Coluim was indeed a maternal grandson of a Scottish king, he would have certainly possessed a claim to the Scottish throne. Although nothing is known of Máel Coluim's possible reign in Alba, there is reason to suspect that he would have probably functioned as an English puppet, with little support from the Scottish aristocracy. Although the accounts of 1054 given by both Chronicon ex chronicis and Gesta regum Anglorum can be interpreted as entries about events concerning Máel Coluim, there is a possibility that the compilers of these sources mistakenly assumed that they were actually referring to Máel Coluim mac Donnchada, since the latter's son, David, possessed Cumbria as a principality in the early twelfth century. Nevertheless, there is evidence indicating that the composer of Gesta regum Anglorum was aware that Máel Coluim was not identical to his Scottish namesake. For instance, this source clearly differentiates between the Scottish and Cumbrian kings that assembled with their English counterpart at Chester in 973. The monks of Melrose Abbey, who compiled the twelfth- to thirteenth-century Chronicle of Melrose, also seem to have been aware of Cumbria's geopolitical history, as evinced by the recognisance of the Cumbrian kingdom by the twelfth-century Vita sancti Kentegerni, a work commissioned by Jocelin, Abbot of Melrose. The first phase in the composition of the Chronicle of Melrose dates to 1173×1174. It was at this point that the chronicle's account of Siward's invasion was compiled from the twelfth-century Historia regum Anglorum. Since the latter source observes that Máel Coluim mac Donnchada unlawfully held Cumbria by force in 1070, the Melrose scribe appears to have been aware that this king was not identical to the Cumbrian Máel Coluim. This may in turn explain why the scribe did not copy over the clause "son of the king of the Cumbrians" from Historia regum Anglorum. The Chronicle of Melrose may therefore be the earliest source to explicitly associate Máel Coluim mac Donnchada with the events of 1054. As a result of this identification, this Scottish monarch was portrayed as a man who only possessed his throne on account of English assistance. The catalyst behind the monks' misrepresentation of Siward's invasion appears to have been an English revolt dating to 1173 and 1174, when the reigning King of Scotland—a great-grandson of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada—backed a failed rebellion against the King of England. As a result of this Scottish monarch's capture in