The eagerness with which the Scots welcomed the proposal of marriage was sufficient evidence that the time had come for carrying out Edward’s statesmanlike scheme, but the conditions which were annexed to it should have warned him that there were limits to the Scottish compliance with his wishes.  Scotland was not in any way to be absorbed by England, although the crowns would be united in the persons of Edward and Margaret.  Edward wisely made no attempt to force Scotland into any more complete union, although he could not but expect that the union of the crowns would prepare the way for a union of the kingdoms.  He certainly interpreted in the widest sense the rights given him by the treaty of Brigham, but when the Scots objected to his demand that all Scottish castles should be placed in his power, he gave way without rousing further suspicion or indignation.  Hitherto, his policy had been characterized by the great sagacity which he had shown in his conduct of English affairs; it is impossible to refuse either to sympathize with his ideals or to admire the tact he displayed in his negotiations with Scotland.  His considerateness extended even to the little Maid of Norway, for whose benefit he victualled, with raisins and other fruit, the “large ship” which he sent to conduct her to England.  But the large ship returned to England with a message from King Eric that he would not entrust his daughter to an English vessel.  The patient Edward sent it back again, and it was probably in it that the child set sail in September, 1290.  Some weeks later, Bishop Fraser of St. Andrews, one of the guardians, and a supporter of the English interest, wrote to Edward that he had heard a “sorrowful rumour” regarding the queen.[42] The rumour proved to be well-founded; in circumstances which are unknown to us, the poor girl-queen died on her voyage, and her death proved a fatal blow to the work on which Edward had been engaged for the last four years.

Of the thirteen[43] competitors who put forward claims to the crown, only three need be here mentioned.  They were each descended from David, Earl of Huntingdon, brother of William the Lion and grandson of David I. The claimant who, according to the strict rules of primogeniture, had the best right was John Balliol, the grandson of Margaret, the eldest daughter of Earl David.  His most formidable opponent was Robert Bruce of Annandale, the son of Earl David’s second daughter, Isabella, who based his candidature on the fact that he was the grandson, whereas Balliol was the great-grandson, of the Earl of Huntingdon, through whom both the rivals claimed.  The third, John Hastings, was the grandson of David’s youngest daughter, Ada.  Bishop Fraser, in the letter to which we have already referred, urged Edward I to interfere in favour of John Balliol, who might be employed to further English interests in Scotland.  The English king thereupon decided to put forward a definite claim to be lord paramount, and, in virtue of that right, to decide the disputed succession.