Malcolm III (Canmore)
c.1031-1093 Son of Duncan I, he was a child when
his father was slain by Macbeth in 1040. He spent his
youth in Northumbria under the protection of his uncle,
the Earl Siward who established him as Overlord in
Cumbria and Lothian. The following detail is extracted from: Agnes Strickland's, "Lives of the Queens of Scotland" published in 8 volumes, 1850-59.
She made the Scottish court more dignified, introducing a uniform and more orderly set of procedures, insisting that payment should be made for goods consumed as the court moved from place to place. Her chaplain, Turgot, wrote (about) her life at the request of her daughter Matilda, Queen of Henry 1. Her softening influence on the King by
her example of piety seemed miraculous. 'Hence also the
books which she used either in her devotions or for
reading, he, though unable to read, used often to handle
and examine, and when he heard from her that one of them
was dearer to her than the others, this he also regarded
with kindlier affection, and would kiss and often fondle
it. 'The Queen on the other hand, herself
the noblest gem of a royal race, made the splendour of
her husband's royal magnificence much more splendid, and
contributed much glory and honour to all the nobility of
the kingdom and their retainers. For she brought it to
pass that merchants who came by land and sea from divers
lands, brought with them for sale many precious kinds of
merchandise which in Scotland were before unknown, among
which, at the instigation of the Queen, the people bought
garments of various colours, and different kinds of
personal ornaments; so that from that time they went
about clothed in new costumes of different fashions'.
The palace 'was made resplendent with gold and silver;
for the vessels in which the King and nobles of the
kingdom were served with food and drink, were either of
gold or silver, or gold or silver plated. And this the
Queen did, not because the honour of the world delighted
her, but because she felt compelled to do what the royal
dignity required of her'. Malcolm was slain when raiding England by Robert Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland, and Margaret died soon after of grief. William of Malmesbury describes her devotion and says 'departing from the church, she used to feed the poor; first three, then nine, then twenty-four, at last three hundred: herself standing by with the King, and pouring water on their hands.' Three of her sons were kings, Edgar (1097- 1107), Alexander I (the Fierce) (I107-24) and David I (I124-53). Malcolm used to interpret Gaelic for Margaret, but some Celts disliked her policy and a temporary anti-foreign reaction followed her death." King David I (I124-53) of Scotland - son of Malcolm Canmore and St. Margaret - heads the ancestry of the late Queen Mother and thus also the present Queen of England, her children and grandchildren.
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The Hastings
Legacy
After Macbeth
himself was killed, Malcolm became king of all Scotland.
He was called Canmore from the Gaelic ceann mor
which means "large head" which may refer to a
high forehead which is typical of the Celts. Around 1060
he married his first wife, Ingibjorg, who was the widow
of Thorfill, the Earl of Orkney. After her death in 1069,
he married Margaret, the sister of Edgar the Aethling
whose legitimate claim to the English throne at the death
of Edward the Confessor in 1066, was passed over in
favour of Harold Godwinsson. Margaret was canonised in
1251 and remains the only Scottish Royal saint. Malcolm
invaded England five times in support of Edgar's claim to
the throne. He was defeated by William the Conqueror in
1072 and again by William Rufus in 1091. He was killed at
Alnwick in Northumberland during his last incursion in
1093. He left five sons of whom four succeeded him to the
Scottish throne.
Sometimes also he would send for the goldsmith,
and instruct him to adorn the volume with gold and
precious stones, and when finished he would carry it to
the Queen as proof of his devotion'. One of her favourite
volumes is still to be seen in the Bodleian Library,
Oxford. It is one which was accidentally dropped into a
river, but when it was found again and brought to her it
was found to be miraculously undamaged. 
