AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND.-1286.

129

common. Indeed, Alexander and his queen had been betrothed when neither of them was a year old.

4. The King of Norway and the parliament of Scotland agreed to the proposal; but the death of the young queen, on her voyage to Scotland, put an end to the project. The demise of a girl three years old was never before so much lamented, nor has ever since produced such disastrous consequences.

5. What might have happened had she lived we know not; but her death prevented the union between the two nations, and plunged Scotland into long and bloody private and public wars. No less than thirteen competitors for the throne appeared. Robert Bruce and John Baliol had the strongest claims, and they agreed to refer the decision to Edward.

6. This was a very common mode of settling disputes in that age. Edward, whose reputation was very high among his contemporaries, had before been selected to decide controversies between states and princes. As the parties to these disputes had been distant, and his own interest was not concerned, his decisions had been wise and equitable.

7. The temptation in the present case was too strong for him to resist. He came to the borders of Scotland with a powerful army, and insisted that his supremacy over Scotland should be acknowledged, before proceeding in the cause which had been referred to him. The Scots, after great hesitation, agreed to this.

8. He then required that all the places of strength should be put into his hands; and when this was done, he gave judgment in favor of Baliol, who was proclaimed King of Scotland. But he obtained only the name of king. Possessing little ability, he was treated like a child by Edward, who usurped all the power, and was disposed to treat the Scots like slaves.

9. But they were not of a temper to submit tamely to this. They took up arms, but were defeated at Dunbar. Edward now treated Scotland like a conquered province. He obliged Baliol to resign his crown, and also ordered all the records and monuments of antiquity to be destroyed, and carried to England with him the regalia of Scotland, as the crown, sceptre, and other symbols of royalty are called.

10. But there was one loss which the Scots felt more sensibly than all. That was the stone chair at Scone, in which the kings of Scotland had been wont to sit when they were crowned, and to which a superstitious value was attached. This was carried to England, and is still to be seen in Westminster Abbey.

gard to her? 4. What prevented its execution? 5. Who claimed the crown of Scotland? To whose decision were the claims referred? 6. What is said of Edward's decisions in other cases? 7. What did he require before he considered the question? 8. In whose favor did he decide it? How did he treat the Scots? 9. How did the Scots bear his treatment? Where were they defeated? What did Edward do after his victory at Dun. bar? 10. What loss did the Scots feel the most?

130

WILLIAM WALLACE.-1297.

CHAPTER LXXIII.

Wallace.-Singular Expedient of an English Nobleman to inform Robert Bruce of impending Danger.-Edward's Vow.-How it was fulfilled.-Death of Edward.

1. AFTER the battle of Dunbar, Edward appointed Earl Warrenne to be governor of Scotland, and gave all the offices to Englishmen. The Scots groaned bitterly under this degradation; and in 1297, William Wallace stood forth, though only a private gentleman of small property, to rescue his fallen country.

2. He was soon joined by several of the nobility; and notwithstanding the impediments he met with from some of the nobles, he maintained the glorious struggle for eight years, but with various success. At one time he pushed his victorious army into England; but at another, his cause was nearly ruined at Falkirk, where Edward gained a complete victory. At last, in 1305, he was betrayed into the hands of the English, who put him to death.

3. John Baliol being dead, Robert Bruce, son of the former competitor, was generally recognized as the legal heir to the crown of Scotland. Although he was residing at the court of Edward, his heart was with his countrymen, and he was constantly contriving how he might strike the most effective blow for their rights, as well as his own, and for this purpose he corresponded with some patriotic nobles at home.

4. One of these proved treacherous to the cause, and informed Edward of all their plans. Edward did not at once commit Bruce to prison, for such of the nobles as were not in his power would have taken the alarm, and made their escape. So he put spies upon him, and had all his motions strictly watched.

5. An English noble, Bruce's intimate friend, was apprised of his danger; but not daring, amidst so many jealous eyes, to hold any conversation with him, he hit upon an expedient to give him warning that it was full time he should make his escape. He sent him a pair of gilt spurs, and a purse of gold, which he pretended to have borrowed from him, and left it to the sagacity of Robert to discover the meaning of the present.

6. Bruce immediately contrived the means of escape; and as the ground was at that time covered with snow, he had the precaution to order his horse to be shod with his shoes reversed, that he might deceive those who should track his path over the open fields and cross roads, through which he proposed to travel.

7. In a few days he arrived at Dumfries, where he fortunately found a great number of the Scottish nobility assembled, and the traitor, John Cummin, among them. They were not a little sur

LXXIII.-1. What did Edward do after the victory at Dunbar? 2. What is said of William Wallace? 3. Who was Robert Bruce? Relate the particulars of his escape from Edward's court. 7. What did he do at Dumfries? 9. Relate the ceremony with

prised at Bruce's unexpected arrival, and still more so. when he stated to them the occasion of his journey.

8. They readily agreed at once to take up arms, with the exception of Cummin, who did all he could to persuade them to remain quietly in subjection to Edward. To punish him for his former treachery, and to prevent his doing any mischief for the future, he was put to death.

9. When Edward heard of these proceedings, he was enraged beyond measure, and vowed the destruction of The Bruce. He began his expedition into Scotland with a singular ceremony. He assembled all his nobles in Westminster Abbey, and, with many solemnities, caused two live swans, adorned with bells of gold, to be brought in.

10. By these swans, he took a solemn oath that he would march into Scotland, and never return till he had brought it into subjection. He kept his vow, but not in the way that he intended; for he did not subjugate Scotland, and he never returned. He spent many months in a vain pursuit of Bruce and his adherents, who contrived to conceal themselves among the mountains, seizing every opportunity of annoying the English.

11. At last, Edward, exasperated by disappointment, sent for all the forces in his dominions to meet him at Carlisle. Before they could arrive, he was taken very ill. It was reported that he was dead, and, to show the falsehood of the report, he set out from Carlisle, but after advancing a few miles he was compelled to stop. A tent was set up by the road-side, in which he expired, July 7th, 1307. 12. Before he died, he charged his eldest son, Edward, to send his heart to the Holy Land, to carry his body with the army into Scotland, and not to bury it till he had made a complete conquest of that country; and never to recall Piers Gaveston, a wicked favorite of the son, whom the father had banished. Edward was seventy years old, and had reigned thirty-five years.

CHAPTER LXXIV.

Edward II.--Battle of Bannockburn.-The Effect of the Defeat upon the English.

1. WHEN Edward I. died, his son was twenty-two years of age, and the English had conceived such a good opinion of him, that they thought they should be happy under his government; but the first acts of his reign, which were in direct disobedience of his father's dying injunction, blasted their hopes. Abandoning the invasion of Scotland, he disbanded his army, and, recalling Gaveston from banishment, he gave himself up to idle amusements.

which Edward began his expedition to Scotland. 10. How was his vow kept? 11. Relate the particulars of his death. 12. What was his charge to his son? How old was he? How long did he reign?

132

BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN.-1314.

2. Edward II. resembled his father in the beauty of his person, but not in the qualities of his mind. He was weak, passionate, and irresolute, and addicted to the vice of excessive drinking. He was devotedly attached to his favorites, who were without exception ill chosen and unworthy persons. The only kingly quality he possessed was personal courage; but this, as it was not guided by discretion, was of no service to himself or his country.

3. Gaveston was loaded with honors and riches by the king, of whose favor he was very vain. He treated the nobles with the utmost insolence, and used to divert himself and his royal master by turning them into ridicule, and giving them nicknames. This conduct gave great offence to the nobles, which was heightened by the king's appointing Gaveston to be guardian of the kingdom, when he went to France to marry Isabella, daughter of Philip the Fair.

4. A confederacy was formed against him, at the head of which was the Earl of Lancaster, the king's cousin, the richest and most powerful baron in the kingdom. The king was required to send Gaveston out of the country, and he affected to comply with the demand; but instead of sending him home to Gascony, as the barons intended, he made him governor of Ireland.

5. In about a year, Gaveston was recalled to court, where he behaved as insolently as ever. The nobles, finding remonstrances to be vain, broke out into open rebellion. At last Gaveston was taken prisoner by the rebels and put to death. The king was thrown into agonies of grief by the death of his favorite; but he had so completely lost the affections of the people, that he had no means of avenging it, and was obliged to accept such terms of peace as the barons chose to offer.

6. In the mean time, Bruce, by his courage and prudence, had nearly rid his country of its invaders. At last Edward resolved to make one vigorous effort, and to reduce Scotland by a single blow. He entered that country at the head of the largest army that had ever marched out of England, and on the 24th of June, 1314, arrived within three miles of Stirling, where he saw the Scottish army drawn up on the banks of the little river Bannock.

7. Bruce had been able to muster only about thirty thousand men to oppose the immense host of the King of England; but he neglected nothing that could facilitate his success. He placed his army on a rising ground, with a river in front, and a bog on one side; and to make the approach still more difficult, he caused pits to be dug and filled with sharp stakes, and the tops covered over with turf and leaves.

8. The English halted for the night, and, despising the little army opposed to them, spent the time in feasting and merriment; while the Scots were occupied in devotion, and in mutual exhortations to conquer or to die. The Earl of Gloucester, who commanded the English cavalry, was the first to advance, and, falling into one of the pits, was the first to die on that disastrous day.

LXXIV.-1. How did Edward II. obey his father's dying commands? 2. What is said of his character? 3. What of Gaveston? 4. What did the nobles do? How did the king comply with their demand? 5. What became of Gaveston? 6. What prepara

9. The cavalry, having lost its leader, was thrown into confusion, and completely routed. While the infantry were alarmed with this unfortunate beginning, they observed what appeared to be another army marching leisurely over the heights as if to surround them. This was, in fact, a number of the wagoners and boys, whom Bruce had furnished with banners, and who, at a distance, made a very warlike show.

10. The stratagem succeeded completely. The English threw down their arms and fled without striking a blow, and Edward was himself obliged to fly, to avoid being made a prisoner. They were pursued with great slaughter for ninety miles, till they reached Berwick. Such was the battle of Bannockburn, which secured the independence of Scotland, and which is remembered as the greatest overthrow which the English have sustained since the Conquest.

11. They did not recover from the effects of this defeat for a long time. They were so much dispirited and cast down, that they lost all courage, so that for several years no superiority of numbers could encourage them to keep the field against the Scots.

12. A little humiliation, probably, did them no harm, for Froissart, the French chronicler, tells us, "that the English were so proud and haughty, that they could not behave to the people of other nations with civility."

CHAPTER LXXV.

Famines, and the causes of their frequency at this period.-Agriculture. -Customs in the Fourteenth Century.

1. To add to the distresses which England suffered from the conduct of the barons, there occurred, in 1316, a most grievous famine. Provisions became so scarce that the nobles, whose magnificence was principally shown in the number of their retainers, were obliged to discard many of them.

2. These people, having been accustomed to lead idle lives in the castles of their lords, commonly turned robbers to obtain the means of living; and this they did in such great numbers, that the country was overrun by them.

3. Famines were of more frequent occurrence in those days than at present, because agriculture was conducted in a very unskilful manner, being left entirely to the lowest classes, and considered beneath the attention of a gentleman. It was one of the grounds of complaint against Edward II., that he was fonder of agriculture than of war.

4. That sagacious monarch, Edward I., did not think it beneath

tion did Edward make against Scotland? 7, 8, 9, 10. Relate the particulars of the battle of Bannockburn. 11. What was its effect on the English character? 12. What does Froissart say of the English?

LXXV.-1. What distressing event occurred in 1316? 2. What was one consequence? 3. What of famines in those times? 4. What of husbandry? 5. What of horticul