[Note 53 ManxSoc vol 22]

NOTE 53, p. ll0.—Anno d. 1275.

According to the Chronicle of Lanercost the expedition here mentioned was caused by a new rebellion of the Manxmen, who had taken Godred, the son of Magnus, for their king. We give the entry at length, as a supplement to our Chronicle Hoc anno (1275) septima die mensis Octobris, applicuit navigium regis Scotiae in party de Reynaldsway. Statim dominus Johannes de Vesci ¹ et optimates regis cam exercitibus suis in insuicem Sti Michaeiis ascendebant, Mannensibus paratis ad proelium, cum Godredo filio Magni, quem paullo ante regem constituerant sibi. .Magnates vero et capitanei regis Scotiae legationem pacis ad Godredum et populum Manniae transmiserunt, pcecem dei et regis Scotiae eidem afferentes, si a stultissima praesumtione sua desisterent, et se vitro regi et optimatibus suis dederent. Godredo autem et perversis quibusdcem consiliceriis suis legcetioni pacis non consentientibus, sequenti die ante solis ortum, cam adhuc tenebrae esset super terram, et corda stultorum hominum obtenebrata essent, conflictus factus est, et miseri Mannenses terga vertentes miserabiliter corruerunt.² If Godred, as it would seem, was among the slain, the male line of the Godredian dynasty expired in his person. The female line seems to have survived for one generation more, for in the year 1293 one Affreca, related to the last king, Magnus, and pretending to be his legal heir, claimed the Isle of Man, as we learn from a letter issued June 15, 1293, by King Edward I. to John Baliol, then King of Scotland, citing him as a vassal of the English crown, to appear before his court, and receive judgment in the same case.³ It must be added that the Island had been lately made over by Edward to King John (see letter dated January 5, 1293, Rymer, Faed. i. 9. p. 785), the inhabitants having three years before (Rymer, 1. c. p. 740) of their own free will put themselves under the protection of King Edward.⁴ This Affreca was no doubt a grand-daughter of her namesake, the daughter of King Godred, mentioned heretofore (p. 80, ad. ann. 1204) on her marriage with John de Courcy, and named after his grandmother, as she again, in her turn, was named after her grandmother, Aifreca of Galloway, King Olaf’s Queen (vide p. 60, ad ann. 1102). What was the issue of the lawsuit we do not know; nor do we think it necessary to dwell on the entries in our Chronicle for the years 1313 and 1316, as being sufficiently explicit to want any explanation.⁵

1: This Johannes de Vescy is called in the Chron. de Mailros, AD. 1268, "doiniuus burgi de Alnewike " [Lord of the burgh qf Alnwick], and founder of the Premonstratensian Monastery of Alnwick.

2 [Upon the 7th of October (1275), the fleet of the King of Scotland put into the port of Ronaldsway. John de Vesci and the king’s nobles immediately landed their forces on the island of St. Michael, the people of Alan being prepared for the encounter, along with Godred, the son of Magnus, whom they had made their king but a short time previously. The chiefs and officers of the King of Scotland, however, sent an embassy of peace to Godred and the people of Man, offering to them the peace of God and of the King of Scotland, on condition of their laying aside their absurd presumption, and of giving themselves up to the king and his nobles. As Godred, however, and some of his perverse counsellors did not agree to the terms of the embassy, on the following day, before sunrise, whilst darkness still covered the earth, and thee hearts of foolish men were darkened, an engagement took place, and the unfortunate people of Man running away, fell miserably.]

3 [Oliver’s Man. ii. 127. Under date 1219, King Henry III. orders G. de Marischal, Justice of Ireland, to pay the dower of Affrica, wife of John de Courcy.

—Oliver, ii. 48. Under date 1291, Maria, Queen of Man, does homage to Edward I. in Galloway ; ib. ii. 115. Can this Mary be Reginald’s daughter, through whom John Waldebof claimed the throne of Man in 1305 ? ii. 135. There was also .Mary, Reginald’s wife, who afterwards became Countess of Strathern.]

4 [Oliver’s Mon. ii. 110 and 125.]

5 [March, 25, 1305.—Affreca issued a notice that she had. conceded all her rights on Man to Simon de Montacute. June 28, 1307.—Edward 1. seems to have resumed possession of Man. May 1, 1308.—Edward II. granted it to Henry de Bello Monte (Beaumont) ; but this grant seems to have been illegal, as contrary to a document signed on thee 16th of March previous, so that the king, in 1310, revoked the concession, and ordered it to be delivered into the hands of Gilbert Makaskel (Mac Askel, seneschal of Anthony Bec, Bishop of Durham), and Robert de Leiburn, Constable of Cockermouth. He named Simon de Montague, then in the Isle of Man, to be admiral of the fleet against Scotland. December 15, 1311.—Edward II. orders the sheriffs and bailiffs of Cheshire, Lancashire, Cumberland, and Westmoreland, to assist Gilbert Makaskey, seneschal of Anthony Bek, Bishop of Durham, with victuals and other necessaries for the navy, in order to enable hum to defend the same against Robert Bruce, his enemy, and a traitor. On the following day lie signifies that malefactors from this Isle of Man, partisans of Bruce, are committing devastations on England, whom they must seize and put in prison. In 1312 he orders Gilbert Makaskill to pay over to Gilbert de Bromley, his receiver at Carlisle, the moneys he had received on account of Henry de Behlo Monte in Man. On the 18th of June, in the same year, 1312, he warns all his bailiffs against allowing any injury to be committed against his faithful subjects of the Isle of Man. In the same year he renews his grant of the land of Man, with knights’ fees, and other appurtenances, and royal command to Henry de Bello Monte for his life ; but the Parliament annulled the grant and removed Henry from the king’s council and the royal person. —Dr. Oliver’s Mon. ii. 137-162. In June 1313, Robert Bruce takes Rushen Castle (Chron. 1313), and in December of the same year (if the year assigned to the document be correct, though it does not agree with the date of the document), he grants the Isle of Man to his nephew Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, to be held by the service of finding six ships of twenty-six oars each, with their crews, victualled for five weeks when required, and making personal appearance in Parliament when duly summoned. His immediate descendants quartered the arms of the island ; and his grandson and heir general, the celebrated George Dunbar, son of the famous Black Agnes of Dunbar, bore on his shield the arms of Man as well as of the Bruces.—Oliver’s Mon. ii. 162 ; N. and Q. 4 5. iv. September 4; and 4 5. v. January 29 ; and 4 S. iv. November 13.

July 6, 1317.—Edward II. instructed John de Athy, keeper of the Land of Man, to provide three ships, properly armed and victualled, for its defence against the Scots. —Oliver’s Mon. ii. 169.

In 1328 a peace was concluded between England and Scotland, by which the two kings agreed to be good friends and faithful allies, and in tho event of rebellion against England in the kingdom of Ireland, or against Scotland inn Man, Skye, or the other islands, not to abet or assist their rebel subjects.—Tytler, i. 404-5 Oliver’s Mon. ii. 176.

In 1329, King Edward III. appointed master Edward Mortayn, escimeator of Ireland, and his brother John Tyrel, as his lieutenant, to head the men for the expulsion of the Scotch felons, who had entered the island with Richard de Maundevill, for the purpose of conquering it. —Oliver’s Mon. ii. 178.

On the 30th of May, 1334, Edward III. requested all knights, freemen, and others, tenants in the Isle of Man, to assist William he Taillour of Carlisle, Haver Macoter, and Gilbert Makstephan, in the seizure and safe keeping of the Isle of Man. And on the 8th of June he notifies that he has entrusted it for one year to Willam de Montacute. And on the 9th of August he renounces all further claims to the Island in favour of the same. —Oliver’s Mon. ii. 180, 182, 183.

On the 28th of August 1343, Edward III. orders his Justice of Ireland to make inquiry into the seizure of certain vessels of Man on their way to Scotland with certain moneys, cattle, and goods, covenanted to be paid, with the consent of William de Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, and Lord of the Island, for one year’s peace with Scotland. On the 24th of September the king, Edward III. grants leave to his subjects of the Isle of Man, to treat with the Scots, and to make truces or treaties with them, as circumstances may demand, without let or hindrance from his bailiffs or servants——Oliver’s Mon. ii. 192, 196. In 1355 a truce is made between Edward III. and Sir David de Bruys, which comprises the Isle of Man, as well as England and Scotland—Oliver’s Mon. ii. 198. In the year 1357, the said truces are reaffirmed and renewed.—Mon. ii. 199, 201. In the year 1375, Robert Bruce, King of the Scots, grants to James Douglas, Knight, Lord of Dalkeith, and to his sister Agnes of Dunbar, whom the said James was marrying, and to their heirs in fee, one hundred librates of land (5000 acres) in the Island of Man, in a suitable place, if, within forty days, they could gain possession of the same by war, peace, or agreement.—Mon. ii. 203.

We have given this summary of the vicissitudes in the history of the Isle of Man subsequent to the year 1316, with which the civil portion of the Chronicle closes, in order to bring the narrative down to the period to which the account of ecclesiastical events is extended.]