Scotland under her early kings, Volume 1 (of 2) : $b a history of the kingdom to the close of the thirteenth centuryRobertson, Eben William
History
Scotland under her early kings, Volume 1 (of 2) : $b a history of the kingdom to the close of the thirteenth century
Robertson, Eben William
Scotland -- History -- To 1603
Six months had barely elapsed since the death of David before the
evil consequences of a minority became apparent, and the peace of
Scotland was again disturbed by the attempts of the Moray family
upon the Crown. Malcolm Mac Heth, the head of the race, had married
a sister of Somerled Mac Gillebride, the ancestor of the Lords of
Argyle, an energetic and ambitious chieftain, who raised the power of
the _Oirir-Gael_ to a height hitherto unexampled, and who now
sought still further to increase that power by establishing one of his
sister’s children upon the throne. [Sidenote: 1st Nov.] Upon the very
day on which the King of England and the Duke of Normandy solemnly
pledged their mutual faith to the ratification of a lasting peace, the
storm burst over the south-western coasts of Scotland, and a desultory
war seems to have lingered throughout the ensuing winter, amidst the
mountains of the west, until an offer of the kingdom of the Isles, in
the following year, called away the most formidable supporter of the
rebellion.[377]
[Sidenote: A. D. 1103.]
When the death of the Norwegian Magnus relieved the Islands from the
dominion of his son Sigurd, Man again reverted to its former ruler
Lagman Godfreyson, though the remainder of his reign was disturbed
by the unceasing attempts of his brother Harald to obtain a share in
the government. Harald, at length falling into his brother’s hands,
was punished by the loss of his eyes; [Sidenote: A. D. 1108.] and
soon afterwards, Lagman, filled with remorse at his own cruelty,
undertook an expiatory pilgrimage to Jerusalem, which he never lived
to accomplish. At the date of his death, his youngest brother, Olave,
was residing at the English Court; but the nobility of the Islands,
passing him over, apparently on account of his extreme youth, solicited
the appointment of a regent, or guardian to the youthful heir, from the
Irish king Murketagh O’Brien; who, gladly acceding to their request,
dispatched his brother’s son, Donald Mac Teige, to fill that office
during the minority of Olave. Donald had already given considerable
trouble in his own country, and a desire to get rid of an impracticable
kinsman may have had its weight in the selection of Murketagh; but
three years of mis-government exhausted the patience of the Manxmen,
the regent was expelled in a general rising, and a successor was this
time sought for, in the opposite direction, from Norway. [Sidenote: A.
D. 1111.] The change was hardly for the better, for Ingemund, the next
governor, impatient at the idea of filling a subordinate situation, on
his arrival at the Lewis, summoned the chieftains of the Northern Isles
to meet upon a stated day, and choose him for their king. He and his
Norwegians, however, conducted themselves in the meantime with such
unrestrained licentiousness, that the Islesmen, carefully guarding the
outlets, set fire to the residence of their king-elect, who perished
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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