Columba did not, however, succeed in obtaining the liberation of Scannlan Mor. With regard to Dalriada, which was the main object of his attending the assembly, the question was how far the colony, now that Aidan had been solemnly inaugurated king, should be made independent of the mother country. As a colony or subject state, it was liable to the same burdens as were exacted from all the petty principalities in Ireland. These consisted in the payment of certain rents and tributes known as _cain_ and _cobach_, and certain military services which consisted of what was called _fecht_, or the obligation of joining the superior king in expeditions, and _sloged_, or ‘hosting,’ that is, taking part in the general levy of the country for war. This question was referred to Colman, son of Comgellan, who was of Dalriada, ‘and Columcille said it is he who should make pacification between the men of Erin and of Alban; and this is the judgment he gave:—Their _fecht_ and their _sloged_ with the men of Erin always, for there is _sloged_ with territories always; their _cain_ and their _cobach_ with the men of Alban, or their sea gathering only with the men of Alban, but all beyond that with the men of Erin.’[251] That is, the kingdom of Dalriada in Scotland was to be freed from all tribute towards the supreme king of Ireland, but they were to join in expeditions and hostings when called upon, with the exception of the sea gathering, or maritime expedition. This made Aidan practically independent, and Dalriada ceased to be a subject state to Ireland. On his return from the assembly, Columba had probably little difficulty in obtaining from King Brude a recognition of Aidan’s character as independent king over the western districts which were occupied by the Scots of Dalriada. ----- Footnote 168: Hiisdem diebus sanctus, cum duodecim commilitonibus discipulis, ad Britanniam transnavigavit.—Pinkerton, _Vit. Sanctor_, p. 29. Footnote 169: Adam. Pref. 2, p. 3 (ed. 1874). Footnote 170: Adam. B. i. c. 7. Footnote 171: The ancient district of Kintyre was much greater in extent than the modern district of that name. It included Knapdale, and extended as far as Loch Gilp on the east and Loch Crinan on the west. John, Lord of the Isles, dates a charter from Cleandaghallagan, in Knapdale, which seems to be the same place. Footnote 172: _New Stat. Ac._ vol. vii. p. 263. Footnote 173: Gentemque illam verbo et exemplo ad fidem Christi convertit.—Bede, _H. E._, B. iii. c. 4. Footnote 174: Dr. Reeves has conclusively shown that the name of Iona has arisen from a misprint of the word Ioua, the adjective form used by Adamnan—the root of which was Iou.—See Reeves’s _Adamnan_, p. cxxvii. The oldest forms of the name are Hii, Ia, and I. But we shall, for greater convenience, retain the conventional name of Iona. The usual etymologies of _I thona_, the island of waves, or _I shona_, the sacred isle, are of course untenable.