[MR] Wikipedia: Queen Margaret's Dowry

[Garth Groff via Atlantia]

Noble Friends, Especially Fellow Scots:

Scotland came to control the Orkney and Shetland Islands through most 
unusual circumstances. In 1460 King Christian I of Norway and Denmark 
agreed to marriage of his daughter Margaret to King of the Scots James 
III. A substantial dowry was agreed in 1468, but Christian was very 
short of cash. He offered control of the two island chains until such 
time as he could cough up the money, in effect pawning them to James. 
Well, he never did pay up. When James and Margaret were married in 1469, 
defacto ownership of the islands passed to the Scottish crown, and was 
formalized in 1470.

Initially control of Orkney and Shetland was left in the hands of 
William Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Orkney, a Scot who had owed allegiance to 
Christian for the islands. In 1472, King James annexed the islands 
directly to the crown. Sinclair was given Caithness on the Scottish 
mainland in compensation, and became the 1st Earl of Caithness.

You can read about Margaret of Denmark and her troubled marriage at 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_of_Denmark,_Queen_of_Scotland .

Like most of the Stewarts, James was an ineffective king. A brief bio of 
James III can be found at 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_III_of_Scotland .

Information about the Orkneys is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orkney 
. Similar history of the Shetlands is at 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shetland .

Yours Aye,


Mungo Napier, A Proud Scot