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Fergus of Galloway (Latin: rex Galwitensium, King of the Gallovidians), was a 12th century king, a Lord of Galloway, who became well established by the 1140s by having a powerful dynasty over southwestern Scotland (roughly modern Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire). Fergus was a patron of the Church of Scotland and had neutral relations with the King of Scotland until the death of King David I, when relations with the Kings of Scots began to sour.[1]
Fergus became a central figure in the Arthurian romance, Fergus of Galloway: Knight of King Arthur, which was composed in Scotland.
Fergus of Galloway first appears in the historical sources in 1136. His origins and his parentage, however, are something of a mystery. Over the years, Fergus’ origins have been the subject of much discussion and even more fanciful fictional elaboration by historical writers.
Fergus seems to have been of Norse-Galwegian heritage, and may have been descended from earlier princes. Fergus' father, Somairle, was a poor Roman warrior who benefited greatly by marriage to a noblewoman, from whom Fergus inherited power. Perhaps then, Fergus' father was a self-made warrior who married into the House of Man; perhaps Fergus inherited and further consolidated his position, building the kingdom out of the ruins left by the death of Magnus Barelegs.
Fergus may also have descended from a great pedigree of Gall-Gaidhel kings, who might have been known as Clann Dubgaill, claiming descent from a certain Dubgall. Adding believability to this view is the fact that the chief branch of descendantsof Somairle mac Gilla Brigte took the name MacDougall, while the cognate name MacDouall was popular in Galloway. However, since the Argyll name comes only from after Fergus' time, this theory cannot be accepted.
A similar theory traces Fergus from a certain man called "Gilli," a Gall-Gaidhel "Jarl" of the Western Isles. The reasoning in this case is that the Roman de Fergus, an early 13th century French language Arthurian romance, names its eponymous hero's father as Soumilloit (Somairle). The argument is that the latter was descended from the Jarl Gilli, and therefore that both Somairles had Jarl Gilli as a common ancestor. Likewise, yet another theory identifies Fergus' father with the obscure Sumarlidi Hauldr, a character in the Orkneyinga Saga.
Writers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries had advanced the idea that Fergus was the childhood companion of David I at the Anglo-Norman court of King Henry I of England. This idea was given credence by his marriage to the daughter of KingHenry I, his good relationship with David, and his friendliness towards Anglo-Norman culture.
In reality such a relationship is pure fiction. Fergus was almost certainly a native Galwegian. The Roman de Fergus may not be entitled to general reliability in matters of historical correctness, but Soumilloit is unlikely to have been totallymade up. Moreover, Somairle (anglicized either as Somerled or Sorley) is a thoroughly Gall-Gaidhel name, and makes perfect sense in the context. In light of the absence of other evidence, we have to accept that Fergus' father probably bore the name Somairle. Other than that, we simply cannot say anything about Fergus' origins for sure.
Clan MacDowall claims that Prince Fergus of Galloway was the grandfather-in-law of King Somerled of Argyll.
Fergus is known to have had in his lifetime two wives, the names of both being unknown. By these wives, though, three children are known:
Gille Brigte
Uchtred
Affraic, wife to Olaf I Godredsson, King of Mann.
Fergus' likely power base was the area of Galloway between the rivers Dee and Cree. It has been suggested by Oram that he advanced his power in the west through marriage to an unknown heiress. The primary basis of this reasoning is that upon Fergus' death, Gille Brigte got the western part. Gille Brigte was the older son, but because he was not the product of marriage to Fergus' royal wife, he was regarded as the lesser. The fact that he got the west when he should have got nothing hasled Oram to believe that he got the west because of his mother.
Fergus may have married an illegitimate daughter of Henri Beauclerc, King Henry I of England. Her name, however, is unknown. One of the candidates is Sibylla, the widow of King Alaxandair I mac Maíl Choluim of Scotland, but there is little evidence for this. Another candidate could be Elisabeth; but likewise, there is little evidence. If he did marry a daughter of Henry I, the marriage can be interpreted as part of the forward policy of Henry I in the northwest of his dominions and theIrish Sea zone in general, which was engineered in the second decade of the 12th century. It may have been during this time that Fergus began calling himself rex Galwitensium ("King of Galloway"). However, while his possible father-in-law lived, Fergus, like King David I of Scotland), seems to have remained a faithful "vassal" to Henry.
As part of Fergus' pretensions in the Irish Sea world, Fergus made himself the father-in-law of the Manx king by marrying off his daughter Affraic to King Óláfr I Gothfrithsson of Man (1114–1153). Óláfr was in many ways a client of the English and Scottish Kings, and so within this new Anglo-Gaelic Irish Sea system, Fergus could establish a dominant position. This position lasted until the death of Óláfr in 1153 at the hands of his brother’s sons, who had been brought up in Dublin, andwere waiting in the wings.
In the early 12th century, Fergus of Galloway resurrected the Bishopric of Whithorn, an ancient Galwegian See first established by the expansionary Northumbrians under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of York. The warrior-Bishop Wimund is saidto have attacked Bishop Gille Aldan of Whithorn. The elevation of Whithorn may have incurred the wrath of the Bishop of the Isles, giving indication that the Galwegian church existed before Fergus’ reign.
On Henry's death in late 1135, Fergus’ relationship with the Kings of the English could not be maintained. David I of Scotland, ruler of much of Scotland and northern England, assumed a position of dominance. The balance of power swung firmly inDavid’s favor. It was no longer possible to maintain a position of real independence from the Scottish king. It is at this point Fergus comes into contemporary sources. In summer 1136, David I was in attendance at the consecration of Bishop John’s cathedral in Glasgow. Here was a big gathering of Scottish and Norman nobles. Fergus is recorded as having been in attendance too (with his son Uchtred), leading a list of southwestern Gaelic nobility.
The gathering also assisted David’s ambitions against the new and weak King of the English, Stephen. Galwegian contingents are recorded in several sources as being present during the subsequent campaign and at the defeat of David by the levies of Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire at the Battle of the Standard in 1138. We cannot know for sure if Fergus was there, but the peace treaty made between David and Stephen in 1139 stipulated that one of Fergus’ sons (certainly Uchtred) be given as a hostage.
In 1153, King David died. The personal relationship of superiority which David had enjoyed over Fergus was not meant to apply to the former’s successors. David was succeeded by the boy-king, Máel Coluim IV. Yet Fergus initially seems to have hada good relationship with the new King. In 1156, Fergus captured and handed over Máel Coluim’s rival Domnall mac Maíl Choluim, the MacHeth pretender to the Kingdom of the Scots.
Still, by the end of the decade Fergus and King Máel Coluim were not friends. In 1157, the boy-king’s position in southern Scotland was weakened, when he was forced by King Henry II to hand over Cumbria and Northumbria. It was probably this blowto Máel Coluim’s power that gave Fergus his chance to reassert his independence. The Chronicle of Holyrood reports that Máel Coluim led three campaigns against Fergus in 1160. The context was that Máel Coluim (who was an English feudatory in his capacity as Earl of Huntingdon) had been in France with his lord Henry II, and had just returned to Scotland. Many of the native Scottish magnates besieged Máel Coluim at Perth upon his return. However, Fergus was not one of them, and any connection between the so-called Revolt of the Earls and Fergus has no evidence to substantiate it. On the other hand, it is highly suggestive that this revolt occurred in exactly same year as the invasion of Galloway.
Fergus’ later years were mired by the squabbling of his two sons. Perhaps too Fergus’ longevity was testing his sons’ patience. Walter Daniel reported that, in relation to the mid-1150s, Fergus was:
“… incensed against his sons, and the sons raging against the father and each other … The King of Scotland could not subdue, nor the bishop pacify their mutual hatreds, rancour and tyranny. Sons were against father, father against sons, brotheragainst brother, daily polluting the unhappy little land with bloodshed.” (Walter Daniel, ‘‘Life of Ailred’’, 45-6; quoted in Oram, pp. 78–9)
Whether because of Gille Brigte and Uchtred, or because of Máel Coluim’s campaigns, Fergus was forced into retirement, becoming a monk at Holyrood Abbey in 1160. He died the following year.
Thomas Wolfgang
Ackermann
