20 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES. 



The old Scottish historians, Fordun and his successors, 

 assert that the Hebrides were given to King Magnus by 

 Donald Bane, the brother and successor of Malcolm Cean- 

 more, as a reward for services rendered by Magnus. It 

 appears certain that during the expedition of 1093, Magnus 

 assisted Donald in his usurpation of the throne of Scot- 

 land. The explanation of their friendship may perhaps be 

 found in the fact that Donald, who had lived among the 

 Norwegians of the Hebrides for a considerable time, may 

 have been regarded as being, in a sense, a subject, tem- 

 porarily, of Norway. To render active assistance to 

 Donald in seizing the vacant throne of Scotland, would, 

 under these circumstances, have been an enterprise after 

 Magnus's own heart. But it is barely credible that his 

 motives were absolutely disinterested, and that his offer of 

 help was dictated by friendship alone. What form the 

 gratitude of Donald Bane took, is not quite clear. For- 

 dun's explanation is unsatisfactory. His contention that 

 the Hebrides were at this period, and had been from time 

 immemorial, under the Scottish Crown, will not bear 

 examination. We have seen that Magnus entered upon 

 his expedition with the object of restoring the supremacy 

 of Norway in the Isles, a supremacy which, since the time 

 of Harald Fairhair, had at intervals been allowed to 

 become inoperative, but had never been surrendered. 

 If the Isles, therefore, were ceded to Magnus by Donald 

 Bane, the barren nature of the gift must have appealed 

 to the recipient's sense of humour, if he had any ; for it 

 was virtually a present to the Norwegian King of what 

 already belonged to him. Doubtless, however, the con- 

 tinued friendship of Donald Bane the King with the anti- 

 foreign policy was of importance to Magnus in preserving 

 the integrity of his island-dominions. There may have 

 been assurances given on the part of Donald, that the 

 suzerainty of Norway over the Isles would be respected, 

 and perhaps actively maintained, by the Scottish Crown. 

 In any case, it is impossible, from the evidence before 

 us, to admit the assumption that the Norsemen derived 



