STATE OF SCOTLAND AFTER THE RETURN OF EDWARD.--VARIOUS EXPLOITS OF
WALLACE.--BALIOL DELIVERED OVER TO THE POPE.--THE SCOTS BESIEGE
STIRLING CASTLE.--EDWARD RAISES AN ARMY FOR ITS RELIEF.--THE ENGLISH
BARONS REFUSE TO ACCOMPANY HIM.--SURRENDER OF STIRLING CASTLE.--CONDUCT
OF CUMYN.
On retiring with his army, as stated in the last chapter, Edward left
behind him a considerable force to protect that part of Scotland
which lay contiguous to England, and which he seemed determined, if
possible, to annex to his own dominions. Although his invasion had
been productive of very disastrous consequences to the Scots, they did
not suffer so much on this, as they had done on former occasions. The
judicious orders issued by the Guardian, for driving the cattle--which
formed the principal part of their wealth--to inaccessible parts of
the country, contributed not only to their safety, but also to the
disappointment and distress of the enemy. On the retreat, therefore,
of the grand army of Edward, the inhabitants were far from being that
wretched and disspirited race, which they had appeared after the
battle of Dunbar. Several of the chieftains, it is true, had repeated
their oaths of fidelity to the invader, but the defection from the
cause of liberty was by no means general. The principal places of
strength, with the exception of Stirling, were in the hands of the
Scots; and the impregnable fortress of Dumbarton[33] had been given, by
Wallace, in consequence of his services in the cause of his country,
in charge to Sir John Stewart of Rusky, better known by the name of
Menteith. This man had been present with Wallace at the burning of
the barns of Ayr, as well as in many other situations of danger and
difficulty. According to Henry, when the Guardian bestowed this charge
upon him, he stipulated for the erection of a small house for himself
within the fortress, in the building of which considerable progress
had been made, when the English army entered Scotland. Some writers
allege, that the reason which induced Wallace to make choice of such
a situation, was the great friendship which existed between him and
Menteith, to whose society, they say, he was much attached, and which,
by this means, he would have a better opportunity of enjoying. With
this opinion, however, we cannot agree. That Menteith was high in the
confidence of Wallace, is sufficiently evident from his appointing him
to so important a trust--for, besides the governorship of the castle,
his situation naturally gave him the command of a considerable part of
the district of Lennox--yet we conceive that Wallace had other motives
for selecting such a place of retirement, than the mere pleasure of
enjoying the society of a friend, however valued that friend might
have been. The hostility which he had excited in the breast of Edward
by his conduct in Scotland, as well as by his invasion of England,
gave him every reason to dread the revenge of that haughty and crafty
potentate; while the vacillating character of a great proportion of
the nobility--joined to that inextinguishable jealousy which existed
against him in the minds of some of the most powerful families--made
it both desirable and prudent to look out for a place where, in the
decline of life, he might be secure from the attempts of his country’s
enemies, as well as the machinations of his own. The more immediate
cause, however, may have been the safety of his surviving relations.
The circumstance of so many of them having already suffered on his
account, would, no doubt, make him consider it as a duty incumbent
on him to provide for those that remained. His uncle, the parson of
Dunipace, he had but recently relieved from a dungeon, into which the
English had thrown him; and his mother had frequently been obliged to
fly from the fortalice of Elderslie, in order to preserve herself from
falling into the hands of the enemy. These, we presume, to have been
the motives which induced him to stipulate for this little sanctuary,
and not an overweening affection for the society of Menteith. His
selection of him, however, for this purpose, shows the entire
confidence he had in his fidelity.
With regard to the building itself,[34] we have it on record, that
the workmen on one occasion had to desist from their operations,
in consequence of the English having taken possession of the town:
they were, however, soon dislodged by Wallace, who surprised them
at midnight, and drove them out with great slaughter. This affair is
supposed to have taken place after the battle of Falkirk.[35]
Aware that the approach of winter would render the conveyance of
military stores almost impracticable, after his return to England,
Edward lost no time in despatching to the castles of Stirling,
Dumfries, Lochmaben, and the other fortressses in his possession, those
necessaries of which they were most likely to be in want.[36] But the
active and persevering character of the enemy he had to contend with,
made him apprehensive that they would avail themselves of his absence,
and the inclemency of the season, to recover the strengths they had
lost in the last campaign; and in this he was not mistaken, for winter
had scarcely commenced, before Wallace and the Scottish regents laid
siege to, and recaptured, several places of importance.
During 1299, while hostilities were still going on, Baliol appears
to have become an object of negociation between the Pope and the
English court, although the Pontiff had solemnly and repeatedly
declared his fixed determination never to interfere in the affairs of
Scotland; assuring Edward of his conviction “that the Scots were a
false and treacherous people,” and that he believed they had a design
against his life. Still his liege-lord held the King of Scotland in
unmitigated captivity,[37] till, at the urgent entreaty of the Pope,
he was delivered over to the Papal Nuncio, with liberty to dispose
of him and his English possessions as the Pontiff thought proper. It
is possible that the renunciation of the guardianship on the part of
Wallace, conduced as much as any thing else to Baliol’s release; and it
is likely that the crafty usurper conceived the measure might distract
the regency, by exciting anew the jealous competition among the former
claimants of the crown. If this were his intention he must have felt
grievously disappointed on learning that the regents, awed, no doubt,
by the watchfulness and influence of the late Guardian, continued
to act in concert, and had even laid siege to the strong castle of
Stirling, which he had been at such pains to repair and provision.[38]
The vigour with which the operations against this fortress were
carried on, soon compelled the besieged to despatch messengers to
Edward to acquaint him with their situation; and fully aware of the
importance of the place, and determined to relieve it, the latter
assembled his army at Berwick early in November. His barons, however,
he found intractable. Certain charters had not been confirmed, and
certain lands in Scotland had been gifted away to strangers without
their consent and contrary to his engagements; in consequence of which
they resolutely refused to proceed beyond Berwick, alleging, among
other causes, the impolicy of undertaking a campaign beset with so
many dangers, at such an advanced season of the year. Edward and his
barons were alike obstinate, and the latter retired in dudgeon; while
he, in the same humour, marched forward with the remains of his army
to the relief of Stirling. He had not, however, proceeded far, before
he became acquainted with the numbers and formidable position occupied
by the Scots. Thus circumstanced, he retraced his steps, and allowed
the garrison to negociate a surrender;[39] in consequence of which, the
castle was shortly after given up to Lord Soulis, one of the Regents,
who placed it under the charge of Sir William Olifant, a brave knight,
who proved himself in every respect deserving of the trust reposed in
him.
John Cumyn, the other Regent, is said to have also gained advantages
over the enemy, and to have, in other respects, conducted himself so as
in a great measure to efface the remembrance of his former offences.
Indeed, so well pleased were the generality of his countrymen with
his proceedings on the commencement of the regency, that we find
some of the old historians applying to him the epithet of the “_Gude
Scottisman_.” From this circumstance, some have supposed, that John
Cumyn, the Regent here alluded to, was not the same who behaved with
such treachery at the battle of Falkirk. In this opinion they at first
sight appear to be countenanced by Wyntown, who styles him “_Jhon
Comyn, that was Jhon Comyn’s swn_;” but, it must be recollected that
there were three Cumyns of the name of John, father, son, and grandson.
The gleam of popularity which at this time shone out upon Cumyn, is not
to be wondered at. Placed in a situation desirable, on account of the
prospect it opened up to his ambition--and which he could only retain
by a line of policy in unison with the spirit of liberty which his
predecessor had infused into the people--he not only exerted himself
against the common enemy, but used every effort in his power to gain
the affections of his countrymen. His large possessions and great
wealth, which, it is said, were never equalled by those of any family
in Scotland, enabled him to relieve the people from various imposts
necessary for the support of the government; while the applications
which the Regency made to France, for troops to assist them in the
defence of their independence, were answered by supplies of grain and
wine, which, being a boon, were sold out to the people at half their
current value.
This procedure would no doubt ensure him the good opinion of that
class of his countrymen, who could not see the high price, which, in a
national point of view, was paid for the comforts thus procured them.
The more thinking party, however, saw through the policy of France, in
thus attempting to cajole the Scots with a few cargoes of wine, instead
of fulfilling the terms of the treaty, offensive and defensive, that
existed between them. From the dissatisfaction which this conduct,
on the part of their allies, occasioned among the Scottish nobility,
it was determined to send commissioners to France, to demand that
assistance which they were bound to afford; and, if unsuccessful,
they were instructed to proceed to Rome, and lay their grievances at
the feet of the Apostolic Father, and to solicit his interference to
restrain the English monarch from renewing his aggressions upon their
country.