Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/774

* SCOTLAND. 700 SCOTLAND. MacErc, is said to linve foiiie from IreUuul in 502, with the blessing of ^^aint Patiifk himself. The Dalriads were Christians, anil their King, Connl, gave the isle of lona to Saint Colviniha, the apostle of the northeiii Piils. Aiilan, an- other of their kings, repeatedly invaded Bernicia, but was beaten by the lieallien Klliolfricd at Degastan in (103. There followeil a short period of English siipremaoy over both Scots and Picts, but in the decisive battle of Ncehtansmere (685) the latter destroyed an Knglisli army, and both peoples became " independent. About 730 the true heir and was his guardian, represented the legitimate succession. Far from being a cruel tyrant, he was an able monarcli, whose reign of eighteen years was one of comparative peace and prosperity. Feidal Age (1054-128U). The accession of Malcolm III. (1054), better known as Jlalcolni Canmore, marks the beginning of a new epocli in Scottish history. It was the age of the Anglo- Norman iniluence, of the introduction of the feudal system in Cliurch and State, and of the foun<lation and growth of towns. Scotland left Pictish King, Angus JlacFergus. subdued botli the l,er Celtic isolation and entered the coninuinity Scots an<l the Britons. But internal dissensions and the attacks of the Nortlimen broke the strength of the Pictish kingdom, and in 843 Ken- neth JIaeAlpin, King of the Scots, was acknowl- edged King of Pictland. All the country north of the Forth and the Clyde was thus united into one kingdom. It was a"t first called Alban, but in the tenth century the name Scotland became coninion. Kenneth I. (843-800) transferred his seat to Forteviot in Stratherne, the Pictish capi- tal. By the marriage of his daughter to the King of ("unibria lie secined an alliance of all the Celts of Scdtland against the Teutonic in- vaders. He often raided Lothian, and repulsed the Northmen from Dalriada, but neither he nor his successors could prevent them from occupy- ing the Orkneys and Slietlands, and from obtain- ing a foothold in the extreme nortli of Scotland. The centre of the Scotch kingdom vpas the country between the Forth and the Spey, and its kings were constantly engaged in struggles with the rebellious chiefs of Moray. The seven orig- inal provinces of Pictland were ruled by under- kings, but with the growth of the royal power these kinglets were replaced b,y mormaers, or great stewards, who were royal officers. The tribal chieftains under them were called toisech^. The.v, as well as the mormaers, were chosen in the assembly of the free tribesmen from the ruling family. Constantine II. (904-943) fixed the royal residence at Scone. In a national coun- cil held at Scone (900) he and his bishop, Cel- lach, regulated the affairs of the Scottish Church. He repeatedly repulsed the Northmen, but later in his reign formed an alliance with them and with Cumbria against the growing power of Athelstan of England. The allies were defeated in the great battle of Brunanburh ( 937 ). Constantine also succeeded in placing his brother Donald upon the throne of Cumbria. His successor, Jlalcolm I. ( 943-954 ), acquired the southern part of Cumbria (modern Cumber- land and Westmoreland) from Edmund, King of England, who had conquered it. But the per- manent southern borders of Scotland date from the reign of Malcolm II. (1005-34). The royal line of Strathdyde (northern Cumbria) having expired, that country had become a part of Scot- land by inlieritance. Even more important was the acquisition of Lothian, which Malcolm wrested from the English by his victory of Carham in 1018. Malcolm's attempt to set aside the Scottish law of the succession by the murder of the legitimate heir (i.e. his brother's son) led to the murder of his grandson, Duncan, by Mac- of European nations. The long residence of Mal- colm 111. in England, and especially his mar- riage with the sister of Edgar the Atheling, ren- dered his sjinpathies English, and involved him in English affairs. He espoused their cause against the Norman conquerors, and received many of the victims of William's devastation of Northumberland as settlers in Scotland. His Queen, who was afterwards canonized as Saint Margaret of Scotland, used her great influence to bring the Celtic Church into the communion of Western Christendom by the assimilation of its usages to those of the Roman Church. On the death of Malcolm (1093) a Celtic reaction occurred. Donald Bane, the King's brother, was chosen to succeed him, and the English courtiers were driven out of Scotland. But English aid soon placed Malcolm's son Edgar on the throne, and during his reign (1097-1107), as well as during the reigns of his brothers Alexander I. and David I., the Anglo-Norman influence tri- umphed. Edgar's reign was marked bv the per- manent removal of the royal residence to Edin- burgh, and bv the loss of the Hebrides and part of the western mainland to the Northmen. During the reigns of Alexander I. (1107-24) and David I. (1124-53) the feudal system was greatly strengthened in Scotland, both in Church and State. Nine bishopries were ci'eated in place of the single bishopric of the Scots, although Saint Andrews continued to hold the primacy. Parishes were establislicd and endowed througli- out the country. Foreign ecclesiastics took the place of the Scotch monks, and stately new ab- be.vs were founded, especiall.y by David, who began the construction of Holyrood, Melrose, and the other principal abbeys of the Lowlands. Char- ters were introduced to take the place of ancient Celtic customs, the mormaers became earls, and the toisechs thanes — both roval otficers holding their land from the King, who thus became the universal landowner, in place of the tribes. Alex- ander was still surrounded bv Celtic lords, but David portioned out the Lowlands among Norman lords in direct feudal relation to the Crown. Nevertheless, the relation of the tenantrv to the new lords was the same as it had been to the ohi, and there was no oppression of the lower classes, such as took place in the Norman conquest of England. The visnct was introduced to take the place of the old practice of compurgation. By tliis legal process, which was also called the judgment of the peace, every freeman obtained the right to be tried by his peers. The more serious crimes were withdrawn from the lesser beth, Mormaer of Ross and Moray. Shakespeare's courts and made pleas of the Crown. The peace wonderful tragedy has treated this event, but his tlius became the King's peace, and was main- sources were at variance with historic truth, tained by the sovereign in annual judicial cir- Duncan was in reality an immature youth, and cuits until the first half of the fourteenth cen- Macbeth, who had married the mother of the tury, when four justices were appointed to at-