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It is then envisaged that the submission of Mael Coluim Cenn Mór to William the Conqueror at Abernethy in 1072 was seen by the English king as constituting a feudal relationship: 6 This was later taken as evidence of the feudal subjection of the Scottish monarchs to their English counterparts, and there can be little doubt that William saw it in this light, but no reason to suppose that Malcolm chose to interpret his submission in these terms. 4

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A British dimension is crucial for understanding the earliest stage in the emergence in the late 12th century of an idea of Scotland, in its most basic sense, as the country we recognise today. It is also lies at the heart of the origins of the earliest idea of Scotland that can be detected: the notion of Scotland as the country north of the Forth, an idea that can be traced back to the Picts. In both cases, the overriding concern was to accentuate Scotland's separateness from the south. Being British may be an essential element of any explanation of Scotland's beginnings, but only in a way that suggests that Scotland's place in Britain has from the beginning been inherently uneasy.