On this day 9th of December 1165 Malcolm IV, King of Scots died.

Malcolm IV and David I in the Charter to Kelso Abbey

He was the eldest son of Henry Earl of Huntingdon and Northumbria  and Ada de Warenne. He succeeded, David  his grandfather.. Known as ‘the Maiden’ by later chroniclers he died in Jedburgh after many years of ill health at the age of 23 unmarried. He is buried in Dunfermline Abbey. His youngest brother then came to the throne – William ‘the Lion’.

Caledonia By James Hogg

Caledonia! thou land of the mountain and rock,
Of the ocean, the mist, and the wind-
Thou land of the torrent, the pine, and the oak,
Of the roebuck, the hart, and the hind;
Though bare are thy cliffs, and though barren thy glens,
Though bleak thy dun islands appear,
Yet kind are the hearts, and undaunted the clans,
That roam on these mountains so drear!

A foe from abroad, or a tyrant at home,
Could never thy ardour restrain;
The marshall’d array of imperial Rome
Essay’d thy proud spirit in vain!
Firm seat of religion, of valour, of truth,
Of genius unshackled and free,
The muses have left all the vales of the south,
My loved Caledonia, for thee!

Sweet land of the bay and wild-winding deeps
Where loveliness slumbers at even,
While far in the depth of the blue water sleeps
A calm little motionless heaven!
Thou land of the valley, the moor, and the hill,
Of the storm and the proud rolling wave-
Yes, thou art the land of fair liberty still,
And the land of my forefathers’ grave!

Rampant Scotland