Máel Bethad of Liberton was a powerful landowner in Lothian in the reign of King David I of Scotland. Although he was a Gael, his estate may have been predominantly Middle English-speaking, as it bears the name "Liberton", which, unless it is an improbable Anglo-Romance compound meaning "book settlement" or "free settlement", is a corruption of early Middle English hlith bere tun, "barley hill settlement". Liberton is about two and a half miles (4.0 km) south of Edinburgh's Old Town, and is now a suburb. Liberton parish consisted of 6,600 acres (27 km2) of land, and it is likely that Máel Bethad owned the upper part of the parish. Máel Bethad's name occurs as a witness on many of King David's charters, where it is rendered in a number of corrupt forms, e.g. "Malbead de Libertona", "Malbet