PLATE VII.
ROBERT BRUCE, KING OF SCOTLAND, DEFIES KING EDWARD III.
“It happened that Robert, King of Scotland, who, though brave, had suffered much in his wars with England, having often been defeated by King Edward, grandfather of the young king, being at this time very old, and afflicted with leprosy, hearing that the King (Edward II.) had been taken prisoner, and deposed, and his counsellors put to death, thought this a favourable opportunity to send a defiance to the present King, as yet a youth, whose barons were not on good terms with each other, and to attempt the conquest of some part of England. About Easter, 1327, he sent a defiance to King Edward and all the country; informing them that he would enter the kingdom, and burn it as far as he had done before, after the defeat of Stirling.”
The Illumination represents the King receiving the messenger of Bruce in an open vestibule or pavilion, who, on one knee, delivers the defiance of his master to the English nation. In the background, the river Thames is seen, with the Scottish vessel at anchor. The whole is executed with great care and neatness.
Great armies were raised on either side, but, like most of the wars of that period, conducted without any settled object. The affair ended without any gain to either party—the great suffering of the unfortunate people of the Borders being the only permanent result. A truce for three years shortly followed, during which King Robert, of Scotland, died.
The Earl of Pembroke attacked by the Spanish Fleet, before la Rochelle.