THE NORSE OCCUPATION. 43 



the Sudreys. Application was made to England to aid the 

 Norwegians in expelling the Scots from the islands, but 

 the appeal fell upon deaf ears. In 1312, the treaty was 

 ratified by Hakon and Robert Bruce, and finally, in 1426, 

 by James I. of Scotland and Erik VIII. of Pomerania, 

 King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. But the annual 

 tribute of 100 merks known as the " Annual of Norway " 

 was not punctually paid, and in course of time, the arrears, 

 with fines, amounted to a large sum. Finally, the marriage 

 of James III. with Margaret, daughter of Christian I., King 

 of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, was utilised to settle 

 the account between the two countries. In return for the 

 dowry settled by James on his wife, his father-in-law agreed 

 to relinquish all claims, both past and prospective, in 

 respect of the tribute ; pledged the Orkneys for the sum of 

 50,000 florins ; and agreed to pay a further sum of 10,000 

 florins before the departure of his daughter for Scotland. 

 But the impecunious King was able to find only 2,000 

 florins towards payment of the stipulated sum, and for the 

 balance of 8,000 florins, was obliged to pledge the Shet- 

 lands as he had mortgaged the Orkneys. These pledges 

 have never been redeemed, and if, as was held in 1668, the 

 right of redemption is imprescribable, it is conceivable that 

 it may be put in force some day in the very dim future, 

 when the British Empire begins to break up ! 



The accounts of the contemporary manners and customs 

 of the Norsemen in the Mother country, in Iceland, and in 

 the Orkneys and Shetlands, as derived from unimpeachable 

 sources, form a sure basis for ascertaining the conditions of 

 life, as they prevailed in the Outer Hebrides during the 

 Norse occupation. 



Each district or herad was governed by a hirsir y whose 

 office was at once patriarchal, military, pontifical, and 

 hereditary. By Harold Fairhair, the power and indepen- 

 dence of the hersir in Norway were for ever destroyed, and 

 the exodus which took place, as the outcome of his strong 

 rule, marked the extinction of the privileges of the htrad 

 and the litrsir in the Mother country, and their introduction 



