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In message <022201be6c7f$6c3c7360$28af8ec6@default>, Michelle Sinclair
<dmsin@mpx.com.au> writes
>Thank you for your replies.
(This is Jean Haddow,( all right with an Irish surname but a Caithness
Sinclair mother adding a gloss to this e-mail. She does have a degree
in Scottish History from the University of Edinburgh but does that
matter?))
>Briefly the background politics - King James 6 and 1 was married to
Anne the
>sister of the Danish King Kristian 4. He therefore had some loyalty to
the
>Danish throne. (How sure are you of his real loyalty, do you haver any
documentation to back that up?) Norway at this time (c.1600) was under
the authority of Denmark.
>Kristian 4 had long wanted to gain control of Sweden as well.
Apparently
>Kristian had been trying to stir up a fight with Sweden to give him an
excuse to
>try and take over. (Let's check that interpretation.)
>The Danish army was largely made up of Norwegian peasant farmers and
Swedens
>were mercenaries from elsewhere in Europe. In Feb 1612 the Danes were
beaten and
>the Swedes were particulary cruel to the Norwegian soldiers. Karl 9 ,
the
>Swedish king was still looking for more mercenaries and this is where
the
>Sinclairs become involved.
>Captain George Sinclair of Caithness had promised several
companies.These were
>mainly locally pressed ganged and from the Borders a large group of
criminals
>who joined to avoid imprisonment.
>Now King James didn't want his countrymen to be fighting for the Swedes
against
>his brother in law, so he tried to stop them, but he was unable to stop
all the
>ships leaving. At least 300 did leave Wick on 2 Aug 1612.,(I'd like to
know what evidence you have for this claim) a large number being
>children and women!
>The force landed in the Romsdal area in Norway and seized a local
fisherman as a
>guide.The plan was to travel down the Gudbrandsdal to meet up with the
Swedish
>army.The guide was able to give warnings to call the farmers to
arms.The Scots
>were able to get as far as Dovre, by this time they were tried and
hungary. On
>the morning of 26th August 1612 with bagpipes playing they marched
straight into
>an ambush set by the Norwegian farmers in a narrow valley near Kringen.
Only 134
>of the original 300 survived and surrended.
>It was planned by the Norwegian leaders to take the survivers to Oslo,
but the
>peasant farmers were still enraged by the treatment their fellow
countrymen
>received at the hands of the Swedes earlier in the year. They knew that
the
>Scots were on their way to join that army.
>So the following morning they lined up the remaining 134 Scots up
against the
>wall and shot & speared them. It was to be a moment in Norwegian
history that
>would go down in shame.
>Only 18 soldiers were spared and these were sent to join the Danish
army.
>Thank you for your interest.
>
>The Scots Magazine can be found at www.scotsmagazine.com.uk
>
>Slainte Mhor
>
>Donald Sinclair
P.S. The Scots Magazine is a worthy publication but its not always
entirely accurate, it can be a bit anecdotal so..............
--
Jean Haddow