Then the first pretender to the throne was one Ivar, a murderer, a sort
of Richard III., not all bad, but nearly all; said to possess virtues
enough to save the island and vices enough to ruin it. The island
was surrendered to Scotland by treaty with Norway. The Manx hated the
Scotch. They knew them as a race of pirates. Some three centuries later
there was one Cutlar MacCullock, whose name was a terror, so merciless
were his ravages. Over the cradles of their infants the Manx mothers
sang this song:--
God keep the good corn, the sheep and the bullocks,
From Satan, from sin and from Cutlar MacCullock.
Bad as Ivar was, the Scotch threatened to be worse.
So the Manx, fearing that their kingdom might become a part of the
kingdom of Scotland, supported Ivar. They were beaten. Ivar was a brave
tiger, and died fighting.