Pigs might soar

Sometime over the winter of 1301-2, probably over Christmas, Robert de Bruce submitted to the English. He did so for two reasons. Edward I had agreed to a truce with Philip le Bel, whereby all the castles and land conquered by the English in southwest Scotland would be handed over to French agents. This included Bruce’s castle at Turnberry, and he was not prepared to lose it to the French; technically Philip’s men were supposed to hand everything back when the truce expired, which was about as likely as pigs developing powers of aviation.

There was also the threat of John Balliol. Bruce wanted to be King of Scots, which he couldn’t be if Philip put Balliol back on the Scottish throne. What nobody realised - except possibly Edward’s spymaster, Walter Langton - is that Philip was bluffing. What he really wanted was to remove the threat of Edward sending any more troops to Flanders, and used Balliol and the Scots to that end.

Bruce first made contact with John de St John, Edward’s keeper of Galloway. St John was a relatively decent character for the era, and Bruce may have trusted the man not to play him false. After some cautious initial talks Bruce met with St John at Lochmaben, in the presence of ‘many good people’.

This stuff was too important to be conducted via a mediator, so Bruce probably went to meet Edward in person. They hadn’t seen each other for five years, and there were certain safeguards: the king had to guarantee that Bruce would not be harmed or lose his lands. In exchange Bruce made a show of contrition, though the reality was that both men needed something from each other. The terms they negotiated are vague on the most vital point. If Balliol returned to Scotland, and Edward’s ‘right’ (le droit) to rule the country was reversed - presumably by the pope - Edward would allow Bruce to pursue his ‘right’ in the English court. If the ‘right’ was pursued in some other court, Edward would provide assistance.

Whatever the hell this means has been disputed by historians. Possibly ‘le droit’ referred to the Bruce claim to the throne, which meant Edward promised to set Bruce up as a rival King of Scots to Balliol, with himself as Lord Paramount. Alternatively, the ‘right’ may have amounted to no more than Bruce’s family estates and the earldom of Carrick.

In any case, Bruce’s submission seems to have lifted the old king’s spirits. On 20 January 1302 Edward staged an Arthurian-themed ‘Round Table’ tournament at Falkirk, on the site of his defeat of William Wallace four years earlier. Possibly this was to celebrate Bruce’s return to the fold. Whether or not Bruce competed in the tourney, dressed up as one of King Arthur’s knights, is unknown.