Certain other changes are attributed to this king, which, however they may have become warped and disguised by the _feudal_ ideas of the authorities in whose pages they are found, when they are considered in connection with the actual historical events of the period, undoubtedly seem to point to Malcolm’s reign as the era of a certain advance towards the consolidation of the royal authority, such as is distinctly traceable at different epochs in many other countries. A twofold bond of union existed from a very early period amongst the communities into which the Celtic and Germanic people were divided, and the noble, prince, or king, was followed either from the “tie of blood,” as the actual head of the race, or from “the tie of service,” as the lord and master who repaid all who rendered such service according to the prevalent customs of the age; and as the former tie was at the root of the _allodial_, so out of the latter gradually arose the theory of the _feudal_ system. Originally the tie of blood united freeman with freeman, whilst the tie of service connected the free with the unfree, but as inequality of rank grew up from various causes, the lesser freeman was glad to “take service” with the greater in return for his protection and support, thus forming the class known as _Gasinds_ (or _Gesiths_) amongst the Germans, and amongst the Gael apparently in early times as _Amasach_--a word evidently akin to the old Celtic _Ambact_--who were either quartered temporarily upon the unfree tenantry of their patron as military retainers, or at a later period frequently exercised a delegated authority over the crown lands as _Grafs_, _Gerefas_, or _Maors_. As the royal power was increased by acquisitions at the expense of a neighbouring state, or as the head of one community acquired a permanent superiority over the rest, the importance and numbers of the royal _Gasinds_ and _Amasach_ increased proportionally, and very frequently, instead of the original usage, according to which the greater part of the newly acquired territory would have been portioned out more or less permanently amongst the conquerors, as _Allod_, _Odal_, or _Duchas_, land--untaxed freehold held by right of blood--as it was more advantageous to the sovereign to reserve as much as possible for the use of the crown, the older proprietary were retained as a tributary class, remaining undisturbed under the authority of the Gasinds and Amasach, who, acting as royal deputies, collected the king’s rents and led his dependants to battle, reserving for their “service” a certain portion of the royal dues, almost invariably a third. Such was the original tenure of the _Graphiones_ of the early Frank kings, of the Ealdormen and Eorls, amongst the Anglo-Saxons and Anglo-Danes, and of the royal Jarls established by Harald Harfagar and other kings throughout the north; in short, it was, in early times, the universal tenure of the royal