THE DOMESDAY BOOK 
the very excellent reason that the Scottish fief, which comprised the 
greater part of Cumberland and Westmorland, was not under English 
sovereignty at the time when the Survey was made in 1086.’ 
Seeing that ancient Cumbria was in possession of the royal line of 
Scotland at the time of the Conquest, its southern delimitation is a most 
important question, and much will depend on the accuracy with which 
that boundary can be fixed. A local document of considerable weight, 
known as the ‘Cronica de Karleolo,’ comes to our aid at the critical 
time. It was drawn up in 1291 by the canons of Carlisle, in obedience 
to the writ of Edward I., when that king claimed feudal suzerainty 
over the kingdom of Scotland, and was transmitted by the hand of Alan 
de Frizington, precentor of their church, with the guarantee that it had 
been compiled with the greatest diligence from the chronicles and writ- 
ings in their possession. From this authentic statement we learn that 
the principality of Cumbria consisted of the ecclesiastical divisions known 
in 1291 as the bishoprics of Carlisle, Glasgow and Candida Casa; and, 
moreover, from the bishopric of Carlisle as far as the river Duddon.’ 
The language is precise and intelligible, and mentions what were then and 
are now well-known areas. In other words, Cumbria, as it existed in 
1069, stretched along the western coast from the Clyde on the north to 
the Dunde or Duddon on the south. The delimitation on the south- 
eastern side has been fixed by the Scottish chronicler, Wyntoun, as the 
Rerecross on Stanemore.* A clear definition of the southern boundary 
of the Scottish dominion is of the utmost consequence. On these au- 
thorities we can rely. The accuracy of the Carlisle statement is further 
confirmed by the subsequent history of the district during the reign of 
king Stephen, when the ancient fief was restored to the Crown of Scot- 
land. The paramountcy of David king of Scots over the great barony of 
Coupland, which was bounded by the Derwent and the Duddon, in the 
south-western portion of the modern county, is authenticated by many 
official acts in the early endowment of the priory of St. Bees.* It will be a 
1 Freeman, William Rufus, i. 313, ii. §45-6; Archeohgical Fournal, xvi. 230, 231. Cumberland 
was not included in Domesday on the same principle that it was not included in the Pipe Rolls till the 
recovery of the county by Henry II. in 1157. 
2 1069. ‘Cumbria dicebatur quantum modo est Episcopatus Karleolensis et Episcopatus Glasguensis 
et Episcopatus Candidecase et insuper ab Episcopatu Karleoli usque ad flumen Dunde, etc., ibi in 
passu illo’ (Palgrave, Documents and Records, p. 70). Skene suppressed the last clause of this quotation, 
that it might fit in with his theory that ‘the kingdom of Cumbria originally extended from the Firth of 
Clyde to the river Derwent, including what was afterwards the dioceses of Glasgow, Galloway and Car- 
lisle ? (Celtic Scotland, i. 456). The district between the Derwent and the Duddon, that is, from the 
old boundary of the diocese of Carlisle to the river ‘ Dunde,’ has been omitted. 
3 «The Kyng Dawy wan till his crown 
All fra the Wattyr off Tese off brede, 
North on till the Wattyr off Twede, 
And fra the Wattyr of Esk the est, 
Till off Stanemore the Rere-Cors west.’ 
Wyntoun, vii. 1054-8 lines. 
The Rerecross on Stainmore was claimed by the bishop of Glasgow as the southern boundary of his 
diocese as late as 1258—‘ obtendebat jus antiquum in partes Westmorlandiz in prejudicium Karliolensis 
ecclesia, dicens usque ad Rer Cros in Staynmor ad diocesem suam pertinere’ (Chronicon de Lanercost, 
p- 65, Maitland Club).: See also Neilson’s Aunak of the Solway, pp. 35-7. 
4 Harleian MS. 434 (Register of St. Bees). 
299 
