heraldryofyorkmi01custuoft

356 THE HERALDRY OF YORK MINSTER.
"Quhen Alysandye, cure Kyng, vves dede,
That Scotland led in luwe* and le,t
Away wes sons of ale and brede,
Of wyne and wax, of gamyn and gle,
Oure gold wes changyd into lede.
Christe, born in-to virgynte,
Succour Scotland and remede
That stadj is in perplexyte."
These words touchingly express what must have been too true.
the regency of six guardians, immediately appointed by the Parliament,
the Earls of Fife and Buchan were speedily murdered. Robert Bruce
and John Baliol, with their adherents, pushed forward their conflicting
claims to the throne, and for two years open war raged between them.
The States in their alarm turned to Edward, the late King's brother-in-law,
to act as peacemaker, and by his advice and mediation compose the
trouble of the kingdom. The King readily accepted their offer, saying
to his most confidential minister as he did so :
" Now the time is at last
" arrived when Scotland and its petty kings shall be reduced under my
" " power ; and from that moment the distinctive policy of his reign became
the assertion of English supremacy in Scotland.
The Bishops of St. Andrews and Glasgow, with Robert Bruce and
John Comyn, were appointed by the Scotch regents to meet the Bishops of
Worcester and Durham, and Earls Pembroke and Warrenne, at Salisbury,
where the King privately communicated his own solution of the difficulty,
viz., the marriage of the young " Maid of Norway " to his son Edward.
The estates of Scotland, on the return of the commissioners, assembled at
Brigham, near Roxburgh, and gladly accepted the proposal. The consent
of Eric was also taken. A treaty was carefully drawn up, the young
princess was sent for, the vessel arrived, but only with the intelligence
that she had sickened of a mortal disease at sea, and died at Orkney,
September, 1290. Sorrow and despair overwhelmed the nation.
Edward saw his opportunity, and at once acting upon a private
suggestion of the Bishop of St. Andrews, commanded all his barons and
military tenants to meet him at Norham, June 3rd, 1291; and invited
the clergy and nobility of Scotland to hold a conference with him there
on the roth of May. They gladly consented, but the first words of the
justiciary, Roger Brabazon, must have struck a chill into their hearts,
for it was the old story: "Our lord the King, for the due accomplish-
"ment of his design, doth require your hearty recognition of his title
" of Lord Paramount of Scotland."
They pleaded their inability to recognise such a claim while they had
no recognised king, in whose presence such a challenge should alone be
Of
*
Love. t Tranquillity. J Placed.