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Berwick upon Tweed
Chapter III. 1307—1327


THE death of Edward I. must have been a great relief to those who had the independence of Scotland at heart, and especially to Bruce, the leader of this party. His successor, Edward II., was a weak and frivolous prince, a despicable leader of men, from whom Bruce said it was easier to gain a kingdom than a foot of land from his father. Berwick remained for a time in the hands of the English. In 1308 the new King ordered twenty ships to be ready on the coast between Berwick and Yarmouth in order to defend the coast, and especially the town of Berwick, from the incursions of the Scots. From various counties in England, next year, he ordered provisions to be sent to Berwick—from Huntingdon, Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk, and London. From the latter place, besides the usual food supplies, he sent 20 barrels of honey. Among the warlike stores were 200 feathered arrows of copper for 'Balistae de Turno.' Men were ordered to meet at Berwick in 1309 to make an expedition into Scotland—3,400 Welsh and 2,000 English. In the autumn of the year the King led his army into Scotland, but fruitlessly, and returned to Berwick with his Queen, where he passed the winter. Next spring, after ordering another supply of provisions, among which were 2,000 hhds. of wine, he again invaded Scotland; the Scots allowed him to follow them over desert-land, and after marching into the interior, he met with no better success, and ended this expedition in a similarly unsatisfactory manner. He continued until the year 1313 to make expeditions into Scotland on like plans, and with like results; but with them this history is not concerned. We see that during these years a great trade flowed through Berwick, in taking in supplies and transhipping them to other castles.

In 1312 Bruce, returning from one of his destructive English raids, made an attempt to gain Berwick. The Lanercost Chronicle gives us this account of the fray: 'In the night, coming unexpectedly to the castle, he placed ladders against the wall and began to ascend. Unless the loud barking of a dog had made known the arrival of the Scots, he would quickly have taken the castle as well as the town. The ladders, curiously made for the purpose of scaling, were left here, and our men have hung them over the pillory as a public show. So this dog saved Berwick as formerly the cackling of the geese saved Rome.'

In 1313, Ralph Fitzwilliam succeeded as Keeper of the Town, and during his year of office there must have been as brilliant a display of arms in Berwick as ever happened in its lengthened history. During the period 1311-1313, Bruce had been rapidly gaining ground in Scotland. The castles were fast falling under his power. Perth had been taken by scalade, as Berwick had been attempted in the previous year; Roxburgh succumbed to the same plan of attack; Stirling alone remained in Edward's hands, and Bruce had begun its siege. This roused the indolent King to action. The English nation answered to the summons for men and provisions with unusual alacrity and numbers. Enormous quantities of provisions were sent on, for the King's previous experiences had taught him not to trust to foraging by the way; and not only provisions, but much that added to the luxury and splendour of the English, and which afforded a rich spoil to the victors. The baggage-waggons, if extended in line, would have measured sixty leagues.* The army consisted of 60,000 foot and 40,000 horse; 3,000 of the latter are said to have been horsemen in complete armour. This large force came to Berwick as its rendezvous. The King met the army here. It lodged in the town and in tents outside the town. As Barbour says:

'To Berwik ar (thai) cummyn ilkane;
And sum tharin has innys tane;
And sum logyt with out the townys,
In tends and in pailyownys.'

This great army was divided into ten bodies of 10,000 men each, under leaders of renown, and in this way, on a brilliant morning in June, 1314, it marched out of Berwick, covering a great tract of country, which shone with glittering arms and ensigns. Barbour says:

'Quhen the King apon this kyn wyss
Had ordanyt, as ik her diuiss,
His bataillis and his stering,
He raiss arly in a mornyng,
And fra Berwik he tuk the way.
Bath hillis and walis helyt (shone) thai
As the bataillis that war braid,
Departyt our the feldis raid.
The sone wes bxycht and schynand cler
And armouris that burnyst wer,
Swa blomyt with the sonnys beme,
That all the land was in a leme (flame).
Baneris rycht fayrly flawmand,
And penselys to the wynd wawand.'

A great day it must have been that saw this great host file through the streets of Berwick. Nothing could equal the gorgeousness of the array. Seldom have numbers such as these been exceeded in fighting against the Scots. But numbers alone give not success. The battle of Bannockburn does not belong to our story. This host, vast and splendid as it was, was scattered in headlong rout by Bruce's consummate skill, and thousands were slain on field of battle or in wild retreat. Edward rode off the fieldj got safely to Dunbar, and thence shipped to Berwick almost alone, from which place so shortly before he had led one of the mightiest armies which an English King had ever gathered together against unconquerable Scotland. On returning home, 28th September, he appointed Adomarus de Valentia to be captain of all the country north of the Trent as far as Roxburgh and Berwick, to defend it against the Scots. Even while the King was thus engaged in preparing to defend his country, Lord James Douglas made an incursion as far as Durham, and plundered as he went. Edward was very anxious to keep the burgesses in his favour. He issued an order that all facilities should be given them to trade where they wished, save with Scots. Again those in command of the garrison had forced the inhabitants out of their houses, and had taken up the accommodation themselves, so that the inhabitants were obliged to live in tents outside. On this being mentioned to the King, he ordered at once that remedy be given, and the houses returned to the burgesses. His care over Berwick was very great. A ship of William Tolle, merchant at Grimsby, was sent there with provisions ; for which the King gave him a safe-conduct: 'To all our Ballives and faithful men we commend you that you allow no delay nor impediment whatever to this ship/ Next month he appointed Simon Warde Keeper of the Town and successor to Ralph Fitzwilliam, and promoted him to be Keeper of the Castle as well. This new officer exerted himself loyally during the coming winter and spring, and received special thanks from the King, and was requested to remain longer in office.. But the keeping of Berwick in such warlike times was no sinecure. Warde retired, and on the 17th April, 1315, the King appointed Maurice de Berkeley Keeper of Town and Castle. The Monk of Malmesbury at this period says of Berwick that it is—

'A strong and well-walled town, situated on the sea, in the beginning of Scotland, convenient for merchants in time of peace, which without treachery can never be subject to Scotland. For the English ships sail round all the land, and excel in the art of sailing and in naval engagements. Whence, though all Scotland should attack Berwick, it has nothing to fear on the part of the sea!'

During the following months ships from various ports were sent hither with provisions. The Rose from London was sent with wheat, etc., under the guidance of Martin Atheloff; two ships, Mariole and La Godyere, of Berwick, came from William de Getour, of Hull, to Berwick, on the same errand. A safe-conduct was granted to Thomas de Chesewyk, servant to Walter de Gosewyk, merchant, to guide a ship to Berwick with provisions to our faithful ones in the fortifications there. So that under the supervision of Hugh de Hogton a vast cargo of wheat, barley, oats and beans was stored up there by the end of the summer. About 4,000 qrs. of wheat, 3,000 qrs. of oats, 700 of barley, and 1,400 of beans, were in safe keeping for the southern armies. While all this corn was being stored up, the Scots once more approached the neighbourhood, and, assisted by vessels on the sea side of the town, attempted to recover Berwick. The old Lanercost Chronicler describes this attempt:

*Within the octaves of the Epiphany, 15th January, 1316, the King of Scotland, with a great army, came secretly to Berwick, and under brilliant moonlight made an attack by land and by sea in skiffs, hoping to have entered the town on the river side between the Bridge House and the Castle, where the walls were not yet built. But by means of watchmen and others through the noise of those attacking they were repulsed, and a certain Scotch soldier, Sir J. de Landels, was killed, and Sir James Douglas with difficulty escaped in a small skiff*.'

After this repulse no further attack was made upon the town for more than two years. During this interval, Sir James continued in charge of the Marches of Scotland. At the same time the garrison of Berwick seems principally to have been composed of Gascons, whose captain, Edmond de Cailou, made a successful expedition into the Merse and lower part of Teviotdale, and was returning with his booty, when Sir James got news of the raid. The latter rode at once in pursuit and overtook the Gascon, robbed him of his spoil, and left him dead on the field. When Sir Robert Neville heard what Douglas had done, he boasted that he should like to test his valour. Sir James rode right up to within easy reach of Berwick, met Neville, and singling him out from his company, slew him with his own hand. Such was a beginning of these petty raids, these destructive inroads into the Borderlands, disgraceful alike to both nations. In May, 1316, Berkeley was succeeded by John de Wysham as keeper of both town and castle. In the autumn, the burgesses were congratulated by the King, and asked to continue faithful to him. When 1317 a.d. approached, extreme anxiety was felt by the English Council for the safety of this outpost. Provisions were again sent on to the town. 5,000 qrs. of different kinds of grain, besides bacon and fish, made up an order of royal munificence. The guardians were increased. Richard Horseleye was appointed Keeper of the Castle and John de Wysham was now to confine his attentions to the town. All precautions were certainly needed. In the autumn, when these appointments were completed, and when Robert Bruce had returned from his Irish expedition, Berwick began to be the great point of interest to both nations. Bruce came into the neighbourhood early in 1318, and pitched his camp in the Oldcambus woods. When here, messages arrived from the Pope to the intent that peace should be ordained between the two nations. A number of English Churchmen carried the Papal Bulls northward, and desired audience of Bruce. But Bruce rejected all approaches because they would not address him by his kingly title. To try to overcome this reluctance they engaged Adam Newton, guardian of the Minorite Friars of Berwick, to carry the Papal papers to the Scottish King. Adam set out on his errand, and came up to the camp at the Oldcambus woods, where Bruce was busy making warlike engines for attacking Berwick. Newton had left all the papers in Berwick until he had received a safe-conduct from the King. This was granted him by Walter the Steward. The messenger returned there for the Bulls, brought them to where the army was encamped, but Bruce still refused to look at them until his proper title was given him. Newton was forced to return without a safe-conduct, was overtaken on the road to Berwick, robbed of his papers and Bulls, stripped of his clothes, and, in this plight, sent on to the town.

Bruce was rapidly maturing his plans for his vast undertaking, but these were found in the sequel not to be needed. Barbour says in regard to this:

'Fra the Red Swyre to Orknay
Wes nocht of Scotland fra his fay
Owtakyn Berwik it alanc
That tym thairin wonnyt ane,
That Capitane wcs of the toun.
All Scottismen in suspicioun
He had, and tretyt them rycht ill;
He had ay to thaim hewy will,
And held thaim fast at wndre ay:
Quhill that it fell apon a day
That a burges, Syme of Spalding,
Thoucht that it wes rycht angry thing
Swagate ay to rebutyt be.'

It seems from these words of Barbour that Spalding was annoyed at the Governor's ill-will to the Scotch in the town, and covenanted with Bruce through Marshal Keith to deliver up the town to him if he drew to it during night, and at the Cowgate when it was his turn to watch. Randolph and Douglas drew their army to c Duns Park,' left their horses there, and went quietly towards the town, and, at Spalding's invitation, scaled the walls at the * Kow,' and lay in hiding till break of day, when they immediately spread themselves through the town to slay or take prisoner each his man. The Scots broke off into plundering parties, and through this behaviour nearly lost the day. But by hard fighting on the part of Douglas and Randolph the town soon submitted.

'Sum gat the castell, bot nocht all;
And sum ar slydyn our the wall;
And sum war in till handis tane;
And sum war in till bargayne slayne.'

Those in the castle issued out in great numbers, and fought bitterly, but the besiegers, strengthened by the newly created knight, Sir William Keith,

'That bar him sa rycht weill that day,
And put him till sua hard assay,
And sic dyntis about him dang;
That, quhar he saw the thikkest thrang,
He pressit with sa mekill invent,'

soon drove back the castellans, who, after a siege of six days, succumbed to the Scots, so, that town and castle passed into their hands once more. Soon after, says Barbour, the King (Bruce) came * ridand with his gadering to Berwick.' Contrary to his custom, he determined to save Berwick as a fortress, and 'to stuff weill the castell and the toun withall with men, and with wictaill and alkyn other apparaill that mycht awaile.' He appointed Walter the Steward of Scotland, one of his youngest and bravest knights, to keep and hold Berwick against the English. Whether Spalding's treason was caused as Barbour relates, or by bribery, as the English historians tell the tale, it was thoroughly effectual, to the great annoyance of the English King. It is said that great riches again fell to the conquerors. The English had possessed the town for upwards of twenty years, and trade had naturally flowed to it through its old channels. Edward II. did all in his power to prevent the Scots from obtaining more spoil than he could help We find from the 'Foedera' that he issued orders to the mayor and bailiffs of Hull to arrest all wheat or victuals, or any other goods belonging to the burgesses and others of the community of said town, until they receive further commands from him; for he finds, he says, that the Scots, his c enemies and rebels, have entered into the town through the defect of the mayor, bailifis, and community of our said town, to our grave injury/ Edward here hinted at cowardice or treason on the part of the authorities and chief men of Berwick. So he would punish them for their remissness by arresting all their goods whenever found in his territory.

The taking of Berwick was at this time a grievous blow to Edward, but he determined to undo the mischief as quickly as possible. To enable him to accomplish his design, men and money were demanded. Money was obtained from the heads of abbeys, monasteries, and the like. St. Mary Magdalene's Hospital at Berwick contributed its quota on this occasion. Men were obtained from Wales and from England; all between twenty and sixty years of age were .levied in the northern counties of England to march against the Scots. Victuals were to be sent on, and the King promised not to take them against the will of the merchants. Barges from Newcastle were to be repaired to proceed against the Scots for the recovery of Berwick, and William de Getour was appointed leader of the fleet. Barbour again comes to our rescue at this period, and is wonderfully clear and definite in his descriptions :

'Quhen to the King of Ingland
Was tauld how that, with stalwart hand
Berwik was tayne, and stuffyt syn,
With men, and wictaill of armyn,
He wes anoyit gretumly.'

The King here collected all his forces in a field, so that tents speedily were seen so numerous,

'That thai a toune all sone maid thar
Mar than bath toun and castell war.'

At the same time that the town was thus surrounded by land, on the sea side

'The schippis come in sic plente,
With wittaill, armyng, and with men,
That all the havyn wes stoppyt then.'

The guardian of the town was very popular with his soldiers, and on perceiving all the preparations of the enemy, he excited his men to most energetic action. Day and night they were actively on watch for the attack to begin; but Edward delayed immediate action against the town in order to intrench his camp in the north, to defend it against any attack of Bruce's army, which lay in the neighbourhood. For six days he continued this labour, so that, although coming here on the 1st September, he did not really begin the siege till the morning of the 7th. The 'Inglis ost' then displayed their banners, and each lord with his men gathered to the spot appointed him to assail, with c leddris, scaflaldis, pikkys, howis, and with stafslyng/ Then, at the sound of the trumpet, they rushed to the walls, 'with leddris that thai haid.' But the defenders were on their guard. They made so great defence, 'thai that war abowyne apon the wall, that oft leddris and men with all, thai gert fall flatlingis to the ground.' The walls were low at this period, and this added difficulties to the defence; so low were they, 'that a man with a sper mycht stryk ane othyr wp in the face'. The Scots leader was actively riding from place to place in the town wherever the attack was likely to succeed, and then by force drove the English back, or, as Barbour puts it:

'That quhar men pressit mast, he maid
Succour till his that myster haid.'

While all this was being carried on upon the walls, south, west, and north, a large ship began to move inward with the tide, and came to the Bridge House, fully armed, with a boat half-mast high, filled with soldiers. From this height they had a kind of bridge which they could let fall upon the walls as soon as they approached within reach. Men would thus pass in at once to the town. But so fierce was the defence that the ship was never allowed near enough to permit their plan to succeed. The tide ebbed, the ship grounded, when a crowd rushed out at the gate of the bridge and set fire to the ship, which was speedily and entirely consumed. Some of those in the vessel were slain, others escaped by flight, and out of her they took an engineer whom they afterwards compelled to assist in defending the town by threatening his life if he refused. Those who set fire to the ship had a narrow run for life ; a great company of besiegers, on seeing the ship burning, hastened to it at full speed, and came up to the Scots just as they got within the 'yat and barryt it rycht fast.' This severe fighting continued the whole day, till all were weary. The retreat was at last sounded, when the English retired to their tents and the Scots to their 'innys' after setting good watch and ward. While "they are resting we may notice that during the siege, and in order to draw aside attention, Douglas and Randolph passed into England to harry and burn. They got as far as Yorkshire, where they fought the battle of Mitton (the chapter of Mitton it is called, from the number of monks slain), the news of which reaching Edward, eventually caused him to raise the siege. The English meanwhile prepared for a general attack all along the line. Fresh means were tried. They made a huge piece of mechanism in shape like an ordinary haystack, and called a 'Sow.' This was filled with men, and brought close to the walls to enable those within and under cover to undermine them. But John Crab, the Flemish engineer, now came forward with his subtlety, and framed a crane for throwing stones and trees from a great height over the wall. A crane, too,

'Rynnand on quheillis that thai mycht bring
It quhar that nede war of helping.'

They likewise made bundles of trees combustible with tar and lint and brimstone, binding them firmly with iron, to set on fire what was made for attack. The intention is evident from these lines:

'Gyff the sow come to the wall
To lat it byrnnand on hyr fall;
And with stark cheyneis hald it thar
Quhill all war brynt up that thar war.'

All due preparations were made on both sides, and after a rest of ten days, a new attack was planned and executed.

The morning of the 17th September began, as the 7th, by a general assault all along the landward side. The walls were again attempted with a like result; the Warden, active as before, managed to repulse the English at every point. But the main interest of the second day's siege centred on the new machine, the Sow. For—

'Quheill it wes ner none of the day
Than thai with out on gret aray
Pressyt thair sowe towart the wall.'

Then the Scots forced the captive engineer to take the defence of the wall, and persuaded that he could only thus save his life, he proceeded to demolish this engine. With Crab's crane he raised a stone and threw it, but it went far beyond the machine. Those within 'hyr' set up a shout of triumph. Another stone was thrown, this time falling short of the mark. A third was successful. The stone, lifted high, descended right over the ' Sow/ and dashed the roof to pieces, when out rushed the men. It is now the Berwickians' turn to shout, and they cried out, * that thar sow was feryt thar.' Up the engineer took a bundle of combustible matter, swung it over the wall, and c brynt the sow till brundis bar.' The ships pressed into the harbour, in numbers, with boats half-mast high; but this engineer cast a stone at the first, slew some of the men and hurt others, and so frightened the remainder of the fleet that the attack by sea ceased. The ships withdrew and left the besiegers at liberty to repulse the repeated landward assaults. These were carried on with a kind of desperation that seemed at one time in the afternoon to be about to command success. The besiegers had burnt the drawbridge beyond Marygate, and were hastening on to burn the gate as well. When Keith discovered this, he threw open the gate, called the castellans to his help, dashed away the burning materials from behind the gate, made a sudden and fierce attack upon the besieging host, and, after a severe struggle, drove them back. The great siege was over; the last attempt to take Berwick ended in disastrous failure, 'Quhill the nycht gert thaim on bath (sides) half leve the fycht.'

Edward withdrew his host partly because of the mischief the Scots were working in England, partly because Lancaster, his uncle, who was in the camp, had a secret leaning towards the Scots, and was determined to withdraw his men, whatever Edward might resolve upon doing. Berwick now remained in Scots hands for fourteen years without any other attempt upon it, and it deserved to do, so ; for hear Barbour:

(And off a thing that thar befell,
Ik naff ferly, that I sail tell;
That is, that, in till all that day,
Quhen all thair mast assailyeit thai,
And the schot thikkest wes with all,
Women with child, and childer small,
In armfullis gaderyt wp, and bar
Till thaim that on the wallis war
Arowys and stanys, nane slane war,
Na yeit woundyt; and that wes mar
The myrakill of God Almychty:
And to noucht ellys it set can I.

So says the superstition of a bygone age. The monkish chroniclers were always ready to hail these incidents as miracles.

After the siege was over; Bruce came to Berwick and learned who had been its most powerful defenders. Tytler the historian says, 'Bruce could not fail to be particularly gratified by these successes. Berwick, not only the richest commercial town in England, but of extreme importance as a key to that country, remained in his hands after a siege by an overwhelming army led by the King of England in person; and the young warrior who had so bravely repulsed the enemy was the Steward of Scotland, the husband of his only daughter, on whom the hopes and wishes of the nation mainly rested.' When Bruce was now at Berwick, for the better defence of the town he ordered the wall to be built ten feet high all round. Whether this order was to make the Edwardian wall ten feet high, or build ten feet on the top, is uncertain. Remnants of this wall still exist on a line with the Bell Tower. This defeat of the English at Berwick and at the chapter at Mitton led them to sue for a truce, which was agreed upon for six months, and then for two years; conservators were appointed on each side of the Borders to keep this truce, and compel the Borderers to observe its terms. This was the first appointment in history of such conservators. These became in time the Wardens of the Marches, with whom we shall yet become more familiar. Berwick drops out of history for a few years. It goes on in its quiet way developing its business capabilities; its merchants are fast accumulating riches; the town is once more assuming its old and proud position of being the most commercial town of the time. Bruce was frequently here during these years, as many old records testify. Transactions of various kinds were dated from Berwick. In a meeting of the council there, a royal grant was made to Aberdeen on 10th December, 1319. It met again at Berwick on 7th June, 1323; and in November, 1324, a grant was made to Robert de Keth of all the lands in Buchan. This meeting is said to have been in presence of all the magnates of Scotland.' From 1327 onwards to 1333 we learn somewhat of Berwick from the Chamberlain Rolls that are extant. The Governor of the Town during that period was Alex de Seton, who was displaced, as we shall see, by Sir William Keith, in the critical year 1333. Michael de Angus was Governor of the Castle in the first-mentioned year. He was succeeded by Robert de Lawedre, who was again displaced by the Earl of Moray, and then the Earl of Dunbar succeeded to the important post just before the conquest of the town by the English. Lauder was not only Governor of the Castle, but Warden of the March and Sheriff of the County of Berwick. He received 100 marks for his fee. The trade, I have said, was very considerable. In 1327, £529 7s. 6d. was paid for custom on 1,278 sacks and 17 stone of wool, 10,762 sheepskins, 8 lasts, and 2 hides, all exported in 25 great and little ships. In 1330 the custom on wools, etc., paid was £549, and next year it was £570; thus it shows an increase every year as long as peace prevailed. The custom of Edinburgh at the same period was only about £400 ; that of Aberdeen, £484 ; Dundee, £85 ; and Perth, £88.

But we pass on to the time when a new and important treaty was agreed upon and signed between England and Scotland. Edward II. died in 1327, and was succeeded by his son, a minor, who was ruled for a few years by Isabella, his mother, and Mortimer; through them young Edward agreed to the Treaty of Northampton, containing as one part of its stipulations that England renounced all claim to the homage of Scotland, or right of sovereignty over it (for this claim, it is said, has led already to too much bloodshed between two countries which should have been at peace), and that Bruce was to pay to Edward £20,000 for this renunciation and for damages done by his subjects to England. This money was to be paid in three instalments at Tweedmouth. Another article of the treaty determined a marriage between David Bruce and Joan, the young sister of the English King. In order to effect this part of the stipulation, the young lady was to come to Berwick on the 15th July, 1328, and to be delivered there to the King of Scotland, or to anyone commissioned there to receive her. This treaty was completed and ratified by an English Parliament. The dowry of £2,000 was settled upon Joan, and at the appointed time the Bishop of Lincoln, Chancellor of England, and a splendid retinue, accompanied the Queen and the Princess to Berwick, where, Bruce himself being sick, the cavalcade was received by the Earl of Moray and Lord Douglas. This marriage was celebrated here with great magnificence; the sheen of its splendour still dazzles us. It took place on the Sunday next after the feast of the Holy Mary Magdalene, f The fact of the gorgeousness of the display rests upon the sum of money spent on the occasion, and from the items that formed the feast and its accompaniments. It was not enough to take what was attainable in our own country. Peter Machenar was sent with a vessel to Flanders to purchase various commodities for the occasion. These consisted of many kinds of cloth and furs for the soldiers and servants, spices of different kinds, such as nutmegs, mace, canella bark, galangal, crocus, cinnamon, ginger, etc., etc. ; confections to a large amount, 154 lbs. of one kind and 41 lbs. of another ; over 50 lbs. of wax for candles, 20 hhds. of wine and 1 of vinegar, 2 pipes of olive-oil, 1 pipe "of honey, 2 barrels of mustard, 7 barrels of eels containing 2,200. Pots and pans of various descriptions Peter was commissioned to bring. He was allowed, beyond the freight of the vessel, two shillings for every pound's worth of goods as commission for the purchase. The total amount of cargo and commission was £941 9s. 6d. From the number of hides and pelts afterwards sold we gather that 20 oxen and 400 sheep were killed for the feast. 67 chalders 3 firlots of wheat, 47 chalders of malt and barley, and 24 chalders of oats were likewise used. It is but fair to add that all this material was not consumed at the marriage festivities. Numerous presents were given away. Ten oxen were given to John de London, Michael de Angus, and John, son of Walter. To the Brothers Minors of Berwick half a chalder of wheat was gifted. The sale of the marts remaining and of their hides only amounted to 41s. 4d., and not more, because the remainder, as well of marts as of muttons, was thrown to the dogs. Other items are interesting. Symonde Salton stayed to settle up matters in Berwick after the feast, and received 65s. 3^d. for his trouble; the minstrels received £66 15s. 4d., and the cooks' wages amounted to £2$ 6s. 8d. These are very large sums, considering the value of money in these distant times. £25 would then have purchased 75 oxen, or 160 sheep, or 370 salmon. Peter de Peblis, the Chamberlain, paid £20 to the Sheriff for repairs of the walls of the town, and £22 10s. was paid to the mason for the same purpose. John Crab, the famous engineer, for his watching of Berwick, received £180. Four watchmen in Berwick Castle, at 4d. per day, for the year received £18 6s. The janitorship was worth £100 by the year; and the auditor of accounts was paid £45.

Bruce, the King, was sick at the time of the marriage of his son David. This sickness turned out to be the forerunner of the end. He died at Cardross in 1329 of leprosy, a disease to which he had been subject for some time. Shortly after Bruce's death, the relations between the two countries speedily underwent a decided change. On Edward's assumption of regal power, at the early age of eighteen, an able king once more sat on the English throne; and a minor of eight or nine years of age was left to rule the turbulent north. The southern ruler gained a further decided advantage by the death, soon after this, of two of the ablest of the nobles who had been left the guardians or regents of Scotland—Robert Randolph, Earl of Moray, and the good Lord James of Douglas.


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