Page:Robert the Bruce and the struggle for Scottish independence - 1909.djvu/15



HAVE been charged with want of patriotism in writing too confidently about the homage exacted from Malcolm Canmore for Lothian and Cambria. In spite of the close attention which has been devoted during the last hundred and fifty years to this delicate point, unanimity among historical students seems as far off as ever. In the first edition I gave the impression of probability left on my mind after comparison of every leading authority, namely, that Lothian—the territory lying along the east coast between the Tweed and the Forth—was not reckoned an integral part of Scotland in the eleventh century. That this view does not imply want of patriotism surely appears clear when it is seen to have been the one adopted by such able advocates of Scottish nationality as Heron in the last century and Skene in the present one.

However, as it is almost certain that the doubt hanging round this venerable dispute can never be dispelled, I have taken this opportunity of modifying the references to the Lothian homage in such a way