Part II.

Tradition.

I.

THE SINCLAIR BALLAD.[60]

Herr Sinclair sailed across the sea,

And steered his course to Norway's strand:

'Mid Gudbrands' rocks his grave found he,--

There were broken crowns in Sinclair's band.

Herr Sinclair sailed o'er the blue wave,

That he might fight for Swedish gold:

God help thee, man! thyself now save;

Thou'lt fall before the Norsemen bold.

The moon amid the pale night shone,

The waves around so gently rolled;

A mermaid rose on Sinclair's sight,

And thus prophetic evil told:--

"Turn back, turn back, thou Scottish man,

Or it will surely cost thy life;

For if thou com'st to Norway's strand,

Thou never more shalt join the strife."

"Thy songs are lies, thou witch most foul;

Thou ever sing'st the self-same tune.

Could I but get thee in my power,

In pieces small I'd have thee hewn."

He sailed a day, he sailed three,

With all his mercenary band;

The fourth he Norway's shore did see,--

On Romsdal's coast he leapt to land,

And with him fourteen hundred men:

On mischief all that band were bent;

They spared nor young nor aged then,

But slew and burnt as on they went.

The child they killed at mother's breast,

Nor cared how sweet soe'er its smile;

Of widows' tears they made a jest:

Sorrow's loud cry arose the while.

Throughout the land the wail resounds;

The heaven blazed; the cross of fire

Sped its swift course; and Sinclair soon

Shall feel the vengeful dalesman's ire.

The soldiers of the king are gone;

We must ourselves the land defend.

To shed his blood will ne'er grudge one;

On such may Heaven's wrath descend!

Peasants from Vaage, Lesje, Lom,

With axes sharp on shoulder set,

To parley with the Scots are come,

And now at Bredebygd are met.

There runs a path by mountain side

Which our vale-folk do Kringlen call,

And Laugen's stream beneath doth glide,--

In that shall our fierce foemen fall.

On walls no more our rifles hang;

The rocks are lined with marksmen gray;

The water-sprite lifts up its head,

And waits impatiently its prey.

The first shot pierced Herr Sinclair's breast,--

He groaned, and forth his spirit gave;

And as he fell, each Scot cried out,

"O God, in this our peril save!"

"On, peasants! on, Norwegian men!

Let each foe find a Sinclair's grave!"

The Scots now wished themselves home again,

And only strove their lives to save.

With corpses thick was Kringlen strewn;

High festal did the ravens keep;

The noblest blood that this day flowed

The Scottish maidens long did weep.

And not a soul of that array

To Scotland e'er returned to tell

His countrymen of that dark day,

And how the sad event befell.

'Mid Norway's mountains still there stands

A column raised upon the spot:

Let Norway's foes from other lands

Behold it, and despise it not.

No Norseman sees it rise on high,

But marks it with a flashing eye.

C. H.

[Illustration: PANELS IN TOFTE'S HOUSE, GUDBRANDSDALEN,

Representing arrival, march, and annihilation of Scots, according to

Norwegian tradition.

Executed fifty years ago by an artist from Bergen.]

FOOTNOTE:

[60] By E. Storm, who was born at Vaage, in Gudbrandsdal, in 1742,

and died at Copenhagen in 1794. The present translation has been

taken, with some slight alterations, from "Over the Dovre Fjeld,"

by J. S. Shepherd. Henry S. King and Co., 1873. An earlier English

version was attached to Calder's "History of Caithness," 1861. A

third translation, by Sir H. Pottinger, with an illustration of the

death of Sinclair, appeared in _Belgravia_, 1869. The ballad has been

set to music in Norway.

II.

NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS COLLECTED BY THE REV. H. P. S. KRAG.[61]

The so-called Calmar War, between Denmark and Sweden, was carried on

from the spring of 1611 until the winter of 1613. Christian IV. ruled

at that time over the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway; while in Sweden

reigned Charles IX., who died at the commencement of the war, leaving

its prosecution to his son Gustavus Adolphus, then only seventeen

years of age, and who subsequently became so famous.

In 1612 Gustavus caused foreign troops to be enlisted in the

Netherlands, in England, and in Scotland, by JOHAN MUNKHAVEN, or

Mönnichhofen, a colonel in the Swedish service, and by James Spens,

an Englishman. According to the historian Widikindi, the corps

thus raised amounted to 2,200 men, while Puffendorff estimates

its strength at 2,300.[62] These troops, of which 2,000 had been

recruited in Scotland, were transported in ships, forming two

squadrons, of which one was commanded by Munkhaven, the other by the

Scottish Colonel George Sinclair, or Saint Clair, as his name is also

written. Munkhaven, with his 1,400 men, steered into the Trondhjem

fiord on the 19th July 1612, and thought he would be able to surprise

the city of Trondhjem; but the citizens opposed him and his ships so

well from their blockhouses outside the town that he hastened away

as quickly as possible, and landed at Stordalen, whence he marched,

ravaging and burning, until he reached Sweden.[63] A few weeks after

Munkhaven, the other detachment of hired troops, led by Colonel

Sinclair, arrived in two Scottish ships.

But Sinclair and his men were not destined to escape so easily

as Munkhaven. The Fates ordained that they should all, with the

exception of a few, find a grave among the mountains of Norway. The

reason why both Munkhaven and Sinclair landed in Norway, instead

of proceeding direct to Sweden, was that the approach to the small

stretch of Swedish coast on the North Sea was closed to them after

the Danes had occupied the fortresses of Elfsborg and Gullberg, at

the mouth of the Gotha river. Moreover, the Danish fleet had the

mastery on the seas.

There are various statements as to the number of the Scots that

accompanied Sinclair. If the total number of troops recruited for

Sweden was, as already mentioned, 2,200 or 2,300, of which Munkhaven

arrived with 1,400, Sinclair's corps must have amounted to 800 or

900 men, and the latter number is also quoted in the church register

of Vaage.[64] Consequently, the number could not have been 1,400,

as sung by Storm, nor 600, as stated by Slange. It is, however,

probable that Slange was right, as his statement agrees approximately

with Kruse's Report, which says that, according to the depositions

of the Bönder "who were present at that battle, and who buried

and counted the dead and defeated, the Scots must certainly have

numbered at least 550." Less probable appears to be the statement of

the captured Scots, to the effect that they were "350 men strong at

the utmost." One Saga says that Sinclair came into Romsdalen with

1,400 men, and that these were divided at Jora Bridge, in Lessö,

after which one division went over the Dovre Fjeld, and subsequently

through Österdalen, in order to unite again with the other division

which took the road through Gudbrandsdalen. The same Saga says that

the division which went through Österdalen came across the Norsemen

at the frontier, when a battle ensued, in which those Scots were

shot down to the last man. But that Saga is not generally current;

and it appears probable that Munkhaven's expedition, or possibly

some other event, has been mixed up in the narrative.[65] It appears

that Sinclair had calculated on joining the Swedes in Southern

Norway, where, however, we know from history there were no Swedes

at that time; for Jonas Ramus states[66] that, from Gudbrandsdalen,

Sinclair wanted to "unite with the Swedes who were supposed to be in

Hedemarken," or, as stated in the entry above quoted from the Vaage

church register, at Borge Church, in Smaalenene.

It was on the 19th or 20th August[67] that Sinclair, with all his

hired followers, approached the Norwegian coast, and steered into the

Romsdal fiord; but a Saga relates that before he entered that fiord

he landed on a small island on which dwelt a wealthy man. The wife of

the latter is said to have been an intelligent and talkative woman,

and Sinclair entered into a jocose conversation with her. Although

he had not yet made known that he was an enemy, yet the woman said

she well understood the object of his coming; that his expedition

into Norway would end badly, and that when he got inland he would

come to bite the dust on meeting the hardy men of the glens. This

enraged Sinclair, and he left the island with the threat that when

he returned victorious, he would seek her out and have her cut to

pieces for her flippancy.

It is possible that this and other similar Sagas may have induced

the poet Storm to sing about a mermaid. It is also related that the

mermaid's name was Ellen. Others say that was the name of Sinclair's

wife; for the Sagas say she accompanied him. She went on board with

the troops, in disguise, and only made herself known after they had

got out to sea. She is said to have given birth to a child on the

voyage.

A Bonde called Peder Klognæs, seeing from his _Gaard_ or farm of

Klognæs,[68] in the parish of Grytten, in Romsdalen, Sinclair's ships

out in the fiord, supposed they were vessels laden with corn, took

his purse in which were three dollars, and rowed out to them, with

the object of purchasing before the vessels reached Væblungsnæs,

towards which Sinclair was steering. As soon as Peder Klognæs got

on board, he understood what kind of folk they were; and as they

wanted to compel him to pilot the ships to Væblungsnæs, at the head

of the Romsdal fiord, he reflected hurriedly, and soon determined

what he should do. He made them believe that the water was too low

to admit of the vessels sailing further into the fiord, and that all

they could do was to land; and Peder Klognæs was forced to accompany

them. In order that he should not escape, they fastened a cord to his

hair and led him by it. The Scots then disembarked at Skothammer, or

Skotkleven (the Scots' Cliff), as the place is now called, in the

vicinity of Klognæs gaard (farm). Before they proceeded any further,

Peder Klognæs, after much supplication, obtained permission to go

first into his house. Although a guard followed him, he found an

opportunity of sending a _Budstikke_,[69] announcing the arrival of

the enemy, and calling upon the people to take up arms.[70] He gave

the letter to his servant-maid, who hid it in one of her stockings,

and dressing herself in tattered clothes, pretended she was a beggar

as well as idiotic, and in that manner, but with difficulty, she

slipped past the Scottish watch. When the latter wanted to prevent

her from passing, she said, "Lord, bless us! it is too hard that

poor folk should not be able to go their way," on which the watch

allowed her to pass. She got safely to the sea-shore, and rowed to

Væblungsnæs with the letter (or _Budstikke_), which was sent forward

from thence. Meanwhile Peder Klognæs led the Scots two miles[71]

out of the way, round the Iisfiord, over mountains and marshes, and

through woods in which there were no roads, as well as over rivers

where they had to wade, so that, as Peder Klognæs had intended, they

were considerably delayed on the march. The Bönder in the several

parishes had thus time to save themselves and also their goods from

being plundered, and time was moreover gained for the circulation of

the message.

It was under these circumstances that Sinclair with his Scots landed

in the country in which he thought he was going to play the part of a

conqueror; for, according to the Saga, he said that he would "recast"

the Norwegian lion into a mole which would not dare to creep out of

its hole, and he promised his men that after the conquest of the

country they would get "the fairest maidens and the best farms." It

was further promised to them that Hedemarken would be to them "a land

of Canaan."

There are not many Sagas respecting the behaviour of the Scots, and

as to what occurred on their march until they reached Gudbrandsdalen.

It is, however, related that on the circuitous and difficult way

round the Iisfiord they came to the small farm of Thorvig. Its

inhabitants had fled, and had hidden their bedding in a cleft on

the fjeld; but the Scots found it, cut holes in it, shook out the

feathers, and took the covers with them. They arrived at last at

Omdals or Aansdals-næs, where they rested after the fatigues of

going round the Iisfiord. Here Peder Klognæs, the guide, found

an opportunity of hiding, unobserved, the three dollars already

mentioned under some birch bark, where he found them on his return.

According to Kruse's Report, the Scots made two Bönder prisoners

in Romsdalen, and employed them as guides; and Slange likewise

states that they compelled some Bönder to go in advance and tell

the peasantry to supply provisions at certain places and at a time

indicated, under threat of killing and burning if this was not done.

From Omdals-næs the Scots marched some miles along the ordinary road

up the Romsdal. At a cottage called Aagerreiten, on the estate of

Aag, close to Omdal, a small building was being erected. The workmen

fled when they heard of the enemy's approach. This building still

stands, and the date 1611 is to be seen carved on a board near the

chimney.

At a farm-house--it is not known which--lower down in Romsdal, the

Scots are said to have cut off the feet of a dog which the people,

who had run away, had fastened to the door of their store-house,

in order that it might let them know when the Scots came. At the

farm of Eidet (Ödeeidet) one of the Scots is reported to have been

shot from the other side of the river by a man who belonged to a

farm called Fiva. From the farm of Maange, a little further up in

Romsdal, the inhabitants had fled, but food had been left placed on

the table. At Rödstulen farm, a "wild Turk," as the Saga calls him,

who accompanied the Scots, was shot. Schöning[72] relates that the

Romsdal men assembled and attacked the Scots with sticks and stones,

without, however, being able to arrest their advance. The Saga also

says that they had intended to attack them at Maangehammer and at

Skiri, as well as at Kyllinge Klev and Björnekleven--the latter being

a mountain pass where Romsdal joins Gudbrandsdal; but nothing came of

it, as the Scots got to those places too early, and the Romsdal men,

moreover, lacked both arms and leaders. Sinclair therefore advanced

without hindrance, and committed many an act of cruelty on his march.

Dread and terror were therefore connected with his name. Many fled

to the mountains, but some were seized by the Scots. It is said that

girls and young married women were violated and then mutilated, and

left in that condition by the Scots. All they were able to find in

the way of money--silver or gold--they took with them. Corn-fields

and meadows were trodden down, farms were burned, and so forth. Storm

describes the frightful conduct of the Scots in powerful language:--

"And with him fourteen hundred men:

On mischief all that band were bent;

They spared nor young nor aged then,

But slew and burnt as on they went.

"The child they killed at mother's breast,

Nor cared how sweet soe'er its smile;

Of widows' tears they made a jest;

Sorrow's loud cry arose the while."[73]

When the Scots got to the head of the Romsdal valley, they did not

dare to keep to the road any further, and being afraid of passing

the Björnekleven (the "Bears' Cliff"), they took to the mountains.

They probably came down again at the farm of Eneboe,[74] in Lessö,

Gudbrandsdalen. There is a post at that farm on which the date 1612

is said to have been cut as a memorial of somebody that had been

killed there by the Scots. When they got thence to the farm of

Skauge, they found that the owner and all the other inhabitants had

fled, except the owner's grandmother, who thought she had nothing to

fear on account of her advanced age. The Scots killed the old woman

and burned the farm. A little to the south of that farm is a plain

which was and still is called Mærrasletten, where they encamped and

rested a day.[75] It is further related that when they came to the

farm of Kjelshuus, in Lessö, they found a meal prepared for them;

but on leaving, they emptied a barrel of flour out on the road, and

burned the farm. The people had fled to Lordalen, on the west side

of the Laagen.[76] At Nordrehuus farm there was a stout-hearted

woman called Sönnef, from Lom, married to Nordrehuus. While the

Scots were ravaging the valley, she did not run away with the

rest, but remained, although she was pregnant; and when the enemy

came to the farm, she hid herself in a barn, in order to put out

any fire which the Scots might kindle on their departure. She was

fortunately not discovered, nor was the farm burned down. At Bjokne

farm the house-wife had on her flight forgotten to take with her some

valuables, and therefore hurried back to save them. As soon as she

had done this, she saw the vanguard of the Scots already approaching

the farm; but she got away safely. The man at Töndevold[77] had

intended to make a stand at once against the Scots with the people

of Lessö, but found they were too weak. He then set out a quantity

of food and drink on his table, while he and his wife went up an

eminence opposite the farm to watch the fate of their house. The

Scots, on reaching the farm, regaled themselves with the viands which

they found, and it is said the table on which Sinclair ate is still

preserved. After they had eaten, they searched the house for anything

that might be worth carrying away; but they only found behind

the door of the cow-house a heifer, and they cut off its legs. On

leaving, they are said to have set fire to one of the out-houses; but

it went out of itself without spreading. Where they found food set

out at farms, they were afraid lest the Bönder had poisoned it, and

therefore they first gave their dogs to eat of it.

As already stated, the people fled everywhere to the mountains.

Amongst other places to which some fled were the Sjonghöiderne

(heights), from which they saw the march of the Scots through the

parish. When the Scots saw people on the heights, it is reported

that they said they would visit those "fjeld cats" after they had

conquered the country.

At bridges and cross-ways their guide, Peder Klognæs, was compelled

by menaces to tell if any danger need be apprehended, which was the

right way, etc. When they got to Bottems Bridge, at Lessö, they

burned it, as they feared that the Bönder of that district might

fall upon them in the rear; and they then marched to the parish of

Dovre. As the road seemed to be too long to Peder Klognæs, who was

still obliged to remain with the Scots, and as he had long been tired

of their company, he is said to have found at the Kjörum farms an

opportunity of leaving them, and was already a short way on the

road back when he was overtaken and compelled by cuts and blows

to go on with them. When they thus reached Jora Bridge, a short

distance thence, the Scots were afraid that some danger might be

at hand; consequently they had the bridge examined, and sent out

spies. As they found at that bridge two roads,--of which one went

southwards, the other eastwards,--and Peder Klognæs having pointed

out the former, which they thought was not the right direction, they

suspected him of an intention to deceive them; therefore they hung

him over the bridge, and ducked him several times in the river,

threatening to leave him there if he did not show them the right

way. But he kept to his statement, which was really a true one, and

said, "If I were to die here--so help me, God!--I know no other

road," on which they drew him up and proceeded further. Others

allege that this happened at Dovre Bridge. It is said that on their

march through Dovre parish, on a plain called Kraakvolden, below

the farms of Landhem, they held a feast in a barn (still extant in

1836), and amused themselves with dancing. The people who had fled to

the mountains saw them dancing there. It is also related that they

here held a day of prayer, on account of the proximity of Rosten,

Bægilskleven, and "the high bridge," in order that they might safely

pass those dangerous places.[78]

Meanwhile the arrival of the Scots had been reported in the south

part of Gudbrandsdalen. The soldiers belonging to that valley were

then away on the Swedish frontier fighting the enemy. All the troops

that had been stationed in the South Fjeld district had, in fact,

been drawn away, partly to the frontier at Bahuus Lehn, partly to

the Danish army which had invaded Sweden from Skaane.[79] It was

therefore only the Bönder of that valley who could oppose the Scots.

No sooner had the lensmand[80] Lauritz (or Lars) Hage,[81] who

lived at Hage farm, in Dovre parish, heard of the arrival of the

Scots, than he determined to oppose their march. He quickly caused

messages to be sent to the adjoining parishes, whence they were

carried further up the valley. It is said that he came into the

church at Dovre during divine service, and giving three knocks on

the floor with his staff, said, "Give attention! The enemy has

come into the country," on which the service was stopped, and the

people hurried out of the church. At his summons the Bönder armed

themselves and hastened to march a Norwegian mile and a half south

to the above-mentioned cliff-road of Rosten, a little north of the

post-house of Laurgaard, in Sel. Here they halted, and intended

to await the Scots. For that purpose they began to prepare a

breast-work, or a construction such as that which was later raised

at Kringlen; but the result of a council, at which the men of Dovre

and Lessö voted for continuing the work, while the rest were of

the opposite opinion, was that they abandoned the work they had

commenced, and withdrew further south. But on Lauritz Hage's wise

advice, in order to delay the enemy, they first destroyed Rosten

Bridge; and consequently, when the Scots got to Rosten they were

obliged to take to the fjeld.[82]

When the Bönder got down to Sel, they combined with a number of

others, who had come from the south, probably from Froen and Ringebo.

Here they remained for the night at Romungaard, Jörgenstad, Olstad,

and other farms,[83] which then lay more in a cluster than now. There

they got hold of some barrels of beer, and several of the Bönder

gave themselves up to carousing during the night. When the morning

came, and they had to go further, some of the peasants would not

leave their beloved ale. Others were, however, wise enough to spike

the beer-casks by knocking in the spigots and then cutting them off

close. The carousers could therefore get no more; otherwise they

would probably have remained drinking until the Scots came up to

them. Nor were the latter far off; for the very day on which the

Bönder left, the Scots arrived in the evening, and took up their

quarters there for the night. The Bönder then went one and a half

mile (Norwegian) southwards, and finally halted at Kringlen, where

they determined to await and attack the Scots. This place is situated

in Bredenbygd, in Sel's annex to Vaage parish, and is a mountain

slope, over which the road goes. At the foot of that slope, which is

in many places excessively precipitous, flows the Laagen. At that

time the road was only a narrow path or bridle-path, but it has since

been altered and enlarged into a highway.[84] Moreover, the ground

has undergone some change since 1612, especially in consequence of

the landslip of 1789, when it became less precipitous. There was also

more wood then than now. The name of the place is generally written

"Kringlen," under which designation it has become best known. On the

other hand, in the language of the common people the place was called

Kringom, or Hög Kringom.[85]

The Bönder who there assembled were from Vaage, Lessö, Froen, and

Ringebo. Both Slange and Edv. Storm state that the Bönder from Lom

were there too, and it is possible that some may have been present,

perhaps, from Garmo, an annex to Lom; but according to a very common

tradition current at Lom itself, the men of Lom, although they

assembled and marched out, did not take part in the fight. The fact

is, that the people from the southern or greater part of Skjager

annex went over the Findal Mountains, and down again through Vaage,

in order to engage the enemy, but arrived too late. Those of the

parish of Lom proper, and of the northern part of Skjager, also went

part of the way--namely, within half a Norwegian mile to the east of

Lom Church, to a hill in the neighbourhood of Graffer farm; but here

they began to deliberate as to what they should do, and the result

was that they returned to their several homes, on the advice of the

"lads from Skjelqvale,"[86] and more especially after considering

that the Scots would not in any case come to Lom, and that the

matter, consequently, did not concern them. That hill is to this day

called "Raadsbakken,"[87] or Council Hill. In addition to the Bönder

assembled at Kringlen, the peasantry of Gusdal and Öiers took up a

position in the above-named Bægilsklev, or Bæggersklev, in Ringebo,

about five Norwegian miles to the south of Kringlen, under the

leadership of Lauritz (or Lars) Gram, the bailie of Gudbrandsdalen,

who lived at the farm of Steig, in Froen. That position was probably

selected in order to meet the possibility of the Scots escaping

from the Bönder posted to the north. The latter were led by Lauritz

Hage, lensmand at Dovre (in Lessö?), and Peder Randklev, lensmand in

Ringebo. According to some accounts, Guldbrand Sejelstad, of the same

parish, was also amongst the leaders.[88]

The Bönder now prepared at Kringlen to meet Sinclair and his Scots.

As already stated, the latter had taken to the mountains in order

to avoid Rosten, and had descended into the valley at Horgenlien

in Nordre Sel, and taken up their quarters there for the night,

after the Bönder had retired from that farm in the morning. Sinclair

slept at Romungaard, where are still to be found the remains of the

room he occupied, and now used as a barn.[89] The Bönder in Nordre

Sel had fastened oxen to the fences, in order that the enemy should

not burn down their farms. Some say that the Scots remained a day

at Sel before they proceeded further. "Now begins prosperity; it

will be better still over in Hedemarken," Sinclair is reported to

have said to his people. In the morning, before he marched up from

Sel, a few hours previous to the battle at Kringlen, he is said

to have burned some powder on the palm of his hand, in order to

ascertain whether his march would be successful or not. The smoke

having gone up against his breast, he is reported to have exclaimed,

"This day I shall suffer loss in my men, however great that loss may

be." Sinclair was accompanied by a "Veirlöber,"[90] or hound; some

called it a "Værkalv," others a "Vildtyrk" or "Tryntyrk",[91] "able

to detect the enemy like a hound." It could, they said, scent

"Christian blood." It is likewise related that the thick part of

its legs had been removed in order that it might run with greater

lightness. The _Veirlöber_ was shot the same morning at the farm of

Ödegaard. An elderly farm labourer had remained there in order to

see what the enemy would do, and hid himself with his steel-bow in

a field of hemp; and another, who had likewise remained behind, got

into a chimney to give the signal to the archer. After drinking some

sour milk in the dairy, the hound came up to them. It is said that

the sour milk, together with the smell of the hemp, prevented the

nose of the _Veirlöber_ from discovering the man who was concealed,

and whose unerring shot stretched him on the ground, so that the sour

milk "spouted out of him." A similar _Vildtyrk_, as already stated,

had been shot in Romsdalen. The Saga says it was fortunate for the

Bönder that these _Vildtyrker_ had been shot, for they were dangerous

spies. It is probable that they were nothing more than Sinclair's

sleuth-hounds. This is to be inferred both from the descriptions

given and from statements respecting the one that was shot at

Ödegaard--namely, that he ran about in the fields and barked.

[Illustration: BARN AT ROMUNGAARD.

Still shown as that in which the Scots passed the night before the

fight at Kringelen.

_Page 96._]

[Illustration: COTTAGE AT ROMUNGAARD.

Still shown as that in which George Sinclair slept the night before

the fight at Kringelen.

_Page 96._]

The Scots then advanced from Sel. It was on the 26th August 1612,[92]

a day which has remained so memorable in the history of Gudbrandsdal.

It was a Wednesday. To the strains of martial music the whole of the

Scottish force marched southwards. Some of them hearing the cries of

children on the mountains, to which the mothers had fled, are said to

have called out in derision, "Hear the witch-cats how they screech;

when we come again we shall visit them." But soon their mockery was

to be silenced, and their music to sound for the last time; and

the young blood now flowing in their veins was in a few moments to

stain the rocky sides of Kringlen and the gray waters of the Laagen.

Step by step they approached the spot where this expedition was to

end so quickly and sadly. The Bönder at Kringlen were waiting for

them. Here, on convenient places above the road, they had raised

huge breastworks, and a kind of trap of stones and timber. The

trap was laid on logs held together by means of rope, and propped

up with supports in such a manner that when the ropes were cut and

the props removed, the logs and stones would roll down the whole

hill-slope.[93] The object was to let the mass fall down as soon as

the enemy got below it, and thereupon to attack the survivors with

weapons in hand. The whole of the construction of stones and logs,

as well as the Bönder, who stationed themselves behind that awful

barricade, were concealed by leafy branches of trees and by fir

trees, so as to give the appearance of a small wood. A small body of

Bönder concealed themselves a little to the north, and on hearing

the noise of the conflict were to have descended into the road, to

prevent the enemy from running back. The Bönder also cut down large

trees, and made _chevaux-de-frise_ out of them, to be rolled in the

front and in the rear of the enemy along the narrow road, in order to

shut him in and prevent him from going either forwards or backwards.

In a ballad older than Edvard Storm's poem, undoubtedly composed by a

Gudbrandsdal man, and of which there are a few imperfect copies, the

position of the Bönder is thus described:--

"There is a cliff in Gudbrandsdal,

Which is called Kringlen;

There lay the men of the valley,

In all near five hundred.

Intrenching there, they built a wall,

And raised up stones many.

They lay in wait as doth a cat

That wants to catch a mouse."

In order to be informed how near the Scots had come, and thus to

determine when to expect them, they sent out, says the Saga, as a

spy, a Bonde of the name of Audon Skjenna[94] of Sel. He went direct

to Skjenna farm, and saw Sinclair reviewing his men on the green

outside that farm. When he saw them afterwards passing over Laur

Bridge, which spans the Laagen immediately to the north of the Ulen

river, he hastened back. The Scots, however, got sight of him, and

are said to have called out, "See how the boor is running away on a

'pert.'"[95] It was necessary for the Bönder to divert the attention

of the Scots from their ambuscade, and to ascertain when the main

force of the enemy was below it, for that would be the time for them

to begin the battle. With the latter object one of the Bönder was

ordered to remain on an island called Storöen, in the Laagen; and

then riding on a white horse out of gunshot of the enemy, he was

to keep in a line with the enemy's main force, or with the head

of it, and when it reached the appointed place to give notice by

suddenly turning round. Some say that, in order the better to divert

the enemy's attention, he sat backwards on the horse; while others

affirm that, with the same object, he wound a large red plaid round

his throat and down the chest of his white horse. Other arrangements

were also made to divert the enemy's attention. On the advice of Arne

Nedre-Gunstad from Ringebo,[96] the least capable of the men who had

met there were stationed on Storöen, in order to deceive the enemy by

a feint attack, and thereby to draw off his attention from the place

where lay the real force of the Bönder. They further sent a girl of

the name of Guri, generally called Pillar Guri, who knew well how to

blow a horn,[97] to stand on Selsjordskampen, a mountain point on the

left side of the Laagen, from which she could see the surrounding

country and the approaching enemy. When the main force of the enemy

got between her and the place selected by the Bönder she was to blow

the horn, to attract the attention of the enemy towards the point at

which she was placed, and which was opposite to the position occupied

by the Bönder; and also to signal to the Bönder, who could not see

the enemy from their ambuscade, how far they had advanced. It is

also related that, likewise by arrangement with the Bönder, she held

hanging down in front of her a long white scarf, which she twisted

round her arm, and by gradually shortening it signalled to the Bönder

the approach of the enemy.

Now came the Scots. Their advanced guard of sixty, according

to others one hundred, men, who marched a little ahead, passed

unattacked. The girl on the mountain top did not blow her horn, but

waited for the main body. It is strange that the advanced guard

observed nothing of the Bönder. After that came the main force of

the Scots; but the Bönder remained quiet, each ready at his post.

Among them was also Berdon or Bardum Sejelstad of Ringebö,[98] who,

together with two other skilful marksmen, was one of the leaders

chosen to take aim at Sinclair; and Berdon had stipulated that no

one should shoot before he did. The Scots thought that the Bönder

force was further in advance of them, and expecting no attack there,

approached reliantly, and were "cheerful." As soon as they came

sufficiently near, they heard the girl play on the horn from the

mountain-top. The Scots stopped and listened to the unusual and

melancholy strains. Sinclair's band thereupon replied to her with

a march. The girl played the same air again, and the Scots replied

a second time.[99] After that began the attack from the island.

Many shots were fired, but no bullet reached so far. A volley and

then several volleys were fired, but with the same result; and the

Scots laughed at what they thought was a cowardly attack, and in

derision lifted their hats after each discharge. But suddenly the

signal was given to the concealed Bönder, and the scene changed. The

masses of rock and timber now tumbled down, and at the same moment

Sinclair fell at the first shot that was fired. Berdon Sejelstad had

taken aim at him from behind some pine trees; and as Sinclair was

considered to be a mighty and brave warrior, invulnerable to bullets,

Berdon, in order, as he thought, to be more certain of success, took

the silver button from the neck of his shirt, chewed it into a lump,

and loaded his gun with it.[100] Some say also that the gun missed

fire the first time. The bullet is said to have struck Sinclair in

the forehead, just over his left eye. As he fell he is said to have

exclaimed, "That is Berdon Sejelstad's arquebuse."[101] The place

where he fell is still called "Sinclar's Dokken." Immediately after

the colonel had fallen it went badly with the rest; and the Bönder

threw themselves forward with courage and speed, spreading fear and

death by shooting with rifles and hewing with axes. The position

of the Scots was bad in the highest degree; for the narrow pass in

which they were crowded, and the declivity of the mountain on which

they stood, admitted of no battle-array. From north and south, and

from above them, the Bönder fell upon the Scots with fury. The

above-mentioned ballad says:--

"They were surrounded south and north--

Which they must most have regretted:

There was committed upon them a miserable murder." ...

They attempted to run up the mountain to close with the Bönder, but

were hurled down. "Those who were not shot jumped into the river to

save themselves, but were there drowned; and those of them who

got alive over the river were quickly killed by the Bönder on that

side."[102]

[Illustration: PIKES, ETC., OF NORWEGIAN PEASANTS IN SEVENTEENTH

CENTURY.]

In the "Ballad of the Valley" the battle is further described as

follows:--

"The colonel rode in the foremost rank,

Right proudly himself he bore;

He was first shot down from his horse,

And became at once quite powerless.

He died and there at once on the spot

With others at that time;

Georgius Sinclar was his name,

Who then was stretched a corpse.

"There staggered many a brave hero,

And danced against his will;

Horse and man to earth were felled,

That is how the Dalesmen entertained them.

"The balls as thick as hail did fly,

Men had to stop there and bide;

There was heard many a shout and cry,

Yes, there ached many a side.

There was sweated much bloody sweat,

Many a cheek was white....

"They tried to climb the mountain steep,

The Norsemen death to deal;

But from the rocks were forced to leap

By logs and stones and steel.

Hard by the precipice there runs a river,

Its waters run so strong

That all who cannot reach the bank

Are borne by the stream along.

"They swam both hither and thither,

On their backs or as best they could;

That art they had diligently learnt;

But they had to go to the bottom.

They were fired at right sharply,

So the water splashed about their ears;

They had to remain on that spot,

And reached not the dry land."

The girl on the mountain crag continued to play her horn during the

battle, until she saw the Laagen dyed with blood. She then threw the

horn over her head, went away, and changed her song into weeping.

Some say that Sinclair's wife was also killed in the fight, together

with her child. According to tradition, when the rest went to battle,

Kjel Fjerdingreen[103] of Hedalen, a parish annexed to Vaage, was

persuaded by his sweetheart, who had a foreboding of misfortune, to

remain behind; but when she heard that Sinclair's wife was with him,

and that she carried a new-born babe, she became anxious about her

fate, and as much as she had previously bid him remain behind, she

now bade him go, not to take part in the carnage, but, if possible,

to save the child. "You shall not gain my hand, Kjel," she is said

to have told him, "before you have saved the child." He therefore

accompanied the others. In the tumult of the battle, Kjel rushed

forward in order to comply with the touching entreaties of his

sweetheart. The child had just been hit by a ball. Kjel found Mrs.

Sinclair, who was beside herself with grief, on horseback, and

stanching the blood of her child. As he was going to take it (others

say that it had fallen from her, she having dropped it in her fright,

and that Kjel took it up and handed it to her), she thought he wanted

to injure it, and impelled by fear and motherly affection she thrust

a dagger into her benefactor's breast. Others say she stuck the

dagger into his back as he was stooping to take the child. It is said

that one of Kjel's companions then shot Mrs. Sinclair down from her

horse, and that her body was afterwards seen in the Laagen. It is

stated by others that the Bönder threw her into the Laagen, taking

her for a witch, and that she sat (on the water) stanching the blood

of her child, and that the Laagen bore her a long way before she was

drowned. When the child was killed, and before Mrs. Sinclair fell

a prey to the waves, she is said to have struck up a wild song in

her despair,--others say in her scorn. The place where she remained

for some moments on the surface of the water is said to have been

immediately opposite to the most northerly point of Kringlen. Others

again say that she was afterwards amongst the prisoners, and that her

life was spared. The inscription in the parish register of Vaage[104]

states that she survived.

The battle probably took place from a little north of that point to a

little south of the highest part of Kringlen, where the wooden post

stands. According to Kruse's Report, it lasted an hour and a half.

As soon as the battle was over and the victory gained, the Bönder

went after the men of the vanguard, whom they had allowed to pass

unhindered. These had fled forward when they perceived the defeat

of the rest; but they were overtaken on a plain at Solhjem farm, a

little to the south of Kringlen. As the Bönder came rushing to the

attack with the cry, "Fall to! fall to! here are more of them," and

the Scots saw "what would result from it," they at once sent their

interpreter forward and said they would surrender as prisoners.

Thereupon they laid down their arms; but when they saw that the

Bönder were not so many as they had at first thought, they took their

arms up again and wanted to fight their way through; but they were

now met in such a manner that they were all either shot and cut down

or taken prisoners. Peder Klognæs the guide was with the vanguard,

and nearly shared its fate; but on the cry, "I am Peder Klognæs, I

am Peder Klognæs, and am one of your own people," he escaped, and

returned later in safety to his home in Romsdalen.

The strength of the Bönder force which fought at Kringlen was between

four hundred and five hundred men,[105] of whom six were killed and

some few wounded. According to the ballad--

"When the Dalesmen this had done,

And thus destroyed the foe,

I have been told of a truth

That six of them were killed

In the battle on the cliff;

And there were stretched as corpses,

Beside those who wounded were,

Who are but few to mention."

The Bönder proceeded at once with the prisoners to Qvam, a parish

annexed to Froen. After the glory just acquired, the Bönder committed

next day a sanguinary deed, which the inhabitants of the valley

now speak of with abhorrence, wishing it had never been done. "The

principal men among those who were there" wished indeed that the

prisoners, whom they had confined in a barn at Klomstad farm, should

all be conveyed to Agershuus.

"But this pleased not the Dalesmen

That they should thus take them

Through the long and narrow way,

And give the country trouble."

The majority shouted that the prisoners should all lose their lives,

on which, so strong was the general exasperation, they took them out

of the barn,[106] one by one, and shot them all, except eighteen or

some few more. Five or six whom, owing, it is said, to "magic art,"

the shots would not affect, were put to death with pikes. The "Ballad

of the Valley" says:--

"They minded neither lead nor powder,

It dried upon their brows;

So tough was their flesh and their skin

That lead could not through them go.

Through cunning and magic art,

Which they learned to a nicety,

What was done to them was in vain,--

They did not even hiccough;

So (the Bönder) took to their sharp pikes,

And had to run them through;

Then both skin and flesh were torn,

And they made an end of them.

But of the prisoners there were spared,

I know, one less than twenty.

Amongst them were two captains--

I will not tell a lie--

The one Captain Bruce by name,

The other Captain Ramsey."

Kruse writes respecting the prisoners:--"On the day the battle took

place one hundred and thirty-four Scots were taken prisoners, who

were straightway the next day killed and shot by the Bönder, with

the exception of the above-named eighteen, the Bönder saying to

each other that his Royal Majesty had enough to feed in those same

eighteen. Some of these were, however, wounded, and some had bullets

in their bodies when they arrived here.[107] Of the above-mentioned

eighteen soldiers we now send to you[108] the three principal

ones, who are a captain of the name of Alexander Ramsay, and his

lieutenant of the name of Jacob Mannepenge [James Moneypenny], who

has previously been both in Denmark and Sweden, and who on this their

expedition served as an interpreter; the third is called Herrich

Bryssz [Henry Bruce], who, according to his own statement, has served

as a soldier in Holland, Spain, and Hungary. As regards the remaining

fifteen persons, some of them have straightway taken service among

good folk here in the country, and some who will willingly serve your

Royal Majesty in Jörgen Lunge's[109] regiment, I sent at once to

Elfsborg." This is alluded to as follows in the Valley Ballad:--

"They were then to the castle brought,

No desire had they to remain....

They could not relish the fare so hard

Which the Gudbrandsdal men gave--

Here are not many hens or sheep--

But lead and powder they got in their insides."

That at least eighteen remained alive can thus be seen from Kruse's

Report, and, moreover, that some few remained behind in the valley is

recorded by tradition. Storm sings that none of the Scots ever saw

their own country again. Nevertheless it is related of at least one

of them that "he came home."[110] The place in Qvam parish where the

Scots killed at the barn were buried, is still shown a little to the

north of the barn, and is called Skothaugen ("The Scot hillock").

The conduct of the Bönder towards their prisoners can certainly not

in any way be justified; but so long as there is much that can be

pleaded in extenuation, we should, on the other hand, be cautious

in pronouncing an unqualified condemnation. According to tradition,

they were excited to that deed by Peder Klognæs, who had seen so

many cruelties committed by the Scots on the way, and who had himself

suffered so much at their hands. It can be imagined that the real

state of the case was possibly this: the Bönder, weary after a march

of several days, and after the last day's work and fighting, came

to Qvam with their prisoners, when they began, it may be supposed,

to be weary of leading them further. It was the busy harvest time;

they were possibly short of provisions. Perhaps some of them had

a debauch, as previously at Sel, and excited by liquor as well as

by the account of the cruelties of the Scots, they considered the

latter worthy of death, and quickly set to work to slaughter them,

notwithstanding that the principal men had opposed such a proceeding.

(See _ante._) It may be that the prisoners themselves had given them

fresh cause for exasperation during their conveyance or while they

were being guarded; and such a supposition is all the more within the

range of possibility, since it is otherwise very singular that the

Bönder did not kill their prisoners immediately after the affair at

Solhjem (since their exasperation was so great on the following day),

but conducted them one mile and a half (Norwegian) on the way to

Agershuus.

Special circumstances, no longer known, may have occurred as

contributory reasons for such conduct. Moreover, before pronouncing

judgment on the inhabitants of Gudbrandsdal, we must remember that

wars at that time, and the Calmar War as a whole, were conducted with

much cruelty, and we must take into consideration the spirit of the

age. Nor should we forget that more than two centuries lie between

them and us. A far higher stage of culture has been attained of later

years, and yet they have produced not a few examples of similar

barbarity. We have only to remember what is related respecting

the cruelty of the Duke of Cumberland in 1746 after the battle of

Culloden in Scotland, General Moreno's murder of General Torrejos and

his sixty comrades in misfortune on the plains before Malaga in 1832,

General Minas's cruelty at Lacaroz in 1835, and the cruelties of the

Carlists towards the English prisoners at Tolosa in 1837, etc.

[Illustration: CENTRE PANE OF WINDOW PRESENTED BY A SCOTTISH PRISONER

SAVED BY A NORWEGIAN BONDE.

(_Now in the Anglican Church, Christiania_).--_Page 117._]

Respecting one of the Scottish prisoners who remained alive,

tradition relates that when he saw a musket being aimed at him he ran

to Ingebrikt Valde[111] of Vaage, and with pitiful gesticulations

asked for life and protection, seeking shelter under his horse;

whereupon Ingebrikt lifted his axe in defence of the man, threatening

to cut down any one who killed him. That Scot is said to have been a

glazier, and to have subsequently settled in the country. As a token

of his gratitude he sent some windows to Ingebrikt Valde, whom in

his letters he always called his "life's father." Of these windows

one is still to be seen at Valde farm.[112] Some lines, burnt into

one of the panes, form a shield, on which are seen a figure like a

crest (perhaps Ingebrikt Valde's seal or signature) and an angel with

hands held protectingly over it. Another of the prisoners remained in

Vaage, where he got a piece of land to cultivate, and which clearing

is now a farm called Skotlien.

Either at the engagement at Kringlen or during the affair at

Solhjem one of the Scots is said to have saved himself by swimming

over the Laagen, whence he took to the mountains. In the evening

(the mountains being only a Norwegian mile across) he came down to

Ellingsbö farm in Hedalen, and his appearance bespoke fright and

hunger. The farmer, who, according to Gram's Census, was called

Christian, placed food before him. While the Scot sat and ate the

mowers came home. At the sight of those men and their scythes he

thought they were some of those who had been at Kringlen, so he

jumped up and showed signs of fear lest his life should be taken; but

the Bonde soon quieted him. The Scot remained there four years, went

to Oslo,[113] where he settled as a goldsmith, and sent as a present

to his benefactor at Ellingsbö silver cups for his children.

From one of the prisoners, who is said to have been a cardmaker, and

who married in the country, a family with the surname of Matheson is

descended, and several of its members still reside in the province of

Trondhjem.[114]

Among the prisoners was also a woman, whom Lars Hage afterwards

met at the house of a merchant at Oslo. He recognized her, and she

him. The merchant told her to draw a jug of ale for the man. But as

he would not drink, she said, "Drink, good man, I have done you no

harm;" and the merchant having asked her, "Do you know to whom you

are offering that good ale?" she replied, "I know him well enough.

They were not 'boors,' but devils, that lay in the bushes."[115]

[Illustration: THE SCOTTISH MONEY-HOLSTER.

_Page 120._]

A prisoner who had been quartered at Veikle farm in Qvam parish,

and who had been well treated, sent later, says tradition, "when

he got home," six silver spoons to the farmer,[116] as a token of

remembrance. Respecting two other prisoners, one of whom was at a

farm in Qvam, the other at a farm in Sel, it is related that they

were shot the same autumn, "as the proprietors did not find it would

pay them to feed them over the winter." Another of the prisoners is

said to have been killed at Vaage. The farmer with whom he lived took

him on a journey into the woods. On the way, it is said, they began

to talk about the battle at Kringlen. The prisoner having said that

if the Scots had known about the Bönder as much as the latter had

known of them matters would have turned out differently, the farmer

got angry and cut his prisoner down on the spot.

It is related of the Bönder from Vaage that on the return homewards

they met at Kalsteen, in Vaage, a portion of the men of Lom who

intended to encounter the Scots. An argument arose between the men of

Vaage, proud of victory, and those of Lom, and a bloody battle very

nearly ensued, but it was prevented by individual representations. A

certain Peder Killie[117] of Dovre is reported to have said on his

return home from the battle that he thanked God he had not fired a

shot at the Scots; but when another Bonde, his neighbour, heard this,

he became angry, quickly cocked his gun to shoot him, and would have

killed him had not others intervened and prevented him.

A man called, Jörgen Fjerdingreen[118] of Hedalen is said to have

got possession of Sinclair's money-chest (or holster), and was

carrying it home on a pack-horse. At Breden farm he went inside to

enjoy himself; but spending a long time over his dinner, the holster,

which he had left outside, was carried away.[119] This has given rise

to the saying, which, however, is not very general, "to dine like

Jörgen."

[Illustration: OLD MONUMENT OVER SINCLAIR'S GRAVE.

_Page 121._]

Sinclair's body was carried to Qvam and there buried just outside the

church-yard, as the exasperated Bönder would not allow him to lie in

consecrated ground. It is told that one of his relatives thought he

had not been killed, but only taken prisoner, and therefore came

to Norway in search of him, but found only his grave. A simple wooden

post close to the road, a little to the south of the church,[120]

shows to this day where he lies buried. A board with the following

inscription is fastened to the post:--

[Illustration: (A Christian Cross)]

Epitaphium.

Here below rests

Mr. Colonel GEORGE JÖRGEN SINKLER,

Who fell at Kringlene,

In the year 1612, with a force of 900 Scots,

Who were crushed like earthen pots

By a smaller number of 300 Bönder

Of Lessöe, Waage, Froen; and the

Leader of the Bönder was Berdon

Sejelstad of Ringeboe Parish.[121]

On the spot where Sinclair and his Scots fell, a monument was also

raised in commemoration of the event. In lieu of the stone pillar

which, according to Slange, had the inscription, "Here was Colonel

George Sinclair shot the 26th August, anno 1612," the present post

was raised in 1733, on the occasion of King Christian the Sixth's

journey to Trondhjem. The monument, which stands under the shadow of

a birch tree on the top of the hill beside the road, and a few paces

to the south of the spot where Sinclair was shot, is in the form of

a simple wooden cross, with a board on which the inscription is as

follows:--

"Courage, loyalty, bravery, and all that gives honour,

The whole world 'midst Norwegian rocks can learn.

An example is there seen of such bravery,

Among the rocks in the North, on this very spot:

A fully-armed corps of some hundred Scots

Was here crushed like earthen pots;

They found that bravery, with loyalty and courage,

Lived in full glow in the breasts of the men of Gudbrandsdal.

Jörgen[122] von Zinclair,[123] as the leader of the Scots,

Thought within himself, 'No one will here meddle with me.'

But, lo! a small number of Bönder confronted him,

Who bore to him Death's message by powder and by ball.

Our northern monarch, King Christian the Sixth,

To honour on his way,[124] we have erected this;

For him we are ready to risk our blood and life,

Until our breath goes out and our bodies lie stiff."

[Illustration: PRESENT MONUMENT ON HIGHROAD MARKING VICINITY OF

SITE OF FIGHT AT KRINGELEN.

"In commemoration of the bravery of the Bönder, 1612."

_Page 123._]

Yet another post in commemoration of the battle was set up by a

private individual in the year 1826, a little to the north of

Kringlen, at the farm of Pladsen or Söudre (South) Kringlen. It is

about five feet high, of soapstone, and in the form of an obelisk

surmounted by a ball. This monument will be set up in a more

appropriate place when the road is altered.[125] The inscription on

it will only be in these words, "The 26th August 1612."

The origin of the plant called cow-bane or water hemlock[126]

(_Cicuta virosa s. aquatica_), which is very poisonous, and which

grows in great quantities in a marsh at Nordre (North) Sel, dates,

according to tradition, from the time of the Scots. It is said the

Scots sowed that herb; but that this has only been attributed to them

out of hatred need scarcely be added. On an islet opposite Kringlen

stood, until the great flood of 1789, a large fir tree, in the trunk

of which some musket balls, as well as many traces of them, were

to be found, and some years ago human bones were found where the

wooden cross now stands. Various weapons and other things still

remain after the Scots in many parts of the valley. Thus at the farm

of Mælum in Bredebygd is a drum, which is called the "Scots' drum."

It was brought thirty or forty years ago from Ringebo, where it was

likewise known under the same name.[127] At Nordre Bue farm are a

musket and a sword which belonged to the Scots. At the farm of Söudre

Kringlen or Pladsen a spur and a knife were found a short time ago

on the hill where the battle took place. In the parish of Vaage,

at Lunde farm, is a dirk which had belonged to the Scots. There is

also a dirk at Kruke farm in Hedalen, and this is said to be the

one with which Mrs. Sinclair stabbed Kjel Fjerdingreen. According

to an English traveller who has seen them, these dirks are similar

to those still carried by a regiment in Scotland which is armed in

the old style. At Fjerdingreen farm is a purse made of steel-wire

rings, also a large and a small powder-horn, which are said to have

belonged to Colonel Sinclair. In the parish of Dovre, at the farm

of Ödegaarden, is preserved a chest bound with iron, which is

said to have been Sinclair's money-chest, as well as a large and a

small powder-horn, also reported to have belonged to him. There is

likewise a powder-horn at the farm of Sönstebö, in the parish of

Læssö. Among the things that belonged to Sinclair, Peder Klognæs is

said to have got a pair of snuffers, which he took home with him, and

which are said to be still preserved at Mandalen farm in Romsdalen.

In the Armoury of the fortress of Agershuus[128] are preserved

muskets[129] which had belonged to the Scots. In the Museum at Bergen

are the stock of a pistol and a powder-horn, and in the Museum of

the University of Christiania the stock of a pistol inlaid with

ivory--all relics of the Scots. Sinclair's pistols are kept in the

Museum at Copenhagen. They are described as follows in the catalogue

of the Museum:--

[Illustration: REMAINS OF SCOTS' DRUM AND ARMOUR.

_Page 124._]

"The locks have pans of the so-called Spanish kind, but amongst

the oldest of those patterns the barrels are of brass. On them are

engraved the Scottish thistle and the letters A. S. In the year 1690

Lieutenant-General Johan Wibe sent those pistols to King Christian

V., with the observation that they had belonged to the 'Scotch

Colonel George Sinclair, who in the year 1612 fell with his Scots in

Gudbrandsdalen.'"[130]

[Illustration: PISTOLS ALLEGED TO HAVE BELONGED TO GEORGE SINCLAIR.

(_In Copenhagen Museum._)

_Page 125._]

At the close of the last century, a Count Laurvig is said to have

owned Sinclair's pistols,[131] and Count G. C. R. Thott his musket,

which was for a long period preserved in the family of Berdon

Sejelstad, who, as the slayer of Sinclair, got it as his booty.

At the beginning of the present century Thor Bratt of Tofte owned

Sinclair's fighting sword, which he gave away to be sent to the Art

Museum at Copenhagen.[132]

Just as Christian IV. punished severely the nobleman Steen Bilde

and the men of Stordalen and Jemtland for having made no opposition

to Colonel Munkhaven on his march through the country to Sweden, so

was the conduct of the men of Gudbrandsdal, differing as it did from

that of the others, not allowed by the king to pass unrewarded. By

letters-patent, dated from the Castle of Frederiksborg, September

3, 1613, he gave to Lars Hage the farm (Hage) which he occupied,

together with the farm of Landnem; to Peder Randklev the farm (Nedre

Randklev) on which he lived, together with the farm of Gundestad;

and to Berdon Sejelstad likewise the farm he occupied (Övre

Sejelstad);--"to them and their descendants in perpetual possession,

for their fidelity, diligence, and manliness in the late war."[133]

The descendants both of Lars Hage[134] and of Peder Randklev still

live; but the family of Berdon Sejelstad is said to have died out,

at all events at the farm where he lived--namely, Övre Sejelstad.

Gulbrand lived at Nedre Sejelstad, and the present occupant of the

farm is his fifth descendant in a direct line.

According to Hjorthöi's account (part ii., pp. 7, 135, 137, and 138),

Arne Gunstad, whom he calls the next in command of the Bönder (from

Ringebo?), and who, according to tradition, distinguished himself by

his bravery and extraordinary strength, was rewarded by the exemption

of his farm from the assessment called "Foring." The same immunity

was granted to Lars Hage, Peder Randklev, and Berdon Sejelstad, in

respect of their several farms; and that freedom from taxation is

enjoyed by those farms to this day.

According to tradition, Audon or Ingebrikt Skjenna of Sel also

received as a reward of his bravery the gift of the farm of Sel, of

which the present occupiers are said to be his descendants. The girl

Guri, says tradition, had the farm of Rindal in Vaage, subsequently

called Pillarvigen, given to her as a recompense.

The battle at Kringlen[135] will ever remain a remarkable event

in our history. It is certainly not remarkable on account of the

number of the combatants or the magnitude of the defeat, but for the

_manner_ in which the enemy was annihilated. It was _Bönder_ led

only by _Bönder_ who, with _presence of mind_, knew how to select

excellent ground, utilized it with sagacity to carry out in harmony

a plan of attack that had been decided upon, and who fell with such

courage on a superior enemy. Moreover, the event will serve to

increase the series of examples which history has preserved to us, of

how dangerous it is for an enemy to penetrate far into a mountainous

country.

FOOTNOTES:

[61] ["Sagn, Samlede om Slaget ved Kringlen," etc. Christiania, 1838.

Translated from the Norwegian by the author, who is indebted for much

able assistance to Mr. T. T. Somerville of Christiania. The more

ancient spelling of proper names, such as "Kringlen," etc., has been

retained in this translation.--T. M.]

[62] _Vide_ "History of Gustavus Adolphus," by Joh. Widikindi.

Stockholm, 1691. P. 110. "Introduction to Swedish History," by S.

Puffendorff. Stockholm, 1688. P. 605. Slange's "History of Christian

IV.," published by Gram (1 vol. Copenhagen, 1749. P. 313), and

translated into German (with an Appendix) by Schlegel. 1 vol.

Copenhagen, 1757. P. 553. What later historians relate respecting the

fight at Kringlen is more or less only a repetition of the accounts

given by the above authors.

[63] _Vide_ "Samlinger til det Norske Folks Sprog og Historie," vol.

3 B, p. 219.

[64] The Vaage church register contains, with reference to the entire

event, only the following lines, entered by Anders Munch, priest, in

1731: "Anno 1612. Colonel Jörgen (George) Zinchel, as he came from

Romsdalen with 900 men to combine with the Swedes, who were at Baare

Church (that is, Borge Church, in Smaalenene), was attacked by the

Bönder at Kringlen, and totally beaten, with all his men, excepting

his wife, and three handicraftsmen of whom the Bönder had need."

[65] [This is evident from the documentary history of the two

expeditions given in the present work.--T. M.]

[66] In his "Norges Beskr," pp. 85 and 181.

[67] Kruse's Report. [Dean Krag appears to have been acquainted only

with Kruse's first Report, which he reproduced as an appendix to his

work. The translation of a more accurate copy will be found at p.

180.--T. M.]

[68] Such was the name of the farm in the old church registers. It is

now called Klungnæs. Klüwer in his "Norske Mindesmærker" (Norwegian

Memorials), p. 124, states that it was a member of the noble family

of Skaktavl, persecuted in the reign of Christian II., and who had

consequently fled to Romsdalen, where the descendants lived as Bönder

on the farm or gaard of Hellan, that Sinclair wanted to compel to

pilot his ships into Væblungsnæs.

[69] [A message passed on in the hollow of a staff.--T. M.]

[70] Some say that he wrote this on a piece of wood on the way up to

his house from the sea-shore.

[71] [Each seven English.--T. M.]

[72] In his "Reise igjennem Norge" (Travels through Norway), vol.

ii., p. 112.

[73] [As already shown, all these accusations are devoid of truth.

See Kruse's Official Report, p. 185.--T. M.]

[74] It appears from a Census for the taxation of Gudbrandsdal in

1612 that the farm was at that time occupied by a woman named Birte

Eneboe. ("List of those in Gudbrandsdal's bailiwick who were required

to pay by Michaelmas day 1612 the tax imposed for the requirements

of the war between these three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and

Sweden.") This list was made out by the bailie Lauritz (or Lars)

Gram, and contains the names both of the Odels Bönder (allodial

proprietors) and tenants, and of the owners of untenanted farms,

sub-tenants, and cottagers in the bailiwick.

[75] The fjeld which Kruse mentions in his Report, and calls

Mæratoppene, was undoubtedly near this spot.

[76] The river was thus called in the northern part of

Gudbrandsdalen; farther south it was more generally called Laugen.

[77] In Gram's Census are mentioned Trund Töndöffuel, Gunder Biockne,

and Peder Nordhuus as tenants in Lessö, but the farm of Kjelshuus is

not named.

[78] Rosten is a road along the cliff in Sel, an annex to Vaage,

leading to Dovre, and is a different place from Rusten, the name

of the road that leads to Vaage. Bægilskleven (Baglerkleven?) lies

in Ringebo, and Sinclair is reported to have said that as soon as

he reached it, he would take to the fjeld at Odlaug (Olo), a farm

in Ringebo, and thence come down to "the high bridge"--that is,

Tromse Bridge, in Ringebo, which also well deserved its name, for it

consisted of logs laid between two rocks, ninety feet high, over the

Tromse river, running below.

[79] Among the soldiers from Gudbrandsdalen who were with that army

was a man from Lunde, in Vaage, who is reported to have stated on his

return home that he had taken part in the burning of seven parishes.

[80] [District police and sheriff officer.--T. M.]

[81] Slange calls him a "Boelægsmand," which must be a clerical

or printer's error, as must also be the name of Hans, instead of

Lars, as he is called in the Sagas, and perhaps as he was called in

familiar language, or Lauritz, as he is named in Kruse's Report and

in Christian Fourth's Deed of Gift, and as he wrote it himself in a

letter still kept at Tofte farm, in the parish of Dovre. In Gram's

Census he is entered as Lauritz Hage, which was probably considered

to have a more distinguished sound than Lars Hage. However, the

name Lars does not occur anywhere in that Census, and "Lauritz" is

everywhere substituted for it. The bailie Gram also signs himself in

the Census not Lars, but "Lauritz," which is also the name on his

seal.

[82] The above tradition (Saga) respecting the first plan of the

Gudbrandsdal men for attacking Sinclair agrees approximately with

Kruse's Report, in which it is stated that Lauritz Hage, as soon

as he became aware of the coming of the Scots, "at once roused the

Bönder," etc. [See Kruse's Report for end of citation to "who quickly

came to his assistance," p. 181.--T. M.]

[83] In Gram's list, Oluff Romoengard, Oluff Oolstad, Alff

Jörgenstad, Arne Laurgard, Oluff Breden, and others, are all

mentioned as tenants in Vaage.

[84] [Now replaced by the _chaussée_ lower down. See plan.--T. M.]

[85] The place got its name from the curve taken by the road along

the mountain, or because the road between the farms to the south and

north goes _round_ ("omkring") the crags that are there; for in olden

days the word "omkring" (around) was, as it still partly is, in the

language of the Bönder, "kringum." Likewise in old Norwegian the word

"Kringla" meant a circle, a curve.

[86] Labourers (Bönderkarle) from Skjelqvale farm.

[87] Raadsbakken lies about five and a half Norwegian miles from

Kringlen. The men of Lom are often to this day reproached by

the other inhabitants of Gudbrandsdal for having gone back from

Raadsbakken. Hjorthöi, in his "Description of Gudbrandsdalen"

(Beskrivelse af Gudbrandsdalen), part ii., page 67, says that the

word "Löer," which was likewise applied to them, originated from

their having "lingered so long on Raadsbakken;" and he thinks that

"Löer" is synonymous with Löi--that is, slothful, indolent, or

dilatory in coming forward. But this conjecture is scarcely right,

for "Lö" undoubtedly comes from the ancient name of the district--Lo,

Loar (see Snorre Sturleson); moreover, the men of Lom tolerate

their being called "Löer," which they certainly would not do if any

disgrace attached to the appellation.

[88] Slange calls Guldbrand Sejelstad the "lensmand" at Ringebo, but

in Kruse's Report, as well as in Hjorthöi's work, in the part above

cited, that title is given to Peder Randklev. The name of the latter

occurs likewise in Gram's Census, where, however, the name of the

former is not to be found.

[89] [The barn shown in the illustration is now pointed out as the

place where the soldiers slept, while Sinclair is said to have passed

the night at the cottage depicted at p. 98.--T. M.]

[90] [Literally, scent-runner.--T. M.]

[91] [A "wild Turk" or "snouted Turk."--T. M.]

[92] Kruse, in his Report, gives the 26th August, which was also

the date on the inscription (see Slange) on the more ancient post

at Kringlen, which was destroyed by the flood in 1789, and in place

of which the present post was raised, on which the inscription

incorrectly gives the date of the 24th August.

[93] The mode of attack thus chosen by the Bönder was not new in

Norway; we find a similar plan in "Kong Sverres Saga," ch. 18.

[94] There is still a farm called Skjenna, a little north of Sel

church, but there is no farm of that name in Gram's Census.

[95] Boor, the English for Bonde; and "pert" is a Scotch word meaning

horse. [_Sic_, Q^e _pertly_?--T. M.]

[96] Hjorthöi's description, part ii., p. 135. There is no Arne

Gunstad in Gram's Census, but the names of Joen and Oluff Gunstad,

tenants, are mentioned. Arne may have been the son of one of these.

[97] The horn she used was a cow or bent horn, with five or eight

holes in it.

[98] Hjorthöi, as well as tradition, calls him Berdon; in Gram's

Census the name is written Berdun, and in Christian the Fourth's Deed

of Gift Bardum; which various appellations are undoubtedly synonymous

and only a variation produced by time and by the gradual corruption

of the ancient name of Baard, Bard.

[99] Both Guri's air and the Scots' march are still played by the

musicians of the district, but they have probably been much altered,

especially the latter. They are both attached to this treatise, set

for the piano. It may be that some of the original notes will be

found in "Sinclair's March," and possibly the true "Sinclair March"

may be found in Scotland; for it is credible that Colonel Sinclair

made use of the pipe music of the Sinclair clan, and although the

clans have long been broken up, there are still a great number of

pipers over the whole of the north part of Scotland who know well all

the old melodies, and transmit them from generation to generation.

[Music: GURI'S SONG.]

[Music: SINCLAIR MARCH.]

[100] The superstition that men of extraordinary valour can render

themselves invulnerable, and that leaden bullets were of no use

against them, but that silver was essential, is still extant, and is

or was common in many other countries. [See "Tales of a Grandfather"

for the death of Dundee, shot with a silver bullet, and "Old

Mortality," for further reference to this superstition.--T. M.]

[101] _Hage_ or _Hagebösse_, in Norwegian (_Haken_ or _Hakenrohr_, in

German), was the first gun that replaced the bow or crossbow.--C. J.

Chr. Berg on the "Land Defences," p. 252.

[102] Kruse's Report.

[103] The name is to be found in Gram's Census.

[104] [Made in 1731. See p. 77.--T. M.]

[105] In his Report Kruse says they were "four hundred and five men

strong." In the "Ballad of the Valley" (see _ante_) they are stated

at about five hundred men; and therefore the estimate of three

hundred men given in the inscription on the post over Sinclair's

grave appears to be erroneous.

[106] The barn still stands, a little north of Sinclair's grave, in

the vicinity of the King's highway.

[107] At Agershuus Castle (the fort of Christiania).

[108] That is, to Denmark.

[109] That is, take Danish military service. Jörgen Lunge was a

Danish nobleman, who was at that time in command of the Castle of

Bohuus.

[110] Slange relates that "they were all shot and cut down except

two." But in this respect he merits less credence than Kruse or the

Sagas. Slange says also that "one of the prisoners was a glazier, who

established himself in Norway and died there; while the other was

sent to Scotland." This is also related in the Sagas; but that the

latter was sent home "to tell his countrymen how it happened," is

doubtless an addition made by Slange himself. To illustrate in how

distorted a manner many of the later historians describe the incident

at Kringlen, it may be mentioned as an example, among several

others, that Fred. Sneedorff, in his lectures on the "History of the

Fatherland," vol. ii., p. 106, and later even, Werlauff in the fourth

edition, p. 191, of Munthe's "Pictures of Life," which he edited,

perverted the account given by Slange to the effect that "one of the

Scots established himself in the country as a glazier," by stating

that he "established glass-works in Norway."

[111] Hjorthöi calls him Ingebrikt Sörvold, but neither that name nor

that of Ingebrikt Valde is to be found in Gram's Census. On the other

hand, Oluff and Knud Valde are mentioned as tenants.

[112] [Discovered there in 1885, and purchased by the author of this

work, who has deposited it in the Anglican Church at Christiania for

preservation.--T. M.]

[113] The present Christiania.

[114] [This family settled in Norway some time after 1612.--T. M.]

[115] [This phrase bears a suspicious resemblance to a passage in

Njal's Saga (Iceland):--"Let us fly now; we have not to do with men,

but with fiends."--T. M.]

[116] He is called Otter in Gram's Census.

[117] The name also occurs in Gram's Census.

[118] No one of that name is mentioned in Gram's Census.

[119] [The identical money-holster is now in the possession of Mr. J.

Heftye. See illustration at p. 118.--T. M.]

[120] In 1612 the church stood nearer to the post, but it was later

removed, owing to the encroachments of the river. At that time also

the old church-yard at Qvam ceased to be used.

[When the present highroad was constructed the post was replaced by a

large stone slab, inscribed:--

[Illustration: (A Christian Cross)]

Here was the Leader of the Scots,

GEORGE SINCLAIR,

Buried after he had fallen at Kringelen, the

26th August 1612.--T. M.]

[121] This post was set up in 1789 by a couple of Bönder after an

older one had been destroyed by the inundation.--N. H. C. Bloch's

"Observations on a Journey from Trondhjem to Christiania, in 1806,"

p. 26.

[The tablet is now in the possession of Mr. J. Heftye. An

illustration of it is given here.--T. M.]

[122] "1612, the 24th August."

[123] "900 Scots were beaten here by an inferior force of 300 Bönder

from Lessö, Vaage, Froen, and Ringebo parishes."

[124] "When, in July (the 15th) 1733, the king was graciously pleased

to travel past this place to Trondhjem."

The many inaccuracies in this inscription will be seen from what has

been written above. The inscription is also printed in Kjerulf's

Journal of Christian the Sixth's journey in Norway, 1733, p. 40;

in Bing's "Norges Beskr" (Description of Norway), p. 348; in

Hjorthöi's "Description of Gudbrandsdalen," part ii., pp. 33, 34;

and in "Budstikken," 1821, p. 111. In Edvard Storm's collected poems

(Copenhagen, 1785), the post is engraved on the title-page. The first

two lines of the inscription are by the celebrated poet Bishop Kingo,

and are to be found on the so-called _Reisedalere_ (journey dollars)

which King Frederick IV. caused to be distributed on his journey

through Norway in 1704.

[125] [It now stands over the present road. See illustration.--T. M.]

[126] A detailed description of the _cow-bane_ is given in

Pontoppidan's "Natural History of Norway," part i., pp. 200-204; from

Hjorthöi, part i., p. 98.

[127] [The frame of this drum is in the possession of Mr. J.

Heftye.--T. M.]

[128] [Christiania.--T. M.]

[129] [Only five at present.--T. M.]

[130] If indeed these pistols really belonged to Sinclair, the above

initials possibly point to a family connection between him and the

Danish nobleman Anders (Andrew) Sinclar, who in 1607 emigrated from

Scotland to Denmark, where his race died out at the end of the

seventeenth century. Moreover, persons of that name lived in Norway a

couple of centuries before the arrival of George Sinclair: thus David

Sinclar is named as a civil officer of high rank at Bergen in 1416;

and Anders Sinclar as a chief commander in Bohuus Castle from 1461 to

1464; and Aaseline, daughter of Henry Sinclar of Sanneberg, who was

married to Anders van Bergen of Onerheim farm in Söndhordlehn, who

at the close of the fifteenth century was a Norwegian Councillor of

State ("Samlinger til det Norske Folksprog og Historie," vol. iii.,

p. 576). In addition to a Captain Sinclar, who is named in 1645,

there is also mention, as being in this country in the seventeenth

century, of one David Sinclar, who was on the 2nd August 1669

appointed by King Frederick III. Bailie of Eger or Lier, and who held

the farm of Sem in Eger as tenant under the Crown; as also a Gregers

Sinclar, who was undoubtedly related to the Sinclar just named, and

who in 1688 lived at Vestfossen in Eger, where in that year, at the

farm of Hals, he caused copper-works, with a smelting-house and

stamping-mill, to be erected, but which, after working unsuccessfully

for four years, he was obliged to abandon. Even at the end of the

last century persons of the name of Sinclar resided in this country

(Kraft's "Norges Beskr," part ii., pp. 406, 407; Ström's "Egers

Beskr," p. 56; and documents in the State Archives and in the

Archives of the Municipality of Christiania). It would, however, be

difficult, in the absence of historical information, to decide how

far any of the above-mentioned persons were related to each other,

or whether any of them were descended from the noble Scottish family

of Sinclair, as there was a whole clan of that name in Scotland. The

Andrew (Anders) Sinclar above-mentioned may have belonged to that

family, from which also the various Swedish noble families of that

name are said to have derived their origin. Francis (Frants) Sinclar

was the first of that name who was raised, in 1649, to the order

of Swedish knighthood and nobility. (See Stjernman's "Register of

Swedish Knighthood and Nobility," part i., pp. 425, 516, and 710, and

p. 22, part iii.)

The Scottish noble family of Sinclair or St. Clair is of Norman

origin, but it came originally from St. Clair in France, whence

William St. Clair--a son of Walter, Earl of St. Clair, and Margaret,

daughter of Richard, Duke of Normandy--emigrated in the twelfth

century to Scotland, where he acquired extensive lands in Midlothian.

The possessions of his descendants increased considerably under the

munificence of the Kings of Scotland, especially during the reign of

Robert Bruce, and embraced at last the baronies of Roslyn, Pentland,

Cowsland, Catcune, and others. One of the same William St. Clair's

descendants in a direct line--namely, Henry St. Clair (de Sancto

Claro)--was in 1379 made, by King Hakon VI. of Norway, Jarl or Earl

of the Orkney Islands, which were then under the suzerainty of the

kingdom of Norway, and his family held that dignity until the year

1471, when by an Act of Parliament the Orkney Islands were annexed

to the Scottish Crown, and in compensation for the same, William

St. Clair, then Earl of Orkney and Earl of Caithness, received from

King James III. the Castle of Ravensheuch, of which the ruins, still

in existence, belong to the Earls of Roslyn, who represent a branch

of the St. Clair family. According to Stjernman, the Earl of Orkney

(_vide_ "Catalogus Comitum Orcadensium" in the "Orkneyinga Saga,"

Havniæ, 1780) used as his motto the word "Fight." As adherents of the

House of Stuart, the St. Clair family lost its lands and was obliged

to wander in exile. As is well known, Walter Scott has described the

tragical fate of the family in the sixth canto of his "Lay of the

Last Minstrel." The family is, however, widely spread in Scotland,

and the noble Swedish family of the same name is said to be descended

from the St. Clairs of Freswick and Dunbeath. Although there is no

historical certainty that George Sinclair, who fell at Kringlen, was

also descended from the noble Scotch family of St. Clair, yet it is

very probable that such was the case.

[131] [Dean Krag is probably right in doubting the authenticity of

the "Sinclair pistols" at Copenhagen. The initials on them must be

those of Anders or "Sir Andrew" Sinclair. Many of his letters to

Robert, Earl of Salisbury, written between 1607 and 1621, are in the

Public Record Office, London. In 1607, while in the service of the

King of Denmark, he received £1,000 from King James I.; and in 1610

he urged Lord Salisbury to send him his pension, and also to obtain a

loan from King James, as he had bought lands in Denmark of the value

of forty thousand crowns, part of which he still owed. In 1610 he

asked Lord Salisbury to be godfather and to give his Christian name

to a son born in that year, his two elder sons having been named

James and Christian. In 1611 he was made governor of the castle and

town of Calmar. He was sent as ambassador to England in 1621. There

was evidently no direct connection between him and George Sinclair,

whose descent has been well established.--T. M.]

[132] Scheel's "Krigens Skueplads" (Seat of War), translated by

Thaarup, p. 30; Bloch's "Reiseagttagelser" (Notes of Travel), p. 22;

and Wilse's "Spydebergs Beskrivelse," Appendix, p. 68.

[133] [The farms here mentioned belonged at that time to the Crown,

and had only been held on leases by the occupiers. The deeds of gift

by Christian IV. are given _in extenso_ in an Appendix to the Rev. H.

P. S. Krag's work, but it has not been deemed necessary to reproduce

them here.--T.M.]

[134] In a letter, dated Österaad, December 20, 1651, and preserved

in the State Archives of Norway, Chancellor Ove Bjelke recommends the

Norwegian Stadtholder Iver Krabbe to help a "Peder Eckre, formerly

lensmand in Dovre," to obtain justice in a certain cause. He writes

that he had "known his father, who was the man that had beaten Hr.

Georgium Sincklar, who wanted to lead the Scottish folk through

Gudbrandsdalen." In Gram's Census is named as a tenant at Lessö,

in addition to Lauritz (Lars) Hage, also a Lauritz Eckre; but it

is not improbable that Lars Hage had also the lease of Ekre, and

consequently the two persons would be identical. In the latter case,

it may be assumed that Peder Ekre was a son of Lars Hage, who may

have inherited the farm of Ekre and the office of lensmand from his

father. There is no doubt that Peder Ekre is the lensmand of that

name who (according to Hjorthöi, part ii., p. 7) received from the

Crown the farm of Hundenæs in Lessö for his "loyalty and diligence"

at the siege of Trondhjem in the year 1658; and if this is so, he was

a brave son of a brave father.

[135] In addition to the _poetical_ treatment of the event by Edvard

Storm in the romance which is so popular for its "Homeric _naïveté_,"

it has been treated _dramatically_ by K. L. Rahbek under the title of

"Skottekrigen eller Bondebrylluppet i Gudbrandsdalen" (The Scottish

War; or, The Bonde Wedding in Gudbrandsdalen). It was published

separately (Copenhagen, 1810), and is also to be found in the

collection of his plays, vol. ii., pp. 1-83. The event is also the

subject of a tragedy by Henry Wergeland, "Sinclars Död" (Sinclair's

Death), Christiania, 1828; and J. St. Wang's novel, "Skottertoget

eller Slaget ved Kringen" (The Scottish Expedition; or, The Battle of

Kringen), two volumes, Christiania, 1836 and 1837, is founded upon it.