The Battle of Embo took place at Embo in Sutherland, Scotland in 1245.[1] It was fought by Scottish forces against Viking invaders who were defeated.
The battle
The first account of the Battle of Embo was written by Sir Robert Gordon, 1st Baronet (1580–1656) in his A Genealogical History of the Earldom of Sutherland.[2] Gordon states that the "Danes and Norwegians" (Vikings) invaded the northern part of the kingdom of Scotland and that William de Moravia, 1st Earl of Sutherland sent his "servant" Richard de Moravia (Richard Morray) to hold the rebels until the earl himself could arrive with a larger force to oppose them. According to Gordon, the Danes then fled being pursued by the earl and during the battle the general of the Danes was killed with many others, as well as Richard de Moravia.[3][4] The earl apparently secured the victory when he killed the Danish general with the severed leg of a horse.[5]
Aftermath
Tomb of Richard de Moravia in Dornoch Cathedral
The Earl of Sutherland arranged for Richard de Moravia to be buried in Dornoch Cathedral and for a statue to be erected of him. A cross was also erected in memory of the battle which along with burials of "divers" killed in the battle, could still be seen in the 17th century.[3][4]
^ ab"The Conflict of Enbo". The History of the Feuds and Conflicts among the Clans in the Northern Parts of Scotland and in the Western Isles. Glasgow: Printed by J. & J. Robertson for John Gillies, Perth. 1780 [Originally published in 1764 by Foulis press]. p. 4. Retrieved 15 October 2020. Written from a manuscript wrote in the reign of James VI of Scotland (Sir Robert Gordon's A Genealogical History of the Earldom of Sutherland).
Private and local clan battles (Many of these also had links at national level, including the feuds between Clan Donald and the Crown, Clan Douglas and the Crown and the Mary, Queen of Scots civil war)
