EARLE E 12T TH FIFTH F H O S N CENTURYEI 1 5 . II- THE EARLS OF FIFE IN THE 12TH CENTURY. BAKROWS . W . BG Y , M.A., B.LITT., DEPABTMEN P HISTORYO T , UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON. Our knowledge of the feudalism of 12th-century Scotland is not so great afforn ca tha negleco e t d w t t eveexiguou s lease it nf th o t s traces thin I .s matter e re-examinatioth , f evidenco n e long availabl y welma le prove useful, while any fresh evidence certainly deserves our attention. Although it is clear that the 12th-century kings of Scotland were able to exercise a remarkably effective rule over their heterogeneous kingdom knowledgr ,ou e of the bases and instruments of that rule is, and to some degree always will be, partia limited.d an l 1 Amon questione gth s whic studene hth earlf o t y medieval Scotland will ask are, How soon did the monarchy implant in- stitutions of the Anglo-Norman state in Scotland proper, as distinct from Cumbri d Scottisan a h Northumbria e importance; th whas wa t geod an ,- graphical range f knight-serviceo , e feudath o t l e ver y structurth , yke f eo the southern kingdom; was the introduction of feudalism achieved by the monarchy working exclusively with Anglo-Norman honorial barons such as Moreville, Brus, and the steward, Walter son of Alan; and what was the position in this social revolution, or at least upheaval, of the existing holders of power, the native magnates, whose counterparts in England had practically disappeared after 1075 ? It is not claimed that the documents printed here will do more than provide useful pointers towards an answer to these questions. Nevertheless, in two respects their evidence is particularly valuable, and has hardly receive e attentioth d t ni deserves . They concern principall e nativth y e earls of Fife; and they deal largely with territory north of the Forth, where the policy of innovation followed by the Crown must succeed if it was to have any permanence in Scotland as a whole. Before discussing this evidenc detailn ei t wili , necessare lb judgo yt authenticite eth three th f eyo documents here printed. The texts of two of them, .(II) and (III), were copied, with every appear- ance of fidelity, by Sir John Skene, Lord Clerk Register (1594-1604), and manuscrips foune b hi o n t di e ar t noteboo possessioe th kn i Ear e th f o lf n o 1 In this field the student is especially indebted to Professor W. Croft Dickinson's introduction to The Sheriff Court Book of Fife (S.H.S., 1928), and to its valuable Appendix D, on the emergence of the sheriifdoms. 52 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1952-53. muse Haddington.w ) t (I e texhav f th o tr e recoursFo 1 collectiona o et , among the Harleian manuscripts,2 of Sir James Balfour of Kinnaird and Denmylne, Lord Lyon King of Arms (1630-54). No one who has ever entere e fiel f Scottisth do d h antiquarian studie s showha s e equath n f o l Balfour's capacity, eithe r deliberatelfo r y fabricating "documents" that never existed, or—what is, indeed, harder to forgive—for bungling the transcription mans a t a y, crucial point s possiblea s f genuino , e historical accesn a text d whico st ha deniee h somn di e case posterityo t s t Bu . although Balfour was incapable of making a correct and careful copy of a medieval Latin document t musi , saie b td thapurportee th t d chartef o r Malcolm IV here given shows fewer traces of blundering inaccuracy than are usually to be looked for in a document of this provenance. Despite the serious difficulties which it presents, there seems little doubt that it was beyond Balfour's power havo st e invented itt comei : neao genuinesto o rt - nes sucr sfo hsuppositiona . Balfou facn i r t claime havo dt e copie t dfroi m vere th y noteboo Skenf ko e already referred to.3 This clai mvitiates i y db a close examination of the Skene manuscript, which contains neither it nor any signs of an excised leaf on which it might have been written. Balfour facn i td copdi y three documents fro Skene mth e manuscript, those printed as (II) and (III) below, and the famous charter of Malcolm IV confirming e stewardshith WalteAlanf o pt o n . so r Needles sayo st , t Balfouno d di r make these copies without importing serious errors of his own, and un- fortunately, befor r GeorgeD e Neilson rescue bettee dth r (Skene)e textth f o stewardship charte Balfoue th s 1922,n ri wa r t version4i (IId botf so )an t hi whic found hha d theiinty o rwa hopes i print. t I d tha giviny b t g here from the Skene manuscrip6 t the better text of (II), we may do for it e historicallwhath r r NeilsoD tfo d ndi y more interesting chartee th f o r stewardship. If Balfour did not invent (I), the questions remain, Where did he see it or its copy, and how far are we justified in believing that it represents a genuine productio e reig th d writing-offic f nan no e f Malcolo Th e ? mIV former question cannot at present be answered, but the second deserves consideration. From the standpoint of its diplomatic, there is only one objection to the musI t expres thanky sm Loro st d Haddingto generouslr nfo y allowin depositee b o gt . thit da sMS the 1Institute of Historical Research, London, so that I could consult it. There is a transcript of it in the Scottish Record Office, Edinburgh. 2 B.M., MS. Harl. 4693. Ibid.,"44 Thi. fo r subsequen anf o ett charterlitellmanuscriptou d ha sI e uretfcin uit hane hth f do Sir 3Johne Skeene clerk register copied by him off the priucipalles." 4 G-. Neilson, "Birkenside and the Stewardship of Scotland," in History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, xxiv (1922), 126-47. The stewardship charter in Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, I, 92-93 (red pagination); also in the Maitlan5 d Club's Registrum de Passelet and in other works. The charter given as (II) below was printed from Balfour's inaccurate version in Sir Robert Sibbald's History of Fife (ed. 1710, p. 96; ed. 1803, p. 229), and in the Bannatyne Club's Liber Insule Missarum, Appendix, No. 2, THE EARLS OF FIFE IN THE 12TH CENTURY. 53 genuineness of the document: the time-date, "anno 7 regni regis." But welthiy lsma have been Balfour's work knows ,i foe rh havno t e added dating clauses to charters which would not normally have had them.1 Otherwise, diplomatically speaking, the charter is unobjectionable. Ville in line 8 is clearly a copyist's error for iuste, and is strong confirmation of the belief that the charter is not a Balfourian invention. The forms of the place-names approximate closely, where other example known,e sar e 12tthoso t th hf eo ot latesra t 13t hwitnessese centuriesth r fo s A , .Ernes Brnalr tfo d (Arnold), bisho t AndrewsS f po wrona s i , g extensio Ern'f no mad Balfouy eb e th n i r stewardship charter,2 and quite likely to have been repeated. The unknown " William, abbo Stirling,f to " migh explainee tb conflatioa s da "f n o William , abbot of (Holyrood, Melrose), Alured, abbot of Stirling." "Nell, son of e countess,th " improbabl e namth s ea e sounds, 3 almost certainly though unaccountably represent e chie sf William th o Ness f fo n Fife so , eon , land- holders of the period. Robert de Quinci's name occurs in Scottish record Malcolf o d beforen m e IV'eth s reign, indeed 4an witnessee dh t leasda e on t thaf o t t kingac t Yardle,a y Hastings (Northants 1161-4,. inclusios )c hi o s n here raise o difficultyn s . Finally d mosan , t significantly6 , there appears name th Williaf eo m Burdet. t seemI s highly unlikely that either Balfour or any potential fabricator of this charter would have inserted the name of this prominent English tenanScottise th f o t h king's honou Huntingdonf ro , namfos rhi e Scottis n doei t figurl sal no t eha recor Malcolm'f do s reignt Ye . William Burdet served for a time as steward of Malcolm's Huntingdon estates, and as such witnessed an act of Malcolm done at Stirling in 1160—I.6 In short, the witness list presents no objections to the authenticity of the charter, and the attestation of Bishop Arnold gives us limit-dates of November 1160 to September 1162. The serious obstacl acceptino et documene gth t standi s a t s (discussen di the Scots Peerage 7) lies in the very facts it purports to record. At the period of this charter, King Malcol s givinm wa s sister ghi marriage,n i so n d an s knowi couls o niechi nwh f d o e possibly have bee f marriageablno e ag e 8 before suggestio1162e Th .Scotse th n i Peerage 9 that this niec havy ema e 1 C/. Neilson cit.. op , 2 Ibid. WilliaA 3 s abbomwa f Holyrooo t d from 1152 (Chronicle of Holyrood (S.H.S., 1938) .