Roger de Quincy , Earl of Winchester, Lord High Constable of Scotland, Lord of Galloway
Lord of Galloway by right of his wife
4124. Margaret , "the Maid of Norway"
Margaret (1286-90)
When her grandfather died, Princess Margaret, 'the Maid of Norway', was only three years old. The Scottish Parliament appointed six Guardians to rule on her behalf, and on 18 July 1290 the Scots agreed in the Treaty of Birgham (Berwickshire) that she should marry Edward I of England's eldest son, Prince Edward. At the end of September, the eight-year-old Queen set sail for Scotland, escorted by Bishop Narve of Bergen. She was taken ill on the voyage and her ship put in at Orkney, but she died there, in the arms of the Bishop. Her body was taken back to Bergen, where she was buried beside her mother.
The competitors
Reports of the death of The Maid plunged Scotland into a complicated dynastic crisis, for there was no obvious heir to the throne. The four surviving Guardians were ruling the country and one of them, William Fraser, Bishop of St Andrews, wrote to Edward I of their fears that civil war would ensue, since the rival claimants were already assembling their armies. Edward offered himself as arbitrator, on condition that the various claimants acknowledged him as the feudal superior of Scotland. In the end, thirteen competitors put their names forward, and nine of the thirteen made the acknowledgement required by Edward. They also agreed that possession of the lands and castles of Scotland should be given to him so that he could pass them on to the rightful king, when the choice had been made.
The thirteen claimants were then reduced to three: John Balliol, Robert Bruce and John Hastings, all of whom were descendants of the three daughters of David, Earl of Huntingdon. After a further period for deliberation, Edward I awarded the crown to John Balliol, the descendant of the Earl's eldest daughter. In law, however, Robert Bruce's claim was equally good because, although he was descended from the second daughter, he was a generation nearer David I (as his grandson).
[http://www.royal.gov.uk/history/scotland]
© 2001, Saul M. Montes-Bradley. All Rights Reserved