51 Till his penance till Dumbertane. “Confined in Dumbarton Castle for punishment in prison” (a sa penaunz en prisoun.—Scala., p. 144); “for life” (Fordun; Skene, i. 348). Gray says that Dumbarton was the only castle in Scotland not now dismantled (ibid.).
56 thai drawin war. As in Fordun: “first drawn with horses and finally executed” (Skene, i. 348). Gray says Brechin, Logy, and Maleherbe were hanged and drawn in Perth. Fordun adds Richard Brown, a squire.
74 Scottis man. Umfraville was a prisoner since Bannockburn. At this date (1320) he was still in Scotland, though on July 24, 1314, Edward was granting safe-conducts to some of his friends for a journey to France in quest of money for his ransom (Bain, iii., No. 374). On April 20, 1320, there is a safe-conduct for Sir Ingelram de Umfraville, “a Scottish knight passing through England on his affairs beyond seas,” with a considerable following, which was cancelled for one in October (ibid., 694). Meantime his name is on the record of the Arbroath Parliament in April, 1320 (see below). On January 26, 1321, he is being restored to his estates, “as Ingelram, who was a prisoner in Scotland, has escaped, and shown that he never left his allegiance” (ibid., 721). These facts have been held to invalidate Barbour’s statement (Maxwell’s Robert the Bruce, pp. 276-7), but they have obviously a suspicious air. He appears to have somewhat prolonged his escape; there was clearly a doubt as to his loyalty; and the date fits in curiously with the narrative. Finally, it has to be explained how Umfraville’s name appears in the list of signatories to the famous letter to the Pope from the barons and Community of Scotland on April 6, 1320: “While there exist a hundred of us we will never submit to England” (Acts Parl. Scot., i., p. 114).
125 the Kyngis curtasy. Cf. note on Bk. XIII. 531.
131 oftsis. There had been frequent negotiations for peace since immediately after Bannockburn (cf. Fœdera iii., p. 495).
186 war trewis tane. The truce was arranged at Thorpe, near York, to last for thirteen years (see line 188) from June 12, 1323.
191-6 Bot Inglis men apon the se Distroyit, etc. Of such cases, probably those referred to here, we have precise details in Bain’s Calendar, vol. iii. On September 7, 1326, an inquiry is ordered by Edward II. into the case of certain Scottish merchants who, on their way to Flanders, took refuge in an English ship from fear of pirates, and were brought to Scarborough, where they were all arrested by the Sheriff of York and the magistrates of Scarborough, and put in prison (No. 887). On September 28 three justices are commissioned to inquire into the seizure of a Flemish vessel at Whitby, when nine Scottish merchants, sixteen Scottish pilgrims, and thirteen women were murdered (lines 195, 234), and the cargo and goods to the value of £2,000 carried off (line 196); the vessel being cast adrift, and afterwards captured by others, when the rest of the cargo was appropriated. Apparently this inquiry was fruitless, for another is ordered at Yarmouth on October 15 (No. 889). Then, on October 12, there was the case of a Scottish clerk arrested on the high seas, brought with his two servants and goods to Scarborough, and imprisoned by the Sheriff of York, to be discharged later by the King’s order (No. 889). And Adam Rolok and other Scots had been taken from a ship touching at Brunham and lodged in Norwich prison, from which they were not released till September 24, 1328 (No. 965). Neglecting Barbour’s full explanation, confirmed as it is by Bain’s Calendar, historians profess to find the origins of this campaign obscure, or lay all the blame upon the Scots (Hume Brown, History, i., p. 166; Lang, History i. 232; Le Bel, Chronique, ed. 1904, i., p. 37, editorial note).
205 Walter Steward. Died April 9, 1326.
230-1 twa yheir ... and ane half. Nearly four years after; cf. note on 188.