SCOTLAND. %& 



Galdus, otherwise called Corbred, was, according to the Scottish, 

 historians, the twenty-first in a lineal descent from Fergus I, the foun- 

 der of their monarchy; and though this-genealogy has been disput- 

 ed, yet nothing can be more certain from the Roman histories, than 

 that the Caledonians, or Scots, were governed by a succession of 

 brave and wise princes, during the abode of the Romans in Britain. 

 Their valiant resistance obliged Agricola himself, and, after him, the 

 emperors Adrian and Severus, to build the two famous prsetentures 

 or walls, one between the Friths of Clyde and Forth, already men- 

 tioned, and the other between Tinmouth and the Solway-Frith, which. 

 is described in our account of England, to defend the Romans from 

 the Caledonians and Scots ; and which prove that the independence 

 of the latter was never snbdued. 



Christianity was introduced into Scotland about the year 201 of the 

 Christian sera, by Donald I. The Picts had at this time gained a 

 footing in Scotland ; and being often defeated by the ancient inhabit- 

 ants, joined the Romans against the Scots and Caledonians, who were 

 of the same original, and considered themselves as one people ; so 

 that the Scots monarchy suffered a short eclipse ; but it broke out 

 with more lustre than ever, under Fergus II, who recovered his 

 crown ; and his successors gave many severe overthrows to the Ro- 

 mans and Britons. 



When the Romans left Britain in 448, the Scots, as appears by 

 Gildas, a British historian, were a powerful nation, and, in conjunct 

 tion with the Picts, invaded the Britons ; and having forced the Ro- 

 man walls, drove them to the very sea ; so that the Britons applied to 

 the Romans for relief; and in the famous letter, which they called 

 their groans, they tell them, that they had no choice left, but that of 

 being swallowed up by the sea, or perishing by the sword of the bar- 

 barians : for so all nations were called who were not Romans, or un- 

 der the Roman protection. 



Dongard was then king of Scotland ; and it appears from the old- 

 est histories, and those that are least favourable to monarchy, that the 

 succession to the crown of Scotland still continued in the family of 

 Fergus, but generally descended collaterally ; till the inconveniences 

 of that mode of succession were so much felt, that by degrees it fell 

 into disuse, and it was at last settled in the descending line. 



About the year 796, the Scots were governed by Achaius, a prince 

 so much respected, that his friendship was courted by Charlemagne, 

 and a league was concluded between them, which continued invio- 

 late while the monarchy of Scotland had an existence. No fact of 

 equal antiquity is better attested than this league, together with the 

 great service performed by the learned men of Scotland, in civilizing 

 the. vast dominions of that great conqueror, as has been already ob- 

 served under the article Literature. The Picts still remained in 

 Scotland, as a separate nation, and were powerful enough to make 

 war upon the Scots ; who, about the year 843, when Kenneth Mac 

 Alpin was king of Scotland, finally subdued them; but not in the sa- 

 vage- manner mentioned by some historians, by extermination ; for he 

 obliged them to incorporate themselves with their conquerors, by 

 taking their names, and adopting their laws. The successors of 

 Kenneth Mac Alpin maintained almost perpetual wars with the Sax- 

 ons on the southward, and the Danes and other barbarous nations to- 

 wards the east ; who, being masters of the sea, harassed the Scots by 

 powerful invasions. The latter, however, were more fortunate than. 



Vol. f. p p 



