Page:Chronicles of the Picts, chronicles of the Scots, and other early memorials of Scottish history.djvu/68

 Ix PREFACE. under their common seals. The returns made to these writs, which are still extant, contain nume- rous extracts and fragments of chronicles, which are printed by Sir Francis Palgrave in his " Docu- " ments and Records illustrative of the History of " Scotland," published by the Eecord Commission ; but among them is one chronicle so important for the history of Scotland that it is included in this collection. It was sent by the canons of the priory of St. Mary of Huntingdon, founded in the year 1140 ; and as David the First acquu-ed the honour of Huntingdon through his wife Matilda, which was afterwards conferred upon his son Henry in the year 1136, the earlier part of this chronicle, prior to jIalcolm Canmore, was no doubt derived from a Scottish source. The chronicle commences with the contest between Alpin, king of the Scots, and the Picts, in the year 834 ; and the marginal title bears that, according to their chronicles, the Scots had possessed the country for four hundred and forty-six years from Alpin, from whom King Mal- colm derived his descent, which, added to 834, brings us to the year 1290 as that in which the return was made. The original us. is preserved in the Record House in London, but it has suffered so mucli from time, that many words cannot now be decyj^hered. Some of these blanks occur in the most important part of the chronicle for Scottish histoiy, viz., the narrative of the reigns of Alpin and his sou Kenneth ; but this narrative has fortunately