Note 174 — Chapter VI · The Line of Atholl Restored.

Morel was king Malcolm’s “Godsib,” or, in other words, they had stood Godfathers together. This bond of spiritual relationship appears to have been thought a very sacred tie in those days, and to be unfaithful to the Godsib was considered a heinous sin, at any rate amongst the Gael; for the four Masters describe the state of the country as peculiarly wretched when “there was no protection for Church or Fortress, Gossipred or mutual oath.” An. F. M. 1050, O’Donovan.