Note 473 — Chapter XIII · WILLIAM THE LION—1165–1214.

Torf. Orc., l. 1, c. 34 to 37. Sweyne eventually lost his life in an attempt to restore Asgal Mac Ragnal to Dublin, on which occasion his desperate courage earned the respect of his opponents, the English invaders. A. F. M. 1171, where he is called Eoan, or John. A comparison of the coasts of Norway and Denmark with the western coasts of Scotland will at once point out the reason of that similarity which long existed between the respective inhabitants in their manners of life. Local circumstances have far more influence in forming the character of primitive, or semi-barbarous nations, than any fancied peculiarity of race. Like the coasts of Norway and the isles of Scotland, the eastern shores of the Adriatic and the Archipelago seem to have been formed by nature for the haunts of pirates.