Note 386 — Chapter XI · MALCOLM THE FOURTH—A.D. 1153–1165.

Newbridge, l. 2, c. 4. Hoveden, a confidential servant of the English king, distinctly states that Henry made oath at Carlisle that if he ever ascended the throne of England, he would make over to David and his heirs Newcastle and Northumberland, and allow the kings of Scotland to possess without reserve all the lands between Tyne and Tweed (ad an. 1148–49). Diceto, who had no object in favouring the Scottish claims, says as decidedly that Northumberland had not only been long in the possession of David, but that it had been granted and confirmed to him by charter (ad an. 1173). Newbridge is more guarded, remarking that Malcolm might have brought forward the oath which Henry is said to have sworn—ut dicitur—to David. John of Hexham does not allude to the agreement, for it was probably kept secret, and could hardly have transpired when he closed his history four years later; but he incidentally confirms its existence when he states that the Earl of Chester waived his claim upon Carlisle in favour of David, receiving the Honor of Lancaster in exchange, for which he performed homage to the Scottish king. At this time, then, Carlisle must have been the acknowledged property of David, and the homage of Ranulph in connection with the Honor of Lancaster, the subsequent claim raised by William in 1196 upon the same fief, and the grant of Furness to Wimund, look very much as if Lancashire, or its northern frontier, was also in the hands of David. His authority, however, extended far beyond the Tyne, and the possession of the castles of Carlisle, Bamborough, and Newcastle, goes far to prove that whilst he held all beyond that river in the name of the Empress Queen, he had stipulated that the earldom, which he looked upon as the rightful inheritance of his wife, should be permanently made over to himself and his heirs. Small facts are sometimes significant, and as most of the important meetings between the English and Scottish kings were held near their mutual frontiers, it is worth noticing that though Henry subsequently met Malcolm at Carlisle, the cession of the northern counties was made—at Chester. The possession of the northern counties was a matter of grave importance to both kings, for had they been held hereditarily by the Scottish princes, they would from their local position have undoubtedly become gradually incorporated with the Scottish kingdom. It was naturally the policy of the English kings to throw every obstacle in the way of such a contingency, and in estimating Henry’s conduct on this occasion, it would be the safest course for those who seek to palliate it, to ground their defence on the plea of “expediency.”