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In Mr Lindsay's III. ON COINS ATTRIBUTED BY MB LINDSAY TO KINGS OP THE HEBRIDES EDWARy B . D BURNS, ESQ., F.S.A. SOOT. In Mr Lindsay's "View of the Coinage of Scotland," three coins are placed at the head of the Scottish series, presumed by Mr Lindsay to bear the appearance of having been struck by certain kings of the Hebrides in the eleventh century. These pieces form Nos. 1, 2, 3 of plate f Lindsay'o . I s Wor Scottisn k o coins e th f h,o d NosCoinso an 1 .Tw . 3, passed into the possession of Mr Wingate, and appear in his " Illus- trations of the Coinage of Scotland," from specimens in his own cabinet, unde e hea e th Hebridesf rCointh o d f o s , exactl s attributea y d by- Lindsay remainine Th . g coin, thus assigne Hebridese e th th o dt n i s i , collectio Reve th f . no Joh . PollexfennH . The one thing indisputable about these three pieces is, that they are imitation Crue th xf o s coin l probabilityal f Ethelre so r n I fo t . dbu II , passioe th n which possesse e geniadth l and distinguished authoe th f o r "e Coinag Vieth f wo f Scotland,"«eo f otheo d —r an able numismatic works-—of giving to the different homeless and nameless coins that came " y locaa wa l s habitatiohi woul e n a name,i on d do nan n " eve r have supposed the mhavo t e been anything elst merebu e imitations currenr o , t forgeries, of the Crux pieces of Ethelred II. So far as regards the coins themselves, there is nothing in them, save to a very fertile imagination; VOL. XI. PART I. P 226 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, APRIL 12, 1875 to suggest a connection with the Hebrides; in respect to which, moreover, we hav groundo en believinr sfo g tha nativa t e currency ever existedt I . is quite true that the types on the money of Ethelred II. were imitated in other countries; and it will be interesting, although not of importance r immediatou o t e subject instancew glanco fe t , a t ea s wher Crue eth x type was obviously followed by other States. Olaf Scotkonung, king of Sweden, a prince well affected towards Ethelred II., adopted it as the s modecoinagehi f o l , s saidandi t i , d obtaineappliean r fo dd from Ethelre dnumbea f skilleo r d moneyers. Another kin f Swedengo , Haco the Red—A.D. 1067—has had a coin of the Crux type assigned to him; but Annunds a , predecessoe th , immediate f Hacoth ro d an , e successof o r Olaf, followe r Canutetypee ou th d f so , while Haco himself wacone th s - temporary of William the Conquerer, it is more probable that this piece belongs to Haco the Bad, Duke of Norway, who was assassinated A.D. 995. Ethelre . reigneII d d fro A.Dmo t A.D9 . 101397 . Ther s everei y reason to believe that the Crux type must have been issued in England some time previous to A.D. 995. Professor Holmboe, from the evidence of Finds, contends that it was the very earliest type of Ethelred II. Hil- debrand, a high authority, ranks it the third in order of precedence, giving the first place to the small cross type, and the second to the Hand of Providence variety. Perhap mose sth t interesting imitatio Crue th f xno typ Ethelref eo . dII e comth s ,i formerly give Sveno t n d Estrithson, kin f Denmarkgo , A.D. 1048-74; but now, with more probability, attributed to Svend Tveskjog, the conqueror of England, and its acknowledged king, after the flight of Ethelred II. into Normandy, A.D. 1013. This piece will be found engrave "e Danskth n di e Mynter, alsd "Lelewel n oan Tabi , 85 . viii, No . pi. xiii. No. 9. It reads on obverse, + Z'AEN • REX • ADDENER, and, on reverse, DODPI M-A• NE N DNER. These legends, Lelewel renders thus— obverse, "Swen • Rex • Anglorum • D denerum, ou bien • Danorum;" reverse, " God-wine Ne ' Lundner ." There is no doubt that Godwin, as state Lelewely db wela s l wa ,know n moneye f Londo o rtime th f e o n ni Ethelred II.d alsan ,o tha struce h t k pennie e Cruth t i xf so t type Bu . may wel e doubteb l d whether. Godwiy othean r o nEnglis h moneyer would have employed Vndnqr, or Lundner, to designate London; or Addener to represent Anglorum, Danorum. There is no such outlandish ON COINS ATTRIBUTE HEBRIDES E KINGO DT TH F SO . 22? rendering of the name of London as Vndner, or Lundner, among all the 509 pennies of the London mint of Ethelred II. given by Hildebrand. The coin was probably struck at Lunden in Denmark, before Svend became Kin Englandf go . fine dW another Crux Danske piecth n ei e Mynter—Tab. xxviii. No . 1—identical in type with the penny of Svend. It reads on obverse, ONLAF- REX • NOR -j on reverse, C.ODPINE ' M-ONO, that is to say; GODWINE • MO ' NO. This coin apparently belongs to Olaf Tryggveson, king of Norway, who accompanied Svend Tveskjog in his expedition against Englan n A.Ddi . 994. Olaf visited Ethelre t Andovera . dII , where eh received the rite of confirmation. He further pledged himself never again to invade England, a promise faithfully observed. According to some theorists, the Crux type was introduced in the English coinage to com- memorate this occasion. To iis in Scotland, Olaf Tryggveson is memor- able strikinfoe rth g fea missionarf o t y enterpris musculad ean r Christianity, which has connected his name with the conversion of the people of Orkney. By mere chance, this zealous proselytiser had put in, with his fleet, into the harbour of Osmundwall, where that rank heathen, Sigurd the Stout, earl of the Orkneys, with only a small force, was lying in fancied security. Profibin e occasionth y b g , Olaf mad e earth e l prisonerd an , gave him. the option of instant death, or immediate conversion. Sigurd, as the less disagreeable alternative, chose the latter, and was baptised along with s peoplsuchi f ho wers ea e with faite him f thiTh ho .s inter^ esting convert appear havo st e suffere killeds relapsea dwa e ,h fightinr fo , g heathee onth nbattle sideth t f Clontarffea o , . The Crux coins of Sithric III., king of Dublin, another contemporary of Ethelred II.wele ar , l known coine .th f so f Strango e on sayo t et no , this type of Sithric III. seems to bear proper legends, while on those of his usual type the inscriptions are in general correct. Mr Lindsay himself thus describes them:—"The coins are neatly executed, but the legends in general rude; the most perfect bearing the legend ZITIR • DIFLMEORVM e lasth , t word being contracted fin e Englisn w o d s a , h coin f Ethelreso d r LindsaII.M " y might have added, tha somn o t f eo these piece e inscriptionth s s bea vero s r y little resemblanc name th eo t e and style of Sithric, that it is difficult to understand why they should be attributed to the Irish coinage at all. With equal propriety, at least, 8 22 . PROCEEDING SOCIETYE TH F SO , APRI , .1875L12 . •might they have been employed to swell the:series of those so-called coins .of the Hebrides,-with which we have .now to deal. With a .trifling .exception, .the legend .;on .obverse of the .first of the three coins, assigned to the Hebrides, has been .correctly rendered in the engravings of the piece in fthe plates of Lindsay and Wingate. I ought .her mentiono et , that throug courtese Wingatehr th M f yo I hav, d eha the opportunity .of Examining, the two coins belonging to him,-and my bes Keve tr Pollexfe th thankM .o t alse e ar sodu n .for'allowine th e m g same privilege with respect to the coin in his possession. The exception above referre s tha i secone , th td to d inscriptioe letteth f ro -Ds ni , equiva- len s give a t plates. e tbotn th onD, i f thaTHo t he o whols , no th t, e legend, allowin r .thgfo e contractio e end r th RV nfo ,t Ma shoul d read ETHEL ' RE XEVGORVM• . Through some recondite process t quitno , e •palpable to ordinary understandings, Mr Lindsay has persuaded himself that EVGORVM—to quote his own words—is " the genitive of Eubudae, ..ffibudae r Hebudaeo , , whic anciene hth s lastwa tHebridese namth f eo , or Western Isles." . But .with what Hebridean celebrity to associate this .coin, wit e wordhth s plainlo ETHEs X e faceth yRE L • starin?n i e gon Nothing daunted r LindsaM , y turns .to-the legen revers n whae do se to et he can find there to help him. He imagined that he could make out the name SVEN beginnine th t legende Oa th f go , and, presuming that Svend .Tveskjo s earliehi n gi r year havy esma ruled ove Hebrides—oe rth f which there is no proof—he thought it highly probable that either he, or Svend f Canute o s Alfifason capacitn hi so n i , f e kino y th ,f Norwaygo y ma , have caused the coin to be issued.
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