Chapter IX: The Interregnum—John Baliol. 1286-1292
How this hope was disappointed is known to every reader of history. With the death of the Maid of Norway at Orkney, on her way to Scotland, all expectation of a peaceful settlement of the national troubles passed away. Then followed the wrangling and contention of the suitors for the Crown—the unpatriotic submission of their claims to the English King—and their still more unpatriotic obedience to his haughty demand, that, prior to his sitting in judgment on these, he should be acknowledged as Lord Paramount. [15] The Stewart was one of those who joined in this acquiescence, probably with the hope of favouring the claim of his friend the Bruce. He was one of the arbiters on the part of Bruce in the presence of the King of England, [16] who had taken care to secure his interest by a gift of lands of the annual value of £100. [17] Judgment was given in favour of John Baliol, who was crowned King of Scotland, after having, as a vassal, performed homage to Edward. The newly-created Sovereign could not brook the indignities that were heaped upon himself and on the country by his haughty superior, and raised the standard of rebellion. Then came the terrible subjugation of Scotland by the English King, who, with an army of thirty thousand foot and five thousand horse, passed, in 1296, from Berwick to Elgin, crushing all opposition and devastating the land. Happily for our Abbey, his course both northwards, and on his return, was by the east rather than the west of Scotland, though he did not leave the country without letting both the Abbot and monks know that he must be acknowledged henceforth as their King. On the 28th of April he left Berwick, on the 26th July he was at Elgin, and Berwick was reached on his return on the 22nd August. [18] In that town, on the 28th of that month, he held a Parliament, to which he had summoned the heads of the clergy and laity of Scotland to swear fealty to him. Their names and their oaths of homage, filling thirty-five skins of parchment, are still preserved among the English archives. [19] Great landowners and churchmen were summoned, and though the choice offered them was taking the oath or martyrdom, each of them is specially made to say that what he does is from a sense of duty and of his own free will. [20] In the sorrowful list is found the name of Walter, Abbot of Paisley, who, like others, swore on the Holy Gospels, that he would be “true and loyal, and keep faith and loyalty to the King of England and to his heirs, and that he would never bear arms for any one, or give advice or aid against him or against his heirs in any case which can happen. So may God help me and the saints.” It probably cost many a Scotchman a sore heart to put his name and seal to a document like this, but in the case of Abbot Walter, the pang was exceeding bitter, for it was accompanied by an infliction from which others were free.
It will be remembered that when Walter the Stewart, in 1246, transferred the lands and churches belonging to the house of Dalmulin to Paisley, the Abbot was held bound to pay to the Master of Sempringham, who resigned Dalmulin and its possessions, the sum of forty merks annually. [21] This was to be paid every year at the Monastery of Dryburgh. The successors of Abbot William, who made the agreement, had apparently not been very faithful in making this payment. They probably did not like to send any Scotch money across the border, and as the jealousy of everything English extended to the clergy as well as to the laity, the Paisley monks could not brook any acknowledgement of obligation, pecuniary or otherwise, to an English house. Abbot Walter, when at Berwick, was sharply reminded of his liabilities. The Prior of Malton, who was of the order of Sempringham, brought up against him his defective payments. The Abbot was in the hands of the Philistines, and had to submit with the best grace that he could. Accordingly, there is given in the same document [22] that records his submission, a clear acknowledgement of his debts. The Abbot of Paseleke (as he is called), owns that he is indebted forty merks to the Master of the Order of Sempringham, of which he should pay him ten merks after the feast of the beheading of John the Baptist, and thirty next after the feast of St. Michael following, and unless he makes this payment, he agrees for himself and his Convent that the said money should be levied from their goods and chattels in the County of Lanark. [23] This acknowledgement is witnessed by the King, and it is added that Abbot Walter then paid ten merks, and he doubtless returned to Paisley with a wholesome dread of what would happen if the other thirty were not forthcoming at the proper time. He had looked on the face of Edward, and anyone who saw the determined countenance of the “Hammer of Scotland” must have known that he was not a man to be trifled with. But the impost was felt to be a very disagreeable one by the Convent, and they waited for a fitting opportunity to get rid of it.
[15] Tytler, Vol. I., pp. 28, 355.
[16] Tytler, Vol. I., p. 38.
[17] Rymer's Foedera, Vol. II., p. 556.
[18] Bannatyne Miscellany. Diary of the Expedition of Edward in 1290.
[19] Tytler, Vol. I., p. 47. Ragman Rolls, Bannatyne Club.
[20] Burton's Hist. of Scot., Vol. II., 177.
[21] Reg. de Pas., p. 27.
[22] Rotuli Scotiae.
[23] This comprehended Renfrewshire.