Why Did I?
Somerled mac Gillebhride
Somerled was a clan leader of the twelfth century, often
referred to by historians, pejoratively, as a ‘warlord’ who made
trouble for kings of Scotland. He has also been dismissively
referred to by some as ‘Somerled the Viking’.
‘Warlord’ is a modern term (mid-19th century) that
could be applied to just about any and every leader
in Britain right up to and including the English Civil
War. Clan Chief or tribal leader might be a less
emotive description and perhaps a more accurate
representation of the role that such men played in
the affairs of those times.
‘Viking’ is justified by some because he had a
Norse mother, and therefore a Norse name. He
also had Norse DNA in his male lineage. So do
most modern Europeans. Notice how referring to
him as having a ‘Norse name’ seems less
prejudicial than a ‘Viking name’.
Somerled’s actions clearly stated where his loyalties lay.
Often, I have pondered why I, an
Englishman born on the Sussex coast, in the
twentieth century, was moved to writing the
story of Somerled, an ancient Scot with a
Norse name. Now I think I know. It’s a bit
complicated. Let’s start with the protagonists
in this drama.
From an early age, two
men are driven by a hunger
to succeed. Somerled fights to reclaim his
clan’s ancient home from the Norse who
invaded and settled some 300 or more years
earlier. Walter struggles to becomes a knight,
to seek his fortune.
Their success brings them into conflict with
each other, which left marks that can still be seen in the Britain
of today.
Walter fitz Alain
Walter was the third son of a Breton knight who had been
brought to England by Henry I to help defend England’s border
with Wales. He fought against the tradition of lower ranking
sons becoming priests, to seek his fortune as a knight. His
travels eventually took him to Scotland where the opportunities
seemed boundless.
Where Do I Come In?
When holidaying in Scotland with my wife, I did some research
on my Scottish ancestry - my mother was Scottish. She had
met my father, an English soldier, when he was stationed in
Edinburgh. They married, and about a year later, my brother
was born – a Scot!
Ten years later my father left the Army, and the family moved
south to Eastbourne, where he had grown up. I was born soon
after – English!
Although being born to the same parents we spent our
formative years in different places. Consequently my brother
and I claimed different nationalities, and there’s no changing it.
Scotland-England football matches were fun in our house. The
fact is, it seems to me, you are what you feel.
I found Somerled during that holiday in
Scotland, via some music that was
being played in a tourist shop. I bought
the CD - Sons of Somerled, by Steve
McDonald. As I had never heard of
Somerled before, I did some research.
Historians seemed to paint a different
picture of the person that I knew from
the hero that was in the songs. Whatever modern scientists
and historians may say about Somerled’s origins, he was a
Scot - because he declared it so. But why I felt the need to
write my version of Somerled’s story has puzzled me – until…
…The Awakening
I have to thank Neil Oliver for alerting me
to a fact that I had never fully appreciated.
In the introduction to his book A History of
Scotland, Neil described the impact on
him of seeing the evidence of the precise
position of a flint knapper’s knees and
toes as he knelt by a loch, creating his
stone tools. Neil described how he was
moved by being able to occupy exactly
the same space as that flint knapper,
even though they lived thousands of years apart.
That, caused me to reflect on my own experiences. During the
holiday in Scotland when I did the family research, I found the
actual farm cottage, modernised now (tiles instead of thatch,
and an upper storey added), in which my mother was born in
1907, and the building where she first went to school in 1912. I
remember a feeling of great satisfaction putting it down to the
success of the research rather than what those places might
mean to me.
After reading Neil’s piece, I looked again at a photo I took of the
cottages and realised that I felt a warm glow that I had found
‘where my mum was born’, rather than ‘the cottage in which my
mother was born’. Now, because I am looking for it, I find the
emotional content of those experiences. It had been there all
along, just under the surface, but I had never recognised it
before.
The cumulative effect of
recognising the import-
ance of these associ-
ations to me, has been
that I feel for the first
time that I am not half-
English and half-
Scottish: I am English,
and I am Scottish. But there are some situations in which I
have to make a choice, and when I do, it’s being English that
wins. Like me, Somerled had options; but when he had to
make a choice, being a Scot (a Gael) was what he felt himself
to be.
Of course I have known of my Scottish ancestry all my life, but
only at the level of knowing as I write this, that ‘today is
Wednesday’; a fact, but for the most part, not a significant one.
This awakening to the emotional content of history, explains a
lot. Like, why I cared about events that happened 800 years
before I was born, in a place some 500 miles from where I
have lived for most of my life, and cared enough to research
the events and to learn enough about the impact on the people
of the time, to write my version of what happened and why.
It’s Not About Me
This site is mainly about the book A Wolf in His Belly, the
people who inhabit it, and the places where they lived out their
lives.
The buttons at the top of each page will, I hope, help you to get
more from the book by providing maps and other information
about the events and peoples of Somerled’s time.
The rest of this page is about how I got hooked on Somerled’s
story - I hope you enjoy the song (see below) that got me
started.
The Story Starts Here
Below, is the song I heard in that tourist shop. It sounded like a
Scottish song - but one I hadn’t heard before. A member of staff
told me that they were playing a CD called “Sons of Somerled”:
new songs by Steve McDonald.
“Live on my Warrior Son”
About Steve
Born in New Zealand, Steve’s career has been in writing and
performing music, initially as a member of rock groups then as
a solo artist.
He has written for TV dramas and
documentaries and, since the early 1990s, has
developed an interest in his ancestry and
produced a number of Celtic-themed albums.
He visited Scotland to research his clan’s
history. The result was The Sons of Somerled
CD, a collection of hauntingly beautiful music,
telling of Somerled and his clan’s struggle
against the Vikings. The CD also includes
a couple of traditional Scottish songs to
which his rich, powerful voice gives a new
depth of emotion. His music has proved
popular, enabling him to perform to Scottish Societies all
around the world and sell 400,000 copies of ‘Sons of
Somerled’.
Click on Steve’s picture to go to his fans’ web site and find out
more.
The Book - A Wolf In His Belly
After listening to the CD over and over again, I became
completely captivated by the story that Steve tells in his songs.
He had woken the Scottish blood in me that had lain dormant for
most of my life, I wondered why little seems to be known about
Somerled outside a few dedicated historians - and members of
the MacDonald clan.
The songs inspired me to find out more about the man called
Somerled, and early Scottish history:
Who were the Gaels?
Where did they come from?
What was the “clan system”?
Why did the clans object to the introduction of
feudalism by Scotland’s kings?
I looked for books that told Somerled’s story. There are
histories and novels but I felt that none of them really did this
hero justice. I decided that it was down to me to research his
life and write the book.
If you thought William Wallace’s fight for
freedom against the English in 1297-1305
(see the book and film “Braveheart”) was a
good story, then you’ll love Somerled. Over a
hundred years before Wallace, Somerled
fought to drive out the Vikings that had been
occupying the west of Scotland for 350
years!
At the same time, the Normans were gaining
influence in Scotland, thanks to the preference that the Scottish
king, David, had for the Norman way of doing things.
What was really happening in Scotland
so long ago?
While writing the book, I realised that there was something else
going on besides Somerled’s efforts to get his clan’s highland
territory back from the Vikings - something that gives lie to the
view by many that Somerled was just a troublesome warlord,
fighting to fulfil his own ambitions.
Scotland was “going feudal” - changing the traditional clan
system in favour of the Normans’ system of rule. The Scottish
kings were effectively stripping the people of their ancient land
rights, freedom of movement and, through their clan leaders,
the right to choose who their future national leader would be;
rights they had enjoyed for over a thousand years - and they
were using Norman and other European nobles to enforce the
changes.
One of the knights brought in was Walter fitz Alain, an ambitious
knight who had all the qualities the Scottish king was looking
for. He was to play a major role in Scotland’s affairs, and
Somerled’s life. Somerled and Walter influenced Scottish and
British life for centuries to come!
This page is about how I came to write the book. The
rest of the site is background information for added
enjoyment of A Wolf in His Belly.