Galloway (Roland)

Who he is

Name

Roland (Lochlann son of Uhtred)

Title

Lord of Galloway; constable of Scotland

Since

1185 (confirmed 1186)

Born

Not pinned (1140s or 1150s)

Family

See Galloway. His sister Christina is the wife of William de Brus of Annandale.

Confidence

high

See Galloway for his career. He holds Galloway as the king of Scots' vassal and rules its native kindreds through their own heads; Anglo-Norman knights hold fees in the east (Borgue, Urr, Kelton and others; the 1200 holders are not pinned).

Overlord

King William

What it holds

• Galloway west of the Nith: the Rhinns, the Machars, Farines, the Glenkens, the Dee and Urr valleys, Desnes Ioan
• Castles and halls: Kirkcudbright, Loch Fergus, Cruggleton, Buittle (thin), Threave island (thin)
• Patronage of Dundrennan (Cistercian, 1142) and Glenluce (Cistercian, Roland's foundation of 1190-1192), Soulseat (Premonstratensian) and Whithorn priory (Tongland is Alan's later foundation, about 1218)
• The fees of Anglo-Norman tenants in eastern Galloway (Borgue, Urr, Kelton; holders in 1200 not pinned)

How it was acquired

Inheritance and conquest (1185).

Allies and rivals

See Galloway.

How things stand that morning

Held whole by Roland.

Wealth

Cattle, horses, hides; the Solway fisheries; Cistercian wool. No figures.

Military

The Galwegian host; the lord's knights; galleys. No numbers.

Threats

• Roland's death in December 1200
• Duncan of Carrick

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 19 December 1200Roland dies at Northampton; Alan succeeds.Depends on: Natural death Stopped by: Only a change in his circumstances

Places of note

• Kirkcudbright: Lord's seat
• Cruggleton: Castle
• Glenluce Abbey: Cistercian abbey founded by Roland about 1190-1192
• Threave: Island seat of the lords on the Dee (thin)

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The outline of Galloway is clear from later shire boundaries (Wigtownshire and the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright); internal tenures in 1200 are thin.

On the map: Galloway is drawn along the later bounds of Wigtownshire and the Stewartry; the Nith boundary with Dumfries is approximate.

Primary sources for Galloway

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Chronicle of Melrose, Anonymous (monks of Melrose abbey) (about 1173 to 1270, in many hands; the 1200 entries are near contemporary). The main Scottish annal for the year, kept at a Cistercian house on the Tweed. Read online
• Chronicle of the Kings of Mann and the Isles, Anonymous (monks of Rushen abbey, Mann) (about 1257, with continuations to 1316). The only native record of the kingdom of Mann and the Hebrides. Read online
• Early Sources of Scottish History, Various; collected and translated by A. O. Anderson (sources of the 6th to 13th centuries; collection published 1922). The quickest way to every non-English witness to Scotland and the Isles in 1200, in translation and in date order: the Irish annals on the Isles and Galloway, Orkneyinga saga and the Norwegian sagas on Harald Maddadsson of Orkney and Caithness and his war with William the Lion, the Chronicle of Mann on Ragnall and the Hebrides, Melrose and Holyrood, and Scottish charters. Read online