Edward tried to stem the tide of desertion by promises of Scottish lands to those who would remain with his banners.  But the distribution of these rewards proved only a fresh source of discontent.  At last Edward was forced to dismiss the greater part of his forces.  He lingered in the north until the end of the year, but there was no more real fighting; with the beginning of 1299 he returned to the south, convinced that the disloyalty of his barons had neutralised his triumphs in the field.  The few castles which still upheld the English cause in Scotland were soon closely besieged.

    [1] Lapsley, County Palatine of Durham, p. 128.

During the whole of 1299 Edward was prevented by other work from prosecuting the war against the Scots.  Even the borderers were sick of fighting, and Bishop Bek, who had hitherto afforded him an unswerving support with all the forces of his palatinate, was forced to desist from warlike operations by the refusal of his tenants to serve any longer beyond the bounds of the lands of St. Cuthbert.  While the men of Durham abandoned the war, there was little reason to wonder at the indifference of the south country as to the progress of the Scots.  In the Lenten parliament at London, the Earls of Hereford and Norfolk pressed Edward once more to fulfil his promise to carry out the confirmation of the charters.  The king would not yield to their demand yet dared not refuse it.  In his perplexity he had recourse to evasions which further embittered his relations with them.  He promised that he would give an answer the next day, but when the morrow came, he secretly withdrew from the city.  The angry barons followed him to his retreat and reminded him of his broken promise.  Edward coolly replied that he left London because his health was suffering from the corrupt air of the town, and bade the barons return, as his council had his reply ready.  The barons obeyed the king’s orders, but their indignation passed all bounds when they found that the king’s promised confirmation of the charters was vitiated by a new clause saving all the rights of the crown, and that nothing was said as to the promised perambulation of the forests.  In bitter wrath the parliament broke up, and the Londoners, who shared the anger of the barons, threatened a revolt.  After Easter these stormy scenes were repeated in a new parliament, and Edward was at last forced to yield a grudging assent to all the demands of the opposition, and even to appoint a commission for the perambulation of the forests.  By the time the summer was at hand, the progress of the negotiations with France occupied Edward so fully that he had abundant excuse for not precipitating a new rupture with his barons, by insisting upon a fresh campaign against the Scots.