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Individual Record for: Somerled MACDHOMBUILL (male)

Source:

bulkeley.txt

Notes:

Somerled was born around 1113 in Morven, Argyleshire. He was the son of Gi llebride Mac Gille Adomnan and a Viking woman. Although there is some cont ention on his ancestry, his father was apparently either of the Royal li ne of Dalriada, Gall Gael (which is Cruithni or Pict) or both. Somerled 's name means 'summer wanderer', a name used by his contemporaries to desc ribe the Vikings. For Somerled, it was a name that prophecized his life -a nd the combination of bloodlines, at least in Somerled's case, proved itse lf powerful, as he later forged a permanent spot for himself in the histo ry of the Isles and Scotland.

Sometime in Somerled's early youth, the Lochlans and the Fingalls (Cla ns or tribes) expelled Somerled's family from their home. They took refu ge in Ireland, where Gillebride managed to persuade the Colla (an Irish tr ibe) to assist him in the recovery of his possessions or holdings. A lar ge force of approximately 500 men accompanied the family home. The missi on was a failure, however, and his father either died in the battle or so on afterwards.

Somerled lived for a while in the caves of his homeland, fishing and hunti ng for his survival. Slowly he grew into manhood and became, accordi ng to the accounts; "A well tempered man, in body shapely, of a fair and p iercing eye, of middle stature and quick discernment." During this peri od of his life several things happened in quick succession which made Some rled a man of stature.

In one story, Somerled put himself at the head of the inhabitants of Morv en and attacked the Norwegians. He was successful, and recovered his famil y's lands at the same time. He then was master of Morven, Lochaber and nor thern Argyle. Soon after this he conquered the southern portions and prono unced himself Thane or Regulus of Argyle. This happened at about the sa me time as David the First's war with the Norwegians, which took pla ce in 1135, so Somerled may have received these lands in a grant from t he King.

His newfound power greatly increased his standing, but it also drew the at tention of his neighbors, the Vikings in the Isles (the Isle of Skye, t he Isle of Man and that general area). Somerled, however, still did not ha ve the force required to take on the Olaf the Red, the Viking Lord of t he Isles. Instead he chose to woo his enemy for the hand of his daughte r, Ragnhild. Eventually he succeeded (some say by trickery) in obtaining O laf's daughter's hand and the two were married in approximately 1140.

For the next fourteen years Somerled and Ragnhild lived in relative pea ce and started raising a family. Raginald gave him three sons, Dugall, Reg inald, and Angus. These sons joined his son by a previous marriage, Gillec allum.

In 1154, Olaf (Olave in some stories) was murdered by his nephews who quic kly took control of the northern half of the Kingdom of the Isles. Olaf 's son, Godfred (or Godfrey) heard of the events and returned from Norwa y, quickly regaining possession of the entire Kingdom. But Godfrey was a t yrant, and the Islemen soon revolted against his leadership. Some of the c hieftans of the Isles appealed to Somerled for help. He joined them and de feated Godfrey, in the process taking the southern half of the Kingdom f or himself. About two years later Godfrey and Somerled again went to wa r, this time Somerled was using new ships with a rudder and Godfrey was de feated again. Somerled became King of the Isles in about 1156.

At about the same time, Somerled was also campaigning in Scotland to a sma ll degree and this in combination with his new title as King of the Isl es drew the attention of its King. King Malcolm IV of Scotland was concern ed over Somerled's growing power and dispatched an army to Argyle. In 116 0, after a battle the two Kings reached an understanding and there was aga in peace. This peace was short lived however, as in late 1163, after bei ng continually insulted by Malcolm and his ministers, Somerled led an ar my against Scotland.

The King of the Isles sailed up the Clyde with 164 galleys and 15,000 troo ps to Greenock. He landed at the Bay of St. Lawrence and marched on Renfre w. There are two popular stories about what occurred in Scotland. In one v ersion, a bribed nephew murdered Somerled and the army of the Isles disper sed and went home. In the other version of the story, battle was joined be tween the Scots and the men of the Isles and Somerled was killed. His s on Gillecallum, his heir, also died during the battle. Now without a leade r, the army from the Isles dispersed and went home. In either case Somerl ed died in Scotland in very early 1164.

Somerled is generally credited with breaking the power of the Vikings in t he Isles as his descendants remained Kings of the Isles for centuries aft er his death. One of Somerled's grandsons, a Donald, is also considered t he ancestor of the Clan Donald, for his sons were the first to carry the n ame MacDonald.

The Kings of the Isles
http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/isles.html

The Kings of the Isles
Somerled 1158-1164
Dugald 1164-c.1192 (joint)
Ragnald 1164-c.1210
Donald I c.1210-1230
Uspak 1230
Dugald Screech 1230-1235 (joint)
Duncan 1230-1248
Ewen Mac Dougall 1248-1249
Dugald Mac Ruari 1249-1266

Lords of the Isles under Scottish Rule
Angus Mor the Elder 1266-1296
Alexander I 126-1299
Angus Og the Younger 1299-1330
John I 1330-1387
Donald II 1387-1423
Alexander II 1423-1449
John II1449-1493

Scottish Rule 1493-1545
Donald Dubh the Black 1545
The Lordship of the Isles finally merged with the Scottish Crown in 154 5. The title is currently held by the heir to the British throne.



Taken from History of the Clan McDonald: The Families of MacDonald, McDona ld and McDonnell , By Henry Lee, New York, R. L. Polk and Company, INC. (C opyright 1920)

The important position occupied by the Clan Donald and its branches inves ts the narrative of its rise and history with unusual interest to all, b ut more especially to those of the Clan, who may well refer with pri de to their noble descent from the independent rulers of the island princi pality, the Kings of the Isles. The early history and descent of the Cl an are involved in the cloudy shades of antiquity; and its origin is conne cted with many of the most interesting questions of Scottish ethnology.

After the evacuation of Britain by the Romans, the country north of the Fi rth of Forth was occupied by a Pictish people designated the Alban Gael, w hom historians agree were of the same race as the Cruithne of Ireland, a nd whose language was a type of a modern Scottish Gaelic. This people prob ably came first to Scotland between 500 B.C. and 300 B.C. To the south, t he Scots of Dalriada occupied part of Argyll, and the country of Mull, Isl ay and the Southern Isles. The Alban Gaels or Picts, north of the Forth, w ere divided into the Northern Picts, who held the country north of the Gra mpians, and the Southern Picts. When, in 844, the Dalriads, Scots and Sout hern Picts were united in one kingdom by Kenneth MacAlpin, the Northern Pi cts remained unaffected by the union. Included in the territory occupi ed by these Picts, or Alban Gael, were the Western Islands, know to the Ga el as Innse-Gall, or the Island of the Strangers, which later formed pa rt of the dominion of the Kings of the Isles, progenitors of the Clan Dona ld. In these early days the Islands were constantly ravaged by the Norsem en and the Danes, who kept the whole western seaboard in a state of perpet ual turmoil.

"When watch fires burst across the main From Rona, and Uist and Skye, To t ell that the ships of the Dane And the red-haired slayer were nigh; Our Is lesmen rose from their slumbers, And buckled on their arms. But few, ala s! were their numbers To Lochlin's mailed swarms; And the blade of the blo ody Norse Has filled the shores of the Gael With many a floating corpse A nd many a widow's wail."

When Harold, the Fair Haired, in the year 875, constituted himself Ki ng of the whole of Norway, many of the small independent jarls, or prince s, of that country refused to acknowledge his authority, and came to the i nnse-Gall, or Western Isles. Harold pursued them, and conquered Man, the H ebrides, Shetlands, and Orkneys. The year following this conquest, the Isl es rose in rebellion against Harold, who sent his cousin Ketil to resto re order; but Ketil exceeded his instructions, and declared himself Ki ng of the Isles, being followed by a succession of Kings, until the Isl es were finally added to Scotland. Allied with these Norse sea rovers w as a Pictish people, called the Gall Gael, and Dr. Skene, the historian, c laims that from the Gall Gael sprung the ancestors of the Clan Donald. T he name Gall has always been applied by the Gael to strangers, and Skene m aintains that the Western Gaels came, by association, to resemble their No rwegian allies in characteristics and mode of life, and thus acquired t he descriptive name of Gall.

The historical founder of the Family of the Isles was Somerled, Rex Insula rum, for whom some writers have claimed a Norwegian origin, but although t he name is Norse all other circumstances point to a different conclusio n. The traditions of the Clan Donald invariably represent that he descend ed from the ancient Pictish division of the Gael, and the early histo ry of the Clan Cholla, the designation of the Clan prior to the time of Do nald, penetrates into far antiquity. Tradition takes us back to the celebr ated Irish King, Conn-Ceud Chathach, or Conn of a Hundred Fights, the hund redth "Ard Righ," or supreme King of Ireland. Conn's court was at Tara a nd he died in 157 A.D. The Scottish poet Ewen MacLachlan refers to this ea rly royal ancestor of the race of Somerled.

"Before the pomp advanced in kingly grace I see the stem of Conn's victori ous race,
Whose sires of old the Western sceptre swayed, Which all the Isles and Alb ion's half obeyed."

Fourth in descent from Conn came Eochaid Duibhlein, who married a Scotti sh Princess, Aileach, a daughter of the King of Alba. An old Irish poem de scribes the Princess as "a mild, true woman, modest, blooming till the lo ve of the Gael disturbed her, and she passed with him from the midst of Ki ntyre to the land of Uladh." Their three sons all bore the name of Chol la - Colla Uais, Colla Meann and Colla da Crich. The designation Colla w as "imposed on them for rebelling," and means a strong man, their origin al names being Cairsall, Aodh and Muredach. The three Collas went to Scotl and to obtain the assistance of their kindred to place Colla Uais on the I rish throne, and with their help placed him there, but he was compell ed to give way to a relative, Muredach Tirech, who had a better title to t he sovereignty. The three brothers then returned to Scotland , where th ey obtained extensive settlements and founded the Clan Cholla. Colla Ua is came Erc, who died in 502 A.D., leaving three sons, Fergus, Lorn and An gus. Fergus came from Ireland to Scotland and founded in Argyllshire the K ingdom of Dalriada in Albany, which later extended and became the Kingd om of Scotland. At this point the Clan Donald line touches that of the Sco ttish Kings,showing their common origin and ancestry. Fergus had two son s, Domangart, the elder, who succeeded his father and was the progenit or of Kenneth Macalpin, and the line of Scottish Kings; and Godfruic h, or Godfrey, the young son, who was known as Toshach or Ruler of the Isl es, and was the progenitor of the line from which the Clan Donald sprang.

The Seannachies carry the line through several generations, through Hugh t he Fair Haired, who was inaugurated Ruler of the Isles by St. Columba in I ona, in 574, through Ethach of the Yellow Locks, and Aidan of the Golden H ilted Sword, who died in 621, down to Etach III, who |died in 733, havi ng first united the Isles after they had been alternately ruled by Chie fs of the houses of Fergus and Lorn. Kenneth MacAlpin, the first King of t he united Dalriads, Scots and Picts, +married the daughter of Godfrey, a l ater Lord of the Isles. We now arrive at the immediate ancestors of Somerl ed.

Hailes in his Annals related that, in >973, Marcus, King of the Isles; Ken neth, King of the Scots, and Malcolm, King of the Cambri, entered into a b ond for mutual defense. Then followed Gilledomman, the grandfather of Some rled. Gilledomnan was driven from the Isles by the Scandinavians, and di ed in Ireland, where he had taken refuge. His son, Gillebride, who had go ne to Ireland with his father, obtained the help of the Irish of the Cl an Cholla, and, landing in Argyll, made a gallant attempt to expel the inv aders. The Norsemen proved too strong, and Gillebride was compelled to hi de in the woods and caves of Morven. At this time, when the fortunes of t he Clan were at the lowest ebb, there arose a savior in the person of o ne of the most celebrated of Celtic heroes, Somerled, the son of Gillebrid e. He was living with his father in the caves of Morven and is describ ed in an ancient chronicle as "A well tempered man, in body shapel y, of a fair and piercing eye, of middle stature and quick discernment." H is early years were passed in hunting and fishing; "his looking glass w as the stream; his drinking cup the heel of his shoe; he would rather spe ar a salmon than spear a foe; he cared more to caress the skins of seals a nd otters than the shining hair of women.

At present he was as peaceful as a torch or beacon - unlit. The hour was c oming when he would be changed, when he would blaze like a burnished torc h, or a beacon on a hilltop against which he wind is blowing." But when t he Isles' men, over whom his ancestors had ruled, were in dire need of a l eader Somerled came forward in his true character. A local tradition in Sk ye tells that the Islesmen held a council at which they decided to offer S omerled the chiefship, to be his and his descendants forever.

They found Somerled fishing, and to him made their offer. Somerled replie d, "Islesmen, there is a newly run salmon in the black pool yonder. If I c atch him, I will go with you as your Chief; if I catch him not, I shall re main where I am." The Islemen, a race who believed implicitly in omens, we re content, and Somerled cast his line over the black pool. Soon after a s hining salmon leapt in the sun, and the skilful angler had the silvery fi sh on the river bank. The Islemen acclaimed him their leader, and as su ch he sailed back with them "over the sea to Skye," where the people joyou sly proclaimed that the Lord of the Isles had come. Such a tradition in Sk ye. Other accounts say that the scene of Somerled's first achievements w as in Morven, and his conquest of the Isles later.

Somerled, Rex Insularum, took his place as a leader of men, from whom desc ended a race of Kings, a dynasty distinguished in the stormy history of t he Middle Ages, who ranked themselves before the Scottish Kings.

The young hunter uprose a mighty warrior, who with dauntless courage and i nvincible sword struck terror into the hearts of his foes. Nor did he depe nd along on his matchless courage. In one of his first encounters with t he Norse invaders he made full use of that "quick discernment" ascrib ed to him by the early chronicler. It happened that while on a small isla nd with a following of only one hundred Islemen, he was surrounded by t he whole Norwegian fleet, and, realizing that his small force was utter ly inadequate to resist their attack, conceived a clever stratagem to det er the norsemen from landing on the island. Each of his men was order ed to kill a cow, and this having been done, and the cows skinned, Somerl ed ordered his little force to march round the hill on which they lay enca mped; which having been done, in full view of the enemy, he then made th em all put on the cowhides to disguise themselves, and repeat the march ro und the hill. He now ordered his men to reverse the cowhides, and for a th ird time march round the hill, thus exhibiting to the Norsemen the appeara nce of a force composed of three divisions. The ruse succeeded, for the en emy fleet withdrew.

Somerled prosecuted the war into the heart of the enemy's country; and hav ing gained possession of the mainland domain of his forefathers, he took t he title of Thane or Regulus of Argyll, determining to obtain possessi on of the Kingdom of Man and the Isles and thus form a Celtic Kingdom.

Olave the Red, then King of Man and the Isles, becoming alarmed at the inc reasing power of Somerled, arrived with a fleet in Storna Bay. The "qui ck discernment" of Somerled again proved equal to the occasion. He was des irous of obtaining the hand of Olave's daughter, Ragnhildis, in marriag e, and went to meet the King of Man. Somerled wishing to remain unkno wn to Olave, said, "I Come from Somerled, Thane of Argyll, who promis es to assist you in your expedition, provided you bestow upon him the ha nd of your daughter, Ragnhildis." Olave, however, recognized Somerled, a nd declined his request. Tradition says that Somerled was much in love wi th the fair Ragnhildis, and considering all is fair in love and war, agre ed to the following plan to obtain her father's consent:

Maurice MacNeill, a foster brother of Olave, but also a close friend of So merled, bored several holes in the bottom of the King's galley, making pi ns to plug them when the necessity arose, but meanwhile filled the holes w ith tallow and butter. When, next day, Olave put to sea, the action of t he water displaced the tallow and butter, and the galley began to sink. Ol ave and his men in the sinking galley called upon Somerled for aid. who se nt to his marriage with Ragnhildis. The promise was given, Olave found saf ety in Somerled's galley, Maurice MacNeill fixed the pins he had prepar ed into the holes, and, to the King's amazement, his galley proceeded in s afety. The marriage of Somerled and Ragnhildis took place in the year >114 0. In >1154, Olave was murdered by his nephews, who claimed half the Kingd om of the Isles.

Godred, son of Olave, who was in Norway at the time, returned to the Isle s, but his tyranny and oppression caused the Islesmen to revolt, and Somer led, joining forces with them, seized half the Kingdom of the Isles, and b ecame Righ Innesegall, or King of the Isles, as well as Thane of Argyll. L ater Somerled invaded the Isle of Man, defeated Godfrey, and became posses sed of the whole Kingdom of Man and the Isles.

The power of Somerled, King of the Isles, now caused great anxiety on t he neighboring mainland, and King Malcolm IV of Scotland dispatched a lar ge army to Argyll. Somerled took up the challenge, and a hard fought batt le left both sides too exhausted to continue hostilities. Peace was establ ished between the King of Scotland and Somerled, but after suffering gre at provocation from Malcolm and his ministers, the King of the Isles aga in took up arms in >1164, and gathering a great host, 15,000 strong, wi th a fleet of 164 galleys, sailed up the Clyde to Greenock. He disembark ed in the Bay of St. Lawrence, and marched to Renfrew, where the King of S cotland's army lay. The traditional version of what then occurred is, th at feeling reluctant to join issue with the Highland host, and being numer ically inferior, Malcom's advisers determined to accomplish the death of S omerled by treachery. They bribed a young nephew of Somerled, named Mauri ce MacNeill, to visit his uncle and murder him. MacNeill was admitted to S omerled's tent, and finding him off his guard, stabbed him to the heart. W hen Somerled's army learnt of the fate of their great leader, they fl ed to their galleys and dispersed.

Tradition tells of a dramatic episode that is said to have occurred when K ing Malcolm and his nobles came to view the corpse of their late powerf ul foe. One of the nobles kicked the dead hero with his foot. When Mauri ce MacNeill, the murderer, saw this cowardly action, the shame of his o wn foul deed came upon him . He denounced his past treachery, and confess ed that he had sinned "most villainously and against his own conscience ," being "unworthy and base to do so." He stabbed to the heart the man w ho had insulted the mighty Somerled, and fled. Through one Maurice MacNei ll had Somerled won a bride, and at the hands of another Maurice MacNei ll met his death.

With regal pomp and ceremony the body of the King of the Isles was buri ed In Iona's piles, Where rest from mortal coil the mighty of the Isles.

Family tradition, however, says that the Monastery of Saddel was the fin al resting place of the mighty founder and progenitor of the line of Princ es that sat upon the Island throne, from whom descended the great Clan Don ald.



Scottish Origins..up to William Wallace, Ch.2 by Robert M. Gunn

...By the end of the 9th century the Vikings came to Scotland to raid a nd settle. It is curious that the Vikings settled so quickly in Scotland a nd Northern and east Ireland, and slower in England. Certainly resistan ce was just as fierce in Scotland and Ireland as it was in England. In gen eral none of the native Britains or English were able in any significant w ay, to stop the Northmen whatsoever. They appeared unbeatable, even when o utnumbered. However, the Scots seemed to have something in common with t he Viking and after a while intermarriages, both common and noble, with es tablished clans took place in north Scotland (Caithness and Sutherland) a nd extensively throughout the Western Isles of Scotland, called the Inn er and Outer Hebrides. To this day you can find Scottish Clans with dire ct Viking (Norse) descent. Clan Gunn in the North, Clan MacDonald of the I sles and Clan MacLeod (pronounced Mac-loud), in the west mainland and Isle s, along with other Clans (such as MacQueen and MacAulay) are of Norse-Sc ot origin. They even spoke both Norwegian and Gaelic for several centuri es in the Western Isles. All Clans of this unique heritage have a reputati on as skilled fighters who seemed to live to fight. These same Clans we re some of the earliest to use the longer swords and employ archers in the ir ranks.

The most likely reason for the massive numbers of Scandinavians looking f or new lands is attributed to overpopulation in Norway, Sweden and Denmar k, but the truth is we really don't know why the Vikings struck out.

The Norwegian or Norse Vikings, (the word Viking is believed to be deriv ed from the Norse word "vik" meaning bay - since the Vikings used the long ships so effectively in bays this seems possible), are the specific ethn ic Viking that plundered then settled in Scotland and parts of Irelan d. In about 800 A.D. they settled Jarlshof on the Shetland Islands; also L ewis, in the Hebrides, where over one hundred villages still have Norse na mes.

From the Scottish Western Isles the Norse-Scots (Gael-Galls) settled lar ge areas of Ireland; Iceland; The Isle of Skye, (next to the Scottish main land); The Isles of Lewis and Harris (lands the Clans MacLeods of Lewis a nd Harris respectively that they eventually settled), and many other islan ds in and around Scotland, Ireland, and England. Almost all of the northea st England, i.e. York, are Viking settled areas....



Argyll - Encyclopedia Britannica

also called ARGYLLSHIRE, Gaelic Earraghaidheal ("Coastland of the Gael" ), former county, western Scotland, since the reorganization of 1975 large ly in Argyll and Bute district, of Strathclyde region.

In the 2nd century AD Argyll was invaded by Scots (Celts) who came from Ir eland, then known as Scotia. The earliest Celtic settlement is assign ed to the 3rd century, when a victorious chief, Cairbre Riada, occupied la nds in the area later known as Mid Argyll. These lands, called Dalriada, w ere reinforced from time to time by new bands of immigrants from Celtic Ir eland. Dalriada developed gradually as an independent kingdom under ambiti ous rulers and maintained a separate existence until 843, when one of the m, Kenneth I MacAlpin, united the men of Dalriada with the Picts of centr al Scotland and founded a new hybrid kingdom from which Scotland ultimate ly emerged. Later, Norsemen obtained control and held sway until 1266, wh en Argyll was added to the Scottish kingdom. Prior to this, however, semi- independent chiefs of mixed Celtic and Norse ancestry acquired power in Ar gyll and the Western Isles. One of them, Somerled, really the first lo rd of the Isles, was killed near Renfrew in 1164 on an expedition again st the Scottish king, but the lordship of the Isles was held by his descen dants until 1493, when John, the last MacDonald lord of the Isles, was dep rived of his vast estates by King James IV. The Campbells of Lochow (now L ochawe) rose on the ruin of the MacDonalds, and their chiefs became ear ls of Argyll.


Notes Source: bulkeley.txt

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