320 Theory as to the Origin of the Crosses 



consistent with the conditions on which his fief had been granted. . . . 

 By the close of David's leign the most valuable part of his dominion 

 was held by vassals and subvassals who looked to him as their feudal 

 head.^ 



The reign of David I. is beyond doubt the true commencement of 

 feudal Scotland, and the term of Celtic Scotland becomes no longer 

 appropriate to it as a kingdom. Under his auspices feudalism rapidly 

 acquired jiredominance in the country, and its social state and insti- 

 tutions became formally assimilated to Norman forms and ideas, while 

 the old Celtic element in her constitutional history gradually retired 

 into the background. During this and the subsequent reigns the out- 

 lying districts, which had hitherto maintained a kind of semi-indepen- 

 dence under their native rulers, and in which they were more tenaciously 

 adhered to, were gradually brought under the more direct power of the 

 monarch and incorporated into the kingdom.^ 



In this charter [1113] he calls himself Earl David, son of Malcolm, 

 king of Scots, and addressed it to all his adherents, Normans, Angles, 

 and Scots. ^ 



David, who had been long preparing for Avar, had gathered his army 

 from every quarter of his dominions ; and around the royal standard, 

 the ancient Dragon of Wessex, might be seen the representatives of 

 nearly every race contributing to form the varied ancestry of the modern 

 Scottish people. The Norman knight and the Low Countr}^ ' Reiter,' 

 the sturdy Angle and the fiery Scot, marched [1138] side by side with 

 the men of Northumberland and Cumberland, of Lothian and of Teviot- 

 dale ; whilst the mixed population of the distant islands, Norwegians 

 from the Orkneys, and the wild Picts of Galloway, flocked in crowds 

 to the banner of their king, to revel in the plunder of the south.* 



Norwegians from Orkney, Scots from Alba, Angles from Lothian, 

 Norman knights, and apparently even mercenaries from Germany, 

 formed his motley following. One other element, however, deserves 

 special mention, as from this time forward it was to play a noticeable 

 part in the general history of Scotland. From the beginning of David's 

 doings in England, the Galwegians, or Picts, as they are otherwise 

 styled by the contemporary chroniclers, had played a prominent part 

 in all his operations. By their fierce insubordination and their savage 



1 Brown 1. 90. 



2 Skene 1. 459-60. 



3 Ihid. 1. 455. 



4 Robertson 1. 196. 



(108) 



