot, 5th August 1600
James becomes King of England 1603
THE UNION OF THE CROWNS, 1603-1707.
Fight in Glen Fruin 1604
Restoration of Episcopacy 1606
Visit of the King 1616
Articles of Perth passed 1618
Nova Scotia founded 1621
King James dies 1625
Charles I. 1625
Charles crowned in Scotland 1633
Liturgy Riots 1637
The Covenant renewed 1638
Assembly at Glasgow 1638
Episcopacy abolished 1638
"Trot of Turriff," May 1639
Pacification of Berwick, June 1639
Invasion of England by the Scots 1640
Treaty of Ripon, begun 1st October 1640
" " " ended 7th August 1641
Battle of Tippermuir, September 1644
Charles comes to the Scots Camp, 5th May 1645
Battle of Philiphaugh, September 1645
The Scots give up Charles, 8th January 1647
The Surrender at Uttoxeter, 25th August 1648
"Whiggamore's Raid" 1648
Charles I. beheaded, 30th January 1649
Charles II. proclaimed 1649
Rising and beheading of Montrose 1650
Charles II. arrives in Scotland 1650
Battle of Dunbar, 3rd September 1650
Battle of Worcester, 3rd September 1651
Legislative Union with England 1654
Restoration of Charles II. 1660
Act "Rescissory" passed 1661
Episcopacy re-established 1661
The "Ejection" 1662
The Westland Rising 1666
The Indulgence, June 1669
Murder of Sharp, May 1679
Fight at Drumclog, May 1679
Fight at Bothwell Bridge, June 1679
Sanquhar Declaration, June 1680
Test Act passed 1681
James VII. 1685
Argyle's Rising 1685
Full Indulgence 1688
James VII. deposed 1688
William and Mary proclaimed 1689
Battle of Killiecrankie, 27th July 1689
Episcopacy abolished 1690
Massacre of Glencoe, 13th February 1691
Charter granted to the Darien Company 1695
Education Act passed 1696
Anne 1701
The Union of the Parliaments 1707
AFTER THE UNION.
George I. 1714
Jacobite Rising 1715
Malt-tax Riots 1724
Porteous Riot 1736
Jacobite Rising 1745
Battle of Preston-pans, 20th September 1745
Battle of Culloden, 16th April 1746
Highland Society founded 1784
First Steamboat tried 1788
Penal laws against Romanists repealed 1793
Colliers and Salters freed 1799
Reform Bill passed 1832
The Disruption 1843
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
CHAPTER I.
THE GAELIC PERIOD.
_The country_ (1)--_the people_ (2)--_Roman occupation_
(3)--_English invasion_ (4)--_the Scots_ (5)--_introduction
of Christianity_ (6)--_conversion of the Picts_
(7)--_conversion of the English_ (8)--_English
conquests_ (9)--_union of Picts and Scots_ (10)--_the
Northmen_ (11)--_the Commendation_ (12)--_annexation of
Strathclyde_ (13)--_acquisition of Lothian_ (14)--_Cnut's
invasion_ (15)--_Macbeth_ (16)--_English immigration_
(17)--_William's invasion_ (18)--_Margaret's reforms_
(19)--_disputed succession_ (20)--_Gaelic period ends_
(21)--_summary_ (22).
=1. The Country.=--The northern part of Great Britain is now called
_Scotland_, but it was not called so till the _Scots_, a _Celtic_
people, came over from _Ireland_ and gave their name to it. The Romans
who first mention it in history speak of it as _Caledonia_. There are
two points in which the history of this country and of the people who
live in it is unlike the history of most of the other countries and
nations of Europe. Firstly, it never was taken into the great Roman
Empire; and secondly in it we find a _Celtic_ people who, instead of
disappearing before the _Teutons_, held their ground against them so
well that in the end the _Teutons_ were called by the name of the
_Celtic_ people, were ruled by the _Celtic_ kings, and fought for
the independence of the Celtic kingdom as fiercely as if they had
themselves been of the Celtic race. But the whole of the country is
not of the same nature. The northern part is so nearly cut off from
the rest of Britain by the two great _Firths_ of Forth and Clyde as
to form almost a separate island, and this peninsula is again divided
into _Highlands_ and _Lowlands_. Speaking roughly, we may say that
all the west is Highland and the east Lowland. A range of mountains
sweeping in a semicircle from the Firth of Clyde to the mouth of the
Dee, known as _Drumalbyn_ or the _Mount_, may be taken as the line of
separation, though the _Lowlands_ extend still further north along
the eastern coast. The marked differences between these two districts
have had a very decided influence on the character of the inhabitants,
and consequently on the national development. The _Lowlands_ are well
watered and fertile, and the people who lived there were peaceable and
industrious, and both on the seaboard and inland there is early notice
of the existence of populous and thriving towns. The _Highlands_, on
the contrary, are made up of lakes, moors, and barren hills, whose
rocky summits are well-nigh inaccessible, and whose heath-clad sides
are of little use even as pasture. Even in the glens between the
mountains, where alone any arable land is to be found, the crops are
poor, the harvest late and uncertain, and vegetation of any kind very
scanty. The western coast is cut up into numberless islets, and the
coast-line is constantly broken by steep jagged promontories jutting
out seaward, or cut by long lochs, up which the sea runs far into
the land between hills rising almost as bare and straight as walls
on either side. In the Highlands even in the present day there are
no towns of any importance, for the difficulty of access by land and
the dangers of the coast have made commerce well-nigh impossible.
The _Highlanders_, who were discouraged by the barrenness of their
native mountains, where even untiring industry could only secure a bare
maintenance, and tempted by the sight of prosperity so near them, found
it a lighter task to lift the crops and cattle of their neighbour than
to rear their own, and have at all times been much given to pillaging
the more fortunate _Lowlanders_, of whom they were the justly dreaded
scourge.
=2. The People.=--As the country is thus naturally divided into two
parts distinctly opposite in character, so the people are made up
of two distinct branches of the great _Aryan_ family, the _Celtic_
and the _Teutonic_. The Celts were the first comers, and were in
possession when the country became historically known; that is, at the
first invasion of the Romans. In later times we find three _Celtic_
peoples in North Britain; to wit, the _Picts_, the _Scots_, and the
_Welsh_. The _Picts_ were those _Celts_ who dwelt north of the Firths
in _Alba_ or _Alban_, as the earliest traditions call it; and if we
judge from the names of places and contemporary accounts and notices,
there is every reason to believe that they were more akin to the
_Gaelic_ than to the _British_ branch of the Celtic race. The _Scots_,
the other _Gaelic_ people, were, when we first hear of them, settled
in _Ireland_, from whence at different times bands of them came over
to the western coast of Britain. They were friends and allies of the
_Picts_, and are early mentioned as fighting on their side against the
Romans. After a time, when many more Scots had settled in Alba, their
name became common to all the Celts north of the Firths, and from
them the whole country was called Scotland. The Celts south of the
Firths were partly Christianized and civilized by the Romans, and thus
became very different from the rest. They got their name of _Welsh_
from the Teutonic tribes who came from the land between the _Elbe_
and the _Eyder_, and, settling along the eastern coast, finally took
possession of a great tract of country, and called the Celts whom
they displaced _Welshmen_ or foreigners. The Celts called all these
new comers _Saxons_, though this was really only the name of one of
the first tribes that came over; and as they gradually spread over
the _Lowlands_, the word _Saxon_ came to mean simply _Lowlander_. In
course of time the original proportions of these two races have been
nearly reversed, so that the modern Scottish nation, though it keeps
its _Celtic_ name, instead of being made up of three _Celts_ to one
_Saxon_, is much more nearly three _Saxons_ to one _Celt_.
=3. Roman Occupation.=--The _Romans_, who had already made themselves
masters of South Britain, were led into the northern part of the
island by _Julius Agricola_, A.D. 80. But the _Celts_ whom they found
there, and whom they called _Caledonians_, were so well able to defend
themselves among their mountains that the Romans, though they defeated
them in a great battle on the Highland border, gave up the idea of
conquering the country, and retreated again south of the Firths of
_Forth_ and _Clyde_. Across the isthmus between the two, which is about
thirty miles wide, they built a line of forts, joined by a rampart
of earth. This rampart was intended to serve as a defence to their
colonists, and as a boundary to mark the limit of their empire; though,
as many Roman remains have been found north of the isthmus, they must
have had settlements without as well as within the fortifications. But
the Caledonians, who were too high-spirited to look on quietly and
see their country thus taken possession of, harassed the colonists by
getting over the wall and seizing or destroying everything they could
lay their hands on. At length (A.D. 120) the Roman Emperor _Hadrian_
built a second rampart across the lower isthmus, between the rivers
_Tyne_ and _Solway_, leaving the district between the two pretty much
at the mercy of the fierce Picts, as the Romans now began to call
the Caledonians. Twenty years later, in the reign of the Emperor
_Antoninus Pius_, one of his generals, _Lollius Urbicus_, again drove
them back beyond the first wall, and repaired and strengthened the
defences of _Agricola_. But, before half a century had passed, the
Picts again burst the barrier, and killed the Roman commander. In
208 the Emperor _Severus_ cut his way through Caledonia with a large
army. He reached the northern coast, but had no chance of fighting a
battle, and lost many of his men. He repaired and strengthened the
rampart of Hadrian. In time the Picts got over the second rampart too,
and came south as far as _Kent_, where, in the latter part of the
fourth century, _Theodosius_ the Roman general, father of the famous
Emperor of the same name, had to fight his way to London through their
plundering hordes. Theodosius drove them back with great vigour,
restored the Empire to its former boundary, and made the district
between the walls into a Roman province, which he called _Valentia_,
in honour of _Valentinian_, who was then Emperor. It was probably
about this time that the great stone wall was built across the lower
isthmus. The dangers which threatened the capital of the Empire in the
beginning of the next century forced the Romans to forsake this as well
as all their other provinces in Britain, and the withdrawal of their
troops left the Romanized Britons of Valentia a helpless prey to their
merciless enemies the Picts. At the end of the three centuries of Roman
occupation, the _Britons_ south of the Firths had so little in common
with the wild _Picts_, who in _Alba_ and in _Galloway_ still maintained
their independence, that they were like people of a different race.
The one sect, though still savage and heathen, were as brave and
fierce as ever; the other, though Christianized and civilized, were
so degenerated from the vigour of the original stock that they were
powerless to resist their more warlike kinsmen.
=4. English Invasion.=--In the sixth century the _Angles_ came in
great force and settled on the eastern coast of Valentia, and drove
the _Britons_, or as they called them _Welshmen_, back to the Westland
Hills. This district then between the Roman walls was thus divided
between two kingdoms. The English kingdom of _Northumberland_, founded
by _Ida_ in 547, took in all the eastern part of the country south of
the _Forth_; while the Welsh kingdom, called _Strathclyde_ from the
river that watered it, stretched from the _Firth of Clyde_ southwards
towards the _Dee_.
=5. The Scots.=--About the same time that the _English_ were pouring
in on the east, the _Scots_ were settling all along the western
coast. As the strait which separates _Britain_ from _Ireland_ is only
twelve miles broad, the Scots could easily come over from _Scotia_,
as _Ireland_ was formerly called, to seek their fortune in the larger
island. It is impossible to fix the date of their first coming, but it
was not till the beginning of the sixth century that there came over
a swarm numerous and united enough to found a separate state. This is
one of the few _Celtic_ migrations on record from west to east, and
forms an exception to the general displacement that was going on, by
which the _Celts_ were being driven further and further west before the
_Teutons_. The leaders of the Scots were _Fergus MacErc_, and _Lorn_,
of the family of the _Dalriads_, the ruling dynasty in the north of
Ireland, and from them this new state founded on the western coast of
what is now called _Argyle_ got the name of _Dalriada_.
=6. Introduction of Christianity.=--These Scots were not pagans
like the Picts of Alba, for Ireland had already been Christianized.
The new comers brought the new faith to their adopted country, and
through them it spread among the Picts, and also among the English of
Northumberland. The great apostle of the Scots was _Columba_. He was
Abbot of Durrow in Ireland, but was obliged to leave his own country,
because he had been engaged in a feud with some of his kinsfolk, in
which his side was worsted. He came over to the new colony on the coast
of Alba, and _Conal_, who was then King of the Dalriads, welcomed him,
and gave him _I_, or _Iona_, an islet about a mile and a half long and
a mile broad, lying west of the large island of Mull. Here Columba
settled with the twelve monks who had come with him, and here they
built for the service of God a little wooden church after their simple
fashion, and for their own dwelling a few rude huts of wattle, which
in after-times was called a monastery, where they passed their days
in prayer and study. But their missionary zeal was as great as their
piety, and from their head-quarters on Iona they went cruising about
among the adjacent islands, extending their circuit to the _Orkneys_,
and even, it is said, as far as _Iceland_.
=7. Conversion of the Picts.=--Columba himself undertook the conversion
of the Picts. About two years after his arrival at Iona he set out on
this important mission, crossed Drumalbyn, sought the court of _Brud_,
the Pictish king, converted him, and founded religious communities on
the same plan as that on Iona, on lands granted to him by the king or
his dependent chiefs. The Church thus set up was perfectly independent
of the _Bishop of Rome_ or of any other See, but it inherited all the
peculiarities of the Church of the _Irish Scots_. The monks had a way
of their own of reckoning the time for keeping Easter and of shaving
their heads, trifles which were considered important enough to become
the subject of a very long quarrel, and it was not till 716 that they
agreed to yield to the Roman custom in both matters. According to
their system of Church government, the abbots of the monasteries were
the chief dignitaries, and had all the power which in the rest of
Christendom was held to belong to bishops, while the bishops were held
of no account except for ordaining priests, for which purpose there
was one at least attached to each monastery. Columba, who was himself
of the royal race, had so much influence among the Dalriads that his
authority was called in to settle a dispute about the succession to
the throne. The abbots of Iona after him continued supreme in all the
ecclesiastical affairs of Alba till the middle of the ninth century,
while the well-earned reputation for piety and learning enjoyed by
the monks of his foundation was widely spread in continental Europe.
About this time _Kentigern_ revived among the Welshmen of Strathclyde
the dying Christianity which had been planted there in the time of the
Roman occupation.
=8. Conversion of the English.=--The English of Northumberland were
still heathens, and, as they were ever fighting with and growing
greater at the expense of their neighbours, their state bade fair to
become the most powerful in Britain. In the beginning of the seventh
century their king _Eadwine_ was supreme over all Britain south of
the Forth. But though _Eadwine_ was converted by the preaching of
_Paullinus_, the first Bishop of York, the new doctrine does not seem
to have spread much among his people; for one of his successors,
_Oswald_, who in his youth had been an exile at the court of his
kinsman the Pictish king, prayed the monks of Iona to send him one of
their number to help to make his people Christian. _Conan_, the first
missionary who went, was so much disgusted with the manners of the
English that he very soon came back to his brethren. Then _Aidan_,
another of their number, devoted his life to the task which Conan had
found so distasteful. He taught and toiled among them with a zeal that
was seconded by Oswald, the king, who himself acted as interpreter,
making the sermons of the monk intelligible to his English hearers.
From _Lindisfarne_, where the little church of Aidan was founded, like
that of Iona, on an islet, Christianity spread to the neighbouring
state of _Mercia_, and many monasteries and schools were founded after
the Columban model.
=9. English Conquests.=--Oswald and his successor _Oswiu_ extended
their dominions beyond the Firths, and it is said that they made the
Scots and Picts pay tribute to them. The next king, _Ecgfrith_, marched
north and crossed the _Tay_ with a mighty host, but he was routed and
slain in a great battle at a place called _Nectansmere_, the exact
position of which is uncertain. From that time the English seem to
have kept more to the country south of the Forth, and the Picts were
more independent of them. This is about the only event of moment that
we know of in the history of that people, of whom no records remain,
except a long list of their kings down to 843, at which date they
became united with the Scots under one king.
=10. Union of Picts and Scots.=--This union took place under _Kenneth
MacAlpin_, who was king of the Scots. That he was king of the Picts
also is certain: how he came to be so can only be guessed. It is more
probable that it was by inheritance than by conquest, though he and the
kings after him kept his original title of King of Scots. Over how much
land he reigned, and what degree of power he had over his subjects, is
not known. It is thought that among the Celts the king was only the
head of the dominant tribe among many other tribes or clans, each of
which was bound to follow its own chief, and the king's control over
those chiefs seems to have been more in name than in fact. The northern
districts seem to have been ruled by powerful chiefs called _Maers_
or _Mormaers_. These chiefs, who it has been supposed were nominally
subject to the King of Scots, acted as if they were quite independent
of him. They were indeed his most troublesome enemies, and several
of the kings lost their lives in battle against them. _Moray_ was the
greatest of the Mormaerships. It lay north of the Spey and of the
mountains of Argyle, and stretched across the country from the Moray
Firth to the opposite ocean.
=11. Coming of the Northmen.=--Kenneth was followed in turn by
_Donald_, his brother, and _Constantine_, his son. Their reigns were
mainly taken up in fighting with the _Northmen_, a heathen people
of Teutonic race, who infested the seas and plundered the seaboard.
From the eighth century downwards they were the scourge alike of
English and Celtic Britain, swooping down on the coasts, harrying the
lands, and making off with their booty; or, at other times, seizing
and settling on great tracts of country. Three countries of modern
Europe--_Denmark_, _Norway_, and _Sweden_ were peopled by the Northmen.
But while it was those from _Denmark_ who chiefly harassed and finally
conquered the _English_, the _Norwegians_ seem to have looked upon
Scotland as their own especial prey, attracted doubtless by the
likeness between its many isles and inlets and the jagged outline of
the larger Scandinavian peninsula. The long narrow lochs of the western
coast, like the fiords of Norway, proved convenient harbours for the
ships of these pirates. It is towards the close of the eighth century
that we first hear of the descents of the Northmen on the Pictish
kingdom. It is told how they ravaged all the coast, destroyed the
Pictish capital, and haunted the Irish Sea. Their fury was specially
directed against churches and religious communities, and Iona did not
escape. Again and again it was wasted by fire and sword, its churches
plundered, the brethren slain, till at length the abbot was compelled
to seek on the mainland a refuge for himself and the relics of the
saintly founder. Under Kenneth MacAlpin the supremacy over the Scottish
Church was transferred to the monastery of _Dunkeld_. Under Kenneth's
son, _Constantine I._, a fresh spirit was given to these invasions by
the formation of the kingdom of _Norway_ by _Harold Harfagra_. The
petty chiefs displaced by him, who were called _Vikings_ or dwellers
on the bays, sought a settlement elsewhere. Several of them founded
settlements in Ireland, whence they went to plunder the western
shores of Britain. Others took up their quarters in the _Orkneys_,
and the _Sudereys_ or _Southern Isles_, as the Northmen called those
isles that are now known as the _Hebrides_. Those in the Orkneys were
subdued by Harold, who made the islands into an _Earldom_ and gave
it to _Sigurd_, one of his allies. _Thorstein_, Sigurd's successor,
proved a formidable foe to the King of Scots, made himself master of
all the north country, pretty nearly answering to the modern counties
of Caithness and Sutherland, to which last the Northmen gave its name
because it lay south of their island possessions. On Thorstein's death
his great earldom fell to pieces. About this time one _Cyric_ or Grig,
who is supposed to have been one of the Northern chiefs, seized on the
throne and reigned about eighteen years, leaving his name on record as
the liberator of the Scottish Church.
=12. The Commendation.=--_Constantine II._ (900-943), grandson of
Kenneth, who came after Grig, _commended_ himself and his kingdom
to _Eadward_, king of the English, in 924. Constantine chose him as
"father and lord," that is, he placed himself under his protection, and
acknowledged Eadward as mightier than himself. On this compact were
based the subsequent claims of the English to the over-lordship of
the Scots. This _commendation_ was renewed to _Æthelstan_, Eadward's
successor. But Constantine soon repented of his submission, and a few
years later he and the Welshmen of Strathclyde joined the Danes in
their attempt to get back Northumberland, from which Æthelstan had
expelled them. The allies were utterly routed in the great battle of
_Brunanburh_, in which Constantine's son was slain, in 937. Six years
later Constantine exchanged civil for spiritual rule, and retired as
abbot to the _Monastery of St. Andrews_.
=13. Annexation of Strathclyde.=--_Malcolm I._ (943-954) succeeded
Constantine, though not his son, but his kinsman, for the Scots did
not adhere strictly to the order of succession which is now customary:
though they kept to the royal family, they generally preferred the
brother to the son of the last king. The great event of this reign
was the annexation of _Strathclyde_, which had been conquered by the
English king _Eadmund_, and was now granted by him to _Malcolm_ as a
territorial fief, held on condition of doing military service by land
and sea whenever it should be required. Thus Strathclyde became an
appanage of the heir apparent to the Scottish crown. Of the six kings
after Malcolm, _Induff_, _Duff_, _Colin_, _Kenneth II._, _Constantine
III._, and _Kenneth III._, little is known. They passed their lives and
met their deaths in struggles with the Welsh or with their own northern
subjects. Under Induff the Scots got _Edinburgh_, which had been
founded by Eadwine of Northumberland.
=14. Acquisition of Lothian.=--_Malcolm II._, grandson of the first
of the name, was the last of the direct line of Kenneth MacAlpin.
His reign, which lasted thirty years, is notable from the fact
that he managed to get hold of _Lothian_, the northern part of
Northumberland. One of Malcolm's first acts was an invasion of this
earldom. _Waltheof_, the earl, being old and feeble, shut himself up
in his castle of _Bamborough_ and let Malcolm advance unresisted.
He got as far as _Durham_, but there he was met and defeated by
_Uhtred_, the vigorous son of the old Earl. Some years later, when his
old enemy Uhtred was dead, Malcolm made a second invasion, and took
ample revenge for his defeat at Durham in the brilliant victory at
_Carham_, on the banks of the Tweed, in 1018. After this victory the
Scots were in possession of Lothian, which _Eadulf Cutel_, now Earl
of Northumberland, was not strong enough to take from them. It has
been said that Lothian had been already granted by Eadgar of England
to Kenneth III., who petitioned for it on plea of ancient hereditary
right. If so, the Scots must have lost it again; but after the victory
of Carham they had it and kept it, though their king held it as an
English earldom, and did homage for it to the king of the English.
=15. Cnut's Invasion.=--In 1031 _Cnut_, the mighty Dane who reigned
over Denmark, Norway, and England, came north, and Malcolm met him,
acknowledged him as his over-lord, and renewed the agreement which
had been made between Constantine and Eadward. Three years after his
submission to Cnut, Malcolm died, leaving as his heir _Duncan_, the son
of one of his daughters who had married _Crinan_, Abbot of Dunkeld.
There is a tradition that, to secure Duncan's succession, Malcolm had
caused the grandson of Kenneth III. to be murdered. If he did so,
this crime defeated its own end, for _Gruach_, sister of the murdered
man, was now the wife of Macbeth, the Mormaer of Moray, one of the
most powerful chiefs. Duncan came north to make war on some of these
turbulent Maers, and Macbeth seized the opportunity thus offered by
the presence of the king in his province, attacked and defeated him in
battle, and afterwards slew him in a place called _Bothgowan_, which it
is thought means a smith's hut.
=16. Macbeth, 1040-1057.=--_Macbeth_ must not be looked on as an
usurper and murderer. He was the natural supporter of the claims of his
wife and _Lulach_, her son by a former marriage, who, according to the
received rule of Gaelic succession, had a better right to the throne
than Duncan himself; and no doubt he justified the murder of the young
king as lawful revenge for that of his wife's brother. At all events,
after he had got the kingdom, he ruled it well and wisely, so that his
reign was a time of great national plenty and prosperity, and he and
his wife were benefactors of the Church and of the poor, not only at
home, but abroad, for it stands on record that they sent alms to the
poor at Rome. But he was not left long in peaceable possession, for
the father of Duncan, Crinan, Abbot of Dunkeld, got up a rising in
favour of his two grandsons, _Malcolm_ and _Donald_. About the same
time _Siward_, Earl of Northumberland, brought an army against Macbeth,
and drove him from the throne, though he got it back as soon as Siward
went away. Some years later Siward, whose kinswoman Duncan had married,
again took up the cause of his cousin Malcolm, invaded the kingdom and
defeated the king in a great battle; and though Macbeth held out for
four years longer, he was at last slain at _Lumphanan_ in Aberdeen.
_Lulach_, son of Gruach, died soon after; and though he left a son,
called _Malsnecte_, whose claim was brought up again long afterwards,
there was no attempt made at that time to prolong the struggle.
=17. English Immigration. Malcolm III., 1057-1093.=--The reign of this
_Malcolm_, surnamed _Canmore_ or the _great head_, is a turning-point
in Scottish history, which henceforth ceases to be essentially
_Scottish_; the Celtic manners, language, laws, and customs being
changed by the strong _English_ influence brought to bear on them in
this and the following reigns. This change was in great measure due to
the conquest of England in 1066 by the _Normans_ under _William the
Conqueror_. The Scottish court was the nearest and most natural refuge
for those Englishmen who would not yield to the strangers. Thither
they flocked in great numbers, and there they found a hearty welcome.
Among these exiles came _Eadgar the Ætheling_, the representative of
the _West-Saxon kings_, and with him his mother and his two sisters
_Margaret_ and _Christina_. Malcolm received them very kindly, and they
stayed with him all the winter. In the beginning of his reign Malcolm
had invaded England, where _Edward the Confessor_ was then king, and
had wasted the shires of York and Northumberland, while _Tostig_ the
earl was gone on a pilgrimage to Rome. He now made a second raid of
the same sort, although, when William held his court at York two years
before, he had sent in his nominal homage to him by the Bishop of
Durham. This time he went on behalf of the Ætheling, and harried the
districts of _Cleveland_ and _Durham_, which had already been wasted by
William. His progress was marked by every species of cruelty, neither
churches nor children were spared, and the Scots brought back so many
captives that English slaves were to be found even in the very poorest
households. Meanwhile Eadgar, who had taken part in two or three
risings in England, again sought the protection of the Scottish court,
and shortly after Malcolm succeeded in persuading Margaret to become
his wife. He had before this been married to _Ingebiorg_, widow of
_Earl Thorfin_ of Orkney, and had one son, _Duncan_.
=18. William's Invasion.=--In 1072 William came north with a fleet and
an army to avenge Malcolm's raid. He went as far as _Abernethy_ on
the _Tay_, the former Pictish capital, and there Malcolm met him and
acknowledged William as over-lord, by becoming his man or vassal, giving
hostages, among whom was his own son _Duncan_, as warrants for his good
faith. But some years later Malcolm took advantage of William's absence
in Normandy to harry his kingdom again as far as the _Tyne_, bringing
back both spoil and captives. The Conqueror's eldest son, _Robert_,
came north to avenge this invasion, but happily he and Malcolm came to
terms without any more bloodshed. This peace was not broken till 1092,
when Malcolm again invaded England. The excuse for this was that his
brother-in-law, the Ætheling, had been turned out of the retreat in
Normandy granted to him by the Conqueror. _William Rufus_, who now sat
on his father's throne, marched into _Lothian_, where peace was again
made by the mediation of Robert and Eadgar. Malcolm renewed his homage,
and William renewed the grant made by his father of certain manors and
a yearly payment of twelve marks. But William did not keep to the terms
of the treaty, and when Malcolm complained of this breach of good faith
he was summoned to appear before the English court at _Gloucester_. He
went, but soon came away again, justly incensed at the insulting way
in which he was treated by being put on the same level as the Norman
barons. For the fifth time Malcolm entered England at the head of an
army, but from this expedition there was no triumphant return, for the
king and his son were slain on the banks of the _Alne_, and the host
that had followed them fled in great confusion.
=19. Margaret's Reforms.=--The disaster did not end with the death of
the king, for the good _Queen Margaret_, who was then at _Edinburgh_,
died of grief almost immediately after hearing the sad tidings. This
good woman, whose many merits have won for her the title of saint, was
the chief worker in the revolution which was being silently wrought
in the manners of the court, and of the people, and in the government
of the Church and of the State. The influence which her piety and
learning gave her over her husband and his people was used to soften
their fierceness, and to win them from their own half-savage ways to
the customs of more civilized countries. She is said to have introduced
silver plate at court, and many other luxuries of which the Scots had
hitherto been ignorant; she encouraged literature and commerce, but
she chiefly busied herself in reviving the state of religion, which
had sunk to a very low ebb. The Church had fallen from its ancient
purity and zeal, and had become a prey to many singular abuses. The
abbotships were hereditary in the great families, and were often held
by laymen, and the religious foundations were in the hands of a body
of irregular clergy called _Culdees_, from two Latin words meaning
'servants of God.' Margaret called a council of the clergy and spoke
to them herself, her husband acting as her interpreter, and did her
best to make them give up their peculiarities and give in to the usages
of the rest of Christendom. She rebuilt the church of Iona, which had
suffered so terribly at the hands of the Northmen, and founded a new
church at _Dunfermline_, in which she and her husband were buried.
=20. Disputed Succession. Donald, 1093-1097.=--The death of the King
and of his son _Eadward_, who had been recognized as heir-apparent,
threw the kingdom into confusion; and the Gaelic party, who had looked
on with disgust and jealousy at the changes of the last reign and
at the displacement of the Gaelic chiefs by the English immigrants,
elected _Donald Bane_, Malcolm's brother, to the vacant throne.
Meanwhile _Duncan_, the son of Malcolm and Ingebiorg, his first wife,
prayed William of England to aid him in recovering his father's
kingdom, which he promised to hold as an English fief. His suit was
granted, and with the help of an English and Norman army he drove
out his uncle and reigned a few months. But _Donald_, with the help
of _Eadmund_, the eldest surviving son of Malcolm and Margaret, once
more got the upper hand, murdered _Duncan_, exiled the rest of the
family, and kept possession of the throne for three years. At the end
of that time Eadgar the Ætheling was sent north with an English army,
and placed his nephew Eadgar on the throne on the same terms as those
which had been granted to Duncan. Donald Bane was taken, and, after the
cruel custom of the time, his eyes were put out before he was cast into
prison. Eadmund died a penitent in an English monastery.
=21. End of the Gaelic Period.=--With _Donald_ ends the _Gaelic_ or
_Celtic_ period. The sons of Margaret carried out the reforms begun
by their mother, and the _Celtic_ customs gave way more and more to
the _Saxon_ influence both in the court and in the country. The King
identified himself with his new nobles and with his English earldom,
so that Lothian, as it was the richest, became the most prominent part
of his dominions, and the true Scots of the North came to be looked on
as savages and aliens, the natural enemies and perpetual disturbers
of all peace and prosperity. The records of this period are so very
scanty that any ideas of the state of the country or of the habits of
the people are extremely misty, and are chiefly drawn from incidental
notices of Scottish matters in the chronicles of other lands. The
chief architectural fragments which remain to bear witness to its
Christianity are the round bell-towers in the Irish style at _Brechin_
and at _Abernethy_. The church at Brechin was founded by _Kenneth the
Third_.
=22. Summary.=--The most noteworthy events in this the first period of
Scottish history are the repulses which the Romans met with from the
Picts; the coming of the Scots from Ireland; their union with the Picts
under Kenneth MacAlpin; the introduction of Christianity by Columba;
the conversion of the Picts and of the English, and the joining on of
Strathclyde and Lothian to the Scottish Crown. We must also notice the
strong feeling of hereditary right which kept the succession for so
long in one family, and the remarkable revolution brought about by the
English exiles, which completely turned the current of the national
life, and led to much strife and bitterness between the two races of
which the nation was made up.
CHAPTER II.
THE ENGLISH PERIOD.
_Eadgar; invasion of Magnus_ (1)--_English marriage_
(2)--_Alexander I.; rising in Moray_ (3)--_Church reforms_
(4)--_David I._ (5)--_English war_ (6)--_Battle of the
Standard_ (7)--_peace with England_ (8)--_internal
improvements_ (9)--_Malcolm IV._ (10)--_subjection of
Galloway_ (11)--_William the Lion_ (12)--_Convention of
Falaise_ (13)--_homage at Lincoln_ (14)--_independence
of the Church_ (15)--_internal troubles_ (16)--_social
progress_ (17)--_Alexander II._ (18)--_settling of the
border line_ (19)--_state of the North_ (20)--_Alexander
III._ (21)--_his marriage and homage to England_
(22)--_last invasion of the Northmen_ (23)--_literature and
architecture_ (24)--_state of the kingdom_ (25).
=1. Eadgar, 1097-1107. Invasion of Magnus.=--In the beginning of this
reign, _Magnus Barefoot_, King of Norway, made good his right to the
_Orkneys_ and the Scandinavian Earldom on the mainland. He seized the
two earls, and placed his own son _Sigurd_ in their stead. He then
sailed for the _Sudereys_, at that time dependencies of the _Kingdom
of Man_, wasted them with fire and sword, marked his claim by sailing
round each island, and, by way of proving his right to _Kintyre_, is
said to have had himself dragged across the isthmus that joins it to
the mainland in his ship, with his hand on the tiller. On his death
the islands fell back into the hands of the former owners, and their
descendants, the _Lords of the Isles_, were afterwards wont to declare
themselves vassals of _Norway_, whenever it suited their convenience.
In one respect only did this expedition differ from the former
piratical descents of the Northmen. This time the sacred island of Iona
was respected, and the church, so lately rebuilt, was left uninjured
by the special order of the King.
=2. English Marriage.=--The friendly relations with England were
maintained and strengthened by the marriage of Eadgar's sister
_Eadgyth_, who took the name of _Matilda_, with _Henry the First_, the
youngest son of William the Conqueror. She proved nearly as great a
blessing to the English as her English mother had been to the Scots,
for she taught the King to "love his folk," and was affectionately
remembered by them as "_Maud_ the good Queen." On his death-bed Eadgar
separated _Strathclyde_ from the rest of the kingdom, and conferred it
on his brother _David_ as a return for the wise counsel with which that
brother had helped him through his very uneventful reign.
=3. Alexander I., 1107-1124. Northern Rising.=--This King, unlike
his easy-tempered brother, had a strong will and unyielding spirit.
His reign was consequently a troubled one, as always happened when
the Scots King tried to rule instead of being ruled by his turbulent
subjects. His first difficulties were of course in the north. The men
of _Merne_ and _Moray_ came forth secretly and swiftly, hoping to
surprise and murder him; but their tactics, which had proved fatal to
Duncan, were upset by Alexander's discovery of the plot and rapid march
to meet them. They were thus forced to fight, and thoroughly beaten on
the northern shore of the _Moray Firth_, and the signal vengeance taken
by the King after his victory, won for him the title of "the _Fierce_."
To commemorate his success he founded the monastery of _Scone_.
=4. Church Reforms.=--Alexander deserves to be remembered for the
spirit and wisdom with which he upheld the independence of the national
church. Anxious to carry out in the same spirit the reforms already
begun by his mother, he appointed her confessor _Turgot_, Prior of
Durham, to the See of St. Andrews, and asked the _Archbishop of
York_ to consecrate him. The Archbishop on this claimed the canonical
obedience of all the Scottish bishops, declaring that the whole country
was in his province. This demand was clearly unjust; for, though
_Lothian_ was undoubtedly so, the Scottish Church was older than his
own, and had never been dependent on any foreign See. This difficulty
was got over by the consecration of the new bishop by the _Bishop of
London_, and Turgot was installed as head of the Church from which
his own priory of _Durham_ had originally branched off. Instead of
identifying himself with the interests of his new charge, he did all
he could to bring the Scottish Church under the authority of the
Archbishop of York, so that he and the King soon quarrelled; and as
the King refused to let the Bishop go to _Rome_ to lay his case before
the _Pope_, he resigned, and went back to Durham, where he shortly
afterwards died. To evade the claims of York, the King resolved that
his next bishop should be chosen from the southern province. _Eadmer_,
a monk of _Canterbury_, the friend and biographer of _Anselm_ the
Archbishop, accepted the bishopric. But he proved no better than
Turgot, for he persisted in considering himself and his bishopric as
dependent on Canterbury; and as the King would on no account agree to
this, he too resigned and went away. Though he afterwards repented, and
proposed to return, it was then too late, for _Robert, Prior of Scone_,
had been appointed in his stead. As Alexander left no children, his
brother _David_ succeeded him, so that _Strathclyde_ or _Cumbria_ was
re-united to the kingdom.
=5. David I., 1124-1153. Rising in Moray.=--The usual rising in _Moray_
took place in the early part of this reign. The Moray men seized the
opportunity for revolt afforded them by David's absence in England,
whither he had gone on some business connected with the _Honour of
Huntingdon_, an _English_ fief which he had got by his marriage with
_Matilda_, daughter and heiress of _Waltheof, Earl of Northhumberland_,
who had been put to death by _William the Conqueror_. _Angus_ and
_Malcolm_, the representatives of the old _Moray Mormaers_, were
descended in the female line from _Lulach_, the son of Gruach, and
the northern party wished to place one of them on the throne. The
_Constable_ of the kingdom, the first on record, defeated them; but as
the rebellion still continued, David in alarm asked and obtained the
aid of the barons of the north of England. He was preparing for his
northern march, when the Celts took fright, and gave up their chief,
who was imprisoned in _Roxburgh Castle_. The district of _Moray_ was
declared forfeited, and was divided among the _Norman_ knights whom
David had drawn round him when Prince of Strathclyde.
=6. English War.=--In 1135 _Henry the First of England_ died, and
David, who had been among the first to swear fealty, for the lands he
held in England, to his own niece _Matilda_, daughter and heiress of
_Henry_, was now the first to take up arms in defence of her right
against _Stephen_. David at once marched into _England_, received the
homage of the northern barons, and took possession of all the northern
strongholds, except _Bamborough_, in Matilda's name. Stephen came
north, but peace was made between them; for though David would not
break his oath to Matilda by himself holding any fiefs of Stephen,
this difficulty was got rid of by investing David's son Henry with
the _Honour of Huntingdon_, which had been hitherto held by David.
_Carlisle_ and _Doncaster_ were also conferred on Henry; and though
his request to be put in possession of his mother's inheritance of
_Northumberland_ was not granted, Stephen promised to take his claim to
it into consideration. Henry went south with Stephen, at whose court
he took precedence of the English barons. This roused their jealousy,
and they straightway left the court in a body. David, highly indignant
at this insult, recalled his son, and the next year prepared to invade
England again, nor would he agree to any terms of peace, unless Henry
were put in immediate possession of Northumberland. In 1138 his army
ravaged the northern counties, reduced to ashes the castle of _Norham_,
and routed a body of the men of _Lancashire_ who had mustered to resist
the invaders at _Clitheroe_ on the _Ribble_. After this success, the
victors committed greater outrages than ever.
=7. Battle of the Standard.=--But their excesses, and the fear that
David, as the representative of the English line, was trying to win the
English crown for himself, at length roused the chivalry of northern
England, who, forgetting party feeling, made common cause against the
common foe, and assembled round the banner raised by _Walter Espec_, a
doughty and gigantic warrior. A few years before they had prepared to
help David in suppressing those very _Celts_ whom he was now leading
against themselves. Against such men, inspired by such righteous
indignation, the mixed multitude of _Scots_, _Picts_ of _Galloway_,
_Welshmen_ from _Strathclyde_, _Northmen_ from the _Orkneys_, and
_English_ from the _Lothians_, who with a body of _Norman_ knights made
up the so-called _Scottish_ host, had but small chance of success.
This chance was made still smaller by what proved fatal to the cause
of Scotland in many an after fight, the inevitable squabbles between
the rival races. The _Celts_ were jealous of the _Norman_ strangers,
and clamoured so loudly for their right of leading the van, that David
at last gave in to them. His own better judgment would have led him
to give the task of breaking the hostile ranks to his well-armed,
well-mounted horsemen, leaving it to the infantry to follow up their
advantage. The two armies met on a moor, near _Northallerton_, where
the English were drawn up round their _Standard_, which was so singular
that from it the battle took its name. It was the consecrated wafer
hoisted on a ship's mast, with the banners of _St. Peter of York_,
_St. John of Beverley_, and _St. Wilfrith of Ripon_, floating round
it. Before the battle commenced, a last attempt for peace was made
by two Norman barons, whose descendants afterwards played a great
part in Scottish history. These were _Robert de Brus_ and _Bernard de
Bailleul_. They were friends of David and held lands from him, and
they begged him not to fight with the old friends who had formerly
stood by him. As he was unmoved by all their entreaties, they renounced
their allegiance, and the battle began. The Galloway men made a fierce
onslaught on the English, but were driven back and beaten down by the
English arrows. They fled, and by their flight spread confusion through
the army. The panic was made greater by a cry that the King was slain;
and though David did all he could to rally the fugitives round his
banner, the ancient dragon of Wessex, he was forced to retire upon
_Carlisle_, where his son Henry joined him a few days after. But this
defeat did not drive the Scots out of England. David still continued
the siege of _Werk_, a strong castle, which at last surrendered.
=8. Peace with England.=--Next year, peace was made at _Durham_.
Earl Henry was invested with the earldom of _Northumberland_, though
Stephen kept _Bamborough_ and _Newcastle_, and David continued to
administer the affairs of the northern counties till his death. Two
years after this peace he again took up arms in favour of Matilda, and
narrowly escaped being taken prisoner when her forces were routed at
_Winchester_; and it was by David at his court at Carlisle that her son
_Henry of Anjou_ was knighted. The close of David's life was embittered
by the death of his only son _Henry_, a just man and a brave soldier,
whose loss was universally lamented. He had married _Ada de Warenne_,
daughter of the _Earl of Surrey_, and left three sons, _Malcolm_,
_William_, and _David_, the two eldest of whom reigned in succession.
His eldest daughter _Ada_ married _Florence Count of Holland_, and got
the promise of _Ross_, a great tract of the Highlands, as her dowry.
After the death of his son David sent his eldest grandson through the
provinces to be acknowledged as his successor, and within a few months
he died at Carlisle, and was buried beside his parents at Dunfermline.
=9. Internal Improvements.=--David was both a good man and a great
king. He upheld the honour of his kingdom abroad, and did so much
for the welfare of his people at home, that most of the social and
political institutions of the later kingdom were afterwards ascribed
to him. It is true that he introduced a foreign baronage, for he
encouraged many Norman barons to come to his court, and by the lands
which he gave them induced them to settle in the country. He thus
gave great offence to the native chiefs; but he did not forget the
interests of the Commons, for he increased the number of the royal
burghs and granted many privileges and immunities to the burghers. The
life of David has been written by his friend and admirer, _Æthelred_
the _Abbot of Rievaulx_. He has drawn an attractive picture of an able
and virtuous prince, kindly and courteous alike to high and low; ever
ready to listen to the complaints of all his subjects and to set wrong
right, and never turning his face away from any poor man. He tells us
how the King himself dealt out justice to his subjects, and in his
progress through the several districts of his kingdom, used, on set
days, in person to hear the suits and to redress the wrongs of the poor
and oppressed among his people. Six bishoprics--_Dunblane_, _Brechin_,
_Aberdeen_, _Ross_, _Caithness_, and _Glasgow_--were either founded or
restored by him; and many abbeys date their foundation from his reign.
He carried on the work of church reform by inducing the Culdees to
conform to more regular ways, on pain of being turned out of their
monasteries. His reign lasted twenty-nine years, during which time
the country continued to advance steadily in wealth, fertility, and
civilization. There is little doubt that, had his successor possessed
the same abilities, the future boundary of the kingdom would have been
the _Tees_ instead of the _Tweed_.
=10. Malcolm IV., 1153-1165.=--Malcolm was not quite twelve years old
when he came to the throne: the fact that he retained possession of it
proves that the principle of hereditary succession was gaining ground,
and that his grandfather David had put down the unruly spirit of the
northern clans and had more firmly established a regular government.
=11. Subjection of Galloway.=--The principal event of Malcolm's reign
was the subjection of _Galloway_, which was now reduced to direct
dependence on the Crown. A rising, the object of which was to dethrone
Malcolm and to set up his brother _William_ in his stead, had been
planned by some of the nobles while Malcolm was in _Aquitaine_, helping
_Henry the Second_ of England in his war with France. Soon after his
return in 1160, they surrounded the city of Perth where he was holding
his court, and tried to take him prisoner. But they were dispersed and
routed, and though the chiefs fled to _Galloway_, Malcolm followed
them and reduced the district. _Fergus_, the _Lord of Galloway_, ended
his days in the monastery of _Holyrood_. A few years later another
dangerous enemy rose against Malcolm. This was _Somerled_, the Lord of
Argyle, who ruled the western coast with the power, though without the
title, of King. He landed near _Renfrew_ on the _Clyde_, with a large
force, but was almost immediately slain by treachery, and after his
death his followers dispersed and returned to their several islands
without doing any serious mischief. An increase of power was thus won
for the Crown within the limits of the kingdom, but on the other hand
the northern counties of England, which had been held by David, were
lost, for Henry of England obliged Malcolm to give up all claim to them
at _Chester_, where the two Kings met in 1157. At the same time Malcolm
was invested with the _Honour of Huntingdon_ on the same terms as those
on which it had been held by David.
=12. William the Lion, 1165-1214.=--_William_ surnamed _the Lion_
succeeded his brother Malcolm. He was eager to regain the earldom of
_Northumberland_, which his father had held and which his brother had
lost. As Henry of England refused it to him, he aided the sons of that
monarch in their rebellion against their father, and, when Henry was
absent in France, he invaded his kingdom and took several strongholds.
But by his own imprudence he was surprised and captured, with the
best of his nobles, while tilting in a meadow close by the walls of
_Alnwick_, and was sent for greater security to _Falaise_, in Normandy,
July 1174.
=13. Convention of Falaise.=--In the end of the year William regained
his freedom by signing a treaty called the "_Convention of Falaise_,"
the hard terms of which were most humiliating, both to him and to
Scotland. He was in future to hold his kingdom on the same terms of
vassalage as those by which he now held Lothian, and as a token of
further dependence his barons and clergy were also to do homage to
the English King, who was to be put in possession of the principal
strongholds. His brother _David, Earl of Huntingdon_, and twenty-one
other barons were to remain as hostages till the strongholds were
given up, and on their release each was to leave his son or next heir
as a warrant of good faith. The homage was performed in the following
year, when William met Henry at _York_; and the King of Scots, with his
earls, barons, free-tenants, and clergy, became the liegemen of the
_King of England_ in St. Peter's Minster. The clergy swore to lay the
kingdom under an interdict, and the laity to hold by their English
over-lord, should William prove unfaithful to him. This treaty remained
in force till the death of _Henry_ in 1189, when _Richard_ of England,
who was in want of money for his crusade, released William, for the
sum of 10,000 marks, from these extorted obligations and restored the
strongholds, though he refused to give up to him the coveted earldom.
=14. Homage at Lincoln.=--When _John_ succeeded his brother on the
throne of England, William did such homage to him as the King of Scots
had been wont to render to the King of England before the treaty
of Falaise. He met John at _Lincoln_, whither he was escorted by a
brilliant retinue of English barons. But there was no kindly feeling
between the two Kings. John tried to build a castle at _Tweedmouth_
in order to spoil the trade of _Berwick_, the largest trading city
in Scotland, but the Scots drove away the builders and levelled the
castle, and for some time both Kings kept threatening armies on the
Border.
=15. Independence of the Church.=--At a great Council held at
_Northampton_ in 1176, the _Archbishop of York_ claimed Scotland as a
part of his province, and called on the Scottish clergy to acknowledge
their dependence. They protested and appealed to the Pope, who forbade
the Archbishop to press his claim. _Clement III._ in 1188 confirmed
their claim of independence, on the ground that the Church of Scotland
was in immediate dependence on the _Holy See_.
=16. Internal Troubles.=--During William's captivity, Galloway
revolted. All the King's officers were either slain or expelled, and
as, after the submission at Falaise, _Gilbert_ the chief of Galloway
considered himself a vassal of England, he let the Lothians have no
peace till his death in 1185. William's nephew _Roland_ then seized
Galloway, drove out his opponents, and rebuilt the Royal castles.
William used his influence to induce Henry to confirm Roland in
possession, and thereby gained a devoted and faithful ally. It was
mainly by his aid that William was enabled to put down a formidable
rising in the north.
=17. Social Progress.=--During this reign the free towns began to rise
into notice. Their privilege of trade and right to govern themselves
was recognized by a charter granted to the city of Aberdeen, in which
William confirmed his burghers north of the _Mount_, in their right of
holding their own court or "free anse," as they had done in the time
of his grandfather David. Thus we see that the towns of the north of
Scotland were united for mutual support a century before the rise of
the great continental Hansa, which bound together by a similar league
the trading cities of the Baltic. Some of the most important towns
date their charters from William, and he extended the influence of
civilization in the north by holding his court in such remote places
as _Elgin_, _Nairn_, and _Inverness_. The only religious foundation of
this reign was the abbey of _Arbroath_. It was dedicated to the newest
saint in the calendar, _Thomas of Canterbury_. William died at Stirling
in 1214, leaving one son, _Alexander_, who succeeded him.
=18. Alexander II., 1214-1249.=--_Alexander's_ accession was the signal
for one of the usual risings in Moray; but as the power of the Crown in
that district was now stronger than it had been in earlier times, this
rising was more easily put down than any former one had been. The great
struggle between despotism and freedom had just at this time set _John_
of England and his barons at variance. Alexander joined the barons
in hopes of getting back Northumberland. He crossed the Border and
received the homage of the northern barons, and the following year he
joined his force to those of the confederates, and marched to _Dover_,
where he did homage to Louis of France, who, at the invitation of the
barons, had come over to take the crown. The death of John and the
victory of his son, _Henry the Third_, at _Lincoln_, changed the whole
state of affairs, and in 1217 Alexander did the usual homage to Henry
and was invested with the _Honour of Huntingdon_. Four years later
the bond between them was drawn closer by the marriage of _Alexander_
to _Joanna_, Henry's sister. This alliance was followed by a lasting
peace, though Alexander still claimed Northumberland, and Henry upheld
the right of the Archbishop of York to supremacy over the Scottish
Church. In a council held at York in 1237, Alexander agreed to compound
his claim to the earldom for a grant of the lands of _Penrith_ and
_Tynedale_, and, when Henry went to France, he left the Border under
the care of the King of Scots.
=19. Settling of the Border Line.=--In 1222 an attempt was made to lay
down a definite boundary between the two countries. Six commissioners
on either side were appointed, and though the exact course of the line
was disputed, from that time it continued pretty much what it is now,
though a wide tract on either side was claimed alternately by both
nations and belonged in reality to neither.
=20. State of the North.=--A disturbance which happened during this
reign shows us something of the lawless state of the northern part
of the kingdom. _Adam_, bishop of _Caithness_, tried to enforce the
payment of tithes in his diocese, but his people came together to
consider the best way of resisting this exaction. While they were thus
holding council, it is said that a voice cried out, "Short rede good
rede; slay we the bishop." On this advice they acted, for without more
waste of words they attacked the bishop, and burned him and his house
to ashes. Shortly before this a former bishop of Caithness had been
seized and had his tongue cut out by the Earl of Orkney. Alexander died
on an expedition to the Western Isles, at _Kerrara_, a small islet off
the coast of Argyle. By his second wife, _Mary of Coucy_, he left a
son, who succeeded him.
=21. Alexander III., 1249-1266.=--_Alexander_, a child of eight years,
was crowned with great pomp at _Scone_, the ancient crowning place,
where the famous stone of _Destiny_ was kept. The tradition was that no
one who had not been enthroned on this stone was lawful King of Scots.
The most striking part of the coronation ceremony was the appearance of
a Sennachy or Celtic bard, who greeted Alexander as King by virtue of
his descent from the ancient Celtic Kings, and recited the whole list
of the King's ancestors, carrying them back to the most remote ages.
This might serve to remind him that after all his title of King came
solely from those very Celts whom his more immediate forefathers had
slighted and despised.
=22. Alexander's Marriage and Homage to England.=--On Christmas day,
1251, Alexander was married at _York_, to _Margaret_, daughter of
_Henry the Third_, and at the same time he did homage for the lands he
held in England, but evaded Henry's claim of homage for _Scotland_,
pleading the necessity of consulting his advisers before giving an
answer on so difficult a matter. This question was brought up again in
1278, when Alexander went to _Westminster_ to acknowledge and to do
homage to _Edward the First_, and he gave for answer that he did homage
for his English fiefs alone and not for his kingdom. Edward asserted
his right as over-lord of the kingdom, but he did not then attempt to
enforce it.
=23. Last Invasion of the Northmen.=--In 1262 _Hakon_ of _Norway_ came
with a great fleet to visit the _Orkneys_ and the _Western Isles_,
_Sudereys_ or _Southern Isles_ as the Northmen called them. The fleet
sailed down the _Western Coast_, levying black mail on the islands and
making divers inland raids. Among other exploits the Northmen dragged a
number of their ships across the narrow neck of land that parts _Loch
Long_ from _Loch Lomond_, sailed down _Loch Lomond_, and harried the
_Lennox_, as the fertile tract which stretches along its lower end is
called. Hakon sailed up the _Firth of Clyde_, and an attempt was made
at a peaceable agreement between him and the King, who was at first
willing to give up all claim to the _Hebrides_, but wished to keep the
_Cumbraes_, _Bute_, and _Arran_. But the Scots purposely delayed coming
to terms, as they expected that the autumn storms would soon help them
to get rid of their enemy. Nor were their hopes disappointed, for, in
the beginning of October, a violent tempest rose, separated the ships
of the invaders, sunk some, and stranded others. On the following day
the Northmen who had landed were easily beaten, near _Largs_, by a
Scottish army hastily got together on the coast of _Ayr_, in 1263.
Hakon died in one of the _Orkneys_ on his way home, and his son, in
1266, agreed to give up _Man_ and the _Isles_ for 1,000 marks down, and
the promise of 100 yearly. An amnesty was granted to the Islesmen, and
it was settled that the bishopric should continue in the province of
_Drontheim_. In 1281 the King's daughter, _Margaret_, married _Eric_,
the heir to the throne of _Norway_. She died in 1283, leaving an infant
daughter, who, a few months after, by the death of _Alexander_, the
King's only son, became heir to the Scottish crown. Three years later,
in 1286, the King himself was killed by a fall from his horse while
riding by night along the coast of _Fife_, near _Kinghorn_.
=24. Literature and Architecture.=--No chronicles of this period,
written by natives of Scotland, have come down to us. But there was
one poet who was held in great repute, not only for his verses, but
for his prophecies. This was _Thomas Learmouth of Ercildoun_, called
"Thomas the Rhymer," and "True Thomas," from the general belief in
the truth of his predictions. He is said to have foretold that great
national calamity, the King's death, under the figure of a great storm
that should blow "so stark and strang, that all Scotland sall reu
efter rycht lang." Another Scotsman of note was _Michael Scot_, the
famous wizard. He travelled much in foreign lands, and was greatly
renowned in them, as in his own country, as a scholar, an astrologer,
and magician. The buildings of this period were chiefly the churches
and abbeys founded by Margaret and her descendants. They were all in
the same style as contemporary buildings in England. There were as yet
very few castles, that is fortified buildings of solid masonry, in the
kingdom. The great strongholds, such as _Edinburgh_, _Stirling_, and
_Dunbarton_, were steep rocks, made so inaccessible by nature that they
needed but little strengthening from art. Dwelling-houses seem to have
been generally built of wood.
=25. State of the Kingdom.=--The second period of the national history
breaks off abruptly with the death of _Alexander_. It had begun with
the dethronement of Donald Bane, the last Celtic King, nearly two
hundred years before, and during that time the boundary of Scotland
had been extended by the annexation of _Argyle_ and of the _Isles_,
while her two dependencies of _Lothian_ and _Galloway_ had been drawn
more closely to her, though they still remained separate and distinct.
Throughout this period the influence of England, though peaceable, had
been stronger than it was ever to be again. English laws and English
customs had been brought in, and had, in many cases, taken the place of
the old Celtic usages. The Celtic _maers_ had been removed to make way
for the _sheriffs_ of the Crown. But, as Scotland was not divided like
England into shires, the sheriffs were not, as in England, the reeves
of the already existing shires, but officers who were placed by the
King over certain districts. These districts or sheriffdoms became the
counties of later times. _Feudalism_ after the _Norman_ model, with all
its burthensome exactions and oppressions, had been brought in and had
taken firmer root in Scotland than it ever did in England. The native
chiefs had been displaced by foreign nobles, so that a purely Norman
baronage held the lands, whether peopled by a _Celtic_ or a _Saxon_
peasantry. In some cases the new owners founded families afterwards
known under Celtic names; for, while the Celts gave their own names
to the lands on which they settled, the Normans took the names of the
lands conferred upon them and bore them as their own. The long peace
with England, which had lasted unbroken for nearly a century, had been
marked by great social progress. The large proportion of land that was
now under the plough proves that during this untroubled time husbandry
must have thriven, roads and bridges were many and in good repair, and
the trading towns had made great advances in riches and power. Hitherto
no one town had distinctly taken its place as the capital. _Saint
John's Town_, or _Perth_, had, from its connexion with _Scone_, some
claim to the first place, but the King held his court or his assize
indifferently at any of the royal burghs. These burghs were of great
importance in the state, and, as the burgesses of the royal burghs were
all vassals holding direct from the Crown, they acted in some sort as
a check on the growing power of the nobles. The burghers had the right
of governing themselves by their own laws, and were divided into two
groups. Those north of the _Scots water_ or Firth of Forth were bound
together by a league like the great continental Hansa, and known by the
same name; while those in Lothian, represented by the four principal
among them--_Roxburgh_, _Stirling_, _Edinburgh_, and _Berwick_--held
their "court of the four burghs," which is still represented by the
"Convention of Royal Burghs" which meets once a year in Edinburgh. Nor
were the Scottish towns of this period in any way behind the cities of
the Continent. _Berwick_, the richest and the greatest, was said by a
writer of the time to rival London. _Inverness_ had a great reputation
for shipbuilding. A ship which was built there called forth the envy
and wonder of the French nobles of that time. But this happy state of
things was brought to an end by the death of the King, and the long
years of war and misery that followed went far to sweep away all traces
of the high state of civilization and prosperity that had been reached
by the country in this, the golden age of Scottish history.
CHAPTER III.
STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE.
_The Regency_ (1)--_the Interregnum_ (2)--_Council at
Norham_ (3)--_Edward's decision_ (4)--_John_ (5)--_his
coronation_ (6)--_French alliance_ (7)--_Edward's first
conquest_ (8)--_English government_ (9)--_Wallace's
revolt_ (10)--_surrender at Irvine_ (11)--_battle of
Stirling_ (12)--_battle of Falkirk_ (13)--_capture of
Wallace_ (14)--_attempted union_ (15)--_Bruce's revolt_
(16)--_his coronation_ (17)--_Edward's proposed revenge_
(18)--_Bruce's struggles_ (19)--_battle of Bannockburn_
(20)--_results of the victory_ (21)--_Bruce's comrades_
(22)--_summary_ (23).
=1. Margaret, 1286-90. The Regency.=--Within a month from _Alexander's_
death the _Estates_ met at _Scone_, and appointed six regents to govern
the kingdom for _Margaret_, the _Maiden of Norway_, a child of three
years old, who, on the death of her grandfather Alexander, succeeded to
the throne. Three of these regents were for the old kingdom, the land
north of the _Scots Water_, and three for Lothian with Galloway. This
division seems to show that the different tenure of these provinces
was still understood and acted on. The _Scots_ of the original Celtic
kingdom and the _Englishmen_ of _Lothian_ still kept aloof from one
another. In the meantime _Robert Bruce_, a _Norman_ baron whose
forefathers had settled in _Annandale_ in the twelfth century, made
an attempt to seize the crown by force. He laid claim to it by right
of his descent from _Isabella_, the second daughter of _David_ Earl of
Huntingdon, brother of _William the Lion_, and appealed to _Edward the
First_ of England as over-lord to support him in his supposed right.
At the same time other appeals against him were made by the seven
_Earls of Scotland_, by _Fraser_ bishop of St. Andrews, and by the
_Community_. Edward did not encourage Bruce, but on the contrary he
agreed to the proposal of the Estates that the _Lady Margaret_ should
be married to his eldest son _Edward_. By the treaty of _Brigham_,
in 1290, this agreement was accepted by the Clergy, Nobility, and
Community of Scotland. This treaty provided that the rights and
liberties of Scotland should remain untouched; that no native of
Scotland was to be called on to do homage or to answer for any crime
beyond the Border; in short, that Scotland was to keep all the rights
and liberties which belong to a distinct national life. This union, if
it had been carried out, would have been the best possible settlement
for both kingdoms, but it was prevented by the death of the _Maid of
Norway_ on her way to _Scotland_, in one of the _Orkneys_, September
1290. Edward had himself sent a ship handsomely fitted out to fetch
home the Maid.
=2. Interregnum, 1290-92.=--_Margaret_ was the last of the legitimate
descendants of William the Lion. The new King had to be sought among
the heirs of William's brother _David, Earl of Huntingdon_. David had
left three daughters, _Margaret_, _Isabella_, and _Ada_, and they
being dead were represented by their nearest heirs,--Margaret by her
grandson _John Balliol_, Isabella by her son _Robert Bruce_, and Ada
by her son _John Hastings_. Besides these there were a host of smaller
claimants whose pretensions were quite untenable; but there was one
other who, though his claim was very shadowy, was first in power and
position among the claimants. This was _Florence, Count of Holland_,
the great-great-grandson of _Ada_, the daughter of David's son Henry,
who was to have had Ross as her dowry. _Bruce_, supported by his son,
by _James the Steward_ and by other nobles, made a bond with Florence
by which each pledged himself, in case he got the kingdom, to give
the other a third of it. Edward, as over-lord, was appealed to to
settle the matter, as it was feared by the regents that _Robert Bruce_
would seize the crown by force, and all the competitors seem to have
acknowledged Edward's right of superiority.
=3. Council at Norham.=--Edward accordingly summoned his barons,
amongst whom most of the claimants could be reckoned, to meet him in a
council at _Norham_, on the northern side of the _Tweed_, in June 1291,
to decide this important case. The real contest lay between _Bruce_
and _Balliol_. Bruce, Balliol, and indeed nearly all the claimants,
were Norman barons holding lands of Edward. The family of Bruce came
originally from the _Côtentin_ and had been settled in _Yorkshire_ by
William the Conqueror, towards the end of his reign. David, who had
granted to them the great tract of _Annandale_, had also granted to the
_Balliols_ a manor in _Berwick_. Bruce's plea was that, though he was
the child of a younger sister, still his right was better than that of
Balliol, as he was one degree nearer their common forefather, and he
brought forward many precedents to prove that in such a case nearness
in degree was to be preferred to seniority.
=4. Edward's Decision.=--Edward decided with perfect justice, according
to the ideas of modern law, that _Balliol_, as the grandson of the
eldest daughter, had the best right to the throne. In early times in
Scotland no one would have thought of doubting Bruce's claim as next
in degree. As Edward refused to divide the dominions among the heirs
of the three daughters, it is clear that he looked on Scotland as a
dependent kingdom, and not as an ordinary fief, which would have
been shared among the three rivals. Judgment was given at _Berwick_,
November 1292, eighteen months after the first meeting of the council.
During this time the government had been nominally in the hands of the
guardians of the kingdom; but Edward had the strongholds, twenty-three
in number, in his own hands, and seems to have looked upon the two
countries as really united. At the end of the suit he gave up the
strongholds, and by so doing showed that he meant to act fairly.
=5. John, 1292-96. Policy of Edward.=--The great scheme of Edward's
life was to unite Britain under one government, of which he himself
was to be the head. He had already added to England the dependent
principality of Wales. Hitherto his actions towards Scotland had been
perfectly fair and upright. In placing John Balliol, the rightful
heir, on the throne, he was doing no more than had been done by the
King of England, acting as over-lord, in the cases of Malcolm Canmore
and Eadgar: but his way of placing him there was not strictly just;
the conditions which he required were such as he had no right to
exact, nor John to accept. He made him do homage for his kingdom as
though it had been an English fief. Now, though this was true as far
as concerned Lothian, and partly true as concerned Strathclyde, as
concerned Scotland it was untrue. Although Scotland had, since 924,
been in some degree subject to the King of England, this dependence
was no more than was implied by the "commendation," the very natural
relation of the weaker to the stronger. But it must be remembered that
three centuries had passed since that first commendation, and in that
time the original simplicity of the feudal tenure had been altogether
changed and in great measure forgotten. Edward looked on the three
parts of Scotland as fiefs, and therefore subject to the same burthens
as his other fiefs; the Scots knew that they were not thus subject,
and they therefore argued that their kingdom was in no way dependent
on England: thus both parties were partly right and partly wrong. Even
the amount of dependence implied in the original commendation had, in
the last reign, been refused by the Scottish King, and had not been
insisted on by the English one. But John Balliol was weak and foolish,
while Edward was wise, strong, and determined to rule the whole country
indirectly through his submissive vassal.
=6. Coronation of John.=--John was duly crowned and enthroned on the
Stone of Destiny, after which he renewed his homage to Edward, in
1292. He then summoned the Estates at _Scone_. This was the first
meeting of the Estates which was called a _parliament_. John was not
popular with his subjects, who looked on him as a tool in the hands of
Edward. Before many months had passed _Roger Bartholomew_, a burgess
of Berwick, being dissatisfied with a decision given against him in
Scotland, appealed to Edward, who named a council at _Newcastle_ to
hear the case. This was a direct violation of the treaty of Brigham,
and Edward obliged John to sign a discharge and renunciation of this
treaty and of any other document then in existence which might call
in question his superiority. Another appeal was made a few months
afterwards against the decision of the Estates by a Scot of the old
kingdom, _Macduff_, the grand-uncle of the Earl of Fife, and this was
followed by appeals respecting the lands of the houses of _Bruce_
and _Douglas_. John was summoned to appear before the Parliament of
England, was voted a contumacious vassal, and commanded to give up
the three principal strongholds of his kingdom into the hands of his
over-lord till he should give satisfaction.
=7. French Alliance.=--In 1294 war broke out between France and
England, and John, with the nobles and commons of his kingdom,
entered into an alliance for mutual defence with _Eric of Norway_ and
_Philip of France_ against Edward. This was the beginning of the
foreign policy maintained in Scotland for several centuries, until
the _Reformation_, when religious sympathy got the better of national
hatred, and Roman Catholic France became more dreaded than Protestant
England. In compliance with this treaty a Scottish army crossed the
Border and swept and wasted the northern counties.
=8. Edward's first Conquest.=--Edward's dealings with Scotland now
became those of a conqueror instead of a protector. The Scots had,
without gainsaying, acknowledged his supremacy. It was the appeal of
Scottish subjects which had tempted him to extend the incidents of
that supremacy beyond legal limits, and now it was the Scots who began
the war, and thus gave Edward the excuse, for which he was waiting,
for conquering their country. He at once marched northwards with a
great army, and besieged and took _Berwick_, a large and wealthy
trading town. Provoked by the resistance and insults of the citizens,
the King wreaked a fearful vengeance on them, and Berwick was reduced
to the rank of a common market-town. While he was at Berwick, John's
renunciation of fealty was sent to him by the party of independence,
who were keeping their King in custody lest he should repent and
submit. When Edward had secured Berwick, he marched to _Dunbar_, took
the castle, and then went on to _Edinburgh_. He there took up his
quarters in _Holyrood_, laid siege to the castle, took it, seized
the crown jewels, and then passed on to _Perth_, taking possession
of _Stirling_ on the way. To crush out all idea of an independent
kingdom, and to let the people see that they were conquered, he
carried off from _Scone_ the _Stone of Destiny_, with which the fate
of the Scottish monarchy was supposed to be mystically joined. This
stone was removed to _Westminster_, and was placed under the seat of
the coronation-chair. He also took with him the _Holy Rood_ of Queen
Margaret, and obliged all the nobles who submitted to him to swear
allegiance on this much valued relic. Edward did not go further north
than _Elgin_, and he returned to Berwick in 1296, having marched all
through Scotland in twenty-one weeks. All the nobles and prelates did
personal homage to him. John submitted himself to Edward's pleasure,
and was degraded and dispossessed. He was then sent as a prisoner to
England, was afterwards made over to the keeping of the Bishop of
Vicenza, the Pope's representative, and at last he retired to his
own estates in _Picardy_, where he died in 1315. Edward treated his
kingdom as a fief forfeited by the treason of the vassal who held it.
This notion of the thirteenth century, that the fief was forfeited by
treason, would not have occurred to anyone in the tenth century, when
probably John would only have been deposed, and some one else set up in
his stead. The seizure of Normandy from John of England by Philip of
France was a case of the same kind, and quite as unprecedented.
=9. English Government.=--Edward at once took measures for joining
Scotland on as an integral part of the English kingdom. He took care
that the strongholds should be commanded and garrisoned by persons
without any Scottish connexion. He appointed _John, Earl of Warrenne
and Surrey_, Guardian, _Hugh of Cressingham_, Treasurer, and _Ormsby_,
Justiciar of the kingdom; sent them forms of writs to be used in the
re-granting of lands; took measures for the establishment of _Courts
of Chancery_ and _Exchequer_ at _Berwick_, and summoned a council of
merchants to consider the best measures for the future conduct of the
trade and commerce of the country. Cressingham was enjoined to raise
all the money he could, for the maintenance of internal peace and
order, and to put down the wicked rebels, homicides, and disturbers of
the peace, who swarmed all over the land.
=10. Wallace's Revolt.=--The Celts in the North looked on this change
in the government with apathy. To them it probably made little
difference who sat on the Scottish throne, and Edward had not entered
their district. The Norman nobles quietly agreed to it, for they were
afraid of losing their estates in England. But it roused a spirit
of defiance and opposition where resistance was least to be looked
for, among the Lowlanders. They were the descendants of the earliest
Teutonic settlers, and had remained more purely English in blood and
speech than their kinsfolk on the southern side of the Border. This
latent feeling of discontent gradually ripened into rebellion, and
the standard of revolt was raised by _William Wallace_, a native
of Clydesdale, who, unlike most of his countrymen, had not sworn
allegiance to Edward. He surprised and cut to pieces the English
garrison at _Lanark_, and slew _William Haselrig_, the newly appointed
sheriff of _Ayr_. This outbreak was followed by similar attacks on
detached bodies of the troops in occupation. His little band of
followers gradually attracted more, and at length they surprised the
_Justiciar Ormsby_, while holding a court at _Scone_, and, though he
escaped out of their hands, they secured both prisoners and booty.
_Anthony Beck_, Bishop of Durham, was next attacked in _Glasgow_, and
forced to flee. After these successes Wallace was joined by _William of
Douglas_, a renowned soldier, and by _Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick_,
grandson of the original claimant of the crown.
=11. Surrender at Irvine.=--But there was a want of system and of unity
of purpose in the nation, and this noble effort on the part of the
people was not seconded by the nobles. A large army under Henry, Lord
Percy, was sent by Edward to put down the rising; those of the nobles
who had joined the popular movement deserted it, and renewed their
allegiance to Edward at _Irvine_, July 1297. But when Edward, who
believed the revolt to be completely crushed, was absent in Flanders,
Wallace mustered the people of the Lowlands north of the Tay and made
himself master of the strongholds in that district.
=12. Battle of Stirling.=--The English army was now hastening northward
under Cressingham and Warrenne, Earl of Surrey. Wallace resolved to
give them battle on the Carse of Stirling, a level plain, across which
the river Forth winds in and out among the meadows like the links of a
silver chain. Wallace showed his skill as a general by the choice of
the ground on which he posted his men. He drew them up within one of
the links of the river, which swept round in front between them and
the English, while a steep rocky hill, called the Abbey Craig, rose
right behind them and protected the rear. The English had to cross the
river by a narrow bridge. Wallace waited till half of them were over,
and then attacked them. Taken thus at a disadvantage, they were easily
routed. The panic spread to those on the opposite bank, who fled in
disorder. In this action, called the _Battle of Stirling_, which was
fought September 11, 1297, Cressingham was slain, and Surrey was forced
to retreat to Berwick. After this victory the Scots recovered the
strongholds south of the Forth, and Wallace acted as _Guardian_ of the
kingdom in the name of King John, and with the consent of the commons.
Unhappily the Scots were not content with driving out the invaders, but
carried the war over the Border, and wasted the northern counties of
England with all the fierceness and cruelty of brigands.
=13. Battle of Falkirk.=--Edward returned from Flanders and raised a
large army for the subjection of Scotland, promising pardon to all
vagrants and malefactors who would enlist in it. The King himself led
the army. The Scots wasted the country and retreated before him through
the Lothians; and Wallace, who knew well the weakness of his own
force, tried to avoid a battle till the great army of Edward should be
exhausted from want of food. But tidings were brought to Edward that
Wallace was near Falkirk, and he marched northward in haste and forced
his enemy to give battle. At Stirling Wallace had won the day by his
happy choice of the ground; he now showed still greater skill by the
way in which he drew up his little army. It was made up for the most
part of footmen, who at that time were held of no account as soldiers.
The genius of Wallace found out how they might be made even more
formidable than the mounted men-at-arms, in whom at that time it was
supposed that the strength of an army lay. He drew them up in circular
masses; the spearmen without and the bowmen within. The spearmen with
lances fixed knelt down in ranks, so that the archers within could
shoot over their heads. When his men were thus placed, Wallace said
to them, "I have brought ye to the ring--hop gif ye can;" that is,
show how well you can fight. But, though they fought well and held
their ground bravely, and the English horse were driven back by the
spear-points, the Scots were at last beaten down by force of numbers,
and the English won the day, 1298. After this victory Edward returned
to _Carlisle_, and Wallace resigned the _Guardianship_. Edward held
the country south of the Forth, but the northern Lowlands seem to have
maintained their independence until the spring of 1303, when Edward
marched north at the head of a great army and again subdued the whole
country. He made _Dunfermline_, the favourite seat of the Scottish
court, his head-quarters. _Stirling Castle_ alone, under _Olifant_ the
valiant governor, held out for three months, but when it was taken the
lives of the garrison were spared. All the leaders in the late rising
were left unharmed in life, liberty, or estate, with the exception of
_William Wallace_. He was required to submit unconditionally to the
King's grace.
=14. Capture of Wallace.=--Wallace had been on the Continent ever
since the battle of Falkirk. He now came back and was betrayed by his
servant _Jack Short_ to Sir John Menteith, governor for Edward in
_Dunbarton Castle_, and was sent by him to London. He was there tried,
by a special commission, for treason and rebellion against Edward. He
pleaded in his own defence that he had never sworn fealty to Edward.
In spite of this he was found guilty, condemned to death, and hanged,
drawn, and quartered according to the barbarous practice which was then
coming into use in England. His head was stuck up on _London Bridge_,
and the four parts of his body were sent to _Newcastle_, _Berwick_,
_Stirling_, and _Perth_, by way of frightening the people from such
attempts in future.
=15. Attempted Union.=--Edward then set to work to complete the union
of the two kingdoms. In the meantime Scotland was to be governed by
a _Lieutenant_ aided by a council of barons and churchmen. It was to
be represented in the English parliament by _ten deputies_,--_four
churchmen_, _four barons_, and _two_ members of the _commons_, _one_
for the country _north_ of the _Firths_, _one_ for the _south_. These
members attended one parliament at Westminster, and an ordinance was
issued for the government of Scotland. _John of Bretayne_ was named
_Lieutenant_ for the King; justices and sheriffs were appointed; the
strongholds were put under governors for the King, and an inquiry was
ordered into the state of the laws in order to take measures for their
amendment. Edward's policy in all this was to win favour with the
people and the members of the council, although many of them, such as
_Bruce_ and _Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow_, had taken part in the last
rising. The King's peace was now offered to all rebels who would profit
by it. But the great difficulty in dealing with the Scots was that they
never knew when they were conquered, and, just when Edward hoped that
his scheme for union was carried out, they rose in arms once more.
=16. Bruce's Revolt.=--The leader this time was _Robert Bruce, Lord of
Annandale, Earl of Carrick_ in right of his mother, and the grandson
and heir of the rival of Balliol. He had joined Wallace, but had again
sworn fealty to Edward at the Convention of Irvine, and had since then
received many favours from the English king. Bruce signed a _bond_
with _William Lamberton, Bishop of St. Andrews_, who had also been
one of Wallace's supporters. In this bond each party swore to stand
by the other in all his undertakings, no matter what, and not to act
without the knowledge of the other. The signing of such bonds became
a prominent and distinctive feature in the after-history of Scotland.
This bond became known to Edward; and Bruce, afraid of his anger, fled
from London to _Dumfries_. There in the Church of the _Grey Friars_ he
had an interview with _John Comyn of Badenoch_, called the _Red Comyn_,
who, after _Balliol_ and his sons, was the next heir to the throne.
He was the grandson of a younger sister of Balliol's mother, and the
son of Balliol's sister. He had also a strong claim to the favour of
the people in his alleged descent, through _Donald Bane_, from their
ancient Celtic kings. What passed between them cannot be certainly
known, as they met alone, but Bruce came out of the church saying he
feared he had slain the Red Comyn. _Kirkpatrick_, one of his followers,
then said, he would "mak sicker," and ran in and slew the wounded man.
By this murder and sacrilege Bruce put himself at once out of the pale
of the law and of the Church, but by it he became the nearest heir
to the crown, after the Balliols. This gave him a great hold on the
people, whose faith in the virtue of hereditary succession was strong,
and on whom the English yoke weighed heavily.
=17. Coronation at Scone.=--On March 27, 1306, Bruce was crowned with
as near an imitation of the old ceremonies as could be compassed on
such short notice. The actual crowning was done by _Isabella, Countess
of Buchan_, who, though her husband was a Comyn, and, as such, a sworn
foe of Bruce, came secretly to uphold the right of her own family, the
_Macduffs_, to place the crown on the head of the King of Scots.
=18. Edward's proposed Revenge.=--Edward determined this time to put
down the Scots with rigour. _Aymer of Valence, Earl of Pembroke_,
succeeded John of Bretayne as Governor. All who had taken any part in
the murder of the Red Comyn were denounced as traitors, and death was
to be the fate of all persons taken in arms. Bruce was excommunicated
by a special bull from the Pope. The _Countess of Buchan_ was confined
in a room, made like a cage, in one of the towers of _Berwick Castle_.
One of King Robert's sisters was condemned to a like punishment. His
brother _Nigel_, his brother-in-law _Christopher Seton_, and three
other nobles were taken prisoners, and were put to death as traitors.
This, the first noble blood that had been shed in the popular cause,
did much to unite the sympathy of the nobles with the commons, who had
hitherto been the only sufferers from the oppression of the conquerors.
Edward this time made greater preparations than ever. All classes of
his subjects from all parts of his dominions were invited to join
the army, and he exhorted his son, _Edward Prince of Wales_, and 300
newly-created knights, to win their spurs worthily in the reduction of
contumacious Scotland. It was well for Scotland that he did not live to
carry out his vows of vengeance. He died at _Burgh-on-the-Sands_, July
30th. His death proved a turning-point in the history of Scotland, for,
though the English still remained in possession of the strongholds,
Edward the Second took no effective steps to crush the rebels. He
only brought the army raised by his father as far as _Cumnock_ in
_Ayrshire_, and retreated without doing anything.
=19. Bruce's Struggles.=--For several years King Robert was an outlaw
and a fugitive, with but a handful of followers. Their lives were in
constant danger. Whenever an opportunity offered, they made daring
attacks on the English in possession; at other times they saved their
lives by hairbreadth escapes from their pursuit. The Celts of the west
and of _Galloway_, who had been won over to the English interest,
were against them, and the _Earl of Buchan_, husband of the patriotic
Countess, and his kinsman, _Macdougal of Lorn_, were Bruce's most
deadly enemies. At one time Bruce had met with so many defeats that
he left Scotland and thought of giving up the struggle and going to
the Holy Land. Tradition says that the example of a spider stirred
him up to fresh courage and endurance. He was in hiding in the island
of Rachrin, off the north coast of Ireland. As he lay one morning in
bed in the wretched hut in which he had taken refuge, he saw a spider
trying in vain to throw its web across from beam to beam of the roof
above his head. The insect tried six times and failed. Bruce reckoned
that he had been beaten just six times by the English. He watched
eagerly to see if the spider would try again. "If it does," thought
he, "so will I." Once more the spider made the attempt, and this time
it was successful. Bruce took it as a happy omen, and went back to
Scotland. He joined some of his followers in the _Isle of Arran_. From
the island they went to the mainland, and from that time the tide of
fortune seemed to turn, and to bring him good luck instead of bad.
Still he had to go through many perils. The story of his exploits has
been handed down to us by _John Barbour, Archdeacon of Aberdeen_. As
he was born soon after Bruce's death, there may be some truth in the
tales which he tells, though it must be borne in mind that they are
but tales. He describes Bruce as a strong, tall man, so cheerful and
good-humoured that he kept up the spirits of his followers no matter
what mishaps befell them, always first in danger, and often owing his
life to his own wit and daring. One of his best known feats happened
in the country of John of Lorn. Three Highlanders, who had sworn to
take his life, set upon him when he was quite alone. One seized his
horse's bridle; another tried to take his foot out of the stirrup;
the third, leaping on him from behind, tried to unhorse him. Bruce
cut them all down and rode off triumphant. His brooch had come loose
in the struggle, and was ever afterwards kept as a precious relic in
the family of his enemy Macdougal of Lorn. The first decided success
of Bruce was the defeat of his old enemy, the Earl of Buchan, who
with his followers joined the English, and forced Bruce to right near
_Inverary_. Bruce won the day, and his followers so spoiled the lands
of the Comyn that this fray was long remembered as the "_Herrying of
Buchan_." At length the clergy recognized Bruce as their King, and
this virtual taking off the excommunication had a great effect upon
the people. The little band of patriots increased by degrees. The
strongholds were won back, till at last only _Stirling_ was left to the
English, and it was so sorely pressed that the governor agreed to give
it up to the Scots if he were not relieved before St. John Baptist's
Day, 1314. Roused by the fear of losing this, the most prized of all
Edward the First's conquests, the English gathered in great force, and
marched 100,000 strong to the relief of the garrison.
=20. Battle of Bannockburn, June 24, 1314.=--The Scots were posted so
as to command the plain or carse of Stirling, which the English must
cross to reach the Castle. They were greatly inferior to the English
in numbers, and had scarcely any cavalry, in which the chief strength
of the English force lay. Robert divided them into four battles or
divisions. Their leaders were _Sir James Douglas_; _Randolf_, his
nephew; _James the Stewart_, and Bruce's own brother _Edward_. Bruce
himself commanded the fourth division, which was placed behind the
others, as in it were the men he least trusted, and a small body of
cavalry. One flank of the army rested on the _Bannock_, a small stream
or burn, from which the battle took its name. Before the battle joined,
as King Robert was reviewing his line, he was challenged to single
combat by _Henry of Bohun_, an English knight, and raised the spirit
of his followers by cleaving his adversary's skull. The English began
the fight by a volley of arrows, but their archers were dispersed
by the small body of the Scottish horsemen whom King Robert sent to
charge them. The English cavalry then charged the Scots, but they
tried in vain to break the compact bristling masses of the Scottish
spearmen, and themselves fell into confusion. Some Highland gillies
and camp-followers just then appeared on the brow of a neighbouring
hill. The English took them for a reserve of the enemy, were seized
with terror, fled in wild disorder, and the defeat became a total and
shameful rout. The horsemen in their flight fell into the pitfalls
which the Scots had cunningly sunk in the plain. King Edward and 500
knights never drew rein till they reached Dunbar, whence they took ship
for Berwick. Great spoil and many noble captives fell that day to the
share of the victors.
=21. Results of the Victory=.--By this battle, won against tremendous
odds, the _Saxons_ of the _Lowlands_ decided their own fate and that
of the _Celtic_ people by whose name they were called, and to whose
kingdom they chose to belong. On the field of Bannockburn they gave
the English a convincing proof that they preferred sharing the poverty
and turbulent independence of that half-civilized Celtic kingdom to
rejoining the more wealthy, prosperous, and settled country from
which three centuries before they had been severed. Three more
centuries were still to pass before Edward the First's great idea
of a Union could be carried out. _Bannockburn_ is noteworthy among
battles as being one of the first to prove the value of Wallace's
great discovery that footmen, when rightly understood and skilfully
handled, were, after all, better than the mounted men-at-arms hitherto
deemed invincible. Like _Morgarten_ and _Courtray_, the fields on
which the _Flemings_ and the _Swiss_ about the same time overthrew
their oppressors, this victory of the Scots stands forth as a bright
example, showing how, even in that age of feudal tyranny, a few men of
set purpose, fighting for their common liberty, could withstand a great
mass of feudal retainers fighting simply at the bidding of their lords.
=22. Bruce's Comrades.=--The faithful friends of Bruce, those who had
shared his dangers and helped him to win his crown, were no way behind
their leader in courage and heroism. The most famous of them all was
_James of Douglas_, son of that _Douglas_ who had been the friend and
supporter of _Wallace_. His own _Castle of Douglas_ was the scene of
one of his most daring deeds, hence called the _Douglas Larder_. The
English held his castle, but on Palm Sunday, when the garrison were
gone to church, Douglas attacked them suddenly, killed some, and took
the rest prisoners. He and his men then went up to the castle, where
they feasted merrily on the fare that was being made ready for the
English. When they had dined, Douglas bade them bring forth all the
provision of food and fuel and pile it up in the castle hall. He then
killed the English prisoners and flung their bodies on the heap. Over
them he poured their store of wine, which mingled with the blood that
still streamed from their gaping wounds. The Scots then set fire to the
whole and went off to the woods again, for the free vault of heaven was
more to their minds than the constraint of castle walls. All these
stories are only tales; but, whether true or not, they show the spirit
of the time.
=23. Summary.=--In this chapter we have seen how Scotland lost her
independence by the selfish quarrels of her nobles and the weakness
of her King John Balliol; how the rising of Wallace, the first effort
for regaining her ancient freedom, was confined solely to the people
without the nobles; how it came to nothing from the want of unity of
purpose in the nation; how Scotland, after the failure of this attempt,
had lost her separate national life and had been united to England;
how, when all hope seemed lost, the people rose under a leader who was
really a Norman baron, and therefore as much a foreigner to them as
any of the governors placed over them by Edward; and how by one great
effort they shook off the yoke of the invaders and drove them from the
soil.
CHAPTER IV.
THE INDEPENDENT KINGDOM.
_Robert I._ (1)--_Chapter of Mitton_ (2)--_Peace of
Northampton_ (3)--_Robert's parliaments_ (4)--_his
death_ (5)--_David II._ (6)--_Edward Balliol's invasion_
(7)--_battle of Halidon Hill_ (8)--_capture of the King_
(9)--_Robert II._ (10)--_the French allies_ (11)--_Raid
of Otterburn_ (12)--Robert III. (13)--_Clan battle on the
North Inch_ (14)--_relations with England_ (15)--_Albany's
regency_ (16)--_battle of Harlaw_ (17)--_Scots in France_
(18)--_death of Albany_ (19)--_summary_ (20).
=1. Robert I., 1314-1329.=--The independence which Scotland had lost
was won back on the field of Bannockburn. She was to live on as an
independent kingdom, not to sink into a mere province of England; but,
as the English refused to acknowledge her independence, the war was
carried on by repeated invasions and cruel wastings of the northern
counties. _Douglas_, who was so popular that he was called the _Good
Lord James_, and _Randolf_, whom Bruce created _Earl of Moray_, were
the chief heroes of these raids. Edward was attacked too in another
quarter, in _Ireland_, whither, at the call of the Celtic chiefs,
_Edward Bruce_ had gone, like his brother Robert, to win himself a
crown by valour and popularity. King Robert himself took over troops to
help him. Edward was crowned King of Ireland, but he was killed soon
after. Meanwhile the war on the Border still went on. Each side was
struggling for _Berwick_. The Scots won it back, and the English did
all they could to retake it, but in vain.
=2. Chapter of Mitton.=--While the siege went on, the _Border_ counties
were so sorely harried by the Scots that at last the _Archbishop of
York_ and the clergy took up arms in their defence. But they were
thoroughly beaten, and this battle was called the _Chapter of Mitton_,
from the number of clerks left dead on the field. Edward could have
ended all this by acknowledging Robert as King, but he would not. A two
years' truce was made in 1319, but, as soon as it was ended, he once
more invaded Scotland with a large army. He found nothing but a wasted
country, for the Scots had carried both provisions and cattle to the
hills, nor would they come out to fight, though they harassed the rear
of the retreating army. At last the people of the northern counties of
England grew weary of the constant struggle. They had suffered so much
loss from the inroads of the Scots that they at last resolved that, if
the King would not make peace for them, they must come to terms with
the enemy on their own account. Edward, who feared that he might thus
lose a part of his kingdom, agreed to a thirteen years' truce, which
was concluded in 1323. In this treaty Robert was allowed to take his
title of King, though the English would not give it him. But when a few
years later Edward was deposed and his son Edward _the Third_ placed in
his stead, his government would not confirm the truce in the form at
first agreed on. The Scots upon this made another raid upon England,
swept the country, and carried off their spoil before the eyes of a
large English army. The Scots had in their plundering expeditions a
great advantage over the English in the greater simplicity of their
habits. They were mounted on small light horses, which at night were
turned out to graze. They carried no provisions, except a small bag of
oatmeal, which each man bore at his saddle, together with a thin iron
plate on which he baked his meal into cakes. For the rest of their food
they trusted to plunder. They burned and destroyed everything as they
passed, and, when they seized more cattle than they could use, they
slew them and left them behind on the place where their camp had been.
=3. Peace of Northampton=.--As by this time Robert's title had, after
much strife, been recognized by the Pope and other foreign powers, the
English saw that they must acknowledge it too. Therefore a treaty was
confirmed at _Northampton_ in 1328 between _Robert, King of Scots_, and
the English King. The terms of this treaty were, that Scotland as far
as the old boundary lines should be perfectly independent; that the
two Kings should be faithful allies, and that neither should stir up
the troublesome _Celtic_ subjects of the other, either in _Ireland_ or
in the _Highlands_. As a further proof of good will, _Joan_, Edward's
sister, was betrothed to Robert's infant son. By this treaty the
original Commendation of 924, and all the subsequent submissions to
England, whether real or pretended, were done away with. It placed the
kingdom on quite a new footing, for now _Lothian_ and _Strathclyde_
were as independent of England as the real _Scotland_ had originally
been. The long time of common suffering and common struggles had done
for the nation what the good time before it had failed to do. It had
knit together the three strands of the different races into one cord
of national unity too strong for any outer influence again to sever.
But during the long war there had also arisen that intense hatred of
everything English which warped the future growth of the nation. This
hatred drove Scotland to seek in France the model and ally that she
had hitherto found in England, and the influence of France can from
this period be distinctly traced in the laws, the architecture, and the
manners of the people. Robert's treaty with France was the beginning of
the future foreign policy of Scotland. This was to make common cause
with France against England, which country Scotland pledged herself to
invade whenever France declared war against it.
=4. Robert's Parliaments.=--Two of the meetings of the Estates or
Parliaments of this reign deserve notice. That of 1318 settled the
succession to the crown: first, on the direct male heirs in order
of seniority; next on the direct female heirs; failing both, on the
next of kin. An Act was also passed by this parliament forbidding all
holders of estates in Scotland from taking the produce or revenues
of these lands out of the kingdom. This law acted as a sentence of
forfeiture on the so-called Scottish barons who had larger estates
in England than in Scotland, and who preferred living in the richer
country. In the parliament of 1326, held at _Cambuskenneth_, the _third
Estate_, that is, the members from the _burghs_, was first recognized
as an essential part of the _National Assembly_.
=5. His Death.=--King Robert owed his crown to the people and to
the clergy; of the nobles but few were with him. His reign made a
great change in the baronage, for with the forfeited estates of his
opponents he laid the foundation of other families, the _Douglases_
for instance, who in after-times proved the dangerous rivals of his
own descendants. This was partly owing to his mistaken policy in
granting royalties or royal powers within their own domains to certain
of his own kindred and supporters. This practice, though at the time
it strengthened his own hands, in the end weakened the power of the
Crown. He died at _Cardross_ in 1329, leaving one son. He was greatly
mourned by the people, for he had won their sympathy by the struggles
of his early career, and had become their pride by his final victories.
They were justly proud of having a king who was no mere puppet in the
hands of others, fit only to wear a crown and to spend money, but a
brave, wise man, who had shown himself as able to suffer want and to
fight against ill-fortune as the best and bravest among themselves.
After King Robert's death, Douglas, to fulfil his last wish, set out
with his heart for Spain with a gallant following of the best gentlemen
in Scotland. In a skirmish with the Moors, he was surrounded by the
enemy, while hastening to the help of a brother knight. When he saw
his danger, he took from his neck the silken cord from which hung the
Bruce's heart, cast it on before him into the thickest of the fight,
crying out, "Pass first in fight as thou art wont to do, and Douglas
will follow thee or die." True to his word, he fell fighting valiantly,
and his body was found near the casket, which held the heart of the
friend and leader whom in life he had loved so well. Douglas was tall
and strong, and his dark skin and black hair won him the nickname of
the "_Black Douglas_." The English hated and feared him, but his own
people loved him well and remembered him long after his death.
=6. David II., 1320-1370.=--_David_, who was only eight years old
when his father died, was crowned at _Scone_ and _anointed_ which
no King of Scots had ever before been, as this was considered the
special right of independent sovereigns only. The government was in
the hands of _Randolf_, who had been appointed _Regent_ by the Estates
before the death of the late king. In the early part of the reign the
country was torn by a struggle which, as it was really a civil war, was
more dangerous to its independence and more hurtful to the national
character than the long war with the English had been. This war was
caused by those barons who, holding large estates in England, had, by
marriage or by inheritance, become possessed of lands in Scotland,
which they lost by the Act of the last reign against absentees.
Hitherto the so-called Scottish nobles had been Norman barons, with
equal interests in both kingdoms, but this act forced them to decide
for one or the other. Hence it was the mere chance of the respective
value of their lands that decided whether such names as Percy and
Douglas should be feared north or south of the Border.
=7. Edward Balliol's Invasion.=--These disinherited barons gathered
round _Edward Balliol_, the son of _King John_, and determined on an
invasion of Scotland on their own account, giving out that they came
to win back the crown for him. Just at this time of threatened danger
the Regent died, and was succeeded in his trust by _Donald, Earl of
Mar_, another nephew of King Robert. The invaders landed on the coast
of _Fife_, and at _Duplin_ in _Strathearn_ they defeated a large
army under the command of the Regent, who was slain. They then took
possession of _Perth_, and crowned Balliol at _Scone_, September 24th,
1332. He acknowledged himself the vassal of Edward of England; but the
latter did not openly take a part in the war, until the Scots, by their
frequent raids across the Border, could be said to have broken the
Peace of Northampton.
=8. Battle of Halidon Hill.=--In the spring of 1333, Edward the Third
invested Berwick, and the governor agreed to give it up if it were not
relieved by the Scots within a given time. The new Regent, _Archibald
Douglas_, brother to the Good Lord James, marched to raise the siege.
It was very much the case of Bannockburn reversed, for now the English
had the advantage of being posted on _Halidon Hill_, close by the town,
while the Scots, the assailants, had to struggle through a marsh.
The English archers won the day; the Regent was killed; _Berwick_
was forced to yield; and _Balliol_ gave it over to the English, and
placed all the strongholds south of the Forth in their hands. For three
years longer there was much fighting on the Border with pretty equal
success, until the French wars drew the attention of Edward the Third
from Scotland, and then the national party began to get the upper hand.
David, Earl of Athole, Balliol's chief supporter, was defeated and
slain at Culbleen, in the Highlands; and when Robert the High Steward
became Regent in 1338, he won back the strongholds. Soon after, Balliol
left the kingdom, and in 1341 David and his Queen _Joan of England_
came home from France, where he had been sent to be out of the way of
the troubles. Five years of comparative peace followed. A succession of
truces were made with England, but they were not strictly kept on the
Border.
=9. Capture of the King.=--While Edward was busy with the siege of
Calais, David, to keep up the spirit of the alliance with France,
broke the truce between England and Scotland by invading England. He
was defeated and captured by the Archbishop of York at the head of
the force of the northern counties in 1346. The battle in which he
was taken was called the battle of _Neville's Cross_, from a cross
afterwards put up to mark the field by _Sir Ralph Neville_. For eleven
years David remained a captive, and Scotland was governed by the
former _Regent_, the _Steward_. During that time Berwick was won and
lost again. Edward, to whom Balliol had handed over his claim to the
kingdom for a pension of two thousand pounds, brought an English army
as far as the Forth. As they could neither find provisions to sustain
them nor an enemy to fight with, they were forced to return; but they
had left such traces of their progress on churches and dwelling-houses
that their inroad was remembered as the "burnt Candlemas." In 1347
David was released, the ransom being fixed at 100,000 marks. He made
many after-visits to England, and proposed to the Estates, that
_Lionel_, the second son of _Edward_, should succeed him, but to this
they would not agree. He died in 1370, and left no children. After the
death of Joan he had married Margaret Logie, a woman of obscure birth.
=10. Robert II., 1370-1390.=--David was succeeded by his sister's son,
_Robert_, the _Steward_ of the kingdom. This office was hereditary,
and it gradually passed into the surname of the family who held it and
became common to the different branches. The stewardship was first
granted to _Walter Fitz-Alan_, a Breton baron, by David. Robert was
allowed to mount the throne unopposed. It had been feared that _William
Lord Douglas_, who through his mother, a sister of the _Red Comyn_,
represented the claim that had been resigned by the _Balliols_, would
have disputed his right to the throne, but he did not. Robert was twice
married. His first wife was _Elizabeth More_, by whom he had four
sons and several daughters. After her death he married _Euphemia_,
daughter of the _Earl of Ross_, and had two sons and four daughters.
The descendants of this second marriage claimed the crown on the ground
that the dispensation from Rome had not been obtained, which, as Robert
and Elizabeth were near of kin, was needful to make the marriage valid,
and the children legitimate. Dispensations for each marriage have since
been discovered, which decide the right of Robert's first family.
=11. The French Allies.=--At the end of the truce with England, in
1385, war broke out again. The French sent a body of 2,000 men, 1,000
stands of armour, and 50,000 gold pieces to the aid of their allies
the Scots. _Sir John de Vienne_, Admiral of France, was the leader
of the French auxiliaries. _Richard the Second_ of England, with an
army of 70,000 men, invaded Scotland, and marched as far north as the
_Forth_. But the country had been wasted before him, so that the only
harm he could do was to destroy _Melrose Abbey_. Meanwhile the Scots
had harried the northern counties of his own kingdom with their French
allies. The French afterwards said that in the dioceses of Carlisle
and Durham they had burned more than the value of all the towns in
Scotland. But the Frenchmen despised the poverty of the Scots, and were
disgusted with their way of fighting; and as the Scots in return were
uncivil and inhospitable to them, they went away before long, and were
as glad to get back to their own land as the Scots were to get rid of
them.
=12. Raid of Otterburn.=--A few years later the Scots barons made
another raid on the north of England. An army 5,000 strong mustered
at Jedburgh. By the capture of an English spy, they learned that
the English meant to keep out of their way, and, while they entered
England, to make a counter-raid on the south of Scotland. To defeat
this plan the Scots parted their force into two bands, one of which
was to enter England on the east, the other on the west. The eastern
division, under the Earls of _Douglas_, _Dunbar_, and _Moray_, swept
the country as far as _Durham_. As they were returning laden with
spoil, they tarried three days near _Newcastle_, where were gathered
the English barons under _Ralph_ and _Henry Percy_, sons of the _Earl
of Northumberland_, the Warden of the Marches. Many skirmishes then
took place between the two forces. In one of these Douglas took the
pennon of Sir Henry Percy, surnamed _Hotspur_, and challenged him to
come to his tent and win it back. The next day the Scots moved off and
encamped near _Otterburn Tower_. Percy hurried after them and attacked
them in the night. The Scots, though fewer in number, had the advantage
of being in a well-defended camp. They won the day, but the victory
was dearly bought, for Douglas was slain in the fight. This battle, in
which many lives were lost without any real cause, and without doing
any good whatever, was reckoned one of the best fought battles of that
warlike time. It was all hand to hand fighting, and all the knights
engaged in it on both sides showed great valour. Their feats of arms
have been commemorated in the spirit-stirring ballad of _Chevy Chase_.
The Scots came back to their own land, bringing with them Hotspur and
more than forty English knights whom they had taken prisoners. This
fight, which was called the Raid of Otterburn, took place in August
1388.
Robert died in 1390. He left the country at peace; for a truce between
England and France, taking in Scotland as an ally of the latter, had
been made the year before.
=13. Robert III., 1390-1406.=--The eldest son of the late King was
_John_, but, as Balliol had made this name odious to the people,
he changed it at his coronation to _Robert_. The country was in a
miserable state. The nobles had been so long used to war with England
that they could not bear to be at peace. They fought with one another,
and preyed on the peasants and burghers. As the King was too weak both
in mind and body to restrain them, the Estates placed the sovereign
power in the hands of his son _David_, who was created _Duke of
Rothesay_. This is the first time the title of Duke appears in Scottish
history. Rothesay was to act as the King's Lieutenant for three years,
with the advice of a council chosen by the Estates. Meanwhile the
real rulers were the King's two brothers, _Robert, Duke of Albany_,
and _Alexander, Earl of Buchan_, who was master of the country north
of the Firths, where his ferocity won him the surname of the _Wolf
of Badenoch_. Albany, anxious, as he gave out, to restrain the wild
follies of his nephew _Rothesay_, seized him and confined him in
_Falkland Castle_. There he died. Albany said that he had died from
natural causes, but the people believed that he had been starved by his
uncle. After his death, Albany, with his associate _Archibald, Earl of
Douglas_, was cleared of suspicion by an act of the Estates. He was
afterwards appointed Governor.
=14. Clan Battle near Perth.=--During this reign there was a deadly
combat between two bands of _Highlanders_ on a meadow by the _Tay_,
called the _North Inch of Perth_. The King and his nobles, and a vast
crowd of persons of all ranks, gathered to see them fight. There were
thirty chosen men on each side, and they fought as was their wont, with
axes, swords, or bows, and wore no armour. Before the fight began one
man left the ranks, swam the Tay, and fled. One _Henry Wynd_, called
"_Gow Chrom_," or the "Crooked Smith," was hired to fill his place.
They fought with fury, and did not leave off till ten men, all wounded,
were left on the one side, and one only upon the other. Gow Chrom did
such good service that he is said to have won the victory for the clan
that had enlisted his services, though it is said he knew so little
about the matter that he was quite uncertain which side he was fighting
for. Like Otterburn, this slaughter simply showed the skill of the
combatants in killing one another. The name of the clans engaged, and
their cause of quarrel, if they had any, have been alike forgotten.
=15. Relations with England.=--In 1400, soon after the end of the
truce, _Henry the Fourth_, who by a revolution had been placed on his
cousin Richard's throne, revived the old claim over Scotland in order
to make himself popular with the English. He announced his intention
of coming to _Edinburgh_ to receive the homage of the King and of
the nobles, and to enforce his demand he marched as far as Leith at
the head of an army. This was the most harmless invasion on record,
for, as usual, the Scots had got out of the way, and the English had
to retreat without finding an enemy to fight with. About this time
_George of Dunbar, Earl of March_, shifted his allegiance to _Henry_.
He was offended because _Rothesay_ married a daughter of his great
rival _Douglas_, instead of his own daughter _Elizabeth_, to whom he
was betrothed. In 1402 he joined Sir Henry Percy, surnamed Hotspur, and
defeated an invading body of the Scots under Douglas at _Homildon_.
This was much such an affair as _Otterburn_, only this time the English
won and Douglas was taken prisoner. He afterwards joined the Percies
in their rebellion against Henry and fought with them at _Shrewsbury_.
Albany had an army on the Border ready to help the rebels, but their
defeat and dispersion brought his plan to nothing. But Albany hit
on another way of threatening Henry. He entertained at the Scottish
court a person whom he received as the dethroned _Richard_, who had
been discovered in disguise, so the story ran, a fugitive in the
_Western Isles_. In 1405, however, chance threw into Henry's hands an
important prize. This was _James, Earl of Carrick_, second son of the
King, and heir to the throne. He was captured by the English, in time
of truce, while on his way to France, whither he was sent, nominally
to be educated, but really to be out of the reach of his dangerous
uncle. Thus, as the head of each government had a hostage for the good
behaviour of the other, there was no open war between the two nations.
In 1406 Robert died.
=16. Albany's Regency.=--The death of Robert made no change in the
government, though the young King was acknowledged as _James the
First_. There was nominal peace with England, but the work of winning
back the Border strongholds still went on. Jedburgh was retaken and
destroyed, as the best means of securing it against foreign occupation
in future.
=17. Battle of Harlaw.=--The kingdom was now threatened on the other
border, the northern march which parted the Saxons of the north-eastern
Lowlands from the Celtic clans of the mountains. The hatred between the
hostile races had been growing more and more bitter, and was fostered
by constant inroads on the one hand and cruel laws upon the other. The
time seemed now to have come when there must be a trial of strength
between them. The head of the Celts was _Donald, Lord of the Isles_,
who, though he had sworn fealty to David the Second, again claimed
sovereign power over all the clans of the West, and entered into
treaties with England as though he had been an independent monarch. He
claimed the _Earldom of Ross_ in right of his wife, as her niece, the
heiress, had taken the veil. By getting this earldom, the Lord of the
Isles became lord over half the kingdom, and he resolved to invade the
territory of the King, whom he looked on as a rival. Now the district
that lay nearest him, the Lowlands north of the Forth, as it had not
been touched by the Border wars, was at this time at once the richest
part of the kingdom and the part least accustomed to self-defence.
Great therefore was the terror of the burghers and husbandmen at the
news that a horde of plundering savages would soon be let loose upon
them. They took up arms in their own defence, and they were fortunate
in finding a leader whose experience, gained in similar warfare on
his own account, well fitted him to withstand the ambitious Donald.
This was _Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar_, the illegitimate son of
the Wolf of Badenoch. He had won his reputation by valour in the
French wars, and his earldom by carrying off and marrying an heiress,
who was Countess of Mar in her own right. The rival races met at
_Harlaw_, in Aberdeenshire, July 24, 1411. Here, as at Bannockburn,
the determination and stedfastness of each man in the smaller force
decided the fortune of the day. For, though the Highlanders, reckless
of life, charged again and again, they made no impression on the small
compact mass that kept the way against them, and they were at last
forced to retreat. This battle was justly looked on as a great national
deliverance, greater even than the victory at Bannockburn, and many
privileges and immunities were granted to the heirs of those who had
fallen.
=18. The Scots in France.=--During the Regency the Scots did good
service to their old allies of France, who were sorely pressed by the
English. Henry the Fifth of England had conquered nearly all France,
and had been proclaimed heir of the French king. A company of 700
Scots, led by _John Stewart, Earl of Buchan_, second son of Albany,
went to the help of the French. They arrived safely in France, in spite
of the careful watch upon the seas kept up by the English in order to
prevent them. By their aid the French gained their first victory in
this war at the battle of _Beaugé_ in 1421. Buchan was made _Constable_
of France. He was then sent back to Scotland on an embassy to seek the
help of _Douglas_ on the part of the King of France. An alliance was
made between them in 1423, and Douglas came to France, where the rich
_Duchy of Touraine_ and many other lands were conferred upon him. But
Douglas was slain not long after at the battle of _Verneuil_ in 1424.
Most of the Scots fell with him, for the English refused them quarter,
as Henry had James of Scotland in his camp, and he gave orders that
all the Scots bearing arms on the French side should be looked upon as
traitors fighting against their King. The remnant that were left were
formed into a royal bodyguard, the beginning of the famous _Scots_
_Guard_ of the French kings. Archibald, Earl of Douglas, who fell at
Verneuil, was called "_Tine-man_," or lose-man, because in every battle
in which he took part he fought on the losing side.
=19. Death of Albany.=--Albany died in 1419. His son _Murdoch_
succeeded him as Governor, but there is no record of his being
confirmed in that office by the Estates. As he had not the talents
of his father, he had no control over the barons. Every man was his
own master, and the land was filled with violence. The obvious remedy
was to bring home the King, and Douglas and some of the other nobles
treated with the English government for his release.
=20. Summary.=--Under the immediate successors of Robert the First,
Scotland nearly lost all the advantages which he had won for her. The
country was torn by civil strife; the kings were weak and useless;
the nobles became so strong and overbearing that their power more
than equalled that of the Crown, and they set at nought the King's
authority. All social improvement was at a standstill. Still we find
during this period the first stirrings of a desire for increase of
knowledge and greater liberty of religious thought. Two events mark
this: the burning of _John Reseby_, with his books, on a charge of
heresy, at _Perth_ in 1408; and the opening of the first University in
Scotland, founded at _St. Andrews_ by _Henry Wardlaw_, the bishop, in
1410. The history of Scotland was now first written by two natives of
the country; _John of Fordun_, who wrote the "_Scotichronicon_," and
_Andrew Wyntoun_, who wrote a metrical chronicle.
CHAPTER V.
THE JAMESES.
_Return of the King_ (1)--_state of the Highlands_
(2)--_murder of James_ (3)--_judicial reforms_ (4)--_James
II._ (5)--_Crichton and Livingstone_ (6)--_the Douglases_
(7)--_majority of James_; _fall of Douglas_ (8)--_siege of
Roxburgh_ (9)--_James III._ (10)--_Orkney and Shetland_
(11)--_relations with England_ (12)--_revolt of the nobles_
(13)--_battle of Sauchieburn_ (14)--_Church matters_
(15)--_James IV._ (16)--_English intrigues_ (17)--_state
of the Highlands_ (18)--_differences with England_
(19)--_battle of Flodden_ (20)--_state of the Church_
(21)--_James V._ (22)--_Albany's regency_ (23)--_English
interference_ (24)--_the "Erection"_ (25)--_fall of Angus_
(26)--_internal affairs_ (27)--_English war_ (28)--_death
of James_; _his character_ (29)--_Mary_ (30)--_treaties
with England_ (31)--_first English invasion_ (32)--_second
English invasion_ (33)--_third English invasion_; _fight at
Pinkie_ (34)--_internal affairs_ (35)--_Regency of Mary of
Lorraine_; _first marriage of Mary Stewart_ (36)--_social
progress_ (37)--_state of education and literature_
(38)--_summary_ (39).
=1. James I., 1424-1436. Return of the King.=--In 1424 James came home
and brought with him his English wife, _Joan_, daughter of the _Earl of
Somerset_. As he had been taken in time of peace, a ransom could not
decently be demanded, but the Scots were required to pay forty thousand
pounds to defray the expenses of his eighteen years' maintenance and
education. The King, now at last restored to his kingdom, let eight
months pass quietly before taking vengeance on those who had so long
kept him out of it. He spent this time in winning the confidence of
the people and of the lesser barons. He then seized _Albany_, his two
sons, and twenty-six other nobles at _Perth_, whither they had come
to attend the Parliament. _Albany_ and his two sons were tried before
a jury of twenty-one peers, many of whom sat only to secure their
own safety. They were found guilty of treason and put to death at
_Stirling_. James himself presided at the trial, thereby reviving the
ancient practice of the King's personal administration of justice.
=2. The Highlands.=--When James had thus got rid of his dangerous
cousins, he turned his attention to the _Highlands_ and _Western
Isles_, which presented a strange mixture of Celtic and of feudal
manners. They were ruled partly by Norman barons, and partly by native
chiefs, and these barons or chiefs were both alike upheld by that
personal devotion of their vassals which was the strong point of Celtic
clanship. James summoned the chiefs to a parliament at _Inverness_ in
1427. They obeyed the summons, and were at once seized and imprisoned.
Three of them were hanged at that time. Several others shared the same
fate at a later date. Others were imprisoned, and a small remnant only
allowed to go away unhurt. _Alexander, Lord of the Isles_, was among
these last, and the first use he made of his recovered liberty was
to bring his islemen down on Inverness, which they destroyed. James
hurried northward again and defeated him in _Lochaber_. Alexander gave
himself up to the King's grace, and was confined in _Tantalion Castle_.
But his kinsman, _Donald Balloch_, set himself at the head of the clans
and they defeated the royal army. James determined to crush the Celts
once and for ever. An additional tax was levied for the purpose, and
James set out once more for the north. But the chiefs, who saw that the
King was just then too strong for them, met him with proffers of homage
and submission. Such submissions were, however, practically worthless.
In the eyes of the Celts they were just as little binding as the
parchment title-deeds by which the government sought to change their
chiefs into feudal barons.
=3. Murder of James.=--The policy of James was to reduce the power
of the baronage, and to balance it by strengthening the clergy and
encouraging the commons. He made strict search into the titles by
which the several nobles held their lands, and more especially into
the actual state of the estates which had been held by the Crown
in the time of Robert the First. He deprived the Earl of March of
his earldom, on the ground that Albany, who had restored it to him,
had not the power to confer upon him the estates which he had once
forfeited by the transfer of his allegiance to England. James also
took from _Malise Grahame_ his earldom of _Strathearn_, which he had
inherited through his mother, on the ground that it was a male fief.
He therefore transferred it to the next male heir, _Walter Stewart,
Earl of Athole_, grand-uncle of Grahame, the only surviving son of
Robert the Second. These measures roused the dislike and distrust of
the class they were aimed at, and a conspiracy was formed against the
King. At its head was _Sir Robert Grahame_, uncle of Malise, who had
been banished for denouncing the King's doings in Parliament. Through
the connivance of the Earl of Athole, the High Chamberlain, the
conspirators got entrance to the King's quarters, when he was keeping
his Christmas in the monastery of the _Black Friars_ at _Perth_, and
there they treacherously murdered him, 1436. James left one son and
five daughters. _Margaret_, the eldest, was married to the _Dauphin_,
afterwards _Louis the Eleventh of France_.
=4. Judicial Reforms.=--James held many parliaments, and pretty nearly
all are noteworthy for passing wise measures for the common good. In
his first parliament, the "_Committee of the Articles_," which dated
from the reign of David the Second, was acknowledged as an established
part of the parliament. This committee was elected by the parliament
at the beginning of its session, and nearly the whole power of the
Estates was made over to the persons chosen to form it, who were called
the _Lords of the Articles_. They consulted together and considered
the Articles presented to them in parliament, which were then passed
by the vote of the Estates and became law. This custom, by which the
business of the whole parliament was left in the hands of a committee,
was afterwards found to be the weakest point of the legislature, and
paved the way for a great deal of bribery and corruption. Statute law
in Scotland dates from this reign, as it was James who first caused a
collection of statutes to be made, and separated those that were still
in force from those that had fallen out of use. He also regulated
weights and measures, and fixed a standard for the coinage, so that
it should be of the same weight and fineness as the money in England.
From his reign also dates the appointment of the office of _Treasurer_;
the publication of the acts of parliament in the language spoken by
the people; the first effort towards the representation of the lesser
barons by commissaries; and an attempt to establish a supreme court
of civil jurisdiction, which was to consist of the _Chancellor_ and
three other persons chosen by the Estates, and to sit three times a
year. In order that the Scottish people might learn to compete with the
English bowmen, James established schools in the different parishes for
the practice of archery. In short, he strove in every way to make his
people profit by what he had learnt and observed during his long exile
in England. He was a patron of learning, and was himself a scholar and
one of the earliest and best English poets. The longest of his poems is
called the "_King's Quhair_" or book. In it he sang his love for his
fair English bride in strains that prove him to have been a true poet.
It is written in stanzas of seven lines each, a very favourite measure
in those days, which was afterwards called the "roial rime" in memory
of this poet-king.
=5. James II., 1436-1460.=--The young King, who was only six years old
when his father was killed, was crowned at _Holyrood_, as _Scone_,
the customary crowning-place, was too near the Highlands, where the
conspirators had taken refuge, to be safe. He was then taken by his
mother for greater security to _Edinburgh Castle_. The object of the
murderers was to place on the throne the Earl of Athole, who, as being
the son of the second marriage of Robert the Second, was looked on as
the true heir by the party who held that the first marriage of that
king was not valid. If this were their design, it was not seconded by
the people, who were filled with sorrow and anger at the death of the
King, who had made himself popular by all the good he had done for
them. A hue-and-cry was raised after the murderers, who were taken and
put to death with cruel tortures.
=6. Crichton and Livingstone.=--The first part of the reign was a
struggle for the wardship of the King's person, which gave nearly
royal power to whoever held it. The rivals for this honour were
_William Crichton_, the _Chancellor_ and governor of Edinburgh Castle;
_Alexander Livingstone_, the governor of _Stirling_, the other great
stronghold; and the _Queen-mother_. The Queen, who feared that
Crichton would try to separate the young King from her if she stayed
in Edinburgh, succeeded in getting herself and her child out of his
hands by a stealthy flight to _Stirling_. But she soon found that they
had only changed jailers, for Livingstone kept as strict a guard over
the King as Crichton had done. A few years later she married _Stewart,
Lord of Lorn_, after which she took no further part in public affairs.
Her flight to Stirling gave Livingstone for a time the advantage in
the possession of the King, till Crichton contrived to kidnap him
back to Edinburgh. But as the rivals found that it would be more for
the interest of each to act in concert with the other, they made an
agreement, by which James was sent back to the custody of Livingstone.
=7. The House of Douglas.=--_Archibald, Earl of Douglas_, was at this
time the most powerful baron in Scotland. Besides holding _Galloway_,
_Annandale_, and other great estates in Scotland, he had inherited
the _Duchy of Touraine_, which had been conferred on his father by
the King of France for good service done against the English, and in
his foreign duchy he possessed wealth and splendour beyond anything
that the Scottish king could boast. The family still had a hold on the
popular favour won for them by the Good Lord James. They had also some
pretensions to the crown of Scotland, for _Archibald_, brother and heir
of the Good Lord James, had married a sister of the _Red Comyn_, who
was slain by Bruce. The Douglases therefore represented the claim of
the _Comyns_, which, as we have seen, was better than that of _Bruce_.
They were also descendants of _Robert the Second_, through _Euphemia_,
one of the children of his second marriage, to whom those who looked
on his first family as illegitimate held that the crown ought to have
gone. _Douglas_ had been chosen _Lieutenant-Governor_ of the kingdom,
and had ample power to quiet the rival parties had he chosen to
exercise it. But he did not, and his nominal government was ended by
his death in 1439. _William_, his son, who at seventeen succeeded to
all this pride and power, kept up a state and retinue almost royal,
and much violence and oppression were laid to his charge. Crichton
and Livingstone agreed to compass his downfall, and for this end they
invited him and his brother _David_ to visit the King at Edinburgh.
They came, were seized, and, after the form of a trial, were beheaded
in the Castle-yard. The power of their house was thus broken for a
time. The estates were divided; part went with the title to their
grand-uncle _James_, the male heir, while _Galloway_ went to their
sister _Margaret_. But on the death of James they were re-united, for
his son _William_ married _Margaret of Galloway_, his cousin. He then
went to court, to do his duty, as he said, to his sovereign, pretended
that the King had chosen him _Lieutenant-General_ of the kingdom, and
got most of the power into his own hands. He and Livingstone joined,
and tried to make Crichton give up the seals by besieging him in
Edinburgh Castle; but he held out so well that they were forced to make
terms with him. Douglas grew more proud and powerful every year. He
was already lord of nearly all the southern country, and he joined in
a bond with the great chiefs of the north,--the _Lord of the Isles_,
who was now _Earl of Ross_, and _Alexander, Earl of Crawford_, the
head of the house of _Lindsay_ and representative of the fallen _Earls
of March_. He held meetings of his vassals, to which he summoned all
those who either were or, as he thought, ought to be his dependants.
Nor did he scruple to put to death any who opposed him, in direct
defiance of the King's commands. But as the Earl's retainers numbered
5,000, while the King had not so much as a bodyguard, his commands were
not easily enforced. On one occasion the King sent _Sir Patrick Gray_
to demand the release of his nephew, _M'Lellan_, tutor or guardian of
the young _Laird of Bunby_, or Bomby, whom Douglas had put in ward
because he failed to appear at one of the gatherings of his vassals.
Douglas received him courteously, but said he could on no account hear
the King's message till his visitor had dined. Meanwhile he had the
prisoner brought out and beheaded. When he heard the King's order he
feigned great respect for it, and, showing the body, said, "There lies
your sister's son; he wants the head, but the body is at your service."
Sir Patrick had to hide his anger as best he might till he had got safe
out of his hands.
=8. Majority of James.= =Fall of Douglas.=--The King's majority was
soon followed by the ruin of _Livingstone_. _Douglas_ was too strong
to be openly attacked. He was invited to _Stirling_ and received in a
friendly way. James remonstrated with him about the bonds, and urged
him to break them off. Douglas refused. James in a fit of passion cried
out, "If you will not break the bonds, this shall," and stabbed him.
Sir Patrick Gray, who stood by, killed him with his pole-axe. They then
threw the mangled body into the courtyard. This savage deed plunged
the whole country into civil war. _James_, the brother and heir of
the murdered Earl, openly defied the King; that is, he renounced his
allegiance to him as a traitor and a perjured man. His cause was taken
up by the parties to the bond, the _Earls of Ross_ and _Crawford_. The
King, who felt himself too weak to break the confederacy, was forced to
turn to his own advantage the enmity among his nobles, and to pull down
one house by building up another. This policy only changed the name of
the rivals of the Crown, without getting rid of them, and it laid the
foundation of the like troubles in future reigns. In the north James
entrusted the conduct of the war to the head of the house of _Gordon_,
whom he created _Earl of Huntly_, and whose lands lay between those of
the banded Earls. In the south the _Earl of Angus_, the head of the
_Red_ Douglases as they were called, was made use of to overthrow the
_Black_ Douglases, the elder branch of the family. The question whether
James Stewart or James Douglas should wear the crown was settled by
a battle at _Arkinholm_, in _Eskdale_ in 1454. Douglas was forsaken
by many of his followers, and was defeated and fled to England. An
act of forfeiture was passed against him and all his house, and, to
prevent any one family again becoming so formidable, another act was
passed, which made _Galloway_ and certain other lordships and castles
inalienable from the Crown. But, in spite of this, the greater part of
the lands of the fallen Douglas went to his kinsman Angus. Many other
families also, among them the _Hamiltons_, rose from the ruins of the
Black Douglases. Sir James Hamilton, the head of the house, had been
one of the adherents of the Earl, but he deserted to the royal side on
the eve of the battle of Arkinholm.
=9. Siege of Roxburgh.=--As the strife which was at this time going on
between the Yorkists and Lancastrians kept the English busy at home,
there was comparative peace on the Border, broken only by an inroad
from Percy and the banished Douglas. James took the part of Henry VI.,
and raised a large army with the intention of invading England in his
favour. But there was no serious war, and James saw that there was now
a good chance of winning back the towns which the English still held in
Scotland. He therefore laid siege to _Roxburgh_, and was killed there
by the bursting of a large cannon which he was watching with great
interest. After his death the Queen urged on the siege, and Roxburgh
was taken and destroyed. This siege is noteworthy as being among the
first in which we hear of the use of artillery in Scotland. Another
notable feature of it was the presence of the Lord of the Isles with
an auxiliary force, for which service he was made one of the Wardens
of the Border. James had married _Mary_, the daughter of the _Duke of
Gelders_, and left four sons, the eldest only eight years old. The
second university in Scotland was founded in this reign, at _Glasgow_,
by _Bishop Turnbull_.
=10. James III., 1460-1488.=--During the first part of this reign,
_Kennedy, Bishop of St. Andrews_, had the chief part in the government.
He died in 1466, and on his death the _Boyds_ got hold of the King and
of the chief power. These _Boyds_ were originally simple lairds, but
they strengthened themselves by bonds with more powerful families,
won the King's favour and finally got possession of his person, by
making him come with them, partly by persuasion, partly by force, from
_Stirling_ to _Edinburgh_. They then obtained an act of the Estates
declaring that this step had been taken with the full consent and good
pleasure of the King. The _Lord Boyd_ was appointed guardian of his
person and of the royal strongholds, his son _Thomas_ was created _Earl
of Arran_, and with the earldom the King's sister _Mary_ was given him
in marriage.
=11. Annexation of Orkney and Shetland.=--For many years the rent of
the _Western Isles_ had not been paid to the _King of Norway_. There
were heavy arrears due to him which had been demanded in the last
reign. It was now agreed to settle the matter peaceably by the marriage
of _James_ with _Margaret_, daughter of _Christian of Norway_, in 1469.
Her dowry was the claim for the arrears and 60,000 florins, in security
for which the _Orkney and Shetland Isles_ were placed as pledges in the
hands of the King of Scotland. These islands have never been redeemed
by payment of the sum agreed on. _Arran_ had been chiefly concerned
in bringing about this marriage. During his absence at the court of
Christian his enemies were busy in compassing his fall. His wife sent
him timely warning of his danger, and he fled first to _Denmark_
and finally to _England_, whither his father had also escaped. But
_Alexander_, the younger son, was made the scapegoat for the sins of
his kindred. He was seized, tried, and put to death for his share in
kidnapping the King, which was now denounced as treason. The family
estates were forfeited, and most of them were declared inalienable from
the Crown.
=12. Relations with England.=--In the beginning of the reign, _Edward
the Fourth_ kept up a seeming show of friendliness, but he was secretly
treating with _Douglas_ and the _Lord of the Isles_ to the effect that
they should hold the two parts of Scotland as principalities dependent
on England. The end of this underhand dealing was that _John_, son of
the Lord of the Isles, invaded and wasted the district that was to
be his principality, all the country north of the Scots Water. This
led to the final breaking up of the lordship of the Isles, for he was
called to account for his rebellion, and was required to resign the
districts of _Knapdale_ and _Kintyre_, the original Scottish kingdom;
the sheriffdoms of _Inverness_ and _Nairn_, and the earldom of _Ross_,
which was vested in the Crown. In exchange for his proud but doubtful
title of Lord of the Isles, he was made a peer of parliament. In 1474
a marriage was arranged between Edward's daughter _Cecily_ and _James_
the Prince of Scotland. It was broken off owing to a quarrel between
the King and his brothers, _Alexander Duke of Albany_, and _John
Earl of Mar_. They were much more popular than James, and, when Mar
died suddenly in _Craigmillar Castle_, James was suspected of having
poisoned him. Albany was arrested and confined in Edinburgh Castle on
a charge of treasonable dealings with Edward. He escaped to _France_
in hopes of getting _Louis the Eleventh_ to take his part, but he
found a more willing helper in Edward. An agreement was made that
Edward should place Albany on the throne of Scotland, that he should
hold it, and that he should marry the _Lady Cecily_. After divers
threatening messages had been exchanged between the two governments,
and many threatenings of attack had been made, a great Scottish army
was mustered to invade England in good earnest.
=13. Revolt of the Nobles.=--The King had always been unpopular with
his nobles. His love of money and of peaceable pursuits found little
sympathy with them, and they could neither understand nor tolerate his
fancy for making favourites of men whom they despised. The time had now
come when they could take the law into their own hands. The army raised
for the invasion of England was led by the King in person, and advanced
as far as _Lauder_ in Berwickshire. There the nobles met together, with
old _Angus_ at their head, to devise some way of getting rid of the
most hated of these favourites. This was _Robert Cochrane_, a mason
or architect, to whom the King had given the control of the artillery
in this expedition. He had also conferred on him the revenues of the
earldom of _Mar_, and _Cochrane_, going a step further, had assumed
the title. While they were deliberating, the _Lord Gray_, so the story
goes, quoted the old fable of the mice and the cat, meaning thereby
that all their talk would come to nothing unless one of their number
was bold enough to attack their enemy. On this _Archibald Earl of
Angus_ cried out, "Heed not, I'll bell the cat." This saying won him
the nickname of "Bell the Cat." While they thus sat in council in the
church, Cochrane himself knocked at the door and demanded admittance in
the name of the King. The finery which he wore, the chain of massive
gold thrown round his neck, the jewelled horn that dangled from it, the
gilt helmet borne before him, still further heated the wrath of the
lords. They seized him, and with many insults accused him of misguiding
the King and the government. Meanwhile they had sent a band of armed
men to the King's tent to secure _Rogers_, a musician, and the other
favourites. They then hanged them all over _Lauder Bridge_. _John
Ramsay of Balmain_ was the only one of the favourites who was spared to
the entreaties of the King. The triumphant barons then brought the King
back to Edinburgh, 1482. Soon after this Albany came back, and demanded
the release of his brother, and for a short time they lived together
seemingly on good terms, while Albany really ruled. But before long
he found it most prudent to return to England, and he showed his real
designs by putting _Dunbar Castle_ into the hands of the English.
=14. Battle of Sauchieburn.=--The King, who had not learned wisdom
by the lesson of Lauder Bridge, grew more and more unpopular. A
confederacy was formed, and a large army was raised by the lords south
of the Forth. To give a show of justice to their doings, they placed
_James_ the _Prince of Scotland_ at their head, professing to have
deposed his father, and to have accepted him as their lawful king.
North of the Scots Water the country was true to James, and there he
collected a considerable force. The two armies met at _Sauchieburn_.
The King, who was not brave, turned and fled at the first sign that
the day was going against him. In his flight he was thrown from his
horse and carried to a mill built on the _Bannock Burn_, where he was
murdered by an unknown hand, 1488.
=15. Church Matters.=--In 1471 _St. Andrews_ was raised to an
_Archbishopric_. Pope Sextus the Fourth sent the pallium to _Robert
Graham_ the bishop, but this increase of dignity only proved a source
of torment to him, for his suffragans, out of jealousy, accused him of
all manner of heresies and crimes. He was deposed and degraded, and
ended his days in confinement.
=16. James IV., 1488-1513.=--The first thing to be done after the
affair of Sauchieburn was to find out what had become of the King,
and, when his death was made sure of, an inquiry was set on foot as to
the cause of it. The offices of state were transferred to the party in
power, and an act of amnesty was passed, to take in all persons who had
taken part with the late King in the struggle which the nobles pleased
to call the late rebellion. Two ineffectual risings to avenge the
murder of the King were made by the Lords _Lennox_ and _Forbes_, and
three years later, to pacify the clamours of the people, a reward of
one hundred marks was offered for the discovery of the actual murderers.
=17. English Intrigues.=--Just at this time Henry the Seventh of
England had his hands too busy at home to allow of his making open
war upon Scotland, but he carried on secret schemes with _Angus_,
_Ramsay_, and others for the capture of the King. James, on the other
hand, upheld that _Perkin Warbeck_ was really _Richard, Duke of York_,
received him at his court as the son of King Edward, and gave him in
marriage his kinswoman _Lady Katharine Gordon_. A force of _French_ and
_Burgundians_ came to aid him, and an army crossed the Border, but it
did nothing, as the rising which had been planned, and was to have been
made at the same time in the north of England, did not take place. At
last James got tired of Perkin, sent him off to Ireland, though with
a princely escort, and renewed a truce with Henry, in 1497. The two
kings were drawn still closer by the marriage of _James_ with _Margaret
Tudor_, eldest daughter of Henry, in 1502.
=18. State of the Highlands.=--James paid frequent visits to _Kintyre_,
the _Isles_, and _Inverness_, and took measures for the building
of more castles and the maintenance of garrisons in those already
built. This plan might have been successful in keeping the country
quiet, if the Crown had been strong enough to carry it out. As it
was not, James was forced to fall back on the old policy of turning
the feuds of the chiefs to their own destruction, by empowering one
to act against another. Again the _Gordons_ got a great increase of
power, for their head, the _Earl of Huntly_, was appointed sheriff of
_Inverness_, _Ross_, and _Caithness_, with the condition that he should
finish and maintain a fortress at _Inverness_. In the west the charge
of keeping order was put into the hands of the Earl of Argyle, the
chief of the Campbells. An attempt was also made to break up the Isles
into sheriffdoms, and to impose upon the Highlanders the laws of the
Lowlands. A commission was issued for the banishment of broken men, as
those clansmen were called who had no representative chiefs, and an
Act was passed which made the chiefs responsible for the execution of
legal writs upon their clansmen. But the disaffected chiefs rallied
round _Donald Dhu_, an illegitimate descendant of the last _Lord of
the Isles_, and it took three years' fighting on the part of the King
and of Huntly to reduce them. _Donald_ was at last brought captive to
_Edinburgh_, and the lordship of the Isles was finally broken up in
1504.
=19. Differences with England.=--In this reign Scotland first appears
as a naval power, and this proved a new source of strife with England.
One of the King of Scots' captains, _Andrew Barton_, bore letters
of marque against the _Portuguese_, but the English accused him of
taking _English_ vessels also. He was attacked in time of truce by
the _Howards_. He himself was killed in the action, and his ship, the
_Lion_, was taken, and became the second ship in the English navy.
James had also another cause of complaint against _Henry the Eighth_,
for Henry refused to give up to his sister _Margaret_ a legacy of
jewels left to her by her father. When therefore _England_ and _France_
declared war, _Scotland_ stood by her old ally, the bond between them
was drawn closer, the right of citizenship in France was extended to
the Scots, and _Queen Anne of France_ made an appeal to the chivalrous
feeling of James by choosing him as her knight, and calling on him for
assistance. James therefore fitted out a fleet of twenty-three vessels.
Among them was a very large ship called the _Great Michael_, which was
looked on as a masterpiece of shipbuilding. This fleet was put under
the command of _James Hamilton, Earl of Arran_, with orders to sail for
France. Instead of doing this, he stormed _Carrickfergus_, and what
became of the ships was never clearly made out.
=20. Battle of Flodden.=--James also determined to invade England.
Though the cause was not popular, the King was, and a large army was
soon mustered. The King himself led the host across the Border, and
encamped on the _Till_, but, as he would not take the advice of _Angus_
and others who knew more of border fighting than he did, he mismanaged
the whole affair. He idled away the time till his own army began to
disperse and the English had time to gather; then he let them cross the
river unopposed, and finally left his strong position on the hill to
meet them hand to hand in the plain. The result was an utter defeat,
and the King, who was more eager to display his own valour than to act
the part of the general in command, was slain in the thickest of the
fight. Twelve earls and thirteen barons fell round him, and every noble
house in Scotland left some of its name on the fatal field of _Flodden_
Sept. 9, 1513. The death of _James the Fourth_ was deeply mourned, for
his reign had been peaceable and prosperous. He was popular with the
nobles, because he kept them round him, and freely spent his father's
savings; and with the commons, because of his rigorous maintenance of
justice, his encouragement of commerce and agriculture, and his easy,
kindly manners. James is described as middle-sized, handsome, and
well-made. Besides Latin and several other foreign languages, he could
speak the Irish or Gaelic, which was the native tongue of his western
subjects. During his reign Scotland was more prosperous than it had
been since the days of the last Alexander. Trade was flourishing and
on the increase, and large quantities of wool, hides, and fish were
exported to other countries.
=21. Church Matters.=--In 1492, at the petition of the _Estates_,
the _pallium_ was sent from _Rome_ to _Robert Blackadder_, Bishop of
_Glasgow_, with licence to bear the cross and all other archiepiscopal
insignia. This led to bitter strife between the two Archbishops,
who referred their disputes to the Pope, to the great wrath of the
Estates, who denounced and forbade all such appeals to Rome. The
burning of Reseby had not put a stop to the spreading of Wickliffe's
doctrines, for we find thirty persons accused of the Lollard heresy by
Blackadder. Two great steps towards the advancement of learning were
made in this reign: the one was the foundation of a third University at
Aberdeen, on the model of the University of Paris, by _Elphinstone_,
the good Bishop of _Aberdeen_; the other was the introduction of the
art of printing, by means of which knowledge could be extended to the
people. The first press was set up by _Walter Chapman_, under the
patronage of the King.
=22. James V., 1513-1542.=--The news of the defeat at _Flodden_ spread
grief and terror through the country. The citizens of Edinburgh built a
wall round their city, but its strength was not tried, for the English
army dispersed instead of advancing. The Estates met at _Perth_, and
the Queen-mother was appointed Regent, for the King was an infant only
two years old. But within a year the Queen married _Archibald_, the
young _Earl of Angus_, and the Estates then transferred the regency to
_John, Duke of Albany_, High Admiral of France, son of the brother of
James the Third. Peace was made with England, Scotland being taken in
as the ally of France in a treaty between that country and England.
=23. Albany's Regency.=--Albany's government was at first very
unpopular, for the national jealousy was roused by the number of his
_French_ followers. The Queen at first refused to give up the King,
but she was besieged in _Stirling Castle_ and obliged to yield. The
country was distracted by the brawls of the two great factions, the
_Hamiltons_ and the _Douglases_. The _Earl of Arran_ was the head of
the former, _Angus_ of the latter. The Governor put them down with the
help of the French: _Angus_ was seized and transported to _France_; his
wife fled to _England_, where he contrived to join her before long. The
_Lord Home_ and his brother, two of the few survivors of _Flodden_,
and the most powerful of the Angus faction, were seized at Edinburgh
and beheaded, after the mere form of a trial. But Albany went back
to France after he had been about a year in Scotland; and as he left
a Frenchman, _Anthony de la Bastie_, Warden of the Border, and placed
the strongholds in the hands of the French also, the Scots grew more
jealous and turbulent than before. De la Bastie fell a victim to the
national hatred of foreigners. He was killed in a border raid by one
of the _Homes_, in revenge for the death of his kinsman, the Lord
Home. The Celts in the west re-asserted their independence, and the
feud between the _Hamiltons_ and the _Douglases_ broke out worse than
ever. They brought their brawls into the very streets of the capital.
The Hamiltons laid a plan for attacking the Douglases, and making
Angus prisoner. _Gavin Douglas_, Bishop of _Dunkeld_, fearing that his
kinsmen might get the worst of it, appealed to _James Beaton_, the
primate, to stop it. Beaton solemnly declared on his conscience that
he knew nothing of the matter; and to give weight to his words, laid
his hand on his heart, and in so doing struck the breastplate which
he always wore. On this, Douglas, who heard the ring of the armour,
told him that he heard his conscience "clattering," that is, telling
tales. In the fight that followed, Angus so thoroughly routed his foes
that the fray was called "_Clear the Causeway_," and after it he held
the city with an armed force. Thus five years passed, and the Regent,
who had nominally gone back to France for a few months only, was still
absent, and it took a great deal of urging and threatening from the
Estates to bring him back to his trust.
=24. English Interference.=--It was now nine years since Flodden, and,
as there had been peace with England during that time, the country had
somewhat recovered her strength. When therefore Henry began to meddle
in the affairs of Scotland, to require that Albany should be dismissed,
and that the French connexion should be broken off, the Estates
refused and prepared for war. As the greater part of the English force
was in France, the northern counties of England were comparatively
unprotected, and it was just the time for striking an effective blow
there. Instead of doing this, Albany came to terms with _Lord Dacre_,
the _English Warden_, and the large army that had gathered round him
melted away without doing anything. But the truce was not renewed.
Dacre stormed _Jedburgh_, and the Scots mustered again. This time their
numbers were increased by the presence of some French auxiliaries whom
Albany had brought back from France, to which he had paid a second
visit. Again the army was brought to the Border without being led any
further. By this time the Scots were thoroughly disgusted with Albany,
and he with them; and shortly after this second fruitless expedition,
he sailed for France and took the Frenchmen with him, 1524.
=25. "Erection" of the King.=--No sooner was Albany gone than Henry,
through his subtle chancellor _Wolsey_, tried to make the Scots break
with France. _Margaret_, the Queen-mother, was the great upholder of
the English interest; _James Beaton_, Archbishop of St. Andrews and
Chancellor, was the leader of the French party. Wolsey tried hard to
get hold of Beaton on various pretexts, but Beaton was too cunning for
him, and held himself apart in his own strong castle of _St. Andrews_,
where he kept up dealings with France. But the English party were for
a time the stronger, and, by the advice of Henry, James, who was now
twelve years old, was set up to rule in his own name, and took his
place at the head of the parliament, August 1524. The only change
made by this step, called the _erection_, was that Albany's nominal
government was done away with, and the French influence much weakened.
Still Henry's interference was not liked, and the capture of _Francis
the First_ at _Pavia_ turned the tide of popular feeling back to the
old allies of France. Since the _erection_, Arran had been the nominal
head of the government, but in 1526 the King, who was now fourteen,
was considered old enough to choose his own guardians. He chose the
Earls of _Errol_, _Argyle_, and _Angus_, and an agreement was made that
each in succession was to have the care of the King for three months.
Angus's turn came first, but at the end of it he refused to give up
his charge, and for two years he tyrannized over both the King and his
subjects, and successfully resisted all attempts at a rescue.
=26. Fall of Angus.=--James at last contrived to make his escape by
riding in the night, disguised as a groom, from _Falkland_ to _Stirling
Castle_, 1528. Now that he was at last safely out of the hands of the
Douglases, he set to work to crush them utterly. It was made treason
for any who bore that name to come within six miles of the King,
and an act of forfeiture was passed against them. Angus had many
adherents; but as all those nobles who hoped for a share of his lands
took part with the King, they proved too strong for him, and he was at
last obliged to give in, and to flee for refuge to England. Thus the
overthrow of the _Red Douglases_ was as thorough as had been that of
the elder branch, on whose ruin they had risen.
=27. Internal Affairs.=--James began his reign by executing summary
justice on the lawless and turbulent part of his subjects. The
Borderers were now nearly as troublesome as the Highlanders. They dwelt
in the debateable ground between England and Scotland, and preyed on
either country with the greatest impartiality. Certain families, as the
_Kerrs_, _Armstrongs_, and _Scotts_, had a sort of monopoly of this
wholesale thieving; and as they had taken to the clan system of the
Celts, each robber chief in his peel tower could count, not only on
the unquestioning service, but also on the personal devotion of every
man in his following. _John Armstrong_ had made himself famous among
them by his daring deeds. For this renown James made him pay dear;
for judging that he, the most notorious offender, would make the most
telling example of the force of justice, he had him seized and hanged
like a common thief. New means were tried for quieting the disturbances
in the _Western Highlands_ and _Isles_. _Argyle_ was deprived of his
lieutenancy, and the government was in future to deal directly with
the chiefs for the collection of taxes and of the feudal dues. Three
persons were put to death in this reign for conspiracy and treason,
all of whom were more or less connected with the banished Angus.
These were the _Lady Glammis_, his sister; the _Master of Forbes_,
his brother-in-law; and _James Hamilton_, the illegitimate brother of
Arran, who was accused of being in league with him.
=28. English War.=--Though the need of a reform in the Church was
felt and openly discussed in parliament, and the shortcomings of the
clergy were unsparingly ridiculed by the popular poets, still neither
the King nor the people were inclined to break off from Rome, as Henry
the Eighth had done. But Henry was most anxious that his nephew should
follow his example, and a meeting between them at York was agreed on.
But James, doubtful of Henry's good faith, did not keep tryst. Henry
was furious; he brought up again the old claim of supremacy over
Scotland, and to enforce the claim he sent an army to invade Scotland.
James prepared to avenge this attack; but when his army got as far
as the Border, the nobles refused to go further, and a body of ten
thousand men who had passed the Esk were surprised and scattered by
_Dacre_, while they were contending about the chief command.
=29. Death and Character of James.=--The King meanwhile was waiting in
_Caerlaverock Castle_. At the same time that he heard of the shameful
defeat of his army at _Solway_ _Moss_, the news was brought that a
daughter was born to him. This child was heir to the throne, for his
two sons had died in infancy. James thought that the birth of a girl
at this time was an ill omen for Scotland. He murmured, "It came wi' a
lass, and it'll gang wi' a lass." By this he meant that, as it was by
Marjory Bruce that the crown had first passed into the Stewart family,
so with this infant it would pass from it. Eight days later he died
of grief and disappointment, December 14, 1542. James is the first
King of Scots of whom we have a portrait. He was handsome, but had red
hair, which won him the nickname of the "_Red Tod_," or red fox. He
was not liked by the nobles, but the commons loved him well. His habit
of going about in disguise familiarly among the people, endeared him
to them, and led him into many amusing adventures. James was twice
married, first to _Magdalen_, daughter of _Francis the First, King of
France_; secondly, to _Mary_, daughter of the _Duke of Guise_, widow of
the _Duke of Longueville_. In character and policy James was something
like James the First. Like him, he strove to curb the power of the
nobles, and to win for the Crown something more than mere nominal
power, by making reforms which were much needed in the administration
of justice. He worked out his ancestor's idea of a supreme court of
justice by founding the _Court of Session_, or _College of Justice_.
This court consisted first of thirteen, afterwards of fifteen, members,
half of whom were clerks, and who acted both as judge and jury. As
the members of this court were chosen from the parliament, it had the
power of parliament, and was supreme in all civil cases, there being no
appeal beyond it. James was not only a patron of letters, but himself
a poet, one of the few royal poets whose writings will bear comparison
with those of meaner birth. "Christ's Kirk on the Green," and the
"Gaberlunzie Man," are the titles of two poems that are ascribed to
him, but on no very certain proof. They are both descriptions of
scenes from peasant life. If indeed they were written by him, the
choice of the subjects and the way in which they are treated show how
well he knew the condition of his people. They, in loving remembrance
of the favour he had always shown them, gave him the title of "King of
the Commons, and the People's Poet."
=30. Mary, 1542-1554. Arran's Regency.=--_James Hamilton, Earl of
Arran_, next heir to the throne by his descent from James the Second,
was chosen Regent, but, as it was the Scotch custom that the nearest of
kin on the mother's side should have the care of the minor, the infant
Queen was left in charge of her mother, _Mary of Lorraine_. The defeat
at _Solway Moss_, and the death of the King, had left the people nearly
as dispirited and defenceless as they had been after Flodden, and Henry
the Eighth determined to get the kingdom into his power by marrying
_Mary_ to his son _Edward, Prince of Wales_.
=31. Treaties with England.=--To carry out his plans the better, he
sent Angus back to Scotland, and with him the Lords _Cassilis_ and
_Glencairn_, and several other nobles, all pledged to do their best
to place the Queen and the strongholds in the hands of Henry. These
nobles were called by the English the _Assured Scots_, because Henry
thought he could be sure of their help, but they were either unable
or unwilling to give him the aid for which he had hoped. It was not
till July in the next year that two treaties were drawn up at London:
the one for the English alliance; the other agreeing to the English
marriage of the Queen. But there was a strong national party, much
set against any dealings with England; and, though the treaties were
approved at one meeting of the Estates, it was plain that they would be
thrown out at the next. The Regent tried to break them off, and Henry,
greatly enraged, made ready for war, and seized some Scotch ships
which had been driven by stress of weather into English ports. This
was reason enough for the rejection of the treaties by the Estates.
Shortly after, the "Assured Scots" changed sides and made a bond with
the Regent; but Henry got a new supporter in _Matthew Stewart, Earl
of Lennox_, who, as he wished to marry _Margaret Douglas_, daughter
of _Angus_, Henry's niece and ward, was eager to do anything to win
Henry's favour.
=32. First English Invasion.=--War was declared at Edinburgh by an
English herald, May 1, 1544, and an English army under _Edward Seymour,
Earl of Hertford_, was sent by sea and landed at _Granton_. He was
bidden to destroy _Edinburgh_ and as many other towns and villages as
he conveniently could, and he carried out his orders to the letter.
He sacked and burned _Leith_, a wealthy trading town, set fire to
_Edinburgh_, though no resistance had been made to him there, robbed
the burghs on the coast of _Fife_, and then marched south to the
Border, burning, slaying, spoiling, and leaving a wasted land behind
him. The only resistance he met with was near the Border, where a
division of his army which had been sent to _Melrose_ to break open
the tombs of the ancestors of _Angus_ was routed at _Ancrum_ by Angus
himself and some of the Border lords. At the news of this success six
hundred Borderers from the Scottish side, who had been fighting in the
service of the English Wardens, changed sides and attacked their former
brothers in arms. The rest of the nation then took heart, and a large
force was mustered and brought to the Border, but did nothing.
=33. Second English Invasion.=--Before the traces of his former ravages
had disappeared, just when the next harvest was ready for the sickle,
Hertford appeared again at the head of a motley host, swelled by
half-savage Irish and by foreign hirelings, and repeated the wild work
of the year before. The invaders attacked and plundered the religious
houses. The ruins of _Kelso_, _Melrose_, _Dryburgh_, _Roxburgh_, and
_Coldingham_ still bear witness to their zeal in carrying out the
orders of their master. Towns, manors, churches, and between two and
three hundred villages were left in ashes behind them. All this misery
was wantonly inflicted without winning for Henry a foot of ground or a
single new subject.
=34. Third English Invasion. Battle of Pinkie.=--Two years passed,
and again the sorely scourged country was visited by its old enemy.
_Hertford_, now _Duke of Somerset_ and _Protector of England_ during
the minority of _Edward the Sixth_, thought by one well-aimed blow to
wrest from the people their proud boast, the national independence.
Two armies, the one led by himself and the other sent by sea, met at
_Musselburgh_ and threatened the capital. The Regent had mustered a
large force to resist them, and the two hosts faced each other on
opposite banks of the _Esk_. But the Scots very foolishly left their
strong position and forced the English to a battle, in which they were
again defeated with great slaughter, at _Pinkie_, September 10, 1547.
After the battle Somerset went back to England, and took the greater
part of his army with him. As most of the strongholds were now in the
hands of the English, it was thought best to send the Queen to France
that she might be out of harm's way. The French sent six thousand men
to help in driving out the English, a work that was not ended till
1550, when a short peace followed the nine years of cruel war. If we
consider the difference of the times and the advance of civilization,
the fiercest raids of _Malcolm_ and of _Wallace_ may be favourably
compared with the misery wrought by _Hertford_ in these three savage
and unprovoked attacks.
=35. Internal Affairs.=--The overthrow of the monasteries, the seizure
of their revenues, and the other changes in religious matters carried
out by _Henry the Eighth_ in England, had been approved by a large
party in _Scotland_. They were eager to begin the same work there,
for the Church, by her abuse of power and by her persecution of all
who differed from her, was fast losing her hold upon the people. The
first outbreak of the popular feeling was the murder of _Cardinal David
Beaton_, the _Primate_, the leader of the French party in the state and
the chief mover of religious persecution. In revenge for the burning
of _George Wishart_ in 1545, for preaching what was called heresy,
sixteen of Wishart's followers murdered _Beaton_ in his own _Castle
of St. Andrews_, which they had entered by a stratagem, and which
they held for fourteen months, setting at defiance all the Regent's
efforts to retake it. It was only with the help of the French that they
were at last obliged to give in, and were sent to the French galleys.
Among them was _John Knox_, who twelve years later became famous as
the apostle of the Reformation among his countrymen. On the death of
_Beaton_, _Arran_ made his own ambitious brother _John_ Archbishop
of St. Andrews, in the room of the murdered Cardinal. The castle was
destroyed.
=36. Regency of Mary of Lorraine. First Marriage of Mary Stewart.=--In
1554, Arran, who had been created _Duke of Chatelherault_ by the French
king, went back to France, and _Mary of Lorraine_ became _Regent_.
The league with France was drawn still closer by the marriage of the
Queen with _Francis the Dauphin_. Francis became _King of France_ in
1559. The crown-matrimonial of Scotland was then granted to him, so
that the two countries were for a short time united under one crown.
On the strength of this the French began to give themselves airs of
superiority which the Scots could ill bear from strangers, and before
long they became well-nigh as unpopular as the English had been. The
Regent was unconsciously doing her best to foster this feeling of
dislike by placing foreigners in offices of trust, above all by making
Frenchmen keepers of the strongholds. But there was another influence
now at work, the desire of religious reform, which wrought a change in
the national life greater than any that had been felt since the time of
the first Robert.
=37. Social Progress.=--The intercourse with the French which arose
from the close alliance of Scotland with France, influenced the social
development of the nation throughout this period more strongly than
during any other time either before or after it. The members of the
National Council when they met in parliament were not, as in England,
divided into lords and commons; the representatives of the three
Estates, the _Barons_, the _Clergy_, and the _Commons_, assembled in
one chamber, as was the French custom. All the tenants holding direct
from the Crown were required to present themselves at these assemblies;
but James the First released the lesser barons from this attendance,
which they felt to be rather an irksome duty than a privilege, by
allowing them to send commissaries in their stead. These commissaries,
with the deputies from the cities and burghs, formed the Third Estate.
The supreme court of justice, the _Court of Session_, established
by James the Fifth, was formed on the model of the _Parliament_ of
_Paris_. The Universities were founded in the fifteenth century, at
_St. Andrews_, at _Glasgow_, and at _Aberdeen_. Of these, Aberdeen was
an exact imitation of the University of Paris. The architecture of this
period, both domestic and ecclesiastical, is in many respects like the
French. Melrose Abbey, and the palaces of _Falkland_ and of _Stirling_,
which were very richly ornamented, were built in the time of the
Jameses. The houses of the nobles were also built in imitation of the
French style. There are no remains of burgh domestic architecture older
than the sixteenth century. Many French words also found their way into
the Lowland Scotch, as the language of the Lothians came to be called.
By this time there was so much difference between this dialect and
that spoken at the English court, that the people who spoke the one
could scarcely understand the other. The foreign trade of Scotland was
most prosperous during the reign of James the Fourth. Fish, wools, and
hides were the principal exports. By this time coal, which is first
mentioned towards the end of the thirteenth century, was in general
use. There were also lead and iron mines; and gold was found, though
not in any large quantities. Of this native gold James the Fourth
struck some beautiful coins, which were called bonnet pieces, because
they bore the image of the King wearing a bonnet. The state of the
people at this time was one of almost serf-like dependence on their
lords. But great as the power of the nobles was, there were no forest
or game laws in Scotland, nor did they enjoy any privilege of peerage.
An offender against the law, if he could be brought to justice, had to
"thole an assize," like any peasant, however high his rank might be.
=38. Education and Literature.=--In early times all the education that
was within the reach of the people had been offered to them by the
Church. Schools were founded and maintained in several towns by the
great monasteries, and there was provision made for the education of
the choristers attached to the several cathedral churches. In later
times there were Grammar Schools founded by the burgh corporations.
In 1496 an Act was passed requiring all "barons and freeholders" to
keep their sons at these schools until they should be "competently
founded," and have "perfect Latin," under pain of a fine of twenty
pounds. A book, purporting to be the _History of Scotland_, was written
in Latin by _Hector Boece_, the first Principal of the University of
Aberdeen. The greater part of this book is purely imaginary. The Latin
"_Scotichronicon_" of _Fordun_, was continued by _Walter Bower, Abbot
of Inchcolm_, down to the middle of the fifteenth century. Besides the
two kings James the First and Fifth, there were other notable poets in
Scotland in the middle of the fifteenth century. _Blind Harry_, the
_Minstrel_, then did for Wallace what about a century before Barbour
had done for Bruce, by putting together all the popular stories of his
deeds in a spirit-stirring poem that bears his hero's name. _William
Dunbar_, a friar of the order of St. Francis, wrote a poem called _The
Thistle and the Rose_, to celebrate the marriage of James the Fourth
with Margaret Tudor. This, and the _Golden Terge_, and the _Dance
of the Seven Deadly Sins_, are the best among his writings. _Gawin
Douglas_, afterwards _Bishop of Dunkeld_, the son of that Earl of
Angus who was nicknamed Bell-the-Cat, also wrote several poems in the
beginning of the sixteenth century. Those best known are _King Hart_,
the _Palace of Honour_, and a translation of Virgil's _Æneid_. Some
years after Douglas wrote, _Sir David Lyndesay_, the companion of James
the Fifth's childhood, and the mourner of his untimely death, directed
many clever satires against the abuses in the Church, the vices of the
clergy, and the follies of the court. The _Dreme_, the _Satire of the
Three Estates_, and the _Monarchy_, are his best poems.
=39. Summary.=--During this period, which extends over more than
a century, the country made little progress either socially or
politically. Of the five kings, all bearing the same name, who in turn
wore the crown, four died violent deaths; and of these four, two were
treacherously murdered by their own subjects. Most of them came to
the throne in childhood; not one attained old age. Their reigns were
chiefly passed in struggles to put down their lawless and turbulent
nobles, who in each succeeding minority waxed more powerful and more
independent. In the reigns of James the Second and of James the Fifth,
this contest between the Crown and the Baronage took the form of a
struggle between the House of Stewart and the House of Douglas. In
both cases the King compassed the fall of his rival only by placing a
dangerous amount of power in the hands of the other nobles. The foreign
policy of Scotland under the Jameses was very simple. It consisted in
maintaining a close alliance with France and a constant quarrel with
England. But the French never gave the Scots any real help, and the
English were so much taken up at home
Showing first 200,000 characters. Full text: gutenberg.org/ebooks/44121