Both Fergus and his grandson appear to have overseen military operations in Ireland, before the latter was overthrown by Somairle mac Gilla Brigte, Lord of Argyll.

Fergus's fall from power came in 1160, after Malcolm IV, King of Scotland settled a dispute amongst his leading magnates and launched three military campaigns into Galloway.

[21] In any case, there is reason to suspect that the romance is a literary pastiche or parody of the compositions of Chrétien de Troyes;[22] and besides the coincidence of names, the tale has little to commend it as an authoritative source for the historical Fergus.

[24] Traditionally, the Gallovidians appear to have looked towards the Isles instead of Scotland, and the core of his family's lands seems to have centred in valley of the river Dee and the coastal area around Whithorn, regions of substantial Scandinavian settlement.

[39] The fact that Gilla Brigte, who may well have been Fergus's eldest child, later appears to have drawn his power from west of the river Cree could be evidence that this man's mother was a member of a prominent family from this region.

[44] Whatever the case, the fact that the Diocese of Whithorn was revived in about 1128, possibly at the hands of Fergus himself, could indicate that he purposely established an episcopal see that encompassed the entirety of his domain.

By the end of the first quarter of the twelfth century, however, Guðrøðr Crovan's youngest son, Óláfr, seems to have been reinserted into the Isles by Henry I, King of England.

[55] Although the name and identity of Fergus's wife is unknown,[3] she would seem to have been one of Henry I's numerous illegitimate daughters through which the king forged marital alliances with neighbouring princes along the periphery of his Anglo-Norman realm.

From the perspective of the English, an alliance between Henry I and Fergus would have secured an understanding with the man who controlled an important part of the north western flank of the Anglo-Norman realm.

[66] The latter's subsequent endowment of Annandale to Robert de Brus appears to have not only signalled the Scottish Crown's intention of consolidating control of the region, but served as a declaration of the kingdom's claims to Cumbria.

If so, the union could have been orchestrated as a means to not only compensate for Ranulf's removal, but to counter the dramatic rise of David and the resultant imbalance of power his ascent created.

When the former died in 1135, however, the peace between the neighbouring realms was shattered when his nephew, Stephen of Blois, Count of Boulogne and Mortain, successfully seized the throne.

[75] The contemporary accounts of the English chroniclers Richard Hexham[76] and Ailred, Abbot of Rievaulx single out Gallovidian soldiers for their excessive atrocities in David's campaign.

[92] Gilla Aldan's successor was Christian, a man who was consecrated in 1154 by Hugh d'Amiens, Archbishop of Rouen, who in turn may have been acting as a proxy for Roger de Pont l'Evêque, Archbishop-elect of York.

[94] Surviving charter evidence reveals that Fergus granted the lands of Dunrod, St Mary's Isle (upon which a priory was at some point erected), and nearby Galtway to the Augustinian abbey of Holyrood.

[95] A fifteenth-century list of properties belonging to the Knights Hospitaller reveals that Fergus had granted this order of the lands of Galtway (within the mediaeval parishes of Balmaclellan and Dalry) at some point in his career.

[105] The fact that Walter Daniel, a Cistercian monk from the community at Rievaulx, was highly critical of Galloway and its inhabitants may be evidence that Fergus was unlikely to have been the sole founder.

[109] In any case, if Fergus and David were involved in the abbey's endowment, the fact that it was colonised by Cistercians from Rievaulx suggests that it was somewhat of a penitential foundation in regard to the infamous Gallovidian contribution at the Battle of the Standard four years previously.

[124] A confirmation charter of William I, King of Scotland reveals that the priory of St Mary's Isle may have been in existence by the time of Fergus's grandson, Roland fitz Uhtred, Lord of Galloway,[125] although the first recorded prior appears in the thirteenth century.

[123] Although Walter Bower declared that Fergus was responsible for the foundation of the abbey of Tongland, his great-grandson, Alan fitz Roland, Lord of Galloway, appears to have founded it in the thirteenth century.

[137] While the foundation of an episcopal see seems to have been a means by which Fergus sought to reinforce his independence from the Scots, his remarkable support of reformed religious orders may have been a way in which he attempted to legitimise his regal aspirations.

[144] The alliance with Óláfr also ensured Fergus the protection of one of Britain's most formidable fleets, and further gave him a valuable ally outwith the orbit of the Scottish Crown.

Although the invasion of Galloway was repulsed with heavy casualties, once the Haraldsonnar returned to Mann the chronicle records that they slaughtered and expelled all resident Gallovidians that they could find.

[163] According to the seventeenth-century Annals of the Four Masters, Muirchertach's maritime forces were mercenaries drawn from Galloway, Arran, Kintyre, Mann, and "the territories of Scotland".

[184][note 10] Specifically, according to Gesta Annalia I, once the Scots subdued the Gallovidians, the conquerors forced Fergus to retire to the abbey of Holyrood, and hand over his son, Uhtred, as a royal hostage.

[193] The fact that the Chronicle of Holyrood describes Malcolm's Gallovidian opponents as "federate enemies", and makes no mention of his sons, suggests that Fergus was supported by other accomplices.

[196] Additionally, the fact that several churches near Kirkcudbright are recorded to have once belonged to Iona, an ancient ecclesiastical centre that Somairle attempted to revive during his reign in the Isles, could suggest some sort of concord between the rulers.

Although there is no specific evidence for Gilla Brigte's share, later transactions involving Uhtred reveal that the latter held lands in the lower Dee valley, seemingly centred in an area around Kirkcudbright.

Uhtred appears to have been granted the territory between the rivers Nith and Urr,[209] whilst Gilla Brigte may have been wed to a daughter or sister of Donnchad II, Earl of Fife, the kingdom's foremost Gaelic magnate.

[212] Surviving royal acta dating to after the fall of Fergus indicate that, from the perspective of the Scottish Crown, the Lordship of Galloway had been integrated into the Kingdom of Scotland, and was subject to the overlordship of Malcolm himself.