There was also a castle of note on the northern shore
of the modern port of Helmsdale, which is probably the castle of
Sorlinc of Mr. Collingwood's _William the Wanderer_, also called
Surclin, both words being a corrupt form, it is suggested, of
Scir-Illigh, the old name of the parish of Kildonan.
In Caithness especially, we have many a Norse castle site, such as
Earl Harold's borg at Thurso, and Lambaborg, the modern Freswick,
which we know to have been inhabited by noted Norsemen, while, in
Sutherland, Borve near Farr, and Seanachaistel on the Farrid Head near
Durness seem to be ideal Viking sites. _Breithivellir_[10] or Brawl
Castle was a known residence of Earl John and later earls, and search
for foundations might well be made on the coasts of Caithness, and
round Tongue and at the mouths of the Naver and of the Borgie and
other rivers, and at or near Unes or Little Ferry, possibly at Skelbo,
(Skail-bo) and in Kildonan at Helmsdale. That the Norsemen used many
of the Pictish brochs as dwelling-places is more than probable, and
is proved by the Sagas in certain instances.[11] At the same time few
articles used distinctively by Norsemen have been found in them.
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