The Decay of the Earldom and the End of The
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
NOTES on the EAELDOM of CAITHNESS. by W. F. SKENE, LL.D., F.S.A
NOTES ON THE EAELDOM OF CAITHNESS. By W. F. SKENE, LL.D., F.S.A. SOOT. The earldom of Caithness was possessed for many generations by the Norwegian Earls of Orkney. They held the Islands of Orkney undur e Kinth f Norwago y accordin o Norwegiagt n custom whicy b , e titlhth e of Jarl or Earl was a personal title. They held the earldom of Caith- ness unde Kine f th rScotland o g s tenuraccordancn it i s d ewa an , e with lawe th Scotlandf o s . fine W d fro Orkneyinge mth a Saga that during this perio Orknee dth y islands were frequently divided into two portions, and each half held by different members of the Norwegian family, each bearing the title of earl. We likewise find that the earldom of Caithness was at such times also frequently divided, and each half held by different Earls of Orkney, though whether both bore the title of Earl of Caithness does not appear. It is unnecessary for our purpose to go further back than the rale of Thorfinn, Ear f Orkneyo l dieo dwh , about A.U. 1056 undoubtedld an , y held the whole of the Orkneys and the entire earldom of Caithness for lona g period. He had two sons, Paul and Erlend, who after his death ruled jointly without dividing the earldoms theid an , r descendant termee b y e dth sma line of Paul and the line of Erlend. 572 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MARCH 11, 1878. After their deat e islandth h s were divided between f Hakono n so , Paul, and Magnus, son of Erlend, each bearing the title of earl. -
The Battle of Largs
The Battle of Largs What was the The Battle of Largs was the last battle fought between Battle of Largs? the Vikings and the Scots. Where did it The Battle of Largs took place happen? in Largs. Largs is now a small town on the west coast of Scotland. When did it It happened on 2nd October 1263 during happen? Viking times. Who fought in the The battle was battle? fought between the Norse Vikings and the Scots. Why were they The Vikings had been raiding Scotland for over 400 fighting? years. In September 1263, they were travelling to Scotland to invade when their longships were caught in a storm. They had to go ashore in Largs. The King of Norway sent men to look for the lost ships and they were met by the Scots who were ready for battle. Who won the Neither side won the battle. Men on both sides were battle? killed or wounded but the Scots stopped the Vikings from taking more of their land and the Vikings got their longships back. Page 1 of 3 The Battle of Largs Largs Viking Festival The Battle of Largs is celebrated every year at the Largs Viking Festival. Visitors at the festival can see: Life in a Viking village Burning of a Viking longship Battle of Largs re-enactment They can also visit the Pencil Monument. The monument was built for visitors to remember the battle. At the end of the festival, there is a firework display at the monument. Photo courtesy of Ronnie Macdonald , TheTechDave (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence – attribution Page 2 of 3 The Battle of Largs Questions 1. -
Scotland: Bruce 286
Scotland: Bruce 286 Scotland: Bruce Robert the Bruce “Robert I (1274 – 1329) the Bruce holds an honored place in Scottish history as the king (1306 – 1329) who resisted the English and freed Scotland from their rule. He hailed from the Bruce family, one of several who vied for the Scottish throne in the 1200s. His grandfather, also named Robert the Bruce, had been an unsuccessful claimant to the Scottish throne in 1290. Robert I Bruce became earl of Carrick in 1292 at the age of 18, later becoming lord of Annandale and of the Bruce territories in England when his father died in 1304. “In 1296, Robert pledged his loyalty to King Edward I of England, but the following year he joined the struggle for national independence. He fought at his father’s side when the latter tried to depose the Scottish king, John Baliol. Baliol’s fall opened the way for fierce political infighting. In 1306, Robert quarreled with and eventually murdered the Scottish patriot John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, in their struggle for leadership. Robert claimed the throne and traveled to Scone where he was crowned king on March 27, 1306, in open defiance of King Edward. “A few months later the English defeated Robert’s forces at Methven. Robert fled to the west, taking refuge on the island of Rathlin off the coast of Ireland. Edward then confiscated Bruce property, punished Robert’s followers, and executed his three brothers. A legend has Robert learning courage and perseverance from a determined spider he watched during his exile. “Robert returned to Scotland in 1307 and won a victory at Loudon Hill. -
UCLA HISTORICAL JOURNAL Vol
136 UCLA HISTORICAL JOURNAL Vol. 4 remain more or less anonymous. Although Carsten is writing in English, his roots in a German conception of history are undeniable. He is evidently trying to show wie es eigentlich gewesen, letting the documents speak for themselves, a tact which can be a shortcoming for some, a strength for others. Although this work is flawed because of an obsession for particulars, Carsten nonetheless does remain impartial throughout. He does not betray any sympathies or antipathies to any of the parties involved and thus cannot be accused of political bias. Carsten 's painstakingly detailed study will therefore prove to be a source of valuable information for the specialist, breaking new ground in its field, but of little appeal to the general reader. Hermann Beck University of Freiburg Robert Stewart Earl of Orkney, Lord of Shetland, 1533-1593. By PETER D. ANDERSON. Atlantic Highlands, N. J.: Humanities Press, 1982. Pp. 245. Maps, appendices, glossary, abbreviations, notes, bibliography, index. $31.50. This well-written and erudite book is a fine example of the biographer's art well practiced and is destined to become a classic for scholars and dilettantes alike. It is at once a very good biographical study of the first Stewart earl of Orkney and an excellent constitutional history of the islanders over whom he reigned. Anderson's principal concern throughout the book is to place the career of Robert Stewart into the context of the factions, families, and feuds that shaped the history of sixteenth-century Scotland and her northern islands. To that end, Anderson, after briefly recapitu- lating the tumultuous history of the Orkney Islands as a Scottish dependency, presents the career of Robert Stewart as one of continuous interaction between Stewart and his family, his factions, the royal governments, and his Orcadian and Shetlander subjects. -
The Early Stewart Kings, the Lordship of the Isles, and Ireland, C.1371-C.14331
The Early Stewart Kings, the Lordship of the Isles, and Ireland, c.1371-c.14331 Simon Egan 31 THE IRISH ANNALS record that in the summer of 1433, a large MacDonald war fleet descended upon the eastern coast of Ulster.2 Though the precise location is uncertain, it appears that this force landed somewhere in the modern-day barony of Dufferin; then a lordship situated on the east coast of County Down and controlled by the Anglo-Irish White family. Upon arrival the commander of the Scottish fleet, whom numerous annals refer to simply as ‘MacDomhnaill na h-Alban’(i.e., MacDonald of Scotland), was received by Eoghan O’Neill, the lord of Tyrone. These leaders appear to have entered into some form of council with one another before agreeing to combine their armed forces and embark upon what eventually amounted to an impressive military campaign against Eoghan’s main rival, Niall Garbh O’Donnell (d.1439), the lord of Tyrconnell. Moreover, the success of this joint military venture had a major impact not only upon the politics of Ulster, where it saw Eoghan established as the dominant magnate, it had serious ramifications for the balance of power within Scotland and the fortunes of the MacDonalds. The significance of the MacDonald intervention in Ulster has received very little attention within the historiography of late medieval Ireland and Scotland.3 Broadly speaking historians have tended to view medieval Gaelic Ireland and Gaelic Scotland as separate cultural and political spheres, rather than exploring how both regions were highly interconnected through ties of dynastic politics and common political and military interest.4 Instead scholars 1 I would like to thank the anonymous peer reviewer for their constructive comments which improved this essay significantly. -
The Case of Orkney in Eighteenth-Century Scotland
Meiji Journal of Political Science and Economics Volume 3, 2014 The Enlightenment Idea of Improvement and its Discontents: The Case of Orkney in Eighteenth-Century Scotland Hiroyuki Furuya Associate Professor of the History of Economic Thought, Tokushima Bunri University, Japan Abstract The aim of this paper is to offer a view of improvement emerged in the age of Enlightenment in Scotland. This paper examines an economic debate that took place in the context of a bitterly-fought legal battle referred to as the Pundlar Process (1733–1759). It was contested between the Earl of Morton, who was a feudal superior of Orkney and Shetland, and local lairds. This paper focuses on two contemporary documents concerning the lairds as plaintiffs and Morton as defendant respectively: James Mackenzie’s The General Grievances and Oppression of the Isles of Orkney and Shetland (1750), and Thomas Hepburn’s A Letter to a Gentleman from his Friend in Orkney, Containing the True Causes of the Poverty of that Country (1760). This paper seeks to illuminate the contrasts revealed during the age of Enlightenment in Scotland by focusing on the conflict between those who tried to promote ‘improvement’ in order to adapt the economy to increased competition brought about by trade expansion after the Acts of Union of 1707, and those in the traditional, local communities who sought out alternative ways to accommodate themselves to this change. Keywords: Scottish Enlightenment, Improvement, Orkney, Pundlar Process, Thomas Hepburn 1. Introduction The age of Enlightenment in Scotland is usually associated with promising prospects such as innovations in the fields of philosophy, literature and economic thought, improvements to agricultural methods, and the dawn of the industrial revolution (Smout, 1983). -
The Earldom of Ross, 1215-1517
Cochran-Yu, David Kyle (2016) A keystone of contention: the Earldom of Ross, 1215-1517. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/7242/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] A Keystone of Contention: the Earldom of Ross, 1215-1517 David Kyle Cochran-Yu B.S M.Litt Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Ph.D. School of Humanities College of Arts University of Glasgow September 2015 © David Kyle Cochran-Yu September 2015 2 Abstract The earldom of Ross was a dominant force in medieval Scotland. This was primarily due to its strategic importance as the northern gateway into the Hebrides to the west, and Caithness and Sutherland to the north. The power derived from the earldom’s strategic situation was enhanced by the status of its earls. From 1215 to 1372 the earldom was ruled by an uninterrupted MacTaggart comital dynasty which was able to capitalise on this longevity to establish itself as an indispensable authority in Scotland north of the Forth. -
Battle Name: Largs Council Area: N Ayrshire Date: 2Nd October 1263 UKFOC Number: 430
Battle Name: Largs Council area: N Ayrshire Date: 2nd October 1263 UKFOC number: 430 LARGS 1 SUMMARY 1.1 CONTEXT Despite the Scots victory at Renfrew in 1164 and several campaigns by Scottish kings to conquer the territory, the Norse had retained control of the Isles and Argyll. There they maintained their rule in a semi-autonomous fashion under the overlordship of the kings of Norway. In response to the continued pressure from the Scots, the king of Norway mounted a pre-emptive attack to secure Norse control of the territory. In July 1263 King Haco is said to have sailed from Bergen with 200 ships. In the Hebrides he was joined by the King of Man with additional forces. From there they sailed down the coast of Scotland raiding the mainland. Initial negotiations were opened but this time was used by the Scots to buy time to raise their forces. Then in a storm some of the Norse ships were beached at Largs and an armed engagement began, forcing Haco to land his main force in disadvantageous circumstances on a difficult coast. (1). 1.2 ACTION Little is known of the detail of the action, which soon escalated into full battle, but it seems that the Norse were never able to form up fully in battle array before they were engaged. The arrival of Scottish reinforcements may finally have turned the tide of the action, forcing the Norse army to break. It is said that they were then pursued with great slaughter, with most fleeing to their boats. (1). -
The Making of a Frontier: Thefirthlands from the Ninth to Twelfth Centuries
THE MAKING OF A FRONTIER: THEFIRTHLANDS FROM THE NINTH TO TWELFTH CENTURIES Barbara E. Crawford The clash between Norse and Scots (or Picts) was a perennial feature of the northern and western parts of this country for most of the Middle Ages. Wherever the Norseman settled he came into contact, and most probably conflict, with the indigenous population. Although the apparent dis appearance of the Picts in the Northern Isles is something of a mystery, it does not seem likely that they disappeared without putting up at least a show of resistance. But the impact of the Norse was so overwhelming that the Pictish population failed to retain any hold of their lands in those islands. The Hebrides provide rather more evidence of resistance at the outset, and then intermingling between the native Gaelic population and the Norse raiders and settlers. But native Gaelic culture re-asserted itself, and Scottish political control was established by the medieval kings of Scotland, ambitious to control the islands round their coasts. The north Scottish mainland provides an area where Norse and Scots also clashed although it was never, in recorded history, under Norwegian political control. However both Caithness and Sutherland were firmly under the rule of the Norwegian earls of Orkney until their power was undermined by the advancing Scottish kings in the thirteenth century. The earls' political control was based on widespread settlement by Norse speaking peoples as far south as the Dornoch Firth or Kyle of Sutherland, so that to all intents and purposes the territory north of that waterway was part of the Norse world from the ninth to the thirteenth century. -
The Erskine Halcro Genealogy
u '^A. cpC National Library of Scotland *B0001 37664* Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from National Library of Scotland http://www.archive.org/details/erskinehalcrogen1890scot THE ERSKINE-HALCRO GENEALOGY PRINTED FEBRUARY I 895 Impression 250 copies Of which 210 are for sale THE Erskine-Halcro Genealogy THE ANCESTORS AND DESCENDANTS OF HENRY ERSKINE, MINISTER OF CHIRNSIDE, HIS WIFE, MARGARET HALCRO OF ORKNEY, AND THEIR SONS, EBENEZER AND RALPH ERSKINE BY EBENEZER ERSKINE SCOTT A DESCENDANT NEW EDITION, ENLARGED Thefortune of the family remains, And grandsires' grandsires the long list contains. Dryden'S Virgil : Georgic iv. 304. (5 I M EDINBURGH GEORGE P. JOHNSTON 33 GEORGE STREET 1895 Edinburgh : T. and A. Constable, Printers to Her Majesty CONTENTS PAGE Preface to Second Edition, ..... vii Introduction to the First Edition, .... ix List of some of the Printed Books and MSS. referred to, xviii Table I. Erskine of Balgownie and Erskine of Shielfield, I Notes to Table I., 5 Table II. Halcro of Halcro in Orkney, 13 Notes to Table II., . 17 Table III. Stewart of Barscube, Renfrewshire, 23 Notes to Table III., . 27 Table IV. Erskine of Dun, Forfarshire, 33 Notes to Table IV., 37 Table V. Descendants of the Rev. Henry Erskine, Chirnside— Part I. Through his Older Son, Ebenezer Erskine of Stirling, . 41 Part II. Through his Younger Son, Ralph Erskine of Dunfermline, . 45 Notes to Table V., Parts I. and II., 49 — PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION By the kind assistance of friends and contributors I have been enabled to rectify several mistakes I had fallen into, and to add some important information unknown to me in 1890 when the first edition was issued. -
Viking Heritage Trail
Graphic design: Indigo Design, Glasgow Design, Graphic Indigo design: The Viking Heritage Dumbarton Rock © Hidden Heritage Project Trail The story of Viking activity around the Firth of Clyde begins with the siege of Dumbarton Rock in AD 870 and ends with the Battle of Largs in AD 1263. Evidence for this activity can be seen in the landscape, and in the form of small finds and grave goods. They tell us that Norse families settled here, while historic accounts of battles and invasion routes describe the Norse struggle for control of this beautiful and resource-filled landscape. The Hidden Heritage Project is hosted by Arrochar and Tarbet Community Development Trust. It aimed to involve the community in investigating and interpreting the area’s heritage. This leaflet was part-financed by the Heritage Lottery Fund and also by the Scottish Government and the European Community Argyll and the Islands LEADER 2007-2013 Programme. A guide to Viking sites Olaus Magnus, 1555 around the Clyde After the death of Hakon, shortly after the Battle of Largs in 1263, Norse control in Scotland became confined to the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland. However, the lives of kings form only a small part of the story of the Vikings in Scotland, and no doubt many of the erstwhile invaders settled and mingled with other cultural groups around the Clyde, where their stories have become interwoven in the hidden history of Disclaimer Arrochar and Tarbet Community Development Trust has produced this leaflet in Scotland. good faith and done its best to ensure that the information contained is accurate and up to date at the time of printing. -
The Battle of Harlaw Was Fought on 24 July 1411
Lordship of the Isles The Lordship of the Isles comprised a varying extent of land at different times, but can be roughly approximated to Argyll. It included the Hebrides (Skye and Ross from 1438), Knoydart, Ardnamurchan, and the Kintyre peninsula. The Lordship developed under descendants of the Vikings, mixed with Gaels and Scots. Its first great historical leader is often said to be Somerled who ruled in the 12th century. It was a maritime and seafaring kingdom and as such its heraldry always contained a galley. It was effectively in the 12th and early 13th centuries an independent kingdom within Scotland. We should, however, be careful in Illustration 2: Battle of Harlaw monument. using the term Scotland here. This Illustration 3: Map showing supposed was a time when the nation as we extent of Lordship of the Isles. think of it was starting to come into existence: the Isles, however, were effectively the last major area to retain a strong tradition and reality of independence about them. Arguably it was only after the Battle of Largs (on the west coast of Scotland, some 30 The Battle of Harlaw was fought on 24 July 1411. It is so symptomatic of how little is miles west of Glasgow) in 1263, that the Lordship became, nominally at least, part of known about the battle that both sides have claimed it as a victory. However, Harlaw has had a profound impact on the north east of Scotland and on its perception of Scotland. During the 14th century the MacDonald family had been emerging as the its own history.