Section VIII.

[++] St. Magnus’ Church

History, however, as well as the building itself, teaches us that the whole church, as it now stands, was by no means the work of Kol and Ragnvald. For, first, it is known that the pillars farthest towards the east and west, marked in the annexed ground plan with the faintest shade, belong to additions made at a far later period (viz., as late as the sixteenth century); and secondly, it is not even decided whether Kol and Ragnvald built the whole of the remaining part of the church, the transepts included, or whether they built only that part of the present choir which, from the two eastern pillars of the tower, comprises the six nearest pillars to the east, marked on the ground plan with the darkest shade. Between this last-named portion of the choir, which is undoubtedly the oldest part of the church, and the portion lying to the west, whose pillars on the ground plan have a rather lighter shade, there is a perceptible difference of style.

That zealous and skilful archæologist, Sir Henry Dryden, Bart., of Canons Ashby, to whom I am indebted for the original of the following ground plan, likewise did me the favour to give me, among several large drawings, a very excellent, but here very reduced, section of that part of the choir which is certainly known to have been built by Kol and Ragnvald. The section is taken from the middle of the nave, and represents a part of the northern side walls nearest to one of the pillars of the tower. It enables us to form an idea of the very considerable size of the church, and of the importance of Kol’s and Ragnvald’s labours, as well as readily to perceive in what style the church was originally built. This style, which in England is called the Norman, was indeed already somewhat obsolete in more southern districts at the time when St. Magnus’ Church was built; but it was quite natural that, so far northwards, it should be retained somewhat longer, especially as the architect was a native of the still more northern country of Norway.

[++] St. Magnus’ Church - Floorplan

[++] St. Magnus’ Church - Interior

The next considerable portion of the cathedral which might possibly have been built by Kol and Ragnvald, or at least about their time, and which includes the transepts, the two western pillars of the tower, and the six pillars (three on each side) farther towards the west, has, indeed, like the very oldest part, round arches. But in these, as well as in the whole architecture, a much later style is clearly visible. It is, as we have said, doubtful whether this part of the church is also to be ascribed to Kol and Ragnvald. “Supposing that it is (says Sir Henry Dryden, in a letter accompanying the drawings), I explain the difference of scale and workmanship thus. Ronald began a church on amuchsmaller scale than the present St. Magnus. He became short of money, alienated seignorial rights in Orkney, got plenty of money, and went on with the church on a larger scale, and with better workmen than before. But (adds Sir Henry), though I spent eighteen weeks at the building, and have thought over the thing many times, I cannot make out the history of the building to my own satisfaction. There is no doubt that there is a great deal of copying in it;i. e., of building at one time in the style of an earlier one. In Scotland the semicircular arch is used in all styles, down to the year 1600.” In the additions made to St. Magnus’ Church to the east and west, in the sixteenth century, round arches are also found between the chief pillars.

In the winter of 1263-1264 the body of the Norwegian king Hakon Hakonsön was deposited in the cathedral; and somewhat more than twenty years afterwards the Norwegian princess Margaret (the maid of Norway), daughter of King Erik, the priest-hater, and of Margaret, daughter of the Scotch King, Alexander the Third, was buried in it. Upon the death of Alexander, her mother’s father, in 1289, Margaret, though only seven years of age, became queen of Scotland, but died in Orkney on her passage from Norway, in 1290. The cathedral naturally received the dust of most of the Norwegian jarls, bishops, and other mighty men, so long as the Norwegian dynasty lasted; but for their monuments we now seek in vain. By the alterations and rebuilding in the interior of the church they have all been long since destroyed.

For a Scandinavian, the church derives its greatest interest not only from the fact that it was founded, and partly built, by a Norwegian jarl, but more particularly from the circumstance that a Norwegian chief, the layman Kol, is expressly stated to have been the person “who was chiefly answerable for the building, and determined how everything should be.” For we thus find on the British Islands, and far towards the North, a manifestation of the same desire to build splendid churches and convents, which farther southwards, as for instance in Normandy, so vividly animated the Christian descendants of the emigrant Vikings. The oldest part of St. Magnus’ Church will, on a close inspection, show not a few resemblances to several of the nearly contemporary, but somewhat older, Norman churches in Normandy.

Pentland Firth.—The Highlands.—Caithness.—Sutherland.—Fearof the Danes.

Pentland Firth.—The Highlands.—Caithness.—Sutherland.—Fear

of the Danes.

The Orkneys are separated towards the south from the most northern part of the Scotch Highlands by a firth about eight miles in breadth, called Pentland Firth (Old N., Petlandfjörðr, the fiord of the land of the Picts?). The maelstrom, or whirlpool, in this firth, where the currents from the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean meet, is at least as violent and dangerous as the “Röst,” so famed in ancient times, between the Orkneys and Shetland. Even in calm weather the meeting currents raise the waves to an astonishing height, so that at times the whole firth is one sheet of white foam. If it happens that the current runs hard against the wind, or if a severe storm blows, it would not be advisable for any vessel to venture out into the firth. In the gales of winter, particularly from the north-west, the sea rises to such a height where the huge swell of the Atlantic is inclosed between the Orkneys and Scotland, and beats against the coast with such force, that the foam is driven far into the country, even over cliffs that stand more than four hundred feet above the sea! The Island of Stroma (Old N., “Straumsey”), which has obtained its name from the current, lies about the middle of the firth; and by the eastern entrance of it are the Islands of Pentlandskerries (Old N., “Petlandsker;” orDanish, “Pentlandskjære;”Eng., sunken rocks off the Pentland Firth), near which the waves form whirlpools that are still called by the inhabitants “Swelchies” (or Svælg:Old N., “Svelgr;”Eng., gulf).

The old Sagas, indeed, expressly point out the dangers of the Pentland Firth. Thus, when Olaf Trygvesön came from the West to the Orkneys with the intention of Christianizing the islands, he was obliged to run into the harbour of Asmundarvág (now Osmondwall) in the south of Hoy, because Pentland Firth was not navigable; and on the return of King Hakon Hakonsön from the Hebrides in 1263, one of his ships was lost in the Röst, and another escaped only with the greatest difficulty. Nevertheless the ancient Norwegians and Danes navigated this dangerous firth regularly, and do not seem to have considered it as forming any real boundary between the Orkneys and Scotland. At an early period the Norwegians had settled themselves along the south coast of the Pentland Firth, and founded colonies there which soon became so preponderatingly Norwegian that they might almost be regarded as inseparable parts of the Orkney jarldom. On this account the two most northern counties of Scotland, both of which united originally bore the Gaelic name of Catuibh, are still called after the original Norwegian forms, “Caithness” (Old N., “Katanes,” the naze of Catuibh) and “Sutherland” (Old N., Suðrland), or the land in the south; that is, as regards the Orkneys. It would be perfectly inexplicable, in any other way, why the north-western part of Scotland should be called the south land, or Sutherland. It is, moreover, a remarkable proof of the Norwegian origin of these names, that even the present Gaelic inhabitants do not adopt them, but always call Sutherland, after the old fashion, “Catuibh.” For the sake of distinction, however, they call Caithness “Gallaibh,” or the stranger’s land, because so many Norwegians immigrated to, and settled in, that county in preference to Sutherland.

The district of Caithness, or, as it was often called in ancient times, “Næsset,” forms a real naze, shooting out into the sea in a north-eastern direction. Its farthest point towards the north-east is called Duncansby Head (formerly “Dungalsnýpa”), from the neighbouring Duncansby (formerly “Dungalsbœr”). The broadest bay on the north coast trends in between the promontories of Dunnet Head and Holburn Head; the latter of which, by protecting Thurso Bay from western and north-western gales, renders it a tolerably good harbour, in a place where good harbours are scarce on this northern coast. Supposing, now, that we land in the Bay of Thurso, by the town of that name, we soon discover the outlet of the rivulet called Thurso Water (Old N., “Þorsá,” or Thorsaa, Thor’s rivulet), which has given the easily-recognised Scandinavian name both to the town and bay. The town and its immediate environs afford a great number of Norwegian memorials. The Norwegian king Eistein imprisoned the Orkney jarl Harald Maddadsön in Thurso itself. Close to the eastern side of the town stands a more recent monument, “Harald’s Tower,” erected over the body of Jarl Harald, who fell there in a battle in 1190. Not far from thence is the mansion called Murkle (formerly “Myrkhóll”), where, in the tenth century, Ragnhilde, the daughter of Erik Blodöxe and of Gunhilde, caused her husband, Jarl Arnfin, to be murdered. Immediately to the west of the town, near Scrabster (“Skarabólstaðr”), are to be seen the ruins of the palace formerly inhabited by the bishops of Caithness and Sutherland. In the twelfth century Bishop Ion was blinded and mutilated there, at the instigation of Jarl Harald. Five miles west of Scrabster, and close by a foaming waterfall, stands the mansion of “Forss,” by the river Forss Water. The rivulet called Thorsaa runs through a valley in ancient times called Thorsdal (“Þórsdalr”), adjoining another valley “Kálfadalr,” or Calf-dale (either the present Calder or Cuildal), in which Jarl Ragnvald was attacked and killed by Thorbjörn Klærk. In the “Dales of Caithness” (probably near Dale and Westdale, by Thurso Water) a battle was fought in the tenth century between Jarls Ljot and Skule, in which the latter fell.

Similar memorials present themselves everywhere on the promontory, with the exception, however, of the most western and more mountainous part, adjoining the frontiers of Sutherland. This district is still inhabited by a Gaelic population, the remnant of the ancient inhabitants, as is sufficiently testified both by the Gaelic names of places and the Gaelic language of the people. In Caithness, as well as everywhere else in the British Isles, it has been the fate of the Gaels or Celts to be driven to the poor and mountainous districts, whilst more fortunate strangers have taken possession of the fertile plains. The whole of the northern and eastern part of Caithness is a rather flat and open country, over which the sea wind sweeps freely without being intercepted by woods. Fertile and well-cultivated arable land is mingled with heaths, marshes, and small lakes. Wherever the soil is capable of cultivation, both on the coasts and in the interior, a great number of undoubted Norwegian names of places are still found scattered about, of the selfsame form as those in Orkney and the Shetland Isles: as, for instance, those ending intoft(as Aschantoft, Thurdystoft, formerly “Þorðarþupt”)seter(“setr”),busta,buster, orbest(originally “bolstaðr”); but particularly in ster (staðr). The bays, which are mostly small and narrow, are generally calledgoe(from “gjá,” an opening). The larger ones are calledwick(Viig); whence the town of Wick, the most important hamlet in Caithness, derives its name; but they are never called, as in the islands lately mentioned,wall(“Vágr,” or “Vaag”). Here and there a mighty barrow lifts its head, and sometimes—as, for instance, near Barrowston, parish of Reay—so extremely near the coast of Pentland Firth, that the spray washes over it. In general we shall not be mistaken in imagining that we have found in such barrows the last resting-places of the daring Vikings, who, not even in death, could endure to be far separated from the foaming maelstrom.

At times the common people dig up in these mounds pieces of swords and various kinds of ornaments, especially the peculiar bowl-formed brooches, of a sort of brass, which are very frequently discovered in the Scandinavian North, and particularly in the Norwegian and Swedish graves of the times of the Vikings. These are never found in England; and in Scotland they are discovered only in the Orkneys and Sutherland, as well as in some of the Western Islands, where the Norwegians also settled.

[++] Brooch

Tall bauta stones are to be seen in several places in Caithness, to which some legend about “the Danes” is generally attached; they now stand in a leaning position, as if mourning over the departed times of the heroic age. A monument of a somewhat later period, according to tradition that of a Danish princess, who suffered shipwreck on the coast, was also formerly to be found in a churchyard near Ulbster. Danish fortifications, consisting partly of square towers, once existed along the coast, principally near the navigable inlets; but these also have now, for the most part, disappeared.

With several intervals, Caithness was subject to Norwegian jarls until some time in the fourteenth century, or for about as long a period as Orkney and the Shetland Isles. After that time, however, it does not seem to have been oppressed to such a degree as those islands; which circumstance, in conjunction with the originally great number of Norwegian settlements in the country, is the cause that even in the present day we are not referred only to inanimate memorials of the ancient Norwegian population. The present living inhabitants bear a decided and unmistakable impress of their Norwegian descent. The language in the plains of Caithness, and in the open valleys, is the same dialect of the English as is spoken in Orkney and the Shetland Isles, because the transitions from Norwegian to English have been the same. The people have in some parts, as in the parish of Wick, pure Scandinavian names: Ronald (Ragnvald), Harold, Swanson (Svendsen), Manson (Magnuson), and others; and their tall and personable figures, as well as their light hair and broad faces, render them a striking contrast to the shorter and more swarthy Highlanders. As the descendants of an old Gaelic and of an old Norwegian population adjoin one another in Caithness, we have an excellent opportunity of observing, on a small scale, how the Norwegians and Danes have actually implanted in the British Isles a more seafaring spirit and greater nautical skill. Even to the present day the Gael, in Caithness, as well as throughout the Highlands, has a decided aversion to the sea, nay, a downright fear of its dangers. It is pretty well known that in general, and except on the most urgent necessity, one should not venture out into the Pentland Firth in boats steered and rowed by Gaels or Highlanders; for, in the event of a storm, all steady command is speedily lost, and gives place to anxious irresolution. The descendants of the old Norwegians, on the contrary, who are familiar with the sea from childhood, and amongst whom lies Wick, the most important fishing station in Scotland, show themselves precisely in the hour of danger the worthy sons of their forefathers, the ancient Vikings. It is only the man at the helm who speaks, and he gives his orders in a few decisive words. He is punctually obeyed, and the misfortune is said to be rare, if his coolness, joined to his knowledge of the sea and its currents, do not gain the victory over the violence of the storm and the turbulence of the billows. This seafaring population of Caithness do not, like the Highlanders, disdain to resort to fishing, in order to bring home the riches of the sea. As their soil, moreover, is by no means barren, and as they have naturally greater activity and more inclination to work than the Highlanders, as well as, through their English dialect, greater facility in their traffic with the more southern districts, it is not to be wondered at that the prosperity of Caithness manifests a great and constant progress. We may even justly assert that the descendants of the Norwegians in Caithness are in a far more fortunate situation than their kinsmen in the Orkneys and Shetland Isles.

In ancient times, a Norwegian population speaking its native language, was undoubtedly spread over the whole eastern coast of Caithness, as well as over several districts of Sutherland. But the English language, which in our times has superseded the Norwegian, ceases to be the common language of Caithness immediately to the south of the parish of Wick. A line drawn from Clyth Ness, in a north-western direction to the before-mentioned mansion of Forss to the west of Thurso, will indicate, as near as may be, the boundary between Gaelic and English. If, however, we travel southwards from the parish of Wick, through the parish of Latheron, where the common language is already Gaelic, we, nevertheless, pass a great many villages and farms bearing Norwegian names; as, for instance, Lybster and Forse (by a waterfall). The mountains here begin to be higher, and to stand closer and closer together towards the sea. At length, after passing the deep valley of Berrydale (Old N., “Berudalr”), and the beautiful wood-crowned banks of its river, we ascend the steep mountain ridge called “the Ord of Caithness,” which runs boldly out into the sea, and forms a natural boundary between the narrow projecting promontory of Caithness and the broader Sutherland.

The first large valley in Sutherland to the south of this mountain ridge is Helmsdale, which is watered by a river of no mean size. That Helmsdale is a Norwegian name (in the Sagas “Hjalmundsdalr”) is at once evident from the present Gaelic inhabitants calling the valley in pure Gaelic, “Strath Ullie,” or with a strange confusion of language, Strath Helmsdale; for as Strath signifies in Gaelic a valley or dale, the worddaleis added both at the beginning and end. It is a similar repetition which we so often hear when the “Orkney Isles” are spoken of, in the original language “Orknö,” but which, translated as now used, is Orknö Öerne (or the “Orkney-islands-islands”). Along Helmsdale River several places are met with whose original Norwegian names are still to be discerned; as, for instance, Eilderabol, Gilaboll, Dviaboll, and Leiraboll. All these have the endingbol, which is peculiar to a number of Norwegian names of places in Sutherland and in some of the Hebrides; but which, in Caithness, the Orkneys, and Shetland Isles, as well as in Lewis and several of the Hebrides, appears in the longer form of “bolstaðr.” To the north-west of Helmsdale are the vales of Kildonan, which run up as far as the Vale of Strathmore in Caithness. Here, it is supposed, on the frontiers of Caithness and Sutherland, lay “Eisteinsdalr,” so famed in history as the spot where the Scotch king William encamped in the year 1198. It is, however, very uncertain whether “Easterdale” in Strathmore be in any way connected with the name of Eisteinsdal.

On leaving Helmsdale the coast opens, and fertile and beautiful fields begin to expand themselves. Past Midgarty and Wester Gartie (the middle and western Gaard, or farm, fromOld N. “garðr”?) the road runs along the shore of the Bay of Dornoch (an arm of the “Breidifjördr,” or broad firth mentioned in the Sagas, in which the Moray Firth is also included) to the little village of Brora, which is built on a considerable river, and where for a long period the only large bridge in Sutherland was to be found. It was possibly from this circumstance that the Norwegians gave the village its name (“Brúrá,” the bridge rivulet). A river in Iceland is also still called Brúrá, from a bridge which crosses it. The ancient seat of the Earls of Sutherland, Dunrobin (Robin’s tower, fromdun, a tower), lies on the seashore, in the neighbourhood of Brora, surrounded by fine corn-fields and considerable tracts of woodland. The latter, however, were planted at a recent period. In the background rise considerable mountains, covered with heath. In this place, so highly favoured by nature both as regards scenery and fertility, the Norwegian jarls who ruled over Sutherland undoubtedly had one of their chief residences; as, for instance, Sigurd Jarl, a brother of Ragnvald Möre-Jarl, Sigurd the Stout (+ 1014), and his son Thorfin (+ about 1064). Norwegian antiquities, like those discovered in Caithness, are found in graves near Dunrobin, particularly the well-known bowl-formed brooches or buckles. In the neighbourhood several places with Norwegian names can be pointed out; for instance, just south of Dunrobin, in the fertile valley by the river Fleet, Mickle Torboll and Little Torboll (fromThorandbol); and on the coast, Skelbo, Skibo, and Embo (frombol, or perhaps more correctly frombœr,bö). Sigurd, the first conqueror of Sutherland, is said to have extended his dominion as far as Ekkjalsbakke. Asbakkiin the ancient language signifies the bank of a river, there cannot be the least doubt that Ekkjal is the river Oykill, which still forms the southern boundary of Sutherland. Sigurd himself is said to have been interred at Ekkjalsbakke. He gained the victory in a foray over the Scotch jarl Melbrigd, and cut off his head, which, in the overweening pride of his triumph, he hung to his saddle; but a sharp tooth that projected from the head chafed his leg, and caused a wound which proved his death. On different parts of the banks of the Oykill numerous barrows are seen, indicating the many battles that have been fought in ancient times on the frontiers of Sutherland. But nobody is able to point out the barrow of Sigurd Jarl; the tradition relating to it has vanished with the Norwegian population.

For the rest, names of places prove that the Norwegians had also settled themselves along the coast to the south of the Oykill. On the narrow naze called Tarbet Ness, between Dornoch and Cromarty Firths, are the villages of Arboll and Wanby, as well as the town of Tain, whose Gaelic name, “Bailed Dhuich” (or St. Duthus’ Town), shows at once that “Tain” must be of foreign origin. Tain is, moreover, a corruption of “Þing,” aThing; and in like manner the somewhat considerable town of Dingwall, at the extremity of Cromarty Firth, was originally called “Þingavöllr,” orThingwalla; whence the remarkable fact is evident, that the Norwegians were once sufficiently numerous in these districts to have both an inferiorThing(Tain) and a superior one (Dingwall). Dingwall, like Tain, besides its original Norwegian name, has also the Gaelic one of Inverphaeron. As the Norwegians, therefore, must have permanently possessed considerable tracts in these districts, it is clear that their settlements on the east coast of Scotland must have extended quite down to Inverness-shire and Moray. The before-mentioned stronghold of Burghead in Moray, which the Northmen maintained to the last extremity, lies pretty close to the east of Cromarty Firth, the inlet to Dingwall.

As the Norwegian language and other Norwegian characteristics have given way to the Gaelic tongue, manners, and customs, in the former Norwegian districts on the north coast of Scotland, from Clyth Ness in Caithness to Dingwall on the Firth of Cromarty, we can scarcely be surprised that the north coast of Sutherland, whose rocks and heaths offered much fewer allurements to the Norwegians than the fertile valleys and plains of the east coast, and which were therefore far less colonized by them, should have preserved distinct traces of these foreign conquerors only in a few names of places. A remarkable instance of the Gaelic language having expelled the Norwegian is to be found immediately on the borders of Caithness, in the valley of Halladale. In a river there are two waterfalls, of which the uppermost is called Forsinard, and the lower one Forsindin. In both these names the Norwegian “Fors” is not to be mistaken; but Gaelic terminations have in later times been added by the Gaels, so that Forsinard now signifies the upper Fors, and Forsindin the under, or lower, Fors. Halladale is likewise frequently called by the additional Gaelic name of Strath—“Strath Halladale.”

This much, however, is clear, that the whole of the north and west coast of Sutherland was once colonized by Norwegians. Besides various names of places west of Halladale, which likewise end indale, such as Armadale, Swordale, and Torrisdale, it is surprising that we should still meet with pure Norwegian names on four of the largest firths of the north-west of Sutherland; viz., on the north coast the “Kyle of Tongue” (from “túnga,” a tongue of land, a naze), together with the adjoining village, Kirkiboll (Kirkebolet); further, Loch Eriboll, with the large farm of Eriboll (thebolon the Eir, or tongue of land, from theOld N.“eyri”); the Kyle of Durness, or Dyrnæs, with thebol, or dwelling, of Crossboll; and lastly, on the west coast, not far from Cape Wrath, Loch Laxford (Laxfjorden, or the Salmon Firth;Old N., “Laxafjörðr”). “Loch” is the Gaelic name for a lake or firth, and consequently, in Loch Laxford, expresses tautologically the existence of a fiord or firth; just as the name “valley” is twice expressed in Strath Helmsdale and Strath Halladale. The last three of the above-mentioned firths seem to have been of much importance to the Norwegians. There is an excellent harbour in Loch Eriboll, which is still frequented by numerous ships. The neighbourhood round Loch Durnes afforded excellent opportunities for hunting the deer, particularly on Durnæs itself, which extends between Loch Durnes and the Atlantic up to Cape Wrath (Old N., “Hvarf”), and which, still later in the middle ages, was celebrated for its excellent deer. Loch Laxford, which obtained its name from the salmon (Lax) in the river and at its mouth, is commonly known to the present day as one of the rivers in Scotland most abounding with that fish. Several isolated rocks in the sea by the coast of Sutherland are called, as in the Shetland Isles, “stacks;” and in several names of islands we meet with the Scandinavianskerorskjær; such as Skerroar (Skjæröerne, the rock islands); and in Loch Eriboll, Dhusker, Skerron, and others. A little island near the middle of the west coast is called Calva (Old N., “Kálfey,” or the Calf Island), a name frequently given by the Northmen to small islands that lay in the neighbourhood of a larger one (for instance, the Calf of Man). For the rest, Calva is one of the last decidedly recognisable Scandinavian names of places on the west coast of Sutherland. The real Norwegian population evidently ceased at Laxfjord. Norwegian names of places are scarcely to be found on the coasts of the Highlands to the south of Sutherland. The country there was so wild, rocky, and remote, that foreign conquerors could only with the greatest difficulty have maintained a position against the Highlanders, who were always prepared to make sudden and dangerous attacks from the mountains in the interior. Aware of this, the Norwegians seem to have limited themselves, on the western shores of the Highlands, chiefly to the levying of provisions along the coast, and to the plundering of cattle and other property. Round about the mouths of the Highland firths are still to be seen the remains of old castles, which the Scotch kings, and particularly Alexander the Second, are said to have built, in order to prevent “the Danes” from making these devastating descents.

The memory of the conquests and predatory incursions of the Norwegians, or “Danes,” is still preserved in a remarkable degree among the poorer classes in Sutherland, as well as in the rest of the Scottish Highlands. Numberless traditions are in circulation respecting the levying of provisions by “the Danes;” and barrows, or cairns, are not unfrequently pointed out, in which a Scandinavian prince, or king’s son, killed by the natives whilst on some Viking expedition, is said to be buried. Besides the usual cruelties ascribed to the Danes in the traditions of the Lowlands, and of England, they are here accused, into the bargain, of having burnt the forests, and thus caused that want of wood which acts so injuriously on the climate of the Highlands. In proof of this it is adduced that roots and trunks of trees, sometimes perceptibly scorched, are discovered in the turf-bogs of the Highlands. It is not considered that similar discoveries are very common in other countries, as, for instance, in Denmark itself; where trunks of trees, especially firs, have been dug up, precisely as in the Scotch Highlands. They are the produce of vegetative processes in the pre-historical times; and the apparent scorching has been produced either by accidental fires, or more, probably, by the simple mode of felling trees in use among the aboriginal inhabitants of Europe; who, like certain savage tribes at the present day, for want of metal tools, were obliged to burn the trunks of trees which they wished to fell.

By way of amends, the Danes have now and then the honour of being regarded in the Highlands as having been the teachers of the natives. One of the first jarls of the Orkneys was, according to the legends, called by the name of Torf Einar, because he was the first who caused turf to be dug on a point of land (Torfnæs) in Scotland. This promontory, probably the present Tarbet Ness, was at all events either in Caithness or Sutherland; and it is certainly a remarkable coincidence, that the common people of that district still relate that “the Danes” taught them to burn turf. We likewise hear at times that “the Danes” taught the use of hand querns, or hand-mills; nay, even that the favourite national instrument of the Highlanders, the bagpipes, was originally introduced by the Danes. In short, if anything, whether good or bad, be of doubtful origin, it is frequently attributed to “the Danes.”

But it is peculiar to the north-western and most remote districts of the Highlands, that the common people still harbour no small degree of dread lest “the Danes” should return, and repeat their cruel devastations. About thirty years ago (according to J. Loch, “An Account of the Improvements on the Estate of the Marquis of Stafford,” London, 1820, 8vo.), English engineers were employed in measuring all the heights in Sutherland. This caused much sensation among the natives, who thought that these engineers were sent by the Danes to make maps and plans of the country, previously to the arrival of the Danish army. They imagined that the king of Denmark had an old feud with the Mackays, and that he was now coming to take a sanguinary revenge on the whole clan.

During my stay in Sutherland I had repeated occasion to convince myself not only that the fear of the Danes has not yet died away there, but also that tradition has connected with them things with which they had nothing whatever to do.

Close outside the town of Dornoch, on the east coast of Sutherland, there stands a stone pillar in an open field, which is simply the remains of one of those crosses so frequently erected, in Roman Catholic times, in market-places. As a matter of course, the arms of the jarls of Sutherland are carved on one side of the stone, and on the other are the arms of the town—a horse-shoe. Tradition, however, will have it that the pillar was erected in remembrance of a battle fought on this spot, in which the Jarl of Sutherland commanded against “the Danes.” In the heat of the battle, while the Jarl was engaged in personal combat with the Danish chief, his sword broke; but in this desperate situation he was lucky enough to lay hold of a horse-shoe that accidentally lay near him, with which he succeeded in killing his adversary. The horse-shoe is said to have been adopted in the arms of the town in remembrance of this feat. In the cathedral church of Dornoch is a carved stone monument of the middle ages, representing one of the ancient bishops who once resided in Dornoch. He also is said to have fallen in the same battle, but my authority, the person who showed me over the church, added:—“I am proud to tell that the Danes were defeated.”

Having employed myself in examining, among other things, the many so-called “Danish” or Pictish towers on the west and north-west coast of Sutherland, the common people were led to believe that the Danes wished to regain possession of the country, and with that view intended to rebuild the ruined castles on the coasts. The report spread very rapidly, and was soon magnified into the news that the Danish fleet was lying outside the sunken rocks near the shore, and that I was merely sent beforehand to survey the country round about; nay, that I was actually the Danish King’s son himself, and had secretly landed. This report, which preceded me very rapidly, had, among other effects, that of making the poorer classes avoid, with the greatest care, mentioning any traditions connected with defeats of the Danes, and especially with the killing of any Dane in the district, lest they should occasion a sanguinary vengeance when the Danish army landed. Their fears were carried so far that my guide was often stopped by the natives, who earnestly requested him in Gaelic not to lend a helping hand to the enemies of the country by showing them the way; nor would they let him go till he distinctly assured them that I was in possession of maps correctly indicating old castles in the district which he himself had not previously known. This, of course, did not contribute to allay their fears; and it is literally true, that in several of the Gaelic villages, particularly near the firths of Loch Inver and Kyle-Sku, we saw on our departure old folks wring their hands in despair at the thought of the terrible misfortunes which the Danes would now bring on their hitherto peaceful country.

The Hebrides.—The Northern Isles: Lewis and Harris; (Næs);Skye.—Ossian’s Songs.—Iona.

The Hebrides.—The Northern Isles: Lewis and Harris; (Næs);

Skye.—Ossian’s Songs.—Iona.

The rocky western coast of the Highlands south of Sutherland was not, as I before mentioned, permanently inhabited by the Norwegians. They had, indeed, regular settlements on the west coast, but these were on the islands. They were here secure from the sudden attacks of the Gaels, or Highlanders, who, generally speaking, would scarcely have ventured out on a sea which then swarmed with Vikings. The farther, therefore, the islands were from the mainland, so much the more secure would the Norwegian settlers be, and so much the greater, in effect, did their colonies become. By degrees they settled themselves on all the islands along the west coast, from Lewis to Man, which they called under one name, “Suðreyjar,” or the southern islands, from their situation with regard to the Orkneys and Shetland Isles. Sometimes, however, they did not reckon Man among them, and then divided the rest of the islands into two groups, in such a manner, that only the islands to the south of Mull were called “Suðreyar,” whilst Mull itself, and the islands to the north, obtained the name of “Norðreyar.” The Irish, and the rest of the Gaels, on the contrary, after the conquest of the islands by the Norwegians, called them “Inis Gâl” (the foreigners’ isles).

The most northern and largest of the northern isles was the extensive one which forms the present Lewis and Harris (the “Ljóðhus” of the Sagas). It is separated from Scotland by the broad, stormy, and troubled channel called the Minch. The southern part of it only, or Harris, where the mountains reach the height of between two and three thousand feet, can be called mountainous, for the rest of the island is rather flat, devoid of wood, and covered with heaths and moors. Some good arable land is, however, to be met with here and there along the coasts. Even in very early times this island was very densely inhabited by the Gaels, of which, among other things, some immense rows of stones, near Callernish, bear witness. In like manner, the Norwegians must, at a later date, have had considerable colonies in it. On this head we must not, of course, implicitly rely on the numerous traditions related by the common people about the landing of “the Danes,” their rising power, and subsequent overthrow. But, what is more certain, the names of not fewer than about ten large lakes in the island still retain the Norwegian terminationvat(“vatn,” Vand, water); and three of the largest are called Loch Langavat (the long water). Several coves (Vige) in Harris are calledvagh(“vagr”); as Groesavagh, Flodavagh; and in Lewiswick, as Sandwich (Sandvig;Eng., Sand-bay), and Norwich (Nordvig;Eng.North-bay). To these may be added a great number of Norwegian names of places ending instraorsta(staðr, stead); as Little Scarristra, Meickle Scarristra (Harris); Erista, Mangersta (Lewis); inbost(bolstaðr), as, in Harris, Nisibost, Hagabost, Chillibost; and in Lewis, Callbost, Habost, Luirbost, Crossbost, Melbost, Garrabost, and others (in all about thirteen). Further, we find such names as Laxay (Laxá, Laxaa;Eng., Salmon river), Laxdale, Nether Holm and Upper Holm, Tong (túnga), &c. These Norwegian names of places are met with as well towards the south and west as on the east coast, where they are most numerous about Loch Seaforth (Sæfjörðr), and in the vicinity of the little town of Stornoway. But they are chiefly concentrated at one point, the most northern in the island, in a district which still retains the pure Norwegian name of “Ness.”

On this Naze, or promontory, are the lakes Langavat and Steapavat; the valleys Dibidale, Eorodale, North Dell, and South Dell; the manors and towns Skegersta, Swainbost, Habost, Cross, and at the farthest extremity Oreby or Eoropie (“Eyribœr,” the town on the Eir or Naze?); with the adjacent headland of Raven, which may possibly have been called after Odin’s sacred bird. At all events, there is good ground for assuming, from these names of places, that the promontory had a pre-eminently Norwegian population, which, indeed, is unmistakably apparent even at the present day.

Throughout Harris and Lewis, for instance, the Gaelic inhabitants are small, dark-haired, and in general very ugly. But no sooner do we arrive at Ness, than we meet with people of an entirely different appearance. Both the men and women have in general lighter hair, taller figures, and far handsomer features. I visited several of their cabins, and found myself surrounded by physiognomies so Norwegian, that I could have fancied myself in Scandinavia itself, if the Gaelic language now spoken by the people, and their wretched dwellings, had not reminded me that I was in one of those poor districts in the north-west of Europe where the Gaels or Celts are still allowed a scanty existence. The houses, as in Shetland, and partly in Orkney, are built of turf and unhewn stones, with a wretched straw or heather roof, held together by ropes laid across the ridge of the house, and fastened with stones at the ends. The houses are so low, that one may often see the children lie playing on the side of the roof. The family and the cattle dwell in the same apartment, and the fire, burning freely on the floor, fills the house with a thick smoke, which slowly finds its way out of the hole in the roof. The sleeping-places are, as usual, holes in the side walls.

It is but a little while ago that the inhabitants of the Naze, who are said to have preserved faint traditions of their origin from Lochlin (called also in Ireland, Lochlan), or the North, regarded themselves as being of better descent than their neighbours the Gaels. The descendants of the Norwegians seldom or never contracted marriage with natives of a more southern part of the island, but formed among themselves a separate community, distinguished even by a peculiar costume, entirely different from the Highland Scotch dress. Although the inhabitants of Ness are now, for the most part, clothed like the rest of the people of Lewis, I was fortunate enough to see the dress of an old man of that district, which had been preserved as a curiosity. It was of thick coarse woollen stuff, of a brown colour, and consisted of a close-fitting jacket, sewn in one piece, with a pair of short trousers, reaching only a little below the knees. It was formerly customary with them not to cover the head at all. In a carefully compiled Scotch and English guide book (Anderson’s Guide, 1842) it is stated, that “The islanders of the northern part of Lewis, with their long, matted, and uncombed hair, which has never been restrained by hat or bonnet from flowing as freely in the wind as their ponies’ manes, and their true Norwegian cast of countenance, form living portraits of the ancient Norsemen. The other inhabitants are chiefly of Celtic origin.” The difference between the descendants of the Gaels and of the Norwegians is consequently so apparent that it is as striking to a Scotchman or an Englishman as to a Scandinavian.

It is said on the island that the inhabitants of Ness are more skilful fishermen and better sailors than the rest of the men of Lewis. However that may be, as a pretty numerous Norwegian population on it has long kept itself unmixed and distinct from the Gaels, it is not improbable that those men of Lewis who are related to have formerly harried Shetland, until they were entirely defeated in a great battle in Mainland, may have been inhabitants of Ness, who, after the custom of the ancient Norwegians, went on expeditions beyond sea, either to gain booty, or, more probably, to decide some old dispute by the sword. That men of Lewis, of Gaelic descent, who have never liked the sea, but, on the contrary, always feared it, should have ventured repeatedly, and in great numbers, so far as Shetland, altogether exceeds belief.

On the coasts of Lewis and Harris are several small islands, with still recognisable Norwegian names, such as Calvay (“Kálfey”), Pabbay (“Papey”), Skarpa (Skarpey), Scalpay (Skalpey), together with the places called Meathallybost, Bernera (Bjarnarey), and others. In the south-west there are three large islands in a row; North Uist, Benbecula, and South Uist (in the Sagas “Ivist”), where there are also evident traces of a Norwegian population. A small island to the west of North Uist is called Kirkibost (Kirkjubolstaðr); on Benbecula there are the lakes Loch Ollevate and Langavat, as well as theVaage, or inlets, Uskevagh, Kenlerevagh, and Riavagh; and on South Uist there are likewise lakes and inlets calledvatandvagh; to which may be added such names of places as Frobast, Kirkidale, Hillisdale, and lastly, a mountain called Heckla, probably from the well-known volcanic mountain in Iceland. In a bay in the middle of South Uist are the islands Calvay and Pabbay. There is still a great number of small isles on the coasts of these islands, whose names in a greater or less degree all betray their Norwegian origin; for instance, Grimsa (“Grimsey”), Barra (“Barey”), Lingay (“Lyngey”), Hellesay (“Hellisey”), Eriskay (“Eiriksey”), and others. The Norwegians must even have visited the little island of St. Kilda, which lies about eighty miles west of Lewis; at least, two of the often-mentioned and peculiarly Scandinavian bowl-formed brooches have been discovered on the island; one of them I have seen in the Andersonian Museum, in Glasgow. Similar brooches were also found, with a skeleton, in the island of Sangay, between Harris and North Uist.

To the east of North and South Uist is the large island of Skye (“Skið”), separated from the Highland mainland by a narrow sound (“Skiðsund”). Between its more northern part and the mainland, where the sea is broader, are the islands of Rona, Raasay (“Hrauneyjar”), Scalpa (“Skálpey”), Pabba (“Papey”), and Longa (“Langey”). Skye, towards the south, is remarkable for its numerous and lofty mountains, whose beautiful forms are visible at a great distance. Towards the north the island becomes gradually flatter and broader. In the west and north-west parts it is indented by deep firths, round which are to be found the most fertile districts in the island. The east coast, on the contrary, is not so capable of cultivation, as it has large tracts of moorland heath and sand. The Norwegians, therefore, advisedly chose to settle on the western and north-western firths, which, besides being more fertile, were not so exposed to the attacks of the Gaels as the eastern and south-eastern coast, which very nearly approach the mainland. Not a few Scandinavian names of places may be still clearly recognised near Loch Snizort, such as Scuddeburgh, Skabost, Braebost, and, near a waterfall, Forscachregin (the NorwegianForswith a Gaelic termination). By Dungevan Loch are the inlets Kilmaluag and Altivaig, and the villages Husabost, Collbost, and Nisabost. By Loch Bracadale (the “Vestrifjorðr” of the Sagas) are Fors, Orbost, Collbost, and Eabost. By Loch Harporth, Carabost; and by Loch Eynort, Husedalebeg and Husedalemore; which latter, in a mixture of Norwegian and Gaelic, signify little and great Huusdal (Housedale); and, with a similar mixture, Ghionaforsenary. A little more inland is the valley of Tungadelebeg, where the Gaelic beg (little) is added to the Norwegian Tungadal.

From the frequent Gaelic terminations and corruptions of the Norwegian names, it is sufficiently evident that the Norwegian language has lost its former dominion in the island, and that the Gaelic has resumed its ancient pre-eminence. The western districts of Skye, as well as the previously-mentioned Norderöer, or northern islands, from Lewis to Barrahead (which last are often called under one name, “the Long Island”), are precisely those places in the Highlands where the Gaelic tongue is most unmixed, and where the greatest quantity of old Gaelic traditions and songs still survives among the people. It was here also, that a great number of the world-renowned songs of Ossian were first composed. It is true we no longer hear the people sing them, but there can nevertheless be scarcely any doubt, particularly if we regard the perceptible traces of the ancient metre in the Gaelic texts, that the so frequently and warmly disputed edition by Macpherson is really founded on ancient songs, although these may have been somewhat altered by lapse of time, and by a not very happy translation. They have quite a peculiar interest for the Scandinavian North, from the striking agreement in tone and spirit which they present to several of the songs of the Sagas and Edda. These last, again, afford a strong proof of the genuineness of those attributed to Ossian, since the songs of the Sagas and Edda, at the time when Macpherson published his Ossian, were either not at all, or but very imperfectly known, even in Scandinavia itself, not to speak of other countries. The real age of Ossian’s songs is very uncertain, and very difficult to discover; but this much is clear, that they indicate a lively intercourse between Alba (Scotland) and Lochlin (Scandinavia), long before the times of the Vikings, and previously to all historical accounts of connections between those countries. We cannot, however, venture to conclude from this that the Orkneys, or any other part of Scotland, were at so early a period inhabited by a Scandinavian people. That such a colonization should really have taken place before the time of the Vikings, which began at the close of the eighth century, there are not only wanting historical and archæological proofs, but likewise all internal probability.

Mull (“Myl”) is the largest of the most southern Norderöer, or northern islands, but it is not richest in memorials of the Northmen. In the narrow strait or sound (“Mylarsund”) which separates the island from the mainland, there lies straight before Tobermory, the most important place in the island, the little island of Calve (“Mylarkálfr”); and somewhat farther south of Tobermory, on a rivulet by the coast, are the ruins of the palace of Aros (from “árós;”Dan., Aarhus, the mouth of the rivulet or Aa), once frequently inhabited by the rulers of these islands, called “Lords of the Isles.” Another river in Mull, well stocked with fish, was formerly called Glenforsay (Monro, “Description of the Western Isles,” 1594), from the Norwegian “forsá” (Fosaa;Eng., Waterfall-river), to which the Gaelicglenhas since been added. With the exception, perhaps, of Assapoll (from-bol), in the south-west, the island has no Norwegian names of places. Of such names, however, several are to be met with on the islands west of Mull, particularly on Coll (“Kóln”), where we find Crossapull, Gisapoll (frombol), Arnabost (-bolstaðr), and Balehough; and on Tiree, Tyrvist, together with Kirkapoll, Heylipoll, Vassipoll, and Crossipoll. In the bay formed by Mull, towards the west, are found many small islands with originally Norwegian names, such as Ulva (“Ulfey”), together with Soriby, Gometra (“Guðmundarey”), and Staffa (“Stafey”), so famed for its stalactic caverns.

But of all the Hebrides, none is more renowned than Iona (Ithona, “the Waves’ Island”), or Icolmkill, “the island with Columba’s cells,” which lies in the open Atlantic, near the south-west point of Mull. It is not distinguished either by size and fertility or by numerous and splendid ruins; it is now but an inconsiderable island, with some few remains of churches, conventual buildings, and ancient Christian sepulchral monuments. But about thirteen centuries ago it was the light of the western world; for, after St. Columba settled there, it became the central point whence Christianity diffused itself towards the east and north, over Scotland and the surrounding islands. Iona thus obtained such repute for sanctity, that it was said that a deluge which was to overwhelm Ireland, and the islands round about, would have no power to inundate it. Tradition adds, that, for this reason, the ancient Irish, Scotch, and Norwegian kings, besides many other chiefs and mighty men, both at home and abroad, chose Iona as their place of burial; and that at the commencement of the sixteenth century, no fewer than three hundred and sixty splendid stone crosses, or tombstones, were still to be found on the island, which, however, with some few exceptions, have now entirely disappeared.

According to an old description of the island, by Dean Monro (1594), there was to the north of the Scotch graves an inscription, which ran thus:—“Tumulus regum Norwegie,” or, “the tombe of the Kings of Norroway, in the quhilk tombe, as we find in our ancient Eriske cronickells, there layes eight Kings of Norroway, and also we find in our Eriske cronickells, that Coelus, King of Norroway, commandit his nobils to take his bodey and burey it in Colmkill, if it chancit him to die in the isles; bot he was so discomfitit, that ther remained not so many of his army as wold burey him there.” By the kings of Norway here mentioned we must of course understand only the kings of the Sudreyjar, or southern islands, and the Irish kings of Norwegian descent. It is in itself very probable that these kings often desired to be buried in Iona, where the first bishops of the proper Sudreyjar, “the bishops of the isles,” dwelt, and whose church of St. Mary was consequently the chief church in the islands. The tombs of the kings, however, can at present scarcely be pointed out with certainty; we only know that they must have been in the large and still visible burial-place consecrated to St. Oran. On this place there is likewise a little chapel consecrated to the same saint, which, according to the opinion of some, is of Norwegian workmanship—a point, however, which must be very doubtful.

In the chapel are to be seen the remains of a carved monument erected in the year 1489 to Lachlan Mackinnon (Mac Fingon), and on it, underneath the inscription, is a ship, which is still to be found in the family arms of the Mackinnons, but which is said to have been originally the heraldic bearing of the Norwegian kings in the Isle of Man.

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