ISLE of MAN. 
410 
follow the opinion of Sacheverel, and, palling the eight 
firft Sovereigns of the hiftory as the invention of the Manks, 
confider Macon as the firft and indeed the only fovereign 
of Man of whom we have any authentic account previ- 
cufiy to the eftablilhment of the Normans under God red 
Crovan. 
The conqueft of the Ifle of Man by Godred is nearly 
coincident with the conqueft of England by William of 
Normandy; for we read in Camden, that, while William 
was making preparations for the invafion of England, he 
prevailed upon Harold’s offended brother Tolfi, in con¬ 
cert with Halfagar king of Norway, to a (lift him in the 
enterprife by a defcent upon the county of Northumber¬ 
land. Under the king of Norway commanded Godred 
Crovan, fon of Harold king of Iceland. The invading 
army was engaged at Stand ford., by Harold king of Eng¬ 
land, on the 25th of September, 1066; it was defeated 
with great (laughter, the two generals were llain, and 
Godred made his efcape to the Ilie of Man. See the arti¬ 
cle England, vol. vi. p. 557. 
What time he remained here is uncertain, probably juft 
long enough to obferve that the. kingdom was in a weak 
ftate, or its king unpopular ; and to determine to feat 
himfelf upon the throne. He returned in the following 
year with a numerous and hoftile army, and found Fingal, 
the late king Syrach’s fon, in pofieftion of the kingdom. 
In his fir ft battle with the inhabitants he was defeated, 
and obliged to feek refuge in his Ihips; and, in the fecond, 
was equally unfuccefsful. For the third attack he re¬ 
cruited and enlarged his army ; he call anchor in Ram- 
fay Bay; landed his troops by night; and laid an ambuf- 
cade of three hundred men in a wood, on the hollow brow 
of the hill of Scacafel. Early on the enfuing morning 
Godred was attacked with great impetuofity by the inha¬ 
bitants. The aftion was bloody, and neither party gave 
way, til! the three hundred men, rulhing from their am- 
bulb, put the i(landers to flight, and decided the fortune 
of the day. The river Selby being impaflable by the in¬ 
flux of the tide, the fugitives were unable to efcape, and 
with lamentable cries befought the conqueror to fpare 
'their lives. Moved with companion at the calamitous 
condition of the people, Godred recalled his purfuing ar¬ 
my, and the next day gave his followers their choice, ei¬ 
ther to divide the lands among them, or to plunder the 
ifiand and depart. Scldier-like, they gave the preference 
to the latter propofition ; but Godred with a few of his 
retainers, having determined to fettle in the country, 
made choice of that portion lying fouthward of the moun¬ 
tain ridge, and granted the remainder to the natives, on 
the exprefs condition that they (hould confider them- 
Telves as tenants, and him as the lord of the foil. Hence 
the whole illand became the property of the king; till the 
fifteenth or fixteenth century was acknowledged fo to be; 
and, though from the year 1703 he ceafed to claim any 
title to the land itfelf, his rentals were then confirmed, 
and continue to the prefent day. 
At this period Ireland was divided into petty princi¬ 
palities ; and nothing can more ftrongly fhow the weak- 
nefs of fuch a government than the awe in which its in¬ 
habitants flood of the little Ifle of Man. Dublin, the ca¬ 
pital, was reduced by Godred ; and a great part of the 
province of Leinfter fubmitted to his arms. His navy 
was fo powerful, that he was able to oblige the Scots to 
keep theirs within narrow bounds ; and, to borrow from 
the Rufhen Monks what we fuppofe is a metaphorical ex- 
preflion, they durft not, when building a (hip or boat, 
drive more than three nails into it. 
After a reign of fixteen years this valiant man died in 
Xla, one of his weftern i(lands, leaving three fons, Lag- 
roan, Harold, and Olave. The eldeft fon, Lagman, feized 
upon the government, and reigned feven years. His bro¬ 
ther, Harold, was long in rebellion again ft him ; but, being 
at la ft taken prifoner, had his eyes put out, and was other- 
wife mutilated. Lagman afterwards repented of his un- 
brotherly conduct towards Harold ; was overwhelmed with 
forrow and defpondency ; renounced his kingdom ; and, 
as an expiation of his guilt, made a pilgrimage to Jerufa- 
lem, where he died. Olave being ftill a minor, the chief 
inhabitants of Man difpatched ambafladors to Murecard 
O’Brien king of Ireland, requefting him to fend /ome 
diligent man of royal extraction to rule over them during 
his minority. O’Brien, granting their requeft, lent Do¬ 
nald, the fon of Tade, enjoining him to govern the king¬ 
dom with clemency and juftice. But, as foon as he was 
feated on the throne, he began to aft the part of a tyrant, 
and behaved with fo much cruelty and outrage, that the 
inhabitants, unable to endure his oppreflion, confpired, 
rofe up in arms, and obliged him to fly back to Ireland, 
whence he never attempted to return. 
In the year 1097 the king of Norway endeavoured to 
feize the Sovereignty of the Ifle of Man and of the He¬ 
brides, and fent Ingemund to take pofieflion of them. 
He landed in Lewis, and commanded all the chiefs of the 
i(lands to eleft him king. But, while he and his attend¬ 
ants were rioting in all forts of debauchery, the inhabi¬ 
tants, enraged again ft him, befieged his houfe in the night, 
fet it on fire, and thus deftroyed in the flames or by the 
fword himfelf and his retinue. 
Macmarus was the next king of Man ; but who he was, 
and what title he had to the crown, hiftory does not in¬ 
form us. His eleftion to the dignity occafioned civil broils 
between the fouthern and northern diftrifts of the ifiand. 
The inhabitants of the former were headed by the king 
whom they had elefted; thofe of the latter, the original 
natives, by earl Outher. The armies met, and a battle 
was fought in the parifh of St. Patrick. According to 
the Manks tradition, the northern men had nearly won 
the viftory, when the women of the fouth fide came with 
fo much refolution to the affiftance of their hufbands, that 
they reftored the battle. The Chronicon Mannias, how¬ 
ever, afcribes the viftory to the inhabitants of the north¬ 
ern diftrift. Both the generals were (lain. 
At this time Magnus, grandfon to Harold Halfagar, 
was king of Norway. Having, contrary to the injunctions 
of his clergy, caufed the tomb of St. Olave, king and mar¬ 
tyr, to be opened, in order to know whether the body re¬ 
mained incorrupt, and having with his own hands and 
eyes afcertained that it did fo, he was feized with great 
fear, and haftily departed. In the enfuing night the of¬ 
fended faint appeared before the affrighted king, and 
thus addreffed him: “Take thy choice of thefe two com¬ 
mands: lofe thy kingdom and thy life within thirty days; 
or quit this realm for ever.” Early in the morning, the 
king convened his nobles and the elders of his people ; 
told them w’hat a vifion he had feen 5 and afked their ad¬ 
vice refpefting his future conduft. They recommended 
him to leave the kingdom with all pofiible difpatch ; and, 
purfuant to this determination, he equipped a fleet of one 
hundred and fixty veil'ds, and left Norway for a foreign 
realm. The Orcades were the fir ft iflands that felt and 
yielded to his power; and the Hebrides quickly followed 
their example. Hence he failed to the Ifle of Man, and 
landed in the ifle or parifh of St. Patrick, the very day after 
the battle between the northern and fouthern inhabitants ; 
and proceeded to view the field of aftion, which was ftill 
ftrewed with the bodies of the (lain. The Manks, weak¬ 
ened by internal diflenfions, fubmitted to him without a 
conteft. Being pleafed with the ifiand, he determined to 
fettle in it, and erefted feveral forts for its defence. The 
men of Galloway were fo much overawed by the terror 
of his name, that at his command they cut down timber, 
and brought it in theirft>wn veflels to the coafts of Man. 
Finding every thing peaceable in his own kingdom, lie 
invaded Anglefey, defeated an army commanded by the 
earls of Chefter and of Shrew (bury, and received the fub- 
miflion of the people. Having accepted many prefents 
from the northern counties of Wales, he returned to Man. 
He at length loft his life in an unfuccefsful attempt upon 
Ireland, as noticed under that article, p. 2S7. His reign, 
over Man and the iflands lafted fix years. Perhaps Eng- 
3. land 
