The renewal of the grant of Huntingdon was decided upon at a council held at London in the middle of Lent 1185, at which the king of Scotland and his nobility were in attendance, to consult upon a letter which had been received from Pope Lucius respecting the relief of Jerusalem.[435] William had been recently released from one of his bitterest and most implacable foes, for Gilbert of Galloway had died in the preceding January. Duncan, the heir of the deceased lord, was still residing at the court of England in his original capacity of a hostage; but a competitor for the principality had already arisen in Roland, the eldest son of the murdered Uchtred, who had now passed ten years in exile at the Scottish court, where he had married Helena, the daughter and heiress of the Constable—the same Richard de Moreville who had been included in the excommunication of William for his staunch adherence to the cause of his royal master. Roland, therefore, was attached to the connection with Scotland both by interest and inclination; he was a Scot rather than a Galwegian, and in his attempt to recover the inheritance of his father he was assisted by a numerous band of auxiliaries from the kingdom in which he had so long resided.[436]
4th July.
The summer found him in Galloway, entering upon a course of brilliant and unchequered success. Gillepatrick, Henry Kennedy, and Samuel, the partners of the late lord in his hostilities against Scotland, and the leaders of the faction now in arms to secure the succession of his son, were one after the other defeated and slain: a similar fate was in store for Gillecolum, who appears to have held the lands of Gilbert against either claimant, but of whom little else is known except his incessant ravages of the Lothians; and further resistance was soon crushed out by the vigorous measures of Roland, who inflicted summary vengeance on all who refused to acknowledge his authority. His residence in Scotland had converted him into a feudal baron, and he lost no time in securing the submission of the province by rebuilding, and garrisoning, the royal castles which had been destroyed by the sons of Fergus, on their return after the catastrophe at Alnwick.[437]
Intelligence of Roland’s proceedings must have reached Henry in the course of the same year, but he passed them over without notice until his return from Normandy, A. D. 1186. when, shortly after Christmas, William and his barons were again in attendance at the court of England. They were treated by Henry with the most marked and studied courtesy, for it was his object to prepare them for the marriage which he had projected between Ermengarde de Bellomont and William; and the anxiety of Henry to conclude a union which would confer no increase of political importance upon his royal vassal, strengthens the supposition that he had looked unfavourably upon the alliance with Matilda of Saxony. Such thoughts may have passed through the mind of William, for he delayed his final consent to Henry’s proposal until after a lengthened conference with his barons, who were possibly influenced in favour of the projected marriage by the prospect of regaining, as the dowry of their future queen, the important castle of Edinburgh.[438]
As the grand object of Henry was now attained, he was at liberty to turn his attention to the affairs of Galloway; and accordingly he directed William, on his return to Scotland, to summon the new lord of the province to repair to the English court, for the purpose of rendering an account of his conduct in entering upon the lands of Duncan, and other barons of Galloway, seizing upon their castles, and disposing of their possessions without any reference to his suzerain. Roland took no further notice of the summons than to strengthen the natural defences of the country by felling trees in the passes, and by endeavouring, in various other ways, to render the approaches to the province impassable for an invading force. But Henry was in earnest, and he concentrated the whole military force of England on Carlisle, where he was met by the Scottish contingent under William and his brother David, whom he deputed to bring Roland to his presence. They returned at first without success, for the lord of Galloway appears to have been reluctant to entrust himself within the power of Henry without some pledge for his safety; but after a second mission, in which the bishop of Durham and Ranulph de Glanville were associated with the former envoys, and empowered to give hostages for his security and safe conduct, Roland placed himself in the hands of the Scottish princes, and was presented by William to the English king. It was not the object of the latter to proceed to extremities, for as long as the lord of Galloway admitted his dependance upon the English crown, it was immaterial to Henry by whom the fief was held; and he was satisfied with accepting the allegiance which Roland tendered for his father’s lands, with his promise to abide by the decision of the English court respecting the claims of his cousin Duncan. The three sons of the Galwegian chieftain were then delivered over as hostages for the fidelity of their father; William, his brother, and his barons bound themselves on oath to enforce the adherence of Roland, if necessary, to his English allegiance; and as a further security against a breach of faith, the bishop of Glasgow promised, upon the relics of the saints, to fulminate against the prince, if he proved a traitor, all the pains and penalties incurred by a disobedient son of the Church.[439]
Such was the conclusion of the disturbances of Galloway, and from the date of this arrangement Roland remained in undisputed possession of the whole principality. It is impossible to say whether Duncan ever prosecuted his claim upon his paternal inheritance; but, immediately upon the death of Henry, William, who had all along been favourable to Roland, conferred the district of Carrick as an earldom upon Duncan, on condition that the new earl should resign all claims upon the lordship of his cousin.[440] In this arrangement Duncan willingly acquiesced, thus becoming the first possessor of the Earldom of Carrick, a fief which was destined once more to revert to the crown, when the illustrious great-grandson of the first earl ascended the throne of Scotland as Robert the First. Ere long William reaped the full benefit of having secured a firm and devoted adherent in Roland of Galloway.
Sept.
Upon his return from this expedition, Henry celebrated the marriage of William and Ermengarde with much pomp and ceremony, placing the palace of Woodstock at the disposal of the royal pair. After four days spent in feasting and revelry, the young queen departed for her husband’s kingdom, the earl of Huntingdon escorting her, with the rest of the Scottish nobility who had been present at the celebration of the marriage; whilst William, instead of attending upon his bride in her progress to the north, accompanied the English king to Marlborough.[441]
A. D. 1187.
Six years had now elapsed since the establishment of Mac William in the country, where his influence and power had increased to a formidable extent, and the affairs of the north began to assume an alarming aspect. The majority of the barons and thanes of Ross, and other portions of Moravia, had by this time ranged themselves beneath his banner;[442] whilst the connection of the lords of Argyle, and the Isles, with the family of Malcolm Mac Heth, must have disposed the leading nobles of the Western Highlands to display a very lukewarm adherence to the royal cause. With the greater part of the north and west either openly, or secretly, in his favour, Mac William could also calculate upon the support of many other leading men, who had been parties to his first establishment in the country; and the king perceived that a crisis had at length arrived, in which he must either immediately crush his competitor, or risk the loss of half his kingdom.[443]