Chapter XX: The War with Scotland

The old King of Scotland, dying, left his kingdom to his little granddaughter, the Maid of Norway, who was only seven years old. Edward planned to marry her to his son the Prince of Wales and so make England and Scotland one kingdom. He sent a ship to bring her from Norway in the winter and he stored it with good things, with toys and sweetmeats for the voyage.

The weather was stormy and Margaret died on the voyage. There was much woe in Scotland and trouble in the English King's mind. Many Scottish nobles claimed the crown and they asked Edward to choose amongst them. It was a difficult matter but Edward was trusted, for all men praised him as the Lion of Justice.

He chose Balliol to rule over them, but this man proved himself of no wisdom and little counsel and his rivals Bruce and the Red Comyn were more powerful than he.

Balliol thought to win favour of the Scots by defying the English King. Edward then harried the land and carried off the Stone of Destiny from Scone. This stone was said to be Jacob's Pillow and had been brought to Ireland long ago and thence into Scotland. On it, all the Kings of Scotland had sat to be crowned and it was put in Westminster Abbey, where it still lies underneath the coronation chair. English barons were sent to rule Scotland but they were not so wise as Edward and there was bitterness among the people.

In their distress, they found a leader in William Wallace, who drilled them to fight on foot against the foreigner, for they were too poor to buy horses and ride into battle in costly armour. On the field, they stood close together, shoulder to shoulder, awaiting the onslaught of the knights, and then they fought with spear and battle-axe.

The English soldiers were taken by surprise, for they had never heard of such a strange army nor seen such steady ranks of men. Edward, however, was a thoughtful general, and he soon learned to use his Welsh archers to trouble the Scots and break their lines. Yet when they were driven from the field, he found he could not rule in Scotland as he had done in Wales, for it was a barren land and the Scots were a hardy people.

Now there was a great feud between Bruce and the Red Comyn. One day when the two met, they entered a church to talk and Bruce killed his foe on the steps of the high altar and, rushing out, he cried to his men, "I doubt I have slain the Red Comyn." "Ye doubt? I make certain," cried one of his followers as he pushed his way into the church.

The people of Scotland were angry for this sin in their hero, but they could not do without him, for Wallace had been caught and hanged as a traitor. So they crowned the Bruce in the old city of Scone, and the golden circlet was placed upon his head by the Countess of Buchan, whose husband was with the invader.

Many stories are told of these times and of the high courage of the Scots, for there were great perils in this strife and there was hunger and cold and faithlessness.

Hearing of the deeds of this man, who had once paid vows to him, Edward, now an old man, led his armies northward again. There on the Borderland he died, leaving this charge to his son, that he should rest neither day nor night till he was prince of Scotland also.

Yet the young King turned his face towards London to make ready for his coronation and wedding. Then the Bruce became indeed King of Scotland, and seven years afterwards, when it was too late, the English King marched with his men to the field of Bannockburn. There he was defeated and from the shame of that day he could never escape.

The Scots harried the north of England for many a year. They rode on swift ponies, carrying only a tin platter and a bag of oatmeal for food, drinking from the streams and eating flesh when they could catch wild deer or mountain sheep or the fat oxen in the pastures. It was a hard matter to find this army, for they rode hither and thither silently, surely and swiftly. Thus was Scotland separated from England for many a generation.