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An Early Great Britain and its Failure
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An Early Great Britain and its Failure
Wales
Edward I was a man of great political ideas; moreover, he had qualities and advantages which many political thinkers have not got. He was no mere dreamer, but a practical statesman. He not only thought, but he planned. He strove to put his ideas into practice in a logical and orderly way; and being a king, and a very powerful king too, he had the chance of trying his schemes. He could do what he liked; he was not, as statesmen often are nowadays, compelled to be content with half-measures, aiming only at the second best, because the best seems too difficult to attain.
Scotland
The Makings of Scotland
In this chapter we have to notice: (1) how the various kingdoms in Scotland had come under one rule; (2) how the English language had spread in the country; and (3) in what way the kings of England had regarded it as a kingdom in some sense subject to themselves.
Edward I and the Scottish Throne
The end of the reign of Alexander III was darkened with disasters. One by one the king's children died. Alexander, indeed, was still vigorous. He was only in his forty-fourth year; by a second marriage he might still raise up heirs for the kingdom. Unhappily these hopes were futile. The king himself was killed by falling over the cliffs while riding back at night to rejoin his queen. The only direct descendant was a granddaughter, Margaret, the child of Eric, King of Norway.
The Story of Scottish Independence
From the first no one had liked Balliol. Yet when a king of England showed that he meant to conquer Scotland and make it part of his kingdom by force, the whole of Scotland determined to resist. Hitherto Edward had had, in the main, to deal with the Scottish barons; they, as we have seen, were largely Norman in blood. Now he had to encounter something quite different, Scotland in arms against him.
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Chronology
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