Lord of the Isles

Lord of the Isles, now a Scottish title of nobility, originally referred to a series of hybrid Viking/Gaelic rulers of the west coast and islands of Scotland in the Middle Ages, who wielded sea-power with fleets of galleys. Although at times nominal vassals of the King of Norway and/or of the King of Scotland, the Lords of the Isles remained functionally independent for many centuries. Their territory included the Hebrides, (Skye and Ross from 1438), Knoydart, Ardnamurchan, the Kintyre peninsula, Arran and Antrim in Ireland (see map).

References

• The Lion in the North, John Prebble, Penguin Books 1973
• Maritime Scotland, Brian Lavery, B T Batsford Ltd., 2001, ISBN 0-7134-8520-5