The Battle of Largs (2 October 1263) was a battle between the kingdoms of Norway and Scotland, on the Firth of Clyde near Largs, Scotland. The conflict formed part of the Norwegian expedition against Scotland in 1263, in which Haakon Haakonsson, King of Norway attempted to reassert Norwegian sovereignty over the western seaboard of Scotland.2012: Edinburgh University Press, Acts of Alexander III King of Scots 1249 –1286 (Regesta Regnum Scottorum IV), Grant and Cynthia Neville Victory was achieved by the Scots with a crafty three-tiered strategy on the part of the young Scottish king, Alexander III: plodding diplomacy forced the campaign to bad weather months and a ferocious storm ravaged the Norwegian fleet, stripping it of many vessels and supplies and making the forces on the Scottish coast vulnerable to an attack that forced the Norwegians into a hasty retreat that was to end their 500-year history of invasion, and leaving Scotland to consolidate its resources into building the nation.
Since the beginning of the 12th century, Largs in the north Ayrshire area of Scotland had lain at the periphery of the Norwegian realm, ruled by magnates who recognised the overlordship of the kings of Norway. In the mid-13th century, two Scottish kings, Alexander II and his son Alexander III, attempted to incorporate the region into their own realm. Following Alexander III's early, failed attempts to purchase the islands from the Norwegian king, the Scots launched military operations to end the issue altogether by asserting royal sovereignty over all of western Scotland. Haakon responded to the Scottish aggression by leading a massive Norwegian fleet, thought to number in the thousands of vessels, that reached the Hebrides in the summer of 1263. Realising that the Scots were tremendously outnumbered by an experienced and mobile enemy, Alexander III sought a protracted diplomatic intervention that would buy time to acquire more troops and possibly force the Norwegians into the stormy autumn and winter months where an invasion could be stalled due to weather. By late September, Haakon's fleet occupied the Firth of Clyde and the temperate days were almost at an end. When negotiations between the kingdoms broke down, Haakon brought the bulk of his fleet to anchor off the Cumbraes, poised to invade Scotland at a site of his choosing.
On the night of 1 October, during a bout of stormy weather, several Norwegian vessels were driven aground on the Ayrshire coast, near present-day Largs. On 2 October, while the Norwegians were salvaging their vessels, the main Scottish army arrived on the scene. Composed of infantry and cavalry, the Scottish force was commanded by Alexander of Dundonald, Steward of Scotland. The Norwegians were gathered in two groups: the larger main force on the beach and a small contingent atop a nearby mound. The advance of the Scots threatened to divide the Norwegian forces, so the contingent on the mound ran to rejoin their comrades on the beach below. Seeing them running from the mound, the Norwegians on the beach believed they were retreating and fled back towards the ships. There was fierce fighting on the beach, and the Scots took up a position on the mound formerly held by the Norwegians. Late in the day, the Norwegians recaptured the mound after several hours of skirmishing. The Scots withdrew from the scene and the Norwegians reboarded their ships. They returned the next morning to collect their dead. With the weather deteriorating, Haakon's fleet sailed to Orkney to overwinter.
The battle is commemorated in Largs by an early 20th-century monument, and festivities held there annually since the 1980s.
Context
Viking depredations have been recorded in the British Isles since the late 8th century,McDonald 1997: p. 25. and Scandinavian settlement on Scotland's western-seaboard may have begun before the turn of the 9th century.McDonald 1997: p. 27. Claims to this region by Norwegian kings date to the turn of the 12th century, when Magnus Olafsson, King of Norway (d. 1103) established himself in the Hebrides and the Isle of Man (Mann). Direct Norwegian control ended with Magnus' death, after which the Hebrides and Mann,Woolf 2004: p. 101. See also: Crawford 2001: pp. 556–558. known to the Norwegians as the "Southern Isles",Williams 2007: pp. 130–132 fn 8. were controlled by local dynasties for over a century and a half. In the first half of the 13th century, the seaboard was controlled by two main power blocks: one consisting of the Mann, Lewis and Harris, and Skye—controlled by the patrilineal descendants of Godred Crovan (d. 1095); the other consisting of mainland territories in Argyll, and the islands of Islay, Jura, Mull, and possibly Uist—controlled by the descendants of Somerled (d. 1164). As part of the far-flung, early 13th century Norwegian realm, these island rulers recognised the overlordship of Haakon Haakonarson, King of Norway (d. 1263).Beuermann 2007: pp. 99–123.
The first half of the 13th century was a period of consolidation for both Scottish and Norwegian kings.Cowan 1990: p. 124. The Norwegians, under Haakon, overcame a period of internal strife, from 1161 to 1208,Barrow 1981: p. 101. and oversaw the submission of the Faroe Islands, the Greenland settlements, and Iceland, in the mid 13th century.Power 2005: p. 50. The Scots, under Alexander II, King of Scots (d. 1249), extended royal authority into the northern Highlands, Argyll, and Galloway.Stringer 2004. The king also wanted to incorporate the western seaboard into the Scottish realm.Forte; Oram; Pedersen 2005: pp. 253–254. See also: Stringer 2004. See also: Alexander; Neighbour; Oram 2000: pp. 17–22. In 1230, Scottish aggression against the Isles and interference forced the Norwegian king to pacify the region. In 1249, after attempting to purchase the Isles from Haakon, Alexander II launched a campaign of his own, deep into Argyll and into the Hebrides. Unfortunately for the Scots, their king died suddenly on the verge of conquest.Stringer 2004. Since his son and successor, Alexander III (d. 1286), was only a boy at the time, the Scottish realm suffered through a lengthy and troubled minority.Reid 2004. See also: Stringer 2004. In consequence, it wasn't until the 1260s that the king looked west and attempted to finish what his father had so nearly accomplished.
In 1262, a year after another unsuccessful attempt to purchase the Isles, Scottish forces launched an attack upon Skye. Haakon's response to the invasion was to mastermind a massive military expedition of his own.Reid 2004. See also: Alexander; Neighbour; Oram 2000: pp. 17–22. Described by the Icelandic Annals as the largest force to have ever set sail from Norway,McDonald 1997: p. 107. See also: Anderson 1922: p. 607. the fleet reached the Isles in the summer of 1263. After receiving only a lukewarm reception from his vassals in the region, Haakon's forces reached the Firth of Clyde, after his men had secured several castles, and undertook raids into the surrounding mainland. With the Norwegian fleet anchored off Arran, the Norwegians and Scottish embassies fiercely debated the sovereignty of the Islands of the Clyde. When talks broke down, Haakon dispatched a fleet of Islesmen to raid into Loch Lomond, and to ravage Lennox. Meanwhile, the main Norwegian fleet repositioned itself between the Cumbraes and the Ayrshire coast.Forte; Oram; Pedersen 2005: pp. 257–258. See also: Alexander; Neighbour; Oram 2000: pp. 17–22.
Actions
The main Norwegian source for the battle is Hakonar saga Hakonarsonar,Alexander; Neighbour; Oram 2000: pp. 17–22. a contemporary account of the life of Hakon Haakonarson, King of Norway (d. 1263), composed by the Icelandic historian Sturla Thordarson (d. 1284).Cowan 1990: pp. 103–104, 106. Although the saga describes the events purely from the Norwegian perspective, its narrative of the battle appears to have been drawn from eyewitness accounts, and it is the most detailed source available for the Scottish–Norwegian conflict, given that many contemporary Scottish archival holdings are lost to history. A contemporary Scottish perspective of the events is preserved in a brief entry in the Chronicle of Melrose. First penned at Melrose Abbey in the last quarter of the 12th century, the chronicle was further extended and supplemented from time to time into the late 13th century. It is an important historical source for the mediaeval Scottish realm. Clan and remaining royal records of property and titles subsequent to the event are also informative.Doherty 2011: p. 101.
While lying off the Cumbraes, on the night of 30 September, Haakon's fleet was battered by stormy weather. During the night, the saga records that a merchantman dragged its anchor and was driven aground. The following morning, it and four other vessels were floated off by the rising tide but carried by the current towards the Scottish mainland where they ran aground again. The crews of the beached vessels were soon harassed by a small force of Scots armed with bows. After the Norwegians had suffered some casualties, Haakon sent reinforcements ashore, and the Scots fled the area. Haakon's reinforcements remained ashore for the night, and the Norwegian king himself came ashore to oversee the salvage operation the next morning.Forte; Oram; Pedersen 2005: pp. 258–259. See also: Alexander; Neighbour; Oram 2000: pp. 17–22. See also: Anderson 1922: pp. 626–628.
According to the saga, the main Scottish force, consisting of heavily armoured cavalry and infantry, arrived on 2 October. The saga numbers the mounted troops at about 500 and states that they rode high-quality horses protected by mail.Barrow 1990: p. 139. See also: Anderson 1922: pp. 628–630. The use of a substantial force of mounted knights or sergeants appears to be corroborated in contemporary records of payments made to troops.Barrow 1990: pp. 139, 141–142. For example, Walter Stewart, Earl of Menteith had to maintain 120 sergeants—which could include knights, mounted men-at-arms, archers, or other footsoldiers—at Ayr Castle for three weeks.Brown 2004: p. 57. See also: Barrow 1990: pp. 139, 141–142. Although surviving records fail to mention the number of knights assembled at Ayr, the record of wages suggests that it was "more than a mere handful". According to the saga, the Scottish infantry were armed with bows and "Irish axes", and since at one point the Scots are said to have thrown stones at the Norwegians,Barrow 1990: p. 139. See also: See also: Anderson 1922: p. 630. the Scottish army must have also included slingers. The Latin Chronicle of Melrose simply describes the Scottish infantry as pedisequi patrie (the "foot-sloggers of the locality").Duncan 1996: pp. 379, 579–580. See also: Barrow 1990: p. 139. See also: Stevenson 1835: p. 190. If this description refers to the men of the surrounding countryside, the Scottish infantry would have been made up of men from the 'common army', drawn only from Strathgryffe, Cunninghame and Kyle. These levies would have been mustered by the Sheriff of Ayr, the Sheriff of Lanark, and the local magnates.Barrow 1990: p. 138. At the time of Largs, the Scottish king thus had at his disposal men from the 'common army' (lesser men who owed service to their king), the feudal host (greater men who owed military service for their lands), and also paid troops.Brown 2004: p. 57.