The Lords of Lothian
Dolfin's Tale, Part I
1066 – Dolfin Dunbar – Earl of Cumberland
In January , 1066, at the age of 6, Dolfin Dunbar, the eldest son and heir of Gospatrick Dunbar, the Duke of Lothian, was granted the Earldom of Cumberland by his father. He was sent to his new holdings in Cumberland under the tutelage of Walter of Carlisle, the Steward of Cumberland. Dolfin's father had believed in the philosophy of "learning by doing" so had sent his son to learn how to rule by making him lord of the recently conquered Saxon province.
Dolfin was the first trueborn Dunbar as his father's lineage was somewhat confused, with disputes as to his parentage. Gospatrick, however, always maintained he was born a Dunkeld, nephew to Duncan, the first Dunkeld king of Scotland and that he was the great-grandson of both King Malcolm II MacAilpin of Scotland on his father's side and King Ethelred II of Wessex, the King of England through his mother. The Dunbar clan have lived and died by Gospatrick's claims ever since. Nevertheless, he had adopted the name Dunbar when he had been granted that county by King Malcolm III. Malcolm would later confer on him the County and the Duchy of Lothian and Duke Gospatrick had since added Teviotdale and Cumberland as vassals to the Duchy and risen high in the court of King Malcolm III as Chancellor of Scotland.
In 1066, while England to the south was being invaded by both Norman and Norse forces; King Malcolm had spent the past year dealing with its own internal turmoil. First, Prince Mael-Snechtai a Muirebe, the Duke of Moray, had declared war to press his claim to the throne of Scotland. This had been shortly followed by Earl Miles of Atholl, the King's illegitimate half-brother, pressing his own claim to the throne as the eldest son of the late King Duncan. In that time, the King's forces had lost every battle, only the death of the Prince during the siege of Scone had ended the Moray rebellion.
In the summer of 1067, Dolfin's father was captured following the defeat of the King's army outside of Perth and taken prisoner by Miles of Atholl. Malcolm had allowed one his most powerful Dukes to be captured. Proving yet again he had no idea how to fight a war.
Dolfin was taking his lessons with Walter of Carlisle, when the messenger arrived wearing his father's livery. His mother Aelthred had sent the dire news of his father's capture from Stirling. Until this time, Dolfin had been a calm child of even temper. But with his fears for his father and the shockling detailed stories he had heard of how Prince Mael-Snechtai's skull had been smashed apart by a rock thrown from the walls of Scone would have him shying away from physical confrontations for the rest of his life.
The war finally turned around in early 1068 when Malcolm pulled together enough troops to lay siege to Count Miles at Blair Atholl. This was only made possible because the Atholl Army had run into the remains of the former Moray rebel army making its way home and had been soundly beaten, allowing Malcolm to march unopposed into Atholl.
In July, Blair Atholl and the other holdings fell and Miles was captured, ending his rebellion and ultimately his life. He was not formally executed, but nevertheless was dead the next day and his brother, King Malcolm inherited all his lands and titles. But for the Dunbars there was good news, after twelve months in Blair Atholl's dungeons, Dolfin's father was freed.
While Scotland's turmoil was ending, England's was far from over. King Harold had been murdered on the orders of the Mayor of Dorchester, who was spymaster for Prince Godwine, Godwine was crowned king, but the two invasions continued. In June of 1068, a year after he was crowned, Godwine surrendered the throne to William "the Conqueror" de Normandie. But William found himself King of a country with another invading army holding most of central England. Harald Hardrade continued to press his own claim to the English throne.
In early 1069, England's troubles continued, when William the Conqueror fell in battle against Danish troops under King Svend, one of Harald Hardrade's allies. His 15-year old son Robert became King. Almost immediately, Duke Morcar of Northumberland pressed Eadgar of Wessex claim to the throne and rebelled, and just about all of the Saxon lords joined him.
Meanwhile in Cumberland, Dolfin's lessons continued. However his new found caution left in him obsessed about security. In 1070, after much pleading with Walter, who was Regent as well as Steward, Dolfin finally convinced him of the need for additional protection so Walter agreed to put forth funds to build a wooden palisade around the manor house at Burgh.
In the spring of 1072 Harald Haradrade of Norway died in bed, and the Norwegian War for England ended. But young King Robert's problems continued, not only were most of his Saxon subjects fighting for Eadgar of Wessex, now both Eu and Evreaux in Normandy were in rebellion, supporting his younger brothers', Richard's and William's, claims to the throne.
King Malcolm and Dolfin's father had a stormy relationship. The King had made Gospatrick his chancellor. However, every time they had a disagreement, the King would toss his chancellor into the dungeon for a few days and then send him home. Then a month later he would call him back and make him Chancellor again. This went on for years, right up until Malcolm died in the spring of 1076 from pneumonia. His son Duncan was crowned King Duncan II at the age of 16, less than a year older than Dolfin, who had been an Earl for almost 10 years by this time.
King Malcolm had spent the last years of his life reclaiming the de jure lands of Scotland. First taking Argyll from the Norwegian Duke of Soreyar, and then Carrick from the Irish Duke of Galloway. His son continued that policy by declaring war for Scotland's de jure claim on Galloway as his first act upon ascending the throne.
Spring of 1076 also saw the end of the reign of Robert I of England, as he surrendered to Morcar of Northumberland and the Saxon King Eadgar II of Wessex was crowned king. The revolts in Normandy continued, but for the first time in close to 10 years no blood was being spilled in England.
That summer Dolfin reached his majority at 16 and the regency ended. He had been well schooled in the management of lands by Walter of Carlisle and on Walter's recommendation, Duke Gospatrick asked Dolfin to become Steward of the Duchy of Lothian and run the day to day business while he was off leading Duncan's war in Galloway. Prior to leaving for Stirling, Dolfin had already instructed Walter to replace the wooden palisade around Burgh with a stone wall.
After some discussion with his parents as well as his mentor, Dolfin became betrothed to Der-Lugdach nic Lorcan an Irish girl from the court of the Duke of Munster. While not an heiress, she was descended from two ancient and royal lines, her father being an Ua Briain and her mother the sister to the new King of England. With Dolfin's lands bordering on England and most of the people in Cumberland being Saxons themselves, ties to house Wessex seemed a good idea. But being she was only 8 years old, it would be some time before any wedding.
No sooner than Dolfin had left for Stirling to take up his duties as steward, some of his Saxon peasants revolted in Cumberland. With his father's permission Dolfin marshaled the Lothian levees and sent them marching back to Cumberland, where they quickly dispersed the rebels.
Meanwhile, King Duncan reclaimed the county of Galloway for Scotland, and the Duke of Galloway retreated to his last holdings on the Isle of Man. Duncan immediately turned his attention north and declared war on the Duke of Soreyar to annex his last piece of Scottish lands. This war ended quickly with Innes Gall being returned to Scotland. Duncan made his younger brother, Malcolm, the new Earl.
In late 1078, the new stone wall at Burgh got its first test. The Earl of Teviotdale had refused the Duke of Lothian's request to revoke his title and had raised an army, but he was soon driven south into Cumberland by the main Lothian army , so laid siege to Burgh. The new wall proved more than a match for this army, so they just huddled outside, pestering travelers until the Lothian army caught up and ended the revolt.
In 1079 everything changed, Duke Gospatrick went to war against his king to press Donald Dunkeld's claim on the throne of Scotland. He talked often of how it was for the good of Scotland etc. etc. but Dolfin thought his father just couldn't stand being ordered around by a boy his son's age. He preferred the King's uncle, someone from his own generation. Gospatrick had managed to bring most of the other lords of Scotland along with him, and since he had been leading the Scottish armies in the last three wars, he soundly defeated the replacement generals in the field and began to lay siege to King Duncan's holdings.
But then King Eadger of England entered the picture, pressing his de jure claim on Cumberland against the Duchy of Lothian. In short order, over 4,000 Saxons showed up outside Burgh and easily overcame it. Teviotdale soon followed. Duncan even though thoroughly defeated, refused to surrender, hoping the Saxons would do his work for him.
So Duke Gospatrick took the expedient route ..... he gave Cumberland and his son away to England.