[174] Morel was king Malcolm’s “Godsib,” or, in other words, they had stood Godfathers together. This bond of spiritual relationship appears to have been thought a very sacred tie in those days, and to be unfaithful to the _Godsib_ was considered a heinous sin, at any rate amongst the Gael; for the four Masters describe the state of the country as peculiarly wretched when “there was no protection for Church or Fortress, _Gossipred_ or mutual oath.” _An. F. M._ 1050, _O’Donovan_. [175] _Sim. Dun. de Gestis_ and _Chron. Sax._ 1093. _Fordun_, l. 5, c. 25. _Malm. Gesta Regum_, l. 4, sec. 311. Both Malmesbury and the Saxon Chronicler imply that Malcolm lost his life by treachery, and the account of Orderic, as usual a strange mixture of truth and error, goes far to prove the existence of a tradition to this effect. He is next said to have been slain at the siege of Alnwick Castle, though it is more than doubtful if a castle then existed on the banks of the Alne. From _Alnwick Castle_ the step was easy to the family so long connected with that border fortress, and the Scottish king was at length said to have been slain by a knight, who, issuing from the castle gate with the keys on the point of his lance in token of surrender, suddenly _pierced the eye_ of Malcolm, acquiring from this feat the name of _Pierce eye_ or Percy! About two centuries after the fall of Malcolm an improbable story was circulated at Tynemouth, that the body of a peasant had been palmed off upon Alexander for that of his father, _Mat. Paris Addit_, p. 129. The writer adds that Malcolm was conquered “by order of Henry the First,” and winds up his account of the deceit with these quaint words “ita delusa est _Scottorum improbitas_.” The keen relish with which he enjoys the idea of overreaching “_the Scotch rogues_” is amusing. Pleasures of rare occurrence are sometimes supposed to be the sweetest. [176] Life of Margaret, ascribed to Turgot, and contained in the “_Acta Sanctorum_, June 10.” Malcolm was obliged to put up with his losses, but to every one else she restored twofold what she borrowed for charity. [177] _Twysden_, p. 367. Ailred heard this anecdote from Malcolm’s son David. It has been transferred by some later writers to the Saxon Edgar, the Scottish Kenneth playing the part of the guilty nobleman. The hunt was conducted “secundum legem venandi quam vulgus _tristam_ vocat.” An open plain, encircled by a belt of wood, was the scene of the sport; a flowery hillock in the centre the place of rendezvous for the sportsmen; whom Malcolm placed in different commanding positions, ready to let slip their dogs upon the game as it was driven by the beaters from covert.