SUCCESSORS OF ROME: SCOTIA
Picts, Britons, & Scots
The Picts are the people we hear of from the Romans fighting in the north of Britain. In the days of Septimius Severus Pictish tribes of the Moeatai and Caledonii are identified. A century later we hear of the Verturiones and Dicalydones. These inhabited the Highlands north of the Antonine Wall (Murus Antonini), which was built from the mouth of the Clyde River (Clota in Latin) across to the Firth of Forth. The Picts never came under Roman control and, when the Wall was abandoned in 163/164, their influence spread south. They fought the Romans in blue war paint, a practice we see in the 1995 movie
| PICTS |
|---|
| Drust | 424-453 |
| Talorc | 453-457 |
| Nechtan Morbet | 457-468 |
| Drest Gurthinmoch | 468-498 |
| Galanan (Galam I) Erilich | 498-513 |
| Drest | 513-521, 529-533 |
| Drest | 513-529 |
| Gartnait | 533-540 |
| Cailtram | 533-541 |
| Talorg | 541-552 |
| Drest | 552-553 |
| Cennalath (Galam II) | 553-557, d.579 |
| Brude I | 556-584 |
| Gartnait | 584-602 |
| Nechtan II | 602-621 |
| Cinioch or Ciniath | 621-631 |
| Gartnait | 631-635 |
| Brude II | 635-641 |
| Talorc | 641-653 |
| Talorcen | 653-657 |
| Gartnait | 657-663 |
| Drust | 663-672 |
| Brude III | 672-693 |
| Taran | 693-697 |
| Brude IV | 697-706 |
| Nechtan III | 706-724, 728-729, d.732 |
| Drust | 724-726, d.729 |
| Alpin | 726-728, d.736 |
| Dal Riata, 733-736 |
| Angus (Oengus) | 729-761 |
| Dal Riata, 736-750 |
| Brude V | 761-763 |
| Ciniod | 763-775 |
| Alpin | 775-779 |
| Talorgen or Talorcen | 779-781 |
| Drust | 780-782 |
| Talorcen | 782-785 |
| Conall | 785-789, d.807 |
| Dal Riata, 805-807 |
| Constantine | 789-820 |
| Dal Riata, 811-820 |
| Angus (Oengus) II | 820-834 |
| Dal Riata, 820-834 |
| Drust | 834-837 |
| Talorc | 834-837 |
| Eoganan (Ewen) | c.837-839 |
| Dal Riata, c.837-839 |
| Ferat or Uurad | 839-842 |
| Brude VI | 842 |
| Kineth | 842-843 |
| Brude VII | 843-845 |
| Drust | 845-847 |
Absorbed into Scottish
Kingdom of Alba |
|---|
Braveheart anachronistically attributed to the much later Scots. We have the names of more than a score of legendary Pictish kings before
| BRITONS, Kingdom of Strathclyde |
|---|
| Ceretic or Coroticus | c.450's-470's |
| Erbin | c.470's-480's |
| Cinuit |
| Geraint | c.480's-490's |
| Tutagual | c.490's-500's |
| Caw map Geraint | c.490's |
| Dyfnwal or Dumnagual I Hen | c.510's-530's |
| Dlydno or Clinoch | c.530's-540's |
| Tutagual | c.559-580 |
| Rhydderch Hen (the Old) | c.580-612 |
| Nechtan | 612-621 |
| Bili I | 621-633 |
| Owen or Eugene I | 633-c.645 |
| Gwraid or Gureit | c.645-658 |
| Dumnagual II or Dyfnwal | 658-694 |
| Bili II | 694-722 |
| Teudebur | 722-752 |
| Dumnagual II or Dyfnwal | 752-760 |
| Owen or Eugene II | 760-c.780 |
| Rhydderch II | c.790's |
| Cynan | ?-816 |
| Dumnagual IV | 816-? |
| Arthgal | ?-872 |
| Rhun | 872-877? |
| Eochaid | 877?-889 |
| King of Alba, 878-889 |
Absorbed into Scottish
Kingdom of Alba |
|---|
| Donald mac Aed? | 908-c.925, d.934 |
| Ywain, Owen Caesarius | c.925-937 |
| Donald mac Donald | 937-945 |
| occupied by King Edmund of England, 945 |
|---|
| Indulf | 945-954, d.962 |
| King of Scotland, 954-962 |
| Dub or Duff | 954-962, d.966 |
| King of Scotland, 962-c.966 |
| Dyfnwal, Donald mac Owen | 962-973, d.975 |
| submitted to Edgar of England, 973 |
|---|
| Malcolm mac Malcolm | 973-997 |
| Malcolm mac Kenneth | 990-995, 997-1005 |
| King of Scotland, 1005-1034 |
| Ywain, Owen the Bald | 1005-1018 |
| died, battle of Carham, with Scots against the English, 1018 |
|---|
| Duncan | c.1018-1034 |
| King of Scotland, 1034-1040 |
| Malcolm mac Duncan | 1034-1058 |
| III, King of Scotland, 1058-1093 |
| Maldred mac Duncan | 1034-1045 |
the 5th century, but I have begun with Drust, who is given dates as the first historical King by The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens [Mike Ashley, Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., New York, 1998, 1999, pp.164-182].
| SCOTS, Kingdom of Dál Riata |
|---|
| Fergus I Mor (the Great) | c.498-501 |
| Domangart | 501-507 |
| Comgall | 507-538 |
| Gabhrán | 538-558 |
| Conall | 558-574 |
| Aedán | 574-608 |
| Eochaid Buide | 608-629 |
| Connad Cerr | 629 |
| Domnall Brecc | 629-642 |
| Ferchar | 637-650 |
| Dúnchad | 650-654 |
| Conall Crandomna | 650-660 |
| Domangart II | 660-673 |
| Maelduin | 673-688 |
| Domnall Donn | 688-695 |
| Ferchar Fota of Loarn | 695-697 |
| Eochaid II | 697 |
| Ainbcellach of Loarn | 697-698, d.719 |
| Fiannamail | 698-700 |
| Selbach of Loarn | 700-723, d.730 |
| Dúngal | 723-726, d.736 |
| Eochaid III | 726-733 |
| Alpin | 733-736 |
| King of Picts, 726-728 |
| Muiredach | 733-736 |
| Eogan | 736-739 |
| Angus | 736-750, d.761 |
| King of Picts, 729-761 |
| Aed Find, the Fair | 750-778 |
| Fergus mac Eochaid | 778-781 |
| Donncorci | 781?-791 |
| Domnall | 781-805 |
| Eochaid IV the Poisonous | 781-? |
| Conall mac Tarl'a (Tagd) | 805-807 |
| King of Picts, 785-789 |
| Conall mac Aedán | 807-811 |
| Constantine | 811-820 |
| King of Picts, 789-820 |
| Angus II | 820-834 |
| King of Picts, 820-834 |
| Aed mac Boanta | 834-839 |
| Alpin | 834 |
| Eoganan | c.837-839 |
| King of Picts, c.837-839 |
Continued as
Kingdom of Alba |
|---|
Shortly after the beginning of historical Pictish Kings, we also get Kings, less historical and less well dated, from the kingdom of Strathclyde, also known as Cumbria. These are Britons, the Celts of Roman Britain. The first King, Ceretic, may have been of Roman origin (hence Coroticus -- his grandfather, Cinhil, may have been "Quintillius" in Latin), governing the local tribe of the Damnonii. He thus may be a bit like the King Arthur of Lowland Scotland. But he is also is supposed to have received a letter from St. Patrick complaining about his practice of selling Irish captives as slaves to the Picts (cf. The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens, pp.183-186). The capital of the kingdom was at Ail Cluaide, the "Rock of the Clyde," but was later better known by its Scottish name, Dumbarton, the "Fort of the Britons." The rulers are not well documented enough to be fully historical until the 6th century. Eventually Dumbarton was besieged and taken (871) by the Norse of Dublin, and King Arthgal held prisoner. Arthgal was executed at the request of Constantine I, King of Alba. That made Arthgal's son Rhun, Contantine's brother-in-law, King, to be followed by Eochaid, Rhun's son but also Constantine's nephew. Eochaid, with the Scottish name, became a King of Alba himself. 
Apparently Strathclyde survived for a while as an independent kingdom, though in greater obscurity. Dumbarton was again taken by King Edmund of England in 945, who then is supposed to have given the kingdom to Malcolm I of Scotland -- who bestowed it on his (2nd) cousin and successor Indulf. A Briton King, Dyfnwal (Donald mac Owen), kept disputing this, but submitted to Edgar of England in 973. The last Briton King of Strathclyde, Ywain (Owen the Bald), a son of Dyfnwal, died in battle in 1018, fighting for Malcolm II of Scotland; and the kingdom finally became a fief of Scotland -- although the southern end, Cumbria, ended up part of England, as Cumberland.
Scotland ended up dominated, of course, by the Scots, who were originally, of course, Irish. From a kingdom of Dál Riata in Northern Ireland, a foothold of the same name was established in Argyll. In some fashion the affairs of the Picts and Scots began to intermingle. We start getting rulers who are kings of both domains, sometimes at different times. Exactly how this is happening, we don't seem to know. Eventually, Kenneth MacAlpin, or Cenáed mac Alpín, who established a successor Kingdom of Alba, to Dál Riata, absorbs the Pictish Kingdom also. The language of the Picts would have been a Celtic language of the Brythonic group, related to Welsh and other languages of Roman Britain. Why this language appears to have died out and been replaced by the Gaelic of the Scots is unknown. There does not seem to be any evidence of the Picts being killed off or somehow deprived of their language. Perhaps Scottish, being the language of the Irish missionaries, achieved its predominance as the language of the Church.
In Strathclyde and the Lowlands we do not end up with a predominance of Scots Gaelic. Instead, we get a dialect of English, usually just called "Scots." This process is also mysterious, and also results in the death of another Brythonic language, one that would have been much more closely related to Welsh than Pictish. There is no doubt that England, as noted, had a strong military and cultural presence in the area. Also, England continued to intervene in the affairs of Scotland, and the Scottish Court and nobility associated with it began to be Anglicized. Nevertheless, Scots took on such a unique tone, with its own phonology and vocabulary, often reflecting the English of a very early period (as in the North of England itself), that people sometimes, in ignorance of the true Gaelic, mistake Scots for the Celtic language.
An additional source for this page is The Kings & Queens of Scotland, by Richard Oram [Tempus Publishing, 2006]. The Kings of Scotland are continued with the Kings of England, Scotland, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
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