When David I died shortly, after his son the Prince Henry, his grandson succeeded as Malcolm IV at a relatively tender age.

David died at Carlisle and had been busily incorporating the Northern part of England into Scotland. However the then current King of England Henry II had a very strong opinion that the boundaries of England should be the same as in the days of his grandfather Henry I.

He lost no time in unseating Malcolm from Cumbria and also depriving his brother William of the Earldom of Northumbria. William never gave up his struggle for the restoration of Northumbria that he though was rightfully his.

The quid pro quo seems to have been Galloway. For some time the English Kings had been courting the Lord of Galloway and this was a thorn in the Scots King's side as it also meant influence in the Isle of Man, North Ireland and the Western Isles.

Malcolm later led several expeditions into Galloway to subdue it and bring it under the control of the Scottish Crown. Perhaps the diplomacy of the time was - I will give you back the Honour of Huntingdon and stop helping the Lord of Galloway - just hand back Cumbria and Northumberland and don't make a fuss.

Tom