sieged Carlisle, but were forced to retire without having
afforded any real assistance to the Lancastrian cause. There was now a
division of opinion in Scotland with regard to supporting the
Lancastrian cause. The policy of the late king was maintained by the
great Bishop Kennedy, who himself entertained Henry VI in the Castle of
St. Andrews. But the queen-mother, Mary of Gueldres, was a niece of the
Duke of Burgundy, and was, through his influence, persuaded to go over
to the side of the White Rose. While Edward IV remained on unfriendly
terms with Louis XI of France, Kennedy had not much difficulty in
resisting the Yorkist proclivities of the queen-mother, and in keeping
Scotland loyal to the Red Rose. They were able to render their allies
but little assistance, and their opposition gave the astute Edward IV an
opportunity of intrigue. John of the Isles took advantage of the
minority of James III to break the peace into which he had been brought
by James II, and the exiled Earl of Douglas concluded an agreement
between the Lord of the Isles and the King of England. But when, in
October, 1463, Edward IV came to terms with Louis XI, Bishop Kennedy was
willing to join Mary of Gueldres in deserting the doomed House of
Lancaster. Mary did not live to see the success of her policy; but peace
was made for a period of fifteen years, and Scotland had no share in the
brief Lancastrian restoration of 1470. The threatening relations between
England and France nearly led to a rupture in 1473, but the result was
only to strengthen the agreement, and it was arranged that the infant
heir of James III should marry the Princess Cecilia, Edward's daughter.
In 1479-80, when the French were again alarmed by the diplomacy of
Edward IV, we find an outbreak of hostilities, the precise cause of
which is somewhat obscure. It is certain that Edward made no effort to
preserve the peace, and he sent, in 1481, a fleet to attack the towns on
the Firth of Forth, in revenge for a border raid for which James had
attempted to apologize. Edward was unable to secure the services of his
old ally, the Lord of the Isles, who had been again brought into
subjection in the interval of peace, and who now joined in the national
preparations for war with England. But there was still a rebel Earl of
Douglas with whom to plot, and Edward was fortunate in obtaining the
co-operation of the Duke of Albany, brother of James III, who had been
exiled in 1479. Albany and Ed