not to be attributed to one sweeping and compulsatory measure, but to the grants of David and his successors; which must have had the effect of either reducing the earlier proprietary to a dependant position, or of driving into the remoter Highlands all who were inclined to contest the authority of the sovereign, or to dispute the validity of the royal ordinances, which reduced them to the condition of subordinates. CHAPTER XII. WILLIAM THE LION--1165–1214. Amongst the earliest acts of William after his accession was the performance of feudal service for the fief of Huntingdon, accompanying Henry for this purpose upon one of his numerous expeditions into the French territories. [Sidenote: A. D. 1166.] By his ready acquiescence on a point about which his brother had at first demurred, he may have hoped to influence the English king in favour of his claim upon the northern counties; but if he entertained such expectations he was doomed to disappointment, as Henry limited his grant to the Honor of Huntingdon.[396] William, however, was not of a disposition to submit with patience to the denial of his rights--for thus would he have characterised his claims; and he was ready to enter warmly into any confederacy promising to extort from the fears of Henry the cession of the coveted fiefs. Two campaigns against the Welsh, conducted with more than equivocal success; the continued hostility of Louis of France; and a doubtful contest with the newly made Archbishop of Canterbury, whose former reputation as a man-at-arms was destined to be eclipsed by his subsequent renown as a martyr,[397] heightened the difficulties of Henry’s situation: and his exasperation was increased against the king of Scotland, whose envoys at the French court, uniting with the representatives of the Welsh princes, were eager to enter into a league with the enemies of the English king.[398] [Sidenote: A. D. 1168.] But the hostility of William was not yet to be openly displayed, for a peace was concluded between the French and English kings, and the opportunity of attacking the latter at a disadvantage passed away. [Sidenote: A. D. 1170.] It was with an appearance, therefore, of renewed cordiality, that William and his brother David appeared at the court of Henry, to assist at the coronation of his eldest son at Westminster; when both the Scottish princes, taking the oaths of fealty and allegiance to the younger Henry, swore upon the sacred relics to be true to the heir of England, saving, as usual, their fidelity to his father.[399] But in spite of these professions of mutual friendship, the alliance in reality was hollow and insincere, the refusal of the northern counties still rankled in the breast of William, and an opportunity for enforcing his claim was not long wanting. [Sidenote: A. D. 1173.]