Early Historic Luffness
If we consider the end of the last ice age as a
starting point and the present day as an end point, then by the time
we enter the Dark Ages, we are more than 80% through our story. But
we are only now getting into the beginnings of a written record and
just starting to scratch the surface of history.
The term Dark Ages has gone out of fashion with
historians. They now like to use the term Early Historic, to describe
the period from AD 400 to 1000. This reflects the fact that although
there were few written records for this period, there are some. These
are mainly lists of kings and dates of battles, and just like the
kings and battles, the lists themselves are often in conflict. The
historian Moffati
had this to say about the written records of the day:
'Much of the detail of the process of change is unknowable, lost in the memories of long dead bards or written in the forgotten chronicles of ancient monasteries. And what has survived to come down to us is often confused, contradictory, partial, lacking clarity of any sort or just plain mistaken.'.
Therefore it is still the archaeological evidence
that sheds the most light on these dimly lit ages.
A Fledgling Nation
At the end of the last chapter we saw that the
influence and power of the Romans had left Scotland and as their
power waned there were always new invaders who would take advantage
of the changing situation.
By the year 600 there were four different peoples
that occupied the territory that would later become Scotland. These
were the Picts, Scots, Britons, and Angles: and, although there were
no definite boundaries; they occupied four separate regions: the
Picts, descendants of differing iron age invaders and of late bronze
age peoples, in the land from the Forth to the Pentland Firth; the
Scots in Dalriada (roughly Argyll); the Britons in Strathclyde,
Cumbria and Wales; and the Angles in Bernicia, the northern part of
the Anglian kingdom stretching from the Humber to the Firth of
Forthii.
To say that these tribes didn't get on together
would be an understatement, in fact a lot of the time they were
either warring with each other or between different groups within
each tribe . Into this mix came the the Vikings in the late eighth
century, who came to raid and pillage, to trade and eventually, to
settle in Scotland. Orkney and Shetland and the north west of
Scotland were dominated by the Vikings for hundreds of yearsiii.
So
what was happening in Lothian at this time?
For most of the Early Historic period Lothian was
under the influence of the Angles. They used the Humber as a river
base to move northwards by sea, establishing themselves in such
places as Bamburgh, St. Abb's Head and Dunbar. Then, driving inland
they built up a kingdom from the Humber to the Forthiv.
By
638v
the Angles had captured the Gododdin stronghold at Din Eidyn
-(Edinburgh). The Gododdin were descendants of the Votadini who we
last saw trading with the Romans and hoarding silver at Traprain.
Any
expansion further nortwards was stopped when they were defeated by
the Picts at the battle of Nechtansmere, the modern Dunnichen, near
Forfar in 685vi.
If we move on a few hundred years and many battles
later to the middle of the ninth century we find Kenneth MacAlpin
uniting the peoples to form a fledgling nation called Alba.
However, this new kingdom did not include Lothian
which was still part of Northumbria and would continue to be so until
Edgar, king of England gave Lothian to Kenneth II (the great grandson
of Kenneth MacAlpin) in 973. Although there is some debate about the
actual dates and when the final total acquisition of all the land
between the Forth and the Tweed occurred, it is agreed that Malcolm
II defeated the Northumbrians at the battle of Carham in 1018 to
affirm this land as Scottishvii.
So now we have an idea of the historical context
we should see what evidence of the Early Historic has been found in
the Luffness area.
The
Lore of Luffness and Lothian
I suppose the event of greatest significance of
this period which is attributed to East Lothian is probably the
battle of Athelstaneford and the story of the saltire. This is a good
example of the limit of the written record for the period and how
myth can fill in the blanks.
Here is the story of the Battle of Athelstaneford
taken from the official website of the Sottish Flag Trust:
'The Legend of the Saltire
The St Andrew's Cross or Saltire is Scotland's national flag. Tradition has it that the flag, the white saltire on a blue background, the oldest flag in Europe and the Commonwealth, originated in a battle fought in East Lothian in the Dark Ages.
It is believed that the battle took place in the year 832AD. An army of Picts under Angus mac Fergus, High King of Alba, and aided by a contingent of Scots led by Eochaidh (Kenneth mac Alpin's grandfather) had been on a punitive raid into Lothian (then and for long afterwards Northumbrian territory), and were being pursued by a larger force of Angles and Saxons under one Athelstan.
The Albannach/Scots were caught and stood to face their pursuers in the area of Markle, near East Linton. This is to the north of the modern village of Athelstaneford (which was resited on higher ground in the 18th century), where the Peffer, which flows into the Firth of Forth at Aberlady, forms a wide vale. Being then wholly undrained, the Peffer presented a major obstacle to crossing, and the two armies came together at the ford near the present day farm of Prora (one of the field names there is still the Bloody Lands).
Fearing the outcome of the encounter, King Angus led prayers for deliverance, and was rewarded by seeing a cloud formation of a white saltire (the diagonal cross on which St Andrew had been martyred) against a blue sky. The king vowed that if, with the saint's help, he gained the victory, then Andrew would thereafter be the patron saint of Scotland. The Scots did win, and the Saltire became the flag of Scotland.
When Kenneth mac Alpin, who may have been present with his grandfather at the battle, later united Picts and Scots and named the entity Scotland, Andrew did indeed become the patron saint of the united realm. Kenneth mac Alpin, King of Scots and Picts, Ard-righ Albainn, was laid to rest on Iona in 860AD'viii.
This
is of course written under the heading of 'legend';
which is defined as A
traditional story sometimes popularly regarded as historical but
unauthenticated factix.
This definition describes the content of the story
nicely; for it has many dates and names of people who do appear in
what little we have of a written record for this time. Although a
nice addition to this version is the presence of Kenneth MacAlpin,
perhaps hiding behind a tree with a young William Wallace.
But like many legends this tale is considered by
many to be fact, even if this is just in the outcome if not in
detail; the fact that an outnumbered Scottish army was stirred onto
victory by the appearance of a big white cross in the sky; the cross
of St. Andrew. This left the English king beaten and St. Andrew as
the patron saint of Scotland.
This is a
rather patriotic interpretation but what can we find out about
the battle if we do a little bit of research There is a lot of
confusion about the battle and even the most basic of facts are
debatable. Take for example the Scottish schools version moves the
battle to almost one hundred years earlier;
'Tradition relates that in AD 735 the king of the Picts, 'Aengus MacFergus', with the support of 'Scots' from Dalriada, won a great battle against King Athelstane of the Northumbrians'x.
The earlier date would at least put the battle in
the what is thought to be the lifetime of Angus MacFergus (Oengus
MacFergus) c. 690–761xi,
but we can not be certain about the identity of the leaders, the
exact date, or even the sitexii.
For
instance it is easy to confuse the unidentified king called Athelstan
who was defeated at the battle with the well known
king Athelstan who was the first king of all England and reigned
between 925 and 939 AD.
It is easy to date kings who leave artifacts such as coins but for
Scottish leaders of the early historic period we can not be
precise about dates. As we can see there is a large margin of error
which could be up to 100 years. Therefore many lifetimes and peoples
could overlap even if in fact they were never contemporaries.
We can find a different take on the Battle of
Athelstaneford and the legend of the saltire from the National
Archives of Scotlandxiii
in which the relics of Saint Andrew play a role.
Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and
the first disciple of Christ. He is believed to have been martyred by
crucifixion on a diagonal cross in Patras (now part of Greece) in the
year 60 AD. (The tradition that his cross was X-shaped goes back
no further than the tenth century.xiv).
It is thought that his remains were removed to Constantinople about
AD 357, but after Constantinople was sacked during the Fourth Crusade
in 1204, the relics at Constantinople were taken to the cathedral of
St Andrew at Amalfi in Italy. By this time the monastery of Kilrymont
(later St Andrews) in Fife claimed to possess three fingers of the
saint's right hand, a part of one of his arms, one kneecap, and one
of his teeth. St Andrews became a popular pilgrimage destination
after miracles were attributed to the saint.
Another explanation for the relics became current
by the 12th century. In this version the bishop of Patras (Saint
Regulus) removed the relics about AD345, sailed beyond the
Mediterranean and was shipwrecked at Kilrymont, where he was welcomed
by Angus MacFergus who being grateful to Saint Andrew for his win at
the Battle of Athelstaneford endowed the fledgling church with the
lands around the bay where the saint had landed. Here we can see that
the main action has moved to about four hundred years earlier than
the other telling of it.
The Regulus legend was promoted by Scottish kings,
nobles and churchmen from the 12th century onwards for political
reasons. Scottish independence had come under threat from England
since the late 11th century, and the Scottish Church was contesting a
claim to primacy by the archbishop of York. Precedence and hierarchy
were very important in the middle ages. By promoting the story of
Saint Andrew's choice of Scotland in the 4th century, the Scots
acquired a top-rank patron saint, a separate identity from England,
and a date for the supposed foundation of the Scottish Church,
pre-dating the conversion of England and Ireland to Christianity by
several centuries.
From this version we can infer that the battle of
Athelstaneford must have taken place before 345 for Angus Mac Fergus
to be beholden to Saint Andrew. This would mean that there could be a
500 year margin of error in the dating of this battle.
This story illustrates how history can be
interpreted and manipulated for political, economical or religious
reasons and particularly by people who are searching for a firm
foundation on which to build their own, or even a nations identity.
There is one other local connection with St.
Andrew and that is that North Berwick owed much of its early
importance to its location on the pilgrim route to the shrine of St.
Andrew. Pilgrims could travel by boat from North Berwick and this
would cut out what must have been a rather arduous route by land. A
ferryboat can also be seen on the heraldic arms of North Berwickxv.
Luffness
and it's Vikings
Another story from the Early Historic that is
often repeated but few authenticated facts are available: the Viking
graves of Luffness. In fact the name Luffness is said to have its
etymology from these very Vikings. I will let Nigel Tranterxvi
tell the story:
'Luffness had a strange genesis. A notorious Viking raider, Anlaf the Dane, had captured this Pictish fort four centuries before ( the book is set in 1214), and two of his party had fought each other, for some reason unknown, both being killed, one called Lofda. These had been buried beneath one fortlet flooring, and their their remains were still buried beneath the presentkee's stones, marked by little crosses- which they scarcely deserved, both being pagans. So Lofda's Ness or headland had become the name Luffness.'.
A small detail that can be added to this tale isxvii:
'One of the graves lays a supposedly high ranked commander known as Lofda to Anlaf the Dane in his army, to whom the castles name Luffness is derived from. When his grave was dug up the skeleton remains uncovered that Lofda himself may have been a huge man being seven feet tall.'.
This is the usual story that is told about the
Viking origin of Luffness with embellishments or not. However, this
isn't to say that there is no truth in the story just that I can't
find a reliable source for its origin. The story is told without
reference to any documents (scarce during this time period) or
archaeological evidence. The RCAHMS has a record (NT48SE 1.01) for
stone slab graves found at Luffness :
'Two stone slabs 3ft 8 ins long, 1ft 9 ins broad and 5 ins thick lie in the kitchen garden of Luffness House. They are presumed to be covers of cists, of which three were found beneath the floor of the entrance hall of the House.
RCAHMS 1924, visited 1913'.
These finds were not dated and unfortunately the
stone slabs could not be located on more recent visits in 1962 and
1975. However they do sound very similar to slabs that are described
in another book by Nigel Tranterxviii
in which he states:
'Under the floor of the vaulted basement chamber now the entrance vestibule, are the graves of two Viking raiders....'.
Were they really Viking graves and if so what
became of them?
In fact the RCAHMS has the details of 324 Viking
related sites or finds in Scotland but only one (NT58NE 2.01) of
these is in East Lothian. Unfortunately it is not our graves but a
Viking comb (illustration 1)xix.
made from a piece of antler and found in Kirk Ports in North Berwick
when they were doing the road widening in 1994xx.
Illustration
1: This antler comb was found at North
Berwick in East Lothian. It is a Scandinavian type, either brought
with the first wave of Viking raiders or settlers, or perhaps
imported by traders in the 9th or 10th century. The comb consists of
plates of antler cut into teeth (now broken off), riveted together
between two connecting plates on top. The corroding metal rivets are
visible. The plate was decorated with an incised geometric design.
Combs of this type were widely distributed in northern Europe during
the Viking period, and their places of production and sources of
antler are not certain. Some have elaborate decoration and cases.
Perhaps Nigel Tranter is the source of the
Luffness Viking story? He spent most of his life writing about and
probably studying Scottish history, he also lived at Luffness and
knew the Hope family who own Luffness castle, so he could have had
access to information that I'm not aware of.
Let us leave the this grey area behind and move
onto the more tangible finds of the period.
The
Early Historic Archaeological Evidence
The
finds are shown in Table one:
| RCAHMS SITE NUMBER | LOCATION OF FIND | SITE TYPE |
| NT48SE 185 | Luffness | MOUNT, SWORD (COPPER) |
| NT48SE 146 | Aberlady | PIN (COPPER) |
| NT48SE 31 | Gullane Point | DAGGER (BRONZE) |
| NT48SE 12 | Brand's Well, Gala Law | HOLY WELL (POSSIBLE) |
| NT48SE 17 | Luffness | FOOD VESSEL |
Table
1: The Early
Historic Finds
The finds from the RCAHMS that are shown in the table have all been attributed to the Early Historic, but there isn't a lot to shout about. I suppose an object made of iron could well have corroded away to leave little trace. Brands Well (NT48SE 12) on Gala Law does show that this site has had a continual significance through out the different ages. I do not know who the eponymous Brand is but it is noted that it is the only spring of water on Gala Law, is possibly a holy well endowed at Gullane by David I. Note that David I lived from 1084-1153 which takes it into the medieval.
The National Museum of Scotland does have a few
finds from the Early Historic which were found at Kilspindie Castle,
Glebe Field, in Aberlady:
'The castle is of late sixteenth century date but metal detecting over several years has recovered a rich assemblage of artefacts, the quantity and concentration of which suggest that settlement in this field dates back to the Northumbrian period and possibly earlier. Finds from the Northumbrian period include a substantial assemblage of coins and metalwork far in excess of what might be expected from a series of stray finds.'.xxi
A geophysics survey showed what could be evidence
of:
'The remains of two timber halls (one overlying the other at right angles) of possible Anglian or earlier date; a series of ditch-defined enclosures of probable Anglian morphology; a roughly pear-shaped enclosure (within which there appears to be a double palisade line); and annular features which appear to be the footings of ring-groove houses.'xxii.
The site is a scheduled monument and is of
national importance:
'..because of its potential to add to our understanding of settlement in southern Scotland during the period of Northumbrian influence. The possibility of tracing the continuous development of settlement through the Northumbrian and medieval periods, without the overburden of subsequent buildings, makes this a site of considerable rarity and importance.'xxiii.
It does make you wonder what other remains of
national importance are slumbering under the layers of soil and sand
which are yet to be revealed.
With that we conclude our brief overview of the the Early
Historic. We leave Luffness as part of a fledgling nation and we
shall see in the next chapter what role Luffness played in the next
time period: the medieval.
References
i
Moffat A., Before
Scotland: The story of Scotland Before History, ISBN. 0500005133X:
2005, page 285
ii
Scotland from the
earliest times to 1603, W. Dickinson, A. Duncan , 1977, ISBN
0-19-822453-2; Page 23
iii
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandshistory/britonsgaelsvikings/vikings/index.asp
iv
Scotland from the
earliest times to 1603, W. Dickinson, A. Duncan , 1977, ISBN
0-19-822453-2; Page 26
vi
Scotland from the
earliest times to 1603, W. Dickinson, A. Duncan , 1977, ISBN
0-19-822453-2; Page 27
vii
Scotland from the
earliest times to 1603, W. Dickinson, A. Duncan , 1977, ISBN
0-19-822453-2; Page 27
ix
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English. Eighth Edition,
BCA: 1990
xi
The
Oxford Companion to British History (1 rev ed.), eISBN:
9780199567638
xii
A Portrait of The Lothians, Nigel Tranter, ISBN 0-7091-7467-5; 1979.
xiii
http://www.nas.gov.uk/about/051124.asp
xiv
The
Oxford Dictionary of World Religions ISBN 0-19-866242-4: 1997
xv
North Berwick, East Lothian: its archaeology revisited, D. Hall and
D. Bowler, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries Scotland, 127
(1997), 659-675
xvi
Sword of State, Nigel Tranter, ISBN 9780340696736: 1999
xvii
http://castlesinscotland.net/luffness-castle/
xviii
Tales and Traditions of Scottish castle, Nigel Tranter: ISBN-10:
1906476748: 2012
xix
http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-000-099-674-C&scache=3wurpl7hmr&searchdb=scran&PHPSESSID=kq57s29vag9i29smf4800vf310
xx
http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/88927/details/north+berwick+st+andrew+s+churchyard/
xxi
http://data.historic-scotland.gov.uk/pls/htmldb/f?p=2300:35:1365436626500669::NO::P35_SELECTED_MONUMENT:5997
xxii
http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/55053/details/kilspindie+castle/
xxiii
http://data.historic-scotland.gov.uk/pls/htmldb/f?p=2300:35:1365436626500669::NO::P35_SELECTED_MONUMENT:5997
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