Malcom III, the vanquisher of MacBeth, came to the Scottish throne in 1058. The line he founded, variously known as the ‘Canmore’, ‘Dunkeld’ and ‘MacMalcolm’ dynasty, ruled Scotland until 1286, overseeing the country’s emergence as a mature high-medieval kingdom. But while enjoying a reputation for vigour and strength, the MacMalcolm kings did not rule unopposed. Resistance to their aggressive, expansionist policies was often widespread, particularly in outlying parts of Scotland, and probably their most formidable rival was another dynasty that, for more than a century, curated an alternative claim to the crown – the Meic Uilleims.
The Meic Uilleim claim was rooted in the succession crisis precipitated by Malcolm III’s death in 1093. Although Malcolm’s eventual successors were three of his sons by his second wife, St Margaret – Kings Edgar (1097- 1107), Alexander I (1107-24) and David I (1124-53) – the throne had in the interim been occupied brie_ y by Duncan II (1094), Malcolm’s son by his first wife, Ingibiorg. But Duncan II had a son of his own, and although this heir, named William, seems to have been content to leave the kingship to his half-uncles, his descendants – styling themselves the ‘Meic Uilleims’ (Anglicised as ‘MacWilliams’) – were not so passive.