Malcolm IV of Scotland

Malcolm IV was king of Scots from 1153 to 1165 and inherited the throne while still young. His reign faced pressure from powerful regional lords, Norse-Gaelic rulers and Henry II of England.

Malcolm inherited the throne as a boy and faced repeated challenges from powerful regional lords, including Somerled in the west and Fergus of Galloway. His reign also saw pressure from Henry II of England, to whom Malcolm surrendered the northern English territories previously held by the Scottish crown. He died unmarried in 1165 and was succeeded by his brother William the Lion.

In Nigel Tranter’s Tapestry of the Boar, Tranter’s novel links the violent necessities of twelfth-century lordship with the foundation of medieval Scotland’s great hospital, giving the boar of the Swinton tradition a wider meaning of service and protection.