Page:Robert the Bruce and the struggle for Scottish independence - 1909.djvu/117

1298 A.D.] I have given this important document in the original Norman French, as a fair sample of a State paper of the period. Leaving out the formal exordium and conclusion, the vital parts translate as follows:

It is difficult to believe that the Earl of Carrick, in joining this insurrection, had any intention of winning back the kingdom for de Balliol. Probably this was the chief point on which the Scottish leaders disagreed. Wallace's subsequent conduct seems to show that his purpose was the restoration of King John; though this may have been strengthened by the submission and desertion of de Brus at Irvine. De Brus's own motives have been brought pretty clearly to light by the production of a document executed simultaneously with that quoted above, wherein the Bishop of Glasgow, James the Steward, and de Lindsay bind themselves in surety for the loyalty of the Earl of Carrick to King Edward, until he should deliver his daughter Marjorie as a hostage