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Scottish
Girls in Cages, Longshanks, and the Providence of God
“The rank is
but the guinea's stamp,
The Man's the gowd for all of that.”
--Robert
Burns, “A Man’s a Man for all of That”
“Thou hidest thy
face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to
their dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest
the face of the earth.” (Ps 104:29-30 AV)
Most say the cages were made of wickerwork. One report said they were made of iron and stone, made to look
like crowns, but this may have been an embellishment of the history to
England’s advantage. One thing is
certain, they were cages suspended on the castle walls of Berwick and Roxburgh
in Scotland.
They were the residences of two noblewomen of Scotland. Mary, the 24-year-old sister of Robert the
Bruce, spent four years in the one at Berwick, courtesy of the English king,
Edward Longshanks. Isabella, the
Countess of Buchan existed in the other.
Her crime was insisting on her hereditary right to crown the king of
Scotland. Edward, of course, recognized
no right except his own and wanted to provide amusement and edification for the
people of Scotland.[1]
Edward considered himself king of England, Scotland, and Wales. He was
secure in the rightness of his opinion and could not understand why the Scots
were so rebellious. Why should they
quarrel with history?
Why were not they able to see that it was the will of God, that the
destiny of Britain to be one nation under the rule of the King of England, who
held his throne by divine right? It was
simply selfishness on their part and probably the result of heresy and
unbelief. Wales had been brought under control;
peace had been made with France. The
“Scottish Question” had to be settled if England was to be secure. The Scots must be made to realize that the
authority of the crown and the authority of the church came from one God, and
the decrees of both were to be obeyed if one wanted to avoid the penalties for
both treason and blasphemy.
In one respect the King of England was right. It is an old and established doctrine of the Church that God by
His providence rules all things. As the
Heidelberg Catechism puts is, “All things come not by chance, but by His
Fatherly hand.” [HC 27]
But there are many spirits that drive the souls of
men, and it is very difficult at times to know which are from God and which
arise from other sources. It is a
dangerous thing, moreover, to drive your car by only looking in the rear-view
mirror. A secular form of Edward’s mistake
was the determinism of the Marxist-socialist heresies of the twentieth century,
which ruined many nations who bought into the idea of economic
determinism. The Biblical doctrine is
not that the past determines the present, but that the promise of God and the
hidden purposes of God determine the present.
What shapes the future is the purpose of God which He has hidden in His
Own decree. We must, therefore, be
humble and cautious, for we do not know what a day will bring forth. [Proverbs
27:1] It is God who rules in the
heavens and among the nations of the earth, and even the worst of devils only
have a certain time and place given to them.
[Daniel 4 and Revelation 9]
Probably, very few in the days of Edward Longshanks
understood this, just as not many receive it today. Each man seeks his own ways and his own lusts. Edward was ruthless in his enterprises to
subdue Scotland to his will. Because of his heavy blows, he came to be known as
the “Hammer of Scots,” a title well-deserved.
But the intent of God is seldom the same as the
intentions of men. A hammer is not only
a tool that tears down and destroys, but it is also a wonderful instrument for
shaping and forming. The cruelty and
horror of the Longshanks era of Scottish history is that exactly. Not only did it break and destroy, it also
shaped and formed the Scottish nation according to a future purpose of the Lord
Almighty.
Longshanks lived in perilous times.
Across the waters in Europe his colleague and sometimes foe, Philip of
France, was locked in mortal combat with a most benighted pope, Boniface VIII,
who insisted that the Two Swords of God [church and state] were both to be
unsheathed at the command of the Pope for the good of the Church. [Of course, the Pope WAS the church, so
there should never be any confusion about it.] Boniface died in 1303 after being humiliated by the French and
the Papacy was moved to Avignon for some seventy years, beginning the decline
of the Papacy and preparing the way for Luther. Longshanks would die in 1307, also a bitter and disillusioned
man, but not before he had drawn and quartered his worst foe in 1305. Philip would linger on until 1314 with the
blood of the Templars on his hands and their gold in his treasury. To understand his times is to better understand
Longshanks.
In the Parable of the Sower,
our Lord Jesus describes the way that the seed is received by the soil. The seed languishes and does not produce
fruit in bad soil. The birds eat the
seed, the thorns and thistles choke it out, the sun blasts it, but it produces
fruit of various quantities only in the good soil. The Lord does not tell us in this parable how the soil got to be
good soil, but this also is the work of God and He prepares nations as well as
individuals for the reception of the Gospel and the works of faith. As Calvin says, “For, because the corruption
of the world is worse than that it can be wholly brought to obey Christ, he
bloweth away, with diverse fans of tribulations, the chaff and weeds, that he
may at length gather unto himself that which shall remain.”[2]
Job
said, “Naked came I into the world,” but Job did not come into a naked world
and neither did Edward Longshanks.
Scotland was not Wales and her history and people were different. The Romans had tried unsuccessfully to
subdue Scotland and finally resorted to building a wall from sea to sea.
Although
the Romans left Britain after 410, Christianity continued to expand north of
Hadrian’s Wall. St. Patrick completed
the conversion of Ireland, and in the sixth century St. Columba founded the
famous monastery on the island of Iona of the east coast of Scotland. From there St. Aiden went to the holy
Island of Lindisfarn and build a monastery on the East Coast of Scotland. The influence of the Irish in Scotland was profound,
especially in the Border, just north of Hardian’s Wall. In the hills and valleys the Scots and Irish
became intermingled and moved easily between Scotland and Ireland. They were a rugged people who were often in
conflict with the kings of England as well as the noblemen of Scotland, who
found it necessary to play a balancing game between the kings of Europe,
especially those of France, Norway, and England. Many Scottish noblemen possessed estates in England as well as in
Scotland and their loyalty was divided.
The far north of Scotland served various foreign princes from time to
time and disobeyed each of them with true democratic impartiality.
It
was especially the rugged descendants of these Scots-Irish people that were
such a pain to Edward Longshanks. “The
trouble with Scotland is that there are too many Scotsmen,” he is reported to
have said in a moment of extreme frustration.
Many of the proper Scots noblemen were in his pay and under his control,
especially the bishops of the Church, for Edward was a most faithful servant of
Rome. The real trouble was with those
lovers of liberty who were proud that they had never been conquered by the
Roman legions or by the Roman missionaries and bishops.
Things
were always complicated in Scotland, but the death of King Alexander III of
Scotland in 1286 gave Edward Longshanks an opportunity to push into the
“Scottish Question.” He was certainly
willing to fish in troubled waters, and by 1291 it appeared that Scotland was
sliding into civil war. When bishop
William Fraser of St. Andrews asked Longshanks to act as a mediator to try to
decide the legitimacy of each claim to the throne of Scotland, Longshanks
eagerly agreed, on condition that he be named “Lord Paramount” of Scotland and
that all swear loyalty to him. This was
done, except for a few worthies who were not naïve about either the lords or
the bishops. Edward took possession of
the castles in Scotland and replaced their masters with Englishmen loyal to
him. He moved the early records of Scotland
to England. He also placed in
Westminster Abbey the Stone of Destiny, upon which all kings of Scotland were
crowned. He intended nothing but the
entire subjugation of Scotland to the English crown. All for the good of Scotland, of course.
In
the movie “Braveheart,” Longshanks’ solution to the “Scottish Question” was a
simple one, worthy of the monsters of the modern world. The so-called “Droit de seigneur” is much disputed nowadays and
is probably a fiction. Edward was not a
good guy, but it is doubtful that even the compromised nobles and churchmen in
Scotland could have aided and abetted such a thing. Under this supposed decree, the English lord would have the right
to the virginity of the Scottish girls under his jurisdiction. The Scottish race would disappear, mingled with good English
stock. The northern border would be
secure and God would be pleased.
Hollywood will be Hollywood and movies are not to be confused with
history, but this writer suspects that the causes of “Braveheart’s” opposition were more religious in nature, having
to do with authority and jurisdiction over a free nation, being usurped by an
English despot. Conditions were very
similar to the events leading up to the American War for Independence. The roots of almost every kind of conflict
are religious in nature, for it is always God “with whom we have to do.”
[Hebrews 4:13]. Whatever the causes,
William Warren [Braveheart] captured the imagination of a whole generation of
the Scots and the events of his life helped prepare the soil of Scotland for
the seed that would come with John Knox.
The noblemen of Scotland, who often had difficulty deciding
between what was good for Scotland and what was good for themselves, betrayed
Warren, even though he won several important victories. He was taken bound to England, tried for
treason against Edward, drawn and quartered and his body parts sent to all
parts of Britain. The fact that Warren
had never sworn loyalty to the usurper Longshanks was ignored by the courts and
the bishops. Those who worship power
never care about the nice parts of the law and only affirm the law when the law
can be twisted to fit their ambitions, ignoring the weightier matters of mercy,
justice, and faith [Matthew 23:23]
Because of many centuries of oppression by unjust and ungodly laws, the
phrase “the rule of law” did not often ring grandly in the ears of common
Scotsmen, especially those Border Scots.
The martyrdom of Warren came two years after the death of Pope
Boniface VIII and two years before the death of Edward Longshanks. In reality, we suppose, that Longshanks,
Boniface, Warren, and Bruce were footsoldiers in the long battle between
liberty and injustice that was joined at the resurrection of Christ.
The execution of Warren, was cruel, obscene, brutal--a
mistake of huge proportions. Satan is
bloodthirsty and brutal, as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, and so
makes the same mistake again and again, yielding the moral high ground to those
who suffer. The flames of resistance to
English rule spread throughout the land.
Whether by conscience or ambition, the task of defending Scottish
liberty from English usurpation and bishops was taken up by Robert the Bruce,
whose father had a claim to the throne of Scotland. Robert killed his major rival to the throne and was declared an
outlaw by Edward and excommunicated by the Pope. This blot on the record of this hero of Scotland only emphasizes
the equivocal nature of the history of the Scottish nation. The defenders of Bruce pointed out that his
rival had tried to kill him at least once.
These were nasty times. But the
spirit of Boniface was headed for collision with the spirit of liberty now
taking a clearer form in Scotland. The
conflict would make many victims in the next centuries before liberty became
firmly established in the free soil of America. Before then, it would be reinforced by events and writings in
France, Holland, Scotland and England itself.
Robert had himself crowned king of Scotland
in 1306 at the royal city of Scone.
Robert’s sister Mary, and Isabella, Countess of Buchan, attended and
approved the coronation which was certain to attract the attention of
Longshanks. The English army marched
north. Edward had raised the Dragon Flag, meaning that no quarter or mercy
would be given. He smashed Bruce’s army
at Methven Park. Robert’s troops were
out manned, ill prepared, and completely routed. Although only a few months away from his final hour, the Hammer
of the Scots was merciless. But as
Barrow put it,
Yet the disaster was the saving of Bruce
and his kingdom. If he had won, as he might well have done, he would almost
certainly have met the English king in the field in a major pitched battle,
eight years before he was ready for it.[3]
Robert had sent his wife and family
north for safety and retreated into hiding.
During this time, while hiding in a cave he is said to have observed a
spider, relentlessly spinning and re-spinning its web. Impressed by the spider’s perseverance, he
resolved to continue his struggle for the liberty of Scotland.
Longshanks marched to Berwick, which
held out valiantly until betrayed by a blacksmith who built a fire in the
castle. Edward hanged his prisoners
including three brothers of Bruce. The Earl
of Athol was taken to London and executed.
His body was burned and his head impaled and displayed on London Bridge.
The family of Bruce were betrayed,
captured, and brought to Longshanks.
Bruce’s wife, his two sisters, and daughter Marjory were sent to
London. Marjory was ten years old. Some say that Edward had a cage made for her
on the wall of the Tower of London; others say he thought about it, but changed
his mind and sent her to a convent for eight years. After Bannockburn, she and others were exchanged for prisoners, but
Longshanks was long dead by then. She
was married the next year to Walter Stewart and died at 20 in childbirth, her
baby taken from her dying body. This
baby was destined to be Robert II, King of Scotland and the father of the long
line of Stewart [Stuart] kings in Scotland and England.
The Countess and Mary spent four years in their cages, and
afterwards went to a convent. Of
Isabel of Buchan, the document once attributed to Matthew of Westminster
records:
“That most impious of conspiratrix, the Countess of Buchan,
being likewise apprehended, the King commanded that, since she had not used the
sword, her life should be spared; but, in regard of her illegal conspiracy, she
should be confined in a building, constructed of stone and iron, having the
shape of a crown, and suspended in the same at Berwick, in the open air; that
she might thereby become a spectacle to all passengers, both during her life
and after her death, and a perpetual example of opprobrium.”[4]
Robert the Bruce persevered and at last won a great victory
over the English at Bannockburn in 1314.
His best fortune was to live beyond the death of Edward, who died at the
head of his army looking across Solway Firth at Scotland. His son Edward was a weakling and no match
for Bruce. Bruce is reported to have
said that it was easier to wrest a kingdom from Edward II than it was to get
one foot of land from Longshanks. Bruce
had learned from his old enemy and carried some of the same ruthlessness against
the Scots still loyal to England. By
1320 he was master of Scotland and king in more than just name. Scottish independence and unity were
achieved.
The sons of autocracy are slow-learners, they cannot understand the spirit of
liberty. It was a very modern spirit
that stirred in the glens and cairns and mountains of Scotland, not even
understood perhaps by those who felt it or by those who died. The excesses of the English in interfering
with the Scottish church finally alienated the Pope himself and led to the
famous Declaration of Arbroath in 1320.
Robert the Bruce’s victory was complete.
In 1320, six
years after Bannockburn, the Declaration of Arbroath was taken to the Pope in
Avignon by Sir Adam Gordon. The document, a formal Declaration of Independence,
was drawn up in Arbroath Abbey and signed by the barons and nobles of Scotland.
The following is an excerpt:
“Admonish this King Edward [II], since England’s possessions may well
suffice seven kings or more, that he should leave us in peace in our own little
Scotland, as we desire no more than is our own, and have no dwelling place
beyond our own borders.
For, so long as a hundred of us remain alive, we never will in any degree
be subject to the lordship of the English. Since it is not for glory, riches or
honour we fight, but for liberty alone, which no good man loses but with his
life.”[5]
The struggle of the Scots against Britain was a long one,
but the throne was secure for the descendents of Robert the Bruce. When Elizabeth I of England died, her
successor was James Stuart of Scotland and eventually various Acts of Union
brought England, Scotland, and Wales into one nation. Queen Elizabeth had been monarch of Ireland as well. Who knows what would have come to pass in
Ireland but for the shortsightedness of Cromwell in paying his Ironsides in
Irish lands?
The ideal of liberty that so vexed the Romans and
Longshanks was nurtured in the rugged land of the border and their friendly
neighbors and relatives in Ireland. The
Reformation of John Knox found fertile soil for liberty in Christ among the
hearts of the descendents of Warren and Bruce and Scotland grew in godliness
and understanding. The result would be
the Covenanters and the Westminster Confessions and Catechisms. They would fight among themselves, of
course, for liberty is always untidy as is every human endeavor. What a man fights for and what he
surrenders alike reveal his values.
These same lovers of liberty flocked to the banner of William and
Mary when the French and the Pope tried to impose His Catholic Majesty James II
on the British Isles. James II landed
on Ireland, hoping that the Catholic inhabitants would join him and restore his
throne in England. He thought
wrong. Much of the army of William III
who defeated James II at the Siege of Londonderry and the
Battle of the Boyne were the descendants of those who fought at Bannockburn and
Berwick.[6]
But we might suppose that lovers of liberty and
lovers of the tidy will always be at odds.
We also might suppose that they need each other. The great Scots-Irish immigration shortly
began to the new and free lands of North America. Here the sons and daughters of the long struggle for liberty and
conscience would find others of like mind from the Palatinate, from Denmark,
from Scandinavia. Exiles from France
and England would become their brothers and sisters. They had suffered much from rich noblemen and fat bishops. They differed about many things of
importance, but they agreed on one thing:
liberty was worth fighting and dying for, for it is one of the most
precious gifts of God to His servants
The blood of their ancestors had stained the ground of their homelands,
shed by cruel taskmasters and arrogant churchmen. Their children were willing to spill their blood in the New
World.
The Law of Moses forbade the dehumanizing of
men. “And it shall be,
if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him
to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a
certain number. Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if
he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother
should seem vile unto thee.” (De 25:2-3 AV)
It may very well be that a wicked man deserves a flogging, but the judge
had to observe the beating and the flogging was to be limited, lest the guilty
“seem vile unto thee.” Not even the
guilty were to be beaten to a bloody pulp, but even in punishment were treated
like men. The dehumanizing of William
Warren and the family of Robert the Bruce could not accomplish what Longshanks
hoped it would.
The image of cruelty and brutishness lingered in the minds of the
Scots. Many looked upon those cages
hanging from the walls of the castles and learned another lesson than the one Longshanks
intended: “That is wrong. No one should be treated like that.” It was a lesson that would be written into
law in the famous Bill of Rights in the American Constitution. Amendment Eight: “…Cruel and unusual punishments [shall not be] inflicted.” During his time at Princeton, James Madison,
the author of the Bill of Rights had been tutored by James Witherspoon.
Most of the readers of this publication will not
need it, but for those who do, we will give you a translation of one stanza of
the famous poem of Scotland’s most rowdy poet:
Ye see that fellow, called a lord,
Who struts, an' stares, and all of that;
Though hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a drip for all of that:
For all of that, and all of that,
His ribbon, star, and all of that:
The man of independent mind
He looks an' laughs at all of that.
--Robert Burns, “A Man’s a Man for all of That”
[1] Barrow, G.W.S. Robert Bruce. Edinburgh University Press. Edinburgh. 2005. pp. 209ff. Barrow records the ferocity of Longshanks’ reprisal against the family and followers of Bruce.
[2] Calvin,
John. Commentary at Acts. 15:17.
[3] Barrow, G.W.S. Robert Bruce. Edinburgh University Press. Edinburgh. 2005. p. 199.
[4] “Matthew of Westminster” probably does not exist, but the document does. The document is The Flowers of History, some of which was written by Matthew Paris, and some written at elsewhere. A copyist probably made the mistake of attributing the whole to Matthew Paris and put him at Westminster where some of the document was written. The portion quoted above does give the English perspective on the caged countess.
[5] http://www.scotsconnection.com/clan_crests/Bruce.htm. Consulted March 7, 2007.
[6] Webb, James. Born Fighting. Broadway Books. New York. 2004. pp. 108ff.