=6. David II., 1320-1370.=--_David_, who was only eight years old when his father died, was crowned at _Scone_ and _anointed_ which no King of Scots had ever before been, as this was considered the special right of independent sovereigns only. The government was in the hands of _Randolf_, who had been appointed _Regent_ by the Estates before the death of the late king. In the early part of the reign the country was torn by a struggle which, as it was really a civil war, was more dangerous to its independence and more hurtful to the national character than the long war with the English had been. This war was caused by those barons who, holding large estates in England, had, by marriage or by inheritance, become possessed of lands in Scotland, which they lost by the Act of the last reign against absentees. Hitherto the so-called Scottish nobles had been Norman barons, with equal interests in both kingdoms, but this act forced them to decide for one or the other. Hence it was the mere chance of the respective value of their lands that decided whether such names as Percy and Douglas should be feared north or south of the Border. =7. Edward Balliol's Invasion.=--These disinherited barons gathered round _Edward Balliol_, the son of _King John_, and determined on an invasion of Scotland on their own account, giving out that they came to win back the crown for him. Just at this time of threatened danger the Regent died, and was succeeded in his trust by _Donald, Earl of Mar_, another nephew of King Robert. The invaders landed on the coast of _Fife_, and at _Duplin_ in _Strathearn_ they defeated a large army under the command of the Regent, who was slain. They then took possession of _Perth_, and crowned Balliol at _Scone_, September 24th, 1332. He acknowledged himself the vassal of Edward of England; but the latter did not openly take a part in the war, until the Scots, by their frequent raids across the Border, could be said to have broken the Peace of Northampton.