further suspicion or indignation. Hitherto, his policy had been
characterized by the great sagacity which he had shown in his conduct of
English affairs; it is impossible to refuse either to sympathize with
his ideals or to admire the tact he displayed in his negotiations with
Scotland. His considerateness extended even to the little Maid of
Norway, for whose benefit he victualled, with raisins and other fruit,
the "large ship" which he sent to conduct her to England. But the large
ship returned to England with a message from King Eric that he would not
entrust his daughter to an English vessel. The patient Edward sent it
back again, and it was probably in it that the child set sail in
September, 1290. Some weeks later, Bishop Fraser of St. Andrews, one of
the guardians, and a supporter of the English interest, wrote to Edward
that he had heard a "sorrowful rumour" regarding the queen.[42] The
rumour proved to be well-founded; in circumstances which are unknown to
us, the poor girl-queen died on her voyage, and her death proved a fatal
blow to the work on which Edward had been engaged for the last four
years.

Of the thirteen[43] competitors who put forward claims to the crown,
only three need be here mentioned. They were each descended from David,
Earl of Huntingdon, brother of William the Lion and grandson of David I.
The claimant who, according to the strict rules of primogeniture, had
the best right was John Balliol, the grandson of Margaret, the eldest
daughter of Earl David. His most formidable opponent was Robert Bruce of
Annandale, the son of Earl David's second daughter, Isabella, who based
his candidature on the fact that he was the grandson, whereas Balliol
was the great-grandson, of the Earl of Huntingdon, through whom both the
rivals claimed. The third, John Hastings, was the grandson of David's
youngest daughter, Ada. Bishop Fraser, in the letter to which we have
already referred, urged Edward I to interfere in favour of John Balliol,