During the rule of the Pictish kings the Norwegian Vikings made continual raids upon the Highlands, at first as independent pirates, but later on as vassals of Harold Harfager, the first king of all Norway. About the end of the ninth century the Norwegians became so powerful as to be able to establish a separate and independent kingdom in Orkney and the Western Isles. Parts of Ross-shire were frequently ravaged, and often held, by them. In Gairloch they have left a number of footprints in the names of places. Thus the Islands Longa and Foura exhibit the Norwegian suffix _a_, meaning an island. The Vikings used to retire during the winter months to small islands off the coast, where they laid up their vessels. The names of these two Gairloch islands, according to the Rev. Isaac Taylor, bear curious evidence to their having been the winter quarters of Vikings. The tragic legend of Isle Maree, given in the next chapter, is an episode in the career of one of these piratical princes. A large Gairloch island is named Thorisdale, after the Norse god Thor. Among other Norwegian names in Gairloch is "Sgeir," _i.e._ a detached rock; it occurs in Sgeir Bhoora, Sgeir an Fharaig, &c. So also the suffix _dale_ or _dal_ is Norwegian; it occurs in Thorisdale, Talladale, Slatadale, Erradale, Inverasdale, &c. Naast is believed to be a Norwegian name. Other Norse names are given in the Glossary. It has been supposed that the Danes did not invade the west coast, but an examination of Gairloch names shews that they were most likely here. Some of the Vikings were Danes. Mr Taylor says that the termination _aig_ signifies a small bay, and is Danish; it occurs in a number of Gairloch names (_see the Glossary_). The Danes were driven out of Scotland in 1040. There can be no doubt that both Norwegians and Danes intermarried with the people of Gairloch, and thus the native Pictish breed became a mixed race. One can almost identify Norwegian and Danish types of face in Gairloch to this day. The dominion of the Norwegian monarchs over the Hebrides and some parts of the mainland was broken by the defeat of Haco the aged king of Norway, at the battle of Largs, on 3d October 1263. His successor Magnus, in 1266, ceded the whole of the Scottish territory held by Norway (except Orkney and Shetland) to the king of Scotland. An Icelandic saga states that Ross-shire was part of the dominion of the earls of Orkney under Norway, whilst another authority regards it as part of Scotland. In all probability the wild Highlanders of Ross had never entirely submitted to either king. Though the king of Norway at this time abandoned all claim to Ross-shire, yet some tribes of Norwegian descent long afterwards held Gairloch; they were the MacBeaths and M'Leods, of whom more shortly.