between Athelstane and Constantine to turn it to their own account, but they have been far outdone by a modern historian, who has actually described the manner in which the Scottish king performed fealty to Athelstan--_More Francico_, in set form, as laid down in the Liber de Beneficiis--though it would be impossible to say from what source he has obtained his vivid description of the feudal ceremony, for it certainly is not contained in any of the authorities to which he refers (_Malm._, 27, 28. _Flor._, 602. _Mail._, 147), nor was the Frankish ceremony of homage in force amongst the Anglo-Saxons of that era. [70] Olave was Constantine’s son-in-law at the time of the battle of Brunanburgh, but as Sitric died at an early age, and Olave survived his father for nearly sixty years, it is improbable that the connection could have existed till some years after Sitric’s death, when it will explain why Constantine, who at that time was not at variance with Athelstan, and who had supported the Northumbrian Saxons against their mutual enemies the Hy Ivar, became an object of suspicion to the English king when it appeared to be his aim to favour the establishment of his son-in-law in the Danish province, as he had already secured his brother upon the throne of Strath Clyde. [71] _Chron. Sax._ _Sim. Dun. ad an._ “Athelstan went into Scotland as well with a land army as with a fleet, and there _over-harried_ much.” Such are the expressions of the _Chronicle_, the earliest and best authority respecting an expedition which has grown in the pages of the Anglo-Norman annalists into the complete conquest of Scotland. Simeon gives three versions: in his first, from original sources, merely mentioning the extent of the incursion to Dunfœder (or Forteviot) and Wertermore. In his second, copying Florence, he makes Constantine purchase peace at the price of his son’s captivity; and in his third, in return for the gifts of Athelstan to the shrine of St. Cuthbert--and on such occasions the chronicler is never behind-hand in liberality--Scotland is thoroughly subdued (_Twysden_, pp. 134, 154, 25). It is a very appropriate occasion for the exhibition of the _suffultum genus scribendi_ by the Anglo Norman writers; and the opportunity has not been passed over. According to Brompton (_Twysden_, p. 838), Athelstan demanded a sign from St. John of Beverley, “quo præsentes et futuri cognoscere possent Scotos de jure debere Anglis subjugari.” It was granted, and the king’s sword clove an ell of rock from the foundations of Dunbar Castle! “Possessiones, privilegia, et libertates,” rewarded the miracle, a price for which there was scarcely a patron saint in the country who would not have been made to confirm with signs and wonders the rightful supremacy of the English king over any people he chose to name. The monks of Newburgh outdid even Brompton, detaining Athelstan for three years in Scotland, whilst he placed “princes” over her provinces, provosts over her cities, and