There is little information in the sources on the fate of Duncan’s two young sons, Malcolm and Donald. They are completely absent from the contemporary record between 1040 and 1057 and later sources offer little additional information about their whereabouts. It is only the fourteenth-century Gesta Annalia, attributed to John of Fordun, that reports that Malcolm sought refuge in England while Donald went to the Western Isles and it is difficult to place much reliance on this. It is possible to reconstruct any number of possible scenarios to fill this gap but this adds little to our knowledge without support. They could have sought refuge with supporters in Scotland or in exile abroad in England, the Orkneys, the Western Isles or even Ireland, or indeed a combination of these.
In 1045, the Annals of Ulster report ‘a battle between the men of Alba themselves in which Crinan, Abbot of Dunkeld, fell’, while Tigernach adds that 180 men were lost with him. This might support the possibility that the two young princes may have sought refuge with their grandfather, Crinan, Abbot of Dunkeld. This would be a natural refuge for the two princes and this report might reflect an attempt by Crinan to seize the kingship on behalf of his grandsons. It is perhaps more probable, however, that it represents an attempt by Macbeth to eliminate the last source of opposition to his rule. If this latter assumption is the case, it shows that not everyone was reconciled to Macbeth’s rule.
In the aftermath of the death of Crinan of Dunkeld, there is no further indication of any threat to Macbeth’s rule. Indeed, in 1050, he is reported by Marianus Scotus to have visited distant Rome on pilgrimage, which certainly suggests that he felt his throne to be secure in his absence. If this is the case, where was Malcolm? There appear to be three possibilities. Firstly, he fled to England in 1040 and remained there until his return with Earl Siward in 1054. This is the most obvious assumption and it is the one usually adopted. Secondly, he was sheltered by his grandfather Crinan but following his death in 1045 sought refuge in England. This is also an assumption that fits the few facts that are known. Lastly, he had been appointed by his father to rule in Strathclyde and possibly Lothian under a suitable adult guardian. He subsequently managed to retain control of this region while Macbeth ruled the main part of the kingdom to the north of the Forth–Clyde line. It must be admitted, however, that there is no contemporary evidence for any of these scenarios.
It is established that Malcolm understood English, which suggests that he spent a lot of time among English-speakers and so either in southern Scotland or England. He knew English well enough to be able to communicate with his English-speaking wife and to act as her translator. He may have become more familiar with English-speaking Northumbria and England itself than with his homeland. How did this affect him? He was the first king of Alba with detailed first-hand knowledge of his southern neighbours. He was able to observe their rich culture and sophisticated administration. He would be followed by other Scottish monarchs in this path, most notably by his own son, David I, but also by David II and James I. In some sense all these men were influenced by their experiences in England and it would be surprising if Malcolm were an exception. He probably admired and absorbed aspects of English culture and administration. He also had an important advantage in relation to his own future subjects in Lothian. He would be the first king of Alba with a direct linguistic and cultural connection to his English-speaking subjects. This must have helped him to secure the loyalty of these southern areas during his struggles against Macbeth and Lulach and their northerners. He would be so comfortable with these English-speakers that he would later establish his main power base among them around Dunfermline and Edinburgh.
If it is not clear where exactly Malcolm was during the fourteen-year period from 1040, it is clear that he sought and secured English assistance to pursue a claim to the kingdom. He had not lost the desire to recover his paternal inheritance and he worked hard in exile to secure English assistance to recover his throne. The death of Crinan had removed a vital source of support within Scotland and thereafter Malcolm would need outside assistance to restore his fortunes. It is possible that Malcolm may initially have tried to exploit memories of his great-grandfather’s alliance with Cnut to seek support from the latter’s son and successor Hardecnut. He may even have attempted to portray King Duncan’s invasion of 1039 as being directed against Harold I, Hardecnut’s deadly enemy in order to curry favour. It seems unlikely that he sought support from Ealdorman Eadwulf, with whom his father had been in conflict only the year before. In 1041, however, Earl Siward of York killed Eadwulf and assumed control of all of Northumbria. It is likely that Malcolm found him more sympathetic and it was ultimately Siward who promoted Malcolm’s cause in 1054.
It was, however, not until some fourteen years later that Siward’s support finally took concrete form. In the years immediately after 1040 there were many other more important matters to preoccupy Siward. In 1042 Hardecnut died and was succeeded by King Edward the Confessor; between 1043 and 1047 England faced the threat of a Norwegian invasion; and from 1048 until 1053 a series of internal disputes broke out among the English nobility. A late set of Durham annals reports that Siward invaded Scotland and expelled Macbeth in 1046, but this receives no confirmation in contemporary sources and it may be a misplaced reference to events of 1054. It was not therefore until after 1053 that Siward was finally able to apply his own and royal resources, in the shape of royal huscarls, to support Malcolm’s cause. The expedition itself or, at least, the involvement of the royal huscarls may have been prompted by Macbeth’s provision of shelter to some Normans expelled from England in 1053. It is unlikely that Siward provided his assistance without some form of concession on Malcolm’s part. The most likely price for English support was the surrender of Cumberland to Earl Siward. The text of ‘Gospatric’s Writ’ indicates that Earl Siward held control over Allerdale in Cumberland at this time. It seems most likely that it fell into English hands in this way since there is otherwise no record of its physical seizure by the English.
On 27 July in 1054 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that ‘. . . Earl Siward proceeded with a large force to Scotland, both with a naval force and a land force, and fought there with the Scots and routed the king Macbeth and killed all the best in the land and carried off a large amount of plunder such as had never been captured before.’ The Annals of Ulster report the same encounter and the resultant heavy casualties of 3,000 Scots and 1,500 English. The savagery of the fighting is also revealed by the number of prominent casualties listed in the sources. The English lost Earl Siward’s son Osbeorn and his nephew Siward and Dolfin, son of Thorfinn Mac Thor of Allerdale, and a number of huscarls. The Scots lost the exiled Norman knights Osbern Pentecost and Hugh. Unfortunately, none of the contemporary sources mention the site of this battle. It is located at Dunsinane in Angus only in much later sources and the basis for this is unclear.
The consequences of this toughly fought battle in 1054 are also unclear. The English army certainly returned home with more plunder than ever before but also with heavy losses. They appear to have considered it a success and this is confirmed by the balance of losses noted in the Annals of Ulster. The English victory does not appear, however, to have ended Macbeth’s rule which continued until 1057. It must, however, presumably have secured some form of advantage for Malcolm. He does not appear to have been recognised as king at this stage but perhaps he gained control over more territory. It has been suggested that he already held the southern regions of Lothian and Strathclyde and this latest success, if correctly located at Dunsinane, may have brought him control of Fife, Strathearn and Angus. He may also have secured control of his grandfather’s former base at Dunkeld. This sort of advance would find him in control of a significant and rich area of the kingdom. It would leave Macbeth with a much smaller area immediately to the south of his heartland in Moray. If Malcolm had not made some headway following this encounter it would be difficult to explain Macbeth’s downfall only two years later.
The English invasion was
not repeated, so either it had achieved its purpose or the English were discouraged from further action by their heavy losses or the death of Siward in the following year. Malcolm himself was not dissuaded by the loss of direct English support, but continued the struggle on his own. It is possible that he sought an alternative ally in the person of Earl Thorfinn of Orkney. This northern ruler is sometimes considered an ally of Macbeth because they both visited Rome in 1050, but little more is reliably known about him. The career of Thorfinn is not covered by contemporary sources but is related in the Orkneyinga Saga, compiled nearly two centuries later. The Norse sagas are literary entertainments rather than historical texts. They focus on exciting stories and interesting characters and not reliable historical facts and sound chronology. This makes them even more unreliable than other late sources and they should generally be avoided unless supported by more historical texts. A number of historians have, for example, attempted in vain to identify the fictional character Karl Hundason with various historical figures, including Malcolm II, Duncan I, Macbeth, Lulach and Malcolm III, but this is probably a futile exercise. The saga relates that Malcolm married a daughter of Thorfinn, although there is no contemporary support for this. If this did indeed happen, then Malcolm may have received Viking support against Macbeth. It is possible that Thorfinn found the expanded power of his southern neighbour Macbeth troublesome. If Macbeth was under pressure on two fronts this could certainly help to explain his final defeat in 1057.
On 14 August 1057, according to Marianus Scotus, Malcolm finally caught up with his rival Macbeth and killed him at Lumphanan on the fringes of Moray. The Annals of Ulster, for once, mistakenly record the death of Macbeth in 1058, after that of Lulach. There appear to be two possible scenarios that might explain the location of this killing. Macbeth had held an area north of the Tay since 1054 until a recent defeat by Malcolm forced him to retreat northwards, where he was caught at Lumphanan before he could reach safety in Moray. Alternatively, Macbeth had retreated into Moray some time before but was now attempting to advance south to resume the struggle and restore his fortunes. The defeat and death of his rival should have secured the kingship for Malcolm, but this did not in fact happen. On the contrary, the contemporary sources indicate that the kingship was assumed by Lulach, Macbeth’s stepson and the candidate of the MacDuff lineage. This occurred in spite of the fact that Malcolm appeared to be in control of much of Alba, including the royal inauguration site at Scone. How did this happen?
It appears that Lulach was, like Macbeth, based in Moray, which appears to have been the main territory still controlled by their supporters in 1057. In contrast, the royal inauguration site at Scone appears to have been deep within territory controlled by Malcolm. If this was indeed the case, it would be difficult for Lulach to arrange an inauguration before retreating north to meet his end in Strathbogie only months later. If, however, Lulach had not undergone inauguration at some point he would surely not feature in the king-lists and Malcolm would be recognised as king instead. What is the answer to this conundrum? It was suggested earlier that Macbeth was a usurper unrelated to any of the lineages of Alba, who sought to bolster his lack of a claim by the adoption of Lulach. If these assumptions are valid, then it may be that Macbeth had arranged the formal inauguration of Lulach as his successor at some point during his own reign. Although there is no precedent for this in Alba itself, there were earlier precedents from Mercia and the Frankish kingdoms. In particular, if Macbeth felt that his rule was becoming undermined after 1054, he might have inaugurated Lulach as his co-ruler to secure the backing of the MacDuff lineage. This would account for the appearance of Lulach in the king-lists despite the likelihood that he probably never exercised rule much beyond the confines of Moray.
There is perhaps a small piece of evidence that might support the suggestion of joint kingship in this period. The Annals of Ulster use the title ri Alban or ‘King of Scots’ for every Scottish king between the first use of the name ‘Alba’ in 900 and 1130. There are only three exceptions to this rule: Macbeth in 1058, Lulach in 1058 and Malcolm in 1093. These three individuals and no others are uniquely referred to as ardrigh Alban or ‘Over-king’ or ‘High-king of Scots’. This title was used in Irish texts to indicate a superior king ruling over other minor kings. In the kingdom of Alba, however, there were no other kings and the title of ‘King’ was therefore more appropriate. The use of the title ardrigh for these three individuals suggests the existence of other kings to whom these individuals might be superior. This might be appropriate in a situation where Macbeth ruled alongside Lulach but in a superior role. This would not appear to explain the use of this title for Lulach or Malcolm, but perhaps a solution lies in an otherwise unknown agreement between Malcolm and Lulach. If Malcolm controlled the south of Alba and Lulach the north, they may have agreed to rule jointly in the short term while each gathered strength to continue the fight. It is entirely possible, however, that the use of this specific title between 1057 and 1093 represents no more than a quirk of the scribe who originally compiled this section of the annals.
According to Marianus Scotus, it was not until 17 March 1058 that Malcolm was finally able to eliminate Lulach by killing him in battle at Essie in Strathbogie. It was only now, following the elimination of all his rivals, that Malcolm was finally able to claim the undisputed title of King of Alba. He had had to fight hard for the kingship against not one but two rivals. He had spent nearly eighteen years in the pursuit of his paternal inheritance. This represented a great part of his young life and a major investment of time and money. He was now intent on holding on to the prize, but only time would tell how successful he would be. It was nevertheless a significant achievement for a man who had been an exile in 1040. He had secured English aid to sponsor his initial return in 1054 but this had been withdrawn after the death of Earl Siward in 1055. Thereafter he had had to carry on the struggle alone. In spite of this he had ultimately triumphed. He was now the sole ruler of the kingdom.
6
Malcolm, King of Alba
On 17 March 1058, Malcolm III, son of Duncan or Mael Coluim mac Donnchad found himself undisputed King of Alba, following the killing of Lulach, his last remaining rival from the MacDuff lineage. There is no surviving account in the historical record of Malcolm’s inauguration as King of Alba. It is not even certain when it took place, although John of Fordun, writing in the fourteenth century, dates it to 25 April 1057. If Fordun is correct, and this is by no means certain, it seems that Malcolm was inaugurated before he had disposed of either of his rivals. He was presumably also in temporary control of the region around Scone at this point, since otherwise he would not have been able to hold the ceremony. In spite of the lack of evidence, it is nevertheless almost certain that some form of ceremony marked Malcolm’s assumption of the kingship.
The precise nature of the royal inauguration ceremony in the eleventh century is unknown. It has been suggested that an inauguration scene appears on Sueno’s Stone near Forres beneath the cross, but it is now so badly worn that it is impossible to be certain. In the absence of any useful contemporary evidence, it may be possible to suggest some of the key elements of the ceremony from reports of later examples. The first Scottish royal inauguration for which a detailed account survives is that of Alexander III at Scone in 1249, which is also described by John of Fordun:
. . . earls, namely . . . Fife and Strathearn, and many other nobles led [the King] to a cross standing in the graveyard on the east side of the church. There they set him on the royal throne adorned with silken cloths woven with gold and the bishop of St Andrews assisted by the rest, consecrated him king as was fitting. The king himself sat down on the royal throne or stone, under whose feet the earls and other nobles, on bended knees, cast their cloaks. And lo, when these things had happened, a certain highland Scot, suddenly fell on his knees before the throne and with bowed head, saluted the king in [his] mother tongue, ‘God bless, [the king’s name] king of Scots . . .’ and speaking thus
he read the genealogy of the kings of Scots up to the end . . .14
This event occurred almost two centuries after Malcolm’s time and is recorded in an even later source but such ceremonies are often by their nature conservative. It is likely that elements of it had survived over a long period of time. It can therefore usefully be examined for evidence for the kind of inauguration practised in Malcolm’s own time.
It is almost certain that, as in 1249, the ceremony that marked Malcolm’s assumption of the kingship also took place in the open air at Scone and probably on the site now known as the Moot Hill. It is clear that Scone was an important royal centre from the very origins of the Picto-Scottish kingdom in the early 800s and, possibly, for much longer. It is described in The Prophecy of Berchan as Scone of ‘the high shields’ and Scone of ‘the melodious shields’, obscure terms which probably refer to the ancient acclamation rituals of, respectively, raising a new king on a platform of shields to show him to the people and striking spears against shields to celebrate a new king. The Moot Hill is probably the same site referred to in the Scottish Chronicle as the ‘Hill of Faith’, where King Constantine II struck his deal with Bishop Cellach of St Andrews in 906.
Lords of Alba Page 15