Part 11

I. Edward, by the grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine, to all who shall see or hear these present letters, greeting. Know that we, for the honour of God and of Holy Church, and for the good of our whole kingdom, have granted for ourselves and our heirs, that the Great Charter of Liberties and the Charter of the Forest, which were made by common assent of the whole realm, in the time of King Henry our father, shall be observed in every point without change. And we wish that these same charters be sent under our seal to our justices, both justices of the forest and others, and to all sheriffs of counties and to all our other officials, and to all our cities throughout the land, together with our writs, in which they shall be enjoined to publish the aforesaid charters, and to tell the people that we have granted them to be held in every point; and that our justices, sheriffs, mayors, and other officials who administer the law of the land under and through us, shall allow these charters in all their points in pleas before them and in judgments--that is to say, the Great Charter of Liberties as Common Law; and the Charter of the Forest according to the Assize of the Forest, for the betterment of our people.

II. And we wish that if any judgments be given henceforth against the provisions of the aforesaid charters, by justices and other officials of ours who hold pleas before them contrary to any point contained in the charters, they shall be undone and held as nought.

III. And we wish that these same charters under our seal be sent to the cathedral churches throughout our kingdom, and remain there; and that they be twice a year read before the people.

IV. And Archbishops and Bishops shall pronounce the sentence of great excommunication against all those who shall come against the aforesaid charters in act, in deed, or in counsel, or shall infringe or oppose them in any way; and such sentences shall be pronounced and published twice a year by the aforesaid prelates. And should the same prelates, or any of them, be negligent in making the aforesaid denunciation, they shall, as is fitting, be reproved by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York for the time being, and compelled to publish the denunciation in the form aforesaid.

V. And because the people in our kingdom fear lest the aids and tasks, which they have hitherto given us for our wars and our needs, of their own grant and their own free will, in whatever manner they have been made, may become a fixed service for them and their heirs, should they at some time be found in the rolls, and likewise prises that have been taken throughout the kingdom by our officials in our own name, we have granted for ourselves and our heirs, that we shall not turn into a custom such aids, tasks, and prises, for anything that may be done or hereafter found in the rolls or in any other manner.

VI. We have also granted, for ourselves and our heirs, to the Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Priors, and other people of Holy Church, as also to the Earls and Barons and the commonalty of the whole realm, that never for any need shall we take in our kingdom such manner of aids, tasks, and prises, except by common consent of the whole kingdom and to the common profit thereof, save the ancient aids and prises due and accustomed.

VII. And forasmuch as the greater part of the commonalty of the realm feel themselves sore grieved by the maletote of wool, that is to say, a tax of forty shillings on each sack, and have begged us to release the same, we have fully released it in answer to their request; and we have granted that we shall never take it nor any other, without their common assent and their good will; saving to us and to our heirs the custom on wool, skins, and leather, before granted by the commonalty of the realm aforesaid.

In witness whereof we have issued these letters patent. Witness Edward our son at London, on the tenth day of October, in the twenty-fifth year of our reign.

And be it remembered that this same charter in the same terms, word for word, was sealed in Flanders, under the great seal of the King, at Ghent, on the fifth day of November, in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of our aforesaid lord the King, and sent to England.

THE BATTLE OF FALKIRK (1298).

+Source.+--_Walter of Hemingburgh's Chronicle_, vol. ii., pp. 177-181. (English Historical Society Publications.)

Soon after, when severe famine was attacking the camp,[99] and the King had decided to return to Edinburgh in order to get provisions by way of the North Sea, and then advance against the Scots from another direction, two Earls--the Earl Patrick and the Earl of Angus--came at dawn on the day preceding the Festival of Mary Magdalene to the Bishop of Durham, and took him with them to the King. They introduced into the King's presence a young spy, who said, "Hail, O King"; and the King replied, "Hail to thee"; then the spy continued: "My lord King, the army of the Scots, your foes, is only six short leagues away from you, near Falkirk, in the Forest of Selkirk. Hearing that you are preparing to return to Edinburgh, they have decided to fall on your camp this evening, or at least to attack and despoil your outposts." "There is indeed a God," said the King, "who has hitherto delivered me from all danger; it will not be necessary for them to follow me, for I shall proceed against them even this day." Immediately he gave orders for all to arm, but did not announce whither he intended to go. Clad in full armour, he mounted his horse in front of the army and exhorted them all to take up their arms; then he spoke in person to the sellers of wares, enjoining them to pack their bundles and follow him without fear. Finally, when all was ready, about the third hour, the King left Kirkliston, and directed his march towards the place which goes by the name of Falkirk. And all wondered that he had changed his intentions, and caused the army to advance slowly and dispersedly without any haste.

When they had come to a moor nigh to Linlithgow, they spent the night there, resting on the ground, with their shields for pillows and their weapons for couches. The horses, which had tasted nothing but hard iron, were picketed each near his master; after they had halted for some time, and the night was about half-way over, it happened that the King's war-horse, which was guarded somewhat carelessly by a small boy, in stamping its foot, struck the sleeping King. So soon as the news spread that the King was hurt, someone raised the cries of "treachery" and "the enemy are upon us." Whereupon they got themselves ready and were eager for battle. But when the true version of the incident became known, that the King was but slightly hurt, they felt pity for him, and the excitement vanished. Then the King rose immediately, and they set out and passed through the town of Linlithgow at the dawn of the day. When they raised their eyes and looked at the hill opposite, they saw on its crest a number of spearmen. Believing them to be the army of the Scots, they hastened to ascend the slopes of the hill in battle array, but when they reached the top, found none. On this spot a tent was pitched, and the King and the Bishop heard the Mass of the Magdalene (the Magdalene being the saint of the day). While the celebration was taking place, and it was light enough for them to see one another, our men saw the Scots at a distance arranging their lines and preparing for battle. They had drawn up all their men in four circular bodies on the hard ground of a slope near Falkirk. These circles were composed of spearmen, with their spears pointing upwards; they were joined one to another, and stood with their faces turned towards the circumference of the circles. Between the circles were spaces, occupied by archers; in the extreme rear were the cavalry. When, on the conclusion of Mass, the King was informed of what could be seen, he hesitated, and proposed that they should pitch their tents until horses and men had broken their fast, for they had not partaken of food from the third hour of the previous day. But his men answered: "It is not safe here, O King, for between the two armies there is only a small stream." "And what of that?" asked the King. "Let us advance in the name of the Lord," replied they, "for the field is ours and the victory is ours." "So let it be," said the King, "in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

Immediately the leaders of the front rank--the Earl Marshal, the Earl of Hereford, and the Earl of Lincoln--advanced straight towards the enemy, not knowing that there was a morass in the intervening ground. When they saw it, they made a detour round it on the west side, and so were delayed in their arrival; but the second rank, that of the Bishop of Durham, composed of thirty-six chosen veterans, knowing that the morass was in their way, struck out to the east to avoid it. As they hastened at full speed in order to be the first to engage, the Bishop commanded them to await the approach of the King's third line. Ralph Basset, of Drayton, a valiant soldier, answered him: "It is not your part, my lord Bishop, to give us our fighting orders at this moment when you ought to be engaged in celebrating Mass. Go, if you wish to celebrate Mass, for this day we shall all act as befits soldiers." They hastened on, and soon after engaged the first circle of the Scots; then the aforesaid Earls came up from the other side with the first rank. As soon as our men approached, the Scots cavalry fled without striking a blow, a few only remaining to give orders to the foot-soldiers, who were drawn up in circles called "schiltrons." Among them was the brother of the Seneschal of Scotland, who, when he was directing the bowmen of the Forest of Selkirk, fell by chance from his horse, and was slain among the bowmen, who surrounded him and died with him. They were men of comely build and commanding stature. When the bowmen were thus cut down, our men proceeded to attack the Scots spearmen, who, as we have said, were stationed in circles, with sloping spears, after the manner of a closely-planted wood. And while our horsemen could not advance for the number of spears, those of the enemy on the outside struck at and pierced several with their spears. But our foot-soldiers shot at them with arrows, and then, securing a quantity of round stones, of which there was abundance near, stoned them. So, when many had been slain and the others confounded, the remainder of the outer ring were thrown back on the others, and our horsemen broke in and swept the field.

There fell of the Scots on that day, besides an unknown number who were drowned and about twenty horsemen, 50,000 foot-soldiers. The army of the Scots, according to the report given by prisoners, numbered about 1,000 horsemen, and about 300,000 foot-soldiers. But the Lord preserved our men, and no man of note fell in the whole battle save only the Master of the Knights of the Temple, who was caught in a morass and slain while he pursued the fugitives.

[99] The English army was at this time encamped at Kirkliston, in Linlithgowshire, about eight miles west of Edinburgh.

SCOTLAND AFTER FALKIRK (1298-1303).

+Source.+--_The Book of Pluscarden_, pp. 168 _et seqq._ (_Historians of Scotland_, vol. x.)

After the battle lost (by the Scots) at Falkirk, the King of England did not for the nonce personally come north of the Firth of Forth; but he sent a very large force, which ravaged the whole land of Fife and all the adjacent lands of the town of Perth, and killed great numbers of the inhabitants of those lands; and when this force came back, the said King and his men went home again with immense booty. This, no doubt, was God's doing; for if then, or after the engagement at Dunbar and the capture of King John, he had tarried in the country, he would, as is believed, either have subdued to his sway the whole land of Scotland and its inhabitants, or have laid it waste, all but the water and the stones. As, however, he was very busy elsewhere, he could not attend to everything at one and the same time. So he and his men went back, after appointing administrators, officers, and wardens of the castles in Scotland, in the parts, namely, beyond the Forth, which part of the country was then fully under his dominion, with the exception of a few outlaws of the nation of the true Scots, who lived in the woods and were lurking in caves in rocks and glens, and who, on account of the slaughter and losses they had inflicted on both English and Anglicised Scots, durst not appear openly in the sight of the people. But at this time John Comyn, the Chief Warden of Scotland, and his son, and Simon Fraser, called Fresail, warlike men, stalwart, and endowed with every virtue, together with their partisans and followers, day and night lay in wait for the aforesaid officers, bailiffs, and wardens of castles of the King of England, and greatly harassed the aforesaid English, as also the Anglicised Scots, as above stated; and for four years or more they kept harrying one another with mutual slaughter and divers scourges and torments....

In the year 1303 the King of England entered Scotland with a very large force, which he had brought with him from both England and Wales, Gascony, Ireland, and Savoy--the Count of which was there in person, as well as the Prince of Wales--both by land and by sea, ... with the deliberate design of peacefully settling in that land of Scotland altogether and subduing it for ever, or, on the other hand, entirely sweeping away its inhabitants and leaving the said land a waste. The King, therefore, scouring the whole country over hill and dale as far as Lochindorb,[100] received oaths of fealty and homage from all the inhabitants, and himself personally brought the northern parts under his dominion. Then, after appointing his royal officials and officers in the towns and castles, the King went about exploring the country, and brought it all under his allegiance and dominion; and he remained at Dunfermline to spend the winter, and no one in all Scotland hindered him, or brought force to bear against him; but he rested in peace until Candlemas. In this year Edward of Carnarvon, then Prince of Wales, spent some time in the town of Perth, and during the whole of this time food was so plentiful and abundant in Scotland that a laggen[101] of good beer sold commonly for twopence, and a laggen, Scottish measure, of good wine for eightpence. The same year, after the whole people of Scotland had made its submission to the King of England, John Comyn, then Head Warden, and all the magnates of Scotland, except that noble leader William Wallace, and his partisans and followers, were little by little brought by the aforesaid King to make their submission and swear allegiance to him, giving up to him the towns, castles, and all the strongholds but Stirling Castle and its garrison....

Just after the Easter Festival, the said King Edward besieged Stirling Castle for three months without a break; and he ordered the whole of the lead of the monastery of St. Andrews to be stripped off and carried to Stirling aforesaid for the construction of the engines for the siege. At length, however, the warden of the said castle, William Oliphant by name, surrendered the castle to him, under a certain condition in writing and under seal. But, notwithstanding his promise, the King, on taking the castle, belied his word and broke through the condition by taking the said William Oliphant, the warden of the said castle, in bonds with him to London, and consigning him to a fearful dungeon. The same year also, when he had taken castles, towns and all the other strongholds, and the whole of the leading lords of the realm had made their submission to him, and the whole of the castles and towns formerly destroyed had been rebuilt, and there was no one but William Wallace alone who remained faithful to the King of Scotland; and after he had appointed wardens and officers of his own there, and all and sundry of the Scottish nation had taken the oaths of fealty and homage, the said King, together with the Prince of Wales and their armies, went back to England, leaving, however, one Chief Warden as his lieutenant to put down and chastise any outbreaks by any of the rest, both Scottish and English; and he never afterwards showed his face in Scotland. After his departure, the English nation lorded it in every part of Scotland, harassing the Scots in many and manifold ways, and ruthlessly doing them to death with wrongs, massacres, and stripes, under the awful yoke of slavery.

[100] Near Elgin.

[101] Probably in about seven quarts.

ROBERT THE BRUCE CROWNED KING OF SCOTLAND (1306).

+Source.+--_Nicholas Trivet's Annals_, pp. 407-408. (English Historical Society Publications.)

In the same year, on the twenty-ninth day of January, Robert the Bruce, aspiring to the kingdom of Scotland, sacrilegiously slew the noble John Comyn, who had refused to abet his treacherous rebellion, in the church of the Minorite Brethren at Dumfries, in the castle of which town the King's justices were then sitting. Thereafter, on the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin, he had himself solemnly crowned King in the abbey of Canons Regular at Scone. The wife of the Earl of Buchan secretly departed from her husband, taking all his war-horses with her, and hastened to Scone to place the diadem on the head of the new King; for her brother, the Earl of Fife, on whom devolved the duty by hereditary right, was then absent in England. This Countess was captured in the same year by the English, but, when some of them wished to put her to death, the King interfered; instead, he confined her in a wooden cage on the wall of the Castle of Berwick, so that she might be seen by the passers-by.

DEATH OF EDWARD THE FIRST (1307).

+Source.+--_Walter of Hemingburgh's Chronicle_, vol. ii., pp. 266-267. (English Historical Society Publications.)

When the evil intents of the new King (Robert the Bruce) became known, our King sent to the nobles of the land ordering them to come to Carlisle, ready for war, a fortnight after the blessed John the Baptist's day. In the interval, because the King was afflicted with severe dysentery, and none had speech with him save with his attendants, it was noised abroad among the people that the King was dead. Edward, hearing this, ordered everything to be prepared for his journey to Scotland, and moved his camp almost two miles from Carlisle on the third day of July--a Monday; on the Tuesday he rode almost two miles; on the fourth day of the week he rested, but on the Thursday he proceeded to Burgh-on-Sands, and there he proposed to remain over the following day. It was his habit and custom almost every day to remain in bed until the ninth hour; but on the Friday, when he was being raised up by his attendants to partake of food, he expired in their arms. The King departed from this world on the day of the translation of S. Thomas, Archbishop and martyr; his servants concealed the death of the King until his son and the nobles of the kingdom should come, and many were imprisoned for proclaiming it. When the Prince his son and the other nobles arrived, they decreed that the King's body should be removed with all honour to the south by his Treasurer, the Bishop of Chester, and all his household, and should remain in the church of the monks of Waltham until some definite policy should be adopted regarding Scotland, and there should be leisure to arrange for sepulture; and this was done.

EPITAPH OF EDWARD I.

HIC JACET EDWARDUS PRIMUS, MALLEUS SCOTORUM. PACTUM SERVA.

(Here lies Edward the First, the Hammer of the Scots. Keep troth.)

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