MacDidz: The Scottish Blog

[Didz]

Trouble with the Danes
It was soon after the lifting of the English seige of Nottingham that Edward was informed of the first trouble with the Danes.

Danish ships had been seen patrolling off the Scottish coast for months but in the late Summer of 1102 they began to attack trading vessels entering and leaving the port of Edinburgh. Edmund had sent ships of armed men to drive them off and had been successful in doing so, but the loss of Danish lives had meant that relations with the Danish court were now hostile and Edward was worried that this would become a distraction from his main objective of London.

He commissioned the building of three new Holks in Edinburgh, in the hope that this would dissuade the Danes from further aggression and sent his own ships across the North Sea to scout the Danish coast and establish whether the Danish were massing for an invasion. Initial reports suggest that they are not, but Edward is convinced it will only be a matter of time unless he can do something to mend the rift.

A diplomatic mission is called for and Edmund is instructed to look for a suitable emissary.