Scandinavian-Britain

132 SCANDINAVIAN BRITAINNorthumberland states do not appear tohave sharedin the confederacy, though ^thelstan, ten yearsbefore, had expelled Ealdred from Bamborough, butapparently reinstated him. The if expedition, thisbattle were fought on the north-east coast of England,would have passed the Orkneys, and met with eitherhelp or hindrance; and the land forces of Scots andCumbrians for they surely would not embark anddisembark when the roads which /Ethelred had usedwould serve them as well must have marched south,'either by the east coast or. the west: if the former,they would have met with resistance or adherence inBernicia and at York, but of all this we hear nothing.If, however, they came by Cumbria and along theMaiden Way, they could penetrate far south withouttouching the more populous and settled districtsunder English rule. The fleet, numbering 615 ships,an enormous number to pilot on a long voyage, camefrom the Hebrides, Dublin, Limerick and Waterford,that is to say from all the Viking ports in the west.This we gather from the Annals of Clonmacnois, whichmention Geleachan, king of the Islands (Sudreyjar) ;Moylemurry, son of Cossewarra (or Cossa-uara), namedas a chief at Waterford in 916; Arick mac Brith,/. e,Harek Bard's son, connected 'with Limerick by hisbrother Colla, lord of that town in 924, and withIrish royalties by another brother who married thedaughter of Domhnall, son of King Aedh Finnliath.The object of this expedition was to strike at ^Ethelstans he had struck at Scotland. The natural meetingpointof all these various confederates was somewhere