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 THE 
 
 NORWEGIAN 
 INVASION OF SCOTLAND 
 
 IN 13 6 8. 
 
THE 
 
 NORWEGIAN 
 
 INVASION OF SCOTLAND 
 
 iisr iQ es 
 
 A TRANSLATION FROM 
 
 COMMUNICATED TO THE AECHiEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF GLASGOW 
 
 Br 
 
 HUGH TENNENT, Esq. of Wellpaek. 
 
 GLASGOW: 
 PRINTED BY BELL & BAIN, 15 ST. ENOCH SQUARE. 
 
 1862. 
 
.S>1 
 
 Y?^ 
 
TO 
 
 » 
 
 THE GLASGOW ARCHilOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 Gentlemen and Fellow-Members, 
 
 I have much pleasure in dedicating tliis Httle 
 volume to you. 
 
 The publication originated under the circumstances 
 mentioned in the accompan}dng Preface, written by my 
 esteemed friend, the Rev. Dr. Forbes, to whom, in com- 
 mon with Mr. Edward Wish art, of Leith, I am greatly 
 indebted for having so efficiently accomplished the labours 
 of translation. 
 
 The subject is most interesting, and pecuharly appropriate 
 for the investigation of our Society. 
 
 If by the perusal of these pages you shall be led to 
 inquire into the important era in Scottish liistory which 
 is associated with the battle of Largs, and in some measure 
 to surround with the light of truth what is at present dark 
 and uncertain, I shall be amply requited for any trouble 
 imposed on me by this effort, humbly put forth on your 
 behalf, and with the aim of extending the influence of the 
 Society. 
 
 I have the honour to be, 
 
 Gentlemen and Fellow-Members, 
 
 Your most obedient Servant, 
 
 HUGH TENNENT. 
 
 Wellpark, 5th February, 1862. 
 
 185546 
 
PKEFACE. 
 
 Having been indebted to the kindness of Mr. Tennent for a pre- 
 sent of the oiiginal work, npon perusal I found that, besides much 
 information concerning the invasion of the Continental kingdoms 
 by the Norwegians, such as France, &c., during the preceding 
 centuries, it contained a very minute detail of the invasion of 
 Scotland in 1263. Tliis epoch is described by Principal Robert- 
 son as the dawn of authentic Scottish history, as all beyond is 
 mere doubtful tradition or absolute fable; for any historical records 
 that the nation possessed were, by Edward I., the brother-in-law 
 of Alexander III., earned to England and destroyed, that their 
 testimony to the national independence of Scotland might be 
 cancelled and lost. As an expression of my esteem for my much- 
 valued friend, the donor of the work, I translated the third 
 chapter of this treatise, and presented it to him for his private 
 perusal, without the remotest view to publication. After this 
 I was requested by him to translate the whole, but was 
 compelled to decline the proposal, in consequence of my other 
 avocations. Accordingly he applied to Edward Wishart, Esq., 
 of Leith, to whom he was recommended as a gentleman well 
 versed in the Norwegian langiiage, who kindly undertook the 
 duty, and translated the whole of the chapters bearing upon the 
 subject. As the work passed through the press I carefully 
 collated the translation by the original, and presume to recom- 
 mend it as a faithful and not uninteresting version of the history. 
 Some difficulty occurred as to the precise rendering of Norwegian 
 terms ; on these I consulted F. Bentzen, Esq., Danish Consul, 
 who kindly afforded every assistance. 
 
VI FEEFACE. 
 
 The reader will easily recognize that the term " Southern 
 Islands" describes the Hebrides, so called to distinguish them 
 from the Orkney and Shetland Islands, the northern possessions 
 of Norway. The Lendermen were feudatories or vassals of the 
 crown, who held their property by royal grant, and weie dis- 
 tinguished from the tenant class, or Boender, probably so called 
 because they were bound to render certain services to entitle 
 them to a right to their farms or holdings. 
 
 The work of Peofessoe ]\Iuxch embraces the history of Norway 
 from the earliest period to its union with Sweden in 1319, and 
 consists of six vols, octavo. It evinces very extensive research, 
 the materials being derived, not only from Norwegian authors, but 
 from the chronicles and histories of the Middle Ages, belonging 
 to other nations, such as those of Bede, William of Malmesbury, 
 Sunon of Durham, &c., connected with Britain. In treating of 
 the Norwegian literature of the thirteenth century, the author has 
 a lengthened dissertation on the Norwegian Saga, and indicates 
 the origin and authority of the more celebrated of these writings, 
 to which he attaches high authority as faithful records of con- 
 temporary events. We find that every king had liis 8aga, which 
 appears to have combined the nature of a biography with that of 
 a history of his reign. Upon the merits of this question we do 
 not pretend to pronounce any judgment, but shall leave it to the 
 investigation of those whose oppoi'tunities may be more favoiu'- 
 able for prosecuting the inquiry. If the communication made by 
 Me. Tenxent shall have the effect of stimulating research, of 
 making more extensively known the original work of Me. Munch, 
 and of enlarging in any degree the limits of modern authentic 
 history, its object shall have been fully attained. 
 
 JOHN FORBES. 
 
 Glasgow, 2bth January, li^<J2. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Page 
 Alexander III., King of Scotland, designs the conquest of the 
 Southern Islands — Transactions on that occasion — Scotch seize 
 the Southern Islands — King Haakon resolves upon an invasion 
 into Scotland, .......... 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 King Haakon's fleet and its crew — Anxiety in England on account 
 of his threatened approach, . . . . . . .13 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 King Haakon's voyage from Norway — An-ival in Scotland, and 
 warlike operations at Cantire and Bute, . . . . .18 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Hostilities recommence' — Country around the Frith of Clyde pil- 
 laged — A severe storm does gi-eat damage to Haakon's fleet — 
 Encounter at Largs — King Haakon's return to the Orkneys, , 34 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 King Haakon's last illness and death — His personality, character, 
 services to his country, ........ 53 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 King Magnus Haakonsson's ascension to the throne, and peaceful 
 disposition — The war with Scotland concluded by a treaty of 
 peace at Perth — Isle of Man and the Southern Islands ceded for 
 an annual money payment, ....... 66 
 
HISTORY 
 
 NORWEGIAN INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 
 
 CHAPTER I.-- 
 
 Alexander III., King of Scotland, designs the conquest of the Southern Islands 
 — Transactions on that occasion — Scotch seize the Southern Islands — King 
 Haakon resolves upon an invasion into Scotland. 
 
 It has been already mentioned how the King of Scotland, 
 Alexander II., had exerted himself to the utmost to bring 
 the Southern Islands under his sceptre, and although not 
 successful in his negotiations and raising of money, never- 
 theless was on the eve of beginning the war, when death 
 surprised him at the Island of Kerrera on the 8 th July, 
 1249; and hostilities now begun by him were prosecuted 
 for the sake of his son, Alexander III., at that time seven 
 or eight years old. During the protracted minority the 
 Scottish magnates, for the most part, quarrelled among 
 themselves as to which party should have the guardianship, 
 and had no time to busy themselves with the afFans of the 
 Southern Islands, consequently the Norwegian king's author- 
 ity remained undisturbed over the islands. Hence there 
 was now nothing to prevent Eogant of Argyll, otherwise King 
 
 * Chapter xliv., vol. iv., of the original work. f In Scotch Gaelic, "Eoin." 
 
2 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 John, as he was called, from formally declaring himself free 
 from the Norwegian cro^^^l, and paying homage to the Scotch 
 king, to which he, from fear of the war threatened by Alex- 
 ander IL, declared himself willing. He certainly acknow- 
 ledged now the necessity, as has been already shown, in 
 the event of an open war between Norway and Scotland, 
 of taking the part of the latter kingdom, in which he had 
 the largest possessions ; but the peace footing which, contrary 
 to expectation, intervened, and was of long duration, pre- 
 vented him from taking any decided steps for a time, 
 notwithstanding that he scarcely attempted to conceal that 
 he favoured the Scotch side, and accordingly, as we have 
 seen, appeared more in the capacity of Scotch magnate than 
 of Norwegian viceroy. He seems, therefore, to have been 
 no longer esteemed by the Northmen as a particular king in 
 this northern portion of the islands, for the talk is now 
 chiefly only about " the king," not " kings," and this king 
 was a relative of Eogan, the aforesaid Dugald, son of 
 Ruaidhri"'' (Dugald M'Eory), who was particularly attached 
 and faithful to King Haakon. Dugald's son, Erik, was still 
 residing in Norway, and at Harald's hearth probably, after 
 the practice of the time, as a kind of hostage for the fidelity 
 of the father; but perhaps this was more for form's sake than 
 because it was really required. On the Isle of Man reigned 
 King Magnus Olafson, who also was faithful to King- 
 Haakon. Such was the state of matters at the time when 
 King Alexander had grown to manhood, and was married 
 to Margaret, a daughter of the English King, Henry III. 
 He did not attain his proper majority before the year 1262; 
 
 * In Scotch Gaelic, " Ruadh Righ," the red king; hence Roderick, and in 
 Scotch parlance, Rory. 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 3 
 
 but as the time approached, and he was now full grown, as 
 a matter of course he exercised considerable influence over 
 the aSaii's of the government. He adopted zealously his 
 father's plans of attaching the Southern Islands to the Scotch 
 kingdom. Negotiations with that aim were commenced with 
 Norway in the year 1261, inasmuch as, immediately after 
 the Kings Haakon and Magnus had sent Bishop Haakon and 
 others to brino- the Danish kinsf's dauofhter, and in the mean- 
 time were themselves withdrawn to Bergen, there arrived 
 two ambassadors from King Alexander — an Archdeacon and 
 the already mentioned Knight Missell. What their particu- 
 lar errand was is not said, but it must have been of the same 
 nature as that of the previous ambassadors, namely, to nego- 
 tiate for a considerable cession of islands, and, along with 
 this, to treat for compensation for the petty injuries which 
 the Norwegian and Scotch subjects upon these coasts appear 
 to have practised upon one another. It is said, however, that 
 the king getting angiy at the matter, they were compelled to 
 use soft words rather than demand justice. They attempted 
 at length to sneak away without taking leave of the king, 
 quite against all custom both in ancient and modern times, 
 and had already set sail when, their absence becoming- 
 known, the king sent Brynjulf Jonsson in all haste after 
 them. He overtook them and brought them back. The 
 king now gave them to understand that, as a punishment for 
 having transgressed the universal custom of ambassadors, 
 they should spend the whole of the winter in Norway. It 
 was from this circumstance that Missell proved to be an 
 involuntary witness to the celebration of the coronation. 
 So soon as this intelligence reached Scotland there was a 
 great outciy about it. King Alexander complained to his 
 
4 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 father-in-law, the King of England, who wrote on the 23d 
 March, 1262, to King Haakon relative to the release of the 
 ambassadors and other points which were now pending 
 between him and King Alexander. It was accordingly 
 complained of that the ambassadors had been harshly treated, 
 or, as some expressed themselves, in a manner not consis- 
 tent with royal courtesy. This accusation was, however, 
 substantially untrue, as one may readily infer, for Missell 
 was present at the coronation ceremony, as it appears, in one 
 of the best places; consequently there can be no doubt 
 that he was the king's guest at the marriage and coronation 
 banquets. It is not distinctly mentioned when they were 
 sent home, but it may be assumed that it must have been 
 during the course of the summer of 1262, for another letter 
 exists from King Henry to King Haakon of date the 15th 
 November, 1262, wherein he acknowledges receipt of a com- 
 munication from Haakon which acquaints him of his having 
 allowed the ambassadors to go home free and unhindered, 
 and that there was as little truth in his intention to prosecute 
 the war against the Scotch king as in the report of the 
 ambassadors not being courteously treated. But when King 
 Haakon wrote that letter to the Enghsh king, and still more, 
 when the latter wrote that reply, circumstances had certainly 
 very materially altered, and however peaceably disposed King 
 Haakon then was, it was. now necessary for him to go to war, 
 for during the summer a letter had been received from King 
 Dugald, intimating that William, Earl of Ross, together with 
 several other Scottish chiefs, had made a violent attack upon 
 the Island of Skye, and conducted their proceedings with 
 the most fearful barbarity : they had burned both churches 
 and bams, killed a number of persons, both women and 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 5 
 
 men, and even speared newly born infants. It also added 
 that King Alexander intended to subjugate all tlie Southern 
 Islands as sure as he was in life. From this we see that 
 this expedition took place hj his command — indeed, that 
 this was the first step taken in execution of the new scheme 
 of conquest; which is confirmed by the circumstance that 
 the inhabitants of the islands were compelled to give host- 
 ages, or that several of them were carried away to be used 
 as such. We learn accordingly that two of these hostages 
 fi:om Skye were confined in the course of the year 1263 in 
 Inverness Castle. It is not, however, to be inferred from 
 this that Alexander approved of the atrocities perpetrated; 
 but he lately entered upon his majority, and he was desir- 
 ous of making use of his power in order to reach the long- 
 desired goal, at the same time he took reprisals for the 
 detention of the ambassadors. King Haakon was, as one 
 might expect, particularly indignant at this j)i'ocedure, and 
 resolved immediately to avenge it to the uttermost, in order 
 that the Scotch king might forego the desire for ever of lay- 
 ing his hands upon the Norwegian possessions. He accord- 
 ingly laid the matter before his Council ; but the opinions 
 then expressed (and one must conclude that many advised 
 propositions of peace) resulted in the king resolving upon 
 war. His expression in the letter to the King of England, 
 that it had not been his intention to wage war against the 
 King of Scotland, was perhaps quite correct, and one does 
 not require, with several Scotch authors, to accuse Haakon 
 of duplicity; nevertheless, the mere expression that it had 
 not been his intention is to say that he originally had thought 
 of going peacealjly to work, and shows also that liis thoughts 
 for the first time took another direction when he wrote the 
 
6 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 letter, and must of course have received the dismal intelli- 
 gence from King Dugald. Hence the English king accord- 
 ingly offered himself as mediator in the letter already 
 mentioned. He thanked King Haakon in the most friendly 
 manner for his courtesy towards the ambassadors; and as he 
 was unwilling, and found it unseemly, that any cjuarrel 
 should arise between two kings, but, on the contrary, that 
 the early cemented bond of friendship which existed between 
 both their forefathers should stand unshaken, he promised 
 that he would exert all his influence with the Scotch king to 
 persuade him to give full compensation for all the loss which 
 had been occasioned by him or his men to King Haakon or 
 his subjects. That letter, however, came too late, and prob- 
 ably King Haakon had not confidence either in King 
 Henry's sincerity or in his influence with the son-in-law. 
 He must likewise, as the sequel will show, have received 
 letters from the disaffected in Scotland, to come to their 
 assistance. Immediately after Christmas, accordingly, in the 
 beginning of the year 1263, King Haakon issued writs of 
 summons over the whole kingdom, and called out the able- 
 bodied men, proprietors, and magistrates, with their house- 
 holds, to form an expedition; the people and provisions 
 being as many as he believed the country could bear. 
 Bergen was fixed as rendezvous for the army, -and the time 
 the beginning of spring. 
 
 There was now universal activity and stir over the whole 
 country. King Haakon left Drondthiem already at Mid- 
 lent, shortly after the consecration of the two before- 
 mentioned bishops, and passed over Dovrefield south to the 
 east country, according to previous arrangement, to have a 
 meeting at^ Easter with Byrge, Earl in Liodhuus (Lewis), to 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 7 
 
 consult further as to the aftair of inheritance, or to assure him- 
 self of his peaceable inclination for the time he was to be away 
 himself upon the expeditioiL But when he came to Liodhuus 
 (Lewis) the earl was already away; there was accordingly 
 no meeting. The king returned back northwards to Viken, 
 and proceeded thereafter to Bergen, where he arrived on the 
 3d May, and zealously proceeded with equipment. Magnus 
 had left Drondthiem some time later than he (about 
 Easter), with both queens, whom he left behind in Bergen, 
 whereupon he went to Stavunger, and made the necessary 
 arrangements with respect to equipment in his district, 
 Kyfylke. AVhen he had finished this business he went to 
 visit his father in Bergen. Day after day considerable 
 masses of troops gathered together in the town, both 
 proprietors, magistrates, and labourers, with their folk — for 
 the most part consisting of the best men of the country — 
 besides great numbers of leading men. The king sent two 
 men, who both belonged to the West, viz., John Langiivsson, 
 probably a daughter's son of Harald Jarl, and Henry Scott, 
 whose surname shows his Scotch extraction, to the South 
 Islands to procure trustworthy pilots or guides for the 
 difficult navigation in the narrow sounds and friths among: 
 the many islands on the west coast of Scotland : these 
 pilots were to join the fleet at Shetland. John and 
 Henry waited upon King Dugald, and acquainted him of 
 the probable early arrival of the fleet. It is supposed that 
 they also, according to the command of the king, presented 
 themselves to him as guides. They had perhaps also 
 the king's orders to call Magnus, Earl of Orkney, over to 
 Norway, seeing that we notice the latter among the chiefs 
 who sailed from Bergen at the same time as the king. It 
 
8 THE NORWEGIAK 
 
 was very natural that the king should wish to have him with 
 liim at this critical juncture, in order to assure himself of 
 his fidelity, and dissolve the difficult relation wherein he 
 stood as the Scotch king's vassal for Caithness; for now 
 that the war was on the eve of breaking out it would not 
 do to serve two masters, as Eogan of Argyll lately said, and 
 he must, as a matter of course, fix upon one of them. But 
 it is also possible that the step already taken by the Scotch 
 king in regard to Caithness induced the earl to cast himself 
 unconditionally into the arms of King Haakon, and unasked 
 to ofier himself to him. We learn, in particular, that King 
 Alexander had demanded of Caithness twenty-one hostages, 
 who were kept in Inverness, as the two from Skye; and it 
 may be inferred that he must also have threatened the 
 Caithness folk with war — indeed, perhaps even sent his 
 warriors into the country for the purpose of subjecting it to 
 a kind of military occupation. This was sufficient to arouse 
 the indionation of the earl. But it must also be borne in 
 mind that he, a Scotchman both on the father's and mother's 
 side, affianced with the most powerful families of Scotland, 
 and, indeed, just as much Scotch as Norwegian vassal, had 
 the strongest sjanpathy for Scotland, and that therefore it 
 was not predilection which induced him to declare himself 
 for Haakon and his fleet more than for Alexander, but that 
 he reckoned Norway to be the stronger of the two nations. 
 Nor can one know whether possibly the party spirit among 
 the cliief factions which unremittingly divided Scotland did 
 not play a very important part here likewise, whether he 
 possibly might not have attached himself to the party which 
 was inimical to the powerful society which now for some 
 time had had the greatest influence, and whether he might 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 9 
 
 not also have travelled to Norway with letters from these 
 malcontents. The Scotch determined upon a renewed 
 attack npon the South Islands also this summer, but 
 King Dugald announced that there would soon be a 
 fleet from Norway of forty .ships. This frightened the 
 Scotch, and for the present they abandoned the proposed 
 attack. 
 
 AVhen the forces which were called out had collected on 
 the shortest notice, the king called them to a convocation 
 on the heights, where accordingly a considerable army assem- 
 bled. Here he announced first and foremost his deter- 
 mination to proceed west over sea, and revenge the deeds of 
 violence which the Scotch had perpetrated against his king- 
 dom. King Magnus offered to go in his stead, in order 
 that he mi2;ht himself remain behind. His father thanked 
 him with many kind words for his good wishes, but said 
 that it would be best the expedition should be led by 
 himself, as he was older and more experienced, and, besides, 
 knew better how the relations of the West stood. There- 
 upon he committed to Magnus the reins of government 
 in Norway for the time he was away. In one of the ballads 
 of the people, which we shall notice below, and which to all 
 appearance is contemporaneous, it is said that the king 
 commanded his son to remain at home and " counsel for 
 Bergen and Varguhuns," and that Magnus excused himself 
 by stating his youth and inexperience to represent so great a 
 people, when the king replied, " Thou canst not endure the 
 salt sea nor the stormy wave."' It is not exactly said, but 
 there must still have been some report, that the orders were 
 actually so given, and it is pretty evident that the general 
 opinion of King Magnus was, that he was not jmrticularly 
 
10 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 disposed for war. In this one could not be mistaken, and 
 also that it so happened that several young, inexperienced 
 men in consequence cherished less regard for Magnus than 
 he deserved. At that convocation the king arranged many- 
 matters which concerned the internal affairs of the nation ; 
 he resolved, namely, that the judges should not under- 
 take cases, unless those of urgency, as long as he was away. 
 This shows that he did not consider that his absence would 
 be for a lengthened period, for it would not have been 
 proper that cases should have remained over a whole year 
 unheard; he accordingly calculated with certainty upon his 
 being home again towards harvest. Possibly it was on this 
 occasion that for the first time the aforementioned imposi- 
 tion of penalties took place, although it is more reasonable 
 to suppose that this happened at the meeting of Parhament 
 in 1260, as we have previously assumed, and that at this 
 assembly he exclusively confined himself to preparations 
 which stood in connection with the expedition, and with the 
 government of his kingdom during his absence. Of clergy 
 he resolved upon taking with him not fewer than two 
 bishops, Gilbert of Hamar, and Thorgils of Stavunger, the 
 former assuredly because he was hkcly to prove very 
 useful, from his early connection with the Western countries, 
 and his knowledge of the relations there ; further, the Chan- 
 cellor, Sii'a Askatin, Thorleif, the abbot in the cloister at 
 Holm, together with many priests, clergy, and monks. It 
 was probably through Gilbert's own suggestion that during 
 the equipment a letter was sent out by him to aU the inha- 
 bitants in the diocese of Hamar, wherein he charged them 
 to pay their tithes regularly, and present the bishop what 
 was due him, namely, travelling conveyances, whilst he 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 11 
 
 compelled justices of provinces and freemen to support 
 the bishop's beadles, and punish those Avho refused to 
 comply. It was likewise about this time that he sent 
 Halvard Guldsko once more to Iceland. 
 
 The king resolved that the experienced Lendermen, Gaut 
 Jonsson of Mel and Nicholas of Giske, son of Peter Paals- 
 son, who had died in the spring of 1254, should remain 
 behind with Magnus as his counsellors. Otherwise, the 
 most of the Lendermen, and other men of note, appear to 
 have accompanied the expedition. The ship in which he 
 intended to set sail was called the " Christsuden ;" he had, 
 as it appears, lately caused it to be built at Bergen entirely 
 of oak; it was very large, with a gilded dragon's head, 
 neck, and tail. He caused it to be put into complete order. 
 When he was ready therewith, he proceeded, with the 
 greater portion of his fleet, to Eidsvaag, and then came 
 back again to town himself, where he still remained a few 
 days; thereafter he sailed for Herdle-Vcer, where the whole 
 fleet collected and waited for wind, with the exception of a 
 few commanders who had not yet finished their outfits. 
 Some time before he left Bergen, he had sent before- 
 hand Lenderman Ragnvald Urka, Erhng Ivarsson, the 
 aforesaid Andrew Nikolasson, Halvard Rand, and several 
 others, with eight ships, for the purpose, it appears, of sup- 
 porting King Magnus in the Isle of Man, and stimulating 
 his zeal. They lay becalmed outside on the ocean for a time, 
 without being able to get \\ind, and were actually later than 
 the first squadron in starting. They nevertheless proceeded 
 aU the faster when they at length got a fair wind. Eagn- 
 vald certainly did not proceed farther than the Orkneys 
 with several of his ships, as he had parted company from 
 
12 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 the othei-s at sea; but the latter sailed through Dynrast, 
 south of Shetland, past Barroe Frith, and saw no land 
 before they came to the so-caUed Sulesker, a naked cliff a 
 short distance westward of the Orkneys. From thence 
 they steered by Diurness towards the north-west coast 
 of Scotland, effected a landing there — demolished a castle, 
 the 2;arrison of which fled — burned about twenty farm- 
 houses, and from there sailed to the South Islands, where 
 they found King Magnus. This was the first armed move- 
 ment which, during this war, was made from the Norwegian 
 side. 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 King Haakon's lleet and its crew — Anxiety in England on account of his 
 threatened approach. 
 
 The fleet which King Haakon had now collected in Herdle- 
 Voer must have been extremely powerful and splendid to 
 behold. Stuiia Thordssoen, who perhaps did not himself 
 see the fleet assembled, but had conversed with many on 
 the subject who could give the most lively description about 
 it, describes it in a poem called Ravnsmiial (Raven smeal) 
 in glowing colours. " The invincible hosts," says he, " went 
 in search of the glorious brave king from the settlements of 
 Finland, whilst the waves of the ocean bore his gallant sliip 
 from the river Gota; no prince ever saw on one spot so 
 many armed men assembled ; the noble king could compass 
 the coasts of the country with war-ships and shields. Oges 
 fire (gold) beamed upon the renowned ruler from these well- 
 equipped sea-horses, which were destined to ride over the 
 waves of the ocean. The sword's beaming sun shone from 
 the magnificent barks upon the certain victor. And soon 
 they were in sailing order, and the beautiful fleet proceeded 
 out to sea. Gold jxlanced ao-ainst the clear heavens from 
 the bright shields fastened round the ships; the passage of 
 the munificent prince's fleet of ships over the sea was as a 
 streak of Hghtning." Judging from the extravagant lan- 
 guage of the poet, there is no reason to doubt that the 
 equipment must have been on a grand scale, and very im- 
 
14 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 posing. It is not mentioned how many ships the king took 
 with him from Norway, but it is related at a subsequent 
 period that when the whole fleet assembled at the South 
 Islands, there were more than 120 ships, and of these some 
 of great size and largely manned. The statement that this 
 fleet was larger and more powerful than any other that had 
 sailed from Norway scarcely accords with what is related 
 elsewhere; for the fleet which King Harold Sigurdsson con- 
 veyed to England must have been still larger, as it consisted 
 of 240 ships, besides galleys and transport ships; but over 
 against this, it is probable that King Haakon's ships, on an 
 averao-e, were laro-er and heavier mamied than Harold's. 
 The Scotch historian, Fordun, wdio usually is pretty correct 
 in his observations of that period, gives the number of 
 Haakon's ships at 160, and the number of warriors at 
 20,000. This estimate agrees well with tradition/" and is 
 therefore certainly tme; but there were then upon an average 
 125 men in every ship, which must be looked upon as an 
 unusually heavy crew, when it is considered that many of the 
 ships were transport vessels. The number of the people was 
 accordingly at tliis time about as great as in King Harold's 
 expedition, only the number of ships was somewhat less. 
 In any case, the equipments were so extensive that they 
 scarcely appeared to stand in any just proportion to the 
 cause of the war and the purpose held out. One cannot 
 otherwise than suppose that there were deeper and more 
 capacious designs at bottom. The invitation, which we in 
 the sequel will see, given by the Irish to King Haakon for 
 assistance against the English, and the readiness with which 
 King Haakon listened to their petition, provided circum- 
 
 * The Saga, or poetic history of Haakon's reign. 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 15 
 
 Stances had permitted, justifies the conclusion. Nor were 
 they ill England less anxious when it was reported that 
 Kjug Haakon's powerful fleet was soon to be expected. One 
 was not quite certain whether the storm Avas not also to he 
 turned against the English possessions, and perhaps princi- 
 pally against Ireland. Anxiety exceeded danger. In a letter 
 which a certain knight of Nevill, who was only recently 
 appointed as commander north of the Trent, Avrote to the 
 king's Chancellor about that time, he requests with urgency 
 that means should be adopted to raise the necessary means 
 for the defence of the districts and castles, namely, Bam- 
 borough, entrusted to him. " It is said for certain," he writes, 
 " that both the King of Denmarh and the King of Norway 
 have landed on the Scottish Islands with a great number of 
 ships, and one does not know what their intentions are; 
 consequently, we upon the coasts have danger to apprehend." 
 This was probably written before the actual arrival of King 
 Haakon, but shortly after the report had been circulated by 
 King Dugald that he was expected; and it will hereafter be 
 fully seen in what anxious suspense the inhabitants in the 
 coast counties of England were. The Norwegian king's 
 expectations of victory, glory, and plunder were in the same 
 proportion lively. There is a popular ballad aljout that 
 expedition, which in its present shape appears to have been 
 drawn up in Denmark, but still bears unmistakable signs 
 of having been concocted in Norway, and certainly after 
 the conclusion of the expedition, when grief at the disap- 
 pointed expectations was still fresh, as there is a melancholy 
 tone throughout the whole ; but one feels still that it is ever 
 in the melancholy tone that disappointment is exj)ressed, 
 and that the army, in whose midst the song was probably 
 
16 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 composed, left Norway with tlie brightest hopes, and in tlie 
 happiest humour. 
 
 Concerning the outfit of the expedition it is said : 
 
 " Her ships and stalwart seamen 
 
 ISToi-way sends at the king's command, 
 Who goes to fight for his kingly right 
 To the islands ai'ound Scotland. 
 " The summons speeds round Norway's shores 
 To such as can cany sword, 
 The youth alone are excused to come 
 To follow their liege lord." 
 
 The outset from Bergen is thus described : 
 
 " So they set forth from Bergen town, 
 From Bergen bridge did sail ; 
 The banner blue spi-ead out to view, 
 The silk sail caught the gale. 
 " As they lay out from Bergen town. 
 And glided from the bay, 
 Crowds on the pier shed many a tear 
 For those who went far away." 
 
 On board the king's ship especially were chosen men, 
 among whom were many men of distinction. Tradition'"' re- 
 lates the principal of them ; but as they are not named before 
 or afterwards, and consequently one cannot know more con- 
 cernino' them, we do not think it necessary to communicate 
 the dry hst of names. We name only a few of the more 
 renowned. In the forehold was Abbot Tliorleif, Chancellor 
 Askatin, with several clergy, Stall-master Aslak Gus, and 
 several others: in the second hold. Sigh vat Bodvarsson, 
 brother of Tliorgils Skardes, who took part in the expedition, 
 and was a particular favourite with the king; Erik, Dugald's 
 son, whom we have already mentioned ; Hoskuld Oddsson, 
 
 * The Saga. 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 17 
 
 who is afterwards mentioned as a very ti'ustwortliy man, 
 together with some priests: in the so-called third hold, 
 Lenderman Brynjnlf Jonsson and Lenderman (Fehirden) 
 Andrew Plytt, besides some of the king's retainers : in the 
 stern there were several boatmen. On the average there 
 were four men in every half-hold or side. If, accordingly, 
 the ship, as one must suppose, was furnished with thirty 
 seats on each side, or at least twenty-five, the number of 
 the people in the oar compartment was about 240 ; add to 
 these the number in the forehold rowing compartment ; the 
 crew accordingly was on the whole over 300 men. The 
 Lendermen who accompanied the king were, besides Andrew 
 Plytt and Brynjulf Jonsson, Finn Gautsson of Mel, Erling 
 Alfsson of Thornberg (sister's son of Duke Skule), Erlend 
 Eaude, Baard of Hestboe, Eilif in Naustdal, Andrew Pott, 
 Agmund Kroekedaus, and probably others. Erlend Ivars- 
 son, Andrew Nikolasson, Halvard Eaude, and Eagnvald Urka 
 had sailed, as already stated, some days previously. John 
 Drottning, Kolbein Aslaksson, Nikolas Tart, and several 
 were not yet ready, and remained behind in Bergen; but 
 when they started they steered straight west, and got 
 thereby an advantage over the king, and they ultimately 
 made up with and joined the first squadron. Nikolas 
 Tart never saw land until he made the Lewis, and there 
 joined the first division; the others parted company at sea. 
 The Earl of Orkney, Magnus Gilbertsson, as we have stated 
 already, was at that time with the king. He offered to 
 accompany him, and the king presented him with a good 
 large vessel. From this it appears that there was as good 
 an understanding between him and the king as could be 
 desired. 
 
 D 
 
18 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 King Haakon's voyage from Norway — Arrival in Scotland, and warlike 
 operations at Cantire and Bute. 
 
 Three nights before Seljumannaka, and so the 5th July, 
 King Haakon sailed out from Herdle-Voer with a large por- 
 tion of his fleet. The wind was favourable^ the weather fine, 
 and the fleet, it was said, was a splendid sight. After two 
 days' sail the most of the ships already approached Shetland, 
 where King Haakon remained lying nearly fourteen days in 
 Bressa Sound, near Lerwick, chiefly, as one may presume, to 
 wait for the ships which had not arrived, or had, in sailing, 
 separated from the fleet ; but he also reinforced himself with 
 men and ships from Shetland Here, in Bressa Sound, came 
 John Langlivsson, from (Lyderoerm) the Isle of Man, and 
 likewise brought with him such men skilful in the naviga- 
 tion of those seas as he could obtain. He also brought 
 intelligence that Eogan of ArgyU had changed his mind, 
 and sworn allegiance to the Scottish king. Eogan had this 
 already long in his mind, as we know; but the king would 
 not believe it before he had personally become satisfied of it. 
 From Bressa Sound the king sailed south to Orkney, where 
 he lay with his fleet at Ellidoevek, the present Elweck, at 
 Chapensey, straight over against Kirkwall. Here again he lay 
 some clays, and held a council of war as to the way in which 
 the attack upon Scotland should be directed. His plan was to 
 divide the army into two parts, and to send immediately the 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 19 
 
 least division, consisting mostly of the expeditionary troops, 
 to (Brcidafiortli).the Murray Frith to ravage Qierry) the east 
 side of Scotland, whilst he himself, with a great expected 
 fleet of not yet arrived ships — the rest of the large shijDs and 
 the Orkney ships — should proceed to the islands in the South. 
 But when this became known to the troops the peasants 
 and expeditionary soldiers declared that they would on no 
 account proceed unless the king were with them. And 
 great assuredly his authority over them Avas not; but he 
 must acquiesce thereto, so as entirely to abandon a not ill- 
 devised plan. This saved the Scottish king from a great 
 danger. St. Olaf's Day (29th July) came in this year upon 
 a Sunday; the king on this occasion caused a high mass to 
 be held in a tent erected upon the land, and entertained the 
 common people afterwards on board his sliij). While he lay 
 here Kagnvald Urka arrived, who, as has before been men- 
 tioned, had become separated from the rest on the way from 
 Norway, and had arrived at one of the remote islands among 
 the Orkneys. He now joined the king, who, immediately 
 after St. Olaf's Day, sailed from Elweck, passed Durnessmull 
 to Eonaldsay, where he remained for some days, viz., to St. 
 Lawrence Day, or the 10th August. Partly this was allowed 
 in order to wait till the Orkneys were ready with their pre- 
 parations, and partly in order to exact contributions from 
 Caithness, which, by submitting to Alexander and giving 
 him hostages, had evinced itself hostile to Norway. He sent 
 people over to Caithness, and let the inhabitants know that 
 he ordained them to yield a contribution by no means incon- 
 siderable ; that if they submitted to him, and cleared them- 
 selves, they should enjoy peace; if not, they might expect to 
 see their territory ravaged. The Caithuessians immediately 
 
20 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 betook to clear themselves, and King Haakon appointed 
 men to receive the demanded contribution, which consisted 
 principally of cattle and other provisions. One can scarcely 
 presume that this happened without the king having first 
 consulted with their former lord, Magnus Earl; also without 
 his consent or even his wish. The earl was also irritated at 
 the Caithnessians because they had set their homage to the 
 Scottish king higher than their duty to him. Meanwhile 
 they had scarcely thought much about duty or devoted- 
 ness, but merely to bow before superior force, and the same 
 took place now. And one cannot but exceedingly lament 
 the condition of the unfortunate people who lay between 
 two hostile powers, and could only choose to violate their 
 subjection to their own ruler, the king, or lay themselves 
 out with their immediate superior, the earl. From the 
 circumstance that they now yielded to crying necessity, 
 and only sought to save their country from being ravaged 
 and burned {herjes og hrendes), and themselves from being 
 abused, by yielding a contribution to the Norwegian king, 
 King Alexander afterwards took occasion to send an army 
 on their necks, to extort from them the severest demands, 
 as in the sequel shall be seen. During the time King- 
 Haakon lay in Ronaldsay there took place an echpse of the 
 sun, of the so-called ring-formed description. Modern cal- 
 culations have shown that this eclipse took place the 5th 
 August, 1263, about 1 h. 40 m. p.m., and was exactly ring- 
 formed in the latitude of Ronaldsay. This is one of many 
 proofs how accurate Ej.ng Haakon's history is, and it at 
 the same time serves, if it were necessary, to remove 
 every shadow of doubt concerning the year in which 
 Haakon's expedition set forth. On St. Lawrence Day 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 21 
 
 (10th August) Haakon sailed from Ronaldsay. He had 
 heard that John Drottning and Kolbein Aslaksson had 
 arrived at the islands to the south with the ships which 
 at his leaving Herdle-Voer lay behind at Bergen. It may 
 have been this intelhgence, with what he had heard of 
 Eogan's defaulture {affold), which determined liim to press 
 forward — for the Orkneys were not yet ready with their 
 preparations; and he therefore enjoined them, as well as the 
 earl, to follow as fast as possible. The wind must have 
 been exceedingly good, for the same day the king sailed by 
 Hvarv, the present Cape Wrath. Thereafter he sailed the 
 following day over to Liodhuus (Lewis), and then, likely the 
 day after (the 12th August), to Raunoerne (Rona and Raasa), 
 to the east of Skye, in the sound betwixt Skye and the 
 mainland, where he lay at a. small harbour called Kerlengar- 
 stein, or, as it is now called, Cailleach-stone. Here King 
 Magnus of Mami came to him, and in his suite tlie before- 
 mentioned chiefs, Erlend Ivarsson, Andrew Nikolasson, Hal- 
 vard Raude, and Nikolas Tart. From this sound the king 
 steered to Mylar Sound, or the sound betwixt Mull and 
 Morven. On the Avay King Dugald met him, who came 
 in a swift-sailmg small vessel, and requested the king to 
 follow after him as fast as possible. Dugald guided the 
 fleet to Kjarbaroe (Kerrera), where the forces he had 
 gathered from the islands to the south lay. Here was the 
 whole of the great fleet collected, and now the author of 
 the Saga, or royal historian, fixes the number, one with 
 another, at a hundred of large well-manned ships, or, as the 
 Scottish historians give the number, a hundred and forty 
 war vessels. 
 
 Meanwhile the Scottish king, or the government, left 
 
22 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 notliing undone to complete their arrangements for defence. 
 The garrisons in most towns or castles where an attack from 
 the fleet was particularly expected became strengthened, 
 the fortifications made sufficient, and the supply of arms 
 increased, as at Inverness, on the Murray Frith, and at A}t 
 and Wigton, at the south-west extremity of the country; 
 l^esides Stirling, though it lay towards the east, was not 
 neglected, since the land on this border is only a small way 
 from the west coast. Ships of war, as fast as might be, 
 were built and collected. The castle at Ap' appears espe- 
 cially to have been the chief point for preparations. Here 
 ships were built, a large store of provisions purchased in, 
 or, without more ado, taken from the inhabitants in the 
 surrounding country, compensation to be given afterwards; 
 projectile machines were erected, and many hundreds of 
 balls were cast; likewise a constant outlook {udkig) was 
 kept for the Norway fleet. Remarkably enough, the bur- 
 gesses of Ayr refused to perform serAdce in the castle, 
 although the sheriff' (Walter, Earl of Monteith) requested 
 them thereto by the king's express command. He must 
 carry back word that they could not be induced to do so, 
 and in their stead he liired 120 soldiers. This is so much 
 the more remarkable as the town, by King Alexanders 
 forefather, William, had its lands given to it on the express 
 condition that they should defend the castle. But either 
 the burgesses' terror for the powerful Northern fleet was so 
 great that they saw their safety in nothing else than keeping 
 aloof from all hostile demonstrations; or they may have 
 resisted the Scottish king, or rather his courtiers, called 
 the hostile party. There went subsequently a report that 
 a portion of discontented Scottish men of iufluence had 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 23 
 
 written secretly to King Haakon, praying him to come to 
 Scotland, and promising that they would help him against 
 their own king. Fordun, who mentions this, declares it by 
 no means probable; but another report relative to the same 
 subject, which he likewise l^rings forward, and declares to be 
 more probable, is, as shall appear in the sequel, much less 
 likely, for he says immediately after, that it was cer- 
 tainly given forth that many of the Borderers had written 
 to Haakon, and had excited him against their own master. 
 AVhen one considers how intensely proud the party of Scot- 
 tish magnates was, with what hostility they opj)osed each 
 other, and how little conscience they made of it to begin a 
 civil war, it is by no means unlikely if the discontented at 
 this period should make use of King Haakon's presence at 
 the head of a powerful army, with a view to ruin their 
 opponents, and that they might have confederates amongst 
 the burgesses in certain towns. Subsequently, one per- 
 ceives a similar division amongst the magnates during 
 Wallace and Brace's wars for liberty. And in particular, 
 several of the small nobility in the western districts might 
 have reckoned, with King Haakon's help, either to acquire 
 a more complete independence of the Scottish crown, or a 
 larger measure of freedom than King Alexander was dis- 
 posed to concede. Thus two in particular are expressly men- 
 tioned, seemingly of the Sumarlides race — Angus M'Donald, 
 Lord of Islay and a portion of Cantire, and Murchard, 
 Lord of another portion of Cantire, from whom it was con- 
 sidered necessary to take their sons for hostages, for thereby 
 it was hoped to secure their fidelity, but without success. 
 Also, there was one Euaidhri (M'Eory) who insisted that 
 he had a right by inheritance to the Island of Bute, and 
 
24 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 who had already, at an earher period, had recourse to arms, 
 and slain many men, for which he was declared an outlaw 
 in Scotland. He presented himself before King Haakon 
 with his two brothers, gave him his hand, and swore the 
 oath of fidelity. One can thus scarcely doubt that lie at 
 least was one of the discontented who had written to 
 Haakon. Who knows, therefore, but Magnus Earl may have 
 brought over many similar letters. The dij)lomatic negoti- 
 ations, and other written communications which either pre- 
 ceded or accompanied the expedition, are only touched upon 
 most sparingly and superficially both in our histories and by 
 the Scottish writers ; and as the despatches themselves are, 
 for the most part, lost we can only conjecture from some 
 hints and indications. We know further, that the Scottish 
 king, or his commanders upon this coast, had reinforced the 
 Islands of Arran and Bute, and had placed a garrison in 
 Eothesay Castle, with one also, so far as one can conjecture, 
 in one of the towns to the south upon Cantire — probably 
 Donaverty. But this may have also happened at the same 
 time with the before-mentioned attack upon Skye the year 
 previous. 
 
 From Kerrera King Haakon made his arrangements to 
 commence hostilities simultaneously in many places. He 
 allowed fifty ships, under Kings Dugald and Magnus, Bryn- 
 julf Jonsson, &c., to proceed to the adjacent coast of Cantire 
 to ravage it; fifteen ships he sent under Erlend Eaude, 
 Andrew Nikolasson, &c., south round Cantire to Bute, to 
 take possession of the island; himself with the remaining 
 portion proceeded south to Gigha (Gudoe, or God's island), 
 straight west from Cantire, and laid himself up here 
 without yet, it is allowed, undertaking anything, but 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 25 
 
 only waiting to know what efficacy these attacks would have. 
 It is unmistakable that his object in permitting this great 
 force to proceed to Cantire coast, and to ravage both it 
 and the nearest district of Knapdale, was in particular to 
 strike terror into the before-mentioned Lord of Cantire, and 
 compel him to subjection: thereupon he hoped that Eogan 
 of Argyll, whose possessions in Lorn adjomed these coun- 
 tries, should thereby be brought to enter into his previous 
 homage to the Norway crown. And so in truth Eogan pre- 
 sented himself before the king, having first proceeded on 
 board Bishop Thorgd's ship, and probably placed himself 
 under his protection; but it was oidy to renounce his 
 homage to the king, and to pray him to take back the 
 grants or infeftments he had bestowed, as he had now sworn 
 fidelity to King Alexander. Haakon desired him to bethink 
 himself, and kept him with him an hour, in the hope that 
 he might gain him to comphance, but in vain. Eogan said 
 that he had now greater grants in Scotland than in Norway, 
 and therefore wilKngiy gave up (gav slip) the latter, with 
 which he bade the king do as he j)leased. Many sought to 
 raise the worst opinions against him with the king, but it 
 was of no use, for he must have known that Eogan at least 
 acted openly and honestly, and, to judge of his relations 
 after the manner of the times, had upon the whole the right 
 upon his side. Thereafter there came a message from King 
 Dugald, that Murchard and Angus of Cantire had given 
 him permission to mention that they would submit to King 
 Haakon, and give up to him their possessions, if these might 
 be spared from being plundered. The king bade answer, 
 that he should stop plundering till next day at noon ; but 
 that in the meantime they nmst present themselves in per- 
 
26 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 son. They came the following morning, surrendered their 
 lands, swore fealty, gave hostages, whereupon he promised 
 them that they should be included in a treaty of peace, if 
 one such should come into existence with the Scottish king. 
 This was necessary, because otherwise it would be over 
 A\dtli their sons, whom they had placed as hostages with 
 the Scottish king: this circumstance also was the cause 
 that they remained till the last, before they took any 
 step to subject themselves to King Haakon. The king 
 gave back Islay to Angus, but as a Norwegian infeftment; 
 and Murchard in hke manner retained his portion of Can- 
 tire. But they, or at least their subjects, did not escape 
 a heavy contribution, viz., 1,200 head of cattle; and over 
 and above, some of the parties who had been sent to 
 ravage the district had actually commenced hostilities, 
 burned the nearest houses, and slain some of the people. 
 They were just on the eve to proceed to spoil the chief town 
 when there came a message from the king that they should 
 discontinue hostilities, on the ground that the lords of the 
 district had submitted. They dared not do other but obey, 
 but expressed much discontent thus to be robbed of the 
 prospect of acquiring a rich booty. The booty they had 
 acquired they carried on board, and stood away afterwards 
 to the chief rendezvous of the fleet at Gigha. The Scottish 
 knight who governed in the southmost town of Cantire 
 dared not to wait a siege, but betook himself in person to 
 the king, and expressed himself ready to surrender it. The 
 king delivered it over to be garrisoned by some Northmen, 
 under the command of Guthorm Bakkakolf In hke manner 
 the Abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Sandal, on the east 
 side of Cantire, had recourse to the king, and prayed for a 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 27 
 
 written protection for liis monastery, with what thereto 
 belonged, which request the king instantly granted. Imme- 
 diately after this, the already-mentioned Dominican monk, 
 Sunan, who accompanied the king upon this expedition, 
 died, after a lengthened illness, and his body was interred 
 in the church of the monastery, and the monks laid a con- 
 secrated carpet over his grave, signifjdng that it was holy. 
 
 The king now sent, as the wind was less favourable for 
 large ships, Andrew Pott with a portion of the smaller quick- 
 sailing vessels of war, to hasten the conquest of Kothesay. 
 But on the way Andrew met some who came therefrom, 
 and mentioned that the garrison of the castle had 
 surrendered on condition of a free egress. Amongst the 
 conquerors was the before-mentioned Ruaidhri (M'Rory), 
 who insisted on having a title to Bute. When the with- 
 drawing garrison were come to a certain place on the road, 
 M'Rory set after them, came up to them, and slew nine 
 of them, for he said that he, for his part, had promised no 
 forbearance. So far as one can see, this wickedness was 
 not punished as it merited to be ; on the contrary, Haakon 
 subsequently made a grant of Bute to M'Rory. From 
 this island, which Hes quite close upon the mainland, and 
 commands the entrance to the Frith of Clyde, the Northmen 
 made a warlike expedition inland, and burned many towns 
 and villages. M'Rory fought for his own hand, and exe- 
 cuted much more extensive desolations than the Northmen. 
 Whilst the king lay at Gigha, from which there is only a 
 short space to the Irish north coast, there came a deputation 
 to him from the Irish, who stated that they were ready to 
 dehver themselves up to him if he would come and free 
 them from England's oppressive tyranny. The immediate 
 
28 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 circumstances in regard to this matter are not known; as, 
 for instance, from what district of Ireland this invitation 
 came, or how far anything special had at this time happened 
 in that country to give occasion thereto. But it only needs 
 to be known that the Irish at aU times hated the EngHsh 
 domination, and wished for nothing more than to cast off 
 its yoke, to render it probable that the very intelligence that 
 the powerful king of the North was arrived with a consider- 
 able fleet to fight against the son-in-law of the English 
 sovereign w^as occasion sufficient for them to build all kinds 
 of hope upon it — so much the more as they knew that the 
 Northern kings had, at an earlier period, sought to conquer 
 possessions in Ireland ; and in particular King Haakon's pre- 
 sent expedition must have awakened a lively remembrance 
 of Magnus Barefoot's (Barfod's) expedition a hundred years 
 before. But we must not entertain the conjecture for a 
 moment that it was the descendants of the Eastmen (the 
 Saxons) who thus applied to him. These, residenters in 
 towTis for the most part, and in point of nationality 
 more connected with the English than the Irish, may, it is 
 probable, in the hundred years which had succeeded the 
 conquest of Dublin, have iu a great degree coalesced with 
 the English ; and it is by no means probable that they should 
 have invoked Haakon's help against the English, even had 
 they dared to do so. It must have been the particularly 
 zealous descendants of the old so-called king-s of the 
 O'Loghlen or O'Neill races, or of others of that description. 
 The king listened to their invitation, and sent at first a man 
 of the islands in the South (a Hebrides man), by name 
 Sigurd, over to Ireland ^Yith some smft-sailing war vessels, 
 for to hold closer relations, and hear what the Irish had to 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND, 29 
 
 propose to liim. That the kiiig chose this Sigurd, which 
 could scarcely have been on any other ground than because, 
 being a Hebrides man, he understood the Irish language, 
 confirms that it was the native Irish, not the Saxons 
 (Eastmen), who had approached the king. Immediately 
 after, the king, with his whole fleet, sailed south past 
 the southernmost point of Cantire (Moul of Can tire), and 
 lay in towards the large Island of Arran, which appears to 
 have been one of those that the Scottish king had taken into 
 his possession, but which Haakon now, so far as one can 
 conjecture, conquered with great ease, if it were not abeady 
 conquered by the same squadron which had been sent 
 forward to Bute. On this occasion the whole Norwegian 
 fleet showed itself before the previously-mentioned town of 
 Ap-, but without landing: it anchored at Heroesund, or a 
 sound at Arran, by which is to be understood the now-called 
 harbour of Lamlash, or the bay between Arran's east coast 
 and the close-l}dng little island, St. Maelin's Island, which 
 our forefathers called Malasce, which name is now changed 
 to Lamlash. From Arran the king afterwards lay in to 
 Bute. 
 
 Herewith ended warHke undertakings for the first, and 
 the Northern fleet remained a long time lying inactive. 
 For as soon as it had shown itself inside of Cantire, and 
 anchored at Arran, the Scottish king, who must have been 
 in the neighbourhood with his army, opened negotiations. 
 The sight of King Haakon's powerful fleet here at the 
 entrance to the Frith of Clyde, where it commanded the 
 whole of it, must have awakened his anxiety. He sent, it is 
 said, one embassage after another, consisting partly of Do- 
 minican, partly of Franciscan, friars, to treat {handle) for 
 
30 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 peace. King Haakon showed himself not unwilling thereto ; 
 and the first step he took with this view was, whilst he 
 yet lay at Arran, that he gave Eogan of Argyll, whom up 
 to this time he detained beside him, permission to go 
 forth in peace, and presented him with gifts, on condition 
 that he should do all that stood in liis power to estabhsh 
 peace. Eogan promised it, and pledged himself to present 
 himself before Haakon whenever he should send him word. 
 No one appeared to have been better fitted for a mediator 
 than Eogan, who had the greatest interest to re-establish 
 peace, as thereby he might hold his possessions under both 
 crowns. Nothing, however, is mentioned that he accom- 
 plished. It may have been by his operation that a truce w^as 
 concluded which should be in force until it was renounced 
 by either of the parties. The kings mutually transmitted 
 to each other a peace or truce ratification, which, on the 
 renunciation, should be sent back. Upon this King Haakon 
 forthwith dispatched from Arran a formal embassage to 
 King Alexander, consisting of Bishop Gilbert of Hamar, 
 Bishoj) Henry of Orkney, Andrew Nikolasson, Andrew Plytt, 
 and Paul Sure. These found Alexander in the market- 
 town of Norar, or New Ayr. He took very friendly 
 towards them, and expressed the greatest willingness to 
 enter into a treaty, but said that he must first consult 
 with his most trastworthy men upon the immediate con- 
 ditions, and when this had taken place he should imme- 
 diately communicate with King Haakon. The day after 
 came the ambassadors of the Scottish king. King Haakon 
 laid before them a written specification of all the j)laces 
 on the west of Scotland which he claimed to himself, and 
 which appear to have been islands, with few exceptions. 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 31 • 
 
 But King Alexander had likewise given a specification to 
 his ambassadors of those he would not abandon ; and these 
 were the islands inside of Cantire, viz., Arran, Bute, and 
 the Cumbrae Islands. They also made him to know that 
 it was in the highest degree improper and unsufFerable 
 for the Scottish king to see these islands, which commanded 
 the entrance into a deep frith, by which it was possible to 
 penetrate into the heart of the kingdom, in the hands of 
 a foreign power; and that he must acknowledge it as a 
 remarkable abandonment of his claims when he gave 
 up his claim to all the other islands, which a short time 
 pre\dous he had shown himself so solicitous to acquire. 
 But the matter was this, that he had not an upright 
 intention in the preliminary peace negotiations. It only 
 availed him to protract time, untD. the harvest storms (the 
 equinoctial gales), which on this coast are very violent, 
 should either devastate King Haakon's fleet, or necessitate 
 his withdrawal. Further, he appears to have given his 
 ambassadors verbal instructions to this effect; for although 
 there stood so little between them, and it was very probable 
 that King Haakon would have given in to the ec[uitable 
 claim of the Scottish king, the treaty came to no issue, 
 and the Scottish ambassadors at length returned back with- 
 out doing anything. The weather already began to be more 
 severe, and the king, the 8th September, stood further in, 
 between the Great Cumbrae and the coast of Cunningham, 
 immediately south from the village of Largs, in order to 
 threaten with an invasion the mainland, unless they came 
 seriously to conclude peace. Stdl there came an embassage 
 from King Alexander, giving a promise of the Avished- 
 for peace, and a new meeting was fixed upon, and a place 
 
32 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 inland, Kilbirnie, at which, on Haakon's behalf, were pre- 
 sent bishops and noblemen, and on the Scottish side, a 
 multitude of knights and monks. A lengthened discussion 
 ensued, back and forward, without coming to any agreement ; 
 and when the day closed there assembled so unruly a mul- 
 titude of people from the neighbourhood of the place where 
 the meeting was held, that the Northern ambassadors no 
 longer considered themselves to be safe, but set forth to 
 the ships, and went back to King Haakon, stating to him 
 how it went wdth them. Then the majority urged the 
 king, to renounce the truce and commence hostilities anew, 
 so much the more as they began already to suffer from the 
 want of provisions, as during all this period of inactivity 
 they could not plunder. The king therefore sent one 
 of his officers, by name Kolbein Eidder, to the Scottish 
 king, to carry back his truce stipulation, and to ask King 
 Haakon's in return^ and at the same time projDOse to 
 him that they should meet with their whole forces upon 
 both sides, and first speak face to face with their 
 best counsellors present, in order, if possible, to estab- 
 lish a treaty, but if this was not successful, to give a 
 battle, and let God decide the victory. AVhen Kolbein 
 communicated this proposal to King Alexander, he said 
 that he was not disinclined to give battle to King 
 Haakon, yet he gave no decided declaration. At length 
 Kolbein became weary with waiting, delivered King 
 Alexander's stipulation, received King Haakon's in return, 
 and came back to King Haakon. Thus was the truce 
 broken; and that Kolbein might suffer no molestation on 
 his return, the Scottish king appointed two monks to con- 
 duct him. Kolbein reported to King Haakon how it went 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 33 
 
 with him, and added that Eogan of Argyll had urgently 
 counselled King Alexander to fight with the Northmen. 
 King Haakon became very vexed at all these subterfuges, 
 and bade the monks on their return salute their kino- and 
 that he should soon prove his strength wath him. 
 
34 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Hostilities recommence — Country around the Frith of Clyde pillaged — A severe 
 storm does great damage to Haakon's fleet — Encounter at Largs— King 
 Haakon's return to the Orkneys. 
 
 King Haakon accordingly proceeded to renew hostilities, 
 and sent not less than sixty ships, partly Norsk, partly 
 belonging to the South Islands, under command of King 
 Dugald, his brothei Allan, Angus of Islay, and Murchard of 
 Cantire, together with Vioieik Provstesin and Ivar Holm, 
 to Loch Long to pillage the fertile district between the 
 Clyde and the Forth, whilst he himself was preparing to 
 effect a landing at Largs, and meet the chief division of 
 the Scotch army. The above-mentioned leaders sailed into 
 Loch Long, and caused their boats to be carried over the 
 narrow district of Tarbet to the northernmost part of Loch 
 Lomond, in the country or earldom of Lennox. This 
 inland lake, with its many well-cultivated islands and 
 smiling shores, has always been esteemed one of the 
 prettiest parts in Scotland, and indeed at that period the 
 whole neighbourhood was under good culture and well 
 peopled. This district now suffered great oppression, as 
 the Norwegians and South Islanders laid waste not only 
 the islands, but also aU the settlements on the borders of 
 the lake, with fire and sword, and A Han JM'Euaidhri, 
 Dugald's brother, ransacked all this narrow part of Scotland 
 to the other side, killed a number of people, took several 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 35 
 
 hundred head of cattle, and exercised otherwise much 
 violence. 
 
 It was accordingly not without reason that steps had 
 been taken to strengthen the garrison of Stirling, although 
 this town Hes on the east side, ^dthin the Frith of Forth; 
 and possibly it was this garrison which alone prevented 
 Allan from prosecuting his march to Edinburgh. At length 
 the Northmen retired to their ships. Hereupon they were 
 overtaken by a severe storm, the same which the chief 
 squadron encountered, and which raged for two days (1st 
 and 2d October), the particidars of which shall be noted 
 below. Not less than ten ships were driven ashore and 
 wrecked. At the same time one of their coinmanders (Ivar 
 Holm) took suddenly ill and died. Allan succeeded in reach- 
 ing the ships wnith the plundered cattle, which he distributed 
 ecjually between the Northmen and South Islanders. 
 
 It was now just shortly after the time of the equi- 
 nox, and the autumn storms, which the Scotch so much 
 longed for, had already commenced. On the Monday after 
 Michaelmas, which had faUen upon a Saturday, a severe 
 storm, accompanied by rain showers, arose at Cumbrae, 
 where the chief squadron lay (1st October). It commenced 
 during the night, long before dayhght. A large transport 
 came driving towards the king's ship, knocked off her 
 figure-head, and got fast in her anchor cable. In all haste 
 the crew were summoned, threw on their clothes, and liaided 
 the yards down. The king caused the transport's cable 
 to be cut, when she got clear, and drove towards the island. 
 On board the king's ship they were compelled to lie the 
 remainder of the night without yards. As it dawned, and 
 the flood began to make, the wind changed and the trans- 
 
36 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 port drove towards the land, and gi-ounded. One of the 
 ships of the hne, as also a pro\4sion ship, drove on shore. 
 The storm still increased, and the king's ship was driving 
 with five anchors down, when he considered it advisable to 
 forsake her. He accordingly caused himseK to be rowed 
 over to the island in a boat, wdth his priests and clergy, 
 and sang mass for themselves, as no human power could 
 render assistance. The most of them believed that there 
 was witchcraft in the matter, and that the Scotch had 
 invoked the storm upon them. The king's ship drove stiU, 
 and did not hold before the eiohth anchor was let eo. The 
 other ships also began to drive. Several of them had to 
 cut away their masts to save them from becoming wrecks ; 
 five of them drove towards the shore, three of which stuck 
 fast. The crews of these found themselves noAv in a very 
 doubtful position. The Scotch chief division of the army 
 was not far off. 
 
 From a tradition in that part of the country, which 
 seems perfectly authentic, the army had encamped at a 
 place called Camphill, on the highway which leads from 
 Kilbirnie to Largs. From the low shore at Largs the 
 land rises pretty steep, and further on towards the east 
 are considerable heights, from which the Scotch could par- 
 ticularly well observe all the movements of the Norwegian 
 fleet. As soon as they noticed that the ships drove 
 towards the land and grounded, they sent a number of 
 the Hght troops down to the beach to take possession of 
 the stranded ships. The Scotch began to shoot upon these. 
 The Northmen who were on board defended themselves 
 as weU as they could : a number ascended the large trans- 
 port and defended themselves from her. The Scotch 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 37 
 
 sought to make short work of it. Only a few were killed, 
 hut many were wounded When King Haakon from the 
 island saw the extremity of his men, and that the storm 
 had likewise somewhat abated, he sent them assistance in his 
 own ship's boat, as well as in several other boats, and repaired 
 to his ship again, along with Thorlang Bose, in a coxwain's 
 boat. This timely assistance saved the Northmen. The 
 Scotch speedily took to flight, and the Norwegians coidd 
 on that account spend the night on shore. On the follow- 
 ing morning (Tuesday, the 2d October), at dawn, the king 
 commanded the crew of his own ship, as well as a part 
 of the others, to arm themselves and row in towards the 
 land, in order to save the transport, and bring her precious 
 cargo into safety. He followed himself, to inspect the 
 work, and was accompanied by Lendermen, Agmund 
 Krokedans, Andrew Nil^olasson, Erling Alfsson, Andrew 
 Pott, Erlend Raude, Thorlang Bose, and Paul Sure. When 
 they reached the transport they discovered that the Scotch 
 had been there during the night, and plundered a great 
 deal: the remainder was now discharged into boats. But 
 before they had fully accomplished the task they descried 
 the Scotch army approaching. It was so great that every 
 one fancied King Alexander himself to be there. How 
 far this really was the case is not to be gathered from the 
 Scottish records; so much, however, we learn, that the 
 real commander of the Scots army was Alexander of 
 Dundonald, Scotland's Stewart, grandfather to the Walter 
 Stewart, or Stuart, who, by marrying a daughter of King 
 Robert Bruce, was progenitor of the royal House of Stuart. 
 It is estimated that the Scotch had about 600 horse- 
 men, whose horses were furnished with cuirasses; some 
 
38 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 were even Spanish war-horses, wholly clad with armour; 
 besides they had a large number of infantry, well armed, 
 principally with bows and Irish spears {cut and thrusts). 
 The total number of the Northmen might have been 
 1,000 men, of which 240, under Agmund Krokedans, had 
 occupied one of the neighbouring heights: the remain- 
 der stood do\\Ti upon the sandy beach. King Haakon 
 intended to lead his people himself, but they would on no 
 account see him exposed to such danger, and he contented 
 himself therefore to return to the ships, under lee of the 
 island. The Scotch, who probably approached by the 
 country road, betook themselves first towards the height 
 where Agmund Krokedans stood. Andrew Nikolasson, 
 who was afraid of the little band getting surrounded, has- 
 tened to the height to Agmund, and ad\dsed him to retreat 
 to the others, but to do so in order, and not allow his 
 people to spread themselves hither and thither as fugitives. 
 Agmund obeyed his advice. The Northmen withdrew 
 backwards from the height, and defended themselves as 
 well as they could with their shields from the Scots, who 
 pressed hard upon them with a volley of stones, but the 
 further they advanced down hill the quicker was their 
 haste, so that those who stood down on the plain believed 
 that they fled. Thereupon a sudden fear seized the latter: 
 they fled to the boats to get out of the way as fast as 
 possible, even Lenderman Andrew Pott sprang in haste 
 over two boats into a third, and pushed ofl" from the land. 
 The others cried to them that they should return, but only 
 a few obeyed the summons, and the boats getting over- 
 filled, several of them swamped, and many people were 
 drowned. Those who did not betake themselves to the 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 39 
 
 boats fled southwards aloug the strand: some climbed up 
 on the transport. The Scotch came up with them, and slew 
 them whilst flying hither and thither. The commander 
 called them back several times, washing to bring them into 
 order, but in vain: those who returned were also in part 
 slain, among whom was the king's chaplain, Haakon of Stein. 
 At length, when the fugitives had come on tow^ards one of 
 the stranded ships, they met another band of their country- 
 men, whom they now joined, and sought to hold their ground, 
 being now under the command of Agmund Krokedans, 
 Andrew Nikolasson, Thorlang Bose, and Paul Sure. Here 
 ensued a severe encounter; for there were fully ten Scots 
 for one Northman. The bravest of the Scots was a young 
 knight of good family, in glittering armour, called Peter 
 of Curry. He rode boldly forward to the ranks of the 
 Northmen, passed through them, and back again to his own 
 men. This he seems to have repeated several times, until 
 Andrew Nikolasson confronted him, and gave him a severe 
 cut in the thigh, which caused him to fall from his horse, 
 and he died soon afterwards. The Northman took his 
 beautiful armorial belt: he had also a gilded helmet, set 
 with precious stones, and a splendid coat of mail; but the 
 Northman had no time to take these. The battle now raged 
 with fury, and many fell on both sides, particularly on that 
 of the Scots, who, in consequence of their large numbers, 
 held the mastery for a time. King Haakon would gladly 
 have sent reinforcements to his men if the storm had not 
 prevented. Nevertheless, Eagnvald Urka and Eihf of 
 Naustdal succeeded in reaching the shore with a number of 
 fresh troops, as well as with those who had fled with the 
 boats. Ragnvald leturned immediately thereafter to the 
 
40 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 ships; but Eilif renewed the struggle ^^'ith the greatest 
 bravery; so that even the other Northmen, who hitherto had 
 been exposed to a superior force, took fresh courage, and the 
 Scots were gradually driven back, first to the heights, then 
 further, until they at length completely took to flight, and 
 repaired to the hills, where each sought to save himself as 
 best he could. They did not either, as it seems, make any 
 further attempts to revenge the defeat and capture the 
 stranded ships, notwithstanding that the Northmen, after 
 the battle, betook themselves to the ships, which they could 
 only reach w4th difiiculty on account of the storm. On 
 the following morning the king sent his people into the 
 country to bring the bodies of the fallen, which appears to 
 have been done without the Northmen even being molested 
 in the least degTce. 
 
 It now appeared that the defeated Scotch army had com- 
 pletely forsaken the country. The intelligence had probably 
 arrived of the other Norwegian division having landed in 
 Lennox, and of Allan's march to Stirhng, which might well 
 have had the effect of making it necessary for the com- 
 manders to come to the rescue of that sorely-visited part of 
 the. country as soon as possible; and accordingly they has- 
 tened thither by way of Paisley and Glasgow. The king 
 caused the fallen to be brought to the church and buried, 
 probably upon Bute. , Only the most distingiiished of them 
 are mentioned, besides Haakon of Stein : another chaplain, 
 called Thorgils Gloj)pa ; Kurlshonda, a farmer of some note 
 from the neighbourhood of Drondthiem ; Hallkell, a rich far- 
 mer from the Fiord; and three knights' attendants, who were 
 called Thorsteiu Baat, Ion Balhoved, and Halvard Banjurd. 
 The Scots carried away the bodios of their countrymen, as 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 41 
 
 they fell, to tlie woods, so that one could not see how many 
 of them had fallen. On the follo\ving day (Thursday, the 
 4th October) the king weighed anchor, and lay with his own 
 ship under the island. The same day the division which had 
 been sent to Loch Long and Loch Lomond on a pillaging 
 expedition, and which likemse had sustained, as already 
 related, considerable damage from the storm, returned. The 
 day after (Friday) the weather was* fine, and the king caused 
 a few braves to row ashore, and set fire to the stranded 
 ships. The same day he ordered the whole fleet to get 
 under way, and stood out again towards Lamlash harbour, 
 from whence he afterwards ordered the body of Ivar Holm, 
 who had died on the expedition to Lennox, to be brought to 
 Bute and buried there. 
 
 Such are the details of the famous battle at Largs, 
 which was highly honourable for the Nortlimen, who had 
 conquered against a force vastly superior; but yet it was 
 neither so important or momentous nor had the result 
 which the most of the Scottish historians have ascribed to 
 it. The historical information concerning it contains so 
 many internal proofs of exactness and veracity that we 
 may fully trust to it. It is founded upon the evidence 
 of eye-witnesses and participators, whilst, on the other 
 hand, the Scottish records have been all drawn up at a 
 later period, and supported by imperfect chronicles filled 
 with vague stories. On the part of the Norwegians at 
 least, it was not a grand battle, only an encounter between 
 a single division and the Scotch army. The king had 
 indeed sufi"ered severe damage by the storm, and to such 
 an extent that his people, as we have said, even believed 
 that witchcraft had been l^rought into play; and the 
 
 G 
 
42 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 Scotch, ou the other hand, paid homage to their guardian 
 angel, the saintly Queen Margaret, for having come to 
 their aid; but however great the damage was, yet it 
 could not have been of such moment in itself, for at the 
 most there were only four ships wholly destroyed; the 
 otliers may have suffered considerably, but were still safe, 
 and only a small part of the crews was slain, or lost 
 their hves from other causes. It is therefore impossible 
 to reconcile the statement of Fordun, " That the ships 
 struck against each other, or were driven ashore or upon 
 rocks, and the crews by thousands were cast into the 
 sea, and were thrown up in heaps by its salt . waves, 
 whilst those who escaped unhurt to the shore were 
 immediately seized upon by the Scotch, overpowered, 
 driven to flioht and into the sea, where thev were 
 drowned. Amongst those thousands of slam there was 
 also a Northman of distinction, a relative of Kino; 
 Haakon, a powerful and brave man, whose loss the 
 king greatly lamented." If such had happened, the 
 tradition (ballad) would have narrated the affair quite 
 in another way. It would have bewailed the loss of 
 so many brave warriors: there would have arisen such 
 a lamentation and tensor in Norway as neither bal- 
 kds, annals, nor tradition could have been silent upon. 
 The Scots were put to flight by a handful of North- 
 men, and King Haakon had reaUy accompHshed his 
 desires. Even if the storm and consequent destruction 
 had not happened, he would certainly soon have had 
 to withdraw himself, as winter was at hand. The storm 
 had only the effect of causing his withdrawal somewhat 
 earlier, because his ships required to refit; and his 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 43 
 
 success was therefore not so complete as it othermse 
 would liave been, if, with fine weather, he could have 
 landed mth all his forces, overwhelmed the Scotch king, 
 and compelled him to conclude a humiliating peace; or 
 if he could at least have ransacked the country, acquired 
 extensive booty, and procured for himself a fresh supply 
 of provisions, of which he now stood in need, whereby 
 he might perhaps have been in a position to prolong 
 his stay. His loss was however not so great as to 
 prevent him from entertaining the idea of proceeding 
 to Ireland immediately thereafter. For while he still lay 
 in Lamlash harbour, Sigurd, the Hebrides man, returned 
 with his followers from Ireland, and brought a proposal 
 from the Irish, purporting that they would provide for 
 his whole army during the approaching winter, if he would 
 come and dehver them from their English oppressors. 
 He had a strong inchnation to do so, but his whole army 
 were unwilling, and as the wind was unftivourable and 
 they suffered from want of provisions, he held a council 
 of war, at which he gave notice that he would return 
 to the Northern Islands, and even gave ■several of his 
 people permission to return home to Norway. He could 
 not, however, for a moment have entertained such a 
 thought as that of proceeding to Ireland and attacking 
 the Enghsh, had he, as Fordun says, lost liis people 
 by thousands. It seems even probable that he was 
 compelled to withdraw more from want of provisions 
 than from the damage the storm had caused him. One 
 can easily understand how the Scotch, who, from the 
 heights, were witnesses to the cfiect the storm produced 
 upon the Northern fleet, and the consequent confusion, may 
 
44 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 have represented the damage to be greater than it really 
 was. It might even at times have appeared hkely that 
 not a single ship would have been saved, and the A\ith- 
 drawal of the Northmen a few days afterwards, notwith- 
 standing their victor}^, confirmed them perhaps in the 
 behef that the ships had suffered far greater damage than 
 in reality was the case. King Haakon, as a Scotch record'"" 
 asserts, said himself that it was not human force, but the 
 hand of God, which compelled him to retire. But this 
 means rather that he would have conquered the Scots 
 than the reverse ; which would indeed have come to 
 pass if the destructive stomi had not fallen upon him, 
 and he coidd only have commanded a return for the 
 expedition before the winter set in. 
 
 Hence King Haakon forsook those waters as victor, and 
 it is accordingly cjuite tine, that on that expedition, as the 
 ballad says, he had regained all the possessions which King 
 Magnus Barefoot in his time had conquered. He accord- 
 ingly disposed of them as he thought fit, mthout any one 
 disputing the right with him. He appointed Euaidhri to 
 Bute and Murchard to Arran. The castle on the southern 
 point of Cantire, which Guthonn Bakkakolf had com- 
 mand of, he gave to King Dugald, whose family possessions 
 adjoined. From Lamlash he proceeded the same way as 
 he came, southwards by Arran to Sandoe, and round the 
 Mull of Cantire to Gigha, and from thence to the Sound of 
 Islay, where he remained lying two nights (12th to 14 th 
 October), and levied a contribution upon the inhabitants of 
 the Island of Islay of 300 head of cattle, to which should 
 be added butter and cheese. From the Sound of Islay he 
 
 * The Mdrose Cltronide. 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 45 
 
 sailed on Sunday, the 14th October, northwards, but agani 
 fell in with such a heavy gale, and sea-fogs, that only a 
 few of the ships escaped without loss of sails; neverthe- 
 less he arrived in safety at Kerrera. There he made " 
 inquiries regarding Eogan, who, however, did not present 
 himself; on the contrary, the king came to know that 
 Eogan's men had committed pillage on the coast of Midi, 
 and had slain some of the inhabitants of the island, besides 
 two or three Northmen. Eogan had now openly taken part 
 with King Alexander. From Kerrera the king now sailed 
 to the Calf of Mull, where he remained some days. Here 
 he took leave of Dugald and his brother Allan, to whom he 
 conveyed the possessions which Eogan had previously held. 
 Kino- Magnus of Man and the other southerners had returned 
 
 o o 
 
 homewards at an earlier date. From the Calf of Mull he 
 steered for Raunoemc (Rona and Raasa), where he found 
 the ships lying which he had given permission to return home 
 to Norway, but which had not yet got farther. There also 
 lay the farmer Balte of Shetland, together with several 
 people whom the kmg had sent on before him to Orkney, 
 probably for the purpose of announcing his approaching 
 arrival. From Raunoerne he purposed to sail due north, but 
 a contrary wind compelled him to lay in the West Frith 
 (Loch Snizort) in Skye, and remain there some days, and 
 he had to levy contributions upon the inhabitants of the 
 island. At length he got a fair wind, which enabled him 
 to proceed farther, and get past Cape Wrath; but soon 
 after, when he came off Diurness, it became a calm, 
 which compelled him to lay in a frith, which the ImUad 
 calls Goa Frith or Gjoa Frith, and which can scarcely 
 be any other than the tolerably deep Frith of Loch Eribol. 
 
46 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 It is probably this voyage by Diiirness, and the calm 
 
 which prevailed, that the aforesaid ballad describes, when 
 
 it relates that — 
 
 " Ou reaching north to Lindesness 
 A placid sea was found, 
 The waves did rest on ocean's breast, 
 The ships stood as on ground." 
 
 The king, it is said, now inquked if there were any 
 physician or philosopher coidd inform him concerning 
 this matter, but no one made reply, although Nikolas of 
 Nedarnes knew it well, but would say nothing. 
 
 " A dying man is in the case, 
 
 God keep the king from knowing this." 
 
 The king found it out himself, for the dying man was Olaf 
 Arnfinnsson, who had been taken violently ill. 
 
 " Then good King Haakon grieved, 
 
 And sore perplexed was he; 
 ' Wliere's Olaf, where V ciies in despair, 
 ' That he comes not to me.' 
 
 " Then straight a page replies — 
 ' Olaf lies sick in bed ; 
 His pain as sore as man ere bore. 
 Not to be wholly dead.' 
 
 " The good King Haakon sped 
 To Olaf where he lay, — 
 What sufferest thou 1 Oh ! tell me now ; 
 How fares thy hand, I pray?' 
 
 " ' This breast of mine so smai"ts — 
 My heart methinks it rends; 
 But why complain for any pain 
 The good Creator sends ? ' 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 47 
 
 " For full two nights they watched 
 O'ei' Olaf where he lay ; 
 And Haakon's death came from the scaith 
 He suffered in this way. 
 
 " Thus ended Olaf Ariifiunsson, 
 As they around did stand ; 
 Him mourned Haakon as for a son, 
 With waxlights in his hand." 
 
 From this it is evident that the ballad alludes to events 
 subsequent to the expedition, and that Olaf Arnfinnsson's 
 death must have happened not long before the king's own. 
 It also points to the circumstance, that the king must have 
 contracted his last illness from watching over the deathbed 
 of Olaf. He inquires at him as to his hand, from which we 
 must conclude that Olaf had been wounded in the expedi- 
 tion. The burden of the song runs accordingly, " And 
 wounded is my hand by the armour." The king remained 
 two nights lying in Loch Eribol, namely, from his arrival, 
 Saturday, the 27th October, till Monday, the 29th. That 
 Lindesness is here mentioned may either be ascribed to the 
 ignorance of the author of the ballad, or perhaps to what is 
 more hkely, falsification. It is more likely to have stood 
 originally Diurness. Who this Olaf Ai-nfinnsson was, 
 nothing else is known, for the ballad does not give parti- 
 culars regarding him; we only see that he must have been 
 the king's favourite — perhaps one of his relatives — whose 
 position was not of such significance as to occasion the men- 
 tion of him in an historical record, but who, on the other 
 hand, may have acted an important part, in the eyes of the 
 common people, from whose ballads we must conclude, the 
 more we examine them, that his sickness and death were 
 
48 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 considered an unlucky omen, and were put in immediate 
 connection with tlie king's o^\T-1 demise, which happened 
 not long afterwards. He must have been held in repute 
 for bravery and energy, as the king esteemed him so much. 
 It is said, at an earher period, that the king, before setting 
 out from Norway, looked " over all the company," and not 
 observing Olaf he inquired Avhere he was, and why he did 
 not accompany them, when "the httle page" answered, " Olaf 
 came the very hour you called your men to battle." It is 
 quite possible that the whole of this little episode might not 
 perhaps have been known to the whole fleet, but was confined 
 to a few of the ships. There is, however, scarcely room 
 for doubt that it was a real occurrence, and was at least 
 subsequently considered ominous. During the two days' 
 stay at Loch Eribol another unpleasant affair also took 
 place. The king had been hearing mass on Sunday, the 
 28th, wliicli was Simon and Jude s day, when his people 
 brought a few Scots whom they had taken captive. He 
 gave them all their liberty, and sent them up to the heights 
 in the neighljourhood, under the promise that they should 
 come back again with a number of cattle, and till such was 
 carried out one of their number was kept as an hostage. 
 Later in the day niae men rowed ashore from one of the 
 ships to fetch water; not long afterwards a cry arose. A 
 party rowed in and saw that the Scots had fallen upon 
 their comrades: as they were wholly unarmed, they could 
 not attempt to defend themselves, and neither coukl they 
 make their escape, as the boat was drawn up. The 
 Scots had killed seven of them, and only two, who, 
 badly wounded, had cast themselves into the water, were 
 picked up and rescued by their countrymen. When they 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 49 
 
 saw the Northmen approach, the Scotch fled, and the North- 
 men took the bodies of their fallen comrades away with 
 them. The king did not revenge this deed upon the 
 hostage, but sent him ashore and left him free. 
 
 On Monday, the 29th October, King Haakon made sail 
 from Loch Eribol for the Pentland Frith. In that dangerous 
 frith the sea ran so high that a ship from Eyfylke foundered 
 with her whole crew. John of Hestboe was diiven to the 
 eastward, and had nearly become involved in a whirlpool 
 (the Maelstrom) which is still the dread of mariners, but 
 fortunately got clear, and as he had now missed the islands, 
 he steered a straight course for Norway. The king came 
 during the night to a sound north of Ausmund, probably at 
 Flotoe, and lay into the Sound of Eonaldsay. Here the rest 
 of the ships joined the chief division of the fleet, except 
 those that had already proceeded homewards to Norway (for 
 some had actually got permission to sail homewards, and 
 many proceeded without leave being granted). The king 
 had so expressed himself, that as soon as he had reached 
 the Orkneys he would proceed homewards to Norway, and 
 several of his people took upon themselves the onus of 
 proceeding without leave. As the weather had now set in 
 boisterous, and the wind at no time commenced to blow 
 favourably, the king resolved u23on wintering at the Orkneys 
 with twenty of his ships; all the others got permission to 
 go home. The Lendermen (or freeholders) were commanded 
 to remain with him, excepting Eilif of Naustdal, who had 
 sailed eastwards, besides several of the more distinguished 
 men also remained with him. It was not, however, the 
 stormy weather and the late season of the year alone 
 that induced the king to winter in the Orkneys. He had 
 
50 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 assuredly a wish to be in the immediate neighbourhood of 
 Scotland, in order to defend the inheritances, or, more pro- 
 perly, the reconquered possessions, which he had acquired 
 during the expedition, in case the Scotch king should 
 desire to make new conquests, possibly during the winter 
 or early in the following spring, before ships could come 
 from Norway. On the other hand, one cannot suppose 
 that it was his intention to fit out a new expedition to the 
 South Islands provided King Alexander left them in. peace, 
 nor is there the sHghtest mention of anything of the kind. 
 He had accomphshed his wish; all the islands, along with 
 Cantire, now obeyed his sceptre. It was not his plan to 
 effect conquests, but only to retain what he had, and 
 what from the time of Magnus Barefoot legally belonged to 
 the Nor^Yegian crown. It did not form part of the pohcy 
 of that epoch to acquire possession of districts of countries 
 in order afterwards only to make them available as material 
 guarantees, and without the intention of holding them in 
 perpetuity. 
 
 The object of the expedition, in the eyes of the king and 
 his people, had accordingly been attained. It certainly did 
 not occur to them to consider the expedition as a failure, 
 or the affair at Largs as a misfortune, in any other light 
 than that the damage and stranding of the ships occa- 
 sioned a heavy pecuniary loss; nevertheless, the battle with 
 the Scots was a complete, and, for the Northmen, very 
 brilliant victory. The latter would certainly have been 
 greatly astonished had they been able to read what the 
 Scotch subsequently wrote concerning them of their ha\'ing 
 suffered a defeat and lost thousands of their men. They 
 knew themselves of no such calamity, but esteemed them- 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 51 
 
 selves as victors, who had fully executed their plans, and 
 left nothing more to accomplish. 
 
 The king now caused letters to be written to Norway 
 concerning the government of the country during his 
 absence, and immediately after AU-Saints' Day (1st Nov.), 
 he caused his ship to be taken over to Midland Harbour, 
 where, along with several others, it should be beached. He 
 remained a day longer on Ronaldsay, and proceeded from 
 thence to Kirkwall, without doubt crossing Scapaflow. 
 The commanders were now much busied with the inspection 
 of their vessels, which should be laid up partly in Midland 
 Harbour and partly in Scapa. King Haakon rode towards 
 Midland Harbour on Saturday, the 10th day of November, 
 although he had been very unwell for some time, spent the 
 night on board of his ship, and the following day (St. 
 Martin's) caused mass to be sung for him on shore. He 
 determined now precisely where his ship should be drawn 
 up, and commanded his people in general to attend to the 
 ships well. Thereupon he rode to Scapa, and from thence 
 to Kirkwall, where he, on the invitation of the bishop, took 
 up his quarters at his house, along with those of his 
 followers who used to sit at his table. The king and 
 bishop held both, each for himself, a table for his men in the 
 hall, but the king himself remained up stairs, and for the 
 most part took his food there. The warriors whom he had 
 ordered to remain behind with him were, by his order, 
 billeted on the farms round about on the islands, and an 
 inventory of these drawn up in due form. According to 
 this hst each Lenderman, or ship's captain, had a certain 
 district on the sound assigned to him for the maintenance 
 of himself and the men under his command. Andrew 
 
52 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 Plytt was appointed to superintend the king's own table, 
 and cater for the bishops, priests, and acolytes, or priestly 
 attendants, besides the people under his own charge. All 
 these commands were followed out after the labour atten- 
 dant upon the laying-up of the ships had been performed, 
 and each commander repaired to the place assigned to him. 
 The Lendermen who remained in Kirkwall were Brynjulf 
 Jonsson, Erling Alfsson, Kagnvald Urka, Erling of Bjarkoe, 
 John Drottning, and Erlend Eaude ; the others were divided 
 hither and thither over the country. 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 53 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Iving Haakon's last illness and death — His personality, character, services to 
 
 his country. 
 
 The time was now fast approaching when King Haakon 
 should yield up his active, eventful, and (for Norway) bene- 
 ficent Hfe. He had now reached an advanced age, and 
 had had during the summer to encounter many trials, 
 troubles, and sleepless nights. Nor even now could he 
 command the necessary rest, but was waited upon every 
 moment by some one or other who wished to converse 
 with him upon business. At length his constitution gave 
 way from over exertion, and he took seriously ill. We 
 have already noticed that several of his warriors, judging 
 from the tenor of the ballad, had partly ascribed his sick- 
 ness to his grief and wakeful anxiety for Olaf Arnfinnsson. 
 It is not improbable that he may have taken a fallen friend 
 and relative's loss so much to heart, and have thereby 
 greatly aggravated his sickness, and that perhaps also the 
 death of a distinguished and influential relative, who, as 
 we have already quoted from the Scottish narrative, fell at 
 the battle of Largs, may further have affected him. But 
 the ballad gives no account of this. As already stated, 
 on that Saturday when he rode to Midland Harbour he 
 felt himself very unwell, and was compelled to return to 
 Kii-kwall, where he betook himself to bed. His sickness 
 at first was not particularly violent. After having lain in 
 
54 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 bed for three weeks he felt himself somewhat recovered, 
 and rose. The first day he could move about in his room ; 
 the next (Sunday, the 2d December), he went to the 
 bishop's chapel and heard mass; and the third he could 
 even walk from the bishop's residence to the Church of 
 St. Magnus, and about the shrine of St. Magnus. That 
 day he also bathed his feet and allowed himself to be 
 shaved ; but the following night he became considerably 
 worse, and never rose again from his bed. AYhen he felt 
 that his illness would prove fatal he made all the usual 
 arrangements on such an occasion: he commanded letters 
 to be written to King Magnus concerning the affairs of 
 the kingdom, as well as what should be given to the men, 
 and orders which he wished to be executed; in short, he 
 drew up his testament. In this, which we no longer 
 possess, he certainly made abundant provision for the 
 clergy and ecclesiastical institutions; for it is expressly 
 stated that he, in his last moments, presented 120 Maan- 
 adematers Bol'" to the All- Saints' Church in Bergen, and it 
 is also probable that the most of the endowments towards 
 ecclesiastical schemes were issued on his death-bed or 
 conveved in the testament. He was most anxious 
 that his retainers (hoerdmen) should have their pay 
 promptly on the pay-day, namely. New Year's Day. It 
 is likewise reported that he ordered an extra allowance 
 for each of them, in order that each retainer in aU 
 should have one mark (brcendt),t and the priests, 
 acolytes, and other servants, each haLf-a-mark. In the 
 
 * An old Norwegian measure, probably the largest of the class, and analogous 
 to our Scottish chalder. 
 
 t Branded or stamped : that is, coined. 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 55 
 
 event of there not being enough of ready money for this 
 purpose, he commanded that the sum requisite should be 
 raised from his ungilt silverplate, which he caused to be 
 weighed for that object. In order to divert himself during 
 his illness he caused books to be read to him both day and 
 night, when he could not sleep — first, Latin books, chiefly 
 the Bible; but at length, when the exertion of follomng the 
 meaning was too much, he chose Norwegian books — firstly, 
 the legends of saints; and when the supply of them was 
 exhausted, the legends of the Norwegian kings, even from 
 Half dan the Swarthy, the one after the other, according to 
 theii' dates. On the 12th December, the day before Luke's 
 Mass, he received extreme unction in the presence of the 
 three bishops, Abbot Thorleif, and many other priests. 
 Before extreme unction was administered, those of his men 
 who were present kissed him and took farewell of him. He 
 had still full use of his speech ; and his confidential atten- 
 dants inquired of him, while they had yet time, if he had 
 any other son in life besides King Magnus; but he declared 
 firmly and solemnly that he had no other, ^^^en they had 
 progressed in their readings of the legends of the kings as far 
 as the narrative of Sverre, he commanded them to begin upon 
 it. This was read night and day as often as he was awake. 
 Late on the evening of Saturday he became so weak that 
 he lost his speech; nevertheless, the readings were con- 
 tinued; and towards midnight, just as the legend of Sverre 
 was finished, the king breathed his last, on the 15th Decem- 
 ber, 1263, There were only Lendermen Brynjulf Jonsson, 
 Erling Alfsson, John Drottning, and Eaguvald Urka present, 
 besides some of the servants in waiting; but a message was 
 forthwith despatched to the bishops and priests, who, as 
 
56 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 soon as they had come, sung a requiem for his soul. Here- 
 upon all left the chamber, with the exception of Bishop 
 Thorgils, Brynjulf Jonsson, and two others. They washed 
 the body, shaved the beard, and rendered all other necessary 
 assistance which is usual on such occasions, and which was 
 due to so great a sovereign as King Haakon. The day 
 after (Sunday) the body was dressed in splendid clothes and 
 crowned with the minor crown or garland, laid out in state 
 in the upper hall, with the usual pomp and ceremony due 
 to a cro^^^led head. The candle-bearers stood round about 
 the body, holding burning wax tapers, which illumined the 
 whole of the hall; the bishops and all the clergy of the 
 town, together with his followers, then came in, for the 
 purpose of once more beholding the features of their dear 
 lord; and afterwards the people were granted admission. 
 The body, as it is narrated, " was pleasant and comely to 
 look upon, and there was still a ruddy glow upon the 
 cheeks, as if yet animated by hfe ; and however great was 
 the grief of all, it was nevertheless a comfort to look upon 
 the placid features of the departed." Subsequently high mass 
 was sung. The day following (Monday) the body was 
 conveyed to St. Magnus Church, where it lay during the 
 night, and was watched by the retainers. On the Tuesday 
 it was laid in a coffin, and was buried below the choir, 
 just outside the steps to the St. Magnus shrine, when 
 the flags were again replaced as usual, and a carpet spread 
 over them. It was not in the meantime resolved uj)on to 
 leave his body in the Orkneys. He had himself, during his 
 illness, commanded that his body should be carried back to 
 Norway, and buried in Christ Church, by the side of liis 
 father, grandfather, and other relatives. This was accord- 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 57 
 
 ingly to be carried out as commanded. At a meeting of 
 the retainers it was resolved that, during the whole of 
 the ^\dnter, watch should be kept over the temporary- 
 grave of the king. INIeanwhile Andrew Plytt, in accor- 
 dance with the king's command, managed the business of 
 the court. At Christmas he and the bishop held the 
 customary feasts, and salaries were fully paid. 
 
 When the severest part of the winter was past, and 
 the weather began to be more settled, the king's large 
 ship, the " Christsuden," was launched, fitted out Avith all 
 speed, and proceeded to Scapa, to take the king's body 
 back to Norway. On Ash- Wednesday, the 15th March, the 
 coffin was taken up, and, accompanied by the retainers, was 
 conveyed to Scapa and taken on board the ship. Bishop 
 Thorgils, Erling Alfsson, and Andrew Plytt, undertook 
 he command of this business. All the superintendents 
 who accompanied the king from Norway embarked also. 
 The ship weighed anchor the following Saturday (18th 
 March); but they encountered severe weather and contrary 
 wdnds, which prevented them from steering a straight 
 course for Bergen, and they were compelled to run for a 
 harbour southwards in Silevaag on the Jeder. From this 
 they sent letters to King Magnus, acquainting him of their 
 arrival. It does not appear that this was the first intimation 
 he received of his father's death, although even King Alex- 
 ander of Scotland, who was so near to the Orkneys, did not 
 hear of the death before the end of January. The weather 
 setting in more favourably, they sailed from Silevaag, and 
 arrived at Laxevaag, outside Bergen, on the 20th March. 
 The day following (St. Benedict's Mass) King Magnus rowed 
 out to the ship, attended by Bishop Peter of Bergen ; and 
 
58 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 the vessel was then taken to Bergen, and laid close to the 
 king's palace. The body was then carried to the summer- 
 hall, and on the morrow (the 22d) was conveyed to Christ 
 Church, followed by King Magnus, the two queens, the two 
 bishops, and the rest of the clergy, all the retainers, and 
 the townspeople. The body was interred in the choir of 
 Christ Church, and King Magnus himself delivered an 
 eloquent address, wherein he thanked those present, with 
 many kind words, for their attentions. 
 
 But it certainly was not mere attention or a customary 
 ceremony which Avas observed, for all felt deeply the loss of 
 Kino- Haakon. He was the favourite of the nation. It 
 must have been apparent to all that his superior judgment 
 had procured for Norvray peace, order, and quiet in place of 
 internal broils and lawlessness, and had, from weakness and 
 insignificance, raised it to take a prominent place amongst 
 the northern kingdoms of Europe. If in wisdom he perhaps 
 fell short of his grandfiither Sverre— in military skill and 
 spirit, of Harold Sigurdsson — in brilliant personality, of Olaf 
 Tryggvesson — in enthusiastic zeal, of Olaf the Saint, he 
 had nevertheless as much of all the four kings' distinguished 
 characteristics in himself as far to excel them all. Surely 
 and steadily, with clear discernment, well-meaning, and 
 of unswerving honesty, he strove strenuously to attain 
 his one object, his people's happiness and welfare; and 
 even whilst he laboured for regal aggrandizement, it was 
 clearly from no selfish motives, but partly because the spirit 
 of the times led to it, and partly because, according to 
 his view, acquired in the political school in which he was 
 educated, it was the surest method of procuring peace for 
 liis people and preventing oppression. " Seldom has it 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 59 
 
 advantaged the commonalty that there have been many- 
 rulers at one time." Tliis, reported in the IlerdsJcraaen as 
 a saying emanating from his son, mirrors forth his prin- 
 ciples, or, we may say, the principles of his whole family. 
 According to tliis principle Haakon acted, and possessed 
 prudence, strength, and courage, and, we may add, the 
 good fortune to reach the goal, living to a sufficient age, 
 after that goal was reached, to see his work thriving and 
 confirmed; the condition, created by himself, bearing fruit, 
 the people feeling themselves happy and satisfied, and the 
 kingdom increasing in power and importance. Therein he 
 was more fortunate than Olaf the Saint, whom he more 
 resembled in all other respects than the other kings just 
 mentioned. Olaf did not see the fruits of his own work, but 
 was taken away before it was fully finished : Haakon saw 
 a whole new generation spring up, and approach the age of 
 manhood, after the new order of things which originated 
 with him had commenced. He progressed with great steadi- 
 ness, and had not so difficult elements to contend against, 
 or such inconvenient materials to discard, as Olaf the Saint. 
 We have seen many instances of the veneration and 
 attachment which King Haakon alwjiys cherished for the 
 Church, without even in any respect compromising his royal 
 dignity or his legitimate authority, which he, on the con- 
 trary, sought with the greatest care, even witli jealousy, to 
 defend. But this jealousy or anxiety testifies all the more 
 how upright his veneration and attachment must have 
 been, since these could continue unshaken through every 
 storm. His Saga^ is therefore quite correct when it 
 asserts that no king in Norway before him, with the excep- 
 
 * Poetic history. 
 
60 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 tioii of Olaf the Saint, did more to advance the cause of 
 Christendom in Norway than Haakon. But in consideration 
 of the period in which Haakon lived, as well as the cir- 
 cumstance that the affairs of the Church were not and 
 could not be one and the same for him as for Olaf the 
 Saint, we must conclude that other than purely religious 
 motives induced him to do so much for the many 
 ecclesiastical or semi-ecclesiastical schemes which directly 
 or indirectly were indebted to him. The clergy were at 
 that period the heralds of the higher civilization and the 
 depositories of science, and when the king desired to ci^dlize 
 his people, and improve their morals, while he indi- 
 \ddually loved the arts and sciences, he believed that 
 his best course for securing his purj)ose was to labour for 
 the prosperity of the clergy, and particularly that of ecclesi- 
 astical foundations. The peoj)le needed to be reared in a 
 strict school, to exterminate the remains of barbarity result- 
 ing from the times of civil war, and according to the rela- 
 tions of the times this was more peculiarly a business for the 
 clergy. But we have seen examples enough how well he 
 knew to act with moderation in this matter ; how he, in the 
 many and great concessions which he made, never went 
 farther than the universally acknowledged principles which 
 distinguish the spiritual from the temporal power could 
 demand wdth propriety; how those who demanded more, or 
 mixed themselves uj) with matters that did not concern them, 
 not only fell short of then- object, but even at times sub- 
 jected themselves to his lasting displeasure. Archbishop 
 Einar, for example, was one of these, who, partly from his 
 first appearance after his arrival from Eome, and perhaps 
 partly from his imprudent rather than ill-meant beha^dour 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 61 
 
 to the king s sons, drew forth a dislike to himself which was 
 so strong that it never afterwards was wholly dissipated. 
 
 Haakon's zeal for the people's spiritual and moral well- 
 being, as well as the affection with which he regarded the 
 interests of the Church, stand in complete unison with the 
 extraordinary activity he exhibited in providing the country 
 with a number of buildings for both spiritual and temporal 
 purposes. He built, as we have seen, many churches and 
 cloisters, founded hospitals, and executed public works of 
 general utihty, which must, in his time, particularly after 
 the conclusion of peace, and in his chief residence, Bergen, 
 have produced remarkable stir and acti\^ty. He had, 
 however, an eye also to the splendour and dignity of the 
 crown in the erection of these buildings, many of which 
 he built for his own pleasure, and to gratify his own taste. 
 But no single pubHc budding which may be ascribed with 
 certainty to him can be pointed out as really supei-fluous, 
 or merely an object of grandeur. The many fortresses 
 which he caused to be constructed were intended to secure 
 the country against external enemies as well as from 
 internal revolts. For in these fortified places were hke\vise 
 state prisons for evil-doers, and the circumstance that these 
 prisons did exist made it possible to exercise the penal 
 laws with greater humanity, and no longer made punish- 
 ment of death and horrible mutilation necessary to detei 
 criminals. We have akeady mentioned what these fortifi- 
 cations were. We may here also add the Vargoehuns, as 
 it is named in the ballad, as existing prior to King Haakon's 
 death. During the border hostilities and other coUisions 
 with the Eussians it was also necessary to have a sure 
 position in the north, where the territorial sheriffs and 
 
62 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 officers of provinces could watch events, and be at hand 
 when their presence was required. We see from this the 
 same zeal to maintain the possessions of the crown unim- 
 paired as was manifested in King Haakon's transactions 
 with Scotland and the last expedition to the Western 
 waters. The possessions on the west coast of Scotland 
 were certainly not of much value; but it was deemed a 
 point of honour to defend that which was acquired by- 
 illustrious forefathers, and he could hardly have equipped 
 so large an army and great a fleet had his designs not 
 been popular. 
 
 King Haakon can hardly be acquitted of the desire which 
 most talented princes have shared in, namely, the desire of 
 extending his power and dominions ; but with King Haakon 
 this discovered itself in the mildest and most excusable 
 manner. For even where this spirit of aggrandizement 
 appears most illegal, as, for example, with regard to Iceland, 
 there is manifestly, side by side with the mere desire of 
 adding a whole country to his kingdom, an unmistakable 
 endeavour to put an end to the deeds of violence which 
 prevailed upon the island, and substitute the blessings of 
 quietness and peace. We see that he yielded occasionally 
 to warmth of temper, and gave room to indignation, for 
 instance, when he in rage commanded Gissur Thorvaldsson 
 to kill Snorre Sturlasson. These blemishes, however, are 
 insignificant, and fall almost out of view in comparison 
 with the full orb of moderation, honesty, and benevo- 
 lence which his conduct from youth to old age exhibits. 
 We have already mentioned how, when a child, he refused 
 to place himself at the head of a rebel mob against King 
 Juo-c, notwithstanding that he well knew that tJie title of 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 63 
 
 Juge to the crown would not stand the test with his o^^^l. 
 His behaviour to the Danish king and dowager queen 
 during the last year of his reign evinces a similar conscien- 
 tiousness and strong feeling of duty. He was at liberty, 
 for instance, to have reheved himself from the obhgation, 
 like Byrge Jarl, in 1259, of going to the assistance of the 
 Danish court, when King Cliristopher died; but Haakon 
 believed that his presence was nevertheless necessary, and 
 he proceeded to Copenhagen, although there was absolutely 
 nothing for him to be gained thereby, but only heavy 
 expenses to be incurred from keeping his fleet so much 
 longer assembled. This integrity of purpose contributed 
 largely, along with his influence and mihtary renown, in 
 making him esteemed, even at a great distance from Nor- 
 way. No Norwegian king had enjoyed such a reputation, 
 and been so highly esteemed in his time as he. We have 
 seen how the popes, chiefly down from Innocent the Third, 
 showed him greater attention and complaisance than per- 
 haps any other monarch in Catholic Christendom. The 
 great emperor, Frederick the Second, was his particular 
 friend ; the French Ej.ng Louis, the Spanish King Alphonso, 
 considered it, as we have seen, to be of importance to con- 
 nect themselves with him ; the great prince of Novgorod was 
 desirous of becomino- his brother-in-law; even the Sultan in 
 Tunis entered into amity with him. The name of Norway 
 was at that time certainly wider known among distant 
 nations than it now is, and this must be attributed solely 
 and wholly to the person of Haakon. 
 
 King Haakon was born in the summer of 1204; accord- 
 ingly he had completed his fifty-ninth year, and departed 
 in the sixtieth. He reached a higher age, therefore, than 
 
64 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 auy Norwegian king since Harold Haarfagre/" Since the 
 summer of 1217, and thus for forty-six years, he had borne 
 the royal name, and from 1223 it may be said that he 
 reigned as having arrived at his majority; but for twelve 
 years he reigned only over the two southern provinces, 
 whilst Skule Jarl was councillor for Frostathing and Haalo- 
 galand. In the five following years affairs were uncertain, 
 until matters at length ended in open feud. Immediately 
 after Skule's fall, Haakon reigned alone and in undisturbed 
 peace. But this his period of individual sovereignty (from 
 1240 to 1263) was stiU longer than most of the other kings' 
 period of reign, when their years of minority are not taken 
 into account. This longer period of life may be ascribed 
 chiefly to King Haakon's regular and moral life; for the 
 most of the earlier kings had certainly led such a life as 
 made them old men when they were stiU youths in years. 
 When King Haakon allowed his oldest son, Haakon, to be 
 called king, in order to distinguish them they were called 
 King Haakon the Elder and King Haakon the Younger. 
 But the surname of " the Elder" continued long after the 
 death of his son; distinguishing King Haakon, particu- 
 larly in later writings, partly by reason of his long reign, 
 and partly to prevent him from being confounded with his 
 grandson, King Haakon Magnusson, commonly called " the 
 Crowned." 
 
 Haakon is described as a man of middle stature, well 
 grown, hardy, and small waisted, rather taU when seated, 
 with large fine eyes; in short, in figure and bearing, like his 
 grandfather, King Sverre. He was, it is said, mild when 
 he was in good humour, but stern when he was angry, and 
 
 * The Fair-haii'cd. 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 65 
 
 in his movements uncommonly cheerful, lively, and hasty. 
 Towards poor and suffering people he was always friendly. 
 However much his mind might be troubled at the time, 
 he always at least answered them mildly when they applied 
 to liim. When he came in contact with princes he knew 
 well how to observe dignity. At State convocations he 
 spoke particularly well, and knew thoroughly well how to 
 judge of circumstances, so that intelligent men who came 
 as aml)assadors to him from other sovereigns said that 
 they had not seen any prince who better understood at 
 once to be associate, king, and lord. His education may 
 have been better tlian the most of the princes of his time, 
 for he had in his youth received a complete ecclesiastical 
 tuition ; and that this must have been pretty well grounded 
 is manifest from what is already related of him, namely, 
 that durino' his illness he caused Latin books to be read 
 for his benefit. True it is that at the close he found 
 it difficult to follow the meaning, but it was nevertheless a 
 great deal that he could remember the greater part of book 
 learning in his sixtieth year which he had acquired in 
 his early life. How far literary energy may have been 
 advanced by his court, and how far he himself encouraged 
 and even called forth hterary undertakings, we have already 
 noticed in the foregoing history. 
 
 K 
 
66 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 King Magnus Haakonsson's ascension to the throne, and peaceful disposition — 
 The war with Scotland concluded by treaty of peace at Perth — Isle of Man 
 and the Southern Islands ceded for an annual money payment. 
 
 The intelIio:ence of Kino; Haakon's deatli found Hs son 
 Magnus already a crowned king, and in full possession of 
 the reins of government. As there was not a single 
 individual who, with even a shadow of justice, could start 
 up as pretender for the crown, it was vested in him without 
 the slightest commotion, and, so to say, unobserved. It 
 was not necessary that renewed homage should be rendered 
 to him, as he not only had the oath of allegiance sworn 
 to him as king, first, in the Island of Eker in 1257, 
 and later, at the convocation at Ore in 1258, but sub- 
 sequently was formally crowned in 1261. He therefore 
 did not undertake any new journey through the country 
 for the purpose of receiving homage, but remained quietly 
 in Bergen the whole summer after he had learned the death 
 of his father. King Magnus, born on the 3d May, 1238, 
 was accordingly at that time twenty-four and a-half years 
 of age, and past his majority. He might not possess 
 his father's influence and unconquerable spirit, but in 
 penetration and just and honest inchnation to what was 
 good he did not stand behind him; and each of his deeds 
 fully brings to light that his kingdom's and subjects' 
 spiritual and temporal well-being lay closest to his heart 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 67 
 
 at all times. His father had already carried on war more 
 because cii-cumstances made it necessary for him to do so 
 than because he cherished any particidar liking for mihtary 
 life. On the contrary, we see distinctly that Haakon's 
 greatest desire leaned to peaceful activity and the happy 
 adjustment of all feuds. Tliis peaceful disposition was 
 still more apparent in Magnus. His father did not dechne 
 to go to war when it concerned the defence of what seemed 
 to be the honour of the kingdom : he, therefore, in his old 
 age, led the enormous expedition against Scotland, the 
 results of which, even under the most favourable circum- 
 stances, could scarcely have compensated for the expense 
 and all the other disagreeable contingencies which accom- 
 panied it; but his honour demanded it, and, judging from 
 the prevaihng opinions at that period, one cannot but 
 justify Haakon. But we will see how Magnus's peaceful 
 disposition and inward conviction that peace and quietness 
 were the greatest good he could extend to his subjects led 
 him to renounce such conventional regard for honour, and 
 how he at length resolved rather to yield up the disputed 
 Southern Islands, which were of little value to Norway, 
 than to carry on a protracted war, the issue of which, in 
 the long run, might be doubtful enough. It is perhaps 
 even not improbable that King Haakon himself, on his 
 deathbed, had come to see that it was useless any longer 
 to sacrifice people and money for the maintenance of a 
 tottering sovereignty over those distant disquiet coun- 
 tries, and that he himself, in the letter he caused to be 
 written to his son, had counselled him thereto. 
 
 This is probably confirmed by the Lendermeii and com- 
 manders who had remained behind in the Orkneys sending, 
 
68 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 of their own accord, and without having procured the 
 consent of King Magnus, ambassadors to the Scotch king 
 early in the spring, to learn how far he now felt disposed 
 to conclude peace. Meanwhile it will be seen in the sequel 
 that this mission had, perhaps, also quite another object, 
 which, when it became known, might awaken the greatest 
 displeasure among the Scots, which accordingly truly enough 
 came to pass. The ambassadors were Bishop Henry and 
 Chancellor Sira Askatin. They found a hard reception. 
 Threats were held out of slaying or imprisoning them, and 
 among the many complaints, it was stated that the North- 
 men had burnt and plundered more than a third part of 
 all Scotland. They accordingly returned, unable to manage 
 the business, and Askatin proceeded immediately after- 
 wards to Norway to inform King Magnus of the unfortunate 
 issue of tlie embassy. Sometime previously, Agmund 
 Krokedans and Erik Dugaldsson had returned to Norway 
 with a company of warriors who had been left behind in 
 the Orkneys, and had rejDorted that the Scotch were any- 
 thing but peaceably inclined. King Magnus had therefore, 
 even before Sira Askatin arrived, sent Agmund back to 
 the Orkneys as commander-in-chief of the forces, and 
 possibly with some more troops: he likewise sent Erik 
 Dugaldsson with an eight-seated galley, manned with 
 retainers, strangers, and attendants, to the Southern 
 Islands, commanding him on the passage to take ■with him 
 from Orkney two ships, under command of John Thjore 
 and Erik Bose. Hence it was not Kino- Magnus's intention 
 to avoid all warlike Generations, and at length to bring 
 about a peace in some dishonourable manner, cowardly 
 surrendering all. He had the wish to treat, but only with 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 69 
 
 a sufficient force in the background to give effect to his 
 demands. He was certainly prepared, if necessary, to make 
 concessions for the sake of peace, but to do nothing dis- 
 honourable, and only on condition of an important equiva- 
 lent. Another affair was, that King Haakon's death gave 
 the whole war undertakings another character, because 
 his personal influence was far too powerful and compre- 
 hensive to be dispensed with without sensible damage to 
 the cause he should aim at. It was his death only 
 — neither the storms nor the proportionally unimportant 
 loss of his people — which caused the gloomy, despondent 
 feeling among his countrymen, which is expressed in the 
 foregoing popular ballad, and which King Alexander and 
 his counsellors very well understood to take advantage of. 
 Alexander was informed of Haakon's death the same day 
 that his queen bore him a son — the 21st January. The 
 whole kingdom, says Fordun, held a jubilee in conse- 
 quence of the twofold joyful tidings. 
 
 We have already mentioned that according to the Scotch 
 reports. King Haakon is said to have received a written 
 requisition from some of the Scotch magnates to come to 
 their country and wage war Avith King Alexander. The 
 Scottish historian, Fordun, says, that according to a legend. 
 King Haakon before his death is reported to have sent 
 these letters to King Alexander, that he might be warned 
 of the traitors who surrounded him. This story, however, 
 he declares as improbable, and holds to what is related by 
 others as more correct, namely, that the Northmen, after 
 King Haakon's death, wrote him a letter under the King's 
 seal, wherein they cautioned him against these influential 
 men in his country, although the charge preferred had no 
 
70 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 foundation, but only for the purpose of inducing him to 
 punish them in his rage, whereby he might weaken his 
 own power, and subject himself and his kingdom to an 
 easy conquest. Both reports in this shape appear to be 
 improbable. Meanwhile there must have been some reason 
 for the marked displeasure with which Bishop Henry and 
 Chancellor Askatin were received, and one is tempted to 
 believe that they either carried the said letter themselves, 
 whatever may have been its contents, or that the letter had 
 been despatched earlier, and the ambassadors had just arrived 
 at a time Avhen indignation on account of it had risen to 
 the highest pitch. That several of the Scotch leaders must 
 have compromised themselves appears to be undoubted; 
 but the Northmen acted unwisely in going so far without 
 first assurinor themselves that the disaffected were strono; 
 enough to commence an open rebellion. For otherwise 
 they would only be compelled to feign themselves all the 
 more loyal, and show much greater zeal for their king's 
 interests. And this was now accordingly the case. There 
 apj)ears now only one wish to possess the Scotch — that of 
 taking revenge for the attack of the Northmen, and of 
 conquering the islands. 
 
 The towns furnished the king with loans of money, not 
 only for the purpose of equipment, but likewise to buy up 
 partisans on the islands. Considerable equipments were 
 forthwith made, chiefly, it was said, against King Magnus 
 of Man. When he heard of the storm which threatened 
 him, and knew that the Norwegian fleet was now not 
 strong enough, neither was sufficiently near to support liim, 
 he became exceedingly anxious, and despatched ambassa- 
 dors to request time that he might be allowed personally 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 71 
 
 to present himself to the king witli a view to negotiation. 
 Alexander granted him time, but nevertheless continued 
 preparations, — possibly the ships built in the previous year 
 were turned to account, — and betook himself southwards 
 to Dumfries, which is only a short way distant over to 
 Isle of Man. It was not necessary, however, for him to 
 undertake that journey, for Magnus met him near Dumfries 
 and fell down at his feet. He entered willingly into his 
 views, declared himself his vassal, and paid him free 
 homage, but upon the condition that he should have a 
 secure shelter for himself and his followers in Scotland if 
 the King of Norway should attack him and avenge his 
 desertion; on the other hand he pledged himself, if neces- 
 sary, to place at the Scottish king's service ten war ships, 
 five of 24, and five of 12 oars each. Immediately after- 
 wards King Alexander sent the Earls WiUiam of Moray 
 and Alexander of Buchan, as well as Alan Durward, with 
 a considerable force, composed partly of native and partly 
 of mercenary warriors, to the Southern Islands proper, to 
 reduce them. This also succeeded, as at that moment there 
 were few or no forces to act in defence of the islands. 
 Angus of Islay, and many of those who the year before had 
 followed King Haakon, attached themselves now to the 
 Scots. The traitors who, as Fordun says, encouraged the 
 Norwegian king to come to Scotland, had either been killed 
 in battle or were hunted out of the country; some of the 
 ringleaders had been hanged, and a large quantity of booty 
 had been collected upon the islands. King Dugald alone 
 ventured out in his ships, and fled to distant, out-of-the-way 
 coasts, and no trace could be found of him. At length an 
 army was sent against the Caithness folk as a punishment. 
 
72 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 it is affirmed, for having paid the contribution which King 
 Haakon had levied upon them. They probably also paid 
 homage to King Haakon. The Scotch soldiers took a deal 
 of property, but it is not stated whether this was derived 
 from plunder or according to an agreement. The latter 
 seems to be more in course, and agrees more with the 
 existing circumstances. It is said also that they intended 
 to proceed to the Orkneys upon their pillaging tour, which 
 determined Agmund Krokedans, who had just arrived, to 
 abandon the meditated South Island expedition, as he did 
 not wish to deprive the Orkneys of troops at a time when 
 they fully expected to be attacked. Nothing, however, came 
 out of this threatened attack. But when the Scots, laden 
 with booty or with extorted goods, forsook Caithness, King 
 Dugald surprised them, and slew many of them, among 
 whom one who was called the Lugman (Chief-Justice) of the 
 Scotch, and took a great quantity of property from them. 
 The Scots afterwards could get no trace of him, but in 
 the spring he was compelled to repair to the Orkneys for 
 assistance. His son Erik, as well as John Thjore and Erik 
 Bose, each in his own vessel, followed him from thence to 
 the Southern Islands, as had already been resolved upon. 
 
 Sira Askatin had meanwhile waited upon King Magnus 
 and informed him how matters stood. The king accord- 
 ingly availed himself of the aforesaid Hoeskuld Oddsson, 
 who was about to proceed to the Orkneys, probably with 
 reinforcements, to send an embassy with him, in order 
 that after their arrival in the Orkneys they should repair 
 to Scotland, wait upon the Scotch king, and open negoti- 
 ations with him. The chief members of the embassy were 
 two ])arefooted or Franciscan friars called Mauritius and 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 73 
 
 Sigurd. This friar Mauritius was called frequently from 
 that time Norwegian Ambassador in Scotland, and 
 acted chiefly in many public matters of importance; he 
 must, therefore, have been an intelligent and influential 
 man, as is further evidenced by the few works we have 
 from his pen, and as shall be shown in the sequel. We 
 do not in the meantime know to which cloister he belonged ; 
 it was possibly the one in Bergen, where the king had the 
 best opportunity of making his acquaintance. AVe learn 
 also that he stood in close intimacy with the afore- 
 named Lenderman Andrew Nikolasson, who seems to have 
 lived in the Galuthing district. The ambassadors procured 
 Henry Scot and several servants to wait upon them. 
 When they arrived in Orkney, which must have been 
 pretty late in the autumn, they betook themselves without 
 delay to Scotland. King Alexander showed himself to 
 them in a more agreeable manner, it is said, than he 
 did towards their predecessors, and commanded them to 
 acquaint King Magnus that he must send a "good embassy" 
 to him the following summer, in order to bring about a 
 peace between the kingdoms. Hence he considered the 
 former embassy as not " good ;" or he had perhaps been par- 
 ticularly indignant at Bishop Henry, who either as bishop 
 over the Orkneys had had occasion to come under his 
 displeasure, or Ijecause he, according to the supposition 
 already expressed, had carried letters with him which had 
 the appearance of being fictitious, and calculated to create 
 divisions among the king's own subjects. Any real negoti- 
 ations do not seem to have taken place respecting con- 
 ditions of peace, as the ambassadors probably had not the 
 power of treating. They returned the same harvest, or, 
 
74 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 more correctly, the same winter, to Norway, and arrived 
 shortly after Christmas, and were accordingly the 1st Janu- 
 ary, 1265, at Drondthiem, where the king spent this winter. 
 One perceives meanwhile that the Scotch king also at the 
 same time sent two Minorites as ambassadors to King 
 Mag-nus, although the Saga takes no notice thereof; for the 
 Icelandic aunahst narrates that in the year 1264 two Fran- 
 ciscan friars came from Scotland to King Mag-nus, and from 
 the Scottish report books it will be seen that Friars MaHse 
 and Alexander of Ber^vdck, in the year 1264, were sent 
 " across the ocean on the king's errand ;" these were, there- 
 fore, the same barefooted or Franciscan friars (Minorites) 
 which the annahst mentions. Perhaps they had accompanied 
 their Norwegian brethren of the order upon their home 
 voyage, and passed the winter in Norway, in order that they 
 might be able to treat wdth the king in quietness and leisure, 
 and persuade him to fulfil the desires of King Alexander. 
 They must have succeeded in this also in some degree, for 
 when the spring arrived, and King Magnus, after Easter, 
 had repaired to Bergen, he despatched the desired " good 
 ambassadors" to Scotland; these were Bishop Gilbert of 
 Hamar and Chancellor Askatin. From the circumstance 
 that Askatin w^as now again employed in this errand, 
 although he had jjreviously been, together with Bishop 
 Henry, on the first unfortunate embassy, it is manifest 
 that it could not have been he to whom the Scotch king 
 was then so much opposed, consequently it must have been 
 to Bishop Henry. The king selected Gilljert in all pro- 
 babihty because he, as former archdeacon in Shetland, 
 must have been accurately acquainted with the Scotch 
 relations and understood the language well; as already 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 75 
 
 mentioned, he may possibly have been Scotch l)y birth. 
 The king committed full powers to them to treat for peace 
 upon the condition that the Scotch king should retain 
 Arran and Bute, perhaps also the Cumbracs, but that, on 
 the other hand, all the islands outside, and lying north- 
 wards from Cantire, should continue to belong to Norway. 
 They sailed over to England, where they landed at Lynn, 
 and thereafter proceeded to York. One must suppose that 
 they came to England about the same time that the feuds 
 raged fiercest between the king's son, Edward,"^' and the 
 barons, under their chief, Simon of Montfort; and Simon 
 fell at Evesham, 12th August, for it is expressly stated 
 in the Saga, " That summer Simon of Montfort fell." 
 These disturbances had perhaps been the cause of the 
 Norwegian ambassadors remaining some time in York. 
 At length they amved at the Scottish Court, and presented 
 their conditions of peace; but King Alexander only scorned 
 them, and would not listen to them. He demanded the 
 renunciation of aU the islands, the most of which, moreover, 
 were now practically in his power. It docs not appear 
 that the insignificant reinforcement King Dugald had 
 received performed much — at all events not more than that 
 Dugald was enabled to prevent himself falling into the 
 hands of the Scotch. One knows nothing further of the 
 later military events, or whether anything else of that 
 nature occurred than what has been now related. 
 
 These ambassadors were also compelled to return, ap- 
 parently without accomplishing their oljject. But the 
 Scotch king himself now sent an ambassador to Norway 
 to negotiate, namely, Reginald of Roxljurgh, monk in Mel- 
 
 * Edward I., brother-in-law to Alexander III. 
 
76 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 rose cloister, a particularly wise, adroit, and eloquent 
 man. He had the good fortune of catching the ear of 
 King Magnus and inducing him amicably to concede the 
 Isle of Man and the other islands for a suitable com- 
 pensation in money. The Scotch king had now so far 
 reduced his demands that he did not insist on an uncondi- 
 tional renunciation. Whether Keginald accompanied the 
 Norwegian ambassadors on their return is not known; 
 it is meanwhile most probable. On their arrival in Nor- 
 way the bishop and the chancellor announced that their 
 mission had been in vain, but dissuaded the king from 
 breaking off the negotiations. They probably recommended 
 him even very urgently to receive Eeginald well, and 
 negotiate further with him; for it is reported that the king 
 received him with many tokens of respect, and we like- 
 wise know that he lent a wilhng ear to his representations, 
 and must very soon have allowed himself to be convinced 
 of the reasonableness of conceding the islands upon 
 sufficient indemnification. For, as the annalist of Melrose 
 cloister says, the king convened his chief men and coun- 
 cillors to consider the proposal, and at that convention the 
 king himself announced that it was best for the main- 
 tenance of peace that these disputed islands should be 
 sold to the Scotch king. A few of the councillors offered 
 objections, but the king's opinion prevailed, and accordingly 
 all at length consented that the islands should be sold, or, 
 for a certain payment, be ceded to the King of Scotland. 
 How long these negotiations continued is not reported; we 
 learn only that Reginald passed the whole winter of 
 1265-66 in Norway, from which it may perhaps be con- 
 cluded that it required a pretty long time, or, more properly, 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 77 
 
 that it was in a fortunate hour the wise Eegiuald per- 
 suaded King Magnus to agree to the proposition. A 
 preliminary treaty was now concluded between Eeginald 
 and King Magnus, or the latter's plenipotentiary, in 
 which were the conditions proposed and accepted, w^hich 
 were afterwards extended in the proper peace ratilfi- 
 cation, of which we shall treat immediately. Herr 
 Reginald, as he was called, having performed his task well, 
 returned to Scotland in the spring of 1266. His mission, 
 says the contemporaneous Melrose chronicler (his cloister 
 brother), was performed to the satisfaction of all the Scotch. 
 Hitherto none of the sons of Scotland had been able 
 to accomplish it, and it was only achieved by this monk — 
 a very wise man, distinguished for pulpit eloquence, who 
 in fact made his monastery deserving of the gratitude 
 and favour of all future Scotch kings; otherwise, these 
 kings would prove themselves ungrateful, recompensing 
 good with evil, which God avert from the heart of every 
 Christian king! So great a value did the Scotch set upon 
 the annexation of the Southern Islands to their kingdom. 
 
 Immediately after the departure of Reginald, King 
 Magnus despatched an embassy, consisting of Chancellor 
 Askatin and Lenderman Andrew Nikolasson, to Scotland, 
 to conclude a final treaty; when that was done the agree- 
 ment was sworn to, on the part of King Magnus, by 
 the Norwegian ambassadors, and on the part of King 
 Alexander, by two of the Scottish chiefs, whereupon 
 a document was drawn up containing the whole act, 
 two copies of which were made, and the seals of 
 both kings mutually affixed, and these deposited in the 
 archives of the Norwegian and Scotch kingdoms. So were 
 
78 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 the ratifications at that period attested. We have seen a 
 similar example at an earlier period — in the treaty at 
 Lubeck in 1250. The ambassadors had not therefore, on 
 their arrival, negotiated in regard to the business itself, 
 but only respecting forms; the business in itself had been 
 abeady arranged. That is confirmed by this circumstance, 
 that notwithstanding the ambassadors arrived in Scotland 
 shortly after Keginald, probably in the begimiing of the sum- 
 mer, or in the month of June, the definite Peace Act was 
 nevertheless executed by Friday after Peter's Mass, or the 
 2d July of the same year. This remarkable treaty, which 
 separated Norway from the Isle of Man and the Southern 
 Islands, and which, in the article stipulating for indem- 
 nification, contained the first germ in the relations which, 
 two centuries later, conduced to deprive Norway of the 
 Orkneys and Shetland also, reads in substance as follows : — 
 " In witness that these presents shall always give clear and 
 distinct recollection of what has been transacted, it is hereby 
 made known, that in the year of our Lord 1266, on the 
 Friday immediately after the festival of the Apostles Peter 
 and Paul, in the church of the Dominican friars^' at Perth, 
 this agreement and final contract was concluded, in order 
 that, with God's helj), an end should be made to quarrels, 
 complaints, feehngs of animosity, insults, and disunion 
 concerning the Isle of Man and the Southern Islands, and 
 aU rights attached thereto, between the illustrious and. 
 exalted prince and sovereign, Magnus the Fourth, by God's 
 grace King of Norway, through his public ambassadors, 
 Herr Askatin, his Chancellor, and Herr Andrew Nikolasson, 
 his Lenderman, specially sent and lawfully empowered for 
 
 * Blackfriars. 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 79 
 
 that purpose, and assembled together in the above place, on 
 the one side ; and Alexander the Third, by the same grace 
 King of Scotland, personally assembled at the same place, 
 together with the lords spiritual and temporal, the elders 
 of his kingdom, on the other side, according to this form, 
 namely : — 
 
 "That the aforesaid King Magnus of Norway, as the 
 friend of peace and the administrator of justice, for the 
 greater maintenance of veneration and mutual love and 
 peace due to God, as also with a view of avoiding danger 
 to souls, and of speedily preventing loss of human life, 
 and according to the said Alexander, King of Scotland's 
 request, and to his honour, through the aforesaid lords. 
 Chancellor Askatin and Lenderman Andrew Nikolasson, 
 who had received unlimited powers from the king himself to 
 bring about an understanding, amicably and cordially ceded, 
 renounced, and abrogated both the possessions, as also the 
 claims for himself and his heirs, to aforesaid King Alexander 
 of Scotland and his heirs, to own, possess, and enjoy in all 
 time coming the Island of Man, along with the other 
 Southern Islands, and all and eveiy island west and south 
 of the great frith, with the privileges in them which he him- 
 self and his predecessors may have had from time imme- 
 morial, together with aU jurisdiction, freeholdings, revenues, 
 services, and aU other rights and a^Dpertainments, which 
 belonged to said islands, without any reservation ; likewise 
 ^ the right of patronage over the bishopric of Man, but 
 without infringement of the rights, jurisdiction, and freedom 
 in j^erpetuity which appert-^in to Nidaroes Church, and all 
 claims it may have with respect to the bishopric of Man and 
 the church: also -without diminution of the ridit to tlie 
 
so THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 Orkneys and Shetland, which islands the said King of Nor- 
 way, together with the jurisdiction, freeholdings, revenues, 
 services, and other rights and appertainments within these 
 territories, specially reserves for. his sovereignty. 
 
 " And all the inhabitants of the said islands which are 
 thus ceded to the King of Scotland, both old and young, 
 shall be subject to the laws and usages of the kingdom of 
 Scotland, and henceforward in all time coming be treated 
 and judged according to them. And they shall not be 
 punished for the outrages and feelings of hostility (against 
 Scotland) of which they may have been guilty till this day, 
 so long as they were subjects of the King of Norway; 
 neither shall their hereditary possessions in these islands be 
 inquired after ; but they shall hold them in peace under the 
 dominion of the King of Scotland, like other free and legiti- 
 mate subjects of the Scottish king, who are known to enjoy 
 free privileges, in as far as they do not commit any offence 
 for which they may with justice be punished, in conformity 
 with the laws and accepted usages of the kingdom of Scot- 
 land. And if they wish to remain for the future in the 
 said islands, under the aforesaid sovereign's rule (King of 
 Scotland), they may remain free and undisturbed; but if 
 they would rather leave, they shall be allowed to go free 
 and unhindered, in fuU peace, with their property. Thus 
 they shall neither be compelled to remain nor to flit, 
 contrary to the laws and usages of the kingdom of 
 Scotland. The aforesaid sovereign, Alexander, King of 
 Scotland, out of zeal for truth and justice, and of love to 
 peace and unity, as well as his heirs in aU time coming, 
 shall, on the other hand, as indemnification for this cession 
 and conveyance, and particularly for the sake of peace, 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 81 
 
 also as recompense for labour and pains, in perpetuity, on 
 the eighth day after St. John's Day (1st July), in Orkney, 
 the country of the Norwegian king, and in St. JNIagnus 
 Church, give and pay to said sovereign King of Norway, 
 and his heirs or assignees, into the hands of the Orcadian 
 bishop, or into the hands of the sheriff specially appointed 
 by the King of Norway, the sum of 100 merks, good and 
 lawful money sterling, according to the exchange of the 
 Eoman court, and that of France, England, and Scotland ; or 
 if the bishop or sheriff shaU not be on the spot, they shall 
 deposit the money, for behoof of the Norwegian king, under 
 care of the choir-brethren of the said church, who shall 
 give them a discharge by letter. Besides, he shall pay 
 4,000 merks sterling, according to the same exchange, 
 within the next four years, in the same place and at same 
 time as above-mentioned, namely, 1,000 merks eight days 
 after St. John's Day, 1267, and 100 merks of said annual 
 payment; likewise in the years 1268 and 1269, and lastly, 
 in 1270, at same place and at same term, 1,000 merks, and 
 100 merks of the annual payment. Thereafter shall 100 
 merks be paid from year to year in perpetuity, at the same 
 place and at the same term. 
 
 *' And that all this, and every particular point as above 
 described, shall be faithfully and uninterruptedly observed, 
 the aforesaid Chancellor Askatin and Andrew the Lender- 
 man, for their lord. King Magnus, and his heirs and 
 assignees, have publicly, in the Dominican friars' Church in 
 Perth, with their hands uj)on the holy Gosj)els, made oath 
 in the king's name, of whose acquiescence in this matter 
 they have perfect assurance, and in their own names. And 
 the said sovereign, Alexander, King of Scotland, has like- 
 
 M 
 
82 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 wise, in the presence of said ambassadors, caused the high- 
 born men, Adam, Earl of Carrick, and Robert of Meygners, 
 in this same manner to swear solemnly in his name, as well 
 as in their own, for himself and his heirs. 
 
 " And for the greater security of all this, each party 
 binds himself that the party who evades the fulfilment 
 shall, without any subterfuge or legal procedure, pay 
 to the one that observes the contract and adheres to 
 the agreement a mulct of 10,000 merks, whilst the con- 
 tract and agreement shall continue to remain in fuU force. 
 Besides, Magnus, King of Norway, with his above-men- 
 tioned embassy, for himself, his heirs and successors, also 
 Alexander, King of Scotland, for himself and his heirs in 
 this affair, submit to the jurisdiction of the Apostolic See, 
 so that it, after giving only particular admonition, shall, by 
 excommunication of individual persons, none excepted, and 
 by interdict for the whole kingdom, without legal pro- 
 cedure or formal investigation of the matter, have the power 
 of compelling the party evading the contract and agreement 
 to pay the party observing the same, in fuU, the said 
 penalty of 10,000 merks; and besides, to suspend said con- 
 tract and agreement until said mulct is paid as above 
 described, and notwithstanding the contract and agreement 
 shall continue in full force, in every particular, for all time 
 comino'. 
 
 o 
 
 "Further, both parties herewith also renounce aU pro- 
 testations and such like, the use of aU letters hitherto 
 received and exchanged between the said kings, whatever 
 may be the contents, and aU apostolic letters and indul- 
 gences which have been or may be obtained, and espe- 
 cially any legal means in canonical or civil law whereby 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 83 
 
 the said cession, alienatioii, disposition, contract, and final 
 agreement may be hindered, suspended, annihilated, or in 
 any other manner weakened. It is added also to this 
 agreement, and determined by common consent between 
 Norway and Scotland's kings and kingdoms, that all trans- 
 gressions and crimes committed between them, and their 
 predecessors, and their men, even unto this day, shall, 
 of both sides, be entirely forgiven, with respect to the 
 Church as well as the kingdoms, without any anger or 
 desire of revenge remaining; also that the hostages taken 
 and retained on both sides shall be set at liberty. 
 And if any enemy of these Kings of Scotland or Norway 
 takes refuge with the one or other of them, he shall not 
 be, to the damage of the one from which he has fled, 
 received into his kingdom and dominion, unless perhaps 
 for a time, in order that he may obtain pardon, provided 
 he deserves it. And if he cannot obtain fors^iveness from 
 his lord, the king shall, immediately after the lapse of a 
 year, not delay in expelhng him from his dominions; 
 excepting those, however, who have been guilty of high 
 treason, who must not be received in any manner by the 
 one or other party. Should it happen, further, which God 
 forbid, that people belonging to the kingdom of Norway 
 should sufl'er shipwreck upon the coasts of the King of 
 Scotland's kingdom or dominions, or vice versa^ they shall 
 be allowed in peace and quietness to take up their shattered 
 or damaged ship, as well as their property, of whatsoever 
 kind, either by themselves or by others ; also to retain, sell, 
 or dispose of them without inconveniency, so long as they 
 cannot be considered to have quite forsaken them. And if 
 any one, contrary to this common statute of union, either by 
 
84 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 subtilty or force, take away anything from the so-damaged 
 shi23 or property, and be convicted thereof, he shall be 
 punished as a thief and disturber of the peace according 
 to his deserts, despite any contrary custom, if such should 
 exist, being a barrier in the way. But if any such dis- 
 turber of this peace and this final contract between aforesaid 
 kings, kingdoms, and their subjects, be found and convicted 
 of the breach, he shall then he punished so signally by the 
 king in whose dominions he is found as shall j)rove a 
 terror to others. 
 
 "And, in witness of this afiair, the jDresent executed 
 document in chirograph-form, shall remain, on the one 
 part, in possession of the illustrious King of Norway, 
 havdng affixed to it the said King of Scotland's seal, 
 also the seals of the venerable fathers Gamelyn and 
 John, by God's grace Bishops of St. Andrews and Glasgow, 
 also of the high-born men, Alexander Comyn of Buchan, 
 Patrick of Dunbar, William of Mar, Adam of Carrick, 
 earls, and of Eobert Meygners, baron; and on the other 
 part, the present document, drawn up in chirograph-form, 
 shall remain with the said sovereign, the King of Scotland, 
 having affixed to it the illustrious sovereign, the King of 
 Norway's seal, like^dse the seals of the worthy fathers 
 Peter and Thorgil, by God's grace Bishops of Bergen and 
 Stavanger, also of the high-born men, Gaut of Mel, Brynjulf 
 Jonsson, Finn Gautsson, Andrew Nikolasson, and Askatin, 
 the said King of Norway's chancellor." 
 
 Contemporaneous with the execution of this document 
 the Norwegian ambassadors also issued a so-called confes- 
 sion, wherein they probably expressly attested and legiti- 
 mised their authority for concluding the treaty in the king's 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 85 
 
 name. Thereupon a mandate was issued under the king's 
 seal, addressed to the inhabitants of the Southern Islands, 
 wherein they were declared free from their oath of allegi- 
 ance to him, and, on the other hand, admonished to do 
 homao'e to the Scotch kino-. Thereafter the ambassadors 
 appear to have betaken themselves to Norway, where King 
 Magnus, immediately after, at a convocation held in the 
 Court of Christ Church, in Bergen, on St. Lawrence's Day 
 (10th August), caused the treaty of peace to be read aloud, 
 in order that it might become generally known. It is more 
 than probable that the important contents were known 
 abeady, or this much at least was known, that the Isle of 
 Man and the Southern Islands were no longer retained as a 
 part of the Norwegian Idngdom. They were therefore not 
 particularly surprised when they came to hear it, and inas- 
 much as many perhaps believed that the islands should be 
 ceded without any indemnification, it was nevertheless an 
 agreeable surprise that Norway should enjoy an annual 
 not inconsiderable revenue for them. Norway's honour 
 was thereby in every respect preserved. The thing had 
 even assumed the aspect as if Scotland had become taxable 
 by Norway, and in Scotland itself it was so regarded to 
 some extent also. The annalist in Melrose Abbey says 
 very expressly, that the annual tax of 100 merks pure 
 silver which the Scotch king bound himself to pay the Nor- 
 wegian was an acknowledgment that he did homage to him; 
 that is to say, swore allegiance to him as his superior. 
 Of this there is certainly not a word in the contract itself; 
 but something to that effect may have been expressed in 
 the preliminary transactions, and it is in every respect 
 probable that Reginald of Roxburgh, who must have been 
 
86 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 the annalist's principal authority, had let out something of 
 it. Under all circumstances, this was a consolation for the 
 Northmen, who saw with pain the old province, however 
 small the advantage and insecure the tenure, separated from 
 the kingdom. Besides, the king could appeal to aU those 
 who expressed dissatisfaction that the territories of the 
 kingdom were diminished, that it was, on the other hand, 
 increased smce Iceland and Greenland had subjected 
 themselves to the King of Norway. But one must sup- 
 pose that the universal feeling in Norway was for peace, 
 and that it was only a very few who upbraided the king- 
 that he effected this by the cession of the distant islands. 
 The clergy could not complain, as the metropolitan j)rivi- 
 leges of Nidaroes bishopric over the Southern Islands were 
 expressly reserved. 
 
 Neither can one with justice blame King Magnus because 
 he did not make greater exertions to preserve the sovereignty 
 over these islands, but preferred a secure and, according to 
 the circumstances, advantageous peace to the empty honour, 
 accompanied with manifold inconveniences, of being able 
 to call himseff lord of some distant islands, inhabited by 
 an unsettled and rebeUious people, and to number one 
 or two so-caUed kings among his vassals. The domi- 
 nion over the islands, if that should be a reality and not 
 an empty word, was in truth more in the way of annoy- 
 ance and expense than advantage to the King of Norway. 
 For this demanded the presence of an armed force in the 
 islands, and that could certainly not be maintamed there 
 without incurring far greater expense than was to be 
 met by the revenues derived from the islands themselves. 
 That the Norwegian kings had hitherto had so many 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 87 
 
 apparently faithful adherents among the chiefs of the 
 islands resulted essentially from the circumstance that they 
 were compelled, from the great distance, to leave them for 
 the most part to themselves; and these turbulent men 
 preferred a nominal dependence to a distant king to a 
 real condition of obedience and subjection under a king 
 in their immediate neighbourhood, who both had the 
 will and the power to enforce such a condition. The 
 Norwegian king's prerogative of sovereignty over the 
 islands was to them accordingly a welcome pretext to 
 shield themselves against every demand which the Scotch 
 king might make upon them to observe obedience, or at 
 least to hold themselves in peace and quietness. But 
 when King Haakon, as early as the year 1230, was on 
 the eve of sending a fleet there, and of at length keeping a 
 keen eye upon these possessions, and it was his intention 
 to make his sovereignty over them a reahty, matters 
 assumed quite another appearance, and then they would 
 as willingly obey the Scotch king, who, perhaps, would 
 be less severe against them; hence it was only the fear 
 they entertained of King Haakon, on account of his power- 
 ful fleet, which deterred many from renouncing allegiance 
 to him. It was another aff'air with those who, from parti- 
 cular reasons and views of party, found it to be their 
 interest to be faithfril to him. But real loyalty to Norway, 
 or contentment with the condition of dependence upon 
 that kingdom, was scarcely to be found in any of them. 
 Hence Magnus acted with prudence in handing them over 
 in so honourable a manner as now happened. It has been 
 asserted that the loss of these islands occasioned the 
 falbng-off" of the naval power, and consequently the 
 
88 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 might and importance of Norway in general, for whicli 
 Kino- Mao-nus should bear the blame. No accusation can 
 be more unjust. Firstly, during the reigns of the earlier 
 kings no such brilliant marine expedition had been sent to 
 the Southern Islands, that the naval power should have 
 been thereby placed on a higher elevation ; and, secondly, the 
 cause of the real decadence of the Norwegian na\y, some 
 ten years later, had its origin in matters which had not the 
 least connection with the affairs of the Southern Islands. 
 In the first place, it was not so much that Norway's navy 
 feU off as that the fleets of other powers and kingdoms 
 became stronger and better than Norway's, whilst the spirit 
 of the age, and the prevailing customs also, as we have 
 already noticed, preferred land to sea warfare. In regard 
 to this Kjng Magnus was therefore not responsible. On the 
 other hand, one cannot deny, as has been already noticed, 
 that the stipulation which in his time was considered 
 honourable and advantageous, namely, that of the annual 
 tax from Scotland, failed in the course of time in its 
 object, in so far as the irregular payment occasioned 
 transactions which at length resulted in the marriage of a 
 Scotch king to a Danish-Norwegian princess, whereby the 
 Orkneys and Shetland were also lost to the kingdom. Such, 
 however, could certainly not have been foreseen by Magnus 
 and his advisers, and the bargain regarding the tax 
 awakened universal approbation in Norway, even with 
 those who otherwise were displeased with the cession. 
 
 One must suppose that King Alexander now commanded 
 homaofe to be done to him in the Southern Islands, or at 
 least that he demanded the oath of allegiance from the 
 chiefs' who had not hitherto subjected themselves. With 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 89 
 
 several it appears to have had its difficulties, although the 
 treaty of peace promised all those amnesty who formerly 
 had rebelled, and commanded that the hostages should be 
 given up, so that none of the chiefs could have anything 
 to fear now from King Magnus, if he even had been less 
 generous and just than he was. Among the refractory 
 appears to have been Angus M'Donald of Islay, for he was 
 compelled to execute a bond, wherein he declared that his 
 estates were confiscated if he rebelled against the King of 
 Scotland. The barons of Argyll pledged themselves, under 
 penalty of the confiscation of their estates, fixithfully to 
 serve the king against Angus, and all that rose against him 
 in not oljeying the king's commands. Yet it is not prob- 
 able that he lost any of his possessions; we find him 
 accordingly mentioned at a later date among the Scottish 
 magnates ; his successors even attained to still greater influ- 
 ence, and from him springs the present widely spread 
 Scotch clan of M'Donald. Whether King Dugald sub- 
 jected himself or fled to Norway is not known; but 
 his son, Erik Dugaldsson, continued at least in the service 
 of Norway, and is still mentioned among the Norse Lender- 
 men after the death of King Magnus ; it is therefore not 
 improbable that his father also betook himself to Norway, 
 or the Orkneys. Dugald lived only two years after the 
 conclusion of the peace. He had died in 1268. Alan, his 
 brother, on the other hand, swore allegiance to the Scotch 
 king, and is mentioned subsequently among the Scotch 
 magnates. 
 
 When the peace was concluded. King Magnus Olafsson uf 
 Man had previously died on the 24th November, 1265, 
 without heirs, and King Alexander received accordingly, as 
 
 N 
 
90 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 it appears, a letter of homage from the chiefs of the island, 
 at whose head now stood probably the bishop. King 
 Alexander issued a writing in reply to the bishop, wherein 
 he obligated himself for the first not to encroach upon Man. 
 This island was accordingly not incorporated with the 
 Scottish kingdom, but only subjected to the Scotch king 
 personally, as Iceland to the King of Norway. It does not 
 belong^ here to state how the Isle of Man afterwards came 
 under the King of England, and was by him given by enfeoff- 
 ment to English noblemen, latterly of the house of Stanley,* 
 whose chief was the Earl of Derby ; but so much will we 
 only add, that Man henceforward, through all vicissitudes, 
 continued to form an important part of the possessions of 
 the British crown, without either belonging to Scotland or 
 England. It is not subject to the British parliament, but 
 has its own jurisdiction and ancient legislative assembly — 
 the so-called Tynwald (properly, Thingvald) — an assembly 
 consisting of the governor, as the king's representative, the 
 council — namely, the bishop, archdeacon, chief-justices, &c., 
 &c. — and the house of representatives, or elected members 
 (House of Keys, also called " Taxiaxi"), consisting of twenty- 
 four members, who form a self-elected body, and retain 
 their office for life. The assembly has both the power of 
 judging and legislating, and can be convened by the king, 
 or by the governor in his name, at any time, AVe recognize 
 in this assembly exactly the old Norwegian Thing-organi- 
 zation, namely, the bishop, the principal clergy, lendermen, 
 
 * Subsequently the rights of royalty in Man devolved, by marriage with the 
 heiress of the house of Stanley, on the Duke of Athole, and were transferred to the 
 British crown within the last forty yeiirs, in consequence of a grant made by 
 parliament by way of compensation. 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 91 
 
 sherifFs, and territorial sheriffs, as official members, and 
 the elected members, with the only distinction that these 
 name one another reciprocally, whereas in Norway they are 
 chosen by the lendermen or sherifFs. This arrangement 
 has been since modelled after the English constitution of 
 parhament, so that the council should represent the Upper 
 House and the elected members the Lower House; and the 
 constitution provides that the elected members form the 
 first court, the council, the second court, in certain cases 
 of appeal; as also that the council can reject law measures 
 accepted by the elected members, and the king, law measures 
 accepted by both Houses. But tliis adaptation does not lie 
 apparently in the essential spirit of the organization ; like 
 the ancient Norse legislative assembly, this assembly exer- 
 cised certainly its legislative power only by accepting 
 or rejecting laws and schemes of laws proposed by the 
 king, not by itself proposing and debating. And such is 
 still in reality its power; for no resolution, strictly speak- 
 ing, of the British parliament avails for Man unless 
 it is first accepted l)y the assembly ; nevertheless it foUows 
 that aU such resolutions are accepted; whilst there cer- 
 tainly is never any proposal for the assembly accepting 
 particular laws for Man which are not first determined 
 by the British parhament. The legislative power of 
 the assembly accordingly consists chiefly in consentmg 
 or approving; which is, if you will, a formality; but is 
 just a venerable relic from the olden time, and a con- 
 tinual reminiscence of the independence of the island 
 as a proper kingdom. Every St. John's Day the gover- 
 nor, accompanied by military escort, proceeds from Castle- 
 town, with the whole personality of the assembly, to St. 
 
92 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 John's Chapel, which lies close by the Assembly Hill, 
 hears service, and proceeds thereafter further in proces- 
 sion up to the hill, where all the enactments accepted in 
 the course of the year are read aloud in English and 
 Manx. Thereupon the procession returns to the chapel, 
 where the enactments are signed and sealed. 
 
 The spiritual jurisdiction of Man and the Southern Islands 
 was, moreover, as we have seen, reserved to Nidaroes arch- 
 episcoj)ate; and that remained undisturbed for about eighty 
 years, even to 1348, when the bond was dissolved, as 
 Avill be seen in the sequel. 
 
 Of the possessions on the coasts of Scotland the crown of 
 Norway had still retained the most valuable — the Orkneys 
 and Shetland — and held them further in possession for two 
 centuries, whilst the bond during this period was even 
 firmer cemented than otherwise. The relations here were 
 also different than upon Man and the Southern Islands, for 
 the population was thoroughly Norse and the language 
 Norse. That the family of the earl itself was Scotch, as well 
 as that several Scotchmen had gradually settled down there, 
 could, under these circumstances, not have been of much 
 importance, for the prevailing nationality was still Norse, 
 and it would demand, at all events, a considerable length of 
 time to denationalize it by the higher ranks; whilst, on the 
 contrary, upon the Southern Islands the Norse nationality 
 only played upon the surface, and the people's innermost 
 root and kernel were Gaehc. It can hardly be doubted 
 that the Earl of Orkney, Magnus Gilliertsson, who at the 
 commencement of the last war, voluntarily or involun- 
 tarily, had placed his allegiance to the crown of Norway 
 higher than his vassalage to the King of Scotland as Earl 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 93 
 
 (►f Caithness, must, after the couclusion of peace, have found 
 himself in a veiy difficult position. It is very remarkable 
 that he is not mentioned in the treaty of peace. However 
 one may conceive of his position, and whatever part he in 
 later times took, he must, as both Earl of Orkney and 
 Caithness, have fared ill. It is not improbable that he, 
 immediately after King Haakon's death, when King Alex- 
 ander's arms had made such progress, desired to follow the 
 example of the chiefs of the Southern Islands, and obtain 
 reconciliation mth King Alexander. But if he ever so much 
 desired this, it must nevertheless have been exceedingly 
 difficult to find opportunity thereto, as the Orkneys, as 
 we have seen, during the whole time were garrisoned ^^dth 
 Norwegian troops, and he himself accordingly, if he was 
 then in Orkney, found himself under a kind of observation. 
 But it is remarkable that he is never alluded to in King 
 Haakon's return expedition, and during his succeeding stay 
 in Kirkwall. Yet it appears as if the earl, the chief person 
 next the king, must have been mentioned at that time on 
 some occasion or other, and that he at least must have been 
 present at the king's death. But there is only mention 
 made of the bishop, not of the earl. Hence we must almost 
 conclude that he had forsaken King Haakon, and obtained 
 reconciliation with King Alexander; also, that the expe- 
 dition King Alexander subsequently fitted out against 
 Caithness, on which occasion Orkney was likewise threat- 
 ened, had taken place according to Earl Magnus's own 
 request, both for the purpose of reconquering Caithness, which 
 now must be looked upon as having subjected itself to the 
 Northmen, and also, if possible, to drive the Norwegian troops 
 from the islands. This is also partly confirmed from the 
 
94 THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 circumstance that among the Scotch archives, at a suLse- 
 quent period, was found a letter from the King of Norway to 
 the Caithness people, which seems to have been written 
 immediately after the conclusion of peace, in order to 
 declare them released from the obligations which they, 
 perhaps during the war, had come under to the crowii 
 of Norway ; partly and chiefly from the circumstance that 
 Earl Magnus himself, the year following the conclusion of 
 peace, must have been present in Bergen and entered into 
 a compact Av^ith King Magnus, which could not have been 
 advantageous for the earl, because its foundation was the 
 compact which was concluded in 1195 between King Sverre 
 and Earl Harold, to which there were added several special 
 resolutions. It is a pity that we possess as little of the last 
 compact of 1267 as of the older one of 1195, and accord- 
 ingly do not know the exact conditions. But we discern from 
 other circumstances that if King Magnus had then given 
 up a portion of the crown's possessions in those countries, 
 namely, the Southern Islands, &c., he endeavoured hkewise 
 to attach the other portions, Orkney and Shetland, all the 
 firmer to the crown. Shetland continued to be hencefor- 
 ward immediately held by the crown, and completely separ- 
 ated from the Orkneys in a secular point of view. On the 
 Orkneys themselves the king received, as we have seen, the 
 half of the fines ; besides, Ave know that he actually collected 
 the tax, which seems to have been done on the principle that 
 a certain amount of taxation was laid upon every estate, 
 which the king caused to be collected through his sheriffs, 
 without the intervention of the earl. To this was added 
 the land dues upon the proprietors' crown lands, which 
 for the most part had fallen to the crown l^y confiscation in 
 
INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 95 
 
 1195, after the feud with the freebooters. In the Orkneys 
 a very comphcated system of taxation now accordingly 
 prevailed. There was allodial property, which only paid 
 taxes to the king and tithes to the church; crown 
 property, which paid land-tax to the king; the earl's pro- 
 perty, which paid land-tax to the earl and taxes to the 
 king; and, finally, church property, which paid land-tax 
 either to the bishop, or to some of the inferior clergy, or 
 to the churches. This complicated system continued until 
 recent times, and has occasioned the inhabitants of the 
 Orkneys much damage, as it gave rise to manifold extor- 
 tions and oppressions. It lies at the root of the present 
 taxation of the islands, and its evil effects may even be 
 traced at the present day. Shetland also at a later period 
 was subjected to taxation. Whatever its condition was at 
 the time it was brought under the yoke of Norway, it must 
 have been better than that of the Orkneys. 
 
 The succinct and somewhat meagre account of the events 
 narrated in the preceding pages, contained in the Historia rerum 
 Scoticarum of the illustrious George Buchanan, is embraced in 
 the two following paragraphs (Book 7, page 190): — 
 
 § 62. In the year 1263 of the Christian era, about the beginning 
 of August, Haakon, the King of Norway, landed with 160 ships 
 at the maritime town of Ayr, in Coila, and disembarked 20,000 
 troops. The pretended cause of the war was that the islands 
 promised by Macbeth to his ancestors had not been delivered up, 
 viz., Bute, Arran, and the two Ciunbraes, whicli had never been 
 classed with the Hebrides. But it was sufiicient to one who 
 sought war that these were islands. Having plundered the two 
 larger of them, and seized the fortresses, Haakon reduced them 
 under his power before he could be opposed. Elated by this 
 success he makes a descent upon Cunningham, tlie nearest district 
 
96 THE NORWEGIAN INVASION OF SCOTLAND, 
 
 of the mainland, opposite Bute, at a place they call Largs. There 
 he encountered two misfortunes almost at the same moment. 
 The first, that having engaged with Alexander Stuart, the great- 
 grandfather of the first of that family who swayed the Scottish 
 sceptre, and been almost surrounded by the multitude of the 
 Scotch, he fled in confusion to his ships. Thereafter, his ships 
 having been assailed with a most destructive tempest, with the 
 few that remained he with difficulty reached the Oi'kneys. In 
 that battle the Norwegians lamented the loss of 16,000 men and 
 the Scots 5,000. Some authors say that King Alexander was 
 present at the engagement; but even these make honourable 
 mention likewise of Alexander Stuart. Haakon died of grief at 
 the loss of his army, and also of a very brave young man, his 
 kinsman, whose name is not mentioned. 
 
 § 63. His son, Magnus, who had lately anived, perceiving 
 m.atters to be in a more desperate condition than he had antici- 
 pated, particularly as he could not expect reinforcements from 
 home before spring; also perceiving that the aflfections of the 
 islanders had become alienated, and undei'standing that he was 
 deserted by those Scots, by confiding in whom his father had 
 undertaken the war, readily turned his mind to peace: nor did 
 the unfortunate state of the war subdue the fierceness of the young 
 man so much as fear from the islanders. For Alexander, by 
 blockading Man, an island lying nearly in mid channel between 
 Scotland and Ireland, recovered possession of it on tlie condition 
 that the king of the island, as often as required, should send ten 
 ships of war, and that the Scottish king should defend him from 
 external enemies. When the other islands appeared ready to 
 follow the same course Magnus sent ambassadors to make peace, 
 which Alexander refused unless the Hebrides were received. At 
 length, by means of the intercommunication of pacificators, it was 
 agreed that the Scottish king should liold the Hebrides : that 
 the sum of 4,000 merks silver should be paid by him at present, 
 and 100 merks every succeeding year. Besides, it was stipulated 
 that Margaret, the daugliter of Alexander, a girl four years old, 
 should, when she came of age, be united in marriage with 
 Haugonanus, the son of Magnus. 
 
 BKLL AND BAIN, PBINTERS, GLASGOW. 
 
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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 
 
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