[MR] BBC: Medieval Ships Carved into Scottish Church Walls

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends, especially Vikings and Fellow Scots,

Today the BBC has a short article on some graffiti showing medieval
longships carved into the wall of a Scottish church.

The carvings are found on a wall at Kilchattan Old Parish Church on the
island of Luing near Oban off the west coast of Scotland. The ruined church
is about 800 years old. Some of the carvings show ships with animal prows,
and are likely Norse "Viking" ships (though well past the true Viking era).
Others may represent similar ships belonging to the powerful MacDonald
Lords of the Isles, or to the Scottish Kings Alexander II and III.

In 1263 much of Scotland's west coast and the Hebrides islands were still
Norse territories, administered through their supposed vassals, the Lords
of the Isles. Control of the region was contested by the King of Scots
Alexander III, culminating in the Battle of Largs, which drove off the
Norse fleet. Norse King Haakon IV retreated to the Orkneys for the winter,
intending to continue military operations in the spring. Haakon soon died,
and his son and successor, King Magnus VI, had other priorities. He agreed
to sell the Norse lands to Alexander. The succeeding Lords of the Isles
remained fiercely independent (sometimes playing footsie with the English)
until finally brought to . . . uh . . . heel by James IV in 1493.

The BBC piece is mainly text and photos, but there is a mainly
Gaelic-language video attached. The video contains English commentary by
historian Seonaidh Mackenzie:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp6r40dr6ljo .

More on the Isle of Luing, with a photo of the ruined church, is found at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luing .

Yours Aye,


Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep Merry Rose relevant and in business.