Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

pendent proprietors of land, is abundantly manifest. It is probable that, in the course of time, it became gradually more aristocratical than it had originally been. Upon the first appropriation of land, it is natural to suppose that the occupiers were numerous, and the estates of individuals proportionably moderate. But in the turbulent and disorderly state of the country, men of small property were unable to defend their possessions; and therefore found it necessary to resign their estates into the hands of some powerful neighbour, and to hold them for the future as his vassals upon conditions of military service. In this manner the number of independent proprietors was gradually diminished; the foundation of political influence was more and more contracted; and the right of sitting in the national assembly was at length limited to a few individuals who had accumulated great estates.

[merged small][ocr errors]

OF THE GOVERNMENT OF SCOTLAND, FROM THE REIGN OF MALCOLM THE SECOND, TO THE UNION OF ITS CROWN WITH THAT OF ENGLAND.

THE same darkness which involves the first period of the Scottish history, and which renders it, in great measure, a field of mere conjecture, hangs over a considerable part of the second. The commencement of the second period, however, is distinguished, according to the testimony of all the historians, by the reduction of the great lords, the remaining allodial proprietors of land, into a state of feudal dependence upon the king; an event similar to that which took place in England at the Norman Conquest; and in France, during the reign of Hugh Capet and his immediate successors. The fact is confirmed by a collection of ancient laws, ascribed to king Malcolm the Second, in which it seems to be stated, though in vague and general terms, that this

monarch by a course of transactions with his subjects, became the feudal superior of all the lands in the kingdom.

As the account there given is contrary to the opinion of many British antiquaries concerning the origin of the feudal system, they have generally disputed the authenticity, or at least the date of that ancient record. We must acknowledge, that the information which it contains, with respect to an event of such importance, is very lame and unsatisfactory; and that, in many other particulars, it seems to be replete with blunders and inaccuracies. A conjecture has thence been suggested, which is highly probable, that the compilation in question was not made by public authority, in the reign to which it refers; but has been the work of a private individual, in a later age: and contains the ideas of the writer concerning the regulations introduced in the reign of Malcolm the Second. In this view, with all its inaccuracies and defects, it appears entitled to some regard. It may be considered in the light of a very ancient and universal tradition, and, when supported by the general testimony of historians, may be held of sufficient weight to counter

[ocr errors]

balance any slender evidence which can, at this day, be thrown into the opposite scale*.

Concerning the introduction of the feudal tenures into Scotland, there occur two particulars which merit attention. In the first place, it is the uniform doctrine of the ancient lawyers and antiquaries who have written upon the subject, that the feudal system in Europe arose from the immediate act of the king, who, upon subduing any country, laid hold of the land, and

* Lord Hales, an author whose acute researches concerning ancient facts, and whose extreme caution in advanc ing any conjecture with respect to their causes, are equally conspicuous, asserts that the collection of old laws ascribed to Malcolm the Second, is a plain and palpable forgery. In proof of this assertion he seems to depend chiefly upon two arguments, 1. The improbability of the fact stated in the collection, viz. That the king gave away the whole land in Scotland to his men. "Dedit, et distri"buet totam terram de Scotia hominibus suis, et nihil sibi "retinuit in proprietate, nisi regiam dignitatem, et "montem Placiti in villa de Scona." But it seems evident that the expression here made use of, is not meant to be literally understood. The royal dignity cannot be considered as a piece of land; and yet it is said, that the king gave the whole land, except the royal dignity. But the royal dignity seems in this passage to be meant those royal demesnes by which the dignity of the crown was sup ported; and probably the lands distributed to his subjects,

reserving so much of it as he found requisite for hss own subsistence, distributed the remainder among his great officers, to be enjoyed by them upon condition of military service. A part of what had thus been bestowed upon these leading persons, was by them distributed, upon similar terms, among their dependents; so that, from one great stock,different orders of vassals, in subordination one to another, sprung up in various ramifications. To this account, when

under the conditions of feudal tenure, were these only which they had previously resigned to the king for that purpose, or which had fallen to him by forfeiture. The moot hill of Scone, the place where the national council held its meetings, is mentioned as distinct from the ordinary demesnes of the crown. 2. The other arguments against the authenticity of this ancient record is taken from the fees or salaries mentioned as given to certain officers. These the author thinks are in certain cases immoderately high; in others, inconsistent with the respective ranks of those officers. But before any argument from topics of this kind can have much weight, it will be necessary to shew distinctly the rate of money used in Scotland, both during the reign of Malcolm the Second, and of Malcolm the Third, which this learned author appears unable to do. In addition to this remark, it may be proper to subjoin a note, which lord Hales has the candour to insert at the end of his dissertation, and by which it should seem, that his labours upon that subject are

« ZurückWeiter »