My name s Bruce Fummey and thanks to the nice people
at Perthshire Camper Hire, I m on a historical journey along the Scottish English border.
and today I want to take you to a castle.
It s one of the most important castles in Scottish history.
It s where the fate of Scotland was to be decided.
Indeed the decisions made here are still a topic of discussion and debate to this day
but it s not even in Scotland. because THAT is Scotland
on the opposite bank of the River Tweed If you re interested in the people,
places and events in Scottish history then click the subscribe
button at the bottom right of the screen. In the meantime, let me tell you a story.
Can you imagine what this castle would have been like in its pomp?
Imposing its magnificence as it cast a watchful, yet confident eye over
the Tweed to Scotland beyond. If you had been here in May 1291
the castle would have been a hubbub of activity with all the pomp of a royal visit.
Edward I, the King of England was in town Actually at this point he
seemed like he d be alright. Scotland and England were pretty matey.
Edward s sister had been married to Alexander III of Scotland, so recently deceased.
Relations were OK. That s why Edward was here.
Across on the other bank there would have been an equally splendid circus of
pageantry as the community of the realm of Scotland gathered in its finery.
Tents, horses, banners I m sure would have flown in that field.
It would have been the biggest three ring circus the area would have seen in many a year.
The reason they had come south. The reason Edward had come
north was to resolve a problem that the Scots trusted Edward to adjudicate.
When Alexander died, his only surviving heir was his wee granddaughter,
who having been born to Alexander s daughter and the king of Norway
was known as The Maid of Norway. But catastrophe on calamity
she had died on her way to Scotland and Scotland was left with no royal family.
No bad thing I hear you say, but in those days the consequences were more than just finding homes for
some overpampered corgis a kingdom needed a King.
Now realistically there were two men who had a reasonable claim to the throne.
Robert Bruce No, not that guy, but his grandad.
And with an even stronger claim if only slightly
was John Baliol, who was also supported by The Comyns
the most powerful family in Scotland. You know that thing where you apply for
a job and you ve got the qualifications AND you re pally with somebody in the HR department
So why had all these Scots come here. They wanted somebody to adjudicate
between these two potential kings. Knowing that when one or other didn t
get their way, there may be trouble ahead, they wanted the arbitrator to have enough
military muscle so that the parties both of whom had lands in England
would fall in line. Plus Edward was a good guy.
Knows the law, stickler for detail, honest broker
He wouldn t do you a bad turn. What did Edward want.
Well he wanted to turn this from a friendly arbitration between two parties
into the judgement of a group by a superior. That meant getting more than two claimants
involved, getting those claimants to accept his overlordship
and getting the court of judgement to sit in England rather than Scotland.
So here in Norham Castle Edward looked north to the Scots saying.
Come over here. It s so lovely here. Let s settle things here.
Across there the Scots said: No, you come over here.
This is a Scottish dispute, to be settled in Scottish lands and courts.
So there s a bit of a stand off till eventually the Scots came over here.
Then Edward says:
Well for my judgement to have any authority I kinda need to have authority over you,
so if you could just acknowledge me as your overlord, we can get on with things.
Now Robert Bruce clicked the box to agree the terms and conditions like he was buying
a kindle book off Amazon. John Baliol wasn t so keen
Now you may doubt me on this, but if you ve been following the
channel then you ll know that each month I have a conversation with an expert,
that can be viewed on the Patreon member pages, and I discussed the events that took place here
in a fantastic hour and a half long conversation with THE expert on this subject,
Dr Fiona Watson, a friend of the channel. If you want to get a real insight then why
not click the white tab up there to become a Patreon member and watch the whole conversation.
With Robert Bruce on board, Edward brings in eleven more claimants
including the King of Norway, the daddy of the dead Maid of Norway.
When John Baliol and the Comyns saw that the only way they could win
was to have a seat at the table they fell into line too.
But to qualify an English king to rule on Scottish matters as a judge
rather than arbitrator, one more thing was needed.
The community of the realm would have to also agree that Edward was overlord of Scotland.
The Bishops knights and nobility on that northern shore were going to have to accept his authority.
That s when Edward ran into trouble. The Bruce s might go for it,
the rag tag of other claimants with little real chance, and often even less
connection to Scotland might go for it. Scotland s most powerful family and their
nominee might even reluctantly accept But the community of the realm said No!
Eventually a deal was struck. Edward could be overlord of Scotland
for the period of the deliberation, so that the legal niceties could be achieved,
but then power would revert to its rightful place.
The people of Scotland You probably know what happened next.
Behind these walls Edward and his legal team considered, pondered, reflected.
When the deliberations were over the decision was in favour of John Baliol.
Then it was just a case of doctoring the documents that limited his overlordship
to the term of the arbitration and Edward was overlord of Scotland.
What would have happened if the Bruce s hadn t caved so quickly?
If the whole community of Scotland had all stood together
on the other bank of the Tweed against Edward s demands.
If the whole nation had shown solidarity... how might things have been different?
This was the high point of Edward s interventions in Scotland.
He got what he wanted politically, but with no violence and just a tiny bit of forgery.
It was a cost-effective conquest indeed at least in the short term.
It was the basis of Edward s subsequent humiliation of John Baliol, invasion of Scotland
and years of decimation and ravaging of this whole area both north AND south of this border.
The days of happy harmony across the Tweed were gone.
Much more was to come
and we ll come back to Edward of England before this border trip is over.
If you d like more stories from the Scotland England border then there s
one coming up on screen now. In the meantime