Englishmen. He represents the whole nation (outside
the old Northumbrian kingdom) as Picts and Scots,
on whose antiquity he lays stress, and merely
mentions that Malcolm Canmore welcomed English
refugees. The following extracts show that he
looked upon the Lowlanders, not as a separate
race from the Highlanders, but simply as men
of the same barbarian race who had been civilized
by David:—
“Unde tota illa gentis illius barbaries mansuefacta, tanta se mox benevolentia et humilitate substravit, ut naturalis oblita saevitiae, legibus quas regia mansuetudo dictabat, colla submitteret, et pacem quam eatenus nesciebat, gratanter acciperet.”—Bk. v, ch. xxxvii.
“Ipse vero pretiosis
vestibus pallia tua pilosa mutavit et antiquam
nuditatem byssa et purpura
texit. Ipse barbaros mores tuos
Christiana religione
composuit....”—Bk. v, ch. xliii.
(b) Coronation of Alexander III as a king of Scots
“Ipso quoque rege super cathedram regalem, scilicet, lapidem, sedente, sub cujus pedibus comites ceterique nobiles sua vestimenta coram lapide curvatis genibus sternebant. Qui lapis in eodem monasterio reverenter ob regum Albaniae consecrationem servatur. Nec uspiam aliquis regum in Scocia regnare solebat,[92] nisi super eundem lapidem regium in accipiendum nomen prius sederet in Scona, sede vero superiori, videlicet Albaniae constituta regibus ab antiquis. Et ecce, peractus singulis, quidam Scotus montanus ante thronum subito genuflectens materna lingua regem inclinato capite salutavit hiis Scoticis verbis, dicens:—’Benach de Re Albanne Alexander, mac Alexander, mac Vleyham, mac Henri, mac David’, et sic pronunciando regum Scotorum genealogiam usque in finem legebat. Quod ita Latine sonat:—’Salve rex Albanorum Alexander, filii Alexandri ... filii Mane, filii Fergusii, primi Scotorum regis in Albania’. Qui quoque Fergusius fuit filius Feredach, quamvis a quibusdam dicitur filius Ferechere, parum tamen discrepant in sono. Haec discrepantia forte scriptoris constat vitio propter difficultatem loquelae. Deinde dictam genealogiam dictus Scotus ab homine in hominem continuando perlegit donec ad primum Scotum, videlicet, Iber Scot. pervenit.”—Annals, xlviii.
3. BOOK
OF PLUSCARDEN (written in the latter half of the 15th
century)
Account of Harlaw
“Item anno Domini M deg.CCCCXI fuit conflictus de Harlaw, in Le Gariach, per Donaldum de Insulis contra Alexandrum comitem de Mar et vicecomitem Angusiae, ubi multi nobiles ceciderunt in bello. Eodem anno combusta est villa de Cupro casualiter.”—Bk. x, ch. xxii.
4. WALTER BOWER (d. 1449)
Account of Harlaw