afterwards on terms of the greatest friendship with Edgar Atheling. This combat made young Edgar's friends in Scotland very desirous of dethroning the usurper Donald, and placing Edgar in his proper situation, as king; and they became very much dissatisfied on hearing that William, who interfered in the affairs of Scotland, intended to give the crown to a natural son of the late king Malcolm, named Duncan, who had gained great fame from serving in the English armies. Donald attempted to maintain himself on the throne, by calling in the assistance of allies from Norway; but the Scots, who disliked him very much, all forsook him, and he was obliged to flee to the Islands, to raise new forces; and in the mean time Duncan was crowned at Scone. There were now two usurpers fighting for the kingdom, which was very distressing to the Scots. One of them, however, was soon despatched; for Malpedir, thane of Mearns, surprised Duncan in the castle of Menteith, and killed him; after which, he replaced Donald on the throne. The Scots were determined, notwithstanding, to have young Edgar for their king: which so alarmed Donald, that he sent an offer to the young prince of all that part of Scotland which lay to the south of the Forth; but the offer was rejected, and the messengers who brought it were put to death as traitors. The

king of England, also, not liking to have such neighbours as the Norwegians, who were fighting for Donald, gave Edgar Atheling the command of an army, to enable him to assert the right of his nephew to the crown. Donald prepared to oppose his enemies with all the forces he could raise; but he was defeated by the Scots, and obliged to flee : they pursued, and, soon overtaking him, they carried him to Edgar, who ordered his eyes to be put out, and condemned him to perpetual banishment, in which he died some time after. Edgar reigned nine years, maintaining, during his life, a very strict friendship between his court and that of England; his sister Matilda having married Henry the First, of England. Edgar died in the year 1107, at Dundee.

CHAPTER VI.

ALEXANDER I.

SURNAMED THE FIERCE.

Began to reign, 1107. Died, 1124.

ALEXANDER the First, surnamed the Fierce, from the violence of his temper, succeeded his brother Edgar, in the year 1107. At the beginning of his reign, the northern parts of his king

dom were continually filled with bloodshed and commotions, from the wars of the chieftains with each other; but he soon raised an army, marched into Morayshire and Rosshire, attacked the insurgents separately, and, having subdued them all, put great numbers of them to death. He then began to lessen the too great power of the nobles; and to deliver the common people from the oppression under which they had groaned; a remarkable instance of which appeared on his return from the expedition just mentioned. In passing through the Mearns, he met a widow, who complained that her husband and son had been put to death by a young Earl, their superior. Alexander immediately got off his horse, and swore that he would not mount him again till he had inquired into the justice of the complaint; which he found to be true, and the offender was hanged on the spot. These vigorous proceedings prevented all attempts at open rebellion against him; but were the cause of many conspiracies among the wicked part of his subjects, who had been accustomed to live under a less active government, and could not bear to be kept under restraint. The most remarkable of these conspiracies took place while he was employed in building the castle of Bal-Edgar, so called in memory of his brother Edgar, who had laid the foundation-stone of it. It was situ

The

ated in the Carse of Gowrie, a district in Perthshire, which had formerly belonged to Donald Bane, but afterwards came to the crown. conspirators bribed one of the King's chamberlains to introduce them at night into the royal bedchamber; but Alexander, alarmed at the noise, drew his sword, and killed six of them; after which, with the assistance of a knight, named Alexander Carron, he escaped the danger by fleeing into Fife. The conspirators chiefly lived in the Mearns, whither Alexander once more went, at the head of an army; but the rebels retreated northward, and crossed the river Spey. The king pursued them across that river, defeated them, and brought to justice all who fell into his hands. In this battle, Carron distinguished himself so highly, that he obtained the name of Skrimgeour, that is, Skirmisher, or Fighter. The next remarkable event in Alexander's reign was his going to England, and paying a visit to King Henry the First, whom he found engaged in a war with the Welsh, who were at that time an independent people. Henry had settled a colony of Flemings on the borders of Wales, in order to keep that turbulent people in awe, as well as to introduce into his kingdom the manufactures, for which the Flemings were famous. The Welsh grew jealous of this growing colony, and invaded England, where