True, I had forgotten about the sheer ammount of money he spent in Wales. Though I am slightly shocked he gave so little support to the Coym's before he died.
Mind you, the Bruce was one determined bastard.
Before John 'the Red' Comyn was killed in 1306 Scotland had been at peace for almost a year and there was no open signs of any coming rebellion. When Longshanks heard of the Red Comyn's murder his immediate response was confusion, followed by feelings of betrayal, then a fury so violent that it crippled him. Within weeks of coming to understand the full scale of the Bruce's treachery he had gone from the old, indomitable warrior in great health to a bed-ridden old man carried around on a litter.
But, though his formidable strenght was at last failing him, he still sought retribution. With all but two of his old trusted lieutenants dead - only the dying Roger Bigod and the fifty-six-year-old Henry de Lacy remained - he was forced to turn to younger men, and turned to his cousin Aymer de Valance and his son, Edward of Caernarfon, to lead the new campaign.
Aymer was originally prepared to be merciful to the Scottish nobles, but Longshanks would have none of it. Still caught up in his anger he demanded that any nobleman who took up arms against him be slain. Whatever mercy the old King had ever possessed was fully expended by this time and was quite sick of Scotsmen. Even men of the cloth were not to be spared, they would not be slain for the were Holy-men, but they would be sent to England and imprisoned. By the time he came to his senses months had passed and Longshanks had destroyed whatever goodwill the people of Scotland had for him or England.
As the Bruce was chased out to sea and his supporter rounded up, killed, imprisoned or on the run, Longshanks himself came north but had to stop several times because he was too ill to move on.
Then came the row between him and his son over Piers Gaveston which has, in some places, been retold in dramatic terms and Longshanks has been depicted tearing his sons' hair out before having him thrown out of his chamber.
Edward II left the north and was to be found in Dover, showing no interest in events in Scotland while his father ruthlessly culled any Scots appearing to have any Bruce-ist sympathy. With English defeats in Scotland, Longshanks worked himself up into a fury once more and demanded more troops, but the extra pressure continued to effect his health, leaving him bed-ridden for weeks on end.
Rumors stated to circulate that he was actually dead because no-one had seen him in public for months. Hearing these rumors Longshanks forced himself to make a public appearance at the head of an army marching to war against the returning Bruce in Scotland, but, as we know, he never made it that far and died at Burgh-by-Sands.
From the moment he learnt of the Comyn's murder King Edward set out to destroy the Bruce and all who supported him, and ruthlessly prosecuted any pro-Bruce elements found in Scotland, but he was an old man who was seriously ill and would be dead about half-a-year after the Comyn's murder. He could do little to support the Comyn's against the Bruce's from his tomb in Westminster Abbey. Had he lived longer he most likely would have supported them closely in their Civil War against the Bruce, but he did not have the time to do so before his died and when he was alive he was too blinded by his anger to think about it.