Chapter 10: autumn/winter 874 AD

"David mac Scott mac Fergus. I like it, he already sounds like a man with something about him." Said Fiona.

They had both agreed on the name David for the boy. Scott thought he could remember his biblical studies suggested the name meant 'beloved' and had been the name of the second King of Israel - a noted warrior and poet. The baby appeared lively and healthy, certainly had nothing wrong with his lungs if the squalling was anything to go by, and he was feeding greedily from his mother's breast.

Scott was continually trying to get him from Fiona so he could simply hold the tot, but Fiona scolded him that feeding came before any male bonding! Scott caught sight of Eilean smiling at mother, father and child before turning away, a trace of tears in her eyes he thought.

Perhaps his senses were returning to normal because he had an inkling as to what might be wrong with his other 'wife'. Gabrain's birth had been a difficult one and Eilean had bled quite a bit. She was now sure that she couldn't have any further children. Scott sensed that the birth of David was a bitter sweet experience for her, joy for him and Fiona but pain as she was reminded that she wouldn't have the chance to experience the same joy in providing him, them, with a child.

Scott hugged Fiona and stood to go to Eilean. He wrapped his arms around from behind, pulling her body to him and dropping his head to whisper in her ear.

"I know you are happy for us, and once more you did a fantastic job at the birth. You know we both love you little elf. I also sense your pain. You believe that you and I will not be able to share this same joy together don't you?"

Eilean's initial response was a loud sob, and then she nodded her head slightly, confirming what Scott had suspected.

"I would love to have a child with you, and if it inherited its mother's looks it would be a beautiful child indeed. What will be, will be. At least we can have the fun of trying, and I will never tire of that with such a sweet elfin lovely. And remember, Fiona won't be able to do anything for weeks so we will have plenty of time together!"

This made Eilean giggle and she turned in his arms to return his embrace and kiss him gratefully.

Scott and Gabrain made another trip to Fife to discuss the establishment of a port with Murdoch. A site was chosen, the coastline offering many natural anchorages, and Scott worked with Murdoch's craftsmen to design a harbour and warehousing etc. Scott also discussed with Murdoch the kinds of things that could be traded. He suggested that Murdoch could do worse than begin to cut timber, as he believed there would a market for the many hardwoods that Fife had access to. Murdoch was doubtful but knew Scott seemed to have a knack for this kind of thing so agreed he would give it a try.

Back at Oban some of Scott's 'spies' had returned from the north with ominous news. It seemed that a fresh influx of Danes had taken on and defeated the remnants of the force that Scott had himself defeated the year before. This could mean that Scott would be faced with renewed raiding, these newcomers not having the same experiences of Scott's abilities as a commander and not so wary of attacking Dalriada.

Scott and Gabrain immediately set to work with his shipwrights and other craftsmen to add touches to his new longships in readiness for possible battle. Scott also exercised his coastal defences once more to ensure they were vigilant, well prepared and ready. Messengers were despatched to Lachlan and Colmgil to alert them to the possibility of a new Viking threat.

With the harvest already in, Scott had the full manpower of the lordship at his disposal and he established greater numbers at each of his four coastal sites.

Two weeks after sending the messengers, Lachlan and Colmgil arrived at Oban with four fully manned longships. Scott had his craftsmen fit the new touches to these ships too so that his good friends would have the same advantages as himself. It wasn't long before his lookout towers were reporting sightings of what appeared to be Norse ships off the coast, a lot of activity.

Scott decided that it would be a good idea to send out some patrols to gauge the level of Norse activity and to better appraise their numbers. Gabrain suggested that it might be a better idea to put on a show of force, as this might be enough in itself to deter any planned raids.

"Another great idea my Lord King!" Said Scott.

So, fourteen Scots longships sailed out of Oban and beat down the Firth of Loarne and out into the open seas around Mull. No sooner had they passed between the foot of Mull and the island of Colonsay and they saw a cloud of smoke off to the northwest. Scott's face grew grim as he estimated that the smoke was coming from the direction of Iona. The made good speed in that direction and confirmed that it was Iona that had been attacked.

"No," breathed Scott, "please let it not be so, not 'I Challuim Chille', not Iona again, please no!"

The devastation was awful. The monk's bodies were hacked and dismembered, blood and filth strewn over the sacred buildings, the standing stone thrown down. It seemed the Norse had shown themselves wise to the defences that Scott had set up, landing elsewhere on the island and then rampaging through the populace. He could feel the strength of anger amongst the men with him, their love of and devotion to this sacred island giving rise to deep resentment.

Once back aboard their ships it was clear that the Scots were desperate for retribution. This was no longer a show of strength, but rather all were now focussed on trying to track down the culprits. Scott split his force into seven pairs and sent them out looking for the Danes. He had ordered them not to engage but to rendezvous again with each other so that their total numbers could be brought to bear to make a telling contribution.

Scott took one other ship and headed in the direction of Tiree, but before he had gone two miles one of his men urgently gestured to another pall of black smoke in the sky behind them. They turned about and made the best speed they could back the way they had come. Scott nervously chewed the flesh on the inside of his cheek as it began to look as if the smoke was coming from the Loarne coast.

"Please god no, not again." He whispered to himself.

All around him men redoubled their efforts as they too began to realise where the smoke was coming from. Two other pairs of boats came into sight, four more of his own boats he could tell by their banners, also heading back to Loarne. As darkness fell they continued to row having identified that the smoke had been coming from the area of Crinan.

Tired men drew near to Crinan as the day dawned and they could identify that the smoke had indeed been from there but not from burning buildings, rather from burning oil that had covered the water of the bay. It seemed that the port had felt the need to light their defences so the odds were that the Vikings had been here.

Frantic signalling ashore elicited the information that there had been eight longships and that they had headed northwards once the oil was fired. Scott guessed that they must have passed them returning to Crinan, perhaps the Norse had been sheltered for the night behind the islands of Scarba or Luing. He led his six ships back northwards along the coast, sending three into Asknish Bay and on into Loch Melfort, while he himself sailed on towards Oban.

His coastal defence site at Easdale was alert and spotted his approach, signalling that eight Viking ships had passed them heading north only hours before and they had passed this information to the next site at Barrnacarry. His men advised that the Vikings had sailed close to take a look at the Easdale camp but had apparently decided it was not worth attacking or that it looked too heavily defended.

The sense of frustration and anxiety was growing as they passed up the coast and signals from Barrnacarry confirmed that the Danes had passed here also. The tower at Oban had signalled back to inform them that they had probed into Oban bay a little way, before turning about and heading up the Sound of Mull. Scott followed cautiously; knowing he was outnumbered eight to three and knowing his men were tired. They passed the landmass of Morvern and continued on towards Ardnamurchan, swinging west around the tip of Mull.

The island of Coll was directly ahead of them and so were twenty Viking ships, the eight he had been chasing now looking to join up with others. He ordered his three ships to hug the Mull shoreline, hoping this would stop the Vikings from spotting them, their masts harder to pick out with the land behind them. He ordered the men manning the oil pots with the hand pumps to prepare themselves and for the nets to be strung up to protect them from any Norse oil pots. This approach had worked before and he didn't see how the Danes could guard against it.

He watched as the Norse forces converged and chose this moment to try and gain an advantage. He exhorted his already tired men to seek to close the gap with the nearest group of eight Viking ships as quickly as possible. It was clear that they had been spotted while they were still over a mile away because the Viking ships turned to face them.

Scott thought eight against three were acceptable odds in the circumstances, certainly better than he had faced at Dunaverty the year before. He called for the captains of the other two vessels to close up on him, the three of them forming a longship version of his favourite cavalry wedge. As the Danes closed, Scott called for all three ships to begin to use another of his new additions to his ships - ballistas. These were in effect scaled up crossbows set on a stand to improve their stability; their torsion springs made from animal sinew. Their range was up to five hundred yards but only really effective at perhaps half of that. They fired bolts of around six to eight inches in length.

The first few shots from each of his ships missed their mark but as the range shortened more and more were impacting on the Vikings with noticeable discomfort amongst their ranks. Scott's formation didn't allow the Danes to use their normal tactics and this time all eight ships came on line abreast. As both sides sought to raise their oars to avoid collision, Scott's ship, at the centre of his wedge, was not in danger of having its oars sheared and could therefore continue to row. He took advantage of this now by surging forward and swinging hard to port to ram the Viking ship on that side as it passed.

Another of Scott's adaptations now came into play. He had had the prow of his ships re-inforced with metal plates and these now helped to bite through the timbers of the Norse vessel. All the while his men were raining crossbow bolts across the short gap between the ships and these were taking a terrible toll on the Vikings. A party of his men now jumped from the prow of his ship to finish off the Norse and then returned as Scott disengaged from the side of the stricken craft.

The speed of his attack and the firepower he had brought to bear ensured that none of the seven remaining Norse ships could turn in time to help their friends. Scott's two other ships had not engaged either and so now it was seven Norse ships versus three Scots. Having tipped his hand with the ramming manoeuvre, Scott now signalled to his other ships to separate and begin to fight independently of each other. He signalled to his own captain to aim their ship at one of the Viking ships in the centre of the seven and they beat towards it.