1292. The submission respecting the succession to the crown of Scotland was now drawing near a close. There is reason to believe, that the knowledge of many of the humiliating circumstances, which had occurred during its progress, had been confined, in a great measure, to the parties engaged in it. Enough, however, had transpired to excite the jealousy of the poorer gentry, who, having no possessions out of Scotland, considered their honour as inseparably connected with its independence. When the edict, therefore, was proclaimed for a general homage to the King of England, the national degradation became apparent, and the servility of their more powerful representatives was regarded with undissembled mortification. The dangerous practice of allowing the influential barons to hold lands in England, might now be regretted; but the fatal effects were, for the present, beyond the power of remedy. Eager for the removal of the English garrisons, and desirous for the establishment of something like a regular government, the body of the Scottish nation, concealing their chagrin at the conduct of Edward, became anxious for the decision. The machinations of Frazer, and the influence of the Bishop of Durham, at last determined the English King to declare in favour of John Baliol, who received the crown with all humility, and swore fealty to the royal arbiter, as his liege-lord, at Norham, on the 20th November 1292. On the 30th of the same month, he was crowned at Scone; and, on the 26th December following, he again repeated his oath of allegiance at Newcastle.
1293. John, though he had not made a greater sacrifice of the national dignity than the other candidates were prepared to agree to, soon found, on his return to Scotland, that the station he had been so desirous to attain, was surrounded by cares and difficulties of no ordinary description. The conduct of Edward, too, in continually harassing Baliol with summonses to attend complaints instituted against him in the English courts, on very trifling occasions, was a source of unceasing annoyance; and while the latter reflected on the indignities he had already submitted to, he was conscious of having forfeited every claim to the sympathy or respect of his people, by the sacrifice he had made of their independence. It seemed evident, indeed, that the only chance which remained of recovering their favour, was to renounce the fealty he had sworn, and to afford them an opportunity of effacing, by force of arms, the stigma that had been affixed to their national character.
That this was the feeling of the Scots, is manifest from the alacrity with which they came forward, when Baliol, stung almost to madness by the repeated insults received from his liege-lord, had determined to throw off his allegiance. Levies of Scottish troops had been ordered by Edward to be made and sent to him, in order to be employed in an expedition which he meditated against France. This, the newly crowned vassal had neither the inclination nor the ability to perform; on the contrary, he secretly negociated an alliance with the French King.
1294. The Scots assembled in parliament at Scone; and, “under the specious pretence of diminishing the public charge, they prevailed on Baliol to dismiss all the Englishmen whom he maintained at his court.” “They then appointed a committee of twelve—four bishops, four earls, and four barons—by whose advice all national affairs were to be regulated. If we may credit the English historians, they had a watchful eye over Baliol himself, and detained him in an honourable captivity.”[49] This latter circumstance, more than any other, evinces the feelings of the people on the occasion.
It would be difficult to say how Wallace was employed at this particular period. It seems probable, that, relieved by the removal of the English from the apprehensions he might have entertained of the consequences of the act of outlawry, he became permanently resident among his relations. In a charter of James, Lord High Steward of Scotland, dated in 1294, confirming the donation of the predecessors of Sir Arthur de Denoon[50] to the monastery of Paisley, the witnesses are, Robert, Bishop of Glasgow, John, the brother of the Lord High Steward, Sir Arthur de Denoon, Sir Nicolas Campbell, and Sir Reginald Crawford, Knights; William de Shaw, Alexander de Normanville, Esquires. Though Wallace is not mentioned here, yet we have the names of five of his future companions in arms; and it may be doubted if Sir Nicolas Campbell, whose patrimony lay at such a distance, would have made a journey to Paisley for the mere purpose of witnessing a charter in which he had no personal interest, had objects of greater moment not attracted him to the spot;—and possibly, a wish to visit Wallace at Elderslie, of whom, as has been already stated, he was a school-companion and intimate associate, may in a more satisfactory manner account for his appearance on that occasion, while the presence of Sir Reginald Crawford, the uncle of Wallace, rather increases the probability of this conjecture. The association of the names of so many parties with whom he was afterwards so closely connected, is at all events a very singular circumstance. The fame he had acquired by the exploits already narrated, and the dangers he had escaped, would no doubt have excited the curiosity and the sympathy of his friends.
1295. The treaty which Baliol negociated with France was peculiarly offensive to Edward. After stating that the King of Scotland, “grievously affected at the undutiful behaviour of Edward to the King of France his liege-lord,” he bound himself to assist King Philip with all his power, and at his own charge, in the event of Edward invading France. Philip also agreed to aid the Scots, if attacked by England, either by making a diversion in their favour, or by sending succours. In this treaty were included the prelates, earls, barons, and other nobles of Scotland, as well as the Universities and distinguished public bodies of that kingdom, who were thereto required to affix their seals.[51] Indeed it may be considered as truly a national treaty, shewing the degree of surveillance which the Scots exercised over the conduct of Baliol.
1296. The treaty was soon followed by a solemn renunciation of the homage exacted by Edward; and a numerous army was collected for the invasion of his northern counties. The Scots, though thus eager to come to blows, were by no means in a state of discipline that would enable them successfully to contend with the experienced veterans of England, who had been inured to martial habits in their wars with France, and possessed many advantages over troops that had never seen the face of a foreign enemy. Thirty-three years had elapsed since the battle of Largs; and the residue of those warriors who had distinguished themselves on that occasion, could not now be either very numerous or effective. The country, it is true, teemed with men in the vigour of life, panting to restore the tarnished glory of their country; but although individually brave, and not unacquainted with their weapons, yet, unaccustomed to act in concert, they could neither fully understand their own deficiency, nor sufficiently appreciate the advantages of that discipline which gave the enemy so great a superiority. Under these circumstances, and guided more by the hasty dictates of their own passion than the commands of their leaders, the army of the Scots burst into Cumberland, on 26th March 1296. The injury done, however, was not very extensive. They assaulted Newcastle, and set fire to the town, but were eventually compelled to a dishonourable retreat.
On the 8th April they also entered Northumberland, plundered Lanercoste and Hexham, and retired in disorder from before Harbottle.
At this time, a circumstance of rather a curious nature took place. An English nobleman, Sir Robert de Ros, lord of the Castle of Werk, had become deeply enamoured of a Scottish lady, and, influenced by the violence of his passion, he deserted the standard of his country, and went over to the Scots. With the intention of gaining the affections of the object of his desire, he endeavoured to seduce his kinsman, William de Ros, from his allegiance. In this, however, he was unsuccessful; for William, after upbraiding him with his baseness, proceeded to the camp at Berwick to inform Edward of the treason, who furnished him with 1000 men, to garrison the Castle of Werk. Robert, in the mean time, had joined the Scots; and learning that the troops sent by Edward were to quarter the following night at Prestfen, on their way, he procured a body of Scots from Roxburgh, and secretly surrounded the village. To enable his followers to recognise each other, he gave them, as a password, “Tabard and Surcoat;”[52] commanding, that whoever named the first of these words, if the person to whom he expressed it did not reply by giving the other, he should instantly kill him. With this understanding they entered Prestfen at midnight, and, setting fire to the houses, surprised and cut off the enemy.
Edward, who had now reached Berwick with an army equal in numbers to that of the Scots, and more formidable from its superior discipline, determined to attack the town both by sea and land. His navy was, however, found unequal to the task, and eighteen of his ships were either burnt or disabled. The exasperation[53] which this discomfiture occasioned in the mind of Edward, increased, if possible, the natural ferocity of his temper, and determined him to lead in person his army to the assault.[54]