CHAP. II.Of the Situation ofLapland.
The true and exact situation of this Country the Antients seem not to have sufficiently discovered.Saxomakes it bordering uponJamtia, extending its self as far, or rather lying as it were betweenHelsingiaandFinland, when in these words he saysthe Provinces of theHelsingi, Iarnberi, Iemti,with both theLappia’s,as likewiseFinniaandEstiapaid annual tribute to one Domarus.Ericus Upsaliensisseems to make it a part ofFinland, mistaking it for a certain part of that Kingdome so called, on the one side adjoining toSwedland, on the other toRussia, giving it a place betweenCareliaandNylandia.Ol. Mag.in his Table, and so his brotherJohan. Magnusin the Preface of his History, place it higher then the westernBothnia, making neighbours to itScrikfinniafurthest towards the North, andBiarmiatowards the East; though some[3]think there is no such place asScrikfinnia, as it is certain there is none in those parts at this day called by that name. But yet we must not slightly pass over the unanimous opinion of so many learned men, especiallySaxo, not a little knowing in the Northern affairs, who have all not barely named it, but have described the humours of the Inhabitants, their manners, habits and fashion of their governments, with other matters belonging to them. Instead of theScrickfinniorScricfinniofJohan.andOl. Magn.I would rather read itScritofinni; and as forSkidfinniasAdr. Buræwould have it, all the Antients, what ever else they differ in, will agree in this, that there must be anRin the word.Jornandezcalls themScretfennæ,Paul. Warnefrid.andDiacon.Scritobinichangingfinb(of which and some other things of the like nature I will treat in due time and place)Adam BremensisScritefiani: and the Greeks agree in this writing, so that we ought not to doubt of the Latines.Procopiuswill have them sometimesΣκριθιφίκους, other timesΣκριθιφίνους. Besides ’tis manifest since theScritefinniare the same with theFinni, whose Etymology in their own language is from leaping,[4]by an art they have, by which with crooked pieces of wood under their feet like a bow they hunt wild beasts; they could not therefore take their name fromSkidh, signifying the wooden shoes themselves, but from their leaping,i. e.swift running with them, which doubtless antiently was meant bySkriida, and which the Author cited byWarniusin the 46 page of his Lexicon confirms, where he relates the form of an oath made byHafur, that he would preserve the peaceQuamdiu Finnur skriidar,i. e.as long as theFinlanderscontinued their manner of leaping. As for the Etymology that is there given, that it signifies their wandring up and down, ’tis altogether false, forSkridskoat this day denotes those wooden shoes which they run upon the ice with; neither dothSkiridasignify any thing else among the Antients but to glide along the ground, for they do not take up one foot after the other, as in common running, but carrying themselves steady upon the frozen snow, they move forward stooping a little, as shall be shewn hereafter. And perhaps this is the onely cause that they are calledHimantopodes,[5]People creeping upon their knees; which agrees exactly with theseScritofinni: for they hearing thatSkriidawas to creep along, what could they fancy theScritofinnito be, but People not going like other men, but crawling forward like creeping animalls, but of this I shall speak more at large when I come to theLaplandersgliding upon the ice. That which I would chiefly evince here, is, that there are such a people rightly calledScritofinni, and the Country which they inhabit isScritofinniaorScritfinnia, and that there is no reason we should think there was no such place, since there are those who are calledScritfinni,i. e.Finlanders, who run upon the ice with wooden shoes, whose Country from thence may well be calledScritofinnia. And the same may be urged forBiarmiaagainst those that will not allow there is any such place. For first the antient Writers making frequent mention of it, as that Author of the History thereof, calls it oftenBiarmalandin the oldGothickorIslandicklanguage, who also calls the King of itHerekerin Ch. 7. and his two Sons, the oneRœrikthe otherSiggeir.Saxolikewise in his 9thbook, speaks of a certain King of this place, who reigned in the time ofRegnerKing of theDanes, making it border uponFinland, when he says the King ofBiarmiafled for refuge toMatullus, who then reigned inFinland. But now granting there were antiently such names asBiarmiaandScritfinnia, it remains doubtfull still whether they were distinct Countries or no. All Authors exceptJohan.andOl. Magn.seem to make them the same,Procop.Jornand.Paul. Warnfrid.andAdam Bremensisspeak ofScritfinnia, but none ofBiarmia, and the Northern writers do just contrary.Saxoindeed mentions them both, but not at the same time: once in his Preface he namesScritfinnia, leaving outBiarmia, in other places he namesBiarmiaomitting the other; from whence I am almost of opinion that ’tis the same Country called by native WritersBiarmia, by forreignScritfinnia. We may add further that asAdam BremensismakesScritfinnianext toHelsingia, the Author of the History ofHeraudandBosasetsBiarmiain the same place, speaking of some Woods in it, and Rivers that emty themselves into theSinus Bothnicusor bay ofGanduianext toHelsingia. And moreover as theScritfinniare a People ofFinland, which not onely their name, but an old Chorographick Table commended byGrotiusdoth intimate, distinguishing theFenniinto theScritfenniandRedefenni, so ’tis probable of theBiarmiansas well for their neighbourhood toHelsingia, of which before, as for their worshipping a God by the name ofJomala, which is aFinlandword, denoting God amongst them to this day. Moreover theBiarmianshave many other things like theFinlanders, as the Art of darting, of Magic,&c.So thatBiarmiamay be a Colony ofFinland, whose People were called by Strangers, from theirskirringalong, or gliding upon the snow,Scritofinni. But now supposing all this true, and that theBiarmiaof the Ancients, andScritfinniawere the same, ’tis a question still whetherLaplandbe distinct from them or not.Joh.andOl. Magnusin their Geographic Tables and descriptions, make them distinct Countries. But that cannot be; for ifScritfinniaandBiarmiareach one way toHelsingiaandJamtia, on the other toFinland; if they lye so near these Provinces, and extend to the Bay ofBothnia(both which have bin demonstrated before) I do not see whereLaplandcan have any place at all. And the same Authors are also mistaken in putting it South ofBiarmiaandScritfinnia, whereas the Antients placed these beyond it. For that they mean’t only byBiarmiathat which the Swedes now callTrennes, appears to be false from what has bin said before: for where are any Rivers inTrennesthat run into the Bay ofBothnia? and how is it bordering uponFinland? Wherefore contrary toJoh.andOl. Magnus, I think rather thatLaplandis the same that was first by the Inhabitants calledBiarmia, by StrangersScritfinnia, then changing the name for some of the reasons here produced, it came to beLappiaorLapponia; which beginning fromJamtiaandAngermannia, goes all about eachBothnia, and at length ends in the extremities ofCareliaandFinland, so as to comprehend all the whole tract from the North even to the main Ocean, the white Sea, and the LakeLadek, which are the very bounds of oldBiarmiaandScritfinnia. But that it went as far as the Ocean, the Antients seem not to have so well understood; nor indeedJohan.andOl. Magnus, who in those parts, have madeScritfinniaandBiarmiadifferent Countries fromLapland. So alsoDamianus Goes, who, whatever he knew ofLapland, had it from them, says it extends it self to unknown Regions, because he knew not who lived further towards the North Sea. But the Antients have placed there, besides theScritfinni, theCynocephali,Busii,Troglodytes,Pygmies,Cyclops’s,: and some others, passing by theHimantopodes, of whom we have spoken before: tho in this age none doubts but theLaplandersinhabit it all, and those who have sailed along those Coasts have met with none others butLaplanders. In fineCharlesthe 9thKing ofSwedlandin the year 1600, being desirous to know the truth of that Country, sent two famous Mathematicians,M. Aron. Forsiusa Swedish Professour, andHieronymus Birkholtena German, with instruments, and all necessaries to make what discoveries they could ofLapland; who at their return, did certify, and make it out, that beyond the Elevation of the Pole 73 degrees there was no Continent towards the North but the great frozen Sea, and that the farthest point wasNorcumorNorcap, not far from the Castle ofWardhouse. But of this distantLaplandthose that are curious may enquire at their leisure, we purpose to treat here only of that which is subject to the Government of theSwedes; and this is a vast Country, thought byPaulinusin his history of the North, of equall extent almost with allSwedlandproperly so called.Andr. Buræussays it contains in length above 100 German miles, and in breadth 90. All this Country comes now under the name ofLapland, in which all agree thatever described it; and if we would take an account of the Climate of it by this vast compass of Earth, we must begin from the 64thdegree of latitude, and so to the 71; but in longitude it must extend at least to the 27thMeridian, or more. Moreover if we will compute the longitude from journies that have bin made thither, all hitherto have unanimously put the beginning of it about the 38thdegree, and the end in the 65th. And this may suffice partly for an account of the situation ofLaplandin general; and partly of that which is subject to theSwedes.Dam. à Goes, a Knight of Portugall, sets its bounds thus in his description of Spain:Lapland is divided into the Eastern and Western part, the Bothnick Sea coming between. The extremity of it is Tornia. Eastward it reaches to the white Lake, towards the North comprehending diverse Provinces, and extends it self beyond all knowledge. On the West towards Island it joins to part of Norway, and on the other side of Norway ’tis bounded with Swedland, Finland, and both the Bothnia’s.ButOl. Petr. Nieurenconfutes this of theBothnicSea lying between; for so part ofLaplandwould lie inFinlandorOstrobothnia, part inWestrobothnia, which every one knows is false: and the very vulgar can tell so much, that theBothnicSea comes not any where within 18 or 20 miles ofLapland: tho this ought not to pass beyondDamianus’s time, sinceNieureniushimself confesses in another place, that theLaplandershad their seat about theBothnicSea, but that afterwards they were driven out, of which I shall speak hereafter. I will only add here a Table of the latitudes and longitudes of the chiefest Places, as they were taken byM. Aronis ForsiusandHieronymus BirckholtenAnn. 1600.
Longit.Latit.Uma38, 0.65, 11.Pitha40, 0.66, 14.Lula40, 30.66, 30.Tœrna42, 27.67, 0.Kimi42, 20.67, 1.Lappijærf42, 33.70, 9.Antoware44, 4.70, 26.Tenokijle46, 0.70, 50.Porsanger44, 2.71, 42.Porsanger43, 35.71, 35.Lingen37, 30.70, 30.Trænees32, 30.70, 25.Euvenes33, 35.70, 0.Titisare37, 55.69, 40.Piala41, 40.60, 15.Siguar38, 35.68, 59.Tingwar38, 0.69, 40.Rounula39, 30.69, 47.Koutokrine42, 0.69, 17.Waranger45, 0.71, 35.Lanzord45, 35.71, 26.Hwalsund42, 40.71, 12.Skrisæ38, 50.71, 18.Trumsæ35, 52.70, 55.Andaces32, 0.70, 30.Serghen32, 20.69, 3.Wardhus52, 0.71, 55.Norkaap.45, 30.72, 30.
I proceed next to the disposition and nature of the Country, having first given you a Map of it.