The body of the late King was conveyed south in great state, to lie in the church at Waltham till a definite settlement was attained in Scotland. The Prince attended the cortège several stages, and then returned to Carlisle. Edward was buried at Westminster on October 28.
Edward I. was not only the greatest of English Kings, but one of the greatest of Englishmen. His treatment of Scotland, however he may have reasoned out the justice of it, must always remain a very dark blot on his memory. Never was his military ardour or his personal resolution more signally manifested than in the last months and days of his latest expedition. He died in harness, his valiant spirit shining undimmed till the moment it was quenched by death itself. The virile judgment and stern purpose of Edward I. was succeeded by the childish incompetence and obstinacy of Edward II. The death of the great King assured the eventual triumph of Bruce. The moment anticipated by nationalists with hope and by anti-nationalists with dread was come. It was the turn of the tide.
[CHAPTER VII]
RECONQUEST OF TERRITORY
While the great Edward was passing south on his last march, Valence was actively engaged in strengthening the English positions in Kyle and Carrick. Percy held Ayr Castle, and John of Argyll guarded Ayr town and neighbourhood with a large force, which was presently joined by half a score of redoubtable Scots knights with their followings.
The young King started from Carlisle on July 31, 1307, for Dumfries, where many Scots nobles obeyed his summons to do homage and fealty. Advancing up the valley of the Nith, he was at Cumnock on August 21, and stayed there fully a week. At Tinwald, on August 30, he confirmed Valence in the office of Warden of Scotland. He offered to receive to his peace all Scotsmen not implicated in the murder of Comyn. The Lanercost chronicler says he divided his army into three bodies to pursue Bruce, but the pursuit was unsuccessful, and on September 4 he returned to Carlisle with empty hands.
The effects of the accession of Edward II. were quickly apparent. No sooner had he retired than the whole Border was ablaze. Even the faithful men of Selkirk and Tweeddale and of the Forest, tenants of the Warden himself, rose in force, and on September 12 the Sheriff of Roxburgh reported that 'the poor tenants' of his district had fled into England with their goods for fear of the enemy. The weight of the Scots attack, however, was thrown upon Galloway and the MacDowalls. The English settlers fled in numbers; for, on September 25, Edward ordered Clifford, the justiciar of the forest beyond Trent, 'to allow the men of Galloway to feed their flocks and herds in Englewood Forest, whither they have come to take refuge for fear of Robert de Brus and his accomplices.' On the same day he directed Sir Thomas de Multon of Egremont and four other northern barons to hasten to Lancashire, Cumberland, and Westmorland, to assist John, baron of Wigton, and Richard le Brun, his justices there, 'for the salvation and quiet of the men of those parts,' and to redress the wrongs and losses they sustained, and to repel the incursions of the Scots. It looks as if a swift foray had been executed by the men of Selkirk and Tweeddale. On September 30, Edward, who had now learned further from St John, MacDowall, and other officers in Galloway, that Bruce was 'burning and plundering, and inciting and compelling the inhabitants to rebel,' commanded Sir John de Bretagne, who had just succeeded Valence, to march against the enemy. At the same time he summoned to the Warden's assistance Earl Patrick and half a dozen other powerful Scots, as well as the baron of Wigton and Richard le Brun, apparently already relieved of their Selkirk visitors, and the keepers of the peace of Northumberland and Tyndale. The Lanercost chronicler admits that the Galwegians purchased peace, being unable to resist the forces of Bruce.
Sir Thomas Gray also bears testimony to Bruce's activity, and explains the favour he steadily gained, in part at least, by the harsh conduct of English officials 'for purposes of individual advantage.' We have already seen that as early as May Scotland beyond the Forth was ready for the advent of Bruce, and the English officers were looking forward with dread to the death of Edward I. And now Bruce turned from Galloway to the north.
According to Fordun, Bruce advanced as far as Inverness, where he took the castle and levelled it with the ground, slaying the garrison; and the other fortresses of the north he dealt with in like drastic fashion. In this expedition, no doubt, it was—in late October and November 1307—that Bruce overran Ross, Sutherland, and Caithness, and compelled the Earl of Ross to take truce. The Earl's apologetic petition to Edward explains how Bruce came against him with 3000 men and subjugated these counties, 'and would have destroyed them utterly if we had not taken truce with him at the entreaty of the good people, both religious and other, till Whitsunday next.' Ross declares that he could get no help from the Warden of Moray. The Bishop of Moray, who had taken refuge in Orkney for about a year and whose lands had been loyally raided by Ross, had by this time returned to Edward's peace, and was demanding damages for the wasting of his lands. He, at any rate, was not likely to have moved a finger against Bruce; on the contrary, he no doubt privately aided him. Ross's apologies were accepted; for in May 1308 he appears as Lieutenant of the Warden of Scotland, and is requested to remain in office till midsummer. But on October 31, he submitted to Bruce, who reinstated him in his lands (with fresh additions), and his name heads the roll of Bruce's Parliament at St Andrews on March 16, 1308–9.