An Account of the Danes and Norwegians in England, Scotland, and IrelandWorsaae, Jens Jacob Asmussen
History
An Account of the Danes and Norwegians in England, Scotland, and Ireland
Worsaae, Jens Jacob Asmussen
Great Britain -- Civilization -- Scandinavian influences; Northmen -- Great Britain; Northmen -- Ireland
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 the _Vaage_, or inlets, Uskevagh,
Kenlerevagh, and Riavagh; and on South Uist there are likewise lakes and
inlets called _vat_ and _vagh_; 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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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