296 THE LOCAL AND PERSONAL NAME OF EWART 



HI., were defeated by Athelstan and Edmund the Atheling 

 at Brunanburgh, supposed to have been near Ford. 



From these considerations I infer that, in all probability, 

 the township was originally a Danish settlement, founded 

 either by Ivar, the second son of Ragnar Lodbrok, or another 

 of that name ; and that the surname, at a later date, was 

 borne either by his descendants, or by those of the first 

 settlers. The situation, it may be observed, was admirably 

 adapted for the purpose, being protected from attack on 

 three sides by the rivers, which at that time may have been 

 navigable into the Tweed, and only some ten or twelve miles 

 from the coast, with its adjacent islands — a favourite winter 

 station for the Danish fleets. It does not seem an unreasonable 

 conjecture, in view of the facts that there is not, and does 

 not appear ever to have been a village, and that the estate 

 and township are co-extensive, to suggest that the great 

 Hingwar or Iward may have erected here a fortress or mansion 

 for his own occupation, which in process of time developed 

 into the manorial property of the present day. 



