In November 1093, Malcolm III, king of Scots since 1058, was killed in battle at Alnmouth. The king’s son and preferred heir, Edward, died alongside him, resulting in significant uncertainty over the succession. There were two obvious candidates for the throne: Duncan, Malcolm’s eldest son through his first marriage; and Edmund, second and now, after Edward’s death, oldest-surviving of his sons with his second wife, Margaret (later St Margaret). But there was also a third contender waiting in the wings – Malcolm’s younger brother, Domnall Bán (‘Donald the Fair’), and it was in fact this man, rather than any of Malcolm’s sons, around whom the Scots rallied late in 1093, elevating him to the throne as Donald III.
Donald’s assumption of the kingship is often interpreted as a Gaelic and…
