of the Cart and Clyde rivers. It is rendered in . The area is sometimes known as Greater Renfrewshire to distinguish it from the Renfrewshire council area. Early history The earliest evidence of human activity in the area is traces of an Iron Age fort in the Busby area and a pre-Roman settlement in Overlee. When the Romans advanced in the year 80 from the Solway Firth, the territory that would later become Renfrewshire was occupied by the Damnonii, a British tribe. The principal Roman stronghold in the area was at Vanduara (Paisley). Following the end of Roman rule in Britain in 410, the Cumbrian Britons, with their capital at Dumbarton, retained a hold on all the territory west of the Lothian — the Kingdom of Strathclyde. During the High Middle Ages, Strathclyde was conquered by the Kingdom of Alba, which in turn developed into the Kingdom of Scotland. In the 12th century, during the reign of David I of Scotland, the Anglo-Norman nobleman Walter FitzAlan fled the English county of Shropshire on account of the conflict between the Empress Matilda and Stephen. Walter rallied to the support of the Empress, but when her cause was lost Walter befriended David I, King of Scots snd an uncle of Matilda, and became David's Dapifer or Steward, as the first Lord High Steward of Scotland. Accompanied by his brother Simon, Walter came to Scotland about 1136 and fought for Scotland at the Battle of the Standard at Northallerton in 1138 under the command of David I's son, Prince Henry. FitzAlan settled in the area and was granted the lands of Strathgryfe, which provided a basis for the later county, by David I. In 1163 Walter founded, first at Renfrew but shortly afterwards at Paisley, a house of monks of the Cluniac order drawn from the priory of Much Wenlock, in his native county of Shropshire. The monastery steadily grew and by 1219 became Paisley Abbey. It is traditionally believed that Sir William Wallace, a knight and military leader during the period surrounding the Wars of Scottish Independence, was born in 1272 at Elderslie in the county. Emergence of the county The descendants of Walter FitzAlan would eventually form the powerful House of Stuart, with 'Stuart' or 'Stewart' being a corruption of 'Steward'. The Stewarts controlled the territory that would later become Renfrewshire as a barony which lay within the larger shire of