
The Hebrides are a widespread archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland. Named for a Pictish tribe, the Epidii, the Hebrides were settled by Norse seafarers starting in the late 7th century, and especially after the Unification of Norway in 872. Ketill Flatnose and other local princes were nominal vassals of the Old Kingdom of Norway, and, in 1098, King Edgar of Scotland formally ceded the islands to King Magnus Barelegs of Norway. The Hebrides were part of the Kingdom of the Isles until 1156, when the Outer Hebrides came under Norwegian rule and the Inner Hebrides fell under the rule of the Norse-Gael ruler Somerled. Following the 1263 Battle of Largs, the Outer Hebrides and the Isle of Man were ceded to Scotland, and the Norse princes were replaced by Gaelic clan chiefs such as the MacLeods, the Donalds, and the MacNeils. The islands resisted both Scottish and British direct rule from the 1600s and into the 1700s, when several islanders joined the Jacobites in their upriisngs against British rule. The export of cattle, commercial fishing, and tourism made up the bulk of Hebrides' economy, and over 50% of the Hebrides islanders were Gaelic speakers.