Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 9.djvu/174

438 was now king of England, and Scotland became not only a place of refuge to Saxon fugitives, but a mark for Norman ambition and revenge. Among those who thus fled to the Scottish court, was Edgar Atheling, nearest of kin to Edward the Confessor, and chief claimant to the throne of England, with his mother Agatha, widow of Edmund Ironside, and his sisters Margaret and Christina. On reaching Dunfermline, the royal seat of the Scottish king, they found many of the English nobles, who had preceded them, while from Malcolm they experienced that full hospitality which he had himself enjoyed in England. Of the two sisters of Edgar, Margaret, who was young and beautiful, captivated the heart of her royal host, and a marriage quickly followed. Seldom has a marriage union been fraught with such advantages to a nation as that of the king of Scotland with this descendant of the noble line of Alfred, for Margaret was not only gentle, affectionate, and pious, but learned and accomplished beyond the people of her new country, and anxious to introduce among them the civilization of England. Her labours in this way form a beautiful episode in the history of the period, and have been fully detailed by her biographer, Turgot, who was also her chaplain and confessor. Her first care was the improvement of her husband, whose vigorous mind she enlightened, and whose fierce spirit she soothed by the wisdom and gentleness of her counsels. The effect of this upon Malcolm was such, that though unable to read her missals and books of devotion, he was wont to kiss them in token of reverence, and he caused them to be richly bound, and ornamented with gold and jewels. On arriving in Scotland, Margaret, as a Christian according to the Romish Church, was grieved to find the Eastern form predominant, which she had been taught to regard as heresy, and not long after she became queen, she set herself in good earnest to discountenance and refute it—for hers was not a mind to com- prehend the uses of persecution in achieving the conversion of misbelievers. She invited the Culdee clergy to a debate, in which the chief subject was the proper season for the celebration of Lent—the great theological question of the day between the Eastern and Western churches; and as she was unacquainted with the language of these Culdees, Malcolm, who spoke the Celtic as well as the Saxon tongue, attended as her interpreter. This strange controversy lasted three days, and on this occasion, says Turgot, "she seemed another St. Helena, out of the Scriptures convincing the Jews." The temporal concerns of her husband's subjects were also taken into account, and she invited merchants from various countries, who now for the first time pursued their traffic in Scotland. Their wares chiefly consisted of ornaments and rich clothing, such as had never been seen there before; and when the people, at her persuasion, put them on, he informs us they might almost be believed to have become new beings, they appeared so gay and comely. Who does not see in this, the commencement of an industrial spirit—the first great step of a people from barbarism to civilization? Her influence was also shown in the royal household, the rude coarseness of which was exchanged for a numerous retinue, and orderly dignified ceremonial, so that when Malcolm appeared in public, it was with a train that commanded respect. Not only his attendants, but his banquets were distinguished by the same regal splendour, for Turgot informs us that Margaret caused him to be served at table from vessels of gold and silver plate; but suddenly checking himself, he adds, "at least they were gilt or silvered over."

From this pleasing picture we must now turn to the stormy career of Malcolm Canmore. The arrival of Edgar Atheling was followed by a fresh