Moreover, Lothian and Galloway, as well as the Bretts or Welsh of Strathclyde, long retained their special laws as distinct from the laws of Scotland,[1] and these the king of the Scots bound himself to abide by and preserve. The charters of David I., Malcolm IV., and William the Lyon, were addressed to all their subjects, Normans, English, Scots, Galwegians, and Walenses, or Welsh of Clydesdale; and the same ethnical elements are distinguished by contemporary chroniclers as composing the army of David at the battle of the Standard.
Under the succeeding sovereigns of the line of Malcolm; down to Alexander III., the "English," that is to say, the Anglo-Saxon-speaking portion of their subjects, became ever the more important and predominant, and that with which the reigning line became more and more closely identified, and, as a consequence, the country south of the Firths, if not strictly Scotland,[2] became, at least, the most important possession of the King of Scots. For exactly as the royal house adopted the language, and became identified with the sympathies and fortunes of its Anglo-Saxon territories, it lost the sympathies of its own ancient kinsmen, and the allegiance of its early cradle land; so that of the descendants of the Scots, Picts, Welsh, Galwegians, English, Normans, Flemings, and Northmen, out of which arose the Scottish nationality, the only section over whom the king of Scots no longer ruled was the Scots themselves—those Celtic clans of the north and west who, from the days of Edgar to those of James III., ignored the authority, and defied the arms of the
- ↑ "It wes jugit of Gilepsy be al þe juhis als wele of Galowa as of Scotland."—Assis Alex andri II. III.
Galloway þe quhilk hes special lawys.—Ibid. xiv. - ↑ But by the reign of Alexander II. the name of Scotland had been currently extended so as to include Lothian and Galloway, for in 1249 similar ordinances to those quoted above were made, no longer between Scotland and Lothian, but between Scotland and England. In that year it was arranged "gif ony misdoar duellis in Scotland þat has mysdone by rubry wythin þe kinrik of Ingland," or the converse, the east marches were to answer at Camysfurd, the middle marches at Reuedeneburne or Jedwart ouerburne, Coquetdale and Redesdale at Kenmylispeth (Gammelspath), and "þe scheris of Carlile and Drumfres sall ansuere at Sulway efter þe lawis and custumys betuix þe twa kinrikis vsit." A commission had been issued by Alexander II. and Henry III. to trace the marches in 1222, when the Border line practically coincided with that still in existence.
sayd assise. And all þai þat wonnys on þe north half of þe wattir of Forth, in Scotlande, sall ansuer to þam on south half Forth, at that ilke terme, and þat ilke stedde.—Assise Regis Willelmi, III. It is ordanit be þe kyng consail of his gret men at Striveling þat na man of Scotland aw to tak pund beȝond þe watter of Forth, but gif þat pund be first schawyn to þe schiref of Striveling. And quhen ony man takis a pund he aw til hald þat pund at Hadintoun be þe space of iii dayis for to se quha cumis to proffer a borgh for þat pund. Item, þai þat duellis beȝond Forth may with þe leff of þe schireff tak a pund in Scotland, and þat pund til hald iii dayis at Striveling—Ibid. xxvii. (These and the following extracts are taken from the 14th c. vernacular versions given along with the original Latin in the Acta Parl. Scot. Vol. I.)
