His brother, Malcolm, by aid of David's Anglo- Norman friends, was taken and imprisoned in Roxburgh Castle.

The result of this rising was that David declared the great and ancient Celtic Earldom of Moray--the home of his dynastic Celtic rivals--forfeit to the Crown.

He planted the region with English, Anglo-Norman, and Lowland landholders, a great step in the anglicisation of his kingdom.
Thereafter, for several centuries, the strength of the Celts lay in the west in Moidart, Knoydart, Morar, Mamore, Lochaber, and Kintyre, and in the western islands, which fell into the hands of "the sons of Somerled," the Macdonalds.
In 1135-1136, on the death of Henry I., David, backing his own niece, Matilda, as Queen of England in opposition to Stephen, crossed the Border in arms, but was bought off.

His son Henry received the Honour of Huntingdom, with the Castle of Carlisle, and a vague promise of consideration of his claim to Northumberland.

In 1138, after a disturbed interval, David led the whole force of his realm, from Orkney to Galloway, into Yorkshire.