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John’s son Magnus ended the Angus line, though it
is possible that his sister had married Malise, the
earl of Stratherne, who founded the next dynasty.
The Stratherne family was followed by the St. Clairs
(1379-1469), of whom William, the last who ruled
Orkney under the Norse crown, was invested by King
Erik the Pomeranian, in 1434.
On the marriage between James III. of Scotland
and Margaret of Denmark, her father, Christian I. of
Denmark and Norway, undertook to give a dowry of
60,000 Rhine florins, 10,000 of which were to be paid
in cash, and Orkney was pledged for the remainder.
Only 2,000 florins, however, were paid, and King
Christian made up the balance by pledging Shetland.
Thus the old possessions of Norway came to the
crown of Scotland, but only, in the first instance, as a
pledge to be redeemed ; and it is a question which
has been much discussed–whether the mortgage was
foreclosed, and, if so, when? Mr. Gilbert Goudie, in
his Antiquities of Shetland, states the case at
some length ; we can give but the barest outline of his
argument.
The continuator of Boece (Ferrerius, Paris, 1574)
says that the right of redemption was renounced on
the birth of a grandson (James IV.) to the Danish
king, and subsequent Scottish historians repeat the
story. Torfæus, however (book iii., chapter on the
subject), and other Danish historians state that repeated
efforts were made to regain the islands by
offering payments of the sum due, and that a series of
embassies (1549-1660) were sent to Scotland with
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