WINCHELSEA, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, READS A BULL FROM THE POPE, IN
THE ENGLISH CAMP BEFORE CARLAVEROCK.--EDWARD’S ANSWER.--EARL WARREN
ADVANCES TO IRVINE.--CRUELTY OF THE ENGLISH AT LESMAHAGO.--EDWARD
AGREES TO A TRUCE.--WALLACE VISITS FRANCE.--CAPTURES A FRENCH
PIRATE.--NOTICES OF LONGUEVILLE.
While the English army were encamped before Carlaverock, Winchelsea,
Archbishop of Canterbury, arrived with a bull, directed to Edward, from
the Pope.
The application which, as has already been stated, the Scottish
commissioners were instructed to make to King Philip for the stipulated
assistance having at first been evaded, and afterwards finally
refused--the embarrassing situation of his own affairs affording him a
plausible pretext for withholding the aid necessary for the relief of
his allies--the Scots, according to their instructions, proceeded to
lay their complaints before the Court of Rome. Boniface listened with
complacency to their grievances, and readily undertook to interpose his
authority in their behalf. For this purpose, he addressed to Edward
a letter of admonition, exhorting him to desist from any further
attempts to subvert the liberties of a kingdom over which he had no
lawful claim. The groundless nature of the pretensions he had set up,
the Pontiff proceeded, at considerable length, to explain--being,
no doubt, enabled to do so, from the information furnished him by
the commissioners. Among other matters, he reminded him, that the
mere circumstance of his having negotiated with the Scots, for the
marriage of his son with the heiress of Scotland, must prove fatal to
any plea he might advance in favour of his being the feudal lord of
that kingdom, as he would find no one weak enough to believe that he
would have submitted to negociate, when he had a right to command. “He
also,” says a respectable historian, “mentioned several striking facts
which fell within the compass of Edward’s own knowledge, particularly
that Alexander, when he did homage to the King, openly and expressly
declared in his presence, that he swore fealty _not for his crown, but
for the lands which he held in England_; and the Pope’s letter might
have passed for a reasonable one, had he not subjoined his _own_ claim
to be _liege lord of Scotland_, a claim which had not once been heard
of, but which, with a singular confidence, he asserted to be full
and entire, and derived from the most remote antiquity.” This letter
Boniface concluded, by exhorting him, in his name, to set at liberty
all those ecclesiastics and others belonging to the country whom he had
imprisoned, and to remove all officers he had appointed to places of
trust in the kingdom, contrary to the wishes of the people; directing
him, if he conceived he had still any reasons to allege in support of
his pretensions, to send persons properly authorized to Rome, where
he, the Pope, would hear the case, and within six months give an
impartial decision. To these exhortations the Archbishop added his own,
urging, among other things, the propriety of his yielding obedience
to so sacred an authority, observing, that Jerusalem would not fail
to protect her citizens, and to cherish, like Mount Zion, those who
trusted in the Lord. At the conclusion of this address, which was made
in the presence of Prince Edward and the assembled nobles, the King
became furious, and with a great oath exclaimed, “I will not be silent
or at rest, either for Mount Zion or for Jerusalem, but, as long as
there is breath in my nostrils, I will defend what all the world knows
to be my right.” On calmer reflection, however, he saw the necessity of
returning a milder answer to the admonition of his adviser, in which
he promised to consult his parliament, and send messengers to Rome to
acquaint his Spiritual Father with the result of their deliberations.
In a parliament assembled some time after at Lincoln, the Pope’s bull
was submitted to the consideration of the English Barons; and in
his reply, Edward attempted to prove the superiority of England by
historical facts, deduced from the period of Brutus the Trojan, who,
he said, founded the British monarchy in the age of Eli and Samuel.
He then supports his position by all the events which passed in the
island before the arrival of the Romans: And, after laying great stress
on the extensive dominions and the heroic victories of King Arthur,
he vouchsafes at last to descend to the time of Edward the Elder,
from which period he has chosen to begin his claim of superiority.
He asserts it as a fact _notorious, and confirmed by the records of
antiquity_, that the English monarchs had often conferred the kingdom
of Scotland on their own subjects--had dethroned those vassal-kings
when unfaithful to them, and had substituted others in their stead.
He displays, with great pomp, the full and complete homage which
William had done to Henry II.--without mentioning the formal abolition
of that extorted deed by King Richard, and the renunciation of all
future claims of the same nature. Yet in this paper he begins with
a solemn appeal to the Almighty, the searcher of hearts, for his
own firm persuasion of the justice of his claim; and no less than a
hundred and four barons, assembled in parliament at Lincoln, concurred
in maintaining before the Pope, under their seals, the validity of
the pretensions. At the same time, they took care to inform Boniface,
that although they had justified their cause before him, they did not
acknowledge him as their judge: the crown of England was free and
sovereign: they had sworn to maintain all its prerogatives; and would
never permit the King himself, were he willing, to relinquish its
independence.
Edward, on leaving Carlaverock, now advanced into Galloway, and
took several castles in that province. He appears to have been at
Lochroieton on the 17th July, and at Kirkcudbright on the 22d of same
month. On 29th August he returned to Carlaverock. He was at Dumfries
on the 24th October, and again at Carlaverock on the 1st November.[44]
His own operations appear, on this occasion, to have been in a great
measure confined to the south of Scotland.[45] Detachments of his army,
however, extended themselves in different directions; and various
conflicts took place between them and the Scottish _guerilla_ parties
under Wallace. A strong division of the English army, commanded by the
Earl of Warren, advanced also as far as Irvine, and came in contact
with the Scottish forces, headed by the Regents. The field was keenly
contested for some time; but the Scots were at last compelled to fall
back before the repeated charges of their more numerous opponents.
Another portion of the English army laid waste Clydesdale; and after
destroying Bothwell, advanced to Lesmahago--to the Abbey church of
which, a number of the inhabitants had fled for safety. This sanctuary,
however, according to tradition, did not avail them. Their merciless
invaders set fire to the sacred edifice, and many of the Scots perished
miserably in the flames. During the perpetration of this tragic act,
Wallace, who followed the tract of the destroyers, was forced, it is
said, to conceal himself in a cave, four miles distant from the scene
of barbarity, carefully watching, by his scouts, the motions of the
enemy. This cave still goes by his name, and is pointed out by the
country people as an object of curiosity to strangers.
While this warfare was carrying on by his detached squadrons, Edward
was concerting measures for permanently annexing to his own dominions,
the district he had overrun. For this purpose, he employed numerous
bodies of his own subjects, in repairing and fortifying the different
places of strength which had surrendered to his arms; and the
reluctance of the Scots to assist in the subjugation of their country,
appears evident from his being compelled to bring labourers, at a
considerable expense, from the northern counties of England.[46]
A large portion of the provisions required for his troops he seems also
to have been under the necessity of bringing from Ireland. Between
Whitehaven and Carlaverock we find William de Torni, master of a vessel
belonging to the Isle of Man, employed in carrying flour for the supply
of the army. In the wardrobe account there is also an entry,[47] from
which it may be inferred, that the destruction of the mills formed part
of the system which the Scots resorted to for the annoyance of their
enemies.[48]
As the campaign had hitherto been productive of no result adequate
to the expense incurred, Edward now affected to listen to the
remonstrances of Philip and Boniface, and agreed to a truce with the
Scots in arms against him. The negociation took place at Paris between
the English envoys and the Scottish commissioners at the French court,
and was finally ratified by Edward at Dumfries on the 30th October
1300, when he expressed himself highly offended with the English envoys
for allowing Baliol’s name, as King of Scotland, to appear in the
treaty. This truce was to last from Hallowmas to Whitsunday;[49] and
in consequence of it, all the English troops except those in garrison
were withdrawn from Scotland and disbanded. Edward then summoned his
parliament at Lincoln, and returned the answer to Boniface to which we
have already alluded.
1301. After the conclusion of the treaty, Wallace is supposed to have
gone on a visit to France, in consequence of the repeated invitations
of Philip, who was no doubt anxious to behold a man whose name had
become familiar at every court in Europe, and whose exertions in his
own country had so often relieved himself from the hostile visits of
the King of England.
On his way, the vessel in which he had embarked along with a few select
friends, is said to have been attacked by a noted pirate of the name of
Longueville, at that time the terror of the seas, and the Paul Jones of
his day. After a desperate conflict, Wallace and his party succeeded
in boarding the enemy; and Longueville, being vanquished in a personal
combat with Wallace, surrendered at discretion. The gallant manner,
however, in which he acted during the fight, gained him the esteem of
our hero, who subsequently discovered that he was a French nobleman,
and, at one time, high in favour at court, but who had fallen under the
displeasure of the King, in consequence of having killed a knight in
the royal presence; for which offence his estates were forfeited, and
himself banished from the kingdom. Smarting under these indignities, he
had commenced a system of piracy, for which he was outlawed, and every
avenue to the royal clemency shut against him. Wallace, on arriving
at Paris, found himself so well received by the French monarch--who no
doubt expected his assistance against the English in Guienne--that he
ventured to solicit, and, after some difficulty, obtained a pardon for
Longueville, who had accompanied him to Paris in disguise.
Various stories are told of the adventures of Wallace in France; but
as the histories of that country are in general silent regarding
them, most of our authors have considered them fabulous; and some
even carry their incredulity so far as to doubt of his ever having
been there. But as he appears evidently, on one or more occasions,
to have withdrawn himself from Scotland, and as those writers who
doubt of his being in France have not accounted for the chasms that
his absence naturally makes in his history, nor appear to have any
thing to urge against his visits to that country but their _doubts_;
we cannot allow unsupported _misgivings_ to stand in opposition to
the recorded testimony of ancient writers, who ought to have known
more of transactions near their own days than authors who wrote many
ages after them--particularly as the circumstance in question could
serve no political or party purpose at the time; and of course,
could afford no temptation for mis-statement. We may also remark,
that the adventure with Longueville is corroborated by traditions
still existing in the country, as well as by the fact of a family in
Scotland, not long extinct, having derived their pedigree from that
brave man; who, according to the law of arms in those days, thought
himself bound to follow the fortunes of his conqueror. Longueville
is said to have accompanied Wallace to Scotland, where he had lands
assigned him; and the following notice in the Statistical Account of
the parish of Kinfauns, goes a considerable way to establish the truth
of what is here related:--“In the Castle of Kinfauns is kept a large
old sword, probably made about five hundred years ago, and to be used
by both hands. It is shaped like a broadsword, and is five feet nine
inches long, two and and a half inches broad at the hilt, and of a
proportionable thickness, with a round knob at the upper end, near
eight inches in circumference. This terrible weapon bears the name of
_Charteris’s Sword_, and probably belonged to Sir Thomas Charteris,
commonly called Thomas de Longueville, once proprietor of the estate
of Kinfauns. Sir Thomas Charteris, _alias_ Longueville, was a native
of France, and of an ancient family in that country. If credit can be
given to accounts of such remote dates, when he was at the court of
Philip le Bel, in the end of the thirteenth century, he had a dispute
with, and killed a French nobleman, in the King’s presence. He escaped,
but was refused pardon.
“Having for several years infested the seas as a pirate, known by the
name of the Red Reiver, from the colour of the flags he carried on
his ship, in May 1301 or 1302 (by Adamson’s chronology), Sir William
Wallace, in his way to France, encountered and took him prisoner. At
Wallace’s intercession, the French King conferred on him a pardon,
and the honour of knighthood. He accompanied Wallace on his return to
Scotland, and was ever after his faithful friend, and aiding in his
exploits. Upon that hero’s being betrayed and carried to England, Sir
Thomas Charteris retired to Lochmaben, where he remained till Robert
Bruce began to assert his right to the crown of Scotland. He joined
Bruce, and was, if we may believe Adamson, who refers to Barbour,[50]
the first who followed that King into the water, at the taking of
Perth, January 8, 1313.
“Bruce rewarded his bravery by giving him lands in the neighbourhood
of Perth, which appear to be those of Kinfauns, and which continued in
the family of Charteris for many years. It is to this ancient knight,
and to the antique sword above-mentioned, that Adamson refers in these
lines (Book VI.) of his ‘Muses Threnodie:’
----‘_Kinfauns_, which famous _Longoveil_
Sometime did hold; whose auncient sword of steele
Remaines unto this day, and of that land
Is chiefest evident.’--p. 158.
“About forty years ago, upon opening the burying vault under the aisle
of the church of Kinfauns, erected by this family, there was found a
headpiece, or kind of helmet, made of several folds of linen, or some
strong stuff, painted over with broad stripes of blue and white, which
seems to have been part of the fictitious armour wherein the body of
Sir Thomas Longueville, or Charteris, had been disposed.[51]
“Some persons of the surname of Charteris,” says the editor of the
Perth edition of Wallace, “lairds of Kinfauns, and of Cuthilgourdy,
were provosts of Perth, and would make a distinguished figure in the
heroic annals of Perth, if the old writs of that city were properly
displayed.”
According to the same authority, there were families of the name of
Charteris in Scotland, long before the time assigned to Thomas de
Longueville. Andrew de Charteris, who swore fealty to Edward in 1296,
is said to have been the ancestor of the noble family of Wemyss.