ones and there is an early reference to the Norse presence in the Irish records to a king of "Viking Scotland" whose heir Thórir brought an army to Ireland in 848. Just south of Ardinamir on Luing, overlooking Torsa, there is Bàgh Lachlainn - "Lachlan's Bay". The personal name Lachlan is derived from an 11th-century term Lochlann indicating a person of Norse origin. History From about the 6th to the 8th century AD the Cenél Loairn kindred controlled what is today known as Lorn, which region includes the Slate Islands, in the then kingdom of Dalriada. By the late 8th century the area was a zone of conflict between the Celtic rulers of mainland Argyll and the newly arrived Norse settlers. Although there are few written references to the Slate Islands for this period the influence of the Norse language on placenames suggests that these islands then became part of the Kingdom of the Isles. Clan MacDougall were an important force in the area responsible for their mainland territories to the Scots crown, but to the Kings of Norway for their island territories until the 1266 Treaty of Perth when the Hebrides were yielded to the Kingdom of Scotland. Caisteal nan Con - the Dogs' Castle - is a ruined tower house that occupied a rocky eminence on the NE shore of the island. During the late Middle Ages it was held by Clan Campbell and then by the MacDougalls of Rarey at a later date, then finally Clan MacLean. It occupies a fine defensive position built on a sheer rocky outcrop overlooking the sea on three sides. The rock platform was enclosed by the oblong tower which measured about 13.7 metres by 8.8 metres and the lower, seaward portion by a bailey which included a small circular tower. In the 1970s RCAHMS reported that "all the buildings are very ruinous and much overgrown with turf, but considerable portions of the external wall faces of the tower-house and bailey survive." A small rocky inlet 75 metres north east of the ruins may have been used a boat landing. The name suggests it may have been used as a hunting lodge although Torsa itself is too small to have provided much sport of this nature. It is more likely that this name is derived from a byname used of Clan MacLean by their enemies - Clann Illeathain nan Con. By the