Birlinn

For the Scottish publisher, see Birlinn Limited.

A carving of a bìrlinn from a 16th century tombstone in MacDufie's Chapel, Oronsay, as engraved in 1772.

The birlinn (spelt bìrlinn in Scottish Gaelic) was a type of boat used especially in the Hebrides and West Highlands of Scotland in the Middle Ages. The Birlinn is a Norse-Gaelic variant on the Norse longship. Variants of the name in English and Lowland Scots include "berlin" and "birling". It probably derives ultimately from the Norse byrðingr, i.e. a ship of burden.

The bìrlinn, commonly known as the long-fhada ("long-ship"), was clinker-built and could be sailed or rowed. It had a single mast with a square sail. Smaller vessels of this type might have as few as 12 oars, with the larger having as many as 40. For over 400 years, down to the 17th century, the bìrlinn or long-fhada was the dominant vessel in the Hebrides.

The bìrlinn appears in Scottish heraldry as the "lymphad" (a corruption of long-fhada).

Use

In terms of design and function, there was considerable continuity between the bìrlinn and the ships used by earlier Norse colonisers of the Isles. In an island environment ships were essential for the warfare which was endemic in the area, and local lords used the bìrlinn extensively from the 13th century. The strongest of the regional naval powers were the Macdonalds of Islay.

The Lords of the Isles of the Late Middle Ages maintained the largest fleet in the Hebrides. It is possible that vessels of the bìrlinn type were used in the 1156 sea battle in which Somerled, Lord of Argyll, the ancestor of the said lords, firmly established himself in the Hebrides by confronting his brother-in-law, Godred Olafsson, King of the Isles.

Though the surviving evidence has mostly to do with the bìrlinn in a naval context, there is independent evidence of mercantile activity for which such shipping would have been essential. There is some evidence for mercantile centres in Islay, Gigha, Kintyre and Knapdale, and in the 14th century there was constant trade between the Isles, Ireland and England under the patronage of local lords. Otherwise the chief uses of the bìrlinn would have been for troop-carrying, fishing and cattle transport.

Construction and maintenance

In some ways the bìrlinn resembled the more robust craft of Norse design. Viking ships were double-ended, with a keel scarfed to stems for and aft. A shell of thin planking (strakes) was constructed on the basis of the keel, the planks being edge-joined and clenched with iron nails. Symmetrical ribs or frames were then lashed to the strakes or secured with trenails. Over most of the ribs was laid a slender crossbeam and a thwart. The mast was stepped amidships or nearly so, and oars, including a steering oar, were also used. The stem and stern post might have carefully carved notches for plank ends, with knees securing the thwarts to the strakes and beams joining the heads of the frames.

Western Scotland, with the Inner Hebrides shown in dark blue. It was there and on the mainland that timber was most readily obtainable.

The bìrlinn, like Norse vessels, was clinker-built and propelled both by sail and oars, the latter being inserted through round oar-ports. The hull bore a general resemblance to the Norse pattern, but stem and stern were rather more steeply pitched and clearly distinguishable from each other, and surviving images show a rudder. 19th century boat-building practices in the Highlands are likely to have applied also to the bìrlinn: examples are the use of dried moss, steeped in tar, for caulking, and the use of stocks in construction.

Oak was the wood favoured both in Western Scotland and in Scandinavia, being tough and resistant to decay. Other types of timber might be used as appropriate. It is likely that the Outer Isles of Western Scotland had always been short of timber, but birch, oak and pine abounded in the Inner Isles and on the mainland. The abundance of timber at Lochaber was proverbial: "B'e sin fiodh a chur do Loch Abar" ("Bringing wood to Lochaber," said of any superfluous undertaking).

The tools used are likely to have included adze, axe, auger and spoon bit, aul, plane, draw knife and moulding iron, together with other tools typical of the Northern European carpenter's kit. As in traditional shipbuilding generally, measurements would have been largely by eye.

The traditional practice of sheltering boats in bank-cuttings ("nausts") - small artificial harbours - was probably also employed with the bìrlinn. There is evidence in fortified sites of constructed harbours, boat-landings and sea-gates.

The survival of Norse shipbuilding techniques, though plausible, is conjectural, since to date no substantial remnants of a bìrlinn have been found. Traditional boat-building techniques and terms, however, may furnish a guide as to the vessel's construction.

Rigging and sails

Carved images of the bìrlinn from the 16th century and before show the typical rigging: braces, forestay and backstay, shrouds (fore and aft), halyard and parral. There is a rudder with pintles on the leading edge inserted into gudgeons. It is possible that use was made of a wooden bowline or reaching spar (called a beitass by the Norse). This was used to push the luff of the sail out into the wind.

Traditional Highland practice was to make sails of tough, thick-threaded wool, with ropes being made of moss-fir or heather. Medieval sails, in the Highlands as elsewhere, are shown as being sewn out of many small squares, and there is possible evidence of reef points.

Ireland

Main article: Irish galley

Rockfleet Castle (Caisleán Charraig an Chabhlaigh - "the castle of the rock of the fleet"), a stronghold of the O'Malleys by the sea.

The Irish long fhada seems, from contemporary sources, to have resembled its West Highland equivalent, though there is as yet no archeological confirmation.

The Annals of the Four Masters record the use of fleets in an Irish context, often with a Scottish connection. In 1413 Tuathal Ó Máille, returning from Ulster to Connacht with seven ships, encountered a severe storm (anfadh na mara) which drove them northwards to Scotland: only one of the ships survived. In 1433 Macdonald of the Isles arrived in Ulster with a large fleet (co c-cobhlach mór) to assist the O'Neills in a war with the O'Donnells.

In Ireland oared vessels were employed extensively for warfare and piracy by the O'Malleys and the O'Flathertys, western lords whose base was in Connacht. English officials found it necessary to counter them with similar vessels. The most famous of these local rulers was Gráinne Ní Mháille, of whom Sir Richard Bingham reported in 1591 that she had twenty vessels at her command. She, like her father, was engaged in extensive seaborne trade.

There was constant maritime traffic between Ireland and Scotland, and Highland mercenaries were commonly transported by bìrlinn to Ireland.

Birlinns were being built in a number of Irish ports in the 13th century, and were even commissioned by the Crown. Their use in Northern Europe, in contrast to the Mediterranean, had greatly declined by the 16th century; their survival in the west of Ireland, as in the Isles, was facilitated by very local conditions, among them the ready availability of bays and islands.

Naval technology

The bìrlinn, when rowed, was distinguished by its speed, and could often evade pursuers as a result. No cannon were mounted even in the later period: the birlinn was too lightly built and its freeboard was too low. It was highly suitable for raiding, however, and with experienced marksmen on board could mount a formidable defence against small craft. The bìrlinn was at its most vulnerable when beached or when cornered by a heavier vessel carrying cannon.

Possible change in design

The seal of John Moidartach (from 1572).

There is some evidence that by the end of the 16th century new influences were affecting birlinn design. A carving made at Arasaig in 1641 shows a vessel with a lowered stem and stern. An English map of north-east Ireland made no later than 1603 shows "fleetes of the Redshanks [Highlanders] of Cantyre" with vessels one-masted as before but with a square sail mounted on a sloping yard arm and a small cabin at the stern projecting backwards. Two Clanranald seals attached to documents dated 1572 show birlinn with raised decks at stem and stern, a motif repeated in later heraldic devices. If such changes occurred, they would reflect influences from the south-east and ultimately from the Mediterranean. The supporting evidence has been criticised, however, for being slight and unconvincing.

See also

• Irish galley

References

• Greenhill, Basil (ed.) (1976), Archaeology of the Boat: A new introductory study (first ed.), London: Adam and Charles Black, ISBN 0 7136 1645 8 
• Rixson, Denis (1998), The West Highland Galley (first ed.), Edinburgh: Birlinn, ISBN 1 874744 86 6 

Further reading

• Birlinn - Longships of the Hebrides, John Macaulay, The White Horse Press, 1996

External links

• GalGael - using the Birlinn to rebuild community in Scotland
• Highland Galleys, from Mallaig Heritage
• Image of 15th-century engraved Birlinn, in Rodel Chapel, Harris, on Flickr