fometimes too remote from common ufe. Sterne excels as a fentimental writer; and the Adventurer of Doctor Hawkefworth is not inferior to the Rambler of Dr. Johnson. I fhall conclude this chapter with the following fonnet on the progrefs of the English language. "When first the infant left the Saxon shore, "Where jefts and wiles fhe learnt and am'rous play. "With fancy's treasures fraught and wifdom's lore. CHA P. V. SCOTLAND. Caledonians-Pics-Scots-Baliol and Bruce-Conduct of Edward I. of England-The Scots invade England Edward defeats the Scots, and takes the caftles of Dunbar, Roxburgh, and Edinburgh. The who caul, were the firft inhabitants of HE Caledonians, who probably derived their origin from Scotland. The Picts undoubtedly were the Britons, who were forced northwards by the Belgic Gauls, above fourscore years before the defcent of Julius Cæfar; and who fettling in Scotland were joined by great numbers of their countrymen, that were driven northwards by the Romans. The Scots, moft probably, were a nation of adventurers from the ancient Scythia, who had ferved in the armies on the continent, and, after conquering the other inhabitants, gave their own name to the country. The Scots and Picts long continued feparate, and the hand of nature had contributed to mark the diftinction. The former were the men of the hills, and the latter thofe of the plains+. At length Kenneth II. about the + Buchanan. * Pinkerton. $78 Divifions of the Scottish Hiftory. middle of the ninth century, completely fubdued the Picts, and united into one monarchy the whole country, from the wall of Adrian to the northern ocean, when his kingdom became known by its prefent name. The hiftory of Scotland may properly be divided into four periods. The first reaches from the origin of monarchy, to the reign of Kenneth II. The fecond from Kenneth's conqueft of the Picts, to the death of Alexander III. The third extends to the death of James V. The laft, from thence to the acceffion of James VI. to the crown of England. The first period is the region of pure fable and conjecture, and ought to be totally neglected, or abandoned to the industry and credulity of antiquaries. Truth begins to dawn in the second period, with a light, feeble at firft, but gradually increasing. In the third period, the hiftory of Scotland, chiefly by means of records preferved in England, becomes more authentic: not only are events related, but their causes and effects explained; the characters of the actors are difplayed; the manners of the age described; the revolutions in the conftitution pointed out and here every Scotsman should begin not to read only, but to ftudy the hiftory of his country. After Kenneth II. the fixty-ninth Scottish king, A. D. 883. according to tradition, had obtained, as I have already obferved, a complete victory over the Picts, and united into one monarchy the whole country at prefent known by the name of North Britain, the Scots became more formidable. Having lefs bufinefs on their hands at home, they were always ready to join the English malecontents, and made frequent incurfions into the bordering counties. In one of these excurfions, William, king of Scotland, was taken prisoner; and Henry II. as the price of his liberty, not only extorted from him an exorbitant ranfom, and a promife to furrender the places of greatest strength in his dominions, but compelled him to do homage for his whole kingdom. Richard I. a more generous but lefs politic prince than his father, folemnly renounced his claim of homage, and abfolved William from the other hard conditions which Henry had impofed. The crown of Scotland was therefore again rendered independent, and the northern potentate only did homage for the fiefs which he enjoyed in England, (a circumftance which has occafioned many miftakes, and much difpute among hiftorians) in the fame manner as the king of England himfelf fwore fealty to the French monarch, for the fiefs which he inherited in France. But on the A. D. 1296. death of Alexander III. near a century after the captivity of William, Edward I. availing himself of the fituation of affairs in Scotland, revived the claim of fovereignty which had been renounced by Richard. This is the real ftate of the controverfy concerning the indepency of Scotland, which took its rife about this time, and in the following manner. As Alexander left no male iffue, nor any defcendant except Margaret of Norway, his granddaughter, who did not long furvive him, the right of fucceffion belonged to the defcendants of David, earl of Huntingdon, third fon of king David I. Of that line two illuftrious competitors for the crown appeared. Robert Bruce, fon of Ifabel, earl David's fecond daughter; and John Baliol, grandfon of Margaret, the eldest daughter. According to the rules of fucceffion now established, Baliol's right was preferable: he would fucceed as the reprefentative of his mother and grand-mother; and Bruce's plea of being one degree nearer the common stock, would be difregarded. But in that age the queftion appeared no lefs intricate than important: the fentiments of men were divided: each claim was fupported by a powerful faction; and arms alone, it was feared, muft terminate a difpute too weighty for the laws to decide. In this critical fituation the parliament of Scotland, in order to avoid the miferies of civil war, embraced the dangerous refolution of appealing to Edward I. He was accordingly chofen umpire, and both parties agreed to acquiefce in his decree. Now it was that this ambitious and enterprifing prince, already mafter of Wales, refolved more determinedly to make himfelf lord of the whole ifland of Britain, by reviving his obfcure claim of feudal fuperiority over Scotland. Under pretence of examining the queftion with the ut moft folemnity, he fummoned all the Scottish ba- A. D. 1291. rons to attend him in the caftle of Norham, a place fituated on the fouthern bank of the Tweed; and having gained fome, and intimidated others, he prevailed on all who were prefent, not excepting Bruce and Baliol, the two competitors for the fucceffion, to acknowledge Scotland a fief of the English crown, and fwear fealty to him as their fovereign or liege lord.* Notwithstanding all the arts and power of Edward, there is great reafon to believe that he did not carry his point without ftrong oppofition. We are told that the bishop of Glafgow, particularly, in one of the meetings, made a dictinction between Edward's quality as umpire, which he was ready to acknowledge, and that of being lord paramount of Scotland, which, he faid, was an unjuft, abfurd, and new-invented claim. We know not what effect this prelate's boldness pro $80 Edward I. chofen Umpire. duced, farther than that Edward grew very cautious in his proceedings. Though the decifion lay in his own breaft, yet he thought proper to proceed by commiffioners; and he promifed to grant letters-patent, declaring that sentence fhould be given in Scotland. It had been all along foreseen, that the great dispute would lie between Baliol and Bruce. Though the plea of Cumming was thought frivolous, yet he was a party of too much confideration to be entirely difregarded; and he agreed tacitly to refign it in favour of Baliol. Edward accordingly made him the compliment of joining him with Baliol, in nominating forty commiffioners. Bruce was to name forty more, and the names of the fourscore were to be given to Edward in three days; upon which he was to add to them twenty-four of his own nomination. Thus the whole board of commiffioners, or, as they are called, tryers, was to confift of an hundred and four perfons, whofe names were given to Edward on the fifth of June. He left the place, and time of meeting, to their own option. They unanimously pitched upon Berwic, because it lay within the confines of Scotland; but difagreeing as to the time, Edward fixed their meeting to the fecond of August following. On the eleventh of June, the regents of Scotland, who feem hitherto to have acted in confequence of their original appointment by the flates, upon the death of Alexander the Third, refigned their commiffions to the king; but he returned them, with powers to act in his name, and nominated the bishop of Caithnefs to be chancellor of Scotland, but joined with him in commiffion Walter de Hamondefham, an Englishman, one of his own fecretaries. The twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth of June were fpent in the chancellor, the regents, the chief nobility, the magistrates, the governors of forts in Scotland, and other Scotchmen, taking an oath of allegiance to Edward. When we confider the impetuous temper of that prince, it is eafy to perceive, that this proce's did not go entirely to his mind. Many of his own great men, the earl of Gloucefter in particular, were, by no means, fond of feeing his power already too great, increafed by the acquifition of Scotland, at which they knew he ultimately aimed. He ditliked the promife he had made for pronouncing fentence in Scotland; nor were the letters-patent for that purpofe made out till the twelfth of June, which was fix days after the congress at Berwic was agreed on. He thought this was a matter of fo much importance, that, after having buried his mother, who died in the intermediate time, he removed, together with the commiffioners, on the third of July, to Berwic, where he made a protestation, in which he declared, "That though “he Meeting of the Commissioners. 81* he had granted that the affair of the fucceffion fhould be tried in Scotland, yet he did not thereby intend to prejudice the right which he had in the like, or any other cafe, to exercise juftice in England hereafter, touching affairs which might relate to Scotland." This proteftation being made, we are told by the English hiftorians, that Edward made a tour to the principal towns and cities in the fouth of Scotland, where he courted popularity among the inhabitants; and on the 3d of Auguft he met the commiffioners at Berwic. By this time the candidates, chiefly through Edward's intrigues, amounted to twelve; and each prefented to the board his petition, fetting forth the grounds of his claim. The truth is, the pleas of most of the claimants were fo falfe and frivolous, that they must have had unufual encouragement before they could venture to enter them. I fhall not, therefore, repeat them, farther than putting the reader in mind, that the mother of Bruce, daughter to David, earl of Huntingdon, had a younger fifter, Ada, who, had been married to Henry Haftings, an English nobleman, lord of Abergravenny. If the crown of Scotland, therefore, was a divifible fee, like that of England, Haftings might very plaufibly urge that he was, in right of his mother, entitled to one third of the kingdom, as the ought to be joint-heirefs with her two fifters. All the claimants having delivered in their refpective pretenfions, Edward alledged, that they were fo various and perplexing, that there was a neceffity for adjourning the farther confideration of the cause to the 2d of June. This adjournment was neceffary for Edward's views. He had not A. D. 1292. been yet able to fix the point he had at heart, which was, whether the queftion relating to Scotland was to be determined as thofe regarding the great fees in England? The better to fmooth his way, and to give an irretrievable blow to the independency of Scotland, he issued a writ, declaring the two kingdoms, by virtue of his fuperiority, to be united. The commiffioners having met on the 2d of June, ambaffadors from Norway prefented themselves in the affembly, demanding that their mafter fhould be admitted into the number of the claimants, as father, and next heir to the late queen. This demand too was admitted by Edward, after the ambaffadors had acknowledged his fuperiority over Scotland. The claims thus multiplying, Èdward propofed that those of Bruce and Baliol fhould be previously examined, but without prejudice to those of the other competitors. This being agreed to, he ordered the commiffioners to examine by what laws they ought to proceed VOL. II. *G in |