age should ascend the throne than an inexperienced youth. It required all the policy and vigilance of the King to prevent the dismemberment of his kingdom. The Picts, ardent to regain their independence, secretly formed an alliance with the Northumbrian Saxons, and took the field. In the first engagement, the Saxons were defeated; in the second, the Scottish King was taken prisoner; but the former attempting to cross the Frith of Forth, lost the half of their boats in a storm. A treaty of peace was then concluded; from which the Picts were excluded. Many of them emigrated to England, Norway, and Denmark. Donald reigned A.D. only four years. He was succeeded by his nephew Cox. 863. STANTINE the SECOND. At the period of Constantine's accession, his country was exposed to all the miseries of invasion by the piratical Danes; who infested England, France, and Ireland. Half a century had elapsed since Ireland became the scene of bloody conflicts in repelling the Danes, who established them selves on its Eastern shores. They thence invaded and pillaged the opposite coast of Scotland. The geographical position of Scotland offered attractive and eligible landing-places to the Danes; who, after a short and easy voyage, could land from the Frith of Moray, the river Tay, or the estuary of the Forth. Of these facilities they fully availed themselves during the third and seventh years of Constantine's reign. They overran and plundered the whole country with impunity. The wretched Scots who escaped in battle fled to the hills; but many of their countrymen were doomed to a hard captivity. Though misfortune frowned on Constantine, he relaxed not his efforts to emancipate his country; and he fell in battle for this glorious cause, on the shores of the Forth. A.D. Eru or HUGH.-The reign of this prince was short and 881. S turbulent. A faction headed by Grig, a Northern chieftain, rendered an appeal to the sword indispensable in defence of his crown. Eth was wounded in battle, and died two months af ter. He was denominated fair-haired; which, in the language of that age, denoted effeminacy of character. His death entailed upon his country the miseries attendant upon a disputed title. A.D. GRIG.-Grig or Gregory, the leader of the rebellion, 882. Fimmediately seized the sceptre; but, to colour his usurpa tion with an appearance of moderation, he chose for his colleague in the government Eocha, King of Strathclyde, who was the grandson, by a daughter, of the Great Kenneth. Buchannan has embellished the character of the usurper as the conqueror of England and Ireland. He appears, indeed, to have been a ruler of a martial character, but of unprincipled morals. It has been pertinently observed, that the splendour of his charac ter may be traced to the adulation of the monks of St Andrew's ; who studied, by grateful flattery and other disingenuous means, to degrade the character of his predecessor, and crown him with greatness, in return for some immunities which he had granted them. But the clergy could not shield him from the indignation of the people; for, at the end of three years, he and his colleague were driven from the throne. He died at his castle in Aberdeenshire, four years after his abdication. He is said to have founded or rebuilt the city of Aberdeen. A.D. 893. } DONALD the FOURTH.-Upon the deposition of the usurper, Donald ascended the throne. The Danes, those terrible enemies of Scotland, arrived in the Tay; and, disembarking their troops, marched to the vicinity of Scone; where they were met by the Scots, and defeated, after a well-contested ac tion. Nine years after, another army of Danes from Ireland invaded Scotland upon the Western coast. The Scots, under their martial king, lingered not in attacking them. The Danes had to deplore the loss of their leader, and the Scots their king; who perished bravely defending the liberties of his people, after an active reign of eleven years. A.D. 904. } CONSTANTINE the THIRD.-Constantine, the son of Eth, assumed the government, and evinced that he possessed the skill and valour of a brave general, with an ardent love of his country. Scotland had scarcely begun to recover from the effects of the late invasion, when the restless enemy made another irruption from the Eastern shores, and advanced as far as Stratherne, before the Scots could be collected in sufficient number to arrest their progress. The conflicting armies engaged near Forteviot. The valour of the Scots was crowned with victory, and procured a respite from foreign invasion for fourteen years. At the end of that period, Reginald, a Danish chief, appeared in the Clyde with a threatening armament, and plundered the country with impunity, while the Scots were mustering their armies. On this occasion, the latter were assisted by the North umbrian Saxons; who greatly contributed to obtain the victory, the fruits of which were enjoyed for many years. His son Ethelstan, commands, entered The Scots prudently Edward the Elder, King of England, having made pretensions of sovereignty to the southern districts of Scotland, marched with an army to the borders to enforce his claims; but his death occasioned a temporary suspension of hostilities. A.D. in obedience to his father's dying 934. Scotland, and wasted the country. retired to the mountains, to avoid an enemy which they were un able to resist. A peace was concluded; but it was purchased by valuable presents, and the delivery of Constantine's son as a hos tage. The national pride of the Scots was too deeply wounded to fulfil the conditions of a treaty which they regarded as an insult. A general confederacy of Danish and Northumbrian freebooters, animated by the hope of plunder, united with the Scots to attack the English. A numerous fleet sailed from the Tay and the Forth, and conveyed an intrepid army to the southern shore of the Hum ber; when a sanguinary engagement ensued, disadvantageous to the Scots and their allies. But their desperate courage procured an exemption from invasion for some time, and impressed the English with respect for their valour. Constantine appears to ha e been a religious prince. In the sixth year of his reign, he entered into a solemn engagement with the nobles and clergy, to maintain the faith, the laws, and the discipline of the church. After a reign of forty years, he resigned his crown, and retired among the Culdees of St Andrew's; where he lived several years in religious solitude; and on account of his piety was promoted to the dignity of abbot of that order. A.D. MALCOLM THE FIRST.-Malcolm, the son of Donald the Fourth, ascended the abdicated throne. The most rem markable event of his short reign was the obtaining of Cumberland from the English, on condition of maintaining the peace of the Northern counties, and becoming the ally of Edmund. England was at that time agitated by insubordination. Edmund was assassinated: His brother Edred, who succeeded him, required Malcolm to fulfil the conditions of the treaty. 944. The Scots were not remiss in obeying the summons. They o❤ verran the disturbed counties, and were rewarded with their plun der. Malcolm was less fortunate in settling the internal disquiet of his own kingdom. An insurrection in Murrayshire required his presence to suppress it. The chief of the insurgents was punished with death; but his sept, instigated by revenge, pursued the King, who encountered them in the Mearns, and was slain in battle. A. D. ? 953. } INDULF.-Upon the demise of Malcolm, Indulf, the son of Constantine the Third, assumed the government. It was during his reign that Edinburgh was ceded by Edwy to the Scots; which, at a subsequent period, led to the cession of Lothian. The Danes, the scourge of the kingdom, infested the shores of Buchan. They were repulsed in the first attack, by the Governor of that district; but landing afterwards in Banffshire, Indulf has➡ tened in person to expel them. He was slain in the pursuit of the fugitive intruders. 961. A.D. DUF.-This prince had the misfortune to be opposed. by his brother Culen; who was instigated by the Abbot of Dunkeld, the St Dunstan of Scotland. The rival princes appealed to the sword. Duf was at first successful; but, being compelled to retire to the North, he was assassinated on the classic ground of Forres. A.D. 965. } CULEN. The successful rival enjoyed but a short period the sovereignty of the kingdom. He was debauched, crafty, and cruel. Having deflowered the King of Strathclyde's daughter, he provoked a war between the kingdoms; which termis nated in his defeat and death. A.D. } KENNETH the THIRD.-It is uncertain whether a de970. sire of revenge or the love of conquest induced a conti nuance of the war between the Scots and the enfeebled Britons of Strathclyde. The national independence of the latter was about to expire: They were subdued by Kenneth; who added their territory to the Scottish monarchy. Edgar, King of England, being harassed by the Danes, who pillaged the Northern counties, and excited insurrection, required Kenneth, agreeably to the treaty as conservator of the peace of the Northern counties, to chastise the insurgents, and restore tranquillity. The Scots soon appeared among the malcontents, restored order, and carried off the son of the Northumbrian chief. Scarcely had the Scots returned home, when the Danes appeared in the Tay with a numerous fleet. Kenneth assembled his veteran warriors, and engaged the enemy at Luncarty, near Perth. A long and sanguinary conflict ensued, but the Scots ultimately prevailed. Buchannan has ascribed the victory to the valorous conduct of a peasant and his two sons; who rallied the Scots when flying from their enemies. Penant allows that there is something heroic in the tale, but he disbelieves it. Chalmers observes, “I believe the whole story is an egregious fable." Having secured domestic tranquillity, Kenneth conceived the opportunity favourable for changing the ancient custom which regulated the descent of the crown, by superseding his nephews, the sons of Duf, and establishing the succession in his own family. To this bold and unjust attempt, may be traced the sanguinary dis putes which succeeded between the families of Duf and Kenneth. The King's death was procured by the treachery of Finella, a lady of the Mearns; who invited him to lodge at her castle while on a hunting excursion, or in pilgrimage to the shrine of St Paddy. The noble regicide was instigated to commit this foul deed in revenge of her son's death, who had fallen by the sword of justice. She soon after expiated her crime with her blood. CHAPTER II. Constantine the Fourth. Kenneth the Fourth. feats the Danes-who finally evacuate Scotland. Malcolm the Second de thian. Duncan-assassinated in revenge by Macbeth-who usurps the government. His policy-he is expelled and slain. A.D. CONSTANTIN TINE the FOURTH.-Constantine was the son of 994. Culen. His right of succession being disputed by Kenneth, the son of Duf, the competitors met in arms at Amon, near Perth, and Constantine finished his short and inglorious reign of one year. A.D. 995. } KENNETH the FOURTH.-Kenneth the son of Duf was surnamed the Grim, from his gigantic strength. Ethelred King of England almost depopulated Cumberland ;—it is uncertain for what cause, The English fleet attempted to circumnavigate Scotland with the view of intimidation. A treaty was concluded on the former basis of common defence; but a state of permanent repose was unsuitable to the martial habits of a people |