Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - IV. The Expansion of Irish Trade
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
CHAPTER IV.
THE EXPANSION OF IRISH TRADE.
WHEN the Scandinavians had firmly established themselves
on the Irish coasts they developed trade to a considerable
extent, not only by bringing Ireland into communication
with their new settlements in England, but also by opening
up commerce with Iceland and Scandinavia, and even
with Russia and the East. 1
Before A.D. 900 at all events,
they had been accustomed to visit France from Ireland,
and had trafficked with merchants there, using a certain
vessel called the
’
Epscop
>a
for measuring their wine. That
this branch of their trade was in a flourishing condition in
the latter half of the tenth century may be inferred from a
contemporary poem in which Brian Borumha is said to
have exacted as tribute one hundred and fifty vats of wine
from the Norsemen of Dublin, and a barrel of red wine
every day from the limerick settlers. 3
The Scandinavians also made marked advances on the
old methods of trading by building their forts near the
large harbours and carrying on from there a continuous
1
See the map of the Irish Trade Routes in Mrs. J. R. Green’s The
Old Irish World.
2 "
Epscop fina
"
in the sea-laws, i.e.,
"
a vessel for measuring
wine used by the merchants of the Norsemen and the Franks." See
Sanas Cormaic (Cormac’s Glossary) compiled c. A.D. 900. (Anecdota
from Irish Manuscripts IV., ed. Kuno Meyer.)
3
Cf.
O’Curry : Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish, II.,
p. 125. For a transcript of the poem see A. Bugge : Vesterlandenes
Indflydehe paa Nordboernes i Vikingetiden, p. 183.
29
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
