The Danes in Lancashire and Yorkshire

by S. W. Partington

When the Vikings invaded the county, the wide dales only had been occupied by these early settlers. The higher valleys were densely wooded, the broad moors and mosslands had not been penetrated until the coming of the Norse in 900 A.D.

Some Anglian districts were refounded under Danish names, and became flourishing settlements. Canon Atkinson has shown by his analysis of Cleveland, that at Domesday, very little of that district was under cultivation. To the end of the eleventh century it consisted of moor and forest, and that many of the villages had then Danish names. The name Ingleby shows the passing of the Angles, by the addition of the Danish 'by.'

At Domesday Yorkshire was divided into Ridings (thrithings), and Wapentakes.

Such names as Thingwall near Whitby, Thinghow near Gainsborough, Thinghow near Northallerton, and Tingley near Wakefield, though some of the sites have disappeared, remain to show the centres of Danish government. The presence of many Scandinavian places and names suggests that the country before then was a wilderness. The condition of the country may be gathered from the records and traditions of Reginald and Symeon of Durham. In 875 Halfdan the Dane began his raid into Bernicia, and the Abbot of Lindisfarne, Eardwulf fled before him, taking the relics of St. Cuthbert. These wanderings, says Symeon, covered a period of nine years. The leader of this band was Eadred, the Abbot of Carlisle (Caer-Luel), whose monastery had been destroyed, and with the city, lay in ruins for two hundred years. At the places where these relics rested during their wanderings, Churches were afterwards erected, and dedicated to this Saint. The direction taken by the fugitives has been traced by Monsignor Eyre and the late Rev. T. Lees, first inland to Elsdon, then by the Reed and Tyne to Haydon Bridge, and up the Tyne valley; south by the Maiden way, and then through the fells by Lorton and Embleton to the Cumberland coast. At Derwentmouth, Workington, they determined to embark for Ireland, but were driven back by a storm and thrown ashore on the coast of Galloway, where they found a refuge at Whithorn.

Mr. W. G. Collingwood says in his "Scandinavian Britain," that in this storm the MS. Gospels of Bishop Eadfirth (now in the British Museum) were washed overboard, but recovered. At Whithorn the bishop heard of Halfdan's death, and turned homewards by way of Kirkcudbright.

The fact that the relics of St. Cuthbert found refuge in Cumberland and Galloway shows that the Danish invasion, from which they were saved, took very little hold of these parts. The Vikings of the Irish Sea were already under the influence of Christians, if not christianised, and were not hostile to the fugitive monks, while the natives welcomed them.

The early historians relate the curious story of the election of Guthred, Halfdan's successor. Eadred, Abbot of Carlisle, who was with St. Cuthbert's relics at Craik, in central Yorkshire, on the way home, dreamt that St. Cuthbert told him to go to the Danish army on the Tyne, and to ransom from slavery, a boy named Guthred, son of Hardecnut (John of Wallingford says, "the sons of Hardecnut had sold him into slavery"), and to present him to the army as their king. He was also to ask the army to give him the land between the Tyne and the Wear, as a gift to St. Cuthbert and a sanctuary for criminals. Confident in his mission, he carried out its directions; found the boy, ransomed him, gained the army's consent, and the gift of the land, and proclaimed Guthred King at "Oswigedune." Eardwulf then brought to the same place the relics of St. Cuthbert, on which every one swore good faith. The relics remained until 999 at Chester-le-Street, and there Eardwulf re-established the bishopric.

In these records of the Saxon historian Symeon, we have the curious illustration of the Viking raiders becoming rapidly transformed from enemies into allies and rulers chosen from among them. The history of Guthred's reign was peaceful, and he became a Christian King. His election took place about the year 880. During the reign of Guthred, his kingdom became christianised, the sees of Lindisfarne and York survived the changes. Guthred died in 894 and was buried in the high church at York.

In 919 Ragnvald, called by Symeon "Inguald," became King of York. He was one of the most romantic figures of the whole Viking history. His name bore many forms of spelling: Ragnvald, Reignold, Ronald, Ranald, and Reginald.

Coming from the family of Ivar in Ireland, Ragnvald mac Bicloch ravaged Scotland in 912, fought and killed Bard Ottarsson in 914 off the Isle of Man. Joined his brother at Waterford in 915 and set out for his adventure in North Britain. Landing in Cumberland, he passed along the Roman wall, and becoming King of York, was the first of the Irish Vikings who ruled until 954.