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The Viking connection.
DNA comparisons have been made that show the presence of
Viking markers in the Orr ancestry. This gels with a source of the
name `orre` - meaning the game bird `black cock`. There are a
number of Orre families in Sweden that supports this argument; they
are mainly in the 1800s but there was a Sven Orre son of Lars Orre in
Sweden in 1660. It is equally so that the Orre spelling was common in
Western Scotland - Ayrshire, Lochwinnoch and Glasgow around 1650-1720.
Studies of the Viking population have identified a Haplogroup ( R1a1)
that is sometimes referred to as the "Viking haplogroup". The
mutation occurs with the greatest frequency among Scandinavian males:
35 percent in Norway, Denmark and Sweden, and peaking at 40 percent
within western Finland. It is also common near the southern Baltic and
the North Sea coasts down to Scotland, Ireland and England. Genetic
studies have demonstrated that the Vikings settled in Britain and
Ireland as well as raiding there. Both male and female descent studies
show evidence of Norwegian descent in areas closest to Scandinavia,
such as the Shetland and the Orkney Islands. A specialised surname
study in Liverpool demonstrated marked Norse heritage, up to 50
percent of males who belonged to original families, those who lived
there before the years of industrialization and population expansion.
High percentages of Norse inheritance similar to the percentages found
among males in the Orkney Islands—tracked through R1a1 haplotype
signature—were also found among males in the Wirral and West
Lancashire This clearly supports the facts that the Norsemen were very
active down through the Irish Sea, having established trading bases in
the Isle of Man, around Dublin and south east Ireland.
The Vikings ( of which there are three strands of origin - Denmark,
Sweden and Norway) or Norsemen were very active indeed down the
western seaboard of Europe with the Danes mainly engaged in England,
France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany. The Swedish Vikings were mainly
in central Europe through Finland, they founded Russia and were active
down into the Caspian Sea and the Mediterranean. The Norwegian Vikings
sallied forth initially against England then focused on Scotland and
Ireland. Other Norwegian Vikings led by Eric the Red ventured to
Iceland where they created a republic in 930 AD, and
Greenland; his son Leif may well have discovered America some 500
years before Columbus.
In England the Vikings of Danish origin were very active and fought
many bloody battles in the 8th -10th century. Importantly, after the
blood letting was over they turned to settling the land and brought
with them sophisticated manufacturing processes, poetry, literature
and a democracy that gave women equal rights with men. They ruled the
"Dane Law" - the land north and west of a line roughly between London
and Liverpool which included the Midlands, East Anglia, Yorkshire, and
the ancient kingdom of Northumbria, which had been agreed with
King Alfred the Great in 886 AD. A unique genetic marker for the
Danish Vikings was not isolated in "Viking Blood" Project (see below)
because they and the earlier raiders cum settlers - the Angles and the
Saxons, originate in much the same region of Northern Germany and
Denmark.
The Norwegian
Vikings mounted raids on monasteries and the like in England (Lindisfarne
in 793) but were mainly in evidence in Scotland (Iona in 795 AD
, the first of three raids in the next ten years) and Ireland. In 870
AD they stormed the fortress of Dumbarton after a four month siege,
and attacked the Pictish fortress at Dunnottar on the east coast in
890 AD. There was effectively a Viking Age in Scotland that lasted
from ca 800 AD to 1050 AD during which the Vikings ruled a small
empire from their base in the Orkneys and Shetlands. One of the
Saga`s is the thirteenth century story of `The Saga of the Earls
of Orkney`, otherwise known as the Orkneyinga Saga. ( see
http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/saga.htm ). It should not be
forgotten that there was the Norse "Kingdom of the Isles" based on the
Isle of Lewis that lasted until 1266 ; it was then sold for 4000
marks. Similarly the Norse influence continued in the Orkneys until
the middle of the 15th century. There is a far richer heritage to be
had from the Norsemen than popular beliefs would have us believe as
ongoing archaeology `digs`find more and more evidence. Recently a
hoard of some 92 assorted coins ,including two Arabic dirhams, were
unearthed in Furness, Cumbria. An intact Viking grave,with assorted
grave goods and human remains, has been found at Ardnamurchan in the
Western Highlands that dates from the 10th century.
The expansion of the Viking kingdoms was given great impetus when the
great empire of Charlemagne fractured and France broke up into many
small kingdoms. This gave the opportunity for the Vikings under Rollo
(sometimes called `The Walker`, as he was a giant of a man and no
horse could carry him) to invade. With their ferocious energy and
ambition north western France was rapidly subdued . A military
development was the establishment of armoured horsemen on horseback -
the heavy cavalry. Properly armed and accoutred with chain mail and
swords, and regularly trained, these became the knights and a new
social hierarchy. The cavalry was above all a machine for
conquest.
Brutal
suppression of dissent was normal for the age but Rollo was a new
breed of Viking who saw the value of integration and stability.
Subsequently the whole of north west France was acquired and the
kingdom of Normandy came into existence. This was a fully functioning
medieval state with a hierarchy and permanence. Rollo`s descendants
included William the Lion, known to history as William the Conqueror,
who invaded England in 1066.
The Vikings were dominant on the Isle of Man for a long time and
exercised their influence down the west coast of Scotland and the
Western Isles. The last King was Olaf who ruled from 1115 to
1153 and it was his son in law, Somerled, who defeated Olaf`s son,
Godfrey, to become undisputed ruler of the southern Hebrides. The
Vikings were prominent in Cumbria, the northernmost part of
England on the south side of the Solway Firth, where they settled for
many years around Penrith. It is therefore a strong possibility that a
Norwegian Viking gene should turn up in the Orr line that hitherto has
been traced only as far as ca 1250 AD in West and South West Scotland.
The rich pasture lands of the valley of the River Urr in Dumfriesshire
emerges into the Solway Firth south of Dalbeattie (which was once an
ancient port for the area) and would have been accessible to Vikings
both as raiders by sea and as traders from across the Firth in
Cumbria. One of the explanations for the name of the Parish of Urr
(pronounced Orr) is that it is derived from the Norse ur, a word for
the wild ox or boar, that in ancient times abounded in the river
valley. The ancient Norse method of "Haaf" netting salmon and trout
continues in use in the Annan area, This is
is a hand held single net mounted on a wooden frame, and carried
into the channel by the fisherman.
A TV program entitled
"Viking Blood" , first shown in 2000, was repeated on UK History
TV recently. This involved substantial DNA sampling from all over the
UK . So far as Vikings of Norwegian origin who raided ca 780-1100 AD,
there is DNA evidence of them with as high as 60% of the male
population in Orkney; 30 % in the Hebrides and 15 % in the Isle of
Man. More can be read about this programme on the BBC web site
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/archive.shtml
The Vikings remained in the Scottish Isles for longer than in any
other part of Great Britain and Ireland. The Hebrides were part of the
Viking kingdom on the Isle of Man until the 13th century, when they
were lost at the Battle of Largs which is on the west coast of
Ayrshire and only 10 miles or so from the Orr lands at Lochwinnoch.
Shetland and Orkney were part of Norway and then Denmark until they
too were given to Scotland, as part of a dowry payment, in the 15th
century.
The Norwegian Vikings first raided in Ireland ca 795 AD when they
raided the monastery on Lambay Island, near Dublin. A later fleet in
830 AD captured Armagh. By 840 AD they had settled and enlarged
Dublin, with bases at Wexford, Cork and Limerick. Dublin remained the
main Irish base for them from which they traded with nearby England
and Scotland and the coast of western Europe.
Also on
the History site
The
legacy of the Vikings in the English language, dialects and place
names.
Links
The Vikings in
Orkney from the Orkneyjar Heritage site:
http://www.orkneyjar.com/
Timeline:
http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/timeline.htm
The Vikings in
Man from Manx National Heritage:
http://www.gov.im/mnh/
An overview of of the Viking conquests
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings/overview_vikings_01.shtml
Haplogroups
and earlier origins. History
of the Vikings at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings/index.shtml |
