Scotland gave few signs of discontent or restlessness in the first year that followed the homage of its king.

Under John Balliol it had simply fallen back into the position of dependence which it held under William the Lion; and Edward had no purpose of pushing further his rights as suzerain than Henry the Second had done.

One claim of the English Crown indeed was soon a subject of dispute between the lawyers of the Scotch and of the English Council boards.

Edward would have granted as freely as Balliol himself that though Scotland was a dependent kingdom it was far from being an ordinary fief of the English Crown.

By feudal custom a distinction had always been held to exist between the relations of a dependent king to a superior lord and those of a vassal noble to his sovereign.