 As Walter of Coventry wrote of King William's era, "the modern kings of Scotland count themselves as Frenchmen, in race, manners, language and culture; they keep only Frenchmen in their household and following, and have reduced the Scots to utter servitude".Like that of almost every character from this period, Jocelin's year of birth is unknown to modern historians.It is known that he entered as a novice monk in Melrose Abbey during the abbacy of Waltheof (ab.