_FREEMAN'S HISTORICAL COURSE FOR SCHOOLS._
HISTORY
OF
SCOTLAND
BY
MARGARET MACARTHUR.
EDITED BY
EDWARD A. FREEMAN, D.C.L.
_Edition Adapted for American Students._
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
1874
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1874, by
HENRY HOLT,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
[ Transcriber Notes:
1. Obvious misspellings and omissions were corrected.
2. Uncertain misspellings or ancient words were not corrected.
3. "_" indicates italics, "=" indicates bold. ]
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
THE GAELIC PERIOD 1
CHAPTER II.
THE ENGLISH PERIOD 19
CHAPTER III.
THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE 35
CHAPTER IV.
THE INDEPENDENT KINGDOM 52
CHAPTER V.
THE JAMESES 67
CHAPTER VI.
THE REFORMATION 96
CHAPTER VII.
THE UNION OF THE CROWNS 125
CHAPTER VIII.
AFTER THE UNION 167
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
THE GAELIC PERIOD.
Agricola's Invasion 80
Severus' Invasion 208
Founding of Northumberland by Ida 547
Founding of Dalriada by the Scots about 503
Union of Picts and Scots 843
Commendation to Eadward 924
Battle of Brunanburh 937
Battle of Carham 1018
Cnut's Invasion 1031
Malcolm Canmore King 1057
William's Invasion 1073
Malcolm slain 1093
THE ENGLISH PERIOD, 1097-1286.
Eadgar 1097
Alexander I. 1107
David 1124
Battle of the Standard 1138
Malcolm IV 1153
William the Lion 1165
Capture at Alnwick 1174
Treaty of Falaise 1174
Council of Northampton 1176
Treaty with Richard I. 1189
Alexander II. 1214
Border-line fixed 1222
Council at York 1237
Alexander III. 1249
Battle of Largs 1263
Man and the Sudereys annexed 1266
Death of Alexander III. 1286
THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE, to 1314.
Queen Margaret 1286
Treaty of Brigham 1290
Margaret dies 1290
Council meets at Norham, 3rd June 1291
Judgment given at Berwick, 11th November 1292
John crowned King 1292
Edward's first Conquest 1296
Rising of Wallace 1297
Surrender at Irvine 1297
Battle of Stirling, 11th September 1297
Battle of Falkirk 1298
Edward's second Conquest 1303
Capture of Wallace 1305
Robert Bruce crowned King, 27th March 1306
Death of Edward 1307
Battle of Bannockburn, 24th June 1314
THE INDEPENDENT KINGDOM, 1314-1424.
Parliament at Cambuskenneth 1326
Peace of Northampton 1328
David II. 1329
Edward Balliol's Invasion 1332
Battle of Halidon Hill 1333
Capture of David 1346
His release 1347
Invasion of Edward III. 1356
Robert II. 1370
Raid of Otterburn 1388
Robert III. 1390
Fight on North Inch 1396
Invasion of Henry IV. 1400
Battle of Homildon Hill 1402
Capture of the Earl of Carrick 1405
Robert III. dies 1406
Burning of Reseby 1408
St. Andrews University founded 1408
Battle of Harlaw, 24th July 1411
Albany the Regent dies 1419
THE JAMESES, 1424-1557.
James I. crowned King 1424
Parliament at Inverness 1427
Murder of the King 1436
James II. 1436
Murder of the Douglases 1439
Murder of William, Earl of Douglas 1452
Battle of Arkinholm 1454
The King slain at Roxburgh 1460
James III. 1460
Orkney and Shetland annexed 1469
St. Andrews raised to an Archbishopric 1471
Revolt of Lauder Bridge 1482
Battle of Sauchieburn 1488
James IV 1488
Marriage of James to Margaret Tudor 1502
Lordship of the Isles broken up 1504
Battle of Flodden, 9th September 1513
James V. 1513
"Erection" of the King 1524
Fall of Angus 1528
Rout at Solway Moss 1542
Mary 1542
Hertford's first Invasion 1544
Hertford's second Invasion 1545
Burning of George Wishart 1545
Murder of Beaton 1545
Battle of Pinkie 1547
Mary sails for France 1548
First marriage of Mary, 24th April 1558
THE REFORMATION PERIOD, 1557-1603.
The "First Covenant" signed 1557
Burning of Walter Mill 1558
Religious riots 1559
Treaty of Berwick 1560
Reformation Statutes passed 1560
Return of the Queen 1561
Battle of Corrichie 1562
Second marriage of Mary, 29th July 1565
Murder of Rizzio 1566
Murder of Darnley, 9th February 1567
Third Marriage of Mary, 15th May 1567
Surrender at Carberry, 15th June 1567
Abdication of Mary 1567
James VI. crowned 1567
Battle of Langside, 13th May 1568
Conference at York begins, October 1568
Murder of Murray the Regent 1570
Taking of Dunbarton, 2nd April 1571
Parliament at Stirling, 4th September 1571
Lennox the Regent slain 1571
Episcopacy revived 1572
Death of John Knox, 24th November 1572
Death of Mar the Regent, 24th November 1572
Surrender of Edinburgh Castle 1573
The King rules alone, 4th March 1578
Raid of Ruthven 1581
Death of Mary Stuart, 8th February 1587
Marriage of the King 1590
Abolition of Episcopacy 1592
The Gowrie Plot, 5th August 1600
James becomes King of England 1603
THE UNION OF THE CROWNS, 1603-1707.
Fight in Glen Fruin 1604
Restoration of Episcopacy 1606
Visit of the King 1616
Articles of Perth passed 1618
Nova Scotia founded 1621
King James dies 1625
Charles I. 1625
Charles crowned in Scotland 1633
Liturgy Riots 1637
The Covenant renewed 1638
Assembly at Glasgow 1638
Episcopacy abolished 1638
"Trot of Turriff," May 1639
Pacification of Berwick, June 1639
Invasion of England by the Scots 1640
Treaty of Ripon, begun 1st October 1640
" " " ended 7th August 1641
Battle of Tippermuir, September 1644
Charles comes to the Scots Camp, 5th May 1645
Battle of Philiphaugh, September 1645
The Scots give up Charles, 8th January 1647
The Surrender at Uttoxeter, 25th August 1648
"Whiggamore's Raid" 1648
Charles I. beheaded, 30th January 1649
Charles II. proclaimed 1649
Rising and beheading of Montrose 1650
Charles II. arrives in Scotland 1650
Battle of Dunbar, 3rd September 1650
Battle of Worcester, 3rd September 1651
Legislative Union with England 1654
Restoration of Charles II. 1660
Act "Rescissory" passed 1661
Episcopacy re-established 1661
The "Ejection" 1662
The Westland Rising 1666
The Indulgence, June 1669
Murder of Sharp, May 1679
Fight at Drumclog, May 1679
Fight at Bothwell Bridge, June 1679
Sanquhar Declaration, June 1680
Test Act passed 1681
James VII. 1685
Argyle's Rising 1685
Full Indulgence 1688
James VII. deposed 1688
William and Mary proclaimed 1689
Battle of Killiecrankie, 27th July 1689
Episcopacy abolished 1690
Massacre of Glencoe, 13th February 1691
Charter granted to the Darien Company 1695
Education Act passed 1696
Anne 1701
The Union of the Parliaments 1707
AFTER THE UNION.
George I. 1714
Jacobite Rising 1715
Malt-tax Riots 1724
Porteous Riot 1736
Jacobite Rising 1745
Battle of Preston-pans, 20th September 1745
Battle of Culloden, 16th April 1746
Highland Society founded 1784
First Steamboat tried 1788
Penal laws against Romanists repealed 1793
Colliers and Salters freed 1799
Reform Bill passed 1832
The Disruption 1843
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
CHAPTER I.
THE GAELIC PERIOD.
_The country_ (1)--_the people_ (2)--_Roman occupation_
(3)--_English invasion_ (4)--_the Scots_ (5)--_introduction
of Christianity_ (6)--_conversion of the Picts_
(7)--_conversion of the English_ (8)--_English
conquests_ (9)--_union of Picts and Scots_ (10)--_the
Northmen_ (11)--_the Commendation_ (12)--_annexation of
Strathclyde_ (13)--_acquisition of Lothian_ (14)--_Cnut's
invasion_ (15)--_Macbeth_ (16)--_English immigration_
(17)--_William's invasion_ (18)--_Margaret's reforms_
(19)--_disputed succession_ (20)--_Gaelic period ends_
(21)--_summary_ (22).
=1. The Country.=--The northern part of Great Britain is now called
_Scotland_, but it was not called so till the _Scots_, a _Celtic_
people, came over from _Ireland_ and gave their name to it. The Romans
who first mention it in history speak of it as _Caledonia_. There are
two points in which the history of this country and of the people who
live in it is unlike the history of most of the other countries and
nations of Europe. Firstly, it never was taken into the great Roman
Empire; and secondly in it we find a _Celtic_ people who, instead of
disappearing before the _Teutons_, held their ground against them so
well that in the end the _Teutons_ were called by the name of the
_Celtic_ people, were ruled by the _Celtic_ kings, and fought for
the independence of the Celtic kingdom as fiercely as if they had
themselves been of the Celtic race. But the whole of the country is
not of the same nature. The northern part is so nearly cut off from
the rest of Britain by the two great _Firths_ of Forth and Clyde as
to form almost a separate island, and this peninsula is again divided
into _Highlands_ and _Lowlands_. Speaking roughly, we may say that
all the west is Highland and the east Lowland. A range of mountains
sweeping in a semicircle from the Firth of Clyde to the mouth of the
Dee, known as _Drumalbyn_ or the _Mount_, may be taken as the line of
separation, though the _Lowlands_ extend still further north along
the eastern coast. The marked differences between these two districts
have had a very decided influence on the character of the inhabitants,
and consequently on the national development. The _Lowlands_ are well
watered and fertile, and the people who lived there were peaceable and
industrious, and both on the seaboard and inland there is early notice
of the existence of populous and thriving towns. The _Highlands_, on
the contrary, are made up of lakes, moors, and barren hills, whose
rocky summits are well-nigh inaccessible, and whose heath-clad sides
are of little use even as pasture. Even in the glens between the
mountains, where alone any arable land is to be found, the crops are
poor, the harvest late and uncertain, and vegetation of any kind very
scanty. The western coast is cut up into numberless islets, and the
coast-line is constantly broken by steep jagged promontories jutting
out seaward, or cut by long lochs, up which the sea runs far into
the land between hills rising almost as bare and straight as walls
on either side. In the Highlands even in the present day there are
no towns of any importance, for the difficulty of access by land and
the dangers of the coast have made commerce well-nigh impossible.
The _Highlanders_, who were discouraged by the barrenness of their
native mountains, where even untiring industry could only secure a bare
maintenance, and tempted by the sight of prosperity so near them, found
it a lighter task to lift the crops and cattle of their neighbour than
to rear their own, and have at all times been much given to pillaging
the more fortunate _Lowlanders_, of whom they were the justly dreaded
scourge.
=2. The People.=--As the country is thus naturally divided into two
parts distinctly opposite in character, so the people are made up
of two distinct branches of the great _Aryan_ family, the _Celtic_
and the _Teutonic_. The Celts were the first comers, and were in
possession when the country became historically known; that is, at the
first invasion of the Romans. In later times we find three _Celtic_
peoples in North Britain; to wit, the _Picts_, the _Scots_, and the
_Welsh_. The _Picts_ were those _Celts_ who dwelt north of the Firths
in _Alba_ or _Alban_, as the earliest traditions call it; and if we
judge from the names of places and contemporary accounts and notices,
there is every reason to believe that they were more akin to the
_Gaelic_ than to the _British_ branch of the Celtic race. The _Scots_,
the other _Gaelic_ people, were, when we first hear of them, settled
in _Ireland_, from whence at different times bands of them came over
to the western coast of Britain. They were friends and allies of the
_Picts_, and are early mentioned as fighting on their side against the
Romans. After a time, when many more Scots had settled in Alba, their
name became common to all the Celts north of the Firths, and from
them the whole country was called Scotland. The Celts south of the
Firths were partly Christianized and civilized by the Romans, and thus
became very different from the rest. They got their name of _Welsh_
from the Teutonic tribes who came from the land between the _Elbe_
and the _Eyder_, and, settling along the eastern coast, finally took
possession of a great tract of country, and called the Celts whom
they displaced _Welshmen_ or foreigners. The Celts called all these
new comers _Saxons_, though this was really only the name of one of
the first tribes that came over; and as they gradually spread over
the _Lowlands_, the word _Saxon_ came to mean simply _Lowlander_. In
course of time the original proportions of these two races have been
nearly reversed, so that the modern Scottish nation, though it keeps
its _Celtic_ name, instead of being made up of three _Celts_ to one
_Saxon_, is much more nearly three _Saxons_ to one _Celt_.
=3. Roman Occupation.=--The _Romans_, who had already made themselves
masters of South Britain, were led into the northern part of the
island by _Julius Agricola_, A.D. 80. But the _Celts_ whom they found
there, and whom they called _Caledonians_, were so well able to defend
themselves among their mountains that the Romans, though they defeated
them in a great battle on the Highland border, gave up the idea of
conquering the country, and retreated again south of the Firths of
_Forth_ and _Clyde_. Across the isthmus between the two, which is about
thirty miles wide, they built a line of forts, joined by a rampart
of earth. This rampart was intended to serve as a defence to their
colonists, and as a boundary to mark the limit of their empire; though,
as many Roman remains have been found north of the isthmus, they must
have had settlements without as well as within the fortifications. But
the Caledonians, who were too high-spirited to look on quietly and
see their country thus taken possession of, harassed the colonists by
getting over the wall and seizing or destroying everything they could
lay their hands on. At length (A.D. 120) the Roman Emperor _Hadrian_
built a second rampart across the lower isthmus, between the rivers
_Tyne_ and _Solway_, leaving the district between the two pretty much
at the mercy of the fierce Picts, as the Romans now began to call
the Caledonians. Twenty years later, in the reign of the Emperor
_Antoninus Pius_, one of his generals, _Lollius Urbicus_, again drove
them back beyond the first wall, and repaired and strengthened the
defences of _Agricola_. But, before half a century had passed, the
Picts again burst the barrier, and killed the Roman commander. In
208 the Emperor _Severus_ cut his way through Caledonia with a large
army. He reached the northern coast, but had no chance of fighting a
battle, and lost many of his men. He repaired and strengthened the
rampart of Hadrian. In time the Picts got over the second rampart too,
and came south as far as _Kent_, where, in the latter part of the
fourth century, _Theodosius_ the Roman general, father of the famous
Emperor of the same name, had to fight his way to London through their
plundering hordes. Theodosius drove them back with great vigour,
restored the Empire to its former boundary, and made the district
between the walls into a Roman province, which he called _Valentia_,
in honour of _Valentinian_, who was then Emperor. It was probably
about this time that the great stone wall was built across the lower
isthmus. The dangers which threatened the capital of the Empire in the
beginning of the next century forced the Romans to forsake this as well
as all their other provinces in Britain, and the withdrawal of their
troops left the Romanized Britons of Valentia a helpless prey to their
merciless enemies the Picts. At the end of the three centuries of Roman
occupation, the _Britons_ south of the Firths had so little in common
with the wild _Picts_, who in _Alba_ and in _Galloway_ still maintained
their independence, that they were like people of a different race.
The one sect, though still savage and heathen, were as brave and
fierce as ever; the other, though Christianized and civilized, were
so degenerated from the vigour of the original stock that they were
powerless to resist their more warlike kinsmen.
=4. English Invasion.=--In the sixth century the _Angles_ came in
great force and settled on the eastern coast of Valentia, and drove
the _Britons_, or as they called them _Welshmen_, back to the Westland
Hills. This district then between the Roman walls was thus divided
between two kingdoms. The English kingdom of _Northumberland_, founded
by _Ida_ in 547, took in all the eastern part of the country south of
the _Forth_; while the Welsh kingdom, called _Strathclyde_ from the
river that watered it, stretched from the _Firth of Clyde_ southwards
towards the _Dee_.
=5. The Scots.=--About the same time that the _English_ were pouring
in on the east, the _Scots_ were settling all along the western
coast. As the strait which separates _Britain_ from _Ireland_ is only
twelve miles broad, the Scots could easily come over from _Scotia_,
as _Ireland_ was formerly called, to seek their fortune in the larger
island. It is impossible to fix the date of their first coming, but it
was not till the beginning of the sixth century that there came over
a swarm numerous and united enough to found a separate state. This is
one of the few _Celtic_ migrations on record from west to east, and
forms an exception to the general displacement that was going on, by
which the _Celts_ were being driven further and further west before the
_Teutons_. The leaders of the Scots were _Fergus MacErc_, and _Lorn_,
of the family of the _Dalriads_, the ruling dynasty in the north of
Ireland, and from them this new state founded on the western coast of
what is now called _Argyle_ got the name of _Dalriada_.
=6. Introduction of Christianity.=--These Scots were not pagans
like the Picts of Alba, for Ireland had already been Christianized.
The new comers brought the new faith to their adopted country, and
through them it spread among the Picts, and also among the English of
Northumberland. The great apostle of the Scots was _Columba_. He was
Abbot of Durrow in Ireland, but was obliged to leave his own country,
because he had been engaged in a feud with some of his kinsfolk, in
which his side was worsted. He came over to the new colony on the coast
of Alba, and _Conal_, who was then King of the Dalriads, welcomed him,
and gave him _I_, or _Iona_, an islet about a mile and a half long and
a mile broad, lying west of the large island of Mull. Here Columba
settled with the twelve monks who had come with him, and here they
built for the service of God a little wooden church after their simple
fashion, and for their own dwelling a few rude huts of wattle, which
in after-times was called a monastery, where they passed their days
in prayer and study. But their missionary zeal was as great as their
piety, and from their head-quarters on Iona they went cruising about
among the adjacent islands, extending their circuit to the _Orkneys_,
and even, it is said, as far as _Iceland_.
=7. Conversion of the Picts.=--Columba himself undertook the conversion
of the Picts. About two years after his arrival at Iona he set out on
this important mission, crossed Drumalbyn, sought the court of _Brud_,
the Pictish king, converted him, and founded religious communities on
the same plan as that on Iona, on lands granted to him by the king or
his dependent chiefs. The Church thus set up was perfectly independent
of the _Bishop of Rome_ or of any other See, but it inherited all the
peculiarities of the Church of the _Irish Scots_. The monks had a way
of their own of reckoning the time for keeping Easter and of shaving
their heads, trifles which were considered important enough to become
the subject of a very long quarrel, and it was not till 716 that they
agreed to yield to the Roman custom in both matters. According to
their system of Church government, the abbots of the monasteries were
the chief dignitaries, and had all the power which in the rest of
Christendom was held to belong to bishops, while the bishops were held
of no account except for ordaining priests, for which purpose there
was one at least attached to each monastery. Columba, who was himself
of the royal race, had so much influence among the Dalriads that his
authority was called in to settle a dispute about the succession to
the throne. The abbots of Iona after him continued supreme in all the
ecclesiastical affairs of Alba till the middle of the ninth century,
while the well-earned reputation for piety and learning enjoyed by
the monks of his foundation was widely spread in continental Europe.
About this time _Kentigern_ revived among the Welshmen of Strathclyde
the dying Christianity which had been planted there in the time of the
Roman occupation.
=8. Conversion of the English.=--The English of Northumberland were
still heathens, and, as they were ever fighting with and growing
greater at the expense of their neighbours, their state bade fair to
become the most powerful in Britain. In the beginning of the seventh
century their king _Eadwine_ was supreme over all Britain south of
the Forth. But though _Eadwine_ was converted by the preaching of
_Paullinus_, the first Bishop of York, the new doctrine does not seem
to have spread much among his people; for one of his successors,
_Oswald_, who in his youth had been an exile at the court of his
kinsman the Pictish king, prayed the monks of Iona to send him one of
their number to help to make his people Christian. _Conan_, the first
missionary who went, was so much disgusted with the manners of the
English that he very soon came back to his brethren. Then _Aidan_,
another of their number, devoted his life to the task which Conan had
found so distasteful. He taught and toiled among them with a zeal that
was seconded by Oswald, the king, who himself acted as interpreter,
making the sermons of the monk intelligible to his English hearers.
From _Lindisfarne_, where the little church of Aidan was founded, like
that of Iona, on an islet, Christianity spread to the neighbouring
state of _Mercia_, and many monasteries and schools were founded after
the Columban model.
=9. English Conquests.=--Oswald and his successor _Oswiu_ extended
their dominions beyond the Firths, and it is said that they made the
Scots and Picts pay tribute to them. The next king, _Ecgfrith_, marched
north and crossed the _Tay_ with a mighty host, but he was routed and
slain in a great battle at a place called _Nectansmere_, the exact
position of which is uncertain. From that time the English seem to
have kept more to the country south of the Forth, and the Picts were
more independent of them. This is about the only event of moment that
we know of in the history of that people, of whom no records remain,
except a long list of their kings down to 843, at which date they
became united with the Scots under one king.
=10. Union of Picts and Scots.=--This union took place under _Kenneth
MacAlpin_, who was king of the Scots. That he was king of the Picts
also is certain: how he came to be so can only be guessed. It is more
probable that it was by inheritance than by conquest, though he and the
kings after him kept his original title of King of Scots. Over how much
land he reigned, and what degree of power he had over his subjects, is
not known. It is thought that among the Celts the king was only the
head of the dominant tribe among many other tribes or clans, each of
which was bound to follow its own chief, and the king's control over
those chiefs seems to have been more in name than in fact. The northern
districts seem to have been ruled by powerful chiefs called _Maers_
or _Mormaers_. These chiefs, who it has been supposed were nominally
subject to the King of Scots, acted as if they were quite independent
of him. They were indeed his most troublesome enemies, and several
of the kings lost their lives in battle against them. _Moray_ was the
greatest of the Mormaerships. It lay north of the Spey and of the
mountains of Argyle, and stretched across the country from the Moray
Firth to the opposite ocean.
=11. Coming of the Northmen.=--Kenneth was followed in turn by
_Donald_, his brother, and _Constantine_, his son. Their reigns were
mainly taken up in fighting with the _Northmen_, a heathen people
of Teutonic race, who infested the seas and plundered the seaboard.
From the eighth century downwards they were the scourge alike of
English and Celtic Britain, swooping down on the coasts, harrying the
lands, and making off with their booty; or, at other times, seizing
and settling on great tracts of country. Three countries of modern
Europe--_Denmark_, _Norway_, and _Sweden_ were peopled by the Northmen.
But while it was those from _Denmark_ who chiefly harassed and finally
conquered the _English_, the _Norwegians_ seem to have looked upon
Scotland as their own especial prey, attracted doubtless by the
likeness between its many isles and inlets and the jagged outline of
the larger Scandinavian peninsula. The long narrow lochs of the western
coast, like the fiords of Norway, proved convenient harbours for the
ships of these pirates. It is towards the close of the eighth century
that we first hear of the descents of the Northmen on the Pictish
kingdom. It is told how they ravaged all the coast, destroyed the
Pictish capital, and haunted the Irish Sea. Their fury was specially
directed against churches and religious communities, and Iona did not
escape. Again and again it was wasted by fire and sword, its churches
plundered, the brethren slain, till at length the abbot was compelled
to seek on the mainland a refuge for himself and the relics of the
saintly founder. Under Kenneth MacAlpin the supremacy over the Scottish
Church was transferred to the monastery of _Dunkeld_. Under Kenneth's
son, _Constantine I._, a fresh spirit was given to these invasions by
the formation of the kingdom of _Norway_ by _Harold Harfagra_. The
petty chiefs displaced by him, who were called _Vikings_ or dwellers
on the bays, sought a settlement elsewhere. Several of them founded
settlements in Ireland, whence they went to plunder the western
shores of Britain. Others took up their quarters in the _Orkneys_,
and the _Sudereys_ or _Southern Isles_, as the Northmen called those
isles that are now known as the _Hebrides_. Those in the Orkneys were
subdued by Harold, who made the islands into an _Earldom_ and gave
it to _Sigurd_, one of his allies. _Thorstein_, Sigurd's successor,
proved a formidable foe to the King of Scots, made himself master of
all the north country, pretty nearly answering to the modern counties
of Caithness and Sutherland, to which last the Northmen gave its name
because it lay south of their island possessions. On Thorstein's death
his great earldom fell to pieces. About this time one _Cyric_ or Grig,
who is supposed to have been one of the Northern chiefs, seized on the
throne and reigned about eighteen years, leaving his name on record as
the liberator of the Scottish Church.
=12. The Commendation.=--_Constantine II._ (900-943), grandson of
Kenneth, who came after Grig, _commended_ himself and his kingdom
to _Eadward_, king of the English, in 924. Constantine chose him as
"father and lord," that is, he placed himself under his protection, and
acknowledged Eadward as mightier than himself. On this compact were
based the subsequent claims of the English to the over-lordship of
the Scots. This _commendation_ was renewed to _Æthelstan_, Eadward's
successor. But Constantine soon repented of his submission, and a few
years later he and the Welshmen of Strathclyde joined the Danes in
their attempt to get back Northumberland, from which Æthelstan had
expelled them. The allies were utterly routed in the great battle of
_Brunanburh_, in which Constantine's son was slain, in 937. Six years
later Constantine exchanged civil for spiritual rule, and retired as
abbot to the _Monastery of St. Andrews_.
=13. Annexation of Strathclyde.=--_Malcolm I._ (943-954) succeeded
Constantine, though not his son, but his kinsman, for the Scots did
not adhere strictly to the order of succession which is now customary:
though they kept to the royal family, they generally preferred the
brother to the son of the last king. The great event of this reign
was the annexation of _Strathclyde_, which had been conquered by the
English king _Eadmund_, and was now granted by him to _Malcolm_ as a
territorial fief, held on condition of doing military service by land
and sea whenever it should be required. Thus Strathclyde became an
appanage of the heir apparent to the Scottish crown. Of the six kings
after Malcolm, _Induff_, _Duff_, _Colin_, _Kenneth II._, _Constantine
III._, and _Kenneth III._, little is known. They passed their lives and
met their deaths in struggles with the Welsh or with their own northern
subjects. Under Induff the Scots got _Edinburgh_, which had been
founded by Eadwine of Northumberland.
=14. Acquisition of Lothian.=--_Malcolm II._, grandson of the first
of the name, was the last of the direct line of Kenneth MacAlpin.
His reign, which lasted thirty years, is notable from the fact
that he managed to get hold of _Lothian_, the northern part of
Northumberland. One of Malcolm's first acts was an invasion of this
earldom. _Waltheof_, the earl, being old and feeble, shut himself up
in his castle of _Bamborough_ and let Malcolm advance unresisted.
He got as far as _Durham_, but there he was met and defeated by
_Uhtred_, the vigorous son of the old Earl. Some years later, when his
old enemy Uhtred was dead, Malcolm made a second invasion, and took
ample revenge for his defeat at Durham in the brilliant victory at
_Carham_, on the banks of the Tweed, in 1018. After this victory the
Scots were in possession of Lothian, which _Eadulf Cutel_, now Earl
of Northumberland, was not strong enough to take from them. It has
been said that Lothian had been already granted by Eadgar of England
to Kenneth III., who petitioned for it on plea of ancient hereditary
right. If so, the Scots must have lost it again; but after the victory
of Carham they had it and kept it, though their king held it as an
English earldom, and did homage for it to the king of the English.
=15. Cnut's Invasion.=--In 1031 _Cnut_, the mighty Dane who reigned
over Denmark, Norway, and England, came north, and Malcolm met him,
acknowledged him as his over-lord, and renewed the agreement which
had been made between Constantine and Eadward. Three years after his
submission to Cnut, Malcolm died, leaving as his heir _Duncan_, the son
of one of his daughters who had married _Crinan_, Abbot of Dunkeld.
There is a tradition that, to secure Duncan's succession, Malcolm had
caused the grandson of Kenneth III. to be murdered. If he did so,
this crime defeated its own end, for _Gruach_, sister of the murdered
man, was now the wife of Macbeth, the Mormaer of Moray, one of the
most powerful chiefs. Duncan came north to make war on some of these
turbulent Maers, and Macbeth seized the opportunity thus offered by
the presence of the king in his province, attacked and defeated him in
battle, and afterwards slew him in a place called _Bothgowan_, which it
is thought means a smith's hut.
=16. Macbeth, 1040-1057.=--_Macbeth_ must not be looked on as an
usurper and murderer. He was the natural supporter of the claims of his
wife and _Lulach_, her son by a former marriage, who, according to the
received rule of Gaelic succession, had a better right to the throne
than Duncan himself; and no doubt he justified the murder of the young
king as lawful revenge for that of his wife's brother. At all events,
after he had got the kingdom, he ruled it well and wisely, so that his
reign was a time of great national plenty and prosperity, and he and
his wife were benefactors of the Church and of the poor, not only at
home, but abroad, for it stands on record that they sent alms to the
poor at Rome. But he was not left long in peaceable possession, for
the father of Duncan, Crinan, Abbot of Dunkeld, got up a rising in
favour of his two grandsons, _Malcolm_ and _Donald_. About the same
time _Siward_, Earl of Northumberland, brought an army against Macbeth,
and drove him from the throne, though he got it back as soon as Siward
went away. Some years later Siward, whose kinswoman Duncan had married,
again took up the cause of his cousin Malcolm, invaded the kingdom and
defeated the king in a great battle; and though Macbeth held out for
four years longer, he was at last slain at _Lumphanan_ in Aberdeen.
_Lulach_, son of Gruach, died soon after; and though he left a son,
called _Malsnecte_, whose claim was brought up again long afterwards,
there was no attempt made at that time to prolong the struggle.
=17. English Immigration. Malcolm III., 1057-1093.=--The reign of this
_Malcolm_, surnamed _Canmore_ or the _great head_, is a turning-point
in Scottish history, which henceforth ceases to be essentially
_Scottish_; the Celtic manners, language, laws, and customs being
changed by the strong _English_ influence brought to bear on them in
this and the following reigns. This change was in great measure due to
the conquest of England in 1066 by the _Normans_ under _William the
Conqueror_. The Scottish court was the nearest and most natural refuge
for those Englishmen who would not yield to the strangers. Thither
they flocked in great numbers, and there they found a hearty welcome.
Among these exiles came _Eadgar the Ætheling_, the representative of
the _West-Saxon kings_, and with him his mother and his two sisters
_Margaret_ and _Christina_. Malcolm received them very kindly, and they
stayed with him all the winter. In the beginning of his reign Malcolm
had invaded England, where _Edward the Confessor_ was then king, and
had wasted the shires of York and Northumberland, while _Tostig_ the
earl was gone on a pilgrimage to Rome. He now made a second raid of
the same sort, although, when William held his court at York two years
before, he had sent in his nominal homage to him by the Bishop of
Durham. This time he went on behalf of the Ætheling, and harried the
districts of _Cleveland_ and _Durham_, which had already been wasted by
William. His progress was marked by every species of cruelty, neither
churches nor children were spared, and the Scots brought back so many
captives that English slaves were to be found even in the very poorest
households. Meanwhile Eadgar, who had taken part in two or three
risings in England, again sought the protection of the Scottish court,
and shortly after Malcolm succeeded in persuading Margaret to become
his wife. He had before this been married to _Ingebiorg_, widow of
_Earl Thorfin_ of Orkney, and had one son, _Duncan_.
=18. William's Invasion.=--In 1072 William came north with a fleet and
an army to avenge Malcolm's raid. He went as far as _Abernethy_ on
the _Tay_, the former Pictish capital, and there Malcolm met him and
acknowledged William as over-lord, by becoming his man or vassal, giving
hostages, among whom was his own son _Duncan_, as warrants for his good
faith. But some years later Malcolm took advantage of William's absence
in Normandy to harry his kingdom again as far as the _Tyne_, bringing
back both spoil and captives. The Conqueror's eldest son, _Robert_,
came north to avenge this invasion, but happily he and Malcolm came to
terms without any more bloodshed. This peace was not broken till 1092,
when Malcolm again invaded England. The excuse for this was that his
brother-in-law, the Ætheling, had been turned out of the retreat in
Normandy granted to him by the Conqueror. _William Rufus_, who now sat
on his father's throne, marched into _Lothian_, where peace was again
made by the mediation of Robert and Eadgar. Malcolm renewed his homage,
and William renewed the grant made by his father of certain manors and
a yearly payment of twelve marks. But William did not keep to the terms
of the treaty, and when Malcolm complained of this breach of good faith
he was summoned to appear before the English court at _Gloucester_. He
went, but soon came away again, justly incensed at the insulting way
in which he was treated by being put on the same level as the Norman
barons. For the fifth time Malcolm entered England at the head of an
army, but from this expedition there was no triumphant return, for the
king and his son were slain on the banks of the _Alne_, and the host
that had followed them fled in great confusion.
=19. Margaret's Reforms.=--The disaster did not end with the death of
the king, for the good _Queen Margaret_, who was then at _Edinburgh_,
died of grief almost immediately after hearing the sad tidings. This
good woman, whose many merits have won for her the title of saint, was
the chief worker in the revolution which was being silently wrought
in the manners of the court, and of the people, and in the government
of the Church and of the State. The influence which her piety and
learning gave her over her husband and his people was used to soften
their fierceness, and to win them from their own half-savage ways to
the customs of more civilized countries. She is said to have introduced
silver plate at court, and many other luxuries of which the Scots had
hitherto been ignorant; she encouraged literature and commerce, but
she chiefly busied herself in reviving the state of religion, which
had sunk to a very low ebb. The Church had fallen from its ancient
purity and zeal, and had become a prey to many singular abuses. The
abbotships were hereditary in the great families, and were often held
by laymen, and the religious foundations were in the hands of a body
of irregular clergy called _Culdees_, from two Latin words meaning
'servants of God.' Margaret called a council of the clergy and spoke
to them herself, her husband acting as her interpreter, and did her
best to make them give up their peculiarities and give in to the usages
of the rest of Christendom. She rebuilt the church of Iona, which had
suffered so terribly at the hands of the Northmen, and founded a new
church at _Dunfermline_, in which she and her husband were buried.
=20. Disputed Succession. Donald, 1093-1097.=--The death of the King
and of his son _Eadward_, who had been recognized as heir-apparent,
threw the kingdom into confusion; and the Gaelic party, who had looked
on with disgust and jealousy at the changes of the last reign and
at the displacement of the Gaelic chiefs by the English immigrants,
elected _Donald Bane_, Malcolm's brother, to the vacant throne.
Meanwhile _Duncan_, the son of Malcolm and Ingebiorg, his first wife,
prayed William of England to aid him in recovering his father's
kingdom, which he promised to hold as an English fief. His suit was
granted, and with the help of an English and Norman army he drove
out his uncle and reigned a few months. But _Donald_, with the help
of _Eadmund_, the eldest surviving son of Malcolm and Margaret, once
more got the upper hand, murdered _Duncan_, exiled the rest of the
family, and kept possession of the throne for three years. At the end
of that time Eadgar the Ætheling was sent north with an English army,
and placed his nephew Eadgar on the throne on the same terms as those
which had been granted to Duncan. Donald Bane was taken, and, after the
cruel custom of the time, his eyes were put out before he was cast into
prison. Eadmund died a penitent in an English monastery.
=21. End of the Gaelic Period.=--With _Donald_ ends the _Gaelic_ or
_Celtic_ period. The sons of Margaret carried out the reforms begun
by their mother, and the _Celtic_ customs gave way more and more to
the _Saxon_ influence both in the court and in the country. The King
identified himself with his new nobles and with his English earldom,
so that Lothian, as it was the richest, became the most prominent part
of his dominions, and the true Scots of the North came to be looked on
as savages and aliens, the natural enemies and perpetual disturbers
of all peace and prosperity. The records of this period are so very
scanty that any ideas of the state of the country or of the habits of
the people are extremely misty, and are chiefly drawn from incidental
notices of Scottish matters in the chronicles of other lands. The
chief architectural fragments which remain to bear witness to its
Christianity are the round bell-towers in the Irish style at _Brechin_
and at _Abernethy_. The church at Brechin was founded by _Kenneth the
Third_.
=22. Summary.=--The most noteworthy events in this the first period of
Scottish history are the repulses which the Romans met with from the
Picts; the coming of the Scots from Ireland; their union with the Picts
under Kenneth MacAlpin; the introduction of Christianity by Columba;
the conversion of the Picts and of the English, and the joining on of
Strathclyde and Lothian to the Scottish Crown. We must also notice the
strong feeling of hereditary right which kept the succession for so
long in one family, and the remarkable revolution brought about by the
English exiles, which completely turned the current of the national
life, and led to much strife and bitterness between the two races of
which the nation was made up.