Castles and galleys
Subtitle: a reassessment of the historic galley-castles of the Norse-Gaelic seaways
By: edited by Paula Martin
Publisher: Islands Book Trust
Published: 2017
Place of publication: Laxay, Isle of Lewis
Language: eng
Number of pages: 320
ISBN-13: 9781907443763
Copyright date: 2017
Subjects: Castles; History; Congresses; Coast defenses
Description: "Castles and Galleys publishes papers delivered at a Conference held on Barra in September 2015. Travel by water was, from prehistory until the 18th century, quicker, easier and cheaper than travel by land. Most of the castles on or near the Norse-Gaelic seaways were close to the sea - some, like Kisimul, on small islands. Their main means of transport was galleys, open boats with oars and sails, descendants of Viking ships. The papers in this volume consider how castles functioned; how they can be dated; the interaction between castle-owners and the lands they controlled; networks and allegiances among these magnates; and the facilities at coastal castles for landing and protecting boats, and perhaps for taxing commercial vessels. Was there such a concept as a 'galley castle', and how can it be defined? As well as castles on the western seaboard of Scotland, three papers describe castles on the Isle of Man, Orkney and Ireland and ask whether galley-castles can be identified elsewhere within the Norse-Gaelic seaways. Discussions started by the late Ian Macneil of Barra have been developed and expanded. These papers consider geographical factors, and the approaches taken by architectural historians, documentary historians and archaeologists, with results relevant to the social, economic, political and military history of Scotland."--Back cover
Notes: Papers from a conference held on Barra in September 2015.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 289-320).
Table of contents: title: Ian Macneil's challenge to Hebridean castle historiography  -- Rory Macneil; title: The galley-castles and the Norse-Gaelic seaways : movement, mobility and maritime connectivity in medieval Atlantic Scotland c.1000-1500  -- R. Andrew McDonald; title: Clans, castles and DNA : Macneils, MacNeills and the families of Cowal, Knapdale and Glassary  -- David Sellar; title: Sailing-times in the Norse-Gaelic seaways  -- Donald McWhannell; title: The ruins of Danish forts? Exploring the Scandinavian heritage of Hebridean galley-castles  -- Alan Macniven; title: War or commerce in the galley-castle? An examination of two castles  -- Tom McNeill; title: Construction of galley-castles : materials and sources  -- Jamie MacPherson; title: Early harbours and landing-places on Scotland's Western seaboard  -- Colin Martin; title: Norse period Hebridean Dun re-occupation and castle-building  -- John Raven; title: Galley-castles by land and sea  -- David H. Caldwell; title: McGillechrist's Castle : an environmental study in medieval buildings archaeology from Argyll  -- Mark Thacker; title: Three archipelagos : perspectives on early modern Barra  -- Domhnall Uilleam Stiu  bhart; title: Galley-castles and the Isle of Man?  -- Peter Davey; title: Galley-castles in Gaelic medieval Ireland?  -- Colin Breen; title: Galley-castles of the Sound of Mull and Loch Awe : a Gaelic folklore perspective  -- John Macfarlane; title: A survey of Norse castles in Orkney  -- Sarah Jane Gibbon; title: Western seabord castles : historical and environmental perspectives  -- Richard Oram; title: Castles of the Western seaboard : some physical perspectives  -- Geoffrey Stell; title: Summary and synthesis -- Barbara Crawford.