Of course, Edward being Edward,
he had a price on his mind and in return for being adjudicator-godfather to the Scots.
And that price, needless to say, was homage -
the bent knee, the kiss on the ring of the devoted sword,
the acceptance by whoever got the job
that henceforth he would be Edward's man,
deeply in his debt,
his soldiers at the King's command.
To prove his point,
he gathered an army at Norham, an army of monks, scholars and antiquarians.
Their heavy artillery were ancient charters and chronicles.
Their job, to find the historical proof of English overlordship.
But they failed,
and so the King threw the problem right back to the Scots.