It is almost unnecessary to say that, as soon as Cnut was in his grave, Malcolm’s successor Duncan threw off his allegiance. In 1040 he invaded Bernicia. The line of the Tyne was as yet undefended, and he pressed on to Dunholm (Durham), where the south Bernician levies had taken refuge. Making a gallant sortie, they completely routed the disorderly swarm of Picts, Scots, and Britons, and celebrated their victory by raising a bloody trophy of severed heads. Duncan’s prestige as successor of the conqueror Malcolm II. was shattered by this defeat, and he was at once involved in war with his many unruly vassals. Soon after the battle of Dunholm he was defeated, and slain by his general Macbeth, ‘Mormaer’ (hereditary chief) of Moray, who assumed the crown, and ruled very successfully for seventeen years. It was not until 1057 that he was slain in battle by Malcolm ‘Canmore,’ the son and heir of Duncan. Malcolm early began to interfere in English affairs. He may be very fairly compared to those early kings of Parthia, whose single object was to add territory to their own narrow lands. Malcolm’s power, however, was not equal to his energy and ambition. Like the kings of Bulgaria in their relations with the Eastern Empire, he might gain temporary successes, but in the end the victory inclined to the larger and more powerful state; nor, despite the courage of her people and their stubborn pride in their nationality, was Scotland ever a dangerous rival. At her best she was a troublesome neighbour, and as England naturally moved faster on the path of progress than her poor and politically hampered foe, the chances were more and more against the latter ever gaining a decisive success. Scotland has been well served by her poets. The average Englishman is generally serenely ignorant of the very names of his ancestors’ victories; while not merely Bannockburn, but a score of minor matters--mostly mere Border skirmishes--are celebrated by Scott, and referred to with pride. This radical difference between the standpoints of the two nations can hardly be ignored. The hope of making further acquisitions of Northumbrian territory was undoubtedly the main motive of Scots kings for two centuries after Carham. Malcolm III. made a raid on Northumberland in 1061, but the savagery of his followers can hardly have helped his cause. Later he is found in alliance with Tosti, the rebellious brother of Harold II.