![]() ![]() From his position of strength, Henry, who ruled over England, Wales, Ireland and much of France, decreed that Northumbria and Cumbria would return to the English crown. In 1157 the two kings met at Chester where Malcolm did homage for land held in England. ![]() ![]() Malcolm, however, had to deal with the powerful Henry II as his royal neighbour. His grandfather, who had profited from civil unrest south of the Border, had been able to annex Northumbria and Cumbria (including Carlisle) to the Scottish crown. His greatest desire was to obtain a knighthood, which, because of his royal blood, could only be bestowed by another monarch such as the king of England. A believer in chivalric virtues, he was intensely religious and outwardly chaste. Known to history by the soubriquet “The Maiden”, Malcolm may well have had boyish good looks but he appears to have been neither weak nor effeminate. Malcolm’s father and David’s only son, Henry Earl of Northumbria, had died in the previous year. Born in 1141, he succeeded to the throne at the tender age of 12 following the death of his grandfather, David I, at Carlisle in May 1153. King Malcolm is the first personage of note to be connected with Innerleithen’s past. The first mention of Innerleithen in historical records concerned a tragedy that occurred over 850 years ago in the reign of Malcolm IV, King of Scots. ![]()
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