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Home An Early Great Britain and its Failure The Makings of Scotland; Part 2 |
The Makings of Scotland; Part 2The last region to be added to the others was Lothian. Lothian was at first part of the Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. Then it was overrun by Danes. When Alfred's grandsons again subdued the Danish powers in the north, it was doubtful to whom it should belong, for the King of Scotland had by this time seized Edinburgh, and was laying claim to the country round it. Dunstan, who was minister to King Edgar, saw that it would be very hard for his master to hold a province so far north, and by his advice Edgar "granted" Lothian to Kenneth II. This was much like the gift of Strathclyde. Lothian had once been under English power; it was English in speech, and the city of Edinburgh got its name from a long-dead Northumbrian king (Edwin's Burgh). But it had passed from Saxon hands, and Edgar's grant was practically a surrender of what would be £ great trouble to keep. Some fifty years later Lothian was again ceded to Malcolm II by an Earl of Northumbria, after a great battle won by Malcolm at Carham in 1018, so that henceforth Lothian clearly formed part of Scotland. It is worth note that this was the same year which saw the death of the last king of Strathclyde.Lothian was the last possession to be gained; it was also much the most valuable. It was more fertile, it was more civilized, and it was Saxon in law and speech. We must now notice how this Saxon speech spread over all Scotland save the Highlands, and how, after Scotland had subdued Lothian, Lothian in its turn subdued Scotland. We may trace the working of this struggle in the one reign of early Scottish history that is fairly familiar, that of Macbeth. In its history indeed Shakespeare's play is quite misleading. The Macbeth of his story is a relentless, cruel monster, who meets with a speedy death as a fit retribution for his crimes. Now Macbeth, who was chief of Moray, did murder King Duncan and take the kingdom for himself. But his reign, so far from being short and disastrous, lasted seventeen years, and was by no means without glory. He gained the support of his people, beat off a Northumbrian invasion, was generous to the Church, and perhaps even made a pilgrimage to Rome. But he was a usurper: when he was at last overcome by Malcolm, the son of Duncan, all who wished to make their peace with the king of the old time set themselves to blacken the usurper's character. His memory was no more popular under King Malcolm III than was that of another and better known usurper in the days of King Charles II. |
Chronology |
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