Scottish Monarchy - Dunkeld

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The Celts ] Picts & Scots ] The Declaration of Arbroath ] The Stone of Destiny ] Royal Dynasties ] Scottish Monarchy - Alpin ] [ Scottish Monarchy - Dunkeld ] The Interregnum ] Scottish Monarchy -Bruce ] Scottish Monarchy - Stewart ] Scottish Monarchy - Stuart I ] The Commonwealth ] Scottish Monarchy - Stuart II ] Scottish Heraldry ] A note on Gaelic pronunciation

The House of Dunkeld 1034 - 1153 (sometimes known as The House of Atholl)

   

PIcture of Church where Kenneth I is buried
Dunkeld Abbey and Cathedral

Duncan I - Ruled 1034 - 1040 Born: 1001 Died: 1040 Marriage: ? Children: Malcolm and Donald Ban
Duncan, the grandson of Malcolm II macAlpin, was the son of Crinan, Mormaer of Atholl and lay Abbot of Dunkeld, and Bethoc, Malcolm's daughter. He married a cousin of the Earl of Northumberland which gave him cause to believe he had rights to English territory. He was probably King of Strathclyde from 1018 and inherited the rest of Scotland from his grandfather. This makes him the first king of Scotland as we know it today and founder of the Dunkeld dynasty which was to rule until 1290. Shakespeare has him as a gentle, wise and unassuming monarch, but in fact his reign was not all that distinguished. Typical of his hot-headedness, he was twice routed by his cousin Thorfinn, Jarl (Earl) of Orkney, led an unsuccessful skirmish against Durham in 1039 and the next year was defeated by Macbeth at Cawdor - he either died in battle or was murdered afterwards - led to his sons Malcolm and Donald Ban leaving the country for the next 17 years.

Macbeth  - Ruled 1040 - 1057 Born: ? Died: ? Marriage I: granddaughter of Kenneth III  Marriage II: Gruach Children: Lulach
What can be said about Macbeth that hasn't already been got wrong by Shakespeare? Mormaer (High Steward) or Moray, he had an excellent claim to the throne - his first wife was of royal blood (Kenneth III was her grandfather) and Duncan I had murdered her brother to prevent a challenge. Macbeth himself was probably a grandson of Kenneth II, or of Malcolm II through his second daughter Donada. He defeated Duncan at Cawdor (actually, Bathgowan, near Elgin) in 1040, proclaimed himself king and for the next 17 years ruled well and wisely. His second wife, Gruach (Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth), gave him a stepson, Lulach. Originally not Christian - some reports say his original name was Thorfinn Wolfson, which underlines his Scandinavian links - he converted at took the name Mc Beath ("son of life"). By 1050 was sufficiently in control of his kingdom to make a pilgrimage to Rome, a round trip of several months.
With the help of Siward, Earl of Northumberland and Donald Ban in the Hebrides, Duncan's son, Malcolm Canmore, challenged him at Dunsinane and Lumphanan, where Macbeth was killed by MacDuff in 1057, in rather less dramatic circumstances than the Bard of Avon would have us think.

A note on MacDuff
The first record of the Thanes of Fife was in 838 when Kenneth MacAlpin appointed governors for his provinces. Dubh (Duff) of Fife was appointed Thane (a Scots Gaelic rendition of Tioseach). When MacBeth, Mormaer of Moray slew King Duncan I in 1039, MacDuff, then Thane of Fife, swore that he would "not be ridden with a snaffle" and refused to help build MacBeth's Castle. Forced into exile, MacDuff went to England to persuade Malcolm, son of Duncan,  to return and take the Throne. On returning with an army, MacDuff found that MacBeth had murdered Lady MacDuff and several of their children. He attacked MacBeth in his castle at Dunsinane, drove him into the hills to the north of the River Dee, killed him  above Lumphannan and brought his head to Prince Malcolm. Who presumably said Thank You. Thereafter, MacDufs have had the traditional and ceremonial role of Kingmakers and physically crown the monarch at a coronation.

Lulach - Ruled 1057 - 1058 Born: ? Died: 1058  Marriage: ? Children: ?
In theory king after the death of his stepfather Macbeth, the simpleton Lulach lasted seven months before being ambushed and killed by Malcolm Canmore at Strathbogie. His son Malsnechtai and his descendants continued to contest the throne for a century or more, but to no avail. This ended the arguments over which branch of Kenneth MacAlpin's lineage would hold the throne.

Malcolm III Canmore - Ruled 1058 - 1093 Born: c 1031 Died: 1093 Alnwick Marriage I:  Ingibiorg Children: Duncan Marriage II: Margaret Children: Edgar, Alexander, David, Edmund, two more sons
Malcolm,  eldest son of Duncan I (who was murdered by Macbeth in 1039) was called Canmore (Ceanmohr, meaning great-head or great chief). After Duncan's death Malcolm fled for safety to his Danish kinsman, Siward Earl of Northumberland. He lived in England for many years, but in 1054 Siward got the sanction of Edward the Confessor to lead an army into Scotland, defeating Macbeth near Dunsinane. Macbeth retreated into the North, and the issue was settled in 1056, by his defeat and death at Lumphanan. Macbeth's son, Lulach, was quickly disposed of. Malcolm kept peace with England during Edward the Confessor's reign, but on the accession of Harold he sided with Tostig. After the battle of Hastings, Edgar the Atheling returned to England from safety in Hungary, with his mother and two sisters. Their ship was blown off course to beach near Dunfermline and he took them into his court. Soon after, he married the Princess Margaret, his first wife having died. They were the first royals to live in Edinburgh Castle, preferring it to the ancient royal palace in Dunfermline. In 1070 Malcolm Canmore invaded England in support of the claim to the throne of his brother in law. Edgar. He ransacked Durham, and took so many prisoners that for years after English slaves were to be found in every small township in Scotland. This act was avenged by an even more savage devastation of Northumbria by William the Conqueror. Malcolm agreed to do homage to William, and although Edgar left the Scottish court, Malcolm continued to give his protection to the English exiles. When  William Rufus inherited his father's crown in 1091, Malcolm again invaded England, but retired without fighting any battles. William Rufus invaded Scotland a year later, but a peace was mediated by Duke Robert and Edgar. In 1093 Malcolm invaded England again and besieged Alnwick Castle. Roger de Mowbray ambushed and killed Malcolm in the battle. A cross stands there today, marking the event. Queen Margaret, hearing the news, died three days later. His brother, Donald Ban, seized the throne as Donald III.

Donald Ban - Ruled 1093 - 1094  (again) 1094 - 1097 (with Edmund)  Born: 1033 Died: 1100, Iona  Marriage: ? Children: ?
As soon as Donald heard of the death of his brother Malcolm Canmore at Alnwick, he returned from exile in the Hebrides and seized Edinburgh Castle with the help of Highlanders and drove Malcolm's two sons to flee south. He was over 60 at the time. This was initially popular in Scotland, as Malcolm's court was felt to be too English. Malcolm had picked up a Celtic and anti-English influence during his sojourn in the Isles. But Malcolm's six sons by Margaret allied with Duncan, his son from his first marriage. Donald Ban (which means "fair"), ruled briefly until being deposed in 1094, but he forged an uneasy alliance with Edmund, another of Malcolm and Margaret's sons, whereby Edmund ruled south of the Forth and Clyde and Donald the north. However, Donald was deposed again by Edgar, another of Malcolm and Margaret's sons, after a battle at Roscobie, Fife. Duncan II became king. Edgar had the support of William Rufus and his English-Norman troops. Donald Ban was blinded and imprisoned for the rest of his life. Edmund was spared, spent the last few short years of his life exiled in a Cluniac monastery in Somerset and, full of remorse, requested to be buried in chains when he died around 1100. He was the last Scottish king to be buried on Iona.

Duncan II - Ruled 1094 - 1094  Born: 1060 Died: 1094  Marriage: 1088 Octreda  Children: ?
Eldest son of Malcolm III (Canmore) by his first wife, Duncan spent much of his early life as a hostage to William the Conqueror and his son, William Rufus. William might have had him executed in reprisal for his father's attacks on England in 1079, but he built a new castle on the Tyne and kept the boy hostage instead. Brought up an educated largely in Normandy from the age of 12, he acquired the skills of a Norman knight and was freed and knighted in 1087, marrying Octreda of Northumberland soon after. He was considered the true heir to the throne, and William Rufus supported his invasion of Scotland with an Anglo-Norman army. His reign was short and unpopular due to the perceived Englishness of his court and in 1094, within months of his accession, he was killed at the instigation of Donald Ban and his own half-brother Edmund at Mondynes near Dunottar. Edmund received rulership of the southern part of Scotland. The murder was possibly committed by a man called Malpeder, Malpeter, Malfrida or Macpender MacLoen who was at the time Mormaer (High Steward) of Mearns, one of the unruliest provinces and a hotbed of Celtic resentment. Edmund's rule was shared with Donald Ban, whose second rule was ended by Edmund's  brother, Edgar. Duncan did manage to issue Scotland's earliest Royal Charter

Donald Ban - Ruled 1093 - 1094  (again) 1094 - 1097
See above

Edgar - Ruled 1097 - 1107 Born: c 1074 Died: 11-7 Marriage: no  Children: no
Fourth son of Malcolm III Canmore and Margaret, "the King with the English name" was the first of three bothers to hold the throne (not counting Edmund who ruled jointly with Donald Ban during his second reign). Edgar was king only of the northern part of Scotland, his younger brother David (later David I) being Earl of Strathclyde, Lothian and Cumbria. Edgar was also the first Scottish king to have significant Saxon blood. He stayed at the English court after his father's death, until 1096 when, with an Anglo-Norman army, he defeated Donald Ban at Roscobie, Fife. A superficial reading of his deeds makes him sound bloodthirsty - he seized the crown and had his half-brother blinded and imprisoned - but he was actually gentle, kind, religious and possessed of his mother's sweet temperament. He remained very close to her and never married. His diplomatic skills managed to maintain good relations with William Rufus and later Henry I of England while diminishing their influence north of the border. Edgar settled the first English knight in Lothians and had his sister Matilda marry Henry I in 1100. He gave the Western isles to Magnus Barelegs, king of Norway, rather than fight a series of fruitless, bloody battles. He appeased the King of Ireland with lavish gifts - including a camel - and left a peaceful Scotland to his brother Alexander I. He was buried in his beloved Dunfermline Abbey.

Alexander I - Ruled 1107 - 1124 Born:  c 1077 Dumbarton? Died: 1124  Marriage: Sybilla Children: Malcolm macHeth (illegitimate)
Fifth son of Malcolm III (Canmore), and Margaret, sister of Edgar Atheling, Alexander the Fierce inherited the throne of the northern part of Scotland from his brother Edgar. (His brother David, king after him, ruled Strathclyde, southern Lothian and Cumbria). His nickname derives from his vigour and impetuosity of character, but he was also reckoned "a letter'd and godly man, very amiable towards the clerics and regulars but terrible beyond measure to the rest of his subjects". He clearly lacked the common touch. He suppressed several insurrections, including a rebellion in Moray, and successfully withstood the attempts of English Archbishops to establish ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Scotland. He held that the Scottish church owed allegiance only to the Pope, rather than York or Canterbury. He revived the Bishopric of Dunkeld, established an Abbey on Inchcolm island and a Priory at Scone, built castles (including Stirling), encouraged the feudal system by settling Norman knights in the southern part of the country, where they built many Norman-style castles, and made Berwick upon Tweed the first Scottish Royal Burgh in 1112 . Brought up, like his brothers, in England, he was close to Henry I of England, supported his campaigns against rebellious Welsh kings in 1114 and married Henry's illegitimate daughter, Sybilla. The marriage had no issue, although there was a natural son, Malcolm macHeth, whose descendants claimed parts of Caithness, unsuccessfully. On his death in 1124 at his new Royal Castle of Stirling and his burial at Dunfermline Abbey, the throne passed to his brother, David I.

David I - Ruled 1124 - 1153  Born: 1084  Died: 1153  Marriage: Princess Maud Children: Henry, Earl of Northampton
Picture of David I David the Saint was one of Scotland's best kings and his reign was characterised by a strong duty he felt towards his subjects. Deeply religious, like his mother, he was fair-minded and a keen gardener. He also did much to modernise Scotland which stood it in good stead in the face of later English invasions, notably imposing a feudal system for the first time along with simple, centralised government, and creating a dozen or more Royal Burghs including Perth and Aberdeen. He promoted education and agriculture, restored the bishopric of Glasgow, established bishops in Aberdeen, Ross, Brechin, Caithness and Dunblane and built religious houses at Holyrood, Melrose, Jedburgh, Dryburgh, Newbattle and Kelso, earning him his nickname "David the Saint". Sixth son of Malcolm III (Canmore), he succeeded his brother, Alexander the Fierce. As his mother Margaret was an English princess, he was the uncle of Empress Maude and her cousin Queen Matilda. He spent his early years at the English court and his sister married the English King. He in turn married Maud, grand-niece of William the Conqueror; and was Earl of Northumberland and Huntingdon and Prince of Cumbria when he took the Scottish throne. This gave him great power in England. He had inherited that part of Scotland below the Firth-Clyde line from his brother, Edgar, although his other brother, Alexander I, disputed his right. Henry I of England supported him, even though Henry and Alexander were on good terms. This meant that, on succeeding Alexander I to the Scottish throne, he effectively united the whole of the country plus Cumbria. On Henry 's death, David, by then king of Scotland, took the opportunity to push Scotland's borders the furthest south they had ever been, or ever would be again. He twice championed the claim of his daughter Maud and niece Mathilda against King Stephen and captured Carlisle, but was defeated at the Battle of the Standard near Northallerton, Yorkshire in 1138. By negotiation the following year, Carlisle  remained in Scottish possession. David died there in 1153, leaving the crown and a peaceful, prosperous kingdom to his eldest grandson Malcolm IV. He had spent the last few of his 72 years gardening and planting apple orchards. He also set the scene for the later Stewart dynasty by making Walter Fitz Alan the first hereditary Steward of Scotland.

Malcolm IV- Ruled  1153-1165 Born: 1142 Died: 1165 Marriage: no Children: One illegitimate son
Picture of Malcolm IV Malcolm the Maiden was the eldest son of Henry, Earl of Northumberland. Only 11 or 12 when he succeeded his grandfather David, Malcolm was immediately challenged by unrest, especially from Celtic chiefs and Earls who hated the Anglo-Norman influence at court. The renowned Somerled, Lord of the Isles and founder of the MacDonald clan, sailed up the Clyde in an attempt to extend his hegemony, but was repulsed. Suppressing the Celts with English help only enraged them further. However, he had his grandfather's diplomatic talents and made peace. He also returned Northumberland, Westmoreland and Cumberland to England rather than fight wars and went with Henry II to besiege Toulouse and was granted an English knighthood, although this was interpreted at home as another acknowledgement of his subordination to the English. A devout church supporter, Malcolm took a vow of celibacy (hence his nickname "The Maiden") but fathered a natural child on the encouragement of his mother, who worried about him. Had he not died at Jedburgh Abbey at 23, he might have fulfilled his potential. He was probably the last Gaelic-speaking king and was succeeded by his Younger brother, William the Lion.

William I - Ruled 1165-1214 Born: 1143  Died: 1214  Marriage: 1186 Ermingarde de Beaumont Children:  three daughters and Alexander II
[Colours of William I of Scotland] William the Lion, King of Scotland, was the second son of Prince Henry, Earl of Northumberland (the only son of David I) and successor to his brother Malcolm IV when he was 22. His nickname derives from the lion rampant on his coat of arms, which he added to the standard of Scotland. He took part with Henry II of England in the expedition to Brittany but subsequently supported Henry's sons in their rebellion. In return, the younger Henry granted William Northumberland, which he had sought in vain from the English king. He tried to capitalise on the strife in England  in 1173 after the murder of Thomas a Becket by invading Northumberland (reclaimed by Henry II in 1157). But in July of the following year he was surprised and captured, with sixty of his nobles, by Ranulph de Glanville and Geoffrey of Lincoln at Alnwick.
Accounts differ as to the means of his capture. One account has him lost in a mist and, seeing a group of knights approaching, thinks them to be his men. When he got closer, he saw they were actually English cavalry. But he couched his lance and shouted "Now it will appear who knows how to be a knight!" An English spear felled his horse, and he was taken, with his feet tied beneath the belly of another horse, as a prisoner, to Northampton. The other version says he was unhorsed in a skirmish and his mount rolled on top of him, pinning him down so the English could take him prisoner.
Henry II feeling purified by the scourging he had given himself for the death of Thomas a Becket, took Williams capture to be a sign of forgiveness from God over his murder of the Archbishop. Intent on William's humiliation, had him transported via Kent to Normandy and confined him in the castle of Falaise, where he remained for half a year until he did homage to Henry for the himself, the kingdom of Scotland and its church, and promised to hand over five of his main castles plus his younger brother, David, as a hostage. 
Frankly, he had little choice - as William was not married and his brother also a prisoner, the line of Canmore would finish there and then if both died. Returning home, William found his kingdom in an uproar.  He was harried by Galloway nobles who wanted rid of him (and offered the region to England to achieve this) and by the men of Ross, who attacked the Normans William had allowed to settle there. He had to subdue and kill Donald MacWilliam in Badenoch, who claimed to be descended from Malcolm III. All of this took Ross out of his control for ten years.  William upheld  the independence of the church in Scotland by opposing the appointment, confirmed by Pope Alexander III, of John the Scot as Bishop of St. Andrews. The Pope excommunicated William in 1181 and laid the kingdom under an interdict, later reversed by Lucius III. A later pope, Celestine III, agreed in 1192 that the church should be independent under Rome. After Richard I succeeded to the English throne in 1189 and was badly in need of money for his third crusade, William paid 10,000 marks, raised from taxes, to be excused from homage and receive back his castles. On Richard's return, William pressed a claim to buy Northumberland, Westmoreland and Cumberland and offered his daughter Margaret to Richard's nephew as part of the bargain. Later, in 1200, he did homage to King John at Lincoln, but only for lands in England. His renewed claim on English lands did no more than persuade John to start to build a fortress at the mouth of the Tweed and later invade. rather than fight it out, William met John at Roxburgh Castle and persuaded him - with the help of 15,000 marks and two of his heiresses - not to continue the building. William spent much of his rule  intent on strengthening his grip on Scotland - he built a string of castles in Galloway and two in Ross, founded Royal Burghs, initiated the Auld Alliance with France -the oldest mutual defence treaty in Europe - and had a reputation for blinding and castrating the sons of his enemies. William was a ferocious fighter, but his ability as a tactician is questionable. By all English accounts he led an army of well armed Irish Kerns, Norman-Scots, Celts and Galloway menwho "slaughtered children, ripped open pregnant women, and cut down priests at their atlars." But this description was written by frightened and highly prejudiced English chroniclers, whose did such a good job that later writers would use almost exactly the same words when describing the behaviour of William Wallace and his men. Tradition states that a Baird rescued King William the Lion from being savaged by a wild boar and was rewarded with extensive grants of lands. 
In 1198, in his mid-fifties, William fathered an heir by an illegitimate granddaughter of Henry I, a marriage forced upon him by the English. It shows what they felt towards each other that they had been married 13 years before their son, Alexander, was born. William died at Stirling in December 1214 at the age of 72, his lifelong ambition to recover Northumbria unrealised, and was buried at Arbroath Abbey which he had founded in 1178 in honour of Thomas a' Becket. His remains were found well preserved in 1816. His marriage in 1186 to Ermingarde de Beaumont, who later founded Balermino Abbey in Fife (1229), gave him three daughters and a son, Alexander II.

Alexander II - Ruled 1214-1249 Born: 1198, Haddington Died: 1249 Kerrera Marriage: 1221 Princess Joan of England, ?1240 Marie de Coucy  Children: Alexander
Alexander II Only son of and successor to William the Lion, Alexander the Peaceful (a name he never really deserved) was crowned at the age of 16. His title was immediately challenged by Donald macWilliam, who landed with a force from Ireland, but they were defeated by the Earl of Mar and the leaders beheaded.  In 1217 Alexander led an army to Dover in the South of England and made contact with the Dauphin of France. He stood with the English barons against King John - he was present at the signing of the Magna Carta and received the homage of the northern English barons in 1215 - although they broke the agreement when John died and Alexander raised an army against them, unsuccessfully. He made peace with Henry III when he succeeded John in 1216, and married his sister Princess Joan in 1221,  though the relationship between the two kings was stormy. His reputation is of a  just and wise ruler and an effective politician, offering, for instance, to buy the Western Isles from Norway (his offer was spurned) and settling the Scottish-English borders which are in force today, by the Treaty of York (1237). In the bargain, he received lands in north England worth £200 a year. Relations with Henry improved and in 1243 he betrothed his two year old son and successor, Alexander III, to Henry III's three year old daughter, Princess Margaret, possibly to secure his relationship now that Henry's sister, Joan had died childless.  However, he is also known for chopping the hands and feet off rebels and having them torn apart by horses. He had his enemies' heads delivered to him at court and eliminated the claims of one rival to the crown, a baby girl, by having her brains bashed out against the Forfar market cross. That said, Alexander founded abbeys at Balmerino (on his mother's instigation) and Pluscarden, the Blackfriars Monastery at Perth and Eilean Donan Castle. When trying to retrieve the Western isles from King Haakon IV of Norway by force, he died suddenly on the Isle of Kerrera off Oban, and was buried at Melrose Abbey. Princess Joan had died childless in 1238, but his later marriage to Marie, daughter of the Baron de Coucy of Picardy, meant he was succeeded by his only son Alexander III.

Alexander III - Ruled 1249-1286   Born: 1241 Died: 1286 Marriage: 1259, Princess Margaret of England; 1285 Yolande of Breaux Children: David, Alexander, Margaret
Picture of Alexander III Last Cetlic king of Scotland and son of Alexander II and Princess Joan of England (Henry III's sister), Alexander succeeded when eight years of age. His marriage two years later to Princess Margaret, daughter of Henry III of England, and the fact that his mother, Joan, was Henry's sister, meant a close friendship with his father-in-law. Since Alexander was only two years old at the time of the betrothal, Sir John de Baliol became one of the guardians of the royal toddlers. His son, John Baliol, later briefly held the Scottish throne. At his marriage (when he was 10), Henry tried to trick Alexander into doing homage, but he was quick-witted enough to avoid this. When Alexander was sixteen (1257) court rivalries boiled over and rebel nobles led by the Comyns of Monteith and Buchan held him hostage and tried to gain control. Henry III was angered and proposed to keep an army to the north on England until things settled down. Negotiations led to a settlement and a council of ten was appointed to look after Alexander until his majority in 1262. Then Alexander started to assert himself. He defeated Haakon and his Norsemen at Largs, bought the Hebrides and the  Isle of Man from Magnus VI of Norway for £2,666 and established his control over all the Western Isles by the Treaty of Perth (1266), later betrothing his daughter to Eric II. Alexander supported the English king with 5000 men in the wars against the Barons. During his reign, Scotland was invaded by Haco, king of Norway, but the invasion was crushed, peace agreed, and Alexander married his daughter Margaret to Eric II,  Haco's  successor. The rest of his reign was peaceful, and he continued his father's plans for the good administration of law. But his reign was tinged with sadness. His wife died in 1275 and both of his sons, David and Alexander, predeceased him, both childless, leaving the heir apparent, recognised by Parliament two years earlier, his granddaughter Margaret, Maid of Norway, daughter of Margaret and Eric II (Eric the Priest Hater). He married Yolande of Dreaux in 1285 in an attempt to secure a male heir but died less than six months later when he was riding from Edinburgh to Dunfermline to meet her and his horse slipped on a bridle path near Kinghorn, Fife. His body was not found until next morning and a monument today stands nearby.

Margaret (Maid of Norway) - Ruled 1286-1290 Born: 1283, Norway  Died: 1290 at sea Marriage: none Children: none
Margaret was proclaimed Queen of Scots at the age of three on the death of her grandfather Alexander III and sailed home from her father Eric II's court in Norway in September 1290. Again, a group of six Guardians had been appointed to govern in her absence, but two factions - the Bruce and the Baliol families - both of whom claimed descent from David I - contested for power. Appeals were made to Edward I Longshanks of England to mediate
The Scots agreed to the Treaty of Birgham (Berwickshire) on 18 July 1290 by which Margaret would marry Edward's eldest son (later Edward II). In of September, the eight-year-old Queen set sail, escorted by Bishop Narve of Bergen, but she took ill on the voyage and her ship put in at Orkney, Margaret died there and her body was taken back to Norway where she was buried beside her mother. She never set foot on Scottish soil. The Celtic succession and the House of Dunkeld were over. During the interregnum, Edward I saw his chance to take over Scotland. He had planned to have Margaret marry his son. Had she survived and done so, Scottish history would have been very different - possibly as a province of England and certainly without William Wallace and Robert Bruce

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