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Revision as of 21:55, 20 April 2006 by IP Address (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Norse-Gaels were a people who dominated much of the Irish Sea region and western Scotland for a large part of the Middle Ages, whose aristocracy were mainly of Scandinavian origin, but as a whole exhibited a great deal of Gaelic and Norse cultural syncretism. They are generally known by the Gaelic name which they themselves used, of which "Norse-Gaels" is a translation. This term is subject to are large range of variations depending on chronological and geographical differences in the Gaelic language, i.e. Gall Gaidel, Gall Gaidhel, Gall Gaidheal, Gall Gaedil, Gall Gaedhil, Gall Gaedhel, Gall Goidel, etc, etc. Other modern translations used include Scoto-Norse, Hiberno-Norse, and Foreign Gaels.
The Norse-Gaels originated in Viking colonists of Ireland and Scotland who became subject to the process of Gaelicization, whereby starting as early as the ninth century, they adopted the Gaelic language, and many other Gaelic customs, such as dress. The terminology was used both by native Irish and native Scots who wished to alienate them, and by the Norse-Gaels themselves who wished to stress their Scandinavian heritage and their links with Norway and other parts of the Scandinavian world. Gaelicized Scandinavians dominated the Irish Sea region until the Norman era of the twelfth century, founding long-lasting kingdoms, such as the Kingdom of Man, Argyll, Dublin, York and Galloway. The Lords of the Isles, a Lordship which lasted until the sixteenth century, as well as many other Gaelic rulers of Scotland and Ireland, traced their descent from Norse-Gaels.
The specific region Norse-Gaels settled in Northern England was once all of one piece and after the Norman Conquest called Richmondshire, the land which was composed of the Irish Sea's coast from the River Ribble (although some went to Cheshire) and throughout Cumbria into the Yorkshire Dales. Toponymy is often used to distinguish between these origins and Danish colonisation from the North Sea coast (see Danelaw). Although the Norwegian element is undisputed, the Celtic side is more Brythonic by tradition and continues to be an English subculture throughout the region. What he calls the "Quaker" North Midlands is discussed at depth in David Hackett Fischer's Albion's Seed, heavily overlapping the "Scotch-Irish" cultural area of North Britain for all intents and purposes. Professor Fischer expounds upon the Norse surnames and villages of the Quakers who were poor dalesmen and lived in compact, stone-built homes (much as in Ireland and the Scottish Western Isles across the water). Historian Hugh Barbour believes there were innate differences between the locals and their Norman overlords for many centuries, that the commoners were Evangelical while their landlords were Recusant. Barbour is convinced that the Norman system of feudal manors was always resented, compared to the preferred Norse method of "moots".
See also
Bibliography
- McDonald, R.A., The Kingdom of the Isles: Scotland's Western Seaboard in the Central Middle Ages, C.1000-1336' (Scottish Historical Review Monograph), (Edinburgh, 1996)
- Ó Cróinín, Dáibhí, Early Medieval Ireland, AD 400-AD 1200 (Longman History of Ireland Series), (Harlow, 1995)
- Oram, Richard, The Lordship of Galloway, (Edinburgh, 2000)
- Fischer, David Hackett, Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America, (New York, 1989)
- Heywood, John, The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings, (New York, 1995)