But Malcolm was never destined to fulfil the high promise of his youthful career, the delicacy of constitution, bequeathed by Queen Margaret to so many of her descendants, early developing itself in her grandson’s eldest child. A. D. 1163. Three years after the conquest of Galloway, during his progress towards the south, he was overtaken by a dangerous illness at Doncaster; though his days were not yet numbered, and he recovered sufficiently to carry out the original purpose of his visit to England, concluding an alliance with Henry that promised to ensure a firm and lasting peace.[391] He is also stated to have been present shortly afterwards at Woodstock, to tender his homage to the younger Henry, as his grandfather had done to the empress-queen, with the usual reservation of fealty to the elder king.[392]
A. D. 1164.
One more triumph was in store to grace the closing years of his career. Within a year or two of the liberation of Malcolm Mac Heth from Roxburgh Castle, the lord of the Oirir-Gael appears to have made his peace with the king of Scotland; though for some unknown cause, in the year 1164, he again broke out into open rebellion, landing suddenly on the coast of Renfrew with the whole force of Argyle and the Isles, strengthened by a body of auxiliaries from Ireland. Hardly had he set foot on shore before he fell, with his son Gillecolum—tradition says by treachery—and his followers dispersing, as usual, upon the death of their leader, returned at once to their island homes. Thus perished, in an obscure skirmish, the mightiest and most formidable of Malcolm’s enemies; the chieftain who raised the power of the Lords of Argyle upon the ruins of the ancient kingdom of the Gall-Gael.[393]
The defeat of Somerled was the final event in Malcolm’s reign, for the hand of death was already upon him, and, on the 9th of December 1165, A. D. 1165. he sunk into the grave, at the early age of twenty-four. His premature decease lent an interest to his memory, and may, in a great measure, have led the historians of the succeeding generation to invest the character of the king with the qualities which were supposed, in those days, to constitute the attributes of a saint upon earth. A certain effeminacy of appearance, resulting from his constitutional delicacy, may have originated the epithet of “the Maiden,” by which he was so often known; and though the same cause may have undoubtedly affected the tone of his mind, so far from having been an ascetic recluse, as he is frequently represented—more fit to wear the cowl than to wield the sword—whenever Malcolm appears in history, he stands forward as a prince of exceeding promise and spirit. His reign was principally taken up in quelling the disaffection of different powerful magnates, above all, of Somerled, whose hostility only ceased with his life; and the character of the young king may be best estimated by the successful result of those measures, through which he secured the direct feudal submission of the principality of Galloway, and the total cessation of all internal revolt during the early years of his successor.[394]
A singular policy—recalling to mind the compulsatory migrations of conquered races in the remote era of the early eastern empires—has been attributed by Fordun to this king; who is supposed, by that historian, to have transplanted the original inhabitants of Moray from their ancient province, repeopling the district with settlers from other parts of his dominions.[395] If such a proceeding was ever carried out, it may have originated in the arrangement with Malcolm MacHeth; but though it is impossible to pronounce with absolute certainty upon the accuracy of Fordun’s statement, it is very difficult to imagine that such a measure could have extended throughout the Highland portion of the district subsequently erected into an earldom for Randolph. The race, the language, and many of the customs of the mountaineers, remained unchanged at a comparatively recent period; and whilst the lowlands and the coast of Moray, which had already been partitioned out amongst the followers of David, would have presented comparatively few obstacles to such a project, it is hardly possible to conceive how it could ever have been successfully put into execution amidst the wild and inaccessible mountains of the interior. It appears, therefore, most reasonable to conclude, that Malcolm only carried out the policy pursued by his grandfather ever since the first forfeiture of the earldom; and that any changes that may have been brought about in the population of this part of Scotland—and which scarcely extended below the class of lesser Duchasach, or small proprietors—are not to be attributed to one sweeping and compulsatory measure, but to the grants of David and his successors; which must have had the effect of either reducing the earlier proprietary to a dependant position, or of driving into the remoter Highlands all who were inclined to contest the authority of the sovereign, or to dispute the validity of the royal ordinances, which reduced them to the condition of subordinates.
CHAPTER XII.
WILLIAM THE LION—1165–1214.
Amongst the earliest acts of William after his accession was the performance of feudal service for the fief of Huntingdon, accompanying Henry for this purpose upon one of his numerous expeditions into the French territories. A. D. 1166. By his ready acquiescence on a point about which his brother had at first demurred, he may have hoped to influence the English king in favour of his claim upon the northern counties; but if he entertained such expectations he was doomed to disappointment, as Henry limited his grant to the Honor of Huntingdon.[396]
William, however, was not of a disposition to submit with patience to the denial of his rights—for thus would he have characterised his claims; and he was ready to enter warmly into any confederacy promising to extort from the fears of Henry the cession of the coveted fiefs. Two campaigns against the Welsh, conducted with more than equivocal success; the continued hostility of Louis of France; and a doubtful contest with the newly made Archbishop of Canterbury, whose former reputation as a man-at-arms was destined to be eclipsed by his subsequent renown as a martyr,[397] heightened the difficulties of Henry’s situation: and his exasperation was increased against the king of Scotland, whose envoys at the French court, uniting with the representatives of the Welsh princes, were eager to enter into a league with the enemies of the English king.[398] A. D. 1168. But the hostility of William was not yet to be openly displayed, for a peace was concluded between the French and English kings, and the opportunity of attacking the latter at a disadvantage passed away. A. D. 1170. It was with an appearance, therefore, of renewed cordiality, that William and his brother David appeared at the court of Henry, to assist at the coronation of his eldest son at Westminster; when both the Scottish princes, taking the oaths of fealty and allegiance to the younger Henry, swore upon the sacred relics to be true to the heir of England, saving, as usual, their fidelity to his father.[399] But in spite of these professions of mutual friendship, the alliance in reality was hollow and insincere, the refusal of the northern counties still rankled in the breast of William, and an opportunity for enforcing his claim was not long wanting.
A. D. 1173.
Never did the fortunes of the second Henry appear more prosperous than at the very moment when the flight of his eldest son to the court of France, suddenly revealed the extent of the intrigues which were based upon the disaffection of his own children. Whilst the elder king was occupied in strengthening his defences upon the frontiers of France and in securing the important services of twenty thousand Reiters of Brabant, the younger Henry was busily corrupting the unfaithful adherents of his father, and lavishing grants upon the allies whose assistance he wished to purchase. The promise of Northumberland to William, and the offer of the fief of Cambridge to his brother, the Earl of Huntingdon, secured the active co-operation of both the Scottish princes;[400] and towards the close of summer, whilst the attention of the elder Henry was fully occupied in Normandy, the frontiers of England were suddenly invaded from the north.