without delay. He deposited his travelling litter in Carlisle cathedral, in gratitude for his recovery, and set out for the Border. But his once powerful frame was a sorrowful wreck. He had not ridden many miles when the dysentery returned upon him, and on June 7th he breathed his last at Burgh-on-Sands, within sight of the land which had set his authority so stubbornly at defiance. Froissart says that, feeling himself on the point of death, he sent for the Prince of Wales and called on him to swear, in presence of the barons, that so soon as his spirit should have departed, his body should be boiled till the flesh quitted the bones; that the flesh should then be buried, but chat the skeleton should be carried forward with the army until the Scots should be subdued. By his will it was enjoined that his heart should be taken to the Holy Land. These directions, though perfectly in the spirit of chivalry, were disregarded. King Edward's body was laid in Westminster Abbey, and it is recorded that on his tomb was carved the legend:
EDVARDVS : PRIMVS:
SCOTTORVM : MALLEVS:
HIC : EST : PACTVM : SERVA.
"Here is the first Edward, Hammer of the Scots. Keep covenant."
The character of the greatest of the Plantagenets has been amply discussed by many writers; it is only so far as it influenced his policy towards Scotland, and his conduct in carrying that policy into effect, that it comes within the compass of
