Part 3

The Scottish Gaels who settled in Orkney were, in accordance with the Saga, in some cases undesirable adventurers, of evil reputation, loose habits, glib, mischief-makers, oath-breakers, witches and wizards. They do not appear to have endowed their offspring with traits other than their own, combined with a personal appearance which is usually described as unattractive.

Gaelic names of residents in Orkney first make their appearance in the late eleventh century in the family of Hávarðr Gunnason, who was probably a Caithness Gael.

The differentiation between the Norwegians and the mixed Gaelic-Norse race in Orkney, is unmistakably brought into prominence in the middle of the twelfth century, when the Norwegian contingent of the famous crusade, which wintered in Orkney, got on so ill with the islanders that it resulted in murder and bloodshed about love and mercantile affairs.

The earls who were of Gaelic descent in the female line, while exhibiting Gaelic features, were also good rulers and great warriors, whose exploits provided good copy for the _Orkneyinga-Saga_, which was probably written down by Icelanders. The Gaelic admixture of blood in Orkney does not appear to have produced any literary or poetic talent such as it did in Iceland.

As mentioned in a previous paper,[11] the _Orkneyinga saga_ consists of only two complete sagas, viz. (1) _Jarlasögur_, earls’ sagas, the history of earl Þorfinnr hinn ríki and his joint earls--his brothers, and his nephew, Rögnvaldr Brúsason, 1014-1064, and (2) _Rögnvalds saga hins helga_, the story of earl St. Rögnvaldr, 1136-1158, brought down to the death of Sveinn Ásleifarson, 1171. The first of these sagas is prefaced with a summary of the sagas of the preceding earls, 872-1014, of which none have been preserved, while the second is prefaced with a summary of the sagas of the earls, 1064-1136, the period between the first and the second sagas, of which we have preserved St. Magnús’s saga, 1108-1116. The saga of earl Haraldr Maddaðarson, 1139-1206, is partly preserved in the second saga, and in _Flateyjarbók_.

[11] _Saga-Book_, 1914.

As regards Orkney poets, earl Torf-Einarr, the skáld, was a Norwegian by birth and family, with a thrall mother, probably Finnish, from which admixture of Norse and dark races he probably derived his ugly appearance and poetic genius.

Earl St. Rögnvaldr, the skáld, was also a Norwegian by birth, and the son of a Norwegian father, while his mother was an Orkney woman of Gaelic extraction. Bishop Biarni, the skáld, was the only Orkney born poet, but his father was also a Norwegian, and his mother an Orkney woman of Gaelic extraction. It is just possible that these two last-named skálds derived their poetic inspiration from just the right dash of Gaelic descent.

All the other poets, whose compositions are recorded in the saga, were Icelanders: Arnórr Jarlaskáld, Hallr, etc. It goes without saying that Orcadians and Shetlanders must have been, like their fellow Norsemen of the period, improvisers, whose verses, although referred to, have not been preserved.

There were only two Orkney saints, viz., earls Magnús and Rögnvaldr, the one was martyred and the other assassinated, and both of them had very little Gaelic blood.

It is a question whether Orkney and Shetland, with their Christian Picts and heathen Norse, in the seventh, eighth and ninth centuries, were the birth-place of some of the Edda lays; and whether any of these lays were current there, as oral tradition, and taken down in writing in the twelfth century by earl St. Rögnvaldr and his Icelandic skálds. The solitary preservation and use of many Edda poetic words in Shetland is significant. The first notices we have of writing in the saga are in 1116, when Kali Kolsson, afterwards (1136), earl Rögnvaldr Kali, in a verse, numbered among his accomplishments, _bók_, reading and writing, and, in 1152, when earl Erlendr produced king Eysteinn’s _bréf_, letter, at the þing in Kirkjuvágr.

With regard to person-names, it will have been noted that the Norse earls in the male line, although half Gaels, always gave their children Norse names, while the Gaelic earls, who were only of slight Norse descent, gave their children Norse, Gaelic and English names. So that the gœðingar and other leading families of the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, who also gave their children Norse, Gaelic and English names, were therefore probably, like the Gaelic earls, also of Gaelic descent in the male line. This is also in accordance with the known practice of other Gaelic settlers in Iceland, etc.

The non-Norse characteristics of persons of Gaelic descent are most pronounced--black hair, swarthy complexion, quarrelsome, given to witchcraft, pawky and glib, oath-breakers, etc., which perhaps point to the Iberian element rather than to the true Gael; and that in comparison with the Norse--fair-haired, accomplished and well-bred, generous, makers of hard bargains, which they, however, kept, true to their word, etc.

It must be remembered that these comparative characteristics are the observations of the Norsemen themselves, who wrote the saga, probably Icelanders, and therefore, presumably, exaggerated in their own favour. They are valuable, however, in placing beyond doubt the large strain of non-Norse people who lived in Orkney.

It has been shown that the Gaelic earls, 1139-1350, adopted Norse patronymics, and that all persons in Orkney and Shetland before 1350 used Norse patronymics, including the numerous Gaelic families, which must have settled in the islands. There was no other alternative, just as it was, conversely, the case in the Hebrides, where the Gaels predominated, and where their language prevailed, and was adopted by the Norsemen. Here the Norse _Goðormsson_ became Gaelic _M’Codrum_, _Þorketilsson_: _M’Corcodail_, _Ivarsson_: _M’Iamhair_, etc., etc. Compare also the case in Ireland.

Gaelic names in Orkney and Shetland in their Norse form have already been dealt with.

The blending of Norse and Gael in the Hebrides does not appear to have been more successful than in Orkney, since we find, in 1139, that earl Rögnvaldr said that most Suðreyingar were untrue, and even Sveinn Ásleifarson put little faith in them.

The use of Norse names and patronymics by the leading Gaels in Caithness, who are alone mentioned in the Saga, is accounted for by the fashion set by their Norse earls, as well as through the influence of Norse marriages. While the leading people must have been bilingual, speaking Norse (the court language), and Gaelic, the _almúgi_, or common people, appear to have maintained their native Gaelic. This is indicated in two striking instances in the Saga. In 1158, earls Haraldr and Rögnvaldr went from Þórs-á up Þórs-dalr and took _gisting_, night quarters, at some _erg_, which “we call _setr_.” The local Gaelic name of such a shieling was _àiridh_, E. Ir. _airge_, _áirge_. In 1152, earl Haraldr, who was living at Víkr, dispersed his men _á veizlur_, _i.e._, quartered them on various houses, in accordance with the obligations of the householders, during Páskar, Easter; then the Katnesingar said that the earl was on _kunn-mið_. Vigfússon suggested that this word was some corrupt form of a local name; Dasent translated it “visitations,” and Goudie “guest-quarters,” which is correct, as _kunn-mið_ must be Gaelic, _comaidh_, a messing, eating together, E. Ir. _commaid_; _cf._ Gaelic _coinne_, _coinneamh_, a supper, a party, to which everyone brings his own provisions, E. Ir. _coindem_, _cionmed_, quartering. In both these cases the E. Ir. spelling comes nearer to the Norse than the Scottish Gaelic does, and corresponds to the Scottish Gaelic of the twelfth century.

The fact that the earl had the right to quarter his men in Orkney and Shetland, is preserved in the tax, _wattle_ < _veizla_, which was paid in lieu of actual entertainment. This tax continues to be paid to this day.

“The Inhabitants of Orkney and Shetland after 1350,” will be the subject of a future paper; meanwhile it may be emphasised that the Gaelic earls of Orkney failed in the male line before the Scots began to assume permanent surnames. The Gaelic earls were succeeded, in the female line, by the Lowland-Norman family of St. Clair, bearing a hereditary surname, about the time of whose arrival began the Lowland-Scottish settlement of Orkney, to the influence of which must be attributed the assumption of the Lowland Scottish language and the adoption of place-surnames, and not fixed patronymics, in Orkney, by the Norse-Gaelic inhabitants. Shetland, being far removed from the seat of government and fashion, continued the use of patronymics until the nineteenth century, when they became fixed.

The great number of persons in Orkney and Shetland bearing the names of Tulloch and Sinclair appears to indicate that the ancestors of some of them may have been tenants of the bishopric and earldom who, in accordance with Gaelic custom, assumed the names of their lords of that ilk. The Tulloch bishops ruled, 1418-1477, and the Sinclair earls and lessees, 1379-1542, the period during which patronymics were giving place to hereditary surnames in Orkney. Tulloch and Sinclair may also have been Christian names which became stereotyped as patronymics and the “son” termination afterwards dropped, as in the case of Omondson, > Omond.

Shetlanders pride themselves in their geographic detachment from Orkney with its Scottish people and customs, and claim to be regarded as purer Norsemen as compared with the Scots of Orkney. Perhaps it is owing to this qualified humdrum purity that the Shetlanders did not achieve any deeds of sufficient interest to be recorded in the Saga. However, from an anthropological point of view, the Pictish and small dark strain is as much in evidence in Shetland as in Orkney, and perhaps more so.

In the twelfth century even an ordinary Shetland _bóndi_, farmer, had his thrall, and _manfrelsi_, giving a thrall his freedom, is mentioned as an ordinary transaction. The thrall element must therefore have formed a large proportion of the population, and intermarriage must have taken place between the Norse and the thralls. We find the earls had children by thralls, and intermarriage between the bœndr and thralls, especially the freed thralls, must also have taken place.

Persons of mixed racial descent are usually very loud in an exaggerated appreciation of the heroic line of their ancestry, especially when it is on the distaff side, usually coupled with an inverse depreciation of the other ascent which is represented by an inappropriate and inconvenient surname.

There would be no necessity for a genuine Norse islander to crow himself hoarse on his native rock; and, to do so, would indicate that there were grave doubts as to the purity of his strain.

Hitherto the Norse traditions of Orkney and Shetland have been solely espoused by outlanders and by natives bearing surnames which leave no doubt as to their foreign origin.

The most voluminous history of Shetland was written by an English tourist, Dr. Hibbert, afterwards Dr. Hibbert Ware. But then, the English are noted for their greater interest in the history and antiquities of countries other than their own, which may be accounted for by the exceptional variety of races which they represent.

But after all the land makes the man. If it had not been for these northern islands there would have been no _Orkneyinga Saga_ with its verses and narratives of stirring events.

Dr. John Rae, first honorary president of this Society, was a Scottish Gael born in Orkney (where his father had settled), an Orkneyman of Orkneymen; and to his youthful training, experience in boating, and his environment in these islands, he attributed his success in Arctic exploration.

And, moreover, it is well known that Orkney and Shetland supply the British Navy and mercantile marine with a deal more than their due share of personnel, and have given the British colonies a good supply of useful pioneers and settlers.

Transcriber's Note

The following apparent errors have been corrected:

p. 3 "_circa_," changed to "_circa_"

p. 12 "slaugher" changed to "slaughter"

The following are inconsistently used in the text:

Atholl and Athole

Ingibiörg and Ingibjörg

seaboard and sea-board

sir and Sir

slembidjákn and slembi-djákn

Svein and Sveinn

uppkvöð and upp-kvöð