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You Can Download This Book Here THE EARLY CHRONICLES RELATING TO SCOTLAND PUBLISHED BY JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS, GLASGOW, to ilu MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD., LONDON. New York, - - The Macmillan Co. Toronto, - - - The Macmillan Co. ofCanada. London, - Simpkin, Hamilton and Co. Cambridge, Bowes and Bowes. Edinburgh, Douglas and Faults. Sydney, Angus and Robertson. MCMXI1. THE EARLY CHRONICLES RELATING TO SCOTLAND BEING THE RHIND LECTURES IN ARCHAEOLOGY FOR 1912 IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND BY RIGHT HON. Ttif. SIR HERBERT EUSTACE MAXWELL BART., LL.D., D.C.L., F.R.S. PRES. SOC. ANT. SCOT. 3 GLASGOW b JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS PUBLISHERS TO THE UNIVERSITY 1912 I , K. OCIO.O87 Jlntoan, 04., to to hose entbiiion ab patunce toith thf ttniearneb the author ohus mow than he can etoer repag, this boltttne is btbwattb toith affectionat* regari PREFACE THE following lectures were undertaken with the intention and hope of furnishing a clue to the most trustworthy sources of contem- porary, or nearly contemporary, information about the early condition and history of Scotland, and of indicating the most probable line of truth among conflicting statements. Some such guidance may be found acceptable by those who, while desiring to acquire a clear general knowledge of the origin of the Scottish people and their relations with England, have not enough leisure at command for prolonged search through the printed volumes of annals and to weigh the authority which may rightly be assigned to each. It is hardly necessary that I should explain how greatly I have relied upon the labours of students in this field are previous ; they too numerous and too well known to require Vll PREFACE specific mention. But among the more recent of them there are three from whose works I have derived so much immediate assistance that it will not be thought invidious if I make direct acknowledgment of the same. In chronological order of publication these works stand as follows : 1899. Scottish Kings: a revised chronology of Scottish History, A.D. 1005-1625, by Sir Archibald H. Dunbar, Bart. 1908. Scottish Annals from English Chronicles: A.D. 500-1286, by Alan O. Anderson. 1910. Annals of the Reigns ofMalcolm and William^ Kings of Scotland, A.D. 1153-1214. Between them, these three volumes pro- vide a corpus of reference which I have found to save an infinity of trouble. HERBERT MAXWELL. MONREITH, March, 1912. vm CONTENTS A.D. 80-396 PAGE C. Tacitus on Julius Agricola's Caledonian campaign 2 Perplexing ethnology of Northern Britain 5 Uncertainty of tribal and racial names - 6 The Wall of Hadrian, c. A.D. 120- 16 Aelius Spartianus in the Historia Augusta 17 - The geographer Ptolemy 17 Pausanias and Julius Capitolinus on the campaign of - Lollius Urbicus 19 The Wall of Antonine, c. A.D. 140 - 19 The forged chronicle of Richard of Cirencester 21 The campaigns of Calphurnus Agricola (A.D. 162), - - Marcellus Ulpius (A.D. 182) 22 The Annals of Dio Cassius, edited by Xiphilinus - 23 Herodianus, Greek historian - - 25 Severus and Caracalla invade Caledonia, A.D. 208 - 26 Death of the Emperor Severus, A.D. 211 - 29 Eumenius makes first mention of the Picts, A.D. 296 30 - Chronicle of Ammianus Marcellinus 31 Partition of the Roman Empire, A.D. 337 31 The panegyrist Claudian on the campaign of Theo- dosius the Elder, A.D. 369 - - 34 ix CONTENTS PAGE Prosperus Aquitanus on Clemens Maximus, elected Emperor, A.D. 383 36 Bishop Ninian's mission to Galloway, A.D. 396 38 II A.D. 410-731 Absence of all records for 150 years 43 Ailred's Vita S. Niniani 46 Adamnan's Vita S. Columbae - 52 ' ' lona a ghost name - 55 - Jocelyn's Vita S. Kentigerni 56 Meeting of Columba and Kentigern 59 Rydderch Hael, Christian champion 62 Gildas, c. A.D. 52O-c. 570 63 Baeda, A.D. 673-735 - 65 His chronicle invaluable 65 - Nennius,y?. A.D. 796 67 The Saxon invasion, A.D. 449 68 - Disputed Arthurian topography 71 The four kingdoms of Alba - 74 - Pagan victory at Degsastan, A.D. 603 76 Separation of the Southern Britons from the Strath- - clyde Britons, A.D. 613 76 Missionaries from lona convert the people of North- umbria - 82 III A.D. 685-1093 - Alliance of Picts and Scots against the Saxons 89 Defeat of the Saxons at Dunnichen, A.D. 685 - 90 - Saxon bishopric of Whithorn, A.D. 731 91 CONTENTS PAGE - War between Picts and Scots, A.D. .717736 93 The Picts subdue Dalriada, A.D. 736 - ~ 93 attributed to Simeon of Chronicle Durham (ft. c.n 30) 94 Foundation of Kilrymont, now St. Andrews, c. A.D. 761 - 95 First recorded inroad of Northmen, A.D. 793 96 Kenneth MacAlpin founds the Scottish monarchy, A.D. 841 - 98 Dies in 860 - too Repeated invasion by Northmen, A.D. 860-900 - 100 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, A.D. 900-1154 - - 100 First assertion of English supremacy over Scotland, A.D. 924 - - 105 Battle of Brunanburg, A.D. 937 - no King Eadmund conquers Strathclyde and grants it - to Malcolm I., A.D. 945 112 The Scots acquire Edinburgh, c. A.D. 960 - 115 The question of homage for Lothian - 116 The Pictish Chronicle - 119 - The Danes invade Argyll, A.D. 986 122 Marianus Scotus, A.D. 1028-1082 ? 123 Reign of Macbeth, A.D. 1040-1057 - 124 Reign of Malcolm Ceannmor, A.D. 1058-1093 - 125 William the Conqueror invades Scotland, A.D. 1072- 130 - Ordericus Vitalis, A.D. 1075-1143 131 Malcolm renounces homage to William Rufus, A.D. 1092 132 IV A.D. 1093-1 174 Succession disputed by Duncan and Donald Ban, A.D. 1093 - - J 35 Forged deeds in the Durham Treasury - 139 Reign of Eadgar, A.D. 1097-1109 - - 141 xi CONTENTS PAGE of David - Reign I., A.D. 1109-1158 143 The Chronicles of Ailred of Riesaux, Henry of Hun- tingdon, William of Malmesbury, William of Newburgh, Roger Hoveden, and Richard of Hexham - - - - 144 Gesta Stephani - - 149 Ralph de Diceto - 150 Battle of the The Standard, A.D. 1138 -, 153 Disappearance of the Scottish Chronicles - 157 The Chronicles of Holyrood and Melrose - 158 Reign of Malcolm the Maiden, A.D. 1153-1165 - 159 Reginald of Durham's Life of S. Cuthbert - - 166 Reign of William the Lyon, A.D. 1165 - - 167 - Beginning of the Scoto-French alliance, A.D. 1173 167 The metrical Chronicle of Jordan Fantosme - - 171 Capture of William the Lyon, A.D. 1174 - 173 A.D. I 174-1286 - The Treaty of Falaise, A.D. 1174 180 The Chronicle of Peterborough (Benedictus Abbas) - 181 Anarchy in Scotland - 181 Resistance of the Scottish Church to English claim, A.D. 1176 - - 183 The Pope supports the Scottish Church, A.D. 1177 - 184 Excommunication of William the Lyon, A.D. 1180 - 187 Papal charter of independence for the Scottish Church, A.D. 1 1 88 190 The Treaty of Canterbury, A.D. 1189 - - 191 King William demands Northumberland, A.D. 1193 196 Rebellion of Harald, Earl of Caithness, A.D. 1195 and 1201 - - 198 - - The Orkney inga Saga 199 xii CONTENTS PAGE Meeting of the Kings at Norham, A.D. 1209 - - 206 The Annals of S. Edmund's - - 206 Walter of Coventry - - 206 - Reign of Alexander II., A.D. 1214-1249 207 - - King John invades Scotland, 1215 208 Chronicle of Matthew Paris - - 208 King Alexander does homage to the French Dauphin, A.D. 1216 - - 209 Marriage of Alexander II. to Joan of England, A.D. 1221 - - 2IO Alexander commutes his claim to Northumberland, ' A.D. 1237 - - 212 - Reign of Alexander III., A.D. 1249-1286 213 - His marriage to Margaret of England, A.D. 1251 214 VI A.D. 1265-1406 The Melrose Chronicle - 22 1 English writers our only guide after it ceases in A.D. I27O - - 222 - The Register of Dunfermline 224 The claim for homage not pressed by Edward I. - - during Alexander III.'s life . 225 The Scalacronica - 226 The Chronicle of Lanercost - 227 John of Fordun's Chronicle - - 228 Walter Bower's Scotichronicon - 231 * ' John Barbour's The Brus - - 234 Barbour the first Scot to write in Northern English - 235 ' ' - Andro of Wyntoun, Orygynal Cronykil 253 I. B.C. 55 A.D. 400. I. B.C. 55 A.D. 400. WHEN one reflects upon the space of time covered by modern archaeology the science of recovering evidence of human occupation and society from the most distant period of man's existence the thought must weigh heavily how relatively petty is the portion of that space covered by the written annals of the British Isles. Historical record, either graven on stone, baked in clay or inscribed on papyri, throws direct, if intermittent, light upon the polity of Ancient Egypt as far back as the close of the Third Dynasty, a date variously estimated by Egyptologists at from 4000 to before Christ whereas have 3000 years ; we no first-hand notice of Britannia until Julius Caesar landed there in 55 B.C. Of North Britain there is no mention what- ever until 125 years later, when in the year CHRONICLES RELATING TO SCOTLAND A.D. 80, Julius Agricola, the famous general and governor of the Britannic province under the Emperors Vespasian, Titus and Domitian, having subdued the Welsh Ordovices and Northumbrian Brigantes, novas gentes aperuit, carried his arms against the tribes further north. This brings us to the earliest authentic chronicle relating to Scotland in the shape of the biography of Agricola written by his son- in-law, Cornelius Tacitus. It is invaluable, for Tacitus was a most accomplished writer, compiling his narrative from his father-in-law's the that can own description ; only complaint be made against him is that he is too laconic to of satisfy our curiosity upon every point interest.
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