The Norsemen first started exploring the west coast of Scotland about 1200 years ago. They were summer visitors to begin with, travelling from their homelands in Norway to search out fertile ground to build homes for themselves and grow crops.

But they are not remembered for being peace-loving farmers because some of these men from the north came to attack the native people and steal what they could. They brought terror to many of the peaceful islands along the west coast-islands like Iona, which had great riches and precious manuscripts- beautiful books telling stories from the Bible and illustrated by hand with very elaborate letters and words.

These were the Vikings, ( in Gaelic Na Lochlannaich)--Norsemen who wanted to steal cattle, goats and other livestock, plunder homes and churches and destroy and burn houses if they couldn’t get what they were looking for. They even kidnapped people living there to sell them as slaves as far away as Ukraine and North Africa.

Many islands like Luing, Seil and Easdale have Norse names - and so has Kerrera. And Kerrera was to become very important in the story of the Vikings in Scotland.

When Alexander 11 became King of Scots in 1214, the Vikings still controlled most of the west coast of Scotland. He tried to persuade King Haakon of Norway to let him have his lands back by having talks with Ewan, chief of the clan MacDougall whose stronghold was Dunollie Castle. Kerrera and some of the islands around Oban bay were looked after by Ewan for King Haakon but the Norwegian king was not keen to lose such precious possessions.

So King Alexander gathered together a large number of ships and set off for Dunollie Castle. He anchored his fleet in Horseshoe Bay in the Sound of Kerrera and settled down for the night.

In these days, scribes wrote down stories of what was happening and a famous book of these stories, called the Norwegian Sagas, tells us that, when he fell asleep, King Alexander had a very strange dream.  He dreamed that three men came towards him; one was in royal robes and looked very cross, another was slim and fit-looking and pleasant to talk to and the third was a sturdy chap who was not very attractive to look at. They all asked him if he was going to invade the western isles and he said he was. He was warned to go back but would not.

Very sadly, King Alexander took ill of a fever and died on the field beside Horseshoe Bay which, to this day, is called Dalrigh, Field of the King.

Fourteen years later, the new king, Alexander 111 tried again to regain the western isles for Scotland and gathered a huge fleet of ships. When King Haakon , who was now an old man, heard this, he, too, gathered a large fleet and set off across the North Sea to do battle. His best ship was called the Christsudan, which was built entirely of oak, and had 27 banks of oars. Cows’ hair soaked in tar was rammed in between the planking to
keep the water out and the ship was decorated with heads and necks of dragons overlaid with gold.

He got as far as Ronaldsay on the Orkney Islands when a very strange thing happened. A great darkness fell over the sun. All Haakon’s men thought it was a bad omen and that they should go back to Norway. He was determined, however, to carry on and set off again to sail down the west coast. Today, we would call this strange happening an eclipse, a naturally occurring event that happens from time to time.

Haakon sailed down the Sound of Mull at the head of his fleet of over 100 ships with their colourful banners and sails fluttering in the wind and the gold and red of their mastheads glistening in the sun. What a sight that must have been when Haakon sailed into Oban bay and anchored in Horseshoe Bay, near Kerrera.

He rested his men and stored up with fresh provisions and water before heading south to do battle with King Alexander. Unfortunately for King Haakon and fortunately for the Scots, a fierce autumn storm blew up and thick mist came down. Just off the Ayrshire coast, Haakon’s
fleet was heavily defeated by the Scots at the Battle of Largs in 1263.

King Haakon headed home but died in Orkney.

Three years later, in 1266, the Treaty of Perth was signed between King Alexander and the Norwegian King which returned the western isles to Scotland. Oban Bay and the island of Kerrera had played their part in shaping the history of Scotland.